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- Office Xmas Party: 1925
- ... reminds me of Sinclair Lewis's protagonist in "Babbitt" (1922):
"He was the modern business man; one who gave orders to clerks and ... some of them may still be working through the 1922 translation of Swann’s Way).
By December, early subscribers could ... Posted by Dave - 12/15/2023 - 3:04pm -
![ It's two Fridays before Christmas, time for a hallowed holiday tradition here at Shorpy: The Office Xmas Party! Which has been going on for 98 years now. Will Clarence in Sales ever get up the nerve to ask out Hermione from Accounting? Is there gin in that oilcan? Ask the bear.
December 1925. "Washington, D.C. -- Western Electric Co. group." There are enough little dramas playing out here to keep the forensic partyologists busy until Groundhog Day. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Leer Kings"That Guy" looks like he could be the son of the older leering man directly to the right of him. I shall call them Denis Leery Jr. and Denis Leery Sr. The two men with them are obviously Christopher Walken as The Continental, and a young Franz Mesmer.
Just a little creepy....Some of the looks on their faces, wouldn't you love to know what they were thinking!
Debauchery 2.0Four years after behaving scandalously at the Krazy Kat, our bohemian friends find themselves slogging away at desk jobs in the boring adult world. Just WAIT until the Christmas party, though!
The oil canOf course the bear and the cabin weren't mentioned -- everyone knows the best part of the party is getting well-oiled!
Thank you. I'll be here all week. And don't forget to tip your server.
H.P. Lovecraft?Could it be? Standing in front of the "Go Go" guy, half hidden? Maybe Franz Kafka, instead? This would be the guy who takes an extra-long time in the lav in order to scratch unseemly things onto the stall partitions. Every office has one of these guys and in this office, its either him or else its the nearly invisible guy standing across from him on the other side of the tree. Also, the girl on the far left, standing in front of the door, is unforgivably cute. I'll bet she's told a lot of these guys "NO" and that's why she's way over there.
The Power Bloc ...Have you happened to notice how Big Boss Man - the guy holding that little stubby cigar - is surrounded by thugly-type guys? This is the power bloc for this office. The guys up on the top left are all from a different Department and are wary of Big Boss Man's thugs. There is a little bit of cross-pollenation, however. The first guy standing on the table at the right is shooting a bemused glance in the direction of his bud in that other Department. He's the shorter, unjacketed guy with the full frontal grin and the eyebrows in serious need of plucking. To them, this is all a goof. They hang out together and keep each other informed as to who says what about whom, which of the girls are doable and what the scuttlebutt is coming down from the top. There's more here but I don't want to get censored.
A Story in every faceThis photo can inspire everyone to write a novel because there is indeed a colorful character with his own personal bio in every set of eyes. The bald guy with the candle on his head particularly stands out as one who has a complex persona but so does everybody else in the picture. Some appear depressed, some look beat up, some seem desperate. Make up your own scenarios. Personally, I used to look forward to the office parties when the most unexpected facets of co-workers' personalities would be revealed, giving us the rest of the year to talk about that until the next one. Stuffy old lady accountants and spinsters turned out to shock us the most when relaxed by a "touch of the grape". Lots of fun, too bad they have mostly been eliminated. Thank you for this blast from the past.
[That's a "GO-GO" traffic signal on Mr. Complex Persona's noggin. - Dave]
WiredCould it be that they tapped the power for the Christmas tree lights from the ceiling fixture?
What a mod hairdo!The brunette peeking from behind the desk (right above the black purse) has such a 1960's hairstyle!
Fat ChanceThe corpulent boss, stogie in hand, actually thinks that removing his glasses improves his appearance. He also seems to be playing footsie with the marcel-waved cutie who inexplicably has an oil can in front of her.
A KnockoutThe woman with the pearl necklace sitting at the very corner of the desk is a knockout! She looks like a present-day actress whose name escapes me. The guy standing up and glaring into the lens at the extreme top right of the photo may very well be the Antichrist. His stare gives me chills. The guy behind him looks like an "evil character" straight out of Central Casting. This is a great photo.
Thought BubblesIt would take me all day to write out thought bubbles for what I imagine is going through all those heads, but the lady at dead center seems to be thinking, "What was IN that punch? Did they repeal Prohibition and nobody told me?"
The "dark lady" downstage right is thinking, "I hope they snap that picture before I freeze to death down here on the bare floorboards. You would think the electric company would have better heaters in its own offices, but old man Pennyfarthing won't even spring for a rug to keep the draft out."
Western Electric (Shock Therapy)Great pic. And I'm sure there are as many stories as people in this one. But let's admit that the lady sitting on the floor on the left has to have the most interesting one. There is a haunted, post-experimental-therapy look to her that immediately reminded me of the psych-ward scenes in "Changeling."
Where's the copier?Ahhh, the days before every office had a copier, and every office had some joker trying to get the temp to sit on it!
Re: Fat ChanceWait -- so the oil can is worth noting, but not the bear statuette or the small house?
Western ElectricWestern Electric was the manufacturing and distribution arm of American Telephone and Telegraph. I suppose that this office in Washington was one of their distribution points. At any rate one interesting thing about the photo is the decided separation of men and women as though they might have come from different sections of the business. I also note that the ladies are sitting on a pretty rough floor, which is something I would have thought they would have avoided in those clothes. As to the glasses, I suspect that the photographer cautioned them that the flash might reflect from the lenses, assuming that I can assert that there was flash. Who knows, maybe there's a window somewhere.
That Office GirlI find her the most intriguing face in the picture. She looks almost out of place in this setting... her face is striking. Her expression says that she's part of a back story going on around the office that no one knows about.
Wow. I'm falling in love with a woman who's long long dead. How sad is that?
GiftedJudging by the peculiar items in the shot I'm thinking they exchanged white elephant gifts at the party. I got a big stuffed fish at our last party. I would have preferred the oil can.
This is so great!A bevy of attractive females here but I'm partial to the blond girl standing at the far left of the photo.
Wowzer!
Also, standing next to Boss Stogie on his left: ladies and gentlemen ... Mr. Joaquin Phoenix.
The Black WidowQuick somebody, get the story on the raven-haired woman sitting in front of the desk.
She looks like she ate her young; perhaps she has a few "missing" husbands buried in her dirt-floor basement.
I get the very distinct impression that if you crossed her, you ended up joining the silent majority long before your time.
Dark LadyWell.....the woman at bottom left certainly catches the eye. Something of a femme fatale, I think. Not generally popular with the more strait-laced ladies, like the woman two to her right who's giving her a very frosty look. The younger woman though, above and slightly to the left, is more sympathetic.
Since it's not uncommon here on Shorpy for unflattering comments to be directed at the olden-days womenfolk, let me be the first to say what a grim bunch the men are. I'll make an exception for the guy under the tree.
Getting Oiled at the Office Xmas PartyThe oil can on the foreground floor is absolutely precious. There can be no rational explanation for it. Then again, one tends to get oiled at the office party.
The hot babe is standing, far left, if not the girl sitting left, in pearls by the purse on the desk corner.
The fat guy with the cigar has his conjoined twin growing out of his forehead.
Girls on one side, boys on the other? Weird.
How dare these people all die off before telling us why that guy is holding the little horsey?
"Hey, Griselda. Spin my copter. If it says 'STOP - STOP', you are not mine. If it says 'Go - GO', oh you kid!"
Most riveting photo ever.I've been a lurker on Shorpy for months, but this photo has prompted me to register and comment. I've been coming back to this picture every day since it was posted, showing it to everyone I know.
What strikes me is that though there are several vintage-type characters here, there are also quite a few very contemporary looking people as well. This photograph represents such a vibrant living moment in the lives of these people. Some of them look like they could speak to you right from the picture. And, oh what a story they could tell!
This photo takes first place from my previous Shorpy favourite, They Shall Remain Nameless.
(But it's so close... check it out if you missed it.)
Ansel Adams had the Zone System... I'm working on the points system. First I points it here, and then I points it there ...
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen......hair! I think that's my favorite part of this picture. There's such a great group of hairstyles among the women. A few of those girls were pretty darn good with the curling iron, or whatever they used. I wonder if they're more glammed up than usual for the big party. For some reason, the hairstyles are more striking to me than in other pictures. Anyway, fascinating as always.
P.S. I think the guy that bdgbill thinks looks like the antichrist is actually kind of a hottie. I'm going to go on the assumption that he didn't look that intense all the time. If he did...well, I could see bdgbill's point then.
Now I KnowMy father worked for Western Electric. The money wasn't very good, so I never figured out why he stayed there. Guess this answers the question.
IN and OUTI noticed the IN basket on the desk to the far right, but where's the OUT basket? I sometimes wonder why I have an OUT basket on my desk at work - it's always less full than the IN one.
The woman sitting on the floor to the far left bears a striking resemblance to the Italian actress Ana Magnani (The Rose Tattoo).
Dramatis PersonaeMona, the woman on floor, far left (one of the few without the Marcel wave), is probably a Suffragist or at least politically active. Maybe she's trying to organize these party animals into a union and all they want to do is balance traffic signals on their heads and be wildly social.
Don't mess with these guys!The boss from Hades has what looks like a goose egg on his forehead and the coatless guy on his right has a black eye and cuts on the nose and eyebrow: maybe the partying started the night before. Looks like a smoking hot curling iron was de rigueur for any well-coifed lady.
That guyOf the four guys standing in the upper right, the guy who is on the left side, closest to the tree -- which girl is he leering at?
Western ElectricIf you flip the picture around, you can sort of read the door sign. I can make out:
504
[Western Elec]tric Com[pany].
[INCORP]ORATED
[?]ION DEPARTMENT
I wonder what the missing part is. Administration?
Office TensionThis must have been just after Phyllis spilled the beans about Dwight and Angela. Poor Andy!
The Power Bloc, continuedThe balding gent just over Boss Stogie's left shoulder-- the real power in the office, he certainly looks confident that his recent appointment to regional director will lead to greater things. Boss Stogie's son, Junior (with the candy cane), was on the fast track to becoming a junior partner until he was befriended by Harold from the mailroom (his hand on Junior's shoulder), which displeased Boss to no end.
UndercoverIsn't anyone going to ask why the woman in the middle is wearing a hat with a Police badge? Is this a costume xmas party? Could she possibly be a real cop??
My GirlSay what you want about the woman on the floor or the blonde with the pearl necklace, but my heart belongs to the woman standing fourth from the left, middle row. She reminds me of Bernadette Peters.
The henchman second from the right at the top has a menacing Snidely Whiplash quality about him. You just know he slipped a mickey into someone's drink.
Re: Western ElectricYou know you're a Shorpy addict when you "get" Anonymous Tipster's reference to the photographer's use of flash (or WAS there a window somewhere?!). Nice shot, A.T.!
Twins or Sisters?Study the features of the young woman directly in front of the door - then look at the one just to the right of (and looking directly at) "blondie with the pearls". Eyes, hair, smile, shape of face, body build: if they are not twins then they must at least be sisters. It is uncanny!
Christmas BackstoryYes, the young lady at the lower left leaning against the desk has the most interesting backstory in the room. Thanks to the passage of time we'll never know what was behind her haunted expression beyond that the woman giving her the evil eye must have had something to do with it.
Dave continues to put these evocative photos up knowing our emotions will never be satisfied!!
Meanwhile, notice the vintage Chia Pet resting on the scales in the "shipping department" (the desk along the left side). The girl in the fake police hat is looking longingly at it. Chia bunny? Chia elf?
The guy in front of the Christmas tree holding the toy, "I got a PONY!"
Keep them in their place.I, too, wonder why all the women are sitting on the floor in their silk satin dresses with fur collars. Surely there were some men who would have been glad to give up their places for them (and to sit amongst the women!)
How did they get Xmas light strings in 1925?I thought people used small candles until the '60s. How did they happen to have these string lights? Great pic of us back then.
[The 1960s being, I guess, when covered wagons brought in the first supplies of wired Christmas lights. - Dave]
I spy...Second woman in the third row...Frida Kahlo, at her day job.
SpellbindingI cannot stop looking at this picture. So much to see. The Al Capone looking guy is mesmerizing. The guy at top, second from right gives me the creeps.
1920'sI'm kind of young so maybe I'm missing something, but did pretty women not have to hold jobs in the 1920's? This office is worse than the one I work in, I didn't think that was possible.
Re: 1920sI'm kind of young too, but I disagree with you. I think this office has quite a collection of lovely women (and some not-as-lovely ones too, just like today). Sometimes, it's hard to look past the hairstyles and the clothes. If you are young (20-something? younger?), you've really only seen one ideal of beauty--you've missed a lot of the different fashions and hairdos of the rest of the 20th century. You also underestimate what modern makeup does for women. There are so many more varieties of it today than there were then, and it's generally of higher quality and easier to use than in the past. If you took one of the women in this picture, say, the girl with pearls sitting next to the desk and plunked her down in 2008 to get a makeover, her hair would be longer, probably highlighted and dyed, and aided by daily washing and a host of conditioners. Then, add some good moisturizer, foundation, and concealer, as well as a lash curler, mascara, and a healthy helping of eye liner, and I'm guessing you'd think her quite the fox.
Conversely, take the most attractive woman you know now, and put her in short hair and marcel waves, take away her hair dye and most of her makeup, and I'm guessing she'd look quite similar to the ladies in this photo. Even something as simple as the shape of plucked eyebrows really change the look of someone, and with the change in aesthetics, it's sometimes hard to get past the fashion to see beauty.
It works with the men too--you'd probably look a lot different with a side part and a pompadour!
That's right . . .. . . pretty women did not have to work in the '20's so, Miss Oilcan's exemption is assured, in my opinion - what a hottie.
Foy
Las Vegas
That's my desk!I have a desk that's identical to the one on the left. I had guessed it was 1940's vintage. It's nice to see it's even older than I thought.
Record Breaker?Look at the stats on this photo: 53,000 + reads, and still climbing. That's a lot of forensic partyologists! I wonder if even Dave knew what he had pulled out of the hat with this one?
[I am shocked. Shocked! - Dave]
re: Xmas light strings LOL! Dave, a lot of your comments (like this one) crack me up! Are you a comedian in real life? Merry Christmas!
[Please folks, no applause. Just throw money. - Dave]
Hotness quantificationI count 20 women in that picture; most of them you can see no more than their face and hair, and two you can't even see all of that.
Out of the 18 you have a good facial shot of, I'd put 3 of them at 8.5-9.5 on the scale... three of them are SMOKING hot. I'd put another 4 at the 7-8.5 mark, meaning serious cuties, and at least three of the others are a 6 -7.
Where I work we have 100 women in my office; I'd put exactly three in the 8.5-9.5 scale, and another 10 in th 7-8.5 scale; of the rest, probably only a smattering are really in the 5+ range.
So, I have to know ... where do you work that the women are so attractive? Playboy Enterprises?
Taking into account the differences in style, these women were, mostly, very attractive, and even a couple of the less attractive weren't awful.
The Men of Western ElectricIn the interest of gender equality, I got to wondering about the relative charms of the office boys. I found three who tickled my fancy.
1. The tall smiling fellow whose head is sticking up behind and to the right of Police Woman. His face is open and honest, he's smiling with his twinkly dark eyes as well as his mouth, and although his ears are a bit prominent there's a lovely overall symmetry to his face. I'll call him Dimples.
2. The one man who has the sense to sit down with the ladies. He's a bit older, but I love his soft wavy hair. There's a certain aristocratic but slightly sad angle to his tired half-smile that puts me in mind of a young Prince Philip. I'll call him Phil.
3. OK, here's the hotness - the brash, cocky young sheik peeking out confidently between the heads of Boss Stogie Pennyfarthing and his wan shirtsleeved assistant. He's got the eyes of Frank Sinatra and the hair of Jack Kennedy. I don't know what he looks like from the neck down, but from the Arrow collar up he's all, "How YOU doin'?" I'll call him Frankie.
In summary: Were I one of the office flappers, I would ride in Frankie's Studebaker, nurse a secret unrequited crush on Phil, and take Dimples home to meet Mother.
Rogues' GalleryI can't stop staring at the chilly filly down by the leftern desk. She looks like three out of every five women I've ever fallen for. It's the eyes. As to the resemblance to Ana Magnani, she might be of Italian descent.
I am also like the older gentleman in the upper right. Mr. Leery Senior, was it? Right between Charlie Sheen (or Leery Jr.), Snidely Whiplash, and Mr. Deer-in-the-headlights. What a jovial sort. And a snappy dresser, as well. Conversely, the startled fellow's vest is well off-center and makes him look like he couldn't decide which part of him was the front. Or maybe he was taking a nap under a desk just before the photo op and somebody had to drag him out.
Funny how a photograph will turn Bob & Lisa from the office into Dick Tracy characters once you let your imagination do the walking. Thanks to all you for sharing your insights.
You were linkedA local blogger from Beaumont's newspaper linked your site today. I will be forever gratful! Nevermind I got absolutely nothing done today and instead pored over your site at length. This is truly an awesome site!
This Won't DoOne chubby gal. One chubby guy.
As an official with the State of California, I say that this does not pass muster. There was hiring discrimination here. Walk into any State office and you'll see what I mean. Not to mention the plethora of Caucasians.
The chubby gal is next to sheet music. Wonder what this melba toast group was singing?
They're all dead nowJust think ... they all had their youth, their lives, their personalities, and now they are all turned into worm food. Just a happy thought for Christmas.
No, wait a minute. . . okay, I've changed my mind. Now I like Miss Lookingaway, sitting in the lower left. Definitely. She's the one.
Foy
Las Vegas
Oil Can GalThe siren sitting with the oil can is undressing me with her eyes. I'll ignore the fact she is 112 years of age, and let her.
[Guess that explains the oil can. - Dave]
Houdini?The guy on the left side, just above and to the right of the P.D. hat girl....did Houdini make a special appearance? In any event, he's got a mean set of eyebrows.
And you are correct, Stinky, the girl on the far left by the door is surely a looker!
Lost in the crowdNobody seems to have spotted Hugh Grant peeking out between Stogie Boss and Bald Guy.
Famous facesTo keep Hugh Grant company, fellow British comic actor Rowan Atkinson is peeking out from behind Shirtsleeves.
He is not a crookOh, my gosh. There's Richard Nixon on the upper right (with face partially hidden) just below old boss and crooked-vest guys.
Roxie & Co.I love this picture, and all the comments! Here's my .02:
*Girl with the oil can doesn't want to undress you, she's too in love with herself. You can see it in her eyes; she's a Roxie Hart if I ever saw one. "Eat your heart out, Sophie Tucker."
*I swear I graduated with the girl who has her hand on Roxie's shoulder. She's the one who organizes all our class reunions.
*If I were one of those girls, I'd probably want to date the guy sitting on the desk, right hand side. However, I have a feeling he'd want to "just be friends." So,
*I'd have to go for the one behind Ol' Pennyfarthing. No, not that one, the bald one. Handsome features and sense enough to not put some ridiculous piece of fur on his head.
*Girl leering at our castoff looks like one of Cinderella's stepsisters. Drucilla, I believe.
Office HottieI think the guy looking over the RIGHT shoulder of chubby-stogie dude is hot. There's something about the eyes that grab me. And the hint of a smile.
British InvasionNot only Hugh and Rowan - isn't that the actress/singer Patsy Kensit on the left, standing in front of the office door?
Can't Get Over This PhotoI can't get over this picture. It's my favorite one on Shorpy, which is saying a LOT. And, it has nothing to do with my collection of high-end Western Electric phones from 1905-1939.
The woman in front, referred to as the "Black Widow," I can't look at her enough. She surely would get a large kick out of the ruckus she would caused in 2008, unless it bored her as also being commonplace in her own time. The woman over her left shoulder has movie star looks.
They are on the fifth floor, and I wish I could see the name on the glass door. Then again, the woman obscuring it may be the one to take home to meet the family, so she can stay.
The finish on the floor is badly worn, as contrasted by the part under the desk. These fellas were habitually hustling to and fro, and with the feminine charms represented here, it's no wonder. Office romances must have been all there rage therein.
I have been hoping the Farkers would be all over this one, except they love to specialize in the one-person quirk shots. I could place the Black Widow in countless situations...
Is this the only picture you have on this stunning group?
[Afraid so. - Dave]
If onlyTterrance had taken this photo! We would know all about it, mystery solved.
I thinkthe mysterious suicidal communist was probably a cleaning lady whom the photographer sort of forced to be in the picture and she's embarrassed to be photographed in shabby clothes and feels naturally out place amongst the staff with whom she's always been subservient.
She reminds me of Camille Claudel on her way to the madhouse.
50 Little IndiansThis photo looks like a cast of characters who would end up in an Agatha Christie mystery....and I'm pretty sure I know who did it!
The Officethis picture reminds me of the TV show The Office. Jim is sitting on the desk in the right corner. Pam is all the way to the left in the back row. Michael is the guy with his hand on Jim's shoulder although he should be the bossman with the cigar. Stanley is the guy between the man holding the horse and the man with the cigar. Creed is Mr Leery. Kevin is holding the horse. Dwight is the only guy in glasses. Kelly is the bobbed woman behind the desk with the permanent smile on her face. Meredith is the creepy woman off alone... she's just waiting for her next drink of alcohol. Andy Bernard is the guy to the right in the back with the striped tie. I couldn't decide who Angela was. Ryan is the deer in headlights next to Andy. Phyllis is in the satiny dress to the right. Oscar is right by the right hand edge.
Man I love this picture.
AngelaAngela's sitting on the floor with that big lace collar, giving the stink-eye to Meredith.
Naughty NaughtySome young lady has just done something naughty off screen left. The Leery Boys approve, the Black Widow and Stink Eye don't, and the young lady behind Stink Eye is too drunk to comprehend.
Also, is the bald man by the Christmas tree wearing a traffic signal on his head, set to "Go?"
Somewhere in this crowd must be Col. Mustard, Miss Scarlet and Prof. Plum.
My favorite pictureI and my co-worker check this site at least three times a day. He has never been on the Internet and when he passes by he will invariably ask "Anything new?" Which I know to mean "Anything new on Shorpy?" This Christmas Office Party is our favorite. We both live in Maryland and have seen many of the areas displayed in these pictures. When we scan the Office picture and see the "mob boss" guy with the stogie and the gun in his pants, he does a great Al Capone voice. I hope my posting this comment will bring new fans to
this amazing photo.
Merry Christmas everyone!have a great holiday and prosperous New Year.
Oh Christmas Twig! Oh Christmas Twig!Considering it is 1925 and an urban area they probably had a hard time locating a showpiece Christmas tree. Probably the best they could do was this poor little immortalized twig.
Timeless peopleEver notice how nearly every photo of a large group, from about 1900 on, contains at least one person who looks like he/she could have been photographed in just about any decade, or just the other day? The lady by the desk behind the pretty girl with the pearls looks like a teacher at my kids' school! There is nothing about her teeth, hairstyle, makeup, etc., that gives away the fact that she was photographed in 1925 except, of course, for most of the other people in it.
The Timeless DeskI'm still using the exact same desk as the one in the photo; my wife purchased it from McGill university when they replaced the professors' desks in the mid 1960s.
Oh what funAdolf (second from right at very top) has quite the leer going on. Peter Sellers could imitate him well. Mystery Lady could have been even more beautiful. I imagine her long hair flowing and her prominent features brought out even more with an expert's touch.
What is Stogie Man carrying, besides his eyeglasses? I also wonder who took this photo. It obviously took some arranging, with the piling up of people.
Excellent, almost spellbinding picture! I come here about six times a day just to visit it. I wonder who lived the longest, and what year they all died and how? Yes, I'm a morbid one.
Office A-Go-GoThe gent at the back is, indeed wearing the miniature street signal (it has 4 arms to the signal so not a railway signal) on his head. Firstly, the only thing behind him is a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall, certainly nothing that the signal could be perched on. And, secondly, if it was sitting on something, it would not be sitting at the angle it is.
Then and Now I'm wondering -- in today's world there is usually at least one person at an office party of that size who gets a little too inebriated and winds up making photocopies of their nether parts for distribution to all. Was there a way to do the same thing using a mimeograph machine or whatever other copying technology existed in 1925? Would the tipsy individual first have to draw their naughty bits on some special copy medium? Our grandparents sure had a lot of hardships to deal with.
At First Glanceand in the zoomed out view, I thought the gent at the far right might be the office troublemaker and that the folks wrapped him up in Christmas lights for his just deserts. Alas and alack, when you go in for a closer look, it's simply the ravages of time taking their toll on the negative.
[This batch of plates has water damage along one side. - Dave]
The Lady of the Deskjust wandered in from the Sergei Eisenstein film that was shooting on the set next door. She's on a break between takes of the Odessa Steps sequence.
RE: Oh GreatIf CBS could give us Rudolph, Shorpy can give us Western Electric.
2010 InterpretationsThis year, I think the Black Widow has pretty much just had it with that place.
Stink-Eye isn't looking at the Black Widow. She's disapproving of something messy on the front of the desk.
