MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME

Search Shorpy

SEARCH TIP: Click the tags above a photo to find more of same:
Mandatory field.

Search results -- 30 results per page


ADT Messengers: 1908
A. D. T. Messengers, August 1908. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana. (ADT, or American ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 4:02pm -

A. D. T. Messengers, August 1908. Location: Indianapolis, Indiana. (ADT, or  American District Telegraph, was the forerunner of today's home security company.) Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
ADTFinally, now I know what ADT stands for, even the people working there today didn't know what ADT stood for. Thanks to Shorpy, now I know.
Well at least some of us do...I am a current ADT employee
American District Telegraph locationI found a copy of the 1909 Indianapolis City Directory and located ADT's office at 29 Monument Circle (formerly known as 'Monument Place').  This is on the southeast quadrant of the Circle.
See the Google pic below: The location is now occupied by the Indianapolis Power & Light headquarters (1 Monument Circle).  The marquee of the Circle Theater next door can be seen, the address of which is 45.
I also included a section from the City Directory for 'Telegraph Companies."
{edit]  I came across a wider shot of this same corner, taken in 1905.  At the time, the building on the right is where Western Union had their offices.  The next building over was called the Rhodius Building and contained the Circle Park Hotel. 
Look closely at the gap between these two buildings.  It and the building to the right are also in the ADT photo.  The white pillar can be seen on both views, as can the ironwork supporting the hanging sign.
No FendersOn those bikes.  Trust me:  you will get very wet on a street with any amount of water.
(The Gallery, Bicycles, Indianapolis, Kids, Lewis Hine)

Parting Glances: 1920
... of support wall that would have to go all the way up. Messengers Bicycles, a motorcycle and a messenger office. Pure chance, or a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2023 - 3:25pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "729 12th St., Washington Times." Various shades of Twelfth Street. 8x6 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
Wall BetweenI would hazard a guess that there is a wall between the woman and young boy.  If you follow the line between "painted" and "unpainted" you will see that the width between the windows is farther apart.  Also the chimney above, and the two stores below suggest some sort of support wall that would have to go all the way up.
MessengersBicycles, a motorcycle and a messenger office. Pure chance, or a cunning business plan?
Cleveland MotorcycleThat's a production motorcycle from the Cleveland Motorcycle Co.
Questions indeedIs that young blurry boy only wearing one roller skate?  Is the other young child telling the headless phantom motorcycle rider to shush?  
Must say I love the "lace" and tassels on the Shade shop. 
Possible SlumlordAndrew Murray the builder doesn't take very good care of his property.
Window on my WorldBuster Brown in the window above the deli seems to be looking at the motorcycle. Wondering if he is related to the woman in the window next to him, or if there is a wall between them and they are in different apartments. 
So many questions, so little timeAre the shutters seen on some of the buildings actually used?  Or are they just decorative as are modern shutters are?
Why don't the brick stone buildings have shutters?
Is that some sort of prototype motorcycle?
Are the people in the windows family members of the proprietors of the businesses below?
Is the boy in front of the messenger service an employee?
BTW, I just love photos like this; an honest and unfettered look into a past long gone.
Ahead of the timesLike the bike propped against the building. Owner has his bars flipped and his seat laid back -- cutting edge!
Tri-LevelWhat a mesmerizing photo; one can conjure up at least three scenarios that fit what we see here.  The pride of the gentleman inside the Builder's office watching his son leave; the parting of two friends (or lovers); is the rider embarking on a grand adventure; who is the rider, really? The more you look the deeper the stories become. Olde photos are magic.
Ghost RiderTenants checking out the ghost on the motorcyle seems to be the most likely scenario.
The Phantom PhootSo what's that disembodied upside-down foot above the third floor windows of #731?
Taken for a ride in another senseI suspect that the owner of 729 hired the same Washington housepainter that I did.
Bicycle BrakesThe bike leaning against the Murray/McGregor office shows no evidence of brakes, coaster or hand. When did bicycles begin to have braking systems (other than putting your feet down)?....some Shorpyite out there knows.....
King Cola, the Royal DrinkNot much you can find about this brand, except that it was sued to death by the Coca-Cola Company for its use of the word "cola." How did Pepsi ever survive the same predicament?
[The defendant's sin was not the use of the word "cola" but rather its Spencerian-script logo (below), which was a frank imitation of the Coca-Cola trademark. Coca-Cola's legal blitzkrieg also took aim at Koke, Cold-Cola, Koca-Nola and Ko-Kola. - Dave]
Dividing lineI love that only half of the building has been freshly painted. The other half - the builder's half does not instill confidence in his work. 
Looks like the kid on one roller skate leaped from his ghost position to where he is now. 
Boys and bikesYou can tell by his blurry foot that the driver is kickstarting his bike.  This is an activity that always attracts kids.  There's something irresistible about the roar of the engine.  The little boy standing behind the bike is thinking, "Someday I'm gonna get me one of those..."  I've seen this happen a million times.
My Side versus Your SideIt is pretty clear that the owners of 729 and 731 have a different philosophy of exterior maintenance. What a geometrically precise paint line between them.
One SkateI bet the other roller skate is on the ghost of a kid spinning just on front of the steps. The rider is a blur because he's trying to kick start the bike. Upstairs grumpy, and the two men are much more interested in the photographer.
These are really neat old photos, I'm glad I found the web site.
Honesty of Purpose

Washington Post, April 8, 1911.

Special Notices



Announcement.

The family of the late John McGregor, builder, of 729 Twelfth street northwest, desire to inform the public that the business will be carried on by his successor, Mr. Andrew Murray, who has been with Mr. McGregor for the past thirteen years. They trust that the same patronage extended to the late Mr. McGregror will continue to be shown to Mr. Murray. In reference to the above, I hope, by strict attention to business and the same honesty of purpose that characterized Mr. McGregror's work, to merit the confidence and patronage of his friends and the public generally. Respectfully,

