ANTIQUE FAMILY PHOTOS: My Home is My Castle

ANTIQUE PHOTOS BLOG

I love antique photos. You can learn so much about how things have changed, and again how little has. We inherited 3 trunks of photos from the late 1800's to the 1940s and 50's. Most came from an enigmatic, extremely hard working but photo-loving woman named Lena, an ancestor of my husband, born in 1879. She had more contacts, more postcards (several hundreds) and more photos of herself taken than anyone who is not a well know celebrity. She seems to have collected antique photos from all around her. She unfortunately didn't identify many, only writing "Lena" on many given to her. I think she assumed she would remember, and of course after that it wouldn't matter!

We are still sorting through all the stuff trying to piece together Lena's fascinating and sometimes tragic life. Meanwhile, here are a variety of photos, including some of the highest (and lowest!) fashion.

I have also included the very old family photos I have from my mom's side of the family.

I hope you enjoy, and thank you for visiting my blog.

Monday, August 16, 2010

My Home is My Castle

Today I thought I'd share some antique "our home" photos. One's definition of home can vary greatly: "my home is where my hat is hung"," my home is where my heart is,", etc. Once, while living in a foreign country, at a time and place where I had no privacy at all, I called my sleeping bag my home. It was the only place not shared by a zillion kids, chickens, dogs and neighbors.I do admit, I did have guests: fleas; but they at least didn't natter in my ear! It worked for me.

The first two photos are from around 1900. Most likely they were built with the help of neighbors, as was usual. Both photos pique my curiosity about the people shown, and about what the inside of the houses look like.

Next, an interesting photo of what I believe are some houses from around 1900 in Braintree, Massachusetts. The lighthouse itself is very pretty, but what was so rarely seen then, and even more rarely now, are the windmill pumps above the two houses, and the watertowers behind. Plus I find the people in this photo interesting: the little girl in a bonnet in the left foreground, the two people on the big-wheeled bicycles, the two men shaking hands. The photo kind of looks like an advertisement for a "perfect" neighborhood in which to buy your house; and yet there are so many things subtly different from today. (don't forget, you can click on the photos to enlarge them.)