Saturday 25 August 2012

Sepia Saturday - Memory

Did I ever forget my wedding day/date? No, never! Will I ever forget it? Well, you know, I don't know. I mean, your memory (and mine) can play nasty tricks on you. When you get older there may be a time when memory is replaced by mist. And the point is, when that time has come, do we realize that?  Again, I don't know but do me favor will you, remind me.
Why all this pondering about one's memory, that great hard disk up in your head? It has been caused by the man who pushes us each and every week ever so gentle to leaf through our photo albums and consult our memories. It is because of Alan, the Sepia Saturday Shoe-box man. He confessed that he always has a bit of a job remembering his wedding anniversary. So this week's theme is 'weddings'. It so happens that I have a (children's) shoe-box full of wedding pictures. Below you see a collage of a selected number of family photo's I found there. I must admit that none is as jaunty as the one selected by Alan but here we go:

Starting in the top left hand corner and then going clock wise, you see:
Hielke van der Gaast & Catharina Orie, The Hague, 6/29/1932
Matthëus Rutgert Venema & Aaltje Hatzmann, The Hague, 5/11/1954
Andreas Miebies & Lena Bakker, The Hague, 8/15/1913*
Cornelis Franciscus J. Klarholz & Johanna Orie, Loosduinen 12/31/1913**
Engelmundus Maks & Rieka Venema, IJmuiden(?), 5/16/1946
Gerardus Theodorus de Langen & Antje Doelman, The Hague, 12/27/1916
* This picture is taken during their honeymoon in Valkenburg (L).
** Cornelis served in the Army when he married.

For more Sepia Saturday stories please click here.
And before I forget, I like to congratulate with their 39th wedding anniversary Isobel and, ahhh, so sorry, can't remember his name.

41 comments:

  1. How wonderful to have so many old family wedding photos. Apparently none of my ancestors recorded such a special occasion as a wedding with a photograph, not even my grandparents. Hard to understand why, unless they didn't have a camera handy.

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  2. Peter; these are beautiful wedding pictures. I enlarged the photo, to see the dresses at the time and also the faces; Good looking couples.

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  3. Definitely worth joining the army for Cornelis to be married in such a magnificent uniform. What a diverse selection of photographs.

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  4. These photos give a historical look at the style of wedding clothes in the 20th century. I could pick out the one from the 1950s with ease.

    (This is my 5th attempt at your word verification!!)

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  5. Thank you for all your comments. I have many more of these wedding pictures. However, I know that some of them show relatives but I haven't the foggiest idea who they are. Should have asked now deceased members of the family... Others show relatives who fortunately are still alive and kicking. Usually I don't show those.
    @Joy:
    Cornelis certainly looks smart in his uniform but in a literal sense he is a distant relative :)
    @Bob:
    I wholeheartedly agree with you on that word verification. If I did everything according to procedures, it is now switched off. Thanks for pointing this out to me!

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  6. Our memory replaced by mist? I almost like the sound of that! What lovely wedding photos, such a treasure for you to have!

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  7. Great collection. If I have wedding photos of my distant relatives and ancestors, I don't know it (except for one). If they're not in a full-blown wedding gown or holding a bouquet, then I'm clueless as to what I'm looking at.

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  8. The old wedding photos are appealing even if you don't know the people. I don't thin that is true of newer photos.

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  9. @Karen S
    Thank you Karen and I'll take good care of them.
    @Wendy
    Just look for a happy gleam in their eyes and you'll know :)
    @Postcardy
    Just wait another 100 years and things will look completely different (I hope).

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  10. Enjoyed the wedding photos. The couple in the center look quite happy. And another dark wedding dress.

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  11. An interesting selection thank you. I not that there are subtle but significant differences in wedding fashions between cultures, even through to the 20th Century.

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  12. I enjoyed your wedding photos. People look so nice and happy! Thanks for sharing!

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  13. Family treasures, Peter - I particularly like the photo in the middle - the bridge looks delighted :-) Jo

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  14. oops - sorry, of course I meant the BRIDE :-)

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  15. Thank you all for visiting, much appreciated!
    @Brett Payne
    I think all these different wedding fashions are intriguing. When/why was the change to white? When/why did grooms start giving brides bouquets? Was that an early case of flower grower marketing?
    @imagespast
    I was already magnifying the picture and looking for a dental bridge :)

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  16. What a great collection of wedding photos. I really like the honeymoon photo maybe because it's unique.
    I've read that queen Victoria was the first to wear white at her royal wedding which started the trend.
    Don't know about the flowers.
    Nancy

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  17. A great post Peter - and I am proud of my new label - "the Sepia Saturday shoe-box man"

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  18. @barbara and nancy
    You may very well be right and now that you mention it, our (Dutch) Queen Wilhelmina was the first with a burial in white (1962). But that is off topic :)
    @Alan
    You have made us all dive into our shoe boxes and that is an achievement in itself! Appreciate you visiting all our blogs the day after your 39th wedding anniversary. Hope you had a very nice day with Isobel.