Andrew Murray,
729 Twelfth street northwest.
Shannon & LuchsHoly cow! The Shannon & Luchs For Sale sign on 731 caught my eye. They were the dominant real estate company in Fairfax County, Virginia, when I was growing up there in the 1980s and '90s. I still remember their radio jingle: "It takes more than luck / it takes Shannon & Luchs." I had no idea they had this long a history. They seem to have been acquired by Polinger in 1993, but I know they were still going by the S&L name at least until the late '90s.
Cleveland motorcycleThe motorcycle in the photo is a Cleveland A2, which was manufactured by the Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company, located in the Ohio city of the same name between 1915 and 1925. The A2 was powered by a 220cc two-stroke engine mounted transversely in the frame, with a worm drive to power the countershaft sprocket for final chain drive. The shaft exited the two-speed gearbox and extended past the rear downtube to drive the the magneto, hung just forward of the rear wheel.
In 1920 the A2 grew larger, adding footboards, incorporated fuel/oil tank and wider fenders. The weight increased in 1921 with a larger fuel/oil tank and seat and a battery. To offset the additional weight, engine capacity was increased to 270cc. In 1923 a sportier model was offered - the Model E, which featured a battery and electric lights.
Although the Cleveland looked flimsy compared to the big V-twins offered by other US manufacturers, their light weight (68 kg) and moderate power (3.5 bhp and 30 mph top speed) combined for easy riding. The main market of the A2 were students, women and businesses who employed couriers and light delivery riders. The low price ($150) was cheaper than comparative bikes offered by other manufacturers. The A2 was replaced in 1925 by the 350cc Model F.
(The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., Motorcycles, Natl Photo, Stores & Markets)

Knoxville Messengers: 1910
December 1910. "Postal Telegraph Messengers, Knoxville, Tennessee." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 9:21am -

December 1910. "Postal Telegraph Messengers, Knoxville, Tennessee." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
(The Gallery, Kids, Knoxville, Lewis Hine)

Special Delivery: 1917
... price that I've seen), they wouldn't. Special-Delivery Messengers These aren't regular letter carriers, aka mailmen, but special-delivery messengers. According to Sec. 864 PL&R (Postal Laws and Regulations) of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 2:41pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1917. "Post Office postmen on scooters." Kind of a Segway vibe here. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
Cool old scootersEarly Autoped Ever-Ready scooters. They were new in 1914, according to Wikipedia, so that narrows the date of the photo down a bit.
[Thanks! Below: Article from 1914, ad from 1916. - Dave]

I wonderI wonder why these didn't catch on? They look almost identical to some of the *extremely* noisy motorized scooters we have today. Perhaps they broke down, or they made an ungodly racket, or people just weren't so walking-averse as they are today. 
Wonder no more:You hit a small rock or crack in the pavement and over the handle bars you go.  Perhaps too many carriers were going onto the injured list.
Flash in the Pan?Looks like they had the staying power of Segues, also.
Smithsonian has oneIt's here. A 1918 model with some usability improvements but not as spiffy looking.
HuminaThey don't make mailmen the way they used to.
Pretty simple design.Looks like its basically a horizontal shaft engine with the front wheel being attached to the shaft, with some sort of clutch mechanism. Guess it gave mailmen the chance to get away from the local dogs.
ReflectionsIn the window, you can just barely see a sign for the Hotel Harrington (which would put this at least after 1914). That would mean that this could be the post office on Penn between 12th and 13th.
Cool it ain'tDo you suppose these men felt as dorky as they look?
Precursor to SegwayWow, you'd think we would have learned our lesson already. Remember how the Segway was going to change the world? 
I think they are used in Post Offices (somewhere), and I have seen police use them.
Scoot!"Wow, you'd think we would have learned our lesson already. Remember how the Segway was going to change the world?"
Not at $5,000 each (the price that I've seen), they wouldn't.
Special-Delivery MessengersThese aren't regular letter carriers, aka mailmen, but special-delivery messengers. According to Sec. 864 PL&R (Postal Laws and Regulations) of 1913, these could be, at the discretion of the local postmaster, "boys 16 years of age or older." Contemporary Special Delivery postage stamps bore illustrations of such uniformed boys riding on bicycles:

The Mailman ComethI second your comment with a hubba hubba.  Forget the milkman, bring on the mailman!
Scooter spot todayThis was at the Main Post Office (now the National Postal Museum) adjacent to Union Station. Here's the spot today, on North Capitol St. NE.
View Larger Map
(The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing)

Boston: 1890s
... the Old State House, State and Washington Streets. There messengers can be called by telephone or by the special electric call-boxes of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 7:57pm -

1890s. "Old State House, Boston." Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Messenger Boys, Day & NightThe Mutual District Messenger Company seems to have been in operation from at least 1882. It rated its own paragraph in the 1891 edition of Edwin M. Bacon's "Boston Illustrated," a detailed history and guide to the city and its attractions: 
"Boys for messenger service of all kinds, day and night, are furnished by the Mutual District Messenger Company, whose main office is in the basement of the Old State House, State and Washington Streets. There messengers can be called by telephone or by the special electric call-boxes of the company, which are generally to be found in the leading hotels, and other public places, as well as in business offices. The boys are uniformed, and are paid according to a fixed tariff of rates. Public telephone stations are in the principal hotels."
One of those dashing uniformed messenger boys is depicted life-size on what appears to be a glorious reverse-painted glass sign at the right corner of the building, next to a flurry of ghostly pedestrians who were almost too quick for the camera.
Telephone Pole(s) on Steroids!And I complain about today's wires in the sky. Man ...
The "T"Boston doesn't really have an equivalent to Times Square - a single location that is considered to be the dead center of town - but this is probably the closest thing to it.  A very historic building (the Declaration of Independence was read from the second story balcony in July 1776, and someone standing on the same balcony could have watched the Boston Massacre unfold down the street), surrounded by 20th century skyscrapers, sitting at the crossroads of State and Congress Streets in the heart of the Financial District.  This end of the building now houses the State Street "T" (i.e., subway) station on the Orange Line - right behind the "Mutual Union Telegraph Company" window.  The two street-level windows just around the corner to the left are now a pair of doors, through which many, many thousands of commuters pass every day, most of them probably oblivious to the ghosts in the neighborhood.
City of GhostsAll I see here are the photographic ghosts.  No still people were captured in the making of this photo, it seems.
WiredThat's one of the most amazing collections of overhead wires I've ever seen on Shorpy. I'll bet that it has a lot to do with the business on the ground floor of our featured building. 
Cat's cradleThose six layers of cross-arms on the building in the background only held about 90 telephone line pairs. The development of multipair telephone cables was sorely needed.
Unchanged after 120 yearsThe old state house has been wonderfully preserved and looks the same today as it did over 120 years ago.  I highly recommend the museum and the exhibits on the second floor.
The ClockIs a still functioning 1831 timepiece by Simon Willard, the dean of American clockmakers.
SurvivorBuilt in 1713, six decades before the Revolution, it's the oldest building in Boston.
What's that thing?What is that thing sticking up on top of the carriage in the foreground I know it can't be an aerial.
[It's the accelerator. - Dave]
AcceleratorNow that's funny! I laughed out loud.
View from the cupola in 1841Sir William Logan (1795-1875), the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada, visited Boston in 1841.  He climbed up into the cupola on top of the State House, and wrote the following in his diary that evening:
“I went to the lookout on the cupola of the State House, and thence had a magnificent view.  The main part of the city (called North Boston) was down below me, consisting of parks and trees, and thousands upon thousands of substantially-built brick houses . . . . Seaward were a multitude of islands and capes, completely locking in the harbour, on whose bosom floated ships of war and ships of trade . . . and steamboats, great and small, sending their black smoke and their hissing white smoke in clouds aloft . . . . Up from the city came a busy hum, with the noise of clattering hoofs and rattling carriages, the clinking of hammers and the ringing of bells, mingled with the cries of trade and the barking of dogs; and ever and anon a cock would crow his note of defiance, to be answered by another.  Men looked like pigmies in the streets below, and it seemed impossible that such little creatures could be the authors of such great works as were spread around."
John HancockCan anyone make out what it says under his name on the window (just to the left, at the back of the State House)?
["Mutual." - Dave]
The Overhead WiresI have been reading about these overhead systems and I think it would surprise most people what they were able to do with them. With seven 26-pin cross arms, there could have been a total of 182 individual wires present. This would give us a total of 91 individual two-wire circuits. Then you must consider the technology then in use. Phantom circuits that use individual wires from different pairs, would add another 40 to the total. Also, multiplexing was known in that day in telegraph relay circuits. Differing voltages were used to activate different relays to send messages to a particular location. I couldn't guess how much versatility this added to the system. Then there were high speed send and receive machines that were in use by this time.
There was more involved than what you can see and all of the technology of that day underpins the technology we use today: rotary dial and touch-tone phones, radio and television transmission technology, the Internet.
Still laughingIt's been ten months, I STILL laugh regularly at your "it's the accelerator" comment, Dave!!
(The Gallery, Boston, DPC)

