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- Fourth of July: 1973
- July 4, 1973. My niece and nephews with sparklers. View full size.
Sparklers Bravo. Great pic.
An excellent year I was 3 months old that day!
Cold July? It must have been a cold July 4th considering the coats and jackets t ... Posted by tterrace - 09/23/2011 - 1:27am -
- An Old-Fashioned Fourth
- ... View full size. National Photo Company. Happy Fourth of July from Shorpy! Is there a Takoma Parker out there who knows where ... Posted by Dave - 08/10/2012 - 3:45pm -
![July 4, 1922. Takoma Park neighborhood of Maryland and the District of Columbia. View full size. National Photo Company. Happy Fourth of July from Shorpy! Is there a Takoma Parker out there who knows where this house is?
Happy Fourth to you guysHappy Fourth to you guys at Shorpy.
[Thanks, Ron! - Dave]
Takoma ParkI lived in Takoma Park until recently, and I think it will be difficult to place this house because most of the homes in the area are just like this. However, the area has not changed much at all and the old homes are still around, so who knows. Lots of trees. Takoma Park is often referred to as the Berkeley of the East. The lovable hippies who live there now aren't big on change.
[The address on the house looks like 200. And everyone seems ready for a parade to go by, so it must have been a main thoroughfare. - Dave]
4th of July photoIn the 1930s-40s the parade route was along Carroll Avenue, through the business district, then across the DC line, along Carroll Street, then down 4th Street, NW to the historic Takoma Theater. So I suspect the house is somewhere along Carroll in Takoma Park, MD.
(The Gallery, D.C., July 4, Kids, Natl Photo, Patriotic)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06630u.thumbnail.jpg "An Old-Fashioned Fourth")
- Pressing the Flesh: 1940
- ... photographer known as Weegee. View full size.
Fourth of July Weekend I was 8 my that year & mom had taken me to Coney Island beach since I was an infant. If this was the Fourth of July it marks the last time she put up with the crowds that were ... Posted by Dave - 02/22/2016 - 9:11pm -
- Happy Fourth of July!
- I planned to hold off on uploading any more colorized images for about a week or two, but these ladies and Old Glory just seemed so right for color I couldn't resist. And now was the time to get them colorized and uploaded. View full size. ... Posted by Fredric Falcon - 09/20/2011 - 1:19pm -
![I planned to hold off on uploading any more colorized images for about a week or two, but these ladies and Old Glory just seemed so right for color I couldn't resist. And now was the time to get them colorized and uploaded. View full size.
Artistic License vs ScienceIs the selection of the colors simply the whim of the person doing the colorization (subjective), or is it accurately determined via some technology that can objectively interpret the gray shades in black and white photos?
[We convened a 12-member panel from the American Academy of Vexillology to come up with colors for the flag. - Dave]
Great!That is great! I for one enjoy the colorized photos.
I also enjoy this site very much.
Flag looks pretty accurate from what I remember...and I also enjoy the colorized photos. The world really did exist in color even back then, and it's nice to finally see it that way now. I'm glad technology has caught up with the reality of the way it was, the way these ladies saw it. And the b&w ones are not gone. You can still go look at them whenever you want.
Objective but not computableIt's an interesting question, because there are some objective cues in a picture. When you see an Irish face, you know the hair is red; when you see a Model T you know the body is black. And Fredric does a masterful job of using these cues. His hair and clothing colors are "accurate," not dependent on "whim."
But a computer couldn't apply these cues; they depend on human perception and cultural knowledge. If your definition of "objective" means "computable," then I guess you couldn't call these decisions "objective."
My Opinion. Yours May Vary.More and more, I'm beginning to like this site less and less. The reason? Too much garish, fake color splashing out at me almost every time I wander over here. Today was no exception. We get it already. It's cool. A fine technique. I'm impressed to death. Yawns. Now- take it all somewhere else where they love that stuff. Somewhere, anywhere. Enough already.
Thank you.
Happy 4th of July.
It's Not Shorpy AnymoreThese colorizations are really ruining the spririt of Shorpy. They should be on another site somewhere where people would appreciate them more. Having been a regular visitor to this site for about two years now, I must say that I am disappointed that the integrity of the site seems to have been violated by these false colors being added to the images. By the way, I am Irish, but I do not have red hair, nor could anyone presume that I was Irish by simply looking at my photo. Just saying.
Requests"Coney Island 1905" and "Nighthawk" would look good colorized. I really don't see what harm is done.
I do remember seeing the colorized version of "Casablanca" and I hated that!
What they look like.Porcelain figurines. Figures in a wax museum. Animatronics. Or the fruits Huck Finn admires in the Grangerford house, "which was much redder and yellower and prettier than real ones is, but they warn't real."
Don't worry, be happy!Thanks to all of you who complimented my work! Mark Twain once said he could live for two months on a good compliment and that's the way you make me feel!
As for my color choices, they are generally just subjective. I try for a balance of colors that complement each other. Draft renderings usually show what colors aren't going to work. If I keep in mind the era the photo is from, it's easy to see what colors are too bright or too modern.
To the rest who think my contributions are harming Shorpy, don't worry about me uploading a lot of images. The ones I've uploaded in the past couple of weeks are the result of about a year and a half of work. The exception is this one done just for the holiday. While I do have a few more colorized photos to share, I'll hold off on uploading any more soon. I don't want to keep colorizing more on a regular schedule anyway.
When you see an Irish face, you know the hair is red?Hair color percentages in Ireland:
3% Black ('coal black"); 40% Dark brown; 35% Medium brown; 5% Reddish-brown; 4% 'Clear" red; 12.5% Light brown to blond; 0.5% Ashen.
(Statistics from "The Physical Anthropology of Ireland", Harvard U. Study by Hooton and Dupertuis.)
Selective ColourI think Shorpy is an amazing site and I check it whenever I sit down at my machine. Colourised or Colorized, the images speak volumes about a bygone age. As a Brit I have always found the American reverence for 'The Flag' sometimes hard to understand, although I do admire your patriotism - something we seem a bit shy of expressing on this side of the pond. From a purely aesthetic view point I would like to have seem the colours reduced in saturation, possibly only colouring the flag. That's my tuppence worth and by the way, I am first generation British from good Irish stock, and my hair is grey.
Vexillology Thanks, Dave for teaching me a new word. It's also a pretty modern one according to Wikipedia.
I am one who is very impressed with the colorizaton of photos but I would like to see the submissions be a very low percentage of Shorpy. Certainly some pictures are great candidates. There is no disrespect and no comprimise of the original. I may yawn once in a while, but in no way will it make me like MY Shorpy less.
Wonderful color Once again, you have done a fantastic job. I love it. The colors make a dull photo come alive. Like Jack I would also like to know more about the process you have used. If you are just picking colors out that you believe might have been used then you are doing a great job.
Begorra, I like the colors"Take it all somewhere where they love this stuff"? Well, that "somewhere else" may be here, because I must join those who are enjoying the colorized pics.
Photographs are just reflections of reality in any event (I know, duh), albeit wonderful, valuable ones. And an Internet image of a photograph is a reflection of a reflection, I suppose.
As long as no one is losing access to the originals and nothing is harmed or lost, I have no objection whatever to someone's taking another, more colorful look at a given small reflection of reality. And Fredric's work is always tasteful and, I find, rather moving.
(And I have an "Irish face" and red hair, but, as has been noted, there is not necessarily a correlation!)
PleasantvilleRegarding the snarping about the color photos on the site, I am reminded of the movie "Pleasantville." Everybody wanted their world to stay nice and black and white and the same as it always had been. Then some "meddling kids" starting having fun and turning into color and the old guard's whole world fell apart.
All things in moderation are fine.I like the colorized photos. They add life and since the originals are still "here", nothing's harmed.
I do think the lady on the far left might be upset she's been given "blue hair" though. She doesn't appear quite old enough to be a "blue haired little ol' lady."
The Eyes Have It?I was struck by the fact that every one of these ladies has her eyes either closed or apparently downcast. Curious.
I liked the colorized work, too. Many old antique postcards used the technique to great effect.
This is a great image for an American Fourth.
RockwellI thought there was something very Norman-Rockwellian in the composition of the original photo, and the colorized version looks even more like one of his paintings.
Superb!Best colorization I have seen in a VERY long time!
Keep the ColorPlease please keep these colored pics coming! They absolutely bring these people and the details to life. It makes them seem real. Can't you just see them running around in the present time -- except for the clothes, that is!
A vote in favorColorized snaps??? YES PLEASE!!!
I love them. Please do not stop doing them.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Colorized Photos, Patriotic)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/StarsStripes19153.thumbnail.jpg "Happy Fourth of July!")
- Fourth of July: 1954
- ... Picture taken by my father, Everett Harding, on Fourth of July weekend 1954. Scanned from a Kodachrome transparency. View ... Posted by smaileh - 07/06/2008 - 5:03pm -
- Fourth of July, 1887
- This family photo was taken on July 4th, 1887. My grandfather is seated on the floor at front left. That's his helpful dog next to him holding a hammer in its mouth. He was twenty years old in 1887, but he was already a contractor and this was his ... Posted by willc - 07/26/2009 - 8:51am -
- Fourth of July Parade: 1910
- Fourth of July parade, Downey, Idaho, 1910. View full size
(ShorpyBlog, ... Posted by October27 - 09/19/2011 - 9:18pm -
- Fourth of July, 1905
- Another photo from my grandfather, this one taken in Clatskanie, Oregon, on July 4th, 1905. He'd helped to organize the volunteer fire department in this little logging town, and here they all are, dressed up for the Independence Day parade. My Au ... Posted by willc - 07/24/2009 - 12:54am -
- Fourth and Main: 1941
- July 4, 1941. "Fourth of July parade in Watertown, Wisconsin." 35mm nitrate negative by John ... Posted by Dave - 07/04/2012 - 2:54pm -
- 48-Star Salute: 1950s
- ... I don't know for sure if this was actually taken on the Fourth of July but it's patriotic nonetheless. View full size.
