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Oyster Luggers: 1908
... First Annual Report of the Oyster Commission of Louisiana, 1904. List of Vessels Other Than Fishing Skiffs Licensed ... known as the Cheniere Caminda hurricane which hit on the Louisiana mainland just west of Grand Isle with winds of 135 mph unexpectedly. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 2:02pm -

New Orleans circa 1908. "Oyster and charcoal luggers in the old basin." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Shorpy UI think the posts for this photo demonstrate big time the second major virtue of Shorpy, the first one being the seemingly endless unveiling of one fascinating image after another. That second virture is the education and enlightenment provided by people who know what they're talking about. Look at what you learn (about boats and the oyster biz, in this case) in "Tonguers", "Long Tongs", "Couldn't See..." and other posts. It's like Introduction to Sailboats 101 or something. Marvelous, totally marvelous. Thank you, oh learned Shorpians. Great lines on that scow schooner in the backgroundBoats like this, built with simple materials and for a specific purpose, are often more beautiful than the fanciest yacht. Much more graceful looking than any modern glass racing sailboat. 'Arster DrudgersThese little flat bottom boats with a center board keel were fast sailers and had a beautiful line to them as exemplified by "1708 SUPERIOR" in the photo above. Sometimes referred to as Skipjacks, Bugeyes, Sharpies and other names depending on the rig; Chesapeake Bay was once full of them. Boat and more boatsThis is a wonderful picture. The Center For Wooden Boats in Seattle WA www.cwb.org has two big sharpies in daily use. Those little flatiron skiffs like the one in the foreground aren't so bad, either, and are now rarely to be found. Long tongsNot a mechanical dredge in sight. Lots of long tongs are visible. Oystermen in this area started using mechanical dredges around this time of the century but stopped doing so when they realized the damage that dredges caused to the oyster beds. They returned to the hand tongs again. Did anyone notice that one of the crew seemed to be plucking a broom for the camera? TonguersThere are several types of boats in this scene. The "luggers" of the title are the ones with the booms secured to the masts at about a one third point, like "___ Tedesco 93" close to the middle of the scene. Several of them have what looks like sail covers of a dark material -- today we generally think sail covers were not needed in the time period of canvas sails that do not deteriorate when exposed to sunlight. The balanced lug rig was common in France during the Age of Sail. Could it be that the type is actually a survivor from the period when New Orleans was a French colony? Howard I. Chapelle, in "American Small Sailing Craft," 1951, says the lug rig came from the Channel coast (used on both the French and British sides), but the hull evolved here. The rig is "the only dipping lugsail to be used in an American work-boat type in the late 19th century." A plan of a New Orleans lugger is figure 104 in Chapelle, and it looks almost exactly like Tedesco 93 here. In the photo, there seems to be a parrel holding the yard to the mast, making it hard to imagine how the lugsail would be dipped to get it to the other side of the mast. Several of the luggers also have long poles stacked up with one end in the bows and the other resting on the booms near the mast. These look like they might be tongs. Therefore, the boats probably do not dredge for the bivalves, they tong. This conclusion is also supported by the small size of the craft and the absence of winches and tackle for handling a dredge. The luggers are fully molded in form, not flat or V-bottomed like scows or most of Cheaspeake Bay's skipjacks. They have but one mast and sail. There are schooners in the scene and one conventional gaff sloop with headsails, in the foreground, named Minerva. The craft behind her, 1708 Superior, seems to be a schooner with quite a large boomed headsail on a bowsprit (Look up at the masts -- it's easier to tell). Before wood was replaced by other materials in boatbuilding, every region of the country had its own types of fishing and cargo craft, even down to quite small sizes. Swab the DeckFor working boats they sure are very clean, I'm impressed. I wonder what they did with these boats when a hurricane rolled through? They probably didn't get as much of a warning that one was coming like we do today. Couldn't see any sharpies in thereMy family began their oyster business in New Haven about 1868, and sharpies had been in use for some decades before that. The sharpie is a cat-rigged (mast at the very bow) vessel renowned for its speed and ability to hold a big load of oysters. There is a sharpie on display at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. As oyster gathering shifted to dragging, rather than tonging, the boats became larger and eventually powered. The last of the old era was just before WWII. In 1940 my mother filmed a Sunday seagoing picnic on one of the family's draggers, the Catherine M. Wedmore, built in 1924, named after my great-grandmother, and still in service dragging oysters and clams. We always said that warm-water oysters weren't particularly good, and my opinion on that matter has not changed. Pretty SailsI like the scallop edging on the sails on the right. Must have looked great. Pepino Tedesco's Boat First Annual Report of the Oyster Commission of Louisiana, 1904. List of Vessels Other Than Fishing Skiffs Licensed by the Oyster Commission of Louisisana. License Number, Name of Vessel, Name of Owner, Address, Capacity in BBLS, Tonnage. … 59, Lugger Chavere Tedesco, Pepino Tedesco, New Orleans, 141, 8. … 93, Lugger Joseph Tedesco, Tedesco, Tedesco & Lazard, New Orleans, 106, 6. … 1708, Lugger Superior, Marco Koparitich, New Orleans, 107, 6. ... Tedesco Oyster Luggers - 1908 My grandfather Salvatore Tedesco, brothers listed in "Pepino Tedesco Boat" were Pepino (Joseph) Tedesco and Chavere (Saverio)Tedesco. Lazard is Pepino's son-in-law Alberto Lazaro. A response to "Swab the Deck" regarding hurricanes. On October 2, 1893 a storm which would be known as the Cheniere Caminda hurricane which hit on the Louisiana mainland just west of Grand Isle with winds of 135 mph unexpectedly. Captain Chavere Tedesco and three crew men were in Biloxi waters when the storm hit. The crew men were lost and Chavere was in the water three days before being rescued. Another brother, Tony Tedesco, was in the lugger F. W. Elmer (Biloxi waters) with two crew men all three were lost. There is an estimate of 2,000 persons lost their lives and many were fishermen. This information came from Pepino's daughter Josephine who passed away this year at 103 years old and the Times Picayune newspaper. During the month of October, 1893 the Times Picayune lists many of the persons that died and the persons that survived. The articles are detailed and very informative. Storm of 1893 - Cheniere CaminadaGiuseppe Tedesco had 3 brothers, Agostino, Chaverio and Antonino (Tony). Two of them were in luggers when the storm of 1893 (hurricane). They were in Biloxi waters when the storm hit - they did not know it was coming. Chaverio's boat was lost and he was in the water 3 days before he was rescued and Tony and two other men in their lugger were lost. Below is a link to the Louisiana Genweb Archives Project - Newspaper Articles which I added some of the newspaper articles that ran in October, 1893. They were posted during the months of May and June, 2007. http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/orleans/newspapr4.htm (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, New Orleans)
Lane Mill: 1913
November 1913. New Orleans, Louisiana. "Group of workers in Lane Cotton Mill showing the youngest workers ... photo op. [14 was the minimum age for mill work in Louisiana and several other states as of 1912. See this contemporary report ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/13/2012 - 3:43pm -

November 1913. New Orleans, Louisiana. "Group of workers in Lane Cotton Mill showing the youngest workers and typical of conditions in New Orleans. Violations of the law are rare." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. American HistoryAgain, those young people look like they're having a good time. Those 1913 children and teenagers seem content with their lot. Very few of their peers probably objected. Just about nobody in their "crowd" went to or graduated from high school anyway. If one's parents hadn't finished high school it was a good bet they wouldn't either. Let's us give Lewis Hine his due, he did publicize their plight. Again, I remember historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "No Ordinary Times," in which she wrote that less than 25 percent of WWII draftees had finished high school. When that war ended, the US Congress, in order to keep the multi-millions of servicemen out of the labor market, passed a bill then referred to as the "GI Bill of Rights." Instead of becoming a stalling mechanism it became the great equalizer. It allowed millions of returning GIs to finish high school or go to college. This created a middle class that became the envy of the world. [The point Hine is making in this caption is that none of these kids was underage. - Dave] I understand that. My point is that these young people didn't have a shot at continuing their education. Those few dollars that they earned were needed at home. How young could you be?If none of these kids were underage, what was the minimum age at that time for mill work? Those boys in front seem 11-14 years old, tops. And like most kids everywhere, they do seem to be enjoying the photo op. [14 was the minimum age for mill work in Louisiana and several other states as of 1912. See this contemporary report. - tterrace] 14, and aging fastAround 1900, my step great grandfather was a subject in his mothers divorce. the decree stated that she would be responsible for his care until he reached the age of 14. A month after his birthday, his step father ordered him from the farm, as he was deemed "to light-weight to do farm work". Eventually he joined our family and provided shelter and sometimes food to many in our family. Lane Cotton MillI found a local (New Orleans) history column about the Mill. It lasted almost 100 years. Not bad. LaborLike just about everything else you could do, working in a cotton mill looks a lot more pleasant than working in a coal mine (goin' down, down, down...) They all look relatively happy and neatly dressed compared to some of the child labor seen here. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, New Orleans)
Stuyvesant Dock Terminal: 1900
Louisiana circa 1900. "Stuyvesant elevators, docks, R.R. terminal at New ... terminal was a great leap forward for the New Orleans and Louisiana economies, and it was dedicated with "imposing ceremonies" conducted ... The Stuyvesant Docks were on the Mississippi between Louisiana and Napoleon Avenues, stretching for twelve blocks before they burned ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 4:01pm -

Louisiana circa 1900. "Stuyvesant elevators, docks, R.R. terminal at New Orleans." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Harrison Line, LiverpoolAccording to a German/Weimar Cigarette card book "Lloyd Reederei-Flaggen der Welt-Handelsflotte" published by the Martin Brinkmann AG Zigarettenfabrik circa 1933, the flag represents the Harrison Line, Liverpool (Charente Steamship Co., Ltd.) The flag is a red Maltese cross on a white background. Working in: England to the West Indies, Gulf ports and Mexico, Brazil, and Africa Operating: 42 Cargo boats with small cabins 2 Passenger Freighters Total Tonnage: 239,720 Honoring Mr. FishThe Stuyvesant Dock Terminal was named for Stuyvesant Fish (1851-1923), President of the Illinois Central Railroad, presumably because not even he was happy with the idea of calling it the Fish Dock Terminal. The opening of the terminal was a great leap forward for the New Orleans and Louisiana economies, and it was dedicated with "imposing ceremonies" conducted by Governor Murphy J. Foster and Mayor Walter C. Flower, on November 4, 1896, and with remarks by Mr. Fish on behalf of the railroad company. According to the New York Times (10-26-1896), "The construction of these docks is the beginning of a great effort that the railroad will make to bring European shipments via [New Orleans] for Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and all Western cities. The wharfage will be absolutely free to all steamers landing at the docks with interior freight for shipment by the Illinois Central Railroad, and such a saving in port charges, it is believed, will bring a great body of traffic this way." Pristine tracks and locomotiveWhat really stands out to me in this photograph is the pristine condition of the yard tracks and the 0-6-0 that is hard at work. In 1900, stub switches were still in vogue in the South and West, as was unballasted track. The frog switches show that the Illinois Central was dedicated to being a truly modern railroad, as willc's research shows. I'm fascinated by the shiny boiler jacket and controls in the locomotive's cab, I suppose the same crew ran this locomotive daily or the engine terminal really spent some time on cleaning every night. I can assure that my local Canadian National/Illinois Central yard is being switched by a diesel that is no where as clean as this little teakettle! And in 1905Disaster strikes. History repeatingThe Stuyvesant Docks were on the Mississippi between Louisiana and Napoleon Avenues, stretching for twelve blocks before they burned in 1905. If you google that area today, you can still see the footprint of the massive railyard and the skeletal remains of the docks which burned again just a few years ago. Backward CompatibillityThe slot and hole in the knuckle of the switcher's coupler are there to accommodate a link and pin, if a car with the just recently obsoleted (and dangerous) link and pin coupler needs to be moved. You can still see these coupler modifications on a few museum engines. Dead or AliveThere isn't a man dead or alive who wouldn't jump up and sit on that tender next to the sign "Keep Off" because that's the way we are wired. Gotta love us… Where in the world?Can anyone identify the flag atop the ship mast? It looks like a Maltese cross, but a quick search turned up no such flag. Shipping Company House FlagsMost commercial shipping companies had house flags that were flown from the highest mast, at least in port. There were hundreds of designs, only a portion of which were recorded in registers. I didn't find a plausible match online for the flag seen here, but found several similar designs in the 1912 edition of "Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels," a sample from which is seen here to illustrate the idea. Colorized versionI colorized a major portion of this photo. Please look here and list any comments you may have. Thanks.. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Railroads)
Gettysburg: 1863
... Pa. Three captured Confederate soldiers, likely from Louisiana, pose for Mathew Brady on Seminary Ridge following the Battle of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 8:28am -

