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Gypsy Camp: 1901
March 28, 1901. "Happy Hollow -- Hot Springs, Arkansas." You can see more of Happy Hollow here . 8x10 inch dry plate glass ... managed to distribute moving pictures into Hot Springs, Arkansas. Cool! Shocking Portraits? What is the gizmatron with the dual ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2019 - 11:23pm -

March 28, 1901. "Happy Hollow -- Hot Springs, Arkansas." You can see more of Happy Hollow here. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Amusement ParkIn the making. Fortune tellers, Shooting Gallery, McLeod's show. In a hundred years or so, slots and space invaders. Edison's latest productionsIt is 1901. All I can see in the street are horses, and Edison managed to distribute moving pictures into Hot Springs, Arkansas. Cool! Shocking Portraits?What is the gizmatron with the dual (triple?) clock faces outside of the portrait studio? Your local movie theaterLooks like it was one of the earliest movie theaters. Edison, I believe, was the at the center of movie making at the time. Fringe elementsIf you were going to Oklahoma, I wonder if you could get a surrey with a fringe on top. Where are the horses.All I see are saddled mules or burro's burros. Actually only 77 years from hereSpace Invaders was released in 1978. What a Great time I had pumping quarters into that machine. This town seems like it was set up as a "Set". I realize it was not, but a grocery store may have been a better option for travelers. Weather station?Temperature, humidity, wind speed? The Shooting BogardusThat "shooting school" was an enterprise of Adam Henry Bogardus (1834-1913), who popularized the sport of trap shooting. He got to be "Captain" by organizing his own volunteer company during the Civil War, serving for 180 days. Later he did a stint with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Where's the Electricity?After carefully studying this photo I cannot find any semblance of a source of electric power in the entire area. No lights, no wires, no power poles, etc. So my question is what powers the movie projector? I notice there are no windows in the theater either, so it must have been quite dark in there and likely very hot in the summertime. [Clocks, candles and early film projectors ("cinematographs") didn't use electricity. - Dave] Burrows not horsesThere are only two horses in this picture. They're over by the livery stable. Across the street at the hitching rack are a bunch of burrows. The popular conveyance of people wanting to go down into the Grand Canyon. Probably here for the same reason, to be rented and ridden thru the country side. The machine on the photographers front porch is a weight scale. Probably cost a penny and it would give you a fortune to boot. [Psst. Burros, not "burrows." - Dave] Herd of DonkeysI count 2 horses and a herd of about 14 donkeys. I wonder why there are so many donkeys there. McCleod’s FREE ShowThe huddle of men look as if they are peering through a peep hole at a peep show. The building looks weird too, like it's temporary of some sort. A lot of men. No women. A lot of mules, not horses. It almost looks like a gold mining town. Did they cry “gold” in Arkansas? (The Gallery, DPC, Frontier Life, Hot Springs)
1942: Family No. 1319
... Ca. and when evacuated were sent to the Rohwer camp in Arkansas. At some point they were all transferred to the Tule Lake camp in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/10/2021 - 11:30am -

April 1942. "Santa Anita reception center, Los Angeles County, California. The evacuation of Japanese and Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under United States Army war emergency order. Japanese family arriving at the center." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size. So this was an "evacuation"?That's what the Office of War Information called it. Here's what George Orwell wrote four years later: "In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. . . . euphemism, question begging and sheer cloudy vagueness." May we learn from our mistakes. In Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court permitted the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Let's pause to appreciate Justice Frank Murphy, whose dissent said that the action "falls into the ugly abyss of racism," and resembles "the abhorrent and despicable treatment of minority groups by the dictatorial tyrannies which this nation is now pledged to destroy." Justices Roberts and Jackson also dissented. Shame!An action which grows more disgraceful with each passing year! Seeing her face I cannot find the words "Imagine being told you had a week to pack up all your belongings. You can bring all the bedding, clothing, and toiletries you can carry, but you better find a way to store or sell just about everything else. Homes, cars, boats? Bargain them off for fractions of their worth, or find a friend and hope they keep things safe. Your family business? Liquidate your inventory in a panic sale. Crops and farmland? Sell or lease your land, and forget about seeing the profits from that harvest you’ve been toiling for all year. These were just some of the many turmoils Japanese Americans faced 75 years ago this spring. As civilian exclusion orders were posted across West Coast cities, Japanese Americans learned they had a week to ten days to pack up their lives and report for indefinite incarceration." https://densho.org/sold-damaged-stolen-gone-japanese-american-property-l... Yes, an evacuation.There is nothing euphemistic about calling it an evacuation, because that's exactly what it was. Military authorities had good cause to be concerned about spies and saboteurs, and the removal of Japanese-Americans from coastal areas would have made it much more difficult for them to operate undetected. Yes, it was unfortunate, but it wasn't wrong. A disgraceful chapter in American historyPer the poignant comment above, let us not forget this incident by obfuscating the truth. Folks I KnowI go to church with a lovely lady who could be that child. She did time in the Camps. I may just share this pic with her. Evacuation, pssssh! They lost everything. Totally everything. Call it what you will --It was a shameful period in our history. Never again?This pretty much breaks my heart. Let me recommend a visit to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center Museum between Cody and Powell, Wyoming. You'll never regret it. Times Were DifferentIt is unfair to look back at this time using current thinking. When the 'evacuation' was ordered the thinking at the time was that the Japanese military could still attack Hawaii and perhaps even the West Coast. There had been no documented events by Japanese-Americans of spying or sabotage but it was very early in the war and we had just lost most of our capital ships in December of 1941. The defense of the West Coast was thought to be in great peril. To their great credit there still has been no documented event of a Japanese-American committing an anti-American act. Even though they were imprisoned and most lost their homes and businesses they remained loyal to their country. Lock 'em upUh ... because they might storm the Capitol? Just CuriousWhere were the Italian-American and the German-American evacuation centers? Yes, it was unfortunate, and yes, it was wrong.For those of you who are arguing that there was justification for putting Japanese-Americans - many of whom were American-born US citizens - in camps, let me ask you a question: why weren't the many millions of American citizens of German and Italian descent also relocated from their homes in the east coast? RacismThe Japanese exclusion on the west coast was racism, pure and simple. The danger of Japanese attack in Hawaii was greater (obviously!), but people in Hawaii of Japanese ancestry weren't rounded up and put in concentration camps. The danger of German attack on the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico was greater than that of Japanese attack on the west coast. The German submarine fleet operated and sunk ships along our east coast and in the Gulf. But people of German or Italian ancestry in the east and south weren't rounded up and put in concentration camps. Roosevelt gave in to racists in California. But perhaps Earl Warren learned his lesson. He was responsible for the Brown v. Board school integration decision after Eisenhower appointed him to the Supreme Court. No excuses. It was racism. I would point out that President Roosevelt admitted to his wife, Eleanor that the so-called evacuation was not based on intelligence but grass roots bigotry that politicians were catering to. On the other hand the government knew that German spies were operating along the West Coast and many had turned themselves in and yet not one German American was "evacuated". People have been denying this obvious truth since I was a little boy and many still are. It wasn't the times. Nothing has changed if too many continue to make up stories in order to avoid contrition and simple amends for our racism. 442nd Infantry RegimentThe most decorated unit in US military history. This unit was made up al ost entirely of Nisei, second generation Americans of Japanese ancestry. About 1500 of these soldiers enlisted while living in the camps. Many gave their lives in liberating Europe. No one can ask for a greater show of American patriotism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States) Racism? No.Misguided nationalism and bigotry, yes. Germans and Italians were also rounded up and encamped. I would refer those researching this to author Jan Jarboe Russell's "The Train To Crystal City." It is a very well-written and compelling read. To be sure, that this was done was damnable enough. Let us remember that this was the thinking back then. The best we can do is to ensure that anything of this sort never happens again. Just SadIn my school days, this would have been just another picture from our history. Since then, I've become quite fond of the Japanese, having lived in Northern Japan for several years. They are wonderful people, and had I been living in the '40s, this would have been sad to see. Don't forget the profiteersInteresting that the US government didn't make any offer or attempt to hold relocated Japanese Americans assets in trust, so the "good ones" wouldn't be unfairly punished. While many Japanese Americans lost everything, those who were not Japanese American bought homes, farms, businesses, etc. with large profits already built in. Sounds like profiteers saw yet another opportunity to use racism to their advantage; and racism was only too happy to accommodate. There Were Major DifferencesTo those wondering why our government did not 'evacuate' Germans and Italians following the attack on Pearl Harbor let me explain some significant differences. Most of the domestic German population was centered in the upper Midwest. Not an area where they might be expected to engage in sabotage with offshore enemies. There was significant military action by German submarines off the coast of New England initially and at least one landing on Long Island by German saboteurs but they were not considered a significant domestic threat by the FBI. Most of the domestic Italian population was centered in the Northeast but the Italians were not considered a military threat. Japanese were not assimilated into American culture to the degree that Germans and Italians were and so were looked at with much more suspicion. Although there were some incidents of Japanese in Hawaii spying on our military it wasn't the Japanese-Americans but rather Japanese consulate personnel. I can only guess the reason Japanese-Americans in Hawaii were not 'evacuated' was that (a) significant numbers were employed in support of our military posts there and (b) where would they have been put? It would have taken many ships to move that population and those ships were needed desperately in the Atlantic at that time. There's More to the StoryReading from the tag attached to the girl's sweater I believe this is the Shimamoto family, Frances/Fumiye (the little girl) and likely her father (Suyehiko) and one of her three older brothers (Kenichi, Takeshi, or Seiya). Frances' father and mother (Seiju) were born in Japan and so were ineligible to become citizens. Frances and her brothers were all born in US and were citizens. In 1942 the family was living in Long Beach Ca. and when evacuated were sent to the Rohwer camp in Arkansas. At some point they were all transferred to the Tule Lake camp in Northern California. They were held in the camp until December of 1945 at which time the entire family was repatriated to Japan. Some other considerationsThe Niʻihau incident occurred on December 7–13, 1941, when Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi (西開地 重徳, Nishikaichi Shigenori) crash-landed his Zero on the Hawaiian island of Niʻihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy had designated Niʻihau as an uninhabited island for damaged aircraft to land and await rescue. However, the Hawaiians could not understand Nishikaichi, who spoke only Japanese with a limited amount of English. They sent for Issei Ishimatsu Shintani, who was married to a native Hawaiian, to translate. Having been briefed on the situation beforehand and approaching the task with evident distaste, Shintani exchanged just a few words with the pilot and departed without explanation. The puzzled Hawaiians then sent for Yoshio Harada, who was born in Hawaii of Japanese ancestry, and his wife Irene (an Issei), both of whom constituted the remainder of the Niʻihau population of Japanese ancestry. Nishikaichi informed Harada of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I'll let the Japanese familiesWho were the victims of this tell me whether it was bigotry/racism or not. And they say yes, it was. So, yeah, racism and a very shameful unfair thing for the US to do. Oh Yes, It Was RacismWell, oldvet, kamikaze air attacks didn't even begin until 1944 when Japan was clearly losing the war. True, though, many Japanese soldiers were indeed willing to die for the Emperor and many shinto beliefs contributed to the idea of fighting warrior spirit (bushido) and other military traits, but the kamikazes were later. And no, there is literally no evidence to my knowledge that Japanese living or born in the U.S. were a threat because of their belief in shinto (do Roman Catholics pose a threat?). The ugly truth is they looked different, spoke differently, believed differently, and people like them had attacked the U.S. To the handful of nisei I have known, it felt racist and unjust. Period. They're pretty sure. (The Gallery, Kids, Los Angeles, Russell Lee, WW2)
Black and White: 1939
... the location of Oklahoma - just north of Texas and west of Arkansas - and it's history this photo is less surprising. The Cherokee (most ... 
 