A Typical Group: 1910
New York, July 1910. "A typical group of messengers at Postal Telegraph Company's main office, 253 Broadway. During hot ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 11:25am -

New York, July 1910. "A typical group of messengers at Postal Telegraph Company's main office, 253 Broadway. During hot weather they wear these shirtwaists. (A Suggestion for the other companies.)" Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. Library of Congress. View full size.
Bless their Arbusy little heartsIt's a gnome convention! Have you ever seen so many weak eye muscles in all your life?
The eyes have itLadies and gentlemen, we have the largest collection of "deer in he headlights" ever seen on the web....especially those two guys on the left!! Yeowww! Either that or somebody just hit them over the head with a blunt object.
Ethnic kidsThis seems to be what the "ethnic" kids were doing - working for a living instead of going to summer camp with the wealthy blond boys.
QuestionWhat were or are "shirtwaists"?
[A shirt. As opposed to the suit coats that were the standard messenger uniform. - Dave]
Please keep the Hine photos comingLewis Hine, with his unique mixture of an artist's eye and a social worker's concern, left us an endlessly fascinating, provocative, and touching picture a world that is far away but also the past of us all and the family heritage of many of us. Seeing a Hine photo on Shorpy is always a treat. . . . And Dave, please give us bigger versions of those three images you added as comments here!
[They are on my to-do list. - Dave]
How old?How old do you suppose these boys are? They look short in stature but their faces have such a mature look to them. Like old men faces on little boy's bodies.
DishonestIt is dishonest for Shorpy not to publish my comments on the "ethnic kids". It preserves history as a venue for gatekeepers, no matter how talented (or untalented) they are. While the site is undoubtedly remarkable for its inquiry into the past, the gatekeeper, "Dave", is a pedant of some sort who makes his comments from the safety of a black box.  The results are predictable: as the site becomes a sentimentalized view of the past it will become less interesting.
[Actually I'm just trying to spare you comments like this. - Dave]
SpiffyNice ties!
Shorpy Has An Upside Too ...In the comment section for the Berberich Shoe Store photo, I mentioned that a downside in visiting this site was the depressive reaction I often have to seeing beautiful, old buildings and then finding out, by calling up their addresses on Google Maps, that they no longer exist. That's been very true for me - and, I'm sure, for more than a few other regular visitors here as well. But there's also a very personal upside for me, too, and I'd like to take this opportunity to mention it. I began studying my family's genealogy about two years ago and in trying to track down my Mother's New York City relatives, I've learned that in April of 1910 her then 16 year old Father was living with his parents and siblings at 512 W 125th St. I "went there" on Google Maps and discovered that the tenement they'd lived in was no longer standing. I shrugged my shoulders, moved on, and forgot about it - until I tripped over Shorpy earlier this year. This site's focus on (beautiful and cool) old buildings got me thinking about W 125th St. again and so I went back there today and had another look. While its certainly true that my family's tenement had long since disappeared, there were plenty of old buildings still standing in that area - and it dawned on me as I looked that my Grandfather, who'd died 15 years before I was born, had once looked at these same buildings and so did my Great Grandparents. Suddenly, the entire half-destroyed neighborhood took on a new meaning for me and I have to thank Dave - you know, the guy who wears white gloves and lives in a black box? - and his wonderful Shorpy-site for that new appreciation. Architectural history in both general and particular has come alive for me and has led me to new appreciations for what I had previously dismissed as irrelevant. I say this now because this current photo, "A Typical Group: 1910," was taken three months after the census that listed my Grandfather way up on W 125th. The guys in this picture would have been the same age as him - and for that reason both he and they come alive for me in a way that never would have  been possible before.
NaiveteI am charmed by the naivete in these boys' faces. See what a hundred years has done for us?  I would be hard-pressed to cast a group of boys with this lack of "knowing" in present day. There were some very simple films but this was a time before the movies like we have today. Before television too.
Just the books filled with great literature such as "Moby-Dick," etc., and the Bible and Torah of course. They yearned for and cherished books. Religious families rich or poor sat together and read together.
My father did this at the time of this picture as a child. He passed the habit on to us children in the 1950s to the early 60s.
[For the messenger boys and newsies of this era there were vaudeville and burlesque houses, the nickelodeon, gambling, "movies," tobacco and of course drugs and the red-light district as sources of diversion. Which isn't to say that the boys in our group portrait didn't all have library cards. Below, more Lewis Hine photos from 1910 and 1914. - Dave]

