Friday, January 11, 2013

Photo Friday: Tell Me All About It Edition

Good morning!

I only have a hot second here before Matthew and I head out the door for the Chattanooga Aquarium as a belated birthday trip for my Bab (we're gonna meet a fish!), but I wanted to share with you what MAY BE my favorite Photo Friday Flickr discovery yet. I don't know her name, but folks, meet this guy's mom. She's stylish, cute as a button, and most of these slides/photographs look like they are literally reference photos for a set dresser on Mad Men. I could actually die:


I was going to do a post on eyeglasses and my lasting misery over having to bespectacle myself for another week owing to an overtaxed-from-contacts left eye and my optometrist's orders, when I came across this woman in her cats-eye sunglasses and bright print floral dress on a sixties' vacation to Puerto Rico, and said eyes just about bugged out of my head. Now, based on her looks and fashion and the location and time alone, I'd obviously be hooked, lined, and sinkered...but check this out. For each scanned photo, her son has asked her to describe, in detail, what is going on in the photo. So while this is a GORGEOUS photo of someone who looks like one of Don Draper's secretaries, watch how much better it becomes simply by virtue of having "the whole story" accompanying the image:


From this photo (which IS PERFECT, by the way):
Mom: This one is at the airport hotel.
Me: The morning after the wedding?
Mom: Yeah, because we had to catch a flight.
Me: That was your first flight ever?
Mom: Yeah.
Me: You look relaxed.
Mom: Well, I was excited. Flying was a luxury in those days. They weren't that many people, or that many flights. Stewardesses treated you real special. It was a real experience. There was room in the plane, they weren't so big. It was just a special experience, and just seems so horrible today to fly. You feel like cattle. It's just not the same feeling. So yes, I was excited to fly. This was the first time anybody in my family had flown out of the United States. I felt real grown up. And I was what, twenty? And that's how you flew, dressed up like that. I'm sure Daddy wore a suit and tie. So that all added to the ambiance.





From the photo on the left:
Mom: This is a dressed-up dress. I may have worn it to go dancing, or a wedding, because I could also tell from my hair. Yeah, that was very popular hairstyle then. It was evening hairstyle, because it had all these curls at the top.
Me: How does that make it an evening hairstyle?
Mom: Well, if it was during the day, you wouldn't wear the curls. It would smoother, sleeker. You wouldn't have all these curls on the top.
Me: How about that pin?
Mom: It must've been one of my favorites because I remember wearing it with my pink mohair dress in an earlier photo.
Me: How about the flowers?
Mom: The vase was a wedding present, I think from Aunt Pat. It was Stuebing glass.
Me: What do you mean, was?
Mom: Oh, I still have it! Steubing glass was a very...
Me: Classy glass?
Mom: Yeah, yeah! And the flowers were made of plastic. The delphiniums were purple, and it looks like there's some blue poppies. Horrible now! But I liked it then. And in the background, in the mirror, hanging, was a birdcage I bought and stuck more blue poppies in it.
Me: They must've been a pain to clean.
Mom: Yeah.



From the photo on the left:

Mom: I would say we were going out at night because of my black gloves. And it was night because of the lack of light coming in from the curtains. So we were definitely going someplace fancy.
Me: I notice you guys don't take a lot of pictures in the day time.
Mom: Well, that's because we would take them when were doing something special like throwing a party or when we got dressed up to go somewhere, and in both cases this was at night. We didn't want to waste film. Film was expensive.


Almost every single photo, and there are tons of them, have some accompanying story from the guy's gorgeous mom telling us about the circumstances under which the photo was taken, what was going on in their lives, how she felt about the dress, the decorations, the person in the photo with her...but don't take my word for it! Click through to the sources so you can see the real deal unfolding before your very eyes!

source
source, source

source

source
Anyway, if you're intrigued (HOW COULD YOU NOT BE), check out this set...there are folders arranged by year of every occasion under the sun, and again, the commentary alone is worth the price of admission. If this is your mom, I don't know what to even say-- what a chic, funny, and just NEAT woman she must be. Thanks for letting me borrow her for one post!

Have you undergone any family history projects like this? I can remember my grandma going through the old photo albums and telling me about all her uncles and aunts and various relatives in 1930's Falmouth, MA, but of course, we took no notes. DRAT.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on the other side!

31 comments:

  1. I love this! She is gorgeous - love her pink dress and those pearls! I think that is a great idea - to transcribe narration about photos. Hmmmm...I might have to try that with our relatives. Thanks for the fun post!

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    1. Aren't they neat? I love all the clothes but especially the descriptions of why you would wear this or how you would wear that. And her apartment! SO CUTE!

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    2. Thank you! I made that pink dress :)

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  2. OMG this just made my whole day! I always wonder what's going on in pictures, and now I have commentary to obsess over... as well as those clothes and that hair - seriously! What a babe!! I would kill for that pink bridesmaids dress. Actually, I reckon I could just make one... yeah!!:)

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    1. I was so impressed with that picture of the bride and the guy's mom as the maid of honor-- really, 60's era bridesmaid pictures are usually AWFUL, but I love the shape of her dress and the color and that adorable bow hat with veil. I'm just coconuts over this whole flickr set-- so much to pore over!!

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  3. Oh boy, this is the BEST!! She's my new style icon! Sometimes old photographs make me a little frustrated because I just want to know more, more, more about what's going on... so this is a treat.

