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Saturday 1 October 2016

Family Fashions for a Car Drive - Sepia Saturday: Here To There 1

With  Travel and Transport this month's theme from Sepia Saturday, I take a look here at the fashions worn by my family when out in the car. 



  
No fashion with my first photograph, but it is such a good image and story. This is my cousin's first ever car - a 1932 Morris Minor. It was the only car he ever had where he made a profit when he sold it, He bought it in 1958 for £20 and sold it a year later for £30! The photograph is taken near Inverary in the west of Scotland on the Rest and Be Thankful road, - notorious for landslips, snow and road closed warnings!



 

My  Dad, John Weston (on the left) with his brother Charles. I was delighted to get this photograph from my cousin,  as it  is one of the few photographs I have of my father prior to his marriage in 1938  to my mother Kathleen Danson.   John and Charles were close as  brothers and often went on motoring trips together. Here looking very suave in a smart casual style of the day.  c.1936  Can anyone name the make of car? 


My elegant mother by a much more impressive looking car  -again can anyone name the makeI suspect this was taken around 1937, before my parents married. Take a look at Mum;s fashionable shoes and that pancake hat!   



My cousin's little son, learning to drive at an early age!  My brother had a very similar pedal car - but no photographs appear to have been taken.  Boys clothes seldom change - T-short and shorts  remain standard wear.  

You  can just make out the car here, behind my brother in a typical 1950's boy's outfit.   But why on earth was he photographed amongst all that litter (not created by our picnic, I am sure)  My father was a sales representative for the  firm which manufactured the popular drink Lucozade and I think  Chris was demonstrating it here for a mock advert.  

 
Another picnic with the car as the backcloth c.1957 - I have graduated from pigtails to ponytail for my hair style, and am wearing a dress with  the then popular style of peter pan collar.  My mother seems to be in  a formal light coloured coat which would seem odd now for a picnic.   

Fast forward to 1968 (this photograph was dated)  - I am surprised that my father allowed someone to sit on the ca.
Same car, same year and a happy photograph of my Dad.

 
Outside our home in Edinburgh and my mother smartly dressed for, I suspect)  a Sunday drive.



Mum with her sister, my Aunt Edith - same car and in the background the faint image of  Forth Rail Bridge (built 1882 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and  in the foreground the Forth Road Bridge. Even  for a causal drive out, it was  hat, court shoes, gloves and large handbag.  My mother must have been around 60 years old at this time - what  a contrast to casual wear today, even for 60 years old's plus    
Sunday afternoon pften meant we drove out  to  see the building  of the Forth Road Bridge.    Before then,  you had to join the queue at South Quensferry to cross the River Forth on a ferry, first  established by Queen Margaret of Scotland in the 11th century to transport pilgrims to Dunfermline Abbey and St. Andrew's . The  opening  in 1964 by the Queen of the  1.6 mile Road Bridge  - at the time the longest suspension bridge outside the USA - was a major event in Scottish transport linking Edinburgh with the north east of the country.  

(I always like adding a bit of trivia history to a post!) 



I have shown this photograph before on my blog, but it fits my theme of cars and fashion  so well.  This was my husband's first car - a silver grey Ford Escort, bought just a few weeks before we first met in 1970. He was always proud of his cars and looked after them well.   This brings back memories of our engagement. It must have been love, that he actually suggested I sat on top of the car for this photograph - not something he has allowed since!  But note  the thoughtful touch of the tartan rug.  I am in fashion with my miniskirt, peter pan collar, and 1970's striped  coat!  

 

By 1972 we had graduated to a bronze Ford Cortina and this reminds me of the time when we were planning for the birth of our daughter - so a larger car was called for with room for the pram and all the baby paraphernalia etc.   This photograph was taken  near  Smailholm Tower in the Scottish Borders. I am wearing a pinafore dress that was all the rage then. 



I know  - showing off in my mini skirt!  c.1970.   Those large dark framed specs are back in fashion now.


HERE to see how other Sepia Saturday bloggers head  Here and There
 with this month's theme   



10 comments:

  1. A great combination of photos of cars & fashions of the different eras. But you're right - how things have changed over the years . . . especially in the way we dress. So less formal. I'm not sure that's ALL good, but certainly more comfortable & practical.

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  2. Oh this was fun! I'm realizing how few pictures we have of our past cars. And like you, when I look at the oldest photos with cars, I'm curious about the makes and models.

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  3. Thanks for the fashion road trip - that was fabulous, fashion in clothes and car styles.

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  4. I love seeing the similarities in our lives, and the differences too! The history remarks are really helpful in that way. I wouldn't know much about Scotland otherwise! We did Sunday drives all through my early years (40s-50s) and yes, still wore our church clothes as well! Not as many pics of the clothes we wore though...but I think I will do a SS post about cars in my life also!

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  5. Very fun post and great photos, the cars and the fashions are so evocative of their times.

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  7. Your family clearly like sitting on cars! I like the one of you perching there model-style and also the last one, showing off your legs. I might graduate from bikes to cars in my next post.

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    1. ps. Sunday drives were a popular family activity when I was a child too. Not so popular with us children though - "Mum, Do we have to??"

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  8. Thank you to everyone for their kind comments. It was a fun post to write. Like Barbara, I enjoy reading the similarities and differences in our lives. And, yes, Jo, I can't say my brother and I were always enthusiastic about yet another Sunday outing in the car, but looking back it was a change of scenery for my mother who didn't drive.

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  9. What a wonderful theme this is. It reminds me of how many cars are in the photos I have of my ancestors and immediate family. You've given me food for thought for posts on my blog. Thank you. I really enjoyed this post.

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