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Motor Age: 1914
... Avenue at 42nd Street." Lions of the New York Public Library at right. 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size. ... got by with much less of everything. EC Potter NYC Library Lion Names Fortitude is the one closest to the camera and Patience ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/30/2016 - 1:44pm -

New York circa 1914. "Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street." Lions of the New York Public Library at right. 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size. Which way did he go, Doc?In photo traffic is heading north. Today, traffic on 5th Ave. moves south. Flags and bagsSo even back then, Fifth avenue was festooned with American flags. If we were to go to the same intersection today, we would see pedestrians laden with messenger bags, backpacks, etc. Yet, the people in this photograph are almost all either empty-handed or carrying only a small handbag or parcel. People got by with much less of everything. EC Potter NYC Library Lion Names Fortitude is the one closest to the camera and Patience is the most distant. It appears the photographer could have used more of the later in setting up the shot, as even the stationary buildings in the center of the image are a bit fuzzy, not what we've become used to with vintage 5x7s (it's Dave's fault, he's spoiled us). (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, NYC)
Newark Luxe: 1944
... was taken sometime before it was imploded. Paperback Library "Crime of Violence" looks interesting. Assignment In Brittany! ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/15/2014 - 6:01am -

March 21, 1944. "Newark Athletic Club, Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey. Long shot of lobby. Morris Lapidus, architect." With a nice selection of 25-cent Pocket Books. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Interesting ContrastThe bland and blonde 1944 furniture with the intricately beautiful interior and lighting fixtures of an obviously 1920's or earlier building. Working GhostLooks like a resident ghost at work behind the counter back left, behind the Pocket Book display. The Judas WindowWritten by John Dickson Carr (1906-1977), published in 1938 under the name Carter Dickson, a locked room mystery novel featuring detective Sir Henry Merrivale. Newark Ex-LuxeAfter becoming the Military Park Hotel and then going into a long period of decline, the building was demolished in 1993 to make way for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The view below, which may have been the same lobby, was taken sometime before it was imploded. Paperback Library"Crime of Violence" looks interesting. Assignment In Brittany!I had that one. By Helen MacInnes. Have read it every few years since. Fast CompanyWritten in 1937 by Harry Kurnitz (1908-1968), published under the name Marco Page, and made into a movie in 1938 starring Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner)
Deadwood: 1888
... of photographs shot from 1887 to 1892 and are part of the Library of Congress archives. There are more here . As you can see at the ... photo has a copyright date of 1888. Read more on the Library of Congress site. "The one hundred and eighty-eight photographs ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/19/2014 - 10:29am -

Deadwood, South Dakota, from Mrs. Livingston's Hill. View full size or zoom in. Circa 1888 photograph by John C.H. Grabill. Another Deadwood shot here. Deadwood - signs of life.Yes, the long exposure would turn any movement into a light blur. However, there are photo's on Ghost Cowboy of a parade in Deadwood in 1888, and they are obviously not taken with a long exposure. Keep in mind these photos were probably taken for commercial purposes, much like an aerial photo was later used as a tool for development. For the photo to be useful, the photographer would want to have a minimum of “people blurs.” Therefore, the photo was most likely taken early in the morning - notice the long shadows - with the sun behind the photographer’s shoulder to best illuminate the town. And I bet it was Sunday morning. The electric and phone lines are a problem, though, with the 1888 date. There’s another photo on Ghost Cowboy dated 1888 that definitely has people in it, but it also has alot of wires. The photo’s of the 1888 parade do not have wires, so try to find the same buildings in both and compare. Now if someone could point me toward the Gem Saloon... [See this post re the wires. - Dave] The Deadwood views by Grabill are all from a well-documented series of photographs shot from 1887 to 1892 and are part of the Library of Congress archives. There are more here. As you can see at the bottom of the image, the photo has a copyright date of 1888. Read more on the Library of Congress site. "The one hundred and eighty-eight photographs sent by John C.H. Grabill to the Library of Congress for copyright protection between 1887 and 1892 are thought to be the largest surviving collection of this gifted, early Western photographer's work. Grabill's remarkably well-crafted, sepia-toned images capture the forces of western settlement in South Dakota and Wyoming and document its effects on the area's indigenous communities." People?Where are all the people? Hmmm...Not only are there no people. There are no horses or livestock. No carts. No trash. Practically no indications of life. In 1888 Deadwood was booming. Color me dubious about the date. Nice photo, though. I love ghost town photos. This is the church, this isThis is the church, this is the steeple... They're there, they're just moving.Pictures of that era took time to expose. Because of the length of exposure, and that people aren't staying still long enough to show up on the exposure, the town looks deserted. You can get the same effect nowadays, if you have a camera with a sufficiently long exposure and small enough aperature. Photographs back then neededPhotographs back then needed long exposures. Signs of LifeThere is a horse and wagon on a street over to the left. We loved Deadwood SDWe came to visit Deadwood SD and we just loved it. Now we cant wait to come back. The people were so friendly. That is so nice, as you don't get that often these days. The start of "billboard clutter"?Did anyone else spot the big advertisement for "Star and Bullock Hardware" hanging under the tracks on the hill, to the right? (The Gallery, Deadwood, Horses, John Grabill, Mining)
Dairy King
... roof). View Larger Map Swift Current Library I sent a query to the Swift Current Library to see if they can identify the Dairy King. There are several other ... 
 
Posted by 4allofyou - 09/19/2011 - 9:06pm -

To be honest, I don't know when this picture was taken. I've tried to search the location but without success. View full size. Canadian Tire StoreIt must be in Canada somewhere. That upside down triangle sign is a Canadian Tire Store sign from the late 1950's 1958?Judging by the cars and fashions, I suspect that '58 was the year in question. Looks like Ontario, 1958 or 1960 or 1962Ontario license plates for station wagons all ended with X back then. I wonder if other states or provinces did the same? Back in the days before stick-on renewal tags, Ontario passenger vehicle plates were white with dark blue lettering in even-numbered years. The alternating years were dark blue plates with white letters. The red triangle Crappy Tire sign (hey, that's we actually call the store, and no longer derisively!) is still in use today. Dairy King cars and locationThe black hardtop at the left is a 1955 or 1956 Mercury Monarch, at the time a line marketed just in Canada. Then we have a 1957 Pontiac and a 1958 Chevrolet wagon. Haven't been able to nail down whether those are US or Canadian versions. Maybe a license plate expert will pop in. Swiftcurrent, Saskatchewan, perchance?That is definitely a Canadian Tire store next door. I was going for somewhere in the Prairies (can't see those license plates well enough). However, there is a Dairy King in Swiftcurrent that looks like it could be the same restaurant with a few modifications over the decades (the original building was probably a house, judging from the roof). View Larger Map Swift Current LibraryI sent a query to the Swift Current Library to see if they can identify the Dairy King. There are several other Dairy Kings in existence in Alberta and Manitoba but none appear to be the same building. Of course, this could be a building that has long been torn down. The Swift Current location, however, is right on the Trans Canada which agrees with the "Stop and Eat" sign as well as the angle of the parking area, and the building is the right shape and age. Ontario 1962-1966The Canadian Tire sign indicates that the photo was taken in Eastern Canada - east of the Manitoba-Ontario border because the company didn't expand west of the border until 1966. The X suffix on the station wagon is unique to Ontario - Quebec used an X prefix for dealer plates. Knowing that this is an Ontario plate restricts the date. Ontario plates were a dark blue with white letters from 1955-1961, and a slightly lighter blue with white letters from 1967-1972. Between 1962 and 1966 they were white with navy blue or black letters. Seeming to confirm this date is what looks to be a car with fins mostly hidden by the Mercury Monarch. License platesAccording to someone I contacted who is a license plate collector and expert... http://www.yomplates.ca/ "This is a bit tough, but I think I can narrow it down to a couple of years. From what I can see, these would definitely be 1956 or later. Reason being Ontario switched plate size in 1955 to conform to North American standards. Before 1955, plates were substantially larger than in the picture, and with a different lettering sequence. Also, Ontario alternated dark plates in odd years, and white plates in even years. So that rules out 1955 since it was dark blue. It also rules out 1957, 59, 61, 63 and so on. Another tip is that Ontario used black/black letters and white background in 1956, 58, 60, 62 and 64. In 1966, the plates changed to light blue letters, and the ones in the picture look dark blue or black. Further, in 1962 a black border was added around the plate. I zoomed in on the picture and these don't seem to have a border. So, now we're down to either 1956, 58 or 60. That's really all I can narrow it down to! Nice photo though. Was this taken in Pembroke or Renfrew? I seem to remember these Dairy Kings as a kid." So, we are looking at either 1958 or 1960.... I am interested in why he thought Renfrew or Pembroke. Not far from me... more or less. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses)
Back Issue: 1920
... Building on the NW corner of 14th & G NW. Desktop Library Click to enlarge. Mills Building In the early ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/24/2014 - 6:02pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Nation's Business." A look behind the scenes at the offices of that magazine. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. StylishIs that the Chicago Manual of Style near the left end? I have a much more recent edition, but it's nice to know it has a long heritage. Books were expensive even then!$6 in 1920 is equal to $71.36 today according to the CPI Inflation calculator. Typewriter DeskThe typewriter being on a folding platform to the right of the kneehole. "Making the Office Pay"That book's title sounds like a manifesto for a modern day tragedy waiting to happen. I hope nobody ever steals this guy's stapler. Debits by the window; credits by the file drawersIs that a double inkwell? It's very businesslike. Black ink for most stuff. Red ink used sparingly. Old Books, Modern TimesThe three books on the right are available for free at archive.org, just in case anyone's interested. The Very First VersionLooks like he's gazing at Windows 1.0! 95 year old babyThis kid would be at least 96 now, depending on how old the picture was at the time. His great-great-great-grandchildren could be looking at this now. Added to my reading listI would really like to peruse that copy of "The Price of Inefficiency" Picture in PictureI wish I could see more of the photo on the wall to the left. Miss Jonesget me the number of that wallpaper contractor. I spy...The taller building visible through the window looks very much like the Commercial National Bank Building on the NW corner of 14th & G NW. Desktop LibraryClick to enlarge. Mills BuildingIn the early 1920s, the editorial staff of Nation's Business, headed by Merle Thorpe, worked out of offices in the Mills Building at the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave. and 17th Street NW. The Mills Building would be replaced in the 1960s by a modern building that is also known as the Mills Building. Nation's Business presumably moved into the new headquarters building of its owner, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, at 1615 H. St. NW, when it was completed in 1925. Publication foldedin 1999. Here is a link to back issues of Nation's Business 1912-1999. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, The Office)
Trade You for an iPod: 1979
... bit the dust just last week. All this is up in the library along with my Nikon FE and my Rolleicord Twin-lens reflex. I think ... Extreme next to the Pioneer, we can stream our iTunes library all over the house. I can't argue with the true audiophiles here... the ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/30/2010 - 12:43am -

