MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
Home

Search Shorpy

SEARCH TIP: Click the tags above a photo to find more of same:
Mandatory field.

Search results -- 30 results per page

Rutland: 1904
... after shopping at Hopkins & Howle on the right? Bicycle parking etiquette I like how the bicycles are neatly parked at the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 8:23pm -

Rutland, Vermont circa 1904. "Merchants' Row." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. How dapper!I love the blurry pedestrian in the middle of the picture -- suit, straw boater, distinguished white hair and beard. I have to wonder if he is crossing the street after shopping at Hopkins & Howle on the right? Bicycle parking etiquetteI like how the bicycles are neatly parked at the curb. These days it seems, most kids just drop their bikes right outside the front door of whatever store or custard stand they enter and force other folks to walk over and around them. What is it?What's in that horse-drawn tank being sprayed on the road? [Water. - Dave] A RutlanderIt was nice to see my hometown on your homepage today! Electric TransitOne of my favorite sequences in E. L. Doctorow's "Ragtime," set in 1908, was the journey taken on sudden notice to get a young girl out of wicked New York City. Using a sock full of saved up nickels and dimes, her immigrant guardian hustles her down to the trolley line and just starts traveling "north." Without any planning or reservations, they just keep following each line to its end, where they typically find a recreational park with food vendors, facilities for washing up etc, and a place to board the line to the next town. Images of rolling along boulevards on a summer evening, with their own little electrical storm crackling across the overhead wires, followed by the next day's run across open country on an interurban stretch, where the thrill of booming and rocking along draws the first smile he can recall seeing on her face for a long time. In a few days they reach Boston to start a new life. Something about the distant streetcar approaching "downtown" through elm-shaded residential districts brings this to mind. TankerThe horse drawn tanker with the sprinkler arms is pretty cool. I'm sure a couple of passes down the street during the day would help with keeping the dust down. Not Anytown, USAThank you Shorpy! At first glance this town seemed like many that I have seen in my lifetime. I noticed that the town had public transportation, so checked out the town further and found out it was a very important town. Marble capital of the world at one time. Also, interesting that the city of Rutland is surrounded completely by the town of Rutland or vice-versa. Rutland litter pickersdon't seem to have cleaned up the right side of the street curb or is that just a coincidence? Or maybe they pick up before the dust control spray. Regardless, it seems that there is a lot of rubbish there for such a quaint village center. Both Sides NowInteresting that horse and wagons drove on either side of the road. The whole right/left choice came in with cars. I hadn't thought of that. Something MissingThe certain something missing is people. The awning bizLooks like the awning maker did very well in that town. Of course another source at that time could have been the Sears Roebuck catalogue. Just last weekI was standing on this exact corner in Rutland last week, and commenting to my friend that it was so nice that it probably hadn't changed much since the glory days of the town. Aside from the parked cars it really hasn't. That google Street View image is taken at a horrible angle! Practically all you can see is pavement markings and cars. If you actually stand there and look up and down the street to right and left it is all still these great old buildings and looks terrific. Not so much in the way of awnings though. The sad part is the other side of the street, behind the viewer, which is a vast minimall with Walmart. Now that's just not pretty. One Particular Gentleman... our dapper friend must be. Look how lightly he steps to avoid ruining his shoes in the water from the street cleaner! I love that. Whenever I see these street scenes I so wish I could look in the windows. Wouldn't it be wonderful to get a glimpse of the daily life going on behind the walls? Tip O' the HatEvery man that I could see on the street was wearing a hat. Some are summer straw. Even the Teamster is sporting a Derby. They look better than baseball caps. Water Truck and bikesMany of Shorpy's urban scenes show wet streets. I wondered if they were watered down on a regular basis with some kind of vehicle. To my knowledge this is the first photograph we've seen showing one at work. Without becoming nostalgic, would it be accurate to suspect those bicycles parked along the street were unlocked? We live in barbarous times. The OvernetMany photos of this era show the almost complete occlusion of sunlight caused by the density of overhead telegraph and telephone wires. That feature of the turn of the century is not missed. Sitting on the pedalThe bikes are parked neatly along the curb because they don't have kickstands. (The Gallery, DPC, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
Stadium Parking: 1942
... sun is almost directly overhead - see the shadow of the bicycle. - tterrace] Just a guess This picture seems to pack a hole ... 10th commandment (covetousness) or the 8th (theft)? Bicycle Stands Those two bikes sport the more stable of the two types of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:33pm -

July 1942. Washington, D.C. "Spectators at a baseball game: wives, sweethearts and children of the players; passersby and regular fans." Medium format nitrate negative by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size. Signs of the Times1942's sign: "Short Cuts Prohibited" Today's sign: "Keep off the field or risk prosecution" El Sol in background?That sure looks like the Sun in the middle of the photo just above the trees but the shadows on the ground don't seem to match the location. re: El Sol in background?You're right. Must be a UFO. Space ships seem to like to visit DC (ala The Day the Earth Stood Still) Or La Luna?Gibbous moon, caught with a long lens, maybe? La LunaIs that La Luna in the background? The shadows and the lack of flair flare in the lens indicate it is not the sun. Maybe it's a home run. [Hint: The answer can be found in any stationery or office supply store. - Dave] Sun + treeIs it not possible that there’s a big tree right behind us, with overarching boughs reaching forward but just out of sight, creating the dappled light at our feet from the low setting sun? [The sun is almost directly overhead - see the shadow of the bicycle. - tterrace] Just a guessThis picture seems to pack a hole lot of punch. Bike SupportI love the old-fashioned kickstands on the bikes. Lifts the whole rear wheel off the ground. Better than the ones on newer bikes. Time Machine & the 10th CommandmentIt's a good thing that 70+ years separate me from those bikes because my inner 9-year-old only wants to take one for a ride, just a short ride, back to my house and then stash it behind the bushes. Answer, pleaseSo is EW3 correct (UFO)? Or Tobacconist (hole punch)? And would Jano be guilty of the 10th commandment (covetousness) or the 8th (theft)? Bicycle StandsThose two bikes sport the more stable of the two types of stands common then. One could even use a bike so equipped as a kind of exercycle, since the rear wheel was held entirely off the ground (no puns, please). Unfortunately, the catch that held the stand out of the way while one was in motion frequently wore out, causing the stand to drag behind the bike and produce a grating noise dear to little boys but the bane of every mother in the neighborhood. Is that?Looks like a hole punch from a 3 ring binder to me, but through plastic and very enlarged. [Diameter is slightly over 5mm on the negative, but it's not a hole; there's film grain visible. Note also that the edges are sharp, but the treeline is blurry. As others have mentioned, this points to a processing artifact. - tterrace] (The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., Marjory Collins, Sports)
Rambler Biclorama: 1902
... Speedway prior to the first 500 in 1911. ... on a bicycle built for two, or maybe three? interesting, the first bike has the ... Varney's Rambler Biclorama: The Largest and Most Complete Bicycle Establishment in the World." Specifics are scarce, but some material ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:31pm -

Auckland, New Zealand, 1902. "Dexter & Crozier, cycle importers, Victoria Street East." Glass negative by James Hutchings Kinnear. View full size. Dexter & CrozierFrom The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: The business premises contain a large show-room, with offices at the front, and behind there is a large repairing shop, with lathes, a forge, and brazing and enamelling plant. Demolished?There appears to be nothing left of the buildings shown. I went to Victoria Street East yesterday and carefully looked for remnants, but saw none. I suspect the cycle shop and the buildings on each side were demolished long ago, the site now being occupied by the Lister Building. SignedThe signpainters: Bollard & Froude. [Also Tudehope & Robertson. - Dave] A touch of homeA sad looking houseplant on a windowsill of the Board & Residence hotel. Rambler rumbleBicycling dandies versus piano-playing toughs. Play it cool boy, real cool. Backseat driverTwo tandems and the one on the right seems to have an arrangement that allows it to be steered from the rear seat. Rambler bikes and cars These Rambler bikes came from the Gormully and Jeffery Mfg. Co. of Chicago. By the time the instant image was snapped, Thomas Jeffery was in his 5th year of producing automobiles. In 1901 he introduced the Model A Rambler, a name that would much later be tied to Nash products. The G and J (Gormully and Jeffery) Tire Co. sponsored two races at the Indianapolis Speedway prior to the first 500 in 1911. ... on a bicycle built for two, or maybe three?interesting, the first bike has the more modern low set handlebars one associates with racing bikes. I can't help but feel sorry for the person sitting in the second seat if the first has some digestive problems. The second bike however has the step-through frame more commonly associated with ladies' bikes in the first position, with the step-over bar for a gentleman in the second position. Both are equipped with the "sit up and beg" style handlebars. I'm trying to decide if there is a saddle or at least a seatpad on the crossbar in the second position - perhaps for a child? The Coffee RoomYeah right, like anyone will ever make money just selling cups of Coffee. The Tandem on the RightThe tandem on the right appears to be steerable from the stoker position, but I'm having trouble understanding the geometry. I've never seen such a configuration. Can anyone help a brother out with an explanation? Courting Tandem!The tandem to the right has a curious frame: a few more tubes than usual; step-through frame in front; parts going from the fork to the rear rider! An initial google search for 'tandem stoker steering' yielded the term 'courting tandem'. Search that for description, photos and antique bikes for sale. Is that a leather chainguard at the front chainwheel? Chainwheel of the left, uphill tandem is interesting: a very large tooth pitch. Chain looks pretty normal, though. One tooth per three links? A franchise?At about this time there was apparently another "Biclorama" located in San Francisco. It was billed as "Thos. H.B. Varney's Rambler Biclorama: The Largest and Most Complete Bicycle Establishment in the World." Specifics are scarce, but some material is available from Google in printed form only. Never locate a bicycle shop on a hill. The considerable extra energy required to pedal up hill can be too much of a reality check for a newbie cyclist. Blind BustThe head to the left of the piano sign is very interesting with the eyes covered with a wrapping, odd indeed. HillyBill T. said: "Never locate a bicycle shop on a hill." You don't know Auckland! It's hilly almost everywhere in the CBD, except for Fort Street, Customs Street, and Quay Street, which are all built on land reclaimed from the harbour. Opposite ends of the tandem spectrumThese bikes represent the two extremes of turn-of-the century tandems. The bike on the right would have been most at home pootling down a garden path, while the one on the left was built for the velodrome. fastRfastR is quite right that the bike on the right with the leather chainguard is a rear-steered courting tandem. This was probably the most common tandem configuration in the 1890s. While the bike on the right is built for leisure, the one on the left is a speed machine that concedes little to comfort, especially for the stoker. While tandems were raced on the track in their own right, they were more often used as pace bikes. In certain types of trials, tandems, triplets and even quads and quints "towed" bikes up to speed in their slipstream before the final laps. The "skip-link" chainring on the track bike was not uncommon on racing bikes into the 1940s. Alternating short and long links allows the use of stronger, higher profile teeth on the chainring than is possible with a standard chain, which in turns means fewer broken teeth for both bike and rider. Rambler logosIt's interesting to see how many ways the Rambler logo is interpreted in that single scene. Brand identities were much more flexible back then. I spotted yet another Rambler logo in a Stockholm bike shop a few years ago. (The Gallery, Bicycles, New Zealand)
Five Ways of Going: 1908
... tired old eyes can only find four modes represented: tram, bicycle, motorcar/truck, and Shank's mare. The edifice represents railway ... from of his package of Old Judge cigarettes? Walking, bicycle, streetcar, car. What else? I see no train Did I get them all? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/03/2013 - 9:55am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1908. "South facade, new Union Station." At least five modes of transportation represented in this detailed view. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. "Contemporary pose" then as nowNothing "impossible" whatsoever about someone "checking out a hand held device" in 1908. Most sophisticates of the era carried them, often pulled them out to look at them, and sometimes held them up to their ears. They were called "pocket watches". Omnibus?I believe the fifth mode is the Omnibus or autobus. I think there is one in the far distance, to the left. You got me again!My tired old eyes can only find four modes represented: tram, bicycle, motorcar/truck, and Shank's mare. The edifice represents railway transport, but no locomotives or rolling stock are in evidence. I suspect that the fifth would be horse-drawn conveyances, which would have been more common than motorcars in 1908, but I cannot spy any. Contemporary poseThe gentleman standing along the wall to the left seems to be striking an all too familiar pose for modern times - he appears to be checking out a hand held device. Of course this is impossible. Perhaps he's reading the back of the Honus Wagner baseball card that he just pulled from of his package of Old Judge cigarettes? Walking, bicycle, streetcar, car. What else?I see no train Did I get them all?1. Walking 2. Streetcar 3. Auto 4. Bicycle 5. Train (station) 6. Flying (eagles) Where Eagles DareThe near-eagle is keeping a sharp eye on the photographer. Pray or prey, or both? Don't forget the horse-drawn carriage.Back near the main entrance. I noticedboth the dapper dude strolling across the street (lower right) and the plainclothes detective keeping an eye on the potential troublemaker behind him. Dapper dudeThe aforementioned dapper dude is dressed about 30 years ahead of his time. (The Gallery, D.C., DPC, Railroads, Streetcars)
Inflationary Pressure: 1936
September 1938. "Inflating bicycle tire in Abbeville, Louisiana." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for ... but one wonders how it worked out for this kid. This bicycle was used to carry heavy loads. Note the reinforcing bar on the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:39pm -

September 1938. "Inflating bicycle tire in Abbeville, Louisiana." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Look at the bright sideIt's only flat on the bottom. (As my buddy would always say) First some airAnd then a clothespin and a playing card. For real power, go with two clothespins and cards. Humm...He's trying to inflate using a gas station air pump -- usually a bad idea because the pump's pressure is not what the tube is expecting. Done all the time, but not the best choice. And one has to wonder why he appears to inflating a tire without repairing the puncture: that tire didn't get that flat just from neglect. Oh well...we don't know the background, but one wonders how it worked out for this kid. This bicycle was used to carry heavy loads.Note the reinforcing bar on the handlebars. Used to see the same thing on freight-carrying bicycles in Korea many years ago. HorsefeathersI had a bike like this in the 40s and I was a lot scrawnier than this kid. I have lived in the far east and have seen bikes like this carry 3-4 people and very, very other heavy cumbersome loads that you would not believe, but are posted on YouTube, and elsewhere on the internet. OuchMy first thought .... riding the bike barefoot seems like it would've really been painful on his tootsies. (The Gallery, Bicycles, Kids, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
Cycle Cops: 1918
... have been. But they look so proud! Love the photo. Bicycle Cops The cycle on the left has what appears to be a speedometer ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:34pm -

