Well, I happen to LOVE old photos of kids on ponies. You know, the pony that used to be led around suburban neighborhoods back in the 30's and 40's by a bronze-skinned man in a red-and-white-checked shirt and a droopy moustache? Or the ones that walk around in a circle at the county fair (still see 'em today!) or led by a handler?
In my Mom's collection of family photos she has a shot of her older sister, my aunt Joanie, sitting astride a black-and-white pony in the front yard of their home in Los Angeles. I love that photo! I looked and looked but apparently I don't have a copy of it - I'll have to get one next time I'm at my mom's. Anyway, I think because I love that picture so much is why I asked Jen to see if she'd ended up with any "kids on pony" pics.
Sure enough, within a few days I received a note from Jen and included were THREE b&w photos! Thank you, Jen!!
I scanned them and here they are:
This one seems to have been taken at a fair. Check out the bits of roller coaster track in the background. Don't you just love the man's hat and pipe?? I don't know what the year was when this picture was taken, but I had a pixie haircut just like this little girl's around 1965, ha ha! Oh, and if you look real close at the left side of the photo, there's a white building where you can just read most of the phrase, "Pony Photos!"
I think this lady looks like Eleanor Roosevelt. She's holding the bridles of two shetland ponies, each with a pretty little girl on its back. Check out the lady's hat, striped dress, and strappy shoes. On the back of this picture is written, in what is probably the woman's very own handwriting, "May 1932 Beverly Hills." I'm guessing this may be is a well-heeled society lady and her two well-brought-up daughters, and those ponies are owned, not rented!
This horse is probably not really a pony, he looks a little big, but this still looks like a posed shot. For one thing, the young lady is certainly not dressed in riding clothes. Still, she appears to be happy to be astride a horse, maybe feeling pretty grown-up. She's probably around 11 or 12 which is the prime age when so many girls are crazy about horses (I was). I love the brands on the horse, there's one looks like a capital "N" just in front of the girl's leg, and the other is on the horse's rump and looks like "DB." Would love to know the name(s) of the ranch, or ranches(?), those letters represent!It has been so much fun to examine these pictures, and wonder about the lives of the people in them, and the times when they lived, different from now, but still the same in many ways.
Anybody else share my love of vintage b&w pony pics?? Got any? I'd love to see 'em. Share!
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2 comments:
Hi Debbie, Very interesting. I wanted to let you know that I also have a picture of me on a pony, taken the same time as Joan. Did you notice in Joan's picture Gram is hiding behind the pony holding her on? Will try to find my famous foto! Love, Mom
I don't have any B&W photos, but the ones you showed are stunning. I think your outlook as to looking into the past and wondering about what went on in the pictures is cool. Ahhhh, the good 'ol days. I have many pictures of my grandparents in B&W and they are so neat to look at. :)
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