Fourth of July Parade Here's a Fourth of July parade in Woodside Park, ... Posted by Tony W. - 09/17/2011 - 8:15pm -
![Bill Bliss and friend playing on the roof in the mid-1950s in Southern California. I don't know for sure if this was actually taken on the Fourth of July but it's patriotic nonetheless. View full size.
Fourth of July ParadeHere's a Fourth of July parade in Woodside Park, Maryland, in 1928. Woodside Park was then a 5 year old "home colony" just north of Washington, D.C. Most of its lots were still unsold.
Stacked ArrayIn the background is a nice view of a quad stack of TV antennas, a high gain configuration for deep-fringe reception, with 'X' shaped reflectors behind the conic-configured dipole elements.
Not DigitalThat's a very impressive stack of two bay clipper TV antennas looming over the little patriots.
Works For MeHope everyone in the Shorpy family has a great Day!
Old GloryThis flag appeared in an ad in todays NY Times. It is from an interesting Website, www.1stdibs.com, which called it a "Rare 39 Star American National Flag, Circa 1879-1896". I thought Shorpy readers would enjoy seeing it this Independence Day.
Question for DaveDave I am wondering which photo got the most responses ... what you may call a Shorpy Record. Thanks again for all your wonderful photos.
[Most comments: Our Lady of Lourdes. Most views: The Beaver Letter. Thank you, and I hope we all realize that these photos come from many different sources. Tony W. posted this one. Look above the photo where it says "Submitted by" to see who contributed it. - Dave]
Two-fingered saluteLooks like someone was a Cub Scout.
Stacked conicalsThose stacked conicals sure bring back memories of the '50s when if you didn't live in a big city you had to have a pretty impressive antenna on the roof to get stations from neighboring towns. Now a days people think they're ugly but back then a big TV antenna was a status symbol. They always fascinated me and as teen I began putting them up for people and eventually got into TV repair and then spend 28 years maintaining a transmitter that fed those antennas.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, July 4, Kids, Tonypix)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4thjuly_.thumbnail.jpg "48-Star Salute: 1950s")
- Carnaval Cabrillo: 1913
- ... a bomb onboard.
Not the Fourth I thought this was a Fourth of July picture until I paid attention to the title. Here's some ... Posted by Dave - 04/14/2017 - 10:22pm -
![San Diego, California, 1913. "San Diego and bay from U.S. Grant Hotel." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Can you tell meas a non-resident, and very astute perusal of this scene, what country is it located?
Those two warshipsI believe Those two warships in the background are Pennsylvania-class cruisers. They were all stationed on the west coast at that time.
June 14th or July 4thLooks like it was either around Flag Day or Independence Day judging by all the patriotism on display and I will bet that all those flags were not made in China either! Put that in your bong and smoke it!
[Look at the banner in the photo and you'll see that it's September. - Dave]
West Coast Armored CruisersThe two warships are the USS California and South Dakota (I can't tell which is which, though). These Pennsylvania class armored cruisers were built at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco (the 1906 completion was delayed by the earthquake) and stayed on the west coast most of their early life.
On an historical note, the California will have its named changed to San Diego a year after this image was taken. The ship will then be sunk off of Long Island on July 19, 1918. For the next 80 years historians will argue whether it was hit by a torpedo or a mine from a German submarine, but new evidence has emerged that a German spy planted a bomb onboard.
Not the FourthI thought this was a Fourth of July picture until I paid attention to the title. Here's some history on the actual event.
Cabrillo and San DiegoJuan Rodriguez Cabrillo's discovery of San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, inspired San Diegans to organize a festival and parade in 1892, a much larger pageant in 1911 as a fundraiser for the 1915 Panama California Exposition, and the four-day Carnaval in September 1913 that this photo commemorates. The 1913 event celebrated the dedication by President Woodrow Wilson of federal land at the tip of Point Loma as the Cabrillo National Monument, overlooking the entrance to the harbor in the upper left corner of the photo. The actual monument would not be built until 1939, but the medal seen here was struck in 1913 for the event. The 1911 celebration featured a lot less less history and a lot more fun, and included the fantasy arrival of "King Cabrillo" at the court of "Queen Ramona." The royal mascot's name is not recorded.
+87Below is the same view from July of 2000 (scanned from a slide - an art I'm still attempting to grasp). The structure on the left that still stands is the Spreckels Building. Interestingly, American naval power is also contrasted in the two shots. I don't know what ships are in the distance in the 1913 shot, but they can be compared to the USS John C. Stennis which has its fantail visible in the distance in the 2000 view.
Armored CruiserThe ship in the center of the picture appears to be an armored cruiser of the Pennsylvania class. It's quite possibly the USS West Virginia, which was stationed along the West Coast at the time the photo was taken.
Ship IDI believe the ship in the background is the USS California (ACR-6), a Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser. She was renamed USS San Diego in 1914 and was sunk by a suspected mine off Long Island in 1918.
TransitionAnother picture showing the transition from four legs to four wheels and it shows that the auto is winning. BTW, check out that spiffy roadster in white; it stands out like a Rolls at a Yugo Convention.
1913 Auto Show Interesting contrast in those cars parked head on in front of the 2nd building. The one white topless car parked amid all the apparently black autos.
Keystone State Taken to the CleanersSince those Pennsylvania-class cruisers spent most of their careers in the Pacific, I hope Pennsylvania got its money back!
The flag I loveThis is a great picture, if only for the presence of all those beautiful, wonderful, brand new 48-star flags!
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Streetcars)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a24661a.thumbnail.jpg "Carnaval Cabrillo: 1913")
- Yesterday in the Park: 1907
- ...
Yesterday in the Park -- I think it was the Fourth of July.
Dog Gone Amazement ... I noticed the dog looking at one ... Posted by Dave - 01/19/2024 - 4:46pm -
- Up for the Fourth: 1941
- July 1941. Girls at the Fourth of July carnival in Vale, Oregon. View full size. 35mm nitrate ... Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 11:25am -
![July 1941. Girls at the Fourth of July carnival in Vale, Oregon. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.
Carnival CanesHere's what an Antiques Roadshow appraiser says about them:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200502A30.html
Carnival Cane?It looks like the dark-haired woman is holding some wooden carnival canes. I have one with a ceramic dog head at the top that looks similar to the one she's holding, but it's hard to see the details. They just don't make carnival prizes like they used to!
Carnival Cane!I have not seen one of those carnival-prize canes in over forty years. Oh, how we wanted to win them; oh, how useless they were.
[I wondered what that was! Below, a closeup of the prizes. - Dave]
That's IT!That's my bulldog carnival cane, right there. It looks like a cat from the back but it's a dog. Now I know how old mine is!
Carnie CanesWhat was their point? To grab the brass ring?
Kewpie DollIn her other hand she appears to be holding a kewpie doll sort of like this 1930'2 carnival prize on
http://tinyurl.com/2y2284
(The Gallery, July 4, Russell Lee, Small Towns, Sports)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/8a30184u_0.thumbnail.jpg "Up for the Fourth: 1941")
- Centrifugal Fourth: 1941
- ... July 1941. "Ride at the carnival which was part of the Fourth of July celebration at Vale, Oregon." Medium format negative by Russell ... Posted by Dave - 03/11/2018 - 4:52pm -
- A Seventies Fourth
- ... itself? I'm a Canadian and have never actually seen a Fourth of July parade. This one looks like the kind that has fire trucks in ... Posted by tterrace - 07/04/2015 - 11:38am -
- Greetings From Asbury Park: 1914
- ... [Weren't fire buckets usually full of sand? - Dave]
Fourth of July, Asbury Park Gossip overheard on the boardwalk this day: ... Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 6:44pm -
!["Asbury Park, New Jersey." The North End Hotel on the Ocean Grove side of the boardwalk circa 1914. George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.
"In the Beautiful Seaside Air"That's the title of a Victor record by Billy Murray and the Peerless Quartet, circa 1915. My late Grandma's favorite vacation spot was Asbury Park, and I'm glad that she didn't live long enough to see the boardwalk fall into ruin. One of the large buildings (the Exhibition Hall?) once had a museum of player pianos and mechanical music boxes, which all worked. I wonder what happened to them?
Postcard View
Trim and FitA fantastic picture. Caught in mid-conversation, everyone seems so animated, even the onlookers on the benches. The men, as always, were in ties, sport coats and hats, even though it was probably summer. But what is really astonishing is that absolutely everyone in that picture is trim and fit, no fatties in sight anywhere that I can detect. Ninety-five years later, another picture taken in the same area would undoubtedly yield a broad selection of suburban New Jersey heavyweights.
In case of fire -- run for your lifeThe lace on each of those dresses is gorgeous, and the expressions on the faces make you feel that you were really there. But on the far right is a bucket labeled for fire. If you tried to put out anything larger than a burning napkin with that little bucket you would be in sorry shape. There is no apparent supply of water with the bucket. What did they expect you to do, run off the boardwalk, over to the waves, and run back, one bucket at a time, to splash the fire out?
[Weren't fire buckets usually full of sand? - Dave]
Fourth of July, Asbury ParkGossip overheard on the boardwalk this day: "Did you hear, the cops finally busted Madam Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do?"
Feels like I am right there.I love that you can get all the root beer and ginger ale you want for 5 cents!
A Derby?Guy at bottom right:
"You're on holiday, man - where's your straw boater?"
DynamicsWhat a wonderful negative. I marvel at these treasures, some of which are well over 100 years old. I wonder how well our current generation of digital images will fare over this same time. My fear is that most of them will be lost forever. (I've already heard people bemoaning the loss of pictures they were to "busy" to transfer from an old computer to a new one.) But I digress.
This picture is a wonderful microcosm of American society. There are dynamics at work here. A father and his "soon-to be flapper" daughter just exiting the bottom of the frame. Three young girls walking up the boardwalk, one of whom seems to be casting an eye back ... to what? (a rival?) Not far away is an animated discussion between three men. A little farther up, a family (?) of six females and two small boys, stretched out in a line. A man all alone, suffering from a cold (?) and on and on. Until up on the right, most disturbing of all, a small knot of men clustered at the swimming pool fence.
Ansel Adams had the Zone System. I'm working on the points system. First I points it here, and then I points it there ...
