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On-Ramp: 1963
... slide I shot through the back window of our 1956 Rambler station wagon in January 1963. Corte Madera is the "twin city" of my home town, ... up exactly. But one thing does still remain: the Union 76 gas station is still on the same corner. About the mountain I got on ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 11/23/2013 - 3:36pm -

The southbound on-ramp to U.S. 101 in Corte Madera, California, in a Kodachrome slide I shot through the back window of our 1956 Rambler station wagon in January 1963. Corte Madera is the "twin city" of my home town, Idyllic™ Larkspur. Rising up in the distance is Marin County's iconic symbol, Mount Tamalpais. Closer and to the left, Corte Madera's "Christmas Tree Hill" is so-named from the practice, in days of yore, of homeowners banding together to illuminate their houses to produce an outline of a Christmas tree when viewed from the distance. To the right, Larkspur's Little and Big King Mountains. Yes, we call hills "mountains" in Marin County. Fortunately, they're protected from development by open-space regulations, and Mt. Tam by state park and Marin Municipal Water District ownership. View full size. + 50The Motel with the Spanish Tile roof is still there as a Budget Inn. [In those days it was called the Meadowsweet Motel. -tterrace] View Larger Map SimcaThe car over at the left, along the frontage road, looks to be a c1955 Simca Aronde. You can vaguely make out the yellow 1956-63 license plate on the front. Black plates with yellow characters were issued in '63. Home sweet homeThanks for posting this wonderful image. I've lived in Corte Madera for the past 35 years or so, and it was much the same then as in 1963. But in the intervening years a lot has changed. I can well remember when there were no stoplights between my house and Highway 101. Now there are four. EDIT: I tried to match a Google street view but couldn't line it up exactly. But one thing does still remain: the Union 76 gas station is still on the same corner. About the mountainI got on Google Earth (as I often do to compare today's landscapes with those in the old photos) after I saw Vintagetvs' post. The reason for this was I am puzzled as to why the mountains (we call them hills in WV) appear to be much farther away in the current views than they do in tterrace's picture. I even moved in a little closer, keeping the tile-roofed building in view. Then I "drove" about a mile or two closer and still those hills look farther away. Did it have to do with the lens you used that day or is there another explanation? I gots to know, it's bugging me, man. [Wide-angle lenses, such as those used in the Google street view cameras, produce extension distortion, making close objects appear larger and distant objects smaller in comparison to lenses of normal focal length, such as the one in the Kodak Retinette 1A I used for my shot. Telephoto lenses produce the opposite effect, compression distortion, often called foreshortening. -tterrace] Coming soon to a gas station near you I guess Standard became Chevron. [At this time in California, company-owned stations were branded as "Standard" and independently-owned stations as "Chevron." The station we used a couple miles away in Larkspur was Cliff Archer's Chevron, for example. -tterrace] Shorpy ModsJames, the moderation is probably a key to the longevity and success of Shorpy.com. There are many forums on the Web that I've enjoyed until they degenerated into a political or otherwise contentious morass. I've had comments that were submitted but not posted, and that isn't something to stew over; one must respect the moderators and the decisions they make. They have a basis for what they do. And I, for one, am interested in the Larkspur photos and history. It somehow reminds me of where I grew up. Like Larkspur, Naples, Florida, had changed much since the 1960s. So please enjoy Shorpy.com for what it is: One of the most interesting and best-moderated sites on the Web! Just my two cents-- --Jim Why?I am a new commenter to Shorpy and I don't imagine you will publish this comment because it is apparent that the comments are tightly moderated and I will be challenging accepted orthodoxy. But here goes. As of this time of writing (early afternoon on Sunday), it has been 24 hours since the last of many fine reflections on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Why was this stream cut off? So we could delve back into the childhood minutiae of tterrace in Larkspur? Really, what is more important on Shorpy: the collective response of its readership to a mythic event in the nation's history, or the distinction between a Chevron and a Standard gas station? [I'm not sure what you mean by "cut off." People are still leaving comments for the Kennedy post. Which is separate from this post. Two entirely different streams, flowing hundreds of miles apart. - Dave] I Used To Work There!That Union 76 gas station was owned then by John Friend. When I returned from Vietnam in '66 I worked there over the summer. John's first assignment for me when I arrived was going to fetch him his six pack of breakfast. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Minute Service No. 6: 1925
... formal name until sometime in the '30s), why does this station sell Standard/Amoco gasoline? I've seen photos of rural gas stations in the '20s where multiple brands were sold. I'm not sure when ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 11:34pm -

1925. "Texas Co., Third Street & Florida Avenue N.E." One in a series of photos, evidently commissioned by Texaco, of service stations in and around Washington, D.C. Here we have the added attraction of a speeding train. View full size. It's the PitsLooks like a couple of outdoor oil-changing pits just to the right of the building. Found the spot - If not the building[How interesting that the concrete border around the planting bed along the sidewalk is the only vestige of the place to survive. Also, note the train going by. - Dave] View Larger Map Brand confusionIf the photos were indeed commissioned by The Texas Company (Texaco's formal name until sometime in the '30s), why does this station sell Standard/Amoco gasoline? I've seen photos of rural gas stations in the '20s where multiple brands were sold. I'm not sure when national marketers began demanding brand exclusivity. But I don't see a bright red Texaco Star anywhere here. [Texaco paid National Photo to take these pictures of Washington area gas stations. A few were Texaco stations; the majority were not. - Dave] Ghost trainTo the right of the gas station itself, look under the raised track signals. [As noted in the caption! - Dave] QuestionsWhat are the 3 items standing to the left of the building? They appear to have valves/switches on the body and then some kind of hose devices attached to the top of each. They remind me of air or lube lines but where they are makes no sense for those uses. They each have signs/instructions on them too. Next point - any one know why so many pumps in this and the following photo? Eight pumps for this station seems like a lot given how many (few) cars might have been needing gas at a given time. Perhaps the gravity feed gas in these pumps made a fill up a long task? [In 1925, the motor vehicle population of the U.S. was 20 million cars and trucks -- 10 times what it was in 1915, when there were relatively few gas stations, and hardly any with multiple pumps. So with a 1,000-percent car-population increase in just a few years, demand for fueling capacity was great. A pump back then dispensed only one grade of gasoline to one car at a time. The average four-island station today has eight pumps with three hoses on each side for a total of 48 hoses able to serve any of three grades of gasoline to 16 cars at a time -- the same number of pumps, but double the 1925 station's capacity. So eight pumps in 1925 really wasn't that many for a big-city gas station. The "three items" are air hose towers. - Dave] Gas PricesI've noticed in Shorpy pics of gas stations that no matter what time they were taken, that adjusted for inflation, the gas always seems to be around $3 a gallon. Makes me wonder. Out of gas, full of boozeWhat clearly used to be a gas station now is a liquor store, but the trains still roll by under the same signal bridge (semaphores are now passe, though). Possibly part of the property retains an automotive theme in the form of a small used car lot. [That sign in the window (advertising denatured methanol for use as antifreeze) certainly was on the mark! - Dave] Minute Service Washington Post, Sep 28, 1924 Gasoline Station Will Cover Square on Florida Avenue Several sales of large properties were announced by Allan E. Walker & Co., Inc., yesterday. … The American Accessories Company purchased the entire square on Florida avenue between Third and Fourth streets, extending though to N streets, and will erect thereon a gasoline filling station and accessory store, adding another link to the group of Minute Service stations. The property was purchased from Warren Brenizer in connection with the office of Joseph I. Weller. Elsewhere on Shorpy: Minute Service Station No. 1. Minute Service Station No. 2. Minute Service Station No. 3. Minute Service Station No. 5. Minute Service Station No. 8. Magnetite lampThe street lamp in this photo is not an arc lamp or an incandescent lamp but a GE magnetite lamp. These lamps operated by creating an arc between a solid carbon rod and a rod made of magnetite. They could operate for several months without trimming, maintenance, or replacing the rods and were the next evolution of mechanical arc lamps beyond the carbon arc lamp. These lamps were used only on outdoor installations as they produced toxic gasses in their operation. Magnetite lamps were introduced around 1905-08. Because of their proven reliability, some stayed in service as late as the 1940s or early 1950s Most conventional carbon arc lamps were removed from service around 1910. Photo below shows a magnetite lamp in the Folsom Powerhouse Museum in Folsom, California. Ghost Owner, Octane, and PricesJust to the left of the car filling up on the far right of the photo...you can make out a wisp of a motorist! And are those prices on top of those pumps? If so, I paid about that amount in the early 1970's! Could be octane ratings I guess. (The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo, Railroads)
Pop, Gas, Smokes: 1950s
... negative with the sketchy notation "Oakland service station." Who can help us to fill in the blanks? View full size. Tires ... in 1955, so it can't be before then. Bailey's Station It is apparently Bailey's, judging from this advertisement selling a ... land between San Pablo and Pinole, (The Gallery, Gas Stations) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2015 - 9:03pm -

From a newspaper morgue somewhere in California comes this undated medium-format mid-century negative with the sketchy notation "Oakland service station." Who can help us to fill in the blanks? View full size. Tires balanced while-U wait.Those round things hanging on the pedestal are part of a Hunter tire balancing system. Back in the days when balancing tires was more of an art than a science those were attached to the wheels while they were on the car. The mechanic then spun the tire with an electric motor and adjusted some knobs until it felt the smoothest. After he stopped the wheel the dials on the machine would tell him where to put the weights. There was a shop in my home town using this system well into the 1980's, now of course a computerized machine is used with far greater accuracy. The Lost DotThis seems to be shortly after Dr Pepper lost the '.' My First Comment on ShorpyThe business depicted is currently DC Auto Repair, 14673 San Pablo Avenue, in the town of San Pablo, California, a few communities north of Oakland. The apartment building seen across the street is still there, and can be found on Street View at 2836 Del Camino Drive, San Pablo, California. As an Oaklander, I figured it out with the address shown, "14673," recognizing it as a high address number that would only be on one of the lengthy north-south roads that pass through Oakland. I first tried 14673 MacArthur Boulevard, because those hills and apartment building-style look like those in south-east Oakland/San Leandro. Then I tried 14673 Foothill Boulevard, for similar reasons. Then I tried 14673 San Pablo Avenue. Bingo. San Pablo Avenue is an old Mission-era road, Camino de la Contra Costa, which is also State Route 123, and runs 23 miles from the town of Crockett on the Carquinez Strait to downtown Oakland. As with so many environments from the early-mid 20th Century, the area is, ironically, now much more green and wooded despite its greater population density. [Bravo! For your next trick, what's the name over the address? -Dave] 30 cents a packAn Arkansas newspaper article dated 1957 reported prices increasing from 27 to 30 cents in vending machines. At that time, you could buy the whole vending machine itself from National Vending in Brooklyn for $75.00... far less than the cost of a carton of cigarettes these days ($85-$90 in Connecticut). The YearThat we'll never exactly know. The cigarettes in the machine tell me it is the late 50's. The Marlboros are in flip-top boxes, introduced in 1955, so it can't be before then. Bailey's StationIt is apparently Bailey's, judging from this advertisement selling a La Salle mobile home in the 20 November 1960 Oakland Tribune. Crude wheel alignments tooThe device the wheel balancer rings are hanging on is a toe gauge. The car would be driven over it slowly. This would only check the toe, not camber and caster. It was assumed if the toe was correct, caster and camber were also correct, since changing either of these angles affected toe. Doing an alignment, toe is always set last. Regarding the Hunter wheel balancer - that assembly was spinning at least 70mph, inches from your body and you hovered over it adjusting the weights to get the smoothest spin. One of the wheels was held to increase/decrease the amount of weight, and another was held to rotate the weight around the wheel. I remember balancing an old 55 Chevy with this contraption. I dialed in too much weight and knocked a whole chunk of body filler off the fender because of the vibration. We still have the motor spinner at work. We use it to find noisy wheel bearings. It has TWO motors and is 220 volts. 14740The apartment building seems to be 14740 San Pablo. The railings are pretty distinctive. 10-2-4The photo is no earlier than 1954, which is when the streamlined Dr Pepper logo on the side of the bottle cases was introduced. You are correctI was going to argue the location, but then noticed this detail. An Anxious World Wants to KnowIs he a Pepper too? 1958-1963?Those Salem cigarettes were introduced in 1956. Assuming it would take a few years of promotion to get them popular enough to include in the cigarette machine and judging by the man’s boxy suit and Brylcreemed hair which was in style at the time, I’d guess this photo is from the late fifties early sixties. 1960? '61? Going upThe automotive hoist in the bottom left of the picture was manufactured by Globe Hoist Co. I have one identical to it in my garage. Bailey's Signal ServiceYes, that would be Bailey's Signal Service at the bottom of Tank Farm Hill* in San Pablo, on San Pablo Ave. at about Lake St. I passed it every day on my way to Richmond High School in the 1960s. Apartment building in the distance is 14740 San Pablo Ave. - and it's still there with distinctive railing. * Before Hilltop Mall (1970s) and other development, the storage tank visible at the top of the hill in the picture was just one of many in a "tank farm" on Standard Oil refinery's land between San Pablo and Pinole, (The Gallery, Gas Stations)
Fall Colors: 1942
... on the southern outskirts of the city (note the MILW Station tower), well removed from the "The Hill" - and presumably out of the ... is the firewall and cowl of a car. It has an integral gas tank. Model T? Beyond that and to the right is the rear of a sedan. To ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/27/2022 - 5:32pm -

October 1942. "Scrap and salvage depot, Butte, Montana." 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size. Like a Walker EvansI wonder if Lee was aware of/paying homage to Walker Evans' famous FA photo of Bethlehem, PA, with the cemetery in the foreground and the town in the distance. Taylor Tot Strollerfor little kids slightly left of front and center in the image. I have a photo of me in one of those a few years later than this image. Healthiest spot in town ??That wouldn't be true in most places, of course, but in one of America's most contaminated cities, this location on the southern outskirts of the city (note the MILW Station tower), well removed from the "The Hill" - and presumably out of the direction of the winds that blow therefrom - may be eligible for consideration. All metalToday that heap would be 90% plastic. One man's junk ...The site now is probably an upscale housing development. The owners are warned to drink bottled water instead of the 'glowing' tap water. Stroller/walkerI recognize that stroller/walker with the rattan back and wooden handle. There was a removable handle to allow it to be pushed like a stroller, and with the handle removed, it was a walker. I had one as a tot in the early '50s, and it hung around for quite a while. PoisonvilleDashiell Hammett based 'Red Harvest' on events in Butte, which he renamed Personville, aka 'Poisonville'. He had a different sort of contamination in mind, however. So many car partsMiddle right is the firewall and cowl of a car. It has an integral gas tank. Model T? Beyond that and to the right is the rear of a sedan. To the left in front of the tree is a stainless steel radiator surround. At the left edge, orange with surface rust and sporting some chrome trim, is a hood or door or ... ? Below that looks kinda like a black fender. Probably more parts to find. Still available?Dang! I see just what I need to get that old Plymouth running again. I had one 11 years later ...Me in my Taylor stroller, 1953. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Russell Lee, WW2)
American Gas: 1942
... we've also lost much. I miss the spinny things on gas pumps! Reset to Zero I remember those "spinny things" as well, and ... or a savings coupon. And if you bought gas at an Esso station, there was a tiger tail attached to your fuel cap. This was part of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/06/2017 - 8:04pm -

