Sailing on the Lake

 

Well, it looks like a lake to me. Dated 1935, and a reminder that even during the great depression, life went on. 

Los Angeles via Hurricane, Utah 6

More images from a photo album page that ended up in Hurricane, Utah.  Click on LA Hurricane in labels to see more.

Sailing

I always wanted to learn to sail, but I don't think it's ever going to happen.

Sailing, 28G359, She

Once again, it's time to take sail on the good ship 28G359.  The top photo, like yesterday's is labeled 1936.  The second one in the column has the rather intriguing notation, "Doris & Harry's first boat (Date)"  I have to confess, before I read what was written on the back I assumed that both of the people in the photo were women, and I'm still leaning that way.  Harry can be short for Harriet.  Harry does, however, seem to lack feminine curves.  But that hair says woman.  At least it does in 1936. 

Sailing, 28G359, He

I bought these four prints, and the four that will be the next post, off of EBay.  One of the reasons I put in a bid was the near certainty that they were taken off the coast of southern California.  The top picture is dated 1936.

Momie, Ruth, and Helen

Written on the back of the second photo, "Detroit River, summer 1938.  Momie & Ruth." The third picture, "Detroit River, summer 1938.  Ruth & Helen."

The Detroit River connects the not so great Lake Saint Clair,  Detroit, and Lake Erie.  (The Saint Clair River connects Lake Huron and Lake Saint Clair.) It also separates Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  In 1938, it was one of the most polluted waterways in North America, so if these three ladies were actually swimming, they risked at least a few weird  infections.  More likely, they were headed to Lake Erie for a week of sailing.

1938 was near the end of the great depression.  In a few years, World War 2 defense spending would make Detroit one of the wealthiest cities in the world.  After the war, with no real competition from foreign car makers, Detroit continued getting richer and richer.  If this family could afford a sailboat during the depression, they probably were in a position to really cash in during the war and the post war boom.

And yes, who ever wrote the message on the back of the photos did spell it Momie.

What's This Thing?

Gotta love this one.  We've got a guy, on a boat, holding a Polaroid in one hand, and what looks like it could be a camera case, a conventional film camera case, in the other.  He's got this "I don't like instant photography" look.

I used the color restoration setting on the scanner on this one.

Sailing

Love this picture.  I bought it here, in southern California, so let's assume the Pacific.

Coasting

I suspect that the softness of the print was caused by a misted lens.  I purchased this one in southern California, so maybe Catalina or one of the other Channel Islands.

Sailing In Iowa

I almost never post the backs of postcards.  As this example shows, there's a lot of bad hand writing out there, and if I can make it out, and spare visitors having to suss out what's actually there, I type it out.  But this card has a bit too much info and I can't make it all out so have at it.   I know there's someone at Lake Okoboji, they're hungry, and hoping to fatten up.  How often do you hear that complaint?  The postmark is half gone, but it didn't take a lot of detective work to identify Arnold's Park as the location.  The clue was Lake Okojobi of the Great Lakes of Iowa.  Yes, I found great lakes and Iowa a bit of an oxymoron, too.  In any case, Spirit Lake, East and West Okojobi Lakes in Dickson County are an important resort area in the northern part of the state.  Arnold's Park lies between West and East Okojobi Lake.  The 1910 census, two years before this card was mailed, listed a population of 273.