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)
Seven Points: 1900
Hot Springs, Arkansas, circa 1900. "Seven Points." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, ... was the Southern Hotel. That block is now occupied by the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, housed in the "new" St. ... see this because I am currently in the senior class at the Arkansas School for Math, Science and the Arts and I'm quite interested in the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 3:54pm -

Hot Springs, Arkansas, circa 1900. "Seven Points." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Seven PointsWhat are they? Future home of what president?Bill Clinton went to elementary school in Hot Springs! New AtlantaIt's New Atlanta, silly, not Hot Springs. ;-) Bessie Smith wrote a blues about it."If you ever get crippled, let me tell you what to do. Lord, if you ever get crippled, let me tell you what to do Take a trip to Hot Springs, and let 'em wait on you." From Bessie Smith's "Hot Springs Blues," a song she wrote in 1926, after visiting her husband there—he had suffered a nervous breakdown, or so he said. Looks like a Studio Back LotI think it's actually Universal Studios, I can see the Munsters house! Hotel JosephineAccording to an 1886 Sanborn map, the Hotel Josephine was at the corner of Whittington Avenue and Cedar Street. Just to the left was the Southern Hotel. That block is now occupied by the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, housed in the "new" St. Joseph's hospital building, built in 1926. Sadly, they plan on demolishing the grand hospital building. The large building in the background with the two crosses is the original St. Joseph's Infirmary, built in a converted hotel circa 1888. The church at left is St. Mary of the Springs Catholic Church (est. 1869). The church was rebuilt in 1923. What was the population back then?Garland County, AR, had a total population of 18,873. How large was Hot Springs? Large enough for a trolley, at any rate. Still WonderingWhat were the 'Seven Points'? My SchoolIt's really neat to me to see this because I am currently in the senior class at the Arkansas School for Math, Science and the Arts and I'm quite interested in the campuses past so to see this is really cool. And it saddens me as well that they are going to tear some of the buildings down but some of them are staying like the old intensive care building and the "newest" addition to it when it was a hospital. But I did ask why they are tearing down the old 1926 building and it's because it's so old that it's a money hole to keep up and running and that's why they are building a completely new campus behind the current one that is scheduled to open for the incoming junior class next year. The photo I've included is one I took of the school currently. (The Gallery, DPC, Hot Springs, Streetcars)
Snow King: 1905
... Many of the old time cold records still stand today. Arkansas's all time low temperature happened in February 1905. Minus 29 degrees ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 2:54pm -

New York circa 1905. "Flatiron Building, corner after snow storm." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Deja vu all over againIt looks as if this photo was shot just awhile after what we see in this thread. BeautifulThis is such a great photo. The composition, mood and perspective are fascinating! And it's cool how clean all that snow is! Putt puttThat automobile really is a "horseless carriage." FlagpolesI count 17 readily visible flagpoles (and/or spires)--2 in use. Also, I'm very glad my car has heat. The city where I live, however, takes no better care of the snow-covered sidewalks than NYC in c. 1905. How does NYC do today? Extraordinary field of focus.Most of the photo is in focus across the horizontal and vertical planes. Most photos cannot hold up to the intense scrutiny Shorpy provides. This is one of the few that do. A Familiar SceneSave for all the horses, this could be a scene from the last few weeks here in NYC. Even most of the buildings are still there. Deja Vu VuThis photo was taken before the other one, judging by the clock. It must have taken the photographer some forty minutes to walk across the street, set up his camera, focus and compose the shot, load the glass plate and take the exposure. [Assuming the exposures were made on the same day. And there are more than just two. - Dave] Widespread cold of 1904-05 winterMany records were set in that winter season. Many of the old time cold records still stand today. Arkansas's all time low temperature happened in February 1905. Minus 29 degrees is that record of 105 years and counting. Ahoy!Keep a sharp lookout for icebergs! The MaillardThat is the Fifth Avenue Hotel to the right. It was closed and demolished in 1908. The restaurant on the bottom floor, The Maillard, was quite famous as a candy store and French restaurant. It moved to Fifth and 35th, and then again in 1922 to Madison at 47th. James Beard frequented it and commented on its hot chocolate. Sadly the Depression was its demise. Now and thenOne major difference is that traffic on lower Broadway runs downtown now. Snow-white snowThe difference today is that after using salt, sand and other chemicals, the snow always looks so dirty after a couple of days! This looks so pristine!!! Geometry exposed in the wintry airI love this shot of one of my favorite buildings for two reasons. First, it wonderfully captures the atmosphere and light of a post-snowstorm day, not to mention many evocative period details. Secondly, because of the way it's aimed down Fifth Avenue, this picture does an unusually good job of depicting the Flatiron's actual asymmetry, something most pictures of it attempt to disguise. Looking at this, you can readily appreciate that the building is a right triangle with its base on 22nd Street, its straight long side on Fifth, and its hypotenuse on Broadway. (The Gallery, DPC, Flatiron Building, NYC)
Robert Hill: 1943
... Same name, born 1892 in Arkansas, fled to Kansas and worked in a meat plant in Topeka..... Could ... Hill -- 1940 US Census Robert Hill, born about 1900 in Arkansas, was married to a Mattie (born about 1903, in Arkansas). Five children, two boys named Wilson (age 17, born in Kansas) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/25/2009 - 1:57am -

March 1943. "Topeka, Kansas. Robert L. Hill, steel car repairer and rivet driver, at the car shops of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad." Medium-format nitrate negative by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Wonderful portraitI'd echo allie's sentiments. Mr. Hill's handsome, dignified face and bearing reveal something about his character, at a time when many of his countrymen regarded him as a second-class citizen. I hope this image has been copied to a more stable and durable medium, for posterity, than the nitrate it was captured on. [These images have all been copied and preserved by digitization. - Dave] CastingSamuel L. Jackson will play him in the movie. What a portrait!I hope Mr. Hill's grandchildren have copy of this photograph. It is such a beautiful image of this gentleman. My grandfather was a welder, but passed away before I was born. The only photos I have of him are of a frail old man. I would love a photo of him in his prime, like this one. RivetingI love this man's face. It's a face of courage and a proud dignity. I would have liked to have known him. Robert L. Hillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Hill Same name, born 1892 in Arkansas, fled to Kansas and worked in a meat plant in Topeka..... Could this be Robert Jr.? Heck, if he is 51 this is Robert Sr.! Robert Hill -- 1940 US CensusRobert Hill, born about 1900 in Arkansas, was married to a Mattie (born about 1903, in Arkansas). Five children, two boys named Wilson (age 17, born in Kansas) and Earl (13, born in Kansas), and two daughters, Viola (age 21, born Arkansas), and Georgia (age 19, born in Kansas). There's an infant named Winifred, age 2 months, listed in the household. Her relationship is not stated, but as she's listed directly under Viola, it's probably her daughter, making her Robert's granddaughter. They lived at 608 East 18th Street in Topeka, and owned their own home (value $1,200). Robert earned $1,728 in 1939 ($28,000-$29,000 adjusted for inflation to 2013 dollars), making him by far the best paid man on his census page. Employer is listed as the Santa Fe Railroad, of course, his occupation "Machine Labor". (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Beware of Cat: 1938
September 1938. "Storefront in Altheimer, Arkansas." Lately I've been inspecting every new post for cats. I am pretty ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/09/2013 - 1:36am -

September 1938. "Storefront in Altheimer, Arkansas." Lately I've been inspecting every new post for cats. I am pretty sure this has only the one. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Looks like early morningAnd the rodent exterminator is the first one to show up for work. Petticoat Junction, here we come.This must be Hooterville. I think I can seem Sam Drucker peering out the winder -- er, window -- of his general store. I paid for this new hat" ... with what I saved on ______ " What? Can anyone read the rest of the advertisement? [Too fuzzy to make out -- Something Cigarettes? This is what happens when 35mm film replaces 8x10 glass plates! - Dave] Cat's Meow?We have 27 "Cat's Meow" replica structures around the top of our kitchen cabinets. It look like Shorpy is getting into the business, too! Domino CigarettesDomino Cigarettes were the "double mild" brand. Here's the same sign from a different photo in the same set (with contrast somewhat enhanced): [Nice work. This is actually from the same photo I used to illustrate the comment below. -Dave] Now I'm depressed...Altheimer may just be the most depressing place I've ever visited via Google Maps. But the masonry building on the right is still there! I think:I'd beware of owner. Second cat?I think there might be a second cat under the porch there, with its foot behind its head? or is my brain just copy-pasting cats now? [Looks like a cat to me, too. -tterrace] ZI wanted to go back to this store, but I forgot the way. Retro PepperThis is the first time I have seen the throwback / real (beet) sugar packaging in the wild. AwwwwKitty's giving her self a nice little wash. Looks like a tortoise shell from this blurry angle. Some History Behind This PictureThe store pictured, apparently, was owned by a Chinese grocer. Altheimer's downtown has mostly disappeared, based on a look on Google Street View, though there is a dreary looking IGA that could be a descendent of this place. I wonder what the "Silver" place was across the street from the store. Cigarettes are the closest thing to breadThe Butternut Bread ad on the right hand door's push bar, that is, with the Avalon Cigarettes sign to the right ("You'd never guess they cost you less"). Avalon Time was a comedy variety show sponsored by Avalon Cigarettes and broadcast from 1938 to 1940 on NBC, and it's where Red Skelton began his on-air comedy career. Their promotional gimmick on the radio was that because they cost less than popular brands, the spot ended with the imaginary cashier saying, "And don't forget your change!" Here's an Avalon poster not exactly as Shorpy's but close enough: Domino CigarettesI suppose it never occurred to the fans of the brand, that they could save even more money by not buying cigarettes at all. (The Gallery, Cats, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Gotcha: 1925
... had moved to Woodland, CA, just west of Sacramento. Her Arkansas mother flew out for a visit. Inside her suitcase lay smuggled, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/01/2009 - 5:39pm -

December 12, 1925. "Mrs. May B. Hendley." I'll bet there's an interesting story here. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Sunday Dinner?Is this Granny Clampett when she was a youngun' and does she also have a mess of golf eggs boilin' on the stove inside? Like the ad used to sayPossum - It's what for dinner. MmmmPossum - The other white meat. Oh, Possum!Am I the only one who thinks Mrs. Hendley is a bit dapper for chasing down possums? I'd venture a guess and say that the possum was still alive in this pose. But not for long. Before CookingThe word I got from my dad was that if you caught a 'possum, say in a trap or if the dogs treed one, you needed to keep him in a cage for a few days, "to clean him out." YumYes, Sir!!! Good eatin' tonight! Communication breakdown.No, Tonto, I said "Bring a posse." Tastes like chickenA few years ago I bought a lovely vintage cookbook because the recipes calling for possum or squirrel were so intriguing. Not that they sounded so mouthwatering I had to rush home and try them but because they were such an interesting glimpse into how our perceptions of acceptability have changed. I know people have always made use of what food was available but I confess it surprised me that it was so common that such specific recipes merited inclusion in what otherwise seemed to be a modern (for the time) hardcover cookbook. [When I was a kid growing up in Miami, our lawn-service guy ("Sam the yard man") saw where something had been digging in the bushes and left a cage trap. One morning we went out and there was a possum in it. We fed it for a week and then Sam took it home. My sister and I were horrified when he told us he was going to "fatten him up" and cook him. - Dave] Don't Know About PossumI recently (in the past month) did see someone eating squirrel on TV, and it wasn't a mouth-breathing hillbilly. It was British restaurant critic Giles Coren. During the first season of Gordon Ramsay's British series "The F Word." Quite good apparently, and one way for the Brits to deal with the infestation of American Grey Squirrels that are threatening the populations of the British Brown Squirrel. Coren found at least one restaurant in London that served squirrel meat. My new fur collar!And a meal as a bonus. Sissy Spacek could play her in the movie. May B.She May B. Hendley, but she sure is purty. Possum procurerClearly, Mrs. Hendley is the marsupial supplier for the United Cafeteria. Still In DemandIn the late 70's my wife's cousin had moved to Woodland, CA, just west of Sacramento. Her Arkansas mother flew out for a visit. Inside her suitcase lay smuggled, previously frozen and perfectly wrapped 'possum steaks for that night's dinner! FINALLYA woman (besides me!) who isn't afraid of rodents! I can tell you first hand that squirrel is VERY good eating. Squirrel with mushroom gravy...drrooooolll... [Zoologically speaking, possums are marsupials (kangaroos, koalas etc.), not rodents. - Dave] Ooops...Yeah, I KNOW they are marsupials. I can only blame it on the fact that I was posting realllly late at night (head smack). In defense of OpossumsOpossums are pretty much harmless. They have no natural defense. They taste like chicken because they are; "playing dead" being more like "passing out from fear." You have a better chance of getting rabies from me than from a 'possum, and I don't bite (hard). Against Possums"Opossums are pretty much harmless" Tell that to the *mumble mumble* possum down under my house, chewing on my ductwork. "You have a better chance of getting rabies from me than from a 'possum" That's good to know, because that *mumble mumble* possum bit me on the end of my finger. Glad I won't have to worry about rabies, but will I have to worry about turning into a marsupial when the moon is full? Depression dinnerMy mother said her family ate possums and squirrels shot by her older brothers during the Depression. She was not eager to repeat either experience after the need was gone. (The Gallery, Animals, Natl Photo)
Omaha Stakes: 1938
... the movie playing in the theater in the background is THE ARKANSAS TRAVELER, starring Bob Burns and Fay Bainter (names on middle row)! ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2017 - 11:06am -

