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Office Xmas Party: 1925
... really is? And what's the secret of looking so young? Cheers! Thanks for posting again, this is one of my favourite pictures on ... door is the doppelganger for someone I once worked with. Cheers! Newcomer To The Party After viewing Shorpy for some years now, I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/15/2023 - 3:04pm -

        It's two Fridays before Christmas, time for a hallowed holiday tradition here at Shorpy: The Office Xmas Party! Which has been going on for 98 years now. Will Clarence in Sales ever get up the nerve to ask out Hermione from Accounting? Is there gin in that oilcan? Ask the bear.
December 1925. "Washington, D.C. -- Western Electric Co. group." There are enough little dramas playing out here to keep the forensic partyologists busy until Groundhog Day. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Leer Kings"That Guy" looks like he could be the son of the older leering man directly to the right of him. I shall call them Denis Leery Jr. and Denis Leery Sr. The two men with them are obviously Christopher Walken as The Continental, and a young Franz Mesmer.
Just a little creepy....Some of the looks on their faces, wouldn't you love to know what they were thinking!
Debauchery 2.0Four years after behaving scandalously at the Krazy Kat, our bohemian friends find themselves slogging away at desk jobs in the boring adult world.  Just WAIT until the Christmas party, though!
The oil canOf course the bear and the cabin weren't mentioned -- everyone knows the best part of the party is getting well-oiled!
Thank you. I'll be here all week. And don't forget to tip your server.
H.P. Lovecraft?Could it be? Standing in front of the "Go Go" guy, half hidden? Maybe Franz Kafka, instead? This would be the guy who takes an extra-long time in the lav in order to scratch unseemly things onto the stall partitions. Every office has one of these guys and in this office, its either him or else its the nearly invisible guy standing across from him on the other side of the tree. Also, the girl on the far left, standing in front of the door, is unforgivably cute. I'll bet she's told a lot of these guys "NO" and that's why she's way over there.
The Power Bloc ...Have you happened to notice how Big Boss Man - the guy holding that little stubby cigar - is surrounded by thugly-type guys? This is the power bloc for this office. The guys up on the top left are all from a different Department and are wary of Big Boss Man's thugs. There is a little bit of cross-pollenation, however. The first guy standing on the table at the right is shooting a bemused glance in the direction of his bud in that other Department. He's the shorter, unjacketed guy with the full frontal grin and the eyebrows in serious need of plucking. To them, this is all a goof. They hang out together and keep each other informed as to who says what about whom, which of the girls are doable and what the scuttlebutt is coming down from the top. There's more here but I don't want to get censored.
A Story in every faceThis photo can inspire everyone to write a novel because there is indeed a colorful character with his own personal bio in every set of eyes.  The bald guy with the candle on his head particularly stands out as one who has a complex persona but so does everybody else in the picture.   Some appear depressed, some look beat up, some seem desperate.  Make up your own scenarios.  Personally, I used to look forward to the office parties when the most unexpected facets of co-workers' personalities would be revealed, giving us the rest of the year to talk about that until the next one.  Stuffy old lady accountants and spinsters turned out to shock us the most when relaxed by a "touch of the grape". Lots of fun, too bad they have mostly been eliminated. Thank you for this blast from the past.
[That's a "GO-GO" traffic signal on Mr. Complex Persona's noggin. - Dave]

WiredCould it be that they tapped the power for the Christmas tree lights from the ceiling fixture?
What a mod hairdo!The brunette peeking from behind the desk (right above the black purse) has such a 1960's hairstyle!
Fat ChanceThe corpulent boss, stogie in hand, actually thinks that removing his glasses improves his appearance. He also seems to be playing footsie with the marcel-waved cutie who inexplicably has an oil can in front of her.
A KnockoutThe woman with the pearl necklace sitting at the very corner of the desk is a knockout! She looks like a present-day actress whose name escapes me. The guy standing up and glaring into the lens at the extreme top right of the photo may very well be the Antichrist. His stare gives me chills. The guy behind him looks like an "evil character" straight out of Central Casting. This is a great photo.
Thought BubblesIt would take me all day to write out thought bubbles for what I imagine is going through all those heads, but the lady at dead center seems to be thinking, "What was IN that punch? Did they repeal Prohibition and nobody told me?"
The "dark lady" downstage right is thinking, "I hope they snap that picture before I freeze to death down here on the bare floorboards. You would think the electric company would have better heaters in its own offices, but old man Pennyfarthing won't even spring for a rug to keep the draft out."
Western Electric (Shock Therapy)Great pic.  And I'm sure there are as many stories as people in this one.  But let's admit that the lady sitting on the floor on the left has to have the most interesting one. There is a haunted, post-experimental-therapy look to her that immediately reminded me of the psych-ward scenes in "Changeling."
Where's the copier?Ahhh, the days before every office had a copier, and every office had some joker trying to get the temp to sit on it!
Re: Fat ChanceWait -- so the oil can is worth noting, but not the bear statuette or the small house?
Western ElectricWestern Electric was the manufacturing and distribution arm of American Telephone and Telegraph. I suppose that this office in Washington was one of their distribution points. At any rate one interesting thing about the photo is the decided separation of men and women as though they might have come from different sections of the business. I also note that the ladies are sitting on a pretty rough floor, which is something I would have thought they would have avoided in those clothes. As to the glasses, I suspect that the photographer cautioned them that the flash might reflect from the lenses, assuming that I can assert that there was flash. Who knows, maybe there's a window somewhere.
That Office GirlI find her the most intriguing face in the picture. She looks almost out of place in this setting... her face is striking. Her expression says that she's part of a back story going on around the office that no one knows about.
Wow. I'm falling in love with a woman who's long long dead. How sad is that?
GiftedJudging by the peculiar items in the shot I'm thinking they exchanged white elephant gifts at the party. I got a big stuffed fish at our last party. I would have preferred the oil can.
This is so great!A bevy of attractive females here but I'm partial to the blond girl standing at the far left of the photo.  
Wowzer!  
Also, standing next to Boss Stogie on his left: ladies and gentlemen ... Mr. Joaquin Phoenix.
 The Black WidowQuick somebody, get the story on the raven-haired woman sitting in front of the desk.
She looks like she ate her young; perhaps she has a few "missing" husbands buried in her dirt-floor basement.
I get the very distinct impression that if you crossed her, you ended up joining the silent majority long before your time.
Dark LadyWell.....the woman at bottom left certainly catches the eye. Something of a femme fatale, I think. Not generally popular with the more strait-laced ladies, like the woman two to her right who's giving her a very frosty look. The younger woman though, above and slightly to the left, is more sympathetic.
Since it's not uncommon here on Shorpy for unflattering comments to be directed at the olden-days womenfolk, let me be the first to say what a grim bunch the men are. I'll make an exception for the guy under the tree.
Getting Oiled at the Office Xmas PartyThe oil can on the foreground floor is absolutely precious.  There can be no rational explanation for it.  Then again, one tends to get oiled at the office party.
The hot babe is standing, far left, if not the girl sitting left, in pearls by the purse on the desk corner.
The fat guy with the cigar has his conjoined twin growing out of his forehead.
Girls on one side, boys on the other?  Weird.
How dare these people all die off before telling us why that guy is holding the little horsey?
"Hey, Griselda.  Spin my copter.  If it says 'STOP - STOP', you are not mine.  If it says 'Go - GO', oh you kid!"
Most riveting photo ever.I've been a lurker on Shorpy for months, but this photo has prompted me to register and comment. I've been coming back to this picture every day since it was posted, showing it to everyone I know. 
What strikes me is that though there are several vintage-type characters here, there are also quite a few very contemporary looking people as well. This photograph represents such a vibrant living moment in the lives of these people. Some of them look like they could speak to you right from the picture. And, oh what a story they could tell!
This photo takes first place from my previous Shorpy favourite, They Shall Remain Nameless.
(But it's so close... check it out if you missed it.)
Ansel Adams had the Zone System... I'm working on the points system. First I points it here, and then I points it there ...
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen......hair!  I think that's my favorite part of this picture.  There's such a great group of hairstyles among the women.  A few of those girls were pretty darn good with the curling iron, or whatever they used.  I wonder if they're more glammed up than usual for the big party.  For some reason, the hairstyles are more striking to me than in other pictures.  Anyway, fascinating as always.
P.S.  I think the guy that bdgbill thinks looks like the antichrist is actually kind of a hottie.  I'm going to go on the assumption that he didn't look that intense all the time.  If he did...well, I could see bdgbill's point then.
Now I KnowMy father worked for Western Electric. The money wasn't very good, so I never figured out why he stayed there. Guess this answers the question.
IN and OUTI noticed the IN basket on the desk to the far right, but where's the OUT basket?  I sometimes wonder why I have an OUT basket on my desk at work - it's always less full than the IN one.
The woman sitting on the floor to the far left bears a striking resemblance to the Italian actress Ana Magnani (The Rose Tattoo).
Dramatis PersonaeMona, the woman on floor, far left (one of the few without the Marcel wave), is probably a Suffragist or at least politically active. Maybe she's trying to organize these party animals into a union and all they want to do is balance traffic signals on their heads and be wildly social.
Don't mess with these guys!The boss from Hades has what looks like a goose egg on his forehead and the coatless guy on his right has a black eye and cuts on the nose and eyebrow: maybe the partying started the night before. Looks like a smoking hot curling iron was de rigueur for any  well-coifed lady.
That guyOf the four guys standing in the upper right, the guy who is on the left side, closest to the tree -- which girl is he leering at? 
Western ElectricIf you flip the picture around, you can sort of read the door sign.  I can make out:
504
[Western Elec]tric Com[pany].
[INCORP]ORATED
[?]ION DEPARTMENT
I wonder what the missing part is.  Administration?
Office TensionThis must have been just after Phyllis spilled the beans about Dwight and Angela. Poor Andy!
The Power Bloc, continuedThe balding gent just over Boss Stogie's left shoulder-- the real power in the office, he certainly looks confident that his recent appointment to regional director will lead to greater things. Boss Stogie's son, Junior (with the candy cane), was on the fast track to becoming a junior partner until he was befriended by Harold from the mailroom (his hand on Junior's shoulder), which displeased Boss to no end.
UndercoverIsn't anyone going to ask why the woman in the middle is wearing a hat with a Police badge? Is this a costume xmas party? Could she possibly be a real cop??
My GirlSay what you want about the woman on the floor or the blonde with the pearl necklace, but my heart belongs to the woman standing fourth from the left, middle row. She reminds me of Bernadette Peters.
The henchman second from the right at the top has a menacing Snidely Whiplash quality about him. You just know he slipped a mickey into someone's drink.
Re: Western ElectricYou know you're a Shorpy addict when you "get" Anonymous Tipster's reference to the photographer's use of flash (or WAS there a window somewhere?!). Nice shot, A.T.!
Twins or Sisters?Study the features of the young woman directly in front of the door - then look at the one just to the right of (and looking directly at) "blondie with the pearls". Eyes, hair, smile, shape of face, body build: if they are not twins then they must at least be sisters. It is uncanny!
Christmas BackstoryYes, the young lady at the lower left leaning against the desk has the most interesting backstory in the room.  Thanks to the passage of time we'll never know what was behind her haunted expression beyond that the woman giving her the evil eye must have had something to do with it.
Dave continues to put these evocative photos up knowing our emotions will never be satisfied!!
Meanwhile, notice the vintage Chia Pet resting on the scales in the "shipping department" (the desk along the left side).  The girl in the fake police hat is looking longingly at it.  Chia bunny?  Chia elf?
The guy in front of the Christmas tree holding the toy, "I got a PONY!"
Keep them in their place.I, too, wonder why all the women are sitting on the floor in their silk satin dresses with fur collars.  Surely there were some men who would have been glad to give up their places for them (and to sit amongst the women!)
How did they get Xmas light strings in 1925?I thought people used small candles until the '60s. How did they happen to have these string lights? Great pic of us back then.
[The 1960s being, I guess, when covered wagons brought in the first supplies of wired Christmas lights. - Dave]

I spy...Second woman in the third row...Frida Kahlo, at her day job. 
SpellbindingI cannot stop looking at this picture. So much to see. The Al Capone looking guy is mesmerizing. The guy at top, second from right gives me the creeps.
1920'sI'm kind of young so maybe I'm missing something, but did pretty women not have to hold jobs in the 1920's? This office is worse than the one I work in, I didn't think that was possible.
Re: 1920sI'm kind of young too, but I disagree with you.  I think this office has quite a collection of lovely women (and some not-as-lovely ones too, just like today).  Sometimes, it's hard to look past the hairstyles and the clothes.  If you are young (20-something? younger?), you've really only seen one ideal of beauty--you've missed a lot of the different fashions and hairdos of the rest of the 20th century.  You also underestimate what modern makeup does for women.  There are so many more varieties of it today than there were then, and it's generally of higher quality and easier to use than in the past.  If you took one of the women in this picture, say, the girl with pearls sitting next to the desk and plunked her down in 2008 to get a makeover, her hair would be longer, probably highlighted and dyed, and aided by daily washing and a host of conditioners.  Then, add some good moisturizer, foundation, and concealer, as well as a lash curler, mascara, and a healthy helping of eye liner, and I'm guessing you'd think her quite the fox.  
Conversely, take the most attractive woman you know now, and put her in short hair and marcel waves, take away her hair dye and most of her makeup, and I'm guessing she'd look quite similar to the ladies in this photo.  Even something as simple as the shape of plucked eyebrows really change the look of someone, and with the change in aesthetics, it's sometimes hard to get past the fashion to see beauty.
It works with the men too--you'd probably look a lot different with a side part and a pompadour!  
That's right . . .. . . pretty women did not have to work in the '20's so, Miss Oilcan's exemption is assured, in my opinion - what a hottie.
Foy
Las Vegas 
That's my desk!I have a desk that's identical to the one on the left.  I had guessed it was 1940's vintage.  It's nice to see it's even older than I thought.
Record Breaker?Look at the stats on this photo: 53,000 + reads, and still climbing. That's a lot of forensic partyologists! I wonder if even Dave knew what he had pulled out of the hat with this one?
[I am shocked. Shocked! - Dave]
re: Xmas light strings LOL! Dave, a lot of your comments (like this one) crack me up! Are you a comedian in real life? Merry Christmas!
[Please folks, no applause. Just throw money. - Dave]
Hotness quantificationI count 20 women in that picture; most of them you can see no more than their face and hair, and two you can't even see all of that.
Out of the 18 you have a good facial shot of, I'd put 3 of them at 8.5-9.5 on the scale... three of them are SMOKING hot. I'd put another 4 at the 7-8.5 mark, meaning serious cuties, and at least three of the others are a 6 -7.
Where I work we have 100 women in my office; I'd put exactly three in the 8.5-9.5 scale, and another 10 in th 7-8.5 scale; of the rest, probably only a smattering are really in the 5+ range.
So, I have to know ... where do you work that the women are so attractive? Playboy Enterprises?
Taking into account the differences in style, these women were, mostly, very attractive, and even a couple of the less attractive weren't awful.
The Men of Western ElectricIn the interest of gender equality, I got to wondering about the relative charms of the office boys. I found three who tickled my fancy.
1. The tall smiling fellow whose head is sticking up behind and to the right of Police Woman. His face is open and honest, he's smiling with his twinkly dark eyes as well as his mouth, and although his ears are a bit prominent there's a lovely overall symmetry to his face. I'll call him Dimples.
2. The one man who has the sense to sit down with the ladies. He's a bit older, but I love his soft wavy hair. There's a certain aristocratic but slightly sad angle to his tired half-smile that puts me in mind of a young Prince Philip. I'll call him Phil.
3. OK, here's the hotness - the brash, cocky young sheik peeking out confidently between the heads of Boss Stogie Pennyfarthing and his wan shirtsleeved assistant. He's got the eyes of Frank Sinatra and the hair of Jack Kennedy. I don't know what he looks like from the neck down, but from the Arrow collar up he's all, "How YOU doin'?" I'll call him Frankie.
In summary: Were I one of the office flappers, I would ride in Frankie's Studebaker, nurse a secret unrequited crush on Phil, and take Dimples home to meet Mother.
Rogues' GalleryI can't stop staring at the chilly filly down by the leftern desk. She looks like three out of every five women I've ever fallen for. It's the eyes. As to the resemblance to Ana Magnani, she might be of Italian descent.
I am also like the older gentleman in the upper right. Mr. Leery Senior, was it? Right between Charlie Sheen (or Leery Jr.), Snidely Whiplash, and Mr. Deer-in-the-headlights. What a jovial sort. And a snappy dresser, as well. Conversely, the startled fellow's vest is well off-center and makes him look like he couldn't decide which part of him was the front. Or maybe he was taking a nap under a desk just before the photo op and somebody had to drag him out.
Funny how a photograph will turn Bob & Lisa from the office into Dick Tracy characters once you let your imagination do the walking. Thanks to all you for sharing your insights.
You were linkedA local blogger from Beaumont's newspaper linked your site today. I will be forever gratful! Nevermind I got absolutely nothing done today and instead pored over your site at length. This is truly an awesome site!
This Won't DoOne chubby gal. One chubby guy. 
As an official with the State of California, I say that this does not pass muster.  There was hiring discrimination here.  Walk into any State office and you'll see what I mean.  Not to mention the plethora of Caucasians.
The chubby gal is next to sheet music.  Wonder what this melba toast group was singing?
They're all dead nowJust think ... they all had their youth, their lives, their personalities, and now they are all turned into worm food.  Just a happy thought for Christmas.
No, wait a minute. . . okay, I've changed my mind. Now I like Miss Lookingaway, sitting in the lower left.  Definitely.  She's the one.
Foy
Las Vegas
Oil Can GalThe siren sitting with the oil can is undressing me with her eyes. I'll ignore the fact she is 112 years of age, and let her.
[Guess that explains the oil can. - Dave]
Houdini?The guy on the left side, just above and to the right of the P.D. hat girl....did Houdini make a special appearance?  In any event, he's got a mean set of eyebrows.
And you are correct, Stinky, the girl on the far left by the door is surely a looker!
Lost in the crowdNobody seems to have spotted Hugh Grant peeking out between Stogie Boss and Bald Guy.
Famous facesTo keep Hugh Grant company, fellow British comic actor Rowan Atkinson is peeking out from behind Shirtsleeves.
He is not a crookOh, my gosh. There's Richard Nixon on the upper right (with face partially hidden) just below old boss and crooked-vest guys.
Roxie & Co.I love this picture, and all the comments! Here's my .02:
*Girl with the oil can doesn't want to undress you, she's too in love with herself. You can see it in her eyes; she's a Roxie Hart if I ever saw one. "Eat your heart out, Sophie Tucker."
*I swear I graduated with the girl who has her hand on Roxie's shoulder. She's the one who organizes all our class reunions.
*If I were one of those girls, I'd probably want to date the guy sitting on the desk, right hand side. However, I have a feeling he'd want to "just be friends." So,
*I'd have to go for the one behind Ol' Pennyfarthing. No, not that one, the bald one. Handsome features and sense enough to not put some ridiculous piece of fur on his head.
*Girl leering at our castoff looks like one of Cinderella's stepsisters. Drucilla, I believe.
Office HottieI think the guy looking over the RIGHT shoulder of chubby-stogie dude is hot.  There's something about the eyes that grab me.  And the hint of a smile.
British InvasionNot only Hugh and Rowan - isn't that the actress/singer Patsy Kensit on the left, standing in front of the office door?
Can't Get Over This PhotoI can't get over this picture.  It's my favorite one on Shorpy, which is saying a LOT.  And, it has nothing to do with my collection of high-end Western Electric phones from 1905-1939.
The woman in front, referred to as the "Black Widow," I can't look at her enough.  She surely would get a large kick out of the ruckus she would caused in 2008, unless it bored her as also being commonplace in her own time.  The woman over her left shoulder has movie star looks.
They are on the fifth floor, and I wish I could see the name on the glass door.  Then again, the woman obscuring it may be the one to take home to meet the family, so she can stay.
The finish on the floor is badly worn, as contrasted by the part under the desk.  These fellas were habitually hustling to and fro, and with the feminine charms represented here, it's no wonder.  Office romances must have been all there rage therein.
I have been hoping the Farkers would be all over this one, except they love to specialize in the one-person quirk shots.  I could place the Black Widow in countless situations...
Is this the only picture you have on this stunning group?
[Afraid so. - Dave]
If onlyTterrance had taken this photo! We would know all about it, mystery solved.
I thinkthe mysterious suicidal communist was probably a cleaning lady whom the photographer sort of forced to be in the picture and she's embarrassed to be photographed in shabby clothes and feels naturally out place amongst the staff with whom she's always been subservient. 
She reminds me of Camille Claudel on her way to the madhouse. 
50 Little IndiansThis photo looks like a cast of characters who would end up in an Agatha Christie mystery....and I'm pretty sure I know who did it!
The Officethis picture reminds me of the TV show The Office. Jim is sitting on the desk in the right corner. Pam is all the way to the left in the back row. Michael is the guy with his hand on Jim's shoulder although he should be the bossman with the cigar. Stanley is the guy between the man holding the horse and the man with the cigar. Creed is Mr Leery. Kevin is holding the horse. Dwight is the only guy in glasses. Kelly is the bobbed woman behind the desk with the permanent smile on her face. Meredith is the creepy woman off alone... she's just waiting for her next drink of alcohol. Andy Bernard is the guy to the right in the back with the striped tie. I couldn't decide who Angela was. Ryan is the deer in headlights next to Andy. Phyllis is in the satiny dress to the right. Oscar is right by the right hand edge.
Man I love this picture.
AngelaAngela's sitting on the floor with that big lace collar, giving the stink-eye to Meredith.
Naughty NaughtySome young lady has just done something naughty off screen left. The Leery Boys approve, the Black Widow and Stink Eye don't, and the young lady behind Stink Eye is too drunk to comprehend.
Also, is the bald man by the Christmas tree wearing a traffic signal on his head, set to "Go?"
Somewhere in this crowd must be Col. Mustard, Miss Scarlet and Prof. Plum. 
My favorite pictureI and my co-worker check this site at least three times a day. He has never been on the Internet and when he passes by he will invariably ask "Anything new?" Which I know to mean "Anything new on Shorpy?" This Christmas Office Party is our favorite. We both live in Maryland and have seen many of the areas displayed in these pictures. When we scan the Office picture and see the "mob boss" guy with the stogie and the gun in his pants, he does a great Al Capone voice. I hope my posting this comment will bring new fans to
this amazing photo.
Merry Christmas everyone!have a great holiday and prosperous New Year.
Oh Christmas Twig! Oh Christmas Twig!Considering it is 1925 and an urban area they probably had a hard time locating a showpiece Christmas tree. Probably the best they could do was this poor little immortalized twig.
Timeless peopleEver notice how nearly every photo of a large group, from about 1900 on, contains at least one person who looks like he/she could have been photographed in just about any decade, or just the other day?  The lady by the desk behind the pretty  girl with the pearls looks like a teacher at my kids' school! There is nothing about her teeth, hairstyle, makeup, etc., that gives away the fact that she was photographed in 1925 except, of course, for most of the other people in it.
The Timeless DeskI'm still using the exact same desk as the one in the photo; my wife purchased it from McGill university when they replaced the professors' desks in the mid 1960s. 
Oh what funAdolf (second from right at very top) has quite the leer going on. Peter Sellers could imitate him well. Mystery Lady could have been even more beautiful. I imagine her long hair flowing and her prominent features brought out even more with an expert's touch. 
What is Stogie Man carrying, besides his eyeglasses? I also wonder who took this photo. It obviously took some  arranging, with the piling up of people. 
Excellent, almost spellbinding picture! I come here about six times a day just to visit it. I wonder who lived the longest, and what year they all died and how? Yes, I'm a morbid one.
Office A-Go-GoThe gent at the back is, indeed wearing the miniature street signal (it has 4 arms to the signal so not a railway signal) on his head. Firstly, the only thing behind him is a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall, certainly nothing that the signal could be perched on. And, secondly, if it was sitting on something, it would not be sitting at the angle it is.
Then and Now  I'm wondering -- in today's world there is usually at least one person at an office party of that size who gets a little too inebriated and winds up making photocopies of their nether parts for distribution to all. Was there a way to do the same thing using a mimeograph machine or whatever other copying technology existed in 1925? Would the tipsy individual first have to draw their naughty bits on some special copy medium? Our grandparents sure had a lot of hardships to deal with. 
At First Glanceand in the zoomed out view, I thought the gent at the far right might be the office troublemaker and that the folks wrapped him up in Christmas lights for his just deserts.  Alas and alack, when you go in for a closer look, it's simply the ravages of time taking their toll on the negative.
[This batch of plates has water damage along one side. - Dave]
The Lady of the Deskjust wandered in from the Sergei Eisenstein film that was shooting on the set next door. She's on a break between takes of the Odessa Steps sequence. 
RE: Oh GreatIf CBS could give us Rudolph, Shorpy can give us Western Electric.
2010 InterpretationsThis year, I think the Black Widow has pretty much just had it with that place.
Stink-Eye isn't looking at the Black Widow. She's disapproving of something messy on the front of the desk.
I can't find Don Draper Nor Joan Holloway, but this sure conjures up thoughts of Mad Men, 45 years earlier. I burst out laughing when my eyes scanned to the guy in the back with the stop and go-go item on his head! Maybe THAT is the flavor of the evening?  More GO than STOP? This is the roaring 20s after all and these are certainly modern women..
Yes, this picture and your readers' comments may be my very favorites to date!
Some Like It Hot The mademoiselle  standing in front of the woman wearing the Policeman's hat could have been Billy Wilder's inspiration for his casting Jack Lemmon in drag.
Another WorldThese people are denizens of another universe that, no matter how many photographs we study or books we read, we will never fully understand because we didn't live in it and never will. 
These are people who knew how to navigate themselves in the distant world of 1925. All of these people were born at the beginning of the last century and were brought up by people from the 19th century. 
If a modern young person were to be suddenly transported here without preparation he would find it completely disorienting and possibly quite frightening, because of so many technological and cultural and social differences between now and then.
Deja vuI loved this picture. 
But the lass in front of the desk, looking stage right, is memorable. I think I've seen this picture before.
Then I noticed the dates of the previous comments. 2208? Surely two years cannot have gone by so quickly.
[To say nothing of the 198 after that! - Dave]
SteamyThere are some SERIOUS sexual crosscurrents and hot vibes in this picture! Amazing!
Slow on the uptakeI'm pretty sure Mr. Semaphore head isn't actually wearing that thing on his head; it's behind him. What is alarming is the second head growing out of his chest. The heads seem to be in agreement to lurk. 
Oh great!Shorpy is doing reruns for the holidays.
Kidding.
Merry Christmas.
Uh-Oh TannenbaumThat's the most bedraggled Christmas tree I've ever seen. It has more tinsel than needles.
An unflattering portraitMy god, this is by far the ugliest group photo I've ever seen! Both girls and guys look like winners from the Walmart Ugly Photo Contest.
Kimono-wearing parrot?With a bouffant, no less? Over there, on the scale!!
The gal with the candy cane, to our left of the much-ballyhooed oil can chick, seems to be presaging late '60s hairstyles.
And yes, the balding dude in the rear with the traffic semaphore on his head wins the covert group-photo clown award in spades.
Sad to SaySo many hotties, so many dorks.
Season's GreetingsHope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season, from Walter and all his friends in this, my favorite Shorpy picture.
General Electric Crime FamilyOk, a lot of the men look like mafiosi with the big-lips guy in front being the capo.  The two guys at the right, top, are hit men.
Western Electrical FireI can't believe, in 90+ comments on this remarkable photo, that not one person pointed out the extension cord running from the ceiling light fixture to the tree.  I think the answer to the comment about how and when these folks died is:  a few minutes after this photo was taken, in a horrible electrical fire.
It would be a chore, but could someone pleasecolorize this!
BeautyI love the woman sitting on the floor next to the desk looking away.  At first glance you think; boy she looks tired, and then you look again and you see how beautiful she really is.  She is just stunning.  I also find it interesting with the commentary just how similar our comments in the office were to the ones posted on this site.  We too made up stories about these folks.  I love this photo.  Thanks for sharing it.
I never tire of looking at this one.Always noticing something new, frinstance, 
The object on the scale, seems to have some heft to it based on how far the scale dial has moved, maybe a cast iron toy?
The young fellow on the far right, Candy Cane in his right hand but whats on his left hand? Looks like it's slipped inside of something, a toy holster maybe?
Completion All this tableau requires (perhaps) to make it complete, is a large paper bag on the floor stuffed with goodies, including the obligatory pair of turkey-feet protruding upward in a festive fashion.
Best of the Season to All in the Shorpyverse Continuum!
Secrets never revealedThere is no question that many secret alliances and not-always discreet hook-ups probably took place during and after this festive celebration 86 years ago.  Luckily for those involved, there were no surveillance cameras, cell phone cameras, tape recorders, security guards, texting devices or other pesky snooping devices that could cause the merrymakers a permanent record (and deep lifetime regret) of their missteps.  They were the roaring 20's when people gathered their rosebuds where they may and parties were for having the best time you could have.  I'm betting many of these revelers took their sweet and sordid memories of that night to their graves. 
Another Shorpy Party!I love this photo and we're going to test the limits of the reply counter.  Merry Christmas everyone and have a grand new year!
Lord Almighty!!!It's the butler in the pantry!!!
I have never, ever seen so many guilty people in one photograph.
Unbelievable that it was not staged. But it obviously wasn't.
Wow!!!
My hat!How did she get it?
"Pure horse, Danno. Book 'em."Having just spotted the drug paraphernalia on the left - the scale, the packaging materials, the kimono-wearing parrot - our undercover coppette in mid-pack has whipped out her official police hat and ignoring the cries of "that baggy's not mine!" is about ready to haul the whole gang downtown. A bust like this baby was sure to bump her upstairs and away from all these dreary office parties.
Up to no good?The gal sitting on the floor behind the Oil can  has had a drink or two already, and she is plotting mischief. I can see it in her eyes! Was she the good time that was had by all?
Cost of that treeCould not have been more then a dollar in 2011 money
Must have been last minute!!!
The ion DepartmentA quick flip of the door confirms we are in room 504 of the ion Department.
FestivusIts good to see this one again. I just keep looking at the people and see more than a few that would have been great company. I hope everyone, viewers, commenters, Dave and webmaster Ken has a great Holiday Season in the company of friends and loved ones.
She apparently had a good time with my grandpa.As she is my grandma!
"The gal sitting on the floor behind the Oil can has had a drink or two already, and she is plotting mischief. I can see it in her eyes! Was she the good time that was had by all?"
3rd rowfrom the top 3rd from the left. I'm in love.
Oh wait.
Party HeartyOoooo -- Roaring twenties office party, bathtub gin. Oooooo -- I think I just threw up in my throat a little bit.
Shorpy Christmas cardIf Dave would produce an annual Shorpy Christmas card I would buy a few boxes, and I'm sure others would as well. Cards with this photo would be seen in every business cubicle in the country and quite a few places around the globe. It says Merry Xmas for me.
So much to read into This picture is as familiar to longtime readers of this blog as our own family photos and as evergreen as that Christmas Tree was before it was cut down. One can imagine so much here, for example that as soon as the photographer finishes with his duties, the Volstead Act will be violated by most of the people in this room (there are a few who look as if they might disapprove), and the usual office party shenanigans will occur, some of which might have consequences in the months to follow even if they all swear that what happens at the Office Party stays at the Office Party.
Al JolsonIs that Al Jolson in front of the "Traffic signal" bald guy?  He's peering out just a bit from behind the guy with the vest and holding his glasses. 1925, the timeline is right. :)
Iconic StatusThis photo has taken on a level of immortality that few others can hope to achieve.  A Photograph for the ages that will always be appreciated and admired.  A Tradition is born! Thanks to Dave and all that visit here; hopefully someday your office pictures will be shown here and we can all marvel at how far we've come in so short a time.
Tiny Tim said it best so I shan't repeat it but that is my wish for one and all. 
Thank you, DaveI hope this re-posting will bring new fans. Merry Xmas,everyone!
Why the oil canThose three objects in front - Maybe just spur-of-the-moment party silliness?
Another year olderI just love this photo. There's so much to analyze. Saw it last year for the first time. Here we all are, another year older. That would include those in the picture, in a macabre sort of way.
Best Christmas Party EverFirst, Dave, you have cured my holiday depression. I found this during a post-Xmas hangover and there are no words. I was instantly addicted to your site. Thank you.
Second, if there is anyone out there with connections to the BAU I would like you to seriously consider imposing yourself on that relationship and get them on it. I'm dying for a more complete story. You must be too if you're reading this. You know who you are. Pick up that phone and give him/her a call.
Not Al JolsonWade in NW Florida: if he looks like anybody of that period, it would most likely be Eddie Cantor, not Al Jolson.
The other 13I have just spent an extremely enjoyable hour reading all the comments reaching back to 2008.  Of the 47 people in the photo, 34 have been commented on.  So what about the other 13?  Six guys in the upper left have been ignored, plus seven gals in the pack.  The most prominent of the abandoned baker's dozen are, to my mind, the two women standing side by side, closest to the tree.  Both have bead necklaces: one tucked in, one on the outside.  They seem neither hot nor cold, neither suicidal nor drunk.  The two of them actually look (dare I say?) like really nice people.
NOW it's the holiday season.....when Shorpy breaks out this holiday classic! I wonder what pop-culture figures of the past year will be likened to our hard-partying crew?
The face that could sink a thousand shipsThe guy holding the cigar, oh man I want to punch his face!
Every yearEvery year when I look at this, I think the same thing: do all those dames hate Desk Woman for the same reason, or different ones?
Lots of single women in that officeNo wedding rings on almost all of them. Perhaps a woman worked until she got married, or at least until she had children - and then she was sequestered in the kit home built in one of America's booming trolley suburbs.
It must have been a major change for these ladies to go from office life, with its daily human contact and pleasures (such as this office party) to a few rooms, kitchen and nursery figuring predominantly. My grandmother still reminisced proudly about her work as a lawyer's assistant in the 1920s, way back before she got married, had three children, and spent most of her time in the top floor of a Boston triple-decker for the next 20 years.
Colorized Version Hidden in Plain SightCheck out https://www.shorpy.com/node/11937 for colorized version in Colorized Photos by members. Dave, do I get a prize for finding it? 
Talk About Your Lonely HeartsThis could be the Sgt. Pepper album just before The Beatles stepped into the shot
Par-TAY!I totally wanna party with this crew. I've always loved the Roaring-Twenties era, and the show Boardwalk Empire is doing a great job with the fashions and the music. I think Nucky Thompson needs to sprinkle a little Xmas cheer on this group. Volstead Act be damned!
Young bald guyEvery time I see this, my eyes go to the young, very handsome man who is looking over the shoulder of the rather portly guy on the right side of the photo. Balding men didn't have many options, then, like they do now, but I rather doubt that the premature balding kept all the young ladies away from him! 
I wonder which of these men were veterans of WWI?
At the Ion Department Christmas Party . . .That exotic woman sitting in front of the desk in the lower left STILL seems distracted by something just out of camera, and the woman in front of her is still watching her carefully.
It's a wonderful photo worth our annual holiday attention!
--Jim
Naughty or Nice?This oft-repeated photo is starting to remind me of the traditional holiday tune by Eric Cartman (of South Park fame) singing about the Swiss Colony Beef Log; irreverent but fun.  
What's printed on that document?Dave, can you zoom in on the piece of paper being held by the guy kneeling in the center, right in front of the tree? It's almost as if he's trying to show it to the camera. Thanks!

