Window Shopping

Back in the day of downtown department stores, people would walk the streets gazing in windows to be enticed by the latest fashions, appliances, and toys to bring shoppers in to spend their hard earned cash.

See the photo above? What do you see?

A man in a hat holding the hand of a child looking in a window display of toys? Then there is this woman dressed in dark color away from the man and child but looking in the same window.

Take a closer look. The man’s haircut, hat, overcoat and baggy pants appear to be 40’s style. The woman’s shoes confirm the timeline. The child’s knitted hat and the woman’s bundled scarf indicate that the weather is cold.

This is perhaps a family Window Shopping for Christmas? Why aren’t they all together?

There is no one else in the picture and no seasonal decorations so it is just these three people staring into a window of toys. 

The man and the child seem to be looking at a doll so perhaps the child is a girl, but she is wearing pants. Remember it is cold outside the window.

The woman stands apart looking at another item in the window. What is the fascination? Is there a conversation going back and forth? Will they go into the store and purchase a toy or are they just looking?

Photos are not always what they appear to be. Assumptions of what the photographer saw at that very moment might not be what the viewer interprets.

Take a closer look. You didn’t expect that.