Found Photos Friday: Some 127 4X4 Photos

This roll of 127 film came with the 620 film we looked at back on 11 July. However, insofar as I know they are unrelated. I believe the guy who sold them to me buys up old cameras at estate sales and then sells the film in lots to people like me who are interested in what strangers from 40 years ago found interesting. This roll, the selected pictures of which aren't in order, shows a recognizable Western World scene -- Christmas. 
In fact, it shows two distinct families -- possibly parents for each side.

Much like my own childhood Christmases half at my mom's parents and half at my dad's, the families are meaningfully different. All of my grandparents did well in life, but exhibited that differently. My dad's parents had a lot of nice souvenirs from their trips. In fact, two of my end tables and a coffee table are from their trips. To put that in perspective, the coffee table is a rosewood table with a hand-carved top underneath and enormous piece of glass and three drawers with matching inlay. One of the end tables in a three-foot-diameter brass disc. The other end table is  a three-by-three monster with a one-inch-thick slate top. So these aren't luggage-type souvenirs.

Conversely, my mom's parents did less travelling and bought humbler reminders. If you're getting an image of different worlds, yes, that would be accurate. Where my mom's parents Christmas gifts to me (as a kid -- less than ten years old) would be a couple Transformers or G.I. Joes, my dad's parents would send some bigger gifts and a $100 check.

I found the photos of these two families interesting because the homes, based on their furniture, number and type of wall hangings, and dishes, indicate different economic backgrounds (though not drastically different -- maybe lower-middle and upper-middle class.) I labeled the photos based on if they were taken at the first or second house.


Christmas 2
I suspect this was a working-class family's home. Check out the dishes -- all different. The glasses -- plain and simple. The kitchen wall -- coffee mugs hang, a useful items hangs instead of a decorative one. The cupboard back facing the camera -- cards from friends and family, prominently displayed, showing how important the family's social network is.


Christmas 1
This family strikes me clearly more affluent. Check out the fondue maker in the foreground; the glass next to it with a cut-in design; keys, garish clock, and paintings on the wall; and the netsukes on the TV and bookshelf.


Christmas 1
Look at all the gifts! That's a pretty fantastic Christmas. I'm betting that radio the girl has was a pretty sweet item back in the day. It's interesting to see the way the family displays netsukes, again, but more importantly family photos. Three photos on the right side and five stockings -- that looks like a nuclear family with three kids.


Christmas 2
This shoes very well a much more Spartan living room. I remember those old console TVs. Those were amazing, back in the day. My grandparents had one the size of a pickup truck bed. The TV screen was like 13 or 15 inches. Back in the day, that was pretty fabulous.


Christmas 1
I want that shirt. No, seriously, if I had a shirt like that, I would wear it. Unless it was polyester because I sit under a heat exchange at work and the polyester would shrink wrap to me.