MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
Home

Search Shorpy

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

Search results -- 30 results per page

The Office: 1923
... homogeneity, these faces could easily be those of the co-workers around me today. Also, it's almost lunchtime. I wonder how long they ... all looked absolutely miserable and more like salt mine workers than accountants, they wanted to keep those joyless jobs. Try to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 3:34pm -

Washington, 1923. "Stamp Division, Post Office." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. Everyone look busy! Dalton Adding MachineThe adding machines appear to be Dalton Ten Key models, manufactured from 1902 to 1928. Museum of HP calculators Also love those staplers: Acme No. 2. Early Office Museum [Oooh. An Acme. A great brand! And they'll deliver anywhere. A cave out in the desert, for instance. - Dave] Stamp subjectsSome of those old geezers look like they should be posing for stamps. At computer with the computerIn the early days, accountants were often called computers - the human adding machine. In the middle of this photo it appears we have a woman "computer" at a very large calculating machine - electric by the looks of the cord hanging down. Must be the head number cruncher... I'll be that made some noise when it ran a calculation! DiversityAn amazing diversity of ages in the office. Don't know that you would see that now. Time TravelerCheck out the young guy on the left, 4th desk back from the front. He looks like he is from 40 years later (i.e. shirt collar, haircut style). Surfing at WorkSome things never change! The CrowdReminds me of a scene in the 1928 film "The Crowd". The other thing is, I am a bit surprised to see the older ladies in the workforce; would have expected only young secretarial types looking for that first husband while trying to make it in the city. Next QuestionWhat are they doing exactly? Anyone know? I was thinking exactly the same thing.His doleful expression also seems very modern, I recognize that look, I'm sure I portrayed it myself. Stamp DivisionThe Stamp Division of the (then) Post Office Department managed the supply and distribution of postage stamps and stamped paper for all the post offices throughout the country. They would fulfill orders from local offices and also receive back damaged and unsalable stock. Given the magnitude of the operation, a big part of their function involved accounting, which appears to be going on here. William H MacyLeft column of desks 6th row looks like William H Macy or a close relative. i wonder what his grandfather was doing in 1923? Paging Jim HalpertThe person who stands out most for me is the young man on the right behind the lady standing. He doesn't quite fit in and yet he seems happy to be there. My thought is that he's fresh out of college and is honored to be working amid such esteemed company. Look around him at the generations of intelligent men and women in the room. He seems to gain inspiration in knowing that one day he too will be older and venerated. His jacket is off, but rather than attempting to look casual, he's smartly dressed and his perfectly knotted tie is surrounded by a dapper vest and crowned by a starched collar. The older men around him serve as an inspiration to him and his belief in the system. They are role models, peers, and father figures. The gentleman immediately behind the young man could easily have stepped off a Smith's cough drops box and exudes 19th century style and dignity. The man to the right appears to be related somehow to Wilford Brimley and behind him is a pre-campaign John McCain. Looking around the room, I can see why he wants to fit in and be one of the crowd. Looking back at him I can see that he never would. The slight smile tells me he wants to rise and strike out as an artist. The culture of the era wouldn't allow him to do so. With some luck, at some point in his career he was allowed to rise and become one of the supervisors who stood watch over the room. Our young man's supervisor is standing far in the back, ready to answer questions and shake those drifting off. I imagine that after the image was snapped, he thought, "I wonder if I'll see that picture? I hope I looked OK." Then his eyes went back to the ledger and suppressing a yawn started adding those sums again... At least we have cubiclesAt least we have cubicles now. Fascinating though -- other than the racial homogeneity, these faces could easily be those of the co-workers around me today. Also, it's almost lunchtime. I wonder how long they got for lunch? Office Christmas PartyWith that entire group of sober, somber and serious toilers, imagine what their holiday party was like. Not one laborer is hamming it up for the camera, not even a shadow of a smile to be had in the bunch, no out-of-bounds behavior for a picture to be frozen in time. The job must have had excellent fringe benefits (or French benefits) and although they all looked absolutely miserable and more like salt mine workers than accountants, they wanted to keep those joyless jobs. Try to imagine the annual holiday party with alcoholic spirits served to bring these stuffy stiffs to life. Those three old girls on the left would be kicking off their shoes and dancing on their desks. Someone should have told them "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men." Do you suppose they had casual Fridays. [I wonder how many government office parties served booze during Prohibition. - Dave] SociallyI guess the older women struck out. Manhattan is full of them. Ordinary expressionsWell, some of them are smiling or have pleasant expressions on their faces, despite the fact that most likely the photographer had just yelled out, "OK everybody, when I say 'HOLD IT' don't move a muscle for X seconds!" Anyway, just exactly how joyful does anyone expect accountancy to make a person? ShortyI can empathize with the lady sitting in the rolling chair with her side to the camera. Her feet don't reach the floor when her chair is high enough to reach her machine. That makes for a VERY uncomfortable 8-10 hours. Though she does have great shoes... BytesAll the data contained in those cabinets would fit into my PC. FacesAs someone who enjoys the study of the Faces of Mankind, this is a wonderful photo to look at. I wonder if they had to use postage stamps to ship out any of the reports that came out of their calculators, or did they have access to email, instead? Older WorkersWell, this WAS before Social Security. People worked till they dropped. [Government employees usually had pensions. - Dave] IBMAnd in 30 years most of offices like this would be taken over by IBM and their punch cards. Amazing pictureThis is one of the most amazing pictures I've seen on Shorpy. Definitely the most people looking right at the camera, and a real study in captured moments. That young, disgruntled looking fellow certainly could belong to several different eras. So many old, distinguished types. It's one of those photos where you can smell the wood, leather and shoe polish. Thank you for all these images. So-So History but Excellent HumorOlder than Yoda cracked me up with his vision of the matrons in this shot indulging in barefoot, desk-top dancing at the office party! The sobering (sorry) response about Prohibition being in force at the time just made it all the funnier! Jim Halpert?He looks more like the 1920's Dwight Schrute to me. Dwight's main ambition in life is to die at his desk, this fellow probably did. Smiles"Smiles, everyone! Smiles! Welcome to Fantasy Island!" Look at that lighting!The ceiling's covered with classic ribbed acid-etched Holophane glass pendants -- the elder fixtures -- and between those are newish "schoolhouse" style opal glass shades. The schoolhouse fixtures became institutional classics and probably have 150 watt bulbs inside the shades. The Holophane shades were designed to refract and emphasize weaker early light bulbs, and worked surprisingly well as task lights. What a great scene this is, in so many ways. Those LampsWe have four schoolhouse lights in our home exactly like the ones in the picture. They were taken out of the old post office here and have "1917" etched inside the fixture. Whenever we move, we take them with us. Grumpy Mother in LawThat lady on the far left looks like one of those "children should be seen and not heard" types. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, The Office)
Company Cottage: 1942
... River, Baltimore County, Maryland. Housing development for workers at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant. Living room and dining alcove." ... aircraft plant in Middle River, Maryland had about 3,600 workers -- by the end of 1942, Martin employed 52,474 workers, mostly in Middle ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2023 - 1:58pm -

July 1942. "Middle River, Baltimore County, Maryland. Housing development for workers at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant. Living room and dining alcove." Porch Lady is back, pouring a nice glass of air in her Cemesto bungalow. Acetate negative by Marjory Collins. View full size. Don't lick the walls!If the lead paint doesn't get you, the cement-asbestos mix will. (As Martha put it in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," Never mix, never worry!!) The floor is a pleasant surprise: It's probably just pine, but individual boards. I was expecting plywood. Times changeIt's interesting how standards have changed. This house was compact, clean and un-fancy, but we can no longer build affordable housing in this country. Whatever the reason may be -- land cost, zoning, building costs, codes, changing consumer expectations -- lots are larger, houses are much larger and costs are far higher compared to median earnings. You are the wind beneath my antiquesThat's a bold move to put fragile figurines on the ledge above the windows. Hopefully nobody slammed a door too hard one day! Not nail friendlyIt appears cemesto is not nail friendly. The fruit ornament is suspended from wood trim at the top of the wall. There is also a visible seam, which should have been taped and floated. Responding to wally -- one thing that helped make housing today larger and more relatively expensive is the invention of air conditioning. Because of AC, people want more square footage that is climate controlled, also affecting the cost of heating. Porches on the front of houses today are mostly esthetic. And on the back, porches have been replaced with decks because you no longer go outside to catch a breeze and a better temperature. To mitigate the expense of climate control, houses built today have more and better insulation, and often better insulating windows, which add to the construction expense of larger homes. But you are correct that other factors are also responsible. Probably luxury living I'd imagineComing out of the Great Depression and very happy to have it. Population ExplosionIn 1939, the Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant in Middle River, Maryland had about 3,600 workers -- by the end of 1942, Martin employed 52,474 workers, mostly in Middle River. https://www.mdairmuseum.org/martin-and-community Horse LoverI believe I see a total of nine horse figurines and maybe one cat? [And a bird! - Dave] Still hereMany of these homes are still there. A comment in a previous post mentioned 7 Elm Drive, pictured below. The link has more pictures. https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/7-Elm-Dr-21220/home/9440918 The Glenn L. Martin facility (now Lockheed-Martin) is east of the community at what is not Martins State Airport, within easy walking distance. Lockheed-Martin is in the process of closing operations at the airport. The airport is still fairly busy, plenty of corporate jets and small aircraft, as well as an Air National Guard unit flying A-10 Warthogs. There is a Glenn L. Martin museum on the airport grounds. (The Gallery, Baltimore, Marjory Collins, WW2)
Let's Get Fiscal: 1942
... include dozens of Arthur Rothstein pictures of individual workers at an "aircraft engine plant, Allison Division, General Motors" with a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/13/2023 - 11:52am -

September 1942. "Detroit, Michigan. Office worker at aircraft engine plant, Allison Division of General Motors." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information. View full size. FridenThat is a Friden calculator. It adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides, all mechanically. The electricity just runs a motor that turns the gears. No floating point decimal though, so you have to know where it goes. Some versions of this calculator will extract square roots. The good old Friden calculatorIn the 60's, my mother worked as a lab assistant at an agricultural experiment station, and the PhD she worked for had one of those beasts. I often visited the lab and one day after doing simple additions and subtractions on it, a decided to do a division problem. Big mistake. The machine went into gyrations while sounding like it was stripping gears. The good doctor poked his head out of his office and gave me the filthiest of looks. Later on, my mother would borrow it and haul it home so I could use it to do her taxes. Detroit - or Indy?The Library of Congress's archives include dozens of Arthur Rothstein pictures of individual workers at an "aircraft engine plant, Allison Division, General Motors" with a reference to "Detroit, Michigan." But (aside from Rothstein's photos) I can find no evidence that such a plant was in Detroit. During WWII the Allison Division of General Motors operated large aircraft engine plants at Speedway, Indiana and nearby Indianapolis, and of course other GM divisions had plants in and around Detroit - but perhaps not the Allison Division. https://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/General%20Motors/allison.htm [The Cadillac plant in Detroit manufactured parts for GM's Allison Division. - Dave] Divide by ZeroMy father used a large 9 column mechanical calculator to balance the books at our small dime store. I used to play with at times. When you tried to divide by zero it would go through some amazing mechanical spasms before it would spit out a "0.0". Musical NumbersEverything you need to know about the Friden calculator is in this video. There is a scene with Jack Lemmon in the movie "The Apartment" working on a Friden calculator. He enters a sequence of numbers to produce the "Friden March." (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Detroit Photos, The Office)
Rockaway Bungalows: 1910
... bungalows, I wonder what company supplied that lot for workers to live in. Sand in...Queens?! Wow. [Never heard of ... and the other boros, not company houses for factory workers. How close were they to the beach? How does less than a city block ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/04/2012 - 3:56am -

