FATHER'S DAY
It's Father's Day, everybody! And I originally had no plans to post anything special, until Sue B. sent me this cute scan of her Dad (Lou Perry) getting a good look at baby Sue. He was probably telling her about his photography hobby! "Someday, if you are really good, you might be able to share my photos on blogs, which haven't been invented yet".
And in the spirit of sharing, here is a photo of a very young Major Pepperidge (yes, I was born with that rank), held by my dad. No white ovals for me, nobody would recognize me based on this photo! We are in our Evanston, Illinois home, which I don't remember at all, but I can truthfully say that I am a Chicago native. Hey, it's something.
And finally, this last photo is from Sue B's collection (but it was NOT taken by her Dad)! It's a great image of a father with a crazy contraption strapped to his back, along with his bambino. Is it just a bulky chair for the kid? Did it "transform" into a stroller? I have no idea!
Let's salute all the wonderful fathers out there!
Looking on Google, I am wondering if the baby contraption is a "Kantwet" tour bed? What an awful name!
14 comments:
Major-
Ahhhhhh..... look at you, and Sue. Who knew that in a few short years you'd be dazzling the blogosphere with crazy, wonderful images.
Now, as for that Marquis de Sade version of a convertible knapsack-perambulator.
Thanks Major and Sue. And happy Father's Day to all.
Such cute and loving photos of Lou & Sue and you and your dad, Major. I'm struck by how much the two dads look alike, at least from this angle. At first I thought they were one-and-the-same until I read your commentary.
About the contraption: If it's a stroller, I sure don't see any wheels. Maybe it didn't need wheels, like Marty McFly's hoverboard, or Doc's DeLorean from the future.
Adding to the theory that this dad is from the future, is the wallpaper pattern; Corona virus!
There sure isn't much decor on the walls of this nursery. Babies need their little minds stimulated so they will grow up to be geniuses.
I notice those pastel-colored plastic keys on a chain that babies love(d) to play with. I suppose they came about from parents who let their babies play with real sets of keys, and the plastic ones were a more baby-friendly alternative.
We use Revere Ware cookware like the kettle on the shelf. I guess they put hot water in it and set the baby bottles inside to warm then up.
I think this room is in a basement, judging from the height of the window.
Nice photos of dads and kids, Major. Thanks to you and Lou and Sue.
These are great father and child pics.....despite the lack of white ovals. I don't think I have any photos of my dad holding me as a baby, because I don't think he ever did hold me, when I was a baby. Cue sad music. I'm kidding! But my dad was almost always the one taking the photos, so he just isn't in very many of them.
Lou and Pops Pepperidge are both wearing lampshade hats on their heads (sort of)!
Thanks Lou, Sue and Major! Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!
Happy Fathers’ Day, all!
I love these pictures of Sue, Lou, and Major and probably then-Lieutenant (or maybe even Lieutenant (Junior Grade)) Pepperidge. I certainly hope your father saluted you until he caught up to you in rank. Is that a nesting doll on the mantel behind you?
That first one is proof positive that Lou was so good at photography, he could take a perfectly-composed-and-exposed portrait with a fully-manual camera without even having to touch it. That takes some skill. And possibly sorcery.
That red thingummy on the dad’s back looks like it could be used as a chair, a bassinet, a backpack, and possibly a car seat, although, like many all-in-one devices, it looks like it would have done a poor job as all but maybe the bassinet.
I think the “nursery” here is actually set up in the kitchen of a basement apartment. Not only is there a pot on the counter, but also containers for sugar and tea and what looks like a breadbox. There is also a knife holder holding knives on the wall at the extreme left, not something we normally associate with a dedicated nursery, and what is probably a small kitchen table at the extreme lower right, behind the baby rack. It appears to be supporting an inflatable ball or other toy, and there’s a kitchen-y sort of decoration (a bunch of strawberries? Cherries? Radishes?) on the wall above it. I think that’s also a calendar hung directly above the short end of the crib.
A kitchen may seem an odd place to put a baby, but when you’re in a tiny, one-room basement apartment, you make do with what you have. Just make sure you don’t confuse the baby powder with the flour; talcum bread doesn’t slice very well. You’ll just have to trust me on that.
The photos of Baby Sue and Baby Major with their dads are sweet.