November 1942. Washington, D.C. "Negro mechanic for the Amoco oil company." Photo by Gordon Parks for the Office of War Information. View full size. About the same price today.Adjusting for inflation, and rounding that 18.7 up to 19 cents, it comes out to $2.80 per gallon. Of course back then you got the oil checked, window washed, tires aired up, and so on. The product of the times.Gasoline is 18.7 cents a gallon, which I actually remember. I am appalled by the reduction of the pump attendant being reduced to a "Negro", as if his skin color had anything to do with his abilities. Like a white person could do a more remarkable job of pumping gasoline? In the dominant culture of the time, it was accepted practice, but in 2017, it makes me shudder. [Illustrating ethnic, religious and racial diversity in American society was one of the primary aims of the OWI photo project, so such specifics were always recorded with the exposures. -tterrace] [The photographer (who wrote the caption) was none other than Gordon Parks. - Dave] We've come far, but we've also lost much.I miss the spinny things on gas pumps! Reset to ZeroI remember those "spinny things" as well, and through the clear glass you could see the different colours for specific fuels. I seem to recall in the 1950s that regular gas was a light amber, whereas high octane was pink. After each fuelling, the attendant turned a crank on the side of the pump, and this reset the price and number of gallons to zero. In the 1970s when I first owned a car, you might be presented with a memento as well, such as a glass or a savings coupon. And if you bought gas at an Esso station, there was a tiger tail attached to your fuel cap. This was part of the "Put a Tiger in Your Tank" advertising promotion. This all came to an end with self-serve gas station. 7/10?I have never seen 7/10 instead of 9/10! I wondered if (at that low price) there was actually price competition at the fraction of a cent? Gas Pump... was a "Wayne." Manufactured in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Subsequently bought out and now know as the Wayne Fueling Systems division of Dover Fueling Solutions. But not in Indiana. 'Ding-Ding'Of the air hose bell when you pulled in for your dollars worth of regular. Still can hear that sound. Re: Ding-DingI too remember the air-hose bell, but do I also remember a ding-ding sound as the gas pumped, or is my memory making stuff up (as it is increasingly wont to do)? [I can remember hearing that, but I don't know if it was in real life or just in old movies. -tterrace] Gas Station DingsI had forgotten how musical gas stations used to be. Another device that "dinged" was the old style air pumps. You turned a crank to set the air pressure for your tires, and as the air filled the tire it occasionally dinged, and then automatically stopped at the desired PSI. The air hose was looped over a bracket, and when you removed the hose the bracket lifted up and the air pump started. A sign reminded you to replace the hose on the bracket to turn off the pump. Well, tterrace, the gas pumps really did "ding" for each gallon of gas pumped. Here is a video that shows everything you need to know about restoring old gas pumps. (The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Gordon Parks)
The Gas Shack: 1920
... Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Penn Oil Co., Columbia Road station between 17th & 18th." National Photo Company Collection glass ... Motor Fuel 33 cents a gallon! The price of gas 33 cents in 1920 is equivalent to $3.50 today. Guess I should stop ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 9:40pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Penn Oil Co., Columbia Road station between 17th & 18th." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. ZoilDid anyone notice the Pennzoil sign on the shack? It looked old even THEN! [The sign reads PENN OIL. - Dave] Yikes."Unescorted lady motorists always welcome. Open after dark!" Lightning Motor Fuel33 cents a gallon! The price of gas33 cents in 1920 is equivalent to $3.50 today. Guess I should stop complaining. No Frills FuelI'll bet it was fixed up real nice inside. 33 cents a gallon!That's pretty pricey for 1920!!! Not a great dealI was just thinking the other day that gas was selling for 24 to 28 cents a gallon during the gas wars of 1970. ContemporaryI'm struck by the styling and the newness of those dwellings in the background -- it almost looks like a modern, present-day apartment complex being built in the background of a 1920 photograph. Aromatic hydrocarbonsGas stations used to smell like gas stations; a 7-Eleven with a pump island doesn't. The row housesThey look brand new, and modern -- anyone know if they are still around? Argonne PlaceI'll have to get a better photo with my camera instead of my phone. The gas station is now an apartment complex. Houses built in 1921, and are still here. What do you think? I'd say it's the same developer if it's not the same houses. Argonne PlaceThis is the back of Argonne Place, which is in between Columbia Road and Harvard Street, 16th and 17th. Late 1920 is my best guess for time period. (The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)
Joined by Fiat: 1974
... in a pose by their now different green foreign car, a Fiat station wagon. I'll leave it up to the chorus of commenters as to whether the ... replaced by a Japanese import in consideration of soaring gas prices. The team basically stood around, appearing in random photographs ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 02/06/2010 - 3:39pm -

Another mirth-provoking look at the clothing, footwear and vehicle choices of the 70s, just a bit down the street from a similar scene three years earlier. This time, in January 1974, I join my brother and sister-in-law in a pose by their now different green foreign car, a Fiat station wagon. I'll leave it up to the chorus of commenters as to whether the various changes overall represent progress or regression. I'll only say that once again, my sister-in-law is the most stylish. Kodachrome 64 slide from my brother's camera. View full size. Fiat"Fix It Again, Tony." Another influenceSurely Sonny and Cher. Hey ManDig my groovy threads. Or is that beatnik lingo? I wuz thereI remember an ensemble I used to own, a beige polyester leisure suit, white shoes, white belt. I didn't smoke when I had it on. Cigarettes, anyway. I have all his albums!A certain John Denver influence here. GroovyGreat photo. Where have all the hippie chicks gone? FREE BIRD!...or slaves to corduroy? I swear I owned that gold jacket. Future FiatsIt looks like a Fiat 128 wagon. Nice cars that just weren't designed to cope with the American mystique. Who knew that in less then 40 years Fiat would be taking such a large role in the survival of Chrysler! Dig the threads though. A bit of Sgt. Pepper in there as well. Who knows, in time, it might all come back into vogue! Still "In"Your sister-in-law's sweater is stylish by modern standards, though nothing else is, of course. She's a hot one to boot! Photographic evidencethat the "60s" did not end in 1969. Not out of fashionThe clothing and hair of the man on the left (is that you or your brother) has not gone out of fashion. You/he could pass unremarked today. What happened?Why does your brother have grey hair in the 1971 photo, but natural color hair in this one from 1974?? Thanks for reminding me1974 Fiat wagon--one of the worst vehicles ever to hit the American road. Don't ask me how I know. Oh Wow Man!I'm diggin' the FTD shirt your brother has on man. Sweet DungareesThose look like Navy Dungarees (on the guy on the left)...they have the square pockets in the front like our old dungarees. Sweet fashion statement!! My newScreensaver! My FiatI had a 1975 128 sedan, handled like it was on rails. Was a lot of fun losing the muscle car guys on the twisty roads. The Fiat and my leisure suit are long gone, but not the memories. Great pic. The Lamb Lies DownThis photo took me back to 1974! Sitting in my pad, listening to my brand new copy of Genesis' "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" with my friends. All of us clad in a similar fashion to the people in this wonderful photo. Thank you for posting tterrace, and thank you for providing the catalyst that helped me conjure up some fond old memories. WOW!You did know Sonny and Cher! How fun is this ...Looks close enough to my old pictures, that this could be me, my roommate and his new wife. The only difference was that HIS Fiat wagon was blue and HIS wife had shorter hair! I had a Green 128 SL that was wonderful ... when it ran! If I remember right, the 128 was the first front wheel drive car in general production. It was ahead of its time by years. Of course Fiat had serious problems with the car and left the American market not long after. Fiat of clayAlmost the worst car I ever owned. Believe it or not it was beat out for the title years later by a Ford Windstar. Nice Shoes!Would like some of those! Front wheel drive triviaEarlier production cars boasting front wheel drive would be the Olds Toronado (1966), the Austin and Morris Minor (and later Mini Cooper)(1959), Citroen Traction Avant from near or beyond a decade before that. The 128 could be a good little car but mostly it was a troublesome beast. Sonny and Cher ...... meet Mike Brady. Front Wheel Drive..Don't forget that Cord produced a FWD car back in the 1930's, though most credit the '66 Olds Toronado as the first FWD American car. Fix It Again, Tony!I knew a guy who had a Fiat 128 2-door, raced it in parking-lot rallies. More trivia ...Totally forgot about the Minor ... there were a few running around when I was a kid. BUT ... if you fancy Fiat trivia ... A close look at the picture shows that the car came with Pirelli radials. If you were really lucky, Fiats sometimes came with Michelins. They lasted longer. In my case, the tires lasted longer than the Fiat! Love those hippie chicks!Love those hippie chicks! Great photo!This is just how I remember you all! Mary re: questionIndeed, it would be fun to see the old photos reposed with current vehicles, clothes, etc. ProofIf it were not for Kodachrome, the kids would never believe it happened. Re: tterrace todayI agree that a present-day photo of tterrace with brother and sister-in-law would be fantastic. In the meantime we can all enjoy a relatively recent then/now photo of tterrace at the top of one of my all-time favorite Shorpy comments - a de-colorized Louis Hine interpretation: the caption makes me laugh every time I read it. You asked for it: tterrace todayFirst, thanks to stanton_square for getting my humor, thereby earning a place in my list of all-time favorite people. Secondly, I give up; here's my brother and me last Thanksgiving at his place: Your brotherlooks like my fifth grade teacher! Fiats? ICK. I am soooo sorry your brother and SIL had to endure one of those! Get a RoomA appreciate all of tterrace's photos and stanton_square's news clippings. But as far as the recent lovefest of self-referencing comments, all i can say is "get a room." [All I can say is, this self-referencing commenter has a familiar IP address. - Dave] Judging from her poseI bet she was an early proponent of women's lib. Very open and free. Just wonderingIs your sister-in-law Native American? Good memories.Why do some of us survivors of the 1960's/1970's feel the need to apologise for the fashions & styles of that period? Then was then and now is now and we had no more control over it than did our parents in their youth, or their parents before them, ad infinitum. As a 65-year-old, I look back on my teenage/young adult years with some affection and not through rose-coloured glasses, either. There were sad times and glad times, just like the present. So when I see photos such as these from tterrace I don't cringe with embarrassment but smile as I recall my days in clothing and cars exactly the same as pictured. Great stuff! Question for tterrancetterrance, When are we going to see a "present day" photo of you, your brother and sister in law? You know we all want one! Any more photos of the time spent in Santa Cruz? WowYou were sooooo cute!! Where do I join your fanclub? New screensaverIt's my new screensaver at work. You're a celebrity...in my office. Re: tterrace and brother todayIt's so nice to see you're still FRIENDS as well as brothers. I'm the same age as you are and nearly everyone I know has a sibling from whom they're in some way estranged. I have only one older brother and we still talk on the phone every day & live within a mile of each other. Wow againThank you tterrace!! You are just as handsome!! More Famous Than We ThinkI just realized who these two guys are: The Smothers Brothers. tterrace TodayMauve walls, tterrace? That's so 1987. Fiat WagonI had a 1967 Fiat wagon that I purchased for $900 in 1970. It was my first car, and I named it Alphonse. It was a wonderful car until it needed a clutch. Then I found out that my dad's mechanic friends had no clue how to repair it, but gamely tried anyway. I sold it a year later to my brother for $250, and at that time he was shifting with a screwdriver. He in turn sold it to someone else. One very cold day I got in, sat down, and the vinyl seat shattered like glass. NOT designed for New England! The Maud SquadHere's the version that didn't make the small screen featuring Re-Pete, (Missing) Linc and Juliette (as in brunette). As a further sign of the times, the Woody has been replaced by a Japanese import in consideration of soaring gas prices. The team basically stood around, appearing in random photographs wearing 'period' clothing. The concept, or Pilot, though cutting edge, wasn't received well by focus groups and therefore never aired. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, tterrapix)
Last Chance Texaco: 1937
... may be this spot. Anybody could go broke trying to sell gas there. Last Chance I wonder, at the peak of the station's business, did the owner bring in enough to make it worthwhile? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 1:36pm -

October 1937. "Abandoned garage on Highway No. 2. Western North Dakota." Medium format safety negative by Russell Lee for the FSA. View full size. Who would guessThat just three years later they would start sponsoring the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts! Really helps me understandMy mother was from North Dakota, a tiny town near the Canadian border. She left around the time this picture was taken, and more than once talked about how isolated and isolating the place was. Had she seen this picture, she would have cocked her head the way she did and said something like, "That's it. That's what it was like." This is iconic, I tell you.This is something that Edward Hopper would have loved. The turnoffIn sequence, this Highway 2 photo appears between photos taken by Lee in farmhouses near Wheelock and photos taken in a general store in Ray. Three miles north of Wheelock and three miles west of Ray is an intersection between Highway 2 and a gravel road that may be this spot. Anybody could go broke trying to sell gas there. Last ChanceI wonder, at the peak of the station's business, did the owner bring in enough to make it worthwhile? I'm WaitingWhat, no Google Street View? You know that Texaco... it's the one at the corner of Nothin' and Nothin'. Phrases like "you can't miss it" take on a whole new meaning in landscapes like this! Russell Lee had some kind of eye.He was without question an artist, and this stunning photograph is a fine example. Long after the Great Depression, Lee headed photo department of the University of Texas art school, and that's the source of a regret I've carried for 40 years. I took a number of classes in that department and was always too much in awe of him to introduce myself. My loss. Almost artThe FSA photographers were very good in composition and light control. Considering the conditions under which they worked the end product is beautiful to the eye. Sometimes the subject was melancholy (considering the times) but nonetheless appears to have transcended from contemporary photography to an evocation of our historical past. ["Almost"? - Dave] You can trust your car... to the man who wears the star ... I'm going to have that jingle in my head for the rest of the night! Art indeedI would gladly hang this on my wall. I believe it would give me a different feeling every day that I looked at it. Art, ActuallyAs soon as I saw the image, I knew I had yet another addition to my screensaver. Thanks, Dave and Ken. It appeals from both the technical or artsy side; it's art in my book. That the Texaco sign is leaning just so is a plus. Pricey gasLast week I saw a twin gas pump similar to these for sale in a collectibles store in Sausalito. Could have been mine for a measly $7,500. Russell Lee was a geniusNo "almost" about it! And todayIt's been replaced with some glass-and-steel monstrosity, no doubt. It was a crime to tear this place down. Gas Stations Rock!I love all gasoline related photos, and this may be the best one yet. Just beautiful. This is ItThis is the one. My favorite Shorpy pic of all. I've been in the garage business for 45 years. My building is built around a 1952 Gulf station. I collect old service station and garage photos that I display on my office walls.This is my favorite.I just bought a print.Thanks Dave Stanley? Williston? Cuthbertson?The 1937 Texaco Drivers' Map of North Dakota noted Texaco stations with a red star, so this might have been located in Stanley, Williston, or Cuthbertson. Minot and Rugby (the exact geographic center of the continental United States) were probably too large at the time. Amazing to a person living on the East Coast to realize that North Dakota has had the same population -- 645,000 approximately -- since its heyday of immigration, between 1880 and 1910. Eric Sevareid grew up in a very small town north of Minot, and here is how he described it: "It was a trial of the human spirit just to live there, and a triumph of faith and fortitude for those who stayed on through the terrible blasting of the summer winds, the merciless suns, through the frozen darkness of the winters when the deathly mourn of the coyote seemed at times the only signal of life." HitchcockianLooks like North by Northwest. Great Photo! The FSA photos were one fo the best things to come out of this time. Just documenting life at the time and is absolutely art! ElectricalI'm a youngster, only 43, so I haven't been around that long. But looking at the power line it looks like a 3-phase transmission line but no ground. How did they run the ground leg back in the day? Any electricians out there? Thank the REAThis art most likely brought to you by the Rural Electrification Administration, born just two years earlier. The sign may be leaning, but the power poles are straight and new. Strong feelingsMost of us in our lifetime have witnessed scenes like this somewhere, sometime. We, as a species, are different from each other yet so much the same. Many thoughts from my past went through my mind as I looked at this image. Most were not even related to the building, the gas pumps or the signage, just the whole scene. So simple in itself but such a strong feeling that came from within me. (apparently a lot of other folks too looking at the number of comments). Thanks for posting this Dave. Isolated no moreRead yesterday that there has been a huge oil discovery extending out of North Dakota up into Canada and West into Montana. Extreme shortage of labor. GroundingNowadays, primary distribution is nearly always a "wye" system as you have observed. In the early days, the "delta" system was more common, and there was no neutral. In some cases, even today, a delta has one phase grounded. However, the practice of grounding has evolved over the years. I've read that at one time, ungrounded delta distribution was the norm. I don't know exactly when this began to change. It was certainly beginning to by the late 30s, judging by some old catalogs I have. But you're right. I don't see a neutral here, either. No "there" thereView Larger Map To the electrical commentsUngrounded delta distribution is still around. It's simply 3 phases with no connection to ground. Each transformer is connected phase to phase and the center tap on the secondary side is grounded to create a neutral for the customer. Usually ungrounded deltas for distribution run at 4800 volts. These systems are rare. Most areas with older distribution systems are running 2400/4160 wye. Most power companies upgrade these systems to 7200/12470 or 7620/13200 wye systems. Great photographer!Russel Lee was really great photographer, almost all his pictures show us real life at those years. Where it wasThe alignment of US 2 from Minot to US 85 has been straightened out considerably. Given the comment regarding the sequencing of the pictures, and using a 1933 ND / SD map, and a 1946 map I have showing the electric system as it was in ND then, I offer the northeast corner of 119th Ave NW / 60th St. NW (about 3/4 mile south of Wheelock) as the location of the gas station. Vintage memorabilia motherlodeHow would you like to have been the person that said, I'm gonna go out and get those pumps and that sign before somebody else does. And as noted above, $7500 for one of the pumps. The sign is worth more than gold. And almost worth as much as shorpy.com. The price of nostalgia I'm always saddened and a little depressed to see these once thriving, or marginally surviving, edifices brought to desolation and ruin. The abandoned farmhouse, shop or service station only reminds us of our fleeting nature. Someone once sat in those freshly erected buildings and dreamed the American dream, maybe now gone to dust or glory. Godspeed, you stalwart forebears, I hope you found some joy in your life! Last Chance, colorized.I had a go at a colorized version. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Russell Lee)
Office Girls: 1925
... changing organizational needs. Every film noir police station is fitted out with these. Now I want to see this office's supply ... buildings wired for electricity after conversion from gas -- often just for ceiling fixtures, with no wall outlets. Tapping a ceiling ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/07/2012 - 2:03am -

