Saturday, February 16, 2013

Sepia Saturday 164 : The Strong, Steady, Sepia Smile


I never really knew any of my four grandparents. My fathers' parents, Enoch and Harriet Ellen, both died when I was too young to retain any memory of them and of my mothers' parents - pictured above - it is only my grandmother Kate that I can vaguely remember as an old lady living with my Auntie Amy. My grandfather, Albert Beanland, died just months after I was born in 1948 and therefore I know him only through the strong, steady, sepia smile that echoes down the generations via a pile of old photographs. In this photograph he is pictured near the end of his life, smoking his pipe, wearing his favourite watch and chain and radiating a kind of Yorkshire bonhomie. It is interesting to note that this has obviously spread to Kate, his wife, because she too is smiling and from what little I can remember of her she wasn't a natural smiler. It's just a nice photograph, what we here in Yorkshire would call a grand photograph.

This is my Sepia Saturday photograph for this week because it is Saturday, the photograph has faded to sepia, and Albert is wearing a watch and smoking a pipe. I was going to Photoshop a tortoise hiding in the overgrown lawn, but I decided against it. For more Sepia Saturday posts from around the globe, make your way over to the Sepia Saturday Blog and follow the links.

38 comments:

  1. What a shame you missed out on the joy that grandparents can bring to a child's life. No wonder Auntie Miriam made such an impact!
    It's a lovely happy photo, I'm glad you didn't add in that tortoise :)

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  2. Oh Alan don't do that. I've just been going through hundreds of family photos that go back to the 1800's and scrutinizing them for clues about our family -- and throwing out many -- we are moving --you might give your descendants the wrong impression.Suppose someone photo-shopped you in a bikini! What would that say to future generations!

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  3. oh! a lot of mischief in that smile of his!
    +That image of you in a bikini is going to haunt the rest of my day.........

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    1. Just as the idea of you as the next Pope is already haunting my day, Tony.

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  4. He has a particularly nice smile, and looks as if he was a very pleasant and approachable man.

    I just noticed the comments above - somehow amalgamated them into an image of the Pope in a bikini, which is worse than anything! :)

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  5. Anonymous1:29 PM

    They look like a friendly pair of grandparents. The "other" images are starting to conjure up in my brain :-)

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  6. There is something truly English about an old watch chain. Great photo, Alan.

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  7. Well I never - I found another Van Bergen via your post today!

    Anyway, your grandfather has something of the Viscount Stangate (diclaimed) about him.

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  8. I feel a sadness for those who can not remember grandparents. My paternal grandfather lived with us for the last ten years of his life. My maternal grand parents were living when I was an adult. I was fortunate.

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  9. Am enjoying you post as usual, and the comments. What a bunch! I do think this picture is of a happy moment, but since I'm not Brit, wonder what Yorkshire bonhomie might mean to you?

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  10. I think I see a tortoise back there looking through the fence behind your grandmother. That is probably why she is smiling.

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  11. I like picking out the other details, too. Did they come through a picket gate behind them? Why is there a gate there? But your grandfather is so genuinely pleasant it's as if he just turned from closing the gate and encountered a friend.

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  12. A splendid photograph, Alan. I'd say your grandparents were sharing a gentle joke, a moment of mirth, sealed in sepia.

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  13. Wonderful - as you say, a grand photo. I feel I might recognise your grandfather now if I passed him in the street - provided of course that he was still accessorised with cap, watch and pipe.

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  14. A lovely photo and you write about it so well.

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  15. Alan, it IS a wonderful picture; one that probably makes you sad that you never got to know any of your grandparents. Very nice that this set were so happy in this one.

    Kathy M.

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  16. What a great photo to have!! I love that women wore hats!!

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  17. I totally and completely agree, even by having grown up on the other side of the grand old pond, it is a grand photograph! I see where you get your charming smile from! (partly of course) I am so happy that I grew up with at least one set of grandparents, as my Omi and Opi across the ever so wide pond I didn't have a lot of visits with them, but at least some!

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  18. They look like they are dressed up for something special!

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  19. A photoshopped tortoise would have changed the whole flavour.

    I never really knew my grandparents either, living - as I did - a continent and a half away from them, but I feel that I know them a good deal better after having read a lot into their photos over the last 15 years. Perhaps I'm kidding myself?

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  20. Great photo. Hey Brett, re your comment, I think as we get older (and experience more of the world) we can empathise and therefore get to "know" relatives we never "knew" better - if that makes sense.

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  21. Alex, yes I think that does make sense.

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  22. I think their smiles owe a much to the photographer, whoever he/she was. Grand indeed!

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  23. They really do look like such a nice couple. It's too bad you never got to know them but you must have some stories about them from your mother. At least I hope so.
    Barbara

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  24. I knew my grandmothers, but not my grandfathers. One of my grandfathers died before I was born, and the other died when I was only a few months old.

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  25. Tiens, tiens, Alan a un spammer. Get rid of that anonymous!!
    Ahem...
    As I was about to say, they definitely looked like a fine couple and I guess widowhood didn't agree with your grandma, hence the no smiling... Some grieve longer than others. An endearing photograph and your impression of them left unspoiled.
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  26. A smile is indeed contagious. They look great together. A precious photo.

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  27. A smile is indeed contagious. Probably the only contagious thing that's wonderful to have and/or spread. Your grandparents look great together. What a precious photo!

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  28. I knew my grandmothers. My maternal grandfather died in 1926 or '27 from complications of lockjaw. He was a fascinating character and I wish I'd known him even a little bit. My paternal grandfather died in 1956. I was 4. He was 85 at the time. He was born 1871. I still marvel at that.

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  29. I have a theory, based on photographs my own grandparents, that a smile is a very unique trait to each person. I can recognize my grandmother's youthful smile in her school girl photos, her shy smile as a young woman, and later the same smile as an older woman - the person I knew. What we see in your family photos Alan, is a reflection of all the Sepian people we each know. After all, smiles and frowns are a universal language.

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  30. The only solid memory I have of my Scottish grandfather is standing next to him in his yard in Oakland, California while he talked to a neighbor who had been walking by. The one line I can still remember was how he said, "My granddaughter could beat up your grandson." I was so proud. I was probably 3-1/2 or 4.

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  31. Alan, a very nice sepia smile. Your granddad looks really nice, perhaps your grandma was a bit shy it looks a bit like it how she smiles. I am glad to be a grandma to 4 and have with all of them a good bond. I have known one Oma, as she was called. She was my step Oma , she did not love me, we were strangers to each other, so she spend sometimes holidays with us.

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  32. I like your grandparents' photo -what a shame you missed knowing them.

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  33. I thought for sure I had a photo of my granddaddy with a pipe, but no. I'm glad you have one of your grandfather, especially since you didn't have the pleasure of inhaling some of the fragrance from pipe tobacco.

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  34. Your comments about the photo giving you a memory of someone you never met. I was in the same situation. I brought to mind that I need to get in touch with cousins who hold photos of my one Grandfather. He was a jolly smiling man and I think I have only seen one photo of him like that. There must be more out there in my cousins storerooms.
    Your photo is a classic and the sepia just adds to its historic feeling of the past.

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  35. What a nice jolly photo. They do look like they're sharing a joke. Maybe the photographer said "Say cheese" or something inane like that and they're both smiling about it.
    Nancy

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  36. At least you have the photo..he looks like a kind man:)

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  37. Even a well hidden tortoise can see that is a great watch!

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