"Go Put on a Swimsuit, I'll Take a Picture!"

The vintage photo series continues with scenes of summers gone by.

Mum in her Kim Novak look. The photo isn't dated, but by the hair I'd guess mid-50's.I wonder who the mystery man in the shadow is (and are those his shoes? Guess we'll never know, but she looks like she's gonna kill him for sneaking up on her sunbathing)?

At first I wasn't certain this was my mum, but looking at her distinctive hairline, I figured it was. She looks pretty young here-late 40's, early 50's. Looks like the suit had a matching cover-up.

Lest you get the idea my mother was some sort of beach-bum, in her defense, Chicago gets hot in the summer, and no one had air conditioning at home. There would be a good afternoon breeze off the lake, even if you didn't swim, which she didn't as she was terrified of contracting polio.

My Aunt (left) and Mother at the beach-late 30's.

My mum looks like she's ready to push her sister off that wall any second.I like that they had to wear white shoes and socks to go to the beach (and I'm sure my grandmother made them clean the shoes when they got home).

Speaking of Gran...why don't you sneak-up and startle her? I'll take a picture!

That was so fun, let's do another. Ready...steady...GO!

 

Yeah, that was good fun. She'd make the same face when the cat would jump up on the sofa beside her. Gran hated cats, and the cat knew it.


Back to the swimwear...

Here's one of my dad in a rare stylish moment where he couldn't be arsed to take the stogie out of his mouth for the photo. Nice shirt though. He looks really young here-early 50's maybe?

Dad lost all sense of style by the 70's when this was taken, but then looking at the suit I'm wearing, perhaps I should shut up. This looks like Miami-definitely NOT lake Michigan (the sand is never that clean at Chicago beaches).

My love of yellow swimsuits goes back to the 60's. We didn't have a patio, so I'm guessing this was taken at my aunt's house. They had the world's best backyard too. There was a gigantic lilac bush that had gone sort of feral, and in the spring it was heaven to just sit beneath it, and sniff deeply.

My cousins (left and centre) and my sister (right) at the pool-early 60's.

My sister, early 60's.

 

Mum still rocking the Kim Novak hair. This was taken in the Catskills (of Dirty Dancing fame) NY. You know that hair wasn't getting wet because it had an entire canister of Aqua Net lacquer sprayed in it. If someone had splashed her, I think she'd have drawn blood. Swear to god-look at her expression. "Do not fuck with my hair."

But sometimes, the weather won't cooperate with swimwear, and you still want to go to the beach, so here's a photo of my mother as a teenager in a sundress and cardigan.

Hope you've enjoyed this trip through summer's past. Before I leave, I must show you a photo of my aunt wearing a jacket that is nearly identical to the one I wore earlier this week. My mother had one too-they must have gone shopping together.

...and it has snaps! Now I really want those eyeglass frames too.