        We've updated this post from 2008, originally illustrated with a low-res catalog print, with this high-resolution scan made from the original negative. November 1938. Omaha, Nebraska. "Cars parked diagonally along a row of parking meters." Photo by John Vachon for the FSA. View full size. All the same?Look closely, the first seven cars are all different, two doors, four doors, at least two different coupes. Look at some of the color pictures from this time frame you will see many different colors also. [I think the point is that the first three or four cars are remarkably similar in appearance, superficially at least. They seem to be the same make. No doubt the car experts out there can ID them. - Dave] ArrowsThe parking lines becoming arrows on the sidewalk pointing to which car goes with which meter ... great! CarsI think this is the first picture of this type that I've seen from the 30s where all of the cars look very late model. It isn't just the cars in front, the ones in the background are new looking as well, no model A's, or T's. I'm not a car expert, but I think you get what I mean. The closest three carsAre all 1936 Fords. The leaping greyhound hood ornament on the first car was a popular accessory of the era. The fourth car down appears to be a 1937 Packard. Beyond that it gets difficult to tell. The coupe with the sidemounted spare (the fifth car down) might be a Buick. Japanese Flag?Fifth parking meter down has a short flagpole beside it which appears to be flying a Japanese flag. Japanese FlagSeems to me the flag is not flying next to the parking meter but on a car parked behind the meter. Maybe there is some kind of meeting going on, judging from all the late model, official-looking, cars parked in a row. That in fact may have been the real subject of this photo. [The "real subject" is "cars parked diagonally." - Dave] POVA similar picture today would show a mass of silvery/light gold colored 4 door econoboxes. Fifty years from now a viewer would be hard pressed to discern one from another. Carbon CopiesSo everyone had the exact same car back then? ColorYou can get a car in any color you want, as long as it's black. Hood OrnamentThe leaping greyhound was also the hood ornament that represented Lincoln automobiles. Now, a Lincoln is part of the Ford Motor Company, but a Lincoln is not a Ford and vice versa. "Japanese" FlagThat's no Japanese flag -- it's a flag indicating a bus route. They still have the same design in Omaha today except they are metal now. There are ones with blue dots and green dots as well. Corner of 16th and DodgeThe location of the Woolworth's is now the spot where the First National Bank Tower stands and the Metropolitan Drug Store is its parking garage. The only building on that corner still standing would be the one from where the picture is taken. Movie on the marqueePretty sure the movie playing in the theater in the background is THE ARKANSAS TRAVELER, starring Bob Burns and Fay Bainter (names on middle row)! The 5th car down is indeed a BuickIt's a 1938 Club Coupe. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon, Omaha)
The Wayfarers: 1937
May 1937. "Mother and child of Arkansas flood refugee family near Memphis, Texas. These people, with all their ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2011 - 4:43pm -

May 1937. "Mother and child of Arkansas flood refugee family near Memphis, Texas. These people, with all their earthly belongings, are bound for the lower Rio Grande Valley, where they hope to pick cotton." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. I wanna know...who the wiseguy is who planted that solitary tree! Cotton-pickin'The generation that had to pick cotton is getting old and leaving us. My "Texas bride" was taken out of high school in Kaufman to pick cotton along with her sisters. To this day she resents not the picking of cotton but the fact her father drove home past the high school, where her friends could see them and know how they had spent the day. Been there, done thatI am now in my seventies and was a child of that lonely, desperate time. My family had pictures of family members that looked almost as gaunt as the lady in the picture. My father worked for a dollar a day and felt blessed to have a cow loaned to him by a neighbor if he would feed the animal. Before my parents died they told us many stories of that timek and by doing this it has kept me grateful for our many blessings. Family PhotoAnother picture of these folks. The AttireThe sadness of the mother's outfit including the sun bonnet is heart wrenching.The style of her clothes, homemade, haven't changed for a hundred years.. She and her family's lives probably wouldn't improve until the 1940s war economy provided jobs. I hope the baby grew up in better circumstances and that fate treated them all better. Holy Smokes!That is an incredible image for all the obvious reasons. The caption says that the "people" are bound for the lower Rio Grande Valley to pick cotton. Looking at the fields in the photo, which are southeast of Lubbock, it appears to be many months before cotton could be picked even in the further south region of the Rio Grande. So, one supposes that they will be out of work for a long, long time in the heat and summer of southern Texas. Catastrophic luckThat poor woman is so down that even her socks won't stay up. I'm at a lossThis is the most powerful image I have ever seen seen on Shorpy.Where do you start.I hope some other Shorpsters with superior commentary skills than I can do this picture justice. HauntingI find it rather haunting that we can't really see the woman's face under that hood. Puts me in mind of that cemetery statue published on Shorpy not so long ago. SymbolismThe way this woman's sun bonnet obscures her face in shadow gives her the eerie appearance of being the Grim Reaper. Hope it was not a sign of things to come for this family. Ups & DownsI suppose we can't really say what their lives were like later. But in my personal experience, more than a few of these Depression kids grew into fortune (or at least comfortable middle-class stability) beyond their wildest dreams. It was the fate of a generation. I'm afraid it didn't go as well for the adults. Many were simply destroyed, body and soul, eaten up by a decade of toil & poverty. Recall the old folks of fifty years ago who died at 54. About that tree . . . I grew up in Tennessee, where there were fields adjoining our fairly new subdivision. I wondered at the solitary trees left standing in those fields as well, and was told it was to give the farmers and animals a break from the hot sun as they plowed the fields. Cotton FieldsI grew up in Alabama during this era and had to work in the fields every day after school and during the Summer. My Dad would plant an acre of cotton just for my brother and me. We had to do all the work and then when it was ready, we had to pick it. Daddy took it off to the cotton gin and we got the money. Yes, we got the money, and it was designated by our Dad to purchase our school clothes! It usually made close to a bale of cotton and sold for about 50.00. So we had around 25.00 each for school clothes. However, besides "our" cotton patch, we had to help tend all our Dad's cotton fields and help pick it when it was ready. Picking cotton is very damaging to the fingers. The pod has a sharp point on each segment of it. Those all open like a flower and the white cotton is exposed. When reaching to pick the cotton, the points of the pod can stick into the cuticles and after a day of reaching for hand after hand of cotton, the fingers and cuticles are very sore and bleeding. It was a long, hard, life for children. But in those days, the families had to work together and the children were needed to help where they could. It never seemed like abuse, we understood. But like most kids, we wanted to play, not work! (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression)
Farmhouse Kitchen: 1940
... Birth Year: abt 1890 Race: Negro (Black) Birthplace: Arkansas Marital Status: Married Home in 1940: Spring Creek, Phillips, Arkansas Farm: Yes Inferred Residence in 1935: Rural, Phillips, Arkansas ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2018 - 9:35pm -

February 1940. "Family of tenant farmer Pomp Hall, eating breakfast consisting of corn flakes, biscuits, fried bacon, milk and coffee. Creek County, Oklahoma." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. CensusRealizing Pomp is probably not his given name. I did many searches but came up empty. Odd. MilkAt first I thought using plates for the corn flakes odd. But it keeps you from using too much milk. My grandmother (born 1903) hated when us chaps used too much milk in the cereal bowl and just poured it down the sink. And the use of fresh newspaper on the table surfaces kept them cleaner. A charming family photo, although poor. Mama doesn’t like the intrusion but her family looks well fed. [That's not Mama, who is seated next to her husband. - Dave] Could be that he moved by 19401940 United States Federal Census Name: Pompey Hall Age: 50 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1890 Race: Negro (Black) Birthplace: Arkansas Marital Status: Married Home in 1940: Spring Creek, Phillips, Arkansas Farm: Yes Inferred Residence in 1935: Rural, Phillips, Arkansas Residence in 1935: Rural, Phillips, Arkansas Resident on farm in 1935: Yes Occupation: Farmer House Owned or Rented: Rented Attended School or College: No Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 3rd grade Class of Worker: Working on own account Household Members: Name Age Pompey Hall 50 Missouri Hall 49 Willie R Landford 13 Looks familiarThat newspaper on their dinner table is a copy of the now defunct Tulsa Tribune. I see ads for both Street's Clothing and Renberg's, a clothing store as well. They have been closed for quite a while. My very first IT job was at Renberg's starting in November 1977. The old Renberg's sign is still on the building at 311 S. Main in Tulsa. My grandfather attended Central High School with George Renberg. He said he was jealous because George would come to school in a different suit every day! (The Gallery, Kitchens etc., Rural America, Russell Lee)
Boone County: 1935
October 1935. "Boone County, Arkansas. The family of a Resettlement Administration client in the doorway of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/05/2009 - 2:01am -

October 1935. "Boone County, Arkansas. The family of a Resettlement Administration client in the doorway of their home." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Resettlement Administration. MomThe mother looks to be just this side of starvation, but the kids look relatively healthy. No doubt she was skimping on her own food for their sake. This looksso painful. Human nature runs the gamut of emotion in this picture. One wants to pity, yet admire them in the same breath. So much we take for granted. http://nwlimited.wordpress.com The MotherThe poignant look, the desperation, is heartbreaking. Can we find out who they were and what happened to them? MomIt's funny how some people in today's world are struggling to look like the woman in the picture. Starving. ThinWhen you look at the woman the first time, you think she's starving but if you look at her carefully, she isn't particularly skinny, just her face... and now THAT'S scary. They look all so worried. A really touching photo. CloneThe little girl is a younger clone of her mother. I hope her life was easier. The boy has a strong jaw. He probably ended up in WWII. PropagandaAmazingly, this photo and three others from The Great Depression USA were presented in Ukraine... as part of an exposition dedicated to 1930's hunger. Organizers used them to prove a genocide against ukrainians. In addition, there were two shots from Volga region. Links for reference: http://www.nr2.ru/crimea/223417.html http://www.lenta.ru/news/2009/03/09/exibition/ http://forum.pravda.com.ua/read.php?2,204889779 http://gorojane.tv/forum/index.php?showtopic=322&pid=1223&st=0&#entry122... http://varjag-2007.livejournal.com/687279.html Re: PropagandaYes, those pictures are not from Ukraina. Ukrainian pictures you can see here: http://www.dazzle.ru/antifascism/kvgicy.shtml . (The Gallery, Ben Shahn, Great Depression, Rural America)
Literary Landmark: 1906
... the slope, and the river channel in the background. The Arkansas bank is now shored up to support the I-40 bridge a mile to the north ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 12:30pm -