So Many ScenariosOne need not walk into the "SCENARIO" entrance to see them. For free, a lot of them are playing out right here. Here are some favorites:
The Prohibition is clearly in force here. Against smiling. What a grim bunch of happy vacationers.
The man talking in front right to the other two - he is flashing "East Side," homie. I hope he got the right sign back, for the sake of the man in the bowler.
The man, dead center, blowing his nose. Look at the wide latitude he is given. No wonder. A runny nose in 1914 was fearsome.
I give up trying to see what the young girl, front bottom center, is turning around to spy upon. If a young man is returning that gaze, about 20-30 people might be alive today as a direct result.
The Summer of '47Wow! This brought me back to 62 years ago. I spent a week in Ocean Grove with a family of neighbors while my dad was on a business trip in Europe. High spots of the time there was at the Carousel on the Asbury side of the lagoon, going for the brass ring, and seeing a performance of "Pirates of Penzance" in the huge old wooden auditorium. Ocean Grove was an old Methodist tent-meeting resort back then, like Ocean City farther down the Jersey Coast, and Oak Bluffs up on Martha's Vineyard. At Saturday midnight, chains were put up on all streets entering the Grove to prevent any auto traffic on Sundays. I wonder if they still do that there. And thanks for putting up the old postcard to reorient me.
Everyone is so thinin a good way.
"By the sea........by the sea, by the beautiful sea,
you and me, you and me,
oh, how happy we'll be..."
I don't know the rest of the words but it seems to precisely describe this photo of the halcyon days of 1914. Looks like a "barbershop quintet" of five similarly dressed males who just might be entertainers. Wish I was there.
Oh, the clothes!I know, I know. If all we talked about in Shorpy comments was clothes, we could still be here all day. But this is one of my favorite fashion eras, where the elaborate styles of the nineteenth century were enjoying a happy marriage with the simpler, more practical ones of the twentieth. I could spend hours just poring over the lace insets the black-hatted lady in the lower right is sporting on her summer frock. The bemiddied teen girls at center are adorable, yet comfortable enough to play with the boys. And every man is Maurice Chevalier!
Re: Can you hear me now?Is that person serious? You get a lot of comments like this, Dave?
[No comment. - Dave]
Can you hear me now?This is such a detailed recreation, it almost had me fooled. The man with the cell phone gives it away as a fake. He is about even with the man blowing his nose, a few paces to his right.
Clever, Dave. But not clever enough :-)
[Seeing as how his hand is empty, he's probably not chatting on his cell. - Dave]
It was a jokeUm, I was joking. I guess I sounded too much like some of the genuine comments that insist Dave is trying to pull the wool over our eyes in some fashion.
I'll try to be more obvious in my attempt at humor from now on.
Love the site, and this picture in particular.
Sunday DriversBob, sorry but they no longer put up the chains across the roads on Sunday. It ended back in the Seventies. Someone from New York, vacationing in Ocean Grove, complained that a Newspaper Delivery man was allowed to enter the Grove in the early hours on Sunday to deliver the Sunday paper. A lawsuit ensued and now the chains are gone. At one time nothing on wheels rolled in Ocean Grove on Sunday. Not bicycles or baby carriages. Everyone walked. Even cars had to be parked either in garages or out of town. Not on the streets of Ocean Grove. Most everything in Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, from that time, is gone. Even the carousel that had the brass ring is gone. I was born in Neptune and raised there about 60 years ago, and still live down by the beach.
(The Gallery, Asbury Park, G.G. Bain, Sports)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/13688u_0.thumbnail.jpg "Greetings From Asbury Park: 1914")
- Wisdom, Montana: 1942
- ... out in and played pool. There were street dances for the Fourth of July and any other occasion. There were two restaurants, one of which ... Posted by Dave - 11/03/2023 - 1:14pm -
![April 1942. "Baker's Garage in Wisdom, Montana. Largest town, population 385, in the Big Hole Basin, a trading center in ranching country." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Superb quality!The quality of this photograph is amazing. It looks like it was taken today. Do you have any more information on it?
Wisdom MTGoogle Maps link.
WisdomGreat photo. Thanks. The last remaining inhabitants eventually changed the name to "Boredom, Montana."
Towns like thisTowns like this are a staple of western North America. In western Canada, their existence was justified by the railway and farmers hauling grain to their local elevators. Later they survived when the highway became the big thing and people stopped for gas or a little food on the road. There's probably a bar that the locals go to. Town's got a school maybe even a high school, and probably more than one church. There's a ball field and, in just about every prairie town in Canada though of course not the USA, a curling rink. In Saskatchewan they used to say that if you lived in a town that lost the school and the curling rink you might as well start looking for a place in Saskatoon or Regina.
PennzoilThe Pennzoil logo hasn't changed much:
WidsomIt looks like it's on the edge of a river valley? The colors in this shot are indeed amazing. I love the punch of the red gas pumps.
[It's west of Butte. - Dave]
CalsoWhat does it say on the sign leaning against the wall, underneath "Calso Gasoline"? Is that "Unsurcharged"? No extra fees?
["Unsurpassed." - Dave]
Eternal WisdomUnderneath "Unsurpassed" on the Calso sign you have "The California Company"
I found a modern picture of this place online:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4494303
Aside from the paved road, this place looks much the same. I don't think they sell Chevron or Mobil at those buildings anymore. Baker's Garage is now Conover's Trading Post. The painted Wisdom has long since faded from the old metal roof.
The GarageI was raised and went to school in wisdom and Bakers Garage is not next to Ed Glassey's garage (The building with Wisdom on the top). Baker's Garage was across the street from Glasseys Garage (Looks like maybe they used photoshop to alter the photo) ..
I moved to Wisdom in 1959 so if the photo is from 1942 maybe they moved the Building??
[The image, which is part of the Library of Congress photographic archive, has not been altered. It's one of more than 50 pictures of Wisdom taken by John Vachon in April 1942. Things can change a lot in 20 years. - Dave]
Baker's Garage in WisdomI am a Wisdom native too.
In talking to my dad. Bruce Helming, who is the oldest native still living in Wisdom, it turns out that Anna Lee and Roy Baker did own a shop across the street from the garage that you know as Baker's, which is now the Wisdom Market. It was the Chet Bruns Union 76 Garage back in the old days. Anna Lee was my dad's first cousin. Dad's folks adopted her when her parents died in the 1920s, and she was raised as Anna Lee Helming in Wisdom.
My grandparents' (and later Dad's) business, Helming Brothers, bought out Chet Bruns' operation in the 1950s, which is when Anna Lee and Roy moved to the garage that you know now. The buildings shown in the photo were destroyed in the American Legion hall fire. I would guess that was in the early 50s, which is when all of the cemetery records were destroyed.
Wisdom had no real fire department until 1961, so when a blaze was raging out of control, it was extinguished by placing dynamite in a loaf of bread and tossing it into the fire. The night the Legion hall and all of these other buildings burned, Dad and his uncle, Clarence Helming, were bringing the fire pumper to the scene. Just as they rounded the corner, "Boom," no more fire (and no more buildings).
Gary Helming
Helming@juno.com
Pictures of Wisdom, MontanaI enjoyed looking at the old pictures of Wisdom and reading the text about them. I grew up near a small town (Gladstone, VA) and have always been kind of partial to them. I love looking at old pictures like these. Thank you for posting them.
The Wisdom of YouthThis town holds a place in my heart. I spent most of my youth in Wisdom, from 1975 to 1990. The town hasn't changed a lot since I left, but has gotten smaller. When I started at Wisdom Elementary there were four classrooms. By the time I graduated to high school they were down to three. I hear there is only one class there now. For high school we were bused 65 miles to the Dillon, one of only two high schools in the county.
It was an amazing place to grow up. Though everyone knew your business, everyone kept an eye out for you. We had two bars that all the kids hung out in and played pool. There were street dances for the Fourth of July and any other occasion. There were two restaurants, one of which burned down last week.
It is hard to describe the life that a kid in a town this small would lead. The concept just doesn't make sense to city folk. But it was an amazing carefree life of swimming under the bridge, ice skating at the pond, nights of kick the can in the Forest Service field, greetings from the town's pet deer and raccoons.
If it were possible to have the kind of lifestyle I have now in the city, I would move back to raise my child there in a heartbeat.
Having lived near Wisdom for many yearsduring the summer-time, I can almost see the buildings. We haven't lived in Jackson for 20 years but the previous 8 years were spent on the Hairpin Ranch in a line shack about 5 miles past the main ranch, in the middle of nowhere. I loved EVERY minute of it. We traveled to Wisdom for dinner some days or just when the kids wanted to take a ride. It was a short 20 mile drive. Would move back in a New York minute.
Early pioneers of the Big HoleI'm looking for any pictures or info of the early Wisdom families prior to 1930. I have an old school picture dated 1914/15 and would love to have someone help identify the children. Both sides of my family, the Elliott's and Scollicks were early settlers there. The old dilapidated log cabin on the south end of the Ruby near Butler Creek is the Scollick homestead and the Elliott log cabin is on Gibbonsville road. I believe my Aunt Eve Scollick might have married a Ferguson in the Wisdom area. There's a picture hanging at the Crossing/Fetties with several people on horses. Anyone that can help identify them as well would be great.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Rural America, WW2)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/1a34284u1.thumbnail.jpg "Wisdom, Montana: 1942")
- Liberty: 1919
- Washington, D.C., 1919. "Fourth of July tableau on the Ellipse -- 'Columbia,' 'Liberty' and dancers." ... Posted by Dave - 08/26/2012 - 11:46am -
- Parade in Port Huron: 1906
- ... Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day) or the Fourth of July. View full size.
Warning, Falling People If that guy ...
Probably the Fourth My guess is that it's the Fourth of July.
Aside from the incongruous frivolity of tightrope-walkers ... Posted by Rick - 11/15/2013 - 9:07pm -
- July 4, 1972
- Larkspur, California. Twin Cities Fourth of July Parade - the other one being adjoining Corte Madera. Here we're ... Posted by tterrace - 09/19/2011 - 8:27pm -
- Big Variety: 1941
- July 1941. "Main street of Vale, Oregon, on the Fourth of July. Vale is one of the shopping centers for farmers who live and ... before crossing.
