Running late this week. Yesterday I had a fun day at an Italian cooking class, then a birthday party for a three year old. Two very different activities, but both great fun. So on to Sepia Saturday for this week.
The theme this week is 'strange contraptions' as can be seen by this three wheeled car used in Ireland last century.
I like to use photos from my collection, so was very pleased when I found this photo in one of the family albums. There was no name on the photo, but I think it must have been of a family friend. The woman standing next to the invalid in the wheelchair looks like she may have been a nurse or companion.
II'm guessing that the rather beautiful woman in the wheelchair was a widow, judging by her clothes and bonnet.
With time up my sleeve I went online and found a couple of other 'ladies' in their 'chariots'.
Liz Needle - Please visit "Sepia Saturday" for more fascinating 'contraptions'.
Lovely contraptions. That one shot must have been of well to do women in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteThe first shot is from my own family album. Someone in Adelaide, South Australia.
DeleteI didn't realize they had "wheelchairs" back then. Enjoyed the other photos of the little ones in their mode of transportation.
ReplyDeleteI've bid on a couple of cabinet cards of those three-wheeled wheelchairs on eBay in the past, but they always go for far more than I've been prepared to spend. A rather nice photo tyo find in your own collection. I think she was an invalid.
ReplyDeleteShe certainly doesn't look aged - just a pale, interesting invalid.
DeleteWheelchairs have definitely moved on these day. Enjoyed the children photos, especially the one with the dog.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love the photo of the horse and cart on wheels although I doubt whether it would survive for long being pushed up and down cobbled streets
ReplyDeleteVery young to be an invalid and it wouldn't have been temporary, but she's obviously loved as they've gone to the trouble and expense of a studio photo. Was there a photographer's name and location on the back? It's interesting that the wheelchair has a hood.
ReplyDeleteYes, on the back is the photographers information C>W> Haehnel & Co, Australian Photographic Company. Portraits taken in any weather. The last bit made me smile.
DeleteI think it was an Adelaide company - many of the early photographers here were German. The studio (or private home)doesn't look all that flash - hole in the carpet.
She looks fairly well to do though. I think the hood was for when she was wheeled outside - similar to the hood on a baby's pram.
What on earth is that thing in the buggy with the baby and the fake dog? It looks like someone threw a wig in the buggy. Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteA fluffy muff? Or perhaps another toy dog?
DeleteI love the beautiful Irish lace on the baby's shawl.
ReplyDeleteThe 3-wheel wheelchair is fascinating. Obviously it was for outdoor use since it has a top, but was it pulled by another person? Was it pedaled by the person riding in it?
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely photograph. I think they were called Bath Chairs named after the English city of Bath, which of course was a spa, and were used for wheeling those who had difficulty walking, to treatment rooms originally.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful collection of photos.
ReplyDeleteImagine how hard it would have been negotiating that wheelchair with the large metals wheels.