Naked Nannas

Most families have skeletons in their closet.  Mysteries that are fueled by rumor and innuendo and by the time they reach my generation are often blown completely out of proportion.  Our family mystery revolves around my Grandmother's little brother.  Let's call him Bill.   Bill was a photographer.  He was very, shall we say 'unconventional' for his day.  He fell in love with a dancer from the Tivoli (St Kilda) and shocked the family by moving in together, out of wedlock, in the early 60's.

This is the essence of the family rumor:

Bill went to jail.  No one really knew why.  After a short time, Bill emerged from prison a very wealthy man.  As in buy a massive mansion in Toorak wealthy.  It was a common theory in our family that he had taken the wrap for someone, possibly wealthy and influential, and gone to prison,  hence the reason he was wealthy upon release.    It was also a common theory in our family that it had something to do with pornography.

No one really knows if this is true, however over the years we have come across many slides and photos of naked women, and some fabulous home movies that were taken of his 'Marilyn lookalike wife' undressing.  Hilarious!  As to exactly why he went to prison is still a mystery, but we cannot deny the fact that he had a 'talent' for shooting naked ladies. 

During a recent clean out, my Aunt came across a selection of slides that we assume were from Bill's collection.  Now pornography of the 50's & 60's was very tame compared to what is available now, but nevertheless I suspect these images were shocking at the time.  Today, I think these images are beautiful, artistic and capture so much more of the time than just nudity.  The hairstyles, the make-up and the backgrounds of the pictures offer a nice look back in time.  What do you think?

I have called this post 'Naked Nanna's' as many of the ladies, should they still be with us, would be in their 70's or 80's and possibly someone's Nanna.  I hope one of these lovely ladies is your Nanna.  Wouldn't it be brilliant?  To have a beautiful picture of your Nanna in her youth looking fabulous is one thing, but to have an image of her being very liberal and risqué would be amazing!  I think we forget that some Nanna's were just as rebellious and free spirited in their youth as the youth of today.

The image on the left was labelled Beryl.  It was the only name that appeared on the stack of slides.  Do you know anyone named Beryl?  Maybe it's her?  

Pictures such as these should encourage us to take more pictures of ourselves and our families.  No, not nude (unless you want to), but to capture the youth and beauty that is all too fleeting.  

I think it is also a great reminder to take the time to chat to a Nanna and find out about her interesting life.