Washington, D.C., 1918. "District of Columbia parks -- park policemen." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. KnickerbockersThese guys could take their coats and hats off when off duty and they would be ready for the golf course in those outfits. I wonder when fenders for bikes appeared. OoohhhhMy legs are itching from the sight of those wool leggings! How hot they must have been. But they look so proud! Love the photo. Bicycle CopsThe cycle on the left has what appears to be a speedometer affixed to his two wheeler, maybe that's so they can check the speed of prams and strollers through the park. Do they self-siren, I wonder. Are the white gloves for checking the cleanliness of the park benches? Maybe their gartered trouser legs are more for keeping their pants dry while tiptoeing through the tulips than stopping snag ups in their bike chains. I can only imagine what a modern day bike may look like, scabbard down the fork tubes for a long weapon, flashing lights mounted across the handle bars, saddle bags for EMT gear (and their lunch of course) and a whippy aerial with a hi-vis flag attached. Enjoyed this image and was amazed at the history of the Park Police. Still aroundThese fellows are members of the U.S. Park Police, the nation's oldest law enforcement agency. The Park Police were established in 1791 by George Washington as "park watchmen" to patrol parks in the then-new District of Columbia, and have been on active duty ever since -- 220 years. Today they're a unit of the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, with jurisdiction in all Park Service areas and certain other federal and state lands. Park Police units are primarily assigned to the Washington D.C area and the expansive urban parks adjacent to San Francisco and New York City. Tread directionThe treads on the front tires are oriented differently for each bike. I never know which way is right, and it looks like these guys might not either. Where'd they go?We could really use these policemen in this day and age around Rock Creek Park. The original bike copsI am always tickled at the many examples of practices and ideas that have been introduced in recent times as "innovative" and new, that have precedents. RHIPThe sergeant has a bell and a speedometer mounted on this handlebars. Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling. Do you know how fast you were walking, sir? It's four miles an hour in the park, sir. My ancestorsThey did not get the official title of U.S. Park Police until 1919 (they were Park Watchmen) but were called Park Police since the 1880's. I'll see if I can get some names for these fellows. (The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Street View: 1905
... spent some time in this building until the mid 1980's. Bicycle technology I don't know too much about bikes (god knows I haven't ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 4:31pm -

Minneapolis, Minnesota, circa 1905. "Chamber of Commerce." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Howard's LabCouple of cool early cars down there - probably well-to-do businessmen checking in on the chamber. What do you think all of those planks are laid down for - curing concrete? Location, Location, LocationDid the Federal Elevator Company really expect anyone to be able to read their signage from the street? And on your leftbeyond the Milwaukee Road train shed you can see the old Exposition Hall across the river, already repurposed. I am for menThe incomplete wall ad in the back is for Henry George cigars. It probably reads "I am for men. Henry George. Great 5 cents cigars": And Henry George was quite a guy. They Got AroundInteresting mix of conveyances, powered by horse, humans and petroleum. [Also a few "ghosts"! Click below to enlarge. - Dave] Milwaukee DepotAt the end of 4th, see the passenger loading area of Milwaukee Station on Washington. Oh the memories. K&CLooks like a Louis Sullivan building, but it's not. It's by Kees and Colburn. Later known as the Grain Exchange building. Fourth and FourthBuilt in 1900, at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Fourth Street South. The picture was taken from Minneapolis City Hall, seen recently on Shorpy. Grain ExchangeMy father in law worked for Continental Grain for over 30 years, spent some time in this building until the mid 1980's. Bicycle technologyI don't know too much about bikes (god knows I haven't ridden one in 30 years) but when did someone invent the kick stand? Or for that matter, bike racks? Many of these Shorpy street views include bikes leaning against the sides of buildings buildings or perilously propped against curbstones. Even horses usually got hitching rings. Bemis Bro. Bag Co.Bemis, founded 1858 in St. Louis, opened its second facility in 1880 in Minneapolis. 2009 sales were $3.5 billion. Sadly, the company does not have a baby buggy bumper division. Rides Like a CadillacIt's hard for me to tell since I'm not that well versed in early autos, but that automobile parked near the two bikes looks like an '03 Cadillac in some ways. That's quite a few autos around for such an early time period. Must be a bit of wealth around that day... I'd love a blow up shot of the other two cars down the street to the northeast. I've walked past this building many times while living in Mpls and it's a treat to see these old photos. Curing ConcreteThe wood laid in the street is so that the fresh concrete will not cure too fast and crack. Today they use a thin layer of water, wet canvas or plastic sheeting. Third and FourthNext door is the old Chamber of Commerce building, which that grain exchange organization outgrew as its power rose. In the 1920s when the Chamber of Commerce again needed more room, it demolished its original home and built an annex there. While the organization's name changed, it has always been a commodity exchange, always on this block. Across Third Street is the Corn Exchange Building (which burned in 1965). Across Fourth Avenue (at the photo's edge) is the Flour Exchange Building - the first four floors of it, that is. It remained unfinished from the Panic of 1893 until 1909, when the last seven floors were added. That was then, this is nowNotice the unfortunate loss of the cornice. Also note the taller beaux arts 1914 addition to the right, also missing a cornice. View Larger Map Needs awning maintenanceI notice a few torn and/or collapsed awnings. Wonder how common that was? Had there been a storm? (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Streetcars)
The Albion: 1905
... store chain can be seen on the ground floor. bicycle Note the shaft drive bicycle. Roughage I believe that horse must have died. (The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/17/2014 - 9:47pm -

Augusta, Georgia, circa 1905. "The Albion." Please watch your step crossing the street. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Wide Open SpacesIt's strange to see the total absence of newspaper boxes, trees, litter receptacles or signage. There aren't even any benches! The ladies on the left are leaning on the enclosure of the Confederate Monument, dedicated in 1878. Watch your step.Is that what trolley cars left behind in those days? Cinematic DelightsA poster on the far right promotes the Annual Tour of Shepard's Moving Pictures. I gather this was a touring movie operation that visited different cities. This advertisement is from the Reading Eagle of Friday January 19 1906. Fairly new hotel butFor only being 4 years old it really looks weather beaten. Burned to the ground November 26, 1921. Until I saw the Station signI wondered what those heavily dressed women were waiting for. My hometownI can't tell if this is on the north or the south side of Broad. When I was a kid Broad St. had no trees and no median, but had parking in the center. Nowadays it's got huge trees and a grassy median in the middle of it. The Augusta Chronicle-Herald building is, I think located behind where the photographer is standing, if this indeed faces north. The early beginnings of what became the J.B. White department store chain can be seen on the ground floor. bicycleNote the shaft drive bicycle. RoughageI believe that horse must have died. (The Gallery, DPC)
Provincetown Summer: 1937
... full size. Quite stylish nothing like pedaling a bicycle while wearing two inch heels. Itchy nipple My guess. [If ... town. Many thanks. Style From her head to toe, the bicycle chick evokes style...boasting the latest in eye wear, jewelry, socks, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:35pm -

Summer 1937. "Street scene -- Provincetown, Massachusetts." And a reminder to "Don't write -- Telegraph!" 35mm negative by Edwin Rosskam. View full size. Quite stylishnothing like pedaling a bicycle while wearing two inch heels. Itchy nippleMy guess. [If you look closely, you'll see that both hands are at her sides. And if you don't look closely, this is what you come up with.] - Dave] Old Cape CodTwenty one years after this picture was snapped, I made my first of many road trips to Provincetown. 1958 was the year Patti Page recorded the title song and it was played constantly everywhere in Provincetown to add musical atmosphere for the tourists. Nothing stays the same and neither did Provincetown, but the fresh lobsters, crusty Portugese breads, artists and artisans of all kinds, lively ambient bars, balmy beaches and friendly people got me hooked on this beautiful town. My last trip there was in 1970 so maybe somebody can locate an updated picture of the current Main St. and post it. P.S. to Kilroy - Thanks for refreshing my memory. I do remember that their main street was called Commercial St. We used to stay at a B & B type lodging called the Gray Inn that most likely no longer exists, a family-run rooming house sort of arrangement, casual and inexpensive. Wonderful memories. P.P.S. to JesryPo - I appreciate the photo (the architecture does look original) and its nice to know it is still a quaint and charming town. Many thanks. StyleFrom her head to toe, the bicycle chick evokes style...boasting the latest in eye wear, jewelry, socks, heels. She may have been heading home from work. And, remember the rear wheel push-down stands? I love this image. Wish I knew what the attention grabber was. Judging by those socksTwo years later a house from Kansas will fall on her! At first glanceI thought she had her hand under her shirt, adjusting her bra. Burchis the maker of that beautiful Art Deco popcorn machine. In 1940 it became Manley Inc. to reflect the new owners name. More here. Bicycling experienceI remember as a boy, having to tie my pants leg tight so the material wouldn't get tangled in the chain mechanism. I never saw the need to tie BOTH legs, since there is nothing on the other side to get tangled up. And those heels must have made the pedaling difficult. I'd have put those shoes in the bag, and worn appropriate shoes for the trip, then switched to my heels once I reached my destination. What's this world coming to?A man outside and not wearing a hat!! There he is againIt seems like the older fellow on the right by the curb (hat, tie blown back) is omnipresent in photos from this era. He certainly did get around! The Start of the End of the USPSIn the window it says "Don't write, Telegraph." The sign of things to come. Armchair quarterbacking the photoI too thought her hand was in the shirt adjusting things...She seems very flexible too. Can someone describe the pants? They look like a pants-skirt??? [Culottes? - tterrace] Re: OTY - No Main St.There isn't any Main Street in Provincetown if you can believe it. The main thoroughfares through P-Town are Bradford St. (Rte 6A) and Commercial St. I'm guessing this photo was taken on Commercial, but not sure. Stylin'That girl is years ahead of her time style wise. I love it! That took guts back then. Free thinkerI'm guessing this woman was what was referred to at that time as a "free thinker." She's very stylish and uninhibited looking. 304 Commercial StreetI can assure you, OTY, much of Provincetown is as it was, at least architecturally. There is no Google Street View for Commercial Street, but I found this picture of 304 Commercial - now a jeweler. Girl on BicycleHer hand is going straight down her right side, not in her blouse. Love how she looks. Too bad there isn't even a reflection to help us know what the people are looking at. I keep coming backIve looked at this photo alot, and I keep thinking how the girl on the bike would fit right in with the students at Appalachian university here in Boone NC. hip, but with a agenda. Modern girlExcept for the passerbys she looks like she would fit right in, in downtown Monterey in the artsy section or underground Atlanta back in the late sixties. Especially with the glasses. The pic took me right back there. AkimboThe young lady's pose is a variant of "hands on hips" or "akimbo". The hands are placed so that the fingers are vertical and end up approximately at the waist, instead of on the hips. Thanks to various life experiences I associate it with the Northeastern U.S., with impatience or irritation, and with the sort of woman we describe today as "high maintenance". I Always telegraphThat's why I'm such a lousy poker player. "Don't write" would last about five more yearsNo one who lived on the home front during World War II ever wanted to receive a telegram again. (The Gallery, Bicycles, Edwin Rosskam)
The Home Team: 1941
... well as a study in practical pencil placement. Two (?) bicycle riders? The youngster nearest to the front (4th in from the left) is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/10/2019 - 6:35pm -

April 1941. "Schoolchildren in Franklin, Heard County, Georgia." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Red Headed LeagueA whole passel of freckle-faced redheaded boys on the left! I wonder if they're all brothers or cousins? UnshodNary a shoe to be seen! No Doubt All CousinsEveryone in that county is related to everyone else, and that was probably the entire male population under 15 years old for the whole county in 1941. Heard County has always been one of the least populated counties in Georgia and is still desolate. Heard County and Greene County (which we have seen in earlier photos) are also two of the least prosperous counties in the state. Rolled Pant legOn the boy in front. When I went to school in the 1950s, that was the sign of someone who rode his bike to school. Rolling your pant leg up made it less likely to get caught in the chain, if you were missing the chainguard. What's in a Name?Overalls, coveralls, dungarees -- regardless of the what they were called in this neck of the woods, there is a charming uniqueness to each boys' "make and model." The different styles remind me of a comment about Norman Rockwell observing and painting what was called "the expressive vocabulary of shoes." I'll call this the expressive vocabulary of bib overalls as well as a study in practical pencil placement. Two (?) bicycle riders?The youngster nearest to the front (4th in from the left) is an obvious bike rider with his pant leg turned up to lessen the chance of catching it in the chain. However, the youngster to the far right also has a pant leg turned up, but the wrong side. Bicycles, to the best of my knowledge, all had their chain drive on the right side of the frame, not the left. Curious! (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids, Rural America)
Street Smarty: 1908
... Linings seems to have gone straight to hell. The bicycle fad has passed If this was a "T" intersection as it is now, then the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/28/2020 - 8:39am -

Rochester, New York, circa 1908. "Masonic Temple, North Clinton Avenue and Mortimer Street." Our second visit to this august edifice affords a view of two lads whom we strongly suspect of being Up to Something. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size. Or was it just me?My best guess is the fine, intelligent, young man with his hand to his face is replicating the sound made when air escapes an orifice. When the man looks back at the lad, the innocent lad exclaims, "Sir! Excuse yourself!" At a certain age boys love that kind of joke. Based on other Masonic temples I've seen: I think there was a ballroom on the third floor. The extreme height of the ballroom ceiling is why there is a row of blank window frames. I think the small windows with Roman grilles was the floor level of at least two auditoriums that were above the cornice - that's why what should be the parapet is so large. Crime SeenThe charge: High Jinks and Low Japes. Must be a story and a half.One has to wonder what is going on in the top floor of the building with that windowless level. Also, what gives with the "half-stories" at the 4th and 6th floor level? Must be extremely high ceilings on the 3rd and 5th floors. This being for Masons, I'm sure there is a multi-story temple in there somewhere, but not the whole building. [It's Dr. Lester's office in the Mertin-Flemmer building! -Dave] ... and a lassWho seems to be getting the word not to pay attention to the lads! Psssst!Hey, Mister, your shoe's unbuttoned! A tough two yearsCompared to the previous view, ol' Nusbaum's Linings seems to have gone straight to hell. The bicycle fad has passedIf this was a "T" intersection as it is now, then the temple was on the northwest corner and the shadows indicate a morning scene. The rapscallions are starting the day with a little mischief as they walk to school. Wunder has not completely uncovered the nifty little display window expander that has just been wheeled out the door. Nusbaum's awning has indeed seen better days, but the door is open to customers. The business across the temple entrance from the Lining Shop has failed; perhaps an opportunity for a Buttonry. The building still looks awkwardly top-heavy. Still there... sort of: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/2014/01/07/remarka... Commercial VacanciesI can understand the failure of the Egbert store, but Underwood Typewriters? Here’s proofMasons support masons. No stopping themIt looks like the masons kept going until they ran out of bricks. (The Gallery, DPC, Kids, Rochester)
Less Filling: 1939
... well and I don't recall ever having to re-do one. Bicycle Tube Vulcanisers In Australia in the 1950s and 60s we patched our bicycle inner tubes with a Dunlop Vulcaniser. A patch was placed on the hole in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2018 - 9:04pm -

