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Dolls: 1938
November 1938. Donaldsonville, Louisiana. "Young girl buying doll from concession manager at the state fair." ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/04/2008 - 5:59pm -

November 1938. Donaldsonville, Louisiana. "Young girl buying doll from concession manager at the state fair." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. Library of Congress. Leering Dopeys...Shame! Snow White would've had a few choice words... Standing TallThe manager must be petite; I think she'd be eye-to-eye with the little girl if she stepped down from her Coke crate. And standing on it didn't keep the mud off her spectator shoes, unfortunately. Dopey, Charlie, Snow.They're not dolls---they're chalkware figurines. Charlie McCarthyBeen a while since I've seen Edgar Bergen's alter ego. He was far bigger than Jeff Dunham is today. I don't think Charlie ever ran for president, while Jeff's curmudgeonly Walter has thrown his hat in the ring. http://www.jeffdunham.com/walter.php Details, details!At first I thought the tube device in the lower left was a radio then I decided the item in the manager's hand is a microphone and it appeared connected to what must be an amplifier to "bark" the dolls. Also the other character with monocle and Uncle Sam hat appears to be Charlie McCarthy of Edgar Bergen fame? (The Gallery, Russell Lee, Sports)
Fordable Housing: 1940
December 1940. Alexandria, Louisiana. "Construction worker's trailer (home-made house car). He has a job ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/21/2019 - 4:52pm -

December 1940. Alexandria, Louisiana. "Construction worker's trailer (home-made house car). He has a job at Camp Livingston." Acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. Model T-railer homeI've heard of living in your car before, but this takes it to a whole 'nother level. Proto-AirstreamLovely work on this early camper! I wonder what it was like inside? Unsafe at any speedAnd Ralph Nader though the Corvair was dangerous! Not much peripheral visionLooking down the road just a few years to wraparound windshields. [Or bay windows. - Dave] True GritI am not sure how you would ever drive that, but I am sure the man who built it was as sharp as can be and as tough as nails. Nothing-he-couldn't-do type of fella. A man's man. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, M.P. Wolcott)
Student Nurse: 1942
Lydia Monroe of Ringold, Louisiana, is a student nurse at Provident Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Her ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 08/08/2012 - 8:19pm -

Lydia Monroe of Ringold, Louisiana, is a student nurse at Provident Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Her father is a machinist at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company. Photo by Jack Delano, March, 1942. View full size. A detailed history……of Provident Hospital can be found here. Lovelywith that Mona Lisa smile. NurseThis is a lovely image - what a great gaze she has. She is a beauty!because of her hair style she reminds me of the comics character "Miss Holmes" from the Buck Danny, Franco-Belgian comics series, created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Victor Hubinon, which chronicles the adventures of a trio of pilots in the United States Navy. Here is a scan from the album Les Mystères de Midway (The Mysteries of Midway) (page 39, plate J 083 B): Miss Holmes, with Buck Danny (The Gallery, Chicago, Education, Schools, Jack Delano, Medicine)
Old Folks at Home: 1935
... but it appears to fit that pattern. However, in Louisiana at Transylvania Plantation just south of Lake Providence, blacks who ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/05/2009 - 2:04am -

October 1935. Brown County, Indiana. Prospective Resettlement Administration clients whose property has been optioned by the government. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Theodor Jung for the Farm Security Administration. Resettlement?Can someone decode what the caption means? Resettlement clients? Property optioned? It sounds like their farm dustbowled up and the Roosevelt government is buying them out, but I'd like the official word... Thanks! [Wikipedia article on the Resettlement Administration. - Dave] Brown County INBrown County has the largest Indiana state park and part of the Hoosier National Forest. Brown County has by far the highest concentration of forested land of any of Indiana's 92 counties with nearly 90% coverage and almost no large farms at all. I think these people we relocated to help create these great parks. http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hoosier/docs/history/history.htm Resettlement AdministrationThe resettlement of tens of thousands of people occurred through government action in the 1930s. In some cases it was for projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority where vast areas of bottom lands were flooded and the owners of the land, many of them having families that dated to the Revolutionary War period, were "resettled". In other cases, people lived on what the government determined to be submarginal lands and they were bought out and given the option of settling in a "homestead project" such as the ones developed by the FSA and, earlier, the Resettlement Administration. I don't know the particular history of Brown County, Indiana, where clients were "optioned", but it appears to fit that pattern. However, in Louisiana at Transylvania Plantation just south of Lake Providence, blacks who had lived on the plantation since the Civil War were evicted by the FSA and white farmers were brought onto the land. The only evidence of this is determined by the photographs made by Russell Lee. There is no reliable history, at this point, that tells us exactly what took place and why (except for the photographic evidence). The result of the removal of hundreds of black tenants, their houses turned over to the new arrivals as well as their churches and community center, was an embittered and angry black population. They formed the nucleus of a particularly militant civil rights group based in Lake Providence. It appears that throughout the south the projects set up by the FSA had very long lasting implications. The government had determined that FSA projects would be segregated, at the instigation of politicians, which was a profoundly different pattern for sharecroppers in particular who lived in racially mixed arrangements on the land. the result, time and again of this "resettlement" in the south was that whites and blacks were separated and concentrated in isolated communities. the black communities were often the font of civil rights work in their region. The white communities such as the Dyess Project in Arkansas were the centers of the Ku Klux Klan. Here is a website that outlines some of our research: http://www.siu.edu/%7ejadams/fsa/ (The Gallery, Great Depression, Rural America, Theodor Jung)
Chretien Point: 1938
... Point Plantation, Sunset vicinity, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Structure dates to 1831." Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/27/2014 - 12:32pm -

