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Knitting Class: 1942
Students attend a class in knitting at the Red Hook housing project community center in Brooklyn, New ... Rothstein, June 1942. View full size. Class in Knitting? It may be a knitting class, but at the moment, she's using a crochet hook. not knitting ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 09/08/2011 - 7:06pm -

Students attend a class in knitting at the Red Hook housing project community center in Brooklyn, New York. Photograph by Arthur Rothstein, June 1942. View full size. Class in Knitting?It may be a knitting class, but at the moment, she's using a crochet hook. not knittingShe isn't knitting - that's crochet. AdmirationHow so very, very proud of him you must be. There really isn't much talent involved in taking a picture ... thanks to technology ... not matter what the era, it was simply a matter of pointing at what it was you wanted to photograph and press the shutter. Where the Magic came in, was in the ability to "see" something in a scene that you wanted to preserve ... more than an image, an emotion, a story. Unlike a film producer, with miles of film, or a writer with reams of paper, for a photographer, the moment, the emotion, the entire story is caputred in a fraction of a second. That was and is the art. To that you father, was truly an artist ... even more, your father was truly a Magician. Dale Passing shipsHi Dale I must have been writing to you while you were writing to me. I am incredibly proud of my Dad and felt very close to him when I watched your video. It was almost if I was seeing what he saw. Thank you very much for your kind words above. I really was moved to tears after viewing your video and what you wrote is magic to me. All the best Eve AdmirationAnother great photo by my Dad! Never saw this before, thanks! (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids, NYC)
Home Again: 1918
... full size. An old yarn I would love to have that knitting machine! On a side note, speaking of "women's work," my dear ... as gifts for everyone in the family. Stick to your knitting The man on the left is using a circular sock knitting machine, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 3:44pm -

"Army soldiers, Walter Reed Hospital." Back from the trenches in Washington, D.C., circa 1918. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. An old yarnI would love to have that knitting machine! On a side note, speaking of "women's work," my dear grandfather took up cross-stitching when recuperating after World War II. He enjoyed it immensely and found it to be very relaxing. He kept it up until his death in 2007. He would do a couple stitches on whatever he was working on each day after smoking his after lunch pipe. He made gorgeous tablecloths and other items as gifts for everyone in the family. Stick to your knittingThe man on the left is using a circular sock knitting machine, which is a pretty cool (and rather complicated) gadget. http://www.oldtymestockings.com/CSMMuseum.html 999 scarves left to goThe guy on the right appears to need a bit more rehab. Thousand-yard stareLooks like the shell shock hasn't quite worn off yet. Looks likeThey made their own robes. Got Yarn?"Yeah I knit. You got a problem with that?" From man's work to women's workIt seems odd that soldiers who had recently been engaged in that most masculine of work--war--should have been given women's work to do in their recuperation. It could have been either very soothing or very humiliating. Smoke Em if You Got EmCheck out the burning cigarette by the young lady. Women's work?If you look at the history of knitting, it was solely men's work at one point, when it was mostly used to produce caps and stockings. Before the various knitting machines came along, there were entire villages in England devoted to knitting stockings, and then it was the work of the whole family. Only when knitting became less necessary and more of a recreational activity did it become solely women's work. During the war, knitting was pushed on everyone, regardless of age or gender, as a way to help the war effort. It was considered therapeutic for patients, and probably wasn't humiliating at all. Women's Work?Tell that to Rosie Grier. And if you don't know who Rosie is, Google him. [And if that doesn't work, try googling Rosey Grier. - Dave] WeightyWhat were the hanging weights for? Maybe to keep tension on the yarn? Heavy KnittingWhen you are using either a sock (shown) or flatbed knitting machine, you use weights to pull on, or tension, the already knit material. It keeps the knitted stitches out of the way of the ones currently on the needles. There are groups solely devoted to antique sock knitting machines and a company in New Zealand that produces new sock knitting machines based upon the antique machines. http://autoknitter.com/ Knitting as therapyKnitting and other needle crafts were widely used as occupational therapy during both World Wars. It also was used in refugee camps in Asia Minor (according to one of my old needlework magazines) as a coping mechanism for children, to soothe them and get them to calm down. Speaking as a knitter/tatter/seamstress/etc, I find most forms of needle crafts very soothing. And logistically it is a great choice as needles and yarn are portable and don't take up lots of storage space (unless you have a stash as large as mine). (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, WWI)
New Bedford Knitters: 1942
... Office of War Information. View full size. Knitting orthodoxy! Some observations which may not be evident to non-knitters. All of these girls are knitting right handed, although one is winding yarn with her left hand. In a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/31/2012 - 8:07pm -

Spring 1942. "New Bedford, Massachusetts. Portuguese Girl Scouts." Medium format negative by John Collier, Office of War Information. View full size. Knitting orthodoxy!Some observations which may not be evident to non-knitters. All of these girls are knitting right handed, although one is winding yarn with her left hand. In a group this large I'd expect to see at least one left-hander. However, in this era, left handers were usually taught to knit right handed, rather than working mirror image of right handers as they often do today. Second, every one of these girls is using the throwing rather than picking method; holding their yarn in their right hand in US/UK style as opposed to the traditional around-the-neck, yarn-tensioned Continental style variant common in Portuguese heritage. So these girls are using the same method as the troop leader, rather than the style that some of them would have learned at home. Finally, they are knitting sleeveless vests for sailors -- a very standard War Knitting item. So this image says more to me than just girls knitting. It's telling a story of community/home front service during WWII; of inflexible teaching styles of the period; and of assimilation - adopting standard American ways rather than the traditions of their families. Are they singing?The mouths of most of these girls look as if they are saying something. I'm guessing they were singing while the picture was taken. Either that, or they're all talking over each other at once. KO'dThank you, rotangus, for your fascinating, informative, and adult comment. Lots of knitting songsI agreed with Michael L. after reading his comments because girl scouts always sing about everything (even John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith) so just for the halibut I put "knitting songs" in my search space and there are many of them from several eras which you can listen to if you care to although some were not around in 1942. Air Knitters I see at least five young ladies who left their needles at home or perhaps are not yet knitters: Bottom row right, third and fourth are wistful onlookers; top row right there are at least two who are air knitting, and two other girls in the center are waiting for needles, it seems. Here's an excellent history of wartime knitting (note the Glenn Miller knitting song on the right). Really Knits TuffA neighbor who has a yarn & knitting shop had this comment: "The left-handed method was not in favor in these days because it is the way the Germans knit. I know a lot of right-handed people who knit holding the yarn in their left hand. It is just a personal preference at this point, but in these days, it almost made a knitter a nazi." InterestingRotangus, I was going to comment on the non-Portuguese knitting technique myself, as well as how uncomfortable some of these girls look with the needles. Interesting reflection on teaching conformity. Flag EtiquetteThe flag is properly displayed with the star field in the upper left. Flag Etiquette reduxThe flag is on a pole. The only etiquette is that it is the star field is pointing to the end of the pole. Otherwise it would be up side down which some think is a distress call (that's an urban legion), but not actually wrong in flag etiquette. Nor is lowering it in the rain or at night (it should be illuminated at night). (The Gallery, John Collier, WW2)
A Ball of Yarn: 1918
... size. An old yarn Soldier on the left is holding knitting frame. A common thread There's definitely some homogeneity in this shot. I'd like to see the finished product of their knitting. Sweater The soldier in the middle appears to be working on a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 3:53pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1918. "Soldiers at Walter Reed." Harris & Ewing Collection dry-plate glass negative. View full size. An old yarnSoldier on the left is holding knitting frame. A common threadThere's definitely some homogeneity in this shot. I'd like to see the finished product of their knitting. SweaterThe soldier in the middle appears to be working on a sweater sleeve. You can see the ribbing on the bottom edge. From the size, the soldier on the right is working on the same thing. Tough guys knittingIn his youth, my uncle had surgery on his ankle. To occupy his mind and fingers, the nurses taught him how to knit, crochet and tat. As he grew to an adult, he kept on knitting, crocheting and a bit of tatting. Today he is in his late 70s and still knits and crochets. Homogeneity?I'm confused. Ok, five figures, two women, three men, all look human, no chimps, gorillas or bonobos. Because they are all white? Or because the men are holding incomplete knitted objects? Or the woman look attentive and focused? Or the image looks staged? One has a knitting rake, used to make socks by unskilled knitters. The other two are at least holding the needles like they know how to knit. The second man is wearing pince-nez, the others, sans glasses. During the war, knitting was something asked of all people, to free production of fabrics for war materials. Everyone in America would know, at the time, what was being made and why. BeatificIt's nice to see no dopey comments about these guys for once. Who knows what these men went through? God bless them all, both then and now. I love the beatific expressions in the nurses' faces. The picture just projects such a kind and gentle feeling. ConnectionThe third soldier's smile made me smile back at him across all the years. I pray he healed mentally and physically, that they all did. My boyfriend knows how to knit. He's Scottish. He's also a 2nd level blackbelt, so I wouldn't mock. Real Men Knit...Knitting, until the invention of the knitting machine, was a man's occupation. Sailors knitted (as an off-shoot of making nets). When the knitting machine was invented, they could pay women low wages as "unskilled labourers" and knitting became "women's work". Russell Crowe is a knitter, so is Laurence Fishburne, Montreal Canadien Hoceky player Jacques Plante was, Antonio Banderas learned to knit from Catherine Zeta-Jones while recovering from an injury (he taught Melanie Griffith), Rosie Greer and Randy Grossman do (Rosie does needlepoint and crocheting).... http://www.menknit.net/history.html http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/1205/120597.home.home.1.html Glad to be part of the tradition!I was an Army Occupational Therapist at WRAMC in 1985 and I learned how to knit from my patients on the psychiatric unit. Since then the artist in me has learned to spin wool, and create my own patterns as well. Knitting is an extremely healing art form, requiring concentration, attention to detail, problem solving, and abstract thinking skills just to name a few benefits. I'm male by the way, glad to be in the company of Russell Crowe. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Medicine, WWI)
Knitting Mill Boys: 1911
These boys work in the Chesapeake Knitting Mills, Berkley, Virginia, and live in South Norfolk (youngest refused ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/14/2009 - 4:12am -

These boys work in the Chesapeake Knitting Mills, Berkley, Virginia, and live in South Norfolk (youngest refused to give names): Otto, Lowe, 78 Seaboard Ave., Finishing Room. D.M. Deschields, 25 Phillip St., Winding Room. Lonnie Womack, Hawthorn Ave., Winding Room. Jack Harrell, 66 Perry St., Finishing. Waverley Roseberry, 250 St. James, Winding Room. Charlie McHorney, 4 Poindexter St., Winding Room. June 1911. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. 1911 BoysNotice how many are smoking? 1911 BoysOne? MAYBE two! Holy cow! SmokingIf you think that's something, check these guys out. Or these guys! (The Gallery, Factories, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Knitting Kittens: 1914
1914. "Four costumed kittens entangled in yarn." Our weekly visit with TKONRSVW.* Photo by Harry Whittier Frees. View full size. *The Kittens of No Redeeming Social Value Whatsoever . NO Redeeming Val-- Ohhhh, so cute! They DO ha ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2013 - 10:01am -

1914. "Four costumed kittens entangled in yarn." Our weekly visit with TKONRSVW.* Photo by Harry Whittier Frees. View full size. *The Kittens of No Redeeming Social Value Whatsoever. NO Redeeming Val-- Ohhhh, so cute!They DO have a redeeming social value. They make me smile. Quite NaturalExcept for the clothing, this is what kittens do. (The Gallery, Cats, Harry W. Frees)
American Girl: 1920
... Doll House Everything about this picture is CREEPY. Knitting needles - or personal safety devices? Miss Smith can defend herself with those knitting needles, should any of her doll "friends" get out of line! Miss ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/19/2012 - 1:57pm -

