Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 111 : 4 February 2012

2012-01-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Our theme this week was picked by a couple of our regular contributors : ROB FROM AMERSFOORT over at ROBS WEBSTEK and BOB SCOTNEY at BOB'S HOME FOR WRITING. The theme is not men with silly beards (although you can always go with that one if you want - we are libertarians over here on Sepia Saturday), but DOGS. So we are asking for pictures of dogs, pictures of people with dogs, pictures of people who look like dogs. pictures taken by dogs - or what have you. My featured archive image comes from the collection of the National Media Museum (available via Flickr Commons) and dates from around 1900. Taken by the Gloucester photographer, P Davey, it is entitled, appropriately enough, "A Man With Dog"

You don't have to follow the theme : all we ask is that whatever you post is old and interesting. Post your posts on or around Saturday the 4th February 2012 and once posted add a link to the Linky List below. Leave a comment so we know you are in and try and get around as many other posts as possible. Simple really : like a walk in the park. With a dog, of course.

Sepia Saturday 110 : Saturday 28 January 2012

2012-01-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all of your theme suggestions last week: we should have enough to get us through the cold winter months. I will work my way through them in the coming weeks. This week I am taking a theme from the list provided by STEPH over at LADIES IN MONOCHROME : Theatre. The photograph is taken from the collection of the Cheshire County (New Hampshire) Historical Society and comes, as usual, via Flickr Commons. Although it is called the Majestic Theatre, it seems that the building was only ever used as a cinema and at its height it boasted that "two miles of film were shown at each performance" to the people of Keene and Cheshire County.

But if you want a theme for Sepia Saturday 110 you can put on your own performance with any interpretation of theatre you care to choose. Just post your post on or around Saturday the 28th of January 2012 and add a link to the list below. All I need to say now is, "Tickets please".

Sepia Saturday 109 : 21st January 2012

2012-01-16T06:17:00.000-08:00

Well hats seemed to get everybody going last week: it was one of our most popular themes ever. In commenting on Jinksy's post, Little Nell suggested a doll theme for Sepia Saturday. It seemed like a good idea to me, so here we are. This delightful 1937 picture was taken by the American photographer Nickolas Muray and is part of the George Eastman House Collection available via Flickr Commons. If you are following the theme - remember, you don't have to - all you need to do is to post your old image and your new reflections on or around Saturday the 21st January 2012 and link to the list below.

Perhaps we could try opening out the theme suggestion for future weeks as well. Why not suggest a theme or two when you comment on this call and I will try and make use of your suggestions in the weeks to come. Just give me a possible theme and I will try and root out an archive image to illustrate it with and that can serve as our call. And I will incorporate a nice big link back to the blogger who suggested the theme.

I have also been busy updating the blogs listed on our side panel and, hopefully, it now incorporates all our current participants. But if I have inadvertently missed you out please let me know and I will correct things as soon as possible. So, that's it, start rooting through your old images and make sure that we have a dolly mixture of a week next week.

Sepia Saturday 108 : 14 January 2012

2012-01-10T01:05:00.000-08:00

I am not saying anything about my chosen old image for this week other than it is a still from the 1912 silent film "The New York Hat". The image comes courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library and, as always, via the magnificent Flickr Commons initiative. Other than that you can make of it what you will - pick your own themes, find your own prompts, follow you own cues. It is what you have all been doing so well for the last 107 weeks. All we ask is that your posts have some kind of old image within them, that you post them on or around Saturday the 14th of January 2012, that you add a link to your post to the list below, that you link back to the Sepia Saturday Blog, and that you try and visit as many of the other participants as you can manage. What could be easier? It's a piece of cake. No it's not, it is a hat.

Sepia Saturday 107 : Saturday 7th January 2012

2012-01-04T03:55:00.000-08:00

A thousand apologies : no, two thousand and twelve apologies. Here we are, post Christmas break, the icing sugar not having set on my New Years' Resolutions, and I am late in putting the Sepia Saturday call up. And I haven't revised the Sepia Saturday Blog, and I haven't been around to visit all those Sepia Saturdayers who posted over the holiday season. I have few excuses, so I will draw a line in the sand and shave the fur of my angora rabbit. The rabbit in question features in a photograph by the Australian photographer Sam Hood called "Girl With A White Angora Rabbit". It dates back to the 1930s and features in the Flickr collection of the State Library of New South Wales. The year may have changed but the rules (or rather, lack of rules) have not. Post your post on or around Saturday 7th January 2012 and link to the list below. If you want you can identify a theme from the above image and follow it, alternatively you can follow a theme of your own choosing. Shave the excess fur off your photographic memories and help push Sepia Saturday into 2012.

Sepia Saturday 106 : Christmas / New Year 2011

2011-12-19T04:31:00.000-08:00

It is Open House on Sepia Saturday over Christmas and New Year : Sepia Season rather than Sepia Saturday. Just post your posts whenever you have the time and add your link to the Linky List. Post as many seasonal offerings as you want and keep calling back to check on what everyone else is posting. If you want a theme you can dissect the above 1945 image by the American photographer Nickolas Muray which is brought to you courtesy of the George Eastman House Collection on Flickr Commons.

The more normal Sepia Saturday (Sepia Saturday 107) will return on Saturday January 7th 2012. In the meantime may I take this opportunity to wish all my many Sepia Saturday friends throughout the world a wonderfully enjoyable Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Alan

Sepia Saturday 105 : Saturday 17 December 2011

2011-12-13T04:33:00.000-08:00

The Festive Season is almost upon us and I thought I might give you something of a festive prompt - and this is quite some feast!. It is an illustration from the 1901 Edition of Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book (courtesy of the State Library of Queensland’s collection, courtesy of Flickr Commons). As you can see, the food on offer includes a raised game pie; pigeon pie; lamb cutlets; piped ham and boned capon. So you have a veritable cornucopia of visual prompts which should have you posting up with the stuffed larks. For Sepia Saturday 105 post your posts on or around Saturday 17th December.

The Saturday after that will be Christmas Eve and the one after that, New Years' Eve. I have therefore decided to make Sepia Saturday 106 an open seasonal call which will cover both Christmas and New Year (I will put the call post up early next week). The normal Sepia Saturday fare will return with Sepia Saturday 107 on the 7th January 2012. But all that is in the future : for now just tuck in to SS105, Bon appetit!

Sepia Saturday 104 : 10 December 2011

2011-12-05T14:31:00.001-08:00

I won't be here for Sepia Saturday 104 (post your posts on or around Saturday 10 December 2011), but by now everyone knows how it works, so all you need me to do is to set some kind of theme for those who are theme-minded. And seeing as I will be spending a few days in Bavaria, what better choice for my archive picture this week than this delightful study of Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Bavaria and her young son Prince Luitpold. The photograph comes from the Bain Collection of the Library of Congress and they suggest a date for the photograph of between 1910 and 1915. The latter end of this timescale is obviously wrong for the Princess died of renal failure in 1912 whilst the young Prince died in 1914 of polio. He was born in 1901 and he looks about five or six in this photograph which would date it as 1906/07. Marie-Gabrielle's husband and Luitpold's father was Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria who survived the downfall of the Bavarian monarchy and two world wars, and died in 1955 aged 89. You can take whatever theme you want from the photograph or you can ignore themes all together : just enjoy yourself. While you do that I will no doubt be enjoying myself investigating the Christmas Markets (and the bierkellers) of Munich.

Sepia Saturday 103 : 3 December 2011

2011-11-28T17:09:00.001-08:00

I am going for my winter flu jab tomorrow, visiting the nurse at the local health centre. This is in Brighouse, West Yorkshire and not Richmond, Virginia and I will be visiting the nurse rather than her driving out to visit me. But the similarities were enough to make me choose this 1961 photograph from the Adolph B. Rice Studio (part of the Library of Virginia collection on Flickr Commons) for my archive theme picture for Sepia Saturday 103 (post your posts on or around Saturday 3 December 2011). Of course, you don't have to follow the theme - whatever that might be - you can go where you want to. Just stay healthy and enjoy your Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday 102 : Saturday 26 November 2011

2011-11-20T01:56:00.001-08:00

"Honest weights, square dealings" : that's Sepia Saturday. The Old Reliable weekly Blog provides a perfect pointer to those who want to link their old images to new memories. So when you are fishing around, trying to think of what to post for Sepia Saturday 102 (on or around Saturday 26th November 2011), take a look at this week's prompt photograph : there is so much going on here that it can give rise to the most complex flights of fancy. It is a 1936 photograph (brought to you courtesy of the Library of Congress) by that great American photographer Walker Evans and it is called "Roadside Stand Near Birmingham, Alabama". You can use this as a theme or you can post off-theme : the choice is yours. Just post, link and then take a look at some of your fellow sepia posters.

Sepia Saturday 101 : Saturday 19 November 2011

2011-11-14T05:01:00.001-08:00

First of all a big thank you to everyone who took part in Sepia Saturday 100 : it was the biggest and the best so far and the host of brilliant contributions made it a memorable occasion. It was a fine weekend of celebration and I have decided to leave the party in style in "the greatest Chevrolet in Chevrolet history". My illustration this week comes from the collection of the National Library of New Zealand and it shows the front cover of a 1930 Chevrolet sales catalogue. If you are wanting a theme for Sepia Saturday 101 (post your post on or around Saturday 19th November 2011) there are themes a-plenty in the illustration. It doesn't matter if you don't want to follow a theme : all we need from participants is an interesting old image and a few new memories.

If themers want to give their readers a representation of the original theme image I am including a smaller version which you can include in your post if you would like to. So, here I go, jumping into my smart new car ("a six in the price range of the four") and speeding off to my next century of Sepia Saturday calls.

SEPIA SATURDAY 100 : 12 November 2011

2011-11-06T03:56:00.000-08:00

So here we are at last : the 100th Sepia Saturday. The theme - if you need a theme - is 100 and you can interpret this as you want. It might be an image taken 100 years ago, it might be a re-post of your favorite Sepia Saturday post from the first 100, it might be an old picture of a pigeon! You might want to stray away from any hint of a theme and tell us about your Great Aunt Ruth-Annie : Sepia Saturday has always been of an anarchic frame of mind, so as long as there is an old image in there somewhere, you are welcome to the party. And let's make it a memorable party and extend an invitation to Sepia Saturday posters old and new. Spread the word so we can get as many participating as possible. Just post your post any time between now and the 12th and link it by using the list below. I have prepared a smaller version of the special Sepia Saturday 100 logo in case you want to include it in your post, feel free to download it and use it as you will. I look forward to reading all your sepia posts - and I look forward to hosting the next 100 sepia Saturdays. Best sepia wishes to you all, from Alan

Sepia Saturday 99 : 5th November 2011

2011-11-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

We are now well on our way to our Sepia Saturday 100 celebrations and as the bus passes through Måholmen in Sweden it stops to pick up the band. We are lucky enough to have secured the services of the Lighthouse Workers' Band - the above photograph was taken by Anders Folkestadås in the first decade of the twentieth century - who will be playing for our entertainment at the Centenary Party. But before that comes along (Saturday 12 November), we have Sepia Saturday 99 to celebrate (on or around the 5th November 2011). For the themers among us there is a wealth of possibilities in the above image (which comes from the Flickr photostream of the County Archives in Sogn og Fjordane) so strike up the band and get your posts ready.