Naive??It's today's kids who are naive -- the only vice most of them will ever see is on a video screen or newspaper page. But these boys who were growing up in New York in 1910, they saw it and lived it firsthand. This was the world of Hell's Kitchen, the Bowery, Damon Runyon. What a time it must have been!
RefreshingSort of refreshing to see young men who kept their trousers pulled up. I bet even plumbers hadn't yet gained their reputation as crack workmen in 1910.
"Nip it in the bud!"Front row left:  It's Barney Fife before he was deputized!
Shirts and ShirtwaistsI'd never seen the term "shirtwaist" used to refer to men's clothing, so I did a little research.  In the 1897 Sears catalog all the men's shirts, from fancy dress shirts to laborer's shirts, were pullovers with a front placket so they buttoned only halfway down.  Sears offered a few male shirtwaists (shirts with buttons all the way to the hem) but only for small boys.  In the late teens Sears called button-to-the-hem shirts "negligee shirts" and by the '20s they are "coat style shirts."
I don't understand, however, why Hine considered this sort of shirt superior to the standard pullover style of shirt. The collar isn't the issue -- it was possible to get pullover shirts with soft collars, and it looks like a few of these fellows are wearing detachable collars on their shirtwaists. Yet another minor Shorpy mystery.
[Hine's point, as noted below, is that the boys don't have to wear coats as part of their summer uniform. - Dave]
Woolworth's253 Broadway is where the Woolworth building is today.
[253 Broadway is the Home Life Building. The Woolworth Building is 233 Broadway. - Dave]
Working kidsIf this was one of the more menial jobs for children in New York, how come there are no black kids among them? Did the races not mix? I'm from England by the way. 
(The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, NYC)

Night Watch: 1910
... 1910. Birmingham, Alabama. "A.D.T. boys (telegraph messengers). 'They all smokes.' " Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/16/2012 - 12:42am -

November 1910. Birmingham, Alabama. "A.D.T. boys (telegraph messengers). 'They all smokes.' " Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Da CoachThe guy on the right is telling them to "give em some Moxie."
All but one is successful.
"Either Phone"Curious.  City directories in Indianapolis from the '20s routinely mention "old phone" and "new phone" (for the same business!) with different exchange names and numbers.
Sometimes I have found mentions of "night and Sunday" numbers, "private exchange" numbers, "Bell phone" numbers, and alternate numbers for when "Private Exchange is closed."  Businesses commonly listed multiple phone numbers for themselves.
Evidently, in the early days there were several telephone companies servicing the city that either weren't connected or had limited coverage. It must have been pretty confusing for people to keep track of which phone to use for whomever they were calling.
re: Either PhoneNowadays, many of us have multiple email addresses.  Even multiple phone numbers.  No fundamental difference.
Young ToughsWas this a casting call for an ADT Burglar Alarm commercial? The boys look to be trying hard for the part!
Is the gent standing at the left edge admiring "modern" art, or a crack in the railroad's window?
[Ha ha. That's a route map. - Dave]
Snap that shutter quickbefore we all start coughing.
KnickersAt what age did one stop wearing knickers and start wearing pants? 
[When one stops getting taller. - Dave]
Since the e-mail was inventedIt left us out of a job.
Tough hombresThey are not even out of knickers yet!  What's the matta with kids today?
Smoking is BadNone of them is around today. That's what smoking can do to you.
Illinois CentralThat's the Illinois Central/Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad map on the window, judging by the mainline that stretches from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico and the maze of branch lines in the Mississippi Delta. Birmingham is the far eastern reach of the empire, on the right side of the map.
(The Gallery, Birmingham, Lewis Hine)

Woman Suffrage: 1913
... Americans worked for the Federal government as clerks, messengers, solders and laborers. In the neighborhoods around Howard ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:31pm -

February 1913. "Woman suffrage -- hikers arriving in Washington from New York." Today marks the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. Over the next few days we'll post some more suffrage photos. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.
Women vote today, bars close tomorrowInterestingly, the passage of the 19th Amendment was very closely tied to the passage of the 18th Amendment instituting Prohibition. The way the politics worked back then, if you were in favor of one, you probably also supported the other.
Safety firstNote the "people catcher" on the front of the streetcar -- so if a pedestrian was hit, he could be saved by landing in the net. Smart people who thought of this.
The Tent and the Camel's Nose.The next thing you know they'll want to drive cars, work outside the home, own businesses and property -- it will never end. It's an outrage. Manhood is doomed.
[And the next next thing you know, they'll want to outlaw booze. - Dave]
re: Well doneDespite Mrs. Banks' forceful lyricism, she and Mary Poppins would have to wait eight years longer than their American sisters for universal, unconditional suffrage. Also, kudos to the brothers Sherman for their attention to historical detail:
"Take heart! For  Missus Pankhurst  has been clapped in irons again!"
Well doneCast off the shackles of yesterday
Shoulder to shoulder into the fray
Our daughters' daughters will adore us
And they'll sing in grateful chorus
'Well done, Sister Suffragette!'
The fair sexI always wondered why the suffragettes always dressed entirely in white, but I see now that it really makes them stand out in the crowd.  
Just WonderingAny speculation on the purpose of the tire chains on the taxi when there is no snow on the ground?
[Chains are for traction on icy roads. - Dave]
How you like that body?The auto with the single headlight is a Franklin. The engine is air cooled--no radiator. No leaking radiators, busted hoses, frozen pipe lines, alcohol, or antifreeze. Just air cooled. What a great idea.
[The car is a water-cooled Renault taxi. The radiator is behind the engine, under the headlight. - Dave]
Love these crowd photosToward the lower left, a woman in the street, dressed in black, is pointing her umbrella aggressively at a man a few feet away.  She clearly has an "issue" with him.  His back is to the camera and his arms, while bent, seem a little high to be in his pockets.  I wonder what HIS expression and body language was saying/showing.
A few feet on the right of the aforementioned woman is a man that appears to be in the process of nonchalantly picking another man's pocket or ... something.  The potential pocket-pickee is facing the same woman with his hand up in possible agitation, so maybe the potential pocket-picker is just putting out a calming hand ("Let it GO, Dad").  The trajectory of hand looks more like it's headed toward the pocket, though, although one of them would have to move closer for him to actually reach it.
To the right of the streetcar there's a woman who (gasp) is not wearing a hat!  She seems pretty happy.  A man behind her, OTOH, looks downright angry.
That appears to be a press wagon on the lower right, given the cameras and the pennant.  
Black and WhiteI was a bit surprised to see a black police officer in 1913 Washington, but apparently there were black officers on the force well back into the nineteenth century. (There seems to be some confusion over exactly how far back: I've found dates ranging from 1861 to the 1890s.)
It's also an interestingly integrated crowd: six and a half years later, the summer of 1919 would see major racial rioting focused on that stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Gaumont WeeklyInteresting to see the Gaumont Weekly truck ahead of the parade. No doubt filming for its weekly newsreel.
Male GawkersDo you suppose they're waiting for lady Godiva to ride by?
African Americans in 1913 Washington DCAfter more than 50 years of Reconstruction policies under northern Lincoln Republicans, African Americans in 1913 DC had created a vibrant white-collar middle class. More than 22,000 black Americans worked for the Federal government as clerks, messengers, solders and laborers. In the neighborhoods around Howard University, black doctors, lawyers and professors fueled a cultural renaissance many years before the more well known Harlem revival. Many aspects of the city government, including the police, were integrated.  
It surprises many people to find out that this relatively integrated environment suffered a catastrophic setback with the election of "progressive" Woodrow Wilson in 1912.  Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia before the Civil War to parents who supported the Confederate cause.  He remained an unapologetic racist to the end of his life.  Wilson and his supporters moved quickly to remove blacks from most of the highest paying jobs.  The Washington city government moved equally as fast to pass "race" codes instituting the worst of the Jim Crow laws from the deep south.  By 1919 with the return of the WW I solders - black and white - Washington, DC had become a tinder box ready to explode which it predictably did suffering the worst race riot in its history.
(The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Politics, Streetcars)