"Miss Smith and Dolls." Emily Smith (1901-1980), daughter of New York Gov. Al Smith, circa 1919-21. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection. The dolls eyesOk cute picture, cute kid, nice room, BUT look at that dolls eyes, curly hair with bow, standing on the bench, eyes to the side, has murder on her mind!!!! A pants suit in 1915?Doesn't it seem odd that the doll closest to Miss Smith, sitting on the bench to her right, is wearing what appears to be a colorful pants suit? Is it supposed to be a male doll with long hair, or maybe a foreign doll? I was under the impression that as close to pants as a female would come in that time period was maybe puffy bloomers for the most daring, but I'm no expert. pant suitThe doll in the pant suit is a boudoir doll, popular among flappers in the 20s and 30s. It was designed for women, not children. The dollIt's a circus costume. Ringmaster or lion tamer maybe? Pierrot style, like the clown at far left. Miss Smith looks like she could be 20. She seems to have a wedding ring. Doll HouseEverything about this picture is CREEPY. Knitting needles - or personal safety devices?Miss Smith can defend herself with those knitting needles, should any of her doll "friends" get out of line! Miss Smith could pass for aMiss Smith could pass for a doll with a curly wig and a crochet hat and shawl. I have to agree that the photo is a little creepy though... Looks to me like somebodyLooks to me like somebody had money to have that many dolls back then. The "wedding ring"The "wedding ring" is yarn. [Something tells me you're looking at the wrong hand. Explanatory illustration from our Graphics Department below. - Dave] BenchThis is a little offbeat, but I LOVE that bench the dolls to the left are sitting on. Miss Smith and DollsMiss Smith turns out to be Emily Smith (1901-1980), daughter of four-time New York governor Al Smith. Below, Emily in 1924. The doll photo was made around 1920. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Kids)
The Shop Unique: 1919
... is just behind the camera. Ribbosene Silk: For Sweater Knitting Advertisement, 1918 Oppenheimer's 8th and E Sts. Headquarters for Sewing and Knitting Needs. Plaiting , In All Its Branches: Embroidery, Initialing, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 10:18pm -

Washington, D.C., 1919. "Automobile with ad for Oppenheimer's shop, 800 E Street N.W." Faintly visible in the distance on the left is a large sign for the Center Market. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. 8th Street NWApparently, Oppenheimer's had more than one location. The address on the truck clearly notes "800 E Street, N.W." but this view (with "Oppenheimer's" noted on the storefront) is looking south from the 400 block of 8th Street NW (toward what was the Center Market as Dave noted and is now the National Archives). Looks like I might have to take "+91" tomorrow if I can get out of my office for a few minutes. Update: Dangit! I just realized that it was a corner building and had to log on to update my post, but an Anonymous Tipster pointed it out first. View Larger Map 800 EThe photo does indeed show the Oppenheimer's at 800 E Street. It was on the corner with facades on both 8th and E Street, which is just behind the camera. Ribbosene Silk: For Sweater Knitting Advertisement, 1918 Oppenheimer's 8th and E Sts. Headquarters for Sewing and Knitting Needs. Plaiting, In All Its Branches: Embroidery, Initialing, Braiding, Hemstitching, Beading, Picot Edges. Fringes: All the vogue for waist, dress and gown trimming. We make them to order in any color you want. Buttons: Pearl, Fancy and Cloth, in All Shapes and Sizes. Buttons to Order to Match our Garments. Ribbosene Silk: For Sweater Knitting. We Carry in Stock All the Pretty Colors. Yarn and Wool: Our stock is always complete. Dress Forms: Dressmaking is a simple pastime if you have a good dress form to make your dresses, waists or gowns over. We have all styles at popular prices. Sewing Machines: Singer, New Home and other makes. Always bargains to be had here in sewing machines. Sold on Easy Payments. Oppenheimer's Shop Unique Cor. 8th and E Sts. N.W. For a buck an hourCan you figure out what's making that funny noise under the hood? And go ahead and burn out the carbon while you're at it. Oh wait, I'm fuel injected now. The truckDodge Brothers commercial screenside, a sort of van-pickup hybrid that was popular until the 1930s. +91Below is the view from September of 2010. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo, Stores & Markets)
Baby Doll: 1917
... just confirms that the aim was a "sexy child" effect. The "knitting for the troops" just puts the icing on the slightly creepy cake. ... wool on the floor under the table. The great thing about knitting as a pastime is that it can turn those unoccupied minutes into ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/28/2012 - 6:28pm -

November 19, 1917. New York. "Frances White." Half of the vaudeville team Rock & White, Frances attained brief renown for a novelty tune called the "Spelling Song." 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-IFrances sings! McKayla Maroney twinHeh, heh. Anyone else notice the resemblance? WowWhat an interesting photo. The battered wall and window completely fail to make the scene seem house-like, but that's not what's so strange. It's the combination of grown woman in full makeup and silk stockings wearing childlike shoes, floppy bow and rompers. Hearing the clip just confirms that the aim was a "sexy child" effect. The "knitting for the troops" just puts the icing on the slightly creepy cake. I don't know if it makes me feel better or worse to know this sort of thing has been going on for a long time! Frances is s a real knitter, too... probably since her childhood. She is working on a sweater back, in garter stitch, on smaller needles - probably a size four. You can see the ball of hand-wound olive-dunn wool on the floor under the table. The great thing about knitting as a pastime is that it can turn those unoccupied minutes into something useful. Unlike a book, it won't bereave you to put it down in the middle of a compelling passage. You can still chatter or pay attention to other things - such as the sound from outside your dressing room - while your hands are occupied. it's also a great companion while you are traveling. She could probably get half a sweater done riding the rails between New York and Chicago. Even the familiarity with which Frances holds her needles points to the verity of the shot. The cameraman probably saw her knitting on the table, and suggested that she pick it up to make a good shot. Speaking Of SpellingMy Mother would sing to us kids a variant of the Mississippi song...."M eye crooked letter crooked letter eye, crooked letter crooked letter eye, humpback humpback eye". Knitting nerdsWell, car nerds are common around here, identifying all the obscure vehicles in the photos. Train nerds are probably second in number. Flag nerds abound. And now we have a highly qualified knitting nerd. Louise, I found that interesting, and forwarded the link to my knitter/historian cousin who will be delighted! Thanks!! Still a TeenagerAccording to Wikipedia, Frances White lived from 1898 to 1969. Doing the math, she was around 19 years old when this photo was taken. William Rock, her vaudeville partner, lived from 1875 until 1922. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Pretty Girls)
Christmas P.J.'s: 1951
... New Yorker : A voluptuous virgin at Vassar Is knitting an antimacassar, To induce her professor to love and caress her, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/25/2022 - 11:44pm -

"Christmas P.J.'s -- Dec. 25 1951." Grace and Sally clash in the latest episode of Minnesota Kodachromes! 35mm color slide by Hubert Tuttle. View full size.         Grace and Sally hope you had a very merry Christmas! Behind the chairIs that Ralphie's Red Ryder 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle? You'll put your eye out!That looks like the barrel of a Daisy BB Gun sticking up behind the chair. London Past & PresentThank you for the Beautiful Christmas Focus! I thought Shorpy might appreciate seeing this: "Christmas in London past and present: In pictures." Happy Holidays to You and Yours! Patty I wonder what her dress saysMy reading and writing of Japanese has been limited to nothing more than handwriting an invitation for dinner to one Japanese president, with assistance from a Japanese native. At least my writing was good enough that he actually showed up. A little might have been lost in the communication, though, as the first question he asked when I opened the limo door was if I'd gotten him a call girl and here I'd thought $25,000 worth of sushi around the Christmas tree was all I'd promised. I'd be curious what it says in the print. Seems unusual at that time in America with Pearl Harbor a not very distant memory that a Midwestern woman would wear such a pattern. My father never bought a Japanese car and apologized profusely to his last days for finally buying a Sony TV. Actually, it makes me wonder if she may have been the wife of an occupying soldier. On the contrarySally's collar matches Grace's pajamas beautifully. They are even color-coordinated with the drapes and lamp. The poor, pale, porcelain cat ... Rifle, curtain rod, or something else?What's that propped against the entry door frame, behind the chair? Perhaps a Red Ryder carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle? The PJs of Saint Mary'sThose are the same pajamas she was wearing at the hospital. A dog and cigarsJust imagining coming home from work and sitting here reading the evening newspaper. Kodachrome mailerI believe there is a 20-exposure box of processed Kodachromes on the table along with the cigars. The yellow box looks to be the right color and shape. Crocheted doiliesYou don't see crocheted doilies on chairs these days. I wonder if they were handmade? [Those are called antimacassars and yes, they were hand-made, usually by your mother or grandmother. -tterrace] AntimacassarsApropos of which, I am reminded of a limerick from a long-ago New Yorker: A voluptuous virgin at Vassar Is knitting an antimacassar, To induce her professor to love and caress her, And possibly even to pass her. Conservative progressive?My first though was "1951? Really?" as such a dress pattern would not be out of place in the late 60's or early 70's. Antimacassars are still popular with the airlines. Now, there's a conservative industry, if there ever was one. So, once again we can see, if you do have got an attic, never dump anything. It might come back into fashion. Anti MacassarAntimacassars were developed to protect the chair fabric from the "evils" of Macassar Oil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macassar_oil A coordinated effortFrom the draperies to the wallpaper accents to the lamp to the upholstery to the slightly boho jammies and even down to the lipstick enhancing her lovely smile, Grace embraced the coral colorway with something approaching fanaticism. It's a happy shade that suited her well. Anti-antimacassarWould that be an oily-doily? A little dab'll do yaMacassar was a particularly oleaginous hair dressing popular with males in the 19th Century. It tended to stain fabrics, particularly the heavily napped upholstery on most Victorian furniture. Though the product has not been around for years, several immediate generations of our antecedents were brought up to associate antimacassars with gentility, right up there with lace curtains. They are also among the few things one can make to show off one's crocheting skills now that women's fashion has lost its fussiness. In some quarters, I am confident, antimacassars endure, a product without a need. So nice to see Sally again! No research other than Shorpy photos and commentsWe know that Grace and Hubert Tuttle are married, as are Maurine and Leslie Boler. I think Grace's maiden name is Ringgenberg https://www.shorpy.com/node/18281 and Maurine is her daughter (mother-daughter resemblance, especially hair). I think Grace's parents are Helen and Albert Ringgenberg (see St. Mary's photo) and she has a brother, Morris (in the photograph - there is a resemblance) and a brother, William (referenced in the newspaper clipping). [Grace Ellanor True Cartwright had one child -- Donald Cartwright, from her marriage to Thomas Cartwright. She married Hubert Tuttle in 1936. Her parents were Bertha and Byron True. - Dave] AlmostAnother year almost done. Let's hope for 2023. I've looked at this photo for years and just realized that I sit next to a table in my living room that's a twin to the one in the photo. It was my uncle's; he was born in 1902. I believe it was his father's. Doilies and ashtrays.1950s and '60s staples. I can smell those El Producto Perus to this day. Those weren't even a good 5 cent cigar. YikesHaven't seen colors like this since The Shining. Them There EyesI'm amazed, not a single comment about that owner-adoring Dalmatian. The eyes say it all, no evocative sounds necessary. Best festive wishes to all. My eyes!This is another one of those photos that would look better in Black and White! (Christmas, Dogs, Minnesota Kodachromes)
A Walk in the Park: 1900
... negative. View full size. Busy Knitter She's knitting! The younger woman in the foreground at left -- those hands are busy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 3:37pm -