Sepia Saturday 98 : Saturday 29 October 2011

2011-10-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

It is time to jump on the bus : but where is the bus heading for? Well the final destination is the celebrations that will mark Sepia Saturday 100 which will be taking place on or around Saturday 12th November. In order to give everyone due notice for this momentous occasion I can now announce the theme for SS100 and it will be, of course, 100. As usual, you can interpret that in any way you like : photographs from 100 years ago, centenary photographs or, if you wish, you can republish your favourite Sepia Saturday post from the first 100. You have plenty of time to think about it, so save your centenary posts for the middle of November. For now, we have just got on the bus, so for Sepia Saturday 98 (on or around Saturday 29th October 2011) you can search the above image for potential themes. The image comes from the Photographic Archives of the Stockholm Transport Museum and has been made available by the ever-wonderful Flickr Commons. All aboard please, ding, ding.

Sepia Saturday 97 : Saturday 22 October 2011

2011-10-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

"Look Up" said the photographer and at least two of the boys (yes, it appears they are boys) did exactly that. The photograph was taken outside a school in Connemara in Ireland by a certain Major Ruttledge-Fair in the 1890s and it now forms part of the collection of the National Library of Ireland. As well as being a charming image, it provides a multitude of potential prompts for the "themers" among our ranks (you really don't need me to identify them). Whatever the theme - or indeed the lack of theme - just publish your post on or around Saturday 22nd October 2011 and add your name to the linky list below. The rest of us will look up your contributions with interests.

Sepia Saturday 96 : Saturday 15th October 2011

2011-10-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

National Library of Scotland

I don't normally do requests : but reading Christine H'scomment on last weeks' post, how could I resist. "I have a bust week, soI'm not participating this time, but hope to be back next week, especially ifthe theme is kidneys, World War II, cooks, or strange outfits", she wrote.Well, there may be kidneys cooking in that tin hat although I accept that it isthe wrong war : but it is the best I can do. So for most themers they can taketheir choice from war, cooking, chairs, or fires. For non-themers they can postwhatever old image they want. And from Christine we expect nothing less than aperfect match. All you need do is cook up your post and serve it on or aboutSaturday 16th October 2011. Bon appetit!

Sepia Saturday 95 : Saturday 8 October 2011

2011-10-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Royal Library of Denmark - Flickr Commons

A very different picture of women for my theme photograph this week following the Queensland pin-up girl of Sepia Saturday 94. This archive photograph is taken from the Flickr Commons collection of the Royal Library of Denmark. The photograph is by Henriette Crone (1874-1933) and shows Danish women marching for social justice and its inclusion in the Flickr set "Women in Parliament" is timely given the fact that Helle Thorning-Schmidt became the first female Prime minister of Denmark earlier this week. You don't need me to suggest themes based on this photograph - just post whatever interpretation you come up with on or around Saturday the 8th October. As always, you don't need to follow a theme - as long as it is old and interesting that is all we are concerned with. And speaking of old and interesting - I am sure people have noticed that the Sepia Saturday count is nearing 100! If anyone has any suggestions as to how we should celebrate our centenary please let us know in your comments.

Sepia Saturday 94 : Saturday 1 October 2011

2011-09-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Image : State Library of Queensland, Australia via Flickr Commons

My archive image this week is neither sepia nor is it a photograph : but when have rules ever been important round here at Sepia Saturday? It's old and its interesting - who could ask for anything more. If the "themers" amongst us ask for anything more they can take their pick from pretty girls, horses, polo, Queensland, magazines, the stratosphere, sea stories and Jean Harlow. Not to mention the half dozen or so hidden themes that many of you like to discover and share with the rest of us. I have said before on many occasions, that I often think of blogging as being the natural descendant of these wonderful illustrated magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. So I look forward to Issue 94 of Sepia Saturday Illustrated Weekly which will be available at your local newsstand on or around Saturday 1st October 2011. To participate just link your post to the list below, and then "read all about it".

Sepia Saturday 93 : Saturday 24 September 2011

2011-09-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

Photograph from the Flickr Commons Collection of the Museum of Photographic Arts

You will be glad to see that there is not a train in sight for this weeks' theme photograph. Instead we have one of the most famous images in photographic history - William Henry Fox Talbot's 1840s photograph of Nicolaas Henneman Asleep. It would appear that Henneman was Fox Talbot's Dutch valet and photographic assistant who later became a photographer in his own right. In those very early days of photography when subjects had to stay still for so long, a conveniently sleeping subject was perfect for a sharp print. As far as themes are concerned - make of it what you will : after 93 weeks I am well aware that you have the collective inventiveness to draw a theme out of the thinnest of air. All I ask is that you post your contribution on or around Saturday the 24th September 2011 and that you provide a link to it in the list below. That said, I am going back to sleep now.

Sepia Saturday 92 : Saturday 17 September 2011

2011-09-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

My theme picture this week comes from a new collection of archive photographs from the National Library of Ireland which can be found on Flickr Commons. Taken in September 1910, the photograph shows the offices of the London & North Western Railway Company on The Quay, Waterford, Ireland. Back in the days when I would work for a living, I was a frequent passenger on that advertised railway route which linked "all the principal towns of England and Scotland" with Ireland via Holyhead and Dublin. Even though the old steamboat ferries had been replaced by high-speed catamarans, there was still a slightly sepia feeling about sailing across the Irish Sea. If you are looking for a theme for Sepia Saturday 92 (post your posts on or around Saturday the 17 September 2011) there is a suitcase full in the above image : travel, ships, railways, holidays, shops, Ireland or even hand-carts left leaning against a back street wall. But remember, you don't have to stay on theme (I don't, so why should you!), just pack your digital suitcase with anything a little old and quirky and give us a treat.

Sepia Saturday 91 : Saturday 10 September 2011

2011-09-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

This photograph entitled "President Wilson on a Speaking Tour" dates from 1919 and is part of the on-line collection of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Archives made available via Flickr Commons. As always it will provide a variety of potential prompts for all those in search of a theme for Sepia Saturday 91. But what I like most of all about it is the contrasting action taking place within the photograph itself. The secret service man at the bottom left stares out of shot, the man at the top left keeps a watchful eye on his President, whilst the President and the admiring couple of the right make up a delightful triangle on interaction. Sometimes a good photograph can provide almost as much action as a short film! Whatever kind of action (or inaction) you are featuring in your old images, let them speak out by posting them on or around Saturday 10th September and linking them to the list below.

Sepia Saturday 90 : Saturday 3 September 2011

2011-08-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

The picture above dates from 1916 and shows the InfantaBeatriz of Spain (1909-2002), daughter of King Alfonso XIII of Spain andVictoria Eugenie of Battenberg. The glass negative forms part of the GeorgeGrantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress and has been made availableto the world via the Flickr Commons initiative. For once, I have to confess, itis not a random choice : it results from a Flickr Commons search for"Spain". The reason for this is that, by the time Sepia Saturday 90 comes around, I will be soaking up the sun in Spain. For those seeking a theme this week they might want to choose little girls, Spain, holidays or ... whatever. As always your ability to follow a theme doesn't really matter, what is important is to use an old image to say something interesting. Post your images on or around Saturday the 3rd September and link them to the list below. If I can manage to get a decent wifi signal I will follow all your contributions whilst sipping a cold beer and applying another layer of suntan lotion. Hola!

Sepia Saturday 89 : Saturday 27 August 2011

2011-08-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

The title of this image, which comes from the Flickr collection of the State Library of New South Wales, is "Depression Bread Wars, Corner Shop on Bourke and Fitzroy Streets, Surry Hills, Sydney, 21 August 1934. The photograph was taken by Sam Hood and what I love about it is the mass of information it contains. It is one of those photographs you can almost read like a book : moving from highlight to highlight piecing together a plot, a story, or in this case something of a tragedy. It is also one of those images that gives wide scope to the Sepia Saturday Themers :it is almost impossible to find whatever theme you want within the mass of prompts contained here. So, once again, I invite you to choose an old image and tell a story. The story can be as short as a sentence or as long as a lifetime, it can be fact or fiction, happy or sad. Your choice. Our reading pleasure. Just post it on your blog on or around Saturday 27th August 2011 and link to it using the Linky List below.

Sepia Saturday 88 : Saturday 20 August 2011

2011-08-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

"I think that I shall never see, A poem as lovely as a tree". This splendid photograph of a tree was taken in 1910 by Huron H Smith and forms part of the digital collection of the Field Museum in Chicago which has been made available via the Flickr Commons Project. The title given to this glass negative by the photographer was "A Poet's Tree" as it pictures the actual oak tree in Glynn County, Georgia, under which the poet Sidney Lanier wrote the poem "The Marshes of Glynn". For people who like a theme for their Sepia Saturday contributions, a tree would seem a suitable starting point. Whatever you post, post it on or around Saturday 20th August 2011. I am looking forward to seeing the various contributions because: "I think I will probably see, a post as lovely as a tree".

Sepia Saturday 87 : 13 August 2011

2011-08-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

My dip into the archives this week brings us a bit of a change. After weeks' of marble-cold statues, cold chrome bumper bars and robotic looking space suits, it's time for a little romance. And romance - or the Danish "Romantik" - is the title of this photograph by Sven Turck which comes from the collection of the Royal Library of Denmark (available via the ever-splendid Flickr Commons initiative). There is no date given, but I would guess the 1940s or early 1950s (Turck died in 1954). If you are looking for a theme for this weeks' Sepia Saturday (on or around Saturday 13th August 2011), you don't need my guidance, you can work it out for yourself. Love to all.

Sepia Saturday 86 : Saturday 6 August 2011

2011-08-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what is going on in this photograph, but I am reliably informed that it was taken at the World's Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago in 1893. I chose it because I was walking by a field the other day and I was reminded, yet again, what a mighty fine beast a cow is. I was determined to look for a suitable Sepia Saturday archive picture - and here it is. So, themers, take your pick : cows, statues, exhibitions, boating lakes, lamp-posts : the subject range is as wide as your imaginations. Sepia Saturday 86 will take place on or around Saturday 6th August 2011. Don't stand still like a statue - get moo-ving and get your submission lamp-posted.

Sepia Saturday 85 : Saturday 30th July 2011

2011-07-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

A random dip into the on-line photographic archives brought up this rather nice picture entitled "Woman Sitting On Bumper Bar of Car At Warwick Farm Racecourse". Ah for the days when cars had proper bumpers : if you tried that today you would soon have grass on the back of your dress. It would appear that the picture was taken in 1934, probably by Tom Lennon, and comes from the digital collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Sidney. Sepia Saturday 85 will take place on or around Saturday 30th July 2011. Everybody is welcome - let's hope we have a bumper bundle.

