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Store Wars: 1941
... heard is true I lived in Phenix City and worked for The Columbus Ledger across the river in Georgia in the early '70s. The Ledger won ... you for all that you do, Dave (and tterrace)! Hello Columbus For the relatively short time in the early 1950s when I was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/07/2018 - 10:27am -

May 1941. "Soldiers from Fort Benning in a country store near Phenix City, Alabama." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Appropriate game theme for them to be playing!https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3071&picno=2753 Five Balls For Five CentsIt's a survivor. Or rather, there's at last one "Contact" pinball game still around. Backlight animation for the plane and the carrier. Don't tilt. No refunds. Saints in Sin CityI've read stories where Phenix City (not Las Vegas) was the sleaziest, most corrupt and violent city in the United States during the 40's and 50's, and a lot of it came from providing the Fort Benning soldiers booze, gambling, prostitution, etc. Let's hope these guys didn't fall into that black hole. The rest of the story"The Phenix City Story," filmed on location there in 1955: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048488/ Go Alabama!I just had to be the contrarian. Everything you've heard is trueI lived in Phenix City and worked for The Columbus Ledger across the river in Georgia in the early '70s. The Ledger won the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Phenix City cleanup, from the assassination of state attorney-general-elect Albert Patterson to the destruction of tons of slot machines, the closing of prostitution dens, and gambling halls. I became obsessed with the story, read all the Pulitzer application folders, and discussed it for hours with the old newspaper hands who covered it for The Ledger. Interesting that Ma Beachey, the most notorious madam in town played herself in the film. By the time I lived there, PC was a small, quiet Southern town more concerned with Auburn football than vice and corruption. By the way, the two men who everyone knew were behind it all, including the man who everyone said killed Patterson, were still living there, untouched and unindicted when I left there in 1975. "House" with a neon signWhen we drove through Phenix City in the mid '50s, I heard the rumor that one of the places offering "entertainment" was outfitted with a neon sign so it could be easily found by those wishing to pay for female company. Never saw the place myself, but after the cleanup of gambling and prostitution, there were several female hitchhikers that we saw along the highways out of town. War Eagle!I would just love to have that Auburn pennant! Of course, Auburn wouldn't be officially Auburn University for another 15 years. Back then we were still Alabama Polytechnic Institute. Very long time lurker, first time poster. Thank you for all that you do, Dave (and tterrace)! Hello ColumbusFor the relatively short time in the early 1950s when I was stationed at Fort Benning, Phenix City was off-limits. Columbus, Ga., was bad enough for me. (The Gallery, Jack Delano)
Pabst Over Chicago: 1943
... on South Water Street and intersecting roughly what is now Columbus Drive. The ground level of this photograph is now covered by an ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/07/2017 - 2:11pm -

May 1, 1943. "South Water Street freight depot of the Illinois Central Railroad, Chicago." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. DirectionalityI believe this photo is facing north. Quite a few of the skyscrapers are still there. All the way to the left, the black & gold building is the Carbide & Carbon (or is it Carbon & Carbide?) building on Michigan Ave. I seem to remember something about it being the "first" skyscraper. Just to the right, with the little cupola on top, is the original Stone Container Building at Wacker & Michigan Avenues. Off in the furthest distance in the center of the photo you can see what was originally called the Pamolive building (it became Playboy Towers, and is now a condo building). I think the building behind the Pabst sign at the right edge of the sign is the Chicago Tribune building, and across from it (underneath the main part of the sign) you can see the white building that is the Wrigley building. They flank Michigan Ave. just north of the Chicago river. Fellow (ex-)ChicagoanDefinitely facing North, definitely the Carbon & Carbide building - my dad used to have an office there. Not sure about the Playboy Towers.... might that be the Drake Hotel? 33 to 1?Blended 33 to 1? That sounds like a strange formula to me...but of course I'm not informed on the whole beer and beer history thing. 33 to 1Here's a 1940 Pabst ad that explains it. NorthThere is no question about it, this photo is facing north. Good Railroad ShotThe blue flags placed on the cars would be a violation of federal regulations today as they now have to be located at the switch providing access to the track. Also, note that several of the cars are on "yard air" in order to test the brakes on each car prior to movement. Finally you can see that this photo provides good images of several different types of car ends all together in one place. As I am from Milwaukee, I have no clue as to which buildings are which! I do know that the photo is definitely facing north as I now work for the South Shore commuter railroad and am familiar with the lakefront. I also know that the original Santa Fe railroad corporate headquarters was almost directly to the west of this photo and is still there today with the Santa Fe sign on top. It is now an historic landmark. Bootcamp BeerI went to Navy bootcamp in Great Lakes Il. in 1983 and after spending 10 wks. without beer our first chance to have a brew came. Unfortunatly for me the ONLY beer avaliable to us at the time was Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now, not being a Pabst fan I was very unhappy about that but after 10 tough weeks I said "what the heck" and ordered a couple of beers. I'll tell you what, that was the best beer I've ever had. I got so drunk the rest of the day was blur. I'd like to say "Thanks you Pabst" for the best beer ever and day I don't remember. Water Street DepotIt appears we are looking north from either Monroe or Randolph. I want to say we're looking from Monroe and that bridge spanning the width of the pic under the sign is Randolph. The row of low-rise buildings on the left side of the pic that are ~6 stories tall and have the water towers on top of them would then be on the east side of Michigan Ave and sitting directly on the north side of Randolph. I believe these trains are in the area east of Michigan Ave and north of Monroe, but south of Randolph as it used to be a railyard (now Millennium Park, north of the Art Institute). Furthermore there were never any buildings previously on this spot, as it would have either been a rail yard or part of Grant Park (where no buildings were allowed to be built, except for the Art Institute). This leads me to believe that we are looking north from Monroe towards Randolph and beyond. The vast empty space behind the Pabst sign spanning the whole width of the image would now be occupied by Illinois Center, the Prudential Building and of course the tall white AON Building (3rd largest in Chciago at the moment), or whatever they call it these days. Pabst SignCan anybody tell me if this sign was was animated and are there any night time shots of it? [The nighttime shot of this neon sign is here. - Dave] AnimationThanks Dave, do you know if the sign was animated in any way? [The hands on the clock moved! If you mean did various parts of the sign blink on and off, I don't know. - Dave] ChicagoI see the tallest building to the far left when I'm going to and from school. It's surrounded by a bunch of other buildings now. Chevrolet SignThis is a film clip of another Chicago sign. It shows how animated signs were operated. I can't find any date, but the technology looks like 1940 or so. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410104.html Chevrolet SignAfter viewing this clip of the Chevy sign, I'm fairly convinced that it and the 'Pabst' sign are one and the same. Shown in the clip of the Chevy sign is the same tall building that is located to the left of the Pabst sign in the photo. There are other similarities as well, like the circular design of the sign, the clock at the lower right, etc. It's my guess that Pabst took over the sign after Chevy and made the slight changes to suit their logo. South Water Street TodayThis photo is facing North on South Water Street and intersecting roughly what is now Columbus Drive. The ground level of this photograph is now covered by an elevated roadway in this area. If you went to this spot today, the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park designed by Frank Gehry would be just behind you. The Playboy Building is visible in the background, now once again called the Palmolive Building and converted to condominiums. It sits between the Drake Hotel and John Hancock Tower at the end of the Magnificent Mile. The Drake is not tall enough to be in view here. The Allerton Hotel and Northwest University Law School in Streeterville are also visible here, which they wouldn't be today from the site, although they are still standing. Several of the mid-rise buildings in this photograph are no longer standing, in particular the large red-brick warehouse at the center mid-ground, to the right of the Playboy/Palmolive. This is where the NBC Tower now stands, just north of the river. Driving and DrinkingThis was indeed the Chevy sign. Pabst took it over. You can still make out the Chevy logo in the superstructure of the sign. The lower left hand corner of the "B" in Blue and the upper right hand corner of the N in "Ribbon" served as the edges of the classic Chevy "bowtie" logo. Going to ChicagoIt's interesting to think that Muddy Waters would have just arrived in Chicago when this photo was taken. Pabst signThe Pabst sign was next to Randolph Street Bridge; refer to the 1922 Zoning map that is available at the University of Chicago library site - the Illinois Central may very well have called the yard the 'Water Street Yard,' but Water Street moved to the South Side when Wacker Drive was created after 1924; the Pabst sign was located nearest the Randolph Street bridge and is the current location of the Prudential Building, not the Pritzker Pavillion. Warehouse full of booksI believe the red brick warehouse-like building on the right (east) of the photo survived into at least the 1980s, serving as the temporary home of the Chicago Public Library's main branch after it moved from what is now the Cultural Center (location of many shots in DePalma's "The Untouchables" and just out of camera range to the left) and before the opening of the Harold Washington Library Center. I used their manual typewriters and xerox machines to peck out and photocopy my resume. Why Boxcars are blue-flaggedThese boxcars are blue-flagged because they have both their doors open and gangplanks spanning the openings between cars on adjacent tracks. This is also why they are all 40-foot cars and are all lined up with each other. Less-than-Carload (LCL) freight is being handled here! This something that US railroads have discontinued; for decades, they haven't accepted any shipment less than one car load. As effective highway trucks were developed, they took this trade away from the RR's for obvious reasons. But, back in the 1940's, RR's would handle a single crate! This required sorting en route, which is what is being done here. There's a large shift of workers shuffling LCL from one car to another by way of the side platforms and the above-mentioned gangplanks. The LCL required local freight crews to handle this stuff into and out of the freight stations, and required station agents to get the cargo to and from customers, collect charges, etc. Very labor-intensive, yet somehow the trucking companies do it at a profit. From Pabst To Rolling Rock Beer "33"This photograph has also added another “answer” to the question: “What does the “33” on the label of a bottle of Rolling Rock Beer mean?” http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/rolling.asp One person seeing this photograph concluded on a Rolling Rock Beer forum that the Rolling Rock "33" may have referenced the smoothness of blending “33 to 1.” http://toms.homeunix.net/toms/locFSA-OWIkodachromes/slides/blended33to1.... Makes you feel like a heroEven now, when I get a color transparency (2 1/4x2 1/4 or 4x5) and look at if for the first time, it is stunning. I can't imagine what it must have looked like to someone seeing it color for the first time ever! Sign BackgroundIf you look closely at the superstructure of the sign you can see the slogan "Blended 33 to 1" in the framework, which is seen far better in the nighttime shot Dave linked to. As to whether this would be considered animation I don't know, but a typical setup would be to light the Pabst Blue Ribbon sign, then switch to the "Blended" slogan, then light both. Don't know if that was done here. Those catwalksThe "down-the-throat" shot of those catwalks atop of the freight cars gives the viewer a good idea of what the brakeman had to deal with while setting the brakes. The uneveness of those platforms, even at a standstill, is enough to make the average person think twice about climbing up and traversing these planks. Before airbrakes became the norm, this had to be one of the most harrowing jobs a railroad worker had to face. And this would be on a nice calm day. With rain, wind or snow, even the most seasoned brakeman must've had second thoughts. Blue Flags?Mr. Leaman pointed out the blue flags were being displayed incorrectly by todays rules. But not being a train enthusiast, what did they indicate in the first place? Blue-FlaggedAny rolling stock or engine that is "blue-flagged" cannot be moved unless the person who placed the flag removes it. It's a safety rule, and for the protection of the workers, many of whom are between or under the cars. The iconic "Santa Fe" sign referred to in earlier posts is now on display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL - not too far from Chicago and well worth the trip! http://www.irm.org The early brakeman's plightJKoehler, I read somewhere that a conductor remarked about brakemen in the days when cars used link-and-pin couplers, "If they still have their thumbs after three months, they must be really lazy!" Phantom Memory of a huge Chicago Phillips 66 Sign?For decades I’ve had a childhood memory of seeing a huge Phillips 66 sign atop the Chicago skyline, while driving with my family in the “wayback” of the family station wagon on the way to visit our grandparents in Iowa. We were coming from Michigan, and driving on Chicago streets because the still-under-construction Interstate Highway System still had gaps. (We were probably driving on/towards westbound US-30.) I remember being in awe of a big neon Phillips 66 sign receding in the distance as my dad drove west. It was a wide straight street, very busy. The sign had lots of neon motion, even in the daylight. This memory (if real), would have been somewhere between about 1963 - 1968. But am I mistaken? Did the Phillips 66 sign never exist, and could this Papst sign be the one I saw? (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
That Toddlin' Town: 1910
... alternating tall buildings on the left -- Masonic Temple, Columbus Memorial and Republic buildings - had all been replaced. The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/02/2023 - 4:10pm -