Vacation bungalow colony at Rockaway, Queens, c. 1910. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection. Note "front yards" of sand decorated with seashells. Sand in QueensI wonder if any of the buildings are still standing. Since they are tract of small bungalows, I wonder what company supplied that lot for workers to live in. Sand in...Queens?! Wow. [Never heard of Rockaway Beach? - Dave] BungalowsWere these for living or vacation rentals? They sure are cute. Does anyone know how far from the water they were? Rockaway[Never heard of Rockaway Beach? - Dave] Well I've heard of Rockaway Beach here in Oregon. :) Re: BungalowsThe were seasonal at first. More info at the Beachside Bungalow Preservation Association: By the 1920s, Rockaway Beach was the poor man's Riviera. It had a six-mile long boardwalk lined with amusements, and thousands flocked to the beach every summer weekend. Many families rented tents for the entire season, while those a little more affluent rented small bungalows. The concept of the bungalow in America was well established by this time as they were built for summer communities on both coasts. The plans could be purchased from catalogues and were designed in numerous styles. This last remaining bungalow colony was built by Richard Bainbridge in the 1920s. The one and a half story houses all have front porches and pitched roofs. The design and style vary from street to street. Some of the bungalows are in a Spanish Revival style of stucco with wood trim and green the roofs, and others are in an English Tudor of brick. Lacking heat, they were closed for the winter months. The lanes leading to the beach have permanent easements for common access. As development pressures change the Rockaways, this small district has become endangered. But it would be appropriate to preserve and restore this remnant of past summer amusements. The yards are super.The yards are super. Send the kids down to the beach to bring back sea shells to decorate with! Talk about a family project. Rockaway BungalowsI'm pretty sure these are not there anymore. In fact Rockaway Beach today is quite run-down. If you take the A Train out there, these must have been between the tracks and the water, where there are now streets with no houses. Only weeds. Sadly, most of theseSadly, most of these bungalows are gone, as Doug points out above. There are only a few left, and they face demolition by developers who want to turn the Rockaways into yet another bland housing development. These were vacation homes for folks in Manhattan and the other boros, not company houses for factory workers. How close were they to the beach? How does less than a city block sound? In the Rockaways, as at Coney, Manhattan, Brighton, and other New York City beaches, the streets are set up perpendicular to the beach and are only a few blocks long. The last block actually ends at the boardwalk. Across the boardwalk is the beach. The Ramones were from the Rockaways. Beach 29th streetMy family rented a bungalow on Beach 29th street until I was around 12 years old. As soon as school was over, my parents would pack up a van and off we went until Labor Day. It was the most amazing summers of my life. No locks on doors, showers in the backyard, fireworks Wednesday nights. My parents belonged to a group called FROGS- Far Rockaway Ocean Goers. The Bungalow owners, Mr. and Mrs. Herman, would let my Dad come before the season to fish. The last time I was there was about 36 years ago. It was so sad to see the destruction of these amazing bungalows. Ours was white and green, and all the furniture inside was painted a sticky tacky gray. My Grandma and Nana lived a few blocks up in a rooming house. It was very sad to watch as these homes burned to the ground. Such a day-gone-by era. Beach 29th StreetHi! I am very curious exactly where on 29th Street the bungalow was. I lived on 29th just off Seagirt Blvd. It was a year 'round dwelling. The area was VERY crowded during the summer and VERY empty from after Labor Day until Memorial Day. Do you have any pictures from there? I would love to see them! Thanks, Marc Far Rockaway refugee now living in Bayside, NY Rockaway BungalowsThere was nothing better than spending the summer in Rockaway. Most of your family members rented bungalows in the court. Everyone was out every night. The beach was just a few steps away. Fathers came out only for the weekends, even if you lived in Queens... Beach 107 StreetMy aunts, grandmother and uncle would whisk us away to Rockaway the minute school closed for the summer. We would stop at Weiss's for fish and chips, then drive over the old Cross Bay Boulevard bridge and see the top of the roller coaster and the ocean beyond. In a few minutes we would be at our bungelow in Highland Court, the second one in. We thought we had arrived since we had a hot water heater. It was a great place for kids to grow up. Every day my sister and I would open the window with the sun shining down on us. We would get into our bathing suits and run to the beach, riding the waves until we were dragged out by our relatives. Beach 106 StreetBetween 1951 and 1958 or so I stayed with my good friend Donald Sullivan and his family in bungalows on Beach 106 Street. I don't remember the court name - if it had one. I do seem to remember Highland Court but this was centuries ago and memory may play tricks. Sand in QueensA similar group of bungalows still exists in the Breezy Point Coop and Roxbury in Queens. Many have been expanded and converted to year round use now, though some are still used only for the season. They refer to Breezy Point and Roxbury as the "Irish Riviera" due to the strong Irish presence. B. 29th bungalowsI know EXACTLY where you were. My grandmother too had a bungalow, about 5-6 before the boardwalk ramp. They were on the left side, because on the right side was a parking lot or a building (I can't remember it exactly). But up the block was two hotels - the Regency and another one. They were both owned by the same people - Mr. and Mrs. Hecht, german/lithuanian-jewish folks. If you remember, there was a wooden bridge that connected the two buildings, and the courtyard was shared by the two. The showers were both underneath the front of the buildings behind the, lattice and then common showers/bathrooms in the hallways. There was one public phone on each floor and a television on each floor. When my grandmother could no longer stay in the bungalow (either they were sold, torn down or condemned), she went into the Regency Hotel. She was in the basement which was very cool in the summer. They dodn't need air conditioning. The last party of the season was Mardi Gras. My grandmother, being on the heavy side, loved to wear blackface makeup and put her hair up with a tied kerchief - she was "Aunt Jemima." I only wish I had a place like 29th street to bring up my children in the summers. We ended up renting cabanas in Atlantic Beach from when they were little, then moved to Atlantic Beach, but retained memberships at the beach club. We can't get the sand out of our shoes! Belle Harbor's Bungalows I was searching for a picture of Weiss's Restaurant and stumbled across this site. I found one taken before the war, but was hoping to find one more recently, like late 1950s or early 60s. Looking at the group of bungalows, there were similar ones along the beach 2 rows deep at B129th Street in Belle Harbor, Rockaway. They looked very similar to the ones in the pics if memory serves. I was there last year and although they still occupy the same footprint, most have either been completely reconstructed or torn down and replaced with more modern ones. I recall every summer going to the beach and seeking out the "city" kids here for a few weeks. We made lots of new friends every summer. Then there were the bungalows out on RockyPoint/BreezyPoint. My mother spent her childhood summers, probably right there in that picture. Her parents owned their own bungalow. I have a picture of it from around 1941. Mom's 83 and I'll have to print this off and show it to her. Maple Court, Beach 28th st.I've been searching for info on Far Rockaway. I've been strolling down memory lane thinking about my wonderful summers there. My family rented, and we stayed for a total of five summers. The last two were in Maple Court, which, I believe, was on beach 26th or 28th Street. Before that we were in B Court and A Court on 28th. I agree with the posters who spoke of these summers as paradise! I felt truly free there. And yes, nothing was locked up. There was no schedule to keep. Just pure fun. My last summer there was in 1969. I remember this because of the moon landing. We returned home from the fireworks display on the beach and watched it on TV. My grandparents owned a fruit store on the main street, and they stayed at a wonderful hotel called the Manor. My happiest memories from my childhood are from Far Rockaway. Maple Court bungalowMy family purchased a bungalow at 29 Maple Court in 1969 when I was 9 years old. I too had the greatest memories there. We took so much for granted thinking everyone lived as we did. Now I realize how lucky we were back then. Being able to stroll down the street to the boardwalk, watching the fireworks Wednesday nights, and winning prizes at the arcade games are fond memories. Do you remember the pizza shop on the corner? Because the bungalows were so small and cozy, to this day I prefer smaller spaces. Thanks for letting me relive those memories for just a short time. The EmbassyWe stayed in the Embassy on 29th Street (right next to the ramp to the beach). Many of my friends were in the bungalow courts between 28th and 29th. We stopped going in 1967 but those were the best times -- those summers were magical. My husband and I went back in 1998. There is a school where the Embassy used to be and nothing much else. I went down to the beach and I cried. Who were your grandparents?Carolyn, my parents owned the Manor at 2400 Seagirt Blvd (beach 24st). My last summer on Rockaway Beach was 1967 just before I entered the Army. My parents and I moved to South Florida shortly there after. I was 6 miles from the DMZ in Vietnam when we landed on the moon. Fruit storeCarolyn, if memory serves (pretty fuzzy by now), your grandparents were the Lebowitzes. The fruit store was on Edgemere Avenue just off Beach 24 next to Willy's Market. If I am right, I am amazed. The EmbassyMy family had a bungalow on B29th Street on "the ramp" from the 1950s until around 1970. I got thrown out of the Embassy by the owner because we didn't live there. I bought ice cream at the candy store under the porch of the hotel. I saw the school, it was a bummer. I remember Lenny's, skee ball, Jerry's knishes, Sally & Larry's pizza, movies on the boardwalk, Dugan the baker, softball games, basketball in the parking lot. I used to sell lemonade to the ball players on hot days. Memories ... I remember a girl named Cherie or Sherry. She had a boyfriend, Arnie. I used to hang out with Arnie's brother Marvin. lmc2222@aol.com Far RockawayI also have childhood reminiscences of Far Rockaway. My family lived in a small bungalow rented for a group of Russians in 1970s (yep, I am Russian, living in Moscow now). I was 3 or 4 years old at that time, so I do not remember much. What I know is that these are one of the brightest memories of my early childhood. My pa said the house was really small. I do not know what street it was on, or if it still exists. What matters are the snapshots of my memory: me sitting on a porch on a rocking chair, and the arches of the porches, of the same form and shape, go all the way down to the ocean. Me playing in sand, building garages for toy trucks, with other children running from waves that seemed - wow - so really huge. And above all and around all, the salty smell of Atlantic, which is different from any other seaside smell. Great pity the place is devastated today. Hope that everyone who has ever had good times in Far Rock keeps his own memory snapshots of the place, where it looks as it really should. Fruit StorePeter, you have an incredible memory! My grandparents were the Leibowitzes. That's such a specific memory. Did you know them personally? I would love to hear about any memories you have of them or the store. Were you a child at the time? The EmbassyCheri, I can understand your crying. I went back many years ago and was also upset to see the area so demolished. At that time, it seemed the only bungalow left standing belonged to a lady we were all so afraid of on Maple court. She seemed to hate kids (probably we just annoyed her mercilessly!). But going back as an adult, I saw her situation quite differently. The bungalow was all she had, and so she stayed there while everything around her seemed to be destroyed. Maple Court BungalowLillian, we must have known each other since we were there at the same time, and we were around the same age. I was in the first bungalow on the right, facing the main street. You might remember the pile of junk in front of the house (left by the owner, which we were waiting for them to take away!) Where in the court were you? I remember a girl named Elena, and a boy everybody had a crush on named Eddie. The ManorWow... your parents owned the Manor! What an interesting and exciting experience that must have been. If I recall correctly, there were an eccentric bunch of characters staying there. Carolyn! What a great happening!Hi Carolyn, Glad you found me on Facebook. Your ability to put me together with my earlier Shorpy post was remarkable, so I am posting this for the benefit of "Shorpy page readers." Your recollections and mine from the 1960's certainly attest to how great having the internet and pages like Shorpy's are. (Shorpy..thank you!) The fact that I remembered your grandparents is somewhat unique cause I can't remember anyone else's grandparents from way back then, other then mine. I must have really liked them and was destined to cross your path again. I remember sitting and talking with them on porch of the Manor in one of those green rocking chairs. They were "grandparent" types, had a European accent like most grandparents back then, and easy to be comfortable with. Just to put things into focus, I am now 63. That was back when I was 16 or 17 and younger, but your grandparents returned to the Manor for quite a few summers in the 1960s. How could I have remembered your grandparents' name? I too am amazed and flabbergasted. Memories of Far RockawayYes, this website is truly wonderful for allowing us to stroll down memory lane and recall the sights, smells and feel of Far Rockaway... and what an extra treat for me to find someone who actually knew my grandparents. Thank you Shorpy's for allowing us this exchange of information and memories... and thank you Peter for your kindness and your very sharp memory! Far RockawayMy sister directed me to this site. We stayed in the Jefferson Hotel, right between Beach 29th and 30th, next to the Frontenac. My good friend Faye's grandparents, the Kratkas, owned the Embassy and both Faye and I worked the concession stand which her parents ran. The memories of the boardwalk are still strong. Not only did we have the luxury of a fantastic beach at our doorstep, we also had nighttime fun. Cruising up and down the boardwalk -- eating pizza at Sally & Larry's, or Takee Cup (originally called Tuckee Cup until the owners got disgusted of painting out the alternate name it always received over the winter months) and listening to Eddie, with his ever-present songbook, sing requests. All added up to good, clean fun. I left in 1968, went back from time to time, but haven't been back in years. Unfortunately, you can see enough from Google Earth. My two auntsMy father's two aunts had a bungalow in Rockaway Beach in the late 50's early 60's. It had flowered wallpaper and a musty smell, but it was the most interesting home I have ever been in. I was allowed to leave and explore without my mother's glare. I cannot tell you what food we ate there. I have no memory of meals which is odd. I do remember being bitten by my aunt's dog, which scared me for a long time. I think their names were Bernice and Ruth Cohan. If you have any thing to share please do. thanks, Mary Donaldson neversynvr@aol.com Twin HousesThe houses with the bridge were known as "the twin houses", possibly the Claremore & Edgewater, both owned by the Hechts. I spent the happiest summers of my life there! Like Cheri, I've wanted to return, but haven't as I know how sad it would be. Better to revisit in memory, sometimes in dreams. I probably know Cheri (from Arnie & the Joey days) and Les rings a bell, as does singing Eddie... Marcy Sand in my shoes on Beach 107thMy mother's family went to Beach 107th in the summers of 1917 through 1929. After the Depression hit they couldn't afford it. I still have photos of that period. In 1951 our family went down to the Rockaways and rented a bungalow for the season. The courts I remember were Almeida and Holmenhurst. My dad came only for the weekends, arriving Friday evening. The first thing he did was put on his trunks and head for the beach with me. When he hit the ocean you could see all his cares and worries leave. At night the parents would gather on the porches and play cards, drink a Tom Collins or have a beer and just have a good time. As a 10-year-old I wondered what was so much fun doing this every weekend. It occurred to me many years ago that boy, did they have it made. Sitting on a porch with a nice summer drink, a cool ocean breeze along with good friends to talk with and play cards with. Life was so laid-back and simple then. Does anyone remember the doughnut shop Brindle's or the bakery Dudie's? What about Nat's Ice cream shop, where you could get a walk-away sundae. Bill's Deli had the best salads and cold cuts. Wonderful summers that will always keep me warm in the winters of my aging mind. Beach 28th Street & A B and C CourtsI too remember the pizzaria on the corner of Beach 28th street. I remember my friends Randy, Shmealy, Risa, Brenda and Jody. I don't remember Shmealy's given name, but I remember he was hyperactive and a lot of fun. Made up a song from the commercials of the time for Halo Shampoo. "Halo Sham-poo poo, Ha-a-lo! Jodi's mom didn't want me hanging around Jody because I blinked my eyes too much. Oh well. HEY: Jody from Beach 29th street who wrote a post here on 11/12/2007 - I wonder if you're the Jody I remember!? I hung around with Risa a lot. I still have a photo of us and my dog Suzie on the porch of my Bungalow. I once disappeared into the Courts of Beach 28th street while walking my dog. I ended up talking to a boy for 2 hours, not knowing my parents had called the police and had an all-out search for me. My father finally found me. I was the talk of the town that day! I hope someone remembers these people or IS one of these people, or remembers the lost girl incident and would like to contact me at orangechickens2@aol.com. It would be wonderful to hear from you!! Anyone remember dogball?My dad wrote about playing dogball on the beach at 110th Street on his blog at willhoppe.com. I'm going to show him all of your comments later tonight. The BungalowsI was born in Far Rockaway in 1942. I lived there for 16 summers. My dad owned a small grocery on B 28th street. It was the best time of my life. Maple Court faced 28th. To me it was a very exotic place. The renters/owners vacationed there, my dad was a workman. We lived in roominghouses with a bath on the floor. One year I begged my dad to live in Maple Court and we got a small apartment in the back of a bungalow there. The bungalows were the BEST. Rockaway native from HammelsBorn in Rockaway in 1941 at Rockway Beach Hospital. Went to PS 44, JHS 198, Class of '59 from Far Rock. Worked as a locker boy at Roche's Beach Club in Far Rockaway. For two summers I worked in Rockaway Playland. I lived on 90th, where my parents rented out the bungalow in the back of our house every summer. My father at the end of his years as a waiter worked in Weiss's dining room, and the Breakers restaurant on 116th Street. I met my wife in 1965 at McNulty's on 108th Street. She was from Woodhaven and Breezy Point. We got married in '68. I am writing this on the back deck as we are still enjoying the summer weather here at Breezy. We both still have sand in our shoes. Our 1940s summersA group of Bronx families spent the summers of the early '40s in a few bungalows. Sundays the working fathers would appear for a community breakfast. We celebrated V-J Day with a parade on the boardwalk. Takee Cup was a part of our diet. A noodle cup to be eaten after the chow mein was devoured. The ultimate hand held food treat. Beach 25th StreetI grew up in Far Rockaway in the 1960s and 70s. We lived in the Bronx and rented every summer on Beach 32nd Street (now two big apartment buildings -- Seaview Towers). When I was 9 or 10, we moved to Beach 25th year-round. The summers were great -- we didn't wear shoes most of the time. Every Friday night, "Bingo Al" held a game in the court behind the bungalows, between 25th and 26th. One summmer he had a "Chinese auction" and dressed up in an oriental robe and Fu Manchu mustache and beard. Many of the residents got seltzer water delivered in bottles at their back porch. They would gather in the evenings out in front of the bungalows and talk and joke. I would lie in my bed, with my ear pressed against the window screen, trying to listen, and also trying to stay cool -- no air conditioning. Sol "The Cantor" Gerb would play his little electric organ as people sipped their drinks, chatted or played cards. It was like a different world from the rest of New York. I read where one commenter talked about the bungalows rented for the Russians. This was on Beach 24th Street. They worked at the United Nations and rented a block of bungalows. Every Monday morning passenger vans would show up to take them to work at the UN. We played with the Russian kids. They were a good bunch. I stayed over at one of their bungalows and we had crepes for breakfast. I had no idea what crepes were! I learned to play chess, as the Russians were crazy about it. I recall one time when members of the Jewish Defense League blew up a small BMW belonging to one of the Russians. The news came out and I was in the background, behind the reporter. A sad time for Far Rockaway. One of the amazing things was the backgrounds of the bungalow residents -- former concentration camp prisoners, Russians, Irish, Jews, some Italians and Greeks, but we all got along so well. A great place to grow up! At the FrontenacMy family spent summers at the Frontenac from the late 40s until 1957. When I describe it to my daughter, I have to confess it was really more like a boardinghouse. My mother, father and I shared a room that was also the kitchen. Bathroom on the floor, showers were out back for when you came back from the beach. It was great community. Juke box for dancing, card room for gin and mah jongg and the television on the porch. I loved Jerry's cherry cheese knishes. I remember the movie theater on the boardwalk in the 30's (it could barely be called indoors) I bought the News and Mirror off the delivery trucks for 2 or 3 cents and sold them for a nickel. My parents would pay the guy who ran the first aid station under the boardwalk to hold our beach chairs overnight so we wouldn't have to "schlep" them back and forth. We played softball on the blacktop parking lot on 29th street right off the boardwalk. My wife, who I did not know then, stayed with a friend's family in a bungalow on 29th street. I think her best memory was playing Fascination. Best summers everI used to stay at my grandmother's bungalow on B 28th st. in the mid to late 60s. Those were the very best summers ever! Walking just a few yards to the boardwalk and beach, pizza from the store on the corner, hanging with Howie and the crowd there. Playing Fascination for a dime, huge french fries in those cone cups. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Howie Young I'd love to get in touch with him. My email is belongtoyou@hotmail.com Hugh McNulty Hotel, Rockaway BeachI am trying to learn about Hugh McNulty's Hotel. I am not sure what street it was on, but there was also a bar in it. Hugh was my mum's uncle and her father came to stay with him and work for him. The time period may have been 1924-1930. I know the hotel was still in operation in 1953, as my grandmother visited him at that time. Any help is appreciated. libtech50@comcast.net Edgemere memoriesMy family lived many places in the Edgemere section of Far Rockaway (I don't know the exact boundaries of Edgemere, if there were any), but my memories centered on Beach 48th Way and Beach 48th Street. Fantastic place to spend the summers and escape the hell of the South Bronx. I had wonderful Jewish friends and I worried that they would go to hell because they weren't Catholic. Now I laugh as such perverted theology, but back then it was serious stuff. I loved the beach, the ocean, the starts, the jetties, playing every group game known to humans, going over the the "bay side" to play softball with the "project people" -- those who lived beyond the marshes and spent the winter there. No doubt about it, the best part of my childhood was Rockaway. Too bad it was taken away from us and to my knowledge, still is just a bunch of sand with no houses where we used to live, right near the boardwalk. Beach 48th Way, RockawayIn the early 1960s there were two brothers that were lifeguards when my family was there, Dennis and Tom Fulton. Anyone remember them? Also there was a man named Warren who would feed pigeons at the end of the block every day. My parents would rent a bungalow in the summer months to get us out of Brooklyn for awhile. Great memories. Rockaway, a kid's dreamI remember growing up in Rockaway. We had two boarding houses on Beach 114th Street. When my mom was a kid, Carroll O'Connor, his mom and brother Frank stayed with them. He returned to see my parents back in the mid-eighties and I received one of his last e-mails before he died. I worked my way bartending at Fitzgerald's on Beach 108th and Sullivan's on Beach 116th (1967-1970). You could leave the house at 7 years old, walk to the beach without crossing the street and never had to worry one bit. The neighbors looked out for everone's children. Great memories and thanks to Shorpy for an incredible site. Brilliant job! Cohen's CourtThe picture above is very much how I remember the bungalow court where my parents rented in the summers of the early 1950s. I think my mom said it was Cohen's Court. Ours was at the end of the court on the left. I don't remember too much, I was really little. But I think there was a center row of garden where parents hid treats for us to hunt. I remember a corner candy store we kids could walk to and my mom confiscating a tube of plastic bubbles I bought. I guess she thought the fumes would get me high or something. There was a little girl across the court who would stand on her porch in a towel and flash us once in a while. And I have a memory of being on the beach with my parents, I in the sand and my mom in a beach chair, and my dad taking me into the water. I went back with my parents in the early 60s because they were thinking about renting it again. But it was so musty and dirty and ramshackle that they decided against it. I had a girl friend with me and I have to say I was embarrassed about the way the place looked and smelled. Too bad, that bungalow was a great summer getaway for a working class family from Brooklyn. Elisa on B 29thWas your grandma named Bessie? I lived in the Claremar, one of the twin houses, and I remember her. Did you have a brother too? My sister, parents, grandmother and baby brother and I all lived in two rooms in the basement. I remember Crazy Eddie and his huge black book of songs. Tina and Elise ... Elliot ... Donna ... Jackie ... smiling in memory! Palace HotelThe last place my family stayed at for quite a few years was the Palace Hotel on Beach 30th Street right near the boardwalk. Those were the days my friend. All the arcades and food places on the boardwalk, Cinderella Playland for the little kiddies, the Good Humor man , Ralph was his name. Life was simple. No internet, cell phones or video games yet we had great times and wonderful memories. We played board games and cards and rode our bikes. The guys played baseball in the parking lot adjacent to the Palace Hotel. The team was a mix of every race and ethnicity and everyone managed to get along and looked forward to playing together the next Summer. The beach was the best. Dads could go to work and come back every day rather than only on weekends as they do in the Catskills. Such a shame that this no longer exists. The last summer I went there for a few weekends was in 1976. The JeffersonMy grandparents rented a place in the Jefferson for many years. I have great memories of the place, the back stair cases, the porch, and the beach just a short walk away. Does anyone have relatives who stayed there? Rockaway summersI spent virtually every summer till the age of 22 in Rockaway. We stayed on Beach 49th till they knocked them down, then kept moving to the 20's. Best time of my life. My family was unique -- Italians in the Jewish neighborhood and we came in from Jersey! My mom grew up in Brooklyn and her family started coming in the '40s! Wish I could connect with friends from back then. If I sound familiar please let me know. You would be in your mid to late 50s now. Rockaway Beach Bungalows on PBSI received a message, last night, from my girlfriend who stated that "The Bungalows of Rockaway" was on PBS @ 8PM. I started watching at 8:30 and to my surprise I could not stop watching. I was born at Rockaway Beach Hospital and I am a lifer. I never lived in a Bungalow but I have always wanted to purchase one. I was taken aback by the fact that there were at least 6,000 bungalows and now there are approximately 300 (big difference). I also found out in this documentary that there is hope that the bungalows can be landmarked and I hope that it happens. The bungalows are a unique attraction to this area and I hope that the 300 remaining can be preserved. Elisa on B. 29th Street - the hotelsTo Anonymous Tipster on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 3:15am - YES! My grandmother was Bessie. I do remember your family - your grandmother, parents and the little ones. Your mom wore glasses and had blonde hair. She always wore her hair pulled back and up on her head, curlers in the evening. Also, Harry and Dottie lived in a large room in the corner of the basement of the hotel. I have 3 brothers and one sister. My Aunt Rose and Uncle Leo used to come to the hotel as well to visit with Grandma Bessie. Please e-mail me @ medmalnursing@msn.com Sally's Pizza and the Lemon & Orange Ice StandI spent the best summers of my life on Beach 28th Street. Coming from a Bronx apartment, it felt like our own private house. Our own family doctor came out to Rockaway every summer and stayed on Beach 24th Street. I now wonder what happened to his patients during July and August. How come nobody has mentioned Sally's pizza, on the boardwalk around 32nd Street? You couldn't forget Sally-- with her bleached blond hair, tight pants, and backless highheels. Near Sally's was the fresh lemon and orange ice stand with the fruit stacked against the wall. The ices even contained pits. No artificial coloring or corn syrup in those ices. Grandmother's bungalowsMy grandmother owned 10 bungalows on the beach on 35th Street from the 1930s thru the 1950s. They were the ones nearest the water. I loved going to help her get them ready each spring and clean them up each fall. Playing on that wonderful empty beach at those times of year with no one else in sight. We lived in Far Rockaway at 856 Central Ave., so going to the bungalows was not a long trip. Great memories. Mom's RivieraMy mother loved Rockaway so much that we called it "Mother's Riviera." She couldn't have cared less about the beautiful beaches across the ocean in France or Italy, for Rockaway Beach was her greatest joy. We spent many summers in a bungalow court on 109th Street and my grandmother and her sisters also spent their youthful summer days in Rockaway Beach. So our family goes back generations loving Rockaway. Every Memorial Day the court always had a party to celebrate the beginning of summer and the courtyard inhabitants were usually Irish. The courtyard came alive with Irish songs and jigs and reels. Of course, the people of the courtyard always chipped in for a big keg of beer. It was repeated on Labor Day as we all said our goodbyes to our neighbors and to our beloved Rockaway Beach. Saturday nights in Rockaway were spent at the closest Irish bar and some nights the local boys slept under the boardwalk after having a wild time. They always managed to get themselves together for Sunday Mass or otherwise they would get holy hell from their families. Sands of TimeI spent every summer in the Rockaway bungalows from the fifties until the mid eighties when we were forced to leave because of the deteriorating situation. I was a child on Beach 49th and remember George's candy store where you could get a walkaway sundae for 50 cents. Sue, I remember the Fulton brothers, who were lifeguards. Handsome devils, had a crush on Tom when I was 14. Times were safe. There were a thousand kids to play with. We went from 49th, 40th 39th, 38th, 26th and finally 25th Street with my own kids trying to hold on to that wonderful way of life. Unfortunately it disappeared. Some of the best days of our liveswere spent on Beach 25th. When I was 12 (1936) until I was 17, we stayed every summer at my grandmother's at Beach 66th Street. Those were glorious days on the beach. The boardwalk at night was wonderful, too. We played pinball, and games of skill for 5 cents to collect prizes. Bottled soda and ice cream were 5 cents then, too. We used to run up to the boardwalk to eat the delicious knishes. My summers at Far Rockaway were the most unforgettable of my growing up. Tuna fish and bologna sandwiches on a roll never tasted as good as it did at the waterfront. In 1961, when I was married with children, we rented a bungalow on Beach 25th and loved it! It was a rainy summer and we spent a lot of time in Far Rockaway shopping, eating and going to the movies. Every sunny day, however, we quickly rushed to the beach to enjoy it with family and friends. The Jefferson, Beach 30thI stayed with Grandma and Grandpa every summer for years in a small room at ground level. Grandpa would take me to the beach in the morning, then off to the stores on 24th Street. The back patio was for dancing on Saturday night and the concession inside had bingo. The porch! As I grew up to teenager, I met Ronnie Schenkman and family on the second or third floor (used the back staircase). I don't remember where Eleanor stayed. Crazy Eddie and his songs. Hal and his girl of the night. Warm nights and days. Very sexy! As a working girl I still took the RR to Far Rockaway, then the bus to Edgemere. Took my children to visit Grandma when it was becoming sad looking. Then went to the area years later and found a burnt shell with a wicked fence surrounding it. Took pics and had a good cry. We are all lucky that we were able to experience the wonderful warm sun and sultry nights. Belle Harbor BungalowsI think the two rows of Belle Harbor bungalows on Beach 129th to which another person referred were probably the Ocean Promenade Apartments. I have very happy memories of living there in the mid-i950s in the winter. Beach at 37th streetWhat a trip to see all of the these comments. I grew up and lived year round on Beach 37th until 1950, when we moved to Bayside. Takee Cup was a treat as well as the movie theater on the boardwalk, Italian ices and of course the arcade. For a penny you could get great photos of famous cowboys and movie stars. Rockaway in 1958My family spent the summer in Rockaway in 1958. Most of our friends were in the court, but we were outside it on the main street. I don't remember the street, but I suspect it was around Beach 45th, as the El was right on the corner. We had a bungalow with a porch. I was climbing on the outside of it, fell when I saw a neighbor's dog that I wanted to play with, and broke my wrist on broken concrete. Today, one would sue the owner. Back then, we just made do. Later that same summer, I ran across the street to get Italian ices from the local candy store, but looked the wrong way crossing the one-way street and almost got hit by a car. I didn't think that much of it, but the woman driving was hysterical. I also remember a movie theatre on the Boardwalk. In those days, an 8-year-old (me) could feel safe walking the boardwalk without an adult present. The back of the theater opened up at night so you could sit outside. I saw "The Colossus of New York" there, an incredibly bad "monster" movie. Most of the bungalows in the Rockaways were destroyed by Hurricane Donna in 1960. So-called "urban renewal" took care of the rest. Now some sections of the Rockaways, especially those facing the ocean, are filled with expensive new condos. The Jefferson 1950s I stayed at the Jefferson in the 1950s. It was far far away from the Bronx. Our father worked two, sometimes three jobs, so my brother and I could escape the Bronx and spend each summer --the whole summer-- in Rockaway. Dad took the train to work every day. We turned brown by July 4th; skinny brown kids always running, scheming, cunningly evading the watchful eyes of Jewish mothers. We played softball in the parking lot by the beach in the early mornings before the cars showed up. We played kick the can in the street, ring-o-lerio (sp?), off the stoop. And then there were the long long days on the beach, hopping on hot sand from blanket to shore, waiting the magic 45 minutes to go in the water after eating lim and sandy salami sandwiches, early versions of body-surfing, acting like we couldn't hear our mothers calling that it was time to come in from the water. Crawling into the cool dark sand under the boardwalk. Some kid named Howie always had a piece of fruit in hand, juice dribbling down his chin. And then there was a kid whose own family called him "Fat Jackie" -- at least that's how I remember it. Once in a while we were treated to Takee cups or lemon Italian ices, and chocolate egg creams. Always sneaking off with so much watermelon that your belly ached, and sand -- always sand -- in your bed. Jumping off the wooden steps to the beach, higher and higher, until you dared to jump from the railings along the boardwalk. I think it was Friday nights we would go to the boardwalk to watch the fireworks display from Playland. Flying kites over the surf when the weather cooled, and sneaking out to the Boardwalk to watch, awestruck, huge summer storms -- was it hurricane Carol? Evenings with men playing pinochle, women playing mah jongg. Ping Pong, hide & seek around the Jefferson. Costume parties with fat hairy men wearing grass skirts and coconut shell brassieres, and mothers with painted mustaches and sideburns, wearing huge hipster hats, chewing cold cigars. Then, dreaded September, back to school and insanely diving under your desk to practice for the upcoming atomic war, or wondering whether you were one of the kids who got the fake Polio vaccine. But somehow, during those summers at the Jefferson, there was nothing to fear. Nothing at all. Beach 45thDoes anyone remember Scott Whitehill or Laird Whitehill? If so, please e-mail me at scott@scottwhitehill.com Moe's Grocery Store on Beach 28thBarbara posted a comment earlier about her dad owning a grocery store on Beach 28th Street. The name of the grocery store was Moe's, and they carried lots of things for a small store. I lived in bungalows on Beach 28th and Beach 29th Street. These were the most memorable times of my life. I only wish that I could go back and see and relive these wonderful times. Beach 49thMy family and many of my relatives owned bungalows on Beach 49th and Beach 48th Street. We spent every summer there until the city condemned the properties. My father brought one of the first surfboards there in the early 60s. I have many fond memories of the beach and the friends I made. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC, Travel & Vacation)
Merry Taxmas: 1920
... which is what many of us pay today. Only Government Workers Paid Until 1943 less than 4% of the U.S. population paid "Income" taxes. Of the 4%, Government workers; Federal, State, and local were the only subjects of the Income tax. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 4:54pm -

