Sunday, February 22, 2009

Thematically consistent

...with the previous two posts, here is a picture my dad took of my mom when they were dating. The photo is stamped February '59, and if I drove around long enough in York County, Pennsylvania, I could probably figure out exactly where the shot was taken.

Jadedj will now be truly sorry he ever doubted the sexiness of Italian vs. British sports cars. (But no comments about my momma.)

This photograph, along with several dozen others, was recently sent over by my grandmother in Norway. Included are a number of old photos of my dad and his brothers when they were very, very young, taken in the mid- to late-1930s. My grandmother must have treasured those photos very much for them to have survived all the miles, all the years (grabbing hankie...*sniffle*).

I especially like the photos of my mom & dad together; there is one of them cutting their wedding cake, and another of the two of them talking at a party wherein Dad looks completely besotten. I am pretty sure he was the more romantic of the two.

Anyway, fast-forward to 1962 or thereabouts, and you can see me with my first set of wheels:

16 comments:

  1. OK, OK, that one excepted...jeez.

    Nice post (MOST of it...ahem). If you keep up this theme, I'm going to have to read your blog with a box of tissues and some glasses cleaner.

    I particularly like the impish racy photo at the end.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely phto of you mum - very sophisticated.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not to worry, j -- it'll be time to start bitching about something or other any day now. Probably about my current set of wheels.

    Thanks, Lou - it's funny when you consider nowadays she wears a sweat suit, often as not. Do seniors in NZ wear those, too?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oops, that didn't come out right. I'm LOVING this theme.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm diggin' the old Alfa, and the photo as a portrait. Very nice shot.

    My first set of wheels was something similar to yours, but all wood.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's a great photo, actually they are both great photos but surely there can't be a bad photo taken of you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. jaded - I understand. I will strive for balance.

    Doug - finally, someone who appreciates the Alfa! I was quite annoyed at my dad for not maintaining the car in running condition once I got my driver's license!

    Barnesm, don't go looking at my high school yearbook if you want that delusion of yours to stay intact.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How about the Wolf Bridge, north-east of and not far from Carlisle? What appears to be the high northern bank of the river is visible in the background of your photograph. Judging from the shadows the camera is facing roughly towards the north. This is just a wild guess, of course, but while you're looking at this map, can anyone tell me why Pennsylvania has such poor coverage from Google Streetmaps, compared to neighbouring states?

    In my efforts to find out what model it was, I discovered perhaps more photos than one would probably ever needed of the 1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, a predecessor to the 1960s/1970s models of Spider that I was more familiar with in my younger days.

    Now you're in for a treat, and hopefully a small taste of the thrill your momma had on that wintry afternoon fifty years ago. Follow this link, scroll to the bottom of the page where you can click the start button in the top right hand of the five images ... then just open the door, get in, and let yourself be transported. It's not quite the same colour, of course, and I apologise for those legs - which perhaps need to be covered with some track pants (I'm sure they are nothing like your momma's) - but I'm sure you get the gist. ;-)

    I am inspired by your vehicular theme to use one from my own collection - I'll have it up on Photo-Sleuth shortly.

    Regards, Brett

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh and I forgot to mention that I wouldn't like to have been the one just off camera to whom orders were being barked, in the second photo! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. ... and I should have provided this link to the Google Maps satellite image of the bridge in question. Regards.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I went to school along about that time with a fellow from St Louis who drove an Alpha Romeo Milano which looked a LOT like that one.

    fin

    ReplyDelete
  12. Brett, I will have to ask my mom if she remembers where the photo was taken; there really are TONS of steel bridges like that in the area where I grew up. But excellent sleuthing. I also liked the virtual test drive of the Alfa - fun!

    Fin, good of you to stop by! I can see how a fellow from the "big city" of St. Louis might come to drive an Alfa, but I am curious now to find out where my dad got his -- certainly there was no Alfa Romeo dealer in York, PA!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I had a similar experience in a Triumph Spitfire many years ago, but that seems like another life ...

    ReplyDelete
  14. i was just driving through jefferson and seven valleys today and that picture could be from southern york county dear intelli :-D

    i'm going to cali for easter to visit my youngun' but i'll be here before and after that week.

    :-D

    ReplyDelete
  15. now---when I click on your profile, I see emd there also. Is that emd from JS? I can't get to emd's profile, since it is shared. Maybe you can enlighten me?

    ReplyDelete
  16. You mentioned York, Pennsylvania, which is where I live. Do I know you? I feel like I should.

    Anyway, thanks for the lovely comments on my photos!

    Edna

    ReplyDelete

And you thought...