Watching Sparks Fly, El Monte, CA, 4th of July, 1953
One man, two women and two little boys gather ‘round to enjoy the defining moment of our most patriotic holiday. Yes, collectively as a society we Americans just love to gather ‘n gawk at flying sparks provided by festive explosives mass produced in the place where they were invented more than one thousand years ago, China. It’s our way of saying Happy Birthday USA!
The women both have handy sparkler lighters, aka cigarettes. And between those lovely splarkler-lightnin’ ladies is a mystery guest. She wears dark sunglasses at night and sports a color-combo-appropriate red, white and blue ribbon in her hair as she observes the traditional forth of July finale. Never mind who is she, what is she? I have no idea! She looks like a multi-media butter sculpture to me. But everybody knows that even after the sun goes down on the 4th of July in El Monte, CA, its still to hot to display your latest work of butter art. Who do you think she is? What do you think she could be!
Here’s to flying sparks, the Chinese that invented them, 232 years of Americana and YOU!
I think nancy frazee used to play with sparklers in connersville indiana.At least we still do in woodstock georgia
Fourth of July 1969 (I was 6): Me, my dad and mom took my aunt and my cousin to the park to see the fireworks. They used to have them in the park. for free. We went ahead while my mom got the blankets to sit on from the station wagon and caught up with us. We enjoyed them. We headed for the car. About ten cars before we got to ours my dad started yelling, “God dammed stupid woman!” to my mom. She left the car keys in the trunk. My mom wondered why no one stole the car. My aunt, her sister, told her, “God takes care of tired mothers”.
As for the “mystery guest” – MAN – creeeeeeepy…..
At first I thought it was “Grandpa” from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Then you realize – there are no legs or body…. so it must be a PRESERVED HEAD ….. presumably of a family matriarch that they trot out for holidays! And they dress it up for each holiday. At Christmas, they put a red hat and white beard on the head….
Looks like that was back when you could get sparklers legally in California, loved your comment about the face in the background!
I don’t have Xray vision – but I don’t see any legs or wheels behind the table under the skull.
I think it spooked Charles out. No mention this week of the rather dresst sandals of the ladies, what seems to be a rather nice white dress of the one on the right, what appears to be the good tea service (setting for at least five), and the fine finish on those picnic benches. Clearly this is a group who believes in celebrating the Fourth in style.
HAHA…that’s a no brainer…
The Statue of Liberty
What she is made of is the mystery!
I think they are using the Easter Gingham table cloth by mistake…the color is all wrong.
Love the photo :~)
Charles, this is too weird! Does anyone else think the woman in the black coat looks like Patricia Arquette? If that is granny’s head, then she must be a la “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” because she has no legs under the table. That, or these people were very eccentric for their time. Either way, I’m loving this slide!
looks like a skull on a wighead, decorated for the 4th. sort of a X between halloween and independence day. something created by the young master for the family’s amusement?
My first thought was that the head was a Cheese Log (made in very bad taste) to look like a patriotic American celebrating with the family (far more desirable of course than a boring ol’ ball of cheese)…”Hey everybody! Let’s munch on that lady’s tasty looking head! Yay! Let’s get this party started!!! (hoots and hollers abound at this party maniac’s crazy-wacky announcement and everyone digs in (what a site to behold!)).
Mom probably thinks herself an artist, and in the 50s, what better way for a female to express her profoundly artistic mind than to create a masterpiece in the kitchen? I’ll bet she had visions of grandeur, as she carved and shaped, of her family and friends admiring her forevermore, bragging to their friends about her cheese lady creation that looked so utterly lifelike it actually fooled them (she thought as she shaped the cheese: “I’ll have to tell them, No. No. It’s not the neighbor…It’s cheese!”), and possibly presenting her unsurpassable gift to Better Homes and Gardens.
On another note, it may be a poorly preserved (mummified if you will) Grandma that they prop around the house (putting a new dress on her each day) and talk to because the woman was so special they just couldn’t bury her and move on…and why should they when they could bathe her in formaldehyde and keep her around for the kids to love on as they grow up? Every kid needs their granny!
No matter what it is, it absolutely screams “Happy Independence Day, America! Thank you to all the men that fought and died for this country’s freedom!” That’s mostly what I see when I gaze upon that head! (don’t you?)
Soooooooooo creepy — I too shudder to think it is grandma in a wheelchair, but that seems the most logical explanation. One possibility could be a bust of Lincoln without his porkpie hat dressed up to look like grandma. . . still I think it is granny, I’m glad she could join in the fun. Yay! . . . sparklers! When I was a kid fireworks displays were rare, you had to make your own dangerous fun in the neighborhood.
Yeah, the mystery guest is kinda *short*.
Happy 4th of July to everybody. Happy Birthday America.
Wow, if that’s someobody’s grandma I think she passed a few hours ago. It looks more like a paier mache head to me but I sure don’t know either. If that’s Dad on the left, he has a well tanned, well turned arm and a little bit of a tummy– maybe it’s his disembodied head on the table?
There is no way that is a person. It looks almost like a left-over Halloween decoration with sunglasses. If you look closely, the item on top of “her” head looks almost like a Captain America figurine. Maybe he is just returning from fighting some bizarre 4th of July crime? Or perhaps he is spying on secret agents disguised as a patriotic family? Either way, when those ladies turn around to see what is behind them, the whole picnic table will explode from dropped sparklers!
It looks like the head has an arm on the left side of it reaching for something on the table. Maybe it is an elderly grandma in a wheelchair and the flash distorted her color and she wore sunglasses because she is light sensitive?
That disembodied head looks like either George Washington with sunglasses or one of those apple heads we used to carve in school– but a really big apple. How mysterious!
Hi Charles. Great picture and memory. Thanks for this. Have a nice 4th of July too. I love your country.