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Photograph of relatives in front of a mudbrick house on the occasion of the day of circumcision (sünnet) of three boys, on the 7.9.1952. It was customary for circumcision to take place before boys went to school, about the age of six. In case there were more boys in the family, with a difference of a few years in age, the sünnet took place at the same time for all, for two or more brothers or relatives, taking into consideration that the oldest should not have passed his 8th year. Such seems to have been the case with the boys in the photograph. The boys are wearing white shirts and trousers, two of them long, the third short. Their appearance is modern, as also applies to all the other people on the photograph. The boys who had the sünnet were distinguished by a band made of shining material, worn diagonally across the chest, and the special headdress. On the bands the word maşallah, which means God´s blessing, is usually written. The headdress in those years was a fez covered with gold coins. Metallic silver tinsels (Greek téllia, Turk. tel) are shown hanging from both sides of this special headdress (başlık).

Hand-coloured photograph of a bride dressed for the registration of her marriage, taken in 1952 by Photo Deanna, in Nicosia, next to the Paphos Gate. She wears a modern dress made of cloth with flower patterns in pink colour. The dress is sleeveless with a square, low décolleté neckline. It is decorated on the left side with a fabric bouquet of flowers and leaves. From her neck hangs a golden chain with a big coin. She also wears long earrings. The crown is golden metallic with artificial flowers and artificial diamonds. Her lips are painted dark red.

Wedding photograph taken in the studio of Fevzi Akarsu in 1951. The bride wears a white modern long wedding dress with a transparent veil falling down to the floor. The veil is attached to the impressive crown (gelin başlığı) on her head, which is made of diamonds and imitations of flowers. It was customary to borrow diamonds from relatives and friends and to return them after the wedding. On both sides of the crown hang gold or silver tinsels (similar to those used for Christmas and New Year decoration). The bride also wears earrings, a medallion, a bracelet and rings on both hands, one of them the wedding ring. She is holding a bunch of artificial flowers.

The groom wears a European suit with double-breasted jacket, a handkerchief in the breast pocket and a tie (Turk. kravat). He wears a wedding ring, on his left hand, instead of the right, in order to show it on the photograph. The bride is called Emine and the groom Ömer.

Photograph taken in the studio of Fevzi Akarsu about 1950. The bride wears a modern-style white, long wedding dress and an impressive high crown (gelin başlığı) made exclusively of diamonds. The diamonds were borrowed from relatives and friends especially to be used for the wedding. These crowns were prepared by women specialists, called gelin onarıcı. The hair forms a wavy line on the forehead and barely covers the ears. A thin, transparent veil, attached to the lower part of the crown, falls down to form a train, spreading on the floor. The bride also wears diamond earrings, rings on both hands and a necklace of two rows of pearls. Her eyes are kohl-outlined and her lips dark red.

The groom appears in a modern two-piece western-style dark suit, long trousers and a jacket crossed over the chest and with two rows of three buttons; the jacket is worn over a white shirt and a striped tie, and has a white handkerchief in the chest pocket. His shoes seem to be black and white.

A Turkish Cypriot rural family photographed in front of the entrance of their house, which is a traditional wooden door with iron nails and carved central post. Five persons are posing, representing three generations. Only the man of the family, the father, is sitting on a chair holding a ‘double-barreled’ gun (çakmaklı; you pull the cock back to tension it and then you pull the trigger to fire), and with a black hunting dog by his side. He is wearing a white shirt, possibly also a cardigan, a jacket made of striped English cloth, light-coloured trousers and traditional boots (çangar çizmesi).The grandmother is dressed with a traditional two-piece çarşaf made of light-coloured woven cloth with checkered patterns; one piece covers the head and falls behind the shoulders, while the other part is wrapped around the lower part of the body. Underneath she wears pantaloons, part of which is visible behind the dog. Her shirt seems also woven, with striped lines, and has a vertical centre front opening. Earrings are hanging from her ears. This is a typical Turkish Cypriot dress. The younger woman, the mother, on the right of the photograph, wears a two-piece black (kara) çarşaf. The veil is tied around the head with its string, as a typical arabic/islamic headdress. The second piece of the çarşaf is fastened at the waist with elastic and covers the lower part of the body. Under the çarşaf she wears a long dress made of imported stamped cloth with flower patterns on a dark background. The dress has long sleeves and a broad collar decorated with a flower on the breast. Around her neck is a necklace composed of a row of beads. The young girl wears a short-sleeved dress of imported printed cloth with a collar and buttons on the upper part, white stockings and black bar shoes. The boy wears a two-piece suit made of English fabric, a combination of short pants and jacket with two buttons and a pocket on either side. Underneath he wears a white shirt; also white stockings turned over his light-coloured leather boots. Place and date are unknown, but from the appearance of the persons we can date the photograph about 1950.