Chicago circa 1900. "A walk in Lincoln Park." We spy a hazard for any tots inclined to run behind park benches. 8x10 glass negative. View full size. Busy Knitter She's knitting! The younger woman in the foreground at left -- those hands are busy working on a sock or a baby bonnet. Something small. After enlarging the photo and poking around a bit, I almost forgot about her. Then I returned to Our Fair Knitter, looking for the yarn. There it is, trailing down to the ground. Hmm. Getting a bit soiled? From her relaxed and yet focused posture, she's an experienced knitter and unconcerned about Grandma's stern demeanor. Kids those daysBack then, you looked where you were running. Benches and branchesDoes the bench hold up the tree or does the tree keep the bench from being moved? Neither one sounds plausible. WhoaA hazard indeed. I wonder if that was considered simpler then putting bolts through the legs into the pathway. A set of circa 1900 wire cutters and you own a new bench. I Spy TooOkay, I see the hazard for tots lurking behind each bench. What I don't see is the point of tethering each bench to a tree. Was there a clandestine market for stolen park benches in 1900? Dive! Dive!Aoooogah ... Ahooogha. Battleaxe sighted on port side! Bench tethersClearly an attempt to thwart the evil bench thieves. Home AloneLooks like the only one enjoying that mister is Macaulay Culkin's scary-but-nice neighbor. No missing treesFastening the trees to the park benches is clearly an effort to keep people from walking away with the shade trees. And it appears to have worked. Good thing there's a policeman nearbySo, do you think the cables are there to prevent bench theft or to ensure that there is only one bench every 20 feet and everything stays neat and orderly? Local rule -Women sat on one side of the path and men on the other and the policeman to keep them all in order or is he watching for the pesky bench thieves? Only a hazard the first timeOnce you've been clotheslined, you never forget it. I Spywith my little eye (between the closest ladies & tree on the left, in the distance) either a stroller or cart half-hidden by a tree; and beyond that, a hammock? ObservationsI love those makeshift planters in between each tree. Wish I could see it in color. Yes, the elder woman on the left does bear a strong resemblance to Large Marge from Pee Wee's Big Adventure! There is a slight optical illusion, at least to my feeble mind. Look at the 3rd bench down on the left. At first glance, I thought the little girl was standing on it. But I see now she's way back behind the 4th. Guys didn't have a chanceWhat an amazing photograph -- so much here. Interesting that each young girl has a chaperone (mom perhaps) sitting beside her, and a policeman as well (what an amazing uniform). Love the previously mentioned wires running to the trees. And the sprinkler, obviously buried pipes. The art of subtletyGee, do you thinl anyone noticed the guy taking pictures? Is there a law against it? More importantly, who will attack first, the officer or the lady? Nobody looks happy to be posing. A Bridge Too FarLooks like this bridge at the far end of concourse. Pre WiFiClearly what we have here is Lincoln Park before wifi. The cables are obviously tapping in to the local network and allowing for connection via the benches. You can see by the blur that the young lady on the left must be updating her Facebook account - you can even see her data cable, which must plug in to the bench, by her leg. Keep Off the GrassPerhaps the cables were intended to prevent people from walking on the grass if the path was crowded? Tethering Clearly It appears that the benches are tethered to prevent moving them. Four men might easily move a bench to visit or whatever, then the City workers would be stuck moving them back in the morning. Bench SecurityPerhaps, to keep the benches there, and allow freedom of movement to where the shade resides. I would love to step right into this scene. Park DangersHazard? If I were a tot, the risk of decapitation from obstacles might well seem less of a hazard than the lantern-jawed matriarch guarding the left and the cop with tickets already in hand guarding the right of the path. It is pretty clear than romping and frolicking are not on the approved activities list in that park! That Policeman... will give you a conk on your noggin with his billy club if you even think of disrespecting his attire with a chuckle. PlantersWhat first appears to be smaller trees or bushes actually seems to be some sort of planter. I'd love to see that in color! Looks almost like the main part of the planter is a piece of tree trunk? odd. The sprinkler does not appear to be bothering the officer or man on the right. The hat on the leftI think it's growing! Windy citySince Chicago is the windy city, is it possible that the cables are there to keep the benches from blowing away from a strong gust. With the cable it was easy maybe to remove the benches in the wintertime during heavy snows. Joe from LI, NY Bench ties. I doubt people back then even thought about stealing these benches. First, they are heavy, and second, you just didn't do those kind of things back then. You were actually shamed and ridiculed for being thief. It wasn't just a career choice like today. My guess is the wires are there to keep the benches in order. Lastly, something tells me the photographer isn't much appreciated by the crowd at hand, And it looks like officer O'Brian is about to see what's going on here. [A check of most any big-city newspaper circa 1900 will confirm that there was plenty of thievery around the turn of the century. - Dave] Windy CityChicago being called the windy city had nothing to do with the weather but rather the blow hard politicians and their bragging about how great the city was. Funny how little that has changed. To Protect and ServeI think the cop is protecting the bearded old guy from further assaults (physical or verbal) from the battleaxe across the walkway. Re: Kids those daysI could see myself running through that park; getting myself caught on one of those wires, and falling down. Here's the learning process I would have gone through, after my experience: 1. Fall down and start crying. 2. Mother picks me up and dusts me off. 3. Mother then promptly slaps the back of my head, and also my butt, and says "Next time, watch where you're going." And thus we would have reached the conclusion of the learning process. Identified!That's obviously Alfred Nobel on the bench. And the cop is keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't blow something up. A Walk in the Park: 2011The spot was easy to find, because, as lesle points points out here in comments, the South Pond bridge is visible at the vanishing point. Chicago, August 28, 2011 Pickpockets and Purse SnatchersIn Chicago and everywhere at this time, pickpockets were rampant at any public gathering. Jane Addams, a famous and wealthy woman who worked with the poor at the time, had her purse snatched at the opening ceremonies for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893! The cop is there to see that they aren't working the park on a fine day when many people are out and about. (The Gallery, Chicago, DPC)
Miss Illegible: 1921
... get the scarred lip and broken tooth from tea parties or knitting. Miss Illegible: 1921 The girl was Nellie Orr. See this link ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/22/2022 - 12:25pm -

        UPDATE: This is the lovely Miss Nellie Orr! Washington, D.C., circa 1921. "Nellie [Illegible], Miss Philadelphia." Perhaps someone out there can put a last name to this winsome face. View full size. Like some kind of sea creatureWhat a fantastically weird hat. Nellie OrrI think it was Orr. http://www.misspa.org/past.htm Up in Here"Why are ya'all up in my grill?" Actually,she's the cutest beauty pageant contestant ever. Miss Nellie OrrMiss Nellie Orr, Miss Philly 1921 and one of only eight contestants in the first (1921) Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. http://www.pageantopolis.com/international/America_1920.htm Nellie looked "spunky". Miss Nellie OrrThe Coshocton Tribune (Ohio), 10 September 1921 (via NewspaperArchive.com): SHE'LL REPRESENT MISS PHILADELPHIA IN BEAUTY REVIEW Miss Nellie Orr of Philadelphia was chosen in the recent beauty contest to represent the Quaker City in the beauty review to be held in Atlantic City some time in September. Literally winsomeNellie didn't have much equipment even by the standards of that day (teeth didn't matter, shape did!) but something in her look tells me she would have been a formidable competitor in anything she chose. She certainly didn't get the scarred lip and broken tooth from tea parties or knitting. Miss Illegible: 1921The girl was Nellie Orr. See this link for list of Miss Philadelphia winners. http://www.misspa.org/past.htm Whoa NellieMISS AMERICA 1921 1921 September 7 8 entries Result 1 WASHINGTON DC - Margaret Gorman Remainder CAMDEN (NJ) - Kathryn M. Gearon HARRISBURG (PA) - Emma Pharo NEW YORK CITY (NY) - Virginia Lee NEWARK (NJ) - Margaret Bates OCEAN CITY (NJ) - Hazel Harris PHILADELPHIA (PA) - Nellie Orr PITTSBURGH (PA) - Thelma Matthews Miss Orr: 1921Looks to the future and tells herself: "I'm gonna be the best Miss Philadelphia ever and with my winnings I'm gonna buy another letter or two for my pathetically short last name!" Near Miss In 1921 Nellie Orr competed as Miss Philly in what would soon become known as the Miss America Pageant, where out of 500 contestants in the "bathers' review," she finished second. Something must have been stuffed -- either the ballot box, or ... Heeere she isIn the Racine Journal-News, same great hat Poor PhiladelphiaFlat as a pancake, foul teeth! My God! I wonder what her contenders looked like. Prosthodontically speakingMiss Orr seems to be sporting a none too artfully fashioned porcelain jacket crown. Or is it an inlay? Her nameYes it was Orr, and she was my great-grandmother on my mom's side. From what my grandfather has told me about her, she was very spunky and outspoken. He used to tell me I reminded him of her! Nellie OrrNellie was my mother's older sister. My mother is 82 and still lives in Haddon Heights, NJ. I hope Heaven is far awayOtherwise, she's still embarrassed every time someone looks at this picture. She's probably saying something on the order of, "Of all the photos taken of me, how did this get to be the one people are still looking at? Now that it is on Shorpy, I will never live it down!" Equipped Just FineMiss Nellie is actually built perfectly for the standards of the day. By 1921 the flapper era was in full swing, emphasizing an almost boyish look with bobbed hair, flattened breasts and few visible curves. It was a reaction to the Victorian style of very long hair and fairly extreme curves accentuated by a corset. It's no surprise she would finish second in the "bathers' revue." (Full disclosure: my grandmother was a flapper. Her hair had never been cut until 1919 at age 12, when she got a bob. She told me her father didn't speak to her for weeks!) What Happened to Miss Philadelphia 1921 Nellie Orr?Does anyone know what became of Nellie Orr? I am researching all eight of the 1921 Miss America Contestants from the first contest and located info on all except for Nellie. Looking for her parents names, Nellie’s married name and when she passed away. Many thanks! You can contact me at NRFB59@aol.com Nellie Orr at Miss America 1921Here she is in her black taffeta swimsuit. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Come Fly With Me: 1911
... Security has already confiscated any bottled liquids, knitting needles, and the like. Perhaps the stripping off of seat cushions and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/26/2012 - 11:45am -

Washington, D.C., or vicinity circa 1911. "Senorita Lenore Riviero with Antony Jannus in Rex Smith aeroplane." Please fasten your seatbelts (or skirts) while we prepare for departure. Tony Jannus, the pioneering but short-lived Washington aviator, a few years before his final flight landed him somewhere at the bottom of the Black Sea. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Early FlightDone with "Stone Knives and Bear Skins" Flying:I do believe, if I were in his shoes, I'd see what I could do; to do a wee bit less public "flying" with her too! Knees TogetherIs she tied like a sack of potatoes? Is the point so that her dress doesn't fly up? Was wearing pants totally taboo for a 1911 woman? Surely this should've been the exception to the no pants rule? She looks terrifiedand I would too!!! Great picture! Love it. Thanks. Ignition onMagnetos engaged, fuel pump primed, let's get this beauty off the ground. Great image, Tony looks like he's the cat that got the milk. I hope the Senorita was impressed, she is very pretty. Those Magnificent Men ... and Women!This shot reminds me so much of scenes from the movie. The young lady is very brave; injury or death lurked close-by every time one of these pioneering flying machines were started up, let alone took to the air. I love the "skirt-belt," to keep the breeze from creating a possibly immodest and, for the pilot, distracting view! Eyes and earsNo protection for eyes or ears. The pilot's head is right next to the engine. The roar for both him and the lady had to be pretty loud. Are you seated comforably miss?Now, after seeing this picture, you couldn't possibly complain about economy class airplane seats ever again. Potomac ParkThis is in Potomac Park, D.C., according to the photo caption here. More on the Rex Smith Aeroplane Company here. Airport SecurityI see that Airport Security has already confiscated any bottled liquids, knitting needles, and the like. Perhaps the stripping off of seat cushions and seatbelts (in case one might want to suffocate or strangle the pilot) was a bit much but you can't be too careful when airline security is at stake. Early Fly-By-Wire TechnologyLooks like it might as well be fishing line wrapped around the pulley behind the steering wheel. [Or piano wire. - Dave] ControlsIn addition to the fly by wire technology associated with the wheel there is another channel of wiring connected to the metal bar next to the pilot's upper arm. There is a similar bar by his left arm that is hidden by the wheel. He would bank the aircraft by leaning left or right to warp the wings. With the cute passenger, I would think that banks to the right would be the preferred direction of turn. A third fly by wire channel is attached to the upper and lower ends of the wheel support structure to control the elevator in the rear by pushing or pulling on the wheel for changes in the pitch up or down attitude of the aircraft. The engine is also equipped with an "Armstrong" starter that is about to be engaged. Society Girl Flies Washington Post, Mar 26, 1911. Society Girl Flies Other Washington Social Leaders May Follow Precedent. To Miss Gladys Hinkley, one of Washington's most popular society belles, belongs the distinction of being the first girl to make a trip in an aeroplane in the Capital. Late yesterday afternoon Miss Hinkley prevailed upon Aviator Antony Jannus to take her for a ride over Potomac Park. When the birdlike machine several times circled the field and slowly settled to earth Miss Hinkley most enthusiastically expressed her delight at the experience. … Aviator Jannus, who is making flights almost daily at Potomac park in the Washington-built Rex-Smith biplane, had not only as his guest Miss Hinkley, but Dr. Charles D. Walcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution: Victor Emerson, several business men of the city, a representative of the Washington Post, and officials of the company. … Aviator Jannus has perfect control of his machine at all times, and while he has not made an attempt for an altitude record, declares that as soon as he becomes familiar with all conditions of weather he will seek a level higher than has ever before been reached. A squad of officers from the United States engineer corps is detailed to Potomac park daily to watch the flights in the interest of the War Department, and it is the plan of Aviator Jannus to take each of the army representatives for flights that they main gain the experience necessary to make an ascension alone if necessary. Yesterday was not an ideal day for flying, yet more than 50 flights were made in the presence of nearly a thousand persons. After a few practice flights Aviator Jannus took as passengers as many as could be accommodated. He promises to make more flights during the week and has partially promised rides to a number of society leaders. So far no charge has been made for the trips, but owing to the great number of demands upon the aviator the promoters of the company may arrange a schedule of prices. Trips over the city are already being discussed by the aviators, and it may not be long before "Seeing Washington from an Aeroplane" will be the most talked-of attraction for the city's visitors. PerchedIt's interesting to note that more attention was paid to strapping the lady's skirt down than strapping her in the airplane. Unless I'm mistaken, both the pilot and the passenger are essentially just sitting on the wing. I'll bet the experience would get much more interesting if her feet slipped off that makeshift foot rest. Getting It UpSorry to hear about Tony's early and unfortunate demise. By the look on his face, you can bet he would have been a charter member of the Mile High Club. Leaned into a turn?It looks like he would bank the airplane by leaning into the frame beside his shoulders. SuperbHere is a man happy in his work. Just one look at his face tells a story. The hapless young lady grips on to anything to hand, bit of wing, a piece of fuselage, and wears a brave face. The sheer noise, terror, and fear of instant death awaits her. So brave. Friction RidgeThat looks like a fingerprint over Tony's knee. That LookThe expression on the woman's face is the best example of the "Are-you-sure-this-is-safe?" look I've seen on Shorpy! She was disappointed the flight didn't go higherA little digging adds some background. The photo appears in Town & Country magazine's supplement, The Air-Scout for May 27, 1911 (p. 54). She is mentioned as the daughter of Cuba's new minister to the U.S. This was Antonio Martin-Rivero, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for Cuba, who presented his credentials in Washington, April 11, 1911. Lenore, it seems, wasted no time seeing the sights in Papa's new posting. The photo, by the way, is credited to Paul Thompson, who took many of the magazine's aviation photos. Moreover, the shot caught at least one other editor's eye, as it also ran in the Syracuse (N.Y.) Journal for April 13, 1911, top and center on the front page. According to the newspaper caption, "Senorita Riviero was delighted with the sensation, but disappointed because they didn't go higher." At highest, the paper noted, the flight was about 75 feet up. Scared? I don't think so. You wonder what became of her, and hope she had a good life. A little more about LenoraI think the Town & Country caption writer spelled her last name slightly wrong, as "Rivero" seems correct. And searching on "Lenora Rivero" produces a little more about her. In the Tacoma (Wash.) Times (December 5, 1911; p. 5) she is mentioned, along with a younger sister, Amparo, as one of "Six Belles Who Are To Make Their Debut In Washington This Season". There's a photo of her that's recognizably the same young woman who's sitting on the wing beside Mr. Jannus. Footnote: Another of the Six Belles is Miss Edith Gracie, whose father Archibald had a tragic appointment with an iceberg four months later. He survived the sinking, spending the night clinging to an overturned collapsable lifeboat, but died in December 1912. See here: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085187/1911-12-05/ed-1/seq-5/ And in the Washington (D.C.) Herald's Society column (February 20, 1912; p. 5), there's a note of a dance given by Mr. and Mrs. A.P. Crenshaw in the red room of the New Willard hotel that Lenora, Amparo, and their father attended. No photos, sadly, but the society writer is keen to tell us that "the ballroom was most beautifully festooned with Southern smilax, palms, and ferns studded with spring blossoms, and a string orchestra played for the dancing....Supper was served at midnight." See: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1912-02-20/ed-1/seq-5/ Edith Gracie was also at the Crenshaws' ball, although her father was not. He had just finished a book on the Civil War battle of Chickamauga, and in the words of his Wiki entry, "He found the experience rewarding but exhausting; in early 1912 he decided to visit Europe without his wife Constance (née Schack) and their daughter in order to recharge his batteries. He traveled to Europe on RMS Oceanic and eventually decided to return to the United States aboard RMS Titanic." A photo such as seen here takes just a tenth of a second to capture, but it knits together many lives. (The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Spinning a Yarn: 1942
... Gagnon, Acadian FSA client, spinning domestic wool for knitting." 4x5 inch acetate negative by John Collier for the Farm Security ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/30/2022 - 1:27pm -

