Learning to hold back....

Last night, I re-met an old friend of mine's son. I found out just recently that my old friend had died a few years back, and I wanted to see his family. He had been a close friend over 30 years ago, and time and family and life just seemed to bring distance...and then I heard nothing for quite a few years... until, after running into a mutual friend, I found out the unthinkable..that my old dear friend had died.

So I went to see his son. I wanted to say soo much...and being a rather overwhelming personality at times, I knew I had to hold back...take it easy..learn to listen.

Now this is not easy for me...I am the same one that cant wait until Christmas to give gifts..or if there is exceptionally good news, be sure that I will be the one to break it to everyone first..

I am impatient.

My husband says I have bad timing..I just dont know how to hold back...

So this is summer...and it is the time that I find LOADS of photos..I mean I dig through every nook and cranny, sale, auctions..you name it..i am there....hunting for the incredible items..

so NOW, I have a FULL photo room..it is soo full of treasures and I am SOO eager to show everyone..i want to list them all NOW..not wait..not hold back... I want to go..LOOK AT THIS!!!

but it is summer...which means that many of my special customers are on vacation..and it is not the time when we cocoon and want to hunt through ebay to find treasures..this is the time to make memories..and enjoy the outdoors ....and our moments in the sun...it is all too short and we need to enjoy it!.....

So i am trying...

to hold back....

hmmmm

it isnt easy.....

cathi

Why can't We dress like that?

Each day, I get up and throw on my jeans, a baggy shirt and go about my day. Never really stopping to "dress up" too much, only on great occassions of course. Naturally I never really give this any thought, but tonight as I was looking at some of my photos.. you know the ones of those beautiful women from 1900..the ones with the ALL SO TIGHT waistes and the ALL SO BEAUTIFUL lace.. I began to think about the clothing I was wearing...

The 1900s clothing was soo beautiful..women looked soo lovely..their hair almost perfect..

Now, I can see why in the the 1920s, the tight waistes were thrown out for drop waistes..and I can really understand why the women changed the fashion and how liberated they must have felt......but have I taken that liberation too far...so far that the last time I wore a dress was at a wedding months ago...

hmmmm

well, I am not going to be wearing a Victorian dress anytime soon...but stilll the beauty of it....

This week, in my store, I will be featuring many beautiful dresses of beautiful ladies from a time, i can only dream of.....

Cathi

Somedays you just have to hide...

There are THOSE days..the days when the phone doesn't stop ringing, the demands pile up and there are too many emails to answer...

somedays you are STRONG and you can do ANYTHING..

and somedays you just want to SLEEP or watch TV or do nothing at all.

Yesterday was a hard day..my mother has been falling...at 91 that is normal..but it is hard..we have care givers..I go there all the time... she is strong in heart and spirit and soo stubborn..but she is not strong in body and she is quite frail.... she has not accepted this yet..

today..i cocooned..hid, took some photos sat on my bed and looked at them...looking at people from a different time, knowing that they faced their share of heartache..of difficulty..and...i was looking at them...relating .....

then i found this photo...

oh my ...this is exactly how i feel... or at least where i would like to be...

hidden in a garden....not too hidden..i can still see everything..but hidden...

for those days that we just need to hide.....

cathi

A "Kodak" Moment

For the past 15 years, I have had the priveledge of taking young people out of the country on mission trips every summer. When the trips are over, I always ask them, "What is your "kodak" moment?" This is "THAT" moment that you want to keep with you and remember..that moment in time that is a snapshot in your heart.

Well, this year, my mother who is 91 has been ill, and this is the first summer in many years that I have stayed home and have spent my summer with her. Although I love her, it has been a bit sad, and I have missed being out of the country

So last night, some good friends from overseas came to visit. They arrived late and we wanted to take them out to eat, but in our area, the only thing open late are Greek Restaurants. They are mostly wonderful coffeehouses with huge menus and lots of coffee. So we headed to one a few towns over (where they were staying). But walking into the restaurant, we noticed things had changed. The restaurant had opened a patio "beer garden" for the summer and the inside of the restaurant was closed. So we sat outside in the beer garden with our friends, and found a lush garden, waterfall, mediterranean music, in short..the atmosphere was incredible! Then the owner came out, and told us he would make us a meal..it was full of fresh vegetables, chicken kabobs, and topped off with watermelon...

for a moment I was whisked away...to my overseas adventures as I sat with great friends..in a beautiful unique environment...and I found my "kodak moment"....knowing that even when it is least expected little miracles can appear.

What does this have to do with old photos?

Everything!! These lovely old gems are pieces of others "kodak" moments..slices of times kept to remember an important moment..

May this summer give you many "kodak" moments...and hopefully...some miracles along the way!!

Cathi

The Art of the Snapshot

A few months ago, a professional artist friend of my husband's came over. I was busy in the kitchen working on photos, and he suddenly was enthralled by all my old snapshots. (I have thousands of them). I must confess that I am the type of person that loves the posed portrait, especially some really nice ones from the 20s, or some extremely special cabinet photos. But our artist friend, really didn't want to look at those. Instead he loved the snapshot.

He would pick one up and tell me about the lighting, and how it would make a beautiful painting..how he wished he could spend hours looking at each and every little photograph.

This opened my eyes to look at photographs differently. Although primitive sometime, they represented to him, a true form of art. The art of the emotions of the photographer.

