Sepia Saturday 225: 26 April 2014



Alan from Sepia Saturday says:

Ah, I remember it well. Get out your smart threads, polish up your brogues, stand around that imposing jukebox and spin those old favourites : "Summer Holiday", "V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N", or maybe "Viva Espana". Yes, it can only mean one thing : I am about to go on holiday again. But, worry not, who is looking after things whilst I am away but my fellow administrator - Marilyn. And the theme image Marilyn has chosen for Sepia Saturday 225 (post your posts on or around Saturday 26 April 2014) shows a group of smart young things stood around a jukebox. If you are theming this week there are endless possibilities - jukeboxes, music, the 1950s are just a few suggestions. All you have to do is to post your post, link your link, and visit your sepia friends. Easy-peasy ...... itsy-bitsy, yellow polka-dot bikini (control yourself, Alan)

I'm finding it very hard to stay on theme this week from my own collection.  All I have are awful debutante photos from my mother's collection which I know the girls would not want me to share they all look so unutterably miserable and the gowns are too frightful.

I have a photo of my uncle with the short back and sides I suppose.  But he died before 1950 so that's no good.


Ted Conner d. 1948

Then I have this funny slide of a group of my father's student friends all on a field trip checking out places - this one is of Canberra....they all have short back and sides too I suppose...


The view from Red Hill Canberra 1956

A view can be a kind of a juke-box can't it?  No, not really.

So I had to turn to Flickr and got these....









For some reason they leave me feeling kind of sad...no-one looks really happy to me....they all look miserable.

Beautiful, but wishing for something that isn't there.  Or am I just projecting....?  What do you think?  

It's those wretched streamers, that's what it is....they remind me of people leaving on cruise ships, going away to have a fabulous time...

Passenger Cruise Ship Terminal Sydney c1960


Don't say goodbye to the 1950s just yet...check out other interpretations here.


Comments

Anonymous said…
I was interested to see the Andover Prom 1950 with the lass front and centre with a large collared dress. Were they called shawl collars ? Any way Australia must have been leading the fashion field as I had a similar dress in 1948, a bridesmaid's dress, in gold lame with an oval brooch in the centre. The skirt was gathered but didn;t have the peplums at the sides. A circlet of red roses in my hair . Unfortunately I didn't fill out the dress so nicely the way this lass does !
La Nightingail said…
I don't think the dancers were unhappy necessarily - maybe a little uncomfortable is all. A lot of guys didn't really know how to dance - just kind of shuffled around. Meanwhile the girls tried hard not to step on their toes while they did all that shuffling.
Alex Daw said…
Isn't it just the most beautiful dress? Yes I think it's a shawl collar - very flattering. I do like a good frock.
Sharon said…
That first Flickr photo made me smile. I remember going to school "socials" and everyone sitting around the outside. Everyone wanted to dance but no one wanted to be first up!

Great photos, I love the dresses! My parents would get dressed up like this before they were married.
Alex Daw said…
I like your thoughts La Nightingail....unsure of themselves probably hits the nail on the head.
Alex Daw said…
I'm so pleased you remembered the word "social". I say that and people say "A what?"...."social" must have been an Australian term.
Alex Daw said…
I like the dress in the last photo...very pretty.
Wendy said…
Maybe the people at the dance were too busy counting the steps to smile. They surely looked spiffy in their gowns and tuxedos though.
diane b said…
I remember the streamers and farewelling the ships going back to the old country.
Anonymous said…
Love the beanies on the group at Red Hill Lookout. The dancers certainly all look very serious.
Today's fashion designers could take a lesson from these dresses. They still look good today. Well, maybe they don't to today's teens!
Barbara
Brett Payne said…
All the dressing up is not my cup of tea, but nice to see the photos.

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