coffee – enclos*ure

Life in gardens: family and friends

June 21, 2016August 20, 2017 Cindy at enclos*ure3 Comments

“Människor som sitter i en trädgård” (people sitting in a garden), Lysekil, Sweden, ca. 1890, a cyanotype by Carl Curman, via Swedish National Heritage Board Commons on flickr.

Carl Curman was a physician, specializing in the science of health baths (balneology). He also became a prominent amateur photographer, leaving behind a collection of about 700 photos. He lived with his wife, Calla (possibly the first person on the left above), and their children in Stockholm and, during the summers, in the seaside town of Lyskil.

The group above may be in an outdoor cafe of the park in Lyskil, rather than in a private garden. The spot looks very much like the one in this photo by Curman.

The Sunday porch: conditori

May 29, 2016August 20, 2017 Cindy at enclos*ure2 Comments

“Outdoor Restaurant,” Copenhagen, ca. 1915, via Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives on flickr. The image is from a collection of lantern slides of the “Visual Instruction Department.”

The accompanying bit of the class lecture observed that “[European] eating places have less of the haste and nervous tension which characterize cafeterias and cafes in American cities. In Copenhagen it is common for tables to be set out under an awning on the broad sidewalk. Here folk can eat leisurely and watch the happenings in the neighborhood.”

In the lettering above the tables, “og Conditori” means “and cake/pastry shop.” There’s another cake shop with nice outdoor seating (in Sweden) here.

I used to mock my father and his chums
for getting up early on Sunday morning
and drinking coffee at a local spot
but now I’m one of those chumps.

— Edward Hirsch, from “Early Sunday Morning“