Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt is a humorous scene
of a towel-bedecked man unaware that he is about to be tickled by a mischievous
woman. A similar scene took place in 1949
in Cullman, Alabama, only that time the man caught unaware was my father, and
the mischief-maker was no woman.
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| Left: Fred Slade ; Right: unknown friend at St. Bernard's College spring 1949 |
Daddy was then a student at St. Bernard’s College. It must have been a good day to catch some rays while studying for a big test. Look at all those books and notebooks. He graduated from the junior college and went on to the University of Virginia, so apparently he suffered no brain damage from getting clobbered with a shoe.
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| It is funny to see Daddy (left) wearing a necklace. I never saw him wear any jewelry except a watch. |
The same can’t be said for the mouse that got into our upstairs bedroom in the mid 1960s. My sister and I were in our beds; Daddy, still dressed from work, was reading and waiting for us to go to sleep. Then suddenly BAM! THUD! BLAM!
Downstairs Momma and Grandma came running thinking
someone had fallen. But no, it was just Daddy
throwing his shoes at the mouse. It took
a couple tries ….
Who needs a cat when you have a man wearing Wingtips?
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| Wingtips are no joke. They are HEAVY shoes! |
To see what mischief my friends are up to, please visit
Sepia Saturday.
I never knew what those types of shoes were called, they look quite substantial. It's great to see parents having fun.
ReplyDeleteThose are substantial shoes. If I were a man wearing them, I'd take them off before weighing.
DeleteNo gun needed, our Daddy packed a wingtip.
ReplyDeleteLethal!
DeleteWhat a fun post! I can just picture your dad throwing those shoes!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Yeah, Great White Hunter with a wingtip.
DeleteI hope your weekend is relaxing and fun too.
Well, all I can say is ‘Great Minds Think Alike’ and whilst not a proverb is a true observation. Not only did we both feature mice in our posts, but we are nestling next to each ther in Mr Linky. Your father had the best solution!
ReplyDeleteI thought the same when I read your blog. Whodathunk?
DeleteYour father & his friend were pretty good-lookin' dudes! And jewelry was big for guys as well as gals back then. We had a mouse once who stole our cat's food at night. Now that's teasing! We finally did away with the mouse though not with a shoe, but when we moved we found all that filched cat food stuffed into one of my son's boots in his closet, & the rest in the hollow section of my sewing machine!
ReplyDeleteI know -- his friend would fit right in with the surfing crowd today, don't you think?
DeleteAs for your mouse story, may I just say, YUCK!
Wendy, I had never heard of wingtip. Though heavy they look good. Thanks for sharing this post.
ReplyDeleteThey are handsome shoes, very much in style for the businessman. Timeless, really.
DeleteI keep saying this, but honestly Wendy, I am totally amazed at the wonderful pictures that you have! You are so lucky to be the designated "keeper of the photos."
ReplyDeleteI'm greedy though -- I always think I don't have nearly enough, or maybe just not the right ones.
DeleteOf Mice and Men?
ReplyDelete“Trouble with mice is you always kill 'em.”
Now that's a good book and good story. I found it much easier to read than to watch on the silver screen.
DeleteA great story...stories...to go with the 'prompt picture'. I remember Wingtips...although my Dad NEVER owned a pair...Tony Lama did not make Wingtip Cowboy Boots! Again, the pictures are priceless.
ReplyDeleteSue at CollectInTexas Gal
I can imagine that wingtip design on a boot, a conservative businessman boot, but it sure wouldn't have the flair of a Tony Lama.
Delete
ReplyDeleteDo you think there might be a bit of Brylcreem in the hair ? It looks very shiny. :-}
Ha -- probably so!
DeleteThat was my thought too. Reminded me of my father, who always wore Brylcreem in his hair on work days.
DeleteI bet your father didn't get much studying done that day.
ReplyDeleteHa, maybe not.
DeleteMy son was out catching the winter sunshine in a similar fashion this afternoon in the garden. You're only young once!
ReplyDeleteI hope nobody hit him with a shoe.
DeleteMice are revolting!! Great post.
ReplyDeleteThey are, they really are.
DeleteWhat a fun post. Our cat is an excellent mouser and so there's no shoe throwing around here. Whenever he (the cat) starts pacing in front of our garage door, we know there's a mouse trying to take up residence and we let him go in and start the eviction process. Which is pretty darn serious.
ReplyDeleteYour father was very handsome. And studious.
Daddy was house trained so ....
DeleteWe had a similar experience in the wee small hours when staying with our son in London in 1993 - but it was rat that had been disturbed by the excavators next door. He couldn't catch it. He finally put the cat in and shut the door, and slept on the couch down stairs. He did catch it the next day - and put it outside - couldn't bring himself to kill it.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh -- I don't think I could have stayed in that apartment.
DeleteWendy, in the first photo you know your father's friend is trying to kill the fly on your dad's head, right? Less than a shoe would have done it but the friend grabbed the handiest thing. I'm impressed that your dad was able to kill a mouse with a shoe. Mice are usually too fast.
ReplyDeleteThere's a fly?? Really? Where? I don't see it.
DeleteYes, we're proud of the skill it took to kill a mouse with a shoe. Of course, there were black marks on my bedroom wall forever. We still refer to the wingtip whenever we need to kill something.
Your posts are always so much fun. I love how you turned it into all about shoes.
ReplyDeleteThanks - I was glad to be able to stretch the story a bit since there wasn't really much to say about either one.
DeleteShoes are a great weapon for getting rid of unwanted pests - of all types. But I wonder whether in that first picture there is a fly or some other insect crawling on your Dad's back. Whatever the story behind the photo it's a great one.
ReplyDeleteYou're the second to say this. I don't see it.
DeleteI had never heard of "Wingtips" but they are a good looking shoe and I do consider myself a shoe expert having successfully participated in a fun work challenge during July, where a few of us successfully wore a different pair of shoes every day of the month......and have photos to prove it!
ReplyDeleteNow that's a fun challenge, but I'm sure you would never have worn a wingtip since they are strictly men's fashion.
DeleteGreat set of photos and an amusing story. Wingtips are certainly no joke!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yes, they are substantial and make quite a noise if you drop them on the floor.
DeleteI have had wingtips in my life, probably my dad had a pair, for when he couldn't wear his cowboy boots, and I know my ex did too, for wearing the proper business attire. Then there were really pointed-toe ones, called cockroach stompers, so the toe would fit into corners to kill cockroaches...that's what my ex called them anyway.
ReplyDeleteHa -- never heard of cockroach stompers but a pointed shoe does fit well in a corner.
DeleteLet's hope that the fellow with the shoe hadn't just said, "Hold still, there's a hornet on your back."
ReplyDeleteRight! Maybe a simple "shoo" would be better than "shoe."
DeleteI had no idea what wingtips were, had to go and google them after reading your post, and then see if my husband has any, but no, not unless they are what he's presently wearing at work.
ReplyDeleteWell, look at me being educational!
DeleteWhat a fun post Wendy! That wingtip shoe was a pretty stylish mouse-killing device. :)
ReplyDelete