Sepia Saturday 235 : 5 July 2014

Back in the good old days, before all this cheek kissing took hold of humanity, you would greet friend and foe alike with a hearty handshake. You could judge the strength of character with a handshake, determine sincerity, secure agreement, and solve most of the problems known to man (and woman) kind. Our prompt image this week shows just such a handshake, and the shaker in question will be well known to people from the United Kingdom above a certain age, for it is the late Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The photograph comes from the Tyne and Wear Museums collection on Flickr Commons and dates back to the late 1960s. If you are in search of a theme for Sepia Saturday 235, there is, of course, handshakes, and also politicians, pipes and kids sat on fences (which makes a change from politicians sat on fences). All you have to do is to post your post on or about Saturday 5th July 2014 and then link to the list below. But first of all, take a look at what is in store if you vote for Sepia Saturday.

236 : Hair, drying, beauty, nails, strange headgear.

237 : Ballet Dancers, art, poses, chiffon

But all such things are for the future. And the future is bright. The future is wonderful. The future is anything you want it to be. Just vote for Sepia Saturday and shake my hand in agreement.

Sepia Saturday 234 : 28 June 2014

First of all let me say thank you to everyone for their good wishes last week - we had a wonderful day which will live long in our memory. I regret to say that I am still in recovery mode, so please accept my apologies if this call is towards the perfunctory end of the scale. For Sepia Saturday 234 our theme image - which comes from the University of Washington Flickr stream - shows a number of people with their feet in the water. For those looking for a theme to follow there are lakes, there are reflections, there are our old friends the hats again .... there are all sorts of possibilities. Just post your post on or around Saturday 28th June 2014 and then link your post to the list below. Sepian Wendy Mathias very kindly suggested a number of possible themes and I will be incorporating many of these into our calls in the weeks to come (I have kept the theme for 236, Wendy, but changed the image as the one you suggested was a little small). Don't forget, anyone can suggest a theme by e-mailing me or leaving a suggestion on our Facebook page. So here are the next two Sepia Saturday themes for you to think about:-

235 : Greetings and handshakes : pipes and politicians

236 : Hair, drying, beauty, nails, strange headgear.

That is for the future. For now, I am going back to bed and I am going to leave you with Sepia Saturday 234 to reflect upon.

Sepia Saturday 233 : 21 June 2014

I am afraid I can't be with you this weekend, I have a wedding to go to. And weddings are the traditional time for family and friends to gather together to celebrate the sealing of a new relationship. But what about all my Sepia friends spread throughout the five continents, what I would really like to do is to invite them along to my son's wedding day. But unless you happen to be in Yorkshire on Saturday, the only way I can do that is to send you a digital invitation to help me celebrate the day in best Sepia Saturday style. So it is time to look out all those old wedding photographs and post them to your blog on or around Saturday 21st June 2014. Once posted, link the post to the list below. I will try and make sure that I have a look at your various posts and raise a virtual glass of champagne as I wish Alexander (the Lad) and his new bride, Heather, all the very best sepia wishes.

And whilst the wedding photographs are being taken, sneak a look at what lies ahead in the next couple of weeks.

234 : Reflections on paddling in the lake or sea

235 : Greetings and handshakes : pipes and politicians

But now let's have a bit of a hush. My Lords, ladies and Gentlemen, raise your glasses please to the bride and groom.

Sepia Saturday 232 : 14 June 2014

It's one thing on top of another. It's straight lines fading into infinity. It's the stations of the cross. It's whatever you want it to be. Yes, we are back to our theme image this week after our experiment with our "Open Theme" last week. It is surprising how many people (myself included) found the open theme more difficult than the theme image. It just goes to prove something about how we are more comfortable being kept on the rails. Which brings me to our theme image for this week : a picture of Claremorris Railway Station which comes from the Flickr stream of the National Library of Ireland. You can interpret it as you choose or, as always, you can declare your own Open Theme Week here on Sepia Saturday. All you have to do is to post your post on or around Saturday 14th June and link it to the list below. And whilst you wait for the train to arrive you might like to think about what is down the Sepia Saturday line.

