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Their New Home: 1971
... were on the water had docks, and kept their sail or motor boats docked right at their home. Those of us who lived off water also had boats and docked them with neighbors who had extra space their dock, or they ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 01/18/2010 - 10:49pm -

A Kodachrome moment in November 1971, shortly after my sister and her family, newly transplanted from Diamond Bar in Southern California, moved into their new home in the Bahia section of Novato. I'm not quite sure how you'd describe the architectural style, but that was it in Bahia. Here I've captured my brother-in-law getting gardening advice from my father, who's hauled us up from Larkspur in our 1966 Rambler Classic wagon. The other vehicle I'm sure needs no introduction. My nephew Dave, age six, strolls out into the cul-de-sac. Antennas at the left are for San Francisco radio station KCBS. View full size. Agricultural Amazing. The gambrel roofs on both the house and garage are more reminiscent of an Amish hay barn than a Marin County tract home. Dutch treatWe had a house a lot like this in Florida. Gambrel roof and kind of a Dutch dairy-cow motif inside. I guess you could call it cheesy! I'd call itA barn. Or two barns. Not to everyone's taste I suppose, but it was the 70s. The Autumn of '71There are Thanksgiving Pilgrims, an Indian and a ship in the windows. My mom would decorate the windows for the holidays (often with our help) when I was a kid in the 60s. There were stencil kits, "frost" spray, and these cardboard cutouts. Paging Dr. Lileks To the Shorpy ICU, stat! The Story of Bahia (Novato)Bahia History Bahia was a "water oriented" community. It had a deep lagoon and a channel which was dredged to the Petaluma River. The original homes were designed to resemble a New England Village, with the weathered gray siding and the white framed windows. It was quite a paradise for the kids growing up there in the late 60s through the 80s. People whose houses were on the water had docks, and kept their sail or motor boats docked right at their home. Those of us who lived off water also had boats and docked them with neighbors who had extra space their dock, or they were hauled out and kept out of sight in a side yard. There was lots of open space in the oak studded hills, and the kids could climb trees, build tree forts, slide down the hills on cardboard. They could swim or fish in the lagoon, learn to sail or water ski with friends who had ski boats. Alas, the planning for this community was not well thought out. The channel and lagoon were downstream from the river and had no natural water flow towards the river, so it silted up quite badly. Dredging became more and more expensive, and the home owners had trouble affording the repeated dredging projects. More development was proposed and consideration was given to putting in a lock, to prevent the silt build up. But no one could agree with what should be done. Meanwhile new environmental regulations came into being, regarding contaminants in the spoils from dredging, and controlling where the spoils could be deposited. This became an even more expensive proposition. Lawsuits were filed, neighbors were against neighbors, and meanwhile the lagoon was silting up. People had to take out their boats, their docks became useless, except as a deck. Today the main lagoon is a salt marsh, and the people who live there can enjoy the marsh wildlife. Much of the surrounding property was bought up for Marin County Open Space, so there are still hills to hike in, and wildflowers and nature to enjoy. No more tree forts or cardboard sliding though. Below is a quote regarding the present day Bahia Neighborhood. "Geography - Neighborhoods About Bahia The community of Bahia is located in Novato on the East side of hwy 101 exiting Atherton. Bahia consists of 288 homes built in 4 stages during the 1960s and 1970s. The community is located in northeast Novato, close to the Petaluma river. Residents of the Bahia enjoy a clubhouse, pool, and two tennis courts. A deep water lagoon on the eastern side of the neighborhood provides birdwatching for local residents. Rush Creek and Novato Open Space Preserves), containing the only known occurrence of a blue oak woodland salt marsh ecotone in California, borders the community. This Open Space area offers multi-use trails for hiking, biking, equestrian riding, dog walking, wildlife and bird watching. Bahia is a nature lover's paradise!" Oh, and Bahia is on Facebook: I grew up in Bahia (in Novato - not San Rafael!) http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47031241875 More, more, please.I like it! I want to see inside this house. I'm hoping to find a reproduction churn and spinning wheel. This modest little barn-style house in California is certainly preferable to the bloated Mediterranean McMansions that blight the landscape here in the desert Southwest. Just saying. EmmaH from the Edge of Texas Ex NovatoanI lived in Novato at the time, moving to Petaluma in October 1971. Bahia was new in 1971. My brother and I drove though it a couple of times. The KCBS towers were near the old Midway Drive-In, which closed about 20 years ago. The towers disappeared within the past five or so. Probably deck materialAs a SoCal carpenter of that era, I can remember putting up a lot of siding houses with what we called T-111, the name of the 5/8ths thick plywood with the grooves you see here. There were several other wood exteriors like shingles, board and batt, tongue and groove, lapped siding, but the most prevalent was the T-111 since it was the most cost effective in terms of material and labor. And for the bundled redwood dropped just off the driveway, it is more likely intended for a narrow deck, given the long 2x material for the decking and rail cap. While the 2x2s in the center were typically used for the deck railing stiles. If it were for fencing, you'd see a lot of 1x in there. Just guessing though. And out backDid they they keep the riding mower in a garden shed that was a quarter-scale replica of a split-level ranch? Danger! Flammable!With the wood panel siding and the wood shingle roof, it's like a giant match head, just waiting for an ember from a wildfire to light it. As for architectural styles, to the left and behind this house there appears to be a square, flat-roofed house, another early '70s style. I'd sure like to see this address in Google Street View, to see if this house still stands. FencingThere's the redwood fence awaiting construction on the "lawn." 38 years agoThis was the month I was born. Neat! Door openI see that garage door left open and can only hear my dad yelling, "Who left the garage door open? What? Were you raised in a barn?!" Were you born in a barn?No, but I grew up in one! Close the doorMy parents often reminded my brothers and me to close the door, as we were not "living in a barn." Bahia styleThere were variations in the Bahia roof configurations, some flat at the very top, and there was at least one conventionally-eaved, but the whole development had a unified style: When styles collide.Dutch Colonial meets California Ranch. Ugh. I think I found itIs it 2705 Tiki Road? Looking at the various map sites, I figured that the house faces either south or southwest, putting the KCBS transmitter behind it. The house at 2705 Tiki has the right layout, and faces southwest. One of the real estate sites estimates its value at $518,000, and says it is 1,472 square feet, built in 1971. There's no Google Street View, but here it is in Bing Maps Bird's Eye View. [Perhaps, much later tonight or very early tomorrow, someone could drive by with a camera and bang on the windows. Don't forget to ask for a phone number! - Dave] (Addendum from the Shorpy Worldwide Interactive legal team: DO NOT drive by. DO NOT bang on windows.) Dutch Meets Valley Girl...as in, "Oh my Gawd! It's, like, weird!" I grew up right down the street from here!Cool photo. Now I'll have to go dig up some of our house in Bahia when my parents bought it new back in 1972. I like how there's absolutely no landscaping whatsoever. I walk my dogs there!Those towers are still there! Kodachrome!Sweet! Oh, how I miss it. Nice job. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Two Belles: 1906
... Very cool It's amazing how close to the shore these boats came to the shore. How deep could the water be? 10 feet? Then the boats further down the shore look like they are landed right up on the beach. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 1:38pm -

The Mississippi River circa 1906. "Steamboat landing at Vicksburg. Sternwheeler Belle of Calhoun and sidewheeler Belle of the Bends." Our second look at these river packets. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. A picture is worth... a thousand words, but this one is worth at least a dozen pictures. An amazing photo from which can be extracted a multitude of wonderful stand-alone shots. Such as: Waiting for some automation!Really brings home the feeling of, "Tote dat barge, Lift dat bale!" Delta QueenI live in Louisiana and my mom used to paint oils of these old paddle wheelers. Her friends used to call her "Delta Queen" for her love of these old vessels. Thanks for the memories! Her paintings were right on! Very coolIt's amazing how close to the shore these boats came to the shore. How deep could the water be? 10 feet? Then the boats further down the shore look like they are landed right up on the beach. Great photo of the old American industrial machine working. The life of a Belle. The Belle of Calhoun was a 181-foot sternwheeler built at Carondelet, Illinois, in 1895. Named for Miss Anna Wood, who was crowned the Belle of Calhoun County, Illinois. Sank three times in her career, finally burned at Alton in the winter of 1930-1931. Belle of the Bends was a 210-foot sidewheeler. Built in 1898 at the Howard Yard in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Converted to an excursion boat at Cairo and renamed Liberty circa 1918. Dismantled in October 1919. The levee todayThe Vicksburg levee today, anchored to the south by a casino "boat." The quick and the dead? Is that far left ship beached or swamped? It's deck looks too steep to still be afloat. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Horses, Vicksburg)
Fun With Tuna: 1915
... d’époque? [Um, that's English. Showing when the boats arrive and depart. We are on a roll today! - Dave] Oui, je parle ... est le meilleur site sur Internet! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/10/2018 - 3:28pm -

August 1915. "Steamship ticket office at pier, Avalon, Catalina Island, California." 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Rampant hatlessnessIn keeping with California's longsanding reputation for informality, these shameless Catalinians are incipient nudists in comparison with their staid brethren on the Eastern shore. https://www.shorpy.com/node/4733 (Shorpy abounds with other examples) Hats offI see very few adult male heads without hats. Several different varieties of hats are shown, with the older men still preferring the straw boater. Many young men are capless. Some women have chosen to let it all hang out with their hair in a bun, others still clinging to the old days when life was simpler. Dude in ladies shoes?What's up with this guy? [He's barefoot. Are you high? - Dave] OMG!There is actually a grown man without a hat in this picture! Freed-up beachAll the steamboat embarkment infrastructure is gone now, replaced by open beaches with bobbing personal craft in the harbor. This photo was taken in 2012 from about the same position, only looking a bit farther to the right. The ferry dock on the far right takes up considerably less space than the steamboat operation from 97 years earlier. Parlez-vous français?The "arrivals/departures" board is in French ("arrive/depart"). I wonder why? Could be a French company, operating here? Or just some sort of snobbism d’époque? [Um, that's English. Showing when the boats arrive and depart. We are on a roll today! - Dave] Oui, je parle français.Dave already helpfully pointed out that the arrivals/departures board was in English, but in case anyone felt the need for an impromptu French lesson, arrivals/departures would be "Arrivées/Departs." Shorpy est le meilleur site sur Internet! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Fantastic Nantasket: 1905
... Hull to the Hull Gut channel. From there you can watch boats passing through, and off in the distance see planes leaving and landing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/02/2023 - 12:00pm -

Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts, circa 1905. "General view from Atlantic House -- Paragon Park and resorts." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Atlantic HouseAtlantic House is in this previous Shorpy entry. Was it taken on the same day (after a long walk!)? By the beautiful seaHere is Nantasket Beach today. If you spin around -- there is an old house on the hilltop that might be Atlantic House referenced in the 1905 photograph. Below that is certainly the rock outcrop in the photo. I just read the old house is not the famous Atlantic House hotel, which burned to the ground in January 1927. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the Atlantic House and the Atlantic Hill Condominiums, which now occupy the site. It's an interesting comparison of when a building wants to conquer the site it's on, and when it wants to blend into it. What do you do in Fantastic Nantasket?You can play "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"! An American game first recorded in 1879, this involves dancing in a circle, singing about a green and yellow basket, dropping a handkerchief, someone picking it up, someone catching that someone, who is kissed and/or tells the name of their sweetheart. Unlike Nantasket, an Indian word meaning "place of low tides", neither "tisket" nor "tasket" has any particular meaning, though some have been assigned to them over the years. Clutter Hillas opposed to the actual name - Atlantic Hill - seems like a good backup, given both the 'then' and 'now' scenes. (Yes, it's been a vistor to SHORPY before, and, yes, it burned...naturally!) On the rocksWhen I was a kid in the '60s and '70s there were not many homes left on the rocks. We'd climb them for the view. I have photos from up there of Paragon Park in 1984, the park closed and its fate unknown to me at the time. In summer every Wednesday my mother would take us there, she'd hang out with friends, and we'd be on the beach. On Wednesdays there was a band concert under the pavilion (still there) and afterwards she'd take us to Paragon. On the boardwalk was the penny arcade, restaurants and a Fascination Room, some sort of machines played by adults. What I remember was on a blistering hot day walking past this place, the door would be opened, and you could feel the ice-cold AC coming out. My wife and I still go to Nantasket a few times a year, mostly off season, it's peaceful. We drive through Hull to the Hull Gut channel. From there you can watch boats passing through, and off in the distance see planes leaving and landing at Logan International Airport in Boston. I've always thought Nantasket is sort of underdeveloped for what it is. Selfishly that's OK by me. Back in the '80s there was talk of a casino, it didn't happen, and the land still has nothing on it. (The Gallery, DPC, Swimming)
Manhattan Bridge: 1909
... is my mistress. Foy Las Vegas (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, G.G. Bain, NYC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:31pm -

March 23, 1909. Construction of the Manhattan Bridge as seen from Brooklyn. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Bridge of SighsThis is outstanding, the faded letters (Lumber & Timber, etc.) the overcast almost blending with the soft dusting of dirt covering everything . . . broken panes, gritty wood competes with . . . *sigh*. Verbosity is my mistress. Foy Las Vegas (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, G.G. Bain, NYC)
The Wild Bunch: 1905
... Wall Street built in 1989 is there now. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Horses, NYC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 4:15pm -

