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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Looking at the Pictures: 1957

A study in mid-century modern aesthetic featuring my mother reading fashion magazines on the original 1953-era furniture that my parents  bought for their Levittown, Pennsylvania starter home. I am the little girl watching her read.
I like this photo because of the way the afternoon sun streams in through the floor to ceiling window of the living room, the fifties trendiness of her decor, and the Leave It To Beaver elegance of the way she is dressed in it. My father took the photo with an Argus 75 box camera. This was scanned from a print. View full size.

A study in mid-century modern aesthetic featuring my mother reading fashion magazines on the original 1953-era furniture that my parents bought for their Levittown, Pennsylvania starter home. I am the little girl watching her read.
I like this photo because of the way the afternoon sun streams in through the floor to ceiling window of the living room, the fifties trendiness of her decor, and the Leave It To Beaver elegance of the way she is dressed in it. My father took the photo with an Argus 75 box camera. This was scanned from a print. View full size.

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Arlene #2

Now that I've elbowed aside davidk from the computer, I'd like to say I second his sentiments, and want to add how impressed I am by her self-made dress. There's a lot of work and style in that ruching on the sleeves, and I love the way it crosses over in front. Thanks for following up with this picture of your mother.

Arlene

Thank you very much for posting this photo of your mom, aenthal. I'm glad to see she rocks her gray and hasn't dyed her hair some garish shade of red. I imagine nothing could compete with the original. Please tell her we (my family) think she looks great, and we've enjoyed tremendously all the old Levittown photos.

Arlene in 2017

As requested, here is my mother, August 2, 2017, wearing a dress she designed and sewed.

Okay, but not yet

My mother lives 3000 miles from me so I only see her once a year.
I will be in that part of the country again in July and can try to snag a current photo of her on that trip.
On my last trip I took the entire stash of family Argus 75 negatives. I am currently working on scanning them to find ones worth sharing.
Alas, my parents were not actually into photography, so hundreds of these photos have washed out faces due to flash bulbs. %$#$@ flash bulbs.

Re: Hairy answer

On behalf of my wife (jd taylor) and myself, I'd like to thank you, aenthal, for that info on your mom. Short thick hair is one of the answers, with bonus red. And the clothing background is fantastic. (When we visit NYC, we regularly pass FIT on the way back from a Broadway play to our hotel at West 23rd and Seventh.)

Now that you've added to the Member Blog a photo of your mother at 4 years old (https://www.shorpy.com/node/22154), I wonder if you might add a current photo of your mom to the comments section. We (our two children, as well) were hugely intrigued by the part about her still dressing "as if she is about to be on the cover of some magazine." It would sort of be like what TimeAndAgainPhoto does with buildings, only with people. It would be +84 to the Shirley Temple photo or +60 to the photo of her in the pretty shoes with fashion mags and yourself as a little kid.

Answering a Hairy Question

I am not sure what exact hair style my mother was wearing when I was that young. But I do know she had thick and very curly red hair and she had a weekly appointment at a beauty parlor to style that hair. Think 1950's poodles for inspiration.
My best guess is that is her natural tight curls in a short cut.

As for my mother being dressed up for the picture--she was a fashionista before they invented that word. At age 88 she still dresses as if she is about to be on the cover of some magazine. She was born into a family where her father had owned a clothing company, and her mother had a pre- motherhood career in women's hats. So she grew up seeing the entire world through a filter of clothing. She was a graduate of New York's F.I.T. (a fashion design college) and made all her clothes and mine from scratch (no Simplicity patterns used) during that time.
Many of the family photos are actually records of the fashions she designed and made. I do not specifically remember this dress, but odds are, my father took this picture because she had just completed it, and wanted a picture of her work.

Hairstyle

Please settle a ridiculous family dispute, aenthal: does your mom have thick hair cut very short (not so common for the time) or is it long hair pulled up and to the side in back?

Pretty shoes

Always love these early boomer photos of yours, aenthal: the family, the house details, the school kids, the cars. When my own mom (5 children) got all dressed up to go out with my dad, I'd stand back in awe of the transformation: hair, make-up, heels, cleavage. Mostly because it was in such stark contrast to her everyday style. So was your dad taking pictures of your mom because she was dressed up for something, or did she dress up because he was taking pictures?

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