Chicago circa 1910. "State Street, south from Randolph." On the left we see the Masonic Temple and Marshall Field department store buildings. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. Ignoring the bustle(s) around him... the fellow on the cobblestones in front of the big arched entry on left doggedly practices his curling technique for some future Olympics. Or whatever. Skip stopThe derrick atop the Mandel Bros. store allows a rather precise dating (the northern half of the new building opened in Sep 1911, so, given the timing, and the attire shown, this appears to be the middle of that year). A southward gazing visitor today would find something curious: the alternating tall buildings on the left -- Masonic Temple, Columbus Memorial and Republic buildings - had all been replaced. The demolition of the latter two occurred c. 1960, but the former was one of a number that came two decades earlier: subway construction undermining the foundations was the reason given publically, tho some claimed other reasons (below). MemoriesWell, not from 1910, of course, but from my growing-up years loving this street so much, not just Marshall Field's, but certainly mainly Marshall Field's. Masonic Temple Does anyone know when and why the Masonic Temple Building was torn down? It looks pretty well built to me. [It had problems. - Dave] Iconic Marshall Field Clocks According to one source the store placed its first clock on the corner of State and Washington in 1897. (Attached image.) A much fancier clock was placed at State and Randolph in 1902. Then, in 1909 the store replaced the Washington Street timepiece with one matching Randolph Street. Where are the "retro" lampposts?I guess 1910 is too early for those. Edelweiss BeerYou can phone Canal 9 for a case of good judgment! Well, up until 1951 when the last batch was brewed. Financial Problems for the Most PartAlthough the Masonic Temple was an exceptional building in most regards - and the tallest in the world when it opened in 1892 - it was never a financial success. The original scheme, especially the vertical shopping mall located on Floors 4-10, never worked. The elevator service, despite having 14 cars with operators, was insufficient to meet demand. The Masons sold the building at a loss in 1922, and it continued to lose money in the Depression. The construction of the State Street subway from 1936 on damaged the building's foundations, and the new owners couldn't afford to fix them; they couldn't even pay the real estate taxes they owed. In 1939, a young real estate developer named Arthur Rubloff proposed tearing it down and putting up a two-story "taxpayer" building on the site, as a way of salvaging something from the monetary mess until economic conditions improved. More than most skyscrapers, the Masonic Temple exemplifies the adage attributed to the architect Cass Gilbert: "A skyscraper is a machine that makes the land pay." In this case, it just didn't pay. The Walnut Room and Frango MintsWe lived in Chicago on and off for several years when I was a kid, and then from 1974 until 1991 I lived thirty miles away in Northwest Indiana. We used to ride the South Shore Line to Randolph (end of the line) and walk a few blocks to Marshall Field's to spend the day shopping and having lunch. If the weather was nice we might venture outside and walk over to Michigan Avenue, turn and head north towards the river, maybe even going as far as Water Tower Place. But on winter days, it was such fun to stow your coat in a locker at Field's and spend the day roaming the floors, shopping, trying on shoes, sniffing perfumes, maybe coming away with a treat or a treasure in one of those iconic green bags. We'll never see the like of it again. A few years ago I visited the grave of Marshall Field at Graceland Cemetery on the north side of Chicago, not far from Wrigleyville. (The Gallery, Chicago, DPC, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
Mail Pouch: 1910
Circa 1910. "Columbus, Ohio, from Great Southern Hotel." Photobombed by the Mail Pouch ... Everything's Up To Date In Kansas City And in Columbus, Ohio as well. In the background is the rear of an individually ... Building, played a role in rescue efforts during the Columbus flood of 1913 . There's a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/25/2015 - 2:40pm -

Circa 1910. "Columbus, Ohio, from Great Southern Hotel." Photobombed by the Mail Pouch Tobacco horse. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. Everything's Up To Date In Kansas CityAnd in Columbus, Ohio as well. In the background is the rear of an individually lettered sign probably on the building that housed the theatre "Gayety Burlesque". I managed to transpose it for those of us with lesser backward reading skills. An Old WrinkleIn the days before vinyl billboard artwork, painting that Mail Pouch sign on the side of the building has to be a work of art that took some time to complete. J.S. Wrinkle Advertising Signs deserves to have their name prominently displayed. Ohio State CapitolThe flat topped tower in the upper left of the photo is the state capitol rotunda. Not on my wavelengthNow whatever is the guyed tower at upper left? 1910 is too early for almost any kind of radio antenna, and certainly too early for commercial radio. [Radio got its start as wireless telegraphy in the 1890s. The wireless mast shown here, on the roof of the Harrison Building, played a role in rescue efforts during the Columbus flood of 1913. There's a
The Typing Pool: 1939
... as well as getting a pair of white shoes! I use the Columbus System. That's the "Discover and land on it" method. (The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/12/2019 - 6:40pm -

May 1939. "School students in typing class. Ashwood Plantations, South Carolina." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. 404: verb not foundI took a summer typing class in high school, in the early 80s. I'll never forget the sentence they assigned, for practice of the seldom-used x key: Roxanne xeroxed sixty extra proxy indexes. He's her typeI reckon the young lady on the far right is a mite pleased with the attentions of her teacher. As we say down south: Yee Yee! Whitaker ChambersThat appears to be Alger Hiss's Woodstock typewriter. Typing class in high schoolI took typing as an option (instead of Latin) in Grade 9 in 1971 and I was the only boy in the class. The teacher, Mrs. Stopchycki, treated me no different from the girls, which I really appreciated. I lay low, absorbing the wonderful atmosphere, and learned to type at 40 wpm on a portable manual (Olivetti Underwood 310), all the while having very quiet and innocent lascivious thoughts. Typing class back then was like what yoga class is now: a workout, but pleasant and relaxing, in a majority-female environment. Onward and UpwardPerhaps the gent on the right harbors Vice-Presidential aspirations? Girls onlyBack in 1960 or so I wanted to take typing in high school, but wasn't allowed to because "Only girls can register for typing." That stupid rule caused problems for me through 50 years of work in infotech. I taught myself a six fingered technique that became so ingrained that I never could transition to normal touch typing. Key ClubAlthough I took typing 15 years after these lasses, it reminds me of the routines -- "asdf jkl;" How many times did I type that, along with "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." But as a guy, it was such a pleasure being surrounded by all the gals. Only one other guy in the class. And, dang, I learned how to type, too! L.C. Smith & CoronaThat was our typewriter when I was growing up. Spent many hours banging on that thing. Saturday is for ShorpyAfter a hard week, I'm more than ready to browse through my Shorpy backlog. I've got a big mug of coffee and Google on standby so I can learn things like : 1) I thought "bobby soxer" was a term from the 50s but no it's from the 40s. 2) The LC Smith company later became Smith Corona. 3) The Woodstock Typewriter Company was based in Woodstock, IL which was the home of another typewriter company : the Oliver Typewriter Company. That company was started by Thomas Oliver who was born in... wait for it... Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. I'm doing important work here. By the windowIn my high school typing class, I was doing 40 words per minute while looking at the keyboard. The teacher kept telling me not to look at the keyboard, and my argument was I was doing 40 wpm and the goal that month was 35 wpm. He was insistent on me not looking at the keyboard and moved me next to a window. He opened it and said I was going to sit there until I stopped looking at the keyboard. It was January and about 20 degrees above zero. After about 10 minutes of the whole class complaining about the cold, he defiantly slammed the window and let me continue looking at the keys the whole semester. I got up to 55 wpm with no mistakes. To this day I still look at the keyboard and only use the middle finger and thumb of the right hand and the index finger of the left hand. And I'm one of those guys wearing shorts in January. LC Smith goes boomLC Smith also made high-grade shotguns. I inherited one from my dad, a beautifully engraved double-barreled 12-gauge squirrel gun. My brother gave me a box of shells one day before I went plinking, and I didn't notice they were 12-gauge magnum loads. Of course, the old LC Smith didn't have a safety shell-length stop like modern guns, and I didn't know the difference in the power of those loads. I inserted two shells, pulled the trigger, and the darn thing just detonated on me, both barrels. I can still see in my mind's eye the lovely engraved barrel cartwheeling off into a pond and me throwing the smoking remains of the walnut stock after it. Great PicEveryone was just so nicely dressed ....we have changed so much unfortunately If she was smiling back in '39she's probably missed the "Me Too" boat. The Shoes!Love the shoes on these women--especially the matching shoes on the two women on the right. They look like high-top basketball shoes! I can read it from here:Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy Shorpy OK, Knees togetherand that one young lady and better get her feet offset as well as getting a pair of white shoes! I use the Columbus System.That's the "Discover and land on it" method. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, M.P. Wolcott)
Puckered Packard: 1955
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Accident on 12th Street." Sandwiched between ... front end and all. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Signal 30) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/07/2023 - 2:27pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Accident on 12th Street." Sandwiched between the post office and Collins Snack Bar. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size. OooooMechanic: "I'm sorry, but this repair is gonna set you back $55. We can arrange installments." It's Elementary My Dear Holmes I was momentarily puzzled by the tassel hanging out the driver's window until I spotted the old Holmes wrecker behind it. Before locking steering columns, a car towed from the rear had the steering wheel tied off around the window frame to keep the front wheels tracking true. Every tow truck operator had at least one but more likely several of these ropes precut and ready for service. Most passenger vehicles in service today are front wheel drive and have the steering wheel locks. They are towed from the front and the tie-off rope has gone the way of the buggy-whip. There was still time on the meter.Looks like someone's Packard jumped the curb rather rapidly and took out a parking meter, judging by the vertical impact at the front, and the distance from the street. The wrecker is getting hooked up. Hopefully no pedestrians were injured during the melee, especially by that hood ornament of death. [Did it jump the curb at 60 mph? Looks more like it hit the corner of a building. - Dave] Three Uh-OhLooks like a 1951 Packard 300. Have to wonder whatever happened to the elegant cormorant on the hood. OofI did something similar to that while driving a 1996 Buick Park Avenue, in late 2004. It wasn't my fault. The scene of the incidentAssuming the shallow overhang at left in the c1955 photo is still there, the collision would have been about where the Subaru is parked in front of the streetlight. The Packard could have plowed into the building with the white stone column. Either way, to inflict that kind of damage to a steel bumper took a lot more impact than someone just parking their car. BulletproofI'm surprised the glass isn't even cracked. I would have thought without seat-belts, someone would have been thrown thru the windshield. [Not at 10 mph. - Dave] I'd still take itThat car still looks better than 95% of the cars made in the last twenty years, crunched front end and all. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Signal 30)
Cola War: 1956
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1956. "Boys Club picnic." RC Cola outlier on the left, ... Guilt I don't know what awful thing happened in Columbus, Georgia, on the day this photo was taken, but I know that the kid in ... Locovore RC Cola was, of course, first compounded in Columbus, Georgia, so the cop impersonating a colonel is but displaying his ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/19/2015 - 7:53pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1956. "Boys Club picnic." RC Cola outlier on the left, and he's armed. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Archive. View full size. GuiltI don't know what awful thing happened in Columbus, Georgia, on the day this photo was taken, but I know that the kid in the checkered shirt did it. There's an important part missingThe Moon Pie on the good Colonel's plate! Dynamic Range Envy Anyone who thinks digital has surpassed film in every way should try to replicate this shot. The foreground blasted with a bare bulb flash, no loss of detail in the man's bright white shirt and we can still see the cars parked in the dark parking lot behind them. Also, the kid in the black t-shirt has got to be the neighborhood bully, right? He's straight out of Central Casting. I'm guessing that Eugene sitting next to him has got some "purple nurple" and "indian rug burn" bruising from earlier in the day. The Trooper's "sidearm"looks like a Hopalong Cassidy cap gun to me 9 Out of 10 State TroopersPrefer RC Cola to Coke. But where are the empty peanut packages? An RC without peanuts is like a day without sunshine. SporkThe woman is using a spork. The guy with three slices of bread is a mystery. What is he going to do with them? A double-decker potato salad sandwich perhaps. LocovoreRC Cola was, of course, first compounded in Columbus, Georgia, so the cop impersonating a colonel is but displaying his good 'ol boy bona fides by enjoying this local product. I wonder where in the police academy curriculum they cover "good things to do with your sidearm while picnicking?" Take your pickHim or this lady Toy pistol?The small size, spurred trigger guard, and longhorn on the grips make me think that might be a toy sixgun under the state policeman's leg. Here's a 1950s Texan Junior cap gun that has those same characteristics. Hot Georgia nightThese folks are sweating like crazy. I live about 60 miles north of Columbus and nearly every night this summer it's been as hot as fire. 88 degrees at 10 pm. I know how they feel. Muggy like somebody squirting you with hot saltwater. Sweat dripping off the State Patrolman's face and coming thru his shirt. I reckon they either don't have air conditioning or are going to enjoy Gramp's birthday whether it kills them or not. HomesliceSlices of sandwich bread are a staple served with BBQ in Columbus. Bite of BBQ, bite of bread. Repeat. Snack center of the universeNot only was RC Cola invented in Columbus, and the company is still based there, but the original formula for Coke also was invented there by John S. Pemberton, a local pharmacist. Used to walk by the site of his pharmacy on the way to lunch every day when I worked for the newspaper there in the early '70s. Columbus is also the home of Tom's Peanuts, so between RC and Tom's, every textile mill worker had a ready snack for break. Also, in Columbus and in east Alabama, barbecue is always served with several pieces of good old white bread, so, that's not any kind of sandwich, just stacked slices waiting to be consumed. Gov. of GeorgiaIf I'm not mistaken (and the presence of a state trooper may bear me out), that's future Georgia Governor (1959-1963) Ernest Vandiver looking at the camera. Yep. I believe that's him. [I believe you're correct. -tterrace] [In 1956, he was Lieutenant Governor. - Dave] Chip off the old blockThat sure looks like Gov. Vandiver, which probably makes the boy to his right his son (amazing resemblance), Samuel Ernest "Chip" Vandiver III. Good catchI never ceased to be amazed at the range of knowledge displayed by the Shorpy crew. The State Patrolman's SidearmI bet he's holding it for one of the local youths at the table, the one in the black shirt maybe? Could he be the Governor's protection officer? The Patrolman and the Legionnaire sure look related. Father and son? If so, the apple didn't fall very far from the tree. The Governor's shoes certainly draw attention. Amazing how a whole story can come out of one snapshot. Linus' lawI teach Linux in IT classes at college. Shorpy is a practical example of the the thing that makes Linux special. It was coined by Eric S. Raymond as Linus' Law. It states: "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow" Simply if enough people work on a problem, somebody, will say "oh that's not a problem! I know how to fix that!" Shorpy shows With enough people looking at an image, somebody is going to go "Oh I know who/where/what that is!" (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Union Station: 1943
... of the point where E Street NE and Massachusetts Ave. and Columbus Circle converge - just north of the Capitol, you can get an idea of ... the lady and the girl are posed in the photo. Perhaps Columbus Circle has been enlarged since the photo was taken - this is a busy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 12:56pm -