In the last pic that father better not turn around too quickly on a crowded walkway or there will be some unhappy pedestrians.
Thanks Sue & Lou and Major too!
Happy Daddy's Day...to all the dads of all kinds. We weren't the Brady's, but I inherited many traits of my father-both the good and the bad, so am grateful. Photo 1 and 2 are very sweet. Looks like Lou and Pepper Sr. have the same barber. Lou's looks like a studio shot...maybe it was taken with a timer. It's lit perfectly, and Sue even has a "hair light". Mr. Pepper looks like he is having fun. Doll on stick and girl in painting in the background above the mantle: awesome. The Chicago thing confuses me about you and Walt. Walt: Born in Chicago, but not only is his hometown Chicago it is also Kansas City and Marceline. Do all the midwest towns become "one"...like Minneapolis and St. Paul...or Minnepaul and St. Appolis? No worries, it's a cute photo. I like that blue table too. Pic 3...there is a whole lot going on in that one...wow...where do I start? I do agree that it's a basement apartment. It looks like shiny pre-stick shelf paper was possibly used for wallpaper- which is just fine...but when it's shiny it shows all the bumps and bubbles in the wall. I suppose it's better than whatever was under it. It's got to be a kitchen. The pink Lincoln Beautyware on the counter is very desirable today. Looks like they sugar the baby to make her sweeter. The calendar on the wall looks like its actually part of the wall...and isn't hanging there. The cherries add a nice touch. The crib has some Scott tissues in there. You always need a box of tissues with the baby, so I get it. I have and use that same Revere Ware pot. That stuff lasts forever. The ones I use were my in-laws and they got it for their wedding...about 100 years ago. Still going strong. That bread box is epic. That would command some $$$ on Ebay. OK...now let's get to the Marquis De Sade backpack/papoose/child play center/cafegymatorium on Dad's back. Ok...there is a lot there. For this era..this HAD to have been a big deal. It is so elaborate, and looks as if it retracts for easy transport in a folded position. The keys are great. Everything in the mouth. I think I had real keys..(explains a lot). I would say that it does look like dad is in some general discomfort. Instead of a backpack kind of attachment, it looks like hooks that go over your shoulders. Very painful hooks. I'm not sure of the sustainability of something like this in a practical setting...like tooling around Central Park for hours...the red is a very bold choice for the time. Baby looks super cozy...and why not. It's actually larger than the crib. I'd like to see the ad. The abode is quite humble, the child transport system looks rather...Kardashian. Maybe they won it in a contest from Sharper Image before Sharper Image was Sharper Image? Speaking of Mr.Sade: for some light reading: "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade." Yes, that is the title. Also known as Marat/Sade. What a (literally) insane play to perform.
Great pics today, very apropos.
Sue and Major, thanks for sharing. As a former child and a father, it’s one of the harder jobs I’ve had, but also the most rewarding.
I think my biggest success in life is my adult children are on good terms with me, I have many friends for whom that isn’t so.
I miss my Dad every day.
JG
Three great photos. I just looked on Google to find something like that 1950s baby carrier, but no success. Although did see lots of other wacky vintage ideas!
Happy Father's Day all
Nanook, while my dad was imagining that I might be President someday, I had other plans!!
JB, Sue originally sent me that photo of Lou holder her, and it immediately reminded me of the photo of my dad and me, which I’d scanned years ago for my parent’s wedding anniversary. They really are similar! That crazy baby chair seems awfully elaborate for a chair. Maybe it turned into a sort of crib or cot? You’re right, the room seems rather sparsely decorated, hopefully the parents played Mozart for the baby, everyone knows that Mozart guarantees that your baby will be smart. My mom listened to Tony Orlando and Dawn, so… you know. I never thought about how the big colorful plastic keys for babies were based on them wanting to play with REAL keys. And when I make dinner for my mom (which I do about three times a week), I frequently use her Revere Ware pots and pans, those things have lasted decades. I was thinking that the room might be an attic, but a basement makes more sense!
TokyoMagic!, luckily my mom was the in-house photographer, for the most part, so there are a few photos of me with my dad. My brother in-law is a photographer (professionally and as a hobby), and we always remark on how he’s hardly in any of the family pictures. Ha ha, I never noticed my dad was wearing a lampshade!