I can't find Don Draper Nor Joan Holloway, but this sure conjures up thoughts of Mad Men, 45 years earlier. I burst out laughing when my eyes scanned to the guy in the back with the stop and go-go item on his head! Maybe THAT is the flavor of the evening? More GO than STOP? This is the roaring 20s after all and these are certainly modern women..
Yes, this picture and your readers' comments may be my very favorites to date!
Some Like It Hot The mademoiselle standing in front of the woman wearing the Policeman's hat could have been Billy Wilder's inspiration for his casting Jack Lemmon in drag.
Another WorldThese people are denizens of another universe that, no matter how many photographs we study or books we read, we will never fully understand because we didn't live in it and never will.
These are people who knew how to navigate themselves in the distant world of 1925. All of these people were born at the beginning of the last century and were brought up by people from the 19th century.
If a modern young person were to be suddenly transported here without preparation he would find it completely disorienting and possibly quite frightening, because of so many technological and cultural and social differences between now and then.
Deja vuI loved this picture.
But the lass in front of the desk, looking stage right, is memorable. I think I've seen this picture before.
Then I noticed the dates of the previous comments. 2208? Surely two years cannot have gone by so quickly.
[To say nothing of the 198 after that! - Dave]
SteamyThere are some SERIOUS sexual crosscurrents and hot vibes in this picture! Amazing!
Slow on the uptakeI'm pretty sure Mr. Semaphore head isn't actually wearing that thing on his head; it's behind him. What is alarming is the second head growing out of his chest. The heads seem to be in agreement to lurk.
Oh great!Shorpy is doing reruns for the holidays.
Kidding.
Merry Christmas.
Uh-Oh TannenbaumThat's the most bedraggled Christmas tree I've ever seen. It has more tinsel than needles.
An unflattering portraitMy god, this is by far the ugliest group photo I've ever seen! Both girls and guys look like winners from the Walmart Ugly Photo Contest.
Kimono-wearing parrot?With a bouffant, no less? Over there, on the scale!!
The gal with the candy cane, to our left of the much-ballyhooed oil can chick, seems to be presaging late '60s hairstyles.
And yes, the balding dude in the rear with the traffic semaphore on his head wins the covert group-photo clown award in spades.
Sad to SaySo many hotties, so many dorks.
Season's GreetingsHope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season, from Walter and all his friends in this, my favorite Shorpy picture.
General Electric Crime FamilyOk, a lot of the men look like mafiosi with the big-lips guy in front being the capo. The two guys at the right, top, are hit men.
Western Electrical FireI can't believe, in 90+ comments on this remarkable photo, that not one person pointed out the extension cord running from the ceiling light fixture to the tree. I think the answer to the comment about how and when these folks died is: a few minutes after this photo was taken, in a horrible electrical fire.
It would be a chore, but could someone pleasecolorize this!
BeautyI love the woman sitting on the floor next to the desk looking away. At first glance you think; boy she looks tired, and then you look again and you see how beautiful she really is. She is just stunning. I also find it interesting with the commentary just how similar our comments in the office were to the ones posted on this site. We too made up stories about these folks. I love this photo. Thanks for sharing it.
I never tire of looking at this one.Always noticing something new, frinstance,
The object on the scale, seems to have some heft to it based on how far the scale dial has moved, maybe a cast iron toy?
The young fellow on the far right, Candy Cane in his right hand but whats on his left hand? Looks like it's slipped inside of something, a toy holster maybe?
Completion All this tableau requires (perhaps) to make it complete, is a large paper bag on the floor stuffed with goodies, including the obligatory pair of turkey-feet protruding upward in a festive fashion.
Best of the Season to All in the Shorpyverse Continuum!
Secrets never revealedThere is no question that many secret alliances and not-always discreet hook-ups probably took place during and after this festive celebration 86 years ago. Luckily for those involved, there were no surveillance cameras, cell phone cameras, tape recorders, security guards, texting devices or other pesky snooping devices that could cause the merrymakers a permanent record (and deep lifetime regret) of their missteps. They were the roaring 20's when people gathered their rosebuds where they may and parties were for having the best time you could have. I'm betting many of these revelers took their sweet and sordid memories of that night to their graves.
Another Shorpy Party!I love this photo and we're going to test the limits of the reply counter. Merry Christmas everyone and have a grand new year!
Lord Almighty!!!It's the butler in the pantry!!!
I have never, ever seen so many guilty people in one photograph.
Unbelievable that it was not staged. But it obviously wasn't.
Wow!!!
My hat!How did she get it?
"Pure horse, Danno. Book 'em."Having just spotted the drug paraphernalia on the left - the scale, the packaging materials, the kimono-wearing parrot - our undercover coppette in mid-pack has whipped out her official police hat and ignoring the cries of "that baggy's not mine!" is about ready to haul the whole gang downtown. A bust like this baby was sure to bump her upstairs and away from all these dreary office parties.
Up to no good?The gal sitting on the floor behind the Oil can has had a drink or two already, and she is plotting mischief. I can see it in her eyes! Was she the good time that was had by all?
Cost of that treeCould not have been more then a dollar in 2011 money
Must have been last minute!!!
The ion DepartmentA quick flip of the door confirms we are in room 504 of the ion Department.
FestivusIts good to see this one again. I just keep looking at the people and see more than a few that would have been great company. I hope everyone, viewers, commenters, Dave and webmaster Ken has a great Holiday Season in the company of friends and loved ones.
She apparently had a good time with my grandpa.As she is my grandma!
"The gal sitting on the floor behind the Oil can has had a drink or two already, and she is plotting mischief. I can see it in her eyes! Was she the good time that was had by all?"
3rd rowfrom the top 3rd from the left. I'm in love.
Oh wait.
Party HeartyOoooo -- Roaring twenties office party, bathtub gin. Oooooo -- I think I just threw up in my throat a little bit.
Shorpy Christmas cardIf Dave would produce an annual Shorpy Christmas card I would buy a few boxes, and I'm sure others would as well. Cards with this photo would be seen in every business cubicle in the country and quite a few places around the globe. It says Merry Xmas for me.
So much to read into This picture is as familiar to longtime readers of this blog as our own family photos and as evergreen as that Christmas Tree was before it was cut down. One can imagine so much here, for example that as soon as the photographer finishes with his duties, the Volstead Act will be violated by most of the people in this room (there are a few who look as if they might disapprove), and the usual office party shenanigans will occur, some of which might have consequences in the months to follow even if they all swear that what happens at the Office Party stays at the Office Party.
Al JolsonIs that Al Jolson in front of the "Traffic signal" bald guy? He's peering out just a bit from behind the guy with the vest and holding his glasses. 1925, the timeline is right. :)
Iconic StatusThis photo has taken on a level of immortality that few others can hope to achieve. A Photograph for the ages that will always be appreciated and admired. A Tradition is born! Thanks to Dave and all that visit here; hopefully someday your office pictures will be shown here and we can all marvel at how far we've come in so short a time.
Tiny Tim said it best so I shan't repeat it but that is my wish for one and all.
Thank you, DaveI hope this re-posting will bring new fans. Merry Xmas,everyone!
Why the oil canThose three objects in front - Maybe just spur-of-the-moment party silliness?
Another year olderI just love this photo. There's so much to analyze. Saw it last year for the first time. Here we all are, another year older. That would include those in the picture, in a macabre sort of way.
Best Christmas Party EverFirst, Dave, you have cured my holiday depression. I found this during a post-Xmas hangover and there are no words. I was instantly addicted to your site. Thank you.
Second, if there is anyone out there with connections to the BAU I would like you to seriously consider imposing yourself on that relationship and get them on it. I'm dying for a more complete story. You must be too if you're reading this. You know who you are. Pick up that phone and give him/her a call.
Not Al JolsonWade in NW Florida: if he looks like anybody of that period, it would most likely be Eddie Cantor, not Al Jolson.
The other 13I have just spent an extremely enjoyable hour reading all the comments reaching back to 2008. Of the 47 people in the photo, 34 have been commented on. So what about the other 13? Six guys in the upper left have been ignored, plus seven gals in the pack. The most prominent of the abandoned baker's dozen are, to my mind, the two women standing side by side, closest to the tree. Both have bead necklaces: one tucked in, one on the outside. They seem neither hot nor cold, neither suicidal nor drunk. The two of them actually look (dare I say?) like really nice people.
NOW it's the holiday season.....when Shorpy breaks out this holiday classic! I wonder what pop-culture figures of the past year will be likened to our hard-partying crew?
The face that could sink a thousand shipsThe guy holding the cigar, oh man I want to punch his face!
Every yearEvery year when I look at this, I think the same thing: do all those dames hate Desk Woman for the same reason, or different ones?
Lots of single women in that officeNo wedding rings on almost all of them. Perhaps a woman worked until she got married, or at least until she had children - and then she was sequestered in the kit home built in one of America's booming trolley suburbs.
It must have been a major change for these ladies to go from office life, with its daily human contact and pleasures (such as this office party) to a few rooms, kitchen and nursery figuring predominantly. My grandmother still reminisced proudly about her work as a lawyer's assistant in the 1920s, way back before she got married, had three children, and spent most of her time in the top floor of a Boston triple-decker for the next 20 years.
Colorized Version Hidden in Plain SightCheck out https://www.shorpy.com/node/11937 for colorized version in Colorized Photos by members. Dave, do I get a prize for finding it?
Talk About Your Lonely HeartsThis could be the Sgt. Pepper album just before The Beatles stepped into the shot
Par-TAY!I totally wanna party with this crew. I've always loved the Roaring-Twenties era, and the show Boardwalk Empire is doing a great job with the fashions and the music. I think Nucky Thompson needs to sprinkle a little Xmas cheer on this group. Volstead Act be damned!
Young bald guyEvery time I see this, my eyes go to the young, very handsome man who is looking over the shoulder of the rather portly guy on the right side of the photo. Balding men didn't have many options, then, like they do now, but I rather doubt that the premature balding kept all the young ladies away from him!
I wonder which of these men were veterans of WWI?
At the Ion Department Christmas Party . . .That exotic woman sitting in front of the desk in the lower left STILL seems distracted by something just out of camera, and the woman in front of her is still watching her carefully.
It's a wonderful photo worth our annual holiday attention!
--Jim
Naughty or Nice?This oft-repeated photo is starting to remind me of the traditional holiday tune by Eric Cartman (of South Park fame) singing about the Swiss Colony Beef Log; irreverent but fun.
What's printed on that document?Dave, can you zoom in on the piece of paper being held by the guy kneeling in the center, right in front of the tree? It's almost as if he's trying to show it to the camera. Thanks!
-------------------------------------
Just a something something
TO WISH
You and Yours
A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year
Division Four Office
1925
Worth a second or third look There are some half dozen ladies in this photo. Like the one right behind the corner of the desk, with the chevron shapes on her dress and the one directly in front of the door on the left that are definitely worth seeing again.
Merry Christmas Shorpyites!
Is there anybody out there?Surely one of these people in the photo has a living relative (great grandkids, grandkids, etc) that might be able to shed some light on this photo.
2%Of the 47 people in the photo, only one is wearing glasses. Did the Ion Department require perfect vision of its workers?
My cueI don't even start listening to Christmas music until I see this picture reheated. It's a classic.
The Girl with the Curl -- and the candy cane. There once was a girl
with a pretty little curl
right in the middle of her forehead
When she was good
She was very, very good
and when she was bad
she was even better!
Re 2%The cigar smoker on the right in the three-button suit and the gent on his right both are holding eyeglasses, all the more to ratchet up their smashing good looks. Well, maybe just looks.
What's Left To Say?Besides their clothes and hair dos, two things that I’m glad have changed: The way Christmas trees look and protective coating for hardwood floors. And I’m guessing they had a White Elephant gift exchange, thus the whimsical gifts.
Raise your glassesI'm sure one of our more knowledgeable posters might know better, but I wonder if glasses were removed to prevent unwanted flash effects?
Could it be?I've looked at this photo for three Decembers now, and I just noticed that the girl sitting behind the girl with the striped blouse, and how much she looks like she could be Johnny Depp's great-grandmother.
Party TimeThe office parties and associated grab bags were created to give us all a chance to regift.
Allow me now to wish all of our Shorpy viewers, creators and commenters a very happy Holiday season. Let us all be well, prosper and keep returning to this wonderful site.
Love this photo....Like so many of you, I love it when this photo is trotted out! We are so drawn to it and love imagining what this party must have been like, the silly little gifts, the party girls, and those who just wanted it to all be over with so they could get back to work.
Each year I am struck by the lady behind the one in the striped blouse. She looks like she could have been in my high school annual from 1970. Yes, I dated myself there! Her hair style looks like it could have been from the 1970's, unlike her co-workers with their many finger waves. Keep posting this one, Dave....truly a classic!
An Evocative PhotographThe romance of old photographs is especially powerful in a picture like this. Studying the faces of what we assume are long departed strangers, we can't help speculating about the nature of their inner lives and how things turned out for them. Who ended up married to someone who made them happy or miserable? Which one(s) got ahead and who descended into poverty? Who died young - and so on?
With hindsight we know that only a few years after that Christmas party in 1925, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. Then World War II winnowed out a great many - how did this group of individuals make out through all those difficult times? There are many such questions which occur to the curious.
This is an extraordinarily evocative photograph. The transience of everything is plain to see in this picture if you notice such things.
This photois what prompted me to make an account on Shorpy. The first thing that jumped out at me was, is that a man in drag standing with his hand on the young lady's shoulder? The lady in question looks a bit like Drew Barrymore.
I noticed the indentations between the eyes of many of the men, and realized that they did take their glasses off for the photo, to minimize glare. No featherweight lenses in those days!
Tales from the Jazz AgeI'd like to take a crack at imagining who some of these people could be --
Oil Can Girl (seated at bottom, center) - Never turns down a chance to cut a rug at a speke. Very generous with the contents of her hip flask, which in a pinch can supply fuel for her sometime-boyfriend’s Hupmobile.
Desk Girl (seated at bottom, left) - Staring intently at a winged, two-horned leopard and wondering if she should jump up and scream at everybody to run for their lives.
Lace Collar Girl (two left from Oil Can Girl) - Wondering why Desk Girl is staring so intently at the office kitty-cat.
Time Warp Girl - (immediately above Desk Girl) - Up until a few weeks ago was a liberal arts major at an Ivy League university in the year 1969, then stumbled through a time portal into 1925. Decided to stay and get a job because, well, things are a lot less crazy here.
Starlet Girl - (above and to the right of Time Warp Girl) - Avid reader of Photoplay, Picture-Play, Screenland, Movie Weekly, Movie Mirror, and lots more. Passionately believes that her good looks could bring her fame in Hollywood, if only she could manage to stop tossing money away on magazines and save up for the train fare.
Hat Girl (immediately above Starlet Girl) - Took a few slugs from Oil Can Girl’s hip flask, now having trouble remembering her name.
Trashed Girl (immediately to the right of Hat Girl) - Took even more slugs from Oil Can Girl’s hip flask, but still conscious enough to realize that if she stops leaning on the girl below her, she’ll tumble to the floor.
Handsome Guy (standing in the back, left side, farthest left) - All the office girls have swooned over him at one time or another. Been engaged six times, but it always breaks off when he tells his bride-to-be that his mother will be living with them.
New Pretty Girl - (third from left, standing) - Just started work this past month. Soon to be Handsome Guy’s next ex-fiancee.
Wow, this is way too long already. Anyway, you get the idea. This is fun!
White Elephant Gift ExchangeI going with a White Elephant Gift Exchange for an Office Christmas Party. It explains the goofy gifts and the attire. Some of the exchanged presents still have tags on them.
No one seems to have noticedbut the shy guy in front of GO GO is none other than Irving Berlin, on a guided tour of the Western Electric facility and already evidencing the reclusiveness of his later years. At uppermost left, we have the mustachioed miscreant looking disdainfully at those beneath him, which is everyone. And finally, we have Grishkin at lowermost right left, a handsome woman whose lean and hungry look hath a troubled aspect not customarily associated with holiday gatherings (apart from those with family members present). She seems to have wandered in from one of those Russian plays that Ira Gershwin makes reference to.
All of which can only mean one thing - it's Christmas time here at Shorpy's. Greetings and salutations to all!
Times they don't changeThe women definitely place this picture in time by their clothes and hair. The men, especially the back row, center in photo, remind me of my father's photos of the late 1950's. It's all quite timeless.
Hey, long time listener, first time caller!I wonder if camp Pierce Brosnan (top row, far left) found the Ion Deptartment accepting of his flamboyant wonderfulness.
Festive DressThe bald gentleman in the back has the best holiday hat I have ever seen, the festive Go Go hat atop his bald head.
We need those names!The spectacular Massafornian colorized image should have some labels for the people in it.
So, here we go.
(Gimp and Python/PIL scripts did the job)
Thanks for the MemoriesThank you for publishing this picture again this year. It just doesn't seem right to not have these wonderful people wishing all of us a Merry Christmas. I wish all of the Shorpy readers and the Admins a Merry Christmas also.
Merry Christmas!I'm a faithful reader of Shorpy, have been for over 10 years now, since I joined up. Every year, I always look forward to the Shorpy Office Xmas Party picture. I don't know what it is; maybe it's the continuity of it. We know every year we'll see it, and every year we'll get to talk about new fictions we've created for the people therein. It's such great fun.
Re Office StoriesNice commentary! You really bring life to this party.
Glad for TradIt's truly a fun Shorpy-looker tradition to view this pic large and spend an hour time traveling and reading the comments. Hope everybody had a Groovy Solstice yesterday. Happy Holidays!
Hair dressersWho did the hair styles back then, terrible......
Sic transit ursusI love the Shorpy Christmas party! This guy still startled me when I spied him on the floor, despite the fact that I commented on him FIVE YEARS AGO.
Dean NorrisAh, it wouldn't be Christmas without this delight from Shorpy!
The guy behind the big boss's left shoulder looks like a sightly younger version of actor Dean Norris. According to IMDB, Dean Norris was born in 1962 or 1963, but if this post on Shorpy is any guide, he's at least 100 years old. Is he pretending to be younger than he really is? And what's the secret of looking so young?
Cheers!Thanks for posting again, this is one of my favourite pictures on Shorpy. Some odd Barnets going on with some of the women though...I'd love to know if there was a gramophone at this party and if so, what the playlist was.
Tradition I can almost hear Tevya, singing the song in "Fiddler On The Roof", but not quite. It is of course the Holiday Season, office parties and good will to men and of course women. It is time for us Shorpy Junkies to wish each other the best of the season. Good health, prosperity and peace to all. Thanks to our Hosts Dave and Ken and to our interlocutor terrace for their grand efforts.
G-manI had to do ctrl-f for all three pages, and I'm amazed that no one to date has identified J. Edgar Hoover standing in the front row, cigar butt in hand, between vest-and-watch chain guy and three-piece suit guy. I can't believe I didn't notice him when I first commented three years ago.
Time for a Shorpy Xmas party!I think we are overdue to have one where we all meet and discuss THIS picture (because with 150 comments, we clearly have a lot on our minds about this W.E. holiday soiree).
Merry Christmas ShorpyitesMerry Christmas to one and all, fans of the photos posted in Shorpy. Thanks to Dave and everyone who helps out with the site.
I hope the new year is good to all and everyone will be back next Christmas to view Xmas Party.
I've been a member for 3 years, 2 days and anonymous for several before that I think.
What's with the oil can?I understand the Teddy Bear and little house in the front of the photo. But what is the significance of the Christmas Oil Can?
[Yet another beloved Christmas legend inspired by this photo. -tterrace]
Do they know?The standing gal, 3rd from the left, and the kneeling gal (center and one row back) both have the same necklace on (7 little cascading chains ending in a pearl). I think that the boss-man, J. Edgar Hoover (on the right with the cigar), is having an affair with both of these gals and he gave them both the same necklace. He thinks it's really funny and smiles when he sees them together; his own little private joke! I wonder if the gals know and are just playing him for whatever they can get? We will never know for sure.
Modern Woman+89
One must wonder if oiling the bear will make the Yuletide bright?
Thanks again!This is now my official notification that the Xmas season has begun. The Office Party re-post.
Threadbare BoughsNow I know where Charlie Brown got his tree. Merry Christmas everyone!
Hours and hoursI, like so many others here, have spent hours with this image. I'm always drawn back to the woman in the lower left. She's always struck me as the office outcast trying to get out of the picture. The woman to the right of her, with the lace collar, looks like her boss giving her the stink eye for not participating.
Roaring Twenties!Thanks for this flash-back, Shorpy!
Love the very mysterious Lady on the left...
and still dislike that pompous guy with the cigar.
Wee fish, ewe, a mare, egrets, moose... and a hippo gnu year!
I have to askDoes "Office Xmas Party" have the largest amount of comments?
[That record might be held by Our Lady of Lourdes School. Another much-commented post was The Beaver Letter. - Dave]
FinallyShorpy's annual "Office Xmas Party" has arrived! There's my guy standing in the back row, far left still waiting for me. Swoon.
Happy Holidays, Shorpyites!
And thank you, Dave, for all that you do.
Re 2%, and Raise your glassesI think glasses were considered unattractive. I remember lots of members of this generation (my grandparents') or the next who would whip off their glasses whenever someone raised a camera.
Tough Day At The Office?The best part about these office parties are the grab bags. It's always the best way to regift. Other than that, I hope Dave, Ken, tterace and all our outstanding commentators and readers have a wonderful holiday and a healthy prosperous New Year.
Must have been a heck of a partyAll the way in the back is a tall bald man with a traffic signal on his head! That's better than a lampshade. The body language between the woman on the far left and the woman to her right who is glaring at her is really very sad. You wonder what sort of ugliness was going on behind the scenes. The lady looks like she's been crying a bit. Who knows. It's fascinating to see such a candid photo none the less.
An oilcan!Now I know the perfect gift to get for all my co-workers. Merry Christmas Shorpy nation.
I look forward to these people each yearThey've become familiar yet remain interesting. As I said years ago, we're testing the counter on this one.
Merry Christmas fellow Shorpyites and wish a grand New Year!
It was ninety years ago today ...... and the photo never ceases to give.
The fun is overOkay, we had our Christmas celebration, now everyone back to your desks and let's finish out the day at 5:00.
The lucky onesDue to the magic of photography, this happy group has been celebrating now for ninety years. If you enlarge the picture and study their faces and demeanors, you may get some insight into their characters and personalities in 1925. After seeing this photo for many Christmases on Shorpy, I almost feel that I know some of them as well I know my own friends. Merry Christmas to all, especially the Shorpy staff.
What are we missing?Great photo, been seeing it for years now, but I always wonder what else was going on? People are looking left, right, straight, up, down. What was going on out of frame? That lady in lower left looks ready to bolt, especially with the other lady looking on concernedly. If this was a Halloween photo, the massacre would be about to begin.
I've been ill, and maybe delirious...
Spooky Lady of Christmas PastI remain endlessly curious regarding the woman with her back to the desk.
Spooky and haunting, amid all the fascinating characters in this classic shot, she is The One.
Department Name for Room 504Western Electric Company
Installation Department
5th Floor
1319 F Street
Washington DC
(From the 1925 Washington City Directory)
This department installed Central Office equipment (testboards, operator switchboards, signaling equipment, etc) supporting both local and long distance telephone service.
Google street view has an office building that looks old enough to be our Christmas Office party location. Perhaps another Shorpyite can add the street view for us.
[It was built in 1913. Interestingly enough, it's just one building away from Harris & Ewing, another source of many Shorpy photos. -tterrace]
Merry Christmas, George BabbittThe guy on the right, in front, with the grand forehead, holding the stogie, reminds me of Sinclair Lewis's protagonist in "Babbitt" (1922):
"He was the modern business man; one who gave orders to clerks and drove a car and played occasional golf and was scholarly in regard to Salesmanship. His head suddenly appeared not babyish but weighty, and you noted his heavy, blunt nose, his straight mouth and thick, long upper lip, his chin overfleshy but strong; with respect you beheld him put on the rest of his uniform as a Solid Citizen."
Room 504Flip the photo horizontally, and you will see that we are on the 5th floor. Who can guess the "department" we are in?
Now it is Christmastime for sureI couldn't truly celebrate Christmas without seeing this picture again. It must be after Thanksgiving or Shorpy would not have posted it. Any comments I could make about this picture would only be a pale response to all the previous comments. It just makes me try to think what an office Christmas party like this must have been compared to a modern day party. I look forward to this picture every year for some crazy reason.
294408That's how many people have called up this photo. Over a quarter million! And this isn't YouTube. What an amazing picture. What an amazing site. Merry Christmas to all my Shorpy comrades and a huge thank-you to Dave and tterrace for all they do to bring this amazingness to us every day.
YuletideI heard Springsteen singing about Santa on my way to work, and now I see this. It is truly Christmastime now.
Oh, Beautiful Lady in the Lower Left......let me unwrap that bear for you, before your nearby friend gets more worried that you're not having any fun.
DoppelgangerThe young woman framed in the door on the left looks remarkably like today's woman who was a business partner of mine.
Nothing but the best at Shorpy!!Thanks for this expected post!
Never noticed this beforeThe men's jackets have creases running the length of the arms. I wonder if this was a customary thing for "the office" or typical treatment "of the times" for pressing? Perhaps this treatment was typical only of a worsted fabric?
