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1920s, 1929, 1933, bargeman, bike, Bonnie and Clyde, clogs, de Aalsmeer, de Poeldijk, grandma, grandpa, grandparents, great-grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandparents, hair, harbour, inscription, movie-stars, naval ship, navy, old, oldness, photography, pictures, river, Rotterdam, sailor, sailor suit, sea, ship, Southampton, swimming, UK, valuable collection, wedding picture
When I wrote the post about my nan a couple of days ago I started to wonder whether she might have more of those old pictures. So when I went to see her on Friday I asked her about this and she gave me a shoebox filled with pictures dated from the 1900s to probably the 1950s.
Most of these pictures belonged to my great-grandmother. I made a fine selection of them and I sincerely hope you will enjoy them as much as I did!
This is a picture of my grandparents, Jacob (or as we knew him, Jaap) Fleur and Johanna Louize (or as we know her, Jopie) Fleur-Schellaars.
I think this picture is stunning and it is one of my favourite pictures of them. They look like they could have been famous movie-stars!
In this picture my grandparents were only just dating so my nan must be around 17 years old here:
These are my great-grandparents on their wedding-day, 31 May 1933. My great-grandma, Jans Mein, was my nan’s biological mother but my great-grandfather, Hendrik Willem Schellaars, was my nan’s adoptive father. However, from what I know he was a great father to my nan and treated her like his own. I never knew my great-grandma, she died only a few months after I was born. But I did know my great-grandfather and I always loved visiting him in Rotterdam. My favourite stuffed animal (a little monkey called Apie Joekie) was a gift from him and I still have it.
I think this is a great picture of my great-grandparents, somehow it kinda reminds me of Bonnie and Clyde.
This is Jans with her bike. She wasn’t a very pretty lady but my nan told me that she was a very warm and sweet woman. And apparently she had great hair 🙂
I think the great hair shows in this picture!
Hendrik Willem was stationed in the navy and this is him on a naval-ship in 1929 in Southampton, UK. He is the one one the left completely in white.
Naval-ship Southampton, UK:
My great-granddad in his sailor-suit on the left:
After spending time in the navy my great-grandfather became a bargeman. And this is him on (I believe) his first ship de Poeldijk:
Swimming in sea, my nan is the little girl on the left, my great-granddad in the middle and my great-grandma on the right:
My great-grandma in the front with a friend:
Hendrik Willem (right) with his friend Toon (left):
My nan as a child swimming in the river, my great-granddad is in the boat:
Jans doing laundry (I cannot believe she’s actually wearing clogs!!!):
My great-granddad’s second ship, the Aalsmeer:
My nan wasn’t sure but she thinks this is my great-grandmother’s brother with his son:
This one too:
This is my nan’s baby (half) brother Hendrik (Henk) Evert and one of his friends:
The following pictures I just picked out because I think they a great in one way or another, but with most of them me and my nan couldn’t identify who they were:
This is probably a niece on my granddad’s side and my nan thinks her name is Claartje Schaap. I think it’s a beautiful picture:
I think this one is brilliant! It makes me laugh 🙂 I really wish I knew who this was:
This is probably one of my great-grandmother’s friends:
These are my great-great-grandparents Belia de Groot and Hendrik Evert Schellaars, the are my great-grandfathers parents and my nan thinks this is their wedding-photo taken somewhere in the 1800s:
These are friends of my great-grandparents. I was a bit shocked because I thought this lady on the right was giving a Heil Hitler salute, but my nan assured me that this wasn’t the case, she was just waving in a oddly manner. Plus this picture was taken before the war. And as my nan said, they really couldn’t stand Nazis.
Friends of my great-grandparents:
This is Toon with his girlfriend:
On the back of this picture it says in handwriting: This is my brother Theo and Frans. No idea who they are though, maybe a brother of my great-grandmother?:
Two young boys sitting on the rooftop of a ship:
This must be one of the workers on my great-granddad’s ship. It’s wonderful picture!:
Not sure who this is either but on the back of this picture it says in handwriting: This is Henk, ugly isn’t it? Of the others have become nothing at all. Bye.
How weird is that?:
Men on a ship, my great-granddad is probably one of them but it is really hard to tell:
I think this is the harbour of Rotterdam, but I’m not sure:
This too, although I believe this is a much older picture, inscription on the back is hard to read but I think it says 14-5-64:
My great-granddad’s ship:
This too probably:
I really hope you’ve enjoyed this, it was such fun sitting down with my nan and going through these pictures. I believe it’s a very valuable collection, at least it is to me 🙂
Love,
M.
knudsens said:
Ilove old family pictures. i have a whole box with them myself.
somedaysoonart said:
Great, you should put them on here as well! 🙂
knudsens said:
That’s the plan. I just have to digitize them first.
somedaysoonart said:
Ahh, it’s quite a job to do that. I just put on a good movie and worked myself through the pile (have about 300 more :P) But at least you know for sure that they will be preserved this way. Looking forward to see yours!
decorartuk said:
Very nice photographs, a great collection of your past.
somedaysoonart said:
Thank you!
Yamyah said:
it was lovely to read and look at the vintage photos, thank you!
somedaysoonart said:
Glad you liked it Yamyah! Hope you’re doing well.
Niki said:
Great pics! A wonderful variety. 🙂
somedaysoonart said:
Thanks Niki!
kasmango said:
Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing part of your family! It is always fun looking back like this! Cherish the photos!
somedaysoonart said:
Will definitely do! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
ShimonZ said:
Yes, these pictures are precious. I enjoyed looking at them even though I am in no way involved… but you could see worlds and lives, and the nature of the people. How wonderful that you have them.
somedaysoonart said:
Good to hear you enjoyed them Shimon. It was such fun to see these people who are basically strangers to me. I do feel a bit more connected to them now that I’ve been able to trace a bit if their lives in pictures. It just proves how important photography really is, without it this would have been lost and I never would have known them.
fivereflections said:
i see you in some of those photos
david
somedaysoonart said:
Haha, yeah, I’ve heard that before, especially the ones of my nan.
scotshot said:
Nice images of the past. I like them because it lets you know these where real people with real lives. I like your blog also.
Regards,
Jim.
somedaysoonart said:
Very true Jim, and thank you!