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Semmes Motor Co.: 1925
... to the rank of Rear Admiral. Though he called Mobile, Alabama home, Semmes was a Maryland native. Do I assume correctly the owner of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 4:00pm -

The parts department of Semmes Motor Company in Washington circa 1925. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Tell me the truthDo these pants make my butt look big? [Or could it be the other way around? - Dave] The guy on the left... missed a belt loop. Obey that Impulse!At the first drop of rain, put on your Weed Tire Chains! Profitable Biz?...cause that looks like the mother of all cash registers. Getting snubbedGotta love the details in this picture. The Dodge mechanic's run-down heels, the radiator just sitting at the counter, the flower vases next to it on the counter. Then there is the gorgeous display for Snubbers. You gotta wonder what it is even selling. Makes your car drive better when passing playful bulls? Turns out that a snubber is a device used to suppress ("snub") voltage transients in electrical systems, pressure transients in fluid systems, or excess force or rapid movement in mechanical systems. No bull. Touch of eleganceDon't overlook the bud vases for sale on the right end of the counter. Not something I see at AutoZone these days. On the right counterIt's the flower vase for a New Beetle. Give me your finest frammis...It's for my Nash. And hurry up about it! Gabriel Snubbers Bring back the FlowersMy uncle had a 1930s sedan with flower vases that my aunt kept full. They made us feel really special. I can't remember another thing about the car (except that it was black, of course) but that stuck with me. Better yet, another uncle had a coupe with a rumble seat no kid would forget and which we all fought over. VasesThe presence of the vases on the right of the counter make me wonder if cars back then had a flower vase option like modern VW Beetles. SnubbedThe Gabriel Snubber, the first automotive shock absorber, was introduced in 1907. http://www.gabriel.com/DisplayTab.aspx?tid=6 In 1900, Claude Foster, a pioneer in the automotive parts industry, founded a company in Cleveland that was named after its first product, the Gabriel carriage horn. Foster later developed the first shock absorbing device, the "Snubber," for which he was granted the first U.S. patent for a direct-acting shock absorber in 1907. Counter objectWhat are the things the men are examining on the counter? Those don't look like auto parts. Bud vases!Popular with the ladies. Often hung from the roof pillars or back-seat sail panel inside closed cars. D'you like my flat?The Tire Mica and Tire Paint are telling of both the poor road conditions and fragile tires of the time. Tire Mica would have been used as an anti-friction agent, both to ease mounting & to prevent chafing between tube and tire. Highway KnobberyCheck the fancy shift knobs. Akro Agate Gear Shift KnobsI love the Akro Agate gear shift knobs in the counter case, just in front of the guy in the striped pants. It is very hard to find an original one today. You could replace the factory ones, always black, with a very colorful new knob, they just screwed on and off. They came in many very beautiful colors, looked like a giant marble. It was an inexpensive way to fancy up you car or truck. These were for vehicles with a floor shift transmission. Very Fancy.... re: Counter objectThose machines the clerks are using are early versions of the three-part receipt systems that became common in the 1940s, 50s and on -- until computers took over. As a local printer, we made up and stocked many such forms. Businesses used them widely in our community. That's the ticketThose ornate-looking boxes on the counter are receipt machines. Counterman wrote out the ticket, then pushed down on a lever that ejected the receipt and pulled the next one into place. WinterfrontThat's not a radiator on the counter. It's a winterfront, an early thermostatic device that was installed over the radiator. The louvers opened and closed depending on engine temperature. They were popular in the colder states. Some things never change...Even nowadays, some dealers still have under-counter display cases, highlighting everything from oil and air filters to die-cast collectible cars. Lots of interesting things in this picture, from the cans of Ditzler paint on the shelf, to the display of flashlight bulbs, to the AC spark plugs. The Gabriel Snubbers appear to be friction-type shock absorbers, using a wind-unwind principle (like a clock's mainspring). The more things change, the more they stay the same. Sales Receipt MachinesThe customers are watching the clerks write up their sales on sales receipt machines with Art Nouveau style cases. The devices held rolls of multi-copy sales receipt forms, and, when completed, the turn of a handle peeled out one copy for the customer and one or more for the store. Here's two later "streamlined" versions, probably from the 1950s. DroolworthyThis one scores high on the drool scale for automobilia buffs like me. I would kill for the Gabriel Snubbers sign. Lots of goodies here, like the "marble" gearshift knobs in the display case. Gabriel SnubbersWhat an evocative name! What a gorgeous sign! The contrast in shoe shine on the two customers is marked. You don't even need to see their outfits to figure out their relative socioeconomic status. The one on the left has shiny shoes, while Mr. Dodge's are dusty and cracked. [He's a mechanic. His street shoes could be just as nice as the other guy's. - Dave] Check out the ChainsWhen I was a kid (in 70's) we had to put chains on our farm truck when we had snow and Ice. I remember they were a pain. Sometimes we would put them on and take them off several times during the winter. Admiral SemmesThe only Raphael Semmes I'd heard of before reading this was the former US Navy commander who joined the Confederate States Navy and became a famed commerce raider, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. Though he called Mobile, Alabama home, Semmes was a Maryland native. Do I assume correctly the owner of this dealership was one of his descendants? Heavy liftingNotice the display of jacks on the right end of the counter. These look like a short version of the bumper jacks that were common until the 1980s and the advent of plastic bumper covers used today. The black tubes standing in the center are the jack handles that fit into the ratcheting mechanism of the jack. A tall mechanic?How do you suppose those greasy hand prints got onto the beam over the counter? (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)
Family Portrait: 1936
... Lilian at their sharecropper cabin in Hale County, Alabama. Photograph by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 8:52pm -

Summer of 1936. William Edward "Bud" Fields, wife Lily Rogers Fields and infant daughter Lilian at their sharecropper cabin in Hale County, Alabama. Photograph by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Lewis HineWhat a fascinating and beautiful collection. [Agreed, although this photo is by Walker Evans, not Lewis Hine. - Dave] No guile,no deceit, no looking away: a direct gaze, right at the camera. This is us, they seem to say: poor, proud and as honest as our home is bare. Denny Gill Chugiak, Alaska The DoorWho is that coming through the door behind them? Creepy. Fourth person...The only creepy thing I see on this picture is called poberty. [Let's not forget ignorance. - Dave] Are there not four in this picture?Am I imagining ghosts, or isn't a fourth person peeking around the back door? Fourth PersonThe caption mentions nothing about the mysterious (and somewhat sinister looking) individual, peeking through the door behind them. [It's Grandma - probably Lily's mother. - Dave] Older man, younger womanI am fascinated by the age difference. Maybe there is hope for me yet. Where is Lilian nowI want to know where the baby is now-- what is life like now? She'd be roughly 73-ish. How does it affect someone to be in a "historical" photo? Especially one documenting rural poverty of this kind. Fields family"The Most Famous Story We Never Told" (Fortune magazine). Includes a brief interview with a grandson of Bud Fields and other descendants of the Hale County families depicted in Evans's photographs and in the book "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men." More on Walker Evans here. The FieldsesAt least they live in a cabin. There was a photo recently showing a family living in a tent. Family Portrait: 1936Notice the clean white sheets. I imagine the work it must have taken to keep them that way. It says a great deal. Newspaper Decor?What's in the clipping on the wall? I can't quite tell. Thanks! [I don't know if it's from a newspaper, but it says "The little Drakes." - Dave] Fields BandannaI seem to recall reading an interview with Lilian Fields who said that her father had some kind of abscess or skin lesion on his chest when the photo was taken. He draped a red bandanna around his neck to conceal it. (The Gallery, Great Depression, Rural America, Walker Evans)
Prepped: 1941
August 1941. Coffee County, Alabama. "Josh Smart family participates in the FSA Food for Defense program. ... on those shelves. Be careful- I hope that part of Alabama's not in Earthquake Country with the product of her hard work sitting ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/30/2020 - 10:52am -

August 1941. Coffee County, Alabama. "Josh Smart family participates in the FSA Food for Defense program. Mrs. Eulia Smart says: 'I never had a pressure cooker before, an' when I got this one, I canned everything in sight' -- 264 quarts since spring." Medium format nitrate negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. That's a Dill-BreakerI would neither want to hoist up nor lift down those jars of pickles. Somebody in that household probably suffers from a cucumber-lumbar syndrome. Eat what you canAnd what you can't, we'll can -- a family saying from parents who grew up during the Depression. Jarred againWell, contrary to previous photos on Shorpy, here we see shelves which are reasonably straight. And those jars were not sized for one member households. Everything in sight, eh.Well, let's hope Eulia's husband kept out of the way, and we're not looking at him somewhere on those shelves. Be careful-I hope that part of Alabama's not in Earthquake Country with the product of her hard work sitting unrestrained on shelves. A jarring fact, so can it.With the advent of Covid-19, and people planting gardens and doing things at home, canning jars and lids are increasingly hard to find in some areas. Particularly, the canning lids, which canners will tell you are practically worth their weight in gold right now. Shelf MathStraight Shelves + Time = Sagging Shelves Canned Food We canned everything during the war from chicken to fruit and vegetables. We never had more than 500 cans at one time. We did live in suburban New York City. Here's hopingThat Mrs. Smart had time to put her feet up and enjoy a good meal, including a double helping of cornbread. She's worn herself down to a nub. In other news, I'd give an hour or so off my life for a few of the square jars in those boxes. And I can't even can. Or can but don't. Chicken feedIt looks like the Smart family raises chickens, too. No surprise. I'm assuming this from the gunny sack of 'Broiler Mash'. Mrs. Smart's FamilyIn the 1920 Census, Eula Smart (nee Ammons) is age 20, Josh is age 28, and they have a 2-year-old daughter named Voncile. By 1930, the family has grown: Josh is now 40, Eula is 31, and they have two daughters: Voncile (12), Vera (5) and a son Paul (2). The family did not own a radio. Josh had never been to school, and could not read or write. In the 1940 Census, Eula (aged 41) and Josh (now 57!) had a daughter Lois (15) and two sons: Paul (12) and Joe (3) living at home -- Voncile had gotten married at the age of 18 and moved out. This census recorded the highest grade attended; Eula's last year of schooling was the 7th grade, and it looks like Josh never went to school. None of the kids were in school. Josh Smart died on June 5, 1961, at the age of 72; Eula died on Dec. 31, 1975, at the age of 76. They are buried together in the Wise Mill Cemetery in Coffee County. EuliaI’d never come across this name before, so I looked it up. Short for Eulalia. Means sweet spoken. Patron saint of Barcelona. A character in Faulkner’s novel Absalom, Absalom. One source even noted that Eulalia is “a melodious name with a Southern drawl.” A Rather Young WomanThis photo was taken in about the 12th year of the Great Depression. Poverty can take its toll. One must constantly grind and grind to keep self and family going. Mrs. Smart was born about 1900. In this photo she is just out of her thirties. Helpful hints for home-makersThe shelf lining indicates that Eulia's been doing her homework. "Reducing chances of home accidents" was the lead item, thus the straight shelves, perhaps. A Different Literary AssociationNot a Faulkner fan, I confess; for me the name Eula immediately calls to mind Meredith Wilson's formidable Eulalie McKechnie Shinn. I like the "wreath" of canning bands – I think I may adopt that storage solution myself. Yes we CanCanning lids are indeed hard to come by. The pandemic has upended almost every aspect of daily life, but it's been good to see so many learning to garden and can. This year we were fortunate to have bought too many lids last year, but we still can't find Sure Jell Light. Threading the reusable bands on wire for storage is something we do, too. The Atlas boxes are lovely. Gem Canning Jars in CanadaWhile most Americans have known only the regular or wide mouth lids for canning, there is an in-between version in Canada for Gem canning jars with a 78mm diameter. There is also the earlier Crown jar that uses a red rubber ring with a separate glass segment in the top. Viceroy brand rubber rings are still available. How it all developed and turned into a major protest can be found here. Bernardin is the big name for canning supplies in Canada. The shelves for pectin and jars are empty in Canada too. Atlas JarsStill square, I collected pint and a halfs and quarts. Classico pasta sauce jars. First year for me to can by myself. (The Gallery, Agriculture, John Collier, Kitchens etc., Rural America, WW2)
Shady Rest: 1942
May 1942. "Childersburg, Alabama. Rooms for rent." Medium format acetate negative by John Collier for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/25/2022 - 6:30pm -