August 1942. "Fort Kent, Maine (vicinity). FSA clients of French descent on the Maine-Canadian border. Wife of Leonard Gagnon, Acadian FSA client, spinning domestic wool for knitting." 4x5 inch acetate negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Just a guessShe has picked a perfect August day to take her spinning wheel out on the porch, to sit in the sun and fresh air. The wool is warm in her lap. She will even get a little tan. She knows soon the leaves around her will change color and there will come the first frost. Before long, everything will be covered by an endless blanket of snow. But that is not today. Today is a perfect day to sit in the sun and spin wool into yarn, and dream of an old love. The work is never doneWhen Mrs. Gagnon is done playing, she can get out there and finish plowing the fields! Her name was EmmaI found Leonard Gagnon and his wife, Emma in the 1940 Census. Assuming no changes between then and the 1942 photo, Emma is 41 and the mother of nine children, six daughters and three sons, ranging in age from 18 to 3. Emma definitely needed some quiet time to sit on the porch, in the sun ... alone. Click to embiggen Here she ishttps://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/273C-N8S https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/183759747/flavie-martin I couldn't find the family on WikiTree to see if we are related, so I added her: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Martin-79847 Buena VistaI love this view. I can picture in my mind how it would look with a thick mantle of snow. (The Gallery, Agriculture, John Collier)
Insane: 1917
... stray hairs, and the almost symbolic out-of-focus objects (knitting?) across the room, this strikes me as something of a masterpiece. ... is actually quite a beautiful composition -- the blurred knitting, the vulnerable back of an anonymous woman's neck, her hair screwed ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/26/2012 - 11:41am -

Washington, D.C., 1917. "St. Elizabeths, government hospital for the insane." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size. St. ElizabethsTalk about lonely. Insane = politically incorrectWe prefer the expression "Mentally Hilarious," thank you. Quiet DignityLonely, yes. And sad of course. But the photographer has allowed that poor woman her dignity -- something, I can't help thinking, that few modern photographers would do. In its small way -- the close-up of the back of the neck, and the wispy stray hairs, and the almost symbolic out-of-focus objects (knitting?) across the room, this strikes me as something of a masterpiece. PortraitThis is actually quite a beautiful composition -- the blurred knitting, the vulnerable back of an anonymous woman's neck, her hair screwed into a severe topknot. At least she perhaps has needlework in her lap. I think "lonely" is indeed the right word. InstitutionalizedI was actually thinking that this picture makes it look like a soothing place. In the days before more effective drugs and therapy, that's the best one could hope for. Lonely indeedProve that a picture is worth 1000 words. Very simple, but speaks volumes. Vita BrevisAn image so fine it reads like poetry -- the photographer's portrayal of emotion -- her countenance defines catatonia yet clearly she is working at a task -- no, no, there is no hope, except does the light passage imply the Lord is coming for her. Excellent job, photographer, you are indeed an artist. Stopped me coldA life in limbo, waiting. AsylumIn today's society, she would be homeless living in a tent. Re: AsylumI hate to break it to you, but the asylums of yesteryear were not exactly palatial. Yes, they were probably better than a tent, but the mentally ill often endured "treatment" that we cannot even fathom, simply because they lacked effective ways of treating patients and the understanding of mental illness was nascent. Prevailing attitudes toward the mentally ill were not always particularly kind then, either. I agree that we are a callous society today and that there is every chance that this woman would be living in a tent, but I think that she probably had a hard life with her condition in 1917 as well. Onto the streetI lived in Los Angeles during the Reagan years when mental hospitals were defunded, and large numbers of the mentally ill were turned out onto the streets. They became a disposal problem, just horrific. A bit of history about St. ElizabethsThe book "The Professor and the Madman" tells the story of William Chester Minor, an editor of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary who was diagnosed as criminally insane. He died there in 1920 so it is entirely possible that he and this lady would have known each other. DetailsShe's clean. Her clothes are well made, clean, pressed. Someone let her--or helped her--put her clean hair up neatly. If she's using knitting needles, she's peaceful. And busy. There's a window and light. That's a lot to be thankful for. PoetryEzra Pound, a nutjob for sure, spent 12 years at St. Elizabeths and managed to get out with his sanity, if you want to call it that. But he did some great writing while he was there. Guess he had nothing else to do. Suitcaseshttp://www.suitcaseexhibit.org/flashSite.html The Willard Suitcases Stories and photos of people and possessions like the lady in the photo. Something not mentionedMy mother worked on genealogy for many years, for our family, and helped many others find their own family histories. She told me of many heartbreaking stories of middle aged women who were put away in mental institutions when they reached menopause, because the families, and sometimes just the husbands, thought their wives were mentally disturbed instead of suffering from a medical condition they did not understand or know how to properly treat. Severe cases of postpartum depression were frequently treated the same way. I cannot imagine the horror, and am eternally grateful for the advances in medical care that mean I never have to find out. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Medicine)
Life Lessons: 1951
... wires!" Shut the cage next time If I leave the knitting needle here, maybe the hamster will climb out on its own. How many ... to my car antenna? Metal rod I think it's a knitting needle. Doesn't anyone remember what those were? Not that uncommon ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2014 - 6:35pm -

Jan. 19, 1951. "Common accidents in the home." A sentiment open to a number of interpretations. Wellington, New Zealand, Evening Post photo. View full size. Now lookHoney here's how we unclog the vacuum, first of all we make sure it's plugged in, then stick this metal rod down this hole -- One interpretationI expect they are trying to tell you not to poke metal rods into your 12000 rpm vacuum cleaner motor with it plugged in. Particularly when you are also four inches away and staring into the hole. This is the "Before" picture, of course. Ultra ModThat vac has a plastic-insulated power cord, way ahead of its time. The 50's Electrolux my mommy used way into the 70's had a cloth-insulated cord, as did most of the pre-1960's appliances that I remember in the household of my youth. C'mon Mom, find it!I need my molar to get a shilling from the Tooth Fairy! Local AdaptationRemember, Julia, in the Southern Hemisphere we coax the motor in an anticlockwise direction. That needle isn't metalMy mother had those needles - same dark colour, same rounded-off ends. Those were early plastic needles - probably Bakelite. Horrible things, but those single-pointed needles usually were no matter what they were made of. Thank heavens for circs. "And always remember ...... to wet your finger before poking those shiny little wires!" Shut the cage next timeIf I leave the knitting needle here, maybe the hamster will climb out on its own. How many timesdo I have to tell you, "Don't use the vacuum while the cat's in the house?!" See JanieThis is what happens when you let Fluffy the gerbil out of his cage. Life lesson #32Always fix your vacuum in your jammies. One minute there were two gerbilsand then there was only one. The ProblemOf course it doesn't suck, it's Rocket Man's jet pack. Boys' Wind TunnelThe 50s Electrolux equivalent blew outwards if you plugged the hose into the other end, which provided the power for any number of wind tunnels for testing airfoils. Honey --Do you know what happened to my car antenna? Metal rodI think it's a knitting needle. Doesn't anyone remember what those were? Not that uncommonA lot of children are accidents. At least this one is learning a useful trade. Knitting a new vacuum bag. 1952Was the year my parents bought our Electrolux. The demo man came out to the house in a 1951 Buick Roadmaster sedan and put the machine through its paces. He dumped a pile of dirt onto one of our living rooms chairs to show how effective it was, then forgot to clean it up until I reminded him just as he was getting ready to leave--my parents said I embarassed them. I was disappointed that ours didn't have the neat cord rewinder on the front. I still have the big marbelized rubber zipper bag with the porthole for winter storage of furs. There's a port at the bottom to which you connected a cannister for moth balls, then the hose was connected to the front of the machine and the fumes blown into the bag. (The Gallery, Kids, New Zealand)
Home Entertainment: 1943
... Dave's close-up inspires this guess: a couple of Mom's knitting or embroidery implements? Or maybe manicure thingies? Watching the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/14/2009 - 10:37pm -