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    1. Right? You hardly ever even get the NAME of the person in it, much less the backstory!

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    2. Love being a "style icon" ... Wahoo!!! :) :) :)

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  4. umm...I covert those eyeglasses SO HARD! I have always wanted cat eyed rhinestone stunners. True story: I bought some sunglass version at the halloween tent in october and fully intend to wear them 365 days a year.

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    1. Haha, I think you are well within your rights on those sunglasses and the fulltime wearing of them. :)

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    2. I wish that I still had them. They were so fun!

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  5. These are fabulous! You find the best things.

    Have fun at the aquarium! Happy weekend!

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    1. Aw, thanks! The aquarium was SOOOOO COOOL OMG. I can't wait to tell you guys about it on Monday!!

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    2. I'm glad that you enjoyed!I loved all of the comments :)

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  6. oh my goodness this might be your best find! i LOVE her descriptions and can't wait to read more! that bunny cake! and i love her on the morning after her wedding, she look so beautiful and happy. and i like that pink bridesmaid dress too. she really is a gorgeous woman!

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    1. I can't get over how EVERY picture is better than the last. Did you see the pictures of her table set for different parties (esp. the luau one)? I DIE.

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    2. Oh ... your words ... thank you ... they made me :) !!! The bunny cake was such fun to make. I enjoyed it more than my little cousins did!

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  7. I LOVE the conversation style of the commentary -- letting people use their own words instead of paraphrasing. She sounds so fantastic!

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    1. I know! I think he did a really good job of just transcribing the conversation, so you feel like you're there hearing the story yourself!

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    2. It was all Michael's idea. Being a writer I probably would have edited my comments to make them grammatically correct and ... LOL ... probably would have ruined the "flavor." I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

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  8. Well ... I just want you to know that everyone of you have made my day!!! Yes, that was me in my twenties ... It was a very different and special time back then and I had such fun reminiscing about it with my son Michael. As I'm sure that you can tell, he has spent a lot of time on this project and it's still not complete. He has also "encouraged" me to put my pictures on Flickr and to do the same thing with my wildlife photos. So there are stories to go with most of my pictures - not quite like Michael's though. Along the way, I have met some pretty wonderful people ... all of you included :) Again, thank you for all of your lovely comments. It made this grandma smile a great big smile!!!!!

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    1. OH MY GOODNESS! OH WOW! Hi! I am so glad you got to see how much everyone loves your pictures! You and your son have done a wonderful thing to share them on the internet and let all of us vintage-o-philes get a chance to see how it was all done back then. And with such grace and wit, too. Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Wow! :)

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    2. Thank you, Lisa, for all of your very kind words! It was so amazing for me to read your blog and then read all of the wonderful comments. When Michael first approached me about doing this, I really had no idea how many people would enjoy our old pictures. I've made several wonderful friends - who followed Michael's project on Flickr - and then when I commented went out of their way to find me on Flickr so that they could see what I was up to now :) Again, thank you so much, sweetheart, for your beautiful words :)

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  9. This is so amazing!!! I totally got sucked in and spent hours looking at all the cool pictures and reading the narrative. Gorgeous lady, then and now!!

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    1. Thank you for "gorgeous" ... At my age, LOL, I love those comments!!! And, an extra hug for saying "then and now."

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  11. So, I go away and get busy with the weekend and all of this unfolds? AMAZING! This post would have been amazing simply with the find and the write up you did Lisa. Having the one and only star of these photos, Maria Daddino, find it and then actually comment and further explain to the specific comments has got to be a blogger's dream come true! I am SO HAPPY Michael had this idea in the first place. Then to make it available to the world is priceless. Thank you Daddino Family! Then to have the actual star, Maria, still in good health and working on her own book is AMAZING! I do have one question though. Is your husband still in good health and are you still enjoying your lives with all the blessings you have been given? I do hope so! AMAZING! p.s. I hope I am not too late at being part of this discussion.....Oh, those weekends!

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    1. I have tears in my eyes!!! Thank you, Vivian :) It truly amazes me that Michael's project has been enjoyed by so many and that I have made so many new friends. And ... LOL ... I think I like being a "star" too! Although my husband and I are no longer together, we have remained good friends. I think that you always tenderly remember your very first love and that the feelings are always sweetly a part of your heart.I do enjoy my blessings ... my three amazing sons and my adorable grandchildren ... the triplets - Julia, Luke and William - and, the icing on the cake, their little brother Matthew! I live on the East End of Long Island in a marvelous place filled with the wildlife I love. If you would like to see my garden and my "wild-friends" here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mariasducktales/ The garden and wildlife collections are on the bottom left. I am following in Michael's footsteps but have not yet put most of my pictures on. Thank you so very much for your kind words ...

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  12. Yes!!! So GLAD you are here! You remind me so of my mom, so beautiful...I thought this was the way I would be when I grew up. Groomed, hatted with a bubble hair cut and a circle pin!

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    1. I am glad we are both here!!! You have no idea how I am enjoying this. I love your thoughts of your mom. She must be a very special and beautiful woman. I hope that my sons will think of me that way. Well, not to disappoint :), I love my jeans and sneakers and miss my bubble hair, but ... LOL ... I still go to the "beauty parlor - I still call it that although it's the "salon" now - and get my hair and nails (with sparkles) done!!! Thank you for reaching oout to me.

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