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Auto Parking 25¢: 1923

April 26, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Automobiles at ballpark, opening game, Nationals-Athletics." National Photo glass negative. View full size.

April 26, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Automobiles at ballpark, opening game, Nationals-Athletics." National Photo glass negative. View full size.

 

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Additional Info

From this link you can see the full stadium view, including the specific parking location in the upper right corner.

Also not to belabor the point, but the baseball team was locally known as the Nationals or "Nats", but officially known as the Senators. Using the link above you can see a few players from the 1923 team including Walter Johnson and Tom Zachary. Donnie Bush ("Bushmen") was the manager of the team for that year. Great stuff! Funny how one picture leads to a journey for more information on it.

Make sure you have your AAA card handy

Lots of AAA medallions on the radiators of several cars. I would have gotten lost in the parking lot just checking out all of the makes and models.

Not bad...

The average yearly wage in 1923 was $1236.00 a year....that is approx $23.76 a week...he has 75 cars visible on the lot (and probably a few more out of frame), so has made $18.75 for the day. Wonder how busy he is during the week?

Anyone know

what the Sporty Convertible is at the right end of row two.

I'd take the phaeton

3rd row this side of the fence, 1st car along the left side of the driveway. It's a little lower-slung and really snazzy-looking.

Location

Does anyone know of the old location of the ball field in DC?

[American League Park, later called Griffith Stadium, on Georgia Avenue at Fifth Street NW. - Dave]

A little speculation

My hunch is that the Baxter McKinney building is the "existing garage" at 2035 Georgia Avenue that later received a building permit for an addition (under a different owner name) (Washington Post, 9/9/1928). Also that the large building on the horizon to the right is the Cairo Hotel, for many years the only high-rise private building in Washington.

The Washington Post for 12/25/1917 also records the sale of a property at 1927-1931 9th Street NW (about two blocks from the Georgia Avenue location) to Baxter McKinney.

Nationals? Really?

I'm sure this should have read "Senators," which was the name of the American League franchise in DC in 1923. There was no NL team, so "Nationals" makes no sense. The team that eventually became the Minnesota Twins went to the World Series for DC in 1924 (won) and 1925 (lost). They moved to Minnesota in 1960 and were replaced by another team that eventually became the Texas Rangers.

[The team was called The Nationals. Below: Headline showing the results of this game in 1923, and one from the 1924 World Series. - Dave]

Hand cranking

The Buick owner in the first row plate #23867 evidently is an optimist as he's covered the crank hole with the license plate. Compare plate 107 on an identical car in Row 2.

Help! I've parked and I can't get out!

Guess there was no leaving at the seventh inning stretch for some folks.

N.1115

On the Baxter McKinney building, is N.1115 a phone number?

[On the sign at the bottom: PHONE N.1115 - Dave]

Classy Chassis

I'd choose the one that's in the furthest row, 6th from the right. The one with 5 glass rear-windows.

They all look different

I don't see any two cars here that look the same. Just the rear window shapes are a hundred times more diverse than what I see in a modern parking lot.

Home Opener for Washington

The sign looks temporary. I wonder if they raised the parking price for the home opener. I would have. Harding was throwing out the first pitch. Looks like the guy in the white shirt is raking it in.

Is this my car?

I wonder how many people left the game and had trouble finding their car because they all looked the same.

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