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I thought about titling this "A Study in Kodachrome Blue and Red" but didn't. I took it on a trip to the historic Nevada silver mining town in August 1965. The building now houses the Comstock Fire Museum, and the steeples are St. Paul's Episcopal and St. Mary in the Mountains. I was going to identify the cars by make and year, but why should I spoil all the fun? View full size.
This was the same summer when San Francisco cult band The Charlatans had a residency at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, and inaugurated psychedelic rock according to one widely held point of view. Sadly no footage or even photos appear to survive, but even the poster for the gigs is so famous that there is an eight-minute YouTube video devoted to it -
No one has identified the car on the right, the one behind the Mercury.
Pontiac is 1962, Chrysler 1965, Falcon year not discernible. Looks like building once had four symmetrical windows then they converted two into a door.
When I realized I live about four hours away from Virginia City, and inspired by the vintage photos you've posted, I struck out today for my first time visit. I just returned from my road trip, and was pleasantly surprised to see your photo of what I'd been viewing in person only a few hours before.
I wonder what the driver of the 1955 Mercury ran into that caved in the fender but spared the trim? Someone else can identify the Pontiac, the Falcon and the Chrysler.
Identifying all the cars yourself might have actually forced us to talk about some other subject ... such as the firehouse's architectural features. (Davis Italianate Revival commercial, brick, mid-period)
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