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Seeing New York: 1904
... buses” were made by the Vehicle Equipment Company of Long Island City, New York. Their literature called them “A combination of ... Lloyd and Lucius T. Gibbs. By 1903 they had relocated to Long Island City. Up until mid-1906 they built a large number of commercial ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:51pm -

Circa 1904. "Seeing New York." Electric omnibuses at the Flatiron Building. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. In living colorColorized version of a very overloaded one used by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company: PricelessThis is one of my favorite Shorpy pics ever. The expressions on all the faces speak volumes. Great. I believe it's called a charabancThere's a picture of another electric charabanc at https://www.shorpy.com/node/7251 . The name is a good description: charabanc = char-à-banc = bench carriage. According to Wikipedia, mostly used for sightseeing and daytrips, safety record not great. How very usefulA Telephone Connection is mentioned on the omnibuses - but not the number. OMGWhat about the ghost lady in the back? The choice of the futureIt was a time when there was not yet a clear choice on which energy would propel the cars and trucks. You had electric engines, gasoline engines and even steam engines in almost equal numbers on the streets. Hard work.It must have been a real handful to navigate that beast through the streets of Manhattan. TouristsI can't get over how well dressed this visiting group is. If you wander over to Times Square, or even the Flatiron these days you see a lot of people in shorts and T-shirts, many overweight and continuously munching. The more formally dressed 1904 crowd may have been a bit much, but somewhere in between there is an answer. The Case of the Toppled TouristsWow, no sidewalls, safety belts or anything. I don't imagine those bus boats were in service for very long. Electric?From what's visible of the undercarriage, it looks like these are driven by electric motors. [Hmmm. Maybe that's why they are described in the caption as "electric omnibuses"! - Dave] Guess I really ought ro read 'em once in a while, eh? A warning for the ladiesDon't visit the Heel Building! QuackThese sightseeing contraptions are as ugly and ungainly as the "duck" amphibious sightseeing vehicles which are seen in many cities, these days. Ottawa has a number of these monstrosities blocking traffic during tourist season. Nothing beats making tourists stick out like sore thumbs. Fred MacMurray You can't hide behind that mustache. Smart to have your hat attached by that wind trolley too. People were just so civilized back then. Being clean and proper was the order of the day. Lady in Row 5 seems to be making sure her companion is up to snuff. OK, so I want to know:Who killed the electric omnibus? Tourist DestinationAt what point did NYC become a tourist destination, where people come just to see the city itself, as these people are doing? I guess that sort of thing doesn't just happen at a "point in time," but gradually. Timely questionsI surmise that the doors on the sides of the cars open up to allow for artfully placed hidden steps for boarding? How else would a lady's delicate and well turned heel ascend and descend the bus? How far could an electric omnibus go before needing a recharge? Duck ToursThese remind me of the Duck Tour vehicles in Boston and other cities. Refurbished WWII amphibious vehicles. It's also neat to see the guy in the last row with his hat clip attached so he won't lose it in the wind. Vehicle Equipment CompanyThese “Automobile buses” were made by the Vehicle Equipment Company of Long Island City, New York. Their literature called them “A combination of the commercial and pleasure types.” The Vehicle Equipment Company was started in Brooklyn in 1901 by Robert Lloyd and Lucius T. Gibbs. By 1903 they had relocated to Long Island City. Up until mid-1906 they built a large number of commercial electric vehicles. From 1903 to 1905 they also built a 3-seat electric car called the VE Electric. Almost all of their vehicles were single motor shaft-drive. The company went into receivership in 1906, and the General Vehicle Company (owned by the General Electric Company) purchased the factory and reorganized to build both gasoline and electric vehicles, as well as replacement parts. Vehicles built from mid-1906 on were known as GV Electrics. By 1915 there were some 2,000 GV Electrics in New York City alone, representing more than 25% of all trucks of all types working daily in the city. The style of “Automobile bus” seen above was also very popular in Washington D.C. and other cities as well. General Vehicle Company ceased production around 1917. AdvertisementFrom the Daily News Tribune of June 26, 1904. This ad occurs only in June and July issues. Most likely, they did't work so long. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Flatiron Building, NYC)
Caumsett Manor: 1933
October 12, 1933. Huntington, Long Island. "Marshall Field estate at Lloyd Neck. Interior view of polo ... and Caumsett is no exception). Most of the North Shore Long Island great estates have been carved up or are in private hands -- this ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 9:02pm -

October 12, 1933. Huntington, Long Island. "Marshall Field estate at Lloyd Neck. Interior view of polo stables." Gottscho-Schleisner photo. View full size. Like Belle MeadeIf you tour the Belle Meade plantation here in the Nashville area, you can see the carriage house and stables, which look an awful lot like this. We were assured by the tour guide that yes, the stable really was kept this neat, too. A horse has always been a pricey proposition, even if only used as transportation or a work animal, so a wise man of means made sure the animals were taken care of. Sort of like you could park your car outside under a tree where the birds can use it for target practice, or you can park it in a nice heated garage like Jay Leno. Of course, both Caumsett Manor and Belle Meade represent the Jay Leno end of the spectrum. This surely isn't the mental image I conjure when I think of a stable, that's for sure. [This is, as the caption notes, a stable for polo ponies. - Dave] The BestNothing but the best for Marshall Fields' ponies. Steam heat radiator to keep everyone warm and toasty. Astonishing and ... AmazingThe tonal range indeed is amazing. You see detail in the doors and windows behind the horse, in the area on the floor under and in front of the horse and shadow detail in the stall exterior walls to the left. Looks like at least a three stop swing, maybe more. There had to be some forethought in how the negative was processed. All of this while Photoshop was still a several generations into the future and the idea of HDR wasn't even the impossible dream yet. [Photoshop is used to bring out the detail in just about every image you see on this Web site. I used the Shadows & Highlights filter on this one. - Dave] DetailsAnother bonanza of details: that floor, the wonderful stalls, and the circular windows. What real money could buy, when a dollar was a dollar and then some! Old School HDRBoth this photo and the preceding one of 30 Rockefeller Center display an astonishing tonal range. Look at the way the highlights on the floor still show the pattern detail, and the shadow areas by the stalls are still open. I know that in the days of tray development, photographers would pull the negative from the developer and immerse in a tray of plain water for a minute or two before placing it in the stop bath. This would allow the shadow detail to keep developing and increase the effective tonal range of the image. Ansel Adams describes the technique in his book "The Negative" I wonder if this was one of Gottscho's techniques as well. Nice stableEven by today's standards, this is a very nice barn. If the stable hand was dressed in period-neutral clothes and the photo was in color, I would find it difficult to identify the era. Polo BarnExcellent! The polo barns at Caumsett, designed by John Russell Pope, are currently undergoing restoration. They have what I also consider to be the best preserved example of a "farm group," a type of barn complex built on estates in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to house the operations for a gentleman's farm (in most cases, dairy cows were the focus, and Caumsett is no exception). Most of the North Shore Long Island great estates have been carved up or are in private hands -- this one is complete, and for the most part, open to the public. Caumsett is part of the New York State Parks system, and well worth a visit. Groom's Thoughts:"Please don't mess up my floor!" Wow, that is the cleanest stable I have ever seen and I have seen a lot of them. Thought this looked familiarIf you saw the movie "Arthur" in 1981, they filmed a scene or two in these very stables. Interesting to see the same stables so many years before -- beautiful! A very difficult exposure as well.Anyone who has spent time making photographs will also note the difficulty of making this particular print, 65+ years ago. The light comes through the window from behind the pony. Yet the detail and tonality in his muscle and coat is terrific. Maybe could have been held back a tad on the horses back, but direct sunlight is really tough to deal with. No doubt a good deal of dodging and burning were required, along with skill with the light meter. Gottscho was a well established pro by 1933, but still, a great job. [There is no print, hence no dodging or burning. This picture was made by imaging the original negative, which is then electronically inverted to give the positive you see here. I used the Shadows & Highlights filter in Photoshop to adjust the contrast. - Dave] Edit -->> Oops on the print comment. Thanks Dave. BeautifulNo only is the horse gorgeous, look at the beautiful, spotless floor. These are very lucky horses. "Francis"Looks like an opening scene from "Francis the talking Mule"....The guy could even pass for Donald O'Connor. Francis says, "Get your arm out of my snout and hurry up with the oats." It's spotlessNot the kind of condition I would expect to see in a stables. Nice placeHoly crap. That horse lived in classier digs than I do. I wonder if they cleaned the place up for the photo. Awesome!That stable is nicer (and cleaner) than many people's homes. Wonder What Orphan Annie would think about this "stable?" There's not a stick of straw on the floor, the woodwork is beautiful, and there's even a horse-sized door with a screen door! The Golden YearsThe Golden Years (Newsday) Caumsett Marshall Field III's home wasn't just an estate, but a self-contained community. Built by architect John Russell Pope on 2,000 Lloyd Harbor acres -- the largest of the country tracts -- the Chicago-department store heir's 1925 compound included a working dairy farm with a herd of Guernsey cattle, stables, docks, cabanas, power plant and 25 miles of internal roads. The house itself is a Georgian Revival modeled on Belton House, a manor near London. Outside the front door: a garden -- now a state park -- of broad landscapes and intimate spaces designed by the Olmstead Olmsted brothers, whose father created Central Park. "What is amazing about Field's house is that it was built very late in the country house era," says Lawrence, the Stony Brook architect. "Yet even in the Twenties, people still wanted grand houses." Caumsett State ParkThis is in what is now Caumsett State Park, I have chaperoned several of my children's school trips to this wonderful place. Well worth a visit. Polo Barn FacadeHere's an exterior view of the polo barn, flanked by other sections of the immense stables. What Depression?Remember, this was in the midst of the great depression and millions were living under bridges, in boxcars, Hoovervilles, waiting in soup lines and sleeping in doorways. The horses of Marshall Field enjoyed living conditions many humans would have found luxurious at this time. Caumsett State Historic ParkVisit our park online: www.CaumsettFoundation.org Thanks for your interest! Great PictureI really love this picture ... light, mood and composition is perfect! Marshall Field IIINext time you read Parade Magazine (presuming you might), you're holding something he founded: Marshall Field III (1893-1956), who was the grandson of retail magnate Marshall Field, had a rheumatic heart condition, but was so keen to join the army during World War I that, instead of letting the enlistment board physical declare him ineligible for service, was sworn in as a private by a colonel and friend in the 1st Illinois Cavalry. He was discharged a captain in December of 1918. Field founded the Chicago Sun and Parade Magazine in 1941; the Sun merged with the Chicago Daily Times in 1948 to become the Sun-Times. He bought the publishing houses Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books in 1944. Field, who inherited the bulk of his family fortune in 1943, was also a philanthropist, serving as president of the Child Welfare League of America and the New York Philharmonic and as a trustee for the New York Zoological Society and Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Found at historyforsale.com) I suppose I can mention that he was a principal financial supporter of Saul Alinsky. His son, Marshall IV, as a USN officer on the carrier USS Enterprise, was awarded the Silver Star and a Purple Heart from action in the Battle of Santa Cruz. His grandson, Ted Field, is a Hollywood producer (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Amityville Horror, etc.) and was quite active in auto racing for a number of years. Here's MF III. Thanksgiving Dinner 1967I had Thanksgiving dinner in the stable jockey's home to the side of this stable in 1967. A friend of a friend was a state trooper and his job was to patrol the estate. Some 1,600 acres, twenty five miles of paved road, some 25 other brick homes on the estate for gardeners, pastry chef, main chef, chauffeur, etc. At the time there were still about six or seven brand new looking blue 1957 Plymouth Sedans that had been left near a large garage area at the back of one the estate's larger buildings, I forget which one. The indoor tennis courts were still there but the glass ceiling had fallen in, very unsafe. As we approached his home by the stable I thought I saw a number of people standing around, but then I realized that they were statues! All the statues from the estate were placed in the stable for safe keeping! Amazing place, now open to the public (not everything). And that is a marvelous image of the interior of the stable and its marble floor tiles. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, Horses)
The Mortgage Room: 1953
... 24, 1953. "Suffolk County Federal Savings. Babylon, Long Island, New York. Mortgage room. C.M. Johnson, client." At left, Miss ... Suffolk Federal Credit Union. Both have locations all over Long Island, but I am not sure if these are spin-offs of the original. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/19/2013 - 10:08am -

February 24, 1953. "Suffolk County Federal Savings. Babylon, Long Island, New York. Mortgage room. C.M. Johnson, client." At left, Miss Miller; at right, Miss Information. Large-format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Warm FuzziesLinoleum floor, harsh lighting, blonde furniture, bland acoustic ceiling tiles, mortgages...Looking at this room just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Familiarity Breeds 50's ArchitectureRibbon fluorescent lights with eggcrate grilles? Check. Wide slat venetian blinds? Check. Acoustic tiles with round AC ducts? Check. Dark floor tiles with light streaks? Check. Blond wood furniture with pebbled-glass inserts? Check. Post-War Modern Bland, seen in just about every office, bank, post office, school and Government building until replaced by the 2x4 acoustic lay-in ceilings and carpet tiles of the 70's. Not everything mid-century was great. Technology.Where are the computers, and what's that archaic looking machine being used in the background by the gal with her back to us? Miss Miller, Miss Information . . Where's Miss Appropriation of Funds? Just a hunchbut I bet they used Kodak Film, based on Miss Miller's face. She's still there!I assume Suffolk County Federal Savings was swallowed up by one of the current Too Big To Fail banks. Because I can assure you Miss Information works for the one that holds my mortgage. The beholding eyeAs for "harsh" lighting, I'd say any hint of that comes from the supplementary floods used for the photo. Fluorescents in those eggcrate grilles gave, intentionally, an even light free of deep, sharp shadows. And overall, I find this rather more inviting and human-friendly than the typical glass, metal and plastic (and wood-free) office environments of today. Real People ! !Ah, yes.... a simpler, more congenial time when there were people AVAILABLE to assist you without long lines, without glass plates between you and them, and an actual live person who you could ask a question of and get a polite, intelligent, and direct answer. As a Long Islander, living not too far from Babylon, I don't beleve this institution remains in its original form. There now exists a Suffolk County National Bank, and a Suffolk Federal Credit Union. Both have locations all over Long Island, but I am not sure if these are spin-offs of the original. "Mother-in-Law's Tongue"My eyes were drawn to the plant at the end of the aisle. I would be willing to wager that the 9 inch tiles on the floor are dark green. Cigarette DisposalBeside the lady reading the magazine: a freestanding, pedestal base, chromium plated ash tray. Book ReaderSuffolk County Federal Savings fell on hard times and was taken over by the Long Island Savings Bank. Bank HardwareThe fountain pens on the desks appear to have been those made by Esterbrook, and are likely from the late 40's and the 50's. There are single pens in holders, sets with two pens (one for black ink, one for the dreaded red ink), and likely typical bank pens fitted with chains lest they be purloined by a larcenous client. I have a collection of Esterbrooks (and other vintage pens) and recall using one in my high school years. Shorpy hitsclose to home. Thanks for posting Dave. Located at 180 West Main Street, Babylon Village. Now a branch of Astoria Federal Savings. There is a great mural of a map of Long Island behind the tellers, with a dirigible on it. I know where I'm going on FridayFriday's my day off from work, and as I live about 20 miles from Babylon I'll have to mosey on down to see if the interior of the bank (now called Astoria Federal Savings after a couple of mergers) is at all recognizable. While there's a newer addition, the main part of the Babylon branch appears to have been built well before 1953. It's a safe bet the ashtrays are gone, alas. By the way, if you're curious about the fate of a bank shown in a Shorpy photo, the bank-regulation authority (often called the Department of Banking) of the state in which it is located will have a searchable online database of every bank that's ever done business in the state. Empty DesksTypewriters and steno pads all replaced now by computers. Ahhh the old days! Only the empty tableWith two beautiful pen sets seems to date from an earlier, less bland era. It was designed with a deliberate attempt at attractiveness, not plain-Jane utility like the other furniture. (The Gallery, D.C., Gottscho-Schleisner, The Office)
Soldiers and Nurses
... Cavalry unit in convalescent quarters, perhaps on eastern Long Island, South Fork. Spanish-American War The uniforms would lead me ... from Camp Wickoff to various hospitals in New York and Long Island. Some of those articles list men from the 1st Cavalry, Troop K. The ... 
 
