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Minneapolis 1908
... workspace as people finished reading your comment. Three cheers for civility and good manners. In the interests of historical ... 
 
Posted by Lileks - 01/01/2009 - 10:54am -

The buildings on the left were razed in the 80s for a ghastly development called “City Center,” which wasn’t as imaginative as its name. The retail portion struggled for decades to fail, and finally succeeded. The sliver of white stone on the right was Donaldson’s, a department store that eventually moved into City Center, where it the brand died in a merger. (The old building was demolished for an attractive Cesar Pelli-designed retail / office complex.) Down the street on the right, it’s the Syndicate Building, later the home of Penney’s. (It was torn down for a retail / office complex.) In the distance, the pointy tower of the remarkably ungainly Minnesota Loan and Trust Building, a 49-foot-wide building that stood until 1920 before it was clawed down for a new Woolworth's. Everything here is gone except for the light-colored building in the middle. It still bears its original name: Andrus. It’s an office complex. No retail. View full size. TodayThe view today: Hi JamesHey James!! It's great to see you here on Shorpy. I can't tell you the number of hours I've spent combing through your website and nearly pi**ing myself reading your captions! KodaksNotice the sign on the left for T.V. Moreau. In addition to eyeglasses they sell "Kodaks." E B MeyrowitzI never realized the scope of E B Meyrowitz, Opticians. I thought they were a local NYC optical store and now I see them in turn of the century (20th Century, that is) Minneapolis. City Center not that successful for retail...In the past five years two of the three levels of retail shops in City Center have been converted to office spaces. It is not longer a major retail presence in downtown Minneapolis. Hitting the high notesWhat dedication it would take to sell piano/organs from a second-floor shop, and then deliver them with a horse and buggy. Re: SuccessMore to come? From Lileks? Holy smoke, is this New Year getting off to a great start! SuccessI meant it succeeded at failing. Minneapolis razed four giant blocks for enclosed multi-level retail, and not one can be called thriving. thxdave - thanks! More to come. 180 degrees & 62 years later. . . Turn around and face the opposite direction, and wait about 62 years, and you'll be able to see Mary Tyler Moore throwing her knitted tam in the air (over and over and over again). Road RulesI guess there were no rules then such as "keep right", etc. Everyone just seems to go where they want and the devil take the hindmost. Those poor ladies standing in the middle would look like easy prey. Jim!We're not worthy! We're not worthy! Seriously, your web site is the only one I know that can reduce me to fits of hysteria - no matter how many times I read it. I was shopping for bread the other night and saw the Sunbeam bread girl on the wrapper, and was completely creeped out. And that Gobbler motel - I would pay handsomely to go back in time and spend one night in that place. WHAT'S THE SITE?A couple of people have talked about Mr. Lileks "site." How can we find it? Sounds interesting. [If only there were some easy, obvious way to find out! - Dave] "City center used to be the center of the scene..."Minneapolis' own Hold Steady have mentioned City Center a few times in their songs, most notably in YOUR LITTLE HOODRAT FRIEND: "She said City Center used to be the center of the scene. / Now city center's over, no one really goes there." Craig Finn, lyricist for the band, has this to say about the mall: "City Center is a lame mall in downtown Minneapolis that is 50 percent vacant with 50 percent low budget gangsters hanging out. The Champs store in this mall is the best place to get the super new school ghetto Twins/Vikings/T-Wolves gear. I mean the non-traditional stuff." MoreauThe Eyeglasses of Dr. Moreau: Half Human, Half Animal, Half Spectacle! Throwing stones in a glass BauhausLileks' comment about the fate of the Donaldson's building is correct. It was torn down (or perhaps to be even more precise, in the middle of being torn down and carted off) when kids trespassed and started the fire that consumed the remains and the Northwestern Bank Building next door. A more complete account of the circumstances of the fire is here. The City Center has been to urban redevelopment what the Metrodome has been to baseball. Lileks! OMGMy wife and I absolutely LOVE your book on the 70's decorating! It is wonderful restroom reading and cracks me up everytime I pick it up! Thanks so much! Love the webpage too. (it was soooo hard to find ;) ) SwoonFirst I stumbled upon Mr. Lileks' site where I found the perfect combination of humor, Minnesota and old things. Then I found Shorpy, a perfect combination of photography, history and blazing photo enhancement. Oh, and yes, blazing wit to boot. To see them together is just too much. Thanks for starting my 2009 off with a smile! Oh, nuts!!!Thanks to Lileks, my day will start even later, now that I have this site to check before heading out! Lileks has poor attention to detail"Minneapolis razed four giant blocks for enclosed multi-level retail, and not one can be called thriving." Nonsense. Retail was just one component of the project, which also included an office tower (initially the Multifoods Tower, now mostly occupied by Target). The office tower is 95% occupied (which, in this economy, can be called thriving), the remaining office space in the complex (where Donaldson's/Carson Pirie Scott was) is 100 percent occupied by Marshall's, an office-supply store and the Minnesota Bar Association, and the Marriott hotel is a thriving concern. A third level of retail failed as did a high-profile restaurant space (Scottie's/Goodfellows), but that was a small chunk of the total development. Hell, he's not even right about Donaldson's. Its store burned down and was cleared before Gaviidae Common -- which was NOT desiged by Pelli; Lileks confuses Gaviidae with the Norwest Tower (now the Wells Fargo Tower) -- was built. The Donaldson's lot sat empty until Gaviidae construction began. Lileks isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is. [I can't be certain but I think I hear the sound of an ax being ground. Or is it a bone being picked? On the wrong side of a bed in a rubber room. - Dave] Caveat VenditorGiven that Retail is a constant drumbeat among Downtown Resurrectionists, I'd say that Lileks is right on the money. While the office towers are doing well, the retail sections of City Center are looking very poor. Half the retail space on the ground floor is vacant, and the skyway floor is populated by three or four restaurants and a Brooks Brothers. There was a lot of money thrown at that center recently, with the end effect of a long row of empty glass storefronts. Beyond all this drama, the original picture is fascinating. Considering that almost everything is gone, I couldn't tell which street the photo was taken on until James posted the current view in the comments. (Taken on Nicollet, pointing roughly northeast.) A short tripHuzzah! Lileks is the reason I found Shorpy along with Achewood. All three are on on top of my browser. With the wonderful contributions of tterrace and others, I've thought that James was a natural for these pages. Re the attention to detail. Not withstanding the poster's opinions and assertions as to what construe facts, well, we all may be driven to distraction by petty annoyances. For some of us (dear 10:40 poster) it is a much shorter trip. But, still, thanks for your opinion. That is what Shorpy is about along with the incredible images, Dave's incomparable dry humor and, yes, his needling/lampooning of us as required. We're all a bit ADD, but in a Happy WayDr. Lileks, I welcome your additions to Shorpy. Between our good friend Shorpy and your daily multimedia presence, we can all live someplace else for a few minutes. As for our colleague who questions your accuracy, it sounds like he needed a convenient platform. For some odd reason, I smell the faint perfume of James Rouse. Please come back and visit us often. Hey!Looking at this image of Minneapolis 1908, I thought, "James Lileks would be interested in this!" then noticed "Submitted by Lileks." I'm a regular visitor at your wonderful web site, James. Just knew you'd find Shorpy. Can't resist clarifying one pointAs a native Minneapolitan who's a fan of both Shorpy.com and Lileks.com -- and bugged at the tone of the 10:40 reply just enough to do a quick Google search re Gaviidae and Pelli -- I can't resist noting that Gaviidae Common is listed on Pelli's website as one of his projects. Keep up the great posts, Lileks!! Down the Street"Down the street on the right, it’s the Syndicate Building, later the home of Penney’s." Actually, it was home to Power's. Lileks was wrong about that, too. The cult of personality is strong. But if you've worked downtown for 40 years -- as I have -- you know Lileks' description is inaccurate. [If you've ever wondered what effect working 40 years in downtown Minneapolis has on a person, now you know. - Dave] Either Rouse or ... Rocky Rococo! "My nostrils flared at the scent of his perfume: Pyramid Patchouli. There was only one joker in L.A. sensitive enough to wear *that* scent...and I had to find out who he was!" Also: very cool photo, James. Thanks. James, I trust you over 10:40James, Keep up the good work. Obviously, everyone has an opinion about the rise and fall of there particular city. Having never been in Minneapolis I would just have to trust Lileks' perspective. Wha?!?A troll?!? On the interwebs?!? Who ever heard of such a thing? (You, "sir" are holding the "ax" (sic) you hear being ground. Congrats on being the biggest nerd in the ST:TNG's equivalent architecture thread. Bloody good job, that) [Speaking of sic, "ax" is the preferred spelling in most dictionaries. - Dave] State of BlissI am now very happy that, I have been loging in to a site one hundred years of useful service, to the mankind! I heard that Minnesota is a land of 10,000 lakes! Is it so? I will supply the latest photo in the next week! Harmonic Convergence Is Complete; Scattered Chance Of ApocalypseShorpLeks. This? This is gonna be *great*. Thanks, folks. Clarifications.I apologize in advance for the pedantry. Anonymous Tipster quoted the original post: “Minneapolis razed four giant blocks for enclosed multi-level retail, and not one can be called thriving." Anonymous replied: “Nonsense. Retail was just one component of the project, which also included an office tower.“ I was referring mostly to the retail portions of the project – hence the oblique line referring to “the retail portion” - and apologize for not making that more clear. Anonymous notes that “the remaining office space in the complex (where Donaldson's/Carson Pirie Scott was) is 100 percent occupied by Marshall's, an office-supply store and the Minnesota Bar Association.” I’m not sure what he means; it was retail space, not office space, and I wouldn’t call the MBA retail, unless they have a walk-up counter where you can get a smoothie and a will. In any case, I believe these three establishments occupy only half the original space of the departed department store. The rest was carved up into new retail after the department store closed, and those spots had mostly emptied out the last time I strolled through. Anonymous continues: “ . . . the Marriott hotel is a thriving concern. A third level of retail failed as did a high-profile restaurant space (Scottie's/Goodfellows), but that was a small chunk of the total development.” In terms of the total development, yes – if you count the horrid office tower and hotel, it’s a bang-up success, but I was referring to the retail portion of the project, which included a three-story mall crammed with stores and eateries. Most are gone. “Thriving” is a subjective term, perhaps, but the current tenant list is rather thin. Aside from the aforementioned shops, the website lists the following tenants: Brooks Brothers, GNC, Jamba Juice, UPS, Starbucks, a dry cleaners, and Elegant Nails. A far cry from the original list, which I believe was over 60 stores. I covered the opening day of the mall for the U's paper; I worked downtown and went there daily. What it was, it ain't. (BTW, The “high profile restaurant space,” as I’m sure Anon knows, was an exact recreation / restoration of the old Forum cafeteria, which had survived for decades on the spot before it was consumed by City Center; why it succeeded for decades as a low-priced eatery in the middle of a thriving commercial street with theaters, shops, and offices, and failed as a high-end restaurant synthetically inserted into an upscale mall, is one of those mysteries for the ages.) Anon continues: “Hell, he's not even right about Donaldson's. Its store burned down and was cleared before Gaviidae Common (which was NOT desiged by Pelli; Lileks confuses Gaviidae with the Norwest Tower (now the Wells Fargo Tower) -- was built.” Again, I was being maddeningly vague for the sake of brevity. When I wrote “The old building was demolished for an attractive Cesar Pelli-designed retail / office complex” I meant that it was torn down, and something else put in its place. If I gave the impression that Gaviidae Common was constructed before the building on the site was removed and the department store had vacated the premises, I regret the implication. As for confusing Gaviidae with Norwest, well, they’re the same project, and as for identifying Cesar Pelli as the architect of Gaviidae, I made the same mistake you’ll find on the firm’s own website, which also seems to think they designed it. Perhaps I should have said “Cesar Pelli and Associates,” to make it clear that the great man did not personally design the tile or the hue of the restroom stall dividers. In any case: City Center replaced a block of endlessly varied structures with a soul-sucking bunker, and while it’s grand that the tower has high occupancy rates and the hotel is a going concern, it’s a blaring example of the insular, charmless, high-concept projects that cleared away a century of history and gave us blank walls, mirrored glass, and parking ramps. If one finds the site’s modern incarnation preferable, Shorpy must be an aggravating site indeed. Unless one takes comfort in the fact that all that messy old stuff got its comeuppance, of course. Apologies for the length. Re: ClarificationsSeasons changed, calendar pages turned ... and then actual scattered applause was heard in our workspace as people finished reading your comment. Three cheers for civility and good manners. In the interests of historical accuracySaid the original post: “Down the street on the right, it’s the Syndicate Building, later the home of Penney’s." AnonTip said: “Actually, it was home to Power's. Lileks was wrong about that, too. The cult of personality is strong. But if you've worked downtown for 40 years -- as I have -- you know Lileks' description is inaccurate.” Here’s a detail from the original of the picture. The Syndicate Building and the Powers building are two different structures. The Syndicate is in the foreground; the Powers sign (no apostrophe) is fixed to the ornate entrance of the original store. The taller white structure was a later addition. The Battle of ShorpyWell that was exciting. In the midst of our Quaker quilting bee, suddenly it's Cinco de Mayo. Lileks is livin la vida loca, in Minneapolis at least. Trolls with popguns lurk behind every lamppost! How I found Shorpywas through a mention of the site at James Lileks' place. Small world, as I see many of the commenters here have also been there. Speaking of TrollsWhere's that anonymous buffoon who claimed, in a previous episode of The Shorpy Skirmishes, that Dave "makes his comments from the safety of a black box"? Sure looks like Dave's "box" is the same shade of Peach Flesh all the rest of us sew our quilts in! [#F7DFCB if you want to get technical. - Dave] Thanks againHoly mackerel, I had no idea the amount of work that went into some of these images WonderfulThank you Dave for the answer. And double thank you for all the work you do to bring us fantastic images. My daily production is severely limited by the day dreams your photos invoke. [Well thanks. But please note that this photo is the work of Dr. Lileks. - Dave] Mystery objectI have been staring at this photo of Minneapolis for several days now as my desktop wallpaper. I cant get past a mysterious object in this picture. Just to the right of the buggy in the foreground, coming up out of the street is a tall dark thin object that appears to be casting a shadow that appears to have been "removed" from the scene. Also, the photo appears smudged in that area. Any sleuths have any ideas? Or did the cat leave a hairball on my monitor? [It's a crack in the glass negative that got mostly Photoshopped out. - Dave] (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, DPC)
The Squeaky Wheel: 1924
... Or maybe there are, but located differently. -- Cheers, Jari from Finland A big sigh Oh, how I remember these monsters. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 11:41am -

Washington, D.C., June 1924. "Congressman John C. Schafer of Wisconsin." Who seems to have been something of a railfan. National Photo Co. View full size. Size DID Matter!This photo shows how massive steam locomotives got before they were eclipsed by internal combustion (notably diesel-fired) technology. Locomotives couldn't get much bigger than what's shown here because of tunnel clearances and the like. Diesels presented greater thermal efficiency, allowing smaller engines to perform a prescribed level of work. There's a lesson here. While conventional wisdom demands that we drill our way out of today's fuel supply shortages, the scientific community pursues a paradigm shift in motive technology not unlike the steam to diesel conversion. This includes not only alternative fuels, but alternative materials that reduce vehicle weight without compromising strength. Speaking of size...He must have a massive bundle of rasta dreds under that hat! Lightweight Locos?The implication by Chollisr that it would be desirable to reduce locomotive weight is incorrect. The function of a locomotive is to haul passengers/freight. The pulling ability of a locomotive is proportional to locomotive weight, wheel - track friction, and locomotive torque. Everything else being equal, reducing weight reduces pulling ability. Railroad manJohn Charles Schafer, Republican, WW I veteran, was a former locomotive engineer for the Chicago, Northwestern Railroad and member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. Elected to congress at the age of 29, he would have been 31 at the time of this photo. While in Washington he lived at 800 North Carolina Avenue SE. Schafer weighs 200 pounds and clings to the ancient idea that tobacco was made to "chaw." He practices at it on or off the floor of the House. He has a magnificent pair of lungs and, after he delivers a speech in the House, acoustics experts have to be called in to make repairs. They call Schafer the "Firpo of the House." He is at his best when he is thundering against prohibition. Washington Post, Nov 8, 1931 Locomotive BreadthWhat amazes me most about old steam locomotives like this is their size and their massive construction: you know, really thick plates, exposed rivets, lots of pipes and tubes running all the length of the locomotive, gargantuan pistons and rods, wheels bigger than a man. I wasn't lucky enough to ever have a ride on a train pulled by one of those; that would be like making a childhood dream come true. Of course, it would be better if I could step in the cab and pull the whistle cord; who didn't want to do that as a kid? Too bad the only examples of steam locomotives I can see where I live are stored away in museums, and then in a very improper (and I would say disgraced) state of preservation: the two or three locos stand idle on some length of dead track, outdoors, exposed to rain, sun, and the corrosive atmosphere of Mexico City. Last time I checked those, I could even spot some small plants growing among the boiler plates, in places where corrosion had made the rivets disappear. It was a pity - those locos are not only beautiful, they are also historical, since they used to pull the Presidential train in days gone by. Sometimes I wish there was a better culture of preservation down here. Anywho, Shorpy provides us again with a very interesting picture, something really worth a thousand words. Motive Power Writ LargeActually, my comments about weight-to-power ratios were focused on all forms of motive power that we use in everyday life. That includes things like sport utility vehicles (SUVs). The "utility" is puzzling: the larger the vehicle, the more power is required to move it (and the fuel that it carries). The horsepower required to move the vehicle itself increasingly dwarfs the power needed to move its passengers. A point is reached when people start serving their machines, instead of the other way around. Diesel enginesDiesel engines do not drive trains nowdays -- electricity does. The modern locomotives we all see pulling trains today utilize electric motive power. The diesel engines merely turn the generators which provide the electricity to drive the engines. A direct link from a diesel engine to the drive wheels would require a transmission and differential. Electric motive power requires none. This is why you will never hear a locomotive shift gears like a semi. And Miguel: Someday, if you visit the United States, you will find several places with live steam engines still working. One of my favorites is near Baraboo Wisconsin, where each year their coal-fired Baldwin locomotive hauls a train load of circus wagons to Milwaukee for an annual parade. Chaw vs. CigarSchafer may cling to the ancient idea that tobacco was made to chaw, but that appears to be a cigar in the hand that holds the oil can. Having restored a small (0-4-0 saddle tank with slope back tender) steam locomotive, I can testify that a steam engine is the closest thing to a living machine there is. A diesel doesn't even come close. Operational Steam LocomotivesMy goodness, Miguel, how I wish I could transport you to experience one of these living, breathing behemoths – you’re right, there’s nothing like them! It does seem Mexico has few operational steam locomotives, as seen in this list of survivors. However, if you ever chance a visit to the US, there are a great many more operational steamers of all shapes and sizes. I agree with your observation that static locomotive displays, no matter how well-cared for, cannot match those actually under steam. In my mind, steam locomotives are multisensory experiences unmatched by just about anything else. Imagine yourself on a damp, cool fall morning. In the distance a whistle faintly wails, calling out to anyone within earshot. Above the trees a plume of smoke and steam begins to appear and the chuff-chuff-chuff-chuff of steam exhausting from engines slowly becomes recognizable. Soon the glow of a single large, yellow headlight appears from around the bend. Louder and louder and louder the sound climaxes as the ground shakes from the locomotive's tremendous weight rolling over the rails. Instinctively, you take a few steps back as rapidly turning wheels and gleaming side rods suddenly flash by and you catch a brief glimpse of the firebox conflagration that makes this all possible. The thunderous noise of the locomotive rapidly gives way to the gentle click-clack click-clack of passenger car wheels traveling over rail joints and the lingering scent of coal smoke and steam oil hangs in the air as the train fades into the distance… Sigh ... pretty amazing stuff for a big chunk of iron that boils water, I think. Some folks are pretty captivated by this stuff and have dedicated their lives to steam preservation and operation. Knowledge shared by steam-era railroaders like Congressman Schafer is utilized by a relatively small but dedicated force of young people diligently working to keep steam alive for this and future generations. So please, by all means, seek out these places toiling to keep steam alive and support them by buying tickets and riding behind a working piece of history! I'll step off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening. Small piston, top rightWhat does that small piston above right of the greaser do? I don't recall seeing anything like that in Finnish locomotives. Or maybe there are, but located differently. -- Cheers, Jari from Finland A big sighOh, how I remember these monsters. As I approach 70 at a more rapid pace than I like, the times shown here and into the '50s still hold a treasured place. If I were blindfolded with earplugs right now, I could immediately tell you if a steam locomotive went past. That smell of hot oil, cinders and soot are unforgettable. One of my fondest memories is from a night my uncle, a B&O dispatcher, allowed me to hold up train orders a mere couple of feet away as one of these monsters roared past. Finnish TrainsJari, You should go find a Finnish train and take a photo for comparison. It shouldn't be difficult to find a well-preserved example, since Finnish trains last nice. (Dave - sorry about this "frowned-upon second post of the day" but I couldn't resist the pun) Goober Pea Small piston may be I don't doubt that someone will know exactly what it is but going by its position it looks as if it might be a servo to ease the driver's movement of the regulator or the reversing gear. He would be a long long way from the sharp end and I'd imagine there would be lots of lost motion even through rigid rods and links. Woohoo! Got one right! Power ReverseThe small piston above Congressman Schafer's head is the "power reverse." On early steam locomotives, the valve gear was directly controlled by a "johnson bar" in the cab. This lever set the valve gear to forward/reverse and on some more modern engines controlled the cutoff or the length of the piston stroke that received steam. As engines and valve gear grew in size, so did the job of adjusting the johnson bar. Various screw drives and other controls were tried, and in the early 1900's steam power was harnessed through a piston to do the job. The Pennsy, being very conservative, was among the last to adopt the power reverse and many of its largest engines still used the arm-busting johnson bar at the time of the photo. Cylinder on the K4See that rod toward the right end of the picture, maybe 2 meters long, inclined upward left to right? To throw the engine into reverse the engineer needs to lift the back end of that rod until it's about horizontal; the cylinder you asked about is an air-powered piston to help him do that. My QuestionWhy is a U.S. congressman occupying himself with locomotive maintenance? [Mussolini wannabe? - Dave] Reverse PsychologyPower reverse gear was never widely used outside of North America, which is why it appears unusual to non-US viewers. Two great books of railroad photosMiguel - I would recommend "Steam, Steel and Stars" and "The Last Steam Railroad in America" by O. Winston Link. B&W photos of outstanding quality, documenting the Norfolk and Western in its last few years before converting from steam to diesel. Both available at the major online bookstores at a reasonable price. Thanks a lot for the tip!Thanks a lot for the tip and information! I had heard of such live steam trains in Britain - the National Railway Museum (http://www.nrm.org.uk/home/home.asp)runs several steam-powered trains on tracks around York, and I thought it would be one of the places I wanted to visit at least once in my lifetime. Now knowing that there are also places in the States where it is still possible to experience the wonders of riding a steam-powered train, I will certainly make sure to include them in my long list of beautiful and interesting places I want to visit sometime. Dave, you know what would be great, on this same subject? To see a good picture of a famous station like Grand Central in the days of steam locomotives; either a view from the street, or a picture of the hectic movement of people in the grand hall inside, or a view of the tracks, perhaps showing one of the famous express trains of the '20s or '30s... Man, I can almost hear those famous words, "All aboard! All aboard!!" [There's also the Steamtown National Historic Site in Pennsylvania. As for photos, we already have lots of pictures of steam-era train stations, including Grand Central. Click the "Railroads" link above any of the train photos. - Dave] Reminds me When I was a kid we went in a school trip to the National Railroad Museum here in Buenos Aires, where they have these steam locomotives (some of them from the XIXth century) and I can still remember how they were neatly exposed side by side. The thing that I clearly remember after almost 30 years is when we were walking in between them and how I was amazed at the enormous size of the wheels, and how I then had nightmares where I fell behind them and under the heavy machine. Looking forward to visit that museum again, after seeing this photo. Pennsy PowerCongressman Schafer is oiling the side rod on one of the finest steam passenger locomotives of all time, the Pennsylvania Railroad K4s. From the teens to the 1950s these engines pulled the finest "varnish" on the fastest schedules. Daily they raced the New York Central class J Hudsons between New York City and Chicago. Before electrification they handled the heavy traffic between NYC and DC. In the early 1950s it took three diesel units to replace one K4s. But replace them they did, because of the diesel's much lower maintenance costs. Wish we could see the number on the headlight, but whichever engine she was, she wears her Juniata builders plate proudly. CigaraptureCigars are superior nicotine conduits -- smoke 'em OR chew 'em. The nicotine buzz from a dead cigar resting on one's lips as saliva darkens and attends the tissues in one's mouth is intense. Congressional ZealotOn top of his other charming qualities, Schafer promoted an anti-semitic, fascist agenda. This phrase in the following account is particularly amusing: "He was easily emotionalized by the power of his own oratory." Schafer had fought every measure which tried to bolster the American defense and had proved himself an obstinate obstructionist to national defense. ... Washington newspapermen often refer to Schafer as "bullneck." When angered, which was often, his neck became red and "glowed like a stop-light." ... I met Schafer at his home and my impressions of him are indelible. He had once weighed 300 pounds, but was now a mere skeleton of 250 pounds - a huge, ferocious-looking fellow, with layers of fat bulging around his chin and neck, a shock of blond hair falling over his face. He had the appearance of a zealot about him. He was easily emotionalized by the power of his own oratory and as we talked, he got into the habit of swinging an enormous, club-like fist only a few inches from my face. I found Schafer no different from the "patriots" back home in his prophecy of Hitler victory and its natural consequences of a revolution here against Democracy. "What kind of revolution?" I asked. "The BLOODY kind," he roared. "There will be purges and Roosevelt will be cleaned right off the earth along with the Jews. We'll have a military dictatorship to save the country." He leaned toward me and his fist swung like a pendulum grazing my face. "How about the Constitution?" I asked. "Oh that? That'll be set aside temporarily until they get some law and order in this country. A revolution is no picnic." Under Cover - My Four Years In The Nazi Underworld Of America John Roy Carlson, 1943 PsssssstOddly contemplative stance and expression: is the engine speaking to the congressman? Could he be an iron horse whisperer? Steam Is Not DeadTwo engines of this class still exist. Number 1361 was removed from display near Altoona, Pa., in 1985 and restored to operating condition. You could have ridden behind her in the late 1980s. She is at Steamtown USA in need of another major overhaul. The only thing keeping her from the rails again is money, LOTS of money. A sister engine is on static display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, where on any sunny summer afternoon you can ride behind one of four operating steam locomotives. Thanks guysThanks for the info about the cylinder, everybody. In Finnish engines direction changer is indeed "non-assisted", as they are/were smaller and lighter than these US-behemoths. I do have a pics of a live Finnish HR1 taken in last summer. It made a stop here in Salo due to normal train traffic and really attracted a big crowd. Maybe I should post the best ones somewhere. Cheer: Jari Big WheelsI can't believe how big this locomotive's wheels are (or, how small the legislative representative from Wis. is). It would be interesting to see a contrasting image of a man standing next to the wheels of a modern train engine. Thanks for posting this great image. The K-4The K-4 Pacific in the photo isn't a particularly large locomotive for the time--it's slightly larger than average for a passenger locomotive, but the freight haulers of the day, as well as the modern steam locomotives to be built in the next few years, would dwarf her in size. Nevertheless, she is one of the greatest feats of railway mechanical engineering ever. Designed and first built in 1914, the class would eventually number 425 locomotives. The last one was retired in 1957. Drivers are eighty inches in diameter, a standard size for passenger service. Big Wheels keep on turnin'The wheels were large for a couple of reasons.....large drivers translated the smaller-diameter stroke of the connecting rods from the pistons into a lot of forward motion and ground covered for a given amount of energy. Plus, the larger driving wheels gave a smoother ride to passenger trains. Locomotives intended to pull freight had markedly smaller drivers. Massive?K4 Pacifics were marvelous passenger engines, but hardly anywhere the top end of steam size-wise. Drop by our museum in Sacramento and see the SP Cab Forward #4294 - that weighs at least three times what a K4 does. http://www.csrmf.org/doc.asp?id=162 (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Railroads)
Happy Birthday: 1926 (2017!)
... picture treats. They go so well with my coffee. Cheers. Happy Birthday! Thanks to Dave and tterrace and all the others ... Happy Birthday to You.... And many more! Three Cheers: Hip-hip Hooray! Hip-hip Hooray! Hip-hip Hooray! Happy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/14/2017 - 4:29am -