February 1943. "Blue Island, Illinois. 2439 Orchard Street. Bobby Senise and mother listening to a radio program. Home of Daniel Senise, engine foreman on the Indiana Harbor Belt Line." Safety negative by Jack Delano. View full size. The Human ComedyThis immediately made me recall reading Saroyan's "The Human Comedy" except it's the Midwest rather than California. Watching the RadioThis scene reminds me of what Grandma Rose used to frequently tell us kids: "TV off! Use your imagination!" Souvenirs from Out WestI'm not a "know-it-all" as I cannot identify the two implements that are keeping Bobby amused, but I do know that the items in question were all keepsakes from the souvenir shops in the West and Southwest in days of yore. The pottery was simply a novelty planter made by American Indian or Mexican craftsmen out of clay, as was the sombrero which had a decal on the front of where it was from. It did not necessarily serve a purpose as "souvenirs" are often useless curiosities. The giant pinecone was from the California behemoth redwoods, the fiber or straw totebag with ethnic people pictured is from the Southwest and the trophy looks like a bowling prize. The comfortable affection between mother and son is very similar to Elvis Presley's easy, kindred, unconditional love with his mother Gladys. We need a lot more of this type of family relationship today. It's a great picture that really takes one back, thank you Shorpy. [Speaking of tacky tchotchkes, let's see if we can't work Elvis and Gladys into more comments. Well done! - Dave] The bad old daysDaniel Senise (who isn't even in the photo) and Bobby Senise get names, but Mrs. Senise is just "mother." If Jack Delano was working in 2009, instead of 1943, his editor would probably rip him a new one, with her bare hands. [Jack Delano took dozens of photos of the Senise family -- Betty, Daniel and their three sons and dog. He gives all of their names in the introductory photos and then as needed so we can tell the boys apart. - Dave] Strange objectsCan anyone identify those things Bobby is fiddling with? On the other hand, the thing on the table that looks like a ceramic sombrero is obviously a combination ash tray and citrus juicer. Wartime rationing strictures required that all ornamental devices also serve at least one, preferably two, practical purposes. UPDATE: Dave's close-up inspires this guess: a couple of Mom's knitting or embroidery implements? Or maybe manicure thingies? Watching the radioIt's interesting how people used to watch the radio. I also notice how much the Bible on the table has been worn from being read. My best guess for the thing on the table is an ash tray. My mother tells me that students were commonly taught to make ash trays in school over much of the 20th Century, so perhaps one of the boys made it. It would make sense, since it is on the same table as the ambiguous trophy. It looks like Billy has a twig in his left hand and some sort of plastic knife in his right, but I'm not sure if that is right for several reasons. I wonder what periodical Billy is using as a pillow. DadIs "Bobby" perhaps Robert L. Senise, father of actor Gary Senise (also born in Blue Lake}? [Interesting. Although Gary's last name is Sinise. - Dave] 2439 Orchard todayNice place. View Larger Map Mothers and sonsMy favorite thing about this photo is the comfortable affection between mother and son. It makes me think of my own kids and how they still like to cuddle their old mom on occasion, regardless of their ages. Great siteG'day all. Absolutely love this site, it's such a refeshing change from the doom & gloom of Main Stream Media. The clarity of the pics and the informed comments make it a must read site for me. John Melbourne Australia Mothers and sons III'm a new mom to a baby boy, and this shot really warms my heart. It shows that their relationship is a cozy and comfortable one. Funny, though, Ma looks more like Grandma or Aunt Bee to me. Pa seems too young for her. The worn Bible is a lovely touch, but what is that strange gewgaw next to it? Forget the sombrero; this is the doohickey I want to know about. It too looks like something one of the boys must have made in school: a three-legged creature with arms akimbo, carrying Christmas wreaths? Donuts? The radiois a Philco 40-155, sold in 1939-40. It's a quite nice large table-top radio, with 8 tubes, covering the AM broadcast band and international short wave bands. It had built-in loop antennas for both broadcast and shortwave. I am currently restoring one, and it's a quite good performer. They were lucky to have a relatively new radio, since production of radios for consumer use was halted shortly after Pearl Harbor. Repair parts were scarce, due to allocation of most production to the military; if your radio died and replacement parts could not be found, you couldn't just go and buy another one. Three-legged potI think the pot and the sombrero are both souvenirs of Mexico. The three legs and the lifting rings are typical of American native folk pieces, and it's decorated with the cactus motif expected by tourists. Oh JoeI know this is a little recent for Mr. Manning but hey Joe? Such a nice family, Mom always in apron, Dad hard-working. Hope Jack came home from the war safely. If we knew where they were now, wouldn't it be interesting to contact them and say "Hey, take a look at Shorpy"? These photos bring back such a flood of memories for me. My mom had nine brothers and they all served in WWII. One never made it home, two were badly wounded. I picture my grandmother sitting where this lady is, listening to war news. And by the way, I am proud to go by "Mom." I could not spell it...Loved your hilarious reply as I really wanted to use that word but could not figure out how to spell 'tchotchkes' as it was not in my 1975 dictionary. Found out it comes from both Polish (hooray) and Yiddish words. Nothing wrong with Elvis and Gladys, she too lived at Graceland, the motherlode of both tacky and tchotchke. "Pine" coneIf walking through a redwood grove every day of my grade school life, and then frequently playing in one on the school grounds itself make one a true Californian, then I'm your boy. Therefore, I can attest that the cone is from a pine tree of some kind, not a redwood, whose equivalent is a little dinky thing. The other item no one's mentioned is the thing under the basket on the bottom shelf of the table: could be a photo album, which should get Shorpy mouths watering. Norman RockwellThis brings back soooo many memories! Junior is clutching a rib and pulmonary artery recently plucked from his chest by the Mother-Goddess, who is going to make a sacrifice on her ottoman-altar just as soon as she fires up some incense in that Mayan firepot and tunes in the appropriate flute music. I love those curtains!!! Coulter pine coneThe giant pine cone came from a Coulter pine. This medium-sized pine tree is most prevalent in the coastal mountains of Southern California, but there are stands of it as far north as the Bay Area, and as far south as northern Baja California. Coulter pines produce the largest and heaviest pine cones of all species, and people working among them are cautioned to wear hard hats at all times. Curtains vs. drapesI was about to launch a pedantic tirade over A. Tipster's use of the term "curtains" in reference to what I'd call "drapes," but a simple online search proved that the matter isn't so simple. Everybody can do their own, but the most interesting bit I found was etiquette maven Emily Post's 1950 fulmination over the word "drapes": "This word is an inexcusable vulgarism." Therefore, I instead commend Tipster for displaying a scrupulous sense of propriety. It's curtains for you, Mister.I grew up in a house with inexcusably vulgar drapes in the living room and dining room. In the bedrooms and bathroom we had curtains that extended only to the bottoms of the window cases. What gets me going is the modern fashion of completely naked windows, no matter how traditional the rest of the interior features might be. And in the Cosi Fan Tutte world of today's English, saying drapes instead of draperies is probably not the social suicide that it once was. Better Homes & Gardens' online site makes a practical distinction between curtains and drapes, courageously defying the Wrath of Post: Drape vs. Curtain When is a "drape" really a "curtain"? Although the terms drapery and curtain are often used interchangeably, there is a technical difference. Curtains are made of lightweight fabrics and most often are unlined and operable. Draperies extend to the floor, tend to be lined, and are sewn of heavier fabric. Cool ChairI love the chair and ottoman. Does that style of furniture have a name? (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Sox Appeal: 1924
... 85 years away. Vintage swimsuits I was reading a knitting book published not that long ago (in the UK, mid-60's) in which a number of different stitches were recommended for use when knitting wool bathing suits as they were firm and would not stretch. Much. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 11:32am -

"Mme. Prochnik, July 7, 1924." For the fashionistas among us, as well as the morbidly curious, here's another look at Gretchen Prochnik's form-fitting swim togs. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. I'm wonderingWhat she would look like in color. Naughty KnitsThat's knits, I said! Many of the women seen wearing wool jersey bathing costumes on the Shorpy pages show the same anatomical detailing through their suits, although much depends on the lighting. But the jersey shorts worn in a particularly non-binding way by the men in college rowing crew photos from the 1880s through the 1920s often reveal even more. I'm startled that even though a glimpse of stocking was still thought shocking, many bathing costumes telegraphed so much information. [Dot-dot-dash. Minus the dash. - Dave] A cry for helpThis picture is pushing buttons I never knew I had. I may need counseling. Enough!Prochniked out. Totally. [So two is your limit. - Dave] Give the woman some creditHow many women refuse to buy a swimming suit or refuse to go in the water because of how they feel about their physical flaws, real or imagined? Mrs. P is not the the most shapely lady and that swimming suit is the most unflattering one I've ever seen BUT she put on her hat and got in the pool. Good for her -- an unflattering suit isn't going to stop her from having a good time. Chlorine!I'm more concerned about the pool. It looks a little grungy. A good place to raise catfish. Vacation home of the creature from the Black Lagoon. Fashion victimMy gosh, that looks like white adhesive tape arranged on the front of that swimsuit. Swim cap resembles a frumpy Sunday-go-to-meetin' hat! Can you imagine the cases of athletes foot & fungus caused by wearing heavy wool socks in water for hours at a time?? Ahem!Nice socks EvidentlyNot a heated pool. Farrah!I presume this is a pretext for the upcoming hi-res Farrah Fawcett memorial post. Correct? Rockin' itWell, yes, it's an insanely unflattering suit, but Mrs. Prochnik is kind of working it. She's rather nicely proportioned, actually, if one looks past that odd latticework business and the even odder socks. I like her total lack of self-consciousness. Good for her, from 85 years away. Vintage swimsuitsI was reading a knitting book published not that long ago (in the UK, mid-60's) in which a number of different stitches were recommended for use when knitting wool bathing suits as they were firm and would not stretch. Much. Say What You Willabout the subject - I'm just happy it has nothing to do with Michael Jackson. Even hippies found it shockingAs a teenager in the '60s I was shocked and dumbfounded when I saw photos of my prim mother as a teenager in similar outfits. "How could you ever leave the house and go out in public like that? Why did your parents allow it? What did the guys say?" I asked her. She was embarrassed by my shock but answered that that's what all the bathing suits were like -- unlined jersey. If you wanted to go swimming or go to the beach, you had no choice. And since all the girls looked like that, they never gave it any thought. I'm still flabbergasted by the fact that this was totally acceptable and she NEVER gave it a thought. My dad would not comment on the suits, but tried not to smile. As wild as we were in the '60s, I wouldn't have been caught dead showing that much in public! Flapper Fashion or Wardrobe Malfunction?The revealing nature of the unlined jersey bathing suits of the 1920s was perhaps not as shocking then as in the 1960s because throughout the 1920s female breasts were not given any special erotic emphasis, and in fact were ignored by fashions that promoted a flat-chested look, despite the evidence of the photo above. Shocked outrage in the 1920s was usually reserved for short skirts and naked knees. The fashionable erotic emphasis on breasts, and moral outrage about that emphasis, came along in the 1940s and 1950s, and it was only then that Good Girls began to wear bras that hid the nipples behind impenetrable cones of wired and padded fabric. And, ironically, nipples are still thought of as shocking by many in our supposedly more liberated age. Reminds me...Back in about 1974 or so, I bought a halter top which I discovered was rather see-through. I decided to alter it by cutting up one of my old bras and sew that into it. I showed it to my mother who was horrified that people would see my bra through the material. When I said "But otherwise they would see my nipples!" she replied "Yes, but it's better than seeing your bra!" I ever did understand why this was worse than seeing nipples.... And SHE grew up in the days when a girl would wear a positively see-through dress which you wore an eyelet cotton slip underneath. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Swimming)
Keypunch Orchestra: 1937
... in order. It looked like a short spear, or a very large knitting needle. I am not at liberty to say how I know this, but I've heard ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/23/2013 - 8:57pm -