Willie of Montgomery: 1914
... same thing! Kids and Bad Houses I frequently see messengers going in what was then called "Red Light District". I guess ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2011 - 6:25pm -

October 1914. Montgomery, Alabama. "Willie Cheatham, Western Union messenger #1. Says he is 16 now; been messenger for 6 years. Late Sunday night, October 4th, I talked with him, still on duty, until 10 P.M. 'You bet I know every crooked house in town. Went to school with one of those girls when she was straight. Her mother died and she went bad. Some young girls were there too. I go out to Red Light some with messages and packages, and if I want to, I bust right in and sit down.' Hard face." View full size. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine.
Red Light DistrictDid every kid that worked for Western Union go to the Red Light District? I think they all mentioned it
red light districtYeah no kidding, I was thinking the same thing!
Kids and Bad HousesI frequently see messengers going in what was then called "Red  Light District". I guess "ghetto" is what we now call them?
Why would a young kid deliver messages from a well-respected company to the dirty areas?
[Because that's his job. - Dave]
Red Light Districts"Ghetto" has racial overtones that people probably didn't apply to a red light district, which was typically where the gambling and whorehouses, and, during Prohibition, speakeasies could be found.
Old timer once told me....An old timer once told me that whence the meaning of "red light" as it relates to ladies of the evening began when a so-inclined woman put a red shaded light in her street-faced window ---- if the light was on, she was available, if off, she was either in service or not home in the moment ---- as birds of a feather flock together, so did the ladies, either by choice or by community ordinance ---- at the turn of the 20th century, some "higher-class" ladies only received gentleman company by appointment and the cutting edge of making an appointment was by telegram ---- so, as pointed out already, it was the messenger only doing his task at hand ---- I believe though that the term "red light district" applied to prostitution rather than gambling and speakeasies although there was certainly "intercourse" betwixt....
His left arm......doesn't match his right. I wonder if something was wrong with it. Poor kid...
Mandi- That's a good,Mandi- That's a good, plausible explanation for these type of pictures.
I wonder how kids seasoned later in life then when they learn almost everything early on.
Fake name?"Willie Cheatham" is way too much of a double entendre... reminds me of the "Car Talk" office located in the fake law firm of "Dewey, Cheatham, & Howe."
Probably not a fake name.It looks like in Ward 1 of Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1900 and 1920 censuses there's a Willie D. Cheathem, born c. 1897/98. (I couldn't find him in the 1910 census, but that could be from a transcription error in the index.) No matching entry in the Social Security Death Index so he may have never had an SSN, or may have died after 1920 but before the social security system was in place.
Willie CheathamAs part of my project to find descendants of child laborers photographed by Lewis Hine, I was able to contact Willie's oldest living direct descendant. I found some interesting information in my search, and you can see it at www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/williecheatham.html 
He looks so much older thenHe looks so much older than 16. It's amazing how working hard, and living hard can age you so quickly. 
LookalikeMy husband bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Cheatham. So much so that when we showed his mother, she thought I Photoshopped his picture into this one. What's more, after reading more about him on Mr. Manning's fabulous website, we found that he passed away a year and a day after my husband was born. If it had been that much sooner, I'd really be spooked!
(The Gallery, Lewis Hine, Montgomery)

Birmingham Messenger: 1914
... fixed gear bikes are especially popular among urban bike messengers. fixed gear baby! fixed gear baby! [Recent NYT article ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:39pm -

October 1914. Birmingham, Alabama. "A typical Birmingham messenger." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Birmingham MessengerJust curious how he stopped the bike since there appears to be neither a "coaster" brake nor hand brakes?
birmingham messengerThis would most likely be a fixed gear bike, which is stopped by applying stopping force to the pedals while moving.  There is no ability to coast.  Some people still ride these type of bicycles today!      Lee
birmingham messengerinterestingly, fixed gear bikes are especially popular among urban bike messengers.
fixed gear baby!fixed gear baby!
[Recent NYT article on fixies here. - Dave]
Track BikeThis type of bike is also favored by extremely serious bike riders/racers.  I've been on touring rides where a few of riders had track bikes:  they are tough going up hill and scary downhill.
A number of years ago I knew a woman who lived in Washington and commuted to work at the Library of Congress on one.  One day a local punk tried to ride off on it and went down almost immediately when he tried to freewheel.  She walked over, picked up here bike and to the jerk, "My bike doesn't like strangers riding it."
(The Gallery, Bicycles, Birmingham, Lewis Hine)

Flyboy: 1917
... amounted to 218 letters and was delivered by special messengers at 9 o'clock. Lieut. Edgerton's Success. The plane ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 1:50pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1917. "Allied aircraft demonstration at polo grounds. Avro training plane designed by A.V. Roe of England. Lieut. Stephen Bonsal Jr., one of the young Army flyers who have entered the newest profession, that of airplane mail carrying, is the son of the former war correspondent and veteran newspaperman who is now a major attached to the general staff of the Army." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
Lieut. Bonsal Hits a FenceWashington Post, May 17, 1918.