Washington, D.C. "American Nature Association. Between 1910 and 1926." It's probably safe to say this is 1925. September 14, to be specific. A Monday (boo). View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. Great example of an officeLook at all of the decorations. I like the Allied Flags of the Great War. Did they use "qwerty" keyboard typewriters then? Tree Huggers"Agnes, here's another letter from that lumberjack. He didn't like your reply." Off and OnMy grandparents had those kind of pushbutton light switches! Some Like it HotThe girl on the extreme left must have been a role model for Jack Lemmon in "Some Like it Hot" as they look identical. The middle girl looks somewhat like an anorexic Joey Brown. I used to LOVE rubber stamps when I was a kid, they seemed so important when someone stamped their official message on my things and at the library I felt as though I had passed approval when the librarian would stamp every book and every file card so I could take their books home. You would have thought I was being allowed into a forbidden zone. That crown molding edging the ceiling (which we all took for granted) would cost a small fortune to add to any room today. And those postage stamps are most likely 1 cent. Still, I bet these three conscientious workers we VERY efficient at what they did and their stick phone did not have a droning message telling you what buttons to push but that you got to talk to a real person who would handle your problems quickly and accurately. Thanks for a photo of my childhood memories. [Big-boned, isn't she. - Dave] Passion for filesJust stick junk up on the walls with tape, don't worry about the mess it will make or the damage to the paint and plaster. In a way it's oddly gratifying to see that at least some things never change. All in all, a wonderland for a stationery/office gizmo/wooden file cabinet freak like me. The supply room I inherited in a 1932-vintage government office building still had some retired items of this kind on the shelves. Also file cabinets like that - which, you'll note, are modular. This one's in 5 pieces - leg unit, three tiers of drawers and top. Any or all of the drawer units could be replaced with different kinds of filing compartments, including standard file drawers and even glass-front bookshelves. They fit together with metal male & female fittings and could easily be mixed and matched at any time to meet each office's changing organizational needs. Every film noir police station is fitted out with these. Now I want to see this office's supply room! Inkwells Etc.I immediately noticed the square glass inkwells and the stick pen with removable points, just like we used when we first learned cursive penmanship. You had to dip your pen into the inkwell about every sentence or more. Ink most commonly came in blue, black, red and blue-black (my second job was at Waterman's in Connecticut). Those inkwells also had glass lids and notice the paperclips had specific roundish glass bowls. I used an old stapler like that also. I enjoy the details in these old pictures the most. What we used every day and never even thought about are now collectibles and antiques. Answering the MailLove all the details in this one: phones, lamps, staplers... The American Nature Association was incorporated as a scientific educational organization in 1922. Located at 1212-1214 Sixteenth St NW, it employed about 60 people to publish Nature magazine. In 1959, the magazine merged with Natural History magazine published by the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Office postageThose are 2¢ stamps, not 1¢ ; most letters bear Scott #554: Although I see at least one with two Scott#552 Both originally issued January 1923. Between 1910 and 1926Hmm, seems as though the person who wrote the caption to the photo was not very Sherlock Holmes-esque! Good thing there's Dave! I would love to be able to read the finer print - any chance of a zoomed in close up?? Why in the world............Wonder why there are ads on the wall for Canadian Club Whiskey and Stonewall Jackson Cigars Double EagleFrom the newspaper clipping just above the filing cabinet and to the right, looks like a full-page article debating the "Golden Eagle or Bald Eagle as Emblem?" I wonder what brought that discussion on way back in 1925. Underwood typewriterI'm not a typewriter expert but this looks to be an Underwood, apparently very common for the time. Images here and below (click to enlarge). QWERTYThey did in fact use the QWERTY layout. QWERTY was developed specifically to keep typists from going too quickly and causing the keys to jam. Trench art lampNot only do they have the flags of the Allies but there is also a desk lamp made from an old artillery projectile on the far right. ARTillery UtilityI guess that was the post Great War rage or something. There's a table lamp made out of some WWI artillery shell thing at my parents' house. I think it was a souvenir from my mom's uncle's tour of duty. Artillery artArtillery art must have been "in" after WW1. I've got two pieces that came from my grandfather's estate. He was an ambulance driver in France and never had anything official to do with field artillery. One piece, they took an empty cartridge case and cut most of it away down to the bottom two inches. They added some other pieces and made it into an ashtray. The other piece is a more or less complete cartridge case and was supposedly used as an umbrella or cane stand for years. The interesting thing about that case is the several "Life of Case" stampings on the bottom (inspector and date) indicating each time it was remachined and reloaded. An empty cartridge case is one thing, but if I saw someone had turned a shell into art the first thing I'd want to ask would be "that thing is inert, isn't it?" FlappersGet a load of those rolled stockings and bobbed hair on the gal on the left. She is probably thinking of the weekend, when she and her beau with slicked-down hair can dance the Charleston in a speakeasy. If wishes were newspapers.....I'd have that entire collection in my lap right now, reading the one about the golden and bald eagle. And if ifs an' ands were pots and pans... there'd be no work for tinkers! What are they doing?Seems to be alot of the same headline articles piled up, I wonder what they were clipping them for? [Mentions of the A.N.A. - Dave] Hair set upFunny, but I can put 3 current office girls that I know at work that have just about the same hairstyle and hairdo (including the one with the headband). Just not so much hairspray, but otherwise, they look modern to me. Well done, TerranceI was just admired all the stamp mail (including one or two stamped envelopes), nearly all of it machine canceled. So much different from the metered and printed indicia mail that is most of what's in my mailbox today. For those who love this stuff as I do: www.stamps.org [That Terrance does crackerjack work. - Dave] Golden Eagle or Bald EagleSomeone asks" "Golden Eagle or Bald Eagle as Emblem?" I wonder what brought that discussion on way back in 1925. Much of US coinage at the time featured different types of eagles, not the bald eagle. For example, take a look at the St. Gaudens designs that were in place from 1907-1933 -- those aren't bald eagles. So I suspect it was discussion about whether the depiction of eagles on use emblems such as coinage should be standardized to be the bald eagle rather than just a generalized heraldic eagle (usually the golden eagle, which has been used in heraldry since ancient Rome). LightsDave is right, early light fixtures also tended to look a bit flimsy by our standards, I grew up in an old house that was electrified in the teens and several rooms were lighted by hanging lamps just like those in the picture. Ours had a sturdy porcelain socket screwed into the lath overhead with a matching plug for the cord that securely locked them into place, they were quite safe when new although the cord insulation was getting a bit questionable by the '70s. It took some time for electric plugs to be standardized, before that happened electric cords with Edison threads, like the lamp, were in common use. My sister used to live in an old house that still had a few electric outlets equipped with a threaded "light bulb" socket. The wiring for that push button switch is inside the wall, they had a reasonably good quality for the era wiring job done, the truly cheap conversion jobs had the wiring running up the outside of the walls on porcelain knobs or cleats. OSHA wouldn't approveThis office was clearly remodeled from something else -- a private home perhaps. It's on at least the second floor, based on the stairwell in the background. The cord dangling from the ceiling fixture to power the hanging lamp shows a certain "muddle through" attitude. And the "screws into the socket" device on the wire at the extreme right, which may in fact connect to the bullet lamp, shows further improvisation. Add that nobody has a proper desk, and you can guess that the American Nature Association had a pretty modest budget. [The 1910s and 1920s saw many office buildings wired for electricity after conversion from gas -- often just for ceiling fixtures, with no wall outlets. Tapping a ceiling fixture with a screw-in adapter was a common practice for things like desk lamps. - Dave] Proper desks and the task at handThose tables may not be proper desks, but they were definitely standard office furniture for the period. The 1932-vintage federal building I worked in still had several around; they're intended to be all-purpose office work surfaces rather than executive or even secretarial desks. They offered a minimal amount of storage - each had at least one drawer and wider models had one on each side; enough to handle materials for limited, simple or transitory tasks. So what is this particular task? Obviously, a goodly quantity of individuals have sent envelopes to the A.N.A., and in return are apparently being sent clippings from a newspaper. Now, what prompted those incoming letters? Just to get a newspaper clipping? Or did the letters contain contributions, and the clippings are to accompany form thank-you letters because they report on some work the A.N.A. has done? The problem with this is that all those envelopes are incoming letters; the clippings wouldn't need to be at hand until the outgoing envelopes were ready to be stuffed, and we don't see any of those here. Another interesting thing is that the clippings are from a Los Angeles newspaper. Is it possible that people were sending clippings to the A.N.A. for some reason? The light switchIn the mid 1970s I went to middle school in an old manor house that still had some of those pushbutton switches. For some reason they had transparent switchplates over the things. They didn't have enclosed points, and there was one in the science classroom which would simply explode with sparks every time you pressed it. John Steven McGroartyThe newspaper article being gathered is this: "Seen from the Green Verdugo Hills: A Page Conducted by John Steven McGroarty," published in the Los Angeles Times Magazine on Sunday, Aug. 30, 1925, about a week before this photo was probably taken. Would that have been enough time for the A.N.A. to send letters to its California members asking them to send in clippings of the article, and for the replies to return? I noticed there is already a copy on the wall, as if someone spotted it and put out a call for more copies. Why this specific item might have been of such interest to the organization is a little puzzling to me. The page is composed of smaller entries, and certainly there is a theme of gratitude for the gift of Nature. The first entry, "Things That the Saints Once Said," touches on the obligation to share what we have with those who need it. It includes a quote attributed to St. Ambrose: "The earth is the common possession of all and belongs to all and not to the rich," and another, attributed to John Chrysostom: "Are not the earth and the fullness thereof the Lord's?..." The second entry, "Singing Jimmy and his Large Invitation," recounts a neighbor's trip to Detroit, where he tried to entice the Kiwanis Clubs to hold a convention in the Verdugo Hills: So, what did Singing Jimmy Smith do but get up say, brothers, he said, I invite you to hold your next convention in the green Verdugo Hills. There's plenty of room in the chaparral and under the live oak trees. Our women folk will cook you plenty to eat. You can have goat's milk and cookies to your hearts' content. And all the neighbors will be right glad to see you... The third entry, "The Tale That a Big City Tells," begins with dismay at the number of people fed and housed by a mission in Los Angeles, then turns to an indictment of urban life: Here is the whole, beautiful, wide green earth, its vast vacant spaces of fertile lands, God's rains to water them, God's suns [sic] to warm them; the fruitful, plenteous earth with food for all and shelter for all. And yet we howl for bigger cities and more of them. Oh, brethren, there is something very wrong with the world. The generations to come will have a heavy burden to bear. They will have a fearful price to pay. McGroarty was a poet, author, and journalist; in 1923, he moved into a self-built home in Tujunga, Cal., in the Verdugo Mountains north of the city. In 1925 his main pursuits appear to have been his weekly page in the Times, and completing his doctorate in literature at the University of California. In 1933, he was named poet laureate of California. In 1935, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served two terms. Good point!I was so thrilled to figure it out, it didn't occur to me that they might be gathering an earlier column. Someday, I might go see if there's one that fits the A.N.A. better. From the Green Verdugo HillsThis was, according to various sources, a regular feature that John McGroarty wrote for the Los Angeles Times for many years. So there would have been more than one. Platen envyBoth typewriters are Underwood No. 5's, I'm pretty sure. I have a No. 5 that I use regularly. How I wish it was still as shiny as the one that girl is using! Artillery ArtMy grandmother told me how during WW2 servicemen would make presents out of whatever was on hand, like shells and such, and trade them with guys who could make something different. She had drinking glasses made out of some sort of shell. I have the "ugly goblets" that my grandfather commissioned from another sailor (don't know what was traded). They are quite obviously handmade and hideously ugly, but sentimental b/c my grandfather gave them to her during the war. Got a bang out of that lampThe artillery-based lamp appears to have on top a version of this fuze of mine, a PTTF (Powder Train Time Fuze) from 1907. It's about three inches wide by the same high, and is a brass mechanical fuze using a clockwork mechanism to adjust the time. The time is set by turning the dial from safe to the desired length of time for "bang!" The top unscrews so the one in the photo very easily was adapted for lamp duty on top of that artillery shell. Tens and tens of millions of these were manufactured for World War One. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, The Office)
Graham Hollywood: 1942
... the second to closest telephone pole, there is a Chevron station. That spot is still a Chevron station to this day and will be for a ... time as it is, as I understand it, the most profitable gas station in Northern California. Second, the bell on a tall rod stand is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/24/2023 - 2:06pm -

April 1942. "Portuguese-American communities in California. Main street (East 14th at Callan) in San Leandro." Our title is in honor of that low-slung, supercharged Graham Hollywood -- one of the decade's quirkier cars -- parked at the curb. Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Foreign Information Service of the U.S. Office of Coordinator of Information. View full size. Asphalt's still theremaybe even the same we see here -- under several repavings - but that's about it ... even the park has been obliterated. (It survived - at best - another two decades before being "improved"... into a traffic island. The bell, labeled "El Camino Real" (see above), dates from 1909, but as that actually ran up the Peninsula, twenty miles to the west, the designation is somewhat confusing.) This is just 180 degrees from the earlier shot -- the photographer may have simply turned around -- but a without a landmark like the Best Building, a modern visitor would be hard pressed to locate himself. By 1942, San Leandro was dependent on buses for public transporatation: the Key System streetcar line to Hayward had been cut back a decade previous, and the Southern Pacific's IER ("Big Red Train") service to San Francisco had been ended a year earlier. (The Key concurrently extended its A-Train out E14th, but not all the way to San Leandro). Twin Coach BusesThe earlier view of San Leandro showed a 1920s design Twin Coach bus that looked as boxy as the autos of that era. This view shows a circa 1937 Twin Coach that has a more streamlined appearance along with the cars of the time. After World War II Twin Coach merged with Fageol for a popular new bus design. Bringing up the rear is a GM Yellow Coach Silversides intercity bus. Hupmobile SkylarkI kept coming back to that nifty looking first sedan on the right and wondering if someone would ID it. I've learned a good deal on old things with wheels from posts and comments from the car guys over the years. Finally, after looking at that body yet again something told me to Google "late model Cord sedans". Up popped a 1941 Hupmobile Skylark. Perfect match, first try! [Um, no. What is the title of this post? What does the caption say? What are your eyes connected to? - Dave] Cord impostorThe car represents the last effort by Hupmobile and Graham-Paige to stay afloat. Hup had purchased the body dies for the Cord 810/812, minus the coffin-nose hood assembly. John Tjaarda (1936 Lincoln Zephyr) was assigned the chore of designing the front end. The body rested on a Hup chassis with rear wheel drive and Hup running gear. It was to be called the Skylark. Hup was so broke they had to make an agreement with Graham to begin production of the bodies, with the provision that Graham could make its own version, the Hollywood. Graham used its own running gear. To the best of my knowledge the only exterior difference was the upper grille. Hup’s was painted, Graham’s was chrome. I've often wondered what Gordon Buehrig thought of them fiddling with his Cord design. Car IDsL-R 1938 Dodge, Late 1920s Willys Knight. 1933 Continental Beacon model, 1940 Chevrolet, Graham. That lovely Graham Hollywood Some interesting history of the Graham company and their evolution, from glass-making to autos, to Graham-Paige to Kaiser-Frazer to ... Madison Square Garden Corporation(?!) https://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z12064/graham-hollywood-custom.aspx Some things remain the same …This triangle has been present since the very start of San Leandro and can be seen in one of the earliest known photos of the city, looking to the north west, rather than the north east. (Hopefully attached to this comment.) Notcom notes that there’s nothing in this photo is still standing, except perhaps the pavement, though even that would’ve been at least partially torn up to remove the rail tracks that went through this intersection. But there are a few things still the same. First, in the top left, between the bank sign and the second to closest telephone pole, there is a Chevron station. That spot is still a Chevron station to this day and will be for a long time as it is, as I understand it, the most profitable gas station in Northern California. Second, the bell on a tall rod stand is still in approximately the same location. That’s a marker for El Camino Real, the historic route that connected the missions of California, from San Francisco down to San Diego (some of these bells have been removed due to their association with a time when the natives were treated inhumanly). Lastly, where that bank sign hangs is a different building, but it’s its location is still the home of a bank. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Portugrocer: 1942
... full size. What do you have that won't give me gas? With that white jacket and hat, the clerk looks like a service station attendant. Lifebuoy, helll! It's the taste of Fels-Naphtha that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/15/2023 - 4:07pm -

April 1942. "Provincetown, Massachusetts. Portuguese grocer." 4x5 inch acetate negative by John Collier for the U.S. Office of the Coordinator of Information. View full size. What do you have that won't give me gas?With that white jacket and hat, the clerk looks like a service station attendant. Lifebuoy, helll!It's the taste of Fels-Naphtha that I remember! Weigh To Go OhioWhile I am very familiar with Toledo scales (from Ohio and now headquartered not far from me), I had never heard of Dayton scales (also from Ohio). Your Portugrocer is ...or was Ernest Carreiro Sr., per the Liz's Cafe/Anybody's Bar website. Ernie died in 1961, and his son, Ernie Jr., just last year. According to Ernie Jr.'s obituary, he and his dad turned Anybody's Market into Tip-for-Tops'n Restaurant sometime in the early '50s. Those Carreiros really had a way with words. What's that effigyhanging above the mirror? [It's a lobster claw. - Dave] Better Hurry!You won't have much longer to buy that coffee or beef, as WWII rationing begins soon! What the!Would love to know the story behind the painted head (lobster claw?) on the top of the cabinet behind the counter! I'm PuzzledI'm often puzzled as to why these Shorpy images aren't offered as 1000 piece to 5000 piece jigsaw puzzles. I'd love to spend a weekend piecing together this grocery store image and the now classic Christmas office party. How wonderful it would be to produce quality images into challenging puzzles worth spending time upon. Please, consider branching out into collectible puzzles. Stacking ArtisteVery orderly shelves considering the cans are of the older three-piece design with seamed tops and bottoms which must be closely aligned to sit atop one another without getting all cattywampus, as with the third row of pop corn cans behind the woman's head (one of the few exceptions.) I hope contemporary stock clerks appreaciate the superior self indexing/interlocking/nesting qualities of modern two-piece steel cans when stacking them (probably not), plus they also make straightening up after an earthquake much easier, although that probably wasn't a major concern in Ptown, then or now. Top Shelf Detergents They were called soap operas for a reason Rinso ... Rinso white, Rinso bright and Solium, the sunlight ingredient Duz ... It’s the soap in Duz that does it Chipso ... "Just back from my honeymoon … Gray hair and a young heart. Because Chipso gets underwear so white.” Soapine ... "For washing and cleaning everything, no matter what -- Soapine works quicker, easier, cheaper and better than soap or anything else." The original (19th century) made from whale blubber. Super Suds ... struck out Lux ... The Thompson agency then began a campaign in 1928 to get endorsements from Hollywood actresses, by sending 425 actresses cases of Lux Soap. It received 414 endorsements in return, leading them to claim that 9 out of 10 stars in Hollywood use Lux Soap. Ivory Flakes ... 1937 Ivory Flakes Laundry Soap "Lazy Twin Misses Out On Party!" Cartoon (Print Ad) Fels-Naptha ... It originally included the ingredient naphtha, effective for cleaning laundry and urushiol, an oil contained in poison ivy. Naphtha was later removed as a cancer risk. Oxydol ... In the 1930s, Oxydol was the sponsor of the Ma Perkins radio show, considered the first soap opera; as such, Oxydol sponsorship put the "soap" in "soap opera". Klek ... White Beads of Soap (Seems to exist only on boxes sold on eBay) [As you note, they're soaps. Strictly speaking, none of those are detergents. - Dave] Tasty Fascinating array of foodstuffs. Would love to be able to taste what that bread was like. Not to mention some delicious cakes with that presumably rich and aromatic coffee. (The Gallery, John Collier, Stores & Markets)
Petroleum Panorama: 1922
"Service station, First Street and Maryland Avenue." Spectacularly detailed view of the ... the nifty 1923 map . - Dave] Capitol Gas This is the Capitol Gasoline Station,"The Home of Filtered Gas," at First and Maryland Southwest; Arther Seagren, proprietor. It appears ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/07/2012 - 9:58pm -