Washington, 1943. A study in contrasts at Union Station. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparencies, photographer unknown. Office of War Information. Miss KodachromeThe ladies sure liked their lipstick RED then eh? Again, I cannot believe the crisp vividness of Kodachrome transparencies. A 1943 movie on TV will look like a century ago, and this looks like yesterday. You could count the pebbles in the pavement. A Bit ConfusedI have to admit I am a bit confused. Is this two different photos taken years apart? If so then i have a real problem with the shadows on the wall across from where both people are sitting. Strikes me as photoshop had something to do with this. Plus, and this too seems odd but nothing of the surrounding area has changed? I am a bit skeptical. [I'm confused, too. About why you are confused. Why would you ask if these photos are supposed to have been taken years apart? They were taken in 1943, as stated in the caption. On the same day. - Dave] Side by SideI agree, I love this very much, and the crispness of it, ahhh, it just leaves me haunted. It's as if, when things were black and white and "dated" looking, they could still be haunted and "distant," but they were easier to keep in the past. Whereas with these images, yes, it's haunting, it's like being there *now*. As for the "contrast," obvious things aside, doesn't the little girl have personality? Any more of these?You can see the same car parked beyond the stone wall in the background of both photos, so I'm guessing these images were taken on the same day. I wonder if there are any more? It appears the photographer was taking candid shots of people who didn't know they were being photographed as they sat on that wall, so why would he/she stop at two? (Unless the photographer's intent was to specifically show the "contrast" between these two people.) [There are more from the same general location. These people would have known their pictures were being taken, what with the big camera and tripod a few feet away. The little girl is shown in three different poses. - Dave] The look of the dayA costumer could easily copy her outfit, a hairstylist could create the hairstyle, and a makeup artist could reproduce the cosmetic style. The biggest obstacle is actually the eyebrows - eyebrow style in women changes from decade to decade, and it's the rare model who will allow a photographer to reshape her browline. Twin CityI'm always fascinated by the comments, often provoked by Kodachrome color, that the picture looks like it could be "yesterday," or today. Granted, the color is impressive, and the details are sharp. But - and I would love to see an experiment along these lines - how close could we come to duplicating a shot like this (say, the adult woman) today? Assuming the buildings are still there, and look much the same; catch the weather and light the same way, and assume we get a similar looking model, and carefully dress her to look like this; using professional technology, could a photographer make a picture taken today look like this? I have a sneaking suspicion each age and era has its own "look", and it's impossible to fully re-create it. Union Station todayIt would be possible to re-create this photo, though some of the features have changed. Google does not offer a "streetview" of this location (national security?), but if you look at the satellite view of the point where E Street NE and Massachusetts Ave. and Columbus Circle converge - just north of the Capitol, you can get an idea of the photo's location. It appears that a parking lot (natch) is now situated where the lady and the girl are posed in the photo. Perhaps Columbus Circle has been enlarged since the photo was taken - this is a busy intersection today. About a block away - southwest down E Street - are two good Irish pubs side by side. Irish seven-course gourmet dinner? A six-pack and a baked potato! Goober Pea KodachromeKodachrome is wonderful stuff, but Kodak is gradually curtailing its manufacture. It is getting difficult to find processors for it. Mama is indeed taking our Kodachrome away and it will be a great loss. Looking at these images makes me want to throw rocks at digital cameras. Re-creating the Look of the DayI agree, Charlene. Hollywood movies SEEM to re-create the past regularly, but they rarely do it exactly. Their purpose is entertainment, not historical education. An example being westerns made in the fifties. The men sported 50's American ducktail haircuts, and the women had fifties make-up. In the sixties, the men finally got some longer hair, but the women had those huge "sixties" false eylashes. The result? You can tell the decade a western was made, even if they all are supposed to be set in the mid to late 1800s. Today, they do tend to be more subdued in westerns, but they still make concessions to modern tastes. That's what I love about this site. For us history lovers, we are getting the real thing. Almost as good as time travel! Actually, Charlene...I just saw the movie "Chinatown" again, recently, and Faye Dunaway sported a very authentic thirties pencilled-in eyebrow line. I loved the "look" in that film Union Station From AboveUnion Station from above. Click to pan (Google Maps). Union Station LadiesThe Location for these pictures has not changed. I work across the street from this location. It is the little park adjacent to the Russell Senate Office building. Still looks essentially the same, except the street lights are gone. Same aggregate concrete floor. They are sitting on the wall next to the steps leading down to North Capitol Street. The woman is facing west toward the Teamsters building. Strikingly clear day, no jet contrails spoling the view. I tell you what, I will bring in my camera and recreate this view for you. The look of the dayI could never watch the Korean War show "M*A*S*H" because Alan Alda had a 1970's haircut. Similarly, in the otherwise excellent movie "The Last Picture Show," set in 1951, Jeff Bridges' character is seen near the end in his Class A uniform visiting Anarene just after Army basic training, sporting hair much longer than a 1951 soldier ever would have had (especially one just out of basic). Argh. Ruins it. How hard is it to give a guy an authentic haircut? Washington ReduxThanks, Anonymous Tipster - I would love to see the photo re-shot. I used to know this area well, too. It was on my path to Union Station to catch the Red Line to Bethesda. The recent posting "Battle Stations" appears to have been shot from the same plaza/park. Goober Pea The Old LookInterestingly to me, when it comes to trying to re-create the look and feel of another time, it's high-end fashion photography that routinely, and lovingly, does this. I would even go further and say it's specifically gay men in fashion who truly adore and appreciate old photos and styles, and are attentive to subtle details in fashion, or eyebrows, or heels, very precise as to the 'when' something was chic. But as someone said, and I've independently looked into, Kodachrome is shutting down. The one place to get it developed is in Scandinavia! And that's just for the moment, til it becomes a loss. It's a very hard look to replicate, that Kodachrome vibrancy. (I'm "Miss Kodachrome" commenter 1) Re: The Old LookUnless I've missed something, only Kodachrome 25 and 200 have been discontinued, and Duane's in Kansas still processes Kodachrome 64. In any event, the Kodachrome in all these 4x5s is a lot different than today's film. The present emulsion is a lot more accurate than the pre-1961 film, which was slow (ASA 10) and featured bright reds and blues, so the film everyone's been mourning in these comments has been gone over 45 years. I think what catches the eye here is the tremendous detail captured in the large format. I used to go out photographing with a friend with Kodak Elite in both my Nikon and his 4x5 view camera. We would photograph the same scenes, but it was no contest. His transparencies were amazing, and would blow mine away. The look of todayIn response to everyone who wondered if such a photo could be taken today, I would suggest that a women sitting outside Union Station in that particular pose nowadays would be reading a text message on her cell phone or Blackberry. The look of TodayI agree that Kodachrome is a wonder film, but don't discount the size of the negative (120 or 4x5) and the quality of the lenses. I use a Mamiya RB67 with fuji chromes and the images just pop out and poke your eyeballs. Get out there and shoot some film folks! 50 Years from now, perhaps our pics will be posted on Shorpy. Union StationI commute via Union Station daily, Irish pubs there are just like Ruby Tuesdays, more like a bar than a restaurant. No seven course gourmet dinner. My first date with my wife was this Irish pub. Obviously not identicalThese amateur photoanalysts must be blind. The background is obviously not identical -- the rightmost flag is waving and is in different positions between the two photos. (More questionable is the digital "213" on the edges. But that's outside the area of the film itself.) [The 213 frame number ("digital" only in the sense that it's composed of digits), made with a pin register, will be familiar to anyone who works with old large-format Kodachromes. The backgrounds aren't "identical" (and who said they were?) because these are two different photographs. The point is that they were taken the same day. Which we know because of the cars in the background. - Dave] Union Station TodayIn addition to other differences noted by others, the grassy area between the woman and Union Station is now lined by trees that have grown up so that the view of Union Station is not nearly as clear and direct anymore. Also, Columbus Circle is now lined with the flags of all 50 states plus territories. This is a great historical photo. 67 years laterI located the same exact spot where this picture was taken, and took another picture of what it looks like today. What's interesting is that the lamp posts are still in their exact same locations -- Even the two-headed lamp post off in the distance. The view of Union Station is pretty much obscured by trees now, but you can still make out the rooftop. Click to enlarge.
9/11: 1933
... Lake in Central Park. The clearing appears to start at Columbus Avenue, and extend all the way to Broadway. Yankee Where? I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 6:34pm -

September 11, 1933. "New York City views. Looking north from the Empire State Building." 5x7 safety negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. On a clear day........you can see Central Park! Nowadays, the view is blocked by skyscrapers. (A nice view of the park can still be had from The Top Of The Rock -- 30 Rockefeller Plaza.) Bryant Park looks like a sand pit, which it sort of was in 1933-34, according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryant_Park I'm fascinated by what looks like a huge clearing on the Upper West Side -- west and slightly north of what I'm guessing is The Lake in Central Park. The clearing appears to start at Columbus Avenue, and extend all the way to Broadway. Yankee Where?I can't see the ten-year old Yankee Stadium! Any idea? Good Morning ManhattanAnother gorgeous Gottscho image, thanks. If I had the time, I would love to spend the day pinpointing which buildings are gone and which remain. New Jersey, as well as the east and west 90s and up, seem almost rural, though the newly-constructed George Washington Bridge is visible in the distance. Being the first here to state the obvious, I would wager that no one in that Manhattan of 1933 could possibly imagine the evil events that would occur on that day 68 years later, or, for that matter, the architectural extremes that the events would target. While many of these buildings in this absurd and wonderful city remain, our relative sense of innocence does not. Names and AddressesOkay, New Yorkers, fill us in on some details! SpookedIs that the spectre of Death haunting the roof of the building in the center foreground? PeepyThat's a lot of windows. The city really is kind of a mess when viewed that way. It's as if somebody put together a jigsaw puzzle with their eyes closed. As much as some people complain about the coldness of modern glass and steel structures, they really do make for a better looking city when viewed as a whole. Infant BridgeThe nearly two year old George Washington Bridge is in the background to the upper left. What a sightThis is an incredible photo...as far as the eye can see. I would love to see the same scene today! What a fantastic photo!Note how then then-new Waldorf Astoria and the original RCA building (which became the NY HQ for General Electric so after this time) just behind it stand out in this photo, looking to the northeast. 30 years later, that area along Park and Lexington Avenues became filled with tall buildings. Also it looks like Bryant Park was being rehabilitated at that time. Keep the Gottscho coming!I could stare at this for hours. Check out Bryant Park, which appears to be in the middle of its Robert Moses-led reconstruction, and the Sixth Ave. El station at the park's northwest corner. In Central Park, just peeking out from behind the RCA Building, is what I believe to be the old Croton Lower Reservoir. Within a year or two from this photo, it would be filled in to create the Great Lawn. See how comparatively un-built-up the island is beyond Central Park, especially around Morningside. You can easily make out the Bronx County Courthouse, and that horizontal feature just to the right must be the 10-year-old Yankee Stadium. The GW Bridge pictured here has been open less than two years. What's most tantalizing to me is the scene at upper left, where the Hudson curves away to lose the northern Westchester shoreline in the mist and pixels. That's where I grew up, and this photo shows it 35 years before I was born... except it really doesn't. Makes me wish I were on one of those TV shows where you can just stand in front of the computer and say "Enhance... enhance... enhance." Knox KnowledgeLots about the Knox Hats guy (extreme foreground, right) here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,927954-2,00.html Let's Start At The Bottom of the PictureThis is one busy shot. I'll be looking at it for weeks trying to identify the buildings still standing. I'll start now with the Lord and Taylor Flagship Store that occupies the block from 38th to 39th Streets on the west side of Fifth Avenue. The Empire State Building, the location from which the photo was made, is on 5th Ave. also on the west side of the street from 33rd to 34th Sts. In the case of the Lord and Taylor store, the building itself is probably worth more than the store. Rumors persist that they were about to develop the existing building into condos. The building was declared a landmark in 2007 so they can't tear it down, but they probably can build above it. The Ovington Store, to the right of Lord and Taylor in the picture, sold Fine China. That building has been replaced by a 55 story Condo known as 425 5th Ave., completed about 5 years ago. WindowsFunny the poster who mentioned that there were a lot of windows (and disliked it). When I first looked at it I marvelled at all the wonderful windows - how human it looks - unlike the cold blank modern walls of glass. My grandparents and my father and mother could be walking along one of those streets even as this picture was taken. In fact since my grandfather was a mailman, he probably was! Where's my desk?If you look west across from 30 Rock (RCA/GE) Buidling, across Sixth Avenue, you see many low rise structures that are now occupied by the XYZ buildings built in the late 60's early 70's (Rock Centre West.) From 52nd street down to 47th street on 6th Ave.; 1271 6th, 1251 6th, 1221 6th & 1211 6th (where I'm sitting as I write this.) As a matter of fact, 6th Avenue has been so dramatically changed from those days with hi-rise office buildings lining the avenue fromCentral Park down to Bryant Park. And another note about the windows... these buildings have much more character than the sleek glass towers. These buildings define a cityscape. HoovervilleBy 1933 the reservoir had been drained, giving rise to a "Hooverville" (shantytown named after then-President Herbert Hoover). What you see are the walls of the former reservoir -- the Great Lawn wasn't completed until 1936. No Triboro Bridge yet, just the Hellgate rail bridge (top right). Wow!What a wonderful photo! Thank you for sharing it. A few detailsJust in front of the GW Bridge, the tower sticking up is Riverside Church, completed in 1930, to the right of that you can sort of make out the side of the Cathedral of St John the Divine. To the left of Bryant Park is the 6th Avenue El, which was torn down in the 1950's. The low buildings along the left side of 6th Ave all got knocked down at the same time to make the new Avenue of the Americas (which New Yorkers still call 6th Avenue), and the long line of the 50-plus-story office buildings spawned by Rockefeller Center. Right behind and between the towers of the Waldorf Astoria is the tower of the old GE Building, one of the most gorgeous Deco spires ever built. In front of Bryant Park the dark tower is the Radiator Building, made famous by Georgia O'Keeffe. Just below Central Park, and just below the roofed tower of the Essex House, you can see the dome of what eventually became the New York City Center. Oh, and in the upper right corner the grand old Hellgate Bridge, the only object in this picture ever reproduced by the Lionel Train company. Air conditioningThis was pre-air conditioning, it must have been sweltering in those offices. Probably the days when windows could be opened though. When was air conditioning in office towers introduced? [Generally speaking, the 1930s. Individual room coolers at first. - Dave] Similar view from 2000Here's a shot I took in October 2000 from roughly the same place looking roughly the same direction (with an Epson 850Z 2MP digital camera). I've sized and distorted it to roughly match the Gottscho. Have fun! HouseThat Ruth BuiltMy guess is that the Stadium is about here: Twenty days after this picture was taken, the Babe did something notable here. Any takers? Ford FactoryOn the Jersey side, south of the bridge. The large multi- story building on the bank of the river. I believe it to be the Edgewater Ford assembly plant whose output was mostly export. Crystal clearAmazing that you can't see the air. Yankee StadiumForeshortening at the top of the photo makes it very hard to see. Follow Fifth Avenue (on the right side of Central Park) up to the end. The stadium appears as a low, wide structure positioned just to the left and just past the end of Fifth. It seems to be partially blocked by something but I can't make out what the something is. Or that might be reflected sunlight from the southern facade of the stadium, given the angle of the sun in the photo. Break the number 7 into two pieces, a horizontal and a vertical : -I Yankee Stadium is the horizontal, 5th Ave is the vertical. Enhance! Enhance! Babe Ruth RecordIn his last pitching appearance on 1 October 1933, Ruth tallied 10 winning seasons in 10 years as a pitcher, a record unmatched until 2004. Still StandingAlthough the New York skyline has changed much in the past 76 years many of these buildings are still standing and still prominent. On one level there are the monumental buildings such as the Public Library, St. Patricks, Grand Central Station, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All built with a confidence in permanence and hisory. And all horizontal. The later buildings seen here reach for the sky. Conceived in the boom of the Twenties they withstood the Depression (when this photograph was taken) and still stand tall; not too far from where we are today. A quick blink in time. Let's wait for the picture from 2085. New Yorker hereI used to work in the Empire State Building. There may be air conditioning in individual offices, but it is also possible to open the windows. The story goes that if you jump out of them the updrafts will blow you back into another open window. Supposedly this happened once. It's a lovely building and everyone who worked there was proud to be there. I noted the office of F. Lee Bailey just down the hall from the T shirt company I was working for. "Yes, you can hire him if we don't pay your bill," they joked. Stork ClubMy dad was born somewhere down there, exactly one month later that same year. I'll have to show this to him. He'll get a kick out of it, since he's only been back to the city once -- in 1988. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
Safety Tested: 1958
...         At Rucker Oldsmobile in Columbus, Georgia. From around 1958 comes this News Archive photo of a ... Purple". (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/08/2022 - 1:17pm -