AERO MAIL IS DELAYED
Accidents Mar Second Day's Service With New York.
LIEUT. BONSAL HITS A FENCE
Swerves to Avoid Horses in Landing
At Fair Grounds in New Jersey.
After undergoing various delays, the aeroplane mail from New York arrived in Washington last night at 8:42 o'clock, six hours and twelve minutes behind schedule, marking the second day of America's aerial mail service by another accident.  On the first leg of the journey from New York to Philadelphia the pilot, Lieut. Steven Bonsal Jr., lost his way in a fog over Delaware Bay and was forced to descend at Bridgeport, N.J., 40 miles southeast of Philadelphia, smashing his machine as he landed.
Lieut. Bonsal said that he was driving a new machine and that he had ascended to an altitude of 8,000 feet so as to be high enough to manipulate his plane in the event of an accident.  When he realized that he was off his course he picked out the old Bridgeton racetrack for a landing place.
It is now used as a horse bazaar and was filled with horses.  In landing, Lieut. Bonsal made a nose dive to drive away the horses, but they would not scare, he said, and in order to avoid killing some of the animals he swerved into a fence, breaking the propeller and one plane.  Lieut. Bonsal was uninjured.
Mail by a Relief Plane.
A relief plane was immediately sent to Bridgeton and the mail taken to Philadelphia. At the latter city the mail was transferred into a plane piloted by Lieut. Walter Miller, and he started on the second leg of the journey to Washington at 5:50 o'clock.  After going about 30 miles, Lieut. Miller noticed that the spark plugs in his plane were too close together, and that the engine was missing, so he returned to Philadelphia.
There were no relief planes in Philadelphia so Lieut. James C. Edgerton, who carried Washington's first aeroplane mail to that city this morning, volunteered to make the trip and left Bustleton, Pa., at 6:33 p.m. for this city. Just as the twilight was fading Lieut. Edgerton landed his plane on the aviation field in Potomac Park. Although it was virtually dark he made a perfect landing.
The consignment of mail for Washington amounted to 218 letters and was delivered by special messengers at 9 o'clock.
Lieut. Edgerton's Success.
The plane piloted out of Washington by Lieut. Edgerton yesterday morning at 11:30 o'clock carried 7,360 letters to New York and 570 for Philadelphia. Of these 3,630 were  for New York City delivery, and 3,730 for distribution in New York State and New England.
Twelve Killed in Two Weeks.
Twenty-nine flying fields are being operated by the army air service in the United States. Four other fields will soon be opened for flying instruction, increasing the total to 33.
During the two weeks ended May 8 aviation accidents at the American fields took a toll of 12 lives, the War Department announced.  Out of this total two were killed at Hazelhurst field, Mineola, N.Y., and two at McCook field, Dayton, Ohio.
Early Air MailN.Y. Times, May 19, 1918.


AERIAL MAIL SERVICE
RUNS WITHOUT HITCH
Letters Delivered on Time in All
Three Cities Involved -- May
Use Larger Airplanes.
The airplane mail service between Washington and New York via Philadelphia worked without a hitch yesterday, the mail being delivered on time in all three cities now included in the daily aerial service.  Lieutenant Stephen Bonsal, who piloted the machine which brought the Washington and Philadelphia mail to New York, arrived at Belmont Park at 2.52 P.M. yesterday, having covered the distance between Philadelphia and New York in one hour and seven minutes — that is, at a speed of approximately 90 miles an hour.
Lieutenant Bonsal left Belmont Park with the New York mail boxes for Philadelphia and Washington at 11.23 A.M. yesterday, and landed on the aerial mail field in Philadelphia at 12.38 P.M. Lieutenant Paul Culver brought the Washington mail to Philadelphia, where he transferred it to Lieutenant Bonsal, who piloted it to New York.  It was said at the Post Office that the mail brought by Lieutenant Bonsal, which arrived at the Pennsylvania Station Post Office at 3.15 P.M., was distributed within an hour after its arrival.
Lieutenant Culver piloted the machine which took the mail to Washington from New York and Philadelphia.  The total round trip flying time between Washington and New York yesterday was unofficially reported last night to have been a little more than five hours.
A plan to use larger airplanes in the service to Philadelphia and Washington because of the unexpected increased use of the mail is under discussion by the postal authorities, it was reported yesterday at Belmont Park.
It was said that all persons except army men and Post Office employes directly concerned in the mail service would hereafter be barred from the field, as a measure of precaution against accidents. There will be no flight today.

Coolest job in the worldat that time. 
Cigarettes, Airmen and AirmailCigarettes and airmen seemed inseparable - military planes had ashtrays well past WW2. Smoking did in my father, a Marine aviator, at a somewhat early age. Meanwhile, after nine years of Army air operations, with many deaths in the early years, the government began awarding mail routes to commercial carriers, encouraging the flying of regular routes, and making it possible to take passengers on a subsidized basis, since the planes were flying anyway. This program, although marred by favoritism and a public scandal in 1934, developed the infrastructure for all-weather scheduled flights and improved airplanes, that put US aviation into a leadership position. By 1933, millions of pounds of airmail were delivered annually across the nation - a lot of progress in 15 years.  
Handsome RogueI vote for the HR tag on this daring young man in his flying machine. 23-skiddoo!
HR!Second vote for HR tag here.  I'm surprised there aren't more of us making a fuss over this one!  Love the sweet, slightly shy look in his eyes.
(The Gallery, Aviation, Handsome Rakes, Harris + Ewing, WWI)

Sikorsky Christening: 1925
... Airplane Service Instituted Six days were required by messengers on horseback to carry news of Cornwallis' defeat from Yorktown, Va., ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/03/2012 - 9:42am -

