Friday, May 16, 2014

Sepia Saturday: Women and Children First

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



This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is a woman and child at the beach, possibly collecting shells.  Thanks to my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker’s photo album, I have a number of pictures of women and children at the beach.  However, if they combed the beach for tiny treasures to fill a bag, there’s no evidence of it. 
















As was typical for Helen, she left me no solid clues as to the identities of these women or children.  I suspect the older women in white are at Ocean View in Virginia, probably around 1918-21.

















If you’re looking for little treasures, I invite you to follow the women and children to Sepia Saturday.



© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

34 comments:

  1. But these photos are ‘little treasures’ in their own right, each capturing a moment in time when a proud mother, aunt or grandmother hugged or cuddled a child on a special family outing.

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    1. You are so right. This post is too late for Mothers Day, but it does look like a Mothers Day blog post.

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  2. Lovely pictures of lovely moments - regardless of names or places.

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    1. I love the flowy dresses -- looks breezy.

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  3. Snap! It is nice to see photos of people enjoying themselves at Ocean View!

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  4. I assume that the dark garment in the first photo is a bathing dress. Swimming would be awfully difficult when wearing something like that.

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    1. I imagine those old suits were very heavy when wet.

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  5. I wonder how many people swam vs how many people drowned in those awful swimming costumes. But on the other hand, enjoyment of the beach has obviously been around a long time.

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    1. I would think those swimdresses were like anchors. I hope people stayed very close to shore in shallow water.

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  6. I used to love exploring and collecting things at the beach - now so many of ours are 'protected' and we aren't supposed to take pebbles or shells away.

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    1. I used to collect little shells and sticks too but our beach doesn't have lovely shells anymore, mostly broken bits of shells.

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  7. There is a story behind these lovely photographs of mothers and children enjoying the beach. .

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  8. Those two women carrying children don't really look too happy to be there, but perhaps they had to keep watching other children while posing, and it's interesting how the dog is just partially in the picture.

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    1. Ha, true - or maybe they're squinting into the sun.

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  9. It makes me wonder - who took the photos? Did ladies wield cameras as often as gentlemen? :-)

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    1. Good question! Maybe if I knew WHO took the picture, I might discover WHO these women and children were.

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  10. We always search the beaches for unusual shells and fossils. No men in your photos - perhaps they are taking the shots.

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    1. I used to collect shells at the beach as a kid, but I don't recall ever KEEPING them. They must have been left at the beach or tossed when we got home and grew tired of them.

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  11. Nice photos, that you are fortunate to have...is that a dog in the second photo, rooting for?

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  12. I grew up a walk away from Ocean View, VA, so especially loved these photos! Women always looked elegant back in the "old days." Probably hot and uncomfortable... but they looked nice! :)

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    1. What a coincidence then. Thanks for stopping by. I agree: those white dresses look cool and breezy but I bet those days were hot and sticky.

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  13. You are lucky to have these treasures!

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  14. The last photo could be a beautiful painting...I love the beach...and would have loved to be there with the wind blowing my long dress :)
    Happy Saturday!

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    1. That thin gauzy fabric does look cool but I wonder if they were still hot.

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  15. The sea in the first photo is so calm - it looks like a lovely day. The people in the background are interesting. I wonder what they're sitting on? And are they connected to the woman and children?

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    1. Yeah, I wondered about those people too. I have no answers -- just more questions.

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  16. Even though Helen didn't leave any solid clues about who these women and children were, they are wonderful pictures! It's so neat to see pictures from this era so we can see their outfits, shoes, etc. How fun!

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    1. I love seeing those clothes and bathing suits.

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