July 2015 But probably not the Fourth of July, based upon the comparatively placid scene:
Color ... Posted by Dave - 04/08/2021 - 5:08pm -
![July 1941. "Main street of Vale, Oregon, on the Fourth of July. Vale is one of the shopping centers for farmers who live and work on the Vale-Owyhee irrigation project." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
LocationThis is actually one block west of Main Street, at the intersection of Court Street and A Street looking east down A Street toward the mountain slope.
[The principal thoroughfare of a town is the main street. Which may or may not be called Main Street. The main street of Vale is A Street. Don't even ask who's on First. - Dave]
However if Main Street is capitalized one can assume that that is the name of the street rather than just the "main street of the town".
[In our photo caption, it's not capitalized. - Dave]
Rough day at the Tavern?What happened to the awning in front of the Coca Cola soda fountain? Maybe the guy walking right in front of the car tried to swing from it after getting kicked out of the Town Tavern? Mr. Whitehat seems to be playing it safe by looking before crossing.
July 2015But probably not the Fourth of July, based upon the comparatively placid scene:
Color me!Boy howdy, this would be a great image to colorize! Somebody with more time and skills should take it on, even without any pretty girls in it!
De-EvolvementI look at street-scapes of the past and compared to most exact scenes of today all I can think of how devolved we have become.
The Main Streets used to look so vibrant with activity, signs, flags, stores, and well....life.
Today most places look like ghost towns with a lot of parked cars.
Honeymoon HotelMy folks spent their extended Honeymoon in the Vale Hotel just a couple of years before this photo was taken. They were married on New Years Day 1939 in Boise, and stayed in that hotel for two weeks or so while they waited for their permanent house to be available. They lived in Vale for 15 years.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, July 4, Russell Lee, Small Towns)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-8c36614a.thumbnail.jpg "Big Variety: 1941")
- Star-Spangled Stang: 1967
- ... 1967 Twin Cities (Larkspur & Corte Madera, California) Fourth of July Parade on the 300 block of Magnolia Ave. in Larkspur, right down ... Posted by tterrace - 07/04/2012 - 11:46am -
![The 1967 Twin Cities (Larkspur & Corte Madera, California) Fourth of July Parade on the 300 block of Magnolia Ave. in Larkspur, right down the hill from our house. The "Leoettes" was an auxiliary of the Lions Club - see the toy lion over the windshield? Their garb commemorates the Spanish/Mexican history of the area; at the end of the block, the car will cross the boundary between two old Mexican land grant ranchos: Punta de Quentin (here) and Corte Madera del Presidio. Today this parade entry would be part of the vintage car contingent. This is a section of a 35mm Kodachrome slide. View full size.
Twin CitiesI wonder if Larkspur & Corte Madera are sister cities to the other twins, Minneapolis & Saint Paul. Happy Fourth!!
On July 4Big hair rules!
A different picture todayIn 1986, Lions Club International amended its constitution to allow female members. Their years of service and credit for offices held, as "lionesses," transferred over if they joined the Lions Club.
Chevy & MustangThe white truck behind the Mustang appears to be a 1964 Chevrolet Step-Side Pickup. The badge on the fender looks too wide to be a 1963 model.
The two vents in front of the rear wheels of the Mustang were unique to the 1967 model year. The 1966 models had three vents, and the 1968 models had one large horizontal vent. Note also that there are no side marker lights or reflectors which were required on all vehicles made on or after January 1, 1968. The primary purpose of these lights and reflectors is to increase vehicle visability .
Larry the LionThe toy lion perched on top of the windshield looks like Mattel's Larry the (Talking) Lion.
The pull string on the front played about seven different recordings in a random order. I believe one was "I'll protect you," and another was "You're my hero."
The puppet version allowed you to put your four fingers in his snout and your thumb in his lower jaw. The tongue was made of felt or similar material and could be manually moved and the ears could be stood up or laid down.
Pictures of both versions are below. The free standing toy is missing a few whiskers and the puppet version seems to not be as shaggy as it should be.
Cool car.And a great time to be alive.
Brand new MustangThis 1967 model Mustang was the first design revision for the fabled marque. Introduced as the "1964 1/2" Mustang, it set all sorts of sales records, and established a cult following every since. As a 12 yr. old, I sent away for a Mustang toy car for a dollar. I still have it and noticed they were selling for $100 at an antique show recently!
Ok, I give upWhat is the car make of the vehicle on the used car lot, facing us straight on?
[Those are new Toyotas from the dealership whose showroom is off-frame to the right. - tterrace]
Thanks. Now I can get some sleep tonight.
I Have Never Been a Fan of MustangsBut I have to admit that few cars look better cruising down a 4th of July parade route with a couple of pretty girls perched on the folded convertible top.
Ford MustangsI was born and grew up in Milpitas, Ca, about an hour and a half south of where this was taken. Ford's west coast autofactory was in Milpitas, and the Mustang was the most well advertised and promoted vehicle they had.
Every year, for every parade in Milpitas, the factory would provide brand new cars for the town Mayor and City Council to ride in. Since my dad was City Council/Mayor for most of my childhood, I rode in one of the new cars with him each year.
MANY of the cities around us also got new cars for the parades courtesy of the dealers/factory. It was some of the best advertising Ford ever did, and created whole towns that were devoted to Ford in the process.
I miss those halcyon days.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, July 4, tterrapix)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/mustangfourth.thumbnail.jpg "Star-Spangled Stang: 1967")
- Carnivale: 1941
- July 1941. "People in Vale, Oregon, for the Fourth of July celebration." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm ... Posted by Dave - 02/22/2019 - 4:14pm -
![July 1941. "People in Vale, Oregon, for the Fourth of July celebration." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
High fashionThe clothing here is outstanding. I sometimes force myself to look at slideshows of couture extravaganzas, with all the runway nonsense, and this stuff here, in Oregon in 1941, is downright beautiful. All the clothing looks skillfully homemade or easily purchased. That woman with glasses in front, holding the little boy’s hand, is just plain gorgeous. That blouse, the buttons, that waistband, the pants, even the saddle shoes – she’s a knockout.
[Her blouse looks like rayon. - Dave]
SimplicitySometimes I forget there was a time when everyone's clothing didn't bombard us with brand names and logos.
Main street U.S.A. Much of it survives.
Vale, Oregon scenes - July 4, 1941There's video below for anyone interested in seeing a wonderful slideshow of pictures from that day in Vale.
Seems most of the folks shown in the photo above are walking away (south) from a then-finished parade, as it was held on "A Street" to the north (east/west where the corner for the Vale Hotel is in the background). Maybe hurrying towards the fair?
[The fair is in the photo. See the Ferris wheel on the right? - Dave]
(The Gallery, July 4, Kids, Russell Lee, Small Towns)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-8c01704a.thumbnail.jpg "Carnivale: 1941")
- The Unknown Trouper: 1924
- ... neighbors to the north send the very best wishes on this Fourth of July.
Don't we know her all ready? I'll search the files, ... Posted by Dave - 07/04/2013 - 1:35am -
![From 1924 comes our patriotic girl with the pearls in a Harris & Ewing plate labeled NO CAPTION. Happy Independence Day from Shorpy! View full size.
And may I addHappy 4th July to Shorpy!
Happy 4th of July!Nicely patriotic to see this lovely young lady being caressed by the good old red, gray and blue.
An unusual locationThis photo seems to have been taken on a roof top. There is a flagpole behind the young lady, with supporting wires to keep it upright. The flag, while blowing in the wind, seems to be hanging at an angle from a rope that is attached further up the pole. Maybe it was being raised or lowered and the young lady just happened to be subathing on the roof and the photographer put them together. What a great photo.
[True, but this was shot by a commercial photo studio, most probably on commission by a client, and not a casual snapshot. -tterrace]
Returns of the Day.We from Across the Pond join you in your wishes for the Happiest of Birthdays for your great nation, and join in your hopes for many, many more.
You are, indeed, an assemblage of Jolly Good Fellows.
Above the 49th parallelAnd from Canada, your neighbors to the north send the very best wishes on this Fourth of July.
Don't we know her all ready?I'll search the files, but maybe someone knows where else we've seen her. I LOVE seeing more than one old picture of a person because it provides us 5-10 times the information about what they really looked like, and often what their personality was!
Hubba HubbaLove the rolled down stockings. She's the bees knees.
No Longer UnknownAfter years of lurking, I finally registered on my beloved Shorpy just to make sure this lovely patriot got identified. According to The Washington Post of December 1st, 1924, her name is Helen G. Sweeney, and she was Miss Washington D.C./Miss Treasury Department of that year.
More information (and a second photo from the same shoot) can be found here.
(The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Patriotic, Pretty Girls)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_32468a.thumbnail.jpg "The Unknown Trouper: 1924")
- Cedargrove Sluggers: 1939
- 1939. "Fourth of July near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Rural filling stations become ... Posted by Dave - 11/14/2012 - 12:11pm -
- Queen of the Mustangs: 1966
- July 4, 1966. Twin Cities Fourth of July Parade on Magnolia Avenue in Larkspur, California. And if two ... Posted by tterrace - 09/23/2011 - 1:31am -
![July 4, 1966. Twin Cities Fourth of July Parade on Magnolia Avenue in Larkspur, California. And if two brand-new, dealer stock Mustangs weren't enough, an early Studebaker Lark in the used car lot. The other Twin City was neighboring Corte Madera. My Ektachrome slide. View full size.
Love that Lark!'59 -- and if it has painted trim rings around the headlights, it's the Deluxe (entry-level) model, though someone paid the dealer ten whole bucks to add those nifty bumper guards. The Lark was essentially a '58 Studebaker with the front and back ends lopped off, but kept the car company afloat for several more years.
Steve Miller
Still working on a '63 GT Hawk someplace near the crossroads of America
BirdsAnother great photo and another that brings back a flood of memories.
When we'd get a new car this is how it worked: My Dad would just show up after work in a new car. Never consulted Mom, she hadn't a clue. Brother and I never knew either, of course we were small but still never saw it coming. Can't imagine doing that to my wife and living.
