This week’s Sepia Saturay prompt photograph shows a man in a seaside setting, sitting alone against railings. Cue more of my photographs with railings as the back drop.
I bought this postcard online years ago and kept waiting on an opportunity to use it on Sepia Saturday I was drawn by the attractive pose and by the realisation that the girl’s sailor hat and the lifebaod both state “HMS Pinafore” – the name of a Gilbrt and Sullivan operetta and I am a great G & S fan. The postcard is franked 1906. HMS Pinafore or “The Lass who loved a Sailor” opened in 1878 at the Opera Comique in London and ran for 571 performances - the second longest run of any musical theatre event at the time. It poked good natured humour at the British class system, love between members of different social status, pagtriotism and the Royal Navy.
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More family images with a watery and railing backcloth.
I am a Blackpudlian, born in this seaside resort on the north west coast of England. Its tower, built in 1894, was modelled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. and rises to 520 feet - facts drummed into us at school. My parents met at the famous Tower Ballroom. Until the 19th century, Blackpool was just a small hamlet. It rose to prominence with the building of the railway linking it to the mill towns of industrial Lancashire and Yorkshire and soon became England's most popular holiday resort. Its unique Illuminations were first switched on in 1879.
Below my mother, with her youngest sister and a friend I knew as Auntie Phyliss enjoying Blackpool Open Air Swimming Baths at South Shore in the late 1920s.
The Baths opened in 1923 when open air lidos were all the rage.
I remember Mum taking my brother and I there for a swim - unfortunately there are no photographs of the day. As it involved a bus and a tram journey to get there, I can't ever remember going again. But, you needed to be hardy in all but the best of weathers, as the water was notoriously cold.
n that 1950's and 60's, the Baths was a popular venue for international and national beauty contests and the location for celebrity photographs. But holidaymakers were heading abroad and becoming used to the waters of warmer climes. Use dropped and the Baths became a big white elephant. It was demolished in 1983 to make way for the Sandcastle indoor water complex. But for sixty years it remained an iconic image of its era.
Forty years on in September 1966, I returned home from a year's working in
the USA, travelling aboard the Cunard liner "Sylvania" from New York,
calling at Boston and Cobh, Ireland, before reaching
Liverpool. The ship, small by today's cruise ship standards, was very
quiet and I was lucky to get a cramped 4 berth cabin all to myself.
Goodness knows how four adults could have managed in the space, without
someone being perched on top of their bunk. Commercial
jet planes services were hitting the transatlantic
scheduled shipping and the Liverpool-New York sailings were axed in November
after my return. Below approaching Ireland.
On another 20 years and back to Blackpool, with my daughter on the North Pier. Judging by our clothes, this photo was probably taken in the October half term break when we visited relations in the town - and viewed the famous Illuminations.
Happy memories of our holidays in Austria - here on the Wolfgangsee , near Salzburg.
And Finally - Back to my time in "HMS Pinafore" in Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group chorus. I am sitting immediately in front of our conductor - in a very pale pink dress. I loved the whole experience!
Great post with a double match to the prompt - beaches and railings, and all pictures really neat choices. Did you fly over to the U.S. when you first came, and then sail home? Or did you sail both ways? After our experience sailing from Alaska to Vancouver, I've wanted to sail somewhere again. I loved the ship experience. Of course we were on a Princess Line cruise with all the amenities! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gail for your comment. I flew to Boston on my journey to the States, and don’t think I considered any other way then. Returning home a year later, the idea of flying via Iceland and a few days there was a popular choice at the time, and appealed. but sailing won out and was a completely new experience for
ReplyDeleteme - plus my trunk came with me. My father met the ship in Liverpool and we got the train back to Edinburgh - and home.
What a lovely post on the theme. I loved all your shots against railings! Right on point!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful selection of seaside photos matching the prompt. I love Auntie Phyliss's shoes! So interesting to see Blackpool over the generations. And the Austria photos are just great -- especially now that travel is limited.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job finding all these photos in your family collection to go with the theme. Makes me realize how much work I need to do getting mine labeled and tagged better.
ReplyDeleteWonderful mix of photos and stories. I loved your first postcard. I've learned that whenever a costume or pose seems unusual or unexpected in an old photo, there's likely a connection to a current fashion like a popular musical.
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