Shorpy Is 10!         A happy Valentine's Day to all on this, Shorpy.com's 10th birthday. (Where has the time gone?) We'll celebrate with a stroll down Memory Lane, just as soon as that pot of coffee is ready ... Washington, D.C., circa 1926. "Cake for Mrs. Orme." Who ordered it for her daughter Violet's birthday. National Photo glass negative. View full size. No one reads these comment titles, do they?It's hard to describe the impact you have had on my daily life, Dave and tterrace -- stress reduction, wonderment, education, imagination. I've had so many meaningful moments on Shorpy, but two stand out: 1) Being fascinated by the member photo from 1908 of a group of Bensonhurst Baths lifeguards, pursuing its background to the member's genealogy photo blog, and finding that one of the lifeguards (her grandfather) married a woman from our small town here in the Midwest. We connected and I was able to find and photograph and send to her the house her grandmother grew up in here; the Shorpy member now lives far away in western Canada. 2) The wonderfully fulfilling moment when one of my member photos was posted on the main page! My life was thus complete! Thank you, Shorpy Higginbotham, for inspiring Dave to bring us such joy. And thank you to Dave and tterace for your diligent work for these 10 years!! [Five years in my case. -tterrace] Thank You Shorpy Really enjoy the site! Happy Birthday, ShorpyThank you for this great site Dave, I love looking at the old photos. Congrats to Shorpy!On an internet full of copycat websites, Shorpy stands alone as a truly original and unique product (and my favorite, too!). To digress for a minute back to Violet Orme, I must say she must have been a very good girl to earn not one, but two different cakes in 1926! Happy Birthday Shorpy!!!Still my favorite site. Please don't change a thing and keep on posting. All the best. Here's to Many MoreA very Happy birthday to Shorpy. My day would not be complete without a few visits to Shorpy. Home is Where the Heart isAnd for eight (I'm a bit slow on the uptake) of those ten years, Shorpy has been my Homepage! Happy Birthday!Thanks so much! Happy Birthday Shorpy!Excellent site. Keep us going for another 10 Worth a thousand words ...Hardly a day goes by without Shorpy publishing a visual treasure worth the proverbial thousand words. These images are more than simple nostalgia -- they are a reminder that our world was made by those who preceded us. Perhaps it can help remind us of our obligation to those who will follow. A thousand "thank-yous". Let the celebration begin!A very happy Anniversary/Birthday to Shorpy. A large thank you to Dave for having the idea and knowhow to present Shorpy photos for the rest of us to enjoy. Another tip of the hat for Dave's witty remarks, often containing learning experiences. And thank you to tterace and others for their contributions. Happy Birthday, my first stop of the dayThank you for this site, it's my first stop every day! Tom Save me a Rose..Happy Birthday Shorpy. A fine first decadeI've been following Shorpy for 9 years and 4 weeks, and my only regret is that I missed those first 48 weeks. Happy birthday to my favorite website! Happy Birthday, Shorpy!So glad you're here. Happy Birthday Shorpy! Shorpy is one of a handful of sites that I pull up as soon as I sit down at my computer every morning before starting work. I really appreciate the work it takes to keep the site going. Thanks and here's to the next 10 years. Happy Birthday!Thanks, Dave, for 10 great years of absolutely fabulous images from the past, I have enjoyed every bit of it! Congrats!Who knew that a little boy from the coal mines would do so well in this world of Cyberspace? Has it been 10 years?Happy Birthday Shorpy! How time flies. Pretty soon you'll be a teenager; that ought to be interesting. For the last several years, my first stop of the day as well. Small slice, pleaseI haven't posted much or for long, but I've been here for most of those years. As for others, this is an absolute must-visit for me daily. Happy birthday and thank you. Happy Tenth Birthday Dave and Shorpy!This is a bright spot in my daily life. You bring me so much joy with these morning picture treats. They go so well with my coffee. Cheers. Happy Birthday!Thanks to Dave and tterrace and all the others who have contributed to make this site a daily stop. Happy birthday and thanks!Dave and tterrace, thanks for all the fun and info and for letting me participate. Without you and your site, my world would be much diminished. --Jim A huge Happy 10th Birthday!!! to ShorpyAnd wishing it multiple 10s more. 10 will get you 20But, by then, you're gonna need a bigger cake! Thanks for all you do. All the Best!Thank you for all of your hard work and Happy Birthday Shorpy!! First thing...It's the first site I visit in the morning. Thanks for everything. Happy Birthday! That's 47 in Internet yearsHappy Birthday! 1 human year = 4.7 Internet years You get my brain in gear every morningA day without Shorpy is like a day without sunshine. You give me something to think about, talk about and write about. Don't ever go away and thank you and yours and your followers for your generous sharing of photos, comments and love on your Valentine's Day birthday. Stay just the way you are. DelightfulA place to slow down and enjoy the past. Much appreciated. Civil SocietyThank you, Dave, for running one of the most civil, informative and well moderated comment sections on the Internet. Even your corrections of a guest's misunderstanding or error is done with gentle wit. It is too rare these days. To the commenters: I am heartened by your knowledge and life experience along with your desire to share what you know. I learn something new every day. Putting another candle on the birthday cakeHappy Day, Shorpy! For 8 years, 29 days you have been a good companion, every day sharing and receiving. And to the folks behind the curtain...thank you. Shorpy Is The BestI don't what I love best about Shorpy besides the photographs. Dave's often droll picture titles (you slay me Dave), tterrace's erudite comments or the stories shared by the Shorpyites. I am not going to choose. I am going to continue to love it all. Thank you Dave for taking the time and effort to maintain a site that brings people together. Like we say in Brazil,FELIZ ANIVERSARIO! Happy 10th Shorpy and wishes for so many more!My last stop each evening, using your photo time machine, to look back to those who preceded us. A true treasure! I'm so glad I found you! Happy birthday! Happy Birthday, Shorpy!Shorpy, you ARE my coffee in the morning! My cup of Joe that starts every morning. Dave, here's to many more cups. Thanks. One of my favorites!Congratulations on your Birthday! I've been here for 8 years and 27 weeks with you. Wouldn't miss it for the world. Thanks and keep up your GREAT work! Start to the day, and then someAs with so many others, I too start the day with Shorpy. Then I dip into it at work, and I go back in the evening, as well. What a great place to be. I've been a Shorpster for only about half of the ten years, and that's my loss. Thanks hugely to Dave and tterrace for your hard work and persistence. 10 Years Already?My how times fly. The range of eras covered, and sheer variety of images has been a huge treat. Thank you for a "perfect ten". Everybody Sing.....Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Shorpy, Happy Birthday to You.... And many more! Three Cheers: Hip-hip Hooray! Hip-hip Hooray! Hip-hip Hooray! Happy Birthday Shorpy!You're the best. Happy Belated Birthday Shorpy. Have I been here that long! Thanks for everything especially the memories. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Women's Lounge: 1913
... Washington Post, Mar 27, 1914 Three cheers for the union sisters! To paraphrase Pete Seeger, the boss won't ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 4:36pm -

Circa 1913. "Bureau of Engraving and Printing." This would seem to be the ladies' lunchroom. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. The hair, againNot a bob in sight and the white shirtwaist/black skirt was still "what one wears". Perhaps the lady in black is in mourning. I thought by 1915 we might start seeing some changes. We ordered earlyBut all we got were buns... Carbon copiesEvery fine lady here is wearing a variation of the Gibson Girl hairstyle, also in the tops and skirts, young and old. Talk about trend followers! Far left back we either have a Hitler with glasses and a Gibson or Groucho Marx with Gibson and no cigar. A simple smudge goes a long way in some fun. Conformity or uniformityIt is clearly a dress code that they all have white shirts and dark skirts and similar (somewhat old-fashioned) hairstyles. We really can't tell if the skirts are dark navy or dark brown in a black and white picture. But they are wearing some kind of uniform: Notice the circular white aprons with ruffles that each of them is wearing. Maybe the woman in the dark clothes is their supervisor. She is older than most of them. If this is a lunchroom it sure is a dreary one for some truly dreary job. It appears to me to be a sun porch, "outside" the building, but enclosed. Except there is no sun on this dreary day. They all HAVE to dress alike, in a style 10 years outdated. They all sit facing the walls in numbered chairs with arms for their tables, and when they run out of chairs, you get stuck sitting on a hard wood bench, sharing the arm of somebody else's chair, or having to eat out of their lap. Check it outBig screen TVs at the back of the lunchroom! Seems a cheerful placeProbably because there appears to be so much natural light. The potted plants are a nice touch too. I love the happy expressions on the two ladies in the middle. The one who is looking at the camera is not a beauty, but she seems like someone you'd like to know and have a cup of tea with on your lunch break. Seismically Inactive LunchroomI know it's not a concern in Washington, and the potted plants add charm of the ladies' lunchroom, but this Southern Californian sees those unsecured pots directly over the benches as a nasty accident waiting to happen. Defying GravityIt always amazed me how woman seemed able to defy gravity when it came to their hairstyles back in those days. Was there some ancient secret that died with them? Hard to acceptI find it difficult to accept that all these nice ladies, indeed all the people in most Shorpy pictures have all lived out their lives and died of old age. These pictures are their only remembrance. Thanks Dave Cooperative LunchroomIt would appear that the pleasant lunchroom in this photo is the direct result of the workers being able to organize a labor union and press for better conditions. Prior to the formation of the cooperative lunchrooms, the government granted contracts to outside vendors to operate the lunchrooms within the bureau's building. Incredibly, the women were locked inside the building at lunchtime, forcing them to eat at these often filthy and overpriced lunchrooms. I think the women in the photo look very proud and pleased with their accomplishment. (The $1.25 daily wage in 1909 would today be roughly equivalent to $29 per day.) Girls Favor a Union Employes of Bureau Welcome Proposed Organization ... The lunchrooms, one on the ground floor and the other in an attic of the bureau, are said to be far from ideal. The public is never shown these lunchrooms, a fact which the girls declare is eloquent argument against the eating rooms. With the aid of the Washington and New York sections of the Woman's Civic Federation, the employes hope to have conditions changed and get a model lunchroom in the proposed new bureau building. ... Washington Post, Mar 21, 1909 What Miss Morgan's Visit Did Since Miss Anne Morgan, daughter of J. Pierpont Morgan, and several other prominent women interested in welfare work came to Washington a week ago and succeeded in dragging to light the conditions under which women employes of the bureau of engraving and printing are compelled to work, Director Ralph, of the bureau, has had a general housecleaning. ... Three hundred and seventy-two of the 800 women employes have joined in organizing a labor union. Dr. Harvey Wiley, government chemist, is going to see that the girls are served pure food in the lunchrooms in the building. These rooms are let to outsiders. The girls are locked in and it is not possible for them to get out of the building to get meals elsewhere. The girls are hustling to get their rights now, and Congress will be asked to enact legislation looking to raising their pay to $2 a day from $1.25. Washington Post, Mar 28, 1909 Bureau's Own Lunchroom Engraving and Printing Employees May Try the Cooperative Plan. A cooperative lunchroom among the employes of a government bureau is about to be tried, if the plans of Director Ralph, of the bureau of engraving and printing, turn out the way he hopes. It is his idea to establish a lunchroom in the new building, which shall be run by the employees. This will be the first time such a thing will have been tried by a government establishment, though many private business concerns run such enterprises successfully. The new bureau is to have ample kitchen facilities, and it is planned to use the roof of one of the wings as a roof garden. ... Not only will the employes obtain better food, but they will get it at a more reasonable price. ... Washington Post, Jul 12, 1913 Aid Fair Sex in Work Women of Civic Federation Win Reforms at Departments Reforms accomplished and instituted by the woman's department of the National Civic Federation within the last three months, vitally affecting government clerks, industrial employes, and other workers of the city, are set out in a report made public yesterday. ... Promise of a rest and lunch room in the Department of Commerce. The woman's department has also been instrumental in making arrangements for a cooperative lunchroom in the new building of the bureau of engraving and printing, and has successfully started a similar enterprise at the navy yard. ... Washington Post, Mar 27, 1914 Three cheers for the union sisters!To paraphrase Pete Seeger, the boss won't listen when one woman squawks, but he's got to listen when the union talks! Wouldn't it be funto see these ladies 10 years later and see how many were "flappers." They probably were not allowed out for lunch because of security concerns. SolariumThe room appears to be a solarium or greenhouse structure added onto the existing building. I did some engineering at the B of E/P back in the early 70s; don't remember anything like this. Very nice solution to the problem. [This would have been in the old B.E.P. building. - Dave] You've come a long way babyThis image reminds me of the old Virginia Slims ads but I don't see any smokes out in this lunchroom. A bun in the offingIn those days, ladies saved their own hair. Some of even had little crystal dishes to put their "rats" in. When they had enough to shape into a roll, they would put it underneath their "live" hair. Result: bigger hair. Gotta love those pompadours!It took at least 8 pins to hold up all that heavy hair. And the corsets....gah. It must have been extremely uncomfortable to be a woman back in the day. It sort of makes me glad I was born when I was. (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Natl Photo)
Letterbox: 1912
... Washington Post, Sep 25, 1912 Cheers This has to be Cliff Clavin's grandfather. This is fuel ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2013 - 11:56am -

Washington, D.C. "Post Office Department. Motorcycle postman. 1912." S14 collects the mail. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. "Arrow" keyThe lower serial (marked "Street Letter Box" around "United States") lacks the "Mickey Mouse" ears that appear on the cases of later locks. The "Arrow" key was used for locks mounted within the door of a letterbox. It is called an "Arrow" key because it has an arrow marked on the box indicating which edge of the key points down when inserted into the lock. Both of these locks are produced at the same location as they were in 1912, at the Mail Equipment Shops, 2135 Fifth Street, NE, Washington, DC. Another photo on Shorpy shows assembly of the "LA" lock. Frank R. Scheer Railway Mail Service Library Cox MailboxI believe the fellow in the photo is likely the John C. Gaither mentioned below: the 'S' in his badge indicates a substitute carrier. An article earlier in the year anticipates the use of motorcycles to replace horses for the postal service. It states that, at the time, Washington D.C. employed 34 horse-drawn carts collecting mail at an annual cost of $420 each. I can't find any account of what became of these trials. Samuel C. Cox received patents on this type of letter box in 1910 and 1915. To Collect Mail Quicker Trial Route with Motorcycles and Cox Boxes May Revolutionize Services. Under the direction of Postmaster Merritt the city postoffice will place in operation September 24 and experimental route of mail collection, which if satisfactory may revolutionize this work in all the cities of the country. The experiment contemplates the combined use of motorcycles with the drop-bottom letter box invented by Dr. S. Clifford Cox, of this city. The motorcycle is equipped with a bin which can be placed under the box, which when unlocked pours the mail in the to bin. The collector merely has to halt his machine for a moment and is not called upon to dismount, as the throwing of the lever causes the box to close up properly. The route being arranged lies in Bloomingdale and Eckington. It is now being equipped entirely with Cox boxes. Washington Post, Sep 18, 1912 Mail Man on Motorcycle New Collection Service from Cox Boxes Begins Today. It is expected that a motorcycle will be placed in the service of the local Post Office Department today for the collection of mails at Bloomingdale, and if the experiment proves a success after a 60-day trial it is possible that more will be tried out. John C. Gaither, a substitute carrier, will make the first trials. It is expected that the start would be made yesterday, but on account of bad weather it was postponed. Thirty-five new boxes, known as the Cox box, have been installed in Bloomingdale. These boxes are arranged near the curb, and have a bottom with a chute. Without getting off his motorcycle the carrier unlocks the box, and is ready for the next. The motorcycle is specially built for this purpose, and has a single cylinder, five-horsepower engine. Washington Post, Sep 25, 1912 CheersThis has to be Cliff Clavin's grandfather. This is fuel efficiency!Let's return to this method. Hmmm, I hadn't considered rain, sleet and gloom of night. Never mind. First Street, NW?Could this picture have been taken on First Street, NW in Bloomingdale? The church in the background looks like Mt. Bethel at Rhode Island Avenue, NW. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Motorcycles)
Celery Cola: 1908
... -cheers www.donkeyrunner.com/blog Veggie Apparently, like many ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/10/2011 - 1:37pm -

