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- Off the Deep End: 1961
- ... of slides found on eBay. View full size.
Kermy Kodachromes This photo reminds me of how much I love this series, which ... of a sudden, on the street, right in front of you.
(Kodachromes, Baltimore, Kermy Kodachromes, Swimming) ... Posted by Dave - 08/25/2019 - 2:08pm -
- WW2 Kodachromes
- WW2 KODACHROMES
Below, a selection of 1940s color transparencies, three of them ... Posted by Dave - 10/16/2007 - 3:52pm
- On Top of Old Steamy: 1943
- ...
Nice caboose Carry on.
Gotta love those 4x5 Kodachromes! These wartime 4x5 Kodachromes are so great! I don't know what it is, the colors may not be ... Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 4:47pm -
- B-17 Betty: 1942
- ... Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
OWI Kodachromes Man, all these WWII factory shots are so beautifully composed ... lit! The colors are a gorgeous bonus.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2) ... Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 3:28pm -
- Family Tree: 1951
- ... Tuttle. View full size.
So happy to have Minnesota Kodachromes back! The Minnesota Kodachromes are some of the best photos on the site. I know they are newer VS ... Posted by Dave - 11/11/2015 - 12:20pm -
- Army Mechanic: 1942
- ... if not exactly candid. A lot of the large-format Kodachromes were posed and used auxiliary lighting. But the people in them weren't models and weren't in studios. - Dave]
4x5 Kodachromes Robcat asked if this was a posed or studio photo. As mentioned ... Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:38pm -
![June 1942. Fort Knox, Kentucky. "A good job in the air cleaner of an Army truck. This Negro soldier, who serves as truck driver and mechanic, plays an important part in keeping Army transport fleets in operation." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.
Motor MechanicA much better job than being shot at, and directly transferable to civilian life.
Studio?Maybe this has been asked before, but would this have actually been a studio shot? The smooth blue background makes me wonder.
[Outdoors. All of these were on location. The OWI and FSA programs were documentary photography, if not exactly candid. A lot of the large-format Kodachromes were posed and used auxiliary lighting. But the people in them weren't models and weren't in studios. - Dave]
4x5 KodachromesRobcat asked if this was a posed or studio photo. As mentioned above the photo was on location. The 4x5 inch size Kodachrome 10 film was usually used in a Speed Graphic camera with individual "cut film holders." A sheet of film was placed into the holder whilst the loader was inside the darkroom. A "dark slide" was slipped across the open side of the film holder to protect the negative. When the photographer was ready to make the picture, the "dark slide" was pulled out and usually placed into a pair of spring clips on the back of the ground glass shield of the camera. Then the camera lens was cocked, the various exposure settings were calculated, and the photograph framed in the viewfinder. Then the photo was made by tripping the shutter release. The dark slide was then replaced and the film holder removed by sliding outward to the right. It was then placed into the photographer's pouch on the side reserved for "exposed." The dark slide had a black stripe on the side so that you could look at the holder and determine if the film had been exposed. Unless you forgot to flip the slide around from the black stripe to the silver stripe and vice versa. Next, during the actual exposure of the picture, most times, a #25 flashbulb was used; the Speed Graphic had a tubular flash holder and reflector. This was called "fill-in flash" and was used to eliminate deep shadows, which Kodachrome 10 didn't particularly portray (there would be a black muddle). Remember also that the film was "ASA 10" Speed. Today we use the ISO system, and your usual digital camera exposes at about an ISO 200 rating. ASA 10 is many times "slower" than an ASA 100 film, which would have been Black and White, since there were no high speed color films in those days. The granularity ("grain") of Kodachrome 10 in 4x5 inch size makes possible huge enlargements upwards of 5 feet by 8 feet in size. You will notice that these photos are amazingly "clear" and have a robust depth to them. This is due in part to the very fine grain of the film and the fact that it was done with large format film. An equivalent in a modern digital camera would be about a 25 to 50 megapixel image. There were larger format cameras, up to 11x14 behemoths. Almost always, the negatives from 5x7, 8x10 and 11x14 inch view camera were "contact printed," that is the transparency was placed on top of the photo paper and held down with a sheet of glass (usually an old window pane). Then light from the enlarger or the room lights wold be flashed on and off for a second or two. Once you see a contact print made from a fine grain 8x10" Kodachrome 10 which was processed to a negative rather than a positive, you will not be able to take your eyes off of it. Stunning in its depth. I used to do certain types of laboratory photos while I was in the US Army and used a Sinar 8x10 view camera. Today, you couldn't afford to buy the film for it .. something like $25 per sheet for a color negative film. Hope anecdote helps .. I've been a photographer for a little more than 50 years. I use a Canon Rebel digital now and it is the Cat's Meow, to be sure!
Amazing!I've yet to see anything coming out of a digital camera that looks like this. This image, and the other Kodachrome images on this site simply achieve the vibrant colors of the skin, the fabric, and the texture of shiny metal .. and worn industrial parts that transports the viewer to a different time and place .. with a realism that evokes a feeling lacking in modern two dimensional images .. it certainly changes everything I've come to know and appreciate with digital capture.
We all travel different roads in photography, perhaps the digital highway is not as scenic as that already traveled with film.
KodachromeOriginal Kodachrome was known for its bright and posterish colors, fine grain and stability. I have 50 year-old Kodachrome slides that are as bright as the day they were taken, while a good many of my Ektachromes from that time have faded to red. As fine as 35mm slides were, 4X5 transparencies are incredibly detailed, just because they are big. Kodachrome was reformulated and introduced as Kodachrome II in 1961. It was ASA 25 and had more accurate color than the original, but retained its fine grain and stability. When I shoot film these days, though (mostly in one of my old 3D cameras), I prefer Kodak Elite because of its brighter colors.
KodachromeKodachrome was a very special film in my estimation. When I was serious about photography years back I shot some with the Kodachrome that was available at the time (25 and 64) and was always stunned by the quality of the colour. Most of the time I shot Ektachrome (cost and film speed considerations) and Kodacolor for prints and there was no comparison between them - Kodachrome won every time.
WowIf it weren't for the date on the bottom of this photograph, I would have thought this shot was taken a lot more recently. I didn't know that older photographs could look so vibrant.
But the subject 1942 and they still feel it necessary to point out his color. Had the subject been white, I doubt more than his name would have been cited. Perhaps the authors sought to popularize the idea of enrolling amongst the Negro population, many of whom were questioning how patriotism and Jim Crow could co-exist. But volunteer they did, in droves, while the Tuskeegee Airmen were heaped with well deserved praise, American Blacks served in all branches with distinction. My dad owed his life to an African American soldier who dragged him into a foxhole during a Japanese attack.(Thank you Walter, I wish I knew your last name.)
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Cars, Trucks, Buses, WW2)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/1a35222u_0.thumbnail.jpg "Army Mechanic: 1942")
- Claude's Farm: 1952
- ... the Dalmatian, in our second slide from the Minnesota Kodachromes we got on eBay. View full size.
RE: Paraphernalia ... a Cessna 170 tail on the left.
Love the Minnesota Kodachromes! This is a great collection, thanks for posting them. It'll be ... Posted by Dave - 07/31/2014 - 8:56pm -
!["Grace at Claude's farm -- April 27, 1952." Along with Sally the Dalmatian, in our second slide from the Minnesota Kodachromes we got on eBay. View full size.
RE: ParaphernaliaHeiland flash in box.
BrawnyThat D batteries powered press-use flash must have been quite a sight mounted (via an L bracket) to a 35 mm camera --- especially with its 8 in. reflector added.
It is a 1951 DeSotoI learned to drive on a dark green 1951 DeSoto, which was our (only) family car. Started driving the summer of 1955 in it, wrecked it in Nov. My Dad didn't buy another car for weeks, and wouldn't let me drive it for months after.
Mushy car.
Who's that plane?More so than the car, I'm curious as to the make of the airplane in the background. At first I thought it might be a biplane, but now I'm more convinced it's a high-wing monoplane. My best guess (being anything but an expert at identifying light aircraft) is some member of the Piper Cub family.
[Which plane? - Dave]
The flying bugLooks like late April-early May in Minnesota. The trees are just budding out.
[Another clue is the caption, which says April 27. - Dave]
With two planes in the background, I wonder how many people (men and women) came home from WWII where they were taught to fly and just couldn't let the bug go when they got back?
Farm country here used to be dotted with makeshift private grass airstrips.
NC6453MStill around, 1948 Stinson 108-3 Voyager according to this:
http://www.flyinghigher.net/stinson/N6453M.html
Currently based in Alaska.
[Excellent work. Also, let us note there are two planes in this photo. - Dave]
ParaphernaliaThere's something very interesting on the rear window shelf.
Wearing of the GreenAt least the woman color-coordinated her shoes.
Looking at the hood and hubcaps the car looks to be an early 50s DeSoto Custom. I'll let the car ID folks on here provide verification and all of the details.
The Other PlaneThat's a Cessna 170 tail on the left.
Love the Minnesota Kodachromes!This is a great collection, thanks for posting them. It'll be fun to keep seeing Sally the Dalmatian!
It's DeStinctiveI have no interest at all in cars but the car screams DeSoto at me for some reason.
They were around as a kid but a brand that nobody considered buying.
I believe I can also recognize Hudsons.
RE: ParaphernaliaIt seems that the photographer had a Heiland flash as part of his kit, and a rather new one at that given the seemingly like new condition of its black and yellow box. Heiland was later absorbed into Honeywell and the branding changed accordingly.
The CarIs a 1951 DeSoto Custom.
De-lightful and De-lovelyDe Sotos were sturdy cars and filled the price gap between low-priced Plymouths and mid-priced Dodges; Chryslers were the most expensive of the Chrysler Corporation cars. De Soto stayed in production until 1961, having began in 1928. As were nearly all of the company's offerings in those years, De Sotos were designed for male drivers who wore hats, as did the midwestern Chrysler executives, hence the company's rather bulbous and conservative body styling.
