Friday, January 3, 2014

Sepia Saturday: Open Door Policy

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.




The first Sepia Saturday prompt of the new year inspires any number of responses:  buses, dams, men in white coats.  However, it is the open doors of the tour bus that reminded me of a photo that captures a very sweet moment between brother and sister.

Mary Eleanor Davis Slade and Orvin Davis Jr. 1929 Shenandoah, Virginia
Mary Eleanor Davis and Orvin Davis, Jr.
1929 Shenandoah, Virginia











My mother’s older brother is propping her up to look out the car window (offering an interesting look at the inside of the car, by the way).  Momma was likely less than a year old, so the year was 1929.  When she was born that January 6th, her brother looked at her and declared she was “cuter than a pup.” 


Mary Eleanor Davis Slade about 1948 Dayton, Virginia
Mary Eleanor Davis on the left



She was still cuter than a pup many years later when she stepped out of a car while a student at Shenandoah College

. . .  







just moments after her friend got caught making an adjustment.  



The bus to Sepia Saturday is leaving, so hop on – my friends will be ready to open the door for you.




© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

39 comments:

  1. Great photos Wendy! How cute that first one is of your mom and her older brother. And, as you pointed out, a very interesting look inside that classic car. Is that a front seat folded forward that I see?

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    1. Hi Jana, I think it is the front seat folded forward. The floor looks rather dangerous though, don't you think?

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  2. There is just no privacy when a camera is around! That poor woman's momentary adjustment is now being kept in perpetuity...perhaps it is a good thing that we don't even know her name...

    Your mom had a sweet big brother!

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    1. Yes, no privacy at all. I have known people to change clothes behind an opened car door -- glad there were no cameras!

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  3. Great photos! The tour bus on the Sepia Saturday ticket reminds me of he grand touring cars that once toured folks around Glacier National Park. There is still one on display...how stunning to tour the Highway to the Sun in one of those cool touring cars.

    Have you figured out what is behind the front seat of the car with your mom and uncle?
    Happy Saturday!

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    1. Marey, I think it's the seat itself. The striped material throws me off -- looks like a slipcover, not at all what I expected of early auto upholstery.

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  4. Oh yes, very much cuter than a pup! I really like that second photo of her grown up, and the automobiles in the photo, are very fascinating. You always have the best family photos to share, it simple inspires me!

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    1. Oh Karen, you're too much! Thank-you though.

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  5. Great photos with an interesting theme: open car doors. Imaginatively clever. I like the friend's hairstyle in the second picture. She looked very chic. Just goes to show though - however elegant we may appear in one photo, that can quickly change! :->

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    1. Yes, the friend looks rather Hollywood-ish. Love their shoes.

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  6. Sometimes a photographer intrudes upon a moment that is not intended to become public, but does anyway. Love the first photo!

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    1. My mother seems to be giving the photographer the evil eye.

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  7. I think what we see through the door is the front seat upturned to allow access to the back as this car has only two doors. The seat is hinged on the front bottom edge. The next two photos would be ordinary cellphone snaps in today's college world. Now they can become viral on the sepia web!

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    1. Mike, I agree - looks like the seat was folded forward. But that hinge mechanism looks like trouble!

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    1. Yep -- sometimes there just isn't anything to say but "here's a picture ...."

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  9. The lady doing the adjustment would have preferred to see herself in the first photo, I'm sure.

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  10. The more i see of these old car photos the more I miss them !

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    1. I'm glad for auto museums and antique car clubs.

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  11. ‘Cuter than a pup’ is high praise indeed from a brother. That’s a lovely photo to have.

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    1. That IS high praise -- my uncle always had a dog for as long as I knew him.

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  12. Those photos are classic! (I'd say as cute as a pup! ;) )

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  13. Indeed, indeed, cuter than a pup! Great, sweet photos.

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  14. How cute those photos are! :)

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  15. the photo of your mother and brother in the car is adorable!

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  16. What apt photographs for this week's prompt and the first one in particular is so lovely.

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    1. I like that photo too because of the little baby bonnet. So cute.

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  17. All old photos are full of information, but old photos which have not been carefully psed and framed such as these, always seem to be overflowing with information . The inconsequential of 50 years ago is the fascinating of today. Happy New Year Wendy.

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    1. I wonder what people will make of "selfies" 50 years from now.

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  18. Awww, that is so nice. Real brotherly love. And she was definitely cuter than a pup!

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  19. Appropriate timing since today was your mother's birthday. Great photos!

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    1. Thanks for noticing the birthday connection!

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