Circa 1906. "Cossitt Library, Memphis." This Romanesque red sandstone structure, at Front and Monroe on the banks of the Mississippi, was Memphis's first public library when it opened in 1893. Detroit Publishing. View full size. FlyersAny chance of an enlargement of the flyers on the pole? The Cossitt, R.I.P.http://www.memphislibrary.lib.tn.us/ABOUT/libraries/cossitt.htm Unfortunately, this beautiful building was razed in the late 50's and replaced with a much less graceful structure. I've seen this shot of the library before but at a much lower resolution. Here's an example: http://z.about.com/d/nashville/1/0/6/9/mem04.jpg The two things that stand out to me in this shot are the cobblestone, which today are only visible down at the river landing at the bottom of the slope, and the river channel in the background. The Arkansas bank is now shored up to support the I-40 bridge a mile to the north and the I-55 bridge maybe a mile to the south. All in all, a marvelous shot. Thanks for sharing, I know just who will enjoy this print come Christmas. High res picsIf you don't mind me asking, how did you go about getting these recent high resolution images? I know the HABS/HAER collection has good hi-res pics and so do the G.G. Bain and National Photo (Washington D.C.) images you typically feature, but I have only seen very low-res images in the Detroit Publishing collection at the LoC website. Have they added a high res section for this I didn't know about or do you just have to query them for high res versions of individual images? Thanks for the info. [The Reproduction Number series LC-DIG-det has 397 Detroit Publishing images with hi-res tiffs. - Dave] Worse Than GoneThe Cossitt Library is still in the same place, but it's now an ugly 1960s box. The magnificent Romanesque building was demolished in the interest of whatever people were thinking at the time. It's said in Memphis that the Crossitt Library is now imperiled because the site is valuable for development. Alas, it hardly seems to matter. CossittWhat a beautiful sight. Was this a Carnegie library? Will someone post a picture of the site today? Romanesque librariesI lived in Memphis in the 1980s and can testify that much of the charm of the late 1800s has disappeared and replaced by 1960s boxes. Warner, New Hampshire, has a charming example of a small Romanesque library that has been tastefully and thoughtfully enlarged. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner,_New_Hampshire http://www.warner.lib.nh.us/ RomanesqueGorgeous. Reminds me of Stewart Hall at West Virginia University: The Cossitt TodayThe Cossitt Library is right up the street from where I work. It's true that it was "modernized" into an appliance like structure that looks more like an air conditioner than a public building many years ago. However, part of the original red sandstone structure still exists. It faces the river. The turret (actually almost all of what is visible in this photo) was "replaced" with the new box building and it actually is attached over some of the original building. It's always under the threat of being closed, but has somehow managed to stay open. Seems to be deserving of restoration. We managed to save the Overton Park Shell (now the Levitt Shell) and built a replica of the demolished Stax studios as the Stax museum so it seems to be possible, even though it rarely happens. A Trip to the LibraryIn the late 1930s we went by public streetcar (later by bus) downtown to this library. We got off at Court Square and walked across the square, passing Woolworth's on Main Street on our way. When I was a bit older, I was allowed to make this trip alone. Every Saturday I climbed these steps and entered the cool porch and then what seemed to me a sanctuary of quiet and wonder. The librarian would sometimes notice what I was returning and recommend a book or an author and I happily browsed the shelves and sat in the reading room which had windows on the river. After I checked out my books -- limited to four, so the selection took a while -- I retraced my steps to Woolworth's where I would stop for a little shopping, real or imagined, and a wonderfully real pineapple ice cream soda. The building seen to the right in the photo is the Post Office. Oh, if only...we still created public buildings with the same pride and care. I think I could get my kids to actually want to go to the library if they felt they were heading to a "castle." I see pics of European castles/buildings which simply make me sigh. Our "boxes" and public structures leave so much to be desired. Many people build their own personal castles (mansions) but only they and their neighbors get joy from these. I want to go to this library and read for hours! OverdueAn excellent guide to Memphis architecture I have explains that the red sandstone used to build the library began to deteriorate and experts at the time determined that it could not be saved as it was. Most of it was torn down and an International Style structure took its place. Though some of the original red sandstone can be seen in the back (river-facing) side. ColoringI love to dabble in photoshop and this photo just seemed to cry out for some color. I have no idea whatsoever if this is even CLOSE to the original color, but it's what I saw in my mind. I give you the photo because all I wanted to do was colorize it. I did so and had a lot of fun doing it. I don't make money off it, I just have fun with it. Thank you for bringing us so many wonderful memories. [Ooh. It's beautiful! Click below to enlarge. - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, Memphis)
Mrs. Maytag: 1938
... 1938. "Farm wife washing clothes. Lake Dick Project, Arkansas." 35mm negative by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. View ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/02/2012 - 11:17pm -

September 1938. "Farm wife washing clothes. Lake Dick Project, Arkansas." 35mm negative by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. View full size. Shocking discovery.Metal washtub heavy with water on power cord could cause a problem. It Probably Still RunsAnd look: she even has the matching dryer! Rainy MondayA farm wife would have hung laundry outdoors unless it was raining out, so I'm guessing that is why the inside clothesline is being used. Also in those days, Monday was the common "wash day" when just about everybody in America did their laundry. They even had recipes for easy Monday meals like red beans and rice, washday stew, easy soups and things that could cook themselves with no fussing. [Looks like a sunny day out there. Appears to be a screened porch, so the clothes would dry and not be subject to unpleasant avian contributions or, as happened more than once to my mother, catastrophic clothesline failure. - tterrace] Lightening the loadWhat a boon for the housewife. No more scrub boards and hand-wringing clothing, no more hands in blistering hot water. Washday was still a long, drawn out affair in the 1930s, but Maytag reduced the drudgery. My grandfather sold this very model during the period of the photo, one of the first independent dealers in western Oklahoma. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Dangerous applianceWe had one of these when I was kid. Most people don't know that this was the most dangerous appliance in a household with kids. The agitator could break your arm and the rollers could break all your fingers. Just CuriousHow do you drain the dirty water out of that thing? I don't see a hose -- presumably it would not spill out onto the porch floor! [You wheeled it over to the utilty sink and attached the drain hose. -tterrace] I Remember It WellThe day when I was a lad of about 8 or 9 and grabbed the agitator of a running beast such as this. It seems there was a short somewhere within the machine and I lit up like a Christmas tree in what seemed like forever. It would be many years later that I would feel the pain again when my pet pooch hiked his leg and let loose on a spark plug of an idling lawn mower. We both learned our lesson. OUCH !The flat bar at the top of the wringer assembly would release the pressure IF you hit it hard enough. Later models would release by themselves by the time you got fingers halfway in. We used two rinse tubs supported on kitchen chairs because years before the proper folding rack had failed. Dump BucketI suspect she emptied the washer into the tub beside it and hauled that to the backdoor to empty. painful memoryOne of my earliest memories is being in my paternal grandmother's basement in Cresaptown MD circa 1966 and deciding that those spinning rollers looked like something that I would enjoy touching. Needless-to-say, I did not enjoy having my arm rolled almost up to the shoulder. Somehow I escaped without any real injuries. Can't See The Hose?How did Curous miss the hose to the left of "Maytag?" Lady of Leisure!I remember my mother-in-law telling me in the late 1930's, she so very much wanted a Washing Machine to simplify her life. She went out and found herself a job, only working long enough to pay for the machine. Major Ouch!We had a young fellow in my neighborhood from a large family for whom almost every day was washday. While helping his mother one day, and paying less attention than than he should have, backed his elbow against the wringer. Skin went through, but the bone was perpendicular and did not. He lost about a 4 by 8 inch patch of skin. We later found out in gym class that he had a matching patch on his butt where they took a replacement to do a graft. Yikes! (The Gallery, Russell Lee)
Norge: 1938
... 1938. "Kitchen in farmer's home, Lake Dick Project, Arkansas." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. ... have to worry much about keeping the kitchen warm durog an Arkansas winter. The Linoleum rug is very modern and low maintenance ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:38pm -

September 1938. "Kitchen in farmer's home, Lake Dick Project, Arkansas." 35mm negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The large freezer compartment....When I was very young back in the late 40s we had a Norge refrigerator that was just slightly newer than the one shown. What I find really interesting is the freezer is NOT the large area below the open refrigerator compartment but the small square door in the center just below the woman's head. The lower area was where the belt driven compressor and its associated motor resided. As a youngster I would run the other way whenever my father removed the cover on this "scary" area. Those are some HUGE windows.But I guess they don't have to worry much about keeping the kitchen warm durog an Arkansas winter. The Linoleum rug is very modern and low maintenance (compared to wood floors, I suppose). Cold CokesMy grandmother had a fridge very similar to this one. She put the six and a half ounce Coca Colas in the tray under the freezer, and to this day, I have never tasted a colder or better drink. That old fridge ran for more than forty years. This photo brings back memories of my grandmother and her ice cold cokes. Freezing ColdAs Norwegian I find it hurtful to have my land and nation associated with cold environments like this. :P Re: Cold CokesMy parents also had a refrigerator similar to this one, a 1934 Westinghouse. The "freezer" was pretty much useless, as it would have to be set pretty low to keep a half-gallon of ice cream frozen, but it couldn't be beat for keeping drinks chilled. It had a degree setting instead of the "1-2-3-4" settings of modern fridges. It finally gave up the ghost in 2008. They don't build them like that anymore. The linoleum lives on ~I have two old grange tables that are topped with that lino pattern. it has beiges as the background, and red and blue for the blocks of color - it's not so bad to look at. Antique Snow ConesWe had a fridge like that too and the small freezer (just large enough to hold 2-3 ice trays) would build up ice which we would scrape off and make homemade snow cones. BrrrrAnd you had to manually remove the ice from the outside of the freezer compartment. Eat up the left over ice cream that was inside first. Shut off the power, a fan helps to loosen the frost. A Rare TreatThe federal farm electrification program began in 1936, same time as the 'new deal' farm resettlement project. When the Lake Dick Resettlement Project was completed in 1938, most farms were still without juice. (electric, not cow!) Ice creamhad to be eaten immediately in the days before large capacity freezers! (No inconvenience, when you think about it!) You typically got it hand delivered in town, and hand churned it out of town. If you had no electricity, gas-powered fridges were available. They are still used in RVs and similar applications. Norge, five years laterHow do you sell appliances in 1943 that you're not selling in 1943? (The Gallery, Kitchens etc., Russell Lee)
Old Patent Office: 1865
... small town. A search narrowed it down to one in Ft. Smith Arkansas where I briefly lived and the synapses reconnected. It features models ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:19pm -

