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The Strolling Photographer: 1975

August 1975. My friend snapped this Kodachrome of his wife and me strolling along the 200 block of Keller Street in Petaluma, California. I'm decked out in my 70s-style duds, including bell-bottoms, waffle stompers, whatever you call that kind of shirt, plus my Konica Autoreflex T and camera bag, she in her Petaluma tee shirt, and Keller Street in Victorians, Volkswagens, Cadillacs and Pontiacs, not to mention the ubiquitous Ford F-150 pickup. View full size.

August 1975. My friend snapped this Kodachrome of his wife and me strolling along the 200 block of Keller Street in Petaluma, California. I'm decked out in my 70s-style duds, including bell-bottoms, waffle stompers, whatever you call that kind of shirt, plus my Konica Autoreflex T and camera bag, she in her Petaluma tee shirt, and Keller Street in Victorians, Volkswagens, Cadillacs and Pontiacs, not to mention the ubiquitous Ford F-150 pickup. View full size.

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

International Travelall

I had a Travelall back in 1977 when I was 17. It was enormous! We hung a Frank Zappa poster on the right back window and a Led Zep one on the left loaded it up with St. Pauli Girl and Becks drove it from Bridgewater to Truro and promptly got it buried in the beach sand! The Wellfleet Fire Department towed it out and sent us on our merry way! Unfortunately my family was not huge into photography back then.

OMG! Early Baby Boomers!!!

I'm a later Baby Boomer myself. You were older kids. I don't know why we're even lumped together into the whole "Baby Boom" thing. The earlies (1945-1955) and laters (1956-1962) ones have NOTHING in common whatsoever. Didn't then and didn't now. Funny, huh?

Waffle Stompers

My great-uncle owned a shoe shop. He made custom boots and shoes, and repaired all kinds of leather goods.

When the waffle stomper craze came in, he made some serious bucks. Instead of buying the trendy hiking boots, many local kids would go into his shop and have their shoes and boots resoled with what he called "mud haulers."

Later, irate parents would bring in their kids shoes to be resoled with more traditional soles. This caused a brief doubling of his work.

Konica Cameras

I also loved my Konica SLRs. Went through four of them: a Model T, a Model T2 from 1971, T3 from 1975, and finally a compact T4 from 1980. A parade of lenses, Hexanons wide angle 28, normal 50 1.8, tele 135, tele 200. I have everything all neatly wrapped and boxed up to be found when the next archeological dig takes place here in 2525.

I'm three years older than tterrace, and about a thousand miles away, but can easily relate to many of the postings. How did we get to "here" (2010) so quickly?

Konicas

I had a Konica around 1960, and it was a very good 35mm camera. Its only fault was a fixed, 50mm lens. At that time, Konicas were advertised as "The Lens Alone is Worth the Price."

Is that Me?

Scary that I too had (and wore) one of those awful shirts in 1975, and those shoes and the bell bottoms! Ugh! My camera was a Minolta and I ran into the same old battery problem, but my son figured it out and enjoyed some black and white photos on film in this "digital" age!

The blue "punch buggy" (who remembers?) has to be a 1967. I drove one for a LONG time - 18.5 years after getting it a 9 years old from my brother. The VW bug across the street - older. Those things were ubiquitous!

There has to be an algorithm

that will estimate the date of a street scene based on the ages of the vehicles shown in the photo. I mean, this is 1975, and in those days there was a particular attrition rate (low for F-100's, to be sure) and a particular mix of new vehicles sold. There has to be a way.

Keller Street Today

We were strolling right past the entry walk of the gray house on the right.

I loved my Konica Autoreflex T. When I hauled it out about 7 years ago, I learned the mercury batteries for its exposure system were no longer available, then that the exposure system itself was non-functioning and would cost a bundle to repair.


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Tterrace's Priceless Photos

Nothing takes me back to the sixties and seventies as vividly as the photos tterrace posts here. Please, keep it up!!!

Back then it was an F-100

That '71 Ford truck would have been an F-100, rather than an F-150. When in 1975 the Feds decreed that pickup trucks with a GVW under 6,000 pounds would have to include the same emission controls as cars (including catalytic converters), the big three automakers increased the GVW of their half-ton pickups to 6,050 pounds. Thus, Ford's "heavy half", the F-150, was born.

The pickup in this picture is passing a '63 Pontiac. The Cadillac is a '66, and appears to be a Calais, Cadillac's "value" model. The green Ford is a Falcon 2-door sedan.

And yes, I must confess, I had a whatever-you-call-it shirt like that when I was in high school, along with a couple of Qiana shirts. Ah, those were the days.

Small World, Isn't It?

Keller Street, about three blocks north of Washington Street.

While I could be wrong, I think that International Travelall belonged to the parents of a friend of mine who lived right about there.

The green Ford

...in front of the '66 Caddy is a '66 -'69 Falcon, and the Pontiac across the street is a '64 model.

How did you like your Konica?

I shot with a bunch of SLR's back then but didn't own one of these. Apparently their lenses were excellent. They went on to build a series for the Leica M that outperformed the out-of-sight expensive Leica glass. I get a kick out of that camera "box" too. Cheers.

Waffle Stompers

Wow, now there's a term I haven't heard for a long time; I loved wearing waffle-stompers!

Checkin' Out

Looks as if TTerrace is appreciating the lovely lady he's walking beside. But knowing his passions, one can surmise he's actually checking out the car.

Olde Volvos

They never die, they just get parted out.

Oh My

My first child was born in late 1973 so I remember these styles!!! Thanks again for the memories, tterrace! Doesn't seem that long ago, and yet...it was!!!

Truck a l'orange

The orange truck looks like an International Travelall. I don't think they were called SUVs back then, just a truck.

Volvo wagon

Nice Volvo 122 wagon in front! Still have my dad's '66 and it runs great.

Very cool!

tterrace- I love the snapshots you share of everyday life in 20th century America!

Cars on the street

Cadillac, Volkswagen, Ford F-150... what? no Volvo love?

[If it was a snake ... - Dave]

Mamie Shirt

tterance: In Northern Virginia where I grew up in the '70's, we called that type of shirt you are wearing in this picture a "Mamie Shirt", because that's something only your mother would truly love. But it was stylish back then and I must admit, I had one like that too. That shirt brings back a lot of mid-1970's memories. Stuff I hadn't thought about in years. So thanks for that.

A happier time, a happier place.

I was living in Monterey in 1975.

Camera bag

Was that the only kind of camera bag on the market in the 70's? My dad had one that appears exactly like that from back then.

I was only 1 in 1975, and sadly the selection of camera bags is not one of the things I can remember from that age.
--
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

A world away from

Cornettville, KY.

Dragnet

The green Ford in front of the Caddy looks just like the one Friday and Gannon drove in Dragnet!

Alternate title

The Mod Squad!

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