Friday, June 12, 2026

"Random People" Photo Dump - The Summer Edition

In honor of Father's Day and the first day of summer (both on the 21st of this month), I'm going to share some more photos from my dad's collection.  In the past, I have shared some of his family pics, which included such locations as Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Marineland, and Downtown Los Angeles.  Today's photos are just of random people who I don't recognize, and who's identities I will probably never know, due to the fact that both my mom and dad have passed and I can no longer ask them.

Who is the man in this photo?  Was he the blonde lady's boyfriend?  Was he a professional model?  And with that haircut and tattoo, was he in the military?

This is the same backyard.  I wonder if the two ladies were sisters?  I also wonder if they were both "artists," or if this painting was done by the blonde lady from the photo above?  So many questions that will go unanswered!

And here is yet another lady and another painting, in the same backyard!  There were no dates on these, but I believe all three of them were taken around 1967 or 1968.

In the summer of 1967, my dad's sister came out to California for a visit (from Maryland), and he took her on a sailboat cruise of the Los Angeles Harbor.  That's the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the background of this next pic, but who is the guy?  I do know that he was the one actually sailing the boat, because my aunt and my dad were the only other people on the boat.  But I wonder if he was a friend of my dad's....maybe someone he knew who had a sailboat, or was he just a guy who worked for a company that offered harbor cruises?

I'm going to assume that my dad knew this guy, because of the number of photos he took of him.

And while we are on the subject of boats, in September of 1967, my dad went on a fishing trip out in the Pacific Ocean  They apparently departed from the Los Angeles Harbor, because my dad took this photo during that fishing trip, and once again, we can see the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the background (far left).  I previously posted this photo in my Family Day at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard post, back in July of 2025.

It looks like they were further out in the ocean in this next photo.  But who is the guy wearing the "Norm's Landing" shirt?  Is he "Norm"?  I looked up "Norm's Landing," and it seems to have a convoluted history.  It was a restaurant and fish market, which at some point changed it's name to, "San Pedro Fish Market."  And it looks like they have recently changed the name again, to just "The Landing," to honor the original "Norm's Landing" name.  They are also currently relocating to a new building, next door to the streamline moderne building which houses the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

I believe the man with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth was a friend or coworker of my dad's, but I don't recognize him.

And here is a photo from the same batch, showing my dad holding some of his "catch" from the fishing trip.  Why the cigar, Dad?  Why?

The reason I think that man on the boat was one of my dad's friends or coworkers, is because he took a couple photos of him in what I believe is the man's own backyard.  These are from seven months later and dated, "April 1968."  There's that cigarette again!  Okay, it's obviously a different cigarette.

This next pic was taken in the same backyard and on the same day.  Were these ladies the man's wife and daughter?  And hey....the house in the photo above and below looks familiar, and so does the blonde lady!  It's the same lady we saw in the first pic, drawing the picture of the half-naked man!  I actually have VERY faint memories of being in this backyard, and I also remember being fascinated by that bright red hanging ashtray.  I thought it was a birdhouse!  But unfortunately, I don't remember any of these people.

Okay, it's time to say goodbye to these people, and their house, and their artwork, because these are the only photos I have of them.....unless more turn up later.  I'm still busy scanning the thousands of slides and negatives in my dad's collection.

Here's someone new.  A bride!  Who is she?  I have no idea!  It appears that this is the only photo my dad took at this particular wedding.  Based on other negatives in the same envelope, I believe this was taken in 1970 or 1971.  I hope that this lady had a happy marriage, and a happy life!

And while we are on the subject of weddings, my dad took several pics of another wedding party.  These were labeled, "Caulkins Wedding - 1967," but I don't know who "The Caulkins" were, and I don't recognize any of the people in these photos.

The bride and groom:

This lady looks tired....or frustrated.  Maybe she's thinking, "I can't believe my granddaughter married that no-good-nik!"


The bride.  Hey, smile....it's your wedding day!

Perhaps this was the mother of the bride or groom?


I'm assuming these were all family members, posing with the bride.  But maybe a couple of them were strangers off the street, who were crashing the wedding and just trying to "blend in."