Sepia Saturday 84 : Saturday 23 July 2011

2011-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

This particular archive photograph celebrates two events : the last flight of the Space Shuttle and the fact that NASA has just added some 350 archive photographs to the Flickr Commons initiative. My chosen photograph dates back to 1964 and shows a researcher testing out an early space suit for the Apollo Moon Project. I recognise that this image may pose a bit of a challenge to the "themers" among Sepia Saturday followers, but I have every confidence in their ability to find images that fit whichever theme they care to identify. Whether you are following a theme or not : you can get into orbit with Sepia Saturday 84 by posting your post on or around Saturday 23 July 2011. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Lift-off.

Sepia Saturday 83 : 16 July 2011

2011-07-12T02:59:00.000-07:00

"What's going on?", you may ask as you look at the Sepia Saturday Blog and see some changes in the side-bar. The changes are long-overdue as I realised that the list of contributors had not been updated since Kat set the blog up a year and a half ago. So I have got rid of the old list and replaced it with a new list based on those or took part in last weeks' Sepia Saturday. I have probably missed some people out and therefore if you are a Sepia Saturday participant and want your blog entering on the Sepia Saturday Participants" blog-roll, just let me know.

"What's going on?", you may ask as you look at my archive picture for this week. It has the imaginative title "Three Men Playing Cards In An Alcove" and it is by an unknown photographer and taken on an unknown date. It comes from the excellent collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and has been shared with the world via the ever-wonderful Flickr Commons initiative. There are all sorts of questions you can ask about this particular image, to what extent is it posed, how old is it really (the Museum suggest that it dates from the 1890s) and, most importantly of all, what is the four of clubs doing half hidden on the chair?

"What's going on?". The answer is simple : Sepia Saturday 83 is going on - on or around Saturday the 16th July 2011. Why not come and join us? Bring your own bottle of beer.

Sepia Saturday 82 : Saturday 9th July 2011

2011-07-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

My choice for this weeks' archive image was not guided by any hidden agenda, merely by the fact that it is a fabulous photograph. It would be a fabulous photograph if it was taken now, it was a fabulous photograph in 1943 when it was taken in Union Station, Chicago by Jack Delano. It is part of the collection of the Library of Congress which is available on Flickr Commons. As usual, themers can take from it what they will. For both themers and memers, Sepia Saturday 82 will take place on or around Saturday 9th July 2011. Hurry along to platform 2.

Sepia Saturday 81 : Saturday 2 July 2011

2011-06-29T01:06:00.000-07:00

Well I am back - just about. The routine of my life seems difficult to uncover among the changes brought about by holidays, retirements and all the rest. A little patient excavating is needed : brushing away the layers of dust and sand that time has deposited, but hopefully I will be back blogging, commenting and generally making a nuisance of myself within the next few days. In the meantime here is a Sepia Saturday call for you all and the archive image comes from the collection of the National Library of Ireland. Little is known of the image other than it was taken in 1909 at a bazaar in Tramore, County Waterford. What appeals to me so much about the photograph is that - with the benefit of a century-worth of hindsight - the ladies look so nineteenth century rather than twentieth century. What would they of thought of the century and the radical changes they were trying to portray? So if you want a theme for the coming Sepia Saturday you could always try photographs taken in the twentieth century - how about that for scope! Sepia Saturday 81 will take place on or around Saturday 2 July 2011. I look forward to catching up with everyone then.

Sepia Saturday 80 : Saturday 25 June 2011

2011-06-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Library of Congress via Flickr

Although I am posting this before I leave for holiday, by the time Sepia Saturday 80 gets around (on or about Saturday 25th June 2011) I should be back. And I will be participating. And there is a reason why I have chosen this particular image : but you will have to wait until my post is up to find out. The photograph above dates back to 1942 and it comes from the collection of the Library of Congress. If you want to follow a theme, feel free - but pick whatever theme you like from the above image. Whatever you choose, come and join me for Sepia Saturday 80.

Sepia Saturday 79 : Saturday 18 June 2011

2011-06-14T01:35:00.000-07:00

George Eastman House Collection via Flickr Commons

I am still away : and when you get to see this call I should be somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I had a quick look to see if I could find any archive photographs of the Atlantic and then realised that the ocean looks like the ocean : wherever it may be and whenever it was captured on film. The best I could come up with is this photograph taken in 1905 on Atlantic City Beach, Hopefully, by the time Sepia Saturday 79 comes around (on or about Saturday 18th June 2011) the sun will be shining wherever you may be. But remember, too much time in the sun is not good for you, so step inside for a few moments and add a post to Sepia Saturday. Sun or sand, beach or ocean blue - or something completely unrelated. It matters not as long as it is old.

Sepia Saturday 78 : Saturday 11 June 2011

2011-06-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

By the time you read this, I won't be here. No, this is not a message from beyond the grave, it is just that I am pre-posting this in the hope that it will magically appear once I have left for my holidays. If all goes well. by the time this appears I will be in America, and by the time Sepia Saturday 78 comes around (on or around Saturday 11 June 2011) I will be about to enter New York Harbour on a hunking-big cruise ship. So my archive photograph this week features New York - although the "themers" out there might want to hang their coats on a number of hooks including newspapers, office buildings, or even the Eiffel Tower. Whatever you post, post it and link below. Just remember, I will be searching for a cyber-cafe in New York so that I can keep up with all your submissions.

Sepia Saturday 77 : Saturday 4 June 2011

2011-05-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

Image from the Bain Collection of the Library of Congress - via Flickr Commons

Sepia Saturday 77 will take place on or around Saturday 4th June 2011. A couple of days later we will be off on our holidays and therefore the next few Sepia Saturday Calls have been prepared beforehand and pre-posted. Blogger still seems to be a little off-colour and sickly and therefore if things go pear-shaped whilst I am away, just keep posting your sepia posts and linking where you can. I will be back in time to launch the call for Sepia Saturday 81 which I will put up early in the week starting Monday 27th June.

My holiday will start with a train journey down to London, so I thought an archive image of a railway train might be appropriate. This particular image comes from the Library of Congress archives and is taken from a glass negative from the Bain Collection. The Library of Congress had little information about either the engine or the date the photograph was taken, but in the very best spirit of the Internet within a few weeks of it being displayed on their Flickr Collection, information had come flooding in from enthusiasts. It appears that it is "1395 Archimedes, a Webb Dreadnought class divided drive compound (note the large cylinder-head cover above the buffer beam). She was built at Crewe in 1886 and scrapped in 1904". Hopefully the train I will board on the 6th will be a little more modern than this, but if it gets me to my destination safely, I don't really care.

Your destination is Sepia Saturday 77 where we will all meet on or around Saturday 4th June. Have a safe journey.

Sepia Saturday 76 : Saturday 28 May 2011

2011-05-25T03:12:00.000-07:00

Image : Powerhouse Museum Collection via Flickr

I have a slightly odd archive photograph for you this week. It comes from the digital archives of the Powerhouse Museum, Sidney. Australia and it has the appropriate title "Portrait view of child wearing a sun hat with a dog and toy cat". If you look carefully it would appear that there is a toy dog as well, so perhaps the title should be amended. It was probably taken by the Australian photographer Arthur Phillips around 1890, and it is the original glass negative that is in the Powerhouse Collection. Odd or not, there is plenty for the "themers" amongst us to get their teeth into (if you will pardon the expression). For the rest - post what you will - as long as it is old it is sure to be interesting. Sepia Saturday 76 will take place on or around Saturday 28th May.

Sepia Saturday 75 : Saturday 21 May 2011

2011-05-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

Photograph : Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archive via Flickr Commons

An odd little photograph this week. It clearly states that it is "The Orchestra, Town Hall Section, Southern General Hospital, Oxford". The Southern General Hospital was one of the many special military hospitals established during the First World War. Based in the Examinations School of Oxford University, it provided care for some 336 officers and 1,210 other ranks. The "orchestra" featured in the photograph looks a rather grand chamber, but whether it is in the Examination School or perhaps Oxford Town Hall, I am not sure. We have guests coming to visit us from Oxford this weekend, so I will see if they can identify the exact location. I doubt even they will be able to shed light on how this photograph found its way into Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives. Whatever the reason, there are an abundance of possible prompts for the "themers" amongst us. Just help yourself to a theme and post your post on or around Saturday 21 May 2011.

Sepia Saturday 74 : Saturday 14th May 2011

2011-05-09T02:59:00.000-07:00

Photograph : San Diego Air And Space Museum Archives

Holiday time is approaching and in a few weeks time I will be making my way down to Heathrow and climbing inside some sophisticated tin can that - hopefully - will ferry me to the other side of the pond. I trust that it will be slightly more sophisticated than the contraption captured in this photograph of a bi-plane. The pilot is Glenn Luther Martin who went on to establish the Glenn L Martin Aviation Company in 1912. The picture, which is undated, comes from the collection of the San Diego Air and Space Museum and forms part of their collection which is available on Flickr Commons. We don't leave until early June, so I still have time to put together a batch of calls covering the period I will be away : more details of that nearer the time. This particular picture provides plenty of scope for the "themers" this week - planes, newspapers and ridiculous hats all spring to mind. Whether you are a "themer" or just someone who wants to share an old photograph, Sepia Saturday 74 will be boarding at Gate 14 on or around Saturday 14th May 2011. Please have your passport and boarding card ready.

Sepia Saturday 73 : Saturday 7th May 2011

2011-05-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

Photo : Swedish National Heritage Board via Flickr Commons

We seem to have been celebrating marriage recently so how about this happy couple. No handsome prince of the royal blood, he : no fresh-faced beauty, her. This is Mr and Mrs Samuelsson, of Stigåsa, Småland, Sweden. The photograph was taken in 1932 when he was 75 years old and she was - well, who knows. For the "themers" amongst us, themes abound : couples, old age, beards or even Mrs Samuelson's missing teeth. For the rest, post any old picture you want and join in with Sepia Saturday 73 which will take place on or around Saturday 7th May. Young or old come along and join in.

Sepia Saturday 72 : 30 April 2011

2011-04-26T01:50:00.000-07:00

Image : Hartlepool Museums and Heritage Service via Flickr Commons

I suppose I could have been very British and chosen a wedding theme for Sepia Saturday this week (there is a big wedding taking place on Friday it would appear) but no doubt those who want to follow that theme will do so. For those looking for an alternative theme, how about "time", which, after all, is what Sepia Saturday is all about. This archive photograph comes from the collection of the Hartlepool Museums and Heritage Service and shows a fragment of a German shell lodged in an alarm clock following the shelling of Hartlepool by German ships in December 1914. Of course, you don't have to follow a theme - be it wars or weddings - and you can just feature an old image and tell us about it. Whatever your choice, Sepia Saturday 72 will be taking place on or around Saturday 30 April 2011. Unlike that famous wedding, everyone is invited.

Sepia Saturday 71 : 23 April 2011

2011-04-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

Easter Bunny 1960 : Rice Collection, University of Virginia

What more can I say? It is a Sepia Easter Saturday this weekend and therefore for the "themers" amongst us there is a potential Easter parade of rabbits, bonnets, and eggs. For those not wanting to follow a theme, that's fine, just post an old image and tell us about it. Whether you are a "themer" or a "memer" or have just called by to say hello - a very Happy Easter to you all.

