Sepia Saturday 118 : Going Out

When I asked for theme suggestions a few weeks ago LIZ STRATTON of ATTICS AND OLD LACE came up with a number, including "ladies night out" and "guys hanging out". I decided to combine the two and come up with a theme which is a celebration of the day out, the night out, and the day trip - GOING OUT. My archive photograph comes from the Flickr Commons collection of the State Library of Queensland and was taken by the Australian photographer George Jackman. Whilst the photograph is undated, Jackman was active in the 1930s and 1940s and this would seem to be about the right time.

As usual, you can either follow the theme in its widest interpretation or you can ignore it : it's up to you. All you have to do is to post a post on or around Saturday 24 March 2012 and link it to the list below. Try and visit as many of the other participants as possible - and after all of that, you can go out for the day.

Sepia Saturday 117 - Scouts

In a comment to last weeks' Sepia Saturday call, Colleen G. Brown Pasquale of Leaves and Branches pointed out that this week marked the 100th anniversary of the girl scout movement and the same anniversary of the boy scout movement took place recently. Such an important milestone calls for a celebration so we are celebrating this week on Sepia Saturday with the theme "Scouts". You can extend the theme in any direction you want to - I seem to recall I have a picture of my father in the Boys' Brigade and therefore my particular extension will be inter-denominational - and you can always ignore the theme and post an old picture of choice if you would like to. Whatever you decide, be prepared to post your post and signal it by adding a link to the list below.

My archive picture dates back to 1914 and comes from the Flickr Commons collection of the National Library of Ireland. It is entitled "Fianna Éireann scouts carrying out signal training with flags". If you are not familiar with the language of semaphore, allow me to translate for you. It says "Get your Sepia Saturday 117 Posts up on or around Saturday 17th March 2012". Dib dib dib!

Sepia Saturday 116 : Hair

MRS MARVEL of the Blog WHO WERE THEY? provided us with a wonderful list of potential themes the other week which started off with : Men with facial hair and Women with facial hair?  How could I resist such a theme suggestion and to illustrate it I am using a picture of the American painter William Morris Hunt which comes from the Smithsonian Institutes' stream on Flickr Commons. If you so choose you can extent the theme to head hair as well as facial hair. Indeed, if you so choose, you can extend, twist, plat or braid the theme in any way you want to. Just post your posts on or around Saturday 10th March 2012 and include a link to the list below.

As I explained last week I am current letting my hair down on holiday and therefore I only hope that this call will magically appear at the right time. If I can find a WiFi signal I will be observing your contributions from afar.

Sepia Saturday 115 : Games

Taking the theme suggestions submitted a few weeks ago, the next in order should be my own of midget submarines. I thought it might be wise to put that off for a while, so I have jumped forward to one of the suggestions from SOUTHWEST ARKIE of COLOURING OUTSIDE THE LINES. She includes "Games (board or physical)" among her list of suggestions and that seems like a fascinating challenge for all those people who like to follow a theme. My archive illustration comes from the Flickr Commons Collection of Cornell University Library and features a 1904 postcard illustration of Korean Women playing the board-game Go. As always, you are free to interpret the theme as you like and you are also free to totally ignore it if you want. Just post your post on or around Saturday 3 March 2012, add it to the list below, and if you can find your way around the ridiculous word verification system, leave a comment below to let us know you are in the game.

I am off on holiday next weekend and this means that although I might get a post up, I won't get chance to get around and visit other participants. This also means that I will not be around to put up the call for Sepia Saturday 116 so I am attempting to schedule it to automatically appear next Monday. If it appears too soon just ignore it, if it doesn't appear on time ... use your own initiative. I think I have found a way of getting a report-back next week : Sepia Saturday is certainly an amazing world-wide network.

Sepia Saturday 114 : 25 February 2012 - SHOES

First of all, my apologies for last week. I did have a post planned but events conspired to interfere with the best laid plans of mice and film stars. But this week I will be back and I am already looking through my collection of old photographs to find one which will fit in with our theme for Sepia Saturday 114, which is SHOES. My thanks to TERESA WILSON ROGERS from Forgotten Faces And Long Ago Places and to all those others who suggested shoes as a suitable theme for Sepia Saturday. So get your old photos out, try them on for size and bring along a one or a pair to Sepia Saturday 114 on or around Saturday 25th February 2012. Post your posts, link to the list and take a stroll around as many other contributors as possible.

