Sepia Saturday
 |
| Ella, Ivy, Maude, and Myrtle Ah, the Teal girls: my great aunts and grandmother. If I met Ivy and Myrtle once upon a time, I have no memory of those get-togethers, so either our encounters were quite forgettable, not very often, or both. It is quite a different story with Great Aunt Ella, as I have fond reminiscences of fun times together in San Francisco where shopping and lunch were high on the agenda. Since this was the 50s, we "dressed." I'm talking gloves and hats, something unheard of in today's San Francisco scene where jeans and sandals rule the day. I was skinny and bow-legged, not yet in my teens; I must have looked silly in gloves and a hat. But that was the custom when visiting The City. Quite different, as well, are my memories of Grandmother Maude. There are none, only stories told to me by my mom. I never knew Grandma as she died shortly after my mother was born, leaving Mom and Grandpa alone until a not so wonderful step mother, whom I vaguely remember as having huge horse-like front teeth that fascinated me, appeared on the scene and became a strong influence in Mom's upbringing, a childhood characterized by a lack of maternal warmth. Yet my mother turned into a wonderful person, so there must have been something positive happening. Maybe it was Grandpa's influence. How I wish I could have known her. |
Welcome to Sepia Saturday! This is a lovely photo and the girls have such suitably old-fashioned names. But how sad that your Gran died early.
ReplyDeleteMaude was the happy leader of the bunch don't you think really!!! Excellent sepia post!
ReplyDeleteYour memories with your Great Aunt Ella sound so exciting. It must have been fun to dress up.
ReplyDeleteIt is so good that your Mother had her wonderful Grandpa to guide her.
Maude and Ivy look like the Little House on the Prairie girls Mary and Laura! I love the lace collars. How sad that Maude died so young.
ReplyDeleteThere's no mistaking the family relationship in their faces. 'Cisco in the 50s in hat and gloves conjures up a scene even although I have never been there.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, wearing gloves to San Francisco. I can still remember doing that in the early 1960s. I do recall asking my mother, "Why?" and she said "Because."
ReplyDeleteMaude is the only one in the photo who looks happy.
ReplyDeletelovely girls!! i remember seeing gloves in my mom's drawers. and when i asked her about those, she answered "because!!". my mom must be related to Tattered and Lost's mom.... or it was the mentality back then... i don't recall seeing her wearing those gloves, in the '60s, but she had plenty of hats...
ReplyDelete:)~
HUGZ
I had a Great Aunt Ella, too. The only thing I can remember about her was that she told me how to file my fingernails so that I didn't have ridges in them when I got old. I've always religiously done it her way...but it didn't work.
ReplyDeleteThe Teal Sisters were a very pretty bunch of girls.
Barbara
Love the photo - the incredible detail on their clothing amazes me!
ReplyDeleteLovely photo and story!
ReplyDeleteLove the photos! Such beautiful girls as those old sepia's do not flatter a bit! Interesting tidbit about Ms. Horse teeth. A difficult relationship, step mom/ step daughter.
ReplyDeleteWhat a picture. I can't help but wonder what could be the cause of so many frowns. What are the odds that four children together would not be giggling? And I love that they all had such old-fashioned names. When was the last time you met a Myrtle?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 14, my uncle took me (visiting from the east coast), my cousin, and two of her friends to San Francisco for a couple of days in July. I took an inordinate amount of grief from the other girls because my shoes were white. "One never wears white shoes in the city, not even in summer," I was told. One did, however, wear those little white gloves.