So, for example, that's how he got his 1964½ Mustang on a trade in on his '59 T-Bird. Sky Blue with white vinyl top but there were paint problems so it was repainted silverish by the dealer.
He came home once with the car that had the Warner Bro's Road Runner on the side but that was just a joke to make Mom freak out. She did. I think it was just a joke.
Will you be moving the focusWill you be moving the focus of the blog into the 60's and 70's? I do hope not. I love Shorpy as a glimpse of a past and a way of life I wasn't able to see....this just reminds me of going through my photo box. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm less likely to check Shorpy everyday.
Dear ComplainerTo the tipster that complained about 60's and 70's contributions: Who cares if you check back less often. This isn't about you. Grow up.
Glimpse of an unknown pastPersonally, what strikes me about tterrace's 50s and 60s photos is how, in many ways, they feel more distant and distinct from today than images from earlier decades. Part of the somewhat tragic appeal of this site is recognizing modern elements of social regression within the sort of hapless, untrimmed clash of poverty and wealth of the the 10s and 20s. These less somber shots of hiked socks and parked cars offer a potent contrast, showing the more abundant and egalitarian affluence of the post-war era, which some claim as a myth but certainly seems real enough in these rich and warm Ektachrome reds. I've come to regard these entries as a very fitting complement to Shorpy's standard fare.
I mean, two lovely Mustangs adorned with flags rolling down Magnolia Avenue on Independence Day 1966! Could anything BE more perfectly iconic of an era on the verge of being razed into wistful memory?
Such A Different PerspectiveBrian said it much more eloquently than I could have, but it makes me sad when I see someone getting upset to see Tterraces great photos. I have collected and been fascinated by photos from the early part of the last century forever, but Tterrace's photos touch me in a totally different way. They are my own past, seeing them brings back so many memories, it is as if I am seeing my own family. I hope his treasure box doesn't ever run empty, although I know it will. Until then, I adore the memories that his and his brother's work brings back for me. And yes...it's all about me!
Seriously, we will never run out of great photos from the more distant past. I hate to feel bad for enjoying these great images of my own childhood.
Kathleen
Dad's SurprisesJNC, my father would come home from work with a new car exactly like yours did! I can remember every one, I think. And that is probably why I am such a sucker for cars from the fifties and sixties. NOTHING was more exciting. I remember all us kids, and mom too, racing out the front door to see our brand new car!
I remember our '62 Chevy station wagon came home the day before we took our family trip to North Dakota from California. That car was so cooooool because we could lay the back seat down and sleep in a heap of blankets. No seatbelts required...I guess we survived!
Steve, I love the Lark, too. It brings back memories of my friend's when we were in high school. We lived on top of a hill, and had to push it halfway down to get it going, but it was our transportation and we loved it. A few years ago, the same friend bought the same model, yet again. This one is a pet.
Kathleen
Another candidate for the tterrace fan club ...Please don't ban more recent ('50s-'70s) pictures from the site. Remember, not everyone who visits here is a baby boomer. I'm 33 and have been loving tterrace's photos, particularly those of family life in the 1950s. I wasn't born then, and popular memory of that era is now distorted by myths both good and bad. I have found it fascinating to look at these pictures and see a true record of how (some) people lived back then. Also, many of the pictures are very interesting or even beautiful in their composition: this one and this one, for example.
The '60s and '70s stuff I'm not so crazy about, but I'm sure there are viewers who get the same enjoyment from them as I do from the '50s photos. Pictures from the '80s onwards would probably be pushing it, but in general, I think that if there are adults around today with no memory of an era, it can probably be classified as "historic."
Not that it's up to me, of course!
Imported Indeed!Larks (the only surviving Studebakers at the time), for the last few years until their demise in 1966, were all made at the Studebaker plant in Hamilton, Ontario Canada.
Just my two cents worth...In regards to the "Will you be moving the focus" poster, I too had similar thoughts. I don't think he was complaining so much as he was just asking an honest question (seems to me).
We all have our reasons for coming here. I heard about the site through the podcast "This Week in Photography", and was instantly grabbed by the exceedingly high-resolution, pin-sharp view into the distant past. I didn't know such high quality shots exsisted; it makes it very easy to see that people were just people, especially in the more candid shots (meaning unposed, "slice of life" shots). Yesterday was no different from today, a week ago was no different from today, 100 years ago was no different from today; it was just another day, only the scenery and technology has changed (and yes, obviously, child labor, etc.). If there were high-res photos from the 1600's, I would be craving those.
TTerrace's photos certainly hold a value to many - evident by all the fans he has. I like his shots (I really like the "then and now" shot of him as a kid and an adult in the same location; the Knott's Berry Farm shot is great, too).
If I had to hazard a guess, I would think that Dave and the Shorpy gang are interested in what all of his customers have to think, and why they come here, and why they return. For me, it's the older shots. I grew up in the 60's, "The Wonder Years" was basically the way my life was (maybe that's why it doesn't draw me in the same). I just dig the Victorian era, through the 20's - 30's; that's the draw to me.
If the focus of the blog did change, I wish you well; if that's where your customers want you to go, by all means. Just for me, that isn't where the draw lies.
One thing Shorpy did do for me, it made me aware of the storehouses of old, high-res shots I didn't realize exsisted. If you do change, well, you did me a service, and opened a door to where I now know these storehouses exsist.
Just my two cents.
I'm six again!Seems like my memories of being a kid are all in Ektachrome too.
I'm enjoying Shorpy very much, thanks for a great site.
PicturesI love all the pictures on this site! I think Dave has done a great thing. There really should be no debate about when the pictures are from. They are all fascinating in their own way.
This site......does not belong to you or me, it belongs to whomever runs it and we are all but time travelers who are lucky enough to find someone such as this to let us rest here for a while. Now that being said, they can do as they see fit relative to content, 50's, 60's,70's, 30's, 20's, civil war era- it doesn't matter to me WHAT gets posted, I was not even born till the late 50's and I love ALL the pics posted here. It seems some here forget the postings are for your INTEREST and not your CRITIQUE. I'm just very, VERY grateful and thankful for all the hard work that's put in to this place. I'll GLADLY take whatver's given here and never, EVER complain. If some here don't like it, and are such sticklers (English translation: whiners)I'd suggest going and starting your own site maybe and invite us all over to have a look, otherwise, just enjoy....Fischer
Couldn't Agree MoreFischer, I totally agree. And I suppose this is as good a place as any to say *THANKS A MILLION* to Dave and any other powers that be, that we have this site.
I am absoulutely sure that all of us scroll past photos that don't grab our interest at times. I think that is easy enough for anyone to do...."this one's in color! Ok, I will move on." It's as easy as that.
Photos of day to day life, of any era, are truly amazing. Far from the movie set 'reality', we actually can look inside the lives of others. I am sure I am not the only one who blows these photos up as huge as possible, looking for details; figurines, shoes, toys, books...just the objects that surround the main subject are probably the best thing about these great pictures, at least for me.
They are all amazing, and a gift for us to see it all for free.
Kathleen
The LarkI had an uncle who loved Studebakers. In fact until they stopped making them the only cars I ever knew him to own were Studies. The interesting thing about the Lark in this picture is that it seems to be parked on a used car lot under a sign that says "Imported Car Service." I guess even in 1966 the Studie had become an exotic bird.
The interesting thing aboutThe interesting thing about the Lark in this picture is that it seems to be parked on a used car lot under a sign that says "Imported Car Service."
The lot is part of Hil Probert's Toyota dealership, one of the first, if not the first dealer to sell Toyota products in the USA. In fact, the sedans were called "Toyopets" when he first sold those c.1958-9.
Lark PowerOur '60 Lark (the second Stude in our family) was a thing of beauty and I thought it would last forever. It turned me into a hot rodder with no power steering or brakes but power power in its V8 engine. Our taxi model held as many kids then as a van does now but, of course, with no seat belts -- they just piled in. Our children learned to drive in it and after that we figured they could handle anything.
BTW, our first Stude, 1935, ended up in the Imperial moat in Tokyo in '48 after we sold it. They pulled it out and I bet it's still running. Great cars.
I like the 50s/60s picturesI'm only 17 so even pictures from the 80's seem historic to me. Pictures from the 50's and 60's really interest me because it's like looking at the past that wasn't too far away and yet so familiar. It's strange that I have a soft spot for these pictures even though I wasn't born yet. My parents keep saying how great the time they were growing up was and the pictures on this site help me tap into their familiar past. Keep them coming!
[Thanks, Tony. (Why do I suddenly feel about a million years old?) - Dave]
The 100-year-old photo blogWith respect, I think people are coming down too hard on the Anonymous who asked about the focus of the blog. The blog is titled "The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog" and the sidebar description says it's about what life was like 100 years ago. It's easy to see where their expectations on the age of the photos came from.
The 100 Year Old Photo Blog?Surely then by strict definition of the name, the only pictures that should be posted here this year should be photos taken in 1908. No photos of the Civil War and its aftermath, no images of Bohemian youth in the post World War One era, no 1920s auto accidents, and of course no Kodachromes at all of course. In fact pictures from 1909 wouldn't be allowed until next year and we'd never see another picture from 1907. Let's not take ourselves TOO seriously.
Wow, I was just asking....I asked a question and gave my opinion. I did not whine, complain, or intend to do anything to offend the amazing authors of Shorpy.
I thought they might want to know what their readers, commenters and buyers of their photos (I've bought a couple) think about a recent change.
I certainly did not ever say that Shorpy cannot post anything they want. They can run a picture of one Monopoly piece everyday if they wish, it's their website!
Thanks to those who saw it for what it was...a question by someone who really loves these amazing glimpses into a past I hadn't before realized had been preserved in such detail.
But don't worry, you prickly, angry, hair-trigger Defenders of the Light, you have succeeded. I won't be back to the comments section. I might make another mistake or ask the wrong question. Back to lurking quietly as I should have done all along.
Why Can't We All Just Get Along?I love this site and check it several times a day. I have a soft spot for tterrace's pix because they are from my era. But I also enjoy looking back even further. Everything is a learning experience and I for one am thankful to have the opportunity to visit here and glean some insight into our society's history. I especially enjoy hearing visitors' comments, so to the anonymous tipster who now prefers to lurk quietly in the background, don't let one somewhat rude comment spoil this wonderful place for you.