"Income Tax circa 1920." One of the happiest times of the year in our nation's capital, like Christmas and the Fourth of July rolled into one joyous orgy of giving. Excited citizens lined up around the block waiting their turn at the Internal Revenue Service, checkbooks in hand! National Photo Co. View full size. Hat manI love the mustachioed fellow in the bowler (near the front of the line) looking straight at the camera. He perfectly represents a certain kind of look. Smilin' JackJust picked a pocket or something. No other reason for a cheerful countenance... Imagine I'll see many of these same expressions at the post office tomorrow. Steve Miller Writin' checks someplace near the crossroads of America The old proI like the look of the balding clerk in the foreground. He's wearing a pretty good suit and spats(!), he's neatly stowed his hat and coat on the shelf below the counter, and he looks like he's patiently explaining something dead simple for the forty-eleventh time that day. I'll bet he raises african violets, plays a mean hand of bridge, and calls his wife "Ma." Gotta see a man about a horseMan in pork pie hat and leather jacket: "I'll put a sawbuck down on Tea Biscuit in the third race at Pimlico." Bald, bespectacled clerk: "Sir, I believe you have the wrong office!" Last Minute Throng Washington Post, Feb 15, 1920 May Pay Income Tax in District Deputy Collector at 1418 H Street Will Aid in Making Up Returns. Income tax returns may be filed by residents of the District at the office of the deputy collector of internal revenue, 1418 H street northwest, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day from February 16 to March 15. Collectors of internal revenue are mailing income tax forms for 1919 returns to persons who filed returns last year. Obligation to file returns, it is stated, is not removed by failure to receive the forms. The tax may be paid in full or in four installments, the first of which must accompany the return form. Payment may be made in cash, money orders or by check. Form 1040A for reporting incomes of $5,000 or less and form 1040, for incomes in excess of that amount, may be obtained at the office of the deputy collector. A corps of income tax experts will be available at 1418 H street to give assistance to taxpayers without cost. The office of the deputy collector will be open today from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Washington Post, Mar 16, 1920 5,000,000 Report Incomes Last Minute Rush Packs Local Office Until Close at Midnight Five million persons have made returns to the bureau of internal revenue for the 1919 income tax, according to estimates made last night by officials. It is believed that the returns for 1919 will show a substantial increase over those for the preceding year. Tax offices in every large city were thronged yesterday by a last-minute rush to file returns before expiration of the time limit. Washington offices were packed from opening until the closing last night. Hat LOVE!Oh, oh, OH ... the hats on those three ladies in the front. Especially the one on the left, which looks like a big, black velvet powder puff. Oh, how I covet those hats ... My PreferenceI liked Easter better. No withholding back then.Things were made a little easier in the early forties when withholding for taxes was started. ResemblanceThere's Calvin Coolidge, second behind the group of ladies, paying his taxes just like the rest of us, and none to happy about it either! Spats!That bespectacled clerk! Love the spats! Like a character out of "Some Like It Hot"! Wonderful. And the lady in the foreground who looks like she's waiting for an answer about a deduction and the clerk is trying to come up with a reasonable no for an answer! Paper everywhereI assume that the tax returns lying on the floor and in the garbage cans are the ones from citizens expecting refunds. CalendarThis is definitely 1920. You can see the March calendar on the wall with March 1st on a Monday, as it was that year. Tax day moved from March 1 to March 15 in 1918. It was not until 1955 that April 15 became the due date. Although Sundays are holidays on the calendar (denoted with a dark coloring), Saturday is treated as a work day, just the same as Monday through Friday. [It could also be 1926, calendarwise. - Dave] No love for the tax man then either.As far as I've been able to determine, the top tax rate in 1920 was over 70 percent. Some Things Just Don't ChangeI got mine done early this year and I kept all my papers off the floor! I know that the tax rates have gotten a lot worse since then and I would venture to say that the politicians are MORE wasteful today as well. I wish fashion would turn back to the hat for men. I think it must have been great when we all wore hats. What a stimulus for the economy too! At first I thought that the three ladies in the front row were a three headed beast like the Knights Who Say Ni. Did anyone else have to take a second glance? Progressive taxWhat I find amazing about this photo is that the line is integrated. During this period, segregation was still in full swing. I would have thought they'd have had a separate line for each race. How very progressive! VignetteFront-of-line Gal: Cute, trying hard on the clerk. Her Friend: Willing, but unlovely. Jealous of her friend's means. No taxes of her own to file. Nosy Old Gal: Well, a nosy old gal Smiling Fedora Guy: Checking out Front-of-line Gal. Getting a refund. Top Marginal RatesGraph of the Top Marginal Tax Rate over time (via Truth and Politics): Eisenhower was a Socialist! Mr. SmootMr. Smoot must have handled complaints, since he got to hide behind bars, out of the reach of throttling hands. No SmokingThe spats guy talking to the fellow with the leather jacket in the front of the line, "Sir there is no smoking in the building" There were no refunds in 1920 - because withholding of taxes from paychecks (one of the worst ideas in our history) did not begin until 1943. [There was no withholding, but there were plenty of refunds given to people who overpaid their taxes or received adjustments. - Dave] Chapeaux and TaxesI soooo wish that we still wore hats, they were so stylish! and yes, I could just die for that great looking powderpuff hat that the lady to the left in front has on too! Get in line! TaxingThe following is taken from the website stanton_square cites: "the rate does not take into account all possible exemptions and deductions, so taxes actually paid may have been lower than these nominal rates indicate." I am no tax expert but I do know that the deductions allowed are the highest when the marginal tax rate is the highest. In other words the deductions allowed when the marginal rate is 90% are much higher that the deductions allowed when the rate is around 28% which is what many of us pay today. Only Government Workers PaidUntil 1943 less than 4% of the U.S. population paid "Income" taxes. Of the 4%, Government workers; Federal, State, and local were the only subjects of the Income tax. The Victory Tax of 1943 (a truly voluntary tax) was the genesis to the delusion that private sector workers owe taxes too. The tax code (IRC) didn't change in 1943, but after a generation of voluntary payers you'd never know. [What a lot of delusional nonsense. "Patriots" do not drop the ball and make their tax-paying fellow citizens pick up the tab. In 1918, income tax was assessed on married couples whose household income was more than $2,000 a year, or single people making more than $1,000 a year. It had nothing to do with whether you were a government employee. In 1919, 5 million returns were filed. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Transcontinental Install
... great photo I love this photo do you have anymore line workers using horse and wagon?? (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery) ... 
 
Posted by robertinaz - 12/03/2010 - 10:43am -

A crew working on the Transcontinental Telephone Line. Date and location unknown. great photoI love this photo do you have anymore line workers using horse and wagon?? (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Porch Life: 1942
... Maryland. Stansbury Estates, housing development for workers at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant. Some houses have porches at the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2023 - 1:55pm -

July 1942. "Middle River, Maryland. Stansbury Estates, housing development for workers at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant. Some houses have porches at the back. They are all alike, have four rooms, are made of Cemesto Board." Acetate negative by Marjory Collins. View full size. A Sweet Home"Cemesto is a sturdy, light-weight, waterproof and fire-resistant composite building material made from a core of sugar cane fiber insulating board surfaced on both sides with asbestos and cement ... A prototype cemesto house was displayed at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. The Pierce system was first used in 1941 for building employee housing at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company near Baltimore, Maryland." https://dbpedia.org/page/Cemesto Even though you didn't askHere is more than you ever wanted to know about Cemesto. I also learned that the Eames House (or Case Study House No. 8) used Cemesto extensively. BT, DTMy wife's grandmother lived for YEARS in one of these Middle River houses (7 Elm Drive), along with her spinster sister and her son. I've seen one, stayed in one, celebrated family gatherings in one. On the hot seatNice legs. That metal chair would have to go the first time she sat down on it in those shorts after the chair had been in the sun for awhile. Ouch! (The Gallery, Baltimore, Dogs, Kids, Marjory Collins)
Newport News: 1941
March 1941. Newport News, Virginia. "Shipyard workers going home at 4 p.m." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for ... Nary a woman to be seen! I don't see any women yard workers in this pre-WWII scene. That would change during the war. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/07/2020 - 3:53pm -

March 1941. Newport News, Virginia. "Shipyard workers going home at 4 p.m." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Huntington Cafe The street appears to be Washington Avenue. According to an ad in a 1940 edition of the local newspaper, the Huntington Cafe was located at 3600½ Washington Ave. In the ad, the restaurant was looking to hire a waitress. Nary a woman to be seen!I don't see any women yard workers in this pre-WWII scene. That would change during the war. https://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/women/wartime/ww2.htm N.N.S.& D.D.Co. The Shipyard - Newport News Shipyard & Dry Dock Co.- has been a definitive workplace of generations of local (and not quite local) families since the end of the 19th century. My stepfather began working there as a full time employee just after WWII, when he graduated from 4 years at the Apprentice School in 1950, through the auspices of the GI Bill, and became a Piping Designer in the Submarine Division. He was a part of the development of the nuclear submarines from day one. Hyman G. Rickover was a seemingly permanent fixture of that section, ruling with an iron will. Stories about him were regular parts of every day's dinner table conversation! Dad worked there until his Union went on strike in the late 70's/early 80's and never went OFF strike. He continued working for another company who was a contractor for the shipyard for a long time, until he retired. He passed away this past spring. Asbestosis was a major player in his passing, after spending decades in that shipbuilding environment, making frequent journeys from his office space to the outside buildings where "mock ups" were located, and actual construction in the dry docks took place, where there was little to no breathing protection provided or even acknowledged in those many early years. He recieved legal asbestosis "benefits" from various class action law suits, but in the end, no amount of money could repair the damage inflicted by those incredibly tiny, dangerous fibers that permanently scarred his lungs. His father - my paternal grandfather - had worked there, beginning in the Sail Shop, in the late 1920's, which was actually after sails were no longer part of ships, but handled all the textile components of ships, and the yard itself. He fabricated upholstery on ships and subs, awnings on buildings, and other items. He retired in 1968. He has three sisters, two of whom married men who would become permanent employees of the shipyard through their retirement. The other one was associated through shipyard contractors. I have numerous cousins, brothers, nephews, and many school friends who either have worked for the Yard in all its incarnations, ownership, changes, etc., and still do, or have done. One uncle gave his all, who was an official photographer for the Yard, when he had a sudden heart attack during lunch with coworkers in a little cafe across the street from the yard, and didn't go home again. In the 1960's, taking Dad to work across town from as far as Denbigh so Mom could have the one car on Fridays so she could do all her shopping is something I will always remember. Being part of all that craziness of early morning traffic and back again for the madness of afternoon shift change, with the thousands of cars from everywhere, and what seemed like hundreds of charter busses from as far as North Carolina transporting the employees on their way in and on their way home again seemed to be just another normal day. The shipyard has been a permanent fixture of most of my early life, from the age of 6, until I married at 19, and moved away to the Midwest at 20, in 1977. It still continues to move on as it provides submarines and aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy, as well as numerous other projects that keep "the yard" humming. (Original 7/2/2020) Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.In the 1940s A&P was at the height of its success - so much so that it was charged with antitrust violations. Because of management mistakes, it started sliding in the 1950s and disappeared in 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Atlantic_%26_Pacific_Tea_Company Eight O'ClockThe A&P is gone, but I still drink Eight O'Clock coffee. "No Pedestrian Traffic"A 1940 newspaper want-ad for a waitress position at the Huntington Cafe (lower left) gives an address of 3600½ Washington Avenue, which means Vachon was standing near the intersection of Washington and 37th Street, facing south. There is still a gate to the shipyard at that corner, but "no pedestrian traffic" signs in place of crowds of workers headed south at shift change. Today, there are acres of surface parking lots behind Vachon's location. Many women - just not in sight here!(EDITED to remove typo. ORIGINALLY posted a few years ago.) This photo just doesn't show the right building or gate for all the women employees to be making their way out of the buildings to go home. There were/are different buildings where the white collar workers - management, secretaries, administrative assistants/private secretaries, file clerks, the typing pools, other clerical workers, etc. - had the offices where they did their vital work, and design divisions had their facilities, working in large open office spaces where their drafting desks and other equipment was kept, and where they did their work everyday, Monday through Friday. Not a computer to be found, or even a pocket calculator. Yet. I'm sure there were all the IBM, other bookkeeping and office machines were being used to the utmost, keeping up with the work of production, repair, refitting, calculating contracts, payrolls for all the thousands of workers, and so forth though! My dad's "tools of the trade" were drafting pens and pencils and slide rules, and all the other drafting tools needed for his work, calculating and drawing to the nth degree the placement and bend of every pipe and conduit for his assignment at the time, on submarines. There were plenty of ladies working in those office spaces too. And, not every category of worker worked the same shift everyday. Production workers down in the yard, such as these men shown, worked one of three standard shifts, days, evenings, graveyards, and a five day shift out of any given seven days. My uncle worked in the welding shops, five evenings a week, always getting home about 11:45PM. My aunt always had his "dinner" waiting for him when he got home. I used to spend weekends there with my cousins as a kid when I could, and he was usually not home at least one evening until quite late. "QUIET" while he was sleeping during the early part of the day was an unbreakable house rule! The office workers worked the standard 9-5, Monday through Friday's, where the production personnel worked 7-3, 3-11, or 11-7, part of seven days a week. And there were also the Apprentice School students, who worked their time in the school proper for their four or more years, just like any other college program, but also worked in the yard itself, or in the design divisions, or whatever other division coincided with their area of interest or focus, as part of their training as well. Their schedules were always a mystery! And there were also the predictable city bus routes which included the shipyard stops as part of their daily routes. Staggering shifts like that was the only way they could get a handle on the amazing traffic tidalwaves that were part of getting people to work and back home again everyday. There are (or at least there were) specific parking areas near the buildings down in the yard where they were working, and surface lots for the use of specific classes of workers close by the buildings where they worked. (The Gallery, John Vachon, WW2)
Avondale Mill Boys: 1910
November 1910. "Birmingham, Alabama. Workers in the Avondale Mills in Jefferson County. (The Avondale Mills in St. ... was not the one visited by Hine in 1910. Hine photographed workers at the mill in Avondale, a formerly independent town in Jefferson ... 
 
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)
Merry Christmas: 1913
... folks arrived as immigrants some as slaves or indentured workers and others stowaways or sailors and crew members jumping ship. The rest ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/25/2020 - 7:11am -