April 1939. "Service station. San Augustine, Texas." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. 12 Cents Sounds Good...until you put it in an inflation calculator. It winds up being $2.11--about what we would pay now! At least we don't have to worry about patching our tubes any more, though. Pump it upThere was a time that motorists or station attendants had to grab hold of a lever and literally pump up the fuel before filling the gas tank. However, despite changes at service stations with modern gasoline dispensers that don't use the old levers they are still referred to today as "gas pumps." [Because that's still what they do -- pump gas up out of an underground tank. - Dave] Drink **** ****is there anywhere in the United States where there isn't a Coca-Cola sign? Gotta Love Hot PatchingMy dad taught me how to do this sort of patching a punctured tire, though it may differ from what's being sold here. To patch the inside or a tire or outside of a tube you first roughed up the rubber with a coarse perforated file, much like a cheese grater. Then you applied a coat of tire patch cement, which contains considerable volatile solvents. Then you lit the solvent and allowed it to burn for about 15-20 seconds... this had the effect of making the cement far more sticky and also slightly melting the top layer of the rubber tube/tire. Then you removed the backing from the patch, applied it to the puncture, and used a roller, or the edge of the can of patches, to press down the patch into the repair. It worked amazingly well and I don't recall ever having to re-do one. Bicycle Tube Vulcanisers In Australia in the 1950s and 60s we patched our bicycle inner tubes with a Dunlop Vulcaniser. A patch was placed on the hole in the tube, and held in place with a clamp device. A small circular disc with a layer of a catalyst was placed in the clamp, and this was ignited. The heat, with attendant smoke, welded the patch to the tube. In a few minutes it cooled, and you were on your way again. No waiting for glue to dry. You can see a sample here. Now That's How You Splice WiresGotta love the wiring for the overhead light and pumps. Perhaps a little bit of electrical larceny going on there? Shorted wiring?At the end of the pump shed is a cross tree with two wires on it. It looks like the wire on the right has been shorted and the insulation is starting to melt off. Not surprising when you see an indoor socket hanging out in the open just to the right of the roof. Different kind of hot patchingThe brand of hot patch being referred to here is Shaler, which was a self-vulcanizing type of patch similar to the ubiquitous "Monkey Grip sizzle patches" of bygone days. They used a rubber patch attached to the back side of a thin metal clamp-on tray of combustible chemicals to melt/vulcanize the rubber patch to the tube or tire, unlike the modern hot patches that just rely on burning off solvent to heat up and soften a rubber surface to promote adhesion. Although not sold directly in the US any more, real self-vulcanizing patches are still made in and available from China and India. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
Boody House: 1900
... in a rather ragged appearance in the foreground. Was bicycle theft a hanging offense? Those bicycles were expensive compared to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 8:18pm -

Circa 1900. "Boody House, Toledo, Ohio." The Boody House hotel at St. Clair and Madison. Dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. TowerGotta love the architecture at the top of the tower. Date 1870, simply beautiful. Bike WorldBefore cars took over, bicycles were considered to be a legitimate mode of transportation. According to the Smithsonian, the first paved roads and first road maps were designed with bikes in mind. Boody Facts "A Toledo landmark for fifty-five years, the Boody House hotel stood at the corner of Madison Avenue and St. Clair Street. The hotel opened in June 1872 with 133 guest rooms, each with its own fireplace. Hot and cold water ran in each room, a novelty for the day. The building was torn down in 1928 to make way for the Ohio Savings Bank and Trust Company." Amazing lightThe low angle light from the left of the frame gives the woman with the netting on and the two guys behind her a startling definition -- almost looks burned in. Bicycles left at the curb and an early version of Cinnabon at the corner. This is a phenomenal photo. WiredShorpy viewers are used to seeing huge numbers of single phone lines on multiple crossbeams in old city photos. The few thick phone lines on these poles indicate that Toledo was progressive in the adoption of fewer, larger cables containing many twisted pairs, each replacing many of the old single wires. Note the many empty crossbars on the phone pole on the corner, with iron junction boxes serving to break out lines to each customer. These early cables were insulated with twisted, tarred paper, resulting in a rather ragged appearance in the foreground. Was bicycle theft a hanging offense?Those bicycles were expensive compared to average wages, but nobody seems to lock them up. Boody House key tagI found a key tag for room 75 in Salem Ohio about 3 years ago. The electric company had put in a new pole and the tag was dug up when they drilled the hole. (The Gallery, DPC, Streetcars, Toledo)
Midcentury Mom: 1952
... be the right size to clip onto the handlebar or frame of a bicycle. Perhaps a small whirligig? [Or an oarlock for a small pink ... Photos of a 1950 (red) and a 1952 (blue) are below. Bicycle clip I don't remember plastic bicycle cuff clips. I was born in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/12/2018 - 10:27pm -

"1952." Our young man returns, this time on the arm of an attractive older woman. Natty attire all around. 35mm Kodachrome slide. View full size. Camping anyone?You can see the camping trailer next to the shed in the distance. Wonder if it belongs to this family. [Stay tuned. - Dave] SighIt makes me sad to know that she's most likely pushing up daisies and the kid is in his 60s, if not deceased himself, his children (if any) don't even have the wonderful slides that their grandparents took. The car was probably scrapped a long time ago, the stylish clothes gone to the landfill. But despite all that it might cheer me up to know what's in the kid's hand? I knew that kid looked familiarSpeedy Swing CoatMy Mom made me a coat like that in Green. Wore it for years. I am still around and all our children are in their 50's. Good years for our age group..too young for the wars andthere was prosperity most of the time. Box of KleenexThe obligatory box of Kleenex can be seen on the shelf of the rear window in the car. Our 1952 Oldsmobile had a box of Kleenex there also. It must have been the place of choice for the tissues back then. My parents' first car was a 1950 Plymouth Special four door sedan. $2,011.01 cash on delivery. And where were they?I was disappointed that they stood in front of the license plate. Early BoomerThis boy, like me, is an early Boom Baby. Because I, and maybe he, was born in '47, high school graduation was 1965 -- this is the year the Class of '65 turns 65. As of now, 10,000 of us are turning 65 EVERY DAY! Here's hoping this guy has enjoyed the advantages of boomerism as I have. SwingMom's wearing a swing coat, a popular style in the 1940s and early '50s that's enjoying a revival today. Junior's getup is still waiting to be rediscovered. He's a Mama's BoyWhat a darling picture! She is a proud Mom and he looks just like her. The colors are just glorious and crisp. The snapshots of this little fellow and others have been a treat! Thank You. First car Sure looks like a 1950 Plymouth. Mine could leave rubber in two gears, and if I popped the clutch just right could make the fan belt squeal and sound like it was leaving rubber in all three gears. Never pulled those stunts with my brother in the car or in our neighborhood for obvious reasons. In his handIt looks like it could be the right size to clip onto the handlebar or frame of a bicycle. Perhaps a small whirligig? [Or an oarlock for a small pink rowboat. - Dave] PlymouthThe Plymouth must be either a 1951 or 1952 based on the bumper. In 1950 Plymouth used a bumper that had a character line along the bottom and bumper guards that tapered towards the top. The 1951 and 1952 Plymouth bumpers were smooth and had more beefy bumper guards that had almost no change in width from top to bottom. As the rest of the body from 1950 - 1952 hardly changed, it is easy to miss these minor model year differences. Photos of a 1950 (red) and a 1952 (blue) are below. Bicycle clipI don't remember plastic bicycle cuff clips. I was born in 1941 and grew up in an era where items like bicycle clips were still made of metal. This is a great photo and sure brings back memories. I remember those Plymouths. They were Chrysler's answer to Ford and Chevy but they didn't even have a form of automatic transmission until 1953 when they introduced "Hy Drive" which was nothing but the old Chrysler fluid drive. Chevy and Ford had full automatic by 1950-51. Remember "Fordomatic"? Mama has a Polish noseAnd given the brown hair she & Dad (previous picture) sport with a blond little offspring and the fact they're in the Pinconning area, I am going to make a guess that they're Polish or at least part. Lots of Poles in Pinconning and we tend to start out blond and change hair color around 9-12 years old. (Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kids, Michigan Kodachromes)
Merrimack Street: 1908
... but with fewer horses and buggies. "Propped" Bicycle. The young guy on the right appears to be picking up his bicycle from where he parked, or "propped" it at the curb. By positioning the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 6:58pm -

Lowell, Massachusetts, circa 1908. "Merrimack Street looking west." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Massachusetts Oriels No, not birds of any kind but those lovely protruding windows about half-way down the block, supported on the stone brackets. Bay windows are similar, but do not have the supporting bracket. For comparison see the window of V.E. Darlings' office in the Courier-Citizen building. "In Rain or"Or what? what I say?, I must know! Now I won't sleep tonight. Uneeda BiscuitNational Biscuit Company (Nabisco) had only been in business 10 years when this photo was taken. In rain or shineUneeda Biscuit! Is it Adam Good?Signs painted on the buildings on the right of the picture advertise either A Dam Good Co. or Adam Good Co. The street level store just below that sign sells coffee, tea, butter and cheese. I'm confused (as usual). A Dam Good PictureA plethora of great signs here, but I was initially surprised to see the sign for the nicely-named A Dam Good Company, especially in 1908 New England. Took me a minute to realize the sign was for the Adam Good Company. Propped bikes todayI've seen bikes propped up against the curb like that in Tulum, Mexico, but never in the U.S. Pretty nifty. Pioneer SignageThe O.J.Gude Company of N.Y. the company that made the Uneeda Biscuit Sign, partially seen in this picture, was a preeminent outdoor advertising company. They must have had a deal with the other NBC (the one that makes the Mallomars) to paint their signs wherever in the nation that the biscuit company felt it was needed. I think they also made the first electrically lighted outdoor sign as well. Streetcar TracksMust have been a real challenge to buggy drivers to keep those narrow wheels from becoming trapped in the tracks. (Still a problem today, albeit for bicyclists at diagonal railroad crossings). Nat'l Biscuit Co. logoHere's a link to a brief, interesting history of the National Biscuit Co. (later, Nabisco) logo, the first incarnation of which is the version depicted in the photo: http://www.bfdg.com/other-thoughts/nabisco.html Who's paying for this pic?This picture raises a question I've had generally about how these photos got made. Did Detroit Publishing, National Photo, etc, just send photographers out in the field to take pictures at the photographer's whim? And then hope to sell them later? I can understand the party photos, portraits, etc, I would imagine someone called up the local photographer and wanted a photo shoot. But what was the motivation for the more "arty" shots that we see? Or the last picture, where we see people hauling granite? I'm thankful they did, but don't quite understand how the bills got paid. [Detroit Publishing, which had retail galleries in New York, Detroit and other major cities, was mainly in the postcard business; National Photo was a news service and commercial photography and portrait studio whose pictures were commissioned by its clients. -Dave] Then and nowI live downtown. Still a fun city but with fewer horses and buggies. "Propped" Bicycle.The young guy on the right appears to be picking up his bicycle from where he parked, or "propped" it at the curb. By positioning the bike exactly as shown, it would stay that way without falling over. If the curb wasn't high enough, the pedal would also help by being placed to hold it at the top of the curb. We sometimes parked our bikes this way as kids, and without the benefit of Kryptonite locks, they were always there when we came back. But then again, it was the 1950s. On the street . . . . . . where, about thirty years later, you'd find Jack Kerouac and his high school pals encountering the existential night. Uneeda Biscuit mentioned inUneeda Biscuit mentioned in the opening number of The Music Man (as the train approaches River City): "The Uneeda Biscuit in an airtight, sanitary package, made the cracker barrel obsolete, obsolete...." Nabisco Logo OriginsJohnB, thank you for the link regarding the history of the National Biscuit Company logo. It traces its origin to a 15th century printer's design used in Venice, which in turn was derived from early Christian art. Perhaps it was inspired by this Byzantine icon of the Archangel Michael found in the church of San Marco in Venice. Note the orb held in the Archangel's hand: Adam Good Companyis it this lot? http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NhVAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K6QMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5... (The Gallery, DPC, Streetcars)
Suburban Cowboy: 1963
... a teenager and, then, another. Soooo -- 4 cars. Walk? Bicycle? Ha! Not in California. Now, it is a nationwide problem. Thanks for ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 03/03/2023 - 12:57am -