233 : Celebrate with me the wedding of my son, Alexander by posting your wedding themed images.

234 : Reflections on paddling in the lake or sea

235 : Greetings and handshakes : pipes and politicians

These things are on the timetable for the future. But stand clear of the platform, this week's Sepia Saturday Express is about to arrive.

Sepia Saturday 231 : 7 June 2014

It's the one you have been waiting for. After being constrained within the digital thought-corset of our weekly Sepia Saturday theme images for the last few years, this week we give you the freedom of the open theme. There is no image to match - unless you have a collection of old photographs featuring brown wrapping paper - and all you are asked for is an old photograph and some new reflections. Just post your post on or around Saturday 7th June 2014 and link it to the list below. This Open Theme week is a bit of an experiment, so let us know what you think of it - if it is popular we can include it on a regular basis - say one Open Theme Week a month.

If you are feeling lost and alone in this unstructured world of open freedom, fear not, the themes are back for the next couple of weeks. Here is a preview of the next two.

232 : Transport by car, transport by train, transport by cars on trains, transport.

233 : Celebrate with me the wedding of my son, Alexander by posting your wedding themed images.

Those two themes are for the future. Now the door is open for Sepia Saturday 231. Step inside and .... do what you want.

Sepia Saturday 230 : 31 May 2014

Grace Sutherland had long hair. What more can be said? Our theme image for this week features an 1890 Carte de Visite which forms part of the George Eastman House collection on Flickr Commons. So what do we know about Grace Sutherland? Here is an extract from her Wikimedia entry:

"Miss Grace Sutherland was one of the seven Sutherland sisters, a group of singing ladies from Lockport/ Niagara, N.Y., that were famous for their very long hair. The sisters spent much of their time travelling from city to city in side-shows from about 1882 until about 1907: in 1882 with W.W. Coles Colossal Show, by 1884 with “Barnum and Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth”, and also posing in drug store windows or hotels lobbies. On group photos the sisters were always placed in such a way that it seemed all of the sisters had hair reaching the floor. Grace Sutherland had five feet long, auburn mane. All of her life she was very proud of it. She never married and lived until 1946."

So where can you go with your theming. Marilyn - who chose the image - suggests "very long hair, mantelpiece, statuette, books, and carvings", and you might like to add CdV's to that list. However long or close cropped your entry is going to be, all you need to is to post your post on or around Saturday 31 May 2014 and link your post to the list below.

Before you start combing through your collection here is a little preview of what is to come in the weeks ahead.

231 : The only theme this week is the lack of a theme. Follow that.

232 : Transport by car, transport by train, transport by cars on trains, transport.

Those sepians who can see through their fringes will have noticed that I have not been around too much over the last few weeks. Things are a little hectic around Sepia Towers at the moment in preparation of my son's wedding on the 21st June. And the 21st June just happens to be a Saturday, of course. I would love to invite you all to the event - and in a typically sepian way, I can. So, with your permission, I would like to dedicate our theme for Sepia Saturday 233 to Alexander and Heather.

But all that is for the future. For the moment get your hair in order and get set for Sepia Saturday 230.

Sepia Saturday 229 : 24 May 2014

Our theme image for Sepia Saturday 229 - post your posts on or around Saturday 24 May 2014 - comes from the Flickr Commons collection of the State Archives of North Carolina and shows a dorm room at a typical North American College in 1917. It is a print from a glass plate negative and it would appear to have suffered from the ravages of time. There are a host of possible themes you might like to follow ranging from the girls in their room to the pennants and banners on the wall or even that somewhat rudimentary plumbing next to the window. I must confess to being a little taken with the wallpaper - I am sure I used to have some like that in my bedroom when I was young. Whatever you decide to go with, just post your post, link it to the list below and fly the Sepia Saturday pennant on your blog. But before that, take a look at what exciting things lie just around the sepia corner.

230 : Women with long hair and .... women with long hair

231 : By popular demand .... it's do what you want week

Such things are for the future. Now it is time to go to your rooms and see what you can come up with for Sepia Saturday 229. Good luck.