P. D. Police Dept.I keep being intrigued by the one and only joker in the crowd, our lady with the "P.D. Police ...." hat. There must be another word after "Police," I suppose it is just "Dept."
Marching In PlaceSeeing this picture so many times tells me that I'm growing older but these celebrants have become ageless. Along with that piece of wisdom allow me to add my Seasonal Greetings for a Merry Christmas, a joyous Hanukkah Past and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to all. Of course we are all in the debt of Dave,Ken and tterrace (who may or may not be on the Payroll) for their addictive posts, explanations and comment rebuttals.
From NYC, where the Christmas Eve Fahrenheit is forecasted at 72º.
Mel
[tterrace is salaried, deals in a service and is bigger than a bread box. -John Charles Daly]
Life of the partyMy best guess for "life of the party" status goes to the lady in front with elf buckles on her shoes. I love this image- there so much detail and depth of relational perspective.
Afterlife Office PartyThis photograph has become a holiday tradition for me, as anticipated as my Christmas eve tradition of baking cookies, wrapping gifts and gently placing a dish towel under Uncle Trouble's chin so he doesn't drool on his good shirt after passing out on the couch.
Scanning the full-screen photo, I wonder if a small corner of the afterlife might be populated by tenants doomed to spend eternity at a perpetual office Christmas party for some workplace sin like stealing lunches from the office fridge, pilfering office supplies, or failing to replace paper or toner in the printer. I can picture Dickensian clarks with ink-stained fingers forever mingling over paper-cupped eggnog with 60's swinging secretaries, Old Kingdom robed Egyptian scribes trimming the tree with bored mid-level Qing Dynasty bureaucrats, and that impenetrable knot of young IT guys and gals speaking in that techno-babble, side-eyeing the boss, forever giggling.
I imagine the mirthless rounds of the eternal white elephant gift exchange: the Take Me to the River-singing fish going round and round and round the conference table ad infinitum. I can see the everlasting greasy pile of stale taquitos, timeless sips from the bottle of booze hidden in the file cabinet, Starbucks Christmas Jazz CD playing in an endless loop -- the horror.
Goober Pea
UpdatedUsing John J's sleuthing on the location of this office, I recently ventured there to see if any resemblance to the photo remains. I got as far as the only door in the hall on that floor. Nothing appeared to remain.
Seek and ye shall find . . . GO!TimeAndAgainPhoto, that's a great job of investigating one of our Shorpy.com favorites, but I'm convinced that if you'll just badge your way into that office, you'll find a fellow in there with a traffic signal on his head.
I hope so, anyway.
Re: Seek and ye shall find . . . GO!Jim Page - I had to badge my way past security and up the elevator before I was stopped by the secured door.
Those were the daysI really do miss the office Christmas parties from my working years which gave us an opportunity to meet, greet and schmooze with people we hadn't seen in 20 minutes. Merry Christmas to all, rejoice and be glad.
Every Year and I am Still Captivated But I Don't Know WhyThanks Dave, I'm still enjoying this for some reason I don't understand, and I'm still curious about the front and center oil can.
SNL Time Traveler?That person standing directly to the left of the tree is either a time-traveling, cross-dressing Pete Davidson from SNL or his Great Grandmother worked at Western Electric Group in 1925!
Shorpy - I look forward to this picture every year and am a regular viewer of your site. Even have a couple of large prints on my walls at home, with another coming soon!
Thanks for this site - it's one of the pleasures of my day!
Yuletide.I love seeing this picture every year. As do my co-workers. Thank you.
I have seen this picture for six (I believe) years nowBut today, today there is a new face, one I instantly recognize, that I would swear was not there in any previous year.
I once found my wife's doppleganger (Trackless Trolley) in one of these pictures. Today, I find my youngest daughter, Cecilia (16); she's poking her face out between the 2nd and 3rd fully visible women on the left side of the photo (their right) from the tree.
Ok, it's spooky Dave.... but I'm starting to believe someone has a time travel machine, and everyone but me in my family is using it.
P.D. clocheWonder what she's hiding under that hat?
It's timeThis picture (and the myriad comments) are so entertaining, I sometimes search for it when I'm feeling low, even in July! I especially love Oil Can Sally's come hither look.
I amost know these peopleMy Great-Great Grand uncle was Dan Richardson, a senior accountant for Western Electric in the New England/Northeast US area. He certainly visited Washington D. C. during his time with Western Electric, and would have met and worked with one or more of the people in this photo.
Odd to think I could, via relatives, have been introduced to these people.
This is my first ChristmasI see 26 men, 21 women and hundreds of possibilities.
Oh My GoodnessI had no idea it was so close to Christmas. We really need to finish the baking...
Old Friends From The OfficeAre like warm Gluehwein to heat the cold heart at Christmas.
Merry Christmas my Shorpyite friends and a Happy New Year to everyone, especially Dave who keeps all of us in memories. [updated]
Phyllis Diller"What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day."
QuorumThis picture puts the "mass" back in Christmas.
Sturdy DesksI guess the nine guys head and shoulders above everyone else are standing on two or three of these desks. Curious as anyone about the office relationships and the lady sitting in front of the desk. My eighth year of wondering and guessing about this picture.
The scraggly looking treein the picture most probably was bought with donations from some of the people in this picture.
Older Shorpyites will no doubt remember the single set of lights on the tree. The lighting "outfit" was an inexpensive 8 light series set, with C-6 miniature based bulbs. When a bulb burned out, it was time to hunt for it with a good one...unscrewing every bulb in the set until it was found.
I remember helping my grandmother do just that. For some reason, the C-6 series set was always at the top of the tree. Grandma would get up on a stool, with me holding the good bulb, and switching it one by one until the set lit.
Wonderful times. Timeless memories.
What Are They ThinkingI've enjoyed this picture year after year, and like many who had suffered through office parties, I often thought what goes through their minds.
Click to enlarge.
Lady in the foregroundI've also wondered (several years in a row) about the lady with her back to the desk. The thing that really stands out to me, is her hair. As far as I can tell, she has her hair swept back in a bun, which is clearly very old-fashioned compared to all the bobbed and shingled ladies in the office.
I know this is a bit far-fetched but her clothes and hair suggest to me that she wasn't an office worker, as they give the impression of having less money to spend on herself. I wondered if maybe she was the office cleaner/ tea lady who was called in to be part of the photo?
It could explain why she seems a bit distant from all the others in the group.
It's here! It's here!The Shorpy Christmas Cheer office party picture is here! Smack dab in the middle of Prohibition, the gang at Western Electric make merry with two or three hundred stories or thoughts about what the heck was going on in their heads!
My favorite is the seductress "oil can" Sally with her bathtub-gin induced come-hither gaze!
Merry Christmas!
#UsTooI bet if those girls had a voice today there would be some explaining to do.
Night Before ChristmasWhen what to my wondering eyes should appear
but a company Christmas calendar, the same as last year.
Season's GreetingsThis is simply the greatest captured moment in the history of office photography!
Nothing puts me in the spirit like --this pic, a glass of egg nog and Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on a loop! Merry Christmas all!!
The distant gazeAs fun as it is, I think we're way overthinking the motives of the 5 or so "looking away" women. Yes, even the comment-generating pair of the sultry one in the lower left corner and the one sitting to her left who appears to be staring her down. It was evidently fashionable for many decades for women to "look into the distance" for a portrait photograph, and I think that's all they're doing here. My theory is that this practice started as a way to prevent the "zombie eyes" effect of the exposure capturing the blink after the flash. My mother always did it, even when I implored her to look at my camera with everyone else.
That GirlIn the middle front, her hairdo reminds me of a poem my mother (b. 1915) used to recite:
There was a little girl who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good, she was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.
[Nursery rhyme by Longfellow. - Dave]
Every yearI feel sorrier than the year before for the one sitting on the floor with her back to the desk. She looks like she is just waiting for the party to be over so she can throw herself out the window.
Reminds me of "The Office"I can find the whole cast from Dunder-Mifflin -- Michael, Jim and Pam, Dwight Schrute, Stanley, Kevin, Angela, and Phyllis.
Let's danceHey, did anyone remember to bring their Lasses White albums?
ClaireThis pretty gal looks exactly like my wife. I just printed out the image and am going to show her tonight.
Work or PleasureIs the machine on the desk at the right (above the In Box) a record player brought in? A radio? Or is it merely some office device like maybe a phone-related routing/switchboard machine?
Also, wingtips apparently were in style.
Sure SignOf the Season: this picture on Shorpy (Thanks, Dave) and "A Christmas Carol" on TCM. All the best to all wherever ye might be!
Ghosts of Christmas pastIt really is curious that we can scrutinize a picture like this every year and each time we notice something different that we did not notice before. This year, while observing enlarged close-ups of these people's faces, I see resemblances to many of my own acquaintances, friends and public figures and one can almost even determine the personality and attitude of each person. I think the young lady standing on the extreme left, second row, closest to the door, looks like a younger Martha Stewart. I also know that these happy holiday office parties are quickly disappearing due to the current lawsuits involving harassment, etc. so the people of my generation (old fossils) can move into the history books with them and just remember how it "used to be" and know it will never be again.
This festive group gets a prime spot in that chapter and exemplifies what it was like, for better or for worse. Party on kids, 'til the end of time.
The BossThe one sure thing about this photo is who the boss is, probably flanked by his second in command to his right.
Ion Dept. XmasI have followed this wonderful Xmas photo for years but have never commented, till now. I always wondered what I might say, since so much has been said. But what really made me start this year -- the thing I’d never really noticed before – the new thing! – is that guy (head) craning behind the Xmas tree. Compared with all the other people, he’s really only half there, penciled in, lacking in the vibrancy and heft of every other person. So I guess my comment is: Merry Xmas, Ion Tree guy! (And Merry Xmas to all my Shorpy sisters and brothers, and of course to our all-puissant but beneficent overlords, Dave and tterrace, who make this daily joy available to us all.)
[Or maybe Ion Guy is just tinseled in. - Dave]
Was the Electric Company a Communist Front?Psychodramas? How about it looks like Alger Hiss and Whitiker Chambers’ cousins were exchanging Christmas gifts in Washington in 1925. Alger’s stands to the left and Whitiker’s to the right—significant? Whitiker’s cousin looks like someone socked him on the forehead and Alger’s has a smile on his face.
[Ahem. Whittaker, not "Whitiker." - Dave]
That Temptress!All these folks saying they see something new each year -- nuts. I first laid eyes on the beauty behind the oil can, what -- a decade ago now? And she has had me in her spell ever since. It is now officially Christmas season for me.
I'm busy here!You Shorpyites who fantasize about folks from over 90 years ago -- How strange you are.
And all your blather is distracting me from my mission of saving the saintly Love of My Life whose shoulder had been latched onto by the Evil Witch with no opposable thumb ...
I must complete this pesky time machine before Christmas.
Holiday RomanceI see that its time to renew my holiday romance. Every year I fall in love with the young lady the farthest to the left. Brings warmth to my heart, of course, I don't dare tell my wife.
Season's Greetings!I look forward to this picture every year. I like that it's been a running thing here for so long, because I see it as a way to bind all us Shorpyites together. No matter where we live, how old we are, what we're doing in our lives, we can all stop here and comment on this picture, wishing everyone a wonderful holiday. Thank you, Dave, for providing that for us.
I wish all of you that read this a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2019 be the year you've been waiting for.
Hip FlasksEven the Bear won't tell, but, I am sure the oil can will.
1925! Prohibition! Almost every woman had one and, I am sure, that there may be a few here.
Maybe, that's why Gladys sitting with the Bear and oil can, is smiling knowingly?
Even the person who introduced Prohibition had a still in his basement.
"It was 93 years ago today" Happy Christmas, John! Happy Christmas, Yoko!...Esther, Mary, Eugenia, Mabel, Nellie, Ida, Clara, Edith, Winifred, Maude, Violet, Gladys, Daisy,Doris, Agatha, Gertrude, Elspeth, Velma, Thelma, Myrna, Hortence...
The LevelingTo paraphrase William Makepeace Thackeray "It was in the reign of President Calvin Coolidge, that the above-named personages lived and quarrelled ; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."
Most popular galMy favorite - Oil Can Sally - has three gag gifts displayed. That probably makes her the most popular woman in the office. In addition, her provocative smile suggests a hangover was in her future!
Still GOGO after all these yearsI love the bald guy just visible in the back row with the traffic signal "ballanced" perfectly on the top of his head. Very steady!
It sounds crazy... but I swear the bear moved a bit since last year.
That old gang is back!The Christmas Party Picture is back! I'd actually forgotten about it, so a quick check of Shorpy was the most welcome way to end my Friday. The week to come will reveal new snarks about these buddies of ours, and I look forward to that. Thank you, Shorpy!
Those EyesThe beauty sitting against the desk gets me every year. She looks exhausted.
My Favorite TraditionI don't post a lot of comments, but I check the site every day to see what's new and to read what *other* people have said. This is probably one of my favorite posts on this site because it's great to go back through the years of comments and read people's observations about the image, maybe see if someone has come up with something new. I hope we keep seeing this picture on the Friday before Christmas until the heat death of the universe. It would be a lovely constant.
Happy Holidays to everyone at Shorpy. I hope it's filled with love, contentment, and joy.
If you like this photo ...You loved the Shorpy.com postcard you just received!!!
When mine came in the mail, my wife said, "Do you know those people?"
OF COURSE I DO!!!
Find the BossI just love the way he stands there holding his cigar. You can almost hear him barking out orders in a very Edward G. Robinson-ish voice.
This reminds me of --That photo in "The Shining" of the 1921 New Year's Eve party at the Overlook Hotel. These folks will be back, again and again.
The timeless shorpy traditionEvery year when I see the office party pic, my eyes always wind up gazing into the sideways glance of that beauty in front of the desk.
I cant help imagining what the conversations of the day were, who brought a flask full of illegal libations, was jazz coming from a tube type radio, did everyone get a little Christmas bonus (it was the roaring 20's mind you), and who has a crush on who?
Dave, thanks for all you do. Shorpy is a constant in my day.
Be well everyone!
I guessed the right number of buttons in the jarMerry Christmas!
The Shorpy Ion Dept.A crazy thought occurred to me this year with respect to this beloved standard photograph: what if it were not the Ion Dept. from 1925 but the Shorpy regular contributors from 2019? Which one is Dave? Where is tterrace? And what about so many of the devoted Shorpsters (in no special order) – Jim Page, fanhead, TheGeezer, PhotoFan, Baxado, BethF, TimeAndAgainPhoto, Vintagetvs, OTY, Solo, Jeb70, switzarch, DaveA, JennyPennifer, rhhardin, pennsylvaniaproud, JohnHoward, kines, loujudson, lindab, Jano, StefanJ, jimmylee42, Hayslip, rivlax, Mattie, joemanning, Born40YearsTooLate, GarandFan, mountainrev, perpster, Dbell, Doubleclutchin, Root 66, KathyRo, archfan, GlenJay, alexinv, karenfryxell, Gooberpea, Angus J, 510Russ, Michael R, Brett, BillyB, bobzyerunkl, Alex, jsmakbkr, Marchbanks, Commishbob, Jimmy Longshanks, DoninVa, mgolden, Alonzo, Dag, Juan de la cruz, bobstothfang, Ice gang, Rute Boye, Vonderbees, Ad Orientem, MacKenzie Kavanaugh, JazzDad, Maniak Productions, EvenSteven, Doghouse Riley, John.Debold, Sewickley, Paul A, and jd taylor. And let’s not forget some of the people we haven’t seen for a while: stanton_square, aenthal, Mr Mel. (My apologies to those I have not listed.) Best of the season to you all, my fellow Shorpsters!
Who's WhoDavid K - Dave runs the joint, so he's the three piece with the cigar. TTerrace is his major player on this site, so he is the guy looking over Dave's left shoulder. Now we just need someone to post a picture with numbers, and we label them.
Maligayang Pasko all.
Re:Shorpy Ion Dept@davidk, I'm the one peeking from behind the Christmas tree.
I hope everyone in the Shorpy pantheon enjoys all the holidays!
Postcards From The EdgeWhen I got mine, I literally jumped for joy seeing the people that I love and cherish so much. Now I can look at them anytime throughout the year, not just at Christmas.
And, thank you to DAVIDK for the mention.
[@davidk, I would be the guy with the object upon his head]
Our own office partyI love seeing this photo every year and thanks to davidk for the guest book entries of our office. Top of the season everyone!
Still HereEvery time I see this picture I think that these people could have been my mom or dad.The time and ages represented are almost perfect. It reminds me of aunts and uncles and family friends who are long gone although I will never forget them. I just turned 80 years old this past July and can remember a lot of people who would have been right at home in this picture. Thank you davidk for including me in your list of people who have liked this picture in the past and a big Merry Christmas to Dave and tterrace for maintaining the site.
This one never gets oldHow is it that an old picture never gets old? Every year, I always notice something new that I hadn't noticed before. This year it's the guy with the beard, hiding behind the tree.
Also, the woman just above and just to the left of the woman in the striped blouse (her left, that is) - could that be Johnny Depp's great-grandmother? I see a definite resemblance.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Love itI love this photo. The expressions, the faces. Some of the women are quite attractive. The man with his hand draped across the shoulder of another man is interesting.
Office desk sultry beautyI wonder why the dark hair beauty is staring off to the side? Was she jilted? Was she sick of the many advances by the suited men, or despondent that the one she wanted got away. Why does the women in the RBG collar stare at her? Does she know what happened?
I love the captions from another commenter.
Michael ScottIf Michael Scott were the manager of this office, I wonder if he would have said (as he did 85 years later on the TV show), "Unbelievable. I do the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for these people and they freak-out. Well happy birthday Jesus, sorry your party's so lame."
Merry Christmas, Shorpy! And for the record, I don't consider this a lame birthday party, and I doubt Jesus would, either.
Bal MasqueNinety-five years later, if there even would be a party! With an added suspense -- what does Hermione look like, under that mask?
Socially DistantWould they have believed it had someone told them that in 95 years their photograph would be the highlight of 2020 for a group of remote observers?
Merry and BrightThis photo has become the official kickoff of the holidays for me.
Best wishes to all the Shorpy regulars and particularly those who keep this place running.
Neither here nor thereEach year my attention is drawn immediately to the three beauties at the bottom left of the photo: sultry beauty far left floor level, looking off to her right at someone/something off camera; the lady to that lady's left who seems to be watching her with deliberate intent; exquisite beauty just behind the desk corner, beheld with what appears to be fond regard by the lady just behind her to her left; and wholesome beauty smiling behind exquisite beauty, being kept tabs on by the lady in the Police Department helmet.
I do eventually get past these women, to study the remainder of visages and postures and wonder about the other long-dead revelers of both genders, but it is these six who take up most of my time each year as I wonder what might have been the complexities of the various relationships. And as always, I hope each one in the photo had a Merry Christmas that year and many years after. I know that the likelihood is slim to none that all lived long and were carefree throughout, but that's still what I wish for in this suspended moment that so many have celebrated for so long, thanks to Shorpy.
So a Merry Christmas to beloved Shorpy and its erudite, esteemed company of gazers no less fascinating than any who attended Office Xmas Party: 1925.
Thanks Again Dave and Merry ChristmasThanks again Dave, I've been waiting for it. Obviously, we all love this yearly Christmas "surprise". I enjoy everyone's take on this party I missed awhile back.
Questions, questionsEvery year I wonder.
What is that thing on the postal scale? A misplaced elf? A misshapen magus?
Why is that woman with the oil can looking at me? Am I safe?
And why is the Christmas tree so scrawny?
Merry Christmas Dave!And to all the crew at Shorpy! Thanks for the memories and keeping some of us sane in 2020!
What I want for ChristmasI don't care what it is, I want one.
[Update, thanks to all the gizmo identifiers. I love tape dispensers! Now I really want it!]
Nothing stops this partyOh, thank goodness the Shorpy party is still on! It's the only event the pandemic cannot cancel!
Judging youDon't know what got into her holiday spirit. Not too pleased with someone.
Re: tterrace What I want for ChristmasIt's a gummed tape dispenser, similar to this one:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-vintage-ornate-cast-iron-...
She of the averted gazeI know that we enjoy interpreting what is in - or not in - this photograph each year. However, eight people, including "she of the averted gaze" are looking in that direction, suggesting something was going on while the picture was taken, sufficient to distract. A further basis for interpretation and speculation, perhaps? Merry Christmas.
Only one bow tieAmong all those Windsor knots on the gents, third on upper right. In group after group they are always in the minority, even until today.
Going to a Go-GoNothing says Christmas like a Go-Go party hat.
That machineMay be a gummed tape applicator.
National Package Sealer model #206
Do they know?Do you think the two women wearing the exact same necklace (dripping pearls) suspect that it might have come from the same man? Are the pearls from the handsome young gentleman with the pen sticking out of his pocket? Is this an early version of "The Bachelor" that we are witnessing? Which one will he choose?
Austerity Christmas?From the Charlie Brown Christmas tree to the lack of any visible food or drinks (except for a few candy canes) to the blank, unimpressed looks on some faces, it looks like an Austerity Christmas in Anytown this year.
Well, Merry Christmas TermiteYou can probably still find one somewhere. It's an automatic wetter and cutter for wide, brown packing tape. You just mash down on the handle and it shoots out a measured length of wet sticky tape and cuts it when you release. There is a messy water reservoir up front. I used one in a shipping department in 1974.
Buddha Bear!Puts in his once a year appearance.
Merry Christmas to Dave & Ken & tterrace and all the naughty boys & girls at Shorpy!
Nice $-value todayThat horse that guy in front of Christmas tree is holding. All with bit of wear and patina collected in 95 years.
Another yearWe all get another year older and they stay the same.
Five groupsPart of the endless fun with this photo is deciding which part of it to center as the embiggened image on my screen. I fluctuate between the five main Ion Dept. groups: on the left, the ladies on the floor, the ladies standing, and the men standing above them, and on the right, the lower men and the upper men. (If I had to distinguish a special sub-group, it would be solo guy behind the tree and the fellow on the very far right who hovers between the upper and lower groups.) Once I have the group du jour embiggened, I focus on the individual characters. As we who have been doing this for years well know, that’s when the fun begins.
Might I take this opportunity to offer the best of the season to Dave and Ken and tterrace and all my fellow Shorpsters. In this extraordinary year of greater screen time than ever before, I find that my Shorpy screen time is even more intense and valuable, if such a thing is actually possible. Bless Shorpy, and bless you all.
Elbow to elbowEvery year I have a different response to this photograph, depending on general mood and the state of the world. This year, I truly envy those people. They get to stand together in a bunch, breathing one another’s air, touching each other casually, sharing food and drink, simply going in to work at an office. They all lived through a plague of their own six years earlier, and they look fine now, so there’s hope.
Happy holidays to all the people who create and enjoy this wonderful website that gives me joy and perspective on a daily basis.
Re: Elbow to elbowI must concur. Having spent nine months wearing a mask, practically bathing in hand sanitizer every time I touch anything, and staying as far removed from people I don't live with as humanly possible, I'm jealous of these long-dead coworkers for being able to crowd together, enjoying one another's company in person, rather than over Zoom or FaceTime.
It's been a bad, bad year, there's no denying that, but Shorpy has been a bright spot in my day since January, much as I'm sure it's been for the rest of you. Happy Holidays to all the Shorpyites out there — may you find some contentment and peace in the face of all this tragedy and come out the other side hale and hearty.
That Time of Year AgainThrough the miracle of photography and our friends at Shorpy, we are able to visit this party again.
A Vintage CrumpleAfter all these annual viewings I finally noticed what looks like a lone crumpled piece of paper at lower right. We'll never know what was on it. Maybe a dig at one of these people? Or love note? Ah, the mysteries!
Christmas Past, Present, and Future all at once!Every year I wonder about the dark-haired smiling young woman third from the front, beside the desk. With her modern-looking bob, she looks like a Time Traveler, so that's what I've named her. (Not far away are The Maniac, Da Boss, and The Very Secret Lovers.) This photo, along with its subjects, never gets old, and I hope the Holiday Spirit that originally inspired it never does either. Happiest of Holidays to everybody who produces and sees Shorpy, and a New Year of peace, love, courage, and good health to all.
12 Years of ChristmasMerry Christmas Shorpy. Thanks for the memories.
[This is Shorpy's 14th Christmas! - Dave]
PerspectiveThey all lived through a plague of their own six years earlier, and they look fine now, so there’s hope.
Thanks, jdtaylor--I'm sure I'm not the only one who needed that perspective today.
Happy holidays to Dave and all the Shorpyites. This site has been a great distraction lately!
Time to Move OnI vote that next year you post the 1926 photo. Some of the lingering issues must have been resolved by then.
The X-mas Party Presents!And here you may have a look on how Christmas looked 100 years ago in the U.K. (including a display of toys made by Meccano in the toy department of Whiteleys store in Bayswater).
Mysterious machineNow that the gummed tape dispenser has been identified, I hope someone will be able to reveal the secret of the machine on the desk behind the in-box. A perforator or a mimeograph machine perhaps?