July 1863. "Gettysburg, Pa. Three captured Confederate soldiers, likely from Louisiana, pose for Mathew Brady on Seminary Ridge following the Battle of Gettysburg." Wet plate glass negative, half of stereograph pair. View full size. Well suppliedNotice how well stocked they are. They are ready for a long stay in a Union prison. Most of the time, Lee's army was well supplied, and uniformed. The myth of the "ragged rebel" did not apply here. Hot waterCan you imagine how wonderful it would feel to take a bath? Virgil Cain is my nameWeren't these the roadies for The Band? Lean and MeanNot an ounce of fat on them. Seminary Ridge, July 15The historian William A. Frassanito attributes this photograph to Mathew Brady and dates it as on or about July 15, or almost two weeks after the battle. See his "Gettysburg: A Journey in Time" (1975), pp. 37, 71). Also, from the Encyclopedia Virginia, "Three Confederate Prisoners." [Thanks, EV. I added that to the caption. - Dave] Foote FavoriteIn the Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War," author Shelby Foote referred to this particular photograph as one of his favorites. Mr. LeftHe has an air of wildness and piracy about him, and his hat is decidedly rakish. (Johnny Depp, take note.) His pose is one of confidence and readiness. Yes, I like him very much. I'm sure he desperately needed a bath, but from this vantage point he's certainly a romantic figure. J.D.I thought of Johnny Depp myself when looking at Mr. Left in the photo. Difference in generationsOther comments mention Johnny Depp while I look at the man in the middle and think Gregory Peck. What an elegant stance. That's some long legs. (The Gallery, Civil War, Mathew Brady)
Futuramic: 1950
... the brand-new 1964-1/2 Mustang? Our dealer in Houma, Louisiana, had kraft paper covering all their windows so folks couldn't get a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/28/2013 - 3:03pm -

February 15, 1950. New York. "Crystal Motors, business at 5901 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn. Exterior II." On display: the "Futuramic" 1950 Oldsmobile. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. I want..I would definitely take a few of those cool looking chairs, very artsy indeed. Re: Futuramic, indeedNot really. Between the very good Hydramatic automatic transmission and the first modern OHV V8 engine, Oldsmobiles of that time were pretty much the wave of, if not the future, then at least the next twenty years. They were pigs to drive, of course, but then American cars were pigs to drive for the next twenty or thirty years. When did downtown auto showrooms disappear, anyway? I remember them from the '50s - they were the rule rather than the exception, at least in the Northeast - but at some point everything moved to suburban lots and I missed the moment. Futuramic OldsesThe division's "Futuramic" body arrived for the 1948 model year, marking the debut of GM's redesigned postwar cars. Of Cadillac proportions for the first couple of years, by the early 1950s they'd had 5 inches lopped off their frames. The design with its integrated front fenders, full wheel openings and jet-tube headlights was progressive for the time, avoiding the dead-end vogue for bathtub-style bodies that afflicted a lot of late-40s cars. Dealer Showrooms!PersonFromPorlock, do you remember when Ford introduced the brand-new 1964-1/2 Mustang? Our dealer in Houma, Louisiana, had kraft paper covering all their windows so folks couldn't get a peek at this amazing new car until the designated day of introduction. I remember passing by the Ford dealer in our school bus and thinking that day would never arrive. RecommendedDon't forget to make an appointment for the 1,000 mile check up. Bring a list of the defects and problems with the car with you and we'll try to get it back to you in a few days. Odds are they won't fix them all on the first visit. Mid Century Futuramic The architecture is mid century futuramic. The vehicle is mid century. I had a 1957 Super 88 in high school in 1972. I loved that Rocket 500 power in a street boat. GM taught me about planned obsolescence from that car. Futuramic, indeedThe building, maybe, but not those dumpy crates. Olds buyers would have to wait until 1954 before they lost that look. Rite Aid PharmacyAccording to Google Street View, a Rite Aid Pharmacy now occupies the site. RadiosThe AM radios in 50s cars worked great, a lost sound. Recent road test, plus period filmMore on the 1950 Olds 88, from Motor Trend. Plus, some Futuramic period film on the 1948 Olds models as produced by the Jam Handy Organization. Mal, love your Hudson! If I remember correctlyThe Hudson 6 cylinder with dual H-Power still licked them at Daytona. [At the first NASCAR outing in Daytona Beach in 1949, the new Rocket Engine Oldsmobile ruled, taking the top four spots. - Dave] That's what I get for listening to a Hudson owner! Now that's a showroomLove, love the slanted windows of the showroom; so very up to date in 1950. I also remember car dealers in the Middle of downtown Minneapolis; I think some were still there in the 60s. I love the big "pig cars". I would trade in my Corolla for one any time!! To quote the Blues Brothers"The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year!" Not Until 1951It was 1951, the year of my Hudson Hornet shown here, when Hudson put Oldsmobile in its place. With the advent of the Hudson Hornet in 1951, Hudson became the NASCAR champion, a position they held through 1954. Hudson's big 308 cubic inch flathead six with dual carbs (Twin-H Power) when combined Hudson's vastly superior handling did the trick. Oldsmobile 98I learned to drive in a 1952 Oldsmobile 98 4-door sedan. It was a beautiful dark green monster purchased new by my parents in Dallas, Texas. The vehicle persevered until 1966 when it was sold to a young tow truck operator, for a pittance, after the fuel pump failed. Dad would say"Why pay for a Cadillac when you can get the same features on an Olds a year earlier?" My understanding was that tilted windows were placed that way to avoid the reflections of headlights. Sit!Please, sit down and admire our cars. Loewy RidersThe showroom itself appears to have been inspired-if not actually designed-by Raymond Loewy. In addition to creating the look of the postwar Studebakers, Loewy designed storefronts, filling stations, furniture, locomotives, etc. Never mind the OldsmobilesThis is a beautiful example of tricky exposure - getting the lit interior of the showroom, the neon sign, and the exterior at what looks like dusk to all be in balance. It reminds me of the photography of Julius Shulman. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
The Neighbors: 1936
... like this was common throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana -- cheap and allows maximum circulation for the summer months. My ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 6:05pm -

March 1936. "Middle class houses of the town. Birmingham, Alabama." Nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Nice LinesThe contrasting images and diagonal lines criscrossing this scene are astounding. Masonry DetailsI love this photo. Not having ever been to Birmingham (I imagined Birmingham as being flat) nor being schooled in the journeyman practice of masonry, several details stand out: The thinness of the brick piers holding up the bungalows on the hillside The masonry arch caps on the chimneys The stonework terracing within the cemetery hillside The fieldstone cemetery wall All together, it appears to highlight a profound contrast to the present day: an attention to detail combined with relatively inexpensive labor and maximum use of local stones. FavelaI was also struck by those piers ... just waiting for a good wind gust. Also, the scene reminds me of a South American hillside barrio or favela, with no real streets in sight. Presumably the substantial houses at the top of the hill are facing a real street, but everything else is served only by footpaths. StiltsI'm amazed at the houses on the brick pillars. It looks like one small earthquake could take them out. QuietAh - nice quiet neighbours. Bliss. Birmingham PlotsI grew up in Birmingham. Neighborhoods like this have been a victim of urban blight and many small frame homes like these have been torn down. Construction like this was common throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana -- cheap and allows maximum circulation for the summer months. My last home in Jackson, Mississippi, dates from 1915 and the foundation is exactly the same as these houses, albeit on not as steep of a grade. Fieldstone walls and houses are very common in the Birmingham area, as are terraced cemeteries. I wish I could identify this one, sadly the only last name visible is a very common one. If anyone is able to figure out where this is I'll ask my father to take a photo. It looks like a white cemetery in the foreground and the unlandscaped plot behind it is more than likely a black graveyard. Burial grounds were segregated until the late 1960's there. Bone OrchardNice solution to the slope in the cemetery. I guess that kept Granny from scrunching down in the toe-end of her box. Moline, ILThis picture reminds me of my grandma's house in Moline IL! Her basement was built into the side of a hill with two floors above. The house was torn down in the late 80's. Looking at the lot today, no one would suspect that a house ever sat there. Thanks for the memory Shorpy! Vigilando...Los porches de las casas miran, vigilantes, hacia el cementerio. Entre éste y las casas se está realizando una ampliación en la que algunos, previsores, han empezado a construir su tumba, aún más cerca de las casas. ...gracias, SHORPY. Hilly BirminghamI live in Birmingham. Like much of northern Alabama, it's quite hilly. The city sits in a valley between Red Mountain and Shades Mountain. There are lots of old neighborhoods built on the slopes of one hill or another. This neighborhood could have been on the North Side of downtown, judging by the houses and the cemetery on the slope. Some of our city's most interesting homes sit precariously on the side of Red Mountain. Press uno por EnglishUppa you ess! [Dear Norm: Anyone is welcome to submit a comment here regardless of the language they speak. Civility and good manners are a requirement, however. - Dave] Es VerdadI thought Paco's comment was beautiful, either in Spanish or in English translation. Anyone can easily obtain Spanish to English translation on the Internet. Somewhere in BirminghamI live in Birmingham and I believe that this picture was taken by the airport. I'm Guessing Pratt CityI'm thinking this could have been around Irish Hill (now Dugan Avenue) in the Pratt City section of Birmingham. Birmingham PhotoI grew up in Birmingham and my father who also grew up there loved to take my brother and I to all sorts of ineresting places that most people didn't know about. The picture is of the original Jewish cemetary which is somewhere around Birmingham Southern College and the current interchange of I-65 and I 59/20. I was too young to remember exactily the location but since I had never seen anything like the cemetary I never forgot it. Birmingham cemeteryI took locating this photograph as a challenge, and I believe I have it placed. I was a child long ago in Birmingham also, although I never saw this particular cemetery. I think the photograph was taken in Knesses Israel Cemetery at about the center of the cemetery, Latitude: 33.522351 and Longitude: -86.831288 with the camera pointing to the northeast. This is consistent with the post George Adams made. The key to identifying it was the church at the top of the hill on the left side of the photograph with the patched tin roof and the twin towers. I believe that to be Old Sardis Baptist Church located at 1240 4th St N., now with the top of the southern tower removed, the roof's peak lowered, and its exterior walls veneered with red brick. From what I can see with Google Satellite and Streetview, it's the only recognizable structure in the picture still remaining, and most of the lots where houses are shown then now have trees or underbrush covering them. Baker grave in pictureGoing from Norwood_nomad's comment, I found the coordinates for Baker grave in the photo on Find a Grave here 33.5225503,-86.8315599. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Walker Evans)
Black and White: 1939
... lived in Oklahoma most of my life, and at times lived in Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. Oklahoma is probably best considered a "border ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/04/2018 - 11:28am -

