Saturday, April 22, 2017

Sepia Saturday 364, April 22nd: Blouses

Carshalton Convent (St Philomena's School) Sports Day, 8 July 1907

This week we are featuring another image from the online collection of glass negatives held by Sutton Archives and featured on their "Past On Glass" webpage. The theme prompt features a 1907 school sports day at Carshalton Convent and may give rise to a variety of interpretations.

The Sepia Saturday prompt this week is at a British school. Either it just rained or the event required the use of an umbrella. The girls look happy.


We were Canadian Girls in Training. CGIT. My father called us "the cutest girls in town" which I failed to appreciate. At that age I found him embarrassing and this kind of word play insufferable (as only a thirteen-year old can). Years later I married a man who likes to do the same thing. Yesterday he asked me a question about CYE. We have a kind of game...I don't ask, but try to figure it out. It was Curb Your Enthusiasm he was referring to.

The photo was was taken at summer camp and I chose it because of the blouses. I was so homesick I remember feeling physically ill. Once that hurdle was crossed the camp was great...swimming, bon fires, singing. Do your ears hang low? Do they wobble to and fro? And yes I do know the alternate lyrics.
I'm on the left front and on right front is my life-long friend, Linda. I look unhappy...some of the girls look thoughtfully posed which surprises me because we didn't practise a look in those days unlike today when kids have their photos taken by the hundreds and automatically assume a stance when the phone is readied for a shot. I'm sure the photographer asked us to smile and it seems I couldn't manage that.

A new athlete was recently added to the family. My four-year old great great niece Madison, entered her preschools bikeathon to raise money for the school. She completed ten laps, despite feeling sick, and she won a prize for best decorated bike. Look at her pounding over the lap line!

They didn't test the kids for drugging.


Run over to www.sepiasaturday.blogspot.com for more nostalgic stories about the prompt image.

8 comments:

  1. Hurrah for Madison! How can she lose with that great sun emblem on the front and all those flowers?!?!

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  2. I was always sick with excitement before any events like a party or a camp.Love the decorations on the tricycle.

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  3. What a wonderful and fun fund-raiser. Your niece is adorable and it's obvious why she won for best decoration. That is one cheerful trike. Let's hope no scandal surfaces in the future.

    Our annoying game is "What were you doing 168 hours ago?" or alternatively, "What will you be doing 168 hours from now?"

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  4. Now Madison would have matched one of the other photos in the sequence of the Carshalton girls, who decorated their cycles with bows. The CGIT look like a great bunch, and I’m pleased the homesickness didn't stand in the way of your eventual enjoyment.

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  5. She sure deserved the prize for that darling bike.

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  6. An excellent match for the theme. And Madison is a winner for sure!

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  7. Great picture of the Canadian Girls! And your great grand niece is adorable - and so is her trike! A winner all the way. :)

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