June 1937. "Baltimore, Maryland. For every Social Security account number issued an 'employee master card' is made in the Social Security board records office. Testifying data, given on the application blank form SS-5, is transferred to this master card in the form of upended quadrangular holes, punched by key punch machines, which have a keyboard like a typewriter. Each key struck by an operator causes a hole to be punched in the card. The position of a hole determines the letter or number other machines will reproduce from the master card. From this master card is made an actuarial card, to be used later for statistical purposes. The master card also is used in other machines which sort them numerically, according to account numbers, alphabetically according to the name code, translate the holes into numbers and letters, and print the data on individual ledger sheets, indexes, registry of accounts and other uses. The photograph above shows records office workers punching master cards on key punch machines." Whew. Longest caption ever? Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Re: I dropped my first tray of cardsIn playing cards, it would have been called a "52 pick-up"; in Hollerith cards, it might have been a 5200 pick-up, or worse. They used to make a metal rod for carrying the cards, so they would stay neatly in order. It looked like a short spear, or a very large knitting needle. I am not at liberty to say how I know this, but I've heard through the grapevine that occasionally college students would use the rods for medieval sword fights. Again, that is just a rumor I heard; nothing I can personally confirm. The day I punched a key punch machineAs a damp-eared U.S. Army second lieutenant in the early 1960s, I was assigned to supervise some reservists during their two-week summer deployment to the Erie Ordnance Depot near Camp Perry, Ohio. We were a supply unit there to train on the Army's sizeable bank of IBM keypunch machines and all went reasonably well for a few days, with thousands of cards churned out to record the whereabouts and quantities of tons of military equipment. It was clear the Cold War would tilt in our direction because there was no way, I was sure, the Russkies had such technology on their side. About five days in, a soldier whose machine wasn't punching keys correctly called me over to help him. I knew zero about these things (hardly the first time the army put someone in charge of something he/she barely could recognize) but it was clear to me that if I pushed hard on these jammed keys here and maybe that bunch there, they'd pop in place and our nation would remain safe. The army had to fly an IBM wonk (he'd be an IT guy today, of course) in from New York to fix everything. The days I kicked a key punch machineOn the old IBM 029 card punch, my unjamming technique was to KICK the right side of the machine, HARD. Seldom required a second kick. The Candler BuildingAfter assisting in the field-measuring of every floor of the Candler building in the late 80's or early 90's, its octagonal columns and other memorable attributes are hard to forget! The building started out life as a Coca-Cola bottling facility. The individual column facets are not as uniform in shape as one might imagine. SortsYou do card sorts by running the cards into one of ten bins based on the last number. Then stack up all the cards from successive bins and run them through again into bins based on the second-last number. After running them through that way on all the digits, they're in order on all the digits. The chief hazard is card destruction by the machinery. In 1960 the keypunchers were all women but the boss was a woman too. Gradually the self-service keypunch area grew and the keypunch service shrank, as programmers learned to type faster than the turn-around on the provided service. Today programmers are all speed-typists. IT Guy From NYYep, that's me. I started in "computers" back in 1969, and they STILL had keypunch machines (albeit a newer, updated model from the one in this photo)at that time. Ladies known as "keypunch girls", later changed to "data entry clerks" were still the norm in '69. Not only was data created, but guys like me had to learn how to use the machine to create the cards that were read in to the computer to run the programs to process the data. Big grey tray cabinets (similar to the old card indexes in public libraries - anyone remember those?) held hundreds of trays with data. PC's were still a long way off. I worked for the Lincoln Savings Bank in Brooklyn until 1972, when I got married, and left for a better job with more money. I am still in the IT field, just turned 65, and work for Barnes & Noble, the booksellers. Haven't seen a keypunch machine in a long time, Everything now is server driven. Great Photo! Brings back a lot of good memories, especially for us "wonks". OH BTW - they call us "geeks" nowadays. For a good reasonThere is no backspace key on a keypunch. I dropped my first tray of cardsOn the tab room floor around 1968 The Sorter Ate My ProgramI was an operator/programmer during my tour in the Marine Corps. I used to HATE it when one of the pieces of equipment mangled some of my program cards, but the worst offender was the antique (even then) IBM 1401. Three units - CPU, Printer and card reader - each the size of a Volkswagen and giving a blistering 4 megbytes of memory. It was our fiscal computer and usually a lot of Marines leaving the service liked to "tinker" with the system, usually by inserting a card which instructed the machine to disregard any and all programs after a certain date (usually a month after said Marine had left the service). This photo brought back a LOT of memories. Early IBM SystemsThe IBM 701 was known as the Defense Calculator and it was announced to the public on April 29, 1952. It was also considered a Scientific Computer. The IBM 1401 was announced to the public on October 5, 1959. The IBM 1620 Model I was also introduced in 1959 and it was the first computer I learned about and used in 1962. ConfettiAs a young'un growing up in the 1970s, I spent MANY hours with stacks of punch cards my father brought home. We cut them up to make confetti. The rows of numbers made it easy to cut straight lines lengthwise, then cut a second set at a 90 degree angle. The holes made it fun, akin to driving over cobblestone as the scissors went from card to hole to card multiple times in a single cut. 1401 RestoredHere is a 1401 that has been restored to working condition; I was able to have helped out a tiny bit (no pun intended - well, okay maybe it was) with this project a few years ago. I have stood on that raised floor and listened to the glorious noise the machine makes when running a procedure that called for a lot of the machine resources at once - all the blowers and vacuum pumps and fans and motors; the smell of warm electronics and computer tape; the chatter of the printer; my my my! SO many memories!Yeah, my first IT job was about '69 as well. We were still hard-wiring unit record machines for reports and paycheck printing! rhardin has the sorter described perfectly. Of course, there were tricks to the job, when you had thousands of cards to sort. Among them was NOT placing the follower weight on top of a stack as you added them to the input hopper. That way, the machine ran continuously, until the output bins were filling up. Problem came when you got distracted and let the input hopper run down to (almost) empty. The bottom card would often buckle, tossing the last dozen or so above it into the air, and usually damaging the card. That's when JohnBraungart's title came in! DaveB 66 and still geeking IBM 1401s JohnBraungart: I started an IT career way back when as well, and remember the 1401 as well. I suspect you mean 4K of storage (we never called it RAM); the 1401 maxed out at 16K. It was a good machine in its way, and you certainly did learn a lot operating it. After that I was "promoted" to our 7080, and then to our two 360/40 systems. After that we went modern with the 370 series, and I fell in love with VM; ended my IT stint with the same company and retired after 35 years in IT. 701!The 701 was the predecessor to the 1401 (the first one I worked on). It was the last IBM tubed mainframe. They programmed one to control the traffic lights on Queens Boulevard in NYC. This was a first and they kept in service until the mid 90s! I did my thesis on a Univac 1600, a 20 K machine. The key punch machines never punched true. As StatPak took 18K and there needed to have room for the input data, the operators would swap out the operating system. We knew we had a bad card when the printer would start printing out paper with zeros by the box full. By the way, they still call the program that starts a mainframe the start up deck, even though punch cards have not been used in decades. Type 31 and expensive confettiSince nobody else mentioned it, those are Type 31 Alphabetical Duplicating keypunch machines. They were at the forefront of keypunch technology at the time, having a very typewriter-like keyboard with a separate number pad, a real numeric '1' key, and automatic card eject and feed. JS: You were making pretty expensive confetti! Circa 1975, used punch cards sold for around $110-$125 per ton. They were very high quality paper and the recyclers liked them a lot, and they also liked green bar paper. It took about 180 boxes of punched cards (2000 cards/box) to make a ton. We financed several Physics Department parties from recycled cards and green bar paper (which I think was around $75-$90/ton, but I'm not real sure of that one). FlashbacksOh my -- the infamous 1401... I still had to use one of these in the late '70s when attending Nassau CC at Mitchell Field (in the basement of a former barracks, no less) -- when computer sciences was still known as "Electronic Data Processing" -- oy. They jammed constantly and the only reprieve was getting past the first programming class where we were then "privileged" to have a pool of operators key in our programs for us (anyone ever punch out an entire program in Assembler on one of these?!?!) -- woe betide the hapless victim who mis-coded their punch sheets and got their deck back with all the "O"s as zeroes & vice versa. Rumor at the time (when some utility bills were still on these Hollerith cards) was that if you soaked them in a mixture of diluted bleach & alum they would shrink the holes just enough to pass thru a sorter unread. Me tooI'm another USMC vet who started off with the old keypunch machine in 1967. Someone once pointed out to me that the unique thing about punch cards was that they are the only medium that can be read by both a machine and the human eye. [Were, anyway, in the days before OCR. - tterrace] Punch cards: binary for the massesYes, those IBM cards where coded in binary, but the translation was printed on the top. One side benefit of punch cards was the chad (what was punched out to make the holes) was as a random number generator of sorts. Put a bit of moisture on your finger tip, stick it in the chad bucket and out would come a nice selection of random numbers stuck to your finger. Useful for the lottery, office pools, etc. With early IBM computers (like the 1401, et al) where there was no macro to control input/output you could issue the "start read/feed" to the card reader and see how may instructions you could run before you had to issue a "read" - i.e. before the card actually hit the read head. Thank Herman HollerithThose "IBM cards" are properly "Hollerith cards", after the inventor of the punched card system. He came up with it for the 1890 census. An operator would lower a thing with lots of pins which looked like a meat tenderizer onto the card, which had been punched with holes detailing the characteristics of a person (age, race, etc). Where a pin went through a hole and hit a contact, an electric current would advance a clock dial by one. As a result, the 1890 census was tabulated in only a year, compared to eight years for the 1880 census. The size of the card was no accident - it is the size of the dollar bill at the time. Hollerith picked it because then the cards could be sorted into racks designed for banks to sort cash. (Technology, The Gallery, Baltimore, Harris + Ewing, The Office)
Water Nymphet: 1925
... Ezekiel Brautigam, age 44, bp OH, p’s bp OH, Manager- knitting mill Hortence Brautigam, wife, age 42, bp OH, p’s bp OH Hugh Brautigam, son, age 20, bp OH, Foreman- knitting mill Dorothy Brautigam, dau, age 19, bp OH, Dancer- professional ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/07/2013 - 11:01am -

June 30, 1925. "Miss Dorothy Brautigam of the National American Ballet." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Dorothy Has Been Found1930 Census: Clinton, Shelby Co, Ohio Ezekiel Brautigam, age 44, bp OH, p’s bp OH, Manager- knitting mill Hortence Brautigam, wife, age 42, bp OH, p’s bp OH Hugh Brautigam, son, age 20, bp OH, Foreman- knitting mill Dorothy Brautigam, dau, age 19, bp OH, Dancer- professional Hila Brautigam, dau, age 14, bp OH Faye Brautigam, dau, age 11, bp OH Mary Brautigam, dau, age 8, bp OH John Brautigam, son, age 5, bp OH Rose Brautigam, dau, age 3 2/12, bp OH [Or maybe not. If Dorothy was 19 in 1930, she'd be 14 years old in this photo. - Dave] She's Got Legs... but if she's 14, I'll eat my hat. Get the Calamine Lotion!Is that poison ivy? Sure looks like it.....makin' me itchy and scratchy just looking at it! Goober Pea Dorothy is my sister!!!!I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw my sister's photo. Dorothy was a prominent figure in the Ziegfeld Follies. [Amazing. Tell us more! - Dave] Dorothy BrautigamDorothy was born on January 9, 1911. She was in the Ziegfeld Follies, was later married, no children and died at the age of 85. She was 15 years old in this picture. -- Rose B. D. (Dorothy's sister) (The Gallery, Dance, Natl Photo)
The Cowboy Kid: 1952
... nothing to do with Halloween. It's a yarn holder used for knitting or crocheting. The ball of yarn was dropped in the bucket and the free ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/19/2014 - 6:41pm -

"Floyd, Loren, Dottie & Boots at Folks -- Jan 20 1952." From the shores of Lake Wobegon comes this latest installment of Minnesota Kodachromes. With Loren sporting six-gun sox. 35mm slide by Hubert Tuttle. View full size. Also in 1952I, too, was showing that the dapper cowboy look was the in thing that year. That shirt again!I covet that green plaid shirt. Puppy BoomerFrom the gray whiskers on the dog I'd guess the dog and the kid are the same age. Duking it outNever before (and most likely since) have color and pattern so forcefully clashed. Cut from the same clothFloyd and Loren: The Men in the Gray Flannel Pants. The SocksCowboy Socks! A Riot of ColorSo much going on, here, with colors and patterns and pillows piled up against the curtains! Let's not forget the lamp. It all goes together in a crazy way. Only one properly dressedThe dog! Is it Halloween?I only ask because of the large black-and-orange bucket-like object next to Dottie and the dog. It looks like one that my son had when he was a youngster. [Thanks Horace and CarolMcC. Now I know. Clever contraption though - baxado] On the playgroundI'm thinking that kid got beat up a lot at school. Loving hands at homeI'm guessing Dottie is responsible for the pillows and her dress. I think she may have made Floyd's pants and had just enough fabric left for a pair for Loren. [As the caption indicates, they're not at home -- they're visiting Hubert's parents. - Dave] Trick or Treat?The orange bucket has nothing to do with Halloween. It's a yarn holder used for knitting or crocheting. The ball of yarn was dropped in the bucket and the free end was passed through the hole so Hubert's mom could fashion more questionable accessories for the home. Bucket listThe bucket item is actually a handbag. My sister had one back in the day. The barkcloth pillows are worth a small fortune today and I wouldn't turn them down. One observation that I'm not sure about, considering my cataracts....it looks like Dottie has never shaved her legs. It was definitely in style to shave at this time, so I could be wrong. Switch Plate Prevents 100% Euphoria HereIf only it had been mother-of-pearl pushbuttons! Everything else, clothing, accessories (that belt buckle, those socks, the decor, those cushions, the threadbare wear on the couch, that shirt ... This is exactly what 1952 was like for those of us lucky enough to remember. Boots Looks SmugWhich is altogether justified when one has the best fashion sense in the room. The BeltWhy has no one mentioned Floyd's monogrammed belt buckle? Threadbare?Not that sofa, even if it was likely 8-10 years old when the picture was taken. The tone on tone striped effect of its upholstery was by design, not from wear, and appears to be in great shape in this comfortably furnished upper midwestern living room. (Dogs, Kids, Minnesota Kodachromes)
Aunt Charlotte: 1900
... respect, and truly delightful mittens done stranded knitting. Although there are tons of patterns out there for mittens done in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 11:06am -