[DeSotos filled the price gap between Dodge and Chrysler; Imperials were the most expensive Chrysler cars. - Dave]
KodachromeIs there anyone out there that didn't like Kodachrome?
Looking Forward1951 vs. 1957 De Soto
Cessna and StinsonLeft hand plane is a Cessna 120 or 140.
The red plane on the right is a Stinson 108. I have about 20 hours flying time in one just like it. Nice handling bird.
The Other Airplane The other airplane is a Cessna 170, big brother to the 120 and 140. It'll be replaced in 4 years by the 172 - not a step up in my opinion
De Sotos 1952 and 1958Tterrace, those photos would have pleased my dad, a commercial pilot and lover of De Sotos. Here's a shot of his dark-green 1952 at a "pogie plant" in Sabine Pass, Texas, and his white 1958 several years later.
[Click to enlarge. -tterrace]
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Minnesota Kodachromes)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-MNK084A.thumbnail.jpg "Claude's Farm: 1952")
- Party of Four: 1956
- ... or life" images seem to be the most engaging, but these Kodachromes are most definitely part of photographic history. They are indeed ... their owners. For me and my extended family, sharing our Kodachromes is a tribute to the family members (many already gone) who took the ... Posted by Dave - 11/25/2021 - 5:10pm -
![As a follow-up to yesterday's Pastel Princesses we present a retinue of possible Princes, or maybe court jesters, at what looks like the same event. Live it up while you can, boys. 35mm Kodachrome from the "Linda" slides. View full size.
Ma!Have you seen my red socks? I'm late for the dance!!!
The Cast of "Diner"The Early Years.
The charm and uniquenessof Shorpy is, in my opinion, somewhat diminished by the inclusion of family Kodachrome snapshots. I still make my daily visits, but—as Billie used to sing—the thrill is gone. Am I alone in thinking so?
A little dab'll do yaCheck out the hair tonic stain on the walls.
You may not be aloneIn your finding your viewing pleasure diminished, but I'm sure that you are outnumbered 1000 to 1.
I think these two last dance photos show the old saying to be true. Girls mature faster than boys. And not just physically.
Wider visionI am one of the many who finds that "the charm and uniqueness of Shorpy" is in no way diminished by the inclusion of photos from family collections of the past 50 years. Considering Shorpy as the place of photos only a century old, or exclusively black and white, is an unnecessary limitation. It's much easier to see it as repository of so much more. Broaden the vision, Chris Albertson, and let yourself settle comfortably into the range and variety of what Shorpy has to offer. It won't hurt a bit.
Pocket squareIf only we could see what those blue and white ticket/program things are in both of these pictures. At first I thought it was the same guy but they have different ties (and ears!). I love these candid snapshots.
[He might be the boy with his back to the camera in the other photo. - Dave]
Love It AllI love seeing these smiling boys who seemed to have left their dance dates to wonder where they went.
I'm a fan of every genre of Shorpy pic. Yes, I'm partial to ones showing old houses because we're restoring a Victorian and become enthused over clapboard, millwork, and knob and tube wiring, but I like the other pictures, too.
You're alone, ChrisViewing glimpses of the past, whether 100 years or 50, is fascinating.
My wife would tan my hide!Red socks, especially with blue slacks? I would never live that down.
As for the inclusion of family Kodachrome slides, I enjoy them. The reason I like Shorpy is because it gives a glimpse of times past. Sometimes the family photos do a better job than some of the sterile professional photos.
The enrichment of ShorpyChris Albertson, a couple of years ago, I had the same opinion that you have now. I became annoyed by the postings of tterrance, but still maintained my daily visits. I am just 3 years younger than you, and have slowly realized that these more modern pictures are part of Shorpy's growth and our own past. Let's hope that some viewers will put names to some of these eBay finds. Respectfully, Urcunina
Interesting comment Chris, Hi Chris,
As a genealogist and family historian, I found over the last few years that Shorpy was an invaluable historic resource for my research. Sure, i would "surf" anonymously but that was that; got my info and off I went. But some days I would just look 'into' places. Literally, zoom up and into the lives of the residents of the cities and neighborhoods featured here. I just couldn't believe where these images would lead me. The most interesting stories and facts and especially the comments. Regular folks, not necessarily experts, just interesting folks. It was these "folks" who drew my attention more and more. I agree that historic and/or "slices in time or life" images seem to be the most engaging, but these Kodachromes are most definitely part of photographic history. They are indeed unique imagery. They are historic AND deteriorating very quickly in drawers, closet shelves, carousels buried in garages and scattered in boxes in attics around the world. When one of these gorgeous images is posted and you begin to read the story and see the real living color of a time gone-by and the comments pour in and you peek at the numbers and see thousands (!!) of "reads", well you gotta feel some excitement and thrill of the "get". Just figuring out the puzzle of a time and day just out of memory or reach for many of us, or the makeup of an interesting family from New England, well it's like a treasure hunt. And aren't those so much fun? It is admittedly a great and grand waste of time I suppose, but most certainly, the best fun since Facebook launched 9 years ago, and quite possibly new beginnings for these images and their owners. For me and my extended family, sharing our Kodachromes is a tribute to the family members (many already gone) who took the time to lug a bulky, clunky, camera around and set up and snap a pic for us all to enjoy just a couple of times on the dining room wall. Now we are really enjoying them again, along with a surprisingly large number of people. It just feels wonderful. I hope you will continue to enjoy the historic quality of these beautiful images as well as the amazing resources from the LOC and Detroit Publishing etc... But please most of all, I hope that you also appreciate the men and women that are working literally 24/7 on Shorpy.com (not to mention all those folks sitting at home, eyes glued to the screen, mouse at the ready) bringing these images to us all day and all night. They ARE Shorpy.
Regards, Deborah
CharmingI actually do enjoy the family snapshots. It's great fun to look at what people were doing in their everyday lives. Shorpy has it all!
re: charm and uniquenessI have to disagree. I love the family pics. Sometimes I find the Dorothea Lange types depressing.
Also, Did Billie Holiday sing "The Thrill Is Gone"? I always thought it was BB King's song, didn't realize it was a cover.
Diminished? Not at all.I think these Kodachromes are as valuable to Shorpy as all the other historical pictures. Where else do you see unknown people, photographed by unknown photographers, in unknown places, and hope that there will be the one comment:
"OMG that's me taken by my uncle Bill at our junior sock hop."
It will happen.
100 years from nowthese sort of photos will be just as fascinating to people as any of the older, more "serious" examples on Shorpy. Every moment is history as soon as it passes. How lucky we are that occasionally, someone catches it on film, or video, even digitally. It's all wonderful and so is Shorpy!
I can see what Chris is sayingI think the Kodachromes are either hit or miss. Some I enjoy while others (the majority) I could do without. But I don't run the site and I can't complain if I don't find a particular image interesting because there are more than enough images on here to keep my occupied.
The site as a whole is really unique. And one should keep in mind that "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder. Ergo, an image that might delight one viewer is sure to bore another.
No Smoking?But there appears to be a pack of smokes on the ledge of that little window.
Also, count me in as one who really enjoys this type of photograph, then again I collect other peoples old home movies so I'm biased.
These are every bit as interesting as the LOC type of photo and probably a more realistic slice of Vintage American life since many of the LOC pictures are staged to some extent.
The overwhelming response to my postis appreciated, but it also made me sort of analyze my own expressed opinion.
I think it boils down to the fact that I have so many family Kodachromes of my own and such snapshots are readily found on the internet. Shorpy's more regular fare, those wonderful old photos and the remarkable clarity achieved by tterrance and crew are not as easily Googled and rarely presented with such sharp details. Then, too, I am 81 and a jazz historian, jaded by having hundreds of photos around the apartment.candid shots from the 50s on up bring back memories to me, but not the discovery that makes Shorpy so speciale. So, I guess I have been spoiled by the delights of Shorpy. I still love this site and recommend it (one of my two blogs has had a Shorpy link for three years).
Thank you all for the comments and thank you tterrance for the site and this forum. I hope I haven't been too disruptive.
P.S. Yes, AuntieVi, BB King certainly made "The Thrill is Gone" his own and turned it into a hit. I heard Billie sing it in person, but I don't think she recorded it.
RegardlessOf the photo, black and white or superb color, recent or ancient, they are glimpses into our past and help us visualize, if only for a moment, what life was like back then. And in some cases, see ourselves as we were. Love to know where those stairs went up to, obviously some sort of service stair based on appearance, why was the access open to them. This band of merry makers look like they'd be just the ones to sneak up and create a ruckus.
AshtrayUnderneath guy on right, with smoldering cigarette. (Hey, they're not in the main hall but in the shenanigans room. There's one in every building when you're a teenager.)
Charming and uniqueThat's what the guy third from left believes about his choice in socks.
Is That a Ceiling on the Wall?I guess the tin fits everywhere kind of like this mix of photos fits throughout Shorpy. I enjoy all the ages presented especially if you can see that other generations were just as squirrelly as mine no matter what the social norm.
Re: Lincrusta. Thanks Mattie, that's interesting and makes sense. Cheaper than wood molding and less fragile than formed plaster. I think it does need a paint adhesion inspection if possible.
As per Chris AlbertsonNot to jump on the wagon or anything, but I have just now joined the site after a year or so of browsing to offer the following comment: not all of your viewers are camera aficionados steeped in the history of photography or, dare I say it, of an older generation. I am no spring chicken, having been born in the late 1970s, but almost every single photograph on here predates me and I learn from and enjoy seeing all of them, family Kodachrome snapshots included.
Not diminished at allI love this site and don't see the inclusion of Kodachromes as diminishing it at all! Keep up the great work!