-------------------------------------
Just a something something
TO WISH
You and Yours
A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year
Division Four Office
1925


Worth a second or third look There are some half dozen ladies in this photo. Like the one right behind the corner of the desk, with the chevron shapes on her dress and the one directly in front of the door on the left that are definitely worth seeing again. 
Merry Christmas Shorpyites!   
Is there anybody out there?Surely one of these people in the photo has a living relative (great grandkids, grandkids, etc) that might be able to shed some light on this photo.
2%Of the 47 people in the photo, only one is wearing glasses.  Did the Ion Department require perfect vision of its workers?
My cueI don't even start listening to Christmas music until I see this picture reheated. It's a classic. 
The Girl with the Curl -- and the candy cane. There once was a girl
with a pretty little curl
right in the middle of her forehead
When she was good
She was very, very good
and when she was bad
she was even better! 
Re 2%The cigar smoker on the right in the three-button suit and the gent on his right both are holding eyeglasses, all the more to ratchet up their smashing good looks. Well, maybe just looks. 
What's Left To Say?Besides their clothes and hair dos, two things that I’m glad have changed: The way Christmas trees look and protective coating for hardwood floors. And I’m guessing they had a White Elephant gift exchange, thus the whimsical gifts.
Raise your glassesI'm sure one of our more knowledgeable posters might know better, but I wonder if glasses were removed to prevent unwanted flash effects? 
Could it be?I've looked at this photo for three Decembers now, and I just noticed that the girl sitting behind the girl with the striped blouse, and how much she looks like she could be Johnny Depp's great-grandmother.
Party TimeThe office parties and associated grab bags were created to give us all a chance to regift.
Allow me now to wish all of our Shorpy viewers, creators and commenters a very happy Holiday season. Let us all be well, prosper and keep returning to this wonderful site.
Love this photo....Like so many of you, I love it when this photo is trotted out!  We are so drawn to it and love imagining what this party must have been like, the silly little gifts, the party girls, and those who just wanted it to all be over with so they could get back to work.  
Each year I am struck by the lady behind the one in the striped blouse.  She looks like she could have been in my high school annual from 1970.  Yes, I dated myself there!  Her hair style looks like it could have been from the 1970's, unlike her co-workers with their many finger waves.  Keep posting this one, Dave....truly a classic!
An Evocative PhotographThe romance of old photographs is especially powerful in a picture like this. Studying the faces of what we assume are long departed strangers, we can't help speculating about the nature of their inner lives and how things turned out for them. Who ended up married to someone who made them happy or miserable? Which one(s) got ahead and who descended into poverty? Who died young - and so on? 
With hindsight we know that only a few years after that Christmas party in 1925, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. Then World War II winnowed out a great many - how did this group of individuals make out through all those difficult times? There are many such questions which occur to the curious.
This is an extraordinarily evocative photograph. The transience of everything is plain to see in this picture if you notice such things.  
This photois what prompted me to make an account on Shorpy. The first thing that jumped out at me was, is that a man in drag standing with his hand on the young lady's shoulder? The lady in question looks a bit like Drew Barrymore.  
I noticed the indentations between the eyes of many of the men, and realized that they did take their glasses off for the photo, to minimize glare.  No featherweight lenses in those days!
Tales from the Jazz AgeI'd like to take a crack at imagining who some of these people could be --
Oil Can Girl (seated at bottom, center) - Never turns down a chance to cut a rug at a speke.  Very generous with the contents of her hip flask, which in a pinch can supply fuel for her sometime-boyfriend’s Hupmobile.
Desk Girl (seated at bottom, left) - Staring intently at a winged, two-horned leopard and wondering if she should jump up and scream at everybody to run for their lives.
Lace Collar Girl (two left from Oil Can Girl) - Wondering why Desk Girl is staring so intently at the office kitty-cat.
Time Warp Girl - (immediately above Desk Girl) - Up until a few weeks ago was a liberal arts major at an Ivy League university in the year 1969, then stumbled through a time portal into 1925.  Decided to stay and get a job because, well, things are a lot less crazy here.
Starlet Girl - (above and to the right of Time Warp Girl) - Avid reader of Photoplay, Picture-Play, Screenland, Movie Weekly, Movie Mirror, and lots more.  Passionately believes that her good looks could bring her fame in Hollywood, if only she could manage to stop tossing money away on magazines and save up for the train fare.
Hat Girl (immediately above Starlet Girl) - Took a few slugs from Oil Can Girl’s hip flask, now having trouble remembering her name.
Trashed Girl (immediately to the right of Hat Girl) - Took even more slugs from Oil Can Girl’s hip flask, but still conscious enough to realize that if she stops leaning on the girl below her, she’ll tumble to the floor.
Handsome Guy (standing in the back, left side, farthest left) - All the office girls have swooned over him at one time or another.  Been engaged six times, but it always breaks off when he tells his bride-to-be that his mother will be living with them.
New Pretty Girl - (third from left, standing) - Just started work this past month.  Soon to be Handsome Guy’s next ex-fiancee.
Wow, this is way too long already.  Anyway, you get the idea.  This is fun!
White Elephant Gift ExchangeI going with a White Elephant Gift Exchange for an Office Christmas Party.  It explains the goofy gifts and the attire.  Some of the exchanged presents still have tags on them.
No one seems to have noticedbut the shy guy in front of GO GO is none other than Irving Berlin, on a guided tour of the Western Electric facility and already evidencing the reclusiveness of his later years. At uppermost left, we have the mustachioed miscreant looking disdainfully at those beneath him, which is everyone. And finally, we have Grishkin at lowermost right left, a handsome woman whose lean and hungry look hath a troubled aspect not customarily associated with holiday gatherings (apart from those with family members present). She seems to have wandered in from one of those Russian plays that Ira Gershwin makes reference to.
All of which can only mean one thing - it's Christmas time here at Shorpy's. Greetings and salutations to all!
Times they don't changeThe women definitely place this picture in time by their clothes and hair. The men, especially the back row, center in photo, remind me of my father's photos of the late 1950's. It's all quite timeless.
Hey, long time listener, first time caller!I wonder if camp Pierce Brosnan (top row, far left) found the Ion Deptartment accepting of his flamboyant wonderfulness.
Festive DressThe bald gentleman in the back has the best holiday hat I have ever seen, the festive Go Go hat atop his bald head. 
We need those names!The spectacular Massafornian colorized image should have some labels for the people in it.
So, here we go.
(Gimp and Python/PIL scripts did the job)
Thanks for the MemoriesThank you for publishing this picture again this year. It just doesn't seem right to not have these wonderful people wishing all of us a Merry Christmas. I wish all of the Shorpy readers and the Admins a Merry Christmas also.
Merry Christmas!I'm a faithful reader of Shorpy, have been for over 10 years now, since I joined up. Every year, I always look forward to the Shorpy Office Xmas Party picture. I don't know what it is; maybe it's the continuity of it. We know every year we'll see it, and every year we'll get to talk about new fictions we've created for the people therein. It's such great fun.
Re Office StoriesNice commentary!  You really bring life to this party.
Glad for TradIt's truly a fun Shorpy-looker tradition to view this pic large and spend an hour time traveling and reading the comments. Hope everybody had a Groovy Solstice yesterday. Happy Holidays!
Hair dressersWho did the hair styles back then, terrible......
Sic transit ursusI love the Shorpy Christmas party! This guy still startled me when I spied him on the floor, despite the fact that I commented on him FIVE YEARS AGO. 
Dean NorrisAh, it wouldn't be Christmas without this delight from Shorpy!
The guy behind the big boss's left shoulder looks like a sightly younger version of actor Dean Norris. According to IMDB, Dean Norris was born in 1962 or 1963, but if this post on Shorpy is any guide, he's at least 100 years old.  Is he pretending to be younger than he really is?  And what's the secret of looking so young?
Cheers!Thanks for posting again, this is one of my favourite pictures on Shorpy. Some odd Barnets going on with some of the women though...I'd love to know if there was a gramophone at this party and if so, what the playlist was.
Tradition I can almost hear Tevya, singing the song in "Fiddler On The Roof", but not quite. It is of course the Holiday Season, office parties and good will to men and of course women. It is time for us Shorpy Junkies to wish each other the best of the season. Good health, prosperity and peace to all. Thanks to our Hosts Dave and  Ken and to our  interlocutor terrace for their grand efforts.
G-manI had to do ctrl-f for all three pages, and I'm amazed that no one to date has identified J. Edgar Hoover standing in the front row, cigar butt in hand, between vest-and-watch chain guy and three-piece suit guy. I can't believe I didn't notice him when I first commented three years ago.
Time for a Shorpy Xmas party!I think we are overdue to have one where we all meet and discuss THIS picture (because with 150 comments, we clearly have a lot on our minds about this W.E. holiday soiree).
Merry Christmas ShorpyitesMerry Christmas to one and all, fans of the photos posted in Shorpy. Thanks to Dave and everyone who helps out with the site.
I hope the new year is good to all and everyone will be back next Christmas to view Xmas Party.
I've been a member for 3 years, 2 days and anonymous for several before that I think.
What's with the oil can?I understand the Teddy Bear and little house in the front of the photo.  But what is the significance of the Christmas Oil Can?
[Yet another beloved Christmas legend inspired by this photo. -tterrace]
Do they know?The standing gal, 3rd from the left, and the kneeling gal (center and one row back) both have the same necklace on (7 little cascading chains ending in a pearl).  I think that the boss-man, J. Edgar Hoover (on the right with the cigar), is having an affair with both of these gals and he gave them both the same necklace. He thinks it's really funny and smiles when he sees them together; his own little private joke!  I wonder if the gals know and are just playing him for whatever they can get? We will never know for sure.
Modern Woman+89
One must wonder if oiling the bear will make the Yuletide bright?
Thanks again!This is now my official notification that the Xmas season has begun. The Office Party re-post.
Threadbare BoughsNow I know where Charlie Brown got his tree. Merry Christmas everyone!
Hours and hoursI, like so many others here, have spent hours with this image. I'm always drawn back to the woman in the lower left. She's always struck me as the office outcast trying to get out of the picture. The woman to the right of her, with the lace collar, looks like her boss giving her the stink eye for not participating.
Roaring Twenties!Thanks for this flash-back, Shorpy!
Love the very mysterious Lady on the left...
and still dislike that pompous guy with the cigar. 
Wee fish, ewe, a mare, egrets, moose... and a hippo gnu year!
I have to askDoes "Office Xmas Party" have the largest amount of comments?
[That record might be held by Our Lady of Lourdes School. Another much-commented post was The Beaver Letter. - Dave]
FinallyShorpy's annual "Office Xmas Party" has arrived! There's my guy standing in the back row, far left still waiting for me. Swoon.
Happy Holidays, Shorpyites! 
And thank you, Dave, for all that you do.
Re 2%, and Raise your glassesI think glasses were considered unattractive. I remember lots of members of this generation (my grandparents') or the next who would whip off their glasses whenever someone raised a camera. 
Tough Day At The Office?The best part about these office parties are the grab bags. It's always the best way to regift. Other than that, I hope Dave, Ken, tterace and all our outstanding commentators and readers have a wonderful holiday and a healthy prosperous New Year.
Must have been a heck of a partyAll the way in the back is a tall bald man with a traffic signal on his head! That's better than a lampshade. The body language between the woman on the far left and the woman to her right who is glaring at her is really very sad. You wonder what sort of ugliness was going on behind the scenes. The lady looks like she's been crying a bit. Who knows. It's fascinating to see such a candid photo none the less. 
An oilcan!Now I know the perfect gift to get for all my co-workers. Merry Christmas Shorpy nation. 
I look forward to these people each yearThey've become familiar yet remain interesting.  As I said years ago, we're testing the counter on this one.
Merry Christmas fellow Shorpyites and wish a grand New Year!
It was ninety years ago today ...... and the photo never ceases to give.
The fun is overOkay, we had our Christmas celebration, now everyone back to your desks and let's finish out the day at 5:00.
The lucky onesDue to the magic of photography, this happy group has been celebrating now for ninety years.  If you enlarge the picture and study their faces and demeanors, you may get some insight into their characters and personalities in 1925.  After seeing this photo for many Christmases on Shorpy, I almost feel that I know some of them as well I know my own friends.  Merry Christmas to all, especially the Shorpy staff.
What are we missing?Great photo, been seeing it for years now, but I always wonder what else was going on? People are looking left, right, straight, up, down. What was going on out of frame? That lady in lower left looks ready to bolt, especially with the other lady looking on concernedly. If this was a Halloween photo, the massacre would be about to begin.
I've been ill, and maybe delirious...
Spooky Lady of Christmas PastI remain endlessly curious regarding the woman with her back to the desk.  
Spooky and haunting, amid all the fascinating characters in this classic shot, she is The One.
Department Name for Room 504Western Electric Company
Installation Department
5th Floor
1319 F Street
Washington DC
(From the 1925 Washington City Directory)
This department installed Central Office equipment (testboards, operator switchboards, signaling equipment, etc) supporting both local and long distance telephone service. 
Google street view has an office building that looks old enough to be our Christmas Office party location. Perhaps another Shorpyite can add the street view for us.
[It was built in 1913. Interestingly enough, it's just one building away from Harris & Ewing, another source of many Shorpy photos. -tterrace]

Merry Christmas, George BabbittThe guy on the right, in front, with the grand forehead, holding the stogie, reminds me of Sinclair Lewis's protagonist in "Babbitt" (1922):
"He was the modern business man; one who gave orders to clerks and drove a car and played occasional golf and was scholarly in regard to Salesmanship. His head suddenly appeared not babyish but weighty, and you noted his heavy, blunt nose, his straight mouth and thick, long upper lip, his chin overfleshy but strong; with respect you beheld him put on the rest of his uniform as a Solid Citizen."  
Room 504Flip the photo horizontally, and you will see that we are on the 5th floor.  Who can guess the "department" we are in?
Now it is Christmastime for sureI couldn't truly celebrate Christmas without seeing this picture again. It must be after Thanksgiving or Shorpy would not have posted it. Any comments I could make about this picture would only be a pale response to all the previous comments. It just makes me try to think what an office Christmas party like this must have been compared to a modern day party. I look forward to this picture every year for some crazy reason.
294408That's how many people have called up this photo.  Over a quarter million!  And this isn't YouTube.  What an amazing picture.  What an amazing site.  Merry Christmas to all my Shorpy comrades and a huge thank-you to Dave and tterrace for all they do to bring this amazingness to us every day.
YuletideI heard Springsteen singing about Santa on my way to work, and now I see this. It is truly Christmastime now.
Oh, Beautiful Lady in the Lower Left......let me unwrap that bear for you, before your nearby friend gets more worried that you're not having any fun.
DoppelgangerThe young woman framed in the door on the left looks remarkably like today's woman who was a business partner of mine.
Nothing but the best at Shorpy!!Thanks for this expected post!
Never noticed this beforeThe men's jackets have creases running the length of the arms. I wonder if this was a customary thing for "the office" or typical treatment "of the times" for pressing? Perhaps this treatment was typical only of a worsted fabric?
P. D. Police Dept.I keep being intrigued by the one and only joker in the crowd, our lady with the "P.D. Police ...." hat. There must be another word after "Police," I suppose it is just "Dept."
Marching In PlaceSeeing this picture so many times tells me that I'm growing older but these celebrants  have become ageless. Along with that piece of wisdom allow me to add my Seasonal Greetings for a Merry Christmas, a joyous Hanukkah Past and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to all. Of course we are all in the debt of Dave,Ken and tterrace (who may or may not be on the Payroll) for their addictive posts, explanations and comment rebuttals. 
From NYC, where the Christmas Eve Fahrenheit is forecasted at 72º.
Mel
[tterrace is salaried, deals in a service and is bigger than a bread box. -John Charles Daly]
Life of the partyMy best guess for "life of the party" status goes to the lady in front with elf buckles on her shoes. I love this image- there so much detail and depth of relational perspective. 
Afterlife Office PartyThis photograph has become a holiday tradition for me, as anticipated as my Christmas eve tradition of baking cookies, wrapping gifts and gently placing a dish towel under Uncle Trouble's chin so he doesn't drool on his good shirt after passing out on the couch. 
Scanning the full-screen photo, I wonder if a small corner of the afterlife might be populated by tenants doomed to spend eternity at a perpetual office Christmas party for some workplace sin like stealing lunches from the office fridge, pilfering office supplies, or failing to replace paper or toner in the printer. I can picture Dickensian clarks with ink-stained fingers forever mingling over paper-cupped eggnog with 60's swinging secretaries, Old Kingdom robed Egyptian scribes trimming the tree with bored mid-level Qing Dynasty bureaucrats, and that impenetrable knot of young IT guys and gals speaking in that techno-babble, side-eyeing the boss, forever giggling.
I imagine the mirthless rounds of the eternal white elephant gift exchange: the Take Me to the River-singing fish going round and round and round the conference table ad infinitum. I can see the everlasting greasy pile of stale taquitos, timeless sips from the bottle of booze hidden in the file cabinet, Starbucks Christmas Jazz CD playing in an endless loop -- the horror.
Goober Pea
UpdatedUsing John J's sleuthing on the location of this office, I recently ventured there to see if any resemblance to the photo remains.  I got as far as the only door in the hall on that floor. Nothing appeared to remain.
Seek and ye shall find .  . . GO!TimeAndAgainPhoto, that's a great job of investigating one of our Shorpy.com favorites, but I'm convinced that if you'll just badge your way into that office, you'll find a fellow in there with a traffic signal on his head.
I hope so, anyway.
Re: Seek and ye shall find . . . GO!Jim Page - I had to badge my way past security and up the elevator before I was stopped by the secured door.
Those were the daysI really do miss the office Christmas parties from my working years which gave us an opportunity to meet, greet and schmooze with people we hadn't seen in 20 minutes.  Merry Christmas to all, rejoice and be glad.
Every Year and I am Still Captivated But I Don't Know WhyThanks Dave, I'm still enjoying this for some reason I don't understand, and I'm still curious about the front and center oil can.
SNL Time Traveler?That person standing directly to the left of the tree is either a time-traveling, cross-dressing Pete Davidson from SNL or his Great Grandmother worked at Western Electric Group in 1925!
Shorpy - I look forward to this picture every year and am a regular viewer of your site.  Even have a couple of large prints on my walls at home, with another coming soon!
Thanks for this site - it's one of the pleasures of my day!
Yuletide.I love seeing this picture every year. As do my co-workers. Thank you.
I have seen this picture for six (I believe) years nowBut today, today there is a new face, one I instantly recognize, that I would swear was not there in any previous year.
I once found my wife's doppleganger (Trackless Trolley) in one of these pictures.  Today, I find my youngest daughter, Cecilia (16); she's poking her face out between the 2nd and 3rd fully visible women on the left side of the photo (their right) from the tree.
Ok, it's spooky Dave.... but I'm starting to believe someone has a time travel machine, and everyone but me in my family is using it.
P.D. clocheWonder what she's hiding under that hat?
It's timeThis picture (and the myriad comments) are so entertaining, I sometimes search for it when I'm feeling low, even in July!  I especially love Oil Can Sally's come hither look.
I amost know these peopleMy Great-Great Grand uncle was Dan Richardson, a senior accountant for Western Electric in the New England/Northeast US area. He certainly visited Washington D. C. during his time with Western Electric, and would have met and worked with one or more of the people in this photo.
Odd to think I could, via relatives, have been introduced to these people.
This is my first ChristmasI see 26 men, 21 women and hundreds of possibilities.
Oh My GoodnessI had no idea it was so close to Christmas. We really need to finish the baking...
Old Friends From The OfficeAre like warm Gluehwein to heat the cold heart at Christmas.
Merry Christmas my Shorpyite friends and a Happy New Year to everyone, especially Dave who keeps all of us in memories. [updated]
Phyllis Diller"What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day."
QuorumThis picture puts the "mass" back in Christmas.
Sturdy DesksI guess the nine guys head and shoulders above everyone else are standing on two or three of these desks. Curious as anyone about the office relationships and the lady sitting in front of the desk. My eighth year of wondering and guessing about this picture.
The scraggly looking treein the picture most probably was bought with donations from some of the people in this picture.
Older Shorpyites will no doubt remember the single set of lights on the tree.  The lighting "outfit" was an inexpensive 8 light series set, with C-6 miniature based bulbs.  When a bulb burned out, it was time to hunt for it with a good one...unscrewing every bulb in the set until it was found.
I remember helping my grandmother do just that.  For some reason, the C-6 series set was always at the top of the tree.  Grandma would get up on a stool, with me holding the good bulb, and switching it one by one until the set lit.
Wonderful times.  Timeless memories.
What Are They ThinkingI've enjoyed this picture year after year, and like many who had suffered through office parties, I often thought what goes through their minds.
Click to enlarge.

Lady in the foregroundI've also wondered (several years in a row) about the lady with her back to the desk. The thing that really stands out to me, is her hair. As far as I can tell, she has her hair swept back in a bun, which is clearly very old-fashioned compared to all the bobbed and shingled ladies in the office.
I know this is a bit far-fetched but her clothes and hair suggest to me that she wasn't an office worker, as they give the impression of having less money to spend on herself. I wondered if maybe she was the office cleaner/ tea lady who was called in to be part of the photo?
It could explain why she seems a bit distant from all the others in the group.
It's here!  It's here!The Shorpy Christmas Cheer office party picture is here!  Smack dab in the middle of Prohibition, the gang at Western Electric make merry with two or three hundred stories or thoughts about what the heck was going on in their heads!  
My favorite is the seductress "oil can" Sally with her bathtub-gin induced come-hither gaze!
Merry Christmas!
#UsTooI bet if those girls had a voice today there would be some explaining to do.
Night Before ChristmasWhen what to my wondering eyes should appear
but a company Christmas calendar, the same as last year.
Season's GreetingsThis is simply the greatest captured moment in the history of office photography!
Nothing puts me in the spirit like --this pic, a glass of egg nog and Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on a loop! Merry Christmas all!!
The distant gazeAs fun as it is, I think we're way overthinking the motives of the 5 or so "looking away" women.  Yes, even the comment-generating pair of the sultry one in the lower left corner and the one sitting to her left who appears to be staring her down.  It was evidently fashionable for many decades for women to "look into the distance" for a portrait photograph, and I think that's all they're doing here.  My theory is that this practice started as a way to prevent the "zombie eyes" effect of the exposure capturing the blink after the flash.  My mother always did it, even when I implored her to look at my camera with everyone else.
That GirlIn the middle front, her hairdo reminds me of a poem my mother (b. 1915) used to recite:
There was a little girl who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good, she was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.
[Nursery rhyme by Longfellow. - Dave]
Every yearI feel sorrier than the year before for the one sitting on the floor with her back to the desk.  She looks like she is just waiting for the party to be over so she can throw herself out the window.   
Reminds me of "The Office"I can find the whole cast from Dunder-Mifflin -- Michael, Jim and Pam, Dwight Schrute, Stanley, Kevin, Angela, and Phyllis. 
Let's danceHey, did anyone remember to bring their Lasses White albums?
ClaireThis pretty gal looks exactly like my wife.  I just printed out the image and am going to show her tonight.  
Work or PleasureIs the machine on the desk at the right (above the In Box) a record player brought in? A radio? Or is it merely some office device like maybe a phone-related routing/switchboard machine?
Also, wingtips apparently were in style.
Sure SignOf the Season: this picture on Shorpy (Thanks, Dave) and "A Christmas Carol" on TCM.  All the best to all wherever ye might be!
Ghosts of Christmas pastIt really is curious that we can scrutinize a picture like this every year and each time we notice something different that we did not notice before.  This year, while observing enlarged close-ups of these people's faces, I see resemblances to many of my own acquaintances, friends and public figures and one can almost even determine the personality and attitude of each person. I think the young lady standing on the extreme left, second row, closest to the door, looks like a younger Martha Stewart. I also know that these happy holiday office parties are quickly disappearing due to the current lawsuits involving harassment, etc. so the people of my generation (old fossils) can move into the history books with them and just remember how it "used to be" and know it will never be again.
This festive group gets a prime spot in that chapter and exemplifies what it was like, for better or for worse.  Party on kids, 'til the end of time.   
The BossThe one sure thing about this photo is who the boss is, probably flanked by his second in command to his right.
Ion Dept. XmasI have followed this wonderful Xmas photo for years but have never commented, till now.  I always wondered what I might say, since so much has been said.  But what really made me start this year -- the thing I’d never really noticed before – the new thing! – is that guy (head) craning behind the Xmas tree.  Compared with all the other people, he’s really only half there, penciled in, lacking in the vibrancy and heft of every other person. So I guess my comment is:  Merry Xmas, Ion Tree guy!  (And Merry Xmas to all my Shorpy sisters and brothers, and of course to our all-puissant but beneficent overlords, Dave and tterrace, who make this daily joy available to us all.)
[Or maybe Ion Guy is just tinseled in. - Dave]
Was the Electric Company a Communist Front?Psychodramas?  How about it looks like Alger Hiss and Whitiker Chambers’ cousins were exchanging Christmas gifts in Washington in 1925.  Alger’s stands to the left and Whitiker’s to the right—significant?  Whitiker’s cousin looks like someone socked him on the forehead and Alger’s has a smile on his face.