I'm stepping off my soapbox now...
To Anonymous TipsterTo the Anonymous Tipster who posted at 6:23 a.m.:
Now don't be that way. It's rather childish (and I should know because at almost 52 I get that way myself sometimes). I actually think that you, and others who have commented negatively on this question of photos from the '50s to the '70s have sparked an interesting and lively debate. My comment (100 Year-Old Photo Blog?) was directed not at you but rather at Stacia showing the absurdity of taking the description of this blog too seriously.
Personally I like the posts from the more recent times because I remember these times and things like the Studebaker Lark, or the picture of Hollywood and Vine before it was populated by assorted low-lifes (never been there but TV was). But you are entitled to your opinion and as they say I defend to the death your right to hold whatever position you want. I, at least, do not intend to ridicule you - unless you post something absolutely moronic, and it has happened - but rather to engage in debate over a difference of opinion. But if you can't take it, then don't post (but if you do, I'd hope you'd register for an account and be willing to back your opinions with your name.)
Brent McKee
Focus of ShorpyJust wanted to point out that Dave - who posts the "official" Shorpy pictures - is posting the same range that he always has.
These more recent ones belong to tterrace and he is kindly sharing them with all of us via the Member Gallery.
I'm enjoying them all! It's the huge range of subjects in the photos - from grocery shopping to world war armaments - that makes this site so addictive. tterrace is adding to that range, not taking away from it.
ToyopetWe live up in the Pennsylvania mountains, and would not expect to see what I saw last week in a client's warehouse: a well-preserved Toyopet. What a silly-looking little car! Fortunately for the company, Toyota was management-agile enough to refocus and retool to produce the envy of Detroit: a long-life dependable car for the American public, not an imitaion of American cars. Otherwise, we'd all be driving pieces of junk like the Falcon or the Vega.
[The Falcon, by most accounts, was a pretty good car. It was also the basis of the Mustang you see here. - Dave]
PicsI like all the photos I've seen. I'd also be disappointed if the pre-40s pictures got pushed out for the Boomer pics, but I won't complain about the flavor of the free ice cream!
But do remember that posting under your own name should be done carefully. It can be searched by prospective employers (loads of companies do it) and can open you up to harassment, especially if you have a strange name like I do.
Zsa Zsa's LarkStangThis brings back memories for me, my first car was a '68 mustang convertible, white, like in the picture. The year was 1976, but still. nothing like driving a big V8 convertible.
Toyopet - year?MacKenzieK,
I'm doing research on the old Toyota Toyopets. you said you know someone who has one? Do you know what year it is? 1958? 1959?
There are only a few known to still exist, it would be great to track this one down, too.
thanks.
dpitts@cdfms.org
~Daron
Toyopet - Larkspurtterrace,
I just returned from Larkspur this past week doing research in to Toyota's history and the dealership Hil Probert had. What do you know about the early Toyota dealership and the fact that it was/may be the oldest/first toyota dealership in the US?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
dpitts@cdfms.org
~daron
[San Diego Union-Tribune: "John A. Rose opened one of the first Toyota dealerships in America in 1957 on a remote parcel in Mission Valley." Below: Probert Toyopet ad from 1959, and 1958 Toyopet Tiara sales brochure. - Dave]
Probert ToyotaI worked at Probert Toyota right after Mr. Probert died. The story at that time was that Hil Probert was the "Pioneer Toyota Dealer" i.e. the first Toyota Dealer in the United States. He started importing Land Cruisers in 1957 and had a famous scenic ride up Mount Tamalpais to his favorite spot in the whole world under a large oak tree. The only way to get there was in a Land Cruiser, so Hil became a deputy of some sort, either with the Sheriff or the Fire Dep't in order to gain access to the restricted lands.
Hil died in 1968, just as the Toyota Corona was taking off as "The New Hot One". They were selling about 50 cars a month in 1968.
Hil also had a car collection on the property. Where the Lark Creek rear parking lot is today, used to be large tin sheds, home to about 40 old cars. There were various makes, but the one that I remember most was the Kaiser-Frazier. There were maybe a dozen or so, including a Henry J and a four-door phaeton convertible. Underneath a bedspread was a mint condition Kaiser Manhattan, jade green with a white "Bambu" vinyl roof. The plush green interior was complemented by its white padded dash.
1958 Toyopet CrownI own a 1958 Toyopet -- this was a dream for me to find and it took over 30 years to locate. Working for Toyota for the last 30 years I was happy when this one came around. The car has been shown all over Arizona and California for all to enjoy. When I bought it in May 2007, the car had not been on the road since 1964. Rebuilt the engine and some detailing. Original paint, just polished it out. The car can be seen on my website, www.Frenchysrides.com. Comments are welcome. Thank you for reading my story and visiting my Web site.
Frenchy Dehoux
I was 2 Months Young!When this photo was taken. I was being held by my loving mother. I was her firstborn. I didn't know it at the time (or much of anything else) that I would be the oldest of six children. I love parades and the celebration that accompanies the 4th of July. This past 4th of July was the first one, we as a family, celebrated without my loving mother. This month, August, one year ago my mom entered into Heaven. I know I will see her beautiful smile and hear her sweet, soft voice again. Until then, memories brighten my days and prayers calm my nights. I love you mom and I know that you love me more.
4th of July ParadeI was honored to be asked to participate in the annual Fairfax City, Va. 4th of July Parade in 1968. I was Oakton High School's first Sweetheart Queen my Junior year. A blue Mustang was the vehicle that I rode, waving & smiling. Halfway through, my facial muscles cramped & my wrist tired. It was the longest parade ever.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, July 4, tterrapix)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/mustangqueen.thumbnail.jpg "Queen of the Mustangs: 1966")
- All-American: 1939
- ... Green's restaurant, Gullah Grub.
July 4, 1939. "A Fourth of July celebration. St. Helena Island, South Carolina." 35mm color ... Posted by Dave - 07/06/2020 - 10:11am -
- Southdale Center: 1956
- ... They used to host fireworks in the parking lot for the Fourth of July. They didn't have too many, but, still it was fascinating.
... Posted by Dave - 02/09/2019 - 3:36pm -
![1956. Edina, Minnesota. "Interior Garden Court with stairway to upper level in Southdale Regional Shopping Center, the first enclosed shopping mall." Color transparency by Grey Villet, Life magazine photo archive. View full size.
RockwellianSomething about this photo is almost like a Norman Rockwell painting. The soft colors and muted details help, but what I notice are the little vignettes scattered about the mall — the dignified older man in the gray suit, the woman looking at a book with her son, the lady rummaging through her shopping buggy. The presence of a Woolworth's is just the sort of touch I would expect from Rockwell had he painted this scene. This photo is an excellent find!
The disposable mallAfter having worked on several shopping malls, and knowing how much work goes into the construction of them, I am amazed how fast they are considered obsolete! This one would fail by today's standards, even though it was truly a work of art.
Not Obsolete yet!This one is still open.
ChangesThere's a lot less brown paneling now, and the escalators have been turned so they both face toward the camera.
My highschool hangoutMostly because a friend of mine worked at the Babbages that was there for a while, and because it was a pretty short drive from home. Of course, it looked nothing like this then (highschool was late 80's to early 90's), but you can still make out the similarities.
I can't quite get my bearings in this picture - where's the Apple Store? It looks like to the right might be the hallway down to where JC Penney is (is it still there? I don't frequent Southdale too much anymore). If I remember right, that would make this picture looking toward the Apple Store (which was a B. Dalton before that).
At least the ceiling is the same (what parts they haven't expanded/remodeled, that is).
Fading MallsFrom the 1950's through the early 2000's, didn't shopping malls have a great run? They're all subtly turning into ghost malls. There's another one near the Twin Cities called Har Mar (yes, like Har Mar Superstar) that's practically a marble desert with a dwindling Barnes & Noble being its biggest draw.
There's also another popular local: The Mall of America. The Death Star. The Sprawl of America. The Mall of Gomorrah.
Because what the hell else is there to do in Minnesota? Especially when it's colder than a witch's tit outside?
[Some malls. Even many malls. But not all malls. - Dave]
Victor Gruen and "indoor town centers"Southdale was designed by Victor Gruen, often considered the "father of the shopping mall." It's interesting that this picture depicts what Gruen wanted malls to be -- an indoor town center where people would be comfortable just hanging out as they would in a downtown park -- even if they weren't buying anything -- but nowadays I can't imagine anyone other than teenagers actually spending time just "hanging out" in a mall.
James? James Lileks?Mr. Lileks, have you taken over Shorpy, you naughty blogger?
First thing I thought of when I saw the (awesome) picture, and then I saw it was in Minnesota, his stomping grounds.
The Terrazzo JungleGreat piece in The New Yorker a few years back about Victor Gruen and his how his vision for malls was undone by a change in tax regulations regarding depreciation of capital assets. Great, if somewhat depressing, reading.
"Victor Gruen invented the shopping mall in order to make America more like Vienna. He ended up making Vienna more like America."
Plus ça change...I think these slice-of-life pictures are my favorites. And, it's amazing how little malls have changed over 50 years.
Such fond memories of eating at the Woolworth's lunch counter in the 1970s and '80s.
Still bustlingSouthdale Center is, incredibly, still quite bustling. It's the more sane alternative to the nearby Mall of America. It has upscale shops but is still approachable, is small enough to navigate but has many of the options most people want. I hope this little gem doesn't go anywhere!
P.S. - Minnesota in the cold months is ALSO bustling! Don't discount the ice skating, nearby skiing and snowboarding, local arts and theater, and the hardiness of its residents, who are always willing to put on a thick pair of mittens and go out and live life to its fullest (and coldest)!
