Sepia Smokers

Redskin47-029Yearbook photographers may never receive any accolades (if they even get a mention in the yearbook at all), but boy howdy, have they snapped some fabulous images of day-to-day life.

 

Being With You, Being With You

source: Always Home by Frank Coffey
source: Always Home by Frank Coffey

Sharp-suited Sgt Franklin Williams enjoyed being on leave (and sharing a treat) with his best girl, Ellen Hardin, in Baltimore, 1942.

Trotting At Ollie Trout’s Trailer Park

Miami, FL 1938 "This Fabulous Century" Time Life
Miami, FL 1938

Slow dancing, swaying to the music at a pre-war Sunshine State trailer park sounds Grrrrr-REAT to me right about now. This January weather does not suit me.

Cold + windy = evil

The bystanders look bored to tears, or just plain miffed. Maybe they ran out of rum?

MiamiFlorida1938006

Secrets Of A Parson, Part II

LifeFeb41Window-058Never catch a sister unawares: the first ministerial lesson to be learned. Perhaps most brothers were at office jobs while Dr. Briggs made his daily round of pastoral visits to (mostly female) parishioners. To prevent a surprise visit, he would park his sweet 1930s ride in front of each home and faux tinker with the car to give housekeepers time to tidy up. That’s a thoughtful, if not exhausted, parson. It’s the little things that make a difference.

And on a purely aesthetic note, isn’t this a gem of a literal window inside the life of a person in 1941? So warm and serene in the home, so placid and white with snow outside. How comforting it must have been to know someone thought enough of you to drive to see you each day. Even a kind word from a milk man or mailman must have made the day of someone confined to his home. I have read that as you age, you begin to feel invisible, and just a gesture of conversation could serve to validate your existence. I raise my coffee mug to each of you today, validating your worth and purpose in existence!

 

New York’s Bowery 1935

from "This Fabulous Century" Time Life Books
from “This Fabulous Century” Time Life Books

A dollar could go a long way in 1935. A haircut, a shave, and goulash–only 50¢!

from "This Fabulous Century" Time Life Books
from “This Fabulous Century” Time Life Books