John Howell, an Indianapolis newsboy. Makes 75 cents some days. Begins at 6 A.M., Sundays. Lives at 215 W. Michigan St. August 1908. View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. This is as close to a Hine self-portrait as we've seen. Who can tell us about Celery Cola? Celery ColaMy guess is that is was similar to Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray, a celery flavored soft drink. http://www.bevnet.com/reviews/drbrowns/ Celery flavored ?Yuk! Celery SodaYou can find it in any deli in New York; I believe it's a regional treat. Dr. Brown's is the most famous. Here's the Wikipedia entry on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cel-Ray Celery Colasounds to me like blow cola i found this little paragraph at: http://www.greenparty.org/coke.html The birth of Coca-Cola can not be properly understood without knowledge of its broader historical-pharmacological background. With the coming of capitalism, workers were forced into long hours of hard and tedious employment. As a reaction, various stimulants and narcotics began to find a mass market; tobacco, coffee and tea first and then in the 19th century opium, morphine and cocaine. By the 1880s, many cocaine laced soft drinks had become popular, drinks with names such as Celery Cola, Pillsbury Koke, Kola-Ade, Kos-Kola, Cafe-Cola, and Koke. The reason Coca-Cola rose to national and than international prominence out of this ocean of syrupy stimulation may in part have been due to Pemberton's special "secret recipe, but more likely it was superior marketing; a job done by others who followed him. Another interesting one: http://www.sodamuseum.bigstep.com/generic.jhtml?pid=10 -cheers www.donkeyrunner.com/blog VeggieApparently, like many colas back in the late 1800s, it had cocaine in it. The USDA filed suit against the company because the company did not label that it had both cocaine and caffeine in it. You can read about the USDA's interesting cocaine crackdown in soda (circa 1910) here - http://www.bottlebooks.com/Cocastory/coca_mariani.htm Celery Cola Cont'dA couple CC newspaper ads I found from 1926. Click here and here for the full-size versions. Celery ColaGoogle produced a number of results for " celery cola" "formula" - here are the two most relevant results from the first few pages: www.southernbottles.com/Pages/Mayfield/Mayfield.html (lots of info, but no recipe or formula...) www.sodamuseum.bigstep.com (only a passing reference, in the history of Coca Cola) There may be more but my library time is up. Enjoy! :-) Celery Cola origin...Uh, why not just Google :Celery Cola Bottling Co., Danville, Virginia" and see what comes up? That's what Google is for after all. (You'll find it on the Danville site.) Happy Sunday. E=Mcee-flared...Richard Laurence Baron, www.signalwriter.blogspot.com [The page you're referring to is about Porter Brewing in Danville, and how it switched from beer to Celery Cola. But it doesn't have anything to say about the origins of Celery Cola. This was just the local bottler for that part of Virginia. - Dave] Celery ColaI have nothing to add to the above, but notice how similar the branding (font) is to later Cola-Cola. [True. Although Coca-Cola was earlier, not later. This photo was taken in 1908; Coca-Cola got its start in 1885. - Dave] Celery ColaCelery Cola was invented by James C. Mayfield in the early 1890's and first sold at the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition in 1895 in Hutchinson stoppered bottles. Mayfield was a partner with Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton in the 1880's and became president of the Pemberton Medicine Company on the old doctor's death. Mayfield was involved with the Wine-Coca Company of Atlanta and Boston in the early 1890's before venturing out solo with Celery Cola and Koke. He opened a factory in Birmingham in 1899 and soon had branches at St. Louis, Nashville, Richmond, Denver, Dallas and Los Angeles. Celery Cola was sold across the US, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and as far away as Australia by 1906. Mexican General Pancho Villa was a fan of the drink bottled by a local franchisee in Vera Cruz. In 1909 Mayfield formed the Koke Company in Louisiana. By 1911 it was reorganized as the Koke Company of America and Mayfield's Cola was sold extensively under the trade names Koke and Dope. Coca-Cola claimed ownership of both Koke and Dope even though Mayfield owned both registered trademarks. The two rivals wound up in the US Supreme Court in 1920 and Koke was declared an invalid trademark. Mayfield continued to sell Celery=Cola and Dope and introduced other soft drinks throughout the 1920's. I am working on a book on Mayfield and his various enterprises and would appreciate any new information. celerycola@yahoo.com Very nice siteI am the great-grandson of James I. Thanks for your site. Warmest regards, James C. Mayfield IV Celery Cola bottlehello, i cant help you with info about Mr. Mayfield, i was actually hoping you could tell me more about celery-cola bottles, i found one yesterday that says it was bottled in danville, va?.......-brad Celery ColaI too am a great-grandson of James C. Mayfield. If you would be interested in contacting me for further details my e-mail is jrukenbrod@nc.rr.com. Rgds, Joe Koke and DopeNever realized there had been a soda called Dope. When I moved to Tennessee in the 80s, some of the folks there referred to Coke as "dope." The first time the guy at the convenience store asked this kid from Baltimore if he could put my dope in a poke, I was completely confused. Celery ChampagneI have a copy of a circa 1898 photo of the Dr. Pepper Company in Dallas. The picture shows a wagon in front of the building, both the wagon and the building have advertising on for Dr. Pepper, Zuzu Ginger Ale, and something called Celery Champagne. I googled "Celery Champagne" but there was no match. Could the champagne be similar to Celery Cola, and what is celery cola?? This picture sits above my desk at work, so it catches my eye dozens of time a day. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could satisfy my curiosity on the whole celery champagne/celery cola thing I'd appreciate it. Celery Cola CapI was reading the various comments regarding Celery Cola when I remembered I had seen a small newsie wearing a cap with the Celery Cola logo. He is first row, second from right, next to that poor cross eyed boy in this photo. Don't some of these pictures just break your heart? Origins of promotional headgearIt struck me that the most American thing I can think of which nobody ever mentions is the advertising ballcap. This paperboy is a prime example from 1908 and I bet it wasn't new then. You'd think his paper would have outfitted him and his confreres with caps with the paper's name on it, for goodness sake! Celery Cola with a direct ripoff of Coca-Cola font was his lot. In a crowd at going to work or leaving work times, it would seem these diminutive boys would have benefited from having a cap with the paper's name on it. After all, anyone in the police, military or fire services had hats that identified them and had for a good century one way or the other. I grew up in England before my parents took my family to Canada in the late 1950s as immigrants. I was used in the UK to a cap for my school that had a logo sewn into it. Cricket caps, which were not much different, had similar logos, and had origins going back to the 1700s, so the baseball cap as such wasn't an American invention. But using it purely as an advertising vehicle was. Can't say there was a whole bunch of promotional ballcaps in Canada in 1959, but a decade later it all started in earnest when the super-cheapy adjustable holed headband was invented. After a visit to the UK in 1993, I sent a big package of different advertising ballcaps to my grandnieces and nephews. This was met with a dull thud of indifference, and the adults gently told me they regarded advertising hats as a bit crass. Five years later, that opinion had changed as times changed over there, and my by now vintage caps were "just the job". Yes, I searched for the history of promotional headgear, but it seems to be a topic nobody has paid much attention to. Makes you wonder. (The Gallery, Indianapolis, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Dr. Buzzkill: 1925
... join me in saluting the XXI Amendment to the Constitution. Cheers! The G-Man If looks could kill! Mean looking dude You ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 6:30pm -

September 5, 1925. Washington, D.C. "W.A. Green, Chief Prohibition Inspector." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Major GreenThis is Maj. Walton Atwater Green, former Army officer who seems to have had some role in the formation of the military police in France during World War I. You can find quite a few references to him in the news and society pages of the mid-20s and 1930s. The male MedusaA formidable gaze, to be sure. Who knows? He might have been a real sweetheart, but I'm not sure I would get close enough to find out. The Double Stink-Eye!Snidely Whiplash believed he had gotten away with his little ruse with a simple mustache trim. Not for long. Serious, yesBut the bowtie says "party!" Marty Feldman EyesCould they both be glass? "Hey Wally, you've got some snew there on your right shoulder." "What's snew?" "Not too much Wally, what's snew with you?" A little off the top, Andy?Floyd the Barber. Bling Bling!Call me a cynic, but that watch looks very gold, very thin, very stylish and very expensive to be on the wrist of a humble public servant in 1925. I confess! I confess! Just stop staring at me!He can smash an entire roomful of bootleg hootch WITH HIS MIND. Emulsion gremlins telling us the truthI think some smart mold spores tagged this plate. The first few dots across the desk spell in Morse: DTs Eh, he ain't so badjust the way his face is put together, everybody has to make a living. Great title, Dave, you've set the bar high for Twenty Ten. Previous jobAuditor for the I.R.S. This guybeats out the Franciscan brothers from eighth grade as scaring me the most! What? What did I do?As I looked at this photo, I had an immediate and overwhelming sense of guilt - like I must have done something very wrong, and Mr. Green knows about it. Those eyes... burning ... my ... soul! (slump) Hey Lucy!We've found the Anti-Gale Gordon! I WonderIf the good Doctor could be a distant relative of Tom Selleck; or the inspiration for that mustache (but with a smile!) He does look like the perfect man for the perfect job! The Evils of the Demon RumHe looks like he could use a drink! This guylooks like he needs a beer. Seriously. Now. Before something bad happens. There's a man who could use a good stiff drink!Good thing he can get into the evidence locker! Future father-in-lawImagine dating this mans daughter... VERY serious, strict, about as fun as a funeral. Oh, and no liquid sunshine either. This man needs... a drink. ScaryTalk about a look that could kill at a thousand paces. A toastI hope Mr. Green will join me in saluting the XXI Amendment to the Constitution. Cheers! The G-ManIf looks could kill! Mean looking dudeYou would have to be to take charge of that agency. The most corrupt US government department ever. Looks like he's got a bear of a hangoverHand so unsteady he got ink all over his paper. "Seen the papers today, Williams?"I wonder whether Mr. Green had been reading articles in the nation's papers the day before the photo was taken, regarding an extraordinary case. These three extracts are lengthy, but worth reading because of the story itself, and for the editorial comment on prohibition laws. * * * WON LOVE OF GIRL AND THEN ARRESTED HER Dry Officer Is Rebuked For Securing Evidence in Such a Manner Washington, Sept. 4. - Should dry agents woo and win the love of pretty daughters to get evidence against their mothers? Lincoln C. Andrews, prohibition generalissimo, today puckered his brow over that perplexing problem. He gave no information of his decision. The question grew out of the case of John T. Williams, married rum sleuth, who won the love of Miss Sally Canada, 19, daughter of the postmistress at Glen Echo, Md., then arrested her and raided her mother's store. U. S. Commissioner Supplee in Baltimore yesterday dismissed the case against Miss Canada with a withering denunciation of Williams and his methods of enforcing prohibition. Harry M. Luckett, chief of Washington dry agents, came to the defense of Williams today, but did not defend his novel scheme for securing evidence. He denied that he told Williams to get evidence "at any cost." Prohibition Commissioner Haynes declined to make any verbal comment on the case, but his gestures were eloquent. Asked if he were interested in love-making methods to get evidence, Haynes threw up his arms and walked away. "It was the dirtiest trick a man ever played on a girl," was the comment of Sally Canada. The pretty girl then described how Williams dropped into the little store and finally succeeded in making a date. He was a fast worked and gave Sally such a good time that she fell in love with him. One night, Williams asked her to buy some liquor for him and took her to a place near her home, she said. Williams drank most of the liquor on the spot, she added. Later, she added, he asked her to get more liquor which she did and hid it in her ward. Williams called for the liquor with his wife and when it was delivered arrested the girl and raided her store. In flaying Williams, Commissioner Supplee said it cost $500 to get a $3 pint of liquor. * * * A MODERN INSTANCE A story of real life down in Baltimore is worth telling in tabloid form. Told with the usual circumstantiality in a 1925 novel, it would bld mark the utmost extreme of fantasticality. Flashed on the cinema screen it would be called the grotesque hallucination of some poor scenario writer. But it is a true story none the less, and the essential part of it appears in the records of a United States Commissioner's office. Our readers can draw from the narrative what moral they please. At any rate, it is worth repeated as—well, as a modern instance. Down in a Maryland town bearing the romantic name of Glen Echo lives a nineteen-year-old girl and a High School graduate, one Sally Canada, with ehr mother, who keeps a country store and the post office. For some reason not fully disclosed, Mrs. Canada's little store incurred the suspicions of the Prohibition agent in the district. He accordingly summoned an official trysty on his staff whose name is John T. Williams. It is Williams who figures as the hero of the story, for want of a better one - a melancholy want in this romance. The regional Prohibition chief, as it appears from the records, ordered Williams "to go the limit on making a case against the Canadas," mother and daughter. How well Williams obeyed this injunction will appear below, though we may anticipate by saying that he must have had in mind this passage from the "Merchant of Venice": "The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard, but I will better the instruction." We shall see that even the "limit" may be paradoxically exceeded. To make a long story short, let it be stated at once that Williams, after introducing himself as an acquaintance of a friend of the Canada family, began courting the girl, motoring with her to various summer resorts and entertaining her in the customary ways. We continue this narrative by slicing the following extract from the special Baltimore despatch: "I told her I loved her and asked her to marry me," testified Williams, who said the courtship lasted from June 28 to July 28. The girl, he said, on the night of July 27, sold him a pint of liquor for $3. It was then that he made the complaint and caused the postoffice to be raided. After hearing the stories of Williams, Miss Canada, and her mother, Commissioner Supplee declared: "This girl was taken on automobile trips and taken to dinner and parties. Williams made love to her and won his way into her confidence. I consider this a plain case of trapping. If the Volstead act depends on such methods as this for enforcement, I think it is a pity that we have it and similar laws on the statute books. "I do not believe Miss Canada or her mother ever sold liquor or possessed liquor. The pint used as evidence was secured by Miss Canada for Williams after he won her confidence." The story, though not occupying very much space, is a pretty complete one as it stands. On the whole, it does not call for extended comment in any decent community, even in this new and wonderful era of Volsteadian enterprise. It seems necessary, however, after repeating the main details, to substitute for Williams, as the hero of the story, that United States Commissioner with the unromantic name of Supplee. More power to his strong elbow and his honorable manhood! This example of rascality and treachery in the name of law enforcement is exceptional only in the almost unbelievable measure of its turpitude. Less shameful methods of the same general stamp are employed every day. The effect of the new dispensation is to put a sort of official premium upon practices which every right-minded man and woman detested before the Eighteenth Amendment was adopted. One can imagine nothing more contemptible than officers of the law who, not content with snooping and spying, glory in their successful stratagems to tempt people to violate the law. We do not believe that the decent public opinion of the United States, which is still presumably predominant, will permanently endure that particular kind of official knavery. * * * ... "It was the dirtiest trick a man ever played on a girl," she said. And it is. And Williams should be forced to pay some sort of a penalty for that trick, and if it was a man "higher up" in the dry force, he, too, should pay. A girl's love should not be tampered with. The trouble with divorce courts today lies in the fact that love is being taken entirely too lightly, not always by the man, of course, because both are to blame in many cases. But for the mere matter of adding a few hundred dollars to the United States treasury, no man should be permitted to mask a misdemeanor of the sort committed by this dry agent under the cloak of his official duties. In the first place, the daughter was not committing the crime. It was her mother. Yet she was the subject of an unjust farce, the unhappy medium of an unscrupulous man's deception and trickery. Possibly her entire life has been blighted for the sake of procuring a little bootleg liquor. Is that justice? The sooner all justice is carried out for the sake of justice, the better the citizens of this nation will come to regard the countless number of statutes which have been enacted. But it should always be remembered, that the happiness and rights of every man and every woman and every child should not be tampered with or distorted in order to gain some petty objective. Best Kicker EVER!This kicker "Dr. Buzzkill" is one of the funniest things I have EVER read! Thanks for the laugh. Also, does anyone else think actor Hugh Laurie ('House') is *made* for this role? Inspector Hard StareOne would probably need a couple of drinks after being inspected by this guy. Mr. NiceguyUnasked-for advice: Lighten up. Shoveling against the tideNothing like trying to put a Genie back in the bottle! 8 more years of trying... Tough audience hereI wonder how many of them would survive being exhibited in 85 years time in today's environment and fashions. I certainly know my family has some pictures of me from the 1970s tucked away which would result in instant retribution if they were publicly shown. Walton Atwater GreenThis is indeed Maj. Walton Atwater Green, an Army officer in WWI who subsequently had several interesting careers -- publisher of the Boston Journal, a novelist, and for a time Chief Prohibition Inspector. He was also my grandfather, though we never met. Nice to see his face here. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Portraits)
Michigan Avenue: 1962
... left? Do they have a doctor's appointment? A first date? Cheers! Wow. A pink Edsel in turn lane. Wish I had one today. [Not ... 
 
Posted by shawnv - 12/04/2008 - 12:05pm -

Chicago, Illinois, circa 1962. At 10:27 a.m. Looking north along Michigan Avenue at Adams Street, with the Chicago Art Institute on the right. View full size. What they didn't knowJust think of all the things these drivers and pedestrians didn't know... They didn't know there was going to be a band called the Beatles which would have such an impact on the culture They didn't know that Vietnam would dominate the news and effect huge cultural change They didn't know Kennedy would be killed within a year or so... They didn't know that in 7 years the impossible would come true, men on the moon They didn't know we'd become so dependent on some weird electronic device called a home computer They hadn't heard of or seen: Doctor Zhivago (1965); Dr. Strangelove (1964); The Graduate (1967); A Hard Day's Night (1964); Mary Poppins (1964) etc etc etc They never saw a roofed sports stadium (Astrodome 1965) I love to ponder these things and try and get into the head of people in old photos... What are they thinking? What's important to them this day while they are turning left? Do they have a doctor's appointment? A first date? Cheers! Wow.A pink Edsel in turn lane. Wish I had one today. [Not quite. That's a Mercury. - Dave] Car SpotterPart of me wishes I was 20 years old in 1962. I love the 1957 to 1962 cars. From left to right, 1959 Ford, looks like a 1956 Plymouth grille behind it, the photographer is following a 1957 Olds, and yes that is a pink 1957 Mercury. In front of that looks like a Checker Cab. Next to the Mercury is a 1962 Oldsmobile, and behind it is a 1955 Chevrolet. Behind the 55 Chevy is a 1960 Chevrolet. The PrudentialWas the tallest building in Chicago at that time I believe. Also, my dad works there. Good view of Grant Park! They also didn't know...... that the little black kid with the white mother would one day be President. Michigan and Adams 2008Seems to be a new high-rise next to the Art Institute. View Larger Map Car StylingIf this picture were taken today, one wouldn't see much difference in car details. Most vehicles for the past 10 years have looked about the same. But in this picture, such amazing variety in just a seven-year span of models! Somehow, uniformity makes our society poorer. So much has changed...... But one thing hasn't - THE TRAFFIC! Chicago ..."My Kind of Town," so sayeth the chairman of the board. MusicThis photo is best viewed while listening to The Thrashmens classic "Surfin' Bird" Eerie how that happened to be playing here precisely when I saw this photo. Changed?Honestly, this intersection really hasn't changed much. I recognized it right away. Go a few blocks in either direction, and there will be plenty of new stuff, but not at this intersection. On a weekend with a car show, you could probably take nearly the same picture. Car Styling I agree with you on that. It wasn't until recently that cars went through another design revolution. The minivans in the '90s and early '00s. At least now there are some differences between them. They all had the same shape and looked exactly the same from a distance back then. Same thing with mid-sized sedans. It was only in the last year or two that the cars gained some new distinguishing styles. Nothing beats the old cars though. Palmolive Building mastThe tall silver mast on the Palmolive Building was the WGN-TV antenna back in those days. I believe it's used by an FM station now. PrudentialThat's the Prudential Building with the mast. The Palmolive (a.k.a. Playboy) building is farther north and not visible in this photo. That one modern buildingI walk by that spot all the time. The modern Prudential building dominating the photo was the first big Chicago skyscraper after a 20-year Depression/WWII hiatus. Compare to all the buildings lining Michigan Ave which date from the 1910s and 1920s. Most are still there. CarsAs for me and my family we would rather be in one these old big safe cars than the Tinkertoy cars of today. [I'd rather be surrounded by six airbags and two crumple zones. The death rate per passenger-mile circa 1960 was pretty horrific. Those big old cars (and their passengers) did not do especially well in collisions. Roofs in the era of the wraparound windshield did a poor job of supporting the weight of the car in a rollover. - Dave] No squabbleI was half as tall as my sister so the hump was my pillow. I loved to hear the rush and rumble of the road through the floor and, if my dad stopped too fast, I couldn't roll off. ExactlyFeel the same way AJ, I can spend hours watching and analyzing every bit of these photos. Wish I had a time machine. Old CarsThose old heavy cars used to have a lot of decapitations. The hood was solid and heavy and in a collision would release from the hinges and go back through the passenger compartment and slice off heads. As Dave stated, today's cars have crumple zones so the hood now just crumples up on impact... Much safer. [Cars now are generally heavier than their counterparts 50 years ago, or at least denser. A 1959 Ford and 2009 Honda Accord both tip the scales at around 3,500 pounds. My Japanese car weighs a little over 4,100 pounds. - Dave] Backseat SquabblersThe first car I remember was the family's green and white 1959 Ford Galaxie. My sisters and I used to fight over who got to sleep in the back window ledge on the way home when we would visit relatives in South Dakota. Winner got the package-shelf perch, second place got the back seat, loser ended up on the floor on hump. Actually we traded off, but the window shelf was prized. Riding like that with a Dad that smoked, it's a wonder we survived! Yikes. 1961It could have been taken in 1961, since the center green car is sporting a 1961 Michigan tag, which is the 59 yellow on green with a silver 1961 metal tab. Illinois had white on red plates in 1961, white on orange in 1962 - colors too similar to identify in the photo. Could also have been early 1962, but I think we’d notice both orange and red IL plates. As a kid in Chicago, I loved to see new plates appear each winter. Route 66The white sign on the lamppost (in front of the lion) marks the beginning of Route 66. Clues from the U.S. FlagWe featured this picture as our quiz #188 photo for the week of 14 Dec 2008. We essentially asked readers to identify the location and to tell us how they recognized it. See www.forensicgenealogy.info/contest_188_results.html We received many responses - one from regular reader Mike Dalton was worth writing to Shorpy about. Mike dated the picture to after July 4, 1960 based on the admission of Hawaii and Alaska to the Union in 1959. As Mike wrote: Timeline referencing 50 star American flag in photo: Alaska entered Union on January 3, 1959 - rank 49th state; Hawai'i entered Union on August 21, 1959 - rank 50th state. President Dwight David Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10834 on August 21,1959, regarding design and implementation of 50 star American Flag. 50 star American Flag raised officially for the first time at Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, Maryland on July 4, 1960. Since the flag on the front of the Art Institute of Chicago has 50 stars on it, the photo had to have been taken after July 4, 1960. ===================================== [The earliest this could be is late 1961 -- that's a 1962 Oldsmobile under the Prudential tower. - Dave] I am amazedDave. Your knowledge amazes me. Not many folks can identify a 1962 Olds. Ferris BuellerIf you ever saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off, you could see this is the Art museum from that movie. It shows the lions at the beginning of the museum montage played to the instrumental version of "Please Please Please Let Me get what I Want" by Dream Academy. Great movie. Some things never changeThe spectacular "Lions of Michigan Avenue" in front of the Art Institute, placed there in 1894, are considered the best work of artist Edward Kemeys. They're not identical; the lion on the north pedestal is "on the prowl" while the one on the south pedestal is "in an attitude of defiance." I have pictures of my family in front of the south lion when our children were small. We used to eat at Bennigan's (no longer there) directly across the street, gazing (if we were lucky enough to get a window table) out at the Art Institute and the southern end of the Magnificent Mile. I took a picture looking west down Adams Street towards the Sears Tower (it has another name now but I never use it) from this very spot in late September of 2019. Then there's that lovely peek of the Wrigley Building glowing in the distance to the north -- Michigan Avenue at Wacker Drive, where the Chicago River flows beneath the DuSable Bridge. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses)
TIME for Shorpy: 2013
... almost bet that Shorpy is smiling down on you as well. Cheers! James Super ! I have loved this site for a few years and never ... most fascinating destinations in cyberspace. Serious cheers to you, Dave, for all of it, and a tip of my Dad's old carbide-lamp ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/02/2013 - 11:32am -

