Silent Cal to not so silent Donald. However, America won.

I suppose this doesn’t qualify as a photo comment per se. I thought long and hard before sending it; I’m at peace with the decision to do so, but I’m not happy about it.

I’ve been a regular Shorpy visitor for years, and I’ve gotten tremendous enjoyment from the marvelous images you folks work so hard to find, digitize and present. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments as well; they so often enrich the experience with additional information and context.

Another thing I’ve enjoyed, although I haven’t had to think about it a great deal, is the fact that the site has been blessedly free of explicit political content – liberal, conservative or otherwise. For example, I’ve been able to view photos of old gas stations (and gas-guzzling automobiles) without enduring any environmental scolding. Historical images can give rise – of course – to emotional reactions that stray into what one might call political territory: who can look at a photo of a segregated city without a feeling of sadness and outrage, or look at a battlefield photo without a feeling of regret at the folly and waste of war?

But for this image – a photo of a mannerly crowd viewing the election news, nothing more or less – to elicit gratuitous virtue-signaling comments about present-day politics: that’s an entirely different thing. The decision to post those comments is, frankly, a troubling one. I’m forced to wonder: had the recent election gone the opposite way, would you have been as ready to post a despairing comment about the winning side’s outright statements advocating curtailment of the First Amendment as a means of combating state-decreed “misinformation”?

[If that were indeed the case, yes. - Dave]

Anyway, not to belabor the point, I don’t expect to be stopping by any time soon. I’m not under the illusion that the departure of one insignificant (and non-contributing) visitor is a matter of any consequence. But I didn’t want to disappear without thanking you for the enjoyment I’ve had over the years – and offering a few remarks by way of explanation.

What has happened to our country?!
How can we not have learned our lesson??!
I wonder what this version of the future holds for us and our world.

God help us all.

With Coolidge! A normal, honest and sane Republican president. Different times.

There is only one single person in crowd without a hat.

I don't see one adult male without a hat or cap in the whole crowd.
Stores that sold suits and hats must have done very well back then.
Dress has changed drastically along with manners. I can't envision a crowd like that without a fight or who knows what today.

This photo reminds me of "The Expectation," a 1935 painting by German surrealist Richard Oeize:

https://i.imgur.com/0UIW4iR.png

There's a lady with her back to the camera in the center, about three rows from the bottom, who's using a ear horn to hear President Calvin Coolidge, Republican, be elected in a landslide over Democrat John W. Davis. Davis took the Southern states, Robert M. La Follette, the Progressive Party nominee, took Wisconsin, and Coolidge took the rest.

[That's just her hat. - Dave]

Looking it over again, yeah, she has her hand on that ribbon or whatever that is on her hat. If you hadn't shown a larger version, then I don't think I would have seen it that way.