[It's called a typewriter. - Dave]
Dead ringer, etc.At the very back and far left - the attractive woman 3 in - I have a friend who looks exactly like her but with a more modern hair style, but identical facial features. How eerie!
Something tells me that Oil Can Mary's wicked smile indicates that she is already planning what flapper attire she will wear at the local speakeasy that night. Her future toast might be: "My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light!" Published in 1920. Edna St. Vincent Millay.
I often wonder what became of all these people. It is my hope that they all lived long, happy, prosperous lives but alas, as we know, life can be more complicated than that.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year you ghosts of Christmas past!
The only Christmas party I'll go to.Merry Christmas to Dave and the Shorpy Crew, as well as my fellow Shorpy followers. It appears that I've been around for 12.5 of the 14 years of Shorpy.com, though it seems like yesterday and DoninVa no longer lives in Va. There's always something to be found in a Shorpy photo: the young woman framed in the glass of the door is the doppelganger for someone I once worked with. Cheers!
Newcomer To The PartyAfter viewing Shorpy for some years now, I finally decided to join this party; I'm in awe of the many observations, and for now, am unable to come up with any new angles on this fascinating photo. I do want to say that the comments of jd taylor and BethF most definitely struck a chord with me; I, too, envy those in the photo, survivors of even greater trouble, coming as it did following The Great War. Hope to see you all back at the party next year, and a few other places along the way. May you all find peace and hopefully some joy this Christmas.
A Merry Christmas to You All!It's been a rough few years for me (family deaths, health issues), and my Internet usage dropped off considerably. I may have stopped commenting, but I never stopped reading, and I've looked forward to this photo every year for a long, long time. I'm glad that for all the things in flux in this world, the Shorpy Office Xmas Party remains the same.
I wish you and yours the very merriest and happiest of holiday seasons. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white. :-D
EerieWhy the rush?
[??? - Dave]
MassafornianWhat a great comment, thank you. I’ve never colorized, and I use Photoshop for barely 10% of what it can do, but I truly appreciated your insight into the process. More amazing is that you’ve named them all. Gosh, I’d love to know who the others are, in addition to Mary, Bobbie, Lulu, and Lila. And how honest to share with us your faves, Mary and Bobbie, made legit by your wife asking. I agree about Lila: trouble. Also the lady with the marcel wave in the purple dress and blue coat with fur fringe behind the bear and oilcan and house: you might think of her in off moments but you could never make it work. (What’s her name?) Thanks for explaining about Remini because I wondered how their teeth and various other features were so brilliant and precise. And don’t worry about the rouging: it raised the temperature on the whole event (and not just on the ladies – it’s perfect for that guy third from the left in the upper right, the older fellow with the red tie, who’s had too much to drink or is about to have a stroke or both). One more thing: I’d never really noticed that unsightly blotch on the forehead of the boss with the cigar – you did it full, gross justice. Again, great job, and thanks, man!
I'd like to be the first this yearSurely, it's not too soon for this Yuletide Jewel ...
The Oilcan Need an explanation for the purpose of the oil can at the party.
[It's not a party unless everyone is well-lubricated. - Dave]
Now the season is complete!I look forward to revisiting this every year. Thank you!
- Ken
Colorized versionI've been working off and on to colorize this wonderful image throughout the year. Here's the result. You can also find it here in high resolution:
http://www.hearthworks.net/1925/1925_office_xmas_party_12.12.jpg
Merry Christmas!
[Bravo! - Dave]
Amazing colorization!@ Massafornian -- thanks so much for that epic job. It adds so much to an already incredible image. (Judging by your username, I suspect we are compatriots -- I was born in Massachusetts and live in California.)
Merry and BrightWith retirement, our lives have been simpler here so the Christmas decorations go up earlier and earlier. But it isn't *really* the season until the annual Shorpy office party. Happy Holidays to Dave and the regular contributors that make this place special.
BTW...it's kind of odd that I get older but none of the partygoers ever seem to. Must be something in the eggnog.
As We Seek Normalcy, This Pic Provides it!The last two pandemic driven years, makes most of us seek glimpses of normalcy. Having this Christmas tradition each year, having a peek into the office Christmas party, gives a moment of that peace. Knowing these, and their children, and their grandchildren...made it through the Great Depression, WWll, the Cold War, etc., etc., still, a moment frozen in time, gives a certain reassurance, that everything is going to be ok!
Merry Christmas, office party, as well as all the Shorpy members that crash the party each year!
Bravo, indeedWell done on the colorization, Massafornian. It adds a level of vibrancy to an already-lively photo of an intriguing bunch of people. I’m also surprised at some of the effects, for example the oft-commented-upon woman in the lower left, sitting against the desk, craning her neck for a beady glare offstage – the rouge on her cheeks and the lipstick blunt the ultra-crazy impression and make her look, dare I say, somewhat fetching. Thank you for your addition to this seasonal favourite. And best of the season to my fellow Shorpsters and to the toilers in the digital mines who bring us this much-loved website.
Everybody's back in the officeNobody's working from home and the party is ON! Happy holidays!
WFHAs we head into Covid Christmas #2, it again strikes me that these folks would have no idea what working from home would even mean. (Taking in sewing?) Here they are, in joyous proximity one to the other, while we are still asked to distance, mask up, etc. Their mingled exhalations, their casual touches, the humid density of their gathering – how I envy them. Well, we come here to dream and fantasize, don’t we? Happy holidays to my fellow dreamers and observers and to the hard-working trio who bring us the stuff that dreams are made of.
Up to good or no goodI am incredulous that I have never really noticed the girl at the far left of the photo, just in front of the door -- the last of the women. She is concealing something. Knowledge or intent, benevolent or nefarious ... no matter. Keep a weather eye on that one.
Egad! New versions!Shorpy Patreon members have been treated to a short, elegant--well, creepy--music video in Ken-Burns-goes-Edward Gorey style. And now a colorized photo with costumes straight out of Technicolor heaven. And in 2021 they all sneaked in to party on Saturday!
Old FriendsI've seen this picture so many times over the years at Christmas time on Shorpy that the faces have become like familiar old friends. I'm of the opinion that Christmas will never be the same for me unless I get to see this photo at least once during the Christmas season.
Girl At The Far LeftNo one tried to say a thing
When they took him out in jest
Except, of course, the little neighbor boy
Who carried him to rest
And he just walked along, alone
With his guilt so well concealed
And muttered underneath his breath
“Nothing is revealed”
Time For A Rhyme...or TwoIt's Christmas Party time again, so back to yesteryear,
To faces from so long ago, we now hold somewhat dear
They lived through their pandemic, and now we've had our own
For some, it was an ordeal; of much more time alone,
Yet, gazing at these faces here shows us things will improve,
And then to next year's gala even more will gladly move!
A Merry Christmas to you all, here at this special time
I thank you all so very much for bearing with my rhymes,
May next year's party be the one our current trial's behind us
But our friends from 1925 will be there to remind us ...
A very special thanks to Massafornian for the superb colorization!
A bit more on the colorizationThe colorization was done by hand, for about an hour most every morning, when I had the spare time while listening to podcasts. I started in early January and completed it around April. I am sure that most Shorpians know that colorization is tedious, mostly due to the need to mask objects and details as much as possible, to distinguish them from other objects. (The Christmas tree with its fir needles and tinsel was a bit of a job). Automated colorization just doesn’t compare in quality to doing it by hand.
Each person is a smart layer in Photoshop that in turn contains many layers of isolated bits to colorize. The fun part was choosing the colors of people’s attire. Hopefully what I chose is close enough to what this cast of characters might’ve actually worn in 1925, but I won’t claim any historical research was performed for color accuracy.
I could easily spend the same amount of time on this image again, by further masking textures and smaller objects, and separating their colors. If anyone wants the original layered PSD to do more magic, you can have it here:
http://www.hearthworks.net/1925/1925_office_xmas_party_12.12.2021.psd.zi...
You have exactly one year to post the next refinement!
You might notice in the high resolution version that the faces are oddly higher resolution than the surrounding parts of the image. This is a bit of AI deployed on the faces, called Remini. Google it to learn more, but in a nutshell, Remini analyzes a face that is low resolution or blurry and magically reconstructs it in high resolution by drawing from a huge library of face components. Remini reassembles face components onto a map based on the original image. The process is hit-or-miss as far as how it can interpret low-quality image data. It was fun to apply it to this image one face at a time and integrate the rendered AI faces back into the master image.
I feel that I know all these characters in the photo intimately, having spent a lot of time on each one of them. I’ve given them all first names to distinguish the Photoshop layer names. My wife asks me which lady I might’ve fancied back in the day, and I think it’s a tie between ‘Mary’ (the blonde in front of the ‘504’ door wearing purple) and ‘Bobbie’ (third-to-the-right of ‘Lulu’, (the pixie by the desk), with brown hair, a green coat and blue dress, looking directly into the camera). Those two have nice, approachable personalities. I’m intrigued by ‘Lila’ (the mysterious lady on the floor in front of the desk), but she’s perhaps too brooding for 1925 Me to take on; and ‘Lulu’ is far too racy and trendy for my sensibilities.
I was born in 1963, so I imagined a lot of these people from 1925 as being my many older relatives who were a huge part of my childhood in the 60’s and 70’s. My grandmother was born in 1890 and her gaggle of five sisters had birth years that ranged between 1885 and 1902. Though elderly, they were all alive and vibrant for most of my childhood, and greatly influenced me.
I’ve been patiently waiting for this time of year when Dave publishes this wonderful photo, to submit my contribution. I think this version turned out pretty nice.
@ Born Too Late - my geographical fate is the opposite of yours: I started out in the Alameda, California and moved to Massachusetts some 20 years ago. Massachusetts is really a great place to live—weather be damned!
@ DavidK - Yes, ‘Lila’ did indeed turn out to be beautified by the AI software, Remini. In retrospect I think I got carried away with rouging people’s cheeks, but without it, the skin tones just seemed too flat.
Cheers,
—Massafornian
HUAAgreed, davidk ... most likely she's a downright dollbaby but there is a definite glint in her eye and you must admit she has a secret or two or ten. Maybe she's even got something on some of the other girls.
Not nefariousI’ve had my eye on that woman on the far left in front of the ION window for years, JennyPennifer. She has a touch of high color, and I really like that ringlet that has broken loose by her right eye. She seems mild yet ready for fun. Not naughty.
At this rateI'm thinking that by the 2025 centenary we should be ready for an animatronic enlivening of this ongoing party.
Cast of charactersAbsolutely outstanding job of colorization, Massafornian!
It really brings out details that were easy to overlook.
I see the Serbian Anarchist, peering out just to the right of the Big Boss with the cigar, and wonder what he's planning. And the guy hiding just below the life of the party, with the STOP/GO headgear - he looks like he's hiding something, for sure.
But is the Big Boss truly the Man? My money is on the distinguished looking silver haired gent at the top right, overlooking the affair with a cautious gaze ...
And, who really *is* the mustachioed guy to his left, glaring at the photographer?
Is he worried about this photo getting out? Does he appear on a Wanted poster??
Merry Thank YouBecause it's never Christmas until the Office Party and new Office Party Comments.
Office Stories@ DavidK - If you have Photoshop, try downloading the PSD and you’ll see their names in the layers palette. The oilcan lady I named ‘Janelle’ because she looks like my cousin who has that name. I believe ‘Janelle’ to be the well-regarded office trickster.
The aging lush in the top-right standing group of men is named ‘Redd’. Me thinks he’s barely evading his mortality this fine evening, and perhaps is about to fall off of whatever he’s perched upon, to be carried out to a waiting cab, muttering something about his childhood pet dog, Wilberforce. After his early departure his hip flask was found on the floor, where he fell. No one knows what happened to it, or its contents.
The leader of the pack is named ‘Boss’, for obvious reasons. My wife thinks that perhaps he has a familial connection to ‘Bertha’, the large lady in the red dress. Boss’s blotch is an expanding skin growth. By 1945, it will have grown over his face, poor fellow. Unfortunately, the portly Boss died of a heart attack in 1946 while un-crating his new supply of Consuegra cigars and munching on a donut.
I note in this photo that there is no evidence of food or drink, save the candy canes. So while we have conjectured on this post about the state of inebriation these people might be in, strong drink seems unlikely at this event, particularly in the age of prohibition these people find themselves in. (Redd is the exception, having brought his own supply of spirits.) The food might be in another part of the room, but the lack of it has me thinking that this event was a relatively brief gathering after work.
‘Lulu’, the office pixie, is only 19 years old. She is Boss’s niece. This makes her somewhat problematic for all concerned in the office, and something of a political figure. She’s not exactly incompetent at her job, but the office matriarch, ‘Ursula’ (sitting on the floor in the green dress) was grudgingly forced to hire her. Lulu got married to a Studebaker salesman in 1928, moved to Pasadena in 1930, and had 4 children. She died in 1988 in a car accident.
The thing about the brooding ‘Lila’ that no one knew was that she had a very wealthy aunt in New York City. In 1934 her aunt passed away, and Lila inherited nearly $3 million dollars in property and bonds. She moved to the Upper East Side in 1936, but never married. She lived to the age of 103, dying in 1998.
Here's a closeup of Lila:
Go-GoIs that something hanging from the wall or sitting on the man's head as a prank? Has it ever been commented on before? Though not shown, there has to be a portable Victrola and stack of jazz records somewhere for when the party gets hot! This was the height of the Charleston era and there are plenty of flappers present!
A White Elephant In The RoomMay explain the oil can, the Honey Bear, and all the other strange gifts.
I don't know how long the White Elephant Gift party has been around, but my wife and I just had one at our house.
That is one thing that I have been looking at all these years on Shorpy (the crazy gifts), and now realize the crazy gifts could be from the White Elephant in the room.
Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to all my Shorpyite brothers and sisters.
(Thanks archfan. Good to know that it is still around after all these years)
Colors!Kudos, Massafornian! At first I thought, hm, some of those dresses are awfully bright, but then I realized of course that for the office party some people always wear a “special” outfit. I doubt that woman in the red satin dress would have worn it any other day but it’s so Christmasy how could she resist!
Colors!Kudos, Massafornian! At first I thought, hm, some of those dresses are awfully bright, but then I realized of course that for the office party some people always wear a “special” outfit. I doubt that woman in the red satin dress would have worn it any other day but it’s so Christmasy how could she resist!
Re: Go-GoVictrolaJazz asks if the mini traffic signal on the head of the man at the back, to the right of the tree, has been commented on before. Yes! Many times over the years, in fact. This would provide a fine opportunity to review the long and enjoyable string of comments where you will find the following: Going to a Go-Go (12/12/2020), Still GOGO after all these years (12/20/2019), Festive Dress (12/19/2015), Must have been a heck of a party (12/23/2014), No one seems to have noticed (12/14/2012), Office A-Go-Go (12/25/2010), Slow on the uptake (12/24/2010), Kimono-wearing parrot? (12/23/2010), I can’t find Don Draper (12/23/2010), Naughty Naughty (04/21/2009), Getting Oiled at the Office Xmas Party (12/15/2008), Dramatis Personae (12/15/2008), and, finally, A Story in every face (12/15/2008) which includes a Dave link to a Shorpy post with a real GO-GO traffic signal in it.
Time travel?Either Johnny Depp was the original Doctor Who time travelling as a woman or his mother was working Working for Western Electric that Christmas
A white elephant party?I hadn't thought of that and now I'm disappointed. For years I have been daydreaming about the oil can lady, the one with the unnervingly lascivious direct look.
Then I remember she'd be old enough to be my grandmother. Jeepers.
Grateful Holiday pome These people, alas, are all now dust.
But we on Shorpy surely must
visit them once more.
Cheer to all on Shorpy!
Sad or Stimulating, or a bit of both?Having been recently retired, with no more company Christmas parties to attend, I am faced with a conundrum.
Is it sad that the 1925 Christmas Party on Shorpy is now the Office Party I look forward to the most, or is it tantalizing that the faces and actions of these folks, now long gone, give all of us smiles nearly a century later?
Let this serve as a reminder to treat every moment as if that moment is also "frozen in time"!
Merry Christmas, Dave, and the entire Shorpy family!
MomObviously, this is another photo in the Shorpy Hall of Fame inaugural class, but the best thing about it for me is that it was likely taken when my mom was just a newborn, having come into this world on December 17, 1925. Merry Christmas to all and a Happy Heavenly 97th Birthday to my mom!
My how time fliesSeems like it was just a month or two ago when last Christmas flew by with this pic.
NobodyHas changed much from last year. Remarkable.
Gag Gifts?I look forward to this party every year, and I notice something new each December. It's occurred to me that everyone in the photo is holding some kind of small gift, and all of them look like "white elephants": a toy horse, an oil can, a little bear, a toy policeman's hat—perhaps it was a "Secret Santa" kind of gag gift swap, and each gift was appropriately unique to the receiver. The photograph makes every one of these people forever young, and I always wonder what happened to each one of them: all those life stories that we'll never know. (I hope they all got a Christmas bonus!) Happiest of Holidays—and a Happy, Healthy New Year—to every Shorpyite.
The finer detailsI’ve chosen to focus on some of the smaller, obscure points this year in my investigation of this beloved photo. The woman in the bobby hat towards the left? Go south to the hand of the woman in front of her, the hand on the shoulder of the woman in the light-colored dress: that hand looks disembodied and is therefore creepy. Person who looks most Photoshopped in? The woman to the immediate left of that hand, staring right into your soul. Stuff like that. The picture is positively filthy with wacky, kooky, scary little things.
Sober thoughtFourteen years of beautiful fascination. Wonder if some folks who commented earlier, by now "are with the people on the photo" too?
Go-Go indeedI just wanted to second the man at the back, being bald myself. Go Go, folks.
Christmas TreesIf nothing else, we have made great advances in Christmas tree technology.
Every year they look a bit youngerMeanwhile, every year I look less like my father and more like my grandfather.
Love the ones you're withThanks for the labor of love and commerce Shorpy is. Years ago this photo evoked for me speculations about what may have divided these office mates. Now what comes out of this photo is the love that is possible if only ... with enough time and enough patience and enough "having lived through" being absent from one another we arrive at a finality of cherishing "in spite of" or even "because of" the uniqueness we bring.
The big read 1925I wonder how many of them were concealing new books in their purses, briefcases, or desk drawers. It was an era of readers, and 1925 was a banner year. Here are some of the newly-printed titles waiting for them in bookstores:
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Hemingway, In Our Time
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Dreiser, An American Tragedy
Christie, The Secret of Chimneys
Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer
Cather, The Professor’s House
Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Milne, a Winnie the Pooh story at Christmas
Kafka, The Trial (if you read German)
Proust, Albertine Disparue (if you read French—though some of them may still be working through the 1922 translation of Swann’s Way).
By December, early subscribers could have accumulated ten months of the new “New Yorker.”
But let’s hope that they still had a few years to be blissfully unaware of Mein Kampf, published in Germany in July.
There's one in every office. Frank is holding up an equipment assignment sheet while calling (vainly) for the frivolity to end and a return to work. He will not succeed.
Group AnalysisObviously far too long a comment, but Shorpy is so inspirational. Still had fun thinking and writing, as well as viewing picture again.
I was wondering about the woman at the far left. She is showing a sideways glance, and nobody else in the picture has a sideways glance. A sideways glance can be a powerful indication of attention to a subject, like romantic attention or professional attention or just surprise, but in any case something out of the ordinary. Like here, it seems different, just that one woman.
Trying to analyze a sideways glance, there is the face angle (determined by the nose angle) and the eyes angle. For a sideways glance like this, the eyes are directly pointed at the subject, but the face is pointed elsewhere. Using a reasonably limited choice of angles (0, 15, 30, 45) and expressing angles as "eyes angle / face angle" (eyes come first, most expressive), then this mystery woman with the sideways glance could be a 0/30.
Directly below her on the floor is a 45/0 woman, and her eyes angle is the extreme opposite. Seems absolute difference between the two angles can show degree of interest or attention, not the amount of either angle. With any 45/0 difference then attention seems to be very much elsewhere. The 30/45 woman to her right apparently has her attention directed to the same subject, but not to the same degree, more a casual interest, just a difference of 15 between her angles.
And the next woman above is a 30/30, also looking in that direction, but no difference between her angles, no indication of interest or attention, just looking.
Also just looking, but now at the camera, are all the 0/0 men and women, no differences, the largest group. They seem to be posing conventionally for the picture, and there is no apparent sign of interest or attention (other than to the camera). The exact pose varies by individual, some are smiling more than others, but they are all 0/0's. Some 0/0's may be simple conformists, and others may be nonconformists bored stiff (they can still smile, for the camera), but you can't probably tell which is which from the picture.
The big boss on the right is a 0/0, and the men in line with him are mostly 0/0's too, diligently following his traditional example. Above him are three 45/45's, you may not be able to tell about attention or interest from a 45/45, no difference there, in that way like a 0/0. However they are definitely not posing for the camera in any conventional way, not following the big boss example, and probably not in line to succeed him. His successor would probably be a 0/0 closest to him.
We could also consider tilt angle of the head as a variable, but that's more difficult to determine, because it varies with perspective, further away or closer to the camera. Also could consider extent of smiles, but that also difficult to determine. Eyes angle and face angle (nose angle) should be easier.
These angle measurements are probably useful only in a posed office photo, like this one. In a family photo 0/0's can be visibly full of emotion. And in real life anyone can look at you straight on, a 0/0, with amazement or fury or love or anything else. So angles won't help much in real life, although a sideways glance can still show interest and then create reciprocal interest, even mutual interest.
Mistletoe and High Voltage for all the women!I love how the ladies' hair has that "Bride of Frankenstein" look ... creepy yet sexy. It reminds me to get the yule log out.
ZoomThat was a quick year.
Another Year Gone ByBeen seeing this annually for a long time now, am I the first to comment ?? Anyways all these souls, their troubles and happy days are behind them and now are just dust in the wind … enjoy yourselves as we will be dust too! Merry Christmas
My Newest Favorite Christmas Tradition!I have gotten to the point of looking so forward to this party each year, it has indeed become one of my favorite Christmas traditions! LOL
For most of those attending the party, they are indeed, "living life!" That is so valuable, the ability to live life. On a personal note, I am learning that this year, having lost my precious wife in March, to Dementia. As iamjanicemarie well noted, all of these, are now just "dust in the wind."
Which makes me wonder, in what order did they pass? Did some in the picture in 1925 not survive till the party in 1926? Who was the last to go, and in what year? In the hundreds of comments, some pointing out actual things, others just speculating ... we can learn one lesson.
Live Life Fully Every Day. Who knows, a hundred years from now, you may still be having an effect on someone who you never even met!
Merry Christmas, Shorpy family!
What's up with the gals?Are they wearing kryptonite jewelry?
Old friendsI never get tired of this party and these coworkers. The job, yeah, I'm sick of it, but the people make it all worthwhile. I feel like I've known them forever.
Welcome Back, Dear 1925 Office Party Friends. . . and all Shorpy friends, too!
I look forward to seeing this wonderful photo every year. These folks never age, unlike the rest of us. I find this reassuring: life goes on, as it did for the office partiers whose lives continued through the Depression, WWII, and possibly even on to the 1990s. I always wonder who they were and what happened to them.
Here's to a Happy Holiday season and a peaceful 2024.
Seems Like Old TimesNice to see familiar faces, even though I never met them. However much they aged after this photograph, we'll never know, so just once each year, it's 1925 again.
StableThis firm has a very stable workforce. Every year, it's the same folks in the Christmas photo.
Macabre variationAlthough certainly macabre, I do like the door that iamjanicemarie tentatively opened and that HarahanTim swung fully open. In what order did these people pass? The annual response to this photo has definitely taken a curious turn, but I’m glad to chime in.
First to go, I believe, was Boss Man with the cigar, the very next morning, in the wee hours. He’s clearly in bad physical shape, a massive coronary waiting to happen. And it wasn’t the fault of one of those young ladies sitting on the floor that it happened in her bed. It was a different time when office and sexual politics were vile, and everyone was drunk.
Last to go was Heather on the far left in back, framed by the glass of the door. She’s only 23 in the photo, and she lived right into the next century, dying at 102 in 2004. She had moved back to Ohio, and on her last day was surrounded by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even one of her great-great-grandchildren. They all loved her very much.
It's finally Christmas ...... when this bunch show up. I checked; they're all there. Proceed to celebrate. Merry Christmas, everyone xoxo
In the officeIt's hard to imagine this bunch "working from home". The dynamic would be lost with a "Zoom" holiday party.
Fire ExtinguisherJust behind the gentleman with the "GO" signal on his head it looks like there is a classic soda/acid fire extinguisher that I noticed for the first time today. Conveniently located next to what appears to be a rather combustible tree. Season's Greetings to Dave, tterrace and the whole Shorpy gang.
Well, having had time to ponderabout these folk for a good decade since discovering Shorpy, I have come to a tentative yet preliminary assessment.
The only woman with no apparent makeup and yet the most beautiful features is the lady sitting on the floor at bottom left. Really in a class of her own in this crowd with those almond eyes and high cheekbones, yet with hair and dressed a bit out of date, but still sporting brand new shoes judging by their soles. How they got her to sit on the dirty floor for the pic is beyond me.