[Ahem. Whittaker, not "Whitiker." - Dave]
That Temptress!All these folks saying they see something new each year -- nuts. I first laid eyes on the beauty behind the oil can, what -- a decade ago now? And she has had me in her spell ever since. It is now officially Christmas season for me.
I'm busy here!You Shorpyites who fantasize about folks from over 90 years ago -- How strange you are.
And all your blather is distracting me from my mission of saving the saintly Love of My Life whose shoulder had been latched onto by the Evil Witch with no opposable thumb ...
I must complete this pesky time machine before Christmas.
Holiday RomanceI see that its time to renew my holiday romance. Every year I fall in love with the young lady the farthest to the left. Brings warmth to my heart, of course, I don't dare tell my wife.
Season's Greetings!I look forward to this picture every year. I like that it's been a running thing here for so long, because I see it as a way to bind all us Shorpyites together. No matter where we live, how old we are, what we're doing in our lives, we can all stop here and comment on this picture, wishing everyone a wonderful holiday. Thank you, Dave, for providing that for us. 
I wish all of you that read this a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2019 be the year you've been waiting for.
Hip FlasksEven the Bear won't tell, but, I am sure the oil can will.
1925! Prohibition! Almost every woman had one and, I am sure, that there may be a few here. 
Maybe, that's why Gladys sitting with the Bear and oil can, is smiling knowingly?
Even the person who introduced Prohibition had a still in his basement.
"It was 93 years ago today" Happy Christmas, John! Happy Christmas, Yoko!...Esther, Mary, Eugenia, Mabel, Nellie, Ida, Clara, Edith, Winifred, Maude, Violet, Gladys, Daisy,Doris, Agatha, Gertrude, Elspeth, Velma, Thelma, Myrna, Hortence...
The LevelingTo paraphrase William Makepeace Thackeray "It was in the reign of President Calvin Coolidge, that the above-named personages lived and quarrelled ; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."
Most popular galMy favorite - Oil Can Sally - has three gag gifts displayed.  That probably makes her the most popular woman in the office. In addition, her provocative smile suggests a hangover was in her future!
Still GOGO after all these yearsI love the bald guy just visible in the back row with the traffic signal "ballanced" perfectly on the top of his head. Very steady!
It sounds crazy... but I swear the bear moved a bit since last year.
That old gang is back!The Christmas Party Picture is back!  I'd actually forgotten about it, so a quick check of Shorpy was the most welcome way to end my Friday.  The week to come will reveal new snarks about these buddies of ours, and I look forward to that.  Thank you, Shorpy!
Those EyesThe beauty sitting against the desk gets me every year. She looks exhausted.
My Favorite TraditionI don't post a lot of comments, but I check the site every day to see what's new and to read what *other* people have said. This is probably one of my favorite posts on this site because it's great to go back through the years of comments and read people's observations about the image, maybe see if someone has come up with something new. I hope we keep seeing this picture on the Friday before Christmas until the heat death of the universe. It would be a lovely constant.
Happy Holidays to everyone at Shorpy. I hope it's filled with love, contentment, and joy.
If you like this photo ...You loved the Shorpy.com postcard you just received!!!
When mine came in the mail, my wife said, "Do you know those people?"
OF COURSE I DO!!!
Find the BossI just love the way he stands there holding his cigar.  You can almost hear him barking out orders in a very Edward G. Robinson-ish voice.
This reminds me of --That photo in "The Shining" of the 1921 New Year's Eve party at the Overlook Hotel.  These folks will be back, again and again.
The timeless shorpy traditionEvery year when I see the office party pic, my eyes always wind up gazing into the sideways glance of that beauty in front of the desk.
I cant help imagining what the conversations of the day were, who brought a flask full of illegal libations, was jazz coming from a tube type radio, did everyone get a little Christmas bonus (it was the roaring 20's mind you), and who has a crush on who?
Dave, thanks for all you do. Shorpy is a constant in my day.
Be well everyone!  
I guessed the right number of buttons in the jarMerry Christmas!
The Shorpy Ion Dept.A crazy thought occurred to me this year with respect to this beloved standard photograph: what if it were not the Ion Dept. from 1925 but the Shorpy regular contributors from 2019?  Which one is Dave?  Where is tterrace?  And what about so many of the devoted Shorpsters (in no special order) – Jim Page, fanhead, TheGeezer, PhotoFan, Baxado, BethF, TimeAndAgainPhoto, Vintagetvs, OTY, Solo, Jeb70, switzarch, DaveA, JennyPennifer, rhhardin, pennsylvaniaproud, JohnHoward, kines, loujudson, lindab, Jano, StefanJ, jimmylee42, Hayslip, rivlax, Mattie, joemanning, Born40YearsTooLate, GarandFan, mountainrev, perpster, Dbell, Doubleclutchin, Root 66, KathyRo, archfan, GlenJay, alexinv, karenfryxell, Gooberpea, Angus J, 510Russ, Michael R, Brett, BillyB, bobzyerunkl, Alex, jsmakbkr, Marchbanks, Commishbob, Jimmy Longshanks, DoninVa, mgolden, Alonzo, Dag, Juan de la cruz, bobstothfang, Ice gang, Rute Boye, Vonderbees, Ad Orientem, MacKenzie Kavanaugh, JazzDad, Maniak Productions, EvenSteven, Doghouse Riley, John.Debold, Sewickley, Paul A, and jd taylor.  And let’s not forget some of the people we haven’t seen for a while: stanton_square, aenthal, Mr Mel.  (My apologies to those I have not listed.)  Best of the season to you all, my fellow Shorpsters!
Who's WhoDavid K - Dave runs the joint, so he's the three piece with the cigar.  TTerrace is his major player on this site, so he is the guy looking over Dave's left shoulder.  Now we just need someone to post a picture with numbers, and we label them.
Maligayang Pasko all.
Re:Shorpy Ion Dept@davidk, I'm the one peeking from behind the Christmas tree.
I hope everyone in the Shorpy pantheon enjoys all the holidays!
Postcards From The EdgeWhen I got mine, I literally jumped for joy seeing the people that I love and cherish so much. Now I can look at them anytime throughout the year, not just at Christmas.
And, thank you to DAVIDK for the mention.
[@davidk, I would be the guy with the object upon his head]
Our own office partyI love seeing this photo every year and thanks to davidk for the guest book entries of our office.  Top of the season everyone!
Still HereEvery time I see this picture I think that these people could have been my mom or dad.The time and ages represented are almost perfect. It reminds me of aunts and uncles and family friends who are long gone although I will never forget them. I just turned 80 years old this past July and can remember a lot of people who would have been right at home in this picture. Thank you davidk for including me in your list of people who have liked this picture in the past and a big Merry Christmas to Dave and tterrace for maintaining the site. 
This one never gets oldHow is it that an old picture never gets old?  Every year, I always notice something new that I hadn't noticed before.  This year it's the guy with the beard, hiding behind the tree.
Also, the woman just above and just to the left of the woman in the striped blouse (her left, that is) - could that be Johnny Depp's great-grandmother?  I see a definite resemblance.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Love itI love this photo.   The expressions, the faces.  Some of the women are quite attractive. The man with his hand draped across the shoulder of another man is interesting.
Office desk sultry beautyI wonder why the dark hair beauty is staring off to the side?  Was she jilted?  Was she sick of the many advances by the suited men, or despondent that the one she wanted got away.   Why does the women in the RBG collar stare at her?  Does she know what happened?
I love the captions from another commenter. 
Michael ScottIf Michael Scott were the manager of this office, I wonder if he would have said (as he did 85 years later on the TV show), "Unbelievable. I do the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for these people and they freak-out. Well happy birthday Jesus, sorry your party's so lame."
Merry Christmas, Shorpy! And for the record, I don't consider this a lame birthday party, and I doubt Jesus would, either.
Bal MasqueNinety-five years later, if there even would be a party! With an added suspense -- what does Hermione look like, under that mask?
Socially DistantWould they have believed it had someone told them that in 95 years their photograph would be the highlight of 2020 for a group of remote observers?
Merry and BrightThis photo has become the official kickoff of the holidays for me.
Best wishes to all the Shorpy regulars and particularly those who keep this place running. 
Neither here nor thereEach year my attention is drawn immediately to the three beauties at the bottom left of the photo: sultry beauty far left floor level, looking off to her right at someone/something off camera; the lady to that lady's left who seems to be watching her with deliberate intent; exquisite beauty just behind the desk corner, beheld with what appears to be fond regard by the lady just behind her to her left; and wholesome beauty smiling behind exquisite beauty, being kept tabs on by the lady in the Police Department helmet. 
I do eventually get past these women, to study the remainder of visages and postures and wonder about the other long-dead revelers of both genders, but it is these six who take up most of my time each year as I wonder what might have been the complexities of the various relationships. And as always, I hope each one in the photo had a Merry Christmas that year and many years after. I know that the likelihood is slim to none that all lived long and were carefree throughout, but that's still what I wish for in this suspended moment that so many have celebrated for so long, thanks to Shorpy.
So a Merry Christmas to beloved Shorpy and its erudite, esteemed company of gazers no less fascinating than any who attended Office Xmas Party: 1925.
Thanks Again Dave and Merry ChristmasThanks again Dave, I've been waiting for it.  Obviously, we all love this yearly Christmas "surprise".  I enjoy everyone's take on this party I missed awhile back.
Questions, questionsEvery year I wonder.
What is that thing on the postal scale?  A misplaced elf? A misshapen magus?
Why is that woman with the oil can looking at me?  Am I safe?
And why is the Christmas tree so scrawny?
Merry Christmas Dave!And to all the crew at Shorpy!  Thanks for the memories and keeping some of us sane in 2020!
What I want for ChristmasI don't care what it is, I want one.
[Update, thanks to all the gizmo identifiers. I love tape dispensers! Now I really want it!]
Nothing stops this partyOh, thank goodness the Shorpy party is still on!  It's the only event the pandemic cannot cancel!
Judging youDon't know what got into her holiday spirit. Not too pleased with someone.
Re: tterrace What I want for ChristmasIt's a gummed tape dispenser, similar to this one:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-vintage-ornate-cast-iron-...
She of the averted gazeI know that we enjoy interpreting what is in - or not in - this photograph each year.   However, eight people, including "she of the averted gaze" are looking in that direction, suggesting something was going on while the picture was taken, sufficient to distract.   A further basis for interpretation and speculation, perhaps?    Merry Christmas.   
Only one bow tieAmong all those Windsor knots on the gents, third on upper right.  In group after group they are always in the minority, even until today.
Going to a Go-GoNothing says Christmas like a  Go-Go party hat.
That machineMay be a gummed tape applicator.
National Package Sealer model #206
Do they know?Do you think the two women wearing the exact same necklace (dripping pearls) suspect that it might have come from the same man? Are the pearls from the handsome young gentleman with the pen sticking out of his pocket? Is this an early version of "The Bachelor" that we are witnessing? Which one will he choose?
Austerity Christmas?From the Charlie Brown Christmas tree to the lack of any visible food or drinks (except for a few candy canes) to the blank, unimpressed looks on some faces, it looks like an Austerity Christmas in Anytown this year.
Well, Merry Christmas TermiteYou can probably still find one somewhere.  It's an automatic wetter and cutter for wide, brown packing tape. You just mash down on the handle and it shoots out a measured length of wet sticky tape and cuts it when you release. There is a messy water reservoir up front. I used one in a shipping department in 1974.
Buddha Bear!Puts in his once a year appearance.
Merry Christmas to Dave & Ken & tterrace and all the naughty boys & girls at Shorpy!
Nice $-value todayThat horse that guy in front of Christmas tree is holding. All with bit of wear and patina collected in 95 years.
Another yearWe all get another year older and they stay the same.
Five groupsPart of the endless fun with this photo is deciding which part of it to center as the embiggened image on my screen.  I fluctuate between the five main Ion Dept. groups: on the left, the ladies on the floor, the ladies standing, and the men standing above them, and on the right, the lower men and the upper men. (If I had to distinguish a special sub-group, it would be solo guy behind the tree and the fellow on the very far right who hovers between the upper and lower groups.)  Once I have the group du jour embiggened, I focus on the individual characters.  As we who have been doing this for years well know, that’s when the fun begins.
Might I take this opportunity to offer the best of the season to Dave and Ken and tterrace and all my fellow Shorpsters.  In this extraordinary year of greater screen time than ever before, I find that my Shorpy screen time is even more intense and valuable, if such a thing is actually possible.  Bless Shorpy, and bless you all.
Elbow to elbowEvery year I have a different response to this photograph, depending on general mood and the state of the world.  This year, I truly envy those people.  They get to stand together in a bunch, breathing one another’s air, touching each other casually, sharing food and drink, simply going in to work at an office.  They all lived through a plague of their own six years earlier, and they look fine now, so there’s hope.
Happy holidays to all the people who create and enjoy this wonderful website that gives me joy and perspective on a daily basis.
Re: Elbow to elbowI must concur. Having spent nine months wearing a mask, practically bathing in hand sanitizer every time I touch anything, and staying as far removed from people I don't live with as humanly possible, I'm jealous of these long-dead coworkers for being able to crowd together, enjoying one another's company in person, rather than over Zoom or FaceTime.
It's been a bad, bad year, there's no denying that, but Shorpy has been a bright spot in my day since January, much as I'm sure it's been for the rest of you. Happy Holidays to all the Shorpyites out there — may you find some contentment and peace in the face of all this tragedy and come out the other side hale and hearty.
That Time of Year AgainThrough the miracle of photography and our friends at Shorpy, we are able to visit this party again.  
A Vintage CrumpleAfter all these annual viewings I finally noticed what looks like a lone crumpled piece of paper at lower right. We'll never know what was on it. Maybe a dig at one of these people? Or love note? Ah, the mysteries!
Christmas Past, Present, and Future all at once!Every year I wonder about the dark-haired smiling young woman third from the front, beside the desk. With her modern-looking bob, she looks like a Time Traveler, so that's what I've named her. (Not far away are The Maniac, Da Boss, and The Very Secret Lovers.) This photo, along with its subjects, never gets old, and I hope the Holiday Spirit that originally inspired it never does either. Happiest of Holidays to everybody who produces and sees Shorpy, and a New Year of peace, love, courage, and good health to all.
12 Years of ChristmasMerry Christmas Shorpy.  Thanks for the memories.
[This is Shorpy's 14th Christmas! - Dave]
PerspectiveThey all lived through a plague of their own six years earlier, and they look fine now, so there’s hope.
Thanks, jdtaylor--I'm sure I'm not the only one who needed that perspective today.
Happy holidays to Dave and all the Shorpyites. This site has been a great distraction lately!
Time to Move OnI vote that next year you post the 1926 photo. Some of the lingering issues must have been resolved by then.
The X-mas Party Presents!And here you may have a look on how Christmas looked 100 years ago in the U.K. (including a display of toys made by Meccano in the toy department of Whiteleys store in Bayswater).
Mysterious machineNow that the gummed tape dispenser has been identified, I hope someone will be able to reveal the secret of the machine on the desk behind the in-box. A perforator or a mimeograph machine perhaps?
[It's called a typewriter. - Dave]
Dead ringer, etc.At the very back and far left - the attractive woman 3 in - I have a friend who looks exactly like her but with a more modern hair style, but identical facial features. How eerie!
Something tells me that Oil Can Mary's wicked smile indicates that she is already planning what flapper attire she will wear at the local speakeasy that night. Her future toast might be: "My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light!" Published in 1920. Edna St. Vincent Millay.
I often wonder what became of all these people. It is my hope that they all lived long, happy, prosperous lives but alas, as we know, life can be more complicated than that.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year you ghosts of Christmas past!
The only Christmas party I'll go to.Merry Christmas to Dave and the Shorpy Crew, as well as my fellow Shorpy followers. It appears that I've been around for 12.5 of the 14 years of Shorpy.com, though it seems like yesterday and DoninVa no longer lives in Va. There's always something to be found in a Shorpy photo: the young woman framed in the glass of the door is the doppelganger for someone I once worked with. Cheers!
Newcomer To The PartyAfter viewing Shorpy for some years now, I finally decided to join this party; I'm in awe of the many observations, and for now, am unable to come up with any new angles on this fascinating photo.  I do want to say that the comments of jd taylor and BethF most definitely struck a chord with me; I, too, envy those in the photo, survivors of even greater trouble, coming as it did following The Great War.  Hope to see you all back at the party next year, and a few other places along the way.  May you all find peace and hopefully some joy this Christmas.
A Merry Christmas to You All!It's been a rough few years for me (family deaths, health issues), and my Internet usage dropped off considerably. I may have stopped commenting, but I never stopped reading, and I've looked forward to this photo every year for a long, long time. I'm glad that for all the things in flux in this world, the Shorpy Office Xmas Party remains the same.
I wish you and yours the very merriest and happiest of holiday seasons. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.  :-D
EerieWhy the rush?
[??? - Dave]
MassafornianWhat a great comment, thank you.  I’ve never colorized, and I use Photoshop for barely 10% of what it can do, but I truly appreciated your insight into the process.  More amazing is that you’ve named them all.  Gosh, I’d love to know who the others are, in addition to Mary, Bobbie, Lulu, and Lila.  And how honest to share with us your faves, Mary and Bobbie, made legit by your wife asking.  I agree about Lila: trouble.  Also the lady with the marcel wave in the purple dress and blue coat with fur fringe behind the bear and oilcan and house: you might think of her in off moments but you could never make it work.  (What’s her name?)  Thanks for explaining about Remini because I wondered how their teeth and various other features were so brilliant and precise.  And don’t worry about the rouging: it raised the temperature on the whole event (and not just on the ladies – it’s perfect for that guy third from the left in the upper right, the older fellow with the red tie, who’s had too much to drink or is about to have a stroke or both).  One more thing: I’d never really noticed that unsightly blotch on the forehead of the boss with the cigar – you did it full, gross justice.  Again, great job, and thanks, man!
I'd like to be the first this yearSurely, it's not too soon for this Yuletide Jewel ...
The Oilcan Need an explanation for the purpose of the oil can at the party.
[It's not a party unless everyone is well-lubricated. - Dave]
Now the season is complete!I look forward to revisiting this every year. Thank you!
- Ken
Colorized versionI've been working off and on to colorize this wonderful image throughout the year. Here's the result. You can also find it here in high resolution:
http://www.hearthworks.net/1925/1925_office_xmas_party_12.12.jpg
Merry Christmas!
[Bravo! - Dave]
Amazing colorization!@ Massafornian -- thanks so much for that epic job. It adds so much to an already incredible image. (Judging by your username, I suspect we are compatriots -- I was born in Massachusetts and live in California.)
Merry and BrightWith retirement, our lives have been simpler here so the Christmas decorations go up earlier and earlier. But it isn't *really* the season until the annual Shorpy office party. Happy Holidays to Dave and the regular contributors that make this place special. 
BTW...it's kind of odd that I get older but none of the partygoers ever seem to. Must be something in the eggnog.
As We Seek Normalcy, This Pic Provides it!The last two pandemic driven years, makes most of us seek glimpses of normalcy. Having this Christmas tradition each year, having a peek into the office Christmas party, gives a moment of that peace. Knowing these, and their children, and their grandchildren...made it through the Great Depression, WWll, the Cold War, etc., etc., still, a moment frozen in time, gives a certain reassurance, that everything is going to be ok! 
Merry Christmas, office party, as well as all the Shorpy members that crash the party each year!
Bravo, indeedWell done on the colorization, Massafornian.  It adds a level of vibrancy to an already-lively photo of an intriguing bunch of people.  I’m also surprised at some of the effects, for example the oft-commented-upon woman in the lower left, sitting against the desk, craning her neck for a beady glare offstage – the rouge on her cheeks and the lipstick blunt the ultra-crazy impression and make her look, dare I say, somewhat fetching.  Thank you for your addition to this seasonal favourite.  And best of the season to my fellow Shorpsters and to the toilers in the digital mines who bring us this much-loved website.
Everybody's back in the officeNobody's working from home and the party is ON!  Happy holidays!
WFHAs we head into Covid Christmas #2, it again strikes me that these folks would have no idea what working from home would even mean.  (Taking in sewing?)  Here they are, in joyous proximity one to the other, while we are still asked to distance, mask up, etc.  Their mingled exhalations, their casual touches, the humid density of their gathering – how I envy them.  Well, we come here to dream and fantasize, don’t we?  Happy holidays to my fellow dreamers and observers and to the hard-working trio who bring us the stuff that dreams are made of.
Up to good or no goodI am incredulous that I have never really noticed the girl at the far left of the photo, just in front of the door -- the last of the women. She is concealing something. Knowledge or intent, benevolent or nefarious ... no matter. Keep a weather eye on that one.
Egad! New versions!Shorpy Patreon members have been treated to a short, elegant--well, creepy--music video in Ken-Burns-goes-Edward Gorey style. And now a colorized photo with costumes straight out of Technicolor heaven. And in 2021 they all sneaked in to party on Saturday!
Old FriendsI've seen this picture so many times over the years at Christmas time on Shorpy that the faces have become like familiar old friends. I'm of the opinion that Christmas will never be the same for me unless I get to see this photo at least once during the Christmas season.
Girl At The Far LeftNo one tried to say a thing
When they took him out in jest
Except, of course, the little neighbor boy
Who carried him to rest
And he just walked along, alone
With his guilt so well concealed
And muttered underneath his breath
“Nothing is revealed”
Time For A Rhyme...or TwoIt's Christmas Party time again, so back to yesteryear,
To faces from so long ago, we now hold somewhat dear
They lived through their pandemic, and now we've had our own
For some, it was an ordeal; of much more time alone,
Yet, gazing at these faces here shows us things will improve,
And then to next year's gala even more will gladly move!
A Merry Christmas to you all, here at this special time
I thank you all so very much for bearing with my rhymes,
May next year's party be the one our current trial's behind us
But our friends from 1925 will be there to remind us ...
A very special thanks to Massafornian for the superb colorization!
A bit more on the colorizationThe colorization was done by hand, for about an hour most every morning, when I had the spare time while listening to podcasts. I started in early January and completed it around April. I am sure that most Shorpians know that colorization is tedious, mostly due to the need to mask objects and details as much as possible, to distinguish them from other objects. (The Christmas tree with its fir needles and tinsel was a bit of a job). Automated colorization just doesn’t compare in quality to doing it by hand.
Each person is a smart layer in Photoshop that in turn contains many layers of isolated bits to colorize. The fun part was choosing the colors of people’s attire. Hopefully what I chose is close enough to what this cast of characters might’ve actually worn in 1925, but I won’t claim any historical research was performed for color accuracy.
I could easily spend the same amount of time on this image again, by further masking textures and smaller objects, and separating their colors. If anyone wants the original layered PSD to do more magic, you can have it here:
http://www.hearthworks.net/1925/1925_office_xmas_party_12.12.2021.psd.zi...
You have exactly one year to post the next refinement!
You might notice in the high resolution version that the faces are oddly higher resolution than the surrounding parts of the image. This is a bit of AI deployed on the faces, called Remini. Google it to learn more, but in a nutshell, Remini analyzes a face that is low resolution or blurry and magically reconstructs it in high resolution by drawing from a huge library of face components. Remini reassembles face components onto a map based on the original image. The process is hit-or-miss as far as how it can interpret low-quality image data. It was fun to apply it to this image one face at a time and integrate the rendered AI faces back into the master image.
I feel that I know all these characters in the photo intimately, having spent a lot of time on each one of them. I’ve given them all first names to distinguish the Photoshop layer names. My wife asks me which lady I might’ve fancied back in the day, and I think it’s a tie between ‘Mary’ (the blonde in front of the ‘504’ door wearing purple) and ‘Bobbie’ (third-to-the-right of ‘Lulu’, (the pixie by the desk), with brown hair, a green coat and blue dress, looking directly into the camera). Those two have nice, approachable personalities. I’m intrigued by ‘Lila’ (the mysterious lady on the floor in front of the desk), but she’s perhaps too brooding for 1925 Me to take on; and ‘Lulu’ is far too racy and trendy for my sensibilities.
I was born in 1963, so I imagined a lot of these people from 1925 as being my many older relatives who were a huge part of my childhood in the 60’s and 70’s. My grandmother was born in 1890 and her gaggle of five sisters had birth years that ranged between 1885 and 1902. Though elderly, they were all alive and vibrant for most of my childhood, and greatly influenced me.
I’ve been patiently waiting for this time of year when Dave publishes this wonderful photo, to submit my contribution. I think this version turned out pretty nice.
@ Born Too Late - my geographical fate is the opposite of yours: I started out in the Alameda, California and moved to Massachusetts some 20 years ago. Massachusetts is really a great place to live—weather be damned!
@ DavidK - Yes, ‘Lila’ did indeed turn out to be beautified by the AI software, Remini. In retrospect I think I got carried away with rouging people’s cheeks, but without it, the skin tones just seemed too flat.
Cheers,
—Massafornian
HUAAgreed, davidk ... most likely she's a downright dollbaby but there is a definite glint in her eye and you must admit she has a secret or two or ten. Maybe she's even got something on some of the other girls.
Not nefariousI’ve had my eye on that woman on the far left in front of the ION window for years, JennyPennifer.  She has a touch of high color, and I really like that ringlet that has broken loose by her right eye.  She seems mild yet ready for fun.  Not naughty.
At this rateI'm thinking that by the 2025 centenary we should be ready for an animatronic enlivening of this ongoing party.
Cast of charactersAbsolutely outstanding job of colorization, Massafornian!
It really brings out details that were easy to overlook.
I see the Serbian Anarchist, peering out just to the right of the Big Boss with the cigar, and wonder what he's planning. And the guy hiding just below the life of the party, with the STOP/GO headgear - he looks like he's hiding something, for sure.
But is the Big Boss truly the Man? My money is on the distinguished looking silver haired gent at the top right, overlooking the affair with a cautious gaze ...
And, who really *is* the mustachioed guy to his left, glaring at the photographer?
Is he worried about this photo getting out? Does he appear on a Wanted poster??
Merry Thank YouBecause it's never Christmas until the Office Party and new Office Party Comments.
Office Stories@ DavidK - If you have Photoshop, try downloading the PSD and you’ll see their names in the layers palette. The oilcan lady I named ‘Janelle’ because she looks like my cousin who has that name. I believe ‘Janelle’ to be the well-regarded office trickster.
The aging lush in the top-right standing group of men is named ‘Redd’. Me thinks he’s barely evading his mortality this fine evening, and perhaps is about to fall off of whatever he’s perched upon, to be carried out to a waiting cab, muttering something about his childhood pet dog, Wilberforce. After his early departure his hip flask was found on the floor, where he fell. No one knows what happened to it, or its contents.
The leader of the pack is named ‘Boss’, for obvious reasons. My wife thinks that perhaps he has a familial connection to ‘Bertha’, the large lady in the red dress. Boss’s blotch is an expanding skin growth. By 1945, it will have grown over his face, poor fellow. Unfortunately, the portly Boss died of a heart attack in 1946 while un-crating his new supply of Consuegra cigars and munching on a donut.
I note in this photo that there is no evidence of food or drink, save the candy canes. So while we have conjectured on this post about the state of inebriation these people might be in, strong drink seems unlikely at this event, particularly in the age of prohibition these people find themselves in. (Redd is the exception, having brought his own supply of spirits.) The food might be in another part of the room, but the lack of it has me thinking that this event was a relatively brief gathering after work.
‘Lulu’, the office pixie, is only 19 years old. She is Boss’s niece. This makes her somewhat problematic for all concerned in the office, and something of a political figure. She’s not exactly incompetent at her job, but the office matriarch, ‘Ursula’ (sitting on the floor in the green dress) was grudgingly forced to hire her. Lulu got married to a Studebaker salesman in 1928, moved to Pasadena in 1930, and had 4 children. She died in 1988 in a car accident.
The thing about the brooding ‘Lila’ that no one knew was that she had a very wealthy aunt in New York City. In 1934 her aunt passed away, and Lila inherited nearly $3 million dollars in property and bonds. She moved to the Upper East Side in 1936, but never married. She lived to the age of 103, dying in 1998.
Here's a closeup of Lila:
Go-GoIs that something hanging from the wall or sitting on the man's head as a prank?  Has it ever been commented on before?  Though not shown, there has to be a portable Victrola and stack of jazz records somewhere for when the party gets hot!  This was the height of the Charleston era and there are plenty of flappers present!
A White Elephant In The RoomMay explain the oil can, the Honey Bear, and all the other strange gifts.
I don't know how long the White Elephant Gift party has been around, but my wife and I just had one at our house.
That is one thing that I have been looking at all these years on Shorpy (the crazy gifts), and now realize the crazy gifts could be from the White Elephant in the room.
Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to all my Shorpyite brothers and sisters.
(Thanks archfan. Good to know that it is still around after all these years)
Colors!Kudos, Massafornian! At first I thought, hm, some of those dresses are awfully bright, but then I realized of course that for the office party some people always wear a “special” outfit. I doubt that woman in the red satin dress would have worn it any other day but it’s so Christmasy how could she resist! 
Colors!Kudos, Massafornian! At first I thought, hm, some of those dresses are awfully bright, but then I realized of course that for the office party some people always wear a “special” outfit. I doubt that woman in the red satin dress would have worn it any other day but it’s so Christmasy how could she resist! 
Re: Go-GoVictrolaJazz asks if the mini traffic signal on the head of the man at the back, to the right of the tree, has been commented on before.  Yes!  Many times over the years, in fact.  This would provide a fine opportunity to review the long and enjoyable string of comments where you will find the following:  Going to a Go-Go (12/12/2020), Still GOGO after all these years (12/20/2019), Festive Dress (12/19/2015), Must have been a heck of a party (12/23/2014), No one seems to have noticed (12/14/2012), Office A-Go-Go (12/25/2010), Slow on the uptake (12/24/2010), Kimono-wearing parrot? (12/23/2010), I can’t find Don Draper (12/23/2010), Naughty Naughty (04/21/2009), Getting Oiled at the Office Xmas Party (12/15/2008), Dramatis Personae (12/15/2008), and, finally, A Story in every face (12/15/2008) which includes a Dave link to a Shorpy post with a real GO-GO traffic signal in it.
Time travel?Either Johnny Depp  was the original Doctor Who time travelling as a woman or his mother was working Working for Western Electric that Christmas
A white elephant party?I hadn't thought of that and now I'm disappointed.  For years I have been daydreaming about the oil can lady, the one with the unnervingly lascivious direct look.
Then I remember she'd be old enough to be my grandmother.  Jeepers.
Grateful Holiday pome These people, alas, are all now dust.
 But we on Shorpy surely must
 visit them once more.
 Cheer to all on Shorpy!
Sad or Stimulating, or a bit of both?Having been recently retired, with no more company Christmas parties to attend, I am faced with a conundrum. 
Is it sad that the 1925 Christmas Party on Shorpy is now the Office Party I look forward to the most, or is it tantalizing that the faces and actions of these folks, now long gone, give all of us smiles nearly a century later?
Let this serve as a reminder to treat every moment as if that moment is also "frozen in time"!
Merry Christmas, Dave, and the entire Shorpy family!
MomObviously, this is another photo in the Shorpy Hall of Fame inaugural class, but the best thing about it for me is that it was likely taken when my mom was just a newborn, having come into this world on December 17, 1925.  Merry Christmas to all and a Happy Heavenly 97th Birthday to my mom!
My how time fliesSeems like it was just a month or two ago when last Christmas flew by with this pic.
NobodyHas changed much from last year.  Remarkable.
Gag Gifts?I look forward to this party every year, and I notice something new each December. It's occurred to me that everyone in the photo is holding some kind of small gift, and all of them look like "white elephants": a toy horse, an oil can, a little bear, a toy policeman's hat—perhaps it was a "Secret Santa" kind of gag gift swap, and each gift was appropriately unique to the receiver. The photograph makes every one of these people forever young, and I always wonder what happened to each one of them: all those life stories that we'll never know. (I hope they all got a Christmas bonus!) Happiest of Holidays—and a Happy, Healthy New Year—to every Shorpyite.
The finer detailsI’ve chosen to focus on some of the smaller, obscure points this year in my investigation of this beloved photo.  The woman in the bobby hat towards the left?  Go south to the hand of the woman in front of her, the hand on the shoulder of the woman in the light-colored dress: that hand looks disembodied and is therefore creepy.  Person who looks most Photoshopped in?  The woman to the immediate left of that hand, staring right into your soul.  Stuff like that.  The picture is positively filthy with wacky, kooky, scary little things.
Sober thoughtFourteen years of beautiful fascination. Wonder if some folks who commented earlier, by now "are with the people on the photo" too?
Go-Go indeedI just wanted to second the man at the back, being bald myself. Go Go, folks.
Christmas TreesIf nothing else, we have made great advances in Christmas tree technology. 
Every year they look a bit youngerMeanwhile, every year I look less like my father and more like my grandfather.
Love the ones you're withThanks for the labor of love and commerce Shorpy is. Years ago this photo evoked for me speculations about what may have divided these office mates. Now what comes out of this photo is the love that is possible if only ... with enough time and enough patience and enough "having lived through" being absent from one another we arrive at a finality of cherishing "in spite of" or even "because of" the uniqueness we bring.
The big read 1925I wonder how many of them were concealing new books in their purses, briefcases, or desk drawers. It was an era of readers, and 1925 was a banner year. Here are some of the newly-printed titles waiting for them in bookstores:
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Hemingway, In Our Time
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Dreiser, An American Tragedy
Christie, The Secret of Chimneys
Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer
Cather, The Professor’s House
Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Milne, a Winnie the Pooh story at Christmas
Kafka, The Trial (if you read German)
Proust, Albertine Disparue (if you read French—though some of them may still be working through the 1922 translation of Swann’s Way).
By December, early subscribers could have accumulated ten months of the new “New Yorker.”
But let’s hope that they still had a few years to be blissfully unaware of Mein Kampf, published in Germany in July.
There's one in every office. Frank is holding up an equipment assignment sheet while calling (vainly) for the frivolity to end and a return to work. He will not succeed. 
Group AnalysisObviously far too long a comment, but Shorpy is so inspirational. Still had fun thinking and writing, as well as viewing picture again.
I was wondering about the woman at the far left. She is showing a sideways glance, and nobody else in the picture has a sideways glance. A sideways glance can be a powerful indication of attention to a subject, like romantic attention or professional attention or just surprise, but in any case something out of the ordinary. Like here, it seems different, just that one woman.
Trying to analyze a sideways glance, there is the face angle (determined by the nose angle) and the eyes angle. For a sideways glance like this, the eyes are directly pointed at the subject, but the face is pointed elsewhere. Using a reasonably limited choice of angles (0, 15, 30, 45) and expressing angles as "eyes angle / face angle" (eyes come first, most expressive), then this mystery woman with the sideways glance could be a 0/30.
Directly below her on the floor is a 45/0 woman, and her eyes angle is the extreme opposite. Seems absolute difference between the two angles can show degree of interest or attention, not the amount of either angle. With any 45/0 difference then attention seems to be very much elsewhere. The 30/45 woman to her right apparently has her attention directed to the same subject, but not to the same degree, more a casual interest, just a difference of 15 between her angles.
And the next woman above is a 30/30, also looking in that direction, but no difference between her angles, no indication of interest or attention, just looking.
Also just looking, but now at the camera, are all the 0/0 men and women, no differences, the largest group. They seem to be posing conventionally for the picture, and there is no apparent sign of interest or attention (other than to the camera). The exact pose varies by individual, some are smiling more than others, but they are all 0/0's. Some 0/0's may be simple conformists, and others may be nonconformists bored stiff (they can still smile, for the camera), but you can't probably tell which is which from the picture.
The big boss on the right is a 0/0, and the men in line with him are mostly 0/0's too, diligently following his traditional example. Above him are three 45/45's, you may not be able to tell about attention or interest from a 45/45, no difference there, in that way like a 0/0. However they are definitely not posing for the camera in any conventional way, not following the big boss example, and probably not in line to succeed him. His successor would probably be a 0/0 closest to him.
We could also consider tilt angle of the head as a variable, but that's more difficult to determine, because it varies with perspective, further away or closer to the camera. Also could consider extent of smiles, but that also difficult to determine. Eyes angle and face angle (nose angle) should be easier.
These angle measurements are probably useful only in a posed office photo, like this one. In a family photo 0/0's can be visibly full of emotion. And in real life anyone can look at you straight on, a 0/0, with amazement or fury or love or anything else. So angles won't help much in real life, although a sideways glance can still show interest and then create reciprocal interest, even mutual interest.
Mistletoe and High Voltage for all the women!I love how the ladies' hair has that "Bride of Frankenstein" look ... creepy yet sexy.  It reminds me to get the yule log out.
ZoomThat was a quick year. 
Another Year Gone ByBeen seeing this annually for a long time now, am I the first to comment ?? Anyways all these souls, their troubles and happy days are behind them and now are just dust in the wind … enjoy yourselves as we will be dust too! Merry Christmas 
My Newest Favorite Christmas Tradition!I have gotten to the point of looking so forward to this party each year, it has indeed become one of my favorite Christmas traditions! LOL
For most of those attending the party, they are indeed, "living life!" That is so valuable, the ability to live life. On a personal note, I am learning that this year, having lost my precious wife in March, to Dementia. As iamjanicemarie well noted, all of these, are now just "dust in the wind."
Which makes me wonder, in what order did they pass? Did some in the picture in 1925 not survive till the party in 1926? Who was the last to go, and in what year? In the hundreds of comments, some pointing out actual things, others just speculating ... we can learn one lesson.
Live Life Fully Every Day. Who knows, a hundred years from now, you may still be having an effect on someone who you never even met!
Merry Christmas, Shorpy family!
What's up with the gals?Are they wearing kryptonite jewelry?
Old friendsI never get tired of this party and these coworkers.  The job, yeah, I'm sick of it, but the people make it all worthwhile.  I feel like I've known them forever.
Welcome Back, Dear 1925 Office Party Friends. . . and all Shorpy friends, too! 
I look forward to seeing this wonderful photo every year. These folks never age, unlike the rest of us. I find this reassuring: life goes on, as it did for the office partiers whose lives continued through the Depression, WWII, and possibly even on to the 1990s. I always wonder who they were and what happened to them. 
Here's to a Happy Holiday season and a peaceful 2024.
Seems Like Old TimesNice to see familiar faces, even though I never met them.  However much they aged after this photograph, we'll never know, so just once each year, it's 1925 again.
StableThis firm has a very stable workforce.  Every year, it's the same folks in the Christmas photo.
Macabre variationAlthough certainly macabre, I do like the door that iamjanicemarie tentatively opened and that HarahanTim swung fully open.  In what order did these people pass?  The annual response to this photo has definitely taken a curious turn, but I’m glad to chime in.
First to go, I believe, was Boss Man with the cigar, the very next morning, in the wee hours.  He’s clearly in bad physical shape, a massive coronary waiting to happen.  And it wasn’t the fault of one of those young ladies sitting on the floor that it happened in her bed.  It was a different time when office and sexual politics were vile, and everyone was drunk.
Last to go was Heather on the far left in back, framed by the glass of the door.  She’s only 23 in the photo, and she lived right into the next century, dying at 102 in 2004.  She had moved back to Ohio, and on her last day was surrounded by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even one of her great-great-grandchildren.  They all loved her very much.
It's finally Christmas ...... when this bunch show up. I checked; they're all there. Proceed to celebrate. Merry Christmas, everyone xoxo
In the officeIt's hard to imagine this bunch "working from home". The dynamic would be lost with a "Zoom" holiday party.
Fire ExtinguisherJust behind the gentleman with the "GO" signal on his head it looks like there is a classic soda/acid fire extinguisher that I noticed for the first time today. Conveniently located next to what appears to be a rather combustible tree. Season's Greetings to Dave, tterrace and the whole Shorpy gang. 
Well, having had time to ponderabout these folk for a good decade since discovering Shorpy, I have come to a tentative yet preliminary assessment.
The only woman with no apparent makeup and yet the most beautiful features is the lady sitting on the floor at bottom left. Really in a class of her own in this crowd with those almond eyes and high cheekbones, yet with hair and dressed a bit out of date, but still sporting brand new shoes judging by their soles. How they got her to sit on the dirty floor for the pic is beyond me.
In any case, the photographer has just given her a huge suggestive wink, and she's snapped her head to the right in response, looking faintly amused / bemused, no doubt used to the unwanted male gaze. The woman second to her left is staring at her, annoyed that Gloria (for that is her name) has caught the roving eye of the photographer instead of her -- the body language is obvious. The flapper two to the left of Ms Envious is giving the photographer a bit of a come-on with her lopsided grin -- she has sussed out his game.
Mr Fatlips the boss is terminally near-sighted but for photos and thus posterity takes his glasses off when posing, as one can see. What he looks like with them on is a subject for a horror movie.
The rest of the crowd barring a few are to a greater or lesser degree tipsy on smuggled-in booze, it being Temperance Time, er, prohibited drinkees time in America
I'll have an update in future when other things become more clear to me from my favorite Shorpy image. 
Merry Xmas to all!
Finger WavesThe blond and brunette whose backs are against the door and doorjamb, respectively, look modern.  The other modern looking girl is two rows in front of them, also a brunette.  These three look timeless.  The other women either still have long hair wrapped up some way or they have those awful finger waves that look like ridges in their hair.  None of the girls that have finger waves have benefitted from that style.  It does not flatter any face shape, it just looks weird and kind of Bride of Frankensteinish.
The blond miss sitting on the floor is looking daggers at the moody looking woman sitting against the desk.  I will always wonder why.
Holiday Party Fun (2023)Dear Shorpy folks and friends of the site.
This year I used this very photo to make a SPOT THE DIFFERENCE game at our work Christmas party.
Each of the participants had 20 minutes to spot all 19 differences. I used Photoshop and AI to make the changes to the photo and we all had so much fun with it.
If you would like me to post that image here, you may have fun too! Let me know Dave!
Also, we have some new friends that might be joining us on this site as they were fascinated by all the expressions of this 1925 party. I did inform them of the site and URL.
Merry Christmas everyone
What is on the hand of the number 2 guy next to the boss?There is something on his pointer finger and thumb.  Could these be some type of grippers for leaving through papers?  Could it be he was working until they forced him to come get his picture taken?  He is clearly annoyed to be there. Maybe he is plotting to have the boss removed so he can be in charge?
Half a MillionI expect that the number of reads for Office Xmas Party will pass 500,000 shortly. Is this a record number of reads for a Shorpy photo?
[Office Xmas Party holds the No. 2 spot. Shorpy's most popular post is ... Lady in the Water, with over 640,000 reads. And at No. 3 is The Beaver Letter. - Dave]
Merry Christmas to all Shorpians!May your holidays be merry and bright.  A special Merry Christmas to Dave and tterrace who keep this very special website going.  And to all pictured from that office party held nearly 100 years ago, a Merry Heavenly Christmas to all!
ONE MORE TIMEAfter passing this photo around for everyone to look and laugh at, it was probably hung on the wall for a time, then taken to someone's home and put away in a chest and forgotten ... perhaps copies were made.
But how would these people feel if they knew that almost a half million people have studied it?
Also those desks have been in their current positions for a very long time, the floor below them new and pristine.
[This was not a casual snapshot -- the National Photo Company was primarily a news service. Its photographs appeared in newspapers, advertisements and publicity material. This particular image might have been used for Western Electric's in-house newsletter or a company Christmas card. - Dave]
Thank ya Dave for clearing that up.
Meet some of the boys ...Introducing ...
Charles S. Barker, District Superintendent: "With the right personnel and a good organization, you can do anything in telephony"
E.N. Searles, Division Superintendent
J.E. Grant, R.D. Dick, and...
Walter W. Lodding, Division Accountant
... with an invitation to Christmas at the Loddings':
This image was featured in the December 1926 issue of the Western Electric News with the title: "YOUTH AND THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT" and caption: "Santa Claus did right by this little lad the son of W.W. Lodding of the Installation Division 11 Headquarters"
Looking daggers?Susanhumeston wondered, "The blond miss sitting on the floor is looking daggers at the moody looking woman sitting against the desk. I will always wonder why."
I have always been intrigued by that interaction. Pretty much come to the conclusion that three of the ladies were diverted by something off set to the left. One (Charlotte) clearly annoyed, one (Lila) merely taking it in, and one (Gwen) mildly amused.
NamesMarkJo - nice job finding the real names!  
I'm fascinated by the different names and nicknames in all the posts.  Then I scroll to 12/23/21; alex_shorpy did a great job labeling everyone. Or go further back to 12/22/19 and see davidk's comment.  
I also don't look at these folks as having turned into dust.  Every year they come alive in the imaginations of many readers.  
Maligayang Pasko to all.
Well, what else?Say, we don't view the full size for a micro-study. What we see is the "pyramid" of working stiffs that retracted into one side of the office against the forceful advance of upper management group. Sharp diagonal dividing line was disturbed somewhat at the bottom, by the lady and gent behind her.
There he is!Every year I look forward to seeing dear old Mr. Hilter at the top of the picture looking so skeptical!
"Mildred, what did you do with my flask"?This party was during the TEETH of prohibition too! The REAL fun will come later.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Christmas, Natl Photo, The Office)

Cheers: 1937
... a hand pump. Hands-Off policy Interesting that the "Cheers" folks removed the fellow's hand from the lady's shoulder. Indoor ... face. P.A. Do you have Prince Albert in a sign? Cheers... ... it ain't.... Cheers! Hey! Doesn't the guy holding ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 10:17pm -

September 1937. Craigville, Minnesota. "Saturday night in a saloon." Medium format negative by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. View full size.
White gasKerosene lanterns had just an open flame. These pictured were fueled by white gas and the tank had to be pressurized with a hand pump.
Hands-Off policyInteresting that the "Cheers" folks removed the fellow's hand from the lady's shoulder.
Indoor campingPretty rustic. The lights are kerosene lanterns.
Slim pickin'sA James M. Cain novel is written all over that woman's face.
P.A.Do you have Prince Albert in a sign?
Cheers...... it ain't....
Cheers!Hey!  Doesn't the guy holding glass appear in the old lead-in for "Cheers"?
Cheers to you too!Oh my gawd it's the folks from the "Cheers!" intro. I must have seen their colorized faces a thousand times (thanks to reruns), and now I know where they're from.
It's like running into long-lost family members. Thanks Dave!
Where everybody knows your nameThis photo was used in the opening sequence of "Cheers." As I remember, it was cropped, to highlight the couple in the center.
0:43Character actorsCentral Casting, eat your heart out!
Cheers!Remember the opening titles to the TV show "Cheers"? It shows old photos of people at bars. One of the "Cheers" photos is THIS photo; they did a close-up of the guy on the left. And yes, I watch too much TV.
Casting?  Sure ...That's Howard Hughes, Patricia Neal, and G.W. Bailey on the right. Can't quite make out the lady on the far left, though.
A certain dignity.Even though these people have seen more than their fair share of hard times, there is a kind of dignity in the way the hold their drinks. Serious drinkers for sure. The guy on the right looks kind of like George Clooney. They all exhibit character with a capital C. The guy on the left is giving a major superiority pose to the guy taking a nip. 
The lantern in the back corneris a Coleman. I have one just like it. Still works very well.
A rose is a rose is a rose.A barfly is a barfly is a barfly.  Nice hat on the alcoholic on the extreme right, looks like he stole it from a horse.  Not politically correct but my opinion.
GaslightNotice the fixture in the upper left of the photo is providing light via gas, not electricity. 
[As noted below, that's a kerosene lantern. The tank holds the fuel. - Dave]
CamelsAnd I'm thinking that's a Camel cigarette pack on the bar.  Recognize the "pillars" from my father's smokes.
That's where I've seem him!Thanks everyone for restoring my sanity. I saw the guy on the left and immediately thought "were have I seen him before?"
I am a child of the 80's so that's why his face was burned into my brain.
Camels for sureI used to smoke them before Pall Mall.  Cigarettes didn't have filters in those days.  Maybe it was the "Hits or Cracks" game that made me switch from Camels to Pall Mall.  As I remember, you guessed if it was the letter H or C under the stamp.  If you picked wrong you got slugged on the upper arm.
Alternate casting suggestionsLeft to right: Rosie O'Donnell, Robert Ryan, Margaret Hamilton, Walter Huston. Whatever is transpiring, it's interesting enough for the Missus to delay her request to "light me."
SimplicityThe beer looks great.
Camel Caravan"Camel" was the first nationally advertised and distributed brand of American cigarettes, beginning in about 1914. My dad's first real job was with their NY Distributor, Metropolitan Tobacco, back in 1921. He smoked Camels and only Camels for the nexr 65 years, and never had so much as a cough ("Not a Cough in a Carload"). Back in my time, if I ran out of my favorite, Lucky Strike, I'm bum a Camel from him. Without any exception, they were the strongest, looseest and hottest burning American cigarette that ever existed. They would have killed me after a year! And yes, I do also remember the H and C thing from under the revenue stamp on the packages. 
LanternsActually both lanterns are probably Colemans. The one over the bar is an indoor table lamp, which would have originally come with a shade, much like an electric table lamp. The other one is an outdoor type lantern. Both are missing their globes, a rather alarming fact, as the furring strips on the ceiling suggest that it is made of combustible fiberboard, a cheap and popular building material at that time.
Like most Colemans, these burned "white gas," which I believe is actually naphtha, but kerosene models were also available. More common kerosene lanterns have wicks, but pressurized ones do exist. They can be distinguished from the white gas version by the primer cup below the mantle. You fill this cup with alcohol to preheat the kerosene; otherwise, it does not vaporize properly.
BTW, "not a cough in a carload" was the slogan of Lucky Strike, not Camel. And I don't believe for a second that anyone smoked any brand for 65 years without coughing. 
Lumberjack TownSome history on this town, and this saloon can be found here:
http://www.lakesnwoods.com/Craig.htm
This place was evidently both a saloon and a barbershop. There are some photos here of other customers, as well as another shot of these folks. 
Another image in original Cheers Theme SequenceThe original Cheers Theme Sequence has a picture of my Great-Grandfather W.T. Price II in the Horseshoe Saloon in Junction City, Kansas taken in 1905 by a photographer named Pennell!
(The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Russell Lee)

Our Lady of Lourdes: 1914
... at OLL. Happy and healthy 2009 to you as well, Ed. Cheers, Kevin McKenna Family The John McKenna family I knew lived on ... a couple of years ago and brought back great pics. Cheers to all Mauricio The Grinnell: Celebrating Its Centennial Those ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/13/2022 - 12:33pm -

        A newly restored version of a Shorpy favorite that has collected three pages of comments since it was first posted in 2007 --
The caption for this one just says "Post Office." Thanks to our commenters we now know that the building with the statue is the Our Lady of Lourdes School at 468 W. 143rd Street in New York circa 1914. 8x10 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size | The school in 2007.
Post office?Looks like a Catholic school, actually. This is just a wild-a**ed guess, but St. Jean Baptiste on East 75th? This would coincide with the warehouse cart on the left (sort of).
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic SchoolThis is Our Lady of Lourdes School in New York City on 143rd Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Convent Avenue.  The school was built in 1913 in Washington Heights, an exclusively white, upper middle-class neighborhood.  It was built and equipped at a total cost of one hundred and forty thousand dollars.  
Besides classrooms for five hundred pupils, the building contained an auditorium with a stage lavishly equipped for theatrical productions, a gymnasium, a roof-top playground, an assembly room for parish organizations, rooms for classes in cooking and sewing, and offices for the school officials.
The associated church (Our Lady of Lourdes) is located directly behind the school on the next block, 142nd Street.
Yes...Which is the Post Office?  The large building in the center must be a Catholic School, what with a saint on the roof and all.
As for the location, I have no clue.  
Post OfficeWhich building is the Post Office?
post officeBuilding with street level entrance and flags would be my likely guess.
Today...Google Street View. It's always interesting to see NYC in the early years, and how it's changed.
Our Lady of LourdesI attended this school for eight years in the 1950s. The lower grades entered by one door and the higher grades used the other. City College frat houses faced the school. Recess was on the street out front. We didn't have any cooking or sewing classes, no classrooms equipped for that. There wasn't any  gym. We weren't allowed to go up on the roof and there wasn't an assembly room. We did have a annual spring play using the stage and we had a Christmas concert. There was a way into the church from the back of the school. The nuns that taught there were called Society of the Holy Child. Father Kline was one of the priests and Mother Mary Edward taught there. A good school, good memories.
Johnny PumpThat fire hydrant probably was installed in the late 1880s. Was born and bred in NYC and traversed all five boroughs  many many times, but NEVER laid eyes on a johnny pump like that. Every boy who ever grew up in "The City" is instinctively  drawn to hop over as many hydrants as possible. However that one is a KILLER.  
Our Lady of LourdesI attended OLL from 1933 to 1941. The lower grades kindergarten to fourth were taught by the Ursuline Order of Sisters. The upper grades fifth to eighth were taught by the Sisters of the Holy Child. The school was funded and guided by the priests of the adjoining OLL Church.
We were there to learn,to pray: no play, no library, no lunch room, no outside activities. It was not an easy life for children of poor families during this Great Depression Era. I often cried and asked God to help me through the day, the year. I know I received a very good education but not a happy one. There were nuns I would have died for, however there were many that should not have been allowed to teach children.
The Church and school were founded by Monsignor Thomas McMann. There is  a bust of the good priest near the entrance to the upper church.
In the 1930s we were allowed on the roof for various activities.
The term  "very stern " comes to mind.
The statue is Our Lady of Lourdes, similar to the statue in the grotto in the lower church on 142nd Street. It was removed a few years ago as it decayed and was ready to fall off the roof.
Convent AvenueThis photo faces east, and the townhouses in the background are along the east side of Convent Avenue. All of them still stand, most are in superb condition. This is the finest real estate in Harlem; a house across the street sold for $3.89 million about 18 months ago. Here is a listing for a house a few doors down from the ones seen here: http://tinyurl.com/2396kb
Note the terraces on two of the buildings -- those are stunning and almost never seen in New York.
Does anyone remember anDoes anyone remember an Irish nun by the name of Sister Gerard?  She was one of the Ursula ? nuns at the Our Lady of Lourdes in Manhatten.  She emigrated about 1910, so am not sure anyone would remember her...
Is there a cemetery associated with Our Lady of Lourdes?
Upper and Lower ChurchCan you tell me if the Upper and Grotto Church still exists and do they have mass on Saturdays and Sundays?  I lived 2 streets away a long time ago and would like to see the old neighborshood.  I have never forgotten the Grotto.  It's so unique.  Would like to share it with my spouse.
Or maybe I can speak with someone in the convent.  Are the nuns still there?
Thank you.
Diana Gosciniak
Our Lady of LourdesI also went there in the 1950's. The nuns were very dedicated to teaching. Our religion was the major reason they and all of us were there. The grotto was under the main stairs and confession was held downstairs at 4 pm on Saturday. The children's Mass was at 9 am on Sunday, a High Mass in Latin. The doors of the main church came from old St. Patrick's downtown in Little Italy.
The sisters made sure that the majority of 8th grade students got into Catholic high school. A lot of the girls went to Cathedral H.S. and the boys went to Cardinal Hayes.
The church was around the corner with a connection to the back of the school. The convent was right next door to the church and the rectory was across the street.
Once in a while we were invited to go to the convent on a Saturday to see the nuns. The neighborhood was pretty good, all kind of stores that tolerated all of us kids.
It was nice going there for eight years. Fond memories.
O.L.L. Upper and lower churchYes, the upper church is still active with most Masses in Spanish. The lower church {the Grotto) is not used.  However the statue of the Blessed Mother is still on view. The sisters left about 10 years ago. I visited the school and was told the Church no longer had any say in its operation. When did you attend? I was there from 1933 to 1940.
J Woods
Theatrical productions?Oh, how I wish I had your recall. However, I did attend O.L.L. from 1933 through 1940. Yes, the stage was used - but with limited equipment. I never saw or played on a rooftop playground. There was no gymnasium. The seats in the auditorium were moved to the side for military drilling by boys from grades 5 to 8 once a week. The girls exercised in a nearby room. The children in the lower grades had no physical training. I don't remember an assembly room for any parish organizations. Family members were not encouraged to come to the school except on Graduation Day or if the student had a serious problem that required a meeting with the principal and/or a parish priest. I must say we all received a very good education and were farther ahead in our studies than the Public School  kids.
Yours truly and in friendship,
Jackie Woods
OLL NeighborhoodI lived on Amsterdam Ave for 16 years. Where did you live? When did you attend OLL School? The few friends I had from the old days have passed on. I answered your other message; The Nuns left about 15 years ago. You need to have someone open the lower church to visit there. The Blessed Mother's Statue is still located in the Grotto but masses are no longer read there.
Regards and in friendship.
Jackie Woods
Our Lady of Lourdes, 2008I had a chance to stop by West 143rd street and take a snapshot today. The cornerstone is dated 1912. As you can see, every building shown in the "1914" photograph is extant and all are in excellent condition. There is even a fire hydrant in the same location as the fire hydrant shown in the photo. As for changes — there are trees on the block now, and the cornice has been removed from Our Lady of Lourdes, as has the statue of the saint. And, of course, as with all modern photos taken in New York, it is full of automobiles.

(Click to enlarge)
The reddish sign on the left side of the street, behind the motorcycle, identifies this block as part of the Hamilton Heights Historical District (Hamilton Grange is only a few blocks away). Today was garbage day, so a distracting pile of trash sits in the foreground, sorry about that.
Our Lady of LourdesCentral Harlem, did you attend Our Lady of Lourdes? If so what years?
Thanks for the picture
Jackie Woods
Our Lady of LourdesI attended an Episcopalian school. I contributed that photo because of my joy in Harlem history, not any tie to this school in particular.
Last weekend, I found a photograph of this block dating to 1908! All the buildings looked the same except for OLL, which was then an empty lot. Perhaps Team Shorpy can enlighten me -- would it be compliant with copyright law for me to scan and post it?
[Is there a copyright notice on it? If it was copyrighted before 1923, the copyright has expired. - Dave]
Our Lady of LourdesThank you for your latest information, Central Harlem. Where was your school located? Did you live nearby? I'm 80 years old going on 81 and all I have are my memories (mostly fond). And my memory is outstanding. I was hoping to hear from anyone who attended OLL with me.
By the way, the folks on Amsterdam Avenue always envied the folks on Convent Avenue, always a beautiful clean street. (Today we would say "upscale.") Three of my children were born in The Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan on 144th off Convent. I had moved to upper Washington Heights by then but my doctor was still working out of there.
Thank you and in friendship,
Jackie Woods
Our Lady of Lourdes, 1909I had a chance to scan the old photo I found of this block. It dates to 1909, not 1908 as I had first said. Every building seen in this photo remains, though some of the lots on the right-hand side of 143rd street were empty in 1909, including the lot that would house Our Lady of Lourdes three years later.

Anticipating the interest of Shorpy's crew of automotive experts, I provide a closeup of that car on Amsterdam Avenue, below.