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  19. Wedding photos like these are a real time machine. The subtle differences intrigued me as well. The details of costumes are more clear on these special photos, and because they can be easily dated with families, they make a great timeline to compare to other mystery photos.

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  20. @Mike
    Thank you for your comments. Maybe I'll "write" a post showing all wedding pictures I have. No need to show names but most I can date. Thanks for putting this idea in my head.

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  21. I especially enjoyed comparing the dresses - thanks for sharing!

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  22. A parade of wedding fashion! The couple in the centre look really jolly, but all the photos are wonderful records of changes in wedding outfits.

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  23. I like the variety of all the couples. Engelmundus (what kind of name is that) looks quite old if I may say so. I'm sure in Valkenburg nobody walks around dressed like Andreas anymore :-)

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  24. @Rob
    Engelmundus was 25 years old when he married. He was called Engel in every day life which is no common name either (for a man). Maybe he looked a bit worn already because he worked in a steel mill (Hoogovens).
    And as far as your remark about Andreas & wife is concerned, clearly you haven't been to Valkenburg during carnival :)

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  25. Hi Peter ... your collage is wonderful! I like how you gathered them all together in one spot.

    Kathy M.

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  26. @Kathy
    It's not so difficult, I used Picasa. I'm not the advertising type but it has many possibilities.
    Thanks for visiting!

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  27. The couple in the lower right corner look so stern, so distant. I understand the posture is part of the era, but the lack of facial expression? One would never guess this was a happy occasion, or was it?!?
    :/~
    HUGZ

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  28. @Ticklebear
    I haven't got the foggiest idea, never met them ;)

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  29. Isn't it sad when you have beautiful photos of folks from the past, but no names to go with them. Luckily you do have the names here. An interesting collection of brides and grooms from various ages.

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  30. Cornelis and Johanna look like they don't know what's just happened to them! Perhaps the Sepia shoe box man forgot that he'd used that wedding photo before but it gives you a chance to re-post and allows newer members like me to see older posts like yours.

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  31. I enjoyed your tongue in cheek introduction and the lovely collage of wedding photographs.

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  32. I see that I did not comment last time around so I will have a chance to this time and I just wanted to say that in spite of finding several family and friend wedding photographs, none was half as jaunty as the prompt photo. Everybody in both yours and mine looks happy though and that is what counts.

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  33. a great collection of wedding photos Peter

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  34. Great photos and a very entertaining post. I especially love the names that go with the photos.

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  35. Misty memories are why we all enjoy reading a good book, or a good blog post for that matter, a second time (or even 3 or 4 times more!) Perhaps in another 4 years time you will get to recycle this one again!

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  36. Does the bride in the central image have both a corsage and a bouquet? She is certainly bedecked with flowers. I agree with Mike and do enjoy the reposts just as much as the first time.

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  37. I especially love the shot of the bride sitting against the rocky hillside. Would this be the beginning of the phrase "a rocky romance?"

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  38. I forgot completely what I said four years ago, but it appears that I had exactly the same view this time round and was struck by the happy expressions of the couple in the centre of the collage.

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  39. @La Nightingail That's why I am a proponent of at least scribbling names and dates on the back photos. We are the memory of future generations...
    @Jo Featherston I am certainly grateful to Alan for giving me this opportunity!
    @ScotSue Thank you!
    @Kristin I missed your comments last time so I thought why not post it again :-))
    @Kerryn Thank you!
    @Liz Needle How come you love the names?
    @Mike I will put it in my 2020 agenda so that I don't forget...
    @Helen Having both is not unusual here. But apparently these customs differ from country to country.
    @T and L You may be right but its origin could also be somewhere in the fifties when Bill Haley made a name for himself ;)
    @Little Nell That is what is called consistency :)

    Thank you all for visiting! It's nice to be back every now and then.

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  40. A great collection of wedding photos. I particularly like the center photo. That lovely lady looks almost doll like. Lovely

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