Blog readers, meet Ruth. Ruth, meet the blog readers.
Ruth is Doris's sister, and they seem similar in age. Throughout the boxes of photos from the collection I scored at an estate sale, three things are consistently appearing again and again and again:
- Photos of Doris and Ray (naturally; usually at a vacation destination and looking at each other adoringly. I really can't get over how many sweet photos there are of them throughout a forty year span).
- Photos of Sonny (Doris's son from her first marriage; as a baby, in grade school, at his senior prom, as a young man, in a service uniform...all kinds of stuff)
- Photos of Doris and Ruth.
Though Doris stayed in Nashville after marrying and Ruth moved to Atlanta with her husband sometime in the early 40's, there are scads, SCADS of photos of the two of them with their respective spouses at a casino in the 70's, on a boat in the 50's, with cousins and other relatives at family gatherings, weddings, birthdays. All throughout their lives, they never spent a free vacation or holiday apart, and always sought each other out as the "go-to" person to go and have a ball with. HOW INCREDIBLY MOVING IS THIS?
Above, the girls are unmarried and in their late teens. Dressed! To! The! Nines! I particularly like the white and black loafers on Ruth and Doris's gorgeous hat. Both look like a million dollars cash.
Here's Ruth and her husband soon after they married. How cute are those bangs? How high are that gent's pants? I'm sorry, I'm a serious supporter of the "not Urkel high, just Clark Gable high" waistline philosophy of men's forties' fashions.He looks great!
Above, one of the most awesome forties' outfits I have ever seen, period. The back reads "Ruth H-- 1945". I love that there was both a colorized and a non-colorized print in the boxes! I think the dress is made of a tulle-type shoulder-strap connected to a formed dress top, with a ribbon corsage just for fun? The ribbon corsage becomes way more obvious in the colorized picture. Would you have expected the colors to be purple and orange? The colors go so well with her hair. I don't know if the black spot is a beauty mark that was missed when the picture was handtinted, or if something happened to the picture over the last seventy years, but either way...Ruth, you are killin' this outfit!
This picture initially looked so much like Doris I couldn't decide if it WAS her or not, based on the brown hair, but I think it's actually Ruth. They never looked so alike as in this shot, for some reason. Doris eventually settled into middle age with a couple extra pounds, but Ruth remained the same Katharine Hepburn, whippet thin silhouette she cuts in any of the pictures above and below for the whole of her life. She looks actually TOO thin in some of the fifties' pictures! This outfit, from the bobby sox to the black cardigan and collared shirt to the turban, is just so, so, SO V-for-Victory. I could die.
Same outfit minus the turban and cardigan. Notice her red nails in the first photo and no doubt matching lipstick. Forties' re-enactin' vintage gals, take heed! This is how it's done.
One thing I didn't tell you about the very first photo-- it's the only other one of this set with a caption. In old-time handwriting, it simply says, "I love you -Ruth". Ah, sisters. Does it get at your two sizes too small heart? It sure hits mine!
Did your grandparents or parents have a slew of siblings, or just one special one, that they were especially close to? Do you have any forties' photos in your collection that are just the living end of WWII realness-- to the point that they almost look a little staged?
More vintage fun and ramblings from yours truly next week. It's so good to be back home! You guys have a great weekend and I'll see you on the other side!
Get it, Ruth!
ReplyDeletelove it! i wish i had a close sibling like that. my brother and i aren't close at all.those black and white shoes in the first photo are blowing my mind! and i love the turban.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely incredible! The shots in the Hepburn-esque slacks/headscarf/cardi are absolutely incredible. The detective-novel feel of postulating about these lovely sisters through their photos is such an awesome feeling. Great post, babe. :)
ReplyDeleteAwww, I love Ruth and Doris already! That is so sweet. Such great style, too. I really don't know if my maternal grandmother was close to her siblings, but I know my paternal grandmother was close with her sister Mildred (Nella Mae and Mildred, isn't tha tgreat?). They had a weekly phone date for years and years. :)
ReplyDeleteMom pulled out some pics that G-ma had in her stash and I finally saw an image of the fabulous Babe. I have been hearing stories about this lady for years. She was my Great Uncle's first wife. Evidently she was an original. My aunt told me that she liked to do nature walks and edify the children. On one of their walks she found some blacksnake eggs. She kept them in her bra until they hatched. Another story goes that she milked the PIG and made the kids taste the milk. What an opportunity. I missed knowing her, unfortunately. She was killed by turning the tractor over on herself.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the photo showed a grinning, flat-bellied 1940's beauty wearing a feed sack house dress. Man, oh man I wish....pig milk??
What a folk hero of a lady! She kept SNAKE EGGS IN HER BRA, and MILKED A PIG. The wheels of my little imagination keep turning.
DeleteOh yeah, me, too! The part that always got me was the turned over tractor demise. Someday I'll tell you about the family story about the ball-peen hammer murder.
DeleteI love your blog, girl.