        At Rucker Oldsmobile in Columbus, Georgia. From around 1958 comes this News Archive photo of a "Safety Tested" used Oldsmobile -- a two-tone 1956 Ninety-Eight De Luxe Holiday Coupé, to be specific. Low miles, only driven to church, never smoked in, must see to appreciate! 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size. "Never smoked in"In 1958? That seems rather improbable. Parking in the rearCareful where you park if you decide to rent the apartment. You might find your two-tone 1956 Ninety-Eight Holiday Coupé sold if you park in front. Yes!I like real cars. "They don't build them like they used to"... is an often heard comment at the car shows I go to. My reply is "and that's a good thing." Yes, I have one car that is 99 years old, and my wife's car is 60, however growing up, rarely did we see a car much older then 10 years. In 1969, my folks' 1964 Chevy (bought used in 1967) was off to the junkyard and the "new" to us 1968 Pontiac was out in driveway. By 1972 it was replaced by a brand new Chevy. Without doubt, this 1956 Olds was scrap by 1964. After 6-8 years/80-100k miles, a car was done. Today 15-20 years and +200k is the norm! '57 Chevy featuresAgree with Steve Belcher. My first car was a ten-year-old '57 Chevy. It looked great, but in retrospect was sort of a rolling health hazard: no seat belts; steel dashboard; non-collapsing steering column; asbestos brake pads; no power steering. Also, no smog control (had to install it when I bought it to make it street legal). Got all of 15 MPG and leaked oil. And I seem to remember "vacuum assist" windshield wipers that slowed to almost nil when going up steep San Francisco hills. Yeah, glad they don't build 'em like that anymore. Safety Tested = Making sure it's unsafe!"Safety Tested": Still no seat belts? Yes! Hard metal dashboard? Yes! Still no airbags? Yes! Small drum brakes prone to fade? Yes! No door guard beams or child-proof locks? Yes! I guess "Safety Tested" meant that the doors stayed closed and the wheels stayed on. [A padded dashboard and child-guard door locks were standard equipment on 1956 Oldsmobiles. - Dave] Great car, but --My mom and dad bought a 1956 Holiday sedan back then and it was a great car. I loved driving it. Comfortable, plenty of room and ran good. Unfortunately in 1964 Dad was killed in a freak accident in it. The car hardly looked damaged but he slid off the road on Route 66 and hit a mailbox and the box came back through the windshield and hit him. Three days after his funeral, we got a hand-scribbled note from the mailbox owner asking for $8 to replace it. SpinnersThose coveted flipper hubcaps had a tendency to disappear to Midnight Auto Supply. Spin offEarly in my driving days my dad had a 1953 Mercury that I put similar spinners on. I also bought locks for them which were a sombrero shaped gizmo that screwed on the valve stem with a small key. One night someone not only stole the spinners, but also replaced the locks back on the stems. My mother's car!Bought used, to drive to her job as an elementary school librarian. It was pink and white, Earl Scheibed to "Passionate Purple". (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
The E-Team: 1960
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1960. Eufaula (Alabama) at Columbus. It looks to have been a good night for the Tigers. 4x5 acetate ... of 8,357. If these were playoff games being held in Columbus, Georgia, the Tigers may be holding only (I say only) a third-place ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/08/2022 - 6:28pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1960. Eufaula (Alabama) at Columbus. It looks to have been a good night for the Tigers. 4x5 acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Movin' on upWe all know the theory that the lengths of women's dresses follow (or lead) the stock market. What might be the significance of basketball shorts? (The 1960 U.S. recession officially ended in November, when basketball season began.) Why So Serious?A good question as they are holding a trophy. Shouldn't they be smiling? Maybe they are smiling inside. Jocks"Boys, get on out there and play a good game! And don't forget to hold on to them balls." Where's Gene?This shot, with the Chuck Taylors, droopy socks and some skinned knees, makes me want to watch "Hoosiers" for the umpteenth time. Out of syncIt seems none of the jacket numbers correspond to the jersey numbers. It's all relativeIn 1960 Eufaula, Alabama had a population of 8,357. If these were playoff games being held in Columbus, Georgia, the Tigers may be holding only (I say only) a third-place trophy. You tend not to smile when you go expecting first and end up getting third. The random player stances caused me to see art. Click to embiggen if you feel the need. And then please answer the question: at right there is a shoe where you see only the laces, no leg. To whom does that shoe belong? 21 shoes, 10 players.am I right? [There are 11 heads visible above 22 shoes that we can see, plus one leg whose sock is visible but whose shoe is not, bringing the total to at least 23 shoes. So there must be one hidden head and two hidden shoes for a total of 12 boys and 24 Chucks. Or, 11 guys and their 22 shoes plus one stray, unoccupied shoe. - Dave] Look at all the Chucks!It's unanimous. Converse Chuck Taylors were the choice of this team. When I was a kid, they were the best basketball shoe and they cost $6. I still got a worn pair in my closet. I bought them in the '90s, forget what they cost, but the original dark blue color has faded to a nice sky-blue. Time to follow through and go online to buy my next pair -- I'm hoping to get the maroon color. It's spring and time to update the wardrobe a bit. My guess is that it may be an invitational tournamentbut not a state playoff. Eufaula and Columbus are close, but in different states. I believe Eufaula is known for some pretty good basketball teams and players that made their way to Auburn. [Bracket below! - Dave] (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Sports)
Model Citizens: 1948
Columbus, Georgia, 1948. "Kirven's Department Store fashion show -- Jere ... Jere's obituary: "Jere M. Pound III, 77, of Columbus died Thursday, August 21, 2008 at his home .... Mr. Pound was born on July 17, 1931 in Columbus, GA, the second of three children, to the late Murphey Pound and the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/09/2017 - 7:57pm -

Columbus, Georgia, 1948. "Kirven's Department Store fashion show -- Jere Pound." But which dapper gent is Jere? (Answer: standing.) View full size. StandingHere is Jere in his 1947 class picture. White bucs in 1948?I'm surprised. I know they were big in the mid-'50s, popularized by Pat Boone, as I recall. But didn't know they were a thing in the late '40s. March 1948The Esquire issue in the photo. And here's Jere's obituary:"Jere M. Pound III, 77, of Columbus died Thursday, August 21, 2008 at his home .... Mr. Pound was born on July 17, 1931 in Columbus, GA, the second of three children, to the late Murphey Pound and the late Eva Garrett Pound. A 1948 graduate of Columbus High School, Mr. Pound attended Georgia Tech and subsequently Tulane University from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1952. He served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He was married to Barbara Swift Pound of Columbus with whom he had five sons. His professional career included positions with the brokerage firm Spencer-Zimmerman-Pound and Co., Columbus Mills, Inc., J.M. Pound & Sons and Whitecrest Mills. He was a past President of the South Columbus Boys Club, a past member of the American Legion and the Board of Directors the American Red Cross. An Episcopalian by faith, he served numerous years as a youth Sunday-school teacher for Trinity Episcopal Church. He is survived by his brother ... his sister ... his five sons ... 10 grandchildren ... two great grandchildren ... and numerous nieces and nephews. See more here. Incidentally, Jere's grandfather Jere M. Pound was the second president of Georgia Women's College (now Valdosta State University). I can't say for sure which one is Jerebut I think I've found where he is now. https://billiongraves.com/grave/Jere-Madison-Pound/6711890#/ Dapper gentThe sitting guy in windbreaker and argyle socks, holding the Esquire magazine, is just a guy wearing nice clothes. The standing fellow, on the other hand, knows how to wear the clothes. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Stores & Markets)
Do Touch That Dial: 1957
From September 1957 in Columbus, Georgia, comes this next entry from the Amateur Radio file, starring ... find K4JNL was the call sign of Eddy Kosobucki of Columbus. Based on the linked memorial, he appears to have been a friend and ... vs. Sir Walter Raleigh and a forest of vacuum tubes. In Columbus, Georgia, the Home of Humidity. Both of these "hams" ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/17/2022 - 11:24am -

From September 1957 in Columbus, Georgia, comes this next entry from the Amateur Radio file, starring K4JNL (Eddy Kosobucki). Plus: Riddles, Riddles, RIDDLES. Air conditioning by Philco. 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. DriverThe driving transmitter (upper left, right by one) is a Johnson Viking "Adventurer" sold as a kit, with 50 watts of output from a single 1625 final tube, pi network tuning. He has a VFO plugged into the front octal socket that serves as a holder either for a crystal or a vfo. Whether he as a following amplifier somewhere I can't tell. The Adventurer was popular with the Novice class (being under 75 watts legally required) and most people kept it when they advanced to the next higher class too. Don’t make ‘em like that anymoreMy parents bought a Philco air conditioner when I was born in 1956 and moved into a 60 year old home with radiators and boiler heat. When I moved out in 1981, it was still pumping cold air. They never had it out of the window. My father worked for White-Rodgers and was informed the weak link in any device that has a manual temperature setting was the person turning the knob. Best to set it and forget it. CQ and ye shall findK4JNL was the call sign of Eddy Kosobucki of Columbus. Based on the linked memorial, he appears to have been a friend and mentor to many in the amateur radio world. “Going Barefoot”For ham radio folks it is a term that means he is transmitting without the benefit of an amplifier. Pretty old ham radio equipment so I not sure he really is “barefoot.” Calling K4JNLDo you have Sir Walter Raleigh in a can? Toe-tingling experience"Operating barefoot" usually means without external amplification; here, Eddy's simply providing a better path for those stray RF currents to find the ground. Life on the edge! Is it any wonder that radio operators are so often called "Sparky"? And with the shields and covers removed from all those add-on devices, he's got a fair shot at qualifying for the coveted Worked All Neighbors award. Tweaking the finalsQSL OM, I am twisting the knobs like I do on the XYL ... hi hi ... Turn back the clockI am a lapsed Ham from about 1970 until through inactivity let my license expire three years ago. I visited a lot of local hams and while the new gear back then was great, I thoroughly enjoyed the shacks with the old gear and home brewed stuff. I haven't listened on the bands for a good while and it seemed to sound more like CB in some ways. I always liked operating CW more than SSB. Up in smokeSir Walter Raleigh ... in the can. King Edward cigars. Diamond matches to light them. You'd have to be a certain age to recognize those things. But without cigar boxes, where would people have stored all the small "junk"??? Homebrew gearThe shiny metal chassis at upper left appears to be a homemade audio modulator for the little Johnson transmitter to its right, based on the microphone input, volume control and meter, and the two big tubes. The other chassis above and to its right looks like the power supply to run the modulator, given the huge power transformer and other related parts. It looks like it's well-made stuff. Eddy observationsI'm thinking he would have been a fun guy to know, based only on the fact that he's doing this photo shoot barefoot. That, and he has what looks to be a good-natured grin. I'm also assuming he was able to quit smoking at some point since he made it to 81. Where's - - -WKRP ?? Smoked hamA titanic struggle: kick off your shoes, enjoy Philco vs. Sir Walter Raleigh and a forest of vacuum tubes. In Columbus, Georgia, the Home of Humidity. Both of these "hams" appear to beaficionados of Hammarlund receivers, Mr. Kosobucki using an HQ 150 model, manufactured by the firm founded by Swedish electrical engineer Oscar Hammarlund. In the 1960s I had an HQ 180A I used for "DXing" the broadcast band, primarily so I could canvass regional AM "Top 40" stations across the United States and Canada to figure out in advance what hits would descend upon Chicago in the coming weeks so I could amaze my classmates with my prescience. Both operators have state-of-the-art receivers, the HQ 150 introduced in 1956 and the Super-Pro SP-400 sx introduced the year the photograph was taken, 1946. My dream was to own and program a chain of "Top 40" AM stations. I became a university professor, instead. RiddlesRiddle, Riddles, Riddles was one of a series of triply-titled books for children and young adults. There were also Jokes, Jokes, Jokes and some others. One of my favorites was Space, Space, Space, a very good anthology of science fiction adventure stories. (Technology, The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Bugging Out: 1957
From Columbus, Georgia, circa 1957 comes this uncaptioned shot of two guys about to ... Not new in '57, but relatively rare. Columbus' close proximity to Fort Benning meant one would have seen more ... cars purchased overseas. The streets of Fort Benning and Columbus would have been home to examples of many marques now largely forgotten ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/12/2022 - 1:18pm -

