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Kodachrome Karnival: 1979
Last week saw the last processing run for Kodachrome film, as noted on Shorpy here . I thought that this one, shot by ... View full size. Washington Post: Eulogy for Kodachrome There's a great narrative, with an accompanying slide show, in ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 01/08/2011 - 3:41am -

Last week saw the last processing run for Kodachrome film, as noted on Shorpy here. I thought that this one, shot by my friend in 1979, was a good example of what all the hubbub was about. It's at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, California. View full size.
Washington Post: Eulogy for KodachromeThere's a great narrative, with an accompanying slide show, in which Washington Post photographer John McDonnell eulogizes Kodachrome, the iconic film produced by Kodak from 1935 to 2009.
You'll have to put up with a short commercial intro, but the narrative and slide show are worth the wait! (Make sure your volume is turned on.) 
Kodachrome scanningFirst of all, there's no such thing as a "straight" translation of any kind of photochemical image to another medium, even if it's another photographic emulsion. In that case, there are differences in the pigments and dyes used in the photographic materials. In the case of standard four-color printing, such as for books and magazines, the pigments are entirely different chemically. Furthermore, there's no way to replicate the contrast range of a color slide viewed by transmitted light on a print viewed by reflected light. When we get into digital scanning and display, there are further complications: the scanning light source, the color sensitivity of the image sensors and even the spectral characteristics of the film itself. (This is a particular problem with Kodachrome, which we faced when I was working in our custom color lab; we could achieve reasonable color accuracy in making duplicate slides and prints from Ektachrome, but doing so across the spectrum with Kodachrome originals was often impossible.) With digital, there's the additional complication of the final display, whose colors are produced in a different manner altogether. And again, the contrast range of a projected color slide exceeds that possible with a standard computer display. The best we can achieve is a reasonable simulation of what's on the slide.
Then there's another angle: not all Kodachrome processing was equal. Processing done by Kodak itself was the most consistent, but that from other labs could be all over the map; our own collection of hundreds and hundreds of Kodachrome slides over a span of over three decades provides ample proof of that. We have greenish Kodachromes, magenta-tinged Kodachromes, reddish Kodachromes, bluish Kodachromes, cyanish Kodachromes and others that are off one way in certain colors and another way in others. This particular slide is from a batch processed by some unidentified lab, and they're all consistently reddish/magenta compared to the standard processed-by-Kodak color that I'm thoroughly familiar with. I decided to correct that out to something that looked, to my eyes, more like a Kodak-processed Kodachrome. Below is a version that's close to what the original slide looks like; I can guarantee that the asphalt of the fairgrounds was not red.
Not as red as blueExcepting the sky is brite blue, I see this image as heavy with blue, and not as warm red as Kodachrome normally gave. Perhaps it is the age of the image as well. I did a quick adjustment and increased the color overall except contrast. The result is what I thought Kodachrome normally revealed. Just my opinion though.
[Put on your sunglasses. - Dave]
KodachromeI guess I am spoiled by digital photography.
I think the color in this image is average. Also, is this a straight scan without digital manipulation?
I enjoy this site. Keep up your good work.
Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA
Sounds like a song titleBeautiful colors, too late though. Someone has already taken my Kodachrome away.
I remember fairs like thisThis scene was repeated thousands of times across North America in the mid 70's and early 80's. I could have been one of the three kids standing by the fence. I love the fact that the rides, while brightly painted, aren't cluttered with all sorts of advertising like they seem to be now. I remember riding most of these, the Hurricane, the Yo-Yo and as the sing says, the TipTop. 
My favorites were The Scrambler, the Loop-O-Plane and the Tilt-A-Whirl. Wagner Shows, a Western Canadian outfit which served our town, used to feature a fellow who rode the deck of the Tilt-A-Whirl while the ride ran, nimbly stepping between the buckets, giving each an extra spin at just the right moment. He wore a t-shirt that read "Tilt the World with Joe".
Anyhow, I very much like this photograph. It's one of the few shown here new enough to allow one to suppose that at least some of the people in it aren't obviously dead.
Kodachrome realismAll the hubbub (for me, at least) is Kodachrome's ability to make then look and feel like now.
A couple of years ago David posted a Kodachrome of a female factory worker in a WW2 aviation plant (I think) and a young man posted a response saying he was convinced beyond all doubt that the photo was a fake.  It just did not seem possible to him that a picture from that long ago could look so vivid and immediate.
I can see why he might think that because Kodachrome could make 60 years ago look like yesterday.
Foy
KodachromeIf that's a 35mm transparency, I wish I had spent more time working with Kodachrome than Ektachrome.  Amazing detail, colour and texture.  Too bad it required a crystal clear day like this to stop motion.
Awww, c'mon nowNot at all fair to judge the benefits of Kodachrome by today's digital software manipulation. Back then, you got what you got. And, when it came to printing, only Cibachrome could really capture the essence of the Kodachrome transparency. And yes, even then a wee bit of "manipulation" was possible. We shouldn't compare apples to oranges.
Kodachrome vs. DigitalIn 50 years this transparency, barring disaster such as a fire or flood, will look just like this. In 50 years any digital photograph, unless painstakingly re-saved to the latest storage media, will be non-existent.  If you print the digital photo to paper with an ink jet printer, it will have long since faded into a mere ghost of its original glory.
Re: Kodachrome vs, Digital>> In 50 years any digital photograph, unless painstakingly re-saved to the latest storage media, will be non-existent.
This is an oft-repeated canard without much basis in fact. Your average flash memory card should be good for many decades of storage. With billions of them currently in use, there'll be a market for card readers for decades to come, even after the various formats become obsolete. The same is true for hard drives and most other mass-storage media. (Or you can just keep your photos online -- my oldest albums have been online for 15 years now.)
For most folks, the storage medium of choice is prints. Inkjet prints made on good paper with dye-based inks have permanence ratings of 100 years or more.
WOWWhat an incredibly interesting and fascinating work of art.
KodachromeColor just oozes.
Re: Kodachrome vs. digitalI used Kodachrome for many happy years, beginning in the ASA 25 years. I was fortunate in living close enough to one of Kodak's own labs, so processing was always consistent.
I don't think K-chrome's prime asset was realism as much as it was beauty. Rich colors - in my experience, more so than digital -- set it apart. Ektachrome was the "bluish" film; Kodachrome brought out the deep warm tones.
Ultimately, I switched to Fuji film because later high-speed versions of K-chrome weren't as satisfying as the ASA 25 variety.
If K-25 was still available, I'd be using it today, and my digital equipment would be gathering dust.
Projection - Yes!Too bad such a wonderful film is gone.  Tterrace nails the problem with duplicating, digitizing or printing any transparency right on the head.
The only thing I havn't experienced is the variance from other labs.  Here in the midwest the labs were quite spread out.  I processed Kodachrome in Minneapolis and the closest two labs were in Chicago and Kansas City.  All the labs were licensed by Kodak and had to adhere to a certain quality standard to maintain their license.  I remember that the chemical department had analysis equipment that wouldn't be found in any other photo lab and I had to calibrate the cyan and yellow printing lamps before every run.
Just an interesting sidenote, EPA compliance and monitoring was always a problem because the cyan developer had a high level of cyanide that went down the drain from the tank overflow.
What's gone is gone.I make no apologies for the fact that the passing of Kodakchrome 35mm slide film does not bring a tear to my eye or a lump to the throat.
I'm 65 years old and have used my share of slide and print film over the past 40 to 50 years, including Agfa, Fuji and Kodak products. I have boxes of Kodak Carousel containers filled with slides, and smaller plastic boxes as received from the processing labs filled with slides.
Many, many of them show signs of deterioration, no doubt due to careless storage.
I'm what anyone would call a rank amateur, a "snapshot-shooter," and although I still have my Nikons I have not used them since 2001, preferring instead the ease and economy that several digital cameras give me.
No, not for me the crocodile tears as I wave goodbye to Kodachrome. I'll gladly store my photographs on USB memory sticks or DVDs, keeping only the best of a mediocre bunch and only paying for prints of the really special ones.
And I doubt that any other "snapshooter" would feel any different.
We will miss you Gives us the nice bright colors, the greens of summer, makes all the world a summer's day. (Sorry Paul, best I can remember at my age).
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)

Christmas in Miami: 1954
... curtains. She was, needless to say, big on Christmas. 35mm Kodachrome. View full size. A lovely lady and a tastefully decorated ... long. And of course, I enjoyed playing with that. Kodachrome mastery The technical details of this shot interest me. First of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/26/2023 - 11:25am -

      A holiday chestnut worth reheating over the Shorpy Duraflame.
"Christmas 1954." My grandmother Sarah Hall (1904-2000) in her living room in Miami Shores four years before I was born. She made the mantel decoration, which saw service for many years, with Brazilian pepper berries from a big tree in the backyard, mixed with pine cones, all attached to a chicken wire frame. Grandmother, handy with a needle and thread, also made the curtains. She was, needless to say, big on Christmas. 35mm Kodachrome. View full size.
A lovely ladyand a tastefully decorated room!
Creative and ClassyThat is a seriously tasteful room. The tailored window dressing helps to tone down the old style furniture. The subdued red and white decorations and lights with natural elements look almost modern. I absolutely love the fabric on the sofa.
Martha Stewart was only thirteenYour beautiful grandmother was way ahead of her time in creating an exquisite home environment through her own resources of sewing, collecting and impeccable taste.  The atmosphere in this room is timeless and the decor is of superior quality and subtle uniqueness, but the sparkling antique crystal and ceramics are showstoppers.  The polished marble, shiny mahogany and immaculate order of her living quarters is very impressive.  I could never live in a place like this because I'm basically a hopeless slob and have been told by most of my close relatives that because of me "we can't have anything nice."  This is nice.  And by the way Dave, you are SO YOUNG.  I figured you to be about 80 yrs. old up until now, so Shorpy has a long life ahead of it as long as you keep it going.  Merry Christmas and thank you for spreading so much happiness around.
BeautifulThat's all; just beautiful!  Merry Christmas!
Wow, just wowAwesome, Dave.  Your grandmother was quite a seamstress, decorator, and had great taste in furniture.  My grandmother was a great seamstress, too.  She sewed clothes, quilts, sleeping bags, doll clothes, costumes, you name it.  She had all kind of gadgets, like a eyelet press, for making belts, and a hem marker, a thing that combined a yardstick standing vertically on a base, a bulb and hose, with a container filled with talcum powder.  The container slid up and down the yardstick, and when the bulb was squeezed, it would make a nice horizontal line (to mark the hemline) about an inch long.  And of course, I enjoyed playing with that.
Kodachrome masteryThe technical details of this shot interest me. First of all, it looks like it was illuminated by photoflood, with both main and fill lights. The main is indicated by the sharp shadow on the marble of the fireplace; the presence of a fill somewhat off-angle from the main is shown by the double shadows on the bric-a-brac shelf and the pine cone thing around the mirror. The distance of the photofloods was accurately calculated so as not to overwhelm the regular bulbs in the lamps. The white balance is right on, indicating a probable use of Kodachrome Type A, or tungsten-balance photoflood emulsion, ASA 16. Using my trusty Kodak Master Photoguide from 1962, when the original Kodachrome was still available, the exposure calculator for the film and two bulbs at roughly the apparent bulb-to-subject distance here indicates an exposure in the area of f2.8 at 1/5 second or the equivalent. In other words, a carefully set-up shot by someone who knew what he was doing. May even be professional; at the very least, an advanced amateur. (Still, exposure bracketing would have been advisable; do any other shots survive?)
Pine Cone ThingShe made her own curtains lined in contrasting colors and she also made the amazing mirror surround? I am totally in awe. 
Merry Christmas to Dave, the mysterious Ken, and unacknowledged contributors whose photos are buried in the Member Photos Section. Best regards also to Canada, tterrace and the Farkers whose work makes me gasp with laughter. 
Thanks, Shorpy!
[Grandmother also made her own clothes. Not to mention togs for the grandkids. And then there was the crocheting -- much crocheting. Shorpy says you're very welcome! -Dave]
Nice AntiquesMerry Christmas, Dave, and let me join the others in admiring your grandmother's great taste and sophisticated decorating talents. That's a smart and very urban color scheme for 1954. The tailored curtains are revivals of a Federal period window treatment, seldom done with this degree of precision. And the antiques are like familiar neighbors to me. Out of curiosity, were they mostly family pieces from up North, or did she collect them? The little sofa and round parlor table are 1860s; the fancy side chair by the fireplace is Boston or Philadelphia, about 1845; the worktable at left is probably late 1830s; and the molded clear flint glass lamp bases are probably Sandwich or Cambridge whale oil lamps of about 1850. Here's a similar pair with their old pewter wick holders still intact.
Stylish GrandmotherDave some people have it and some don't, your grandmother had plenty. What a beautiful home I especially love the table on our left. We can all see why you love photography this shot may have been your genesis.
Merry Christmas and thanks again for our favorite web site!  
Understatement"Big on Christmas' indeed!  A very, very  Merrye Christmas to all the Shorpy "family"; it's been a fun ride once again, and I look forward to splendid new adventures in 2012.
A Beautiful Lady... who kept an immaculate house.
Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA
Class actDave what a beautiful grandmother and setting. I was born earlier that year. Thanks for all you do and Merry Christmas!
Your turnIt's great seeing your grandmother, Dave. Now can we Shorpy fans see our Shorpy webmaster? 
[We've already seen me. - Dave]
PicklesI was a month old at the time this photo was taken.  I am so impressed with this beautiful room.  Seems to me that in that time period, white walls were the norm so she was really going new places with that lovely color. I also like her collection of cranberry glass, especially the pickle caster on the left.  Hope it's still in the family.  Thanks for sharing, nice to see how things looked at the time I made an appearance.
Can't beat 35mm KodachromeBeautiful classy lady & home. I love the white dipped pinecones. I too have many 35mm slides my grandfather took the colors are so crisp on them when developed into pictures.
Class and BeautyMuch less of this today. What a time. Merry Christmas!
Those drapes!As someone who has made pinch pleated drapes, I am in awe of your grandmother and her drapes.  Wow, what a wonderful job, what a wonderful room, and what an interesting person she must have been.
Lovely decor!A magnificent room (and stark contrast to the wildly colorful and eclecticly overdone Minnesota family I love following here).  I bet the rest of the house was equally impressive.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Impeccable tasteReminds me of my Nana's house; not only did she have the same bowl as the one on the bottom right shelf, but it also appears that, no matter how sophisticated the decor was, it was never a "Don't Touch!" room, but rather cozy, welcoming and comfortable.
W O W ! ! !  for the lady.  and the photographer?Impressive!!! everything is in place and looking flawless.
Also, was the lucky husband also the photographer? very nice photo
One Impressive LadyWhat an amazing woman with great talent.  I'd love to sit in that room and just take it all in.  Tasteful and artistic.  A lost art at Christmas.
Grandmother's favorite?With a second look at your Grandmom's face, while lovely, I sense a strong resolve as well, that would brook no shenanigans from the kids (including grandkids). Or am I wrong and she was a pushover for Dave's charms?
[Grandmother was sugarplums and poinsettias 365 days a year, as all eight of her grandkids would attest. - Dave]
Fave time of yearThe Shorpy Christmas photos have begun!  This is my favorite time of year!
Ok, Christmas 1954Think it’s time this picture gets retired.  Looks like many rooms at Christmas I recall back in 1954.  Very nice but the gushing comments appear a bit overdone. Hummm wonder way.
[Brilliantly put, although you probably meant "why" and not "way." - Dave]
I beg to differ with Carol McCIn the mid-fifties, white walls were not in. That was later, around 1960 or a bit later. Our house had dark walls like this (I was seven in 1955): brown and dark green if I remember rightly. 
Deck the HallsGlad to know she got to live a long life, another 46 years from then on! A later photo of her would be nice, as well as an early one (wedding, for example)?
Classy Christmas !!Dave, your Grandmother was obviously very talented, and a very classy Lady.The art & style she put into this room is wonderful.
Merry Christmas to all here at Shorpy. Thanks Dave for all you do to allow us to see great pictures like these daily.
Two things!This fascinating photo of a classy person has two elements I find remarkable. First, that built-in shelving and the way the wallpaper (it looks like wallpaper to me) works with it. [The walls are painted textured plaster. - Dave]
The second is the use of color in this room. Not only are the main colors perfect and soothing, but the contrasting colors work so well. For example, the red edging on the drapes and the pale-green fronts on the shelves. Those subtle touches really set off the main colors and add elegance.
SWANK!!!
Thanks, Dave, for sharing this and for all you do for us!
GorgeousLady and decor. We should all be so lucky to have such in our lives.
BeautifulWhat a beautifully appointed home. And we all know she was the architect of it all.
Class All the WayYour grandmother was certainly talented!  I also really like the interior colors. With very little adjustment I could live in this decor!
Another PhotoI’ve seen other photos of this room, including this one. 
When we aspired to qualityIn addition to the elegant items made by Dave's grandmother Hall, her other furnishings reflect her eye for quality.  The end table at left has a keyhole, and probably locked.  The settee and chair appear to be rosewood.  The end table at right has a white marble top, which complements the fireplace mantel.  I can't identify any items on the shelves for certain, but they're nice.  I suspect the next generation in Dave's family was happy to have these items passed down to them.
Now I'm gonna grouse like the old man I am -- there are several traits young people have today that I like and respect; but I despair that the young people I've encountered have no appreciation for quality furnishings.  Anymore, I end up telling them, "If you want a piece of black pressboard furniture, there's an Ikea in Plano.  The reason it's so heavy is that's the weight of the glue holding the woodchips together.  Solid wood furniture doesn't weigh as much."
Giving today's designers a run for their moneyI love your grandmother's aesthetic, beautifully done.
A holiday chestnutDefinitely worth reheating.  We can see this photo has been commented upon for twelve years now, and that it has been presented to us for pleasure and comment in 2011, 2014, 2017, and again now.  It brings us together at Christmas, we here in Shorpy-land, and it makes me grateful for this online community of people who take pleasure in this site and who make the effort to express their feelings and knowledge to the rest of us.  This year I note those near the bottom in the comments section, back in 2011, who no longer seem to be with us: Vintagetvs, OTY, pattyanne, Born40YearsTooLate, switzarch, CarolMcC.  I miss these former Shorpsters, they and stanton_square, Mr. Mel, aenthal, and many others.  Some may have given up following the site or stopped commenting, some may have passed on.  Thanks to Dave and tterrace for bringing us all together, and best wishes of the season to us all.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, Florida, Miami)

The Hump Master: 1942
... train over the hump from his post at the hump office." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2024 - 11:24am -

Chicago, December 1942. "Hump master in a Chicago & North Western railroad yard operating a signal switch system which extends the length of the hump track. He is thus able to control movements of locomotives pushing the train over the hump from his post at the hump office." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.
After the snickeringRead the Straight Dope.
He's a what?He would have been great on "What's My Line?"
Retarder Controller? I suspect the control the hump master is using is actually the retarder controller-slowing down the car(s) as it rolls down the hump. The clipboard he holds would have the weight/contents of each car (or group of cars, called a 'cut'). His job was to regulate the speed of each, so they rolled just far enough, but not TOO far. His job was probably 55% art, 40% science, and 5% luck back then, given the varied rolling resistance of freight cars from different RR's.
Hump on my signalIn the fourth image down in this posting you'll see this picture and another which explains the operation. The lever he has his hand on does nothing more than control the signal aspects displayed to the engineer of the hump locomotive. There's a second operator, shown in the other photo, who controls both the turnouts and the retarders; they both have a copy of the same list, whose content you can see in the second picture, which gives information on each car, in order, as to weight and destination.
Bar codesBar codes are now used in humping operations.  Computers read the codes as cars begin their roll down the hump (or on the way up), retrieve car information from a database, calculate the necessary momentum the car needs to properly attach to the growing train, and the retarders are applied automatically.  
It's amazing to watch from a distance, with cars moving here and there to their respective destinations, retarders creating screeching noises as they press against the wheel flanges.
RF Railcar IDIn our area, at least, RF (radio frequency) tags replaced bar codes some time ago for railcar identification by the Union Pacific Railroad.
Humping by TelephoneIn the sixties when I worked for Mother Bell in New Haven, I would get called out at least weekly during the late night/early morning hours to fix some trouble in the telephone system in use at "The Hump". The NYNH&H RR (later Penn Central) had some of the oldest telephone equipment in existence, and it was how they coordinated all the hump movements between towers. It was always very cool to stand in one of the towers and watch all the freight cars coming over the hump and descending through "the ladder" to be mixed on one of innumerable tracks in the huge yard. 
I had to find outThe Fast Freight Rides the Hump from Popular Mechanics, March 1940.
(Technology, The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)