1938. "Chretien Point Plantation, Sunset vicinity, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Structure dates to 1831." Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. What a lightning rod!Is that a lightning rod atop the roof? It's HUGE. If it is an antenna, what a dream of a radiator it must have been on that tin roof ground plane! Past and Present"Chretien Point Plantation was at the center of the Battle of Buzzard's Prairie, October 15, 1863. The home was surrounded by troops, but said to be spared when owner Hypolite Chretien gave the Masonic sign. Today, there is a memorial to the lost soldiers placed in the front of the property and the mansion is open for historic tours that include information about the Civil War, the battlefield, and plantation life." Ref: http://www.civilwar.org/civil-war-discovery-trail/sites/chretien-point-p... Current info and pictures: http://www.chretienpoint.com/ It's looking a little better now+76 - now operated as a bed & breakfast and wedding site. Turnbuckle SunsThey make a nice change from the more common stars seen here frequently on old brick buildings. Hollywood connectionIn the past they gave tours of the house. One of the things that sticks in my mind is that the staircase in Tara in "Gone With the Wind" was a copy of the staircase in Cretien Point. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston)
Gone Fishin'
... June 1940. Cajun boys fishing in the bayou near Schriever, Louisiana, not far from the Terrebonne Parish School. View full size. 35mm ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2012 - 6:10pm -

June 1940. Cajun boys fishing in the bayou near Schriever, Louisiana, not far from the Terrebonne Parish School. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration. Even though it's not the Mississippi....I'll second the Tom Sawyer reference! The photo is a perfect illustration of Tom and Huckleberry Finn. Twain's universal boyhood themes are still relevant today. Too bad that some school boards have actually banned "Huckleberry Finn", one of the first books to explore the evils of racism...because some of its words were "racist" and allgedly make some students "uncomfortable" I guessI guess they just finished painting a white fence? Me tooThat was the first thought I had, Tom and Huck....amazing how his writings are remembered and loved after all this time. DSS Gone Fishin'This is just a beautifully rendered photograph, I thought it was an illustration at first. This could easily be a painting, the composition and coloring is breathtaking. (The Gallery, M.P. Wolcott, Rural America)
Hazy River: 1905
... about YOU, Dave. The wintry weather is rare in south Louisiana, though the state's northern parishes see it about once a year. New ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/16/2020 - 11:09am -

New Orleans circa 1905. "Mississippi River from Hennen Building." Panorama made from four 8x10 inch glass negatives. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Shorpy business buildingEvery morning a few new photos in storefront window. Those were the days. PanoWhat a great job stitching those four images together. When I embigulate and then scroll back and forth, left and right, I feel the whole image wrap around me. I can’t believe it’s flat. Exhilarating. Smoke 'em if ya got 'emWith all those chimneys belching black smoke, it's a wonder the rooftop snow looks so white. [Um, no snow. Sometimes I wonder about you people ... - Dave] Sometimes I wonder about YOU, Dave. The wintry weather is rare in south Louisiana, though the state's northern parishes see it about once a year. New Orleans' last snowfall, in 2004, was a dusting that came nine months before Hurricane Katrina struck. The record snowfall for the city is about 5 inches, recorded Dec. 30, 1963. It sure looks like snow, melted in some places, and may have been the rare event that triggered the photos. (Look at the rooftop in the center foreground). However, I've been to Mardi Gras in NOLA (in Feb, I think) when it SEEMED cold enough to snow. But shells make perfect sense the white would reflect the heat. I still stand by my comment that it's a wonder the rooftops are still so white with the smoke. Griswold JewelerAd for Griswold Jeweler Snowy RooftopsWhat appears to be snow, as mentioned by a commenter below, is actually white stone or crushed shell, used to keep the buildings cooler in summer by reflecting the sun's heat up. The clarity of these old-time shots is astonishing. (Panoramas, DPC, New Orleans)
Canal Street: 1907
... date the photo to no later than 1904. In that year, by Louisiana law, all vestibules had to be enclosed. I suspect it dates from ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/15/2020 - 10:50am -

