Sepia Saturday 559 - NUMBERS 1

 Numbers at last!!  I love numbers and in my family history there seem to be so many interesting ones, so let's see what I can do with NUMBER 4.

My husband Don was one of 6 boys, but at one stage there were only 4 of them. This photo always amuses me. They were obviously told to stand up straight, fold their arms and smile at the camera. The two in the middle are twins - more about them next week.

And here we have the four younger ones.  The twins are the bigger ones this time. You'll have to wait until Number 6 to see the whole lot together.

The four older ones again all dressed up in their Sunday best and off to the zoo.

Here we have 4 generations of Don's family. Great Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother and his eldest brother Fred - the first grandchild.

Not to forget my side of the family. My three great Aunts Agnes, Ida and Laura again with the first grandchild. This was taken sometime in 1894. The baby, Ernst, was born in February of that year.

I have published this one before, but I love it. The four oldest children in my mother's family of 9 children. My mother is on the right. This must have been taken around 1910. The cottage was built for my great grandparents on their marriage in the 1860s and stayed in the family until 2000 when my mother sold it to move into a nursing home. I lived there in the fifties as a teenager.

Four Likely Lads looking for a bit of fun.  My husband (on right), his brother and two friends - taken, I think at someone's 21st around 1957

Me with three of my Teachers College mates, hamming it up for the camera. I think I must have fancied myself as a bit of a blonde bombshell judging by the pose.

Here am I with my three beautiful bridesmaids Lia, Kate and Chris.

A not very good shot of Don and I with our two daughters - when we were still four in the family.

Finally, because this must be getting a bit boring, Four generations of my family - great grandmother (my lovely mother Laura), myself, my youngest daughter, Mandy and out first grandchild, the adorable Niamh. My mother was 96 in this shot.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday 558

 Back on board again.  Sepia Saturday this week is all about the end of the alphabetic series

Next come numbers which will be a change and one I hope to be able to use some of my old family photos for. Meanwhile I think I will go for a topic on zoos and see what I can dredge up. We didn't have a camera when I was a small child, so my photos may be few and far between.

I remember frequent visits to the Adelaide Zoo with my parents and also to the Koala Farm which was situated close by. In those days the zoo was very old-fashioned with small barred cages  and unattractive areas for the animals. It is very different now. In fact I was unable to find any old photos of the zoo and its inhabitants on the internet. Strange!

This photo of me, taken when I was about 10 was taken at the old Koala Farm - a favourite place for birthday parties as there was a giant slippery dip, camel rides, koala cuddles, a snake pit, diving seals and a lot more.

This photo shows actor Noel Coward with a young koala.

This is the camel wagon taking visitors for a ride around the park

The Adelaide Zoo was a much larger area with a great number of different animal species. It's current claim to fame is a pair of pandas - the only ones in the southern hemisphere and a great drawcard. Back when I was small the favourite attraction was "Samorn", an asian elephant who for many years carried children on her back initially and then in her later years in a wagon that she pulled around the zoo. Nowadays it would be regarded as cruelty to animals, but 70 years ago Samorn was adored by thousands of kids and we never thought about it as cruel. 

Other favourites were George the Orangutan,  Percy the Chimpanzee and the beautiful Greater the Flamingo.

A rare family photo of the Needle clan getting ready to go into the zoo. This must have been taken in 1967 while we were waiting outside for a few more family members to arrive.
Quite amazing to see how the ladies dressed  up to go to the zoo in those days.

And finally, my three kids enjoying a rare trip to the zoo in 1971. We had just come down from Darwin where they were all born, so a trip to the zoo was very much an occasion then.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Sepia Saturday.