From Columbus, Georgia, circa 1957 comes this uncaptioned shot of two guys about to go somewhere. Cola? Check. Bedroll? Ditto. Daddy's Roadmaster? All gassed up. 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. '57 CoolWell, I was only 9 that summer, but I remember wishing I could look as cool as the guy in a button-down collar shirt, khaki slacks, white socks and loafers. BTW, wasn't the Beetle rather new on the scene in '57? [No. - Dave] That BeetleDoes not look like it can hold that much paraphernalia. Although the one in front might be dad's as you said. All packed up. Never forget your ink pen on a camping trip. Cool Little BugBrings back memories of trying to fit an impossible amount into a small space. Loved my Beetle. One of us isn'tI used to own a '59 Beetle. It had no gas gauge. You drove it like a motorcycle, using the odometer to keep track of your mileage and (estimated) gas consumption. There was a black rod (see photo) to the right of the accelerator, which was UP for main tank, and kicked over to the right to enable the reserve, which would get you to a gas station. Important to remember to kick that lever vertical again after filling the tank. That lever is horizontal, which means that White Shirt is either running on fumes, or is in for an unpleasant walk. New on the scene BugsMacKenzie Kavanaugh, you are correct; I remember a pilot pal of my dad's had the first Beetle I ever saw, in about 1957, and it was an eye-opener. So different from anything I had ever seen. My dad, a WWII 82nd Airborne vet, wouldn't consider allowing me to own one, as he said it was Hitler's brainchild. After he passed in 1970, I've owned 13 of the old ones (counting vans, Karmann Ghias, and this version of the Doka double-cab truck, which was my favorite of all) and three of the new versions. The '56 RoadmasterWould be more comfortable. Not new in '57, but relatively rare.Columbus' close proximity to Fort Benning meant one would have seen more Beetles per capita there than in most other American towns. Though the renowned Max Hoffman began importing them to the US in 1949, they did not become ubiquitous on American roads until the early 1960s. But many GIs stationed in Europe returned with cars purchased overseas. The streets of Fort Benning and Columbus would have been home to examples of many marques now largely forgotten -- Panhard, DKW, Lloyd, Standard -- as well as more than a few VWs like this one. My estimate, only half in jest, is that the mass of steel contained in this Volkswagen would barely suffice to make up the front clip of that Buick. [By 1955, when Volkswagen sold 35,000 cars here, the Beetle had become the top-selling import in the United States. In 1956, sales increased to 50,000. - Dave] Beep-BeepIn 1957 my Uncle Archie had a VW Bug. They were few and far between then and when another one passed, a horn or wave was appropriate. May flowersThe grassy-looking plant in the foreground is a groundcover/edging plant called liriope (Liriope muscari). It's in bloom, so the photo must have been taken in May. (The Gallery, Camping, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Washington Union Station: 1912
... Washington, D.C., circa 1912. "Union Station plaza and Columbus fountain." 8x6 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/10/2022 - 9:24pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1912. "Union Station plaza and Columbus fountain." 8x6 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size. A beautiful and functional place todayBelow is the original ground floorplan for Union Station. Here are some photographs of the original interiors. Like nearly all train stations, Union Station went through a decline. The two events which stand out in my memory both involve the main waiting room. Around 1967, in an effort to look more modern and deter transient sleepers the mahogany benches were removed, thrown on the depot's scrap pile, and replaced with individual plastic seats mounted on rails on posts bolted to the floor (similar to what you see in bus stations). Around the same time the station was repurposed as a Washington visitors center and in the early 1970s a giant hole, nicknamed The Pit, was dug in the waiting room floor to create a sort of amphitheater. The floor was restored during restoration of the station, which concluded in 1988. Unfortunately, the benches are long gone. Click to embiggen RentalsRental vehicles are returnable around the right corner of the building. I remember the other hole in the floor.The 1953 Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 sized one, that resulted from one of said locomotive class (PRR 4876) overrunning the platform area, entering the concourse and coming to rest in the basement. The entrance on the far right in the frontal and floor plan views used to be called the "President's and Ambassadors Entrance", good thing the GG1 didn't try to go in there. The only private citizen ever officially privileged to use it was supposedly Kate Smith. SoThat building held like, what, 5 people? A more perfect UnionOne of the earliest and most visible examples of the District's transformation from a slow Southern town to a City Beautiful, the Station - which is both a terminal and thru-station (see plan below) - replaced an earlier one situated on the Mall. Although picturesque and conveniently located, it became unpopular - President Garfield particularly disliked it - with the movement to restore the capital along the lines of the L'Enfant Plan. Horses to the left of me, autos to the rightI'm wondering about the horse/horseless divide. Could it have been designed to: > keep the horses calm? > make it easier for passengers to chose their preferred mode of transportation? > protect, in some small way, a dying trade? More 1908 PhotosI remember once seeing a photo of a table set in a private dining room in Union Station. It had something like seven stemmed glasses of various sizes lined up for different beverages and I don't remember how many different forks. I didn't find it again, but I did find a labeled floor plan, below, so you can see where the lunch room was, and a photo of the lunch room. Also, another photo of the main waiting room, where you can see recessed areas at the end of each bench for placing a spittoon where it can be used but not accidentally kicked. And the station under construction. Click to embiggen Blueprints aplentyHundreds of these on the LOC website. If you're into that sort of thing. Rocking chairs -- "Pay closets" -- ColumbiaNice to see that cultural Marxism has not destroyed this historical landmark yet. Bouncy!Back 25 years, when I was a communications consultant in the DC area, my partner and I would meet with clients in Union Station for meetings or working meals. It was a beautiful place, no doubt, but after years of being in rock bands and almost daily scuba diving, my hearing was shot. All the hard surfaces in that joint caused the worst reverb I ever experienced. Hearing aids couldn't help. I had to really be on my toes to understand what was being said. Finally, I put my foot down and insisted on meetings at the Post Pub or Sign of the Whale or Ben's Chili Bowl or anywhere other than Union Station. Bicentennial EmbarrassmentI worked for the National Park Service for 25 years, including the Bicentennial era, and remember the National Visitor Center with great embarrassment and remorse. What happened to Union Station in 1976 is still a blemish on the NPS' image. Planning for a National VC began in the late 1960s, but construction didn't really begin until 1974, which was too late to pull off many of the planned attractions in Union Station. The worst feature was an infamous multimedia theater excavated into the floor of the Great Hall -- a literal pit with stand-up "seating" where a bank of 100 Kodak Carousels projected a continuous slide show about DC and its monuments and attractions. I watched the show several times, or rather tried too, but a sizable number of projectors always seemed to be out of sync. And the clacking sound of a hundred 35mm slides being changed simultaneously was hugely distracting. I'm attaching views of the original Great Hall and the Bicentennial "Pit." Thank god the multimedia pit was removed during subsequent restorations of the Station. D.H. Burnham & Co.At the bottom right on the plan provided by Doug Floor Plan is the name of the architectural firm that designed this building. This Chicago-based company also happened to design the 1893 Columbian Exhibition that I happened to read about in the book, "Devil in the White City." Burnham was not the devil. (Panoramas, D.C., Natl Photo, Railroads)
News Blackout: 1958
... This circa 1958 candlelight candid offers a glimpse of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer city desk during a power outage. Start the ... Company published individual circulations, The Columbus Enquirer (morning) and The Columbus Ledger (afternoon). The two titles ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/31/2022 - 1:04pm -

This circa 1958 candlelight candid offers a glimpse of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer city desk during a power outage. Start the presses! 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size. This little light of mineMaybe it's the candlelight but the guy on the right seems to be gazing ever so fondly at the seated man -- his boss, I imagine. Could it be a budding bromance amidst the newsprint? Where's the Wang?That boxy shape left of the phone is the clunkiest-looking newsroom computer terminal I have ever seen. Also, the candles would be brighter with LED wicks. AshtraysThose were the days. Plenty of heavy glass ashtrays in the offices to repurpose into candle holders. Horseshoe Editor's DeskI interned at a small 6-day daily in the summer of 1972 and that desk brings back memories. The Ledger-Enquirer Company published individual circulations, The Columbus Enquirer (morning) and The Columbus Ledger (afternoon). The two titles published a combined Sunday Ledger-Enquirer on the weekends. In 1958, Mr. Edge R Reid was the managing editor. Alas, this photo does not contain Mr. Reid's likeness. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
High Street: 1910
Columbus, Ohio, circa 1910. "High Street, south from State." Where strollers ... German Village in 1910 (it was then just the south side of Columbus). I remember him telling me that he sold newspapers downtown as a ... his. He used to talk quite often about growing up in Columbus in those days, and even as a callow lad I found the stories ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 1:31pm -