New Orleans circa 1907. "Canal Street." Center stage: A Streetcar Named Prytania. Composite image made from two 8x10 inch glass negatives. View full size. Expensive healthcareIt is probably no coincidence that a Loan Office is in the same building as the National Dental Parlors. Tooth-hurty1907 dentistry on an industrial scale ... now there's an appealing idea! "Those are screams of joy, kids -- no worries!" My mother recalls her 1930s visits to a dentist named Dr. Carpenter. Guess what sort of tools he used? Details about the photoOf the five tracks in this view, only the two outer tracks were dual gauge. Actually, you can see it, just vaguely. It's the right-hand rail that was dual, and it looks like the railhead is wider. That's the effect of the double right-hand railheads next to each other (with just wheel flange clearance between them). We can date the photo to no later than 1904. In that year, by Louisiana law, all vestibules had to be enclosed. I suspect it dates from 1900-1904. [It was taken the same day as this view, whose negative is marked with a copyright date of 1907. - Dave] The car with the Prytania clerestory sign was presumably assigned usually to that route, but is not at that moment on that route. A Prytania car would not be on that track. Note the Special sign hanging from the dash. I believe the car is on some kind of special assignment, perhaps a charter. A Streetcar Named PrytaniaAs cool a photo as I've seen in a long time. Thank you, Dave Drip - Drip - DripEarly streetcars and interurbans did not have sealed wheel and axle bearings. The result was that lubricating oil leaked out onto the pavement. You can readily see in these two photos which tracks were the busiest. San Francisco's Market Street had four streetcar tracks, and was known colloquially as "The Roar of the Four". (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Streetcars)
The Chopin Store: 1940
June 1940. "Melrose, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Old cotton plantation store at Derry Plantation." Medium format ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/27/2019 - 2:22pm -

June 1940. "Melrose, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Old cotton plantation store at Derry Plantation." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. How much ya wanna bet? They DON'T pronounce it to sound like show pan. This way to debt peonage!This is likely one of those stores that helped keep several generations of sharecroppers in perpetual red ink. Compose YourselvesThese men are clearly disappointed they couldn't find any Wagner or Bach. The majority says ...Let's look at the car instead of the nice lady photographer. Arnold says --The driver is obviously telling the crowd, "I'll be Bach!" Just the place.I have my chopin liszt ready. (The Gallery, M.P. Wolcott, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Steamboat Gothic: 1938
... " 'San Francisco,' Reserve vicinity, St. John Parish, Louisiana. Steamboat Gothic circa 1850." 8x10 negative by Frances Benjamin ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/31/2016 - 8:08pm -

1938. " 'San Francisco,' Reserve vicinity, St. John Parish, Louisiana. Steamboat Gothic circa 1850." 8x10 negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. She still shinesBeautiful old house. Good to see the place is now in much better shape. Most descriptive"Steamboat Gothic" sums it up precisely, do we assume those tanks on each side contain water? Everything looks worse...Having visited this plantation last summer, I feel this is one of the few instances where black and white doesn't do fair justice as the colors on this house are astounding. Unfortunately, the estate is now surrounded on three sides by a refinery Cistern for your water pleaseThe round structures are cisterns which collected rain water for domestic use. Look at the right cistern and you can see the 'downspout' from the roof gutters running into the cistern. Assume at the time the pic was taken there was a pump system that provide water to the house. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston)
Saints & Sodas: 1940
June 1940. "Natchitoches, Louisiana -- drug store." McClung Drug, "Burial place of St. Denis." Medium ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/11/2019 - 10:10am -

