Photo Friday: With Love, From Rosemary Edition

Good morning!

Well, kiddos, we made it through another working week. As it's Friday, you know I've had my nose to the Flickriver grindstone in order to find you the very best in other-people's-family-photos, and as always, the internet does not disappoint in yielding up its share of black and white treasures! This flickr stream, posted by the titular Rosemary's daughter, is just an adorable look into life as a little kid in the 1930's in Toledo, OH. I was taken not only by how pretty the girl's mom was, but how each photo felt like a still from a movie about people I'd like to know, eighty some odd years past.

Let's take a look! First off, the twelve year old of the hour, Rosemary:

Isn't she just a tiny Myrna Loy? I do not throw around that compliment lightly! (Sidenote: In her autobiography, Being and Becoming, Loy mentions a conversation she had in the forties' with a popular Hollywood plastic surgeon to-the-stars, and was surprised to learn that her profile was one of the most frequently cited examples of what the "after" should look like in candidates for rhinoplasty. She has the perfect nose!) These photos, taken in a photo booth with a backdrop of spurious looking spruces, just knocked me dead in the eye with how how natural a beauty the girl is, even in her preteen years! It should also be noted that I really, really want to do rag curls if I ever cut my hair shorter, and try for the ringlet-like consistency of this Shirley Temple 'do. It'd be worth the pain of sleeping on my own tautened scalp to look like a movie star!

Two of Rosemary's sisters, Betty Ann and Dorothy, respectively, make their own photo booth appearances. I love that even though the photos are only chest up, you can see all these wonderful details on their clothes! The gold necklace and tailored collar of the outfit on Betty Ann (possibly a school uniform pinafore over that starched blouse?), and the hat, the crown shaped brooch, the pretty embroidered collar, and the checked over coat of Dorothy's ensemble. We want in on these outfits, stat!

Yet another sister, Norma Jane or "Normie", shows that style and china doll good looks run ALL THE WAY though the sisters in this family, with her appliqued cardigan and V-rolled hair. Look at the rhinestone brooch at her neck! I AM COPYING THIS LOOK TO THE LETTER. In the photo to the right, Normie wears another thirties' outfit fit for Irene Dunne (high praise) as she attends Rosemary's first communion (she's the tyke in the veil). Isn't it interesting there's such a spread of years on the siblings? Coming from a two-child household, it always slightly blows my mind when I think of my great-grandmother's six sisters (all named after stones...Goldie, Jewel, Ruby...and one brother, the improbably named Clyde!) or someone else's grandparents' ten PLUS siblings. It must really be something to grow up with enough family that you could play a decent game of kickball or capture the flag without even having to press the neighborhood kids into service.

Doesn't she look tiny and adorable in her all white clothes for the communion?

"Wrasslin'", as we say down South, with the family dog. "Quit tormentin' that dog!" I can hear my grandmother calling from inside the back door of the house, as Sus and I play a game of "fakeout" with a whiffle ball and my cousin's husky in the backyard of my childhood, just like this, only years later. Do you see the clothes hanging on the porch?

Color! And what color it was! I am in love with the weird, slopped on pastels of these handcolored photos. I'll lament now as I've lamented before, why don't they do hand coloring any more! It's so much more expressionistic than realistic, and isn't that what I'm always shooting for?

CHILD. GIVE ME THAT COLLAR AND THAT HAT. Rosemary's cousin, Pat, inspires deep envy in my heart for her spattering of freckles and impeccable clothing choice. At right, Rosemary and childhood friend Patty show off skinned knees, roller skates, and adorable sack dresses. A bow in every hair, I say! A bow in EVERY hair!

Here's Patty and Rosemary a little older, taking a trip to the photo booth. Aren't their expression precious?

Last but not least, a group shot. Can you spot Rosemary in the striped dress, third from the left? Look at all the DETAILS on the clothing, and how every woman has her hair done "just so". No sloppy ponytails in this bunch! No last minute ballerina buns! I want to walk right through the negative and put myself in a place of pride in the back row. Of course, I'll have to do something with my hair first, but you'd better believe I have the clothes for the occasion! I love the two men at either side of this great gaggle of women in the family.

What do you think? Which thirties' fashion appeals to you the most? Do you have any family photos from this time period just bursting with sentimental charm? Wasn't Rosemary a little starlet in the making, if these photos are any proof?

You can see the rest of the stream here if you're interested. Each of them is so neat! And if this is your mother, thank you for letting me borrow her for a Friday post, what a cutie.

If you're in Nashville, don't forget to visit the Family Tree vintage clothing sale on Nolensville Road this weekend! Help Eartha and I liquidate some of our overstock vintage! Also, anybody hitting the flea market this weekend? I'm unexpectedly still in town, so be on the lookout for a beehive bobbing above the throngs of bargain hunters in search of MORE old clothes! :)

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you guys right back here on Monday!