New York circa 1905. "Unloading at banana docks." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Normal lifeI love that this photo doesn't look staged. It's just real life, capturing a second in time, long ago. The ship on the right is listing to port, probably unloading cargo. Oh yes, we have bananasI hope the guy in the white shirt made enough money that day to buy the other suspender and the other half of his haircut. Watch your step!That dock looks like a pratfall waiting to happen. Work EthicWow, it never changes does it: A bunch of people standing around while one or two people do all the work! Ha! ArmedI think the guy in the bowler on the right is packing a Colt under his coat. What a fantastic pictureAll the detail. All the action. All the people standing around doing nothing. Old Time BananasThese bananas look to be of different shape (more like plantains) than the modern commercially available variety. They are probably "Gros Michel"(Big Mike), which were the bananas commercially exported before "Panama disease" fungus ravaged commercial banana plantations. The switch was made to a resistant variety (Cavendish) in the 1950s and that variety has become ubiquitous at least in North America. Supposedly, the older Gros Michel bananas were better tasting, but I've yet to have one. Hemmenway's Sail Loft Recreation, Vol. 3, 1895 S. Hemmenway & Son, 60 South St., New York City. Yacht and Canoe Sails. Flags and Burgees. Tents. Canvas Covers and Camp Furniture of Every Description. Send 5-cent stamp for our Tent and Flag Catalogue. Highly inefficientIt took way too many supervisors to unload bananas back then. Bananas R UsThere certainly are a lot of serious men with a deep and abiding interest in bananas. I presume they are the brokers or buyers of bananas. It also appears that the bananas were unloaded by hand from the hold of the ship. No nets or other mechanical devices appear to be in use that might damage the fruit. Hey Mr. Tally Man!Judging by everyone's faical expressions, nobody wants to be on that damn boat. Day, me say day, me say day......Come Mister tally man, tally me banana.... Yes, we have no bananasThese must be the "Big Mike" (Gros Michel) variety of banana. Susceptible to a fungus, it was virtually extinct by 1960. Same scene in 1954February 1954 at New Orleans, our Navy destroyer tied up next to an unloading banana boat where bunches that were yellow were discarded at the dock. We had a field day until we got sick of them. StickyMagnetic hats -- who'd have thought. Many bananas laterImage from Google Street View: Looks like only one building from those days survived. Here it is in a shot near FDR Drive, looking up Wall Street. I knew the Shorpy photo was taken near there, because the Hemmenway sail company was located at the foot of Wall Street. A bunch of ...Took me a moment to grasp the "Wild Bunch" allusion. I was too busy thinking "Torrid Zone" (basically, The Front Page on a banana plantation), and wondering if Jimmy Cagney had gotten that shipment loaded. BananappealThe present banana variety does not taste nearly so good as the one I ate as a boy. I loved those bananas. The new variety I eat only as an addition to some other dish. BTW, I heard the other day bananas are Walmart's biggest selling item. Second: Avatar. Proto AT&TCan anyone identify the tallest building in the picture? Pretty conspicuous for this era but I've never seen it before. MetacommentaryI love Shorpy and often feature the pictures on my blog - here's a little writeup I did after the reaction I got to posting this picture. Sixty Wall BuildingThe tallest building on that photo is Sixty Wall Building. Built 1905, razed 1975 along with other buildings. Until 1987 a parking lot. 60 Wall Street built in 1989 is there now. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Horses, NYC)
Silver Springs: 1900
... in this photo. The main attraction was the glass bottom boats, which were there in 1900 and are still there today. The awful, ... -- Another excellent shot, Dave. Thanks! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Florida, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 4:14pm -

Silver Springs, Florida, circa 1900. "Okeehumkee at wharf on the Oklawaha River." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. PetrifiedWe can see your tax dollars at work—the real tree is being replaced with a more fiscally viable brick tree. RailsHas anyone any idea of what the railway track (bottom left) was for? [It was for trains. This is a rail depot. Note the boxcar in back. - Dave] Gorgeous picture, what a time to be alive!What a great picture. It really makes me wish I could have experienced it firsthand. Lots of interesting details in this one. Keep 'em coming! Model locationI believe that I have seen this exact location modeled in miniature in the Narrow Gauge Gazette a few years back. Wonderful!This is simply a sublime, magic picture! Thanks. Silver SpringsI grew up near Silver Springs. (And I now live near Silver Spring!) In the 50s and 60s Silver Springs still had many traces of the rural resort that you see in this photo. The main attraction was the glass bottom boats, which were there in 1900 and are still there today. The awful, ironically named Wild Waters Park had not yet appeared, but there was a tacky tourist rip-off called Six-Gun Territory. I like to think of Silver Springs as the Old Florida that I just barely caught before it disappeared. I'd be afraid to go back there now after 40 more years of Florida "development." Brownie SightingThe guy standing next to the lady with the umbrella looks like he might be carrying an early Brownie. Bogie and BacallThere seems to be a strong "Key Largo" feel to these Florida pictures. Expect Bogart to show up at any time! Another take on Six GunBeing a Tampa native I made many visits to Silver Springs and Six-Gun Territory. In its last few years Six-Gun admittedly did start going downhill. However in its prime I remember it as a wonderful family entertainment destination. The "Old West" buildings were well made and historically accurate, and the staged gunfights and saloon shows were done professionally. No,it doesn't compare to Disney (the Holy Grail of tacky tourist rip-off), but at least a family could spend the day there without spending obscene amounts of money. GlenJay, you are right, the Ocala area is not the same now. Neither is Florida. Too bad. Packed to the gunwalesAnother view of the Okeehumkee earning its keep. Once Upon a TimeLooks like the establishing shot in an old movie. Not sure why I like this picture so much. ACOK, explain again how these people could survive there 10 months out of the year wearing the clothes they have on in this picture when there was no air conditioning to go home to. I'll grant the clothing was of natural materials, which breathe better, but after that ... Could the photo have been taken in the depths of "winter"? [From the time Henry Flagler built his railroad until the 1920s, the majority of white people in Florida, aside from maybe Jacksonville and Tallahassee, were vacationers from up north. The state was a winter resort, with "the season" lasting from around December to April. Just about anyone visiting Silver Springs would have been a wintertime tourist. - Dave] BackpaddlerIt has a paddle at the back. What makes it go?The okeehumkee does not appear to have side or stern wheels. Is it prop driven? Muddy boots and the Porch Roof of DamoclesThere's so many fun details in this photo that it took the brick tree comment to get me down into the lower left corner. Someone has thoughtfully provided an iron rail boot scraper on the second step up from the muddy shore, for the convenience of the expensively dressed tourists (and the people who had to clean the floors and rugs in all the buildings around the landing). And what about that rail siding that ends right at the door of the little shed with the Porch Roof of Damocles? It looks like a set-up for a silent movie gag. Florida: The MovieIncredible. Looks like a movie set, not like reality. Along the St. Johns and OcklawahaA great look at the early history of the area and the many Riverboats that plied the river to Silver Springs. Find the boxcar - Chapeau!What a keen observer you are Dave! It even took me minutes after your hint to find it. Freight DepotI have a book called "Eternal Spring: Man's 10,000 Years of History at Florida's Silver Springs," which has a photo of this same structure. It is identified as a freight depot and was "built around the turn of the century," so it was quite new in this photo. The Book is a second edition from 1969 and the info is on page 140. Mystery Building and TrackSeveral writers asked questions or commented about the small building to the left of the depot, and the strange railroad track leading up to its door. (I think that's what Fred was referring to in his question.) If it's not too late, I would like to offer a theory by way of explanation. The building in question appears to be a supply or "store" house. If you look closely, at the left rear in the photo, there appears to be another overhang, which undoubtedly shelters the door that is actively used for access. Again, if you look closely, the "door" at the end of the track is no longer a door, it has boards nailed over it, which explains why they never bothered to repair its overhang, or remove it either: it was left to remove itself, which it is about to do. (Tort liability had not yet evolved into its present state.) I believe the track leading up to it was most likely used to park privately owned, leased or chartered Pullman cars, which was a very common mode of travel in those times. (Note the steps at the foot of the "brick" tree, which would have been in just the right spot to facilitate stepping down from a railway car to a waiting boat. Anyone wealthy enough to have a private railroad car would likely have a private boat, also.) In fact, the whole arrangement, which appears not to have been used in a long while, might have been set up for one special "celebrity" customer, who frequently needed to transfer from train to boat at this point. Perhaps they owned a vacation mansion nearby. These private cars needed special supplies, and tools for their maintenance, etc. They had to be kept separate from "regular" supplies used in everyday operations, for cost accounting purposes. The building itself might have been owned by the Pullman Company, a separate entity from the railroad. Than again, a far less romantic theory would be that the storehouse was once used by the local "roadmaster" (track maintenance supervisor) for his supplies, and the track was there so he could easily push his small hand cars up to the door for loading. Re: PetrifiedMaybe the steps and concrete and brickwork around the shoreline is to aid the Northern tourists who may be unfamiliar with Florida wetlands. The root system of live oaks and other water-loving trees usually have a lot of twisty-turny runners right at the surface level of the surrounding ground. In other words, plenty easy to trip over! -- Another excellent shot, Dave. Thanks! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Florida, Railroads)
A Chorus Line: 1905
... out by conveyor belt? The din and smell of a fleet of ten boats unloading at one time must have been stupefying. Do you have any shots of ... up dock? Since 1858, gravity has been used to load ore boats (naval tradition notwithstanding, all bulk carriers are "boats" on the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 11:16pm -

Lake Erie circa 1905. "Hulett clamshell hoists, Cleveland, Ohio." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Nine men......one must look hard to find most of them. Count the PeopleI stopped counting at eight people, upon encountering an additional one that I couldn't tell about. Two guys with great proprioceptionAnd they give you a sense of the huge size of this processing plant. I wonder how many men got injured falling off the hoists, working up there in various drenching conditions? How exactly did these hoists work? They would lift up nets or pallets full of oysters, which would then be trundled out by conveyor belt? The din and smell of a fleet of ten boats unloading at one time must have been stupefying. Do you have any shots of this plant at work? [Clamshell hoists don't have anything to do with oysters, clams, or seafood in general. They're for loading iron ore. - Dave] I count 11if you include "the Shadow". ClamshellsTechnically, clamshell hoists are so named because they (somewhat) resemble and open and close similarly to the bivalves' shells. Brown Fast PlantsTracking down the historical/technical details of this photo was complicated because the internetz are full of information on its more famous kin: the still-standing Hulett Ore Unloaders. Nonetheless, the best information on the pictured machinery is in the 1905 book, "Brownhoist": Patent Automatic Hoisting and Conveying Appliances. Pages 43 & 44 have alternate views of the same equipment. Briefly: The location is the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Dock of the Pennsylvania railroad. This type of hoist, designed by Alexander Brown, was known as a "fast plant" and was used to unload ore from a ship and transfer it to waiting rail cars. The specimens here were all steam-powered but later models used electricity. The unloading arm of the hoists spanned 5 to 7 railroad tracks and could load fifty rail cars without shifting. The business end of the hoists were equipped with Hulett clamshells and Andrews scrapers. Hulett ClamshellsThese are Brown rigs with Hulett clamshells, as noted in the caption, for transferring ore onto railcars from ships called ore carriers. I count 11 alsoI also count 11 including the man bent over behind the crane rails near the steam vent and the 3 atop the rail cars What's up dock?Since 1858, gravity has been used to load ore boats (naval tradition notwithstanding, all bulk carriers are "boats" on the Great Lakes) from structures properly known as "ore docks." The system was introduced at Marquette, Michigan. Ore was delivered to the top of the dock, and dumped into large holding pockets, each fitted with a side discharge chute. Brigantine-rigged (no boom between masts) Schooners were the favorite for ore shipments. They came alongside and typically loaded ore directly on deck, roughly 300 tons per trip — which could take four or more days to offload by hand on arrival, longer if it was loaded in the holds below deck As demand for ore skyrocketed, deck hatches were cut into these vessels to increase capacity. The first bulk freighter (the R.J. Hackett) was purpose-built for the iron ore trade in 1869. These bigger vessels opened the floodgates to a variety of mechanical unloaders mentioned in the earlier post, but the Brown and Hulett machines emerged as the leaders. A Brown bucket held roughly 1-1/2 tons, but the machine could only lower and raise the bucket straight into the hold, where it still had to be filled by hand; fitting the machine shown with clamshells should have greatly improved its efficiency. The first Hulett bucket held 10 tons (later models could handle up to 22 tons per bite), but its greatest advantage was its mobility, as it could move up & down, left & right and forward/reverse within the hold, greatly reducing the hand shoveling. Lakes boats didn't come home to Michigan empty, they typically backhauled coal, which was also loaded by gravity. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, DPC, Railroads)
Mass. Mess: 1900
... deck is not allowed, but there they are. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, E.H. Hart) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 6:46pm -

