Friday, March 1, 2013

Photo Friday: High School Sweethearts Edition

Good morning!

It's Friday, and you know what that means. Time to flip through somebody-else's-family-photos via the magic of the internet. Caution: today's is almost too sweet, you might want to brace yourself for sentimental overload. Don't say I didn't warn you!

This Flickr stream was the first thing to pop up when I typed in "Mom 1951", and wouldn't you know...it's a keeper. Folks, meet Lewis and Lorna:


This snazzy couple is dressed to the casual nines to go on the senior class picnic in 1951. I know it happened a lot back then and still happens today, but isn't it kind of shocking when you think of someone getting married to their high school sweetheart right out of high school? Not dating someone in high school, spending ten years doing this, doing that, reconnecting at the reunion and getting married-- I'm talking "we went to prom together, we shared one malted with two straws down at the soda shop every Friday night after the game, and then we got married and stayed married". It's amazing to think about knowing someone that long and still being able to "make it work". Check out Lorna's lace up espadrilles! And Lewis's print shirt...?! I think it's a tropical scene; I KNOW I love it.


Here the glamorous duo are again in July of the previous year. Things to think about: one, they're wearing matching crazy-pattern shirts (stranger yet, the couple with them is wearing a different pair of matching crazy pattern shirts-- was this a thing?). Two, they're in a cemetery. Lorna's sitting on one monument, and you can see the marble of a tombstone dead right from the middle of the photo. Ummm.....? It was a far more common practice sixty years ago to have picnics, outings, etc in a graveyard. It's peaceful, it's pastoral...but from my twenty-first century eyes, it still seems off. I feel like if Matthew and I took a picnic basket to my local cemetery, and dressed or not dressed like Tim Burton and HBC, it would draw strange looks from people who just came to put flowers on a relative's grave and leave. But maybe not? I like to go tombstone-sight-seeing in the older parts of cemeteries, but I do always feel like someone might be looking over at me like, "What's she up to?" But I digress. Back to the picnic!

Here, Lewis goofs around lakeside with a class member in some truly memorable swim trunks. Are they tiki print?


There are several photos of classmates in similar canoes on the water, but I especially love these two of Lewis and Lorna together, and Lewis looking like Paul Newman himself in aviators and no shirt. See his belt and his rolled up jeans? SWAGGER.





Here they are in their swimsuits-- Rae told me last month at the flea market that she's started collecting "awkward photos of people in swimsuits", and I think this would be one for her scrapbook, for sure! While each of them is just as cute as they can be, notice how their arms aren't quite naturally held, and the squinted glances they're throwing at the picture taker. Lorna's hair looks fabulous in this photo, by the way. Don't get that set wet, gal! It would be hard in 1950 to stand around in public practically naked, I guess. It's hard in 2013 to do the same!


In spite of his reticence in the above photo, Lewis has two more photos in this collection in his swimsuit! Something about his nose and the set of his eyes reminds me a lot of my dad's dad, an equally handsome swell, if I do say so myself. See the wet footprints in the photo on the left, and the shadows in the photo on the right? I love the little details.


Seen any black and white swimsuit photos that caught your eye lately? Which of these photos is your favorite? Did your parents or anyone's parents you know meet in high school and stay together for the long haul? I'm interested to know!

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


18 comments:

  1. I love seeing how real people dressed!!! Those matching knits are incredible; I wish a knitwear manufacturer would repro those. Her sandals are pretty killer too. That is one legacy that I will never leave - photos of me in swimwear!!!

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    1. Did you see the other couple in the link? THEY TOO are wearing matching knits. I cannot express how much I love this. I need to find some for Matthew and me, stat!

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  2. In the awkward bathing suit photo it looks as if Lewis filled out a bit and got a buzz cut. Wonder if he was a military man later on.

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    1. Good eye! There's a photo of him in uniform later so I bet you're right about the reason for the bulk up and the hair cut.

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  3. Great pics, the first one is my favourite!

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    1. The clothes and the lunchbox really make the whole picture for me. So cute!

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  4. I love these pictures - especially the his'n'hers shirts!

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    1. I love how they're the EXACT SAME SHIRT-- talk about uni-sex! Wonder what color they were.

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  5. I can't wait to see this awkward swimsuit shots collection showcased prominently by you or Rae. Seems genius.

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    1. Rae has the best eye for that kind of stuff, it's insane. I get picture-flipping-fatigue sometimes at antique malls and flea markets, and the best ones seem to pass me by!

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  6. My parents dated in high school in the 1950's, and married right after. Unfortunately it didn't last, they divorced after 18 years-but were together for 22.

    I love these pictures, Lewis has a very interesting face, and couldn't place who he reminded me of till you mentioned Paul Newman.

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    1. 22 years! That must have been a little over half their lifetime by the time they divorced. I just can't imagine getting married and knowing someone from the time they're 18 until they're 88, but some people do it, it's amazing!

      He's a Newman-esque hunk, for sure. The glasses and the shirtlessness help, haha! I'll try to find some more eye candy for next week! :)

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  7. oooo i love these! wasn't lewis a handsome guy! and those print shirts! I don't know why anyone would get their picture taken just standing around in a swimsuit, that is my personal hell! haha!
    travis and i have been together since highschool. its only been 11 years for us, but i'm hoping for another 60! i can't imagine getting married when we were 18 or 19 though! my grandparents were married when she was 17 and he was 19! and they are still together today!

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    1. Still, that's amazing! Think about how many memories you guys will have together by the time you're ninety. If you're like my grandparents were, though, you'll spend at least half your time at that age arguing about whether or not some of those memories took place and where, haha! I can still hear my granparents: "Hazel, it was FALMOUTH, it was in FALMOUTH, down at the end of LEIPER'S STREET and that's just the way it is!" "God love you for a liar, the Hendersons lived on Oak. O-A-K, Oak! Near the bus station! You don't know anything!" I wish I'd taped it, it would be better than a book some of the things they used to find to argue about in their old age.

      I want a print shirt JUST. LIKE THESE.

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    2. Totally what my dad's parents are like, too. My mom's parents don't tell a lot of stories, so they're not always arguing over details. I wonder if it's a generational thing? My dad's parents are about 15 years older than my mom's.

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  8. I just found your blog via a vintage Disney poster google search and am loving it! I've been collecting other people's snapshots for years. L&L are so cute, and I love those short-sleeve sweaters.

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    1. Hi, Julie, thanks for reading! It's funny once you start picking them up, the collection just seems to multiply by itself. I love the knit sweater picture most of all...matching outfits = commitment! :)

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  9. Lewis was such a canoe-paddling hottie.

    I'm actually married to my high-school sweetheart. Awwww.

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