May 8, 1925. Washington, D.C. " 'Yorktown.' Christening of Sikorsky plane." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.
S-29-Athis appears to be the Sikorsky S-29-A. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-29-A
SikorskyInteresting mix of clothing, from the knickers on the left to the women's coats and hats to the brass and the big wigs--plus the mechanics/engineers on the craft. Is the girl standing on the chair going to do the honors?
The DesignerThat's Igor Sikorsky himself third from the left in the Homburg (his personal trademark).
Yorktown Airplane Service InstitutedWashington Post, May 9 1925
Yorktown Airplane Service Instituted
Six days were required by messengers on horseback to carry news of Cornwallis' defeat from Yorktown, Va., to New York in 1781.  Yesterday the same distance was covered in a few hours by the giant Sikorsky transport which instituted airplane passenger service between New York and Yorktown, and was christened with brief ceremonies at Bolling field.
The plane left New York at 10 o'clock.  At Logan field, Baltimore, it was forced to earth on account of a water leak, which was quickly remedied by workmen.  The plane loomed into sight above Bolling field at 1:45 o'clock, ten minutes before it was expected.  Army officers and guests welcomed the passengers.  An address was delivered by Gen. R. Allyn Lewis.  Count Igor Sikorsky, designer and builder of the plane, who piloted the craft to Washington, also spoke.
A bottle of water was broken across the bow of the plane by Miss Elizabeth Owens, who christened the plane the "Yorktown."
Following the christening, the plane flew to Yorktown, where zero milestones commemorative of the event are to be placed.  The service has been established for New York business men who spend week-ends in Virginia.
Connection to Howard Hughes!This aircraft is indeed the S-29A (The A stands for first Sikorsky model built in America).  It was eventually sold to famed stunt pilot Roscoe Turner, who in turn sold it to Howard Hughes.  Hughes had it disguised as a WWI German Gotha bomber, and it was crashed (spun in) during the filming of Hells Angels.
I have a later original print of the same airplane with Roscoe Turner in it.  Shorpy is an amazing website!
(The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., Natl Photo)

Ambulance Camp: 1864
... The larger camps having their own telegraph offices, messengers, letter carriers, etc. - Dave] Legs like a tree If he was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/07/2019 - 8:09pm -

August 1864. "Camp of Chief Ambulance Officer, 9th Army Corps, in front of Petersburg, Virginia." Albumen print, photographer unknown. Civil War Glass Negatives and Prints collection, Library of Congress. View full size.
Photoshop not around in 1864The fellow standing at the left leaning on the cabinet seems to be missing his lower torso and legs, and has a tree where they should be. 
[That's his stump. - Dave]
Pine pergolaThat's a clever structure they've put together of pine logs and boughs. I'll bet it smelled sweet and made a swishy sound in the hot summer breeze. In other news, the young man seated on the far right looks like he was about fourteen years old. I hope he made it home after the war.
Function of an ambulance campBoy, that's an interesting photo.  Is there any identification of the men
in the picture?  Does the "ambulance officer" have to do with evacuation
of the wounded, as it would seem from today's idea of an ambulance?
The camp appears to include a sorting station for mail and messages.
Post Office?Fascinating photo. I know the caption says Ambulance Officer, but this looks more like the camp post office. Two of the standing men are holding almost identical packages. Maybe some Civil War buff can guess what would be in them.
[The caption says this is *the camp* of the Chief Ambulance Officer. The larger camps having their own telegraph offices, messengers, letter carriers, etc. - Dave]
Legs like a treeIf he was missing both legs, why would he still be in the military? Why wasn't he sent home? Or to a soldiers home? This picture is going to disturb me all day.
[He's standing behind the stump. - Dave]
Battle of the CraterThis must have been taken shortly after the fiasco of the Battle of the Crater, but maybe also after the Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad, which was more successful. I can't even imagine what these men had just seen.
Multiple usage of equipmentLooks like the bone saw served double duty as the pine limb trimmer for the camp. 
Civil War CelebThat’s got to be a relative of Ed Norton, second from right. In a director’s chair no doubt!
Eyes have itIntense imagery. Everyone, even the kid on the right, has the same look in their eyes. The black man is the only one with anything resembling a smile.
What are they hiding from? The infamous Confederate Air Force? Or at least the Viginia Balloon Corps? 
Unhappy lotGrumpy bunch of guys, but Dave's response to the post by FixIt gave me a belly laugh to make up for the gloom!
Fancy folding chair Seated second from the left.
(The Gallery, Civil War, Medicine)

Cribs: 1913
... his pants Is tucked into the waistband. Most of these messengers who frequented the "Red Light" were making deliveries from ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/08/2010 - 11:05pm -

October 1913. San Antonio, Texas. "Sixteen-year-old messenger boy making delivery to 'crib' in Red Light." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Call Me MadamLove her mobcap -- soooo sexy.
The package in his pantsIs tucked into the waistband. Most of these messengers who frequented the "Red Light" were making deliveries from pharmacies to the working girls -- probably patent medicines containing cocaine or heroin, along with prophylactics. This boy is shown in another Hine photo entering a "crib."
Good for herYou might have expected here, especially from Lewis Hine, a man for whom the camera was usually a weapon in a moral crusade, that the woman would be at least a little ashamed of being photographed like this: in flagrante, as it were. But look at her! She couldn't care less. That's such a wonderfully bold, amused, shameless look. 
How do you knowHow do you know what this photo is about? I looks like anywhere 1900 USA.
[How do we know what any of these photos are about? Because the photographers captioned them. - Dave]
HineophileI am a big fan of Lewis Hine and his documentary photographs. I really enjoy the snapshot quality he adds to the composition of his images. And the print quality is always great. He always manages to capture such a great moment on the faces of his subjects. Whether he manipulated and directed them or not, I don't think it matters. They still come across as natural and that is the important part. 
(The Gallery, Lewis Hine)

Eagle Scout: 1913
... to the veterans during the encampment, acted as aides and messengers in the army hospitals, and acted as couriers for various officials ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/12/2014 - 2:33pm -

July 3, 1913. "Fun at camp." Boy Scouts in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.
Gettysburg Plus 50I would guess this was taken at the 50th anniversary of the 3rd day at Gettysburg.
Gettysburg ScoutsI believe the scouts were there to act as escorts to the Civil War veterans who had gathered for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, many of whom were around 70 years of age. I seem to recall seeing another photograph showing that.  Thank you for a tremendous site, and for your informed readers.  The detective work done by them is remarkable.
Gettysburg scouts IICouldn't let this go without verifying what I wrote above.  Here is a National Park Service publication on the 50th anniversary.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/sidebar/reunion13.htm
In the pub. is this quote:
Several hundred members of the Boy Scouts of America served as escorts to the veterans during the encampment, acted as aides and messengers in the army hospitals, and acted as couriers for various officials
Better get back to work!
[Interesting, thanks. - Dave]
Best. Site. Ever.That is all. A big fan of this site and all of its commenting commentators.
[Thank. You! - Dave]
What FunThose boys must have been having the time of their lives. It makes me wish I could do more in my little country town. 
(The Gallery, Boy Scouts, Camping, G.G. Bain)