        The colorized Christmas tree is back, 107 years after its debut in Madison Square. Happy holidays from Shorpy! New York, December 1913. "Christmas tree, Madison Square." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size. Beautiful!Wow, what a beautiful tree! Merry Christmas, Dave, and Merry Christmas to all in Shorpyland. Best Image Site on the InternetBest wishes for 2010. Merry Christmas!Great photo! Thanks so much Dave for this great site. I have so enjoyed it all year long and look forward to more! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Dateline Shorpyland:Merry christmas Dave and to all who visit here. Merry Christmas To YouAnd thanking you for another year of incredible photos. You have given us a view into the past that few have ever had the chance to experience. You've changed my life. Prepared and thereHow very often it is when we see a photo of an important event that Boy Scouts are present. Merry Christmas, Shorpyites. Rick MacDave, a Merry Christmas to you! And thanks for your site -this has become my favorite. I look forward to checking for new photos every day, and I'm never disappointed. It's like having my own personal time machine. It's a blast! Thank youFor all the wonderful pictures and happy holidays right back at you! Beautiful!!That is beautiful! Thanks for all the great pics and Merry Christmas to everyone!! Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas to all Shorpyites from Reading, England A Shorpy Christmas To AllAnd a huge thank you to Dave and the staff at Shorpy, you have, literally, changed my life. Merry Christmas from Puerto Rico!I join my fellow Shorpyites in thanking you for another year of wonderful photos. May you live long and prosper! TintedIs this hand colored? [Computer-colored. By me. - Dave] Merry Christmas!Beautiful picture, Dave. May I add my thanks to you for providing us with these great pictures. I feel like I understand the world a little better after seeing these great glimpses into the past. Thank YouThank for for this wonderful image. My grandfather was ten years old that Christmas, probably about the size of the shorter of the two boys in the foreground. He also lived about fifteen blocks from Madison Square, so I imagine he was able to see this very tree that Christmas. Thanks again and merry Christmas. It's been a year of fantastic backward glancesMerry Christmas to all! Pictures are, indeed, worth a thousand words and Shorpy is a regular stopover site for me. Thanks for sharing all this, Dave. Merry Christmas to alland a big thank you to Dave for the best site on the web and we can't forget tterrace and we hope he doesnt run out of photos. Ron Merry Christmas to one of my favorite web sitesThank you so much for sharing all these marvelous photos with us. EchoWhat everyone below said. A big "thank you", Dave, from Las Vegas. Merry Christmas!To Dave and staff and everyone else who visits here! Thanks so much for this wonderful site and all the memories! This is about as close to a time machine as we're likely to see.You've changed my perception of how life was all those decades ago. You've helped me to see those years come alive. Merry Christmas, and thanks for one of the most incredible sites on the web. Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas and Thank You! GratitudeI must add my sincere thank you as well Dave, and to those who aid you or add to the information, for the wonderful memories sparked by many photos here, and for the historic value of many of these pictures. Merry Christmas to all!! From Your Favorite Nittany LionTo Dave and all my fellow Shorpyites, from the mountains of Pennsylvania, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! DibsLet me be the first to wish one and all a glorious Christmas and a bodacious New Year! Merry Christmas everyone!In the background on the right is the Hoffman House located at Broadway and 24th Street. I love how the lights have been colorized! From Manitoba, CanadaEven our decorated trees aren't this big! A very Merry Christmas to all! Merry Christmas one & all from the UK!I'd like to wish everyone at Shorpy a fabulous Christmas and a healthy new year. Merry ChristmasWishing all at Shorpy a very happy Christmas and seasons greetings to my fellow Shorpyites! Holiday GreetingsTo all Shorpyites, Dave, tterrace and Stanton Square: Holiday Greetings from Bull City Boy, Bull Ciry Girl and all the Bull City Young'uns. Have a blessed Christmas A Little LateIt's 8:13pm Christmas day out here in Spokane, but I want to wish everyone who visits this wonderful site a very Merry Christmas and all the best for next year. Thanks Dave, and all who make this possible. I learn something new every day from all of you. Thanks. Happy HolidaysThank you, Dave - and thank you to all the folks who manage the site, and thanks to the contributors and commenters. The world of Shorpy is a terrific gift you share with us, every day. Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas to Dave and all the Shorpyites from an old coot in Virginia Mele Kalikimaka!Christmas greetings from Hawaii! 1913Well, my father was born in 1914 and was a wonderful man and father even after getting shot to pieces in Italy with 168th Infantry, 34th Division during WWII. I'm OK with 1913 since my Aunt Helen was born in 1912 and was a most wonderful lady with smiles and laughs and hugs for me when I was a lad. The 1912 & 1914 bracket around 1913 is OK by me. Christmas GratitudeThank you for this wonderful site Dave and a special thank you for the photos you posted this year from the glory days of my hometown, Utica, New York. You, Shorpy, and others (especially tterrace) have provided a boundless window into the past and countless hours spent away from the stresses of the day indulging in something that is neither fattening, nor bad for me. Shorpy IS however, highly addictive and wonderfully entertaining. Best wishes to all in 2012! Merry Christmas Shorpy!Another year gone by already! Merry Christmas to AllAnd a Thank You to Dave and the Shorpy Elves for all the work you put into this site. Best Wishes from Canada.Merry Christmas to Dave and all the Shorpsters !! Nothing left to sayI echo ALL the sentiments of the commenters before me. So, just a simple Merry Christmas from Minneapolis, MN to Dave, Shorpy and the Shorpyites!!! Wishing you all an awesome 2012. From Cape Breton Canada A Merry Christmas to Shorpy and all ..... Merry Christmas!Dave, I'm a relative noob, here, and truly enjoy what you do. Merry Christmas from the Left Coast. Thank you and forward, into the past! Merry Christmas Gang!Dave, the rest of the Shorpy administrators and the great member submitters, Merry Christmas and thank you very much for another year of marvelous photos and replies for my mind and mailed photos for my wall! I wish everyone a grand new year! To each and every oneFrom England, to every corner of Shorpyland and to each and every one of its inhabitants -- a Merry Christmas, and a Happy, Peaceful and Healthy New Year. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!to Dave and all the denizens of Shorpyville. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to AllMerry Christmas from Boston, Dave, and many thanks. Shorpy is a fantastic community! From here in PortlandFrom here in Portland Oregon, to every corner of Shorpyland and to each and every one of its inhabitants -- a Merry Christmas, and a Happy, Peaceful and Healthy New Year. Thank you, Dave, for giving us a glimpse back into the past. This is one of my favorite sites. Merry Christmas to allMerry Christmas to the Shorpy staff, contributors and commenters. Really appreciate all this site offers, it is one of my favorites. Madison SquareTo all at Shorpy, Merry Christmas! This is a great website and I have told many about it. This photo reminds me of a print by the American artist Martin Lewis. The picture is titled "The Orator" and is dated 1916. The scene is Madison Square. The three large buildings in the background are still standing and are located around the intersection of 5th Avenue/Madison Square North/W.26th. The photo and the Christmas tree are beautiful! Merry Christmas and a Happy New YearA bit late for me for the former, but heartfelt wishes to all for the latter Thanks so much Dave, for all of the work you put into Shorpy. Before it came along, I had to be pacified with scanning old pic collections at flea markets. Alas, no more! A very Happy New Year to you and yours! Happy New Year and for many years to come Thank you so much for the look back and to your members for giving me the chance to compare with current photos on occasion. MERRY CHRISTMASThank you all at Shorpy for another great year on one of my favourite sites. Merry Christmas to you all! Edmund Christmas wishesMerry Christmas Dave to you and all at Shorpy, another fine year and looking forward to 2017. Peace and Goodwill to AllMany thanks for the photos on this site. My father was born in northeastern Alabama around the time of Shorpy, and this alone makes the site worthwhile. To see and read about those times is very revealing. But the site is much more! Just the railroad photos alone are fantastic. Please know that you are appreciated, and Happy New Year to Shorpyland! Merry Christmas Everyone!!Merry Christmas to all out there in Shorpyland - everyone reading, everyone posting and especially to Dave and the Shorpy crew. Keep those great pics coming! Now, off to the Office Party! Merry Christmas: 2018I passed some very pleasant time in a Canadian Tire store near Toronto on Christmas Eve yesterday, an hour before closing, relaxed and unharried, with a brother-in-law and nephew, trying to figure out all the different kinds of tree lights available, to make a totally unnecessary purchase, upon command of a family member higher up than us on the boss scale. And the result was nowhere near as nice as this Madison Square tree. Merry Christmas and best of the season to Dave and tterrace and all my Shopry comrades at this bright and festive time of year. Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas from Canada !! Glad Tidings to AllMerry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, Blessed Yule, and all other wishes to everyone here. May your tables be filled with good food and good conversation. See you in 2020. With gratitudeThanks to Dave and all who contribute. It's been a great trip of learning, from Mr. Higginbotham's life story to "flange bearing frogs". I thought the little amphibians were doing some heavy lifting! Wishing all a better 2021. After a full day and night Zooming Xmas Celebrations - - - After 3am realized I didn't get my daily dose of SHORPY and will complete reading and commenting around 4:50 am. Looking forward to the New Year edition to cap off another year of David's, tt's and other's massive and Artful contributions stimulating our family's memories and new insights as to our collective history as ALL our folks arrived as immigrants some as slaves or indentured workers and others stowaways or sailors and crew members jumping ship. The rest of our people we see populating SHORPY'S cities, towns and farms arrived on our shores in a wide range of financial status. However difficult it probably was for most of our descendants it's amazing how quickly, often in only one generation the new language and customs morphed into the American citizens we compare Shorpy's folks to. I as I begin my 89th year I'm the only first generation Norwegian / American male left in my NYC clan. Although l had a pleasant holiday I sorely miss our Scandinavian main roast pork meal on Xmas Eve with all the varied and distinctive cookies and other baked cakes that were baked during the week before and the house smelled like Xmas the whole tantalizing time. One of my dad's insistence that mom wasn't to speak to my sister and me in Norsk - slid into our having the American turkey and apple cyder on Xmas - wasn't that cool ! Merry Christmas!I want to wish all Shorpyites, both regular commenters and non-regular commenters alike, the happiest of holiday seasons this year. 2020 has been terrible, on almost every level a year can be terrible, and a little peace and joy over the next week shouldn't be too much to ask. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas yesterday with however many people you're allowed to have at your house. I hope the food was good, the conversation was lively, and the feelings warm. Come on 2021... (The Gallery, Christmas, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Cigar Factory Reader: 1909
... all day long. This is all the education many of these workers receive. He is paid by them and they select what he shall read." ... and within days, the practice spread like wildfire, Workers wanted what workers in other factories had. Readers read books of all ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 1:08pm -

"A 'reader' in cigar factory in Tampa, Fla. He reads books and newspapers at top of his voice all day long. This is all the education many of these workers receive. He is paid by them and they select what he shall read." January 1909. View full size. Reader?Never knew this job existed. [He's been replaced by the podcast! - Dave] Re: Reader ?Guess that's like the old Town squire job of early america (late 1700's) [I think that's "town crier." - Dave] Cigar Factory ReadersNPR did a piece on cigar factory readers. You can hear it online (if you have RealAudio... gah!) here. Cigar ReaderI'd just watched a documentary about Cuban factories and was seeing something almost exactly the same there. I just listened to the NPRI just listened to the NPR piece, very interesting! I love NPR. I should get a job like thatEither that, or get my students to *pay me* to teach them! But then they'd get to choose what I teach them, and it probably wouldn't be trig.... ReadersReaders, called lectores in Cuba, first appeared in the early 1850s in one factory and within days, the practice spread like wildfire, Workers wanted what workers in other factories had. Readers read books of all types, newspapers, union literature, letters from home or from friends who were travelling... readers were voted on by the workers. Most popular were those with ability to act out the books in a variety of voices. Some workers were paid by the factory. Some received two or three cigars from each worker, which the reader then turned in at the end of the day as if he had made them. Cigar rollers were paid piece rates and a good reader might end up the highest paid roller. Readers didn't read "at the top of their voice" but did the same thing stage actors do... project. Read at the top of your voice and you wouldn't last more than a few days. Projecting is a skill. Most Cuban, Floridian, and New York factories where clear Havana cigars were made employed more than one room of rollers. The reader in large factories would be situated in the middle of the room. As soon as microphone technology became available it was adopted in large shops (100+). Owners hated the readers, accusing them of reading communist, socialist, union propaganda. Basically true. With the advent of radio in the 1920s, workers who went on strike, returned to find readers long gone in most factories, especially in the US (where less than 1% of cigar factories had readers). Women strippers (they cut the mid rib out of the leaf separating the leaf into right hand and left hand leaves) were the lowest paid workers and seldom had readers. Those who did usually got lurid romance novels as their fare. Cuban factories opened around 6 am and closed around midnight. Cuban rollers came and went as they pleased under most circumstances. They were very proud, usually wore ties to work, and considered themselves independent skilled craftsmen. Readers usually read a couple hours in the morning between coffee and lunch and a couple hours in the afternoon. Never all day. (The Gallery, Factories, Florida, Lewis Hine)
Street Food: 1919
... labeled "The Noon Time Friend" and saved Washington war-workers from a nerve-racking fight at overcrowded restaurants. The lunch ... War I, selling "Leoffler's Liberty Lunches" to government workers for 20 cents. But sometimes he got too ambitious. He decided to come ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2023 - 6:39pm -

Washington, D.C., 1919. "Lunch vendors, Treasury Annex." At left, Leoffler's Liberty Lunch for 20 cents. And yes, we have bananas. 4x5 glass negative, National Photo Co. View full size. Mr. LeofflerBack in 2008, in the linked post, Dave asks in response to a poster wondering about a menu in the box: "Looking for volunteers to go back in time and peek in the box. Anyone?" Wonder no more! According to the July 1, 1919 Business Digest and Investment Weekly, we have this item: — Lunch Boxes [S. G. Leoffler, System, Oct '19 p 644. 600 words. 1 illus] Mr. Leoffler is the inventor of the "Liberty Lunch," which came in neat pasteboard boxes labeled "The Noon Time Friend" and saved Washington war-workers from a nerve-racking fight at overcrowded restaurants. The lunch contained two sandwiches in waxed paper, a sweet of some kind, and fruit. There were chicken sandwiches, raisin and nut sandwiches, Spanish pickle sandwiches, olive sandwiches, all sorts of sandwiches. But there was a little element of surprise every day, something a little different. Sometimes Mary Ann found a quarter of an old fashioned mince pie that reminded her of Thanksgiving, sometimes a slab of brown gingerbread. The company now has 130 employees and sells 10,000 lunches every week day. Six big motor trucks are used to deliver the lunches. 10,000 box lunches every day? That's a lot of lunches. Double license platesPrior to 1924, motorists in the Washington region were obliged to register autos in all three jurisdictions (DC, Maryland and Virginia) prior to crossing the state lines. There were stiff fines and the law was always on the lookout for violators. Obviously it was difficult to display three plates on the same auto and the practice was discontinued. Dual registrationAt one time if you lived in one state and worked in another a registration plate for each state was required, as displayed on the above Ford. The oil lamp was original to the car, but an extra lamp was added to shine on the upper plate. This nonsense was stopped eventually. More about Mr. LeofflerSeverine G. Leoffler, 1887-1947. Obituary Interesting guy. He had a number of business, ending up owning or leasing a dozen golf courses, though not a player himself. He came from Pittsburgh originally (excerpt): "He came to Washington with $300. The first thing he was sell safety pins to school children, giving jack-knives as incentives. School authorities put a stop to that so he went into the ice cream business. He sold the first roller ice cream cone here. He sold that business for $20,000 and then sold box lunches - two sandwiches, a piece of fruit and freshly baked pastry, all for 10 cents. He sold that business for $100,000 and the guy who bought it went broke in six months." The resourceful Leoffler broadened his horizons. He went back into the box lunch business during World War I, selling "Leoffler's Liberty Lunches" to government workers for 20 cents. But sometimes he got too ambitious. He decided to come out with square doughnuts and spent a fortune on machinery. He went broke. The public preferred the round dough out. His son died in 2014, evidently keeping the golf course business going. Obituary On commission? From the want ads of the Washington Times, June 29, 1919: "BOYS over 16 years old, neat appearance to sell Loeffler's Liberty Lunch; salary and commission; hours, from 6:30 a. m. until 2. p. m. Apply at once, 544 Penna. ave. N. W." Can't get lunch for 20c todayIt's of note how much food prices have outpaced inflation. 20 cents is $3.52 today. You'd be hard pressed to get two sandwiches, a sweet, and fruit for $3.52 from a food truck these days. Kilkare InnThe Kilkare Inn was still there in 1924, and offering breakfast from 8 to 10:30 and lunch from noon to 2. Located at 813 Vermont Ave. NW, now the location of the Export - Import Bank of the US. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Natl Photo)
Birmingham: 1936
March 1936. "Workers' company houses and outhouses. Republic Steel, Birmingham, Alabama." ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/01/2023 - 12:57pm -

March 1936. "Workers' company houses and outhouses. Republic Steel, Birmingham, Alabama." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans. View full size. Birmingham "square top" houseA classic view of a Birmingham District company town with the typical "square top" houses. Thanks for creating this photoblog! Birmingham "square top" housesThere are still some of these square top houses out in Titusville, near the old gravel quarry that's been converted into an artist colony. Nice hips...In construction vernacular, those square top houses would have what we call a hip roof. Sometimes called a hipped roof, as well. No ridge, all hips. Square top housesIn the real estate business, those are commonly known as "foursquare" style. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Walker Evans)
Pop Kola: 1939
... and pick up boys and men to work the chicken houses. The workers would run around and catch the chickens in the houses, throw them in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/28/2022 - 1:00pm -

July 1939. Gordonton, North Carolina. "Country store on dirt road. Sunday afternoon. Note kerosene pump on the right and the gasoline pump on the left. Rough, unfinished timber posts have been used as supports for porch roof. Negro men sitting on the porch. Brother of store owner stands in doorway." Our second look at this establishment, seen here two years ago. 4x5 nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Dental SnuffThat sign is the only one that survives according to Google. All of those other signs are gone. See the comment "Improvements" below. Maybe the "American Pickers" added some of those to their collection. Smoke 'em if ya got 'emI guess since no one is actually pumping gasoline at the moment, it's OK to be smoking. Somehow these folks are not quite as sophisticated as the gents in the cigarette ads. Priceless junkI'll bet the "American Pickers" guys would love to just step into that shot and start spreading the cash around. It's everything they dream about. ImprovementsSince 1939, they've painted the sky blue. Click for more. Cannot Live on Bread AloneMust also have soda pop and tobacco products. Curious that nothing else is advertised and that 71 years later those two evil items seem to be the root of all health problems. We must be slow learners. Orphaned ShoeThere it is! Lower right, under the porch. Not under the porchIt's a damn shame that there's no hound dog sleeping down there! Gas PumpAppears to be a Fry Model 117. Immortalized in FloridaIf I'm not mistaken, this scene was almost completely duplicated as a stage set for "The American Adventure" show at EPCOT Center. The gents in the show are or were audio animatronics robots who spoke for a few minutes about the Depression and how not many people would pay 18 cents a gallon for gas. Is this show still in place? American AdventureAnnoying Disney Fan, I was thinking the same thing. The show is indeed still there. The banjo player strums and sings, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" FDR comes over the radio and says, "the only thing we have to fear..." On the LevelI suspect the store owner believed his "unfinished timber posts" added to the rustic charm of his establishment - he obviously could have used plain timbers. The stone supports for the porch have been artfully built up to keep the porch level, so he cared about maintaining appearances. Note to Dave: I am very protective about the quality of your wonderful web site, and I appreciate the necessity for advertising support. However a fine line is crossed when ads expand out of their sidebar location and obscure half the page, as the Jack in the Box ad did tonight. Making the reader reach up and close the ad is cheesy and impertinent. This Shack in the Present DayThat store in Gordonton has been documented in the present day! I like the previous shorpy picture betterIn the last picture they were just talking amongst themselves. This one most of them have turned to look at the Camera. It just looses something now. Chicken catching or "catchin"I revisited this picture and now see what I missed before. There is a chicken crate barely visible under the left side of the building. I went to high school one year in a small town in the south. On Friday nights sometimes chicken farmers would come to town and pick up boys and men to work the chicken houses. The workers would run around and catch the chickens in the houses, throw them in crates like the one shown. They would load them on the trucks for market. They say some of the good catchers could grab 4 to 6 chickens by the feet with one hand. Bell BottomsDid anyone else notice the boy under the coke sign wearing the trousers from an old Navy blue uniform. The suspenders are a classy touch, but probably more a necessity than a fashion statement. Great PictureThis is really a great picture. It captures so much in one shot. Thanks, tipster,for posting the photos by panorino of the current state of the store. And there's nothing like a "Carolina Blue" sky! I wonderwhat a building inspector would say about those deck supports. And yet it seems to have worked, since it's still standing. Navy uniformI wore those navy 13 button trousers for thirteen years and I'd bet that the pants pictured are not navy trousers. If I recall correctly, there was a civilian "style" during those years that resembles what is shown. SupportLooking at the state of the place now, I'd have thought those rocks and tree stumps were added later on as support as the place started to fall down and need maintenance. But nope - looks like they were there all along, piled just like that! Clicking on the previous post is totally worth it, by the way. I LOVE the characters photoshopped in! So cool. Pop Kola cap and a quarterIn 1939 in Corpus Christi, Texas you could take a ride in a Ford Trimotor for 25 cents and a Pop Kola bottle cap. I took such a ride in 1939. This is the first reference to Pop Kola that I have seen in 70 years. Thanks for making my day. Now that's marketing.Pop Kola. So when Yankees come down and ask for a "pop" you can give them one. "Pop Kola. People ask for it by name. Even when they don't mean to." What did they sell?I am looking at signs on stores like this and think that they didn't sell anything except cola and cigarets. ColorizedClick to enlarge. [Wow!! I made this into a a separate post here. - Dave] (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Gas Stations, Rural America, Stores & Markets)
Character Study: 1964
... both good and bad, smart and dumb, clean and dirty, hard workers and lazy, compassionate and indifferent, etc. How having said that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/05/2010 - 6:07pm -