Posted by bronson - 09/25/2010 - 3:04pm -

The place and provenance of this photo are unknown to me. Scanned from a large print. Perhaps someone can identify the uniforms? View full size. Vintage Vets It may be Spanish American War Volunteer Cavalry unit in convalescent quarters, perhaps on eastern Long Island, South Fork. Spanish-American WarThe uniforms would lead me to believe they are Spanish-American War veterans. There are several pictures of Teddy Roosevelt dressed in a similar uniform. What a corset!The lady on the far right must have had an industrial strength corset to have a waist that tiny! HOW did she breathe? Span-AmI'm with Larry. The ladies are wearing 1890s clothing, so Spanish American fits the bill perfectly. Gotta love those sleeves! His hatDave, If we could have a Shorpy closeup of the hat in the lap of the man in the front row, we will discover the cavalry regiment and troop. I tried to rhyme this like Dr Seuss but stumbled at the end. Strategically placed flowersI don't think the visible waist is the actual waist; I think the flower from the bush is blocking our view. 1st CavalryThey are uniforms of the Spanish-American war. Most are wearing the 1898 khaki uniform and the insignia on the hat in the lap of the soldier in the front row is U.S. Cavalry. It looks like 1st Cavalry, which would mean they served in Cuba, but I can't quite make out the troop letter underneath. Call CSI!I think if it were on record somewhere, that thumbprint in on the left could help us! WowNobody grows mustaches like that anymore. Sigh. In agreementI am in agreement that this appears to be cavalrymen. The hat badge appears to have an "8" over the crossed sabers. My vote also goes to the Spanish-American War era. Ruff RidersI agree with the others on the era of the attire -- my first thought on seeing the photo was of TR's Rough Riders. Also, the balloon sleeves on the women's dresses date from the late 1880s/early 1890s. Uniform datesTo further the points made earlier, these soldiers are wearing the M-1899 cotton tunic, and the two standing on the far left are in blues dating from the 1880's. This picture cannot be later than 1912, as we switched uniforms again at that date. Up ThereMaybe it's Heaven. The glowing figures, the flowers, the beautiful house--could be! 1st Cavalry Troop KThree of the men in the photo have visible U.S. Cavalry insignia on their hats, but only the one on the hat in the lap of its owner is legible. He served in the 1st U.S Cavalry, Troop K. The New York Times archive retains several articles from 1898 listing wounded soldiers who were sent from Camp Wickoff to various hospitals in New York and Long Island. Some of those articles list men from the 1st Cavalry, Troop K. The small hospital building in the background appears to have been built in the early to mid-1880s (it is in the so-called Stick or Chalet style popular at that time). The nurses' inflated sleeves are definitely in fashion for 1898, the year of maximum sleeve inflation. Muster-Out Roll 1899http://www.bartleby.com/51/a.html F.L. MorganThe second man from the right in the second row appears to be Francis Lee Morgan, Saddler, Troop C. I have seen several photos of this man before and after his time with the Rough Riders. More F.L. MorganFrom Francis Lee's records: "August 7, sent to Reg Hospital. From there sent same day to private hospital at Islip, L.I." and enrolled on the thirtieth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, to serve two years, or during the war, is hereby discharged from the service of the United States, by reason of the muster out of his regiment. Given at N.Y. City this 5th day of Oct., 1898." Signature appears to be JGC Caleb. I can send you scans of these documents if you wish. Two more photos of F.L.Morgan here. Regarding the CorsetIt's not as tortuous as it might appear at fist glance. If you look closely, the flowers are in front of her, creating an illusion that her waist is impossibly narrow. A few moreA close examination of a higher resolution scan confirms that the 2nd man from the right, 2nd row does indeed have a "C" on his insignia. The smiling soldier on the far left (not in the rocking chair) has an "L". The chap sitting in front of him has a "USV" but no identifiable troop designation on his collar. Thank YouThanks for taking a closer look. I have been reading about the Rough Riders and see that Troops C, H, I and M were left in Florida with the horses when the other eight Troops went to Cuba. They were reunited after TR got out of Cuba, and was going to New York. I am now going to spend some time looking for some of these faces in other published photos in hopes of finding likely matches. Span-Am WarIt is a little surprising how few high-resolution photos of the Spanish-American War there are out there on the net. I did find one archive at The LOC: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/picamer/paSpanAmer.html ... Of interest here is the scan about 3/4 of the way down the page (look for LC-USZC4-7934). There is a 45 MB high-resolution TIFF version of that one available for download. Unfortunately there is no legend to accompany the photo. [That photo does have a caption. See below. - Dave] "1898. Colonel Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at the top of the hill which they captured, Battle of San Juan. Photo by William Dinwiddie." (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, S-A War)
Manhasset 346: 1942
... May 12, 1942. "William S. Paley, residence in Manhasset, Long Island, New York. Library, telephone table." 5x7 acetate negative by ... the Wikipedia pic of him to this comment. And a bit of Long Island anti-Semitism history from Wikipedia: "Paley married divorcée, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/11/2021 - 3:52pm -

May 12, 1942. "William S. Paley, residence in Manhasset, Long Island, New York. Library, telephone table." 5x7 acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Holy smokes!Did this man own stock in a tobacco company? Cigarettes have been in pretty much every image of this guy's house. Yes, I am aware that a lot of folks smoked back then. (My grandfather was a three packs a day man who also liked his pipe.) But I've never seen a house where cigarettes were part of the ambiance and décor. Farm Scene With Three Horses (1931)John Kane (1860–1934) John Kane: a Shorpian LifeKane's father died when he was age 10, and young John quit school to work in the shale mines. He mined coal in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. He worked on the railroad, first as a gandy dancer (stamping down stones between the railroad ties) until he lost a leg when struck down by an engine running without its lights. Later, he painted trains and houses. Kane attracted attention from the media when his paintings were first admitted to the 1927 Carnegie International Exhibition. His success was suspected to be a prank. Today, his paintings hang in major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art. My two cents: his most interesting paintings are cityscapes of industrial Pittsburgh. Kane's life story was told in "Sky Hooks: The Autobiography of John Kane," written with Marie McSwigan. You Can Ring...but you can't hide. The older 202 sets did not have bells in the phone itself. There was a ringer box attached to the phone that would ring. This ringer box is attached to the underside of the table. They were very loud, and this table would only amplify the sound. You could probably hear this one across the street. Tobacco sponsorsFor all the cigarettes that were advertised on CBS, no doubt Paley had regular samples from the tobacco companies, gratis. How quaint!A whole table devoted to an appliance that has for many people today become a digital (in both senses) appendage. Paley in the Framed Pic?Can anyone tell if that's Paley in the framed photograph? I attach the Wikipedia pic of him to this comment. And a bit of Long Island anti-Semitism history from Wikipedia: "Paley married divorcée, socialite and fashion icon Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer (1915–1978) on July 28, 1947. She was the daughter of renowned neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing. William and Babe Paley, in spite of their successes and social standing, were barred from being members of country clubs on Long Island because he was Jewish." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Paley Smokes and PhonesI was never a heavy smoker and I quit over thirty years ago, but I always had to light one up while talking on the phone. It was a ritual in my house that we smoke after meals too, even after breakfast. Wandering eye and portraitSomeone in the household must have liked that particular portrait of Paley; you can also see it in the living room on the glass table next to the sofa. If that was Mrs. Paley's way of "keeping an eye on" her husband, it predictably failed. Same PhotoI believe this is same photo as seen (partially obscured) earlier in the living room. Portrait by Cecil Beaton?I haven't found the image online yet but it looks to me like Cecil Beaton's signature on that portrait of William S Paley. Ironically enough as Beaton's pre-WW2 career in the US was interrupted by accusations of anti-Semitism: "In 1938, he inserted some tiny-but-still-legible anti-Semitic phrases (including the word "kike") into American Vogue at the side of an illustration about New York society. The issue was recalled and reprinted, and Beaton was fired" (Wikipedia). Facing the music (stand)As a musician, when I saw the name Manhasset, I immediately thought of the iconic black metal music stands made by a company of the same name. But (as the young'uns would say), I was "today years old" when I found out that Manhasset was also the name of a town. (And yes, the company that manufactures the stands originated in this town, though it relocated to Washington state in the early '40s.) Private Telephone LineI believe that Manhasset 346 was a private line. Most phones in manual systems were on party lines in those days, and depending on the system you would see numbers like Leamington 22-X, or Richmond 15-R-12. The ring code for the operator at the Richmond number would be 1 long followed by 2 short rings. A private phone number without letters was often for a business, a doctor or the Paleys. Tea (or tobacco) caddy at the readyThe 18th-century, pear-shaped tea caddy on the right was probably used in Paley's time to hold tobacco, according to the "Antiques Roadshow" I happened to see last night. It had a lock to keep the servants from poaching the precious tea. Paley by BeatonThat is indeed Paley in a portrait by Cecil Beaton. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, Portraits)
Dark Passage: 1942
... I was raised in a row house in Jamaca, Queens, Long Island in the early 40's, I'm 68 now. The houses were side by side as ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/14/2017 - 10:16pm -

Washington, D.C., 1942. "Children on rowhouse steps, corner of N and Union Streets S.W." Note service stars in the windows and the curious narrow passage between houses. Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam. View full size. Free Service StarsHere is an image of the form that ran in newspapers in 1942 for ordering free Service Stars. Blue stars indicate service within the boundaries of the United States. A silver star denotes service overseas and a gold star denotes a death while in service. Curious Passageway between housesThat was the only access from the street side to the rear of the rowhouses because the rowhouse probably took up most of the block. CURIOUS PASSAGEWAY BETWEEN HOUSESThe back door hadn't been invented yet! The back door!There were indeed back doors to these rowhouses. However, you couldn't get to the street from the back yard unless you went through the house so they would put in these passageways so that the back yards would have access to the streets without having to go through someones house. Most of the backyard gardens (as they used to call them) had a gate which opened onto a common path which led to the passageway. Not a lot of privacy in the back from your immediate neighbors. PassagewaysI was raised in a row house in Jamaca, Queens, Long Island in the early 40's, I'm 68 now. The houses were side by side as shown and back to back. If you were lucky each house had a little garden. If you were REALLY lucky, you had an alleyway running the length of the block between the gardens. Usually just wide enough for a one-horse cart or small truck to pick up garbage and coal ash (that's how most everybody heated, unless you were lucky enough to have gas). The garbage and coal ash always came out the basement door in the back of the house (note that there are none in the front of the houses -- we had our pride). So if you didn't have an alleyway, you had to get the garbage and coal ash to the front for pickup. And when they couldn't deliver coal directly to the basement by truck through a window, they had to bag it (100-pounders) and carry it back. I learned several new words from the carriers in several different languages. Got slapped with a wet dishrag (and that HURTS) every time I used one in the presence of my Mother. Excellent comment!Thank you for that truly informative and interesting comment! Everyone be sure to read "passageways" below. Addresses on Row HousesI am curious as to why the addresses are both "odd" and "even" on the same side of the street. Today the odds are on one side and the evens on the other. Address numbersStreet addresses, and how they are done are set by local law + the post office. Each house on my street skips 10 or so numbers. I suspect they were allowing for future streets and subdivisions. My own lot is 910 feet deep by 150 wide and could hold 12 lots of 110x75 aiming side-wise on my lot plus room for the street on the side. Some of these stub end street-subdivisions were done. I hate those "lattitude, longitude" areas which specify locations by the relation to some central spot. Many Northwest townships in In, OH, and IL are done this way. Not odd & even.Look again - the numbers are 469 and 471 . PassagewaysThe rowhouses in SW Washington DC had alleys for the removal of trash and still do. These houses for the most part are still standing today in 2007. The passsages were just for access to the back garden from the front, nothing more. The "Passageway" between housesServed many functions to include trash removal, garbage removal but the primary function was a fire alley. Philadelphia row homes had an alley that ran behind houses and served two streets for the same purpose. Without access to the rear of the houses fireman could not effectively fight an ongoing fire. Apparently the DC homes did not have a common alley therefore one was incorporated in construction to serve two adjoining houses. Cast Iron stoop.https://www.oldtownhome.com/2011/5/12/Cast-Iron-Front-Stairs---Step-One/ White DotsI suspect the white dots above the passageway may have been caused by throwing a rubber ball against the bricks. Having done that many times as a child, it is generally safest to do that where there are no windows! No Mom, it wasn't me! Stop!How many times do I have to tell your kids? Don't throw that ball against the wall above the door. Blast from the pastMy dad grew up in a row house at 3019 N. Franklin Street in Philadelphia. As a kid I remember visiting Grandma and venturing out her back door into her small garden area, then along the common footpath and out the alleyway to the street. I remember from childhood that whenever I read a story that featured someone walking down an alleyway, I pictured the dark, narrow passage I wandered through as a child. I have not thought of these experiences in about 45 years. Your photo caused a tremor in the cobwebs of my mind. Thanks so much! Comics ActionThe kid in the doorway showing his gran a comic book, possibly reading a Superman No. 1! Convenient to shopping! These row houses must have been right across the street from Shulman's Market, also at the corner of N & Union, as shown here: https://www.shorpy.com/node/117 Ghost AlleysOur neighborhood is an historic district just north of Washington, D.C. My house was built in 1926. There's what once was an alleyway behind our house, and the houses with fences don't encroach upon it. I've never seen a vehicle try to drive down it, but that might be possible. In our case, as with most of the other homes without a back fence, it's just treated as an extension of the back yard. We mow half and my neighbor in back mows the other half. In D.C., many of the old alleyways still exist and some of the carriage houses have been converted into trendy living spaces or bars. Alley racingWow, did this bring back memories from about 65 years ago (Yes, I'm a geezer). My family used to visit my Granny and Grandpop in Wilmington, Delaware, where the street kids befriended me (I being the youngest). We used to run through those "alleyways," as the kids called them, then flying down other back alleys all day. One day while out alone (either no one watched their kids then or my parents hoped I would get lost), I went into the "cellar" of an abandoned house and found a bag of iron WWI soldiers and a reel of film. After I dragged them home, my grandfather pulled out his projector to play the film. It was a home movie of sailors throwing their hats in the air at an Annapolis graduation from way back. Who knows what famous future Admiral was in there. Film finished, my grandmother handed the reel and the bag of soldiers to me, saying; "OK, now take them back to where you found them, they don't belong to us." "But Granny -- " "But nothing, march!" War Bond QuotaPatriotic family whose window sticker says they're setting aside 10 percent of income for the purchase of War Bonds and stamps. Tall enough for a man on horsebackThese tall narrow passageways can also been seen in the Soulard Historic District near downtown St. Louis. I was told in the early 1970s that the tall narrow passageways were built to permit a person to ride their horse out into the street from the stable behind the row house. [Back when horses were 18 inches wide. - Dave] AlleywaysI live in Philadelphia, and when I was a kid (60s and 70s), we always used the alleyways as a shortcut between streets. No need to walk all the way around the corner to get to the next street, just cut through the alley. I used to know all the alleys in my neighborhood, we played in them. Back then, we always kept the alleys clean. Now all the alleyway entrances have steel gates and locks on them, to prevent burglars and other bad guys from accessing the back of the houses. And a many are filled with trash and rubbish. Life really was different, Back in the Day. Google No MoreDon't try to find Union St in DC! Union Street was replaced by apartment buildings... (The Gallery, Kodachromes, D.C., Louise Rosskam)
Fountain Drinks: 1950
... Alderney Dairy I live on the north fork of eastern Long Island in a town called Mattituck. There are many old bottles on my ... 
 
