Love to Love Mew, Baby: Cool Kitties in the 1970's

I found another small collection of vintage cat pics from the 1970's. Can you dig it? They appear to have been taken in 1976/1977 in 1776 Sweetwood Drive in Broadmoor, California. I thought I'd share them in honor of Good Friday. Or, as you atheists call it, International Waffle Day.

According to the calendar, it's November 1976—and this must've been the Thanksgiving turkey.

If one thing drives blog traffic, it's cats. Cats, cats, and more cats. Here's a big pile of 'em. You can see more vintage cat snapshots featuring these soft rock-loving felines here.

Babies are also fairly popular on the internet, albeit not as much as cats (and rightfully so). But just to be fair, here are some babies to go with the cats.

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It must be cool to be the same size as a cat. Infants are so lucky.

Goodnight rug, goodnight cat. Goodnight plastic patio furniture.

Goodnight purse, goodnight Herculon couch.

I'm not talking about movin' in / And I don't want to change your life / But there's a warm wind blowin' the stars around / And I'd really love to see mew tonight

San Francisco Days: Seoul Sisters in the 1950's

In honor of National Quilting Day, I thought I'd post this patchwork quilt-like collection of Vasilev family photos taken in the San Francisco, between 1953 and 1957.

The original Seoul Sisters: Svetlana, Tatiana, and Lena Vasilev. 

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I believe these snapshots were taken in front 1319 Masonic Avenue, right after the Vasilev family arrived in San Francisco. Before that, they lived in Seoul and Shinagawa, Tokyo. All these countries in such a short time. When I was their age, I'd lived in two California cities and changed schools maybe twice.

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This is Stephany Mitrofanenko. You can read more about her here. These pictures were taken at 1831 Santiago Street in the Sunset District. Stephany lived in America for three years before passing away at the age of 80.

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I think these garden photos were taken at 766 18th Avenue in San Francisco, California. These snapshots are noteworthy in that they showcase the Seoul Sisters holding a puppy, as opposed to a cat of some sort.

This is a rare portrait of the entire Vasilev Family together. The foxy dude on the left is Steve Oleg Sheveloff, my first cousin, once-removed. To the right is Lana Thomson aka Svetlana Vasilev. To her right is Steve's mother, Mary Sheveloff aka Mariya Alexandrovna Vasilev. Then you have Stephany Mitrofanenko, Natalie Vasilev aka Natalia Feodosievna Mitrofanenko, Lena Vasilev, and Tanya Sarsfield aka Tatiana Vasilev.

Happy National Quilting Day!

The Kids Are All Right: 1983 in Oakland, California

To honor the March 15th celebration of Absolutely Incredible Kids Day, I thought I'd post this absolutely incredible collection of 33 year-old birthday snapshots.

They were taken in August of 1983, at 19 Ramona Avenue in Oakland, California. I'm the kid wearing the Mount St. Helens t-shirt. This was definitely during my volcano phase—that is to say, post-sharks and dinosaurs, pre-V: The Miniseries.

Behind me are my absolutely incredible kid friends at the time. Good Lord, the stripes! The thing I loved about my childhood birthdays was, the kids brought their adults. So the grown-ups would get drunk on white wine and cocktails while the kids and I got progressively rowdier.

Yep. Things were lawless by this point.

The woman with the lavender headscarf was Lisa Kastle. She was this awesome hippie chick/local celeb who designed and sold t-shirts festooned with dinosaurs. Needless to say, I was obsessed with her. Her company was called Tough Shirts. At the time, I didn't get it. But now, it makes me chuckle.

These pics were taken one year after these, and they're positively minimalist in comparison. In 1982, the place was decked out in potted plants and olive-green carpet. This year, we were refinishing the hardwood floors. Looking back, it looks kinda cool, like a warehouse party.

This was my babysitter, Jessica Butz. She's the belle of the ball, must've been that kick-ass puff-sleeve, wide-collar, sailor-ish dress(?). I'm sorry, I know nothing about apparel. I lost touch with Jessica in the mid-1980's, but I hope she still has this outfit.

These girls were Natalie and Tanya Pavloff, daughters of my mom's high-school friend,

Catherine "Cathy" Pavloff (January 25th, 1943—September 3rd, 2013). You can read Cathy's obituary here. They were a lot of fun. I love that Tanya is holding a cocktail of some sort.

The more I think about it, this particular "warehouse party" birthday celebration must've been responsible for my predilection for raving in the mid-90's. I don't remember who took these pictures, but there's a certain artistry involved, verdad? Depth of field, crap like that. There was a really good lens involved.

To you and yours, Happy Absolutely Incredible Kids Day!

Goin' to the Chapel: a Russian Wedding in 1970's San Francisco

To honor National Panic Day, I found it apropos to spotlight this vintage collection of Russian wedding snapshots I found in an old manilla envelope. They were taken to commemorate the youngest of the Seoul Sisters, Lena's nuptials. The marriage took place on Sunday, June 21st, 1970 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church located at 1520 Green Street in San Francisco.

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The husband-to-be was Franklin William Storti (1931-2006). Ever notice how there are never any traditional "getting ready" pictures of the bridegroom before the ceremony? What do men do before their weddings?

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The officiating clergyman was a young Polish cleric by the name of Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky. You can read more about him here. The year prior, he was assigned to build an English-language community in Holy Trinity's downstairs chapel, St. Innocent. He and his wife, Mimi, were also actively engaged in Orthodox fellowship work with college students in the San Francisco area before they moved to Sea Cliff, New York in 1974 to serve at the Church of Our Lady of Kazan. He sounds like he was pretty hip. You know, for a Russian Orthodox priest. *dodges lighting bolt*

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According to California public records, Frank and Lena's divorce was finalized two years later in July 1972.

Oh well, here's to the happy couple—for the short time that they were happy.

Friendship in Hardship: Childhood in Post-War Japan

Svetlana, Tatiana, and Lena were three Russian sisters born in Korea to Konstantin Aleksandrovich Vassilieff and Natalia Feosodievna Mitrofanenko. You can read more about them here. Driven from their home at the outset of the Korean War, the Seoul Sisters fled to Tokyo—where they lived for 2 1/2 years, before ultimately emigrating to San Francisco.

In observance of Old Stuff Day—and in early observance of Friendship Day—I thought I'd feature this 64 year-old set of snapshots I discovered, spotlighting the Seoul Sisters with their neighborhood friends in Japan. These prints were snapped sometime between the Summer of 1950 and January of 1953—and yes, I'm starting off with a cat pic.

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This next series shows them outside, at play in the neighborhood. From what I know, these photos were taken in Shinagawa, Tokyo, on "a little lane off Sarumachi (Monkey Street), a short walk from Gotanda Station." Also, the Vassilieff residence was "across the street from a large high school for girls" and there was "a small monkey shrine nearby."

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I like to think, in this next couple of photographs, that they're double-dutching.

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If you, your mother, or grandmother is featured in these photos—or if any details ring a bell—or if you've got a family story to share about life in Shinagawa in the 1950's, leave us a comment.

We'd love to hear from you! :)