Friday, July 6, 2018

SEPIA SATURDAY ~ My Grandparents, Marie & Harry Gould enjoying their Lake Huron cottage home in Michigan–early 1950’s

WHAT IS SEPIA SATURDAY?

“Launched by Alan Burnett and Kat Mortensen in 2009, Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs.  Historical photographs of any age or kind (they don’t have to be sepia) become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history, in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images.”

This weeks theme for Sepia Saturday is Rooms, Tables, Chairs and Wood. 

My paternal grandparents, Harry Gould and Marie Lindsay Gould owned a cottage right on Lake Huron in Michigan.  I remember going there as a young girl.  My grandmother loved to swim.  Even in her later years when they lived in Florida, we would go to the beach and she would get right into the ocean to swim.  She always wore her bathing cap.

Here are two pictures that feature my grandparents relaxing in their cottage.  They would have been in their mid to late 60’s when these photos were taken.

GOULD_Marie_sitting at table at LkHuronHouse_PortHuronMI_enh

I wonder what my grandmother is thinking as she sits there?  She seems to be staring out the window and in deep thought.   Their cottage was small, as cottages tend to be.  This is looking from the sitting area/living room into the dining area and kitchen.  My grandma also loved to cook and she was very good at it.  I wish I had some of her recipes.  I do have recipes from my other grandmother (the thing is, she wasn’t a very good cook).  Isn’t that just how it goes?

Here is my grandpa sitting on the couch that would be in basically the same area that my grandma was sitting in, only on the other side of that room. In fact, he could have taken the picture of her from where he is sitting. He looks to be browsing a newspaper or magazine.  I see a book sitting on the end table atop what looks like a box.  The book looks very much like a Bible to me, but I can’t tell for sure.

GOULD_Harry W_sitting on couch_PortHuron house_PortHuron_StClair_Michigan_enh

I was just telling my friend and fellow blogger, Debby Warner Anderson, that looking at these pictures makes me very nostalgic.  I want to go back in time and hug my grandparents.

Here’s a map of the exact lot that the cottage was located on.  And following that a screenshot of a street view via Google maps of what it looks like now.  The red arrow is pointing to the water you can just barely see in the photo.  I don’t have an exact street address of the property.  However, I obtained a plat map at the courthouse during one of my trips to Michigan.

port Huron map where cottage was_annot 

Port Huron - lakeshore rd.

I mentioned earlier that my grandma loved to swim.  Here she is with my Dad (her only child) on the beach in Pompano Beach, Florida.  My Dad worked as a lifeguard at the time.  This would have been 1960-1965.  Since there is a wooden beach chair in the background of this photo, it fits in with today’s theme quite well.

GOULD_Norman & Marie_on beach 1960-65 in PompanoBchFL_ehnhanced

That’s all for Sepia Saturday this week.  It’s been a sweet walk down memory lane for me.  I hope your family photos can bring back fond memories for you too.

TO READ OTHER SEPIA SATURDAY POSTS PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK..Sepia Saturday.  Enjoy!

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

15 comments:

  1. Oh that wooden furniture! My parents bought similar furniture in the 1960s (sofa and swivel rocker) and I used to crack my head on the arms of the sofa all the time. Over the years that sofa got many new slipcovers, and it was still in use when my parents passed. When my sister and I were dividing up the THINGS, she offered me the sofa. HECK NO! I had no good memories of that furniture. HA! Your grandparents' cottage is so charming. Wouldn't you love to get a peek inside today?

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    1. Thanks Wendy. That's funny about the sofa. As to a peek inside. I'm not so sure. I suspect after all these years it's been completely renovated and wouldn't resemble the photos I have or the memories. I would like to drive by the location though :)

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  2. Makes me think about my uncle Louis' cottage in Idlewild, Michigan. He had some of those same wooden chairs. Ah, the good ol' days.

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    1. The good ole days for sure Kristin. Only we didn't know it then. I try not to think too hard on those days and remember that in 10 years, I'll look back fondly on today. But, seriously, who am I kidding? I think about those days all the time.

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  3. Good for you, sharing a wonderful memory of your grandparents, and the interior of their cottage! I loved how the lamps were included too (since that was the theme I picked up for my post this week!) And finding the cottage on Google Earth just capped it all off!

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    1. I'm so happy that my family enjoyed taking photos. I know there must have been more boxes of them, but I'll be happy to have the ones I have. They sure make me smile.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. Old photos are indeed like time machines that takes us back to the past, but alas we can't give those hugs. I imagine anyone who grew up with the cool freshwater of the Great Lakes really enjoyed the soft sand and buoyant saltwater of a Florida beach.

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    1. Since I'm 3rd generation Michigan born, our hearts and souls are linked to the lakes. I have a photo of me up at that cottage when I was still crawling. We moved to Florida when I was young and then as a teenager out here to southern CA where I still live.
      Thanks for your comment :)

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  5. Such wonderful period photos! I also grew up in camp culture and remember visiting my uncles' lakeside camps (my dad's brothers) in the Adirondacks -- which looked very much like these. The cool, piney smell and refreshing shade came back to me as I perused your post. Thanks for the nostalgia boost!

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    1. Molly - thanks so much for your comment. These photos are precious to all of us. And the fact that they are black & white or sepia makes them even more precious.

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  6. They really are wonderful pictures. As for the expression in the first photo, it is refreshing to see pictures of people which don't have that modern "Facebook Selfie" element to them. It was also fascinating for me to see the actual location of the cottage and the photo putting it into a geographical context.

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    1. Thanks Alan - And thank you for having the Sepia Saturday site where we can share all these memories.

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  7. Great job Diane! Yes, they do remind us of those wonderful times growing up. OK, now you have inspired me to post one, hopefully, next Saturday.

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  8. We stayed in log cabins in the wintertime with wooden-armed furniture with striped cushions like those in your pictures of your grandparents' lake cottage. How lucky they had such a place. The pic of your grandmother on the beach with your Dad where she has the straps to her bathing suit down - so she doesn't get strap marks on her tan I'm assuming, reminds me of my grandmother doing the same thing in a picture I have on a beach at Lake Tahoe in 1960. :)

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    1. It was certainly an era to remember. Makes me smile just thinking about it. Glad you are able to recall the same kind of fond memories.
      Thanks for your comment.

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I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.