July 1939. "Negro drinking at 'colored' water cooler in Oklahoma City streetcar terminal." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee. Well whaddya know!Obviously, Jim Crow wasn't just a Southern thang. More than a few non southern rectangular like states had their quirky little practices too. Thank the Lord those days are all gone now, right? It's a sobering service for Shorpy to put the bad out there with the good. No rose colored glasses in a coal mine. Oklahoma sort of southernWhen you consider the location of Oklahoma - just north of Texas and west of Arkansas - and it's history this photo is less surprising. The Cherokee (most numerous of the "Five Civilized Tribes" who were relocated from the south by Andrew Jackson) owned slaves - black slaves - and there several regiments of Indian soldier from what was then the Indian Territory and is now Oklahoma that served with the Confederacy. One unit was under the command of Brigadier General Stand Watie, himself a successful Cherokee plantation owner. So as I say, this picture is hardly surprising. Oklahoma's not Southern? Right....It also should be noticed that anyone from outside the US would assume automatically that Oklahoma was without question or discussion a southern state. It's pretty damn far south compared to Alaska or Minnesota. Oklahoma and the SouthI've lived in Oklahoma most of my life, and at times lived in Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. Oklahoma is probably best considered a "border South" state. There are cultural affinities with the Midwest, but also strong cultural similarities to the traditional South. Not surprisingly, southeastern Oklahoma is more "Southern," culturally, and the northwest panhandle tends to be more "Midwestern." And, in the 1920's era, there was a strong tendency to identify as a Southwestern state. Being sort of in the middle of the US, and joining the Union rather late, there is an amorphous quality to Oklahoma's regional identity. Geez, even with disposableGeez, even with disposable paper cups they had to have separate water tanks. I guess just touching the same knob on the tap was too much for people. BathroomsAt least they get to use the same bathroom, or so it appears. Are You Really Glad Those Days Are Over?Being a fan of that era, I've asked many people who lived during that era if they were indeed "the good old days." Surprisingly, most of them say that they were indeed better days than modern times. They explained that there was plenty of bad, but the good aspects of life FAR out-weighed the bad aspects. Yes I'm Really Glad!I was born in July 1939 and grew up in North Carolina. This sort of thing was still going on when I left at age 18. I have no nostalgia whatsoever for it. Searsed Into MemoryI remember being in Sears, Roebuck in Lubbock, Texas, in the very early 50's, when I was a very young child. I was thirsty but my mother wouldn't let me drink from the fountain marked Colored Only. I threw a fit and wanted to see what color the water was that came out of that water fountain. Needless to say, my mom took me home and beat the crap out of me for embarrassing her in public ARE YOU SERIOUS???Try asking many of the people on the NEGATIVE side of Jim Crow laws - the ones oppressed by them - if the good far outweighed the bad. I have older family members that still bear the scars - in some cases literal - from the "good" old days. Good Ol' Days?@Alan: Being a fan of that era, I've asked many people who lived during that era if they were indeed "the good old days." Surprisingly, most of them say that they were indeed better days than modern times. They explained that there was plenty of bad, but the good aspects of life FAR out-weighed the bad aspects. What are the "good old days" exactly? Time brings change and often folks look back on any time earlier in life as good ol' days. Perhaps things were simpler, or more clear, or people stayed in their places. What are the demographics of the many people who lived during that era that you've asked. What were "the good aspects of life that FAR out-weighed the bad aspects?" Your thinly described anecdotal evidence seems merely a justification for your own perceptions. I'm glad those days are over and here, in a moderate slice of the South, I wish for even more equality than exists. Good Ol' Days?This photo reminds us of one very important fact: Those were the "good ol' days," if you were lucky enough to be one of the "good ol' boys." Caption Terminology"Negro"? Is that really the best term to use in a caption on a photo that is such a demonstrative comment on racism? [It's the photographer's caption. Hence the quote marks. And there's nothing racist about the word. - Dave] Jim Crow CaliforniaMy parents are white Mississippians who grew up in the days when segregation was the norm, so they were quite used to such things as separate facilities everywhere in public buildings. They were overseas in the Foreign Service during the Chinese revolution, and returned to this country via northern California about 1950. They were startled to notice signs in Oakland proclaiming gas stations to be "whites only" -- not the bathrooms or water coolers, but the whole station. No "colored" customers at all! The South certainly did not have a monopoly on Jim Crow, and it took a lot to startle a Mississippian in those days. (The Gallery, Great Depression, OKC, Russell Lee, Travel & Vacation)
Beaver Falls: 1941
... "You Are My Sunshine" is one of four state songs of Louisiana. Jimmie Davis was the state's governor in the 1960s; his successor vetoed the designation because Louisiana isn't mentioned in the song, so there was a compromise. Also on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2022 - 4:08pm -

January 1941. "Main street in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, on a Saturday afternoon." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Ford TudorDead center is another of the practically ubiquitous 1938-39 Fords. It seems almost every early forties street scene has one of these in it somewhere. This one is a Tudor Sedan. The Regent is goneThis is the view today, looking north up 7th Ave from 13th Street. The Regent and much of the retail on the right side of 7th Ave is no more. In the Google Street View you can see that directly across the street was and still is a Carnegie Free Library. Changes in BFThe Regent closed and then reopened as the Cinema. The theater was destroyed by fire in the early 1980s. I'm not sure when the Montgomery Ward's was taken down, much more recently. I still use items that I bought there! You are My SunshineAn advertising point for "Take Me Back to Oklahoma" (along with his horse 'White Flash') was Tex Ritter singing "You Are My Sunshine". The song was just over a year old when the movie was released, first recorded by the Pine Ridge Boys in August 1939. Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell recorded it in January 1940 and copyrighted it (though there was later controversy over who actually wrote it). Tex Ritter beat him onscreen by four months, but Gene Autry's version in 1941's "Back in the Saddle Again" became the popular one. "You Are My Sunshine" is one of four state songs of Louisiana. Jimmie Davis was the state's governor in the 1960s; his successor vetoed the designation because Louisiana isn't mentioned in the song, so there was a compromise. Also on the Regent's double bill: "Margie" from 1940, a forgotten comedy not to be confused with the 1946 "Margie," which was a big hit. Home to a famous NFL Hall of FamerSeveral years after this photo, you may have seen a young Joe Willie Namath running these streets. MoviesTex Ritter in "Take me Back to Oklahoma" download available at archive.org. Or on YouTube if you don't want to download. Looking the Wrong Way?Looks to me like the guy crossing toward the camera is walking against a red light. Note the turning car on the left. Better look the other way too. War loomsOn the margin. Two buildings on the leftThe first two buildings on the left are still standing. The first is an apartment building and the one behind it (with the tile roof) stores classic autos. The building with the tile roof was a Buick dealership for many years and features an elevator to carry automobiles from different floors. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Movies, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Creole Belle: 1938
... 1938. "Petitin's Store, Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Building dates to ca. 1834." While this ad-encrusted grocery might ... involves traveling through an entire county (Parish in Louisiana) to visit and photograph every gas station open for business. I have ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/10/2014 - 7:27am -

1938. "Petitin's Store, Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Building dates to ca. 1834." While this ad-encrusted grocery might strike you as charmingly rustic, the Dr. Pepper sign seems to have so offended the photographer's sensibilities that for the other pictures she took, she draped it with a cloth. 8x10 acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. Cardui TabletsWhile spending a year at Fort Benning, Georgia in the late 1960s, I occasionally noted a young Dolly Parton doing ads for Cardui on TV's "Porter Wagoner Show." (She also sang, of course, but that part I understood). Given the social conservatism of that program's viewership, Ms. Parton was required to circumlocute her way around the particular aspect of being a woman for which Cardui was helpful. Ever game, she did so with charming enthusiasm and, however her male viewers may have been mystified by the product and its uses, I am sure that her target audience understood completely. Now, of course, everything from prescription meds to marital aids is advertised with diagrams, animation, and brass bands, but those were indeed simpler, more innocent times. Dr Pepper editPhotoshop 1.0 Beta. InterestingMaybe she decided that the separate sign, on a mini-billboard, detracted from the building's charm. Creole BelleAt the time, a brand of relatively newly introduced pre-roasted/ground coffee. The anti-Dr movementwas the benign predecessor to the anti-vaccine campaign of the internet age. CarduiFrom a vintage advertisement for Wine of Cardui: "Taken at the proper time it relieves pain, corrects derangements, quiets nervousness and cures Whites, Falling of the Womb and Suppressed or too Frequent Menses." Whatever curative powers it may have had were likely attributable to its 19% alcohol content. These Places Still ExistPart of my job sometimes involves traveling through an entire county (Parish in Louisiana) to visit and photograph every gas station open for business. I have encountered many in Louisiana that are nearly identical to this place and still operating. The signs may be more up to date and there may be an ice freezer on the front porch and a couple of Texaco pumps out front but basically the same place. Numbskull ad language.Was probably why Ms. Johnston covered the sign. "Drink a bit to eat" not only doesn't roll off the tongue well; it doesn't make sense and is bad English. De-PepperedDr. Pepper, censored! Now only 45 more signs to go ... Dr Who?That cloth covering the Dr Pepper sign was not installed by Ms Johnson, but by the Coca-Cola Bottler, who had recently been promised exclusivity at the entrance of this key St Landry Parish hot spot. Black PepperI count three Dr Pepper signs--the one up front and two more above and next to the crawlspace window. What good does it do to black out only one of the three? And Black Draught laxative syrup...was another fine product pitched by the Porter Wagoner show personnel - it, along with Cardui Tablets, was a product of the Chattanooga Medicine Co., which discovered that TV country music shows were a great venue for pitching their products to the folks. Some great memories watching that show Saturday afternoons at my grandparents - the comely Miss Parton was a vision for adolescent eyes, but it was the frenetic picking of sideman Buck Trent and his electrified banjo (why would one need or want to amplify the musical mayhem produced by the instrument?) that really caught my attention and contributed to my penchant for playing loud and annoying rock-and-roll music in my later teen years. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, Stores & Markets)
Convent Postmistress: 1939
Circa 1939. "Post Office in Convent, Louisiana." 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security ... 1947. Based on the 1930 census she was born in 1877 in Louisiana and was the Assistant Postmaster to her husband Charles, also born in 1877 in Louisiana. Circa Springtime Many a fine springtime hour has been spent ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/12/2011 - 3:03pm -

Circa 1939. "Post Office in Convent, Louisiana." 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Was she or wasn't she?Do you think the postmistress of the Convent post office was a nun? Love It!They wanted to put U.S. on the building, so there's a "U" on one side and way, way over on the other side of the roof is an "S"! Wonderful. I can taste the gumbo now! Yessir! And atop the building is a wonderfully whimsical cupola. She's proud of her Post Office and happy to have her picture taken. DownsizedNot quite the same these days. No Such ThingMy brother-in-law's aunt was the Postmaster of the small upstate New York town she lived in in the 1940s. She was adamant that there was no such position as "postmistress." Illegal Photo?All my life I've been taught that it's illegal to photograph a Post Office building. I guess it was to keep the Soviets from learning our efficient ways. But the law is old. I wonder if it was like that back then, though I doubt we were worried about Hitler knowing how our Post Office worked. Unfortunately, his country was quite efficient in its own right. I can't stop from finding details that I love here. The hitching rail, the 2x14 boards for a sidewalk, functional shutters on the windows, the wind vane, the fancy porch roof and cupola matched with the worn corrugated tin roof, the crooked Mona Lisa smile on the post office lady, with her arms crossed and toes pointed inward as if she was embarrassed to be dragged out for the photo. I can even imagine a garden planted on one side and laying hens pecking the ground on the other. Mayberry, RFD. [News flash: It's never been "illegal to photograph a post office." At least not in the U.S. of A. Who in the world "taught" you that? - Dave] I'll betThe crusts on her pies were good! MayberryI never heard that it was illegal to photograph a post office, but I did learn from The Andy Griffith Show that it is illegal to photograph an FBI agent. Agnes SubraAccording to the USPS Postmaster Finder page this would be Mrs. Agnes B. Subra. She was appointed acting Postmaster on July 1, 1938 Postmaster on Sept 15, 1938 and remained so until June 30, 1947. Based on the 1930 census she was born in 1877 in Louisiana and was the Assistant Postmaster to her husband Charles, also born in 1877 in Louisiana. Circa SpringtimeMany a fine springtime hour has been spent examining blue sky and puffy white clouds from a soft bed of clover like we see here in the front yard. Convent Postmistress: 1939In the 1910 census, Charles Subra, husband of Agnes, is the postmaster of the Convent PO. 62 years oldAgnes, according to some of the other posts, would be 62 years old in this picture. Somehow, she looks quite a bit older than that. May be a combination of a hard life, and no "beauty shop" in Convent? (The Gallery, John Vachon, Rural America)
Best Beer in Town: 1937
New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1937. "Tortorich Restaurant, Royal Street." 8x10 inch acetate ... some to know that the regional brewery tradition of South Louisiana is being kept alive by Heiner Brau and Abita on the north side of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/11/2012 - 11:50am -