Washington, D.C. "Old Patent Office model room (1861-65)." Wet-plate glass negative from the Brady-Handy Collection, Library of Congress. View full size. Let me be the first to sayWow, lookit all the spittoons! Where are they nowThe Arts and Industries building next to the Smithsonian Castle used to have cabinets just like these full of interesting but unexplained objects. Wonder if that is where this collection ended up. Anyone know? PlaypenIs it still the practice to retain a model of each patent granted? What a fun place that would be to visit. Outstanding ShotThe view is fantastic. I hope we will get some pics of the items in the display cabinets. Where are those things now? Sorry, Mr. DickensWhen I read Charles Dickens's account of traveling across America, with a complaint about Americans' constant tobacco-spitting on every page, I assumed he was exaggerating for effect. However, so many 19th-century pictures of spittoon-filled rooms I've seen on Shorpy prompt me to offer the great man an apology. I wonder what all the stools are for. Did they have guards sitting there, or would people come and sit to study the models? Modern timesAs a holder of numerous patents, I can tell you that the Patent Office doesn't keep models anymore (unless they stole them from me last night) because I never gave them a single one (nor did they ask for any). I think the patent total is up in the 7+ million range now; that would make for quite an exhibit hall. Patent Model MuseumThis tickled a memory of visiting a patent model museum in some small town. A search narrowed it down to one in Ft. Smith Arkansas where I briefly lived and the synapses reconnected. It features models from the early 1800s. I wonder if the museum's roots are in the model patent diaspora Stanton cites? Patent Model LegacyThe story of the ultimate fate of the patent models is a sad tale of mismanagement and unrecognized value. One telling is available at American Heritage. More recent articles: Christian Science Monitor and Forbes. Update: Some patent models are now being sold online. Go buy yours here. On another note, this hall, one of the largest rooms in Washington at its time, was used for Lincoln's second inaugural ball. Thank you againStanton_Square. You always seem to come up with an answer. Civil War HospitalA couple of years earlier, these halls were filled with wounded soldiers. Walt Whitman, who visited them, remembered "the glass cases, the beds, the forms lying there, the gallery above, and the marble paving under foot - the suffering, and the fortitude to bear it." The use of the building as a hospital ended in March 1863, and the inaugural ball took place there in March 1865. The Old SchnozzolaThis picture makes me think, "Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are." Now Part of the SmithsonianThe old Patent Office has been home to the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum since 1968. Recently renovated, it's very nice inside. http://www.npg.si.edu/inform/chron.htm Model RoomI'm guessing this is the west gallery, because it's relatively short in length. The Patent Office had four model galleries that formed a square on the top floor. Only the east gallery, the one used for the Lincoln inaugural (and I'm pretty sure not the one in this photo), still remains in its original form. The north and west galleries burned in 1877, destroying a number of patent models. Adolph Cluss, a prominent Washington architect, designed replacements for the two galleries and also thoroughly redesigned and replaced the south gallery in the 1880s. If you visit the museum today you will see Cluss's Victorian exuberance on proud display throughout the three redesigned galleries. The original Robert Mills-designed Lincoln Gallery is much more restrained. [This is short? It looks to be 200 or 300 feet to the window from the camera. - Dave] (The Gallery, Civil War, D.C.)
Nitro Express: 1939
... a series of kidnappings and bank heists in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. He began his criminal ways with a few minor arrests in ... for a bank robbery in Mississippi. He was turned over to Arkansas, where he received another 15-year term for another bank heist. He ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/14/2018 - 7:31pm -

October 1939. "Post office in the general store. Lamoille, Iowa." Let's see now. Stamps, ammo, and a case of Iten-Barmettler, please! Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Bullet PointsLook at that Remington poster with the boy and his Indian chief metal silhouette! I've tried to do just that, but only have luck with a punch and hammer. Everything's up to date in LaMoilleSocial Security was so new, they needed a poster explaining that they wanted to hand out money. (My grandfather's Social Security card, which was issued around this time, had a short explanation on the back, too, and gave an address in Washington where you could write for more information. My father's card, issued in the 1950s, had a different, but still relatively friendly, explanation, of how to use it. Mine is full of dire warnings about improper use.) You can also send mail on an AIRPLANE for only 3 cents! Not only that, but you can send insured parcel post packages to France, Italy, and Japan, and registered parcel post packages to Germany! (Limited time offer.) Love that kid's overallsWish I could find some like that today. For the same reason you can't at home.Or maybe Mom has other reasons why you can't spit on the floor. In any case, the sign helpfully offers one explanation. I can think of others, if you need more reasons to refrain. Frost Killer indeed!I'll bet 'ol man Winter didn't dare get close to that No. 218! Real P.O.Would not be an official Post Office if it did not have that wanted poster. Desperado: 1898-1942A thumbnail sketch of Irving Charles Chapman, seen on the Wanted poster at lower right, from Oklahombres.org: Irving Charles Chapman was born on December 29, 1898 in Philadelphia, Mississippi. During the stock market crash in the late 1920s, he lost all of his fortune, and decided to be a criminal instead. He began a series of kidnappings and bank heists in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. He began his criminal ways with a few minor arrests in Florida and New Jersey, before embarking on a decade-long career as a gangster. In 1932 he was sentenced to serve 9 to 14 years for a Miden, Louisiana, bank robbery. However, he and two others escaped from the Caddo Parish jail at Shreveport on December 5, 1932, by lowering themselves from their eighth-floor cell with a rope made from whatever they could find. Captured in 1934, he was wounded in a gunbattle with police and sentenced to 15 years for a bank robbery in Mississippi. He was turned over to Arkansas, where he received another 15-year term for another bank heist. He escaped from the Tucker Prison (some reports say he escaped from a Little Rock prison) on August 25, 1936, using a pistol taken from the warden's office. Chapman then robbed the First National bank of Atlanta, Texas (twice). He was captured after the second robbery and given a 60-year prison term. He was sent to Eastham Prison Farm, the same one Clyde Barrow was once imprisoned at. He along with infamous Oklahoma bandit Pete Traxler, as well as six others, escaped on June 22, 1937. All were captured or killed except Chapman. In 1939, he shot his way out of a police trap near his home town in Mississippi. In January 1942, he shot Patrolman Ralph McNair at Meridian and escaped. Finally, on February 22, 1942, he drove away from his residence and right into a roadblock. He was shot, and before dying told the police, "Go ahead and shoot, you bastards!" They didn't have to, as he succumbed to his wounds. He was buried at the Sandtown Cemetery at Sandtown, Mississippi. So ended the career of this famous outlaw! The Wanted PosterClick to enlarge. Different country, different decadeBut kind of reminds me of may preschool days when my grandma gave us a little change in order to run down to the neighbourhood grocery shop and have a Kaiser roll filled with a whippet cookie. Yummy. Alas, no more neighbourhood grocery stores. No more running down the street on one's own for a preschooler. And a white flour wheat product filled with foamed sugar and fat? That's just sooo nutritionally incorrect. Sam Drucker Seal of ApprovalWhile looking a little beat down in the photo, a nice condition Eclipse/Tappen "Frost Killer" stove today at auction might go for around $2,000+. Whether ol' No. 218 is still in the mix somewhere, who knows? WantedIRVING CHARLES CHAPMAN, for Bank Robbery It has an ageThat Eclipse #218 "Frost Killer" stove predates 1920, the year that the Tappan family of Mansfield, Ohio, changed the name of their stove company from Eclipse to Tappan. I'm undecided about whether the storekeeper is burning coal or wood (it could use either), but I am fairly certain that the stains below the firebox door are evidence of sitters-and-spitters-and-whittlers getting cranked up for the winter. And the case of Iten Barmettler? It's either crackers or cookies, both of which the Iten Barmettler Biscuit Company of Omaha made for years. They must be brothers The postmaster and the coffee grinder in this: https://www.shorpy.com/node/22928 Sure look as if they could be brothers. [They are the same person. -tterrace] [In the same store. - Dave] (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids, Stores & Markets)
Flat Broke: 1936
... home and connections in South Texas, and hope to reach the Arkansas Delta for work in the cotton fields. Penniless people. No food and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/05/2012 - 6:19am -

August 1936. Family between Dallas and Austin, Texas. The people have left their home and connections in South Texas, and hope to reach the Arkansas Delta for work in the cotton fields. Penniless people. No food and three gallons of gas in the tank. The father is trying to repair a tire. Three children. Father says, "It's tough but life's tough anyway you take it." View full size. Photo by Dorothea Lange. Then and NowIt's from the toughness of these hardy folks that America is what it is. I think we have become very soft. I love this blog. And to think it was a mere 71 years ago. There were no auto clubs orThere were no auto clubs or anyone to call these folks were on their own. [Actually this was the heyday of the auto club. Triple A started in 1902. - Dave] "I'm a girl!"The girl on the left is a dead ringer for Tatum O'Neal in "Paper Moon." C'mon Dave with threeC'mon Dave with three gallons of gas left at 25 cents per gallon do you think these folks had money for an auto club? Grapes of WrathThis is so Grapes of Wrath. This is the closest I've seen to Steinbeck's description of the Joads' car. Yikes!Is the baby playing with a shotgun shell? (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, On the Road)
Markham From Main: 1910
Wrapping up our tour of Little Rock, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Markham Street west from Main." Detroit Publishing ... And now we see why "Spider-Man" was not set in Arkansas. Just think of the merchandising that Little Rock missed out on. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 7:18pm -

Wrapping up our tour of Little Rock, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Markham Street west from Main." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Wires I'll bet the wires are to keep people from putting up leaflets. [They're an electrical ground for the pole. See the cable running down the side. - Dave] The New Capitalon the left is still there as the elegant Capital Hotel. Its surroundings aren't as cluttered looking now, and the hotel is looking much better about 100 years later and after a $24M renovation. Can anyone explainthe wires around the bottom of the telephone poles? Perhaps to keep horses from chewing them. [They seem to be ground wires. - Dave] Hotel Marion on the rightThis was a hangout for the legislators -- crony business no doubt. The hotel used to have a bar when I was in college called the Gar Hole. Another place for deals to be struck. Long gone now. Union Station is seen in the distance down Markham. How OddSimply look at the hi-def version of the photo and scroll from the near corner to the left, which looks like a scene out of England to me, to the near right corner, which is more fitting to this photograph. It just looks like two different photographs of two different places. So odd! What a ChangeAll these middle American cities like Little Rock -- with their miles of sturdy houses on tree-lined streets, brick and stone business districts, schools, colleges, urban transit, rail connections, and electric power and telephone systems - were raw prairie barely ninety years before. When you think about the literal building of 19th-century America, what was accomplished is astounding. The SweeperNo one has commented on the man atop the hotel's marquee sweeping it off. I hope he had the courtesy to warn the folks below when he was about to sweep a load off the edge. Incidentally, the heavy iron bar on the left of the pole has a turnbuckle in it about half way down. It does not connect to the overhead wires, although it looks like it does. As for a ground wires, they usually just go straight down the pole and into the ground. They never would get wrapped around the pole so many times. Unintended comic consequencesAnd now we see why "Spider-Man" was not set in Arkansas. Just think of the merchandising that Little Rock missed out on. Nor Iron BarsThe iron bar with turnbuckle is a reinforcement for a pole that's under a great deal of stress. There are many wires going off to the right, very few to the left, and that would tend to make the pole bend. When the turnbuckle is tightened, the two "saddles" near top and bottom force the pole to straighten out. The arrangement is still used once in a while; most cities don't need it any more because the utilities are underground, and in the country there's usually plenty of space for a normal guy wire. Tightly wrapping the part of the post under the most stress with iron wire helps prevent splinters from popping out, which would be the first sign of incipient failure, and keeps passing carriages from nicking it, which might cause a weak spot that could propagate into failure. The sheet-metal guard serves much the same purpose. +105Below is the same view from July of 2015. (The Gallery, DPC, Little Rock)
Memphis Bridge: 1985
... River between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas. Cantilever span detail, view to southwest." 1985 photo by Clayton B. ... 3 Bridges These bridges were the only way over to Arkansas when I was a kid. The old Harahan Bridge, the Frisco Bridge (this rail ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2013 - 1:20pm -

