Saturday Snapshots: June 23, 2012

 

"It is never too late to have a happy childhood." ~ Tom Robbins 

{Three fashionably attired 1940s ladies stand, charmingly, from shortest to tallest in front of a wonderful wood-paneled car.}

{The year was 1931 and this young gal (who's peplum blouse would be entirely in fashion this season) was all smiles as she posed with a roadside fruit stand in the shape of a big orange located in Placerville, California.}

{With summer now officially underway once more, I couldn't let the first Saturday Snapshots of the season roll past without including at least one fantastic vintage beach shot. This particular image was taken on the sandy shores of Rockaway Beach, New York, in 1950.}

{Looking, every one of them, as though they could have just walked off a Hollywood movie set, a beautiful couple and their new baby pose for a studio portrait in this captivating image from the 1930s.}

{Classic saddle shoes, a velvet collared coat, and a darling little dog all add extra interest to this lovely 1940s image.}

{Happy party goers dance the night away in fashionable dresses and smart suits. I wonder if there was a live band or if they were tapping their toes to some of the hottest records of the day?}

{A young 1940s gal stands in front of the open door of a sedan, her headscarf and classic attire - completely unbeknownst to her at the time - inspiring generations of vintage loving gals for the rest of time with her sweetly pretty look.}

{Like countless youngsters over the years, this darling little 1950s fellow and I both had red tricycles when we were growing up.}

 

{From the ruffled pinafore dress to her beautiful smile and sparking eyes, this 1940s gal is the kind of woman you just know you could have been close friends with.}

 

{While the photographer may not have intended such, there is an interesting quality to the way in which the two babies here are positioned directly in front of their grandparents, starkly highlighting the passing of time as one budding generation emerges and another takes quietly takes a backseat on the journey of life.}


{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective Flickr page.} ♥ ♥ ♥

Several years ago I stumbled upon today's quote by American novelist Tom Robbins and was instantly, soul-grabbingly impacted by how deeply it resonated with me. Like a good number of people, I find that my childhood was often a strange paradox of sorts. There were beautiful, happy times - moments that I look back on and wax poetically over, and then there was the other side of the coin. The dark, terrible, frightening, awful days that I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy, and which will linger with me like eerie specters for all of my days.

I do not like to dwell on negativity and sadness, and know that there are plenty of people out there who are also survivors of their own traumatic upbringings. In my early twenties I found myself drawn to elements that captured some of the youthful spirit of my long lost girlhood. I collected dolls and various other toys, coloured much of my world pink, and let a part of me that had grown old too soon experience youth once more.

This, I've come to learn, is by no means uncommon and many young women today, even those who had excellent, cheerful upbringings often enjoy reliving some of their childhood passions as they venture into adulthood.

While I still love toys and many of the things I did as a little girl, these days I no longer feel quite the same need to surround myself with a world focuses quite so much on these elements. I know that they are a part of me and who I am, no matter if I collect them still or not.

Recently I was setting up and organizing some craft supplies in my basement with my mom and in the course of our conversation, I said something along the lines of that, "while I'm an old soul in my ways, another part of me feels still feels like I'm 13". This was more confessional than I realized until the worlds left my lips, as I'd been thinking for many years that I was the odd (wo)man out for feeling this way. Much to my surprise and delight, my mother replied by saying, "that never goes away, I feel the same way, too".

I believe that through circumstance or choice, some people do loose touch with their inner child, but have come to realize over the years that many more - like myself and my mom - do not. I just didn't know for sure until that point that there were others adults who still felt like part of themselves had always remained a childlike in some ways.

Whether one is ten, thirty, sixty, or a hundred, I adamantly believe that it's a positive thing to keep our inner children alive and having a blast. This doesn't mean we should act immature of course, but rather that there is is no need to shake off ever last vestige our youth in order to thrive as adults. In fact, I'd say that retaining some of who were were as a children is an essential part of enjoying our grown-up years.

So, sweet friends, if your own youth was something quite distant from a bed of roses, and you've often wished such had not been the case, I encourage you to take Mr. Robbins' words to heart. Say hello to the kid still residing deep inside of you, and create the the kind of life for yourself nowadays that you would have loved to have lived as a child.

If you need any help, just come look me up, I'll be the adult on the swing set in the pink dress, reading an old Nancy Drew book.