Sepia Saturday 70 : 16th April 2011

2011-04-12T01:25:00.000-07:00

Netherlands Nationaal Archief via Flickr Commons

First of all an apology to those taking part in Sepia Saturday 69 because I did not manage to get around and visit everyone. Things just began to stack up last weekend and my schedule fell to pieces. Hopefully things will be better this week. And now on to Sepia Saturday 70 and a challenge to those of you who like to identify and follow themes, for here we have a 1910 photograph of President Theodore Roosevelt riding a camel! The photograph comes from the collection of the Dutch National Archives that are featured on Flickr Commons. Do with it as you will all you themers : politicians, camels, Egypt - the list is as endless as the desert sands. As always you don't have to follow any theme you may or may not identify - just post an old picture and tell us something about it. Sepia Saturday 70 will take place on or around Saturday 16th April so climb on board, settle down between the humps and enjoy the ride.

Sepia Saturday 69 : 9th April 2011

2011-04-04T02:21:00.000-07:00

Photograph : Library of Congress via Wikimedia

Everyone seems to have enjoyed the archive image used for Sepia Saturday 68, although it has to be said that the ladies seemed a little more appreciative that the men. To reset the balance, I am using an image of one of my favourite women this week - the film pioneer Mary Pickford. For the theme followers, there is enough in this image to launch a thousand posts. For those who wish to just post their own choice of old photographs, that is fine - and you can even use the camera as a link. Sepia Saturday will take place on or around Saturday 9th April 2011. Everyone is invited.

Sepia Saturday 68 : 2 April 2011

2011-03-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

Image by Lewis Hine : Archives of the US Work Progress Administration

My archive image this week is Lewis Hine's famous picture "Power House Mechanic Working On Steam Hammer". Taken in 1920 and now part of the collection of the US Work Progress Administration and freely available via the WikiMedia Collection, the image perfectly captures that almost cursed synergy that was seen to exist between man (and woman) and machine in the 1920s and can also be seen in films such as Chaplins' masterpiece "Modern Times". For the "themers" amongst Sepia Saturday regulars there is plenty to be working on, for those who are following a theme of their own, it is something to look at and admire whilst they link their own contribution. Sepia Saturday 68 will be on or about the 2nd April 2011, which I suppose is anytime between now and next Sunday, so get working.

Sepia Saturday 67 : 26 March 2011

2011-03-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

From the collections of The National Archives, via Flickr Commons Initiative

My archive photograph this week is full of activity and full of detail. The photograph dates from the mid 1930s and shows the reconstruction of the bridge over the River Loughor at Pontardulais in Wales. It is taken from one of the copyright-free collections shared by the British National Archives with the splendid Flickr Commons initiative. For the "themers" amongst the Sepia Saturday participants there are a wealth of prompts available. For the "memers" just enjoy the image as you choose your own old photograph. In either case, post your contributions for Sepia Saturday 67 on or around Saturday 26th March 2011.

Sepia Saturday 66 : 19th March 2011

2011-03-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

From the Collection of the National Maritime Museum

There have to be some perks for the poor old devil who administers the Sepia Saturday Blog and one of the main perks is that I get to choose the weekly archive photograph which accompanies the call for posts. Those who know me will be not in the slightest surprised to see a pub featured. The pub in question is the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich and the photograph - which comes from the collection of the British National Maritime Museum - was taken in 1912. The pub, which was built in 1837, still stands today and is now a very plush establishment indeed.

Naval battles, pints of beer, shabby old pubs - there is plenty for the "themers" to work with for Sepia Saturday 66. But remember, you don't have to follow the theme. All you need do is to share your old photographs with the rest of us by posting on or near Saturday 19th March 2011 and linking your post to the Linky List below. If you are new to Sepia Saturday take a look at the brief explanation below, if you are an old friend all you need do is post, link and comment. Cheers!

Sepia Saturday 65 : Saturday 12 March 2011

2011-03-08T02:59:00.000-08:00

From the Steinfeldt Photography Collection of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest.

Some people enjoy looking for themes in my weekly archive image, some people choose to go their own way. With Sepia Saturday it doesn't matter because it is the image that counts. And the images don't have to be very old and they don't have to be in sepia - the above photograph which shows the furniture store of Leonard Rudolph in Duluth, Minnesota, is neither. I have to confess that until today I had no idea where Duluth was and only a vague concept of where Minnesota was in the great scheme of things. But now I am intimately familiar with a storefront in Duluth at a moment in time in 1956. I have a snapshot of the lives of four people and a visual thesis on the American motor car industry in the mid twentieth century. Make no mistake about it : images are powerful toys to play with.

Share the power of your old images by taking part in Sepia Saturday 65 which will take place on or around Saturday the 12th March 2011.

Sepia Saturday 64 : Saturday 5 March 2011

2011-03-02T03:21:00.000-08:00

Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library

I half promised Dakotaboo last week that I would try and find an archive shot that he could use as a theme in order to post something about his recent holiday in the British Peak District. Now I know that Texas is not in Britain, and that the Peak District does not have large herds of longhorn cattle, but liberal interpretation has always been the order of the day here on Sepia Saturday, so do with this image from Southern Methodist University Library what you will.

Sepia Saturday 64 will take place on or around Saturday the 5th March 2011. We seem to be having more and more newcomers to Sepia Saturday and, I have to say, they are most welcome. For the benefit of newcomers, I thought it might be useful to incorporate a summary of what Sepia Saturday is all about and how it works with each weekly call. Regular contributors can skip this and move directly to the Linky List.

Sepia Saturday 63 : Saturday 26 February 2011

2011-02-22T03:28:00.000-08:00

With Thanks To The State Library of Queensland and Wikimedia Commons

I am still in the archives of the State Library of Queensland (via Wikimedia Commons, via my desktop computer) for my featured photograph of the week. The photograph shows the four-masted barque, "Richelieu" under tow from two tug-boats. The steel sailing boat was built in Germany in 1916, named the "Pola" and originally intended for the South American nitrate trade. Her delivery was delayed by World War I and in 1919 she was seized by the Allies as part of post-war reparations, and handed to the French who renamed her the "Richelieu". Her sailing days came to an end in 1927 when her cargo of pitch caught fire in Baltimore Harbour.

The archive image is of uncertain date and unknown author, but it is one of the 50,000 archive images generously handed over on a copyright free basis by the Queensland Library to Wikimedia Commons. All lovers of old images will welcome such a move which allows enthusiasts all over the world to enjoy this rich treasure-house of historical images.

You can add to our very own Sepia Saturday treasure-house by linking your posts to the Sepia Saturday Blog using the Linky Form below. Post your post (on or around Saturday 26 February), add your name and the post URL to the Linky Form and leave us a comment to let us know you are joining in. If you want a theme, there are themes galore in my featured image, but remember you don't have to follow any theme. Think image, think old, think Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday 62 : Saturday 19th February 2011

2011-02-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

Queensland Museum Digital Collection (Via Wikimedia Commons)

My featured archive image this week focuses on the Ipswich Cycle Club and dates back to the very beginning of the twentieth century. In case you are about to criticise me for a notable lack of geographic adventurousness, let me quickly assure you that the Ipswich concerned is the antipodean inception - just outside the city of Brisbane - rather than the one in Suffolk, England (or, for that matter, the one in Massachusetts, or the one in South Dakota). For the "themers" amongst us, they can seize on bicycles, or bare knees, general storekeepers, or even the multiple inceptions of Ipswich. For the "non-themers" (someone called us "memers" the other day and I rather like that) amongst us, they can go where the spirit takes them and post whatever old image they want to.

So, "themer" or "memer", just hop on your bike and pedal your post on the Sepia Saturday Blog by linking it to the following list on or around Saturday the 19th February 2011. Ding, ding!

Sepia Saturday 61 : Saturday 12 February 2011

2011-02-07T01:32:00.000-08:00

State Library and Archives of Florida

This photograph is listed in the catalogue of Florida State Library simply as "Men Standing By A Silo". There is no record of the photographer, no date, and there are no names of the four men themselves. It is listed as being part of the photographic collection of the Agricultural Experiment Station, so we can perhaps assume that they are State employees rather than independent farmers. Two connected things made this photograph stand out to me : the prosaic nature of the given title and the anything but prosaic body language of the four men in question. Each one is a chapter in itself and together they form a book-full of stories and personalities. And like a fine impressionist painting you can read your own interpretation of the lines and shapes that make up the scene.

Sepia Saturday 60 achieved, I think, a record number of participants and it was great to visit all the posts and see such a wide variety of subjects and interpretations. Remember, you don't need a silo-full of old family photographs to join in with Sepia Saturday, all you need is an old image and a new thought. You can follow the theme if you wish (if you can find one) or you can explore your own path through your own little bit of history. Try to get around as many of the other Sepia contributors as you can : and don't forget the latecomers, it is always worth a return visit once Saturday is over to check-out new posts.

Sepia Saturday 61 will take place on or around Saturday 12th February 2011. Come and join us ..... or the little chap wearing the cap stood in front of the silo might just punch you on the nose!

Sepia Saturday 60 : 5 February 2011

2011-01-31T04:56:00.000-08:00

Photograph : The National Archives, United Kingdom

Most of the "themers" amongst us were stumped by the ice lake last week, so this week my archive photograph is perhaps easier to follow. The driver of the car is the Hon Charles Stewart Rolls - who later went on to become one of the founding partners of Rolls-Royce - and sat next to him is Prince George, the Duke of York (who later went on to become King George V). The photograph was taken in 1900.

Of course you don't need to follow the theme. All you have to do is to use an old photograph (whether sepia or not, it doesn't matter) as the basis for a blog post. Try to publish it on or around Saturday 5th February and add a link to the Linky List below. Link back to the Sepia Saturday Blog in your post and try and visit as many of the other Sepia contributors as you can. It's an easy and smooth process : as smooth as a ride in a Rolls-Royce.

Sepia Saturday 59 : 29 January 2011

2011-01-24T03:49:00.000-08:00

Source : Keene Public Library and Historical Society of Cheshire County (Flickr Commons)

So do we have a theme? It is interesting to note that since I have been touring the photographic archives in search of an image for the weekly Sepia Saturday Call, several people have used whatever image I have come up with as a theme for their own posts (last week, for example, there were a number of posts reflecting either the canning industry or hats). It was never my intention to inject a theme element into Sepia Saturday : but there again I never intended to launch Sepia Saturday in the first place. Sepia Saturday had always sauntered, aimlessly, through life (which, I think, is one of its' strengths; there is not enough aimless sauntering in this world). So if some people want to saunter aimlessly in the direction of seeking out a theme, so be it. But this is an image-based meme, so let us make things interesting for the "themers" amongst us and let them determine - from the heading photo each week - what, for them, the theme might be. For the "non-themers" let them continue to post whatever image they wish : the only rule remains - an old photograph and a few words.

So whether you are a themer or a non-themer, the next Sepia Saturday (No 59) will be on Saturday 29 January 2011. Just post your posts on or around then and link them to the Linky List below.

Sepia Saturday 58 : Saturday 22 January 2011

2011-01-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

University of Washington Library

Our tour of digital image archives takes us to the USA and the University of Washington Library Digital Collection for this image of a Californian cannery worker filling cans of tuna. The photograph, which was taken by John Nathan Cobb in the early 1930s, forms part of a splendid little collection of images with the generic title "hats". In a way it illustrates the difficulty of categorising images : good images are so full of potential categories, you could identify layer after layer of potential meaning.