Just Mowed: 1943
... New York State. June 1943. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier. The colors... I don't know what it is about these Kodachrome transparencies, but the colors are absolutely beautiful--so rich and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 6:58pm -

Farmland and weathered barn in the Catskill country, New York State. June 1943. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier.
The colors...I don't know what it is about these Kodachrome transparencies, but the colors are absolutely beautiful--so rich and crisp, and yet subdued at the same time. I can't seem to find the right words to describe them. All I know is that when I look at one of these transparencies, I feel something special and timeless.
Is it just me?
(Just out of curiosity, why is there no name field in the comment form?)
KodachromeThanks for that info! It is indeed a shame it is being phased out.
re: The ColorsIt's not you. Kodachrome is a completely unique color process unlike any other. It's also proven to have the best archival characteristics (in dark storage) It's a shame Kodak is slowly killing it off. Kodachrome 64 35mm is all that's left that you can purchase fresh.
In the processingKodachrome is different from Ektachrome and others in one other way: The color is added during processing. Anyone with a film tank and a batch of E6 chemicals can process  Ektachrome, even the reversal is chemical now, but Kodachrome can only be processed by Kodak.
"Makes you think all the world's a sunny day" Paul Simon
Not even Kodak anymoreI don't think Kodak even develops the film now. Dwaynes Photo out in Kansas is the only domestic K-14 developing operating left in the United States.
I now have 4 rolls of the 64 speed stuff that I'm going to burn through on my old Minolta SLR so see if I can get some of these same effects (although the negative sizes are different - so probably not).
KodachromeThe color, dynamic range, richness without looking fake... It is amazing, and digital needs to come a long way in order to do what we see here.
Absolutely beautiful! 
KodachromeFrom what I've read on the internet, Dwayne's in Kansas is still getting a good volume of Kodachrome coming through their doors. They should be processing it for a while to come.
End of the rollLast spring, I finally sat down and scanned through 2500 old slides and negatives going back to the 1970s.  Shots taken all over North America, Europe and Australia.  Most of the film hadn't seen daylight in years.  Many of the Ektachrome slides had turned pink in storage and the Kodacolor negatives had no pizazz but the Kodachromes all looked like they'd been shot yesterday.  One of those scanned Kodachromes is my wallpaper, a red combine under a blue Aussie sky in a field of golden wheat.
I haven't shot any real slide film in 3 or 4 years.  I'm not proud that I was part of what killed Kodachrome, without intending to.  I'm ashamed.
Kodachrome SadnessEach time I look at one of these beauties I become more perplexed as to just why Kodak is phasing out such an amazing product.  What a pity that we've all gone digital crazy and no longer appreciate the true art of photography.
Kodachrome vs DigitalAs impressive as these 4 x 5 Kodachromes are, if we can admire their color rendition on our computer screens then the "digital" process has the ability to capture this quality. I have looked at some vacation pictures shot with an ordinary 8-meg Canon pocket camera, and they're just as sharp and rich in color. The cheap lens betrays a bit of flare around hot spots, but the new "film" is MUCH faster and considerably sharper than the 35mm slide enlargements we've seen here. Serious photogs using SLR-digital and RAW image encoding are getting awesome results, with lots of dynamic range for post-processing. And Photoshop or its equivalent offers manipulations and corrections only dreamed about by Kodachrome users, who basically took what they got back from the factory. Who hasn't suffered the orange or blue disaster of shooting the wrong type film under the "other" type of lighting? Kodachrome has admirable archival quality, but "digital is forever" IF anyone cares to re-copy the files as computers get changed. The real problem is that we are inundated in casually acquired data.
PS: I think some of my satisfaction with digital stems from viewing the pictures as "slides" on a screen. Real slides were always more vivid than prints. 
BygoneI saw this and froze for a moment.
To the left of the barn and in the distance are the Shawangunk Mountains, sort of a margin between the Catskills and Hudson Valley. Hang gliding capital, the Shawangunks. 
My grandmother's sister Lula married Earl and they farmed while he took carpentry jobs during the workaday. It was a wonderful place to vacation in summer and they were the best hosts. The fresh milk was put in a spring fed brook to keep till morning pickup, and the eggs were won from the rooster's protective stance. The word hubris hadn't been invented yet and the peace and freshness were everywhere. I miss all that.
The house is gone now but the barn is there and some beef cows instead of dairy.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, John Collier, Landscapes, Rural America)

Kodachrome Goes to War: 1942
... that, after 74 colorful years, it will stop making Kodachrome film. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 1:11pm -

October 1942. "Women are trained as engine mechanics in thorough Douglas training methods. Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California." Skipping ahead to 2009, and the end of an era: Today Kodak announced that, after 74 colorful years, it will stop making Kodachrome film. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
Woot!Saddle shoes!
Awesome Kodachrome, so long..Nothing is as sexy as a woman with a wrench in her hand!
Farewell, My Lovely!My first job out of college in 1973 was as a Kodachrome Quality Control Chemist at Berkey Photo in New York. It was an incredibly complex process that got incredibly beautiful results.
As Mark Twain said of the Mississippi steamboat: "So short a life for so magnificent a creature."
Somebody's gotta say it Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day...
Momma, don't take my Kodachrome away.
Hubba HubbaThat is one gorgeous airplane mechanic. (Yes, wisenheimers, I'm talking about the one on the left.)
HyperrealWhat a grand picture; it has sort of a "heightened" look, for lack of a better word. Lovely as Technicolor.
(And I'd say the mechanic on the right is pretty cute, too.)
She and HeShe's cute. He, on the other hand, is hottimus maximus. Hats off to Kodachrome. Such beautiful, limpid color.
KodachromeAs a photographer all of my working life, this is a very sad but not unexpected day. I was too young to be shooting in the era where you could shoot 4x5 Kodachrome. That's one of the things I love about this site. I shot quite a bit of it when it came back briefly to the medium format world in the mid-80s. I've come very close to selling my 4x5 camera given the dearth of emulsions still available but the images on this site keep me in the game, so to speak.
Definitely the real dealIf there is any question as to this young lady being just a publicity model or the real-deal mechanic, look closely at her fingernails. The dirty saddle shoes could be a set-up with a model, but no gal I know that only poses as camera candy would have those fingernails! Definitely a real engine assembly worker.
What type engineI wondered what engine this was and a quick photo search shows this as a R-1830.  Long Beach built C-47 cargo planes and they used this type engine.   
What's on the clipboard?Nice to see the details on the shipping tag; can someone enlarge the clipboard at center-left, in case there's anything of interest on it?
[Alas, it is out of focus. - Dave]
Keep your heads down!Those external cylinder head oil pipes look very vulnerable to me. They are critical to the engine's operation yet in use they'd be hiding behind a thin aluminium sheet. Meanwhile the baddies would be firing all sorts of assorted sharp pieces of ironmongery in their direction.
"Oil lines"The "oil lines" of concern to the first commenter are actually spark plug leads.  Each cylinder has two spark plugs, fired by separate magnetos.
I was also taken with the fact that this pretty girl is no mere model.
De-colorization.With all the controversy surrounding the use of the computer to colorize black and white images, I thought I'd do the opposite. Face it, WWII and color just don't seem right.
I'm kidding.... 
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

I Like Shostakovich: 1955
... his newly-acquired Lordox 35mm camera, he snapped this Kodachrome self-portrait at his desk in our bedroom. Nine years later when I ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 02/10/2018 - 9:31pm -

Proof positive that my brother and I both fell victim to a similar strange mania at the age of 18. Here, in 1955, a senior in high school and fooling around with his newly-acquired Lordox 35mm camera, he snapped this Kodachrome self-portrait at his desk in our bedroom. Nine years later when I was 18, I shot my records, including the same Shostakovich album, spread out in our living room, as seen here. By that time, "I Like Jazz," a Columbia Records sampler, was no longer around. Posted with my brother's kind acquiescence. View full size.
THIMKI somehow wonder what that THIMK note could mean on the red board behind your brother. Is it like a note to oneself?
[I'd guess it's a spoof on the "THINK" placards that were popular at the time. Which was Thomas Watson's motto first at NCR and later at IBM. - Dave]
Slide RuleCan't help but notice the Post deci-trig sliderule on the desk. Looks like a wiring chart on the ceiling to the right. Appears to me the lad's a right and truly nerd! Welcome!
Ceiling ChartIt's a periodic table, with various insets, including a map of the US that presumably indicates the distribution of various elements.
Another great shotYou (and delworthio) should get your own blog.
I Like "I Like Jazz"I still have the "I Like Jazz" LP in its original sleeve, but it's somewhat the worse for wear.
Aviation WallpaperI couldn't help but notice the aviation themed wallpaper with what appears to be a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft in the background. I have a vague memory of a similar patterned wallpaper in either my brother's or my bedroom, albeit patterned with commercial airliners of the era. 
Bill Gates, the PrequelDid the Termite Brothers grow up to be engineers?
Thimk"Thimk" was the Mad magazine version of the IBM "think" motto.
HeadphonesMilitary surplus?
PeekWhat an incredible peek into the life of a teenager in the middle '50s. The "THIMK" sign, the sliderule, the compass, the nautical themed lampshade and bedspread, aeronautical wallpaper, the atypical (for a teenager) taste in music. Pretty cool.
Jazz Liker  I, too, have a copy of "I Like Jazz" in its original sleeve.  It belonged to my mother, and now lives in my own collection of vinyl.  
HeadphonesPossibly military surplus; he got them from a high school friend. I remember them, and they were definitely not hi- or any other kind of fi. Probably intended for radio communications work. He used them merely as a prop for the photo. You gotta agree, they certainly heighten the geekiness, hmm?
I loved that wallpaper with the airplanes. Almost literally the last thing I'd see at night and the first in the morning. Dates from a c.1946 remodel job.
Alternate Title"I Like Ig."
Letter MenIs that a Speedball lettering kit in the lower left-hand corner?  You guys certainly had a wide range of interests!
SpeedballYep, it is a Speedball lettering kit, and on the shelf above it is a bottle of Sheaffer's Skrip "writing fluid," or ink to you. There were always several of those around, as my brother went through various colors with his fountain and ball point pens over time. That's  helped me in dating many of the the slides from this era; the mounts weren't dated by the processor and he didn't always write the dates on them, but sorting them by the color of what notes he did make helps get them associated chronologically. You'd use India Ink with the Speedball set, of course. You ever try to get India ink out of a carpet?
"Shostakovitch"?Which record company was it that misspelled Shostakovich's name on the label? I can't recognize the logo from here.
[There really is no one correct spelling for words written in a different alphabet. For Shostakovich it depends on what system you're using to transliterate the Cyrillic alphabet into the Roman alphabet. - Dave]
Transliteration and thingsThanks a lot for your reply, Dave. I had never seen that transliteration before, but having done some digging I see that it was not uncommon back in the 1940s. I guess this was around the same time that Vladimir Nabokov's name was often spelled Nabokoff. Interesting how these things become standardised with time.
Anyway, I really love this picture. Both the pose and the room say so much about the sitter's personality. He looks like he would be a very interesting person to know.
(And yes, I realise now that I can read the record label's name if I enlarge the picture. D'oh!)
Shostakovich: Then and NowThe day after Christmas 2019 my brother and I got together with our original Shostakovi(t)ch album and a copy of I Like Jazz I'd found in a second-hand store and did this.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)

Sunray: 1942
... "Worker at carbon black plant. Sunray, Texas." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/28/2024 - 2:43pm -

November 1942. "Worker at carbon black plant. Sunray, Texas." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. 
You might want to considerA mild cleanser. Exfoliant scrub. Moisturizer. And maybe lose the ciggies? I'm just sayin' is all.
Overloading the lungsPossibly had some lung-related health issues later in life?
CigsI bet he didn't wear a seat belt either. Yikes.
Beautiful!What an astonishing photo; it's got such depth and a kind of coldness. Great find!
Make this one a print!Make this one a print! Please!
I adore the work of this photographer.
Print now available!Here he is. Just the thing to brighten up the den.
Carbon Black PlantI grew up in Aransas Pass, Texas in the 1940's and the "Carbon Black Plant" out in the scrub Oak brush just off the coast of Redfish Bay, East of the town, belched dense black smoke constantly . . my neighbors, the Gentry boys, came home from work every day looking just like this fellow . . . a damp rag was required to wipe off our clothesline to remove the black soot before the wash could be hung out. Seemed completely normal at the time!
Sunray Carbon BlackI grew up in Fritch, Texas, which is between Amarillo and Borger and not too far from Sunray.  My dad worked at the carbon black plant in Borger in the 1950s & '60s. Sometimes we'd pick him up after work. The men would take a shower at the end of the day at the plant, but he could never ever wash ALL of the black off.  The "whiteface" cattle in the area always had gray faces.  We rarely had a problem with the carbon black getting all the way to Fritch - about 15 miles - but we had relatives in Buenavista, a "suburb" of Borger who had a lot of problems with laundry hanging out, etc.  Seemed completely normal at the time to us too but sure seems funny now.  Not ha-ha funny but kind of sad funny, I think. 
SunraySurprisingly, carbon black exposure is NOT associated with increased risk of lung disease. I was raised in Borger,TX. home of a huge plant. In the fifties and sixties,before regulations,the black covered everything. Even now google the image and you will see the black patch west of the city. I thought all wild animals  were coal black until I was twelve. My Dad worked there for many years, is ninety now and no lung disease. As a native and a physician, I investigated the risk from the carbon and confirmed the really is not a risk to health in spite of the look. One speculates that the pure charcoal/carbon may have at worst been neutral and possibly had some protective effect from carcinogens. Unfortunately, most of the men working there also smoked cigarettes and did suffer the consequences to health.
Look at this guy.Look at this guy. Look into his eyes. Try to understand the fatigue he was feeling. Do you really think he's worried about lung cancer!?
I mean seriously, try to take yourself out of the "I know what's best for you" 2000s, and remember that, long ago, people used to live their lives and work hard every day.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Kodachromes, Factories, John Vachon)

A.S. Gerdee: 1943
... & North Western Railroad. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. Kodachrome I love these 4x5 Kodachromes. For the life of me I can't figure ... cool stuff). Its such a shame it's not made anymore. Kodachrome I remember shooting a couple of rolls of Kodachrome 25 about 20 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 9:22pm -

April 1943. A.S. Gerdee of 3251 Maypole Street, Chicago, a switchman at the Proviso Yard of the Chicago & North Western Railroad. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano, Office of War Information.
KodachromeI love these 4x5 Kodachromes. For the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would shoot anything else (alright, I do really know why but it's still cool stuff). Its such a shame it's not made anymore. 
KodachromeI remember shooting a couple of rolls of Kodachrome 25 about 20 or 25 years ago. Absolutely gorgeous results, no perceptible grain, just beautiful. At that time the only people who developed it was Kodak, so you had to send it off in a mailer and in time you'd get your little box of slides back.  
KodachromeWell, it is still being made, but only as 64 ISO (ASA) 35 mm film. There are only a few labs left in the world that can process Kodachrome. Also the colour rendition of modern Kodachrome is a bit different from the "classic" emulsion that you see so much of on these pages.
I do hope that Dave will keep on posting Kodachrome images by Jack Delano, he is my favourite.
[As long as Jack keeps taking them, I'll keep posting them! - Dave]
KodachromeThey give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the worlds a sunny day, oh yeah
ImmortalMr. A. S. Gerdee, you have been immortalized, my friend!
C. W. MossNow we know where the mechanic from Bonnie & Clyde ended up.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Portraits, Railroads)

Moving to Florida: 1956
... to our new home in West Palm Beach. Image is from a Kodachrome slide, taken by my grandfather. View full size. For better ... Northwest back in 1963. I was in the third grade. Re: Kodachrome I thought I'd mess around a bit in Photoshop to take a crack at ... 
 
Posted by JohnZ14 - 01/20/2011 - 1:21pm -

Taken at the end of December in Arlington, Virginia, as we hauled our belongings behind our 1950 Dodge, heading to our new home in West Palm Beach. Image is from a Kodachrome slide, taken by my grandfather. View full size.
For better or worseThe house with the round window is actually the back of a church.  Based on its appearance on streetview, it looks freshly-painted and well-maintained.  The dry cleaner building has lost all of its charm, though.
National Trailer Rentalis now National Trailer Leasing. You can see its trailers behind tractor trucks all over the county! We rented a trailer from them to move the other way, from Southern California to the Northwest back in 1963. I was in the third grade.
Re: KodachromeI thought I'd mess around a bit in Photoshop to take a crack at approximating Kodachrome for EQJohnson in the shot.  Don't think I made it.
55 Years LaterThe drycleaner is still there as are a gas station and the homes like the one with the round window (you have to move the view a bit to find that one).
View Larger Map
Re: re: Re: KodachromeOnce again tterrace proves that he's the Master of Imagery.
Delivery TruckTo the right of the Cleaners is a two-toned brown and beige delivery truck. My dad's company had a whole fleet of those in two shades of blue with their logo on both sides -- Dolly Madison Cakes. The trucks took fresh commercial bakery products to grocery stores all over their areas, working out of a network of "thrift stores" in cities and towns of all sizes. The thrift stores were small company-owned stores that sold day-old and surplus baked goods; pretty much the "outlet" stores of their day. But the core of their operation was the retail distribution. And the design of those delivery trucks, like the one seen here, were brought back in the last decade in cars like the Chrysler PT Cruiser and Chevy HHR small truck.
None of which has anything to do with this photo. Except that seeing that delivery truck made me think of it. Thanks for all the great memory-joggers Shorpy provides!
re: Re: KodachromeHere's my stab at Kodachrome-izing timeandagainphoto's +55 shot.
Careful thereWas wondering if you had extended mirrors for towing a trailer, but your Dodge doesn't have even a regular side mirror! (Although, as we can see from the other cars, side-view mirrors were hardly standard equipment back then, along with arm rests, dome lights and other things we take for granted today.)
Main Street 1956I'm glad Dave moved this to the main gallery. It shows what a typical commercial district looked like at the time, before the storefronts got blandly "modernized." Also, look what this kind of climate does to cars: the 1952 Chevy on the left is only 4 years old, but it already looks like a wreck. The Ford at the right is in sad shape, too.
Korean Chrome Material shortages brought on by the Korean War adversely affected the quality of the chrome on automobile trim in 1951-52-53.  I believe that the underlying copper plating was what was lacking.
Lee HighwayLower Cherrydale or Upper Roslyn.  That section of Lee Hwy had the hills and houses uphill on the South side of the road. Between I-66 and new construction they are all gone now.
Norman Rockwell eat your heart outDoesn't look at all like a photograph. This looks like a painting, particularly the way the gas station ends up on top of the frame and the road perspective leads into the center.
Two tone Olds in dangerLooks to me like that two tone Oldsmobile directly ahead is in mortal danger.  I recall that the brakes of the time were not altogether that impressive, and there is a bit of ice here and there.
How times have changedWhat I find most striking about this photo is that a family of 3 (4?) could move themselves, with only a large trailer in tow.
Today it takes at least a large rental truck, if not a full-sized moving van (or two). 
We seem to have entirely too much stuff these days (cue George Carlin).
Go South, Young ManYour photograph says to me: Snow all around, you are South-bound: good choice!
The rest of the storyFrom what I can remember, car paint did not hold its shine very long in those days and rust was a big problem.  Our 1950 Dodge (only 6 years old) seemed very old to me as a child.
You're right that side mirrors were not standard in those days.  It truly is amazing that no extended mirrors were required for towing that trailer - or, if they were, we never were stopped for breaking the law.  Many things that are standard today, were once options - even turn signals.
We were a family of FIVE and my mother was pregnant (but we kids did not know that).  A few months earlier my mother had hauled another trailer of family belongings to our new home.  She used our 1956 Plymouth for that trip and took my 5-year-old sister with her.  My father stayed home to work and to watch my other sister and me.
Remarkably sameThese buildings on Lee Highway look very familiar. Old Dominion Cleaners is still around.
Outta Dodge, er, Arlington.I love this color photo, as a product of the 70's myself I was always sure before me everything was black and white.
I really want to take all these cars and put a buffer to them.  I notice the paint is a bit duller, wonder if the old paint had clear coats back then.
Anyone know where this is in town for a contemporary picture?
They don't make them like they used to.I doubt any modern family sedan could pull that load that far. 
Great PhotoMal Fuller is exactly correct about the war-related problems with auto chrome! Also, base coat, clear coat paint started around the mid 1980s I believe, so Simoniz ruled the day! (note: the blurry black car above the green Olds is a 55 Pontiac Chieftain).
Thought it was New EnglandTake away the cars, and you really couldn't tell if it was 1956 if you lived here in New England.  Texaco uses the exact same logo as does Firestone.  The storefronts and the houses in the back would all be right at home here in 2010 New England.
Fluid-DriveThis just proves that if you don't know something's impossible it can be done in spite of it.  That '50 Dodge with its 103 HP 230 cubic inch (3.7 litre) flathead six had all it could do to move itself empty, let alone with a thousand or more pounds added!  Its Fluid-Drive transmission was one of the most inefficient drivetrains extant, with lots of slippage in all ranges.  Maintaining even 50 MPH with that load would have required the pedal to the floorboard constantly with no reserve at all!
Postwar chrome and brakesThe problem with immediate postwar chrome was a lack of nickel for the base coat, which was all being put into jet engines. Fortunately by the time they got around to making my 1951 MG saloon they seem to have sorted it and the chrome is still in excellent condition. Some late-40s MGs had black painted headlights because of the impossibility of chrome plating them.
When I see cars of this period pulling heavy trailers and caravans, I wince. The brakes on my car are (still) awful and I can't believe that they were considered an improvement on pre-war brakes.
On the other hand it was probably still possible to drive long distances at a steady 50 mph without gathering a queue of irate traffic behind.
Second the New England commentOther than the wealth of classic Detroit iron, and the Texaco "banjo" sign (the last of which were phased out by the early '80s, as I recall), this could easily be Danbury, Connecticut, in the '90s, when I lived there.
As for braking power: I wasn't around in '56, but is it possible the trailer had an inertia brake?
Moving to FloridaI was thinking we had my brother's parakeet traveling with us, on this move to Florida.  I'll have to check on this.
Car Paint and RustA picture right out of my childhood, and it seemed to me autos did age a lot more quickly then.  When I reached the age of cognition, my family's 1954 Ford sedan also appeared aged compared to other cars on the road (maybe because automobile styles were rapidly changing in the late 1950s, and definitely because of the quality of auto finishes then, which oxidized quickly and lost their luster without constant waxing and polishing).  JohnZ14's mother certainly was a woman of great fortitude to make the trek to Florida on her own with a 5 year old in tow in the days before interstates, fast food restaurants, and rest areas!  
Not Only Lack of MirrorThe trailer only has one brake light on the driver's side.
I thought I recognized thisI used to live in this neighborhood from 1994 to 2003. Neat to see how it looked 40 years prior to my being there.  Nothing like Kodachrome film too.
They're RegisteredThe most evocative thing is this picture for me is the "Registered Rest Room" sign at the Texaco station.  You could stop with confidence if you saw that.
Mom taking a trailerProps to your mother pulling a trailer with only your little sister with her. My grandmother would have, but my mom nor my wife would ever attempt such a feat.
Downtown CherrydaleThe round-windowed "house" is indeed an old church - St. Agnes, which has moved up a block.  The intersection is essentially the same today, most of the old buildings have been remodeled but are still there.  When it snows you can squint and pretty easily pretend it's the 1950s.
Lee HighwayMuch of Lee Highway still looks as if it's in mid-century time warp. The same can be said for Route 1. It always seems interesting to me that a place of such wealth can have shabby looking main thoroughfares. 
KodachromeComparing timeandagainphoto's very helpful shot with the original makes me yearn once again for that wonderful emulsion!
This is CherrydaleRosslyn is several miles east, across the Potomac from Georgetown. I-66 is a couple of miles from here, and construction did not impact Cherrydale directly. I lived near this intersection of Quincy and Lee Highway/Old Dominion Drive for over 20 years, and it looks strangely much as it did in 1956, as one can see from Google street view.
TrailerNotice the California plate on the trailer. It's been around the block a few times.
The Grapes of Wrathin living color!
+55I figured I'd swing by today and take a shot from the same perspective (below).  It's looking southwest from in front of 2121 N. Quebec Street.  
JohnZ14 - while I was there, I thought your car may have been parked in next to or across the street from your house or that of your grandfather, so I took shots of those in case you were interested to see what they looked like today (they appear to be old enough to have been around then). The brown house is 2120 (just out of the frame behind and to the right of the trailer) and the grey house is 2121 (directly behind the photographer).
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses)