New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1937. "Tortorich Restaurant, Royal Street." 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. "Every bottle sterilized"Two men are ordering in a restaurant and they both ask for a glass of water. One man adds, "And make sure the glass is clean!" When the waiter comes back, he's got two glasses of water in his hand and asks the two men, "Which one of you wanted the clean glass?" Nichol and MayBack in the 1950s Jax had some of the most entertaining TV commercials of the day, like this one with Mike Nichols and Elaine May: House of SchenleyIt's been ages since I've seen that name (their logo is printed above the corner entry to this establishment). We always had liquor in our house and I had all but forgotten about Schenley's. My father was a good friend of the proprietor of the "package store" in our small town and when he bought spirits there, the man always gave him the little "gifts" distributed by the liquor companies. We had in our home endless glass cocktail sticks, bottle top pouring spouts, beer trays, glasses and other novelties which were marked with advertising gadgets. I remember toy white seals (the kind that frolic in the ocean) which were tied around the bottles of Carstair's White Seal liquor and black and white scottie dog figurines from Buchanan's scotch. We just do not see these giveaways anywhere today. As for Jax Brewery, it still exists somewhat intact although it has been gentrified into a trendy and stylin' multi-level tourist attraction full of great places to leave your money. Thanks Shorpy for testing my memory yet again; it is the reason I cannot go even one day without looking at this best ever website...may I say I love you? Tortorich RestaurantOpened in 1900 by Louis Tortorichi. SazeracNext door at 437 Royal was the pharmacy of Antoine Peychaud. He invented "Peychaud's Bitters "which along with absinthe and Rye is basis of the Sazerac cocktail. Some say it is the oldest cocktail (probably a myth). The bitters are still around, and the Sazerac is a New Orleans favorite. If its appropriate, here's the recipe: 2 ounces Rye Whiskey 5 dashes Peychaud's Bitters 1 sugar cube splash of Absinthe lemon peel Muddle the sugar with the Peychaud's Bitters. Splash the Absinthe into a glass and pour in the Rye followed by the Bitters. Place the lemon peels in the glass and toast to a good life. And Good Eats, too!Judging by the "menu" written on the walls and windows, Tortorich's is exactly the kind of neighborhood watering hole I remember from my youth, and which I hope still exists. I'll bet the food was delicious. But Not for MeAnd the sad part was that Jax *was* the best beer in town. Have you ever had the swill that is Dixie? It may hearten some to know that the regional brewery tradition of South Louisiana is being kept alive by Heiner Brau and Abita on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain and that both outfits make truly excellent beers. 441 RoyalCorner of Royal and St. Louis. Of Tortorich Restaurant, the 1938 WPA New Orleans City Guide says: "well known for Italian food and seafood specialties." The DoorThanks Brooks for the before and after.Why is it when a structure is updated one of the first features to go is the screen door? It is functional, handsome and of all the sounds I have stored away in my feeble memory bank, the sound of a screen door opening and slamming closed is one of my most cherished. Home of the JaxAlthough Jax beer is associated with New Orleans, it really belongs, as the name implies, to Jacksonville. And here is more than you would ever want to know about that. Point of Sale promotionsOTY's eagle-eye spotting of the Schenley sign brought back lots of memories. Two of my prize possessions as a kid were curbside discards thrown out by a liquor-supply salesman who lived two doors down: a Carstair's White Seal table lamp (the seal had the top of the lamp balanced on its nose, and the lampshade revolved -- How great was that to put on the desk in my room?), and a huge four-color map issued by Schenley's at the beginning of World War II that I put up on the wall of our den and used to learn the names and places of just about anywhere in the world. The Other side of the Family!I never thought I'd see any part of my family on Shorpy ... But wonders never cease! Here is my wife's family in front of me. When the Tortorici family settled in the United States, some went to New Orleans and some landed here in Chicago. Both sides of the family produced great food and greater cooks. I am the fortunate recipient of both great food and a fine wife. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans, Stores & Markets)
Milledgeville: 1944
... likely suspended over a fire. I had a great aunt from Louisiana who continued to boil clothes on Mondays into the 1960s. Didn't ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 4:41pm -

1944. Baldwin County, Georgia. "Former slave cabin, Milledgeville vicinity." A locale perhaps best known as the stomping grounds of the writer Flannery O'Connor. 8x10 acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. Milledgevillewas also the pre-war capital of Georgia, and the site of the state's first psychiatric hospital. That's what I think of first. Roof RoofNotice at some point they tar papered over the shingle roof. Now that roof has seen better days. The shingle roof like the house was probably at least 100 years old in 1944. I wouldn't be surprised if Granny was born there. Agelessly beautifulThis photo captures the soul of that lady. She is a dignified woman. You can see the pains of living etched in her face. She is dressed like she cares about herself, even though the house has seen better days. Genteel poverty, I think it's called. The house on the right.Seems to be in better shape. "Slaves had some nice houses"?Wouldn't it be more accurate to say "Some slaves lived in some nice houses"? After all, slaves couldn't actually OWN anything. That chimney brickwork needs some repointing, or the whole unpainted tinder-box is going up in a blaze. Secondary StairsWhy is there a second set of stairs leading up to a window area? [Stairway to the second floor. - Dave] My First Cousin's Recollections1944. I saw the light of day that year. Next year we moved to Milledgeville, and I got to see that former slave society upclose. I notice a second story in that former slave cabin. I'm no expert on the species, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were fairly unusual. My memory of the cabins and shotgun shacks that abounded when I was a kid is of one-story, ramshackle, unpainted board structures that looked on the point of falling down. NeighborIt's an interesting contrast to the house next door which can be seen on the right. That house seems to be fairly new and well-kept. The siding looks perfect and there are nice blinds in the modern windows. It seems strange to have the vestiges of a different time just over the fence. The GardenInspite of the obvious poverty this proud lady is still willing to grow some beautiful flowers. Death of a BluesmanMilledgeville, is also the place of death of the well known Georgia bluesman Blind Willie McTell, who died there of a stroke in 1959. He was a twelve-string finger picking Piedmont blues guitarist, and recorded 149 songs between 1927 and 1956. Really a slave cabin?We've had an e-mail questioning whether this is actually a slave cabin. Most slaves would not have lived in a multi-room, multi-story home raised above the ground. Perhaps Frances Johnston meant to say "former slave's cabin." Certainly this is not typical of how most slaves lived. The cabinFormer-slave cabin makes more sense than former slave-cabin. Guess the woman could be a former slave. She doesn't look that old, although it's hard to tell age from appearance. And we're talking about, possibly, a house slave and on a particular plantation, so, given that, it could be a 'high class' cabin. We don't know what they were doing on that particular plantation. Raised Above The GroundI'm no expert - what I know is what I've been able to find through Google, and I can't speak to the question of the two story cabin. However as far as I can tell it was not uncommon for the slave cabins to be built on brick piers as is the case in this photo. When you think of it, it makes sense. Unsealed wood in direct contract with the ground rots. Slave owners probably wouldn't want to build new floors or cabins - it's an added expense. Lifting the cabins above the ground prevents this. However their obviously going to try to keep something like this as cheap as they can so they build these piers rather than a full sized foundation. "Slave Cabin"I thought the same thing when I first saw it. Although it looks like it hasn't received much, if any, maintenance since the War, the brick pillars, paneled door, sash windows, and chimney masonry all look more substantial than other slave cabins I've seen. Perhaps it was originally an overseer's house. Backyard viewThe pot was used for boiling clothes. The pole in the pot was used to swish the clothing around in the pot which would have been likely suspended over a fire. I had a great aunt from Louisiana who continued to boil clothes on Mondays into the 1960s. Didn't believe that a washing machine could replicate this important part of producing clean clothes. Fig tree in the back yardGood eatin' if you can get 'em ripe before the birds do. Brick pillarsI remember seeing those under the "plantation house" near Fort Mill, SC. Everybody used 'em if they could, and people only went to bigger foundations when they could afford them and they were needed. Interesting thing up north (MN in my case) is that you see them under porches, which almost always sag because the pillars don't go as deep as the rest of the foundation. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston)
Bourbon and Coke: 1937
New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1937. "Bayou Pom Pom Grocery, 701 Bourbon Street at St. Peters ... The Cajun one-horse town of Bayou Pom-Pom was invented by Louisiana comedian Walter Coquille. His comic monologue "The Mayor of Bayou ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 11:02am -

New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1937. "Bayou Pom Pom Grocery, 701 Bourbon Street at St. Peters Street." Ice, wood, coal, Coke and oysters -- let me in! 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. "Twice as good, twice as much"If this was Royal Crown's slogan, it wasn't very good. When I looked at it the first time, it seemed to me that they were saying it's twice as good, quality that is, and twice the price. What they were trying to say is that it was twice the quality (of Coca-Cola) and twice the quantity (The Coke bottle held only 6 ounces, RC Cola was 12.) Pepsi on the other hand started running this jingle on the radio in the late 1930s: Pepsi-Cola hits the spot 12 full ounces, that's a lot Twice as much for a nickel too Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you. By 1939, Pepsi's sales had doubled. Bars, strip clubs, red lights, jazzDon't think there are any grocery stores on Bourbon Street anymore. My last stay in N.O.L.A. was in 1995 when our Saturday night on Bourbon Street consisted only of the above, but I could be wrong. The ravages of old age make it unlikely that I will ever return there but I've had my share of "smokin', drinkin, doin' the hootchy coo." Still, its nice to reminisce as I mull over the song "Don't get around much anymore." Life is good, rejoice and be glad. The Cat's MeowThis location is now the home of The Cat's Meow, which bills itself as World's Best Karaoke Bar. Looks like the lamppost/street sign has survived, though! "Twice as much for a nickel too"In South Carolina they sang "Twice as much for a penny more". We had a tax that made Coke six cents and Pepsi seven cents. S.C. is often a little strange. Still making groceries in the QuarterRouses Grocery at 701 Royal, Quartermaster Deli and Market at 1100 Bourbon. Sadly, the Verti Marte at 1201 Royal burned earlier this year. I'll take two loaves of Liedenhiemer's bread and a Hubigs pie, peach. Send me a truckloadThe price on the oysters seem quite reasonable! Pepsi-Cola "Jingle Tap"My Uncle Sid salvaged an old bar complete with back shelves and installed them in his basement in the mid 50's. As a eight year old, I coveted the big chrome plated Pepsi-Cola soda fountain tap he had. It was complete with the red, white and blue Pepsi logo and contained a music box which played the Pepsi jingle when the tap was activated. My Uncle Ernest was a chemist for Pepsi. He compounded the flavor essence that went into the syrup. I remember going to the corner "party store", as we called them in Detroit, on hot summer days in the 50's and getting a Pepsi or Coke out of the cooler filed with ice water. Although the "pop" was only ten cents, we drank it on the premises to avoid the two cents deposit which we spent on penny candy or baseball cards. Re: The Tipsters Uncle SidVictor Borge had a similar story about a chemist who compounded a new lemon flavored carbonated drink. He called it "5 Up", he put it on the market in 1925 but it didn't sell enough to make it worthwhile. He went back to his lab and reworked the formula, found another backer and released it again in 1928. This time he called it "6 Up", it too failed. He died shortly after, of a broken heart, never knowing how close he came. Pom Pom and Pim PumWe have a West Indian corner market here in Springfield, Mass., called the Pim Pum, which always strikes me as odd. I wonder if Pom Pom and Pim Pum are related and how they relate to groceries. I guess I'll have to stop into the Pim Pum one day and ask them about their name. A bit of Bayou Pom Pom in the Big CityWhat, a reference to "Bayou Pom Pom" passes over the heads of kids these days? Back in the day, the mere mention of this fictional place would raise smiles. The Cajun one-horse town of Bayou Pom-Pom was invented by Louisiana comedian Walter Coquille. His comic monologue "The Mayor of Bayou Pom-Pom" was released on Brunswick Records in 1929, and sold so well that he was brought back to record a number of sequels. This was the first recording of Cajun humor, long before Justin Wilson. Dixie's Bar of MusicThe Fasnacht sisters, Dixie and Irma, opened Dixie’s Bar of Music on 200 block of St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans in 1939. The house band included Dixie herself on clarinet, Judy Ertle on trumpet, Johnny Senac on bass, and Dorothy "Sloopy" Sloop on piano. Advertised as "New Orleans’ Biggest Little Club," Dixie’s became a favorite hangout of local and visiting national entertainers. In 1949, the club was moved to the Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, where it remained a popular spot until it closed in the late 1960s. However true, but now the real story! Miss Dixie Fasnacht has been a New Orleans fixture since the Roaring 20s. She was a musician, singer and leader of nationally recognized "all girl bands." With her sister, Miss Irma, she owned and operated two night clubs featuring live music entertainment. During the '50s and '60s, they lived upstairs from their business, "Dixie's Bar of Music" on Bourbon St. When the first gay carnival ball was raided and attendees jailed, she open her cash register, put the money in a paper bag, and set it off with one of her customers to "get the boys back" many who were regular patrons at Dixie's. The sisters retired from business over 40 years ago, but continued to fuel the social life of the French Quarter. Until recently, they hosted all-day Mardi Gras parties at their Bourbon St. home (with interior patio), every year. There, one could find street-people chatting, eating and drinking with corporate CEOs or celebs. Above all else, one could find a bath room, asprins and delightfully interesting folks. Miss Dixie continued these parties, after the sad loss of her beloved sister. Fasnacht is a Swiss-German synonym for Mardi Gras. An icon of New Orleans gay community, Miss Dixie celebrated her one-hundredth birthday, this year! (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans, Stores & Markets)
Lugger Landing: 1906
... Picayune Tier Standard history of New Orleans, Louisiana, 1900. Sight-Seeing. A stranger should not omit a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 2:30pm -