"Cornett family, Kentucky, 1964." One of the Cornett boys on the front porch after working hard at something. Print from 35mm negative by William Gedney. Gedney Photographs and Writings Collection, Duke University. View full size. Role modelMy 17-year-old grandson started his first job over the summer, bagging groceries. He quit after a week because the work was "exhausting." Sigh. The Working Hard at somethingIs most likely the questionable part. Did this young man escape from what is a future just like his father or did he decide to escape to a new beginning of education and prosperity for his family like many of us did at his age. I think I and most of my family looked like the Cornett's Cornetts in 1964. Dare you!Thsi guy looks capable of murder and abuse. Please stop with the 60s redneck series! Creepy is toop kind a word. [It's toop something. And speaking of creepy, how are those cousinfs? - Dave] It's all in how you look at itProbably not a good idea to judge a book by its cover, though on a site like this one it's pretty all we can do. To some this young man looks like someone capable of "murder and abuse", my impression is that he looks like someone who is used to hard work and not afraid of it one bit. It's such an unusual trait in today's youth that it's easy to mistake it for something else more sinister. DisquietingI find this set of pictures a little disquieting. There's something--an intimacy?--about them that's disconcerting. That would make them great pictures. What he looks likeis a hard worker, a smart guy, a good man to have on your side. Let's hope he didn't get blown up in Vietnam. GrittyI am really enjoying this series of pictures. The Cornetts show a hard core brand of grit and determination that I find admirable. I'd hang out with these people anytime. Bill GedneyI studied with Bill back in the mid '70s at Pratt. I was fortunate to have known him and to have heard a few stories about these people and his commitment to living with them and documenting their lives. I'm also fortunate to know the people who organized his life's work at Duke Center for Documentary Studies. Thanks for posting these images! Great Series!I love how this series from Duke brings some variety in the already amazing offerings from this site. Looking forward to seeing more of these pics in the future. Hmmm!Must admit -- I'm not enjoying these "Cornett" family pictures. Something about them makes me decidedly uncomfortable - perhaps I watch too much TV? I unreservedly apologise if I've done the family a disservice. ["If"? - Dave] [Update: Commenter has courageously altered his post to remove references to "Dueling Banjo's" [sic] and "potential for violence."] Huh???What's with the mean comments? This kid looks sweet to me and not afraid to work or get dirty. I would have been about his age in 1964 and it was very common for boys to work on their cars (IF they had one), hunt, fish, etc. If they lived in a farming community, they did some pretty darn tough, dirty work, too. My grandson rarely leaves the house---too busy with the video/computer games. If he does get out in the heat, it's only to get in the pool. I'll bet there were some real winners in this family who made something of themselves and changed their future. Hope we hear from them. Hey, WyethHey, Wyeth, your profile says it all. These people knew HARD, physical work. They have my admiration and my deep respect. Many here had parents, fathers especially, who worked with their hands and their backs to support their families. Honorable men, all. The family portrayed in these pictures didn't have the advantages you enjoy, your stereotypes obviously intact. I love these pictures, as they show a time when MEN worked hard, played hard and took care of their families. When times get truly tough, people like this survive, You will not. Bah! Salt of the EarthThis young man and many many more like him were and are the backbone of the United States. When we were young (I'm about his age, if he's alive) most of us had to work damned hard and get very dirty. Some found their separate ways to a higher place in the middle class, usually by education; some did not. Regardless, these striving, determined, hard-nosed people are the kind who move a country forward. Boys like this are the future of any country. The DraftAssuming that he was eligible to be drafted into the armed service, this guy probably served, may have even enlisted. Many of the "Lifers" I met during my time in the Army were from places like these and probably families such as the Cornetts. If they weren't hard drinkers, they made good soldiers and many became NCOs, some learned trades. They were able to visit and live in other countries. They met and worked with people of other cultures. The down side was they could have been in a war. Military conscription in our country ended in 1973. Then and NowI hope the Cornett family survived to better times. It's hard to look at the photos and imagine the family still living, given their hardscrabble existence. Did they ever smile for their portrait? Did they ever stand together and belly-laugh? Was there any joy in Mudville, ever? It's like looking into a parallel universe and it's haunting, and creepy. There are those who did not experience it, and cannnot imagine this life in America. We want to move on to life as presented by the privileged few, like Tterrace. TTerrace had the kind of life we all wanted so let's look at that ! I saw a documentary of the Appalachian families in the year 2010. Not so different from life as the Cornett family knew in the early 60s. Are we in a rush to flip back to a perfect world--patterns and possessions, and happy children being encouraged to thrive. No pain in there, just a glimpse of life we want to believe everyone had. The art of the well-done photograph is far more interesting and factual than film media could ever be. It produces huge emotion that cannot be dismissed by going for a brewski while the commercial is on. You will come back to your place and there is the same image. This guy knows how to do stuff.The fact that some people here somehow find his appearance frightening says a lot more about them than the hard working subject of the photo. I wonder how long those folks would last in this man's environment. Thank you for posting this series. We all need a reality check now and then. 60's redneck??Its almost as if the photos in this series are a kind of truth serum for the posters here -- would you call the members of this family rednecks to their faces? I come from a family of hillbillies and rednecks, and I'm not ashamed of it. My Grandfather was a coal miner in Logan, West Virginia. These photos could be of my cousins -- they bring back wonderful memories for me. These people are no more capable of murder and abuse than anyone else. They've just lived a hardscrabble existence, making do with what they had, and narrowing their suspicious eyes at the remarks of "flatlanders" who don't know any better. Keep posting pictures of the Cornetts!In my neighborhood when I was growing up in NC, they were the Daltons. They had lots of kids, little money, crappy cars and the worst house. Mr. Dalton drove a heating oil truck and they were all as redneck as one could possibly be. They stuck together and would collectively "whoop a#%" on anyone who messed with any one of them, whether it was the oldest or the youngest. We all thought we were better than them because we had more and came from smaller families with disposable incomes. As it probably is with the Cornetts, they were the lucky ones with a strong sense of family and independence, as well as a "we can look out for ourselves" mentality. My family became dysfuntional as we grew up and moved to the four corners of the country; rarely speaking with or seeing each other anymore. I'll bet the Cornetts still gather for holidays. It would be great to find out what became of the Cornetts. Mixed feelings, but you can't deny a brilliant shotAn amazing study. You look at it once, there's a bright, affectionate, fearless young man - suddenly there's a hostile, defensive, possibly cruel boy. This is an example of where portrait photography surpasses painting. He tries to stare you out across forty-six years. Not creepy at allHe looks like someone who has just finished doing hard and dirty work. Sad that that makes people uncomfortable nowadays. Same teen... different moodThe earlier photo of him smoking definitely had a sinister aspect to it, the eyes (to me) reflected something intense, whether it was resentment, jealously, hatred, disgust, I don't know what. It might have been just an affectation for the photo. But it made you wish you could find out. I felt I had the same reaction that Capote did when he saw the photo that inspired "In Cold Blood." Now, in this photo, he seems to be in a much better, happier state of mind. [Editor's note: Not the same guy. - Dave] Being born and raised, and having lived most of my adult life in the Deep South, I've had plenty of interaction with families like the Cornetts. If there's one thing I've learned, you cannot judge by appearances. If you did, and lived in certain areas, you'd never leave your house. Appearance, for the most part, results from circumstances, not from character. I'd be more leery of those in fancy suits. They have the power (and often the inclination) to do you much harm. I'd say the Cornetts must be good people, given their apparently warm reception of the high-falootin' photographer from Duke U. "Murder and abuse"?I look at this photo and see a really handsome guy. I don't understand where the negative comments are coming from. Enough already!This endless series of rednecks is uninspiring. They are being showcased as if they were iconic photos of Oakies of the Great Depression. Unlike the dust bowl pictures there is no dignity here or triumph of the human spirit. Let's get back to 19th century rarely seen photos of America's past. Honest dirtSome people's only exposure to honest dirt was the one time they got talked into helping their great-aunt Annie plant her new rosebush! Horrors! What is that stuff all over my hands? Must go wash it with some antibacterial soap, immediately! Poor babies. I like rednecks & I like GedneyAppearances can be deceiving; I'll bet if you gave this young man a good scrubbing, a haircut and put him in a nice suit, suddenly everyone will be trying to introduce him to their daughters, assuming he was going to Yale or Harvard (maybe he did, on a scholarship or GI Bill). When I lived in Charlottesville, with its "Gown and Town" culture, I met plenty of "rednecks" who were the nicest people; helpful, friendly, loved to sit on the porch Friday nights and shoot the breeze. Some of the "Gown" group were dressed to the nines, wouldn't dream of getting their hands dirty, stuck up, and borrringgggg! P.S. I belonged the "gown" crowd at the U of Virginia in Charlottesville, a boy straight out of the Maryland suburbs. Good Earthy FolksBack in the mid-1960s.I hung out with a family a lot like the Cornetts, to the horror of my mother, although my father was more understanding. I was enriched by this association and still keep in touch with the surviving members of my alternate family. Try as I mightI detect nothing sinister here. Just a young man with a hard life by today's standards. Maybe even by any standards. But lack of wealth does not always equal unhappiness. I hope he was happy. It bothers me that someone could look at this simple, unassuming photo and then ascribe to it terms like murder and abuse. Reminds me of the quote by Anais Nin: We see things not as they are, but as we are. We need moreI have a feeling that this young man is a bright-eyed smart fellow that happens to live in the country and knows how to give a honest day's work for a honest paycheck. Our country needs a few million like him right now. Negative comments?I also don't understand where these negative comments are coming from. Too bad that some Shorpy viewers think they are better than others. I see a very hard working family when I view these photos of the Cornett family. They appear to be honest hard working people the kind that make good neighbors and good friends. What viewers are looking at here is the true backbone of America. The fancy dressing politicians could not pass the muster in similar situations. Thanks Dave for showing not just the historical America but also the hard working America. I can relateI just spent the afternoon under the truck replacing its shock absorbers. Except for being much cleaner around the eyes thanks to wearing safety goggles, I ended up just at dirty as this fellow, something I don't find myself doing like when I was in my twenties. It felt good and I expect to sleep well tonight. Still creepyI have found the reactions to this series very interesting. I have lived in such a rural poor area all my life, going to school with MANY children who were forced to live as these people. Let's not make more out of these people than they were, they were just like the rest of us: both good and bad, smart and dumb, clean and dirty, hard workers and lazy, compassionate and indifferent, etc. How having said that and being a product of a poor rural area, and still a resident in that area, I find the series creepy especially of young children smoking which I never saw happening with the like people I grew up with, at least not in front of their parents. I think it very possible the photos could have been a bit influnced. [Just a bit "influnced"? Or a whole lot "influnced"? - Dave] MoreWould like to see more of the Cornett family series. Eye of the BeholderThis series of photos has turned out to be quite the Rorschach test. Dirty work, clean money I worked alongside some guys like this for a short while in the '60s. The title was a comment I heard from one of them. The Cornetts of flyover land built the 20th century and won its wars. I don't think the 20 year-olds of today could do as much. Worked hardAnd is dirty. This is what happens. I'd love to know how the next few decades played out. And I love the sparkly bits in the chair. The Best Hard TimesOdds are, in later years, these folks look back on this era as being some of the best times in their lives. I know that when I think back about my younger years, we lived in a tiny house, were raised by our divorced mom (two of us), and did not have extra money. We had lots of neighborhood friends, we always had three meals, and we always played outside. We were as happy as pigs in mud. Reminds me of my sonHe who isn't happy until he's worked hard enough to get this dirty. His dad and I must've done something right. A healthy work ethic will take one a long way in life. HandsomeI, for one, think that he's a very handsome young man, dirt and all. I bet he lights up and shines when he smiles. A true portraitI really hate reading some of the truly (literally) ignorant comments in this series. If you want a real taste of what Eastern Kentuckians are really like, just consider that this man and his wife, unemployed and with 12 children, opened their home to a photographer (read: stranger) from Duke University with no pretense and showed him hospitality for 11 days in 1964 and then again welcomed him into his home 8 years later. That is more a portrait of the true nature of Appalachian people than any ridiculous story Hollywood can make up (e.g. Deliverance). [A little confusion here. It was this young man's parents who played host to William Gedney. Who had no connection with Duke University when these pictures were made. - Dave] to: A Certain Canadian Shame on you! My parents lived in Minnesota during the depression, and we did not live much differently from this photo, but we had a happy family, we ate well, and we all grew up to be responsible adults. How dare you think that just because someone is poor, they are rednecks! [What exactly constitutes being a redneck, and why is it bad to be one? - Dave] Folks, do not despair.We still have plenty of hard-working young men and women like this young man in our America. Do not despair. We'll get through it. WOW!Dave...You must be in Heaven! What a response to your Photos of the Cornett family! I have commented, myself, before, and I am totally into this family, and have been for days. I just read through all of the comments and I think I could read on forever…they are such a mix of Brilliance, and, I am sorry to say this…total Stupidity, but that is in the Minority. Thank You, Dave! But, I Think you, too, must be a bit amazed. What a great way to get people to come alive and Talk to a subject…if only we could continue the dialog…in so many other topics. Coal DustThis young man has a right to be proud and you can see it in his eyes. He is covered with coal dust. That means he is making money--good money! Things sure have changed for today's young men. Not for the better. Bah, humbugSorry guys - but - by about the 3rd picture I didn't want anymore Cornett Family either. There's an affected bleakness about these pictures that just makes me wanna smack somebody, probably the photographer. A couple of the girls snuck in a smile . .probably when the photographer was off-guard. Good for them, probably blew the whole theme for Gedney though. Are we going to get any Cornett pictures without the "o I see misery, that makes me profound" motif? Goodness, beauty and truth are also part of the human experience, ya know. I mean, just sayin'. There's nothing wrong with honest dirt. /end tirade. ["Misery"? What misery? - Dave] "Dirty jobs"Late 70's spent my days baling hay and milking cows on our 4th generation dairy farm, my sisters and I would pack 1,000 bales or more of hay a day into the barn, under a hot tin roof in typical Ohio weather, 98 degrees and 98 humidity, "the sweaty armpit of America." I now own that farm and my dad at 78 is out helping me milk the cows every day, because he wants to be useful. The comments on this list tell me that a whole lot of folks have never learned to appreciate a hard day's work. The feeling of sweat running down the crack of your a-- and hay chaff in places you never new it could go, the feeling of a good shower and sleep that comes from being tired and not from "sleep aids". The pride of good day's work, a full barn ready for winter, contented cows and a full belly produced from your own hands. Keep posting these types of pictures, we need a reminder now and them. Like Mike Rowe keeps saying, this country needs people who will do the "dirty jobs." Definition of a redneckThe term is used to describe the hardworking man or woman who has labored, bent over, in the hot sun, and received the mother of all sunburns for their efforts. I don't know why it's bad to be called one. Sounds like a badge of honor to me. A few people who have posted here have more than likely never suffered anything more serious than a paper cut in their daily labors. Hey Lou, don't look!! It's that easy.Shoot, I was born in 1966, and there were a LOT of days I left work looking like that. It was either from working at the service station (yes, I used to pump Ethel), or at the sign shop. Sometimes, you just get dirty doing an honest days work. Painters get paint on themselves, and farmers get dirt on themselves. That's all. Dave-Thanks a million for posting the Gedney shots, as well as all you have done with shorpy.com. I scan your site every day looking for cool shots of insulators and feats of electrical engineering, but being a history buff in general, I get a real good feel for days of yesteryear. Keep'em coming my good man! [Now we know the reason for Ethel's mysterious smile. - Dave] Nothing More to AddI'm disappointed in some of these comments but reassured that there are others who don't agree with the stereotyping and leaping from a photo to the "murder and abuse" branding. Ridiculous. The Cornett defenders have said what I feel, but I found myself wanting to show my support for them, too. ("Yeah! What HE said!") Any way we could get a "like" button for Shorpy comments? Undoubtedly a relativeI'm a member the Cornett family with strong ties in Kentucky (my dad's family is from Cumberland, although we live in Maryland now). Amazing seeing these shots. I never knew this guy but I have no doubt he's a cousin of some sort. Cornetts had our black sheep (what family doesn't?) but on the whole we're a hardworking breed who gets by the best we can. Street smart?I have finally given up reading the comments on this picture. The one that really bugs me is the person who thinks this face belongs to a criminal. Obviously someone who has no street smarts. There is nothing sinister behind those eyes. And as for the people complaining about how sad these people must be, I ask why? Because they don't have all the luxuries of today that most people consider needful things when they are not? I have not seen a miserable face on any of the Cornett family. I am glad to have seen them and hope they all had or are having great lives. Another '"Yeah! What HE said!"These photos are great. Keep them coming. Anyone who could see someone capable of murder or abuse when looking at this photo is someone or find this series creepy is one who only has to look in the mirror to see a real creep. Am I the only one... or do you see a resemblance too? [Maybe that's toner on his face. - Dave] The old adagesays that when you point your finger at somebody, THREE fingers point back at you. These pictures of the Cornett family are a vivid portrayal of an important part of the American Experience. The photos are illuminating and often a work of art, as this particular picture is. This is my very favorite historical/picture blog. Keep up the GREAT work, Dave! Every timeI look at this photo I think of James Jones' star-crossed Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt in "From Here To Eternity." In fact, I think I'll pull out my battered copy of that book and re-read it for about the fifteenth time. My cousins from Martin County. Just like him. high-school "diploma," willfully ignorant, hopped up on Baptist prayer meetin's, and just as happy as can be that they'll be able to get a job in the mines just like Daddy and Granddaddy, both of whom got the Black Lung from too much coal and too many Camels. And it's still like that there. WTF, America? Seriously ... [Inane Comment of the Day! - Dave] Handsome I look at this photo and see a very handsome man. In this day and age, its hard for a girl to find a guy that doesn't mind rolling up his sleeves and getting dirty to get the job done. The ruggedness of his features makes him attractive. Kindred SpiritIn 1964 I was very close to this guy in age, economic prosperity, and work opportunities. One difference was that I was in rural Alabama rather than Kentucky. I am not embarrassed by the type work I used to do, but I am thankful to now have a physically less demanding job. My electrical engineering degree helped to ease my way into middle class status. I would like to know what happened to this guy after the picture was made. I hope that he has been as fortunate in life as I have been. William GedneyI was surprised when I saw the work of Bill Gedney, years after I knew him as “Mr. Gedney,” my photography teacher at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. He rarely, if ever showed his work to us. His classes were focused (bad pun) on us and how to improve our photographic vision. I liked him a lot – he was soft spoken and kind unlike the abrasive/aggressive nature some of the others in the photography department. One of my proudest moments: when he approved of my photo essay of my sister and her husband’s move from apartment to their first house. They weren't “pretty pictures,” but captured a significant moment in time, much like his own series of the rural families. It was indeed an honor and pleasure to have worked with “Mr. Gedney.” (Cornett Family, Portraits, William Gedney)
Pabst Over Chicago: 1943
... 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 ... 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" ... 
 
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)
Winter Street: 1940
... near the shipyards. Slum area where many shipyard workers live." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. Grouchomobile ... but it was a clean neighborhood of families and shipyard workers. It still stands today but the Shipyard is now a stinking parking lot ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/05/2023 - 10:44pm -

December 1940. "Winter Street, Quincy, Massachusetts. A Syrian neighborhood near the shipyards. Slum area where many shipyard workers live." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. GrouchomobileThat car just needs a pair of glasses and bushy eyebrows. Maybe a grease moustache. Don't see too many grille covers these days, even in the northeast US. [The car: 1937 Ford. - Dave] Lots still there! Watch mePark right next to the No Parking sign. There is gentrification going on nowIn the array of slums we have seen on Shorpy, this looks relatively livable. The house on the left is still there, recognizable below. If you move down the street, past the greenery on the right, whatever was there has been replaced by some nice, new apartments. If you go the the T-intersection and turn right onto E Howard Street, the old factory building disappears. "Home" is a four-letter word, tooThe phrase "slum" seems to have been used quite loosely here -- as evidenced by the number of buildings that are still extant, 80+ years later -- perhaps an ominous foreshadowing of the coming decades when "blight" became a catchall phrase to get rid of ... well, almost anything that someone in power didn't like. Worth a VisitI used to live in Quincy, and recommend a visit to The Old House at Peace Field, the home of Presidents John and J.Q. Adams and several later generations. Most Presidential homes feel like museums, but it's easy to imagine the Adams family puttering around Peace Field. Quincy also claims to be the site of the first Howard Johnson's restaurant; the location is now occupied by the Wollaston T station. My how times have changed!Personally, I think the slum shot shown above looks better than the slums today. Cold winter nosesThe curbside Ford's owner has provided its nose with a makeshift winter radiator grille cover to aid in faster winter engine warmups and better heat retention when underway. Happy owner now enjoys warm fingers and nose thanks to a comfortably temperate car interior. Concerns though, about the cold-nosed Kitty, clambering onto the the left front tire. Is it contemplating a way to access that enticingly warm, under-hood location provided by the recently parked, still warm '37? Be careful Kitty, countless tails and various other cat appendages have been mutilated or torn off in similar, deceivingly inviting, paw-thawing hideouts! Old housing yes but no slums there.The shipyard in the background is now long gone. The brick building was the headquarters of Bethlehem Ship Yard, owned by Bethlehem Steel. Later it was sold to General Dynamics. 7000, seven thousand men and women worked there in three shifts around the clock. They built Navy ships and in later years liquid natural gas tankers. It was the bread and butter for hard-working men and women. As to Winter Street, it may look old and rickety but it was a clean neighborhood of families and shipyard workers. It still stands today but the Shipyard is now a stinking parking lot for an automobile distributor. A waste of valuable land and deep water docking. Anything hiding under there?Inquisitive cat peeking up under the Ford's left front fender. Slum?What good is making a comment if it just gets tossed. Don't give me the so many comments talk, there were two or more comments submitted beyond mine and they were published. I'll think twice before I support this site. [No need to stop at twice. - Dave] Big things happening beyond the end of Winter StreetWhen this photo was taken, the Fore River Shipyards in Quincy were ramping up their operations in case the United States entered World War II. Construction was underway on the battleship USS Massachusetts (BB-59) and light cruisers USS San Diego (CL-53) and San Juan (CL-54) - all three of which were still afloat and in action at the war's end. Now a museumThe shipyard is gone. Not sure where shipbuilding is still happening, but it's not in Massachusetts. I think the labor costs for one of the most expensive metro areas in the country got to be too much, and the shipyards were deemed "inefficient". That was in the 1980s. The Reagan Administration hit the off switch in 1981. By 1986, General Dynamics shut this spot down. A sliver of silver lining. The yard has been repurposed for some local businesses, including dredging and chemical fertilizer depots. There is also a museum dedicated to the Quincy shipbuilding tradition. And yes, it is used as a car distribution lot for dealers - for American cars. The Google map view shows the vehicle awaiting a home are Chevrolets, Jeeps, and GMC trucks. Much smaller than ships, but still helping the US economy. (The Gallery, Cats, Jack Delano)
Office Girls: 1925
... likely 1 cent. Still, I bet these three conscientious workers we VERY efficient at what they did and their stick phone did not have a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/07/2012 - 2:03am -

