Contemplating.

Contemplating.
Wayzata, Minnesota

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Sepia Saturday - # 150 3 Nov 2012

I can't believe it's November already!

Seriously, wasn't it just August?

Welcome

SEPIA SATURDAY

I'm using Kat's theme photo (slightly, no sports) and begin with a larger group of men and boys.  But can you guess what my main topic will be? No, not hats, although there will be some......


Photography by - Lewis Wickes Hine
Okay, ignore a few lads smoking cigarettes, (just trying to be cool) but isn't this just the greatest bunch of young men you've ever seen- just enjoying be alive?
Of course I never had the pleasure of meeting the photographer Lewis Wickes Hine, he died way before I was born, but- just by his photographs, he had to have a great personality with his subjects!



Okay can you guess by this next photo, what my main attraction is?





Yes they're young men- in hats, and two are
smoking a pipe!



About our theme this week.
If you look closely you'll notice..... one man is smoking a pipe. I find the gent in the coat and white shorts rather curious, as he's holding his hand up to his ear like he's on a cell phone.

(As a matter of fact, I was thinking about going with men in white shorts, but it really only appears odd to me in this photo, where everyone else is dressed up over mostly in long pants.)




 For the safety of well you, and others, not to forget the children and animals you'll meet here
please! No smoking ....Ha! Ha! (Like we'd know anyway right!)




It's almost hard to tell, but the owl is the pipe smoker in this group.

 FAMOUS PIPES SMOKERS



An excellent video worth watching......








Madame Pilar Morin as clown/mime smoking a pipe.

 SOMETIMES A PIPE IS, JUST A PIPE.


This postcard reads, "enjoying the comforts of home"- 1852 A.D.



Ho, Ho, ho-


Sorry, you're caught in the act!




I have to close with one of my favorites, "La Vie En Rose"

just to feel good!



For more interesting Sepia Saturday posts
what better way to spend a cold- dark and deary day right? Just go here

32 comments:

Grace said...

Nice sepia pictures ~ Its interesting to see the times in these old pictures...makes you wonder about their lives back then ~

Filip and Kristel said...

In those days smoking was still in. Here in The Netherlands it is no longer popular.

Greetings,
Filip

Liz Stratton said...

While I enjoyed the photos, I'm happy not to have to endure the smoke! Fun images.

Unknown said...

I am happy kids don't smoke pipes any more. I'm not sure about owls, pierots, indians or santaclauses, but I think they've stopped smoking to.

Especially the last photo of Santa smoking an old Dutch pipe is (although historically accurate) a bit unsettling. I guess he's a kind of Rip van Winkle.

sage said...

Great photos! You come up with such creative insights into the photos.

Gail said...

Very interesting. We have a pipe like the one pictured in front of the tepee. Nice to learn the year.

21 Wits said...

Sage - thanks- hope all is well, I have to come check out your latest adventures... I'm so thankful someone took time to shoot these great photos...long live the camera and the people who shoot them!

21 Wits said...

Rob- You are so right on all accounts- especially Santa....possibly why he's so thin, too much smoking and not enough eating!

Kathy said...

Glad you included the ong at the end. It's such a god one! I've never minded pipes as much as cigars and cigarettes.... The tobacco smells so much better, but none are good for one's health. Enjoyed your ake on the prompt!

Bob Scotney said...

I would have missed the owl if you hadn't poited it out. Great photos and I enjoyed the pipe smokers' video. Satchmo beat the lot.

Helen Killeen Bauch McHargue said...

Great photos. I love the first one with all the "hams". As you say, the photographer apparently knew how to draw this very fun attitude from the boys. Thank goodness the dangers of pipe smoking have made it almost obsolete. Although I have to admit, I liked the smell of that rum soaked tobacco. Very entertaining post.

Jana Iverson Last said...

The photo of the children with the owl and dog is quite interesting. It looks like the dog is playing a harmonica!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Karen, yes I was guessing, never saw a pipe smoking Santa, though they must have been very common! Yes the photographer did an excellent job in loosening up the lads, I wonder how he did it? Great post again, like especially the unusual pipe smoking owl, they are supposed to be wise.
Now I am going to look at the pipe smokers and listen to La vie en rose.

Peter said...

