Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
Aug. 16, 1954. "Stamford (Conn.) Housing Authority. Balcony A4. W.F.R. Ballard, architect." Six-shooter optional. Gottscho-Schleisner photo. View full size.
They definitely discouraged loitering and sitting on the railing.
I don't think that all the local teens appreciated that. None of those stiffed shirts' business if they wanted to sit on the rails on the umpteenth floor.
I actually had to do a double-take. The oldest of the boys looks JUST like my son when he was 8 or 9.
I had a Hopalong Cassidy watch in the fifties. My ears would ring for a week after using a hammer on a roll of caps. But it was great.
William F. R. Ballard, who died 20 years ago at the age of 88, did most of his architectural work in New York, and served as the chairman of the city's Planning Commission in the 1960's. His best-known project, early in his career, was the Queensbridge Houses development in Queens, which then and now was the largest housing project in the country. He was a major proponent of integrating motor vehicles into the urban transportation mix, an idea which has largely fallen out of favor today.
Miner54, the "Have Gun; Will Travel" two-gun set not only had two of those cap guns (maybe Fanner 50s?), but came with a dozen "Wire Paladin, San Francisco" business cards!
What boy didn't back then? It looked for all the world like a real gun, made of metal and everything. Not like the plastic things now days. If I dig deep I may still have it.
Then I learned that you could put a whole roll of caps on the sidewalk and hit it with Dad's sledge hammer.....
The serrated edge across the guard railing.
Keep birds roosting or keep residents from drying clothes there I wonder?
I was 4 years old in 1954(about the same age as the little guy)and had those exact pajamas. I just can't remember who the cowboy was. I'm thinking Hopalong Cassidy but I could be wrong. I don't understand why I can't remember, it was only 60 years ago.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5