I need to once again draw attention to two on-going problems. The first is the difficulty WordPress users are having when it comes to commenting on Blogger Blogs. This seems to be a widespread problem and all I can suggest is that we remain patient and understanding until a solution emerges. If anyone has any suggestions to help resolve the issue please feel free to contribute them. The second problem is the new Blogger word verification system which seems intent on making you write a surrealistic essay in order to add a comment to a blog. I have attempted to turn comment moderation off for the Sepia Saturday Blog but it doesn't seem to have made much difference. Personally I would much prefer the anonymous gent who wants to advise me of the availability of various pills and potions to the Sudoku-like challenges Blogger seems to come up with, but no doubt, given time, that problem will be resolved as well.

So, in the words of the old World War II poster, Keep Calm and Carry On. Get your best shoes out, shine them up and bring them along to Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday 113 : 18 February 2012

Our theme this week was suggested by SHARON from the SAVE THE PHOTOS Blog, In fact she gave us a whole raft of possible themes - movie/screen/actors/film-stars/film production - all of which revolve around the common element of FILM. And to illustrate the call I have chosen a 1912 picture of that great English actor, Claude Rains, whose career extended to both the theatre and the cinema. I remember him well in what must be my favourite film of all time, Casablance, where he took the part of Captain Louis Renault. Most collectors of old photographs will have a sprinkling of film-stars among their collection and therefore this will be an easy theme for them. For those without film stars cluttering up their archives, there is always men pointing, men sat on chairs or monocles as potential themes. Whatever the choice - theme or no theme - just post your posts on or around Saturday 18th February 2012, add your name to the Linky List and leave us a comment.

The Facebook Group is up and running now and the Flickr Group is small but perfectly formed. I understand that some of you who use Wordpress are having problems commenting on Blogger posts. I am not sure what the situation is with this, but if we have any experts on the problem perhaps they could advise us the best way to work around any problem that may still exist.

But let us leave all our problems and cares behind us, follow the lady with the torch, take our seats and enjoy the film.

Sepia Saturday 112 : Saturday 11 February 2012

Man With Book Sitting In Chair Circa 1915 George Eastman House Collection Via Flickr Commons

Working my way through the list of suggested themes included with the comments to Sepia Saturday 109 I get to LINDA of the delightful blog THE PAPER COLLECTOR and from her list of possible suggestions I choose one of my very favourite subjects - BOOKS. As a theme, perhaps it is a little more challenging than the likes of dolls and dogs, but remember, you can interpret the theme with all the ingenuity you can muster. Pictures of books, pictures from books, books of pictures .... the possible list is as long as your imagination and knowing my Sepia Saturday contributors as I do, I know that is as long as a ten volume encyclopedia.

I have to say that Sepia Saturday seems to have been going from strength to strength over recent weeks and once again I thank everyone for their support. You may have noticed that in her comments on last weeks' post, KATHY over at OREGON GIFTS OF COMFORT AND JOY suggested it might be a good idea to have a Sepia Saturday Facebook Group. It is indeed a good idea and one KAT MORTENSEN had when we first set up Sepia Saturday a couple of years ago. She kindly set up such a group and it has been lying fallow ever since. It can be found by doing a group search for Sepia Saturday or by (hopefully) following THIS LINK. If you use Facebook why not join the group and we can use it to exchange old images and chat about all things sepia. If you don't use Facebook or if you prefer the larger image formats available on Flickr I have also set up a Flickr Sepia Saturday Group which once again we can use to share our images. Again, you should be able to locate it via a group search or (again, hopefully) by following THIS LINK. Thus the Sepia Saturday brand goes remorselessly onward and next week I hope to announce the launch of a range of branded Sepia Saturday underwear!

But that is another book - and one that is perhaps best left closed. For Sepia Saturday 112 all you need do is to post your post on or around Saturday 11th February 2012, leave a link to the list below and visit as many of your fellow sepia posters as possible.