No spring chicken?Orange56, I sincerely hope you don't feel "over the hill" at mid-30's! Chris Albertson has a little fewer years on me, than I do on you; you've got a long way to go, youngster!
Everybody and their uncles"The thrill is gone" was recorded by mostly every pop and jazz singer in that era. Julie London, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme and on and on. (I don't think Michael Bolton has recorded it yet but he probably will...I'm kidding about M.B.) Critics like to give him a hard time, so I'm piling on too.
These old KodachromesI like that they've been included. My parents would have been approximately this age in the early fifties and I enjoy seeing what life was like in a unrehearsed kind of way.
Ceiling on the wallIt's a heavily-textured wallpaper known as Lincrusta or Anaglypta. It's sturdy stuff and can hold up well under layers of paint. If we knew where this building is located, we might learn how well it holds up under layers of hair tonic.
More color Kodachromes!!!I love the 100 year old b/w photos, but the color Kodachromes make Shorpy a much more "thrilling" site for so many more people. Keep them coming...even up to the 70's & 80's. They are necessary to keep Shorpy relevant to a larger population of internet users.
Fuggedaboutit!My first (and second) thought on this photo is that it looks like some of the gang from "The Sopranos". It's a little before their time, but I still see it every time I look at this photo.
Farked!https://www.fark.com/comments/11937855
(Farked, Linda Kodachromes)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_Linda147.thumbnail.jpg "Party of Four: 1956")
- That Seventies Loo: 1976
- ... simulate a fire pit, and room to exercise or relax.
(Kodachromes) ... Posted by Dave - 04/05/2024 - 3:57pm -
- The Hump Master: 1942
- ... Mechanics, March 1940.
(Technology, The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... Posted by Dave - 03/20/2024 - 11:24am -
- Mall Santa: 1957
- ... was enclosed and I stopped going there.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Christmas, Stores & Markets) ... Posted by Dave - 03/05/2024 - 1:28pm -
![Circa 1956-57. "Urbanism -- USA. Mid-Island Plaza in Long Island, New York." So where's the Cinnabon? 35mm color transparency, Paul Rudolph Archive. View full size.
Will-o'-the-Wisp"A Will-o’-the-wisp is a phantom light that hovers in the wilderness, luring travelers ..." And shoppers.
ughThat Long Island haze of the mid-20th century. That's the bluest most skies ever got there.
Lerner ShopsI was born in 1957 and I remember even as a kid, enjoying window shopping at Lerner's when out with my mom. And I loved it when I was old enough to shop there for cute outfits with my own money in the '70s. The store was founded by Harold Lane along with Samuel Lerner, uncle of lyricist Alan Jay Lerner.
Timeless Amazing that this photo is 60+ years old, it looks like it could be today. The lack of period cars and clothes makes it timeless.
Santa? Or Satan?That is a horrifying visage.
This reminds me --of those long-ago days when you had to actually go places to get stuff.
It just needs hornsThat Santa would do much better as Krampus.
ArcadeThis early version of the shopping mall – before they were all transformed or built in the covered-over version – makes me think of streets in other countries where they have arcades which provide protection at street level from the weather. It’s pleasant to be outdoors while it’s raining and not need an umbrella.
Also, as someone, like JennyPennifer, who was born in 1957, I always twitch when I see that year.
[Our photo is a visual representation of the definition of "mall" -- an open, unroofed plaza, lined with buildings or trees on either side. - Dave]
Oakridge Shopping Centre: 1959When it opened in Vancouver, B.C., in 1959 Oakridge was not an enclosed mall as it later became. It was anchored by Woodward's Department Store, and was not in an outer suburb. Now the same location is being developed with multiple high-rise residential towers adjacent to a rapid transit station. The 1950s design is remarkably similar to the Long Island mall. Woodward's huge food floor had staff that loaded the groceries into your car for you.
Jericho NativeI lived in West Birchwood in the 60's, starting when I was 6 years old. We'd get on our bicycles in the morning and roam around all day. There was a tunnel under the Northern State Parkway that gave us access to the Cantiague Park and Pool. Often we'd then head over to the Plaza to hang out and grab a slice of Sicilian pizza at Pizza D'Amore. There was a merry-go-round in the northeastern part of the plaza. Then home for dinner.
Two Other ExamplesThis very much reminds me of Glendale Mall in Indianapolis. The mall had been enclosed when I arrived in late 1981, but it retained the Mid-Century Modern ambiance, along with some quirky amenities such as a fountain with moving parts all made of copper, a chandelier made out of many glass tubes, a 20-foot diameter circle on the Terrazzo floor that had the signs of the zodiac on pedestals around the perimeter containing a daily horoscope, and an indoor sidewalk cafe. Today, the center part of Glendale is gone, and the remaining two structures have been "demallified." (Is that a word?)
Before moving to Indy, I lived in Columbus, Ohio. All the 1950s malls had been enclosed except Westland. Even though Westland was on the other side of town from me, I drove clear over there because the enclosed malls (such as my own Northland) were oppressive to me. In the summer of 1981, Westland was enclosed and I stopped going there.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Christmas, Stores & Markets)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-17152a.thumbnail.jpg "Mall Santa: 1957")
- Mid-Island Plaza: 1957
- ... bought me a Black & White cookie.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Stores & Markets) ... Posted by Dave - 03/05/2024 - 1:20pm -
![Circa 1956-57. "Urbanism -- USA. Mid-Island Plaza and parking lot in Long Island, New York." 35mm color transparency, Paul Rudolph Archive, Library of Congress. View full size.
1957 Ford Interestingly, I see only one 1957 auto. The black Ford second from very right of the picture.
[You missed the other one! - Dave]
No store is an islandBut it can be confined to one. Started as a stationery store in Queens during the Depression, Gertz grew - bigly - at it original location before joining the rush to the
suburbs in the 50's. It was one of two Allied Stores divisions in the NYC area - Stern Bros got the Jersey side while Gertz expanded on Long island - but they all became Sterns eventually. The store shown in the main pic ended its life as a macy*s - in what was then known as Broadway Commons - in 2020.
DullsvilleCar collectors and nostalgia buffs like to think of 1950s automobiles as the stuff of glamour and youthful dreams. But, as this photo attests (with the exception of the 1955 Chevy and '53 Mercury hardtops as well as the red '54 Chevy convertible), most of them were, withal, pretty dull.
That's my hometown!Hicksville, New York.
I used to shop at Gertz all the time with my mom. It used to be an outdoor shopping plaza until they finally covered it. it was kind of interesting, all the stores retained their old exteriors. Later on, I worked there at Consumers Dist for a few years. It's seen many highs and lows.
She's a fighterMid-Island Plaza has an interesting history. Mid-Island opened in 1956, on the site of a former boys' orphanage and a dairy and vegetable farm. It cost $40 million and was built to accommodate more than 40,000 shoppers daily. That's a lot of shopping. Beneath the mall was a nearly mile long truck tunnel. In 1957 the tunnel was designated a Civil Defense operational headquarters, providing emergency accommodations for over 9,000 people. Those were scary times. Mid-Island was enclosed in 1968, renamed Broadway Mall in 1989, renovated between 1987 and 1991, and completely redeveloped in 1995. Decline set in as we entered the new millennium. As referenced by Notcom, Gertz eventually became Macy's, and closed in 2020. JCPenney opened in 1999 and closed in 2003. I read somewhere Penney's thought online shopping was a passing fad and doubled down on bricks and mortar. But Broadway Mall is still there, which is a lot more than you can say about a lot of other malls.
Jericho!We lived just a few miles from Mid-Island Plaza from about 1955 thru 1960 when we moved to New Jersey. My mother didn't drive at that time so we sometimes took a cab there to shop during the week. I don't remember much about the mall but those cab rides!!
edit: If you car spotters spy a '56 Studebaker in the lot it may very well be ours. My father loved that thing.
Maybe prosaic, but Identifiable!Maybe mostly prosaic daily drivers, but they are nevertheless distinctive. I count 18 identifiable cars and I am able to ID the make (and usually the year) of 16 of them. And yes Dave, two 1957 Fords.
[I'm driving that '54 Hudson. - Dave]
So I DidA '57 Custom 300.
Proust's MadeleineLike the French dude's cookie, this picture brings back a wealth of memories to me.
I grew up less than a mile away, and I walked there often in my middle and high school years. Gertz had a kids' club called the Pie Club, which gave you a book every year on your birthday, and they would sponsor a movie for members in the mall theater every few months, with the highlight being a pie-eating contest. One show featured a visit by Carl Yastrzemski, a Boston Red Sox Player who had grown up on Long Island.
And the food! Maybe once a year, we'd get a Sicilian pie from Pizza D'Amore. (Our go-to pizza place was Dante's on Woodbury Road.) After Sunday Mass, we'd go to Mid-Island Bakery for crisp crusted Kaiser rolls and seeded rye. If I hadn't kicked the pew in front of us, my mom bought me a Black & White cookie.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Stores & Markets)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-16886a.thumbnail.jpg "Mid-Island Plaza: 1957")
- Sunray: 1942
- ... lives and work hard every day.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Kodachromes, Factories, John Vachon) ... Posted by Dave - 01/28/2024 - 2:43pm -
- Carr Fork Canyon: 1942
- ... morning. I shiver just looking at it!
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Andreas Feininger, Mining) ... Posted by Dave - 11/29/2023 - 7:29pm -
- Traveleze: 1959
- ... all commercial colors, for cost savings.
(ShorpyBlog, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses) ... Posted by Dave - 11/03/2012 - 5:57pm -
![This 35mm Kodachrome found in a thrift store is dated August 1959 and bears the notation "Jim, Bristlecone." The color-coordinated Chevrolet truck and Traveleze trailer are a nice late-Fifties touch. View full size.