Along the Mississippi circa 1906. "Oyster luggers at New Orleans." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Picayune Tier Standard history of New Orleans, Louisiana, 1900. Sight-Seeing. A stranger should not omit a visit to the chapel of St. Roch, which is an absolutely mediaeval institution, and to the Lugger Landing at the Picayune Tier at the head of Hospital street, with the Luggers with their red lanteen sails, rocking at the moorings, and the lugger men squatting on the decks, a scene that the artists love to paint. The luggers come from the oyster beds of the South, and are laden with oysters. They have all sorts of queer names, too — San Remo, Three Brothers, The Admiral Techetof, The Josephine. It is one of the most picturesque sights in the city. The French MarketLugger Landing was between St. Phillip and Hospital (now Governor Nicholls) streets. Today this is the home of Cafe Du Monde and the French Market. French MarketI thought surely the French Market existed by 1906, and a quick search of Shorpy confirmed it. The Cafe du Monde website says "The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market." The building it's in dates from 1813. And you can go there and still have a taste of what things were like 150 years ago. Church spireWhat is the church spire in the distance? (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, New Orleans)
Coke and a Burger: 1938
... concession stand at the National Rice Festival. Crowley, Louisiana." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the ... Here. Pan-Am Motor Oil Pan-Am was the Louisiana arm of American Oil Company, which in turn was owned by Standard Oil ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/03/2008 - 9:59am -

October 1938. "Making hamburgers in the concession stand at the National Rice Festival. Crowley, Louisiana." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. You want fries with that? Ella CindersElla Cinders was a daily comic strip that ran from 1925 to 1961. It spawned a movie and a short-lived comic book series, which the advertisement is probably promoting. Just the thing to read with a "Tasty" Coca-Cola or a "Twice as Good" RC. The movie advertised in the back is Spawn of the North. [The ad is for Pan-Am motor oil. - Dave] Ella CindersYou can see a good number of Ella Cinders strips at Barnacle Press. Here. Pan-Am Motor OilPan-Am was the Louisiana arm of American Oil Company, which in turn was owned by Standard Oil of Indiana. It went by the name Amoco until it merged with BP. Louisiana's native Standard Oil of Louisiana was wholly owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey, Esso, which is now ExxonMobil. The MoviesTo our left of the Pan-Am Oil sign is a pretty large ad for the movie "Spawn of the North" (1938) starring George Raft, Henry Fonda and Dorothy Lamour - none of whose names is on the part of the poster that we can see. What is on the poster (and readable) are the names Akim Tamiroff, Barrymore,Platt, and Overman. They would be John Barrymore, Louise Platt and Lynne Overman. The movie is the exciting tale of two friends caught on either side of a conflict in the Alaskan salmon fishery. One of the roles that Raft didn't turn down. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Russell Lee)
Labatut: 1938
Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, 1938. "Labatut. New Roads vicinity, built by Don Evariste de Barra, ... formerly holding a wooden cistern. These were common South Louisiana plantation houses of that era; they collected rainwater from the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 4:42pm -

Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, 1938. "Labatut. New Roads vicinity, built by Don Evariste de Barra, Spanish grandee, 1800. His descendants, the Labatut and Pugh families, still living here." Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. It's still thereAnd you can see it here. Spooky!When I was in seventh grade, I made a poster for a Halloween party. The house in it looked eerily like this. TwilightLooks like a good place for vampires to hang out during the day! SomewhereThe dog, the chicken, the orphan shoe. I know they're there somewhere, I just can't find them. Jedi HouseWhen 138 years old look this good we will not! LabatutI've looked all over the internet for a translation of Labatut ... as far as I can tell, it means "hidden away." Can someone let me know if I am right? I am so in love with FBJ's work, I can't wait to load Shorpy every day to see if there is something new from her archives! [It's a family name. According to the caption, the Labatuts are descendants of Don Evariste. - Dave] Obviously a loving restoration, except....couldn't Tom get some help whitewashing that picket fence after Aunt Polly told him to do it? Beyond that, the house (in 1938) looked abandoned, what with a few of the windows being broken. Quite a beauty now, however. Right on the leveeAfter picking through Google maps and street view, I noticed that the house is right across the road from the Mississippi River levee. I wonder how many floods this house has endured over the past 210 years. Hail yes!Try and imagine the racket when a hailstorm collided with the galvanized roofing on the original home! If the walls could talkThank you Minot for the additional info on Labatuts. Really interesting then and now. This house has seen alot of history! It must've been built well. Any ghost stories? Looks worthy of being registered as a historical site. Running water, in the rainy seasonTo the right of the house is the foundation formerly holding a wooden cistern. These were common South Louisiana plantation houses of that era; they collected rainwater from the roof. (Rainwater was preferred to water from the muddy Mississippi which had to be let settle.) Most of the old cisterns are long gone; an exception is the San Francisco Plantation between Baton Rouge and New Orleans which has a beautiful pair of cisterns rebuilt in the original style. I'm so happythat the house is still there and is being restored. Thanks Minot, for the info. Family TiesI'm a Labatut. My grandfather grew up in this house. I haven't seen it in a long time. Good to see it restored. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston)
Ice Age Cadillac: 1957
... running the car while at a drive-in restaurant. Lived in Louisiana, don't remember ever seeing such contraptions there or maybe we just ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/12/2013 - 6:46pm -

1957. "Robert and Norma Norton of Houston, Texas, with their family, illustrating life before and after having the house air-conditioned. Includes photos of the family at a drive-in restaurant having cool air piped into their car" -- a Cadillac sedan that already has air conditioning. Photo by Jim Hansen for the Look magazine article "How the Nortons Beat the Heat." View full size. CoalsAnd Newcastle type comments would fit here. I guess this is to avoid running the car while at a drive-in restaurant. Lived in Louisiana, don't remember ever seeing such contraptions there or maybe we just didn't go to the right drive-ins! Before and after?I've read enough "before and after" anecdotes to surmise that by 1957, any Houstonian able to afford a Cadillac would have been upgrading to central air from one or two window units, not getting cooling for the first time. My dad was working on construction sites in the Houston area by age 12, helping his carpenter dad during the summers. He recalls, in the early '50s, working on a lavish home for a local banker, which had sealed windows, and a water-cooled chiller. But, as he said, "I wasn't impressed by the air conditioning, because stores had air conditioning. I was impressed by the remote-controlled garage door opener." By 1957, split systems with air-cooled condensers and single-phase compressors were available, the same type of system that is standard equipment on Texas homes today. That is probably the upgrade that the Look article is referring to. And a beer for Dad, pleaseOh, maybe that's just ginger ale! The High LifeDogs and suds Texas style. How much the world has changedA drive-in with a starched and uniformed waitress, Dad drinking a beer in the car, real glass glasses for the girl's milkshake, and a baby sitting on Mom's lap with no car seat. The morality police would have a field day with some of the things going on here. I wish the world was like this once again. I was born too late. Different time, different placeMom holding a baby on her lap, Dad behind the wheel drinking Miller High Life. Must've been a Texas thingI grew up in Alabama and moved to Florida before all of the drive-ins had closed, and I never saw such a thing, either. Dairy Queen, Shoney's, Frisch's Big Boy, even Frostop Root Beer -- can't recall any having "cool air piped in" to your car. Where's the tray?Virtually every drive-ins I've been to in the past 60 years or so have had a tray that hooked on a partially rolled up window. [The tray is over Dad's lap, clipped to the inside of the door. The windows would be rolled all the way up with the AC hoses connected and photographer not present. - Dave] Technology still in use todayI think it was on that TV series "Modern Marvels" that I saw an episode on super-modern truck stops. In order for the truckers to conserve diesel fuel and reduce carbon footprint, the truck stops provide conditioned air, electric power, etc., to the cabs of the semis. Thanks to switzarch for jogging my memory. Pretty CoolBefore anyone asks, "How do you know the Caddy had AC?", the giveaway is the transparent plastic tube, visible jutting out of the rear package tray. It delivered the cold air from the trunk-mounted evaporator unit to outlets in the headliner. Never mind the moralityThe mortality was much higher back then. There is still more than enough mortality left even with more stringent DUI prohibitions, speed limits and safety features that go unused. And I very positively prefer good brakes, decent suspension, seat belts, airbags and gas mileage over tailfins and a chrome orgy. But that's just me. But hey, it's a free world, just make sure you won't hit anything or anybody. In case anybody wonders why drive-ins were headed the way of the dinosaurs? Well, no spills, no crumbs and no smears in the car if you eat indoors or take it home. Heat exchangeI wonder how many degrees all those air conditioners raised the outside temperature around that place? An often overlooked air conditioning fact is that cooler in one place comes at the price of hotter somewhere else. The NormansApparently the little girl in the back seat went on to become a doctor and teaches at Auburn University. Dad was an electrical engineer. Mom was quite the Texas southern lady having been a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, The Colonial Dames of America and The Daughters of the Confederacy. You can read more from Norma's recent obit here. Prince's BurgersI recognize the drive-in and the car-hop's uniform as possibly being Prince's Burgers, a Houston original. Car SeatIs that a car seat in the back? [No. - Dave] Aw, yesI agree! Life was so much better when you could drink and drive, kids were secure and safe sitting on Mom's lap and you could stretch out in the backseat and take a nice nap without that pesky seatbelt. Snort. I have to admit though. I did miss those wing windows when they went. Made it so much easier to flick your cigarette ashes. Prince's BurgersThat was my thought as I looked at the picture. I also thought this might have been a fast food business that was opened on South Main south of where the main South Main Prince's Drive Inn was located. I grew up close by and remember that there was big new Drive Inn that was built about that time but closed fairly quickly. There was a sign posted saying "Opened By Mistake." [Help ... dizzy ... - Dave] (Technology, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Eateries & Bars, LOOK)
Young Tarzan: 1922
... I actually met Johnny Weissmuller in 1976 in South Louisiana. I was in a community play called Bayou Bon Temps and one of the acts ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/09/2018 - 3:40pm -

Johnny Weissmuller in an Illinois Athletic Club swimsuit circa 1922, prior to winning five Olympic gold medals in 1924 and 1928. Before becoming Tarzan and signing a movie contract with MGM in 1932, Weissmuller was a spokesmodel for BVD swimwear. George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Young TarzanI actually met Johnny Weissmuller in 1976 in South Louisiana. I was in a community play called Bayou Bon Temps and one of the acts had us dressed in Tarzan outfits in honor of the first Tarzan movie being filmed in our hometown. Being 16 years old at the time, I didn't realize the significance of the man we met. I remember him as being still full of energy and enthusiasm at the time. Very cool! I wish as kids weVery cool! I wish as kids we knew what was in front of us. How to savor the moments we can't get back now. About JohnnyHe was actually born in a district of Timisoara (Romania, Eastern Europe) in 1904 and registered as Peter Weissmüller. When he was seven months old, the family emigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. Rotterdam as steerage passengers. He was the son of German-speaking parents of Jewish and Roman Catholic background, Petrus Weißmüller and Elisabeth Kersch. In the US he used his brothers name, Johnny, because it was more American. (The Gallery, Bizarre, G.G. Bain, Movies, Sports, Swimming)
Gamecocks: 1937
... end cockfighting in a year. (Why give them one more year, Louisiana? It's illegal in every other state.) *** BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: The only U.S. state where breeders can still legally pit fighting ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/05/2019 - 3:17pm -