Circa 1900. "U.S.S. Massachusetts crew at mess." Watermelon -- yay! 8x10 inch glass negative by Edward H. Hart, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Mustache?Are mustaches a requirement for sailors at the turn of the century? All of the men in the front seem to have them. Hats Off to You!Is the hat in the top foreground hanging there, or was it thrown there, or (I hope) was the sailor was so surprised by the flash that it flew there?!? These sailors would faintif they could have a meal on board any of today's US Navy vessels. re: ToastLooks like he is holding up a piece of hardtack, a staple of the navy going back to the Revolution. Simply a hard biscuit made of flour and water (Civil War soldiers called them Army Bread, wormcastles (because when they got moist they would get infested with insects) and tooth-breakers) You can buy some here from a company that's made it since 1801: http://www.bentscookiefactory.com/store.html MarkTwo thoughts; that is a lot of asbestos, and the sailors of 100 years ago were a lot older than today's lot. Comments add so much!I love the discussions of things like this. The input from others, added to the information in the photo, teaches and gives us so much more of a feel for the experiences of people who lived before we were born. As far as the bread, it may well be hardtack but I hope, for the sake of the men, that it was toast! I've seen Andrew Zimmern eat a salad made with hard-tack that didn't look too bad, but it was soaked for a long time and had lots of things added to it. Just a plain piece of it would have fallen in the category of things one only eats to keep his belly from growling. Those older sailors, who had probably had some teeth pulled by that time, must have had an especially hard time eating it! William Christen, I love your pictures! Maybe he wanted some jamThe dark-skinned diner over the standing-in-front-guy's right shoulder is holding up what appears to be a piece of toast. Curious. Comments?Were the comments intentionally removed from the bottom of the full-sized image, or is my browser acting up again? If it was intentional, let me go on record as disliking it. I now have to click two places and toggle back and forth to see both. Yuck! [Click on the full-size image to see the comments. - Dave] Toast and JamEndless Summer has better eyes than I do! On the blow up, it certainly does look like a piece of toast. I hope it didn't have weevils in it. My dad spent time aboard ship in the 1940s and said the bread often had weevils in it, but they ate it anyway. They couldn't keep it out of the flour, and it added protein. It looks like maybe this kind of toaster was used. It is a non-electric model, so I assume they heated it on a stove top. My first thoughtWow, dozens of men in a small steel room surrounded by machinery. That must have been LOUD in there. Then I realized that this was taken long before deodorant was commonly used and it must have been RANK in there! All those hooksI'm wondering if this area was also the crew's bunk space as well as mess. By the looks of them (each numbered, by the way) I'd think each hook would be a place to hang a hammock, or one half of the hammock, anyway. Maybe also a convenient place to hang a hat while having a bite to eat. "Toast"That looks like a piece of ship's biscuit, or hardtack. One may wonder why he's displaying it so proudly. The name is Bond, James BondThe guy second from the left with the pipe behind him is the spittin image of Sean Connery Smellin' Like a Rose.Dear Truck5man, Precisely because all those men lived in such intimate surroundings, hygiene was, and still is, an item of pride in the U.S. Navy. The only RANK here was denoted by uniform markings. Any sailor who got sloppy about his cleanliness would probably be given an involuntary scrub-down, fore and aft, by his shipmates with a stiff brush and lye soap. The only exception was a pre-nuke, pre-diesel ship at sea. If water could not be distilled fast enough, the priority was always drinking water first, boiler water second and bath water a distant third. Of course there was always sea-water and a bucket. Re: Comments?I was originally as disconcerted by the new format as was Edvado, but now I'm clicking on the small picture to see the comments and when I get to the top I click on the small picture again to see the full size picture. It's not as comfortable as before, but it works. Thanks Dave for the continuing good work! Format ChangeWhat works for me is center-clicking on the small image to open up comments in a second tab, then center-clicking the small image in the second tab to get the full size image on a third tab. Then it's just a matter of switching tabs to view details or read comments about the image. I didn't like it at first, but being able to read comments and look at details without having to scroll up and down from one to the other is an improvement. I suppose we could do that before, but with the comments included under the full sized image it never occurred to me to try. In 1917In 1917 grandfather was a Chief Commissary Steward on the USS Indiana, a sister ship of the USS Massachusetts. These two ships and the third in the class, The USS Oregon also seen in the past on Shorpy) I am sure the fare was the same--perhaps no hardtack. Some of the faces might have younger as the Navy had a maximum age limit by then First image: Cooks and bakers on the USS Indiana (1917). Second image: food prep in the USS Indiana galley. Watermelon ??Spent three years aboard ship in the Navy back in the 60's. Never ever did I see a watermelon cross our mess deck! Apples and citrus fruits galore but no watermelon. Still not as good. I agree with Edvado. The old system was better. One click to see the full size photo AND the comments, and more importantly, one click to get back to the front page. Now it takes two clicks each way and it's easy to get lost so it takes several clicks to get untangled. The full size photos do load faster however. [Actually there's less clicking now, if you count scrolling as clicking. - Dave] On a Macbook or other Apple products, two fingers stroking the screen or pad scroll you around with no clicks at all. This was much nicer on the old scheme. Mess Misc.Compared to today's Navy, these fellows look so old but there obviously were many more lifers then...old tars. The sailors on the left side of the photo look like they're still waiting for their food while the other guys are digging in. Not Rank There      Side note to "Truck5man" and "codebasher" in the Navy the officers have rank and enlisted men have ratings.      Now hear this! Stand down, turn to and make your Groucho Marx type jokes about rank officers. The old NavyBare feet on the mess deck is not allowed, but there they are. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, E.H. Hart)
U.S.S. Franklin: 1916
... her hull must run from stern to stem! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Harris + Ewing) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/22/2012 - 9:31pm -

1916. "U.S.S. Franklin, used as training ship. Admiral Farragut's flagship." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Tattered sailsAye me mateys, the years have not been kind to the old frigate. Two By TwoIt looks like Noah's Ark collided with a beach house. The FranklinAccording to Donald Canney in "The Old Steam Navy" Vol. 1, the Franklin was begun in 1853 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, and completed at a leisurely pace, being launched in 1864. The last traditional frigate with broadside guns on two decks, she could steam at 10¼ knots, but of course had a full ship rig in her prime. She was active from 1867 to 1877, when she became a receiving ship at Norfolk. She was sold in October 1915, so they could have been preparing to scrap the venerable ship in this photo, in Norfolk or elsewhere. The Floating Apartment HouseThis picture is what my imagination would come up with if I were to wonder what an apartment house would look like at sea. I'm sure there is a logical explanation, but I like the Dali sensibility of it. Ahoy, super...That thing looks like the Admiral got lost in a fog and rammed a tenement. Ancient MarinerThat is some crazy houseboat! The old bit underneath, with the elaborate carving under the "porch," is amazing. First words to my mind?What a monstrosity! I've heard of houseboats...But apartmentboats and officeblockboats are a new one to me. Down to the Sea in BungalowsWow. The ultimate Sausalito summer place. Perhaps the only thing to add here is an image of the USS Franklin as she appeared when still in active service. U.S.S. ConstitutionIt was quite common to use aging wooden ships as receiving ships. They'd build a barracks structure on top of the original hull and new recruits or men returning from a voyage whose ships were undergoing refit would be housed aboard. It was cheaper than buying land and building barracks. A similar thing was done with the USS Constitution and lasted until 1905. Stuff HappensIsn't that "porch" actually a poop deck? Full Speed In All Directions!Or, none. This ship appears to be a refugee from some H.P. Lovecraft imaginary universe, where everything is just a little off-kilter. Just enough to be nightmarishly disturbing... Next stop CozumelNo much worst aesthetically than the overgrown, topheavy cruise ships that prowl the seas these days. So it's a training ship, huh?I can't even imagine what anyone assigned to this floating rowhouse would be training for, unless the Navy was trying to get involved in selling siding door-to-door. Flying DutchmanThis isn't the USS Franklin. It's the Flying Dutchman from the Bermuda Triangle! Hidden majestyI'm sure any admiral would be impressed when told that this . . ship . . was to carry his flag. A Ship ShopThe Franklin was a receiving ship at the Naval Training Station near Norfolk, Virginia, and also housed some shops that served the whole station. My grandfather's duty station was on the Franklin after he returned from a trip around the world on the USS Louisiana with the Great White Fleet in 1909 -- must have been quite a letdown. We have a newspaper clipping about my grandfather's shop on the USS Franklin from sometime between 1909 and 1915: Since the station first started there has been a busily humming shop where navy trousers and torn jumpers are mended and made whole again. A very small charge is made for the tailoring of uniforms and chief Doyle's ready good humor is known all over the station. The clever fingers of his crew of skilled workmen have saved many a sailor from expending his pay for a new outfit when it could be made whole again by a bit of mending. Topheavy to say the least...How much ballast must be in the hold to keep her from rolling over? I wish my Grandfather were alive to comment! Like an icebergThere is more below the waterline than you think. Just a little more canvasThe old gal must've been a real leaker by then also. I'll surmise that canvas underneath her hull must run from stern to stem! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Harris + Ewing)
Love Canal: 1907
... to wonder about the power source for these lights in the boats. Decisions, decisions! Battery or kerosene? Not so obvious in 1907. ... in this canoe! Belle Isle too, c. 1923 (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Detroit Photos, DPC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 9:53pm -

Detroit circa 1907. "Band concert on Grand Canal, Belle Isle Park." Once upon a time it might have been possible to woo a girl with just a humble canoe, but now you need plush pillows and a phonograph. 8x10 glass negative. View full size. Cads!Ha, I was wondering where you were going with that for a minute Dave! I have to say, this is one of the most interesting photos I've seen on Shorpy. There seems to be a number of unchivalrous cads who are getting their dates to do the rowing, with the chap bottom right looking particularly unimpressed. Or perhaps he's not keen on the music. HatsOnce on the water, hats appear to be optional for the gents. Smiles, anyone?No one seems to be having a good time. Those are quite some hairdos on the ladies in the two canoes near the front. And who brings a phonograph to a concert? Chivalry, dead as a doornailI see at least three canoes where the man is taking it easy while the woman does the paddling! Just another chip in the blockfor the suffragettes. I'm assuming the women that are paddling are doing it on their own accord. They most likely demanded both the paddle and man cards from their escorts. Safety LastNo one is wearing a life jacket. And WhyDoes the canoe with the phongraph have a searchlight. The "unimpressed" lad does have an interesting jacket though. Personal audioAlternate title: "Turn That !*#&! Thing Down!: The Early Days" Paddlin' WomenThe next thing you know they'll be asking for the right to vote. Geez! Long Day's JourneyMaybe it's because the concert will be going on into night. Otherwise, why would two of the canoes carry mounted searchlights in the bow? And the guy with the Victrola seems to have a stern lantern as well, just to make sure his night vision is truly shot on the way back. One has to wonder about the power source for these lights in the boats. Decisions, decisions! Battery or kerosene? Not so obvious in 1907. Marine accessoriesInteresting canoe front and center. He has a lantern on one end and what looks like a spotlight of some kind on the other. There is a second canoe which also seems to have a spotlight on it as well. Hoping to get lucky?Are those fellows paddling around with empty pillows hoping to lure a young lady from among the spectators and get lucky? And by lucky I mean will he be able to entice them to paddle the canoe while he lolls about on the cushions like those other lads are doing. iPlodThe modern equivalent to toting the phonograph is being encumbered by an early generation iPod, or, heaven forbid, a Discman. Unthinkable! Maybe the old days weren't so greatAll those people considered their options for the afternoon and chose this? The guy in the boat at lower right looks about as bored as I would have been. He had probably told the girl, "Either you row or we go home. And I hope you refuse to row!" Chivalry Metro ManFret not on the cads - there is a man on the left side pavement pushing a baby carriage. Besides, the boat men discovered that when the women are paddling they are distracted from complaining. Uh oh, I'm going to hear it on this one. Wow, where do I start?So many opportunities for comments on this one. First, Mr. Bored in lower right front, obviously he and his lady are charter members of the Big Button Club. And what's that guy at right center, the one who's laid back and waving -- what could he be saying? Maybe directed at the single guy at left center: "Hey, Fred, if you'd get yourself a girl friend you wouldn't have to do your own paddlin'!" As for "Who brings a phonograph to a concert," indeed! Next thing you know kids will be bringing iPods to their next rock concert. Oh wait, never mind. I get the boatingAnd I get and why it was probably fun (relatively speaking) to row down the canal and all on a nice day (although THAT much of an audience would have made me a bit self-conscious) What I DON'T understand is why all those dressed up folks are just sitting there on either side of the canal, watching. Was it a competition, or is there a concert or something else also going on? Or was life in Detroit in 1907 so boring that you would really WANT to just sit by the side of a canal in fancy duds and watch people row around? Am I missing something here?? [A closer look at the photo (and the caption) might solve the mystery! - Dave] The thread continuesHere. Life jackets and American tragediesJudging by that charmless embankment, this water attraction was man-made (man-dug?), and probably three feet or so deep, so no life jackets were needed. Say, isn't that Theodore Dreiser with the dark jacket lolling in the boat, right foreground, perhaps dreaming up a love story about a guy with a pregnant and poor girl friend but he's really in love with a wealthy young lady and he, oh, I don't know, decides to do away with the unfortunate mother-to-be, or something? "I know what. I'll have him 'accidentally" push her in front of a train. Naw, too messy. Hey, how about they're out on a lonely lake in a canoe, and -- " In the GrooveMy grandparents did the Victor record player in a canoe also. I don't know how they'd keep the record from skipping but I do remember dad being able to get into a canoe without it moving much at all- a skill I'm sure he learned at a young age- he's the littlest one in this canoe! Belle Isle too, c. 1923 (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Detroit Photos, DPC)
Metamora of Palatka: 1902
... had a wonderful scale model of Silver Springs. One of the boats in the model is the Metamora. New Line Yes, the Ocklawaha ... was my grandfather Joseph Edward Lucas. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Florida, W.H. Jackson) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 1:37pm -