Columbus, Ohio, circa 1910. "High Street, south from State." Where strollers have, among many available choices, a 3-cent lunchroom, the Imperial Tonsorial Parlor and Baths, "base ball scores received by innings" and swastika sporting goods. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Lying through their teethWhy do I get the feeling that "American Painless Dentists" and "Dr. Cochrane Painless Dentist" were anything but? Oral HistoryI'm 64 years old and I have yet to visit a painless dentist! To Ladder or Not to LadderI suppose it would be a fireman's nightmare if one had to negotiate a ladder between all the overhead electric wires during rescue attempts. However I also suppose that during this era ladder type fire trucks were yet to be developed, though I could be wrong, but even an extension ladder propped on the side of a building would be a challenge. 1910 sports barFor inning by inning baseball scores in 1910, I imagine that it must be a bar with a subscription to a Western Union baseball ticker service, and a big blackboard for the staff to write up the scores. Tipping pointFrom looking at a lot of Shorpy pics from the first decade of the 20th century, it seems that 1911 or '12 was just about the tipping point between the horse and buggy era and the automobile era. There were two shots of New York from about 1906 and 1913, and the contrast was startling. I'll bet if you came back only a year later, you'd find drastically more cars, and drastically fewer horses. Read all about itSeems the corner is amply covered by newshawkers. LunchUhhhh...I really wonder what you could get at a 3 cent lunch? Then, on the other hand, saloons offered a free lunch if you bought a 5 or 10 cent glass of beer. The free lunch could vary upon the class of saloon you were patronizing. It could be a full range cold cut platter with other items available in an upscale joint or it could just be a pickled egg in a lower class establishment. I am sure the bartenders of either class joint encouraged patrons to move along if they didn't continue to buy an occasional beer. Not really painless.More of a phantom pain today, felt more in the pocketbook than the mouth. ProgressOnly the building on the right corner appears to still stand. Locals might note the Lazarus sign above the clock tower. A department store that ceased to exist in the last several years. View Larger Map Newsies!I love the newsboys in their short pants, especially the one with the big grin on his face. I'd really like to know more about the Lazarus tower (on the right, over the clock). What's THAT about? [See below. - Dave] Piano DistrictI count three piano stores in one block. I wonder if all of Ohio even has three piano stores left? Big TipperIf you had the 3¢ lunch and left a nickel on the counter the tip would have been 40 percent. [Ahem. Five cents for a three-cent meal is a 167 percent tip. - Dave] Now that I've looked at this post again, I think you misinterpreted the tip ratio. The nickel left on the counter was for the meal, 3¢, leaving 2¢ for the tip. Do you think I'm a Rockefeller and that I would leave a 5¢ tip? +99Same view from July of 2009. Shannon'sThe font (typeface?) on that sign is way hip. Can anyone make out what they were the makers of? It was trueThe dentists felt no pain at all. Time still standingThe clock on the corner is a Howard Tower clock. Company records show it being a 12 foot two face clock installed in 1899. Yikes!That modern photo really does not display an improvement. NewsboysMy father was born in 1902 and lived in what is now German Village in 1910 (it was then just the south side of Columbus). I remember him telling me that he sold newspapers downtown as a young boy, which means he would have been about the same age as the newsboys in the photo. I know the odds are against it, but it's strange to think that one of those boys in the photo could be my father, or at least a friend of his. He used to talk quite often about growing up in Columbus in those days, and even as a callow lad I found the stories interesting, albeit in an abstract way. Looking back, I think those stories helped plant the seeds of my life-long love of history. Now I'd love to be able to talk to him and ask him for more details about his childhood and those days in Columbus, but of course he's long gone. For example, he told me that he would sometimes hop on the streetcars to sell his papers and ride them to the end of the line, where he would help the conductor turn the car around (apparently on turntables). He also loved to hang around the old Union Station and watch the trains come in and out, and eventually someone put a broom in his hand and told him that if he was going to hang around he should make himself useful. He ended up working for the Pennsylvania Railroad for 44 years (1920 - 1964) during the golden age of steam. Three years before "The Day the Dam Broke"This would be the Columbus that a young James Thurber wrote of in "My Life and Hard Times." Bad MathSorry Dave: when you wrote, "Ahem. Five cents for a three-cent meal is a 167 percent tip. - Dave] you forgot to subtract the 1. My HP 17 b-II financial calculator says the markup is 66.67%. [In a lunchroom you'd pay your three cents (or whatever) upfront, then get your food. The five cents would be all tip -- 167 percent. - Dave] Must be a loss leaderSurely that lunch was priced at three cents to get you inside the place. It may have been something like a spoon of tuna fish with a carrot and a couple of grapes for dessert. We've inflated in prices a lot in 100 years, but not 200 times or 20,000 percent. Hall's HardwareI remember going to Hall's Hardware with my dad in the early '70s. They had a hobby shop in the basement that was like walking into a dream. ArchesFlint, Michigan (where I initially thought this photo was taken) has identical arches over its main street (Saginaw Street). Until now, I thought they were unique to that locale. Did they serve a purpose, or were they just for looks? It doesn't appear that they're being used for electric service to the street railway. [I think they were just decorative. More here in the comments. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Streetcars)
The Martinique: 1961
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1961. "Martinique Motor Hotel, Fourth Avenue." The New ... Martinique Chattahoochee (River) Muscogee (County) Columbus Georgia Bibb City (historic district) Phenix City (twin ... and far between. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/03/2022 - 9:25pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1961. "Martinique Motor Hotel, Fourth Avenue." The New Frontier in Old Dixie. 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Only a memoryThe Martinique changed hands many times over the years and expanded its footprint in the process. During the 1980s it got a makeover that introduced a series of gabled roofs that did nothing to help the appearance. This photo was taken just before the demolition of the building. You can still see the square block structure where the Martinique sign was. "Hotel Service, Motel Convenience ...198 Rooms - Restaurant - Heated Pool ... FA2-6641" Recently deceased: ended its days as a Hojo's Gallimaufry of namesAll right there or within a walk: The Martinique Chattahoochee (River) Muscogee (County) Columbus Georgia Bibb City (historic district) Phenix City (twin municipality) Not listedSadly, the Martinique was not listed in the 1960 Green Book. Still driving 'emThis could be Havana today! '56 Chevy in the lot... off the starboard quarter of the paralleled Ford wagon. I downloaded a Greenbook a few years back. The key is a talisman. Two Rare BuicksA nice 1959 Buick station wagon front & center and a 1960 Buick behind the 1958 Mercury two door. 1959 & '60 Buicks are scarce as hens' teeth today! Hip to be SquareUnder the big tree nearest the hotel entrance is a customized second-generation Thunderbird (1958-60), often referred to as "Squarebirds." The one in the photo is most probably a '58. That 1960 Buick... behind the 1958 Mercury looks an awful lot like a Pontiac to me. My first car was a '53 Pontiac. [The car is a 1960 Buick Electra 225, parked next to a 1955 Chevy, next to a 1959 Oldsmobile. There are two Pontiacs (1958, 1960) on the other side of the driveway. - Dave] Behind the Mercury ...I guess it depends on how you interpret the term 'behind'. From the point of view of the camera then it's a Buick behind the Mercury. I was thinking in terms of the Mercury and behind it, on the street, is a Pontiac. [Oh, THAT Pontiac. You are correct! - Dave] Mid-Century ModernI've always had an affinity for Mid-Century Modern, or 'Googie' architecture. I thought it fun and fairly whimsical. I wish there was more of it around nowadays but those structures and road signs are few and far between. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
A Fresh Batch: 1955
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955, and our second visit with the Fabulous Baker ... back wall of the garage, complete with metal edging. (Columbus, Ga., Kids, Kitchens etc., News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/18/2015 - 11:55pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955, and our second visit with the Fabulous Baker Sisters. For Boomers of a certain age, this kitchen will likely spark a bonfire of memories. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size. Old things!Being a fanatic for old things, I recently installed a very similar circa 1950 Caloric stove in my kitchen (30 inches wide instead of the slightly wider model seen here), a 1940 GE fridge, and a circa 1941 Sunbeam model 7. They all still work like a charm. The step stoolNo one has mentioned the step stool. Everyone I knew had one just like the one in the picture. So neat and tidyI remember baking Toll House cookies with my mom. No matter what, there was flour on both of us and the counter, little blobs of Crisco, and more than one mixing bowl containing various ingredients. These girls are sparkling with cleanliness, and there's not a drop of anything anywhere. How did they do it? Step-stoolMy granny had one of those chrome step-stools in her kitchen the whole time I was growing up. It had a padded seat covered in red plastic. All the fittings of the metal parts gradually grew loose, and it made a strange rattle when it was moved or used. At the beginning of each summer, some of us boys would tighten it up for Granny as best we could with a pair of pliers and it would make it through another year. As time went on, the plastic on the seat cracked and the fluffy white padding would show so we'd patch the seat with some fabric tape we found in the barn. The whole contraption was finally tossed. I'd be willing to bet money it was purchased at Sears. Yesterday, mom gave the girlsa home perm from Tonette. The aunts assisted and the house still has that unmistakable aroma. These girls are simply adorable. Familiar LookA couple with whom I am friends live in a mid-50s side-split home, one which was fairly high-end when new. It had always been well-maintained and since they are home improvement fans, when they bought it 20 years ago they began restoring the original kitchen which, except for the flooring, was much like this. The cabinets - carpenter-built on-site - were sanded and repainted, and had these exact same hinges and pulls which were polished and reused. The counters had the same stainless trim strips, which were pulled, buffed, and put back in place. They did end up replacing the early 1970s appliances and sink/faucet. But it all worked and looked great when they were done. I notice the stove in the picture is the Caloric brand, which I gather is no longer with us. Those light switchesNot the silent, suave mercury switches we have now, but the kind that go CLACK CLACK CLACK. Linoleum!This appears to be the exact Linoleum my family had throughout our 1950's FHA special. And the kitchen layout was pretty close too (although our dryer was outside in a utility room). I can close my eyes and smell those chocolate chip (Toll House) cookies coming out of the oven now! Aluminum Edging on Formica CountertopsThere's a lot of things that you never see anymore in this photo! The Formica countertops, which might be a deep red color, are edged with extruded aluminum strips made for this purpose. This is one more thing for the harried housewife to keep polished. It's also possible for spills to get under the edge of the edging strip. You'll not that there's a hard-to-clean aluminum strip between the counter top and the backsplash. There's also a divider strip where the countertop sections join. None of this is seen anymore, even in Formica work. [The edging would be stainless steel, not aluminum. At least that's what it was in our 1958 kitchen. - Dave] The Swing-A-Way hand cranked can opener on the wall is still available in a modern version. It still has the appeal that it can be dismounted for cleaning in the sink. The twin-beater stand mixer might be Dormann, although there were, and are, many other fine brands. Can anyone read the nameplate on the refrigerator, or identify the laundry machine? These girlsThese girls are so adorable, I hope stil rockin', and baking for grandchildren, or themselves! And I must say, I'm suprised this modern washing mashine. I had similar one around 1984. But well, I live in Poland. In 1984, this was communist Poland. AsbestosThe floor tiles look like the ones containing asbestos, which require special removal. It's a HotpointThe fridge, that is. There ain't no need to go outside...... to see that it's a 1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4 door sedan. Food mixerLooks like a Sunbeam Mixmaster 9 or 9B hiding in the corner. 1948-1959. Mum got an Australian made one in 1955. https://youtu.be/Op9x8bfmMbI 70's grandmaMy grandmother's kitchen still looked a lot like this in the 70's. Old gas burner, strange linoleum, ancient refigerator, step stool. And, just out the door on the back porch, a clothes washer with a hand operated wringer in case the newfangled machine broke down. I worry about the girl carrying the cookies - she has a Stepford wives kind of look going. Little girls of the 60s bakingThat could be my sister and me, in 1961, when I was 7 and she was 4, helping in our grandmother's kitchen. I was the brunette and she was the blonde, too. Grandma's cabinets looked the same, including the hardware, and the linoleum tiles were the same. The sink looks like an extra large one, which she had, and that can opener mounted on the cabinet right by the sink was something Grandma, and many others, had back then. Oh, and the stool, too! It looks like a cookie mix they are advertising. I can't imagine that there would have been a huge market for it, at that point. Grandma made everything from scratch, but I'm sure there were some families who didn't get any freshly baked cookies unless they came from a mix! I can read itThe fridge is a Hotpoint from about 1950. There's a very similar 1949 model on Etsy right now. Odd set of canistersFlour, Sugar, and Crack. '61 Or '51?How sure are you of the year? That kitchen has an early fifties vibe, as do the girls' dresses. And the car outside is almost surely a 1950 Plymouth. [The neighboring negatives are labeled 1961, which is where we got the year. The cookie mix box, however, seems to be from the mid-1950s. We hereby change the date to 1955. - Dave] The ViewThere's most likely nothing in that image that could not have been found in millions of other American homes of that era except, perhaps, the Fabulous Baker Sisters themselves. To me, most notably, the view out the kitchen window into your neighbors backyard. Ubiquitous even today. A little intrusive curiosity in us all I suppose. Something you never see anymoreThe tin container of kitchen matches above the stove, which was probably equipped with pilot lights. Useful for lighting the oven. My mom used to light her Kents off the stove burners, and from time to time would burn off her bangs and eyebrows when the burner wouldn't catch right away. Whoomph! Nine inch floor tilesA lot of memories stirred by this pic. We had a lot of these kitchen items in the 50's at our house including an unforgettable yellow metal step stool like the one shown. I would be willing to wager that the floor tiles were green. CoscoThe step stool is a Cosco. Ours was yellow + chrome. Mom later recovered the torn seat and painted it copper color. Google images show that it was redesigned many times, first to eliminate the vertical tube connecting the front of the upper step to the lower step, and later, several radical modernizations of the styling. Cosco still markets a "retro" version of this, along with their modern products. It isn't exactly the same, but close. Changing stylesI remember wearing those types (boys' version) of sandals well into the 1970s as a kid. They were made of leather, too. These day all I see are flipflops. Plastic. Yuck! How does one run in them in the first place? More Stool TalkWe had a step stool that looked like this one when I was growing up in the '60s. Most of the Cosco ones I see online, both current and vintage, have the two lower steps slide forward on a track. Ours was like the one pictured here though, where the steps pivot outward on a rod. Maybe it isn't a Cosco? I remember two things about ours: it was really heavy to move, and when you did move it you had to take care not to tilt it forward because the steps would pivot out and hit you in the shins. Ouch. The step stool saga continuesThe lower steps on ours pivoted as described by Greg, there were no tracks. I'm pretty sure it was a Cosco as I remembered the name when I bought a step ladder several years ago. I believe the 'Cosco' name was molded into the steps as they are on my newer ladder which would explain why I remembered the name roughly 50 years later. Can anyone tell me?What that device is top left corner on the end of the cabinet? I seem to remember that was a bag storage, but not sure. [As mentioned in the first comment, it's a holder for a box of kitchen matches, the wood kind. Unless you mean the paper towels on the underside. -tterrace] Thanks tterrace. I guess there is so much to read, I missed that. OMGNot only did we have the same floor tiles, cabinets and countertops, but we STILL have them! When the basement was finished the slab was covered with the floor tiles (most of which have since lost their grip and/or shattered), and during an early kitchen redo whatever cabinets & countertops didn't wind up in said basement were installed along the back wall of the garage, complete with metal edging. (Columbus, Ga., Kids, Kitchens etc., News Photo Archive)
The Write Stuff: 1966
This just in from the pressroom of the Columbus, Georgia, Ledger-Enquirer: Women's International Bowling Congress ... with all the heavy machinery in the press room, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer appears to have opted for a Reed No. 104, manufactured ... lurking over the woman's shoulder! (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/18/2022 - 1:28pm -