Posted by John.Debold - 07/08/2008 - 3:10pm -

A New Jersey lunch counter and soda fountain circa 1950. View full size. Smoke gets in your eyes.....& lungsWow, I can't believe the pipes, cigars, etc. for sale in a cute little soda fountain. Kinda makes me lose my appetite! TeeveeTelevision had been broadcast for years prior but I never expected to see a TV in a c. 1950 lunch counter. Grolier Encyclopedia states: The number of television sets in use rose from 6,000 in 1946 to some 12 million by 1951. No new invention entered American homes faster than black and white television sets; by 1955 half of all U.S. homes had one. Still pretty novel then. Looks like a commercial or a news show running. [Media historians (and collectors of old magazines) generally mark 1949 as the year TV "arrived." - Dave] MondayFrom the calendar, we know it's "Monday the 23rd" but what month and year? 1950 or "circa" 1950? Prices!I can't believe what they were charging for fountain items: Adjusting for inflation, in even 2004 dollars it would be: Ice Cream Soda: $4.17 Ice Cream Sundae: 5.83 CalendarIt appears to be Monday, October 23, 1950. Memories>> Wow, I can't believe the pipes, cigars, etc. for sale in a cute little soda fountain. Kinda makes me lose my appetite! Awwwww, poor baby. Good grief. I remember, as a kid growing up in the fifties AND in NJ, that EVERY candy store/soda fountain looked like that! Even the drug stores in town that had soda fountains sold pipes, tobacco and cigarettes. Appears that the brain washing has succeeded. Great picture, by the way! It's Kool insideAlso note the air conditioner. In the 60s I recall the stamped metal painted push-plates on the doors or window decals of the Kool cigarette Penguin proclaiming "Come in, it's Kool inside" for air conditioned establishments - often eateries and bars. Even in the 60s these seemed dated, rusting, and fading. So... another novelty - air conditioning. jnc Alderney, NJ eludes Google!Whenever I see an older commercial photo with superb detail like this one, I scrutinize it for old product signs, dates, and other subtle details. The name ALDERNEY appears twice: on the ice cream sign in the central alcove, and on the newspaper rack. I decided to Google Alderney, NJ, and, guess what? I cold find no references. There's a UK Alderney (interestingly enough near Jersey), and many references to Alderney in the gamers' blogs (Grand Theft Auto). Does anyone know where it's located or what happened to Alderney, NJ? Thanks, JNC, for a most fascinating picture into the past. Your photo blog of ghost signs is equally intriguing (Readers, note - it's listed in the Shorpy Profile as http://blog.hoffmancentral.org/) [There is no Alderney, New Jersey. The signs say Alderney Ice Cream. Alderney Dairy was based in Newark. - Dave] Soda FountainThe most memorable stamped metal, small advertising sign in places like this that I can recall from the period 1940 - 1950, was one for 7-Up. And another standard 'fixture', usually placed on the counter of the soda fountain back then, was the large clear plastic cylinder containing 1-cent stick pretzels standing upright in the container. This is a GREAT photo! Memories IINo, not brainwashing. Losing too many loved ones to cancer has succeeded. Air ConditionerI was in the room air conditioner business in the 1950's. The unit in the picture looks like it could have been a Philco. Anyone know? I can SMELL it now!We had almost IDENTICAL soda fountain/drug stores in Connecticut when I was a kid in the 50's and the prices were exactly the same. We usually got a VP or a CP for a nickel but if we did not have a nickel, we'd ask for a glass of water and the proprietor would good naturedly give it to us, no charge. What a pain that must have been. One thing I remember is the SMELL of these soda fountain/drug stores. One could detect sweetness like chocolate, fruit and candy odors, Orange Crush in the big glass bubbling dispenser, tobacco, sometimes sandwich smells and sometimes coffee. It is a long-gone fragrance I have not smelled since I was a kid. Also, the running fans, overhead and on the counters or tables were always buzzing away and were quite tranquilizing. Our favorite moviehouse advertised "REFRIGERATED AIR" like a oasis in the torrid heat of long, hot summers. Thank you for this WONDERFUL blast from the past. Newarkanyone know where in Newark this was? My grandfather was the first on his block (in Newark) to own a television right about 1950, so they weren't that rare then! CPIs that a cherry phosphate? We used to get that from our local drug store in the 50's. 1950-ish soda fountainWell, it turns out that there's still an Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation, now in Hillside rather than Newark. They don't have any sort of e-mail that I could find--they might be amused to know "their" photo is online all these years later! The 23rdIt could be Monday, January 23, as well. Assuming the year is 1950. If its 1949, then it would be Monday, May 23. If it's 1951, then it could be either April or July 23. Alderney DairyAlderney Dairy was located at the junction of Route 202 (Littleton Road) and Route 10 just north of Morris Plains. It was a great place for ice cream and milkshakes. You felt that it must be fresh since you could look out the window and see the cows. The business was founded in 1894 as Newark Milk and Cream Co., later becoming the Alderney Dairy Co. By 1936, it included 10 creameries, 800 dairy farms, six branch-distributing plants and its pasteurization and bottling plant in Newark - making the company one of the largest independent dairies in the United States. It took its name from the Alderney cow, which later was replaced by Jerseys and Guernseys. All these names came from several small islands in the English Channel. Sip & SupI lived in this area and yes the Alderney Dairy was on the corner of Route 10 and Littleton Road. The name was Sip & Sup. I used to love going there as they had the best ice cream. Sip & SupHello, somebody finally showed up on the internet that remembers the "Sup" as we called it late 50's and early 60's. I started working there as teenager and became night manager after working the various positions and running the snack bar at the Morris Plains Bowling alley, my boss had the lease on the snack bar for a number of years. Then transferred to Sip & Sup in Springfield until I went into the service in 1966. What fun we had at Sip & Sup. I still have some of the original postcards, will try to put on net after I scan them into my system. Alderney DairyI live on the north fork of eastern Long Island in a town called Mattituck. There are many old bottles on my property and every spring, when the snow melts, I find some new ones in good condition. Today, I unearthed a bottle from the Alderney Dairy Co., Newark, N.J. Alderney DairyAs kids growing up in Morris Plains in the early 1970s, we ran all around the then abandoned Alderney Farms and warehouses. Once we went to the top of the cow barn, about 70 feet up, and found tons of old account ledgers. It was a windy day. We pulled the bindings off tossed the pages out the window and they blew all over the farm along Route 10. We had a lot of fun until a detective from Morris Plains police came by and made us clean up every scrap of paper. It took all afternoon! We also built pipe bombs and blew them off in the abandoned buildings and raised heck. Those were the days. I'd kill my kids if they ever acted like I did then. (ShorpyBlog, Eateries & Bars, Stores & Markets)
Keep on Truckin': 1975
... Hey that's my room! ... in 1970. On Commack, Long Island. Black Velvet Memories For a second there I was right back ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/29/2011 - 6:22pm -

January 1975. My nephew James, at 15 no longer Jimmy, has discovered long hair, rock 'n' roll, and black light posters. This is in his bedroom in Novato, California, captured by me on 35mm Kodacolor II. That's him in the lower left, in case you missed him, like I did until I first scanned this neg a couple years ago. View full size. Re: James at 15I also remember James at 16. Lance Kerwin. This picture is, like, soThis picture is, like, so far out man. It is too groovy for words. I'm just going to send you the positive vibes. Those flocking postersI had a summer job in a poster warehouse about a year after this picture was taken; we took pallets of the flat posters, rolled them, stuffed them in those long plastic sleeves, and distributed them to various retail places. A machine handled most of the rolling automatically, but if it couldn't keep up we had long spindles turned by a motor and controlled by a foot pedal for hand rolling. And the flocked posters all had to be hand rolled. I had to do it a could of times, and it was awful: the flocking of course went everywhere-- nasty, itchy stuff. The could of women who did most of the hand rolling would bundle themselves up in smocks and masks for those, but since I was sixteen I couldn't be bothered with that. A year ago one of our computers had to be rebuilt and I ended up at the store in the aisle with all the tubing and fluorescent dyes to make it glow. I almost had a '70s flashback. Spencer GiftsThen there is that store in every mall called Spencer Gifts that *always* had the black lights, strobe lights, mirror lights, lava lamps, and posters on display in the back. I couldn't wait to have my own money to buy all that! I remember...Brings back a ton of memories about my 3rd floor attic room posters. I had the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (LSD), Led Zep, and various psychedelic designs. Numerous hours of air guitar listening to my portable LP player (Grand Funk, Led Zep, Blue Oyster Cult...). Oh the MemoriesMy brother and I shared a room and had our friends over for a painting party. We painted the walls and ceiling flat black and installed a black light on the ceiling. Then all our friends painted what they wanted in fluorescent colors. Poor Mom. I made it up to her several years later when my friends and I paneled the room. There is a big surprise under that paneling that someone had to have found sometime in the early 1980's. In the Black of the LightGood Gawd Gertie! There's a 'collectible' fortune in black light posters on those walls.... I had the Disney-themed "Ain't Gonna Work on Dizzy's Farm No More" poster, among others - of course the publisher was soon firebombed out of existence by the Mouse's corporate lawyers - I was maybe James' age when I got them, and the lovely un-filtered UV lamps to "power" them - how lucky I am to still have my vision intact and my skin cancer-free - oh man, the ozone those things made...! Anyway, later on, a Female with whom I was experiencing a permanently deteriorating relationship decamped from our shared abode one afternoon, in the process relieving me of some of my cash, ALL of my stash, and a selection of my posessions - among them: those posters. Noelle - if you happen to read this - it's been nearly 40 years babe - keep the rest of the Stuff - but gimme back my posters already! tterrace = the Garrison Keillor of Larkspur Psychedelic dreamsOur local Target store at that time had a separate room just off the entrance which sold only the record albums of the day and all sorts of black light posters and was completely bathed in just funky black lights, disco balls and flashing multicolor rotating lamps which would cause anyone to feel they were "tripping out" just by being in there. My kids were teens at the time and once took my elderly mother in there to which she reiterated the old phrase "These kids today are all hopped up on goofballs" which now cracks us all up every time we hear it since I believe that was actually coined in the era of beatniks back in the '50s (When I was young). We still say it now and then just to remind ourselves that every new generation has their own trends and fads which the older generations are not tuned into. Life goes on... What, Me Worry?I remember the black light fad of the 70's very well. I new some folks that had whole rooms devoted to those posters and their music. Alfred E. Summed It UpI well remember when I "achieved" my age of discovery. Everything was under control, or so I thought. My contemporaries and I all had the same mantra: "What, Me Worry?" Hey that's my room!... in 1970. On Commack, Long Island. Black Velvet MemoriesFor a second there I was right back in my 15 year old self's bedroom with the black velvet black light posters and disco lights. Man, oh, man the 70's were made of funky. The PostersI still actually have all those posters, I save freakin' everything.. part of the legacy.. :-) .. and yes, my room was a homage to rockstars I admired and blacklight posters.. anyone remember the Wheaties blacklight poster with the Zig Zag man running? No need for bleachOne good thing about black lights: they make your teeth whiter than white! I saved one item.Almost all of it got lost to The Cleaning Mom, relocations, marriage (to, of all people, The Cleaning Wife), and attic roof leaks, but I still have an original 1969 green Lava Lamp in perfect operating condition. It has a place of honor on my computer desk and, since it takes about 2 hours to warm up, is used on long winter weekend evenings. James at 15Anyone remember the TV show from that era? TrippyMy mom wouldn't let me have a black light since she was convinced that I would either go blind or get cancer from the ultraviolet light. I actually do have a neon black light that works but haven't set it up anywhere due to fear of our kids breaking it. Sorry Mr. CrumbThat "Keep on Truckin" poster looks like one of the many unlicensed knockoffs that bedeviled R. Crumb at that point in his career. Keep on Truckin'I had the same poster. My friend's irises turn a weird milky colour under blacklights. One of the local nightspots has blacklights and we checked everyone's eyes and of 100+ people, hers were the only ones that did that. Very strange. I'm having a flashback hereOh man, Keep on Trucking, the Fabulous Furry Freak Bros., Fat Freddy's Cat, Mr. Natural and Rudy the D*** - ah, my misspent youth. My room, too!Yeah, that looks a lot like my room in Arlington, Texas in the 70's! I wish I still had all that stuff! Some of us never grow upOh man, now that's cool! Black lights, posters, incense and hanging out at Spencer Gifts. Yeah, that was me too. Yeah. I'm still into it; Mad, R.Crumb, old rock, fragrant sticks of incense and other oddness. I'm just too weird to give it up. LikewiseLooks a LOT like my room circa 1972...I had the LSD poster, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk...and all that. Brings back memories! I just bought a 1975Ford F150 that has been sitting in a field for 14 years. It has a "Keep on Truckin" bumper sticker on it still…. On another note, I was removing the bumper recently, as I am doing a body off resto on the truck, and dropped it on my foot and broke it. (the foot, not the bumper) The truck is going to be for my daughters 16th bday in July 2014. The frame is being powder coated this week. I'm crazy excited to give her a "brand new" 1975 truck. This also brings back cool memories of the posters in the 70's. Thanks. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Kidde Kokoon: 1955
... by Walter Kidde Nuclear Laboratories of Garden City, Long Island." United Press photo. View full size. How much lead lining? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/14/2013 - 7:36pm -

1955. "H-bomb hideaway. Family seated in a Kidde Kokoon, an underground fallout shelter manufactured by Walter Kidde Nuclear Laboratories of Garden City, Long Island." United Press photo. View full size. How much lead lining?Without any lead lining, and depending on how deep the shelter was buried, this wouldn't do you much good. [Not true. Three feet of packed earth above the shelter will reduce the intensity of gamma radiation by a factor of 1,024. - Dave] Dave, I'm not sure about the factor of 1024 you speak about. In reading this information, there is a level of protection in a small amount of dirt or concrete. Of course, if you don't insulate the door, your shelter won't get a glowing report; but you will. I've also read that many early bomb shelters were built less than 12 inches below ground level, and some were just placed in a basement. [The standard minimum 3-foot depth for an effective earth-shielded fallout shelter is based on well-established research. This is why underground shelters don't need a lead lining. - Dave] A basic fallout shelter consists of shields that reduce gamma ray exposure by a factor of 1000. The required shielding can be accomplished with 10 times the thickness of any quantity of material capable of cutting gamma ray exposure in half. Shields that reduce gamma ray intensity by 50 percent include 1 cm (0.4 inch) of lead, 6 cm (2.4 inches) of concrete, 9 cm (3.6 inches) of packed earth or 150 m (500 ft) of air. When multiple thicknesses are built, the shielding multiplies. Thus, a practical fallout shield is ten halving-thicknesses of packed earth, reducing gamma rays by approximately 210, or 1,024, times. deja vuSome years ago in Seattle after retiring to the backyard after dinner with a new friend I noticed a wheeled hatch in the middle of the yard. "Oh that's our bomb shelter" the host exclaimed, and sure enough after she opened the hatch we all went down a ladder into a shelter looking exactly like the one pictured. It even had a couple of unopened crates of (50 year old) canned goods still piled in the corner. A very weird deja-vu to say the least since I distinctly remember them being sold off parked flat bed trucks near my neighborhood as a kid. What's missing?I see canned food. I see canned water. Where's the can? Space efficiencyYes, by all means, let's take up valuable space by keeping the canned food and water in cases made of 3/4" plywood! Lulz-deficientThey forgot the canned laughter. Brilliant design, business dudThat radiation monitor is an extremely clever device that works entirely without batteries, which in other radiation detectors of the time were typically in the depleted state when you finally needed them. And it was total business flop. Walter KiddeWas this the same company that makes firefighting equipment? Half-thicknessA substance's ability to shield from radiation is measured in half-thickness, which obviously is the amount of material needed to reduce the radiation dose by 50%. It also depends on the radiation source, for example cobalt-60 is more energetic than cesium-137 and therefore requires a thicker shield to get the same reduction. I couldn't find anything for packed earth, but the half-thickness for steel with a Cs-137 source is about half an inch. Several feet of packed earth would definitely reduce the radiation level, probably by quite a lot. Without more research I can't be sure how much. [The half-thickness for packed earth is 9 cm, or 3.6 inches. Multiplying that by ten, to 36 inches, reduces radiation by a factor of 210, or 1,024. - Dave] Twilight Zone episode?I don't foresee a happy outcome here. It's going to get weird any minute. Playtime?Little Girl has her toy stuffed cat to play with, so I guess Mom & Dad will be fighting over who gets to play with the toy Jeep on the floor! Where the elite shelter.Seriously, I lived through this era (born in 1942), and nobody had one of these. They were seen in newsreels, and PR photos like this, but no real family wanted, or could afford this nonesense. Necktie Geez if I'm going to have to wear a necktie I'm not going. Where's Junior?I see a toy Jeep partially visible behind the box of canned water. Did Junior not make it in time? Kanned HeatIn your Kidde Kokoon you will have Kanned Water, Kanned Food, and Kanned Heat! (aka: Sterno) D.I.Y.Did the owners of the shelters have to furnish the interior to suit their needs. Those shelves and bunks look fairly homemade. What a gloomy place. I'd rather be deadLiving in this thing with my family would be worse than the alternative. We'd be at each other's throats in a few hours. If you're going to have a bomb shelter, at least make it comfortable! Chocolate DropSpam and sweet cocoa for sandwiches and cocoa cupcakes. It's a lifestyle. Are You Kiddeng Me?I hope there are closed-environment sanitation facilities/provisions out of camera view. Otherwise, it will be a foul smelling and unsanitary Kokoon before too long. US Army Trenching ToolKind of curious to know why they have one. There's nothing to dig inside the shelter, and if you go outside to dig, you've just exposed yourself to the radiation you were trying to avoid! Re: Trenching ToolAsk yourself how you would get out, after the ingress tunnel is filled with debris. RE: Trenching ToolI think if you're close enough to the blast to be covered by debris, you're probably toast anyway. [Not to belabor the obvious, but fallout shelters are shelters from fallout, i.e. gamma radiation from the radioactive dust and debris that fall after the blast. They're not blast shelters. - Dave] They really did existMy parents had some friends who were very eccentric, and they had one. They took us through it once, when I was very little. This would have been about the Cuban Missile Crisis era. I remember it was painted sunny yellow inside and was tiny and smelled musty. It couldn't have been more than about 8X10 feet. My dad said it reminded him of a converted septic tank. In 1962 the Marx toy company even made a dollhouse with a fallout shelter included. The room on the left of the ground floor is the shelter. A modern variationUnderground shelters that look quite like fallout shelters are popular in some parts of Australia as wildfire shelters. They don't have air filtration systems because they have to be completely sealed to prevent the fires from sucking out all the oxygen. As wildfires move very quickly, it's not necessary to take shelter for more than an hour, tops, and the air within the shelters is enough to sustain the occupants for that short period. Studio ApartmentIn some of your more upscale areas today (Manhattan, Silicon Valley...) you could probably rent that space out for a couple grand a month. Our fully equipped houseOur house (built 1961) has a tiny bomb shelter tucked under one of the bedrooms. It has an extra set of floor joists above it and steel braces running between those and the floor; there's also a vent pipe to the outside. I really cannot see the five of us lasting in that room more than about an hour; my son is too tall to even stand up in it. The roof trusses on the house are overbuilt, which came in handy when the tree fell on the dining room a year ago. My parents tell me that some of the houses in their neighborhood have built-in shelters too. Of course being that we all live within a few miles of major DoD labs and contractors, not to mention NSA, one would have to expect that in a concerted nuclear attack we would have all been collateral casualties (as the euphemism goes). (Technology, The Gallery)
Mom and Me: 1971
... My mother standing in front of our house in Massapequa, Long Island, in 1971. In six months I would be born. View full size. ... steps, and that siding looks like a thousand houses on Long Island. The great LI building boom started in 1939-1940, before Pearl ... 
 
