Classy ladies.

Got a bit of turmoil at the moment, my uncle is on his way out of this mess on earth. Seeing my grandma and ma in full-blown mother mode certainly makes me appreciate the efforts people who love each other will put in when the shit hits the fan. Here's to classy dames.

Meet Beatrice Jones.

This one marked simply, "Senior Citizens"

Aug '62, Kodachrome. Writing almost impossible to read, I think it says, "Gielze Crosby. Gen and Mike on Lurlne 1962 Home bum." Yeah - that's for sure what it says.

Okimoto, Mr. Takao 03/1958 Kodachrome

She looks like a firecracker, doesn't she? No writing on the slide, Kodachrome, Dec '73.

Pepsi Party!

Hey kids, I scanned a few interesting slides today so I can have a few in the bag to post over the next few days, all from a randomly chosen box of gems. These three will spur your imaginations to run wild. Wild! Imagine how much fun this Pepsi party from 1963 must have been! They had records and chairs and cigarettes...

Come, let's transport ourselves back to that yawn-filled event:

First, they sat (and nearly fell asleep, eh there, girl in blue?)

Then the strippers showed up (and put on jackets and hats... ooooo!)

Then Midge started making crank calls and Liz changed the record. Weee.

Actually, they're a cute triptych. All Ektachrome, oddly enough the slide with the girls sitting is dated Jan 64 and the other two are Dec 63 - a weird anomaly surely since they're obviously from the same wild night. I do love finding a series of three or four from the same evening, it truly is like dropping in on someone's life.

For the love of dirt.

Spring is in the air and today I'm finally getting around to starting some plants, but before I could get out the door, Mr. Mailman (or Mr. Maleman as I like to call him) came strutting up my steps with a big package in his hands. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Here's what it was:

Not the package you were expecting?

Aw it's so good! Look at the sun bouncing off those happy leaves! Look at that fabulous dirt! It occurred to me that I certainly have a 'thing' for autochromes that feature dirt. I think the graininess of the format is particularly flattering to texture. It also helps that the three 'dirty' autochromes I have are all much larger than most of my others; as far as I'm concerned, the bigger the better when it comes to autochromes (the motion of the ocean is only a detriment).

You can almost smell those flowers, non?

But this one still reigns supreme for nice soil: it's a very old one and the colour is still vibrant for it's age, it's giant sized, and the dirt looks magnificent. Gaze away:

You should come over and see this one under the loupe - it's amazing.

Keep your eyes peeled for dirty autochromes! They have an inflated value at the moment. Happy filthing!

More Weird Film Cells!

UPDATED! From Rosita (1923) starring good old Mary Pickford!

(thank you Myles!!)

I'd sure like to figure out what movie these cells are from. I spent an afternoon putting each little one inside a nice glass slide casing, so they're a little easier to scan. These are the ones I like best, I also like how you can see where the sprockets have worn the perforations:

I don't know what's going on here. None of the other cells give any clues!

Just like my room!

I did a cleanup job on these two to take out the specks. See Mmm Coffee!

Cute stuff, right? All I know is it's a United Artists movie, something about a castle. Can anyone recognise it?

Old people, doing crazy old people things.

Hello young lovers! Sorry to have ignored you so, but I've finally got through a pretty major career shift so I can now return to my duties as your faithful curator! Although I have spent today playing with my images (see? Mmm Coffee), it's too beautiful out and I need to take some air - so we're going to blast through some of the fresh slides. I had a hell of a time with the scanner today, these images are mostly from dark community halls where old people do strange things, so appologies for the scattered quality. Let's see what the magic lantern has for us today... well well! It's Kodachrome from February 1965!

Old man Highpants misses Hawaii so much he buttoned his shirt wrong.

Awww. It isn't always fun to dress up.

Martha stole the curtains again.

Terry went everywhere with her voodoo doll.

Then he butchered her right there for pretending to be Japanese.

She tore the scalp right off a hobo for this costume.

The uniform made him want to be a topper for once. Dave couldn't sit for days.

No YOU be the chinaman this time, I want to be the faded whore.

Sure! A cheap mask will totally compliment that gown.

They had some great sex later.

Best costume of the night - lesbian newlyweds!

OK folks, I have some good stuff on the horizon, stayed tuned and enjoy the weather!