A man standing by his car features in the latest prompt photograph from Sepia Saturday. Where to start! Photographs below are from my local history group Auld Earlston and my family collection with vehicles for work and leisure.
From Auld Earlston
The baker's van
From Baker to Butcher - with a rather rickety looking vehicle
belonging to the Donaldson family business in Earlston - no relation!
Andrew Taylor & Sons, Ironmonger & Grocer in Earlston,
- listed in a Directory of 1931.
From My Family Collection
I am now in my 11th year of blogging, and inevitably I am repeating some images that I have featured before - but these fit the prompt so well - beginning with a band of brothers.
My Dad, John Weston (on the left) with his younger 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 to my mother
in 1938 and it means a lot to me. 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.
My father was the first on either side of the family to drive a car, which was part of his work as a commercial traveller.
My parents with my Aunt Fran in the middle, with my brother and I - c.1949. I have my pigtails pinned on top of my head, Austrian style. Presumably Uncle Fred, Dad's older brother was taking the photograph.
Onto the 1960s. A happy picture of my father with his eldest brother Fred.
Another happy photograph of my father
My elegant mother, c.1937
Outside our home in Edinburgh c.1964. my mother would be 56 years old, dressed
formally in hat, gloves and court shoes, for I suspect a Sunday afternoon drive with my father. A very different fashion style to today's casual looks
Why
on earth was my brother photographed amongst all that dreadful litter (not
created by our picnic, I am sure)? My father was a sales
representative for the firm which manufactured the popular energy drink
Lucozade and I think Chris was demonstrating it here for a mock
advert.
My brother again (the tiny tot in the earlier photograph) with his pride and joy.
Pity I cut off the car bonnet from the image!
1972 and into married life. We had just graduated from a Ford Escort to a bronze Ford Cortina, in anticipation of the birth of our daughter. A larger car was called for, with room for a pram and other baby paraphernalia as we visited both sets of parents and other relations.
The
car daughter and I hired on our trip to New England in 1996 - my first
visit there since I had spent a year working in Cambridge, Mass thirty years earlier. This was in Falmouth, Cape Cod where we stayed in this
wonderful cottage and made a trip on a most beautiful Autumn day
sailing across to Martha's Vineyard.
Lots of happy family memories in a nostalgic post!
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What a great set of pictures. I don't remember any pictures of cars from my parents.
ReplyDeleteMy father had the same leaning to take photos of people by his cars...though my mom didn't want any pics of herself! I enjoyed these, and yes I remembered a few of them from past blogs...I did the same!
ReplyDeleteSuch a lot of car poses. I remember a few in my collection but I guess we weren't so proud of our cars.
ReplyDeleteA neat set of pictures of family and their cars! I remember some of them from other posts, but what the hey - I don't see anything wrong with seeing them again. In fact I kind of like it when I see a picture someone has used in their post before. I smile and think "Oh, I remember this one." It's kind of like meeting a friend you haven't seen in a while. :) And I still marvel that we both had brown Fords around the same time - except we got our tan Ford Maverick because our Datson station wagon had been damaged in an auto accident. :)
ReplyDeleteSo many types of cars. I favor the sporty.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great collection of vehicles. Really gives an idea how cars sort of became "family members" (perhaps still do - I just never had one of my own...)
ReplyDeleteWhere to begin? These photos are all excellent. I love the beige camper and the butcher, baker and ironmonger-grocer vans. You are fortunate to have so many family vehicle photos in your collection!
ReplyDeleteA fine set, and as NG says, it's nice to see a photo that we remember seeing before. Your first three photos fit into the occupational automobile genre when tradesmen stood next to their loyal working steed. The other car photos are different as the car now becomes a vehicle for either recreation or enthusiast. It's interesting how similar they are to American family photos. My personal theory is that a high majority of family car photos are taken moments before someone is about to depart on a trip.
ReplyDeleteI know the blog is about cars, but it was the lovely smiles of your father, uncle and brother that stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your kind comments - very much appreciated,
ReplyDelete