Also, a note to Jackie Woods: we're of different generations. It is good to exchange notes here, but I'm sure we've never met.
Our Lady of Lourdes SchoolWhat wonderful memories of days past. I attended OLL from 1943 and graduated in 1951. One of five brothers to do so.  You may have known my older brothers, Larry, Dick or Bill.  We lived in that apartment building at the end of the street on the OLL side. That was the location of Alexander Hamilton's house, Hamilton Grange.  When it was built, it forced the move to its present location behind the church. It will be moved again to the SE corner of Convent and 141st Street.  You also mentioned Lutheran Hospital. It wasn't so great for our family.  My brother Dick was taken there after being hit by a car. While recovering, he contracted rheumatic fever in the hospital and later died at New York Hospital. We also lived at 310 Convent Avenue because my mother's family, the Healys, lived on 141st Street. If you have any other questions, ask away. I'm still in contact with several classmates and between us, we should be able to answer.
"Thanks for the Memories"
Bob Phillips 
OLL graduatesHi, Yes, I do remember a Phillips family. The boys or boy were in a higher grade with one of my brothers. As you can see, I had already left OLL when you started there. I am pleased you have good memories of your early years. Unfortunately, mine are mixed. An incident: a bunch of us, about 12 years old at the time, were fooling around and one of the boys fell out of a tree and broke his arm. We carried him to Lutheran Hospital They wouldn't let us in the front door. Told us to take him to Knickerbocker Hospital near 131st Street, and so we did. Today, I ask why no first aid was administered or an ambulance called. However, I have nothing but good words about the hospital in later years. I was sorry to hear about brother RIP
Regards and in friendship,
Jackie Woods
PS My oldest sister, Ellen, class of 1936 Won scholorship to Holy Child Academy
My older brother William (Billy), Class of 1937, won a scholarship to Regis High.
MemoriesI graduated from OLL in 1973 and it is so wonderful to see a website with the School and the information that it offers.  I too wondered about the Masses in the lower church.  The grotto was always so beautiful and special. I have lived in Florida since 1986 and hope to make a trip to NYC just to visit the old school.  Thanks again for bringing a smile to my face today. God bless.
OLL MemoriesHi. I attended OLL from grades K to 5. I have the most beautiful memories of my childhood there. I loved the nuns. I can't believe how time has gone so fast. If anyone remembers me or remembers Sister Mary Owen or Ms. Valentine or the gym instructor George Izquierdo. I am talking about late 1960's, early 70's. Please contact me. Are the sisters still there? I went to visit Sister Mary Owen a couple of years ago. She wasn't wearing her habit any more. Those were good old days. I was so mischievous, always getting into trouble. Oh my God. I had the best early education there, never will I forget. I love history and I love these pictures that were posted up above, everything looks the same. Thanks! My family still lives up in Washington Heights.
Our Lady of Lourdes School and ChurchAnd a HI to you,
The good sisters left about ten years ago.
You can reach the school online, it has a Web site.
The school is no longer under the supervision of the Church.
If you look over the rest of this page you will see that I have answered a number of postings that may be of interest to you.
"Memories are made of this."
In friendship,
Jackie Woods
OLL AlumniHello OLL'ers
Head over to the OLL website www.ourladyoflourdesschool.net
There's an alumni page where you can send your information and be put on the mailing list.  
OLLCould not connect with your e-mail: kbarkley@ourladyoflourdesschool.net
Would you please check it.
When did you attend OLL?
I gave my information previously on bottom of page.
Look forward to hearing from you.
In friendship,
Jackie woods
To Jackie WoodsI knew Dennis before the war, and graduated OLL in 1937. My sister Marie graduated in 1936 and received a scholarship to Holy Name. Finding your web site after all these years is a small miracle. I'm sorry to say Marie, such a special person, passed away in 1977. Andrew, a 1943 or 44 graduate, died in 2000. I did not marry till 1985, had a daughter in 86. My wife Alice and I celebrated our daughter Colleen's wedding Nov. 24, 2007. I hope this proves I was not as bad as the sisters believed. They wanted so to see me go that they created the first coed class and skipped me from 6th to 8th grade. Yes we marched on the roof, auditorium, basement and in far away competition. I believe we had a West Point officer, but not certain. I just hope that life was as rewarding to all OLL graduates as I. God bless.
John Orlando
Wideawake80@verizon.net
OLL, late 1950s and early 60sDon't know how I found this website, but so glad that I did. I graduated OLL in June 1961. The nuns are my most vivid memories of the school. The spring and Christmas plays that were held each year. Recess outside during lunchtime. Walking to school each day and spending the few pennies we had to buy candy at the store on Amsterdam Avenue, and the bicycle store there where we rented bikes on Saturday afternoons. Going to confession every Saturday down in the grotto. Checking the Legion of Decency list for movie listings. Learning to sing the Mass in Latin for every Sunday High Mass and, most important, the foundation the nuns gave us for our religion that is still strong to this day. A few years ago, we drove from Jersey up to the old place and convent still looked pretty good. Can someone please explain about not being under the archdiocese any longer. Thanks again.
Lutheran HospitalI found this link when looking for the Lutheran Hospital. Very interesting information.
I am researching my family history and found out this hospital is where my great grandfather passed away. Thinking that there may be additional information on the records,  I searched for the hospital but have not been able to find any recent reference to it. Has the Hospital been closed?  Can anybody give me some background information?  I will certainly appreciate it,
Anne
[You might try the Archives search box on the New York Times Web site. Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan, at 343 Convent Avenue, merged with Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in 1956 to form Our Saviour's Lutheran Hospital at the Norwegian Hospital facility on 46th Street and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. It's now called Lutheran Medical Center. - Dave]
Lutheran HospitalHello Anne,
Yes, I know Lutheran Hospital. My three oldest boys were born there: 1951: 1952: 1954. My brother-in-law's father died there c. 1937. When I last passed by the neighborhood, three years ago, I saw that the hospital had been converted to an assisted living facility.
The neighborhood is looking great - real upscale. The brownstones that one could buy in the 1930s for a song are now selling for well over a million dollars. In the 1930s they were empty, thanks to the banks that foreclosed during the Depression. As kids we ran through them and at one time had a clubhouse inside one.
In friendship,
Jackie Woods
Lutheran HospitalThanks you both, Dave and Jackie, for your responses.
I will follow the advice and hope to be able to pass soon by the neighborhood.
Anne
OLL MemoriesHi Henry,
I too remember Sister Mary Owen, my brother David Mora had her and she was really strict.  We keep in touch with George Izquierdo and he is doing great.  Sister Rosemarie passed away.  I try to stay in touch with O.L.L.  It was really a happy time in my childhood and the happy memories will always be a part of my life.
Maxine Mora
Lutheran Hospital of ManhattanLooking for pictures of the Hospital.  I was born in 1940 in the facility and would like to see what it looked like in that era--anyone have a picture?
Dad Was an AlumnusHello Jackie,
I am curious to see if you know my father, Frank Corrigan, who was born in 1926, which would make him 82 this August. I think he was in the Class of 1941.
I am also curious to see if you have any contact or info on Alfred Pereira or his sister Clara Pereira Mercado. Any help would be appreciated.
Stephen Corrigan
Please email me when you get a chance, stephenjcorrigan@aol.com.
Frank CorriganYes, I knew Frank Corrigan, Class of 1940, not 1941, he was closer to my brother Dennis than me, I was a year younger. Didn't Frank have a  younger very pretty sister? I last saw Frank c. 1968 in the upper Washington Heights area where many of the families from OLL had moved to from the 140th streets.
I knew Pancho Pereira (the name Alfred does not ring a bell) and Clara, his younger sister. His little brother  JoJo was killed in Korea. Pancho had a birthmark: strands of very white hair in the front of his head of very black hair. They were wonderful good people.
Pancho was good friends with Jackie Koster, whose sister Barbara married Burl Ives in Hollywood and lived happily everafter.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
Vacant Houses in Hamilton HeightsI thought we were the only ones that got into those empty houses. Afternoons we'd go in through a back window to study and do our homework. We didn't break anything, and at our age we always wondered why the houses were vacant. The Depression angle we didn't figure out until later. Tom Calumet and Frank Howe went with me. I understand Frank has died and Tom Calumet left NYC around 1945 to go out west with his parents.
I graduated from OLL in 1941, and now live in Hopkins, MN
OLL MemoriesI graduated in 1960.  There were about 10 of us cousins who graduated between 1955 and 1960.  I remember Father Cline, Fr. Malloy, Monsignor Hart, Mother Bonaventure, Mother Dominica and others. Does anyone remember the day the frat boys across the street pushed the dummy out the window during our recess? I can almost taste the corn muffins and egg creams at the soda fountain around the corner on Amsterdam Avenue while "Barbara Ann" played on the jukebox. 
OLL PhotoI have a great a picture of my Confirmation Day. I'm in full OLL uniform dated c. May 1935. How can I send it to the OLL  Shorpy site?
Yours truly,
Ed Woods
[Click the links under "Become a member, contribute photos." - Dave]
Frat boys 0, Mother Mary Edward 10I sure do remember that day. Mother Mary Edward
marched over and blasted them. Also the candy store around the corner used to sell two-cent pumpkin seeds out of a little red box.
Does anyone remember the rumor going around that the
Grotto Chapel was haunted? I remember walking home with "Little Star" playing on the transistor radio.
The OLL GrottoI remember serving at what was called the Workmen's Mass in the Grotto in the 1930s - 6 o'clock in the morning! I know the Grotto is not used any more (I visited there in December 2007). As to the candy store on the corner of 143rd and Amsterdam, it was a very busy place: candy, pen nibs (no fountain pens), book covers etc. One day the owner came to school and told Sister Casmere, the principal, that we were disorderly and she must tell the students to behave when shopping in his store. Her solution was to tell the entire student body that they were not allowed to shop there. In a day or so, the man was back begging forgiveness and asked to plaese allow the children to return to his store. The kids were his main business.
HelloHi Maxine
How are you? Thank you for responding to me. It was very nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear about Sister Rosemary, but I don't remember her was she the pricipal of the school. I do remember Mr. Izquierdo he was the gym instructor with another man don't recall his name I believe he became principal of the school later on. Oh! now I remember his name was Mr. White I believe. God trying to recall, it is getting a little difficult now a days but I like it. It brings me back in time. How time have changed it was so innocent back than not like now. Looking back in time, makes me feel like I grew up to fast. How is Mr. Izquierdo doing? How can I contact him? Please let me know. My e-mail address is Je_Ocejo@yahoo.com. I remember he got married back than to a girl name Rocio, I don't know if they are still together but that lady was my father's friend daughter. Who else do you remember. Please get back to me with pictures. I have pictures too. Let me know how can I e-mail them to you. Would you believe that we are talking about almost atleast 35 years ago but I don't forget. God Bless you. Henry
OLLBob,
Any recollections of my father, Frank  Corrigan, Class of 1940? Maybe not yourself but some of your older brothers.
Steve Corrigan
More OLL MemoriesI graduated in 1937 and was probably a fellow graduate of a brother. I had skipped 7th grade and so did not get to know classmates well. It is possible that the Waters family lived across the alley on the second floor of the building on 142nd Street. We lived on the top floor of the next building on Hamilton Place. In the same building lived Buddy Sweeney and Sal Guizzardi, also a tall blond kid who graduated with me. I believe your mother and my mom,  Agnes Orlando, were friends. I believe your mother visited mine in 1952-3 in our new home in Bergenfield, N.J. I remember a sister who must have graduated with me or my sister Marie Orlando in 1936. My brother Andrew graduated 1947. My mother, brother and sister have passed away. I remember Poncho, the Kosta family, the Madigans, Woodses, Rendeans, Glyforces, McCarvils, Walshes, Philipses, Flynns, Duggans, Hooks, Rodriquezes, Craigs, Hugheses, Conways etc. I am sure we had many things in common being OLL graduates at a very special interval of time. I wish you well in your very beautiful state which I have passed through on three occasions. Best wishes and fond memories.
John and Alice Orlando
OLLLot older than you. Attended OLL from late 1930s to early 40s. Baptized, first Holy Communion and Confirmation (Cardinal Spellman). Lived at 145 and the Drive. Remember principal when I was there, Mother Mary Margaret. First grade teacher was Mother Mary Andrews. Remember playing on roof and being shocked by Mother Mary Andrews jumping rope.  Believe there was a Father Dolan around that that time. Only went to through the 3rd grade there and then moved to 75th St and the Blessed Sacrament -- a whole different world, and not as kind or caring.
Memories of OldHi Henry. You may not remember me but I also taught gym with George and sometimes Ms. Ortiz. George is with the Department of Education on the East Side. I work for the Bloomberg Administration. Sister Mary Owen has moved to Rye and of course all the nuns are now gone. I left in 1996 but I still miss all of the good times shared during my years there.
Memories Are GoodHello, You taught me gym and we also had alot of good times with the High School Club on Friday nights. I have most painful memories of O.L.L the day Msgr. Cahill passed away. I never knew how much a heart could have so much pain and yet go on.  My dad died on 4-29-96, Max Mora and I felt the same pain all over again. Do you know where Mother John Fisher has gone ... her name had changed to Sister Maryanne.  I would love to hear from you.
Maxine Mora
Hi HenryMy email address is mmorafredericks@aol.com. I have yours and I am so happy to be in contact with you I graduated in 1973. I went to Cathedral High School.  Later moved to Florida.  My brothers and sisters are still in NY and I miss so much of it.  I look forward to catching up with you.  I will write soon.  God Bless.
Maxine
Fellow ClassmateHi Tony,
It has been more than 48 years since I last saw you - at our graduation from OLL in 1960.  Let me know what you have been up to in the past half century.  My e-mail address is kmckenna@clarku.edu.
Kevin
LTNSMr. White! Not sure if you still come to this site, but on the off chance that you still visit i thought i would write. It's been so long since I've seen or heard from you, not since "Len Fong" closed. For all others that may still come by this site, I graduated in 1983 (possibly 82). Would love to hear from a blast from the past. Please email me at kellyw88@gmail.com
John McKennaHi Kevin,
Any chance you are related to the McKenna family? John McKenna, Class of 1941
Your name sure rings a bell, however there must be 20 years difference between us.
Have a healthy and happy 2009
In friendship,
Ed Woods
John McKennaHi Ed,
I'm afraid that I'm not related to John McKenna.  My brothers, Donald and Desmond, graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes in the fifties.  I wasn't aware of another McKenna family in the parish when I was at OLL.
Happy and healthy 2009 to you as well, Ed.
Cheers,
Kevin
McKenna FamilyThe John McKenna family I knew lived on the northeast corner of Hamilton Place and 141st street. I had other friends and schoolmates in that building. Thinking back, you probably had to be an Irish Catholic to live there. Whatever, I think you had to be an Irish Catholic to attend OLL. I never knew any others at that time, the 1930s. Most fathers worked for the subway and trolley systems or at the milk delivery companies along 125th Street near the river.
Those were the days, my friend. Innocence prevailed!
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
The Mc KennasJim McKenna and his younger brother Tommy lived in that house above Grizzardi's grocery. Tom hung around with Marty the Hanger Phipher and the Warriors. Billy Vahey and his brother Eddie who retired as a Lieutenant in the NYPD lived there also. Their mother was still there in the early 80s.
You probably knew the Schadack family, who I believe owned Schrafft's or Donald York. I think the building was 644 West 145 St. It was the first apartment house in the city to have a self-service elevator.
When we lived there the neighborhood was known as Washington Heights. For some reason it's now referred to as Hamilton Heights. A couple of great web sites -- Forgotten NY and Bridge and Tunnel Club. You can spend hours & hours on Rockaway Beach alone. Lots of good memories!
How about the movie theaters -- the Delmar, the RKO Hamilton, the Dorset, the Loews Rio, the Loews 175 (now the Rev. Ikes Church) and all the theaters along 180th Street?
Hamilton HeightsNorm,
Many thanks for your fine memories of our old neighborhood but there are a few minor corrections I have to make.  The first is the name Shadack family.  I believe the correct spelling is Shattuck and his address was 676 Riverside Drive on the corner of 145th Street.  We lived there and my brother Bill was classmates with Gene Shattuck.  No relation to the Schrafft's empire. 
Secondly, Hamilton Heights was always known as such.  Outsiders didn't know where that was so we usually said Washington Heights for simplicity.  Washington Heights doesn't really start until 157th Street and is separated from Hamilton Heights by the Audubon plot.
The Old NeighborhoodAlex Hamilton lived nearby. There was a very pleasant young man (OLL Class of 1941) named Eugene Shattuck who lived near 145th Street and Riverside Drive. His father was a professor at Manhattan College and his family owned the Schrafft's Restaurants.
I fondly recall Eugene having the wonderful hourglass-shaped bottles of hard Schrafft's candy brought to school and distributing one bottle to each of his classmates at Christmas time.
Needless to say, the poor Amsterdam Avenue kids were in awe of one who could afford to do such a good deed. You mention the Warriors, I knew the (Gang) but not any of the names mentioned here on Shorpy.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
P.S. My in-laws the Boyd family lived at 676 Riverside Drive. Les Sr. had a  radio repair shop on 145th and Broadway.
676 Riverside DriveI lived at 676 as well.  The family's name was Shattuck. In my day, many, many years ago, the elevator had an operator. A sweet man in full uniform.  There was a doorman as well. Saw the building years later and was appalled at the change. Then went up to OLL and hardly recognized it.  It was the best school I ever went to. Thank you for reminding me of the fun. And yes, of the education I got there. By the way, 676 on the Drive was called the Deerfield.
OLL StudentsI am researching my family history and I came upon this great site.  In 1930 my grandparents Michael and Marie Murphy were living at 1744 Amsterdam Avenue and later in the 1930s at 115 Hamilton Place. All of the Murphy children attended Our Lady of Lourdes School. They were:
Maurice (born 1916)
Rita (born 1917/  my Mother)
John (born 1918)
Theresa (born 1920)
Vincent (born 1922)
Veronica (born 1925)
My mom had such fond memories of her time spent there.
Rita Harmon Bianchetto
Hi Neighbor!!Hi Rita,
I'm a former resident of 676 Riverside.  My family lived there from 1940 to 1960 in apartment 4A.  Bobby Foy lived next door to us.  I think you may have left just after we arrived since I remember the elevator operator.  The change to automatic was somtime during or just after WWII.
I remember they put up this 10 foot wall with a door to limit access to the building.  Fat lot of good that did us as my mother was robbed in broad daylight in the service chamber of our apartment in 1960.  That's when my Dad had us pack up and leave for a secure location in the Bronx.
Anyway, the apartment was great.  We had a balcony looking over 145th Street and the river.  My brothers were Larry Jr., Bill and Nick.  Bill was a good friend to Gene Shattuck and went to Xavier with him.  Nick and I also went there.  Larry had a scholarship to All Hallows.
Judy, can you tell me your last name and if you knew me.
Hope to hear from you.
Bob Phillips  at   bobbyphilly@msn.com 
Your DadSorry Steve, I graduated in 1947 and my three brothers have died.  But the name Corrigan does ring a bell.  Probably from my brother Larry who knew just about everyone in OLL.
Sorry I couldn't help out but it was great hearing from you.
Bob Phillips
Andrew.Yes, I remember your brother Andrew.  We were in the same class and we used to kid him about his name - Andrew Orlando and how tall he was.  What's he doing these days?
Bob Phillips
Those were the days, my friendsHello Rita,
I remember the name Murphy but not the faces. We lived a block south of you at 1704 Amsterdam. My sister Ellen, Class of  1936, and brother Bill, Class of 1937, would have known your family.
We had many friends  on Hamilton Place, the Koster family for one: Anita, Class of 1936, her younger sister Barbara married Burl Ives, and her other sister Mary Lou married Eddie Byrne (1710 Amsterdam). Ed's sister married Chump Greeny -- killed at Anzio Beach. He must have lived near your family.
My brother in law Les Boyd lived in the Deerfield and had an electric appliance store on the corner of 145th and B'way and a sporting goods store on the next block next to the Chinese restaurant.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
Hello RitaHello Rita,
I attended St. Catherine's Academy on 151st between B'way and Amsterdam (It cost my dear old dad $10 a month for what was considered a private school.) I graduated in 1943 in a class of only four girls. I then went to  the Sacred Heart of Mary Academy in Inwood (I had to climb the long steps up from B'way every day for four years -- Class of 1947.
Most of my relatives went to OLL as did my husband of 59 years, Ed Woods. We are still alive, kicking and fighting and making up every day.
In my Class of 1943, one of the girls was Ann Murphy -- any relation? Also a Virginia O'Malley and my best friend, June McAvoy, who keeps in touch with me. June's grandfather was Judge McAvoy, who had died by that time.
I loved when my folks took me to McGuire's Bar and Restaurant on B'way and 155th. Oh that Roast Lamb (Irish style) on a Sunday or a holiday. The girls used to go to Nuestra Senora de Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope) next to the museum complex. We were told not to go there for confession, but the Spanish priests were limited in English.
Thinking back we had but little to confess at that time.
Eddie and I had an apartment on 150th near the Drive for a few years until 1956, then it was off to Long Island to raise our six children.
In friendship and love hearing from you,
Ed and Jackie Woods
The MurphysHi Ed and Jackie,
Thanks so very much for your reply.  I wish my mom was still with us but she died in 1998, the last of the Murphy kids.
My grandfather Mike Murphy worked for the Post Office (a mail carrier working out of the General P.O. at 33rd and 8th).  My grandmother Marie Murphy died in 1939 while living at Hamilton Place. Uncle Maurice went to Regis H.S. for several years before leaving to attend All Hallows; John and Vincent then attended All Hallows; my mom, Rita, attended Cathedral; Veronica, I believe, attended St. Vincent, and Theresa died at age 25 in 1944 (not sure of her high school). Mom worked at Woolworth's on 145th Street and Broadway, and after high school at New York Telephone, retiring about 1980. She got married in 1943 and moved to 152nd Street, and we attended St. Catherine of Genoa on W. 153rd.  I graduated in 1958. So I know the neighborhood.
Peace, Rita
Hi Ed and JackieSo Jackie you are a St. Kate's gal like me! My tuition was a dollar a month, so your education was really a private school. You have listed the Academy at 151st Street but I think that it was on 152nd between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. I took my high school entrance exam at SHM so I am sort of familiar with the school -- fireworks were going off during our exam. The end result was I did fine and attended Blessed Sacrament on West 70th, Class of 1962.
I last saw the "girls" at a reunion in 2002. My Spanish teacher just celebrated her 70th anniversary as a nun with the Sisters of Charity.
I am not familiar with any of the girls names that you mentioned,including Ann Murphy. I do know McQuire's, where I had my first Shirley Temple, Mass at Our Lady of Esperanza, Trinity Cemetery & loved visiting the museums.
Do either of you recall Eugenio Pacelli, before he became Pope Pius XII visiting at OLL ?
Please tell me about your days on 150th Street near the Drive since I may have been the little skinny blond kid you both passed on the street.
Peace,
Rita in Northern New Jersy
West 150th NYCHello Rita,
Yes, we lived at 615 W. 150th from 1950 to 1956. Four of my children were born there (three at Lutheran Hospital and one at Jewish Memorial). We had many friends from school and the neighborhood living nearby.
However, by 1956 it was time to move on; many changes in the neighborhood. One of my nearby friends was Juanita Poitier; Sidney was just getting started with his acting career. A real nice couple.
Was Father Tracy (Pastor) still there when you attended school? How about Father Brady? He was always telling stories during Mass about his sea time with the Navy. Eddie remembers going to the Woolworths lunch counter (145th and B'way) in the early 1940s just to have an excuse to talk with the girls. He knew many of them from school and the neighborhood.
In friendship,
Jackie
West 152ndHi Jackie and Ed,
I lived at 620 West 152nd Street, just a stone's throw from you folks. My sister was born at Jewish Memorial Hospital in March 1952 -- Dr. Sandler from Broadway 150/151st St. delivered.  Those were the days of Dave's deli on the corner of 151st & Broadway famous for pastrami on rye and a cold beer for the dads, Rafferty's Bar and Grill on the other side of B'way, Harry's or Pierre's homemade candy and ice cream parlor, Cora's beauty salon where my Nana would get a cold wave and blue tint. And not to be forgotten, Snow & Youman's drug store on B'Way and 151st. I recall the name Fr. Brady but it was Pastor Kane and Fr. Tracy (and his Irish Setter, Rusty) that I recall. I just sent a photo of Fr. Tracy to my classmates.
Rita
Japanese BazaarWho remembers the Japanese-American bazaar in the brownstones across from the OLL lower grades school during the war? They had the blue star & the gold star pennants hanging in the windows. They also had a store on Amsterdam Avenue near 144th Street and when they sold coffee the lines would go all around the block.
How about the punchball games out side the school, or stoop ball? Anyone remember playing basketball and using the bottom rung on the fire escape ladder as a basket? The nearest basketball court was at 148th Street by the river. If you wanted to "take out" a ball from the park, you would leave a shirt as a deposit. I remember shoveling snow off the court in order to play.
Unfortunately those days were the last time the country was almost 100% together. Twenty years from now, these will be the "good old days."
Your brother AndrewI palled around with Andy & another kid named Eddie McGlynn. As a matter of fact I have a picture of Andy, Buddy Ayres & me at Rye Beach. Buddy went to Bishop Dubois with us. He was from Vinegar Hill. You didn't mention the Wittlingers. They lived on the first floor in your building. Brendan lives in Virginia. I'm still in touch with him, Matty Waters and Les Scantleberry. Pancho Pereria made a career of the Navy. He died several years ago. JoeJoe, one of my closest friends, was killed in Korea.
Dave's DeliI haven't had a good hot corned beef sandwich since I last had  one at Dave's. His son Milton was running the store in the 1950s after Dave retired to Florida. Dave's used to have a window in the summer that sold potato knishes (5 cents, with mustard) and of course kosher hot dogs.
I heard a Clement Moore fan club still meets every Christmas Eve next to Trinity Church Cemetery and recites "The Night Before Christmas."
I was born in 1928 at 853 Riverside Drive. When 90 Riverside was built in 1941 and blocked the view of the Hudson, we moved there.
Warm regards,
Jackie and Ed
The old neighborhoodThe Wittlingers (the twins were the same age as my two younger brothers, also twins), Matty Waters, Les Scantleberry, JoJo: All those names I remember, especially Pancho and his family. For the life of me, I cannot understand why your name doesn't ring a bell. You mentioned the Warriors. Did you know Tommy or Willie Taylor, the Conroys, Drago, Jackie Hughes, etc. What years did you attend OLL?
I looked up some old friends on the Internet over the past few years -- said hello and then goodbye when their families called to give me the news: Vinny McCarville, Bruce Boyd, Phil Marshall, Eddie O'Brien -- all gone to their maker. They were spread out all over the country. It was satisfying, however, just to say hello. I met Vinny in New Orleans and we had a beer for the first time in many years. We had gone to sea together during WWII and had a lot of memories.
You must forgive my spelling etc. My eyesight is on its way out (along with everything else). I will be 82 in a few months but active and still traveling. I have been to six of the seven continents and my wish is to have breakfast at the South Pole.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
ToppersWas Dave's on B'Way near 140th Street? I sold the Sunday News there for 25 cents during the news strike. It was normally a nickel. We had to go down to the News Building to buy them. Overhead!
Who remembers the Sugar Bowl on the corner of 143rd and Broadway? A great hangout for different age groups. How about Toppers Ice Cream parlor on B'Way between 139 & 140th?
In the 1940s and early '50s you could go to the Audubon Theater at 168th and B'Way on Sunday for 77 Cents and see three features, 23 cartoons, newsreels and an eight-act stage show with such luminaries as Billy Halop of the Dead End Kids or Lash LaRue or Ferdinand the Bull. Top shelf. They must get at lest a buck fifty for admission today!
Tea and Nut StoreHi Norm,
My mom (Rita Murphy) mentioned there was an Asian family owned Tea and Nut shop in OLL Parish when she was a child (born 1917).  She said her brothers, Maurice and John Murphy, would sometimes play with the owners' son. I am wondering if this could be the same shop.
Rita
ToppersDave's was on the southwest corner of Broadway and 151st Street, a short trip from my home on 152nd near Riverside Drive. I do recall the Sugar Bowl and maybe was in it once or twice but never hung out there. Topper's is a name I never heard before, as far as ice cream parlors go. Thanks so much for mentioning the name and location. Perhaps before my time (1945 baby) or too far from my home. Many people have mentioned the Audubon Theater to me (165-166th Street) but I have no memory of it at all.  I do recall the San Juan Theater that took over the space of the old Audubon.
I love hearing about Mom's (Rita Murphy's) old neighborhood.
Thanks for sharing.
Rita
Your Name?No, Dave's Deli was on 151st and Broadway. Yes, Toppers & the Sugar Bowl were popular hangouts, however the Piedmont, the Staghorn and the Chesterfield were more popular later on. I have pictures of the great snowfall of December 27, 1947 taken in front of the above mentioned restaurants with a bunch of the guys posing in the cold. 
The Audubon Theater became better known when Malcom X was murdered in its ballroom. I saw Milton Berle there in the early 1940s. Actually, the Bluebird and the Washington were also popular as they only cost 10 cents (no heat or air conditioning). Memories, memories, dreams of long ago.
Ed and Jackie Woods
The OLL ChoirI sang in the OLL choir for about 5 or 6 years and hated it.T he only advantage was that we skipped the last class for practice. The downside was that after attending 9 o'clock Mass we had to sing at the 11 o'clock High Mass, which interfered with our Sunday football game. I played with the Junior Cadets. We had a very good team coached by Joe Romo, who went on to be the trainer for the Oakland A's for many years. I saw him at Yankee Stadium whenever the team played the Yankees at home. Joe died several years ago.
Mr. Skyler, the choirmaster, wore a wig that could easily be mistaken for road kill. I used to wonder if he was committing a sin by wearing something on his head in church. After all it was no different then wearing a hat during Mass.
Mrs. Daly was a very lovely lady who played the organ and gave piano lessons. She lived down the street from us on 142nd between Broadway and Hamilton Place and had something like 10 kids. My sister Maureen was friends with Theresa and Billie. John was I believe the youngest son. Maureen graduated from Notre Dame de Lourdes on Convent Avenue.
My sister Frances was close friends with Helen and Rita Nerney, who lived across the street. Fran died in 2002.
ToppersI lived at 635 Riverside Drive. I  recall Toppers being near the corner of 141st, next to a Jewish deli. In the summer my dad took my brother Tom and me for ice cream there every evening. Happy memories!
Bishop DuboisI graduated 1953 from Bishop Dubois. I believe your brother Ernie was in my class at OLL. I hope he is doing well. Give him my regards.
Bill Healy
Names from the Old NeighborhoodBrendan & Bernie turned 76 on February 2. Don't ask how I remember things like this. I forgot what I had for breakfast this morning. I'll be 76 August 11, weather permitting.
Everyone seems to forget Pinky (Michael) Pereria. You are closer to my late brother Jim's age. Jim hung out with Jimmy and John Bartlett, Donald LaGuardia, Tommy & Willie Taylor (born on the same day a year apart -- Irish twins). Again I don't know why I remember these things.
Eddie O'Brien used to go by the name Drawde Neirbo, his name spelled backwards. He was a close friend of Big Jack Hughes. I recall a group of you guys joining the Merchant Marine during the war. The Dragos lived on 141st Street between Hamilton Place and Amsterdam Avenue. The youngest (Joseph?) was in my class.
A couple of years ago I went down to the old neighborhood with my sons. Surprisingly, it looks great. Lots of renovations going on.
My beautiful wife June is a BIC (Bronx Irish Catholic) from the South Bronx. It's not as great a neighborhood as it used to be, but lots of great people came out of there. I took her away from there, married her 50 plus years ago and got her a decent dental plan and raised five kids in New Jersey.
I graduated in 1948. It should have been 1947 but Mother Mary Inez red-shirted me in the 6th grade.
Will stay in touch.
Norm Brown
Norm Brown??Norm, I graduated in 1947 from OLL. I knew a kid (Norman Brown) who lived on 141st between Hamilton and Broadway. I think he had a younger brother. He went to OLL with me, but he did not graduate from OLL. Eddie McGlynn was in my class, and the Wittlingers. I lived at 510 W 140th. Are you that Norman?
Bill H.
The Summer of '66Hi Jackie and Ed,
I never had one of Dave or Milton's corned beef sandwiches but I can say that the pastrami on rye was a thing that dreams are made of. I recall the knishes out the window in the summer and the hot dogs. Thanks so much for taking me back in time. Milton would take the pastrami out of that silver steamer box sharpening his knife, and the rest was heaven on rye. Milton was still behind the counter in the summer of 1966 but after that I can't say. 
I am sure that "The Night Before Christmas" is still recited next to Clement Moore's grave, in Trinity Cemetery.  In my day the Girl Scout Troop that met at the Church of the Intercession would participate in the recitation of the Moore piece.
I know that 853 Riverside Drive is on the Upper Drive, since I sat on "The Wall" on summer evenings as a teenager.  You said you moved in 1941 to 90 RSD -- did you mean 90 or 890?  I am not familiar with the numbering of the "lower" drive where the red house sits (so it was called).
I am off in search of a good sandwich.
Peace,
Rita
Stagershorn  & ChesterfieldMalcom X was shot in the Audubon Ballroom at the back of the theater, which later became the Teatro San Juan. I saw Abbott and Costello there en Espanol. At 7 years old I was run over by a truck at 142 Street and Broadway, right outside the Staghorn, I managed to live!
I would hang from the window outside the Chesterfield, watching football games on TV with Bobby Heller and Herby Gil and Buddy McCarthy.
That was a hell of a snowstorm in '47. Remember digging tunnels through the snowbanks? You forgot to mention Larry's, just next to the Sugar Bowl. I would watch "Victory at Sea" there.
A couple of years ago I took a walk through the OLL neighborhood and realized that when you are a kid everything you see is at eye level and taken for granted, but as you look up and around from a mature aspect it becomes a whole different world. It is really a beautiful area.
90 Riverside Drive WestHi Rita. I'm positive 853 was on the Lower Drive. When the new building went up next to it around 1941, the address was 90 Riverside Drive West. However, it caused so much confusion with 90 Riverside Drive (downtown) that the address was changed to 159-32 Riverside. The plot originally hosted a small golf course.
I also went to the Church of the Intercession with the Girl Scouts. Small world. And the wall -- on a hot summer night, standing room only.
Jackie
West 140th NYCThe kids I hung around with were in the OLL classes of 1940 and 1941. I had a weekend job in 1941 with Ike's Bike Rental on 141st. He needed someone to identify the kids who rented there (bikes rented for 20 cents an hour -- and that's the truth). We started a Junior Air Raid Wardens group and had a store next to Ike's. Collected paper etc, for the war effort.
And you are correct, within three years, when we turned 16, McCarvill, O'Brien, Drago and I joined the merchant marine.
Did you know the Kieley family -- lived at 1628 Amsterdam before moving to the lower Bronx: Pauline, Rita, Josephine, Peggy and the two boys Nicky and Jimmy. I loved going to their upstairs apartment for tea, especially when Mrs Kiely made Irish Soda Bread. My wife (then girlfriend) Jackie sponsored Jim Kieley when he became a citizen around 1948. He was from County Waterford, the same as her family. We celebrated our 59th anniversary last week.
Regards,
Eddie Woods
My Brother JimYou probably knew my brother Jim Brown. He too was born in 1928. He died three years ago today. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes, spent a couple of years in the Army and graduated from Fordham University. Jim lived in Wycoff, N.J. He was very successful in business.
Amsterdam AvenueThe Denning family (10 kids) lived on Amsterdam Avenue between 141st and 142nd. Hughie had polio and wrote away to FDR for an autograph during the war. As it turned out he was the last person to get one. He was in an iron lung at the time. It was a big deal. Lots of press. One of the boys, Peter Schaefer Denning, was born on the back of a beer truck on the way to the hospital. Hence the name.
The Connolly brothers, Eamon and Timmy, lived in the same building. Everyone in the family had red hair. Not unlike Bobby Foy's family. If I recall properly, the father looked like Arthur Godfrey, his mom like Lucille Ball, Bobby like Red Skelton, and they had a red cat plus an Irish setter.
It took a lot of guts for a group of 16-year-old kids to join the merchant marine. A belated thanks for your service.
My wife makes great Irish soda bread. Is there any other kind? You can give ten women the same ingredients for soda bread and you'll get ten different tasting breads. All great! Especially with a cup of Lynches Irish tea. The season is almost upon us once again.
The only Kiely (different spelling) I knew was my NYPD partner Timmy, who was from the South Bronx, Hunts Point. Tim grew up with Colin Powell. Having worked in the South Bronx for 25 years and marrying June Margaret O'Brien, one of six girls from there, I pretty much connect with the people of SOBRO, as the area is now known. Sooner or later everything gets yuppified.
How about this web site? Something else!
Take care,
Norm
Mea CulpaHi Jackie,
Of course you know 853 RSD is on the Lower Drive but Google Maps does not.  "Looks like 800 Block of Upper Drive is even numbers and 800 Block on Lower Drive is odd numbers."  I did not locate 159-32 but I did find a 159-34 and 159-00, seems to be the last structure (red brick) on the Lower Drive area that we are speaking of, now a co-op but the year of construction is not listed.
I have very fond memories of the folks I spent time with on "our" wall.  
Peace,
Rita
Yes, it's Kiely I was in error. For whatever resaon, The Dublin House on 79th off the NE corner of Broadway became a meeting place for many of the kids from the OLL area up until the early 1970s: Eamon Connolly,  Tommy Taylor etc. I worked with Tom for a short time before be went on the force and then as a T Man. I have not heard from him  in too many years. One of great fellows from the old neighborhood. 
In friendship,
Ed Woods
My e-mail: eandjwoods50@Yahoo.com
P.S. The Kiely family moved to Crimmons Ave in the Bronx
 West 159th Street NYCDear Rita,
I do enjoy rehashing the old neighborhood and the wonderful memories we can recall. Yes, it is the last buillding on the street and I lived there until 1950, when I married Ed. My uncle George lived there until c. 1981 in a rent controlled apartment, and yes, it did become a co-op.
When first opened, the building had four entrances. Later, in the 1980s, it was down to one main entrance on the via-dock for safety reasons. I loved our apartment there, which had a beautiful view of the Hudson and the George Washington Bridge.
My friend June, nee McAvoy, lived at 3750 B'way. We were together in school for 12 years at St. Catherine's and Sacred Heart. June lives in Maryland.
By the way,  my e-mail is eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
Jackie Woods
The Red HouseDear Jackie & Ed,
How lucky you were to have lived in the Red House, especially with the views of the bridge and the river. Growing up I never knew anyone who lived there, so never saw the interior, I'm sure it was lovely. I heard that David Dinkins lived there at some point before he became mayor. Many of my classmates lived in 790 Riverside Drive and I was always so impressed that their apartments had two doors. Our apartment was on the fourth floor of a walkup and across the street from a garage. Funny how I was not really impressed by a doorman but by the two doors.
I seem to remember a gas station near your friend June's  house...other side of Broadway from the museum, now college. One of my St. Catherine's classmates, last I heard, he was teaching at the college.
Was Rexall Drug on the corner of 157th, with the newsstand outside the door, when you lived in the Red House? In my home we seemed to have all of the city newspapers -- morning, afternoon and evening, some selling for 4 cents. To this day I read two papers every day and still long to go out Saturday night to pick up the Sunday paper.
Thanks for the email.
Peace,
Rita
Class of 1959I attended O.L.L. from 5th to 8th grade. My 5th grade teacher was Mother Mary Edward, what a wonderful woman, 6th was Mother Mary St. Hugh, 7th Mother Mary Edward and 8th Mother Mary Bernadette.  Graduated in 1959. Classes were mxed -- black, white and Latino. Memories are mostly good ones -- Father Kline, Father Malloy, Father Hart. The religious experience most memorable, especially during Lent, novenas on Wednesday afternoon and Stations on Friday after school.
Liggets / RexallHello Rita,
I loved the lunch/soda  counter at Liggetts/Rexalls. for whatever reason, my family used the pharmacy across the street, on the east side of B'way, to have prescriptions filled.
The family that owned and operated the newsstand helped us lease our first apartment at 600 W. 157th. Apartments were in short supply in 1950. We lived in the unit formerly rented by the Singer Midgets next to Peaches Browning of Daddy Browning fame. Of course they were long gone when we lived there. My father was very active in the Tioga Democratic Club with the Simonetti family. 
Do you remember Warner's Cafeteria between 157 & 158th? We visited St. Catherine's Church Christmas week 2007 with our niece who wanted to see where she was baptized in 1953. She is on Mayor Bloomberg's staff.
Warm regards,
Jackie Woods
eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
Oh, as the poet said, "To return to yesteryear and our salad days." 
My brother ErnieBilly, Ernie and I went to Bishop Dubois. Ernie for two years and I for three. We both were bounced in 1951 and transferred to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. We went there on a Schrafft's scholarship. Our mom waited on tables at Schrafft's in order to send us there. In those days it was pretty much a blue collar school. It wasn't that far removed from being a reform school. VERY STRICT. Today it's much more hoity toity. I'm still in close touch with my old classmates, most of whom have been successful in life.
Ernie was a great basketball player, the first to score over 50 points in a game in Bergen County (three times), breaking Sherman White's record. White was an All American but messed up his career in the 1950-51 college season. Ernie went to Fordham on an athletic scholarship.
Ernie died in 2002. He was a very special guy, extremely generous and giving. We miss him a lot. He lived a couple of blocks away from me as did most of my siblings. Sad to say, the circle grows smaller.
1959 OLL gradsAre you out there, does any one remember or know of any of the following graduates of O.L.L. -- Starr Martin, Carol Long or her sisters, Carlotta and Tony, Josephine Velez, Melvina (Kinky) Boyd, Chicky Aponte. I went of to Cathedral and the others to various Catholic high schools and lost touch. After finding this site, many memories have come back. Would like to know how old friends are doing. 
600 W. 157thHi Jackie,
You lived around the corner from the post office. I remember going there once to get a money order and losing Mom's gray umbrella. Your building was by the Grinnell, where a friend's father was the superintendent during the 60s.
Liggett/Rexall -- we went to Snow & Youman's for drugs but to Rexall for film, flashbulbs and of course the soda fountain. The last time I was there was April 1965, just before my son was born. I do not recall a Warner's Cafeteria but do remember the famous, and oh so good, Imperial Deli, Lambos Flower Shop, Commander Bar & Grill, Full Moon & McGuire's.
I visited St. Catherine's about 1994 and it was like being in a time warp, except for the piano near the altar. The church was just as I remembered when I got married in 1964, only smaller. The school is now public. I am in touch with some of my friends from the Class of 1958. It was nice that your niece was able to visit the church where she was baptized.
I never heard of the Tioga Democratic Club or the Simonetti family (the only Simonettis I know are the family whose niece and son are engaged).
Jackie, was the pharmacy on the east side of B'way United or perhaps that was a sign for United Cigar?
So nice this walk down memory lane.
Best to your Eddie.
Peace,
Rita
Memories: dreams of long agoHi Rita,
My close friend June's, nee McAvoy, family lived in the Grinnell for many years. Her grandfather was Judge McAvoy. Eddie claims to have an exceptionally good memory but he says he needs to yield to you. You do have a most wonderful recall. However, he is more familiar with the OLL school and church neighborhood.
My brother-in-law (much older than Eddie and me) was in the vending machine business: Ace Distributing -- jukeboxes, cigarette machines etc. Eddie worked for him for  a few years when we first married and the company had locations in almost every store in the neighborhood (including the Commander). That is a dead business today. How about Pigeon Park? You couldn't sit there.
Warm regards, Jackie Woods
GrinnellHi Jackie,
Do you recall a Doctor James Farley living in the Grinnell?  Doctor Farley must have taken care of half of Washington Heights over a period of many years (had an office on 178 St. between Broadway and Ft. Washington Ave.).
Ah, Pigeon Park...I remember it well and always tried to circumvent it!
All the best.
Rita
I remember it wellHi Rita,
Our family physician was Dr. VanWorth, as an adult I visited Dr. Liebling, who had an office c. 156th. He later moved down to 72nd Street. A wonderful caring man (who made house calls). My son Ed Jr. was 58 years old this week, I have a picture of him when he was 1 sitting  on a pony taken on the corner of 155th and B'way. John Orlando's brother married a St Catherine's girl. I don't know her age.
Ain't we got fun?
Jackie Woods
Current resident of the neighborhood (Grinnell)I'd like to invite you to visit www.audubonparkny.com, which is a virtual walking tour of the neighorhood you're discussing.  You can "take the walking tour" online or go to the Sitemap/ Index of Images to read about specific buildings and see pictures from many eras.
I'm happy to post any pictures (and credit the owners) of the neighborhood that you'd like to share - focusing on the Audubon Park area (155th to 158th, Broadway to the river).
www.audubonparkny.com
Walking TourThanks so very much for posting the site for the Audubon Park area...I had a delightful walking tour.
Down Memory Lane at OLLWhat happened, did we all run out of memories?
Who remembers the stickball field comprised of Hamilton Place from 140 to 141st Street. A ball hit over the small roof on 141st was a double and over the roof at 95 Hamilton Place was a homer. After the war the street was so crowded with cars that the games were moved to Convent Avenue in front of CCNY. There was some heavy money bet on these games.
Walking TourThanks, Rita, I'm glad you enjoyed the walk!  Please come back and visit the site again.  I post a Newsletter on the homepage (www.AudubonParkNY.com ) each month highlighting new pages, information, and research, as well as updates on the Historic District project.
Matthew
The Prairie StateDoes anyone have memories of the Prairie State? It was a WWI battleship moored in the Hudson River at about 135 Street and I believe used for Naval Reserve training. As kids we snuck on board and played basketball on it. The deck (court) had a bow on it which is partially responsible for the replacement parts in my ankle today.
How about the "Dust Bowl" at 148 Street next to the river where we played football and baseball? Today it's state of the art, at least compared to what we played on. Now there is grass on the field. Progress!
Under the Via DockFar from being a battleship, the Prairie State (also called the Illinois) was an old transport. However, as youngsters we would have been impressed by its size.
Pancho and another neighborhood boy whose name I can't recall trained there before being sent to England as frogmen in preparation for the D-Day landing. It was decided that those boys with big chests (big lungs) could do the job best. I can recall Pancho telling me after the war that he had only a few days of Boot Camp.
Sports -- we used the oval near City College. Stick ball -- 144th between Amsterdam and B'way. A ball hit to any roof was an out, never a homer. Spaldines was Spaldings were costly in the 1930s. One had to learn to hit as far up the street as possible, over the sewers. That is why  the good hitters (one strike only) were called three-sewer hitters.
The Prairie State was docked under the Via Dock c. 130th St. Like you, we visited it often. Nearby were the meatpacking/butcher plants. During the 1930s there were two "Hoovervilles" (hobo camps) under the dock. The overhead gave the men some some protection from the elements. I had an uncle who took me fishing off the piers. I felt sorry for the "lost souls." Then one day they were all gone. Hosed away! I used to wonder where  they went.
In friendship
Ed Woods
eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
PanchoAs you recall, Pancho was short, about 5'8" and maybe 200 lbs. and a very good athlete -- basketball, baseball and could hold his own on a basketball court. I remember speaking to him about the UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams,the precursor to the Navy Seals) and asking him if they were relegated to swimming all the time. He told me they spent most of the time running, running, running to build endurance.
As I remember, the Oval was near Convent Avenue. We never used the term two sewers in stickball. That was a Bronx expression. We bought our pink "Spaldeens" at Rutenbergs candy store on Amsterdam Avenue between 140 and 141 Streets for a nickel. He also sold kids twofers, two for a penny loosies, and Bugle Tobacco so you could roll your own or purchase a corncob pipe to puff away. Loosies were two cigarettes for a penny. I understand due to the cost of smokes they are doing that again.
We played "swift pitching" in the park at Hamilton Place between 140 and 141 streets. It was comprised of drawing a box (a strike zone) on the  the handball court wall and throwing balls and strikes as hard as you could. I'm a little younger then you but I remember the Swift Meat Plant down by the river and the time John Garfield filmed a scene from a movie, Force of Evil, running down the steps  toward the river. Somehow he ended up at the red lighthouse under the GW Bridge and discovered his brother's body, played by Thomas Gomez, in the river.  As kids during the war we would fish and crag off the docks  right near the old Two Six Precinct. I'll never forget the time my younger brother came home with a catfish and an eel and damn near burned the house down trying to cook them.
Boy, life was a lot simpler then. Even with a world war raging.
Amsterdam AveRutenbergs, address 1628 Amsterdam, I lived in the upstairs bldg for five years. The Rutenbergs lived in an apt in the back of their store. Tommy Smith worked their paper route for many years. Tommy lived in 1626 next to McCarvill. The Conroys (Johnny the Bull) lived in 1630. Eddie O'Brien lived in 1634 over the Rothschild Deli where we could buy Old Dutch beer for 14 cents  a quart plus a 5 cent deposit. "It's for my father." The playground around the corner was busy at night after it closed  for the day.
My recall of  loosies is six for five cents in a small paper bag with six wooden matches. 
You refer to the station house as the "Two Six Precinct."
Something tells me you were "on the job." A good family friend, Frank Lynch, became the Captain at 152nd and Amsterdam (The Three Two)?
Your e-mail?
In friendship,
Ed Woods
Three Oh PrecinctYes I worked in the South Bronx for 25 years which included 10 years at the Yankee Stadium,ten of the best years of my life. A ring side seat at the world. We played many games there-- Shae, West Point, etc. -- and traveled to Venezuela with the New York Press team. I worked out with players on the DL. Thurman Munson was a good friend as was Catfish Hunter. Lou Pinella and Graig Nettles. 
We guarded Pope Paul and Pope John Paul II. John Paul II gave off an aura that was indescribable. I was very close to him on three occasions and he made you weak in the knees and start to shake. Believe me it wasn't his celebrity status. Some of the people I knew were Cary Grant who used to look for me when he came to many games. Someday I'll tell you how he saved my marriage. A funny story! Jimmy Cagney came to a few games. Boy was that sad to see Rocky Sullivan, every Irish American kid's hero, all crippled up with arthritis.
I finished up in the Bronx Detective Task Force and never looked back. It was a great career if you rolled with the punches.
The six for five must have been filter tips.I forgot about the wooden matches. Do you remember the Hooten Bars they sold? One by two inch chocolate candy stuck on wax paper. Nobody seems to remember them. Rutenberg had the greatest malteds. They kept the milk frozen. God! Were they good!
The Three Oh Precinct was at 152 Street & Amsterdam Avenue across from St. Catherines Grammar School where I went to kindergarten for a day. Later it became Bishop Dubois H.S., which I attended for three years before getting bounced along with my younger brother.
There was a kid by the name of Neally Riorden who may have lived in your building and a kid by the name of Brian Neeson Hannon who died around 1945. I remember going to his wake on Vinegar Hill. Next we should take a trip down Vinegar Hill.
My e mail is fuzz408@optonline.net
God bless & HAPPY EASTER
Rutenberg'sRutenberg's had the greatest milkshakes mainly because they kept the milk semi frozen. They also had Hooten bars, sheets of one by two inch chocolate that sold for a penny each. I've never met anyone from a different neighborhood who heard of them.
Yes, I was on the job for 25 years in the South Bronx. Check your personal e mail. The Three Oh was at 152 Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It's now a landmark. The new precinct is on 151st Street of Amsterdam.
How about Wings Cigarettes with the photos of WW II planes? 
The Shamrock Bar was on the corner of 140th Street and Amsterdam. On weekends guys would pick up containers of beer and carry them over to Convent Avenue for refreshments during the stickball games.
Take care,
Norm
PanchoLooking for any info on Pancho Periera. He is my godfather and was best friends with my dad, Frank Corrigan. 
OLLumnaI went graduated from OLL in 1950. I came across this great site and I am wondering if anyone graduated the same year. I have been trying to get in contact with my fellow classmates and this looked like a great opportunity!
The Old ShamrockI visted the 140th Street area a few years ago and took a few pictures. The Shamrock is gone with the wind -- history.
I showed a picture of the building (1626 Amsterdam) to Vinnie McCarvill, who had lived there, when I met him for  a beer in New Orleans a few years ago, and he almost wept. Some great memories of our Salad Days came to mind. 
"Oh the nights at the playground on Hamilton Place." It's the place  where we came of age.
In friendship,
Eddie and Jackie
ParishesOne thing folks from New Orleans and New York City have in common is that you identified your neighborhood by the parish in which you lived.
Agnes GerrityMy mother, Agnes Gerrity, born 1916, and her brothers Thomas and Richard (born c. 1914 and 1920) attended Our Lady of Lourdes until high school. All three have passed away but I'd love to hear if anyone happens to remember them.  Like your mother, my mom loved that school and spoke of it often. 
Anne Collins
OLL Confirmation Day 1935I thought  former students would enjoy seeing the uniform we wore in Our Lady of Lourdes School Primary Dept (1st to 4th Grade) during the 1930s.