"Service station, First Street and Maryland Avenue." Spectacularly detailed view of the Capital Gasoline Station in Washington, D.C., in 1922. View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View even larger. Supreme locationAmazingly detailed photo. The mechanic conferring with someone, possibly owner. Another man getting what looks to be a sip of water. And its location at 1st and Maryland placed it right across the street from the Capitol, near or on the spot of the Supreme Court building (cornerstone laid 1932, completed 1935). [Not quite. This was at First and Maryland SW, not NE. Thanks to PER for the nifty 1923 map. - Dave] Capitol GasThis is the Capitol Gasoline Station,"The Home of Filtered Gas," at First and Maryland Southwest; Arther Seagren, proprietor. It appears to have opened in 1919 and survived until at least 1930. Now the location of the U.S. Botanic Garden. Free adjustments and advice will be given on all cars. Consult me if your car is not running right. Ladies driving their own cars will find us always ready to make any adjustments on their tires, radiator or batteries. .... No waiting; large cement driveways. Ten visible oil and gasoline pumps which show you the amount and quality of the gas you buy. .... Air boys who will fill your tires and batteries free of charge. No charge for changing oils in motors. Transmissions and rear axles filled while you wait. ... Alemite Service - we are now equipped to alemite any make of car. Having recently installed the very latest alemite equipment and three large alemite stands, we can alemite your car in a very few minutes and day until 6:30 p.m. ... Open every evening until 11 o'clock Going up?Is that a ladder to nowhere or a "Stairway to Heaven"? Just curious...Why is there a ladder leading straight up (to nowhere) on the top of the building on the left? (The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)
Meet the Fokker: 1929
... Fokker ...was the centerpiece of a Los Angeles filling station through the '30s. The F-32 was purchased from Western Air Express and ... under the broad wings. The ship lit up at night, and the gas monkeys could fire up the forward engines, to the delight of customers. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/06/2013 - 1:57pm -

Sept. 29, 1929. Washington, D.C. "Fokker F-32 transport plane at Bolling Field." Note unusual back-to-back engine arrangement (and mechanic stationed aft to keep people from being pureed). National Photo glass negative. View full size. Bolling Field Everything you wanted to know about Bolling Field: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/DC/Airfields_DC.htm Also note the building across the river is very near what is now Nationals Park and part of the Navy Yard . StreamlinedHow about that aerodynamic windshield?! Good thing speed and fuel consumption weren't an issue then. 124MThis aircraft was the first of the type built, constructor number 1201. It was also the first to crash, on 27 Nov 1929, just two months after this photo was taken. It crashed at Roosevelt Field while demonstrating a 3-engine takeoff. The second engine on the same side failed making it uncontrollable. There were only two injuries, no fatalities, but the craft was destroyed in the ensuing fire. This photo was taken only 16 days after the plane's first flight. Not the only design bugApart from the poor cooling on the rear engines, their props would also loose efficiency as they would turn in the wake of the forward prop and of all those struts. They would be quite noisy, too, for the same reason. And propellers turning undernath a wing (rather than in front of one) also tend to decrease overall lift, especially at low speed. Not to mention that they skew the spanwise lift distribution, which would increase drag again. But every design is a compromise. The designers had good reasons for what they did. - They needed four engines for their power and for redundancy. - Installing the 2 by 2 reduced adverse yaw if one engine failed. - The nacelles could be suspended close to the struts. - The engines were better accessible for maintenance. - A high wing gets the fuselage closer to the ground overall - a boon when airport facilities consist only of a stool or pedestal. - And so on. Look how close they get to the turning(!) prop. Eeeek!!! That's asking for trouble (of the spattering sort), even with the watchdog in the white overall. The Boeing 747 of its dayAlthough only ten were built and just two made it into scheduled service, the Fokker F-32 was the era’s largest successful passenger plane, with seats for 32 (including two under the cockpit). For 1930 it was quite advanced with two-way radio and two toilets. The push-me pull-me engine design (as such configurations were called later) was chosen to reduce drag from four engine nacelles to two. The rear engines however, as was mentioned, did not cool adequately and their propellers’ efficiency was affected seriously by the two up front. I said "successful" because in 1929 the Germans rolled out the massive, 12-engined Dornier DO-X, with the same push-me pull-me arrangement. Too many problems, however, kept it from the market. Universal Air LinesStill lives on, in a manner of speaking, as a predecessor of American Airlines. A four engine aircraftbuilt in Teterboro N.J. by Fokker America, not very successful from the engine placement, the rear engine could not be cooled properly, 10 were built, they cost $110,000 in 1929. Standard Fokker ConstructionNeat tandem rudder. You can see the cables for the rear control surfaces piercing the fuselage just behind the 'Universal Air Lines System' logo. The Baltimore Sun, September 22, 1929. Largest U.S. Land Plane Is Tested Thirty-Passenger Fokker One of the Five Ordered For Transcontinental Air Service. The largest commercial airplane ever built in American and the largest land plane in the world was tested publicly last week, with results highly gratifying to its designer, Anthony H.G. Fokker. This huge plane is the first of a group of five ordered by the Universal Aviation Corporation for use in its transcontinental services. It has accommodations for thirty passengers in day flights and for night flying can be converted into an aerial Pullman with berths for sixteen. Adequate facilities for the comfort of passengers in the way of lavatories, serving pantries and the like have been provided. From tip to tip of the wind the span is 99 feet, giving a wing area of 1,350 square feet. Its length is 69 feet 10 inches and its height is 16½ feet. The weight empty is 13,800 pounds; fully loaded, 22,500 pounds. The power plant consists of four air-cooled engines, each developing 525 horse power. The engines are arranged in tandem, fore and aft on each side of the cabin. For day flying the plane carries 400 gallons of fuel and 40 gallons of oil, giving it a range of 480 miles. As a night plane, the fuel capacity is 700 gallons, with the increased range to 850 miles. The crew consists of two pilots, a radio operator, one day steward and two night stewards. … In its general form of construction this plane, called the F-32, follows the standard Fokker methods. It has an all-wood veneer covered wing of the cantilever type, and all other structural parts of steel tubing. Windshields plus French FarmansThe forward-slanted windshield was fashionable for passenger aircraft in this era. The slanted winshield helped solve the problem of lighted control panel instruments reflecting off the normally backward-sloping windshield at night, but it turned out that the forward-sloping windshield would reflect ground lights instead, especially during landings. Eventually the drag factor and the introduction of tinted plexigas in the 1930s put paid to this idea of forward sloping windshields. As for the odd four-engine arrangement, the French were still using it with their massive Farman 220 series of airliners and bombers in the 1930s. One of them, the converted airliner "Jules Verne", was the first Allied bomber to bomb Berlin in 1940! When planes had mudflapsThose were the days! Seriously, though, some people thought it worth walking across a muddy field and through a prop wash (must have been fun in cold weather or rain), then putting up with what must have been an incredible vibration and din and a roller coaster ride for several hours. Big Boy!Here’s a look at how massive the F-32 was. In 1931, an earlier Fokker model, an F-10 Trimotor, crashed near Kansas City, Kansas, killing all eight people on board including Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. One lucky Fokker...was the centerpiece of a Los Angeles filling station through the '30s. The F-32 was purchased from Western Air Express and painted in Mobilgas colors. Fuel islands were put under the broad wings. The ship lit up at night, and the gas monkeys could fire up the forward engines, to the delight of customers. Bob's Air Mail Service Station Tony Fokker's personal F-32, which he'd had kitted out as a plush flying home and office, wasn't so lucky. His business and the country's went to hell at about the same time, and he had to sell the plane. The fuselage ended up in West Virginia as a house trailer, and in the great Ohio Valley floods of 1937, even that was swept away. It's anybody's guess how long Bob's Air Mail plane could have lasted in the elements. The F-32s were all wood except for their chrome-moly fuselage framing. (edit: The plane was scrapped in 1939.) (The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., Natl Photo)
Winter Street: 1940
... the location is now occupied by the Wollaston T station. My how times have changed! Personally, I think the slum shot ... They built Navy ships and in later years liquid natural gas tankers. It was the bread and butter for hard-working men and women. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/05/2023 - 10:44pm -

December 1940. "Winter Street, Quincy, Massachusetts. A Syrian neighborhood near the shipyards. Slum area where many shipyard workers live." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. GrouchomobileThat car just needs a pair of glasses and bushy eyebrows. Maybe a grease moustache. Don't see too many grille covers these days, even in the northeast US. [The car: 1937 Ford. - Dave] Lots still there! Watch mePark right next to the No Parking sign. There is gentrification going on nowIn the array of slums we have seen on Shorpy, this looks relatively livable. The house on the left is still there, recognizable below. If you move down the street, past the greenery on the right, whatever was there has been replaced by some nice, new apartments. If you go the the T-intersection and turn right onto E Howard Street, the old factory building disappears. "Home" is a four-letter word, tooThe phrase "slum" seems to have been used quite loosely here -- as evidenced by the number of buildings that are still extant, 80+ years later -- perhaps an ominous foreshadowing of the coming decades when "blight" became a catchall phrase to get rid of ... well, almost anything that someone in power didn't like. Worth a VisitI used to live in Quincy, and recommend a visit to The Old House at Peace Field, the home of Presidents John and J.Q. Adams and several later generations. Most Presidential homes feel like museums, but it's easy to imagine the Adams family puttering around Peace Field. Quincy also claims to be the site of the first Howard Johnson's restaurant; the location is now occupied by the Wollaston T station. My how times have changed!Personally, I think the slum shot shown above looks better than the slums today. Cold winter nosesThe curbside Ford's owner has provided its nose with a makeshift winter radiator grille cover to aid in faster winter engine warmups and better heat retention when underway. Happy owner now enjoys warm fingers and nose thanks to a comfortably temperate car interior. Concerns though, about the cold-nosed Kitty, clambering onto the the left front tire. Is it contemplating a way to access that enticingly warm, under-hood location provided by the recently parked, still warm '37? Be careful Kitty, countless tails and various other cat appendages have been mutilated or torn off in similar, deceivingly inviting, paw-thawing hideouts! Old housing yes but no slums there.The shipyard in the background is now long gone. The brick building was the headquarters of Bethlehem Ship Yard, owned by Bethlehem Steel. Later it was sold to General Dynamics. 7000, seven thousand men and women worked there in three shifts around the clock. They built Navy ships and in later years liquid natural gas tankers. It was the bread and butter for hard-working men and women. As to Winter Street, it may look old and rickety but it was a clean neighborhood of families and shipyard workers. It still stands today but the Shipyard is now a stinking parking lot for an automobile distributor. A waste of valuable land and deep water docking. Anything hiding under there?Inquisitive cat peeking up under the Ford's left front fender. Slum?What good is making a comment if it just gets tossed. Don't give me the so many comments talk, there were two or more comments submitted beyond mine and they were published. I'll think twice before I support this site. [No need to stop at twice. - Dave] Big things happening beyond the end of Winter StreetWhen this photo was taken, the Fore River Shipyards in Quincy were ramping up their operations in case the United States entered World War II. Construction was underway on the battleship USS Massachusetts (BB-59) and light cruisers USS San Diego (CL-53) and San Juan (CL-54) - all three of which were still afloat and in action at the war's end. Now a museumThe shipyard is gone. Not sure where shipbuilding is still happening, but it's not in Massachusetts. I think the labor costs for one of the most expensive metro areas in the country got to be too much, and the shipyards were deemed "inefficient". That was in the 1980s. The Reagan Administration hit the off switch in 1981. By 1986, General Dynamics shut this spot down. A sliver of silver lining. The yard has been repurposed for some local businesses, including dredging and chemical fertilizer depots. There is also a museum dedicated to the Quincy shipbuilding tradition. And yes, it is used as a car distribution lot for dealers - for American cars. The Google map view shows the vehicle awaiting a home are Chevrolets, Jeeps, and GMC trucks. Much smaller than ships, but still helping the US economy. (The Gallery, Cats, Jack Delano)
Chrysler Building: 1932
... to Manhattan by a tramway (59th Street) and a newer subway station (IND on the 63rd St Line). It can be approached by car or truck from ... find them and see how they compare. Gasometers The gas holders by the bridge caught my eye. I didn't realize how huge they are - a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 2:52pm -

