Souvenirs from a Sailors Holiday

I have a number of photos to share with you today. These are all photos that a sailor sent home to his sweetheart with writing on the back telling him about the places he was and who he was with. Below are the images and a selection of something he wrote on the back. It's a find collection and a neat glimpse into another time. 

These are for sale as a lot on The Cedar Chest .

July 1938, Copenhagen, Denmark. 

(Note - mustache to strain beer with - howja like it?)

This fellow spoke 8 languages and acted as our guide in seeing Parisian night life.....This glass contains vin blanc or white wine and is my fifth - doing okay, huh?

Believe it or not, darling, this is milk I'm drinking...

(....Note sprained ankle and skinned knees - just recovering -

This is Sullivan...snapped at South Seas Parade Pier in Portsmouth England this summer.

oceans of love

I love this signature from Leonard on this studio portrait.  "Oceans of Love".  Swoon! I hope the person it was given to swooned a bit too.

This portrait doesn't look like it was used in the way it was intended. The tab that you use to prop it up looked to have never been bent back. Perhaps the person it was given to kept it hid away in a drawer or chest and when alone in the house they would take it out.

I think this signature is my favorite along with this one. I think I'll start a collection on here of my favorite signatures and tag them as such. 

This portrait is for sale in the Etsy shop along with lots of equally romantic and gushy vintage valentines.

from Pinky

Los Angeles , CA Oct 3rd 1941

Next stop L.A. Just mailed loads to the boys in Pasadena
and unloaded Mrs. Jack Benny and Mrs Joe E Brown - 2nd class -
I love you - Pinky

I wonder if they really dropped off the Mrs Jack Benny. I just had to look up Joe E Brown and apparently he was a comedian and movie star and was really quite big in the 20's and 30's. He is best known as the rich guy in "Some Like it Hot".

I am guessing Pinky is joking, but it is fun to wonder.

seaside 1950

I was just recently having a discussion with someone about how there seemed to be a trend in the late 40's to late 50's of people putting their name in quotes. I think it was supposed to be their nickname, like Bob "Mitch" Mitchell or something like that. Sometimes you see that on gravestones. It make sense, people didn't know him as Bob, you have to put the "Mitch" in. But, the quote part of it seemed to very trendy for a while. I have seen my Mother's signature in her high school and college days as "Judi". She often put the quotes around it.

I got this photo at an Estate Sale at a house in the Hollywood District here in Portland about 4 years ago.


Seaside and Cannon Beach are towns on the coast, a couple of hours away. I love the idea of there being this photo booth where all the girls got their pictures taken and then they all signed them. You can almost hear the talking and laughter as they passed them around.

The signatures are hard to read now, but all the girls made sure to put quotes around their names.

Cannon Beach at 12pm 1950

"Cookie"
"Briddy"
"Jo"
"Cheri"
"Jeanie"
"Puss"

Love, Jim

I love you always my darling.

Taken while on leave
Jan, 2, 1957
night I left

when girls and flowers shared names

The photograph on the left:

Pansy Miley Lawrence, aged 16 years 5 months. To Katie. Pansy Lawrence ----- Galesburg, Ill

The photograph on the right:

from Daisy. J.E.M.

I love the old trend of naming girls after flowers. I am sure many people have taken it up again in the last ten years. I met a woman once named Columbine. Unfortunately, I think less people would associate that with the flower nowadays.

Some other popular flower/plant names form the past: Magnolia, Violet, Fern, Ivy, Olive, Begonia, Blossom, Flora, Gardenia, Forsythia, Hyacinth, Lily, Jasmine, Marigold, Petunia, Poppy, Petula, Rose.

Are there any you have to add?

Although men are seldom named after flowers and plants, I have always liked the name Garland for a man, although it is rather flowery. There was a commercial on TV years and years ago with two old men. Their names were Gilbert and Garland and I have always been so fond of those names.