My grandfather, born in 1907, was apparently quite the player in his day. My dad found these photos after the death of his parents in 1986. Looking at some of these women made me realize that my father and I might never have been born if my grandfather had chosen to marry someone besides my grandmother.
So strange to think about, isn't it?
I was able to translate the first two photos, but the others I'm not too sure. My grandfather spoke Canadian (Quebec?) French, which may be why I can't get proper answers from Google Translator. In fact, the writings may actually be a combination of Canadian/Acadian/Parisian French. If anyone knows what is written on the "Marie" and "City Park" photos, I'd be very appreciative! Merci beaucoup!
 |
| Thankfully, in English :) More of Ray's bevy of beauties. Some of them look like saucy little tarts. :)  She has quite an air about her, doesn't she?  It's like she's saying, "Wanna see what's under my skirt, you randy boy?"   Girl and her shadow  I think this is the same girl as above without the hat and gloves   Girl in bathing suit. Back when it was okay to have some curves. :)  Even more curves! Trixie on the Model T (I just made that up)  Cigarette girl on ladder  My grandmother is on the left, hugging my grandfather; not sure why the other girl is also hugging him just as tight. :/ I know who won that battle! :)  The poor girl on the left looks like she's about to get smacked by the flag. Being a third wheel never works out. :/ |
oh my goodness! he was a player! and he kept all of those photos and missives even after marrying your grandmother! :)
ReplyDeleteYour comments are hilarious. He seemed quite a character!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, Gail. Grandpa was a randy fellow, full of life. I love it! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure - and what a PLAYER for sure! I love that he wrote on them and saved them. Your grandmother is the most beautiful - he had a good eye, that's for sure! Thank you so much for sharing these!
ReplyDeleteI do believe your grandmother was the true beauty of the lot, though! So funny to have all those photos of all those girls!
ReplyDeleteLadies man he seems to have been.
ReplyDeleteWe have changed our style in the years since.
Always fun to look at old photos.
Gail, these are wonderful, and how lucky you are to have them!
ReplyDeleteMe thinks Grandpa was quite the busy guy!!! :-)
What a treasure you have in these photos! Granddad was pretty popular with the ladies!
ReplyDeleteHi Gail...
ReplyDeleteSeems that grandpa was the player! I do love how you matched the pictures with cute little sayings..perfect....how cute and I know you were tickled to find these old photos..
Shug
Your granddad sure was a lady's man. Quite handsome! How wonderful to have all those photos so many years later!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh.. Those are wonderful.. How fun to look through them. What a player he seemed to be. But it looks like he was loving life.. Thanks so much for sharing these I was smiling the whole time I was looking at these..
ReplyDeleteHugs, Linda
What an amazing collection of images, Gail. I love that you shared them here – fascinating. Somehow we never think of our grandparents as being very um, lively? But reading some letters over the past few years actually made me blush!
ReplyDelete– g
Quite the player indeed. Your grandfather sounds like such a charmer. What a treasure to have these...and such a joy that you shared them. Betty Boop is my favorite...she is clearly up to no good! ;)
ReplyDeleteMy goodness gracious... quite the player & in those days, *gasp* =0
ReplyDeletesorry they wasn't all of your g'ma, but i love the old pics =)
It is just so cool that you have these photos of your father and his girl friends. I love the framing around two of them, very deco.
ReplyDeleteI thought the French word "encore" means "again" not "stiff". Ha!
What a guy! I loved looking at all of these photos of your dashing Grandfather and all of his lovely ladies. He was a player giggle
ReplyDeleteHugs
Wow, your grandfather certainly seems to have had a way with the ladies before he settled down, interesting that he kept all these wonderful photos. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, so much fun!! My father was in the Air Force before (and after) he met and married my mom. He had many photos of lovelies from Japan when he was single--a bit too riske' for my mom. She tore them all up. Ha ha. Now she wishes she hadn't.
ReplyDeleteWhat GREAT photos (btw....I think the Girl in the Sand is Betty Boop! Looks like the same shoes/sweater!)
ReplyDeleteYour grandfather appears to have been quite the ladies man in his day! But! Your grandmother must have been SOMETHING herself to finally nail him down!!
OMG, Gail what a riot! i'm surprised your grandma didn't find them and throw them out! I love old pictures! Loooove this!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun it was to look at your randy Grandfather and his harem! (What a man!...saw that on one of the pics!)
ReplyDeleteLoved all these old shots. Your grandfather certainly had an eye for women...
ReplyDeleteI love these old pictures, I think people were so much beautiful back then than now or I just like everything old:)
ReplyDeleteOh my i loved the pictures and loved the comments! I thought with player your meant like a football player or something! ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd the butter for the Arretjes Cake is the salted kind... i sure hope you like it!
Leontien
These are just too adorable...looks like he was quite the ladies man... but of course the best one won out. Your Grandmother was a beauty!
ReplyDeleteThe first one is quite easy to figure out, even if there are quite a lot of grammatical and spelling errors. Correctly spelled, it would go like this: "si ce portrait pouvait parler, il te dirait" - "If this picture could talk, it would say" Love, Marie.
ReplyDelete"Portrait" is still used by old people in Quebec instead of the now usual "photo"
The second one is harder - I'm a French-speaker, and I couldn't decipher it. This is as close as I can get: "A position that (jauli? joli? Julie?) would have like to find herself in, but that we could not all accomplish"
Hope this helps!
A reader who stumbled upon your site while searching for something else.
this kind of cracks me up...."grandpa was a playah"
ReplyDeletebut hey, at least you've got some great photos to share :)
OMG. that is hilarious! he was a total playa!!!
ReplyDeleteUm, this photos are awesomesauce. weird cus i was just looking through my grandpa's old war photos two days ago with my fam..... amazing.
and yea, looking at long lost relatives.. it's like, wow, i wouldn't be here if not for them.
What a find! Amazing to see all those beauties in those terrific old photographs.
ReplyDeleteLove the curves one. Your captions are great, Gail.
What a fascinating find. Looks like your granddad indeed had a good time. The fashion is most fun also.
ReplyDeleteGracious, but your grandfather had a grand time - as did, it seems, the ladies. My father used to say nothing had changed - more and more I understand why he said that.
ReplyDeleteYour grandmother was a beauty!
It's interesting that not only did he have lots of girlfriends, but also that he even had all of those photos of them. People didn't take that many back then, much less have them survive for generations. I've seen some of your other posts with old family photos. What a blessing to have a so many visual records of your family, especially for someone who loves photography so much!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures from past and your grand father's story...
ReplyDeleteRegards from France,
Pierre
http://pierre-boyer.blogspot.com