Juanita Waters the Lawn

 

On one hand I hate the color restoration setting on the scanner.  It's different from the image I have in hand.  On the other hand I love the color restoration setting because it allows me to see what the photographer saw when he opened up the envelope of newly printed images.  Written on the back, "Sept. 1972, Juanita." 

On the Stage With That Weird Thing In the Background

I can make out the guys Afro when I blow it up, so no, that big thing in the background isn't a hat.  I have no idea what it is.  Dated "MAY  72." 

Two Women on Vacation 4

In the previous  post of these two ladies, I wondered if they had traveled to more than one country on their vacation.  Take a look at the top photo and see that they are standing in front of a poster with writing.  I went back to Google translate and neither vytvarne and umeni came up as Bulgarian.  After trying a few different European languages, I got Czech for both words.  Vytvarne came up as artwork, and umeni was art.  So, perhaps Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia.

I suppose I think of eastern bloc nations during the cold war as gray, dull places with nothing beyond concrete apartment buildings and massive government buildings.  But, of course, most eastern European cities survived World War 2 relatively in tact.  Back in 1972, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia must have been nice, and cheap places to visit.

These are the last o photos from this collection.

Two Women on Vacation 3

We had some Bulgarian in the last post.  The first photo in this post has what I think of as dictator art.  We have the worker, possible peasant, and a one legged fellow all capped by a star.  A communist star?  No doubt imagery found throughout eastern block countries during the cold war era.  I wonder, if this was a vacation trip, did these two ladies limit themselves to one country, or did they travel from East Germany to Yugoslavia?

Two Women on Vacation 2

As promised in my last post, a clue.  In the top photo, "700 LET 1272-1972."  Clearly it's an anniversary of some kind, so I went to Google Translate, typed in let and began searching central and eastern European languages.  Flight came up a few times, and no translation.  It wasn't until I tried Bulgarian that years came up, the only realistic possibility.  But what kind of anniversary.  For the hell of it, I looked up Sofia, Bulgaria's capitol, but Sofia has been around for far longer than 700 years.  After that, I stopped searching.  After all, there are thousands of cities, towns and villages, not to mention castles, forts, and people that could have turned 700 in 1972.

Two Women on Vacation 1

Well, I think they're on vacation.  I bought an envelope of thirty plus photos of these two women wandering around somewhere in Europe.  But where?  Clues are on their way in the next three posts.

Four Sisters

With apologies to Anton Chekhov.   Dated "AUG 72"

Playing With Her Ear

It sure looks like he's going for the lobe, but then again...Dated, ""OCT 72"

If you can't sleep at night-it isn't the coffee, it's the bunk.

Any Preston Sturges fans out there?  Remember Christmas In July?  Anyway, Christmas In July, written and directed by Preston Sturges is about this poor sap who is always entering contests, hoping to win enough money so he can marry his girl.  After he enters a slogan contest for a coffee company, his fellow employees, who think he's kind of a dolt, send him a telegram telling him he's won the grand prize.  The poor guy proposes, get's a promotion at work, and then goes out and buys presents for everyone, including those who sent the phony telegram.   Eventually, the truth comes out and he has to live with the consequences of his generosity, some good, some bad.

This photo is dated, "Jun 72."

P.S., is that Dick Van Patten sneaking in on the left?