May 1942. "Childersburg, Alabama. Rooms for rent." Medium format acetate negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Same stuff, different dayUkraine in the news. Unless, by shady, you mean something elseThat is not the Shady Rest. Maybe Uncle Joe would run an establishment like this, but never Kate. Look, they offer board. What sort of gastronomically satisfying repasts do you suppose emanate from that kitchen? (Bad W. C. Fields impression) 'Under New Management' should never be a permanent sign. One man's trash is another man's treasureAs a kid, finding those bottles would have been like finding gold. It'd be interesting to know what types of bottles they are and what their value would be today. I'd also like to know what the radio that came in that box looked like! What goes around ...The trashed newspaper on the ground behind the boxes displays a headline about "Kharkov" This city is in the Ukraine and during WWII was taken by Germany. Russia fought hard to re-take control of the city. Now, 70 years later, Kharkov (now called Kharkiv) is in the news again, a city caught in battles for control. That Coke machineWhen I moved into my first bought home in Montgomery, Ala., in 1979 there was a Coke machine of that identical style rusting in the back of my garage. Could it be ... Those Bottles !I'm certainly no antique bottle expert, but... The wide-mouth bottles appear to be milk bottles, which in those days were collected by the dairy delivery man ( or woman ) or shopkeeper and taken back to be washed, sterilized, and refilled. So, why aren't they segregated from the others? ( In the 1960's, my family had milk delivery service using glass bottles. To this day, I still see dairy home delivery trucks. ) There are other bottles which appear to be soda bottles, ditto. Probably right out of that water-immersion Pepsi cooler. The identical cooler at my boyhood neighborhood store had a rack with empty wooden bottle cases held at an angle; customers placed the empties in these cases. I think there was a deposit, but I don't have a clear memory of that. Deep in the shadows is a gallon can for Quaker State Pennsylvania Grade automobile engine oil. ["Pepsi cooler" ?? - Dave] King of the RoadDefinitely "no phone, no pool, no pets." We Could Only Wish --That this would have been the last bloody battle in Kharkov. Under Old ManagementThat sign looks quite weathered and old. The 'New' Management have not managed the waste issue very well. (The Gallery, John Collier, Small Towns)
Gingerbread House: 1906
Montgomery, Alabama, circa 1906. "Perry Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 10:13am -

Montgomery, Alabama, circa 1906. "Perry Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Prisoners at WorkI live in Texas, where we still use work gangs from the County Jail for civic maintenance, such as mowing courthouse lawns. To be allowed on such a work gang -- the chains haven't been used in a long time -- is a privilege anxiously sought by the prisoners. They get to be out of the boring cell into the fresh air, people talk to them (talk to the Deputy monitoring them first!), and they get a small wage for it. The work is sometimes strenuous and often boring, but never terribly arduous, and they sometimes get a meal that isn't from the jail commissary. Prisoners can't participate unless they're well-behaved in the jail, so it's a "carrot" form of discipline. The City and County get their grounds kept up at an economical price. Nobody loses (we don't have ASCME here.) Some years ago the County decided to give the prisoners work clothes that were more like street wear, chambray shirts and jeans. Unfortunately a couple of them exploited that to make their escape. They were caught, returned, and lost work privileges, and the Sheriff put the workers back into the old striped clothing. Young GranddadMy grandfather was raised in this town and in 1906 would have been around 10 years old. How amazing to see the things he saw! Guy in stripeswalking toward the camera looks like he might be part of a prison work detail. Quaint!That convict in striped jumpsuit -- looks like he's out cleaning the streets -- really adds to the homey atmosphere of this photo. Retirement FundAn industrious house painter can practically be guaranteed full employment. Gorgeous but like painting the Golden Gate Bridge -- get to the end and start over. So much to see in this photo -- intricate sidewalk, beautiful iron work banister, plentiful mounting blocks -- all telling me this is very much an upscale neighborhood. Is that fellow in the background really wearing prison clothes? Frill follows functionLove the little balconies, but unless you want to check on the neighbors across the street, they don't seem very useful, barring a parade down your street. Of course Victorian doesn't seem to be real big on "useful" anyway. Trusty shovelLooks like the chain gang was hiring out for lawn maintenance! Dollhouse RowThis is one of my favorite posts ever - looks like a row of dollhouses. I hope there are more from this street! I wish they still built them like this. Paved in stoneI love the sidewalks. I wonder if these are paved over or still exist. Appropriate NeighborExcept for the 2nd house, it's all gone now. The building next door (to the left looking from the street) is now occupied by bankruptcy attorneys. There is a sign in the front yard of the remaining house. It's not clear enough to read, but I'm guessing it's for another law firm. Queen AnneWould be proud! 502 South PerryCould this be the leftmost house? [Indeed it is! - Dave] View Larger Map Not a weed in sight!How many gardeners worked in the neighborhood? StrollingI just noticed two women walking on the other side of the street in what looks like very formal dress - or was that their everyday wear? I'd love to live in this neighborhood. Grandeur styleOn the railings of the first home on the left. Those were really nice. I'm sure it made the other homes jealous! They still do that down SouthA few years back we went to South Carolina on vacation and were shocked to see prisoners in striped convict gear in gangs clearing brush by the roadways. It's different down South. My favorite !I want to live here ! A front facing flat would be fine. Re: They still do that down SouthNot to mention parts of Arizona! House huntingWhen the wife and I were buying a home here in Missouri, we looked at many but we continued coming back to the older homes -- and settled on one that was built in the 1900s. Not quite as Victorian as these but it has character and style -- something we found totally lacking in newer homes. Architects' Motto"Sharpen the pencil and bin the restraint." Another Montgomery VictorianThis photo was taken in Montgomery, Ala., in 1910 according to the notation on the back. The neighborhood looks very similar, though I believe the address of this one is Washington Avenue. I also have a photo of a house built on the same spot that notes this house burned down in 1914, and the house to the right is gone, too. Such a tragedy! Jim Crow? Unfortunately, most of these prisoners were convicted of "Walking while Black". The town courts would routinely convict them of bogus offences and sentence them to hard labor, then rent them out for profit, legalized slavery. (The Gallery, DPC, Montgomery)
Out of Cluck: 1941
August 1941. Coffee County, Alabama. "Painless killer in action. Food for Defense program -- Enterprise FSA ... both photos were taken in August 1941 in Coffee County, Alabama, this setup is way cruder than The Chickenator previously posted. I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/17/2022 - 10:44am -

August 1941. Coffee County, Alabama. "Painless killer in action. Food for Defense program -- Enterprise FSA canning and dressing station. Photographs show Farm Security Administration cooperative cannery and hatchery. Baby chicks hatched, chicks in a brooder, crates of chickens being weighed for marketing. Slaughtered chickens hanging up next to 'painless killer.' Electric plucking machines. Scalding and dressing chickens before putting in chilling room. Wrapped and frozen poultry ready for market and delivery to Craig Field, Army air training station at Selma." Medium format acetate negative by John Collier for the FSA. View full size. Roost in PiecesThat's quite the contraption. To say the least This would be a fowl job. Interesting comparisonsAlthough both photos were taken in August 1941 in Coffee County, Alabama, this setup is way cruder than The Chickenator previously posted. I guess there were no minimum requirements. If you search Shorpy for "painless" the only results are chickenators and dentists. We can guess how painless dentistry was in 1941. (The Gallery, Bizarre, Agriculture, John Collier)
Pension Office: 1918
... that in perspective, the recently opened new Birmingham, Alabama, office for the Social Security Administration cost $135 million, and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:26pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1918. "Pension Office interior." This former repository of Civil War veterans' pension records is now the National Building Museum. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. At one time in the early 1960s,this grand old space was used as overflow office space for employees of the Civil Service Commission (now the Office of Personnel Management). The building had not been maintained very well, and apparently had many unsealed openings to the outside. A friend who worked there put up with temperature extremes and vermin. The only pleasant distraction was watching the antics of the birds which flew freely around the great atrium space. Remarkable DesignI think the design of the building is remarkable. The offices where the hundreds of clerks toiled are around the periphery. It was built LONG before air conditioning. The taller central area must provide a sort of flue where the hot air rises bring in fresh air to the offices. Montgomery Meigs did a pretty good design. Still there and lovelier than everAs the National Building Museum, this great central space is the first thing you see as you walk in the door. The columns are there, exactly as shown (they are hollow, painted to look like marble), the central fountains and loft ceiling make this one of the pleasantest public spaces in the nation's capital. Can you imagineCan you imagine the government building anything even remotely like this spectacular structure today for the purpose of storing pension records? The contemporary version of this would be a windowless, poured concrete atrocity full of cubicles, computer terminals, and fluorescent light bulbs, i.e., hell on earth. Exit question for iamfelixExit question for iamfelix ("Lovely"). This would have consumed the entire tax receipts of how many US citizens in 1918? [This building was 30 years old when the photo was taken. It cost $886,000. Construction commenced in 1882 and lasted five years. It was commissioned by Congress in 1881 as headquarters for the Pension Bureau, a huge department responsible for handling benefits for the country's thousands of Civil War veterans as they began to enter retirement age. Congress stipulated that the building be both inexpensive and fireproof. Considering that it's lasted for well over 100 years, I'd say the taxpayers got their money's worth. - Dave] Then and NowHasn't changed very much! Land of the giantsVery imposing building, I'll bet you that would feel very small when you entered. WowThe corinthian columns are both massive and gorgeous. I wonder how they compare size wise to the ones holding the roof up on the Hagia Sophia. FacesThank you for this photo. My father has loved this building all his life and often mentioned the faux-marble columns, saying that people claimed they could see the faces of the dead soldiers looking at them from the marbled paint, then shifting back to marble again. It was hard, as a child, for me to picture this; by the 1970s, these columns were painted beige. I can see what he meant now. Superb!By anyone's definition, a truly Grand Space! Extraordinary! Depressing WasteI don't know which is more depressing -- the sheer vulgarity of this massive government temple or the tragic war records it housed. Temple of the BureaucratA temple of the bureaucrat, with marble pillars and tile floors along with at least three barriers to get to the business end of the building. And no one fixed the fountain as it overflows on the tile. Restored!The National Building Museum has restored the space. It looks much like it did when the photo was taken. The Files are now gone and the tile floor is now carpeted except for a cut-out exposing the shield between the columns. The fountain spray is configured differently now, too. It is now a tall column of water rather than a multiple sprays. This is one of the most impressive interior spaces in Washington and is well worth a visit to see. The view of the exterior of the building as you come up from Judiciary Square Metro Station is incredible, too. It is probably the most dramatic view from any Metro escalator. Atrium VentilationDepressing waste? No. As has been pointed out, it was built long before air conditioning, and the central court was designed to ventilate air to the roof, as well as the high ceilings on each floor. It housed 1500 workers when the pension department was expanded in a short time. And the court was also intended for ceremonial occasions as well -- several presidential inaugural balls were held here. Interestingly also, the designers made sure to include a freed slaves in the frieze running along the outside. From a different eraImagine the outcry that would ensue today, if the Federal or State government erected a bureaucratic building with such costly grandeur? A backlash would result, and legions of people would assail it as frivolous, costly, and inefficient government expenditure. In the 1920s they could have gotten away with something like this. But that was certainly a different era, a different time. [This building was constructed in the 1880s. Completed in 1887. - Dave] Hi-Tech VentilationOne of my favorite buildings in D.C. ... The Anonymous Tipster is correct in noting the good ventilation achieved in the building. Montgomery Meigs paid special attention to issues of ventilation in his design: in addition to the clerestory windows at the top, the masonry was constructed with special passages for air flow. When in use, a special team was employed to run around the building, opening and closing windows during the day to adjust the air flow. Meigs estimated that the air in the Great Hall could be exchanged every two minutes. LovelyI don't find it depressing or a waste. I think it's beautiful. Why should public spaces be ugly and soulless, whatever their function? There's more than enough ugly. They're Brick ColumnsThose beautiful columns, in this, one of the best buildings I've ever seen, are laid-up bricks. Then plastered and painted to look like what the budget could not afford: marble. And the building was used for an inauguration ball not very long ago. Eeeww!Are those spittoons on the floor by the colonnades? Every time I look, there's another one! A bargainI'm very much offended by government waste, but this building is not anything like that. If it cost $886,000 to build back then, that's only about $18-$19 million in today's dollars. To put that in perspective, the recently opened new Birmingham, Alabama, office for the Social Security Administration cost $135 million, and in my opinion it's not remotely attractive. 50-50It's fascinating that the comments seem to be pretty evenly split: about half complaining of the waste and ugliness of the building; and about half seeing the beauty of the building and stating that the citizens certainly got their money's worth. I've never been to the building personally, but it's awe inspiring to me. Next time I'm in D.C., I'll most certainly track it down. National Building MuseumI live in the DC area, and have visited this building a number of times. I consider it a very fine example of architecture, and an interesting place to visit. I find it astonishing that some people consider this beautiful 125-year-old building to be a waste of money. Geez, if this building is bad, I'll bet the national monuments, art galleries and other museums in Washington would REALLY be considered "frivolous." NBMI visited this building on my vacation this summer, and absolutely you do feel small upon entering it. The staircases with low risers are interesting also. Not only is the building a pleasure to look at, but it has quite a few very interesting exhibits about Washington (all free, though they recommend a donation of $5), and an amazing gift shop with books on design and architecture. Many of the exhibits show photos similar to the ones on this site. One of the newer exhibits on green building explains that when the building was new it had awnings on the windows as another temperature control feature. The windows are also placed to get sun in different ways in different seasons. I had never heard of this building or the National Building Museum until I happened upon it while wandering around and stepped in. I'm very glad I did. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Sloss City Furnaces: 1906
Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1906. "Sloss City furnaces." Four years later, our site's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 4:34pm -

Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1906. "Sloss City furnaces." Four years later, our site's namesake, Shorpy Higginbotham, would be working for the Sloss-Sheffield Iron Co. at nearby Bessie Mine, helping to supply coal for the furnaces at this steel mill. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Heavy MetalSloss Furnaces is occasionally used as a concert venue. I saw Rage Against the Machine perform there in the late '90s. No sign of Shorpy's ghost. Ghost of SlossI grew up in Birmingham and went there several times on school tour groups. The guides always pointed out the hidden gravesite of a small dog behind some hedges near one of the side buildings. Apparently the dog was loved by the furnace workers and lived there. I wonder if it's still there! The Pittsburgh of the SouthGrowing up in Texas, I was taught that this was one of Birmingham's nicknames. I never really knew if the people of Birmingham ever referred to their city as such. FascinatingSteam, smoke, water, stacks of ingots, men bending their backs both with work and also hands in pockets as per the older gent standing at the rail carriage. There's a lot going on here all right. Not a day to hang the washing out! Can anyone explain the process going on here? Still thereI took the scenic route back to the airport last summer (in part by "lost by GPS") and it was still there. I did not expect it and was surprised to see the furnace right off the road. Looked it over and U turned to check it out again. Tried to imagine what it was like to see it in production. Wow! Whatta photo! StackedI wonder what's going on in the lower center. Looks like a fair amount of wood stacked up, and possibly being burned in the large shed. They might be making charcoal, but why would they bother if coal was available? [Those are metal ingots. Ore goes in, iron comes out. - Dave] Lazy SusanLove the Southern RR ventilated car, the lazy-susan narrow gauge bridge track, and the link-and-pin couplers on the little engine shoving cars into the plant and the in-house railcars. Very interesting moment in time captured here. A brief [?] explanationThere are a lot of folks who know more about this than I, but I can give you a simple sketch of what's going on. The tower just left of the central shed is the charging stack. Note the elevator running up the left side. This is used to haul the ore, limestone and whatever else is needed to the top. The foreman in charge mixes the ingredients in the correct proportion into the top of the stack. This stuff is heated at high temperature in the blast furnace and when it's all blended and liquefied, the bottom of the stack is opened to allow molten steel to run onto the floor of the large central shed. This molten steel is run down narrow gutters in the floor and turned into molds to cool. These molds full of red hot steel look like little piglets being fed by their mommy. That's where they started calling them "pig iron." Note the small steam locomotive with its rear facing us to the left below the elevator. Both the engine and the cars down there have link and pin couplers that were outlawed for interstate commerce by about 1900, which indicates this engine and cars may belong to the steel company. It appears they are hauling waste, also called slag, away. At the far left edge of the photo is a four wheeled railcar with a large pocket on an elevated track. This looks like a "larry car" which was filled with coal and dumped into a coke oven from the top. The oven was sealed shut and the coal was "baked" to create coke, which burns much hotter than coal, which is needed to make steel. I'd say Mr. Shorpy's coal was turned into coke right here in the steel plant. (A single larry car could run atop any number of ovens, which would be off camera here.) Note in the foreground the narrow gauge plant track on a turntable. This appears to allow the narrow plant track to cross over the wider track at a slight elevation. When the wide tracks are used, the narrow track is turned away as it is here. Worth a visitThis is now one of the most incredible national monuments in our country. The only one I know similar to it is Gas Works Park in Seattle, and you can't actually explore it. You can walk all over Sloss. Just another example of how much incredible potential Birmingham has. Mom and Dad and ShorpyAs I child, I lived about three miles from where Shorpy would've lived, Bessie Mines. I live in West Jefferson. Incredible place. My parents met working on Miller Steam Plant. Iron OnlyOlde Buck basically nailed it. The three ingredients are iron ore, fluxing stone (usually limestone) to draw off impurities, and coke, which adds carbon to the mixture and also burns to superheat the interior. But, blast furnaces only produce iron. As iron contains many impurities, it’s actually a much weaker metal and more susceptible to stress and fracturing. To make steel, the impurities have to be burned off in a separate facility, or "converter." In this era, it could be done in a bessemer converter by blowing air into the molten iron. This started a chemical reaction, igniting manganese, then silicon and finally carbon monoxide; took about 20 minutes to burn it all out. Also coming into their own at this time were open hearth furnaces, basically a regenerative furnace, where scrap and molten iron were mixed to create custom blends of steel. The items in the photo "Stacked" are iron pigs aka "pig iron" – "ingots" are gigantic blocks of partially cooled (just enough so they can be handled) steel that are fed into rolling mills and formed into various shapes such as beams and rail. Ghost AdventuresI watched an episode of Ghost Adventures where they visited Sloss Furnace. This place really caught my attention and some of the stories that went along with it were pretty crazy. The Magic CityI, too, grew up in Birmingham in the late '50s and all of the '60s. We heard about "Pittsburgh of the South" in school, of course. It was printed in them Yankee textbooks from up Nawth. But the C-of-C called Birmingham "The Magic City" while I was growing up. I remember Sloss very, very well, and fondly, too, in a retrospective kind of way. My father worked near Sloss (in a different career field) and we frequently passed Sloss as we travelled over The Viaduct, a raised portion of 1st Avenue North that went right beside Sloss. On some evenings when they would pour out the molten steel huge plumbs of steam would billow forth. These clouds would take on a glow the same bright red-orange color as the molten steel. Traffic would slow briefly along The Viaduct as we would all want to watch the spectacle. There was always an incredible aroma that billowed out along with the steam. It was deep, rich and earthy, somewhere between rotten eggs and burnt coal and wood. When the wind was right, you could smell this aroma even at my parents house in the Roebuck neighborhood, some 8-10 miles from Sloss. I had to move away from Birmingham in 1969 when My father took a new job. I was so glad to hear they have saved Sloss and turned it into a national monument-- and a performance arts center! I was eager to take the tour when I got back there for my first visit in years back in 2004. Attached is a photo I took then of Sloss today. For anyone wishing to explore Sloss online, may I suggest http://www.slossfurnaces.com/ Thanks, Shorpy, for letting me share some memories with you! -DJQ Old FurnacesLooking at the way things are laid out, and given the time frame visible here, these are the OLD Sloss Furnaces. This view of the furnaces changed in 1927 when the furnaces were totally rebuilt with modern equipment. At the time of this photo, these furnaces had only been in operation 1899. This picture was taken around the time the new boilers were installed. Muse of Fire: Shakespeare at Sloss I've enjoyed working with Muse of Fire for the past several spring seasons as we perform Shakespeare under that shed in the center of the Shorpy photo. In the fall we stage select Shakespeare scenes in various spots along the walking trail around the Sloss facilities. There's nothing like having trains running by 100 yards from the stage, blowing their whistles for all they're worth. Having rehearsed late into the night several times, I have to say that it's easy to believe that Sloss is as haunted a place as I've ever been (especially deep in the back near the old brick ovens). Thanks, Dave, for posting this great photo of a cherished landmark in my hometown. I think of Shorpy Higginbotham at every rehearsal and performance, and I wonder if he's watching us and enjoying the show. Sloss Fright FurnaceAround Halloween time, Sloss Furnace is converted into a "haunted house." As you are walked through the place, you are confronted by ghouls, ghosts of angry steel workers, zombies, and psychos. My brother & I went there this past October. (The Gallery, Birmingham, DPC, Factories, Railroads)
Belle Up to the Bar: 1956
... the Auburn in question is the university in southeastern Alabama. Auburn is quite near Columbus, Georgia (the identified locale of other ... Some Auburn background In 1956 the college in Auburn, Alabama, was Alabama Polytechnic Institute. It wasn't until 1960 that the name ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/07/2015 - 4:45am -

Georgia circa 1956, and some Junior League types at a country-clubby looking bar with an unusual picture-in-picture mural. The tumblers say "Auburn." 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size. Re: "It's a telephone receiver pouring coffee into a cup."In other words, a wake-up call? Which AuburnI suspect that the Auburn in question is the university in southeastern Alabama. Auburn is quite near Columbus, Georgia (the identified locale of other photos in this series); in fact, if one desires to fly to Auburn, one flies into the Columbus airport. [Yes, I think you're right. I should have looked at a map first! - Dave] Sorority house?Or maybe a rumpus room? That muralIts like a cross between Norman Rockwell and Thomas Hart Benton. The brush-off"Sorry, Eddie, I'm washing my hair tonight." Sorority PinThe young lady on the phone is wearing a sorority pin. And that mural and the image of the fellow holding the rifle is vaguely familiar. The Big PictureInteresting that you can see the missing edge of the painting on the left, reflected in the mirror on the right. The Bar can Discreetly DisappearNote that the bar is built in a sort of alcove and that the alcove can be closed by a sliding door or doors. The evidence is on the left jamb of the alcove, right behind the young woman on the left. That is either the exposed edge of a "pocket door" or possibly the track for a counterbalanced vertical sliding door. (The latter is less likely unless this room has a very high ceiling.) So, it's coming off as bar in a multi-purpose room. The bar can discreetly disappear when the room is used for "no alcohol" events. It's perfectly plausible that this is an Auburn U. sorority. I'm not sure what the drinking age would have been in Georgia in 1956, but perhaps the sorority had some members below the legal drinking age, so the bar had to disappear for events where they were present. [Auburn does not now have, and never has had, sorority houses. - Ken] Some Auburn backgroundIn 1956 the college in Auburn, Alabama, was Alabama Polytechnic Institute. It wasn't until 1960 that the name was changed to Auburn University. Before 1960, however, the school was being unofficially referred to as "Auburn." The young lady on the phone is wearing a sorority pin, so it's plausible that at least she was a student at the school. This photo would not have been taken in a sorority house, however, because Auburn never had sorority houses. Sororities are currently hosted in special campus dormitories. There's also no reason to think the photo would have been taken in Auburn. Columbus, Georgia is a close neighbor and a large number of Auburn students are from Georgia. The photo could have very well been taken in a Columbus country club. Intra-MuralI like the way the mural can be seen in the mirror continuing around the corner. But what is being painted by the artist in the scene? My best guess is it’s Marlene Dietrich waking up in the woods with the forest wizard preparing a cup of coffee for her. [It's a telephone receiver pouring coffee into a cup. A sendup of Dali-type surrealist art is my interpretation. - Dave] That coffee through the telephoneIs there a mobile version? The Mural's the ThingIt wouldn't surprise me if the illustrator who did the mural is well known: it really is very well done, with nothing amateur about it. Artist style.The Mural work is very reminiscent of John Augustus Walker who might have lived in the area at that time. He is a known folk art style artist. UA grad I think. (The Gallery, News Photo Archive, Pretty Girls)
Early Boomers: 1940
... They were divorced February 1957 in Huntsville, Alabama. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, WW2) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/30/2022 - 5:05pm -

December 1940. "War boom in a New England industrial town. Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Bryant in their trailer about two miles out of Bath, Maine. Mr. Bryant works in the shipyard. They have been living in the trailer for two months. They could not rent in Bath and although a trailer cost them almost as much as a house, Mr. Bryant feels that it is a better investment because they do not know where they will go next in search of work when this 'boom' is over." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Bath Iron Works - Still ThereBath Iron Works is still one of the largest shipbuilders for the U.S. Navy and one of the largest employers in Maine. As it was in Mr. Bryant's day, shipbuilding remains a boom-and-bust industry. Those ShoesSo many people have been those same shoes. Young, recently married, dreams and worries in equal amounts, uncertainty ahead. Love alone is not enough and there are always bits of life drama presenting themselves. But with a bit of luck, Mr. Bryant proves himself useful enough at the Plant that he avoids the draft. Mrs. Bryant manages to also find work, and the two find time to build a family under a permanent roof. [So they were real heels? - Dave] Well heeled, let's say. Wonder what happened to them?Well, the "boom" lasted another four and a half years, but Mr. Bryant might well have been drafted, if he couldn't get an "essential industry" deferment. That does remind me of the old used trailer my parents got for our summer place, with that thin wood veneer. Twin beds for newlywedsmay work in a movie or on TV, but is not so great in real life. At the other end of domestic life -- that trailer in a Maine winter during a marital bump-in-the road is not going to provide any get away-from-me space. But they are the Greatest Generation; they will make it work. Trailer lifeSpeaking of Maine winters, how would they keep the pipes underneath from freezing? And trailers are never insulated all that well, so it would’ve been mighty chilly inside, I’m thinking. As for twin beds, the seating arrangements generally pull into a double bed. [Insulated pipes. - Dave] Mr. & Mrs. BLeslie Eugene Bryant (1919-1995) married Ruth M. Barstow (1919-1994) in Maine on June 25, 1938. In December 1940, Leslie and Ruth were photographed in their home by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. The Bath city directory for 1942-43 mentioned their move to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Leslie was inducted into the Army on September 19, 1944, at Portland. His civilian occupation was machinist. In November 1944, he was admitted to the hospital. Diagnosis: reaction to drugs, vaccines, serums (smallpox vaccine) while in basic training. He was returned to duty. Leslie and Ruth were living in Escambia County, Florida, in the 1950 Census. Leslie was employed as a machinist at Pensacola Naval Air Station. They were divorced February 1957 in Huntsville, Alabama. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, WW2)
The E-Team: 1960
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1960. Eufaula (Alabama) at Columbus. It looks to have been a good night for the Tigers. 4x5 ... numbers. It's all relative In 1960 Eufaula, Alabama had a population of 8,357. If these were playoff games being held in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/08/2022 - 6:28pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1960. Eufaula (Alabama) at Columbus. It looks to have been a good night for the Tigers. 4x5 acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Movin' on upWe all know the theory that the lengths of women's dresses follow (or lead) the stock market. What might be the significance of basketball shorts? (The 1960 U.S. recession officially ended in November, when basketball season began.) Why So Serious?A good question as they are holding a trophy. Shouldn't they be smiling? Maybe they are smiling inside. Jocks"Boys, get on out there and play a good game! And don't forget to hold on to them balls." Where's Gene?This shot, with the Chuck Taylors, droopy socks and some skinned knees, makes me want to watch "Hoosiers" for the umpteenth time. Out of syncIt seems none of the jacket numbers correspond to the jersey numbers. It's all relativeIn 1960 Eufaula, Alabama had a population of 8,357. If these were playoff games being held in Columbus, Georgia, the Tigers may be holding only (I say only) a third-place trophy. You tend not to smile when you go expecting first and end up getting third. The random player stances caused me to see art. Click to embiggen if you feel the need. And then please answer the question: at right there is a shoe where you see only the laces, no leg. To whom does that shoe belong? 21 shoes, 10 players.am I right? [There are 11 heads visible above 22 shoes that we can see, plus one leg whose sock is visible but whose shoe is not, bringing the total to at least 23 shoes. So there must be one hidden head and two hidden shoes for a total of 12 boys and 24 Chucks. Or, 11 guys and their 22 shoes plus one stray, unoccupied shoe. - Dave] Look at all the Chucks!It's unanimous. Converse Chuck Taylors were the choice of this team. When I was a kid, they were the best basketball shoe and they cost $6. I still got a worn pair in my closet. I bought them in the '90s, forget what they cost, but the original dark blue color has faded to a nice sky-blue. Time to follow through and go online to buy my next pair -- I'm hoping to get the maroon color. It's spring and time to update the wardrobe a bit. My guess is that it may be an invitational tournamentbut not a state playoff. Eufaula and Columbus are close, but in different states. I believe Eufaula is known for some pretty good basketball teams and players that made their way to Auburn. [Bracket below! - Dave] (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Sports)
Mobile Newsboy: 1914
October 1914. Mobile, Alabama. "Young newsboy who begins work at daybreak." View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2011 - 1:20pm -