TIME magazine's Lightbox feature kicks off the New Year with a profile on Shorpy by Vaughn Wallace. Click here for a slideshow, and scroll down for the profile. CongratulationsThe slideshow in Time magazine contained some of my all-time favorite images. Glad that Shorpy, Dave and the other unsung heroes got recognition for their hard work. GreatWell-deserved many times over. Shorpy is a jewel of the internet crown. Keep up the great work. Thanks for Your Hard Work, Dave!I have only been a member of Shorpy for a year or so. Other than learning about the site's namesake, I didn't know any of the backstory of Shorpy.com. The eye-opener for me from the "Time" article was that much of what we see is the result of restorative work that Dave has done. I'm embarrassed to admit that I thought Dave was "only" a moderator of our comments. The "Time" article is correct. This site brings history alive in a way that history books seldom do. The word "awesome" is overused these days, but there are many photos that I view in a profound way that I cannot put into words. I offer my deepest thanks to Dave and all those who contribute to the Members Gallery. Nicely stated featureI had given up making comments, however, must come back for this article to mention what an admirable job was done in describing Shorpy.com and Dave, along with example photos. A "well done" to author Vaughn Wallace! ^5!Wonderful! This is great. Congratulations Due CreditThe Time article did justice to what is fascinating about the site but, not being knowledgeable about photography, I suspect it just scratched the surface about the meticulous processes that are involved in bringing the images back to life. Also, I must give credit to the commenters, who are wonderfully civilized and curious-minded people. I've often wondered how much moderation our hosts must do, though I have hoped it is little. Congratulations ShorpyNow I suppose that we'll have to make reservations just to come visit. Congratulations.Great article. Good on ya Shorpy! I nominate DaveFor Time's Person of the Year 2013. Kudos on a nice article for an outstanding website. Important Educational ValueCongratulations are certainly in order for Shorpy! Let me add my enthusiastic praise. While Time touched on how Shorpy popularizes history, as a historian myself I think this aspect of the website is vitally important and cannot be overemphasized. As any grad student or professor who's tried to keep college students' attention in class discussion and on assignments, getting them to care about the past is the very first hurdle we face as educators. I have consistently found that using pics from Shorpy in the classroom and suggesting it as source material for assignments results in more productive engagement with the overall class goals. While other assignments are just as important, they often don't have the accessible impact that Shorpy does in getting students to think about what's at stake. Keep up the good work! Visual learners everywhere certainly benefit. Well DeservedSo happy you received this recognition. It must be a lot of work to make this site as fantastic as it is. I would also thank those people who provide the fascinating details about the people and objects that are the subject of these images. Salute! Well done, this site is a treasure. Well DeservedWell deserved recognition Dave! Shorpy is one of my favorite sites. Keep up the great work. Biggest SurpriseDave has a last name? I always thought he was a mononymous celebrity in the vein of Cher, Bono and Prince. Congratulations Mr. Hall. Congratulations, buttoo bad it wasn't LIFE. But I guess now TIME has more pictures than LIFE and fewer words. Progress. Anyway, thanks for the daily stroll down Nostalgia Pike. Thank you DaveGreat story and thank you Dave! You've made my life a more enjoyable one with this site. Congratulations!I'm sure you'll want to thank all the little people who helped you. Thanks!I don't remember exactly how I stumbled on shorpy.com many years ago but I'm glad I did. Shorpy is a daily visit. Kudos to you, DaveBravo! Shorpy is the best site on the whole darn internet! Every DayThere's not a day goes by that I don't stop by this site at least once. I've learned much about who we are, what we've done and where we've lived our lives. Thank you. More congratulations!I was telling my niece about Shorpy just last night--then this comes out today. I appreciate TIME backing me up. Certainly helps lend credence to what I was telling her. How many people who aren't newsmakers or otherwise famous (or infamous) get written up in TIME? Congratulations, Dave! You certainly deserve the honor for all your superior photographic restoration work. Don't forget us...now that you've hit the Big Time. LOL Congrats! My time well spentI spend WAY too much time on Shorpy every day, but it's time well spent - thanks for keeping up the fine work, Dave! What a tribute to you and Shorpy!Dave!! I'm so happy for you and I don't even know you personally, but knowing you through this wonderful site you co- created. I am just four weeks shy of having been part of the Shorpy family (as it may be)for two years and it's a daily part of my life. Having come across your site by chance I immediately related. I am learn as I go photo shop addict, starting with a box of old family photos several years ago, as soon as I was able to figure out the scanning and resolutions I began pulling small depression era photos into full screen high resolution reality. Seeing the clarity of those early box camera's was like a whole world opening up and seeing my ancestors up close and personal! I am also a life long lover of history and you have brought many moments of our countries past into a framework that pulls those moments out of the past and into my home. It's an amazing development in technology that you having discovered and so glad you chose to share your efforts with the world. So, congratulations Dave on this wonderful tribute to your good works. I know I'm grateful to have your site apart of my daily routine and discovery. I could almost bet that Shorpy is smiling down on you as well. Cheers! James Super !I have loved this site for a few years and never a day goes by that I don't stop by and check out the listings. I have turned on many folks to Shorpy. Dave..you do an amazing job. The details in many of the photos are stunning. It has helped me realize that the common scenes of todays world will soon be history and are worth preserving and saving. Thanks TimeI couldn't have said it better. Congrats...on this well-deserved recognition, Dave and all y'all. Congrats!What nice recognition for the suberb job you do! Thanks for my everyday fix of history. What took so long?Considering all of the fluff stuff certain national magazines print, it is well past time (no pun meant) for Shorpy and co-founder Dave - I caught that - to be so beautifully saluted for years of social enlightenment and entertainment. If the words "kudos", "huzzah", "woot-woot" and "bravissimo" had not yet been invented, they'd have to be just to begin to recognize what I consider to be one of the most fascinating destinations in cyberspace. Serious cheers to you, Dave, for all of it, and a tip of my Dad's old carbide-lamp helmet (he too was a miner in his youth) to young Shorpy, the unknowing inspiration, now memorialized for history thanks to Mr. Hall. KudosTwo friends pointed me to Shorpy just over a year ago, so I'm newer to the site than a lot of the veterans, but it does leave me with plenty of pleasant catching up to do. I have turned on many new Shorpy adherents myself, from children as young as 10 to oldsters in theirs 80s. It has affected my screen time at home a huge deal, and I realized today, in an art gallery, that it has really changed the way I look at all visual material. Thank you, Dave, for making these amazing images available to us, and thank you, tterrace, for moderating the comments. It's About TimeI've enjoyed (and purchased many prints)Plan59 and Shorpy for nearly 11 years. I have the "test drive" thumbnail image used at the entrance to the previous EphemeraNow site. It is dated 8-14-02 so, I guess that's when I first dropped by. All the action is over here now but for me, the real treasure is Plan59. Mid-century scans of that quality can be found nowhere else on the web. Good job Dave, Foy Adding my kudosThis is wonderful! I somehow stumbled on Shorpy when working a mind-numbing office job five years ago, and spent many an hour (don't tell my former employer!) combing the site and the wonderful comments. I'm now a grad student studying U.S. history, and this site has been a consistent visit for me throughout the years. I learn multiple new things every time I visit. I hope the new visitors that will undoubtedly arise from the feature only add to the incredible detective work and knowledge of obscure details that already make the comments such a joy to read. One Thing That Was MissedThe one thing that the writer of this Time article missed was one of the major reasons why I have kept coming back to this site for over five years: the superb community of people who contribute both their own photos and their knowledge and opinions to this site in the form of comments. I am pleased and proud to be a member of this group who contributes in my own small way. Well doneThe recognition is well deserved, Shorpy.com is one the best websites on the internet. It takes a village... to appreciate old photos as they should be appreciated. Thanks, Dave, for sharing your skill and dedication with us. And thanks to everyone who comments here! I love to hear from the railroaders, the aviation folks, the old car dudes ("old cars" that is, not "old dudes"), the architects and engineers, the genealogy buffs who search out details about the families in the pictures, and all the rest of you. I like it even when all we can think of to say is, "I had one of those!" "My dad had one of those!" "I remember my grandmother telling me about this!" All Shorpy comments are polite and friendly; most are enlightening; and many are hilarious. Good job, Dave. I have been spreading the word and will continue to do so. Day late....you know the restMy DSL was down for several days, just got up and running. First place I go to is Shorpy (of course) and this article makes me feel like I slept thru the discovery of life on Mars! So glad you are getting long overdue accolades. Hope us old timers don't get lost in the stampede. WTG Dave! Time Magazine 1/21/2013 p. 47Another Shorpy mention in the pages of Time Magazine. (ShorpyBlog)
Broad Street: 1905
... I visit your page daily for stuff just like this. Cheers! The Theater JimsShip, the theater is still standing. It's the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 8:22pm -

Philadelphia circa 1905. "Broad Street north from Spruce." Detroit Publishing Company, 8x10 glass negative. Library of Congress. View full size. Early AutoI consider myself a "car buff" but these very early autos elude identification for me. Any guesses? Even if we don't know the make, the sight of a lone automobile on the dung-strewn streets is one of those great transitional moments. City HallBroad street leads to City Hall which is the tallest and largest masonry building in the world, using no steel. The walls of the first floor are over 20 feet thick to support the weight of the building. I have seen this building just about every day of my life and I still stop to look at its beauty. EmissionsBack when you really had to worry about your carbon footprint. Seven-O-Five or 12:35?Trying to determine the time of day is not too easy for old eyes, but it seems like there are LOTS of parking spaces available. Also, imagine wearing a long dress and then trying to avoid all the horse poop in the street. People seemed very civilized 108 years ago. The architecture was quite elaborate as well. Nice photo. [In answer to your question: Look at the shadows. - Dave] Horse droppingswere a major problem in big cities in the equine era. The streets had to be scooped up frequently, which required a large force of street cleaners. According to this article, "at the turn of the nineteenth century, New York City's infrastructure relied upon disease-creating entities such as the horse. Between 100,000 and 200,000 horses lived in the city at any given time. Each one of those horses gave off 24 pounds of manure and several quarts of urine a day." Rooftop signsOn the left of the picture is a rooftop sign that reads "THE NORTH...." and the building in front of it seems to have the same type of sign. Anyone know what they said? Also I think the theatre on the right is still in use today. (Maybe Ron can verify.) I lived in Philly for six years and was always amazed at the buildings. It's so wild to see what it looked like back in the day. This is why I love this site. [There is no rooftop sign on the building to the left but there is a flag -- it says Bellevue, for the Bellevue Stratford Hotel. The "North" sign is on the tower to the right, atop the North American Building. - Dave] Old photographyPeople often comment on the sharpness of these old large format photos, but they're superior in another way as well. See how the vertical lines in the modern picture all lean in toward the center because the camera is looking up, while the old view camera could be adjusted to eliminate this distortion and keep the vertical lines vertical. [There are plenty of modern film and digital cameras that will accommodate shift lenses, which are widely used in architectural photography. - Dave] Today's BroadView Larger Map Philly Soul?Way to go, man! Great shot. I live right outside Philly. I love seeing old pics of places I know well. Shorpy is showing some love for the Two-One-Five, representin' old school style! Keep up the fantastic work, my friend! I visit your page daily for stuff just like this. Cheers! The TheaterJimsShip, the theater is still standing. It's the Academy of Music, it opened in 1857. Academy of MusicThe Academy of Music is the building on the left. The theater on the right was the Broad Street Theatre, torn down in 1937. http://libwww.library.phila.gov/HIP/HIPSearchItem.cfm?ItemID=pdcl00176 No GenericaThis picture has such amazing details. I really love the different styles of the buildings. There are places in CA where you can get lost so easy because every house looks exactly the same. I can look at this picture for hours. Seven Lamps"These building look far better than what replaced them." They usually do. Modern architecture seems to be created by people who never progressed further than stacking blocks on top of each other. But that's just my opinion. Used to be betterI went to UArts in Philly and the building on the right with the turrets was replaced by the Terra building (where I took some of my classes). This picture was definitely taken on Locust Street (I lived around the corner). These building look far better than what replaced them). Philadelphia city planningPhiladelphia was laid out by its founder, William Penn. His plan from 1683 called for Broad and High (Market) Streets to be extra-wide. Penn didn't want narrow, crowded streets like ones in European cities at the time. Better BuildingsFor every Mies Van Der Rohe there's a thousand hacks thinking it's easy and that's why we have the canyons of today. Sad. I'm amazed at the proportions of the aptly named Broad St. It looks like it could handle 10 or 12 carriages wide! Any idea why they went that wide and was that the norm? Certainly made it easy to convert into the car age. Wide streetsThe wider the street the easier to turn a team of horses, mules, or oxen. InspiredWhat is the tall building on the right with the spires, it appears to have been torn down judging by the google map, what a shame. That was a beautiful building. Spruce and BroadNo this was taken from Spruce. (Check google maps) I also went to UArts when it was Philadelphia College of Art. I lived on the corner of Broad and Spruce. Where the first building you see on the left is used to be the Schubert Theater now the Merriam Theater owned by UArts. The next building on the left would be the Academy of Music. [The Broad Street Theatre, on the right, was at Spruce and Broad. Below: Street View from the same location. - Dave] Missing Mansard StoriesHas anyone noticed that the top three or four stories of the building on the left at the corner of Spruce & Broad have been demolished. The building now extends only up to the grand cornice level. All of the articulations of the French-styled mansards, chimneys and other elements of the upper stories are gone. They probably created maintenance problems for the owner and were a source of leaks over time. The building today looks far better in my opinion than it does in this photograph; the awkward and unbalanced details of its former crown are out of sync with the aesthetic of the lower block, which has the grand cornice for an appropriate and typical termination. [The mansard-roofed building is gone. You're confusing it with the building behind it. - Dave] RE: Tall Building w/ SpiresThe Hotel Walton. Photos of the lobby are also tremendous. +108Below is the same view from October of 2013. Early autoThe car rushing through the photo is a 1904 Covert runabout. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Philadelphia)
Kindergarten Couture: 1952
... I wasn't in the picture with the rest of my classmates. Cheers. Down Under Wear With a few exceptions (some of the boys' ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 5:09pm -

Baby boomers, first wave, all born 1946, showing how we were dressed for kindergarten. Notice how we don't look like gang members, convicts or concentration camp inmates. Of course, for class photo day, most of us had probably gotten decked out a bit better than normally, but still. By the following year a new school had opened up in Corte Madera and our class size shrank dramatically. That's me at the bottom right. View full size. MemoriesWOW! Could have been MY Kindergarten picture, but in 1953 (I was born in 1947) and in Keasbey school #8 in Keasbey, NJ. Have you attempted to contact anyone in the picture for a possible re-enactment? Now THAT would be cool! KWith a few exceptions, this could have been MY kindergarten picture, in 1984. I guess what goes around comes around in the 5-year-old fashion world. re: the captionNotice also how there are no African American, Asian, Hispanic, or any other race of kindergartners. Not that that's the kids' fault, but still. So little changeI was born 15 years before these children, my daughter 12 years later. This could have been either of our Kindergarten pictures -- when girls wore dresses even when it wasn't picture-taking day. Notice, only one boy is making a face but he's sitting behind the teacher so he probably felt brave. I agree, a re-enactment would be be really cool. Good luck. re: re: The caption etc.My little friend Stanley, bottom row fourth from the right with the cool boots, was Filipino, I believe. And I don't think Fred, third row back on the left, is actually sticking his tongue out, he's just caught in mid-giggle. I met up with several of these folks four years ago at our Redwood High 40th reunion and we all agreed it would be fun to get together and reenact a class photo, but we never got around to it. Stylin'TTerrace, that is some outfit you had there - western shirt, loose tie with steerhead slide. Doin' the Hopalong Cassidy thing there, huh? Lack of 'diversity'Re: the lack of 'diversity': the country was demographically very different in 1952. Blacks made up only about 10-11 percent of the total population. Hispanics were a much smaller percentage. Not every school will have a predetermined quota of each group, then or now. I'm of the same age group as these kids, having started school in 1953. It was a different world then. We can't apply today's standards to it. [And today black people make up almost exactly the same proportion of the population -- a little over 12 percent. So your point is? - Dave] Li'l FolksI do not see obese or too large children as today. All look in perfect health. One can also guess who will be the seducer, the hard one, l' intellectual. 37 to 1Note: 37 kids, one teacher. The InnocentI was born in 1948 and remember my kindergarden then same way; everyone bright and cheerful. Good memories. Teacher of stylish, cheerful kidsHer name was Miss Ingalls, a surname fairly common in the British Isles, apparently. My clothes: I can't tell you how much I wish I had any memories of that outfit; whose idea it was to get it, me wearing it, anything. The main thing I remember about clothes back then was that before I even thought about going in the house after playing in the back yard all day was to dust off my jeans thoroughly, including all that junk trapped in the cuffs. I wasn't cheerful on the first day of Kindergarten. When the horrible realization suddenly hit me that my mother had gone, not to come back, leaving me there on my own in a roomful of complete strangers, I ran out of the room and down the street after her screaming. I got over it. I wonder what cornball gag or shtick the photographer pulled to get us all smiling. That 70s ClassI started kindergarten in '73. Our outfits were very different. We were much more flammable. Diversity... I grew up in Santa Monica, California, in the 1950's. My school had nearly equal portions of blacks, Hispanics, Asians and white kids. My mother, on the other hand, didn't see another person of any other ethnicity until she was eight years old. She lived in a small Icelandic community in North Dakota. It was, and still is, all about where you lived. I actually think the teacher might be Hispanic, and Tterrace....I would know you anywhere! Love the boys with their hands in their pockets! Kathleen Ya like plaid?There is enough plaid in this picture to satisfy the Bay City Rollers, but as I remember it, plaid signified "back to school" and there were millions of different ones for dresses, sportshirts and jackets (my mom had a full length, multicolor plaid overcoat). I love the eager, fresh faces, the willing innocence open to being taught by the enthusiastic, happy teacher. Best of all, none of the boys look like gang bangers and none of the girls look like prosti-tots, but these were the days of unquestioned obedience, respect and discipline. I hope they all did well, they are a great looking bunch of kids and the world was awaiting their unique talents. I can relate!Don't feel bad about your first day of Kindergarten, tterrace. If you placed me in a room with 37 weepy moms and 37 active five year-olds, I'd run down the street screaming, too...and I'm the teacher! (There is no way my secondary--grades 6-12 only--history education major/English education minor could prepare me for Kindergarten kids. I used to teach the K-2 class at my church, and those tykes were spectacularly EXHAUSTING!) I love AmericansI emigrated from England years ago. The wonderful photographs on this site, no matter the subject matter or point of view, show Americans as they really are--a simply magnificent people. Born in '52I still have my KG class photo, too, and I swear some of these same people in the same outfits were in my class in 1957 in Pasadena. Me TooYep, that could have been my kindergarten pic too from the mid 60's. Cotton dress (my mother complained constantly about how much she ironed) little white socks and oxfords. Girls couldn't wear pants, no matter what the weather until 73/74. Kindergarten hadn't become part of public school curriculum yet in my area. If you went anywhere it was church sponsored, which was what mine was. Great time though. Found my first love then. Ahhh... A Year LaterI was in KG not far from there in Paso Robles ... and I swear if the sign wasn't in front of your group I would spend hours trying to figure out why I wasn't in the picture with the rest of my classmates. Cheers. Down Under WearWith a few exceptions (some of the boys' clothing), all the children were in my 1950 kindergarten class here, Down Under. Re: PlaidMy mother, also born in 1946, is always wearing a plaid dress with a white bib in grade school pictures. I asked her if Grandma let the same dress out every year, but she said that her aunt bought her an identical dress every Christmas. Old-SchoolI was born in 1943, so that makes me slightly older. We had a dress code due to the fact that there were a lot of really poor people in our neighborhood. This was to eliminate competition fashionwise. I'm a firm believer in a uniform dress code. Look at the schools which set high standards; all have a dress code. Girls wore navy blue tunics and a white blouse. There were no jeans or runners permitted for either boys or girls. Discipline was strict and immediate; parents usually backed up the teachers. We moved about the school in an orderly fashion; double file and no talking. Boys entered one end of the building and their girls the other. Recess was strictly segregated as well. We sat up straight at our desks with our feet on the floor. No calling out was allowed; we had to raise our hand and be recognized by the teacher. We stood, as a class, any time any adult entered the room. I never heard of ADD, ADHD or all this nonsense which has become pandemic. You behaved or there was hell to pay. Nor was there a fleet of personal cars waiting to pick students up at dismissal. There were no school buses for us; you walked or used public transportation. Bicycles were not to be brought to school either. From kindergarten on I walked to and from school; usually alone. This was in a big city of over a million people. I think, all in all, that we became a very responsible productive generation. The Good Old Days!I was in Miss Ingalls´ Kindergarten class of 1960-61 and apparently, on the first day of school I sent my mother away before I even got in the door!! And from that moment on I have so many good memories; the cherry tree blossoms in the playground, nap time on our little blankets, the playhouse! and laying my little dress and matching ruffled socks out for the next day of school every night before going to bed. When I turned 16 Miss Ingalls was at my party! She had married and her name was Mrs. Vining. GaolbirdsBeing easily distracted didn't appear in the last twenty years. Back then, kids who displayed ADHD symptoms were MUCH more likely to drop out of school or go to gaol then they are now. The good old days, as long as you weren't black, a woman who wanted to be something other than a housewife, or slightly different. I really dig the cowboy boots on the kid just to the right of the sign. I wonder what were cooler, sneakers or black leather school shoes? (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Education, Schools, Kids, tterrapix)
The Strolling Photographer: 1975
... Leica glass. I get a kick out of that camera "box" too. Cheers. The green Ford ...in front of the '66 Caddy is a '66 -'69 ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/22/2019 - 8:45pm -