Classic Forest ServiceClassic pickup. Classic trailer. Jim looks pretty classic, too, even classy for livin' in the woods all summer. All in minty green. I feel like I'm 4 years old all over again and staring out the open window of an unairconditioned '60 Chevy Bel Air on a two-lane road out West.
GreenIt appears Jim is member of the US Forest service according to the lettering on the truck. The Traveleze is probably his "ranger" cabin!
USFS truckThe Chevrolet half-ton pickup (called Apaches in 1958-59) belonged to the US Forest Service, part of the US Department of Agriculture. USFS trucks have been their own particular shade of green for many years, but I can't recall them ever having been two-toned. Would be interesting to learn whether the USFS commissioned matching travel trailers; can any Shorpyites confirm? (edit: Thank you DougR for the confirmation of two-toned USFS trucks!)
Unchanged after all these yearsForest Service Green
Found in thrift storeI this where I can expect all my photos to end up? and then find them here on Shorpy?
Where's Timmy?I almost expect to see Lassie bounding in to lead him to Timmy, who's gotten himself into another predicament.
I love this site.Where else could one stumble on something like this, nicely blown up for close viewing? I drove one of these pickups up in the Colorado Rockies with the Forest Service for two summers back in the mid '60s. Four on the floor (with a super-low stump-yanker first gear, good only for hauling heavy loads up 4% grades--most of the time you started in 2nd if you wanted to make progress), and yes, mine was two-tone as well. The rest of the stable included a '58 Ford F100, also two tone, and a couple of shiny new Dodge Ram V8s that were all-green, and two Jeeps, a Wagoneer and a CJ5. It was a joy and a privilege to motor around in such a beautiful mountain setting (much like in this shot) in such a cool vehicle. Thanks for the memory!
Civilization Nearby...Jim can't be too far off the beaten track. It looks like there is a telephone line connected to his trailer.
Not BristleconesThese are not Bristlecone Pines in the background. They look to be some kind of fir. And this does not look like the area where the pines grow above Bishop Calif. Although he could be lower on the mountain. Bristlecones also grow in Utah, Nevada as well as eastern California. There are also similar, but not as ancient, Foxtail pines. But these trees don't appear to be foxtails either. Has anyone been able to see what state the license plates are from? This could be a "Bristlecone camp" in some other area entirely.
[It's a U.S. Government license plate. - tterrace]
BristleconeAssuming "Bristlecone" refers to the Bristlecone pine forest east of Bishop, Calif high up in the mountains along the Nevada border. The oldest trees in the world.. so they say. Been there, seen that.
Side mirrors?Relative youngster here as I wasn't even born when this pickup was made. But I notice two side mirrors on the truck - one high, one low - both circular. Was this common back in the day?
Ask the man who owns one!Except for the gentleman pictured being in uniform and the truck having government plates and identification on the doors, this could be straight out of a period magazine ad for the truck. ...Or the trailer.
U.S. Forest Service TravelezeThe U.S. Forest service did have "Traveleze" trailers. I have photos of the exact same trailer with date code and number of units.
FS "Gray & Green"When I joined the Forest Service in 1978, we had a few of these old vehicles with the light gray cab roofs in the parking lot, which the old-timers called "green & grays".
This paint scheme came on all vehicles that the FS owned, but after the General Services Administration (GSA) took over all Government vehicle fleet management, all FS vehicles were the same color for a while. Yes, that weird minty "green like no other green" color.
By the 1980's the GSA provided rigs in all commercial colors, for cost savings.
(ShorpyBlog, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_traveleze_trailer_aug_1959.thumbnail.jpg "Traveleze: 1959")
- Vacation Wagon: 1964
- ... with a C. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kodachromes 1, Travel & Vacation) ... Posted by Dave - 05/31/2022 - 1:09am -
![ Our annual salute to the start of vacation road-trip season, first posted here 15 years ago. Everyone buckled in? Let's go!
"Great Falls, Montana. Return after 3 weeks Vacation. June 27, 1964." This Kodachrome of a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon is from a box of slides found on eBay. View full size.
family trips in those carsI also spent some hot days in a car like that on the way to the grandparents. My mother flattened the second seat, put a mattress on the floor and loaded three of us and the stuff in on top of it, us and the stuff equally loose and not tied down. We whined and fought and slept our way to Cape Cod from southern NJ. My father always "had to work" (they were her parents), so she did the drive alone, I think maybe 12 or 16 hours? Seemed like forever.
NostalgicThese people still had a bright future ahead of them, full of great hopes for the days to come. They hadn't gone to the Moon yet, and to them, by 2007 we'd have personal helicopters and robots would run everything. The possibility of the President being indicted for a crime was unthinkable. My job as a web designer hadn't even been invented yet.
The lawn looks like it's literally astroturf. Were the colors really like that, or is it an effect of the kodachrome?
Holy cow! We had a 59 chevyHoly cow! We had a 59 chevy stationwagon back in the day. Does this bring back memories. We would drive to Florida from Virginia a two day trip usually in the heat of the summer to visit grandparents. Five children two parents no ac. Damn!
[This is a 1960 Chevrolet. - Dave]
DeflectorsDoes anybody know/remember what the deflectors left and right of the rear window were for? These may have been an aftermarket item.
It is amazing how well the colors in this slide are preserved after almost 50 years. It looks like Kodachrome all right, including the telltale blue cast in the shadows
The Astroturf look......to my eye, seems to come from the little flowers (or toadstools?) that are in the lawn. At the smaller image size, they look like specular reflections, making it seem like the grass is shiny.
[The white flowers are clover. - Dave]
1964As I remember it, this was less than a year after the assassination of JFK, there were race riots in the south and we (I was 14) were all starting to question attitudes towards women, blacks, hispanics, homosexuals and the culture we had grown up with. One of the more minor cultural things was the importance of your front lawn.
50 years?I was born in 1964, and trust me, it hasn't been 50 years since then, yet.... ;)
Re:DeflectorsThe deflectors on either side of the rear window were intended to blow air across the rear window to prevent snow from accumulating. A similar deflector is often fitted along the roof on station wagons from the 60s on. I think they were usually a factory or dealer option in later years, but I really don't know specifically about this model or when they might have first been used.
OK, 40 years.Sorry, I was too vexed on the year of manufacture of the car.
I remember that someone in our street had the sedan version of this Chevy. Like any 8 year old, I was fascinated by the winged tail and the panorama windshield. You didn't see many of these in Europe around 1960; everbody, including my father, was driving Volkswagen Beetles. (He later had a new Ford Mustang 1964 1/2 , with a 289 ci V8 and a four speed box, rally pack and (optional) front discs, which I found very impressive at the time. A real gas guzzler by European standards.
Family TrucksterThis is probably what Clark Griswold's dad took the family on vacation in. It's a 1960 Chevy, and I'm guessing it's a Kingswood model. The Brookwood was the more stripped down model and I think the "full dresser" was called a Nomad. This one isn't completely chromed-out and it has the small, dog-dish hubcaps so I'm thinking it's the middle of the line model.
I think the rear air deflectors also helped keep exhaust gas from entering the rear passenger compartment when the vehicle was moving with the tailgate window was lowered. Though it doesn't look like there's room for anybody in the third row of seats for this trip. With the window up they also helped keep the rear glass clear of snow and dust.
These are Parents of the Year......in my book. Can you imagine going across country now without all of the luxuries and Wendy's and portable DVD players and Nintendo and cell phones and credit cards?
These parents did it all the HARD way...and I'll bet they made a lot of memories that summer!
My jaw droppedOnce again the red stationwagon family blows me away. The color composition here is perfect.
Chevy ParkwoodThis is a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood. Parkwoods and Kingswoods both use Bel Air trim (mid-level). The Kingswood, a nine-passenger wagon, has the third-row rear-facing seat, and two steps on the rear bumper (one on each end just outside of where the tailgate would come down). Less obvious is that all Kingswoods have power tailgate windows, an option on the other Chevrolet wagons.
I still drive a '59 ChevyI recommend owning one. In 2000 We took the ultimate road trip with mine from near the Canadian border in Washington State through the desert to Las Vegas and back up through California and Oregon. There really is nothing like seeing the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet. Cruising the Strip in Vegas was a blast. We might as well have been driving a space ship with the reactions we got. Sadly, these Chevrolets were mostly scrapped and very few survive.
60 ChevySadly, the third row seat had not been invented as of yet and the deflectors were used to deflect air into the rear of the stationwagon at slower speeds. I may not be an expert but I'm old enough to have ridden and slept in the back section of a folded down stationwagon. We didn't know about SUV's yet.
Chevy WagonChevy's Parkwood and Kingswood wagons could both be had with a third-row seat. And back then, for the record - wagons WERE the "SUVs" of the day!
[According to the 1960 Chevrolet sales brochure, only the Kingswood was available with third-row seating. The International Travelall and Chevy Suburban Carryall were two of the SUVs of the day. - Dave]
The luggage rackis something you don't see anymore. It hung on the wall of the garage when not in use. Once my dad, who was in a big hurry, didn't secure the tarp on top properly...
We played car games, like Alphabet, Road Bingo, and License Plates, read books, colored,sang songs and squabbled. You took your chances with local restaurants. We hadn't got used to entertainment on demand, so we didn't miss it.
And to Dave Faris: It's the film. I once assured my daughter that colors when I was a kid were the same as today. "The Fifties," she said, in her narrator's voice, "were an oddly-hued decade."
Slide ConversionHow does one convert slides to digital photos? Any website links or advice?
[You'd use a film scanner. I used a Nikon 4000 ED for this one. - Dave]
Family TrucksterWe had a green Ford station wagon, not nearly as nice as this, and with our family of six, it was a masochistic experience to take family vacations. Every summer we said that's it, we will never do this again, until the following summer when we did it again. The best part was arriving home again, but I will say that NOT having DVD's and high tech electronic gadgets forced the kids to look out the window and they gained incredible geographic knowledge from seeing the U.S. I could truthfully call these annual trips "purgatory on wheels."
