My Bro was ever a one for taking Candid Camera, unposed photographs, which are now proving to be true snatches of history! How's this for a Sepia Saturday special? I've just come across it in a file of old shots he emailed me earlier this year, and you can see my Mum and my cousin's husband as washer-upper and wiper-upper after some family get together, somewhen during the 60's.
The tiny kitchen was in my parent's flat, and the picture is full of details that make it obvious it's from a bygone age. Look at that Ascot water heater, and the brass tap over the big, Butler sink!
It must have been late summer, early autumn, I guess, looking at the row of tomatoes across the window frame, put there to ripen in the sun, no doubt. The sprightly lettuce in the bottom right hand corner of the picture would suggest a touch of over catering, if there was this much left over?! It's dish is standing on the drop down, enamelled flap of a traditional kitchen cupboard of the day - the top cupboard door of which is showing slightly ajar above it. That, and the cupboard in its base, was the only storage available. Large weekly shopping orders were unheard of - catering was mostly done on a 'buy it daily and use it' system - apart from goods which could be stored in the refrigerator that you can see to the left of the sink.
What a far cry from the fitted kitchens many people enjoy today, with their mod cons and matching units!
jinksy what an excellent unpacking of this photograph. details that i would have overlooked or simply not thought about. i can recall a time when my family had no fridge and ice cream was bought in slices wrapped in newspaper from the newsagents up the street! ahhh yes! what a time. steven
ReplyDeleteFantastic photo Jinksy - love the detail and love your chronicling of it - you would have made an excellent Miss Marple.
ReplyDeletei should post an old kitchen photo form my sepia sat. i like looking at candid shots and it's true you pointed out things I would have missed.
ReplyDeleteGood sleuthing about time of year etc. Yes, kitchens look a bit different now.
ReplyDeleteand the Expelair in the window which assured that everyone in the kitchen was frozen stiff... Give me a nice 2011 kitchen any day. In fact a nice 1990's one would do... Happy New Year! Jo
ReplyDeleteReally modern touches , too . Paper towels on a holder . Your mother definitely moved with the times !
ReplyDeleteBut , once again , I'm deeply envious of those curtains . Can you remember the colour ?
Having photos like this must be like stepping right back to that particular moment . Lovely .... and slightly melancholy.
We always had one of those zinc enamel drop down flaps/ cupboards. A picture that so captures a moment in time. Though a fridge was a luxury-we did have an ice-box, and I remember also a small wooden cupboard with chicken wire on the door where butter and milk was kept, outside, in the winter.
ReplyDeleteLovely, Jinksy.
Happy New Year dear lady.
Dear Jinksy,
ReplyDeleteit is a lovely and lively photograph - and I think that such are kitchen might have been used by far more than some so-called designer-kitchen (I saw an advertisement of a kitchen as big as a loft - 2 Yuppis in it, looking tiny and very elegant - and somehow it looked as if they were in an exhibition, and nobody would ever cook in that "dream"-kitchen :-)
What a great photo! And I'm glad you described the things in it -- I've never seen anything like them...
ReplyDeleteI love the candid shots. There they are, after the party, laughing and working together. I can almost smell the food, the faint smell of someone lighting a cigarette. You can hear conversation in the other room, and you know that, soon, they will rejoin the party...
I have the enameled flap thing in my kitchen, too, as my home was built in 1904. Beautiful but small!
Pearl
There's so much to look at in this photo; it's wonderful. I also really appreciate how you pointed out details I would have missed...like the tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteNice pic! Cool kitchen (serious)! I think it is shameful that a perfectly in tact kitchen such as this would be discarded in a home reno today.
ReplyDeleteThe waste in our rich Western societies is scandalous and we will pay for it...unfortunately those of us who are environmentally friendly are going to pay as well! Sorry to be serious, but this is something I feel very strongly about along with several other thousands of things.
Happy New Year Jinxette..and remember keep it in
nice and light in the scabard,ready to use in a flash:)
the detail you picked up from the picture, you should become a pi....
ReplyDeleteIf you were to add an old Rayburn to the picture, this could have been our kitchen, when we lived in Cornwall. When you think about it, what more do we really need? Hot and cold running water, a fridge, storage space and a place to cook.
ReplyDeleteOur kitchen, today, is basic and by most standards, tiny. Yet, it's perfect for our needs.
Ahhhh . . . I did a fair bit of wiping-up in that kitchen too! And a lot of listening. . . .
ReplyDeleteJinksy . . do you take after your Mum, or are you just like your Mum?
ReplyDeleteAnd just how did your Mum get hold of OUR 60's teapot?
That's a great record of social history. It's surprising to look back and realise how we used to live.
ReplyDeleteme, it's his scarf i'm looking at!! haven't seen those in a long time!!
ReplyDeletegreat pic!!
happy new year!!
:)~
HUGZ
Was there, somewhere in that home, an ironing board shut up in a closet that dropped down for use?
ReplyDeleteFancy kitchen curtains, too!
ReplyDeleteI say it again, these candid shots are wonderful. Wee moments in time to be re-visited whenever you want. I LOVE the sink AND the curtains! Your Mum looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteThis kitchen looks amazingly efficient to me. It's so small! I'm trying to imagine using a kitchen like that on a regular basis. I guess it would cause the cook to pare down the tools. Was this a kitchen in England?
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing out so many details. I also noticed the string/rope strung across above your mom. Probably for drying towels? I'm trying to figure out what's sitting on the shelf behind your cousin's husband. A radio, perhaps.
I'm so glad there are photos like these to look at. For telling what life was like at a specific time, they're sure better than some of the line drawings we see if the late 1800s and early 1900s. Good job to your brother!
You are quite right - it is these candid, un-posed photographs that really do give a true feel of the time. It is the backgrounds and the accessories that tell the tale. Another great post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure this photo is. I love the detail and the smiles on their faces. Great friends I would think sharing laughs and they did the chores
ReplyDelete