December 1937. Gamecocks in the training arena in Puerto Rico. Photograph by Edwin Rosskam, Farm Security Administration. View full size. What a coincidence...NPR reported this morning that the governor of the last state in the Union to allow cockfighting has JUST signed a bill to end cockfighting in a year. (Why give them one more year, Louisiana? It's illegal in every other state.) *** BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: The only U.S. state where breeders can still legally pit fighting roosters against each other in bloody battles to the death has officially banned cockfighting starting next summer. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed the ban Thursday, ending years of dispute among legislators, the cockfighting industry and the animal rights groups that consider the fights barbaric. The new law, effective in August 2008, makes it a crime to organize or enter birds in a cockfight. It also closes a loophole in Louisiana's animal cruelty laws. Gambling on the fights was banned in the state this summer. Cockfighting is a rural tradition in which specially bred roosters, often with blades or metal spurs attached to their legs, fight to the death or serious injury while spectators wager on the outcome.... *** More at: http://tinyurl.com/yrw8f7 c'mon its just a chickenReally now it's just a chicken their brain is about the size of a pea.I grew up on a farm with thousands of chickens,and have you people seen where you KFC comes from or how thay kill them at a processing plant.I guess if you did you would never eat chicken again. If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. Mark Twain What Mark Twain had to say about cockfighting...From Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi: When the cocks had been fighting some little time, I was expecting them momently to drop dead, for both were blind, red with blood, and so exhausted that they frequently fell down. Yet they would not give up, neither would they die...the dying creatures would totter gropingly about, with dragging wings, find each other, strike a guesswork blow or two, and fall exhausted once more. I did not see the end of the battle. I forced myself to endure it as long as I could, but it was too pitiful a sight; so I made frank confession to that effect, and we retired. We heard afterward that the black cock died in the ring, and fighting to the last. Evidently there is abundant fascination about this 'sport' for such as have had a degree of familiarity with it. I never saw people enjoy anything more than this gathering enjoyed this fight. The case was the same with old gray-heads and with boys of ten. They lost themselves in frenzies of delight. The 'cocking-main' is an inhuman sort of entertainment, there is no question about that... --Life on the Mississippi, Chapter 45 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/245 My DadWhen I reflect on the expanse of his career, my dad has built a Baptist church, a TVA bridge, and twelve cages for fighting cocks. I could understand working for TVA, and building a church is sorta obvious too, but the cockfighting thing has bothered me for several years. Anyway the point is don't believe this is a forgotten part of our culture ... drive down Hwy 412 between Jackson and Perryville, Tennessee, there's a sign on the right side of the road advertising fighting cocks. (The Gallery, Curiosities, Edwin Rosskam, Puerto Rico)
Superior Street: 1909
... Idaho, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Minnesota. 1915 The Hearst newspapers, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 6:42pm -

Duluth, Minnesota, circa 1909. "Superior Street." The newsboy's headline: JAP RIOT CRISIS. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Maybe he stepped on a hatTwo things on the right immediately caught my attention: 1. There is a bald man walking down the street; he appears to be the only man in downtown Duluth not wearing a hat. He must have met with some devastating hat disaster. That shiny pate REALLY sticks out! 2. The man in front of Fitger's Beer who is looking down at his feet or something on the ground. I'm pretty sure he was saying or thinking: "Aw man, what did I just step in?" Coming or going?This guy doesn't appear to be a window washer! The Lyceum TheatreSaid to be Duluth’s first “fire-proof” theatre. It was built for live theatre in 1892, but in 1921 it was converted to showing movies. Demolished in 1963. What did the Japanese do?To get that headline. Fitger's beerhttp://www.fitgers.com/subpage.php?page=History Hawaii RiotsThe newsboy's headline concerns an incident during a labor strike by 10,000 Japanese sugar plantation workers on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The wire service "riot" story was datelined "Honolulu - June 9" and ran in the New York Times on June 10, 1909. The wider story about this strike and its developments ran in many mainland newspapers throughout June and July, and concerned the efforts of Japanese sugar workers in Hawaii to achieve a wage increase from $18 per month to $22 per month. Much of the press coverage seems to have focused on "yellow peril" conspiracy fears, but a more nuanced report, "Who Will Develop the Wealth of Hawaii?" ran in the Times on June 27, detailing new efforts by white plantation owners to attract Filipino, Portuguese and Puerto Rican immigrants to replace the "restless and ambitious" Japanese. News of the day?Can we get a close-up of the newsie to read his tantalizing two-word headline? Any guesses? [Anyone read the caption under the photo? - Dave] Spot the signIt looks hot and dusty -- perfect venue for a Coca-Cola advertisement! Jap RiotThe headlines referred to riots in California due to a spate of new laws affecting the Japanese population. Below is an outline of the years before and after the riot. It clearly paints a picture for what happened during WWII. 1906 San Francisco School Board orders segregation of 93 Japanese American students. 1907 On orders from President Theodore Roosevelt, S.F. School Board rescinds segregation order, but strong feelings against Japanese persist. Anti-Japanese riots break out in San Francisco in May, again in October, much to the embarrassment of U.S. government. Congress passes immigration bill forbidding Japanese laborers from entering the U.S. via Hawaii, Mexico, or Canada. 1908 The Asiatic Exclusion League reports 231 organizations affiliated now, 195 of them labor unions. U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root and Foreign Minister Hayashi of Japan formalize the Gentlemen's Agreement whereby Japan agrees not to issue visas to laborers wanting to emigrate to the U.S. 1909 Anti-Japanese riots in Berkeley. U.S. leaders alarmed at tone and intensity of anti-Japanese legislation introduced in California legislature. 1910 Twenty-seven anti-Japanese proposals intro-duced in the California legislature. White House urges Governor Hiram Johnson to seek moderation. 1913 Alien Land Law (Webb-Haney Act) passed, denying "all aliens ineligible for citizen-ship" (which includes all Asians except Filipinos, who are "subjects" of U.S.) the right to own land in California. Leasing land Iimited to 3 years. Similar laws eventually adopted in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Minnesota. 1915 The Hearst newspapers, historically hostile to Japanese, intensifies its "Yellow Peril" campaign with sensational headlines and editorials, fueling anti-Japanese feelings. Something's missingCan't find the United Cigar Store! Another Japanese connectionIn addition to the "JAP RIOTS" headline, a sign on the Great Northern Railway office announces steamship sailings from Seattle to Yokohoma and Kobe. On a completely separate note, while street crowds in most vintage cityscapes tend to be predominately male, this one is the most extreme, with almost no women visible. It looks almost like a modern street scene in the Middle East. I'll passon the Hot Beef Tea! Although 5 cents is a good price for lunch. Count 'emThere are THREE trolleys running up this street. If I missed one, no problem! I could just wait a minute and hop on the next one! Let's not forgetThe best 5 cent lunch in the city. Was it the Hot Beef Tea that they were advertising? Hot Beef TeaThat's what it looks like the sign says. Or maybe it's Hot Beet Tea, which sounds even worse. How to make it:http://www.thestrugglingcook.com/beef-tea.html Beef teaBeef tea is nothing more than what we now know as beef broth, beef bouillon, or beef consomme. One of my unfailing go-to beverages when I am feeling puny, or (unfortunately) on a liquid-only diet. Why it was a big deal in 1909 I have no idea. I am more concerned about the dude in the window, whether he is coming or going. My theory is that the husband came home unexpectedly. (The Gallery, DPC, Duluth, Streetcars)
Nite Club: 1938
... October 1938. "Porch of small Negro store near Jeanerette, Louisiana." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. ... Two asides: Jax was a beer made in Louisiana The store behind them was Colored Only? [The sign says NITE ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/04/2008 - 8:59am -

October 1938. "Porch of small Negro store near Jeanerette, Louisiana." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Strong MedicineThe triple 6 brand has been around a long time, manufactured Florida's own Monticello Drug Company, now a division of Lee Pharmaceuticals. http://deuceofclubs.com/write/666.htm Two asides: Jax was a beer made in Louisiana The store behind them was Colored Only? [The sign says NITE CLUB Colored Only - Dave] Jax JokesJax beer was brewed by the Jackson Brewing Company near Jackson Square in New Orleans. The bottles each had a joke or riddle printed under the cap. The jokes weren't very funny - sort of like the Palooka Joe comics on bubblegum wrappers back in the day. Goober Pea 666My eye was drawn too to the 666. I spent a few hours just recently online finding out what this sign meant. Flannery O'Connor mentions a motorist seeing it on a Southern highway in "Wise Blood." And so it is by coincidence that I find out what she was referring to. Six Sixty SixThanks for the link to deuceofclubs and the info on 666 products. I had no idea such a thing existed. The site mentioned that 666 items can be found out west, but what about other parts of the country? If 666 cough medicine were on sale in the bigger college towns here on the East Coast, Monticello Drugs would be as big as Dr. Bronner's within three years. JaxWell, since we're on the subject, who else remembers the Jax Beer commercials done by Mike Nichols and Elaine May? "Jax! The beal jeer!" “Bartender, are you making fun of me?” I suppose it's fitting that some of our most vividly imprinted memories are of the commercials of our youth. Little GirlNote the little girl on the far right. SO adorable! Jax Beer CommercialsI loved them and wish I could get a copy. On our 4,548 mile road trip my 6-year-old grandson bought a beer in Idaho and named him Jaxie. Well that brought it up and I went through about five of them. At the end of the trip he was saying "rrr..rrr...rrr...Coolidge?" [Eh? Six years old? "Coolidge"?? Below: Commercials. - Dave] Goldcrest BeerThe box on top of the Jax is Goldcrest Beer, made by the Tennessee Brewery in Memphis. Went out of business in 1954. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
French Market: 1910
... kids are Italian. In this photo from the Louisiana Digital Library, the woman in the black dress with white hair pulled ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:31pm -

New Orleans circa 1910. "A corner of the French Market." At the produce stand of Gus Clesi & Bro. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Burrita.Increíble cantidad de información, preciosa foto. El grupo de chavales mirando al fotógrafo, displicentes, es un mundo aparte dentro del entorno urbano. Extraña manera de pasar el arnés por detrás del rabo de la burra ... Tough GroupI'm sure it was a tough time to be a kid, and their faces reflect it. It seems the kids in all of these turn of the century photos have the same expression. I especially like little Ross Perot on the far left. Those are some impressive ears. French Market: NowView Larger Map The Three Stooges!Those three kids in the back of the cart. It's Curly, Larry and Moe! Woo-woo. If you look closely at the street...that place has got to smell pretty bad. I mean, barnyard bad. The Little RascalsThis pictures conjures up Our Gang, of The Little Rascals fame. Alfalfa must be the tall skinny boy on the right. Hatsville USAThe woman in the background has a hat. The man in the background has a hat. All of the little boys are wearing hats--except for one. The little bald boy, who is the only kid who has any need for a hat, has none. Go figure. Sorriso? Perché?A bit of unrelated triva (the "DeLuca Hardware" sign set me off): By 1910, the population of the French Quarter was 80 percent Sicilian, with the greatest concentration of Italian families living in the Lower Quarter, between St. Ann and Esplanade. Businesses in and around the French Market would have taken full advantage of cheap Italian labor, and I'm guessing that at least two of these tired-looking kids are Italian. In this photo from the Louisiana Digital Library, the woman in the black dress with white hair pulled back in a bun may or may not be a Sicilian grandmother, but I'd like to think that she is. The photo is titled simply "Courtyard on Chartres Street." Meanwhile. . . . . . . . elsewhere in the city, nine-year-old Louis Armstrong is attending the Fisk School for Boys and picking up extra money for Mom as a paperboy and other menial jobs, which didn't keep her from resorting to prostitution now and then. He didn't pick up a horn for a couple more years. Peel outYes, we have mo' bananas! Mamma MiaNot only Italian, but the way she is dressed, appears to be widowed as well. A shaved headsometimes indicated a "nit" problem, no hat = infested hat. Black, WidowsI don't think the woman is a widow. Widows even today in parts of Italy wear ALL black. No white dresses. Never. [Not sure I get the logic here. Or do you mean "women." - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, Kids, New Orleans, Stores & Markets)
Joe Rocque: 1940
June 1940. "Melrose, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Fireplace in old mud hut built and still lived in by French ... the old days as he dozed next to the fire on a rainy Louisiana winter's afternoon. The pleated shirt is quite dashing, but ... individuals who can trace their ancestry back to the time Louisiana was ruled by the French. They were free during the slave times. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/27/2019 - 6:53pm -

