Sometimes Everything In a PhotographTakes You Back

by Skip Cohen
 
Sometimes the fun of a Throwback Thursday image isn't just the photograph's subject but everything else.

Heading off on my weekly search through old pictures, I found this one of me around age six. Here's the trip this one image took me on:
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• The outfit I'm wearing leaves me wishing I could talk to my mother about how I was dressed at the time. What was she thinking? And the style, 2-inch cuffs and leather shoes with an Elmer Fudd hat!
• The location is Cleveland Hopkins Airport, which back then was a big deal. We lived at least two hours away, and Dad was working hard to build his business. There wasn't a lot of money to spend on vacations. So, a day trip or a weekend, the west side of Cleveland was a mini-vacation destination. We'd watch the planes from what was then called the observation deck. Whether it was just for the day or a night at a motel with a pool, it was a big deal.
• It's a black and white print, and back then, I don't remember what vintage Kodak Brownie Dad had for family photographs. The contrast is pretty flat, sharpness minimal, focus poor, but that doesn't change the fun of thinking back to those days.
• Last but not least, catch the scalloped edges on the print itself. It's the way all the photographs Dad had printed at the time were processed. He'd drop the film off at Gray Drug, and 1-2 weeks later, we'd pick up our prints. I remember the incredible anticipation at watching him open the envelope.

And there you have it - the pure fun of a look in the rearview mirror and a moment of connecting with the past. In all honesty, I miss the simplicity of it all.

​Happy Throwback Thursday!

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