Dear Reader,
It’s time for more vintage images of California, this time from the 1960s. These are some of my favorites. The fashion, the glorious matte colors, the oppressed look in everyone’s eyes. Since I love quoting Joan Didion, here’s what she has to say about California:
“The apparent ease of California life is an illusion, and those who believe the illusion will live here in only the most temporary way.”
– Joan Didion
Of course my family doesn’t necessarily believe this illusion – we’ve been in California for generations. All these old photos express a carefree, glamourous lifestyle lived in big houses in the shining sun. However, everyone knows that all families have problems and worries. I prefer to imagine that things were as golden as they look in these images:
I love this picture of my mother, who now is obsessed with terrariums and bonsai.
This is my grandmother’s backyard, where I spent much of my childhood playing and looking for pennies to buy slurpies at the nearby 7-11. Her neighborhood was pretty much identical to the one in ‘Edward Scissorhands.’
I love these fashionable coats!
My mother and her twin.
My grandmother somewhere Back East.
I hope you enjoyed the 60s in California through the lens of my ancestors and all these pastel-filled photographs.
Love,
Orlando