It's a sobering thought that this accumulation of consumer audio gear, though approaching high-end levels but not all that esoteric for the period, may look as archaic to present-day eyes as those examples of enormous, steampunk-like telephone and radio contraptions we've see here on Shorpy. Maybe if it was all black enamel rather than brushed aluminum it wouldn't look so old-hat, er, I mean retro. Of all this stuff all I have left is the turntable; a visiting friend recently took out his cell phone and snapped a photo of it in action, then emailed it to his daughter. He said she'd never seen a record playing. Lest anyone think that some form of perverse, fetishistic self-absorbtion inspired this as well as Beam Me Up, I took these photos as a status update for a fellow audio and video enthusiast friend who had moved out of state sometime previously. A Kodachrome slide which, in keeping with the theme of nostalgic technological obsolescence, was processed by Fotomat. View full size. Ripping a CD --- 1,411 kbps>> my kids laugh when I tell them they should rip/download everything at 320 kbps for best available audio quality Top Geezer, if you're ripping a CD, for best audio quality you should simply copy the native .WAV files off the disc, which is 1411 kbps. There's a setting in iTunes to let you do this. I can't let go eitherI still have most of my LPs, though I did sell all I could part with when I moved from California. Still Have my Linn Axis Turntable, My Wharfedale Diamond speakers from 1983 are barely broken in, but my NAD receiver bit the dust just last week. All this is up in the library along with my Nikon FE and my Rolleicord Twin-lens reflex. I think I'll go cry now. Jewel case #1When did you get your first CD player, and what was the first CD you ever bought? What did you think. tterrace: An Audio OdysseySome curiosity has been expressed, so here goes: I got into reel tapes because of what I hated about LPs, primarily tracking-induced distortion, particularly inner-groove toward the disc center, the grab-bag aspect of pressing quality, and of course the ticks, pops and inexorable deterioration. I got out of reel tapes because of what I hated about them: hiss and inconvenience. Hiss* was mostly taken care of by Dolby encoding, but that came during the format's final death throes and then new releases totally dried up with the advent of the CD. My first was in 1985, and I have to say I haven't missed in the slightest all the things I hated about tapes and vinyl. Tapes all went when I moved into a place too small to house them. LPs lingered because I missed the window of disposal opportunity when they still had some value, plus I was lazy. What I've kept have either nostalgia value - what was around the house when I was a kid, and some of my own first purchases c.1962 - or things not yet on CD, plus the aforementioned quads. I have to admit that I retain a certain fondness for the ritualistic aspects of playing physical media, but were it not for inertia - physical as well as mental, both undoubtedly age-related - I'd probably jump whole hog into hard disc storage, computer-controlled access and data-stream acquisition. And I'm not totally ruling out the possibility of getting there yet. *Desire to suppress tape his was the main reason I chose the Phase Linear 4000 preamp with its auto-correlator noise reduction circuitry. It kind of worked, but not transparently; I could hear the hiss pumping in and out. But it also had an SQ quad decoder that I eventually took advantage of when it was discovered that the audio tracks of some recent films on laserdisc and videocassette carried, unbilled, Dolby Stereo matrix surround encoding. By adding another small amp and two more speakers in back I amazed friends with Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark in surround sound well before it became a home theater mainstay. BTW: my advice is to use the Apple Lossless Encoder when importing to iTunes if you want maximum quality. Like FLAC, it's a non-lossy compression scheme, so there's no quality difference vs. the CD original, and you use less hard disc space. The past is the future which is nowHa! I still have my Pioneer PL-400 turntable, the same one I've been spinning on for the past 30+ years. Would love to have a tube amp, but honestly I can't beat the convenience of my early 90s Sony digital receiver. Eight functions/inputs, of which I use seven. To wit: phono [for the PL-400]; AM-FM tuner [built-in]; CD [Kenwood CD player - I don't even use it anymore]; DAT [Tascam TC-222 - has in/out so I can burn directly from vinyl to CD - and what I use to play CDs]; cassette tape [again, Tascam TC-222], video 1 [Sony DVD/SACD player - US region only]; video 2 [cheapo all-region DVD player]; and video three [MacBook or iPod]. My dad was an engineer for Motorola, and a ham radio and audio geek so I come by it honestly [thanks, Dad!] What I would give to have the reel-to-reel deck from our old living room! My kids are mp3 only, they think me a dinosaur, and laugh when I tell them they should rip/download everything at 320 kbps for best available audio quality. "It doesn't matter!" they say. I've worked in the independent record biz for 25+ years, and yes, it DOES matter. And only a house full of vinyl to show for it. The weirdest thing to me is the cassette revival these days. And some are doing it right, producing beautiful sounding reel-to-reel cassettes - metal reels, chrome tape, screwed plastic shells. Anyhow....not bragging or anything, just wanted to share. What a great photo and post! Thank you! Re: RippageThanx, Anonymous Tipster. I've looked in the preferences on my MacBook and found the import settings for WAV files, but I'm stalled there. What next? Also, the whole system comes out through Bose 2.2 monitors set into the corners of my plaster-walled living room. Turns the whole thing into one giant speakerbox. My friends are always amazed at how the vinyl sounds, esp live recordings. Once again, thanx to Dad. He gave me the monitors for my 25th birthday many, many years ago. How I miss him. [Anonymous Tipster notes that this is a setting in iTunes. So open iTunes. Preferences > General > Import Settings. Choose "Import using WAV Encoder." - Dave] My roommate had the "good stuff"We still listen to my Pioneer SX-780 receiver and my wife's Yamaha CR-420 receiver (both mid-70s) every day... mostly to NPR radio. The Pioneer also has my HDTV audio running through it in the living room. (I'm too broke for surround-sound, yet.) And with the help of an Apple Airport next to the computer in the other room and an Airport Extreme next to the Pioneer, we can stream our iTunes library all over the house. I can't argue with the true audiophiles here... the highest fidelity is lost on me these days (I'm wearing hearing aids, now). But ya can't beat the convenience factor of iTunes and a classic iPod for the sheer volume of songs you can have at your immediate access, not to mention building playlists or randomizing them--and it's all portable! But back to the past... As for turntable cartridges, my old roommate and I were always partial to the Stanton 681-EEE. We used those at the album-rock radio station where I DJ'ed (1975-78); they were practically industry-standard. They would set you back a couple of bucks, and maybe they were better than the turntable we had them in at home. But they made everything sound really great. It was my roommate, though, who had the Good Stuff. Top-of-the-line Pioneer gear, separate amp and tuner and a Teac 3340S R2R that used 10-inch reels. My tape deck was one of those unusual, slant-faced Sony TC-377 decks. Between the radio station and my roommate and all my friends "in the biz", I always had access to really great gear. Sadly, it usually wasn't mine. But I still have a ton of vinyl. Gimme that Old (High) School AudioYou know what I really, really, really miss about old-school electronic gear? Functions that had dedicated control switches or knobs, rather than being buried down several layers within one of an array of menus. Also, instantaneous response to switching or adjustments rather than digitalus interruptus, now made worse by HDMI wait-for-a-handshake. Dave: you are my hero. Very nice!I come from a long line of audiophiles, so even though I was only born in 1974, that all looks very familiar. Our setup was very similar, but we also had an 8-track. My current stereo setup has a fine-quality Dual record player I inherited from my grandfather. Just this morning, my 6-year-old daughter did a convincing boogie to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. She will totally grow up knowing the sound you hear when the needle first hits the vinyl, what we call the "crisp." And I have to agree with an earlier poster -- that totally looks like a modern photograph. How strange! StyliShure V15 Type V replacement stylus (Swiss) on eBay. [A few years ago I went to the local Circuit City (remember those?) and said I needed a new needle for my record player. The kid gave me a look like I'd asked where they kept the Victrola cranks. Finally the manager found one "in back." - Dave] MagnavoxWe were Magnavox Dealers for many years. They had one great feature, they were price-fixed. It was one of the few lines we carried that allowed us a full markup. Magnavox didn't have to police the sales pricing, we dealers ratted each other out if they were discounting. Now Magnavox is just another has-been brand (like Bell & Howell, Westinghouse or Sylvania) that can be licensed to put on any product. It shows up every once in a while on a promotional brand LCD TV or compact stereo system. Incidentally, tterrace, too bad you didn't live in Manhattan, you would have been one hell of a good customer. Love this stuffI started collecting vinyl in the mid to late 90s. It never really went away but now it's really picked up. There is hardly a major label release that isn't offered on vinyl. They are also reissuing classics as fast as the presses can make them. I bought my neighbor a turntable last year. He's now a more avid collector than I am. The real trick is keeping the vinyl clean at all times. I made a vacuum cleaning machine out of an old turntable. It does a fantastic job reviving dirty records. After they are cleaned, I slide them into a new anti-static inner sleeve. I use an anti-static brush to remove dust before each play. That removes a huge amount of surface noise. Cleaning the stylus is also important. To me, it's hard to beat the magic of a vacuum tube amplifier. I built my stereo amp from a kit about 9 years ago. You can build almost anything yourself with the kits being offered today. I build copies of classic vacuum tube guitar amps as well. I basically supply friends in local bands with free amps since I don't play guitar. It's a great hobby and soldering is a useful skill. There is just something about vinyl and do-it-yourself audio that gets you involved with the music. It makes it so much more personal. Those were the daysI used to have some stuff like that, and JBL L-100 speakers. Nowadays all that sound is still around, just smaller and in the car instead of the living room. Age vs. DolbyI don't have to worry about Dolby hiss anymore because my tinnitus is bad enough to where I hear the hiss in a silent room. I never went through a proper audiophile period mostly because I didn't have the money, but also because I never had a place where I could really put it to use until it was a bit too late. I still have my turntable but, like everyone else's, it needs a new cartridge; and the place where the stereo sits now has way too springy a floor (you can skip a CD by treading too heavily, much less an LP). These days the stereo spends most of its time being the sound system for the DVD player. My father went through his audiophile period in the fifties, and for a long time his system consisted of a tube amp whose provenance I do not recall, a massive transcription turntable and tone arm, and a home-built Altec cabinet with a 36 in. speaker (it was the '50s-- what's a crossover?). The speaker magnet weighed something like twenty pounds; the whole thing was the size of an end table. His hearing has gotten much worse than mine so he has been spared further temptation. Weird but trueAddendum - my PL-400 has two speeds - 45 and 33. What do you get when you add them together? 78. If I hold the speed button halfway down between 45 and 33, it spins at 78 rpm! I use a C-clamp to hold the button between the two and spin my 78s and have burned many of them to CD to rip into my MacBook. My 78s are now portable on my iPod. How cool is that? Phase Linear and Infinity Mon IIasBack in the mid seventies I was a service teck at a HI FI shop, We were dealers for PL and Infinity. PL was the first high-power company out there. I fixed lots of 400s (200s 200b 700s and Series 2, too). The larger Infinity speakers needed lots of power to drive. The 400 was up to it, but the crossovers in the Infinitys were very hard on the amps. The PL "turn-on thump" wasn't very compatible with the speakers. The auto-correlator in the preamp took away lots of hiss and noise, but also took away the soundstage. Plenty of tricks out there to "sweeten" up the sound of the 400, but not too many lived long enough. ELO ("Lucky Man") and Supertramp ("Crime of the Century") helped us sell lots of PL and Infinitys! I still own a pair of Mon IIas, have a few friends that still have theirs. Mon Jrs too! On another note, it was common to find audio nuts who were also camera crazy! Never seen a record playing??Tterrace, I hope your friend's daughter catches up with the times. Vinyl is in style again. Just today I went shopping with some friends and we bought a total of 35 LPs. It's smelling mighty technical in hereWAV? On a Mac? Phf. (AIFF is the native uncompressed format on Mac.) If you don't have space concerns, use Apple Lossless format, which is about half the size of AIFF or WAV. But really, 320 mp3 or AAC should be more than good enough for kids listening on an iPod. Considering how all the pop stuff these days (if that's what they're into) is so compressed (aurally, not bitwise) and saturated, it already sounds bad on the CD, so why waste the space ripping it at a high bit rate? [Lots of us (yours truly among them) are moving their CD collections onto hard drives or dedicated music servers. The .wav format has several advantages. - Dave] The most common WAV format contains uncompressed audio in the linear pulse code modulation (LPCM) format. The standard audio file format for CDs is LPCM-encoded, containing two channels of 44,100 samples per second, 16 bits per sample. Since LPCM uses an uncompressed storage method which keeps all the samples of an audio track, professional users or audio experts may use the WAV format for maximum audio quality. WAV audio can also be edited and manipulated with relative ease using software. AIFF is also PCM in its uncompressed forms. And since "top geezer" specifically mentioned he's using a Mac, it only makes sense to use a format that was made for and will work better on a Mac. That'd be AIFF or Apple Lossless if he wants something without the [possible] audible colorings of mp3, AAC, or compressed WAV. Zero historyI recently finished reading the galley of the new William Gibson book, "Zero History." As with several of his earlier books (and about half of Pixar's films), it concerns itself with the relationship between humans and the things we create. We make clothes and stereos and computers, but then we define ourselves by these things as well, so which is really central -- us, or our things? Zero History raised an interesting point about patina, in that some things become more valuable if they show signs of use and others are more valuable if they are mint in box. A stereo system, I think, would fall into the latter category. Anyway, that's an eye-catching setup. Thanks as always for sharing. Questions, questionsRetro-audiophile lust! 1. Brands and model numbers please. 2. Where's your Elcaset deck? Ray GunI also have a nifty little anti-static-electron-spewing sparky gun, pictured to the right side of your "record player". http://www.tweakshop.com/Zerostat.html I BetBet your turntable plays 78s and 16s as well as 45s and 33s. I have a cheap Garrard changer of about the same vintage that does all four... which came in rather handy when I started picking up 78s at the local Symphony's book and music sale a few years ago. Oh, OKNever had an Elcaset deck, nor 8-track. I do still have a MiniDisc deck, though. Shelf-by-shelf going down: Technics SL-1300 direct-drive turntable w/Shure V15 Type V cartridge; ZeroStat and Discwasher. Phase Linear 4000 preamp; 10-band graphic equalizer whose details escape me for the nonce. Concord outboard Dolby unit atop Pioneer RT-707 reel-to-reel tape deck. Kenwood KX-1030 cassette deck. Phase Linear 400 power amp. Not shown: Infinity Monitors with the easy-to-blow-out Walsh tweeters. Somebody tell me how to get a replacement stylus for the V15 Type V. FashionsInteresting though that you -- the clothes and hair -- would fit in just fine today. Men's clothes haven't changed much in 30 years. Sure there's newer styles, such as the stupid "falling down pants" with underwear hanging out and such, but the newer styles haven't replaced the old standbys. We tend to think of fashions of the past lasting for a long time, but if you look at any 30 year time period in the pictures on Shorpy you'll see that the fashions change drastically. All in all, the picture looks like it could have been a picture of vintage equipment taken yesterday. Living it old schoolThe system here in my studio: Pioneer RT-909 open reel (10") Pioneer RT-707 open reel (7") Pioneer PL-530 turntable Pioneer CT-F1000 cassette deck Pioneer SX-727 receiver Elac/Miracord 10-H (turntable for 78s) Tascam 106 mixer Tascam 112 cassette deck Sharp MD-R3 cd/minidisc Kenwood KR-A4040 reciever TEAC X-3 Mk II open reel (7") TEAC X-10R open reel (10") Otari MX-5050 (open reel (10") KLH Model Six speakers Infinity RS-2000 speakers iPod 60gig (first generation) Let me do some mind reading.The Fotomat you took your film to was in the parking lot of Co-op shopping center in Corte Madera. Your stereo equipment was bought at Pacific Stereo in San Rafael. Or was it that high end place down at the Strawberry Shopping Center? All very cool looking stuff. I have just broken into my old gear I bought back around 1975 at P.S. I'm currently listening to some old LPs that were my grandmother's. It's fun, and they do sound better than CDs. As far as the stylus goes, check around online. There is quite a bit of interest and information about this hobby. Reel to reelI remember when "logic" was advertised as a technological breakthrough. I'm old. Call me old schoolAll I need is a vintage Voice of Music turntable to fit in my restored 1950 Magnavox cabinet model 477P radio/record player. It never had the TV option installed so I put in an inexpensive small TV from Wally World, the cable box and wireless gear. www.tvhistory.tv/1950-Magnavox-Brochure3.JPG I have the Contemporary in mahogany. Mice had been living on the original turntable. Construction of the cabinet is first rate. Sorry for drooling into your gearI always liked those Pioneer reel-to-reel decks, but still lust for a Teac. Nice Phase Linear stuff there. That's maybe an MXR EQ? Tiny, stiff sliders with rubber "knobs"? And a slide-out shelf for the turntable? But I think the real star here is the cabinet on the right with the neato doors. Jogging the tterrace memory banksThank you sjmills, that was indeed an MXR equalizer, and exactly as you described it. I eventually connected it with mega-long cables so I could fiddle with it endlessly while sitting in my acoustic sweet spot. What's under the turntable is actually an Acousti-mount, a spring-footed platform designed to minimize low-frequency feedback from the speakers. I still use it. The outfit that made it, Netronics Research & Development, is still in business I see. The smaller cabinet at right was actually my first audio equipment cabinet; my folks got it for me c.1964. It was originally designed as a piece of bedroom furniture, and was solid wood, unlike the later composition-board larger one. And rgraham, that's where the Fotomat was, and some gear did come from Pacific Stereo in SR, but the Phase Linears were beyond them; they came from some higher-end Marin place I've forgotten about. The turntable plays only plays at 33 & 45. My online searches for replacement Shure V-15 styli usually only turn up outrageously expensive new old stock or alleged compatibles whose descriptions give me the willies. Just within the past couple months my LP collection has shrunk from around 18 down to 4 linear feet. Tape squealWow, I was born the year this was taken, and when I was growing up we had one of those cassette players on the second-from-the-bottom shelf. At least, it looks very similar to what I remember. I hated it, though, in its later years while playing tapes it would randomly emit an extremely high-pitched, screeching, squealing noise. My parents couldn't hear it so one night when my dad put in a tape and it started squealing, he didn't believe that there was any and just thought I was covering my ears and begging for it to be turned off because I hated the music, until my brother came downstairs and asked what that screeching noise was. Gonna have to show this to the husbandHe will genuflect, then get a certain far-away look in his eyes. Shelli Is that a static gun?Just bellow his right hand in the background.... a static gun for zapping away the snap-crackle-pop static before placing the vinyl record on the turntable. That WAS state of the art! High School Hi-FiI will confess to still having my high-school stereo. Akai tape deck, Pioneer amp and tuner from 1977-78. The last of which I have duplicated (triplicated? Thanks, eBay) for Shorpy headquarters. Also some Sony ES series DAT decks and CD players. Acoustic Research speakers. Squirreled away in a closet, my dad's 1961 Fisher amp and tuner (vacuum tubes). Sold on eBay: Dad's early 1960s Empire Troubadour turntable. (Regrets, I've had a few.) AnalogueryNo way would I trade old analog gear for an iPod. Any good audiophile will take vinyl or a good analog source over the compressed, squashed and mastered with no dynamics file formats that iPods handle. I'm convinced that audio (recording techniques and gear) peaked in the '70s and '80s. While we have some pretty impressive gear available in this day and age, I've got some vintage gear that sounds pretty good yet and is arguably better than some more clinical sounding stuff made today. Vinyl is back as well. Local record stores are now stocking more and more vinyl. Consumer electronic shows are full of brand new turntables and phono preamps. I would love to have that Phase Linear stuff in my audio racks! Great shot. We've come a long way.But wasn't all that stuff cool? I happen to love the before MTV days when listening to tunes was a great way to relax and reflect. I think music was better too, but then I'm showing my age! I've got that same turntable.When I dug it out of the closet a few years back and needed a tune-up, I discovered I lived just a few blocks from what may be the last store of its kind. He'll have your stylus. No website and he deals in cash only -- pretty much the same set-up for the last 60 years. J and S Phonograph Needles 1028 NE 65th St Seattle WA 98115 (206) 524-2933 His LordshipI cannot read the text, or clearly recognize the person, on whatever is located to the right of the reel to reel unit but, the person looks a little bit like Lord Buckley. Heavy Metal n Hot WaxI still have about 500 pounds of old Ampex and Marantz gear, and over a thousand vintage and new vinyl sides. Sold that stuff in the 70s and worked for a recording studio in the 80s. Always a trip to give the old tunes a spin on the old gear. With DBX decoding some of those old discs can give CDs a run for the money as far as dynamic range goes. But to say any of that sounds better than current gear is wishful thinking (remember the dreaded inside track on a vinyl LP?). Most any reasonably good, digitally sourced 5.1 setup with modern speakers will blow it away. Those were the daysThis brings back memories of dorm rooms in 1978. First thing unpacked at the beginning of the year was the stereo equipment. Last thing packed at the end of the year was the stereo equipment. Love the brushed denim jeans. I only had them in blue. Back in the DayNothing could beat the sound that jumped off the turntable the first time a brand new LP was played. Electrifying! No tuner?Ah, the days of audio purity. Am I missing the tuner, or were you a holdout for the best-quality sound, no FM need apply? Great to see that stack of equipment. I'm still using my Sony STC-7000 tuner-preamp from 1975; it doesn't have all the controls of your Phase Linear, but just handling it takes me back to the good old days. Tx for the pic! R2RI grew up in a household like this, and the reel-to-reel was my father's pride and joy. But can anyone name the recording propped up next to it? It looks like Eugene Ormandy of the Philadelphia Orchestra, except for the unbuttoned collar. Vinyl's FinalI've never been without a turntable. Currently, I have a Rega Planar 3 with a Pickering XV15-1200E cartridge. Bought my first LP in 1956 and I'm still buying new ones. My receiver/amp is a Fisher 500B, a vacuum tube gem. My speakers are highly efficient Klipsch 5.5s, which are great sounding "monkey coffins." I've a Panasonic CD player and Pioneer Cassette deck for playback of those obsolete formats. Further audio responseNext to the reel deck is the box for a London/Ampex pre-recorded tape, conductor Antal Dorati on the cover; can't remember other details. No tuner, as FM audio had too many compromises for my taste. I had a receiver in the video setup for FM simulcasts (remember them?), plus I ran the regular TV audio through it to a pair of small AR bookshelf speakers. In defense of the iPod (which I use for portable listening - Sennheiser PX-100 headphones, wonderful - and did you know Dr. Sennheiser died just last month?), it can handle uncompressed audio files just fine, plus Apple's lossless compressed format, so you're not restricted to mp3s or AAC. For what I use it for, AAC is perfectly OK, and to be honest, my ears aren't what they used to be anyway. Still, for serious listening I plop down in the living room and put on a CD or SACD, or some of my remaining vinyl. Among other LPs I saved all the matrixed Quad (SQ and QS format) which Dolby ProLogic II does a reasonable job of decoding. Finally, thanks to everybody for the hints about the Shure stylus replacements, I'll check those out. Snobs!You guys and your fancy stereos. Here's mine from back in the 70s. Tuner and speakers were Pioneer I think. No idea about the turntable. Don't ya love the rabbit ears and the cord leading to the swag lamp? And of course the whole thing sat on a "cabinet" made of bricks and boards. Is that you, Arturo?Perhaps the 7-track box cover is showing Arturo Toscanini conducting a Casual Friday concert? Never saw it comingSo the future is here already? This story is both sad and frightening. Now I can't sleep without the lights on. Two-and-a-half questions: Didn't your PL 400 get a little toasty under that shelf, pushed up against the side? Did you have LPs up on the top shelf like that in October of '89? And, if so, did they stay there? That is (was) some nice gear. I'm tearing up just a little. DoratiThe tape is a 1975 recording of Antal Dorati conducting the National Symphony Orchestra in three works by Tchaikovsky. I knew I had it on LP at one time, but I had to resort to ebay to identify it. Vinyl livesWe still have a couple hundred LPs stored carefully in the garage (don't worry, they're safe from damage!). A few years ago, we had a yard sale and had the garage open but roped off. I had one guy nearly foaming at the mouth when he saw our collection. I nearly had to physically restrain him from going in and grabbing everything! We also have an turntable that's about two years old. No, it's not top of the line, but my teenage sons LOVE the silly thing and DS#2 just bought a NEW Metallica LP! He plays the *&$%## thing when he's doing the dishes. I sound like my mom: "Turn that racket down!" The PlattersThere were around 2½ million vinyl albums sold last year in the United States, which would account for 1.3 percent of music track sales. So basically it's a novelty format, like dial telephones. IncredibleMy father had everything you have in this picture, and it brings back some incredible memories I had as a child of the 70's. 1970's Man Cave!This guy had it going on. Reel too realSold off the last of my old stereo gear (nothing too impressive) at this year's neighborhood garage sale, but I've got that same Pioneer deck sitting next to me right now. Recent craigslist purchase, necessary to digitize some of my "historic" airchecks I've been lugging around for the last 40 years. Funny, I wasn't nearly as good as I remember but it is nice to have a piece of gear I always wanted! Hi-Fi FarkAs night follows day, so Farkification follows tterrace. Not to mention j-walkblog. Love the systemReally nice system. We have seven Telefunken consoles of different sizes and styles that we really enjoy. Nothing sounds as nice as vinyl played through those 11 tubes, and the quality of a stereo that cost the price of a new VW back in 1958 is as good as you'd expect. Enjoy these "artifacts," since they (in my opinion) outperform even a new high-end Bose, Kenwood or other system. Vinyl, Shellac, and Garage Sales Rock!I got back into vinyl (and shellac) about 5 years ago. There was a tiny hole-in-the-wall used high-end audio shop in my area where I got a gently used Technics 1200 series TT for $250. Got a 30+year-old Sure V15III cart and new stylus for a lot of money, about $175! I haven't looked back 3,000 LPs later, and if you've had a garage sale in SW Michigan, you've probably seen my happy face at some point! :-) Love having the artifacts in my basement, and love making MP3s out of them even more for portability. Living in the present does indeed rock sometimes. I can't remember the last time I purchased a CD... (Sadly, Bill's Sound Center closed when they demolished the whole place for a snazzy Main St. Pub.) Nostalgia never goes awayI'm not a technophile, but I know what I like...I'm going to go into the living room right now and fire up some Louis Prima on my old Benjamin Miracord turntable! Recovering Open Reel FanaticBack in the late '70s through sometime in the early '80s you could still get current-issue prerecorded open-reel tapes. Probably very few folks were paying attention, but YES for a SINGLE PENNY you could get a dozen of them when starting your brand-new membership with ... (shudder) Columbia House. It wasn't long before they stopped offering open-reel for all their titles, but the ones in the advertisements were available in any format, and I still have the ones I got early on, and some of the automatic monthly selections. (Damn they are heavy, too. Like a box of iron filings.) Somewhere around here I have Steely Dan and ELO albums on open-reel tape. It became hard finding things I wanted to listen to, though, so I had to finish out my membership agreement by getting some LPs, and that's about the time I started to realize the things from the club looked OK but were made of inferior materials and did not always sound quite right. But of course I was about fifteen years old and it was an educational experience. It took me a few more years to get over my fascination with open reel decks, but I still have two corroding in the garage. Anyone remembertape deck specs for "wow and flutter"? Vinyl - jazz and bluesI still have the bulk of my jazz and blues vinyl collection, though I did unload some of it. Had to buy a new amp last month to play them after my old one gave up after at least 25 year service. Got a Cambridge Topaz AM1, not very pricey but does the job. Muddy Waters and Thelonious Monk rule! Am I actually this old?This was stuff I longed for in the '70s, but never managed to afford. To me it still feels semi-contemporary and definitely impressive. BTW, is the very concept of high fidelity now as out of date as this old hi-fi equipment? Judging from the execrable audio I've heard coming out of a series of cell phones I've owned over the last decade, I'm beginning to think that the basic ability to notice audio distortion may have been lost as interest in hi-fi was lost. Reel-to-reel had an advantageOne could copy whole albums, and the length was for hours. In the late 80's, I knew some serious audiophiles who had Carver CD players, Nakamichi cassette players, and reel-to-reel players, on which they'd store hours of jazz music. Turntable MemoryMy buddy and I have been mobile DJ's for close to 30 years. Back in the days of lugging three large boxes of LP's and 4 heavy boxes of 45's, sometimes up flights of stairs, and index cards for looking up song location, we had two QRK turntables we got from the radio station where my friend worked. One evening we were on the upper level of a hall with a very spungy floor. We didn't realize how much the floor would move until we started a polka and the dance floor filled with people. A few moments later the record skipped and we realized that we were bouncing, a lot. We grabbed a few quarters out of our pockets and put them on the tone arm, and then both of us pressed down with all our might to keep our stand from moving. We were very, very afraid to play anything uptempo. I still have a turntable, a bunch of vinyl, and a Teac open reel deck. I'm converting some shows I did many years ago to digital. (ShorpyBlog, Technology, Member Gallery, Farked, tterrapix)
Gotham City: 1908
... view . Since construction on the New York Public Library building started in 1902, then the photograph must be looking up 5th ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/15/2016 - 2:49pm -