October 1914. Mobile, Alabama. "Young newsboy who begins work at daybreak." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. Mobile Newsboy: 1914, date of photoFlip the picture upside down, and you see the newspaper has a banner headline that reads, in part, "BOSTON TAxxx SECOND." On October 10, 1914, the Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 1-0 in the second game of the World Series, ultimately sweeping 4-0. Suffice to say, the newspaper, and the photo, are probably from the morning of Oct. 11, 1914. [Another clue would be the caption under the photo that says "October 1914." It's the afternoon paper of Saturday, October 10 - Dave] ww1 news alsoChannel ports now Kaiser's Objective, I think thats what is written next to the game, also Portugal expected to Decla but his hand blocks the rest - Mobile NewsieAs an artist I love it. ResolutionI am wondering about a technical question: how is it possible to get a detail from the original picture with such a fine resolution. If I download the picture it has a resolution of 1200x861 and the detail from it will have a resolution of approximately 120x100 but the detail shown in the comment has a resolution of 485x400. Can anyone tell me how that is possible? By the way: I am a European lover of historical and cartographic sites. I am very pleased to have found Shorpy. Gives me such an interesting insight in the U.S. society in the past century. thanks for all that. Alex Bussum, Netherlands [The full-resolution image here is 5000 x 3587 pixels. We downsize the full-resolution images to approximately 1200 pixels wide before posting them to the site. - Dave] 10-10-14Amazing, that we are looking at a newspaper as it was on Saturday, October 10, 1914 -- papers are so forgettable, no one could have guessed, least of all the Newsie, that he'd be seen and known all these decades later. This site really is like going back in time. Paperboys were once a legend, [We'll be right back with Part 2 of this windy diatribe after a brief intermission. - Dave] Disappearance of paperboysThe reason you don't see paperboys anymore has nothing to do with kids and their willingness to work, and everything to do with the newspaper delivery business and how it is run. Newspapers want no part of child workers anymore. But don't let me stop your misinformed rant... I was a paperboy onceBack in the 1960s, I had a paper route for a while. Even then, paper carriers were not newspaper employees. No, we were "independent contractors" who solicited sales door to door, delivered to homes 7 days a week and collected once every 2 weeks. I had a canvas bag draped over my bicycle handlebars, loaded with 50 or 60 papers. It was tedious and not very rewarding - I didn't last long. Our town, anyway, had no newsies hawking papers on the street. I think by then radio and TV had taken over the "breaking news" category. You could buy individual papers at barber shops, drugstores and the local hotel. Our town had 4 daily papers available (Omaha, Lincoln morning & evening, and Beatrice) plus the local paper 3 days a week. The Internet is taking a toll on those papers today. From a would-be paperboyI remember when the paperboy job disappeared from Long Island. It was in the mid 1980's, right when I was wanting to be a paperboy like my older brothers had been. I don't know the details of it, but some older man bought one of the Postal Service's discarded right hand drive Jeeps and took over all the local paper routes. That was the end of it for the kids. They left an envelope in your box every week for you to leave your check in and we never saw the paper deliveryperson again, unless you were up at 5 AM when he was passing by. I have no idea what it's like now, as I left the U.S. nearly a decade ago, fed up with the direction it was headed and boy am I glad I did. Love the site, keep up the good work. Mobile PaperboyIn Mobile as a 10-year old, 1950-51, I sold newspapers early in the morning--5:30 a.m.--on a street corner near the main entrance to Brookley AFB. Like a previous commenter, I didn't last long. The newsboy in the photo is probably on Government Street, a main thoroughfare, about where the entrance to the Bankhead tunnel now is. It's also possible, though less so, that he's a few blocks around the corner on Royal Street. OMG! That made me LOL!Seriously...hilarious with the fadeout. Thank you, Dave, for the laugh. I Was A Paperboy Once ...and all it taught me was not to be a paperboy. I ran my route on my bike between May and August of 1964 and delivered every day to about 90 homes within a three mile radius. Collecting from customers was like pulling teeth and I was always short - and always having to go back and back and back to try and get paid. The job took more time than I would ever have imagined and by the time I left it I had made only $12 "profit." So much for being an All-American Icon. Car Paper RouteFound this pic just today by clicking on "Prev Page" on the home bar. Brought back more memories of my 3 year career delivering papers. My first 6 months I worked for a lady that had a very large car route. We rolled and I threw from the car windows. My target was driveways and sidewalks. Sometimes I would actually hit the porches and when I did my lady boss would yell out "good shot, Jimmy". We would stop the car if I hit the bushes and if a paper landed on the roof, I would throw another paper. She retired and I got the 1st choice of a walking route as there were 5 routes created from her auto route. PaperboyI had three routes at once in the mid 60's and made about as much as some adults. My routes were broken up into seven routes when I quit. Collecting was up and down. Some customers were great, and others real deadbeats. Who stiffs a kid for a few cents? There are still paperboys in the Hillsborough and Durham NC area. They sell the papers at intersections, not much walking, but some dodging of texting drivers. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Mobile)
O.K. Soap: 1936
Interior of the general store in Moundville, Alabama. Photographed by Walker Evans in the summer of 1936. Top shelf ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 08/08/2012 - 12:28pm -

Interior of the general store in Moundville, Alabama. Photographed by Walker Evans in the summer of 1936. Top shelf inventory: 1 box Peter Loaded Shells, 2 chairs, 2 Aurora oil cans, 8 boxes quart-size Ball square mason fruit jars, 2 small lanterns, 3 large lanterns, 9 galvanized tubs, 1 trunk. Maybe someone would like to inventory the rest of the room. View full size | View even larger. SharpnessI don't know if it's the source material (in which case ignore me), but most of the pictures posted here seem like they've been slightly over-sharpened, giving them an unreal quality. This seems like a good example of that - it's not by much, but to my eyes it seems just a little overdone. Anyone else care to comment? Left in a hurryWho ever opened the crate on the floor was after its contents in a hurry. . . .Hammer, screwdriver and empty beer glass on the rolling box in center. Papers and crate tipped at an odd angle on the floor. Piece of horse equipment behind it under the dishes. Plenty of sacks of "self-raising" (don't need salt or baking powder) flour for flapjacks as well. Re: SharpnessThis image is a little over sharpened. I blame it on my efforts to bring out more detail in the product labeling. I've updated the image to look a little better. Counts offThe list for the top shelf says two small lanterns and two large lanterns. Looks like three large to me. Oh noThat explains why the till came up short. I hope nobody lost their job due to the reported shortage in oil lamps. I've corrected the figure in the caption. Two CalendarsIm curious about the two calendars, one january, one july but the day and date order are the same according to my computer calendar this does not happen in the same year but on the next year. Am I right? 1936 CalendarsThe calendars are correct. Click here. In leap years January has the same calendar as July. And if you have a 1936 calendar don't throw it away -- you can use it again in 2020. Two CalendarsI am sure the one calendar with January is inventory. The safeNobody noticed the floor safe.... Peters ShellsThe item on the top shelf is a crate of shells and not a box. The crate would contain 500 shotshells: 20 boxes containing 25 shotshells each. I doubt that the crate was full. The weight full would be substantial and only the unwise would store it that high up from the floor. SurvivalismThis looks like the inventory stipulated in a survivalist's manual. All basic stuff and no dependency on high technology. Bring along the doll in the Coke ad and you're ready to hide out for the winter. re: Coca Cola PosterIf you had that original poster...in very excellent condition...it would be valuable! Coca Cola PosterI really really love that Coca Cola Poster. Wish I had a copy. Inventory AddendumSnow Ball Self Rising Flour (Columbia, Tenn) Hi Ball Self Rising Flour (Nugrade Mills- Columbia, Tenn) Bags of Salt Strongboy Padlocks Fresco Peters "Victor" ammunition is sagging the second shelf down A couple of boxes of Peters .22 "Filmkote" on on the left side, one opened LanternI inherited one of those lanterns from my grandfather. It is blue. I have a photo of it hanging in his barn. I checked it against the one in this photo and it appears to be exactly the same manufacturer. (The Gallery, Rural America, Stores & Markets, Walker Evans)
Red, White and Blue: 1956
... your face, hands and clothes. Chillin If this were Alabama or Mississippi, the two refrigerators would be on the front porch. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/28/2008 - 5:53pm -

South Carolina, 1956. Another entry from Margaret Bourke-White's photoessay on segregation and civil rights in South. Will someone pass the salt? Color transparency from the Life magazine photo archive. View full size. Low saltNever could figure out why people wanted to put salt on a nice sweet, tasty slice of watermelon. [Because it tastes better that way? I say this as someone who grew up in Suwannee County, Florida, on a farm whose crops included watermelons. - Dave] Southern porchI love the knob & tube wiring above the door. Makes you wonder how more people didn't get electrocuted back then. This appears to be a back porch that was closed in judging from the exterior siding on the walls and the blue/green ceiling. [The wiring would most likely be for a telephone or doorbell. - Dave] MeloncholiaWith the exception of grumbling old Dad, this is a bright, sunny, happy picture! I spent my childhood considering watermelon to be vastly overrated -- a (vastly mistaken) opinion held for almost all of my life, until this summer. For some reason, I've fallen in love with it and cannot get enough of that cold, pink, juicy goodness! The last vestiges of it are just now disappearing from my local Stop & Shop and I'm very, very sad about that. What kind of idiot watermelon etiquette is this?I'm a Southerner (b. 1951), and never in all my life have I seen watermelon eaten like this at an informal gathering, which this clearly is, as evidenced by the spread newspaper and lack of plates and forks. The sight of these eunuchs picking at watermelon seeds with teensy knives is more annoying to me than I can possibly express. People, listen up! Slice the melon crosswise into wedges, pick up a wedge with one hand, take a bite, and spit out the damned seeds, already! SeedySeeded watermelon tastes better than seedless. It is quite impossible to find seeded watermelon in where I live, D.C. A MealThis is exactly the way you eat watermelon. Watermelon was a rare treat for a lot of people. You got that thing cold in a creek or icebox. Then you set your table with newspapers. (Everyone had the Newspaper.) Get out a knife for each person, and the condiment of choice was salt. It was very hot in the South and most didn't have a/c. It was just another way to beat the heat and it was great family time also. The newspapers kept the juice from getting all over the place. Because windows and doors were kept open so much, the sweet juice would attract bees and yellowjackets, which you didn't want in the house. Norman RockwellI really did think this was a painting at first. The composition and faces etc. are pure Norman Rockwell. Eating WatermelonI'm as Southern as any a y'all. This is not our preferred way to eat watermelon. You cut the melons is half, lengthwise. Then, you take a tablespoon, not a teaspoon. Next, eat until you no longer can. See all that delicious juice on the newspapers? We wanted that in our tummies. Eat wedges? Don't want it all over your face, hands and clothes. ChillinIf this were Alabama or Mississippi, the two refrigerators would be on the front porch. Salty-SweetApple lovers have been known to sprinkle a little salt on their Sweet Delicious or Galas occasionally. Probably the same sort who would lightly salt a juicy tomato, cantaloupe or watermelon. Salt-of-the-earth types, we are. My grandfather owned an ice house in Piedmont, Missouri, when I was a kid. So he'd bring home several ice-cold melons on summer nights during our visits. Salt shakers were always nearby. We ate the melons out on the lawn at night with lightning bugs floating all around. That way you could spit out the seeds with abandon. Of course, you'd be reeking of mosquito repellent. Gladly, though. OK experts . . .I was born and raised in Brunswick, Georgia. There are many "correct" ways to consume this plentiful Southern source of sweetness and pleasure. At the height of the season, when melons were 10 for a dollar (mid-1960s), the proper outside method of enjoyment was to crack open a ripe watermelon and eat just the heart, the best part, and fling the rest to the ants, with a rind that still had an inch or so of bright red fruit on it. You're welcome, happy to put the issue to bed for everybody. Foy Las Vegas By any means necessaryMy only requirement for eating watermelon is that you don't get between me and it. I'll eat it cold or warm, salted or not, seeded or seedless. That said, I prefer it cold, salted, and seeded (only because it tastes better than seedless to me). Oh yeah salt babyAlways put salt on my watermelon. Don't you know salt brings out the flavor Waste Not, Want MoreSome folks consumed not just the sweet red flesh of the watermelon, but made delicious, spicy pickle of the rind. Like my Mom. TastyBlack pepper on cantaloupe is very good, also. Salty fruitMy dad and mom always ate salt with their melons and apples too. I learned to eat it that way. I've had it both ways and I prefer salt on melon. It seems to make it sweeter or at least bring out more flavor as salt tends to do. I even put it on apples sometimes. Popcorn and apples seem to go together like bread and butter do and it's because of the saltiness of the popcorn. These looks like the Diamond watermelons that they grow in Texas. One of the best watermelons I've ever eaten. You might also like....Black pepper on strawberries. Trust me on this! Like FamilyThis site is like being with family. Pass the salt and stand back! Eating watermelon with salt on it has resulted in more insults then pulling out my Macbook in a room full of PC users! MelonographyI moved from west Tennessee to Mississippi, a distance of about 150 miles. In Tennessee, we ate watermelon with forks. In Mississippi, the people ate watermelon with only a knife. Still don't get that! Watermelon tastes like summerJust this week I was telling my daughter that the reason I love watermelon is that it tastes like summer. Very few foods act as much like a time-machine as a cold wedge of watermelon. Milton, Florida, 1965, dad would split the watermelon into brilliant pink oversized slices and we'd be sent out into the back yard to eat it in the long shadows thrown by the floodlights mounted over the sliding screen door while sitting on the shaky rusted Sears swing set listening to crickets and frogs. Who could spit the seeds the farthest? FoodiesI am well aware of the many national debates over barbecue. I had no idea that watermelon was so contentious! (LIFE, Margaret Bourke-White)
Pensacola: 1910
... well. East of the Border I'll bet the adjacent Alabama county was dry as a bone, if not the whole state at that time. That ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 8:21pm -