Jan. 19, 1932. "View from Empire State Bldg. to Chrysler Building and Queensboro Bridge, low viewpoint." 5x7 negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. For a moment...I was wondering where the Empire State Building was! Then I read the caption. What an amazing photo this is. Dave, you're outdoing yourself lately. Gottscho's negatives are a true treasure. Is this backwardsHas this photo been mirrored? The empire state building is to the southwest of the Chrysler building, which is southwest of the bridge. [Whoops. It was backwards. Now fixed. Thank you! - Dave] Welfare IslandThe Queensboro Bridge that connects Manhattan to Queens is seen straddling Roosevelt Island, a residential community of some 12,000 people. There are rentals, co-ops, and condos and it is a self contained community with some of the best views of Manhattan. Its predecessor was called Welfare Island and housed the city's tuberculosis hospital, before that it was known as Blackwell's Island, which was a prison complex and insane asylum. Roosevelt Island is connected to Manhattan by a tramway (59th Street) and a newer subway station (IND on the 63rd St Line). It can be approached by car or truck from the Queens side. The founders fought hard to make it part of Manhattan and not Queens, it has a Manhattan Zip Code, 10044, and Area Code, 212. Speaking of directionsIsn't that the Sydney Harbour Bridge out in the distance in the top-left corner? Great work DavePlease keep the NYC views coming, They have been great. This one is my new desktop wallpaper. Thanks for your tireless efforts. [You're (pant, gasp) very welcome! - Dave] Negative CommentIs the negative reversed here? It seems like the East River should be on the right, not the left. [Maybe it's the West River. - Dave] [Thanks for fixing it! Can you switch faucets, too? My hot is cold and my vice is versa.- Delworthio] Same ViewpointI believe I snapped a photo from the same viewpoint at Mr. Gottscho 70 years later on the occasion of my 40th birthday - November 1, 2002. Why, why, whyWhy, why, why is this picture so much more beautiful and magical and fascinating and dreamy than your average cityscape of today on film? Is it gothic/nouveau/art deco subject matter + the technique + the hardware? I don't know, but I sure love it. Equal TimeWashingtonians have had their day for quite some time now and New York is having its day in the sun, thanks to Dave. Can San Francisco be far behind? What happen?When I look at the magnificent architecture of these old pre-1950 buildings and compare them to the unimaginative glass boxes of today- I wonder- what happen? My first visit to NYCMany years ago my father took me to NYC for the boat show and we walked for miles seeing the sights. He took us to Macy's, St. Patrick's, Radio City and the top of the Empire State Building. Somewhere I have snapshots from the observation deck, all four directions at that. I'll have to find them and see how they compare. GasometersThe gas holders by the bridge caught my eye. I didn't realize how huge they are - a lot of the nearby buildings could fit inside one. Similar tanks were pictured in this previous post. It was positiveThe canyons of mid-Manhattan were places of positive joy for a early 20-something guy attending television and radio production school at RCA Institutes in 1963. At the time I held a grand position as mail boy in the then-General Electric Building at 570 Lexington Ave. (to the left behind the Waldorf Towers in the photo), and my dad had an office in the Empire State Building at the time. Apropos of nothing, I once saw Van Johnson striding down Broadway in a trench coat walking a brace of Afghan hounds. Ah, those truly were the days, my friend! Re: Speaking of directions>> Isn't that the Sydney Harbour Bridge out in the distance in the top-left corner? Kind of, it's the Hell Gate Bridge, which turned out to be an inspiration for the SHB. Also seen here on Shorpy. Another stunner!Another stunning view. And just when I'd thought I had found my favorite Shorpy picture....These cityscapes always blow me away. KEEP "EM COMING! Amazing!This is my new wallpaper, replacing the Detroit Aquarium. The 59th St. Bridge has never looked so good. Frustratingly, my neighborhood in Queens is just to the right of the frame. I got a kick out of seeing both the 3rd and the 2nd El's in the lower right corner. These have both been torn down now. You can read about them here. Re: White CastleNew York Hospital. Now Weill Cornell Medical Center. EvocativeWhen I look at this photo (and the other Gottschos), it summons up a lifetime's worth of emotion in viewing the astonishing landscape of the Capital of the World and I am yearning again for a city that has no equal anywhere. And to echo the tenor of several of the commentators, this period in time was perhaps the New York era ne plus ultra. Thanks again, Dave. What's that cool building?What's the building about a block to the left of the Chrysler building, with gothic arches near the top and what appears to be a penthouse with skylight? Is it still standing? The current viewYou can almost duplicate this view using Google Earth's 3D buildings feature. The building in the lower left is the Mercantile building, finished in 1929. The building with the gothic arches is the Lincoln Building and still stands. Cool Lincoln BuildingThe "cool" building with the Gothic Arches is the Lincoln Building at 60 East 42nd Street. I used to work in it. And yes it is still there! Seen clearly in this viewSeen clearly in this view are the towers at 295 Madison Avenue (SE corner of 41st Street) and 230 Park Avenue (now the Helmsley Building, between 45th and 46th Streets), the latter of which is surrounded by the east and west ramps of Park Avenue, as are the Met Life (once the Pan Am) building and the Grand Central Terminal complex. I worked at 295 Madison in 1959-60, and later at 230 Park in 1977-1981. It's great to see these classical skyscraper buildings again, and to hope they are never demolished for one of those glass monstrosities so prevalent today in this part of Manhattan. Perfect TimingBy coincidence, the Knowledge Channel here in Canada has recently been re-running Ric Burns's excellent documentary "New York." Watching the series again and seeing these great images on Shorpy is perfect timing. I can almost hear the splendid narrative of the documentary in my head as I gaze upon these wonderful photographs. More please! White CastleCan anyone identify the big gleaming complex on the river, north of the bridge? I'm guessing its around the E 70s. I can't spy anything like that in Google Maps or Earth and it seems like a mighty big object to disappear. Maybe it was in Robert Moses' way when building FDR Drive? [It's still there. New York Hospital. - Dave] The City is beautiful, but..I've been waiting to make a comment on the recent string of NYC photos. I grew up on Long Island and could see lower Manhattan from my school's playground. I always wanted to know what the skyline looked like before my time. That said, the hardest thing for me to realize is that although this view is absolutely stunning, it was taken at the height of the Great Depression. I cannot reconcile the stories of suffering and privation that led to my grandfather running away from his home not too far uptown from here and only four years after this picture was taken (at age 14) with the gleaming monuments to mankind that compose this photograph. SurroundedAhh, I see it, thnx. Wow, the neighborhood really grew, it doesn't stand out as much. The cool building is... The Chanin Building. You can see it in the 2002 photo I posted below. [Actually the "cool building" referred to below is the Lincoln Building. - Dave] Old pics vs new pics>> Why is this picture so much more beautiful and magical and fascinating and dreamy than your average cityscape of today on film? Is it gothic/nouveau/art deco subject matter + the technique + the hardware? A good question, not easy to answer-- but some people still take above-average cityscapes, e.g. http://www.pbase.com/rfcd100/image/83470981/original Gigapans from this viewpoint...Hi - I just completed a series of view from the Empire State Building. Can't really embed any of the photos, as they are several hundred megabytes each (10MB images stitched together), but here is a link with a view of the Chrysler Building. If you want more, simply search the gigapan.org website for my pictures (search for "JohnF" there), there are a number of them from New York and elsewhere... http://gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=30511 John Legos or a Video GameI love this photograph. At first glance it looks surreal, like it is a Lego block building set or a video game where you build a city empire. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
Green Gasoline: 1980
1980. "Shamrock gas pump, old Route 85, Aguilar, Colorado." Color transparency by John ... day Man Cave. Sylvanus Bowser invented the first gas pump in 1885, before cars ever existed. Since people relied on gas to power ... the obvious, but this is a derelict pump at a ghost gas station. - Dave] High gas tax Whenever the last transaction on this ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/17/2023 - 8:41pm -

1980. "Shamrock gas pump, old Route 85, Aguilar, Colorado." Color transparency by John Margolies (1940-2016) / John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive. View full size. Creme tangerineI saw the title and immediately heard it in my head replacing the first two words of the Beatles song "Savoy Truffle"! BowserBowser model 575, circa 1941-48. This one seems to be in above average condition for its years. It would have been an excellent candidate for a cosmetic restoration, transforming it into a colorfully imposing embellishment for a modern day Man Cave. Sylvanus Bowser invented the first gas pump in 1885, before cars ever existed. Since people relied on gas to power their homes, they used Bowser's invention, which held refined kerosene, for their stoves and lamps. https://www.indianalandmarks.org/2017/05/bowser-building/ If I'm reading it correctlyThe last customer received 7(?) gals of gas for $2.25, making the gas 32 cents a gallon. This would be far too low for 1980 (which was approaching/exceeding a dollar a gallon, if I recall correctly). [Not to belabor the obvious, but this is a derelict pump at a ghost gas station. - Dave] High gas taxWhenever the last transaction on this pump occurred, it is noteworthy that the sticker below the dials says that there are 11 cents per gallon of taxes. Given that the total price is 31.9 cents per gallon, that's pretty hefty. Compare today's 18.4-cent federal and 22-cent Colorado tax per gallon -- out of a price ten times as high. [The price per gallon on this pump is ?1½ cents. - Dave] Yes, I see that now. I guess I just assumed that it was .9 because that's the way gas stations have always priced for as long as I can remember, and still do, even as the tenth of a cent fades into total insignificance. If, as calculated by alg0912, the first digit is a 3, that would correspond to a sale in the 1960s some time. The station's closure might have something to do with the merger of Shamrock Oil with Diamond Alkali in 1967 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Shamrock). Two digitsTwo digits plus a decimal for the price per gallon. Those were the days! (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Gas Stations)
Lord Baltimore No. 6
... Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Lord Baltimore Filling Station No. 6, Connecticut Avenue and Ordway Street N.W." View full size. National Photo glass negative. Stations of the Gas I'm guessing that the other Washington gas station buildings followed ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/07/2012 - 10:02pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Lord Baltimore Filling Station No. 6, Connecticut Avenue and Ordway Street N.W." View full size. National Photo glass negative. Stations of the GasI'm guessing that the other Washington gas station buildings followed the same architectural theme of a train station. It would seem a very effective way for customers to identify their "brand" of filling stations. This building is rather elegant looking with its clock cupola, tile roof, and columns. I can't make out the writing on the ceiling lights around the perimeter. [The Lord Baltimore stations, along with other Washington gas stations, were designed by Arthur B. Heaton. - Dave] Lord Baltimore CapitalLord Baltimore Capital Corporation is the present-day successor to this chain of filling stations. Both the American Oil Company and Lord Baltimore Filling Stations Inc. were founded by the Blaustein family. The trolley power pole in the middle of the road was an automotive collision magnet, I bet. Could we please have a close-up of the alcohol sign by the front door? I'm guessing the "Free Crank Case Service" was a drain and refill of engine oil offered with purchase of the oil itself. AlcoholThanks for the close-up. Again, I am guessing, but wasn't alcohol used as antifreeze back then? I have read that ethylene glycol-based antifreeze didn't see wide automotive use until the late 1930s, primarily due to cost. Keep the filling station and garage pictures coming, plus count me in as a tterrace fan! Trolley linesThere are two power lines for trolley cars and yet there are only two rails, one on each side of the pole. Is it possible that the trolleys had rubber tires on the other ends of their axles and used the rails only as a guide? Could have been done by using steel wheels with two flanges to straddle the rail. Hummm, maube the trolleys had a slot down through their middles so they could let the power pole pass right through the car!!! [There are four rails. - Dave] Robert BeresfordArchitect Robert Beresford designed this fine station in 1923 for the Connecticut Avenue Accessories Company. It was built at the southeast corner of Connecticut and Ordway over the winter of 1923/24. In spring of 1924, Beresford presented his design for a modern filling station at the annual exhibition of the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. As in the other Robert Beresford creation seen on Shorpy, "modern" features included wide driveways, numerous pumps, protective canopies, and even a women's restroom. The president of the company, Alan E. Walker, was a local real estate mogul. He died in May of 1925 and it appears that soon after the the ownership of the station had transfered to the Lord Baltimore Filling Stations, Inc. Washington Post, Dec 9, 1923 The new filling station and accessory store of the Connecticut Avenue Accessories Company, at the southeast corner of Connecticut Avenue and Ordway streets, well be the finest and most complete establishment of its kind in the country, according to the officers of the company. The station will have five concrete driveways, each 18 feet wide, eliminating congestion and facilitating entrance and exit. Eight visible measure gasoline pumps and eight double visible measure pumps will be installed. Wide attractive canopies will cover all driveways. Oil pumps will be located in heated vestibules, keeping the oil during the cold weather at a temperature where it will flow freely. Adjoining the large accessory store there will be a handsomely appointed women's rest room. At the rear of the station a large area will be devoted to specially constructed oil draining pits, and five air lines, each with automatic gauge. ... The building will be heated with oil. A complete oil-heating apparatus with a 1,000 gallon storage tank will be installed. Construction is now progressing rapidly, and it is expected that the station will be opened in the later part of the winter. The Connecticut Avenue Accessories Company is composed of Allan E. Walker, president: Henry T. Offterdinger, vice president and treasurer and E. Edgar Leedy, Secretary. Theodore Offterdinger will be manager. Washington Post, Mar 17, 1924 The 1924 exhibition of the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects will come to a close tonight after the most succesful exhibition in its history. ... Robert Beresford presents a design for a gasoline filling station now under construction on Connecticut avenue and Ordway street. It is a pleasure to see that we are at last to have a well-designed building which is to be used for this purpose Other sources: Washington Post, Nov 18, 1923; Jul 13, 1924; May 16, 1925; Mar 6, 1925 Denatured alcohol Denatured alcohol sold at a gas station by the gallon was most likely for use in stoves. Denatured alcohol stoves are still sold for camping and marine use. ArchitectureThe primary motif seems to be Colonial Revival, with the columns, pilasters, cupola, trellis fence, etc., fitting the name quite well. The tile roof seems a bit more Mediterranean, though. Still, an attractive building. AlcoholEighty cents a gallon seems like a lot for alcohol, when the gas was around 20 cents. Many cookstoves used gasoline and kerosene. And calling out the 188 proof on the sign would indicate to me that this is antifreeze quality. Alcohol for antifreeze was still popular here in the Northeast to the mid 50's. Required was a change to a 160 degree thermostat for the winter to slow the boil-off of alcohol. But still you needed to carry a gallon with you to top off the radiator, every day. Ethylene glycol was very expensive even in the 1950's. So many motorists used the cheaper alcohol. And the story of the discovery of ethelyne glycol was that it was a byproduct of another chemical manufacturing operation and was just piped out of the building and let on the ground. When the chemists saw that it mixed with rain and snow and didn't freeze the light bulb of enterprise came on and the search for a use for this resulted in an antifreeze product. [Or maybe not. Ethylene glycol was first prepared over 150 years ago by the French chemist Charles-Adolphe Wurtz. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)
Moving to Florida: 1956
... 55 Years Later The drycleaner is still there as are a gas station and the homes like the one with the round window (you have to move the ... 
 
Posted by JohnZ14 - 01/20/2011 - 1:21pm -

Taken at the end of December in Arlington, Virginia, as we hauled our belongings behind our 1950 Dodge, heading to our new home in West Palm Beach. Image is from a Kodachrome slide, taken by my grandfather. View full size. For better or worseThe house with the round window is actually the back of a church. Based on its appearance on streetview, it looks freshly-painted and well-maintained. The dry cleaner building has lost all of its charm, though. National Trailer Rentalis now National Trailer Leasing. You can see its trailers behind tractor trucks all over the county! We rented a trailer from them to move the other way, from Southern California to the Northwest back in 1963. I was in the third grade. Re: KodachromeI thought I'd mess around a bit in Photoshop to take a crack at approximating Kodachrome for EQJohnson in the shot. Don't think I made it. 55 Years LaterThe drycleaner is still there as are a gas station and the homes like the one with the round window (you have to move the view a bit to find that one). View Larger Map Re: re: Re: KodachromeOnce again tterrace proves that he's the Master of Imagery. Delivery TruckTo the right of the Cleaners is a two-toned brown and beige delivery truck. My dad's company had a whole fleet of those in two shades of blue with their logo on both sides -- Dolly Madison Cakes. The trucks took fresh commercial bakery products to grocery stores all over their areas, working out of a network of "thrift stores" in cities and towns of all sizes. The thrift stores were small company-owned stores that sold day-old and surplus baked goods; pretty much the "outlet" stores of their day. But the core of their operation was the retail distribution. And the design of those delivery trucks, like the one seen here, were brought back in the last decade in cars like the Chrysler PT Cruiser and Chevy HHR small truck. None of which has anything to do with this photo. Except that seeing that delivery truck made me think of it. Thanks for all the great memory-joggers Shorpy provides! re: Re: KodachromeHere's my stab at Kodachrome-izing timeandagainphoto's +55 shot. Careful thereWas wondering if you had extended mirrors for towing a trailer, but your Dodge doesn't have even a regular side mirror! (Although, as we can see from the other cars, side-view mirrors were hardly standard equipment back then, along with arm rests, dome lights and other things we take for granted today.) Main Street 1956I'm glad Dave moved this to the main gallery. It shows what a typical commercial district looked like at the time, before the storefronts got blandly "modernized." Also, look what this kind of climate does to cars: the 1952 Chevy on the left is only 4 years old, but it already looks like a wreck. The Ford at the right is in sad shape, too. Korean Chrome Material shortages brought on by the Korean War adversely affected the quality of the chrome on automobile trim in 1951-52-53. I believe that the underlying copper plating was what was lacking. Lee HighwayLower Cherrydale or Upper Roslyn. That section of Lee Hwy had the hills and houses uphill on the South side of the road. Between I-66 and new construction they are all gone now. Norman Rockwell eat your heart outDoesn't look at all like a photograph. This looks like a painting, particularly the way the gas station ends up on top of the frame and the road perspective leads into the center. Two tone Olds in dangerLooks to me like that two tone Oldsmobile directly ahead is in mortal danger. I recall that the brakes of the time were not altogether that impressive, and there is a bit of ice here and there. How times have changedWhat I find most striking about this photo is that a family of 3 (4?) could move themselves, with only a large trailer in tow. Today it takes at least a large rental truck, if not a full-sized moving van (or two). We seem to have entirely too much stuff these days (cue George Carlin). Go South, Young ManYour photograph says to me: Snow all around, you are South-bound: good choice! The rest of the storyFrom what I can remember, car paint did not hold its shine very long in those days and rust was a big problem. Our 1950 Dodge (only 6 years old) seemed very old to me as a child. You're right that side mirrors were not standard in those days. It truly is amazing that no extended mirrors were required for towing that trailer - or, if they were, we never were stopped for breaking the law. Many things that are standard today, were once options - even turn signals. We were a family of FIVE and my mother was pregnant (but we kids did not know that). A few months earlier my mother had hauled another trailer of family belongings to our new home. She used our 1956 Plymouth for that trip and took my 5-year-old sister with her. My father stayed home to work and to watch my other sister and me. Remarkably sameThese buildings on Lee Highway look very familiar. Old Dominion Cleaners is still around. Outta Dodge, er, Arlington.I love this color photo, as a product of the 70's myself I was always sure before me everything was black and white. I really want to take all these cars and put a buffer to them. I notice the paint is a bit duller, wonder if the old paint had clear coats back then. Anyone know where this is in town for a contemporary picture? They don't make them like they used to.I doubt any modern family sedan could pull that load that far. Great PhotoMal Fuller is exactly correct about the war-related problems with auto chrome! Also, base coat, clear coat paint started around the mid 1980s I believe, so Simoniz ruled the day! (note: the blurry black car above the green Olds is a 55 Pontiac Chieftain). Thought it was New EnglandTake away the cars, and you really couldn't tell if it was 1956 if you lived here in New England. Texaco uses the exact same logo as does Firestone. The storefronts and the houses in the back would all be right at home here in 2010 New England. Fluid-DriveThis just proves that if you don't know something's impossible it can be done in spite of it. That '50 Dodge with its 103 HP 230 cubic inch (3.7 litre) flathead six had all it could do to move itself empty, let alone with a thousand or more pounds added! Its Fluid-Drive transmission was one of the most inefficient drivetrains extant, with lots of slippage in all ranges. Maintaining even 50 MPH with that load would have required the pedal to the floorboard constantly with no reserve at all! Postwar chrome and brakesThe problem with immediate postwar chrome was a lack of nickel for the base coat, which was all being put into jet engines. Fortunately by the time they got around to making my 1951 MG saloon they seem to have sorted it and the chrome is still in excellent condition. Some late-40s MGs had black painted headlights because of the impossibility of chrome plating them. When I see cars of this period pulling heavy trailers and caravans, I wince. The brakes on my car are (still) awful and I can't believe that they were considered an improvement on pre-war brakes. On the other hand it was probably still possible to drive long distances at a steady 50 mph without gathering a queue of irate traffic behind. Second the New England commentOther than the wealth of classic Detroit iron, and the Texaco "banjo" sign (the last of which were phased out by the early '80s, as I recall), this could easily be Danbury, Connecticut, in the '90s, when I lived there. As for braking power: I wasn't around in '56, but is it possible the trailer had an inertia brake? Moving to FloridaI was thinking we had my brother's parakeet traveling with us, on this move to Florida. I'll have to check on this. Car Paint and RustA picture right out of my childhood, and it seemed to me autos did age a lot more quickly then. When I reached the age of cognition, my family's 1954 Ford sedan also appeared aged compared to other cars on the road (maybe because automobile styles were rapidly changing in the late 1950s, and definitely because of the quality of auto finishes then, which oxidized quickly and lost their luster without constant waxing and polishing). JohnZ14's mother certainly was a woman of great fortitude to make the trek to Florida on her own with a 5 year old in tow in the days before interstates, fast food restaurants, and rest areas! Not Only Lack of MirrorThe trailer only has one brake light on the driver's side. I thought I recognized thisI used to live in this neighborhood from 1994 to 2003. Neat to see how it looked 40 years prior to my being there. Nothing like Kodachrome film too. They're RegisteredThe most evocative thing is this picture for me is the "Registered Rest Room" sign at the Texaco station. You could stop with confidence if you saw that. Mom taking a trailerProps to your mother pulling a trailer with only your little sister with her. My grandmother would have, but my mom nor my wife would ever attempt such a feat. Downtown CherrydaleThe round-windowed "house" is indeed an old church - St. Agnes, which has moved up a block. The intersection is essentially the same today, most of the old buildings have been remodeled but are still there. When it snows you can squint and pretty easily pretend it's the 1950s. Lee HighwayMuch of Lee Highway still looks as if it's in mid-century time warp. The same can be said for Route 1. It always seems interesting to me that a place of such wealth can have shabby looking main thoroughfares. KodachromeComparing timeandagainphoto's very helpful shot with the original makes me yearn once again for that wonderful emulsion! This is CherrydaleRosslyn is several miles east, across the Potomac from Georgetown. I-66 is a couple of miles from here, and construction did not impact Cherrydale directly. I lived near this intersection of Quincy and Lee Highway/Old Dominion Drive for over 20 years, and it looks strangely much as it did in 1956, as one can see from Google street view. TrailerNotice the California plate on the trailer. It's been around the block a few times. The Grapes of Wrathin living color! +55I figured I'd swing by today and take a shot from the same perspective (below). It's looking southwest from in front of 2121 N. Quebec Street. JohnZ14 - while I was there, I thought your car may have been parked in next to or across the street from your house or that of your grandfather, so I took shots of those in case you were interested to see what they looked like today (they appear to be old enough to have been around then). The brown house is 2120 (just out of the frame behind and to the right of the trailer) and the grey house is 2121 (directly behind the photographer). (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses)
What Goes Around: 1912
... people correctly identified this as the beginnings of a gas holder, or gasometer -- a storage reservoir for what used to be called ... storage. Obviously It's the beginnings of the space station in "2001." Just a wild (pitch) guess Could it be the foundation ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 10:50pm -