Circa 1900. Somewhere in the Eastern U.S. "Aunt Charlotte." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. PatienceI knew it might take a while, but I knew that eventually someone would answer my question! Well Done! The power of Shorpy. Brings back memoriesI was born in the late 40s, and don't recall any bull wagons, but remember the sun bonnets and capes well, along with old men with whiskers. This picture could well have come from the post WWII period in the South. Mittens!I wonder what her oxcart errand was. In any case, she's got a gaze of experience that commands respect, and truly delightful mittens done stranded knitting. Although there are tons of patterns out there for mittens done in various geometrics, I've never seen a pair like Aunt Charlotte's. Wordless WonderAnother picture that must have a real story behind it! Nice whiskers! Any idea at all about where it was taken. That background should be a clue to someone. "Aunt" CharlotteA reminder of a time when black people over a certain age were commonly called "Aunt" or "Uncle." A practice whose legacy can still be seen at the supermarket, in brands like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben's. Which might seem quaint or endearing, but if you weren't old enough to be an Aunt or Uncle, you were addressed by the white folks as "boy" or "girl." I can remember my grandfather, back in the 1940s, calling middle-aged railroad porters "boy." Today we might say "pardon me," or "hey, buddy." Back then it was "Boy, can you direct me to the ticket counter?" Fort Monroe, Hampton Virginia From the book Views of Fortress Monroe and Vicinity, published 1892. A modern day photo of the fort shows the wall and moat still intact. I'd love to know her story.She is old enough to have been born before the Civil War. She might have traveled North on the Underground Railroad...or this might actually be the South Eastern USA. Either way, she lived through a momentous time. Mighty punyThat ox doesn't look well at all. His eyes are shut, and his hindquarters are a rack of bones. His back is humped up, and he's standing with his back knees propped against each other. He looks like he could fall over at any minute, poor old critter. Officer housing at Fort MonroeThere is a brick building very much like the structure here across the moat from Fort Monroe, Virginia. Old Ways Die HardIt had to be in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My granddad, a lifetime Angeleño, asked me to hand his gas money to "that colored boy over there." I saw a middle-aged man & was temporarily perplexed by hearing him called "boy." Remember, this was LA in the days of Shaft & Mod Squad. Found her!Fort Monroe, Virginia. Auntie C. seems to have been something of a postcard celebrity. Wide openI often think of how wide open (i.e., agricultural) the landscape was in those days. While this picture feels like it's in the middle of nowhere, it could perhaps be from the outskirts of some major city. Either way, the world must have seemed much larger then. Our newest national monumentReuters - November 1, 2011 - President Barack Obama created the first national monument of his presidency on Tuesday, signing a proclamation to preserve a former Army fort that was a safe haven for slaves during the Civil War... ...In 1861, three escaped slaves were given safe haven at the fort that managed to stay under Union control despite being in a Confederate state. They were declared by Union Major General Benjamin Butler as "contrabands of war" and were not returned to their owner. According to the Fort Monroe Authority, 10,000 slaves subsequently fled there and were given protection, helping prompt President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation declaring all slaves free in the states rebelling against the federal government... Jaime Vue? Does anyone know her true calling, other than posing for postcards? (The Gallery, Animals, DPC)
Y.W.C.A.: 1919
... "Me too" "huh? "When's the pizza gonna get here?" "Knitting sucks. Let's go inside and watch American Idol" Haunting I just ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/26/2012 - 11:40am -

1919. "Young Women's Christian Association. Scenes at YWCA camp." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size. Bor-ingI've never seen a more bored looking group of people. Such a happy bunchThe girls in the front are tearing out pages to make paper hats for this equally-festive shindig: https://www.shorpy.com/node/4025. [That was my first thought, too! Then I realized it was a different house. - Dave] Nice to be acknowledgedWhat a wonderful photo. I love how the gaze of just one pair of eyes draws the viewer back in for a second look at an otherwise passive scene. Grandma's blouseI have a portrait of my grandmother taken the year she graduated, 1919, wearing one of those blouses with the black tie. I love this calm quiet-time scene. PicnicLooks like a scene from "Picnic at Hanging Rock." Only twenty years to goOf course they're bored - it's 1919. They've got the satellite dish but TV hasn't been invented yet. Single Tasking....My daughter is at a similar age to these girls and were she sitting on this porch she'd likely be on the cell phone, doing a little texting in between calls, iTouching to check Facebook, to write on someone's "Wall," listening to her MP3 player, and reading a teen magazine while watching TV. I think its WONDERFUL that they are taking a break, single tasking, and experiencing a contemplative moment. I expect that in a few moments they will be off for a hike or a rousing game of crochet. [Or a take-no-prisoners round of croquet. - Dave] Such Sweet NeglectThis picture is such a nice contrast to the buttoned-up class portraits from the same era we've been looking at recently. Mind you, I'm all for a polished appearance when it's called for, but it's a refreshing change sometimes. The girls are totally relaxed, their hair is falling our of its confines, their middies are wrinkled, they're slouching and sitting cross-legged, and they're totally happy and charming. It makes me think of the old Ben Jonson poem: Still to be neat, still to be dressed, As you were going to a feast; Still to be powdered, still perfumed; Lady, it is to be presumed, Though art's hid causes are not found, All is not sweet, all is not sound. Give me a look, give me a face That makes simplicity a grace; Robes losely flowing, hair as free; Such sweet neglect more taketh me Than all th' adulteries of art. They strike mine eyes but not my heart. Ah yes...But wait till the first notes of "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" by Ted Lewis & His Jazz Band blast out of the Victrola. This is gonna become a hot party. Disk JockeyThink the DJ is spinning the latest Britney CD? Musical interlude...Cheer up girls, the Charleston is on its way! Bor-ing?Apparently Anon Tipster would find me colossally boring. Sitting on a porch reading quietly without being enslaved by my cell phone and my work-issued laptop is my idea of heaven -- and it's what most of my vacations look like. On the contrary, this group of teenagers with no iPods, Blackberries, GameBoys, or telephones looks a lot happier -- and a thousand times less stressed-out -- than the teens I work with every day. Bor-ing, Bor-ingAnon didn't say they were boring. He didn't say they were bored. He said they *looked* bored. "Happy" is not the word I'd use to describe the look of this group. They look as though they are having their picture taken and they are all trying to look interested for that occasion. I expect the teens of 90 years later have a lot more stress on them than did these girls on the porch. Needs a Soundtrack"I'm so stoned" "Me too" "huh? "When's the pizza gonna get here?" "Knitting sucks. Let's go inside and watch American Idol" HauntingI just found this site and I am hooked! The girl on the far left holding her leg looks exactly like my youngest daughter. Uncanny. (The Gallery, Harris + Ewing, Kids)
Police Woman: 1955
... receiving award; with husband at restaurant; at home knitting and cooking." 35mm negative by Earl Theisen from the Look magazine ... for needle marks during the day, "at home cooking and knitting" by night. Looks like a scene from a fifties film noir. Suspect ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/31/2022 - 1:41pm -

May 1955. "Los Angeles Policewoman of the Year Fransis Sumner questioning suspected drug user. Photographs show Officer Sumner working and training; questioning people; with children and infants; at jail with women prisoners; at firing range with other policewomen; in hand-to-hand combat class; in judo class; on obstacle course. Also photographs of Sumner receiving award; with husband at restaurant; at home knitting and cooking." 35mm negative by Earl Theisen from the Look magazine assignment "Police Woman." View full size. Renaissance LadyChecking for needle marks during the day, "at home cooking and knitting" by night. Looks like a scene from a fifties film noir. Suspect regrets sending his long sleeve shirt to the laundry just this morning! Total packageI like this dame. Shiny hair, lovely manicured nails, dainty wristwatch, and no nonsense whatsoever. You got the wrong guy, copper!"Get these bracelets off me, copper! I don't know who that wise-guy Lenny Bruce is and I ain't no rat fink!" (LOOK, Los Angeles)
The Witts: 1911
... If you have but one or two changes of clothes, work in a knitting mill and have a dirt yard and no plumbing, this is how you look before ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/31/2011 - 10:49am -

May 1911. Roanoke, Va. "Dependent Parents. R.L. Witt. He is apparently working on the railroad, but his three oldest children, here work in the Roanoke Cotton Mills. Mamie is only 12 years old and earns very little. Home is very poorly kept. Mother would not be in the photo." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. If R.L. remarriedwould the siblings be half-Witts? Now this is poorAnd people today think they have it tough. I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up in a family as hard up as these people. Hard working and still just making ends meet. Barely!! Clarence WittThe boy, based on the 1910 census is Clarence, born 1896. By 1920 he is still living in Roanoke, and is married to Creasey and they have a 1 year old child. He works for a hardware company and can read and wright. In 1930 he is still in Roanoke and still working for a hardware company and his wife, now called Minnie, and he have 6 children, Robert, Russell, Grace, Richard, Howard and Ada. The oldest four children are all in school. That is the story of America during the immigration period. We look at those poor kids working in factories and farms and worry. But in large part, they grew up and lived better than their parents, and their kids better than them. Before there were iPadsThis picture is a classic example of the "old days" when families struggled to earn a living and the children were expected to contribute. Not a lot of playtime for the kids. This family displays the simple dignity of folks who endure life's struggle without being self-conscious over their condition or place in society. My paternal grandmother would have been about the age of the girl on the right. She knew hard work all her life. This website is a reminder of our past - with its stately buildings and its stately families. I hope they were able to afford shoes later in life and were able to enjoy the marvels of Maytag. BOTH Washboards Broken?Perhaps both washboards on top of the wooden barrel are out of service, considering all of the moving parts they have. My mother would have been saddened by this picture stating that soap and water are cheap. She grew up on a dry land cotton farm in the Texas panhandle with nothing. Water from a cistern, no power etc. Her childhood friend lived on the neighboring farm in a dirt floor shack. Even the dirt floor was always swept clean and hard as concrete, the children were clean, dresses and bonnets were clean etc. Every time I see a similar situation as above I always think of my mother, her stories and her wanting to just grab kids like these and scrub 'em good. Big LickMy great-grandfather might have worked right alongside the man pictured -- he was born in Roanoke in the 1880s and began working for the railroad shortly before this photo was made. It's quite probable that this house is still standing somewhere in South Roanoke, and I feel I may have even passed by it dozens of times in my life. Mamie WittHere we see another shot of Mamie working in that cotton mill. Clean GetawayMy mother, born in 1919, had 9 brothers. Everyone worked on the farm and most had side jobs as well. Spare time was an unknown commodity. Yet my grandmother managed to keep them all CLEAN! She worked like a mule, but the key word there is "work." There was very little money when I was growing up but my mom would have stole a bar of soap, found a puddle and a rock, and cleaned that mess up. And she was no thief, but you get my point. The first thing I see when I look at this picture is laziness, not poverty. [I'll bet your grandmother didn't do laundry with a bar of soap and a puddle. Laundry was generally a once-a-week affair that involved fetching water from a pump or well, boiling it over a fire or stove, a lot of scrubbing, then drying and ironing. If you have but one or two changes of clothes, work in a knitting mill and have a dirt yard and no plumbing, this is how you look before washday rolls around. - Dave] No, she didn't do our laundry in a puddle. She pressed clothes in a dry cleaners six days a week so she was busy with other peoples wearables. But your not taking into consideration the unkempt porch, dirty hair and the lone shoe. Other folks worked in dirty jobs as many hours and didn't live this way Dave. That was all I'm saying. [I suspect that if we traveled back a hundred years -- or looked at more of Lewis Hine's photos -- we might come to a different conclusion. - Dave] Out of the pictureThe statement "Mother would not be in the photo" might be a clue as to why this family is so dirty. Maybe she was too depressed or sick to do anything. It's back!Yet another random single shoe in the yard. Pick Me, Pick Me!Looks like the littlest one is digging for gold, there! Thankfully, kids never change. All of us probably have picture of ourselves or one of our siblings with a finger up the nose! What does it say about us?We all look at a 100-year-old photo of a family on the porch of their home. All the people in it are long dead. Yet it's possible for us to still pass judgment on them: "They were lazy!" "They never heard of a bar of soap?" Many of us have ancestors who also grew up extremely poor, hard-working, and needy, in both small towns and cities across America. That we are all here at all is a tribute to their determination and success. Yet just as many families were destroyed by sheer bad luck - by eminent domain, by sudden accidental death, by fire, flood or influenza. This family is gone. Is there harm in feeling sympathy for them, even if their clothes are dirty and their house is slovenly? We cannot know the troubles they bore - whether the mother never recovered after the birth of her youngest less than four years ago, whether the father was a gambler, a tippler, or a wastrel, or whether the children had any supervision or guidance. Perhaps there is even some benefit to imagining them compassionately. It may help us regard our own living neighbors with more kindness. The Witts: 1911This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. The girl on the right was Eva Witt. The father was named Robert L. Witt. I talked to the son of Russell Witt, one of the boys in this family who was not pictured. He was very surprised about the Hine photos (there are four of this family, three of them with just Mamie in them). He did not know what happened to Mamie or Eva, but he knows someone in the family who is working on the family tree. He will see if he can get more information from that person. (The Gallery, Lewis Hine)
Sport Mart: 1923
... San Francisco, Calif., Bathing Suits. Armstrong Knitting Mills, Boston, Mass. Distinctive Knit Jackets. Revere Knitting Mills, Malden, Mass, Sweaters. Kenneth Harbison, Inc., 720 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/18/2013 - 5:40pm -