Takes me backI was born in 1964 and spent my early childhood going to this mall with my mother. She used to push me around in a stroller. The tall cage on the left was filled with canaries and parakeets. I was mesmerized by this. We would always stop at Fanny Farmer (just past Woolworth's) to get a treat of jelly fruit slices and continue around the corner on the left side to the pet store near the exit. There was a magnificent parrot that lived in a cage right out front of the store that I used to talk to. I think he might have known more words than me at the time! There was an FTD florist near the same spot, and I loved the fragrance of the fresh flowers that wafted into that part of the mall. It smelled like springtime, even in the middle of a dreary and cold Minnesota winter day. Dayton's and Donaldson's were the anchor stores; one on each end. I believe Donaldson's would have been directly behind the camera and Dayton's would have been straight ahead, on the far end (or vice versa). The shimmery gold floor-to-ceiling mobile type structures on the right, past the escalators, fascinated me too. They were so glamorous and HUGE! The lighting hadn't been changed yet, this is exactly what it looked like in the late '60's, although, later on when I returned there in my teens, there had been many changes and additions and a lot of these features had been removed. Going to this mall for a small child in Edina was possibly the equivalent of going to Disneyland for a child growing up in L.A. Thank you, Shorpy, for this special memory!
Woolworth'sI bet there is a great diner inside that Woolworth's with lots of tasty things like meat loaf, stuffed bell peppers, and root beer floats. Yum.
The Apple StoreThe Apple store would be behind and to the left of the camera. The upper level bridge is still there, so crossing from the left and continuing to the right would take you to Penney's.
MemoriesThis really brings back memories. I was 10 years old when Southdale opened. I actually took part in some of the opening ceremonies. A friend and I hitch-hiked out to the mall and in the parking lot somehow we got picked to participate in a contest. Four of us kids were picked to catch passes from two pro quarterbacks. My friend and I caught passes from Otto Graham and the other kids caught passes from Tobin Rote. Whichever team caught the most passes would be treated to malted milks paid for by the winning quarterback. My team won but all four of us were treated to malts. Otto and Tobin us into Southdale and we all crammed into a booth and listened to them talk shop about the upcoming season. Quite a memory. I still live in the area and often thought I should contact Southdale to see if they might have any pictures of the event.
Classy Early MallsIndoor malls were first developed in colder climates for obvious practical reasons. Over the years, mall design shifted from a focus on shopper experience and comfort (coat check rooms, lockers, sufficient restrooms ... even items of local historical interest) to maximizing the revenue of businesses (row after row of mini-vendor carts along what had heretofore been pedestrian walkways). On balance, I'll take the early generation mall ... or better yet, the restored downtown shopping district.
[The synthesized version of "restored downtown shopping district" is the current hot concept in retailing -- the faux-urban "lifestyle center." A shopping mall turned inside out. - Dave]
CorrectionThis is not the first enclosed mall. The first was (and still is) in Milwaukee. Built just after the Civil War. It is on Wisconsin Ave. I haven't more information at my fingertips. I am no historian, but was amazed to find this here. It is very attractive, too.
[Covered markets and shopping arcades go back hundreds if not thousands of years. Southdale was the first enclosed, climate-controlled shopping center of the modern era. In other words, the first shopping mall. - Dave]
More coverage of this pictureKottke has a piece on this, including another link to a relevant Economist article.
I was struck by this picture when it came through the RSS feed the other day. Lovely to read these comments and articles on it too.
Growing up in the UK in Cambridge, shopping malls were something of an oddity. I think the nearest real one was in Peterborough, at least 40 minutes race north. Cambridge now has two, I think (more's the pity because beautiful subsidised Georgian and Victorian housing was destroyed to build them, and Cambridge doesn't handle large numbers of people driving into town anyway). Both are relatively modern compared with this one so I never even considered shopping in a place like this. I wonder what the original mallrats would have looked like.
I grew up with this mallI was five when Southdale opened. It didn't have a JC Penney at that time. It did have a little play area in the basement with a maze for kids. The basement also had a shoe repair place that is still there, though it is now on the second floor.
Southdale also had Gager's Hobby and Handicraft store (on the opposite side of the open area from Woolworth's) where I could get chemicals for my chemistry set. I have no idea what kids do for chemistry sets these days. Do they even sell them? There was also our favorite, the Toy Fair, that sold nothing but toys. It was to the right of where the camera was.
They also had a grocery store called Red Owl. It would have been off to the left of the camera and down a hall. The grocery store didn't last too long, probably because people who just wanted groceries didn't really want the hassles of a big mall.
Thanks for sharing this photo. I had told my wife about the bird cage there, and now she has finally gotten to see it.
Surely not!This photo doesn't look dated at ALL. You know the saying, "Everything old is new again"? Well, decorating trends are very similar to what's being shown here.
Shopping MallsIt depends on how tight the specialty is to consider this the "first shopping mall" in the US. If you are looking at the subset of first enclosed, suburban, multi-level, postwar shopping mall, then yeah, it is the first. But if you want the first enclosed shopping mall then no. Northgate Mall was built quite a few years earlier as were a few others:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northgate_Mall_(Seattle)
[A mall, in the original sense of the word, is something like a fairway or greenspace. The pedestrian walkway or mall running down the middle of Northgate Shopping Center between two rows of stores was mostly open to the sky, so this was not a "shopping mall" as we know it today. - Dave]
Another photo of the mallhttp://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/11788654.jpg
You Are HereI was 6 or so when Southdale opened. Back then the Dayton's department store had a sporting-goods department. My mom got shot in the back of the head with a BB gun by a clerk demonstrating the gun!
When we would go shopping and bring my grandma along, she would sit by the birdcage and chain-smoke unfiltered Camels while we shopped. She loved to people-watch. Yup, great memories! Woolworth's was my favorite store when I was little! Two floors of "neat junk."
Skipping School in the late 70'sOh yes, it looked very similar to the version in this picture in 1979-80. I was part of the "burnout" crowd in high school. I skipped class constantly in my 10th grade year and spent the rest of high school in summer school so I could graduate. We would take a bus to Southdale and I'd cash my hard earned McDonald's paycheck at a bank somewhere near the York steakhouse, which was the big hangout at the time. We sit in a booth in the back near the doors, smoking all afternoon. There was an arcade in the basement near the post office area and across from the County Seat. There was also a Musicland down there. Once and a while we'd eat at the Dayton's restaurant upstairs or the Woolworth lunch counter. I also recall from earlier trips in the 70's with Mom and my sister a restaurant/Deli called The Brothers and Red Owl as well as a Snyder's, where I went to a big going out of business sale around 1975. Another favorite (maybe this is still there?) was Spencer Gifts. The Southdale Theater (where I saw "Purple Rain") was across the street with the great bowling alley next door. Those were also major high school hangouts. Great memories. I can't go there anymore without nostalgia for the birdcages and goldfish pond, and that wonderful art deco style.
Come on down!I was 13 years old when Southdale opened. I saw Bob Barker host a TV game show there. I got his autograph on the steps leading down to the basement where the zoo and shoe repair shop was. This TV show was very exciting to me -- it made an impression. I became a New York-LA TV director. My friends and I also put firecrackers in the planters hanging down from the send [?] floor.
Oh My GoodnessFirst job? Busing tables at The Brothers. There was an open-air restaurant in the courtyard; Dayton's had the "fancy" restaurant. In the basement there was a shoe repair place and then a games arcade. Man, I loved growing up at Southdale.
Mall ZooI heard there once was a zoo in the basement of the mall. Does anyone know about this?
Milwaukee "Mall"It appears you are referring to what today is known as the Grand Avenue Mall, sadly in decline since its rebirth in the early-1980s. I shuttled various documents to and from the construction site on a regular basis at that time.
But prior to its conversion, the oldest of the buildings comprising the GA Mall was known as the Plankinton Arcade. Yes, there are references that mention it being considered a "shopping center", its construction being 1915. As to it being enclosed, yes; as to it being climate-controlled, maybe if the windows were opened in the Beer City's humid summer to catch a delightful lake breeze and hope the winds didn't shift to the stockyards in the Valley.
In Milwaukee the first shopping mall, albeit outdoor, was Southgate, located off the corner of South 27th Street (US Highway 41) and Morgan Avenue, and opened in 1951. At about the time in the early-1970s Northridge (now demolished) and Southridge were constructed Southgate was converted to an enclosed mall, but is now long gone, recently the site of another superlative, that of the first Super Wal-Mart in Milwaukee County.
This metro area's first enclosed shopping mall as I recall was Brookfield Square in 1968, still in existence today and from all appearances doing well.
Parakeets, new shoes and cheeseburgers in paradiseIn my family, Southdale circa 1960 was much more than a mall. My mother called it "The Cities," because it was as far as she was willing to drive on those "crazy" city highways. 35W was out of the question, but 494 to France Ave exit was tolerable (unless we hit RUSH HOUR). We lived on a farm, about an hour away, and before Southdale, the only outings were to school, church and occasional food shopping at the Red Owl, the Meat Market and the Variety Store with the cranky storekeeper who always thought we were stealing stuff.
But Southdale, Wow! I was 5 years old, the youngest of four children, and twice a year, we would make the great journey to "Emerald City." Dayton's was Mom's favorite store, and for a farm wife, my mother had impeccable taste. Donaldson's came in second, and then Jack & Jill -- a small boutique with pricey, well-tailored children's clothing. Lunch was always at Woolworths, and our order was always the same. "HamburgerFrenchfriesMalt" (spoken so fast and with such excitement it sounded like ONE word); I remember the clattering of plates, the whir of the blender, the bar stools at the counter. Waiting for the food, we could check out the parakeets & goldfish.
My oldest sister convinced my mother to purchase a parakeet, cage, & and all the accoutrements. We had that bird for years, and when he died we headed back for a second. This time, the bird died in his little paper travel carton before we even got home -- and since we only went to "The Cities" twice a year, my mother decided to freeze it along with the receipt until our next trip six months later. How strange to present a frozen parakeet back to the store for a refund. While the clerk was surprised to see the frozen parakeet, she did offer us another bird in exchange.
A few years later, Southdale became a whole new adventure when my best friend's aunt drove just the two of us, and I bought my first long-playing album at Musicland, Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence." After that, my friend convinced me we should be drinking coffee and gossiping, or at least pretending to gossip, since none of our friends were old enough to be scandalous. Then we smoked Chesterfield Kings in random Southdale "Ladies" rooms and we both felt like we were going to throw up.
