Revisiting my past travels through my digital library has been a small respite from my current daily grind which now includes cleaning, purging, organizing, packing, moving, and dispersing my mother’s effects. Four thousand square feet and eighty years of memories need to be carefully and thoughtfully dealt with. And at times it has been overwhelming. So here’s my latest jaunt down memory lane.
To all of us grandkids, she was called Bookie. Since my mother’s death, my brother and I have been culling through all sorts of things. Lots and lots and lots of stuff. And more stuff. One of my jobs is to sort through bushels of loose photos and numerous photo albums. Eventually most of this will have to be scanned by me, but for right now, I’m in need of some fun. Hence the glamour shots are the first to be digitized.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Bookie followed in the footsteps of her mother and became a model in her late teens. The only difference in their modeling careers was the medium. Bookie had been one of the first photographic models of the twentieth century, while her mother had posed for fashion illustrations in the early 1900s.
I am only posting a sampling of the photos. By following the link below, you will see all types of fashions. From furs, embroidered gowns, hats, beaded evening attire to funky casual and swim wear.
Building a snowman. For obvious reasons. Just in case you forgot, my mom named me after this creature. I’m referring to the overdressed doll. Not the snowman.
Join Rhonda Camp Warren for her first ever Open Studio Event. If you’re still looking for some creative gifts, this is the place to find them. The Color Box Design & Letterpress studio is located at 9021 Angora Street, Dallas, Texas 75218. Just look for a little white house with a turquoise front door. The dates are Friday and Saturday (December 17 & 18) and Monday and Tuesday (December 20 & 21), and the hours are 11 am to 6 pm.
Quirky Christmas decorations. I’ve always loved the quirky seasonal decorations that can easily be overlooked while driving down any street in the Park Cities. Each year in late autumn I replace the three Fabian Aralia trees on the ledge of my front porch wall with three dwarf Alberta Spruce trees which I then decorate for Christmas. My unprofessional decor takes no more than thirty minutes to complete and doesn’t cost me a dime. I love it, and it makes me smile. The next time you’re in my hood, drive by slowly–like ten miles an hour. Only then will my Christmas greeting catch your eye. Don’t blink! Otherwise you’ll miss it.
Joy Brown Bell, 1930–2010. My mother passed away this last Saturday, November 27, after a two year illness. Even though my brother and I knew this was inevitable, there was no way to really be prepared. I feel overwhelmed, but fortunately all the preparations for the funeral mass have kept me busy. The above image is the cover design for the liturgy aid that will be handed out to those who attend the funeral. It is the last design project that I will be doing for my mother.
I have been back and forth from my mom’s house and have gathered a lot of her photo albums, which I will be scanning and posting in the near future. Unbelievably glamorous. There are albums from her modeling days before her marriage, albums of her wedding to my father, albums of my grandmother as a model in the 1920s, and an album of my great grandmother modeling in the early 1900s. But the most fun album is of my mother all glammed up in high fashion and costumes during her debutante days. All of which I would like to share with you.
Demakersvan’s Lace Fence. Someday in the future, my backyard will be regraded and landscaped into a sun garden. And at that time, I will have to decide on a fence type. I’ve ruled out the typical wood stockade, because it’s ugly, hostile, blocks breezes, and keeps my dogs from seeing out and my neighbors from seeing in. I would like to share my garden visually with those who walk or drive by. Decorative iron fencing is not an option, because of the expense and the lack of interesting design options. “Boring” is a good word for this type.
At The Reading Room. There will be a reading and book signing for Peace Meals with author/journalist Anna Badkhen on Sunday, November 28 at 4 pm, 3715 Parry Avenue in Dallas.
As a journalist, Badkhen has covered wars in Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Chechnya and Kashmir. Her trip to Afghanistan was made possible by a grant from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Peace Meals (Free Press, 2010) is a record of her experiences there, the people she met and the food she shared with them. Badkhen searches for the common denominator amongst peoples in war ravaged areas and focuses on the effects of war on civilians.
Badkhen grew up in Russia and did her first reporting for the St. Petersburg Times. From 2002 to 2004 she was the San Francisco Chronicle’s Moscow bureau chief. Her writing has appeared in The New Republic, Foreign Policy, Ms., Salon, The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle. Her e-book Waiting for the Taliban became available last month.
Mon Oncle is a 1958 film by French filmmaker Jacques Tati. The film centers on the awkward and lovable character, Monsieur Hulot, and his struggle with postwar France’s infatuation with modern architecture, mechanical efficiency, and American-style consumerism. Young Gérard, who lives with his materialistic parents in an ultra-modern house and garden (Villa Arpel) in a new suburb of Paris, relies on his adored uncle, M. Hulot, to provide random escapes from his sterile and monotonous life at home.
something intelligent. This is just a quick fix for the moment, because my graphic design jobs have me overwhelmed. The creature you see in the above photo is the “Patsy Ann” doll my mom named me after. If it hadn’t been for eBay, I would never have known what she looked like. She was the tallest in Effanbee’s “Patsy” group and was popular from 1928 through the 1950s. About ten years ago, I did a series of promotional pieces using her. From time to time I will be reusing some of the images for my posts. She is also used in my logo/mark/brand that is in a bad need of an update which I plan to do in the near future.