Seeing 45ACP's avatar, which he explained was a photo of his parents (circa 1946), I thought it'd be fun if we posted some pics from our families' past (about the 1940's) to add a little flavor and authenticity to the "Godfather" era.

Feel free to post a pic or two (and please give a little explanation).

I actually have my parent's wedding photos and a great one of them going to my aunt's wedding. In that one, my mother is wearing the absolutely coolest hat made of ostrich feathers. I'll have to look for them and get them in the scanner.

Boy, I would love to post some. I'm sure I have some that go way back. However, I don't have a scanner and don't know how to post them unless they are from a digital camera.

I think it'd be fun though to look at everyone's old family pictures though.

TIS

The year was 1956... the year after Don Vito died, Michael Francis Rizzi was born and baptized, and Michael Corleone killed the Heads of the 5 (?) Families, Carlo, Moe Green & Tessio. And the year actor Andy Garcia (ne Andrés Arturo García-Menéndez) was born in Havana...

...J Geoff's parents got married.



...and 50 years later, they celebrated their Golden Anniversary.

Very cool, Geoff!!

What kind of uniform is your dad wearing?

Dad was a medical officer in the Air Force... strangely, I don't know any more details than that. I should ask him... (damn, there are 1000 questions I've been meaning to ask - I don't even know how they met! )

Did he see any action in Korea??

I'm not 100% sure, but my guess is that the war "ended" (1953) before his active duty... as I said, I (sadly and embarrassingly) don't know nothin'...

A friend of the family I've known all my life was an active Air Force pilot - he sadly died when I was in college from the Big Casino -- he and his wife were my parents best friends forever, they and we would take trips together every year when I was young. His wife joined us for my dad's 78th birthday dinner on Friday. She's 83, so I assume he was in Korea. I know he brought gifts back from Viet Nam. I have one of the 6-or-so elephant end tables he lugged back from Nam. He'd always bring my parents things. As a kid, he was a big mentor to me, in high school I worked at his business, and I miss him dearly.

That is a great pic Geoff. Where was that pic taken?

They were married in Texas, Mig, where my dad was stationed. If I remember correctly from an ashtray we used to have, I think in the Dallas area. There are many AF bases in Texas, so can't be sure unless I ask...

Mom's from Brooklyn, and Dad's from Asbury Park (NJ) (Dad's folks were from Calabria and Sicily)

Yes. Her name was Sohyun, but the doughboys called her Trixi...Oh! You mean the war.

Just kidding, of course. I couldn't resist.

Your parents make a handsome couple. I too can not tell you how my parents met. I'm sure I was told the story at some time, but I was stupid and it didn't sink in.

Anyway, they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2010. My brothers, sister and I have already booked the Arby's in Wilkes-Barre.

My father too was a medic in the Army, but served after Korea. He married my mother soon after he got out of the service.

Arby's?

And don't you be making fun of the Don's Don now!!

Geoff, I was actually planning to post a picture of my grandparents wedding, for which my grand father wore his Marine-Corps uniform, so it's funny you should post a similar picture.

Copy-cat.

I think most people born in that generation were in the military, so it's not that shocking... post away, 3107¢h!

Yeah, I know (I actually told a friend the other day that World War I and II would probably be the only wars I'd ever willingly fight in, just due to social temperments of the time), it's just that I scrolled over the picture quickly and for a moment I had thought, "Jesus, I don't remember posting it already!"

Anyway, I can't post it right now, I'm not at my house.

You're at your goomar's, huh?

Eh?

I don't know what that means, but no. I'm rocking the laptop up in c4p3 c0d.

A goomar is a mob guy's girl... besides his wife. I always thought it was goomah though.

I will have to see Mama Barrabbas!
She has a million old pics and such!
I wonder if she is talking to me today?


P.S. Great pic JG

Wow JG, what a great picture.

It all depends on the dialect being spoken.

Gumar
Gumare
Goomah
Goomadah.

What a beautiful picture Geoff!! It is so amazing looking at pictures of our parents when they were basically just kids. And, 50 years hu? That's wonderful. A thing of the past these days.



TIS

Ya know, after jumping on LLC in the "Bizarre" thread for not sharing his own experiences, you're not setting a very good example.

An excellent idea. Sounds like this has the potential of being quite a memorable thread.

I've uncovered several interesting photos and I'm just hoping my scanner decides to cooperate.

Signor V.

I still don't know what to make of the outcome of that thread. If I had known the answer to the question, why would I have asked it?

Very splivvy photo, Geoff!
I'm a bit puzzled by the hat your dad's got tucked under his arm. I can see an ensigna, so it's obviously a uniform chapeau. But it looks black, almost like a topper. Wouldn't the standard uniform hat be light-colored, like the rest of his outfit?

I jumped on llc for not sharing his own experiences???? You smoking those funny cigarettes again??

My scanner/pc setup is completely kerblooey now. The only photo I have on my pc that fits this category is one that I've posted already but I'll be glad to add it again.

This picture, from the summer of 1942, shows my mom and sister in some garden setting (possibly Prospect Park in Brooklyn). Michael Corleone was off fighting in the war (the U.S. had entered WWII some seven or eight months earlier); my father had not been drafted at this point (by virtue of being a father he had a deferment until 1944) but I had two uncles who were serving then - one in the Pacific theater and one in Europe. This picture was taken at the same time the Germans were beginning their offensive against the Russians in Stalingrad and the battle of Midway was being fought in the Pacific. I've often thought that this picture, taken in such a serene setting, totally belies the horror of the times with the world at war.

Notice the "puffy" sleeves on my mother's dress and the hairstyle - very Andrews Sisters like (they were one of the big music groups popular at the time - you can see them in some of the early Abbott & Costello movies):

I don't think I've ever seen that picture before SC. It's great. This is right up there with the picture SB shared of her and her mom when she was a teenager. It's great to reminisce.

That is also a great pic SC. You're mom's hair is also Andrew Sisterish. Thanks for sharing with us.

Here is my mom around 1 year old. Not sure of the date, but since she was born in 1935 I'm guessing this was taken around 1936. You can always tell which pictures are of her because of her clear blue eyes. Everyone in my family has blue eyes but me.