Chuck, whoa, I never noticed that doll thing on the mantle. No idea what it was, my mom must have gotten rid of it at an early date. Meanwhile, the green table behind my dad now belongs to my sister, so I see it whenever I go up to visit her. My mom got it at a thrift store and painted it with green latex paint, and my sister stripped it, stained it, and now it looks pretty good. I was thinking that I should probably credit Donna with taking that photo of Lou and Sue, but wasn’t sure if he set up his camera with a timer. Were timers a thing back then? My mom and dad used to talk about the rather sparse living quarters that they had when they were first married… apparently we lived in a quonset hut when we were in Georgia. I don’t remember that home at all, though I do have memories of very red dirt (something a baby would be aware of)! Talcum bread isn’t bad, you just need more mayo.
K. Martinez, I thought the same thing! Imagine how many times the dad accidentally crashed the baby into a doorway or piece of furniture! It really is a clunky design.
Bu, my dad was in the Navy back then, and Lou might have still been in the Army, so they probably did have similar barbers. Clearly the photo of me and my dad was taken “on the fly” by my mom, with a flashbulb. But hey, I’ll take it. Evanston is a suburb of Chicago, just like Sherman Oaks is a suburb of Los Angeles. It’s not so crazy! I guess the table looks kind of turquoise in that photo, but it was actually a fairly intense Kelly green. That’s why my sister immediately stripped the paint when it became hers. “Lincoln Beautyware”, I don’t even know what that is. I’m wondering if that chair thing is what attracted Sue to this photo?! It’s so crazy that you can hardly look at anything else.
JG, fathering isn’t that hard, just leave it to the servants! Witherspoon the butler can take the kid to Little League, and the chauffer can tell the kid about the facts of life. It makes things so much easier! I have friends who are not on good terms with their parents, especially women who are on bad terms with their moms. So I’m counting myself lucky to have had two parents who weren’t crazy!
LTL, I didn’t even think to look on Google, I might still do it and see if I can find anything! Of course it will help if we could see a name on it, like “Tot-tote” or something like that.
What cute photos today! Sue and Major are read for their baby food advertisements. Nice shots of happy dads. Wow, good sleuthing Major, that looks like the contraption. Kantwet, ewww. Great idea to have a hard metal bed with a baby right in the passenger seat. The stuffed bunny in the "seat" position drawing will cushion. It must be attached to Dad by only the over-shoulder hooks; still, he looks proud and I like the baby's cute li'l shoes. Happy Father's Dad to our Papa Gorillas.
Major, quite a find on the carrier advertisement. I thought Tot-Tote was a fine name, but KantWet gives the extra assurance that, with this design, a child will never soil the product. Genius!
Major, I think we have a winner for that contraption ID. "Kantwet"... I wonder how many parents bought it because of the name, and how many stayed away from it because of the name... and how many bought it anyway despite the name. Sheesh. Maybe it was the inventor who came up with that name. I'd hate to think it was an advertising firm.
Tokyo!, my dad was also the picture taker in the family, so we have very few photos of him.
Chuck, I wonder how many times the baby received a dusting of cornstarch on its bottom. Actually, that would probably work... maybe a little gooey though. Then again, babies are always gooey anyway.
Major again, my parents listened to Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, and such. So... you know. I did develop a liking for classical music at a fairly young age though. I thank Warner Bros. cartoons for that.
Corona virus wallpaper - hahahaha!
TM! I still have that lamp that my dad's wearing. I have a set of two of them - in teal with a black pattern on the hard lampshade.
You're right, Major, we are really keeping your readers guessing as to whose photo is whose - and who took what. I'm guessing my dad got the camera all set and ready, and then handed it to my mom to snap the photo. He may have set it on a tripod, too.
Make sure you check out TokyoMagic's fun Father's Day post - he just added more to it, today: Click HERE!
IMHO: That 3rd photo is an attic apartment. Basements, at least in our area, are never that deep, and the walls are never wallpapered (due to moisture seeping in). Just my guess.
"Kantwet Tour-A-Bed and Seat" - hahahaha! And, did you notice that the ad DOES NOT show it's to be worn on your back?! Typically guy. ;o)
Thanks for all the fun and nice comments, everyone!
Happy Father's Day, and especially to you, DAD! "We're still a team!"
Sue, that's so cool that you still have the lamps....and the lampshades! Thank you so much, for the shout-out on my blog post!
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