August 1975. My friend snapped this Kodachrome of his wife and me strolling along the 200 block of Keller Street in Petaluma, California. I'm decked out in my 70s-style duds, including bell-bottoms, waffle stompers, whatever you call that kind of shirt, plus my Konica Autoreflex T and camera bag, she in her Petaluma tee shirt, and Keller Street in Victorians, Volkswagens, Cadillacs and Pontiacs, not to mention the ubiquitous Ford F-150 pickup. View full size. Alternate titleThe Mod Squad! A world away fromCornettville, KY. Camera bagWas that the only kind of camera bag on the market in the 70's? My dad had one that appears exactly like that from back then. I was only 1 in 1975, and sadly the selection of camera bags is not one of the things I can remember from that age. -- If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. DragnetThe green Ford in front of the Caddy looks just like the one Friday and Gannon drove in Dragnet! A happier time, a happier place.I was living in Monterey in 1975. Mamie Shirttterance: In Northern Virginia where I grew up in the '70's, we called that type of shirt you are wearing in this picture a "Mamie Shirt", because that's something only your mother would truly love. But it was stylish back then and I must admit, I had one like that too. That shirt brings back a lot of mid-1970's memories. Stuff I hadn't thought about in years. So thanks for that. Cars on the streetCadillac, Volkswagen, Ford F-150... what? no Volvo love? [If it was a snake ... - Dave] Very cool!tterrace- I love the snapshots you share of everyday life in 20th century America! Volvo wagonNice Volvo 122 wagon in front! Still have my dad's '66 and it runs great. Truck a l'orangeThe orange truck looks like an International Travelall. I don't think they were called SUVs back then, just a truck. Oh MyMy first child was born in late 1973 so I remember these styles!!! Thanks again for the memories, tterrace! Doesn't seem that long ago, and yet...it was!!! Olde VolvosThey never die, they just get parted out. Checkin' OutLooks as if TTerrace is appreciating the lovely lady he's walking beside. But knowing his passions, one can surmise he's actually checking out the car. Waffle StompersWow, now there's a term I haven't heard for a long time; I loved wearing waffle-stompers! How did you like your Konica?I shot with a bunch of SLR's back then but didn't own one of these. Apparently their lenses were excellent. They went on to build a series for the Leica M that outperformed the out-of-sight expensive Leica glass. I get a kick out of that camera "box" too. Cheers. The green Ford...in front of the '66 Caddy is a '66 -'69 Falcon, and the Pontiac across the street is a '64 model. Small World, Isn't It?Keller Street, about three blocks north of Washington Street. While I could be wrong, I think that International Travelall belonged to the parents of a friend of mine who lived right about there. Back then it was an F-100That '71 Ford truck would have been an F-100, rather than an F-150. When in 1975 the Feds decreed that pickup trucks with a GVW under 6,000 pounds would have to include the same emission controls as cars (including catalytic converters), the big three automakers increased the GVW of their half-ton pickups to 6,050 pounds. Thus, Ford's "heavy half", the F-150, was born. The pickup in this picture is passing a '63 Pontiac. The Cadillac is a '66, and appears to be a Calais, Cadillac's "value" model. The green Ford is a Falcon 2-door sedan. And yes, I must confess, I had a whatever-you-call-it shirt like that when I was in high school, along with a couple of Qiana shirts. Ah, those were the days. Tterrace's Priceless Photos Nothing takes me back to the sixties and seventies as vividly as the photos tterrace posts here. Please, keep it up!!! Keller Street TodayWe were strolling right past the entry walk of the gray house on the right. I loved my Konica Autoreflex T. When I hauled it out about 7 years ago, I learned the mercury batteries for its exposure system were no longer available, then that the exposure system itself was non-functioning and would cost a bundle to repair. View Larger Map There has to be an algorithmthat will estimate the date of a street scene based on the ages of the vehicles shown in the photo. I mean, this is 1975, and in those days there was a particular attrition rate (low for F-100's, to be sure) and a particular mix of new vehicles sold. There has to be a way. Is that Me?Scary that I too had (and wore) one of those awful shirts in 1975, and those shoes and the bell bottoms! Ugh! My camera was a Minolta and I ran into the same old battery problem, but my son figured it out and enjoyed some black and white photos on film in this "digital" age! The blue "punch buggy" (who remembers?) has to be a 1967. I drove one for a LONG time - 18.5 years after getting it a 9 years old from my brother. The VW bug across the street - older. Those things were ubiquitous! KonicasI had a Konica around 1960, and it was a very good 35mm camera. Its only fault was a fixed, 50mm lens. At that time, Konicas were advertised as "The Lens Alone is Worth the Price." Konica CamerasI also loved my Konica SLRs. Went through four of them: a Model T, a Model T2 from 1971, T3 from 1975, and finally a compact T4 from 1980. A parade of lenses, Hexanons wide angle 28, normal 50 1.8, tele 135, tele 200. I have everything all neatly wrapped and boxed up to be found when the next archeological dig takes place here in 2525. I'm three years older than tterrace, and about a thousand miles away, but can easily relate to many of the postings. How did we get to "here" (2010) so quickly? Waffle StompersMy great-uncle owned a shoe shop. He made custom boots and shoes, and repaired all kinds of leather goods. When the waffle stomper craze came in, he made some serious bucks. Instead of buying the trendy hiking boots, many local kids would go into his shop and have their shoes and boots resoled with what he called "mud haulers." Later, irate parents would bring in their kids shoes to be resoled with more traditional soles. This caused a brief doubling of his work. OMG! Early Baby Boomers!!!I'm a later Baby Boomer myself. You were older kids. I don't know why we're even lumped together into the whole "Baby Boom" thing. The earlies (1945-1955) and laters (1956-1962) ones have NOTHING in common whatsoever. Didn't then and didn't now. Funny, huh? International TravelallI had a Travelall back in 1977 when I was 17. It was enormous! We hung a Frank Zappa poster on the right back window and a Led Zep one on the left loaded it up with St. Pauli Girl and Becks drove it from Bridgewater to Truro and promptly got it buried in the beach sand! The Wellfleet Fire Department towed it out and sent us on our merry way! Unfortunately my family was not huge into photography back then. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, tterrapix)
Leviathan: 1926
... yet. This is one of your best yet. Very handsome. Cheers to you and the National Photo Company. Southern Class A Great ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:13pm -

Washington, D.C., or vicinity circa 1926. "Southern R.R. Co. Crescent Locomotive 1396." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. Queen Crescent LimitedA short history of the Queen Crescent Limited. 1396, 1926 Still puffin'I have lived in Chattanooga and more than once rode on the excursion trains pulled by this locomotive! (see history link) I must compliment Dave on the enlargements of small details in the photos. Reminds me of the movie "Call Northside 777" in which the murderer is caught because the photo lab enlarges the date printed on a newspaper held by a newsboy! Ever tried newspapers, Dave? [Yes indeedy. - Dave] One of your best yet.This is one of your best yet. Very handsome. Cheers to you and the National Photo Company. Southern ClassA Great Railway. Great class of loco: Ps4. Same as the one in the Smithsonian. WOW!! ExcursionsAs far as excursions, you're probably thinking of Southern Ry. #4501, a freight engine, which was bought back from a shortline, and painted-and-otherwise-gussied-up to represent a passenger engine. It pulled many excursions starting in 1966. The real SR passenger steamers didn't make it past 1953 or so. (When the management realized steam excursions would be a real crowd-pleaser, the one in the Smithsonian was already "trapped inside.") WowBravo. Old 1396Beautiful engine absolutely beautiful! She was built 9 years & 9 months before I came along. Reminds me of the troop trains in the 1940s, heading south on the L&N Line as they passed through my hometown in central Kentucky, a little burg called Wildie in Rockcastle County. Wish I was back there now. Greatest achievementI maintain that the steam locomotive remains mankind's greatest accomplishment. WOWThis photo was taken in Southern Railway's yard in Alexandria, near the King Street station - if you look just to the right of the most distant power pole, you can see the George Washington Masonic Temple. No. 1396 was one of the first 12 PS4s delivered in Southern Railway's new "Sylvan Green" paint scheme. Most were lettered "Southern" on the tender, but no. 1396 was lettered "Crescent Limited" (not "Queen & Crescent" - that refers to the Cincinnati - Chattanooga - New Orleans route, and was applied to no. 6689) and assigned to the new, all-Pullman luxury train of the same name. Alexandria YardThe George Washington National Masonic Memorial was dedicated in 1923 but not mostly completed until 1932, so I don't believe that appears adjacent to the far telegraph pole. I believe this view is looking roughly east, with the wooden yard office to the right of the locomotive. About where the boxcars are out of view in the distance is where Hoofe's Run crossed under the tracks. -- Frank R. Scheer, Railway Mail Service Library Museum PieceThe same class of locomotive photographed by me in 2006 when I visited the Smithsonian's railroad section. My favoriteThis is my favorite of the images posted on Shorpy this past year. I don't know why; I'm not interested in railroads or big machines. I keep coming back to it, though. Perhaps it's because despite my disinterest I admire this magnificent machine and the work that went into creating and maintaining it. It makes me think about traveling and I imagine how people of the time would have looked at it in awe and thought of the big cities and world beyond their own region. Thanks Dave and crew for the work you've done and thanks to all the insightful Shorpy posters. Best wishes for the new year, and many more intriguing photos and enlightening posts. Looking east toward Callahan StreetThis view of the Southern Railway yard in Alexandria is looking east. The Masonic Temple would be behind the photographer's left shoulder. The little yard shacks were on the other side of Callahan Street. These shacks were there as late as 1980 or so as I have a photo of them. The roundhouse was to the right of the locomotive, probably out of the picture. The building to the right may be the yard office. The Northern Virginia Model RR club occupied a building in this approximate location for about 20 years from the early '50s until the early '70s. Herby's Ford was located to the left of the photo, on the opposite side of the Callahan Street crossing. It was built soon after WW2. Leviathan in colorSadly there are no contemporary color images of Ps-4s in their early days, but my friend Tom Alderman of Mayretta, GA has given us an idea of what it looked like on that day in Alexandria when 1396 posed for the camera. (The Gallery, Natl Photo, Railroads)
Nick Noir: 1924
... Colorized it Had a go at colorizing it here . Cheers! (The Gallery, Christmas, Farked, G.G. Bain, NYC, Scary Clowns) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/06/2012 - 1:55pm -

New York, December 1924. "Unloading Railway Express car." When the sleigh's in the shop, Santa might have to hijack a truck. 5x7 glass negative. View full size. ChuckyThe face on the guy helping him load makes me shiver. Nightmare city. CreepyThis is one of the creepiest photos I have seen on Shorpy. The evil clown guy on the truck is going to give me nightmares. Special delivery"Quit clowning around! This box of coal is heavy!" ElvishSanta's beard is definitely the real thing, but that clown face is the thing of nightmares! This SantaI had to chuckle - people are always commenting about how much thinner people are in general in these old pictures. Now I see that even Santa was eating a lower-fat and -sugar diet back then! Disturbing in so many ways...I think it's the clown mask on the guy in the back of the truck. Creepy! Looks like they're loading UP a really bad little boy, possibly for shipment back to the North Pole to work in Santa's Secret Toy Mines until he's "reformed." The fact that there are no air holes is the crate is a bit worrisome ... but poor little Carl was really asking for it. Sorry, but there were a few kids in my neighborhood growing up whose disappearance would have been an occasion of almost universal delight! (And I suspect every neighborhood has one or two...) Awfully coldThe guy inside the truck, taking the package from Santa, seems to have a bad case of frostbite. Jack frost has nipped at his nose (and cheeks, and forehead, and...) Ho NoI'm dreaming of a noir Christmas. GaaaI am officially freaked out. What kind of goofball thinks that a delivery man in clown makeup somehow blends with the xmas theme? And I think Santa needs to get back to eating meat, as his vegan (or bourbon) diet has left him looking remarkably un-Santa-like. Auto deliveryDo you suppose that is the Packard pedal car they are unloading? Santa's little helperI don't know why but that little clown midget gives me the creeps! Santa's Little Helper... is kinda creepy looking. Just Say No To ClownsI didn't realize how many other people found clowns so creepy. So it's not just me. Back In The Yule S.S.R.Look over that guy's shoulder--somebody's getting a balalaika this Christmas! Or maybe the instruments were packaged separately from the Russian band members they hired that are in that box. Man, they had a dreadful flight. You know that tune?Magic Mose & his Royal Rockers, featuring "Blind Sam," from 1984, on Arf! Arf! Records? Fark! The Herald Angels SingMerry Farkmas. Who can spot the entry referencing particle physics and quantum theory? Shrod... schreu... scschrod..., That CatPresumably you mean the first one, "Dead cat - maybe." [Izzactly. Catwise that is. The first one when I look is Squashed Santa. - Dave] That's 'cuz I wasn't paying attention. - tt Edwin and BettieThe folks at Fark have "unique" minds when they work references to Schrodinger's Cat and the recently departed Bettie Page into their Farking of Shorpy's Christmas photos! [You'll notice that the uniqueness collapses as soon as you look at the post. - Dave] Gallery AdditionNominate for the Scary Clowns gallery. [Done! - Dave] Guy behind Santa:I just KNOW I'll be blamed for this. Yes, that is exactly whatYes, that is exactly what they are doing – delivering the Packard pedal car. Santa and the scary clown are shown in the same outfits here in Wanamaker’s Department Store in New York City. https://www.shorpy.com/node/5140 Merry Christmas Colorized itHad a go at colorizing it here. Cheers! (The Gallery, Christmas, Farked, G.G. Bain, NYC, Scary Clowns)
Larkspur, Calif.: 19xx
... as the centre car, possibly a V-12 Sedan? Cheers HAC I'd say late '50s The Packard looks most like a ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/29/2011 - 6:20pm -

Your task: answer the following about this photo, taken in my former hometown. 1. What year was it taken? 2. Identify the cars. 3. What the heck's going on here, anyway? View full size. CarspottingThe car facing out of the garage is a '40 LaSalle. The Packard in the foreground is a '40 of some sort. Other than that, no ideas. Those pumps certainly are 'modern' looking, aren't they? If they were all there was, I'd say the photo's from the late '50s. But the Packard looks fairly new. InfoThis photo was taken around 1937 which is the time Hil. Probert decided to bring his Gas Station there. As you mentioned, it was taken in Larkspur, California. In 1945 Hil. Probert turned this house into an adjacent car showroom. This house was featured in a movie entitled Impact in 1949. Hope my info helped! More infoTerribly sorry to post a secondary comment but I found out that the type of car is either a Packard V-12, or a Desoto, which is what Hil. Probert specialized in selling. ObviouslyIt's Larkspur's annual Packard Polishing Day. The car in the Mobilubrication bay looks to be a circa 1940 LaSalle. The big car: 1939 Packard Super 8 touring sedan? The gas pumps look circa mid-1950s. My guess: 1956. My guess is a 1936-37 Packard...as the centre car, possibly a V-12 Sedan? Cheers HAC I'd say late '50sThe Packard looks most like a '39 to me but I could be off by a couple of years. There's a '39 Olds in the garage on the left. I won't attempt to identify the roadster in the garage or the car preceding the Packard. I think I see the right taillight of an early '50s Studebaker peeking out from behind the building. The gas pumps say late '50s to me, but it could certainly be a decade later. Someone else mentioned a license plate. Assuming the car in the right foreground is registered in California, this would not be later than 1962 (black on yellow). 1942The prominent car is a 1940 Packard 180 Custom 8. Judging by the 1942 strip on top of the 1941 base license plate issued by California at the time on the Chevrolet coupe in front of the Packard, the photo was taken in 1942. What was going on at the time? Someone was bored waiting for "Miss Daisy" to finish her shopping & decided to take a photo of the car he had just washed & polished for the trip into town. Not 10 seconds later after the photo was snapped, a huge sea gull left his calling card on the windshield! My attempt1.Roughly 1960 to 1965, those are late '50s gas pumps with the logo that was phased out about the same time as the "-cation" typeface and a rather different logo came in around 1962. 2.Front-and-center is a late '30s senior series Packard, an approximately '40 LaSalle is in the bay on our left, on our far right in the alley is something that looks very Model A-ish, the roadster in the bay on the right is hard to ID from this angle but it's unlikely to be much newer than 1935 or so. 3.Word gets around in the old car crowd, Mr Probert, or someone working for him, was obviously the go-to guy for servicing older cars in Larkspur. Larkspur LaSalleThat looks like a mid 40's LaSalle 1960http://sonic.net/~tterrace/larkspur/thennow/thennowprobert.html They say 1960, and that it was part of a 200 car collection. Looks like the same photo with a slightly different crop. Are those feet sticking out from under the LaSalle in the left bay? [A postscript: "They" is none other than tterrace himself -- you googled his website. - Dave] The day that Larkspur became famousIn 1961 at 10:10 in the morning, the town of Larkspur was visited by a cluster of UFO's. The residents were all processed in the alien medical unit. The memory of the incident was then erased in the townsfolk's memory bank. This photo was taken by Elmer Shine who just happened upon the event as he was traveling from town to town polishing Packards. The event is soon to be revisited on the History Channel. The story will be told by a goofy guy wearing shades and a baseball cap with UFO written on it. Riveting TV. 1940 PackardA 1940 Packard is the closest I can come to the main auto. Here's a pic that looks like it except for the lack of the horizontal chrome strips on the front and rear fenders and the different hood ornament. The hood ornament in the Larkspur Packard is the optional "swan" one. I think he was a Toyota dealerby the time you were in high school. BTW, was Hil. an abbreviation for hilarious, Hillary, or Hilton? Dating LarkspurDarn. Dual Freq was just too smart for me, except for the "they" part. All the cars in the shot belonged to Hil(dred) Probert. And yes, the station (and Larkspur itself, masquerading as "Larkspur, Idaho"), was featured prominently in the 1949 Brian Donlevy/Ella Raines film "Impact." Big giveaway is, of course, the gas pump style, plus that of the "Mobilubrication" lettering. Kudos to Lectrogeek for spotting the rear end of what I too believe is a Studebaker. Below, a shot I took in 2002 from about the same angle: The Last PackardI remember a Lawyer who lived a block or so away from me who had a Packard like that and a uniformed chauffeur that drove him. His son was a friend of my brother. When the son came home from his WW2 service he became the driver. A few years later he taught me to drive in the Packard's replacement, a Kaiser 4 door sedan. Whoosh!Those speedlines on the Packard look like someone's attempt at customization. Early to mid '50's.The rear end in front of the Packard looks to be a '47-'48 Chevy. That location became a Toyota dealership in the early '60's. The gas station pump area is now a barbershop, flanked by two retail stores, the former dealership to the left (out of picture) is now a collection of retail stores. A bird of a different featherSwan hood ornament, my spare tire. Any Packard owner will tell you that the bird is a cormorant. I made the mistake of calling one a duck once. I learned the hard way, not a duck. Kaiser a replacement for the Packard?>the Packard's replacement, a Kaiser 4 door sedan
The Great Emancipators: 1863
... be that he's secretly donning a mask. Either way, cheers to those who were similarly disturbed, and congrats on all of us moving ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 8:32pm -

Aquia Creek Landing, Virginia, circa 1863. "Federal Army. Clerks of the Commissary Depot by railroad car and packing cases." A somewhat unsettling scene. Wet plate glass negative by Alexander Gardner. View full size. Cup HolderApparently it's like taking a picture with your tea on a table. ::cringe:: HatsHats seem to play a subtle role in this photo. How is it that the gent on the far left has such a shiny hat? It looks like plastic. Is it oiled? [Or maybe leather. - Dave] HattageThe covering on the kepi is actually an oilcloth cover that was issued to the troops in the Civil War. Looks like ...Looks like a load of coffins to me. I saw the same stacked in Vietnam. [These are hardtack crates ("Army Bread"). As noted in the caption, this is the commissary depot. - Dave] What were they really fighting for?I'll see your cringe and raise you a wince. It should be remembered, though, that at that time the Union states' attitude toward races other than white was rather uncharitable, albeit in (sometimes) more subtle ways. It is good that we are today disturbed by such insensitivity. Thank you, Dave, for reminding us of how far we've come. They have the lookof bullies to me. Boo HooeySensitivities? Didn't Janet Napolitano just ask a military officer to refill her glass? People had servants back in the day ... nothing in this picture shocks except the foreboding bureaucracy that would taint this "nation" for generations. Sic Semper Tyrannus! [Always the cherry on the sundae when the poster's last word on the subject is amusingly misspelled. - Dave] OuchI didn't understand your comment until I scrolled down. It is a very sad picture!!! Double cringe! Unsettling indeedWhat makes it so is not servitude but servility. That HatLooks more like an early conductor's hat to me than a kepi. No badge, though -- but then, no military insignia at all. His LookI think what disturbs me more than anything is the serene look on the black gentleman's face. To me it suggests he may be conditioned to accept his lower position, or it could be that he's secretly donning a mask. Either way, cheers to those who were similarly disturbed, and congrats on all of us moving far from the days portrayed in this picture. UnfortunateI hate this picture, I really do. That man sitting on the ground had just as much potential, possibly more, than any of those men around him. Too bad he wasn't able to use any of it. So glad that it's not that way anymore!! ProjectionThere appears to be an awful lot of it going on here. And I don't mean in the picture. Looking on the bright sideWhile not happy with the way people were treated back then, I do wonder if he had a few good secrets stored away! Freeze!I hate history. Why can't everything have been just like it is now and never, ever change? Handsome People in Strange ClothesNothing about this picture offends me. It is of its time. I love the clarity - which is remarkable. ClerksIt is interesting that these men (except the man holding the cup and perhaps the one with the beard) are not wearing uniforms. The man with the cup is wearing a fatigue blouse and the army "brogans." The man with the cup is most likely a freed slave. These 'contrabands' were often hired as servants. Higher ranking officers were issued a pay allowance, extra rations and uniforms for a servant. At least this man is a paid worker - far removed from slavery. Given the choice, I think the man would keep this station in life over his former state. (The Gallery, Alexander Gardner, Civil War, Railroads)
Merry Christmas From the Family
... So: Murray Ecksmiss and Hoppy NuYeer, etc etc! Cheers Zephyr "Merry Christmas From the Family" I hope at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/29/2014 - 1:40pm -