Kodachrome Living Room: 1955
... with his Lordox camera, possibly preparing to fire off the Kodachrome. Thank you Thanks again, tterrace. Even a Mississippi "girl" ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 4:11pm -

December 17, 1955. Tony W.'s baby shower photo, with the fireplace and shelves full of photos, books and bric-a-brac, was so exceedingly redolent of 1950s living rooms in general, and ours in particular, that I couldn't stand it, so I dug this one out, showing our fireplace and shelves full of our photos, books and bric-a-brac. That's my sister, with her future husband on the right, and my godmother's son on the left. That's him in Army uniform in the photo on the shelf above. My brother, bless him, wrote the actual date on the slide mount, but we can tell it's near Christmas by my sister's home-made angel ornament hanging in the niche as well as the box of tree ornaments in the lower right foreground. Another point of interest is the candle burning at the extreme left. It's functional, not ornamental; this was taken during a power outage occasioned by the record Northern California December 1955 storms. Also on the table next to the candle is my sister's Kodak Duaflex camera with flash attachment. View full size.
Larkspur, huh?Very nice. I live in Santa Rosa and recognize a lot of the
geography in your posts.   
Happy AnniversaryI'm glad to see a tterrace post today. I've enjoyed all your photos for the past year!  Looking forward to year two!
Tempus fugitTo think that these three are all in their seventies now ... Whoosh. Blink and you're old!
Great KnickknacksOn the bookcase shelf to the right is a wonderful 1920's solid blue marbled McCoy "Onyx" line vase.  Left bookcase has what looks to be an early 1900's German papier mache Easter rabbit. This decor hung around into the late 1960's in my neck of the woods. 
Tempus Fugit, indeedIt is an amazing trick of nature -- everyone around you gets older, but you don't "feel" older except when mirrors are involved. That's a great picture just because of the reality of the setting; the imperfections are its strong points.
Ahead of the curveWas your sister's hairstyle popular in the mid-50s? It looks like more of a mid/late-60s cut to me. Very cute and modern.
Thank you also for all of your contributions here. It's really nice of you to share all these great photos with us and I know everyone here appreciates it even if they don't get the time to comment.
SisWas quite the gamine. Carolyn Jones!
Pixie pixThe short hairstyle seen in this photo was called a pixie cut. It was indeed common and popular in the 1950's.
Okay, I'll bite.Why was the fireplace full of photos?
Beautiful Message...about growing old.  Well dagnabbit, I forgot what it was.
My favorite thing about this pictureMr. Left is wearing pink argyle socks, and totally owning it.  Some things, like men in Oxford shirts with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, never go out of fashion.  And thank goodness for it.  I love the decorative detritus over Argyle's shoulder: sea shells and a bunny statue.  Why not?
Middle Middle to Upper MiddleI kind of wonder if any of the people in these Northern California homes would have ever had a clue that someday their smallish middle class houses would eventually become extremely expensive and basically unaffordable to most everyone except those in the upper middle class. 
A la AudreyI think it was Audrey Hepburn who popularized the "pixie cut" when she had her long tresses shorn in "Roman Holiday," just a year or two before this photo was taken. I think it was (and is) illegal to refer to either Audrey or the hairstyle without using the adjective "gamine."
Details, detailsFirst of all I want to congratulate Mal Fuller on making exactly the same kind of comment I would have under the circumstances. Sister's previous hairdos can be seen in two photos on the top shelf to the right. As often as I've studied this photo, I never noticed Alfred's argyle socks before. By a strange twist of fate, late last year I bought a pair exactly like those, giving into a long hankering to revisit my own clothing styles of a half-century previous. The rabbit is indeed papier maché, and is towing a cart in which has been placed a more recent vintage sugar Easter egg, one of those with hole in the end to view a little scene inside. My folks bought the house in 1941 for $3000; my mother sold it in 1987 for $189,000, and it sold again a couple years ago for $1.5 million. Below, the 2-1/4 square Anscochrome transparency my sister took of this scene with her Duaflex, showing my brother fiddling with his Lordox camera, possibly preparing to fire off the Kodachrome.
Thank youThanks again, tterrace. Even a Mississippi "girl" can relate to photos of the era. I wore white at my Confirmation and we used to gather in the living room just like your family when the lights go out. 
Kathy
Please tell me how to zoomPlease tell me how to zoom in on all the details of the
in photo of interest on this site. I know there must
be a way ... the comments tell me I am missing much. Thank You.
[Clicking any of the the "View full size" links under the photo should do it. There's at least one "View full size" link in each post; usually there are two. Three if it's offered as a print. - Dave]
What town is this?Where is Northern California is this house?
[As practically everyone knows, Larkspur. Idyllic Larkspur. - Dave]
Not clever title. Amazingly well lit.How was this scene lit if the power was off? No shadows. Certainly not the candle. After looking again, maybe a bright, on-camera flash that not many would have had in 1955. And looking even more closely at the full-sized photo I can see shadow from flash above and to the left of the lens. Surprising still that the foreground is not blown out, but I'm not a flash photographer.
Was that the same storm that caused flooding? I remember that in both 1955 and 1957, serious flooding hit. In the 1957 storm several houses slid in our town. Cut and fill up hillsides.
[You can see my brother's camera and flash attachment here. The papers in the immediate lower-right foreground are mostly blown out but I toned them down in Photoshop. And this was the winter 1955-6 storm that flooded our Russian River summer house in Guernewood. -tterrace]
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)

Carr Fork Canyon: 1942
... Mine, Utah. Carr Fork Canyon as seen from the 'G' Bridge." Kodachrome by Andreas Feininger for the office of War Information. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/29/2023 - 7:29pm -

November 1942. "Bingham Copper Mine, Utah. Carr Fork Canyon as seen from the 'G' Bridge." Kodachrome by Andreas Feininger for the office of War Information. View full size.
shorpy.com SponsorshipGood to see that shorpy.com was already sponsoring all those copper digs and the bridges which spanned the area. Impressive advertising. :)
Shorpy's bridgeHe was a regular little industrialist, that kid.
Carr Fork Canyon: 1942wow! In a strange way, it's almost beautiful.
carr fork canyonthis is one of the most beautiful photos I've ever seen.
carr fork canyonBeautiful photo
Just a great picture.Just a great picture.
PhotographerThose who follow photography recognize Andreas Feininger as one of the premier photographers of the era... It is Andreas's sense of composition and exposure that makes this arresting image...  You can be sure that he climbed all over that slope in freezing weather carrying a heavy 4x5 camera and tripod, looking for 'the' shot...
denny - old photographer
Bingham Canyon MineI used to work there. It is an open pit mine and as you can imagine it has grown quite a bit since this photo was taken. The mine just celebrated its 100 year anniversary in 2004. It still holds the record for the largest man made excavation. That entire canyon is now part of the open pit and no longer exists. I have a CD with about 500 photos of this particular mine on it. Steam shovels steam engines and all.
I lived here in the 1950sMy family of 12 were born and grew up here. Our neighborhood was called "Dinkeyville" and it was a wonderful enchanted hometown.  In the winter we went sledding in those canyons  -- in the summertime we went exploring and hiking and playing with our friends.  They have a reunion in August for all who want to share photos and memories, at Copperton Park on August 21 in Copperton, Utah. Here are a few photos, and us as little kids.
Love these old photosI heard a lot about Bingham Canyon growing up.  My mother was Athena Spetsas, a daughter of a Greek immigrant.  It's nice to see pictures to go with the stories I have heard, especially since most of the area has now been mined out.
A Fiddly NoteThat "View of Bingham's main street in 1946" in the comment below must be from a bit later; there are a several late '40s-early '50s cars in it, and the light car facing us in the center of the picture has a 1955 Ford-ish air about it, although it's hard to be sure.
So cold!What a great rendition of a cool winter morning. I shiver just looking at it!
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Andreas Feininger, Mining)

Traveleze: 1959
This 35mm Kodachrome found in a thrift store is dated August 1959 and bears the notation ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/03/2012 - 5:57pm -

This 35mm Kodachrome found in a thrift store is dated August 1959 and bears the notation "Jim, Bristlecone." The color-coordinated Chevrolet truck and Traveleze trailer are a nice late-Fifties touch. View full size.
Classic Forest  ServiceClassic pickup. Classic trailer. Jim looks pretty classic, too, even classy for livin' in the woods all summer. All in minty green. I feel like I'm 4 years old all over again and staring out the open window of an unairconditioned '60 Chevy Bel Air on a two-lane road out West.
GreenIt appears Jim is member of the US Forest service according to the lettering on the truck. The Traveleze is probably his "ranger" cabin!
USFS truckThe Chevrolet half-ton pickup (called Apaches in 1958-59) belonged to the US Forest Service, part of the US Department of Agriculture.  USFS trucks have been their own particular shade of green for many years, but I can't recall them ever having been two-toned.  Would be interesting to learn whether the USFS commissioned matching travel trailers; can any Shorpyites confirm? (edit: Thank you DougR for the confirmation of two-toned USFS trucks!)
Unchanged after all these yearsForest Service Green
Found in thrift storeI this where I can expect all my photos to end up? and then find them here on Shorpy?
Where's Timmy?I almost expect to see Lassie bounding in to lead him to Timmy, who's gotten himself into another predicament.
I love this site.Where else could one stumble on something like this, nicely blown up for close viewing? I drove one of these pickups up in the Colorado Rockies with the Forest Service for two summers back in the mid '60s. Four on the floor (with a super-low stump-yanker first gear, good only for hauling heavy loads up 4% grades--most of the time you started in 2nd if you wanted to make progress), and yes, mine was two-tone as well. The rest of the stable included a '58 Ford F100, also two tone, and a couple of shiny new Dodge Ram V8s that were all-green, and two Jeeps, a Wagoneer and a CJ5. It was a joy and a privilege to motor around in such a beautiful mountain setting (much like in this shot) in such a cool vehicle. Thanks for the memory!
Civilization Nearby...Jim can't be too far off the beaten track. It looks like there is a telephone line connected to his trailer.
Not BristleconesThese are  not Bristlecone Pines in the background. They look to be some kind of fir. And this does not look like the area where the pines grow above Bishop Calif. Although he could be lower on the mountain. Bristlecones also grow in Utah, Nevada as well as eastern California. There are also similar, but not as ancient, Foxtail pines. But these trees don't appear to be foxtails either. Has anyone been able to see what state the license plates are from? This could be a "Bristlecone camp" in some other area entirely.
[It's a U.S. Government license plate. - tterrace]
BristleconeAssuming "Bristlecone" refers to the Bristlecone pine forest east of Bishop, Calif high up in the mountains along the Nevada border. The oldest trees in the world.. so they say. Been there, seen that.
Side mirrors?Relative youngster here as I wasn't even born when this pickup was made.  But I notice two side mirrors on the truck - one high, one low - both circular.  Was this common back in the day?
Ask the man who owns one!Except for the gentleman pictured being in uniform and the truck having government plates and identification on the doors, this could be straight out of a period magazine ad for the truck. ...Or the trailer.
U.S. Forest Service TravelezeThe U.S. Forest service did have "Traveleze" trailers. I have photos of the exact same trailer with date code and number of units.
FS "Gray & Green"When I joined the Forest Service in 1978, we had a few of these old vehicles with the light gray cab roofs in the parking lot, which the old-timers called "green & grays".  
This paint scheme came on all vehicles that the FS owned, but after the General Services Administration (GSA) took over all Government vehicle fleet management, all FS vehicles were the same color for a while.  Yes, that weird minty "green like no other green" color.
By the 1980's the GSA provided rigs in all commercial colors, for cost savings.
(ShorpyBlog, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses)

Happy Halloween: 1958
... with your understudy! Our fourth selection from a batch of Kodachrome slides found on eBay. View full size. 1950's TV ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/31/2023 - 1:02pm -

October 1958, somewhere in Pennsylvania. Big brother is ready for a night of trick-or-treating. Rob from the rich, and share with your understudy! Our fourth selection from a batch of Kodachrome slides found on eBay. View full size.
1950's TV MemoriesFirst we were told we had to sit at least five feet away from the screen or we would contract radiation sickness.  There were pieces of filmy plastic one could purchase in transparent colors like green and yellow to instantly turn a black and white into a color TV (whatever color the plastic was).  There was often nothing on in small towns in the hills that could receive only one or two channels, except a test pattern, but we would watch it anyway. At  some time during the life of everyone's TV, there would be a failure of the "vertical/horizontal" knob which would cause the picture to continuously flip and STILL we would watch it.  I remember my amazement of seeing the coronation of Queen Elizabeth taking place in Great Britain, in my own home in a small town in Ct.  That was truly a miracle to me.  Needless to say, I now find Skype absolute magic.  We can only speculate at what is coming next.   
Costumes by Irwin Mainway no doubt.We all wore them back then, and most of us survived.
LegsWhen those kind of legs started showing up I thought they made otherwise nice furniture look chintzy.
Place Your BetsGuess how long after exiting the house before Mom or Dad  was carrying Robin's: bow, treat bag, younger brother.
Safety panel on TVI notice that the parents of Robin Hood and Wonder Bread opted for the transparent safety panel in front of the picture tube of the TV.  When my older brother and I, as young adults, removed the defunct TV component from our parents’ massive wooden hi-fi cabinetry (to create extra storage space), we took the TV - with safety screen attached – to a local dumpster so we could toss it from a high place and watch it explode.  Far from breaking, the TV hit the bottom of the dumpster and bounced back up about five feet.  Like much else back then, those things were tough.
[That "safety panel" is a glare shield. - Dave]
Technical Aspects AsideThat RCA simply cries out for a pair of rabbit ears.
Safety glassThe glass screen cover wasn't an option or a glare shield, though many of them were tinted to increase the contrast.
It was there to protect the unbonded picture tube from being hit and imploding, thereby causing serious injury.
It's Its other function was to contain the flying glass should the tube implode for some other reason.
Pretty much every set from 1946 till 1960 or so had a safety glass.
Sets starting in the early 60's either had the safety glass bonded directly to the face of the CRT or they were banded to contain the glass in the event of implosion, after that the extra glass in front of the screen was not needed.
My User Name will explain why I know this stuff.
[The outer flat panel, made of safety glass, was designed to reduce glare and ambient reflections. Hence names like "Glare-Guard." (And something that implodes doesn't pose much of a risk to anyone unless they're inside the picture tube.) - Dave]