Florida circa 1902. "On the Ocklawaha." Steamboat Metamora of Palatka. Photo by William Henry Jackson. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. Palatka PixThe Putnam County archive has more pictures. Walt's inspirationSince no one has mentioned it yet, I have to: This is the jungle cruise at Disneyland. Spanish TrimmingsThe spanish moss just dripping off these trees seems almost like a holiday garland and thus oddly appropriate for the season. And they complain about propellersI wonder how many manatees got brained by that mixmaster! Or perhaps the paddle was better at turning gators into shoes. Metamora lost to the swamps.I can find nothing on the Metamora in steamboat lists. I believe the reason for the small wheel is that the boat is small. No more than 12 feet wide and maybe 60 feet long. Not much room for large compound steam engines to move a bigger wheel. Note the chains and rudder arms aft of the wheel. A very simple steering setup. Lucas New LineFrom the Ocala Star Banner of May 8, 1966: Another interesting sight was the arrival of the "Hart Line" or "Lucas New Line" steamboats from Palatka, which was a 24 hour trip through tropical scenery. "This tortuous stream"An ad from the 1903 edition of the Foster & Reynolds Standard Guide to Florida. OCKLAWAHA RIVER. Most Attractive and Romantic Trip in the South! No visitor can afford to visit Florida without having enjoyed a sail on this tortuous stream which flows through a dense semi-tropical forest. The night scenes, when this tangled mass of shrubbery is lighted by torches, are marvelous. A steamer of the LUCAS NEW LINE OCKLAWAHA RIVER STEAMERS will leave Palatka for Silver Spring on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 12.30 p.m., after arrival of trains from Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Returning leaves Silver Springs Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 12.30 p.m., after arrival of trains from Tampa, Ocala, and other places on the West Coast. ASK MR. FOSTER, at the Standard Guide Information Bureaus, Cordova Corner, St. Augustine, and Palm Beach, for further information and printed matter of all the Hotels, Routes and Resorts here advertised. Enclosed PaddlewheelWhat is interesting about this little steamboat is the fact that the stern paddlewheel is completely enclosed. Was this an attempt to keep it free of vegetation in this tough swamp enviornment? A very fascinating boat. Florida QueenWithout that caption, this could have been shot anywhere from Africa to the deepest Amazon. Looking for Bogart and Hepburn! On the OckHave kayaked the Ock many times. It's quite beautiful with much wildlife to be seen along the way. One obstruction, the Rodman Dam in Putnam County, constructed in the 1960s as part of the ill-fated Cross-Florida Barge Canal, is scheduled to be removed as part of a watershed restoration project. Trail BlazingI love the way the angle makes it look as though it's blazing its own path through the swamp!! Wonder how often random snakes and critters ended up on-deck. Smoke on the water?What is the stuff that looks like smoke, and is reflected in the water, but apparently coming from pipes there at the waterline? Wouldn't the exhaust come from the stack? [It's steam. - Dave] Metamora modelI was recently at the Florida History museum in Tallahassee and they had a wonderful scale model of Silver Springs. One of the boats in the model is the Metamora. New LineYes, the Ocklawaha steamers' inboard paddle design was intended to reduce fouling in the tight confines of the river. Lucas' New Line was a less successful imitator and rival of Col. Hubbard Hart's original and larger Palatka-Silver Springs line. Hyacinth countermeasuresThe Ocklawaha, in common with many Southern streams, was totally overrun with South American water hyacinth (a pest to this day). Bringing the wheel inboard let the hull of the boat act as a sort of "icebreaker" to push through the floating mats of weed, and kept the wheel clear. Metamora looks a bit run down.The lowest tier of siding appears to be covered with the familiar Florida algae and fungus. There are lots of broken slats in the stateroom shutters. I wonder if deferred maintenance had anything to do with Metamora's upcoming loss on the river. I would love to build a model of this little tub-- anyone know where I can get plans? MetamoraI stumbled across this forum and found it interesting as the co-owner and Captain of the Metamora was my grandfather Joseph Edward Lucas. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Florida, W.H. Jackson)
Young Nicholas: 1906
... is only done in the winter and in the summer oyster boats of whatever flavor would haul light freight when they could get the ... from the same site. Tuber luggers? Looks like the boats are carrying some sort of potato-like vegetable. [Those are ... matter that you did not see or know. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 5:25pm -

Circa 1906. "Oyster luggers at New Orleans." A continuation of the scene shown in the previous post. Random observation: The masts here remind me of violin bows. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Pommes de MerThose are sweet potatoes. Oystering is only done in the winter and in the summer oyster boats of whatever flavor would haul light freight when they could get the business. [Now that you mention it, they certainly do look like potatoes. - Dave] Greetings From Lugger LandingJust a few postcards from the same site. Tuber luggers?Looks like the boats are carrying some sort of potato-like vegetable. [Those are oysters. - Dave] An EpiphanyCould it be our fearless leader has learned the difference between an oyster and a sweet potato? [This may explain why no one likes my mashed potatoes. - Dave] Come Aboard!Please walk the plank first. re: Pommes de MerThis is what is so great about this site. There is always some one who will show you, or teach you something about the subject matter that you did not see or know. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, New Orleans)
Icemobile: 1905
... like a watercolor. - Dave] (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 5:25pm -

Circa 1905. "Grand Trunk car ferry crossing the Detroit River in winter." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Pullman carsSome interesting information and illustrations here. Seems there are examples at his museum, and a few in other countries. Titanic Worries!"What was that, Hon? You want me to sit with you in the rail car? No thanks. I think I'll just stay out here in the lifeboat if you don't mind." Just Chillin' on the VerandaBut what a smoke screen those poor passengers had to endure. I wonder what sort of sturdy craft the photographer was perched on in order to "get the shot." The hardy occupants of the coach nearest the camera had apparently already weathered a nasty storm on the rails; that car's frosted like a wedding cake! [The "sturdy craft" was land. - Dave] ExtraordinaryWhat a captivating and dramatic riverscape. Maybe the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are heading out on another adventure? VestibulesNice shot of the railroad ferries that plied many waters on the Great Lakes. Similar ships were used, for instance, on the Straits of Mackinac for decades. The picture is a great illustration of one of the real innovations in passenger cars - vestibules at the ends of the cars that allowed passengers to move from car to car through the train while it was in motion. Better yet, the photo shows the car on the left with the earlier, so-called open vestibule (still had some open platform) while the car on the right was the newer, fully-closed vestibule. Not only did the vestibules make moving between cars easier but the Pullman Company (which invented and patented them) tried to convince passengers that they strengthened the cars in the event of a collision. The tighter coupling was said to prevent the cars from telescoping into one another. This had been a real problem in the old open-platform cars. It was such a great idea that the designs were quickly knocked off by the other passenger car companies and it became the standard of the industry. Thanks DaveI am planning on building a model of the Lansdowne and the definition on this photo shows detail I have not seen before. The Lansdowne was built in 1884 for the Grand Trunk Railway. She was powered by a pair of horizontal low pressure engines working at 55 psi, until some engineer forgot to drain one on startup in 1971 and blew the cylinder head off it, instantly converting it to a barge. She was pushed by a tug for a few years then laid up and converted to a restaurant on the Detroit waterfront. Her hulk still rests partially submerged in Erie, PA. Being a sidewheeler with each paddle capable of independent operation, she was considered a very good ice boat. RivetedJust what I was thinking, Jeff! Very steampunk looking. Great shot. Here's How It WorksThe couple on the Stern may be setting the scene for a film to be made some 90 years later. The Director electing to use a younger pair and move them to the front of the ship, many of the cast and the movie itself would eventually win Oscars and VHS tapes would be handed out to purchasers of Happy Meals. The Addams Family at SeaLooking at those wheelhouses, I don't think I've ever seen a ship built with a mansard roof. ParticulatesThe lack of pollution control back in the day is startling. The amount of thick black smoke would certainly not be tolerated today. It would take several more years until emission control standards would be adopted. [Several more decades! - Dave] The Lansdownewas towed from Erie to Buffalo in 2008 and broken up there that year. Life as a restaurantPictures of the Lansdowne as a floating restaurant on the Detroit waterfront are hard to come by (see below). She lost one side wheel and a pair of funnels, and had a steel structure built on top with two old railroad observation cars at one end. The interiors (and exteriors) were just cheap 1980s ersatz "luxury," with little connection or even acknowledgment of her Victorian past. It could have been built on any old barge and been the same. By the end of its restaurant career, it was dirty, poorly managed and had awful food. Photo SourceTry as I might I can not locate this image on the LOC site. Did you obtain it from them? I'd like to play with the full size Tiff copy they usually have on the site. [It's here. You can find these by searching LOC for the filename (for this one, "4a15742" -- right-click on the Shorpy image, choose "properties" or "view image info") - Dave] Restaurant Observation CarsThe observation cars on the photo of the Lansdowne as a restaurant photo that bigguy1960 posted are a pair of Milwaukee Road Skytop Observation Cars that were built in 1949 when they re-equipped their Hiawatha trains. Ten of these were built, six in the original design with the extended skypod observation area and four with a shortened skypod; the latter class are the cars on the Lansdowne. They were withdrawn from service in 1970. Apparently the railcars were undamaged when the Lansdowne sank at Erie, but couldn't be salvaged intact and were each cut into three pieces. There was reportedly an effort underway to salvage them to make one complete car out of the two but I have no knowledge of whether this was carried out. Update: To answer swissarch's question, several of the ten Skytop cars have survived. One that I know of for sure, Cedar Rapids, is operational and sometimes used on excursions. She would be a true sister of the cars on the Lansdowne. The car is owned by a group called "Friends of 261" and can even be rented for whatever reason. At least two other cars Coffee Creek and Dell Rapids either still exist or are in the process of being restored. ExtraThat's what I'd pay to ride in one of those Obervation Cars. It must have been truly exciting to be in one of those thundering along at about 80 mph, watching the world rush by. Shame they're lost; were any saved? Spectacular shotQuestion for the boat engineers. It seems that a lot of the inland vessels back then used paddlewheels. What is the advantage of a paddlewheel over a screw? Why were they so popular then and not now? And why are some sidewheelers and some sternwheelers? Postcard based on the photographFound on the Web. [Very nice -- it looks like a watercolor. - Dave] (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
Devine's Place: 1905
... 1890s. Click to enlarge. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Duluth, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 6:57pm -

