The splendid looking couple above are Wilson Fieldhouse and his wife, Clara Ann. Or at least I think it is them: I suspect I am the only person in the world who either knows - or sadly cares - whether it is them or not, so let us assume that it is. Anyway, Wilson and Clara Ann were the parents of Frank Fieldhouse who went on to marry Miriam Burnett - the Auntie Miriam known and loved by Sepians the world over.
The Sepia Saturday theme this week revolved around hairdressers and beauty parlours. Well us Yorkshire folk have our own ideas about what constitutes a beautiful woman. Some la-di-dah southern woman can paint her nails and bob her hair until the cows come home to Cowcliffe Church, but we set store by character, resolve, and determination and admire a frame that has been designed for hard work. Clara Ann Fieldhouse might not win any beauty pageant outside of Wharfedale, but she was built of millstone grit and faced with brass and marble. Take her to a beauty parlour and she would, like as not, adopt the hair dryer as a handy piece of headgear for protecting her curls from the twin assault of pigeon droppings and the rain-soaked storm clouds that sweep down from Ilkley Moor.
While you are waiting for your perm to set, pop on over to the Sepia Saturday Blog and see what other Sepia styles are on offer.
Clara Ann sported a hat that my grandmother would have envied. As for Wilson's white shoes, words fail me.
ReplyDeleteI think she chose the hat because it's actually got one of those hairdryers under it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most wonderful feelings is sitting in a beauty parlor letting someone else wash and cut and dry your hair while you just sit back and relax. Sooooooo nice.
ReplyDeleteSo that's where Auntie Miriam got her joie de vivre. The hat is remarkable.
ReplyDeleteI always got a headache the few times my mother send me to the beauty shop as a pre-teen. They look like such an alive, happy couple and I bet many knew them by sight in those days. Now, regulated to a might be in a sepia photograph. Ah, does that fate await me? Minus the sepia.
ReplyDeleteClara Ann reminds me of photos of my grandmother taken during the 1920s. And it's always nice to see a mention of Auntie Miriam, even a fleeting one.
ReplyDeleteThe name "Fieldhouse" seems fitting for Clara Ann. (She looks very sturdy and large.)
ReplyDeleteFine old photograph but I enjoyed the writing even more!
ReplyDeleteHow did you know I was setting a perm?! Just kidding, but I did just come in from a soaking rain, and let me tell you, instant perm!
ReplyDeleteClara Ann certainly did look sturdy and with lots of character. Enjoyed this post.
ReplyDeleteNancy
Ladies of the Grove
John, your comment made me roar with laughter out loud. Alan, you write beautifully. "A frame designed for hard work" - that must be me! Clara Ann looks so chuffed...that's what I like about the photo. I realise now that I have never ever bought a pair of white shoes. At least I don't think I have. Even my wedding shoes were a cream rather than white. Interesting.....sandals maybe but not shoes.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't argue with these sentiments, Alan...or Clara Ann!
ReplyDeleteThey look so happy.
ReplyDeleteSurely someone else cares?
This couple look so at ease with themselves and with the world. Way to go.
ReplyDeleteOh I've got to comment about the shoes...they both have white shoes. When I was first walking I had white shoes...and they had to be polished. So when I was a mom myself a few years later, I also had white baby shoes, and that dreadful chalky polish. I guess everyone just polished their shoes once a week or so back then. Does anyone else remember the shoe polish box?
ReplyDeleteI think you may be being a bit harsh on Clara Ann, but with a hat like that, she wouldn't need a perm, but she definitely would have 'hat hair' as a result of wearing it:-)
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