Pensacola, Florida, circa 1910. "Louisville and Nashville Railway station." Where libations for the parched traveler are a mere stagger away. View full size. Grand HatsThere are two ladies in this photo and both have nice big hats. I also particularly like the travel coat the lady on the right (facing away) is wearing. The StationIt appears as if the old station shown in this picture was replaced by a new station in 1912. That one still stands, although it was converted to a Crowne Plaza Hotel. Beer PerspectiveIt is an unusual way that we no longer think of beer as food. I discovered a beer tray of the same period of the Chattanooga Brewing Company. I have maintained for years that Beer is Food!I got a good laugh out of that one. I imagine... that sfter sampling all of the different shops' offerings, you might start to see weird things like this! ErgoIf beer is considered pure liquid food,I submit a bratwurst as an example of pure solid beer. Special carCheck out that odd railcar on the right. The entire end of the car opens like a garage.Some boxcars were equipped with end doors for loading autos and such, but this car has a smokejack on the roof, indicating this was a railroad maintenance car of some sort. Beyond that car on the upper right of the photo, is the front of a locomotive, with a smokestack from a Matthew Brady photograph. The large funnel stack indicates this was a woodburning loco. Railroads of the deep south burned wood for fuel long after the practice was ended elsewhere. Old DepotMy father's family is from Pensacola, so I'm always excited to see northwest Florida photos. This station, at Tarragona and Wright streets, opened in 1882. A new station (still standing) opened in 1913, just across what is now I-110, at the corner of Alcaniz and Wright. Liquid LunchA pint or two of Guinness has been an Irish lunch for a long, long time. The Volstead Act In the short 10 years after this picture was taken, Prohibition would have done a number on the businesses adjacent to the RR station. The four visible storefronts were all selling booze. In theory these merchants were driven out of business, but they probably survived somehow. The Sheriff of Escambia County (of which Pensacola was the county seat) was removed from office by the governor for not enforcing the Prohibition laws. Also sacked, two thirds of the police force. High NoonJudging by the shadows on the "telephone pole" at the right side of the picture and the shadows elsewhere, I bet it is close to noon on this day. "Pure Liquid Food"Love it. Put 'er there, pal.Favorite vignette in this rich scene: the handshake. Pure Liquid FoodMy (late) doctor used to say, "Beer is a poor man's bread." ObservationsOnly two women traveling at this time. Considering the bars in the area, they are pretty clean outside except for the one bottle I found. Barley Sandwich in a CanA river guide friend always refers to his beers as "sandwiches." So apparently the concept is not new. That wagon in front of the barMail or Paddy? [Mail ("USM"). - Dave] Beer As FoodSome time ago I was looking through a reference on food values, and found that beer has all you need but protein. so beer and steak will see you through quite well. East of the BorderI'll bet the adjacent Alabama county was dry as a bone, if not the whole state at that time. That would account for the plethora (I do know what it is, El Guapo!) of liquor stores shouldering up to the station. (The Gallery, DPC, Florida, Pensacola, Railroads)
Heel: 1942
Sheffield, Alabama (Tennessee Valley Authority). Kenneth C. Hall, his wife and daughter ... and flat and.....umm...well, maybe there's some special Alabama word for what they are doing with those wooden things in their hands. ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 08/09/2012 - 12:33pm -

Sheffield, Alabama (Tennessee Valley Authority). Kenneth C. Hall, his wife and daughter rowing on the Tennessee River. Photograph by Arthur Rothstein for the Tennessee Valley Authority, June 1942. View full size. Worried ?I think they look worried, and with some reason. Trying to get back to the river bank fast. It seems that their boat is filling with water, the father has some to his ankles, the daughter looks at the river with grim expectations, and the dog has already decided to try his luck swimming. Not WorriedLooks like the sun is shining in their eyes (thus the squinting) and the mom and girl are both looking at the dog. More concern for the pup than themselves. Rowing?I'd say they are paddling. Rowing requires two oars that one person pulls at the same time, sitting with his/her back to the direction in which the boat is going. (Unless you are part of a several-person crew in a special rowing shell.) This is paddling, as if they were in a canoe except the boat is square and flat and.....umm...well, maybe there's some special Alabama word for what they are doing with those wooden things in their hands. RowboatMy grandfather had a flat-prow wooden rowboat that he used on the Delaware River to get from his place to the nearest town to do his shopping. It always had water in it, no matter how much tar he coated the bottom with. You can see the bailing can between the paddlers. Essential boat equipment. PFDs!Get them folks into PFDs! (And no, for fellow Alaskan readers/viewers: not "Permanent Fund Dividends!" Those go into the bank; or get you to Hawaii for two weeks.) Denny Gill Chugiak, Alaska Dog PaddleGood swimmer for a beagle. But then I guess he didn't have lot of choice. Farked AgainFark contest results for these boaters. All hands to bailing stations We were immensely pleased when our dad bought an all aluminum skiff, replacing the old 'two ton' row boat. The old boat, while unsinkable, leaked like a sieve and took two men and a boy to launch. The new craft, manufactured by Grumman, who no longer had to make B-36's for the war effort, was a symphony of lightness and non-leakitude. We hooked up a five HP Evinrude and taped a broom handle to the steering arm, so as to move our lightweight butts to the front, and proceeded to push the skiff onto plane and hit 30 or more mph! (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Boats & Bridges, Dogs, Farked)
City Fruit Stand: 1942
May 1942. "Childersburg, Alabama. Street scene." Medium format acetate negative by John Collier for the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/26/2022 - 3:10pm -

May 1942. "Childersburg, Alabama. Street scene." Medium format acetate negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Those Southern RebelsEither "Park Parallel" has a different meaning in 'bama, or the citizenry is decidedly un civic-minded. [They're in a diagonal universe. - Dave] Too shade. But deep down, they know better They're parallel parking nowAs did Notcom, my first thought was, "Aren't they angle parking?" But the rebellious citizenry has finally been brought into compliance. I was able to establish the building with the pointed top in Google Street view was down the sidewalk from John Collier in 1942. Behind Collier, on the block across 1st Street, was where he took the photo of the lawman, whom I suspect was very effective at getting compliance. Not much retail on this stretch of street now. There is no bowling alley anywhere in town. I doubt there are two barber shops across the street from each other. And no City Fruit Stand. But there is a Walmart Supercenter 7.7 miles south down Highway 280, in Sylacauga. Parallel is relativeMy thought was, well, the first driver in the morning parks how he wants, and then everyone else has to park parallel to his car. Nobody said "parallel" means "to the curb," after all. There's been a misunderstanding hereI believe the good citizens of Childersburg thought the signs said parallelogram parking. Public AnnouncementAt first I thought the announcements coming from the truck would have been the soul savin' kind ... but I was wrong. Upon closer examination, I noticed they are pushing the latest film. Judging from the poster for the film and of the woman with the legs that won't quit, I'm thinking the folks from Childersburg could use some religion! LawsuitsThe bench in the foreground looks like an accident waiting to happen. They are parked parallel... to one another! City Fruit StandI would love to have that Coke sign. This was "branding" in the past. Local distributors would get signs from Coke and have local sign painters "letter" and install them. Not a big money maker for the sign guy, but it was a steady and coveted account. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Collier, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Atlanta: 1864
... bounded by Central Avenue, Wall Street, Pryor Street, and Alabama Street (next to today's Underground Atlanta). Designed by civil ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/14/2012 - 11:35am -

Atlanta, 1864. "Federal Army wagons at railroad depot." And maybe Scarlett O'Hara in the distance. Wet plate negative by George N. Barnard. View full size. PoleWhat's the very tall pole at the back left of the photo? Lightning rod? Flagpole? TV antenna? [My guess would be signal mast. - Dave] The Pole AgainLooks like smoke from a chimney and/or a scratch on the negative. [Nope. We are talking about the articulated mast seen below. - Dave] Where is this?I wonder where this is? I'm assuming it's close to contemporary downtown Atlanta (the Underground Atlanta houses the "zero-mile" marker) and it was the center of the railroad traffic, at least after the war... Atlanta Union StationAccording to Rail Georgia that building on the right is Atlanta's first Union Station. Atlanta's first union station, constructed in 1853, stood in the block now bounded by Central Avenue, Wall Street, Pryor Street, and Alabama Street (next to today's Underground Atlanta). Designed by civil engineer E. A. Vincent, it was initially known as the "passenger depot" but came to be better known as the "car shed." Wagon DriverThe guy on the wagon in the foreground only seems to be half there. His head is not articulated and the ground behind it is visible. Strange. [This is how people look when they move during a time exposure. - Dave] The building behind the mastThe building behind the mast is Atlanta's first Fire Station HQ, located alongside what was then called Broad Street. The lens Barnard used to photograph these scenes greatly flattened the perspective, so that some objects appear closer than they really are. AtlantaThe street that runs between the building marked as "Concert Hall" and the white stone building is Peachtree Street, so this is that part of town slightly west of what is known as Five Points. The railroad "gulch" in the picture was covered up in the 1920s by a system of viaducts. Directly across from Peachtree Street ran Whitehall Street. There is a very famous Barnard photo showing a building marked "Negro Sales" which was on Whitehall Street, directly across from the signal mast you can see over the building next to the car shed, which was the depot for one of the four rail lines that ran through Atlanta in 1864. (The Gallery, Atlanta, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Horses, Railroads)
Power Plucker: 1941
... Enterprise co-op cannery. Coffee County, Enterprise, Alabama." Photo by John Collier, Farm Security Administration. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2022 - 10:25pm -

August 1941. "Electric plucker removes every pin feather without a tear in the skin. 500 to 1,000 birds could be plucked in a day by this method. Enterprise co-op cannery. Coffee County, Enterprise, Alabama." Photo by John Collier, Farm Security Administration. View full size. I'd say that's more than a feather pluckerI wonder if the galvanized can (lower right) is used for storing the occasional plucked arm from a distracted worker? Not!If this job is anything beyond than your very first minimum wage job, you're outlook is not good at all. "All signs point to No." "Without a tear in the skin"Whose skin? I bet they were hustling along to finish plucking before the OSHA inspectors showed up. I can only imagine that job.Chicken wouldn't be on the menu at my house ever again. No buffalo wingsPennsylvannia Proud, you'd have my best friend in complete agreement with you. Upon getting out of the army during the late sixties, he found a job preparing fowl for market in the San Francisco Bay Area. When his job application for work at a GM plant came through a couple of months later he jumped ship without any notice. And, to his dying day he'd never eat a piece of chicken again. Couldn't even stand in the same room with a raw one. I miss him. If I had been his younger brotherI would have taken him to school for show-and-tell day. And because boys are gross, I would have later told everyone the chickens were still alive. Cotton picking finger licking chicken pluckerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgD1o9I8hw0 see the part at 2:06... Better not make a mistake! Mr. ChickenThat guy with the hat is, I suppose, some kind of supervisor. He's the essence of scowling authority and intimidation. I suppose his job at this chicken-plucking outfit was the height of his career. (And what is that in his shirt pocket? A deck of cards?) I hope the poor kid went on to become governor or something. Hen SemataryIf Stephen King ever saw this, he'd write "The Haunted Chicken Plucker." Looks deadly. I wouldn't go near it for all the money in the world. My grandmother plucked chickens by hand Born in Germany in 1895, she came to USA around 1900. Around 1910 or so she had a job plucking chickens. She was paid 5 cents per bird. (The Gallery, Agriculture, John Collier)
Catfish Mover Watermelon: 1936
Summer 1936. Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama. View full size. Medium-format negative by Walker Evans for the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 12:31pm -