June 1940. "Natchitoches, Louisiana -- drug store." McClung Drug, "Burial place of St. Denis." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. Drugs to TchotchkesMcClung Drug is now the Hall Tree, an apparel and gift shop. [With the same 1930s bronze plaque next to the trash can! - Dave] Just wonderingMr. McClung, can I get a Pepsi? Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. DenisHe founded Natchitoches in 1714 and his name is all over town, including a funeral home. He's buried there--in the church, not the drug store. [Actually he's buried under the drug store. - Dave] Ultimate remedySaints and Sodas, Cokes and Smokes, but in the end, it's Ex-Lax. Cokes and smokesthat's all you need. (The Gallery, Bizarre, M.P. Wolcott, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Cajun Girls' Night Out: 1938
... October 1938. "Girls from the Cajun country at Raceland, Louisiana." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/10/2008 - 9:31pm -

October 1938. "Girls from the Cajun country at Raceland, Louisiana." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Horses and MulesLove the calendar in the background. Horses and Mules ... "The usual guarantee." (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Russell Lee)
Behind the Gray Door: 1925
... of the world would look like if the french had clung onto Louisiana. (The Gallery, Arnold Genthe, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/12/2015 - 12:39pm -

New Orleans circa 1925. "View of a courtyard." Evidently the rear entrance to Club Firestone. Note the zigzag extension of the downspout under the patio flags. Nitrate negative by Arnold Genthe. View full size. Actually the VIP entrance.Trust me. You don't want to see the rear entrance. Firestone Tire Display StandThe sign over the porthole is half of a Firestone Tire Display Stand. The slogan beneath the company name reads "More Miles Per Dollar." The second window doesn't show any signs of another eyebrow sign ever having been attached above it. But if it did, it would have looked like this. Now do you see the face? It looks like it's crying. And here's a more modern version of the stand. Cour Intérieure Antoine's had been serving for eighty years, Galatoire's only for thirty. Louis Armstrong had left in '22 for Chicago. I'm not sure of the exact location, but the stone and brick are likely still in place, but no laundry hanging from the balcony. The Renowned Club FirestoneArt Gumm and His Rubber Band appearing nightly for your dining and dancing pleasure. DecrepitI am always amazed at old photos of New Orleans. The french colonial influence is often obvious, and I sometimes have the impression of looking at photos from a decrepit old village in France. This picture is no exception. The crooked pavement, the downspout, the old brick walls, shutters and door. This is so un-american. Small, cramped, dark, decrepit, on the decline ... Makes you wonder what that part of the world would look like if the french had clung onto Louisiana. (The Gallery, Arnold Genthe, New Orleans)
Good Eats: 1937
... Dressed When I ordered a ham sandwich in Burras, Louisiana (elevation 0') the young lady asked "Would you like that dressed?" ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2014 - 12:41pm -

1937. "Restaurant in Mobile, Alabama." Welcome to the Wooden Shoe, where you can order your eggs "dressed up" (but not too loudly, because it's a "Quiet Zone"). Photo by Arthur Rothstein, Resettlement Administration. View full size. Could be in New Orleans….In New Orleans a husband would take a To-Go oyster Poor Boy (or loaf, which was bigger) to his wife sitting at home waiting for him to return from a night of drinking with buddies. It's called "The Peacemaker." 312 Conti StreetI believe this is 312 Conti Street at Claiborne, behind the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. The building was still there as recently as 1967, but now the entire block is a park. Oyster loaves used to be a common item on restaurant menus throughout the South. Gone, probably due to the rising cost of oysters and changing tastes. "Dressing" a sandwich would probably mean lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. DressedWhen I ordered a ham sandwich in Burras, Louisiana (elevation 0') the young lady asked "Would you like that dressed?" Without a clue what she meant, I said sure. It turned out to be coleslaw on an awesome ham sandwich. FadedApparently the former home of Shaw Electric Co. according to the faded sign above the doors which looks like it was repainted at least once. The car parked around the corner appears to be a 1935 or 1936 Chevrolet Master Deluxe, but not enough is visible to tell if it is a 4-door Sedan or (2-door) Coach. These models, with an external spare tire but without an integral trunk, were declining in popularity; however, it was not until 1939 that they were finally phased out of production early in the model year. We called them "po-boys." My parents were married at the Basilica in 1966, the Catholic church seen behind this building. My late maternal grandparents, Mobile natives, were familiar with this establishment according to my mother. She remembers my grandfather raving about their oyster loafs (we called them po-boys). I'm going to have to go back and look at their wedding photos taken outside of the church and see if there's another angle of this building before it was torn down for a park. In any event I love this site and just wish there was more activity here than reading posts from years past. I feel like I'm in a time machine viewing a time machine, lol. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Eateries & Bars, Mobile)
Bathhouse Row: 1910
... that briefly held the surrounding territory after the Louisiana Purchase was made. Good shot! With most of the frame in focus ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 3:07pm -

