{A pair of teenagers, both sporting bobby socks, walk towards each other on a business lined street in 1947. What I especially love about this shot - aside from the gals' fashions - is the children playing on a seesaw that just happens to be on the sidewalk, and the juxtaposition between childhood and teen years that it lends this wonderful image.}
{A couple steals a passionate kiss as another woman looks on from a nearby window in this endearing, undated image that I'd peg to be from the late twenties or early thirties.}
{Calling to mind famed boxers of the decade, such as Joe Louis, this snap from 1933 depicts three young men at summer camp practising their boxing skills.}
{Bursting with an abundance of cuteness, this heartwarming vintage photo shows four young siblings sharing a living room chair together, and reminds me fondly of similar shots that my mom snapped of me and my siblings when were around the same ages.}
{Summer may be coming to end soon, but that's no reason we can't continue to draw seasonal fashion - and hairstyling - inspiration from timelessly pretty pictures such as this one of three 1940s members of the same family posing on a farm in Grenville, Quebec.}
{A 1950s couple - the woman of which looks a teeny bit like Queen Elizabeth here, I think - exploring ancient runes while on holiday in Europe. I like how she's wearing a straw sun bonnet and a scarf on her head at the same time, I suspect that really does help keep your head well protected from the sun.}
{Hopping seasons (and decades), here we see a cheerful woman bundled up against the elements in her winter finery in a great capture from the 1930s.}
{I always find myself drawn to vintage street scene photographs, especially if they include throngs of pedestrians (whose styles I can fawn over) and a sense of the hustle and bustle of daily life, such as this photo taken on the busy streets of Syracuse, New York in 1957.}
{Looking glamorous and gorgeous enough to be a movie still, this studio photograph from the 30s shows a newly married Chicago couple, along with their best man and maid of honour, on their wedding day.}
{Smiles and terrific early 1940s warm weather fashions abound in this absolutely lovely image of two teenage gals from Kentucky.}
{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image,
please click on it to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}
Ronald Reagan isn't someone I quote all that often, but when I read this line from him for the first time recently, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. I have no idea if he really had his grades classified or not, but I can relate to the sentiment that there are certain elements from your school days that you wish you could keep sealed under lock and key for the rest of time.
Save perhaps for high school math, I don't have any grades I'm looking to hide from the general public, but there are other elements of my school days (like the memories of being mercilessly bullied) that I wish I could tuck away in a vault and forget about.
It's easy to look back on one's school days as a halcyon time of Leave It To Beaver-like idyllic pep rallies, sporting events, well behaved peers, and firm, yet ultimately always kind, teachers. Reality is usually a far cry different from such a picture, but just how far varies for most of us.
Naturally enough, it's impossible for September to roll around once more without me thinking back to my school days. Though it's been a fair while since I last sat in a classroom, and I don't (yet) have children who are headed off to the hallowed halls of education, September will always, now and forever, be inherently tied to thoughts of school for me.
Some of these memories are as saccharine and wonderful as can be, others still send a cold shiver up my spine, and many fall in between - this blend symbolizing in so many regards, life itself as a whole. September however, with it's promise of a rosy new beginning and the prospect (however pollyanna it may have been in my case) that the year ahead would be worlds better than those that proceeded it, will always ensure that the positive recollections outweigh the negative, and I cannot help but love that fact.
I've never been the type to dwell (too much at least) on the bad, preferring to remember and celebrate the good in life, and September was chocked full of goodness. From the marvelous scent of freshly sharpened pencil crayons to new clothes (a rare occurrence), to picking a desk and hoping that you'd gotten a good teacher, this was a month that was as shiny, exciting and lovely as a new penny.
My thoughts on school come, say, February might take on a decidedly different tone, but right here and now, while I can relate to and laugh at Mr. Reagan's words, the only thing from my school days I'll be keeping top secret is just what was written on the notes my best friend and I used to swap back and forth at the speed of wildfire as soon as class was back in session.