KnickersIt was humiliating having to wear knickers. Remember pulling them down to your ankles and thinking "maybe people will think they are pegged pants"? Boy did we ever fool the public! And how about the high starched collars -- I don't think they could have even gotten Freddie Barthomew to wear them. Didn't we replace them with waterboarding?
However Ed, they look great on you. Do you still wear them?
Old OLL picsDoes any one have some old OLL class photos or just some neighborhood pictures to post here in the comments? I'm sure a lot of Shorpy addicts would appreciate them.
OLLi go to school at lourdes now im in the 8th grade and i think its really cool to see people talk about the memories they had about my school before i was even born and i would love to see some kind of picture of the inside of the school like a class picture so i can see what it used to look like
[Just wait'll you get to Capitalization and Punctuation. - Dave]
Class of 1964I too went to OLL from '57-'64. My parents and I moved to 3495 Broadway at 143rd St. in 1956. I started in the 4th grade with Mother Mary William. The school in those days was no longer a military academy. We wore navy blue uniforms, white shirts and the school tie and the girls wore navy blue jumpers with a white blouse and blue tie. It was very interesting reading about all the students who came before me and where they lived. I always was so curious to find out how this old neighborhood looked like years before we moved in. As you all know, the area changed at some point racially, although when I was at OLL the school was still predominantly white with a handful of Black children. I will always have wonderful memories of my time at OLL. My parents moved out of the area in 1969 and I since been back once to recapture some old memories of my childhood.
NostalgiaThe picture that follows is the 1937 graduation class with the girls omitted. Monsignor McMahon built church and school(1901-1913); after 15 years as Curator at St Patrick's Cathedral, constructed 7 years earlier. See church of Our Lady of Lourdes for construction details. At the time of graduation, Fr's Mahoney, Dillon and Brennan resided across from the Church. The Poor Clares home was to right of the church, and secondary had Society of the Holy Name Jesus sisters. School and Church gave us faith and hope and discipline. Our world was the depression years followed by the wars. Our class of 1937 was just in time. The handsome lad below the sergeant stripes is the brother of contributor Ed Woods.Ed,and brothers Bill and Dennis served with distinction. Andy Saraga bottom right was a highly decorated Marines  The others served as well. I hope Our Lady of Lourdes provides the inspiration our families sought for us. 
Nostalgia 1937The 1937 graduation photo is great. It's with both sadness and pride to think that most of these wonderful kids would be defending our country in a very short time in different uniforms.Believe it or not this military training was useful. How about more pictures like this and some candid neighborhood shots.
OLL in the NYThttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/nyregion/16priest.htm
So interesting: A more recent residentJust want to say that I've read every entry on this post. It is so interesting to read the memories shared by those that lived way before you in the same neighborhood. My mother and I live on 135th Street near Riverside between 66th and 77th, then moved to 138th between Hamilton and Amsterdam. I went to PS 161 and graduated from CCNY. I also have fond memories of my childhood. I used to play basketball in an after school center at Our Lady of Lourdes as a young kid, visited the area a couple of years ago and brought back great pics.
Cheers to all
Mauricio
The Grinnell: Celebrating Its Centennial Those of you who remember The Grinnell (800 Riverside Drive) may be interested to know that the residents have just begun celebrating the building's centennial.  We're having a year of events,so this is a great year to visit!  
Check the website: http://www.thegrinnellat100.com/ for photos, historical news articles, and residents' memories (and contribute your own).
Click the calendar tab for a listing of the events between now and July 2011.
Matthew
Why Grinnel!The hundredth anniversary of a building? Forgotten is the fact that it's also the anniversary of the site building, and all the memories fast fading. I think Ed Woods of all the graduates, always hit the mark. Several others struggled to add something. If someone remembers the names of the sisters and preferably anecdotes please don't deny this information from this site. I personally remember sister Rose from 4th grade 1934. I believe Mother Michael provided my brother Andy's Confirmation name. Others with better memories speak up. Also it wasn't only our generation that owes  recognition for all given freely. 
Christmas at Our Lady of LourdesAt Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the statues in the creche would be replaced by live students. The scene would be repeated the following day at the 9 o'clock Children's Mass and the 11 o'clock High Mass.
A live baby would be borrowed to lie in the manger. The girl who posed as the Blessed Mother and the boy who posed as Joseph were the envy of the entire student body.
"Oh to return to yesteryear."
Happy New YearThank you SHORPY for bringing back to us so many wonderful memories. It has been said pictures are worth a thousand words. Shorpy's pictures, however, are worth so much more -- just can't put a number on them. Thank you and a Happy New Year to the Shorpy Staff.
Ed and Jackie Woods
[And thank you, Ed and Jackie, for inspiring the hundreds of interesting comments in this thread. - Dave]
The OLL neighborhoodIt's nice reading and re-reading your stories about OLL, Hamiliton Place,and seeing the names listed.
Many years ago, in my past, I visited the old neighborhood only to find it somewhat depressing, old and in poor shape. One time in particular I had parked my new "rental car" near West 144th street, and was showing my young children some of the places I lived on Amsterdam Ave, Hamilton Place ( 95 and 115 buildings) when two older African Americans came up to us, and said you'd be better not park here." It wasn't said as a threat, but more it's unsafe here, now that the area has changed. I had told them that I used to live here many years ago.
I am glad to hear from Norm, that the area has rebounded, and in looking at the prices of the real estate I wish we had stayed here.
Keep up the good work.
Matt Waters mattminn@aol.com
Hi Anon Tipster 1959.  I used to date Carlotta Long & visited her lovely home many times.  147 off Convent as I recall. I often wonder in my old age (69) whatever happened to her & how her life turned out. I did graduate from Dubois in 1960, so I'm very familiar w/the sights & places referenced here. So glad I found this site. 
Tis That Time of YearThank you SHORPY for another year of nostalgic pictures and comments. Brought to us in Black and White and Living Color.
Such fond memories of long ago, especially the itchy bathing suits. In the 1920s and up to the early 1940s, when on or near the beach and boardwalk, boys had to wear the coarse wooolen suits with the tops on at all times.
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New York to Dave and staff.
Ed and Jackie Woods
Our Yearly PlaysI graduated in 1960 after 8 memorable years. I remember our yearly plays in the auditorium and all the hard work and practice we put into it. Father Hart was our pastor and I remember our farewell speech to him. My best friend was Lydia Marin and I remember Maria Santory, Joyce Brown, Maria Matos, Alma Mora, Maureen Quirk.  If any of you from this class are around, give a shout.
Jackie Erick
Class of 1964Class of 1964 where are you guys? Write something here you remember. Do you remember me?
OLL Class of 1957Here's the names of the boys' teachers from 1949 to 1957. I think I have then all correct.
Grade 1, 1949-1950:	Mother Mary Theodosia
Grade 2, 1950-1951:	Sister Mary Macrina
Grade 3, 1951-1952:	Mother Mary Eulalia
Grade 4, 1952-1953:	Mother Mary Declan
Grade 5, 1953-1954:	Mother Mary Edwards
Grade 6, 1954-1955:	Mother Maria Del Amor
Grade 7, 1955-1956:	Mother Mary Euphrates
Grade 8, 1956-1957:	Mother Mary Rosario
Eighteen nuns lived in the convent adjacent to the church on 142nd Street: eight boys' teachers, eight girls' teachers, the school principal, known as the Reverend Mother, and the housekeeper.
Six priests and the pastor lived in the rectory on the south side of 142nd Street.
OLL was also known as Old Ladies' Laundry.
I've written down the names of almost all the boys who, at one point or another, were part of the class of 1957. Only 27 graduated in 1957. Many were expelled in 1956 as part of a crackdown on gang membership. Mother Mary Rosario was brought in to preside over a difficult situation, but after the expulsions her job turned out to be not that complicated.
I'll post the list of names another time.
Our Lady of Lourdes Alumni ReunionHello out there.
I am a current parent at Our Lady of Lourdes.  As we enter a new decade, OLL would would like to start planning a few reunions.  I am looking for some potential organizers to help us reach out and plan events in the new year.  Please reach out if you are interested in planning or connect dots.
There are many new happenings at the school.  We will be launching a new website by the end of the month with an alumni portion.  
Thank you!
Vanessa
vdecarbo@ollnyc.org
Class of 1971Hi! I graduated in 1971 and our teacher was Sister Patricia. I remember Marlene Taylor, Karen, Miriam, Dina, Elsie, Maria and Robin, Carla, Margaret and Giselle. Our class was an all girl class. I also remember Sister Rebecca, Sister Theresa, Sister Rosemarie (our history teacher). I continued to Cathedral High School but I miss all my dear classmates. Is there anyone out there who enters this site? My email is n.krelios@yahoo.com  I would love to hear from someone. Marlene Taylor became a doctor (wonderful!!!).
Shorpy Hall of FameIf there were a Shorpy Hall of Fame, this photo would definitely have to be in the inaugural class.  I've enjoyed going through the many comments for this photo going back to 2007 even though I have absolutely no connection to the school other than being Catholic.  What is equally as awesome is that a look at the location today via Google Maps indicates that, other than a few trees, fire hydrants, automobiles and removal of the statue, everything is basically the same today. 
Double DutchKllroy is correct about not much having changed, but it looks like even the foreground fire hydrant is in the same place (but a newer model).
It looks like the circa 1914 photographer was set-up on the northeast corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 143rd Street. The Google Maps photo was taken travelling northbound on Amsterdam Avenue. So basically both photos are shot from almost the same location; it is interesting how the vintage image makes 143rd Street appear much shorter than in the Google image. I guess it's the result of different formats and lenses.
By the way, the buildings at the far end of the T-intersection, on Convent Avenue (mostly blocked by the trees in the Google image), reflect NYC's Dutch heritage [ETA:] as does "Amsterdam" Avenue.

(The Gallery, Education, Schools, G.G. Bain, Kids, NYC)

Noel, Iola: 1944
... her a $50 savings bond. The title of the tune was "Three Cheers For the Army." She died five years later, in 1954. Her obituary from ... to the Dickeys' Christmas party arrived. Three cheers for King Cotton The pants of the kid look as if they are scratchy. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/24/2023 - 11:31am -

On this Christmas Eve,  we travel back 79 years for a visit with the First Lady of Shorpy, Iola Swinnerton. Some two decades after her bathing-pageant days, she is still radiating beauty and cheer. Scroll down to the comments for more of Iola's life story. View full size.

"STONE WOMAN" ENJOYS
CHRISTMAS PREPAREDNESS

        CHICAGO (Dec. 23, 1944) -- Mrs. Iola Swinnerton Warren, who suffered the illness known as myositis ossificans after inoculation for typhoid following a Florida hurricane, watches her husband Theron V. Warren and little nephew Herbert Taylor trim Christmas tree. (Acme Newspictures photo.)
Licensed to Marry.From the Washington Post of August 4, 1918:
"Gerald Swinnerton, 31, of Williamston, Michigan, and Iola Taylor, 18, of Rockford, Illinois."
Iola in 1947Here is part of article from the Waterloo Sunday Courier (Waterloo, Iowa) of March 9, 1947. The Warrens adopted Herbert Taylor (Iola's nephew). Herbert was 13 in 1947.
Forever YoungIt would seem, from an earlier comment, that she was born in 1902, so she would have been 19 or 20 in those earlier photos from 1921 and 1922, and 42 here.  She has lovely, youthful skin and a radiant smile.
[If she was 18 when married in 1918, she'd have been born in 1899 or 1900. - Dave]
Not just Christmas celebrationsThis is also the occasion of their second wedding anniversary - I found the announcement from the Suburbanite Economist (Chicago) of December 23, 1942. It sounds like she had a terrible time with this illness -- it started in 1926 and she spent nine years in the hospital! I'm glad she seems to have found happiness with Theron.
Based on what I read about myositis ossificans, it seems unlikely that this is what she had. It is normally caused by an injury to a muscle, and from what I can tell, stays within that muscle -- it doesn't spread to other areas of the body. It's probably more likely that she had heterotopic ossification, possibly caused by central nervous system injury or an underlying genetic disorder.
*Cringe*I am sure that Herbie really enjoyed being characterized in the newspaper as her "little" nephew.
Hope his friends didn't see the story!
[He looks like Larry Mondello. - Dave]
Carpentry and TweedNotice the nicely done rest for her feet that does not appear to be part of the original wheelchair--not the easiest thing to put together if you're doing it with nails instead of wood screws, which may be the case here.  Also, I love the nephew's tweed slacks--sadly, winter weight slacks seem to be a thing of the past, even up north here in Minnesota.  They're keeping him so warm, he doesn't need to keep his shirt tucked in.
The story that keeps on givingAnother amazing feature of this website.  Over the course of eleven and a half years (dating back to April of 2007) we are treated to a series of photos of Iola Swinnerton from a very specific two-year period (1921-1922) in a very specific context (bathing suit beauty contest).  No sense of limitation or lack of variety, and every new photo was a delight.
Flash forward suddenly 22 years to 1944 and to a whole new context.  We find Iola in a wheelchair with a strange and rare disease, and yet she is happy, recently married to a benevolent-looking church organist, and she and her husband have adopted her nephew.  The husband "wasn’t discouraged because the pretty invalid was confined to a wheelchair," and she is able to report that her "condition has steadily improved" since they got married.
The crowning glory of her positivity:  "My dreams during so many years in hospitals have come true."  (She writes songs which are published!)  "I only hope someone else can take hope from my happiness."  This is one of the most truly marvelous stories I've ever come across.
Stiff Man’s SyndromeIola may have had what is now called Stiff Person’s Syndrome.  It was first diagnosed in 1956.
A friend had it.
IolatryHere's a few more details regarding Iola.
The New York Times, while reporting her wedding, stated that she was earning her living as a seamstress. The paper also said, "She was stricken by the baffling disease after the Florida Hurricane of 1926. At that time she lived in a Miami Beach cottage, the wife of Gerald Swinnerton, whom she divorced in April, charging desertion."
In the 1940 U.S. Census Gerald Swinnerton is claiming to have been widowed. He was a camera designer and repairman, as well as a World War I veteran, and he was also known as George Simons. He died in 1961.
Regarding her wedding, the Chicago Tribune of December 24, 1942 published the following story.
"Smiling from her wheelchair, in a moire taffeta wedding dress and a shoulder length tulle veil, Iona Swinnerton, 40 years old, was married last night to Theron Victor Warren, 42, a shipyard worker and organist in the Wentworth Baptist church. The bride is suffering from a rare disease characterized by hardening of the muscles.
"About 100 relatives and friends were present as the Rev. Eugene H. Daniels read the marriage ceremony. L. Duke Taylor, 1918 Cleveland avenue, her brother, gave the bride away. Donald McGowan, 1954 Henderson street, was the best man.
"Miss Swinnerton, who lives at 4044 Wentworth avenue, has been suffering from the malady since 1926. She teaches a Bible class at the church, and met Warren while attending the services there."
An article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette in December 1945 indicated that she had spent six years at the Cook County Hospital for treatment of her condition. She was refinishing furniture and canning fruit in addition to writing songs. "Theron proposed not very long after I cooked him a duck dinner," she confided.
In 1949 Iola won fourth place in a nationwide Army songwriting contest, which earned her a $50 savings bond. The title of the tune was "Three Cheers For the Army."  She died five years later, in 1954. Her obituary from the Chicago Tribune is below.
"Iola N. Warren, 2642 Barry avenue, June 13, 1954, beloved wife of Theron V. Warren, dear sister of Louis Duke Taylor, dear aunt to Herbert Taylor. At chapel, 316 W. 63d street, at Harvard avenue, where services will be held Thursday, June 17, at 1 p.m. Cremation Oak Woods."
Theron Warren died on May 3, 1976.
The image below is from the January 4, 1937 issue of the Wilson (N.C.) Daily Times. 
FOPI presume Iola had fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.
Story of Two FamiliesLuckily, I accepted an invitation to the Swinnertons' Christmas party before the invitation to the Dickeys' Christmas party arrived. 
Three cheers for King CottonThe pants of the kid look as if they are scratchy. Ask me how I know.
It’s a small worldI’ve been a long-time Shorpy lurker, and have many of the wonderful images saved as desktop wallpaper. 
I had to comment on this picture -- the Eugene H. Daniels mentioned as the officiant in the newspaper article was my great-grandfather! By the time I knew him, he was just “Grandpa Dan”; it’s neat to be able to read about Iola and Theron some 78 years later.
Merry Christmas to all! 
Eeugh!Theron is a ringer for an ex of mine.  I hope Iola had better luck--she certainly endured enough as it was.
(The Gallery, Chicago, Christmas, Iola S., Kids, News Photo Archive)

Leave It to Beaver: 1958
... See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum Cheers! Have you ever Have you ever noticed the newspapers Ward reads ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2018 - 7:10pm -

I was watching an episode from the second season (1958-59) of "Leave It to Beaver" tonight when I got to the part where Ward reads a note from Beaver's principal, Mrs. Rayburn. If you freeze-frame the note it says:

Mr. Ward Cleaver
485 Mapleton Drive
Mayfield, State
My Dear Mr. Cleaver:
This paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with anything.
It is here merely to fill up space. Still, it is words,
rather than repeated letters, since the latter might not
give the proper appearance, namely, that of an actual note.
For that matter, all of this is nonsense, and the only
part of this that is to be read is the last paragraph,
which part is the inspired creation of the producers of
this very fine series.
Another paragraph of stuff. Now is the time for all good
men to come to the aid of their party. The quick brown
fox jumps over the lazy dog. My typing is lousy, but the
typewriter isn’t so hot either. After all, why should I
take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with
which all of us must contend. Lew Burdette just hit a
home run and Milwaukee leads seven to one in the series.
This is the last line of the filler material of the note.
No, my mistake, that was only the next to last. This is last.
I hope you can find a suitable explanation for Theodore’s
unusual conduct.
Yours truly,
Cornelia Rayburn

To judge by the contents (here's the last line, whoops, no, HERE's the last line) whoever did this folded the note first, to mark the middle third of the paper, then put it in the typewriter, started the body of the letter at the first crease and banged away until he had enough to fill out the middle section.
The Lew Burdette reference would put the date at October 2, 1958 — Game 2 of the World Series between the Braves and the Yankees, and a month before this episode ("Her Idol") aired. I see where this has been referenced elsewhere on the Web but as far as I can tell no one has transcribed the entire letter. Until now!
We now return to our regularly scheduled program. [Postscript: The Jim Letter]

Leave It To Beaver, 1958BEAUTIFUL!! :)
Thanks for the update.
We used to get this show Down Here (Oz) and I can remember watching every episode if possible.
Crikey...that gives my age away!
BK
Canberra
Australia
LITB on DVDSeason 1 and Season 2 are available on DVD from Amazon.
beaver lettertoo funny!!!!!!!!!
Ahh...that's awesome. ThanksAhh...that's awesome. Thanks for posting this!
I love it.That's FANTASTIC. 
Awesome!Back in the 50's they never dreamed anyone would be able to freeze frame on the TV picture.  How funny would it have been had the writer typed something REALLY embarrassing!
Great post!!Great post!!
Fan-freakin- tastic!!This is just too cool for mere words. Nonetheless, words must suffice. Excellent!!
Marvelous!I wish every movie had stuff like that for us to find.
21 inch B&W TV set.That's what you had if you really splurged on a TV for the living room in those days.  No sense buying a color TV, since for the $700 (and up) one of those cost, you got to watch maybe one show a week in color - a variety show "special" with Fred Astaire perhaps.  Anyway, you couldn't possibly read the letter from a 525-line video, no matter how big your TV was.  Film, maybe, but not video.
[I don't know about that. I'm the one who deciphered the letter and created this post, and I used a 10-year-old, 27-inch, 525-line low-definition Sony. The main obstacle to  being able to read it in 1958 would have been that it was onscreen for just a few seconds. - Dave]
Timely...Canadian viewers who get SunTV will be able to catch that episode this Friday (May 4th) at 12:30 pm...
Re: awesome!Don't you know? Back inthe fifties people didn't HAVE embarrassing thoughts that could spill out onto the printed page! Sheesh. Get with the program.
So, did a writer on the show type this up, ordid he hand it off to a secretary for her to type?
This comment has absolutely nothing to do with anythingit's just here to take up space.  I'd use this space to root for my favourite hockey team and thus forever determine the exact time this comment was written but I can't get excited about any of them.
I would guessI would guess the tomfoolery is the prop master's work, and he probably made the prop the day before, or earlier in the day, so it's more likely the actual day of shooting was October 3rd.
["The date" means the date the note was typed. My hunch is that the show's producers, Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, are behind it. They slipped written references to themselves into a number of other episodes. - Dave]
That's tamer than most propThat's tamer than most prop letters I've seen.  In the last play I worked on the prop master ranted for 3 pages about the playwright, added sexual escapades in the characters backstory and other in-jokes.  Thank god the audience is 40 feet away and there's no freeze-frame in live theatre!
wardi can't wait to get the second season. it's a great show. that is one hell of a letter. obviously Mrs. Rayburn is either on a nice dose of pharm's or desperately needs one.
awesome.
Rodine,
NYC
BK Canberra. crikey?For anyone reading BK's reply above, as another resident of australia, let me just assure you that nobody here actually uses the word "crikey". That would be like an american going around saying "dandy", "swell" or even that old chestnut, "geewilllickers". The crocodile hunter only ever used the word "crikey" when teasing an animal or selling something. 
Thanks, 
Dan,
Sydney. 
Prop funIn a high school production of the musical Cinderella, the scroll that's supposed to contain all the names of His Royal Highness Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir (and so on) was covered by our props department with just one line, in big bold letters: "DON'T SCREW UP".
I use the word Crikey on occasionAnd have been known to utter the odd 'by jingoes', 'cobber' or, my personal favourite, 'strewth'.
Anyone who doesn't occasionally enjoy such words (especially when overseas) is quite simply un-Australian mate :)
Mark,
Sydney.
PS: Good work on the leave it to Beaver letter - I love this stuff!
LITBGolly geewillikers that was swell.  The absolute bees knees.  Just dandy.  thanks.
Egads......So, where's the text for the second page, which contains the *real* "Roswell Press Release"? :)
That is so awesome!  HowThat is so awesome!  How freaking cool...I got chills reading it, because I'm sure that guy never thought anyone would ever read that letter.  
Sarah
Too much like real lifeReading this, I am suddenly transported back 25 years to my American History class in 10th grade. I was supposed to be writing an essay about American gangsters of the early 20th century, and for some reason I became convinced that my teacher would never read everyone's paper every single time. So being the incredibly wise-ass young man that we all are at 16, I dropped in three or four lines, beginning mid-sentence in a paragraph about Al Capone's bootleg whiskey empire, all about how my grandmother's poodles enjoyed riding in cars (or some equally stupid text about my grandmother...the exact words escape me now), and then went on to say that I know that he (my teacher) would never read everyone's paper and that he would never know these lines were buried in my own paper.  I then went on to finish the rest of the paper normally, and handed it in with a smile on my face. 
The day after I turned in the paper, the teacher stood in front of the whole class and read my paper out loud. Had there been a way to drop through the floor at that time...I'd have taken it. 25 years later, I can STILL feel my face get red, just thinking about it!
I can commiserate with the author of Beaver's letter...
"the typewriter isn't so hot""My typing is lousy, but the typewriter isn’t so hot either"
why do I have this sense that in 1958 people weren't saying "the typewriter isn't so hot"
[I don't know. Why do you? - Dave]
bravo"After all, why should I take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with which all of us must contend."
GLORIOUS.
greek to meLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vivamus risus risus, ultrices vel, mollis vel, faucibus sagittis, diam. Nunc dignissim odio in est. In mattis condimentum erat. Nunc ac nunc. Vivamus eget elit. Aliquam pellentesque. Aliquam dignissim tellus vitae tortor. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Nam tincidunt pulvinar urna. 
Quisque sed risus. Sed tempus, elit ut tempus iaculis, purus sapien vulputate leo, quis commodo pede magna vel turpis. Cras ac pede. Suspendisse tincidunt, nunc vel ultrices adipiscing, lacus augue bibendum magna, sit amet scelerisque felis nulla eu lectus. Sed sit amet elit. Pellentesque id dui. 
Pellentesque vel justo. Quisque sit amet mi quis tellus rhoncus blandit. Maecenas arcu. Aliquam ipsum. 
[More like "Latin to me" - Dave]
letter to mr. cleaver  I thought it would read:
    "Gee, Ward. Don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?"
Not a typical American, but...I say "swell" all the time. "Keen" and "Dandy", too.
Lew Burdette's World Series HomerDid come in the bottom of the first inning on October 2, 1958. The Braves had already won the opening game the previous day, also in Milwaukee. The bottom of the first inning, after the Yankees got a 1-0 lead in their first  at bat, began when Bill Bruton hit a 2-2 pitch for a home run to tie the game. The Braves went on to win the second game and then the Yankees won the third. After the Braves also won the fourth game, The Yankees won three in a row to win the series. This had only happened once before in 1925 when the Washington Senators came back with three straight wins after being down 3-1 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ten years later in 1968, the Detroit Tigers came back to win the final three games after being down 3-1 to win the 1968 World Series.
Donald F Nelson
LITB rocksexcellent "leave it to beaver" rocks!! ward rules! june was hot and i dont mean the month.
Common PracticeHaving been a Property Master in the television business for  quite a few years, I can assure you that this is extremely common.  The text could be the actor's lines if they have a tough scene and the prop guy likes them.  Sometimes it is jokes designed to crack the actor up during the first take.  Other times it is exactly this kind of stream-of-consciousness rambling serving no greater purpose than filling up the page.  My specialty was always the fine print on package labels.  The warning on the beer labels in the first "American Pie" movie said that beer could cause pregnancy, cause you to act like an idiot, or just plain F- you up.
Re: greek to me"Lorem ipsum" etc. is Latin not Greek.
Quasi-LatinSee:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum
Cheers!
Have you everHave you ever noticed the newspapers Ward reads during this series? There is usually some reference to a MURDER or some other catastrophe. Highly unusual for Mayfield.
And I thought we were obsessed with Beaver at The First Leave It To Beaver WebSite
Stop by and learn about The Complete Unofficial Leave It To Beaver Trivia Encyclopedia
 Marcus Tee
Speaking of Ward's newspapers...... do they ever include my two favorite column headlines:
New Petitions Against Tax
Building Code Under Fire
After watching nearly 200 old films (courtesy of Mystery Science Theater 3000), these seem to be the two most common newspaper prop filler headlines in films of the '40s and '50s. I wonder if they found their way into '50s and '60s television, too.
I adore thisSo far, this is the highlight of my day. Thanks for transcribing this! 
Love the BeavI love this show. So many great quotes: 
"Gee Dad, I wouldn't mind telling the truth if so much hollering didn't go along with it."
But who knew there were Leave it to Beaver easter eggs? This post made my day.
Re: "crikey"@Dan Re: "crikey"
That was helpful. I've always wondered when Steve Irwin said that why no one from our Australian offices used the term.  You confirmed what I thought. 
Thanks
Lorem Ipsum to BeaverThat is just so much better than the placeholder text one typically sees.
Are there jobs out there for lorem ipsum writers?  Craigslist has not a one.
Excellent post.  Thanks.
the sobsister
http://www.thesobsister.com
Building Code Under FireI think I've seen "Building Code Under Fire," & maybe the other headline as well in episodes of Perry Mason. Obviously some prop house printed a zillion front page mock-ups that were used forever. And often the program-specific headlines are in a completely different font than the rest of the mock-op.
I also dig when a prop magazine is on glossy paper so it will look real, but the glossy stock it's printed on is so heavy it barely moves, let alone looks real.
M. Bouffant
Great!I think that is so very cool! 
interesting interchange!i enjoyed reading this very much. i'm in a library in orlando, florida.
Very funny and entertaining!Very funny and entertaining!  Gotta love all those old B&W shows!!!
It's a pretty common practice.I've read some interesting freeze frames in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell, also.
oh?Can you post some BtVS freezeframes you find of interest?
That's what I'm alwaysThat's what I'm always scared of! too funny!!!
It's like the whole RoswellIt's like the whole Roswell Memo, but more important.
Written on 10/2/58I don't know why but I decided to do some research on the date this letter may have been written and I'm pretty sure it's Thursday October 2nd 1958. I tried to go further and find the time of day but I can only estimate late afternoon pacific time (assuming it was written in LA). The Lew Burdette sentence references the first inning of game 2 in the 1958 World Series between the Milwaukee Braves and New York Yankees. Milwaukee went on to win the game 13 to 5 but the Yankees won the series.
Re: Written 10/2/58Another clue would be the caption under the letter that says it was written during Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 2, 1958!
Thanks for posting this!It's too, too wonderful.  Thank ghod there are people like you in the world who pay attention to details.
my quiz for allHi all!
You are The Best!!!
G'night 
have you everI have noticed that, even in Mayfield. That was for Ward not the kids, the show was done from a childs view.
Marcus your web site is really great, and the encylopedia with its "map" is a lot of fun.
Nice running into you on this site.
OMGIf you read the letter upside down and backwards, it says that Space Aliens are going to attack the world on May 09, 2007. 
HEY, THAT'S TOMORROW! RUN & HIDE!
Old school Formatting   Well, I tried the paper trick (folding it in thirds and starting the body of the letter at the crease) and now my printer is broken and the red light is flashing. Now what?
Burdette "hit a homerun"?That's very odd, given that he was not a batter, but was instead famously known as the Braves' MVP pitcher, who won three games in the World Series of 1957!
[It's kind of hard to pitch when your team is at bat. Lew hit a three-run homer. - Dave]
Lew Burdette's homerunLew's three-run homer came in the first inning of Game 2.
Leave it to Beaver, 1958Great photo from the archives. I was only 3 years old at the time. I'm sure that I saw it a few years later. Loved the baseball reference. Keep up the good work.  rcisco
Cisco Photo
Carmel, IN
Now you've done it.I always wondered what was written on prop letters, but never did anything to find out.  Now I know how, and every movie I watch on DVD gets freeze frame and zoom.
Last night it was My Fair Lady and while Eliza is working on her 'H's, just over 1 hour into the film...well, you ought to check it out.
My family hates you.
Letters shown on cameraSo I guess Ward didn't read this one out loud as others were read out loud. Wally reading the letter from the Continental Modeling Agency and the letter from the Merchant Marines. Also they don't show the letter from Marathon Records but Beav read it out loud as does Ward reading the letter from Mason Acme Products.
Scrabby
Newspapers on LITBDid you notice how many different newspapers are shown on the show. I had to freeze frame to find them all. 
Mayfield Times
Mayfield Dispatcher
Press Herald
Courier Sun
Mayfield News  anymore?
Scrabby
Newspapers on LITBYou should talk to Marcus Tee at his web site (its posted a few comments down) he is the expert
The Beaver LetterWard did read it out loud - the crucial last paragraph.
Soapy SudsNotice how one magazine Ward is reading always has a Soapy Suds ad on the back. 
Lou, The Braves and the Beav...As a Milwaukee kid (then not quite five years old), I got a special kick out of seeing this. Oct. 2, 1958 was my big sister's 15th birthday.  At that age she was a HUGE Braves fan-- found and mailed the team  four-leaf clovers, etc.  So (the '58 Series outcome notwithstanding) a Braves victory and a three-run shot by Burdette was probably a birthday present for her.
A better letterHow fun! 100 years from now it'll be easier to find your transcription than to watch the entire episode. Perhaps the episode will have been made famous to future generations because they're hoping to catch a quick view of the Famous Letter. Full circle ironics and all that.
P.L. Frederick
Small and Big
The LetterThis is the greatest letter I have ever read.  Thank you.
Other Letters on LITBWonder if the other letters that are sent to the Cleavers are written like this one. For instance the letter Beaver gets from the Continental Modeling Company which we only see the address or the letter from the Merchant Marines.   Sometimes they don't even show the letter like the one from Mason Acme Co or Marathon Record Company.
Lew  BurdetteI remember Lew pitching. He had a routine: Adjust hat, lick fingertips, wipe on chest! I later copied the move when I pitched in Little League!
BeaverI remember when Beav was playing with a set of trains over at Mary Ellen Rodgers's house. The were marked for the JC & BM railroad. Quite a nice layout, wonder who got to keep it.
[Right. JC & BM were Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, the series creators. - Dave]
Currently #1 on RedditThe Beaver Letter has been the No. 1 post on Reddit since around midnight. Check out the comments.
Modern speakWow, they used correct English in that letter.  If that letter were typed today it would read:
Mr. Ward Cleaver
485 Mapleton Drive
Mayfield, State
My Dear Mr. Cleaver:
tl:dr GTFO. LOL, ur son iz dum. k thx
I admit it!I went out with Loren Ipsum in high school and we fooled around behind the stage.
Second base only!
Those 1960s BirthdaysEveryone here looks terrified. My 7th Birthday Party in La Puente, California.
Home Addressshame on that staff writer. If he had only payed paid attention to the opening theme he would know there was a clear shot of front door showing the house number as "211".
But .. specifically:  211 Pine Street, Mayfield, Ohio
[The Cleavers lived in two houses. The first was on Mapleton, the second on Pine. And as for Ohio, Mayfield was famously stateless. - Dave]
Leave it to Beaver - the Skokie ConnectionHere is an update on Leave it to Beaver including vintage stock footage of Skokie, Illinois.  I also very proudly deciphered the Beaver letter featured here, only to find Shorpy beat me to it by several years.  As you'll see, I give full credit where it is due.
http://silentlocations.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/leave-it-to-skokie-and-b...
(Bizarre, Curiosities, Kids, TV)