Next, we will take a little trip to Florida.  My dad had labeled these, "Florida Trip," and that's it.....no date.  But based on other photos from this batch, I believe these were taken around 1977 or 1978.  I seem to remember that he either won a trip to Florida through his work, or that he was sent there on a work trip.  So, I'm pretty sure these were all coworkers of his who were also sent there, or who won the same trip as a prize.


I wonder how close they were to Orlando and Walt Disney World?  We might not ever know!

I have seen the man on the left (below), in some of my dad's other "work" photos.

 
"FORE!"

"FIVE!"  ;-)

This building might offer a clue as to exactly where they were in Florida.  I'm assuming this is where my dad was staying.  Maybe just by chance, someone out there will recognize it.  (Update:  I used "Google Images" to search for matching photos, and it looks like these buildings are part of Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida!  And this first photo is specifically of "Stirling Hall.")

And now, just to round out this post, here are some "Random Kids" pics.  This first pic is from 1968.  That's our family car in the background, but my brother and I don't recognize this boy.  He wasn't one of the neighbor's kids, but maybe he was visiting one of them.  And he has a scabby nose, so at some point he must have fallen down and gone boom.


These last three pics are from August of 1965.  Where is this kid, today?  And at some point, did she undergo orthodontic treatment?

These were all taken in my family's backyard.  In both the photo above and below, we can see how the wall in the background is two different colors.  I wonder if that had something to do with the repair job that was done to the wall, after a trash truck drove through it two years earlier?

Okay, this isn't a "random kid."  Maybe he's a "random grandpa" and maybe the two kids above, were his "random grandchildren."  Either way, none of them are members of my family!

Farewell, random people....for now, anyway!  And a happy early Father's Day, to all of the dads out there!


4 comments:

JB said...

Pomegranate, stairway, camel, horseshoe, elevator, kumquat, bicycle.... I'm just typing random words to go with your theme of "Random People". :-D

I tried to discern what the "half naked' guy's tattoo was... and failed. I thought it might tell us if he was in the military or something else.

The second pic is obviously a Picasso, done during his 'blue' period. ;-p It's actually depicts a famous Greek temple, the name of which I can't remember, with lady-shaped columns.

The 'tired lady' at the wedding looks somewhat like actress Kathy Bates, as she looks today.

In that first group pic of a dozen or so ladies and girls, the little girl in front (wearing the light greenish blue dress) is hold her hands the same way that squirrels do when they come to my back patio door, standing on their hinds legs, begging for sunflower seeds.

I recognized that backyard and wall, where the truck came crashing through, from one of your previous posts even before I read your commentary. At first, I thought that little guy, pulling down the swing set, had a cigarette in his hand... but it's a spoon.

Even randos can be interesting. Thanks, Tokyo!

TokyoMagic! said...

JB, I'm glad that you found this post to be interesting. It's not my usual "Disney" or "theme park" subject matter. After coming across these negatives and slides and scanning them, I felt bad that I couldn't share them with the families of the people who are in them. So now, the images are just "out there" in the cyber universe.

You are right, that lady (or at least her face) does resemble Kathy Bates.....enough so, that it could be her illegitimate half-sister! By the way, Kathy Bates is EXCELLENT in "Matlock." I never watched the original show with that smae title, but I started watching this one just because she's in it. It recently ended it's second season, and it will be back for a third. (I am a Kathy Bates fan!)

Ha, ha! That little girl does look a little "squirrel-y." ;-)

You have a good eye and memory if you recognized that backyard and wall! I do think it's kind of funny that my parents put a swing set so close to the wall, after having a truck drive through it. Either they just didn't think about that, or maybe they figured the chances of it happening a second time were nil?

At first, I thought that little guy, pulling down the swing set, had a cigarette in his hand... but it's a spoon.

Yeah, fortunately that little guy didn't smoke. Unfortunately, that spoon was a part of his drug paraphernalia. :-O

Major Pepperidge said...

This post is right up my alley! I don’t buy random lots of slides much anymore, but I used to, and part of the fun was observing other people’s lives from 40, 50, 60 years ago. These must have been extra-fun for you to look at because they are from your dad.

We have boxes and boxes of family photos, many with people I can’t ID. In going through some of my mom’s mountain of *stuff*, I found two big photo albums, and wondered who certain people might have been to earn a place of honor alongside more-familiar people. And like you, there’s nobody for me to ask.

