Vintage photographs, old newspapers,
forgotten letters, ancient advertisements,
antique documents and random aged scraps of
paper. Ephemera, I love it. A glimpse into a
world long-gone. How many hands has this
ostensibly worthless item passed through
before it fell into my possession? How did
it survive this long? What stories could it
and it's previous owners tell?
Take this old flyer for instance, though the
term flyer wouldn't have been recognised at
the time of it's distribution, as it
probably dates from around the First World
War, if not earlier. Mr Evans is clearly in
the market for a broad range of products,
from rabbit skins to mangles, and to prove
it, he's written a poem. It's like a
primitive jingle!
And here's a pair of photographs, plucked at
random from a growing collection. Four
dapper young men, in a splendid array of
hats, pose for the camera. Nothing
interesting here you might think. Brothers?
Work colleagues? Drinking buddies? Take a
look at the next shot of the same four men.
I wasn't prepared for that either! The
costumes are so ridiculous and the faces so
straight, I assume that these young men must
be stage performers, perhaps in the Music
Hall. Wouldn't it be great to know more
though? Every picture tells a story, but I
wish I could hear theirs.
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5 comments:
Oh, those are fabulous!
Like you, I just want to know the stories. I guess it all just seems so much more fascinating and appealing because we don't and we know we'll never understand quite what their lives were like. But I love to be reminded that, no matter when you were born (or where) people have always been and will always be, essentially, the same. It's just the backdrops and props which change.
Lovely stuff.
Indeed C. I get so much enjoyment from old bits of paper, particularly photos, but I always remember that these are documents of real people's lives, people who aren't around anymore. I've got lots of bits and pieces, so I'll probably share more in the future.
Loving your jaunty beret by the way!
What wonderful things. There's something utterly poetic about the questions they raise. Perhaps it's best to not know more? My theory about the bottom pic is that they have changed into their day wear. Fabulous song, of course.
Trust me to get the 'before' & 'after' photos the wrong way round.
Old ma has loads of very old photos of her family and relations which I love to look at, none quite as old as your fab pics....sadly I have very few pics of my family...great to hear EPTAS It's wearing well!
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