"Fifth Avenue and Forty-Second Street, New York." Circa 1908, horses and motorcars shared the streets. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. 42nd Street Come and meet those dancing feet On the avenue I'm taking you to - 42nd Street Hear the beat of dancing feet It's the song I love the melody of - 42nd Street Little nifties from the fifties, innocent and sweet Sexy ladies from the eighties who are indiscreet! Oh, there side by side, they're glorified Where the underworld can meet the élite - 42nd Street Come and meet those dancing feet On the avenue I'm taking you to - 42nd Street Hear the beat of dancing feet It's the song I love the melody of - 42nd Street Little nifties from the fifties, innocent and sweet Sexy ladies from the eighties who are indiscreet! There side by side, they're glorified Where the underworld can meet the élite Naughty, gawdy, bawdy, sporty, 42nd Street The big parade goes on for years It's a rhapsody of laughter and tears Naughty, bawdy, gawdy, sporty, 42nd Street Hat PinsLadies in those days kept their hats in place by pinning them to their hair with large steel pins often decorated with elaborate ends. Still sold to this day http://www.pennypins.co.uk/ They Do WindowsWow, window cleaners, top floor building on the left. No safety equipment. Don't think that would happen today. Occult BooksIn the third window from the left, top of picture... Does the sign say "Occult Books"? Bet that's an interesting store. Busy streetI love these old pictures of NYC, especially since I work on Madison Avenue and take a daily lunch stroll down Fifth Ave. I was wondering how the ladies on the upper deck of the bus kept their hats on but I guess the bus didn't go too fast anyway. Talk about Hollywood advertisingI know Hollywood likes to tease us a year or so before a big movie comes out, but really, "Bull Durham" being advertised in 1910? (yeah, yeah, I know, but I couldn't resist) Which Direction? Clues...In trying to figure out which direction they were looking, I first tried google maps and street view. Since construction on the New York Public Library building started in 1902, then the photograph must be looking up 5th or east on 42nd. You can see the banner on the right hand side says Apollinaris. Since they were located on 5th, then this photo must be looking up 5th Avenue. 1930 Blue Book Apollinaris "The Queen of Table Waters." Apollinaris Agency, Co., 503 Fifth ave. at 42nd st., New York City. GreatWhen I opened up this picture I was practically drooling - so much to look at!!! Love these busy street scenes. Thanks again for all the great pics. Armored Horse & Buggy?There is a horse and wagon turning which has Silver Vaults 37 and what is probably the firm's address on its side. The number 37 can also be seen in the shadow under the footrest of the driver and passenger. Any idea what the name refers to? How do the Ladiesget to the upper deck of the bus? He ain't doin' windowsIt looks like he's hiding from a jealous husband or he levitated up from the occult book store. HATS!When was the exact moment that going out in public without a hat became legal in this country? I'm guessing it was sometime in the 1950's, but it could have been in the late 1940's. Perhaps it resulted from the residue of WWII. All I know is that every picture of Americans dressed for the public in a downtown or urban setting between 1900 and 19XX shows each man and woman with a hat. Virtually this is without exception! What I don't know is when "XX" took place. There were holdouts. You might see some crotchety old gent with a derby or Homburg in the 1960's, but he was a quaint relic. What happened, and when did it happen? It just seems that the American Hat Industry went to heck in a handbasket on a given day for no apparent reason. [The reason was JFK. - Dave] Time TravelEach of these street scene pictures is a window into a "lost" world--like peering back in time. And each one is just stuffed with interesting things to see and think about. The small details, things the photographer probably didn't even notice, are riveting now. The "Occult Books" is an excellent example. If I recall correctly, Spiritualism and the Fox sisters had kicked off in the late 1800s and of course as soon as photographs were possible, "ghost" and "spirit" photography became the rage. Thanks, Shorpy. I hope you realize how much we appreciate this site and what a revelation it is. Every history class in high school should have it as required reading! TrafficWhat amazes me is the amount of traffic in the streets. Somehow I equated this much traffic with the LA freeways of today, and not the horse carriages of lore. It makes sense, but just not something you think about. Kids These DaysI was just reading in our local paper today some things from 100 years ago, and a socialite wanted to know how long this fad of young ladies going outside with short sleeves and no hats would last! Silver VaultsNew York Times, December 11, 1898 SAFES FOR SILVERWARE They are Coming More Into Use in Modern Houses SOME ARE VERY EXPENSIVE . . . Where safes are not used for table silver, the silver vault is built into the house, opening from the butler's pantry. A family well known in New York society, which figured not long ago in a noted burglary case, has recently had larger silver vaults put into the house. The most prominent architects now plan for these vaults in most of their most pretentious city and country houses. These vaults are small rooms fitted up much like the silver safes, though possibly with less velvet and more woodwork, as the vault is used frequently to hold fine china as well as silver. . . . The vault is built exactly on the principle of the most modern bank vaults in regard to security and outside finish. There are massive doors of the metal finished on the inside with a brass plate which shows through the heavy plate glass covering it. There is the day gate of open metal work, with a simple fastening exactly as in the banks, and used also for convenience. The woman of to-day not only has more valuables than she had a few years ago, but she uses them more frequently, and the bank is useful only for very valuable and seldom-used plate or while she is away in the Summer. Freeze FrameNotice something unusual about this picture? The action of moving objects is nearly frozen by the shutter speed. Most street scenes of the early 20th century have very blurred action due to the slow lenses and the even slower film emulsions. But why? I have in my hand a Seneca folding 4x5 camera from about 1910 and the fastest shutter speed is 1/200th. Why would a camera manufacturer offer such a fast shutter speed if the available films could not keep up? Maybe photographers did not choose the fastest speeds for some other reason. A clue might be in the very out of focus pedestrians in the foreground of this image. In order for the photographer to stop action using a film rated at ASA 25 or slower the lens aperture would have to be wide open resulting a blurry foreground and a blurry background. My guess is that most photographers were captured by the majesty of the scene – the beautiful new buildings or the sweeping landscape – and were less interested in the comings and goings of their fellow citizens. So faced with a decision between fast shutter speeds and long depths of field they chose to stop the lens down. Of course there were photographers that focused on people from the very beginning but it seems the street scene as a social document had yet to mature. [Regarding "available films," this photograph, like almost all photos of the era, was made without film. It's a glass plate negative. Just about any glass plate exposed outdoors would have had a short exposure time. Stop-action street photography was nothing new or unusual, as the hundreds of similar photos here will attest. - Dave] HorsesIt seems so incongruous to see horses in the middle of a big city. Where did they eat? Where did they poop? Where did they stay at night? [There were hundreds of livery stables and carriage houses in New York. Many were multi-story stables with elevator hoists. The horses went on the street, and the Department of Sanitation cleaned up after them. - Dave] Hansom CabNote the hansom cab in front of the double-decker bus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansom_cab The driver sat behind and above the passenger compartment, and controlled the door latch by a lever from his seat. That way he was sure that he'd get his fare! Both of my Irish grandfathers drove hansoms in New York in the 1880's and 90's, and their experiences made their way into family lore: SWELL DUDE: You DO know the way to the Lamb's Club, my good Man? GRANDPA: Do you take me for a greenhorn? Why it's in the sheep, isn't it? Now, where are yez going? Re: Hat pinsAnother nearly forgotten use for hat pins was self defense, a purposeful jab with a sturdy and ready-to-hand hat pin was frequently enough to discourage the attentions of less polite elements. Double-DeckersI can just barely remember double-deckers in NYC in the early '50s in regular revenue service. This is not to be confused with tourist buses of recent decades. Now one is being tested for transit duty. HorsepiesI remember seeing an editorial, from the dawn of the motor vehicle age, to the effect that all the pollution in the streets would be going away with advancing prevalence of the motor car. MTA Double-DeckersIn the mid to late 70's there were double-deckers in service for the MTA on Avenue of the Americas. I think they were M6s. If you know the City, I went to "Little Red School House," on Bleeker, and took that bus every day. That would be cool if they made a return. [From the NY Times: Double-decker buses "returned in 1976 when the eight British-made double decker buses went into service again on Fifth Avenue as part of a test program. But the buses did not hold up well, said Charles F. Seaton, a spokesman for New York City Transit, and were taken off the road after about two years." - Dave] Everything is oldI wonder what it was like to live at a time when everything in existence was old: the buildings, the vehicles, your clothes? I even asked my aunt, who was born in 1887, and she said, "Well, they didn't seem old at the time." But they look so old. Men without hatsF. Scott Fitzgerald made the comment when he was in college that he saw a group of young men going out without their hats and he dared to do the same. So at least around WWI, a few people risked societal disapproval by going outside bare-headed. Up the rampTo Anonymous Tipster and Dave (whatever happened to Dave?) -- nearly all the livery stables were multi-storied, and many had elevators, but the elevators were for hay and grain. The horses ascended to their stalls on the upper floors by ramp. There are still four carriage horse stables in NYC, and all are of this design: 37th and 38th Streets between 10th & 11th, and 48th and 52nd Streets between 11th and 12th. The ramps can be seen from the sidewalk in all except the one on 37th, which faces the back of the building. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, NYC)
Black Sea Bass: 1900
... on the people [Yes, it's real, and it's in the Library of Congress archives. It was also reproduced in newspapers across the ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 01/06/2008 - 2:22pm -

A world's record 384-pound black sea bass caught by Franklin Schenck of Brooklyn with rod and reel off Catalina Island, California, on August 17, 1900. View full size Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_sea_bass Add your picture to this article please! That's a BIG ol' fish. BobThat's a BIG ol' fish. Bob from Iceland. WoW!That fish is unbelievable!!! What an amazing picture. Is this realI never hear anything like this before ? That thing must weight 1/2 tone! Can eat a man! No way.no way. That thing's gotta be this thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_sea_bass Not exactly the same thing as the black sea bass in that other article. big difference between 5 lbs and 384 lbs. A Big FishFrom the New York Times of August 27, 1900: A Big Fish From The Los Angeles (Cal.) Herald. Catalina Island, Aug. 18. — The world's record for the heaviest fish landed with rod and reel was broken yesterday afternoon by F. S. Schenck of New York, who brought in a jewfish, or black sea bass, weighing 384 pounds, which was captured on a twenty-one-thread Cuttyhunk line after a twenty-minute fight. The record has previously been held by T. S. Manning, who, on Sept. 16 last year, took a 370-pounder after a two hours' contest. Enter Name Here FishWhatever kind of fish that is, it's phenomenal!! Could you imagine trying to reel something like that in?! It's fantastic. What a great photo!! Is this real???Is this real??? i dunnoit's not real, look closely at the lighting, very shiny and bright all close up on fish, dim on people, or maybe sharper and brighter on fish and dull on the people [Yes, it's real, and it's in the Library of Congress archives. It was also reproduced in newspapers across the country. See clip below from the New York Times. - Dave] Sea BassSome more sea bass sport-fishing photos. Indonesian Black sea bassHi all, my name is Welly m (Balikpapan - Indonesia) ,...2 days ago, I catched a black sea bass with my reel, it's about 12 Kg, and I cooked it in Rica-Rica (Indonesian Tradisional Recipe) Very nice taste. (Animals, Curiosities, Sports)
Fountain Service: 1942
... two of those (23, 28) are "our photos." Which are from the Library of Congress. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Marjory ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/22/2022 - 2:40pm -

July 1942. Washington, D.C. "People's Drug store lunch counter on G Street N.W. at noon." Acetate negative by Marjory Collins for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Floor SlatsMy family owned and ran a restaurant (opened 1934) and I spent many hours traversing those type of boards you see behind the counter. Though rubber mats are the norm and the preferred nowadays, those slats nailed or screwed to 2x4's were really better...the wood gave and cushioned when walked on. Also, spillage and pieces of food that dropped to the floor beneath the slats (usually) kept the walkway from getting too slippery. Rubber mats can't do this. At the end of the night the boards are pulled up, scrubbed and the floor cleaned beneath them. A lot of bars, at least in the south, still use them today. Amazing!Most Shorpy pics of lunch counters and the like look staged - all clean and set up, ready to go. This is great to see a 1940s lunch counter in action! Dropped oranges, rags, dirty dishes and all! It FEELS real! Busy placeBut I would sure feel uncomfortable with a line a people at my back watching me eat, waiting for me to finish. Not All People's DrugstoreAfrican Americans made up 28% of the population of D.C. in the 1940 Census, but I don't see a Black face in the photograph. A quick search online turns up reports of sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in the city in the 1940s and 1950s. Bird's eye viewof the duckboards. What's leftWhen I moved to the Washington area in 1981, the People's Drug Store in my neighborhood had a lunch counter, not unlike this one though smaller and curved. The lunch counter vanished within a few years, and now the drug store is a CVS. Alexandria, Virginia, where the People's chain was based, has a place called The People's Drug (or The Peoples Drug, they can't seem to decide) for "fine food and cocktails." As far as I know, the only drugstore lunch counter in the District of Columbia today is in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. It's from the Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina, which a six-month sit-in desegregated in 1960. Wow, This is a Wonderful Photo!Thanks for posting this one. The angle looking down onto the action is a real rarity for an indoor shot. There is so much visual information on offer here. And with the one exception of the young lady in the middle left of the frame (and possibly the young man down at the left edge of the frame), no one seems aware of the photographer at work above them. I look forward to lots of reporting from the detail-minded Shorpy community. You Gonna Eat That?An establishment still exists near the University Of Minnesota Minneapolis campus named Al's Breakfast. In business continually since 1950, the building is only 10 feet wide including cooking and eating areas. Due to the tiny space, guests must first stand in line along the building's back wall as they wait for others to finish their meals. It is common for diners to be instructed to move down the counter to allow newly seated customers to be seated together. Veterans of Al's are used to the instruction and diners may be re-seated several times during the course of a meal. Generations of poor U of M students have worked and been nourished there. Don't mind me. But hurry up!I agree with denverlev. I had exactly the same thought on first glance at this photo. What a bizarre setup, to pick a spot behind a diner and stand there while they eat. And my next thought was about the "grocery store line effect", where I always seem to pick the "wrong" line at the grocery store (although self-scan has largely eliminated this issue). How frustrating it would be to choose to stand behind the guy who takes forever to eat, then mulls over the dessert choices, then bickers over the bill, then takes forever to pay it, etc. etc., all while you watch the patrons in the seats next to you come and go and come and go. I couldn't do it. I'm so glad that at some point between July 1942 and today we came up with the concept of the hostess stand. One more thing. Is the floor behind the counter designed to maximize the effort required to keep it clean?! Geez. And I think the server at the top is fishing out a coin that she dropped. Clean Up On Aisle 1Is what the waitress at the top of the picture is doing. I guess being busy at a lunch counter will always mean a broken plate or two (or three, or four). The person with the plates behind the crouching waitress looks a little annoyed too. Not All People? In all fairness, keep in mind this is G Street N.W., nowhere near the predominantly Black neighborhoods of the time. I'm sure that local drugstores there were often frequented by a mixture of races. I didn't know... that Sean Penn was THAT old! Where to wait ?I guess from above it looks worse then from where you're enjoying your meal. I mean, you can't see the people waiting behind you, can you. Wonder if the lunch-time regulars used special tactics to decide behind which stool/patron to wait. That girl fourth from the bottom, near the Coca-Cola dispenser, is she going to eat all those buns (or cakes) ? YIKES ! !I never noticed the people waiting behind the seated customers, was this the busiest lunch counter in the world?? I just now noted the people waiting behind the seated customers, was this the busiest lunch counter in the world?? Dynamic photoGreat angle, almost lurid. And so much activity. I feel for that waitress at the far end who’s squatting down to pick up a mess. Can’t be easy on the greasy duckboards. And at first I wondered what was the suspended circular device in the upper left with the blur around it until – duh! – it occurred to me that it’s a ceiling fan, in motion. No smoking? Dont see any ash trays or cigarettes. Always was someone next to me smoking. Can almost hear the sound of dishs clanging around. Watcha gonna have, hun? Are you done yet?I appreciate the caption simply says lunch counter at noon, cause there is no break in this lunch break. There is likely more pressure at this lunch counter than at their jobs. I don't see many watches, but I'm sure everyone is keeping track of the time. Have a cookie, or a sandwich?Those little square cellophane wrapped items on the stand at the bottom of the picture, and the round ones nearby - are they stacks of cookies or pre-made sandwiches? Can't zoom in enough to tell or read the writing on them. There's another stack at the far end by the second Coke dispenser. [Nabisco "NAB" Raisin Fruit Biscuits, some LANCO fig bars, etc. - Dave] No SmokingDuring a time when everyone smoked, and it was allowed pretty much everywhere, I don't see any ashtrays or anyone smoking. Maybe there's no time to have a smoke after lunch with so many people waiting for your seat. All for oneIs that woman near the Coke fountain really going to eat all those cinnamon rolls by herself? I don't see them anywhere else on the counter, so I assume they must all be for her. That looks like a diabetic coma waiting to happen. Milk for lunchI'm a bit surprised at all the lunch patrons drinking milk with their meal. I suppose today most would be drinking sodas. And in 1942 there's not an obese person in sight at this counter. To me, mystery iswhere in the world photographer anchored himself to make this dramatic view and composition? [The mezzanine. - Dave] An ad, or your lying feet ??So who are you going to believe when it comes to deciding what's "excellent"? (That the ad lists as a perk the possiblity of moving on to better paying positions may give the answer) DC's "lost laws," later foundIn 1872 and 1873 the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia adopted ordinances providing that no restaurant keeper or proprietor could refuse to serve respectable and well-behaved persons, and prohibited refusals of service on the basis of race. color, or previous condition of servitude. But as Reconstruction gave way to a return to racist practices, those laws were largely forgotten - until the forties. In 1944, Ms. Pauli Murray, the top-ranked member of Howard University Law School's Class of 1944 (and the only woman in the class), rediscovered the laws and sparked a campaign to enforce them against segregated lunch counters within the District. Enforcement actions began in 1950, and convictions of the John R. Thompson Co. Inc. restaurant chain under the "lost laws" were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1953. https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/971 There's a site reposting your photosThis photo is #23 in their series. I think all the other photos are yours as well. https://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/30-fascinating-photos-collected-fro... [Welcome to the Internet! Just two of those (23, 28) are "our photos." Which are from the Library of Congress. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Marjory Collins, PDS, Stores & Markets)
Florida Mammoth: 1890s
... do not appear to be part of the LOC collection. [The Library of Congress has the non-Western photos that the Colorado Historical Society didn't want. - Dave] The Denver Public Library has some of them. Where's Bogie and Katie? Some very ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 12:54pm -

Florida in the 1890s. "Brown's Landing, Rice Creek." Note the enormous 18x22 inch "mammoth plate" view camera set up on the bow of the Princess. 8x10 inch glass negative by William Henry Jackson, whose photographs formed the basis of Detroit Publishing's holdings in the company's early days. View full size. He hauled it Into the mountains, tooWilliam Henry Jackson's 18x22 inch glass plate photographs are a mainstay among Colorado history buffs, particularly railfans. Some of his locations seem accessible only to mountain goats. Unfortunately, most of these do not appear to be part of the LOC collection. [The Library of Congress has the non-Western photos that the Colorado Historical Society didn't want. - Dave] The Denver Public Library has some of them. Where's Bogie and Katie? Some very pleasing visual effects on the boat. Notice the ox-yoke formed by the sculpted "Princess" plate over the wheelhouse window, much like the classic Packard grill. The curlicue shapes on each side of the bow (is there a proper name for them?) add a nice touch as well, as does the shaped wheelhouse roof---complete with eagle. UGH!What did these poor guys use for mosquito repellent back then? We honeymooned in Florida in May. Near a slow-moving body of water the mosquitoes were so big they could make one feel faint from loss of blood. The beaches - which had brisk, mosquito-repelling breezes - were wonderful! Love TriangleAnd note the 3rd camera on the tripod over on the right, keeping a jealous eye on the other two cameras. Third cameralocated to the right side of the picture on the landing. Much more conventional. One assumes it's like the one that took this shot. No turn of the keyJust think what it took to get one of those steamboats under way. No "turn the key and cast off." And if the skipper / proprietor was lucky he had help to split, haul and stow the firewood. Where's the princess? Note the running lights on that boat. They followed the rules of the road on that little river. I was in Florida in 1938-39. My mother particularly liked the flying cockroaches. The ones we were used to in New York couldn't do that. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Florida, W.H. Jackson)
Rural Mother: 1936
... show this to be a well-known Depression-era image in the Library of Congress archives. Comments like these are a good opportunity to ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 07/05/2009 - 2:29am -

