As warm weather approaches my mind increasingly turns to the idea of road trips, travel and of course swimming (since I'm in Chicago that means at Lake Michigan). At the moment I'm planning a Milwaukee/Madison, Wisconsin weekend roadtrip for Easter and next month will be a 2-week-long international trip to the motherland, the Philippines. Accordingly for this week's installment of Vernacular Photo Tuesday I've pulled some examples of vacation photos: lounging by the pool, at the beach and camping/fishing.
The first two photos weren't marked but I believe the one above is German as the sign on the wall doesn't look like it's in English (unless that's the name of the pool). 
I like how both the male and female bathing suits have little belts on them-- I'd be happy to have a black suit like the girl's in the middle. The photo is from the 1940s.
Isn't the above couple in Hawa'ii perfect? Probably a little too perfect, I don't think this is a snapshot but a promotional item or film still. I bought it over a year ago from the estate of a TV producer who worked in Chicago and had a lot of file photos from the film and TV industry. 
Shell collecting is hot again in the decor world-- someone took these photos of their meticulously tended collection and wrote detailed information on the back of each. On the reverse of the photo on the left it says "mostly keys shells, big helmet shell and tree snails." The photo on the right is of a "priss window before it was finished. This space is all filled in now with shells and 2 electric lights, under used white space is filled with shells on white screen wire."
Shots of two ladies on the beach, I like the turban/scarf the woman on the right is wearing. While they're not as emotionally charged, the poses of the women remind me of artist Rineke Dijkstra's beach portraits. 
Pictures of sunbathers above and below, it looks like the couple above is in a park and the lady below in a backyard. The real subject of both photos are the towels/blankets and the way the women hide their bodies in them.
Looks like these ladies are having a little roof party while enjoying a frosty beverage-- it's hard to tell if they're drinking soda or something stronger!
Another staple of summer is camping-- in my childhood I spent time fishing and swimming at my uncle's lake house in Oklahoma and when I lived in L.A. we used to drive up to the desert (Joshua Tree) to hike along the rocky peaks and cook out at night.
Love her little button up shirt, she appears to be posing in front of a state park in the 1940s.
A few people have asked me where I find vintage photos-- they rarely turn up in thrift stores (unless you live in NYC). They're readily available online on ebay or etsy but I've bought a majority of mine at local flea markets, antique shops and every once in a while at an estate sale. It also helps if your close friend is a fanatic photo collector/dealer (thanks Albert!). I rarely pay more than a dollar or so per photo unless it's really unusual. If you're interested in collecting photography it's important to narrow your focus and decide on a few themes/subjects to collect like photo booths, fashion, a certain era, etc.As I took the time and effort to scan these images, please post a link back to Thriftaholic if you repost them on your tumblr/blog/etc. Thanks!