Circa 1905. Our latest installment from the Duluth, Minnesota, panoramic series. Anyone for a round of Blatz? Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. That street in the foregroundis probably the kind of place that your mom would tell you to never walk down. Trolley wireI have never seen a trolley wire suspension system like the one in the photo. Maybe there weren't enough wooden poles so they resorted to the iron poles and arches, but it would seem that insulation of the wires from the ground would be difficult. Anyone seen this system in any other Shorpy photos? WonderfulThere are two really superb looking Victorians at the middle horizon that would be well worth a second look. Charles Addams could have been the architect! Grand! Is that Andy's place? I'm buying but ...it'll have to be the hometown Fitgers, or at least the cross-port rival, Superior. I'll take a passon that Blatz. But I could really go for an ice cold Battle Ax! Battle Ax -- The beer that made Duluth, well, Duluth! Well goshNow I have an urge to go grab me a chew of "Mail Pouch." Isn't advertising wonderful? Still standingThe dark church and the Fitgers smokestack are still there in this panorama: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Skyline-Duluth-200603... Now I have a hankering to visit Grandma's Saloon again for old time's sake. It was a day trip from my home town of Minneapolis, but it's a long ways from where I live in Texas now. Sigh. I'm surprisedthat Dave didn't name this photo "(S)hoes and rubbers" but that might have been just a too bit racy. Pleasantly SeedyNotice how The Builder's Supply building in the foreground has a first floor below the road. I wonder if all of the buildings on the other side of the bridge approach - including Devine's Place - at one time had first floor storefronts and then the buildings were modified once the bridge was built. Just a wonderful, wonderful picture. The beer made in Superior...was Northern. Duluth had a couple other breweries besides Fitger's Brewing (Fitger's & Rex Beer). Duluth Brewing & Malting (Royal Bohemian, Stag, Moose & Karlsbrau Beer) & Peoples Brewing (Peoples, Regal Beer, Olde English 600 Stout). All brand are gone except Olde English 600, which still lives on as Olde English 800 Malt Liquor. Battle Axwas a brand of chewing tobacco. If "Mail Pouch" wouldn't turn off chaw customers, why would "Battle Ax"? A complete version of a wall painting, courtesy of Olivander's Flickr site, is below. Well engineeredThe guy who designed the elaborate chimney flu on the building next to the hotel was determined to not let one tiny bit of rain or snow get down into the house. [Achoo. - Dave] Luxe accommodationsIn just a single-block stretch of seven or eight storefronts there are the Scandinavien Boarding House, Zenith Lodging and the Sven (?) Hotel. And they all look a little rough around the edges. I imagine these fine establishments were most often frequented by merchant seamen coming ashore after crossing Lake Superior, before reloading the next day to head back east through the Great Lakes, perhaps all the way to the St. Lawrence Seaway. They were probably a little rough around the edges as well. Great photograph. [The St. Lawrence Seaway didn't open until 1959. - Dave] City GasDuluth must have had a municipal gas system in those days. Above the Blatz building you can see the frame for storage. Norse StreetThis looks like a real Scandinavian street, with the Scandinavien Boarding House, Svea Hotel, Northland restaurant and A.W. Anderson's shop. Maybe that's one of my immigrant great-grandfathers sitting under that awning. I'm curious where the dirt road that goes under the bridge leads to, though. Fire!In the middle left are the ruins of a building that looks like it burned down. Duluth had what this country neededA good 5 cent cigar! Star of DavidI see a Star of David symbol in three locations: on the Blatz Brewery sign, on a storefront just to the right of the Northland Restaurant, and on the side of the large white building at upper left. Was there a significant Jewish presence in 1905 Duluth or does the symbol indicate something else? [In Germany, the hexagram or Bierstern (beer star) was a symbol of the brewers' guild. - Dave] Flimsy trolley polesThe trolley poles are amazingly flimsy. They look like they're made out of steel water pipe. The insulators look about the size of those used for low voltage telephone wires. I can only see one street light (at the right) so it must have been dark at night. I don't think the trolley poles would survive a midnight collision with a hefty Scandinavian dock worker full of Blatz. ChurchvilleI can see at least four steeples in this shot as well as the building with the onion dome might be one (I am inclined to think it's a hospital or a school). Just how much "churchin'" did one town need? Did anyone notice the Coca Cola sign on the left? Also, judging by the size of some of the mansions in town, there was some serious money in Duluth at this time. Stables!Finally spotted a stable! J. Hammel & Co, sale and exchange stables. Would love to see a close up of it or other stables from long ago for that matter! Points of interestThe large white building with the Star of David at the left edge of the photo is the local Orthodox synagogue in Duluth, still standing and in service. The onion dome sits on top of the Masonic Temple Opera Building, built in 1889 on Superior Street. The dome was later removed so as not to "mock the Classic purity of the Orpheum Theater" being built next to it on the avenue, according to a local architectural guide. Those trolley polesI saw a couple of comments about the trolley wire infrastructure and I've lived in a city that still has streetcars my whole life, so hopefully I can clear a bit up: The insulators don't look that big in the picture and they don't look that big from the ground either, when you're standing on the sidewalk looking up. The are substantial pieces of porcelain when you're holding one in your hand. Also, they only need to insulate against 600 volts DC, which isn't that high. With respect to the support poles, they're probably painted steel poles. Notice that they are only carrying the span wires and trolley wires above the tracks as well as some DC feed circuits. They aren't carrying nearly as many circuits or heavy objects like transformers that the electric utility poles are. Poles like the ones in the picture have lasted between 60 and 80 years at home. The support poles have to be installed on a slight angle, leaning away from the street, when they're installed because the tension of the overhead wires above the tracks and the span wires supporting them tends to pull the poles in towards the street. If you look closely at the support pole at the far right of the picture on the sidewalk closest to the camera, you can see it bending in towards the street. That suggests that it either wasn't installed correctly or (more likely from the way the pole appears bent) the span wire' tension's much too high... Streetcar wire like that's one thing that hasn't changed much over the last 100 years and the stuff hanging above the tracks a block from where I'm writing this looks the same in 2009 as it does in the picture from 1905. A Battle Ax in Indianapolishttp://www-lib.iupui.edu/static/exhibits/circle/exhibit3_1.html While on an entirely different expedition, I just came across another old photo showing a 'Battle Ax' mural, right here in my hometown. Thought I'd share... http://www-lib.iupui.edu/static/exhibits/circle/exhibit3_1.html Did the streetcar company have one of these?I've just come back from holiday in Greece. Trams and trolley buses are alive and well in Athens and Pireaus. The modern trolley poles look pretty substantial, but here is a delightful 1910 photo (courtesy of the ISAP archives) of a horse drawn tower wagon for inspecting the tram wires on the Pireaus waterfront. The Duluth trolley poles at the right of your picture look very similar to the one on the left of this one and the insulator is indeed very small. I wonder if the Duluth streetcar company had such a handy vehicle? Panoramic Duluth1890s. Click to enlarge. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Duluth, Railroads)
Official Business: 1942
... war labour transport needs. I'm a big fan of wooden boats, so the idea of beautifully varnished wood on a mechanical conveyance is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/16/2023 - 8:02pm -

October 1942. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "Women in war. Supercharger plant workers. To replace men who have been called to armed service, many young girls like 19-year-old Jewel Halliday are taking jobs never before held by women. Her job is shuttling workers between two Midwest war plants for Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co." Photo by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size. Don't mess with me, mister!A wonderful shot, dramatically lit, conveying the sense of the subject being all about business. [Photographer Ann Rosener would be a Missus. As opposed to her assistant crouched next to the steering wheel. - Dave] The estate of affairsLooks like a 1942 Buick 40B Estate Wagon - for all your war labour transport needs. I'm a big fan of wooden boats, so the idea of beautifully varnished wood on a mechanical conveyance is not foreign to me. The US Army bought a ton of the 2-door and 4-door sedans for use as staff cars, and it would appear a few of the woodie estate wagons too. Jewell HallidayJewell (correct spelling) Halliday married Rudolph A. Pollak in Milwaukee, on June 20, 1946. He was a World War II veteran. Jewell passed away in Milwaukee on November 20, 1974. Rudolph died in Florida, on November 24, 1999. I was unable to determine if they had any children. It wasn't just womenIn 1944, my Dad (16 years old) was driving the street sweeper in Coronado, Calif. He had an hour between 5-6am, to sweep the downtown business district. The next hour was spent on a rotating basis thru the different residential areas. By 7am he was headed home to get ready for school. Restating "The estate of affairs"While looking very Buick-like, this is actually a 1942 Chevrolet Special DeLuxe Station Wagon. The wood panels and trim are different; the Buick's fender sweep into the front doors is longer; the thin wooden slats on the interior roof of the Chevy took the place of a headliner; and the shadow of the Chevy's rear door hinge can also be seen below the door handle. The Buick's hinge was above the window line. Chevy built 1,057 while there were only 327 of the 1942 Buick Model 49 Estate Wagons (including one for export). At $1,095 it was Chevy's most expensive model, and it was also their heaviest model at 3,425 pounds. Only three of these Buicks are thought to still exist, and half of the 1942 production is believed to have gone to the federal government for the war effort. Cost of the Buick was $1,450, and it weighed 3,925 pounds (500 more pounds than the Chevy!). Comparison photos from early 1942 catalogs are below. Note that because Chevy used two different body builders for the station wagon bodies the trim shown in the Shorpy photo is slightly different from the catalog drawing (which was also produced months in advance of actual production beginning). (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Milwaukee, WW2)
Zenith City: 1905
... that exists from the original picture. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Duluth, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 6:55pm -

Duluth, Minnesota, circa 1905. "Elevators and harbor," along with a view of the Incline Railway and many other points of interest, make up our daily dose of Duluth. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. The Old BallgameAre those guys playing baseball in the lower right? They're spread out like they're playing something very similar. (Click to enlarge.) Let us venture back to a timeWhen Railroads ruled the Earth. Are they birthing Orcs in that roundhouse? The same scene today.Despite all the changes, this scene is still recognizable. Alluring Alliteration "Daily dose of Duluth." Gotta love it. ImprovementsDuluth really looks much, much better today! Rail lineA mid 1880s source cites the "St. P.&D. and N.P. Round House." That's the biggestroundhouse I've ever seen! Any bigger and it wouldn't have a way to bring locos in. Here is a shot of a current Duluth roundhouse from above (Google). Re: The Old BallgameYep. I think we've stumbled onto some Duluth-variety hardball. And from the outfield alignment, we can only guess our batter is not a pull hitter. Baseball?Good catch. Who's on second? This is why we look at the ShorpyAnother truly amazing photo. It's deeply three-dimensional: From the busy shirtwaist lady in the foreground, to the slouchy men hanging out by the steam laundry, to the (obviously) baseball people, to the infernal roundhouse, to the ships in the harbor... Visually they're all stitched together, front to back, by the power poles: you can see individual insulators on the nearest ones, behind the Clarendon Hotel (New!), but they merge into infinity as they march to the shining harbor. This is surely one of Shorpy's best. Apart from the swimsuit girls, of course. Duluth & Iron RangeThe boxcars lower left look like they might have "D.&.I.R." on them. That would make it the Duluth & Iron Range, which merged in 1938 to become the D.M. & I.R. There are some more boxcars above those D&IR ones that look like they might be Great Northern. But the owner of the roundhouse is definitely not clear. Re: What's MissingIndeed, they probably walked to and from work. I grew up in Beech Grove, Indiana, home to a large repair yard for Penn, Penn Central and Amtrak that dates back to 1910 or a little before. In the early '60s it was astonishing to see hundreds of workers in overalls, kerchiefs and the traditional engineer cap (with its distinctive narrow gray striping) as they walked westward down Main Street after work. Each carried a lunch pail and most seemed to have a newspaper under the arm. They would crowd the sidewalks on both sides for several blocks, from a distance looking something like a pair of giant centipedes. Not surprising, Main Street was also lined with taverns which surely enticed many men to stop for a quick beer as they made their way home. Big SkyCan anyone comment on why many of these old photos have so much "head room"? Photographers today compose their shot to get the most matter and keep the sky to a minimum. (Not to mention having to deal with the contrast ratio.) What's Missing!!!If this photo were made today there would be employee cars parked everywhere. That roundhouse surely employs quite a number of people. In 1905 I assume that most folks either walked to work, like the folks walking on the viaduct, or rode the streetcar. There isn't even a horse and buggy to be seen. It does look like there might be a couple of streetcars way down the street. For the birdsI like the big bird house in the back yard of the place across the street from A. Larson's "General Arthur" store, or whatever that says. It looks just as ramshackle as the rest of the buildings. Being on a crookedstump doesn't help -- the eggs'll roll out! Unfortunate use of quotes"The Best" Beer in Milwaukee, eh? For some reason I don't believe you. Why'd you have to use the quotes, huh? The RoundhouseLots of comments about the roundhouse, and it is a big one: 36 stalls if I count right. It's interesting to see photos of such buildings when they were comparitively new as opposed to how they looked by the end of the steam age. Question I have is which railroad did it belong to? Has to be either C&NW or DM&IR, but I can't tell by the locomotives parked nearby as I'm not an expert on either road's power. I'm guessing C&NW, a far larger road who would need a roundhouse of this size. Selz Royal BlueFantastic details. This world of busy, grimy character has a real appeal for me. And what a great opportunity to see newly-painted side-of-building advertising in all its glory. Today one sees mostly faded "ghost" images. Across the way from Miller Beer, Selz Royal Blue was a shoe brand advertised all over the country. This ad in the Arizona Journal-Miner is from 1905. Rices PointThe rail yard is the Northern Pacific Railways's Rices Point Yard and roundhouse. The elevated tracks on the left are Great Northern Railway. Actually, that looks like cricketAs to the ballgame being played at the right, the people don't seem arrayed correctly for baseball, but it looks like it would work for cricket, which, as I understand it, was actually played in parts of the U.S. at the time. [Duluth -- "Cricket Wicket of the Unsalted Seas." - Dave] Iron AgeA portion of the fancy iron railroad bridge off in the distance still exists -- the first truss span -- visible on Google Maps and Street View from the freeway bridge next to it (its concealed by the freeway bridge in the modern view in the first comment). Its the only landmark I can find that exists from the original picture. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Duluth, Railroads)
Harpers Ferry: 1865
... http://www.nps.gov/hafe/faqs.htm (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, James Gardner) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/19/2008 - 11:37pm -

1865. "Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. View of Maryland Heights at confluence of Shenandoah and Potomac rivers." Wet plate glass negative (detail) by James Gardner. Civil War glass negative collection, Library of Congress. View full size. Bridge and BoatThat bridge is lovely! And it looks like there's a boat being drawn by horses in the canal on the left. Harpers FerryFirst saw a picture of Harpers Ferry in a 1950s National Geographic. Took the family to see it in 1958 and we climbed to the top of mountain where early pictures showed Union Troops. Now the National Park Service runs everything. Maryland HeightsThis view looks downstream; the rocks on the far side are Maryland Heights. The bridge in the center is still represented by a line of piers adjacent to the present bridges. Anniversary of the RaidNext year marks the 150th anniversary of the raid on Harpers Ferry. More info, including some very nice photos, here: http://www.harpersferryhistory.org/johnbrown/index.htm Harpers FerryThey've done a lot of restoration in the town over the past few years. It's always breezy because of the two rivers, so even on the hottest days it's usually pleasant. Plenty to see and learn, and the restaurants provide rest and excellent provender! Beautiful spot that we revisit often. Harpers Ferry BridgeThe bridge spans are some of the earliest examples of the Bollman truss, a hybrid truss/suspension design which originated on the B&O. The only surviving example is in Savage, Maryland. Harpers Bridge Recent ViewsAnyone interested in "current" views? 1974 from very roughly same location: and 12/6/07 opposite direction, Bollman bridge piers remain in river at left, 1893 replacement bridge in center, 1930's replacement bridge at right as the railroad addressed the horrid original alignment here (look at those curves at span ends in the 1865 version). The predecessors to the Bollman were blown up over and over again as the Civil War surged back and forth here. Harpers FerryAnd Amtrak can take you right there on the spot. There's the train station on the west side of the rivers, which provides a great view as well. Amtrak train the Cardinal from NY to Chicago through Washington DC will take you there. It's a beautiful trip through the Adirondack mountains going west, been through there myself more than once. Harpers Ferry TodayThe C&O Canal Towpath, a national park, follows the Potomac River from Cumberland, Maryland, to Georgetown (D.C.). That makes it a 185-mile park, and the stretch through Harpers Ferry is among the most beautiful parts. Strongly recommended for anyone who can walk, bicycle or roll for a mile or two. [There's also a nice footpath through the woods to Maryland Heights -- the top of the cliff to the left. The view is spectacular. - Dave] One of my favorite places on Earth!I can remember stopping there on my way back to live in Kansas after graduating from high school and college in Maryland. I foolishly stood in the middle of the street and stared across the river at the tunnel. A horn honked and I turned and saw a beautiful long-haired blonde driving a huge red convertible. The world seemed rife with possiblities at that moment in a way that was different from anything that followed in later years! Harpers Ferry by TrainIt's the Amtrak Capital Limited, train No. 29 west, and 30 east. Of course before Amtrak this town was served by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the original Capital Limited. That House!!Having visited Harper's Ferry several times, I started to search my photos to see if I had a modern comparable shot... but the thing that stood out most to me was that tiny white house on the left edge of the photo!! The structure is still there and people always stop to explore it! There's also an old ad that seems to be painted into the side of the mountain, which I've never been able to figure out what it says... I see "powder"... Last Trip TogetherMy husband Steve and his brother-in-law Jack visited Harpers Ferry in March of 1995. Steve, the shutterbug of the family, took along his camcorder and we have lots of footage. I've never been there and now, thanks to this photo, I'm going to "revisit" the area by viewing this footage again. Steve and Jack will never know how poignant their vacation was. Jack passed away the very next month and Steve less than four years later. Both died in their 40's--both lives cut way too short. Powder SignAccording to the FAQ page on the NPS website for Harpers Ferry, the sign reads (or read) Mennen's Borated Talcum Toilet Powder, and it was painted some time between 1903 and 1906. http://www.nps.gov/hafe/faqs.htm (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, James Gardner)
Spar Deck Swabbies: 1898
... overhead. These spars might have been for the ship's boats. In this period, ships' boats were often sail and/or oar powered, with one or two steam launches. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/01/2014 - 10:46am -