In any case, the photographer has just given her a huge suggestive wink, and she's snapped her head to the right in response, looking faintly amused / bemused, no doubt used to the unwanted male gaze. The woman second to her left is staring at her, annoyed that Gloria (for that is her name) has caught the roving eye of the photographer instead of her -- the body language is obvious. The flapper two to the left of Ms Envious is giving the photographer a bit of a come-on with her lopsided grin -- she has sussed out his game.
Mr Fatlips the boss is terminally near-sighted but for photos and thus posterity takes his glasses off when posing, as one can see. What he looks like with them on is a subject for a horror movie.
The rest of the crowd barring a few are to a greater or lesser degree tipsy on smuggled-in booze, it being Temperance Time, er, prohibited drinkees time in America
I'll have an update in future when other things become more clear to me from my favorite Shorpy image.
Merry Xmas to all!
Finger WavesThe blond and brunette whose backs are against the door and doorjamb, respectively, look modern. The other modern looking girl is two rows in front of them, also a brunette. These three look timeless. The other women either still have long hair wrapped up some way or they have those awful finger waves that look like ridges in their hair. None of the girls that have finger waves have benefitted from that style. It does not flatter any face shape, it just looks weird and kind of Bride of Frankensteinish.
The blond miss sitting on the floor is looking daggers at the moody looking woman sitting against the desk. I will always wonder why.
Holiday Party Fun (2023)Dear Shorpy folks and friends of the site.
This year I used this very photo to make a SPOT THE DIFFERENCE game at our work Christmas party.
Each of the participants had 20 minutes to spot all 19 differences. I used Photoshop and AI to make the changes to the photo and we all had so much fun with it.
If you would like me to post that image here, you may have fun too! Let me know Dave!
Also, we have some new friends that might be joining us on this site as they were fascinated by all the expressions of this 1925 party. I did inform them of the site and URL.
Merry Christmas everyone
What is on the hand of the number 2 guy next to the boss?There is something on his pointer finger and thumb. Could these be some type of grippers for leaving through papers? Could it be he was working until they forced him to come get his picture taken? He is clearly annoyed to be there. Maybe he is plotting to have the boss removed so he can be in charge?
Half a MillionI expect that the number of reads for Office Xmas Party will pass 500,000 shortly. Is this a record number of reads for a Shorpy photo?
[Office Xmas Party holds the No. 2 spot. Shorpy's most popular post is ... Lady in the Water, with over 640,000 reads. And at No. 3 is The Beaver Letter. - Dave]
Merry Christmas to all Shorpians!May your holidays be merry and bright. A special Merry Christmas to Dave and tterrace who keep this very special website going. And to all pictured from that office party held nearly 100 years ago, a Merry Heavenly Christmas to all!
ONE MORE TIMEAfter passing this photo around for everyone to look and laugh at, it was probably hung on the wall for a time, then taken to someone's home and put away in a chest and forgotten ... perhaps copies were made.
But how would these people feel if they knew that almost a half million people have studied it?
Also those desks have been in their current positions for a very long time, the floor below them new and pristine.
[This was not a casual snapshot -- the National Photo Company was primarily a news service. Its photographs appeared in newspapers, advertisements and publicity material. This particular image might have been used for Western Electric's in-house newsletter or a company Christmas card. - Dave]
Thank ya Dave for clearing that up.
Meet some of the boys ...Introducing ...
Charles S. Barker, District Superintendent: "With the right personnel and a good organization, you can do anything in telephony"
E.N. Searles, Division Superintendent
J.E. Grant, R.D. Dick, and...
Walter W. Lodding, Division Accountant
... with an invitation to Christmas at the Loddings':
This image was featured in the December 1926 issue of the Western Electric News with the title: "YOUTH AND THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT" and caption: "Santa Claus did right by this little lad the son of W.W. Lodding of the Installation Division 11 Headquarters"
Looking daggers?Susanhumeston wondered, "The blond miss sitting on the floor is looking daggers at the moody looking woman sitting against the desk. I will always wonder why."
I have always been intrigued by that interaction. Pretty much come to the conclusion that three of the ladies were diverted by something off set to the left. One (Charlotte) clearly annoyed, one (Lila) merely taking it in, and one (Gwen) mildly amused.
NamesMarkJo - nice job finding the real names!
I'm fascinated by the different names and nicknames in all the posts. Then I scroll to 12/23/21; alex_shorpy did a great job labeling everyone. Or go further back to 12/22/19 and see davidk's comment.
I also don't look at these folks as having turned into dust. Every year they come alive in the imaginations of many readers.
Maligayang Pasko to all.
Well, what else?Say, we don't view the full size for a micro-study. What we see is the "pyramid" of working stiffs that retracted into one side of the office against the forceful advance of upper management group. Sharp diagonal dividing line was disturbed somewhat at the bottom, by the lady and gent behind her.
There he is!Every year I look forward to seeing dear old Mr. Hilter at the top of the picture looking so skeptical!
"Mildred, what did you do with my flask"?This party was during the TEETH of prohibition too! The REAL fun will come later.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Christmas, Natl Photo, The Office)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/32246u.thumbnail.jpg "Office Xmas Party: 1925")
- Beauty Prize Winners: 1922
- Four prize winners in the 1922 beauty show at Washington Bathing Beach, Washington, D.C. Left to right: ... for Titian-Haired Beauty Washington Post, Aug 6, 1922
Titian-Haired Girl Wins Beauty Prize
The old-fashioned ... to an inflation calculator to see how that $1,000 prize in 1922 would compare in today's money. It would be worth less than $14,000 today, ... Posted by Ken - 07/06/2018 - 10:20pm -
- Beach Policeman: 1922
- ... and one of Shorpy's most popular posts --
June 30, 1922. "Washington policeman Bill Norton measuring the distance between knee and ... definition... A lot of people need to evolve..
Hmmm. 1922? Nice pic - but perhaps the foreground images are a little bright, ... Posted by Ken - 08/31/2022 - 12:51am -
![ Commemorating the Potomac Thighway Patrol's 100th anniversary, and one of Shorpy's most popular posts --
June 30, 1922. "Washington policeman Bill Norton measuring the distance between knee and suit at the Tidal Basin bathing beach after Col. Sherrill, Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, issued an order that suits not be over six inches above the knee." 4x5 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
This poor guy would have a stroke......if he could see what our high schoolers are wearing to summer school this summer. I honestly don't know where to put my eyes.
And obesity does NOT stop them from wearing too little and revealing too much. I wish I could "un-see" some of this summer's ensembles! (Rolls of exposed fat, ripples, dimples, man breasts, and so much more...)
Side note: What you are hearing in the media about the increase of obesity among America's young people is true. As they entered the building today with their doughnuts and Gatorades and Rock Stars (breakfast they buy at convenience stores on the way to school!), I realized that the summer FACULTY is more trim and fit than the summer school STUDENT BODY. Of course, we *do* have a lot of coaches, male and female, working this summer, but still...
Oh my God, it's the REALOh my God, it's the REAL bikini inspector!
Bathing Suits RequirementsNo kidding! My grandmother was arrested in the early 1900's for showing too much leg at a beach on Lake Michigan. Great pictures.... Al . Sacramento, Ca.
Modesty, Please!Today he'd be looking for thongs. I wonder what the next step is.
Looking upI'm sure he hated his job!! Yeah right!!
Today he couldlook for bulbous folks who have no business wearing Spandex
My only question is...Where are the beaches in Washington, DC?!?!
[Along the Potomac or Anacostia rivers. This is probably near the Tidal Basin. - Dave]
Beaches in DCIs that the Washington Monument in the distance? With the Smithsonian Castle over to the right? That might put this at the swimming beach where the Jefferson Memorial is now.
Its a tough jobbut somebody's got to do it!!!
heaven forbidmen see more flesh than is already present...they just wouldn't be able to control themselves...monsters that they are...
RE: This poor guy would have a stroke...Awww... but these are sure some nice pictures on this site, eh?
sadthis picture is so disheartening. not saying that measuring women's bathing suits isn't a bit humiliating and patronizingly obnoxious, but why are our teenagers pretending they're porn stars?!
["Pretending"? - Dave]
MemoriesI remember being a kid and having someone measure the distance between my knee and my shorts. Even though you knew what you wore was long enough, it never stopped the butterflies caused by wondering if the man doing the measuring was going to think they were too short! What an embarrassing time!
Re: SadJust because some bratty little kids dress in very little at all doesn't mean they're pretending to be filming an adult movie. I'm sure there are people at the time of this picture who were offended by the girl's skimpy suits, but you don't really have to go off calling them porn stars.
Beach policemanNotice how they aren't measuring the men.
Well, look at the girls.Well, look at the girls. He's more like the "cover yourself up, fatty" inspector. Too bad we don't have those today...
Re: Well, look at the girls.You're an idiot. That's what real women used to look like before the media and anorexia started coming down on everyone. You think they had Twinkies and Ding Dongs back then to gorge on, while sitting in front of the TV? Those girls are not overweight. Your tiny mind has been warped by today's sick society.
D.C. "beach"The area where the Jefferson Memorial is today was once a segregated public beach.
Good Work If You Can Get ItSo, did she pass inspection?
I Knew It!I've suspected for some time that my job sucked. Now I have photographic proof!
The SwimmerI like that she's leaning forward. I'm pretty sure that'll slide the fabric down at least a little. Way to work the system, bathing suit girl!
Double Standards???I don't see any men in the picture, but do notice the boys in the background are wearing essentially the same outfits, which modern boys would consider somewhat uncomfortable, I'd bet.
You can see from the marks……above her knees that she had taken off her stockings only a short time before the picture was taken.
For the sake of HumanityIt's obvious that what our parents taught us didn't matter to us, nor did they care for their parents as well. People had envy for their integrity and honor, and people cared for one another as if they were family, it's sad to see our world slope down to a level beyond wearing bikinis, to a level where we are happy how our children become more and more as adults to copy what we call "celebrities" and where short skirts and show skin. In my search I have found the answer and the solution to this problem, I have found a religion so great. Over time and as skin began to increase people see it as being normal, and that covering up is so abnormal, demeaning and a violation to one's rights, it's the beginning of humanity where Adam and Eve try to cover up, it's in our nature, in reality I found what integrity really means, to me and my family. Although I am double searched at airports because of my religion but in the end I am happy and can lift my head up high, and be proud of our honor, and what we have become in a hateful and evil world.
[So in this evil, bikini-wearing world, you're finally feeling good about yourself? Super. - Dave]
On Our KneesWhen one can determine what the appropriate amount is required to be modest, then the only fashion will be that one definition... A lot of people need to evolve..
Hmmm. 1922?Nice pic - but perhaps the foreground images are a little bright, sharp and contrasty for a 1922 image? And a right click of the mouse and a quick squizz at the image properties reveal the use of a $25,000 Sinar digital camera back - and Photoshop CS3. Surely digitizing with a normal film or flatbed scanner would have been more appropriate? I do hope I'm wrong and that they are the real thing but...... Hmmmm.
[These images were digitized using a Sinar 54 scan back and then adjusted for contrast and turned from tiffs into jpegs with Photoshop CS3. - Dave]
ScannerDon't get your point - I would expect you to use a scanner - either a film or flatbed type - to scan these rather than a digital camera. Just curious to know why all the pix on the site put through the Sinar look slightly unnatural for their time, that's all. Maybe we're all used to faded images from the period.
[You wouldn't use a film scanner because there is no film -- these images were recorded on glass plates the size of windowpanes. Flatbed scanners are more suited to reflective media (prints) than transmissive media (glass plates, film transparencies, negatives). Plus, flatbed scanners would be much too slow. The single-exposure scan back (in this instance, made by the Swiss firm Sinar) is standard equipment in a lot of archival facilities where hundreds or thousands of images have to be processed every day. The principle behind each scanning method is the same, though -- light shines through the transmissive media being digitized and hits a semiconductor array. - Dave]
NecklacesThey have to be mother and daughter, related somehow...Matching necklaces...can we get a zoom in of the Medallions... please.. Dave? (Love this site by the way)
[Those are claim tags for the changing-room lockers. - Dave]
Integrity IS hard to find!It's really sad to be a 21 year old girl these days. Everyone I know is getting on their knees to get male attention instead of being subtle or witty. I'm reading and drinking coffee with my nose in a book. I think I've got the right idea, and my joints are no worse for the wear.
Washington PolicemanThe policeman in question is a member of the United States Park Police. At the time they were under the control of the Bureau of Public Buildings and Grounds. They eventually were transferred to the National Park Service when the Bureau of Public Buildings and Grounds was reorganized to create the General Services Administration.(GSA got the buildings and the Park Service got the grounds).
Some Warning, PleaseDave! Please! I had to clean my morning tea off my monitor. Too funny!
Fat Was Beautiful"Plump" was a compliment in those days. Look at the first 10 Miss America winners (not to mention Playboy centerfolds). The current idea that "Bony is Beautiful" is of fairly recent development and is a forced denigration of all that makes women biologically successful.
(For the "Yeah...sour grapes" crowd, I'm 5'2" and weigh 97 lbs. I wish I had a little more padding.)
Pull over miss!Pull over miss while I wrap my fingers around your knee cap! I bet his mother, his wife, his children, and his in-laws are so proud. How does he explain to his children what he does for a living? Yes, my dad measures women's bathing suits at the beach. Sooo funny. Nope, Madonna wouldn't put up with this. Note the little boy carrying (I think) a brownie camera in the back.
See him in actionYou can see our man in action in this YouTube movie, round the 3:10 and 3:40 mark.
Presidential dippingI notice the location may be along the Potomac. A trivia fact is that President John Quincy Adams loved to swim nude in the Potomac.
Reminders of mini-skirtsForty-six years after this, I was a freshman at Fort Knox High School. While the fashion was for skirts to be several inches above the knee, at FKHS, if they thought someone's skirt was too short, they would make her kneel on the floor. If her skirt didn't touch the ground, they could send her home to change. The very young VP was generally the one who did that. Since I had grown four inches taller in the previous few months, but my dresses hadn't, I did my best to avoid him!
Taking no chancesThe young girl on the extreme left is definitely not going to drown as she is wearing TWO, not just one, inner tubes around her waist and keeps them on either in or out of the water. Better safe than sorry.
Touch my leg??!!Is this the origin of the expression "cop a feel"? Just wondering.
A perfect illustrationof bureaucratic inefficiency. What's with the tape measure? If the law says six inches, all he needs to measure with is something six inches long, that he can press against ladies thighs. Hmmm....
[That wouldn't have made as effective a photo. This was shot for newspaper distribution. - tterrace]
Oh, it would have made an effective photo alright! I doubt they could have printed it in the newspaper, though.
Not Park PoliceHe is wearing a Metropolitan Police badge.
Very PresidentialI always wondered what FDR did in the 20's before becoming president!
The measure of a manMr. Sherrill had definite ideas about things --
"But this did not satisfy them""They wanted to play golf on the same days and at the same time as the white people." Imagine!
[Really. The nerve of some people! - Dave]
Get Back in Your BurkaWhy the ladies don't kick sand in the face of this doofus is a good question. I'm guessing the boys standing just behind are wearing suits just as short.
1963This very thing happened to me in high school on Long Island!!
I think I know what job I want when I grow upThe boys may be thinking this is the job for them!
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Curiosities, D.C., Natl Photo, Swimming)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06624u.thumbnail.jpg "Beach Policeman: 1922")
- Iola and Anna: 1922
- June 17, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Iola Swinnerton and Anna Niebel, winners of the bathing ... can't imagine how awful looking the losers were.
1922 According to my Grandmother, for that time period the woman on the ... Posted by Dave - 07/06/2018 - 10:19pm -
![June 17, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Iola Swinnerton and Anna Niebel, winners of the bathing costume contest at the Tidal Basin. Miss Swinnerton, the runner-up, resides at 3125 Mount Pleasant Street N.W.; Miss Niebel, who took first prize, lives at 1370 Harvard Street N.W." National Photo glass negative. View full size.
Outstanding outfits!What great costumes!
Woman on the LeftI guess they weren't into abs at the time. She looks a little chunky or maybe even pregnant.
[That would be Iola, a Shorpy favorite. - Dave]
WinnersIf these are the winners, can't imagine how awful looking the losers were.
1922According to my Grandmother, for that time period the woman on the right would be considered "fast"--her hair is "bobbed" and she's showing way too much leg.
IolaWhen I look at Iola, the girl on the right, I see Drew Barrymore. Do you?
Iola and AnnaMy father was born the day after this picture was taken. He is 85 and living happily with his new girlfriend in the SF Bay Area. My how times fly.
They listed her address?Can you imagine a photo caption today giving out a pretty girl's home address? Didn't they have creeps back then?
IolaMike, I totally agree. Drew Barrymore was my first thought.
Hmmm.I live a block away from her. Creepy.
No Paris & NicoleYou're right on the mark there, Mr. Mel. Those girls are huge. Guess they hadn't invented eating disorders yet back then, huh? I, for one, am relieved that our standards of beauty have risen so drastically in the last hundred years.
The Benighted '20sTragically, in those days they didn’t realize that emaciated heroin addicts with chemically-paralyzed faces were the epitome of female beauty.
Iola & AnnaWell put. You made me laugh quite a lot!
Yes! I thought the exact same thing as soon as I saw the picture full size. These girls are great. So much character in their faces. I really like the girl on the left.
Flap Away GalsI'm completely overwhelmed with excitement! The 20's amaze me. They were a Tim Burton dream/nightmare. The photos are always so rich, dark and full of mystery. Even something like a beauty contest. Your imagination can run as wild as Iola and Anna. GLORIOUS!
BeautifulWow, I actually feel really sad for those of you that are seriously looking down your noses at these girls. This is real beauty. Woman do not look like what society considers beautiful today. I would so much rather have had these women as role-models then the anorexic girls in magazines growing up.
Not the most flattering of IolaAnyone who doesn't see Iola as beautiful in this picture should look at the others of her in this gallery. This one doesn't do her justice, because she was absolutely gorgeous! I don't know how anyone can comment on her figure when it is covered up by that horrible bathing suit. She could have had a 24 inch waist under it, for all we know! I will concede that she wasn't Twiggy, but she wasn't obese, either. I think Anna probably outweighed Iola by 15-20 pounds.
Under the swimsuitBelieve me, there's no Twiggy hiding there.
(The Gallery, D.C., Iola S., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls, Swimming)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06564u_0.thumbnail.jpg "Iola and Anna: 1922")
- Street View: 1922
- Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Star Building from air." The Washington Star newspaper building at the ... answering my own question: the tower was remodeled in 1922.
Also visible at the top of the photo are:
1) the original NY Ave ... Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:17pm -
![Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Star Building from air." The Washington Star newspaper building at the center is at the intersection of 11th Street N.W. and Pennsylvania Avenue, which runs diagonally across the photo. The big building with the tower us the Old Post Office. There's a lot to see here, including laundry hung out to dry. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
Timber!I wonder what the story is on the collapsed building in the lower right corner behind the markets. Wonder if it was just a building collapse, or was there a fire there? And Maharg is right, when you think of Washington, you think White House, and National Mall, you forget that its a city full of people just like any other.
Also notice, the Washington Times billboard just one block away from the Star Building.
Teeming with commerceWhen you grew up in the hinterlands and Washington was, to us, "Our Nation's Capital," you didn't really get the idea that real life teems in those streets, that Washington is as much a city of commerce as it is a city of government. Extraordinary photo, a Shorpy great!
Electric RailwayIn the upper right corner is the terminal for the short-lived Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway, which ended service in 1935. Pretty amazing the amount of markets and street-vendor setups surrounding parts of Pennsylvania Avenue in the central portion of the city just south.
Wow, how times have changed.Wow, how times have changed. One of my favorite restaurants is now in the Star Building. I love how there is so little traffic. Thanks for the photo!
Then and NowI would love to see a shot taken of the same angle today.
To market, to marketThe market building with the metal bay (foreground center) is the same one seen here. Also note the tall building upper-leftish with the covered airshaft or center bay. That must have been a dreary view. And yes, those are binder holes along the left. This is a photo of a photo of a photo. Imaged from a glass negative of a paper print. So we are third-generation here. Still, not bad.
Fire!I wonder what the story is on the collapsed building in the lower right corner behind the markets. Wonder if it was just a building collapse, or was there a fire there?
The 1913 Baist Atlas available from the Library of Congress identifies this as 910-912 Pennsylvania Avenue. The 11/28/21 Washington Post reports that it housed a furniture warehouse, H. Baum and Sons, that burned in a fire the previous afternoon (see "$200,000 Avenue Fire", pg. 1).
There's lots of Shorpy's in there... the gas station next to Ford's Theater
... yesterday's bus full of telephone ladies
Fire Sale!Looks like the street on the near side of the burned out building is full of fire sale items.
Re: Fire!Here's hoping that H. Baum and Sons took advantage of the "Absolutely Fire Proof" United States Storage Co. just down the street for any irreplaceable items or documents!
Garfield shooting siteI just realized that bottom center is the location of the train station where President Garfield was shot, 41 years before this photo (though he survived for 80 days), on the site of the current National Gallery of Art.
[The current location of the National Gallery isn't in this picture; it would be off the the bottom right. Garfield was shot at the Sixth Street Station; the intersection at the bottom right of this photo is Pennsylvania and Ninth. - Dave]
Windows Windows Everywhere!!!This is one magnificent photo. I enjoyed seeing the overhead view of the Loew's Palace and the New National Theaters. I challenge any Shorpy viewer to count the vast number of windows that show in this field. Would it be close to maybe 5,000?
Re: FireThanks Rock for the info, it's amazing the amount of knowledge that can be gleaned from the users here just by putting up a photo. Thanks Dave.
Joe from LI
Church of the EpiphanyUnless I'm very confused, the building (top center) surrounded by scaffolding is the bell tower of the Church of the Epiphany at 1317 G St NW. Wonder what they were doing: erecting or repairing?
Re the United States Storage Co., the 10th St facade of that building remains today, incorporated into the east elevation of 1001 Penn. Ave NW.
Epiphany epiphanyRe Epiphany, answering my own question: the tower was remodeled in 1922.
Also visible at the top of the photo are:
1) the original NY Ave Presbyterian Church (dark & squat). The photo doesn't show the top portion; if it did, we'd note the missing steeple (destroyed in an 1898 storm). The building was razed & rebuilt in a larger form by the congregation in 1950.
2) the old Masonic temple.
(The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/30428u-aerial.thumbnail.jpg "Street View: 1922")
- The Girls of Summer: 1922
- Washington, D.C., 1922. "Potomac bathing beach." View full size. National Photo Company ... quite a time to have been living in Washington.
Wow 1922?! Aside from the costumes those girls look like 3 attractive lassies tha ... Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 5:01pm -
- And a Dog Named Gyp: 1922
- May 2, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Something new in auto tops. George R. Wharff of Old ... Maine to Florida and back would have been quite a trip in 1922.
Me and You I remember to this day the bright red Georgia clay. And ... Harold would have looked about like these guys in 1922. The palm leaves were the period equivalent of duct tape.
(The ... Posted by Dave - 08/07/2012 - 10:34pm -
![May 2, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Something new in auto tops. George R. Wharff of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, and Joseph Fossard returning from Florida. When they lost their top, they thatched it with palm leaves, which seem to answer every purpose. Gyp, their companion on the trip, has traveled 10,000 miles on the front fender as shown in the picture." National Photo glass negative. View full size.
The CarCirca 1917 Chevrolet Model 490. Some interesting things to note are the toolbox on the running board and accessory spotlight. It must be hot because the upper portion of the windshield is opened for "air conditioning." There is evidence of accidents if you look at the wrinkled front fenders, and the headlight lenses are two different brands.
From Maine to Florida and back would have been quite a trip in 1922.
Me and YouI remember to this day the bright red Georgia clay. And how it stuck to the tires after a summer rain.
Jacksonville Spuds? I can't quite make out what is written on the car just below the driver's side windshield. It looks like it could be "Jacksonville Spuds".....maybe our intrepid travelers are potato farmers back home?
As a side note, I'll bet that Gyp was an awfully good dog!
I've Got a Lovely Bunch of CoconutsEight reasons I love this photo.
1. Everyone has a hat (except Gyp).
2. The car owner doesn't much believe in tire tread.
3. He also doesn't believe in washing his one and only window.
4. Rather than take a half step behind the fellow with the pipe, the guy back there has his back to the camera. Don't see THAT often.
5. Wish they weren't all blocking the great vaudeville info behind them.
6. They aren't telling the truth about losing the car top. It is right there under the thatch. You can see it.
7. But then it is also hard to believe they really had a dog ride 10,000 miles on a fender.
8. And what is with the coconuts the guy in the back is holding?
CosmosI would like to know the location of the photo, evidently a theater with "continuous vaudeville shows". Could the theater name be Cosmos, as in Cosmos club?
[This is the Cosmos Theater, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. - Dave]
Seeing the USAHe's been seeing the USA in his Chevrolet -- about 33 years before we heard Dinah Shore tell us to do it.