This just in from the pressroom of the Columbus, Georgia, Ledger-Enquirer: Women's International Bowling Congress Marks 50th Anniversary! 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Vise SquadSecond reference to women's bowling in the last ten days. What are the odds? The photographer's okay... it's his 'friend' they got a problem with. Enquiring Minds Want to Know… more about the St. Louis Women's Keg Group. I think she was from OhioI agree, Notcom. The phrase I remember while growing up was women with moist skin were "glowing". In the late 1980s I worked for Watson-Casy Companies in Austin, just before the Savings and Loan industry collapse caused them to also collapse. In their heyday Watson-Casey owned and renovated the historic Littlefield Building at 6th and Congress. Anyway, one summer day a group of women I worked with took their usual walk around downtown at lunch. As they got off the elevator in First City Centre one of them made a comment about breaking a sweat. I corrected her by saying she wasn't sweating, she was glowing. Her response was, "Well, right now I'm glowing like a pig." Insert [insert] hereGiven the tabloid format, and the singularity of the coverage, I'm going to throw all caution to the wind and guess they're reading an advertising insert. (And if the presses are running in the background, then Madame's curious look means she's likely thinking "I didn't hear a **** word you just said, suh!" But it's 1966, Southern belles didn't actually mouth those words; nor did they perspire ... triple digit temps, humidity and Yankees be damned.) Get the lead outThat is one pointy pencil. (I like her brooch, too.) Vise is niceTo wrangle with all the heavy machinery in the press room, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer appears to have opted for a Reed No. 104, manufactured in Erie, Penn. A Yankee vise, but up to the job. Stop the press!"OK, that looks pretty good. A little more to your left and could you step back just a bit -- " Got here lateOkay, only thing left is "Vise Squad". The vice squad How intentional was this composition? The end vice seems to be making a statement here. [That thing on the left that squeezes other things is called a vise. Crime, bad habits, etc., are examples of vice. - Dave] Great Caesar's GhostClark has gained a few pounds; Lois still looks pretty good; and Perry White actually looks younger! Moon Over ParmaI swear that's Drew Carey (the OLD Drew Carey) lurking over the woman's shoulder! (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Pontiac Eight: 1954
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1954. Here we are back at Rucker Oldsmobile, where the ... Benning suckers I was stationed at Fort Benning next to Columbus. We were warned to never buy a used car in Columbus. They were known for scamming recent basic training graduates who got ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/13/2022 - 2:55pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1954. Here we are back at Rucker Oldsmobile, where the used car du jour is this pristine 1951 Pontiac Catalina. If you're ready to trade, Huarache Hank is ready to deal! 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Pontiaction 1959We had a 1951 Pontiac in the photo below. It was originally white but somewhere along the line Dad had it painted red. My best memory was sitting in it and pushing the starter button. The engine cranked and scared the crap out of me. Of course, I did not know it wouldn't start because the ignition switch wasn't turned on. A little background on this picture. That's me in my first communion suit so it is May 1959. My little brother is driving the pedal car and that's one of my two older brothers in the back. Since he has his camera, I'm guessing that my other older brother shot the picture with his Kodak Brownie. The car on the left is my great aunt's two-door 1956 Pontiac. We ended up with it after she passed away later that year. Not sure of the make and model on that compact my brother is driving. Great memories! "Ah, the Good Old Days""I'd just drive right up and crash through the carnival Bumper Car ride in my '51 Pontiac Catalina. The kids loved it!" Actually the sliver of car on the left looks way more interesting. [1946-47 Oldsmobile. - Dave] Chief PontiacBest thing about those cars was the Indian head that lit up orange! We had Buicks in those days, specifically a '52 that was gold on the bottom and green on the hardtop. Then we got a '54 in light green. What'll it take to get you in this beauty?That 1954 Ford in a previous picture and this '51 Pontiac are good-looking cars. I'm trying to figure out what that is in the right background. Sorta looks like a 1949-51 Merc but not enough showing. [It's a 1950 Pontiac, between two Oldsmobiles. - Dave] Maybe bait for the hook?What is Huarache Hank holding? It doesn't look like keys. Yet, it seems you're supposed to be lured to the Pontiac with it. [Looks kind of like a battery terminal clamp. - Dave] Fort Benning suckersI was stationed at Fort Benning next to Columbus. We were warned to never buy a used car in Columbus. They were known for scamming recent basic training graduates who got bonuses once they graduated. Crackling soundI can still hear the sound of the car's tires on those stones. Ruker's Auto Sales in colorThank you Dave for all the pictures to add color to. It has become a fun hobby. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
The Defenderers: 1955
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Wrecked Ford at Georgia Fender." 4x5 inch ... drink Royal Crown Cola, or RC Cola, was founded in Columbus, not far from this very location. Columbus is sort of a snack food haven, being also the place where Tom's Snacks ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2017 - 10:28pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Wrecked Ford at Georgia Fender." 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. "Get lost, kid" Those places always had a grimy pop machine, and every kid in the area knew it, but they didn't like you hanging around very long. Home-grown drinkRoyal Crown Cola, or RC Cola, was founded in Columbus, not far from this very location. Columbus is sort of a snack food haven, being also the place where Tom's Snacks was founded. I drank an RC and ate a pack of Tom's peanut butter crackers for many a lunch when I worked in Columbus. No worryThat'll buff right out. There's something familiar about this sceneDid someone drive that wreck all the way from Oakland? Ok, Since no one else ID'd the cars: It's a 1939 Ford DeLuxe coupe. That one additional center bumper guard the owner added to the front didn't't help much. To the left is a 1950 Ford and parked in the back is a 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop coupe. A model much coveted today. [Round parking light on the Ford makes it a 1951. -tterrace] [Plus, this Ford has two "spinners." The 1950 had one. - Dave] Unidentified and UnlovedSad! No one identified the poor, unloved, non-collectable Plymouth! I remember an aunt, back in the late '50's, who had one like that - I thought it was the most boring, uninteresting car I had ever seen. Today at old car shows I enjoy seeing them, as they represented the "everyman's" car. 49 PlymouthRowdy, I will rise to the defense of the 49 Plymouth. Ours was a 4 door (this looks like a 2 door), slower than a herd of turtles, upright and round as a derby hat, but a well-built, reliable car that had a pretty nice dashboard for its price. It came to us by way of Aunt Myrtle (I am not clear on exactly whose aunt she was) and remained reliable until my older brother started driving and learned how to induce backfires in the torpid flathead 6. Blew off a muffler or two and I think screwed up timing/carburetor or something. The PlymouthThat Plymouth is a 1949. Flathead six. My first car with a 1950 Plymouth. Same body, less ornate grill & bumper. 1939 Ford1939 and '40 Fords were some of the best looking cars ever designed. The coupes, like this one, were particularly nice. Too bad this one got crumpled. 1955 Plus 1In 1954 Hubert L. Pollock (1920 - 1985) and William L. Renny Pollock were both working for Aetna Finance. By 1955 they were running the Dixie Fender & Body Works at the 410 14th Street location shown in the photo. An advertisement for their business from the Columbus city directory is below. The business seems to have lasted only a year. Hubert Pollock opened the Hugh Motor Company selling used cars by 1956. The business name then changed to the Georgia Fender and Body Shop, and was operated by Curtis A. Newton, John C. Bush, and James A. Bush. Newton may have left by 1958 as his name is no longer shown with the firm in the city directory. The business continued into at least 1959; however, by 1960 the name changed again. The new business was named Arnold's Fender and Body Shop owned by W.T. Arnold. His advertisement from the Columbus city directory is also below. Prior to managing this shop he was the proprietor of Arnold's Garage. First family carWas a 49 Plymouth "Special Deluxe" that Dad bought brand new. I don't know if it was the shiny silver rain guards or the pop-up air vent that made it special or the radio. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Rocket Headquarters: 1954
The Rucker Oldsmobile used car lot in Columbus, Georgia, presents this shiny Ford Crestline convertible (low miles, ... grandparents, dad, and his three brothers were living in Columbus in 1954. My grandfather would have been driving a black 1950 Ford in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/08/2022 - 1:50pm -

The Rucker Oldsmobile used car lot in Columbus, Georgia, presents this shiny Ford Crestline convertible (low miles, California car) for your consideration, if a Rucker Rocket is not your thing. 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Rustin OldsmobilesRucker Oldsmobile later changed its name to Rustin Oldsmobile, which a lot of people found quite humorous. I went to summer camp for several years with the owner's son, whose nickname was Rusty. Snappy!Trim, not a boat. I like it. ******** True story, maybe 1972, I'm twenty or so. I stop at a used car lot, there's a Camaro looks interesting. I go in the office, gab with the sales guy. finally I say can I give it a test drive, he says, "I'll tell ya, Gary, we don't like to let 'em off the lot." The Old '54I have always liked the design of the 1954 Ford. My grandparents, dad, and his three brothers were living in Columbus in 1954. My grandfather would have been driving a black 1950 Ford in '54 and my grandmother had a "battleship" gray 1951 Plymouth. I have seen pictures of both cars. They moved to Augusta in the summer of 1956. Thank you for posting this photo from 1954. I plan to tell my dad to look at it. He would have been only 7 years old in '54, but may remember the Rucker Used Car lot. Ironically, Rucker was the first name of one of his best friends growing up. However, that person lived in Augusta, not Columbus. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I'll bet it's redBut no matter. I'd be smiling, too. The slowest car on the lotIs easily the 1948 Chrysler with its Fluid Drive on the far right. Even the 1946-'47 Packard between the 1952 and '54 Oldses with its straight stickshift could give it a good run for the money. This was the time when millions of postwar cars with their 1930s drivetrains still shared the road with the new factory hot rods coming out of Detroit every year since 1949. The Cool '50sThat A/C unit hanging out of the window of the office building was a rare sight in the '50s. Must have been one of the advertising gimmicks to get people in the door “come to the Rocket Headquarters where you can stay cool while we sell you a used clunker with the miles rolled back and the bondo covering the rust”! [The early 1950s are when air-conditioner sales took off in this country; well over a million window units were sold in 1954. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
The Few, the Proud: 1951
Columbus, Georgia, 1951. "Future Marines of America -- Juniors." The ... than what their pop made a career of. And Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia is definitely an Army town. So I would guess that with his ... R. Lee Ermey. There's the resemblance. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Kids, News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/06/2022 - 12:23pm -

Columbus, Georgia, 1951. "Future Marines of America -- Juniors." The prospective jarheads last seen here. Acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. My RifleThis is my rifle, this is my gun, this is for fighting and this is for fun. Looks Like A Youngerversion of R. Lee Ermey, the ex-Marine who co-starred as the DI in Full Metal Jacket. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/r-lee-ermey-ex-marine-wh... See, it sez right here --The most popular rifle name is Charlene. Mail Call!Anyone else think Sarge here looks like R. Lee Ermey? The Few the MonthsIn 1951, only February, March and November had the Saturday dates shown in the partially-visible calendar (3, 10, 17, 24). February can be eliminated because in 1951 the month ended on the 28th, while the displayed month has a 29th. Based on the top of the "3" visible on Friday the 30th, it appears there is not a "3" in the partially obscured same position on Saturday. If it was March, there would probably be a "3" poking out on Saturday March 31. Since there is not, it was probably November 1951, when Saturday would have been December 1. November 1951 assumes the calendar is on the correct month. A safe bet with a squared-away Marine such as Sgt. Ermey here. Re: SargeTo KathyRo and RG62 - I was in the Marine Corps during the mid-sixties and can tell you from first-hand experience, ALL Staff NCO (staff sergeants and above) tend to look (and act) alike. I think that they were all cloned. Planting a SeedIt's 1951, the conflict in Korea is raging, two eager patriotic boys finish watching the Newsreels at the Palace Theater and head to the Marine Recruiting Office. They have questions. As a Marine who recruited in an Army town I know that it's not hard to make quota. Young lads usually look to do something different than what their pop made a career of. And Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia is definitely an Army town. So I would guess that with his monthly quota made the Staff Sergeant is glad to answer the youngster's questions and plant a seed that may bring them back in, in a couple or three years. A tried and true practice. It's the haircut, uniform and stern look that distinguishes the man, same R. Lee Ermey. There's the resemblance. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Kids, News Photo Archive)
Salmon Kitchen Generations: 1984
... and voila! there he is. 1434 mind you: 58 years before Columbus.] I tried, but: no. Only the nearby cabinets and windows on the ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/29/2011 - 6:13pm -

Another detail-crammed look into the Salmon Kitchen. Here my mother is caught in mid-pot draining while whipping up Christmas Eve dinner as her granddaughter, garbed in high-1980s style, looks on. GD had not only a great love for her grandma, but for her kitchen. The white utility table behind her is now in her own, along with a vintage restored Wedgewood range. There's so much here I don't know where to begin. My favorite items include, under the copper molds at the upper left, a hamburger patty press that created many a burger I devoured. The chrome Toastmaster had been around since the 50s. Under it, the pressure cooker with a bag of - I think - walnuts from our tree. A loaf of freshly-baked something is cooling on a cake rack next to the toaster. Over on the sink counter, a milk carton was always there to collect various bits of wet cooking by-product waste. Weird how you can get nostalgic over something like that. 35mm Kodacolor 400 negative, shot with bounce flash. View full size. Don't need no stinkin' colander.Your mom is draining her copper-bottom cookware just by holding the lid slightly ajar and turning it over, the exact same way my mom always did. We had at least 3 or 4 colanders, but she rarely used them except for cleaning fruits and vegetables. Was your Christmas Eve meal traditionally meatless as Polish and Italian ones were in the olden days with lots of seafood, pastas and vegetables? Raised quite the welt by nowI clobbered our Toastmaster by thinking I could save time if I buttered the bread, first. Been kicking myself for about 35 years. I still have the Revereware, though. Shiny Object SyndromeI thought perhaps that the Venerable Toastmaster would reveal an image of the Artist - and could be de-convolved and resolved into an "inadvertent portrait" - much like the many folks on eBay who, having similar shiny objects for sale, photograph them whilst in various states of undress - to the amusement of clever Photoshoppers. [A modern version of those Old Masters who worked themselves into their art - van Eyck, "the Arnolfini Marriage" (1434) put his own image of himself working on the canvas, in the small spherical mirror in the background of the painting - properly "distorted" - one can flatten it back out, and voila! there he is. 1434 mind you: 58 years before Columbus.] I tried, but: no. Only the nearby cabinets and windows on the other side of La Cocina Terrazzo peer out at us from the gleaming chromium. (Gleamium?) I am thinking of zipping over to Hwy 88 and taking a couple of shots of the Carson Spur turnout as it is today - there is a 30's shot of it in the Member Photos Division and it would be fun to show it in the "now." Here's my ToastmasterBought at a Salvation Army store for $6 in 1990. I used it for several years, until the spring weakened and it would no longer pop up. No Van Eyck here; I am hiding in the most-distorted outer corner of the appliance (not to mention fully clothed). The carnival glass pitcher and Mexican tile are later acquisitions. RIP ToastmasterOur Toastmaster went up in flames while toasting bread about a week ago. I wasn't the one using it, so not exactly sure what went wrong. But we plan to save it for nostalgia since it's been in the family since the 70s. Regarding the reflections, the studio photography instructor at college assigned a reflective object assignment and specifically stated "do not photograph a shiny old fashioned style toaster." And what did I photograph? Of course - the Toastmaster! I should have heeded his advice. This vs. ThatThe personal "slice of life" pictures like this are so much more interesting than yet another street corner picture of a random building. Meow!Love the photo of the pretty kitty just behind the pretty granddaughter. The "Pizza Chef" statue on the clock is fabulous! Thanks! Return of the ToastmasterFunny thing; I bought this vintage chrome Toastmaster at an antique fair just a couple months ago. Still in working order. $35. Y'know, small appliances were a lot heavier in those days. As a special favor to TahoePines, I got my reflection in it this time. And yes, the pink enameled cart it's on is the very one seen in the lower right corner of the first Salmon Kitchen photo. MemoriesI wonder if that is a Bicentennial glass in the strainer with the stars on it? I also like the barrel pepper or coffee grinder and the metal pot trivet hanging on the wall. Also the granddaughter being very beautiful doesn't hurt your picture at all! Heirloom ToastThis is where my toaster gets its 15 minutes of fame, thanks to tterrace. Given to my parents as a wedding present in 1957, it's the Sunbeam "Vista" self-lowering design that made its debut as Model T-20 in 1949 and continued in production with hardly any change in appearance until 1996. A very sturdy toaster! Thanks to whoever gave it to Mom and Dad. TeaI see a box of Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Spice in the spice rack. Sadly, they've discontinued Emperor's Choice which was my favourite not the least because I get a terrible reaction to flea bites and it was the only thing that stopped the itching. I thought we were specialWe had the only one of those toasters I ever saw before the examples shown here. It was one of Mom and Dad's wedding presents from 1949 and served until sometime in the '70s, when its "elevator" stopped working. Before that, we sometimes had to lift and drop the toast a time of two to get it started. While not in use, Mom always kept ours under wraps with covers made of plastic like shower curtain material -- only thicker. It seemed like a bad choice for something designed to get really hot but we never burned or melted one of them. A toast to toastersI love the toaster photos you guys are posting! It toasts the cockles of my heart. tterrace, is it possible that that's the daughter of your brother and sister-in-law that we see so often? It doesn't seem possible that a child of theirs could be so grown up in 1984 -- didn't they get married in the late 60s? Toasty comments@Hillary: Granddaughter is my sister's daughter. She tells me that she also has the trivet hanging on the cupboard. @OTY: Big deal dinners at our place were definitely not meatless. Mother was especially known for her roast beef and leg of lamb, both with potatoes roasted in the pan. Her secret was to jam garlic cloves into the meat. @eggmandan: For more on the chef figurine on the clock, see this comment. Also, did anyone else notice how happy Dave's salt and pepper shakers were to get into his photo? Dave's shakers = Stetson?tterrace - I zoomed in the salt & pepper shakers! I think they're one of the Stetson late 50's patterns. [The shakers in the pic of my toaster are Franciscan. "Starburst." - Dave] No need for nostalgia on one pointThey still make Revereware, though most of the big pots seem to have be discontinued. I got the starter set back when I moved out 25 years ago and still have almost all of it, plus one of my mother's fifty-plus year old saucepans, three of the monster pots, and a three quart saucepan which I happened upon at the Salvation Army. I also lucked out and got a steamer section that fits the 1 gallon pot. After dropping the pasta in the sink a couple of times, though, I got a colander.They get used day in and day out and are never the worse for wear. BTW, might I add that your niece is pretty darn good to look upon? 2500 miles away and the sameOur kitchen was in Springfield, Virginia -- same toaster, spice-racks, trivets, measuring cups, spoons, and on and on and on. Mom was Italian, cooking must have come naturally to her. She specialized in quality and quantity. Every time I hear someone say mangia! mangia! I think of her. The T-20B and I thank you!Honestly, there isn't a day that goes by without a check-in with Shorpy. Dave, your tireless efforts make life even more enjoyable--I get lost in some of the images, imagining a time well before my own. In particular, the early 20th century beach scenes with people fully clothed lounging on sand beguile me. And tterrace, where would we be without your family's Salmon Kitchen™ et al?? Thank you for sharing your yummy Larkspur goodness--I look forward to your weekend posts the way I did the funny pages on Sundays. BUT...posts with vintage toasters on Shorpy?? Now I had to comment and become a member. My soft spot for old appliances and this thread signaled it's time to stop lurking, contribute, and say thanks! [I looked on the bottom of my Sunbeam -- also a T-20B! - Dave] I Spy: Unusual kitchen toolOK, I don't have a Toastmaster to include here. But I did see an unusual kitchen aid hanging to the right of the copper measuring scoop spoons. Not the acornish shaped tea ball, but next to that is a variable scoop. Here's a picture of the one I got from my Aunt's estate three years ago. Made of stainless steel it can measure any amount from 1/4 teaspoon to 3 teaspoons. It's probably not all that unique but I find it to be a slick & innovative bit of engineering. InterestingWhen I see a photo dated 1950+ I always think, "Why should I care." This photo is different. The hot babe doesn't hurt things though. Is she still that hot? ReverewareWas invented and produced for years in my hometown of Rome NY. Now it has no connection with Revere Copper, is produced overseas, and is not the same thing at all. One can still find vintage pieces, very usable, in thrift shops and estate sales. The ones marked "Rome NY" on the bottom are the best. Whip it, whip it goodOne detail that caught my eye was the hand powered egg beater hanging on the wall next to the "Marvelous Menus" cookbook. I had one of those for years. I remember my mother having me make whipped cream with one of those. Kitchen toolbhappel has spotted something that I can't seem to dredge up a memory of, but blown up it looks like he's right: Stars and StripesThe glass in the drying rack looks like the ones we got from Arby's in the 70s. Mr. Peabodyis who came to mind when I saw Dave's reflection on the toaster. The ironing boardis trapped in its cupboard by the cookbook shelves and tool rack. LikeI think the Salmon Kitchen needs its very own fan club. Patriotic GlassWe had 2 of those glasses also, and they were my favorites. I remember filling both with cherry Kool-Aid and adding a maraschino to each in preparation for a marathon game of Monopoly with my brother. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Kitchens etc., tterrapix)
Rusty Tailpipes: 1960
From circa 1960 Columbus, Georgia, comes this News Archive photo of a Midas Muffler Shop next ... from 1961. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., Gas Stations, News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/04/2022 - 9:02pm -

