Flora Selwyn, one of my newfound cousins, sent me these pictures, writing: “I thought you might like this wedding photo of my grandparents, Barnet Goldsmith & Flora Plan, in London in 1896. I’m named after this grandmother, who died in London in childbirth when my mother Lily was 5. Both were refugees from Poland in the 1800s and met in London.”
Flora added, “Completely by chance, I chose a similar head covering for my wedding in 1957. Imagine the surprise when much later I discovered this [older] photo!”
Lovely photos, both of them. I notice that there are parallels between the grooms, too–gloves held in left hand, and top hats–though one is black, one light colored, one on and one off… The shapes of the two Floras’ faces are rather similar, too, though your cousin Flora looks a lot happier than her poor (ill-fated) grandmother.
Yes, I noticed the similarity in face shapes of the brides and the difference in expressions too — and wondered whether it was a question of photographic convention, or a comment on the occasion. I hadn’t look at the grooms as carefully, however — thank you!
What a great photo! I’m especially intrigued by the long jacket. Very nice.
I was intrigued by the jacket too — I couldn’t decide whether the groom was short or the jacket extra long. Thanks for coming by, Heather.
The groom is wearing tails–they just hang down pretty far. I think the two Floras look a lot alike, even without the matching headdresses. What fun to discover those photos.
I agree about the two Floras looking alike — in fact, I see more similarity in their faces than I do in their headdresses!
Yes Flora looks remarkably like the grandmother she was named after. I had never seen this photo before. My sister too looks very similar to Flora Goldsmith, our great-grandmother! It is striking. Same nose, similar expressions often too.
How interesting! It’s funny about these things. There’s something about the picture of my great grandfather that Rita sent that really reminds me of my mother and a bit of my sister too.