Hot Springs, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Bathhouse Row." At right we have the Horse Shoe, which boasts "solid porcelain tubs." 8x10 glass negative. View full size. Replaced by the Quapaw - 1922The Quapaw Bathhouse was built in 1922 on two lots that were previously used for two Victorian style bathhouses (the Horseshoe and the Magnesia). Designed by George Mann and Eugene John Stern, the building was originally to be named the Platt Bathhouse after one of the owners. However, when a tufa cavity was discovered during excavation, the owners decided to promote the cavity as an Indian cave, and the bathhouse was renamed Quapaw Bathhouse in honor of a local Native American tribe that briefly held the surrounding territory after the Louisiana Purchase was made. Good shot!With most of the frame in focus this is a tribute to the photographer. Current BathhousesI've spent quite a bit of time working inside (and under) the various bathhouses as part of a NPS renovation/stabilization project in the past several years. The photo posted is totally changed today -- the oldest bathhouse still standing is the Maurice from 1911, which doesn't appear in this photo. Most of these pictured wood framed structures were replaced by concrete structures. (The Gallery, DPC, Hot Springs)
Or Else: 1938
October 1938. "Sign at Rice Festival in Crowley, Louisiana." Alternate title: "The Ballad of Competing (and Possibly ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/22/2012 - 11:07am -

October 1938. "Sign at Rice Festival in Crowley, Louisiana." Alternate title: "The Ballad of Competing (and Possibly Complementary) Imperatives." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Eat rice, drink CokeI don't think the potential for humor escaped Russell Lee. I see a lawsuit coming!I can hear Chick-fil-A's lawyers salivating over this. Three verbsSeveral "calls to action" here, eat and drink being my favorites! Minimum Daily Noise RequirementImagine the racket if you poured Coke over a bowlful of Rice Krispies. White rice & Coke ???I can only hope they locked the bell towers and kept an eye on the hypoglycemics. (The Gallery, Russell Lee)
Magic Show: 1938
November 1938. Donaldsonville, Louisiana. "Group of people watching magician at state fair." 35mm nitrate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/21/2012 - 11:36pm -

November 1938. Donaldsonville, Louisiana. "Group of people watching magician at state fair." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the FSA. View full size. She doesn't buy itThe girl in the checked dress with her arms folded doesn't look very impressed with said magician. Dad seems thrilled, however. Sensory OverloadThis picture just goes to show how over-stimulated we are in 2012. Look at this group--from the little babies to the older folks, every set of eyes is glued to the magician. If you took this photo nowadays, half the people would be looking elsewhere (probably down at phones), babies would be crawling up their mothers' legs, kids running away, etc. Great people pictureThis picture just makes me happy -- it has adults looking like kids, kids looking like adults, and everyone showing wonder, or at least attention. The Magician's ArtMisdirection is the key to most magic. Keeping your audience looking away from where the actual manipulation is happening is what makes it all work. This one certainly has almost every eye glued to one spot, except for the dark haired young lady with bangs. I wonder if she has spotted something under the backdrop, or in the wings that he does not want her to see? Perhaps when she gets home she will tell her brother, "I know how he did that trick!" Absolute AweI think the girl with folded arms is in absolute awe of our magician. What amazes me in particular though is that she looks like a younger version of the woman next to the woman in glasses. Like a mini-me expression of awe,and they both have their arms crossed. (The Gallery, Kids, Russell Lee)
Junior Hop: 1953
... that blossomed in the 50s. -tterrace] Ha! I was in Louisiana, we missed out on that memo! And I was about 12. HA! Bracelet of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/25/2013 - 2:52am -

1953. "College students attending party with a tropical theme." Photo by Charlotte Brooks for the Look magazine assignment "Junior Hop." View full size. White Bucks and Paper Dixie CupsI remember wearing white buck shoes. It was one of the main items for that "Ivy League Style". No one would wear them in public until they were properly scuffed up first. Every casual party had paper dixie cups. School year books during this period would usually show students sporting those straw hats for a variety of themed parties such as a Li'l Abner Sadie Hopkins Day Dance. The guitaristlooks like a young Warren Beatty. That LooksDownright cozy! Tad early for Belafonte I'd guess, Cugat? [Even before Belafonte, Calypso music was gaining a following, particularly in New York and also on college campuses, where it became part of the general revival of interest in folk music that blossomed in the 50s. -tterrace] Ha! I was in Louisiana, we missed out on that memo! And I was about 12. HA! Bracelet of ???O-Rings? And here we thought Madonna invented that look in 1983. Ha, she did not! Ah, Golden Youth!...gathered around the, er, flashbulb.... (ShorpyBlog, LOOK, Music)
Thoroughly Modern: 1922
... the sun is probably why he looks so miserable. In rural Louisiana some kids (pre-1970) would keep the young ones as pets until they ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/18/2016 - 6:18pm -