Washington, D.C. "American Nature Association. Between 1910 and 1926." It's probably safe to say this is 1925. September 14, to be specific. A Monday (boo). View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. Great example of an officeLook at all of the decorations. I like the Allied Flags of the Great War. Did they use "qwerty" keyboard typewriters then? Tree Huggers"Agnes, here's another letter from that lumberjack. He didn't like your reply." Off and OnMy grandparents had those kind of pushbutton light switches! Some Like it HotThe girl on the extreme left must have been a role model for Jack Lemmon in "Some Like it Hot" as they look identical. The middle girl looks somewhat like an anorexic Joey Brown. I used to LOVE rubber stamps when I was a kid, they seemed so important when someone stamped their official message on my things and at the library I felt as though I had passed approval when the librarian would stamp every book and every file card so I could take their books home. You would have thought I was being allowed into a forbidden zone. That crown molding edging the ceiling (which we all took for granted) would cost a small fortune to add to any room today. And those postage stamps are most likely 1 cent. Still, I bet these three conscientious workers we VERY efficient at what they did and their stick phone did not have a droning message telling you what buttons to push but that you got to talk to a real person who would handle your problems quickly and accurately. Thanks for a photo of my childhood memories. [Big-boned, isn't she. - Dave] Passion for filesJust stick junk up on the walls with tape, don't worry about the mess it will make or the damage to the paint and plaster. In a way it's oddly gratifying to see that at least some things never change. All in all, a wonderland for a stationery/office gizmo/wooden file cabinet freak like me. The supply room I inherited in a 1932-vintage government office building still had some retired items of this kind on the shelves. Also file cabinets like that - which, you'll note, are modular. This one's in 5 pieces - leg unit, three tiers of drawers and top. Any or all of the drawer units could be replaced with different kinds of filing compartments, including standard file drawers and even glass-front bookshelves. They fit together with metal male & female fittings and could easily be mixed and matched at any time to meet each office's changing organizational needs. Every film noir police station is fitted out with these. Now I want to see this office's supply room! Inkwells Etc.I immediately noticed the square glass inkwells and the stick pen with removable points, just like we used when we first learned cursive penmanship. You had to dip your pen into the inkwell about every sentence or more. Ink most commonly came in blue, black, red and blue-black (my second job was at Waterman's in Connecticut). Those inkwells also had glass lids and notice the paperclips had specific roundish glass bowls. I used an old stapler like that also. I enjoy the details in these old pictures the most. What we used every day and never even thought about are now collectibles and antiques. Answering the MailLove all the details in this one: phones, lamps, staplers... The American Nature Association was incorporated as a scientific educational organization in 1922. Located at 1212-1214 Sixteenth St NW, it employed about 60 people to publish Nature magazine. In 1959, the magazine merged with Natural History magazine published by the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Office postageThose are 2¢ stamps, not 1¢ ; most letters bear Scott #554: Although I see at least one with two Scott#552 Both originally issued January 1923. Between 1910 and 1926Hmm, seems as though the person who wrote the caption to the photo was not very Sherlock Holmes-esque! Good thing there's Dave! I would love to be able to read the finer print - any chance of a zoomed in close up?? Why in the world............Wonder why there are ads on the wall for Canadian Club Whiskey and Stonewall Jackson Cigars Double EagleFrom the newspaper clipping just above the filing cabinet and to the right, looks like a full-page article debating the "Golden Eagle or Bald Eagle as Emblem?" I wonder what brought that discussion on way back in 1925. Underwood typewriterI'm not a typewriter expert but this looks to be an Underwood, apparently very common for the time. Images here and below (click to enlarge). QWERTYThey did in fact use the QWERTY layout. QWERTY was developed specifically to keep typists from going too quickly and causing the keys to jam. Trench art lampNot only do they have the flags of the Allies but there is also a desk lamp made from an old artillery projectile on the far right. ARTillery UtilityI guess that was the post Great War rage or something. There's a table lamp made out of some WWI artillery shell thing at my parents' house. I think it was a souvenir from my mom's uncle's tour of duty. Artillery artArtillery art must have been "in" after WW1. I've got two pieces that came from my grandfather's estate. He was an ambulance driver in France and never had anything official to do with field artillery. One piece, they took an empty cartridge case and cut most of it away down to the bottom two inches. They added some other pieces and made it into an ashtray. The other piece is a more or less complete cartridge case and was supposedly used as an umbrella or cane stand for years. The interesting thing about that case is the several "Life of Case" stampings on the bottom (inspector and date) indicating each time it was remachined and reloaded. An empty cartridge case is one thing, but if I saw someone had turned a shell into art the first thing I'd want to ask would be "that thing is inert, isn't it?" FlappersGet a load of those rolled stockings and bobbed hair on the gal on the left. She is probably thinking of the weekend, when she and her beau with slicked-down hair can dance the Charleston in a speakeasy. If wishes were newspapers.....I'd have that entire collection in my lap right now, reading the one about the golden and bald eagle. And if ifs an' ands were pots and pans... there'd be no work for tinkers! What are they doing?Seems to be alot of the same headline articles piled up, I wonder what they were clipping them for? [Mentions of the A.N.A. - Dave] Hair set upFunny, but I can put 3 current office girls that I know at work that have just about the same hairstyle and hairdo (including the one with the headband). Just not so much hairspray, but otherwise, they look modern to me. Well done, TerranceI was just admired all the stamp mail (including one or two stamped envelopes), nearly all of it machine canceled. So much different from the metered and printed indicia mail that is most of what's in my mailbox today. For those who love this stuff as I do: www.stamps.org [That Terrance does crackerjack work. - Dave] Golden Eagle or Bald EagleSomeone asks" "Golden Eagle or Bald Eagle as Emblem?" I wonder what brought that discussion on way back in 1925. Much of US coinage at the time featured different types of eagles, not the bald eagle. For example, take a look at the St. Gaudens designs that were in place from 1907-1933 -- those aren't bald eagles. So I suspect it was discussion about whether the depiction of eagles on use emblems such as coinage should be standardized to be the bald eagle rather than just a generalized heraldic eagle (usually the golden eagle, which has been used in heraldry since ancient Rome). LightsDave is right, early light fixtures also tended to look a bit flimsy by our standards, I grew up in an old house that was electrified in the teens and several rooms were lighted by hanging lamps just like those in the picture. Ours had a sturdy porcelain socket screwed into the lath overhead with a matching plug for the cord that securely locked them into place, they were quite safe when new although the cord insulation was getting a bit questionable by the '70s. It took some time for electric plugs to be standardized, before that happened electric cords with Edison threads, like the lamp, were in common use. My sister used to live in an old house that still had a few electric outlets equipped with a threaded "light bulb" socket. The wiring for that push button switch is inside the wall, they had a reasonably good quality for the era wiring job done, the truly cheap conversion jobs had the wiring running up the outside of the walls on porcelain knobs or cleats. OSHA wouldn't approveThis office was clearly remodeled from something else -- a private home perhaps. It's on at least the second floor, based on the stairwell in the background. The cord dangling from the ceiling fixture to power the hanging lamp shows a certain "muddle through" attitude. And the "screws into the socket" device on the wire at the extreme right, which may in fact connect to the bullet lamp, shows further improvisation. Add that nobody has a proper desk, and you can guess that the American Nature Association had a pretty modest budget. [The 1910s and 1920s saw many office buildings wired for electricity after conversion from gas -- often just for ceiling fixtures, with no wall outlets. Tapping a ceiling fixture with a screw-in adapter was a common practice for things like desk lamps. - Dave] Proper desks and the task at handThose tables may not be proper desks, but they were definitely standard office furniture for the period. The 1932-vintage federal building I worked in still had several around; they're intended to be all-purpose office work surfaces rather than executive or even secretarial desks. They offered a minimal amount of storage - each had at least one drawer and wider models had one on each side; enough to handle materials for limited, simple or transitory tasks. So what is this particular task? Obviously, a goodly quantity of individuals have sent envelopes to the A.N.A., and in return are apparently being sent clippings from a newspaper. Now, what prompted those incoming letters? Just to get a newspaper clipping? Or did the letters contain contributions, and the clippings are to accompany form thank-you letters because they report on some work the A.N.A. has done? The problem with this is that all those envelopes are incoming letters; the clippings wouldn't need to be at hand until the outgoing envelopes were ready to be stuffed, and we don't see any of those here. Another interesting thing is that the clippings are from a Los Angeles newspaper. Is it possible that people were sending clippings to the A.N.A. for some reason? The light switchIn the mid 1970s I went to middle school in an old manor house that still had some of those pushbutton switches. For some reason they had transparent switchplates over the things. They didn't have enclosed points, and there was one in the science classroom which would simply explode with sparks every time you pressed it. John Steven McGroartyThe newspaper article being gathered is this: "Seen from the Green Verdugo Hills: A Page Conducted by John Steven McGroarty," published in the Los Angeles Times Magazine on Sunday, Aug. 30, 1925, about a week before this photo was probably taken. Would that have been enough time for the A.N.A. to send letters to its California members asking them to send in clippings of the article, and for the replies to return? I noticed there is already a copy on the wall, as if someone spotted it and put out a call for more copies. Why this specific item might have been of such interest to the organization is a little puzzling to me. The page is composed of smaller entries, and certainly there is a theme of gratitude for the gift of Nature. The first entry, "Things That the Saints Once Said," touches on the obligation to share what we have with those who need it. It includes a quote attributed to St. Ambrose: "The earth is the common possession of all and belongs to all and not to the rich," and another, attributed to John Chrysostom: "Are not the earth and the fullness thereof the Lord's?..." The second entry, "Singing Jimmy and his Large Invitation," recounts a neighbor's trip to Detroit, where he tried to entice the Kiwanis Clubs to hold a convention in the Verdugo Hills: So, what did Singing Jimmy Smith do but get up say, brothers, he said, I invite you to hold your next convention in the green Verdugo Hills. There's plenty of room in the chaparral and under the live oak trees. Our women folk will cook you plenty to eat. You can have goat's milk and cookies to your hearts' content. And all the neighbors will be right glad to see you... The third entry, "The Tale That a Big City Tells," begins with dismay at the number of people fed and housed by a mission in Los Angeles, then turns to an indictment of urban life: Here is the whole, beautiful, wide green earth, its vast vacant spaces of fertile lands, God's rains to water them, God's suns [sic] to warm them; the fruitful, plenteous earth with food for all and shelter for all. And yet we howl for bigger cities and more of them. Oh, brethren, there is something very wrong with the world. The generations to come will have a heavy burden to bear. They will have a fearful price to pay. McGroarty was a poet, author, and journalist; in 1923, he moved into a self-built home in Tujunga, Cal., in the Verdugo Mountains north of the city. In 1925 his main pursuits appear to have been his weekly page in the Times, and completing his doctorate in literature at the University of California. In 1933, he was named poet laureate of California. In 1935, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served two terms. Good point!I was so thrilled to figure it out, it didn't occur to me that they might be gathering an earlier column. Someday, I might go see if there's one that fits the A.N.A. better. From the Green Verdugo HillsThis was, according to various sources, a regular feature that John McGroarty wrote for the Los Angeles Times for many years. So there would have been more than one. Platen envyBoth typewriters are Underwood No. 5's, I'm pretty sure. I have a No. 5 that I use regularly. How I wish it was still as shiny as the one that girl is using! Artillery ArtMy grandmother told me how during WW2 servicemen would make presents out of whatever was on hand, like shells and such, and trade them with guys who could make something different. She had drinking glasses made out of some sort of shell. I have the "ugly goblets" that my grandfather commissioned from another sailor (don't know what was traded). They are quite obviously handmade and hideously ugly, but sentimental b/c my grandfather gave them to her during the war. Got a bang out of that lampThe artillery-based lamp appears to have on top a version of this fuze of mine, a PTTF (Powder Train Time Fuze) from 1907. It's about three inches wide by the same high, and is a brass mechanical fuze using a clockwork mechanism to adjust the time. The time is set by turning the dial from safe to the desired length of time for "bang!" The top unscrews so the one in the photo very easily was adapted for lamp duty on top of that artillery shell. Tens and tens of millions of these were manufactured for World War One. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, The Office)
Night Lights: 1905
... be lowered to the ground for maintenance, or if the poor workers had to scale the heights! Gorgeous But hardly a surprise it ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/20/2014 - 6:46pm -

New York circa 1905. "Night in Luna Park, Coney Island." A veritable wonderland of incandescent illumination. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. Thanks DaveI would crawl inside this photograph if I could. The Luna Park CircusAs if the architecture wasn't enough, the cafe mezzanines overlook a "floating" circus ring supported on arched trusses over the central lagoon. In the Shorpy image, Ring No. 1 is set up for a trapeze act. Here's a tinted postcard of a performing horse act on the same elevated platform. Ooh.I would have given anything to spend a night at the old Luna Park. The blurred figuresbring this photo to life! I love this website!!!! Ethereal glowI really like how the camera captured an aura around some of the lights. Even today this would be considered a beautiful display of lights. I can't imagine how magical it must have been to people who grew up without electricity in their homes and still may not have had it. I think that people too easily forget about some things in the past, like the original Ferris Wheel, and Coney Island in its prime. Modern day designers would do well to learn from these works of engineering art. WOW.They didn't waste any time taking advantage of electricity, did they? FWIW, I found this site yesterday and it is the most glorious corner of the Internet I've yet found. Just incredible. You have a new fan for life!! I was originally looking for Lewis Hine photos for a lecture ... and found more than I ever could have imagined! Keep up the good work! [Aw shucks. Thanks! - Dave] Job security!Can you imagine having the job of changing the burned-out light bulbs there? I imagine it'd have to be done after dusk so you could see which ones were out. Wonder if they bulb arrays were rigged so they could be lowered to the ground for maintenance, or if the poor workers had to scale the heights! GorgeousBut hardly a surprise it burned down. What a Sight Even the most staunch Victorians were impressed with this -- actually "awed" might be more appropriate. I've read a lot about Luna Park but don't remember anything about those elephants. Glowing praiseOne of your best choices yet -- an amazing photo. Oriental FantasiesThere's never been anything quite like the hallucinatory grandeur of the architectural mashups seen in amusement park and exposition buildings in this period. The primary quotations appear to come from Cairo minarets and Mughal Indian archways, but these have been all mixed up with motifs from Chinese pagodas and old Russian church spires, Venetian balustrades and Italian baroque shields on the balconies. Then there are the what-the-heck details like the phoenix-head fern planters erupting from the bases of the flagpoles all around the upper deck. What shall we call it all -- Electro-Moresco-Sino-Baroco? Lights - actionI have seen a number of photos of Luna Park, and they are all astonishing. It must have been a fabulous place! Hey, Dad!Can I borrow the time machine tonight? I want to head on over to Coney with the gang. What an unbelievable shot. You've done it again, Dave. Sadly, about all that is left of the old Coney Island is the Cyclone and Nathan's. Disney's inspiration?The attention to detail is amazing. I have (happily) wasted a half an hour on this picture and still find new details! AC/DCWhat makes this photo truly remarkable is the fact that even in 1905 there still wasn't an electrical standard. Was the power Edison's DC or was it Tesla's AC? I'm betting on AC. My grandfather, born in 1875, would regale us with stories of Coney Island. He would weave these almost impossible sounding stories about the grandeur of the place. Now you have to remember, the Coney Island of the 1950s and the 60s and then into the very depressing 70s was a very far cry from his experience, so it was almost as if he was telling fairy tales. It really must have been something else back then for the blue-collar worker. Working six days a week, up to 14 hours a day and taking your only day off to go to Coney Island. We have gained so much, we have lost so much. Few places I'd rather bethan Luna Park and Coney Island in 1905. What an interesting, fascinating and exciting place it must have been. HauntedI watched Ric Burns' documentary about Coney Island several years ago and it was so haunting and eerie that I can't look at this photo without getting chills. The 1903 footage of a Coney Island elephant being electrocuted for the "crime" of attacking a handler who threw a lit cigarette in her mouth still haunts me. Time machine pleaseIf I had a time machine, I'd take it back, throw a huge blanket over this place and tell them that they couldn't touch it for another 100 years, when they could appreciate the grandeur of all that is here. Those architectural details! Today's buildings are just squares and rectangles. No pomp! No curlicues! No flourishes! How amazing it must have been to see all this electricity in one place. All that light. Must have been like they imagined the future would be. Where do you think we live, Luna Park?!While growing up on the Lower East Side of NYC in the 60's and 70's my grandparents and parents were always admonishing us kids to "turn off the lights when you leave the room!" If they ever had to turn the lights off after we carelessly left them on they would always say, "Where do you think we live, Luna Park?!" Or, my father's favorite, "the place is lit up like Luna Park!" Now I see what they meant! Fascinating photo. Thank you. Luna ParkMaxim Gorky's remarks about Luna Park fit this photo perfectly: With the advent of night a fantastic city all of fire suddenly rises from the ocean into the sky. Thousands of ruddy sparks glimmer in the darkness, limning in fine, sensitive outline on the black background of the sky shapely towers of miraculous castles, palaces, and temples. Golden gossamer threads tremble in the air. They intertwine in transparent flaming patterns, which flutter and melt away, in love with their own beauty mirrored in the waters. Fabulous beyond conceiving, ineffably beautiful, is this fiery scintillation. NicopachydermI must correct Mattie below. The elephant was certainly electrocuted at Luna Park, but not because a handler threw a lit cigarette into her mouth and she killed him. She was killed because she had killed three men in as many years. While it was true that she was abused by patrons and had in fact been fed a lit cigarette by someone, that incident was some time before and her handler was neither whom she killed nor who fed her the lit cigarette. Luna in filmI was just flipping through the channels and Turner Classic Movies is showing a silent film called "The Crowd" that features a montage of the lead characters enjoying the sights of Luna at night. The shots were just as spectacular as the photos of Luna park here at Shorpy. (The Gallery, Coney Island, DPC)
Chemical Brothers: 1942
... 1942. "Wilson Dam, Alabama. Tennessee Valley Authority. Workers checking out at end of shift at a chemical engineering plant." Acetate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/19/2023 - 11:07am -

June 1942. "Wilson Dam, Alabama. Tennessee Valley Authority. Workers checking out at end of shift at a chemical engineering plant." Acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein. View full size. Next Frame PleaseIf we had a few more photos we could make a movie. First this one and now this one (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Industry & Public Works)
Death Avenue: 1910
... and in particular for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Much material was provided by several websites, but two in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/10/2012 - 4:16pm -

A detailed circa 1910 Manhattan streetscape of rail cars at West 26th Street and Eleventh Avenue, known as "Death Avenue" for the many pedestrians killed along the New York Central's freight line there. View full size. Removal of the street-level tracks commenced on December 31, 1929. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. Update: Click here for the largest version. A Freight TrolleyI think this is one of my favorite photos ever. There's so much going on here that is representative of the time that I could spend hours scrutinizing it. I'd never even heard of there being freight trolleys that would rumble down city streets (I know, I need to do my homework). All the activity and storefronts and normalcy of it all. Simply incredible. "How do I get to the Susquehanna Hat Company?" Re: Freight TrolleyHere's a closeup of the engine. The coal seems to be in a bin on the front. Bain took several photos of this rail line and the freight cars. I'll post some more in the coming days. Any railfans out there who can tell us more about the 11th Avenue line? What's she holding?Out of all the details in this picture, there is one that has drawn my attention. On the left side of the street, about in line with the front of the train, there is a woman holding something white. Can someone with a better monitor tell what that is? I'm thinking large dog (though I think it's unlikely that a dog that large would be carried--unless maybe it was scared by the train?) or squirming child, or possibly a massive sack of flour (not that likely, I admit.) Anyone? [Looks like a bundle of packages wrapped in paper. - Dave] Freight Trolley?I don't think so, at least not by most definitions. A trolley draws power from overhead lines and I can't see any power lines above the tracks or the necessary connecting wires (and their poles) to keep it in place. I do see a steam engine [Coal-powered. See photo below. - Dave] of a fairly specialized type and in the distant background a line of freight cars crossing the street. Given the proximity of the location to the Hudson River (it's near what is now Chelsea Docks) it wouldn't surprise me if this wasn't a New York Central spur line to connect the docks to a main line, in the period before most of the rail traffic in New York City went underground. There is a street car in the shot, but I'm guessing that it's a horse car (pulled by at least one horse). What I find really interesting is that there's not a motor vehicle in sight, just horses, and the sheer amount of what the horses left behind (to put it euphemistically). "Freight Trolley"The engine, as noted below, is clearly not a trolley. It appears to be a "steam dummy," a small locomotive, largely enclosed, often looking like a streetcar so as not to frighten the horses. A conventional locomotive, even a small one, with large driving wheels and flashing connecting rods, would certainly frighten the animals. Mounted FlagmanI guess the guy on the horse on the foreground is also a mounted flagman... he is preceding the steam train to protect pedestrians! Remember... "2000 killed in ten years" on the Death Avenue (Eleventh avenue)! ----------------------------------------- Funimag, the web magazine about Funiculars http://www.funimag.com Funimag Blog http://www.funimag.com/photoblog/ Guy on the roofDid you see the guy on the top of the roof of the third wagon? I am wondering what he is doing! Maybe watching pedestrians!!! Incontinent horse!Did you see the incontinent horse?!!! Gash...! What a big river!!! That picture is really fantastic!! Re: Guy on the RoofThe man on the roof is a brakeman. Riding a car roof is better than hanging on a ladder on the car side. Horse-drawn tramJust to the right (our view) of the "train" is a horse drawn tram car being drawn along the track in the opposite direction. BrakemanPlease note that there are no brake hoses on the locomotive. All handbrakes, so the brakeman rides on top because the staff brakes are on the car tops. to stop the train the engineer signals the brakeman and he starts ratcheting down the handbrakes How fast?I'm wondering just how fast these trains were barreling through the street to hit so many people? If they were being preceded by a guy on horseback they couldn't have been gong all that fast. And yet people still did not notice them coming? How does one not hear a steam locomotive? Tank DummyPerhaps the locomotive is one of these (scroll down to the bottom of the page): http://www.northeast.railfan.net/steam22.html The sheer amount of detail in this is incredible.E.g. the kids' chalk scrawls on the sidewalk. I'd imagine that a lot of the deaths occurred at night or in bad weather. My favorite partMy favorite part is the kid running down the sidewalk on the lower left. Perhaps he's trying to outrun the train? He reminds me of the drawings of Little Nemo. [Lower left? Or right? - Dave] The beer wagonIncredible photo! The detail is fantastic. I like the beer wagon (wishful thinking?) in front of the train. I am just amazed.... CrutchesWhat about the guy on crutches on the right. I wonder what the story is behind that. 26th and 11thI went and looked up the intersection on Google maps, and the whole right side is a parking lot now. Triangle Shirtwaist FireThe worst factory fire in the history of New York City occurred on March 25, 1911, in the Asch building, where the Triangle Shirtwaist Company occupied the top three of ten floors. Five hundred women, mostly Jewish immigrants between thirteen and twenty-three years old, were employed there. The owners had locked the doors leading to the exits to keep the women at their sewing machines. In less than fifteen minutes, 146 women died. The event galvanized support for increased safety in the workplace. It also garnered support for labor unions in the garment district, and in particular for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Much material was provided by several websites, but two in particular I want to call attention to, the first for an overall exceptionally presented look back at this tragedy and a stunning presentation of the labor movement. Truly a brilliant multimedia presentation. The Triangle Factory Fire – Presented by The Kheel Center, Catherwood Library, ILR School at Cornell University. and National Public Radio ... I can not recommend those two sites too highly. They are top-notch. And on YouTube, The Cloth Inferno. 11th Avenue TrainBeneath the "dummy" shroud, it's actually a two-truck Shay locomotive, a type of geared power popular on many logging and industrial operations with sharp curves and steep grades. High LineThis rail line was replaced with an elevated line that entered the warehouses of the west side on their upper floors. It continued to be used into the early 1980s mostly for boxcars of produce. The boxcars shown are refrigerated for perishable items. The roof hatches are for loading ice into bunkers at the ends of the cars. The elevated rail line still exists but is now owned by the city which is rebuilding it into an elevated linear park in Manhattan's Chelsea district. 11th Ave trainIf you look at the largest version you can see that it says 11 on the front which would make this an 0-6-0, class B-11. The Shays also show the offset boiler. Great photo. 26th and 11thWest 26th & 11th is the location the fabulous old Starrett Lehigh Building, a block-long warehouse looking like a stylized ocean liner, with train tracks from the pier leading right into the building and up the freight elevators. Its time was past before it was even finished in 1931 as the trucking industry eclipsed rail freight. Funky old place to wander around if you ever get the chance. 26th & 11thThe right side of 11th Ave & 26th St will be the terminus of the 7 Train extension from Times Square. (last station will be 11th Ave and 34th) . They are currently boring down to the bedrock. NY Central dummy engine>> Beneath the "dummy" shroud, it's actually a two-truck Shay locomotive It seems the NY Central Shays weren't built until 1923-- so looks like he's right about the engine being an 0-6-0 beneath the dummy housing. N.Y. Central ShayA city ordinance required that a horseman precede the rail movement, and that the locomotive be covered to look like a trolley car so as not to frighten horses. When the line was elevated it was electrified, I believe with locomotives that could also run on batteries to access trackage that had no overheard wires. At that time the Shay locomotives were put to use elsewhere on the New York Central system. Here is a photo, from my father's collection, of one of the Shays in service near Rochester, I believe. The spout on the left is not part of the locomotive but is on a water stand behind it. Not The Sound of Silence!Just try and imagine the sounds here! The shod horses clomping down the brick street. The wagons creaking along as the wheels roll on the bricks and dirt. The various bells (church, train, etc) pealing, the subtle sounds of conversations and pedestrian footsteps, the whisk of broom bristles as the street is cleaned! Much preferable to the honking, boom-boxing, brake-screeching, muffler-rapping scenarios we endure today! 10th AvenueAnother pic https://www.shorpy.com/node/12859 shows what 11th Avenue north from 26th St actually looked like; someone mislabelled this negative of 10th Ave. Building Still ThereAccording to a post here, this is actually the intersection of 10th Ave and W 26th Street. I looked up this intersection on Google Maps and it appears that one of the buildings in the old photo is still there. It's way down the street..behind the train, the 3rd building from the end on the left side of the street. (The windows look like there is a white stripe connecting them). I think that is the same building on the northwest corner of the intersection of 10th Ave and 27th Street. Just thought I'd throw that out there :) 29th StLooks like you're right, that bldg is still there, but it's on the NW corner of 29th St and 10th Ave. In the Google streetview it's about a twin of the bldg at 28th St. At the left edge of the Shorpy pic you see 267 10th Ave, which means the engine is about to cross 26th St. The train moved from the yard onto 10th Ave at 30th St. Pic of 11th Avenue https://www.shorpy.com/node/12859 (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Horses, NYC, Railroads)
Fayetteville at Five: 1941
... North Carolina, at about five o'clock, when the workers start coming out of Fort Bragg." Photo by Jack Delano. View full ... [Fayetteville was home to thousands of construction workers engaged in a massive wartime expansion of Fort Bragg -- the reason ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/04/2021 - 1:13pm -