Powerhouse: 1921
... model. If he was less attractive would it hold appeal? Cheers Three cheers to Dave for his note about art and portraiture. Strong image As ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/06/2021 - 10:01am -

      On this Labor Day 2021, Shorpy wishes everyone a meaningful and at least momentary break from toil.
"Powerhouse Mechanic and Steam Pump" (1921). One of Lewis Wickes Hine's celebrated "work portraits" made after his decade-long project documenting child labor. View full size.
IconThat has got to be one of the iconic pictures of the 20th century.
Re: Icon> That has got to be one of the iconic pictures of the 20th century.
...staged like so many of them.
[It's not "staged," it's posed. Which is how art photography works. No different from painting, sculpture or any other representational form. This is why it's called a portrait. - Dave]
Listening to "Powerhouse"While looking at a picture titled "Powerhouse" what could be more appropriate that listening to Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse."
http://raymondscott.com/Powerhse.wav
Nice Image.I think Chaplin in "Modern Times" and Fritz Lang in "Metropolis" must have been inspired by this photo.
Steamfitter?I did a project on this photograph in grade 12 photography. I was actually expecting it to appear on Shorpy.com eventually, seeing how it's such an iconic piece. It was called Steamfitter when we did the project, do you know if both titles are used interchangeably?
This was the picture that got me interested in Lewis Wickes Hine's photography. Thanks for posting it!
Express YourselfLooks like something from the Madonna "Express Yourself" music video... Ooops.  I just dated myself..  :-)
SteamfitterThis picture is brilliant, and I've often thought that this guy looks like a model. If he was less attractive would it hold appeal?
CheersThree cheers to Dave for his note about art and portraiture.
Strong imageAs if the worker was blended with the machine.
RushThe rock group Rush used this picture in some of their art work on their Snakes & Arrows Audio DVD. There were some mods to the picture but the main part of it was this image. 
"Blended""As if the worker was blended with the machine."  - Anonymous Tipster, Tue, 07/22/08 
Indeed.
But is the relationship symbiotic, or parasitic -- and if the latter, which is the parasite and which the host?
Extra credit:  Do you think your answer to that question might have been different if Keanu Reeves and/or the Wachowski Bros had never existed?
He looks like   Amazing! but he looks like Buster Crabbe!
Powerhouse Some years ago (decades actually) I had the good fortune to work with Ray Scott on a number of different projects. Mostly he'd invent and I'd build. He was utterly brilliant and constantly creating things. Bright idea-sparks seemed to fly from him.
 We were speaking about composition and the origins of how music is "made" - he told me that the basic ostinato theme for "Powerhouse" came from a peek inside the large open doors of one of ConEd's steam-electric plants in New York in the 30s.  
  He said: "I was just knocked out by the rhythm and sounds those three big engines were making. And they stayed in sync with each other for quite a long time. Immediately I heard the tune in my head, and I practically ran to my office to write it down!"
 Hanging in a frame on the wall of my studio is a signed copy of the sheet music he gave me - one of my 'treasured things'.
Pleasant Labor Day to all here at Shorpy - especially Dave and tterrace whose Labors we enjoy.
Posing is also workHine let his working people look like they were posing, which is the work they were doing at that particular moment. It's one reason why his photos are art as well as documents.
Correct WrenchDoes it not seem a bit large for the nut?
Correct wrenchIt is the angle at which the wrench is being held that makes it seem too large.  The ends of the wrench are on the nut, but the back part is closer too the camera, so looks larger.  If it were flat, it would be clear that if fit.
RE: Correct WrenchThat caught my eye, too: especially since there's no way it can turn clockwise without fouling the bolt head above it. But I suspect they needed a loose fit around the nut so the wrench could be held at an compositionally satisfying angle.
You know a photo is famousWhen it's copied in another medium.
Grandpa was the draftsmanMy grandfather was the draftsman to Edward Gray who designed the Highland Park "Gas-Steam" 6,000 hp engines. One was saved, the first item placed in the Henry Ford Museum. Massive and declared the largest engine in the world at that time. Artist's rendition of the nine 'gas-steam', one 'gas only 5,000hp' and also shows the very first 1500hp engine built at Riverside Engine in Oil City, Pennsylvania, where my grandfather first worked for Edward Gray starting in 1906. The two moved to Highland Park late 1909, as the Highland Park plant was being built.
Chaplin's take fifteen years laterHine's photo clearly influenced (though perhaps indirectly) Charlie Chaplin's iconic imagery in 'Modern Times'.
Momentary breakWell here I am working 12 hour shifts Sat-Sun-Mon, but taking a "momentary break from the toil" to post this comment.  Thanks for the well-wishes Dave, and a Happy Labor Day to all!
(The Gallery, Handsome Rakes, Lewis Hine)

Wilmerding, O Wilmerding: 1905
... Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Three Cheers for "Wilmerding" Thanks to Jano and Dave for recognizing ... as a boy visiting Cincinnati with my family. So three cheers for Wilmerding! Don't know why But the word embiggen pleases ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 12:31pm -

Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, circa 1905. "Plant of the Westinghouse Air Brake Co." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Three Cheers for "Wilmerding"Thanks to Jano and Dave for recognizing that America is hardly bereft of good manufacturing jobs today, in spite of the rough economy! We should indeed celebrate those hard working blue collar workers.
And shame on GMH for calling Wilmerding an "ugly" name! Without doing any research I am sure the town was named in great honor of a founder or "first father" of the town. And I'm sure those who carry the family name Wilmerding today are quite proud of it and are pleased to know there is a town named "for them". Wilmerding sounds like it was probably was carried across the pond with European immigrants... good, strong, old-school Germanic stock. It reminds me of the many Germanic names I heard as a boy visiting Cincinnati with my family. So three cheers for Wilmerding!
Don't know whyBut the word embiggen pleases me no end. It has a nice Saxon ring to it, perhaps. 
Wilmerding is rather nice, as well, but it doesn't activate the pleasure centers in quite the same fashion.
Wabtec CorpAs noted in the previous post, the factory is still there. Westinghouse Air Brake has morphed into something called Wabtec.
View Larger Map
Beauty is in the Ear of the Beholder?How can such a beautiful little town have such an ugly sounding name? (No offense to any persons who might bear that name and frequent Shorpy.)  I wonder if life there was as beautiful as we imagine it 100 years later?  If I could time travel, Wilmerding certainly seems a worthy place to visit.
Beautiful buildingsThis would make a great jigsaw puzzle.
Someone CaredSomeone cared enough to preserve these adorable houses.
Current viewIs there a current - "today"- view of this same vantage point? The detail these old cameras captured is quite amazing.
Good Paying JobsWhen the US had men and women working hard at good paying manufacturing jobs, people could afford to live like decent human beings.  Today, the US hardly builds anything anymore, ergo poverty, ignorance, crime, dissolution of the family, and eventually the disintegration of society.  All so a relative few offshore robber barons can get fabulously rich draining the accumulated wealth of the US.  Very nice.
["Hardly builds anything anymore"? The United States is still the world's largest manufacturer. China, with four times the population, is a close second. The factory in our photo still exists, btw. The average person in the United States today enjoys living conditions vastly better than those of most people in 1905. The $15 trillion economy of the United States is, by far, still the world's largest. - Dave]
Wilmerdinglooks like a bustling little community. Love that this photo was taken during the height of activity. 
Schloss WestinghouseDo you have any photos of the front side of the George Westinghouse Castle (that big pile with the clock tower)?
[Click to embiggen. - Dave]

It's MondayThe traditional laundry day.  Every clothsline you can see is loaded!
Re: Good Paying JobsThanks, Dave. I appreciate your succinct response regarding the manufacturing status and standard of living in the U.S.  The woeful lack of understanding of basic economics and industrial history is evident in so many conversations I have, and not exclusively with those younger than my 50 years.  When commenting on this site, I am more inclined to (attempts at) humor but I am also tremendously moved by the images of industrial settings that affirm how far we have come in terms of working conditions, yet the celebrate ingenuity, creativity, drive and work ethic of our forebears.  I wish more people would look around to see that kind of vision and vigor today, and stop damning industry, whether soft or heavy, as a whole for the sins of a relative few.
And, sorry to disagree with another commenter but "Wilmerding" has a certain ring to it!  
Marguerite Avenue & Frank St Clock TowerPresent day view of the clock tower on the far right of the photo.  Amazing.
View Larger Map
Now we know!Now we know where the previouse Westinghouse Air Brake Co. picture was taken from!  The viaduct that the Pittsburgh Railways streetcar line once ran on.  You can see one of the B&O gondola cars and part of the WABCO house car in this photo as well.  It kind of looks like a company town with all the townhouse style housing.  And by-the-way I like the sound of "Wilmerding" after pouring poring through so many ancient air brake catalogs, parts lists and manuals.  "Wilmerding" the name known around the world!
Wilmerding, the VideoExploringI Love this picture - makes me wish I could go back and wander the streets exploring!  Such a pretty looking city, even if it's an industrial one!
Air Brake AvenueThat first row of houses in the distance is on Air Brake Avenue.
Pretty girls all in a rowAs seen in the video, pretty girls worked for Westinghouse, and doing mechanical work. I thought they would be doing clerical chores.
The soundtrack is very imaginative. I hear the squeal of Westinghouse air brakes and steel wheels on rails. 
Not to be overlookedWe would be remiss not to take note of the early beginnings of the "traveling American carnival" as seen in the photo center. The traveling carnival as we know it was but 12 years young in 1905 when there were 46 recorded traveling carnivals.  These early shows traveled mostly by rail in unmarked box cars. Visible by the railroad  tracks is the merry-go-round or "flying jenny" which was the heart of all carnivals at the time. It is possibly a Gustav Dentzel Philadelphia Toboggan Co. "Philadelphia Style Carousel" made in Germantown, PA.  The side curtains are yet down but one set of wooden horses can be seen under the one rolled flap. There are at least visible four show tents set up on the street following the outline of the town square. The James E. Strates Shows is the only remaining railroad carnival  today with all others traveling by truck.
Wilmerding, and Wabco vs. WabtecWhen George Westinghouse wanted to relocate his factories to a new, larger site in the mid-1880s, he purchased land in the area of a new Pennsylvania Railroad "flagstop" that had already been named "Wilmerding" for Joanna Wilmerding Bruce Negley, the wife of one of the original landowners (I believe her mother's maiden name was Wilmerding). I doubt whether much thought was given to how it sounded, provided it sounded distinctive.
Westinghouse Air Brake has not "morphed into something called Wabtec". WABCO was simply the initials of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, but this trademark was retained by American Standard when WAB became independent again in 1990; to avoid paying a license fee to AmStand, the company's name was changed slightly, to Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, abbreviated Wabtec. The company's headquarters is still located in Wilmerding, although some of the manufacturing has been moved to other sites (in the USA, not overseas). Wikmerding is still a "bustling little place", and a very pretty one; it has not changed hugely from the way it is shown in the photo, and visitors are welcomed at the "Castle", where they can visit the Westinghouse Valley Museum, and get a guided tour of the building also. Check www.wilmerdingrenewed.org/ for details.
You Can Be Sure if It's WestinghouseIt's amazing how quickly America has forgotten the importance of some of its most illustrious inventors and corporate manufacturing titans. Men like George Westinghouse affected so much of our life and times -- his air brakes began powerfully slowing and stopping trains as early as the end of the 1860s in an era when the famed "Golden Spike" was driven at Promontory Summit. 
Brand new passenger cars shipped over the Union and Central Pacific railroads the following month came fitted with the latest Westinghouse Air Brakes. The Golden Spike  alone was equal to the Wright Brothers' flight in terms of how it amazed the general public and sparked revolutions in transportation and commerce.
The there's George Westinghouse the electric systems entrepreneur. We can thank him and his technicians (and lawyers, like it or not) for securing many patents on extremely strong and fast electrical motors so that fantastic wonders like high-rise "skyscrapers" fitted with elevators (powered by Westinghouse cable-winding motors!) could be put up in cities all across North America if not the world. Westinghouse motors also powered a wide array of electric streetcars, locomotives and simpler small things like electric cooling fans and bedside alarm clocks.
How about we all join hands and summon the spirits of James Burke ("Connections") and maybe even ol' George Westinghouse?
3 Cheers for ShorpyA wonderful photograph and oh so much you could muse about. But just as wonderful is the many informative comments with added media as well as the casual reflections. I'm so glad I stumbled across this gem of a photo blog. Thank you Dave.
My family history in WilmerdingMy Grandfather William Pugsley was the groundskeeper/gardener for the WABCO. He emigrated from England in 1903 and was hired by the company. In an enlarged photo you can see the house and greenhouse the family was given for their use. It is on the lower side of the hill just above the viaduct crossing to the town which went by the factory and over the railroad . There were eventually 8 children and their families who enjoyed reunions at this house. William was active in local politics as well and lived in the house until his death in 1954. When we children arrived at the reunion the first thing we did was climb the hill to the summit. the hill, Maple avenue, and all the development was removed for a freeway in the 70's I believe .Many happy memories of Wilmerding.
Depression-Era WilmerdingMy mother was born and raised in Wilmerding. One of her girlhood memories of the Depression was out-of-work men going door to door looking for odd jobs to earn a few pennies for a meal. She recalled that her mother never turned anyone away; there was always a plate of food for anyone who asked.  She said her parents were very frugal, and because of that they never went hungry and still had enough to share.
Mother also recalled that government officials came to the high school to recruit graduating seniors into various government jobs that would support the war effort.  Graduating in June 1944, mother signed up, and three weeks later was whisked away by train to Washington D.C. where she was placed as a secretary in the Pentagon.
A Prized PossessionWilmerding is a fascinating town with an amazing history. The country's first planned community it did not take long to become a turn of the century hub for the railroad. I am the proud owner of the first photo of the town taken by the Wilmerding Development Company before a person or car or animal had stepped on its street. 
(The Gallery, DPC, Factories, Railroads)

Cheers: 1940
February 1940. "Girls in beer parlor adjoining dance hall. Marshalltown, Iowa." View full size. Medium format safety negative by Arthur Rothstein for the FSA. Label Scratchers Some habits will never die. The lady scratches the label of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/18/2008 - 11:57pm -

February 1940. "Girls in beer parlor adjoining dance hall. Marshalltown, Iowa."  View full size. Medium format safety negative by Arthur Rothstein for the FSA.
Label ScratchersSome habits will never die. The lady scratches the label of her beer bottle. We still scratch those labels off our beer bottles to this very day. Why, I'm scratching one right now!
SpookyThe girl on the left looks just like a girl I used to know. She's only 25 now, but it's uncanny. I'd like to know more about these girls. What kind of beer is she drinking? And why isn't someone cleaning that window? Looks like someone cried for quite a while on that thing and forgot to dry it off.
[That would be condensation on the window. It's cold outside. - Dave]
KGLOKGLO Radio is still on the air, broadcasting from Mason City, Iowa, 1300 on the AM dial.
Ciggies.Nothing like unfiltered Camels to cure what ails ya.
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Eateries & Bars)

Golden Girl: 1926
... few of my piercings out, I look pretty similar to her. Cheers! Here's to you, Miss White Rock. Nice....wings! My original "Moon ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/12/2009 - 8:46am -

"Miss Marjorie Joesting, August 2, 1926." Our third look at Marjorie, a Miss Washington, D.C., who was runner-up at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Bless her heart!Sweet figure, but face like a Moon Pie. So ran the tastes of the day.
Thanks!Thanks Dave, for answering the request of the poster on the last thread, for more bathing beauties.  And yes, I too look forward to the day when I can say, "Remember when women *used to* get tattooed and pierced?"
Psyche'dIf Miss Joesting had put her hair up for this photo shoot, she'd have looked like Psyche, the White Rock sprite. And for the purposes of the great debate - I LOVE the look!

Amen!I much prefer Marjorie's kind of beauty.  Lovely!
Marjorie had her dayThough I generally dislike this business of debating the appearance of any woman point by point as though she were a show horse, it doesn't seem so wrong in the context of a pageant contestant, who voluntarily presents herself as a show horse.
So: I'd say Marjorie's got a great little figure and a sweet, pleasant face. Sadly, she'd have to have that face gone at with scalpels and belt sanders to make it into a pageant today.
Indeed, as movies from around and not long after this era show, the definition of "pretty girl" used to be much more varied and flexible than it is in our picky day. Young and healthy seemed to pretty much cover the requirements. 
With the -- fairly enormous -- caveat that, in mainstream entertainment in Marjorie's prime and beyond a "pretty girl" was a white girl, it's perhaps a healthier, and certainly a more cheerful, attitude.
Reaching full beauty potentialI'm going to recommend a hot oil treatment wrap followed by a gentle
warm-water rinse and a vitamin-enriched conditioner.
Face like a moon pie??Adore the sweet innocent look, MUCH more than the emo, goth piercings, and all the other stupidity young women do today.
[The debate begins! (Lincoln and Douglas, you might want to take notes.) - Dave]
1926?You could easily have convinced me that somebody took their CoolPix, set the mode to sepia, and snapped that this morning. Wow.
Piercing insightsWow. You lot are awfully polite. I'm one of those goth girls you mention. Two piercings on each ear, my earlobes are stretched to a small degree and I have an eyebrow piercing. I like who I am and would never say my personal appearance is stupid. So, unless you want people saying "I hate what those men do today, with those combovers and narrow minds -- "
Try to be nice. We all have different tastes, respect that unless you don't want the same in return.
That all aside, this girl looks lovely. I really, really want a bathing suit like that now. The irony is that if I just take a few of my piercings out, I look pretty similar to her.
Cheers!Here's to you, Miss White Rock. Nice....wings!
My original "Moon Pie" comment was uncalled for. Today's tyrannical and completely unrealistic standards of beauty have succeeded in making millions of nice-looking women and men feel bad about themselves.
Ms. Joesting is lovely. I like Shorpy's previous photos of her even more:
https://www.shorpy.com/node/4772
https://www.shorpy.com/node/4282
I want one right now....Ummmmmmm!  Moon Pies.  The Original Marshmallow Sandwich.
Woolly, BulliedThis girl is ever so lovely. but man, that swimsuit.
I can't believe the people that post on here criticizing her face. 
Yeah, thanks Dave.I'm the poster who requested more bathing beauties. You did not disappoint. A beautiful, sweet, innocent looking young lady. When they invent a time machine....
Timeless beautyMiss Joesting is a true beauty in any time. She has a wonderful figure, a beautiful face and real naturally curly hair. I absolutely loved the other two photographs of her, so I'm quite thankful for this one.
Speaking of hair, it's very unusual to see a beauty queen of this era with such long, flowing locks. Besides being extremely gorgeous, she was also quite the rule breaker.
TimelessMiss Joesting was beautiful then, and would win my heart today as well. I understand beauty being in the eye of the beholder but... Wow... how can anyone not see her as lovely?
Re: Piercing insights
I'm holding out for the time when women like Marjorie find short, overweight and balding men (preferably from Australia) attractive.     
I'm so tired of looking like Brad Pitt 
Piece of my HeartCome on, she has nice Janis Joplin hair.
ContrastThis beautiful image sure is in stark contrast to the bleak shots of the industrial parts of Pennsylvania. 
{And now I have new wallpaper!}
Drop her in the......days of Woodstock, flower children, and natural beauty. Quite a few young women had a very similar style to them. She has also a resemblance to a singer named Nicolette Larson who did pretty well in the 1970's. Some of the ladies I dance with these days have hair just like that. Well, maybe a little more tamed, but close enough.
She looks like a princessExcept she has peasant feet.
Beautiful lighting/hair!Until I checked out the hi-def image, I missed out on the beautiful natural lighting. It really highlights her slightly-unmanaged curls, giving her a natural and water-nymph-like look.
TressedWith all of the other 1920s cheesecake showing bobbed hair, it's a real rarity to see post-Great War long locks.  She and the photographer were obviously proud of the look.  To have resisted getting a flapper look her hair must have been considered beautiful at the time.
Put me in the camp that considers that she would be judged a beauty today.
The Sprite in youShe looks like a little pixie!
She was robbed.Shoulda won.
Foy
Las Vegas
The word "beauty"is so subjective. You know what they say about opinions -- everybody's got one.
In the case of Marjorie, it is refreshing to see a young woman with such natural, unaffected beauty.
It is all too easy to pick away at the parts. But I feel that the whole is very pleasing, in any time. 
SmittenI am such a sucker for a girl with chubby cheeks and laugh lines. She could have wrapped me around her little finger.
More on MarjorieI looked her up, trying to find out more about her, and I found this, along with the caption 
"The girls are, left to right, Marjorie Joesting, Dorothy Proudlock, Emerita Monsch, and Anita Foy. "
Anyone know what she did for the talent portion of the pageant?
(The Gallery, Natl Photo, Pretty Girls)

Harry Swope: 1908
... an enjoyable 3 years and hope that there's many more. Cheers! For the completion of 1,578,240 minutes of delightful entertainment ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/16/2010 - 2:38am -

August 1908. "An Enforced Rest. Harry Swope, aged 15, 426 Elm Street, Newport, Kentucky. Carrying heavy bundles of paper for a News & Stationery company." Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Thank youI too visit this site almost daily.  When out of town, I always look forward to seeing what's new at Shorpy when I get back home.  Thank you for the many hours of entertainment I have enjoyed here.
Birthday wishes!That Shorpy have a long and happy life on the internet.  
Thank you for all your work.  I look forward to the variety of splendid images, full of the rich details of lives lived and experiences past.
Three CandlesAt 10:49 tonight Eastern time, Shorpy (the website, not the person) will be exactly 3 years old! Happy Valentine's Day to all.

Happy B'day Shorpy!Well done to Dave and all at Shorpy, fantastic job you do. The most educational, enlightening and entertaining site on the net. 
Happy Birthday!... and thanks for all the fun.
Felicitations!May this site outlive all of us. And another thanks to Dave for running it so well; and to other contributors and tipsters, anonymous or not.
Happy birthday Shorpy!Happy birthday, Shorpy The Site, from one three-year-old to another!
[Awww. - Dave]
In the Wire Work Window... a wabbit!
Happy Birthday and THANK YOU!Thank you for providing such a wonderful website. I really enjoy "going back in time" through some of the best pictures posted on the web.
All the Best Shorpy!As far as I am concerned I have had the privilege  of seeing all the best -- right here. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you" etc.
Shorpy BirthdayHappy 3rd, Dave. I'm a daily visitor and never leave unhappy. We haven't, however, seen Marilyn lately ... but don't take me too seriously. Sincere best wishes and keep it coming.
Shouldn't it be "one hundred and three"?Thanks. You've changed my view of my parents' and grandparents' world. You've brought it alive for me.
Join me in a toast.I will hoist my tankard at 10:49 and say happy birthday Shorpy with thanks to Dave.
Keep Up The Good WorkHappy Valentine's Day to all of the Shorpy  Staff, my compatriot readers and commenters and the ghosts of the smiling Harry Swope and the frowning Lewis Wickes Hine.
That one giant step..for lucidity. Thanks Dave for holding our feet to the fire when we post to Shorpy.(feel free to edit,you usually do).
Part-tay!Shouldn't we have one? Any excuse for cake and noisemakers! Happy Birthday,  Shorpy! Thanks to all who have made this one of my favorite places to spend  time.
Thanks for the MemoriesShorpy has made my retirement that much richer.  Thanks, Dave and thanks all you commenters.
Two ThoughtsHappy 3rd birthday to Shorpy and young Harry sure has big feet. 
Through the Wayback MachineA peek at the past - http://web.archive.org/web/20070221050736/https://www.shorpy.com/
Thanks for the hard work and excellent captions.
Happy 3rd Thanks Dave for all your hard work and for giving us a nice place to visit. 
Happy Birthday Shorpy!Thanks for three years of wonderful photos and opportunities to learn about people and places of our past.
And thank you Dave, for keeping it worth coming back to again and again!
Woohoo!It's been an enjoyable 3 years and hope that there's many more. 
Cheers!For the completion of 1,578,240 minutes of delightful entertainment and enlightenment.  High fives and many thanks for generously sharing your labor of love.
Hot Dog!One last delivery to old man Potter.
Happy BDay, Shorpy.  Keep them coming.
Make a WishHappy Birthday and thanks!
Happy Birthentines Day!This website is wonderful, and fun to check each day. Thanks for all the work you do!
A Happy Third Birthday - With Many More To ComeThere really is "Always Something Interesting" on Shorpy's.  Viewing many of the high quality photographs on Shorpy's is like actually looking back through time.  Keep up the excellent work.
Oh, the comments that don't get posted!Nice try, Dave, but the 400 block of Elm St. in Newport is non-commercial, residential, detached, single-family housing, and the houses there even today well predate the 1908 date on this photo. At first I thought I was wrong with my previous (unpublished) comment, but there's no way this photo was taken at 426 Elm Street in Newport. There's no commercial architecture there now, and never has been, seeing as all the houses there now are mid 19th. c. shotguns with aluminum siding tacked on.
[Hello? Try reading that caption again. 426 Elm in Newport is where Harry lives, not where the photo was taken. - Dave]
Bravo and Thank you!!Dave, Happy Birthday to Shorpy.com! This is a great time to say how much I Thank You. When I look at the photo that you posted of our buildings, and study the super-sized print we got from you, I live in 1933 for a time; I visit Tom's Lunch.
The print was in the storefront window of subject building for a while and drew and held nearly every passerby- homeless to bank exec.- who would look, and look up, and then look again... and laugh with the joy of discovery.
Thanks for that and every other treasure you bring to light.
[You're very welcome. Last year Lisa kindly took an hour out of her busy day to give me a tour of the "Tom's Lunch" building, which she owns and was renovating. Someday I will get around to posting the photos! - Dave]

Swope & ShorpyHarry Swope's a fine-looking lad, and Shorpy's the finest site on the 'net.  Happy 3rd birthday!
I echo....all the sentiments here! Over the past 84 some odd weeks (since stumbling onto Shorpy) this site has become my favorite spot on the web. I can gaze for hours in amazement at the detail in the photographs and day dream about times past. Thanks Dave.
Happy 3rd  and many more!Thanks for the memories and hours and hours of entertainment and education, not necessarily in that order.
Henry SwopePushing the limits of my free ancestry.com account, he was still alive as of the 1930 census, married to a Rose and still living in or near Newport, KY.
I feel a certain kinship to Harry, as we were both cursed to have that cowlick.
Oh and Happy birthday, Shorpy!
Happy 3rdThanks, Dave! This is the first place I go to when I turn on the computer.
Happy Birthday"Always something interesting"
Can't say better! I'm here every day looking for the new photos. Happy birthday, Shorpy!
Thank you, DaveShorpy is my hopeless addiction.  I take breaks from my work several times a day to come here and prowl through your pages.  The photos are so arresting, and I've learned a great deal from them, and from your well educated, well informed visitors.  Happy birthday to Shorpys!
Thank you Dave for a great site.       I discovered this site two years ago. I am addicted to it now and I check every day or several times (according to how busy work is) to see what is posted next. Thanks for helping me get thru the every day grind. I look forward to my Shorpy fix every day.       Jon
Thanks Dave!Thanks Dave, for making Shorpy.com such a nice, genteel place to visit.  This place is the next best thing to having a time machine.
[Thank you, and thanks everyone else. Also thanks to Shorpy co-founder Ken, who manages all things financial having to do with the website, as well as many other aspects of its operation. - Dave]
Never, never go away...A day without Shorpy is a day without sunshine.  Many thanks and endless gratitude for the fascinating photos, brilliant commentary, re-awakening memories of the past and just giving us something worthwhile to look at and think about.  Happy birthday Shorpy, all of us appreciate the time and hard work that goes into this pleasure for your viewers.  Thanks to everyone at Shorpy, God bless us, every one.   
SingularSHORPY is the only reason everyone needs a computer!  Thanks, Dave.  A brilliant idea carried to fruition.
Hurrah and happy birthday! Hurrah and happy birthday!  Shorpy's a true gem.  It's engrossing, educational, classy, just plain fun, and has one of the most civilized message boards on the 'net.  Thank you Dave!  
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!Thank you, Dave, for enabling this lover of history and photography to travel into the past each and everyday for a glimpse into history. And to all the other "tipsters", thank you as well, specially those who have posted present day shots of the many scenes presented here. The best site on the web! 
Wow!Has it been three years already! Dave thank you so much and happy belated birthday to the site. One of my daily favorites.
Harry "Feet" Swope in High SchoolSeems like an accomplished young man.
http://freepages.school-alumni.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~schoolpics/KY/newp...
[Let's check our math. Harry would have been 42 years old in 1935. - Dave]
Oops! Oh well... his son seems pretty accomplished. :-)
Happy Birthday ShorpyFor most of the three years, this site has been part of my daily routine. Hardly a day goes by that I don't find at least a few minutes to stare back in time. Shorpy himself I think, would love to have known about the noteriety he'd find, a century after posing for that photo.
Thank You This Canadian agrees Shorpy.com is one of the best sites on the web . Thanks again.
Many Happy Returns to Shorpy!  A great website.  Thanks Dave for all your time and effort in making this work.
Happy Birthday!Not a day goes by that I don't check your site!  I love it when I see shots of hometowns from times past!  Keep up the good work!
Harry in CincyA bit of Google work turned up a link to an 1889 Cincinnati Bell Telephone Book that lists a Robert J. McCombs, Grocer, at the southeast corner of Sycamore and Fourth Streets in Cincinnati. It would have been an easy walk for Harry to cross the Ohio River to this location.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kycchgs/BOOK_M.htm  
I was unable to find any information about the wirework company that probably provided the seat that Harry is using.
Harry's granddaughter says:"That would be my grandfather. His name was Henry Clay Swope. He married Rose Arizona Casebolt, and had three sons: Harry, Stanley (Bud), and Glenn (my Daddy). He was born in Newport, Kentucky, to Jacob Swope (Schwab) and Sally (Sarah) Bogart."
(The Gallery, Lewis Hine)

Iowa City: 1940
... Iowa City for 49 years, and I work at the University. Cheers [Thanks! You what would be great? A current photo taken from the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/19/2007 - 1:07am -

February 1940: The main street in Iowa City, Iowa. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration.
Iowa CityI'm not sure, but this may be East Washington Street again, facing the opposite direction from the earlier photo that included the Englert Theater. The buildings in the background behind the trees are part of the U. Of Iowa campus at South Clinton Street.
(There will be a quiz on Iowa City geography and landmarks tomorrow.)
300 block of Washington St.occnumber10:
You could be right. My mental map of Iowa City has faded with time, and for the life of me I can't remember what's across Washington from Gabe's other than the old Press-Citizen Building that's just out of view to the right.
If this is Washington at Gilbert, what are the big buildings behind the trees?
Iowa CityI'm curious where this is as there is currently no Main Street in Iowa City.  Perchance it is what is now College Street?
[Could be. Maybe he was using the term generically. Actually he didn't capitalize the "street." I've changed the caption to reflect that. - Dave]
WeatherRather narsty weather that day!
300 block of Washington StreetSome research suggests that this is the 300 block of East Washington Street--facing east with South Gilbert Street as the visible cross street.  
http://downtowniowacity.com/files/historic_downtown.pdf
Boerner's seems to be where Gabe's/The Picador now sits.
3) Ridge Road?As a former/current part time cab driver, I'll start with number three.  Ridge Road would make the most sense, as you can access it via the relative high ground of Whiting Avenue.
Iowa City100 block of East Washington Street, facing west. I scoped this out downtown today, and scribe's first call seems to be right.  The university building in the background would be Schaeffer Hall.  Basically this shot is 180 degrees from the one posted earlier.
I'm looking forward to the quiz on IC landmarks!
Ridge RoadYep, Ridge and Whiting, plus a lot of zigging and zagging on streets I've forgotten. It felt like one had to go five miles to travel those four blocks, or half way to West Branch.
Iowa, Illinois and Missouri got pummeled by Mother Nature that summer. It was quite impressive, to say the least. I remember seeing a contemporary satellite image showing ground saturation, and the entire state of Iowa was indistinguishable from a lake or ocean.
Iowa City quizOw! I just got hurt patting myself on the back.  ;)
Just kidding on the landmarks and geography quiz, but what the heck:
1) Besides "Field of Dreams," Iowa City author W.P. Kinsella wrote a fantasy novel called " The Iowa Baseball Conspiracy." What famous landmark played outfield exceptionally well?
2) In 1927 and 1929 an Iowa graduate was the only black player in the NFL? A U of I building is named after him. Who was he?
3) It's 1993 and much of the town is under water because the Iowa River flooded for several months. N. Dubuque St. from Park Rd. to Mayflower Residence Hall was closed. How would one drive the four blocks from Park to the apartments at 1122 N. Dubuque (adjacent to Mayflower). Warning: this is nearly a "you can't get there from here" question.
Have fun.
Iowa City locationThis is Washington Street, camera facing west at the intersection with Clinton Street. The building behind the elm trees is Shaeffer Hall -- the SW  corner of the University of Iowa's Pentacrest.  Behind Shaeffer is McLean Hall.
I've lived in Iowa City for 49 years, and I work at the University.
Cheers
[Thanks! You what would be great? A current photo taken from the same spot. - Dave]
Current pic upcomingI'll do that Dave, Thursday morning! - Jeff
[Thanks Jeff! - Dave]
67 years laterHere's a pic of the same location taken 12/20/07.
[Wow. Amazing. Thanks so much! - Dave]

+83Below is the same view from May of 2023.
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Cars, Trucks, Buses)

Happy Birthday Shorpy!
... The hard-working young man, and the fascinating website. Cheers! Happy Birthday and Cheers Shorpy I think it's great that Shorpy Higginbotham (by the way, I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 9:56am -