"Dickey Christmas tree, 1922." Our fourth holiday visit with the family of Washington lawyer Raymond Dickey, who has a decade's worth of Christmas portraits in the archives of the National Photo Co. Some of which turned out better than others. View full size. Dave's Understatement:"Some of which turned out better than others." Boy, I'll say! It's amazing how many times I find myself hitting"Send To Trash" while editing my own photos. Big plates weren't cheap I don't imagine, so these fellas had to let things slide. Merry Christmas to ALL!!! (but when More (allegedly) wrote "A Visit From St. Nicholas," Santa says "Happy Christmas to all" -- the editors changed it. So, Happy Christmas to ALL of you fine folks too. The Barbara Walters InterviewBarbara: "If you were this Chwistmas twee, what would you say?" Me-Tree: "Could someone put a little Tylenol in my water - I have the worst crick in my upper trunk." Are We Having Fun Yet?How exciting to see a comment from Zippy the Pinhead's creator on Shorpy! Great Grandson of famous photographerJust bought a print of a William Henry Jackson photo from the Detroit Publishing Company, circa 1900. WHJ was my great-grandfather. I have very few of his actual photos---nice to be able to see and obtain more here!----Bill Griffith (William Henry Jackson Griffith) Big ContrastThere certainly is an obvious difference between the grim Dickey clan and tterrace's family. Oh, MinBack in the 1920s and '30s, "The Gumps" was a popular comic strip, with Andy Gump and his wife, Min. "Oh, Min!" was a catchphrase back then, so I suppose the album or whatever it is was associated with the strip. Anything BUT merryThe juxtaposition of the message "Merry Christmas" with the subjects' grim facial expressions is extremely incongruous, and gave me an unexpected laugh. Happy Holidays, everyone! Truly. Way back whenBack in the day before fire safety took the fun out of everything, my elementary school had a similar Christmas tree in the front hallway. Not only was it glorious, it smelled wonderful. The last year we had one was 1965, the next year the principal set up one of those aluminum monstrosities. Wonder what became of the ornaments. Great Shorpy photo as alwaysbut like most commenters, I'm wondering about the unhappy faces. Two theories: Either they just found out that the Redskins once again missed the NFL Playoffs or someone recently informed them that the Great Depression was only seven years away. The Joy of ChristmasLooks like everybody's getting socks and underwear this year. Nice tree.The faces of the younger woman and the boys almost look like cardboard. It's probably from the flash. What a great picture. Worn to a FrazzleThat poor Mother looks like she is just completely worn out. The hairstyle reminds me of Elsa Lanchester in "Bride of Frankenstein". The "thousand yard stare" in her eyes makes me sorry for her that Valium had not been invented at that time. Sure hope they all had a better Christmas than their picture projects. Oh Min!Oh Min! was a song released in 1918, sung by Edward Meeker, based on a catchphrase from the comic strip "The Gumps." Apparently in 1924 there was a motion picture by the same name. re: Big ContrastYeah, but they definitely have some of our ornaments. Christmas CheerEggnog and Jack, STAT. Bah! Humbug!It must be true what they say about those black-hearted lawyers! "Don't be sad, kiddies; tomorrow we can go back to our usual Dickey lawyering!" Aside from that, it is nice to see all those wonderful ornaments I remember from my childhood. Could they look any more miserable?Man this is a somber looking bunch, the only one with any real expression is the kid in the Sailor Suit. Love the tree! Real glass ornaments with elaborate decorations, not the cheap plastic or plain glass junk you find now. Another Christmas photo from the same eraHere's a photo from about Christmas 1922 taken by my grandfather Wilford Fletcher. On the right is my mom, Margaret, and on the left is her older sister Dorothy. Oh Min!What is it? [Looks like a game or a phonograph album. "Oh Min!" pops up periodically on eBay. - Dave] Mry Xms -Hpy NwYrI would like to wish for each and all the Shorpyites: "Best of the Season!" To Dave especially - what a monumental amount of work this is - I don't think folks can really appreciate that until they've tried to do a bit of itinerant webmastering... I can just see the typical Louis Wickes Hines photo of Dave, standing in front of his computers: "David, looks 65, says he is much younger, been a webmaster for several years now, makes very little for his efforts. Works 15 hours a day, gets no exercise and little sunlight or fresh air. Hands are always sore from typing and processing digital photos. Eyesight suffering. Perhaps no hope for David to have a 'normal' life." Thanks to tterrace for his contributed (and ongoing) "stream of richness" and for drawing back the curtains over a window into the fascinating 3-D web of lives of his family and friends. Thanks to all the Shorpy contributors, from the 'Anonymous' one-line drive-by snarkings, to the Rest of the Bunch. May each of us find some quiet and contentment in the midst of busy lives and times! So: Murray Ecksmiss and Hoppy NuYeer, etc etc! Cheers Zephyr "Merry Christmas From the Family"I hope at least a few people (besides me) got the reference made in the title of this post to Robert Earl Keen's very funny song. Tall TreeThe tree looks like one of those shown in a past picture.. A 12 foot tree in a 10 foot room. (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo, The Dickeys)
Dandelions and Daisies: 1943
... Paint Brush". They flower in mid-June to mid-July. Cheers. [Below, a photo of Indian paintbrush. Not very similar. - Dave] ... but it is a dandy, eh, and I appreciate you sharing. Cheers. [Wikipedia entry on Indian paintbrush , Castilleja ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 12:00pm -

A springtime carpet of dandelions and daisies in Vermont, June 1943. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier. I see clover and daisies, but nothing that looks very dandeliony to me. Are the orange flowers dandelions? Dandelion DebateFirst a dang nice photo, but in these parts, UP of Michigan, we call those orange flowers which are native to the area and grow wild or sometimes even in one's backyard "Indian Paint Brush". They flower in mid-June to mid-July. Cheers. [Below, a photo of Indian paintbrush. Not very similar. - Dave] Ahh, I just looked at theAhh, I just looked at the closeup again and noticed the dead flowers on those stems. If they were dandelions, the heads would be empty; the petals would've turned into puffballs and blown away. But instead we see darker, withered flowers still attached. These are categorically NOT dandelions -- it's impossible. [The dried ones have a swelling at the base, like rose hips. - Dave] Orange Hawkweed?[Image link. Wikipedia entry. - Dave] Dandelions? NopeWithout seeing the leaves, my guess is yellow hawkweed; as it also has a number of shades ranging between brilliant yellow through that flame-orange colour. The daisies, on the other hand, are in fact chrysanthemums -chrysanthemum leucanthemum! Really nice image, though. Thanks for all the great work here, Dave. Indian PaintbrushPerhaps the photo of the flower above you describe as "Indian Paintbrush" is correct but in these parts, the flowers in the original posted photo is definitely what we call "Indian Paintbrush", at least for folks near Lake Superior. It is possible different plants share such a common name. ---- I do know though, that the flower that my eyes see in the original photo is very familar to me and in my native Ojibwe language which I speak fluently, is called "Miskwanowe". The flower you refer to as shown above is one that I'm not familar with, but it is a dandy, eh, and I appreciate you sharing. Cheers. [Wikipedia entry on Indian paintbrush, Castilleja linariaefolia, illustration below. - Dave] both of thoseI have both of those kinds of flowers at my house (they look identical), but I don't know what they are.. Dandelions and Daisies: 1943I think that the yellow flowers are hawkweed. Keep those old Kodachromes comin'. Love the old images. Dave The Orange FlowersI believe the orange flowers are mums. [A field of tiny wild chrysanthemums? In Vermont? - Dave] Unidentified Flowering ObjectsIn the closeup they look a lot more like dandelions that aren't all the way open yet. But the color is still off, and the way the flowers come off from the stem in bunches is entirely wrong. Can we get a closeup of the leaves of these flowers? Dandelions have really striking leaves. At this point I'm putting my money on marigolds. The color, shape, and pursed buds are all characteristic of Tagetes. [Click on the pic below for a dazzling panorama of leaves and stems. - Dave] More DandelionsA bunch of clover (those white flowers that aren't daisies) in the foreground, too. I'm not sure those are dandelions -- if you were looking at a print you might think so, but at a big size like this there's something wrong. Dandelions would be about the color of the daisies' centers, and even more importantly, dandelion blooms aren't in clumps like that. The real tipoff is when you look at the ones closest to the camera, you can see the center and petals are distinct; the center's a shade or two lighter than the petals surrounding it. In dandelions you can't see the center, it's all petals, so there's no distinction at all. I think those are actually another type of daisy, with orange centers and brown-orange petals. Unless the dandelion crop of 1943 was really weird in Vermont :) dandelionsYeah, the orange flowers look like dandelions to me, except that the color seems a bit off. Definitely not dandelions.Having spent a lot of summers in my youth weeding out dandelions from the lawn at a penny a piece I am intimate with the little buggers. They have single flower stalks and a very definitive large clumpy saw toothed leaved base all around that would show up in the picture as nothing can grow through it. Also color's wrong. My vote is with the mums, although Dave's Orange Hawkweed find is intriguing. Too bad we can't find out how those flowers matured. Neat little mystery. the flowersThe flowers are made in heaven and sent to earth. Wherever they are they radiate warmth, grandeur, love and above all friendship among men, women, children ! I believe the orange flowersI believe the orange flowers are mums. Not dandelionsThe yellow/orange flowers in the picture have multiple buds/blossoms in a cluster. Dandelions have only one blossom per stalk, although there may me multiple stalks coming out of the same plant. The unopened buds look a lot like the buds in the hawkweed picture. The small, spherical, white flowers are white clover. Different places, different namesIn the New England area, those golden flowers are called Indian paint brush ( rightly or wrongly ); obviously they are not of the same genus and species as the red flower pictured above. That's the trouble with common names vs. scientific names! Dandelions n DaisiesHere's a closeup to aid in the deliberations. Hawkweed!Look at how it grows with 2-5 flowers per stalk; that doesn't happen with marigolds, paintbrush, or mums. It's hawkweed. -Grew up in Michigan PrettyWhatever they are it's a beautiful shot. Indian Paintbrush I don't care what Wikipedia says, those flowers are everywhere here in northern Vermont and they vary from yellow to red and every shade between. They are known in these parts as "Indian Paintbrush." So there! (The Gallery, Kodachromes, John Collier, Landscapes)
Gifted: 1951
... greetings from far away from Micaela! Merry Christmas and Cheers all. Happy even in the snow! Love this photo! The classy car with ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/21/2014 - 9:54am -

"Bill, Emily & E.S. - Dec 25 1951." It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in this latest episode of Minnesota Kodachromes. Photo by Hubert Tuttle. Full size. Mercury OptionsThis car has the accessory rear-window wiper. A joy of living that transcends decades and continentsAlmost all the Minnesota Kodachromes convey such joy of living! They really make you feel the happiness, which seems to have been preserved in a time capsule. Not so long had passed since the terrible WWII, so I believe people must have been elated at the thought the ordeal was over. Anyway, this photo is so uplifting and all I can add is Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Romania to all Shorpy fans all over the world! Keeping up with the Joneses, er, SwensensA nice 1950 Mercury with sunshade and dual outside mirrors, and fur coats for the wives. James Dean... drove a similar 1949 Mercury in "Rebel Without a Cause." His was a two-door. This one has accessory fender skirts and sun visor. Letters on the wheelcovers and rounded rear window mark this as a '49. '50s had smooth wheelcovers and '51s had a larger rear window. Christmas casserolesI'll bet that's a covered dish of some kind, that she has covered with that brown paper bag! Scalloped potatoes, or baked beans? I wonder! Ringgenbergs of AlgonaThese are likely Bill and Emily Ringgenberg and their only daughter, Emma Ringgenberg Lighter, all of Algona, Iowa (the next county seat south of Blue Earth). Ms. William Ringgenberg was identified in a 1960 Kossuth County Advance as a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abe Tuttle of Blue Earth, who were then celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary. This would make her one of Hubert's sisters. The 1940 census provides her first name (Emily), and identifies her husband as Willard, and their fifteen-year-old daughter as Emma. Bill died in 1973, but Emily would see another half-century before her death in 2002, at age 96. Hot Dishis what Minnesootans call dem casserole thingies, ya know? FootwearI'm amazed that the young lady is wearing heels while walking in the snow. What we women go through for fashion's sake! Ringgenberg?Algona, Iowa, you say? Now you're getting close to home. I went to high school there, but it was in the '60s and I didn't know any Ringgenbergs. The snow, the elm-lined streets, the style of houses - all very familiar to me from that part of the country. Actually a '50Yes, it has '49 wheelcovers, but the side trim with the "MERCURY" lettering over the front wheel opening, and the rear windows that wraps into the C-pillar show it to be a '50 model. The side trim on the '49 is plainer, and the "MERCURY" lettering is at the front of the trim. Muskrat, the other minkMy bet is the ladies are sporting muskrat coats which were very popular at that time. Muskrat could be trimmed and dyed to mimic mink. My mother had one about the same time period with a matching hat and muff. In the early 60's my father purchased her a black Persian lamb jacket which replaced the muskrat. As a kid my sister and I would love to stroke the muskrat to fulfill our "Lenny" urges. Happy Holidays to all the Shorpy fans. Oh fun photos even for one living in MNThe rain killed what we should have as in the photo but the joy is still here because of greetings from far away from Micaela! Merry Christmas and Cheers all. Happy even in the snow!Love this photo! The classy car with suicide doors and the sun visor and fender skirts. Wonderful coats and hats on all three persons and they are happy. Merry Christmas! YummyAnd I'll bet the white bag with the round container holds a tin of home made Christmas baking, maybe cookies. Merry Christmas to Shorpy and fans! Thanks, Micaelafor your happy greetings across the Atlantic. Greets, love and light to you. Ya, surestuart51, green bean casserole's in the bag, and jello salad in the bag. jsmakbkr, thanks for the update on this charming Minnesota family. Merry Christmas Shorpy fans, far and wide What is the correct model year?The rear window on a 1950 Mercury has one piece of glass. The '49 has a three piece window with chrome dividers. This photo clearly shows those chrome dividers. [And yet it also has the 1950 front fender trim; a mystery. -tterrace] 1949 MercuryThe car has 1949 Mercury wheel covers, and the '49 also had Mercury written on the fender trim. [Compare the lettering style and position between 1949 and 1950 - taken from Mercury brochures - and our car. -tterrace] What a guy!Bill stands with his hands in his pockets while the girls cart in all the stuff. I am glad to see, however, that he had the sense to BACK into the driveway so the women could get out in the cleared path. I bet Emily suggested it, though. Makes you feelWarm and cold at the same time. Brings back nice memories of living in the North, and how the ladies in my family always wore lovely long coats, and until I was big enough the way I found my mom in a store was by the coat she wore. Mercury MysteryThe door handles are the pull type, early 1949. The split rear window is 1949 Why the front fender trim is 1950 is a mystery. Maybe replaced due to damage? The sun visor is an aftermarket Fulton. Cut Bill A BreakBenefitsspecialist complained about Bill just standing there like a bump on a log. There is a good possibility he spent some cold time cleaning snow off of the car and had the heater going so when it was time to back into the driveway the ladies were presented with a clean and warm car. Even if he only went out to warm the car and back it into position he deserved a cup of hot coffee with maybe a wee shot of Seagram's 7. (Cars, Trucks, Buses, Christmas, Minnesota Kodachromes)
Roeber's Cafe: 1908
... images. Thanks! [As far as I know, this is it. Cheers! - Dave] It was a dank and rainy day. Everybody is at home ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/19/2012 - 2:12pm -

On the left, champion wrestler and vaudeville impresario Ernst Roeber (1861-1944) and his Manhattan saloon at 499 Sixth Avenue around Easter 1908. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Roeber (aka Ernest or Ernie) also operated a cafe in the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn. Moerlein'sAnd a closer look at this photograph shows the wrap-around metal banner proclaiming “Moerlein’s Celebrated Cincinnati Lager Beer.” Being originally from Cincinnati, and having never heard of this brand, I did a Google search and discovered that the Hudepohl Brewing Company now owns the Moerlein brand and apparently produces and sells it today. Hudepohl beer (and its lighter companion Schoenling beer) are well-known Cincinnati brands and were my brews of choice when younger, particularly when watching the Cincinnati Reds at old Crosley Field. Roeber Arrested!Thanks to the NY Times opening up their archive, there's an article that mentions the address in a brief article on Roeber being arrested for disorderly conduct at his cafe. The address is given as 499 Sixth Avenue, which is the number in the photo. [Thanks Wayne! I added that to the caption. - Dave] What an amazing photographThis is one of those photographs that just keep on giving. What wonderful detail!! Thanks for putting it on the site. Don Hall Yreka, CA Not So Subliminal Religious MessagesThis photo is rife with spiritual imagery. First there is the obvious star of David under the big "Ernst Roeber" sign. Less obvious is the fortune teller that dwells within Joe's Theatre. Finally, there's the newspaper headline, "Excommunication Of King Robert The Pious." [Maybe not all that spiritual. The star was the logo for the Ehret's Beer Hell Gate Brewery, at one time the largest in the country. George Ehret was from Germany, where the hexagram or Bierstern (beer star) is a symbol of the brewers' guild. - Dave] Robert the PiousActually The Excommunication Of King Robert the Pious is a painting, not a newspaper headline. [Seems to be a little of each. - Dave] WeirdSpeaking of spiritual imagery. What's with the ghostly figure on the right side? Was that person simply moving as the picture was taken? Cut rate vaudeville, beer,Cut rate vaudeville, beer, wine, whiskey, palmists, massage... It all looks pretty decadent to me! Ice, Coal, and WoodDid people really buy coal and wood at shops like this? It was for heating, right? Also I love the sign that reads "SIGN" Ice, Coal and Wood"Did people really buy coal and wood at shops like this?" I would imagine that the "shop" was really a company office where you would order deliveries of ice (for your ice box) wood (for cooking?) and coal (for heating). L'excommunication de Robert le Pieux (1875)This a painting by Jean-Paul Lauren (1838-1921), now at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Wikipedia article. Anyway... this is one of the greatest photos of this site! Moerlein BeerI'm related to Christian Moerlein, the brewer. Do you have any more images, like these, that include the Moerlein name? The Moerleins recently had a family reunion in Cincinnati, which my immediate family attended. I'm going to send this link to all of them, and we'll be ordering some of these prints very soon. Please let me know if you have any other Moerlein images. Thanks! [As far as I know, this is it. Cheers! - Dave] It was a dank and rainy day.Everybody is at home having dinner with their family and nobody is out drinkin', even the "Floppy Joes" are staying away today. The shoeshine boy has already thrown in the towel and has gone home, empty handed, to his mother. Roeber, in a mood as black as the day, ponders going next door and making a long distance telephone call to wish his mother a Happy Easter. Jingling his pocket change, he grumbles to Patty, his bartender, that it's gonna be a long night if they get more rain. Meanwhile the bouncer, Gill "The Butcher" Fendley, has just told a loitering tramp to hit the road, who having dealt with "The Butcher" before, does in a blur of motion. Yep, it's gonna be a long night. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Buffalo: 1905
... by Miss Gertrude Hanna, daughter of President M. H. Hanna, cheers went up from the thousands who had gathered to watch the great vessel ... yards, dropped gracefully into the water amid repeated cheers of the crowd. The launching was carried out successfully, and now the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:17pm -

