Pin-up girl!

This photo was taken when I was 4 years old by Polyfoto, who produced a big photo of your choice and then gave you a page of little photos that were all different taken at the same session. My Mum used to spend ages pin-curling my hair every day and putting the little slides with bows on into it (my hair was dead straight!) and I think I was looking extra confident because I was wearing my "Marks and Spencer's dress". I used to go up to complete strangers and tell them about my dress - I think it was because it was the first bought dress I'd had (my Mum had made all the others). Evidently, this photo had everything that a photo of a 1950's child was meant to have, because it was displayed outside the department store for about 3 or 4 years, advertising Polyfoto. I remember still seeing it there when I was a less attractive 8 year old. This photo was slightly the bane of my life as a child, because I felt disappointed about the way I looked for a number of years as I put on quite a bit of weight. My Dad carried this photo around in his wallet for years and I thought he had preferred me at this age (which I now realise was not the case, it was just a child's misunderstanding).