The year is 1912 and the place is Detroit. What's going on here? View full size. UPDATE: Many people correctly identified this as the beginnings of a gas holder, or gasometer -- a storage reservoir for what used to be called "city gas," or coal gas (as opposed to the natural and LP gas that we use now). The original caption: "April 4, 1912. Foundation for gas holder, Detroit City Gas Company." Happy ThanksgivingTo Dave and all of the Shorpy friends - Happy Thanksgiving (would they be Shorpyians or Shorpyites?) Mongo Not KnowMongo only pawn in game of life. Gas Storage Tank?Are they building a storage tank for natural or manufactured gas? Gasholder?I think they're constructing a gasholder. What's going on here?Well, first I thought it might be a kiddie ride, but upon further inspection it seems to be some kind of construction site. But for what? a. A storage tank b. A church / synagogue / temple c. A railroad turntable (though no rail lines can be seen) d. A platform stage for Lady Gaga or Madonna? Got Gas?Is it the first step in constructing one of those gas storage tanks that has a diaphragm-like device that raises up and down with the volume of gas in the tank? Round and roundMight this be some sort of tank for holding something. From Mongo?Other than building a landing pad for Flash Gordon's pals, I'd guess it's going to be a big storage tank for something earthly. The constructionof the base of a gas storage tank, probably at Detroit. I dunno, unlessit's some kind of early 20th-Century supercollider. Goes AroundThis looks like a concrete foundation for some sort of round tower, but what do I know, I am just a machinist. My guessLaying foundation for one of those gigantic gas storage tanks you used to see all over up until the 1960s or so. Air Ship Landing.Looks like an Air Ship landing facility to me. Gas Tank?Building a gas tank? My guessBuilding a wastewater treatment facility Building a water or other liquid storage tank?They're building the roof (as it were) and then the sides get built from underneath. On the other hand, that's a heck of a tank. RRMust be a roundhouse turntable I know!Early twentieth century crop circles. My answer isThey are building a natural gas storage tank. Is it...Is that one of the old gasworks under construction? Beginning Foundation for a Building, Water Tower or Gas Tower?One of those 3 things are all I can guess about what is going on here! It's a gas holderLike this: https://www.shorpy.com/node/8422?size=_original SewageSewage disposal plant? Gas tank?It looks like one of those big circular gas storage tanks. It's a crop circle machineIt's a crop circle machine so the aliens know where to land Just a guess, butI think they're building some sort of gas or oil holding tank. ConstructionBuilding a water treatment plant. The Detroit GasometerThis looks like the foundation for a new gasometer, maybe this one. Atom smasherParticle accelerator? A very small one. {OK, probably not.} Maybe the base of a large water tank? It seems to small for an arena or a test track, even at 1912 speeds. Gas holder?My guess - building the bottom of a gas holder for city gas storage. ObviouslyIt's the beginnings of the space station in "2001." Just a wild (pitch) guessCould it be the foundation for Tiger Stadium? There Goes the NeighborhoodWhatever they're building (tank, smoke-stack, merry-go-round?), it's going to destroy whatever property value remains for the the hovel next door. AND THE ANSWER IS ...As many of you correctly guessed, it's a gas holder. See the caption under the picture for the details. Ice skating rink??Happy Thanksgiving all! Gas CityIn Indiana, next to Marion, is the small town of Gas City, so named because natural gas was found there. It was thought to be a bonanza, but that proved wrong, the gas was quickly emptied, the name was never changed. Hurry up, guysWe've got to get the world's largest merry-go-round finished by Thursday! Riveting machinesNote the two large U-shaped riveting machines at left. There has to be a powerful air compressor somewhere around. The plates will be riveted and then the seams will more than likely be caulked to prevent leaks. What's the man doing at the top of the screen?He is standing at the base of something long, with his wife looking on. It took me a minute, but it's a mast! The boat is off to the left. You can see the front (bow), poking out from behind the building. Also, I am guessing the house next to the construction site is now owned by the construction company. The fence has been taken down for easier access. GasometerphileWow. I lived on this site nearly 30 years ago (West Grand Blvd and West Fort Street). Of course by then there were no traces of the gas plant being there at all. Sad because I have a serious fanthing for gasometers. Most of the houses across the road there are gone now. Neat to see that horse drawn wagon in front of one. Love this blog! I'd rather have a coke We still have a coal gassification plant here in Schenectady, NY, although it's been converted to storage for many decades now. The leftover coke was sold as a heating fuel, but the smell around the plant was pretty foul. NYMO was able to supply cooking and lighting gas to the thousands of G.E. employees in the surrounding area up until it switched to natural gas. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
Dwight Depot: 1900
Circa 1900. "Chicago & Alton station at at Dwight, Illinois." Home to a very healthy looking telegraph pole. ... by Frank Lloyd Wright, the 1933 Ambler's Route 66 Texaco Gas Station, and the 1857 "Carpenter Gothic" Dwight Pioneer Gothic Church. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 4:22pm -

Circa 1900. "Chicago & Alton station at at Dwight, Illinois." Home to a very healthy looking telegraph pole. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. Now a historic Amtrak site.From Red Carpet Corridor: Built in 1891, the depot was designed in the Richardson Romanesque style, measuring 75' x 25' surrounded by an 18' concrete platform. The foundation is Joliet stone and the building is made of Bedford bluestone from Indiana. Gables extend from each side with four double hung windows on the ground floor. The second story features two coupled windows with a fanlight over each. The facing stone above the fanlight has DWIGHT carved it in. Each gable has a quatrefoil ornament on top. In 1983, the Dwight Historical Society bought the depot from the town. Restoration began in 1984 to transform the building into our Village Hall. When the village built a new Village Complex in 1998, the Dwight Historical Society moved the Museum into the north end of the building. The south end is a meeting room for the Historical Society and also houses the office of the Dwight Chamber of Commerce. Architectureville, ILDwight is also home to a 1905 bank designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the 1933 Ambler's Route 66 Texaco Gas Station, and the 1857 "Carpenter Gothic" Dwight Pioneer Gothic Church. The polesI just looked the telephone poles. They are made of old "curvy" wood which maybe has grown somewhere in north. In addition I wonder how carefully the timber parts are finnished: A small "roof" up on each! Merry-go-round for the birds?Odd looking weather vane! Healthy is right! Thanks for all the recent pics with insulators. I was getting kind of jittery without them! You have a following of insulator collectors waiting in the shadows for me to be the watchdog and tip them off when you post shots of old glass and porcelain insulators in use. Climbing the poleI just realized (in the full size view) that poles don't have those metal "rungs" any more for climbing the pole. I guess all service work is now done from a cherry picker. The Far SideIn 1900, Dwight was a junction. The C&A had a branch line extending to Lacon and Washington, Illinois. That must be the track in the foreground, which apparently is now gone. The main line, where most of the traffic and business would have been transacted, and which is still there, is on the far side of the building. Next Stop: the White CityTo those of you familiar with Dr. H.H. Holmes or Erik Larson's bestseller "The Devil in the White City," Dwight was home to the famous Dr. Keeley's "gold cure" for alcoholism. It was this program that brought not only throngs of the rich-and-famous, but Holmes's assistant, Benjamin Pitezel to Dwight. While there Pitezel met Emeline Cigrand, a beautiful typist at the institute. Unable to resist, Holmes would offer Emeline twice her salary to come to Chicago to work for him. One can almost picture the naive Emeline waiting for her train, less than a decade before this picture was taken. Like so many girls of the gilded age, she fell victim to the lure of the big city. Unfortunately for Emeline, that would not be all to which she risked falling victim... Another ViewThis shows a birdseye of the front, sans poles. Crazy weathervaneAnyone have any idea what the contraption is below the wind vane above the right side extension of the building? Is it on the depot or the structure behind it? Looks like there could be a glimpse of a grain elevator directly below it, under the roof line. [It's electric lights atop this water tower. - Dave] Victorian internet The telegraph cables slipped through the window connected Dwight to the world wide web of the Victorian era. Little tiny depotNow there is a building just destined to be constructed as part of someone's model railroad layout! Here it is todayFrom a different angle. SubtleHow the roof pitch changes from the shallow pitch over the open areas to the steeper pitch over the building proper. Very nicely done. Glad it's still around to enjoy. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
A Lot of Cars: 1950s
... late '54 or early '55. I see a '55 Buick at the service station and a lot of '53 and '54 models. Wasn't it just great when you could ... history The site of that pretty Spanish-style 1930s gas station is now the boxy, 1970s-era Community Center Theater. It's ... 
 
Posted by motobean - 01/15/2014 - 3:57pm -

This photo is from my father's trip to Northern California in approximately 1950. I am hoping that someone who knows cars can come up a more precise date for the picture by noting the date of manufacture of the newest car shown here. I am almost sure that this parking lot was in downtown Sacramento, but it could have been in San Francisco. View full size. A good year.After "scanning" this scene, I would guess late '54 or early '55. I see a '55 Buick at the service station and a lot of '53 and '54 models. Wasn't it just great when you could spot the make and model of a car from this distance? Whoops, I'm showing my age. Odd LotSo if you choose a row that's full, you have to leave the lot, drive around the block and try a different row? Possibly 1955Possibly 1955, based on a couple of light blue Ford station wagons in the last row on the right. Lots of early '50s cars. There's a 76 station (O'Neill Bros.), and a Chevy dealer. I think it won't be long before this picture shows up on the Hemmings Daily blog. http://blog.hemmings.com/ Frisco or SactoI'm going with Sacramento; streets lined with tall trees are more like the state capital. Yellow Cadillac convertibleIn the leftmost row, a 1954 I believe. Note: No Beetles The absence of VW Beetles in a California parking lot suggests 1955/6 at the latest. I bought a 1954 in 1957 and they were all over the place by then. 13th & LThe O'Neil Bros. service station was at 13th and L streets in Sacramento. Also I see a green 1955 Ford. Another vote for 1955There is a coral-over white 1955 Pontiac in the third row from the left, under what looks to be a guard shack on top of a pole! [Yes, although I believe that's Corsair Tan over Mist White. -tterrace] "The coldest winter I ever spent"was not in a city with palm trees. [Well, even though Mark Twain never said “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," here's a photo I took last winter in San Francisco. -tterrace] I stand (actually sit) corrected. Sacramento historyThe site of that pretty Spanish-style 1930s gas station is now the boxy, 1970s-era Community Center Theater. It's nice-looking inside, although the acoustics are bad. I love old photos of my town. Got any more, motobean? Capitol ChevroletCapitol Chevrolet was at K and 13th. As mentioned earlier, the address of the O'Neil Bros. Auto Supply and Super Service Station was on L at 13th. Built in 1921, it was the first of at least six O'Neil Bros. stations. '55 Buick?Parked just to the right of O'Ne(il?) Bros. service station at top center. Tough to tell if it's a '55 or a '56. Sacramento The large light-colored building in the left background, Capitol Chevrolet, can be seen in the companion photo posted by motobean a page or so prior to this. In that picture, "Checkmate: 1950" the Capitol Chevrolet building can be seen in the extreme right background. A comparison may assist motobean in pinpointing where his father took the earlier photo in Capitol Park, just out of view to the right of the above photo. License PlatesWide black license plates with yellow (or gold, as some say) characters indicate 1955 or earlier. In 1956 CA went to the narrower six-character plates in yellow (gold) with black characters. One Way StreetsAlso, Sacramento went to one way streets downtown sometime around 1950 and you can see that L is one way in this photo. The Community Center Theater occupies the gas station site today and the Chevrolet dealership gave way to the new convention center complex. Edit: L looks one way here but then the parked cars on the far/south side seem to be facing east. Maybe L wasn't one way yet. My mom and dad were married in Sacramento in 1955 while attending the University of Nevada Reno and dad drove a 1952 MG TD. They came down to Sac, where mom's parents lived, a couple times a month on Highway 40 in the MG and said that at times that trip could be pretty treacherous. Dad graduated and worked for the Sacramento Union newspaper in the late '50s, lived on Watt Ave out near McClellan AFB, then the family moved to the bay area when he was hired by the Oakland Tribune in 1960. Just peek inside. Corvette!Dad bought our brand new Chevy Bel Aire four door in March of 1955 in that building. V8 with a Power Pack, 182 horsepower! PowerGlide too. Traded in a 1953 Dodge station wagon. When we first saw our new one, we walked inside past those two side doors and they had a Corvette parked inside between the big doors. Instant love for a 14 year old. I remember the salesman told my dad, "Capt., we can hardly get rid of them" as I stood there and drooled. Thank you for the photo and allowing to post my memory. I will always remember that new car inside that first big door on the left. We were stationed at Mather Air Force Base and lived at 7216 Eagle in Fair Oaks, a suburb of Sacramento. House is still there but I bet they sold the Vette.... I agree, early 1955. The dead giveaway to 1955 The blue '55 Olds sedan in the top of the photo accompanying Dave's "13th & L" comment. I don't see anything newer. [That could also be a 1954 Oldsmobile, so it's the Ford that's definitive. - Dave] Dave, I don't see the '55 ford...I think I DO see a couple of pale blue '55 Dodge sedans (kinda like this one) in your blowup with the blue Olds at the top... Parking Lot ID'dI grew up in Sacramento in this period. Having worked for Weinstock's department store (fresh out of high school in 1973) I can attest this is the Weinstock's patron parking lot directly across from the store on 12th Street. That same lot was one of my work assignments as a gate-keeper/payment-taker for a full year. That's L Street at far right and Capitol Park further in, behind the long row of palms. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
American Gas: 1935
June 1935. "Filling station. Reedsville, Preston County, West Virginia." Last seen here . 8x10 ... a little too far gone for that. Oh those signs and gas globes. There is just a large fortune there today. I sure hope they were ... to be similar, so it seems you've gotta go to the Citgo to gas up now. Railway Express Agency ... In full color (The Gallery, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/18/2023 - 10:42pm -

June 1935. "Filling station. Reedsville, Preston County, West Virginia." Last seen here. 8x10 nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size. Three Faces of EthylA fine trio of so-called "clockface" pumps, an interim step between the earlier, archaic "visible" dispensers, and the modern "computer" models that display both quantity and price. The mechanical equivalent of the traditional fish-to-caveman-to-3 piece suit progression. Check that erl fur ya?Oil rag, usually carried in a back pocket, but this one’s a little too far gone for that. Oh those signs and gas globes.There is just a large fortune there today. I sure hope they were salvaged and saved. Beautiful picture of Americana. Two Signs!They want you to know they take cash only. (Must have had a problem with credit cards in the past.) [You missed a sign! - Dave] In a huffThe fellow in the middle is a bit peckish with his benchmates today. He wore his brand new, mail-order toupee for the first time and nobody mentioned it. Before ol' Mr. Gibson bought itHere's another view of Gibson Motor Co., along with a pic of the same building in a previous life, as Central Garage. After a virtual tour of Reedsville I can't seem to locate any structures that appear to be similar, so it seems you've gotta go to the Citgo to gas up now. Railway Express Agency... In full color (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Small Towns, Walker Evans)
Last Chance Texaco (Colorized): 1937
... colour! This looks like a 1950 photo of an abandoned gas station leftover from the 1930s! Great colorization. Like it very nice ... 
 