Sepia Saturday invites you to submit your old images to Sepia Saturday 58 which will take place on or around Saturday 22 January 2011. You have no need to categorise them, just post them and describe them and let others wander through the various layers. Link your post to the Linky List below.

Sepia Saturday 57 : 15 January 2011

2011-01-13T00:56:00.000-08:00

From The Archives of the London School of Economics

The great thing about a virtual tour of on-line photographic archives is that you don't need to go in a straight line. So this week I fly back from America to London and the photographic archive of the London School of Economics and share this delightful photograph of the LSE Women's Hockey Team of 1920-21. If you think you recognise your Great Aunt Mildred or even you Uncle George, there is a list of names on the Flickr page.

As we sail into 2011, there are a couple of housekeeping points I need to raise. I noticed that last week a few links came in rather late and there is a danger that these will have been missed by those who confine their posting and reading to the Saturday in question. Would it be better if I tried to post each new call at the beginning of the week (say Monday morning) and therefore latecomers become early-birds and there is less chance of us missing their posts. Also, for the sake of those new to Sepia Saturday, can I remind you to (1) make your Linky List link a link to a specific post rather than your Blog in general, and (2) include a link back to the Sepia Saturday Blog either within or at the end of your post.

Early-birds or latecomers, grab your hockey sticks and prepare to take part in Sepia Saturday 57 which will take place on or around 15 January 2011. Everyone is in the team. Have a great game.

Sepia Saturday 56 : Saturday 8th January 2011

2011-01-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

Picture Bain News Service, Library of Congress Collection

A new year and a small makeover for the Sepia Saturday Blog. Although the look might have changed, the rules stay the same, or rather the lack of rules stay the same. Use an old image as the basis for your post and as a jumping off point to .... well to wherever you might want to go. Post on or around Saturday 8th January 2011 and link your post via the Linky List below. Check out other Sepia posters and .... well enjoy yourself.

My header picture this week continues my tour of image archives and the new year has found me within the confines of the mighty Library of Congress Print and Photographic Division. The Library was one of the major forces behind the Flickr Commons initiative which presents archive images with no known copyright restrictions. This wonderful photograph of a strike in London dates back to the second decade of the twentieth century and comes from a wonderful collection entitled "News in the 1910s".

You don't need police protection to participate in Sepia Saturday. Just post, link and read. What could be easier.

Sepia Saturday 55 : Seasonal Open House

2010-12-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

The above illustration is entitled "Making The Empire Christmas Pudding" and it dates back some eighty years and was originally published by an organisation called "The Empire Marketing Board". The Board - rather like the Empire - eventually came to an end and its archives were incorporated into the British National Archives. The illustration forms part of the National Archives' contribution to Flickr's Commons initiative which means that it is freely available for bloggers to use for non profit-making purposes. Thus the illustration has a double resonance : it helps us here on Sepia Saturday celebrate the Festive Christmas Season, and it also celebrates the idea of images being freely exchanged for the delight of their content rather than their money-making potential.

Sepia Saturday 55 is special as it is a Seasonal Open House. The Linky List will remain open throughout the Christmas and New Year holiday period. If you have a Sepia Saturday (or A Sepia Sunday, Sepia Monday ...etc) post just provide a link on the list below. You can add as many - or as few - links as you want. The "normal" Sepia Saturday arrangements will return for Sepia Saturday 56 which will be on Saturday 8th January 2010.

All that remains is for me to wish all Sepia Saturday contributors an excellent and enjoyable Christmas and New Year. As Bing Crosby used to sing : "May your days be merry and bright, And may all your Christmases be sepia".

Sepia Saturday 54

2010-12-16T03:19:00.000-08:00

On my world tour of photographic archives, I have left my own island and sailed over to Norway. My feature photograph is a Cabinet Card portrait of the famous Norwegian violinist, Ole Bull. In the 1850s Bull left his native Norway and moved to the United States where he founded a colony in Pennsylvania which was known as New Norway or Ole Bull Colony.

Before issuing my usual call for participation for Sepia Saturday 54, I am delighted to tell you that Sepia Saturday contributor, CeCe Moore, has had her blog "My Tangled Vine" nominated as one of the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs by Family Tree Magazine. You can add your vote by following the link to CeCe's blog. Best of luck to her from all her fellow Sepia Saturdayers.

The 20 or 30 Best blogs in the entire world contribute each week to Sepia Saturday. You can join them for Sepia Saturday 54 (on or around 18th December 2010) by adding a link to the Linky List below.

Sepia Saturday 53

2010-12-09T05:56:00.000-08:00

Continuing my tour of on-line archives of old images, I have moved from Glasgow to Edinburgh (Luckily this is a virtual tour otherwise I suspect I would still be stuck in my car in the three foot of snow that has fallen on the M8) The above photograph dates all the way back to 1863 and shows the interior of Mar Lodge, near Braemar in Scotland. The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) website contains the following description of the photograph which was taken by Victor Albert Prout.

"The Prince and Princess of Wales first attended the Braemar Gathering in 1863. The event is held on the first Saturday in September to this day. Large crowds gather to celebrate their Monarch as Chieftain of the gathering where pipe music, dance and games make for a wonderful atmosphere. On that occasion, the royal couple stopped at Mar Lodge, the Highland residence of the Earl and Countess of Fife. The royals only stayed three days, but their hosts were evidently exhausted, as they are shown here slumped in the armchairs in their drawing room, soon after their visitors left".

This particular photograph is one of the NGS's contribution to the Flickr Commons project. This wonderful service provides a repository for old images for which there are no known copyright restrictions. After tip-toeing through the maze that can be copyright for bloggers, it is a delight to find a stock of images that can be appreciated for their interest and beauty rather than their money-making potential.

So like the Earl and Countess of Fife, sit back in your armchairs and flick through your old photographs and choose one of them to share with everyone else on Sepia Saturday 53 which will take place on or around 11th December 2010. Like the Good Earl himself, just sign up on the Linkey List below.

Sepia Saturday : Week 52

2010-12-02T01:57:00.000-08:00

If you recall, last week I set out from West Yorkshire on a virtual tour of World Image Archives. This week I have reached Glasgow and I am stopping off at the Glasgow City Council's Mitchell Library, or rather its digital counterpart "Virtual Mitchell". My chosen image dates from 1939 and shows a group of shops in Kilmarnock Road. Several people last week asked about the copyright implications of using archive images in Blogs. Most collections will have advice on copyright issues on their sites and if not an inquiry normally brings a rapid response. In most cases public collections will be happy for you to use material as long as it is for a non-profit making site and the source is acknowledged. This was the case with "Virtual Mitchell" and I thank them for their co-operation.

Sepia Saturday 52 will take place on or around Saturday 4th December 2010. You can join in by posting your images and text and linking them to the list below.

Sepia Saturday : Week 51

2010-11-25T08:23:00.000-08:00

Having whizzed past its' 50th birthday, Sepia Saturday is now motoring towards its' centenary. I thought I would take us there by featuring some of the many archives of old images that are now available. As image collections throughout the world are digitized, a rich and fascinating collection of historic images is available to everyone. Our example this week comes from my local image archives - the Kirklees Image Archive here in Huddersfield Yorkshire. Whilst I am starting near to home, my visits to image archives over the coming weeks will take me on a tour of the world.

Wherever your images are from, why not share them on Sepia Saturday 51 which will take place on or around Saturday 27 November 2010. Share the image and share the story by adding your link to the list below.

Sepia Saturday Week 50

2010-11-17T16:35:00.000-08:00

As most of you will know, I love old postcards and I, along with many other people, have used vintage postcards as the starting point for many a Sepia Saturday contribution. As a postcard lover, I have long been a fan of Christine H's wonderful "Daily Postcard" Blog, and I was really pleased when she became a Sepia Saturday poster some time ago. And, of course, I was thrilled to discover that her Sepia Saturday post last week featured a postcard which almost seemed to have been addressed to my dog Amy! On behalf of Amy, I thank her for the postcard, and on behalf of Sepia Saturday I thank her and all the other participants for keeping Sepia Saturday going for 50 weeks.

Everyone is invited to take part in Sepia Saturday 50. You don't necessarily need to feature a postcard nor to find one addressed to my dog. Whatever the image may be, just post it and link it on or around Saturday 20th November 2010.

Sepia Saturday Week 49

2010-11-11T01:35:00.000-08:00

I'm back, and I'm glad to say that the automatic posting seems to have worked during my absence and Sepia Saturday is still alive and well and living in a memory near you. This first week back - and the run up to our 50th Sepia Saturday Call - provides me with an opportunity to welcome any new participants and try to answer some of the questions about Sepia Saturday that have been posed over recent weeks. So here goes :

Sepia Saturday is a Blog meme open to anyone who wants to participate. There are few, if any, rules and if you want to take part all you need do is to add a Sepia Saturday post to your blog and then link it to the Linky List that appears on this Sepia Saturday Blog each week. If possible try to link to the actual Sepia Saturday post rather than the Blog itself, but if you can't manage that, don't worry too much about it. Try to publish your post as near as possible to Saturday, but if you can't manage the exact day, don't worry too much about it (as you will have gathered by now, Sepia Saturday doesn't go in for worry).

The basic ingredients of a Sepia Saturday post are an image plus words. The image doesn't have to be sepia: the sepia part of the title relates to age rather than colour. Equally the image doesn't have to be particularly old: after all, what is old to a mayfly is young to an oak tree. It can be of a person, or a place, or an object, or ... whatever you like. All we ask is that it is somehow evocative of a memory or of a time. The words will help to explain why the image is evocative, but they can be as few or as many as you wish.

If you are still in doubt, have a look at what others do, for it is the participants who make the rules and like all good rules they change and evolve all the time. When you have posted your Sepia Saturday contribution and linked it to the Linky List, try to return to this Blog and look at as many other Sepia Saturday contributions as you can. You will quickly find that we are quite a pleasant lot and we take pleasure in the memories and images we share with each other.

So, roll up, roll up for Sepia Saturday 49 which will take place on or around Saturday 13th November 2010. The image at the top of this post is taken from an old postcard of the seaside town of Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast. I remember this scene well from my own childhood, but what intrigued me most of all was the building on the left of the image with the prominent sign advertising "snaps". I have written on Sepia Saturday before about the great old seaside tradition of having photographs (snaps) taken on holiday, but if you examine the photograph very carefully (you will need to click on it to enlarge it) you will see that it is also advertising something that looks very much like "Snapets". I have no idea what there were, but I quite like the idea of snapets (or maybe the word was snapettes). So, don't forget, start posting your photos, your snaps and your snapets now and join in the great Sepia Saturday show.

Sepia Saturday Week 48

2010-11-03T00:30:00.000-07:00

A Victorian Carte de Visite this week from the famous Hebden Bridge studio of C Westerman. There is something very engaging about this face along with its Mona Lisa like smile. Faces of all kind - pleasing or non-pleasing, old or older, sepia or shining colour - are all welcome on Sepia Saturday. Sepia Saturday 48 will take place on or around Saturday 6th November 2010. Just post it, link it and visit it. Easy peasy.