Posted by gjoe - 10/06/2009 - 11:38pm -

My mother standing in front of our house in Massapequa, Long Island, in 1971. In six months I would be born. View full size. MassapequaLove this picture. I grew up in Massapequa around the same time (b. 1959). It's great to see a picture that, even though it is of a stranger, looks so familiar. World wide fashionI was born in 1970, thousands of miles away from Massapequa - in Israel, which actually was still quite a spartan society back then. Buy if I could find a decent slide depicting my mother at that time, I promise it would be a spitting image: same beehive hairdo, same dress, same wool coat, same purse. Just amazing. All AmericanWe moved to Massapequa Park in 1972 when I was 4. What a wonderful place to grow up. I can relateMy kids were born in 1973 and 1976 and I LOVE the clothes she is wearing!! Great pic!!! Oooo!I want her purse! It is so chic and up to the minute. I am serious--they are back in style! Siding curiosity The house looks like it has asbestos siding, popular in the late 40's and early to mid 50's. Am I right, wrong? The picture, regardless of the siding is great. Hey JalousieGreat shot. I'd forgotten those jalousie storm doors. Even more great memories! My Cousin gjoeFor some reason, I hear Marisa Tomei. HaberdasheryGreat picture. I love that coat. I couldn't help thinking though, that I have neckties older than you. ChicOf course, if the picture were to be taken today, she would be wearing a leotard, maybe something with a bare midriff, as that seems to be the style today. Oh, for the days of modesty. Did you knowMassapequa is an Indian word meaning "station wagon"? You were there honeyI have WW2 pictures of my wife and son and myself taken on the beach at Lompoc, California, and I love to tell my daughter, born September 5, 1946, a true baby boomer, that she was there with us. BeautifulI was 9 years old in 1971; my mother wore the same fashions and the same hairstyle. My mother was beautiful; I never knew how beautiful until I reached adulthood. These fashions looked good on this lady and they looked good on my mother. My houseI grew up in Garden City South (b 1975), only a few miles away from Massapequa. However, that door, those steps, and that siding looks like a thousand houses on Long Island. The great LI building boom started in 1939-1940, before Pearl Harbor, back when Grumman and many other smaller aerospace manufacturers were supplying the Allies. Most houses sported the same asbestos shingles until the mid to late 1970s when vinyl siding, most of the time, was installed right over it. Joe from LI NY Re: ChicSorry Marcus, leotards and bare midriffs are very much not in style now! Today, she would be wearing something similar, the clothing only slightly updated, looking absolutely tre chic and the envy of vintage inspired fashion lovers everywhere! You Bet Your Sweet BippyIf she were standing in front of a psychedelic wall, she could easily be mistaken for JoAnne Worley. Simply DivineHow could that sunny yellow coat not make you happy? I wish I could see more of her dress because the print looks wonderful. Re: Did you knowMassapequa is actually an Indian word meaning "near the mall." Coast to Coast..I believe that we now have the East Coast counterpart to our beloved TTerrace. Excellent photo, GJoe. I remember both my sisters having the same hairdo about that time. Ah, for the days of yore... Fellow PequanWhere in Massapequa was this house? I grew up on Division Avenue. Born in '62. ResponseIt was a 444 N. Syracuse Ave....Thank you for all the great responses to this image. I will have to forward this along to my mother... She will truly enjoy it! I apologize for being so lax in catching up. Joe Massapequa MomJust as a point of curiosity, was your mom a teacher? I grew up in Massapequa, and she looks vaguely familiar... just a few years older than me. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
D.G.S.: 1935
... these customers is in the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey. Tea Baggers The White Rose Food ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2011 - 11:28am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1935. "Food supplies, interior of D.G.S. store." One of several District Grocery Stores in the capital; there's a P Street address on the burlap sack. The White Rose brand seems especially well represented on these shelves. 8x10 acetate negative, National Photo Company. View full size. Bug juiceAnybody else have a family history of calling Lea & Perrins "bug juice"? Also, re: sawdust in butcher shops: aid in absorbing fluids you didn't want to think about. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire SauceThat packaging has hardly changed an iota in all these years. Still familiar namesMueller's Aunt Jemima French's Campbell's Domino Kraft Lea & Perrins Wheatena Oxydol Sawdust MemoriesMy father worked in butcher shops when I was young and there was always sawdust on the floor. I guess that made it easier to clean up or something. Junket TabletsMake milk into DAINTY DESSERTS. Resting atop a box of Steero bouillon cubes. How terrific this isto see all of those oldtime products on the grocery shelf! Representative packages or cans of just about all of these items might have been found on my mother's pantry shelves back in 1940. It's especially neat to see that box of Oxydol ("Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins") but where is a box of either Rinso or Super Suds? ("Rinso White, Rinso Bright, Happy Little Washday Song", and "Super Suds, Super Suds, Lots More Suds with Super Suh-uh-uds"). [There is a big box of Chipso here. - Dave] Wire Baskets in this StoreDuring the same decade, in Oklahoma City, an inventor put wheels on some wire baskets and called them shopping carts. Seeman Brothers' Brand Folks in New York and New Jersey will still recognize the White Rose brand. It's the independent label for the Seeman Brothers wholesale grocers, est. 1886. Their website says they still offer 18,000 items in the New York area, dominating the market. It's all based on their unique fermented White Rose Tea. During my childhood in '50s South Florida, displaced New Yorkers flocked to New York style grocers on Miami Beach to get that tea which was as strong as coffee. A detailed history here. Disease and pestilenceLooks like they weren't expecting a visit from the health inspector. White RoseStill around. From their website: Today, White Rose is the largest independent wholesale food distributor in the New York City metropolitan area, which in turn is the largest retail food market in the United States. White Rose Food serves supermarket chains, independent retailers and members of voluntary cooperatives, providing more than 18,000 food and nonfood products to more than 1,800 stores from Maryland to Connecticut. The highest concentration of these customers is in the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey. Tea BaggersThe White Rose Food Company is still with us. They're most popular product is White Rose Tea. Based in New Jersey, they claim to be the largest food distributor in the NYC Metro area. The 125 year old company has an interesting story, you can read it on their website, www.whiterose.com/, Hello Jell-OJust noticed Jell-O hiding in there too. Both behind and to the right of the French's Mustard. Our 14th Anniversary Sale!DGS celebrates 14 years at their over 250 stores in the Metropolitan Washington area. Just phone in your order! (Despite the date, I doubt anyone phoned-in a birthday cake order for Der Führer.) More still familiar namesAdd Jell-o to the list One of the original house brandsWhite Rose "house brand" products have been around for more than a century, and the company is still around: http://www.whiterose.com/history.asp Key in the doorI love the fact that the key to the door is tied to the doorknob with a piece of string. Hard to misplace that way. Must have been lost previously so someone "fixed" that. Before there were supermarketsThis photo is representative of one of my favorite subjects: the old-time Ma and Pa stores. In it, you can see the evolution of retailing, product packaging, and brand name history. This reminds me of the corner neighborhood stores in Baltimore. The blocks of rowhouses were frequently punctuated with such corner stores. In my neighborhood, in a two block area, the four corners had a butcher shop, a grocery, a bakery, and a drugstore/soda counter. These existed into the early 1960s. Of course, today's supermarkets are a cleaner, superior shopping experience, but a certain flavor has been lost - can you remember the smell of a real bakery shop? Junket!I haven't thought of Junket in decades. My grandmother made it for my sisters and I all the time when we were below the age of 8, but it came in packets, not tablets. It made something akin to a blancmage, although I don't think you could ever have a Junket win Wimbledon. I believe you can still find it if you're lucky. District Grocery StoresDGS was a buying consortium of small independently owned groceries in the Washington area. They were a bit more expensive than the larger chain stores (A&P, Sanitary - later Safeway, etc). However, you could phone in your grocery order and it would be delivered within a hour or so. More sawdustHere, it might have been used to add flavor and palatability to some grungy looking celery. Re: Sawdust50+ years ago I worked in supermarket meat markets. Sawdust was put on the floor to prevent slipping. It was spread about an inch thick. At the end of the week it was swept up, the floor cleaned as necessary, and new sawdust put down. In general, health regulations today prohibit using sawdust. Celery gone overLooks like the celery has started to rot and the store manager is mad about it! Aunt JemimaWhy would some boxes have Jemima's picture, and not others? Another great mystery. Anyway, this youngster knows what to do with the box. Born in 1927, she has achieved fame and fortune as my Aunt Libby. Taken over-at-the-house-on-the-hill in Hamlin, West Virginia. [The box in your adorable pic is a jumbo size container of pancake flour. The one in our photo holds 24 small boxes, each with Aunt J's picture on it. - Dave] Wire baskets on wheels?Shopping carts? In Oklahoma today they are called buggies. HodgepodgeIt's interesting the mix of products on the shelves; no grouping of veggies in one area and soups in another and sauces in yet another. Were prices for the items placed in those holders along the edge of the shelves? Here's the Junket, but Where's the Beef?Junket was (and still is) a common way to use slightly curdled milk to make custards; and it's also used by cheesemakers. My mother used it whenever the milk was just about to go bad. Growing up in the Great Depression, anything that could be done to salvage food items was considered priceless. As for Steero bouillon cubes (later Herb-Ox?), they were used for flavoring soups and stews whenever actual meat was scarce/unavailable. Also, the broth was considered an early form of "comfort food". During WWII, my father and uncles received jars of Bovril, the U.K. equivalent of Steero in their Red Cross packages. It got traded amongst the men, almost as much as cigarettes and coffee. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Stores & Markets)
Drop Me a Line: 1915
... Raunt and other tiny islands. Cross Bay Boulevard and the Long Island Railroad connect the region with the mainland and the Rockaways. ... and following the line of telegraph wires, is the Long Island Railroad Rockaway Line. The LIRR line across Jamaica Bay was closed ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/04/2011 - 10:13pm -

Queens County, New York, circa 1915. "At Broad Channel -- fishing at your front door." 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. CaughtThe lady in white hooked a plankfish! Breezy Pointon stilts. Suppose I'll have to clean that, tooIs our woman in the ruffled cap the family maid? The people around her are in a state of barely-suppressed hilarity, while she remains dour. Big Egg Marsh New York City Guide, 1939, Federal Writers' Project. The Jamaica Bay Islands, sprawled among the twenty square miles of shallow Jamaica Bay, are marshy flats on which about four thousand people dwell in comparative isolation within the corporate limits of New York City. All but two per cent live on Broad Channel island; the remainder are scattered over the Raunt and other tiny islands. Cross Bay Boulevard and the Long Island Railroad connect the region with the mainland and the Rockaways. … The few islands that are above high tide were not permanently settled until about 1880s, when a fishing village was established on Big Egg Marsh (now known as Broad Channel). Here, before the city's open sewers contaminated Jamaica Bay, fluke, flounder, weakfish, oysters, and clams were abundant. … In 1925 Cross Bay Boulevard was built, beaches were developed, and a business district sprang up. At present a great many people stop at Broad Channel in the summer, and fish, mostly with improvised lines, from the two bridges at either end of the island. On the eastern side the shore dips and curves; here the cottages are whitewashed and trim. In other sections long rows of ramshackle buildings lean over the water on their uncertain stilts. Poverty and decay marks the dirt streets and battered houses whose gardens are decorated with mounds of bleached shells. Men in sailor caps and dungarees tinker with boats, and housewives may be seen working over kerosene stoves. Vacationing in waterfront slumsPeople willingly left their homes for this? HoneydewsOne day, Jake will clean out the basement. Take The "A" TrainBehind the houses, underneath and following the line of telegraph wires, is the Long Island Railroad Rockaway Line. The LIRR line across Jamaica Bay was closed after one of the wooden trestles burned down in the early 1950s. The abandoned right-of-way was acquired by the city and reopened in 1956 as an extension of the IND 8th Ave/Fulton St line. Originally serviced by the "HH" shuttle train the line is now served by the "A" train, providing a direct, mostly express, link to midtown Manhattan. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Mabel and Daisy: 1897
In 1960 my father, working for the USDA on Long Island, New York, was looking through a dump one day and found this fat ... 
 
Posted by drawsing - 01/14/2015 - 8:29pm -

In 1960 my father, working for the USDA on Long Island, New York, was looking through a dump one day and found this fat packet of old film negatives. He brought them home with him and kept them in a box. They are 3.5 inches square, probably taken with a Kodak No. 2 "Bullet" camera. Some had writing on their paper sleeves, and it is from this that I determined the place and time. Most of the images appear to be from Malone, New York. This one was labeled "Mabel and Daisy on the street." View full size. Smiling towards the futureLittle did they know 118 years later we would be smiling back at them! Main Street just west of Elm, looking eastNice iPhone cases they're carrying. Full of funThey look full of fun these two nicely dressed ladies captured on film. I wonder which is which; I plump for Daisy being on the right! Look, they're smiling!What a rare sight from this period compared to other Shorpy photos. I think their attire is lovely. Another fine messI know it's a tad disrepectful, but the one on the right looks like Stan Laurel in drag. MaloneVillage of Malone, Town of Malone, Franklin County. Pritnyar to Canada, this bucolic locale gave to Rutherford Hayes his vice-president and to the rest of us, the founder of Gibson guitars. Zoom inCould those phone-like items be visiting card cases? Does anyone else see what seems to be the word "Polio" on that flyer/handout that the woman on the right is holding? On the paper, there seems to be an image of a man with a woman leaning toward him from the right. I can't read what's in the circle but just under the shadow of the holder's hand it sure looks like POLIO. Let there be light!Nice Edison bulb in the shop window! Sapolio?It was a popular soap in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the magazine she's holding may contain an ad. "Polio"Almost certainly an ad for "Sapolio", a popular hand soap of the day. Here's a link to a brief explanation. More pleaseI just love this photo! Isn't it great Isn't it great to enjoy photographs such as this with people like you viewers! Thanks for Posting ThisI look forward to more images from the stack of old negatives your father saved from the trash heap. That Wilder boyMalone, New York, was also home to Almanzo Wilder, of Little House book fame. Laura Ingalls Wilder told her husband's story in "Farmer Boy." My great grandparents lived in Malone in 1897My great grandparents, Frank and May Montgomery, lived in Malone in 1897. My grandfather lived in Malone until 1917. My great uncle, Garth (who wrote the Chiquita Banana Song), was born in Malone in 1914. I'd love to see all the photos if possible, to see if anyone looks familiar! SistersI would say they look like sisters and yes, I would guess Daisy is the gal on the right. I too, love this photo -- what a great story. Yes, more please.Well where does one start? I agree totally with the sentiment expressed in the other comments. Makes one think it was just yesterday, superb natural photo. Mabel and Daisy La LimeI have found a notice in an old Malone newspaper called the Malone Palladium, you can find it online, announcing that Misses Daisy and Mabel LaLime of Malone spent the weekend at Hacketts Hotel as a guest of their sister Miss Jennie who works as a stenographer in the offices of the NNYRR the North New York Rail Road Company. The article is dated May 20 1897 Their father appears to have been a Eusebe LaLime, possibly Canadian, and here's a link to a patent he took out regarding railway equipment. http://www.google.com/patents/US362221 From the Malone Farmer (newspaper) 1905:- Miss Jessie Beach, Miss Eva Ridge way, Miss Mabel LaLime, Miss Ida MeKerraeher and L. E. Sweet have entered C. E. Costlow1s stenographic school, to take courses in shorthand and typewriting. Mabel married a Harold Laurence and was living in Malone on the 1940 Census and another sister Jennie married a James J McGrail and lived in Crafton, Pennsylvania. Great detective work!I was hoping this would happen when I posted this photo. Thanks to everyone for finding all this information. I looked up Daisy Lalime and it looks like she married someone with a last name of Swinston. I even found a picture of their daughter as an elderly woman. PollyannaLooks like the movie Pollyanna and they are going shoping for a store-bought dress - from a real store!!! DelightfulAn utterly charming view. I love the clothing. M.E. HowardThis site has a picture of what might be that block at Mabel and Daisy are standing on. You can see the power line pole with the cross bucks on it behind them. The names in the image are hard to read, but the text on that page says that M.E. Howard is a "subject". The page says 1910 for the year. Small worldI'll have to show this to my ex-husband. He was Malone born and raised. Would love to see more photos of MaloneI have lived near Malone since mid 1970's. Malone has a small 'House of History' here that is repository of much of the local historical records (along with the county courthouse - Franklin County, NY). I am sure that the House of History would love to see the photos your father found in 1960, as I would. Please post more! Malone was very active in railroading in 1800's into mid 1900's, as well as the being the site of the Dutch Shultz (notable rumrunner of the 1930's)tax evasion trial - the trial was moved from Manhattan to Malone - Shultz was acquitted!!! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
1942: Family No. 1319
... coast of New England initially and at least one landing on Long Island by German saboteurs but they were not considered a significant ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/10/2021 - 11:30am -