Posted by photojacker - 01/04/2013 - 7:41pm -

Colorized from a Shorpy original. View full size. Great colour!This looks like a 1950 photo of an abandoned gas station leftover from the 1930s! Great colorization. Like itvery nice job right down to the green T on the sign. Super Job!That may be the most successful colorizing job I've ever seen. It looks like a photo from a color negative. --Jim Thank you!Thanks all, I was really inspired by the subject and composition and couldn't resist. Much more to come, I can't help myself with the amazing images on here. Nailed it!Very inspiring. nice job (Colorized Photos)
Barbeque Gas Beer: 1940
... Louisiana. "A crossroads store, bar, 'juke joint' and gas station in the cotton plantation area." 35mm color transparency by Marion Post ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/14/2010 - 2:58pm -

June 1940. Melrose, Louisiana. "A crossroads store, bar, 'juke joint' and gas station in the cotton plantation area." 35mm color transparency by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Squeak-SlamI can still hear the squeaky hinges and the stretching of the springs that were used to close those screen doors. Well I never."Dental Snuff"?? Whoa.I build dioramas of soulful, seedy and well-worn buildings, and have a good-sized collection of photos I use for reference and inspiration. A little ink-jet print of this one's been on my studio wall for years. When I opened up Shorpy today for my daily perusal, I couldn't figure out where I was for a second. Why is this familiar? What day is this? Finally came to me. It's nice to see this beautiful photo get the Shorpy treatment. I see details and texture I never discovered in my reference print. Now I think I'll relax with a cold Nehi and a pinch of Dental Snuff. My kind of placeNo flashing disco balls here. I'll bet the barbeque is top of the line and the sauce is home made. The buns would be regular hamburger buns, no fancy swirls or seeds. Maybe there would be a red & white checked or plain white cotton tablecloth; more than likely it would be a black or red linoleum top. The napkins would be in a chromed dispenser and the salt & pepper shakers would be octagonal with chrome tops. The ashtrays might have beer company logos, if not just plain pressed glass. The floors would probably be plain wood, the finish worn off by years of traffic. Sit back, soak up the atmosphere, swat a few flies and have a good meal. Re: My kind of placeHamburger buns? There's a real, transplanted Southern BBQ joint near here (San Jose) that serves a lunchtime "rib sandwich" in what I understand to be the authentic style: A basket with a section of incredible, slow-smoked baby back ribs, and two slices of white bread in a sandwich baggie! The bread is basically your edible napkin, so's not to miss any of the sauce. Regal BeerAbsolutely wonderful picture. Regal was still active in the early 50s and was perfect with shrimp or oysters! You can feel the summer heat just oozing from this picture. Thanks. Looks like just the spot! Dental SnuffA product still readily available today, "Dental Snuff" was advertised more than a century ago as a cure for toothache, gingivitis, facial neuralgia, caries, and scurvy. The page goes on at length to list the harmful effects with pictures). My cure is a cold beer. Time slowly changesI bet twenty years later, those men will still be there, talking about life with a "chaw" of tobacco, and a bottle of beer. I remember places like this from my childhood in rural Kentucky. AmazingThings have changed so much in the last 70 years. Listen to the MusicGrowing up in the 50's in the south,there were still a lot of these old stores left. I guarantee the front entrance is an old screen door with a bell attached. I can still hear the creaking of the door opening,the distinctive slam and jingle of the bell.There was always an ice cold 6 oz. Coke to be had inside to be drawn from the old chest type CocaCola cooler. Location, location, location...Melrose is between Alexandria and Natchitoches in central Louisiana, in case anybody was wondering. Including the gas pump, I see between $5000-$10,000 worth of antique advertising here. Wonder where it all wound up? And "Jax-Best Beer In Town"? Not what I've heard from those who survived the experience of drinking one! The CrossroadsThis might be a great place to be after the sun goes down and the "boys" pull out their guitars. PopNehi Orange was the good stuff. Forget the Root Beer. Hey, no fair.Dave B. You cannot give out information like that regarding BBQ and not give the location. A name would be nice if it's not against the rules. That place sounds awesome. Doesn't even look that oldI've seen gas station-restaurants still operating in rural parts of the South that don't look too different from this pic. (Granted, I've never seen a combination gas station and bar before.) And I bet the barbecue here was insanely good. Top TobaccoTop Cigarette Tobacco is still around, and the package looks just the same. Re: Hey, no fairSorry about that, "r"! Quincy's Bar-B-Q 70 North Main Street Milpitas, CA 95035-4323 (408) 945-7943 Under the Calaveras Blvd. R/R overpass, where you'd expect to find a seedy bus terminal. I think they may be gone, according to the most recent Yelp! entry. MemoriesBack in the 1950's my dad would take me with him into the Mississippi Delta on his Saturday laundry route. With the exception of the sign advertising whiskey, that place looks like dozens of small stores, gas stations, and/or joints we stopped at to pick up and deliver laundry. (Mississippi was dry, well at least you couldn't advertise whiskey) The places were colorful, dirty, dusty, and their coolers were always filled with some of the most exotic soft drinks you could dream of drinking. Oh this photo brings back such fond memories. Digital PaintingSuch a great image, it inspired me to do a little photoshop magic on it. Click to enlarge. Jax jingleRemembered from my Mississippi childhood in the late '50s. Oh you'll never know What that other beer lacks, Until you've tried The real beer taste The real beer taste of Jax! Mellow Jax! Model BarI thought that this image looked familiar. Twin Whistle Sign and Kit has a model kit based on this photo. [Wow. Amazing! - Dave] (The Gallery, Gas Stations, M.P. Wolcott, Stores & Markets)
Toot-an-Kum-In: 1925
"Texaco Co., Sullivan & Helan station." This Amoco station at 14th and Belmont streets N.W. in Washington's ... tomb, the vogue for all things Egyptian extended even to gas stations. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. Gaseteria Judging from other photos of gas stations this vintage, nine pumps was large for its day. I see there are ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:47pm -

"Texaco Co., Sullivan & Helan station." This Amoco station at 14th and Belmont streets N.W. in Washington's Mount Pleasant neighborhood opened in July 1925. After the discovery of King Tut's tomb, the vogue for all things Egyptian extended even to gas stations. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. GaseteriaJudging from other photos of gas stations this vintage, nine pumps was large for its day. I see there are different illustrations on the top. I only can make out Amoco-Gas. [There's also Standard and American Strate. - Dave] PackardThe car in the picture appears to be a Packard. Also, filter gasoline is healthier than unfiltered gasoline, isn't it? Kame-an-WentThe Toot-an-Kum-In may be gone, but the apartment building behind it is still there, an empty shell: [Yikes. Spooky! I'm not sure if this is the same building though. It doesn't quite match. - Dave] View Larger Map Texaco?The caption says "Texaco Co., Sullivan & Helan station," but the gasoline is Amoco. Were Texaco and Amoco the same company in 1925? [The National Photo captions often start out with the name of the client who commissioned the photo. A lot of the gas station photos are labeled "Texas Company" or "Texaco" regardless of whether they show a Texaco station. - Dave] Not a PackardThe car in the photo isn't a Packard; it may be a Willys-Knight; I'm guessing on that, but I am sure it isn't a Packard. AmocarThe car is most probably a 1925 or 1926 Buick. Mount PleasantThat's sort of Columbia Heights rather than Mount Pleasant. Or it could technically be the U Street neighborhood. Mount Pleasant is a bit more north than this location. [Or maybe not. - Dave] Re: Six Lubricating PitsYou're right on with modern engines. 60,000 miles was pretty well the limit (according to my dad back then) and an "engine job" would be needed soon! Oil changes every 3000 miles, filter at 6000! "Six lubricating pits"......in a neighborhood gas station is a telling comment about routine maintenance needs of 1920's cars. Anyone in their sixties and up remembers when valve jobs and piston ring replacements were normal even on a well-cared for car, and a "lube job" was almost of steam locomotive complexity. If only we could buy a car built with 2000's metallurgy and 1950's engine design simplicity. [Modern car engines may be more complex, but they're also a lot more reliable and much easier to maintain. At least in my experience with cars of the 50s to the 00s. - Dave] "they're also a lot more reliable"I've spent sufficient hours peering at a spinning drive pulley, timing light in hand, to appreciate your point Dave. Nevertheless, when a new car does go wonky, I do miss the ability to do something about it myself, rather than turn it over to a mechanic who can do little except swap out black boxes (at a cost which may be hundreds per box) until he hits the right one. [True. Although if it's a new car, I'd think getting something like that fixed wouldn't cost anything. Of all the black-box cars I've ever owned, not a single one has ever gone wonky. Knock simulated wood. - Dave] They are a lot more reliableDIY for many years, my experience is that current OBDII cars are far more reliable and easier to diagnose and fix than were the timing light, points, carbureted Detroit Iron creations. The computer tells the source of the trouble. Find and replace is usually straightforward and not expensive. Maybe you need a new mech. Great SixThe car pictured is a Willys Knight Great Six Model 66A. This model was introduced for 1927 and produced into the opening months of the '29 model year when it was replaced by the sleeker Great Six Model 66B. Willys Knights appealed to those who wanted a car that was a bit more innovative and stylish than, say, a Buick or a Studebaker. Notice the headlamps in the shape of shields. During most of the 1910s and '20s Willys Overland was among best selling marques in the United States. A Knight Before Its TimeThis is a 1925 Model 66 as the 1927 version wasn't produced for another two years. The identifying feature between the two years is the three groups of horizontal hood louvers on the 1927 instead of one large group of vertical louvers as shown in this photo. The 1925 Model 66 had a 126" wheelbase and a new 236.4 cubic inch displacement engine that produced 60 horsepower at 2800 rpm. Tires were 32 X 6.20. Note the distinctively shaped horn below the left headlight that mimicked the shape of the headlights. The radiator mascot would have looked like one of these pictures. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)
Full Service: 1950s
... plate. 7-Up might be the only food item advertised at the station, but Dolly Madison Ice Cream is nearby. Serviced We still get ... listening to an old radio show, and the guy pulled into a gas station. "Fill 'er up" he said. And the attendant said "That'll be 40 ... 
 
Posted by Atomic Rocket - 08/04/2008 - 6:20am -

Onalaska, Wisconsin, early 1950s, when full service was the rule. View full size. Fill 'er upFill 'er up, Scotty, check the tire pressure, check the oil, check the radiator, and clean the windshield. People are in too much of a hurry these days. NozzlePlus, if you notice he's not picky about bringing the nozzle over to the other side. Now the surly attendant will motion you to turn your car around. Mobil-rificSome folks still recall the older Flying Red Horse. That internally lit Pegasus would be very valuable if it survived the years. I dimly recall when gasoline hoses were long enough to reach either side of the car... or behind the license plate. 7-Up might be the only food item advertised at the station, but Dolly Madison Ice Cream is nearby. ServicedWe still get the full service at my local garage, I worked there part time for the last 4 years. At least you feel like you're getting something for you $10+ gallon of fuel! (Scotland) That'll be 40 cents.I was listening to an old radio show, and the guy pulled into a gas station. "Fill 'er up" he said. And the attendant said "That'll be 40 cents." Ah, if only I knew those days. The lowest price I remember is $1.20 per gallon. [I remember my dad complaining in the early '70s when gas hit 50 cents a gallon. Our car had a 30-gallon tank and got around 11 mpg. "Fifteen dollars for a fill-up!" - Dave] Hydrogen!Time to tell the Arabs GOOBYE and make the nation's only automobile fuel Hydrogen. Government went to the MOON in less than ten years with 1960's technology--hydrogen cars should take much less time...the nation's fate hinges on it. It is IMPERATIVE--NOT OPTIONAL!! [And how would you make the hydrogen? Volume production requires lots of energy -- generally oil or natural gas. "Goobye" indeed. - Dave] Nozzle and hoseI remember full service stations from childhood . . . fill it up, check the oil, check tire pressure and clean the windows. Even at today's prices I'd pay a nickel a gallon more for that kind of service. One thing I've noticed in my area is the hoses won't reach around the vehicle and you have to turn yourself around Full serviceI remember as a young boy in the 50's my father would go to the Marathon Station on certian days and gas would be on special, 5 gallons for a dollar. Now it's nearer to 1 gallon for 5 dollars. The Gas WarsWhen I was a kid in SoCal (early 1960s) it seemed like there was a gas station on every corner. The cheapest price I can recall is 17.9 cents a gallon, during the "gas wars." My mother would pull up and ask for two dollars' worth. They always checked the oil, looked the belts and hoses and checked the tire pressure. Attendants usually wore uniforms also. Those were the days! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Gas Stations)
Read All About It (Colorized): 1942
... I have done a couple of drug store, grocery store and gas station pictures and one record store picture and i always try to research the ... 
 
Posted by Avzam - 10/23/2014 - 5:32am -

        May 1942. "Southington, Connecticut. Where Southington folk buy their magazines." Photo by Fenno Jacobs for the OWI. Under the original black-and-white photo, one commenter remarked, "The only thing better than this picture would be to see it in color." This prompted me to start on what eventually became an almost year-long journey of Internet detective work in order to find all the magazines in this shot as they looked in their original colors. Click here to see all the magazine covers I collected. View full size. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!Incredible job. Thank you so much for sharing the finished product with all of us! Historicolor The colorization is amazing in itself. To have it happen based on true historical colors, my historical hat's off to you. True understanding of history in all it's glorious detail is more easily discerned by Shorpy and efforts like this one. It paid off!Great stuff, I did something like this with about as many titles for a publisher a while ago so I can feel your pain! Very impressiveNothing short of amazing. Great job! "There it is Marge,the latest issue of Catholic International" Fantastic ImageWish I could reach in and start browsing. I was surprised to see carpet in this era, I thought most places in this time period had hard floors. A fellow colorizerI recently got into colorizing photos. When I burned through all the family photos that my parents could provide, I turned to shorpy. I have done a couple of drug store, grocery store and gas station pictures and one record store picture and i always try to research the products and get them correct when I can. However this is far, far beyond anything I have accomplished. I am amazed. I've looked at your other stuff and it all looks so natural. You are the colorizer I aspire to be. My drug store picture got featured on the front page. I'm hoping to get featured again one day. It was a thrill. This is beyond anything I could hope to do though. It's Amazing! Warning: Extreme Irony ApproachingYeah, I guess you did a decent job of it, but you got one of the jelly bean colors wrong. Colorized!Wow! Awesome job, and to think someone did that much work just for me! I really feel special. No kidding, this is why I love this place. I have to "Shorpy.com" at least once a day. And I like nothing better than to pass the Shorpy link along to a friend. I feel like I am giving them a special gift, and so far everyone loves my gifts! Holy Moley!This is just amazing! I can only speak concerning the funny books and pulp magazines, but Avzam has just nailed those! From the rope logo on the Don Winslow comic to the cover of Superman hoisting Hitler and Hirohito, the addition of color seems precisely correct. Fascinating. My desktop image of Dallas' Elm Street will now be replaced by this one and join other Shorpy.com images like the China Clipper and the rustic general store in my Former Desktops folder. Well now, that does itDave needs to come up with some kind of Shorpy Oscar or Emmy, if I may be so bold to suggest. "The envelope please ... the winner for outstanding, painstaking detail work in colorization is ... " Imagine the amount of the research and patience to get those edges of magazines right. My mother used to wear seamed stockings like those, and they were the same exact color. Wonderful job Avzam. Labour Of LoveYou did an awesome job with this! WOWThat's all I can say...WOW! Avzam, that is a masterpiece. I'll be back to paintedblack to study more of your covers collection. WOW! A true work of artMy mind boggles at the work involved. A True Artist...in every sense of the word. Being a colorist in the Shorpy Colorization Studio myself, I have to say that you are a master of the work. Your dedication to the art is outstanding and detailed. I am working on colorizing a photo at the moment and have found all the items needed on the web to do be historically accurate. Well done sir. I agree with bobzyerunkl, we should call it the AVI award and it should be given every year by a vote of all the Shorpy members - [baxado] Triple A+++ for AvzamNothing short of SPECTACULAR! What an epic accomplishment. Congratulations on excelling beyond any human expectations. I am speechless. Wow!Stunning and beautiful!! This is the Sistine Chapel of colourisationReally, this is a remarkable achievement. I salute you, sir or madam. A Masterpiece!Remove the word 'Colorized' from the title and you'd swear you were looking at a Kodachrome photograph. Fantastic job! There's no Life MagazineThus robbing me of an irresistible, if obvious, comment. What's really astounding is your research, not the colorization. But bravo for both. Speechless, I Amthesaurus.com does not have enough superlative words to describe your efforts. You are either a genius or a complete OCD madman. The reflections on the shelves just blew me away. Astounding!Speaking of which, seeing that copy of 'Astounding' magazine reminds me that I still have the gravest doubts about the name change. Fabulous!!!This is one of the reasons I LOVE shorpy. Congratulations on this beautiful work! Two killer details"Little Oscar's First Raid," in the upper left-hand corner (second row, about five in from the left) — an air-raid adventure for tots! — and the fellow in the snappy pinstripe suit on the right. A masterpiece, indeed.Whoa!! Makes you want to get into the picture and get every one of those magazines. I saw a copy of Life Magazine. Has General MacArthur on the cover. Thank you for this incredible job. Superlative jobAs someone who works in PhotoShop everyday, let me praise you for your technical skills, and for the never ending amount of research you did to make this turn out so very well. Kudos sir. Excellent work!Great piece of detective and illustrative work! Colorization awardLet's call it the "Avi". So Impressive!As a colorization person myself, I am so very impressed! Serious dedication. Thanks so much for your effort! I love it! It looks like this is the original photoand the black and white image had the color filtered out. Es impresionante el trabajoquedó hermoso :) Wow!Amazing wok, Avi! BravoPatience of a Saint rewarded. Astounding Science FictionOn the 4th row from the bottom, on the right side, that issue of Astounding includes the 2nd installment of what would later be called Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. The story in that issue was called "Bridle and Saddle", and it was featured on the cover. This is a truly amazing effort by the coloring artist. (ShorpyBlog, Colorized Photos)
Tankar Gas: 1937
December 1937. "Gas station in Minneapolis." The Minnesota tropics, where snow dusts the painted ... Washington. The 1940 map below shows the outline of the gas station office facing 3rd, which was a major thoroughfare crossing the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/20/2013 - 11:47am -