Sepia Saturday Week 47

2010-10-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

This sepia photograph comes from a Victorian Cabinet Card and is of an unknown group. It comes from the studio of William Salmon in London Street, Reading and I guess dates from the last decade of the nineteenth century. It announces Sepia Saturday 47 which will take place on or around Saturday 30th October 2010. Whether you picture is of a group or an individual, in sepia or in full colour, of an unknown or of a favourite aunt - just post it, link it and let other Sepia Saturday enthusiasts from around the world enjoy it.

Sepia Saturday Week 46

2010-10-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

This week's photograph is a Cabinet Card from the studio of W M Phillips of Oxford Street, Southampton. I have no information on the subject of the portrait, but the studio neatly fits in with my travels. By the time Sepia Saturday 46 comes around (Saturday 23 October) I will have already passed through Southampton on my way to join the ship that will take me across the Atlantic. Whichever side of the Atlantic you come from you are invited to join in with Sepia Saturday 46. Just post a post, link a link and enjoy.

Sepia Saturday Week 45

2010-10-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

15th October : This post should have automatically gone up yesterday! It seems that I still need to improve my skills with the scheduled posting option!!! I will schedule the next three calls to go up earlier in the week. If all else fails people will just have to improvise.

We are having a short break from the normal style of Sepia Saturday announcements to accommodate my forthcoming holiday. If all goes according to plan this should be published on Thursday 14th October. I don't leave to go on holiday until the following week so it gives me a chance to fine-tune the system if these pre-prepared posts don't appear as they should. We don't actually leave until the following week (the 21st) so I will still be around in order to post my own Sepia Saturday offerings and comments on others until then.

If Blogger is behaving itself, this is a call for participants to take part in Sepia Saturday 45 on or around Saturday 16th October. The rules - or rather the lack of rules - are the same as ever : use an old image (it doesn't have to be in sepia) to tell us something about yourself, your family or anything else that will interest or entertain us. Add a link to your post to the Linky List and then try and visit as many of the other participants as possible. Fingers crossed, let's hope it all works.

Sepia Saturday 44

2010-10-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Another Room by Martin Hodges

Far off, in another room,

Faceless portraits draw the eye.

Coated in the dust of spent words,

Objects brave the chill of killed time.

This is the past. The impatient prisoner.

Far off, in another room,

Restless motifs shape the day.

In half remembered, stuttered chorus,

Crackled songs are cast adrift.

This is history, daring to escape.

When I read that poem by my good friend Martin Hodges, I immediately thought of Sepia Saturday and asked for his permission to use it on one of these weekly calls to participants. Martin, who has been a supporter of Sepia Saturday ever since it was first launched, agreed and I thought it would fit perfectly in this first of my "Holiday Calls". Although I am not away on holiday yet, I thought it would be best to do a dry run with the pre-posted calls to make sure it is working (and, more importantly, to make sure I am pressing all the right buttons). So this is the call for participants for Week 44 of Sepia Saturday which will take place on or around Saturday 9th October 2010. You know the score by now, if you are taking part just leave a link on the Linky List at the end of this post. As Martin says in his poem, "this is history, daring to escape". Join us.

Sepia Saturday 43

2010-09-30T08:52:00.001-07:00

Last week Joan over at Sempiterna Me told us a lovely story about the origin of her middle name Ivette. Like so many names, the name had been handed down within the family and adapted from that of her Uncle Ivan. It reminded me that, long before photography existed, most families would attempt to preserve precious family ties by something as simple as a shared name. My own son has Holroyd as a middle name, a name that has been in his mothers' family for generations.

Over the last 43 weeks I have been able to bring many of the names of the regular participants in Sepia Saturday to your attention with my weekly introductory remarks. However for the next four weeks or so I am going to have to introduce some changes as later in October I will be away on holiday. I intend to pre-publish the calls and (hopefully) get blogger to post them at the appropriate time. This, however, means that I will not be able to reflect on the previous weeks' posts. But, don't worry, the normal introduction will return as soon as I return from holiday. And I will carry on working through the long list of participants until I have featured everyone. More information about my absence next week, until then please join in with Sepia Saturday 43 which will take place on or around Saturday 2nd October. Just post your post and link your link and let us know your name.

Sepia Saturday 42

2010-09-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

There is something about a school photograph. Something timeless and placeless about the faces, the expressions, the look of carefree mischief or stern self control. Change the clothes and change the hairstyles of this photograph featured by Jo in her wonderful Sepia Saturday post last week and it could be 100 years ago, 50 years ago, or now. It could be old Scotland or Nova Scotia. Down the ages and from every part of the world those same young faces have stared into the camera, captured for ever in their youth.

Sepia Saturday 42 will take place on or around Saturday 25th September. You can post any type of photo you want as long as it moves us backwards and allows us to remember things that should never be forgotten. Simply link your post by signing the Linking List below.

Sepia Saturday 41

2010-09-16T01:51:00.000-07:00

The Internet has allowed us to do so many things, but perhaps the most fascinating, the most intriguing and the most intellectually liberating of all is the ability it gives us to trace connections. It sits each and every one of us in the greatest reference library ever established and provides us with a team of indexers. lexicographers, and research assistants to help track down the most obscure connection. The result are usually such as to make you give praise at the shrine of Saint Alan Turing that you were born in the digital age. Take for example the old sepia shot of an American couple featured by Southwest Arkie in her Sepia Saturday post last week. An old photograph - "worn by toil and sunk with years" to quote a poem written on the reverse of another photograph from the same collection - can provide connections to people long dead and event long forgotten when in the hands of an expert sleuth like Southwest Arkie. Tracing all these connections provides a great source of pleasure to both the writer and the reader : which, I suppose, is what Sepia Saturday is all about.

So Sepia Saturday 41 is now open for business. Connect up to us on or around Saturday 18th September by leaving a link to your Sepia Saturday post. Share the images and share the pleasure.

Sepia Saturday 40

2010-09-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

This lovely photograph of Great Grandfather Ashby with Audrey Bull was submitted to Sepia Saturday 39 by Frogmum. It went up rather late (or it might have been an early submission for SS40) so many of you might have missed it : if so you can have a closer look at it by following the link to Frogmum's flickr page. The old photograph has had some re-editing and retouching and, despite its age, it has a delightfully fresh feel about it. I, for one, look forward to seeing more of Frogmum's Sepia Saturday contributions.

On Flickr, on Blogger, on Wordpress or wherever, it matters not. Keep those Sepia Saturday contribution coming in. Sepia Saturday 40 will take place on or around Saturday 11th September 2010. Just post a post and link a link.

Sepia Saturday 39

2010-09-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

The ability to click and enlarge is often a vital attribute for Sepia Saturday posts. These old photographs of ours not only contain a wealth of detail that can be examined with the precision and care of an archaeologist, the older photographs often require careful scrutiny in order to distinguish essential elements. Last week's delightful post from Patricia Felmy (Stories, Yarns and Tales of Olde) was a perfect example. The post had pictures of two young ladies, dressed almost identically and taken in what appears to be the same studio. You needed to click and enlarge to realise that they were two quite separate people, Pat's Great Grandmother Mary, and her Great, Great Aunt Elizabeth. Like so many of out posts, we got some added bonuses with the images : in this case a recipe for dandelion cordial.

If you have anything you would like us to click and enlarge, why not submit it to Sepia Saturday. Just link your post to the Linky List below. Sepia Saturday 39 will take place on or around Saturday 4th September 2010.

Sepia Saturday 38

2010-08-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

What is it about old photographs we love so much? It is their ability to transport us back through time. It is the way they offer us an insight into people and places. It is the way we can analyse them, divide them up into invisible squares and ring every last drop of detail out of them. Leslie Ann (Ancestors Live Here) gave us a great example of this latter attribute in her post last week. Her photograph was taken in the house of her grandparents and Leslie Ann took us on a tour of the room and its contents. It was almost like one of those early computerised books where you could click on an object and it would tell you more about it.

Sepia Saturday Week 38 (around and about Saturday 28th August 2010) gives you an opportunity to travel through time, get insights into people and places and analyse to your hearts' content. All you need to do us to put together a post based around an old photograph (it doesn't have to be sepia) and add a link to the list below. Everyone is invited along.

Sepia Saturday 37

2010-08-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last week, the delightful Marilyn from New Zealand (My Magpie Collection) gave us a Sepia Saturday post which featured her grandfather (George Richard Parsons). There was a wonderful sepia photograph, a full and fascinating account of his life, and as an additional bonus, even his pastry recipe. It was a classic Sepia Saturday post and one which I very much enjoyed reading. But I don't think I have come across one I haven't enjoyed in all the weeks I have been hosting Sepia Saturday. And remember, the photographs don't have to be sepia : as I said to someone last week, sepia is a state of mind and not just a colour.

The recipe for our continued pleasure is an easy one. Just post an old photograph, tell us about it and add a link to the post on the list below. Sepia Saturday 37 will take place on or around Saturday 21st August. Everyone is invited.

Sepia Saturday 36

2010-08-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

The twin worlds of Sepia Saturday and vintage postcard collecting frequently overlap. Many of the old family photographs we feature in our Sepia Saturday posts are in the form of postcards. This reflects the service that was provided by most photographic studios in the early twentieth century - the provision of prints with postcard backs. When this service went into decline - brought about by the abatement of the postcard collecting hobby, the increase in postage rates, and the growing popularity of home photography - it would be almost a hundred years before things like Facebook arrived and personal photographs would, once again, be shared to such an extent.

But mass-produced vintage postcards also provide us with plenty of images to set our Sepia Saturday compositions in motion. Old postcards tick all of the Sepia Saturday boxes : they are old and they provide a pictorial rail from which we can hang so many stories. The place, the time, the message, the recipient - all provide fare for Sepia Saturday speculations. Sepia Saturday participant dakotaboo provides an excellent example of how the two worlds overlap in his Vintage Postcard blog. My illustration this week is taken from last week's post and shows a Judge postcard of Hastings.

Whether it is a postcard or a carte de visite, a cabinet card or a dog-eared snap, it is always welcome at Sepia Saturday. SS 36 will take place on Saturday 14th August. Just post an image-inspired post around that time and link to it in the Linky thing below.

Sepia Saturday Week 35

2010-08-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

My apologies with getting behind with everything of late. I resolve to be a better person from now on. To start the process, let me put this call post up early for a change.

A new name appeared on our list of contributors last week - daylily - but it was a post from a Sepia Saturday friend, Queenmothermamaw. Qm3 has launched a new blog and taken on a new persona, but the posts are just as fascinating as always. The picture featured was a perfect sepia shot of a stream which could have been taken 70 years ago. In fact it was taken last week and digitally converted into sepia. Let nobody think that this is cheating : most sepia photographs were chemically converted into sepia in order to give them that aged look of respectability. Digital conversion is merely a new take on the old process of chemical conversion, and as someone who has done my share of the latter in my time I can tell you it is a lot quicker and a lot less toxic (I can still remember buying my first bottle of sepia toner some forty years ago and being made to sign the Poisons Book by the chemist concerned!).

