Wednesday, January 5, 2022

People and cactus; a few photos

While I had great fun making up stories to go with some of the vintage photos Andrew has given me (here, here, here), I found myself hesitant to do so when the subject of the photo was simply people standing by cactus. Why? Because it felt uncomfortable to speculate on what brought them to these places. Were Elmer and Ruth happy to be posing here? They don't look particularly happy, but they are definitely snappy dressers.

This lady looks happy though. Did she plant this cactus, or was she just pleased to see it?

Ditto for this little girl, she looks quite happy with the huge blooms she's been asked to show off.

Like the others, this lady hails from a time when women wore dresses, and pumps! I love that her handbag is just to the side.

No dress here though. She's a rebel this one!

All material © 2009-2022 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

15 comments:

  1. Fun stuff. These historical perspectives are fascinating. Plus...cacti and people.

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  2. I always get a kick out of seeing people in their finery posed next to prickly plants!

    Fun photos--keep them coming!

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  3. I think Elmer is impressed - and perhaps even a little peeved - that the cactus are taller than he is. Diminutive Ruth looks a little intimidated but insistent that she is included so her friends will believe her when she describes these alien plants upon their return to Ohio.

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  4. It looks to me like the woman in the last photo is too close to those cacti for comfort. Ouch.

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  5. I think all of these photos are pretty darned cool. I could make up a story about each one, but out of respect, I won't.

    So here's my cactus story without a photo: When I was big & pregnant with my 1st child, hubby & I drove out to the country to pick out a juniper Christmas tree. We were broke so a juniper tree had to fill in. We spotted one way down in a valley. After a long walk down, just as we got to the tree I fell into a prickly pear cactus and ended up with spines in my tail. Very memorable.

    Look forward to seeing more vintage photos in the future!

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    1. Thanks for telling your story! Ouch! Also "out of respect" is what stopped me.

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  6. Fantastic photos. My grandmother lived in the desert (near Palm Springs) and she always wore dresses and white oxford shoes. Mind you she was born in a decade that started with 18 so even 50's era bermudas were probably too extreme for her.

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  7. The attire on the woman in the last photo echos what my mother and I wore in the late '50s and early '60s — pedal pushers. I look back at photos of myself then and cringe. I was wearing them in a photo of me and my brother triumphantly holding tumbleweed over our heads on a trip to Arizona. Then we realized they had showered us with prickly bits. Most unpleasant.

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  8. These photos are so fascinating as are the responses you have gotten. So enjoyed all of it! When I lived in Central New York State in the 1950's etc. I never even saw a picture of a cactus or knew anything about the desert! Living here in Phoenix for 40 years, boy has that changed!

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  9. "Elmer + Ruth. Same place." The caption is cool, too.

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