December 1937. "Gas station in Minneapolis." The Minnesota tropics, where snow dusts the painted palms. Photo by John Vachon. View full size. Love the billboardsI found the billboards very interesting. I grew up 40 miles north of Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Journal or Sunday Journal was published until 1939 when it merged with the Minneapolis Star to become the Minneapolis Star-Journal. Other mergers took place and today it's the Star Tribune. The American Weekly was a Sunday Supplement, published by Hearst, inserted into the Sunday Journal. It was published until 1966. The Russell-Miller Milling Company at this time made Occident Flour and was headquartered in Minneapolis. In the early 1950's it become part of the Peavey Co., which in turn was bought by ConAgra in 1982. Awesome trailerHorace T. Water is correct, this is a 37 Ford (Tudor sedan). I have seen trailers like this, but was under the assumption that they were new "retro" designs, not actual period trailers. I found out that somebody is now making fiberglass reproductions. The Gold Medal SignIt turns out you can see it in Street View, from 3rd Street at Washington: Re Frost shieldsHard to tell from the ad davidk provided (or even if that model is what I'm about to describe), but in the mid-30s rectangular defrosters went on the market that were held on the window interior by suction cups. These had exposed thin wires not unlike today's embedded rear window defosters that were electrified either by the car's system or by 6-volt batteries. The ones in the Ford appear to be smaller than what I'm familiar with. Tag Along1937 Ford with a Mullins Red Cap trailer. Frost shieldsThe application of frost shields used to be mandatory in Winnipeg on the windshield (unless the car had a defroster), rear window and front-row side windows from November 1 through March 31. The ad below from my hometown paper, the Free Press, is from 1952. There is still a company in Manitoba that manufactures them for use in construction vehicles, helicopters and outbuildings. Plus 76?After spending far too much time digging, I can offer what might be (approximately) the present-day view, with about 80-90% confidence: View Larger Map The "Gold Medal Flour" sign that's barely visible on the left of the 1937 photograph is a big clue to the location. It's not visible from the Street View above due to new construction - but if you back out to the 45 degree view and head about two blocks southeast and one block northeast, you'll see it. It's also hard to tell from the sometimes-grainy Street View magnifications, but I'm fairly certain that the most of the brickwork is the same as 1937, although they did brick in the upstairs area. [For the depot shed to be on the left as in the 1937 photo, I think we'd need to be a block or two west of 5th Avenue, around 3rd and Washington. The 1940 map below shows the outline of the gas station office facing 3rd, which was a major thoroughfare crossing the Mississippi. - Dave] [I won't dispute your map, but I have trouble seeing how the Gold Medal Flour sign would be both visible and aligned as it is in the 1937 photo if the camera was that far west. There are also some features of the brickwork, including the distinctive offset about 12 feet up on the left edge, that make me go "hmmm."] [The sign, atop a six-story flour mill, is visible from most of downtown Minneapolis. Also, our photo was taken from the second floor as opposed to Google's ground-level Street View. Plus that building at 5th and Washington doesn't look anything like the one in our view, in addition to being set back much farther from the curb. It's three stories tall as opposed to the two-story building in the 1937 photo. - Dave] [I concede. I found a 1937 aerial photo of the area (see below), and the corner of Third and Washington looks far more likely to be the spot than the corner at Fifth. When I'm looking for a historical spot like this, I try not to make any assumptions - such as "in the past 70+ years, they didn't brick in the open second story" or "they didn't build an addition" or "there was no third story hiding behind the billboards" or "that train depot never extended past Fourth Avenue." Now that I have photographic evidence, I'm fine with admitting I was wrong.] [You can tell there's no third floor just by looking at the photo. The cornice is at the bottom of the billboard. Plus you can see there's nothing behind them through the latticework between them. And in any case they're not tall enough to hide a third floor. - Dave] [I realize I'm now beating a dead horse, but your last comment makes it sound unreasonable to think there's a third floor. What I see through the latticework is a brick wall (red oval). That wall appears to be supported by a substantial concrete column (green oval) - either that, or this is an Escherian building. That leaves about 10-12 feet of space to be a "third floor" (cyan oval). With some added brick and a few layers of paint, there is no reason this edifice could not resemble what's currently at the corner of Fifth and Washington. (Note that I am not arguing that it is that location (I agree it's at Third), I am simply pointing out that it is perfectly reasonable to think that there is - or could be - a third floor here.)] OOOH!Free dishes! Thanks davidkI was just about to ask if anyone knew what that rectangle was on the driver's side window. I think Dave is correct.The Milwaukee Road train shed ends at 5th Avenue South and Washington. Gold Medal Flour is at about 700 West River Parkway. The gas station would have to be at 3rd or maybe 4th Avenue South. This area on either side of Washington Avenue from Hennepin to 11th Avenue was known as the Gateway district. About 40 blocks were cleared for urban renewal in the 50s and 60s. Only in the last 10 years has the sea of parking lots started to fill in. One modern convenienceBased on the bare bulb visible through the dirty window, I'm thinking it's not the Ritz Carlton; but somebody in that building has a mighty fine radio antenna on the roof... a fairly long dipole, likely to receive AM broadcasts. Cut-RateTankar was apparently a low-price chain headquartered in Minneapolis. Some of the stations had old tank cars as part of the architecture. F.A.P. May Be The Key.The street sign on the left may hold a cryptic key to the puzzle. The sign post clearly indicates one roadway, but at the bottom, facing the camera is a small sign with "F.A.P." or Federal Aid Primary. That sign indicates this road was receiving Federal money as a primary route and would have to be a fairly substantial route. F.A.S. signs for Federal Aid Secondary are sometimes also seen on smaller routes or further out on primary routes that receive less Federal maintenance money. I know nothing about this area, but I hope that little sign now gives you the intersection. [The sign is pointing you to it -- F.A.P. 92B is to the right. - Dave] TrainshedWhat may be confusing you is that the Milwaukee Depot Trainshed has been shortened and there are cross streets there now that were not there when the photo was taken at which time it was a active depot. [The cross streets are the same. This is Third Avenue crossing Washington, in a view seen here two years ago. The clock tower still stands. - Dave] Re re Frost shieldsNo electricity involved, Don Struke. The classic frost shield is a rectangle of plastic stuck by adhesive at its perimeter to the auto glass. You put them on the inside of the window, and the vacuum created between the plastic shield and the glass kept the window free from condensation and frost. I’ve heard of a fancier kind made of glass with a rubber gasket, but no one I knew used these. Once when my dad was in the Southern states with his Canadian frost shields on, a gas attendant asked him if it was bullet-proof glass. Re: TrainshedThe trainshed always ended at 5th Avenue, but the yard continued to Chicago Avenue where a large viaduct took the tracks across Washington. If you look at the aerial photo in Splunge's comment, you can see that the shed ends at 5th, but only Portland Avenue crosses the yard. Perhaps a chimney?I thought the "substantial concrete column (green oval)" that Splunge mentioned was a chimney for a heater or fireplace in the gas station's office below. BTW, I don't have any horses to be concerned about, but I do enjoy the friendly banter and explanations offered. Sometimes it's very helpful to see something from another's viewpoint. Thanx to all that have commented! TrailerIsn't anybody going to mention that fantastic, streamlined trailer? Homemade or manufactured and its got to belong to that Mark Trail looking guy puffin' on his pipe. [See the very first comment below. - tterrace] Miller millingI would expect nothing else. Along withthe previous busy comments in the scene, note the worst job of bricklaying behind the palm trees, and the Tax Paid sign, AND Glueks Beer on Tap. 3rd and WashingtonThe train shed is the tip-off. If the Google street view were from second story rather than - uh - street level, you could then see the Gold Medal Sign. BTW, the Gold Medal sign has been moved around a bit since 1937 due to a fire at the "A" Mill and restoration of the Mill Ruins Museum. Tax? Which?I'm still bewildered by the sign "TAX PAID 5 FOR 85" I've arrived at no meaningful interpretation for that. Somebody help me out, please. 3rd and WashingtonThis confirms that it was on 3rd and Washington. No doubt that is the Tankar building in a sea of parked cars. How it survived "urban renewal" and the rest of the buildings didn't is beyond me. TankarLooks like they redid the palm tree mural in the 1940s. The photo below is from the Zalusky Collection. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Minneapolis-St. Paul)
Larkspur, Calif.: 19xx
... 1937 which is the time Hil. Probert decided to bring his Gas Station there. As you mentioned, it was taken in Larkspur, California. In 1945 ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/29/2011 - 6:20pm -

Your task: answer the following about this photo, taken in my former hometown. 1. What year was it taken? 2. Identify the cars. 3. What the heck's going on here, anyway? View full size. CarspottingThe car facing out of the garage is a '40 LaSalle. The Packard in the foreground is a '40 of some sort. Other than that, no ideas. Those pumps certainly are 'modern' looking, aren't they? If they were all there was, I'd say the photo's from the late '50s. But the Packard looks fairly new. InfoThis photo was taken around 1937 which is the time Hil. Probert decided to bring his Gas Station there. As you mentioned, it was taken in Larkspur, California. In 1945 Hil. Probert turned this house into an adjacent car showroom. This house was featured in a movie entitled Impact in 1949. Hope my info helped! More infoTerribly sorry to post a secondary comment but I found out that the type of car is either a Packard V-12, or a Desoto, which is what Hil. Probert specialized in selling. ObviouslyIt's Larkspur's annual Packard Polishing Day. The car in the Mobilubrication bay looks to be a circa 1940 LaSalle. The big car: 1939 Packard Super 8 touring sedan? The gas pumps look circa mid-1950s. My guess: 1956. My guess is a 1936-37 Packard...as the centre car, possibly a V-12 Sedan? Cheers HAC I'd say late '50sThe Packard looks most like a '39 to me but I could be off by a couple of years. There's a '39 Olds in the garage on the left. I won't attempt to identify the roadster in the garage or the car preceding the Packard. I think I see the right taillight of an early '50s Studebaker peeking out from behind the building. The gas pumps say late '50s to me, but it could certainly be a decade later. Someone else mentioned a license plate. Assuming the car in the right foreground is registered in California, this would not be later than 1962 (black on yellow). 1942The prominent car is a 1940 Packard 180 Custom 8. Judging by the 1942 strip on top of the 1941 base license plate issued by California at the time on the Chevrolet coupe in front of the Packard, the photo was taken in 1942. What was going on at the time? Someone was bored waiting for "Miss Daisy" to finish her shopping & decided to take a photo of the car he had just washed & polished for the trip into town. Not 10 seconds later after the photo was snapped, a huge sea gull left his calling card on the windshield! My attempt1.Roughly 1960 to 1965, those are late '50s gas pumps with the logo that was phased out about the same time as the "-cation" typeface and a rather different logo came in around 1962. 2.Front-and-center is a late '30s senior series Packard, an approximately '40 LaSalle is in the bay on our left, on our far right in the alley is something that looks very Model A-ish, the roadster in the bay on the right is hard to ID from this angle but it's unlikely to be much newer than 1935 or so. 3.Word gets around in the old car crowd, Mr Probert, or someone working for him, was obviously the go-to guy for servicing older cars in Larkspur. Larkspur LaSalleThat looks like a mid 40's LaSalle 1960http://sonic.net/~tterrace/larkspur/thennow/thennowprobert.html They say 1960, and that it was part of a 200 car collection. Looks like the same photo with a slightly different crop. Are those feet sticking out from under the LaSalle in the left bay? [A postscript: "They" is none other than tterrace himself -- you googled his website. - Dave] The day that Larkspur became famousIn 1961 at 10:10 in the morning, the town of Larkspur was visited by a cluster of UFO's. The residents were all processed in the alien medical unit. The memory of the incident was then erased in the townsfolk's memory bank. This photo was taken by Elmer Shine who just happened upon the event as he was traveling from town to town polishing Packards. The event is soon to be revisited on the History Channel. The story will be told by a goofy guy wearing shades and a baseball cap with UFO written on it. Riveting TV. 1940 PackardA 1940 Packard is the closest I can come to the main auto. Here's a pic that looks like it except for the lack of the horizontal chrome strips on the front and rear fenders and the different hood ornament. The hood ornament in the Larkspur Packard is the optional "swan" one. I think he was a Toyota dealerby the time you were in high school. BTW, was Hil. an abbreviation for hilarious, Hillary, or Hilton? Dating LarkspurDarn. Dual Freq was just too smart for me, except for the "they" part. All the cars in the shot belonged to Hil(dred) Probert. And yes, the station (and Larkspur itself, masquerading as "Larkspur, Idaho"), was featured prominently in the 1949 Brian Donlevy/Ella Raines film "Impact." Big giveaway is, of course, the gas pump style, plus that of the "Mobilubrication" lettering. Kudos to Lectrogeek for spotting the rear end of what I too believe is a Studebaker. Below, a shot I took in 2002 from about the same angle: The Last PackardI remember a Lawyer who lived a block or so away from me who had a Packard like that and a uniformed chauffeur that drove him. His son was a friend of my brother. When the son came home from his WW2 service he became the driver. A few years later he taught me to drive in the Packard's replacement, a Kaiser 4 door sedan. Whoosh!Those speedlines on the Packard look like someone's attempt at customization. Early to mid '50's.The rear end in front of the Packard looks to be a '47-'48 Chevy. That location became a Toyota dealership in the early '60's. The gas station pump area is now a barbershop, flanked by two retail stores, the former dealership to the left (out of picture) is now a collection of retail stores. A bird of a different featherSwan hood ornament, my spare tire. Any Packard owner will tell you that the bird is a cormorant. I made the mistake of calling one a duck once. I learned the hard way, not a duck. Kaiser a replacement for the Packard?>the Packard's replacement, a Kaiser 4 door sedan
Texalene Benzol Blend: 1925
... 1925. Washington, D.C. "Texas Company, Benning Service Station." George H. James, proprietor. National Photo Company glass negative. ... the portable cutout tin man selling Hood Tires, but each gas pump and every advertisement is a collectible. Who knew? Thank you for a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 8:01pm -

1925. Washington, D.C. "Texas Company, Benning Service Station." George H. James, proprietor. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. Top viewI wonder if those white rocks were arranged to spell something or just an example of bad landscaping? The white rocks spellT E X A C O Kind of cool What a change!You all should see Benning Road now! BailoutLots, $2 down, and $2 a month? If we had that today, there would be no need for a bailout. I'll take 60 lots please!! Sublime Subprime $2 lots with no interest. I wonder how the real estate of Carmody Hills fared during the upcoming depression. Priceless signageEvery sign in this picture would cost a pretty penny if you could find it today. I especially like the portable cutout tin man selling Hood Tires, but each gas pump and every advertisement is a collectible. Who knew? Thank you for a very nostalgic picture. Shifting RoadsAdvertisements in the Post list multiple locations of the Benning Service Station: all these addresses are within a few blocks of each other on the modern street grid. Its unclear to me if the station relocated or if the names of the roads in this developing area were fluid. 33rd and Benning 3300 Benning Rd Benning and Minnesota Avenue Benning and Anacostia Roads Look at that land price!Even next to a gas station, that's still a bargain. Mortgage CrisisWow, look at that ad for Carmody Hills! $2 down, $2 a month. "Air Tank Explodes; Building Wrecked"From the 12/25/1925 Washington Post, pg. 1 Two men narrowly escaped injury last night when a compressed air tank in a gas station at Benning road and Minnesota avenue northeast, exploded and tore out half the building front. ... Damage of more than $1,500 was done to the station. The station is owned by George H. James of 4222 Hayes street northeast. Merry Christmas. (The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)
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