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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

They Got Me: 1955

1955 was the height of Davy Crockett mania, and while I never got a coonskin cap, I was as wrapped up in it as most kids of the time, hence the "Dying at the Alamo" concept of this shot. Didn't have any arrows, so I had to improvise with that twig. My eye patch, which I was forced to wear in an unsuccessful attempt to deal with my "lazy eye" condition, sort of adds to the effect. (It was unsuccessful because I kept cheating by peeling it up so I could read my comic books.) I think that was an official Boy Scout canteen, but I don't know where we got it, since neither of us were in the Scouts. Sharp-eyed camera bugs will notice my brother used fill flash with this Kodachrome; he'd borrowed or rented a fancy electronic flash unit.

1955 was the height of Davy Crockett mania, and while I never got a coonskin cap, I was as wrapped up in it as most kids of the time, hence the "Dying at the Alamo" concept of this shot. Didn't have any arrows, so I had to improvise with that twig. My eye patch, which I was forced to wear in an unsuccessful attempt to deal with my "lazy eye" condition, sort of adds to the effect. (It was unsuccessful because I kept cheating by peeling it up so I could read my comic books.) I think that was an official Boy Scout canteen, but I don't know where we got it, since neither of us were in the Scouts. Sharp-eyed camera bugs will notice my brother used fill flash with this Kodachrome; he'd borrowed or rented a fancy electronic flash unit.

On Shorpy:
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Urg, stupid eye patches

I had to wear one too in kindergarten, my teacher would give me stickers to put on it. And even though I was in class I would still lift it up to draw all the time.

Canteen

Yeah, that's a Wehrmacht canteen for sure. After the War, it probably came over as army surplus/salvage for $1.99!

Add St. Sebastian to the mix...

for a thoroughly intriguing iconographic mashup!

Great pics

But not so smart commenter! I love all the pics shown on Shorpy!! Keep it up. Majority rules.

Fireman Frank

Glad to see that someone else recalls that cartoon show on Channel 4 with the zany "puppet" carrot with its long "hair" flailing about! There was a short daily show right around the evening news with a longer one on Saturday afternoons. (I entered the drawing contest a time or two, not winning anything.) I've a few TV Guides from the era. We got our first TV in May 1955 (GE lemon), which was replaced by an RCA in early 1957 when we moved from Hayward to Novato (for less than 6 months). Now there was Deputy Dave on weekdays and Captain Fortune on Saturday mornings on KPIX-5. KGO-7 had the Mickey Mouse Club.

Peeling Keds

tterrace and all - my 60s era high top Keds label always peeled off. Maybe I pulled at it too much. Anyone else had that issue? Maybe we can file a retroactive class action lawsuit.

Un-Chucks

Not Chuck Taylor All-Stars shoes. I was a PF Flyers or Keds kid. Still have my "Karl the Karrot Keds Klub" button to prove it. (Fireman Frank Show, KRON-TV San Francisco, c.1955). Another shoe shot here.

Chucks

Hey, are those Chuck Taylor All-Stars?

Me! It's about me!!!

>> Not clicking something that does not interest you takes no effort at all.

But the site is for me! If I don't like something, the site has failed! Me me me!

Oh Oh Oh Dave

Re: Baby pics of you? No thanks. Photos posted here need to be at least three years old.

Oh, Dave - I just love you. Big time. Really. Seriously.

I love you. Hehehhee

[Aw shucks. - Dave]

"Dumb" pictures

The number of views clearly shows the minority opinion. The mood here is usually warm and inclusive. Not clicking something that does not interest you takes no effort at all.

Foy
Las Vegas

Dumb pictures

In defense of anon tipster, the tterrace photos are becoming similar to sitting through a neighbors slide show of their vacation in who care's where. Since I lived in this time period, I can look at my own photos for "blast from that past". Brandicoot doesn't speak for us all and it she doesn't like some comments, she can skip them. HaHa.

[I think the majority opinion here would be that tterrace's photographs are quite good. And exceptionally so. The read counter speaks louder than words. - Dave]

Dumb Pictures?!

These family photos are, in their own way, as much a documentation of their time as photos of a Washington swimming beach from the 1920s. Photos which I'm sure someone at the time called "dumb pictures" because they weren't of the Battle of Antietam. I'm sure Anonymous Tipster's baby pictures will eventually fill that niche - hopefully when the youngest of us has died of old age.

"Dumb Pictures"

Y'know, it always amazes me when someone says something like, "I am not into family pictures..." and just assumes that if he (or, possibly she) is of that opinion, then everyone must be. Forcryinoutloud... if you don't like a certain kind of picture, skip over it. But at least grow up!

Arrrrrh!

My grandson had amblyopia and had to wear an eye patch for a whole school year when he was in 1st Grade. Thanks to Jack Sparrow, he was the hit of the year and all the girls and boys thought it was really neat.

DUMB PICTURES

I gotta tell you; I am not into family pictures. Want me to send you some of my baby pics? See what I mean? These pics are worthless.

[Baby pics of you? No thanks. Photos posted here need to be at least three years old. - Dave]

Remember the Alamo

You post the most awesome pictures. I really enjoy looking at how the generation my husband came from, and the one right before mine, played and lived. We played Army, cowboys and Indians and other games, but Davy Crockett was no longer a "thing" when I was a kid.

Eye Patch

I had to wear one of those eye patches when I was a kid, too. And I, too, cheated over and over again because the damn thing was so annoying. Oh, the late 1980's...

Fellow amblyopic

Ah, the eye patch!

Despite my mother's custom-made creations...despite Sally Brown's excellent example...When you're 5, nobody wants to be the kid with an eye patch. My right eye is about 50% to this day!

I hear they treat it now with dilation drops to the good eye so it doesn't focus as well...

A Slippery Slope

How did two such red-blooded American boys manage to grow up without being Boy Scouts? Which brings me to something I hesitate to even mention. (Yet here I am mentioning it!) Did your brother turn into ... a beatnik? And you. Were you ... a hippie?

March 16, 1966

"With nothing more than a simple eye patch, we have brought amblyopia to its knees!"
-- Sally Brown

Hmmm...

Interesting image. From the description, I'm still working on the mix of Davy Crockett, Alamo (good so far), arrows, Indians, eye patch, pirates (?), Boy Scout canteen and, via AT, a German WWII canteen.

Hey, that's what childhood is for: imagination!

Denny Gill
Chugiak, Alaska

Davy's Canteen

The canteen is German WW2 issue. Looks to be in great shape..do you still have it?

Mortally Wounded

Reminds of an image of American photographer Ralph Eugene Meatyard, who lived in Lexington, Kentucky and famous for his enigmatic and surrealistic photographs.

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