July 1922. Washington, D.C. "Snapped at the Tidal Basin: Mildred Kapleck with her pet opossum, the latest novelty introduced at the bathing beach." Harris & Ewing glass negative for The Washington Post. View full size. Changing room basket tag?Our town pool, as late as the 70's, still used those round disc tags; the tag had the number of the basket in which you left your street clothes. However, instead of wearing them around the neck, ours had short elasticized cords so you could wear it on a wrist or ankle. Where's his sun glasses?Fairly certain possums are nocturnal and being in the sun is probably why he looks so miserable. In rural Louisiana some kids (pre-1970) would keep the young ones as pets until they grew their big, sharp front teeth, then out the door back to Mother Nature. So beautifulI love the simple beauty of the girl in the photo. Not trying to be, but is just so lovely just sitting there. Great photo. (The Gallery, Animals, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Swimming)
Howard the Delivery Boy: 1913
November 1913. Shreveport, Louisiana. Howard Williams, 13-year-old delivery boy for Shreveport Drug ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:50pm -

November 1913. Shreveport, Louisiana. Howard Williams, 13-year-old delivery boy for Shreveport Drug Company. He works from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; has been here three months. Goes to the Red Light every day and night. Says that the company could not keep other messenger boys, they work them so hard. Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. Howard's BikeMan alive that bike is too tall for him! The fork looks to be bent also - in almost the same way as one I am trying to rehab. Pedals haven't changed too much over the years, but I would like to know what size chain ring that is. (The Gallery, Bicycles, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Kings of the Road: 1940
... beside it. On highway near Camp Livingston, Alexandria, Louisiana." Later that day: "Two construction workers who sleep in car, cooking ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2019 - 1:43pm -

December 1940. First caption: "Close-up of car from Mississippi used for sleeping as well as shelter and traveling. Evidences of cooking outdoors are beside it. On highway near Camp Livingston, Alexandria, Louisiana." Later that day: "Two construction workers who sleep in car, cooking outdoors. One is from Memphis, Tennessee, and worked formerly on construction of the Dupont munitions plant at Millington. The other is from Decatur, Mississippi, and worked previously at the Camp Shelby job in Hattiesburg. He said: 'We live like kings out here. I never did carpenter before I heard you could get paid so much for it; then it didn't take me long to be one.' They are both working on the Camp Livingston job near Alexandria." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. TagsArmy bases had their own license plates? Camp ShelbyThe tag is an access permit to enter the base, not a state registration, which would have been only on the back of the car, since Mississippi was one of only a few states that issued single plates as far back as the 1940s. Whatsit?Would someone hazard a guess about that pen-like structure behind the two guys? Nice Guys They can't be that bad -- they're driving a 1928 Cadillac! (The Gallery, Camping, Cars, Trucks, Buses, M.P. Wolcott, WW2)
Army Goods: 1940
December 1940. Rapides Parish, Louisiana. "Corner building in center of Alexandria showing signs advertising ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2019 - 12:22pm -

December 1940. Rapides Parish, Louisiana. "Corner building in center of Alexandria showing signs advertising Army and military wearing apparel and goods." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Barksdale FieldBarksdale Field (now Barksdale AFB) is located near Alexandria, and back in the day, officers would be responsible for buying their own uniforms from tailor shops. [The principal military outpost here was Camp Livingston, the Army base formerly known as Camp Tioga. - Dave] Corner of 3rd & Desoto Ginsberg; Weiss & GoldringThe store formerly known as "B. Ginsberg" (later taken over by Caplan's) still sells uniforms, as demonstrated by the items on display in the front windows on the Google Street View. The name "Weiss & Goldring" remains above the door of the department store building to the right, but according to page 7 this wonderful City of Alexandria downtown talking tour guide, the business moved with its old neon sign after new locations opened in and around the local shopping mall 25 years ago. https://www.cityofalexandriala.com/sites/default/files/ahpc/docs/walking... [Do not put brackets around URLs. - Dave] Camp ClaiborneI was born at Baptist Hospital in Alexandria while my father was stationed at Camp Claiborne, which was just outside Alexandria during WWII. He was shipped to Europe from there and then to Normandy, France. Camp Claiborne no longer exists. Barksdale AFB is actually located adjacent to Shreveport, quite a way northwest of Alexandria. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, M.P. Wolcott, Stores & Markets, WW2)
Stranded: 1937
July 1937. "Man who worked in Fullerton, Louisiana, lumber mill for 15 years. He is now left stranded in the cut-over ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 1:36pm -