April 1942. "Santa Anita reception center, Los Angeles County, California. The evacuation of Japanese and Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under United States Army war emergency order. Japanese family arriving at the center." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size. So this was an "evacuation"?That's what the Office of War Information called it. Here's what George Orwell wrote four years later: "In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. . . . euphemism, question begging and sheer cloudy vagueness." May we learn from our mistakes. In Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court permitted the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Let's pause to appreciate Justice Frank Murphy, whose dissent said that the action "falls into the ugly abyss of racism," and resembles "the abhorrent and despicable treatment of minority groups by the dictatorial tyrannies which this nation is now pledged to destroy." Justices Roberts and Jackson also dissented. Shame!An action which grows more disgraceful with each passing year! Seeing her face I cannot find the words "Imagine being told you had a week to pack up all your belongings. You can bring all the bedding, clothing, and toiletries you can carry, but you better find a way to store or sell just about everything else. Homes, cars, boats? Bargain them off for fractions of their worth, or find a friend and hope they keep things safe. Your family business? Liquidate your inventory in a panic sale. Crops and farmland? Sell or lease your land, and forget about seeing the profits from that harvest you’ve been toiling for all year. These were just some of the many turmoils Japanese Americans faced 75 years ago this spring. As civilian exclusion orders were posted across West Coast cities, Japanese Americans learned they had a week to ten days to pack up their lives and report for indefinite incarceration." https://densho.org/sold-damaged-stolen-gone-japanese-american-property-l... Yes, an evacuation.There is nothing euphemistic about calling it an evacuation, because that's exactly what it was. Military authorities had good cause to be concerned about spies and saboteurs, and the removal of Japanese-Americans from coastal areas would have made it much more difficult for them to operate undetected. Yes, it was unfortunate, but it wasn't wrong. A disgraceful chapter in American historyPer the poignant comment above, let us not forget this incident by obfuscating the truth. Folks I KnowI go to church with a lovely lady who could be that child. She did time in the Camps. I may just share this pic with her. Evacuation, pssssh! They lost everything. Totally everything. Call it what you will --It was a shameful period in our history. Never again?This pretty much breaks my heart. Let me recommend a visit to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center Museum between Cody and Powell, Wyoming. You'll never regret it. Times Were DifferentIt is unfair to look back at this time using current thinking. When the 'evacuation' was ordered the thinking at the time was that the Japanese military could still attack Hawaii and perhaps even the West Coast. There had been no documented events by Japanese-Americans of spying or sabotage but it was very early in the war and we had just lost most of our capital ships in December of 1941. The defense of the West Coast was thought to be in great peril. To their great credit there still has been no documented event of a Japanese-American committing an anti-American act. Even though they were imprisoned and most lost their homes and businesses they remained loyal to their country. Lock 'em upUh ... because they might storm the Capitol? Just CuriousWhere were the Italian-American and the German-American evacuation centers? Yes, it was unfortunate, and yes, it was wrong.For those of you who are arguing that there was justification for putting Japanese-Americans - many of whom were American-born US citizens - in camps, let me ask you a question: why weren't the many millions of American citizens of German and Italian descent also relocated from their homes in the east coast? RacismThe Japanese exclusion on the west coast was racism, pure and simple. The danger of Japanese attack in Hawaii was greater (obviously!), but people in Hawaii of Japanese ancestry weren't rounded up and put in concentration camps. The danger of German attack on the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico was greater than that of Japanese attack on the west coast. The German submarine fleet operated and sunk ships along our east coast and in the Gulf. But people of German or Italian ancestry in the east and south weren't rounded up and put in concentration camps. Roosevelt gave in to racists in California. But perhaps Earl Warren learned his lesson. He was responsible for the Brown v. Board school integration decision after Eisenhower appointed him to the Supreme Court. No excuses. It was racism. I would point out that President Roosevelt admitted to his wife, Eleanor that the so-called evacuation was not based on intelligence but grass roots bigotry that politicians were catering to. On the other hand the government knew that German spies were operating along the West Coast and many had turned themselves in and yet not one German American was "evacuated". People have been denying this obvious truth since I was a little boy and many still are. It wasn't the times. Nothing has changed if too many continue to make up stories in order to avoid contrition and simple amends for our racism. 442nd Infantry RegimentThe most decorated unit in US military history. This unit was made up al ost entirely of Nisei, second generation Americans of Japanese ancestry. About 1500 of these soldiers enlisted while living in the camps. Many gave their lives in liberating Europe. No one can ask for a greater show of American patriotism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States) Racism? No.Misguided nationalism and bigotry, yes. Germans and Italians were also rounded up and encamped. I would refer those researching this to author Jan Jarboe Russell's "The Train To Crystal City." It is a very well-written and compelling read. To be sure, that this was done was damnable enough. Let us remember that this was the thinking back then. The best we can do is to ensure that anything of this sort never happens again. Just SadIn my school days, this would have been just another picture from our history. Since then, I've become quite fond of the Japanese, having lived in Northern Japan for several years. They are wonderful people, and had I been living in the '40s, this would have been sad to see. Don't forget the profiteersInteresting that the US government didn't make any offer or attempt to hold relocated Japanese Americans assets in trust, so the "good ones" wouldn't be unfairly punished. While many Japanese Americans lost everything, those who were not Japanese American bought homes, farms, businesses, etc. with large profits already built in. Sounds like profiteers saw yet another opportunity to use racism to their advantage; and racism was only too happy to accommodate. There Were Major DifferencesTo those wondering why our government did not 'evacuate' Germans and Italians following the attack on Pearl Harbor let me explain some significant differences. Most of the domestic German population was centered in the upper Midwest. Not an area where they might be expected to engage in sabotage with offshore enemies. There was significant military action by German submarines off the coast of New England initially and at least one landing on Long Island by German saboteurs but they were not considered a significant domestic threat by the FBI. Most of the domestic Italian population was centered in the Northeast but the Italians were not considered a military threat. Japanese were not assimilated into American culture to the degree that Germans and Italians were and so were looked at with much more suspicion. Although there were some incidents of Japanese in Hawaii spying on our military it wasn't the Japanese-Americans but rather Japanese consulate personnel. I can only guess the reason Japanese-Americans in Hawaii were not 'evacuated' was that (a) significant numbers were employed in support of our military posts there and (b) where would they have been put? It would have taken many ships to move that population and those ships were needed desperately in the Atlantic at that time. There's More to the StoryReading from the tag attached to the girl's sweater I believe this is the Shimamoto family, Frances/Fumiye (the little girl) and likely her father (Suyehiko) and one of her three older brothers (Kenichi, Takeshi, or Seiya). Frances' father and mother (Seiju) were born in Japan and so were ineligible to become citizens. Frances and her brothers were all born in US and were citizens. In 1942 the family was living in Long Beach Ca. and when evacuated were sent to the Rohwer camp in Arkansas. At some point they were all transferred to the Tule Lake camp in Northern California. They were held in the camp until December of 1945 at which time the entire family was repatriated to Japan. Some other considerationsThe Niʻihau incident occurred on December 7–13, 1941, when Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi (西開地 重徳, Nishikaichi Shigenori) crash-landed his Zero on the Hawaiian island of Niʻihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy had designated Niʻihau as an uninhabited island for damaged aircraft to land and await rescue. However, the Hawaiians could not understand Nishikaichi, who spoke only Japanese with a limited amount of English. They sent for Issei Ishimatsu Shintani, who was married to a native Hawaiian, to translate. Having been briefed on the situation beforehand and approaching the task with evident distaste, Shintani exchanged just a few words with the pilot and departed without explanation. The puzzled Hawaiians then sent for Yoshio Harada, who was born in Hawaii of Japanese ancestry, and his wife Irene (an Issei), both of whom constituted the remainder of the Niʻihau population of Japanese ancestry. Nishikaichi informed Harada of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I'll let the Japanese familiesWho were the victims of this tell me whether it was bigotry/racism or not. And they say yes, it was. So, yeah, racism and a very shameful unfair thing for the US to do. Oh Yes, It Was RacismWell, oldvet, kamikaze air attacks didn't even begin until 1944 when Japan was clearly losing the war. True, though, many Japanese soldiers were indeed willing to die for the Emperor and many shinto beliefs contributed to the idea of fighting warrior spirit (bushido) and other military traits, but the kamikazes were later. And no, there is literally no evidence to my knowledge that Japanese living or born in the U.S. were a threat because of their belief in shinto (do Roman Catholics pose a threat?). The ugly truth is they looked different, spoke differently, believed differently, and people like them had attacked the U.S. To the handful of nisei I have known, it felt racist and unjust. Period. They're pretty sure. (The Gallery, Kids, Los Angeles, Russell Lee, WW2)
Rum Point: 1957
... family of New York & St. James / Head of the Harbor on Long Island. In the middle decades of the 20th century she socialized with ... buried there. Some of Ms. Frissell's photographs of Long Island in the post war era capture the easier way of life that was still ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 6:46pm -

July 1957. "The Whites on the bridge between Watch Island and Rum Point for morning tennis." View full size. Gelatin silver print by Toni Frissell. Morning TennisThis could have been used to illustrate The Official Preppy Handbook! Rum PointFor a bit more info: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri022.html White FamilyTalk about living up to their name! Stanford White's ProgenySome of the subjects crossing the bridge are likely the descendants of American architect Stanford White. Toni Frissell married into the Bacon family of New York & St. James / Head of the Harbor on Long Island. In the middle decades of the 20th century she socialized with other members of this community among whom were the Whites. The children I might speculate are Stanford White's great-grandchildren. A photo-essay by Frissell in Life, "The Splendid World of Stanford White," posed the architect's great-grandchildren in some of his opulent buildings. Stanford White lived in St. James, NY & is buried there. Some of Ms. Frissell's photographs of Long Island in the post war era capture the easier way of life that was still to be found there at that time. Before suburban sprawl had supplanted the potato fields & woods & the waters of Long Island Sound were still clean. Toni Frissell died in St. James, NY at 81 in 1988. (The Gallery, Sports, Toni Frissell)
Urban Eskimos: 1961
... be the top tab. I was 13 in 1961 and back then nobody on Long Island knew what a school bus or "free" school lunch was. Boot ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/22/2013 - 5:10pm -

"Snow igloo, 1961." Somewhere in Baltimore near Kermy and Janet's house. Note the variety of lunch-carriers. 35mm Kodachrome. View full size. Off-center compositionPossibly the result of parallax problems from a rangefinder-type camera or just an off-centered photographer. Aladdin "Buccaneer" LunchboxCame out around 1957. Bare legsAs a Canadian, I must ask: What's with the bare legs in winter? Oh, Grow Up!Good illustration of human growth patterns. Girls get their height spurt at 10-12 years, boys at 12-14. Typical grammar school 6-7th grade observation. Re bare legsDavidK, as a Minnesotan, I wore snow pants until I started junior high and then we would not be caught dead wearing them to school. We could only wear dresses to school. Yes, I remember standing at the bus stop with freezing legs in 1961. Dummies! Ha ha But why bare?I can understand, pattyanne, why a teen would want to ditch the puffy snowpants (my own pre-teen resents having to wear them, but that's the price of being allowed to play outside at recess during the winter) -- still, why not wear leotards or stockings or leggings? I can't get over these girls with their bare legs in sub-freezing temperatures. Loose Leaf TabsMy lunch always went to school in a brown paper with me walking it there but what caught my eye here was the red loose leaf tab. You'd buy the 3-hole oak tag dividers and each one was "tabbed" with a different-color plastic gizmo. You'd insert a paper strip that had a school class subject written on it and you'd flip that tab in class to get to that class's work. Red always seemed to be the top tab. I was 13 in 1961 and back then nobody on Long Island knew what a school bus or "free" school lunch was. Boot removal@wxman1: The way to take those boots off without having your shoes come off with them is to put plastic bread bags over your shoes before putting on the boots. Preferably Wonder Bread. Rubber BootsAll of them are wearing the rubber winter footwear popular in those days. Looks like the boy is wearing the same kind I remember wearing to school. They were all black and had a half dozen metal clasps. They were also impossible to take off without leaving your shoe inside. My lunch bucket I am 61 years old and remember having that lunch bucket. There is some sort of underwater shark scene on the bottom if memory serves me. My younger brother had a rectangular cowboy themed bucket. I think it may have been a "Gunsmoke" or maybe "Wyatt Earp" theme. WOW...Look at that igloo or snowfort behind them. Isn't that what it is? It's huge! We used to dream of such big snow forts, but it never snowed enough where we lived. Right to bare legs....Just as an extra data point, last night I happened to be in Baltimore and saw quite a few men walking around in shorts, in 19-degree F temperature with 20 mph wind. Personally, I put it down to insanity. ImpedimentaI attended K-1 in balmy Cleveland, Ohio, (rode the streetcar there, too, though that's another story), an experience that taught me I'd rather steal for a living than teach elementary school. Our teachers seemed to spend most of their time getting us out of our snowsuits and galoshes, then back in for recess, than out, then back in to go home, etc. Add the trauma of the occasional lost mitten or the kid who, after having been made into a reasonable facsimile of the little brother in "A Christmas Story," announced an urgent need to go to the bathroom, and one wonders why the suicide rate for lower-elementary-grade teachers in the Snow Belt is not much higher. Shoe KeepersI remember those rubber boots with clasps too. I also remember wearing bread bags over my shoes to make it easier to get the darned things on and off. FebruaryHaving grown up in the Washington/Baltimore area during the 60s, I can say that the amount of snow on the ground is a bit unusual. After a scan of snow depth records for 1961, I would guess that this photo was taken on February 4th or 5th. There was a storm on the 4th that dumped about 10" of snow (which had a few inches on it beforehand). The temperature was also right near freezing which is why the snow looks so clumpy and "packable". Great snow for building forts, igloos, snowballs and, of course, snowmen. Addendum: After realizing that I never looked at a calendar, I have realized the the 4th and 5th were Saturday and Sunday. So this picture must have been on Monday the 6th. Flip top PurseThe girl on the right is carrying a brown purse. I don't know what they were actually called (and their popularity was short lived) but they closed by flipping the two halves of the top over each other. My older sister had a red one that I coveted beyond description. Wonder what ever happened to it. No Pants AllowedI'm about of the age of the kids in the photo, and I well-remember walking to school with neighborhood girls in skirts, dead of winter. Reason wasn't because the girls were dumb or trying to be more feminine. In our case it was because schools (well, our system anyway) didn't allow girls to wear pants. Ever. No Pants Ever! is RightGary Hoff is correct. I was in 3rd grade when we moved from West Virginia to Baltimore in January 1962. My mother sent me to school in snow pants (worn under my skirt so they could be slipped off when I got to school). I was informed - archly - that We Don't Do That Here. Bare legs and bread bagsMy elementary school didn't allow girls to wear pants, either, but there's no way I would've walked to school with bare legs in sub-zero temperatures. I had no less than a dozen pairs of tights in groovy '60s colors. I have to admit I'm disappointed to learn that the bread bag trick was so well-known, though. I thought my mother invented it. Wonder yearsWe used Wonder Bread bags, too! I'd forgotten that - amazing how clearly it all comes back. In Ohio, going to school with bare legs in the winter would have been considered slightly indecent. I wore bulky tights that, in those days before spandex, always seemed to be sagging halfway down to my knees. I spent half my day surreptitiously yanking them up. End Of An EraWe didn't have any rules about girls wearing slacks or jeans in elementary school, but when I entered high school they had a dress code that banned slacks, pants and (especially) jeans for girls. This was in 1970 and just about every girl in the place wore mini-skirts. As you may guess this provided an impressionable freshman with quite an education, particularly on some of the staircases. However I happen to live in Saskatoon, And if you think Baltimore is cold in the winter, well as the man said you ain't seen nothin' yet. By January of 1971 the dress code had changed to allow slacks and pants for girls (but not jeans until about May). Either complaints about high school girls coming home with frozen legs, or the realization that mini-skirts were a greater "distraction" to the teenaged male population of the school system than the dreaded slacks or even jeans caused the school board to change the dress code. Dress CodeI was in junior high when the school board changed the dress code to allow girls to wear pants. The school board may have changed its dress code, but my parents did not! Dresses were still mandatory for a few years until my incessant whining wore my parents down. Tough girlsSame as when I was in school- early '60s- no pants for girls. I figured it was because girls were tough! But in hot weather girls had the advantage- cool with bare legs while we boys had to wear long pants. A lot of silly rules back then. Probably not enough rules now. Young DebutanteThe girl in the middle is holding a lunch pail shaped like a wicker basket with a handle at the center. It has a pink ribbon threaded through it and one word, "Debutante" in lacy handwriting. A friend of mine has one of these lunch pails, which she uses for an emergency sewing kit for the girls at--where else--the National Debutante Cotillion. (Kermy Kodachromes)
Sky Riders: 1905
... a fence for the inaugral Belmont Park race meet at Elmont, Long Island. Morningside, not Central Park? Are we sure this is Central ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 7:36pm -