March 1936. "Mother and baby of family of nine living in field on U.S. Route 70 near the Tennessee River." 35mm nitrate negative by Carl Mydans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. SonsRose, And notice that the boy you mention (the one on our right) is the only one wearing shoes. It looks like he's standing on maybe his father's feet--there's somebody else standing off the camera edge. But imagine: The clothes that they're wearing might've been their only clothes! Just to reiterate: there was no choice of what they could wear from day to day. What they have on now was all they (might've) had for possibly months at a time. "How do I get to the Susquehanna Hat Company?" What happened to them?While it's certainly disheartening to see that kind of abject poverty, the family probably fared better over the next decade. The TVA started bringing electricity to that area around the time of this photo and Tennessee had a pretty robust wartime economy. The draft board generally didn't take men with nine children so the father would have been around to find steady work. So however bad it may have been you can at least be confident it got better. And yet the boy is smilingAnd yet the boy is smiling :) Mother of povertyThis photo made cry. What more clear image of poverty in America could there be? A flour sack for a skirt and a safety pin holding a tattered sweater. I ache for her children and wonder what happened to this family. One bright spot is the boy smiling to his sister while holding her toe. Tatters...They may be poor material wise with their tatters and rags on their back, but they are rich in their love for each other. Mother of povertyThis is the worst case of poverty I have ever seen that wasn't from the third world, but look at them they are together, even able to smile, by far this picture is the best example of "the great depression". fakeThe picture is of far higher quality than existed in that era. It's obviously a fake. ["That era," the mid-1930s, when photography was 100 years old, saw some of the best photographs ever made - the work of Ansel Adams, for example. And of course a few minutes of Googling will show this to be a well-known Depression-era image in the Library of Congress archives. Comments like these are a good opportunity to point out that the farther back you go, the better and sharper the pictures get, because the recording media were bigger. Two examples are here (1865) and here (1913). As well as here and here and here. - Dave] Re: No exaggeration"And yeah, glass plate negatives are amazing. But even 35mm film actually carries more information than most digitals: ISO 100 35mm has an effective resolution of 10 megapixels, and when you up the negative size to that of a view camera or the 8x10 glass plates, you're talking resolutions and image quality that today's cameras can't touch." YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT THAT ! No exaggerationIn addition to reading "Let us Now Praise Famous Men," check out the photos of Jacob Riis and read "How the Other Half Lives." Yes, muckrakers, but they were not making up the poverty they found and photographed. When people who were doing *well* had only 2 or 3 sets of clothing, there just wasn't as much "extra" around to give to the poor. Using flour sacks and sugar sacks was incredibly common - so common that it is a trope in literature of the time. Even solidly middle-class families "turned" collars and facings on their clothing when it wore to holes, to use the other side, and every family had a rag bag in which they saved *every* scrap of old clothing for other purposes. I guess in this day of cheap clothes made by slave laborers in poison-filled factories in China, its hard to believe anyone treated clothes as so precious that they were saved and worn until they were in this state, huh? And yeah, glass plate negatives are amazing. But even 35mm film actually carries more information than most digitals: ISO 100 35mm has an effective resolution of 10 megapixels, and when you up the negative size to that of a view camera or the 8x10 glass plates, you're talking resolutions and image quality that today's cameras can't touch. Rural mother 1936Oh how I wish I could take the doubting thomases back with me to the North East of Scotland during the time that this stunning photograph was taken. I am glad that it has been brought up to watchable standard by digital magic or whatever. I can still remember my grandfather filling his boots with straw to keep the cold/wet out before going out to the field to plough or cut corn with a scythe. He also used the very same material to wipe his bottom. Granny had a grain sack for a skirt and wore clogs. My favourite time of day was when she put the 'hen's pot' out to cool. I invariably ate the potatoes and haven't tasted better since. Money-wise it was a very poor time but life had a richness difficult to achieve these days. Re: Fake>> The picture is of far higher quality than existed in that era. It's obviously a fake. We get a lot of comments like this, I guess from younger people, or people who have never been to a museum. They don't realize that the farther back you go, the better and sharper professionally taken photographs get, because the recording media were much, much larger. An 8-by-10 glass plate negative is 80 times as large as a 35mm film frame, or the image sensor in a digital camera. Two examples are here (1865) and here (1913). As well as here and here and here. Also a lot of comments from people who seem to think color photography started around 1960. Poverty exaggerationOk, this photo is an example of early photo-journalism. The family could very well have been homeless and living in a lean-to or a wooden box on top of a truck chassis- during the summer, anyway. But the depiction of poverty is exaggerated- think about it- if someone steered the photographer toward the family, then others in the community knew they were there. There's no way a family can dress like that and not receive donations of used clothes. These rags were put on to evoke sympathy for the plights of many during the depression. Don't get me wrong - shock value was probably needed to raise support for many valuable social programs that came about because of the depression. But how long could a family dress like that and not receive donations from others, no matter how bad off the community was. [Most of these migrants, refugees from the Dust Bowl farms of the Great Plains, were not especially welcome in the communities where they dropped anchor, and people often did whatever they could to get them to leave. You might want to read up a little more on the Great Depression. A good start would be "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" by James Agee with photos by Walker Evans. Or "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. - Dave] Not an exaggeration"There's no way a family can dress like that and not receive donations of used clothes." My mother was a teenager during those years and remembered how so many people were driven to desperation. Her comment was "there was always someone trying to cheat you." Two or three years into the Depression the do-gooders began to run out of sympathy and "used clothes." And after five more years of no improvement they began to fear things would never turn around and that they would end up in the same circumstances. There were just too many newly poor people and not enough people with excess resources to balance things out. BenIf anyone was ever interested in trying to achieve that kind of detail today, I'd highly suggest buying an old used medium format camera and using some 120 roll film. I have a couple of Yashica TLR's which were considered substandard in the 50's and 60's, but their quality still makes a 35 SLR look like a cheap point and shoot. It's not the camera that makes the pictures better, but the larger negative available in 120 film. Not only do you get more detail, but the color depth is far more realistic. ClothesMy Gramma has saved some clothes that her mother made from flour sacks. She also has some made from linen and wool they spun and wove themselves, when they were more prosperous. She lived in a house with a dirt floor and didn't wear shoes in the summer. The Face of the Great DepressionThank you Mr. Caruso. I echo the response from Dave....We read in history books about the Great Depression and over the years, in our mind it is simply a swirl of facts and figures, of almost dispassionate removal that was the reality. While it has been said that hindsight is 20/20, I think it can also be argued that hindsight, especially from such a distance can be sterile becoming almost become an illusion, an event without a substance. Hopefully this will once again place it into a reality ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSShPnOS15Y Dale Oh My GoshI'm 15 years of age and I had no idea that the Great Depression was that bad. This picture really oppened my eyes to the extreme conditions at that time. Thank you for this reality. Reality CheckI have a picture on my desk showing my mother during the depression. You can see her bones because at 5'7" she weighed 85 pounds...just from the simple lack of food. Each girl in the family had two dresses and each boy had two pairs of overalls - one to wear and one to wash. By "wash", I mean using a metal tub over an open fire. Mostly they went barefoot (in the Arizona desert) because if they had shoes, they were too valuable to wear everyday. In the picture my mother is looking directly at the camera and her expression is almost exactly the same as the look on the face of a shell shocked combat veteran. As I said, I keep this small black and white photo on my desk so that if I ever, ever have even a moment of thinking that I'm having a hard day I can look at my mother's face and get a reality check. Barefoot KidsMy parents grew up in the depression. When I was a kid (in the 60s) going outside barefoot was STRICTLY FORBIDDEN, reason being that in their minds if you weren't wearing shoes it was because you didn't have any, and therefore were poor, which they viewed as something to be ashamed of. Making doThe habits of the depression generation persisted into the better days of the '40s. I remember my mother repairing worn sheets by splitting them down the middle and sewing the good edges together to prolong their life. My dad brought home flour sacks from the restaurant where he worked. My mother made dish cloths and pillow cases from them. Some of the sacks were made from patterned material for dresses. The branding on the others washed out easily. To this day I an reluctant to discard clothing. ClothesMy parents did not allow us to wear jeans (which we didn't own) or sneakers because they weren't real clothing, but only worn if you owned nothing else. Believe me we weren't rich either. Mother of NineThank you so much for sharing this. I was born in 1977, but just hearing these stories helps me to realize that we are so spoiled and really puts things into perspective. Amen! Thanks, dalecaruso!I'm going to show this to my 7th grade students who LOVED the Newbery Medal-winning book "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse! Amazing...moving...thank you. The habits remained - for good or badMy parents grew up in the Depression. Members of their generation, roughly those born 1920-1935, often find it difficult to throw out anything "good". In my parents' case, I was left with stacks of thousands upon thousands of moldering magazines and newspapers, piles of old shingles, 2x4s, chunks of vinyl siding, and old cardboard; hundreds upon hundreds of doilies, knick-knacks, and figurines; and tons of worthless, useless plywood and cheap wood furniture. The cry was, "I might need it someday!" and "It'll be worth GOOD MONEY one day!" and "You're so wicked and wasteful and lazy to want to throw it out!". They were wrong in every single solitary instance, no exceptions. The figurines now go for five to ten cents each on eBay (and don't sell at that price); the shingles melted together into a big unusable pile; the 2x4s and cardboard rotted to dust; the doilies were attacked with mold; the magazines were destroyed by water and age; the furniture was rickety and undesirable in its shoddy construction and unattractive, unmarketable poor style. It all went away to the dump as useless, worthless, unrecyclable (because of the mold) garbage - and it cost over a thousand dollars to have it hauled away. And I'm not the only one. There are internet groups made up of people in their 40s and 50s who are, like me, dealing with the unhealthy hoarding habits of their Depression-era parents who have passed on. But we, the children, are not the ones hurt the most by this sickness. The older generation itself is harmed most of all. The mold and dust gathered by the things they've hoarded endangers their health. The sheer bulk of the hoard can endanger them in case of fire. And since they can't find what they've hoarded, they end up buying the same things over and over again, which reduces their ability to provide for themselves. No North American generation before this one has suffered from this level of hoarding, and I doubt any one after it will. Earlier generations didn't overbuy but also weren't afraid to discard; later generations might overbuy but likewise aren't afraid to recycle or discard. Re: Hoarders I would have to seriously question the sweeping and wide swath of the brush you painted this generation with. My parents lived through the depression and the dust bowl, as did my dads' 12 brothers and sisters. and the 5 siblings of my mothers' family. And not a hoarder among them. I am sure they used things longer and valued what they had more than we do, but I hardly consider this a "disorder". Now I am sure some did, but your statement to me really portrays this generation as unhealthy mentally, and I am just a little offended by it. Oh that we today were as mentally stable as they. And if "There are internet groups made up of people in their 40s and 50s who are, like me, dealing with the unhealthy hoarding habits of their Depression-era parents who have passed on", well then I would say, perhaps it is this weak-kneed generation, who need support groups because, "Oh No, Mamma kept things a Long Long time", are the ones who are unhealthy. You do this unbelievable generation a great disservice. Future Hoarders of America Unite!You know, I don't look at the faces of these little ones and concern myself with the idea that their biggest issue in their senior years is going to be that they held on to too much stuff instead of throwing it out. When your clothes are being held together with twine and your mother is wearing a cotton feed bag as a skirt, it's kind of easy to see how, in the future, when you're an old woman, you're probably going to hang on to every scrap and see its potential usefulness someday. It's amazing how differently our consumerist culture sees items today. How often I've longed to be able to hold onto a toaster that could work just fine if I had someone who could fix it for me. But instead, appliances today aren't meant to last for more than a few years and then off to dump with them. Our landfills are overcrowded with plasticized items that will never, ever decompose - plastic bags, water bottles, take out containers...the list is endless. I hate to politicize a picture but I can honestly see how having nothing more than the holey shirt on your back would make you take stock when one day you had tremendous bounty. We could learn a lot from these people and their troubles and how to see potential treasure in trash. Alive and wellPoverty can be because of chance or personal choices. Back in the times of the Depression it was heaped on people by powers out of their control. I see it today right here in Arkansas where I live and in my own neighborhood. I live in a small town of about 5600 and even in what is supposedly the world's most rich and powerful country people are lining up at the free food banks and food giveaways, receving government commodities and waiting in ine at the free medical clinic that is run by area churches and staffed with Doctors and Nurses who volunteer their time for free. Just walk into Walmart on the 1st of the month, they way some families are dressed would break your heart. But then you have the victims of bad personal choices. There is a single other in my neighborhood that recently lost her job because she failed a drug test. She has 3 children. Everyone in the neighborhood knows she sells her food stamps for alcohol. She would buy just enough (barely) food for them to get by and sell the rest If it were not for the kindness of neighbors her children would not have any decent clothes. She was just kicked out of what is very decent public housing where she was paying $16.00 a month rent because she had her alcoholic boyfriend living there with her. Her poor choices affected not only her children but many people in the neighborhood (who at their own expense would buy extra food so they could feed her children or spend money to buy clothes for them) who have tried to help her for years. In her children I see the NEXT generation of American poverty waiting to happen and it is so sad. HoardersMy parents are children of the Depression, too. And my father most definitely instilled in me the sense that one doesn't waste or discard anything useful. He has 2 barns and a shed filled with stuff, much of which I'll have to deal with after he's gone. But you know what? Virtually everything he has is valuable! His shed is filled with dishes and small appliances and the like, which has supplied many of his grandchildren when they went away to college or got their first apartment. He has one of nearly every tool known to man, and freely loans or gives them away. He paid cash for a brand new truck recently, using the proceeds from sale of scrap copper and iron he's been saving in the plum thicket. (He's never owed money on a car in my lifetime). He loves to give to others (it's nearly impossible to leave a visit empty-handed), and a lifetime of saving and storing means he has no shortage of things to give away. Because of my upbringing, it's very hard for me to discard anything that still has value, just because I don't need it any more. But I've learned from my dad - somebody needs that, so give it away! I understand that some hoarders are truly mentally ill. But to say that all Depression children who refuse to discard things that might be useful are "wrong in every single solitary instance, no exceptions" is absolute hogwash. The DepressionAnyone who says these photos are exaggerated or fake has never talked to someone who lived during that time. My mother lived on a farm during that period, and though she didn't have much that came from a store, they were able to eat and eat well. My father's family were poor tennant farmers on unproductive land and frequently had meals like "grease smeared on bread"....try to imagine that one. With several children, all but one had to quit school at 13 to earn a living. My husband's family has pictures of the children looking just like these - torn overalls and bare feet. Do some real research in your own family's past. Family HistoryMy father's family had a farm in southwest Nebraska during the Depression, so they were able to grow their own food and eat fairly well. My mother's paternal grandfather was a Methodist minister there, which was very rough since he was dependent on what the local community could pay, which wasn't much and people had an odd idea about what made a suitable gift. So instead of eggs and chickens, which Great-Grandpa would have taken in a heartbeat (he had 5 teenage sons!), people gave him things like fancy hankies, which he had no use for, and I found 50 years later still in the gift boxes. I know the Depression had a profound impact on my grandfather; he hated to throw anything away. When my mother cleaned out Grandpa's house in the late 80's she had to throw out dumpsters of metal pie plates, shopping bags, twine, bottles, newspapers, magazines and God knows what else. AgreedMy parents did not allow us to wear jeans (which we didn't own) or sneakers because they weren't real clothing, but only worn if you owned nothing else. Believe me we weren't rich either. I would have said this if you didn't. We had sneakers for gym class and gym class only. The picture, the video, the hoarding.Two things struck me about that picture: the caked on dirt on the mother's feet and the smile on the boy's face. Sure, I had heard the phrase "dressed in flour sacks." But, there's something about an image - seeing it. It hits home. The video, The Face of the Great Depression, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSShPnOS15Y from a previous comment. At first, honestly, I thought, "Can't the pictures move faster?" Then I looked, and listened, and let time stand still for a brief moment. By the end, I was crying. The license plate in the last photo was 1939. My mother would have been 13. NOW IT GET IT. Well, I'm beginning to. A second generation child on the South Side of Chicago, she always told stories of a her gang of kids distracting the cart owner so other kids could run by - stealing whatever vegetables they could grab. They would start little fires at the curb and roast them on a stick or boil them in a pot of water. She said that's why, as an adult, she hated boiled onions or potatoes. But, the stories she told, of washing out her underclothes each night, sleeping 4 to a bed, lard and bread sandwiches...I somehow cleaned up the images and made them all pretty. I left out what it smells like if you haven't had a bath. Or, what it must have felt like to really, really be hungry. Mom hoarded. Born in 1926 she left me the legacy of wall to wall, floor to ceiling piles of National Geographic magazines and "collectors" tins." "These will be worth something someday," she chided...and promised. They weren't. Well, some of it was valuable - more from memories of her than replacement cost. More than anything, I wish she could have culled her stuff so she had more room to live. Sure, it was a burden to empty. But it was easier for me to let go of her junk than it was for her to unload the fear of being "without." I can live with that. Everyday I understand and accept her more. One little photo... Can teach so much. The Great DepressionI've read the comments about this picture and echo the feelings of distress that people have had to exist under these conditions. We only have to look at some of the present day third world countries to see the same thing. Thank God that that level of poverty has never touched me. I was born in 1927 and raised, with my sister, in a single parent home. My Mother took in washing and ironing to make a living for us, and though we didn't have an abundance, we never went to bed hungry. She bought used adult clothes and cut them down to fit us (our sunday school and church clothes). No one told me that times were hard so I didn't know it until I was grown. The hobos (Hoover Tourists) used to get off the trains near our house and come to the door begging food. My Mother always made them a peanut butter sandwich. I spent my days in school or outside playing with my friends, I had a glorious childhood. It pains me to see today's children confined to the house, afraid to go outside alone, with only a TV or computer for a companion. So many children and young adults are overweight and under exercised. The Depression was hard on a lot of people but, as a child, I skated through it and wouldn't trade my childhood memories for being a child today. Where in SW Nebraska?Hello- A friend of mine introduced me to this website. I, too, am from southwest Nebraska. Where in SW Nebraska was your family originally from? MJ The DepressionI really liked reading all the comments. I intend to get the book "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" by Agee. I was born in 1921, the seventh child in a family of 10. My father died of TB in October 1929. Our church had a dinner after the service yesterday. I noticed some people not eating all the food they had put on their plates. I told them my clean plate was a reflection of living through the Depression, when at mealtime I would hand my plate to my mother with the words "All I can have. please." Every child in the family, when they were old enough, gave most of the money they earned to our mother. In the early 1930s our school clothes and shoes would be ordered by mail from Sears and sometime they would arrive days after school started. We lived in northwest Detroit and most of the kids had fathers with good jobs. In 1936 my oldest brother started to build a home near Mount Clemens, Michigan. A family pitched a tent in a field across the street from him and lived much like the family in this picture. My brother did not want me to visit them. I served in WW2, which I enjoyed because I had been working since I was 14 and it was nice to be free of responsibility. And seeing Europe was wonderful. I am a tourist at heart. Yes! Not getting killed and living into the Internet age is wonderful. Nebraska! With family now on the West Coast in Oregon and Washington we have been driving across this country about once a year. We like Nebraska and have been driving across that state on old U.S. 30, and find it much more enjoyable than I-80. Please try this some time. For those who don't believeRead "The Worst Hard Time" by Tim Egan. Never had heard of "dust pneumonia" until reading this. Also, a section of diary entries is just heartbreaking. Poverty and desolation on a scale unimaginable today. (The Gallery, Carl Mydans, Great Depression, Rural America)
En Vogue: 1944
... images. In 1971, Frissell donated her photographs to the Library of Congress, preserving the images and making them available to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/16/2023 - 8:03pm -

February 1944. "Vogue: Florida Fashion." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell. View full size. Makes my elbow hurt just to look at herThat sharp rock, what an uncomfortable place to lounge at the beach! Maybe she was hoping nobody would see her with those ridiculous sunglasses. And what is that red thing? [A comb. - Dave] En refrain: 1973Kodachrome, give us those nice bright colors Give us those greens of summers       Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah Well I've got a Nikon camera       Love to take a photograph So Mama don't take my Kodachrome away ... -- "Kodachrome" ("There Goes Rhymin' Simon," 1973) That bikiniThere's enough material there to make three today. Model Behavior I guess that she had to take the rough with the smooth. I hope Vogue had good medical benefits in the '40s. Snapshot"Toni Frissell began her career in photography in the 1930s, at first working as a fashion photographer for Vogue magazine. During World War II, she was, for a time, the official photographer for the American Red Cross, and later, the Women’s Army Corps. Her work took her to Europe, where she photographed soldiers and civilians affected by the war, including a famous series featuring the Tuskegee Airmen at an air base in Italy. In later years, she continued a career of photographing both famous and ordinary people for decades, amassing a collection of some 340,000 images. In 1971, Frissell donated her photographs to the Library of Congress, preserving the images and making them available to everyone." Not too different from nowI was surprised. Her style of swimwear is not too different from our classic two piece that some wear now. Nice colors. And the style of sunglasses not too different from some available now. I think it is great that we don't do changing styles every season so much now. I'll be the quality of the cloth was better than easily available now. OuchLet's lie down on some coral. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Florida, Swimming, Toni Frissell)
Columbia U.: 1903
... Tomb in the distance, visible just to the right of Low Library (the main building highlighted near the center). The tomb is ten or so ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/28/2023 - 10:53pm -

New York, 1903. "Columbia University and the Hudson River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Oops -- wrong directionI somehow remember Grant's Tomb being down in the Eighties. Don't know why. Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?The view is looking southwest northwest. That's the general's tomb in the distance. I attended graduate school there in 1966-67 and mostly spent my time in the very buildings shown here. Buell Hall moved.Looks like the building in the corner, Buell Hall was moved further back sometime. It now sit behind the decorative landing on the steps and is closer to the main building. ViewpointIt's looking northwest, actually, from 116th Street (extending left/west) and Amsterdam Avenue (extending right/north). That is Grant's Tomb in the distance, visible just to the right of Low Library (the main building highlighted near the center). The tomb is ten or so blocks to the north, and closer to the Hudson. I attended for grad school a little over a decade ago. Sitting here in ManhattanI'm a little confused; the photo appears to have been taken near the intersection of W116th Street & Amsterdam Avenue -- with Grant's Tomb @ W123rd Street, wouldn't this be looking NNW? The building on the corner is still extant (Buell Hall, sans porch). At any rate, it's now so built up between the site & the Hudson that you can no longer see the lovely view. We're looking northwest... since Grant's Tomb is north of campus, and the Hudson River is on our left. This is why we have transportationI love how the boulevards are as wide as a football field. Closer to the river originally?The modern view versus this really does show the infill into the river to expand the land. Sticky FingersCan we lift that print on the bottom left and figure out who broke the universal rule of "Always Handle A Negative by the Edges!!" 120 years ago? (The Gallery, DPC, Education, Schools, NYC, Streetcars)
The Young Readers: 1941
Feb. 1, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park Plaza. Librarian's desk, sharp ... of that year. I hate budget cuts! A brand new library and not one table or chair for these kids. Team Librarian I ... My first thought was chaps, but a riding a pony to the library in Brooklyn in 1941 SEEMS unlikely. Would those perhaps be to cover ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 7:08pm -

Feb. 1, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park Plaza. Librarian's desk, sharp view." 5x7 acetate by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. WTF?Full leathers on the girl at the counter? Left her Harley outside? And the young lady dressed from the waist up as a little girl and as a soldier from the waist down! Interesting AttairFeb 1941, the young lady, closes to the camera wearing winter leggings. Then the young man next to her in shorts! Yes there is snow outside. On the shelf"The smallest one was Madeline." Are those boots?On that young lady in front, are those boots or some kind of brace? Leg bracesIt looks like the little girl to left has leg braces. Is this how they use to treat polio after the fact? Polio Leg BracesA not-uncommon sight before the Salk and Sabin vaccines. These have a leather zip-up winter cover. Girl in the foreground...What the heck is the footwear she's wearing? Signs of NewnessThey must have just opened the building. A fresh bulb garden and all the cupboards behind the desk are empty. I suppose librarians are extra tidy though. Floors could also use a waxing. The leather-lookI love those leather gaiters the girl up front is wearing! All zips and buckles! I'd have killed for a pair of those. Sadly, I was stuck wearing snow pants and galoshes like the girl at the back of the line. She's got her dress tucked into her pants, too, I'll bet. In 1968, we (the Grade 7 and 8 girls) had a sit-in to protest not being able to wear pants in school. We won. Nothing like having to walk to school in -20 temps in bare legs or have to wear snow pants under your mini-skirt. MadeleineSeventy years later, my daughter has the same Madeleine book in the background. First thing I thought of was how these young lives were changed by December of that year. I hate budget cuts!A brand new library and not one table or chair for these kids. Team LibrarianI wonder how many librarians it took to raise those blinds to the top of the window. The first young lady in front of the deskhas some leggings(?) on. My first thought was chaps, but a riding a pony to the library in Brooklyn in 1941 SEEMS unlikely. Would those perhaps be to cover leg braces? Polio was my second thought. Anyone remember something of the sort? [The consensus seems to be that they might be covers for leg braces of the type worn by kids who've had polio. - Dave] Nine out of Ten are GoilsSeems rather strange that in Brooklyn there were nine goils (Brooklyn accent) to every boy. How will they all find dates for the prom in ten years? My AuntMy aunt, who had muscular dystrophy, wore leggings just like those to cover her leg braces when she was a girl in the 1950s. Cold LegsHaving been a little girl in the 1940s before girls were allowed to wear slacks or pants to school, I know how cold it was wearing little cotton dresses and bobby socks in the winter. Many of the girls who had access to riding jodhpurs or snow pants wore them to school over their dresses. They had to be checked into the cloakroom for the school day. How I envied them. My mother thought the winter weather in San Francisco not cold enough to go to the expense of buying a pair of snow pants for me. I did finally talk her into buying me some knee socks. Leg bracesMy uncle was wounded in the Korean war and had to wear leg braces that were attached permanently to boots. The little girl's shoes do resemble those boots quite a bit, right down to the heel. "I'm Elaine and these are my socks."Take your eyes off the gaiters and check out the third girl from the left. Were monogrammed socks in style in 1941 or was Elaine just fearful of sock thieves? Feb. 1, 1941This was the day the library opened to the public after four years of construction. History of the Library. Polio leg bracesI recall that my dad's sister spent 13 years on her back looking into a tiny mirror mounted above her iron lung machine after she was stricken by polio. When a cure was slowly produced my aunt Anita Moe became well enough to undergo an operation to fuse her hip and leg to a point where she could walk with the aid of a cane and a similar leg brace and shoe. My heart goes out to that little girl. I'll bet she was teased quite a bit. She became the Chairperson for the Chicago Heart Foundation until stricken by a stroke and soon her life ended. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner, Kids, NYC)
Periodical Room: 1953
... April 24, 1953. "Goucher College, Towson, Maryland. Library, periodical room. Moore & Hutchins, client." Just the place to ... Perfect for maintaining the level of quiet needed in a library. It looks a bit different now The Athenaeum was awarded ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/22/2016 - 8:54pm -