Road TripMost all of my long-distance car trips were connected with moving as my father was in the USAF. In August 1954, after being in the UK 2½ years, we got in our in our '53 Chevy coupe and went from New York City to the SF Bay Area, mostly along US 40. Entertainment consisted of looking at the scenery and checking off the towns on the free roadmaps that the service stations provided in each state. Iy being the pre-Interstate era, one did go thru many towns back then! (Excepting on the PA Turnpike) Burma-Shave signs relieved the boredom in the rural areas. We had a car radio (AM only, of course), but for some reason I can only recall it being used while crossing the salt flats west of Salt Lake City.
Westward HoIn 1951 our family, my wife, son and daughter, living in Detroit, started taking trips to Cheney, Washington, to visit my WW2 buddy. All on old state highways, no air conditioner, 4½ hours to get through Chicago and the kids loved it. Took these trips out west to the 1970s. We still go west to see my buddy and my daughter in Seattle and we enjoy crossing Nebraska on old U.S. 30. It is a treat to be off of I-80.
Nostalgia Ain't What it Used to BeDon't look at this picture and pine for the old days.
Change the car to a green Olds Vista Cruiser and that's us in 1969. Back then, dads bought a new station wagon to kick off the summer vacation. Dads don't buy an SUV today for that reason.
Without repeating some of the horrors already mentioned below, there was the additional joy of Mom sending back a Coca Cola bottle for one of her sons to use in lieu of a loo. If the girls had to go, we had to pull over. Not so with the boys.
Watching mom backhand-fling a Coke bottle out her window, filled with fluid far different that what was originally intended, and seeing it bounce and spill along the shoulder as we whizzed along at 75 mph (pun intended), that's about the fondest vacation memory at least from the car perspective.
Today with the daughter hooked up to a video iPod and the sons enjoying their PSP, it's a pleasure to drive for distances. Back then, we didn't play License Plates. We played Punch Buggy and Slug Bug, etc. Fistfight games.
Let's go!I loved car trips, and I never had DVD players and Nintendo. I watched the scenery and kept a travel diary. those were some of the greatest times of my life.
Road TrripWe had to make do with pillows & blankets. A mattress would have made it actually comfortable. I don't know if Dad didn't have the imagination for that, or just not the money. I suspect the latter.
We'd sing sometimes. It was 12 hours from north Georgia near the North Carolina line to south Georgia, near the Florida line, where my grandmother lived.
I see the moon; the moon sees me.
The moon sees the one that I want to see ...
Thanks for the memoriesMy folks had the four-door sedan version of this car, in sky blue & white. My mom used to have a station wagon, don't remember what kind, but it was memorable for its pushbutton transmission on the dash instead of a gearshift! However my favorite "finned" car was our family's Buick Invicta. Now that was a car!
Third Row SeatsFords had third-row seats in 1955. I'm pretty sure Chevy had them by 1958 at least. Chevy didn't offer woodgrain sides until '65.
Sunday ridesWe had that same car, only in light blue.
No seat belts or infant seats for us! We'd put my baby sister in one of those deathtrap baby seats that hooked over the front seat and off we went!
What a picture!This picture takes me back almost 40 years to the road trips our family did during summer holidays when I was a little boy. It feels like I myself am stretching my legs after coming home. The colours, the moment -- one of my favorite pictures in Shorpy.
My Favorite Car was a 1960 Chevrolet Impala 2-dr hardtop. Bluish gray with white segment on the side, red and white interior. The first car my wife and I bought. Paid $1750 for it used in 1962. We made some wonderful trips in that car.
Re: Family TrucksterJust saw this item on TV yesterday about a real family named Griswold that had their station wagon modded to look like the Family Truckster from National Lampoon's Vacation movie for their trip to Disney World.
http://tinyurl.com/plo5kub
See the USA in Your ChevroletFor our family, it was a 1962 Buick Invicta wagon. Huge car designed for doing massive mileage on the interstates and that's what we did -- six or seven hundred miles a day from Indiana to the Rockies for our annual vacation.
Procedure for Accessing the Cargo AreaWe had one of these when I was a kid as well. Ours was a silver gray color. See the chrome disk on the trunk door? Upon arriving at destination, here's what you had to do:
1) Put trunk key in center slot (separate keys for ignition and trunk back then)
2) Open flap (as seen in photo)
3) Rotate flap several times till rear window is fully down
4) Reach in and grab handle to drop tailgate
Simple, huh?
Looking at old red carsmakes my elbows hurt! Seemed like some of those old single stage paints, reds in particular, had to be waxed every two weeks to keep them looking decent. The widespread adoption of clearcoat finishes in the late 80's to mid 90's freed modern kids from the dreaded frequent waxing chore, thereby giving them the leisure time to start the video gaming revolution...
As Long AsThis isn't really the "End of the Road"! That's a scary title for all the Shorpy Faithful.
3 Adults + 7 Children =1000 mile round trip to see grandma.
We kids didn't mind a bit.
Seat belts?I don't think you heard "Everybody all buckled up?" all that much in '64. I'm not sure of the exact dates, but if you had seatbelts back then, you bought them at a discount store or an auto parts store like Western Auto or J. C. Whitney, and they were lap belts only. Three point seat belts didn't come along for several more years, if I recall correctly, and it wasn't until the government mandated new cars with ignition interlocks in the 1970's that "real men" started to actually use them.
Back then, we used to spend our vacations camping, so the car was packed to the gills, including the center of the back seat. My sister and I each got little cubbyholes next to the doors, with just room enough to sit for the trip to northern Wisconsin. My dad drove a two tone green '55 Oldsmobile Delta 88. I saw a picture of that car a few months ago, and as soon as I did, I started remembering a surprising amount of detail about the car's details. It was handed down to me when I went off to college in '64.
Seat beltsbobdog19006 is correct in that seat belts were not standard equipment in 1960. However, they had been available as a dealer-installed option since the 50s. By 1966, they were standard in all Chevys, and by 1968, they were federally mandated.
I spent many a happy hour on family roadtrips in our '68 Ford wagon, nestled in the narrow gap between the second row and the rear-facing third-row seat, no seat belt, of course. Neither did my siblings in the third row.
Service StickersI remember those stickers that service stations or car dealers put on the inside edge of the driver's door when you got your car serviced. This Chevrolet has two.
Our road trip rigWe had a '76 Chevy Beauville van, a ho-hum light brown rather than red, which made up for the lack of chrome spears with its cavernous interior: two bucket seats in front for Mom and Dad, two bench seats, and a homemade plywood bed. Strangely, all that space wasn't enough to prevent sibling quarrels.
The best story of this van was the return trip of its maiden voyage, when my uncle, who owned a small niche-market manufacturing firm, talked my dad into towing a piece of equipment from South Texas to a parking lot near Chicago, where we would deliver it to his customer from Wisconsin. We quickly got used to being asked at every single hotel, gas station, and rest stop, exactly what was the three-wheeled contraption with the hydraulically-actuated vertical roller-chain conveyor with teeth.
The looks on everyone's faces when my dad told them it was a grave-digging machine: Priceless!
Curtains?Every August for years we travelled from Birmingham to Cincinnati for a week of visiting my parents' relatives. Before our last such trip in '69, we went through a black-and-white '57 Plymouth Savoy, a metallic-beige '63 Ford Country Sedan wagon (the one without wood on the sides) and a '67 Olds VistaCruiser. I'd love to have that VistaCruiser back today. Ours was burgundy red and my dad put red stripe Tiger Paw tires on it. Imagine a 442 station wagon.
As for Shorpy's '60 Chevy wagon, I only just noticed the homemade or aftermarket side curtains, with vertical stripes of brown, gold and red to compliment the bright red car.
Thanks, Dave, for showing us this photo again... and including all the original comments, too. Great to relive all the great summer vacation stories with everyone!
Re: deflectorsIn the days before the rear window wiper on a station wagon, some folks put these on and the deflected air current would help to clean off that window to a degree. Not having either, within a mile that rear hatch would be almost impossible to see through. Been there, done that and got the tee-shirt.
This does bring back memoriesWe had a similar station wagon, but it was salmon (or was it mauve, or ecru?) colored with a white top (I think). It had a 460 a/c (four windows down while traveling sixty miles per hour, some times 560 with the rear tailgate window down). I remember taking a trip from Mississippi to Six Flags over Texas on U.S. Highway 82 (two lane most of the way) in Summer, 1964. The back seats were folded down, and the four of us kids had pillows, blankets, books, and board games to pass the time. It was replaced soon after with a 1965 Ford Country Squire Wagon with a/c, and fake wood paneling on the side. Instead of a rear facing bench seat, it had two small seats on either side that faced each each other.
Memories of summer tripsWe also lived in Montana back then, and our family truckster in the 1960s was a 1963 Rambler Classic station wagon. (Yes, I suffered greatly for it among my friends.) That's what I learned to drive, and we ranged all over the western US and Canada in it.
Before that, however, we traveled in a 1949 Studebaker Land Cruiser 4-door sedan, which my dad (both inventive and frugal) had outfitted with a set of three back seats that, when covered with the mattress from our roll-away bed, filled the back seat and trunk area with a very passable sleeping unit. That's where I spent most of my time on our travels. At other times, I would climb over the front seatback into the front bench seat between my parents. That's where I was on August 5, 1962, when we were preparing to leave Crescent City, CA, and heard on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had died.
Deflector's actual purposeWas to break the "vacuum" the "wall" that was the rear of that wagon created which would suck exhaust into the car if that rear window was open even a little bit. The fresh air, the snowless/cleaner rear window were merely bonuses...
Buckle up?A 1960 Chevy wagon probably didn't have seat belts unless the owner installed them. The kids in the back were pretty much free range as long as they didn't make too much noise. Lots of people piled the stuff on the roof and put a mattress in the back for the kids.