June 1940. "Melrose, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Fireplace in old mud hut built and still lived in by French mulattoes near John Henry cotton plantation. 'Uncle' Joe Rocque, about 86 years old." Photo by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. MemoriesPerhaps born a "free person of colour," Mr. Rocque would nonetheless have had vivid memories of slave times. With his cat for company, he would doubtless have revisited the old days as he dozed next to the fire on a rainy Louisiana winter's afternoon. The pleated shirt is quite dashing, but fireplace could stand to have its ashes hauled. Wampole's PreparationContains cod liver oil (with oily and fatty part eliminated), fluid extract of wild cherry, a compound syrup of hypophosphites (common minerals plus quinine and strychnine), and, oh yes, 12% alcohol. A tonic and stimulant. The dose for children depends on “age and temperament.” I'm Waiting!is what the kitten is thinking. Waiting for the fire to be lit. Watkins Almanac and Home Book1868 – 1936. “68 years of buying experience give us the pick of the crop at favorable prices. That's why you always get better quality and value for your money from the Watkins dealer.” Note hangin’ hole in upper left corner, as used by Joe Rocque. Watkins 1936 Almanac and Home BookAdvertising Spices / Recipes, Home Remedies. Featuring: Watkins Fly spray JunkerismJunkerism is the very opposite of democracy. The essence of junkerism is privileged land ownership; that is, the ownership of large estates not adequately taxed, and not open to change of ownership 1918, Charles Fremont Taylor, Equity (volume 20) Over the TopThis old guy must have had a grandson in the First World War. Either that or he was very patriotic during 1917-18. The picture he has pinned to the wall on the right side of the photo, under the gun stock, is titled "Over the Top." The one hanging in my man-den is dated Chicago, 1918. The Germans are wearing outdated spiked helmets. It's one of a series. A Junker in 1918, by the way, was Prussian aristocracy known for their militarism. Pronounce the "J" like a "Y." Creole is the correct termfor mixed race individuals who can trace their ancestry back to the time Louisiana was ruled by the French. They were free during the slave times. Several decades ago I attended a training session with a person who was originally from Louisiana and had a French last name. One day I asked him if he was a Cajun. He gave me a dirty look and said "I'm a Creole, Cajuns are white and Creoles are black". I'll admit that I never would have known he was a Creole if he hadn't told me. Creole isn't to be confused with "Criollo", the Spanish term used in Latin America to describe someone of pure European ancestry. (The Gallery, Cats, M.P. Wolcott)
Skillet Cornbread: 1935
... mayo and sprinkled with sugar. He was born in 1922 in Louisiana. His mother, my grandmother, taught me that cornbread was baked in ... from the upper mid-west stationed in the Air Force down in Louisiana in the early 1980s when I learned about "seasoned iron skillets." I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/29/2015 - 12:37pm -

October 1935. "Making cornbread with relief flour. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein. View full size. Still make it that wayWhile I am too young to have been in the Great Depression, but not young enough to call the recent recession the Great Recession having seen others, I did grow up in the lower economic class and remember Brown (pinto) Beans wth Ham hock and cornbread cooked in the oven on a hot Lodge cast iron pan. I still make cornbread from scratch in my own well seasoned Lodge cast iron pan in the oven. It never lasts past the second day, and always cut in pie shaped wedges. Whereas I grew up in Colorado and California where homemade was the norm, my husband grew up here in the Pacific Northwest and never had it from scratch before. Now he will not touch boxed varieties and I have now become very well versed in the different mills for both my flour and my cornmeal. Never though have I liked it mixed with milk, I am the oddball in my family I suppose Reminded me too much of mush. Where are the pintos?Having spent a few years in the Dust Bowl, I know for sure that almost all the natives around here survived the Depression and other lean times with dried pinto beans and cornbread and they never stop lovin' this staple. With a chunk of fatback or ham hocks and a chopped onion thrown in for flavor and cooking the beans almost all day, it does make a savory and filling delicious hot meal with a tantalizing aroma. If visitors were expected, they would just throw in another cup of water or two while cooking the beans. Even if and when their families became affluent, they still consider beans and cornbread a most satisfying comfort food, similar to red beans and rice in N'Orleans and it is often on the menu in restaurants. Black, slick, and seasoned so well, they are now non-stick. Great grandma's cookware still sees regular action in our Ozarks kitchen on old Route 66. "Cast iron skillets..." says my wife (a "chef-caliber" cook), are the ONLY ones to use for "...cornbread, apple pie and Southern fried chicken." And, having had those mouth-watering dishes cooked in everything from teflon to aluminum foil, I...whole-heartedly...agree. Best poor folks food everAgreed on beans and cornbread. Always on the restaurant menus around here too, the only question is brown beans (pinto beans) or white beans (navy beans). A small local place changes that for their special a couple of times a week. The older people will crumble up the corn bread in the beans, most younger people don't. You can choose to have raw onions on the side, that is about a 50/50 choice. My First TimeBeing married to a southern gal, I got my first taste of this delicious meal (Ham Hocks and all) when my Mother-In-Law cooked it for us right after we were first married. Like 'Oliver' I asked for more. P.S. She even used a family cast iron skillet that we still had up until recently. Yum! Corn bread...yumAs a tween I rode the GM&O Gulf Coast Rebel from St. Louis, MO to Waynesboro, MS to stay a couple of weeks with my grandpa and aunt for a couple of weeks. Home-made cornbread and black-eyed peas were a staple. Over sixty years later I wonder where to get that cornbread - the stuff sold over the counter just doesn't satisfy. Cornbread & ButtermilkMy granddaddy (b. 1898 in west Texas) would crumble day-old cornbread in a tall glass of buttermilk for breakfast. His mix was 50/50 with the consistency of oatmeal. When the grandkids were at the breakfast table we were allowed to crumble our cornbread in "sweet milk". I never heard - or maybe just don't remember - if my grandfather referred to this concoction by name; I only remember him call it"cornbread and buttermilk". As a consequence of this delicacy there was rarely any two-day-old cornbread in the kitchen. I can still remember the big black skillet left on the counter on a wire trivet with a clear Corning glass lid from a long-broken casserole dish covering the pan. If the crust overlapped the skillet rim, my grandmother would trim it away with a sharp knife (there were never any other kind in her kitchen) so the glass lid would fit snugly. Those crusty trimmings always went into granddaddy's buttermilk. GE percolator coffeepot gurgling and hissing - the trinkle of a long-handled iced tea spoon stirring the cornbread in the tall glass - cue the rooster. Goober Pea Relief or notI'll bet it tasted good! My father and grandfather would have put it in a glass of buttermilk (ugh!). Wow!The best part about this photo is the comments it inspired! Thanks sharing all of the family lore. Cornbread vs. JohnnycakeA friend with southern family roots told me that "real" cornbread should not contain any sugar. He stated that if it contains sugar, it's a "johnnycake", rather than a true cornbread. Certainly the cornbread recipes printed right on the bag of any brand of cornmeal include sugar. This would imply that the producers of cornmeal have a different definition. Mouth watering commentsBeans, cornbread, buttermilk. I believe the comments in this thread are making me as hungry as our recent Thanksgiving spread. As an added treat my wife will cook a few cracklins into the cornbread. Brings back memoriesMy paternal grandmother cooked on a coal/wood stove not unlike this one (a bit more upscale, it was porcelain-ized and bigger). She always had a skillet of cornbread on hand. That would find its way into several meals each week, as did her white bread loaves. Great Northern beans were cooked up with buttermilk that made a thick, rich sauce. The cornbread was NOT light and sweet like the stuff you get served in restaurants today. It was dense, very coarse-textured, soft when freshly baked but dry and hard next-day. Pouring the ham and beans over it softened the squares and made a rich, tasty and filling meal that was only upstaged by the fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy that was traditional Sunday fare. There was so much good food served in that farmhouse. Day old cornbread and milkMy dad loved breaking up day old cornbread into an ice tea glass then filling it up with milk with a good tablespoon of sugar then scooping it with a spoon like a sundae. He also liked white bread spread with mayo and sprinkled with sugar. He was born in 1922 in Louisiana. His mother, my grandmother, taught me that cornbread was baked in the oven in a skillet but corn pone was always cooked in a skillet on the stovetop. It was thinner and faster to make, stirring as it cooked. Irish soda breadMom always used to make it in an 8" cast iron skillet in the oven. With raisins and caraway seed. My son continues the tradition. The Delight on the LeftTechnically, is more like Johnnycake rather than Cornbread. Culture shockI was a kid from the upper mid-west stationed in the Air Force down in Louisiana in the early 1980s when I learned about "seasoned iron skillets." I ran my roommate's skillet through a commercial dishwasher and he wasn't too pleased. It's not history till you forget itMy mom cooked on a stove much like that (a Kalamazoo) and made enough pan bread to feed an army. I now have her cast iron pans and still make lard grease corn bread when I'm feeling nostalgic. Sadly that's about the only use I get out of those old pans. Southern vs. northern cornbreadIn the South, cornbread is generally made with white field corn and is not sweetened--but of course the tea is. In the North, it's generally made with yellow field corn and is sweetened--but the tea generally is not. Regional thing, really. I'm a Yankee who prefers southern cornbread and unsweetened tea. I'm pretty sure that at least four of the iron skillets I own were used by my grandmother when she was a little girl during WWI. If you ruin the seasoning, you put it on a hot bed of coals to remove the old and start anew. I've reconditioned my skillets several times this way. Love those old skillets, but cringe at that stove. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kitchens etc.)
Joe Leiter: 1912
... accidental discharge of a shotgun while duck hunting in Louisiana. The accident happened while he was hunting near the mouth of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 5:06pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1912. Joseph Leiter Sr., "capitalist, grain speculator and horse fancier." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. TragedyJoe Sr. died in 1932 at age 63; his son was killed in a hunting accident in 1921. NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 11, 1921. -- Joseph Leiter Jr., 10-year-old son of Joseph Leiter, millionaire resident of Chicago and Washington, was killed by the accidental discharge of a shotgun while duck hunting in Louisiana. The accident happened while he was hunting near the mouth of the Mississippi River; an unexplained explosion of a cartridge in his gun caused the discharge. The boy had accompanied his father on the hunting trip, although the father was not nearby at the time. The slain youth, son of the man who became world famous when he cornered the wheat market in the Chicago pit, was a grandson of Levi Z. Leiter of Chicago, who founded the Leiter fortune. He was a nephew of the late Lady Curzon of England. The boy would have inherited an estate of several millions had he grown to manhood I also wonder about the rug. But I do like the three different carving styles on the posts of the stairway banister. Hey Yo!He kinda looks like an older Tony Soprano! I'm not CharlesDurning, I just play him on TV. Nice Double-breasted VestThis guy could pass for Tony Soprano's grandfather. Wrinkly trousersDidn't suits in those days come with two pairs of pants, so you could wear one while the other was being pressed? Joe Jr.Joseph Leiter Jr. Killed by Own Gun at Age 10. Groundhog Day wasn't just a movie!I've suspected for a long time that Bill Murray isn't human. Now here's more proof. He was already 1,000 years old when this picture was taken. Separated At BirthI think he could pass for Winston Churchill's twin brother. Stalwart FellowConfident and assured with himself, but why didn't he have a rug that fit the room? O Brother, Where Art Thou?It's Pappy O'Daniel! "Shake a leg Junior! Thank God your mammy died givin' birth. If she'd have seen you, she'd have died o' shame." Man with a rug that doesn't fit.Nouveau riche Woodwork perfectionSimply amazing. That woodwork is done to perfection, no doubt with only hand tools. A house built today, with every conceivable power tool known to man, typically look like it was done by a four-year-old. If they cast him in a movie......he'd be played by Eugene Pallette. I'll bet he even had that froggy voice. If it weren't for the subject's dour looks, this looks like it could be the set of a screwball comedy. My man Godfrey is about to walk by and fix that rug... or Edward Everett Horton is about to trip over it. More agile than he would appear...He just ran into the frame from the left, sliding into place. Thus the rug buckle. Tres ChickLooks like he uses Dagwood's barber. Literary CharacterLeiter was the model for the main character in Frank Norris' last completed novel, "The Pit." Now that I've seen the photo, I have to dig out my copy of the book. All that woodworkIt's a lead-pipe cinch that the balusters were machine-made, and I'd bet the handrail and all the mouldings were too, and possibly the treads and the starting step; perhaps even the newel post came from a factory. Moulding planes were still around in numbers in those days, but the omnipresence of this kind of woodwork was made possible by machines. I imagine that a lot of handwork went into the final fitting, but that would be so today as well. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Portraits)
After Antietam: 1862
... Road is to the right of the fence. Here Starke's Louisiana Brigade fought the 6th Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade, basically just ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/25/2012 - 4:15pm -