December 1910. "Shorpy Higginbotham, a 'greaser' on the tipple at Bessie Mine, Alabama, of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Co. Said he was 14 years old, but it is doubtful. Carries two heavy pails of grease, and is often in danger of being run over by the coal cars." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Shorpy was born 114 years ago on November 23, 1896. After this photo was taken, he lived 17 more years until he died in a mining accident at the age of 31. This Thanksgiving, let's raise a toast to his too-short but memorable life.
Happy birthday ShorpyHappy birthday!!! You are not forgotten 
Shorpy rememberedWhat a singular thing it is for an otherwise forgotten life to be remembered, even memorialized, this way, via Shorpy, the site. Combined with that, the poignant story of Shorpy the person, his childhood and abruptly shortened life - I gotta say, it brings a tear to my eye.
Happy Birthday Shorpy!Shorpy is one day older than my Dad who was born 11-24-96 and died on 1-24-64.
Another milestoneNext month will mark the 100th anniversary of this picture and the other photos of Shorpy taken by Lewis Hine.
I wonderif Shorpy was related somehow to my 6th grade teacher Mr. Higginbotham, because I remember thinking what an unusual name he had and had NEVER met anyone who had a name like that ... until now!
You do honor to his memory.And thank you for running an important historical site.
Shorpy, we celebrate your birthday,Yet we are the ones who receive the gifts, not just once a year, but every day that we visit this always interesting and sometimes incredibly moving blog that Dave created and named for you.
Thanks to you both and here's to another year.
Here's to Shorpy - The hard-working young man, and the fascinating website.  Cheers!
Happy Birthday and Cheers Shorpy  I think it's great that Shorpy Higginbotham (by the way, I know a Higginbotham) is remembered presently as the name and face behind this site that shares our history through "family photographs" for us to enjoy and enrich each other with our posted comments.
I hope any one of us has this remembrance decades after our passing.
  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Remembering ShorpyDown here in the southern hemisphere we are mourning the loss of 29 miners in a mine explosion in New Zealand. I think it is fitting we remember Shorpy and all the nameless ones like him.
www.rwyoung.com.au
Possible genealogyI think I've found the 1900 Census record for Shorpy:
His real name was Henry.
Unfortunately the name has an inkblot over it but all the details work out. His father was a miner. He would have been about 3 years old in 1900, and lived in Graysville, Jefferson Co., which is where Bessie Mine is.
[His birth name was Henry Sharpe Higginbotham. The basic facts of his life are recounted on Shorpy's Page. Scroll down for the genealogical details. - Dave]
Thank You ShorpyFor being there every day ... Thank you Dave for this fantastic website. I wish we had one like this in the Netherlands. Very pity we don't. May you live on forever and ever. It would be nice if Shorpy H. could see these beautiful photos on his own PC up there in Heaven!
Happy Birthday ShorpyThanking God today that children don't have to endure what Shorpy did. Yes, I realize children were tougher then, but life was so dangerous. Thanks Shorpy for your legacy.
A toast from meRaise your glass to Shorpy
Who worked at Bessie Mine
He lives on in our memory
Because of Lewis Hine
Happy Thanksgiving, Shorpsters
A glass for ShorpyAnd I don't even drink. 
There is much that is haunting about many of the photos that you post, but especially Shorpy's. I'd like to think that somewhere, somehow he's aware of this site and marvels that people know and remember him a hundred years later.
Happy Birthday Shorpy!And many thanks to Dave for always providing a great way to start each Morning with visions from the past!
Happy Thanksgiving to all! 
Recognitionof Shorpy's lot in life serves to enlighten all of us of with unvarnished looks at the way this country developed. Thanks to Shorpy (who might be a relative)  and all who make this site the success it's become.
No Joy in MudvilleIt is true that the future of these innocents was inevitable if they were born into the mineworkers' families in small towns and hollers in which mining was the only work available.  There were few choices and to earn a living, they just had to 'man up', take the high risk jobs of (literally) backbreaking labor, accept that any day could be their last and were glad to have any job.  These strong and courageous men and boys were not seeking fame and admiration, just struggling to support their families and do their jobs well.  Like many people, even today, they were probably considered "nobodies" by the upper crust of society but to their families they were saints and saviors.  My mom told me that when her father finished his day at the mines and walked home, his wife had a warm bath ready (with hand-carried, stove-heated water), then started every meal with soup (to clear out the throat and lungs of soot) and made it clear that he was appreciated by his kids all helping and serving him.  I can't speak for everyone but in his case, they never got wealthy (owed their soul to the company store), suffered many family tragedies and his work-related injuries stayed with him for life.   Things were so different then, it is hard to believe it was just about 100 years ago, but people truly struggled to survive. We don't know how lucky we are today.  Happy birthday Shorpy, we hardly knew ye.
I never realizedin all the time I've spent here, that the site was named for a real person.  Thanks so much for giving us this great place to visit and expand our views of history, and special thanks to Shorpy himself.
One for ShorpyI will raise a glass high and take a long drink in his honor.
A question for Dave or Ken. What prompted you to choose Shorpy's name and face for this site?
[The three photos of him just reached out and grabbed me for some reason. Poignant, I suppose. And the name "Shorpy" was appealing -- unique as far as Google was concerned (just one hit), and available as a domain name. - Dave]
Daily remindersEvery day, without fail, includes a visit here.
Young Henry Sharpe, aka "Shorpy," looks out at me every time as a reminder of my blessings. I do hope he had some in his short life.
Another lowly worker, of a different kind, Green Cottenham, brought through exploration of his life a detailed look at oppression, in Douglas A. Blackmon's unforgettable book, "Slavery by Another Name."
I am grateful for the images I see here each day, which serve to reinforce the great faith and effort to achieve true freedom and justice in this country.
I am more grateful for the support which makes this site continue its important contribution to the understanding of what we had, what we have, and what we still must achieve; and for authors such as Mr. Blackmon, who "keep going," to bestow honor on the lowly heroes of our past.
Happy Birthday ShorpyGotta say, when i was 20, I was out partying, now that I'm 50 I've found a better way to spend my nights, and that's with you dave, and especially SHORPY.
Shorpy Higginbotham's story This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. For Shorpy readers who haven't seen it, here is the sad story of Shorpy Higginbotham.
http://morningsonmaplestreet.com/2014/11/26/henry-s-higginbotham-page-on...
Little MenThere's a heartbreaking lot of little men in this picture. Look at those expressions. It was a different world, and we have it way too easy, now--for which I am thankful! 
Thanks for the site, Dave. It was an inspired idea.
Happy Birthday Shorpy!I love the great history of the U.S. Thanks for the site.
Land of Equality Who says that America isn't integrated???
Glad to know nowthat this excellent website is named after someone who would have otherwise been forgotten by history.  I find Shorpy's story fascinating and the website a great part of my every day.  Thanks for this site and keeping Shorpy's memory alive.  A guy who worked hard and served his country.
Lunch is on meShorpy is my lunchtime friend. When the the boss comes around, invariably when I'm eating al desko and asks what are you doing, I answer either "a BLT" or "Shorpy."
Salute!All my respect goes to the hardworking miners of the world.
Always center stage.I can't help but think that although he was short of stature, he was someone to reckon with. Everytime he's in a picture somewhere, he is in the middle of the picture. 
A real handful. The strange things you deduct from pictures.
Happy birthday Shorp!
Happy Birthday, Shorpy!This was a rather poignant entry, Dave; thanks for all your fine work on here. Shorpy and I share the same birthday, and had his luck been better he probably would have been alive when I was born in 1959 on what would have been his 65th birthday. I think it is wonderful that an ordinary hard-working guy is memorialized on this site, and I hope he's is aware of it, somehow, somewhere, and is amused by it. I also hope that short and hard as his life was, that Shorpy had moments of joy and laughter that outshone the tough times. Happy 114th, Shorpy!!
Training, sort of?Not trying to justify the working conditions that Shorpy and his pals had to work in, but I guess it was good training for the trenches of France where many of these guys would be a few years later. Heck, one might say that Army life was a vacation compared to day-to-day at the Bessie Mine.
Thanks to Shorpy for his inspiration and to Dave for taking the ball and running with it.
(The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Mining)

Between the Lines: 1935
... The roofs look as random as the telephone wires. Three cheers for -- -- the Western Electric 83A Protector Mounting ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/27/2022 - 11:24am -

June 1935. "Mining towns and camps in the Scotts Run area. View of Morgantown, West Virginia." 8x10 negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Unusual perspectiveIt would be difficult to plan capturing a view like this, absent a scary harness or (today) a drone. But the answer is there in the hilly terrain and the telltale railing at lower left right.
The U.S. Geological Survey makes no official distinction between a hill and a mountain. But my grandmother, who lived most of her life in southeastern Kentucky, was contemptuous when anyone described the view out her window as mountains. Them was hills. 
South Walnut Street BridgeThe 1935 photo was taken facing east from the South Walnut Street Bridge over Deckers Creek.  Below is the same angle today.  Here is an aerial.  The brick building with quoins is now lofts at 10 Pietro Street.  To the right of that, the big brick house with dormers is the building with the sun reflecting off its roof in the aerial.

The complexity of human settlement.Evans took advantage of the hills in the Pennsylvania steel country, and took many pictures of the cities looking down, as landscape. The most famous in Bethlehem, where he managed to catch the graveyard, houses, and steel mill. Here we have a delightful jumble of forms. The roofs look as random as the telephone wires.
Three cheers for ---- the Western Electric 83A Protector Mounting

(Technology, The Gallery, Mining, Small Towns, Walker Evans)

Lucky Ducks: 1927
... goes to remind me what an outstanding site Shorpy is – cheers Dave! [That image was made from a print, as opposed to ours, which ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/09/2018 - 4:25pm -

April 21, 1927. "Do ducks swim? Misses Eugenia Dunbar and Mary Moose." The main focus here is of course the horse trough, once a common item of street furniture in many big cities. National Photo glass negative. View full size.
Ducks in a RowMiss Eugenia sure is lovely, no denying, but Miss Mary looks like a better time on a 1927 Saturday night. 
Bathtub GinnyGreat photo.  It sums up the dissipation of the 1920s just about as well as can be done.
Absolutely Gorgeous!The girl on the left is STUNNING! Man I'm hooked on this website!
Puts Marilyn to shameI am captivated by Miss Dunbar's feminine charms; her beauty is that of Pallas Athena and Venus together.
The TroughPutting aside the obvious va-va-voom comments for the cutie on the left, I'd like to ask about the trough. (God I must be getting old!) Did someone have to fill these daily? (I'm guessing the Fire Dept.) It looks like there's a compartment on the end, maybe for ice to melt slowly through the day? It's strange to think that may have been someone's job once.
[These were plumbed and self-filling, with what looks like a covered float valve at the far end. - Dave]
Wow!Two beautiful women, especially Miss Dunbar. You mean there are ducks in the picture?
Fun FactDipping a hat in a horse trough is a crime in Mayberry, North Carolina.
Eugenia's PoetryEugenia won a poetry contest in the Washington Post.  I can't find any other information about her.   The listed home address, at 1755 P NW, was close to Dupont Circle.  The curved curbstones in the photo suggest that might be where the photo was taken.



Life's Stage.
(Winner of $1 Prize.)

The dance is on, and the dancers
     Drift out in the hall
As leaves are blown by the west wind
     In autumn after they fall.
Some look o'erjoyed and carefree
     And smile and laugh as they talk
While others look overburdened and careworn
     Like a withered rose on the walk.
The music begins and the joyous
     Float into the lands of dreams.
And the sad shake their sorrowing heads and say:
     "Life is not what it seems."
Why be so withered and careworn,
     Thinking only upon your sorrow;
Why not join in life's little play
     And think not yet of tomorrow?
So let's help build this wonderful stage,
     Let's aid in this great erection,
And let each actor in life's game
     Play his part to perfection
Eugenia Dunbar (17)
1755 P street northwest.

Washington Post, Sep 26, 1926

A Great ShotWOW -- Then as now, a photographer will use any pretense to photograph a beautiful woman! Re the horse trough, in the late forties and early fifties there were still horses hauling goods around D.C., and these cast iron troughs were all over the downtown area.
Lor' luv a duck!These are a pair of nice-looking birds!
Where's the SPCA?Ya daft preeverts!  Everyone's looking at the girls and not the poor ducks with ropes tied around their necks!
Ms EugeniaNo question here, Eugenia is a timeless knockout.
"Nanny"Sometimes it's hard to get a decent guideline as to how old a person truly is from these older photos, but this one hits just right.
My wife's grandmother, Nanny, is about to turn 100 at the end of March (yes, there will be a big party); my daughter will be turning 18 in June.  It just so happens that Miss Mary and Miss Eugenia here would be the same age as Nanny, give or take a few months, having been born in 1909, as these two were.  They are at the same age in this photo, roughly, as my daughter.
Those are a couple of cuties, all right, but they both might, like Nanny, have now over 80 descendants.
But as cute as they both were, I bet they had some fun times for the next two and a half years, with no lack of male attention during that era of copious money and speakeasy gin.
Duck on a leashThose are some strict leash laws! I wish Toronto had a law like that. Nothing is worse than trying to walk down a street and having your ankles accosted by ducks amok.
I haven't seen a horse trough in years. The city tore out the last ones back in the early 90s near St. Lawrence Market when the condo dwellers complained about hobos bathing in them.
In love with a ghostMiss Eugenia Dunbar, wow! I think I am in love. Born in the wrong time. Does anyone else have any info on her?
[She rhymed. - Dave]
Big Ol' LoveShe's a spitting image of Jeanne Tripplehorn, or vice versa.
QuackedWhat I see here are four real "flappers." Nice. Thanks.
What time of year is this?I notice the attractive young ladies have coats and it appears the wind is blowing but the two younger girls in the back are wearing sundresses.
The trough reminds me of my paternal grandfather.  He drove horse drawn beer wagons for many years because not for tradition; his brother-in-law owned the warehouse and he was a drunken Irishman.  My other grandfather was a railroad conductor, luckily I caught the train bug and not the drinking bug.
There is so much to notice about our history in everyday photographs.  Thank you for cleaning up and sharing these unique glimpses into history but also allowing us to comment.   
If you subtract everything ...from this photo except Miss Eugenia - dressed just as she is - it looks like a photo of a young woman taken only yesterday. I have seen my own 30+ year old daughter-in-law dressed nearly identically, and the hair style is in no way dated. Now that is rare in a photo that is 80 years old.
A new dimensionBeautiful and talented, our Miss Dunbar was. I think it's interesting to see another dimension of someone who was never a celebrity (not that I'm aware of, anyway), but just a regular person. Do you think she imagined that a poem she penned for a newspaper contest to win a dollar would be read 80-odd years later? Not Dickinson, but pretty darn good for a 17-year-old. There's some really good imagery there in the first stanza. It is certainly better than anything I might have composed when I was 17.
Of course, one now wonders what sort of hidden talents did her friend Mary have?
Eugenia and MaryEugenia Dunbar, born April 18, 1909, died September 13, 2000, Pasadena California.  Eugenia was living somewhere in Wisconsin during the mid 1930s or early 1940s.
Mary Moose: This might not be her, but it could be.  Mary Moose, born April 27, 1909, died sometime in January, 1981 in Tennessee.  That Mary fits a lot of the patterns, but she was both born in Tennessee, was again living in Tennessee in the late 1930s-1940s period, and died there.
If that's not our Mary, then I think her name is slightly misspelled, and it's actually Mary MUSE, born November 20, 1908 (in Northern Virginia), died (still in Arlington, Virginia), July 27, 1998.  She seems to have lived most of her life in the DC area.
[After these girls got married, which seems likely, they'd have different names. Which is the reason it's hard to dig up reliable information about women when all you have to go on is a maiden name. Dunbar and Moose are mostly likely the married names of Pasadena Eugenia and Tennessee Mary. - Dave]
Eugenia and Mary againDave, I looked them up by their birth names. This was the only Eugenia Dunbar that came up, so I'm pretty confident in that one.
[Where was Eugenia born? - Dave]
Right for meIt looks like I am the only one more smitten by the girl on the right.
A real ringer - MaryIf I didn't know better, I'd swear that Mary Moose above was the woman I dated for nearly 2 years at the beginning of this decade.
Her name was Marie - she was 24 years old when we started dating, 5' 3", about 110 pounds, short light auburn hair, big piercing blue/gray eyes and identical features to Ms. Moose. Shoot, they even dress(ed) the same when stepping out.
What a jaw dropper seeing this picture - Marie passed away from throat cancer at the age of 29 in late 2007.
Just a touchingly timeless image, at least for me. Thanks again for the wonderful work, Dave.
Eugenia DunbarI also found Eugenia Dunbar's Pasadena death record, so I immediately requested the obit from the Pasadena library. They said it takes three weeks. Who knows, maybe she didn't get married, or otherwise kept her maiden name. I am hoping the obit will confirm whether she's the one. 
From ducks to flamingos?The Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review-Journal of April 21, 1999 each had an obit for a Eugenia Dunbar McCall, age 95. Obviously I don't know if she's the same person, but "she was a retired Flamingo Hilton showroom waitress of more than 30 years." 
Somehow I can picture this Eugenia ending up at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. 
Birds of a FeatherEugenia is too young to have been the Flamingo dancer. If she was 17 in September 1926, she was born in 1908 or 1909. Your showgirl was born in 1904, and I don't believe any showgirl would add five years when telling her age!
Lucky Ducks Take 2I found another photograph of Misses Dunbar and Moose here.
The second picture was taken just before or after the one here on Shorpy; their poses (including those of the ducks) have barely changed. What has changed is that both ladies are looking into camera with rather sultry expressions – oh you kid(s)!
It is interesting that the quality of this second picture is far poorer than Shorpy’s standard (it’s fuzzy with too much contrast) despite the site’s rather pleasing magnifying feature. It just goes to remind me what an outstanding site Shorpy is – cheers Dave!
[That image was made from a print, as opposed to ours, which comes from the original negative. - Dave]
Wow, and double wowI wouldn't mind a date with either one of these beauties, although I'm kind of partial to Eugenia. Pick her up in the old Essex for a malt at the corner drug store, a couple of hours at a dance (maybe the one mentioned in her poem?), and then down to the local motion picture palace to catch the latest Clara Bow movie.
Eugenia DunbarThis is Joe Manning. A few weeks ago, I requested the obituary for a Eugenia Dunbar, who died in Pasadena, CA, and was born in 1909. Bad news. The obit is not available. The only other scrap of info is this: In the 1920 census, there is a Rossie Dunbar, born in 1909 in North Carolina, attending the Industrial Home School in Washington, DC. That's the only Dunbar, born about 1909, in the 1920 DC Census. Anybody got any ideas?
Eugenia graduatesIn the June 23, 1923, Washington Post, Eugenia is listed as graduating from the Peabody-Hilton School to Eastern High.
Photographer?Does anyone know who the photographer was?
[The National Photo Service. - Dave]
Dupont Circle / Leiter MansionThanks to research by Wikipedia user AgnosticPreachersKid, we can confirm the location is definitely the east side of Dupont Circle. The building in the background is the left side of the Leiter mansion, which until 1947 stood at the northeast corner of the circle. It's now the site of the Dupont Plaza Hotel, formerly known as Jurys Washington Hotel. Links: photo of the mansion exterior · blog post about the mansion · blog post about the site · Levi Leiter bio @ Wikipedia.
I suspect the streets have been widened since 1927; Google Street View today seems to show a narrower sidewalk at the location where the ladies would've been positioned:
View Larger Map
The sidewalks on Sheridan Circle, a few blocks away, are twice as wide, and more closely resemble the one in the photo. But there's no denying the photo was taken at Dupont Circle; too many details match up - tree branches, railed fence, fence column, balcony, position of street lamp; the shrubs were missing in 1927, but that's about it.
Olivia Eugenia "Gena" Dunbar Snell (1909-1967)Many thanks to Erin Blakemore, professional genealogist Shanna Jones, and Gena's nephew Edward H. Dunbar, Jr. and his mom for their assistance with this research! I'd love to be able to say "Gena loved to..." but unfortunately, Edward Jr. says the relatives who could've filled in the gaps in her biography and told us more about her life & interests have all died.
Olivia Eugenia "Gena" Dunbar was born in Augusta, Georgia, on March 25, 1909, to William M. Dunbar Jr. and Carrie Eugenia Johnson. Gena was the first of six children (three boys and three girls), none of whom are living now. She turned 18 just one month before the photo was taken. Her youngest sibling, Edward, was about two years old at the time of the photo. He died at age 83 at the end of 2008, a mere two weeks before the photo was posted on Shorpy. Gena's mom, Carrie, was from a well-respected family in Gainesville, Georgia. Carrie's father, Fletcher Marcellus Johnson Sr. (1858-1914), was a judge, and her mother, Elizabeth Eugenia Sullivan (1861-1893), was a college professor. This branch of the Dunbar family was from Richmond County, Georgia (Augusta area), and nearby Barnwell & Edgefield counties, S.C.
In the mid-1920s, Gena's parents had temporarily settled in Washington, D.C., where William was working as a Maxwell House coffee salesman. Gena's nephew, Edward H. Dunbar Jr., says, "I was told that part of his job was the introduction of an 'instant' coffee product ... an endeavor which did not meet with success at that time," but concedes "I don't know about the accuracy of this. My father, who had a genuine interest in family history, also could exercise a rather impish sense of humor from time to time." His mother, though, confirms the story. Instant coffee existed but didn't really catch on until after World War 2.
Gena eventually married William Edward Snell (b. Sept. 21, 1905), whose family was from Gwinnett County near Atlanta, home to Snellville. Thereafter, Gena was known as Gena or Eugenia D. Snell. On May 19, 1932, she gave birth to their only son, William Edward "Bo" Snell, Jr., who eventually graduated from the University of Georgia and became a lawyer. 
Gena's mom died at age 69 on June 5, 1955, in Augusta. Gena's husband died in Cobb County (Marietta area) at age 56 on Dec. 22, 1961. Gena herself died in Atlanta at age 58 on Nov. 17, 1967. Her son Bo died in Bar Harbor, Maine, at age 63 on Feb. 26, 1995.
Melancollic StrangerBy lucky I get into this site, found this photo and suddenly I feel rarely sad and ... small (pequeño). I don't know how to explain, I don't even speak english very well. And is just this picture, I was captivated by it, it's so clear, so close. And then I see that date, and is so hard for me to accept that everything is gone, that she is not there, right know, with that smile. I'm not even suppose to be here, doing this, there is so much work to do, however I can't help my self, I needed to write this.
Duck speed on landIt just struck me as funny that these girls have leashes on the ducklings. Back on the farm I would often see our two ducks waddling toward the barn, as I set out to get the cow and take her into the barn to milk her.  By the time I was headed back to the house with the milk, or about 20 minutes later, the ducks would have waddled about five yards.  Had those ducklings decided to make a run for it, I don't think the girls would have had much trouble catching them!
SHE IS MY TWINOkay, the girl on the left looks just like me, it's crazy! 
Quacking another Mystery.The ducks are named "Diddles" (Dunbar) and Tommie (Moose), according to the caption from Acme Newspictures.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Animals, D.C., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls)

Home of the Brave: 1949
... I had no camera of my own, but borrowed my mother's. Cheers London 2.0 Face on the Camel sign Hard to tell from this ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/05/2018 - 3:42pm -

New York, 1949. This Kodachrome slide of Broadway at Times Square arrived by postal mail a few weeks ago from Shorpy member RalphCS, who snagged it at a yard sale. Good work and thanks! There are a few more to come. View full size.
Neato!I could look at this all day!
The New York I RememberI used to live at 72nd Street Central Park West and walk to this area on weekends.  It's great to see a photograph from that time.  I had no camera of my own, but borrowed my mother's.
CheersLondon 2.0
Face on the Camel signHard to tell from this angle, almost looks like a Mexican sombrero maybe?
[The infamous "Urban Sombrero"! - Dave]
A Plethora of DetailsSuch a wonderfully colorful photo with so much to see, captured on a bright sunny day in New York City to distinguish it from the more typical drab black and white photos we typically see of it in this era. "Every hour 3490 people buy at Bond" -- their numbers may be down somewhat these days, and I wonder whatever happened to Mr. and Mrs. Statue.
I was always fascinated by how theaters used to be able to construct such colorful electric signage on a movie-by-movie basis in those days. Let's stop in at the  Mayflower Coffee Shop and try their doughnuts. Kudos to the photographer for capturing the Camel sign blowing a smoke ring. We see the ubiquitous DeSoto taxicabs of that era in New York City as well.
[Plus a Packard. - Dave]
Wow!Amazing photo! How can I buy a print?
[I've added it to Print Gallery. - Dave]
Camel FedoraA better view of the sign. Click to enlarge.
[Not quite the same sign, is it? The Kodachrome version shows the brim turned down. - Dave]


Different stylesMen wear clothing and women wear apparel?
Zooming in, it looks like the female statue is a bit cold. She definitely needs more apparel, or is it clothing?
Neon and BulbsThe movie "Home of the Brave" cost $375,000 to make in 1949.  Today it would cost at least that much just to create the elaborate signage that accompanied it at Times Square.
... and "The Home of the Brave"I hope one of those other Kodachromes shows the marquee of the theater just beyond the Victoria, because I can't for the life of me make out what it's advertising and I am dying of curiosity.
"Strangers" on a SignNext to the Victoria: Jennifer Jones and John Garfield in "We Were Strangers."
I was able to tweak the image just enough to make out the names, then a quick visit to the IMDB to find out what movie they were in together.
The Barkleys of BroadwayAlthough this was the only film that Astaire and Rogers made together in color, it was their last film together, and their first after ten years apart.  The song “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” by George and Ira Gershwin, was also used in the 1937 film “Shall We Dance,” in which Astaire sang it to Rogers, as in “The Barkleys of Broadway.”  The dance duet for the 1949 film was ballroom, not tap, and is well worth watching for its elegance, vigor, and moments of restraint.  He was 50 at the time, she 38.
Color!!!I love these shots from RalphCS.  Thanks, man!  Somewhat illogically, I suppose, when I view so many B&W photos at Shorpy, I begin to sense that much of history was drab and graceless — mostly blah.  Thanks for the magical antidote Ralph!
Most will never knowAfter spending a long time gazing at all the fascinating sights in both of these nostalgic Times Square pictures from RalphCS, it is impossible to choose a favorite.  There is so much going on in both of them and if one were to focus in on each pictured person's current activity, one can get caught up in their imagination, i.e., the young man with the long cardboard box hailing the taxi (what is in the box, where is he taking it, etc.).  Each person pictured has their own mission, errand or destination just as is still going on everywhere today, like watching an ant farm with all the inhabitants completing their tasks, all intent on their own personal pursuit.  One can write an entire book just observing the characters in both pictures and envisioning their purpose at this hour on this day 68 years ago.  The mystery is in knowing that everyone alive is doing likewise somewhere on earth at this hour today and may also unknowingly be having their photo frozen in time, oblivious to the fact that their particular moment of activity may be stored away in obscurity for almost 70 years and then suddenly be revealed on computers or TV screens for everyone to see and question.  Most of the people in these pictures are probably long-gone and will never know that on April 5th in the year 2018, they were being studied and scrutinized in detail anywhere in the world by countless viewers of Shorpy's wondrous website.       
Do this, don't do that --To Greg B's point about the elaborate signs - it may have been the studios that were paying for those.  1949 was the tail end of it, but Hollywood used to operate under the "studio system", where movie studios would also own a relatively large chain of theaters.  The studio probably had more money than an individual theater, so they could more easily produce fancy signs.
Something that probably helped was that under the studio system, studios would sign contracts with actors for several movies.  Once they figured out who their top few leading men and ladies would be, they could re-use the letters for those names for several movies if they wanted to.
I also understand that until maybe the 1970s, it wasn't common for movies to be released all across the US at the same time.  They'd get an initial release in, say, New York and LA, and then expand to smaller cities over time.  Spending money on fancy signs in New York might have helped the studios to convince independent theater operators in smaller cities to book the film - "it sold 5,000 tickets a day in New York!"
Finally, for electric signs like this, it wouldn't have been difficult for the sign company to stock a few copies of the alphabet, with bulbs installed and ready to go.  Then, when they got an order, they could paint a backing board, hang the letters on it, and wire them together relatively quickly.  This would have worked better for standard-ish typefaces, like on the "Home of the Brave" sign, and not as well on custom ones, like the curved letters for "Barkleys of Broadway".
In another sign of the times, 1949 seems pretty early to me for a "seven-segment" clock display (on the Bond store).  Apparently somebody didn't care for the open-topped "4" that most LED and LCD seven-segment displays now have, and installed one more segment to get a pointy-topped 4.
June 10, 1949Based on all of the visible movie marquees on this wonderful pair of Times Square photos, they were taken on or around June 10, 1949. (High-speed film may have been needed to catch a theatre actually showing "Night unto Night." It was savaged by critics. In an era in which even bad reviews tended to be understated, the New York Times review on June 11 ended with this dig: "Having waited so long to expose 'Night unto Night' to the light of day, the Warners might better have left it at the bottom of the well, for some things are best forgotten.") 
Feel the heatThose hot days in NYC. You can just feel the car exhaust bouncing off the pavement. Nice to see the top of the Empire State Building sans radio tower.
[Look again. - Dave]
Bond Sign Waterfall turned off hereThe bond sign had a 50,000-gallon waterfall 27 feet high and 120 feet long behind the large "BOND" logo which was apparently turned off when this photo was taken. Drat!
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Movies, NYC)

Cheers (Colorized): 1937
... shows. Now in color, it REALLY looks like the opening to Cheers. Thank you! No Ashtrays I guess they snuffed their cigarettes out ... 
 
Posted by Kenny - 12/13/2011 - 11:37am -

Colorized from Shorpy's files.  September 1937. Craigville, Minnesota. "Saturday night in a saloon." Medium format negative by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration.  View full size.
Where Everybody Knows Your NameI remember fondly the black and white original on Shorpy. I recognized it instantly from one of my favorite shows. Now in color, it REALLY looks like the opening to Cheers. Thank you!
No AshtraysI guess they snuffed their cigarettes out on the floor?
(Colorized Photos)

Cheers: 1923
March 9, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Miss L.M. Alexander," possibly of the Department of Agriculture. National Photo glass negative. View full size. Hey, wait a minute! This is lemonade! What happened to my culture of bovine amoebic dysent ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2013 - 9:11am -

March 9, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Miss L.M. Alexander," possibly of the Department of Agriculture. National Photo glass negative. View full size.
Hey, wait a minute!This is lemonade!  What happened to my culture of bovine amoebic dysentery?
Looks likeshe's also a fairy!
Lucy Maclay AlexanderBorn in 1888, Lucy Alexander was a longtime food tester at the USDA, and is recorded as the author of several USDA informational leaflets about cooking methods for various kinds of meat, as well as eggs. Various online bibliographies indicate that she was still at the USDA into the 1940s. Some of her titles are available at Archive.org, including "Cooking Beef According to the Cut" (1927), "Lamb As You Like It" (1928), "Pork in Preferred Ways" (1929), and "Eggs At Any Meal" (1931).
[Excellent detective work! - Dave]
Titles we wish she'd penned"Mutton in a Minute," "Offal Over Easy," "Goat Grills Great!"
Agriculture Specialist


Washington Post, January 30, 1969.

Lucy M. Alexander, Agriculture Specialist


Lucy Maclay Alexander, 80, an Agriculture Department home economist for 38 years, died Jan. 22 in Belleville, Ill., after a long illness. 

Miss Alexander retired in 1953 from the Agriculture Department, where she conducted meat and poultry research and wrote several home economics publications. She moved to Belleville to join her family in 1964.

Born in Pennsylvania, she held bachelor's degrees from Vassar College and the University of Illinois. She received the Department's Distinguished Service Award in 1950.

She is survived by a brother, R.P. Alexander, of Belleville, and a sister, F.A. Ingalls, Palo Alto, Calif.




Washington Post, May 26, 1950.

… Miss Lucy Maclay Alexander, whose research led to the modern method of cooking meat at low temperatures, received the first Distinguished Service award ever given to a woman in the department. Her work has influenced many a cookbook writer and many a cook to turn the heat down low, keep protein tender, lessen meat's shrinkage and keep it juicy. She works in the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics here. …




Washington Post, November 25, 1928.

… A meat thermometer, which Miss Alexander has perfected, kept in the center of most of the roast during the cooking removes the guess-work and makes it possible to get the exact stage of heat desired. Beef is rare according to the meat thermometer, between the temperature of 130 degrees and 150 degrees Fahrenheit, medium between 150 degrees Fahrenheit and 170 degrees and well done at about 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

“When the home-maker goes to the market to buy a piece of beef,” Miss Alexander said, “she has to think of two things, she wants a cut that will fill the desired place in the menu and at the same time be consistent with the contents of her pocketbook. With the knowledge of different cuts and how to cook them in order to bring out their best qualities, she can select and serve appetizing meats to suit any family budget.” …

(The Gallery, D.C.)

We're No. 66!
... is my home page! First thing I see when I fire up Safari. Cheers! Well done I found you through James Lileks, word of blog so to ... I pop in every day or so to check out you out. Cheers... In the Top 5 with me Congratulations! Now more people will ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2009 - 10:44am -

Très excitement. Ken informs me that Shorpy is No. 66 on PC Magazine's list of the Top 100 Websites of 2009! (Yes, this is the kind of fluff incisive reportage magazines run in the summer so the staff can go on vacation, and we're happy to take part.) I want to thank tterrace, Stanton Square, Joe Manning and everyone else who has helped put us, if not on top, at least solidly in the top part of the bottom third! [UPDATE: Even though we are the 66th website on the list, Kyle at PC Mag tells us the results are not a numerical ranking but rather the results of voting on two groups: Top 50 "classic" sites and Top 50 "undiscovered."]
Yay Shorpy!There are millions of websites, but only one Shorpy.  Being number 66 is quite an accomplishment.
66I log on to this site every day to see the new pictures that have been uploaded and I don't know why. I just find it fascinating to look at photos that are that old. a whole world that has come and gone before mine.
Apparently a lot of people feel the same way.
Great !!!!Congratulations from Brazil !!!
Congrats!Well deserved. This site is must reading/viewing for me!
CongratulationsCongratulations and well-deserved.
And, at 66, seems that you've just squeaked into the middle third!
Way to go, Shorpy!Should have been first, in my opinion.
Way To Go Dave!!!This is indeed a great thing for you and the readers/contributors here.  A truly unique site that makes us all sit back, look and enjoy your version of the microscope to the past.
And I think I speak for all when I say a hearty 'thank you'.
Doug
Fluff or not,Fluff or not, congratulations are well deserved! This site is excellent, and should have been much higher placed.
Kudos all aroundGlad to have been along and look forward to moving onward and upward.  Most Excellent!  Figip for everyone!
Atta Boy Dave!!Just wanted to add my congratulations to the list.
Shorpy is my home page! First thing I see when I fire up Safari. Cheers!
Well doneI found you through James Lileks, word of blog so to speak.
Great News!You deserve it!  One of my favorite sites!
Made Our DayWe should all be proud of Dave and Ken for creating, maintaining and constantly improving the Shorpy site. Those of us that are daily visitors and contributors celebrate with you.
Always Number ONE in my book!While this is great news, Dave, Shorpy is my favorite site to visit. A day doesn't go by where I don't check in to see what's new, or browse through older photographs. Your presence on Facebook is appreciated and hopefully is adding to Shorpy's traffic. I know that I keep promoting the site to all my friends, and will continue to do so. 
Shorpy is Number ONE!
RankingsIt's a bit of a shock to see us 8 places behind Awkward Family Photos, but at least we beat out Ugliest Tattoos. Seriously, thank you, Dave! Happy to have done my part. Oh, and I also frequently put links to my contributions on my Facebook page for the benefit of my 38 Friends. That must have had something to do with it.
Unprepared remarksIn addition to my mother and my agent, I'd also like to thank all the nice people who nominated Shorpy for a spot on the list. In addition to the many commenters and photo posters whose contributions have made the site so interesting. And of course we can't forget the photographers whose work is shown here, and the archivists, technicians and historians who have helped make it available. And Ken (a.k.a. User1), who put both the dot and the com in Shorpy.com. And last but not least let us direct a round of applause to Shorpy himself. Clapclapclap!
Best of all......You guys did it without gratuitous sex, violence, vulgarity, or government subsidies.  Good taste and quality every day on Shorpy!
Congrats!!
Doug
[Aside from the zillions in taxpayer dollars that made these photos available through the Library of Congress, and the occasional soggy wool bathing suit, this is all very true! - Dave]
So funny!>>>upper part of the lower third

Dorothea Lange: 1936
... Does anyone know how tall she was....that would help. Cheers Rob DL's camera It sure looks to me like a Series D, not ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 2:41pm -

Dorothea Lange, Resettlement Administration photographer, in California atop car with her giant camera. February 1936. View full size.
Dorothea Lange's giant camerais a Graflex Super D, a 4x5 SLR.
See http://graflex.org/articles/series-d/
[Thank you, DHM! - Dave]
Dorothea's CameraWho can ID it?

sneakerswho can identify her sneakers?
I didn't know they had them back then
what a camera !
it is  a beautiful camera, which brought all the grandeur of those golden days. what is wrong with it ?
What a car!The wood on this "woody" came from Henry Ford's mill at Alberta, Michigan just south of L'Anse in the Upper Peninsula, this mill still exists in its entirety but as a museum ---- The plant for Ford's "woodies" was located also in the Upper Peninsula at Kingsford, Michigan ---- the last vestage of the plant were the towering twin smoke stacks which stood alone until about two years ago when they were considered a hazard and torn down.
SneakersThe Converse All Star type shoe was started in the late 1910's, looks like Converse type sneakers....
Graflexhttp://graflex.org/articles/series-d/
It's a Graflex SLR alrightYep, definitely a Graflex. They generally used large-format sheet film. This looks like a 4x5 model given the size of the thing, maybe even a 5x7. The folding hood at the top provided shade for the large ground-glass viewfinder. The flap at the front acts folds down to shield the lens and bellows when not in use. These were rather bulky but very robust cameras, just what you'd need on a long dusty roadtrip in 1936. 
I love the car.I love the car. 
5x7 GraflexLooks like a 5x7 Graflex to me.
http://graflex.org/articles/series-d/
Lange's GraflexI own a 5x7" Press Graflex, and looking at the size of her hand compared to the size of the camera, I think this camera is a 4x5" Graflex, not a 5x7".  The arrangement of the metal parts on the side that is visible would identify it as a Series D or Super D, which is a later camera than my Press Graflex.
Dorothea Lange took theDorothea Lange took the famous (if not somewhat controversial) picture called Migrant Mother.
GraflexIt's a Graflex, looks like it might be a 5 x7, but must be at least 4 x 5.
I would guess it's older than this one, as I doubt it is a Series D
http://graflex.org/articles/series-d/
Now that's a Camera!!!!Hi There,
Looks more like a 4x5 Series D, than a 4x5 Super D. The super has the chrome-plated struts on the hood / top lid. 
Also by the looks of it, she has a Bag Mag mounted on the back (horizontal position) which doesn't work on a 4x5 Super D with the Graflock back.  
I have a 3x4 RB Graflex series D, a 4x5 RB Graflex series D, and have owned a 4x5 super D.  Unless she was a very tall woman, my money would be on the 4x5 size.  A 5x7 Graflex SLR is a monster of a camera.
I don't think it is a series B as the front door that covers the lens has the flaps on the sides that act as a lens hood. As far as I know they were only on the series D,  Super D, and big 5x7 models.
Does anyone know how tall she was....that would help.
Cheers
Rob 
DL's cameraIt sure looks to me like a Series D, not a Super D, which weren't produced until 1948 (in the 4x5 size). It looks like a 4x5 to me, I have one and the proportions look right. DL wasn't a very big woman so I think a 4x5 would look just like that in her hands. I love my Graflex(es). If you get one you tend to get more. Great photo. I would also love to know what those sneakers are!
Dorothea Lange's CameraIt is a Graflex Super D 4X5 SLR
Don't think it is 1936See the plate: California 1938
[The plate says 1936. - Dave]

So...If this is Lange and her camera, who's taking the picture... and with what? 
[Somebody else. With a camera. Next! - Dave]
Photo by Rondale PartridgeThe photo is by Rondale Partridge, son of Imogen Cunningham.
Dorothea is holding a Graflex 4x5 single lens reflex camera, which took sheet film. The flap in the front covers the lens, popping open to reveal the view. There is a big mirror at a 45 degree angle which transfers the image up onto the ground glass, essentially sitting on top of the camera box. The top pops up and the viewing hood folds up. The photographer looks down at the glass through the little rectangular opening at the very top, viewing the image that is flipped upside-down and backward, like all view cameras or similar SLR cameras such as a Hasselblad -- it works the same way. The camera could be hand-held, and the big negative made for great quality. You can see her left thumb on the shutter release. When the photographer trips the lever, the lens stops down, the mirror goes up against the ground glass, the light heads straight back through the camera flipping upside down and backward as the image always does through a lens, and at the end of all that mechanical clunking around, the fabric shutter at the very back of the camera, right in front of the film, slides up and allows the light to expose the film. The photographer then changes the film to the next sheet and resets the camera for the next image. They are beautiful cameras and some photographers find restored cameras just like this one and still use them. I would love to have one, but they are quite rare and expensive. Edward Weston also used this camera to photograph people and his models when doing nudes.
Dorothea 's shoesThe shoes of Dorothea looks like Converse.
[They're Goodrich Posture Foundation sneakers ("P.F. Flyers"). - Dave]

Dorothea's cameraHer camera is 100% guaranteed 4x5 Graflex RB Series D. They were never made in the 5x7 size.
The Camera, The Sneakers, The Car ... Oh MyYou are all focused on really Fantastic aspects of this image, But, for me, with No doubt, the Star, the pioneer here is Dorothea. I have not seen her before this photo, but I'm instantly intrigued by her, and nothing else in this photo. I would have loved to have spent a day with her on location. Anywhere. I'm betting she was cool AF to hang out with and certainly left us a lot of Amazing images to enjoy. 
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dorothea Lange, Great Depression, Portraits)

Cheers (Colorized): 1940
A colorized version of Cheers . View full size. (Colorized Photos) ... 
 