March 1941. "Traffic on the main street of Fayetteville, North Carolina, at about five o'clock, when the workers start coming out of Fort Bragg." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. What's he standing on?Is what he's standing on still there? [Planet Earth? Last we checked, yes. - Dave] Twist of FayettevilleThere have been a lot of changes in downtown Fayetteville. This looks approximately right - Rayless department store was at 200 Hay St. There is no more parking, and the street has been narrowed with many trees planted. I can spot at least 3 surviving buildings on the right, including the old McFadyen Music. It looks like the original photo was taken from the balcony of the Market House. You can see it in street view if you swivel 180 degrees. Is that a Lincoln?The fifth car back on the left, the light-colored one. I need help from the Shorpy auto buffs. I have lived here since the 70sYes, he will have been standing on the west balcony of the Market House, it was recently in the news due to an attempted arson during the riots last summer. The debate is still open as to what should be done with it, tear it down, move it, or? I remember many of the buildings in the picture, many started going away by the late 70s and early 80s as the downtown area fell apart and shopping moved out to the malls. Quite a few of the buildings are still there but heavily renovated. The Hotel Lafayette is long gone, The Prince Charles is still there and is currently housing rental condos and small businesses. Downtown has come, gone, and come again. My guess is ChryslerI'm thinking this is a 41 Chrysler Series 30 Eight 5th car on leftI don't believe so. The Continental had a different trunk lid and rubber mudguard on the front of the rear fender, and the Zephyr rear was more sloped. Could be wrong though. 5 p.m. Fort Bragg exodus?I lived on Fort Bragg when my dad was stationed there in the early '60s and it's highly unlikely any end-of-the-day traffic from the post would be noticed in downtown Fayetteville 13 miles away. [Fayetteville was home to thousands of construction workers engaged in a massive wartime expansion of Fort Bragg -- the reason this series of photos was made. - Dave] No, it's not a LincolnThe shape of the rear fender, the three horizontal ribs, and the location of the filler cap leave no room for guessing – it's a 1941 Plymouth P12 Special Deluxe. McFayden MusicI was a little surprised to find out that McFayden Music is still in business, though now they are in Greenville, according to their website! Fayetteville Street LifeI suppose the trees planted along the sidewalk in present-day Fayetteville are nice, and I know there is an anti-automobile sentiment in many towns, large and small, that results in limited street parking, narrower roads, bike lanes, pedestrian priority rights-of-way, etc. But I can't help but notice the vibrancy of street life in Fayetteville back in 1941. The streets are lined with shops, and there is exuberant signage everywhere. There are actual pedestrians - shoppers, workers, people running errands - walking on the sidewalks. The street is bustling with traffic. Today? It looks kind of quiet and desolate - although I bet the local shopping mall and the Wal-Mart and the Home Depot out by the Interstate are full of consumers. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Jack Delano, Stores & Markets)
Great Northern: 1900
... towns through which its lines passed, so that local workers, if injured, had a local doc to go to. Incidentally, Dad is still a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/14/2022 - 10:29am -

Chicago circa 1900. "Great Northern Hotel and office building, Dearborn and Jackson Streets." Along with perhaps the earliest appearance on these pages of Coca-Cola signage. Also: a "Lady Barber Shop." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Urban TotemsIf the colorful carved pole is in front of the barber shop and a perched spigot is at the entrance to the bath-house, I would think the next place would be a locksmith? [The sign says Chicago Bronze. - Dave] Lady barbers!?Women cutting men's hair, ladies smoking cigars, or Lady as a last name? Unfortunately the Great Northern building was demolished. Also, there is no Google street view of this block (Dearborn and Jackson) for some reason. Knot a typoIf you wore Ruppert's shoes then you "knew" the feeling of dry socks…I guess. Otherwise, big multiple typo! Elsewhere, great fire escape where the tall buildings join! Nice!"Chicago School" architecture. It was designed by Daniel Burnham, who also did the Flatiron Building. It was demolished in 1940 and has since been replaced by the Dirksen Federal Building. WowI can actually see the characters come to life from "Sister Carrie." One of my favorite novels from 1900. What in the world ......does "Slaunch and true, thru and thru" mean? Besides "knew/new," "slaunch" struck me as odd. Possibly a word that's out of usage? [The word is "staunch," not "slaunch." - Dave] At the sign of the spigotI've seen plenty of giant eyeglasses outside opticians' offices on Shorpy, but never a spigot outside a bathhouse. What a great idea. And a great picture--keep the Chicago pictures coming. Someone doesn't wear Ruppert shoesAny idea who the guy in the drink in the Ruppert shoe sign would be? [A lost sole. - Dave] Did I miss it?Where's the milk bottle? Tennis anyone?Is roof fenced off for athletics, possibly tennis on the building behind the Great Northern at the top far right? Southern Serves the SouthBehind the Great Northern there is an office for the Southern Railway. My Pop was a designated Southern Railway railroad doctor, and when I was a kid I had a bright red billed cap that had the SR with the arrow logo as seen on here. It was my favorite cap. . . . The railroad liked having doctors in the various towns through which its lines passed, so that local workers, if injured, had a local doc to go to. Incidentally, Dad is still a railroad doc, though for Norfolk Southern now. Southern merged with I guess the Norfolk and Western line about 1985 & was later renamed Norfolk Southern. Ye Olde Old GloryWe can narrow the date range a little bit thanks to the American flag flapping on the left side of the photo. That flag design was used starting July 4, 1896, when Utah became a state. Too bad JJ Astor IVdidn't wear a pair of Ruppert's Dry Sox on his 1912 crossing! View from The MonadnockEvery building in this photo is gone. Although the photographer's vantage, Burnham & Root's 1893 Monadnock building, still stands. Chicago Federal Centerhttp://www.panoramio.com/photo/1307733 I believe this building covers the entire block where the hotel stood. Similar buildingsI am struck by the similarities between these buildings and the Old Colony (where I worked in the mid 1980s) and the Manhattan, which still stand in the block between Van Buren and Congress and Dearborn and Plymouth Court. The Old Colony has the round corners, but the windows are very different. Cigars vs. CigarettesIt's hard to imagine now that long ago cigar smokers far outnumbered cigarette users, as evidenced by the many advertising signs in all these photos. When I was a kid in the 1960's the drug stores still had large glass-front humidor cases with open cigar boxes so you could purchase individual cigars, but this practice died out before the decade ended. Then we had to find another way to light our firecrackers. Coke advert?Where is it in the pic? I can't find one. Political unbuildingas noted below - way below - the hotel itself, and the Bedford Building at the far left of the picture (whose spectacular corner spire has unfortunately been cut off), were among a large number of buildings in Chi-town demolished around 1940. The Tribune tried to turn their demise into a partisan issue, illustrating their removal in a 02/17/40 article headlined "Some of the Chicago Buildings Wrecked During New Deal Depression," but it failed to note the reason for their demolition: construction of the Dearborn Street Subway (there was concern the digging would undermine their foundations). Catarrh cureAs a longtime sufferer from catarrh--the name sounds both ridiculous and ominous--I am wondering how to get my hands on some of that Blue Gum Compound. Surely a more pleasant treatment than pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine, or guaifenesin. In fact, blue gum honey (eucalyptus globulus) is sold today as a treatment for various effects of "phlegmatic deposition." Australian brands are widely available. But alas, even 122 years later, there is no cure for catarrh. The Gunning SystemGunning was a big player in the world of giant urban advertising billboards. The City of Chicago fought them tooth and nail: https://chicagology.com/advertising/chicagobillboards/ The photo appears to have been taken during the transition from "Every sign must begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Period." to "If there's no period, the letters can be a little larger" [Mighty internal struggle to avoid using "period of transition" above.] Eyes goin' badI'm gonna have to go and get a free eye exam at Sweet, Wallach & Co. People are gettin' kinda fuzzy. Haven't we met somewhere before?I know -- it was at one of Gatsby's parties. Whither Lady Barbers?I can't understand why this didn't catch on. I'd rather have my hair cut by a woman, but for most of my life, lady barbers were not an option. Chicago School "bay window" style at its best.You can still see some around town. Cable Car TrackChicago had a large cable car system that lasted until 1906. The far track had a centre slot for the grip to clamp onto the cable. Many of the lines turned downtown in loops, which may be the source of the term Loop in Chicago. More details here. (The Gallery, Chicago, DPC, Railroads)
Joy Boys: 1940
... " Soldiers Joy Cafe , newly constructed for construction workers near Camp Blanding." Acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View ... bar was built -- to serve the hundreds of construction workers newly arrived to build barracks at Camp Blanding -- and the reason John ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2020 - 2:22pm -

December 1940. Starke, Florida. "Soldiers Joy Cafe, newly constructed for construction workers near Camp Blanding." Acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. It seems the wardid not stifle the production of beer or neon signs. Three fellowswaiting for a novel to be written about them. The middle guy and one on the viewer's left look like they could be related. Brothers? But the fellow in the coat and hat -- I bet they all told interesting stories when they were drunk. Does it really get cold enough in Florida for a coat that heavy? [Oh my yes. - Dave] Native Floridian at a glanceStarke is in northern Florida and this image was made in December so to a native of the state the weather is very cold. To those new in town it is Florida and 60 degrees is plenty warm -- all we need are sleeves and maybe a light sweater. It is even more obvious in South Florida when picking out Canadians versus natives at the pool in January. Canadians dive in when natives hesitate to dip a toe. Not at war yetFor you "Ice Gang", check the date of the photo, we are not at war yet. [The reason this bar was built -- to serve the hundreds of construction workers newly arrived to build barracks at Camp Blanding -- and the reason John Vachon was assigned to take these photos, was the War. By December 1940, a year before Pearl Harbor, America was heavily involved in the war effort. - Dave] Macabre meaningSoldier's Joy is a 200-year-old Scottish fiddle tune that Robert Burns eventually wrote lyrics for. His version is of a veteran who is homeless and disfigured from battle, but recounts the joy of having served in the army. During the Civil War the phrase became synonymous with morphine, as some lyrics written during that time go: "Gimme some of that Soldier’s Joy, you know what I mean, I don’t want to hurt no more, my leg is turnin’ green." Fast getawayI bet there were nightly face plants from those stairs. Best version of Soldier's Joy you'll ever hearOn the "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album, with John McEuen ripping through the melody and Junior Huskey laying down a killer bass line. Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn76byAtQ_g Jax also Builds Health!1940's Refrigerator - Tool Box Magnet, probably an ad design by Alberto Vargas. The gent on the rightLooks old enough to remember the Great War, certainly too old for active duty in the current one. A 1940 Fashion Statement?The sartorial skills in Starke are seriously lacking. But help is coming lads -- smart, fashionable and practical men's clothing will be widely available after the war. Weekend at Joy Boy'sEither the word "JOY" isn't in the fellow on the rights vocabulary or this was the idea for the comedy movie Weekend at Bernie's, 1940 style. Who built the bar?The building the bar is in looks like a barracks. I'll bet at night the neon looked really cool. Who dunnit?LOC says these Starke photos are by Marion Post Wolcott. [Oops. Right you are! - Dave] Joy BoysWell, OK, but the one on the right looks like a sourball. No joy with this dude. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Florida, M.P. Wolcott)
Peas Train: 1942
Sept. 1942. "Special train carrying agricultural workers to upper New York state to work in the harvest." Our second look at the ... which the residents were in need of employment. The workers will be sent to FSA camps or to certified dwellings in a five-county ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/01/2023 - 4:45pm -

Sept. 1942. "Special train carrying agricultural workers to upper New York state to work in the harvest." Our second look at the high schoolers recruited by the Farm Security Administration amid a wartime labor shortage to travel from Richwood, West Virginia, to Batavia, New York, to help bring in the fruit crop. Acetate negative by John Collier. View full size. DeKalb DetasselersI remember back in the '70s there was a ready job every summer for high school and college students detasseling corn in the fields around DeKalb, Illinois. The kids would go to DeKalb Ag HQ before dawn and board buses to be hauled to the next field needing detasseling. They often didn't get back until after dark. Mountaineer Farmers New York Times, September 5, 1942. West Virginians Help Harvest Here Mountaineers Are Being Moved by FSA to Five Counties in Western New York RICHWOOD, W. Va., Sept. 4 — A migration of mountaineer farmers to help harvest the tomato and peach and other crops of upper New York State began today. The first thirty-three of almost 300 volunteers in the food-for-victory drive left by bus for Rochester and 250 will go Tuesday, accompanied by their families, on a special train chartered by the Farm Security Administration. Recruited from the farms and gardens of Nicholas and Clay Counties, the force includes men, women, girls and boys. Leslie Atkins, representative of the migratory labor division of the FSA employment service, had certified the Nicholas-Clay County area of the Central West Virginia mountains as one in which the residents were in need of employment. The workers will be sent to FSA camps or to certified dwellings in a five-county area in New York and will remain there through the harvest season for tomatoes, peaches, apples, carrots, onions and other crops. The FSA will bring them back home, Mr. Atkins said, or they may go on to Florida to help with the Winter crops if they wish. Other contingents will move from areas in Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee. While away from the mountains the farm helpers will have guarantee of three-fourths employment and will receive rations when they are not employed. This Score Just InSeptember 14, 2013: The Beckley Registger-Herald reports that the Fayetteville Pirates "carved up" the Richwood Lumberjacks 61-0. "Walk-over" SeatsThose seat backs were not very soft, nearly vertical, and weren't adjustable, they didn't recline. But they were hinged in such a way that they could easily be reversed. The base of the seat never moved, only the back. This made it easy to set up forward seating no matter how the car was pointed. And it was easy to set up two seats anywhere for face-to-face seating of four people, as has been done with some in this photo. There was little improvement in coach seating for a long time, probably at least 50 years. The railroads weren't overly concerned about it, since uncomfortable coaches encouraged passengers to upgrade to first class. When new seats that resemble what we're accustomed to today came along, they were such a vast improvement that passengers made travel plans based on avoiding the old style seats. That's why, in timetables right up to the Amtrak era, you will almost always see "Reclining Seat Coaches" prominently printed in the schedules. While passengers loved the new seats, they were an operational headache for the railroads, far beyond their initial high cost. They were much more complicated to maintain, and it was no longer quick or easy to reverse seats at endpoints. Like dining cars and sleepers, it was usually easier to turn the entire car around than it was to individually turn reclining seats. Many passengers on long trips cannot--or will not--ride backwards. And the new seats were so much more expensive to maintain, bulletins were frequently issued asking train personnel to watch for, and prohibit, the use of seats as footrests, as is being done in the foreground of this picture. Times have changedThese young workers must have checked their baggage, since all likely had suitcases as they'd be staying through the harvest. There is almost no overhead stuff stored here. Today, travelers would have two or more pieces jammed in the overhead area, and all would be concentrating on hand-held devices instead of looking out the windows -- and certainly not reading as a few riders are doing here. RRCould be a coach from the DL&W. (The Gallery, John Collier, Railroads)
Second Home: 1943
... most already mentioned, but there were a large number of workers comp incidents that arose in a people transporter located a mile back ... ways to improve safety is to eliminate the need to expose workers to the danger in the first place. So this was a big improvement. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/08/2014 - 12:39pm -