"Memphis Bridge spanning Mississippi River between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas. Cantilever span detail, view to southwest." 1985 photo by Clayton B. Fraser for the Historic American Buildings Survey. View full size. 3 bridges are still thereView Larger Map Rails within railsHave often seen the rails-within-rails scheme in pictures of bridges and other elevated rail systems. I presume that is to save the engineer the embarrassment of diving into the river in the event of a derail. Am I correct, or is there some other purpose? 1985 looks like 1895There's something about this photo that looks a century old, instead of a quarter-century. Still, it's beautifully done. Frisco BridgeDesigned by George S. Morison. Built 1891-1893 by Union Bridge Company, and masonry by Lewis M. Loss. When it opened it was the longest span in the US and most southerly crossing on the Mississippi. Now known as the Frisco Bridge. Guard railsBill T.'s assumption regarding the purpose of the extra rails found on bridges, and occasionally in other constricted areas, is to help keep a derailed wheelset aligned with the track. They are called guard rails. There is often, as on this bridge, a set of wooden guard timbers bolted to the ties about a foot outside of the running rails to further assist. Crazy YouthAs a teenager in the 70's, some friends and I walked out on this bridge one night and climbed down through a stairwell to one of the pilings over the river. Later, we popped our heads up as a train approached...The crazy things we do in our percieved indestructible youth. The inner railsI think the inner set of rails does two things. First, they help prevent derailings. They also reinforce the connections of the ties to the rails on the bridge. The outer rails have to be able to expand and contract at different rates than the land-bound rails they connect with at each end of the bridge, so their attachments to the land-bound rails are "loose." The inner rails keep the part on the bridge in one solid piece as the outer rails move around. Crazy Youth IIAnd as a teenager one night a few of my friends and I rappelled off the end off this bridge (on to land, not water) just to say we'd done it -- thirty years later on a website like Shorpy. 1895Large-format hasn't changed that much since 1895. The plate/film/emulsions are a lot better but it doesn't make that much difference. Part of the reason it looks old is that it looks kind of like it's orthochromatic. The blank white sky is classic. It may really have been ortho, it could have been pan with a blue filter, or it could have just been a hazy day. 3 BridgesThese bridges were the only way over to Arkansas when I was a kid. The old Harahan Bridge, the Frisco Bridge (this rail bridge), and the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge. In 1973, another bridge, the Hernando de Soto Bridge opened. It's the iconic "M" shaped bridge shown in views of Memphis. Almost 50 years later, that one's called the "New Bridge". At least in my family. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, HABS, Memphis, Railroads)
Fast Food: 1938
... a purchase at traveling grocery store. Forrest City, Arkansas." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the ... well-beloved "Lum & Abner" radio program (also set in Arkansas) featured a storyline in 1938 (same as this photo) in which the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/23/2008 - 4:01pm -

September 1938. "Making a purchase at traveling grocery store. Forrest City, Arkansas." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the FSA. NACAWhat does NACA stand for? N.A.C.A.From the full-sized version of the picture I was able to make out the text: NO TRESPASSING These Premises Protected By N.A.C.A. National Anti-Crime Association, Topeka Kansas Lum & AbnerThe famous, long-running, and well-beloved "Lum & Abner" radio program (also set in Arkansas) featured a storyline in 1938 (same as this photo) in which the old-timers lost their "Jot-Em Down" general store and re-opened for business with an oversized monstrosity mounted aboard a touring car chassis. From the photo it is obvious that such stores actually did exist in Arkansas at the same time. I can't help but wonder if this store, or one like it, may have provided inspiration for the storyline. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Essolene: 1939
... January 1939. "Hammond Ranch general store. Chicot, Arkansas. Leased by the Farm Security Administration and subleased to its ... kicked on. Railroad Tracks Not much left to Chicot, Arkansas these days in terms of even a single filling station or store, and the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/12/2012 - 12:55pm -

January 1939. "Hammond Ranch general store. Chicot, Arkansas. Leased by the Farm Security Administration and subleased to its client." With your choice of traditional or newfangled gas pump. Photo by Russell Lee. View full size. Mansfield TiresI see the partially obscured sign for Mansfield Tires, made for many years in my hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. My great aunt and her brother my great uncle both worked there. Dental SnuffInvented by a Dentist to sweeten the chewer's breath. Available in regular or Scotch. Visible Gas PumpsThese held on long after they were technologically superannuated because folks in rural areas didn't trust either the quantity or the quality of fuel they couldn't see before it entered their car's tank. I recall my grand-uncle, the proprietor and pump jockey at a general store in rural Ohio, complaining that the store's gasoline distributor was trying to foist one of those new-fangled "invisible" pumps on the store. Being about three years old at the time, I marvelled at the idea of a machine that no one could see, and still recall my mental image of farmers blundering around in front of the general store, arms outstretched like Karloff in "Frankenstein," hoping to bump into the invisible pump so they could fill up. Observation on another topic: you know that snuff dipping is firmly entrenched in a community when there are three brands advertised on the outside of the general store! Ramon's Pink PillsGood for just about anything that ailed ya! HazardI wonder if any kids ever played around that air compressor and got their fingers or arms in the belt when it kicked on. Railroad TracksNot much left to Chicot, Arkansas these days in terms of even a single filling station or store, and the railroad tracks are long gone, however when I traced where the railroad would have been from a satellite view, it did appear from the fuzzy image and shadow, that an iron railroad bridge still crosses the river near there. Colorized VersionPhotojacker, that is a heck of a job. Yes, the Coca-Cola signs are perfect. One of them being in shadow made that a challenge, I suppose, but you nailed them. What I'm most impressed with, though, are the lower portions of the gas pumps. Those are totally convincing. I have to wonder why snuff was so popular back in those days. In college, I surrendered and gave it a try. It certainly wasn't something I enjoyed and I decided that it wasn't for me!!! --Jim Love those signsMy attempt at colorizing the image. Thanks to all the commenters who put up good colour references, I managed to source the rest myself and was particularly pleased with the Coca Cola signs. For the roof, I didn't want to go overboard with the rust. Enjoy. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Party Time: 1923
... Miss Jones, granddaughter of Senator James J. Jones of Arkansas. Miss Mondel, daughter of House Majority Leader Frank W. Mondell . ... granddaughter of the late Senator James J. Jones , of Arkansas. Lieut. Slocum is the son of Mrs. S.W. Slocum, of El Centro, Calif. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/01/2011 - 10:35am -

October 15, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Dorothy Mondell, Elizabeth Taylor Jones." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Where's Lenny and Squiggy?Laverne and Shirley, the Early Years! What are the odds?Only two guests and they show up wearing the same dress! Pretty young ladies. Dot and LizI am thinking that Dorothy was the daughter of Wyoming congressman Franklin Wheeler Mondell and Elizabeth (1901-1968) eventually married Admiral Harry Browning Slocum. PGThey both get my vote for the rarefied Shorpy "Pretty Girls" category. In MemoriamFrom Elizabeth's birth date it obvious she saw a lot of history from a lot of places. Her husband won several combat awards during WW-II including a Navy Cross for his actions during the Battle of Surigao Straits -- a very famous USN victory. CinderellaDorothy Mondell bears more than a passing resemblance to the Black Widow in Office Xmas Party. The shoesAre beautiful too! Best-Dressed Washington GirlDorothy Mondell: "often spoken of as the best-dressed Washington girl." Washington Post, Jul 26, 1927. Mrs. Coolidge to be at Mondell Wedding Mrs. Coolidge plans to go to Newcastle, Wyo., tomorrow to attend the wedding of Miss Dorothy Mondell, daughter of the former Majority Leader, Frank W. Mondell, to Alexander White Gregg, chief counsel of the Treasury Department. … President Coolidge wanted to attend but found that he could not get away. It will be a 60-mile auto trip for Mrs. Coolidge. Washington Post, Oct 25, 1931. … Mrs. Alexander Gregg, who as Miss Dorothy Mondell, was often spoken of as the best-dressed Washington girl, has kept up her reputation for good dressing as a young matron. Recently, Mrs. Gregg wore a tweed mixture dress on strictly tailored lines and over this she wore one of the ultra modish box jackets of leopard with sleeves coming just below the elbows and the coat ending just above the hips. With this Mrs. Gregg wore a hatter's plush tricorn. Washington Post, Oct 21, 1941. Mrs. Dorothy M. Gregg Wed to Maj. Davis in Georgetown Stealing a march on many of their friends, Mrs. Dorothy Mondell Gregg and Maj. Sherlock Davis were married yesterday morning. A wedding breakfast followed at the bride's home in Georgetown, and they left afterward for Anniston, Ala., where Maj. Davis is on duty at Fort McClellan. Although the wedding was anticipated, it was expected to take place later in the week. … The bride wore a black velvet suit, with epaulettes of braid and a cluster of white orchids. Two clips, of scroll design in three shades of gold, completed the ensemble. Washington Post, Jun 9, 1944. Letter is Recountal of Capital 20 years Ago. A backward look: Charm will out — even after 20 years. I have a letter to prove it. Signed by Maj. A.H. Hamilton-Gordon who was third secretary at the British Embassy here two decades ago, it came to my desk [Hope Riding Miller] from the War Office in London not long ago. It presents an interesting picture of the Washington-that-was, and also pays tribute to one of the most attractive women who ever belled it around this town. Here's the letter in part: … "Myself, I was very fortunate. I had the privilege of escorting to some of the better parties, such as those given by Joe Leiters and Mrs. Harriman of Chevy Chase and the Columbia Country Club, and so on — a lovely girl, Miss Dorothy Mondell. She was the daughter of Representative Modell, leader of the House of Representatives. I think she married soon after that. Would it be possible for you to tell me whom she married? She was one of the most charming young ladies I ever met … and I would like so much to know what ever became of her." For the information of Maj. Hamilton-Gordon. The former Dorothy Mondell did marry, not so long after you left. Her first husband, from whom she was divorced several years ago, was Alexander Gray. She is now Mrs. Sherlock Davis, wife of Colonel Davis, our assistant military attache at Buenos Aires; happily married and having a wonderful time. Washington Post, May 12, 1975. Deaths On Saturday, May 10, 1975, Dorothy Mondell Frame, wife of C. Wesley Frame, Sister of Frank Mondell. … Interment Cedar Hill Cemetery. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to St. John's Child Development Center or Christ Episcopal Church Memorial Fund. Shades of grayOne dress might be a pale peach and the other a soft mint green or maybe a light blue or mauve. No matter the color both the young ladies wear them beautifully. Love the shoes!I like their dresses. They are quite feminine, compared to many fashions from the time. I'd love to see this one in color. I don't think the dresses were the same color. The shoes are great, too! ContrastsI am struck by the contrast between these two lovely young ladies and the Young family in that previous offering. Amazing. I hope the Youngs did well in their future. Not Ordinary Party Girls What a power couple! Miss Jones, granddaughter of Senator James J. Jones of Arkansas. Miss Mondel, daughter of House Majority Leader Frank W. Mondell. First Lady of the United States, Grace Goodhue Coolidge, would attend both their weddings: Miss Jones to a Navy officer and Miss Mondell to a top lawyer in the Treasury Department. Washington Post, Mar 6, 1924. Society Engaged to Lieutenant. Mrs. James Kimbrough Jones, jr., announces the engagement of her daughter, Miss Elizabeth Taylor Jones, to Lieut. Harry Browning Slocum, U.S.N., stationed on the Mayflower. Miss Jones is the granddaughter of the late Senator James J. Jones, of Arkansas. Lieut. Slocum is the son of Mrs. S.W. Slocum, of El Centro, Calif. Washington Post, Jun 16, 1926. Capital Society Mrs. Coolidge attended the wedding yesterday afternoon of Miss Elizabeth Taylor Jones, Daughter of Mrs. James Kimbrough Jones, to Lieut. Harry Browning Slocum, which took place at 5 o'clock in the Washington Heights Presbyterian church. … (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
House Without Windows: 1938
... move on to the next wood-lot and start over. Though Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi had more acres planted in cotton, the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/07/2009 - 1:09pm -

