Category: The Sunday porch

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.

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.

The Sunday porch: ecchoing green

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Green, Oregon State University Archives
“J.D. Irvine Residence, Brownsville[, Oregon],” ca. 1918, via Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Commons on flickr.

What is green? the grass is green,
With small flowers between.

— Christina Rossetti, from “Color“

The Sunday porch: Savannah, Ga.

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Price Street, F.B. Johnston, via Library of Congress“Price Street corner York Lane,” Savannah, Georgia, 1939 or 1944, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The Library of Congress catalogue entry for the image above includes the note: “Once in the ‘Restricted District,’ hence the lattice work” — meaning the house had been a bordello. (That would also explain the panel of shutters across the front.)

Looking at Google Maps street view, a very similar house (built 1828) at one of the four possible corner sites still stands in good condition. Across York Lane from it is a two-story building that was probably there at the time of the photo. There are new condos on the other side of Price Street.