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

The Outsider: 1970

Circa 1970 in the Apple Valley area of Southern California, where my parents had bought some undeveloped land as an investment. Dad took the picture. From the left: Mom, whiny little brother, Grandma (Mom's mom), Gramps and ... me. As a surly teen, I had a habit of distancing myself from the group. Just look at my last picture of our vacation to confirm this. Gotta love my wardrobe! View full size.
Granddad, Warren Erickson, was a pioneer employee with Trans World Airlines who knew Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes and Eddie Rickenbacker, retired in 1968 as an inspector based in Los Angeles. He had to sign off on all maintenance performed on TWA planes before they could be certified to carry passengers. He could fix anything -- cars, radios, televisions, appliances, and of course Wright Cyclone aircraft engines. He was a nice man,too. RIP Warren Erickson 1899-1983.

Circa 1970 in the Apple Valley area of Southern California, where my parents had bought some undeveloped land as an investment. Dad took the picture. From the left: Mom, whiny little brother, Grandma (Mom's mom), Gramps and ... me. As a surly teen, I had a habit of distancing myself from the group. Just look at my last picture of our vacation to confirm this. Gotta love my wardrobe! View full size.

Granddad, Warren Erickson, was a pioneer employee with Trans World Airlines who knew Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes and Eddie Rickenbacker, retired in 1968 as an inspector based in Los Angeles. He had to sign off on all maintenance performed on TWA planes before they could be certified to carry passengers. He could fix anything -- cars, radios, televisions, appliances, and of course Wright Cyclone aircraft engines. He was a nice man,too. RIP Warren Erickson 1899-1983.

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Gee, McQueen and James Coburn!

If I knew then what I know now. Thank you!

McQueen?

I was thinking more the deleted prologue from Zabriskie Point.

This photo is great.

It is so me back about 40 plus years ago, the James Dean style jacket, wheat jeans and the desert boots, as we called them. Thanks Mvsman for the look back.

However you feel about your rebellious phase,

you certainly had style.

No he's not a whiner anymore

He's 47 and a manager for a very specialized software company. I think I picked on him a lot back then!

We get along fine now.

Personal question

Is little brother still a whiner? (You really don't have to answer that if it will cause a rift in the family).

Role model

Back-extrapolating about ten years, when I was just starting high school, you look like the kind of guy I was both envying and feeling intimidated by. Let's face it; teen-agers are a crazy, mixed-up bunch.

Thanks for the memories

Thanks, Mvsman; loved the photo! Took me back! Good family photo.

Your wardrobe

Actually you look pretty spiffy for 1970. As I remember lots of guys in SoCal that year had shoulder length hair, beads and psychedelic color schemes, most appropriate for love-ins and other "happenings" of the era.

Don't you wish

Don't you wish you were one eighth as cool as you thought you were? Aren't you glad your family did not knock you in the head and leave you in the desert? Do you wish you could go back in time and enjoy those times with your family and not be so stupid? Are you getting payback for your stupidity from your own stupid kids?

That's Life.

Andy fandom

My first thought was "Who is the guy who looks like Andy Warhol?" Since I'm a fan, I think I would categorize your photo as cool, even if the pants weren't perfectly secure.

The land

They sold it and bought a nice lot in Southern Utah with the proceeds. A wonderful cabin was built, and our family had lots of great memories for over 20 years.

As much as I thought I was cool

I didn't notice the pants weren't properly secured!

My folks bought investment property there, too!

I think they were planning on building on their lot some day, but never did. The last time I saw it, it had a couple of Joshua trees on it, a pile of wind-blown trash, and nothing else. They sold it in the 90's for a nice little profit, but not as much as they had hoped.

And Chukkas to boot!

Pun intended. Back then I was wearing almost identical "Desert Boots," or Chukkas -- light suede with a crepe sole. I probably got them at Buffum's in Pomona circa 1969, a step up from Hush Puppies and Wingtips!

Flared pants!

If there was one item I wish I could eliminate from all of my pix from 1969-1972, it's them! BTW, are yours "open" for a reason?

Mom certainly did inherit your grandad's rather-large mitts. I'd hate to get slapped with those!

Tool cool for school

Looks like you might have been a bit of a fan of Steve McQueen here. How did the investment property turn out?

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