Spot the nonconformistWith his back to the camera in spite of all the fanfare and hoopla over the thatched roof and photo op. I was once with a "different drummer" type who would not even look up to watch a fireworks display on the Fourth of July. Like Mom always said, "it takes all kinds."
I sort of feel sorry for Gyp the dog. His face is frozen into a kind of permanent, flies-in-the-eyes squint. He must have been mighty hot lying next to that engine.
And last of all, how much coconut can one person eat?
Where's the crank?I can't see the crank lever up front; was it detachable, or those early Chevys already had electric starters?
Blessedly lost in thoughtI just spent the last half hour in total oblivion, completely lost in my own head, imagining these two fellas,who sure seem friendly enough, telling this crowd all about their trip,their palm-top auto,their coconut collection and their good dog Gyp.
And that's why I so dearly love Shorpy.
PosterOh how I wish I knew who the vaudevillian with the saxophone on the poster was!
Sax posterIf I didn't know better, I'd say it was Groucho Marx.
Red Green and his nephew Haroldwould have looked about like these guys in 1922. The palm leaves were the period equivalent of duct tape.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Dogs, Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06190u.thumbnail.jpg "And a Dog Named Gyp: 1922")
- The Wolverine: 1922
- Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Leader Theater, front." Sidney Lust's movie house on Ninth Street N.W. ... in the photo.
Washington Post, Feb 12, 1922
Carriers' Theater Party
Many Post newsboys yesterday ... Posted by Dave - 08/18/2012 - 5:52pm -
![Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Leader Theater, front." Sidney Lust's movie house on Ninth Street N.W. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
Into the MixWow. Interesting mix of dancehall cafe, Greek restaurant, vaudeville/burlesque house and cinema. Even in black-and-white, certainly more colorful than the mall multiplex.
Breathtaking ArchitecturePlease tell me this magnificent building is still standing. Built in 1910, it could be . . .please!
The gigantic statuary flanking the marquee---dwarfed by the HUGE roofline finial statues---is simply stunning. All the buildings along this block have unique architecture with intricate detail. Was this an "entertainment block"? I see a cafe/dance hall, burlesque house, the Leader theater, and a Greek restaurant. I wager to say even the "Washington Shoe Shine and Hat Cleaning Parlor" was probably an entertaining place to visit!
The Tarzan die cut advertising tucked around the marquee would be worth a small fortune on today's antique market!
The Port ArthurStarting from the left...
Washington Post, Oct 20, 1914
Fight in Chinese Cafe
Three Men Arrested Following Row in
Port Arthur Restaurant
The moving-picture district on Ninth, between E and F streets northwest, was thrown into a state of excitement last night just as the shows were discharging their crowds by a fight in the Port Arthur Chinese restaurant, in which three young men are alleged to have attempted to smash everything in the shape of furnishings and the head of every Chinese employee in the place.
The trouble attracted a crowd that blockaded the street from curb to curb. Cries and curses and the breaking of glass and tableware added to the situation.
Policeman Miller alone grappled with the fighters and emerged from the place brining three of the principles with him. They were taken to the first precinct.
Morris Sing, proprieteor of the restaurant, told the police that the party came into his place and ordered food. Then for some reason unknown one of the men picked up the dishes, smashed them, and then started a general assault principally against the Chinese employes of the place.
Several of the Chinese waiters were injured, but refused hospital treatment.
A one-sex audienceAll boys, I notice. Apparently girls stayed home on Saturday afternoons. All in knickers, scratchy woolen stockings and high leather shoes. And every single one of them wearing a cap except the half-dozen or so who are holding them in their hands.
Helen Gibson in "The Wolverine." Not much information, I'm afraid.
Elmo Lincoln in "The Adventures of Tarzan." (Lots.)
The WolverineI had no idea Hugh Jackman was so old!
"The Wolverine"Plot Synopsis by Hans J. Wollstein
Based on a novel by the prolific B.M. Bower (pseudonym for novelist Bertha "Muzzy" Sinclair), The Wolverine starred former serial queen and stunt-woman Helen Gibson as a rancher who stands up for an employee (Jack Connolly) unjustly accused of cattle rustling. Ward Warren (Connolly) had come West after serving a prison sentence for a crime he didn't commit. History repeats itself for Ward when a couple of bandits he had chased off the land, accuses him of being a rustler himself. The former common-law wife of Hoot Gibson, Gibson (née Rose Wenger) had gained stardom replacing Helen Holmes in the long-running The Hazards of Helen. By no means a traditional screen beauty -- but spirited -- Gibson's starring career was brief, and she returned to stunt-doubling in talkies.
http://www.allmovie.com/work/wolverine-117381
Around the World in a BlockThe architectural walking tour here is pretty wild. There's the Belle Epoque excesses of the Gayety and Leader theaters, crowned by their zinc copies of sculptures from the Petit Palais at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Then there's the Gothic church facade of the Port Arthur Restaurant. And then there's the Acropolis (Greek) restaurant housed behind a Chinese balcony, left over from the Port Arthur's old location on the other side of the Gayety (the stairwell entrance to the "gothic" Port Arthur at 515-17 has a matching Chinese carved wood awning). But just when I was getting an urge for some nice spanakopita, I noticed that the Acropolis seems to have been replaced by the all-American Rowland's Buffet.
Cable cars?Is that a cable slot between the streetcar tracks?
[It's access to the underground electrical supply that powered Washington's streetcars. - Dave]
"Fastest Northwestern Picture Ever Screened"What the heck does that mean?
["The Wolverine" was a train. Which is shown in the sign. - Dave]
Coming AttractionView Larger Map
The location today. The J. Edgar Hoover Building is right behind you.
The GayetyThis is right around the corner from the original 9:30 Club. I remember parking across the street from the Gayety in the early 80's. Creepy place, they showed "adult" movies. Lots of drug addicts and perverts.
Wilbur Mills and the GayetyThe Gayety lasted into the 1970s. That's where House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur Mills first met "Argentine Firecracker" Fanne Fox, who later jumped from his car into the Tidal Basin and sank Mill's career.
Gorgeous photograph!And also a revelation for me. Was The Port Arthur a Chinese food chain? There was also one by that name in downtown Providence. I don't know when it opened there, but I do know that it lasted well into the 1940's and was - according to my Dad - the hottest place to go to on a Saturday night in the late 30's and early 40's. Drinking, dancing to a band and exotic, for its time, Chinese food.
My Aunt Mary and another female relative sang there, as well.
What an eye-opener! And what a thrill this photo is to drink in! I'd throw down my nickel to see that movie in a second - if only for the pleasure of getting to see what the inside of the theater looked like!
This is one of the very best postings this year.
[Below: The Port Arthur Chinese restaurant in New York. Click to enlarge. - Dave]
Helen GibsonThat picture is awesome. Thanks for sharing it. I have been researching Helen Gibson for many years and have many of her personal ephemera pieces. Including her copy of the Wolverine lobby card with the image enlarged as a poster on the left of the entrance. Thanks for your site, I always see something exciting.
Newsboy MatineeGiven all the young boys and the fact that that whatever is going on here it merited a photograph, I am guessing this is another gathering of newsboys for a Saturday matinee. Shorpy viewers have previously seen a similar event in this 1925 photo of the Leader Theater. Alas, no sign of Bo-Bo, "the monkey with the human brain," in the photo.
Washington Post, Feb 12, 1922
Carriers' Theater Party
Many Post newsboys yesterday had the time of their lives at the showings of the latest installment of the Adventures of Tarzan at Sidney B. Lust's Leader and Truxton theaters as the guests of Mr. Lust and the circulation department of the Post. The boys found the day an even greater event than they had expected, for in the morning at their homes, each had received letters from W.C. Shelton, circulation manager of The Post, thanking them for their efforts delivering The Post on time during the storm and enclosing $1 as a bonus.
Mr. Lust, who was host to a number of the carriers yesterday, will entertain as many more today, for tickets good for either day were sent out. As a special inducement to efficient service, the boys who rank among the best carriers in the city will receive free movie tickets for the next 15 weeks.
The boys had been particularly interested in the Tarzan film, which features Elmo Lincoln. Bo-Bo, the monkey with the human brain, was on hand to meet the boys when they reached the Theater, and on leaving every boy was given a bag of peanuts. Bo-Bo plays an important part in the Tarzan serial, and his antics created much amusement.
Elmo!Where else but in America could a guy named Elmo with a 52-inch chest become a movie star? In addition to his rightful claim to fame as the first film Tarzan (in 1918), Elmo Lincoln was also in the silent classics "Birth of a Nation," "Intolerance" and "That Fatal Glass of Beer." He came back in the late 1930s in bit roles in talkies, including "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."
"The Adventures of Tarzan" was Lincoln's third and final foray in the role of the vine-swinger, which was probably just as well, as he was afraid of heights. Released as a 15-part serial, it was one of the smash hits of the year, taking in more than Valentino's "The Sheik."
Sugar Plums at the GayetyWhen this photo was taken, burlesque had not yet begun its long slide from musical comedies and revues into adults-only sleaze. The Washington Gayety was one in a large chain of theaters, with shows rotating among them on a circuit, as in vaudeville. Gayety shows featured such stars as Al Jolson, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker and Will Rogers. Harry Coleman, starring in the Washington Gayety's "Sugar Plums," was a comedian who began receiving favorable reviews around 1915, and appeared in a few silent films as early as 1910 (his last film credit is as a bit player in the dance hall scenes in Chaplin's "The Gold Rush"). On Nov. 8, 1918, the Toronto World ran a notice for the Toronto Gayety's new show "The Roseland Girls," beginning with this lead:
"The Roseland Girls" is a show that may always be relied upon to furnish the sort of entertainment that the patrons of the Gayety Theatre will like and will be enjoyed by all classes of theatregoers. The company is headed by Harry Coleman, Bert Lahr, Kitty Mitchell" [and others].
Absolutely wonderful. What a civilization we once had!
The adult on the far right appears to be halting traffic with his blurry arms so as to give the photog a clear view of the newsboys.
Elmo of the ApesElmo Lincoln was in the first Tarzan feature, "Tarzan of the Apes," which was filmed in Morgan City, La. (I suppose if you took the Southern Pacific east out of LA that would be the first quasi-jungle swamp you would come to.)
Morgan City is a real pit, an oilfield blue collar town with not much going for it. In 1986 I was staying overnight there and read in some chamber of commerce brochure an invitation to come back in 1988, for the 70th anniversary of the release of the film and Morgan City's Tarzan fest.
Two years later the Wall St. Journal had an article in its humorous-story corner about how in the midst of all the planning the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate prevented Morgan City from going forward with the festival. The poor town was stuck with all of the preliminary costs of their big event in the city's history. What a shame.
Good thing there was a captionI couldn't see the name of the theatre anywhere on it. I suppose it could be covered by a banner for the movie. You'd never see a business today allowing its identity to be obscured.
Elmo Is My HomeboyElmo Lincoln is the only movie star from my hometown of Rochester, Indiana! That's all I've got to say. Some 4-digit population towns can't claim ANY movie stars.
What is next door?Does anyone read Greek? I wonder what the upstairs of the building on the theater's left houses?
[The name is there in both Greek and English: Acropolis Cafe. - Dave]
Dressed to the NinesI can't imagine a group of that many boys wearing ties to a movie today.
(The Gallery, D.C., Movies, Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/30200u.thumbnail.jpg "The Wolverine: 1922")
- Klan Air: 1922
- March 18, 1922. "Members of the Ku-Klux-Klan about to take off with the literature which ... counter Swastika is new to me -- Nazis didn't exist yet in 1922.
[Not so. The National Socialist German Workers' Party was formed in ... the heart. Apparently it didn't work. Too Bad.
Not 1922 The Swastika was virtually unknown in the U.S. in 1922 and would not ... Posted by Dave - 11/20/2011 - 12:52am -
![March 18, 1922. "Members of the Ku-Klux-Klan about to take off with the literature which was scattered over the suburbs of the city." The date coincides with a Klan parade through Washington's Virginia suburbs. View full size.
IndianaI attended a public KKK event about 15 years ago. It was held on the front lawn of the county courthouse in my home town, in northern Indiana. There was a major stink ahead of time on the question of whether it should be allowed on public land; but eventually it was ruled legal as long as they got the proper permits and played by the law, just like anyone else who might request the use of community property.
The police had everything well organized. If you showed up and wanted to be within close range of the stage, you had to declare either that you were for or against the Klan, at which you were ushered to one of two fenced-in corrals. Before entering you had to surrender your belt (it could be used as a weapon), and everything in your pockets (coins in particular might be used as hard projectiles). Your surrendered articles were dumped into water-filled barrels and were not returned. The only thing you could keep was one key, presumably to your house or car.
The Klan speakers were what you'd expect: bigoted, poorly-educated, and so on. However, they behaved themselves to the letter. The more interesting thing to me was that most of the anti-Klan spectators composed themselves rather immaturely. Many anti-Klanners (especially the younger men) were salivating for a knockdown brawl.
After the presentation the two corrals were emptied in opposite directions, single file, and regulated so as to minimize the chance of the two camps meeting up while the blood was still hot. How ironic that the side which played its hand more deftly was a bunch of ignorant racists. This is an example of what the Founders of the United States meant by their vision of this being a country of laws, not of men.
Not to worryWith the kind of technical expertise, management skills and risk taking which that kind of persons normally exhibit, that airplane probably did not fly very long.
There are reasons why the Allies won the last world war, and they are not limited to vastly superior resources. On top of that, the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese also went out of their way to lose it. Same story with the Warsaw Bloc.
Fly the friendly skiesWelcome aboard, we'll be your flight attendants. Only two seats, so you're on the wing with Frank.
Someone, let me borrow a Sopwith CamelSo I can shoot down these punks.
Who is that masked masked man?I had to look at it full-size before I realized why one guy had a slightly Batman shaped mask on. I'm not sure the FAA would let them fly like that now!
DisgustingThese people were and are a disgusting disgrace. The Nazi sysmbol on the tail is a perfect fit. The end state of this ideology was played out during WWII. It is important to remember.
Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA
Klan dartsI think that if you threw all four of them out of the plane, at least three would stick in the ground headfirst.
The power of the pyramidA little-known fact about the Klan is that it was the first modern pyramid scheme. Members were constantly exhorted to come up with more and more money to support their local chapters, and were under pressure to keep recruiting new people.
Cadets Oh, crap, they have their own Air Force?
Way Beyond ChubbyI can't imagine the bozo on the right being able to even get into the cockpit of that biplane! And I'd wager they'd need every inch of runway available to sorta get into the air. I wonder if they had helmets on under that silly pointy head gear. It's amazing how extraordinarily dumb they look. Which one of these folks was named "Ace"?
The guy on the rightwill have to pay double.
99.9% NOT NaziThe use of the swastika was very commonplace among aviators of this era as a symbol of good luck.The use of the swastika was used on many a school uniforms throughout the 1890-1910's too.I'm pretty sure the swastika on the tail is just an ironic coincidence.
That portly fellow on the rightHey Bubba -- next time order the salad!
OverloadingThe big guy on the right will need to purchase two seats.
Bullseye!I notice the guy at second right appears to have a bullet hole right through the emblem over his heart - perhaps he inherited his bedsheet from the previous wearer. Kudos to the unknown marksman.
And guys at each end forgot their flying goggles.
It's official."Klan Darts" wins. Thanks, kirkbrewer; laughed myself silly. Just what I needed as a tonic to the absurdity of these goons and the hatred they represent.
RE: CadetsI think jepkid's note vaulted into my Pantheon Of Best Shorpy Comments.
Guilty pleasureThe last KKK photo you posted really gave me the willies, but this is hilarious, for many reasons! I feel a bit guilty for having fun laughing at these idiots, and the witty comments about them, knowing that some of the ancestors of my children and grandchildren were terrorized by them, but I can't help it! I am going to have to be sure to show it to my kids when they are all here, next!
Klan AirIn the early 1920s, there was actually a concerted Klan effort to co-opt and essentially take over the Army Air Service. The idea of a Klan Air Force was no joke.
I've run across newspaper articles on the above, but I don't know anything about Klan iconography. Their use of counter Swastika is new to me -- Nazis didn't exist yet in 1922.
[Not so. The National Socialist German Workers' Party was formed in 1920. - Dave]
The Klan was evil enoughwithout connection to the Nazi party. It is not the Nazi Swastika, which is the reverse of the symbol on the plane's tail. That symbol is ancient. In Japan during the Middle Ages, it was called the manji, a sign for great luck and protection against evil powers.
The Nazis adopted the symbol for their own use, but used the mirror image.
The swastika was used well before the birth of Christ in Iran, China, India, Japan, and Southern Europe. Whether it was also used that early in the Americas, however, is not known. There are no swastika-like signs on the oldest rock carvings there. Neither did the Mayans, the Incas, and the Aztecs use it. However, many of the Indian tribes in the southern parts of North America seem to have begun using the sign after the arrival of the first Spanish colonists.
[The Nazi Party's use of the symbol seems to stem in large part from Hitler's affinity for the writings of Karl May, a German author whose stories about the American West conflated Indians, swastikas and, interestingly, the Ku Klux Klan. - Dave]
Some ironyFrom Wikipedia:
"The symbol was popular as a good luck charm with early aviators. A swastika was also painted on the inside of the nosecone of the Spirit of St. Louis."
Good luck (I hope not)The swastika was a popular "good luck" symbol through the 1920s. I hope it didn't work for these guys during their plane ride.
SurvivorThat "person" second from the right looks like he was shot through the heart. Apparently it didn't work. Too Bad.
Not 1922The Swastika was virtually unknown in the U.S. in 1922 and would not have been used by the KKK at that time. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that this picture is from the 1930s, not the 1920.
[The photo is from 1922. - Dave]
SymbologyIt does seem appropriate that there was a swastika on the plane in this picture, but I think it it was just a coincidence. The symbol has been around for thousands of years and didn't become unmistakably associated with the Nazi party, especially not in America, until a few years later.
[The swastika on the plane is a "backwards" version of the Nazi symbol, whose arms point the other way. - Dave]
Yes, and there were other variations, too, besides being either left or right facing. Sometimes the "arms" were rounded, and sometimes there was another little extension connected to them. There is a famous picture of Clara Bow in an outfit decorated with swastikas. On the hat, it faces right, like the Nazis used, and on the shoulder it was facing left. Of course, this has resulted in rumors that Clara was somehow involved with the Nazis, or even having an affair with Hitler! http://ajax1946.deviantart.com/art/Clara-Bow-Swastika-Colorized-10205803...
Noble SacrificeShorty's the bombload.
SwastikaIt is not a Swastika. Swastikas point to the right. This design was used quite commonly.
[Swastikas can point either way. The National Socialist symbol points clockwise. - Dave]
Birds of a featherThe Swastika either right or left facing has been used by Native Americans and and other civilizations going back perhaps thousands of years. It became the National Socialist symbol in 1920, predating this photograph. I doubt that the 1922 KKK was involved with them at that time. The tail decoration was just a bad coincidence.
re: Not 1922Stan is both right and wrong. The Swastika as a symbol of Nazism was unknown in the United States in 1922. However the Swastika is an ancient symbol that seems to appear in many cultures including native American cultures as diverse as the Navajo and Penobscot Indian tribes. Not to mention being found in India. In fact the Swastika was a popular symbol of good luck for early aviators, which is probably the context in which it is seen here.
(The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_05904u.thumbnail.jpg "Klan Air: 1922")
- Star Car: 1922
- San Francisco circa 1922. "Star auto ascending steep grade." With a shout-out to FS and WL. 5x7 ... of General Motors. I believe production started in 1921 or 1922, which would date the photo a little later than 1920. The driver looks ... of the spokes on the underside of the fender! Shiny!
1922 Star Durant built the Star to directly compete with Henry Ford's Model ... Posted by Dave - 09/18/2014 - 2:03pm -
- Possibly Naked: 1922
- July 28, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Unclothed woman behind '?' sign." That pretty well sums ... the "?" sign. They didn't have nekkid people back in 1922. It wasn't allowed!!
Naked Nude Unclothed Traditionally, "naked" ... on behind the punctuation, but what garments existed in 1922 that would have been completely concealed by the sign? Certainly not a ... Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 8:06pm -
![July 28, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Unclothed woman behind '?' sign." That pretty well sums it up. National Photo Co. Collection glass negative. View full size.
Watch out for those nails!....and the barbed wire, too.
Nailed ItThis picture certainly captured my attention.
Someone should be very ashamed of themselves for this shoddy and heinous display.
That is some very poor nailing.
Unclothed WomanWith very strange tan line.
[Think beach socks. - Dave]
A RiddleEarly versions of Batman villains seem rather crude to the modern eye ...
Nails + Nudity = InjuryThose nails sticking out of that fence don't look like they'd be too kind to delicate skin. The thought makes me cringe.
I think...I know the answer.
?...I'm still trying to figure it out.
Winner!This is, without any real debate needed, the most random image ever seen on this site. I love it. I also love how she is "unclothed" not "naked."
Clara Bow's cousin, maybeLooks like the kind of gal that would hang out at the Krazy Kat or the Better 'Ole.
Gasp!Now that you have our attention.....
OK, I'm stumped...... can you reveal the answer please?
[There is no answer. - Dave]
The AnswerFrank Gorshin!
Ye are much too easyAmidst the hype, I bet a can of snuff she is wearing a bathing suit behind the question mark.
!Somewhere there's an unclothed man behind an exclamation point. When he meets this gal, no words will be necessary.
[Maybe he'd make a dash after her. - Dave]
.I wonder if she was missing hers.
Modern times.I can't believe she doesn't have her rolled down socks on. She's exposing her -- gasp -- ankles!
She has to be clothed behind the "?" sign. They didn't have nekkid people back in 1922. It wasn't allowed!!
Naked Nude UnclothedTraditionally, "naked" meant being undressed by onesself, unless someone else walked in on you ("She was surprised, naked, in the bath.") "Nude" was to be without clothes knowingly with others, as in "She modeled for artists in the nude." This woman is "unclothed", as she is in public without clothing, but nothing inappropriate is exposed.
At least that's how a professor of 19th century art explained it to me.
What I want to know is: why does both the fence behind her and the walkway she's standing on slope down to the right side of the image?
[It's a topological phenomenon that, as a geology professor once explained it to me, is called a "hill." - Dave]
Ak vs. EkkThe late great Lewis Grizzard told us that "naked" is merely being in an unclothed state, while "nekkid" means you're unclothed and up to something.
Scanties?I'd like to think that sweet-looking lass had SOME clothes on behind the punctuation, but what garments existed in 1922 that would have been completely concealed by the sign? Certainly not a bathing suit of the period.
[Below, also from 1922. Maybe she's wearing something similar with her arms out of the straps. More 1922 beach fashions here. - Dave]
The question is..."Have you seen my colon?"
1922 Advertisement... for Guess brand jeans!
Secrets well guardedThey certainly didn't want anyone crawling over the fence in search of answers, did they?
Sk8r GirlWhatever she's not got on, she is wearing a plaster over the scuff wound on her right knee, a very modern-looking touch. But she probably didn't earn this skater badge by grinding along the seawall ledge. It somehow recalls to me a 1920s John Held cartoon caption on a drawing of two flappers, one holding a powder puff and a compact:
"Is my nose shiny?"
"No, but your left knee is dusty."
Meanwhile, the nailsNails in that location don't seem to serve any structural purpose. My guess is that something's intended to be attached to them periodically, like seasonal banners or bunting maybe. Or perhaps it's an el cheapo provision for the nude, naked and unclothed people to hang their clothes on.
(The Gallery, Curiosities, D.C., Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06771u.thumbnail.jpg "Possibly Naked: 1922")
- Waiting for President Harding: 1922
- ... snap a picture of President Warren G. Harding on June 29, 1922. From the National Photo Company collection. View full size.
in 1922 Really? You mean that in 1922 you or me could just have marched up to ... Posted by Ken - 10/24/2012 - 10:49am -
- Petro-Palace: 1922
- Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Gas station, 17th and L streets N.W." The recently opened Washington ... glass negative. View full size.
Six Pumps in 1922! Wow! You can tell the center of government had plenty of autos ... by the Marriott Corporation. The dome at center in the 1922 photo is the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle located at 1725 Rhode ... Posted by Dave - 04/24/2013 - 3:25pm -
![Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Gas station, 17th and L streets N.W." The recently opened Washington Accessories filling station, also seen here under construction, three years later as Minute Service No. 1 and finally around 1928. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Six Pumps in 1922!Wow! You can tell the center of government had plenty of autos running around, even back then! In most of the country back then, there would be one pump out front of a grocery store or small service station. This place was a contemporary gas/convenience store 80 years ahead of its time.
This is the corner nowView Larger Map
The hotel later built behind the station and opening in 1925 is the Mayflower, still operating as the Mayflower Renaissance and owned by the Marriott Corporation. The dome at center in the 1922 photo is the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle located at 1725 Rhode Island Ave. NW.