April 24, 1953. "Goucher College, Towson, Maryland. Library, periodical room. Moore & Hutchins, client." Just the place to peruse the latest issue of Speculum. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner Inc. View full size. Classic MCMThe slat bench, coffee table is a classic piece and pretty collectible to aficionados of the period. Looks like my collegeI wouldn't be surprised if most of these furnishings were still in use thirty or forty years later, albeit with less floor space in between the shelves. And the surface-mount fluorescent fixtures with the egg-crate baffles remind me of many an exam, when the loud sixty-hertz buzz was most distracting. Modern fluorescent ballasts operate at frequencies beyond the range of human hearing, a development most welcome. Hard SurfacesPerfect for maintaining the level of quiet needed in a library. It looks a bit different nowThe Athenaeum was awarded Library Journal's top award for New Landmark Libraries in 2012. Ah Those Goucher Ladies!I batted 100 % with those Goucher ladies in the late 50's. I asked three of them out and all three of them said thanks but no thanks. (The Gallery, Baltimore, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner)
Duluth Incline Railway: 1905
... Superior Street to Skyline Drive A Duluth Public Library page has two photos and some commentary. It dates the railway from ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/03/2018 - 2:20pm -

Circa 1905. "Minnesota Point from Incline Railway, Duluth." Our third look this week at the Zenith City. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size. Gravity: Duluth's frienemyBeautiful photo and great choice, Dave. Would there happen to be any side shots of the car? Too much to hope for, I suppose. [Fraid not. - Dave] UpdateWe need an update of these wonderful pictures to see how things have changed. Does the Incline Railway still exist? If not, when did it stop operations. Great shot. Is Detroit Publishing Co. still around or have they been absorbed by someone else? DuluthLike many good movies these pictures sent me googling to learn what I could about this place.. Duluth I had never heard of.. more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world. Largest Finnish population outside of Finland.. a port larger than New York.. the place has quite a history. Like so many American cities it has suffered a precipitous decline due to the decline of our manufacturing base, suburbanization, etc. Nowhere but ShorpyOnce again, Shorpy makes me gasp. Nowhere else would I see such a spectacularly unexpected viewpoint from such an out-of-the-way time and place. The full view has something dreamlike in its details: the figures on the bridge near the railway car, the angles and brilliant white of the house on the right, the rough slabs of rock and the conic rooftop beyond them, the blurred buildings and shipping in the distance... I am almost lost for words (but not quite, as you see). You look familiar.Two people wearing hats peering over the top of the funicular. On the right between the poles. Same as the Radio School building. Something fishy here. Superior Street to Skyline DriveA Duluth Public Library page has two photos and some commentary. It dates the railway from 1891 to 1939. The "Incline" ran uphill from Superior Street at 7th Avenue W. to Skyline Drive. Two sets of tracks were elevated on concrete footings. The cars were pulled by a steam engine at the top. Hi Def imageThanks to the HiDef image - What I thought was birds on a pile of wood in front of the house at the right side of the Railway turned out to be a man either holding a long stick or resting his hand on a rail while a woman and child are exploring the slope near the rocks. The two persons between the crooked poles just about to walk under the railway now, because of the hats, look like ladies on thier way to ride to rail instead of a couple of men out for a stroll. Thank you for the pictures and the opportunity for us to get acquainted with our history and heritage. Duluth SkyrideThere are some other photos that show two cars, and trolley wire over both tracks, and very narrow stations between the tracks. Click to enlarge. so apparently the incline's operation changed over time. Possibly this was before or after the big 1901 fire that destroyed the summit pavilion and sent the flaming car flying down the incline. Another photo from the Duluth Transit site, showing trolley wire on both tracks: The old postcard posted recently shows the single-car operation, with the station platforms bridging the counterbalance car track. One wonders why the trolley wire, since the cable was apparently driven by the head house. In some photos, the poles are down. I suspect the trolley wire just ran the car lighting. The right side of the tracksCan't help but note that the dwellings on the right seem in a tad bit better condition than those on the left. The house in the right foreground, in particular, seems to have a fresh coat of paint and seems to be in much better repair than its counterpart immediately across the tracks. Could also be because it's newer construction, though. Also take note of the utility poles. This was before the advent of the chainsaw, when trees were felled by sturdy men with axes. The poles all sport the telltale wedge-shaped tips made by the blade of an axe. I love this site! Superior ViewWhat I like so much about this picture is the sense of distance. The Incline Railway sets the tone, of course, with its straight lines heading away down the hill. The foreground, with the geometrical black and white shadowing, and the car with the figures, are in clear focus. Look down the line to the docks in the middle distance and you can see the distance haze, with the muted greys. Further off, past the spit of land, the far shore is barely visible at all. Wonderful. CounterbalanceA funicular usually has two passenger cars, cabled together - one goes up when the other goes down. This one just has a dummy car on the left, low enough to fit under the pedestrian bridges. Double the wait times, half the capacity. Detroit PublishingThe company went into receivership around the late 1920s and never recovered. An excellent history of the company can be found here. FunicularsPittsburgh has two funicular railways that are in operation and heavily used. The other well-known funicular is Angel's Flight in downtown Los Angeles, which has been out of service for several years but may reopen at some point. Look What I SawRegarding the comment on the utility poles not having flatly sawn ends (as if by a chainsaw): human-powered saws have existed for hundreds of years. These particular poles were shaped with pointed ends (probably by an ax) so that they would shed snow and rain and therefore not deteriorate as quickly. [There were of course also the circular and band saws found in sawmills powered by water, steam or electricity. - Dave] Side View hereSide view of the incline car from AmityCreek.com Lone sailorIn the midst of all this, see the lone sailboat out in the harbour? If he only knew he'd been caught on camera and seen by us. 7th Avenue West InclineAfter the 1901 powerhouse fire and resulting crash, the incline railway was rebuilt with only one car between 1902 and 1911. More here. Grandma's House!From 1915 to 1960 the white house to the right belonged to my grandmother Clara Oleson Landstrom Magnuson. She was from Sweden and had three boys who all grew up in Duluth. The house is still there, but in horrible shape. My houseThe white house was my home from 1961 to 1972. My 5 children were born there and went to Emerson school; now it's apartments. We were married at St. Peter's church, now closed. Do not live in Duluth anymore but still make a trip up there to visit family. (The Gallery, DPC, Duluth, Railroads)
The Nippers of November: 1920
... sell small products in a giant store display window? Library of Congress "National Jukebox" The Library of Congress National Jukebox streams (free of charge) more than 10,000 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2013 - 6:05pm -

New York, 1920. "Graham shop." Store window display of the Graham Talking Machine Co. at 75 Graham Avenue in Brooklyn. Among the titles you could take for a spin: "Ever of Thee I'm Fondly Dreaming," "Drowsy Baby" and "My Little Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isle." Who'll be the first brave soul to attempt a Nipper count? 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size. Nipper CountDoggone it! I count 33! Here stands the victor!Before that battle between VHS and Betamax, there was the battle between the disc and the cylinder. By 1929 the cylinder was discontinued and the disc won! My Little Bimbo... Down on the Bamboo Isle Thanx for sharing that OldNavyDave!That was really great! One of the most interesting "comments" posted lately! Nipper is all that's leftNipper still exists as a corporate logo, but the Graham Talking Machine Company has long vanished. The building's gone too, replaced around 1930 by a three-story building consisting of a couple apartments over a store (Bobby Sportswear). New York has tens of thousands of such buildings, known locally as "taxpayers," a term rarely heard elsewhere. 75 Graham Avenue sits in the Bushwick district of Brooklyn. Until about World War II it was a respectable if not necessarily affluent neighborhood, known for its large German- and Italian-American population. Urban decay set in after the war, and the commercial areas were devastated by rioting and looting following a blackout in 1977. Yet all was not lost. Starting around ten years ago, just as things looked hopeless, hipsters and other trendy types priced out of nearby Williamsburg took the L subway line a few stop further east and began settling in Bushwick. While the neighborhood still has a very long way to go, things are looking better for the first time in decades. Gothic Cabinet VictrolaI'm guessing that if William Randolph Hearst needed a stylistically appropriate talking machine for his San Simeon ranch in central California, that would be the model of choice. Pavek Museum of BroadcastingThat large Victrola in the window reminded me of the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, St. Louis Park, Minnesota. They have a large acoustic record player in their lobby - said to be a relic from a dance hall. It was remarkably loud and had MUCH better low frequency response than one expects from non-electronic record players. How much is that dog in the windowSeeing a lot of bad copies of the nipper dog I've always tought that these copies were made this decade. Seeing the nippers in this shop it's very clear that they made even bad copies of the dog in those days. Music stores are dispappering in a very quick tempo overhere in our country (The Netherlands) due to the digital solutions and illegal downloads of music. It's a great picture which gives a good impression of how we could listen to music in those days NippersI make it at Twenty nine, including probable blurs(they moved?)and not including 1 possible reflection. Marketing 101Modern marketers would do well to study the depth of the marketing support provided by Victor -- branding, branding, branding! Clever stand-up displays show that Graham is selling phonograph records, not terriers (in case that wasn't clear); a wide range of artists and styles is featured. And how hard is it to sell small products in a giant store display window? Library of Congress "National Jukebox"The Library of Congress National Jukebox streams (free of charge) more than 10,000 78rpm disc sides issued by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1900 and 1925. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/ For example, there's a faster, instrumental version of "My Little Bimbo..." at: http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/7133 There's a display card to the right...of the doorway advertising the song "Ever of Thee I'm Fondly Dreaming" performed by Sophie Braslau. Braslau was a prominent contralto of the day, the daughter of Ukranian-born anarchist parents living in NYC. She died young of cancer, at age 43. You can in fact hear a recording of her singing this song on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZAg3t5s-5w I count34 Selling The SizzleThe Zenith Radio & TV Company was the leader in window trimming and store displays. Twice a year they sent Decorators into the store to do interior displays at no cost to the dealer. They would have loved to do our windows as well, but we could not limit ourselves to one brand. My Company, Sound City, would hire those same window trimmers to do our storefront show windows four times a year. With the immense amount of pedestrian traffic on West 45th Street those windows were our best salesmen. Nipper CensusI see 29. I'm very curious about the interior of this shop, which appears to be decorated as a little town of its own? Thank you, Mr. DC, for the LOC link. Amazed I have been missing out on this! Nifty Photoshop Work!Fascinated by the contents of this shop window, I found the LOC version, hoping to glean more detail. In the original photograph, the window is overexposed to the point of being almost completely white. Hats off to you for your super-proficient restoration job! I have a life-size Nipper!My dad came across it years and years ago- he brought it home because it reminded him of his old dog Tina. Since then I've taken Nipper to camp, to college halfway across the country... he's seen a good deal of the country through my efforts. :) (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Music, NYC, Stores & Markets)
Avondale Mill Boys: 1910
... year. That mill, seen here at the Birmingham Public Library's digital collections, has long been demolished. The mill which ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/01/2023 - 12:54pm -

November 1910. "Birmingham, Alabama. Workers in the Avondale Mills in Jefferson County. (The Avondale Mills in St. Clair County burned today in Pell City.) Smallest boy is John Tidwell." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. Avondale MillsThe mill that burned today was not the one visited by Hine in 1910. Hine photographed workers at the mill in Avondale, a formerly independent town in Jefferson County, Alabama that was annexed into Birmingham in January of that same year. That mill, seen here at the Birmingham Public Library's digital collections, has long been demolished. The mill which burned today was located in Pell City in neighboring St. Clair County. It was in the process of being dismantled by a salvage company when cotton dust in the ductwork caught fire. [Well gosh. I'll fix the captions. Thanks for the information. - Dave] Shoes...I have to admit, it gets me every time I see kids in old pics working with no shoes on... I can't imagine having to work in a mill without any protection on my feet. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Factories, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Lucky Ducks: 1927
... so I immediately requested the obit from the Pasadena library. They said it takes three weeks. Who knows, maybe she didn't get ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/09/2018 - 4:25pm -

April 21, 1927. "Do ducks swim? Misses Eugenia Dunbar and Mary Moose." The main focus here is of course the horse trough, once a common item of street furniture in many big cities. National Photo glass negative. View full size. Ducks in a RowMiss Eugenia sure is lovely, no denying, but Miss Mary looks like a better time on a 1927 Saturday night. Bathtub GinnyGreat photo. It sums up the dissipation of the 1920s just about as well as can be done. Absolutely Gorgeous!The girl on the left is STUNNING! Man I'm hooked on this website! Puts Marilyn to shameI am captivated by Miss Dunbar's feminine charms; her beauty is that of Pallas Athena and Venus together. The TroughPutting aside the obvious va-va-voom comments for the cutie on the left, I'd like to ask about the trough. (God I must be getting old!) Did someone have to fill these daily? (I'm guessing the Fire Dept.) It looks like there's a compartment on the end, maybe for ice to melt slowly through the day? It's strange to think that may have been someone's job once. [These were plumbed and self-filling, with what looks like a covered float valve at the far end. - Dave] Wow!Two beautiful women, especially Miss Dunbar. You mean there are ducks in the picture? Fun FactDipping a hat in a horse trough is a crime in Mayberry, North Carolina. Eugenia's PoetryEugenia won a poetry contest in the Washington Post. I can't find any other information about her. The listed home address, at 1755 P NW, was close to Dupont Circle. The curved curbstones in the photo suggest that might be where the photo was taken. Life's Stage. (Winner of $1 Prize.) The dance is on, and the dancers      Drift out in the hall As leaves are blown by the west wind      In autumn after they fall. Some look o'erjoyed and carefree      And smile and laugh as they talk While others look overburdened and careworn      Like a withered rose on the walk. The music begins and the joyous      Float into the lands of dreams. And the sad shake their sorrowing heads and say:      "Life is not what it seems." Why be so withered and careworn,      Thinking only upon your sorrow; Why not join in life's little play      And think not yet of tomorrow? So let's help build this wonderful stage,      Let's aid in this great erection, And let each actor in life's game      Play his part to perfection Eugenia Dunbar (17) 1755 P street northwest. Washington Post, Sep 26, 1926 A Great ShotWOW -- Then as now, a photographer will use any pretense to photograph a beautiful woman! Re the horse trough, in the late forties and early fifties there were still horses hauling goods around D.C., and these cast iron troughs were all over the downtown area. Lor' luv a duck!These are a pair of nice-looking birds! Where's the SPCA?Ya daft preeverts! Everyone's looking at the girls and not the poor ducks with ropes tied around their necks! Ms EugeniaNo question here, Eugenia is a timeless knockout. "Nanny"Sometimes it's hard to get a decent guideline as to how old a person truly is from these older photos, but this one hits just right. My wife's grandmother, Nanny, is about to turn 100 at the end of March (yes, there will be a big party); my daughter will be turning 18 in June. It just so happens that Miss Mary and Miss Eugenia here would be the same age as Nanny, give or take a few months, having been born in 1909, as these two were. They are at the same age in this photo, roughly, as my daughter. Those are a couple of cuties, all right, but they both might, like Nanny, have now over 80 descendants. But as cute as they both were, I bet they had some fun times for the next two and a half years, with no lack of male attention during that era of copious money and speakeasy gin. Duck on a leashThose are some strict leash laws! I wish Toronto had a law like that. Nothing is worse than trying to walk down a street and having your ankles accosted by ducks amok. I haven't seen a horse trough in years. The city tore out the last ones back in the early 90s near St. Lawrence Market when the condo dwellers complained about hobos bathing in them. In love with a ghostMiss Eugenia Dunbar, wow! I think I am in love. Born in the wrong time. Does anyone else have any info on her? [She rhymed. - Dave] Big Ol' LoveShe's a spitting image of Jeanne Tripplehorn, or vice versa. QuackedWhat I see here are four real "flappers." Nice. Thanks. What time of year is this?I notice the attractive young ladies have coats and it appears the wind is blowing but the two younger girls in the back are wearing sundresses. The trough reminds me of my paternal grandfather. He drove horse drawn beer wagons for many years because not for tradition; his brother-in-law owned the warehouse and he was a drunken Irishman. My other grandfather was a railroad conductor, luckily I caught the train bug and not the drinking bug. There is so much to notice about our history in everyday photographs. Thank you for cleaning up and sharing these unique glimpses into history but also allowing us to comment. If you subtract everything ...from this photo except Miss Eugenia - dressed just as she is - it looks like a photo of a young woman taken only yesterday. I have seen my own 30+ year old daughter-in-law dressed nearly identically, and the hair style is in no way dated. Now that is rare in a photo that is 80 years old. A new dimensionBeautiful and talented, our Miss Dunbar was. I think it's interesting to see another dimension of someone who was never a celebrity (not that I'm aware of, anyway), but just a regular person. Do you think she imagined that a poem she penned for a newspaper contest to win a dollar would be read 80-odd years later? Not Dickinson, but pretty darn good for a 17-year-old. There's some really good imagery there in the first stanza. It is certainly better than anything I might have composed when I was 17. Of course, one now wonders what sort of hidden talents did her friend Mary have? Eugenia and MaryEugenia Dunbar, born April 18, 1909, died September 13, 2000, Pasadena California. Eugenia was living somewhere in Wisconsin during the mid 1930s or early 1940s. Mary Moose: This might not be her, but it could be. Mary Moose, born April 27, 1909, died sometime in January, 1981 in Tennessee. That Mary fits a lot of the patterns, but she was both born in Tennessee, was again living in Tennessee in the late 1930s-1940s period, and died there. If that's not our Mary, then I think her name is slightly misspelled, and it's actually Mary MUSE, born November 20, 1908 (in Northern Virginia), died (still in Arlington, Virginia), July 27, 1998. She seems to have lived most of her life in the DC area. [After these girls got married, which seems likely, they'd have different names. Which is the reason it's hard to dig up reliable information about women when all you have to go on is a maiden name. Dunbar and Moose are mostly likely the married names of Pasadena Eugenia and Tennessee Mary. - Dave] Eugenia and Mary againDave, I looked them up by their birth names. This was the only Eugenia Dunbar that came up, so I'm pretty confident in that one. [Where was Eugenia born? - Dave] Right for meIt looks like I am the only one more smitten by the girl on the right. A real ringer - MaryIf I didn't know better, I'd swear that Mary Moose above was the woman I dated for nearly 2 years at the beginning of this decade. Her name was Marie - she was 24 years old when we started dating, 5' 3", about 110 pounds, short light auburn hair, big piercing blue/gray eyes and identical features to Ms. Moose. Shoot, they even dress(ed) the same when stepping out. What a jaw dropper seeing this picture - Marie passed away from throat cancer at the age of 29 in late 2007. Just a touchingly timeless image, at least for me. Thanks again for the wonderful work, Dave. Eugenia DunbarI also found Eugenia Dunbar's Pasadena death record, so I immediately requested the obit from the Pasadena library. They said it takes three weeks. Who knows, maybe she didn't get married, or otherwise kept her maiden name. I am hoping the obit will confirm whether she's the one. From ducks to flamingos?The Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review-Journal of April 21, 1999 each had an obit for a Eugenia Dunbar McCall, age 95. Obviously I don't know if she's the same person, but "she was a retired Flamingo Hilton showroom waitress of more than 30 years." Somehow I can picture this Eugenia ending up at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Birds of a FeatherEugenia is too young to have been the Flamingo dancer. If she was 17 in September 1926, she was born in 1908 or 1909. Your showgirl was born in 1904, and I don't believe any showgirl would add five years when telling her age! Lucky Ducks Take 2I found another photograph of Misses Dunbar and Moose here. The second picture was taken just before or after the one here on Shorpy; their poses (including those of the ducks) have barely changed. What has changed is that both ladies are looking into camera with rather sultry expressions – oh you kid(s)! It is interesting that the quality of this second picture is far poorer than Shorpy’s standard (it’s fuzzy with too much contrast) despite the site’s rather pleasing magnifying feature. It just goes to remind me what an outstanding site Shorpy is – cheers Dave! [That image was made from a print, as opposed to ours, which comes from the original negative. - Dave] Wow, and double wowI wouldn't mind a date with either one of these beauties, although I'm kind of partial to Eugenia. Pick her up in the old Essex for a malt at the corner drug store, a couple of hours at a dance (maybe the one mentioned in her poem?), and then down to the local motion picture palace to catch the latest Clara Bow movie. Eugenia DunbarThis is Joe Manning. A few weeks ago, I requested the obituary for a Eugenia Dunbar, who died in Pasadena, CA, and was born in 1909. Bad news. The obit is not available. The only other scrap of info is this: In the 1920 census, there is a Rossie Dunbar, born in 1909 in North Carolina, attending the Industrial Home School in Washington, DC. That's the only Dunbar, born about 1909, in the 1920 DC Census. Anybody got any ideas? Eugenia graduatesIn the June 23, 1923, Washington Post, Eugenia is listed as graduating from the Peabody-Hilton School to Eastern High. Photographer?Does anyone know who the photographer was? [The National Photo Service. - Dave] Dupont Circle / Leiter MansionThanks to research by Wikipedia user AgnosticPreachersKid, we can confirm the location is definitely the east side of Dupont Circle. The building in the background is the left side of the Leiter mansion, which until 1947 stood at the northeast corner of the circle. It's now the site of the Dupont Plaza Hotel, formerly known as Jurys Washington Hotel. Links: photo of the mansion exterior · blog post about the mansion · blog post about the site · Levi Leiter bio @ Wikipedia. I suspect the streets have been widened since 1927; Google Street View today seems to show a narrower sidewalk at the location where the ladies would've been positioned: View Larger Map The sidewalks on Sheridan Circle, a few blocks away, are twice as wide, and more closely resemble the one in the photo. But there's no denying the photo was taken at Dupont Circle; too many details match up - tree branches, railed fence, fence column, balcony, position of street lamp; the shrubs were missing in 1927, but that's about it. Olivia Eugenia "Gena" Dunbar Snell (1909-1967)Many thanks to Erin Blakemore, professional genealogist Shanna Jones, and Gena's nephew Edward H. Dunbar, Jr. and his mom for their assistance with this research! I'd love to be able to say "Gena loved to..." but unfortunately, Edward Jr. says the relatives who could've filled in the gaps in her biography and told us more about her life & interests have all died. Olivia Eugenia "Gena" Dunbar was born in Augusta, Georgia, on March 25, 1909, to William M. Dunbar Jr. and Carrie Eugenia Johnson. Gena was the first of six children (three boys and three girls), none of whom are living now. She turned 18 just one month before the photo was taken. Her youngest sibling, Edward, was about two years old at the time of the photo. He died at age 83 at the end of 2008, a mere two weeks before the photo was posted on Shorpy. Gena's mom, Carrie, was from a well-respected family in Gainesville, Georgia. Carrie's father, Fletcher Marcellus Johnson Sr. (1858-1914), was a judge, and her mother, Elizabeth Eugenia Sullivan (1861-1893), was a college professor. This branch of the Dunbar family was from Richmond County, Georgia (Augusta area), and nearby Barnwell & Edgefield counties, S.C. In the mid-1920s, Gena's parents had temporarily settled in Washington, D.C., where William was working as a Maxwell House coffee salesman. Gena's nephew, Edward H. Dunbar Jr., says, "I was told that part of his job was the introduction of an 'instant' coffee product ... an endeavor which did not meet with success at that time," but concedes "I don't know about the accuracy of this. My father, who had a genuine interest in family history, also could exercise a rather impish sense of humor from time to time." His mother, though, confirms the story. Instant coffee existed but didn't really catch on until after World War 2. Gena eventually married William Edward Snell (b. Sept. 21, 1905), whose family was from Gwinnett County near Atlanta, home to Snellville. Thereafter, Gena was known as Gena or Eugenia D. Snell. On May 19, 1932, she gave birth to their only son, William Edward "Bo" Snell, Jr., who eventually graduated from the University of Georgia and became a lawyer. Gena's mom died at age 69 on June 5, 1955, in Augusta. Gena's husband died in Cobb County (Marietta area) at age 56 on Dec. 22, 1961. Gena herself died in Atlanta at age 58 on Nov. 17, 1967. Her son Bo died in Bar Harbor, Maine, at age 63 on Feb. 26, 1995. Melancollic StrangerBy lucky I get into this site, found this photo and suddenly I feel rarely sad and ... small (pequeño). I don't know how to explain, I don't even speak english very well. And is just this picture, I was captivated by it, it's so clear, so close. And then I see that date, and is so hard for me to accept that everything is gone, that she is not there, right know, with that smile. I'm not even suppose to be here, doing this, there is so much work to do, however I can't help my self, I needed to write this. Duck speed on landIt just struck me as funny that these girls have leashes on the ducklings. Back on the farm I would often see our two ducks waddling toward the barn, as I set out to get the cow and take her into the barn to milk her. By the time I was headed back to the house with the milk, or about 20 minutes later, the ducks would have waddled about five yards. Had those ducklings decided to make a run for it, I don't think the girls would have had much trouble catching them! SHE IS MY TWINOkay, the girl on the left looks just like me, it's crazy! Quacking another Mystery.The ducks are named "Diddles" (Dunbar) and Tommie (Moose), according to the caption from Acme Newspictures. (The Gallery, Bizarre, Animals, D.C., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls)
Wingman: 1943
... Newsweek magazine. He was also director of the photography library of Cities Service Co. (later CITGO) where he worked until 1967." -- ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/03/2023 - 4:39pm -

