Sartorial Elegance #2

Following on from last week’s vintage photo of my sister and me, here’s another one of us with our Dad, sporting a particular sharp outfit? I’m wearing my shorts at a more comfortable height than in last week’s shot!

I’m guessing it was taken on a family holiday somewhere on the North Kent coast, either Westgate, Margate or Broadstairs which were relatively accessible by train from our home in South London. My Dad had been a chauffeur before the war and drove trucks during it but never drove again afterwards, a car being beyond our means.

I’m assuming my Mum was the photographer; if it had been taken by one of the professional photographers who used to ply their trade on seafronts, taking holiday snaps and developing them before you left for home, (they sometimes used monkeys or parrots as ‘extras’ to attract customers as I remember) I guess she would have been in it.

We’d stay in B&Bs or holiday flats for a week on the beach, enjoying the typical 1950s holiday entertainments: Punch and Judy, the end of the pier shows, brass bands in the bandstand and mini golf (of course!)

As you’ll gather, today has not offered much in the way of other photo opportunities. After we dropped Sophie at school, Tess had a lunch date with friends, I baked some bread and we had an afternoon stroll while the car was successfully negotiating its MOT.