September 1862. "Antietam, Maryland. Confederate dead by a fence on the Hagerstown road." The first major battle of the Civil War on Union territory was fought 150 years ago this month. Wet plate glass negative. View full size. Photo by Alexander Gardner?Just a guess. ObservationsI've seen this shot before but never been able to see it so large. Notice, there are no weapons in evidence, obviously gathered up. The tree line in the far distance, maybe the entire sky appears to have undergone some editing. It looks as though the blanket roll of the Reb on the left has been "examined" and there appear to be markers in evidence, one bearing the number "4" on one of the nearest groups and there maybe one other on a further group. John Dorsey Johnson, 50th PennsylvaniaMy great great grandfather served in this terrible war from its inception in 1861 to its conclusion. Antietam was one of many horrific battles in which his unit fought. I have the diaries he kept during the war, passed down to me by my grandfather. He served on the committee that organized the 50th anniversary of this battle, and erected the statue to Col. Benjamin Christ. JDJ died in 1922 and is buried near his home in Franklindale, Pa. 150 years ago23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of battle, September 17, 1862. I can't imagine how much worse the entire battlefield looked. TreelineI looks like the emulsion was trimmed away at the treeline with a sharp knife. I wonder what they were cutting away. [The sky has been inked out to make it white, as opposed to the black you see around the edges. - Dave] Visit if you canMy family and I had been to Gettysburg twice and decided two years ago to visit Antietam and also nearby Harpers Ferry, WV. For any Civil War buff, at trip there is a must. I love Gettysburg, but compared to Antietam, it is more commercialized. The battlefield today is nearly the same as it was in 1862. The photo above taken on the Hagerstown Pike is right next to The Cornfield where the battle started the morning of September 17th and where some of the heaviest fighting took place. The Dead of AntietamThere is a detailed discussion of the background of that photograph in the NY Times which can be read here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/the-dead-of-antietam/ Sharpsburg was a bloody slaughter and the photo was among the first to bring home the sheer horror of war to ordinary people. Antietam CasualtiesCasualties at Antietam far exceeded those of any other one-day battle involving Americans: The North had about 12,400 killed, wounded or missing and the South’s total was about 10,320. I say “about” because the ferocious combat on that day affected accurate record keeping. In the morning phase of the battle alone nearly 14,000 of the 43,700 troops engaged (both sides) were casualties. For comparison American casualties on D-Day, June 6, 1944, according to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, totaled 6,036, including wounded and missing. British and Canadian troops had about 6,000 of their own. More than two-thirds of deaths in the Civil War occurred not in battle but as a result of disease. Medical care had a long way to go. It’s worth mentioning that President William McKinley was at Antietam as a sergeant in the 23rd Ohio Infantry. One of the 96 monuments on the battlefield is in memory of McKinley; it was erected two years after his assassination in 1901. Then and NowNPR has some "then and now" shots of the battlefield, including this Shorpy photo. Frassanito's "Antietam"This book tried to find the location of all these Gardner pictures. He found that this picture is looking North, the Hagerstown Road is to the right of the fence. Here Starke's Louisiana Brigade fought the 6th Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade, basically just across the road and a second fence line to the right. The Union attack was coming from the north, on the other side of the fences, and Starke pivoted to take them in flank. The 6th turned to face them and both were engaged for some time, suffering severe losses. (The Gallery, Alexander Gardner, Civil War)
Falls City: 1900
... Greenville, but comparable short trips in Mississippi and Louisiana were about $8 for a cabin, and $1 to $2 for deck passage. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:14pm -

Vicksburg, Mississippi, circa 1900. "The levee." And the sternwheeler Falls City. Dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Point & shootCameras back then were bulky and required time to set up. Nowadays this shot could be taken while walking past the scene. While the photographer didn't try to make this shot "casual", it has that look about it. Because of this, we see a more accurate glimpse of what life was like then. The detritus in the water, the men (only men in this scene) waiting for business and/or passengers, the six or seven ships in the background all show a thriving economy. PerfectA stage set for "Showboat"! I can hear "Old Man River" just as plain as day! Thanks. Look! There's Howard Keel! Falls City, my home townAlthough there are towns with this name in Nebraska and Oregon, the Falls City name likely refers to Louisville, which owes its existence to the Falls of the Ohio River. The late lamented Falls City Beer was brewed in Louisville starting in 1905. From the signage it appears that in 1900 this sternwheeler was working the Mississippi between Vicksburg and Greenville. It had come down in the world, literally. Falls City factsAccording to Way's Packet Directory, there were five boats named Falls City. This appears to be the last, built in 1898 at Cincinnati. 132 feet long, owned by the Louisville & Kentucky River Packet Co. The book notes that the boat was not taken to Vicksburg until 1908, but it was common practice for boats to "tramp" when work was slow in their home trade. Photo capabilities in 1900?What intrigues me most about this shot is how well motion has been stopped. The horses’ movement and even the water flow from boat to river. Most photos from this era seem to blur anything with the slightest motion. What were the capabilities for shutter speed given the emulsions of the time? Just lucky to have an extremely bright day? [By 1900, exposure times for outdoor photography on a sunny day would be measured in fractions of a second. - Dave] Vanished OccupationsTwo jobs I would have loved to have, but are forever unavailable: (a) Paddlewheel Riverboat Pilot; (b) bandsman on the nicer passenger boats. Lot of the groundwork for early jazz got laid down on those boats. Cost of a steamboat tripI imagine that the cost of taking the Falls City from Vicksburg to Greenville was incredibly cheap as by 1900 the Illinois Central ran multiple trains a day on their Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad between Memphis, Leland, Vicksburg, Natchez and Baton Rouge. At Leland, the Southern Railway of Mississippi could take a passenger 15 miles west to Greenville. Does anyone know riverboat fares from 109 years ago? Per some of my Gulf & Ship Island Railway documents from 1902, it cost $1.25 to travel from Jackson to Hattiesburg, a distance of 95 miles, and I imagine that in those highly regulated days the fare for the journey between two cities of similar distance would be similar. I should have been a historian. Re: Vanished OccupationsThose occupations haven't vanished, Anon. As a Cincinnati-based musician, I've worked enough riverboat gigs that the romance has faded, and my first thought is always what a PITA it is to haul equipment down to the docks. Most American river cities have at least a few excursion boats working the river, and all those boats have pilots (although, sadly, you're more likely to hear recorded music these days). I've had a few conversations with riverboat pilots, and they're a really interesting bunch. Steam has been mostly replaced by diesel, and the paddlewheel is more than likely decorative, but those jobs are still out there. And those riverboats where the sounds of jazz were first heard? They were primarily excursion boats, just like today. At first glancethis scene could as easily be 1850 instead of 1900. Until I looked at the gent sitting on the barrel center front, his clothes give him away as "not 1850." Tickets please.Could not find pricing for Vicksburg to Greenville, but comparable short trips in Mississippi and Louisiana were about $8 for a cabin, and $1 to $2 for deck passage. SteamboatsChautauqua Lake in western New York State had, like most comparable bodies of water in that era, an extensive fleet of large steamboats. The Lake steamers were all (except one) screw driven, with deeper drafts. But otherwise they were very similar to this. The last Chautauqua steamer was the City of Jamestown, about 110 feet long with two decks. It ran frequent excursions though the 1950s. I vividly remember it pulling into the pier in 1951 or 52, belching steam. I never ran so hard in my life as when I ran down to the water to see that magnificent vessel. My own personal little Mark Twain memory. Make that 3 decks. http://cchsnys.org/mp/mp_chautauqua_lake_steamboats_4_08/acoj.html Sharp lookerWhat a gloriously rich image. The detail cries out to be examined further. Thanks for posting it! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Vicksburg)
Red Hot Chili Peppers: 1938
... and washboard in front of a store near New Iberia, Louisiana, the home of Tabasco pepper sauce. View full size. 35mm nitrate ... to see what's new each day!! Tabasco Anyone touring Louisiana today has to visit Avery Island and the Tabasco factory. Great ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/16/2008 - 9:25pm -

October 1938. Musicians playing accordion and washboard in front of a store near New Iberia, Louisiana, the home of Tabasco pepper sauce. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. On CDThis image, annoyed diner included, is the cover art for a Folkways compilation. But I don't think these two are actually on there. Just a word of thanksJust to thank the managers of this website for the excellent work they are doing. It's one excellent photo after other An Honor to Dr. King !The faces in the window.....Dave...you are good. Like going to a art show, daily. Thanks ..... [Aw shucks again! - Dave] Hear, hear!I'm hooked! What a great site! [Aw shucks. Thanks! - The Management] MusiciansLee was understandably keen about these guys, as there are several pictures of them in his archive. I've got one from the L. of C. framed, a flash shot of the two in the back seat of a car. The accordion player has a cigarette in his mouth and his eyes are closed. ClassyThe man in the middle is so sharply dressed. I wish people still dressed like that today. DistractionsTried to show my wife how remarkable was the photography and the reproduction on the site (the faces in the window), but she couldn't take her eyes off the washboard player: " Oh my, what a good-looking young man!" Socksanother example of socks being rolled over. A time period thing? RockwellThe faces in the window remind me of a Norman Rockwell painting. Thanks for these great old pictures --- I can't wait to see what's new each day!! TabascoAnyone touring Louisiana today has to visit Avery Island and the Tabasco factory. Great (The Gallery, Music, Russell Lee, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Be It Ever So Humble: 1938
... fields near New Iberia. He comes from a parish in northern Louisiana." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security ... reading an article on the sawmill towns of western Louisiana. A large part of the article was devoted to the types of company ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2012 - 12:24pm -

November 1938. "Shack of day laborer who works in sugarcane fields near New Iberia. He comes from a parish in northern Louisiana." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Insensitive commentA set-up for a Laurel & Hardy gag if I ever saw one. Flanged wheelsare under the hut. Fascinating. Kids' dreamWhen I was 10 years old, this would have been just the kind of clubhouse / tree house that my friends and I would have loved to have built from scrap lumber, if only our parents would have let us construct it in the back yard. Jug Band MusicSeeing the washboard in this picture makes me wonder if there isn't a guitar just inside the door ready for an impromptu tune. [More likely some dirty laundry.] On the fenceThe laundry's dryin' on the fence, Dave. [Comment Czar - not Dave, btw - acknowledges your observation, but speculates our fellow may have separated out his whites and still needs to do his union suit.] Early WinnebagoPrototype motor home? About those flanged wheelsI was recently reading an article on the sawmill towns of western Louisiana. A large part of the article was devoted to the types of company housing used in the towns. One type of housing used in the temporary logging camps [called "front camps"] was a simple shack, or series of shacks, mounted on railroad flat cars, to provide accomodations for the workers in the camps. The shacks would simply be wheeled into place on the company rail line and then withdrawn to the next location once all the timber had been cut out. Looks like this might have been one of those "mobile homes" left over from the sawmill days, since by 1938 most of the western Louisiana timber lands were a wasteland of cut-over stumps. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Russell Lee)
Bumper Buddies: 1940
December 1940. "Camp Livingston, Alexandria, Louisiana. Construction workers from Monroe sitting on car in front of their ... Pitching a Tint Anyone colorizing this? The 1940 Louisiana license plate featured beautiful dark blue characters on brilliant ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2019 - 5:26pm -

December 1940. "Camp Livingston, Alexandria, Louisiana. Construction workers from Monroe sitting on car in front of their shacks before leaving for evening shift." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Here's looking at me, kid.Bogie on the fender. Pitching a TintAnyone colorizing this? The 1940 Louisiana license plate featured beautiful dark blue characters on brilliant orange background, a striking contrast. And yes, that is a little map of the state inserted between the banks of digits. You can leave your hat onThat was an easy car quiz. The pickup truck is a mere 1941 Chevrolet AK 3104. His new pickupJudging by the hood vents and cab, the truck is a brand new 1941 Chevrolet Series AK pickup. 1941 was the first model year for the AK, which was replaced by the Advance Design trucks in June 1947. Two different truck yearsThe guys are sitting on a 1937 Chevrolet Half-Ton pickup. What's throwing me off is the position of the wipers -- they ought to be on the top of the windshield frame, not the bottom. The truck to the left appears to be a 1941 Chevrolet Half-Ton. Both are classics! [That thar is a car. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, M.P. Wolcott)
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