I just started scanning my sister's photos of her kids from the 1960s. Here's why she was smart to have saved the negatives. Back in 1963, they lived in South Gate, California, in a neighborhood full of classic cars, it seems. My nephew Jimmy in a 2¼-inch square Kodacolor negative. View full size. The clouded crystal ballJimmy (now James) tells me that three years later and a block away from this idyllic scene, there were the Watts riots. Color SaturationI can't help but wonder if most of us who grew up in the middle-class or upper-middle class white America of the 60's and 70's see our childhood memories in lavish Kodacolor. When I was this boy's age, there were the Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinations, coming almost one right after the other. I knew that the grown-ups were very worried, but I wasn't sure just why. Later, I figured out that the only thing that Westchester had in common with Watts was that both names begin with a W. The innocence of childhood is fleeting, indeed. She squealed with delightwhen she saw this photo! Where to begin? The lights integrated with the porch railing are fascinating. Like the house itself, they have a very 1930s art deco flavor. Little Red WagonAlmost everyone can remember having one when they were a kid. I bet this photo makes us all just a little nostalgic. Thank you for sharing all of these great photos with us, tterrace! Blue skiesI see why now people continue to believe in "the good old days." The color saturation, blue skies, happy, smiling kid -- looks like nothing would ever go wrong in this place, doesn't it? Old RedThat Radio Flyer sure brings back memories. Thanks. South Gate StreetviewThe cars were better-looking in 1963. Particularly the Buick next door. View Larger Map Street View! Street View!Can you give an address so we can see how the neighborhood has fared? Ouch!!The beautiful '56 Ford at the left has been tagged but you can see that it did naught but bend the bumper! It didn't disturb the paint! The good old days indeed! Today, that'd be a $3000 repair! Great PictureLove that "Jimmy" has been written on the back of the Radio Flyer! South Gate!I grew up in the neighboring city of Downey and I would LOVE to see more pics of the South Gate area if you would be so kind as to post them! THANKS! Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?There's another classic Buick in this shot, the white one in the distance, straddling the sidewalk. There's not enough detail for me to tell, but it appears to be a '55 or '56 Roadmaster. I'm sure that if anyone (visiting from the future) had told the owners of these Buicks that GM would be a tottering financial wreck in 2009, they'd never have believed it. Sign of the times...Any idea what the sign posted on your sis's house says? Just so IdealI have to agree with the comments made under the heading Colour Saturation. I recently have been looking at photos of me and my family in our house as I was growing up and you know I don't remember that the carpet was threadbare -- yet it was. I don't remember that we had a broken down car in our backyard -- yet we did. I don't remember that our lounge suite was old and we needed a new one -- but we did. All I remember is that it was a safe, happy and fun place to grow up in and I had a great time. So yeah I think we all of us remember the good and not so much the bad, and isnt that the way it should be. The high, fine, sky of awhile agoIt doesn't happen as much as it seemed to 40 years ago when I was a kid, but every now and then, usually on a quiet Sunday morning or a Tuesday off from work, the sky will have that same tall, bright, look; gently spotted with clouds and a blue turning from light to dark off into space and there will be a slightly warm breeze and everything will seem clean and new and full of possibility. And you can take a deep breath and smell the trees and maybe some creosote from a power pole, and it's 1967 again. A lovely day in this beautywood Love those Mr. Roger's blue tennis shoes. You could buy them at any Alpha Beta grocery store for $1.98. I grew up in a similar Southern California community around the same era. The loppy sidewalks remind me of the joyous hours I spent on roller skates with a skate key on a string around my neck. Were those times so much better or is it that we were just innocent kids? I had a car that was built there!I used to have a '68 Pontiac Bonneville that was built at the South Gate GM plant. It was a great car, very well screwed together. Kodacolor wonderlandDon't you wish you could reprogram your brain to "see" full-time in Kodacolor? The world would be such a cheery place! Was the big warehouse in the current Street View next door in 1963? It seems so out of place. Martini LaneIt's Mad Men! Odd porch lightsThose garden lights were very common in our nearby suburb. They were mostly used along driveways, paths, or planters. This is a most unusual installation. And they are still there. I might give this place a drive-by at lunchtime. American IronI really enjoy the look of these old cars - especially the 1959 Pontiac ahead of the Ford. It's probably a Catalina. Many of these cars had a space age theme to their design. By the hour?It's worse than a warehouse next door. It's a skeezy motel. And it looks like it's been there since the '60s. 2819 Willow PlaceIt looks like the place might be for rent, $895 a month. ColorI think two things contribute to the burst of color. One is that color film is much richer than the digital stuff we have now. And, secondly, the cars WERE much more colorful then than the drab vehicles we see now. Unfortunately, I think some of the color has gone from our lives in many ways since then. P.S. - From the glimpse of the back wheel well in the car in the distance, I can't help but wonder if it might not be an Olds instead. Beautiful streetMy children lived this kind of life on a street like this in the early 1950s in Detroit as hard as that is to believe. You want sunshine-- on a cloudy day? Some readers spoke about the past as always being bright and sunny like this picture. During a bout of temporary insanity many moons ago, I took leave of my senses and purchased yellow-lens prescription glasses. It did make every day sunny and the world brightened when you put them on. Or you can look just look through a colored cellophane candy wrapper and get the same effect. Just trying to be helpful. South Gate street view 1961Here's 2819 Willow Place, along with the ugly building next door, a couple years earlier. Jimmy playing with a neighbor's puppy, and a selection of early-50s cars. Yes, those are different lamps on the railings. The Salmon DeSotoI know what you mean about auto paint being brighter back then. My guess is that paint trends were still built more around primary colors than the more subtle and "nuanced" tints and shades of today. I remember there was a year or two that featured flamingo pink, black, and white as a trio. Knocked your eyes for a loop. Especially on the big fin cars. Dad was looking at one, but ended up going with the pale blue. Too much pink for a man from the Ozarks, I guess, looking back on it. How did Jimmy turn outWhat is he, about 48 years old today? Had I only known..Geez.. had I known I was a branding opportunity, I'd have taken advantage of it a long time ago. I don't think I've been that cool since that day -- red wagon, cowboy, riding a possible Radio Flyer tricycle as well (I'm sure someone will sort out the logo, maybe it was Royce Union). Funny thing about that pic. Those years I only have memories of things in black and white. Maybe I only remember those years from pictures which were mostly black and white, I guess. Obviously there was color. My memories of color start about 1967, yet every television event memory I have was black and white until about 1970. Apparently we got a color TV then? So what the hell happened to Jimmy? Well, without getting too personal and please forgive the third person narrative, here ya go. After leaving Los Angeles in 1971, the family moved to Marin County. Jimmy decided he was going to be a rock and roll star and started a metal rock band in the early 80's. The day Nirvana hit the charts, he knew that the music he was good at was no longer popular, so he joined a Southern rock tribute act and toured the Bay Area for 10 years. He then decided to get back to the original reason why he started playing music in the first place, for fun, and only plays local gigs, usually benefits. During this time he also got married and had two children. He is now a media personality in Wine Country and owns his own web consulting firm. He also writes for several Wine country publications and does "flavorful" wine industry videos. If you're ever in Sonoma Valley, you may even run into him. Though he goes by James now. A note from Jimmy's MomThis part of South Gate was a blue collar area, consisting of single family homes, and "court" apartments. The lots there were fairly deep, and so people would put in two rows of four apartments, usually single story, with the garage or carport at the rear with the laundry room and clotheslines. The "court" was the central walkway between the two buildings where the entrances were, except for the front apartments. Just behind Willow Place was Firestone Boulevard, a heavy industrial area at the time. The big Firestone plant was there, and other manufacturing plants. Often in the evening, strange smells would fill the air. This era was also what I call "between the smogs." They had banned outdoor burning of leaves and trash in the Los Angeles Basin in the late 1950s, and the air was fairly clear most of the time. But with increased population, and the increase of jet travel, the smog was back by 1964. The only real clear air days were when the Santa Ana winds blew. The ugly building next door contained a restaurant as I remember, in its one-story days. It may have also been a small motel. We moved to our first home in Diamond Bar, in the eastern part of the L.A. basin, in 1963. The red wagon makes an appearance there with Jimmy pulling his little sister in Little Red Wagons elsewhere on Shorpy. The South Gate apartment was the inspiration for the Salmon Kitchen, also seen elsewhere on Shorpy. Our landlady developed a blend of paint that she used on all her kitchens. As I remember, it was part peach, part mushroom and some kind of off white. She said it didn't yellow, and when the tenant moved out there wouldn't be any shadows on the walls from where the clock or the calendar had hung. So she would not have to repaint every time, just have the walls washed. Our dad and mom liked this idea, and so was born the salmon kitchen in Larkspur. Jimmy's Mom Just fabulous!Saw this link from Instapundit. What a fabulous photo! I love the comments, too, and the Google maps link. InstacowboyForty-six years later, Jimmy's 15 minutes of fame in the blogosphere have arrived. Now the top link on Instapundit. 9I was 9 years old in another part of California, but I had that tricycle and a similar little red wagon. My parents had a Ford Crown Victoria, my father worked, my mother stayed at home to raise me and the world I grew up in was truly both wonderful and wondrous. Even with the duck-and-cover exercises in school. LampsI believe the lamps were replaced during the time we were there.. Look at those in the background then look at the pic above. I dare say they're different. Status symbolsFor the younger Shorpyites that might not remember the 1960s, most working or middle class families had only one car (if they had one at all). It was a point of pride to park your car either directly in front of your house or prominently displayed in the driveway. The more obvious the better; bright colors helped even more. Take that, you Joneses! Also, you scored big status points with of those gangly omnidirectional TV antennas on your roof as seen in the background. Indoor "rabbit ear" antennas just had no class. Nirvana vs. Marshall TuckerJust my opinion, Real Jimmy, but at least you were paying tribute to music that deserved it. I really hope there won't be any grunge tribute bands in the future. Status SymbolsWe started with one car in 1960 but had to have another since we both worked. Then, we had a teenager and, then, another. Soooo -- 4 cars. Walk? Bicycle? Ha! Not in California. Now, it is a nationwide problem. Thanks for reminding me. Cool Hat, KidLove the photo. I had a had just like that as a kid and think I have photo somewhere of me wearing it while sitting on a pony at a neighborhood birthday party. Takes me back...I think THIS is the turning point. This photo captures the apex of our society. I see the dreams of so many families right here. A house of your own. A clean street. Meticulously maintained homes. The kids free to play in the neighborhood. A perfect blue sky. This photo makes me cry. Grew up nearbyI grew up in the SF Valley in the same era, that photo takes me back. I also watch the TV series "Mad Men" and the cars, furniture, fashion etc. are all things I remember. The easy days of riding your bike up and down the neighborhood with your friends, not a care in the world. Sigh. Pure EvilNo helmet, knee pads or elbow pads denote a neglectful lack of regard for poor Jimmy by his mother. That hat no doubt contains lead-based pigments; clear evidence of child abuse. And what's this?? A toy GUN??? That poor child's evil, troglodyte mother should be thrown in jail for creating another gun-crazed criminal!!!!elevnty1!! (/nanny-state nutjob) Great pic. It reminds me of my own childhood, before childhood was destroyed by the culture of fear we have today. Dang, That Could Have Been ME!Boy, does that look familiar. My grandparents had a house in South Gate, at Tweedy Boulevard and San Luis Street. I was even born about the same time. And I had my trusty steed "Tricycle" and my Mattel Fanner 50! The Melting PotOh yes, I remember the days when all the kids in the suburbs had Anglo names like Will, Paul, and Rosemary. Today we have a much more diverse society. Suburban namesNo, they had names like Jimmy, Mary and Davy. Their Mom Some things aren't so differentMy childhood was like this in northern Illinois. However, there are still some pockets of America like this. In my subdivision outside of Denver, small children play up and down the street just like Jimmy. If you look around, you can provide a life like this for your children Same hereMy mother and I watch Mad Men and love it. But she'll always point things out while we're watching and say "My parents had those! And those, and those!!!" "I remember using that!" Apparently they get everything "down to the t" when it comes to the setting. Re Pure Evil by Random Numbers Random Numbers said: Great pic. It reminds me of my own childhood, before childhood was destroyed by the culture of fear we have today. The irony I see in Random Numbers' remarks is that this kind of negativity sounds just as whiny as today’s “nanny state," and serves the unintentional purpose of proving that life--or at least People--haven't changed much at all since the 1960's--when grumpy old people even then lamented how much better (more real, more sincere, etc.) things were when THEY were children. Anyway, I trust that Random Numbers and his like-minded baby boomer peers are “keeping it real” by not giving in to today’s "culture of fear" paranoia and availing themselves of the myriad medical advancements and pharmaceuticals that have increased well-being and longevity by decades as compared to those fun and free “good old days” when people routinely died in their 60s! (--Wouldn’t want to be a hypocrite.) p.s. tterrace your photos are WONDERFUL! Cowboy Jimmy Honest to Abe, this is one of my favorite pictures of yours! South Gate memoriesMy folks had a house on Kauffman Avenue until 1968, when they bought their house in Downey. It was very close to the old South Gate water tower, near South Gate park. I'm sure you remember the area. I only have vague memories, as I was just a toddler when we lived there. I should see if I can find some of the photos my folks took during the time they lived on Kauffman. I'm sure they look very much like these! "Just a snapshot "As beautiful as any William Eggleston photo I've ever seen, and I consider him a genius in the world of photography. This is just utterly enchanting -- I can't take my eyes off it. (Same is true for the photo you posted a while back of the young man in a sea of blacklight posters.) This is just the best website ever! South Gate kidI grew up in South Gate in the 70's and 80's. This picture looks very much like my grandparents street. They moved to South Gate after WWII ended and lived and worked there for the rest of their lives. It was a wonderful & diverse city at that time. I was wondering what street this picture was on. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Kids, tterrapix)
Joe's Jungle Bungalow: 1904
... At the Royal Poinciana in Palm Beach, home of the bicycle chair . - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, Florida) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/25/2012 - 4:56pm -

Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1904. "Alligator Joe's bungalow in the jungle." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Jungle CapitalismOne thing that can be said about Joe, he has the entrepreneurial spirit. He knew how to market his alligators and his residence. Here's the great man himself!Alligator Joe poses at entrance to main pavilion. http://royalpoincianahotel.blogspot.com/ Out of the movies?This looks like Tarzan or Dr. Livingston should live here! Thatch MastersThere is still a solid demand for thatched roofs down here. Every beach hotel with a tiki bar has one, in addition to many inland hotels striving for that "beach" ambiance. The Seminoles build the best ones.They also run a pretty mean casino. I wonderif anyone called it Alligator Joe's Bungalow in the Jungle-O. I know I would have. Soft drinks, cigars, peanuts and piesWhat else would you need, except of course a baby carriage and a duck? [I think that's more of a grownup carriage. And a rooster. - Dave] Before televisionThis is what Captain Kangaroo might be up to. A Rooster?That rooster sure looks to me like it has a bill and webbed feet. [We'll put someone else in charge of the chicken house. - Dave] Rolling ChairThat's a "rolling chair" along the lines of the ones seen in the Atlantic City photos. [Below: At the Royal Poinciana in Palm Beach, home of the bicycle chair. - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, Florida)
Alligator Joe: 1904
... Chairman of the Bored He was one among hundreds of bicycle chair drivers employed by the hotels to convey guests around the island. Aside from trolleys and rail cars, bicycle chairs were the only wheeled vehicles allowed on Palm Beach at the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/06/2013 - 11:51pm -

Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1904. "Alligator Joe and his pets." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The badgeThat's a hotel porter's cap. The porters drove (or pushed) guests around in those wicker rolling chairs. ComboI see supper, shoes, and a purse! I think those are crocodiles.Long tapered snout, and toothy smile. Poke gator grannyThat granny in black seems awfully eager to get a close-up look at those gators. Apparently, not all Victorian ladies had overly refined sensibilities! She puts me in mind of Tweety Bird's owner -- and who's that in the bowler -- Calvin Coolidge? 121Curious about the badge on the black man's cap. Any ideas? Chairman of the BoredHe was one among hundreds of bicycle chair drivers employed by the hotels to convey guests around the island. Aside from trolleys and rail cars, bicycle chairs were the only wheeled vehicles allowed on Palm Beach at the turn of the century. Alligator Joe Campbell, 1872-1926"Alligator Joe" Campbell was the originator of alligator farming in America and the owner of the former Florida Alligator Farm in Jacksonville. More here. Alligator Joe on Cemetery TourOur Pilot Club will have a historical tour April 24-25 in Evergreen Cemetery. Joe and Sadie will be part of the tour including 21 other stops. Guides will lead you to dramatists and storytellers bringing history to life. Alligator Joe franchise?The NY Times of March 3, 1907, gave Alligator Joe's real name as Warren Frazier, and described his shtick as wrestling an alligator in the ocean, then climbing on its back and riding it back to shore. And an advertisement in the Times for April 11, 1907, remarked on what beautiful leather goods could be made from the hides of any creature like "the dusty and sleepy alligators on 'Alligator Joe's' farm at Palm Beach." (The Gallery, DPC, Florida, Travel & Vacation)
Iowa City in the Snow: 1940
... has it all. When was the last time you saw a boy riding a bicycle in a snowstorm with a white shirt and necktie? Capitol Cafe, Iowa ... tells us what time it is, and a nice reflection of the bicycle on the side of that shiny sedan. Shorpy is a time travel machine. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:35pm -