Defunct tire companiesHood Tires were from the Hood Rubber Company of Watertown, Massachusetts. The company began operations way back in 1896, although tire production may not have started until sometime later. Many of the Armenian immigrants who formed a still-extant community in Watertown worked at the company's huge manufacturing complex. B.F. Goodrich acquired the company in the late 1920's and phased out the brand name. The Watertown plant remained in operations as a Goodrich facility, albeit one that made footwear rather than tires, until it closed in 1969.
Founded in 1905, the Ajax-Grieb Rubber Company of New York manufactured Ajax tires in Trenton, New Jersey and Racine, Wisconsin. The company struggled through the 1920's, and in a last-ditch attempt to cut costs it closed the Trenton facility in 1928. In 1931 Ajax-Grieb became one of the many companies that could not survive the Great Depression and went out of business for good.
Still neededThose nifty metal policeman directional signs of "in" and "out" would be useful even in today's gas stations since it seems no matter how many pumps or how large or small the station, there is always one or two drivers who enter the wrong way and mess up everyone else. This also happens at "all-you-can-eat" buffets where you can bet that one or two plate fillers will be going against the grain, coming at you head-on. I suppose that is why cattle are always herded into narrow pathways that are one direction only.
17th and LThere's the dome of St. Matthew's Cathedral in the background.
Standard Oil New JerseyJudging by the globes on the gas pumps it is a pre-Esso Standard Oil of New Jersey station.
Was there a Minute Service No. 2for cars that had their gas filler on the driver side? Or were the hoses on those pumps long enough (unlike the ones of today) to reach the "other" side of cars that were forced to enter the "wrong way" by the cutesy signs?
High Gas PricesIs the Lightning Motor Fuel sign, behind the bushes, advertising a gas price of 31 cents? If so, gas was more expensive than I thought in those days.
I see the oil sign of 31 cents per quart.
Convex-bottom bucketsI have seen those convex-bottom buckets in lumber yards, intended for fire extinguishing service. Are they employed here for radiator service, or for conflagrations?
[Fires. Below, a listing in an 1896 tool catalog. -tterrace]
(The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_30288u.thumbnail.jpg "Petro-Palace: 1922")
- D.C.F.D.: 1922
- Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "D.C. Fire Dept. car for Semmes Motor Co." National Photo Company ... Engine Company.
Car 5 "Serial No. 5." Lovely!
1922 Dodge Touring Car This is a 1922 Dodge Touring Car, DCFD Serial No. 05, assigned to the Superintendent of ... Posted by Dave - 07/13/2014 - 5:22pm -
- The Twiddler: 1922
- Washington, D.C. December 19, 1922. "Rep. Vincent Morrison Brennan, Republican of Michigan, listening in on ... desk is one of the first AC adapters. All radios in 1922 were battery powered, but the senator has his plugged into the wall via ... the senator's "receiver" setup sure was top-of-the-line in 1922. He must have been an avid wireless fan.
Not an AC adapter The ... Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 10:51am -
![Washington, D.C. December 19, 1922. "Rep. Vincent Morrison Brennan, Republican of Michigan, listening in on the proceedings of the House, with a receiving set." National Photo Co. Collection glass negative. View full size.
Cylinder dictation machinesConcerning Bob's question- I'm pretty sure those are cylinder dictation machines, similar to early Edison phonographs. The "cans" beneath are containers for the cylinders.
More about them here.
Mega dittosRush Limbaugh's first fan.
Would you believeThis is the portable model!
While twiddlingThe Congressman sits there waiting for Brian Lamb to be born.
Outstanding processingI downloaded the 1.7 mb tiff file from the LOC. It is a poor quality image. I spent a little time working on it. The processing you did to create the .jpg above is outstanding. How about a brief description of the steps you took to create the image?
[Thanks Doug. You are working from a different version of this image -- a print. Instead use the negative that the print was made from. Download the 25mb tiff. Then twiddle with the Shadows & Highlights filter in Photoshop CS4. - Dave]
Ahead of his timeThe rightmost device atop the senator's desk is one of the first AC adapters. All radios in 1922 were battery powered, but the senator has his plugged into the wall via this adapter. They were prone to fire and explosion — pretty sure that vertical cage houses a massive wirewound resistor that would have had to have gotten mighty hot. Anyway, the senator's "receiver" setup sure was top-of-the-line in 1922. He must have been an avid wireless fan.
Not an AC adapterThe "vertical cage" is in fact a tuned directional aerial. The reason that some AC power supplies went off with a bang was the unreliability of early electrolytic capacitors (needed in the smoothing circuit).
Ahead of his timeCongressman Brennan, who served only one term (he didn't run for reelection in 1922), introduced a bill to allow radio coverage of Congressional proceedings. It failed.
Not yet the telephonoscopeObviously this gentleman was a respectable politician listening to respectable material. But French scientist and sci-fi writer Camille Flammarion had a vision in 1894 of what such technology might lead to in his novel "La Fin du Monde" -- today's couch potato watching the dancing girls on his plasma screen. Sometimes it takes a long time to bring the technology to fruition.
Not Only PortableBut wireless too!
Worth the effort?From the looks of that contraption I think it would have been easier just to have gone to the House in person.
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs NetworkWhat we're seeing here is a beta C-Span.
Don't be blinded by all the technologyHe has a really nice rolltop desk, too.
Tuned InI suspect that this indeed was the portable version. Most radios of the period used lengthy aerials on the roof and a big copper earth spike in the garden.
I'm intrigued by the device to the right under the frame aerial, partially covered up. This seems to have a drive belt and a pulley. Is this some kind of motor generator set, to generate DC electricity from AC mains (or even DC mains)? It seems to have a rack for cans beneath it. The one to the right has a full set of cans. Are these electrolytic capacitors? Is this the power supply?
re "Vertical cage"I think Fred and Zach are talking about two different things. The large wagon-wheel thing is indeed a directional loop antenna. But Zach was referring to the smaller cylinder atop the desk that enclosed a resistor used to drop the line voltage to a low voltage for the tube filaments. Later transformers were used to do this more efficiently.
Hark! A Fark!Farked again.
Radio 4 the PeepulThe prescience of this writer (R.T.S.) to the ramifications of broadcasting congressional debate amazes me. Apparently the allure that an open microphone holds over our elected officials was set in place nearly a century ago.
Washington Post, Mar 13, 1922
Men And Affairs
By R. T. S.
The proposition of Representative Vincent Brennan, of Ohio, to equip the United States Capitol with a radio "broadcaster" capable of carrying the House and Senate debates to all parts of the county so that the "peepul" can know what is going on every day in Congress is causing something akin to alarm in wireless circles. Already the question is asked as to what the other waves have ever done to Congress to be inflicted with such a daily output of oratory? And what chance would the air have to carry anything else once it was freighted with the congressional debates?
The problems which arise in connection with the project are simply stupendous. How could the Senate and House both be in wireless operation at the same time without serious "interference?" Certainly it would be necessary to pitch the debates on different planes - different wave lengths. And which would claim the higher plane? Furthermore, if all the debates were broadcasted and some several hundred thousand of persons were listening spellbound at the old family fireside, how could you ever get either representative of senator to stop talking? Congress would be session for 24 hours a day.
Certainly the wireless telephone has congressional possibilities, but if there has been too much talk, with only the Congressional Record as a medium of complete expression, what in the world would happen with a lot of radio sets tuned to a concert pitch and rearin' to go?
Two rightmost devicesAre they dictating phonographs?
More than just twiddlingThis is an interesting photo from a technical perspective.
The subject is far more that just a twiddler. He has an advanced radio receiving setup, but even more interesting are the two cylinder machines.
At the time early radio broadcasts included music transmissions of jazz and other music. Also electric cylinder recorders were not common until around 1925, but these devices are definitely electrically driven cylinder devices and I speculate that one or both are recorders. In which case this fellow could be involved in recording music received from a broadcast and then duplicating cylinders for sale or distribution.
More about the radio. The twiddler is tuning the valve radio located on the desktop. That involved tuning in the station and also tuning the input signal to maximise signal strength. The four connection top right on the receiver are for the A and B power supply voltages, these are coming from batteries in the box on the floor to the right of the desk. The bottom right connections on the receiver connect to the loop antenna on the stand. The receiver would power headphone by default. In the case however the audio output is connected to the valve audio amplifier on the top shelf, the output of which is connected to the electrically driven horn loudspeaker to the left. The unit to the right of the amplifier is housing what is almost certainly a power triode delivering heaps of power, perhaps around 2 watts. I a have already suggested, the output could also be fed to a cylinder recorder (very advanced).
Interesting; quite a leader, with regards to copyright issues and dilemmas only now being dealt with by the major music distribution companies.
(Technology, The Gallery, D.C., Farked, Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/23690u.thumbnail.jpg "The Twiddler: 1922")
- Just Add Water: 1922
- Atlantic City circa 1922. "Four young ladies on a roof." Who can put a name to any of these lovely ... really were as innocent as they looked?
Just Add Water 1922 I'm not positive, but I think the young woman on the right in the all ... Posted by Dave - 06/11/2013 - 9:55am -
![Atlantic City circa 1922. "Four young ladies on a roof." Who can put a name to any of these lovely faces? 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.
Hussies!Just look at those revealing outfits.
Anyone know what the arm bands might be? They all seem to match.
[Locker keys. -tterrace]
BravoShorpy finally shows bathing beauties that are actually beauties.
Vivacious Girls!Wow, this is the year my mother was born. I never imagined my grandmother, who was a contemporary of these girls, ever looking this jaunty!
The gal on the far right isJane Fonda's grandmother...stunning!
Ritz-CarltonI think this was taken on the roof of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which would have been new at that time.
The IT GirlIs that Clara Bow 2nd from the right in the black suit with the lighter stripes?
TimelessIndeed, the young lady on the right is a classic. 'Stunning' is a good word. 'Breathtaking' works as well.
The difference a smile makes.What’s the bet one of those young ladies was named Mildred. All jokes aside though... the two (2) young ladies on the right are surely lovely. It’s great to see smiles. It certainly makes a difference to one’s disposition.
All cute as a buttonBeing the age of the Flapper, I wonder if they really were as innocent as they looked?
Just Add Water 1922I'm not positive, but I think the young woman on the right in the all black bathing suit and headband may be Margaret Gorman - the 1st Miss America (1921). I think those arm bands indicate these girls were participating in the Miss America Pageant.
(The Gallery, Atlantic City, G.G. Bain, Pretty Girls, Swimming)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_34901u.thumbnail.jpg "Just Add Water: 1922")
- Under the Weather: 1922
- ... to the nearest sewers.
Washington Post, Jan 28, 1922
Citizens Urged to Lend Help
To Clear the Streets of Snow ... the first thing today.
Washington Post, Jan 29, 1922
Have a 'Goodyear'! Not exactly a Model T or 26 ... Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 2:45pm -
![Washington, D.C. "Blizzard, 1/28/22." National Photo glass neg. View full size.
Knickerbocker BlizzardThis storm became known as the "Knickerbocker Blizzard" because of the collapse of the Knickerbocker movie theater roof from the weight of the accumulated snow. Ninety-eight moviegoers were killed and another 133 injured.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knickerbocker_Storm
http://www.weatherbook.com/knickerbocker.htm
With Shovels & WagonsAt a total of 26 inches, papers reported this as the worst snowstorm to strike the city since 1899. (The historically-averaged total annual snowfall in D.C. is about 15 inches.) At the time, the city had no special provisions, equipment, regulations, or budget for removing snow from the streets.
Imperial Tire and Rubber Co. was located at 1235 New York Avenue (corner of 13th St.) I would imagine that their service department was located nearby.
Street-Cleaning Force of 200 at Work Today
With this city almost snowbound the street-cleaning department today will depend upon its regular force of approximately 200 men to keep the principal lanes of travel open.
Thomas Costigan, superintendent of the street-cleaning department, said last night that he did not believe it will be necessary to increase his force because of the storm. He added that he will not put his gang to work until there is a let-up in the snowfall.
"The District has now special appropriation for cleaning away snow," said Mr. Costigan. "Neither have we special snow equipment. We will employ the regular force, beginning, of course, in the downtown district. It may become necessary to put on additional help, but I believe that the regular force will handle the situation satisfactorily."
Mr. Costigan said that the cost of cleaning away the snow will be charged against the regular street-cleaning appropriation, which he estimated is about seven-twelfths expended.
With shovels and wagons, the force split into several gangs, will begin operations at the street intersections where there are car tracks. Narrow streets are given precedence over wide streets by the street cleaners. The snow is transported in wagons to the nearest sewers.
Washington Post, Jan 28, 1922
Citizens Urged to Lend Help
To Clear the Streets of Snow
The District of Columbia is confronted with an emergency.
The municipal government, through its head officials, has admitted that the regular street cleaning force is inadequate in personnel and equipment to meet the situation caused by the storm.
Therefore is it the duty of every citizen to lend a helping hand and perform whatever service he may. Every resident of Washington, whether a home owner or tenant, is appealed to remove the snow from in front of his premises.
The city can not compel a citizen to remove snow from in front of his house. In a situation such as now exists in Washington, a citizen should need no compelling.
It is his moral and civic duty to lend a hand. Do it the first thing today.
Washington Post, Jan 29, 1922
Have a 'Goodyear'!Not exactly a Model T or 26 inches of snow, but after last week's storm:
to all on the site!
Automotive Options in 1922Readers familiar with present-day D.C. government services should take heart: The city's capacity for snow plowing and removal remains on par with experience from 80 years ago. On a different note, the driver of this car surely lamented his failure to roll up his windows -- if in fact this ragtop was equipped roll-up windows.
["Ragtop" is a synonym for convertible -- a body style that didn't really exist until closed cars became the norm in the 1930s. This is an open-bodied roadster. Generally speaking, the only cars back then with roll-up windows were closed-body styles with fixed tops, as opposed to roadsters and touring cars with folding tops. Which might have had snap-on side curtains. - Dave]
Let it snow!Oh, how nice it would be to have a proper snowfall again in the District, just one more time, even if we do view such events as White Death From Sky. Here are a couple of recent messages from Alert DC, a government service which provides "rapid text notification and update information during a major crisis or emergency".
National Weather reports that the District of Columbia is under a Winter Weather Advisory from 10 p.m. until 10 tomorrow morning. National Weather reports that the District could possibly see a tenth-of-inch of rain/sleet mix.
National Weather issued a Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 10 am to 4 p.m. Tuesday. Starting at 10 a.m. Light snow freezing rain and sleet likely mixing with rain in the afternoon. Little or no snow and sleet accumulation. Ice accumulation of less than one tenth of an inch. Highs in the mid 30s.
Stephen in D.C.
Open CarsDoes anyone know how those open cars were weatherproofed inside to withstand moisture?
[Leather seats. Maybe some brass. Not much different from the buggies and runabouts of the horse era. - Dave]
IciclesLooks as though nothing except the street lamp has been warm enough yet to get icicles to form.
It wasn't that terribly coldIt was only in the 20s.* It was the sheer amount of heavy, soggy, moisture-laden snow that made the Knickerbocker storm so dangerous.
In fact, had it been colder there would have been less snow and the snow that fell would have been lighter per given volume. Very cold snow tends to be spikier, which means it doesn't compress as much when it falls. In the same way, kosher salt is lighter (and weaker, if that's the word) per cup than granulated salt.
Snow that forms at warmer temperatures, above about -10C, also contains more moisture per flake, because warmer air can contain more moisture. Heavy, thick snow is most common when the temperature's at or just below freezing.
*Yeah, says the person from Winnipeg.
Snow Removal StrategyIt seems the DC government (and the surrounding jurisdictions in Virginia and Maryland) had the same snow removal strategy then as they do now --
Spring.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/05682u.thumbnail.jpg "Under the Weather: 1922")
- Turkey Special: 1922
- November 1922. Washington, D.C. "Truck with White House turkey, 'Supreme 3.'" National ... ride for Tom! Were the roads that bad outside DC in 1922 to necessitate chains on the wheels?
Chicago Turkey Other Shorpy ... to Go: 1921.
The Baltimore Sun, December 3, 1922.
Harding's Turkey Passes Through
Thanksgiving Turkey ... Posted by Dave - 11/21/2012 - 10:51am -
- Red Cross Car: 1922
- San Francisco, 1922. "Official Red Cross car." Being loaded with sacks of something outside ... 6½ x 8½ glass negative. View full size.
1922 Durant I'm going to consider the signature, go out on a limb, and call the car a 1922 Durant B-22 with nonstandard wire wheels and hood straps. Durant was just ... Posted by Dave - 12/29/2014 - 8:00pm -
![San Francisco, 1922. "Official Red Cross car." Being loaded with sacks of something outside the premises of Rex Products Co., Jobbers. Also note the studio of Rovere Scott, Photographer. 6½ x 8½ glass negative. View full size.
1922 DurantI'm going to consider the signature, go out on a limb, and call the car a 1922 Durant B-22 with nonstandard wire wheels and hood straps. Durant was just starting his post-GM Durant Motors, so supplying the car would have had some promotional value.
Paint JobBetween the doors, is that the signature of the person who painted the car? Can't make out the name. Must have been an important product or event to have drawn the dignitaries in full suits to load.
[The signature is that of racecar driver Russell Clifford "Cliff" Durant, whose father was William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors. - Dave]
449 Washington StreetThis is 449 Washington Street, now the site of a 1960s firehouse.
To GoThat's one large order of Fries!
Sheridan's RideThe Red Cross car appears to be a Sheridan.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, San Francisco, W. Stanley)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-181-01.thumbnail.jpg "Red Cross Car: 1922")
- A Slippery Slope: 1922
- January 21, 1922. Washington, D.C. " 'Boot leg.' Woman taking flask from her Russian boot." ... the flask-in-the-boot trick. Passe.
Hit Parade of 1922 Ain't she sweet?
See the bottles on her feet.
Now I ask you ... Posted by Dave - 08/07/2012 - 11:05am -
![January 21, 1922. Washington, D.C. " 'Boot leg.' Woman taking flask from her Russian boot." National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
A Wonderful PianoThat is an Ivers and Pond piano of the 1918--22 vintage. a truly fantastic instrument that would be worth well over $10,000 now if in good shape or restored. I have two friends who have them and a number who are searching. Only Shaw, Steinway, Anderson or a Steiff (the brand I have) could match or excel that quality. They are noted for exceptional structural integrity and were made in Boston.
Hand LaidThe floor was probably laid manually tile by tile. I'm sure you could still do it if you had time, patience, skill, the right tools and whatever else it takes. Probably why you don't see that sort of thing anymore.
Floor DecorFor some reason it's almost impossible to find that pattern at Home Depot anymore. They'd have to order it from Russia.
Kinsmen ClubLooks like the photo took place in a Kinsmen club hall given the plaque and charter framed above the piano.
[Those are Kiwanis Club plaques. - Dave]
The Broken CrossA venerable decorative motif in several cultures that goes back at least a thousand years.
[Below, an ad from 1910. And people complain that the Washington Post is "too liberal"! - Dave]
Once again . . . . . . those naughty little swastikas appear out of nowhere!
Poor ThingObviously, by her attire, the poor woman is cold and needs a little fortification to boost her circulation.
So over.You just don't see fur stoles and swastikas much anymore. Never mind the flask-in-the-boot trick. Passe.
Hit Parade of 1922Ain't she sweet?
See the bottles on her feet.
Now I ask you very confidentially,
Ain't she sweet?
Ain't she nice?
Got a cape that's full of stripes.
Now I ask you very confidentially,
Ain't she nice?
She's got a chair
That's made of wicker;
She's got a pair
Of boots with liquor.
Ain't she pert?
See her hiking up her skirt?
Now I ask you very confidentially,
Ain't she sweet?
What I'm really wondering is...How surprised the owners of this place must have been when WWII broke out. "We need new floor tiles!"
Two sets ofPiano legs.
TwiningsI am in love. A beautiful babe, sturdy legs , and a boot flask. Where can I find me one of them today?
A swastika tour of D.C.Dave's example above is only one of many, some still visible in D.C. This stone is in Rock Creek Cemetery:
A bit more about it.
Pass The FlaskCankles and a well-filled boot flask. Relationship theorists clearly see the cause and effect.
Nazi Floor Decor vs Communist Floor DecorThe swastika was a sign of good fortune in many cultures before the Nazis co-opted it and ruined it forever. It is still a common Buddhist symbol throughout Asia.
Also, just a gentle correction to the comment regarding the floor pattern, that "they'd have to order it from Russia." Nazism and communism are not the same thing, though many Americans unfortunately believe they are. The Soviet Union fought Nazism in alliance with the United States during World War II. Associating communism with Nazism is not only historically inaccurate, it is deeply disrespectful of the fact that 13% of the Soviet population died in WWII trying to defeat Nazism, a staggering casualty rate that dwarfs the US casualty rate of .32%. So the communists may have been many things, but Nazis they were not. Also, in the present, there are probably more adherents of Nazism in the US than in the former Soviet Union. So don't be hatin' on the Russians!
[That was a reference to the current, not 1940s, political scene in Russia. Think skinheads. - Dave]
Swastikas in New MexicoWhen I attended New Mexico State University in the late 1970's, the name of the yearbook was "The Swastika," and the cover of every issue was embossed with a (backward) swastika. This was supposedly a Native American good-luck symbol, and had been the yearbook's name since the school's founding long before World War II. My father, a WWII veteran, and thousands like him attended NMSU on the GI bill after the war. None of them apparently raised serious objections to the name or symbol on the yearbook.
In the late 1980's the yearbook's name was changed. This has always been my prime example of the idiocy of modern academia. The real men who actually fought the Nazis had no objection to the symbol on the yearbook: It had been around a lot longer than the thousand-year Reich, and it was oriented differently. The poseurs forty years later had no historical context and fought a decisive war against a symbol. By doing so, they let the Nazi evil expropriate the meaning of the swastika.
About the same time, they also got rid of the school mascot, Pistol Pete, a cowboy with chaps and hat brandishing two six-shooters. Way to go, guys, medals all around for that courageous action!
[Talk about prime examples of idiocy. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Curiosities, D.C., Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/22626u_0.thumbnail.jpg "A Slippery Slope: 1922")
- Piano Prodigy: 1922
- November 1922. New York. "Evelione Taglione, 16-year-old pianist." As pictured, maybe a ... wheel on it.
Cool to see for me either way.
Nov 1922 She played Town Hall in NY in Nov of 1922 according to the NY Times. She sailed for Europe in April of 1926, on the ... Posted by Dave - 03/08/2013 - 5:30am -
- Secret Squirrel: 1922
- January 24, 1922. Washington, D.C. "'Doe,' an albino squirrel." National Photo Company ...
Secret Squirrel, 1922 It could be one of several places which possess white squirrel ... Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 12:12am -
- Digging Out: 1922
- Washington, D.C., after the blizzard of January 1922. "Snow" is all it says on the caption card; we wonder if the absence of a ... negative. View full size.
Knickerbocker Storm of 1922 The blizzard took its name from the collapse of the snow-laden ... Posted by Dave - 01/25/2016 - 12:17pm -
- The Funnies: 1922
- ... but before long, week-to-week continuity was added. In 1922, he met the love of his life, Pearl, and the focus shifted to his quest to ... John Jr. would have been eleven years old in November 1922.
(The Gallery, Kids, Natl Photo) ... Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 7:09pm -
!["John M. Bear Jr., 11/26/22." Twenty-one little kids. All wearing hats decorated with characters from the funny papers. At Johnny's 11th birthday party. And they're mortified, every last one. (Thought you'd all slip under the radar, did you? That this embarrassing little artifact would just go on collecting dust at the bottom of a box somewhere? Well. Guess what. Not only did they invent radar, they invented computers and scanners and the Internet. Bwahaha. View full size!)
See You in the Funny Papers!They're all adorable. Check out the vampette in the Jerry hat playing peekaboo with her ostrich feather fan. Standing left is Jeff who is thinking, "This is nowhere near as much fun as The Mark of Zorro."
Kids Love Boob!toonopedia has the scoop on most of these characters.
Boob McNutt started as a series of one-shot gags, which usually ended with Boob being tortured to death for his innocently destructive ways, but before long, week-to-week continuity was added. In 1922, he met the love of his life, Pearl, and the focus shifted to his quest to win her hand in marriage. The task was accomplished in 1926, but they were soon divorced. They went through a few more cycles of courtship, marriage and divorce.
Funny Cartoons...I'm not sure you could have a character today called "Boob McNutt"... Great shot...
Sheesh.Never has fun looked so enforced.
Attn. Internet: Please pick up your shipment of WINHo. Lee. Mo. Ley. What an amazing picture. Although I do have to wonder how much counseling the kid with the "Boob McNutt" hat had to undergo later in life.
Gloomy GusFabulous picture!
Check out Gloomy Gus there in the middle. Her little moniker suits her just fine, don't you think?
Next to her is "Boob McNutt." *snicker snicker*
And the row of preteen girls in the back. Oh, can't you just feel the awkward?!
I'm guessing the adult responsible for this is standing to the right of the kids. Many of them are looking that way with looks on their faces ranging from disbelief to possible hatred. But mostly disbelief.
Now Stop It, All Of You!My guesses on why the long faces include the probability that they've just been threatened with bodily harm into keeping still for the photo and that maybe none of them got the character they wanted on their hat.
