Sepia Saturday 55 : Seasonal Open House

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

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

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

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.