Saturday, May 23, 2009

My Dad - A Pioneer

Inspired by my fellow blogger Raquelle at Out Of The Past, I thought it might be a good idea to share some cool images I have of my dad. This post has nothing to do with either talkies or even films at all.


These images were taken in the summer of 1962. My dad was almost 20 years old and had just done his military service up in the north of Sweden. In the fall of '62 he was going to vocational school in Uppsala to become a confectioner. He was in the middle of what must have been his last real summer holiday.

The reason why the photos were taken is quite special. My dad was considered quite odd and daring going down town in shorts and sneakers. This was something out of the ordinary at the time, something you didn't do. Look at the other people, the women have neat little dresses and matching gloves, the appropriate attire for men was naturally a suit. Looking at these images today my dad seem very modern as his outfit fits modern times better than it did in 1962. Being a sporty character I suppose he just felt more cofortable dressed like this. In retrospect one could say he was ahead of his time.

The first picture above was taken on Kungsgatan, just outside the Stockholm Concert house, where the Nobel Price ceremony is held annually. The second image below was taken further down the road at Stureplan. I guess my dad is looking at some news paper placard, to his right we see the sign of Sturehof a well known fish restaurant still there totay.

7 comments:

Lolita of the Classics said...

Haha, lovely! "And no garters!"
I want that blue dress with white dots, and the matching gloves. Give it to me?

Raquel Stecher said...

Superb pictures Jonas. I'm so glad you did this post too. Your father was surely a fashion maverick. I like how he bucked trends and did his own thing.

~Raquelle~ <-- wants that blue polka dotted dress with the white gloves.

KING OF JAZZ said...

When I saw this photo, I figured your dad would have blended right in among some surf shops in Malibu, California the same year. I had no idea Sweden was that conservative at the time.

klaranovak said...

This post was very interesting! And I adore that blue dress with the white dots. :)

Keith said...

These are cool to see. Hope your week has started off well. Cheers!

Content Writing Company said...

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Jack R said...

Hi,
I love your blog and love Sweden too. I've spent a lot of time in Stockholm and recognize the locations in the photos. I've even blogged from Stockholm on my own site about the 1920s-30s movie magazine illustator, Enoch Bolles.
Here's my entry from Stockholm:

http://enochbolles.blogspot.com/2009/04/its-bolles-bolles-bolles-world.html

Best,
Jack

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