February 1940. The main street in Iowa City during a snowstorm. View full size. Businesses in this view include Bremer's, the Capitol Cafe and Princess No. 2. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. CoolnessI love the "Air Conditioned" sign on the front of the Capitol Cafe, I bet that drew customers in on a cold winter day in Iowa. Also, what's that hanging from the bike's handlebars? Some kind of tail ornament? Cool! Same block as the last one?This looks like the same block of E. Washington as the last Iowa City picture. Not my picture, and not quite the same angle, but it looks like the Capitol Cafe building is in the middle of this shot. Bicycles, white shirts and tiesCome to Utah, we have *plenty* of those. They'll come to your door and talk about Jesus! That said, I really liked this picture. Snow makes me happy! More IC winterThat photo is wonderful! The UI Libraries are featuring a digital collection of similar early 20th century winter scenes: http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/winter IC WinterThank you for posting these photos. I love looking at the past through photos. I'm not from Iowa, Newfoundland Canada actually. Also a car buff, and this picture has it all. When was the last time you saw a boy riding a bicycle in a snowstorm with a white shirt and necktie? Capitol Cafe, Iowa CityHere is a 1938 photo of the inside of the Capitol Cafe. Princess Sweet Shop?I'm guessing the Princess 2 is a sister shop to the Princess Cafe and Sweet Shop in Iowa Falls. It's an incredible piece of interior design on the main street in Iowa Falls. Didn't find any good pics of the current interior, but here is a short page about the Iowa Falls location. http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/hardin/pri.htm Capitol CafeHere is the corrected photo of the inside of the Capitol Cafe --> Click on the thumbnail for big image version. "This picture has it all"Yes, not to mention the clock that tells us what time it is, and a nice reflection of the bicycle on the side of that shiny sedan. Shorpy is a time travel machine. +83Below is the same view from May of 2023. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Bicycles, Cars, Trucks, Buses)
Jacksonville: 1910
... without a kid on a street corner, picking his nose. Bicycle Joust, anyone? High Noon, take your seats. Chillin' The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 10:11pm -

Jacksonville, Florida, circa 1910. "Main Street north from Bay." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Just imagineIf you put the wiring diagram for this place on canvas it would be worth millions in a New York gallery in a few decades. Personally, I love the wires dripping insulation: brilliant work. Ah Jax!It's better now, but the smelliest month I ever spent was on a day trip to Jacksonville! Overhead linesAnd I think the tangle of wires behind my computer is a headache! Did they make their goal?Gotta wonder if St. Luke's got their $150,000 on time. I also could not help noticing that the amounts on the sign are written with all periods, as the Europeans still do. I wonder when we Americans began using commas as the standard in such notations. Watt Safety?What a mess of various electric wires! On the right-most pole a windlass with a square shaft for a crank can be seen just above the dash of the parked automobile. This winch-like device would be used to raise and lower the arc streetlight over the intersection so it's its carbons could be changed as they burnt down. When lowered to street level for "trimming," the Lumiere luminaire often automatically disconnected itself from the operating current and was safe to be handled by the lamp trimmer. Most arc light circuits would be 'off' in daylight anyway. Some arc streetlights operated in Series at thousands of volts and their wiring was a lethal threat to linesmen working on other, lower voltage electric or telephone circuits. Arc lighting gave off fumes from the burning carbons and was normally only used indoors in large high buildings and factories. The spiral wires are feeding the trolley wires for the streetcars from a large feeder line diagonally across the intersection. The box for the door for the switch from this feeder has it's its door open on the pole to left and it appears there might be a bird's nest within. I am curious to the purpose of the structure atop the round platform on the roof of the lower building to the left. A small water tower for sprinklers and water pressure within building below? [It's a distribution point for telephone wires. - Dave] What a messI so long to see cities, towns, hamlets without the preposterous tangle of wires that are often still there today. This wire collection is one of the worst I can remember. Rube Goldberg connections, insulation falling off; the whole thing looks homemade. At least they didn't get freezing rain to bring those wires down, but a good wind could be a disaster. $150,000That's what a doctor makes in a year! Here's to reaching your goal, St. Luke's! a.k.a. CowfordWow, my hometown.... Have you got any photos of the beaches? The city center was pretty dead in the 70s, my youth. We barely ever made the trek, so I can't fully appreciate the now-then comparison. Still: cool! Thanks! DetailsI like the corner masonry detail of the building on the left. I wonder if it's still there. Also hope that St. Luke's raised the money they needed. Shelob's TowerThank you for the answer on the circular telephone distributing tower in the photo. I was wondering how telephone services were offered to the subscriber in this view and you have answered that question! I worked for the Bell years ago, and stringing a drop in congested-wire areas was a real challenge. Where streetcars and trolley buses operated, one could not just run a wire pole to pole or pole to building across a street where trolley-operated electric vehicles passed, as the trolley poles reaching up to their wires would hit any other wires strung lower at right angles. Running new wire had to go and be strung ABOVE trolley wires. Fraught with challenges, and, at times, danger. All without stopping streetcar service on busy routes. (One often wished for a bow and arrow with a messenger string to cross congested areas such as shown in the photo.) Many telephone men were happy when the trolleys were gone. In the early days of telephony, telephones used only one wire, with a ground return. With the increase of the use of electricity for residential and commercial purposes, a second wire for telephone service was soon required to overcome the hissing, humming and howling on single-wire telephone circuits caused by other electric currents. Heavy traction currents from streetcars would take the easiest path back to the powerhouse from operating streetcars, travelling by other wire cables, water pipes and gas mains, causing corrosion underground of the latter two by electrolysis. In cities where streetcars still operate, occasionally sparks can be seen coming from the wheels as the cars negotiate track switchwork from the return current arcing as the wheels cross the points. Thank You again, Sir, for another great photo. No cityscapeIs complete without a kid on a street corner, picking his nose. Bicycle Joust, anyone?High Noon, take your seats. Chillin'The man leaning up against the light pole seems to be years ahead of the times. J.H. Norton The Baltimore Underwriter, Vol. 96, 1917 Colonel Norton Dead The death of Col. J.H. Norton, general agent at Jacksonville, Fla., on November 2, at age of 77 years, removes one of the insurance landmarks of that state. Col. Norton had been in Jacksonville nearly 50 years, and most of that time in the insurance business. Main and Bay StreetsThis is Main Street (U.S. 17) looking north. I lived about five blocks north at the corner of Duval and Main during WW2. The building on the left was Sears and the building on the right eventually became Penney's. Both have been replaced by larger buildings. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Florida, Jacksonville, Streetcars)
High Roller: 1912
... the early days of horseless carriages. Miss Gulch sans bicycle Sure looks like Miss Gulch to me. After she sued Dorothy's folks ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 10:15pm -

Washington, D.C., 1912. "Borah, William E., Mrs., wife of Senator from Idaho." In a spiffy electric phaeton, sitting. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size. That Well-Known "Look"Mrs. Borah's countenance is asking the photographer; "You can't be serious?" Senator Borah was a Real Piece of WorkAs i look at this photo, I wonder what poor Mary's husband was up to while she waited -- and how often she waited like this while her husband philandered around the capital. "The Lion of Idaho" was the father of Alice Roosevelt Longworth's daughter, a fact long suspected but only recently confirmed, not Alice's husband at the time, Speaker of the House Nick Longworth. A liberal Republican, Borah had been run out of town for impregnating another young woman. He went on to oppose the League of Nations and much of the New Deal. Coincidentally, Larry Craig made mention of holding the Borah seat in his resignation (later rescinded) from the Senate after the dust-up over his apparently seeking sex in a mens room. Seems there's something about that seat. There's a Reason She Looks MadOf the Senator: "He married Mary McConnell, daughter of Governor William J. McConnell, in 1895. They had no children. By his mistress, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, he had one daughter, Paulina." DeborahI forgot another clever remark by Alice. She originally pitched to her husband, also a womanizer, that they name "their" daughter Deborah. Nick balked, "Good lord, Alice 'De Borah'?" It would have been a clever inside joke. Freezing!I note the chains around the rear tyres and the remnants of snow. No wonder she looks so cold and miserable. Mind you, the amount of fur wrapped around her no doubt helped. Cool Ridein several senses. It even has electric headlights! The slush underneath the front fender, the tire chains, and bits of snow and ice by the gate on the left give a clue as to why the lap rug, and perhaps the reason for the expression on Mrs. Borah's face: "Whenever you're ready, Bill." And a mere 98 years later...GM introduces the Chevrolet Volt, a car capable of traveling 40 miles on only the electricity in its batteries. History once again repeats itself. Little Borah Washington Post, Jan 17, 1976 Mary Borah, 105, Dies; Widow of Idaho Sen. William Borah Mary Borah, widow of Sen. William E. Borah (R-Idaho), who was once chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, died Wednesday at a nursing home in Beaverton, Ore. She was 105. Mrs. Borah had moved to the nursing home from Washington in 1966. After her husband's death in 1940, she had continued to reside in their large apartment in the 2100 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, where she had accumulated a vast collection of oriental treasures and more than 600 statues of elephants from all over the world. Known to her friends as "Little Borah," Mrs. Borah was always a staunch supporter of her husband's often controversial views. The senator, nicknamed the "Lion of Idaho," was noted as an isolationist who led the fight against the League of Nations. The Borahs first came to Washington in 1907 after his election to the Senate. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 1936. Born in Eureka, Calif., Mrs. Borah grew up in Moscow, Idaho. She was the daughter of W.J. McConnell, who had served as Idaho's governor and senator. She met Sen. Borah while he was a rising young Republican politician and they were married in 1895. "Politics was my life," Mrs. Borah once said in an interview in later years. While her husband was living, they seldom took part in Washington social life. She had contributed articles, however, to magazines and newspapers on social life in Washington and at one time was working on a book that was to include her favorite anecdotes on the foibles of Washington society. As the wife and then widow of a famous senator, Mrs. Borah had been a guest in the White House of every President from Theodore Roosevelt though Lyndon B. Johnson. Mary Tyler Moore IThat look wasn't seen again until "Ordinary People" in 1980, and MTM's line "Take ... the ... damned ... picture!" Tiller SteeringBrr! Not even a windshield (and of course no heater in an electric car). One advantage I never noticed before - you can tiller-steer a car while keeping both hands inside the warm furs. Electric CarsAren't any new innovation. In fact they came before those run on kerosene and gasoline and the like. (The ambulance that carried President McKinley after being shot was electric.) At the turn of the (last) century, NYC debuted a fleet of electric taxi cabs! The problem then as now is battery life and that the cars are not as efficient or priced competative with internal-combustion engine ones -- which is why the government has to pay people to buy them. Besides, you have to burn something to charge the batteries. In the United States, most of our electricity is produced by coal -- and, yes, there were even "locomobiles" run on coal back in the early days of horseless carriages. Miss Gulch sans bicycleSure looks like Miss Gulch to me. After she sued Dorothy's folks for Toto's bite on her leg, she took the farm, liquidated it (as it were) and ditched her bike for this spiffy electric runabout. Shorpy 101I do so enjoy learning about history on this site. Teachers should show these pictures to their students every day, and discuss the pertinent comments, which so often shed additional light on the subject. Thank you, Dave & everyone at Shorpy, for providing such a wonderful historical resource. Pictures are worth thousands of words! (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
The Rest Is History: 1914
... when she finds out what's happened to their baby carriage, bicycle and coal scuttles. Snowplow It's a early electric snowplow. Not ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/27/2022 - 1:10am -