May 1938. New Madrid County, Missouri. "House without windows. Home of sharecropper cut-over farmers of Mississippi bottoms." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. You are my sunshineHow heartbreaking to know that these beautiful, innocent youngsters were in a home with no windows, no sunlight, no birds to look at, no flowers, trees, rain, only darkness, like solitary confinement. A home with no windows is like living in a bunker or an airplane hangar. I hope life became brighter for all of them at some point but it is difficult to see how they could have kept from getting depressed. They lived like ground moles. ChangeSometimes things do change for the better. It's amazing what was allowed or condoned and even thought "normal" just under 75 years ago. Cut-Over FarmersBy the 1930's, Depression-ravaged farm families - both Black and White - were moving out of the Deep South to cut bottomland timber and farm cotton on shares in the cleared land of the Missouri Delta. The sharecropper would be paid in shares to clear bottomland (much of the timber was sold for fuel or to turpentine mills). After the bottomland was cleared of timber, it would be planted in cotton and corn. Much of this bottomland soil washed away once the timber was removed - so only a few years of cash crops were possible -- then the sharecropper would move on to the next wood-lot and start over. Though Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi had more acres planted in cotton, the fields there were depleted and infested by weevils. The newly-cleared Missouri Delta cotton fields were marginal due to cooler weather, but outperformed the played-out croplands farther south. Still, the collapse of crop prices in the early 30's left many farm families living on relief or in poverty. A good resource is "The Final Frontiers, 1880-1930: Settling the Southern Bottomlands" by John Solomon Otto. House w/o WindowsSo they're running Linux? A hole in the wallWindows are not the be-all and end-all. That house looks pretty decent to me. It's solid, raised, with an amazing roof (beautiful hand-cut shakes), and it's pretty large. True, they had no washing machine, microwave, toaster, internet, and the other things that make us feel superior. Eskimos in Alaska, where I'm from (and many others), lived in mostly underground sod houses without windows; did this make them less connected to nature? Now that more than half of humanity is living in cities, I think the problem is pretty much the opposite you mentioned. It's impossible to tell from this photo, but maybe that family was more loving, aware, responsible, active, and connected to nature than anyone you or I know. In and OutI think the children probably left the house instead of staying in to play video games. The solitary confinement is a bit of a stretch, and the lack of windows might have been handy in the wintertime. "Missouri Delta"That term threw me for a minute. I was born in Poplar Bluff and am somewhat familiar with the region even though we moved from there in my childhood. My confusion was from knowing that the Missouri River runs into the Mississippi at St. Louis, which is about 100 miles north of New Madrid. And there really is no delta there. So even for this Missourian, it was interesting to learn that bottomland of the Mississippi River as it meanders along the bootheel area of southern Missouri is indeed called the Missouri Delta. I would assume the vast expanse of the Big Muddy snaking back and forth through there gives it the look of a delta. But I'm calling it a technical misnomer, yet I wouldn't go so far as to start any arguments over it with the locals...especially since I was raised by a pair of them to be a polite gentleman. Low paymentsTrue, it's a crummy house, but it's brand new (new boards still visible on ground) and cost little more than the labor in it. Remember labor? Is that...the family shoe I see out in the yard? Gimme glass!I just pictured myself walking into that scene with an old storm window with intact glass. The smiles that would light their faces as Dad and Mom ran to get tools to cut the hole into which the new Real Glass window would fit. I'm sure the glass was simply too expensive for them and it was on the Wish List alongside a fine fat turkey and a bushel of apples. As tragic as it seems that they didn't have windows, they DID have a house, and it looks like they had food, far more than far too many families then, and now. [These people were tenant farmers, or sharecroppers. Their landlord (the property owner) would have built the shack. - Dave] Sad but true.As sad as this picture is, as recently as 10-15 years ago there were still plenty of people living like this in "the Delta." Not long ago, I was working not far from where this photo was taken. I was steering around an old shack in the middle of a cotton field and wondering how long it had been vacant. 1940? 1930? Surely, no one had lived in it for 50 years. The shack was identical to this shack only it had a few glassless windows, a corrugated tin roof and a porch. After a couple days, I finally passed by when a lady was on the front porch enjoying the morning air from her rocking chair. It wasn't vacant, it was very lived in. A funny thing about the Missouri side of the Mississippi Delta are the rural, non-engineered roads. You're driving in flat, treeless bottomland yet the roads meander all over. They began as paths meandering through the woods connecting shacks and clearings in the trees. As the shacks and trees were cleared off and the land turned to farming soybeans and corn, the meandering roads remain in place as they were 100 years ago. The world was their "window"People then spent most of their waking hours outdoors, not cooped up inside; that was reserved for cooking and eating, doing chores like mending, and sleeping. Today, most people spend much more time inside, and even when we're outside, it's most often in a city or suburb at best, not the open country they had. (The Gallery, Kids, Russell Lee)
Pop, Gas, Smokes: 1950s
... name over the address? -Dave] 30 cents a pack An Arkansas newspaper article dated 1957 reported prices increasing from 27 to 30 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2015 - 9:03pm -

From a newspaper morgue somewhere in California comes this undated medium-format mid-century negative with the sketchy notation "Oakland service station." Who can help us to fill in the blanks? View full size. Tires balanced while-U wait.Those round things hanging on the pedestal are part of a Hunter tire balancing system. Back in the days when balancing tires was more of an art than a science those were attached to the wheels while they were on the car. The mechanic then spun the tire with an electric motor and adjusted some knobs until it felt the smoothest. After he stopped the wheel the dials on the machine would tell him where to put the weights. There was a shop in my home town using this system well into the 1980's, now of course a computerized machine is used with far greater accuracy. The Lost DotThis seems to be shortly after Dr Pepper lost the '.' My First Comment on ShorpyThe business depicted is currently DC Auto Repair, 14673 San Pablo Avenue, in the town of San Pablo, California, a few communities north of Oakland. The apartment building seen across the street is still there, and can be found on Street View at 2836 Del Camino Drive, San Pablo, California. As an Oaklander, I figured it out with the address shown, "14673," recognizing it as a high address number that would only be on one of the lengthy north-south roads that pass through Oakland. I first tried 14673 MacArthur Boulevard, because those hills and apartment building-style look like those in south-east Oakland/San Leandro. Then I tried 14673 Foothill Boulevard, for similar reasons. Then I tried 14673 San Pablo Avenue. Bingo. San Pablo Avenue is an old Mission-era road, Camino de la Contra Costa, which is also State Route 123, and runs 23 miles from the town of Crockett on the Carquinez Strait to downtown Oakland. As with so many environments from the early-mid 20th Century, the area is, ironically, now much more green and wooded despite its greater population density. [Bravo! For your next trick, what's the name over the address? -Dave] 30 cents a packAn Arkansas newspaper article dated 1957 reported prices increasing from 27 to 30 cents in vending machines. At that time, you could buy the whole vending machine itself from National Vending in Brooklyn for $75.00... far less than the cost of a carton of cigarettes these days ($85-$90 in Connecticut). The YearThat we'll never exactly know. The cigarettes in the machine tell me it is the late 50's. The Marlboros are in flip-top boxes, introduced in 1955, so it can't be before then. Bailey's StationIt is apparently Bailey's, judging from this advertisement selling a La Salle mobile home in the 20 November 1960 Oakland Tribune. Crude wheel alignments tooThe device the wheel balancer rings are hanging on is a toe gauge. The car would be driven over it slowly. This would only check the toe, not camber and caster. It was assumed if the toe was correct, caster and camber were also correct, since changing either of these angles affected toe. Doing an alignment, toe is always set last. Regarding the Hunter wheel balancer - that assembly was spinning at least 70mph, inches from your body and you hovered over it adjusting the weights to get the smoothest spin. One of the wheels was held to increase/decrease the amount of weight, and another was held to rotate the weight around the wheel. I remember balancing an old 55 Chevy with this contraption. I dialed in too much weight and knocked a whole chunk of body filler off the fender because of the vibration. We still have the motor spinner at work. We use it to find noisy wheel bearings. It has TWO motors and is 220 volts. 14740The apartment building seems to be 14740 San Pablo. The railings are pretty distinctive. 10-2-4The photo is no earlier than 1954, which is when the streamlined Dr Pepper logo on the side of the bottle cases was introduced. You are correctI was going to argue the location, but then noticed this detail. An Anxious World Wants to KnowIs he a Pepper too? 1958-1963?Those Salem cigarettes were introduced in 1956. Assuming it would take a few years of promotion to get them popular enough to include in the cigarette machine and judging by the man’s boxy suit and Brylcreemed hair which was in style at the time, I’d guess this photo is from the late fifties early sixties. 1960? '61? Going upThe automotive hoist in the bottom left of the picture was manufactured by Globe Hoist Co. I have one identical to it in my garage. Bailey's Signal ServiceYes, that would be Bailey's Signal Service at the bottom of Tank Farm Hill* in San Pablo, on San Pablo Ave. at about Lake St. I passed it every day on my way to Richmond High School in the 1960s. Apartment building in the distance is 14740 San Pablo Ave. - and it's still there with distinctive railing. * Before Hilltop Mall (1970s) and other development, the storage tank visible at the top of the hill in the picture was just one of many in a "tank farm" on Standard Oil refinery's land between San Pablo and Pinole, (The Gallery, Gas Stations)
Signs and Portents: 1910
Little Rock, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Main Street." Home to a number of intriguing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/02/2014 - 12:13pm -

Little Rock, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Main Street." Home to a number of intriguing juxtapositions. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. If you got itFlaunt it. (Or, as I actually submitted, I actually put a great deal of trust in a majestic ass.) Thought the street was dirt.Then I saw the image full size. No wonder I only see one sign for an eatery. If it's on that street, I can't imagine the oysters, steak, or sandwiches tasting any good. Are those two guys at the bank checking out the ladies who just passed by? Stifft's Jewelers on the NW corner of Main & 3rd is still in business, though miles across town. The block it's in is a parking lot. The next block with the bank is considered the most intact block of early 20th century commercial buildings in the city, but no buildings exist between 4th and 5th. The large white building on the SW corner of Main & 5th (Capitol) has a penthouse floor added now. (I guess the roof's no longer Cary's). Most of the buildings to the left have been removed for parking. Houk's Music Store is in business in North Little Rock. M.M. Cohn expanded into this location in 1898. The Cohn's expanded their department store into a regional chain that went out of business in 2007. Civic leaders brought the streetcars back. Not the horses. Little Rock rocked a little laterIn 1957 the Blass store on the right looks as if it might be the same one that had installed a mechanism that sprayed a cloud of flowery scent on whoever was in range when the door was opened. Ick. Across the street and half a block farther away from the photographer was a tea room, in the street-side window of which sat a woman playing an organ. In tribute to the experience of my youth in Southern California roller-skating rinks where similar music was traditional, every time I walked by the tea shop I mimicked roller-skating moves, shuffling along the sidewalk. The organist smiled and nodded, more often than not. Out of the frame at right, maybe half a block or a block and a half eastlier was a pool hall. It was barely wide enough to allow billiard-style action with standard cues, had five or six tables with the short side toward the street, and a ceiling so high I don't think I ever saw it. Classic stale cigar-and-beer ambiance. When you finished a game you'd croak, "Raaack!" and here would come the attendant, one hand out for the quarter, the other holding the rack, which customers never got to touch. "Eight-ball, One and Fifteen" was the instruction. Lots to seeI too, thought the 2 men were checking out the 2 ladies walking by. And the strangest things in this photo are the "The Roof is Carey's" sign, and the very creepy eyeballs on that gorgeous clock. I just want to be there in this photo to personally check all these things out. Ah, for a time machine! The Roof is Carey'sThis is good to know. Boyle BuildingThat 12 story white building on the right side of the pic. It had just been finished about a year before. It was announced this month that after a complete refurbishing, it will open later as an A-Loft hotel. Looking back at youI've never seen the eyes on the clock theme before but it's great. Every time you check the time you feel you got caught at something. "Little Trust Savings"Classic. It really should read that way. I would much rather use my savings to see the Majestic A$$. +104View Larger Map Eyeglass ClockIf you look closely at the face of the clock you'll see the Jeweler's name "Stifft" on it. The clock wasn't a municipal piece, it was an advertisement. Eyeglass art like this was commonly used to proclaim that spectacles were made at the establishment. Stifft's must have manufactured glasses as well as more common jewelry. This was not unusual in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. GatsbyClearly Dr. T.J. Eckleburg had an office in Little Rock in addition to his location near the valley of ashes across from Mr. and Mrs. Wilson's filling station on Long Island. Big city to small townIt's amazing to me how these streets all over the country used to look like big, bustling city streets and now they look like Small Town America. +105Below is the same view from July of 2015. (The Gallery, DPC, Little Rock, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
Main Street: 1910
Little Rock, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Main Street north from Sixth." A zoomed-in version of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 7:15pm -