Another reason to look so glumCheck out the water on under the porch railing. If you had to be outside on a cold November day in the rain taking a picture I don't think you would be very happy either.
Thanks, Mom.Thanks a LOT.
One is Having a Little FunThe "S'matter Pop" girl has actually been caught having a small amount of...."fun". The "Jeff" lad is a perfect portrait of misery, however. This is the saddest "party" I've ever seen.
FrighteningI'm not talking about how these kids look. It is absolutely frightening how many of these comic strip characters I can identify without resorting to Wikipedia! By the way, Maw Katz is short for Maw Katzenjammer from "The Katzenjammer Kids." As for Ham Gravy, he was the boyfriend of a girl named Olive Oyl before the arrival of a mono-ocular spinach chomping sailor called Popeye, in the strip "Thimble Theater."
With one or two exceptions that I can't track down, these are all King Features strips.
[Someone misspelled Joneses. And I think it should be "Keeping." - Dave]
Let the good times roll!I hate to say it, but these look like the photos we just got back from one of our scarce family reunions. Most of the people had no idea who the others were, had little in common, were dressed in uncomfortable Sunday clothes and had the body language of pulling away from the people next to them and folding their arms across their waist. Creating a posed memory photo of united hilarity when none existed is not easy (and of course there was no liquor since we could not tempt the recovering alcoholics), but I digress. I'm guessing that either the party was extremely dull, the hostess was too strict or uptight, there was not enough food or the guest of honor did not like his gifts and threw a tantrum. Anyway, it brings to me reveries of gatherings in my own experience wherein the chemistry was just not right and, like "MacArthur Park", someone left the cake out in the rain. I love this telling picture of the party with no joy. It happens.
Par-tayWow. It looks like they all just lost ice-cream privileges. Buck up, kids! This is the best time of your lives!
"Good Old Days" my thick, woolen suit! ...as worn by poor, sad, finger-clasping "Jeff" at far left. "Betty" beside him, however, is kind of an insouciant charmer with a bended knee and a knowing grin. All that formalwear for kids, and then these craptastic hats!
Jim said it best: "Ho. Lee. Mo. Ley."
Craptastic HatsI feel kinda sorry for the person who spent so much time on those hats! I am sure they expected a better reaction! Clearly a talented artist, it looks like they took the time to personalize each hat, as well. Each cartoon character seems to be giving an individual message to the child that wears the hat. The easiest to read is the "Mutt" hat. It says "Hello Hector, by heck". The first two boys seated seem to be named Phillip and Nathanial. Hard to read anything else but, that was a nice touch, although totally lost on this glum bunch. Gloomy Gus seems to fit her hat very well, and the serious bags under her eyes make me think she might be getting sick. Gee, I hope it isn't tuberculosis! That would make this birthday disaster even more tragic! - Kathleen
[Birthday boy John is Hairbreadth Harry. Eleven years old! His friends are Hector, Ralph, Francis and Eugene. - Dave]
Awesome!How did you do that? I was far off on the names, but at least they were personalized! Although they look as if they were done with markers, these great close-ups show that they were most likely done with pastel pencils. I am thinking now that the parents of John might have actually commissioned a sketch artist to do these hats. They look as if they have the effortless, clean lines that come with a lot of practice. And each is a perfect copy of the characters they are drawing.
I love the details here. Beautiful lace work on the little girl's dress behind Francis.
Hairbreadth Harry looks like quite the dandy! He is one I don't recognize, I am going to have to look him up.
Wow, that expression on Eugene looks familiar. It is the same dull look my grandson gives me when I am lecturing him! That is one bored kid.
Kathleen
Mom is so proud!Methinks that a party hostess/mother had what she thought was a spanking idea of making hats for all the kids to wear with their "favorite" cartoon characters on them. She is no doubt pleased with herself and the drawings, hence she made the kids pose so she could capture the moment forever. To share and share and share.
Note all the water and mud on the porch, and the carpet the front row kids are sitting on. The second row kids are in chairs. Setting up this picture took a bit of work, that's why I think it is a self-pleased mother.
[Martha Stewart's grandma, maybe. - Dave]
NSFW!Sadly, I couldn't click through to the comments for this picture at work. The filter claimed the action was blocked because of "porn." Not a problem I usually have with Shorpy. Thanks a lot, Boob McNutt.
Hairbreadth HarryIn the modern age of the 1920s, old-time melodramas, with their mustache-twirling, top-hatted villains kidnapping innocent gals and subjecting them to unspeakable perils, and the early silent film versions of same, were considered old-hat and ripe for ridicule. Think of the swinging, mod 60s being sent up by Austin Powers today. That was the shtick of the comic strip, as well as a series of short film comedies made by the Weiss Brothers in the late 20s. A number of those have recently been issued on DVD, transferred from the original negatives. Many feature breakneck car chases through the streets of Los Angeles and vicinity. In a way, they're like Shorpy in motion: high-quality, moving images of everyday street scenes in a time gone by - cars, roadways, shopping and residential districts the way they used to be. During one chase sequence you can plainly see the famous HOLLYWOOD sign arrayed across a hillside, except it's the original: HOLLYWOODLAND.
Huck Finn?Look at those freckles, and the mischief on her face. Huck Finn she is, no doubt.
Lonely Hats Club BandI thought I had seen every detail in this photograph by now, and then I noticed it! A lonely hat, perfectly flat, perched on the porch railing, waiting for that one kid whose mom wouldn't let him come at the last minute! Probably an early 20th century victim of "groundation"!- Kathleen
As Dr. Johnson said"Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme for merriment."
Where are they now?I'll bet when Polly grew up she was amazing in the sack.
MOM!!!You TOLD us we were going to Glen Echo amusement park!
Who knew?I almost did a Givney flip take when I saw young Katie Holmes standing there wearing the Ham Gravy hat. Who could've guessed that she, of all people, would master time travel?
Katie Can Travel Through Time......because that Scientology stuff is really amazing. Really.
Textbook CaseThis should be in Webster's or on Wikipedia next to the definition for "mortification." Great idea for 6 year olds....
Baer, not Bear?From 1917 to 1921, Congressman - and populist political cartoonist - John Miller Baer resided in Washington while representing North Dakota's First Congressional District. After his Congressional service ended, he remained in Washington, continuing to draw cartoons for labor publications. The 1940 census reflects that his household included a 28-year-old son named John M. Baer Jr., who by then was working as an architect with the U.S. Army. John Jr. would have been eleven years old in November 1922.
(The Gallery, Kids, Natl Photo)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/30409u.thumbnail.jpg "The Funnies: 1922")
- Uncle Joe: 1922
- May 8, 1922. "Cannon & Brennan at Capitol." Former House speaker "Uncle Joe" ... He had served, with a couple of interruptions, 'til March, 1922. He had been Speaker from 1903 to 1911.
Joe was so old in 1922 that his personal history included support for Abraham Lincoln for ... Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 11:08pm -
![May 8, 1922. "Cannon & Brennan at Capitol." Former House speaker "Uncle Joe" Cannon, congressman from Illinois, accessorized with Michigan lawmaker Vincent Brennan and a big cigar. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size.
The Wit and Wisdom of Uncle JoeAlso known as "foul-mouth Joe".
"I am g**damned tired of listening to all this babble for reform. America is a hell of a success."
"Not one cent for scenery."
"Teddy Roosevelt has no more use for the Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license."
"I am one of the great army of mediocrity which constitutes the majority."
Yikes ... now that's a "stick"Cigar smokers sometimes refer to a cigar as a "stick." In this case that "stick" is more like a branch! That said, I've seen pictures of the hand-rollers in Cuba with similar "big smokes." Apparently, they are allowed to smoke "one cigar a day" and roll themselves something large and long, a sort of "all day smoker."
Bang!I wonder if anybody ever slipped him an exploding cigar. Need a light?
Who rolled that cigar?Personally I'd put my money on Cheech and Chong.
Uncle Joe SaysTheodore Roosevelt "has no more use for the Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license."
Cannon retired from the House in 1923. He was first elected to the House from Illinois in 1872. He had served, with a couple of interruptions, 'til March, 1922. He had been Speaker from 1903 to 1911.
Joe was so old in 1922 that his personal history included support for Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. Little wonder Brennan looks a little awed.
Joe died in his bed at age 90. Don't make 'em like that any more. Nor them cigars, neither.
[He's also namesake of the Cannon House Office Building. - Dave]
Big cigar indeedWhere's Freud when you need him?
Proper attireIn 53 years, standards of senators' dress fell off a cliff.
Cigar and AttitudeA big cigar and attitude to match.
Speaker CannonTR had a small brass cannon at Sagamore Hill, his house in Oyster Bay, which he would fire off every day to entertain his children. Roosevelt named the artillery piece "Cannon Speaker." I am sure that there were a number of other quips that he made when putting the piece to work.
The beginning of TimeUncle Joe was Time magazine's inaugural cover boy -- he appeared on the front of its very first issue, in 1923.
Michigan not MaineVincent Brennan was a congressperson from Michigan, not Maine. But both states do start with M.
[Wups. Thankew! - Dave]
Later known as ...Senator Byrd.
Tired of Byrd BashingSen. Byrd seems a frequent target of comparison of any elderly politician pictured on Shorpy. While I cannot defend every position the honorable senator has taken, he has done well both for the interests of his state and for upholding the constitution and tradition of the Senate.
The following is a snapshot of me as a child on a visit to the Senator's office in July 1975.
[A nice photo. But -- although that comment was digit-related, the digit has nothing to do with age. - Dave]
Oh ME, Oh MICongressman Brennan represented Michigan rather than Maine. This was probably about as close as he came to meaningful power during his two-year tenure in Congress.
Modern PharmacologyThis looks like it could be a pharmaceutical ad for an anti-aging drug.
Formidable StogieWhen "Uncle Joe" said he was going outside for a smoke, his colleagues knew they wouldn't see him again for a couple of days.
FreudianIn this case a cigar is only a torpedo.
Uncle Rip and Uncle JoeHarold Austin Ripley, my mother's sister's husband, was one of Joe Cannon's page boys. I recall some of his stories about Uncle Joe -- not the least of which involved running to a nearby cigar store to restock the Speaker's humidor. You might imagine my total surprise, then, on coming upon this photo of Cannon, cigar in hand. What a flashback trigger!
Rip tried to enlist when the U.S. signed on to the war, but his parents (Rip's father worked for the U.S. Mint) wouldn't sign off -- Rip was 16 in 1917. So Rip asked his boss to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf, making up some story about why he needed it. I cannot recall the exact wording, but it began: "I highly recommend Master Ripley etc etc." Rip took the letter to a D.C. recruiting station. The master sergeant in charge took one look at the letterhead and the signature at the bottom -- and sat up ramrod-straight in his chair, as Rip liked to tell it. No questions asked. The next thing my uncle knew, he was on a troopship bound for Europe.
The army discovered his real age in France and assigned him to the Graves Registration Dept, out of harm's way. Rip and his buddies stayed drunk on cheap French vin; there was no other means of confronting the awful stench of no-man's land. Gas masks, he said, proved worthless.
Master Ripley returned to the U.S. a devoted though albeit functional alcoholic, and remained so until 1940 when he imbibed his last distilled spirits (from Crown Royal to Royal Crown cola -- Rip has cases of the latter in his basement). He became, in the following order during those intervening years: the first territorial salesman for LifeSavers; crime reporter for The Chicago Tribune; the author of Minute Mysteries (read in a minute/solve in a minute) syndicated in over 150 daily newspapers; the longest continuous columnist (Photo Crime, 13 years) in Look magazine; and finally the founder of Guest House, a retreat for alcoholic priests located in the grandiose Scripps estate at Lake Orion, MI, and which recently celebrated its first half-century of drying out Catholic clergy from all over the world. The Catholic hierarchy -- totally befuddled -- simply ignored and abandoned their alcoholic priests, so Rip stepped in and devoted the rest of his life to their rehabilitation and recovery.
For all his imagination, crime-plotting ability and investigative skills, Austin Ripley could never have imagined the greater crime now tearing apart Catholic dioceses around the world. I'm glad he never lived to see it.
What do your cats look like?Fancy meeting you here!
Uncle Joe really was my Uncle...my Great-Grand-Uncle.
My Great-Grand-Mother was Joseph Gurney Cannon's Sister.
Maybe our Grand Mother's traded cats too!
Cheers Cousin!
(The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Politics)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/22931u.thumbnail.jpg "Uncle Joe: 1922")
- Snow Angels: 1922
- "Blizzard, January 28, 1922." In Washington, D.C., freezing weather is no match for a sunny ... fights" to shame.
Washington Post, Jan 29, 1922
I'm bewitched! The relaxed cold weather dress code ... Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 5:48pm -
!["Blizzard, January 28, 1922." In Washington, D.C., freezing weather is no match for a sunny disposition. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
Our eyes met across a crowded centuryI don't know how many men will fall in love with these two today, but I know I'm one of them.
Frozen SunshineSunny dispositions indeed. These lovely ladies make that luxurious blanket of snow look downright warm!
(Thank you, stanton_square, for all of the light you shed on so many of these posts. I don't know how you find the time to do it, but I'm sure glad that you do!)
Simply gorgeousI wish I knew where I stashed Claybuster's time machine. . . I want to beat him to the one on the left!
Shakespeare says So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
http://poetry.eserver.org/sonnets/018.html
Snow AngelsWow... beautiful women. I wish there were a time machine.
[Ooh. "Snow Angels." May I steal that as the revised title for this post? Thanks! - Dave]
No two alikeThey are so naturally pretty--even their smiles are real. Beauty seems so plastic (or silicone) today. What a loss.
Sensible ClothesThe blizzard was noted as an occasion when normal dress norms were relaxed, allowing women to don breeches instead of skirts.
Femininity Fares Bravely Forth
In Breeches, Silks and Goloshes
The feminine wayfarers in the storm yesterday held their own in the matter of endurance, and seemed to enjoy the long walks to and from the government departments and the shopping centers. Many of them won masculine approval by the sensible clothes they wore to combat the elements. Sports hats, sensible coats, high shoes, wool stockings and "goloshes" were the favorite footwear.
The fortunate women and girls who owned riding breeches wore them under their long or short coats, making it possible for them to go through the highest drifts without difficulty.
...
Instead of attending the Saturday matinee, beloved of seminary girls, the students of a fashionable girls' school, dressed for a snow fight, built forts and snow men and shoveled snow in the front yard of the school and ended up with a "pitched battle" of snow balls which would put the historic "pillow fights" to shame.
Washington Post, Jan 29, 1922
I'm bewitched!The relaxed cold weather dress code makes these long-legged lasses all the more elegant and attractive. It must have been a treat for the gents and the incorrigible "girl watchers"!
What a pair of dollsLovely girls. Their eyes are similar -- I wonder if they're sisters?
Tragedy awaitsLater that evening this same snowstorm brought down the ceiling of the Knickerbocker Theater.
If I Could Go Back in Time:It's currently a little over 100 degrees here in Kansas City, and that snow looks so cool. If I could go back in time, I'd like to meet the one on the right! They're both very pretty girls.
(The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/05679u.thumbnail.jpg "Snow Angels: 1922")
- Sweet Seventeen: 1922
- ... "Washington Tidal Basin Beauty Contest -- August 5, 1922." Seventeen-year-old Eva Fridell, last seen here and here , takes ... Posted by Dave - 07/25/2012 - 3:12pm -
!["Washington Tidal Basin Beauty Contest -- August 5, 1922." Seventeen-year-old Eva Fridell, last seen here and here, takes the loving cup from judge Isaac Gans. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Why don't they do this anymore?As someone who lives just a few blocks from the Tidal Basin, I'm disappointed that we no longer have such events in the neighborhood (and that we no longer have girls like that in the neighborhood as well).
America's Other SweetheartIf the other photos left doubts about this girl's ability to charm, this photo should dispel them. This is a classic silent movie era version of "Work it, girl!" And the pair of mesmerized Ruperts on the right seal the deal.
ScenarioCharlie Rose is annoyed. He wanted Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon to win, and had told her that he could fix it. Now she'll probably go home and marry that prince.
Smile!So here we have documentary evidence that people not only really did smile back then, but could smile when their picture was being taken. They just had to have something to smile about. Just having your picture taken in and of itself wasn't enough. In fact, what we generally see seems to point to a societal norm of the time that being photographed was regarded as an occasion for dignity. I wonder if the OED has a date for the first occurrence of the phrase "Say cheese!"
Very happy young ladyBeautiful, playful smile! We judged too hastily! Pretty girl.
Say cheeseIn reply to tterrace the OED or Brewers' Dictionary doesn't seem have the origin of the phrase "say cheese." I did find this, though:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/say-cheese.html
My goodness!US Park Police Officer Bill Norton must be off to-day!
How To Avoid Getting Sand In Your ShoesMr Gans had the right idea, don't get off that bottom step.
I Just knewI Just knew she had a smile in her. Glad we've finally seen it. She sure looks nice wearing it!
Ah yesA lovely young redhead with freckles and curves! I love her long curly hair as well. Just beautiful!
Hmmm,Girls really did have hips back then.
Oh no heI'd kill to know what it was he said to get that expression.
She lived to be 110 years old[Article about a different Eva Fridell.]
[Our Eva lived in Washington, DC. See this article in a comment to a previous photo of her. - tterrace]
What a doll!I agree with all of the others who have commented on how much prettier she looks in this one than the others of her. Personality really makes a difference! Sure looks like Mr. Gans is loving his job, that day, doesn't it?
Some information on Eva FridellI decided to ask my dad, the career Marine-turned genealogist, if he could find out anything about our Eva Fridell, here. Here is what he said:
"Eva Fridell, the bathing beauty and not the one that lived in Washington State and died at the age 110, was born 22 October 1904 in Washington, D.C. She died 7 November 1988 in Silver Springs, Maryland. I found several Family Trees with her in them but most everything about her was marked 'Private". There was one indication that she had married a man named Julius Hawkins. He was a Commander in The Navy."
So, that's at least a little more on the girl that so many of us have been touched by, in one way or another!
I agree with noelani I am a little late to the show here, but I have to say I absolutely love the way the photographer captured the charm of this shot.
(The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls, Swimming)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_06819u.thumbnail.jpg "Sweet Seventeen: 1922")
- Grading on a Curve: 1922
- San Francisco, 1922. "Cliff House road construction, view of Sutro Heights and Playland ... is indeed a Stephens. - Dave]
Car ID suggestion 1922 Stephens Salient Six-93
A Duesie The car is a 1922 Duesenberg. I have the book by Don Butler on Auburn Cord Duesenberg with ... Posted by Dave - 02/24/2016 - 6:00pm -
![San Francisco, 1922. "Cliff House road construction, view of Sutro Heights and Playland amusement park." 6x8 inch glass negative. View full size.
My vote's with HayslipThe radiator shell is a match for the Stephens, and the logo is the right shape. The only thing that doesn't match is the hubcaps.
Dave, can you please give us a closeup of the logo on the radiator shell? This one had me stumped, until Hayslip posted. Not a lot of pictures of Stephens on the Web.
[The car is indeed a Stephens. - Dave]
Car ID suggestion1922 Stephens Salient Six-93
A DuesieThe car is a 1922 Duesenberg. I have the book by Don Butler on Auburn Cord Duesenberg with the perfect match. The two brothers Fred and Augie are on the radiator emblem but can't be seen well on your photo.
[The car here is most definitely not a Duesenberg. - Dave]
True Steam ShovelThe ancient construction equipment in this photo would warm the heart of any old truck enthusiast.
The excavator in the foreground is a true steam shovel complete with steam escaping from the safety valve. Other than museums, I have not seen one of those at work since the 1960's, and they were obsolescent even then.
In the background, there's another steam-powered crane. We can't see what it's doing; likely working a clamshell bucket or a dragline bucket.
The truck in front of the far crane seems to have a canopy on the back, possibly sheltering an air compressor. (The hoses strewn about the site are presumably air hoses.)
Construction's finishedThis is the current view looking southeast along Point Lobos Avenue from the Cliff House.
The sprawling amusement park visible in the 1922 photograph (which eventually became "Playland at the Beach") was demolished in 1972 and replaced in the 1980s by the dreadful condominiums visible today.
Watch it now!If you go to Kinzers in PA, you can watch these earth-moving mechanical masterpieces working hard, still today. Beautiful machines!
Dealer 27The automobile dealer number on the license plate (27) indicates that the car was being sold by W. J. Benson Co. located at 1420 Van Ness, San Francisco in 1922. Benson sold the Stephens marque circa 1919 - 1923, but he was in automobile business in San Francisco both before and after these years.
Erie Type AJust a guess on the shovel, Erie Type A?
Here's one in action, looks like a handful to operate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEin7oVajQ
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, San Francisco, W. Stanley)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-906A.thumbnail.jpg "Grading on a Curve: 1922")
- Nathaniel Dial Children: 1922
- ... The children of U.S. Senator Nathaniel Dial, May 27. 1922. From the National Photo Company collection. View full size.
This ... Posted by Ken - 09/08/2011 - 6:19pm -
- The Fab Five: 1922
- "Lansburgh bathing girls" in 1922 near Washington, D.C. Girl on the right: Iola Swinnerton. View full ... Iola who would have been between the ages of 16 and 25 in 1922.
An SSDI search for "Iola Swinnerton" turned up bupkis. So she ... Posted by Dave - 07/06/2018 - 10:19pm -
!["Lansburgh bathing girls" in 1922 near Washington, D.C. Girl on the right: Iola Swinnerton. View full size. 4x5 glass negative, National Photo Company.
IolaThe woman on the right is fantastic. What a beautiful face!
Famous GroupieI think the woman on the right looks exactly like Pamela Des Barres, which is not necessarily a compliment.
More IolaIola is OK in this photo, but I like her even better in this one.
[She's also here and here and here. Who can tell us what became of lovely Iola? - Dave]
Iola's friend......the girl second from the right... She is in a number of these 'bathing beauty' pics, too, and always right next to Iola. They must have been best friends, or maybe even sisters! :)
IolaAccording to the SSDI there are at least 30 women who were issued Social Security cards in Wash. D.C. named Iola who would have been between the ages of 16 and 25 in 1922.
An SSDI search for "Iola Swinnerton" turned up bupkis. So she either married or she is still alive and approximately 100 years of age.
I didn't even bother checking Maryland or Virginia. Apparently Iola was a very commmon name in the South and Midwest at the turn of the 20th century.
IolaI found the same Washington Post article and it gives the other girls names as Mary Lee, Thelma Spencer, Hattie Spencer and Julia Cunningham.
The winners were models for Lansburgh & Brothers (which I assume was a department store or dress shop) and the photos are from a "Style Show" held at the Tidal Basin
[Yes, Lansburgh's was a big department store in Washington. - Dave]
Elusive IolaI haven't found a great deal more, but I did discover some newspaper clippings about her beauty contest winnings via Ancestry.com, and if it helps to narrow your search any, in 1920 she was described as an 18-year-old restaurant cashier from (and working in) Washington, D.C.
Exquisite Clothing DetailI adore the headpiece on # 5 on the right. I want to steal that idea for a costume. It would play beautifully today.
So happy!I love the pictures from the 1920s! The people always look so happy. Granted, these girls just won a bathing suit contest, so of course they'll be happy, but in every 20s picture I've seen everyone looks so happy and carefree, like they can do anything and be anything in the world. Just love it thank you for this site!
Mystery girl Iola SwinnertonIola is such a mystery! She seems to have taken Washington by storm in 1920 when she was named the most beautiful girl in the District. For those who have access to historic newspapers, see the front page of the Mansfield (Ohio) News of Nov 21, 1920, for a write-up and photo:
Winner of Beauty Contest is Athlete
Miss Iola Swinnerton of Washington has won an opportunity for fame and fortune in having been selected as the most beautiful of hundreds of capital girls in a recent beauty contest. Miss Swinnerton, who is a cashier in a Washington restaurant, attributes her beauty to her love of athletics and outdoor exercise.
Thought we found her in Dec 1942. Iola Taylor Swinnerton, described as the "Stone Woman" because of a rare disease that was hardening her legs, was getting married in Chicago to one Theron Warren. Her first husband, Gerald Swinnerton, deserted her in 1941.
[According to the news accounts from 1942, Iola Taylor had married Gerald Swinnerton in 1918. So she couldn't have been the Miss Swinnerton of Washington, D.C., unless they Missed when they should have Mrsed. Which is a definite possibility. (Updated July 2018) - Dave]
This pictureThis picture is set on the roof of the Lansburgh department store in downtown DC in the vicinity of 7th and E.
Iola has grown on me!In the first picture I saw of Iola, I thought she was so odd looking that she was kind of homely, but her looks have grown on me. In this picture, she looks absolutely adorable! You know that it is all natural, too. She looks like she is wearing some lip rouge, but probably no other makeup. I don't like the bathing outfit with the slats but, as my father used to say, you can't make a sow's ear out of a silk purse!
I'm glad that she took the opportunity to enter the beauty contests on the beach before that fleeting blessing; youth, got away from her, as it does to us all!
(The Gallery, Iola S., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls, Swimming)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06547u.thumbnail.jpg "The Fab Five: 1922")
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