Colour or Black and White ?I have been looking through old photographs, mainly to spot family likenesses, and realised that a large chunk of my early life, and all the lives of my ancestors who lived within the time since photography, are all in black and white. Pictures of me up to when I met my husband-to-be are all in black and white, and then from our wedding onwards are all in colour. So what do we miss when we look at these old photographs ? Do we imagine that these people of a bygone time lived in a monochrome world ? I would love to know the colours in my mother-in-law's dress, I do know that there were dahlias in the garden behind her, but the rest is just black and white and grey. And I do know that my sister was wearing a bright blue dress with white poodles on it who had red bows round their necks, and I know the colour of my mother's suit. The dress was handed on to me, and my mother's suit was still in her wardrobe fifty odd years later when we cleared her home. Going back further in time, I was delighted when recently a cousin on my maternal side got in touch to exchange information about our ancestors who had served in the First World War. He had traced the service records of our grandfather and his brother. Our grandfather survived, his brother did not. This led me to look through a different box of old black and white photographs. Tom and John with their parents in Bradford. I think our grandfather Tom is on the left and John is on the right. My cousin looks very like John. What colour was the door .....? {My cousin, who has a larger version of this picture, now tells me that he thinks the two men were comrades in the same regiment, and that the photograph may have been taken in Belgium. His version reveals more of the buildings} The back of this photograph of Tom and his soon-to-be-bride Evelyn has a message. She sent this to her brother Norman who was also serving in World War One. The postcard did not go through a censor as it mentioned Tom had been home on leave but was returning to Cambrai. They both looked very smart, but what colours did they wear ? What was in fashion ? Evelyn and her sister Lizzie worked in a munitions factory. The picture at the top has them marked with two small crosses, but I have no idea who is in the bottom photograph. The top picture has three bombs, or bomb cases, placed on the front row, each signed and destined for the Kaiser. It was not just our male ancestors who served in the First World War, our grandmother and great aunt did their bit. How unwillingly we do not know. Women going to work was not so unusual in the textile districts of the West Riding, but making munitions was seen as contrary to the normal female nurturing role . Note that the women were wearing trousers. Mary Gabriell Collins commented on the unnatural situation in her poem "Women at Munition Making" .... she says their hands should have been nursing their infants but "Their hands, their fingers are coarsened in munition factories, Their thoughts, which should fly Like bees among the sweetest mind flowers, Gaining nourishment for the thoughts to be, Are bruised against the law "Kill, kill" " But Madeline Ida Bedford saw a different side to these women, that perhaps for the first time, some of them had money, and because of the dangerous work, the wages were high. She wrote a poem "Munition Wages" - Earning high wages? Yus, / Five quid a week. / A woman mind you/ I calls it dim sweet./ .... I'm having life's good times./ See 'ere, it's like this:/ The 'oof comes o' danger,/ A touch-and-go bizz/ We're all here today mate,/ Tomorrow- perhaps dead/ If Fate tumbles on us/ And blows up our shed / Afraid ! Are yer kidding? / with money to spend !/ Years back I wore tatters,/ Now - silk stockings, mi friend ...... [Scars upon my heart - Women's poetry and verse of the First World War. Virago 1981] So I wonder now at the smart outfit that my grandmother wore when she had her photograph taken. Perhaps not a hand-me-down from older sisters, but something brand new. I will end with some comments on what clothes were deemed appropriate to wear in leisure time at the seaside. This is my mother-in-law and my husband at Scarborough. Jimmy Corrigan's amusement arcade is in the background. My mother-in-law is wearing a smart dress and jacket and PEARLS. My dear husband, who looks about six years old, is wearing a shirt with a collar and tie, though he does have grubby knees so she has allowed him to play in the sand. Going back further generations, going to the seaside was an occasion for dressing up, but oh, what colours did they wear ? I have no idea who any of these people were, or where. This came out of the box of photographs from my in-law's, but they were having a jolly time. The men are all in suits, and the ladies have lovely hats. This last group is another seaside outing, so many of them, were they all together? Had they come on the same train ? I have no idea where they were, but on the left hand side is a man with a large cap and a small child on his shoulders. This was my grandfather Tom and his son. I hope that they had a lovely day out. Looking through boxes of old black and white photographs, with a magnifying glass in hand, has been fun and frustrating. Often I have no idea who the people were, but can spot likenesses. Well that is the lesson for us all. To make sure we name and label photographs before we pass them on to the next generation.
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AuthorThis is where you can share creativity with me. I believe that everyone has something creative within them, and it is a joy to find ways of being creative. Blogging is NEW to me, so here goes ..... Archives
January 2024
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