It was a great way to go and most of us survived.
[Seat belts were optional on all 1960 Chevrolets. - Dave]
Car playgroundMy folks had a Ford wagon of that era. No seatbelts. Folks put a mattress in the back. Became our playground on long trips. We had no desire to "sit" in a seat.
Miss station wagonsI miss station wagons. I prefer them to the SUVs that replaced them.
I also miss the bold bright colors that cars use to come in.
No SquattingLooking at all the stuff already loaded, I'm surprised the back of this wagon isn't dragging on the ground. In fact it's sitting pretty level. I wonder if dad had overload springs installed?
We've had one built for you.To BillyB: Station wagon suspensions were designed with the idea that they would have to haul some combination of eight people and their luggage, so they did OK when loaded down. They *were* softer than contemporary pickup trucks, so the back end of the station wagon wouldn't bounce all over if there were only one or two people in it. Especially at the time of this photo, gas was 25 cents a gallon and would be that price forever, so the factory didn't mind spending a little extra weight on a beefier suspension.
Also, most of the really heavy luggage went on the roof rack, which was fairly close to being in the middle of the wheelbase. The back-back, behind the rear seat, tended to contain lighter things, like blankets, pillows, the picnic basket, and - as the trip progressed - bags of souvenirs. If Dad wanted to use the inside rear-view mirror, you couldn't stack stuff much higher than the seats, anyway.
Source: I rode in the back of a '79 Oldsmobile wagon every summer from '79 to '87. I think the longest trip we took in it was from Kansas City to Washington, DC and back.
WagonsWe had a 1956 Ford wagon, then '61 Mercury wagon, finally a (I think) 1964 Ford wagon.
I remember one year with the Mercury, my mom ran low on gas. We were up in the mountains in a resort town. To get to the gas station, she had to reverse up hills, turn around for the downhills, turn around again for going up the next hill. What a ride.
Another time, 1965, we were in a typhoon in the current wagon. There were eleven of us in it. Another wild ride driving on a road along the bay. Waves washing over us, my mom hugging the middle of the road (there was an island we could not get across).
Wagons were great.
The 283 V-8with its 170 gross horsepower is not going to have much highway passing reserve with all that weight. Cross-flags over the V on the tailgate would have indicated one of several 348's which would have given more than enough reserve. That car is 58 years old but properly equipped could have kept pace with most cars on the road today in equal comfort. A 58 year old car in 1960 by comparison was barely even recognizable as such it was so rudimentary by comparison to the 1960 version in its looks and capabilities. The same comparisons held true in all other realms of life comparing 1960 to 1902--homes, conveniences, dress, you name it. Virtually any of those later areas are not that significantly different from their 1960 versions.
Those deflectors... were supposed to keep dust off the back window
Nikon CoolscanI am having a problem with mine. Can you recommend a place that can repair them.
[There aren't any. Try buying them used on eBay. - Dave]
283 V8Although I agree that a 348 engine would have been a better choice for this station wagon. The 170hp 283 was the base V8 engine with just a single two barrel carburetor. The next option up was also a 283 but with a four barrel which the above wagon may have had, which would have given it a little more passing power.
Koolscan softwareDave. What software program do you use with your 4000? As it seems the program that came with it is only works for Microsoft VISTA.
[I use the NikonScan software that came with the scanner, on a Windows 10 workstation. To install the software on a modern operating system, you have to disable Driver Signature Enforcement. And it's Coolscan, with a C. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kodachromes 1, Travel & Vacation)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/vacation_1960s_00.thumbnail.jpg "Vacation Wagon: 1964")
- Wisdom, Montana: 1942
- ... identify them as well would be great.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Rural America, WW2) ... Posted by Dave - 11/03/2023 - 1:14pm -
![April 1942. "Baker's Garage in Wisdom, Montana. Largest town, population 385, in the Big Hole Basin, a trading center in ranching country." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Superb quality!The quality of this photograph is amazing. It looks like it was taken today. Do you have any more information on it?
Wisdom MTGoogle Maps link.
WisdomGreat photo. Thanks. The last remaining inhabitants eventually changed the name to "Boredom, Montana."
Towns like thisTowns like this are a staple of western North America. In western Canada, their existence was justified by the railway and farmers hauling grain to their local elevators. Later they survived when the highway became the big thing and people stopped for gas or a little food on the road. There's probably a bar that the locals go to. Town's got a school maybe even a high school, and probably more than one church. There's a ball field and, in just about every prairie town in Canada though of course not the USA, a curling rink. In Saskatchewan they used to say that if you lived in a town that lost the school and the curling rink you might as well start looking for a place in Saskatoon or Regina.
PennzoilThe Pennzoil logo hasn't changed much:
WidsomIt looks like it's on the edge of a river valley? The colors in this shot are indeed amazing. I love the punch of the red gas pumps.
[It's west of Butte. - Dave]
CalsoWhat does it say on the sign leaning against the wall, underneath "Calso Gasoline"? Is that "Unsurcharged"? No extra fees?
["Unsurpassed." - Dave]
Eternal WisdomUnderneath "Unsurpassed" on the Calso sign you have "The California Company"
I found a modern picture of this place online:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4494303
Aside from the paved road, this place looks much the same. I don't think they sell Chevron or Mobil at those buildings anymore. Baker's Garage is now Conover's Trading Post. The painted Wisdom has long since faded from the old metal roof.
The GarageI was raised and went to school in wisdom and Bakers Garage is not next to Ed Glassey's garage (The building with Wisdom on the top). Baker's Garage was across the street from Glasseys Garage (Looks like maybe they used photoshop to alter the photo) ..
I moved to Wisdom in 1959 so if the photo is from 1942 maybe they moved the Building??
[The image, which is part of the Library of Congress photographic archive, has not been altered. It's one of more than 50 pictures of Wisdom taken by John Vachon in April 1942. Things can change a lot in 20 years. - Dave]
Baker's Garage in WisdomI am a Wisdom native too.
In talking to my dad. Bruce Helming, who is the oldest native still living in Wisdom, it turns out that Anna Lee and Roy Baker did own a shop across the street from the garage that you know as Baker's, which is now the Wisdom Market. It was the Chet Bruns Union 76 Garage back in the old days. Anna Lee was my dad's first cousin. Dad's folks adopted her when her parents died in the 1920s, and she was raised as Anna Lee Helming in Wisdom.
My grandparents' (and later Dad's) business, Helming Brothers, bought out Chet Bruns' operation in the 1950s, which is when Anna Lee and Roy moved to the garage that you know now. The buildings shown in the photo were destroyed in the American Legion hall fire. I would guess that was in the early 50s, which is when all of the cemetery records were destroyed.
Wisdom had no real fire department until 1961, so when a blaze was raging out of control, it was extinguished by placing dynamite in a loaf of bread and tossing it into the fire. The night the Legion hall and all of these other buildings burned, Dad and his uncle, Clarence Helming, were bringing the fire pumper to the scene. Just as they rounded the corner, "Boom," no more fire (and no more buildings).
Gary Helming
Helming@juno.com
Pictures of Wisdom, MontanaI enjoyed looking at the old pictures of Wisdom and reading the text about them. I grew up near a small town (Gladstone, VA) and have always been kind of partial to them. I love looking at old pictures like these. Thank you for posting them.
The Wisdom of YouthThis town holds a place in my heart. I spent most of my youth in Wisdom, from 1975 to 1990. The town hasn't changed a lot since I left, but has gotten smaller. When I started at Wisdom Elementary there were four classrooms. By the time I graduated to high school they were down to three. I hear there is only one class there now. For high school we were bused 65 miles to the Dillon, one of only two high schools in the county.
It was an amazing place to grow up. Though everyone knew your business, everyone kept an eye out for you. We had two bars that all the kids hung out in and played pool. There were street dances for the Fourth of July and any other occasion. There were two restaurants, one of which burned down last week.
It is hard to describe the life that a kid in a town this small would lead. The concept just doesn't make sense to city folk. But it was an amazing carefree life of swimming under the bridge, ice skating at the pond, nights of kick the can in the Forest Service field, greetings from the town's pet deer and raccoons.
If it were possible to have the kind of lifestyle I have now in the city, I would move back to raise my child there in a heartbeat.
Having lived near Wisdom for many yearsduring the summer-time, I can almost see the buildings. We haven't lived in Jackson for 20 years but the previous 8 years were spent on the Hairpin Ranch in a line shack about 5 miles past the main ranch, in the middle of nowhere. I loved EVERY minute of it. We traveled to Wisdom for dinner some days or just when the kids wanted to take a ride. It was a short 20 mile drive. Would move back in a New York minute.
Early pioneers of the Big HoleI'm looking for any pictures or info of the early Wisdom families prior to 1930. I have an old school picture dated 1914/15 and would love to have someone help identify the children. Both sides of my family, the Elliott's and Scollicks were early settlers there. The old dilapidated log cabin on the south end of the Ruby near Butler Creek is the Scollick homestead and the Elliott log cabin is on Gibbonsville road. I believe my Aunt Eve Scollick might have married a Ferguson in the Wisdom area. There's a picture hanging at the Crossing/Fetties with several people on horses. Anyone that can help identify them as well would be great.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Rural America, WW2)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/1a34284u1.thumbnail.jpg "Wisdom, Montana: 1942")
- Happy Halloween: 1958
- ... lunches or desserts.
(ShorpyBlog, Halloween, Kids, Pa. Kodachromes) ... Posted by Dave - 10/31/2023 - 1:02pm -
![October 1958, somewhere in Pennsylvania. Big brother is ready for a night of trick-or-treating. Rob from the rich, and share with your understudy! Our fourth selection from a batch of Kodachrome slides found on eBay. View full size.