Little Rock, Arkansas, circa 1910. "Main Street north from Sixth." A zoomed-in version of this view. Note the Free Bridge in the distance. View full size. Okay, but *why* 8:20?Does the use of the time 8:20 have any special meaning? Or is it for purely decorative purposes, like clocks for sale in shops that have their hands set to 10:10? [At 8:20, the hands leave plenty of blank space for text. - Dave] Ahh, city life! From the Newsie and the fellow in some sort of Uniform on the left, to the man in the window of "Jones House Furnishings," this is a wonderful image of life in 1910. The big clock there on the corner, in front of McKinley's Jewelery store tells the time of day (8:18 AM)( This must have been the morning rush hour.) So many of these clocks are either gone or no longer work at all. [Shorpy veterans will recognize the clock-face jewelers sign as a familiar fixture on early 20th-century streets. They're not real clocks, and all show 8:17. - Dave] The East 14th St. streetcar is rolling along. (Please pay conductor upon entering car - I wonder what the fare was back then. a nickel? a dime?) I also see a little business competition in the Stein and Kress 5 and 10 cent stores. The descent from the Free Bridge looks a bit steep but that could be the camera itself doing that. I wonder what the "LIGHT" sign above the street means... Further to the right, in front of the E.D. Bracy Hardware store, There is a nattily dressed gent walking along. We also see some large wheeled bins marked 5 cents. I would like to see what is in those. To either side of Bracy's hardware are a Sporting Goods Store and J.H.Martin's Arms Store. Then comes the 'Jones House Furnishings Store' with its list of wares that you can purchase within. Imagine having a time machine so that you could go back and fill your home with furnishings from 100 years ago! Ready made antiques! A little help, pleaseI'll supply the truck if someone else will let me use their time machine. Then we can go back and get the spiked ball on top of the Stein Co. 5&10 at left. It's gonna look great on my garage! Keen KutterE.D. Bracy Hardware Co. Your Keen Kutter dealer. This boat named for the knife, still plies the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee New Hampshire. Remembering streetcars and trolley busesConductors on streetcars was a job destined to become obsolete as eventually the driver had to handle all the chores. I remember one corner in Cicinnati where it was rare for a streetcar or trolley bus to make the turn without the the trolleys coming off the wires. The driver would rush off, line them up, and we would be on our way again. Keen Kutter IIAlive and well and highly collectible I might add. Public Time These jewelers clocks were very real. During this period of time railroad, street car employees and the better off had personal time pieces and the rest had municipal, jeweler and other clocks for when they were away from home. These particular clocks had a pendulum that was short enough to fit in the diameter of the face ... [The hands on this clock (below) are painted on -- it's right twice a day. Same for the other 8:17 jewelers' clocks seen here. - Dave] Thanks for the enlargements and setting me straight Dave. It really shows up in the symmetry issues of the flourishes at the end of the hands. 8:18 still common at fine jewelersWhile no longer universal, that time is still the most common time watches are set to at fine jewelers, because it doesn't obscure the maker and model information. The to couple of pictures site what I mean. Go to any specialty watch or fine jewelers, and chances are that's the time on the face, if its not actively running. 8:20 or 1:50Those of us who remember the old Timex watch commercials where they'd torture test a watch by tying it to the blade of an outboard motor or attached it to a jackhammer or some similar method to show that the watch could "take a licking and keep on ticking," will remember that the watch usually read 1:50 - 10 to 2 - and it read that way for a reason. Like 8:20, 1:50 didn't obscure the maker's name or the model type. 9:15 or 3:45 (or worse, 9:45 or 3:15) wouldn't work because there would always be those who would claim that the watch only had one hand! As for why Timex chose 1:50, well their name was at the top (under the 12) of the watch and placing the hands at 1:50 framed the name nicely. +105Below is the same view from July of 2015. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Little Rock, Streetcars)
Union Man: 1938
... -- lived until 1989. His entry in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Very Handsome This was one handsome, well put together man. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2009 - 4:21am -

June 1938. Memphis, Tennessee. "H.L. Mitchell, Secretary of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. Union headquarters." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Handsome GuyWow! At first glance, I thought that was a young John Kennedy. Love the socks. Initial reactionThat can't be a really good negotiation opener, to say "I'm Harry Leland Mitchell from the STFU." Especially if you're addressing the Wyoming Teamsters Fund. Sharecroppers vs moviesMitchell is indeed photogenic, and he knows it a bit too well. I'll bet his movie-star looks weren't appreciated by the dirt-poor sharecroppers and ex-slaves he was supposed to organize. Work with me, HarryOK, now, look noble. No, that's more confused than noble. Try again. Well, now you look kind of quizzical. look upwards toward this corner of the ceiling. Now give me a little bit of a worried look. No, not that worried -- we're not getting shot at dawn. Just a little concerned and pensive. No, keep looking toward that corner. OK, well, I guess that's the best we can do. Thanks. Handsome and MisunderstoodIf I had known this guy, I would have fallen head over heels in love with him, I just know it. Probably was "hard on the outside and soft on the inside" and who could resist that combination, plus that Kennedy hair and visage? His eyes show intelligence and pain. Kicking back, on a break...Yep, he's a union man alright. Harry Leland Mitchell 1906–1989Quite an interesting fellow with a long career in labor organizing -- lived until 1989. His entry in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Very HandsomeThis was one handsome, well put together man. Striking, even. Probably appreciatedI don't know how many ex-slaves he met 90 years after the Civil War, but I imagine it took some courage ride into a town and try to organize sharecroppers in that time. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Portraits, The Office)
Confederate Arsenal: 1865
... effective against massed troops. The War I am from Arkansas. The particular conflict was referred to by my grandparents as "The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 11:38am -

April 1865. Ruins of the State Arsenal at Richmond showing stacked and scattered ammunition. From photographs of the main Eastern theater of war after the fall of Richmond, compiled by Hirst Milhollen and Donald Mugridge. View full size. Cannonballs!State of the art in weaponry. Cast-iron balls thrown a great ways with a kick of gunpowder. I like how the chaps in the background have been piling up the bricks from the fallen buildings - bricks not only stand the test of time and fire, but are reusable. "Well fellers, might as well start pilin up them bricks..." What those guys are sayingFrom my contact with friends and family in the Deep South I'd guess those men in the arsenal were much more likely saying, "Save these bricks and your Confederate money, boys, the South's goin' to rise again!" On a recent trip to Charleston, SC our tour guide whose family had fought for the Confederacy made a point of telling about "what the Yankees did to us." It was still personal after 150 years. Canister ShotTo the left of center, in front of the man standing on the piled roundshot, there's a whole mess of canister shot or grape shot (I'm not sure which). In either case, when fired, they acted like giant shotgun shells and were gruesomely effective against massed troops. The WarI am from Arkansas. The particular conflict was referred to by my grandparents as "The War of Northern Aggression." Since their great uncles were veterans, and they knew them well, it was still a relevant event for them. This was passed down to me, and geez, I was born in the early 60s. The South has longer memories. Re: Canister ShotAs usual, these pictures take me on other journeys in education and I found this site: http://www.bigcountry.de/index.php?Seite=/artillerie_2.htm which has an illustration of how these things are put together. The site is in German I think but you can see from the pictures what they are talking about. Very interesting. I had no idea a cannon ball was so deadly. But then, I'm just an old girl learning new tricks. Also http://www.civilwarartillery.com/default.htm Grape shot and canister..Grape shot was the larger of the two types with the shot running an inch or more in diameter. It's also made of iron. Canister was smaller, with the rounds being about the same size of a musket ball (a bit over half an inch in diameter). (The Gallery, Civil War, Richmond)
Manzanar: 1943
... and Jerome, were located next to the Mississippi River in Arkansas, though they are little known. And there is the irony: it sometimes ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 12:30pm -

1943. Japanese-American internees at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. "Players involved in a football game on a dusty field, buildings and mountains in the distance. Note: Be sure and straighten horizon when printing." Medium-format nitrate negative by Ansel Adams. View full size. The BlurLooks like the great Ansel Adams used a shutter speed slow enough to blur the runners' legs. Or maybe he just wanted to show action. I like his "note to self". AnselI was not aware that Ansel Adams took pictures at Manzanar. I've driven by there many times. The barracks are gone, but the entrance gate and gymnasium are still there. Ansel AdamsLong ago a photographer friend took an Adams workshop class at Yosemite. He said he was so in awe of Adams he could hardly remember what was said. He did take the opportunity to ask Adams "Are all your photographs so perfect??" My friend said Adams laughed and replied "No, they only print the best ones now." ManzanarOf possible interest to those wanting to see more photographs taken of Japanese-American Internment camps, here is a link: http://www.csuohio.edu/art_photos/famalbum/famalbum.html RT Masumi HayashiMasumi Hayashi's photographs showing what remains at these camp locations: http://www.csuohio.edu/art_photos/gallery.html ManzanarFor more on Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adam's photography at the Manzanar internment camp: - Impounded : Dorothea Lange and the censored images of Japanese American internment / Dorothea Lange ; edited by Linda Gordon and Gary Y. Okihiro, c2006, ISBN: 039306073X - Born free and equal : the story of loyal Japanese Americans, Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California : photographs from the Library of Congress collection / introduction by Archie Miyatake ; contributions by Sue Kunitomi Embrey and William H. Michael ; edited by Wynne Benti ; with support from the Manzanar Committee friends of the Eastern California Museum, c2002, ISBN: 1893343057. Out of print but might be available at your university library: - Born free and equal, photographs of the loyal Japanese-Americans at Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California, by Ansel Adams, c1944. rt Adams and LangeBoth Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange made photos at the Manzanar War Relocation Center, though Lange was contracted from the beginning of the relocation. Two of the finest photographers in America thus documented this sad history in our nation's life, though there is some doubt that they understood that when their assignments began. Of course Manzanar was just one of the camps that were spread all over the western United States. Two camps, Rohwer and Jerome, were located next to the Mississippi River in Arkansas, though they are little known. And there is the irony: it sometimes depends on whose doing the photography (and how much) that determines popular memory. Today the almost deserted Rohwer site contains a small graveyard of Japanese Americans as well as a concrete sculpture in the form of a Sherman tank with the names of the dead Japanese American volunteers who served with the Nisei Regiment ("Go For Broke"). The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most highly decorated fighting force in US history, the recipient of 21 Medals of Honor. They volunteered to fight for the US even though their families were held in a relocation camp - under armed guard. (The Gallery, Ansel Adams, Relocation Camps, Sports)
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