April 1943. "Airman on wing of B-24 bomber at U.S. Army 9th Air Force base somewhere in Libya." Nitrate negative by Nick Parrino for the Office of War Information. View full size. My IdolSomeone who has obviously logged a lot more flight time in a B-24 than the ~40 minutes I did in Diamond Lil back in 2014 (and he's dressed a lot snazzier than I was to boot). Of the 18,188 B-24s built, she's one of the only two still flying: http://commemorativeairforce.org/aircraft/3 'King Nine', is that you ?For those who have seen it, this scene will likely call to mind a memorably forgettable episode of the Twilight Zone Great compositionIf Nick Parrino was brought to Libya and back, just to take this single photo it was wort the effort. Mopping up and getting ready to jumpAfter the Battle of Kasserine Pass in late February 1943, the 9th Air Force was pounding Axis troops through Tunisia, where nearly a quarter million Germans and Italians would surrender in early May. Up next was the invasion of Europe. At the Casablanca Conference in January, the British plan had prevailed over the American preference for a cross-Channel move into France. So this B-24 likely was bombing Sicily in July. Over 18,000 B-24s were produced between 1940 and 1945. They were rapidly phased out after the war, though the Indian Air Force flew them into the late 1960s. Snapshot Office of War Information photographer Nick Parrino somewhere in the Persian corridor in the Jeep in which he rode to make a photographic record of the first run by an all American United States Army convoy carrying supplies for Russia (1943) https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8d29649/ Under the Lend-Lease policy, more than 4 million tons of supplies, from canned food to warplanes, were carried by rail and truck from ports on the Persian Gulf through Iran to Soviet Azerbaijan. Additional photographs taken by Parrino during the war. "Little is known about photographer Nick Parrino. His surname reveals his Italian origin, but his date and place of birth are still unknown. He appears to have lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where he died in 1979. Before the war, he worked as a photographer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. For the OWI Parrino has photographed on various war fronts, including North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. He worked as a photojournalist for Wide World Photos and, after the war, was the photo editor of Newsweek magazine. He was also director of the photography library of Cities Service Co. (later CITGO) where he worked until 1967." -- La Voce dell'Isola (The Gallery, Aviation, WW2)
Mardi Gras: 1900
... 1900-1910. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size. Mob Scene Can anyone tell me ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 5:01pm -

"Mardi Gras, New Orleans, the Red Pageant," circa 1900-1910. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size. Mob SceneCan anyone tell me why the only woman on the street facing the camera is masked. This is one of the greatest mob scenes photos ever. [Ever been to Mardi Gras? Lots of masks. - Dave] Derby HatsBy the thousands! Great photo Young Barack Obama??Lower right quadrant - he looks skeptical and concerned about the future of New Orleans Kerfuffly There does seem to be a slight kerfuffle around the masked woman. Perhaps the other woman by her side is also wearing a similar mask. They certainly are dressed alike and calling some attention to themselves. There is a uniformed man facing them. Some of those around the two women are looking questioningly at them. What about the woman (closer to the parade) who appears to be wearing a pillowcase over her head? Bon TempsDo they call out "Show us your...ah, um...corsets?" I noticed that every man is in a suit, sporting a hat. Was Mardi Gras a more cultured event back then or is the clothing deceptive? C Bennette Moore , Photographerhttp://www.bergeronstudio.com/cb_moore/cb_moore.html On this site, his ad card lists his studio at 314 Royal, however, this is Canal street, so the billboard is an advert and not a tied to that location. I am seeing more Stetsons on men in this pic than we see in the Northeast at this same time. The bowler was the ball cap of the early 1900s, just about every man wore one. Better times?We hear that alot around here, how things were better back in the day, and this photo is an interesting example for the discussion. Everyone looks well dressed and well behaved, not too drunk or rowdy. Not at all like today's Mardi Gras- all the women are dressed in layers upon layers and there's not a bead to be seen anywhere. (On second thought, maybe these days weren't that great after all!) Eye on the parade?What is the round thing under "GEN'L ARTHUR CIGAR"? It looks like some sort of futuristic parade security camera ... or maybe an eyeball? This is like a bizarre Where's WaldoLots of derby hats, yes, and the occasional Stetson and fedora. But lots of those uniform hats that sit on top of the head -- I think there's quite a police/military presence in the crowd. Very interesting. I wish the floats were clearer. I can't tell if the guy sitting up there is in blackface, or is a real person of Native or African ancestry. It could be either or both, of course. The School of DesignHere is a link to the website for the Krewe of Rex, or as it is more properly known, The School of Design. The history pages and particularly the sections on the traditional design of the floats is fascinating. http://www.rexorganization.com/ If you threw these ladies some beads......It looks like they might take off their hats! Scandalous! Where's the beads?Mardi Gras couldn't have been much fun back then . . . They are all fully dressed and not drinking! Such CivilityWHAT?!? No "show us your....."? Compare this picture with what goes on today. A contrast of mores. Looks kind of like CanalLooks kind of like Canal Street (mostly due to the width of the street and the overhead wires down the center). Plus, there's a St. James Hotel on Magazine St. just off of Canal St. nowadays. But I can't say for sure. Laissez Les Bon Temps RoulezThis picture simply justifies my complete addiction to this wonderful site. Not only is the subject near and dear to my heart, but the clarity of the picture is breathtaking. I can't help but scan the crowd for my great-grandmother Sophie. Mercy me, she might be the one in the mask, God bless her Southern belle soul. The Red PageantThis photo clearly shows Rex, the King of Carnival, so I would guess that someone made a mistake labeling the photo as the "Red" pageant. It would more correctly be labeled "The Rex Pageant" or "The Rex Parade", as the Krewe of Rex would have their pageant (or more correctly, their Ball) after the actual parade. The theme of this year clearly was "In Utopia" and I imagine that Mardi Gras and Krewe of Rex scholars could use that information to put an exact date on this photo. ClassyWow. This is a lot classier than the photos my roommates took when they went to Mardi Gras in college. For one thing, I don't see any... beads. Love the signageI'm just absorbing all the wonderful signage. There are a few typefaces that look surprisingly modern among all the other wacky stuff. I love these kinds of photos because I can really imagine myself walking down the street, past the storefronts, smelling the wood, boot polish, etc. I would really love to be able to spend just an hour back in the late 1890s-early 1900s just to see what an average day was like. Just think......Louis Armstrong was just a kid in this city at this time. Canal At RoyalThis looks like it's a shot of the Northeast (French Quarter) side of Canal Street, at Royal Street. The dark stone building behind the front float and the three buildings next to it (on the right) are all there today. Where the dome more or less is now occupied by the Marriott, I think. View Larger Map Good job VicI could tell it was Canal and therefore thought there was a good chance that some of the buildings remained, but I wasn't as skilled as you in using Google street view. In addition to more conservative dress, the patrons are not all reaching up for beads and trinkets. When I rode in the Baccus parade in 2005, after a couple of hours it almost seemed to me that the float was being attacked by zombies as the entire crowd shuffled forward with arms outstretched! Godchaux'sJust found out that the ornate white building with the dome, in whose spot now stands the rather less inspiring Marriott, is the Godchaux department store building. It is, indeed, the only building between Chartres and Royal that is not still here today, a century later. http://www-sal.cs.uiuc.edu/~friedman/canal/Pic203.htm 1900I would like to go back and see what it was like around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, also Rob. Nearly all my favorite literature is from that era; even Russian literature. In UtopiaThis was the 1906 Rex Parade (February 27). On first float is Captain Alexander M. Halliday who reigned as Rex that year. Rex BeadsMy guess as to why they aren't reaching for beads is because Rex beads suck. Rex parades are also some of the more, um, calm parades now. I can't imagine that it was any different in the early 1900s. Can we get rid of tourist traps already?I wish New Orleans looked like this again, it'd be far less disgusting. Funny that a lot of people that live around here hate Mardi Gras so much. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans)
The Last Yule Log: 1984
... Naughahyde), reading the paper or one of the five or six library books he brought home every week, and my mother bringing him coffee and ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 12/11/2016 - 2:15pm -

December 24, 1984. My father's last Christmas Eve, twenty-five years ago this week. View full size. Love it!What a perfect image, and the fact that it was his last makes it even more beautiful. Though my dad isn't really one to sit back and look at the fire, he is a cat person (as was his father, who I never got to meet). Can you identify any of the photos or kickknacks around the fireplace? And what's the kitty's name? InterestingVery interesting how little this place changed from here: https://www.shorpy.com/node/6351 BeautifulThanks for sharing this picture. It must mean a lot to you; it means a lot to me and it's not my father. Merry Christmas! Great oneWhat a touching picture, tterrace. Is that house still there, and if so, does it still look anything (on the outside, anyway) like it did back when you knew it? Great ImageYou're lucky to have a photo of your father like this one - really shows someone in deep reflection! Happy Holidays...I love the newspaper on top of the wood. It allows me to guess it might be Christmas Eve, even though I can't see the tree. So, Happy Holidays isn't so new, despite what people like to say as of late. RockwellianI definitely see this as a Norman Rockwell arrangement. A very nice capture of an everyday event. Thanks tterrace for sharing your archive of images with us. Holiday blessings to you and yours. Purr-fectThat cat is just the best. I can feel his coziness through my screen. Maybe even hear a hint of a purr. Norman RockwellI had no idea you were Norman Rockwell's son. Classic American HolidayReminds me of so much during my youth. The websters dictionary has been replaced by google, and there isn't a television in sight. Lots of loveOh, tterrace, you have done it again--brought a sigh from my heart. This beautiful photo and your explanation are just full of love. I don't even know you, but I know your family had something very special. You were a very fortunate boy growing up, and I envy you. Very specialWhat a great photo, you must treasure it. My own dad had his last Christmas eve last year, as he passed away in September at age 89; it will be a bittersweet holiday for us this year. Such a calm, cozy image.I hope that his last Christmas was a peaceful and happy one. Twas the night before... What a wonderful and peaceful picture. You can only immagine what thoughts were going through his mine as he looked back at the Christmas' past while watching the blazing yule time log. He looked liked he had enjoyed his life and was happy with his contribution. That broughtTears to my eyes. Very nice photo. A man alone in his thoughts. Perhaps thinking of Christmas' past, or just how many more will be in his future. Little do any of us know about when our time will come. He seems content and I'm sure secure in the knowledge that he provided his family with love and a good home. I'm sure he is still missed and remembered fondly. He looks so tired. You, your brother and sister must miss him terribly. We've looked at so many pictures of him, still young and active, that we tend to forget that these photo memories of yours are from so long ago. Thank you for making us a part of your family. Have a wonderful Christmas. Just perfect!Touching and beautiful. Thanks for sharing it! A Rich ManIn more ways then just wealth. Lovely. Brings backmemories of my house! Great photo of your dad and the cat. Thanks for posting. Merry Christmas. Could have been our living roomMy father, who also died in 1984, spent many hours sitting on the floor in front of a fireplace just like this one. We had some of the same knick-knacks, like the elephant - ours was bright 1970's green, painted by my mother as fired pottery in a craft shop. We had the ginger jars, the matching bowls on their stands - even the same chair was in my parent's bedroom in green velvet, and the same dictionary with our set of encyclopedia was in a different corner of the living room. It's amazing how much our lives intersect through the stuff we all choose in our homes as we pass through them. Thank you...Excellent photo. I lost my Father-In-Law this year at 89. He always added to the festivities and will be missed greatly. Your photo made me think back to last Christmas. Mike in Dayton, Ohio Yule logNice memories there. My "fireplace" was WPIX channel 11 on TV. Where the yule log was shown for Christmas. Down side was there was no heat from it -- upside was that dad paid the utility bill so we had heat! ;-) I want to thank Dave for this wonderful site and TTerrace for the lovely trips down memory lane. Merry Christmas! Memory LaneWhat a great picture. Setting by the warm fire in the twilight of his life. Surrounded by pictures of his family. Perhaps thinking "Life has been Good" A Life in ReviewIn all the pictures you have shown of your father, tterrace, I am struck by how happy and active your family was, and the important roles your parents played. I imagine he is thinking about his life, with all the reminders on the bookshelves in front of him. What a beautiful photo. Holiday WishMerry Christmas to you and yours, tterrace! Thanks for sharing your mom and dad, sibs, cousins, Godmother, cars, et al. with us. BCB FlooredI miss wall-to-wall carpet. It has been falling out of style in most American homes for the last 10 or 15 years, in favor of hardwood floors and rugs. But there is something SO great about the acoustics, warmth and cohesiveness of a room with wall-to-wall carpet that even the nicest rugs fail to duplicate. Without having ever been in this room, I know exactly what it feels and sounds like. It looks like the contented cat knows what I'm talking about. Best Holiday wishes tterrace! Re: FlooredIf you will look at the baseboard behind the chair, you will see that the carpet was not wall to wall. Mother had it cut-to-fit. It had to be bound on all the edges with carpet binding. It gave a wall to wall look without ruining the hardwood floors. This is the first time I have seen this photo myself. I am just as touched as all you are. Thanks for all your nice comments. -tterrace's Sister. DadsWhat a poignant photo, for you... I didn't know much about my birth father most of my life but one of my earliest recollections of my step-father (The Dad in my life) and I was getting the decorations out of the boxes and putting them on the tree. He had these old strings of Noma lights with the heavy wire covered in woven fabric (old style electric cords, in other words). He let me plug them in to test them while he changed the bulbs. One of the first strings blew me across the room because of a short. Every year after that he would ask me if I wanted to test the strings with him. Once bitten, twice shy, I let HIM test the strings and I would change the bulbs. This was a long process and since Dad always insisted on getting the tree on Christmas Eve, so it was almost bedtime before we got to put the other decorations on. Dad had to place the lights "just right".... "COME ON DAD!" Some time in the late 70s we got a tree where all the needles fell off before morning so from then on the tree was bought the week before Christmas. Dad died in 1988 (a month to the day after my birth father). What I wouldn't give to have Dad with us, now. So peaceful...Everyone already expressed my thoughts! So I will just say, "Thank you for this peaceful picture and all the other wonderful pictures you've posted...and Merry Christmas!" Thank you TTerrace for sharing your blissful lifeThis snap makes me cry. Here is a man with a life worth the living. I'm so overcome I cannot find words. TTerrace, I hope you had a son or a child who took pictures of you in as loving a manner as you did of your parents. Blesings. Thank you. That shirt!It looks as if Dad is wearing the same shirt in 'Christmas Break: 1958,' 26 years earlier. https://www.shorpy.com/node/7281 Wonderful shotThanks for all you've shared. Jumping out at me from the bookshelf -- not only first Peoples' Almanac, but its yellow-covered sequel, #2. I loved flipping through them back then (and now). Maybe the Book of Lists is buried in there, too? Larger version of rework?My partner loves cat pictures and I collect them for her screensaver whenever I find them. Is it possible to get a large version of the brightened image? It is lovely! Loujudson@mac.com Of Christmas PastIt brought tears to my eyes too. It represents more than I can tell. Me TooIt's amazing how this photo has moved so many of us. It speaks volumes. There is so much more here than meets the eye. For me it brings back thoughts of a safe and happy place. As always, thanks so much for allowing us to share in your memories. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Sublime.You know, I get why people are nostalgic for encyclopedias instead of Googlem but this picture wouldn't be in an encyclopedia. I love the Internet for just this reason: It lets people who have never met each other reach out and share thoughts, moments, images with each other. Merry Christmas indeed! AwesomeMerry Christmas tterrace. Another great image to go into my "tterrace" folder. Foy Las Vegas Last ChristmasThanks for sharing all your wonderful pictures with us! I lost my Grandfather just before Christmas 1978, the holiday has never been the same. Contemplation...of a life lived fully. Thank you SO much for sharing this! It's a perfect holiday photo, which will linger long in my memory. The best of holidays and New Year to you & yours! Visions of sugar-plumsThanks everybody, and Merry Christmas! I'm off to bed early - that way Santa Claus gets here sooner! And to All a Good NightNow that tterrace is safely tucked in, I want to thank him and Stanton Square and Joe Manning and all the other Shorpy contributors and commenters for another wonderful year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! BeautifulAs many others have said, this beautiful, poignant photo made me a bit misty. My father's last christmas eve was just a few short years ago, and while not spent before a fireplace fire (he was in assisted-living) it was spent with his family and a cold, minty grasshopper. (Grasshoppers on christmas eve...a family tradition older than me!) He hated cats, but I love them and will give mine a little hug tonight in honor of your father's little friend and raise a green glass in memory of my dad. Merry Christmas, and thank you tterrace for sharing your wonderful photos of your family. John. tterry xmasWow, this actually made me get a little chocked up. Which says a lot about how much I've grown attached to your photos. Merry Christmas. Like so many othersI find that this picture engages me in an intimate way. I think it has something to do with my recently turning 65. Though I'm probably several years younger than the fella in the picture and I hope I've got several more years to go, I may know his frame of mind and, whatever he was thinking in that moment, what he knew and understood by then. Lovely reposeWhat would do without Shorpy? It is such a treasure. Thank you, and Merry Christmas! It's been said...I was going to comment, but it's already been said. Thank You! Thank you.Like many folks, we played down the commercial aspects of Christmas this year, focusing on the deeper meanings of faith and family. Presents for grown-ups were few, but treasured...and it's obvious that I'm not alone in counting this photo as one of this year's special gifts. What a treasure Shorpy has become to so many of us. (God bless you, Shorpy Higginbotham! I bet you'd get a kick out of the site you inspired.) Another charmerI'd like to add my thanks to you again tterrace, for sharing your memories with all of us. Also, I spied with my romantic eye--the heart shaped flicker in the fire and the wedding portrait on the bookshelf. Is that your mom and dad? From a newbieI have only just discovered this site this weekend. I've spent two days neglecting housework and proper grooming, totally immersed in the sheer wonderful-ness of this place! As I often do at Christmas, I've been feeling very nostalgic, and have been moved by dozens of the photos I've seen, but none more than this one. My own dad passed away in 2002, and I miss him so much. This photo reminded me of him, sitting in his green recliner (genuine Naughahyde), reading the paper or one of the five or six library books he brought home every week, and my mother bringing him coffee and a dish of ice cream. Memories are warm and wonderful, but I'd rather have the man. Thank you for sharing this. Merry Christmas Mr. Terrace!It's been a pleasure getting to know you. You have a fantastic boy! Thank you.Thank you. This reminded my, very fondly, of my beloved grandfather. Thank you very much, and a happy new year for you and your family. At precisely this momentDecember 24, 1984, my daughter, then 5, and our precious 88 year old Great-Grandma were attending Christmas Eve services at our rural country church, as was our annual tradition. Exactly 8 years to the day later, in 1992, we said goodbye to our beloved "Mom." Thank you, tterrace, for the touching memories. How lucky we have been to have loved and been loved by such wonderful people, would you say? What a wonderful tribute!A beautiful and warm tribute to your father's last Christmas! My mother died December 21, 1998. That year we looked back to the previous Christmas's photographs. It was very nice to reflect on her life looking at the pictures. MovedThe picture of your father is art. Really. But the shot of you mouth-breathing (because you are probably so tired from waiting up for Santa) in your anchor blanket and your airplane wallpaper! Wow. I know others have said it before me but -- I will say it again -- thank you so much from the bottom of my anonymous heart for sharing your memories and all of these wonderful images of a world gone by. Thank youLike rubysshoes, I just found this site following a link to Off. Rainey. Thank you for sharing your history. I've got some old family photos that I might put up, following your style. Lost my mother in law in 2008, father in law in 2007 and father in 2006, so this brought up memories. Dave, thanks for this site. And goodnight, Shorpy, wherever you are. SweetThanks for sharing. A lovely memory of your dear Dad. I admit to spending too many hours on this site looking at the many photos people post. Have posted a few myself. Photos are SO precious and are the only things I would try to save if I ever had to make a quick exit from my home. A Life Well LivedI only hope that this is me someday ! I could see this on a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover. At least he got to see his last Christmas alert, aware and sitting up looking at the fire around loved ones ! I want my last Christmas the exact same way. Thank you for this ! Wow!Just WOW! Oh, and wonderful, too! How amazing it os to be so touched by strangers. But then, they really aren't by this time are they! thank you both tterrace & Dave, TY a million times Merry Christmas, DadWish you were here. This man, Tterrace's dad, looks so like my dad I did a double take. Both Dad and kitty content before the fire--how could life be any better. I love this photo, thank you for posting. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, tterrapix)
Deadwood From Forest Hill: 1888
... of photographs shot from 1887 to 1892 and are part of the Library of Congress archives. There are more here . As you can see at the ... has a copyright date of 1888. Read more on the Library of Congress site. "The one hundred and eighty-eight photographs ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/19/2014 - 10:29am -