Circa 1898. "League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia. U.S.S. Brooklyn spar deck." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The large intake tubesLandlubber here so might be a dumb query. What are those huge tubes used for on these old ships? I assume air intake for down below? [Yes. Ventilator ports. - Dave] What are those "pads" called?Very interesting comment from Capn_Jack, thanks! I also noted four (4ea) boat support pads mounted above the spars with turnbuckles for adjustability. I wonder if they have a name. Vampire ShipThe Photographer caught Nosferatu coming up the stairs. Devil's in the detailsLots of neat details in this one. The intake ventilators TonyB asked about,-- usually these big ones are for the boiler room combustion supply as well as to cool the stokers as they fed coal into the furnaces -- are adjustable. There is a drive pinion shaft running up each one with a ring of gear teeth around the exterior (see the one top center). This would allow the crew to trim the ventilators to the wind direction so they could scoop as much air as possible. On some ships in this period boilers worked by natural draft -- the ventilators were not being helped by mechanical fans -- and this arrangement was much more common on cruisers that could handle the very tall funnels natural draft required. It seems likely Brooklyn was using wind to help her boilers get more air. More air, faster combustion, more power. The second detail is the spars resting on the beams overhead. These spars might have been for the ship's boats. In this period, ships' boats were often sail and/or oar powered, with one or two steam launches. Cruisers had a large complement of boats since they often did service in remote areas. The "string of beads" thing at the end of a spar is a parrel -- a feature from the age of sail that slid (rolled on the beads actually) up and down on a mast to allow a gaff or yard to be hoisted smoothly. The shape of the jaws suggests a gaff, and the size of the wire loop suggests it's for one of the boats rather than for the ship itself. Intake tubesWe still have them on some older ships; they're called scoops. At one point you could find them on cabin portholes too, which could be adjusted to redirect air into your living space, primitive "A/C" for the mariner! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Philadelphia)
Ore Hoists: 1900
... Lakes vessels in captive service on the lakes are called "boats", not ships) of, maybe, 5,000 tons. I've never seen a picture of one ... I've always thought the Hulett unloaders that unloaded boats for the next half a century were clumsy, but they were sure a vast ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/17/2013 - 12:14pm -

Lake Erie circa 1900. "Unloading ore at Conneaut, Ohio. Brown conveying hoists." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Didn't change much for 80 years.During college (1981), I worked on an ore ship. The Str Paul H. Carnahan- National Steel Corp. It was one of the last ones on the lakes that didn't have a self-unloading boom. When we went from Duluth to Cleveland or Sandusky or, yes, Conneaut, we were unloaded with this same type of machinery. It might have been updated with Diesel power or Electricity - I don't remember. I worked in the Galley, so I didn't have to deal with opening the hatches as in the pic. Ahhh... youth. Brown Conveyor UnloadersWow! Those things must have taken FOREVER to unload even a small boat (on the Great Lakes vessels in captive service on the lakes are called "boats", not ships) of, maybe, 5,000 tons. I've never seen a picture of one of these before. The only way I can visualize, at that time, to fill that bucket suspended from the trolley of the conveyor is to have workers hand shovel the ore in the hold into the bucket! In those days, laborer really meant LABORer. I've always thought the Hulett unloaders that unloaded boats for the next half a century were clumsy, but they were sure a vast improvement over these Brown monsters. Todays conveyor equipped "self-unloader" boats are a quantum improvement over the Huletts. A transportation vehicle (railroad car, semi-trailer, boat/ship, stagecoach, or aircraft) only makes money for its owner when it's moving. Anything that can reduce terminal time is money in the bank. BrownhoistsThe Brownhoists were all gone by 1981. Ore would have been unloaded by Huletts, which were incredible machines. Here is a link to a You Tube video of them. Notice tied up alongside this ship is the ubiquitous "bum boat". literally a floating general store, found in almost every Great Lakes port back then. I think they are all gone except perhaps the one in Duluth. Hand shoveling, Browns, and HulettsYes, the Huletts were a giant leap in unloading iron ore, stone, etc. over the Browns, but before the Browns, there was hand shoveling. So, the Browns revolutionized cargo unloading, and then the Huletts did it again. BTW, the Huletts in the video were in Cleveland. Several were scrapped and several were dismantled. 18 men and 1 Brown Unloader could unload 100 tons per hourFor "tons" of information on the unloading of ore boats and more, see the Google ebook Iron Ore Transport on the Great Lakes: The Development of a Delivery System to Feed American Industry by W. Bruce Bowlus. "This detailed history recounts innovations in shipping, the improvement of channels and harbors, the creation of locks, technical advances in loading and unloading equipment..." A preview of the book is available at http://goo.gl/pukcj4 (try searching the book for [Brown] Incredibly interestingI forwarded this to my daughter the engineering student and she was impressed. Thanks to Clare for the link to the video of the Hullets. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Primitive Ferry: 1907
... (to me anyway) but they must be fairly deep to keep other boats from snagging them. Shaker Ferry This is apparently the Shaker ... but effective. The rope should not foul the other boats if they are like the ones shown. They have a very shallow draft and would ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 7:50pm -

Circa 1907. "Primitive ferry, High Bridge, Kentucky River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Shaker Ferry, not Valley ViewResponding to a previous comment, this is the former Shaker Ferry, not the Valley View Ferry. Both are (were) in the Lexington area, but Valley View is several miles upriver and is still in operation. Horse whispererI wonder how they talked him into taking the ride. Sternwheeler I don't see any smokestack for what I assume is a steam engine and if there is an engine, it must be above deck as the hull looks too shallow for anything else. Could the engine be behind the superstructure? Hard to see. On the ropesUnderwater ropes are the only way that makes sense (to me anyway) but they must be fairly deep to keep other boats from snagging them. Shaker FerryThis is apparently the Shaker Ferry, as seen in this photo from the Cincinnati Public Library collection. Valley View FerryMight this be what we are looking at? If so, it's still in existence! Although, this particular iteration of it doesn't seem to be connected to the shore via ropes or cables that are suspended above the water. Alternate Title"Dobbin's Ferry." Please, no applause -- just throw money. I must be going blindWhat is propelling the ferry across the river? -- And thanks, Dave, for all the High Bridge plates! Propulsion?I am guessing that there is a rope system under the ferry that is pulling it towards the near shore, but it must be totally under water. The handle that the man is grasping doesn't seem to be connected to anything that would propel the boat. Educational value of ShorpyShorpy never ceases to amaze me. I was one of the early posters to this thread questioning how the ferry was propelled. Stevendm supplied the answer I was looking for. Armed with the info from Steven I did some research on the web and found out that this type of ferry is called a reaction ferry. The rope either below or above the water provides the opposing force for the rudder to do its job. A ferry still operating in 1952This 1952 Topographic Map courtesy of the USGS shows an operating ferry. Work DetailBoat Makeover. Row, Row Your BoatNotice that the railing where the guy is standing is greatly reinforced. I believe the wooden piece he controls is made to grab the rope or cable and let him walk along the side to propel the raft. If the current is in the right direction, he would be able to control the speed merely by letting the rope slide through. New member here, have been lurking through the entire Shorpy files. Thanks, Dave for bringing us these fine photos. Charlie Underwater RopeI have heard of ferries like this. There is an underwater rope that the boat is guided by. The man standing at the right in the boat is holding a tiller that turns a rudder underneath the ferry. This tiller is in line with the flow of the river, not with the axis of the ferry. The movement of the water across the tiller pushes the ferry from one bank to another, turn the tiller one way and you move to one bank, turn it the other way and you go to the other bank. Simple but effective. The rope should not foul the other boats if they are like the ones shown. They have a very shallow draft and would float right over the rope. Remember, the rope is probably not very taut and will drop down in the water when not close by land or the ferry. Stern Wheeler. Looks to me like it's powered by stationary hit and miss engine rather than a steam engine. But that's just my assumption. MichiganSeveral years ago, I was in Charlevoix, Michigan. They had (may still have) a ferry there that could carry one or two cars across a narrow part of Lake Charlevoix. It used an underwater cable that pulled the ferry back and forth. I would imagine this ferry had a similar system. It Carried Cars, Too.The book "First Highways of America" contains a picture of this same ferry carrying two cars. In theory one of those could have been driven by my great-grandparents as they crossed on the ferry in 1920 during a trip to Florida. Fare was apparently set by vehicle size. They paid 50 cents for their Model T and their friends in an Overland paid 75 cents. Granny reported that High Bridge was their "first bit of sight seeing worth while" and that the men made it all the way "down a stairs of nearly 300 steps" but the women stopped short of the bottom. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Horses)
Jim, Joe and Harry: 1900
... noise. Note the lack of enclosures on the sternwheel boats. Wide Load! It is interesting how wide the James Lee looks in comparison to the other two river boats. I have seen photographs here on Shorpy of other sidewheelers and they ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 6:07pm -

Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1900. "Mississippi River levee from the custom house. Steamboats James Lee, Harry Lee and City St. Joseph." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. James LeeI've never noticed an enclosed paddle wheel before. Is this a feature reserved for luxury vessels? I wonder how much of the sound of the wheel was actually muffled? Enclosed Paddle WheelsIt was pretty much the default setting to enclose the wheels on sidewheel steamers. I imagine this was done more to keep the afterdecks from getting splashed than to reduce noise. Note the lack of enclosures on the sternwheel boats. Wide Load! It is interesting how wide the James Lee looks in comparison to the other two river boats. I have seen photographs here on Shorpy of other sidewheelers and they have never looked as wide as this. Another thing is the blended sides. Most sidewheelers are sort of squared off at the wheels. The sides of this one wrap around and the stern looks to be quite broad as if it starts just aft of the sidewheels. EnclosedI always assumed that enclosing side-wheels was done as a safety precaution, given the extra foot traffic around them. It never occurred to me that it might have been to muffle their sound. But the anti-splashing aspect seems logical, too. [I always thought it was to keep them from getting wet. - Dave] Small but ornateThe wharfmaster's office reminds me of a carnival ticket booth. Frisco BridgeThat is the Frisco Bridge in the background, built in 1892, still in use today as a railroad bridge. At the time of the photo, it was the only bridge across the Mississippi at Memphis, now there are four. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Memphis)
Raft Warehouse: 1943
... raft but it closely resembles the type used on PT Boats in the war, especially as used on the Higgins built there in New Orleans. ... a major center of war production in WWII including Higgins Boats landing craft and on the South Bank at Avondale, tug boats, destroyers ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2019 - 11:38am -

March 1943. "New Orleans, Louisiana. Loading a rubber raft onto a truck at the terminal of Associated Transport Company." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. "Do Not Paint"Well that explains why those things always looked so scruffy. I'm reading the book "Unbroken"about three downed B-24 fliers (eventually two) who floated in the Pacific for 47 days before being captured by the Japanese. They constantly had to fend off shark attacks. That raft with the floor suspended by ropes is for sharks, similar to browsing the butcher shop meat case. I doubt it was very popular with shipwreck survivors. 180,000At least that many Camel cigarettes. We see 3 stacks by 6 crates high = 18 x 10,000 cigs per crate. 500 PKGS CAMEL 20'sAt least they'll have plenty of cigs on the raft. (Now where's that dry match?) Smokes but no fireThat's a serious amount of cigarettes, in some serious crates back there - 500 packs of 20 smokes each! Probably a common raftbut it closely resembles the type used on PT Boats in the war, especially as used on the Higgins built there in New Orleans. Canvas floatI believe that is a Carley float --a kapok or cork ring covered with canvas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carley_float More on the raftI didn't know this before but looking at the raft in particular in detail made me do some research. Evidently the type is made from Balsa wood wrapped in canvas. It has a wood floor that suspends from the ropes. I supposed that's a bit more stable than the inflatable type though probably a lot less comfortable over time. War ProductionNew Orleans was a major center of war production in WWII including Higgins Boats landing craft and on the South Bank at Avondale, tug boats, destroyers and destroyer escorts. Perhaps the life rafts are headed for new ships under construction and the Camels to a more immediate use. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, John Vachon, New Orleans)
The Royal Palm: 1907
... on the Miami River. Soon, the river will once again host boats instead of abandoned cars and reefs of tires. Watch out for the ... the three months of the tourist season. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Florida, Miami) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 4:17pm -