January 1943. "Freight train operations on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The caboose is the conductor's second home. He always uses the same one and many conductors cook and sleep there while waiting for trains to take back from division points." Medium format nitrate negative by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. "Stormy" and brake tests."Stormy" Kromer was the inventor's name, the hat was a Kromer Blizzard Cap. The last one my wife bought for me was made in China, so I don't buy them anymore. There used to be a pair of hand (lantern) signals in the rulebook to handle brake tests: Rule 12(f), the lamp swung horizontally over the head was the signal for the engineer to apply the brakes for the test, Rule 12(g), the lamp held at arm's length overhead was the signal to release. If all was well and the pressure recovered at the caboose, the next signal would be the "highball", otherwise someone would start walking the train to find the problem. Classy RV-ingWouldn't it be great to have an RV these days that looked more like that than the generic, mundane look most modern RVs have? I suppose one could refit an RV to look like this, but the weight of the wood paneling might be a problem, not to mention the weight of the woodstove. One can dream, however unrealistic one's dreams might be. The Modern CabooseIn Canada at least there are still uses for cabooses. Mainly they're used on short switching runs where one or two cars are dropped off and or picked up at a specific shipper. I suspect that this is a time saving measure since it would be inefficient to keep moving the ETD (FRED) to the new end car, and it poor electronic brain might not be able to cope with a movement that temporarily splits the train in the middle. Lots of factors killed Cabeesemost already mentioned, but there were a large number of workers comp incidents that arose in a people transporter located a mile back of slack action on a freight train. One of the best ways to improve safety is to eliminate the need to expose workers to the danger in the first place. So this was a big improvement. Cheesecake, though, is something to be missed. Comforting memoriesAs a young boy in Maine my brother and I would watch the trains go by and count the cars. It was a thrill to wave to the conductor. My grandfather, an old railroad man, introduced us to a conductor friend of his and we even got a quick look inside a caboose. A dream come true for a young railroad fan. Proper pinupsSome tasty cheesecake here. Contemporary girls a la Sundblom and Elvgren along with some smaller older pieces. I Miss the CabooseNice man cave. September snowThe graffiti is correct; it did indeed snow in Illinois and Iowa on Friday, September 25, 1942 - up to two inches (in Iowa Falls). Newspapers the next morning reported that this was the first September snowfall in Des Moines in the history of the weather bureau. The high school football game between Garner and Buffalo Center was called because of darkness after "driving snow" knocked out six lights. Wall CandyI worked on a railroad for 36 years and the cabooses never were allowed to look like that. Years ago the caboose was assigned to the Conductor for each trip he made so it was decorated it the way he wanted it. I rode these for many years until they were replaced with a flashing rear end device. FRED Back in the day!It would have been nice to be there. Caboose LoreWhatever happened to cabooses? Were they stopped as a cost-saving measure, or was the conductor no longer needed on freight trains? They were a "natural" ending to trains as they looked so different from the other cars. When they passed you knew that it was OK to cross the crossing. Now freight trains just end and it is sad. Part of the fun with trains was waving at the caboose. Quite often, the conductor or whoever was in it would wave back. Cabeese and conductorsThough the cabeese have been replaced, not so the conductors. Their office has been moved into the cab of the locomotive..Conductors are actually in charge of the train, not as ususlly believed, the engineers. Engineers run the locomotives and the conductors tell them where to pick up and drop off freight cars. I prefer the caboose to the Freds that are used now. The Freds not only have a flashing light, but they radio air pressure and other information to the engineer, but the conductor is usually a nice friendly guy, much more than the Freds, A Place to HangI feel sorry for the modern conductor and brakeman. They used to have a home away from home at the end of the train but now only have a seat in the lead locomotive or a seat in the empty slave locomotives. Get a load of the CabooseGet a load of the caboose on the broad on the wall of the caboose. LOL (Am I the only one to post this obviouse joke?) A glimpse of the cabooseFrom "I Like Trains" by Fred Eaglesmith Sixteen miles from Arkadelphia right near the Texas border traffic was stopped at a railway crossing I took it to the shoulder I stoked the kettle I put it to the metal I shook the gravel loose I missed the train but I was happy with a glimpse of the caboose (chorus) cause I like trains I like fast trains I like trains that call out through the rain I like trains I like sad trains I like trains that whisper your name I was born on a greyhound bus my Momma was a diesel engine They tried to put me behind the wheel but I wouldn't let them You should have seen the look in their eyes and how it turned to tears when I finally told them I wanna be an engineer Now you think I've got someone new but darlin' that ain't true I could never love another woman besides you It's not some dewy-eyed darlin' darlin' that's gonna drive you insane But anymore I'd be listenin' for the sound of a big ol' train (chorus) cause I like trains I like fast trains I like trains that call out through the rain I like trains I like sad trains I like trains that whisper your name Cabeese have always intrigued meThanks for the view of life inside a caboose, I have always been fascinated with them. After reading Lectrogeek's link about the demise of the caboose I learned quite a bit of info about trains that I just took for granted before reading the link. The link's explanation of the features of the FRED device does bring up one question though. Before the days of computers and the prevalence of two-way radios from the back of the train to the front, how did the engineer get all of the air pressure and movement information from the conductor? Stormy Kromer!I spy an actual Stormy Kromer hat hanging on a peg! Still made in Michigan, originally designed by Stormy's wife from a baseball cap and made to stay on a railroad engineer's head no matter how windy. Technology overtook them.Renaissanceman asked "Whatever happened to cabooses?" Technology, in the form of flashing end-of-train devices (acronym is FRED, I think) and computerised detection for when the rear end passes critical points (signals, switches, etc) replaced the need for a man at the back. Home sweet home!Except for the slack action when a long train started up, I'm sure. Note the stout rod holding the potbelly stove down to the floor. And here is an explanation for why we no longer have cabeese. MemoriesMy brother forwarded this shot to me and boy do I love it. Our father was a conductor on the C&NWRR and the photo brought back so many wonderful memories of my childhood. As a railroading family, my father would periodically take me to the yard with him to work. One of the highlights of the trip was reaching for the curved handrail on the side of the caboose and let the train's passing movement pull you up for the ride. Once on-board, I loved climbing up to the copula for a bird’s eye view (usually it would be a trip to Proviso Yard where I could be handed off to see my uncle, grandfather or a cousin). Thank you for any train picsMy Grandfather, whom I adored, worked on the Erie Lackawanna from the early 1910's to the late 1960's. Any old pics of the great train days are so appreciated. Thank you. I find it interestingwith the cheesecake motif that in the upper left hand of this photo (near the stove pipe) there's a picture of what appears to be a mother consoling a child. Penny for his thoughts.Pipe smoker is wearing a Stormy Kromer as well. I wonder what he's thinking? How long will the war last? How long till he sees his son again? How long till lunch? How long is it gonna take this photographer to get his shot? The end of the endTwo innovations contributed to the end of the caboose. Roller bearings on the freight cars meant the guy in the cupola didn't have to watch for "hot-boxes" from the earlier cotton-waste oil-saturated bearing packing. The advent of the walkie-talkie meant communication between the engineer and the guy on the ground taking care of the switching. Not Politically CorrectPersonalized cabooses like this started dying off probably by the 1950s when most large railroads and the unions agreed to use "pooled" cabooses where the caboose stayed with the train and only the crews changed. Today it is totally politically incorrect to post lewd photos or drawings like those in the photo. If doing such today does not get you fired, it will certainly cause you to have to attend Diversity and Sensitivity Training Sessions. Oh yeah, most jokes are strictly off limits, too. The railroad is a changed place these days. It's all in the detailsAnd what a wealth of details in this photo! Like the splatter on the side of the cabinet just above the waste basket. Probably from tobacco juice, or possibly empty beer cans? Neither of which would fly in today's railroad workplace, according to several of the comments. And the guy with the pipe would probably be out of a job as well. And what's up with the rolling pin hanging on the wall? Maybe to roll out a few pancakes for cooking on the stove when they got hungry? The print of the mother and child on the left looks like it has been hanging there since the caboose was built. And, echoing several of the other comments, I miss the caboose and the waving conductor. I still remember that as a kid, and this was back in the 1970s. Outstanding photo and keep up the great work. Politically Correct PinupIt's in the eye of the beholder. Working on the railroadI come from a railroad family. My grandfather had 50 years on the job, as did my father. I haven't seen the interior of many caboose cars but I did not see any decorated like this one. My dad used the downtime to study his safety rules for the next level of exam, necessary for promotion, not looking at nekkid women. Men were paid on time in grade status, but to promote you had to take a test and wait for an opening. Railroading was a serious job, the company took safety very seriously as did the men, particularily the brakemen because they would be out there on the track swinging the lantern to guide the engineer on his back-up as well as to switch the track. Never would alcohol be on the job, not ever. It would not be tolerated by the company, nor by the men whose lives were at stake. My dad smoked cigarettes, as did his father. Everyone smoked cigarettes and since it was not an issue like it is today, I cannot image that it wasn't allowed in the caboose. My dad quit railroading in the 1980s saying he was quitting because the new men coming in did not care--they were not interested in learning the job the right way, just "get it done quick, rest, play cards, and get my pay". It hurt him to see this low standard of work ethic, as it did other men. Sad commentary on progress, is it not. We loved seeing the trains pass--ran from our play when we heard the whistle blow just to wave, first at the engineer who would sound the horn for us, and then at the caboose where the men would wave back. it was especially nice if it was our dad in the caboose. Dining carI assume the "Dining Car in opposite direction" sign is a joke? If so, very clever. Afterlife of CabeeseA friend of ours, who has a stand of sugar maple trees and a hobby sugaring operation, got a retired Canadian National caboose (red, of course) with the idea of using it as a warming hut during the sap boiling. He paid some nominal price, and it was delivered to his site on a flatbed truck. He'd determined how high the caboose should be mounted -- you get the caboose only, not the wheels -- and he'd prepared a foundation for it that would place it at the actual height of a operational caboose. To get the thing off the truck an into place, he rented a crane and operator at something like $100/hour (this was three decades ago). Well, it took the crane operator four hours to get that caboose off the truck and onto the foundation! Yes, it all worked out OK, and yes, there's a red CN caboose sitting in a southern Ontario stand of maples. But that "freebie" caboose ended up costing a whole lot more. Air on the BrakesAccording to the air brake gage on the back wall there is air on the train so the caboose is hooked up (coupled) to the train. I wonder who's cut out head is pinned to the lower left door window? (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Klan Air: 1922
... yet in 1922. [Not so. The National Socialist German Workers' Party was formed in 1920. - Dave] The Klan was evil enough ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/20/2011 - 12:52am -

March 18, 1922. "Members of the Ku-Klux-Klan about to take off with the literature which was scattered over the suburbs of the city." The date coincides with a Klan parade through Washington's Virginia suburbs. View full size. IndianaI attended a public KKK event about 15 years ago. It was held on the front lawn of the county courthouse in my home town, in northern Indiana. There was a major stink ahead of time on the question of whether it should be allowed on public land; but eventually it was ruled legal as long as they got the proper permits and played by the law, just like anyone else who might request the use of community property. The police had everything well organized. If you showed up and wanted to be within close range of the stage, you had to declare either that you were for or against the Klan, at which you were ushered to one of two fenced-in corrals. Before entering you had to surrender your belt (it could be used as a weapon), and everything in your pockets (coins in particular might be used as hard projectiles). Your surrendered articles were dumped into water-filled barrels and were not returned. The only thing you could keep was one key, presumably to your house or car. The Klan speakers were what you'd expect: bigoted, poorly-educated, and so on. However, they behaved themselves to the letter. The more interesting thing to me was that most of the anti-Klan spectators composed themselves rather immaturely. Many anti-Klanners (especially the younger men) were salivating for a knockdown brawl. After the presentation the two corrals were emptied in opposite directions, single file, and regulated so as to minimize the chance of the two camps meeting up while the blood was still hot. How ironic that the side which played its hand more deftly was a bunch of ignorant racists. This is an example of what the Founders of the United States meant by their vision of this being a country of laws, not of men. Not to worryWith the kind of technical expertise, management skills and risk taking which that kind of persons normally exhibit, that airplane probably did not fly very long. There are reasons why the Allies won the last world war, and they are not limited to vastly superior resources. On top of that, the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese also went out of their way to lose it. Same story with the Warsaw Bloc. Fly the friendly skiesWelcome aboard, we'll be your flight attendants. Only two seats, so you're on the wing with Frank. Someone, let me borrow a Sopwith CamelSo I can shoot down these punks. Who is that masked masked man?I had to look at it full-size before I realized why one guy had a slightly Batman shaped mask on. I'm not sure the FAA would let them fly like that now! DisgustingThese people were and are a disgusting disgrace. The Nazi sysmbol on the tail is a perfect fit. The end state of this ideology was played out during WWII. It is important to remember. Doug Santo Pasadena, CA Klan dartsI think that if you threw all four of them out of the plane, at least three would stick in the ground headfirst. The power of the pyramidA little-known fact about the Klan is that it was the first modern pyramid scheme. Members were constantly exhorted to come up with more and more money to support their local chapters, and were under pressure to keep recruiting new people. Cadets Oh, crap, they have their own Air Force? Way Beyond ChubbyI can't imagine the bozo on the right being able to even get into the cockpit of that biplane! And I'd wager they'd need every inch of runway available to sorta get into the air. I wonder if they had helmets on under that silly pointy head gear. It's amazing how extraordinarily dumb they look. Which one of these folks was named "Ace"? The guy on the rightwill have to pay double. 99.9% NOT NaziThe use of the swastika was very commonplace among aviators of this era as a symbol of good luck.The use of the swastika was used on many a school uniforms throughout the 1890-1910's too.I'm pretty sure the swastika on the tail is just an ironic coincidence. That portly fellow on the rightHey Bubba -- next time order the salad! OverloadingThe big guy on the right will need to purchase two seats. Bullseye!I notice the guy at second right appears to have a bullet hole right through the emblem over his heart - perhaps he inherited his bedsheet from the previous wearer. Kudos to the unknown marksman. And guys at each end forgot their flying goggles. It's official."Klan Darts" wins. Thanks, kirkbrewer; laughed myself silly. Just what I needed as a tonic to the absurdity of these goons and the hatred they represent. RE: CadetsI think jepkid's note vaulted into my Pantheon Of Best Shorpy Comments. Guilty pleasureThe last KKK photo you posted really gave me the willies, but this is hilarious, for many reasons! I feel a bit guilty for having fun laughing at these idiots, and the witty comments about them, knowing that some of the ancestors of my children and grandchildren were terrorized by them, but I can't help it! I am going to have to be sure to show it to my kids when they are all here, next! Klan AirIn the early 1920s, there was actually a concerted Klan effort to co-opt and essentially take over the Army Air Service. The idea of a Klan Air Force was no joke. I've run across newspaper articles on the above, but I don't know anything about Klan iconography. Their use of counter Swastika is new to me -- Nazis didn't exist yet in 1922. [Not so. The National Socialist German Workers' Party was formed in 1920. - Dave] The Klan was evil enoughwithout connection to the Nazi party. It is not the Nazi Swastika, which is the reverse of the symbol on the plane's tail. That symbol is ancient. In Japan during the Middle Ages, it was called the manji, a sign for great luck and protection against evil powers. The Nazis adopted the symbol for their own use, but used the mirror image. The swastika was used well before the birth of Christ in Iran, China, India, Japan, and Southern Europe. Whether it was also used that early in the Americas, however, is not known. There are no swastika-like signs on the oldest rock carvings there. Neither did the Mayans, the Incas, and the Aztecs use it. However, many of the Indian tribes in the southern parts of North America seem to have begun using the sign after the arrival of the first Spanish colonists. [The Nazi Party's use of the symbol seems to stem in large part from Hitler's affinity for the writings of Karl May, a German author whose stories about the American West conflated Indians, swastikas and, interestingly, the Ku Klux Klan. - Dave] Some ironyFrom Wikipedia: "The symbol was popular as a good luck charm with early aviators. A swastika was also painted on the inside of the nosecone of the Spirit of St. Louis." Good luck (I hope not)The swastika was a popular "good luck" symbol through the 1920s. I hope it didn't work for these guys during their plane ride. SurvivorThat "person" second from the right looks like he was shot through the heart. Apparently it didn't work. Too Bad. Not 1922The Swastika was virtually unknown in the U.S. in 1922 and would not have been used by the KKK at that time. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that this picture is from the 1930s, not the 1920. [The photo is from 1922. - Dave] SymbologyIt does seem appropriate that there was a swastika on the plane in this picture, but I think it it was just a coincidence. The symbol has been around for thousands of years and didn't become unmistakably associated with the Nazi party, especially not in America, until a few years later. [The swastika on the plane is a "backwards" version of the Nazi symbol, whose arms point the other way. - Dave] Yes, and there were other variations, too, besides being either left or right facing. Sometimes the "arms" were rounded, and sometimes there was another little extension connected to them. There is a famous picture of Clara Bow in an outfit decorated with swastikas. On the hat, it faces right, like the Nazis used, and on the shoulder it was facing left. Of course, this has resulted in rumors that Clara was somehow involved with the Nazis, or even having an affair with Hitler! http://ajax1946.deviantart.com/art/Clara-Bow-Swastika-Colorized-10205803... Noble SacrificeShorty's the bombload. SwastikaIt is not a Swastika. Swastikas point to the right. This design was used quite commonly. [Swastikas can point either way. The National Socialist symbol points clockwise. - Dave] Birds of a featherThe Swastika either right or left facing has been used by Native Americans and and other civilizations going back perhaps thousands of years. It became the National Socialist symbol in 1920, predating this photograph. I doubt that the 1922 KKK was involved with them at that time. The tail decoration was just a bad coincidence. re: Not 1922Stan is both right and wrong. The Swastika as a symbol of Nazism was unknown in the United States in 1922. However the Swastika is an ancient symbol that seems to appear in many cultures including native American cultures as diverse as the Navajo and Penobscot Indian tribes. Not to mention being found in India. In fact the Swastika was a popular symbol of good luck for early aviators, which is probably the context in which it is seen here. (The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., Natl Photo)
Little Squirt: 1942
... Alabama (Tennessee Valley Authority). Housing for defense workers. Kenneth Hall gives daughter Peggy a shower with garden hose in front ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/11/2023 - 2:15pm -

June 1942. "Sheffield, Alabama (Tennessee Valley Authority). Housing for defense workers. Kenneth Hall gives daughter Peggy a shower with garden hose in front of their TVA defense home." The nice people last seen here. Acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein. View full size. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids, Swimming)
Here You Go: 1936
March 1936. "Steel mill workers' houses, company owned. Vicinity of Birmingham, Alabama." 8x10 nitrate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/22/2023 - 2:55pm -

March 1936. "Steel mill workers' houses, company owned. Vicinity of Birmingham, Alabama." 8x10 nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size. ACROSS THE TRACKS.What are those little sheds lining the property? I thought they were outhouses at first, but they are not related to the houses. [COULD THE TITLE OF THIS POST BE A CLUE? - Dave] Mystery in the airThe RR electrification is puzzling: there weren't any mainline installations in Alabama, and a plant line would seem like it would present interference with all the loading in a a steel mill; a streetcar line? Power plant line? [That catenary is over the street, not the RR tracks. - Dave] OK, but doesn't that just deepen the mystery ?? Birmingham did have trolley buses, but apparently not as early as 1936. Perhaps they're just some kind of power or phone lines, but I'm unclear on why they're suspended. [The wires are for streetcar service. - Dave] Ah, so 'Curtain #2': not THE RR track, but still a RR track ... of sorts. [Those are train tracks. The street is not in the photo -- it's too close to the camera. - Dave] Gotcha: the curse of 2D!! Kite-Eating Tree... claims another victim! Going, going ...Wonder if one of the outhouses had a gas explosion. Looks a little run down. Random thoughtsThis photo is less than 90 years old; but is unimaginable today for factory housing. Our house had 2 bedrooms and 1 toilet, if you played by the rules; 6 if you didn't. That family next door is stealing our Sears & Roebuck! When it's everybody's business when you do your business. It's raining; don't tromp mud inside the house when you get back. At least your sister didn't lock herself in there for an hour. There you go-- a fine row of jakes. Something Street ThomasSeveral of these houses remain in Birmingham's Thomas neighborhood. The street railway had a route through here to neighboring Pratt and Ensley that ran to the east of the steam railroad. Not sure exactly which street/alley we're looking down, but we'd most likely be looking west from 16th Avenue Thomas to have the interurban-type overhead wiring (one wire for each direction to simplify signaling) and mast arm in the foreground. A better Loo for youThey could save themselves a walk to the facilities by just cutting a hole in the kitchen floor. My mumma always said I was a genius. Outhouse windowsDiamonds in the rough. Hope they saved their corn cobsOr had plenty of Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs available. The Two DoorsEach of these homes has two back doors which leads me to believe that these are actually very tiny duplexes. Trolley BUSESwere ordered in 1945, so as Notcom says there wouldn't have been double wires for them, but the ones in picture appear to be too close together for bus use. My grandfather was a conductor on the old trolleys prior to 1922, and all the pictures I could find did not have double wires, so? Perhaps someone from Birmingham might have more information. In many cities, street cars were also referred as trolley cars, as the little wheel at the top of the pole which ran against the wire, was a trolley. [The wires are for streetcar service. - Dave] Pratt-Ensley streetcarThe streetcar line in question appears to be the #6 Pratt-Ensley route of the Birmingham Electric. At this location the line was single track on a private right-of-way, which helps explain the use of bracket-arm overhead construction with dual contact wire (one for each direction). The route paralleled the steam railway for much of its length. In the background are the Thomas Furnaces of Republic Steel. (Info from "Street Railways of Birmingham", Hudson & Cox, 1976) They are DuplexesThere are 8 houses and 16 outhouses. Neat and humble beginnings Jeffrey Jakucyk, you got the right area! I think it's the houses down to the lower southeast corner of your overhead view. The tiny row houses on 7th Street Thomas and 8th Street. The Evans image just focused on the outhouses but there would have been another row of duplexes just off the left edge of the image. Life was simple. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Factories, Railroads, Walker Evans)
Official Business: 1942
... Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "Women in war. Supercharger plant workers. To replace men who have been called to armed service, many young girls ... jobs never before held by women. Her job is shuttling workers between two Midwest war plants for Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co." ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/16/2023 - 8:02pm -

October 1942. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "Women in war. Supercharger plant workers. To replace men who have been called to armed service, many young girls like 19-year-old Jewel Halliday are taking jobs never before held by women. Her job is shuttling workers between two Midwest war plants for Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co." Photo by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size. Don't mess with me, mister!A wonderful shot, dramatically lit, conveying the sense of the subject being all about business. [Photographer Ann Rosener would be a Missus. As opposed to her assistant crouched next to the steering wheel. - Dave] The estate of affairsLooks like a 1942 Buick 40B Estate Wagon - for all your war labour transport needs. I'm a big fan of wooden boats, so the idea of beautifully varnished wood on a mechanical conveyance is not foreign to me. The US Army bought a ton of the 2-door and 4-door sedans for use as staff cars, and it would appear a few of the woodie estate wagons too. Jewell HallidayJewell (correct spelling) Halliday married Rudolph A. Pollak in Milwaukee, on June 20, 1946. He was a World War II veteran. Jewell passed away in Milwaukee on November 20, 1974. Rudolph died in Florida, on November 24, 1999. I was unable to determine if they had any children. It wasn't just womenIn 1944, my Dad (16 years old) was driving the street sweeper in Coronado, Calif. He had an hour between 5-6am, to sweep the downtown business district. The next hour was spent on a rotating basis thru the different residential areas. By 7am he was headed home to get ready for school. Restating "The estate of affairs"While looking very Buick-like, this is actually a 1942 Chevrolet Special DeLuxe Station Wagon. The wood panels and trim are different; the Buick's fender sweep into the front doors is longer; the thin wooden slats on the interior roof of the Chevy took the place of a headliner; and the shadow of the Chevy's rear door hinge can also be seen below the door handle. The Buick's hinge was above the window line. Chevy built 1,057 while there were only 327 of the 1942 Buick Model 49 Estate Wagons (including one for export). At $1,095 it was Chevy's most expensive model, and it was also their heaviest model at 3,425 pounds. Only three of these Buicks are thought to still exist, and half of the 1942 production is believed to have gone to the federal government for the war effort. Cost of the Buick was $1,450, and it weighed 3,925 pounds (500 more pounds than the Chevy!). Comparison photos from early 1942 catalogs are below. Note that because Chevy used two different body builders for the station wagon bodies the trim shown in the Shorpy photo is slightly different from the catalog drawing (which was also produced months in advance of actual production beginning). (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Milwaukee, WW2)
« first‹ prev…2 [3]4…next ›last »
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.