Two Happy People

My  post this week will be very brief. From the look of the terrain behind them, the couple standing in the river shallows might have been in some danger from a landslide, and neither of them look dressed for a planned river crossing. 

My photograph, in contrast, is of a young pair who look very happy, with no threats to be seen, although of course they would not want to have been standing anywhere near that huge tree trunk behind them whenever it came down. Their names were Joey and Win, probably short for Joseph and Winifred, and the photo comes from a little album lovingly put together by my late father-in-law Bob, beginning with the arrival in Melbourne on New Year's Day 1947 of Mary, his English bride-to-be, and her meeting his family, their wedding later that month, their honeymoon and several other holidays that year. The page on which the photo appears is very neatly captioned "Lorne 12 January". Lorne is a seaside town on the Victorian coast, about an hour away from Bob's family home in Geelong, close to the Great Otway National Park. Bob and Mary had obviously gone out with their friends for a relaxing day in the countryside, before they got too busy with pre-wedding preparations. It doesn't look as if there's any real danger of Joey and Win falling in, and they just look like they are enjoying being together. I don't think Joey was Bob's best man, and as far as I know, he and Bob weren't related. I could ask Mary if she remembers who they were and whether or not they remained a couple, but it doesn't really matter. They were happy at that moment in time.

Joey and Win

                   For more takes on this week's theme, just wade across to   Sepia Saturday #254


Post script:

For completeness, here is a photo of Mary, Bob the photographer's 22 year old bride to be on the day, newly arrived from England and showing off her culotte type shorts which I think Win was probably also wearing. That log she's walking across and the wire fence she's leaning against look a bit precarious to me!

Post post script (18.2.2015):

I am reliably informed by Mary that Joey, the young man with his girlfriend above, was not called Joseph, but was Alan Johanson, and that despite my not recognising him from the wedding photographs, he was in fact Mary and Bob's best man. Alan was a signwriter. The bad news is that Joey and Win did not remain a couple, but he did marry a girl called Helen a few years later and hopefully they enjoyed a happy life together. Here is another photograph of Joey in uniform, looking suitably charming.