Washington, D.C., 1923. "Sport Mart, 1410 New York Avenue N.W." Continuing our day of window-shopping. National Photo glass negative. View full size. Twinplex StropperFound one of these in the attic of my grandparents' Lake Huron house in Michigan many years ago. Please Dave!!??Can we stop for a malted milk after window shopping? I promise we'll all be good. Converse All StarsThis is probably one of the last photos of a pair of Pre-Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars. In 1923 the patch was redesigned with Chuck Taylor's signature. Pure wool bathing suitsThey certainly must have itched! MizpahFront right, we have the No. 44 Mizpah Jock Supporter, which comes with a two week trial - just return it if you find it unsatisfactory. (Fortunately, it can be boiled, which was probably a wise thing to do before putting it on for the first time, given the return policy.) A more intimate version of Mizpah jewelry, perhaps? "The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another," indeed! $3.95 for a wool bathing suitSuspect the itching and scratching were free of charge. Sports Technology!Based on the description found on Google Books, I was excited to see the Brooks Golf Stroke Counter. I thought it counted stokes by detecting the movement of the arms in a swing, kind of like a pedometer detects steps, which would make it a seminal device. Alas, I learned from patent application 1,460,842 granted on July 23, 1923 that the golfer had to click it to count his strokes, thereby making it subject to cheating despite the claims to the contrary. What easier way to cheat in golf than "forgetting" to click your high-tech counter? "A huge maintenance hassle"To quote Dave on awnings, three posts back (One-Chevy Home:1964). For evidence, please note the narrow panel of the awning, running the width of the shop, just above the fringe with the name and address, where one can view holes that have been patched and holes that have not been patched. KedsGee, I had no idea Keds went back that far. That was what we had before there were Nikes, Reeboks, etc. And wool bathing suits sound so uncomfortable. For members of the Polar Bear ClubPure wool bathing suits; must be for those January 1st dips in the ocean. ToymakerI suspect the "Toymaker" box near the door is a kit for casting figures in lead. Can you imagine the outcry if you were to attempt to sell such a toy today? People would be apoplectic! Give me back my THING MAKER! Sure, I have a scar or two from the hotplate, but it was worth it. [Used with wood. - tterrace] My old neighbor ChuckLove the Converse All Stars. Shoes invented by Chuck Taylor, who spent some time in my hometown of Azalia, IN. Sport Mart MerchandiseSport Mart had locations at 914 F St. N.W., 1303 F St. N.W., and 1410 N.Y. Ave. N.W. The following lists some of the suppliers for the sporting goods they carried (compiled from Jun 5, 1923 Washington Post). D. Nusbaum Co., Union Course, L.I., Bathing Suits. John Spicer, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., Bathing Suits. Gantner & Mattern, San Francisco, Calif., Bathing Suits. Armstrong Knitting Mills, Boston, Mass. Distinctive Knit Jackets. Revere Knitting Mills, Malden, Mass, Sweaters. Kenneth Harbison, Inc., 720 Herkimer St., Brooklyn, N.Y., Athletic Clothing. E. Weisbrod Sons, Greenfield, Mass., Leather Bill Folds. Newtown Line Co., Homer N.Y., Fish Lines. Pflueger's Fishing Tackle, Enterprise Mfg. Co., Akron, Ohio. H.S. Frost Co., New York, N.Y., Snelled Fish Hooks.
Manuel Labor: 1911
... town was brimming with endless large and small textile and knitting mills of all sorts in the l8th, 19th and 20th centuries. When I lived ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 6:35pm -

August 1911. Fall River, Mass. "Group containing the following boys who work in the Sagamore Mfg Co. Manuel Correira, 144 Cove Street, works in Spinning room on top floor. Said, 'I only help Mother.' He was apparently 13 or 14. Manuel Oliver, George Street, works in card room. Seems surely only 12 years old. Manuel Benevirdes, 30 Otto Street, works on top floor. Manuel Rage, 51 George Street, works in spinning room on fourth floor. John Oliver, 93 Slater Street, works in spinning room on third floor. Joseph Ariuda, 23 Shorr Street, works in spinning room on third floor." Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. Too poor for shoes?Judging from the clothing it's not summertime. Yet three of the boys are at work barefoot. [A good hint as to time of year can be found in the very first word of the caption. - Dave] Manuel Labor: 1911Fall River is one of several cities in southeastern Massachusetts with a large population of Portuguese immigrants, so there would have been many Manuels living there at the turn of the century. Still, I wonder if Hine thought these boys were trying to play a joke on him. Lizzie Borden Axed Her Parents.......and their home still exists in Fall River, Mass. on a list of historical places. The town was brimming with endless large and small textile and knitting mills of all sorts in the l8th, 19th and 20th centuries. When I lived close by in the late 1950's,early 60's, one could actually have a sweater knitted to one's own specifications (color, size and style) for a relatively low price, about $10 to $15 and I did take advantage of that. No more though, those days are gone forever, but I did love those sweaters. Expecting rainDoes the guy on the far right know something nobody else does? Speculation I'm not sure why but the umbrella seems like an odd item in this picture. Also the ladies in the back. . . I wonder what their relationship is to the boys and/or the building. This site is sucking way too many hours from my day but each picture is more fascinating then the last. Everybody Vogue!I love the poses these kids have struck. Do you think it was on purpose or at the photographers request? They sure are a cute little bunch. Those two on the left look full of fun. SurnamesI believe the correct surnames must be Correia (Correira), Oliveira (Oliver), Benevides (Benevirdes) and Arruda (Ariuda). (The Gallery, Factories, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Summertime: 1936
... woods like an animal for a while." Ma ...is either knitting or crocheting; I can't see her other hand so I can't tell. Looks like ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2009 - 7:06pm -

August 1936. "Scenes at the auto trailer camp. Dennis Port, Mass." 35mm nitrate negative by Carl Mydans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Film SpeedI thought the film speed would have been quite slow in the mid 1930s, but in order to catch a woman in "mid sneeze" the film would have to be fairly quick. What would be the equivalent ISO of the film? [Even 20 years earlier, emulsions were fast enough to freeze a baseball. - Dave] Gesundheit!Ma seems to be caught in mid-sneeze. Sure looks like Cape CodLots of scrub pine and lots of sand. What you can't see are the horseflies, greenheads and ticks - but don't let them stop you; the Cape is a Summer fun-derland! Careful!I think Ma is telling the little one to get away from that rope or everything is going to come tumbling down. Are we having fun yet?Even though many camping aficionados continually go on at great length about the liberating and freeing effects of "camping out," I personally would rather stay in a cubicle with indoor plumbing, electricity and air conditioning, sheltered from all manner of flying and crawling things, sleep indoors without sharing my bed with nocturnal creatures, snakes, tarantulas and what-have-you and be protected from the wind, rain and other inclement weather. Plus, how long can you look at the sky and sit in a canvas chair, eat canned beans and keep repeating the same conversation. I know we are all different, but for me, camping for more than a few hours would be a severe punishment. It's like saying "hey kids, we are going to pack all our necessities into this big storage bin and go live in the woods like an animal for a while." Ma...is either knitting or crocheting; I can't see her other hand so I can't tell. Looks like a baby garment of some kind. Holiday or home?"Resettlement Administration" huh? Was this a camping trip or is this one of the displaced families of the Depression? [These are people on vacation. - Dave] (The Gallery, Carl Mydans, Travel & Vacation)
The Launch: 1912
... hat pins the ladies are sporting could easily be used for knitting, trussing the turkey or—Heavens to Betsy—homicide! I do hope ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 3:18pm -

November 9, 1912. Wyandotte, Michigan. "Steamer Seeandbee, the launch." Thrilling denouement of the scene glimpsed earlier here. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Murder weapons!Those hat pins the ladies are sporting could easily be used for knitting, trussing the turkey or—Heavens to Betsy—homicide! I do hope the chaps got out in time I remember seeing quite a few people standing right where that ship is making a splash. E ticket?I think those people on the boat had the most fun. Got your backWhat a great image! I would like to thank the photographer for such an interesting viewpoint. The spectators watching the event so intently make the picture, rather than get in the way, and are as interesting a subject as the launching of the ship. They help to place the event in history. I wonder if he (or her) felt this at the time? Or that this was the only place they could set up their camera. I suspect the latter, but all the same, a wonderful image. I'm going to remember this next time I'm taking photos and thinking that the crowds are getting in the way of my shot. Business opportunityWhat a great moment in time it would have been for an enterprising pickpocket! I'm surprised that the photographer hasn't captured one. Side wheelerAs I see from the other shot, this ship was a side wheeler. I'm very curious why designers as late as 1911 would choose to make a ship a paddle wheeler, rather than a screw propeller driven craft. There must have been advantages. GraffitiIs that an early form of graffiti on the platform the people are standing on? [It's a railroad car, which frequently bore handwritten markings by RR yardmen, though usually in chalk. And graffiti dates back to ancient times.] Became USS Wolverine in March 1942.This ship was taken over by the navy in 1942 and turned into an aircraft carrier for training pilots on Lake Michigan during WWII. She was cut up in 1947. Google U.S.S. Wolverine. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Eastern High: 1905
... I know what to submit to my mother-in-law for my Christmas knitting wish list. Tthose are some excellent looking sweaters. Questions: ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/04/2012 - 4:28am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1905. "Eastern High School football team." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size. Must be a misprintIt's the drama club or chess team. If it were the football team, we'd see tribal tattoos, piercings, thuggish scowls, baggy t-shirts and shorts. The Light Blue & WhiteThis photo ran in the Washington Post on June 10, 1906 as part of a two page spread of class and team photos. Graduation exercises that year were scheduled on June 20th. Eastern High's Captain Leader for Football Team Will Not Be Elected at Present Eastern will be the last of the high schools to elect a captain. As there is some uncertainty as to the returning of one of the players, it has been decided to wait some time before choosing a leader for next season. The Capitol Hill eleven will lose heavily from graduation, but it is thought that from the regulars left over from this fall will be a strong nucleus to build a team to better the record made by the light Blue and White during the season just closed. Capt. Field, whose work marked him as one of the starts of the High School League, will be missing, and to find some one to fill his old position will be one of the hardest tasks next year. The veterans who will be eligible to play next fall are Farmer, Titus, Pyles, Palmer, Tewksberry, Brown, Dodd, the Richardson brothers, Martin and Jones. During the season just closed Eastern was greatly handicapped by constant changes, no less than five coaches having charge of the players at different times, but next season with a more settled policy, it is expected that a stronger aggregation will be developed. Washington Post, Dec 4, 1905 Northern ExposureA gorgeous portrait that reveals the natural light techniques of the studio photographer at the time. A pulley system operating individual blackout curtains for each pane of the window in order to adjust the light. Football TrophiesIf he is proudly displaying two trophy livers knocked out of opponents, like scalps on a warrior's belt, that tall guy was one heck of a hard hitting football player. Too bad I can't sign him for my Detroit Lions. BallerinasThe two guys in front look more like ballerinas than football players. It seems that they are not wearing numbers on their uniforms yet. Years later when they begin to, they'll be numbered consecutively 1 through 17, as we learned in a previous Shorpy history lesson on glass. Stitch & TimeWow. Now I know what to submit to my mother-in-law for my Christmas knitting wish list. Tthose are some excellent looking sweaters. Questions: I have noticed that sometimes on these portraits there might be one or two blurred faces, does anyone know what the exposure time for a photo like this might have been? Natural light with flash powder? Would glass negatives have had a ASA rating at that time? [The ASA (American Standards Association) didn't exist in 1905. - Dave] The LookI used to think that people of earlier generations had radically different faces from today's people. but now I'm not so sure. Give those young men a change of clothes and a few tats and piercings, and they would blend right in. Shorpe DiemAnyone else thinking of the movie "Dead Poets Society"? They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - -- Carpe -- hear it? -- Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary. GleamThat guy in the second row, second from the left, sure has a gleam in his eye! I'll bet he liked the girls, and vice-versa! (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Sports)
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