Buffalo, New York, circa 1905. "Looking up Main Street. Steamer North Land at Long Wharf." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Splendid New SteamshipBuffalo Enquirer. January 5, 1895 SAFELY LAUNCHED. The New Northern Steamship, NORTH LAND, Launched in Cleveland. A Sister Ship to the NORTH WEST and Similar in Construction and Equipment.         Cleveland Jan. 5. -- The splendid new steamship NORTH LAND was successfully launched at 2:30 this afternoon at the shipyards of the Globe Iron Works.         As the launching signal was given by Miss Gertrude Hanna, daughter of President M. H. Hanna, cheers went up from the thousands who had gathered to watch the great vessel slide into the water. The christening ceremony over this magnificent steel vessel, now the finest on the lakes, was performed by Mrs. F. P. Gordon, wife of the Assistant General Manager of the Northern Steamship Company. For the purpose a large platform had been built under the bow of the big vessel, and here the traditional bottle of wine was broken by Mrs. Gordon. The boat was launched sidewise, room being insufficient for a direct plunge.         The new vessel, which, both the Globe Company and the steamship people say is the finest that ever left these yards, dropped gracefully into the water amid repeated cheers of the crowd. The launching was carried out successfully, and now the Northern Steamship Company has two exclusive steel passenger steamboats, the best constructed and speediest vessels on the lakes.         The NORTH LAND is quite similar in beauty of design and in elegance of interior construction to the NORTH WEST. The Globe Company had the advantage of the experience gained in the building of the sister vessel, the NORTH WEST, and have made some improvements over what was last year supposed to be pretty nearly perfect in the way of construction. As one of the representatives of the steamship company said, the builder made improvements just as an architect is able to do when he builds a second house. He can learn to perfect his work after the first production. This experience has assisted the company in another way; it has enabled them to have the new steamer ready for launching 30 days earlier than last year.         This morning the Globe Iron Works were inspected by the officials of the Northern Steamship Company and the representatives of the Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit newspapers, guests of the steamship company. At these works are built a great many vessels for lake traffic, and the facilities for the purpose are unexcelled. The works are among the largest industries in Cleveland, and employ a large number of men.         The NORTH LAND, which was launched today, is built of steel throughout, and its hull has been strengthened and subdivided through transverse and longitudinal bulkheads into numerous water-tight compartments. Strength and safety were as much requisites in building the vessel as are speed and comfort. The hull is of novel design, and is constructed around the shafts, giving as little resistance as possible, and also great strength.         In general the dimensions of the NORTH LAND is 383 feet over all, 360 feet between perpendiculars, the molded breadth is 44 feet, and depth 26 feet.         The interior arrangements of the boat are as fine as money and excellent taste can make them. Electricity is used in lighting, and one might fancy he was in the parlor of some elegant private residence on terra firma. Mahogany has been largely used in the wood work. I love the SteamerI admire the photo and I love the "North Land" at first sight. As i read about the steamer a little bit and I know she has an interesting story. The steamer was built in 1895 by (as we all see) the Northern Steamship Company. Mark Tawin wrote about her, whilst travelling on his own tour of America: "All that has been said of this fine ocean ship on the Great Lakes is not exaggerated." "North Land" operated between Chicago and Buffalo, from June through late September. In 1919 she was sold and cut into two pieces at Buffalo and was towed to Montreal, Quebec. Plans to convert and operate her as an ocean liner or troop ship never materialized. She lay in her dock until 1921, when she was dismantled and scrapped. Unfortunately. Admirably Appointed The United States with an Excursion into Mexico, Handbook for Travellers, by Karl Baedeker. 1904. 46. From Buffalo to Chicago. e. By Steamer. It is possible to go the whole way from Buffalo to Chicago by water, through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, without change of steamer. — The ‘North Land’ and ‘North West’, the two magnificent steamers of the Northern Steamship Co. (each 386 ft. long, of 5000 tons burden, and accommodating 500 passengers), leave Buffalo (wharf at foot of Main St.) every Wed. and Sat. in summer at 8 p.m. (central time). The — The ‘North Land’ goes through to Chicago, which it reaches on Sat. at 1 p.m.; the ‘North West’ goes to (3 days) Duluth (comp. p. 372), and Chicago passengers must change at (1½ day) Mackinac Island. Through-fare to Chicago $13.50, berths extra (to Mackinac from $3 up). Luggage up to 150 lbs. is free. Fares to Cleveland, $2.00: to Detroit, $4.75; to Mackinac Island, $8.50; to Sault-Ste-Marie, $10.75; to Duluth $17.00. These steamers are admirably appointed in every way and afford most comfortable quarters. BeautifulAmazing view of Buffalo in its prime. You can see several landmarks that are still standing, including the Ellicott Square Building, and the old post office (now ECC city campus). Looking forward to more photographs of Buffalo! She's YarHow beautiful she is. It's a shame old ships and old buildings don't live forever. 1895-1921Built in 1895 by Globe Iron Works of Cleveland, Ohio for the Northern Steamship Company. One of two sister-ships. Originally built with three funnels. By 1910 she had new boilers and two funnels as shown in this picture. In 1905 was running a passenger service between Buffalo and Chicago. The North Land had been built to undertake the round voyage between Buffalo and Duluth in a week and her owners, the Northern Steamship Company, became the first to introduce seven day cruises. Scrapped in 1921. ElegantGrowing up in Western New York State, I passed through Buffalo many times. I've always loved the graceful lines of those Lake steamers. They had to be a little narrow to get through the Welland Canal, which enabled them to bypass Niagara Falls (the direct trip was a little precipitous). Just about all gone now. Like ghosts. Sherwin WilliamsI didn't realize the Sherwin Williams logo was that old. I figured maybe 1940's or 1950's. It's changed in 100 yearsI live in buffalo and looking at this is a bit odd. Most of what you see there was torn down to make room for RT5 and the I190. First, that's not Main Street anymore, it's looking east down Church Street. The new Main Street would start around were the tall flagpole is, I think. The large white building to the right of the street looks like the Ellicott Square building (completed 1896, the largest office building at the time). The large tower to the right of that is the old post office, now Erie Community Collage. The problem is it should be closer to the Ellicott Square building. The steeple to the left of the street is Asbury Delaware Methodist Church. Now it's the home of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. The clock tower left of that is the old town hall. SpiresSadly, I've never been to Buffalo. There are a number of interesting church spires in this photo. Do any of them still exist? Map linkThe street centered in this photograph is indeed Main Street. A map from 1894, depicting the buildings along the left side of the photograph and along Main Street up to Seneca can be found here. The trapezoid shaped building with the large overhangs is the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western passenger station. It is Main streetTo David_T It looks strange to you because it is in fact Main Street. Then the location of the landmarks make sense. For example, the Ellicott Square building is on Main street. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Buffalo NY)
War Garden Girls: 1918
... State University. On the banks of the Wabash. Cheers! Indiana Buckle Ball State University in Muncie was established ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 12:08pm -

Circa 1918. "National War Garden Commission. Vigo County Canning Clubs." Indiana "farmerettes" at a War Garden exhibit in Washington. View full size. Neat!Great job, vangogh! Terre Haute or bust!Well, Purdue is the ag college in Indiana. It makes sense that they sponsored the ag extension agent. But the delicious contents in those jars were no doubt home-grown in or near Terre Haute, county seat of Vigo County and present home of Indiana State University. On the banks of the Wabash. Cheers! Indiana BuckleBall State University in Muncie was established by Frank Ball and his brothers, the makers of the Ball Mason jar, the world standard for canning products. Yes I canThe canning clubs were organized by extension agents. Over the years, the USDA has done a good job in teaching safe food preservation through university extension services, extension agents, and extension clubs for homemakers. When I taught myself to can in the early 1990's I relied on the Ball Blue Book (the bible of home canning, published by Ball Jars) and a series of pamphlets from the University of Kentucky extension service. Growing and canning my family's food was one of the things I did so I could stay at home with my children when they were little. It was hard, steamy work (from planting the seeds through filling the jars), but it was entirely worthwhile for many reasons. I'd do it all again. It's great to be self-sufficient. That's what gardening and preserving the food is all about. Color, Please.Of the many photos on Shorpy, this is one I would truly like to see in color. Washington Post, Jul 14, 1918 War Gardens and Why We Make Them Prizes for Home Canners. A prize contest for home canners, on a national scale, has been announced by the war garden commission. To stimulate interest in food conservation, the commission has offered $10,000 in thrift stamps and National Capitol prize certificates, as prizes for the best home canned vegetables grown in war gardens located in villages, towns and cities. The National Capitol prize certificates will be awarded to canners in competitions at recognized canning displays and fairs throughout the country. There must be at least five entries in each competition. With each certificate will be awarded a book half filled with thrift stamps. This plan has been adopted to encourage additional buying of stamps and help win the war. ... 1918 -> 2018: ONE CENTURY LATER Could this become a repeat event? Out of necessity, we may all be growing and canning our own food by the year 2018. Is there any arable land in your family? [Something tells me we won't. But if the need arises, I do have a little nephew who's usually covered with dirt. - Dave] 4 Outa 5 ain't badLove the four very proud-looking girls and rightly so. Maybe the one in the middle didn't win anything but whatever, she should still be pleased to be recognized. BotoxMy grandmother used to talk about the occasional poisoning from botulism in canned goods. As a child she had seen a neighbor take just a taste--a half of a small spoon--of some canned preserves and then die soon thereafter. Canning?I've always wondered why they call it canning. Isn't it really jarring? Can-canEven thirty years ago it wasn't easy to find reasonably-priced fresh fruit or vegetables between October and June. Many families grew their own produce and canned or froze it when it was at its prime, rather than eat store-bought canned produce or, worse, go without fresh produce entirely in the winter (as my dad's family did back in the thirties). Given the work it takes to can vegetables (let alone grow them), these girls should have been proud of themselves. To one of the anons: botulism from improper canning procedures (usually not following the recipe or not using a pressure canner when required) is possible, but exceedingly rare. One cookbook I have claims that there were 31 deaths in the entire United States from home-canned foods between 1901 and 1953, but over 500 from commercially canned food. Yet everyone has a friend of a friend who knew someone who died from eating a spoonful of home-canned food. Hmm.I wonder if Miriam Retherford had anything to do with this. Canning todayIn the rural Midwest and South, home gardens and canning are traditions that are still very much alive. Every supermarket carries jars and lids, many families have their own garden or access to a local farmer. Nowadays freezing has been added to preservation methods, which is safer for low-acid foods such as corn. We put up chutney, tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, blueberries, apples, peaches, lime and mustard pickles, and beans if we can get our hands on enough. (I hated the month of August when I was a kid...it seemed like one endless day of beans to snap and tomatoes to skin and cucumbers to slice). Nice sign.Someone really had a fun time hand lettering that sign. There's a dying art. Technicolor cannershope you enjoy this colorized version.... [It's beautiful! Thank you. Click to enlarge. - Dave] Not Dead YetDying art? I think not. I'm married to a professional calligrapher. There are plenty of them out there. Not many on the net, though. My wife is pretty much a luddite, as are her contemporaries. Did you know about the new St. John Bible? Hand illustrated and lettered. It's beautiful (and still in progress). I did like the university citation on the bottom of the sign. Go Boilers! Arcadian SunsetDiscussing with a friend the progression away from such activities as canning - at least in the LA area - I said: My great-grandfather had a farm. My grandfather had a garden. My father had a can opener. I have a microwave. A very hot jobIn the days of victory gardens and beyond, my mom and our neighbor canned countless varieties of foods and since all the best harvest seemed to be around the month of August, it was on the hottest, steamiest days of the year, with no air conditioning, huge boiling pots of jars and lids to sterilize, water baths for the canned goods, a stifling, crowded kitchen and merciless, inescapable heat. No turkish bath could compare to the humidity and oppressive atmosphere of our sultry surroundings. Even though they worked together (misery loves company) and split the bounty, I hated "canning days" but still was required to help. Talk about a crappy job. One friend of ours even canned meats when they slaughtered a hog or cow. As an adult, I have never done any of these things, as I felt it was more trouble than it was worth but of course these days we can get just about anything at any time. We don't know how lucky we are. Botulism danger in low acid foodsFor at least the last 60 years, there have been only two methods for canning low acid foods accepted as safe and they are pressuring or pickling. Prior to that, very long cooking times were recommended for vegetables and meats, both during processing and before serving, but that still wasn't enough to completely avoid cases of botulism so the USDA changed its guidelines. Most fruits contain enough acid to be safely canned in just a water bath, but some, like tomatoes, can't always be depended upon to contain enough acid. I have always added some ascorbic acid powder to such things, just to be sure. I love this picture! I learned to can from my mother-in-law, in 1974. She said that dozens of filled jars all lined up was about the most beautiful sight there was and I agree! I don't put up nearly as much as I once did, but still can't stand to have my family eating store-bought jam or relish, and I always put up some watermelon syrup for my grandmother's famous Kuchen. Identity?Do we know the names of the girls photographed? I had many relatives in Vigo County in that time period, would love it if they were related! (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, WWI)
Uncle Joe: 1922
... Sister. Maybe our Grand Mother's traded cats too! Cheers Cousin! (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Politics) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 11:08pm -

May 8, 1922. "Cannon & Brennan at Capitol." Former House speaker "Uncle Joe" Cannon, congressman from Illinois, accessorized with Michigan lawmaker Vincent Brennan and a big cigar. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size. The Wit and Wisdom of Uncle JoeAlso known as "foul-mouth Joe". "I am g**damned tired of listening to all this babble for reform. America is a hell of a success." "Not one cent for scenery." "Teddy Roosevelt has no more use for the Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license." "I am one of the great army of mediocrity which constitutes the majority." Yikes ... now that's a "stick"Cigar smokers sometimes refer to a cigar as a "stick." In this case that "stick" is more like a branch! That said, I've seen pictures of the hand-rollers in Cuba with similar "big smokes." Apparently, they are allowed to smoke "one cigar a day" and roll themselves something large and long, a sort of "all day smoker." Bang!I wonder if anybody ever slipped him an exploding cigar. Need a light? Who rolled that cigar?Personally I'd put my money on Cheech and Chong. Uncle Joe SaysTheodore Roosevelt "has no more use for the Constitution than a tomcat has for a marriage license." Cannon retired from the House in 1923. He was first elected to the House from Illinois in 1872. He had served, with a couple of interruptions, 'til March, 1922. He had been Speaker from 1903 to 1911. Joe was so old in 1922 that his personal history included support for Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. Little wonder Brennan looks a little awed. Joe died in his bed at age 90. Don't make 'em like that any more. Nor them cigars, neither. [He's also namesake of the Cannon House Office Building. - Dave] Big cigar indeedWhere's Freud when you need him? Proper attireIn 53 years, standards of senators' dress fell off a cliff. Cigar and AttitudeA big cigar and attitude to match. Speaker CannonTR had a small brass cannon at Sagamore Hill, his house in Oyster Bay, which he would fire off every day to entertain his children. Roosevelt named the artillery piece "Cannon Speaker." I am sure that there were a number of other quips that he made when putting the piece to work. The beginning of TimeUncle Joe was Time magazine's inaugural cover boy -- he appeared on the front of its very first issue, in 1923. Michigan not MaineVincent Brennan was a congressperson from Michigan, not Maine. But both states do start with M. [Wups. Thankew! - Dave] Later known as ...Senator Byrd. Tired of Byrd BashingSen. Byrd seems a frequent target of comparison of any elderly politician pictured on Shorpy. While I cannot defend every position the honorable senator has taken, he has done well both for the interests of his state and for upholding the constitution and tradition of the Senate. The following is a snapshot of me as a child on a visit to the Senator's office in July 1975. [A nice photo. But -- although that comment was digit-related, the digit has nothing to do with age. - Dave] Oh ME, Oh MICongressman Brennan represented Michigan rather than Maine. This was probably about as close as he came to meaningful power during his two-year tenure in Congress. Modern PharmacologyThis looks like it could be a pharmaceutical ad for an anti-aging drug. Formidable StogieWhen "Uncle Joe" said he was going outside for a smoke, his colleagues knew they wouldn't see him again for a couple of days. FreudianIn this case a cigar is only a torpedo. Uncle Rip and Uncle JoeHarold Austin Ripley, my mother's sister's husband, was one of Joe Cannon's page boys. I recall some of his stories about Uncle Joe -- not the least of which involved running to a nearby cigar store to restock the Speaker's humidor. You might imagine my total surprise, then, on coming upon this photo of Cannon, cigar in hand. What a flashback trigger! Rip tried to enlist when the U.S. signed on to the war, but his parents (Rip's father worked for the U.S. Mint) wouldn't sign off -- Rip was 16 in 1917. So Rip asked his boss to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf, making up some story about why he needed it. I cannot recall the exact wording, but it began: "I highly recommend Master Ripley etc etc." Rip took the letter to a D.C. recruiting station. The master sergeant in charge took one look at the letterhead and the signature at the bottom -- and sat up ramrod-straight in his chair, as Rip liked to tell it. No questions asked. The next thing my uncle knew, he was on a troopship bound for Europe. The army discovered his real age in France and assigned him to the Graves Registration Dept, out of harm's way. Rip and his buddies stayed drunk on cheap French vin; there was no other means of confronting the awful stench of no-man's land. Gas masks, he said, proved worthless. Master Ripley returned to the U.S. a devoted though albeit functional alcoholic, and remained so until 1940 when he imbibed his last distilled spirits (from Crown Royal to Royal Crown cola -- Rip has cases of the latter in his basement). He became, in the following order during those intervening years: the first territorial salesman for LifeSavers; crime reporter for The Chicago Tribune; the author of Minute Mysteries (read in a minute/solve in a minute) syndicated in over 150 daily newspapers; the longest continuous columnist (Photo Crime, 13 years) in Look magazine; and finally the founder of Guest House, a retreat for alcoholic priests located in the grandiose Scripps estate at Lake Orion, MI, and which recently celebrated its first half-century of drying out Catholic clergy from all over the world. The Catholic hierarchy -- totally befuddled -- simply ignored and abandoned their alcoholic priests, so Rip stepped in and devoted the rest of his life to their rehabilitation and recovery. For all his imagination, crime-plotting ability and investigative skills, Austin Ripley could never have imagined the greater crime now tearing apart Catholic dioceses around the world. I'm glad he never lived to see it. What do your cats look like?Fancy meeting you here! Uncle Joe really was my Uncle...my Great-Grand-Uncle. My Great-Grand-Mother was Joseph Gurney Cannon's Sister. Maybe our Grand Mother's traded cats too! Cheers Cousin! (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Politics)
The Electric Circus: 1905
... exhibit? Exhibit? It may be "Exhibit 1 Cent" Cheers Exhibiticent I was guessing Exhibit 1 Cent. I read the sign ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/20/2022 - 1:45pm -

Detroit circa 1905. "Woodward Avenue, looking north from Jefferson" -- vantage on an abundance of bulb-studded signage and electric streetcars, as well as two giant "moonlight tower" lighting standards. 8x10 glass negative, with water damage at the edges. View full size. Can't get there from hereAll of the nearby buildings have been replaced since this picture - some more than once. There may be a few survivors farther along Woodward. This photo must have been taken on a clear day - I think the first church spire is the extant Central United Methodist Church, about a mile up Woodward. You can no longer drive from Jefferson to Woodward, because the first block of Woodward is now a pedestrian and event plaza. The moonlight towers have been replaced by the United Way torch! Just enough informationI chuckled audibly over CHEAP R.R. TICKETS ... let's get right to the point, shall we? They're cheap and that's all you need to know, so come on in and get yours. Meanwhile across the street, while I perceive that the symbol between the T in EXHIBIT and the C in CENT is meant to be a spacer (and what the sign advertises is, I think, Exhibit Center, but please do correct me if I have taken a wrong turn), I read EXHIBITICENT. Strikes me as a portmanteau of "exhibit" and "magnificent" ... as in, exhibiting magnificence. And as I am enamored of both the word and the concept, I have made a mental note to adopt it into my vocabulary. "Your rendition of 'Walk Right In' on the alto spoons is nothing short of exhibiticent, Morris!" Morris, while gratified by my praise, will no doubt conclude that I have been imbibing something other than A&W Zero Sugar Root Beer. "Exhibiticent"JennyPennifer, that was my first thought too, until I realized it say "Exhibit 1 Cent." But what was the exhibit? Exhibit?It may be "Exhibit 1 Cent" Cheers ExhibiticentI was guessing Exhibit 1 Cent. I read the sign as "Exhibit 1 cent."Although that does sound awfully cheap for an exhibit (depending of course on what they're exhibiting). A pennyWhile I do like the new word Exhibiticent, JennyPennifer, is it not possible the sign reads Exhibit One Cent? Re: Just enoughIf you have 1 cent you can see the exhibit. Streetcar Switch IronThe lad front and centre is leaning against a metal rod called a switch iron. This is used to set the points on the track switches for the streetcars. He would adjust the switches for streetcars turning left, right or heading straight ahead. Electric switches operated from inside the streetcar by the motorman at busy locations mostly replaced the need for manual switching. Queen Anne SoapApparently a Detroit thing in King Edward VII's time. That's it!Exhibit 1 Cent ... now why couldn't I see that? Thanks everyone. Exhibiticent work. Where's Waldorf?Right next to Penny a Peek. And all this time, I thought it was in New York. Electric Arc Light TowersSpeaking of electric. Think those two towers in the background are for arc lights. Early on, the idea was to illuminate an area by arc lights placed as high as possible. [Shorpy and Detroit's "moonlight towers" go way back. - Dave] Penny Arcade?The Exhibit, 98 Woodward Avenue William Rosenthal, Manager Home: Kirby Apartments (1905 Detroit City Directory) Cheap R.R. TicketsI believe this is the earliest incarnation of Priceline. In fact, isn't that William Shatner walking into the building? He was young then. Probably looking for a job. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, Kids, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
The Kaiser Comes Calling: 1912
... forward armory and then slipped off, to the delight and cheers of the men of Florida, Utah, and Deleware. In an unrelated story, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 11:19am -

