Time for a Cuppa

A cup of tea with people of the past!

From various sources.

Walter Sanders, LIFE © Time Inc.

Actors Burgess Meredith and Paulette Goddard take a break from skiing for tea, St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1946. Source

Hans Wild, LIFE © Time Inc.

Lady Astor serving tea to family members at the Waldorf Astor estate, UK, 1943. Source

© IWM (D 2161)

A volunteer serves tea to a man who has been bombed out of his home, 1941. Source

A Return to the Battlefield

A photo series from 1947 following an ex-GI and his new wife re-visiting the battlefields of France where he fought in the war. I find it so striking that he felt compelled to do this, and especially that she felt compelled to do it with him. 

By Tony Linck for LIFE magazine. From the LIFE archives. 

The ex-GI, Ernest Kreiling, and his wife overlook a valley where he fought in WWII. Source

The woman puts a helmet on her husband in the foxhole where he first heard an enemy shell. Source

The man gives his wife a demonstration of how he washed his socks during the war. Source

Shadow and Light

A showcase of incredible photographs by Hungarian-born photographer Gjon Mili. Unless otherwise specified, taken in Mili's studio in NYC. 

From the LIFE archives. 

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Skaters of the Hollywood Ice Revue at Madison Square Gardens, NYC, 1948. Source

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

A model in raincoat, umbrella and galoshes, 1943. Source

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

A little girl watching soap bubbles, 1941. Source

Life in a London Hospital

A series of photographs capturing the experiences of workers and patients at a busy hospital in London, 1941.

From the Imperial War Museum.  

© IWM (D 2312)

Stretcher bearers carry a casualty into the hospital, while a 'tally man' (usually a student doctor) assigns a number. Source

© IWM (D 2322)

A view of the hospital reception ward, with a doctor in the foreground preparing to take a x-ray with a mobile machine. Source

© IWM (D 2317)

A doctor and nurse tend to a patient, while an almoner takes personal details. Source

At The Typewriter

The long ago days of the typewriter...

From various institutions (but mostly LIFE). 

Carl Mydans, LIFE © Time Inc.

TIME correspondent Melville Jacoby at a candelit typewriter reporting on WWII. Probably Australia, 1942. Source

Lisa Larsen, LIFE © Time Inc.

A secretary at her typewriter, NYC, 1954. Source

Michael Rougier, LIFE © Time Inc.

Playwright Paddy Chayefsky with his typewriter at a garment factory (for some reason not given), 1954. Source

Snapshots of 1937

Though colour photography was around since the 1900s and 10s, it wasn't until the late 1930s that it became available in a practical film format This collection from the National Archives of Norway represents some of the earliest amateur colour snapshots, taken by Norwegian Thomas Neumann in 1937. We all have heaps of these kinds of snapshots from the 60s and 70s.... here's the start of all that, in the 30s!

Mostly taken in Norway and a couple in Berlin.

National Archives of Norway

Source

National Archives of Norway

 Source

National Archives of Norway

Source

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! 

Photographs of celebrations across the years!

 From various institutions, but especially the Library of Congress. 

A little boy dressed for the 4th, Leesburg, Florida, 1913. Source

A 4th of July parade in NYC, 1911. Source

A 4th of July parade in DeLand, Florida, 1884. Source

Dominion Day!

Views of Canada for its 145th birthday!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

For more cross-country tours, see Oh, Canada and Oh, Canadian Cities (and here's some fireworks!). 

These photos mostly from the Musee McCord Museum, with a few from the collections of the IWM and LIFE. 

The beautiful Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta, 1946.  Source

Winston Churchill and his daughter at Niagara Falls., 1943. Source

Percé, Quebec, c. 1900. Source