1950's TV MemoriesFirst we were told we had to sit at least five feet away from the screen or we would contract radiation sickness. There were pieces of filmy plastic one could purchase in transparent colors like green and yellow to instantly turn a black and white into a color TV (whatever color the plastic was). There was often nothing on in small towns in the hills that could receive only one or two channels, except a test pattern, but we would watch it anyway. At some time during the life of everyone's TV, there would be a failure of the "vertical/horizontal" knob which would cause the picture to continuously flip and STILL we would watch it. I remember my amazement of seeing the coronation of Queen Elizabeth taking place in Great Britain, in my own home in a small town in Ct. That was truly a miracle to me. Needless to say, I now find Skype absolute magic. We can only speculate at what is coming next.
Costumes by Irwin Mainway no doubt.We all wore them back then, and most of us survived.
LegsWhen those kind of legs started showing up I thought they made otherwise nice furniture look chintzy.
Place Your BetsGuess how long after exiting the house before Mom or Dad was carrying Robin's: bow, treat bag, younger brother.
Safety panel on TVI notice that the parents of Robin Hood and Wonder Bread opted for the transparent safety panel in front of the picture tube of the TV. When my older brother and I, as young adults, removed the defunct TV component from our parents’ massive wooden hi-fi cabinetry (to create extra storage space), we took the TV - with safety screen attached – to a local dumpster so we could toss it from a high place and watch it explode. Far from breaking, the TV hit the bottom of the dumpster and bounced back up about five feet. Like much else back then, those things were tough.
[That "safety panel" is a glare shield. - Dave]
Technical Aspects AsideThat RCA simply cries out for a pair of rabbit ears.
Safety glassThe glass screen cover wasn't an option or a glare shield, though many of them were tinted to increase the contrast.
It was there to protect the unbonded picture tube from being hit and imploding, thereby causing serious injury.
It's Its other function was to contain the flying glass should the tube implode for some other reason.
Pretty much every set from 1946 till 1960 or so had a safety glass.
Sets starting in the early 60's either had the safety glass bonded directly to the face of the CRT or they were banded to contain the glass in the event of implosion, after that the extra glass in front of the screen was not needed.
My User Name will explain why I know this stuff.
[The outer flat panel, made of safety glass, was designed to reduce glare and ambient reflections. Hence names like "Glare-Guard." (And something that implodes doesn't pose much of a risk to anyone unless they're inside the picture tube.) - Dave]
The family's pride and joy on displayThe family is obviously proud of their kids, but they are also showing off their new 21" color TV. In 1958, color TV was still quite a rarity in the home, since RCA introduced their first color set, the 15" CT100, in 1954.
[That's not a color TV. - Dave]
[RCA used a similar cabinet for black-and-white sets and the one in our photo most closely resembles the 1956 Glenwood 21 Deluxe in several details. Also, the screen mask isn't quite the same shape as those used for the round color tubes. - tterrace]
The TVForget the creepy John Wayne Gacy meets Wonderbread and store bought Robin Hood costumes. Yuck. That TV is the star of this scene. I can see it is RCA Victor at the top. I think it is black and white because the color sets of that era had a round sided picture tube. Only the b&w sets had a more squared green shape. I can see somebody has been going overboard on the Lemon Pledge. This family loved that set.
I also can't read the script strip at the bottom of the speaker. It might be a remote control or other advertising slogan, not the model name.
[It's the "eluxe" part of "Deluxe," the "D" having broken off. - tterrace]
Winky DinkThe comments about the safety cover remind me of the vinyl screen you got so you could draw on the screen while watching Winky Dink. I think it was so you could draw paths to help him escape from some plot or another.
I can smell that TV from hereThere were nearly 20 tubes in that thing, warming up the room and lending a faint smell of roasting dust and melting wax capacitors.
Our kids will never know the joy of watching the picture dwindle to a shrinking white rectangle, then a little bright white spot in the middle of the screen when the set was turned off.
Smell-a-VisionNixibunny. My very first thought was the smell that the television would emit. Your description is perfect. I might also add the sounds it would make as it warmed up as well.
Those hidden control knobsIf I'm not mistaken, that center panel below the screen opened (downward, I believe) to reveal all those little knobs we kids were not supposed to touch like the vertical, horizontal, contrast,and brightness. Without rabbit ears they probably had a 75 ohm lead up to the roof antenna. Eventually Dad would get real sophisticated and install a "tenna rotor" device that would rotate the roof antenna with just a twist of the dial that sat on top of the TV!
Warming up the TVMy 30-something children don't know whether to believe me when I tell them that TVs of the era needed a few minutes to "warm up" before the picture appeared and came into focus. Also, they seem skeptical when I tell them that TV stations played the National Anthem and signed off for the night around midnight. And that if you turned on the TV early the next morning, you were likely to see nothing but a test pattern, which usually included a Native American in a headdress.
Is it just me? So I'm the only one interested in the costumes and not the TV set? LOL.
Robin Hood is store bought but the clown looks like it could be homemade. I'd love to know what sewing machine was used and if it was a hand-me-down from Big Brother. Was the material purchased only for this costume or did Mom have a matching apron?
A picture says a thousand words but I'd like a few more in this case!
And speaking of explanations, can anybody describe the candy that went into that bag? Was anything individually wrapped back then? Could you get "fun size"?
Is little sister dressed as a clown,or a loaf of Wonder Bread?
Kid picture!Is it just me, or did every American have a picture of their kids in that exact same frame? We had one of me holding the cat named Nameless. I was 8 in 1958.
Sorry, we had a 190inch Zenith (or was it Admiral?) in a black metal case with the speaker and controls on the side ... sitting on a wrought iron swivel stand. In the den downstairs, not the living room. I wasn't going to mention the TV, too late now.
This photo reminds methat I closed on the house in which I live now on October 31, aka Halloween. No ghosts or goblins to speak of ... because they told me to keep my mouth shut.
VIPs didn't wait for warm up.Waiting for the old tube type TVs to warm up was a problem of the hoi polloi.
Presidents of the U.S. had better things to do than to wait for the many White House TVs to stabilize as they flitted around the various work areas (Richard Milhous Nixon was particularly irked by this) so their TVs were rewired so the tube filaments/heaters were on a separate circuit that was on all the time and was only shut off if a set wasn't expected to be used for an extended period.
When they entered a room and powered on a TV (usually with the switch at the lower end of the volume control knob rotation range), it sprang to (stable) life almost instantly as it merely had to turn on the B+, grid and flyback etc. voltages.
Maybe not so surprisingly, it was found that this didn't particularly cause the tubes to burn out that much more quickly as it eliminated many of the on-off thermal shocks that were the bane of tube filament life, which was in turn responsible for most sudden tube failures.
Solid state electronics brought instant TV warm up to the masses, but things seem to be regressing as we now have to wait for interconnected everythings to boot up and connect to the mothership.
_etachedThere's a running joke about how many of this era RCA sets have the D broken off the Deluxe script, possibly snagged by dust rags. It's so common that there were reproduction scripts made. This photo proves it started very early on.
B/W vs ColorMy grandfather refused to give up the first TV he purchased in about 1955, maybe 1956. It was a black and white, only thing he could get then. When color came out, he saw no reason to have one. I don't believe he was being cheap, contrary to what my mother thought. He finally ended up with a color TV when my mother bought one, set it up, and took his black and white away. My grandmother loved the new color set, so my grandfather lost out.
And I think I have a lot of my grandfather in me. No, I don't have a black and white TV, but, I much prefer the old black and white photos on this website than any of the original color ones. I will admit, though, that this one has to be one the best black and white color combos on the site: https://www.shorpy.com/node/25954.
Wracking my brainKathyRo, I came along a few years after this photo, but I don't really remember any fun size candy bars, and folks I knew were definitely not springing for full size candy bars. We generally got several pieces of small, individually wrapped candy. The ones I remember were hard candy, Smarties, Dum Dum and Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Rolls, and the dreaded Peanut Butter Kisses. If folks had a good year, you would get a box of Good N Plenty, Milk Duds or Boston Baked Beans. Finally, you might get a homemade treat like cookies, which were good, or popcorn balls, which always seemed to me to be made from leftovers from last month's movie nights. This is what I remember in my town - other areas might be different.
OMNISCIENTDave, how do you know everything?
[Deitization. - Dave]
Re: Kid Picture! -> Happy's StoryWhile it's not 100% the same, and it definitely came later, I still have a picture frame (rounded, not squared, insets, the difference) just like that one in my office at home.
Of course, the office used to be my bedroom, when I moved into the house at 2 years old in 1968, before moving into the larger, side bedroom when my sister got married in 1978, before moving out back in 1992; I've just moved back into the home after inheriting it in 2016 with my parents passing.
The picture has NEVER had a child in it, instead, taken in said 1968, it has the picture of a dog, blown up from an old photograph taken at Christmas 1968. Said dog, "Happy," was a good girl, as little as I can remember of her from life, who somehow, even though she was probably only three or at most four at the time (she was a street rescue in 1963), knew my mom was pregnant with me prior to her giving birth and was my mom's constant companion during her (tough) pregnancy (my mom ended up with a classic Near Death Experience which I've only just talked with my wife of 27 years about last week at the end, to explain how tough it was). Happy was, by all reports, devoted to me.
In August, 1970, while walking through the under construction neighborhood around the corner from our home, I was walking/toddling in the road, while my parents and older sister walked in the grass. Happy was concerned, and kept trying to grab me and pull me onto the grass. A car came around the corner, driven by a newly licensed teenager arguing with a friend at too high a speed, not seeing the child in the road. Happy switched to pushing instead of pulling and pushed me out of the path of the car. My father carried her dying body back to our house; she died on the way home, only a block away, and we ended up burying her in the back yard. My father disliked being on that road for the rest of his life, and would go the long way if possible to avoid it when we had to go into that area.