Summer 1936. Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama. View full size. Medium-format negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. Phone NumbersMy family in central Nebraska used 5 digit direct dialing until the late 1990s. What happened? The internet - they now have to dial 10 numbers whether it's local or long distance. On the plus side, they have one of the last private phone companies, and even though my parents live 7 miles out in the country, they could have dsl if they wanted it, because their phone company ran fiber optic lines to [i]all[/] of their customers. I'm half a mile from a Verizon "office" (it's actually more of a switching station), and I can't get DSL. Yeah, I know that legally they should be providing it, but "who ya gonna call?" It's a huge corporation - "your call is very important to us..., but we are experiencing high call volume..." No redial eitherI recall back then we had rotary phones, no contact list and not even redial. Every extra number could become a real pain to the index finger. Of course, that's if the line was free and there wasn't another party on the line. I still remember when I was caught listening to the telephone when I was very young. I had no idea why my mother would get so upset. In my neighborhood a private line was very rare. Phone numbersAs late as 1979, in Sonoma, California, if you were calling in town you only needed to call the last four numbers, everyone had the same prefix. Five-digit phone numbersI don't know how things worked in Birmingham, or in Bar Harbor, but in my home town in Indiana, the way it worked was, we had seven-digit phone numbers, but if the number you were calling was in the same exchange as yours, you only dialed the last five digits. So if your phone number was KLaxon 5-3270 (555-3270), and someone was calling you from another KLaxon phone number, they would dial 53270. If someone was calling you from the CHerry exchange, they would dial 5553270. Exchanges were kind of like area codes, only for smaller areas. (Area codes went into effect in 1947. I just looked that up.) By the time I came along, pretty much every business would display the full seven-digit number, as either the exchange name and five numerals, e.g., KLaxon 5-3270, or two letters and five numerals, e.g., KL5-3270. I don't remember ever seeing just the last five numerals. I remember when the switch was made in the mid-60s (where I lived, at least) to seven-digit dialing for all phone numbers, but I was too young to know if people found it to be a big wrench to the system. Some businesses still referred to their phone number as "TUxedo 4 -xxxx" or "YEllowstone 8 - xxxx" or whatever well into the 70s. [In 1947 the North American Numbering Plan laid the groundwork for direct dialing of long distance calls. The first area codes came into use in 1951, but it would be many years before direct dialing and area codes really took hold. - Dave] 3-9596Is that the entire phone number on the top of the sign? I'm guessing that there were not many phones in use back then and therefore we had not reached the need for 10 digit numbers. Amazing. Justin Houston, TX [Below: Example of a three-digit phone number from the 1950s - Dave] Hello CentralWhen the numbers were that short, they probably went through an operator. Our telephone number was 200 but you told the operator you wanted Commerce (the town) 200. We didn't have dial telephones back then (even rotary). Olive OylWhen I was a kid in the early 1940s we used to call up a store and ask if they had olive oil in a can, and when they said yes we would say better let her out, Popeye is looking for her, and then we would laugh like crazy. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Stores & Markets, Walker Evans)
Gorey Manor: 1939
... looking away from William A. Dawson House, Mobile, Alabama. Spring Hill vicinity. Structure dates to 1840." Channeling the art of ... turkey vultures or buzzards as they would be called in Alabama. Not a very noble bird to select as gate guardians. Eagles? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 4:45pm -

1939. "Driveway looking away from William A. Dawson House, Mobile, Alabama. Spring Hill vicinity. Structure dates to 1840." Channeling the art of Edward Gorey. 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. They check inBut they don't check out! Ruh-roh!This looks like the start of nearly every episode of Scooby Doo. Beautiful!I REALLY like a tunnel of trees The dinosaur in the yardOkay, the stone birds in this photo have completely convinced me that birds did in fact evolve from dinosaurs. In fact, it looks like these two evolved just a little while ago. Birds look like turkey vulturesor buzzards as they would be called in Alabama. Not a very noble bird to select as gate guardians. Eagles? Ravens?Whatever those Goreyesque birds are, they look like they're sharing a joke. No way JoseYou couldnt pay me to walk down that road at night Flying contest"I'll race you the end of the lane" "You're on!" Colorization not necessaryNot knocking colorizing old photos but, in my opinion, this is a case where the black and white medium makes for a much more evocative and effective image. Beautiful, as well as creepy! Takes me homeI used to live near this home and passed by it almost daily. Not far offEdward Gorey's actual home (now a museum) on Cape Cod reveals a great deal about his life and art, and this scene reminds me of his garden. There's even a creepy 50-foot-tall magnolia tree. When Gomez met MorticiaWhat a setting for a nice romantic stroll, as long as you're a member of the Addams Family. Or the Munsters. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, Mobile)
Pinball Blizzard: 1954
Phenix City, Alabama, circa 1954. "Russell County building and pinball machines." Evidently ... officer or an officer in uniform. I cannot vouch for Alabama but they were commonplace in establishments throughout the mid-South in ... excerpts from "The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama", an attorney general's report and a list of Phenix City establishments ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2015 - 12:57am -

Phenix City, Alabama, circa 1954. "Russell County building and pinball machines." Evidently the aftermath of a vice cleanup in a town known for its corruption. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Archive. View full size. An appropriate sensational subtitle -Pinball Penitentiary ! Concertina Wire?Good gawd -- what else were they keeping from the public there? Plutonium, gold bars, crates of Thomson machine guns? For a small town public works building, a bit overkill? [Keeping people out is not the reason for the fence. - Dave] ShockingIt appears as though the top of the fence is electrified, based on the white tips on the support brackets, which suggest ceramic insulators. The Phenix City StoryShot on location there. A different kind of pinballThese probably were gambling pinball machines, not today's fun arcade games. This type of gambling via pinball machine was somewhat condoned in Tennessee through the 1970's although the business hosting the machine wouldn't pay out a win if the wrong people were around. The wrong people usually meant a known police officer or an officer in uniform. I cannot vouch for Alabama but they were commonplace in establishments throughout the mid-South in the 1960s and '70s in bars, VFW halls, and restaurants and included switches to move columns or rows to better line up the spent balls. The player tried to line up according to the wins listed on the table or special lines on the back glass. Winning combinations, when payouts were possible, would usually garner ten to twenty dollars for five in a row or fifty dollars for a more complex pattern. I first played this type of machine as a young boy in Springfield, Tennessee in a diner. I had no idea what the machine was doing and since I was under 18 I couldn't be paid or any wins. Two quarters into the play I determined the pinball game wasn't any fun and I returned to the family at the table. After Tennessee finally banned the games and raided establishments to eliminate them completely they were replaced in those same establishments with more sophisticated and smaller video poker machines. [Contemporary accounts mention both "pinball with payoff" and the standard arcade-style game. Below, excerpts from "The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama", an attorney general's report and a list of Phenix City establishments off limits to soldiers at Fort Benning. - Dave] Sorry to go all architecturalThose are the largest jalousie windows I've ever seen. Into the ChattahoocheeWhen they finally cleaned up Phenix City, they bulldozed many of the gambling houses into the Chattahoochee River. Every now and then a fisherman still pulls a slot machine out of the river bed. Army TownsAs Army towns go, I think Phenix City is the standard by which all others were judged. However, Leesville, Louisiana, home of Fort Polk, could be a runner-up as well. One account describing the place shortly after the post was opened in 1941 reads as follows: "Leesville...was notorious to the troops for several things...its filth, vice and avarice. A small, dying lumber town in 1940, Leesville skyrocketed to opulence and sloth as the thousands of troops poured in. Other communities in the area conducted themselves with some semblance of restraint and decency. Officials and merchants of Leesville operated on one rule: Get it fast and big." I suppose the same could be said for any small town in the early 40s that suddenly woke up to a huge army camp in its backyard...coming out of the Depression, the townspeople had no money, and the soldiers did, and many of the locals took it upon themselves to separate the soldiers and their money, as quickly as possible, by whatever means necessary. Confiscated cars?I see several vehicles also among the gaming equipment, all older models dating from the 1930s and 1940s. Crime may sometimes pay, but apparently not too well. Interesting historyInteresting story here with close up of the pinball machines http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/for-amusement-only/ (The Gallery, News Photo Archive)
The Third Bird: 1941
... Craig Field, Southeastern Air Training Center, Selma, Alabama." Photo by John Collier, Farm Security Admin. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2022 - 9:06am -

August 1941. "Poultry raised under FSA 'Food for Defense' program feeds Army flight trainees. Cadet E.A. Peresich Jr. takes his third helping of fried chicken. Craig Field, Southeastern Air Training Center, Selma, Alabama." Photo by John Collier, Farm Security Admin. View full size. No pinfeathers pleaseThe chicken plucker has done it's its job. Something looks like a fingernail though. Fed upCadet on the right is thinking, "If I hear just *one more* joke about chicken and my last name!" Pensive PeckThe other guy looks as if he may have gone along when John Collier took those photos of the chicken killer and electric plucker. Perhaps Pensive Peck is PickyWhile Cadet E.A. Peresich Jr. takes his third helping of fried chicken, Cadet Peck appears to have sampled two pieces and not finished either. As difficult as it is for an old southern boy like me to believe ... not everyone loves fried chicken. The day new Army buddies metThere were no Pedersens, Peels, Peglers, Peltons, Pembrokes, Penlands, or Peppers in line. Eugene Peresich 1920-2015From Cadet Peresich's obituary: He became a flight instructor at Cochran Field in Macon, GA, training pilots of England's Royal Air Force. During WWII he served as a B-17 pilot and squadron commander in the 457th Heavy Bombardment Group stationed in Glatton, England, and flew 28 missions over France and Germany. Among other commendations, Lt. Col. Peresich was awarded the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Croix de Guerre with the Star of Valor. In the era of good cooks, not chefsAs a 69 yo Louisianian I can tell you that is how southern fried chicken ought to be fried -- light egg wash tossed in seasoned plain flour and fried in a cast iron skillet in lard until extra, extra crispy where you can actually gnaw off some of the crunchy rib bones. Served with biscuits, creamed potatoes, canned peas and chicken gravy made from the drippings and the seasoned flour. Today's chicken chains make the batter too thick resulting in fried dough adhered to flaccid chicken skin. And although they cook the chicken through, they don't go that extra few minutes to get the whole piece crunchy. And don't get me started on the ginormous sized birds we have today! [When you're cooking for a hundred men, no skillets. You use the "Frialator." - Dave] Teen idol combo cloneIs it just me who thinks Cadet Peresich looks like a mix between Elvis and Ricky Nelson? (The Gallery, Agriculture, Aviation, John Collier, WW2)
Levee Work: 1903
... I've only been able to find the A&V which was the Alabama & Vicksburg. The SICL (not SICV) is a mystery. All that's ... us a long-gone New Orleans. The railroads are the Alabama & Vicksburg, which ran between Meridian and Vicksburg. It later ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:35pm -

New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1903. "Mule teams on the levee." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Keep OffIt seems the only way to get this photo was to disobey the signs. JAXThe brewery has the only public washrooms in the French Quarter, a dangerous situation in a city that sells beer on the streets! Jax BreweryThe Brewery is now shops. BreathtakingThe photographer had a true artist's eye. R.R.sCan anyone identify the A&V and S.I.C.V. railroads? Reporting MarkI've only been able to find the A&V which was the Alabama & Vicksburg. The SICL (not SICV) is a mystery. All that's leftbesides the Jax Brewery is one of the four industrial buildings about midway down the levee (and the corner of Clay and Bienville) and I think that's the spire of St. Patrick's Church in the background. Thanks for showing us a long-gone New Orleans. The railroadsare the Alabama & Vicksburg, which ran between Meridian and Vicksburg. It later became part of the Illinois Central's greater Meridian to Shreveport line. The road has quite the history; it was first proposed in the 1830s. As for the SICL (figuring this out took me a good half-hour), it's the Southern Iron Car Line, which according to The Railway Age of December 9, 1904, was a freight car provider. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, New Orleans, Railroads)
The Girl With a Job: 1953
... Isidore Kayser (1876 - 1951) was born in Selma, Alabama. In 1900 he was working as a clerk in a dry goods store, but by 1904 ... Leslie H. Lilienthal (1895-1973) was also born in Selma, Alabama. His father Henry Lilienthal was the manager of the Lilienthal ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/22/2017 - 1:44am -

