Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images.
I had decided not to participate in Sepia Saturday this week, but when I woke up this morning I thought of a photograph to share.
This is a picture of Angela Loverde nee Parlati, my husband’s grandmother.
I thought of this picture because of the similar side view, hair style, and age of the women.
I have shared other photographs of Angela for Sepia Saturday. Her wedding pictures were featured here and she appeared in a post about her husband’s barbershop here. As I mentioned in the post about the barbershop, Angela was a smoker and that is her other connection to the photo prompt.
Joseph Loverde and Angela Parlati
Although Angela’s wedding pictures prompted speculation among commenters that the family was wealthy, in truth, they were not. The family put a lot of resources into the wedding but, as my husband says, “They were Italian. Of course they had a big wedding!” Angela and her husband, Joe Loverde, married during the Depression and moved in with her parents. They never moved out.
Angela’s father died fairly young, but her mother lived a long life and was always the head of the household. Nana, as everyone called her, had a strong personality. She did not abide Angela smoking in the house and Angela was relegated to the outside or the bathroom. I never saw Angela smoke in public. When she craved a cigarette, she would disappear to the bathroom and return after what seemed a very long time. Pity the poor person who needed to use the facilities after one of Angela’s disappearances!
Other Sepia Saturday participants would enjoy a visit from you too!
She was so lovely. I am guessing they were a wealthy family in so many other ways!
Thank you for your comments, Karen. I think she is very pretty in all of the pictures of her – especially as a young woman. I really like this one.
She was so beautiful! And the wedding photo is lovely.
Thanks for your comment Jana. I still need to get that wedding photo lightened up.
I would never had made the connection with a hairstyle.
I didn’t want to write about the bad things that happened to some of the smokers in the family…. but I could proceed when I thought of this photograph.
I would not have thought about a hairstyle either, but you’re right – she and the woman in the prompt have a similar look. Plus there’s a smoking story. You had the perfect epiphany this morning.
I like it when that happens!
Angela and the woman in the prompt do have the same hair style.
I wondered if someone would pick up on the woman’s hair style, and Angela’s photo is an attractive match. Her habit of discretely disappearing into the “powder room” for a smoke is a neat fit too.
When I was new to the family, I didn’t know to wait for about 30 minutes to let the smoke dissipate before entering the powder room, but I quickly learned.
What a great hand-coloured photograph to use for this week’s contribution, so typically of the era.
Thanks for your commet, Brett. It’s a favorite of ours.
Such a great photo and connection. Well done!
Thanks, Alex.
I can definitely see the similarity. The wedding photos are beautiful.
Thanks Sharon. I need to get one of my kids to work on those wedding photos so that they are even better. I haven’t learned how to fix them.
Oh yes that hairstyle looks just like the times. She was very pretty.
Thank you for your comment, Pat!
What an absolutely stunning woman. Your husband’s grandmother. Well. I’ll bet that whenever Angela got the chance to smoke in public, she did it with great style.
I don’t know how old she was when she started smoking. Maybe in her younger years she was a “stylish” smoker. It was the in thing.
Oh, that is a lovely portrait. You are so lucky to have family photographs like that.
She was lovely indeed!!
I gather from what you wrote
that there was only one bathroom in the WHOLE house[?!?]…
😀
HUGZ
You got that right!
Angela was a lovely woman – great photo!