The family's pride and joy on displayThe family is obviously proud of their kids, but they are also showing off their new 21" color TV.  In 1958, color TV was still quite a rarity in the home, since RCA introduced their first color set, the 15" CT100, in 1954.
[That's not a color TV. - Dave]
[RCA used a similar cabinet for black-and-white sets and the one in our photo most closely resembles the 1956 Glenwood 21 Deluxe in several details. Also, the screen mask isn't quite the same shape as those used for the round color tubes. - tterrace]
The TVForget the creepy John Wayne Gacy meets Wonderbread and store bought Robin Hood costumes. Yuck. That TV is the star of this scene. I can see it is RCA Victor at the top. I think it is black and white because the color sets of that era had a round sided picture tube. Only the b&w sets had a more squared green shape. I can see somebody has been going overboard on the Lemon Pledge. This family loved that set.
I also can't read the script strip at the bottom of the speaker. It might be a remote control or other advertising slogan, not the model name.
[It's the "eluxe" part of "Deluxe," the "D" having broken off. - tterrace]
Winky DinkThe comments about the safety cover remind me of the vinyl screen you got so you could draw on the screen while watching  Winky Dink. I think it was so you could draw paths to help him escape from some plot or another.
I can smell that TV from hereThere were nearly 20 tubes in that thing, warming up the room and lending a faint smell of roasting dust and melting wax capacitors. 
Our kids will never know the joy of watching the picture dwindle to a shrinking white rectangle, then a little bright white spot in the middle of the screen when the set was turned off. 
Smell-a-VisionNixibunny. My very first thought was the smell that the television would emit. Your description is perfect. I might also add the sounds it would make as it warmed up as well.
Those hidden control knobsIf I'm not mistaken, that center panel below the screen opened (downward, I believe) to reveal all those little knobs we kids were not supposed to touch like the vertical, horizontal, contrast,and brightness.  Without rabbit ears they probably had a 75 ohm lead up to the roof antenna.  Eventually Dad would get real sophisticated and install a "tenna rotor" device that would rotate the roof antenna with just a twist of the dial that sat on top of the TV!
Warming up the TVMy 30-something children don't know whether to believe me when I tell them that TVs of the era needed a few minutes to "warm up" before the picture appeared and came into focus. Also, they seem skeptical when I tell them that TV stations played the National Anthem and signed off for the night around midnight. And that if you turned on the TV early the next morning, you were likely to see nothing but a test pattern, which usually included a Native American in a headdress. 
Is it just me? So I'm the only one interested in the costumes and not the TV set? LOL.
Robin Hood is store bought but the clown looks like it could be homemade. I'd love to know what sewing machine was used and if it was a hand-me-down from Big Brother.  Was the material purchased only for this costume or did Mom have a matching apron? 
A picture says a thousand words but I'd like a few more in this case!
And speaking of explanations, can anybody describe the candy that went into that bag?  Was anything individually wrapped back then?  Could you get "fun size"? 
Is little sister dressed as a clown,or a loaf of Wonder Bread?
Kid picture!Is it just me, or did every American have a picture of their kids in that exact same frame? We had one of me holding the cat named Nameless. I was 8 in 1958.
Sorry, we had a 190inch Zenith (or was it Admiral?) in a black metal case with the speaker and controls on the side ... sitting on a wrought iron swivel stand. In the den downstairs, not the living room. I wasn't going to mention the TV, too late now.
This photo reminds methat I closed on the house in which I live now on October 31, aka Halloween.  No ghosts or goblins to speak of ... because they told me to keep my mouth shut.
VIPs didn't wait for warm up.Waiting for the old tube type TVs to warm up was a problem of the hoi polloi.
Presidents of the U.S. had better things to do than to wait for the many White House TVs to stabilize as they flitted around the various work areas (Richard Milhous Nixon was particularly irked by this) so their TVs were rewired so the tube filaments/heaters were on a separate circuit that was on all the time and was only shut off if a set wasn't expected to be used for an extended period.
When they entered a room and powered on a TV (usually with the switch at the lower end of the volume control knob rotation range), it sprang to (stable) life almost instantly as it merely had to turn on the B+, grid and flyback etc. voltages.
Maybe not so surprisingly, it was found that this didn't particularly cause the tubes to burn out that much more quickly as it eliminated many of the on-off thermal shocks that were the bane of tube filament life, which was in turn responsible for most sudden tube failures.
Solid state electronics brought instant TV warm up to the masses, but things seem to be regressing as we now have to wait for interconnected everythings to boot up and connect to the mothership. 
_etachedThere's a running joke about how many of this era RCA sets have the D broken off the Deluxe script, possibly snagged by dust rags. It's so common that there were reproduction scripts made. This photo proves it started very early on. 
B/W vs ColorMy grandfather refused to give up the first TV he purchased in about 1955, maybe 1956.  It was a black and white, only thing he could get then.  When color came out, he saw no reason to have one.  I don't believe he was being cheap, contrary to what my mother thought.  He finally ended up with a color TV when my mother bought one, set it up, and took his black and white away.  My grandmother loved the new color set, so my grandfather lost out.
And I think I have a lot of my grandfather in me.  No, I don't have a black and white TV, but, I much prefer the old black and white photos on this website than any of the original color ones.  I will admit, though, that this one has to be one the best black and white color combos on the site:  https://www.shorpy.com/node/25954.
Wracking my brainKathyRo, I came along a few years after this photo, but I don't really remember any fun size candy bars, and folks I knew were definitely not springing for full size candy bars. We generally got several pieces of small, individually wrapped candy. The ones I remember were hard candy, Smarties, Dum Dum and Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Rolls, and the dreaded Peanut Butter Kisses. If folks had a good year, you would get a box of Good N Plenty, Milk Duds or Boston Baked Beans. Finally, you might get a homemade treat like cookies, which were good, or popcorn balls, which always seemed to me to be made from leftovers from last month's movie nights. This is what I remember in my town - other areas might be different.
OMNISCIENTDave, how do you know everything? 
[Deitization. - Dave]
Re: Kid Picture! -> Happy's StoryWhile it's not 100% the same, and it definitely came later, I still have a picture frame (rounded, not squared, insets, the difference) just like that one in my office at home.
Of course, the office used to be my bedroom, when I moved into the house at 2 years old in 1968, before moving into the larger, side bedroom when my sister got married in 1978, before moving out back in 1992; I've just moved back into the home after inheriting it in 2016 with my parents passing.
The picture has NEVER had a child in it, instead, taken in said 1968, it has the picture of a dog, blown up from an old photograph taken at Christmas 1968.  Said dog, "Happy," was a good girl, as little as I can remember of her from life, who somehow, even though she was probably only three or at most four at the time (she was a street rescue in 1963), knew my mom was pregnant with me prior to her giving birth and was my mom's constant companion during her (tough) pregnancy (my mom ended up with a classic Near Death Experience which I've only just talked with my wife of 27 years about last week at the end, to explain how tough it was).  Happy was, by all reports, devoted to me.
In August, 1970, while walking through the under construction neighborhood around the corner from our home, I was walking/toddling in the road, while my parents and older sister walked in the grass.   Happy was concerned, and kept trying to grab me and pull me onto the grass.  A car came around the corner, driven by a newly licensed teenager arguing with a friend at too high a speed, not seeing the child in the road.  Happy switched to pushing instead of pulling and pushed me out of the path of the car.  My father carried her dying body back to our house; she died on the way home, only a block away, and we ended up burying her in the back yard.  My father disliked being on that road for the rest of his life, and would go the long way if possible to avoid it when we had to go into that area.
My father loved dogs, but the only portrait he ever had of a dog of his was Happy (he did, admittedly, have lots of just photographs of other dogs), which had pride of place on his dresser from 1970 until 2016, when I inherited it.  I have been told by a few so-called psychics who don't know this story that I have a guardian angel, always with me, a small-medium black and white dog (yes, a good description of Happy).  Over the years, I've only met one dog, no matter how vicious or "Guard Dog"ish, who didn't warm up to me within minutes of meeting me (the one exception was psychotic, and ended up needing to be put down, and even that dog was generally friendlier with me even than his owner, and no, it was a Cocker Spaniel), and I thank her for that.  She'll have pride of place in my home for as long as I live, just as she did in my fathers, still in that frame.
Re: WrackingThe prime stuff in the loot bag were chocolate bars, smaller than the full-size bars that cost a dime and still smaller than the nickel versions, but larger than the mini-bars of today.  Many Hallowe’en kisses, which was taffy of an indeterminate brown/gray color, and which seemed lame at the time but are for me, now, at the top of the nostalgia list.  There were hard candies, too, either individually wrapped or a mini LifeSavers tube, far too many suckers, caramels, definitely Tootsie Pops and Tootsie Rolls, small bags of assorted squishy things or jelly beans, then loose stuff like apples or peanuts in the shell, thrown in by the handful.  I don’t think there were mini bags of chips back then in the sixties.  As for the apples, I didn’t eat them like treats because they weren’t treats, they were food, so I gave them straight to my mom who used them for lunches or desserts.
(ShorpyBlog, Halloween, Kids, Pa. Kodachromes)

Wisdom, Montana: 1942
... Big Hole Basin, a trading center in ranching country." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/03/2023 - 1:14pm -

April 1942. "Baker's Garage in Wisdom, Montana. Largest town, population 385, in the Big Hole Basin, a trading center in ranching country." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Superb quality!The quality of this photograph is amazing. It looks like it was taken today. Do you have any more information on it?
Wisdom MTGoogle Maps link.
WisdomGreat photo. Thanks. The last remaining inhabitants eventually changed the name to "Boredom, Montana."
Towns like thisTowns like this are a staple of western North America. In western Canada, their existence was justified by the railway and farmers hauling grain to their local elevators. Later they survived when the highway became the big thing and people stopped for gas or a little food on the road. There's probably a bar that the locals go to. Town's got a school maybe even a high school, and probably more than one church. There's a ball field and, in just about every prairie town in Canada though of course not the USA, a curling rink. In Saskatchewan they used to say that if you lived in a town that lost the school and the curling rink you might as well start looking for a place in Saskatoon or Regina.
PennzoilThe Pennzoil logo hasn't changed much:

WidsomIt looks like it's on the edge of a river valley? The colors in this shot are indeed amazing. I love the punch of the red gas pumps.
[It's west of Butte. - Dave]

CalsoWhat does it say on the sign leaning against the wall, underneath "Calso Gasoline"?  Is that "Unsurcharged"?  No extra fees?
["Unsurpassed." - Dave]
Eternal WisdomUnderneath "Unsurpassed" on the Calso sign you have "The California Company"
I found a modern picture of this place online:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4494303
Aside from the paved road, this place looks much the same. I don't think they sell Chevron or Mobil at those buildings anymore. Baker's Garage is now Conover's Trading Post. The painted Wisdom has long since faded from the old metal roof.
The GarageI was raised and went to school in wisdom and Bakers Garage is not next to Ed Glassey's garage (The building with Wisdom on the top). Baker's Garage was across the street from Glasseys Garage (Looks like maybe they used photoshop to alter the photo) ..
I moved to Wisdom in 1959 so if the photo is from 1942 maybe they moved the Building??
[The image, which is part of the Library of Congress photographic archive, has not been altered. It's one of more than 50 pictures of Wisdom taken by John Vachon in April 1942. Things can change a lot in 20 years.  - Dave]

Baker's Garage in WisdomI am a Wisdom native too.
In talking to my dad. Bruce Helming, who is the oldest native still living in Wisdom, it turns out that Anna Lee and Roy Baker did own a shop across the street from the garage that you know as Baker's, which is now the Wisdom Market. It was the Chet Bruns Union 76 Garage back in the old days.  Anna Lee was my dad's first cousin. Dad's folks adopted her when her parents died in the 1920s, and she was raised as Anna Lee Helming in Wisdom.  
My grandparents' (and later Dad's) business, Helming Brothers, bought out Chet Bruns' operation in the 1950s, which is when Anna Lee and Roy moved to the garage that you know now. The buildings shown in the photo were destroyed in the American Legion hall fire.  I would guess that was in the early 50s, which is when all of the cemetery records were destroyed.
Wisdom had no real fire department until 1961, so when a blaze was raging out of control, it was extinguished by placing dynamite in a loaf of bread and tossing it into the fire.  The night the Legion hall and all of these other buildings burned, Dad and his uncle, Clarence Helming, were bringing the fire pumper to the scene.  Just as they rounded the corner, "Boom," no more fire (and no more buildings).
Gary Helming
Helming@juno.com
Pictures of Wisdom, MontanaI enjoyed looking at the old pictures of Wisdom and reading the text about them. I grew up near a small town (Gladstone, VA) and have always been kind of partial to them. I love looking at old pictures like these. Thank you for posting them.
The Wisdom of YouthThis town holds a place in my heart. I spent most of my youth in Wisdom, from 1975 to 1990.  The town hasn't changed a lot since I left, but has gotten smaller.  When I started at Wisdom Elementary there were four classrooms. By the time I graduated to high school they were down to three. I hear there is only one class there now.  For high school we were bused 65 miles to the Dillon, one of only two high schools in the county.
It was an amazing place to grow up.  Though everyone knew your business, everyone kept an eye out for you.  We had two bars that all the kids hung out in and played pool.  There were street dances for the Fourth of July and any other occasion. There were two restaurants, one of which burned down last week.  
It is hard to describe the life that a kid in a town this small would lead.  The concept just doesn't make sense to city folk.   But it was an amazing carefree life of swimming under the bridge, ice skating at the pond, nights of kick the can in the Forest Service field, greetings from the town's pet deer and raccoons.  
If it were possible to have the kind of lifestyle I have now in the city, I would move back to raise my child there in a heartbeat.
Having lived near Wisdom for many yearsduring the summer-time, I can almost see the buildings.  We haven't lived in Jackson for 20 years but the previous 8 years were spent on the Hairpin Ranch in a line shack about 5 miles past the main ranch, in the middle of nowhere.  I loved EVERY minute of it.  We traveled to Wisdom for dinner some days or just when the kids wanted to take a ride.  It was a short 20 mile drive.  Would move back in a New York minute.
Early pioneers of the Big HoleI'm looking for any pictures or info of the early Wisdom families prior to 1930. I have an old school picture dated 1914/15 and would love to have someone help identify the children. Both sides of my family, the Elliott's and Scollicks were early settlers there. The old dilapidated log cabin on the south end of the Ruby near Butler Creek is the Scollick homestead and the Elliott log cabin is on Gibbonsville road. I believe my Aunt Eve Scollick might have married a Ferguson in the Wisdom area. There's a picture hanging at the Crossing/Fetties with several people on horses. Anyone that can help identify them as well would be great.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Rural America, WW2)

Kodachrome Cake Mix: 1952
A mad clash of colors and styles in this vintage Kodachrome; I love it all, but not all in the same room. It's one side of a ... and I swear it had the same print as that wallpaper. Kodachrome is my friend Being colorblind, I don't always get to see the ... 
 
Posted by Vintagetvs - 12/05/2016 - 3:37pm -

A mad clash of colors and styles in this vintage Kodachrome; I love it all, but not all in the same room. It's one side of a mounted 3-D pair from a collection found in a thrift store. I'm fairly certain the woman making the cake is the mother of the young boy behind the table, but I'm not sure of the others. View full size.
House beautiful?That wallpaper is burning my retinas!
Panty HoseI love the rolled-down pantyhose on the cake maker.
[Those are nylon stockings. Pantyhose didn't exist until 1959. -tterrace]
Point taken.  Still fun to see.
It hurts my ears!The colors in this photo are triggering an undiagnosed form of synesthesia.
MemoriesThis brings back the best memories of spending time in the kitchen as a child.  Thanks for sharing this.
Pinwheel SandwichesShe's not baking a cake, she's making pinwheel sandwiches.  I used to watch my mom do that in the 1950's.  Loaves of bread sliced lengthwise, spread with a cream cheese concoction or pimento, rolled up and sliced.  The lady doing the spreading with the rolled down hose looks a bit on the older side and more like an aunt or grandma, rather than the boy's mom. 
Polychrome KitchenThis lady makes the Tuttles and their friends look like a bunch of Bauhaus minimalists.
Collectible PyrexAs an antique shop owner, I can sell the set of Pyrex mixing bowls all day long! Here we have, I believe, three of the four--the smallest blue, elusive red, and second largest teal green. Largest bowl in the set is yellow, but since this yellow one is smaller than the teal, I'd say this particular bowl is from a different set. What a memory jogger! Things definitely weren't "matchy-match" back then.
Those Pyrex mixing bowls!I have the complete set, in perfect condition, due to my mother's diligence in caring for them. The largest one, yellow, was used for Christmas cookies. The smallest one, blue, ended up being used to make frosting. I think she usually made meat loaf in the green one, and no idea what she used the red one for. They all nest together so nicely.
The Wallpaper!I too have my grandmother's bowl set. But get a load of that wallpaper!
No beaters to lick???The yellow bowl is ridged and yellow on the inside and doesn't belong to the set. As the others are Pyrex White on the inside. Beautiful picture.
Counting CookiesI have the red bowl. When I was a kid, we always used it for leftovers. The yellow bowl was the cookie mix bowl. I was barely 10 years old when my assigned Sunday chore was to bake enough cookies for the week. Double batches of chocolate chip, oatmeal, or peanut butter. My mom counted the cookies after I made them and woe betide the kid who took an extra cookie! My dad would leave notes in the cookie jar saying he had taken two cookies so we would not be punished!
A Visual DelightThe curtains, the wallpaper, the tablecloth, the aprons, Granny's dress and the Cut Rite wax paper -- it doesn't get better than this. Thank you for this visual smorgasbord!!
Color color everywhere!Those curtains...I'd kill for those curtains.  And that wallpaper.  And the flooring. Look at the Native American head on the tablecloth!  It is so hard to gauge ages of people in these photos, while I feel like both the women are elderly, in reality they are probably not.  Whatever was going on that day, everyone was dressed up.  Party time!!
RelativesI think the three kids are siblings. Their mother is mixing the cake, and that's Grandma (the mother-in-law of the baker) between the two girls. The girls are obviously sisters (look at their socks), and the boy sitting next to one of the girls looks like her. The other girl looks just like Grandma. It's even possible that the baker is the other grandmother - but women looked old faster in those days, so she could be the mom. Interesting picture!
Mercy!This is one of those times when "black and white" film would have been a mercy!
These women are Grandmasthe mother of the children would have been much younger. Mother used the yellow bowl for cookie baking too. Yesterday at a thrift store I saw a set of 3 nesting Pyrex, all uniformly badly discolored yellow outside. Clear "Pyrex" embossing and classic white inside. What could have happened to the outside finish?
Grandma's StockingsI was 4 years old in 1952, and remember that my grandma used to roll her nylon stockings down too. I don't know why but one day I asked her why she did this. She told me that nylon stockings were expensive, and that she would roll them down to "protect" them from rips and runs while she was doing housework. If someone came to the door, she would disappear briefly and roll them up, so that she would appear properly dressed to receive visitors.
GrandmaI would bet money that the older woman in the photo is about my age now (67) or maybe just a little older.  Here I sit in my jeans, fleece and athletic shoes.  Grandmas back then all had the same "sensible" black laceup shoes, and never, ever wore pants.  I miss a lot of that era, but I'm sure glad I don't have to dress like that!  
CurtainsWe had plastic curtains in our family room but they were textured and had a splattered modern art look to them. A friend gave me a set of these bowls that he picked up cheap at a Florida garage sale. Pyrex should make this type of bowl today.
ThermosIn the '50s and '60s, my dad took a Thermos of hot coffee with him every morning in his flight bag and I swear it had the same print as that wallpaper. 
Kodachrome is my friendBeing colorblind, I don't always get to see the vibrant colors that most other folks do in daily life, but Kodachrome helps!  I'm sure I'm not seeing what others are seeing exactly in these vintage Kodachrome slides but I appreciate the opportunity to see something truly colorful, such that it is to me, so thank you!
The dreaded "sandwich loaf"?Someone suggested pinwheel sandwiches - another possibility is that she's making a sandwich loaf. My mother made these for "special occasions," and as kid they struck me as the height of grown-up party food. She had to get the supermarket bakery to slice a loaf of bread horizontally. Mom's layers were egg salad, deviled ham, pimiento cheese, butter and jam. The whole mess was "frosted" with a cream cheese mixture.
What a picture!The linoleum looks like a 1930s pattern; "Thermos", you're exactly right about the wallpaper/thermos match. One of my favorite things to do as a 4 year old was to "help" my grandma put on her round elastic garters over her "stockins" every morning.  She passed in 1987, at age 87, and never wore trousers in her entire life.  Dishwashers are the ruination of many vintage Pyrex bowls.  That is the end of my memory dump.
Blue BowlWe had (have) a set of those blue and red mixing bowls from that era.  Our blue one got "compromised" for a while in early 1951 when it was the nearest convenient thing to quickly dump a shattered bottle of black shoe polish into before the floor/carpet got badly stained!  I well recall scraping the remnants of some caramel frosting out of the red one while watching the 1956 election returns.
Enjoy them, then mourn.I loved the Pyrex set, found them at a second-hand store in the early 80's,then from daily use, broke everything but the middle red and the tiny blue bowl.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

Kodachrome Vegas: 1958
Classic Las Vegas -- Fremont Street. 35mm Kodachrome film taken by my father-in-law, Woodrow Humphries. I'm guessing 1958 ... And parked at the curb at left, a 1958 Rambler. Neon Kodachrome A beautiful photo. I love the colors. The 'CLUB' sign in the ... 
 