My father loved dogs, but the only portrait he ever had of a dog of his was Happy (he did, admittedly, have lots of just photographs of other dogs), which had pride of place on his dresser from 1970 until 2016, when I inherited it. I have been told by a few so-called psychics who don't know this story that I have a guardian angel, always with me, a small-medium black and white dog (yes, a good description of Happy). Over the years, I've only met one dog, no matter how vicious or "Guard Dog"ish, who didn't warm up to me within minutes of meeting me (the one exception was psychotic, and ended up needing to be put down, and even that dog was generally friendlier with me even than his owner, and no, it was a Cocker Spaniel), and I thank her for that. She'll have pride of place in my home for as long as I live, just as she did in my fathers, still in that frame.
Re: WrackingThe prime stuff in the loot bag were chocolate bars, smaller than the full-size bars that cost a dime and still smaller than the nickel versions, but larger than the mini-bars of today. Many Hallowe’en kisses, which was taffy of an indeterminate brown/gray color, and which seemed lame at the time but are for me, now, at the top of the nostalgia list. There were hard candies, too, either individually wrapped or a mini LifeSavers tube, far too many suckers, caramels, definitely Tootsie Pops and Tootsie Rolls, small bags of assorted squishy things or jelly beans, then loose stuff like apples or peanuts in the shell, thrown in by the handful. I don’t think there were mini bags of chips back then in the sixties. As for the apples, I didn’t eat them like treats because they weren’t treats, they were food, so I gave them straight to my mom who used them for lunches or desserts.
(ShorpyBlog, Halloween, Kids, Pa. Kodachromes)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_IMG017A_0.thumbnail.jpg "Happy Halloween: 1958")
- Pumpkin Patch Kid: 1963
- ... the Associated Press for twenty years.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Halloween, Kids, Philadelphia, Toni Frissell) ... Posted by Dave - 10/16/2023 - 5:20pm -
![Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, 1963. "Shooting fashions and autumn scenes at Pheasant Run Farm, home of Mrs. Robert McLean." 120mm color transparency by Toni Frissell. View full size.
Is Shorpy blue?I don't recall seeing Shorpy in a color before ... very nice. Toni Frissell did a creative job matching this handsome young man's blue eyes to his pants and the door, all in a sea of oranges and earthtones. How could Shorpy help but to jump in?
[There are actually dozens of colored Shorpys here. - Dave]
Illustrious LadyClare Randolph Goode McLean, who died in 1983 at the age of 89, was also quite illustratable. (It no doubt helped that she was on the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.) Her husband was president of the Associated Press for twenty years.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Halloween, Kids, Philadelphia, Toni Frissell)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-48713a.thumbnail.jpg "Pumpkin Patch Kid: 1963")
- The Singing Kings: 1965
- ... on the Carol Burnett show.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, John Vachon, Kids, LOOK, Music, TV) ... Posted by Dave - 04/08/2023 - 7:57pm -
- Minnie and Topsy: 1962
- ... ponied up $18 million for their Manhattan residence.
(Kodachromes, Boats & Bridges, Pretty Girls, Swimming, Toni Frissell) ... Posted by Dave - 09/16/2023 - 11:24am -
- Christmas P.J.'s: 1951
- ... and Sally clash in the latest episode of Minnesota Kodachromes! 35mm color slide by Hubert Tuttle. View full size.
... I believe there is a 20-exposure box of processed Kodachromes on the table along with the cigars. The yellow box looks to be the ... 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)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-MNK166A.thumbnail.jpg "Christmas P.J.'s: 1951")
- Cut to the Chaise: 1969
- ...
(Kodachromes, Charles & Ray Eames, Farked) ... Posted by Dave - 09/09/2023 - 4:33pm -
- The Flowers That Be: 1963
- ... powerful contrasting point of interest.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Landscapes, Philadelphia, Toni Frissell) ... Posted by Dave - 10/17/2023 - 3:43pm -
- Bar Car: 1955
- ... Begging for a thousand pardons Dave.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Toni Frissell) ... Posted by Dave - 09/14/2023 - 3:46pm -
![September 1955. Lloyd's Neck, Long Island, New York. "Arden field trials for spaniels." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Sporting Look: Field Trip at Marshall Field's Long Island Estate near Cold Spring Harbor." View full size.
Action, pleaseThis could easily be a still from a forgotten comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. In one second, Rock and his friend, played by Tony Randall, will enter the frame and a wacky situation will develop quickly.
Non-Bar CarLeading the way is a green and white 1954 Buick.
Car bottleMy dad always kept a car bottle in the trunk, and I now do, as well. But neither of us had a setup like this!
MoviesMovie I think of re this scene is "Man's Favorite Sport" with Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss.
Bar CarA 1955 DeSoto is bringing up the rear with the good stuff! Booze, cigars, cigarettes, cars (and maybe some guns). What can possibly go wrong?
Booze in the TrunkMy uncle had a little liquor suitcase like that, about half that size. When I would travel with his family, he wold pull it out in the hotel room and make himself a martini or two (or three). It had all the ingredients and a shaker too. His brother, my father, didn't drink, probably because of his older brother's booze fueled escapades when they were younger.
What can go wrong with an Old Fashioned?Just press the button marked B for Booze.
Park HereSix years later this Marshall Field estate became a New York State Park. It is called Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve.
https://parks.ny.gov/parks/23/details.aspx
Ain't no party like a Lloyd's Neck partyGuns, cars, and alcohol. What could go wrong?
The License PlateIn those days, New York State would issue new license plates, with new numbers, to each vehicle every two years. The color scheme would be reversed, so one year you'd have orange ("gold") plates with black numbers, which would be replaced by black plates with orange numbers. It was a real pain having to change those plates and send the old ones in (the screws tended to rust badly), so by the mid-'60s the state began issuing stickers, and you would put them on the old rear plate. You weren't supposed to turn in your plates until they became unreadable.
Now part of Caumsett state parkI grew up less than 5 miles from here. The Marshall Field estate house is now part of Caumsett State Park. It's a nice place for a walk.
CaumsettOne of the largest (1700+ acres) of the Gilded Age Long Island estates, Caumsett (as the Marshall Field estate was known) is now a state park occupying a third of Lloyd Neck:
https://parks.ny.gov/parks/23/details.aspx
Top of the Line DeSotoThe bar-car is a 1955 DeSoto Fireflite.
The Fireflite was introduced in 1955 to be the premium DeSoto model. The model was built until 1960 when the DeSoto brand was discontinued by Chrysler Corporation.
[We actually can't be sure what model this is. The script next to the taillight says "PowerFlite," the name of DeSoto's automatic transmission. - Dave]
SI in the 1950s - Documenting a different worldSports Illustrated used to cover hunting and card playing (a lot). Watching others play sports was a much smaller part of life back in the day, it would seem.
It's Field Trials for spanielsFor all you people saying firearms and guns what can go wrong. It's just field trials on pointing out ring neck pheasants for hunting dogs. There are NO firearms involved at this event.
[Um, no. Field trials involve shooting and retrieving. - Dave]
I beg to differ Dave …No firearms no hunting license visible. Any responsible hunter does NOT mix alcohol and ammunition.
[Can you not read? Can you not see the photos accompanying the article about this event? Hello?? - Dave]
What could go wrong?Guns, alcohol, cars (and tobacco, besides)- what could go wrong? Fortunately, this was Long Island, not Harlan County, Kentucky.
Shooting involvedThe dogs were retrieving birds shot down to order. I did enjoy reading this for the colorfulness of the language and for the emphasis on testing the dog: “The dog stopped instantly, dropping to his haunches, and sat marking the game bird’s flight, every muscle aquiver with intense eagerness. ‘Ride it out,’ signaled the judge, and the gunner held his fire in recognition of the request for a ‘long fall.’ At the crack of the gun, the pen-raised bird crumpled and slanted down into the high cover which bordered the woods, foretelling the difficult retrieving task for which the judge had hoped.”
Black and White Scotch whisky Makes sense to drink that for people who like dogs.
My mistake.Read? Yes. The article? No ... I based my postings on the bar car picture and missed the 'read article here' Begging for a thousand pardons Dave.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Toni Frissell)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-03362a.thumbnail.jpg "Bar Car: 1955")
- Five Guys: 1955
- ... dust on the tennies. So the wealthy play on clay. These Kodachromes by Frissell are so rich and saturated, everyone looks tanned and ... day, oh yeah!" Thus sayeth Paul Simon.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Sports, Toni Frissell) ... Posted by Dave - 07/26/2023 - 12:48pm -
- Hunting Party: 1958
- ... the New York Times, he died in 1972.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Toni Frissell) ... Posted by Dave - 07/23/2023 - 2:24pm -
- Naval Volley: 1951
- ... integrated game, presumably voluntarily.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Boats & Bridges) ... Posted by Dave - 08/04/2023 - 7:08pm -
- A Dame at the Races: 1960
- ... the glasses (and the dress).
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Saratoga Springs, Toni Frissell) ... Posted by Dave - 07/25/2023 - 6:35pm -
![August 1960. Saratoga Springs, New York. An uncaptioned Kodachrome snapped by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Saratoga: Where Horse Is King." View full size.
A Dame at the RacesWhat's next, Dave ... A Knight at the Opera?
A Short StoryOnly two of Ms. Frizzell's photos made it into print to accompany the one-page story in the August 7, 1961, issue penned by longtime SI writer William Leggett.
[Ahem. Frissell, not "Frizzell." - Dave]
Reminds me of the Pink LadySeen here: https://www.shorpy.com/node/26990
Green GoddessOur girl again, after losing the glasses (and the dress).
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Saratoga Springs, Toni Frissell)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-22382a.thumbnail.jpg "A Dame at the Races: 1960")
- Chickamauga: 1942
- ... over the "obsession with appearance."
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Industry & Public Works) ... Posted by Dave - 08/06/2023 - 7:17pm -
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