New York circa 1905. "The elevated." I think the most interesting thing here is the wonderful signage. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Why so highThe Elevated had to be so high because it was crossing the Manhattan Valley without descending into it. The Broadway Subway crosses this same valley on a high arch bridge at 125th Street. The 110th Street station, shown in some of the linked photos, has its own elevator house on the north side of the street. A film clip in the Library of Congress movie collection "Life of a City" has a slightly older view of this curve with steam trains before electrification and the construction of the 110th Street station. Possibly the BronxI am going to take a wild guess here but it looks like the old Third Avenue elevated in the Bronx. Also notice the elegance of the latticework steel including the star on the crossties. As others have noted it is the old Ninth Ave. El I stand corrected. Ridin' HighThose signs are cool, but that track is easily 6 stories up, I wonder why it had to get to that height along this stretch. That could translate to an easy 75 to 80 feet UP. No wonder King Kong was able to wreak havoc as he did. Ouch!That buzzsaw device on the shoe billboard looks just right for the depicted shoe. Dead Man's CurveThis was the famous "S" curve on the Sixth/Ninth Ave El at Cathedral Parkway and, because I can't tell if the photo has been reversed, it appears to be where the line curved to go up 8th Ave at the NW corner of CP. The billboards throw me off since I can't imagine why they would have been placed facing CP in front of the buildings at ground level. [If the photo was reversed, the writing on the signs would be backward. - Dave] Seen here before from a different angle?The same place, or a similar one, was seen in this 1905 photo. Keeping in shapeFolks in the DC area are well aware of Metro's constant battle to maintain its escalators ('escalator' being an ancient word meaning "mechanical staircase not meant to be left out in the rain"). Folks riding this train had an el of a climb. Truth In Advertising"Bordens Malted Milk Has No Equal" Or any other artificial sweetener. Ninth Avenue LThis looks like the famous S-curve of the Ninth Avenue L at 110th Street and Eighth Avenue in upper Manhattan, with a bit of Central Park in the foreground. This portion of the line was opened by the Manhattan Railway in 1891, leased to the Interborough Rapid Transit Co. (IRT) in 1903 (for 999 years!), and closed to service when the city bought all the privately owned NYC subway and elevated lines in 1940. Another view of the curve was published by Shorpy here: https://www.shorpy.com/node/8002 . Ya big apeIsn't that King Kong reaching for the elevated train from behind the building? What a great scene that was, and plenty scary for the times (1933). No doubt it gave elevated passengers pause before boarding for a while, like taking showers after seeing Psycho. I hope someone can identify the brand advertisement on the right edge. Tenth Anniversary for something starting with at T. Any train photos are great - thanks for posting Dave. 8th Avenue and 110th StreetPreviously seen here on Shorpy. Looks like the Borden's Malted Milk galwears American Lady Corsets. A titivating milkmaid!No lack of Malted Milk there. ["Titivating"! - Dave] Dave, don't know if you're flagging the usage or the word. It's a verb used as an adjective, with -ing making it a present participle. The word means smarten, spruce, in the sense of making better, enhancing. I deliberately did not use titillate. It's a close call, maybe a stretch, you may be right, but I'll stick with titivate. Kind regards. ["Titivating"! - Dave] Highest Point ever on New York L'sAs noted in several comments above, it is indeed the "S" curve on the 9th Ave el at 110th Street & 8th Avenue, viewed looking roughly northwest from inside Central Park. The location was notable as the highest point anywhere on the New York els, being approximately 110 feet above street level. The 9th Ave line was closed and razed in 1940, having been replaced by the far superior 8th Avenue subway. Today the highest point on the NYC Transit system is at the Smith & Ninth station on the F & G lines in Brooklyn, which is 80+ feet above street level. Fantana (NOT the soft drink quartet)Fantana (with Douglas Fairbanks) opened at the Shubert's Lyric Theater in January 1905. AdsJefferson De Angelis performed in "Fantana" from Jan 14, 1905 - Sep 30, 1905. Several of the billboards are advertising events in May, including two on May 8. Interesting how closely the picture can be dated. I wonder how often the billboards were changed back then. I bet pretty often, as that was a major form of advertising then. ZAM I AMI think the sign near the top-right is an ad for the painters on the scaffold. It looks like an initial letter, followed by the word ZAM, and then the word PAINTER on the 2nd line. I think he is painting the inside of the window sills with a dark color. Notice how dark the inside of all the window sills to his left appear. Possibly he is just finishing up the sill in front of him. Notice all the sills directly below him are still a lighter color. The sign could be stuck to that window, but it might also be attached to his scaffold. [The sign reads "E. ZAM PAINTER and DECORATOR." Something something. - Dave] Thanks for the blow-up, Dave. I just noticed there is a 2nd painter standing to the left of the sitting painter. He looks to be wearing overalls and his right hand is raised to the glass, probably with paintbrush in hand! Can't be!You sure that's New York? Where's the graffiti on the trains? Obscured from viewI believe the billboards act as a fence hiding a vacant lot or construction site. It was a common practice at the time. Regal, the shoe that proves --What, exactly? Belmont Park AdIf this is indeed 1905, there is an ad on a fence for the inaugral Belmont Park race meet at Elmont, Long Island. Morningside, not Central Park?Are we sure this is Central Park? That stairway looks very similar to this one in nearby Morningside Park. It is Central ParkAnd I think I found the stairs here. This photo is looking out on to what is now Frederick Douglass Circle. I think it's gotta be Central ParkBecause the apartment buildings seen here match those in this view looking north on Eighth Avenue -- they are at the NW and NE corners of 8th Avenue and 111th Street. In addition, the stairway that John Craft showed us in the corner of Morningside Park hugs the line of the street (Morningside Avenue) very closely, while the stairway in this picture descends into the park at a 45-degree angle. Has this stairway been removed and replaced by a roadway? 8th and 110th close but not quite MorningsideThe Morningside stairs may look similiar but the Central Park stairs look exact (allowing for 107 years of change). (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)
Hanks House: 1957
... 11, 1957. "Stedman Hanks, residence in Locust Valley, Long Island, N.Y. Axis view. Harrie Thomas Lindeberg, architect." Acetate ... 1906 to 1914. They designed several large homes on Long Island. These homes reflect a general movement away from grandeur and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/13/2021 - 3:12pm -

November 11, 1957. "Stedman Hanks, residence in Locust Valley, Long Island, N.Y. Axis view. Harrie Thomas Lindeberg, architect." Acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Love the symmetryAs one who gets all bent out of shape seeing some homes with a shutter cut to fit, I am so pleased seeing this symmetrical residence. Symmetry KillerAlright, who's the wiseguy who raised the upstairs left curtain?! Hidden, gone or horribly disfigured?From what I could gather through a bit of research, the Hanks residence was located somewhere on Piping Rock Road. But so far I could not find the house anywhere on Google Maps. Is it just cunningly hiding between the dense trees, or has it been remodeled beyond recognition or even demolished? The latter two possibilities would be quite a shame. THanks a lotI'm in love with the symmetry, naturally, and the overall wintry serenity, but I'm over-the-top wild about the dentil molding and the circular attic vent. I just wish they had lowered (or lifted) ALL of the shades to the same height. Two style points deducted ... 8/10. The Great Depression is over.Looks like the high rent district in town. I wonder what took a chunk out of that oak tree. Who's Who of Locust ValleyAmong the prominent people associated with Locust Valley are: Rudyard Kipling, John Lennon, C. W. Post, and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. Style without fussHarrie Thomas Lindeberg was partnered with Lewis Colt Albro from 1906 to 1914. They designed several large homes on Long Island. These homes reflect a general movement away from grandeur and towards charm and comfortable living. Lindeberg continued working on his own until his death in 1959, two years after the Stedman Hanks home was photographed. AntisymmetryThings look better with a slight asymmetry, unless you're into wallpaper. Look at famous movie actress faces and you'll always find a slight asymmetry. Perfect symmetry would look weird. Hence the shades slightly up. A Summer PlaceAccording to an article I found trying to narrow down where exactly this was, this house was only their *summer* house. Their main address was 19 East 72nd Street - which is at the intersection with Madison Avenue. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner)
Mobile Newsboy: 1914
... I remember when the paperboy job disappeared from Long Island. It was in the mid 1980's, right when I was wanting to be a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2011 - 1:20pm -

October 1914. Mobile, Alabama. "Young newsboy who begins work at daybreak." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. Mobile Newsboy: 1914, date of photoFlip the picture upside down, and you see the newspaper has a banner headline that reads, in part, "BOSTON TAxxx SECOND." On October 10, 1914, the Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 1-0 in the second game of the World Series, ultimately sweeping 4-0. Suffice to say, the newspaper, and the photo, are probably from the morning of Oct. 11, 1914. [Another clue would be the caption under the photo that says "October 1914." It's the afternoon paper of Saturday, October 10 - Dave] ww1 news alsoChannel ports now Kaiser's Objective, I think thats what is written next to the game, also Portugal expected to Decla but his hand blocks the rest - Mobile NewsieAs an artist I love it. ResolutionI am wondering about a technical question: how is it possible to get a detail from the original picture with such a fine resolution. If I download the picture it has a resolution of 1200x861 and the detail from it will have a resolution of approximately 120x100 but the detail shown in the comment has a resolution of 485x400. Can anyone tell me how that is possible? By the way: I am a European lover of historical and cartographic sites. I am very pleased to have found Shorpy. Gives me such an interesting insight in the U.S. society in the past century. thanks for all that. Alex Bussum, Netherlands [The full-resolution image here is 5000 x 3587 pixels. We downsize the full-resolution images to approximately 1200 pixels wide before posting them to the site. - Dave] 10-10-14Amazing, that we are looking at a newspaper as it was on Saturday, October 10, 1914 -- papers are so forgettable, no one could have guessed, least of all the Newsie, that he'd be seen and known all these decades later. This site really is like going back in time. Paperboys were once a legend, [We'll be right back with Part 2 of this windy diatribe after a brief intermission. - Dave] Disappearance of paperboysThe reason you don't see paperboys anymore has nothing to do with kids and their willingness to work, and everything to do with the newspaper delivery business and how it is run. Newspapers want no part of child workers anymore. But don't let me stop your misinformed rant... I was a paperboy onceBack in the 1960s, I had a paper route for a while. Even then, paper carriers were not newspaper employees. No, we were "independent contractors" who solicited sales door to door, delivered to homes 7 days a week and collected once every 2 weeks. I had a canvas bag draped over my bicycle handlebars, loaded with 50 or 60 papers. It was tedious and not very rewarding - I didn't last long. Our town, anyway, had no newsies hawking papers on the street. I think by then radio and TV had taken over the "breaking news" category. You could buy individual papers at barber shops, drugstores and the local hotel. Our town had 4 daily papers available (Omaha, Lincoln morning & evening, and Beatrice) plus the local paper 3 days a week. The Internet is taking a toll on those papers today. From a would-be paperboyI remember when the paperboy job disappeared from Long Island. It was in the mid 1980's, right when I was wanting to be a paperboy like my older brothers had been. I don't know the details of it, but some older man bought one of the Postal Service's discarded right hand drive Jeeps and took over all the local paper routes. That was the end of it for the kids. They left an envelope in your box every week for you to leave your check in and we never saw the paper deliveryperson again, unless you were up at 5 AM when he was passing by. I have no idea what it's like now, as I left the U.S. nearly a decade ago, fed up with the direction it was headed and boy am I glad I did. Love the site, keep up the good work. Mobile PaperboyIn Mobile as a 10-year old, 1950-51, I sold newspapers early in the morning--5:30 a.m.--on a street corner near the main entrance to Brookley AFB. Like a previous commenter, I didn't last long. The newsboy in the photo is probably on Government Street, a main thoroughfare, about where the entrance to the Bankhead tunnel now is. It's also possible, though less so, that he's a few blocks around the corner on Royal Street. OMG! That made me LOL!Seriously...hilarious with the fadeout. Thank you, Dave, for the laugh. I Was A Paperboy Once ...and all it taught me was not to be a paperboy. I ran my route on my bike between May and August of 1964 and delivered every day to about 90 homes within a three mile radius. Collecting from customers was like pulling teeth and I was always short - and always having to go back and back and back to try and get paid. The job took more time than I would ever have imagined and by the time I left it I had made only $12 "profit." So much for being an All-American Icon. Car Paper RouteFound this pic just today by clicking on "Prev Page" on the home bar. Brought back more memories of my 3 year career delivering papers. My first 6 months I worked for a lady that had a very large car route. We rolled and I threw from the car windows. My target was driveways and sidewalks. Sometimes I would actually hit the porches and when I did my lady boss would yell out "good shot, Jimmy". We would stop the car if I hit the bushes and if a paper landed on the roof, I would throw another paper. She retired and I got the 1st choice of a walking route as there were 5 routes created from her auto route. PaperboyI had three routes at once in the mid 60's and made about as much as some adults. My routes were broken up into seven routes when I quit. Collecting was up and down. Some customers were great, and others real deadbeats. Who stiffs a kid for a few cents? There are still paperboys in the Hillsborough and Durham NC area. They sell the papers at intersections, not much walking, but some dodging of texting drivers. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Mobile)
A Close Shave: 1915
... our weekend visit to the cottage colony on Jamaica Bay, Long Island. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/05/2011 - 1:17pm -

Queens County, New York, circa 1915. "Shaving at Broad Channel." Continuing our weekend visit to the cottage colony on Jamaica Bay, Long Island. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Hot water!Gotta love water heater. A kerosene stove and a teakettle. I've used the same setup when when I go camping. Cutting-edgeHe's got one of them newfangled safety razors! Studio Apt, 25 sq ft, fully furnished.Kitchen and Bathroom in the same room. And just like the Brady Bunch, no..um... Privy shown. Hot WaterSeems to be a kerosene/white gas fired burner next to the sink to heat the water that would be in the tea kettle under the sink. The bottle under the table appears to be fuel supply for the burner. Also I am surprised to see that they had wife beater undershirts back in those days. That is a really classic redneck sink brace system. A Cold Water Flat?Note the kettle under the sink, with some type of heating stove for hot water next to it, as well as the single faucet on the sink. Yeah, we have came a long way, man, where shaving in comfort, at least for most of us, is a foregone conclusion. I remember the days, when I nicked myself more than a few times, using a razor not too far technologically advanced from the one in this picture. OUCH!! Newfangled indeed!None of those crazy traps on that sink drain, just a straight shot down! Cold Running WaterA kettle and a Primus stove for heating the cold running water. The stand under the Primus and the burner ring above it are not standard accessories, they look like they solve the chronic problem of balancing a pot on a Primus burner. The British Army used Primus stoves in WWII and many came onto the surplus market. The very large ones had a nasty habit of splitting at the seams under operating pressure shooting burning fuel in all directions. Big FeetWhat is that on the molding above the window? I Love the DetailsThe reclining nude over the window, his eye in the itty bitty medicine cabinet's mirror, the pinecone pull for the shade, the winged faucet handle. [Or maybe more like scissors. - Dave] Definitely a kerosene stoveNote the cup at the middle of the generator tube. You filled that with alcohol to pre-heat the generator (or vaporiser, in the UK). This is unnecessary with white gas, which is more volatile. I'd like to have that stove for my collection, but I sure am glad I don't have to burn it in the house. I also like the straight drainpipe, with no trap. Probably none needed, if it dumped straight into Jamaica Bay! The VaseI love the vase. What the?Is that some fertility goddess carving on the ledge behind him? Somehow, it fits. The doodad over the window.Is that a sculpture of a reclining nude -- with really big feet?! [Tchotchkologists please identify. Inscription reads "The Sleeping [Beauty?]." Head looks a little like a duck. Cartoon character from the funny pages? - Dave] The faucetI think that faucet works by squeezing, sort of like a pair of pliers. I've seen very old water fountains with that sort of doodad. The reclining figure. It’s not a duck-like head but it’s the figure’s right arm folded in a way that her hand stands as a pillow for her face. Yes, certainly must’ve been based on a cartoon. I can imagine it being a birthday gift from his friends. Whether he liked the cartoon or because they mocked him on being a sleepyhead. Don’t blame me if I fill the blanks with a lot of perhaps... Progress?Just because the razors mass marketed today have more blades than I have fingers on my hand, doesn't make them better. In 1915, the razor this guy is using is probably a Gillette Old Type or Single Ring, a razor any collector would love to have, and any man who loves his face should LOVE to shave with. If you get past the marketing hype and explore the history of these razors, you might find yourself in for bit of a treat. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Fins: 1961
... I remember cars like that in my neighborhood on Long Island. Looks like The Wonder Years -- and they were. I was 6 in '61. ... 
 