1912. "German port call. U.S. battleship in Hampton Roads to greet German squadron." Harris & Ewing Co. glass negative. View full size | More here. Searchlights GaloreIn the pre-radar days, men o'war sported lots of searchlights. [Were any of these used for signaling? - Dave] Two guns fired thereThat's one way to signal. How cool that the shot was taken at that time. Slop chuteThey're firing a saluting gun in honor of the dignitary. You'd think a visiting honcho wouldn't have to boat through the bilge discharge and they'd at least hoist the slop-chute inboard for the duration of the salute and coming up the side. Curious what ship this is. And yes, those searchlights all had radial shutters that could be opened to transmit blinker-messages in morse. There were a lot of them because they were subject to gunfire, being mostly glass. EnlightenedJughead may be on to something but most of the lights here have the main function of searchlights. They certainly could be for signaling but strict signal lamps were usually smaller, more nimble, and located in proximity to the bridge (or conning tower on this pre-WWI ship) or signal station. Even the smaller signal lamps could reach the horizon day or night though that was not always a good thing. The larger searchlights were generally for utility (e.g. cargo operations), emergency (e.g. man overboard or other search and rescue), or during warfare for night action (e.g., WWI against torpedo boats, WWII Battle of Savo Island). Radar changed the game and the need for banks of lights. Meeting the MoltkeWashington Post Jun 3, 1912 Norfolk Va., June 2 - The American battleships Utah, Delaware, and Florida exchanged salutes with the German cruiser-battleship Moltke this afternoon as the three former ships sped through the Virginia capes en route to Hampton Roads. The firing of the salutes on Sunday is not customary, naval officers say, and the fact the the Utah, which led the three American ships as they passed the capes, boomed a salute to Rear Admiral von Reuber Paschwitz, commanding the German squadron, was regarded as an unusual compliment for the German commander. The big guns of the Moltke answered the salutes from the Utah, and the officers and crew lined the decks and waved their hats to the American ships. Everything is in readiness for the visit of President Taft in the Hampton Roads tomorrow. The German ships are expected to leave Lynnhaven Bay about 7 o'clock tomorrow morning so as to arrive in Hampton Roads about the same time the Mayflower gets in with President Taft. U.S.S. FloridaThe battleship is either the USS Florida or the USS Utah. The Florida was scrapped in 1932. The Utah was sunk at Pearl Harbor. Lynnhaven BayJust wanted to put this out; the article quoted cannot be completely correct. There is no possibility that at the time a new capital ship such as Moltke or her two escorts could have entered Lynnhaven Bay; Lynnhaven Bay's shallow channel allowed sailing ships of 8-11 foot draft to enter, but Moltke would have drawn 16-18 feet, minimum, as a cruiser-battleship highbred (a type which would eventually be called a Battlecruiser). In addition, Lynnhaven Bay does not, technically, open into Hampton Roads, but is located almost literally at the mouth of the Chesapeake; Hampton Roads, proper, is some 5 miles further north, beyond the small bay at Littlecreek (which is now a US Naval Amphibious base, and is the the far right star shaped bay on the Wikipedia entry's photo of Hampton Roads). [Or, the fault may lie in incomplete knowledge on our part about the Lynnhaven Bay of 100 years ago. The "Movements of Naval Vessels" columns in the Washington Post and New York Times from 1900 to the 1920s contain dozens of references to battleships at Lynnhaven Bay. Below are some examples from 1910-1915. - Dave] "Firing Salutes back and forth"Somehow, I have this eerie feeling about reading the article and seeing the future foes, only 5 years from combat against each other, fired salutes back and forth at each other. I get the impression that hilarity would have ensued if the article had ended with something along the lines of: "After a rollicking 10 gun salute from USS Florida, followed by an additional 10 gun salute from USS Utah was answered by SMS Moltke's own 10 round salute, the enthusiastic friends continued to salute each other for the next few hours until Moltke lit off a massive pyrotechnic display near her forward armory and then slipped off, to the delight and cheers of the men of Florida, Utah, and Deleware. In an unrelated story, 1053 sailors from SMS Moltke were lost in a freak training accident off the Virginia Capes. The US Navy is currently enroute to look for survivors." The Main GunsThe ship looks relatively new. How big are the main guns? They look surprisingly small compared to the monsters that were on the WWII battleships. USS FloridaUSS Florida and USS Utah would have both been a year old at the time of the photo. SMS Moltke would have been the same age. They all had 10 280mm main guns for the main batteries. Cagy QuestionCan anyone explain what the purpose of the two cages on either side of the smoke stacks? What were used they were for? Just a fancy ladder? Cage Masts Cage masts, found on every battleship built in the USA from about 1910 to 1920, allowed spotters to direct artillery fire. The structure was designed to take multiple hits from enemy fire without collapsing. Big GunsUtah, Florida and Delaware all mounted ten 12 inch guns in five turrets. By comparison the last battleships completed for the US Navy, the Iowa class, mounted nine 16 inch guns in three turrets. The biggest guns ever mounted on a battleship where the nine 18 inch guns in three turrets on the Japanese Yamato class. In fact the Japanese were actually planning a "Super Yamato" class with 20 inch guns. I salute the battleship geeks!Seriously, the range of knowledge here is very impressive and much more interesting than the postings of the railfans (I'm one) when a locomotive photograph appears. U.S.S. FloridaThe U.S.S. Florida. Click to enlarge. Thanks Dave!It puts the top picture really into perspective. It's amazing the differences in design philosophy between the British/German dreadnought battleships and the Americans. Still didn't stop them from becoming ridiculously obsolescent fast and into scrap in 10 years. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Harris + Ewing)
Hit the Grit: 1905
... under the photo should read rail cars not train cars. Cheers. [If you say so. ("Addemdum"?) - Dave] --- yup, addendum, that's --- yup, addendum, that's Yooper talk. Cheers. [As opposed to "addemdum." - Dave] Hit the Grit ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 04/30/2014 - 5:48pm -

Circa 1905. "Tramps fighting on R.R. train -- Get down and hit the grit." Bain News Service reproduction of a Brown Bros. print. View full size. Just a short addemdum, theJust a short addemdum, the caption under the photo should read rail cars not train cars. Cheers. [If you say so. ("Addemdum"?) - Dave] --- yup, addendum, that's --- yup, addendum, that's Yooper talk. Cheers. [As opposed to "addemdum." - Dave] Hit the GritAnonymous Tipster: You are correct, however, it is not a train, indeed as you noted, they are boxcars, but sitting in a yard or siding, or at best near the mainline. Also, it is certainly a posed photo. When I was a kid, in this neck of the woods, the UP of Michigan, the term for "hobo" was "bum". Bums used to write on boxcars with chalk even pencil as to where there was an easy hand-out in towns along the mainline. As we were a railroad family and lived near the tracks, we had a parade of bums knocking on our door even in the black of night. My dad always gave them a plate of grub, no strings attached. The bums would write on the nearby Milwaukee & St. Paul water tank the location of our house ---- I do appreciate the fine detail in the photo of the two wooden box cars because I remember that type was commonly still in use in my youth before the metal sides took over; I note here, myself, being a former Milwaukee Railroad employee. Jack London.If you read Jack London's tramping book, "The Road", you will find many tales of being chased by railroad cops. No airThe brake hoses are not connected on these boxcars, so the train must be stationary. Looks like this shot was posed, whatever it means to convey. Air brakes?Did they have air brakes in 1905? To me the photo indicates a mechanism by which the brakes were applied manually. Maybe I am influenced by the stories my grandad told me about being a brakeman on UP freights, jumping from car to car to turn a wheel that set the brakes. [The air brake was invented in 1872 by George Westinghouse. The wheel brakes are parking brakes. - Dave] Hobo slangHere is a good online glossary of hobo slang. Ah yes. Reminds me of theAh yes. Reminds me of the movie "Emperor of the North" Hobo slangSaw some interesting words on that Hobo slang glossary - Angelina caught me off guard Age of PhotoThe box car on the left has a stencil date of 7-04 which I will assume is the construction date. The aging on the car looks to be about a year or two so C1905 is spot on IMHO. Cross referencing the car numbers to build dates would also help and I suspect that the two different designs on the Arch-bar trucks (wheel frames) would also help. Great (posed) photo! Hit the GritLooks like the box car to the left is St. Louis South-Western, more familiarly known as the "Cotton Belt." The SSW used the "S-W" form in its lettering into the 1930s at least. The car on the right is obviously Grand Trunk Ry. (of Canada). The GTR was officially absorbed into Canadian National Rys. 1923 although CN started operating it during WW1. U.S. viewers in Michigan/Indiana/Illinois will know the GTR's U.S. subsidiary, Grand Trunk Western, which has retained that name. An eastern arm of the GTR -- the U.S. portion of the Montreal/Portland ME main line -- retained the Grand Trunk name until sold off in recent years. George Westinghouse was first allowed to install air brakes as an experiment on a Pennsylvania RR. train as early as 1869. I'd have to look up the exact date, but it was around that time. This was a short-lived "straight air" system. His automatic air brake followed because of its fail-safe feature and became federally mandated in the U.S. via the Railroad Safety Appliances Act. Again, without getting off my computer chair to look it up, I believe this was passed in the 1890s. The railroads were given a lot of time to fully install the system on their freight rolling stock -- priority was given to passenger equipment, but I believe by 1905 all cars in interchange service were so equipped. Incidentally, the same act required installation of automatic couplers. Yes, those are air brake hoses hanging down between the cars. It's interesting to note the old-style outside brake beams. Many a hobo rode on them, sometimes to their death. By the way, there was a hierarchy in drifter nomenclature. "Hoboes" were the cream of the crop, being the men who were riding to find work. They tended to follow the harvest cycles. Bums and tramps were the lower orders -- they had no intention of working. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Railroads)
IM Me: 1924
... used the same box so it is hard to tell what is inside. Cheers, Alan Yeah, but can it say Drrrrrroid. (Technology, The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 10:51am -

"Howard M. Gore. February 26, 1924." Mr. G, secretary of agriculture in the Coolidge administration, was later governor of West Virginia. And evidently kind of a geek. View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. H.M. GoreA geek with deep pockets, I'd say. All that stuff couldn't have been cheap. The set he's plugged into appears to have three empty tube sockets at the top. Cool aerial, though. [Those would be government radios. The deep pockets are yours. - Dave] RadiosThe sockets at the top of the set are for coils that let the radio tune different wavebands. Herbert Hoover was Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce and he was instrumental in setting up the Federal Radio Commission (forerunner to the FCC) in 1927. HighwaymanH.M. Gore's Agricultural Department was also instrumental in helping to create another web: the US numbered highway system. Geek indeed. http://wwwcf.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/numbers.htm Any chance...he's related to Al? Could be titled "An Inconvenient Double Chin". Deforest D-7A RadioThe large radio displayed by Mr. Gore is a Deforest D-7A. The shelves are full of various models of Paragon radios, notably several single-tube RD5 models manufactured by the Adams Morgan Company (no connection to Adams Morgan , a trendy D.C. neighborhood.). Information HighwaymanI believe this is one of Al Gore's predecessors working on a prototype of the Internet... I know, but I couldn't resist. Wanted: More Such Geeks! I would point out that radio was "the Internet" in 1924. How many politicos today could claim comparable familiarity with the technology we rely on in the 21st century? According to the West Virginia State archives, "As governor, Gore improved the state's agricultural programs and acted on requests from rural areas for reforms in handling state funds. Through a bipartisan commission, he was able to disburse more tax money to counties and municipalities. In addition, his support of road construction earned Gore the nickname 'road building governor.' " Eighty-four years after this picture was taken, couldn't we use more technologically savvy, infrastructure-aware leaders? To the Bat-Radio Receiving Set!I couldn't help but think of the old Batman series, and Batman's obsessive compulsion to label everything in his lair with giant signs. Office Furniture: Doing Its PartOK, all that radio equipment is cool, but it's literally being supported by the office furniture, the same kind of modular units seen in the Office Girls: 1925 photo and commented on there in my... er... comment. Here on the left we have a two-door cabinet with a top, and on the right, an assembly consisting of a wide-drawer unit (suitable for large maps or charts) over a glass-door shelf compartment. The versatility of this system derives from its uniformity of design and user-configurability, providing a wide variety of filing and storage solutions to accommodate the latest and most advanced requirements in both the private and public sectors. Office furniture: it's not just for holding your blotters anymore. Farkagehttp://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3772353 The holesThe holes at the top of the front panel are not empty tube sockets nor are they for coils for other wavebands. In 1924, the shortwave bands were not exploited yet commercially so no other coils were needed, and in fact this set used a large diamond-shaped loop antenna for its main tuning coil. The holes are for observing the brightness of the filaments of the tubes inside the case. The filaments had to be illuminated just the right amount, not too much, and this was adjustable by a rheostat on the front panel. You can barely see the glass of a tube in at least one of the holes. Radios identifiedAs was said before the radio with the loop antenna is a deForest D-7A and the three holes are tube viewing holes. The small center knob is the crystal detector adjustment knob. On the first shelf above the deforest is a Adams Morgan Paragon RD-5 and matching A-2 two stage amplifier. The next shelf up sports a Tuska dual panel 225 which was a 224 receiver and a 226 two stage amp in one cabinet. To the right of the Tuska is a Crosley X. THe next shelp up has a Crosley VI surrounded by what appear to be RCA Aeriola sets based on the closed boxes. Probably an Aeriola Senior, an Aeriola Junior and a Aeriola two stage amp. These sets all used the same box so it is hard to tell what is inside. Cheers, Alan Yeah, but can it sayDrrrrrroid. (Technology, The Gallery, Farked, Natl Photo)
Ten Rounds: 1899
... ref looks like a gurlie mann. S. S. Minnow Gilligan cheers on a young Skipper! Oh my Woolly leggings and shorts that are one ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 6:47pm -

July 3, 1899, aboard the U.S.S. New York. "A 10-round bout, anniversary of Santiago." Photo by Edward H. Hart, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. He's a maniac, maniacThe shorts are disturbing in their own right, but the Flashdance stirrup leggings with what appear to be open-toed canvas espadrilles are a fin-de-siècle fashion disaster. Love thisLove the uniforms, the money for bets being flashed, the variety of faces, but please, someone buy the poor boxer a new pair of shorts - preferably a little larger! Great picture - love to study the intense faces! That HatI'd be in a fighting mood too if I had to wear a cap shaped like a pizza. Jeepers creepersThe young Marine on the left -- look at the puss on that gob looking over his left shoulder. StarboardWhat's with the guy squatting down at the right? Anyway, he's cute. I know why they're fightingOne of them made fun of the other guy's hat. No hitting below the beltHang on boys, because I'm yanking these shorts up as high as they'll go. Hanz & Franzare certainly pumped-up, but the ref looks like a gurlie mann. S. S. MinnowGilligan cheers on a young Skipper! Oh myWoolly leggings and shorts that are one breath away from leaving nothing to the imagination. The chap on the right seems to share my concerns. My moneyis on Kid Corduroy! Mad DogsIt looks like the cornermen are having a staredown. I wonder who blinked first. Short WorkIt's not hard to see why Germany lost the next two World Wars against fierce fighting men like these. Wouldn't want to run into them in a dark San Diego alley! Sports BriefsAs revealing as the costumes might be, they are the sort of thing (at least the gent on the right) traditionally worn for boxing. Quite apart from showing off the muscles to advantage and being relatively cool when you worked up a sweat, in competitive events, they showed that you didn't have any protection and weren't carrying anything you shouldn't. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, E.H. Hart, S-A War, Sports)
The Best Medicine: 1923
... from the sun - he's got no front teeth! Rx Nothing cheers up sickly kids in a 1920's era hospital more than middle aged men donned ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2011 - 6:02pm -

May 1, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Children's Hospital circus." Who wants to fly out of a cannon? National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Chilled me to the boneThe one standing up, wearing white with polka dots? For a second there I thought his head was wrapped in gauze bandages. Definitely upped the Creepshow quotient. Nothin' better than a clown! Unless it's a clown with a brain injury. CoulrophobiaHad that been the kids in my family, my sister and I would have kept our distance. Our little brother would have been terrified! One of the scariest movies I have ever seen is "He Who Gets Slapped" with Lon Chaney. There are scenes with hundreds of clowns! As clowns goThe one in the back and the one on the right aren't particularly scary (I'm not even counting the girl clown). The one in the front, though. No wonder the kid he's holding looks a bit askance. High noonaccording to the nurse's watch. [I think it's more like 10:55. - Dave] ClownsIntrinsically frightening. These are no exception. Not HappyThe one baby on the clown's knee is not satisfied. The clown could pass off as Teddy Roosevelt. I was wrongWhile still morning blurry-eyed I could have sworn that was Fields and Baby Leroy. Nope. 3 wordsJohn Wayne Gacy. Those old style nurse uniformsDoes anyone else miss those? It just made them seem more, I don't know, professional. Or something. Oh yeah, and lump me in with the crowd that thinks clowns are ultra-creepy. Pointy-smile clown!These are the spawn of Satan! The one on the right looks like an incipient John Wayne Gacy (another pointy-smile clown, of course.) The best image in the photo for me is the young man on the lower left shielding his eyes from the sun - he's got no front teeth! RxNothing cheers up sickly kids in a 1920's era hospital more than middle aged men donned in freakish clown outfits and face paint. NursesIt's nice to see nurses dressed like professionals, these days they're the ones dressed like clowns. IconoclastI got no problem with clowns, never did. Clowns“To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary. I've wondered where this started and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus, and a clown killed my dad.” --Jack Handey License to annoyHaving been a close friend to a clown about 35 years ago, I know that many of them mean well and are very dedicated to cheering people up, especially children. Many hospitals sponsor clowns to keep the mood upbeat in the childrens' areas. Still, many sensible adults and children find their presence unsettling and disturbing. Frankly, how does one conduct oneself when confronted by a living, yapping buffoon dressed outlandishly and forcing themselves into your space, acting stupid and doing unasked-for stunts? If one is in a serious mood, one may not want to have balloon animals, exploding confetti popguns and Clarabelle horns being hoisted upon one's person. I love humor but I personally find clowns mostly annoying because they know they will get away with pushing their slapstick upon everyone, whether they want it or not. Just FYI, my clown friend died and his funeral was attended by dozens of his clown friends, all in full regalia. It was the most bizarre final goodby I ever attended. Talk about mixed emotions. Clowns to the left of meClowns to the right. Can't SleepClowns will eat me! Does Anyone Like Clowns? I wonder if any children are truly delighted to be in the presence of a clown? I was never afraid of them but I remember as a very young child, being disgusted by thick makeup around a clown's mouth. Ringling-Barnum-Bailey Clowns Washington Post, Apr 29, 1923. Ringling-Barnum-Bailey Combination Goes Under Canvas This Afternoon. Here Three Days — 1,000 Animals, 70 Equestrians, 100 Clowns and 700 Arena Stars. Sunday school will have a strong counter attraction for Washington youngsters today. The biggest circus in all the world — Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey combined, reaches here to inaugurate its yearly 15,000 mile road tour "under canvas" tomorrow afternoon at Camp Meigs. … So soulfulThe little girl lying in bed next the polka dot clown looks so soulful. What an adorable little girl. She looks as if there could never be enough hugs and kisses to make her feel better. I wonder what ever became of her? (The Gallery, D.C., Kids, Medicine, Natl Photo, Scary Clowns)
The Heart of Copper Country: 1905
... so I thought I'd at least contribute that info back. Cheers! (Panoramas, DPC, Factories, Mining, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/28/2012 - 4:49pm -

Calumet, Michigan, circa 1905. "The heart of the copper country." Panorama made from four 8x10 glass negatives. This doesn't look like much until you click View full size, whence you are transported into a wondrous cuprous panorama. Future two by foursI spend a couple of weeks a year in the UP (Upper Peninsula for you non-Michiganders) near Calumet, and train cars carrying lumber south are still a common sight. Is it roofing season?This is puzzling. Can anyone explain why there are so many ladders up to and across the rooftops? Perhaps the first day of clear weather for repairs? [What's more likely is that most of those ladders are always there, or there for months at a time. The reason might have something to do with snow. - Dave] Stacked oddsI can only imagine what the houses would look like if those logs decided to tumble down upon them there does not appear to be anything holding them back other than gravity. What's upwith all the ladders on so many of the houses? Scene from an imaginary movieProbably arthouse, maybe Scandinavian? Ladders + Chimneys = SweepingsThe reason for the roof ladders is to access the chimneys. You will notice that almost every roof ladder is placed along side a chimney, which in the day of constant use required frequent sweeping to prevent flue fires. 300 inches of snowCalumet is on the Keweenaw Peninsula -- the Upper Peninsula's upper peninsula. U.P. snows are legendary, especially in the Keweenaw Peninsula, where 300-inch winters aren't that unusual. (Sticking far out into Lake Superior, it really gets nailed with Lake Effect snows.) Ladders nailed to roofs are there for a reason. When accumulated snows threaten to collapse the roof, the ladders give a foothold from which to clear off the stuff. PitchesThe steep roof pitches also help prevent snow from piling up too quickly, but with the amounts alluded to you couldn't be too careful The houses shown set me to remembering the Pete Seeger ditty about all the houses that look alike, but, the name escapes me. The breadth of coverage is breathtaking, amazing. But that snowfall amount is staggering; we had 67 inches over three storms a short time back and thought that was bad. Spectacular, one of the best on ShorpySo much going on in this view I can look at it for hours. It almost looks like it was all CGI work done by some FX studio. Thank YouDue to that 8,461px × 2,000px picture I now have the perfect reason to explain to my wife why I need a new monitor with a resolution of at least 9000 x 2400 so I can use that fantastic panorama work as a background. She is an artist at heart and has a love of olden times and things so I believe I do have a shot. Ticky-TackyIt was Malvina Reynolds who wrote "Little Boxes." Pete Seeger covered the song, but always gave credit to Malvina. STUNNINGThis picture is a real gift. A panoramic moment in time. I agree with RoccoB. One of the best ever in the Shorpy Collection and one that could easily take up a couple of hours of close examination. Thanks, Dave. DioramaThis is a superb reference point for anyone wanting to create a prototypical, period, industry-representative model railroad layout. Fabulous detail, and all authentic. I found Waldo!Standing by the garden. Man, it's even tougher in black & white. Dizzy.The changing shadows across the photo are surreal, but somehow make it seem more physical. I can almost feel myself turning about on top of the hill, the warm breeze carrying the scents of fresh cut lumber and copper mill smoke. Sears housesI attended Michigan Tech in Houghton, Michigan back in the 1980s and took a class called something like "Social Geography". We traveled all over the Copper Country figuring out why towns were laid out in certain ways. I do remember going through Calumet and finding rows of nearly identical houses like those shown in the photos above. Turns out many of them were bulk-ordered straight from the Sears catalog! What are the trees forWhen the scorification is coming to an end, enough coal dust is thrown on to sufficiently coat the surface of the metal. Then the refiner shoves a tree in the furnace and presses it into the metal as strongly as he can. Because one uses elms or young oaks from four to six inches in diameter which have been freshly cut or left to lie in water to keep them damp, a violent bubbling occurs in the copper when one pushes the tree into it. This is allowed to continue for several minutes. Then one throws coal dust over the copper again and the bubbling recurs. This process continues until the copper has reached the requisite degree of purity. One ascertains. This passage was taken from a English copper smelting manual from the late 1700's , from what I have read the purification process using wood was still in use in the early 20th century. Ghost ImageI got interested in this picture when I noticed that the image I use as a computer background had a double exposed plate and this picture was the ghosted image. I hadn't imagined that I would actually find the source of my desktop background let alone the source of the double exposed image. Now that I have, I was curious about the actual place. Reading the description here I was able to find the approximate location of where the photo was actually taken on a modern map (Google Maps). The coordinates are: 47°14'43.2"N 88°27'47.2"W, facing north and at some elevation above ground level (http://goo.gl/maps/xYctZ). The intersection that is front and center on the photo is the current intersection of Oak St & Spruce St. The duplex home at the bend in that intersection, where the woman is walking in front, is still there, though clearly it's seen better days (http://goo.gl/maps/BSkFj). A couple of the other houses on the curving 2nd street are also still there and between these houses I was able to confirm the rough spot that the photo was taken from. Anyway, this web site helped me a great deal in figuring out the mystery so I thought I'd at least contribute that info back. Cheers! (Panoramas, DPC, Factories, Mining, Railroads)
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