This week, I have several collections of old photographs on auction. I will always carry snapshots in my store, but I have been busy hunting more estates and have found sooo many snapshots..that I decided it was time to list them. This one that I have in auction is from a lot of photos from 1915- 1920s and it is of a woman sitting on a rock with graffiti..how odd, guess I never considered that graffiti would be part of life almost 100 years ago...

A very unique image...

I guess it is time to get out your snapshots and take a look at some of the art that you have created....

cathi

Wedding photos and a Senior Center

Today was a fun day! My mother is 91 years old and recently she moved into a retirement home. She has become very social these days with 3 meals a day with all her new friends! I try to visit her daily, and wanted to help out if I could. So, since I sell photos and have LOADS of wedding photos, I offered to do a presentation on Weddings. This afternoon, I decorated the whole room with LOTS of wedding photos, and my own Bridal gown..and talked about styles of weddings through the years..and then I asked everyone to tell their own stories.. the room was full of some of the nicest ladies with happy memories of Great love that lasted for years and years!

There was Betty, (she is wearing the dark vest in the photo and she is almost 100 years young!) she was married in 1929. Her memory of her wedding day was how beautiful it was, the outdoor event, the lovely flowers......BUT, when it was all over and the excited bride and groom went upstairs (the floor above her parents home) to their new apartment after the reception, they suddenly realized they had forgotten one thing...they had forgotten to get a bed! So she had to go to her parents home and he went to his parents home on their wedding night! The next day they went to New York, and she said: "That is where we really started our life together" They were happily married 63 years.

Then there was the man who wept as he told the story of his wife. (he is in the photograph) His name is Ray. He loved his wife and still misses her dearly, he cried as he looked at the photo..and we all were feeling soo very touched by his reaction until he said: "and now I get to be here and meet all the single ladies I want!" we all roared!

There was the woman that had been married 65 years and was married during the depression, feeling that 2 really could live cheaper than one..they fell in love and married as fast as they could!

So many beautiful stories..some of the residents brought photos..there were many tears..but mostly it was a great time... and they even served us all wedding cake!

Tonight, I have posted some wedding photos in my store (you will always find vintage wedding photos in my store) This is a wedding portrait that was done by a man in Michigan in the 1940s/50s, I acquired his estate a few months ago.

They are beautiful images...and I have alot..most are one of a kind..there are very few duplicates in this collection..and I try hard not to list any duplicates.. .. each are in excellent condition. The ladies today loved these photos..and wanted to try some of their hairstyles!!

Here is to great love! Happy memories...and beautiful photos!!

cathi

Pauline Carrier~ quite a pretty young girl

This photo is of Pauline Carrier..the same girl that was on the bicycle. The time is 1903 and oh my isn't she pretty? I love the mood that this photo sets.

I have a large photo album of the family photos that I will be adding to ebay real soon...in this you are able to follow the story of the entire family..Helen, Pauline's daughter, ended up writing on just about every photo..documenting each one.



This photo looks so etheriel to me..and it is a cabinet photo...unique for these types of photos.

Hope you enjoy this glimpse of Pauline....

(if you wish to look at this in my ebay store, just click on the photo)



Cathi

Shades of the Departed~ for lovers of photos

A wonderful customer contacted me and asked if I would be willing to write about photos..

Write about them? How neat! I am surrounded by so many beautiful images all day long..that it would be fun to network with others that love them too! On July 11th, this article will be on Shades of the Departed blog.!!!...hope you have fun seeing the article and all the other great things that this website offers! (thank you again!! sooo happy to have found you all!!)

Here is one of My Favorite new additions in my store:

This lovely cabinet photo is of a gal named Pauline Carrier. The photo is dated 1897. When Pauline grew up, she went through and wrote on ALL of her photos! ( I so wish everyone would do that!)

I have lots of photos from her estate, as there was no family left to be their caretakers. One night, My daughter and I sat up until we read each one of them ..and learned all about her brother, her husband, her cousins...soo many beautiful images!

This is one of my favorites..it is of Pauline in Adrian, Michigan and is of her riding her favorite bicycle..love it! there are a few others in my store, one of her brother at a typewriter and one at one of her birthday parties..

more on Pauline in the days to come...

Cathi

Welcome to Chatham Ho Treasures Vintage Photos

The begining of the blog....

I have often wanted to write about all the wonderful photos that I have come in contact with. It seems that an ebay listing doesn't give one enough time to really delve into some of the photos, and most of them just move on to different homes without a word. (not very nice to some of these beauties now is it?)

So as some of the images come out to make their public debut, I will be posting occassional comments on them..as well as "what to do with all these vintage photos" If you are anything like me, you have beautiful images all over and love to surround yourself with these works of art!
We encourage your comments and appreciate your imput.

If you click on the photo, you can find this in my ebay store..

Don't you love color tinted photos? They are sooo uniquely done...of course when the photographer didn't have much experience with color...wellm it can really be an OOPS(have you ever seen some of those orange faces out there?)...but when he did know how to work with color...well, it is nothing short of an image that appears just like a painting...love it!
This lovely gal..has the most beautiful colors. It was done by a photographer in Michigan circa 40s.
Oh...framed and in a room with pinks and purples ...how beautiful...
Enjoy the glimpse!

Cathi