"Man, possibly William B. Greene, with model for a machine that appears to be designed to scoop up material." Circa 1914-1918, an inventor and invention that scarcely need introducing to anyone born in the 20th century. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size. It's either It's either inspired by monkeys at the zoo, or some form of travelling fan. Such a fan might be used in orchards on cold nights, to stop a frost settling on the fruit. But, I'm going with the monkey device. Back to the drawing board"1914. George Ferris's famously unsuccessful first attempt at a carnival ride." Salt Water TaffyI agree it's a taffy puller by Peter or a peter puller by Taffy. I know what it is ...It's a waterway power generator. An advanced form of the old-fashioned waterwheel. Obviously. Unless it's a power ice cream scoop. ContraptionThe machine could never be an excavator since the buckets are located in line with the wheels. Also, because of the chain arrangement, the buckets would never tilt over to dump anything. A friend of mine who has a M. E. degree says it must have been some sort of windmill. Be nice if someone could run down the patent application. At the time of this photograph, it was not necessary to have a model of an invention with the exception of those for perpetual motion machines. Maybe as has been suggested, it was intended for removing bats from mine tunnel roofs? [No one said it was an excavator. We said it's the conveyor that follows the excavator. If the buckets were full and not in dump mode they'd be facing up, side by side. - Dave] Well of course.It's the prototype of the machine that would eventually add two scoops of raisins to Raisin Bran. This one could do two boxes at once. How longare you going to keep us guessing? It's slowly driving me crazy! You can build this!My first thought was an early Erector Set. Another way of looking at it What it isObviously (or maybe not) this is some sort of mining conveyor designed to travel on a track in the tunnel behind the excavator. The buckets are shown here in the dump position. The electric motor would be for demonstration purposes. [I think you're on the right track. So to speak. The archive caption for these is "unidentified machine model." - Dave] Wensleydale ExcavatorQuite clearly a young Wallace. But where is Gromit? He can explain everything. Drive TrainI'm still not sure of this device's intended purpose, but based on the two images, I'm pretty sure this is how it operated. Perhaps with this sketch, someone might be able to come up with the intended application. The sketch shows the chains and sprockets in bold and the electric motor at left. The "buckets" on the end of each arm are kept synchronized in the shown position relative to the floor based on the evidence supplied by the second photo. Only one of the two arms is shown in this sketch and the "phantom" arm is provided only to show the synchronized orientation of the "buckets" as the arm rotates. The chain was intentionally disconnected in the first photo so that the arm could be manually rotated to show the construction details. The second photo show both arm aligned parallel with each other. The relationship of the buckets with respect to the floor could be varied depending on how both "bucket" sprockets were initially aligned with their sprockets on the drive shaft. Based on the small number of teeth on the motor sprocket, this was a low-speed device (less than 100 RPM). My guess is that this is a working model that was submitted along with the patent application. Scoop?With the open sides of the buckets it doesn't seem that it would be a very efficient scooper of anything unless that which it was scooping was larger than the openings. I can't imagine what that would be. For that matter, I can't imagine what this is. Maybe we need to think larger scale. Perhaps this is a small scale model of what is intended to be a much larger contraption. If the sides of the buckets were closed it could scoop just about anything. I think the key here is the two sets of buckets on either side. Maybe this was for a farm for digging rows for planting. Maybe it was an early ditch witch for burying power lines - a hot and a neutral. [I'd say our 3:36 commenter pretty much nailed it. - Dave] I am the energizer bunny of waiting DaveI think Dave has gotten our expectations too high, and now he will not be able to deliver. To say that anyone born in the 20th century will instantly go "oohhh...so that's who/what he/it is" may be a promise he can't keep. Universal recognition of a piece of mining equipment, and by anyone born during anytime of a whole century? No, sad to say, I think Dave realizes his mistake, and is delaying, hoping to wait and tire us out. But I will be here Dave...waiting...waiting...waiting. [Did we not read all the comments? The answer, such as it is, is down below. - Dave] Dave cracks me upIts his witty comments that make the difference as we ply around in the dark trying to figure out some goofy photo. Its Dave who makes it such fun. What a goof! Well of course.It's a taffy stretcher. Am I warm? Car.It's simply an automobile that moves by pushing air. The scoops are obviously less practical than propellers, but perhaps the idea of a propeller wasn't as obvious then as now. Or the inventor was just dumb. That's Peabody, famous in West VirginiaExperimental model of a dragline or bucket conveyor. SprocketsI've got no idea what this is, but it's never going to work as long as the crucial middle chain remains off the sprocket. If the inventor spent less time looking fiercely proud, in his obviously used-to-ridicule way, and more time hanging all his chains, we'd have guessed what this is by now. Not Scoops or ScrapersEach pair of hoppers is facing in the same direction at all times, as controlled by the chain drives when the central shaft rotates. So it can't be intended to operate as a set of scoops for wind or water, or scrapers, or conveyor buckets. This inconvenient arrangement shot down my pet theory that the device was intended to clear roosting bats from the ceilings of railroad tunnels. Generator, tooI see it as a generator, too, but a hydro-electric one. Small scale, for use in a stream, or at a small waterfall. Wheels just for display purposes? CannibalizationI dunno what it is, but Mrs. Inventor is going to be plenty ticked off when she finds out what's happened to their baby carriage, bicycle and coal scuttles. SnowplowIt's a early electric snowplow. Not only did the electric cord do it in, but it didn't have anything attached to it to knock over roadside mailboxes or pile up snow at their driveway entrances. A flying machineThe scoops take up air at a constant aspect angle as they rotate. My guessA generator, perhaps wind-driven. Obviously"Harry Reese's early attempt at making machinery for use in combining and cupping chocolate with peanut butter." If it was intended for useIf it was intended for use in a mine, it wasn't well designed. That motor would not last more than a day or two if that in the dust of a mine. All those friction points would be dangerous in a gaseous mine environment. And if it's a miniaturized model, full size it would be too big to operate in the tight confines of a mine. Maybe it was a prototype that never went into production. [As noted below, the motor would be for demonstration purposes. As for "friction points," just about any coal conveyor would have had zillions.- Dave] You may laugh now......But just wait 'til you wake up to see an army of those things marching down your street! Following in Grandpa's Footsteps...It's Eli Whitney the Fifth, and his Patented Gin Cottoner Medical technology setback"This well-intentioned but ill-conceived invention thwarted doctors' attempts to encourage regular colonoscopies for almost fifty years." Sound effectsIt's clearly a "clip-clop" sound effects machine for the movies. Unfortunately, the inventor failed to realize that talkies were still several years away. Congressional Sanitation DevicePrototype device, designed to patrol the Congressinal aisles, scooping up massive amounts of government waste and depositing it in a trailing container for recycling. The practical Dual Scoop System permits it to work both sides of the aisle. A fleet of them were subsequently manufactured and work diligently to this day. Road Apple CleanupThis is a nice Electric Rolling Pooper Scooper. This inventor would have been a household name but for the phasing out of horse-drawn carriages. WowNicest apple peeler I've ever seen. Please, introduce us!Well, yeah, gee that thing sure does look familiar, I had one in my backyard growing up, but even then I wasn't sure if it was to rock the baby or pick the corn or thresh the wheat. I'm sure I'll slap my forehead and feel real dumb when you tell us, but what the heck is that, if not a ferris wheel with finger-removing gearwheels? It's a KlugeAs the story goes, a Navy captain wanted to know every man aboard his ship and what they did. All went well until one sailor came before the Captain, gave his name, rank, and serial number followed by "Kluge maker, first class." After some discussion among the officers, the Captain said he would certainly like to see a kluge in action. The young swabbie said he would demonstrate the next day. And sure enough, at noon sharp the sailor wheeled an ungainly object to the rail, and threw it overboard. As it hit the surface it went "Kluge." Obviously this is a prototype kluge. Another Fine Acme ProductNew! Acme Little Giant Spilz-All (Pat. Pend). Despite the helpful drawing, I'm still mystified by the orientation of the hoppers, since the very simple gearing and chain drives appear to keep them rotating to preserve the same angle (i.e. dumping only, as shown) through the full rotation around the main horizontal shaft. UNLESS the gear on each hopper is actually rotating it 360 degrees as it circles the shaft. Even with a fixed rate of rotation there might be a point in the rotational cycle in which a hopper is on the horizontal to receive loose material from one source and then, as it rises and turns, dump it onto a receiving conveyor positioned at a higher level. The device might then function as a sort of elevator from one conveyor to the next. But this still seems pretty whack, since the usual way of doing this is by ramping pairs of conveyor belts one above the other. This device may be so mysterious because the inventor offered a solution to a non-existent problem, and it never got beyond the demonstration model stage. Holy bucketsThe "buckets" can't be for holding anything because they are open at the sides. Maybe the "working" side of the bucket is the outside. Perhaps it's an automated skein for winding yarn or some other textile manufacturing process. [The buckets in this coal or ore conveyor would be closed in a working example. The near end of the bottom left bucket shows how it would look. - Dave] Maybe & Maybe NotSome seemed convinced that this is a coal or ore conveyor designed to ride behind a coal car, but I'm not convinced. If it was meant for that task, wouldn't the scooping buckets clear a wider path than just over the rails? This design would account for a lot of waste. If that is what it is, then perhaps that is why the design failed, but I don't think so. Since it is only scooping over the rails, perhaps it was designed to ride in front of the cars and was meant to clear debris off the rails to keep the cars from derailing. Perhaps it is (also) meant to run in front of a train to clear heavy snow off locomotive tracks. [It would have nothing to do with railroads or trains. The conveyor travels on a track behind the excavating machine in an underground mine to get the coal or ore out of the tunnel, moving its cargo both horizontally and vertically. Or it might move along a track in an open-pit mine. Whatever it is, it looks mining-related. Designed for carrying and dumping. - Dave] Ok I don't want to give up...Thank you for this one, it has been one of the most entertaining posts I have witnessed. You need to do more mystery objects/people often. Ok but...This will be my last comment because I'm obviously not understanding the explanation that you seem so sure of. There is a large gap between the 2 buckets. If this is the design then it would only scoop coal or ore off the two sides and leave a large gap in the center. Unless I'm missing something - which is always a possibility - that does not make sense. [I think you are confusing the excavator (the machine that does the mining) with the conveyor. Which conveys -- i.e. it is designed for carrying and dumping. Not scooping. - Dave] Ummm, no.You're grasping at straws. [Below, an electrically powered excavator. The coal is carried to the left along the conveyor belt on top and dumped or dropped or shoveled into coal cars or buckets, which are on a track. - Dave] Beating a dead horseNo, I'm not confusing anything about the terminology. This "conveyor" that you are imagining this thing to be, if it runs behind the excavator, as you claim, only conveys material that is sitting on top of the rails. There is a huge gap between the rails that is left untouched. Nothing is conveyed between the rails. This is the issue I have with the explanation being given. [The excavator fills the buckets of the conveyor from above. The coal is not "sitting on top of the rails." - Dave] Re: Ummm, no.Yikes. Nightmares! Sing along now...It went "zip" when it moved and "pop" when it stopped and "whirrr" when is stood still I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will What's the nameof the inventor? [We don't know. At least not yet. - Dave] The buckets always face the same waySo it must be a seed spreader. (A person pushes the device along and the seeds spill out of the openings in the side of the buckets as the buckets move gently up and down.) Barber-GreeneIt's a bucket loader, invented by Harry H. Barber and William B. Greene. I don't know which of the two is the guy in the picture. [I think you're onto something. Among Barber-Greene's early products were a coal conveyor and a mobile bucket loader for use in cement plants. Who are you and how'd you figure this out? - Dave] Founding Barber-Greene Barber-Greene was founded in 1916 by Harry Barber and William Greene, co-workers at Stephens-Adamson, a conveyor company. Interested in embarking on a business venture of their own, the two became partners – Barber would handle product design, while Greene would be in charge of finance and business administration. The partners were interested in mechanizing small jobs "out of the shovel and wheelbarrow stage." The First Conveyor Orders Initially, Barber and Greene operated their new company from a makeshift office in a guest room at the Barbers’ residence. They subcontracted W.S. Frazier and Co. of Aurora, Ill., to manufacture the products Barber-Greene designed. In October 1916, the partners established credit with General Electric, and ordered the supplies they would need to make their first conveyor, the "No. 1," in the Frazier workshop. Before long, the company had received an order from Lilley Coal Co. With the profits made from this order, the partners began advertising in the Retail Coalman, a Chicago-based publication. As a result, the company began to receive multiple orders, and began to grow. Harry H. Barber, William B. Greene (The Gallery, Curiosities, Harris + Ewing)
Toledo: 1899
... than $31 million. For more info, check out the The Bicycle Museum ! Cranked I remember, as a young lad, that the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:42pm -

Circa 1899. "Toledo, Ohio. Produce Exchange." Playing next door: The Mutoscope blockbuster "Animal Photographs." View full size. Looks like a bandAt first I thought the people on the sidewalk were lining up for the Mutoscope. But they all seemed to be facing toward the crowded street scene. When I got out my trusty magnifying glass I spied what appears to be musicians in white uniforms. Reminiscent of the old timey bands they used to have marching down Main Street at Disneyland. Also, I could just make out what looks like a large picture of a woman on the right side of the crowd in the street. Perhaps the band and the photo were part of a promotion for the Mutoscope exhibit. Wikipedia is great for learning about things such as the Mutoscope. The boody house and Huylers The boody house was very popular as can be seen here. http://www.toledosattic.org/details_item.asp?key=207&did=23 And here is a trading card for huyler's Chocolates. http://www.tias.com/6692/PictPage/3923560941.html Enjoy. Look!Isn't that Klinger's Grandfather looking out of the third floor window? Nope, I was fooled by the dress. MutoscopesThis is a glimpse at the prehistory of the motion picture business. The Mutoscope was an early competitor to Edison's Kinetoscope. Like the Kinetoscope, it was a stand-alone, single-viewer coin-operated projector. The technology was simpler than Edison's, which gave the Mutoscope an edge. The viewer operated a crank that rotated cards on a reel. In the earliest machines, a reel of 800 or more cards provided about a minute's entertainment. Mutoscopes with different content were lined up in exhibition parlors like the one shown here in Toledo. Amazingly, Mutoscopes were manufactured until 1949 as the mainstay of slightly-disreputable peep-show arcades. Some survived in England until 1971, when they wouldn't work with new UK coinage. Movies had long since taken the road pioneered by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895, with film projection on a screen that could be viewed by a group seated in a theater. More victims of Toledo's urban renewal programsBuilt in 1878 and demolished in 1984. Penny Arcade on Main Street USAI remember the Penny Arcade on Main Street, Disneyland (Calif) with its rows of Mutoscopes just as shown in the picture. Even in the 50's and 60's a penny was a rather token fee, but it was part of the historic ambience and someplace you could linger awhile with merely pocket change. Sadly, the Arcade went to video games or some such a couple of decades back. Ars Gratia Pecunium. One in a millionIf you look closely, you will see quite a few bicycles in this scene, including the one on the corner with a lady rider. A bit less than 15 years earlier, the "safety" bike with two low wheels, chain, and most of the trappings of the modern bike had been invented. By 1899, about a million bicycles a year were being manufactured with a value at more than $31 million. For more info, check out the The Bicycle Museum! CrankedI remember, as a young lad, that the mechanical hand-cranked Mutoscope machines were still around in certain places like in resort pavilions or at carnivals, and that sometimes, if you didn't keep cranking, the reel of pictures would spring back to the beginning. I have a vivid memory of being at Playland Beach in Westchaster County, N.Y., at a company outing almost 70 years ago, and my dad holding me up while I looked into an electrically operated machine based on the Mutoscope principle, at a "Popeye" cartoon, and being totally frustrated because I couldn't distinguish the animated action of the cartoon. My eyes must have been out of sync with the film. FlicksI can't help wondering if this is part of the reason they call films "flicks," with all the cards flicking around inside there. Also, I would totally love to see some of those reels (converted to movie files of course), or at least a few of the cards. Orderly linesNotice how the spectators on the sidewalk in front of the Produce Exchange are in two orderly rows, one right next to the building and one along the curb line, leaving most of the sidewalk unobstructed. You'd never see such neatness or courtesy today. Odd FontThe font used on the Huyler's sign really stands out. "Bon Bons, Chocolates, Breakfast Cocoa" looks very modern for the time. Boody House is still thereAnd it's still called the Boody House. It escaped the demolition craze. (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC, Movies, Toledo)
Bike Shop: 1912
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Metzger bicycle shop. Detroit City Gas Co." This photo of a cycle (and phonograph) shop ... of bikes I find it quite amusing that the two leading bicycle store chains in Israel, where I live, are called Matzman and Mintz. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 4:13pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Metzger bicycle shop. Detroit City Gas Co." This photo of a cycle (and phonograph) shop was taken to show off the gaslight fixtures. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. MotorcyclesI see four motorcycles on the left. An Excelsior Autocycle (Ignaz Schwinn was behind Excelsior motorcycles). Behind the Excelsior is a "camelback" Indian of about 1909 vintage, I think. Then another Indian and perhaps another Excelsior. In today's market those old motorcycles would extremely valuable and sought after by collectors. I think music, bicycles, and motorcycles would still make for a fun shop today. RiddleWhat do gramophones and bicycles have in common? No, seriously, I want to know. [Horns. - Dave] Flash!Is that the reflection of the magnesium flash going off behind the men? [It is! - Dave] Huber & MetzgerBill Metzger started the first retail automobile store in Detroit in the old Biddle house. He became the first independent auto dealer in Detroit and probably the US. Below, the Huber & Metzger bike shop at 13 Grand River Avenue. A hipster's dreamWhat beautiful bikes. As a cyclist, I would love to have one of them. Just like today's hipster bikesNo brakes - no coaster brakes, no hand brakes. All the with-it college kids are riding fixed gear bikes with no brakes these days. Safety third! FixiesAs far as I can see, none of the bicycles on offer have any brakes whatsoever. Such carefree times. Well that's puzzlingI don't see any light fixtures that look like gas burners. I'm not aware of any glass bell shades pointing down that were ever used on gas lights. I'm pretty sure I can see bulb sockets on the perimeter lights, although I can't quite make them out. The fixtures in the center of the room have pull-chain switches on them. [Each gas chandelier has a pair of pulls to regulate flow. Below is another example from Detroit City Gas Co. - Dave] An Odd MixThe left side of the shop has a good selection of Victor Talking Machines. The right wall has shelves of Edison cylinders . I think I see a Columbia at the back of the shop. And all those bicycles! What a combination. Mail CallI'd say those envelopes, in the showcases behind the Victrolas, hold recordings by John McCormick, Enrico Caruso, Rosemary Clooney and Elvis. Early ironSome of those "bikes" are motorcycles. Not all are bicyclesI spot at least two Indian and two Excelsior Auto Cycles on the left row and can't quite identify what is in back behind the two men sitting though I suspect another Excelsior. All NaturalNot single black tire in the shop. Everything is natural rubber. The sound of bikesI find it quite amusing that the two leading bicycle store chains in Israel, where I live, are called Matzman and Mintz. Something with the "TZ" sound drags people to deal with two wheeled vehicles, apparently! The 8-track of 1912Those shelved items on the right are music cylinders. Music discs were a growing market in 1912 but looks as if this shop's owner had a lot of inventory to move before he could think about selling discs. (Judging by their loose-looking packaging, I don't think the items in some sort of vertical envelopes on the shelves on the left are discs, although if they are, they're way outnumbered by the cylinders.) Some of the songs of the day: "She Pushed Me Into the Parlour," "Daddy Has a Sweetheart (And Mother Is Her Name)," "Ragtime Cowboy Joe," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi" and Irving Berlin's "Keep Away From the Fellow Who Owns an Automobile." Used MotorcyclesIt seems that these fellows dealt in used equipment as well, Indian Motorcycles produced the last Camelback gas tank single cylinder machine in 1908 (according to my father, who's the curator of a very large motorcycle museum). The Metzger Bicycle Concern would have a heart attack if they knew what that "old" Indian single was worth today. [This picture could just as well be from 1908. - Dave] Metzger Got AroundBill Metzger was also behind the Metz car, which has previously been a Shorpy subject. I learned that from a friend who I had sent this photo to. Gas and ElectricThe center fixtures are gas, but the perimeter fixtures are electric. Best of both worlds when electric lighting was not necessarily bright or reliable. Obsolete Stock The items on the left-hand shelf are most likely Victor records. Victor & Edison allowed their dealers to carry both lines, until Edison introduced a disc machine & Victor ordered its dealers to drop Edison. All of the cylinders appear to be 2 minute records, although Edison introduced the 4 minute "Amberol" cylinder in 1908. Both were about to be discontinued in late 1912, along with open horn machines. The celluloid "Blue Amberol" record and a new line of Amberola (inside horn) cabinet machines were introduced in the Fall of 1912. Dealers were then allowed to discount the 'wax' cylinders, to clear their stocks. By this time, Edison's consultants said people were "Victrola crazy", while Edison's cylinder business fell disastrously & Columbia quit cylinders altogether. Bicycles & gramophonesIt's what they don't have in common that matters. Bicycles sell well in warmer months when people are outdoors. Gramophones sell well in colder months when people are indoors. I believe this is Metzger's shop at 351 Woodward and not the one he shared with Huber. http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2010/12/11/metzger-bicycle-shop-in-1912/ (The Gallery, Bicycles, Detroit Photos, DPC, Motorcycles, Stores & Markets)
Herald Square: 1908
... And what are they doing? One looks like a kid on a bicycle, dropping something on the people below. [That's a man standing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/02/2020 - 2:40pm -