Posted by Deborah - 01/16/2013 - 7:57pm -

Classic Las Vegas -- Fremont Street. 35mm Kodachrome film taken by my father-in-law, Woodrow Humphries. I'm guessing 1958 or so. The Westerner was open from 1950 to 1962. The Mint and The Boulder Club (with its famous sign) are on the right edge. The marquee above the Nevada Club was a late-'50s addition. Any other thoughts are welcome. I just noticed the VW Beetle! View full size.
KudosAmazing photo. Car is the foreground is a 1958 Chevrolet.
Kudos tooAnd parked at the curb at left, a 1958 Rambler.
Neon KodachromeA beautiful photo. I love the colors.  The 'CLUB' sign in the upper left corner has a curious appearance of neon green outlines at only the outermost points on the illuminated letters.  A neat effect from however Kodachrome reacts to the combination of incandescent and neon lighting.
Is that a searchlight in front of the Nevada Club?
[The much-brighter incandescents are blown out (grossly over-exposed) either on the film or, more likely, the scan, thus bleeding over and obscuring the neon outlines. Film still has the edge over digital in dynamic range. - tterrace]
Union PacificSeeing the Union Pacific depot at the far end of the street reminds me of riding the train.  During the 50's my family would ride the Challenger from the East LA station to North Platte, Nebraska to visit relatives.  When we stopped in Las Vegas, late at night. I would step off the train and watch the lights of Fremont Street while my dad had a cigarette.  Thanks for the memory.
Stunning Image!Kodachrome and Vegas neon; what a combination!
There's something about the way Kodachrome reacted to and rendered green that is always eye-catching, but this is just amazing.
I wonder if they still make Cibachrome prints?!??! I'll take this in a 24" x 36", gloss lammed, on black Gator Board, please.
Nice to see Vegasbefore it got gaudy.
Henderson Home NewsHere's a newspaper that shows the exact same headliners at the Nevada Club from August 20, 1959.
Music music musicI see the Hilltoppers  headlining the marquee, and their site lists them as being active from 1952 to 1957, so pretty good chance this is 1958.
Tuesday NightsYou might get the feel of this place and time watching the new CBS show "Vegas".
Car guy's eyeI noticed the '58 Rambler and '58 Chevy first thing. My first car was a '58 Rambler, a gift from my parents, well-used by the time I got it. It had its good points, but style was not one of them. The Chevy came from another universe; a universe where things were beautiful.
Visiting the old Golden NuggetWhat a beautiful picture this is of the old downtown Vegas. I used to love visiting the old Golden Nugget years back. I loved the old downtown area when I was a young kid. My folks used to let us see downtown as we drove through Vegas to visit with my godfather who lived just outside of downtown. I later gambled and usually ate at the Golden Nugget casino there on visits in the early 70's. I loved the howdy pardner sign down the street. I remember when Glenn Manning who was the giant man from the "The Amazing Colossal Mant" movie, tore down the frontier and howdy partner sign on the set for the movie.
Fremont StreetI was on Fremont Street just a couple of weeks ago.  The Plaza Hotel is still there, recently remodeled.  The Golden Nugget is probably the nicest hotel on the street, but the casino is pretty tight compared to Binion's across the street.  The Golden Gate, right at the end of the street and across from the Plaza, has a really nice little cafe called Du Par's.  The giant cowboy is still there and hopefully will be forever.
Live It Up (at the Union Plaza)@rfleischer, The Union Pacific station continued to operate in that location as long as passenger trains served Las Vegas, Amtrak's 'Desert Wind' being the last scheduled train to leave the station in 1997.
There was a lovely moderne station on the site until it was demolished to make way for the Union Plaza Hotel (last I knew it was known simply as the Plaza).  Passengers continued to be served by a station on the UP property connected to the hotel.  
It was very convenient to step out of the train and into the hotel, as I did more than a few times.  From time to time, there are reports or rumors of a LA - LV passenger train being resurrected but I wouldn't hold my breath.
@Vintagetvs Quite right!  Before they tarted it up, "The Meadows" was a nice place to go for a tranquil holiday.
Not Just a 58 RamblerBut a 1958 Rambler DeLuxe, which meant there was no side trim or excess chrome (though still more chrome than 10 cars put together by today's standards).  And instead of two headlamps on each side, there is only one. Many were sold as fleet vehicles, taxis and government use. 
I purchased this model in 1996 and restored it. Despite its clunky family car look, I won my share of awards and trophies. Mine had the pushbutton transmission.
A Roof Over ItPrevious posters failed to mention that this part of downtown Vegas now has a roof over it. It is the called the Fremont Street Experience. It's referred to as a "light canopy." The screen contains 12.5 million synchronized LED lamps, including 180 strobes and eight robotic mirrors per block. You have to see it to believe it. As Mr. Mel mentioned, check out "Vegas" on CBS, 10 pm on Tuesdays. Great show set in the early 60s. Or watch the original Ocean's 11 movie, with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.
1959 ModelBehind the searchlight trailer it looks like there is a 1959 Mercury or Ford station wagon.  
Since the dark wood does not appear to go above the front wheel it cannot be a 1958 Mercury, and since there is no center hood scoop it cannot be a 1958 Ford.
[The car is a 1959 Mercury Colony Park. - Dave]
More CarsBehind the Beetle is what looks like a 1955 Plymouth (it's hard to tell), followed by a 1956 Pontiac.  We had one of the Pontiacs; it was the first car I ever drove.
August 1959@SouthHammond63 – good find.   
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

Union Station: 1943
... in contrasts at Union Station. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparencies, photographer unknown. Office of War Information. Miss Kodachrome The ladies sure liked their lipstick RED then eh? Again, I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 12:56pm -

Washington, 1943. A study in contrasts at Union Station. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparencies, photographer unknown. Office of War Information.
Miss KodachromeThe ladies sure liked their lipstick RED then eh?
Again, I cannot believe the crisp vividness of Kodachrome transparencies. A 1943 movie on TV will look like a century ago, and this looks like yesterday. You could count the pebbles in the pavement. 
A Bit ConfusedI have to admit I am a bit confused.  Is this two different photos taken years apart?  If so then i have a real problem with the shadows on the wall across from where both people are sitting.  Strikes me as photoshop had something to do with this.  Plus, and this too seems odd but nothing of the surrounding area has changed?  I am a bit skeptical.
[I'm confused, too. About why you are confused. Why would you ask if these photos are supposed to have been taken years apart? They were taken in 1943, as stated in the caption. On the same day. - Dave]
Side by SideI agree, I love this very much, and the crispness of it, ahhh, it just leaves me haunted. It's as if, when things were black and white and "dated" looking, they could still be haunted and "distant," but they were easier to keep in the past. Whereas with these images, yes, it's haunting, it's like being there *now*.
As for the "contrast," obvious things aside, doesn't the little girl have personality?
Any more of these?You can see the same car parked beyond the stone wall in the background of both photos, so I'm guessing these images were taken on the same day.  I wonder if there are any more?  It appears the photographer was taking candid shots of people who didn't know they were being photographed as they sat on that wall, so why would he/she stop at two?  (Unless the photographer's intent was to specifically show the "contrast" between these two people.)
[There are more from the same general location. These people would have known their pictures were being taken, what with the big camera and tripod a few feet away. The little girl is shown in three different poses. - Dave]
The look of the dayA costumer could easily copy her outfit, a hairstylist could create the hairstyle, and a makeup artist could reproduce the cosmetic style. The biggest obstacle is actually the eyebrows - eyebrow style in women changes from decade to decade, and it's the rare model who will allow a photographer to reshape her browline.
Twin CityI'm always fascinated by the comments, often provoked by Kodachrome color, that the picture looks like it could be "yesterday," or today.
Granted, the color is impressive, and the details are sharp.  But - and I would love to see an experiment along these lines - how close could we come to duplicating a shot like this (say, the adult woman) today? 
Assuming the buildings are still there, and look much the same; catch the weather and light the same way, and assume we get a similar looking model, and carefully dress her to look like this; using professional technology, could a photographer make a picture taken today look like this?  I have a sneaking suspicion each age and era has its own "look", and it's impossible to fully re-create it.
Union Station todayIt would be possible to re-create this photo, though some of the features have changed. Google does not offer a "streetview" of this location (national security?), but if you look at the satellite view of the point where E Street NE and Massachusetts Ave. and Columbus Circle converge - just north of the Capitol, you can get an idea of the photo's location. 
It appears that a parking lot (natch) is now situated where the lady and the girl are posed in the photo. Perhaps Columbus Circle has been enlarged since the photo was taken - this is a busy intersection today.
About a block away - southwest down E Street - are two good Irish pubs side by side. Irish seven-course gourmet dinner? A six-pack and a baked potato!
Goober Pea
KodachromeKodachrome is wonderful stuff, but Kodak is gradually curtailing its manufacture. It is getting difficult to find processors for it. Mama is indeed taking our Kodachrome away and it will be a great loss.
Looking at these images makes me want to throw rocks at digital cameras.
Re-creating the Look of the DayI agree, Charlene.
Hollywood movies SEEM to re-create the past regularly, but they rarely do it exactly. Their purpose is entertainment, not historical education.
An example being westerns made in the fifties. The men sported 50's American ducktail haircuts, and the women had fifties make-up. In the sixties, the men finally got some longer hair, but the women had those huge "sixties" false eylashes. The result? You can tell the decade a western was made, even if they all are supposed to be set in the mid to late 1800s. Today, they do tend to be more subdued in westerns, but they still make concessions to modern tastes.
That's what I love about this site. For us history lovers, we are getting the real thing. Almost as good as time travel!
Actually, Charlene...I just saw the movie "Chinatown" again, recently, and Faye Dunaway sported a very authentic thirties pencilled-in eyebrow line. I loved the "look" in that film
Union Station From AboveUnion Station from above. Click to pan (Google Maps).

Union Station LadiesThe Location for these pictures has not changed. I work across the street from this location. It is the little park adjacent to the Russell Senate Office building. Still looks essentially the same, except the street lights are gone. Same aggregate concrete floor. They are sitting on the wall next to the steps leading down to North Capitol Street. The woman is facing west toward the Teamsters building.
Strikingly clear day, no jet contrails spoling the view.
I tell you what, I will bring in my camera and recreate this view for you.
The look of the dayI could never watch the Korean War show "M*A*S*H" because Alan Alda had a 1970's haircut.  Similarly, in the otherwise excellent movie "The Last Picture Show," set in 1951, Jeff Bridges' character is seen near the end in his Class A uniform visiting Anarene just after Army basic training, sporting hair much longer than a 1951 soldier ever would have had (especially one just out of basic).  Argh.  Ruins it.  How hard is it to give a guy an authentic haircut?
Washington ReduxThanks, Anonymous Tipster - I would love to see the photo re-shot. I used to know this area well, too. It was on my path to Union Station to catch the Red Line to Bethesda.  The recent posting "Battle Stations" appears to have been shot from the same plaza/park. 
Goober Pea
The Old LookInterestingly to me, when it comes to trying to re-create the look and feel of another time, it's high-end fashion photography that routinely, and lovingly, does this. I would even go further and say it's specifically gay men in fashion who truly adore and appreciate old photos and styles, and are attentive to subtle details in fashion, or eyebrows, or heels, very precise as to the 'when' something was chic.
But as someone said, and I've independently looked into, Kodachrome is shutting down. The one place to get it developed is in Scandinavia! And that's just for the moment, til it becomes a loss.  It's a very hard look to replicate, that Kodachrome vibrancy.
(I'm "Miss Kodachrome" commenter 1)
Re: The Old LookUnless I've missed something, only Kodachrome 25 and 200 have been discontinued, and Duane's in Kansas still processes Kodachrome 64.  In any event, the Kodachrome in all these 4x5s is a lot different than today's film.  The present emulsion is a lot more accurate than the pre-1961 film, which was slow (ASA 10) and featured bright reds and blues, so the film everyone's been mourning in these comments has been gone over 45 years. I think what catches the eye here is the tremendous detail captured in the large format. I used to go out photographing with a friend with Kodak Elite in both my Nikon and his 4x5 view camera.  We would photograph the same scenes, but it was no contest.  His transparencies were amazing, and would blow mine away.
The look of todayIn response to everyone who wondered if such a photo could be taken today, I would suggest that a women sitting outside Union Station in that particular pose nowadays would be reading a text message on her cell phone or Blackberry.
The look of TodayI agree that Kodachrome is a wonder film, but don't discount the size of the negative (120 or 4x5) and the quality of the    lenses. I use a Mamiya RB67 with fuji chromes and the images just pop out and poke your eyeballs. 
Get out there and shoot some film folks! 50 Years from now, perhaps our pics will be posted on Shorpy.
Union StationI commute via Union Station daily, Irish pubs there are just like Ruby Tuesdays, more like a bar than a restaurant. No seven course gourmet dinner. My first date with my wife was this Irish pub.
Obviously not identicalThese amateur photoanalysts must be blind.  The background is obviously not identical -- the rightmost flag is waving and is in different positions between the two photos.
(More questionable is the digital "213" on the edges.  But that's outside the area of the film itself.)
[The 213 frame number ("digital" only in the sense that it's composed of digits), made with a pin register, will be familiar to anyone who works with old large-format Kodachromes. The backgrounds aren't "identical" (and who said they were?) because these are two different photographs. The point is that they were taken the same day. Which we know because of the cars in the background. - Dave]
Union Station TodayIn addition to other differences noted by others, the grassy area between the woman and Union Station is now lined by trees that have grown up so that the view of Union Station is not nearly as clear and direct anymore. Also, Columbus Circle is now lined with the flags of all 50 states plus territories.
This is a great historical photo.
67 years laterI located the same exact spot where this picture was taken, and took another picture of what it looks like today.
What's interesting is that the lamp posts are still in their exact same locations -- Even the two-headed lamp post off in the distance. The view of Union Station is pretty much obscured by trees now, but you can still make out the rooftop.
Click to enlarge.

Vacation Wagon: 1964
... Return after 3 weeks Vacation. June 27, 1964." This Kodachrome of a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon is from a box of slides ... the colors really like that, or is it an effect of the kodachrome? Holy cow! We had a 59 chevy Holy cow! We had a 59 chevy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/31/2022 - 1:09am -

        Our annual salute to the start of vacation road-trip season, first posted here 15 years ago. Everyone buckled in? Let's go!
"Great Falls, Montana. Return after 3 weeks Vacation. June 27, 1964." This Kodachrome of a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon is from a box of slides found on eBay. View full size.
family trips in those carsI also spent some hot days in a car like that on the way to the grandparents. My mother flattened the second seat, put a mattress on the floor and loaded three of us and the stuff in on top of it, us and the stuff equally loose and not tied down. We whined and fought and slept our way to Cape Cod from southern NJ. My father always "had to work" (they were her parents), so she did the drive alone, I think maybe 12 or 16 hours? Seemed like forever. 
NostalgicThese people still had a bright future ahead of them, full of great hopes for the days to come. They hadn't gone to the Moon yet, and to them, by 2007 we'd have personal helicopters and robots would run everything. The possibility of the President being indicted for a crime was unthinkable. My job as a web designer hadn't even been invented yet.
The lawn looks like it's literally astroturf. Were the colors really like that, or is it an effect of the kodachrome?
Holy cow! We had a 59 chevyHoly cow! We had a 59 chevy stationwagon back in the day. Does this bring back memories. We would drive to Florida from Virginia a two day trip usually in the heat of the summer to visit grandparents. Five children two parents no ac. Damn!
[This is a 1960 Chevrolet. - Dave]
DeflectorsDoes anybody know/remember what the deflectors left and right of the rear window were for? These may have been an aftermarket item.
It is amazing how well the colors in this slide are preserved after almost 50 years. It looks like Kodachrome all right, including the telltale blue cast in the shadows
The Astroturf look......to my eye, seems to come from the little flowers (or toadstools?) that are in the lawn. At the smaller image size, they look like specular reflections, making it seem like the grass is shiny.
[The white flowers are clover. - Dave]
1964As I remember it, this was less than a year after the assassination of JFK, there were race riots in the south and we (I was 14) were all starting to question attitudes towards women, blacks, hispanics, homosexuals and the culture we had grown up with. One of the more minor cultural things was the importance of your front lawn.
50 years?I was born in 1964, and trust me, it hasn't been 50 years since then, yet.... ;)
Re:DeflectorsThe deflectors on either side of the rear window were intended to blow air across the rear window to prevent snow from accumulating.  A similar deflector is often fitted along the roof on station wagons from the 60s on.  I think they were usually a factory or dealer option in later years, but I really don't know specifically about this model or when they might have first been used.
OK, 40 years.Sorry, I was too vexed on the year of manufacture of the car.
I remember that someone in our street had the sedan version of this Chevy. Like any 8 year old, I was fascinated by the winged tail and the panorama windshield. You didn't see many of these in Europe around 1960; everbody, including my father, was driving Volkswagen Beetles. (He later had a new Ford Mustang 1964 1/2 , with a 289 ci V8 and a four speed box, rally pack and (optional) front discs, which I found very impressive at the time. A real gas guzzler by European standards.
Family TrucksterThis is probably what Clark Griswold's dad took the family on vacation in. It's a 1960 Chevy, and I'm guessing it's a Kingswood model. The Brookwood was the more stripped down model and I think the "full dresser" was called a Nomad. This one isn't completely chromed-out and it has the small, dog-dish hubcaps so I'm thinking it's the middle of the line model.
I think the rear air deflectors also helped keep exhaust gas from entering the rear passenger compartment when the vehicle was moving with the tailgate window was lowered. Though it doesn't look like there's room for anybody in the third row of seats for this trip. With the window up they also helped keep the rear glass clear of snow and dust.  
These are Parents of the Year......in my book. Can you imagine going across country now without all of the luxuries and Wendy's and portable DVD players and Nintendo and cell phones and credit cards?
These parents did it all the HARD way...and I'll bet they made a lot of memories that summer!
My jaw droppedOnce again the red stationwagon family blows me away.  The color composition here is perfect.  
Chevy ParkwoodThis is a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood.  Parkwoods and Kingswoods both use Bel Air trim (mid-level). The Kingswood, a nine-passenger wagon, has the third-row rear-facing seat, and two steps on the rear bumper (one on each end just outside of where the tailgate would come down). Less obvious is that all Kingswoods have power tailgate windows, an option on the other Chevrolet wagons.
I still drive a '59 ChevyI recommend owning one. In 2000 We took the ultimate road trip with mine from near the Canadian border in Washington State through the desert to Las Vegas and back up through California and Oregon. There really is nothing like seeing the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet. Cruising the Strip in Vegas was a blast. We might as well have been driving a space ship with the reactions we got. Sadly, these Chevrolets were mostly scrapped and very few survive.
60 ChevySadly, the third row seat had not been invented as of yet and the deflectors were used to deflect air into the rear of the stationwagon at slower speeds. I may not be an expert but I'm old enough to have ridden and slept in the back section of a folded down stationwagon.  We didn't know about SUV's yet.
Chevy WagonChevy's Parkwood and Kingswood wagons could both be had with a third-row seat.  And back then, for the record - wagons WERE the "SUVs" of the day!
[According to the 1960 Chevrolet sales brochure, only the Kingswood was available with third-row seating. The International Travelall and Chevy Suburban Carryall were two of the SUVs of the day.  - Dave]
The luggage rackis something you don't see anymore. It hung on the wall of the garage when not in use. Once my dad, who was in a big hurry, didn't secure the tarp on top properly...
We played car games, like Alphabet, Road Bingo, and License Plates, read books, colored,sang songs and squabbled. You took your chances with local restaurants. We hadn't got used to entertainment on demand, so we didn't miss it.
And to Dave Faris: It's the film. I once assured my daughter that colors when I was a kid were the same as today. "The Fifties," she said, in her narrator's voice, "were an oddly-hued decade."
Slide ConversionHow does one convert slides to digital photos? Any website links or advice?
[You'd use a film scanner. I used a Nikon 4000 ED for this one. - Dave]