So in asking you to join in with Sepia Saturday 35 (Saturday 7th August 2010) let me merely remind you that your images don't have to go up on Saturday (although if the post is earlier than Saturday try to make sure it is a link to the post and not to the blog) nor do they have to be in sepia (just an image with some history and some words with an explanation). All you have to do is to add your name and a link to the Linky List below. And enjoy.

Sepia Saturday Week 34

2010-07-30T02:14:00.000-07:00

In her Sepia Saturday contribution last week, Cheri Daniels (Journeys Past) wrote about how pleased she was that the "less than perfect" compilation of shots of her father as a young baby was not thrown away. The resulting picture let us see " the developing and fading of tears, and the work it took just to get this busy little guy to sit still!" I so agree with Cheri. We get used to seeing perfectly posed and perfectly focused vintage photographs : the ones that were saved and framed and treasured. But so often it is the technically less than perfect shots that capture reality - show life as it really was.

Sepia Saturday will be open again this week - Sepia Saturday 34 July 31st 2010 - and everyone is invited to participate. Just post an old photograph and tell us what it means. Add a link to your post on the list below and include a link back to the Sepia Saturday blog. Good shots, bad shots, sharp shots, soft shots - show them to the world with Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday : Week 33

2010-07-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last week we gained a new member to our little circle - gibknitty who runs the delightful Urban Muser Blog. The link went up fairly late so those who didn't see the post - which included a photograph of her mother and her aunt - will have missed the interesting comment she makes about the importance of listening to the stories the older generations of our families can tell about the "old days". "And although sometimes our own busy lives get in the way", she writes, "I vow to keep making time not just for new memories, but to revisit the old ones before they disappear". There is a lot of truth in that short sentence and I for one look forward to reading about some of those old memories in her contributions to Sepia Saturday in weeks to come.

Sepia Saturday 33 is almost upon us. Simply incorporate an old photograph into your post and link it via the Linky List below. Don't forget to mention the Sepia Saturday blog and visit as many of the other participants as you can. Make time for some of those old memories on Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday : Week 32

2010-07-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

Whilst we still have many new participants taking part in Sepia Saturday, the number of people taking part each week seems to have peaked, which - in many ways - is a welcome thing. It means that the project remains manageable : when you come to visit other participants you are not faced with an impossibly long list. You can take your time, read the posts at your leisure, and make comments that are meaningful rather than superficial. Feedback on comments often opens up discussion which adds a new dimension to creative blogging.

I got into one such discussion last week with Tattered and Lost whose blogs feature - amongst other things - ephemera and vernacular photography. We talked about how you embark on an adventure when you begin to bring one of these old photographs to life, and how a good writer - like T&L and, indeed, all of you - can incorporate the reader in the process of discovery.

The intimacy of small numbers is nice, but we could always do with just one or two more. So why not join in with our Sepia Saturday adventure this week and open up a new discussion. Sign up to the Linky List with a link to your post.

Sepia Saturday : Week 31

2010-07-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

We all have images of those we have known and loved engraved into the very fabric of our minds. In these images our children are always young and carefree, our parents always proud and protective and our grandparents always wise and loving. And then we find an old photograph which, with a seismic shift, alters our whole frame of reference. Here is a parent acting the part of a young child, here is a grandmother looking young and vibrant with beauty.

I was reminded of this last week with the delightful post by Ticklebear which featured a picture of his grandmother relaxing on the family porch. Ticklebear commented on how strange it was to see his grandmother at rest, far from the role of ever-active matriarch which she undoubtedly took on later in life. This ability to almost travel through time is yet another aspect of these old photographs of ours.

It's time-travel time again so sign up now for Sepia Saturday 31 (Saturday 10 July 2010). Everyone is welcome, just post an old photograph and say a few words about it (it doesn't have to be sepia). Sign up to the Linky List either before or after you post : the only rule is that there are no rules.

Sepia Saturday : Week 30

2010-07-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Sepia Saturday poster Leena said last week that she might be seen as a "peculiar bird" coming, as she does, from far away in Finland near the Russian border. Exotic, yes, peculiar, never : I reply on behalf of all other Sepia posters. If you have not looked at Leena's Blog (Joensuudailyphoto) do so : there are some wonderful pictures and delightful descriptions. But the thing you will notice most of all, is that if you go back a generation or two, people always look the same whether they are in Europe or America, Cleveland Ohio or Cleckheaton Yorkshire. Sepia really is a great leveler.

It is time to start leveling again and Sepia Saturday 30 will take place on Saturday July 3rd. If you are taking part add your name to the Linky List below : either a generic link to your Blog if you join before the post is up or a specific link to the post after the event. Exotic birds from all over the world are welcome.

Sepia Saturday Week 29

2010-06-25T01:25:00.000-07:00

You know what it's like when you buy a new car : until you bought that particular make and model you hardly ever saw one on the road, but all of a sudden they are everywhere. I am beginning to get the same feeling about using the Internet to gather and study old photographs. At almost every turn I come across new sites and blogs that use old photographs as their central theme or as a means of stimulating comment or debate. But unlike the situation with the new Austin Metro, the knowledge that there are many others out there doing what Sepia Saturday does gives me a feeling of great joyousness rather than mild jealousy.

Tony Zimnoch and I grew up in the same northern town at about the same time. We knew the same schools, the same shops and the same dance halls. No doubt we knew some of the same people. But we never actually met until the back end of last year, having discovered each other through our mutual interest in blogging. Indeed, it is Tony you need to thank - or possibly blame - for my range of current blogging activity, because until he became a follower of my News From Nowhere blog, I had been blogging for the exclusive enjoyment (?) of three friends and a dog. By following Tony's endlessly fascinating blog, I discovered just what a creative process blogging could be - and I also discovered a world populated by friends.

In his Sepia Saturday post last week, Tony told a fascinating story of how he discovered a photograph of his mother on a Facebook site devoted to old photographs of Halifax (the town we both grew up in). It was a photograph he hadn't seen before and for me it just seemed to sum up what a magical experience photographic hunting can be. I can't retell the story any where near as well as Tony told it, so if you haven't read his post, read it now.

My holiday and the broken routine means I am a little late in putting up the Sepia Saturday call this week. For that, apologies but, better late than never, here goes : roll up, roll up, roll up for Sepia Saturday 29. SS29 will take place on Saturday 26 June 2010. New sepias and old sepias are equally welcome. Just sign up on the Linky List and start your photographic hunting expeditions.

Sepia Saturday Week 28

2010-06-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

I am full of apologies tonight. My first is that this call is going up so early - the sun has hardly set on Sepia Saturday 27 and here I am pestering you to take part in Sepia Saturday 28 (19 June 2010). My second apology is that I will not be able to take part in Sepia 28 myself because - as I mentioned last week - we hit the road first thing tomorrow morning and we will not be back until the 20th June. And because I have been so busy trying to remember what I need to pack, my third apology is that I have not had time to do my normal tour of Sepia posts. On my return I will visit all the blogs and catch up on the Sepia 27 and Sepia 28 posts.

But I have managed to have a quick look at quite a few of the Sepia 27 posts and I have to say what a pleasure it is to welcome new members to our little group. Reading first-time Sepia poster, Natasha, - see Today's Gift - I was struck by the way we all delight in the same mysteries, the same types of observations, and the same unanswered questions. They are all part of the joy of old photographs, and Natasha's investigation of the photograph of the woman who is probably her Great Grandfathers' sister sums up the process so very well. Our usual warm welcome to new members joining in with Sepia 28 and welcome back to all our old friends. New or old, all you need do is to link your Sepia 28 post using the Linky List below. I look forward to seeing all your posts on my return home.

Sepia Saturday Week 27

2010-06-10T01:34:00.000-07:00

I always find when browsing through everyone's Sepia Saturday posts that my eye gets caught by a picture for no other reason than it is a great picture. It is not that it is old (which it usually is), nor is it that it is accompanied by a fascinating explanation (which it invariably is), it is just that it is the kind of picture that proclaims (in bold upper case) LOOK AT ME. One of my oldest blogging friends, Larry Burgess, had such a picture of his Uncle Kenny on his post last week, a picture which makes you want to find out more about Kenny, who Larry quite rightly says, looks so cool in this shot. Larry is one of the Sepia group who has set up his own blog devoted to his Sepia Saturday posts - Larry's Sepia Saturday - if you've not seen it yet, it is well worth a visit.

I will be away most of next week, so be warned, I will be putting up the call for Sepia Saturday 28 before the sun has set on Sepia Saturday 27 (well, if you live in the Tonga Islands that is). But whenever the call notice goes up, it says the same thing : come and join us at Sepia Saturday and bring along your images that proclaim "LOOK AT ME".

Sepia Saturday Week 26

2010-06-03T02:06:00.000-07:00

I have often noted how our American posts on Sepia Saturday frequently tell the story of great population movements. Not satisfied with migrating from the Old World to the New World, within a generation or so, families will load their possessions into covered wagons or old Model T's and move from Virginia to Ohio, Ohio, to Kansas, and then Kansas to California with a courage and determination that can only be admired. This contrasts with the situation here in Britain where, on a fine day, I can comfortably walk from where I live now to where my great-great grandfather Joseph Burnett was born over two hundred years ago. But such stereotypes are always flawed, as I was reminded by the lovely post by Cindy on last weeks' Sepia Saturday. She used a photograph of her great grandparents sat outside the "home place" land which is still in the family today. The old house may be being torn down but the land remains and it is the land - and these old photographs of ours - that soak up the memories.

We will be having another round of memories this week on Sepia Saturday Week 26. Sign up on the Linky List below and share your images and your memories.

Sepia Saturday Week 25

2010-05-26T03:44:00.000-07:00

IT is often said that old photographs are a window to the past. This is of course true, they help us to get a feel of past times like no other medium. But just as you can sit and gaze through a window and see more and more the longer you look, these old photographs can provide layer after layer of hidden information. And it often is the process of scanning, enlarging and preparing for publication that pulls the shades aside and allows you to see so much more. Sepia Saturday blogger Nancy (My Ancestors And Me) alluded to this process in her excellent post last week ("Two Bits"). She spoke of how she eventually was able to date the photograph of her barber grandfather by the date showing in the calendar in the background (if you haven't read Nancy's post, read it for the superb quality of the writing just as much as for the photographic investigation).

Information in the foreground, information in the background - whatever the old photograph, it is welcome on the Sepia Saturday Blog. Sepia Saturday 25 will be on Saturday 29th May 2010. Post your post and sign up on the Linky List below.

Sepia Saturday Week 24

2010-05-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

In his excellent Sepia Saturday post last week, CrazyasaCoolfox spoke of tangible history. He was referring to a small corner chair which featured in a couple of old family pictures and which still exists within the family. Such objects that are handed down are tangible history : physical things that provide a direct link to the past. The pictures we feature in our Sepia Saturday posts are also examples of tangible history : objects that were once lovingly handled by distant generations and carefully saved and passed down from one generation to the next. They were saved and shared because it was felt that they said something important. They recorded times of joy or triumph and occasionally times of sadness and loss. The fact that we can still share these emotions today is witness to the tangible nature of photographs as historical conduits. To see what tangible history will be shared this week take a look at the people who are participating in Sepia Saturday Week 24 (Saturday 22 May 2010). To join in the fun simple put a post together based on an old photograph and sign up to the Link List below.

