Saturday Snapshots: March 9, 2013

{I've come across a fair number of vintage class/student group photos in my time, but I really do believe this is one of my absolute favourites. It's not uncommon for sports teams take group snaps, but it's not everyday you see one with a row of super charming 1940s cheerleaders in the front.}




{Though certainly not the famed evangelist of the same moniker, this darling little youngster, photographed on August 5, 1949, was named Billy Graham. I just love the fact that the woman - I'd venture to guess young Billy's mother - face was partially captured on the right hand side of this photo. It adds such an endearing note of real world relate-ability to it.}




{What catch my eye in particular about this lovely side profile shot of a 1940s young woman is the fact that she looks like a lot of people I’ve known over the years, yet no one name jumps out. I've encountered this before with vintage (and even Victorian) photographs, and always enjoy it when I do.}




{It's always a treat to find pictures with subject matter that hasn't been touched on before in past editions of Saturday Snapshots, and this photo from 1954 falls squarely into that camp. In it we see three people (identified as member of either the Sheridan or O'Brien family) from the Irish Traveller community getting ready to enjoy a teatime meal at their campsite at Loughrea, Co. Galway.}




{Cuteness - and vivid colour - abounds in this darling forties snapshot of a little girl practising a dance routine in full costume at home in what appears to be likely be a living or rec room.}




{Photos of yesteryear folks strolling down the sidewalk are one of my favourite kinds of vintage photos. They're usually quite candid and often show numerous outfits in one go. Here for example, we see three (most likely European ladies, as the person who posted this shot said that they bought this image from in France) ladies in outfits that scream of the effects of wartime austerity and rationing to me. I don't say this negatively of course, don't get me wrong, I just mean that you could tell, even if that photo wasn’t dated, that we're looking at the early 40s from the style of the garments and hats they're wearing.}




{This may go without saying, but I absolutely adore this woman's dress! It's an interesting photo, because she strikes me as being a bit older than the fellow whose waist she has her arm around. There's not overtly romantic about the way they're posed, so it's possible that the two were mother and son, sister and brother, cousins, or perhaps husband and wife after all (and she was, or just looked, older than him).}




{Though winter is still a blaring here for the most part, I can't help but think of toasty summer days spent in the great outdoors again already, such as that enjoyed by these two ladies in the late 1940s. No background info as to the location is provided for this photo, but it certainly looks like a beautiful spot wherever they were.}

{You just know this suave 1930s chap gave old school cool a whole new kind of meaning.}

{In a photo called "Doris and Buddy" we see an absolutely beautiful young 1940s gal (how much do you love her hair?) and an energetic terrier posing for a quick snap before, I highly suspect, this lively pup speed off somewhere like a shot.}


{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.}




♥ ♥ ♥

Before this month is up, spring will return - if only on the paper that our calendars are printed on - once more. At present, on the second day of March, many of us still have scenes outside of our windows that would rival any depicted on a Christmas card, whereas a lucky few are starting to see the very first subtle signs of the season that lays ahead (and, of course, those in the Southern Hemisphere are gearing up to soon head into autumn).

For many in Canada, spring is something of mythical being. We're very familiar with the general concept, and have perhaps spotted fleeting glances of it before, but have rarely had a chance to stair it straight in the eyes. Often times it seems as though we hop from -30C to +30C faster than a slap shot goal, with nary so much as a crocus, chirping robin, or balmy Sunday picnic to mark the transition from winter to summer.

Instead we're bombarded with rain, rain and more rain for a few very short weeks between bone chillingly cold and mind blowingly hot. Of course some areas of the country see more of the elusive creature that is spring than others, but no matter where you go in this vast, marvelous land, it can be mighty tricky to unearth a picturesque spring.

Slush? We've got that in spades! If slush was a tradable commodity, our country's GDP would skyrocket overnight! Indeed, as March wears on, it will soon seem as though nearly every last corner of this nation is covered in a coating of dingy grey leftover snow that seems to soak every last inch of the outside world.

Nevertheless, instead of bumming me out, I (glass half full kind of gal that I tend to be) prefer to simply look at the slush and rain as signs that Mother Nature is revamping herself again. Getting ready to deliver those sublimely beautiful days of late May and June, followed by the sizzling, crazy heat of summer.

Would I love to have a spring that was littered with gentle sunlight, perfectly verdant (dry!) gardens, and appealingly warm breezes? Of course I would, but I'm a realist (and a Canadian), and I know that such a thing isn't terribly likely to happen anytime soon.

No matter, there is much more to spring (however short-lived it may appear) than just the weather. This is a season for new beginnings, the first fresh locally grown produce since last autumn (with the local farmer's market returning come May 1st), kite flying, gardening (for those with gardens, that is), Easter celebrations, mapping out summer plans, longer hours of daylight, and - one glorious morning, quite often when we least expect it - the ability forgo our heavy winter coat when we get dressed and instead lovingly bring our favourite springtime fashions out of hibernation once more.

Is spring my very favourite season of the year? No, but as with each season, there are oodles of reasons why I love it and why I couldn't imagine a world without March, April, and May - no matter how much slush, rain, yo-yoing temperatures, and unpredictable weather they may entail.