July 1937. "Man who worked in Fullerton, Louisiana, lumber mill for 15 years. He is now left stranded in the cut-over area." View full size. 4x5 nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. lovethere is a part of me that loves him and feels for him and feels this (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Mining, Rural America)
Tiny Shucker: 1912
... as a thirteen yo female in my family's restaurant in Louisiana. The leverage it takes to break the hinge on the oyster would be ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/14/2016 - 2:14pm -

February 1912. "Tiny, a seven-year-old oyster shucker (sister of Henry, No. 3291), does not go to school. Works steady. Been at it one year. Maggioni Canning Co. Port Royal, South Carolina." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. I've consumed many an oysterBut have shucked nary a one. Still, judging from the heavy gloves sturdy adults use when performing that task, I am surprised that this poor little waif has any hands left. I presume, of course, that she hadn't a tiny pair of work gloves, given her obvious place in the socio-economic hierarchy of Port Royal. Child LaborPoor kid already looks like someone's grandma. The other side of seafoodNo idea what it's like today, but I saw a lot of how the seafood industry worked in Florida in the mid-1960s. My dad, for a couple of years, was manager of what was at that time the largest seafood company in the U.S. To teach me the value of an education, he arranged for me to work at one of the plants in Marathon, Florida, that "processed" fresh mackerel. Beheading, gutting, and rinsing the fish and putting them into a wire basket was the task when the fishing boats came in, and that began at four in the morning. It took 11 cleaned fish to fill the wire basket, and you got 25 cents a basket. I was supposed to do that for a week; one day was all I could manage and I'll never forget it. Later, when living in Apalachicola, Florida, I'd go down to the packing plants where older black women shucked oysters. These women were so skilled it was almost beyond belief, and they had worked together so long that it seemed like a social event as they joked and sang and teased each other. That proved, to me, their tough spirit and great skill. The work was not only not fun but tedious and dangerous; handling those peculiar stiff-bladed oyster knives was not something you did without paying attention. I did admire those women so and was proud they accepted me as a friend. I think a bit misleadingI shucked oysters as a thirteen yo female in my family's restaurant in Louisiana. The leverage it takes to break the hinge on the oyster would be beyond her ability, I would say, but who knows. I would think her job would have been to break apart the clusters of oysters with a hammer to separate them for the shuckers. [Not misleading. They used knives. She was one of hundreds. - Dave] (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Paddy Wagon: 1936
September 1938. Abbeville, Louisiana. "Farmer's truck at state rice mill." 35mm negative by Russell Lee ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 1:29pm -

September 1938. Abbeville, Louisiana. "Farmer's truck at state rice mill." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. ChevroletHis truck is a 1934-35 Chevrolet similar to the one in the photo below. Paddy WagonDave, I always look forward to your witty captions. Perfect formI give this "hunker" a 10. The farmer's name seems to be J. Broussard, reading from the truck's door. There are still many Broussards living in Abbeville. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee)
We Ate the Chickens: 1939
... poor family that lived in a palmetto shack near a lake in Louisiana during this time frame. Sometimes all they had to eat was some ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/27/2018 - 12:13am -

June 1939. "Works Progress Administration worker and his wife sitting in front of their shack home on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma. This man said that last year he thought maybe he would be a little better off when he got the WPA work and had a small amount of cash coming in but that he was worse off now. 'Last year I had a cow and some chickens and I had to sell my cow and eat my chickens. I get worse off every year'." Photo by Russell Lee. View full size. Where are they now?I wish there was a way to find out what ever happened to the people who are "down on their luck" that are in all of these Shorpy pics. I would love to find out what the future held for these poor folks that helped build America. Sunday BestI love that even though they don't have much, they both put on their nicest clothes, including for her, a cute dress, stockings, and white dress shoes, to get their picture taken. They may not be the richest people in the world, but that's no reason not to look your best for company. My grandmother always told me that. She said that I could be living in a cave in the woods -- if someone is coming to see you, brush your hair and put on your church clothes. Poor doesn't have to mean dirty or unkempt. I hope their years progressively got better after this. The Depression.My dad, born 1922, used to tell us kids about the poor family that lived in a palmetto shack near a lake in Louisiana during this time frame. Sometimes all they had to eat was some molasses on bread. My sister and I never really believed that kind of poverty existed. This photo proves it. Same Great Depression story here My mother born 1921. Would say times were so hard that supper was bread with mustard. She quit school in 5th grade when her mother died. But she could read speak and write Russian. It always amazed me when her sisters came to visit and they spoke Russian. (The Gallery, Great Depression, Russell Lee)
Amite City: 1935
October 1935. Young residents of Amite City, Louisiana. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 10:48am -