Family TrucksterWe had a green Ford station wagon, not nearly as nice as this, and with our family of six, it was a masochistic experience to take family vacations. Every summer we said that's it, we will never do this again, until the following summer when we did it again. The best part was arriving home again, but I will say that NOT having DVD's and high tech electronic gadgets forced the kids to look out the window and they gained incredible geographic knowledge from seeing the U.S. I could truthfully call these annual trips "purgatory on wheels." 
Road TripMost all of my long-distance car trips were connected with moving as my father was in the USAF. In August 1954, after being in the UK 2½ years, we got in our in our '53 Chevy coupe and went from New York City to the SF Bay Area, mostly along US 40.  Entertainment consisted of looking at the scenery and checking off the towns on the free roadmaps that the service stations provided in each state. Iy being the pre-Interstate era, one did go thru many towns back then! (Excepting on the PA Turnpike) Burma-Shave signs relieved the boredom in the rural areas. We had a car radio (AM only, of course), but for some reason I can only recall it being used while crossing the salt flats west of Salt Lake City.
Westward HoIn 1951 our family, my wife, son and daughter, living in Detroit, started taking trips to Cheney, Washington, to visit my WW2 buddy. All on old state highways, no air conditioner, 4½ hours to get through Chicago and the kids loved it. Took these trips out west to the 1970s. We still go west to see my buddy and my daughter in Seattle and we enjoy crossing Nebraska on old U.S. 30. It is a treat to be off of I-80.
Nostalgia Ain't What it Used to BeDon't look at this picture and pine for the old days.
Change the car to a green Olds Vista Cruiser and that's us in 1969.  Back then, dads bought a new station wagon to kick off the summer vacation. Dads don't buy an SUV today for that reason.
Without repeating some of the horrors already mentioned below, there was the additional joy of Mom sending back a Coca Cola bottle for one of her sons to use in lieu of a loo.  If the girls had to go, we had to pull over.  Not so with the boys.  
Watching mom backhand-fling a Coke bottle out her window, filled with fluid far different that what was originally intended, and seeing it bounce and spill along the shoulder as we whizzed along at 75 mph (pun intended), that's about the fondest vacation memory at least from the car perspective. 
Today with the daughter hooked up to a video iPod and the sons enjoying their PSP, it's a pleasure to drive for distances.  Back then, we didn't play License Plates.  We played Punch Buggy and Slug Bug, etc.  Fistfight games.  
Let's go!I loved car trips, and I never had DVD players and Nintendo. I watched the scenery and kept a travel diary. those were some of the greatest times of my life.
Road TrripWe had to make do with pillows & blankets. A mattress would have made it actually comfortable. I don't know if Dad didn't have the imagination for that, or just not the money. I suspect the latter.
We'd sing sometimes. It was 12 hours from north Georgia near the North Carolina line to south Georgia, near the Florida line, where my grandmother lived.  
I see the moon; the moon sees me.
The moon sees the one that I want to see ...
Thanks for the memoriesMy folks had the four-door sedan version of this car, in sky blue & white. My mom  used to have a station wagon, don't remember what kind, but it was memorable for its pushbutton transmission on the dash instead of a gearshift! However my favorite "finned" car was our family's Buick Invicta. Now that was a car!
Third Row SeatsFords had third-row seats in 1955. I'm pretty sure Chevy had them by 1958 at least. Chevy didn't offer woodgrain sides until '65. 
Sunday ridesWe had that same car, only in light blue.
No seat belts or infant seats for us! We'd put my baby  sister in one of those deathtrap baby seats that hooked over the front seat and off we went!
What a picture!This picture takes me back almost 40 years to the road trips our family did during summer holidays when I was a little boy. It feels like I myself am stretching my legs after coming home. The colours, the moment -- one of my  favorite pictures in Shorpy. 
My Favorite Car was a 1960 Chevrolet Impala 2-dr hardtop. Bluish gray with white segment on the side, red and white interior. The first car my wife and I bought. Paid $1750 for it used in 1962. We made some wonderful trips in that car.
Re:  Family TrucksterJust saw this item on TV yesterday about a real family named Griswold that had their station wagon modded to look like the Family Truckster from National Lampoon's Vacation movie for their trip to Disney World.
http://tinyurl.com/plo5kub
See the USA in Your ChevroletFor our family, it was a 1962 Buick Invicta wagon.  Huge car designed for doing massive mileage on the interstates and that's what we did -- six or seven hundred miles a day from Indiana to the Rockies for our annual vacation.
Procedure for Accessing the Cargo AreaWe had one of these when I was a kid as well.  Ours was a silver gray color.  See the chrome disk on the trunk door?  Upon arriving at destination, here's what you had to do:
1) Put trunk key in center slot (separate keys for ignition and trunk back then)
2) Open flap (as seen in photo)
3) Rotate flap several times till rear window is fully down
4) Reach in and grab handle to drop tailgate
Simple, huh?
Looking at old red carsmakes my elbows hurt! Seemed like some of those old single stage paints, reds in particular, had to be waxed every two weeks to keep them looking decent. The widespread adoption of clearcoat finishes in the late 80's to mid 90's freed modern kids from the dreaded frequent waxing chore, thereby giving them the leisure time to start the video gaming revolution...
As Long AsThis isn't really the "End of the Road"! That's a scary title for all the Shorpy Faithful.
3 Adults + 7 Children =1000 mile round trip to see grandma. 
We kids didn't mind a bit. 
Seat belts?I don't think you heard "Everybody all buckled up?" all that much in '64. I'm not sure of the exact dates, but if you had seatbelts back then, you bought them at a discount store or an auto parts store like Western Auto or J. C. Whitney, and they were lap belts only. Three point seat belts didn't come along for several more years, if I recall correctly, and it wasn't until the government mandated new cars with ignition interlocks in the 1970's that "real men" started to actually use them.
Back then, we used to spend our vacations camping, so the car was packed to the gills, including the center of the back seat. My sister and I each got little cubbyholes next to the doors, with just room enough to sit for the trip to northern Wisconsin. My dad drove a two tone green '55 Oldsmobile Delta 88. I saw a picture of that car a few months ago, and as soon as I did, I started remembering a surprising amount of detail about the car's details. It was handed down to me when I went off to college in '64.
Seat beltsbobdog19006 is correct in that seat belts were not standard equipment in 1960.  However, they had been available as a dealer-installed option since the 50s.  By 1966, they were standard in all Chevys, and by 1968, they were federally mandated.
I spent many a happy hour on family roadtrips in our '68 Ford wagon, nestled in the narrow gap between the second row and the rear-facing third-row seat, no seat belt, of course.  Neither did my siblings in the third row.  
Service StickersI remember those stickers that service stations or car dealers put on the inside edge of the driver's door when you got your car serviced. This Chevrolet has two. 
Our road trip rigWe had a '76 Chevy Beauville van, a ho-hum light brown rather than red, which made up for the lack of chrome spears with its cavernous interior: two bucket seats in front for Mom and Dad, two bench seats, and a homemade plywood bed. Strangely, all that space wasn't enough to prevent sibling quarrels.
The best story of this van was the return trip of its maiden voyage, when my uncle, who owned a small niche-market manufacturing firm, talked my dad into towing a piece of equipment from South Texas to a parking lot near Chicago, where we would deliver it to his customer from Wisconsin. We quickly got used to being asked at every single hotel, gas station, and rest stop, exactly what was the three-wheeled contraption with the hydraulically-actuated vertical roller-chain conveyor with teeth.
The looks on everyone's faces when my dad told them it was a grave-digging machine: Priceless!
Curtains?Every August for years we travelled from Birmingham to Cincinnati for a week of visiting my parents' relatives. Before our last such trip in '69, we went through a black-and-white '57 Plymouth Savoy, a metallic-beige '63 Ford Country Sedan wagon (the one without wood on the sides) and a '67 Olds VistaCruiser. I'd love to have that VistaCruiser back today. Ours was burgundy red and my dad put red stripe Tiger Paw tires on it. Imagine a 442 station wagon.
As for Shorpy's '60 Chevy wagon, I only just noticed the homemade or aftermarket side curtains, with vertical stripes of brown, gold and red to compliment the bright red car.
Thanks, Dave, for showing us this photo again... and including all the original comments, too. Great to relive all the great summer vacation stories with everyone!
Re: deflectorsIn the days before the rear window wiper on a station wagon, some folks put these on and the deflected air current would help to clean off that window to a degree. Not having either, within a mile that rear hatch would be almost impossible to see through. Been there, done that and got the tee-shirt.
This does bring back memoriesWe had a similar station wagon, but it was salmon (or was it mauve, or ecru?) colored with a white top (I think).  It had a 460 a/c (four windows down while traveling sixty miles per hour, some times 560 with the rear tailgate window down).  I remember taking a trip from Mississippi to Six Flags over Texas on U.S. Highway 82 (two lane most of the way) in Summer, 1964.  The back seats were folded down, and the four of us kids had pillows, blankets, books, and board games to pass the time. It was replaced soon after with a 1965 Ford Country Squire Wagon with a/c, and fake wood paneling on the side.  Instead of a rear facing bench seat, it had two small seats on either side that faced each each other. 
Memories of summer tripsWe also lived in Montana back then, and our family truckster in the 1960s was a 1963 Rambler Classic station wagon. (Yes, I suffered greatly for it among my friends.) That's what I learned to drive, and we ranged all over the western US and Canada in it.
Before that, however, we traveled in a 1949 Studebaker Land Cruiser 4-door sedan, which my dad (both inventive and frugal) had outfitted with a set of three back seats that, when covered with the mattress from our roll-away bed, filled the back seat and trunk area with a very passable sleeping unit. That's where I spent most of my time on our travels. At other times, I would climb over the front seatback into the front bench seat between my parents. That's where I was on August 5, 1962, when we were preparing to leave Crescent City, CA, and heard on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had died. 
Deflector's actual purposeWas to break the "vacuum" the "wall" that was the rear of that wagon created which would suck exhaust into the car if that rear window was open even a little bit. The fresh air, the snowless/cleaner rear window were merely bonuses...
Buckle up?A 1960 Chevy wagon probably didn't have seat belts unless the owner installed them.  The kids in the back were pretty much free range as long as they didn't make too much noise.  Lots of people piled the stuff on the roof and put a mattress in the back for the kids.
It was a great way to go and most of us survived.
[Seat belts were optional on all 1960 Chevrolets. - Dave]
Car playgroundMy folks had a Ford wagon of that era.  No seatbelts.  Folks put a mattress in the back.  Became our playground on long trips.  We had no desire to "sit" in a seat.
Miss station wagonsI miss station wagons. I prefer them to the SUVs that replaced them.
I also miss the bold bright colors that cars use to come in. 
No SquattingLooking at all the stuff already loaded, I'm surprised the back of this wagon isn't dragging on the ground. In fact it's sitting pretty level. I wonder if dad had overload springs installed?
We've had one built for you.To BillyB: Station wagon suspensions were designed with the idea that they would have to haul some combination of eight people and their luggage, so they did OK when loaded down.  They *were* softer than contemporary pickup trucks, so the back end of the station wagon wouldn't bounce all over if there were only one or two people in it.  Especially at the time of this photo, gas was 25 cents a gallon and would be that price forever, so the factory didn't mind spending a little extra weight on a beefier suspension.
Also, most of the really heavy luggage went on the roof rack, which was fairly close to being in the middle of the wheelbase.  The back-back, behind the rear seat, tended to contain lighter things, like blankets, pillows, the picnic basket, and - as the trip progressed - bags of souvenirs.  If Dad wanted to use the inside rear-view mirror, you couldn't stack stuff much higher than the seats, anyway.
Source: I rode in the back of a '79 Oldsmobile wagon every summer from '79 to '87.  I think the longest trip we took in it was from Kansas City to Washington, DC and back.
WagonsWe had a 1956 Ford wagon, then '61 Mercury wagon, finally a (I think) 1964 Ford wagon. 
I remember one year with the Mercury, my mom ran low on gas.  We were up in the mountains in a resort town.  To get to the gas station, she had to reverse up hills, turn around for the downhills, turn around again for going up the next hill.  What a ride.
Another time, 1965, we were in a typhoon in the current wagon.  There were eleven of us in it.  Another wild ride driving on a road along the bay.  Waves washing over us, my mom hugging the middle of the road (there was an island we could not get across).
Wagons were great.
The 283 V-8with its 170 gross horsepower is not going to have much highway passing reserve with all that weight.  Cross-flags over the V on the tailgate would have indicated one of several 348's which would have given more than enough reserve.  That car is 58 years old but properly equipped could have kept pace with most cars on the road today in equal comfort.  A 58 year old car in 1960 by comparison was barely even recognizable as such it was so rudimentary by comparison to the 1960 version in its looks and capabilities.  The same comparisons held true in all other realms of life comparing 1960 to 1902--homes, conveniences, dress, you name it.  Virtually any of those later areas are not that significantly different from their 1960 versions.
Those deflectors... were supposed to keep dust off the back window
Nikon CoolscanI am having a problem with mine. Can you recommend a place that can repair them.
[There aren't any. Try buying them used on eBay. - Dave]
283 V8Although I agree that a 348 engine would have been a better choice for this station wagon. The 170hp 283 was the base V8 engine with just a single two barrel carburetor.  The next option up was also a 283 but with a four barrel which the above wagon may have had, which would have given it a little more passing power.
Koolscan softwareDave. What software program do you use with your 4000?  As it seems the program that came with it is only works for Microsoft VISTA.
[I use the NikonScan software that came with the scanner, on a Windows 10 workstation. To install the software on a modern operating system, you have to disable Driver Signature Enforcement. And it's Coolscan, with a C. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kodachromes 1, Travel & Vacation)

Bar Car: 1955
... Island, New York. "Arden field trials for spaniels." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Sporting ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2023 - 3:46pm -

September 1955. Lloyd's Neck, Long Island, New York. "Arden field trials for spaniels." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Sporting Look: Field Trip at Marshall Field's Long Island Estate near Cold Spring Harbor." View full size.
Action, pleaseThis could easily be a still from a forgotten comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. In one second, Rock and his friend, played by Tony Randall, will enter the frame and a wacky situation will develop quickly.
Non-Bar CarLeading the way is a green and white 1954 Buick.
Car bottleMy dad always kept a car bottle in the trunk, and I now do, as well.  But neither of us had a setup like this!
MoviesMovie I think of re this scene is "Man's Favorite Sport" with Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss.  
Bar CarA 1955 DeSoto is bringing up the rear with the good stuff! Booze, cigars, cigarettes, cars (and maybe some guns). What can possibly go wrong?
Booze in the TrunkMy uncle had a little liquor suitcase like that, about half that size.  When I would travel with his family, he wold pull it out in the hotel room and make himself a martini or two (or three).   It had all the ingredients and a shaker too. His brother, my father, didn't drink, probably because of his older brother's booze fueled escapades when they were younger. 
What can go wrong with an Old Fashioned?Just press the button marked B for Booze.
Park HereSix years later this Marshall Field estate became a New York State Park. It is called Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve.
https://parks.ny.gov/parks/23/details.aspx
Ain't no party like a Lloyd's Neck partyGuns, cars, and alcohol. What could go wrong?
The License PlateIn those days, New York State would issue new license plates, with new numbers, to each vehicle every two years.  The color scheme would be reversed, so one year you'd have orange ("gold") plates with black numbers, which would be replaced by black plates with orange numbers.  It was a real pain having to change those plates and send the old ones in (the screws tended to rust badly), so by the mid-'60s the state began issuing stickers, and you would put them on the old rear plate.  You weren't supposed to turn in your plates until they became unreadable.
Now part of Caumsett state parkI grew up less than 5 miles from here. The Marshall Field estate house is now part of Caumsett State Park. It's a nice place for a walk. 
CaumsettOne of the largest (1700+ acres) of the Gilded Age Long Island estates, Caumsett (as the Marshall Field estate was known) is now a state park occupying a third of Lloyd Neck:
https://parks.ny.gov/parks/23/details.aspx
Top of the Line DeSotoThe bar-car is a 1955 DeSoto Fireflite. 
The Fireflite was introduced in 1955 to be the premium DeSoto model. The model was built until 1960 when the DeSoto brand was discontinued by Chrysler Corporation. 
[We actually can't be sure what model this is. The script next to the taillight says "PowerFlite," the name of DeSoto's automatic transmission. - Dave]
SI in the 1950s - Documenting a different worldSports Illustrated used to cover hunting and card playing (a lot). Watching others play sports was a much smaller part of life back in the day, it would seem. 
It's Field Trials for spanielsFor all you people saying firearms and guns what can go wrong. It's just  field trials on pointing out ring neck pheasants for hunting dogs. There are NO firearms involved at this event.
[Um, no. Field trials involve shooting and retrieving.  - Dave]
I beg to differ Dave …No firearms no hunting license visible. Any responsible hunter does NOT mix alcohol and ammunition.
[Can you not read? Can you not see the photos accompanying the article about this event? Hello?? - Dave]
What could go wrong?Guns, alcohol, cars (and tobacco, besides)- what could go wrong? Fortunately, this was Long Island, not Harlan County, Kentucky. 
Shooting involvedThe dogs were retrieving birds shot down to order.  I did enjoy reading this for the colorfulness of the language and for the emphasis on testing the dog:  “The dog stopped instantly, dropping to his haunches, and sat marking the game bird’s flight, every muscle aquiver with intense eagerness.  ‘Ride it out,’ signaled the judge, and the gunner held his fire in recognition of the request for a ‘long fall.’  At the crack of the gun, the pen-raised bird crumpled and slanted down into the high cover which bordered the woods, foretelling the difficult retrieving task for which the judge had hoped.”
Black and White Scotch whisky Makes sense to drink that for people who like dogs.
My mistake.Read? Yes. The article? No ... I based my postings on the bar car picture and missed the 'read article here' Begging for a thousand pardons Dave. 
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Toni Frissell)

Clerk 37: 1942
... by the British raid on Dieppe." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. 4 x 5 Kodachrome These pictures are wonderful - however, I thought that Kodachrome ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 3:24pm -

October 1942. "Clerk in North American Aviation stockroom, checking to see if the proper numbers of parts were received and placed in the proper bin. Inglewood, California. This plant produces the battle-tested B-25 (Billy Mitchell) bomber, used in General Doolittle's raid on Tokyo, and the P-51 (Mustang) fighter plane which was first brought into prominence by the British raid on Dieppe." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer.
4 x 5 KodachromeThese pictures are wonderful - however, I thought that Kodachrome was only available in 35mm ... ??
[Maybe you're thinking of consumer roll film. Kodachrome sheet film, a mainstay of professional photography for many years, was available in several sizes, up to 8 by 10 inches. - Dave]
So beautifulSo pretty! Those cameras must really have been quality back then!
[It's more the film (Kodachrome) and the size of the film (5 by 4 inches). - Dave]
I am wondering...If she was pregnant?  I noticed the bottom button of her shirt is unbuttoned and she just looks a little wide in that area.
Stunning clarity with this film, I have to say.
4x5 sheet filmYou can still get film like this, in slide or negative format. I believe that Kodachrome, per se, is unavailable, but Kodak still makes 4x5 and 8x10 Ektachrome, and Fuji has a competing product as well. The film costs anywhere from about $3.50 to about $10 per photo, depending on which size and brand you buy.
The cameras that use this film start around $1000 with a basic lens, and the price easily ticks over $5000 or $10,000 for fancier setups.
I do not own a large format camera; the time required to master the setup intimidates me more than the cash.
KodachromeKodachrome was introduced in professional sizes September 1938. 2.25 x 3.25", 3.25 x 4.25", 4x5", 5x7", 8x10" & 11x14". Sheet film sizes were discontinued in April 1951.
Sweet EmulsionWhoever invented Kodachrome at Kodak really hit upon something special. These 4x5 transparencies are almost beyond belief in their quality. The color rendition, sharpness and detail are phenomenal. I bet seeing the originals on a light table would blow your socks off.
We need to see photographs like this in the age of digital just to be reminded of what film is capable of. 
Clerk 808I suspect she's actually Clerk 808, in Section 37.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

Night Train: 1943
... by the clock, this was a five-minute time exposure. Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. ... this was taken in 1943. Maybe ISO 25 film or lower? Kodachrome Although standards for film speed varied [no ASA, no ISO but ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/01/2017 - 9:24am -

        One of our first posts 10 years ago, enlarged and re-restored.
April 1943. "Illinois Central R.R. freight cars in South Water Street terminal, Chicago." Judging by the clock, this was a five-minute time exposure. Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Beautiful :^)
A 5 minuteBeautiful :^)
A 5 minute exposure and this was taken in 1943. Maybe ISO 25 film or lower?
KodachromeAlthough standards for film speed varied [no ASA, no ISO but Kodak, Weston, etc] Kodachrome was what we'd think of as 8 to 10. By the sunny 16 rule that's 1/10 second at f16, so hold really still, and if it's not sunny, hold reeealllly still. It was available, as noted, in 4x5, truly awesome, up to 8x10, and in 35mm and 828. 828 was a paper-backed roll film that was 35mm wide but unperforated, so a larger picture area than a 35mm frame.  Thus Kodachromes from the 40s are true treasures - it took lots of light and that meant big multiple flashes [bulbs] or long exposures. The permanence of Kodachrome is why we can see these images now, when other pre-E-6 process images have faded away. Now Kodachrome's time seems to be up, and too bad.  When the CDs with digital pics have faded or no machines exist to translate them, Kodachrome images will be good enough to toss on the light table or hold up to the window and enjoy.
Pabst SignPabst beer was the king on the East Coast back then, before Bud's big adverts.
Jack Delano photosThis entire series of photos, including the non-rail, is one of the best things I've ever seen on the internet.  Thankyou -all, for posting them!!
Being thereI have never seen so many beautiful photographs from the 1940s that are on your site, thank you. The clarity and colour of the images is remarkable it is just like you are standing there in person it's very surreal. 
World's largest sign?Wasn't this the world's largest neon sign at the time?  I think my father said it was.
Silly QCan you do long exposures with digital? Is it necessary? Will you get better/higher definition like what we see here?
["Definition" doesn't have anything to do with exposure time. Resolution depends on the number of elements (pixels) in the image sensor. To shoot digital images with resolution comparable to the large-format Kodachromes and glass negatives seen here you could use a studio back like the Sinar 75H (33 megapixel sensor, image size 68 to 260 mb). Which, not coincidentally, is also the equipment used to image these very same Kodachromes and glass negatives.  - Dave]
KodachromeThis is the original Kodachrome (the only one made in 4x5 and sheet film sizes) which would be ISO 10 although it was not labeled as such because they didn't have the ISO system then. Kodachrome II was ASA 25 and was released in 1961.
I love these images. I show them to people and when I say it's from 1942 their jaws drop. It just shows you how much we have regressed since then. The fact that no mass produced digital technology can come close to replicating a 79 year old technology is just sad. I'm going to try out 4x5 color printing and I honestly can't wait.
Millennium ParkToday the yard is long gone and this area is now part of Grant Park, with this northwest corner specifically called Millennium Park.  Most people have seen photos of the primary exhibit in this part of the park known as Cloud Gate.  It is made up of very smooth rounded art shapes with a mirrored surface, and is quite popular not only with kids but also with photographers. 
Bit late for the response but...You very much can do long exposures with digital.  I'm a photographer myself, and thats one of my favorite 'things' to do.
The reason you'd want a long exposure usually is because high ISO ratings introduce grain and generally degrade in quality.  With newer cameras, this is becoming less and less of an issue.  The brand I shoot with recently introduced a camera capable of ISO 819,200 which in layman's terms is 'pretty freakin' insane.'
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)

