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Southern California circa 1956. One of a dozen Kodachrome slides that I recently found on eBay. If the clothes here were any sharper we'd need to call 911. No T- shirts and jeans for these folks. More to come over the weekend. View full size.
I don't think the couple in the photo are white noelani. I think the woman is just lighter skinned.
There are still many of us around from that age and that time. Dave, I hope you can get some names to attach to the pictures. I'm looking forward to the next of the set.
[Alas, the only name on these slides is "Kodachrome." -Dave]
"If you could get ALL those olives in the dish into your mouth at the same time, I'll give you a quarter." This was the kind of stunts they'd pull in their teen years and beyond. Their youngest brother at age 5 had a near tragedy trying to fit a whole wedge of cantaloupe in his mouth at once. Thank goodness Mom intervened.
Having been a fan of Nat King Cole, I attended some of his concerts in the early '60s. He dressed so very similar to these two men, very elegant, slender, meticulously groomed and a very smoooooth operator. As soon as I saw this picture, I was reminded of his demeanor. He was especially graceful and attentive to his fans and yet was so humble and congenial to all and his voice was one in a trillion, never to be duplicated. Even though these two do not really look alike, they both interpreted his sophisticated "style" beautifully.
That's a really cute girl! I'm wondering what the story is about the b&w photo of the white couple. Maybe Olive Girl is biracial and those are her grandparents. I'm speaking this as a mother with two biracial kids and three biracial grandkids, as of yesterday (baby boy, 7lbs 6oz)!
Why does the song "Sharp Dressed Man" come to mind? Seriously, the clothes are wonderful!
I’m guessing the guy on the left is wearing suede shoes. 1955/56 were the years of pink and charcoal attire for men of the world, as were blue suede wingtip shoes. What we can see of him measures up to the standard, so I’m assuming his footwear does also---including the obligatory pink argyle socks. Pastel colors abounded everywhere at the time: car paint, fiberglass boats, interior décor, furniture, home exteriors, advertising layouts, product packages, etc. Thankfully, providence spared us the simultaneous affliction of women’s sack dresses during the same period, as they were still a couple of years off.
If this photo was shot in 2012, the young woman's clothing would be far different. The Pink Top would be gone and the Dress would be daringly unbuttoned.
It's been interesting watching Shorpy Photos and seeing the progression of women wearing less and less clothing through the years since the camera was invented. Seems the 1950s was the happy medium.
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