Miami circa 1907. "Miami River and Royal Palm Hotel." Yet another Florida hotel built by Henry Flagler, the Royal Palm is said to have had Miami's first electric lights, elevators and swimming pool. 8x10 glass negative. View full size. GOT to get my eyes checkedI read that as: "the Royal Palm is said to have had Miami's first electric lights, alligators and swimming pool." Make you swim those laps a little faster. ProgressDredging has begun on the Miami River. Soon, the river will once again host boats instead of abandoned cars and reefs of tires. Watch outfor the electric swimming pool! Miami RiverThis would have been taken from the first span to cross the Miami River -- the Avenue D Bridge, looking northeast from the river's south shore. Later, Avenue D was renamed "Miami Avenue". Needless to say, the view has changed remarkably in the last 105 years. Sure, Sure,C'mon down and unload a barge full of sand by hand, and we could be out sailing. Palm ReaderPalm trees really beautify Florida. It's too bad the modern view has very few of them. And thanks Dave for another Flagler pic. Alcohol for 3 Months Every YearJust read about this on Wikipedia, very interesting fact: Although, at the insistence of Julia Tuttle, a clause prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages had been included in all land deeds for the new city of Miami, the Royal Palm Hotel had an exemption to serve alcohol to its guests during the three months of the tourist season. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Florida, Miami)
Super Carrier Christmas: 1957
... look at: A few mementos of Forrestal times . . . (Boats & Bridges, Christmas, Kermy Kodachromes) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/07/2013 - 9:43am -

"Christmas 1957" is the label on this slide from the Kermy and Janet Kodachromes, taken at their house in Baltimore. Gifts include a Revell model aircraft carrier and something called the Shopping Center Game. View full size. Fun for ALL Non-Toxicsays one gift, and I wonder if he really completed that aircraft carrier with its 23,000 parts. Revell aircraft carrier modelSome time in the mid-sixties, I put together an aircraft carrier model like that, though not so large. The icing on the cake was gluing the dozens of tiny aircraft to the deck. (I had two younger brothers, so everything had to be glued down.) Loot aplentyThe two additional Revell boxes promise many happy hours inhaling glue fumes. And a pair of spiffy red boots in the bargain! Shopping Center gameI bought that at an estate sale a couple years back. There are some pictures of it here. U.S.S ForrestalI built the U.S.S. Forrestal a few years later, about 1961. I still have a few of the aircraft from the deck. 1 co-workers brother was killed in the tragic Forrestal fire in 1967. Patrick Wentzel Parkersburg, WV More than an inhalant hazardThat glue would make a crater in the dining room table (whilst assembling a Lockheed Constellation). Followed by a brief lecture from my father. I suspect that he was not without sin. BTW, I crewed in Neptunes. I never knew that they made a model of that critter. A product of the Burbank Iron Works. One point two million rivets in tight formation. b-ballWe had that basketball game-- the ball was a ping pong ball, if I recall correctly, and it shot off the cardboard floor of the game via a lever....fun!! The helicopter that wasn'tHiding underneath the Forrestal box is another for a Piasecki H-16 Transporter helicopter. The model never made it to full production after the second prototype crashed during evaluation by the Air Force. Unfortunately, I can't see enough of the third box to identify the model. B-24 LiberatorThe Revell model under the carrier B-24The third model is a B-24 Liberator. I remember building that same model carrieras well as the helicopter kit beneath it. Brings back vivid memories of those days, with scattered kit parts and the pungent smell of Revell glue (readily sold to kids back then) permeating my bedroom. How I never got high, nor developed an affinity for that glue stuff, amazes me to this day. The chemicals probably killed off a few brain cells along the way, but boy, those kits were fun and launched your imagination! The third modelis the box scale (about 1/92 in this case) Revell B-24 Liberator. I have lusted mightily for that one for some years. Ah, nostalgia! All these kits command prices far in excess of what Kermy's folks had to lay out. One dealer (known for high prices) lists the Forrestal at over $200. Nostalgia at a price. Revell models on the sceneThere are a total of five Revell model boxes visible here. The other model kit hiding below the USS Forrestal carrier kit's box is a B-24 Liberator. There's the Piasecki H-16 helicopter kit and behind the boy there's a couple more models: an A3D Skywarrior model on top and a P2V-7 Neptune model below it. Images of all these boxes can be found here. Kermyalways got the coolest stuff for Christmas! The bookis Sand Dune Pony by Troy Nesbit. Lucky Kermy!Not only did Kermy (who appears to be a year or so older than I am) get some nifty gifts, I envied anyone who could put those models together nicely. God knows I tried, but my models looked thrown together. That's because they were; I wanted to do them in an hour. Some of my friends would have great model airplanes hanging on fishing line from their bedroom ceilings; that was so cool!!! I remember reading the Sand Dune Pony book, though I preferred the Hardy Boys or Tom Swift, Junior. Kermy's shirt is pretty stylin', too! That lucky old Kermy!!! My ForrestalCame 2 years and one week later, I think, on my 10th birthday. You Rang My BellIn the pile on the right I see Miss Frances and her bell on a box of something good from Ding Dong School, a popular TV program when I was a lad in the 1950s. I will readily admit I was bigger fan of Winky Dink and Buffalo Bob who was great fun with his buddy Howdy Doody. Sticking PointI built that B-24 model sometime in the '50s. Revell kits had great detail and lots of little parts. But the most difficult part was keeping the glue from fogging the clear plastic pieces. I was seldom successful at that. Painstakingy painting the pilot was a useless effort when the canopy became a blurry mess. Composite CarrierI too had an aircraft carrier kit; mine was the USS Bon Homme Richard. I kept it for many years and modified it often by adding various vehicles and armaments from other models. Miss Revlon!!!!I would have sold my then five-year-old soul for that platinum-pony-tailed Miss Revlon doll lying atop her box beside the red boots. Kool KermyWith his button down collar AND blue suede shoes Kermy must have been stylin' in '57! FIVE Models for Christmas! Jackpot!I remember building my very first Revell model kit, carefully, lovingly gluing ever tiny piece in place, patiently waiting for it to dry. Then it occurred to me: "Oh, you paint it first . . ." U.S.S. ForrestalI know that girls aren't supposed to be interested in model kits, but as a kid, I was. I bought the U.S.S. Forrestal kit and put it together. I've often wondered what my mother did with it when we moved? A Betsy McCall dollis lurking in the background on the right. Partially hidden by the tree and the basketball game is a rather substantial collection of magazines, newspapers, and phone book or two. Could this indicate an early effort at recycling in '57? [Not if it was like the typical accumulations that could be found at this time around our house 3000 miles to the west. Like ours, it appears to contain at least one mail-order catalog (Wards in our case). Quite possibly Kermy, like me, would eventually have to be torn away from his toys, kicking and screaming, to deal with it. -tterrace] ValuesThe value of mint, unopened model kits can be amazing. If I'd known, I would have bought two of each kit I ever built, but, sadly, only realized this fact 65 years too late. A company called Pocher made 1/8 scale, museum quality models of famous cars; their sealed, unopened kits are like finding gold and they were expensive new. A Model ChildI had that Forrestal and many others by Revell and AirFix. The few I took to decorate my first college apartment are all that remained, after, much to my dismay, my parents gave away the rest from my old room at home. If they weren't turning over in their graves from the recent earthquakes directly under the cemetery where they're buried, they certainly would be anyway--to know I've spent a good part of my inheritance from them paying $200 a whack to replace those models. Figured I'd put them together on snowy winter evenings of my second childhood (and it's snowing right now). What I hadn't figured on is old eyes. They're all still in their boxes. Nevertheless, they make me happy. Kodachrome, enough said!I love this image! Ok first off its a Kodachrome, enough said. But I love the tinsel on the tree. Yes real tinsel that you cannot get anymore. Secondly look at the those glass beads on the tree, we have strands of those on our dinning room tree which has all vintage glass figural ornaments of all different sizes, shapes and colors. Now for the toys! As a boy I would have loved for that ship. I can remember Christmas morning in the late 1970's opening my presents from Santa. I was so excited to find an X-Wing Fighter, Tie Fighter and so forth. I have been capturing our family memories on slide film for years and continue to do so to tis day. I will continue to do so until there is no slide film left on the planet and then I will quietly put my camera away. I attached a photo taken on Christmas Eve in 2006 of our boys. Every Christmas Eve the Elves make deliveries of treats to the neighbors. That B-24!First model I ever built was that same B-24, summer of 1955, when I was 8. I learned the hard way that you REALLY have to refer to the directions when you build those babies. It came out a total mess. I spent THOUSANDS of happy hours as a kid building models by Revell, Aurora, Lindbergh Line, etc., etc. Another thing kids of today seem to have missed out on. U.S.S. Forrestal in Cannes, FranceU.S.S. Forrestal (and Saratoga) were part of the Sixth Fleet. As a child I used to visit the French Rivièra, around Christmas and New Year during several years in the late fifties and early sixties of the former century. The visit of the Sixth Fleet used to be one of the highlights for me and my brother in those days. One of our favourite tours was "rounding" the aircraft carrier by pedalo! During Christmas and New Year there used to be a fair in Cannes, I joined many a ride with an American Navy Sailor in the autoscooter: they liked to share the ride with a young European boy, and we liked to get it for free from an American Sailor. You may have a look at: A few mementos of Forrestal times . . . (Boats & Bridges, Christmas, Kermy Kodachromes)
Mass. Transit: 1912
... standing in the middle of the road, in order to let sail boats get through from the Charles River (to the left) out to the Boston Harbor ... Big Dig. There is also a drawbridge on the roadway now for boats to pass through, although it very rarely goes up these days -- mostly ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 2:39pm -

Boston circa 1912. "East Cambridge Bridge." A visual compendium of ways to get from here to there. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Not much has changedThe trolley track viaduct is still there. The building on the left with the tower still exists. It overlooks the Charles River dam. It still has a drawbridge over the connection lock between the river and Boston Harbor. Farther up on the left past the tower is now the location of the Boston Museum of Science. Beauty lost to timeView Larger Map Sensational!Remarkably, much of what is depicted in this photograph, which looks from Boston back across the Charles River to Cambridge, remains in place. Most prominently, the poured concrete viaduct for the trolley (today, referred to as the Green Line) running along the right side of the photo, is still there. I have often looked at the "1910" date engraved on the arched pediment above the column at the far right, and wondered what this part of town must have looked like when this structure was new. There is currently a drawbridge in the location where the police officer is standing in the middle of the road, in order to let sail boats get through from the Charles River (to the left) out to the Boston Harbor (to the right). The drawbridge is currently being rebuilt, and this section of road is actually closed for traffic for the next several weeks. The buildings on the left are still there as well. The tower is used (I believe) to control the drawbridge, and the lower building serves as a State Police station. A few weeks ago, a car was passing underneath the archway at the far right of the photograph, and a large chunk of concrete fell from above and shattered the driver's rear windshield. The whole structure still has a wonderful look to it, but it does need some attention. Bridge over the River CharlesI was surprised to see that the arches of this bridge were originally much narrower than they are today. (Although you can see the 1910 date has been retained.) Trolleys still run on that bridge, although it's now the only section left of a much longer elevated track that was mostly put underground during the Big Dig. There is also a drawbridge on the roadway now for boats to pass through, although it very rarely goes up these days -- mostly only on the Fourth of July when yachts come in from the harbor to watch the fireworks. The building on the left is now a State Police outpost (perhaps it was then, too.) The Museum of Science now occupies the open space behind it. Five out of sevenpossible methods of transportation shown here. Steam powered rail, electric trolley, horse-drawn vehicles, motorized vehicles, and walking! Surprisingly, I couldn't spot anyone on a bicycle, nor could I see any boats in the water. [Let us not forget the aeroplane. - Dave] "New" HistoryHow cool it must have been to witness a construction project of this scope knowing that there probably isn't another of its type anywhere nearby. It reminds me of seeing I-75 south of Detroit being built at the end of my street in the mid 1960's where there was never a freeway before. 101 years and still on the moveThe location is in Boston, at the old Charles River Dam, which is visible as an earth rampart at the left, behind the tower with the weathervane. The trolley viaduct is in current use as part of the MBTA Green Line service. At the viaduct's end, you can see the still-existing ramp down across the roadway to Lechmere station. In the roadway below, currently known as Monsignor O'Brien Highway and Route 28, it looks like they haven't yet installed the Craigie Drawbridge (though they've installed the traffic control gates for the streetcar, the sidewalks look like they're still solid instead of part of a drawbridge). Also interesting is the high drawbridge built into the trolley viaduct, to accommodate sailboats entering the Charles River. The Metropolitan District Commission building on the left (which now houses state police) has the control tower with the weathervane on top. The viaduct drawbridge is no longer operational (but the ironwork is still there), and the one in the roadway is being rebuilt right now, in a project running November 2010 through April 2011. The two buildings at the left edge of the photo, just in front of Wellington-Wildwood Coal, are an MDC stable and boathouse. The stable is now used for work trucks by the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, which is the renamed MDC, and the boathouse at far left is empty and deteriorating. The view of these buildings would now be blocked by the Museum of Science and its garage. Behind the coal company building and a little to the right is the square tower (with peaked roof) of the Clerk of Courts building in Cambridge, with the main courthouse next door not visible. Everything to the right of the viaduct is gone and changed, though there's still a major railroad crossing there for traffic to North Station. The polesThe trolley viaduct opened in June 1912. The draw in the Cragie bridge is there, it is just hard to see. Those poles in the middle of the road are to lift the trolley wire when the bridge opens, and to realign it when span closes. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Boston, DPC, Railroads, Streetcars)
Brooklyn Bridge: 1905
... mark on the sides of this building. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 2:53pm -

