Category: design

The Sunday porch: cozy

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The Sunday porch:enclos*ure- cozy porch interior, ca. 1900, via Library of CongressEnclosed porch, location unknown, ca. 1900 – ca. 1920s, by Bain News Service, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Nice. . . chintz, wicker, books, and potted geraniums — and I love that swing.  There are striped awnings outside over the windows.

. . . You’re bunkered in your
Aerie, I’m perched in mine. . .
We’re content, but fall short of the Divine.
Still, it’s embarrassing, this happiness—
Who’s satisfied simply with what’s good for us
When has the ordinary ever been news?

— Rita Dove, from “Cozy Apologia“

The Sunday porch: luncheon

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The Sunday porch:enclos*ure- cozy porch interior, ca. 1900, via Library of Congress“Man and woman eating at table on front porch of row house,” Washington, D.C., 1924, by National Photo Company, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

I’m sure that this photo was taken to illustrate an advertisement for the maker of that tub of cottage cheese on the table.  (I can’t make out the name of the dairy company.)

You can click on the picture to enlarge it — then you can see that the couple are drinking their milk from wine glasses.

The location could have been in any one of several northwest D.C. neighborhoods — so popular in the city was the Wardman-style of rowhouse by the 1920s.

ADDENDUM:  I found another photo of the same couple, here, having a picnic lunch in Rock Creek Park — again with plenty of cottage cheese.

Vintage landscape: Ambleside

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“Ambleside, stepping stones, Lake District, England,” ca. 1890 – ca. 1900, a photochrom print by Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Addendum: Below, two more views of the same type of stream crossing. . .

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“Abbey stepping stones, . . . Bolton Abbey, England,” ca. 1890 – ca. 1900, photochrom prints by Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The three images are from the Library’s photochrom collection “Views of the British Isles.”

The Sunday porch: grandstand

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India House, 1880s, Nantucket Historical Association“India House. A yard filled with diversions, ca. 1880s,” Nantucket, Massachusetts, via Nantucket Historical Association Commons on flickr.

India House, detail, 1880s, Nantucket Historical Association
Detail. These two families were very well equipped to enjoy their summer vacation.

You can click on either photo to enlarge it. I particularly like the striped skirts on the two older girls.

Life in gardens: tea stop

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Tea and bicycle, ca. 1900, Univ. of Washington Libraries“Two women with bicycle,” Hoquiam, Washington, photographer unknown, via University of Washington Libraries Commons on flickr.

Modern and stylish, ca. 1900.   That’s an interesting device for keeping the kettle warm.

Young women of that time must have been pretty desperate to get out on their own — to bicycle in corsets, puffy high-necked blouses, and large hats.

Beautiful, thick vines on the porch behind them. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

. . .Tell, tell your griefs ; attentive will I stay,
Tho’ time is precious, and I want some tea.

— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, from “Thursday; the Bassette- Table“