Found Object: 1970s Supermarket Interior

Scan: Found 35mm slide.  Photographer unknown. 

1970s Grand Union Supermarket interior (obviously located in a Spanish-speaking area).

Norman & Joan Nelsen: 17 June 1950

Scenes from my Grandparents Wedding Day.  These six images seem to have been given to them by someone who attended the church event and later provided them with slides.  The slides themselves had "Nelsen" misspelled as "Nelson" on the cardboard frames, so I'm guessing they were shot and annotated by someone who was a friendly with them, but not related to them (or aware of my Grandfather's Norwegian nomenclature).  Regardless, I'm very grateful to the photographer for the six candid and beautifully-lit snaps they took on the church steps this day.

Mother Of The Bride:  Mae Costello in her Midcentury Matron Finest.

Picture Perfect: My twin cousins Lois and Dianne in their Flowergirl Frocks.

Bridesmaids and Flowergirls... Off to the reception!  (Behave, ladies... Behave.)

Working backwards from about 1976, we have arrived squarely at 1950.  Posting this series of images is a bit bittersweet, as these are the very last slides from the family archive.  Essentially, a very large chunk of my family has just seen a large portion of their lives displayed (albeit in reverse) on the internet.  These six pictures represent the endpoint of a rather broad arc of events, milestones, celebrations and journeys.  I'm very glad, though, that this final post of 35mm slide scans shows the beginning of what would become my Grandparents' life as a couple (and subsequently their life as parents and grandparents).  What they would go on to create in terms of family and who they would later touch in terms of friends and loved ones would end up being rather large.  Thanks for EVERYTHING, Nanny and Pop... You are loved and missed, but mostly remembered and celebrated.

Nineteen Fifty-Three In Living Color

My Grandmother Joan with my then-newborn Uncle Kevin and Mother (nearly two years old).

Uncle Kevin is christened as his Godparents look on. 

My Grandmother receives baby gifts at a party thrown for her by former co-workers at AT&T.

Thanksgiving Dinner with Uncle Richard (in front, at left), Aunt Marion (in rear, at right) and their growing brood.  Cousin Lois is on the left (in red) and her fraternal twin sister Dianne is wearing a matching red top across the table from her at right.  Baby Cousin Janet is peeking around from behind Dianne, but there is no sign of Cousin Ricky, who was most definitely around at this time.  I don't know who the man in the blue tie is, but the older woman in the blue dress toward the back of the photo is my beloved Great Grandmother Mae Costello.

Classic Father & Daughter Moment:  My Grandfather Norman with my Mom at the park.

ABOVE & BELOW: Two gatherings... Many cousins.

My Grandmother tends to my (rather unhappy) Mom's pom pom outfit as Cousin Janet makes her best "grownup face".  This photo seems to have been taken at a scenic overlook on the Hudson River overlooking NYC.

ABOVE & BELOW:  My Grandmother and Grandfather with my Mom and the infant Kevin in front of their apartment on Hoyt Avenue in Staten Island.  Saint Vincent's Hospital can be seen in the background.

My Mom pushes a doll in a brand new toy baby carriage.  I'd like to think that she was just getting in some early practice, seeing as she would be pushing me around in one of these exactly 20 years later.

This must be where my Mom's love of the equine decorative motif began.  Who knew that such a highbrow taste level would have its origin atop a coin-operated storefront ride on a Staten Island street?

Though somewhat soft focus and oddly composed, this is one of my favorite images from the family slide archive.  I first happened upon this slide and took some sketches from it some time in the 1990s (when the slide carousels were first given to me by my Grandfather).  I remember being transfixed by the complexity of this Kodachrome frame (and the questions about the holiday activity around it) as I projected it onto a white wall of the studio in my Brooklyn apartment.  A short time later, after boxing up all of the carousels for what would become a whole decade, I would use elements of those initial sketches in the composition of a kaleidescopic drawing called "Every Xmas Ago". 

Hello, Barto & Gilbertsville!

Fun, finery, frolic and just a little bit of foolishness with Steve, Kelly & Janie.

The double rainbow that Janie & I saw out back while shopping for vinyl was a total bonus.

An absolutely perfect day on Routes 100 and 73 in Barto and Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania.

P.S. > Kelly DID indeed buy that four-headed vintage fox fur stole.

Scenes From Storyland Village 1955

In mining the archive of my family's 30-odd years of 35MM slides, many things have become utterly remarkable to me.  One such detail is how some simply-shot photos by one or both of my Grandparents on a family outing to Storyland Village in Neptune, New Jersey can hold so much rich feeling.  While some of the images that I've unearthed are compromised by discoloration, dust or scratches, a vast majority of them are crystal clear and bold with Kodachrome hues.  For instance, the saturated colors and quality of light in this particular series of images still hold a joyful palette that's a lot like the Technicolor cinema gems of the time period.  

There will be NO huffing, puffing or blowing THESE houses down.

"Locked her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well..."

Hey diddle diddle, there's a cat and a fiddle... 

Sadly, the cow was largely cropped out of this particular moon jump.

Not QUITE The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe...

Though my Grandmother Joan would eventually become mother to four children, grandmother to five and Favorite Aunt to many others, only my Uncle Kevin (in overalls) and Mom (in doorway, at front) were hers at this time.  

The beloved (and sadly, taken too soon Cousin Janet) is seen behind my Mom at right.

A painted and costumed clown bids my Grandmother (carrying Uncle Kevin) farewell as Mom looks one.