All Washed Up: 1910
July 1910. Postal Telegraph Co. messengers, 283 Broadway. "The boys make good use of the shower baths." View ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 9:25am -

July 1910. Postal Telegraph Co. messengers, 283 Broadway. "The boys make good use of the shower baths." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.
HairWith his hair like that, the first kid would fit in perfectly in NY today. Hard to believe this is almost 100 years ago. 
Ick!Look at the bottom edge of those shower curtains. That room needs a serious disinfecting. Ewww.
ShowerheadEverything old is new again.  Just look at the showerhead - they're now being sold at high-end prices.
The cleanest!I am guessing those two boys are probably the cleanest kids ever posted on shorpy! I can't imagine living in a time where people simply could not shower/bathe daily.
UnifyingPhotos like this tend to help young people relate to the past.  My 19 YO daughter is a very talented photographer, who has sold quite a bit of her work.  I have tried to get her interested in the history of photography, but she usually won't even look very hard at anything she thinks is old.  I showed her this and asked her how old she thought it was.  She guessed the 1990s, but said it looked like it could be now. She was amazed when I told her it was 100 years old. 
I agree about the shower curtains! The need a good soaking in Clorox or Lysol, both of which they had by 1910.
(The Gallery, Lewis Hine, NYC)

Postal Boys: 1911
... June 1911. Norfolk, Virginia. "A typical group of Postal Messengers. Smallest on left end, Wilmore Johnson, been there one year. Works ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:59pm -

June 1911. Norfolk, Virginia. "A typical group of Postal Messengers. Smallest on left end, Wilmore Johnson, been there one year. Works days only. The Postal boys are not nearly so young in Norfolk and also in other Virginia cities as are the Western Union boys." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Real fixies without brakes?Although the coaster brake was invented a little more than ten years before this picture was taken, they weren't ubiquitous yet, but the second bike from the right does appear to have some kind of band on the left rear stay, possibly to secure a torque arm...
recycled board racers?Except for the center bike with the auto horn and spring seat, these bikes look like they had earlier been board track racers.
Bare bones frame with serrated metal pedals, smooth tires, sans chain guard and rigid racing seats. Just reset the handlebars downward to racing position. Tuck in, and ride like the wind.
A grand old nameAdams Express continues in business today.  Like other express companies of past centuries, such as American Express and Wells Fargo, their principle business became financial services. 
The kid on the leftThe look on his face tells me that the bike frame just might be causing him a wee bit of discomfort.
Perhaps he is telling Hines to "Hurry up and take the picture.....this is killing me!"
Adams EtcAdams Express, American Express, Southern Express and a few others were merged into the Railway Express Company (REA) in 1917. The Feds needed to control the railways for the WW1 emergency. It was accomplished by the United States Railway Administration (USRA) to assure that that the Rail Systems operated efficiently during wartime. Railway Express was with us until 1975 when it went out of business. The Interstate Highway System became their downfall when UPS et al went into the over the road delivery business.
(The Gallery, Bicycles, Kids, Lewis Hine)

The Sherman: 1899
... picture struck me. The paperboy and Western Union bike messengers. What the heck would they be sampling? [Booze. - Dave] ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/16/2018 - 5:38pm -

Mount Clemens, Michigan, circa 1899. "Sherman House." And its Sample Room. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
119 Years LaterNorthwest corner of Cass and Gratiot where the Sherman House used to stand.  Now a Macomb County office building housing, among other things, the offices of the Friend of the Court.
The Object across the streetWith the Round Globe and appears it would be colorful. Is It a fancy Barber Pole?
Streetcar tracks and---dirt roads, I didn't know they coexisted.
Stone TabletsThe stone tablets standing on edge in the gutters were to prevent the utility poles from being struck by wagon wheel hubs.  Often you will also see many spirally wound wraps of steel wire around pole bases, or steel sheet, to similarly protect poles from damage. It must have been a real problem.
Obsolete CommunicationsTwo types of obsolete communication in this picture struck me. The paperboy and Western Union bike messengers.
What the heck would they be sampling?
[Booze. - Dave]
From the Encyclopedia of Chicago:
A second type of drinking place evolved from grocers and provisioners who began to sell hard liquor in wholesale quantities. At first, their sample rooms were places where customers could taste-test the stock; long afterward, "sample room" became simply another name for saloon.
(The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC, Streetcars)

Cops Don't Stop Me: 1913
... kids visiting the Red Light, he means in their capacity as messengers. Delivering packages, telegrams, etc. - Dave] (Kids, Lewis ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/22/2008 - 11:21am -

Houston, October 1913. Marion Davis, Messenger #21 for Bellevue Messenger Service. Fourteen years old. "Been messenger, off and on, for two years. Not supposed to go to the Reservation [Red Light] under sixteen years, but I do just the same. The boss don't care and the cops don't stop me." View full size. Photograph and caption by the indefatigable Lewis Wickes Hine.
Red light attraction??I've seen several references these boys make to the red light district... some as young as 11. See Percy Neville at https://www.shorpy.com/node/1868 for example. Are these young kids really indulging at brothels? A 14-year-old, maybe.... but it's hard to imaging an 11-year-old really interested in that at such a young age.
[When Hine talks about these kids visiting the Red Light, he means in their capacity as messengers. Delivering packages, telegrams, etc. - Dave]
(Kids, Lewis Hine)

Messenger Boys: 1909
Western Union messengers in Hartford, Conn. March 1909. They are on duty, alternate nights, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 7:54pm -

Western Union messengers in Hartford, Conn. March 1909. They are on duty, alternate nights, until 10 P.M. Messenger #32 is Thomas De Lucco, 9 years old, who works second job as newsboy. View full size. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine.
(The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine)

Mad Tidings: 1938
... protests against merger bill flood U.S. Senate. Extra messengers were needed today to deliver the thousands of telegrams protesting ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/21/2016 - 3:04pm -

March 28, 1938. "Telegraphic protests against merger bill flood U.S. Senate. Extra messengers were needed today to deliver the thousands of telegrams protesting against the Government Reorganization Bill." 4x5 glass negative. View full size.
(The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.