Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind (they don’t have to be sepia) become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images.
The prompt image is from the collection of Alan Burnett, and that is his Auntie Miriam enjoying the seaside sands. The style of Auntie Miriam’s swimsuit reminded me of a swimsuit in a collection of pictures from my husband’s family.
The youngster featured in these photos is my husband’s father, Martin. I think the man in the car is Martin’s father, Simone Morales.
Martin is looking a little camera shy below. I’m guessing he was about three years old. What do you think? That would date the photo around 1928.
I thought this was a picture of Martin enjoying the water. But once I saw it blown up, I wasn’t sure.
Fun at last!
And I have to add one more… just so you can see that he had hair under that swim cap.
Everyone tells me that Martin’s mother “dyed his hair” when he was young. Pictures of him as a little boy show him with blonde curls. As an older boy and man, Martin had very dark hair – true to his Sicilian roots.
I asked my mother-in-law about the picture above and she couldn’t identify the little girl. She said that Lena Morales Maida (Martin’s aunt – sister of Simone) had a bay house on Bolivar (Bolivar Peninsula, Texas) and this was the likely location for these photographs. The last picture was probably taken on a separate trip to the beach.
Bolivar Peninsula - Photo Credit: Dan M.S. | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library
The Bolivar Peninsula was hit hard by Hurricane Ike in 2008. I was going to include a photo of the destruction, but decided to leave us with thoughts of a beautiful sunny day at the beach.
For more sunny beaches, swim over to Sepia Saturday to see what others have created for today’s prompt.
Martin looks like he’s out pretty far for his height! I like the one where he’s with the raft – interesting to see the forerunner of today’s colorful rafts.
I was interested in that raft too. Looks sturdy. He does look far out, but I think those little things sticking up in the background may be people…. So maybe there was a large shallow area.
Martin was a cute kid – blonde or not!
Yes, he was. We have some great pictures of him and his blonde curls.
What precious photos! That is funny that his mom would dye his hair.
Kathy M.
Thanks! Yes – and she fixed his hair in ringlets.
What adorable photos! And the photo of the Bolivar Peninsula is gorgeous.
Thanks, Jana. I’ve been to Galveston, but not to the peninsula. It does look lovely pre-hurricane.
Kathy these are lovely pictures of Martin – what a cutie he was!
Thanks, Nell!
Divine pictures! Martin looks exactly 3 y/o. He seems so brave in sea waters on his own!
I’m glad you agree with my conclusion about his age. He does look happy in the water.
Such cute pictures – full of happy memories.
Thanks! Wish I knew more about the family’s trip to the beach, but at least have the pictures.
Lovely photographs. Auntie Miriam would have been proud to give rise to the sharing of such a wonderful collection of old photographs we have undoubtedly had this week. Thanks for being a part of it.
I enjoyed the Aunt Miriam prompt and would be in favor of recognizing her each January!
What a great sequence of photos. Interesting about the hair-dyeing – I wouldn’t have thought that sort of thing was very common at that time.
Martin already looks like the perfect son-in-law to be 🙂 Also the cars look great!
These shots are priceless! I love the little swimsuit with the matching bathing cap! He looks a little worried when he’s finally in the water.
That floating device looks a little dubious to me, what do you think?
Kat
It does look heavy, doesn’t it? I sure hope it floated well.
Cute photos. I was surprised that even little boys had tops on their swimsuits.
And so many swimsuits with white belts.
Fun is fun, no matter what the decade. The running board snaps give extra character for the period.
Is that what you call them? They add a nice touch.
Delightful pictures.
About that blond hair, I work with someone who is as dark as I am,
but when we had to bring in some baby pics for some game for our Xmas office party a couple of years ago, it was revealed that he was as blond as a Norwegian baby.
I remember being myself chestnut color but only a few strands of that color would show in my goatee… I think puberty changes many things, the hair color not being the only thing…
🙂
HUGZ
I’ve wondered if his hair was naturally light as a boy – but that’s the family story. Maybe she just tried to enhance the color or make it last longer with lemon juice or something.