October 1935. Young residents of Amite City, Louisiana. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. Ben ShahnIs this the Ben Shahn of the famous prints? This photograph has the same look of blunt desperation. [Yes, Ben Shahn the painter. - Dave] That Ben ShahnYeah, that Ben Shahn could sure take a picture, couldn't he? (The Gallery, Ben Shahn, Small Towns)
Chicken to Go: 1923
Washington, D.C., 1923. "Louisiana Avenue market." And our second glimpse of the Globe Broom Factory ... Price & Company, produce commission merchants, at 933 Louisiana avenue northwest, last night shortly after 9 o'clock. The fire ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/18/2014 - 12:06am -

Washington, D.C., 1923. "Louisiana Avenue market." And our second glimpse of the Globe Broom Factory. National Photo glass negative. View full size. Many Chickens Die Washington Post, November 3, 1917. Many Chickens Die in 3 Alarm Fire Krey, Price & Co., Burned Out — Big Crowd at Blaze. Several thousand pedestrians in the downtown section of the city witnessed a spectacular blaze, which destroyed the business establishment of Krey, Price & Company, produce commission merchants, at 933 Louisiana avenue northwest, last night shortly after 9 o'clock. The fire was discovered by Policeman L.C. Davis and John Everett, a watchman. In a short time eleven engines were pumping water to extinguish the blaze. Within twenty minutes Fire Chief Wagner announced that the blaze was under control. After the fire was out firemen brought out four coops of chickens, many of the fowls being still alive. Others were killed by the smoke or water. Damage to the stock of Krey, Price and Company is estimated at $500, covered by insurance, while the loss on the buildings is estimated at $1,900. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Stores & Markets)
Fais Do-Dudes: 1938
... October 1938. "Men's section at fais-do-do near Crowley, Louisiana. Note ticket taker." View full size. Medium format negative by ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/18/2008 - 1:54am -

October 1938. "Men's section at fais-do-do near Crowley, Louisiana. Note ticket taker." View full size. Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the FSA. Fais Do-DoersWow, Jorge! That site you link to shows a tiny version of another photo from this series. Same people are present, but the one girl doesn't have her head in her hands, and there's less "footsie" going on in the foreground. Neat! Fais Do-DoI was wondering about the name of these dances, since "fais do-do" is French slang for "go to sleep". There's a good summary here, along with the name for the guys' holding pen in the photo above: "une cage aux chiens." http://www.cajunculture.com/Other/faisdodo.htm (The Gallery, Music, Russell Lee)
The Gray Printing Press: 1890
... published and edited several newspapers in Morgan City, Louisiana and the area surrounding. He is seen in this picture with three of ... 
 
Posted by Miss_Leah_Cather... - 09/06/2007 - 1:16pm -

Left to right: Leroy Capen Gray, Leonard Wise Gray, Frank Winfree, William Howard Gray, and William Bailey Gray. William Bailey Gray published and edited several newspapers in Morgan City, Louisiana and the area surrounding. He is seen in this picture with three of his sons. W.B. Gray's first activity in the printing industry is recorded on October 4, 1879 when he established the newspaper, The Morgan City Free Press. Today, the Gray family continues to be involved in the printing business with those of the sixth generation working at L-H Printing Co, Inc. It is presently owned by Della Lacon Gray (the wife of Leonard William Gray), Carlton Leroy Gray (the son of Della and Leonard Gray), and Nelwyn Gray Robison (the daughter of Della and Leonard Gray). PrintingI love pictures like this, I started in the printing industry in 1975 at a weekly small town newspaper, and have been involved in printing, typography and graphics ever since. This is an industry that has changed tremendously just since the 1980s. PrintersIt sure has changed! The changes have been so drastic it can easily be said that it has changed more now since Gutenberg. LW GrayI had the privilege of knowing Leonard William Gray and I remember how proud he was of his printing company and their family tradition. He was the kindest most generous person I have ever known. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
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