New York circa 1905. "Brooklyn Bridge over East River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Chester W, ChapinThis steamer was named for Chester W. Chapin (December 16, 1798 – June 10, 1883), U.S. Representative from Massachusetts (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877). The ship was of the twin-screw type, 312 feet in length, 64 feet wide, with a tonnage of 1,882. It was built by the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrow's Point, Maryland, for the New Haven Steamboat Company in 1899. NoticeThe piles of ballast stones near the bottom of the photo, as well as the railcar float to the left of Pier 20. Nice Looking BridgeIs it for sale? Wow. I can almost smell it, man. Nice job once again. Fab Photo!What a great photo! I love to visit New York, and every time I do, I go to Brooklyn and I walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan. I am always amazed at t his amazing structure and this is a wonderful photo! Roll Out The Barrell(s)Nice photo. The "Chester W. Chapin" looks like a nice craft to take a ride up L. I. Sound on. It's rare to see a staved barrell these days. There sure are a lot piled up there on the dock. [Evidently they were full of L's. - Dave] Style!What a beautiful, elegant looking boat! Boat RideIt looks like it could be a very pleasant boat ride up the Sound to New Haven or Bridgeport. New?What an immaculate-looking ship is the "Chester W. Chapin!" Quick, let's invent the term "shipshape." Uh-OhThe Chester W. Chapin was a passenger and freight steamer that ran aground up in Providence in 1901. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9403E2D61330E132A25756C0A... High tideThere appears to be a high water mark on the sides of this building. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)
Launch Party: 1905
... two" and they gave us the first two. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:16pm -

September 2, 1905. St. Clair, Michigan. "Launch of steamer Frank J. Hecker." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. CinematicI think this picture ranks among my very favorite here at Shorpy. What a majestic image with such movement, I feel as if the ship is going to coast right through my computer screen. Ladies Who LaunchGet all their clothes wet. Looks pretty cold for this very same day 105 years ago. 3-D would be nice. 3-D ... pfffftWe're always talking here on Shorpy about how we'd like to go back in time into one of the scenes photographed, but ... I really really want to go back in this one and be one of those people getting a front row seat for this! It must have been simply overpowering. Just looking at the photo gives me goosebumps. Wonderful MovementIt's wonderful how frozen in place yet full of motion this pic is. Beautiful. Or.."Let's do launch" 1905-1961LAUNCH OF A NEW STEAMER. -- The new Gilchrist Transportation Company steamer FRANK J. HECKER, building at the St. Clair yards of the Great Lakes Engineering Works, will be launched tomorrow, and a number of prominent marine men will be on hand to witness it. She will be fitted out as soon as possible. Buffalo Evening News Friday, September 1, 1905 FRANK J. HECKER, U. S. 202475, bulk carrier. Renamed PERSEUS 1913, foundered about 90 miles NNW of Fayal, Atlantic Ocean, after breaking away from the tug ENGLISHMAN while in tow for scrapping at Genoa, Italy; September 21, 1961. Record of Great Lakes Engineering Works, St. Clair (Michigan) Yard RudderlesslessNice way to show the answer to that previous post about the rudder when a ship is launched sideways. Perfect. Wow ...That's exactly why I love old cameras and classic photography! WOW!What a photograph..... and I DO mean photograph!!! WhoFantastical photograph!!! Who was the camera person? They should be praised. re: WowAs exciting as it might be to stand there watching the launch, it surely wouldn't compare with what was experienced by the half dozen fellows seen standing on the stern deck! Quite a shotIt would have taken skill and maybe a bit of luck to have captured this shot. 8x10 view cameras don't have a burst mode. BravoLike the guy said before me, WOW!!! What a photograph. It is exactly what I said when I first glanced at the picture. Textbook "capture" of the moment. Great find, Dave! EPB An Instant ClassicA very nice capture. This is the type of photograph I love and look forward to seeing here at Shorpy. Thank you! Hang on!White knuckles on the taffrail. RivetingI'm just a landlubber and maybe I'm not seeing things right but it appears to me that the plates on the lower levels are welded while the ones on the higher levels are riveted or bolted together. Is that a standard in shipbuilding and if so,why? Are welded seems easier to make watertight and if so, why not weld the rest of them,too? Oh. My. God.Magnificent, just magnificent. This shot was taken for a postcard printing company? Has anyone located any actual postcards made from this photo? Those two children standing on the viewing deck were probably telling the story of this event to their grandchildren in 1975. The sweep of the girl's heavy plait tells you everything about the excitement, the awe, and the thrill of that moment. Could any sight have ever equaled this - at least one from the hand of man? Take that,James Cameron! Colonel HeckerI had to Google Frank J. Hecker (1846-1927). Interesting guy - and what a mansion (still standing) he built in Detroit! iPhotoHow come 105 years later the camera images on my "high end" phone come nothing near this? re: iPhotoI think it has to do with your entire phone being 1/5 the size of this photo's original negative. The phone's sensor probably has less than 1/1000th the imaging area. But the older camera won't stream video or tweet. "Small, fast, cheap: Pick two" and they gave us the first two. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Our New Facility: 1905
... guess would be that it might be a facility for finishing boats. Ship Model Basin? Would that be the Ship Model Basin at the ... It almost looks like it could be used for building boats of some kind, but they would not fit out through the narrow opening at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 4:51pm -

So here's this new facility -- state of the art. Except it's over a hundred years old. And we've misplaced the caption. Who can tell us what this is? View full size. UPDATE: Nobody identified this as the world's first indoor skateboard park. But it turns out that Nobody is wrong. The original caption from circa 1905: "New engineering building, big testing tank, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor." Towing tank at U-Mich.Looks like the towing tank at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Located right near the West Hall Engine Arch on Central Campus. Seafood processing facilityMy first thought was a German gas chamber. My second thought is a animal processing plant and since you just had shots of oysters, I will guess a sea food processing facility where the food is cut up and the waste is dropped into a water chute to be disposed of. Of course the waste is where fish sticks come from. I don't know and look forward to the answer. Thanks. A Water TankTo test model ship hulls? A submarine pen?Or a sewer? Ahoy, Matey?Looks nautical to me -- perhaps for the early stages of a hull. The slot is for the keel, the cutout close to the camera is for the bow. Just a thought. State of the ArtI know the answer will come from a fellow Shorpian as to what this is. My guess would be that it might be a facility for finishing boats. Ship Model Basin?Would that be the Ship Model Basin at the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories at the University of Michigan? Tow TankMarine Hydrodynamics Lab, West Engineering Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Modern SlaughterhouseThe problem is that it's not finished. Clearly they're going to put floorboards, or something, across the deep part. But it's hard to tell. So my money's on abattoir, as borne out by this Monty Python sketch. Whale eraThe world's longest abatroph? ["Abatroph"? - Dave] FascinatingWhatever it is, it looks unfinished. there are scraps of lumber lying about the place and there are planks laid across the supports for what will become proper walkways in the near future. I see a couple of shovels and a wheelbarrow down in the narrow trench. The walkways along both sides of the room are interesting, as are the exposed bolts sticking up from the concrete walls in the foreground and along both sides of the large trench. It almost looks like it could be used for building boats of some kind, but they would not fit out through the narrow opening at the lower end. I hope that YOU know what it is, 'cause I sure don't! Is it a drydock for small submarines? The HoneymoonersThis could well be the training facility for new sewer workers. I can picture Ed Norton taking his first class and going home to tell Ralph Kramden how enlightening it was. Still towing after all these yearsGoogle "university of michigan marine tow tank" to find videos and other information about the tank. Ship models are attached to a frame which moves the hull the length of the tank. The engineers can "ride along" next to the model as it makes it journey. Now sophisticated sensors and computers record the data. Fermentation room?Just a guess, but with all those heaters along the wall and the steel doors and platform, something was cookin' in there. They may have yet to tile or seal over the concrete form. It looks like product was dumped through the doors to the platform and shoveled into the tank for processing. There may have been an auger or screw running along the deeper trough to mix and eventually aid in moving the product through the "U" shaped portal. Possibly the inentical concrete forms on either side in the foreground allowed screen filtered liquid to be separated from the solids for further processing or bottling. It could have produced beer, wine, or maybe Sauerkraut. [We know the answer now -- it's in the caption. - Dave] Wade in NW FloridaWade in NW Florida [Not even warm. - Dave] THE HYDRAULIC LABORATORYFrom "Calendar of the University of Michigan - 1904-1905": This laboratory occupies a space 40 by 60 feet on the first and second floors of the north wing, adjoining the steam laboratories. A canal four feet wide, fourteen feet six inches deep, and forty feet long extends across the middle of the laboratory. Water enters this canal from the naval tank and is returned to the tank by a centrifugal pump in a well at the far end of the canal. This canal is provided with bulkheads, screens, and weirs, and is arranged for testing the flow of water over weirs and through no22les up to a capacity of ten cubic feet per second. The bulkhead between the naval tank and the canal is arranged for weirs and no22les so that tests may be made for flow from a still water basin as well as in a running stream. The naval tank itself is arranged for bulkheads dividing it into three basins, each one hundred feet long. By means of a sluice in the bottom of the tank these basins can be connected to the hydraulic canal and the centrifugal pump, so that water can be pumped from one of the basins and delivered into either of the others. The lab oratory" will also have two weighing tanks for calibrating purposes, each holding six hundred cubic feet. A 36-inch pressure tank, designed for 25o pounds pressure, extends through two stories. This affords means for no22le and motor experiments under high heads. An open tank eight feet wide, sixteen feet long, and five feet deep rests on a platform near the ceiling of the second floor. The centrifugal pump supplies this tank, which serves as a forebay for water wheel tests under heads up to about twenty-five feet. Michigan Hull Test TankI used to look in awe at this. I'd take a walk by the long indoor window alongside this tank, while I attended freshman classes at the University of Michigan. It is (was?) in the West Engineering Building on Central Campus, at NW corner of South University and East University Avenues. I'd see lots of hull designs being tested, mostly for large Navy ships and submarines. Great photo. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
To Boiling Spring: 1902
... into hilarious situations, topical satire, and flat bottom boats bearing different names. Looking for the yearling... One of those ... and herons and a manatee floating by. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Florida, W.H. Jackson) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 8:27pm -

Florida circa 1902. "Silver Springs on the Oklawaha." Don't forget your flotation bonnets! Photo by William Henry Jackson, Detroit Publishing. View full size. I'm Wide AwakeAnd I agree with Slump; this picture has a curious dream-like perspective to it. It's as if the figure in the background is the actual subject of the shot and the ladies in the boat just happened to be there. He seems to be posing for the picture too as if he knew he was the focal point. It looks like a still from a movie.If that movie was made by David Lynch. This gives me an ideaFor a comic strip set in a funny-named swamp with animals getting into hilarious situations, topical satire, and flat bottom boats bearing different names. Looking for the yearling...One of those ladies might be Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, searching out her muse. Movie?My take on it is David Wark Griffth filming Lilian Gish in her prime. Hatted and coiffedWell, at least the hats don't look silly. You could hide cannonballs under those things. That guy on the roof of the boatIs looking really hard for a glimpse of wrist! That man in the backThat character in the background sitting on the canopy (?) of that boat (??) looks like he might have jumped straight out of a Toonerville Trolley cartoon. Flotation DevicesLooks like the lady on the left has more than just her bonnet to keep her afloat unless that's just the wind. I'm off to bedAnd this photo has the makings of a very odd nightmare. 100 Years LaterNow there's your nightmare. Where's the sweat?Something always puzzles me about these things. Florida is so hot and humid almost year round yet in the old photos people are always dressed so hot.. I break out in a sweat just looking at this one ... did they not perspire? [Florida was a winter resort -- not many people went in the summer. As someone who was born in Miami and grew up in Florida, I can assure you that it's not "hot and humid almost year round." - Dave] HeadgearI love those ancestral sun bonnets that add to the peaceful look of the women in this picture. The only place we get to see one today, is occasionally, on a baby in a pram. We have met the enemy and he flings poo. The comment by "Walt Kelly" isn't too far from the truth, with a cast of characters suitable for lampooning. Substitute 'flat' for 'glass' bottom boat (where it was invented), consider that Tarzan made an appearance, and how the story goes that a scenic boat promoter in the 30's let monkeys loose on an island not knowing they could swim, leading to roving bands of them along the river to this day. Boiling hotWhat always strikes me about pictures of this era is how white the whites are. These bonnets practically glow! Even when photographed in the woods, on a train, at the beach, etc., these ladies all looked immaculate. Testimony (I guess) to lots of boiling water and scrubbing. I can't make it from my house to my car in white pants without having to turn around and change. Yipes. Fish CampThis is great! With better-maintained boat houses, a big wide dock with picnic tables and-of course-modern fashions, this could easily be any of the present-day "rustic" fish camps up and down the St. Johns River and lots of other places in Florida. All you need to fill the shot are some egrets and herons and a manatee floating by. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Florida, W.H. Jackson)
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