Great picture, the first one! I wonder what the connection is between all these boys and the railroad track they are standing on?
In Holland we have this saying "to smoke a heavy pipe". It means getting into trouble through your own mistakes. The origin of this proverb? I haven't got a clue. Do other languages also have "pipe sayings"?

Cloudia said...

Opium pipes are found in Honolulu demolitions in the historic areas. . .


Nice post



Aloha from Waikiki,
Comfort Spiral

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Postcardy said...

I always get a kick out of all the old magazine illustrations and photos that picture men with pipes.

Wendy said...

I've come to expect the unexpected with your Sepia posts. This was especially amusing. And to respond to Peter: "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" It's a way of telling someone they have to accept something even if they don't like it. It puts an end to an argument. "Your candidate has no hope to win. So put that in your pipe and smoke it."

darlin said...

Karen you have some of the most amazing photos, do you google these or where do they come from? I'd love to see your collection one day if you own the photos, you must have an entire trunk full!

It's funny how men back in the day smoked pipes, I'm sure glad hardly nobody does anymore, they give me headaches... literally! lol

Have a fantastic Sunday!

laurak/ForestWalkArt :) said...

the first couple of photos remind me of the old photos of my dad...like the 'eastside gang'...the boys from brooklyn...

my dad was a pipe smoker. oh how i used to love the smell of his tobacco! he always carried two pipes...one in mouth & one in pocket for when the pipe got too hot, he;d switch them around!
i don't even think i have a pic of my dad without a pipe hanging out of his mouth!!

happy sunday karen!!

Little Nell said...

Ah the wonderful Lewis Hine again and his Child Labour photos. No wonder they 'shocked America'. I expect those poor kids got some comfort from smoking as it took them out of their squalid lives.

The smoking Santa is not so surprising to me I have a wooden Raücherman from Germany which is a Santa with a pipe! You put little incense cones inside him. Oddly enough the kids never queried the idea of Santa setting such a bad example :) I loved this take on the theme.

Anonymous said...

That’s a funny picture, with that owl smoking a pipe. As a symbol of wisdom he should have known better!

L. D. said...

This was a lot of fun. It certainly was a journey of evolutionary themes.

Laurie Kolp said...

A great capture of history. The Santa Claus one reminded me of a man who conducted a dance workshop in New York that my daughter went to. He preached about healthy eating... in fact they were on a strict, bland vegan diet the whole week... while he ate donuts and smoked in his office thinking nobody knew!

Jenny Woolf said...

Those children are priceless, specially the little boy's face. You can tell he's really having a ball. I wonder how they GOT the owl to smoke a pipe!

Mike Brubaker said...

I also noticed the pipe and the man with his cellphone to his ear in our theme photo. I suspect you'd almost never find a contemporary photo with a pipe smoker but likewise few without a cellphone.

Tattered and Lost said...

I look at those first two shots and all I can think is scrapy ruffians. They must have been a handful!

Meri said...

One of my father's much older cousins lived with his grandparents when his great-grandmother was still alive. He reported that she swore like a sailor and puffed on a pipe, but always wore and apron so if the kids came into the room, she could stuff it in her pocket. He said they always knew, because smoke rose out of her apron.

Kat Mortensen said...

If that is Santa Claus, you'll be interested to know that here, in Canada, a woman has undertaken to rewrite, "The Night Before Christmas" to take out the line about Santa smoking. She thinks it sets a bad example. I do too, in a way, but my guess is that the kids who hear that story are going to be so fixed on the toys and presents aspect of it, that they are not going to even take in the fact that Santa is smoking! What do you think?

JJ said...

I'm not a smoker, but pipe smoking was once a very big part of American culture. Your photos are fantastic, as usual.

Bruno Laliberté said...

It's all got a "boyztown" feel to it, these first couple of pics. As a smoker, I must admit I've never tried the pipe, but I do smoke cigs and cigars. Maybe in my elder years...
;)~
HUGZ

Teresa Wilson Rogers said...

Wonderful photos - the first one is my favorite, very special to get that many boys together. Very true that boys are always hamming it up trying to be cool no matter what the era.

Unknown said...

I have never actually smoked anything, but I love the smell of many pipe tobaccos, as well as some cigars.