Fargo Forum: 1940

And I thought photographing inanimate objects with 'faces' this was a recent internet phenomenon.

This photo has been recommended by the canine (doggie) members of my household as having historic value.

Being a collector of just about everything (NOT a hoarder), I have managed to corner the market on bowling balls and bags, washboards and wooden shoes. Unfortunately I cannot find one other person on the planet who desires such things and my garage is at maximum capacity, so I have had to quit. I am grateful that I did not get into fire hydrant collecting and didn't even know there was any interest in it so we do learn something new every day on Shorpy.

According to the website of the Dickinson, North Dakota History Center, "As early as 1900, a process was discovered in Germany for extracting oil and water from raw coal and compacting the leftover char into large pellets [briquettes] for a more efficient fuel." Lehigh, North Dakota, was the home of the Lehigh Briquetting Company, which produced lignite coal briquettes. And, maybe they did "suit without soot." Here is a photo of the Lehigh plant from the collection of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

As someone with a "defective collecting gene" (I only have 3), I'll bet my hydrants can beat up your teaspoons or postcards. By the way, if you have one of these plugs just lying around the house let me know. 3 friends and I will come by and pick it up. They make great paperweights or bookmarks!

I keep waiting for Dr Smith and young Will Robinson to appear.

On the lighter side, would you believe there are fire hydrant collectors out there? Years ago I stumbled over a website where you could post pictures of your hydrant collection.

Talk about the defective collecting gene!

[One man's trash is another man's... Well, you know.]

In Splunge's link, it almost looks like the same hydrant.

I'm guessing "Lehigh Briquettes - They Suit Witout Soot"

Piece of Photgraphic Art from John Vachon. What a wonderful shot; carefully composed and clean. A delight to the eye.

Under new management, and Google's Street View doesn't show us quite the same angle, but both the building and the plaque are still present:

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Well, it came to mind for no good reason. This was and is the city's newspaper building, the new one constructed in 1926, and still the home of the Forum Communications Company. Here is a wider shot.