From circa 1960 Columbus, Georgia, comes this News Archive photo of a Midas Muffler Shop next to Holland's Texaco service. Fill 'er up with Su-Preme! 4x5 acetate negative. View full size. Still MufflingJohn Holland's Texaco service station at 319 13th Street is long gone, Midased right off the map. The brick building across the street still stands, taller and longer. "Let us Marfak your car" "A properly lubed auto will bring $75 to $100 more when you trade it in after 2-3 years." So says the Marfak advertising of the day. "The Green Grease that doesn't wash out on wet roads or melt on hot days." What is that?I was searching, without luck, to find a street number or something to identify this location (Holland Service Station didn't do the trick). Then I got stuck on this. What is that? [You mean the thing that looks a like a giant muffler? Right next to the sign that says MUFFLER SHOP? Hmmm. - Dave] Yes! That thing! What is it? Of course you're correct. I wasn't thinking in terms of 1960s-style advertising. You just brought back some memories. I looked it upAs Steve Belcher pointed out, Marfak was both a product and a process, the name of which, in advertising at least, was used as a verb. According to BrandlandUSA dot com: One of the more forgotten sub-brands of a major oil company is Marfak Lubrication. Marfak was the lube brand of Texaco and Caltex. If Havoline was the actual oil, Marfak was the process. I can’t say it was actually used much as a verb, as I never heard the word used; I only saw it above station bays. But the slogan was “Let Us Marfak Your Car.” Thanks for that! p.s. When my daughter lived in Williamsport, Pennsylvania for several years after her marriage, I used to drive through Lewisburg every couple of months when I went to visit her! Lovely drive along the Susquehanna. Can-do attitude at work?I find it hard to believe a news photographer got extra points back in the newsroom for including three garbage cans so prominently in the foreground. I also suspect proprietors of the two businesses were less than thrilled with this all-inclusive view. [Photos get cropped before publication. These are scans of the uncropped negatives. -Dave] Put a muffler on them cans!!!I remember when I was a kid, the guys in the trash truck would have to first wrestle the lid off and lift the can up, tip it over then bang the sides of the can on the truck to make sure everything was out. That was really loud, especially early in the morning! So yeah, the cans could have used a muffler from the friendly folks at the Muffler Shop. BUT,not a Milton Signal Hose in sight? Avert your gaze!Forget those trash cans, what about that Medusa's head over in the corner? "I've Been Marfaked!"... As heard in Ghostbusters, the Shorpy Director's Cut. Hat tip to Steve Belcher for the comment about the Marfak advertising: "The Green Grease that doesn't wash out on wet roads or melt on hot days." Some Like it HotAll you need to know about Marfak grease is in this Australian TV commercial from 1961. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., Gas Stations, News Photo Archive)
Beetle Buddies: 1957
From Columbus, Georgia, circa 1957 comes this News Archive photo of the lads last ... for Vegas to elope. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/12/2022 - 1:28pm -

From Columbus, Georgia, circa 1957 comes this News Archive photo of the lads last seen here. Will that suitcase fit in the frunk? 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size. FashionsWow! Buckle-in-the-back "Ivy League" trousers. That could have been me in high school. Good memories! SoxismGirls could rock the white socks and penny loafers look. The guys not so much. Not cool. Where's that Bug today?I can't help but wonder whether that vintage Bug is still around in some form, such as spare parts. The Buckle-in-the-BackThe nuns in grade school hated those things because they would scratch the wood on the seat back. The Mystery of the Stolen DameJoe on the right there, doesn't realize that Frank (with the socks) has stolen his girl, Iola and the two are heading for Vegas to elope. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Unboxing Day: 1957
From Columbus, Georgia, circa 1957 comes this News Archive photo of a happy family ... for this thread, and thanks for reading. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Kids, News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/02/2022 - 11:16pm -

From Columbus, Georgia, circa 1957 comes this News Archive photo of a happy family on moving day. The twins are unpacked, and now all they have to do is find the box Junior is in. (This post brought to you by Loftin's Transfer & Storage.) 4x5 acetate negative. View full size. Formal unpacking wearGotta look your best when mat-knifing the cartons. Old-ishAre these the parents or grandparents? I’m one to talk, since I didn’t have my first kid till I was 39, but these two elders seem, for the era, a bit old to be the parents of these kids. Nice-looking onlookerAnyone who wears spectator pumps on moving day is just that: a spectator. Good Old Mom ...... doin' all the heavy Loftin's. As usual, probably. "Spectator pump"This needs to be read: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectator_shoe Never mind the pumpsAs kids of the 1950s, my brother and I were into moccasins because of Daniel Boone. Were girls also into the frontier aesthetic? A little front porch would be niceI'm sure it's a very nice house; but I'm not a fan of those front steps. As you carry your Loftin's boxes up the steps you have to stop at least one step down from the top to have enough clearance to swing the screen door open. As you carry your empty Loftin's boxes outside you have to hold the screen door open for at least one step down before it can shut behind you. And either direction, that's if you stand way to the edge of the steps, where there is no handrail. Re: Old-ish?Not that unusual, post WWII. My dad was 58, Mom was 48, and I was 11 when this was taken. Plenty of other kids I knew had parents from that generation. [Indeed. My grandfather (born in 1874!) was 45 when he married my grandmother in 1919, and was 48 when my mom was born in 1922. - Dave] Never too lateI just saw this thread on older parents. I hope you don't mind a little story. My best friend, Phil, was born when his dad was 50 and his mom, 40. He is the miracle baby and an only child. Phil is from an ethnic background that valued large families, and I was always jealous that he had so many cousins near his age to play with. Anyway, you might think with his parents being older that Phil might have been at risk for losing one or both before he got to be old enough to truly enjoy and appreciate them. Well, they both lived into their 90s. Phil got to be with his dad some thirty years longer than I got to be with my own father despite my having been born when dad was 29. Thanks for this thread, and thanks for reading. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Kids, News Photo Archive)
Cement Slingers: 1955
From around Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955 come the two strapping lads last seen here ... that’s why I have back problems now. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Handsome Rakes, News Photo Archive) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/04/2022 - 2:35pm -

From around Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955 come the two strapping lads last seen here and here seven years ago, though they don't look a day older. Playing catch with 94-pound sacks of cement must keep you young. 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size. Mix ¾ oz gin, ½ oz liqueur ...... with a dash of powdered cement, stir and serve. I guess I expected something else. Good product placementI notice Dave put the Shorpy watermark on the next bag of cement. Before fork lifts and palletizersI grew up in "cement country", and worked summers at a cement plant to earn college tuition money. My father and many relatives spent their entire careers in cement plants. These "lads" seem to be unloading a truck or trailer. At the beginning of the journey, a group of men had to load that truck. Or a boxcar. And often spent all day long placing cement bags onto a hand truck, wheeling them into a truck or boxcar, and then neatly stacking them. Even if it was July and hot and humid. Before pallets, palletizers (the machine that automatically places the bags on forklifts), and fork lifts. OED FellowsAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, usage of "strapping" as a descriptive goes back to 1657, when it applied to a young woman. "And, now and then, one of the bolder strapping girls would catch him in her arms, and kisse him." Apparently derived from association of large size with violent action, as in "whopping," "bouncing," "spanking." [P.S. Dave gets full credit for the title of this comment.] Hubba hubbaAs that new t-shirt ad says, front seats to the gun show. No need for a Gym membershipWe'll just sling 94-pound bags of cement for 10 hours. Can't imagine people working like that today. Slinging cement - right and wrong!A few years ago at a Home Depot, I watched as one strapping fellow loaded cement bags into a lady's car. Granted, these were probably 60-pound cement bags as opposed to 90+ pound concrete mix, but … He would bend over at the waist, reach down onto a pallet for three bags, stand, turn and drop them into her trunk. I have visions of him today, barely able to stand up! Good God... Almighty. For once, I wish I was a sack of cement. 1955 TechnologyThe pallet and the forklift don't seem like they'd be all that hard to come up with. That said I spent a summer making pallets. Hard work. [Fork lifts and pallets were around much earlier than 1955. - Dave] A stout hand truckThe bag currently being loaded will bring the load to just shy of a third of a ton, more than the quarter-ton payload capacity of a small pickup truck. Less is moreSome twenty years ago the weight of a bag of cement was lowered by Dutch health and safety from 100 to 50 pounds a bag. Builders were pleased: now they could carry three bags at a time instead of two. Heavy, manIn 1966 I got a job as a construction laborer in Middlebury, Vermont, during my college summer vacation. In addition to cement trucks we mixed concrete on-site. While working on the third floor the elevator broke (or was flagged as being unsafe). As a result the other laborers and I carried those 96-pound bags up three flights of stairs all day for three weeks. When I came home I was a quarter inch shorter than when I went to work. Maybe that’s why I have back problems now. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Handsome Rakes, News Photo Archive)
Variety Show: 1953
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1953. "The Witt Store." Your headquarters for notions, ... junk but those lights would make my day. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Stores & Markets) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2015 - 5:39pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1953. "The Witt Store." Your headquarters for notions, sundries, gewgaws and baubles. 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size. UnchangedThe column o' sunglasses looks pretty much the same in today's pharmacy. Invasionof the Body Snatchers. And Don't ForgetIn addition to notions, they also deal in lotions and potions. What a selection!I bet they also had their fair share of whatchamacallits, thingamajigs, and doomaflachies as well. Not an inch of space wastedBut what might that bottle sitting on the floor in the aisle be used for? [Refreshment. Milk and two Cokes. - Dave] Tiny bottlesSix ounces! How did these people avoid starvation and dehydration? Toy Dept.Click to embiggen. Gimcracks?"Sure, we have 'em -- just along the back wall, to the left of the baubles." Variety?That's about the biggest pile of junk I have seen. It reminds me of visiting a "Southern Dollar" store in the 60's Mother & DaughterOr sisters? They look a lot alike. Pity youif you move anything out of place! Coming Soon to a Strip Mall Near YouThis is the 1953 version of today's 99 Cent store. In addition to notions, they also carried a nice assortment of gimcracks. DisorientedBack then there would be very little in the store that was from China. I wonder where all the stuff was made ? [Turn it over and look on the bottom where it says "Made in Japan." -tterrace] I'd likeFour geegaws and two baubles, please. And throw in one sundry. Reminds me ofOllie's Bargain outlet. Or better yet The Whoopie Bowl south of Flint, MI. Cheerful clerksIf that's the smiles they managed for picture day, I can just imagine the ones reserved for their hapless customers. Re: Tiny BottlesThose six ounce bottles were the size that normally came in vending machines. If I recall correctly, they were called "pony" bottles. I Wantthose overhead lights. The rest of the store may be junk but those lights would make my day. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Stores & Markets)
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