Group photograph taken in the fields, probably in the 1950s. A man dressed in European costume is seated on a mule, and on a second mule, next to him, a village girl in a white dress tied at the waist, and a headscarf (yemeni) bordered with lace. She wears front lace shoes, without stockings. Two men stand, one on either side of the mules; they wear the traditional everyday Turkish Cypriot dress, consisting of white woven shirts and white breeches (dizlik). Around their waists they have tarabulus kuşak, and their heads are covered with a cloth (kulak çapıdı) wrapped in a different way in each case. The one on the right of the photograph holds a stick and is wearing leather top boots tied under the knees; the other wears black stockings and flat shoes.

Outdoor photograph showing Hasan Mehmet Pol on a traditional wooden village cart, loaded with sacks full of grain, which is brought to the mill. It is a three-shaft horse cart (at arabası) pulled by two mules; this type of cart was used for carrying heavy loads. After harvesting the crops, threshing and winnowing, the grain was sieved and put into sacks. The sacks were taken to the grinding mill to produce flour. In the background one can see a wooden construction, probably part of an industrial flour mill. The photograph has no date, but most probably it was taken in the 1950s.

In this scene, two men are sitting on the full sacks at the front of the cart; one of them holds the reins with both hands. He wears a white scarf wrapped around his head and falling down to the neck; also a shirt, jacket and pantaloons which stop below the knees; he is barefoot. The other man is similarly dressed but has a peaked hat on his head; he holds a whip in his right hand. There is also a boy on the back of the cart. The mules have decoration on their foreheads.

Source: Ayşe Hures.

Village: Tremetousia (Tremeşe), Mesaoria, Larnaca District.

Photograph of Hacı Mustafa Hacı Osman (1874-1958) and his wife Havva Hacı Yusuf (1878-1968). They are the grandfather and grandmother of Aziz Damdelen from his mother’s side. Most probably, the photograph was taken in the early 1950s. The couple stands in front of a wall, side by side.

Hacı Mustafa wears a Hicaz fez with a hodja type turban (hoca sarığı); Hicaz is the place where Prophet Mohammed’s tomb is found, a holy place for the Muslims, like Jerusalem, the place of the Holy Tomb, for the Christians. The addition of Hacı to their name indicates that both Mustafa and his wife had visited the holy place, wherefrom they must have brought the fez, therefore called Hicaz fez. This headdress covers most of Mustafa’s white hair; he has also a long beard and moustache. Over a white shirt, also of Hicaz provenance, he wears a western-style jacket, black with white stripes, with collar, two buttons and two pockets, one on either side; his white, hand-knitted cotton stockings are combined with thick-soled tab front shoes with a buckle.

Havva Hacı Yusuf wears a white headscarf bordered with needle lace, and a dress made of cotton fabric with flower patterns; the dress is tied with a girdle at the waist and has three-quarter length sleeves. Her long stockings, which seem to be rather wrinkled, have striped patterns, and the heelless tab front shoes are made of soft leather (postal potin). A gold necklace completes the attire.

Source: Hüseyin Hacı Mustafa.

Village: Kanli, Nicosia District.

Studio photograph taken by Fevzi Akarsu in c. 1950. It shows an old man seated on a chair between two young men, probably his sons.

The old man has a short beard and moustache, and his head is covered with a white cap (takke). His jacket is European in style, but the rest is traditional rural dress: a woven white shirt under the jacket, a white sash (kuşak) around the waist, dark pantaloons, baggy on the upper part and becoming narrower lower down, covered in the lower part by heavy leather boots. The peasant boots (çangar çizmesi), the sole of which is covered with special iron nails, are turned inside out on the upper edge, where they are fastened with strings made of goat hair.

The young men both have short hair and moustache and wear two-piece suits made of dark fabric, white shirts and black shoes. The one on the left of the photograph also wears a woollen knitted cardigan. Both rest one hand on the shoulder of the old man.

Photograph of Hasan Mustafa Hacı Damdelen Behlül (1891-1975), taken in 1950. He poses in working clothes, standing in front of a tent, and holding a cigarette in his right hand. His head is covered with a turban of the type worn by a camel driver (deveci sarığı); he wears a white linen shirt with collar and, on top of the shirt, an overshirt with the two front parts crossing above the waist (kavuşturma). He also wears the traditional black knee-breeches (kara dizlik) with a red sash around the waist, and hobnailed top boots.

Source: Mehmet Behlül.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.