New York circa 1908. "Herald Square." Panorama composed of two 8x10 inch glass negatives, digitally merged, showing Broadway at 34th Street. Landmarks include the the New York Herald newspaper building (with its clockwork blacksmith bell-ringers and electrified owls), Sixth Avenue elevated tracks, New York Times building and Hotel Astor. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. James Gordon Bennett MonumentThe New York Herald Building was built in 1893 and demolished in 1921. The statue of Minerva, the clock and two owls were saved and are now part of a monument to James Gordon Bennett. The Mighty HippodromeThe largest theatre in the world at the time, the Hippodrome, can be seen far down the tracks on the right. Hotel Normandie"Absolutely Fireproof" Made of 100% Asbestos. Wow!Just WOW! An amazing photoThe details are unbelievable. Hours can be spent just studying this photo and I likely will. "Electrified" owlsSo what did Herald's "electrified" owls do? Light up or move? And what is the tall skinny building just left of the Hotel Astor? [The owls' eyes lit up at night. The skinny building is the New York Times. - Dave] Can you find?A head without a hat. I couldn't. Too much... This one is giving me data overload! So much to see in the image! It must be a warm Spring or Summer day because I see a lot of men sporting skimmers (flat topped straw hats) and the women are wearing blouses with shorter sleeves and fancy hats. Toward the lower left of the photo we see a cab (horse drawn type) with the driver, in his top hat, waiting patiently. I suspect that I can see a slight smile on his face. Perhaps there is a pretty girl in his field of view. Then, there are the two members of the constabulary conversing together, in the lower center of the picture. maybe they are talking about going over to the Lunch wagon on the far right to grab a bite to eat. What, I ask, is the "House of Hits"? That phrase seems to me to right out of the early '60s Motown, not 1910 New York. Then there is the Hotel Normandie - Absolutely Fireproof! It seems that Otard Brandy is still available, even today! I find it a bit hard to believe, but there seems to be a casino in Midtown Manhattan. I can't forget Lucio's Pearls. They defy detection! and right above them we have "Paul Jones Pure Rye - Remember the bottle!" There is so much more to take in, in this photograph. [In answer to your questions: Jos. W. Stern ("The House of Hits") was a music publisher. The Casino was a theater at 39th and Broadway. - Dave] 80 minutes apartThe glass plates making up the panorama, exposed at 12:04 and 1:24 p.m. Click to enlarge. Still Where The Action Is!I So LOVE this photo! I would give almost anything to be able to go back to this very spot for a few days to shop, sightsee and experience life during this time. The buildings are lovely, the clothing elegant, the cabs very dapper. I will be studying this one for a long while. Thank you Dave posting this one and for such a wonderful merger of pics. Herald SquareThat answered my question about why the two clocks had different times. [There's only one clock here. The dial on the right is a wind rose. - Dave] FoxyThat Fox Real Estate branding would stand the test of time by today's standards, what a classic. Although the fox better watch out for that self-stropping razor up above. DaredevilWho are those people on the elevated tracks in the distance? And what are they doing? One looks like a kid on a bicycle, dropping something on the people below. [That's a man standing with his hand on the railing. - Dave] Jaywalkers everywhereI have no idea how I could safely drive that street without flattening a well dressed pedestrian or two. The most I can see vaguely in the way of traffic safety is a sign on a lamppost warning about slow moving vehicles. Not even a bollard in sight. Streetcars or cable carsAre those streetcars or cable cars? The center slot between the rails could hold either the electrical source for streetcars (the "conduit" type) or the moving cable for cable cars. I don't seem to see any trolleys on the cars or overhead trolley wires. [New York's streetcars drew their power from an underground electrical supply. - Dave] All those peopleDidn't anyone work? This must be the ultimate Shorpy photo, almost too much to fathom. The city of Vancouver, B.C., had a population of 70,000 in 1907; today the greater Vancouver area is 2.25 million, which most Canadians think of as an unlivable population. Credit where credit is due.Don Y's post was just fabulous. Thank you Dave and thank you Don Y !!!! Herald Square ParkNice 2007 article in the New York Times about the statue of Minerva and her bell ringers, "Stuff" and "Guff" (or "Gog" and Magog"), seen here atop the Herald Building. The Herald Building was demolished in 1923, the statue stored, and then in 1939-40 permanently installed back in Herald Square Park. Present day Herald Square Park as well as the adjacent Greeley Square Park are gores--that is, triangular. Several New York City parks are gores. But, in front of the Herald Building, is the statue that of Horace Greeley, publisher of the rival Tribune? The horseless hansomThere is a very interesting cab (?) with a driver up behind in the middle right. Can anyone ID it? [It's an electric hansom cab. - Dave] Hussy!The forearms of the young woman in the lower left are entirely exposed. What was the world coming to? No point in directing the traffic,may as well stand in the middle of the road and have a chat instead. An amazing photo with superb detail. Excellent piece of stitching. Macy'sLet's not forget Macy's Department store right there on the corner. I used to walk through that very spot almost everyday, and to be honest, it hasn't really changed all that much. Right Hand DriveAnyone know when American autos converted to left hand drive. [The transition was a gradual one, with right- and left-hand-drive autos sharing the roads for many years. - Dave] We may never knowWhat is so fascinating about the carriage with the umbrella? The driver of the Packard, the second wagon and the nearby pedestrians all appear to engrossed. I have visions of a patent medicine barker making an unscheduled pitch, or perhaps a local celebrity on his or her way from the Hippodrome. That Packard, BTW, is one gorgeous automobile. The menace of lunch wagonsIn the center right sits "Lunch Wagon No.9" - precursor to today's bustling midtown street food scene. Wish I knew what was on the menu. Here is a 1907 letter to the New York Times complaining about this very lunch wagon for being obstructive. A letter the day before in the Times complained about a food wagon at Union Square that had wheels but hadn't moved in years. This one looks like it could be the same deal. A couple of years later, there were Suffragette Food Wagons that offered a free side of feminism along with "Suffragette Sandwiches" - shades of Govinda's, a Hare Krishna food cart that has recently disappeared. WatchYour Step!There is an open access panel in the roadway right where the tracks cross. Interestingly enough, it does not seem to be visible in the left hand of two images, but is quite clear in the right hand one and in the composite photo. There is one hatless headand it is in a very prominent position in the square. It belongs to the fine statue of William Dodge (now in Bryant Park) in front of the Herald. Outstanding photograph and merge! Nobody remembers Rogers Peet anymoreOf course, few people remembered them when they were still open. I got one of my first suits on sale there, but I think that store was uptown from here on 42d Street. It was full of what seemed to be very old people. Metropolitan opera houseAlso visible is the original Metropolitan opera house at Bway and 39th... (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads, Streetcars)
Bike to the Future: 1910
... were revolutionary when first presented as the Safety Bicycle in the late 1880s. Imagine quadrupling your daily travel distance! Plus many of the earliest automobiles mimicked bicycle technology with chain drive, spoked wheels, pneumatic tires, etc. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/12/2022 - 1:50pm -

Bustling Jacksonville, Florida, circa 1910. "Forsyth Street looking east from Hogan." As in the previous view, the Post Office is at left, Hotel Seminole on the right. Note the city-issued JACKSONVILLE license plates. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. RevolutionaryBicycles were revolutionary when first presented as the Safety Bicycle in the late 1880s. Imagine quadrupling your daily travel distance! Plus many of the earliest automobiles mimicked bicycle technology with chain drive, spoked wheels, pneumatic tires, etc. Oh, we were just admiring your automobileI couldn't find a floorplan for the Hotel Seminole. But I did learn it and the Bisbee Building were designed by Henry John Klutho, following Jacksonville's great fire of 1901. Klutho was in New York City in 1901, but realized an architect was about to be in considerable demand in Jacksonville, so he moved there. He adopted a new "Prairie-School" style of design. This style would later fall out of favor and much of his work was destroyed. Even later, what remained was appreciated all over again. The occupants of both of these automobiles caught my attention. Somehow, I sense none of the men in contact with either car is the owner or rightful occupant. As far as 'bike to the future', whoever laid their bike down on the curb may soon be reminded automobiles have a reverse gear. Not like todayWhere are all the overweight people? Photos Taken Some Time ApartI think the roof-level photo was taken as much as an hour or so after the ground-level one was. In the ground-level photo, the shadow from the pole on stage right aims almost exactly at the light post, but by the second one it points several degrees toward the east, meaning the sun has moved to the west. Fifteen degrees worth of movement would (if I remember my astronomy class correctly) mean about an hour has passed. There are also more people on the street in the ground-level photo, but by the time of the roof-level one, at least two diners and a waiter have arrived in the balcony restaurant of the Seminole on the right. Dinnertime, perhaps? I also think that this was taken in the cooler half of the year, because if it was summer in Jacksonville, those people would be sweltering. The only vehicle that still remains appears to be the one in the foreground, which has, interestingly, backed up by half a car length or so. Similarly, the two men at it may be (if they are the same two people) be the only ones to appear in both photos. I definitely get "showing it off to his friend" vibes! Facing factsJamesWH's chronology seems thoroughly consistent with what must be the best evidence available ... the P.O. clock: in the earlier (presented on Shorpy) picture of Forsyth the clock shows 1:08; the aerial shot shows 2:31. If we're to assume the shots were all made on the same day, a logical progression is: the photographer took the westernmost shot first, then this shot, crossed the street, ascended the Buckman Building and took the third. Admittedly an hour is a long time to rise a few floors -- and the building had an elevator -- but perhaps some time was spent in setting up the camera. (Or maybe a stop was made at the Seminole's bar). [Perhaps he was busy taking more photos. - Dave] Easy CommuteMr. Joseph Fried (1861-1930), proprietor of the Rathskeller (117 West Forsyth), resided at 221 East Adams, a mere four blocks away. The 1910 city directory lists two phone numbers for the Rathskeller, 196 and 2637. In reply to HaroldOThe Wright Flyer (which made the first powered, manned and sustained flight in 1903) also used bicycle technology, as in sprocket and chain drive to the propellers. The Wright Brothers had been involved in bicycle, motors and machinery manufacture. Hats OffAnother wonderful scene full of hats. Hats served many practical and useful purposes. Tipping your hat slightly to signal a greeting. Holding your hat to your chest to signal respect or mourning; during national anthem or funeral for example. Waving your hat above your head to signal farewell or joy; at a parade or ship departure for example. Holding your hat in one hand in front of you while bowing; an extended and respectful greeting with maximum effect. Removing your hat while sitting in a movie theatre or church; another signal that you respect the environment and other participants. Society lost some useful social skills when hats stopped being worn by everyone. Lost WorldAll the men appear well-dressed and the few women rather elegant, even seen at a distance. To state the obvious, it's an entire civilization now gone forever. (The Gallery, Bicycles, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Florida, Jacksonville)
Pan-American: 1935
...         Ready for international bicycle ride. Henry G. Slaughter of Washington, supported by those interested ... when climbing. I logged many thousand miles on a bicycle back in the 1970s including a parts of Montana and Wyoming in 1976. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/18/2015 - 7:32pm -

        Ready for international bicycle ride. Henry G. Slaughter of Washington, supported by those interested in publicizing the Inter-American Highway, prepares to leave for a trip which will carry him, if he is successful, down into the tropics through Central America to the Argentine. November 23, 1935. Washington, D.C. "Henry G. Slaughter." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. BustA blurb in the Loredo Times from Feb. 6, 1936 reported that Mr. Slaughter decided to abandon "the idea." He had written a friend that he had encountered delays in entering Guatemala on account of very strict laws of entry, and now that the rainy season had begun in that country he had decided to abandon the trip. By June 1936, however, The Carthage Watchman reported that Henry and his handlebar-based typewriter were about to make a second attempt. Foot HelpI have no idea what was available back in the day, but riding without at least toe clips makes it a lot harder when climbing. I logged many thousand miles on a bicycle back in the 1970s including a parts of Montana and Wyoming in 1976. Gee, I wonder why my knees hurt so much these days? If you look hardyou can see the revolution counter on the front fork and the pin to turn it on one of the spokes. I'll wager -I'll bet that he doffs his necktie before he reaches San Luis Obispo. [Which would have been a major detour on a trip from D.C. to Argentina. - Dave] Wobble InstabilityYou can pile any amount of stuff as high as you want on a bicycle so long as it doesn't flex under side forces. Otherwise the bike goes unstable. The front bag looks bad in this regard unless it's all rigid. Also it blocks his light from shining on the road, which in 1935 is surely all potholes. So I'd guess he didn't make it, unless he piled the front bag in the back and strapped it down. Incomplete PreparationThis guy isn't fully prepared for such a long trip and doesn't appear to understand what's cool. For example, he has no streamers coming out of his handlebars, and no playing cards rubbing against his spokes. Nor does he have a hub polisher on either wheel. Not to mention he's not wearing a bow tie and a houndstooth suit. Pure Amateur Hour. I bet he didn't make it. Story of EvolutionEarly nerd. Panama or BustHenry had just left San Antonio, Texas and bound for Panama a week after this photo, Methinks there are some inaccuracies abounding. See attached article from the San Antonio Light, published 30 November 1935. Not So Fast!Seems Henry did make it as far as Panama. May of 1936 had him in front of the US Capitol after a 3400 mile trip. He made the front page of the Erie County Independent. (NY) At that point he has a typewriter attached to his handlebars to ". . . type notes. . . " - I bet the paper was beat up by the bottom of the page. Pith Helmet and Linemans bootsJust like they use in the Tour de France. Wobble InstabilityForgive me for posting twice, but rhhardin's comment about Wobble Instability reminded me of the enormous front basket I had on my one speed J.C. Higgins nerd bike when I was a kid so I could deliver papers. It had so much weight forward, especially with a load of papers, that I had to be extremely careful making turns, and I dumped it more than once. I learned to hate that hill I had to climb halfway through my route, and envied those "rich kids" who had parents that could afford one of them "English racers". (The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Daytona Beach: 1904
... lady with the stylish sunglasses appears to have the only bicycle with a fender - and only on the rear at that. Well, Marion Do ... existed then but the lady in the foreground with the bicycle certainly proves they did. Vroooooom! Imagine how they would've ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:27pm -