Columbus, Georgia, 1953. "Kayser-Lilienthal window display." Tied to the fall issue of Glamour and its focus on "The Girl With a Job," who if she was really kicking it as a career woman might be working as a switchboard operator or even a secretary. 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Mannequin on the leftSuch an expressive pose. What really intrigues me (and always has) is the foot sloping away at the ankle. Was this simply to relieve pressure in high-heel shoes or to strike a fetching pose? The New LookIt was pretty spunky of Kayser's to feature working women in their windows at a time when women were pressured to be housewives. Just a few years before, these young women's mothers and older sisters were working at a wide range of jobs for the war effort. A Hat for Every Occasion!No self respecting woman (working or not) went out without a hat to complete her outfit. I remember a hat my mother had in the 1950s that was like an inverted shallow bowl covered in shiny black feathers. So stylish. If you're curiousThe window display is better than the magazine cover These GuysAre flies. Moths?Are you sure those are flies? Maybe, but they look more like moths attracted to all the light at the top of the display case to me. The House of Original StylesThe company name comes from the last names of its founding business partners: Isidore Kayser and Leslie Lilienthal. Isidore Kayser (1876 - 1951) was born in Selma, Alabama. In 1900 he was working as a clerk in a dry goods store, but by 1904 he had opened his own store where his brothers Edwin and Samuel also worked. This store eventually became Isidore Kayser & Co., a department store, and existed until 1923. Leslie H. Lilienthal (1895-1973) was also born in Selma, Alabama. His father Henry Lilienthal was the manager of the Lilienthal Mercantile Company which were outfitters for men, young men, and boys. Leslie dropped out of school in 1913, and he went to work for the Kayser Store. By 1920 he was working as the assistant manager of the Rothchild Mercantile Company which sold ladies ready to wear and millinery. Isidore Kayser's younger brother Samuel J. Kayser (1887-1982) had moved to Mobile, Alabama by 1922 to open a ladies ready-to-wear store called Kayser's, originally at 207 Dauphin (later 224 Dauphin). This later became The Style Shop and part of Kayser-Lilienthal. Kayser-Lilienthal announced their opening in Columbus, Georgia in the August 26th 1923 issue of the "Columbus Enquirer Sun." Leslie Lilienthal was president, Edwin Kayser was vice-president, and Isidore Kayser served as the secretary-treasurer. Isidore Kayser had asked Liliental to join him in the new business in Columbus. The business address was 1109 Broad Street, and they sold women's clothing. Later, in addition to the Mobile, Alabama location, there was a branch of the store in the Village of Wynnton (Midtown, Columbus, GA). After the death of Isidore Kayser, Samuel Kayser became the vice-president of Kayser-Liliental despite still living and working in Mobile. The store in Columbus survived until just after the death of Lilienthal and officially closed in 1974. The store billed itself as "The Shop of Original Styles," and, in addition to ready-to-wear clothing, sold furs and women's shoes with the Kayser-Lilienthal logo stamped or labeled on the items (examples below). (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Stores & Markets)
Moon River: 1935
... This image of the skinny-dippers appeared in a small-town Alabama newspaper at the end of May 1934. I ran across it today while ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 12:05pm -

Three boys diving from mudbank circa 1935, location unknown. View full size. 5x7 safety film negative, Acme News Photo archive, Library of Congress. Bellyflop!That boy on the right is about to experience some serious pain. Motion!Fantastic capture of motion in this picture! What memories are made ofThis skinny-dipping photo sure stirred my memory. This picture is and was us kids "way back when." In my neck of the woods no self-respecting kid would be caught dead in bathing trunks or cutoff pants, this is the way we swam. A nice action photo with good artistry. Thanks for the memories! It's interesting to see theIt's interesting to see the vast difference in body types from the boys back then to the boys these days. Those kids had nice muscular lines of boys who played outside, and chased each other around all day. Too many of the kids you see these days seem to suffer from video-game-legs that don't get used outside all summer long. Or flabby arms from having everything done for you instead of having to do for yourself. It's a thought-provoking photo. Moon RiverGreat title, Dave. Published May 1934This image of the skinny-dippers appeared in a small-town Alabama newspaper at the end of May 1934. I ran across it today while conducting archival research that's part of my job. The caption didn't reveal where it was taken. (The Gallery, Kids, Rural America, Sports)
New Math: 1942
... (Catholic) Elementary School, Spring Hill Avenue, Mobile, Alabama, we had wooden classrooms with blackboards. A new brick school was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/02/2010 - 12:39am -

February 1942. "Third grade classroom, Farm Security Administration camp at Weslaco, Texas." 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein. View full size. A real "blackboard"I haven't seen a black slate blackboard in years. I remember kids staying after school to wash the board and beat the chalk dust out of the erasers. The tall kid must have had arithmetic problems to be in that class with those little kids. Either that or he was was really big for his age. Blackboards go greenBy my grade school era (1952-60), most black chalkboards had been replaced with green ones. You can find all kinds of screwball "reasons" given for this on the Internet, but the two most plausible ones to me are that a) they were originally black because they were made of slate, and b) a green background was easier on the eye and thus aided legibility. Brown was another popular color. I don't know about other people, but web pages with white text on a black background drive me nuts. I loved watching my teachers writing on the blackboard, not for the content particularly, but I found something satisfying about watching the chalk skim over the surface; sometimes it rasped, but at others, due to the varying composition of the chalk or of the surface of the board, it would glide noiselessly along like butter over a warm surface. Mmmmmm... Man, you thought I was a weird kid before. One roomIt may be that this school was still on the one-room system, where everyone worked at a level rather than a grade. The big boy I initially mistook for the teacher, though! [This was, as noted in the caption, one of the classrooms at a Farm Security Administration camp for families and migrants displaced by the crop failures of the Dust Bowl years. Exterior shots below. - Dave] Take the chewing gum out of your ears!"I said FIFTY, Ned, not fifteen. Fifty plus forty-five gives us what, class?" Fold and CutRemember making fold and cut silhouettes like the scene at the top of the blackboard? It looks like digging and packing to make a snowman. Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo.?Although I know it was very common at the time, its still weird to see kids attending school in bare feet! Yeah, he's tall butIf Third Grade has a basketball team this year, look out! Winter Silhouette The border decor above the blackboard indicates it is winter but the boys are barefooted. They also seem to be pretty clueless for an answer to the math problem, each is looking to copy from someone else. A confident little girl sitting at the table on the right is busily working away, engrossed in her own work, possibly as smart as a whip. She is also wearing very nifty cowboy boots. This may have been a "one-room schoolhouse" in which kids of all ages were all taught in the same room by one teacher which would explain the difference in size. Very interesting personalities. Thanks Shorpy. [Indeed, as noted in the caption, it's February. Exterior shots a few comments down. - Dave] YeehawOh man, I wish the photographer was just a little farther back. I'd love to see that little girl's cowboy boots! An extra recessA lot of pics lately from 1942. That year was big for me. I started my first trip around the sun that year. Loved being picked by the teacher to go pound the erasers. It was always during school time and it was like having an extra recess. Hey Mr. Wilson!The kid in the striped shirt looks just like Dennis the Menace! Future Heismann contenderThe big guy is obviously being held back to improve his NCAA football chances. School attireMy parents (and aunts and uncles) all went to one room rural schools. All the boys wore the overalls. Looking at the school pictures (always taken outside of course), I always thought that looked sloppy. But I suppose that was primarily what they owned. Probably a nice shirt for church. We're always barefoot in the winter!Weslaco is just about five miles from where I live. We're on the Mexican border, and it rarely gets cool enough to wear long sleeves or long pants, even in the winter! So barefoot in February isn't that big a deal. Within the past couple of years, we've had temps over 100 in January. Green "Chalkboards"At St. Catherine's (Catholic) Elementary School, Spring Hill Avenue, Mobile, Alabama, we had wooden classrooms with blackboards. A new brick school was built adjacent and opened in 1949. It had green "chalkboards." We were told at the time that they would be easier to see. They were a wonder to us for a good while. Barefoot boyI went barefoot to school a few times during the first grade. That was in 1936. But not many boys did that, and I quit. Tactile memorytterrace, as I was reading your comment about the chalk on the board I was thinking to myself how the chalk would glide...you captured that so perfectly! I completely understand what you're referring to here. I went to grammar school in the 60's and I have the same sensual memory about chalk moving across the board. You're not the only weird one here, I guess. 2 and 2The big fellow might not have been all that smart or he might just have missed a lot of school with his folks moving around the country, or maybe some of both. Back then, they didn't move you to the next grade unless you were up to the work. Eventually, some kids got so big and far behind that they dropped out of school, but if there's farm work around, his folks probably won't complain and he'll do well enough. Barefoot in School, and everywhere else.People often misinterpret barefoot kids. Were we barefoot because we had to be? Well, some were, but usually not. Were we barefoot to preserve our shoes? Usually not. Usually, we were barefoot by choice. We didn't have to wear shoes, so we didn't. When I started school, we each had a little cubby to put our jackets in during the day. My shoes and socks went in there too. The other kids kept theirs on, but nobody said, "Tommy, put your shoes on," so I didn't. Before they came up the the little jingle about shirts, shoes and service, it was pretty common for kids to be barefoot, even shirtless in stores, or even the library. In school, we were supposed to wear dress clothes. I wasn't the only kid in jeans, but usually the only one in a bib. Time frame? I started school in 1963. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Education, Schools, Kids)
Princess Phone: 1983
... O-fficial "Bama" phone, a red and white Slimline with an Alabama sticker running the length of the handset that I'd seen in a catalog ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 05/01/2019 - 9:04pm -

