“M. Laing reading on porch at Bala, July 29, 1925,” via The Globe and Mail Collections (1266, item 5873), City of Toronto Archives.
‘Bala’ is probably Bala, Ontario, a summer cottage community north of Toronto.
Sleeping porch, Toronto, October 1913, via Department of Health Collection (Fonds 200, Series 372), City of Toronto Archives.
Judging from two other photos in the same collection, sleeping porches were being promoted as a way to cut the risk of contracting tuberculosis.
More well-furnished porches in Queensland, Australia. . .
“Verandah at The Hollow, near Mackay, Queensland, about 1875,” photographer unidentified (all photos here), via State Library of Queensland Commons on flickr (all photos here).
I love the office setup on this very deep porch with an adjoining fernery or bush-house. There is also a sewing machine on the table between the two women.
These photos are not very clear, but you can click any thumbnail in the gallery below to scroll through larger versions. There are four additional pictures there too.
“Unidentified family on the verandah of a Cairns residence, ca. 1895.”
What a beautiful plant collection.
“Furniture on the verandah of a Queenslander home, ca. 1925,” photographer unidentified.
The white chairs on the left with the extended armrests are “squatter’s chairs,” typical to Queensland porches. There are two more examples here.
Additional links:
Gracemere Homestead 1940 photo, Rockhampton, Gracemere Homestead in 2001, GracemereHomestead history
“Group of women having a tea party in Queensland, Australia,” ca. 1887, photographer unknown, via State Library of Queensland.
Beautiful Platycerium or staghorn ferns on the wall and columns. These could be Platycerium superbum, which are native to Australia. The one on the left seems to be supporting another plant — maybe a coleus.
How quiet it is, how silent,
like an afternoon in Pompeii.— Louise Glück, from “A Summer Garden“