Backyard Picnic: 1960
...         We dedicate this golden (Kodachrome) oldie to picnic-partakers everywhere. Happy Memorial Day weekend ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/29/2023 - 10:10am -

        We dedicate this golden (Kodachrome) oldie to picnic-partakers everywhere. Happy Memorial Day weekend from Shorpy!
June 1960 somewhere in Maryland. "Picnic in yard." Janet, of Kermy and Janet, pointing at the camera. Who wants more potato salad? View full size.
Ashtrays and lightersI too remember lots of ashtrays.  And lighters or matches.  An older brother and I were accused of trying to burn the house down one time.  Of course, it is all his fault, I was the innocent one.  He had the lighter.
It is surprising that no one is smoking.
IDEAL brand ketchupThe IDEAL brand ketchup was the store brand of the American Stores Co. ("ACME" stores).
Love the coffee mugLove the coffee mug directly below the young girl's pointing finger.  I've got a set of about 8 of those that my dad and his hunting buddies used during their annual deer hunting week at our cottage in northern Wisconsin. Everyone had their name painted on their mug. The guys are all gone now and those mugs have become a treasure to me.
Table Still Going StrongMy father bought an identical solid redwood picnic table in southern California, in 1960 no less (a year before I was born in LA).  We moved back to northern Missouri in 1963 to be closer to Mom's parents and that was one of the very few large items that made the move.  It served as our kitchen table for a few years.  It's been refinished a few times and is showing its age (Missouri winters are rough compared to LA's) but is still in use up on my deck and I hope to pass it on.
But me,I'll take the radio.
Sheesh, that's unusual ?When I was a kid everybody had that table.
Not just had, but burntWhen our parents' picnic table reached the age of about 40 years and had rotted to the point that it was structurally finished, my youngest brother and I threw it on the bonfire and watched the flames leap higher than a man, a long-suppressed wish of ours.  Bonus treat was the unexpected sight of it burning: looked like a giant BBQ grill on fire.  Nice smell, too, the cedar.
Picnics are made oftasty Heinz pickles and some kind of generic local-brand ketchup. Otherwise, everything else seems homemade, as it was back then.
And don't forget real Dixie brand cups, the only kind being sold then.
[There were many brands of paper cups. A major competitor starting around 1920 was the Lily Cup. - Dave]
TablesHubby and I have two of them out back, both gotten at auctions. 
SeatingI love the variety of chairs: the plastic web loungers, the wooden-frames with canvas backs & seats and that metal one that most likely leave a scallop-shaped impression in your back.
By the way, the ketchup is "Ideal," the house brand of the local Acme Market.
Dixie vs Hard PlasticNotice a stack of Dixie Cups on the table, but we are drinking from the durable, washable plastic tumblers. The two "Dixies" that are upright have spoons in them. Maybe to serve Aunt Dora's special homemade relish? From the way they are stacked, I'll bet the plastic utensils get washed too.
Scalloped SeatingI sold a set of four of those and a matching round table on Craigslist last year. Same color, probably about the same vintage.
How about some Kool-Aid?Looks like what's being ladled into those Dixie cups is red Kool-Aid. The favorite drink of kids from the era.
I have the radio, butI'd like a pair of those striped chairs, please.
Kool-AidBack in the day when "red" was a flavor, at least to the kids.
Always kids to play withI was 5 in the summer of 1960, about the age of those kids.  Born at the peak of the Baby Boom, there were always kids my age around.
Also between that and Sputnik, we always had new books and desks in school too, not to mention new buildings and young teachers.
Where are the ashtrays?Hard to believe we have a photo from 1960 and not an ashtray in sight! I was 9 in the summer of 1960 and every mom but one that I knew smoked. If they were like my mom and were married during the WWII years and worked they picked up the habit then. As for the younger moms seeing the older ladies smoke and the massive advertising rush of the 50's convinced the others they should smoke.
Humble pleasuresThese sensible moms used a bath towel as a tablecloth; an excellent idea. As was always the case with gatherings like this, everyone is nicely dressed. I see Grandad in the background. This occasion must have taken place on a weekday while the dads were at work. 
It's Seems Complete, But...Where is the Jello mold?
I am of a similar vintage, and trust me--whatever gathering, whatever state you were in and whatever picnic especially--there was always, invariably a Jello mold. Subversives, maybe?
TupperwareWe always had  a bucket of Kool-Aid  in a Tupperware container just like the one at this picnic. 
Ashtrays in the backyard?Not in our 1960.  The butts went in the grass under your foot, or they were "flicked" across the yard by most men to be stomped on by us boys.  Also, there appears to be an airline size pack of menthols near the second blue cup.
Not our backyard picnics!If we were going to have a picnic, it would be when Dad took the family on a road trip and we'd stop for a break.  If we were going to eat in the backyard, the picnic table would be covered in newspapers, a bushel of steamed crabs dumped out on top (covered in Old Bay seasoning) and bottles of Black Label beer for the adult beverage and iced tea for the kids.
Surely, they did not get store-boughtIn my 1960s childhood, Memorial Day gatherings in the backyard with family always included homemade ice cream.  When my parents hosted, my father somehow convinced his three sons it was a privilege to turn that crank until your arm could crank no more.  Inexplicably, the next brother would be standing there, waiting for his turn.  That was some good ice cream.
For someone with superior search skillsWhen Dave posted Hawkeye Troop: 1956 in 2012 (see the Kermy and Janet link), noelani wished we had access to the 1950 Census so we could look for a boy named Kermit in Overlea, Maryland.  The 1950 Census is now available.  I am mediocre at searching for my family members; but I looked for Kermit, born 1948 in Maryland, and found two possibilities. One has a sister named Janet, but she is three years younger than Kermit and the Janet in the picnic photograph looks like an older sister to me.  Someone with superior search skills is welcome to show me how it's done.
Click to embiggen

Doug Floor Plan for the Win!I'm on Ancestry right now, and there is huge evidence that the 2nd census listing he posted is indeed Shorpy's Kermy and Janet.  I don't even know what to link to, there's so much stuff.  
I too thought that Janet was older than Kermy, but the little blonde boy in this photo is not Kermy - look at this to see Kermy in 1957:  https://www.shorpy.com/node/16626 
And then this to see Janet the same year:  https://www.shorpy.com/node/16641
I even went so far as to look for their home, which was at 4003 Fleetwood in Baltimore.  There are old listing photos still online at https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/4003-Fleetwood-Ave-21206/home/111403...  Two stood out to me.  The one with the fireplace looks like the one in this photo of Janet:  https://www.shorpy.com/node/20476
And the one taken from the back porch looks like the porch in this "Backyard Picnic" photo.
I'll stop before I'm arrested for stalking.  But there's so much more ...
Let's ask DaveThanks for the credit, jckazoo, but you're the one who identified Kermy as the elder child.  One thing I've learned reading Shorpy is, you don't tell Dave, you ask.  Dave, are these kids Kermit H. "Kermy" and Janet C. Sanders, children of Anna and Kermit H. Sanders?
The house at 4003 Fleetwood in Baltimore looks like a match.  I understand many houses were mass produced.  But the bottom of the window to the left of the fireplace is the same in relationship to the fireplace mantel, the mantels are identical, the bricks are the same make, and there are six rows of bricks between the underside of the mantel and the top of the firebox.  The back porches are long with identical posts and parapet wall, and the door to inside is at the top of the steps.  The only difference is in 1960 the house is clad in cedar shakes and I'm not sure it is in the Realtor photos.
Click to embiggen


Late to the DanceI was just about to post the Sanders family 1950 US Census info, but Doug Floor Plan and jckazoo already have done all that work. Well done great sleuths!
Still with usA follow-up to my previous post:  while their parents have been gone for 10 years, Kermy and Janet are still among us, both in their 70s, which is why I didn’t want to post much more about what I found.   It is tempting to reach out to them to tell them about Shorpy, but that’s not my place.  Maybe Dave ... ?
[We would love to hear from Kermy and Janet! - Dave]
DejavuI was the same age as the boy in the stripes in 1960. That definitely brings back some memories!
(Kermy Kodachromes, Kids)

Minnie and Topsy: 1962
... visitor Dick Cowell, a former water-ski champion." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Life magazine assignment "The Stately World ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/16/2023 - 11:24am -

August 1962. Newport, Rhode Island. "Two of Newport's beauties, Minnie Cushing and Topsy Taylor, go water-skiing out near Gooseberry Island. In tow behind their boat is weekend visitor Dick Cowell, a former water-ski champion." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Life magazine assignment "The Stately World of Newport." View full size.
Lifestyles of the Rich and FamousI'll never know life as part of the American aristocracy, as both women did. 
On the plus side, unlike Topsy, I'll never sue my helicopter pilot to recover $3.5 million stolen from me. 
Present Tense SewickleyYou'll never know life as part of the American aristocracy as both of these women do.  Minnie and Topsy are still with us.
You have to have your Jim Backus onto even try to pronounce those two names correctly.
Old Money, meet New MoneyWhen Leslie "Topsy" Taylor McFadden got dumped by her Wall Street financier husband in 1991 -- for a younger woman -- Woody Allen ponied up $18 million for their Manhattan residence.
(Kodachromes, Boats & Bridges, Pretty Girls, Swimming, Toni Frissell)

Côte d’Azur: 1954
... Beachwear. Sunbathers at the Eden Roc, Côte d'Azur." 35mm Kodachrome slide by Toni Frissell. View full size. Sun protection ... 2023. Even then, get your wallet out. The wonder of Kodachrome Kodachrome, now an obsolete format, never ceases to amaze in its ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/08/2023 - 12:37am -

August 1954. Antibes, French Riviera. "The Sporting Look -- Beachwear. Sunbathers at the Eden Roc, Côte d'Azur." 35mm Kodachrome slide by Toni Frissell. View full size.
Sun protectionGeez -- no place to stick your umbrella in the sand.
Bond, James BondI embigulated and looked for Sean Connery everywhere but couldn’t find him.
Bird is the wordThere are a lot of budgies getting smuggled there.
Bond, James BondI think I found him.
Missh Moneypenny, let me get your legsh for you.
Are those ...... swings and rings dangling over the ocean for acrobatically getting into the water?  If so -- yeow!
It looks très really niceHere is the hotel to which the swimming pool belongs.  The pool has been enlarged and the steps reconfigured.  Too bad it was empty when the Google satellite passed over.
Click to embiggen

Bikini scarcityThe bikini, a postwar sensation of French design, is rather scarce here. I count two.
For the Rich and maybe famousThe Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc is booked solid until October 2023. Even then, get your wallet out.
The wonder of KodachromeKodachrome, now an obsolete format, never ceases to amaze in its dazzling rendition of color. 
I have a very large collection of National Geographic Yearbooks, and one of the joys of looking through the pages is the incredible Kodachrome photographs, taken by very talented photographers.
Kodachrome can be considered the equivalent of moving pictures' Technicolor, although a different production process is used, the effects are similar.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Swimming, Toni Frissell)

Angel Wing: 1943
... plant in Nashville. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. These beautiful Kodachrome 4x5's... are a revelation. re: These beautiful Kodachrome 4x5's... "are a revelation." Not to mention the quality ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 2:02pm -

February 1943. Working on the horizontal stabilizer of a "Vengeance" dive bomber at the Consolidated-Vultee plant in Nashville. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
These beautiful Kodachrome 4x5's...are a revelation. 
re: These beautiful Kodachrome 4x5's..."are a revelation."
Not to mention the quality of the workforce! I'm sure there were some "plain Janes" at work, but photographers being photographers....
I realize this comment might be construed as sexist, but I assure you my admiration for these women goes well beyond their obvious charms. These people helped win the last decent war this country fought (another subject ripe for controversy)
I think they were all 'PLANEI think they were all 'PLANE JANES'.
Well, weren't they allWell, weren't they all "PLANE JANES"?
Angel Wing 1943Wonderful Kodachrome & medium/large format! The color OWI photos shown on the site never fail to satisfy. I always say, "It's like being there." Having been born in 1951, it always amazes me to see WWII in color. It really brings the whole experience into sharp focus. Keep up the good work!
 War Plant Workers My Dad worked in a US Naval shipyard installing aircraft carrier engines. My sister soldered components in electronic communication equipment for Western Electric. I, aged 14, manufactured those cardboard recording discs used to mail voice messages to our troops abroad. 
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, Nashville, WW2)

Stings Like a B: 1942
...       Time flies like B-25's. Another Kodachrome from the Early Days of Shorpy, enlarged and re-restored. ... assembly hall, North American Aviation, Kansas City." Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the OWI. View full size. I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/04/2017 - 2:28pm -

        Time flies like B-25's. Another Kodachrome from the Early Days of Shorpy, enlarged and re-restored.
October 1942. "B-25 bomber assembly hall, North American Aviation, Kansas City." Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the OWI. View full size.
I never realized how small aI never realized how small a B-25 was. That thing's tiny.
Also, where are all the people? 
Bright yellow!Not exactly a stealth bomber, eh?
Where are all the peopleMight be that a security guard on night duty took the picture.
Where the people areThey are mostly hidden by the planes. I see at least 19 people. The photographer was Alfred Palmer, who took hundreds of pictures like this for the Office of War Information.
BombersNot many of you know about WW II planes, first the rest of the outboard wings haven't bee assembled and put on yet, next the yellow color is the primer paint, the finished coat would be olive drab, camouflage or desert colors light & dark sand depending what theater of war the plane would be sent to.
North American AviationThat was not a B25 (a  four engine heavy bomber) The plane in the photo appears to be the twin engined B26, a much faster, lighter "attack bomber" for lower level pin-point missions rather than the carpet bombing that actually the larger B-17's and B25's were best suited for.
B25 bomberThe B25 was a twin-engine medium bomber. I have some more pictures of the assembly line to post later in the week.
B25 bomberGood plane; wasn't it a B-25 that hit the Empire State building late in the war years??
Harry
B25 BomberYes, that was a B25. From Wikipedia:
At 9:49 a.m. on Saturday July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber flying in a thick fog accidentally crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors, where the offices of the National Catholic Welfare Council were located. One engine shot through the side opposite the impact and another plummeted down an elevator shaft. The fire was extinguished in 40 minutes. Fourteen people were killed. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, which still stands as the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall. Despite the damage and loss of life, the building was open for business on many floors on the following Monday.
B-25 or B24?You're thinking of the B-24 4 engine "Liberator" bomber which was cousin to the B-17 "Flying Fortress" that did carpet bombing before the advent of the B-29 "Super Fortress".  The B-26 was a twin engine light bomber made by Martin Aircraft Co, and in the same category with the B-25 "Mitchell".
This is definitely a pictureThis is definitely a picture of a B-25, also known as a Billy Mitchell.  I flew as a passenger in one of them in 1948 on my way to an Air Force tech school to become a radio operator. It had to be the noisiest ride ever in a medium bomber, but it was fast.
Kodachrome?Was this taken on Kodachrome? Look at how well the colors are retained. - Nick
[Yes,a 4x5 Kodachrome transparency. - Dave]
This is definitely a B-25This is definitely a B-25 Mitchell, not a B-24 Liberator, and not a B-26 Marauder.  I have shot B-25s in the past, so I have personal experience with this plane.  This is the same type of plane that Jimmy Doolittle flew off of the deck of the USS Hornet in 1942 to bomb Tokyo during WWII.
Above comments very interesting Some knowlegable,some not.I flew this plane (B-25) in the South Pacific.  What a beauty it was.  It was a medium bomber that was turned into a strafer with 12 50's firing forward, very lethal.  We flew tree top missions on land and mast top missions when hitting ships.
B-26 and A-26Just to confuse the issue there were A-26s too. Twin engine ship built by Douglas.
B-25The plane is a B-25...the b26 has a different tail configuration and the b-24 looks similar but has 4 engines.
B-25This is an early model B-25, probably a D model due to the aft location of the upper gun turret and the lack of a tail gunner position.  
B-25 D'sThose are B-25 d's at the Faifax assembly plant. My dad built em there. He's still kickin and saw the photo. Brought back a lot of memories. He says thanks for the great pic.
Nacelle Tips?I spent a lot of years in aviation, working on everything from light aircraft to WWII war birds. I even worked in a factory for a while on Swearingen's final assembly line in San Antonio. Later, I went on to fly professionally ending my career with about about 2700 hours, many of them in various types of WWII vintage aircraft. I was wondering if anybody knows what the red covers are on the ends of the nacelles [below]. I have never seen anything like this before.

Nacelle CapsInteresting. The appear to be temporary rather than permanent, held on by bungees attached to the incomplete wing assemblies. Interestingly they are only found on two of the aircraft; the plane nearest to us where the worker is at the tail assembly, and the plane ahead of it to the right. Neither of these aircraft has wheels or propellers. Most of the other aircraft in the assembly area do. Trouble is that the plane to the right of the second plane with the caps doesn't have a cap but also doesn't seem to have either props or wheels. 
I'm just guessing here but I think my reasoning is good. It seems obvious that these nacelle caps are used to indicate that some step in the assembly process, probably related to the engines or the hydraulics of the landing gear, hasn't been completed and tested yet and so long as the red cap is remains on the nacelle the aircraft can't go further in the assembly process. But as I say this is just a guess.
Nacelle capsThese appear to be in place to protect the metal while the wing root and nacelle are lifted into place or while the a/c is being pushed about, at least until the wheels are installed. Perhaps a tow bar is attached to the nose gear strut at that point. Then again, they may be giant hickies.
Fairfax B-25 PlantThe Fairfax B-25 plant was NW of the tee intersection of Fairfax Trafficway and what's now Kindleberger Road in Kansas City, KS.  The photo is in what was the final assembly high bay near that intersection and facing north.
The plant was bought by GM after the war and used for auto production until it closed for good in the mid 80s and then torn down.  The old Fairfax Airport next door was bought out about that time, closed and a new GM-Fairfax plant built on the airport site to replace the old auto plant.
Here's a nice KSHS pdf history of the B-25 plant:
http://www.kshs.org/publicat/history/2005winter_macias.pdf
The B-25 plant site is now a fenced off, vacant, scrubby field.  The only facility remains are the parking lot with what's left of the main entrance drive.
You've got a great photo blog.  This photo is my new wallpaper, I hope that's okay.
Mellow YellowI had no idea that planes would have been painted yellow at this stage! You always see B&W photos so I just assumed they were still just bare metal.
B-25 Fairfax plantI'm pretty sure that Fairfax plant was in Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas. I live withing walking distance of the plant and I'm on my side of the state line.  Those B-25 bombers were always Bushwhackers, built by the ancestors of Captain Quantrill.  The B-25 Bomber ain't no jayhawker.
george.todd
[The B-25 plant next to the old Fairfax Airport is now part of the General Motors Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas. - Dave]
Mickey the B-25My mother-in-law worked at the Fairfax plant installing bombsights in B-25's. She would taxi the aircraft out herself once the bombsight was installed for the ferry pilots to deliver them. She often talked about one that had the name "Mickey" painted on it. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this aircraft. Any news would be appreciated. Thanks.
B-25 Bomber Plant  locationJust to clarify, the plant that produced the B-25 bombers in Fairfax was located on the north side of Kindleberger Road, east of  Brinkerhoff Road.  It was west of the old Fairfax Airport and has since been torn down, however the parking areas from the old plant are still in place.  The new GM Fairfax assembly plant was built on the east side of Fairfax Trafficway, right in the middle of the old Fairfax airport. [aerial photo]
That yellow paint is a primerIt was a nasty zinc chromate concoction meant to prevent corrosion and also allow the top coat of paint to adhere better.  Worn paint revealed the primer underneath in contemporary pictures.
Eventually it was realised the average wartime airframe didn't last long enough in service to allow corrosion to begin and the primer was dropped, a cost and weight saving.
B-25 plant LocationHere there is an aerial photo showing the plant and airport. The plant was immediately adjacent to the NW corner of the airport.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

Lone Star: 1942
... the American insignia on repaired Navy plane wings." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. ... enamel and pure gum turpentine from here! Goodbye Kodachrome What a lovely image (color and composition-wise); and, sadly, one ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 12:48pm -

