Olden Daze and another "find".

Okay, so I have to admit today is a "play" day.  Not working, at least not at my part time job but working on stuff around home.  I have a to-do list made, but it's rather short so I decided to play a little. 

You see, I have these old photo albums of  black and white pictures taken when my aunt was younger; she loved to take photos whenever she and friends got together.  I went through one of the albums and found about six photos of people with or on bikes.  My deduction is that they were taken in the late thirties and early forties since my aunt was born in 1918 and did not marry until after the second world war. 

I was going to do one of the 'altering techniques' with pattern pieces, some of my 'paper art', snippets of fiber and all sorts of stuff,...well I did make a start and the results were so-so.  Even after doing all sorts of fun 'commands' on the computer, I wasn't really happy.  I think I will print out a few of them on some watercolor paper and that might make a difference.  I think they need more embellishing.

But being the curious person that I am, my eyes kept on going back to this one photo in the batch.  It is the only one of just one guy; the others were of girls, (should I say ladies?), and some of children. I have no clue who the hunk in this picture is.  There is a name on the back but it is just a first name, and not one that I recognize from my aunt's list of people she used to talk about.  I knew a good many of her friends and relatives, but this guy isn't one of them.  If he had been, I would have remembered...wonder why.

The photo itself looks like one of those James Dean poses...with that askance look and all.  (I can't believe I spelled that word correctly.)  As for his overalls, they are not something anyone with a movie background would wear unless they were filming. 

Those were the days when they used patches for the reason they were intended.  I doubt whether many people patch things now, except perhaps in decorative stitching.  I have done a couple of patches on my hubby's at-home pants.  They always seem to tear by the pockets, so I have taken to making patches that are 'way off' when it comes to matching and done in a zig-zag stitch with contrasting thread color, that really draws attention to the patch.  I figure if the things are 'patched', why not celebrate that. 

My mother is probably shaking her finger at me right now.  She was so good at mending things that you couldn't tell where the mend was.  I recall one episode when I was in organic chem lab.  My lab coat was open, and some 'substance' splashed on my cerise red double knit jumper. It made a hole right in a very obvious location.  The jumper was quite new, and I had a lot of accessories like shoes and bag, not to mention several tops that went with it, so I didn't want to relegate it to the 'unwearable' section of my closet.  (Don't get me started on that!!!).  So I showed it to Mom, and she said she would have to do some invisible mending on that.  I couldn't believe it. I had never heard of the technique. Unfortunately, I didn't learn how to do it, but I did mention it to some of my co-workers a few years later, and my Mom, bless her, saved those people a lot of money that would otherwise have gone to art menders.  Suits, trousers, blazers, sweaters, skirts...they all got fixed.  (Those were the days when a lot of people smoked...some casually...and needless to say, the holes were more than likely cigarette burns.) 

That's another good thing about not smoking.  Fewer clothes ruined. Don't think I will get any federal funds for initiating a no smoking campaign for that reason, but it is something to consider, lol. 

Boy have I gotten side-tracked.  Back to the askanse guy.  The only other clue to his identity is that there was a stamp on the back with the name of Hafford Photos, and the name Hafford, Saskatchewan underneath.  Guess the picture was taken in that province, so once again, another reason why there were no movie stars there at that time.  I have never heard of Hafford. 

And check out the rest of the picture.  Notice the double bars and the handle bars have that rail between them on the bike? I haven't seen that on a bike since I was a kid.  The barrels behind are pretty unusual too.  I wonder if they were located by a well?  Since the picture looks like it was taken in a rural location, there probably wasn't running water in the area at the time. 

My computer 'clock' just announced the time.  I have been on this thing for over an hour now, so must get on to my other jobs.  This was a nice little brain exercise.  Now, on with the polymer clay.  I have a couple of orders for light switch covers to finish before the weekend.  I have been pretty busy with orders and have been delivering them here and there.  And NEWSFLASH! I have some pieces in a new location.

When I was at one of my big 'shows' in October, the manager from The Manitoba Museum Gift Shop approached me and asked if I would be interested in having some of my items in their gift shop.  I stopped by there a couple of weeks ago and dropped off some things.  They aren't nearly as interesting as the photo above, but maybe when I get done with all my picture-altering I might make a few cards from them...kinda like What's in a Photo that really isn't there.  I hope I am living up to the Museum's motto:  encouraging Discovery.  Although I am not much of a reader, I do like to read a mystery every now and then, and finding and interpreting clues, whether they're in photos or in real life, has to be part of the Discovery technique, n'est-ce pas?  Hercule Poirot...Salut!