Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Swimsuit Edition: Looks Aren't Everything

As usual, during my visit with the Dowager Duchess, I looked through some of her 30 or 40 photo albums. At this stage, just about everything has been scanned, but there are a few I haven't gotten to. My parents were a very good-looking couple — not that that should make a difference. But, I come from an extended family in which looks count for a lot. In one of the albums, I came across some early "glamour" shots of my parents. I supplemented, from the family slides I had already scanned, with early glamour shots of us kids.

CONEY ISLAND, BROOKLYN, 1948.
(UNBELIEVABLY, THE DOWAGER DUCHESS REFUSED TO POSE FOR A CURRENT PIN-UP SHOT!)

The Dowager Duchess is still beautiful, although she still doesn't think so. She looks back at old photos and comments, "Well, maybe I wasn't so bad." My father, fortunately, never seemed to be aware of his good looks. My friends all had crushes on him, as did most of the divorcées in our apartment building. But, my mother had no reason to worry. She once watched from a distance as he ordered a drink at a restaurant bar. A woman sitting at the bar crossed her legs seductively, batted her eyelashes, held a cigarette to her lips, and asked him for a light. He smiled, passed her the book of matches lying on the bar, picked up his drink, and returned to the table. I, at least, would have lit her cigarette.

OYSTER BAY, LONG ISLAND, 1960.
I CAN'T BELIEVE WE HAVEN'T HEARD FROM "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED."
(... AND WHAT IN HELL WAS I WEARING???)

15 comments:

  1. This is so special Mitch ~~~ imagine having a 'sexy wexy' for a Daddy ~~~ DD watching the situation unfold at the bar, so exciting and sweet!

    Love the bathing suit edition!

    Ron

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ron:
      San Geraldo wanted to know why I didn't include a more recent beefcake shot of myself -- I wonder when it starts to be called gristle cake.

      Honestly, not always fun having a father who looked like that. I had a friend at University who had a major crush on my father. She told me to forget about maturing to look like him. "You've got to start off that way!" was how she summed things up. But it's OK, my 98-year-old great aunt thought I looked EXACTLY like him!

      Delete
  2. Yes, what were you wearing!! These are treasures to have Mitch! Your parents were 'knockouts'! And your Dad knew where his 'love' was! Sweet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim:
      My mother always dressed us so well. That bathing suit (more like clown pants) must have been a hand-me-down.

      Delete
  3. I have done that too. I look at old pictures of myself when I felt so fat and ugly and think maybe I wasn't so bad. It's easy to be humble when you're always down on yourself. I'm glad you were such a cute little guy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ms. Sparrow:
      Thanks ... for saying I was cute!

      I do the same as you. 30 years after the fact I can say, well I wasn't so bad, was I? And, like I said, it shouldn't even matter. Terrible what we do (and what we allow others to do) to our self-image.

      Delete
  4. Love the pics. It opens a door for us to know you better. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Trying to catch up on blogs... know I've missed a few with this dratted internet service... BUT... SO glad I didn't miss the swimsuit edition! You sure are a great looking family!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. Judeet:
      More on their way! Thanks for your tolerance.

      Delete
  7. Wonderful photos. Those black and white shots would be stunning as a framed set. What a great-looking family, and, hey--so what if your swimming trunks were a little "busy"? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle:
      "Busy"... what a nice way of putting it. The word from my childhood that comes to mind is "Chalushes" (with a very phlegmy "Ch" at the start).

      Delete

Please visit www.movingwithmitchell.com if you would like to comment or stay up to date. I stopped posting here and reproduced all previous posts, as well, 25 September 2018. Thanks!!!