Southdale! Never stopped to think about it, but Southdale was, and will always be, among my fondest childhood memories. "The Cities."
Southdale MemoriesBoy this pic brings back memories. My family moved to Mpls in 1956 when I was about 3, so my earliest memories date from about 1960 or so. I later worked as a dishwasher and soda jerk at the Walgreen's on the upper level facing 66th street. They had a soda grill, as did most drug stores of that era, and the Woolworth's had a cafe as well. My first exposure to Chinese food was at the tiny little Half Moon restaurant, although I think initially I would order hamburgers, which were on the menu for fussy American kids. Behind the escalators in the picture was an "outdoor" restaurant. There was a Fanny Farmer on the second floor to the left. Southdale was THE place to hang out when you were a kid or teenager, especially the arcade in the basement.
Southdale in the 1950sI grew up just a few blocks from Southdale. I was about 3 years old when it was built. My mom and I would walk there about once a week. Dayton's and Woolworth's were fabulous! The fish pond was fun, but seemed to sport dead fish frequently (wondered if they weren't poisoned from the coins being dropped in there). Christmastime was unbelievable! The tallest trees, the biggest bulbs, and Santa ... oh, Santa!!
The line to see him, and the crowds were amazing! There was the Courtside Cafe, and oh so many shops! I shopped there for all my Christmas gifts, and worked there in my teen years. We didn't hang out there too much as to the crowds. We hung out more at Bridgeman's ice Cream Shop and Nelson's FireSide Pizza both in Richfield. They used to host fireworks in the parking lot for the Fourth of July. They didn't have too many, but, still it was fascinating.
Many kids learned how to drive in the east parking lot. With all the curlicue and ribbon styled roadways within the parking lot, it was an exciting way to practice steering those big '56 Chevys! The parking lot markers of foxes, bears and lions were interesting, too. I would love to see a picture of Christmastime at Southdale from the 1950s. Thanks for all your posts -- they've been fun to read!
Back when ...In those days people still used to dress up, at least to a reasonable degree, to go out to a public place like this. Compare to today's Walmarts, for instance. We have become a nation of slobs.
Another early mallThose of us who grew up in the Boston area were told that Shopper's World in Framingham was "the first mall." It was not, however, enclosed. And I suspect that dozens of other places made the same claim.
I had a very pleasant date there in the 1970s.
I just discovered that it was demolished in 1994. Sic transit gloria mundi.
The World of TomorrowForecast by the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Attention, ShoppersThe first structure in the United States that might legitimately be called a shopping mall is probably the Westminster Arcade in Providence, RI, opened in 1828 and still extant, albeit recently converted into residential "micro-lofts." It's a marvelous building, all the more wonderful for still being around.
[The shopping arcades of the 19th century, being arcades, are just what that term implies -- covered passageways, and not malls, a term that originally meant an open-air promenade. The suburban shopping plazas of the early 1950s -- rows of stores facing each other across landscaped malls -- were the immediate forebears of the enclosed, roofed shopping mall. - Dave]
Southdale Shopping Center: Calling for IntervieweesMy name is Zinnia Ramirez and I am a student at the University of California, Irvine. I am a third year journalism major and as one of my big projects we are tasked with writing a narrative reconstruction (recounting the events in a narrative storytelling style to paint an image of what happened in a particular instance in history) about an event in history (big or small), I decided as I was looking through the web that I wanted to reconstruct the Southdale 1956 Richfield Edina Shopping Mall in opening day. One of the larger elements is, to have narrative voices from people who experienced the allure of Southdale, possible describe a day there, the atmosphere, stores, etc. So if anyone remembers what opening day was like, I would love to talk!
Thank you for your time.
Zinnia
(LIFE, Stores & Markets)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/southdale_center_1956.thumbnail.jpg "Southdale Center: 1956")
- Link to the Past: 1955
- ... Larkspur house as a small boy.
He lost his eye one fourth of July due to an accident with a firecracker. He did not go to the ... Posted by tterrace - 01/11/2023 - 3:02pm -
![1955, Larkspur, California. Our neighbor Mr. Cagwin at age 98. Born 1857 in Joliet, Illinois; as an infant came west via sailing vessel from New York and by litter across the Isthmus of Panama; selling newspapers in Hangtown, California, at age of five when the Civil War broke out; worked at Carson City Mint, then San Francisco Mint at the time of the earthquake; retired in 1922. My brother, doing occasional yard work for the Cagwins at the time, took this Ektachrome slide in their Arts & Crafts style home, which they had built after moving to Larkspur in 1905. View full size.
GrandparentsHis grandparents could have been alive during the Revolution.
Long-lived FamiliesMr. Mel's observation that Mr. Cagwin's grandparents might have been alive during the Revolution could easily be true. I was born in 1949. My father was born in 1909. My grandfather was born in 1867, and my great-grandfather was born in 1829, only four generations in 120 years. (In our family the trail ends there, almost. My great-grandfather's father-in-law was born in 1790.) So it's no stretch to suppose that Mr. Cagwin, born in 1857, could have had a grandfather who was born in 1775.
Stories aplentyFantastic shot, really well done.
You just know he had a rich history of stories.
I wonder if he shared them freely
or if they needed to be pried from him.
LifeWhat a long and beautiful life. And in California, without the 10-below weather Joliet, Illinois, is having.
What A Great Face...This is such a well done portrait. This gentleman's colorful history just adds that much more, but the photo stands on its own merits as a really well observed scene. His wrinkled visage, his rumpled yet style conscious attire, his hand holding the smoking pipe, the chair he is sitting in, the canes hanging there, the chair behind, the potted plant, the light on the windowsill in the background... absolutely wonderful. This is as good as Dorothea Lange photo. Pictures like this keep me coming back to this site day after day. I wish a rating system were in place here because I'd rate this gem 5 stars! tterrace, thank you for sharing your, and your brother's, vision.
Henri!Are you sure Cartier-Bresson didn't sneak into Larkspur? What an eloquent portrait! There's so much in that face and posture and surroundings.
Looking into HistoryHis eyes are wonderful, and I can't imagine all the change and history he's witnessed! If just for the contemplation of the passage of time this is an important photograph.
And I would agree......with The Wingman! tterrace please keep them coming!
Ye Olde LarkspurBack then Larkspur was semi-rural, despite its proximity to San Francisco.
What's great about this photo is how modern it looks. It could've been taken down the street, today.
Indeed.very brilliant, this picture alone connects to so much and tells a thousand stories. thank you greatly for sharing it. 54 years ago, this man was nearing a century... it's break-taking.
[Coffee, anyone? - Dave]
Mr. Cagwin, Role ModelI talked with my insurance company the other day and they think I should give up smoking my pipe, which I have done for 40 years. I figure if I can get another 40 years or so out of pipe smoking I will outlive everyone else.
Mr. Cagwin updateMr. Cagwin died August 14, 1959, age 102 years, 8 months. The day before my own 13th birthday, as a matter of fact. His wife had died 13 months previously, aged 92.
Papa George CagwinThis Mr. Cagwin is my great-grandfather George Wilder Cagwin (Papa George); his wife was Frances (Mama Fanny). They lived in Larkspur for many years. My grandmother grew up in the house right across from the Lark Creek Inn and it still looks very much like it did back at the turn of the century -- latticed windows, red house, green roof, front porch, all look the same. I have a photo of my grandfather Aubrey Cagwin standing in hip boots in thigh high water on Magnolia Avene. My grandmother was Alice deVeuve. I believe her father built the house on Magnolia Ave. A lot of history has been gathered about the Cagwins by the Cagwin family over the years, photos included. What a great photo you took! Thank you! I will direct my siblings and my Uncle, cousins, etc. to it.
Papa GeorgePapa George was my great-great grandfather. I remember visiting him at the hospital with my father, Tom Cagwin, when I was about 4 years old. Dad was quite close to him and lived in the Larkspur house as a small boy.
He lost his eye one fourth of July due to an accident with a firecracker. He did not go to the hospital right away, but gave his Independence Day speech as planned. He was also the Mayor of Larkspur.
His wife, Fanny, lived to 98. They were definitely pioneer stock! Thank you for this wonderful photo.
Lori Alden Cagwin
Mr. Cagwin's 100thPerhaps some of the Cagwin kin who've commented are in this Ektachrome slide, also taken by my brother; it's Mr. Cagwin's 100th birthday party in January 1957. Mr. Cagwin himself just managed to get in the shot; that's his wife behind him.
What a birthday!Below is a photo of Papa George's 99th birthday on New Year's Day 1956 with grandsons Tom Cagwin & John Costa, wife Mama Fannie and me (great-granddaughter). The color photo under that includes Papa George's daughter Marie and her granddaughter D'arcy. (Marie taught us how to bake great apple pies!)
My son calls my dad Papa Tom in memory of Papa George. My father, recently visiting, told us how he looked for Papa George's spare glass eye on his dresser when small, fascinated as boys are with such things.
Papa George's father, Hamden Aubrey, took a wagon train in the spring of 1850 with his brother from Joliet, Illinois, to Placerville in search of gold and wrote about the trip, archived at the California Historical Society by granddaughter Louisa.
After an arduous four-month journey of 2,557 wagon-train miles, he managed to extract enough gold from Hangtown Ravine ($7979.65 worth) to bring his family out to California six years later, away from cholera and the beginnings of the Civil War.
Papa George was an infant on that trip. 102 years later, the story was shared by Papa George! Thank you again for rekindling these memories.
Interesting life! By coincidence, I was born in Joliet, Illinois, and lived 50 years on Cagwin Avenue. Very interesting.
Camera too closeOtherwise it would have revealed a glass of brandy in the "vicinity", too?
My father will be 95 in May. Unlike George he quit smoking in his late 60's.
Still maintains his "before the breakfast" grape, plum or pear brandy small shot.
The way I see he should be able to match this picture in three years.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Portraits, tterrapix)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_MIN1163.thumbnail.jpg "Link to the Past: 1955")
- Swim Party: 1942
- ... Facilities for workers employed at the Seabrook Farms. Fourth of July picnic at Parvin Park." 4x5 acetate negative by John Collier. ... Posted by Dave - 10/11/2022 - 2:41pm -
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