Flora & Robert Wright - ca.1940

Flora & Robert Wright - ca.1940

In the absence of a date on the original, I am guessing this photo of my mother, Flora Wright, was taken some time around 1940. When going out for a day of shopping in those days, women dressed in their finest attire, complete with hat and gloves. At the height of a scorching Sydney summer, it was often too hot to actually wear the gloves, but they were still carried, as dictated by the fashion of the day. And Mum can be seen here carrying a pair of gloves in her left hand. Talk about multitasking before its time! In the same hand she is also carrying what looks to be a cake-box, as well as holding onto the hand of her second son, my brother, Robert. Suitcases, such as the one Mum is carrying,  were used to carry groceries at that time. So, even though Mum looks stylish and elegant enough to board the Orient Express for an exciting adventure across Europe, she is, in actuality, simply out for a day of shopping. I can see from the background that the location is The Corso at Manly, on the corner of Darley Road, outside St Matthew's Church. Not far from where the family lived at Narrabeen.