Old passport photos . . .

[Ivan Kipling]

Aren't they fun? This is my maternal grandfather. He emigrated to the United States, from the Greek isle of Kalymnos, in 1916. Certainly took some effort, to get himself ready for this photo! I love the hat. Check that moustache! Grandpa used a straight razor. I still have the strop he employed, to keep that blade super sharp.

My grandfather loved clothes. He wore suits, to watch the White Sox play baseball, in Chicago. 23 years old in this photo.

 

[Kent Wang]

Fun indeed.

I believe that you can now submit your own passport photos, so you can even have a little fun in Photoshop, remove blemishes, whiten teeth, maybe add a little bling bling and lens flare.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

Is that, so? What about a hat?? I don't think you can wear a hat for a p.p photo, these days?

 

[Bradford]

Interesting fact that I didn't realize until recently...

You used to be able to get one passport for an entire family. I was looking at my parent's old passport and it had a picture of both of them with both their names. That was what they used to travel Europe in '65 after they got married.

 

[dusty]

Now that is how men are supposed to smile for pictures.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

I wasn't aware of that, Bradford . . . All I've seen, are individual passports. Interesting.

dusty . . . my grandfather had a lot on his mind, when he took that photo! I'm surprised he managed even that sanguine, an expression. btw: my grandmother, NEVER smiled. Strong, strong Moslem influence, in the Greek isles. Kalymnos was situated very close, to Turkey. My grandmother wore a headscarf, Moslem style . . . never wore makeup, behaved in a most subservient manner toward men, and more or less directed my mother, to do the same. She did not like it when my sister and I smiled, either. Especially, if we showed our teeth. That was considered to be very bad form. Meanwhile, grandmother's sister-in-law, who lived in Athens, smoked with a cigarette holder, dyed her hair brassy maroon, wore Charles Jourdan shoes, and had her clothes made in Paris. Quite, a culture gap.

 

[Rolo]

Originally Posted by Bradford

Interesting fact that I didn't realize until recently...

You used to be able to get one passport for an entire family. I was looking at my parent's old passport and it had a picture of both of them with both their names. That was what they used to travel Europe in '65 after they got married.

One of my favorite family pictures is a passport photo with my Great-Grandparents and my maternal grandmother. It looks like it was taken at a portrait studio.

On the other hand, one of my least favorite photos is of another great grandfather taken in the 20's. His moustache makes him look like a certain Austrian paperhanger.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

However they turn out, I think vintage passport photos, are fun.

 

[LabelKing]

Ivan, there's an obscure branch of collectors who are only interested in vintage passports, whether for aesthetics, photographs or bureaucratic archaism.

You also used to see this culture gap between traditional Moselm habits and the Western style in Lebanon and to an extent Syria.

 

[edmorel]

There is also an obscure branch of people who like to overuse commas in their sentences to create pauses when there really should not be any.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

Label King, I've been told that these old passports are of value, but I've not investigated further. The gap between my grandparents' lifestyle, and that of their relatives who lived in Athens, was enormous. And my mother, who was born and educated in the United States, often adhered to these Moslem beliefs.

 

[grimslade]

Originally Posted by edmorel

There is also an obscure branch of people who like to overuse commas in their sentences to create pauses when there really should not be any.


It's, disconcerting isn't it?

 

[Ivan Kipling]

Label King, do you know if hats are still allowed to be worn, for passport photos? I don't think so.

 

[grimslade]

Originally Posted by Ivan Kipling

Label King, do you know if hats are still allowed to be worn, for passport photos? I don't think so.


They are, definitely not.

http://www.travel.state.gov/passport...first_830.html


Click here and scroll down.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

Thank, you.