Florida circa 1904. "Daytona Beach at Seabreeze." A setting conducive to various forms of sedate locomotion. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Fenderless bikesI notice that the lady with the stylish sunglasses appears to have the only bicycle with a fender - and only on the rear at that. Well, MarionDo you think this suit is too thick to wear to the beach? Who's behind those Foster Grants?Very stylish sunglasses on the woman at lower left. What a great scene! I see fast peopleThat little girl running full tilt at the far left might have known what others were starting to discover: how good this hard sand beach would be for speed. YikesWhat is that 2 foot tall headless creature in the very center of the photo? [A tot in a bonnet. - Dave] Scandalous! Must be spring break, when all the riffraff shows up. There's a woman out there with no hat on. Disgraceful public display. Troublous TableauMaybe it's my emergency responder training, but I don't like the looks of the scene in that carriage at left. Everyone is focusing their attention on the slumped over woman at the end of the bench, while the man across from her appears to be holding her hand. A case of the vapors? Or the combined effects of a warm day and a too-tight corset? Or maybe she's merely holding a fascinating seashell in her lap and everyone else is looking on in awe? If I were a lifeguard I'd be grabbing my First Aid kit and heading for the coach to check it out. [I think they're reading. - Dave] Not even one fat guy in a speedoI don't get it. Sedate?Those are two-horsepower wheels, bud. You can see for milesYou can understand why this beach, until the late 1950s, was used for many automotive racing events! The first NASCAR events, when it was still real, used the beach for part of the track. Neat stuff. 72 years laterI was engaging in Spring Break debauchery right there! Still there... sort of. Points of InterestThere are all kinds of things going on in this photo. - A little boy on the far right appears to be wearing long-johns. - The woman on the far right of the full carriage from the Clarendon Inn has some sort of problem (possible fainting?) and everyone else in the carriage seems concerned about her. - I was astonished to see a practical woman actually carrying what appears to be a rolled up spread of some kind. - As previously mentioned, a woman is wearing sunglasses; it hadn't occurred to me until now that I don't recall ever seeing a woman (or a man, for that matter) on the beach in these vintage photos who was wearing sunglasses. - There's a man who looks like he's walking a dog that has apparently been completely buried in the sand, because there's no dog attached. Is the woman somewhat past the Clarendon carriage taking a photo? There's what appears to be a boy at the waterline being helped up who might have fallen into the water. A lot of people are watching whatever is happening there. A woman with a white hat, white blouse, dark skirt and an hourglass figure looks (from the back) like she could be Mae West. There are a couple of horses hooked up to a small carriage near the right. One of them appears to be talking to the other one. I'm thinking it's saying something like: "So I sez to her, I sez 'You're a real NAG, ya know that?'" Oil and waterWhere beach driving began and still (sadly) continues. Cool ShadesI didn't know sunglasses existed then but the lady in the foreground with the bicycle certainly proves they did. Vroooooom!Imagine how they would've reacted to a Land Speed Record machine hurtling towards them! SeabreezeI cannot get enough of these seaside photos. More please! Surf, sand and ...I can see several "byproducts" of animal traction carriages there. No wonder most people there are wearing shoes on the beach! There could have been tracks!Alexander Winton sped down Ormond Beach in the "Bullet No 2" at more than 68 miles per hour in 1903. Today this car is in the Smithsonian Institution. Sunglass BrandFoster Grant was founded in 1919 thereabouts, what Sunglass companies are older that that? [The brand would be no brand. You could have gotten tinted lenses from just about any optician. - Dave] Boogety .. boogety .. boogetyLet's go racing, boys! Overdressed for the beach??A century later, the beach scene above seems very strange and odd. The majority of the people appear to be dressed up for the opera, rather than the beach. The influence of the puritanical Victorian Age is still apparent. it seems. From the 1920's on, formality on the whole, including on the beach, would start to wane. To the point where today, it seems everyone is an exhibitionist and or/ a slob. Sunglassesgo way back before the turn of the century. George Washington had a tortoiseshell pair with green lenses that are on display (and for sale) at Mount Vernon. [A distinction can probably be drawn between tinted lenses, which have been around as long as eyeglasses have, and "sunglasses," which are more of a mass-market retail phenomenon. - Dave] Hats, haze, horizonThose umbrellas and hats make striking silhouettes. Reminds me of this beach scene by Degas. Daytona HeatActually I find it interesting that there aren't more women and men passed out with what they are wearing. This looks to be summer in Daytona in bright sun on the beach so even on a cooler fall or spring day the temp would be around high 80s to low 90s? Combine that with a tight corset and a long heavy dress, and ... [This wasn't summer. Florida was a winter resort. - Dave] The clothingThe comment about being dressed for the opera is on the right track, maybe by today's standards, but in 1904, no self-respecting woman would wear a skirt and frilly white blouse to the opera; that was considered casual wear. She would have worn an evening gown. The men would not wear a business suit, they would have worn a Tux, tails, or, at least, a frock coat, not a suit coat like we see in the photo. Smart MoveMost of my Spring Break in Daytona Beach - back in 1978 - was spent recovering from the severe sunburn I received while biking on a borrowed bicycle all day. If I had been dressed as these beautiful riders are - the trip would have been much more enjoyable but alas, a little more lonely! (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC, Florida, Horses, Swimming)
Tyres & Fittings: 1910
... fascinating. As a boy in 1970s Britain I rode a B.S.A. bicycle myself. The shop is also advertising Eadie brand bicycles, taken over ... the chain. These are still available, and cheap; Google "bicycle pants leg clips". BSA Lightning Rocket I rode a 1965 BSA ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:30pm -

1910. "Cycle shop interior. Christchurch, New Zealand." B.S.A. stood for Birmingham Small Arms. Photo by Steffano Francis Webb. View full size. BSWAgree with Papa Bear, Brit bicycles, motorcycles and cars used a bolting system called "British Standard Whitworth". It differs from the US system in several ways, BSW wrenches are labeled for the size of the bolt instead of the US system of labeling the size of the the nut hex. And common bolt sizes 1/4" to 1/2" used the same 26 threads per inch, instead of the US system of varying the TPI with bolt size. The angle of the threads was unique as well, 55 deg. instead of 60 deg. (from memory). In other words, almost nothing standard in the US fit Limey bikes! The Brits eventually sold out to a metric way of life, thankfully! EverywhereA National Cash Register from here in Ohio, even in New Zealand. EquipmentI had no idea frame pumps were around so early. I like the two bikes in the foreground that have the skirt nets. I'm happy that in the Twin Cities of MN area these are once again on bikes because more people are riding non-athletically, dressed to go out. No chain guardsWhich makes it very hazardous to ride if wearing long pants since they often got caught between the chain and sprocket and when this happened your leg was pulled down as the sprocket turned. The usual result was falling off the bike. I hope they were sold separately. Other BSA productsBSA also made motorcycles, and as the name implies, was a major producer of the No.1 Mk III Enfield rifle, standard British Army rifle of World War 1. Wheels of EmpireThank you for publishing these New Zealand images. This one is particularly fascinating. As a boy in 1970s Britain I rode a B.S.A. bicycle myself. The shop is also advertising Eadie brand bicycles, taken over by B.S.A. in 1907. These had originally been made by Royal Enfield: 'built like a gun, goes like a bullet'. The brand names are wonderful: Britannia Tyres, Dreadnought Tyres ... tyres were clearly a seriously patriotic business in the British Empire c.1910. Clip your pants legPants leg clips were used to keep the pants leg out of the chain. These are still available, and cheap; Google "bicycle pants leg clips". BSA Lightning RocketI rode a 1965 BSA Lightning Rocket and BSA meant BSW wrenches for their fittings Interesting brake system.It appears the brake pads pull upward against the inside of the rim, somewhat like a drum brake, rather than squeezing it disc brake style like modern bikes do. Bluemel partsI took notice of the little card hanging on the wall just above and left of the cash register, holding what looks to be several horizontal pencils. The top says BLUEMEL with the "E" appearing to be a different color. Vintage bicycle experts are probably familiar with the brand name Bluemel Bros. Did a little searching and found it was a company in England that made bicycle and motorcycle accessories. One of the Bluemels came to the USA in 1906 and became a founding father of speech pathology on stuttering and stammering. Found this website on the bicycle part of the family, started in 1860. WhyWould they offer to 'buy back your National Cash Register checks'? For money or merchandise? Brakes were a rarityA few of these bikes have front caliper brakes; none of them have coaster brakes. They all appear to be fixed gear bikes. Curiously, this 100-year-old-style is all the rage these days. Cars too!BSA also made cars. I WishI could get "DREADNOUGHT TYRES" for my 4WD truck. With big white letters on the side. Carbide LampsThere is a nice selection of carbide lamps (and bicycle bells) on the stand on top of the right side of the counter, and kerosene lamps on the floor stand to the left. Calcium carbide was placed in a lower chamber of the lamp, and above it was a reservoir of water. When a valve was opened it dripped water on the carbide, which produced acetylene gas. Some of these lights may also have operated on kerosene or gas. You can see other examples here. Rod brakesVintagetvs is correct that all of the bikes here with front brakes use "rod brakes". When the brake lever is squeezed a rod and pivot system, instead of a Bowden cable, lifts the brake pads upward against the inside of the rim. These were once very common and are still widely used in various (mostly less developed) parts of the world. They are relatively rugged, and easy to maintain and repair with simple tools. The coaster brake was only about 10 years old at the time of this picture. I don't know how long it took for the coaster brake to become commonly used, but since it would be very much more expensive to produce I suspect it remained an expensive option for quite a while. Epicyclic hub gear systems are a little older than coaster brakes, and truly functional derailleur systems are about 25 years later than this photo. BrooksLooks like lots of Brooks leather saddles on the bikes. Still available. I have one on my road bike. Kinda hard on the tush until they get a little broken in, but then they are the best! Bike tubeThe bike on the left, and a few others have a tube sticking out from under the seat, facing forward. There is another tube facing back from the handlebars. Anyone know what they were for? Seat and handlebar tubesmailman7etc. It would appear that the forward-facing tube under the seat is the mount for the saddle. The rear-facing tube under the handlebar allowed the handlebar to be slid closer or further away, held in place by a clamp. British Standard WhitworthPapa Bear's mention of BSW wrenches reminded me of this piece on Joseph Whitworth. (The Gallery, Bicycles, New Zealand, S.F. Webb, Stores & Markets)
Sidewalk Squadron: 1942
... I had (actually still have) one of those horns on my bicycle which I got around 1948. No batteries required and really LOUD. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/19/2023 - 9:26pm -

July 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Boys and a girl on bicycles." 4x5 inch acetate negative by Arthur Siegel for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Thanks for that caption, FSA!Without it, I would never have realized I was looking at boys and a girl on bicycles. [The captions are a finding aid for researchers who may not have access to the negatives they describe, or to avoid having to take the negative out of its sleeve, and also because it can be hard to figure out what you're looking at in a negative image. - Dave] Omira Avenue??Brick house on the right a spitting image for my grandmother's house. Same pipe fence around the pride-and-joy 6-foot lawn. AhoogaI had (actually still have) one of those horns on my bicycle which I got around 1948. No batteries required and really LOUD. Captions MatterIn regards to GlenJay's comment: having slogged through 12 linear feet of uncataloged negatives and prints in a local museum, I can verify that even a bare bones caption dramatically reduces a researcher's workload. Bike BreedsTwo Cleveland Welding Company (CWC) "Roadmaster" bikes (one slightly older) ca. 1937-1941. From the Vintage American Bicycles website, "CWC started producing bikes in September of 1935." The third boy's bike appears to be badged Winton, though that company stopped making bicycles before 1900; but hundreds of badges were placed on various makers' models. Cannot ID the girl's bike, but it is certainly the de rigueur 1940s "girly" color model. Remember the days when your bike handles fell off and you were left with cold steel? Bell Bottom BluesSailor, Tuck in those pant legs, or else a member of the Sidewalk Squadron is going to make unwanted contact with it! Child retirees ??We hear so much about restrictions on automobile tires during the war, but what about bike tires ? Were they similarly rationed, or was it just too minor an issue to bother with? (that would be hard to believe: it's seems like nothing was "too minor to bother with" during WWII.) Waiting for someone to identify the models: I thought one was a Schwinn, but the spelling is wrong (unless they omitted one of the "N"'s as a wartime economy measure!) [Roadmaster, Winton, ???, Roadmaster. - Dave] Rubber shortageGlancing at the front bike tires made me think of rubber rationing and if bike tires were rationed. Of course. Immediately after Pearl Harbor ALL rubber was rationed/banned for most civilian use from tires to hot water bottles to rubber shoe soles. I had never heard of these but there were Victory Bicycles built during the war to aid with transportation. Less metal by weight, elimination of the frills, small amounts of strategic metals, narrower size tires. Neat photo today that had me diving into bikes in WW2. Is that a rock?Why hang a rock from your handlebars? And if it's something else -- what is it? [The girl has one, too! - Dave] Not an onion, but ...with apologies to Abe Simpson, "So I tied a rock to my handlebars, which was the style at the time!" My mom (b 1942) told me that in Des Moines in the '50s it was popular for girls to tie a thread around the neck of a dime store chameleon and pin the other end to your blouse so the little lizard could walk around on your shoulders. Crackerjack outfitThe guy on the left has a sailor hat and bellbottoms. Was there a high school Naval ROTC equivalent at the time? (The Gallery, Arthur Siegel, Bicycles, Detroit Photos, Kids)
« first‹ prev1 [2]3…next ›last »
Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.