Posted by daross - 03/26/2009 - 7:22pm -

Big brother and little brother pose in Mom's new 1961 Cadillac. Seems big brother did a little damage. View full size. Sweet CaddyBut what's the "damage"? Those are leaves in front of the rear fender. Damage?Looked close as I could and it just looks like a number of light, tree and bush reflections. I don't think Big brother would have such a smile on his face if he had done any damage to Mom's Caddy, Little brother would have tattled on him anyway. Beautiful Car. Nice Pontiac 4-door hardtop in the background and not too sure of the other, Maybe a Chevrolet. Cruisin'You are correct, those are leaves. And that's a '62 Impala, 4-door hardtop in the background. Joe from LI, NY Stud BucketsDidn't anybody have a Studebaker? Lucky FellaThat's the ultimate Prom mobile! Most excellent! Babe MagnetWhat a neat car; mom had to be cool. Big brother is trying to find a way to lose little brother and cruise over to Sally's house. PS - My folks had Stud Buckets' Studebaker - moss green. Those were the days!Wow! Those were surely the days. No carbon credits, global warming, gas prices or other modern ills to worry about. What I wouldn't give to live back then. Where is this?Does anyone know where this was taken? Would be interesting to see if there is a Google Street View. The coral CadillacMy aunt had one of these and drove it for many years. From the mid 1950s to mid 60s, Cadillac offered two convertibles -- the Series Sixty-Two (pictured here) and the Eldorado Biarritz. Sharp CarI had a college professor who mentioned that when he was 12, he was chasing after a stray baseball and broke his arm running into the fins of a '59 Cadillac. Looking at this one, its amazing he didn't impale himself as well. Swell-looking guy in a nice carAt least the little brother got to be groovy... We Are Going BackwardsDagnabbit folks! Don't mean to be a cranky old geezer, but these incredibly beautiful, artfully designed, forward, streamlined, futuristic, jet-age, space patrol-ish, magnificent vehicles bring back so many wonderful memories of the 50's through the 70's, when we felt as though we were moving forward, we were modern, we were progressing into a Jetsons future, everyone seemed happy and upbeat and prosperity flourished. What happened? Many cars today are so downright ugly, the design is dowdy and square, the colors are bland grays, creams or blacks, no more two-tones, no more bright interiors (you may choose from gray or tan), no more chrome, sleek lines or white-wall tires, no outstanding or unique features. We keep hearing about the geniuses among us and yet there seems to be a severe shortage of brilliant designers in cars or anything else. Lots of copycat stuff, commonality and boredom. I know energy is a problem, but still that should not rule out STYLE and brilliant design. Anyone who lived in past decades knows what a boost one got from driving or even just seeing a snazzy, jazzy, cool, inventive vehicle. I just consider myself very lucky to have been there for the best years of American automobile manufacturing. This photo is a favorite, evocative of how good youth felt at one time. Unsafe?In "Unsafe at Any Speed," Ralph Nader claimed a little girl was killed after she ran into a fin on a 1959 Cadillac, while riding her bike or something. Ripped open her torso or some such gory injury. Nader also had harsh words for the sharp lower-body fins, which are properly called "skegs." In the year of its greatest height, the Cadillac fin bore an uncanny resemblance to the tail of the stegosaurus, a dinosaur that had two sharp rearward-projecting horns on each side of the tail. In 1964 a California motorcycle driver learned the dangers of the Cadillac tail fin. The cyclist was following a heavy line of traffic on the freeway going toward Newport Harbor in Santa Ana. As the four-lane road narrowed to two lanes, the confusion of highway construction and the swerving of vehicles in the merging traffic led to the Cadillac’s sudden stop. The motorcyclist was boxed in and was unable to turn aside. He hit the rear bumper of the car at a speed of about twenty miles per hour, and was hurled into the tail fin, which pierced his body below the heart and cut him all the way down to the thigh bone in a large circular gash. Both fin and man survived this encounter. The same was not true in the case of nine-year-old Peggy Swan. On September 29, 1963, she was riding her bicycle near her home in Kensington, Maryland. Coming down Kensington Boulevard she bumped into a parked car in a typical childhood accident. But the car was a 1962 Cadillac, and she hit the tail fin, which ripped into her body below the throat. She died at Holy Cross Hospital a few hours later of thoracic hemorrhage. The obscured car......appears to be a '62 Chevrolet Impala. Oh, and I'm a former Studbucket owner as well - in my case, a '63 Lark. Sleek ConvertibleMy dad had to be different. He owned a 1961 Volvo PV-544 back then. It looked like a 1940 Ford. My mom got handed down our 1952 Oldsmobile 98 4-door, which I learned to drive on. What a tank that car was. Way to go, Dad!Angelo Frank! As the owner of a 1964 PV-544, I must congratulate your dad on his choice of wheels! SnapAh, just like our '64 and '66 Pontiac convertibles... It had to be pretty sunny and warm to get all the snaps done on the tonneau covering the stowed top. broke a lot of fingernails on cool days trying to get the snaps snapped! Cadillac StyleI drive a 61 DeVille daily, it gets more respect than a new Escalade. Great, colorful pic. Later, Ray in CT Wow. This jumped out at meWow. This jumped out at me immediately. While in high school in the mid '80s I inherited my infirm aunt's '62 Caddy DeVille, which was a sage green color. I instantly became a hit at school. During homecoming we papered the Caddy up and it was dubbed the Batmobile. First car I'd ever had that had no a/c, FM radio, or headrests. But I loved the thing, bad as it was on gas, and drove it til it died one day in 1985. Gorgeous!What a beautiful photo -- so sharp and clear! I'd like to know the kind of camera it was taken with. I remember cars like that in my neighborhood on Long Island. Looks like The Wonder Years -- and they were. I was 6 in '61. Four wheeled optimismMr Magoo, your comment is so right. The cars of that era were the embodiment of optimism and aspiration. The designers wanted their car to stand out from the crowd and each year a new one would appear almost completely different from the last. The fact that these cars are so revered and stir such emotion is an example of what cars meant to people in the 50's and 60's. Although modern cars are more efficient etc. the fact that the retro trend in car design keeps popping up shows the basic shortcoming of modern car design techniques, computers have replaced the soul that was injected into the styling. Old CarsNothing like old cars. Most things on them can be fixed with a few wrenches, pliers and a screwdriver. Oldsmobile in backgroundThe car in the background behind little brother's head is either a Pontiac or Oldsmobile, not a Chevy, I am thinking Oldsmobile. The '62 Chevys were not as angular as that car. [The car on the right is the Chevrolet. Car on the left is a 1960 Pontiac. No Oldses in this photo. -Dave] (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses)
The Shopping Center: 1952
... April 30, 1952. "Great Neck Shopping Center, Great Neck, Long Island. Lathrop Douglass, architect." Graveyard of forgotten brands: ... immediately the south of the Great Neck station on the Long Island Rail Road. All of them were built in the late 1920's, in the last ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/10/2013 - 11:17am -

April 30, 1952. "Great Neck Shopping Center, Great Neck, Long Island. Lathrop Douglass, architect." Graveyard of forgotten brands: Hudson, Studebaker, Wanamaker. Seen here earlier. Gottscho-Schleisner photo. View full size. Short LifeWanamaker's didn't stay there very long, they closed in mid-1955. Stern Brothers replaced them and they bit the dust in 1961, followed by a branch of the Jamaica, NY, based Gertz Department store which lasted until 1979. If my memory serves me correctly I believe there was an Abraham & Strauss store at that same location. In any case I could only track two more tenants, both Supermarkets, Edwards and later Waldbaums. Different perspectiveWe're looking almost due east in this photo. The church peeking above the shopping plaza at the center of the photo was a Methodist (I think) church, which for the last 20 or so years has been known as "the Global Harmony House," the U.S. headquarters of the India-based spiritual organization Brahma Kumaris. The apartment buildings on the left are in a triangle formed by South Middle Neck Road, Station Plaza, and Barstow Road, immediately the south of the Great Neck station on the Long Island Rail Road. All of them were built in the late 1920's, in the last burst of significant private-sector construction prior to the Great Depression and World War II. Real estate agents in the New York area typically call apartment buildings from that era "prewar." It's an important selling point, as prewar buildings often are more spacious and soundly built than their post-war counterparts. Today these buildings are cooperatives, a type of housing ownership very popular in the New York area but rather uncommon elsewhere. Speaking of the Long Island Rail Road (*never* Railroad), a main reason why Great Neck became a popular upscale suburb is the fact that it's a reasonably quick train ride from Penn Station. It is on the Port Washington line, which unlike the LIRR's other routes does not go through the delay-prone transfer station at Jamaica, and therefore is more reliable than the others. It's hard to tell from this angle, but the stores at the far left, past the two-story drugstore (today TD Bank) are not part of the Garden of Great Neck plaza, but are on the opposite side of South Middle Neck Road. The buildings housing these stores are still around, but like the plaza itself have been greatly renovated over the decades. What a joyto look at this parking lot and see these wonderful cars that were all different. Very different. Consider the late 40s Studebaker and early 50s Hudson. Would anyone confuse one for the other? Or could anyone confuse a 50s or 60s Buick, Cadillac or Ford with anything else? I can’t imagine local car shows 50 years from now featuring the weird (think Pontiac Aztec), uninspired stuff served to us today. True, modern cars are light years ahead functionally, but is that the measure of what "motoring" is all about? For my money I would prefer the Hudson Hollywood convertible on a crisp fall day with an endless source of two lane country road, accompanied by a pretty woman all bundled up in a wool blanket, and a thermos of coffee. Would not need an MP3 or disc player as conversation with a lovely companion is infinitely better. A Hudson FamilyI always take notice when I see a late '40s or early '50s Hudson, because members of my family were probably involved in building it. My grandfather was a body panel die setter for Hudson during that entire period, and my father was working his way through high school and college swinging Hudson engine blocks. Oh, and my grandmother worked for many years behind the cosmetics counter at the Hudson's department store in downtown Detroit. The store's founder, Joseph L. Hudson, also provided the car company with its seed capital, thereby becoming the namesake of those unique, low-slung, vehicles. The Good Old Days!When you could leave your car window open, and nothing would be missing when you returned. When you could leave your bike ouside a store without it being chained to anything, and finding it right where you left it when you returned. BTW - there appears to be a lighting fixture attached to the tree; nice touch.... Almost same spot todayWanamaker's is behind the tree and in now a grocery called Waldbaums. View Larger Map Expensive car...The Hudson convertible down the row is a high-dollar car these days. Restored drop-tops regularly trade in six-figures. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gottscho-Schleisner, Stores & Markets)
Going Up: 1905
... could be seen. To the east they had the East River and Long Island. To the north, Westchester and Northern New Jersey. Ths south view ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 1:59pm -

New York circa 1905. "The Flatiron building." The iconic proto-skyscraper early in its life. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Second BananaThe Flatiron's diminutive neighbor always gets short shrift. The Western Union Building at 186 Fifth Avenue is also a survivor (seen here at right with the "Guide Magazine" sign). Lest we forgetDaniel H. Burnham of the eponymous firm of D. H. Burnham & Co. was certainly the architect of record for the Flatiron, but I bet most of the exuberant exterior detail was the work of the project architect, Frederick Dinkelberg. 5 - 4 - 3 -2 - 1 liftoff. Time stands stillAwesome pic! A brief look into the everyday life of people on a busy New York street, at 5 minutes to 10 in the morning, 105 years ago! A Window on the WorldI would love to know who got the office with the three windows, on the top floor, right at the point of the building - What a view that person must have had! Would that it were me! Everyone's FavoriteAnd, thanks to Dave, I know it was faced with tile! Beloved but EccentricJust last week the NY Times had a story and slide show about what it is like to work in the beloved but eccentric Flatiron building. Something's missingNo awnings -- yet. +104Here is the view taken in July of 2009. Since it was taken as a "now" view of a very similar picture (this has to be one of the most photographed buildings ever), it's not identical but very close. TimelessI feel like a time traveler with a camera. Wonderful!Absolutely wonderful masterpiece of architecture! Thanks to Daniel H. Burnham! Uber-realIt would surprise me only just a little bit if this photo just started running like a movie. You can practically hear what the man in front of the clock is saying to the other man. "You go ahead, I want to stay right in the shot." A View From the FlatironThe views from the upper floors had to be magnificent. To the west, the Hudson River. Possibly on a clear day Pennsylvania could be seen. To the east they had the East River and Long Island. To the north, Westchester and Northern New Jersey. Ths south view was probably the best, the new skyline featured office towers like the Singer Building and later the Woolworth Building. The best would have been the views of the harbor which featured the last of the tall masted sailing schooners and the Statue of Liberty. The view.Check out the Wilkipedia article, which includes an inside view of one of the "point" offices. Imagine having the Empire State Building to look at from a few blocks away all day. Not bad. My great great grandfatherMy great great grandfather helped build that building, but fell and was crippled for life. Whenever I pass this building, I think of him. My family has been NYers for generations. This building means a lot to my family. +109Below is the same perspective from September of 2014 (updating my +104 post below which was a comparison to a similar view). (The Gallery, DPC, Flatiron Building, NYC)
Pennsylvania Station: 1910
... under the law. Longevity Looks like a train of Long Island Rail Road MP54 cars over on Track 14 at the bottom left. Some of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:42pm -

New York circa 1910. "Track level, main and exits, concourses, Pennsylvania Station." 8x10 dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Caldarium, tepidarium, frigidariumSaid to be modeled after the Baths of Caracalla, but with a lavish use of glass and structural steel unimaginable in the Roman era, and one would have to bathe elsewhere. Too bad it was destroyed almost 50 years ago. GloriousA superb photo. The details are wonderful, so pristine it almost looks like a model, except for that ghost on the platform lower left. Gilbert's finestAnyone else look at this and think, "Erector set"? Not ADA CompliantHow did disabled persons take the train back th-? Oh. Scary Scaffolding!Who wants to climb up that scaffolding in the upper right corner? Stairways to heaven It makes me queasy to even think about climbing up and around on that makeshift scaffolding. No handrails. No looking down. No way. Stairs RemainSome of those stairs to the platform still remain, but at the track level, the light and airy station has been reduced to a dark, dingy basement. A Structural FantasyThe marvelous steel arches and glass vaults of Penn Station's concourse are just as decorative and "artificial" as the Guastavino tile vaults and colossal Corinthian columns in in the Main Waiting Room (the part of the station that was modeled on the Baths of Caracalla) next door. As Hilary Ballon showed in her book "New York's Pennsylvania Stations," the actual structure of the concourse is formed by three hidden sets of steel trusses forming X-patterns in plan above this space. All the apparent structure you see here is actually hung from these supports. The result may be an attempt to answer the question: What would the Romans have have done with steel and glass? It is all a splendid illusion, but in the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, "not that there's anything wrong with it." Herringbone Is the arched ceiling surface made from masonry units or tile? Imagine the hours involved on just that part of the job. Magnificent structureThanks for posting this wonderful shot. Artful and skillfulBack then it seems that there wasn't much of today's division between the haughty artist (architect) coming up with gaga designs and the lowly craftsman (civil engineer) who has to put them into being. They were much in love with their (then relatively new) materials and used them to great effect. And somewhow architects and engineers seem to have been on the same planet, not to mention the same wavelength. Maybe both were artisans, rather than artist and craftsman, respectively. Today's architecture rarely is up to that. From purely utilitarian, through trite and tacky to ugly to downright stupid *, most of the time. My 5 Cents, anyway. * Stupid would be, for instance, when function follows form, like using huge glass fronts in rather sunny places, or flat roofs with 60 inches of annual rain. HorribleI don't know if he's still around but there used to be someone who posted when a picture of Pennsylvania station came up, saying how the photo didn't reflect how horrible the place really was and how it was a good thing that the tore it down. Just so you know that not everyone shares our enthusiasm for the structure. Not ADA Compliant?How did disabled persons take the train back then? Pretty much like they would now -- a redcap would have taken them down in an elevator. The ADA is a wonderful law that has done a great deal of good, but it can't change reality. I remember once the Amtrak ADA-compliance officer inspected my station and said we would need to install "tactile bumps" along the 6 concrete platforms bordering the tracks. I asked why, and she said to facilitate access by blind persons using a cane. I responded that I would never allow a blind person to go out into the yard unaccompanied, that it was incredibly dangerous even for those with perfect vision, since there were constantly trains moving through. She said, yes, but they have that right under the law. LongevityLooks like a train of Long Island Rail Road MP54 cars over on Track 14 at the bottom left. Some of these cars outlasted the station, not being withdrawn from service until the early 1970s. Like a ratPerpsters comment reminds me of the saying from architecture historian Vincent Scully: "Through it one entered the city like a god, one scuttles in now like a rat." The current Penn Station is New York's greatest embarrassment. (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)
Park Avenue: 1957
... - New York and Chicago - but in rural areas like the Long Island estate, the corn field near Chicago and Mount Rushmore. The cities ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 7:06pm -

January 23, 1957. "425 Park Avenue From northwest." Going up down the street: The Seagram Building. Safety negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Old New YorkAhhh, good old 1957 New York. Still home to the Cramdens, the Mertzes, the Ricardos, and the Dodgers. The Best of EverythingThe Seagram Building has always been a personal favorite. The Four Seasons is as elegant as the day it opened in 1959. What's so special?I've got to say as someone who used to work near the Seagram Building, I can never see what the heck is so special about it. It always simply struck me as the first of those awful soulless glass boxes which diminished the New Yorkness of New York. Give me an Art Deco tower anyday!! Old New York How orderly everything seems to be on Park Avenue. Too bad it's no longer 1957. Leasehold improvement ....My purchases of Seagram's 83 was funding the next floor. EleganceDirectly behind the Seagram Building, the tall profile of the Waldorf-Astoria, still New York City's most quietly elegant big hotel. And right behind the ornate building straddling Park Avenue in the distance would be Grand Central Terminal, one of those crossroads of the world where, if you stood there long enough, you would probably see almost everyone you ever knew. One of my favorite six- or seven-block stretches of Midtown. 55 ChevyThe car in the foreground is a 1955 Chevrolet 210 4-door sedan -- I own exactly the same. Nice picture! It's photos like thisthat make me so thankful for your wonderful site. I've never visited a big city before, so I always get a bit giddy when I find photos that really make me feel like I'm there. Coupled with the fact this one is from 1957, I'm walking on sunshine. Thanks Dave! Circa 1959Was my first visit to the Four Seasons bar. What an elegant place! The Seagram Building itself made quite an impression, too. It and Lever House seemed like they had been dropped from another planet. Such a change from those sooty, clam-colored mausoleums that had been the fashion in skyscrapers. It has aged remarkably well. Where are they?I keep expecting Rock Hudson and Doris Day to step out of a building (from "Pillow Talk"). What a lovely shot. Everything is so CLEAN! Visions Of New YorkOne person sees a scene from "Pillow Talk." Another - specifically me - sees the title sequence and opening scenes from "North By Northwest" - the calm before all of the sinister doings. Oddly enough though, most of the sinister stuff occurs not in the cities - New York and Chicago - but in rural areas like the Long Island estate, the corn field near Chicago and Mount Rushmore. The cities are safe. It's being in the countryside that will kill you. re: The Best of EverythingHere's Hope Lange on Park Avenue arriving for her first day of work in the Seagram Building (out of shot to the right) in the opening scenes of 1959's The Best of Everything. Don't get your hopes (ahem) up; the on-location New York footage is beautiful in Cinemascope, including aerial footage accompanied by Johnny Mathis during the opening credits, but disappointingly brief. Most of the film was shot on soundstages in Hollywood. There are several dramatic shots of the building, though, plus other NY street scenes with the cars, the clothes and all that other good stuff. +53Below is the same perspective taken in April of 2010. Much is the same, but several buildings have been added to Park since 1957. The Waldorf=Astoria still reigns on Park as the monarch of New York City hotels and can still be seen in the modern view (a stay there is unforgettable). Old New YorkOld New York Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 10:15am. Ahhh, good old 1957 New York. Still home to the Cramdens, the Mertzes, the Ricardos, and the Dodgers. Also home of the Sharks and the Jets, of West Side Story fame, and a young up and commer named John Gotti! (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
Valentine Lounging: 1920
... lounging." The actress Grace Valentine poolside in Long Island circa 1920. View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 12:25pm -