Posted by IKRA - 06/29/2010 - 11:39am -

A colorized version of Cheers. View full size.
(Colorized Photos)

Cheers (Colorized): 1937
Here is my colorized version of this Shorpy image . View full size. (Colorized Photos) ... 
 
Posted by Bugaboo - 05/18/2020 - 11:52am -

Here is my colorized version of this Shorpy image. View full size.
(Colorized Photos)

Corps de Ballot: 1914
... is this an early Monty Python skit gone weird? Three Cheers for the Equalty State After all, by that time Wyoming had aleady been ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/27/2020 - 7:46pm -

January 1914. New York. "Women's Political Union -- Suffrage dancers." On the Suffrage Ball program along with the Butterfly Dancers. Bain News Service glass negative. View full size.
The CorpsAre we SURE these are all women, or is this an early Monty Python skit gone weird?
Three Cheers for the Equalty StateAfter all, by that time Wyoming had aleady been there  for 45 years. The other half must have been quite slow in getting the point. 
However, I can't stop wondering what these activists would think of the modern variety of gender equality. I am frequetly astonished about how many genders there suposedly are. And still counting.  
What's that on her wrist?The lady on our right at the top: I don't expect to see a lady wearing a wristwatch in 1914, but that's what it looks like. Anybody have any other suggestions? Maybe it's just her Fitbit?
Freddie Mercury was a suffragette?Who knew?!
Grandma, what was the big deal?These suffragettes are a little over seven years away from the end of a 70 year struggle.  Why is it so difficult for those in power to give equal rights to those who are different?  You would think power would give people a broader perspective.
The lower tier are nicely posed and serious, but pleasant looking.  The photographer must have told the two women at the top to have a far away look in their eyes; and to make a gang sign. 
Nice HairI'm accustomed to seeing women of this era with frizzy hair, which was either the intended style or a side-effect of a hot curling iron. Either way, a more natural style is timeless, and I support giving these women the vote. 
The Gals of AugusteRenoir used the same face over and over on women in crowd scenes, like the photo.
VampiraTop left. That pose last seen in "Plan 9 from Outer Space".
Yes, yes, OKSo vote already.
As long as you stop that infernal dancing.
(The Gallery, Dance, G.G. Bain, NYC, Politics)

Car 25: 1905
... Made with big heavy view cameras on tripods. - Dave] Cheers Is someone proposing a toast from yon window? GR&I Look ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 4:27pm -

Circa 1905. "Pere Marquette Railroad parlor car No. 25, exterior." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Details of CarThe following details come from the book, Mr. Pullman's Elegant Palace Car by Lucius Beebe, 1961:
Superb examples of American Car & Foundry craftsmanship are these two palace cars frin the collection of Arthur D. Durbin [pictures differ from what Shorpy shows]. The Pere Marquette's parlor-cafe No. 25 was in built at A.C.F.'s Jeffersonville shops in 1903 and assigned to the Northern Michigan vacation service on trains No. 1 and 5, and Nos. 9 and 10, the Resort Special. Of this train the public timetable for 1905 of the Great Central route of which the Pere Marquette was a component, says, 'Trains No. 1 and 5 will stop at Little Manistee River (Fishing Camp) on signal,' an index of casual operation in good old summer days. The car was characterized by a curved rear bulkhead with plate-glass windows to match, giving onto an observation platform of uncommon depth.
The Little Manistee River is on the western shores of the lower peninsula of Michigan between Ludington and Frankfort.
GarbageWhat is a bit surprising to me is the amount of litter all over the ground. I'd think a railroad wanting to show off its equipment would want the best representation possible. Or maybe somebody just took a snapshot of a lone car on a siding.
[8x10 glass negatives aren't what most people would consider casual photography. Made with big heavy view cameras on tripods. - Dave]
CheersIs someone proposing a toast from yon window?
GR&ILook like Grand Rapids & Indiana cars in the background. Another railroad providing service to Michigan's "Sportsman's Paradise." Could be at Muskegon or Grand Rapids. I think the GR&I and PM crossed paths at these cities, maybe others.
It's all in the detailSo nice to see the livery and striping details on these Cars. The flourished ends are a nice touch, tradesman at work. In our modern age it is really a treat to see great resource for signpainting restored cars such as these.
HandshakesI can't remember ever seeing a three line air system on any rail cars I am familiar with. Nowadays only one is used.
I have no doubt someone will come along shortly with a perfectly reasonable and technical explanation for us all.  
The HosesThe three hoses you see are, from smallest to biggest, the train signal line, the air brake trainline and the steam heat line. The air line for the signal connected to a whistle in the locomotive cab so that the conductor could, through a series of long or short tugs on the valve, signal to stop at the next station, supply more steam for heat, etc.
The air brake line carried 90 to 110 psi compressed air and by reducing the pressure in this line would apply the brakes throughout the entire train.
The third and largest hose supplied steam used for heating the cars, a big improvement over the coal stoves used previously which tended to ignite these varnished wooden cars rather quickly in a wreck!
Multiple HosesOne hose was the air brakes. A second was steam heat. The third may have either been for steam (connections look similar) or for drinking water.  Only the air brakes would have been needed on a freight car.
Air Signal lineOne of those extra air hoses on the end of the car is probably for the train air signal line.  The other line I am not sure about without looking at some old books I have.  The cars probably had stoves for heat and it's not the right size or type of connection for steam heat.  It seems like I should know, but I just cannot recall what the third line would be for.
Three LinesThe three lines most likely are: air brakes, steam heat and train signal line.  The signal line permitted the conductor (by a small valve located on the bulkhead) to give whistle signals to the locomotive crew.  
Re: HandshakesThanks to all who jumped right in with explanations for my previous comment. Shorpy readers are the best! No question remains unresolved very long here. I learn something new every day.
Thanks Dave, for this entertaining and educational site.
(The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)

A Toast: 1940
... just to get a chance to speak to those lovely ladies. Cheers! Happy New Year, Shorpyites! Or should I just say "Shorpy New ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/31/2012 - 11:03pm -

Summer 1940. "'Venetian Night' party at the Detroit Yacht Club, whose members represent the wealthier class of manufacturers. Commodore and girls drinking." Happy New Year from Shorpy! Photo by Arthur Siegel. View full size.
Rank does have its privileges.And the sailor on the outside looks like he's ready to start a mutiny, just to get a chance to speak to those lovely ladies.
Cheers!Happy New Year, Shorpyites!  Or should I just say "Shorpy New Year!"?
A Toast: 1940The man in the middle looks like George Romney.
Happy New Year, Fellow Shorpy FansA daily visit with Shorpy and his fans has been part of my life for almost five years now. Thank you, Dave; please keep it going.
Attempted leer......but the sailor really needs to work on the upper lip curl part if he's going to nail it.
What's the story?Interesting details.  The lady to the left (on the Commodore's right) appears to be wearing a wedding ring, note where her left elbow and arm are resting...hmmm.  and where exactly has the Commodore's left arm gone?  And check out where the "wife's" gaze is directed...not at the Commodore, but at the younger woman gazing at him.  Also, the wife's left hand, resting on Commodore's leg..where her hand contacts the other woman's hand, she sticks out her finger, just a little possessive reflex.  All very interesting.  Now if we only knew the details.
Yeah, the sailor inside's look says it all.
CelebrationAlways enjoy watching people celebrate my Birthday! Happy SHORPY New Year, one and all!
Well lit.I'm constantly impressed at just how well these FSA/OWI photographers lit their subjects in such close quarters. I first noticed the quality of their work with John Collier's Hot Shoppe photos.
Flashbulbs were fairly new technology in 1940. I wonder if the govt. photographers were using flashbulbs or flood lights. All of the close quarter photos look like they are lit with a key light and a fill light. Flash or flood it required some setup work. Maybe they had an assistant
(The Gallery, Arthur Siegel, Detroit Photos)

Open All Night: 1940
... Sounds about right for a construction project. Cheers! From the more fortunate on the scene, raising a glass to the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/06/2021 - 11:00am -

October 1940. "Along U.S. Highway No. 1 -- street scene in Caribou, Maine." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
24 Hour CafesVancouver, B.C., still has a few restaurants that are "Open All Night", but fifty years ago there were many more. The Knight and Day was near the General Hospital, and it only closed for six hours every Sunday night. I love the shaded lettering on the MIKE'S PLACE sign with the giant apostrophe. The Rheingold beer neon sign would have been a beacon at night. There is no shortage of sidewalk superintendents here. 
Clearing The AmbiguitiesYou have to love a restaurant that advertises itself as "Home Choking". They understand that dining out negatively impacts a family by removing a sense of belonging and oneness with others in the house.
Shovel it in, at Mike's!This image from the August 6, 1932 edition of The Bangor Daily News.  Mike was Michael Corey (1892-1963), who emigrated from Lebanon.
Typical3 supervisors, 3 workers (one resting) and a woman trying not to get noticed. Sounds about right for a construction project.
Cheers!From the more fortunate on the scene, raising a glass to the photographer.
(The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Jack Delano, Small Towns)

Rainbo Is Good Bread: 1942
... around these parts, so this is kinda exciting for me. Cheers ATs To the AT(s) that posted the current photo and street view - you ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/26/2009 - 4:56pm -

1942 or 1943. "Gilead, Ohio (?), possibly Mount Gilead" is the uncertain caption. Although the photo does provide a few clues. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
UPDATE: A couple of astute commenters have identified this as a building on Main Street in Mount Orab, Ohio. Google Street View gives a pretty good match. If there are any Shorpyite shutterbugs in Mount Orab, hie on over to the intersection of Main and High, send us some pics and help us lay to rest a mystery that's been bedeviling the Library of Congress for the past 65 years!
Route 74Ohio Route 74 was renumbered 32 when Interstate 74 was built. It seems to be the same road as US50 in some places. A quick search shows a "Union Leader" newspaper in Toledo, a long way from Route 32 / US 50.
["Union Leader" was tobacco, not reading material. - Dave]
Rainbo breadThought Rainbo Bread decals might give a clue to location.  Flicker has 61 photos labeled with this tag.  This scene is the first in the list. Route 74 is an old sign that might be what is now Route 32. Southern Ohio in other words.  
C.A. Lo__ Groceries & HardwareMy guess would be C.A. Long. Would the public library in Mount Orab have any local newspapers from the 1940s? An ad for this place would tie up that loose end. Also any ads for the Marvel Theatre or "Happyhour."
[A current photo of the stonework below, taken from the same angle, would also be helpful. - Dave]

Rainbo is good bread...and it looks like the onion sandwiches are very popular.
Time warpThere are buildings that still exsist in Ohio that look the same as they did 40 or 50 years ago.
Mount Orab, OhioView Larger Map
A photographer who is going through multiple towns is going to have problems remembering where he took his picture. Fortunately, Wikipedia tells us that Ohio State 74 became Ohio State 32 in the early 60s. And using Google Street View in the town of Mount Orab (easy to confuse with Mount Gilead) brings us the above. Look at the side of the building in both pictures.
[Ding ding ding! I think we have a winner. - Dave]
Update indeedThat "Update" is why you have to keep coming back!  You never know what will be added or when!
Another view from Mount OrabFull image.

Mount OrabRoute 74 went from near Cincinnati east about 50 miles to Peebles.  It has since been rerouted and renamed Ohio Route 32, although you can still see a few "Old Route 74" sections on modern maps.
Route 74 passed through Mount Orab as Main Street, which is where this picture was taken.
The building pictured is still there.
Rolling in doughPeyton's Market in Moberly, Missouri, displayed the identical Rainbo slogan on the screen door in the early 1950s. The local radio station KNCM had call-in quiz shows, the winner being awarded seven loaves of Rainbo bread. As an elementary school student, I won the contest seven times. For a time, we had more bread than our family of five could eat!
Billy!JUST WHERE DID YOU LEAVE YOUR NEW RED WAGON?
A True MysteryThis picture is a true mystery. Ohio Route 74 was nowhere near Mount Gilead. It ran from Cincinnati southeast to Seamon and Peebles. That's about 140 miles south of Mount Gilead. If you want to read a really confusing history of Route 74, there's a Wikipedia page on it. Most of what's left of it today is known as Old State Route 32, renamed from SR 74 in 1962.The last SR 74 signs were taken down in 1963.  
Or maybe not. In a period starting in 1938, the Columbia Parkway (Route 50) was built between downtown Cincinnati and Fairfax, and renamed SR 74. 
Confused? Me, too. 
QuestionAll of this detective work makes me wonder if any of this information makes it back to the LOC.  Do they ever update the photo information with the newfound information provided by this site?
[They do, for photos that are part of the Flickr Commons Project. Of which this is one. - Dave]
Regnad Kcin worked here Notice the sign on the door: "daerB dooG si obniaR" 
StoneworkIf you "drive" by the side of the building on Google maps you can see that there is stonework in the same place as we see it in the picture.  The fire escape is there too although the doorway has been boarded up.
[Yes, 12 rows in both the old and new photos. - Dave]

WrongNope I think that you had this right the first time. I lived in Mount Gilead, and that is the corner that is right downtown. The porch has been removed but that is the location. Morrow County, Ohio. Sorry, and if you have traveled around Ohio any, you would know that every small town just about seemed to have the same layout. If you don't believe me go to Mount Vernon, Mount Gilead or Galion.
[The problem with your theory is that Route 74 never went through Mount Gilead. If you examine the details of the photos posted below (or travel to Mount Orab), you'll see that they are of building in our 1942 photo. - Dave]
Rainbo BreadMy dad had a small grocery store in western Kansas 50 years ago with a Rainbo Bread sign just like that one on the door.  Brings back memories! 
GoneAll the beautiful woodwork has gone. That is a shame. "Modern" is not always better.
Route 74Talk about ironies, I was just mentioning to someone at work about SR74 and its original routings today.
Route 74, according to the August 1929 Ohio Guide, passed through Cincinnati, Newtown, Batavia, Williamsburg, Mount Orab, Sardinia, Winchester, Seaman and Peebles.
Plus......a gray hearse!  We've only got black ones around these parts, so this is kinda exciting for me.
Cheers ATsTo the AT(s) that posted the current photo and street view - you along with this site are (and the rest who added clues) are poster children into the power of social networking (not the goofy mainstram media definition of it - but the real power) and worthy of an article in some prominent academic journal. 
Grew up in Mount OrabThe Long family grocery store was indeed on the corner in question until the mid '70s, when it moved to a new supermarket-type store just up the road on US 68. I worked there in the late '70s. I don't know about C.A. Long.  The patriarch of the family was J.P. "Sport" Long when I was there, and his son Paul ran the store.
C.A. LongC.A. Long was my great-grandfather. The building in the photo was constructed in 1896 for the International Order of Odd Fellows. The Lodge used the top story for its meetings and rented the ground floor. Charles Anderson Long (1859-1939) moved his grocery business from Williamsburg, Ohio, to Mount Orab in 1931.
The business before C.A. rented it in 1931 was a shop that assembled  horse buggies (see second photo below). Charles rented the building for his grocery business. His son Julius Paul Long had taken over the grocery in 1939 after C.A.'s death. My father, J.P. Long Jr., bought the grocery in 1968 and continued the business on the corner of 74 & 68 until 1972, when it moved north of town on State Route 68. It closed in 1988.
The Marvel was the movie theater in town about one block south on Route 68. It is now being used as the local Masonic Lodge. Route 74 was renamed State Route 32 and then eventually Tri-County Road. The IOOF building was sold when the Lodge closed (1990s?) and is now being used as a women's clothing store. 
Pictures-
C.A. Long calendar 1935
IOOF Building 1930
Long's Grocery 1968
C.A. and his wife Nellie Long
(The Gallery, John Vachon, Stores & Markets)

The Knickerbocker: 1909
... view of the original subway entrances on the corner. Cheers! One of the legends about the original Knickerbocker Hotel comes from ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:36pm -

New York, 1909. "Knickerbocker Hotel, Broadway & 42nd Street." Decked out for the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size.
A-bunting we will go! Wow!  When they decorated for a festive occasion back then the did it right. I wonder how many yards of flag bunting they used on that building? 
Most of the subway entrances of that style were removed ages ago, but few of them still remain scattered around midtown Manhattan. 
The building is still there, but no longer a hotel. Built by John Jacob Astor as a showcase of luxury in a time of economic prosperity in the city, the hotel was destined to close its doors only 15 years later due to changes in fortune. The building was later home to Newsweek magazine from 1940 to 1959, and after major renovation in 1980 it is now used for garment showrooms and offices.
Darn You Shorpy, Darn YouAnother two hours of my life gone! Spent browsing the gorgeous detailed photos on this site, viewing the high-def images, marveling at the detail, enjoying the historical aspect of the photos, and even reading and enjoying the comments. It's a good thing I'm retired so I don't feel too guilty spending all that time here. I've been visiting here over 3 years now, and yet every visit is like finding a new treasure. You're still the best site on the web!
EnvyIt appears a woman crossing the street was caught in the act of admiring the other woman's attire. Boy glad that's not done anymore!
Oh, if i could just reach in!Our theater company is mounting the musical "Ragtime" this season. I have had to source out the material for our custom-made bunting -- yards and yards of red, white and blue (and white stars). Wouldn't it be nice if I could just ... sigh!
HF?Who/what would "HF" represent on the flag? BTW, we get to see the subway and the elevated in the same frame. Cool.
[Perhaps the caption contains a clue. - Dave]
ETA: Yes, Dave, I think it does. lol. How did I miss that?!? And there I was, thinking it might be Hill Figger. Go figure.
Going DowntownWe get a good view of the original subway entrances on the corner.
Cheers!One of the legends about the original Knickerbocker Hotel comes from the drink called the martini, which was said to have been invented by the house bartender, Martini di Arma di Tagga. In 1912, he mixed dry vermouth and gin together and the mixture gained the favor of John D. Rockefeller, who liked it so much that he recommended it to all his Wall Street buddies, and the drink quickly became a national favorite. Another remnant of the past is a sign for the hotel that can be found in the New York City subway. The “Knickerbocker” sign is posted over a doorway that once connected the hotel to the east end of the platform for Track 1 of the 42nd Street Shuttle.
Two by TwoWhy two subway entrances on the same corner?  Entrance vs exit? Two different lines?
[One for each direction -- they're marked Uptown and Downtown. - Dave]
The Edison CompanyIn mid-block we see a sign for some offices of The New York Edison Company, the local electric utility for Manhattan. My father started work with the The Brooklyn Edison Company in 1928 and a few years later most of the NYC utility companies merged to form what is still known as Consolidated Edison (ConEd).
CoincidentallyToday's Wall Street Journal has an article about a Texas-based group looking to turn the building back into a hotel.
The U.S. FlagThe photo is dated 1909 but the flag on the hotel is a 45 star flag which was replaced in 1908 when Oklahoma became a state.
[Not this one. -Dave]
Scandalous! Really! I never.
The amount of skin showing on that Woman in the Advertisement across the street is simply ruinous to impressionable young minds!
The New Dressler?I just finished reading the book Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser.  This photo of the Knickerbocker is exactly what I imagined one of the hotels described in the book looking like.  Wonderful detail and easy to get lost thinking of what's inside.
[The cover of the book shows the Hotel Astor decked out for the Hudson-Fulton celebration. Note the ship's prow over the entrance.]
O.J. GudeIn 1878 with $100 in capital the O.J. Gude Company was founded and goes on to pioneer the first use of the electric bulb in a billboard sign in May, 1892 just thirteen years after Thomas Edison invents the first light bulb.
More Info from the great great grandson of O J Gude.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC)

Childs Restaurant: 1918
... of war conditions" Oct. 2, 1918 Cheers This makes me think of the opening credits for "Cheers." "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2014 - 9:09pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1918. "Childs Restaurant, 1423 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
The LocomotionNow I'm never going to get that song out of my head: "Do the Locomotion with me."
I love a paradeA parade or possibly a motorcade. I wonder if motorcades were as common back then as they are now in D.C.
Great picture!It covers just about all possible ways of conveying oneself along the pavement. All we need is a jogger and someone riding a scooter, and we've got everything.
Great transportation photoI'm bookmarking this as a favorite transportation photo. Horses, bicycles, automobiles and train tracks. It's interesting to see Gray Line using the same logo after all of these years, too. I get the sense that this picture could be titled "rush hour, 1917". 
Childs RestaurantThe Childs building shown here opened in 1913, one of two locations in the District. It was torn down and replaced by a parking garage in the early 1950s. The newspaper archives show that there was some sort of controversy over its prices during the WWI years. Which may be the reason for the photo.
1916-7 WhiteThe car on the right is a 1916-1917 White - these were the last years of passenger car production by White company. On the left is a Packard Limousine.
More HereThan meets the eye.  The motorcade was the reason for the photograph.  Military men with drawn sabers?  Who is in the first car?
[The H&E caption lists the restaurant as the subject. - Dave]
Trustworthy EggsI love the two policemen riding bicycles: police on bikes vanished for many decades only to be recently revived as an effective and economical mode of transport. Fortunately, the uniform of the bicycle-cop has evolved in the interim.
Child's lunch rooms originated in New York City.  A copy of their 1900 menu can be found here (NY Food Museum).



Restaurant to Seat 200
New Building for "Childs" on the Avenue
is Practically Complete.

The new building which has been in the course of construction for some weeks on Pennsylvania avenue, near Fifteenth street, for the occupancy of "Childs" restaurant, is now practically completed.  The exterior is completed and the interior has been furnished with tables, chairs, and the usual equipment to be found in a restaurant of this type.  The new structure has a frontage of 54 feet and a depth of 93 feet, and is one story in height.  It has been leased to the restaurant for a long term of years.  The property on which the building has been erected is a part of the Willard estate.
Seating space has been provided for about 200 persons.  The value of the property, exclusive of the ground, is about $75,000.  The plans were drawn by J.C. Westervelt, and the construction work has been done by the W.D. Lewis Company.

Washington Post, Aug 24, 1913 



The Childless Childs Restaurant

The Childs family has been ousted from participation in the operation of Child's restaurants.  William L. Childs, the man who, with his brother, founded the open-faced type of lunch room and glorified the American egg, has been dropped like a tray of hot dishes.
Bigger and better restaurants will result, it is predicted, but the Childs boys have earned a bright place in knife-fork-and-spoon history as the lads who revolutionized  the lunchroom business, made egg-boiling a national industry and developed flapjack turning as a theatrical performance.
Before the Childs brothers came along a lunch room was usually a dreary hole-in-the-wall presided over by a few unkempt waiters who thought a front window was serving its full purpose when it housed a mince pie, a sleeping kitten, and old hat and a pair of galoshes.
The Childs brothers took colored wall paper, stained tablecloths, dirty sugar bowls, wall calendars, paper flowers, rubber plants, cobwebs, lace curtains, oilcloth, insect life and the air of mystery out of the American lunch room life.
They got the American public to trust lunch-room eggs.
The early Childs restaurants were so glaringly white it didn't seem right to enter them without a bath, shave, and haircut.  They were architecturally part laboratory, part squash court, part Roman pool, and part goldfish bowl.
Then the owners dressed their managers like hospital internes, put their waitresses into attire partly suggestive of child brides and partly suggestive of dentists assistants, developed tray-dropping to a high art and prospered.
Speed was a keynote. Buttered toast set new heights in rapid transit, and all previous records held by eggs in flight between kettle and customer were broken.
It just went to show what a couple of alert boys could do with a dozen eggs, a gas-burner, some plate glass and an idea.
And now there is no Mr. Childs in Childs restaurant. Well, it just doesn't seem possible.

H.I. Phillips, Associated Newspapers
Washington Post, March 13, 1929


"Taking advantage of war conditions"Oct. 2, 1918

CheersThis makes me think of the opening credits for "Cheers." "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot ... "
EntourageThe trailing car is sporting an American flag and another country's tricolor that I can't make out. My guess would be an ambassador or high-level diplomat worthy of a police escort. Great picture!
[In 1917 there were a number of diplomatic visits to Washington from representatives of the allied nations -- the French mission, Belgian mission, British mission, etc. They all had motorcades like this. - Dave]
The Childses and DadMy father's half-uncle, Clayton Cameron McNeal, had some kind of close connection to the Childs family. The two of them would visit Childs estate in Northern New Jersey back in the 1910s and ride on the family's collection of motorcycles. 
My main memory of the Childs restaurants focuses on the one on the north side of 42nd Street just west of Grand Central Terminal. It featured a family-friendly environment and good food for a reasonable price. Of course it is long gone.
DeutschlandI'm guessing it's the German flag, since it's the only European one that matches this pattern.
GermanThe date of the photo [circa 1917] and the possibility that it is a German flag makes the photo even more intriguing.
[Early in 1917 the United States ended diplomatic relations with Germany. The German embassy closed and the ambassador returned to Europe. Maybe this had something to do wit that. - Dave] 
The FlagI checked out flags on Wikipedia and because the white is on the bottom of the flag, I'm guessing that it might be the flag of the Kingdom of Serbia, either without the royal coat of arms or with the coat of arms obscured by the American flag. Serbia was one of the Allies, although the country had been overrun and most of what was left of their army was waiting in Salonika.
[I think you're right. Brent wins the lollipop! - Dave]
Caption for the photo below, which shows the same flag:
"1918. Lt. Col. Michailo Menadovitch, Serbian Army. Serbian mission to U.S."
Which visited Washington from December 1917 to January 1918. In the Washington Post, the colonel's name was rendered as Hendovitch, Nenadovitch and Menadovitch.

Tram SystemWhat's about the third track in the middle of the tracks, or was it a cable based tram system?
[Washington's streetcars were mostly electric. The middle "track" is a slot giving access to the power supply under the street. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Harris + Ewing, Horses)

Evelyn Nesbit: 1901
... Take a look at http://www.americaneve.com . cheers Paula Uruburu Evelyn I first saw this picture in a book when ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 11:44pm -

New York circa 1901. "Evelyn Nesbit, age 16, brought to the studio by Stanford White." A chorus girl turned artists' model, Evelyn Nesbit was at the center of a huge scandal in 1906 when her husband killed her former lover, the architect Stanford White. View full size. 8x10 glass negative by Gertrude Käsebier.
Rowhouse in RuinsA interesting article on the final days of White's "Red Velvet Swing" rowhouse.   
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/nyregion/thecity/04swin.html
EvelynI think I am in love again. She is so very pretty. 
Evelyn Nesbit Evelyn Nesbit, the Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, was the  subject of the PBS documentary Murder of the Century. She was also a prominent character in the E.L. Doctorow bestseller "Ragtime."
RagtimeShe was played by Elizabeth McGovern in the movie version of "Ragtime." The part earned McGovern an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1981.
This is one of the tamer photographs that Stanford White had taken of  Evelyn, who was one of the models for Charles Dana Gibson's "Gibson Girl" drawings. After White dumped her for more "virginal" girls she was the mistress of John Barrymore. After White's murder by her husband Harry K. Thaw she was promised a million dollars by Thaw's mother as a divorce settlement. Evelyn got the divorce but not the money. After an indifferent career as a vaudeville performer, silent film performer and club manager, she overcame alcoholism and an addiction to morphine as well as a number of suicide attempts. She eventually settled down and taught classes in ceramics. She died in California in 1967 at age 82.
Pitcher of EvelynShe is holding a small pitcher in her hand. The pattern looks like one from Pyrex, which is impossible given the date. Can someone tell me the maker? Thanks!
[Pyrex glassware? This looks like hand-painted ceramic to me. - Dave]

Re: Evelyn's PitcherI believe the small pitcher is an example of French Quimper faience pottery.  You can see other examples here:
http://www.faience-de-quimper.com/
Delft or MakkumThe dress and especially the cap point to Holland. My guess is that it is Delft (blue monochrome) or Makkum (polychrome) earthenware. The defects in the glazing suggest that it is late 18th or early 19th century. 
DelftI agree with the Delft suggestion. It matches others that have been in my family for decades.
EvelynThis photograph haunts me. It's like she's saying "Admit it, you'd go to jail for this!" What a beautiful picture! I'm going to search for more of her images. I don't know too much about her.
Laura WarholicIsn't this the same girl as on the cover of the Alexander Theroux novel "Laura Warholic, The Sexual Intellectual"?
[It is. - Dave]
WowI'd risk tearing the fabric of my being apart with wormhole-based time travel to get close to that. In photos at least, she had a very strange, indefinable, undeniable charisma. Amazing.
Evelyn NesbitHi. My new book, American Eve, is a bio of Evelyn Nesbit, the girl "who put one man in the grave and another in the bughouse."  It has 50 period photos, many of which have not been seen for 100 years (if ever before.) Take a look at
http://www.americaneve.com.
cheers
Paula Uruburu
EvelynI first saw this picture in a book when I was in my 30's. I'm 58 now. It has haunted me over the years. There is something so erotic about it even though nothing in it is particularly out of place. Then, I finally figured it out....the look on her face. Says it all. I have it in a frame in my den now. My wife thinks it's artistic, but Evelyn and I know better. Don't we, sweetheart?
Evelyn III first saw this picture in my 30's in a book and was haunted by it for weeks, but didn't know why. I'm in my 50's now and I realize now what it was about the picture: her look. Jeez. How many 16 year olds have that "look" in a photo or otherwise. The eroticism is so intense and it transcends time. She is as beautiful a creature as ever existed. As Jerry Lee Lewis once said, if God made anything better than a woman, he kept it to himself.
Gorgeous She's so lovely! 
ChabrolThe Nesbit story was also the inspiration for Claude Chabrol's latest film, "The Girl Cut in Two." (Found this photo while searching for some info on the movie.)
Beautiful girlHer beauty is astonishing.  The unhappy course of her life bolsters the idea that over-the-top beauty skews a woman's life.  Good looks are pleasant and useful, but when all the attention is for one's appearance, how is it possible to become a balanced person?
Evelyn NesbitSuch a pretty girl. Such a messy life. *Sigh*.
Don't hate me because I'm beautifulNo doubt, the kind of woman that men would kill for. Oh, wait, that already happened.
(The Gallery, Gertrude Kasebier, Portraits, Public Figures)

Hollywood & Vine: 1963
... jump right in that photo and live out the rest of my life! Cheers. Movies On the bill at the theater across the street are "Auntie ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 5:04pm -

August 1963. Here I am at world famous Hollywood & Vine, or in this case, Don't Walk & Vine. Hint: I'm not the one in the green skirt and heels. View full size.
Great!These are wonderful.  Please post more!
More recent photosYes, I would also like to see more photos from the '50s & '60s.
I like the old stuff but it's nice to revisit scenes of our youth too.
For more recent photos...... check out the Member Blog. I notice the stuff there doesn't get as high a hit count, so maybe some people are overlooking it. Been a bunch of great color slides posted recently. 
Auntie MameIs that Auntie Mame at the theater across the street ?
Please, Sir, can I have some more?When I was in L.A. in the early 90's it didn't look as pretty as this. Awesome 1959 Ford station wagon driving with the back window open (you'd get a ticket for that today). The lady with the matching shoes & handbag has got great style, you should've gotten her number. What type of camera and film were used for this great shot? As I've been trying to get this exact 'period' kind-of look...
CoffeeI noticed the Farmers Brothers logo on the wagon. In the 70's - 90's when I was in the coffee business, Farmer Brothers stood for the cheapest crappiest coffee one could buy and always competed for the business on lowest price, regardless. I had always wondered if there was a time when it was good. Maybe 1963 was it?
Green Skirt and HeelsWell it's too bad you're not the one in the green skirt and heels - how incredibly chic she looks - especially with the contrast of the old ladies on the right. Nonetheless, you're still a looker!
Period kind of look photosThis was shot with the Kodak Retinette 1A that I got in late 1962. The slide film was something Montgomery Ward marketed under their brand name. Not sure who actually manufactured it, but either due to its inherent characteristics or the Ward processing service, most of it has acquired a drab yellowish tint that's been corrected out here. Unless it was Kodachome, most vintage color film is going to present problems today. Kodacolor negatives pre-1953 have faded to uselessness, and the prints yellow. Ektachrome only got stable around 1962. You ought to see what my Hudson shot really looks like, or me hanging from the tree. All purple. I can generally correct most of it out, and then the skilled technicians at Shorpy Labs apply their expertise to the final product.
Most Excellent!Thanks for posting. I wish I could jump right in that photo and live out the rest of my life! Cheers.
MoviesOn the bill at the theater across the street are "Auntie Mame" with Rosalind Russell (the good version) and "The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England" starring Peter O'Toole and Elizabeth Sellars (and Aldo Ray, although his name isn't on the marquee). "Auntie Mame" came out in December 1958 and "The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England" in September 1960, so that is definitely not one of the higher end theaters in Hollywood.
Comments by JM Berry "In the 70's - 90's when I was in the coffee business, Farmer Brothers stood for the cheapest crappiest coffee one could buy and always competed for the business on lowest price, regardless. I had always wondered if there was a time when it was good. Maybe 1963 was it?"
  Excuse me, but who did you work for and please state why you are such an expert on coffee?
[I would imagine that being in the coffee business and having drunk a lot of awful Farmer Bros. coffee qualifies J.M. as an authority on the subject. And yes, Farmer Brothers coffee is bad. Really bad. - Dave]
Blistered tourist?I wonder if the grandmotherly-type lady in the stripes has worn a blister onto her heel with a Hollywood walking tour. It appears that she may be protecting her skin with a Band-Aid where her shoe was rubbing.
Oh, and are you by Fred Waring's star? (My parents loved him...they vacation near his Pennsylvania home each fall.)
Farmer Brothers CoffeeMy neighbor across the street drives a Farmer Brothers Coffee truck.  Wonder if it's still bad, or if he thinks so?
Fred WaringGlad to see that there are still people out there that remember Fred Waring. I was a member of the Pennsylvanians in the 1970s, and spent many wonderful years in the Poconos, specifically at FW's headquarters in Delaware Water Gap, Penn., and at his Shawnee-on-Delaware, Penn., home.
By the way--Fred is one of only a handful of performers to have 3 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is recognized for his work in radio, television and recordings, and one of his stars is right on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, right next to the special star placed there for the Apollo 11 astronauts.
If your parents have Internet access, they might want to visit the Fred Waring's America web site. The special collection of all things Waring is housed at Penn State University. Just type in "Fred Waring's America" on Yahoo! or Google and take it from there. The site has CDs for sale of many of the classic Waring recordings.
Pete Misiak
That girl in the green skirtThat girl in the green skirt has a striking profile resemblance to Jennifer Tilly, one of my favorite character actresses. At least, I trust it's her acting skills that provide the character part. Otherwise, I'm keeping my distance.
 	 Comments by JM Berry re. FB coffee You have no clue as to what you are saying. The best coffees in the world can taste like crap if the brewing cycle/temp/water quality, etc. are not correct. To make a statement such as yours just shows your lack of knowledge about coffee, period.
[Sounds like it might be time for someone to switch to decaf. - Dave]
Don't Walk indeedGreat pic.  I love seeing the old traffic equipment in these photos.  In this case the star (aside from the author of course) is the Econolite exposed tube neon pedestrian signal.  Installed from the mid fifties to the late sixties, they stayed in service in many parts of California until just recently.
Fred WaringI remember Mr. Waring clearly. I shook his hand (after going through his band "bodyguards") at a concert in Concord, New Hampshire. I last spoke with him as my father and I came off the ninth hole at his golf course at Shawnee on the Delaware. He had a table set up with a single rose in a vase. He was cheerful, and happy to watch the golfers putting out. He died not long after that.
Fred Waring was a class act, from what I could perceive looking in from the outside. He brought us beauty and pride in our country. May his tribe increase, and his memory persist.
Pastor Tom Fowler
Told ya!Remember how I said my parents were fans of Fred Waring? Well, "Pastor Tom" is my dad! I had no idea he'd met Fred Waring on two different occasions ... to think I learned of that on Shorpy!
Oh, and to Mr. Misiak, thanks for the heads-up on the Waring sites. It must have been a blast to so fun to tour with Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians! (Just read your bio on WJR.com, and you've had a fascinating career so far!)
Shorpy rocks. When does Shorpy get a star on Hollywood & Vine?
Me tooJust to bring this full circle, I, the Hollywood & Vine striped shirt person, remember watching Fred Waring on TV in the early 1950s, too. I also recall being astonished to find out that he was the Waring of the Waring Blendor.
Waring BlendorI was aware that Fred Waring was involved with the Waring Blendor, not as the inventor but as the principal investor and the manufacturer. I have to wonder if he made more money out of the Blendor than he did from the music business.
Kiss my CoffeeNot to jump into the coffee fray, but seriously:
If a specific coffee has to be handled with kid gloves, kissed, massaged, and lastly, blessed by the Pope in order to be palatable, it ain't good coffee.
My Favorite FarkThe flashing "Dork" sign.

Photoshop & VineThe ultimate accolade. Your photo has been Farked.
What a great sport!You rock, tterrace. 
Not only have we enjoyed your photos, on Shorpy and elsewhere, but now we can enjoy what those scamps over at Fark can do TO your pictures!
Oh, and according to the homepage, it looks like the Fark gang are tackling these boaters.

DORK!!I really enjoy navigating these photos. It reminds me of happier times. The "Dork" photo made my day! Keep up the great posts, tterrace!!
Fellow DorkI had the twin of that shirt in 1963! When I first saw the photo I thought "Hey, did somebody snap my picture one day while I was standing at Hollywood and Vine?" Then I realized that, no, the guy in the photo is way too beefy and well-muscled to have been me. Thanks for the reminder of how scrawny I was at 18!
(Or maybe I was there when the photo was taken, but I'm hidden behind one of the poles?)
L.A. WomanA nice Asian girl but maybe a little old for you. She looks so much like my mother. Who was quite a hottie back in the day!
Girl in the Green SkirtI mentioned the girl in the green skirt down in the comments below somewhere. But I forgot to ask...do you recall noticing her after all these years? We're about the same age, and I'll admit to having not just a few standout moments where a fine-looking female captured my full attention at a particular moment, and inexplicably every so often pops into a pleasant daydream of days gone by. You do have the advantage of an actual photo to stimulate the memory. But I have the advantage of going on pure memory which can be altered to great effect over the years. Like they say, the older I get, the better I used to be.
+51Approximately the same view in 2014.
(ShorpyBlog, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Farked, tterrapix)
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