August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. "Women from all fields have joined the production army. Miss Grace Weaver, a civil service worker at the Naval Air Base and a schoolteacher before the war, is doing her part for victory along with her brother, who is a flying instructor in the Army. Miss Weaver paints the American insignia on repaired Navy plane wings." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Neatness CountsAmazing how she hasn't gotten paint on her hands or that white blouse.
No decals for me, thank you.That just might be a Grumbacher brush she's holding! Oh and I can smell the lead-based 1-shot lettering enamel and pure gum turpentine from here!  
Goodbye KodachromeWhat a lovely image (color and composition-wise); and, sadly, one we won't see being made again any time soon with the demise of Kodachrome (and film in general) as a medium.
Black and whiteApplying black paint while wearing a spotless white blouse. I wonder how long that will last.
[The paint is blue. "Insignia Blue." - Dave]
She's a SchoolteacherWhich is why she can stay inside the lines! A great photo for Flag Day. 
No stencil?I'm surprised to see no stencils or masking to keep her from getting the Insignia Blue paint on the white star.  Taken with the spotlessness of her clothing as already noted and I have to imagine the photo as being staged.
Blue and WhiteApplying blue paint while wearing a spotless white blouse. I wonder how long that will last.
Not buying itIn addition to the immaculately white blouse and squeaky clean hands, from that position, with the extended arm, her brush strokes could not possibly have been that steady.  Plus, she is setting the can on top of the fresh paint!  No experienced painter does that.  Call me a skeptic, but I'm convinced it is a staged shot.
Nevertheless, she's easy on the eyes (in a 1940's kind of way), and I'm sure the real painter didn't look as nice.
[I think you're confusing "posed" and "staged." The "real painter" is the lady in the picture. Not to belabor the obvious, but the Kodachrome OWI work portraits are not documentary photography. They are almost all posed and floodlighted. - Dave]
Darn good paintThe rest of the star is bone dry. I wish I could find paint that dried within seconds of applying it.
KodachromeThis image (and all the OWI color images) makes me appreciate Kodachrome even more than I did. To last as many years as it has and still retain its color without shifting is nothing short of miraculous. It also brings up a question: What will happen to all of the family photos that are being taken by digital cameras these days in 50 years? Unless they are properly stored and cared for, a whole generation will lose its heritage.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Howard Hollem, WW2)

The Birds: 1958
... 'we didn't have any place of our own to hunt pheasants'." Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Upland Game ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2023 - 2:07pm -

November 1958. "Successful hunting party Mr. and Mrs. Stanford Murphy (left), Mr. and Mrs. Vic Bergeron, and retired Navy Captain and Mrs. Clayton McCauley pose before DC-3 in San Francisco with field dogs and one-day bag of game birds. Lumberman Murphy's Flying M Ranch, a 4,000-acre preserve near Yerington, Nevada, is a 65-minute flight from California. It is only a short walk from the Flying M's 4,500-foot landing strip to the five-bedroom ranch house with adjacent bunkhouse, cookhouse and manager's quarters. 'Before we bought the ranch,' Murphy says, 'we didn't have any place of our own to hunt pheasants'." Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Upland Game Birds in Nevada." View full size.
Yes, That Flying-MStanford Murphy's ranch and airstrip ended up in the hands of Barron Hilton and served as the departure point for the ill-fated last flight of Steve Fossett. Hilton eventually sold it to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (for the water rights), who granted him a life estate which only ended up lasting about three years.
Outfits with matching dogs"We didn't have any place of our own to hunt pheasants"
... the horror ... the horror! (said in Boston accent)
Asparagus?What on earth is Mrs. Murphy putting into Trader Vic's mouth? I first assumed a cigar but why would she hold it for him? And it sure looks more green and twisted than a cigar. I'm mystified. Maybe it's just a rich person thing that I'm incapable of understanding.
[Smushed cigar? - Dave]
Nice group, nice trip, nice lifeI wonder how they spent their evenings, since six people make only one and-a-half bridge tables? I would rather be doing this than hanging out at La Coquille in Palm Beach, contracting melanoma or, at a minimum, turning my skin into an old leather handbag.
Looks like a German Pointer in the middleHis (or her) main and only job was to alert  (or "point out") to the hunters where the quarry (birds) were located by pointing at their location through scent or sight.   The hunters would then shoot said birds and the Weimaraners would retrieve the dead birds.  As a dog, I always wanted to be a "pointer".
NevermindPheasants not peasants -- jolly good, what?

That's no asparagus --Trader Vic is smoking a Culebra style cigar.
The math is not mathingAccording to the New York Times, Mr. Murphy died in 1972 at the relatively young age of 53... which would make him an improbable 39 in this photo. 
Also the NYTimes reports his name as Stanwood Murphy, whereas the Wikipedia page on the Flying-M Ranch very confidently names him as Stanfield Murphy. I'm inclined to believe the NYT since there is a Stanwood A Murphy Elementary in Scotia, CA that is named after him. 
As far as his age goes.. I can't find any references for the Sports Illustrated
"Upland Game Birds in Nevada" that don't point back to Shorpy.  But I'm inclined to think he was 63 when he died, not 53.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Dogs, San Francisco, Toni Frissell)

Man of Steel: 1942
... plant needed for the war effort. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Andreas Feininger. Kodachrome That's it, I'm buying some Kodachrome right now. I haven't shot ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 10:49am -

November 1942. Columbia Steel at Geneva, Utah. Servicing one of the floodlights that turn night into day on the construction site of a new steel plant needed for the war effort. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Andreas Feininger.
KodachromeThat's it, I'm buying some Kodachrome right now. I haven't shot 35mm in years (though I do continue to shoot 120 in a twin lens camera). Unfortunately, modern lens coatings give colors that can be immediately distinguished from those of earlier generations. I will have to pick out an older lens to have any hope of images like the one above.
Perhaps somebody smarter than I am can explain the focal plane in this image -- how can the man's face be in focus, and the bulb, but not his hand?
[The bulb is at the back of the reflector, a few inches closer to his face than his hand is. - Dave]
CS2/3 FiltersI would love to know where you get these filters from! I am a new-ish photographer, and I work with cheapie equipment. It seems this may be the trick to add that extra "oomph" to what can be a dull photo. (My all too common result of cheap lenses and cheap cameras!)
Thank you ^_^
Beffy
[The filters come with Photoshop. - Dave]
Kodachrome IIRe the comment below, the Kodachromes on the LOC website are raw tiffs right off the scanner, not corrected for color cast. They are all processed (by me) using the various filters in Photoshop CS3. Most of them have a greenish-yellow cast probably due to aging of the film, characteristics of the scanner (Sinar 54) or a combination of both. Below is a before-and-after example. Click the image to view full size.

Another example (underexposed, strong blue color cast):

Another great photograph.Another great photograph. You can see the photographer in the reflection of the bulb reflector! Neat!
Photoshop PluginI am looking for a photoshop plugin to achieve the amazing 40's Kodachromes we are seeing here at Shorpy.
[You don't need a plug-in. Just use the filters that are already there. - Dave]
Columbia SteelMy Dad was working for Columbia Steel at the time this photo was taken, in their Los Angeles mill. Columbia was later bought out by Alcoa.
Processing the photos>>>They are all processed (by me) 
So is that a straightforward process, or is it lots of careful optimization that differs for each picture, to make them look so good?
[They're all different. There's a lot of futzing around. The older black-and-white glass negatives take the most time. - Dave]
I can't figureout what, exactly, he is doing to the fixture.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Andreas Feininger, WW2)

Shiny Datsun: 1971
... dressed, and her expression is pricelessly inscrutable. My Kodachrome slide. View full size. Easy Guess I think you could ... and a real looker as well. The meaning of archival Kodachrome rocks Datsun Dash Mystery I'm virtually certain it was a box ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/29/2011 - 6:49pm -

August 1971. A car that today you'd most likely see as a rusting hulk in a junkyard or vacant lot, and clothes in a Goodwill. My brother and sister-in-law pose with their 1967 Datsun Bluebird parked on my father's garage ramp on Walnut Avenue in Larkspur, California. All kidding aside, I think they're both pretty snappily dressed, and her expression is pricelessly inscrutable. My Kodachrome slide. View full size.
Easy GuessI think you could classify that expression as "resigned"; she knows that the picture has to be taken and will be taken!
Desert boots!I must have worn out 10 pairs of those crepe-soled, ankle high boots with the soft brushed leather. Most comfortable footgear I ever owned until they began making running shoes that were light and flexible. Haven't seen a pair for years, so I doubt they even make them any longer.
LeMans San BernardinoThat dealership brings back memories.
Meet the Swinger ...... Polaroid Swinger. For some reason this reminds me of that insidiously catchy jingle.
Suddenly it's gonna dawn on you... Datsun saaaaves!I went to hear folk singer Greg Greenway tonight. He mentioned buying a used Datsun 510 wagon "mostly orange, with a 2.5 Briggs and Stratton motor."  It's a rare day when I encounter a "Datsun" reference twice in a day.
I think she's amusedI think she's amused actually. I sense a definite "That's my brother taking the picture" type feeling from her. With that in mind, I would guess she's a bit older than her brother.
[The photographer is the girl's brother-in-law. The guy in the photo, her husband, is his brother. - Dave]
Re: Desert Boots!It's suede, and they haven't stopped making them.  I used to wear desert boots during college in the '80s.
http://clarks.zappos.com/n/p/dp/42711682/c/231.html
ClarksLike most things these days the new Clarks are not the same as old. Manufacturing moved to Asia for the past 10+ years and the quality has taken a hit.
[That's too bad. Former Wallabees wearer myself. - Dave]
TwisterActually her expression may be one of bemused pain, as it looks like he's got her in a solid arm lock.  
Meanwhile, America is still recovering from the 1970's.
I totally love that car. I totally love that car.  Then again, I drive a Mini Cooper.
My first Datsun: 2001What 30 years of cheeseburgers will do to you.

Datsun jingleActually, I feel the title of my post "Shiny Datsun" should be sung to the tune of "Tiny Bubbles" (which has been popping unbidden into my head since submitting it). Incidentally, it's shiny because I had probably washed and waxed it for them earlier in the day. I was always a fan of shiny cars, and this was back when I still enjoyed doing it. Back around 1960, I took a series of shots of our 1956 Rambler, all sparkly,  parked in this very spot, freshly Turtle Waxed, chrome polished and with whitewalls scrupulously SOS-ed. A year after this shot, this spot became the roost for my own first car, also a Datsun.
Big Bro's BlingmobileThe DATSUN nameplate is gold. It came that way from the factory?
Mona LisaI'm surprised nobody's compared your sister-in-law to that other inscrutable beauty.
Bemused pain?Check out her Vulcan Death Grip on T-Bro's trapezius that Mr. Spock would envy. Rumor has it that it can turn hair prematurely gray, it's that painful.
All I can say isI am totally digging the funky patterns on those super funky clothes.
Car and DriverWow, she's a hotty. Looks like Minnie Driver!! 
Car washingMen do spend a lot of time washing and polishing their cars. I first noticed this when I was a kid in the 1930s. I thought what a waste of time and effort so I now buy white vehicles and wash them every 6 months or so even if they don`t need it.
That 70's LookLet's face facts.  Guys from the 1970s come off looking infinitely worse than the ladies. Regardless of how quirky the girl's clothing may look today -- peasant dresses, bellbottoms, granny glasses, overly long untamed hair, funky hats, etc. -- the overall appearance can still come off as, well, sexy.
But the guys -- sheesh!!! The hair, the glasses, the shirt, the belt, the jeans -- yikes!!!  Can you say "dork"? I would be very interested to see what these two people -- contemporaries of mine (and yes, my old photos from that period show my wife in sexy miniskirts, black turtlenecks and patched jeans, and me in just hideously awful things) -- look like today.
That GirlShe's gorgeous! How is she doing these days? Did the marriage last?
Texting while driving.What's the book on the dashboard?
Tech TipsWhat do you use to transfer your slides to digital?
Re: Texting while drivingIt looks like a wrapped present, although the present may well be a book.
Reminds meOf the 1969 Toyota Corona, my first car. Bought it used for $100. I treated it so badly, and ultimately totaled it. Now I have to see what they are selling for these days.
The book on the dashLooks like one of those "Reader's Digest Condensed Edition" anthologies.
Inscrutable? In the 70s?Chemically induced, I would say. Not that I have any such experience... 
The more things change....Funny thing is that those clothes and hair would fit right in with today's hipster kids.
It's the belt!Check out the Hippy belt slid over to his left.
How cool to be to the "Grove", hair and all.
Design by Pininfarina The Datsun 411 here was styled by the Pininfarina studio in italy.  It does have a bit of an Alfa Romeo vibe.  A pretty litle car, but was eclipsed by the Datsun 510, a more modern and powerful car, and a real looker as well.
The meaning of archivalKodachrome rocks
Datsun Dash MysteryI'm virtually certain it was a box of Kleenex.
In answer to the slide scanning question, see here.
She's Absolutely GorgeousI would like to see more pics of her.
Dang She is HOT!Dang She is HOT!
It's no Nissan Figarobut the Datsun has a certain homely charm.
B210In 1977 I decided to buy a commuter car. I paid $2700 for a B210 coupe special edition called the Streamliner. It was a great little car and got good mileage. I liked it so much that in 1981 I bought the introductory model of the Maxima. The car cost $11,000. fully loaded with among other things a voice warning system. The only factory extra you could get was a luggage rack. I sold it in 1987, it had 128,000 miles and the only major repair was for a malfunctioning sun roof. Those were the days when an American new car dealer told you to write down any problems with the car when it when you bring it in for the 1,000 mile checkup. The list would have at least 6 items on it and they probably didn't fix them the first time. The Japanese competition caused the U.S factories to start building more reliable cars but they never caught on or caught up.
The DatsunI purchased a new 1970 Datsun 510, bright orange in color, at Annex Motors in San Rafael, near Larkspur. I was stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato, just up the road. It was a great car priced at $1,750 and it's a beautiful area of Northern California.
It's only fair.......to run a present day photo of these two......if possible? ...Please
TrailBlazersYou had to be a major trend setter to buy a Datsun in 1971. I imagine that this car attracted more attention at that time than a Mini Cooper or a Smart Car would today. 
I would also guess that if they ever drove this car to within 100 miles of an American auto assembly plant that they received a lot of negative attention and possibly some threats.
I would have been terrified to drive this car around at a time when all the other cars weighed two tons, had 300+ horsepower and four wheel drum brakes.
What goes around...Add either a chunky belt or fun necklace (not both) and I would wear her outfit tomorrow, shoes and all!
Datsun Copy CatI hate to say it, but this little car shows the Japannese pention for ripping off other designs.  It is almost an exact copy of a 1967 Alfa Romeo Guilia Sedan which I used own.  The styling is so identical that the cars are almost twins on the outside.  Unfortunately, the Datsun didn't have the all alluminum dual overhad cam engine that that the Alfa had.  Hence about 40% less horsepower.
[Those overhad Japannese pentions were always breaking! - Dave]
American MuscleAm I the only one here who would NOT buy a Datsun/Nissan? Never AGAIN. I had one of the God-awful things back in the '80s.  My DH is an automotive technician and he won't have one either!
Give me American muscle ANY day (says the owner of an '06 Chrysler 300C WITH a Hemi)!
Just curious, Tterrace, what is your brother driving today? I see him in any of the following: a Volvo, Lexus SUV, a VW (probably a Jetta), or a BMW.  How far off am I?
That Datsun GalWell, my sister-in-law seems to have a fan club here. Here she is in a very 70s mode, smiling enigmatically again, in a shot I took at a crafts fair in Santa Cruz, California in 1974.
You can also see her here, here, and here.
Still asking...Tterrace, did you see my post about your brother's car? (the "American Muscle" post is mine). What's he driving today?
Brother's Other Cars"What's he driving today?"
His most interesting car was a Fiat X-19. His most boring car was a Fiat station wagon. He doesn't have a car anymore.
Not that I'm a stalker....But since I live pretty close to this neighborhood, I drove by to see if the driveway was still gravel. Well, I couldn't quite figure out exactly which house this was, but I didn't see any houses with gravel driveways anyway. Did you live next to that super long and steep set of stairs that run down to Magnolia? I bet those where fun to run up and down. I bet you know exactly how many steps there are too.
To the driveway stalkerrgraham, the gravel in the photo is actually the shoulder of Walnut Ave. Our "driveway" was the wooden ramp, since replaced with a concrete one. The northern tip of it was truncated a couple years ago to make room for a carport for a new house on the other side of the long flight of stairs, which is actually Arch Street, an official city thoroughfare. So today, what was our garage/driveway is now the second one immediately to the south of the top of Arch St.
Below, our garage and Arch Street in 1955 Ektachromes by my brother.
Ok, maybe a bit of a stalker.So here is what it looks like today. The stairs are looking down instead of up, and the basic garage hasn't changed. Cool neighborhood.


Rust rust rustI had two Datsuns in the 1970s, a 1974 610 wagon, and a 1978 510 wagon.  Both were reliable cars but they rusted like crazy.  Nevertheless they were a good alternative to the Detroit small car offerings of the era, the Pinto and the Vega.
The body of my '78 was about 20 percent Bondo when I junked it with 146,000 miles ten years later.
Fark the CarFarked again. (With apologies to your sister-in-law.)
Good Grief...The Farkizations of this photo are hilarious! (Well, except for one certain B&W shot.)  A Hot Wheels-style Mustang?  Herbie The Love Bug?  Spinners?  Getouttahere!
What would/does Sis-In-Law think?
Shiny, shiny / bad times behind meThis image inspired the last part of a lengthy and rambling blog post I wrote a couple of days ago:
http://women-and-dreams.blogspot.com/2009/10/last-summer-of-kodachrome-i...
It's part of a longer series about Kodachrome. My thesis is that Kodachrome -- despite being around for ages and being very long-lived -- has had a surprisingly small impact on the collective consciousness, in part because it has always been a formal film aimed at the kind of professionals who do not produce images that are meant to last. News photographers very rarely used it and it wasn't all that popular for family snapshots as far as I know, at least outside California, because it was expensive. I just made that up, although it sounds plausible. I would need to have solid figures that detail Kodachrome's sales figures globally compared to other slide films and films in general. Was Kodachrome unusually expensive in California in 1971? Was there an alternative, or was it the default choice? Was it hip?
[If I may interject a few words: For many years, Kodachrome was the most popular slide film in America. It accounts for billions of 35mm transparencies (by one estimate, 35 billion) of birthdays, vacations and weddings. Just my parents and grandparents alone have dozens of carousel trays holding thousands of Kodachrome vacation and holiday slides. Multiply that times a few million other families. - Dave]
My sub-thesis is that Kodachrome was thus used mainly for posed formal family portraits rather than snapshots, and that the subjects tend to look uncomfortable because of this, although in this case the people nonetheless exhibit character and appear to be real human beings with lives and a sense of fashion that would be perfectly natural in a world where The Flaming Lips were the dominant cultural force. Not our world, not yet. Posed formal portraits date badly and do not grab a mass audience; they grab the people who read Shorpy, but we are not a mass audience.
On a tangent, my Theory of Woman: The 1970s includes a timeline that begins with Marilyn Lange - Miss May 1974 - and ends with Farrah Fawcett. The lady in this picture is clearly at the earlier end of the scale. Was it that this kind of look was popular at the time, or were women different then? Where did they go in the 1980s?
Kodachrome assumptions in "Shiny Shiny..."Wow, talk about way-off assumptions - of which there are many more in the person's blog. Just briefly, and as I'm sure many here are aware, it wouldn't be even remotely reasonable to expect that my brother and sister-in-law, or anyone else in these circumstances, would be giving the slightest thought to the kind of film in my camera. 15-20 years earlier people might wonder "is it color or black-and-white," or maybe they'd be interested to know it was going to be a color slide rather than a print, but being concerned over whether it was Kodachrome? Come on. Another head-shaking contention is that color slides in general were always merely a niche product. I'd like to send this individual back in time and make them sit through some random person's slide show of their vacation last year.
It is the wig I love!It is especially the wig terrace's brother wears that I like.
My car -- almostImagine my surprise when I clicked on this page and saw my old high school ride -- almost! My Datsun 411 was a maroon colored wagon. It served me well through two years of high school and two years of commuting to college in the late '70s and early '80s.  I'm so glad to see this shinier sedan version a decade earlier. I'm sure these folks enjoyed this baby like I enjoyed mine!
SighYour sister-in-law appeared to be living the life we all aspired to in 1971. Cool, confident, stylish, beautiful and such a handsome husband. Brother-in-law sold separately.
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