Deadwood, South Dakota, from Forest Hill. View full size. Circa 1888 photograph by John C.H. Grabill. pollus telephonensisthere is a plethora of "pollus telephonensis" in both photos, complete with up to 24 lines and glass insulators (1904 began use in western SD/eastern montana)in the second picture. i wonder if your date is a bit out since the telephone didn't hit that area until after the turn of the century and individual telegraph lines didn't run to houses. mines didn't run gang lines. you'll also note a fair amount more tent activity in the 1880s. so, you might need to correct your date a bit -- that kind of miss is a bit sloppy. Shorpy's reply: The Deadwood views by Grabill are all from a well-documented series of photographs shot from 1887 to 1892 and are part of the Library of Congress archives. There are more here. As you can see at the bottom of the image, the photo has a copyright date of 1888. Read more on the Library of Congress site. "The one hundred and eighty-eight photographs sent by John C.H. Grabill to the Library of Congress for copyright protection between 1887 and 1892 are thought to be the largest surviving collection of this gifted, early Western photographer's work. Grabill's remarkably well-crafted, sepia-toned images capture the forces of western settlement in South Dakota and Wyoming and document its effects on the area's indigenous communities." Deadwood's Telephone ExchangeDeadwood had the first telephone exchange in the state of South Dakota. Established by Paul Rewman in March of 1878 ... More here: www.deadwood.net/info.htm So the 1888 date for this photo is certainly supportable. re: pollus telephonensisI think the commenter forgot about the earlier use of the telegraph, which also used wires and glass insulators. Shorpy's reply: Actually they are power lines. The commenter below emailed us to say: "Those are power lines from a small hydro-plant for one of the first electric winch systems in the mines -- and Deadwood effectively exploited it for town use as well. The churches also match to a company that shipped by way of rail from Chicago before selling out to Sears to provide kits. I stand corrected and a bit redfaced." So thanks, Tim, for the update. (The Gallery, Deadwood, John Grabill)
We're No. 66!
... dollars that made these photos available through the Library of Congress, and the occasional soggy wool bathing suit, this is all ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2009 - 10:44am -

Très excitement. Ken informs me that Shorpy is No. 66 on PC Magazine's list of the Top 100 Websites of 2009! (Yes, this is the kind of fluff incisive reportage magazines run in the summer so the staff can go on vacation, and we're happy to take part.) I want to thank tterrace, Stanton Square, Joe Manning and everyone else who has helped put us, if not on top, at least solidly in the top part of the bottom third! [UPDATE: Even though we are the 66th website on the list, Kyle at PC Mag tells us the results are not a numerical ranking but rather the results of voting on two groups: Top 50 "classic" sites and Top 50 "undiscovered."] Yay Shorpy!There are millions of websites, but only one Shorpy. Being number 66 is quite an accomplishment. 66I log on to this site every day to see the new pictures that have been uploaded and I don't know why. I just find it fascinating to look at photos that are that old. a whole world that has come and gone before mine. Apparently a lot of people feel the same way. Great !!!!Congratulations from Brazil !!! Congrats!Well deserved. This site is must reading/viewing for me! CongratulationsCongratulations and well-deserved. And, at 66, seems that you've just squeaked into the middle third! Way to go, Shorpy!Should have been first, in my opinion. Way To Go Dave!!!This is indeed a great thing for you and the readers/contributors here. A truly unique site that makes us all sit back, look and enjoy your version of the microscope to the past. And I think I speak for all when I say a hearty 'thank you'. Doug Fluff or not,Fluff or not, congratulations are well deserved! This site is excellent, and should have been much higher placed. Kudos all aroundGlad to have been along and look forward to moving onward and upward. Most Excellent! Figip for everyone! Atta Boy Dave!!Just wanted to add my congratulations to the list. Shorpy is my home page! First thing I see when I fire up Safari. Cheers! Well doneI found you through James Lileks, word of blog so to speak. Great News!You deserve it! One of my favorite sites! Made Our DayWe should all be proud of Dave and Ken for creating, maintaining and constantly improving the Shorpy site. Those of us that are daily visitors and contributors celebrate with you. Always Number ONE in my book!While this is great news, Dave, Shorpy is my favorite site to visit. A day doesn't go by where I don't check in to see what's new, or browse through older photographs. Your presence on Facebook is appreciated and hopefully is adding to Shorpy's traffic. I know that I keep promoting the site to all my friends, and will continue to do so. Shorpy is Number ONE! RankingsIt's a bit of a shock to see us 8 places behind Awkward Family Photos, but at least we beat out Ugliest Tattoos. Seriously, thank you, Dave! Happy to have done my part. Oh, and I also frequently put links to my contributions on my Facebook page for the benefit of my 38 Friends. That must have had something to do with it. Unprepared remarksIn addition to my mother and my agent, I'd also like to thank all the nice people who nominated Shorpy for a spot on the list. In addition to the many commenters and photo posters whose contributions have made the site so interesting. And of course we can't forget the photographers whose work is shown here, and the archivists, technicians and historians who have helped make it available. And Ken (a.k.a. User1), who put both the dot and the com in Shorpy.com. And last but not least let us direct a round of applause to Shorpy himself. Clapclapclap! Best of all......You guys did it without gratuitous sex, violence, vulgarity, or government subsidies. Good taste and quality every day on Shorpy! Congrats!! Doug [Aside from the zillions in taxpayer dollars that made these photos available through the Library of Congress, and the occasional soggy wool bathing suit, this is all very true! - Dave] So funny!>>>upper part of the lower third
Indy Pano: 1907
... Found the WHEN! (from http://www.in.gov/library/2489.htm ) WHEN? in large letters was all that people of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/26/2012 - 1:17pm -

Circa 1907. "Indianapolis, Indiana." One of the many points of interest here is the cryptic sign "FIND THE WHEN." Other landmarks include ... well you tell me. Ginormous panorama made from four 8x10 glass plates. View full size. Stunning work editing it togetherIf this was from four plates, it sure doesn't show it. I couldn't find a stitch point. Also, the "Cut rate drugs" sign made me chuckle! Kurt Vonnegut?He was born in Indanapolis, possibly related somehow to the Vonnegut Hardware Co? [Founded by his great-grandfather, Clemens Vonnegut, Sr. - tterrace] Found the WHEN!(from http://www.in.gov/library/2489.htm) WHEN? in large letters was all that people of Indianapolis saw in the windows of a building located at 30-40 North Pennsylvania Street for several months. In order to pique the public's interest, before the clothing store opened in 1885, owner John T. Brush, initiated a teaser campaign. For several months he advertised in the newspaper the store's arrival by simply printing the word "When" in full page ads in large block letters. He then went on to print "Where," and had plans to print "What", which he never used. At some point during the advertising campaign he added "When" to the windows of the store. By the time the store opened, "When" stuck. The public did not like any other name chosen, so Brush named his new clothing store, "When Store." What's still there??I'm sure that I'm not alone among Shorpyites in that the first thing I do when seeing a panorama like this is to fire up Google Maps and try to find things that are still there. Other than the obvious stuff like the state capitol and the soldiers' monument, there is a block of nearly unchanged small stores along Delaware Street just north of Market, and a large building now called the "symphony center" at 29 East Washington. A walk around the monument circle in street view reveals a couple of buildings that might have been extant in 1907, unfortunately they are obscured in the panorama. There are certainly many more I've missed. from a transplantI moved to Indy from elsewhere and recognized a number of the buildings. The view is to the North, the Soldier's and Sailor's monument is in the right, the Indiana Statehouse with flag is visible past that. I'm trying to figure out where it was taken from, but can't think of what tall buildings are located in the right spot that would have been around at that time. I'll post to some of the native Hoosiers I know and see what they recognize. What a great photo! Wonder what the WHEN was?Was this a contest of some sort, or just a clever ad to get people to go looking for the WHEN? [Explained in a previous comment. - tterrace] I missed it somehow, thank you. Interesting story. Vonnegut Hardware Indianapolis, An Outline History, 1902. Max R. Hyman, editor. Notable Retail Establishments. Vonnegut Hardware Company—The Vonnegut Hardware Company, wholesale and retail dealers, 120-124 East Washington street, is the development of a business that was established originally in 1851 by Mr. Clemens Vonnegut, sr., and in 1898 assumed the present style, with Mr. Clemens Vonnegut and his three sons, Clemens Vonnegut, jr., Franklin Vonnegut and Geo. Vonnegut, as partners. Their five-story and basement building, 45 x 200 feet, contains a very large and complete stock, including the best and finest productions of leading American manufacturers and the finest imported articles, the assortment embracing builders' and cabinet hardware. machinery, tools, manufacturers' supplies, meat market outfits. Imported and domestic cutlery, household hardware, etc. Besides their large retail trade, they have heavy wholesale business covering Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and the South, and employ four traveling salesmen. This firm is a member of the Retail Merchants' Association. My InventoryThe photos were evidently taken from the tower of the county courthouse, now the site of a 26 story City County Building. The location is 200 E. Market St The central view is looking west, with the pano spanning SW to NW. At far left are the twin spires of St. John's Church, corner of Capitol and Georgia St. Still there. To the right of that, there is a 12 story office building with a limestone front. That's the Merchant's Bank. The building remains and houses a large law firm. An addition (twice its height) was built a few years later, replacing the small building on the corner. The two smaller buildings closer to the camera are still there. Behind Vonnegut's is the Baldwin Piano Co, 14 N Pennsylvania. Later it became a feed and seed dealer, which remained in operation until the late 90's. The building is still there. Next to the piano store is the ornate When Building. It is now replaced by an ugly concrete parking garage. Looking past the When Building, you see the peaked roof of the Traction Terminal, home to all the street cars see travelling on Washington St. It is gone, along with the street cars. Behind that is, of course, the domed Indiana state capitol building. Returning to the Soldier and Sailor monument, you can see the Hotel English, with its small domed features at either end. Gone, replaced by a low rise commercial building, and years later after extensive remodelling, it now houses Anthem Insurance. Continuing to the right, the spires of Christ Episcopal Church peek over the Columbia Club. Both are still in existence. The block of store fronts extending north from the corner of Savin's Pharmacy (Market and Delaware St) is remarkably still intact. But Savin's has been replaced with a much taller structure. Behind the Savin, we see the Empire Theater. The building survives but is oddly serving as a parking garage. At bottom, extreme right, are Tomlinson Hall (burned to the ground in 1957) and the City Market which remains with that name but is a mainly a fast-food lunch spot today after extensive restoration and renovation. How I'd love to go back in time and ride my velocipede up and down those streets! AwesomePlease excuse this overused adjective, but stitching together 4 photos makes such an impressive cityscape. This must take the award for most detailed Shorpy photo to date! Wish you could find a few photos of South Bend, 150 miles north of Indy. Learn moreAwhile back I posted these photos on my Flickr page and annotated the images with links to some history articles that I and others wrote on Historic Indianapolis (a great web site for Indy history). Click on these links to learn more: Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Find the WhenThe When, for those who may not know, was a building in Indy. I believe it was a department store. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2018/07/26/heres-l... Photo from Marion County CourthouseThis photo would have been taken from the clock tower of the old Marion County Courthouse located on the block south of City Market and Tomlinson Hall between Market and Washington Streets. The courthouse was demolished in 1962 after the City-County Building was built. (Panoramas, DPC, Indianapolis, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
Pabst Over Chicago: 1943
... Zoning map that is available at the University of Chicago library site - the Illinois Central may very well have called the yard the ... 1980s, serving as the temporary home of the Chicago Public Library's main branch after it moved from what is now the Cultural Center ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/07/2017 - 2:11pm -