When my mother wasn't doing crossword puzzles, shopping or waiting on the rest of us hand and foot, she'd be on the phone, and sometime after they were introduced in 1959 she got this pinkish Princess. One reason was so she could move it around, specifically to her primary domain, the kitchen. These came with an old-style connector, not the later modular type. I'm pretty sure it had the external ringer, as I remember the sound of the dining room wall resonating when it went off. Another feature gave her something to rail about. "Imagine! They make you use your own electricity to light up the dial!" This replaced our first dial phone (dial came late to Larkspur, and we were still talking to operators until 1957), a full-sized basic black model. Mother didn't want to pay Pacific Telephone for a decorator color, so she bought a cream-colored plastic shell for it - think "skin" in today's lingo. As for the Princess, I remember usually having to hold the thing down while you dialed, and we were forever knocking the handset off the base. I shot this negative by available light - mix of daylight and incandescent - on 35mm Kodak Vericolor. View full size. Another secret tipIt's perfectly possible to "dial" a landline phone manually by tapping the hookswitch once for one, twice for two, and so on up to ten times for a zero, with a pause between digits. The system is quite forgiving, and as long as you keep a reasonable rhythm while tapping out the digits and the pause is at least ten times the time between taps, the call will go through. This gets very tedious for a ten-digit number, of course, but back in the Good (?) Old Days local numbers in small towns could be as few as five digits, or even four in a few cases. Lots of people used to know the possibility, but I fear that in the modern age of universal touch-tone the knowledge has been lost. It might be useful in an emergency. Most phone-system computers (not cell phones) still allow pulse dialing. If you can get a dial tone but the keypad or dial doesn't work, you can get help by tapping out 9 - 1 - 1 that way. When the 911 system was first proposed, there was a serious suggestion that the emergency number be 111 for just that reason -- it's easier to 'tap dial'. The phone companies turned that down because a '1' as first digit was an important signal, used for other purposes throughout the system. Ahhh! The PrincessI don't know about 1959 but the Princess phone was a godsend to me in 1984. My family and I had just returned to Canada after several years of military service in Germany. We did the normal things towards re-establishing ourselves, including ordering telephone service. One day I came home and was startled by an electronic annoying sound. "What was that?" I hollered. "The phone!" the reply. "Not for long!!" my rejoinder. The following weekend I discovered my joy: a rebuilt Princess phone at a flea market. It had all the modern age electronics and a digital touch pad. Most comforting it ad a bell ringer. This could be turned down to a softer tone. First ChanceLet me be the first to extend an early Mother's Day Greeting to all mothers in Shorpy-land. I know it's really next week, but shouldn't every day be Mother's Day? Bless them all! EvolutionNot all telephones were inspired designs, as evidenced by your mother's clunky Princess. The word ergonomics wasn't in the vocabulary of Western Electric engineers when they designed that thing and its even clunkier predecessor, the candlestick phone. Dial phones didn't come to my New Hampshire community until 1964, but we've always had mothers. [Let's not forget Henry Dreyfuss's Western Electric 500 desk telephone, a masterpiece of functional design that endured for half a century. - Dave] Nearly skinned alive over phoneThe land line phone has just about gone the way of the buggy whip and knickers, and the black dial-up land line phone was a 1950's-60's classic few can understand today. When I was in college (1973) I got a phone for my dorm room. They asked what color I wanted, and I picked blue. When my father came to visit me, he saw my phone and was livid. I was lectured forward and backward about wasting money and how I was expected not to be monetarily extravagant on his dime. It took me over an hour to explain to the guy that I had not spent even ten cents extra. All the colors now cost the same. I was eventually forgiven when I came up with proof that there was no monthly color charge. But had I dared to get a Princess, like your mother, or a push button (which did cost something like 60 cents extra every month) I would have been dead meat. Black eyes guaranteedMy parents had a Princess phone, also beige) in their bedroom atop the bookcase headboard (the other was in the "telephone room"-coat closet in the main hall). Anyone who happened to be lying in bed and happened to brush the phone when reaching for something would usually get the receiver landing on their head. There were several black eyes. That Princess was the one that was used when, for some months during the Cold War, the Russian Embassy had a phone number that was one digit different from ours. Over those months, calls would come in during the wee small hours of the morning for the Russians and Mom would have to get the phone book out and look the number up. I guess someone finally got the right number to the international operators, someone was sent to a Gulag and mother got a full night's sleep. We received no more calls. It is a wonder we weren't "on a list" for the frequency that we received phone calls from Moscow. The Pink Version was Hideous.There were at least two versions of the rotary dial Princess Telephone. The older model had an external subset and bell ringer which was mounted on the wall, table or baseboard. A shaped weight was inserted inside one end of the telephone instrument to make it heavier, but, it still skated around when dial-equipped. The subset-and-ringer-on-the-wall version Princess could not be moved from its location on a jack and plug as the subset was required to operate the telephone. In later years the Princess Telephone had a bell ringer installed inside the set which eliminated the external subset and ringer, and it could be moved from jack to jack. There were some technical restrictions about using Princess Telephones on party lines. Power for the dial light was provided from a small transformer which plugged into a nearby house wiring outlet. If the filament dial light burned out, the company would often mail the subscriber a new light bulb and it was easily changed with a bayonet socket from beneath. In some large apartment buildings the last pair of wires in the cable up from the terminal in the basement was often used to carry Princess Light voltage to the suites so the transformer and wiring could be eliminated. Rotary Dial PhonesA few years back, 2004 I believe, I found a black dial phone from that era and hooked it up. I liked it cause it had a nice loud ringer. My 16 year old daughter came over and looked at it, and with all seriousness she asked "How does it work?" She have never seen one before that. And in the irony departmentMy first touch-tone phone wasn't. It looked like a touch-tone, but when you you pushed one of the keys, you heard the telltale clicking of rotary dialing. It has since been replaced with a 2500-lookalike, in Western Electric beige. We just last month converted to FIOS at our house, after several years of badgering by Verizon, but we gave in only when they got desperate enough to get rid of the all the extra charges for doing so. My parents kept the 554 wall phone for ages, I think until well after Bell Atlantic "sold" it to them; they certainly weren't going to pay a premium for touch-tone. Secret electrical tip: in those older phones, the hook on the dial was a good ground. I remember old kids' electronics books recommending it for use with crystal radios and the like. Meanwhile, that same yearI got my first Touch Tone phone in 1983. It was an O-fficial "Bama" phone, a red and white Slimline with an Alabama sticker running the length of the handset that I'd seen in a catalog from the University Supply Store. I'd mailed them a check and as soon as it cleared they mailed me the phone; total turn around time was about 6 weeks. I was incredibly excited the day it finally arrived. Came home from work early, actually. But I couldn't CALL anyone on it. I got a dial tone. I could get incoming calls. But I couldn't call OUT. I plugged the old Princess phone back in, got the Yellow Pages out and called some phone repair places seeking advice. The third place I called asked if I had Touch Tone service from Ma Bell. Oops. Nope. Hadn't occurred to me. That was a service you had to sign up for and it cost extra. So I called the phone company, got the service turned on and was once again proud of my new purchase. I was thinking about that adventure just a couple weeks ago, right after I upgraded to my newest smartphone and was whining about how it was taking 10 whole seconds to connect to the Internet. In the market for some Trimlines After continually going crazy trying to find any one of our 4 cordless phones whenever the phone rings, I have a secret plan to install two Trimlines and a wall mounted phone in the kitchen. I wonder if you can still buy the 20 foot long coiled handset cords? Western Electric 500I love the ladylike way your mom uses the phone. Folks today have lost "phone etiquette." My primary phone is a bitsa Western Electric 500. (It's made from bitsa one phone and bitsa 'nother.) It sounds like a fire alarm when it rings. None of those silly ringtones for me! All Things PhonesThe original Princess was the first phone with a dial light and was designed for use in darkened bedrooms. It was very lightweight and when the handset was lifted it often moved the base. Later models had lead weights in the base to make it more difficult to bean yourself when answering the phone. Pacific Telephone, in the mid 60's, used to charge 35 cents per month to turn off the ringer. Their reasoning being that people would forget it was off and make a service call because their telephone was "not working". I installed many a Princess but don't remember a transformer for the dial light. More likely, it was for the remote ringer. One thing about those old Western Electric phones was their indestructibility. I still use several "500" sets in my house. My grandmother had one of the first dial sets from the 1930s in her house for over 40 years. The handset weighed about 5 pounds. Good exercise for her! [Side note: First phone with a lighted dial was the Western Electric 500U, a.k.a. the "mushroom phone." Below, an ad from 1954. - Dave] Thanks for the update Dave. I never saw one of those illuminated '500' set phones but then most of my PacTel hitch was at an Air Force base so maybe it was something the military wouldn't pay for. I remember the general's houses got plenty of Princess phones though. At the other end of the lineCould it be this lady? Touch ToneThe Touch Tone phone was shown at the 1964 New York World's fair, where I got to see it for the first time. When I went back to school (Ithaca College) Ma Bell was offering them for a minor charge for a test limited to one "office" (number exchange), $2 including choice of colors. As the charge for a 500 was slightly more, it was a now brainier to get one. The only problem was at AM your phone would ring and Yankee Doodle or something would sound via Touch Tone. [Brainier both then and now! - Dave] What's that?I mentioned rotary dial phones at work the other day, and one of our younger employees gave me an inquisitive-dog look and said, "What's that?" I drew him a diagram, and said a good visual is the build-up to the murder in Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder." He wasn't familiar with that, either. I am now officially "old." ["Hitchcock"? - Dave] Don't make 'em like that anymoreThose Western Electric black phone sets were indestructible. They were also the murder weapon of choice in domestic disputes. Deadly weaponsI saved a comic strip from 1997, in which the main character watches someone use an already pretty small cell phone. His observation: "I remember when people were beaten to death with phones" OverextensionedMy near-skinning was over my home-brewed phone in my workshop. The place where I stripped the wires and tapped in under the crawlspace shorted out one day while I was at school. Came home to find it had been "repaired", and my parents threatened with being charged for use of an extension line back several years, to when the line was last inspected. Thank God for Vodafone! As for Trimlines, I've threatened the same "fix" in our house! At least once a week, a cordless goes missing, and we seem to need new sets of them nearly every year. And yes, you can still get the long coil cord! I think I've even seen them at Dollar Tree. Also available in powder blueHere's our Princess phone, found at a garage sale. Though the box is beat up, it looks like it was never used. My daughter has claimed it for her home, after she gets out of grad school. TV AdIIRC, the tag line on the TV ad for the Princess was - "It's little, it's lovely, it lights!" (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Twisted: 1939
Auburn, Alabama, circa 1939. "Holliday-Carey House, North College Street. Built 1852, ... Fran Pick Dillard. It has been listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage since 1976 and there are the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 4:43pm -

Auburn, Alabama, circa 1939. "Holliday-Carey House, North College Street. Built 1852, owned by Mathew Turner. Other owners: Dickerson Holliday and Dr. C.A. Carey." 8x10 acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. StairmasterHigh risers -- would be quite a workout going up and down this thing. Not your main stairI tracked down the other two pictures of the stair. While it seems to go to the stair hall on the second floor, it clearly isn't the main stair. I'm guessing the room is a conservatory or sunroom. If I Were YoungerI'd like to have a go at sliding down that banister. Wish I'd-a knownFour years at Auburn and this gem was buried right under my nose......I'd have befriended the occupants and slid down the rail to my heart's content. I wonder if this house is still there? N College Street/US 29 did not have many residences (but there were some) by the early 90s when I was there. Nice piano!I can see why they left it downstairs. Narrow!Eep! Good luck carrying your new bedroom furniture upstairs! Movers' NightmareYou're not getting the box spring and dresser up those stairs. Would make a great set for a Laurel and Hardy "Moving Men" movie. Kudos to the carpenter. Old Horror StoryAs you were sliding down the bannister, the last few feet turn into a razor blade. A little wornIt's a little worn but that stairway would be a focal point in a nice house even today. In fact that room looks quite nice even today, except the piano seems a bit dated and the stair seems a bit narrow. One at a time pleaseHave seen metal spiral staircases that narrow but not wooden ones. Might want a cowbell on each top and bottom end of railing so that you could let someone know you were going up or coming down. The locationAs a former student at the University, I am very curious to know which house this is in Auburn. I sure hope it's still standing. Does anyone know the address? [The address is in the caption. - Dave] Halliday-Cary-Pick HouseThe worst that can happen on the stairs is that you can bonk your head if you aren't careful when descending. I can't tell you how many times I have done this and seen it happen to others. The staircase is free-standing and made of mahogany. It is held together with wooden pegs. The house has been owned by members of Dr. Charles Allen Cary's family since 1890. Alice Cary Pick Gibson, who was born in the house, was the last member to live there. After her death in 2001 the house went to her daughter-in-law, Fran Pick Dillard. It has been listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage since 1976 and there are the occasional tours given. I have been fortunate enough to assist in hosting the tours on many occasions over the years. The house is in terrific shape! Here are a few links you might be interested in checking out: halliday-cary-pick house (includes floor plans to both levels of the house) Auburn Tour of Homes (this is a brochure from a recent "Tour of Homes". The Halliday-Cary-Pick House is #5) Halliday-Cary-Pick paperwork I've been in that house!It's not a very big house, so the stairs make sense when you see them in person. There's only a few feet on either side. It's a super cute home! (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston)
Coke Break: 1941
... the nearby Dupont powder plant in a cafe in Childersburg, Alabama." Acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Guy on the ... cone. What more does one really need in Childersburg, Alabama? Dupont! A few years later, my dad was in the South Pacific, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/05/2019 - 1:45pm -

May 1941. "Workmen from the nearby Dupont powder plant in a cafe in Childersburg, Alabama." Acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Guy on the rightEating the ice cream cone. It's a two scoop cone. Our little ice cream shop in the 50's would place a slice of Neapolitan ice cream in the cone and call it a skyscraper. 10 cents a cone. Forget the Coke Break!I'm with the guy on the right--he's having an ice cream break! Better yet, put that ice cream in your Coke and have a Coke float! Mmmmm. Pie!Looks like six or seven different kinds of pie, and a bunch of different cigars on the display in the back. Don't know my cigar boxes, but I bet there's someone out there who can. Dare I Hope ... ... that this is The Dinette? Coca-Cola Warning!In my country (Poland) in the early 1950s, official communist propaganda tweeted that coca cola dissolves human brains. Under the CounterAre empty bottles ready to be returned and refilled, proving that you an get a round peg in a square hole. Henry Fonda - front right!It’s not often that a photographer serendipitously captures a movie legend, like Henry Fonda, while taking “man on the street” photos. And if you say “That’s not Henry Fonda,” I will say, how do you know ... were you there? Powder plantMy father worked in that powder plant during WWII. I still have his W-2 forms for that time. Said it was extremely hot work, since they had to wear woolen outerwear to keep the powder off their skin. Just The Necessities Pack of smokes, a Coke, rack of sunglasses on offer and grab a box of cigars. Plus an ice cream cone. What more does one really need in Childersburg, Alabama? Dupont!A few years later, my dad was in the South Pacific, building airstrips. One afternoon, a sailor came into camp from the jungle, carrying a nice string of fish. Dad asked him, "What bait did you use?" Reply, in a southern drawl, "Dupont!" "Ladies and Gents"I bet in 1941 Coke and Lucky Strike were the No. 1 smoke and drink combo enjoyed by men and women alike. If that is a Lucky Strike pack on the counter, in 1942 it would be white in color, as Lucky Strike green went to war. Fonda ice creamPeter Fonda appears to be enjoying his cone. Smokleless PowderI used to work with a man who worked at a DuPont smokeless powder plant (later to be tapped by DuPont to go work at a super secret facility making slightly more explosive stuff; namely, plutonium). He said that DuPont was so strict about safety that everyone was searched for matches or lighters every day before entering the plant. You got one warning if you were caught with anything that could produce a flame. If it happened again, you were fired on the spot. I have a notionOr several, actually. Adjacent to the register are displays of cigars, sunglasses, and other impulse items geared to extract that extra bit of cash from the pockets of men whose wages after a long depression must seem unbelievably ample to them. "Hey, Bob! Grab me a packet of Sen-Sens, would ya? I've got a hot date tonight with Bertha from Accounting." Light the FuseImagine how busy these guys will be in seven months. I imagine prewar production of gunpowder was already high by May, 1941, but much less than demand after 12/7/41. Some observations: 1. Somebody tell the guy at the far end of the counter - NO SMOKING in a gunpowder factory! I suppose they couldn't even take a book of matches into the factory. 2. I have the same sugar bowl as the one on the counter next to the napkins. Green stripes. Very heavy - commercial "diner ware". I picked it up at a junk shop a long time ago - we use it as a salt cellar to hold that fancy pink cooking salt on the stove. It just tastes saltier, amiright? 3. I also had several pairs (may still have some) of the round, clip-on sunglasses from my bohemian, fashion-backwards, pre-wife, junk-shop phase. I think I bought a whole card of them at an entirely different junk shop. I gave some away, broke the clips on others. I used to wear them on prescription glasses that weren't quite the same shape. Looked extremely goofy, I'm told. Wife fixed the fashion goofy; ophthalmologist fixed my eyes. I'm in a better place. Goober Pea P.S. I received a very nice postcard from Team Shorpy this week thanking me for my Patreon contribution. I encourage all of you who derive pleasure from noodling through these photographs to chip in what you can to keep the site going. Easy to do. Link on the left side of the home page. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Jack Delano)
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