The ladies with the paintings of Greek ruins (at night?) might have been from a Greek family. Or not. I’ll bet you’re right about “Sailboat Guy” being a friend of your dad’s. I’ll bet he used nautical language as often as possible. “Squalls ahead!”, he’d exclaim, if his girlfriend was mad at him. At least that’s what I’d do.

Dads and cigars. My dad liked a cigar on occasion, and gosh they smelled great.

It’s crazy that you dad clearly liked these mystery people so much that they are in multiple photos, they look just like photos from my family’s close relatives. That poor lady really does look like she’s in emotional distress. “If I knew Susan was going to marry a musician, I would have stayed home!”.

Love the clothing (the colors!), and the hairdos on the women, for some reason they remind me of my teachers in grade school, who were probably all in their 20s or early 30s, but seemed like “older ladies” to a mere child.

Was your dad much of a golfer? My dad loved to golf, to the point that he joined a local country club when he retired. “The guys” became his social circle. I don’t golf, but seeing those photos from Florida sure look pleasant. Watch out for gators on the greens.

Since your dad and my dad were both in the military, I’m sure they had lots of buddies from early days that they stayed in touch with as these guys married and had kids. I remember we would sometimes go to a house with nice people I didn’t know, and sometimes played with kids that I saw that one time, and never again. I’ll bet that explains many of these pictures.

Thanks for sharing these sunny pictures of happy people (except for the lady in distress)!

TokyoMagic! said...

These must have been extra-fun for you to look at because they are from your dad.

Major, they were! I had seen just a few of them before, because they were slides. But most of these were from negatives. My dad had tons of negatives in the original envelopes from the developers. I put off scanning them for over 10 years, because I assumed they were negatives for the tons and tons of photographs we already have. I'm finding that many of the negatives are of images for which we don't have matching prints. So, many of them are completely new to me! I'm assuming that my dad gave most of the prints away to the people in the photos, and then never got reprints made.

We have boxes and boxes of family photos, many with people I can’t ID

Do you think you might eventually post some of the family photos you are coming across, of people who are unidentifiable?

Dads and cigars. My dad liked a cigar on occasion, and gosh they smelled great

I can't tell if you're kidding or not! About the only smoke that I didn't think smelled totally obnoxious when I was a kid, was pipe smoke. But even then, I didn't want to just sit there and continue breathing it. But sometimes when you're a kid, you don't have any choice. I have a couple pipes that belonged to my grandfather and one pipe that belonged to my dad. But both of them stopped smoking them when I was pretty young. I do remember my dad smoking cigars at least up until I was in junior high school. In my picture with him for my eighth grade graduation, he is holding that darn cigar! But I think he quit pretty soon after that.

I love looking at all the hairdos and clothing, too. Photos like these can be a little "time capsule." And yes, my elementary school teachers also wore some dresses just like those!

I'm not aware of my dad playing golf, even once! This trip was to a golf resort, but again, it was arranged by his work. There is a photo of my dad (maybe I should post it) standing with one of those other guys. The other guy is holding a club and a ball, but my dad isn't holding anything. I wonder if my dad went along with the others, but then just took photos and didn't play. I guess there is a chance that he "gave it a try." But do they encourage people to just go out on a golf course for their very first time and "try"? Don't you need to put in some time at a driving range before you get out there on a course? Personally, I like putting at a miniature golf course, but the one or two times I went to a driving range with my grandfather, I just couldn't get into it....sadly. He golfed most of his life and his last two home were within communities with their own golf courses.

I remember we would sometimes go to a house with nice people I didn’t know, and sometimes played with kids that I saw that one time, and never again.

Major, been there! Done that! But those times were always with my dad's friends or coworkers, not my mom's. Personally, I never really cared for it. Since we didn't live with my dad, I didn't really want whatever time I was spending with him, to be with a bunch of strangers at some strange house. But that was just me.....and of course, I never said anything about it.

I'm glad to hear that this post was "right up your alley"!!! :-) I will do another one at some point in the future. I have a bunch of beautiful black and white shots of random people in Berlin, taken during the time that my dad was in the Army. I've posted some of the soldier pics already, but he took many pics of just "citizens." So whenever I get around to that post, it will be a "Random People Photo Dump - The Berlin Edition"!