Sepia Saturday Week 23

2010-05-13T01:54:00.000-07:00

The "sepia" in Sepia Saturday is a general evocation rather than a defining classification. When Kat and I had the idea for Sepia Saturday we wanted a site where old photographs of whatever vintage provided the prompt for memories and musings. The word "sepia" was redolent of the photographic past in the same way that we hoped the photographs featured by all the many contributors would be redolent of a spread of decades and a spread of cultures. I always find that some images can proclaim a particular time in the same way that popular music can. As I look at the magnificent mix of images featured by all the Sepia Saturday contributors, I sometimes have an imagined soundtrack playing along. With some pictures you would have the plucking of a pioneer banjo, with others the excitement of an early jazz band. But with the wonderful pictures featured by Anita of the negativespace blog over the last couple of weeks it is the sound of Sinatra and the Billy May Orchestra. The photographs have the 1950s running through them : the sophistication, the modernism, the hope and the sheer love of post-war life.

You can keep my imaginary soundtrack playing for another week by signing up for Sepia Saturday 23 which will take place on Saturday 15th May 2010. All you have to do is to put up your post and then link by using the following Linky List.

Sepia Saturday Week 22

2010-05-05T02:21:00.000-07:00

We are up to Week 22 of Sepia Saturday and, although by now a number of patterns have emerged, the delight of S-S remains the diversity of approach. Some people post long carefully researched pieces, others short, snappy insights. Some tell of people, others tell of houses or even bridges. Some limit themselves to just one photograph, some use a whole series of photographs to tell a story. A fine example of using a series of photographs to tell the story of a person was the post last week by Sean Bentley in his Eff-Stop Local Blog. Posts of this kind are a delight, it is like paging through an old family album.

Whether you tell it long or short, fat or thin, up or down, tell it on Week 22 of Sepia Saturday which will be on Saturday 8th May 2010. All you have to do is to link your post via the Linky List below (either before or after the event) and the rest - as they say - is history.

Sepia Saturday Week 21

2010-04-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

I remember, years ago, coming across a school history textbook which, whilst covering all the usual bases in terms of nineteenth and twentieth century political and social history, illustrated the names, places and events with reproductions of postage stamps. I thought it a wonderful approach because it reminded readers that these great events did not take place in isolation, but were fused into the lives of ordinary people. I like to think that our Sepia Saturday efforts are a bit like this. You can look at these slightly faded photographs of ours and see faces from the past : but look again and you see those faces within the context of great economic, social and political movements. Those movements shaped their lives and, inevitably, they have shaped our lives too. That multi-talented blogger John Hayes of Robert Frost's Banjo has recently been featuring a series of Sepia Saturday photographs of his father during his time in the American Civilian Construction Corps in the 1930s. These posts and these photographs are a perfect example of what I mean. Pictures of faces which have not only been touched by their own unique personal history, but also the history of their times.

Week 21 of our Sepia Saturday adventure will take place on Saturday 1st May 2010. What historical events will be reflected in the faces of the photographs featured by our Sepia Saturday posters? Call back on Saturday to find links to all the posts. Better still, join in the Sepia Saturday project and add your own link to the list below.

Sepia Saturday Week 20

2010-04-22T01:13:00.000-07:00

It has been one of those weeks and all my blogging efforts seem to be running late. But here, at last, is the call for Week 20 of Sepia Saturday which will take place on Saturday 24th April 2010. My picture this week is taken from the wonderful post in the Roots of Home blog last week. We are used to Sepia Saturday being used as a vehicle to trace the history of people : great aunts, favourite uncles and far distant grandparents. But writer and photographer "Sun Dance Hill" turned the Sepia Saturday spotlight on a building : the wonderful house in Southfield, Massachusetts which used to be her family home. The post proves that timber, bricks and mortar can encompass life just as successfully as skin and bone. To participate in Sepia Saturday 20 you can write about people or buildings, places or memories : just sign up and start remembering.

Sepia Saturday Week 19

2010-04-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

All on board for another jolly Sepia Saturday ride. Sepia Saturday 19 will take place on Saturday 17th April 2010. If you are new to this malarkey all you need to do is to post an old photograph and say something about it. The photograph can be one week old or 150 years old. It can be of your Aunt Nellie or Queen Victoria. It can be in luscious sepia or vibrant colour. What you say can be in prose or verse, English or Chinese or Lithuanian. You get the idea - our posts reach back to the past, they connect to times gone by. I am not saying this very well, so let me quote from one of the entries from Sepia Saturday 18. The lyrical Nana Jo (A Nana's Journey) was writing about her collection of photos and objects that belonged to her mother-in-law, Oma. I am sure many of you read her piece and the final paragraph which said :

"Now, today, handling her things, they feel like small indrawn breaths waiting to gently exhale. There is the hush of life in them. They proclaim a comforting stillness, utterly old and forever new. They are both silent and eloquent; mute and yet they speak. They beat with the pulse of Oma’s story".

To me, those words just seemed to express what Sepia Saturday is all about. So, sign up to the list now or wait until your post is up and then add the link then. Let your posts beat with the pulse of someone's story.

Sepia Saturday Week 18

2010-04-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Sepia Saturday is back after its Easter break : Week 18 of our backwards looking photographic blog will take place on Saturday the 10th April. It seems that some people posted a Sepia Saturday entry last Saturday and then worried that they might have "broken the rules". Again I should point out that the only rule for Sepia Saturday is that there are no rules. Our photograph to accompany this call for posts comes from the last Sepia Saturday entry of the truly magnificent Willow. Willow has been supporting the Sepia Saturday project since it was first started and therefore deserves a big vote of thanks. But I am including this image because it reminds us all that without the photographers; without that legion of enthusiasts with their Box Brownies and their Folding Agfas, there would be no Sepia Saturdays and far fewer memories for us to share.

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Sepia Saturday Week 17

2010-03-23T03:26:00.000-07:00

Roll up, roll up for Week 17 of Sepia Saturday. Based on the widespread, major, sophisticated consultation procedure that we carried out last week it would seem that most people prefer to enter their link after they have posted and thereby enter a specific link to the Sepia Saturday post rather than the general blog. Some people however still want to provide an indication that they intent to post, in which case they might like to leave a comment announcing their intention to post and then a link to the specific post. Alternatively they can add a link to their blog whenever they want or alternatively ... they can do whatever they like. Sepia Saturday is that kind of anarchic thing.

My clip from last week's postings had to be this picture from Leah's wonderful post "Leather-Booted Great-Grandpa" which you can find - if you've not already seen it - on her equally wonderful blog "The Weather In The Streets". Week 17 of Sepia Saturday will be on Saturday 27th March 2010 so sign up / comment / do nothing now if you intent to participate. And a word of advanced warning - following an equally thorough consultation process, I have decided to skip a Sepia Saturday over Easter and therefore Sepia Saturday 18 will be on Saturday 10th April.

Sepia Saturday Week 16

2010-03-16T02:08:00.000-07:00

It is a bit like when you first get married - multiplied by a factor of thirty-odd! I well remember the mixture of joy and slight bewilderment as I was suddenly faced with a whole new family tree with its complex stories and strange inter-relationships. It takes time before you realise that Auntie R was the sister of Auntie M whose daughter used to be married to David B and not David J who is from a different part of the family altogether. Well, with Sepia Saturday you have a whole forest of family trees to delight in and I, for one, am loving the process of discovering each and every branch. Take Barry, for example, who is introducing us to his family via a splendid sepia family portrait taken in 1890. Each week he takes one of the members of this family group and tells their story - and what wonderful stories they are. Other people have a more haphazard approach to Sepia Saturday, jumping from branch to branch and tree to tree like a genealogical spider monkey. The beauty of Sepia Saturday is that whatever approach you take is fine : the enjoyment is just as much in the variety of approaches as in the subject matter itself.

Sepia Saturday 16 will be on Saturday 20th March 2010. Over the last few weeks it has become apparent that many participants are signing up to the list after they have posted and this enables them to include a link direct to the post rather than the the generic blog. I must confess - as a leisured reader of Sepia Saturday posts over a number of days - I find this approach very useful. Perhaps people can leave comments as to which they prefer before we issue guidance. But even if we issue guidance, that's all it will be : there are enough rules in life without Sepia Saturday adding to the stock.

Sepia Saturday Week 15

2010-03-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

One of the things I like most of all about our joint Sepia Saturday enterprise is the way in which a common starting point - an old photograph - can lead to so many directions of travel. For some it is the story behind the photograph, for others it is a tone-poem of memories. And for others it is a magnificent ride through great chunks of family, economic and social history - like a blog-post equivalent of "How The West Was Won". My chosen photograph this week comes from last weeks' Sepia Saturday contribution by that ever-resourceful and always entertaining blogger, David M Lynch (The Silver Fox). In "Sepia Saturday - Heroes and Villains", I loved the description of the way Joe Korsak Sr married not just Aunt Josie, but the entire family. In a way that is what we do with our Sepia Saturday posts, we share our families and their rich and varied stories. Week 15 of Sepia Saturday will be Saturday 13th March, so feel free to sign up and share your family - share your history.

Sepia Saturday Week 14

2010-03-01T02:10:00.000-08:00

Is it just me, or do other people agree that our Sepia Saturday posts are getting better and better? I find myself looking forward just as much to reading all the other contributions as I do to putting my own together. This is just as well as I will not be able to post myself this week - we will be out of the country until Sunday - but I will still be able to read all your contributions. Contributions like the one from first-time Sepia Saturday contributor, Vicki Lane, who told the story of her grandparents with two fine photographs and some very well chosen words. The ability to tell a life story with images and words seems to me to be what Sepia Saturday is all about. Week 14 of Sepia Saturday will be Saturday 6th March. Please sign up to the list so people can find your blog and your contribution.

Sepia Saturday Week 13

2010-02-22T04:27:00.000-08:00

Once again, thank you to all those who took part in Sepia Saturday 12. Sharing our family histories is becoming quite compulsive and we know from all the comments and e-mails we have received that everyone seems to be enjoying all the weekly posts. Sepia Saturday 13 will be on Saturday 27th February so please sign up if you are taking part. Our sepia picture to accompany this call is taken from the Sepia Saturday post of British writer and blogger Martin Hodges and his Sepia Saturday post last week "Twins".

Sepia Saturday Week 12

2010-02-16T07:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Week 12 of Sepia Saturday. Thank you to everyone who made last week such a success : we had a record number of participants and one of the best collections of images and memories we have had since we started. Sepia Saturday 12 will be Saturday 20th February and once again we are asking you to sign up if you would like to participate. Could we also remind you to include a link back to the Sepia Saturday Blog so that your readers can easily check out other Sepia Saturday entries. As an illustration for the weekly call for posts we are going to feature one of the images from the previous week. We will try and work our way around all the participating blogs over time. This weeks' illustration is from Mouse's fabulous Sepia Saturday post "My Wild Irish Rose".

SEPIA SATURDAY 12 : 20th February 2010