The Girls at the End
circa 1950s (click to enlarge)
Vintage Snapshots
the wondrous world of vernacular photography
Category: 1950s Photos
July 24, 2015
Moose
Angled moose man, circa 1950s
March 3, 2015
“I wanted it in color”
Black-and-white birds, c 1950s (click to enlarge0
Inscription on rear reads: “Virginia took this but I wanted it in color cause the birds are so pretty.”
February 15, 2015
Attack
c1950s negative
January 1, 2015
Happy New Year 1958
Sometimes you just can’t keep them down (click to enlarge)
Here’s to 2015. And babies.
September 30, 2014
The Front of the Shack
Shack +, c 1950s
“The front of the shack”
July 5, 2014
Color Blind
Love + Great Tie, c 1950s (Click to enlarge)
January 1, 2014
Hello 1959
Greeting 1959 in his own fashion
August 30, 2013
A Cat Named After V-J Day?
V-Jay, at home, 1950 (click to enlarge)
The name of the cat in this 1950 snapshot makes me wonder if he was perhaps born on or around V-J Day. ‘Victory Over Japan Day’, which marked the end of WWII, is celebrated in the United States on September 2, after the day in 1945 the surrender document was signed by Japan (although it also applies to August 14 or 15 — depending on whether one takes into account the time zone — which was the day the surrender was announced). The cat looks to be about the right age to me. If he was indeed named after the end of WWII — wow, what a great way to choose a cat name, and in some small way, perhaps a marker of how happy/significant a day that must have been for so many who experienced it.
V-J Day, by the way (the Aug. 14 version), was also the day the famous Times Square kiss photo was taken. The Leica camera that Alfred Eisenstaedt used to take that iconic shot was auctioned earlier this year in Vienna for about $150,000. The camera used to snap “V-Jay” is of course probably long gone, although who knows — perhaps it is sitting in a closet or attic somewhere. And as a final thought, how nice that someone chose to note the subjects and date. Even the “At Home” has something nice about it.
May 16, 2013
Prankster
Classic 1950s family, Laura Scudder’s chips, Sun Valley, CA, May, 1957 (click to enlarge)
I’m not sure exactly what the imposing controls were used for (I can’t make out the abbreviation on the back, though the date, city and name of the family — Schepler — are clear). I assume, in any case, that the boy was quite pleased with himself when he saw this.
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