May 1, 1943. "South Water Street freight depot of the Illinois Central Railroad, Chicago." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. DirectionalityI believe this photo is facing north. Quite a few of the skyscrapers are still there. All the way to the left, the black & gold building is the Carbide & Carbon (or is it Carbon & Carbide?) building on Michigan Ave. I seem to remember something about it being the "first" skyscraper. Just to the right, with the little cupola on top, is the original Stone Container Building at Wacker & Michigan Avenues. Off in the furthest distance in the center of the photo you can see what was originally called the Pamolive building (it became Playboy Towers, and is now a condo building). I think the building behind the Pabst sign at the right edge of the sign is the Chicago Tribune building, and across from it (underneath the main part of the sign) you can see the white building that is the Wrigley building. They flank Michigan Ave. just north of the Chicago river. Fellow (ex-)ChicagoanDefinitely facing North, definitely the Carbon & Carbide building - my dad used to have an office there. Not sure about the Playboy Towers.... might that be the Drake Hotel? 33 to 1?Blended 33 to 1? That sounds like a strange formula to me...but of course I'm not informed on the whole beer and beer history thing. 33 to 1Here's a 1940 Pabst ad that explains it. NorthThere is no question about it, this photo is facing north. Good Railroad ShotThe blue flags placed on the cars would be a violation of federal regulations today as they now have to be located at the switch providing access to the track. Also, note that several of the cars are on "yard air" in order to test the brakes on each car prior to movement. Finally you can see that this photo provides good images of several different types of car ends all together in one place. As I am from Milwaukee, I have no clue as to which buildings are which! I do know that the photo is definitely facing north as I now work for the South Shore commuter railroad and am familiar with the lakefront. I also know that the original Santa Fe railroad corporate headquarters was almost directly to the west of this photo and is still there today with the Santa Fe sign on top. It is now an historic landmark. Bootcamp BeerI went to Navy bootcamp in Great Lakes Il. in 1983 and after spending 10 wks. without beer our first chance to have a brew came. Unfortunatly for me the ONLY beer avaliable to us at the time was Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now, not being a Pabst fan I was very unhappy about that but after 10 tough weeks I said "what the heck" and ordered a couple of beers. I'll tell you what, that was the best beer I've ever had. I got so drunk the rest of the day was blur. I'd like to say "Thanks you Pabst" for the best beer ever and day I don't remember. Water Street DepotIt appears we are looking north from either Monroe or Randolph. I want to say we're looking from Monroe and that bridge spanning the width of the pic under the sign is Randolph. The row of low-rise buildings on the left side of the pic that are ~6 stories tall and have the water towers on top of them would then be on the east side of Michigan Ave and sitting directly on the north side of Randolph. I believe these trains are in the area east of Michigan Ave and north of Monroe, but south of Randolph as it used to be a railyard (now Millennium Park, north of the Art Institute). Furthermore there were never any buildings previously on this spot, as it would have either been a rail yard or part of Grant Park (where no buildings were allowed to be built, except for the Art Institute). This leads me to believe that we are looking north from Monroe towards Randolph and beyond. The vast empty space behind the Pabst sign spanning the whole width of the image would now be occupied by Illinois Center, the Prudential Building and of course the tall white AON Building (3rd largest in Chciago at the moment), or whatever they call it these days. Pabst SignCan anybody tell me if this sign was was animated and are there any night time shots of it? [The nighttime shot of this neon sign is here. - Dave] AnimationThanks Dave, do you know if the sign was animated in any way? [The hands on the clock moved! If you mean did various parts of the sign blink on and off, I don't know. - Dave] ChicagoI see the tallest building to the far left when I'm going to and from school. It's surrounded by a bunch of other buildings now. Chevrolet SignThis is a film clip of another Chicago sign. It shows how animated signs were operated. I can't find any date, but the technology looks like 1940 or so. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410104.html Chevrolet SignAfter viewing this clip of the Chevy sign, I'm fairly convinced that it and the 'Pabst' sign are one and the same. Shown in the clip of the Chevy sign is the same tall building that is located to the left of the Pabst sign in the photo. There are other similarities as well, like the circular design of the sign, the clock at the lower right, etc. It's my guess that Pabst took over the sign after Chevy and made the slight changes to suit their logo. South Water Street TodayThis photo is facing North on South Water Street and intersecting roughly what is now Columbus Drive. The ground level of this photograph is now covered by an elevated roadway in this area. If you went to this spot today, the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park designed by Frank Gehry would be just behind you. The Playboy Building is visible in the background, now once again called the Palmolive Building and converted to condominiums. It sits between the Drake Hotel and John Hancock Tower at the end of the Magnificent Mile. The Drake is not tall enough to be in view here. The Allerton Hotel and Northwest University Law School in Streeterville are also visible here, which they wouldn't be today from the site, although they are still standing. Several of the mid-rise buildings in this photograph are no longer standing, in particular the large red-brick warehouse at the center mid-ground, to the right of the Playboy/Palmolive. This is where the NBC Tower now stands, just north of the river. Driving and DrinkingThis was indeed the Chevy sign. Pabst took it over. You can still make out the Chevy logo in the superstructure of the sign. The lower left hand corner of the "B" in Blue and the upper right hand corner of the N in "Ribbon" served as the edges of the classic Chevy "bowtie" logo. Going to ChicagoIt's interesting to think that Muddy Waters would have just arrived in Chicago when this photo was taken. Pabst signThe Pabst sign was next to Randolph Street Bridge; refer to the 1922 Zoning map that is available at the University of Chicago library site - the Illinois Central may very well have called the yard the 'Water Street Yard,' but Water Street moved to the South Side when Wacker Drive was created after 1924; the Pabst sign was located nearest the Randolph Street bridge and is the current location of the Prudential Building, not the Pritzker Pavillion. Warehouse full of booksI believe the red brick warehouse-like building on the right (east) of the photo survived into at least the 1980s, serving as the temporary home of the Chicago Public Library's main branch after it moved from what is now the Cultural Center (location of many shots in DePalma's "The Untouchables" and just out of camera range to the left) and before the opening of the Harold Washington Library Center. I used their manual typewriters and xerox machines to peck out and photocopy my resume. Why Boxcars are blue-flaggedThese boxcars are blue-flagged because they have both their doors open and gangplanks spanning the openings between cars on adjacent tracks. This is also why they are all 40-foot cars and are all lined up with each other. Less-than-Carload (LCL) freight is being handled here! This something that US railroads have discontinued; for decades, they haven't accepted any shipment less than one car load. As effective highway trucks were developed, they took this trade away from the RR's for obvious reasons. But, back in the 1940's, RR's would handle a single crate! This required sorting en route, which is what is being done here. There's a large shift of workers shuffling LCL from one car to another by way of the side platforms and the above-mentioned gangplanks. The LCL required local freight crews to handle this stuff into and out of the freight stations, and required station agents to get the cargo to and from customers, collect charges, etc. Very labor-intensive, yet somehow the trucking companies do it at a profit. From Pabst To Rolling Rock Beer "33"This photograph has also added another “answer” to the question: “What does the “33” on the label of a bottle of Rolling Rock Beer mean?” http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/rolling.asp One person seeing this photograph concluded on a Rolling Rock Beer forum that the Rolling Rock "33" may have referenced the smoothness of blending “33 to 1.” http://toms.homeunix.net/toms/locFSA-OWIkodachromes/slides/blended33to1.... Makes you feel like a heroEven now, when I get a color transparency (2 1/4x2 1/4 or 4x5) and look at if for the first time, it is stunning. I can't imagine what it must have looked like to someone seeing it color for the first time ever! Sign BackgroundIf you look closely at the superstructure of the sign you can see the slogan "Blended 33 to 1" in the framework, which is seen far better in the nighttime shot Dave linked to. As to whether this would be considered animation I don't know, but a typical setup would be to light the Pabst Blue Ribbon sign, then switch to the "Blended" slogan, then light both. Don't know if that was done here. Those catwalksThe "down-the-throat" shot of those catwalks atop of the freight cars gives the viewer a good idea of what the brakeman had to deal with while setting the brakes. The uneveness of those platforms, even at a standstill, is enough to make the average person think twice about climbing up and traversing these planks. Before airbrakes became the norm, this had to be one of the most harrowing jobs a railroad worker had to face. And this would be on a nice calm day. With rain, wind or snow, even the most seasoned brakeman must've had second thoughts. Blue Flags?Mr. Leaman pointed out the blue flags were being displayed incorrectly by todays rules. But not being a train enthusiast, what did they indicate in the first place? Blue-FlaggedAny rolling stock or engine that is "blue-flagged" cannot be moved unless the person who placed the flag removes it. It's a safety rule, and for the protection of the workers, many of whom are between or under the cars. The iconic "Santa Fe" sign referred to in earlier posts is now on display at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL - not too far from Chicago and well worth the trip! http://www.irm.org The early brakeman's plightJKoehler, I read somewhere that a conductor remarked about brakemen in the days when cars used link-and-pin couplers, "If they still have their thumbs after three months, they must be really lazy!" Phantom Memory of a huge Chicago Phillips 66 Sign?For decades I’ve had a childhood memory of seeing a huge Phillips 66 sign atop the Chicago skyline, while driving with my family in the “wayback” of the family station wagon on the way to visit our grandparents in Iowa. We were coming from Michigan, and driving on Chicago streets because the still-under-construction Interstate Highway System still had gaps. (We were probably driving on/towards westbound US-30.) I remember being in awe of a big neon Phillips 66 sign receding in the distance as my dad drove west. It was a wide straight street, very busy. The sign had lots of neon motion, even in the daylight. This memory (if real), would have been somewhere between about 1963 - 1968. But am I mistaken? Did the Phillips 66 sign never exist, and could this Papst sign be the one I saw? (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
File M for Mazique : 1942
... Mazique on temporary duty checking filing systems in the Library of Congress." 4x5 inch acetate negative by John Collier for the U.S. ... there." October 1, 2015 That was the day the last library catalog cards were printed. The Library of Congress still makes its ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/16/2023 - 8:22pm -

Winter 1942. Washington, D.C. "Jewel Mazique on temporary duty checking filing systems in the Library of Congress." 4x5 inch acetate negative by John Collier for the U.S. Office of the Coordinator of Information. View full size. Scholarly InquiryI wonder how many LOC patrons inquired (discreetly, of course) about the possibility of marryin' the librarian -- Dewey Wins!I actually liked looking up books with the old card catalog filing system. It worked and flipping through it during your search sometimes led you to books completely unrelated but still really interesting. "Temporary" duty?"Miss Mazique, your predecessor, Miss Maxwell, completed "Money" when she reached mandatory retirement age. Please continue the alphabetization check from there." October 1, 2015That was the day the last library catalog cards were printed. The Library of Congress still makes its main card catalog available to users, but it doesn't contain works after 1980. Digital catalogs are not very user friendly. (The cards weren't always either.) But increasingly the contents of libraries, not just their catalogs, do not exist at all in physical or analog form. Old habits are hard to breakMy friend the librarian tells me that old-timers still ask where to find the card catalog. Quite a life, as it turns out.2 Oct 1913 - 18 Sep 2007 (aged 93) "Mazique graduated from Spelman College and received a master's degree in African Studies from Howard University, where she wrote her thesis on the development of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Mazique argued her own acrimonious divorce case despite the court's requests to take legal counsel. She kept her children, but lost her case for personal financial support. ... Both her sons went on to become physicians." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewell_Mazique Pedant alertLibrary of Congress have their own classification system, so not Dewey. This looks like an author catalogue. You see a lot of old library filing drawers (not on this scale) at antique fairs. I often wonder how useful they are, as they have no sides. Image of "attention to detail" There is no other way to describe this photo. Melvil DeweyYou would sometimes meet the most interesting and knowledgeable people at the card catalog. Monje, ManfredJewel is looking up Manfred Monje, a German physiologist (1901-1981). It appears that he was on staff in the Anthropology Department of the State Museum of Natural History in Vienna in 1942. Hard to find very much on him. I wonder what unpleasant things that museum was doing in 1942? Backwards and forwardsI noticed that while the subject entries on the drawers go top-to-bottom, and left-to-right in alphabetical order, the five-digit index (?) numbers of the drawers are also top-to-bottom, but right-to-left. It also appears that there were 17 drawers in a stack ... interesting. (The Gallery, D.C., Jewell Mazique, John Collier)
One Year Old: 2008
... their work and made it available online through the Library of Congress. This might also be a good time to reflect on the life of ... put together. It will be a great addition to my huge library. Congrats Again One of my favorite bookmarks! – happy ... you for the amazing work in showing us the pictures of Library of Congress. I loved the huge archive but your site is like a special ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/14/2008 - 4:26am -

Shorpy is a year old today! Thanks to the many thousands of visitors and commenters and contributors who have helped make this Web site the remarkable place that it is. And of course we wouldn't be here without the efforts of the photographers whose pictures appear here, and the conservators and archivists who have preserved their work and made it available online through the Library of Congress. This might also be a good time to reflect on the life of our namesake, Shorpy Higginbotham, whose likeness animates these pages and spirit inhabits them. And now on with the show. Only a zillion more pictures to go   .  .  . Congratulations!!Congratulations!! Happy birthdayThe site looks old for its years. Thanks for all the hard work. It is much appreciated! Congrats on 1 year!I have throughly enjoyed your site so far, and I can't wait to see what the next year brings. One yearThanks to Dave and Ken for a great site, looking foward to another year of great pics and even better comments. Shorpy will always be a part of us. Happy Birthday!I have been checking this site daily for months. It's one of my favorite web destinations ... keep up the great work! Congrats!Congratulations on the one year mark! This is a great, great service. Happy Birthday!Wow, has it been a year already? Amazing how time flies when you're having fun. I must say I feel horrible that I haven't submitted more of my own family photos, but life and other projects have distracted me. But I'd like to send a bit thank you to you guys at Shorpy/Plan 59 for all the hard work you put into this site. I find it both entertaining and educational. Don't forget to make a wish! TK http://unidentifiedfamilyobjects.blogspot.com/ And we wait eagerly... for a zillion pictures to see. It's been great checking Shorpy out for last year, it will be even more so in times to come. CongratulationsCongratulations to the Shorpy staff on your one year anniversary! Keep up the excellent work. Happy Birthday!Happy birthday Shorpy and thanks for many wonderful hours of viewing! Congratulations!Excellent pages, I've been addicted for few months now. Keep that way and I will be very happy. Old photos just have that 'something'. Happy Birthday!Happy Birthday! You are doing a tremendous job showcasing these great pictures, thank you very much. Every single day, this siteEvery single day, this site posts a picture that educates, entertains, and delights me. I've learned more about the way Americans lived from here than I ever did in history classes. Here's to many more years! ¡Feliz cumpleaños!Happy birthday to one of the most interesting sites! ¡Feliz cumpleaños! CongratsCongrats on your anniversary. I very much enjoy these slices of life, and thank you (and the LOC) for making them available to us. Happy Anniversary!I love this site. Congratulations!Congratulations! Shorpy is one of the few sites (apart from weather, traffic and work related) that I visit at least once a day. The growing collection of pictures by itself is interesting enough, but Dave's dry sense of humour is the cherry on the cake. Keep it up! Thanks Shorpyi hardly ever comment on this site, but i view it everyday. shorpy.com is my homepage so i see it whenever i go online. this is the perfect time to thank you for providing me with access to some of the greatest photos ever snapped on a what is undoubtedly one of the greatest sites on the web. keep em coming. i'll keep enjoying. Happy Anniversary!Has it only been one year? You have done a lot of work and created a blog that is a delight to visit. More than that, you have developed a community that I'm proud to be part of. Here's to many more anniversaries to come. Congratulations and thanks!I came across this site following a link to the "CONDEMNED TO DEATH" triptych (it is still the bookmarked page for the site). This is my favorite website. I tell anyone who'll listen about it and I look at it at least once EVERY DAY! I can't tell you how much I enjoy and appreciate the site. Best to you and yours! CongratulationsCongratulations on a year. I found this site ages ago and it's one of the first feeds I check every day. Keep up the good work! Shorpy.comFantastic website! Great photographs, taking you all the way into 19th century! Congratulations!!! Wish you all the best. Thank you and well doneThis site is an extraordinary piece of work, one of 2-3 I visit almost every day. The combination of art, scholarship, history and commentary are almost unique. I'm looking forward to more excellence and am glad I only missed the first 11 months. Happy AnniversaryThis is a wonderful site and I visit it every day. Keep up the great work (please)! I have learned so much about the generation before me that I could not have ever known without this site. I am a baby boomer and remember my parents and grandparents talking about how things were when they were young. Now I can get a "picture" of how life really was then. Thank you so much. 386 imagesI've got 386 images from this site on my hard drive. I visit at least twice a day and I'm never disappointed. Here's wishing you many more. Thanks!Thank you so much for the work you do. I was admiring the photographs of Dorothea Lange and thinking about her skill in using film and light, when I realized yet again that it would not be possible to admire her work if you were not such a wizard with Photoshop and if you did not show such good judgment in its use. I appreciate your thoughtful approach to all of the material, and your wit--and your encouragement of the use of spell checkers. Thank you...Happy birfday Shorpy! This site is the bomb and I enjoy coming here to view these little bits of our shared past! Thank youThank you, thank you, thank you! Happy BirthdayI'm new to the site, but I'm addicted! Thank you so much for all the hard work. Congrats and Happy BirthdayYou've made a fan out of me! May there be many more! Happy Anniversary!I stumbled across this site quite by accident about a month ago and am absolutely addicted! I've told all my friends that they've got to check this out. Keep up the awesome work - if you don't there's going to be a lot of people in "withdrawal"!! I wish to addMy congratulations to the many others that you have received. This is a wonderful site. I visit each and every day and really appreciate the hard work that you do each day. Once more congratulations to Shorpy.com and long may Shorpy's memorial blog continue. Woohoo!!Well, it's no surprise, considering how great this site is! The real surprise would be if it was gone! Well, let's not think such ridiculous things. Happy Birthday!!! Thanks Shorpy !I would like to offer a "Toast" to Shorpy and all involved in this great website. I can't wait to get my daily dose of pictures. Hip Hip Hooray....long live the memories. Congratulations!I love Shorpy. Happy first anniversary, and may there be many, many more! [Thanks to everyone who has signed the birthday register today! It's all a little overwhelming. - Dave] Only a Year?Wow, this site's so extensive and wonderfully maintained, I thought for certain you'd been around much longer than a year! Thanks for the hard work, and congratulations! A great year!And rest in peace, Shorpy, where ever you are. May the next life bring you happiness not found in this one. The best site on the webShorpy is . . . ShorpyA daily pleasure for me. Thanks for a great year. Thanksfor a wonderful site! I stop by at least once per day and thoroughly enjoy these well selected and superbly presented glimpses into the past. Denny Gill Chugiak, Alaska Happy Birthday!I check Shorpy for new photos almost every evening and especially love the Kodachromes. Thanks for all your hard work on this great site! CongratsIs it only one year? You've done an important and beautifully creative job. I'm a regular visitor and I've learned so many things and have been inspired. I love that Shorpy represents the site. He is the very courageous, indomitable symbol of working America. Congrats and the BookI found this site few months ago and got hooked. I pray that this site will continue another year. I am looking forward to buy the book where all photos with background information put together. It will be a great addition to my huge library. Congrats AgainOne of my favorite bookmarks! – happy birthday. Thanks!Shorpy is one of few sites that I have in a favorites folder named "daily". A simple idea very well executed. Me TooLove the photos, the information, and I also enjoy the reader comments and sense of community. Thank you very much! Dave & KenThank you both, and anyone else working at Shorpy, for the Post Civil War History and Photography course. I think the regular participants should receive college credit. I can't tell you how much I enjoy my daily (and sometimes hourly) visits. Keep it up. Happy BirthdayLike everyone has mentioned, happy 1st birthday and I hope this is the start of something long lasting. It is a treat to drop by every few days and see the wonderful photos - and read the many comments from folks who know the details within these vintage images. Keep up the good work. Happy Birthday Dear ShorpyThank you for the amazing work in showing us the pictures of Library of Congress. I loved the huge archive but your site is like a special guide through the database. I also noticed that the comments are adding details and new informations about the pictures, this is useful also for the Library of Congress. I loved the story of Addie Card, for instance. I check the site daily and it'a lovely pause while I am working. You have great taste in choosing the best images and the design of the web is very nice. I hope you will keep doing this work. I am a deputy photo editor of a national magazine in Italy and unfortunately I don't usually research so much on LOC images, but sometimes it happens. I'd like to ask you if there will be in the future a "search" option. This could be extremely useful for my work while researching archival images. Congratulations and compliments. All my best. Paola Vozza. [Thanks, Paola! We already have a "search" option. - Dave] "Happy Birthday to You "Happy Birthday To You Happy Birthday to youuu Happy Birthday , Dear Shorpy.com , a great website Happy Birthday, toooo youuuu Joe P.S Hats off to you InfoWho exactly runs this site, and who else is involved? Why were you going to call it "mike.com"? Who is Mike? [That's what I'd like to know. - Dave] GOOD JOBI love looking at you site of living history. I also love finding subjects to colorize and try to bring to life. The most fun I've ever had on the computer!! (ShorpyBlog, Lewis Hine)
Elmwood (Front): 1941
... of this home, but no modern photo as of yet. 1. Home Library of The Garnetts of Elmwood 2. National Register Nomination 3. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/30/2009 - 12:08pm -

Main house at Elmwood, a pre-Revolutionary plantation in Essex County, Virginia, photographed in 1941 for the Historic American Buildings Survey. The 1852 Victorian stair tower to the left of the main entrance was removed in a 1950s restoration of the house, which was built around 1770. View full size. For a view of the house after it was restored click here. Haunted?Is this house haunted or should I say was it thought to be? [I'm not sure but it looks like a good candidate! My mother was born in 1922 in a farmhouse somewhere in Essex County, but she was never sure where. After she died my sister and I inherited property her father owned not far from here. So this kind of takes me back. - Dave] ElmwoodDoes anyone know if there are any modern pictures of this house online somewhere? I'd love to see what it looks like today. It's an intriguing home Elmwood historyI found some awesome links to the history of this home, but no modern photo as of yet. 1. Home Library of The Garnetts of Elmwood 2. National Register Nomination 3. History of Elmwood Re: Elmwood historyThanks, nytzi! The black-and-white photos with the second link (National Register nomination) show how Elmwood looks today (below; click to enlarge). I am distantly related to the Garnetts through marriage on my mother's side of the family. Maybe I'll stop by the next time the house is open for Garden Week and take some pictures. Modern ElmwoodThat would be very cool if you posted some modern pictures of this house. Reading the history of the house was fascinating. Is the house open to the public? I wonder if the gardens are still there? [The b/w photo below is a modern picture, relatively speaking. Not taken yesterday but still probably pretty accurate. The house, along with other historic Tidewater estates, is usually open to the public in April during Garden Week. The house was mostly vacant from the end of the Civil War to the 1940s, when the front and back porches were removed. The gardens were restored along with the interior in the 1950s and 60s. - Dave] More ElmwoodSome more photos of Elmwood from 1941, before its restoration. Below, the 1850s stair tower, which has been removed. This was evidently added to provide outside access to the second floor when the house was being used as a school. ElmwoodThanks for posting this. It's gorgeous! I'm happy to see that the restoration kept its nice clean lines intact and didn't give it the wedding cake treatment. Is there a connection ?My maiden name is Jean Read Garnett. I am a direct decendant of Thomas Harwood Garnett. There are some family members with "Mercer" and "Muscoe" as middle names.(James Muscoe Garnett b.Nov. 11, 1902 d. Jan. 31, 1985 born at Leeland Prince Edward County) & (James Mercer Garnett b. June 22,1938 son of T.H. Garnett Jr. and Elsie Hancock Garnett) I am curious to see if I am related to the Garnetts of Elmwood. (The Gallery, HABS)
Before and After
... are not just resized versions of the images found in the Library of Congress archives -- they are extracted from the LOC's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 10:15pm -

The photos you see here on Shorpy are not just resized versions of the images found in the Library of Congress archives -- they are extracted from the LOC's full-resolution reference tiffs: a process that generally takes anywhere from half an hour to several hours per monochrome image, depending on the amount of work that needs to be done to bring detail out of the shadows, suppress overexposed highlights, and remove blemishes caused by dust, scratches and mold. Color images require correction for color cast as well. The before-and-after composite above shows the condition of some of these old glass negatives a century after they were exposed, and how they look after a day at the digital restoration spa. This one is from 1908. View full size. Below is the 36 mb archival tiff resized to 512 px wide. The restored version is here. Below is another before-and-after example. Restored version. Below: Another monochrome example. Click to enlarge. A more extreme example below. Click here to enlarge. Compare the full-size Shorpy image to the closest match on the LOC site. Below: Underexposed, strong blue color cast. Below: A final monochrome example. Negative by Ansel Adams. Click to enlarge. Thanks!Thank you for the work that you do. I'm sure that you get satisfaction from your hobby without regard to the wider web, but I for one have learned a great deal at Shorpy over the past few years. And speaking as a Washingtonian, I find your geographical bias quite pleasing. Huzzah for Dave, huzzah for Shorpy! v. Outstanding!Great photo-fixing, guys, this really makes the whole difference! Glass plate negativesYou do a fantastic job of restoring these photos. I think the glass plate negatives look much better after you restore them than the photos taken on film. I can't believe how good they look. It is like stepping back in time. SoftwareWhat program are cleaned pictures? [Adjustments are made in Photoshop. -tterrace] What Scanner Do You Use For 4x5 NegativesDave, I have a lot of my Dads 4x5 negatives, but have yet to find a good scanner for them. Any suggestions. [Shorpy uses Epson Perfection flatbed scanners for for large-format film and glass plates. - Dave] Damaged negativesDo you ever work with negatives that have been damaged, perhaps due to getting wet? If so, do you have any recommendations for preparing them for scanning? I've heard immersing them in a shallow dish filled with rubbing alcohol is a simple step that will make a big improvement in their condition. Any truth in that? Love the work you do and the looks into the past it provides me. I'm inspired to attempt scanning and restoring dozens of old family snapshot negatives. (Technology, Before & After)
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