GRANDAD'S SLIDES (20) - WOODEN BOX 2 - SS CANBERRA 1965 (PHOTOBLOG)

SLIDE 0231 - THE MYSTERY SAILOR

I bet there was a story behind this picture...

I can almost hear my Grandfather now as this picture slid into place and the silver beams from the projector lamp picked out these features on the silver screen set up across the room and the dust danced through the darkness, and the motor hummed, and the heat from the bulb warmed the chilly dark post-holiday September room.

"Oh yes! This fellow was a right character..." or "This is [INSERT NAME HERE] - he was lovely, he was, looked after us all the time. You couldn't hope to find a nicer chap..."

Anyway... There he is, an anonymous merchant seaman who worked on the SS Canberra (unless it was another "dressing up" night - SHUDDER!!!) and who earned the very rare privilege of being centre-stage in an extreme close-up photograph taken by my Grandfather in 1965.

It could just be because he had that gold tooth, of course... because that's precisely the sort of thing that would have really impressed my Grandfather, and given him endless opportunities to talk about the sailor with ("and you won't believe this, folks") a solid gold tooth....

I wonder who he was...?