"Valentine lounging." The actress Grace Valentine poolside in Long Island circa 1920. View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. Nice to see her out of that big carMs. Valentine cuts a nice figure. Is that a mole or a fly on her arm? She's already paying the price of wearing high heel shoes that are too tall and too short. He toes are beginning to show the tell tail signs of being tucked in and cramped together. StockingsActually, I'd bet my lunch money that she's wearing stockings. I'm seeing a horizontal shading above both her knees that looks suspicious - and the -tops- of the toes on her left foot are compressed together, which would only happen if they were encased in nylons. Or, in this case, rayon or viscose. What the heck, Catherine Bach wore nylons under her Daisy Duke shorts for the same cosmetic reason. [No stockings. What's for lunch? - Dave] Squished ToesThe 'must be wearing nylons' squished toe effects is from the habit of wearing tight shoes. Many women would rather wear small shoes, tight shoes, painful shoes. Their toes and feet would suffer for it. I don't think it's as prevalent today, but for instance, my mother in the 50's and 60's would claim to wear 7 1/2 AA shoes, which she felt were 'big enough'. Too bad she actually wore a 8 1/2 M, so her toes and feet now are out of a horror movie. She's had to have surgery, etc. nothing has helped. I suppose there's some claim to fame for wearing tiny elf-shoes, but there is a price to that claim - squished toes and permanent damage. Comfortable Concrete"Lounging"? Just can't beat a concrete bench for comfort Grace in colorJust having some fun with colorizing. Hope you enjoy. Click to enlarge. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Movies, Pretty Girls)
Carnaval Cabrillo: 1913
... this image was taken. The ship will then be sunk off of Long Island on July 19, 1918. For the next 80 years historians will argue ... USS San Diego in 1914 and was sunk by a suspected mine off Long Island in 1918. Transition Another picture showing the transition ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/14/2017 - 10:22pm -

San Diego, California, 1913. "San Diego and bay from U.S. Grant Hotel." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Can you tell meas a non-resident, and very astute perusal of this scene, what country is it located? Those two warshipsI believe Those two warships in the background are Pennsylvania-class cruisers. They were all stationed on the west coast at that time. June 14th or July 4thLooks like it was either around Flag Day or Independence Day judging by all the patriotism on display and I will bet that all those flags were not made in China either! Put that in your bong and smoke it! [Look at the banner in the photo and you'll see that it's September. - Dave] West Coast Armored CruisersThe two warships are the USS California and South Dakota (I can't tell which is which, though). These Pennsylvania class armored cruisers were built at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco (the 1906 completion was delayed by the earthquake) and stayed on the west coast most of their early life. On an historical note, the California will have its named changed to San Diego a year after this image was taken. The ship will then be sunk off of Long Island on July 19, 1918. For the next 80 years historians will argue whether it was hit by a torpedo or a mine from a German submarine, but new evidence has emerged that a German spy planted a bomb onboard. Not the FourthI thought this was a Fourth of July picture until I paid attention to the title. Here's some history on the actual event. Cabrillo and San DiegoJuan Rodriguez Cabrillo's discovery of San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, inspired San Diegans to organize a festival and parade in 1892, a much larger pageant in 1911 as a fundraiser for the 1915 Panama California Exposition, and the four-day Carnaval in September 1913 that this photo commemorates. The 1913 event celebrated the dedication by President Woodrow Wilson of federal land at the tip of Point Loma as the Cabrillo National Monument, overlooking the entrance to the harbor in the upper left corner of the photo. The actual monument would not be built until 1939, but the medal seen here was struck in 1913 for the event. The 1911 celebration featured a lot less less history and a lot more fun, and included the fantasy arrival of "King Cabrillo" at the court of "Queen Ramona." The royal mascot's name is not recorded. +87Below is the same view from July of 2000 (scanned from a slide - an art I'm still attempting to grasp). The structure on the left that still stands is the Spreckels Building. Interestingly, American naval power is also contrasted in the two shots. I don't know what ships are in the distance in the 1913 shot, but they can be compared to the USS John C. Stennis which has its fantail visible in the distance in the 2000 view. Armored CruiserThe ship in the center of the picture appears to be an armored cruiser of the Pennsylvania class. It's quite possibly the USS West Virginia, which was stationed along the West Coast at the time the photo was taken. Ship IDI believe the ship in the background is the USS California (ACR-6), a Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser. She was renamed USS San Diego in 1914 and was sunk by a suspected mine off Long Island in 1918. TransitionAnother picture showing the transition from four legs to four wheels and it shows that the auto is winning. BTW, check out that spiffy roadster in white; it stands out like a Rolls at a Yugo Convention. 1913 Auto Show Interesting contrast in those cars parked head on in front of the 2nd building. The one white topless car parked amid all the apparently black autos. Keystone State Taken to the CleanersSince those Pennsylvania-class cruisers spent most of their careers in the Pacific, I hope Pennsylvania got its money back! The flag I loveThis is a great picture, if only for the presence of all those beautiful, wonderful, brand new 48-star flags! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Streetcars)
Jack's Sandwich Shop: 1941
... Once, I was with an account manager who was from Long Island, I believe, and we stopped in a diner for breakfast. The waitress ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/19/2016 - 9:12pm -

        UPDATE: Restaurant ID courtesy of Sagitta. San Francisco circa 1941. "Restaurant counter." And another shot of the Buckley Music System "Music Box." (Selection No. 1: "Three at a Table for Two" by Dick Todd.) 8x10 acetate negative, photographer unknown. View full size. Drop 1 to 24 NickelsClick to enlarge. Bing & BobThanks to Dave we see Bing Crosby has four songs on this page alone. His brother Bob only has one. I think I'd rather eat here than at Mackey's. A lot cleaner and better maintained looking. Slow FoodNothing like a steaming bowl of condensed "Genuine Turtle." Playboy ChannelI'll opt for the Bob Wills selection. Jack's Sandwich Shop3007 16th Street, San Francisco. It's the corner of 16th and Mission, actually. Today it's a bus stop, but the facade of the California Savings across the street (barely visible through the plate glass) hasn't changed at all apparently in 75 years. [Excellent sandwich-sleuthing! - Dave] Music for lonely diners.A sandwich, a cup of coffee, and just me. Tilt & SwingThere is some wonderful focal depth in this image. Note the upholstery tacks on the chair backs: they are in focus all the way down the line. But note some of the objects off center, such as the man in the foreground: his head is out of focus, but his upper arm is sharp enough to see the weave and stitching of his jacket's fabric. The focus is selective in its depth. I don't pretend to have any hands-on experience with a large-format "bellows" camera, but I've browsed Ansel Adams' instructional notes on such matters. And this image shows the effects of tilting and swinging the lens and the film plane in concert. By contrast, a rigid lens and film plane (as with a standard camera) will only gain or lose depth, "corner to corner," according to the narrowing or widening of the aperture. Meanwhile, with a "tilt/shift" lens attached (of which I do have some hands-on experience), the tilt occurs only at the lens, while the film plane (or digital sensor) remains "squared"; the effect isn't as complex as what we see in this photo. No, I believe what we are seeing here is an example of a tilt and a swing. It isn't a casual shot. There was a lot of equipment and preparation going on at the back of this diner. An 8x10 view camera is a big rig, demanding a substantial tripod; and the tilting and swinging of the lens and film back, with the bellows extended, added to the "non-candid" nature of this composition. And yet the photographer has managed to capture a "decisive moment" of quiet psychological tension between disengagement and attentiveness. SorryI'm not eating at a place with no hat hangers on the back of the stools. I'd rather starve. I'll eat at this oneThis is a cleaner place than the Sausalito diner, and it has ashtrays, too. No hat clips on the seats though. Can't have everything. I like waffles to boot. Re: Popcorn Too?I don't think the large box thing in the background is for popcorn, but I can't be sure what it is. I believe the light on top of the "icebox" is an advertising sign for coffee. I wish the picture were a bit clearer, but the image on it looks like a coffee cup. Perhaps it was some form of espresso they were serving. Five cents for one songMusic was quite expensive compared to food. Popcorn too?Anyone know what the large device is at the window? Popcorn maker? Also what is the light up ad on the icebox? (as we called it growing up). I don't plan on eating off the floor, so---Will take my chances at Mackey's. Has a friendlier social vibe and this looks more like the lonely guy joint. Pass. FWIW...The car outside is a 1941 GM product, can't tell which make. Chevrolet, probably, but other makes shared the body style. Could be a '42 if the hung up coats indicate Winter. When I Lost YouLooks like he selected "When I Lost You" sung by Bing Crosby. Cost him a nickel, you can hear it for free here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5JporiR9oM. On hats and dining.This lunch counter looks exactly like what it is advertised to be: a place to have a quick and inexpensive lunch. For that, it seems to be a good place. I would love to have such a place now near where I live or work. (Lunch counters unfortunately seem to be only a matter of history now.) As for all the people complaining about the absence of hat clips: did you not notice the line of pegs for hats and coats along the wall? South of Market South of Market St in San Francisco there were many hole-in-the-wall eateries. They were almost all very narrow, with a set of skinny tables & chairs along one wall, and a counter on the other. The kitchen was behind the counter, with a few at the 'back' of the eatery. Many were shut down in the late 1970's by 'urban renewal' and the plans for the then-un-named Moscone Center. Places were put out years before the buildings were removed, and you'd see 'closing soon' signs in a lot of windows. They were the working person's lunch menu. Chinese that way, Italian the other, and burgers and fries the third. Some pretty decent seafood places shuttered their windows and were no longer. Those in power, with the help of the banks, decided that San Francisco would no longer cater to those who worked there. It was to be a 'tourist destination', along with a pan-handler and street bum destination, but that was not known for sure at the time. Workers, go home. We don't need you. Brown bags and 'company cafeterias' took the place of the "Jimmies' Cafe" and the 'Fish Market' and the "Hong Kong Emporium" that were so busy, so packed to the gills with people intent on easing their hunger that you stood sometimes out the door to get a seat and get back to work before time ran out. Sometimes things didn't work out that way. No longer even a memory for the SF of today. Minna, Tehama, and Natoma streets all disappeared with 'urban renewal', and I got there late. These places provided fresh, decent food at a reasonable price, and you cannot buy that anywhere in that city any more. It has changed, and I won't go back to what it is now. tom AmenI can second the view of tomincantonga as to the wholesale destructions of SF's SOMA character. I worked just below Market Street throughout the 1980s and saw every useful small business driven out and replaced with huge banks or chain stores. Sadly missed are the delis, shoe repair shops, military surplus stores, hobby shops, etc. that used to make lunchtime errands a pleasure and something of an urban adventure. PopcornIt looks like a donut maker. They resembled a popcorn machine but they fried donuts. Pennsylvania has 'emBack in my ad-agency days, I sometimes drove to printers in Pennsylvania, and that state must be the last bastion of the roadside diner. Once, I was with an account manager who was from Long Island, I believe, and we stopped in a diner for breakfast. The waitress asked us if we wanted SOS (look it up). He had never heard of it before and was somewhat dismissive when she defined it. She said, "Hold your attitude till you try some," and brought him a sample in a little white bowl. He was astonished, declared it the best thing he'd ever had for a breakfast item, and insisted on it when we were on the road together. Hot Chocolate??My guess is that the lit advertising sign on top of the refrigerator is for "Hot Chocolate". The lettering isn't quite readable, but the word lengths fit. The phrase below the steaming cup could be "Rich in Chocolate Flavor" or something similar. I Miss These Places Growing up in New England in the 70's I got to experience the last gasp of these places. Most of them were just called "Coffee Shop". They could be found on the first floor of many big office buildings, in bus stations, hotel lobbys etc. They were all independent but had nearly identical menus. Tuna melts, grilled and/or steamed hotdogs, open face turkey sandwiches, pre-made salads with saran wrap over the plate and a side of bright orange French dressing. Coke mixed by hand with 2 pumps of syrup followed by soda water. Really good milkshakes. Really terrible coffee that nobody realized was terrible because Starbucks was still 30+ years away. Slices of pie and cake in a glass case. (Technology, The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, San Francisco)
The Apparatus: 1929
... tends to run up one side. Vacuum Tubes As a lad on Long Island I had a 5-tube Crosley superheterodyne receiver that could pull in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/04/2013 - 10:21am -

UPDATE: See the front panel here. Summer 1929 or thereabouts in Washington, D.C. An impressive rack. Of what? Unlabeled Harris & Ewing glass negative, Part 1 of 2. View full size. A radio and so much moreFor any Shorpy-ites who complained that recent radio pictures didn't show wiring, this one does. And there's even a speaker in this photo, and it's connected to this seemingly powerful receiver and / or transmitter. Hi-fiTwo of the shelves have identical apparatus, so obviously it's stereophonic. (I don't really have to insert a smiley face here, do I?) Not stereophonic.My guess is the two sets of identical apparatus work in series. First set picks up weak signals and amplifies them, second set amplifies them even more. Or both sets amplify the same signals and then combine the signals through superheterodyne action. Believe this receiver would be connected to a pretty good-sized antenna/set of antennas, which would allow worldwide reception. CAGEThe first Electric Analog Grandfather's Clock? Being that it's Washington DC, it was probably classified: CLOCK, ANALOG, GRANDFATHER, ELECTRIC (CAGE) First Mobile PhoneIt's either the first mobile phone or the first microwave oven. Or not. It's not RFIt's an audio amplifier of some sort -- possibly for a PA system. This is because of the rack mounting. The reason I say it's not RF is that there is no evidence of tuning capacitors, plus the transformers are definitely audio finals. While not my era, I'd certainly love to hear from someone who knows about this equipment. Rack mounted CrosleysReceive WLW and WOWO. BacksideI think this is the backside of the equipment rack. I am betting that the next image (2 of 2) will show us the other side and give us more clues. Not radioThese appear to be audio (sound) amplifiers. I see tubes and wire-wound resistors- but no RF coils or tuning capacitors like radio equipment would have. My guess is it's part of a early PA system. Either a PA system or a two-way radio base stationHere's my guess: The whole rig is either a public address system, or something like a base station for a police radio system. The top device is probably a tunable radio receiver. I can see what looks like a tuning capacitor behind a couple of the tubes on the left. The three tubes on the light-colored chassis on the right are probably part of the power supply, while the five tubes on the left are the RF/IF/AF part of the radio. I'm not sure what the three biscuits are, under the tubes at the left - maybe covers over the back sides of rotary controls? The cylinder slung under the left side is probably a filter capacitor for the power supply - it is rather bigger than most radios would have used at that time. Maybe this is designed for a 25 Hz supply? That bright sheet-metal piece standing on end under the workbench is probably the shield for this device. The top device might also be a powered microphone mixer, to allow multiple microphones to drive the power amps. If the whole thing is a PA system, and this is a radio, this lets you play background music. If it's a mixer, it lets you use more than one microphone. If it's a base station, then this is probably a radio, and this is how you hear the mobile units calling in. The bottom two devices are either audio power amplifiers (PA system) or radio transmitters (base station). If they are power amps, they probably amplify the output of the radio for loudspeakers. If you need to cover a bigger area, add another amp to the rack (note the empty shelf). If they are power amps, the dark oblong boxes might be audio output transformers, but I'm not 100% sure on this. (If this was 30 years later, they might be spring reverb tanks, but I don't think those existed in 1929.) If they are radio transmitters, my guess is that they are fixed-frequency; at that time, those were easier to build, and are always much easier to use. They might even be just CW, for Morse code, but 1929 sounds a little late for that. If they are fixed-frequency, my guess is that they are on two different frequencies; you *could* use the same frequency into two different directional antennas, but that requires synchronization of the transmitters that I am not sure was reliable in 1929. I'm not sure what the dark oblong boxes do, if these are transmitters. There are three jacks (probably for 1/4" phone plugs) above the top device. I bet these are for headphones, a microphone, and maybe a push-to-talk switch. If it's a PA system, someone standing at the console can monitor the output, and the microphone and PTT let you cut out the music and make announcements. If it's a base station, then you listen to the mobile units on headphones, and use the microphone to transmit. There is a small terminal board under the bottom shelf. I am not real sure what this is for - it might be the antenna terminals for the radio on the top shelf, or maybe it's some control and switching lines for the whole rack, that can be used to tie more than one of these racks together. The AC power comes in at the bottom right and runs up the rack, with an outlet for each shelf. The outlet boxes and conduit look a lot like the stuff that is sold today as Wiremold(R) surface-mount conduit. The whole rack is not that much different than a "relay rack" you might use today to mount Ethernet jacks, switches, routers, etc; the main difference is that the shelves on modern racks usually bolt in rather than weld on. The power (if equipped) still tends to run up one side. Vacuum TubesAs a lad on Long Island I had a 5-tube Crosley superheterodyne receiver that could pull in race results from all over and even a Cincinnati ball game at night when the cloud cover was good for a "skipping" AM signal but these tubes have me awestruck. Quite obviousThis is the first dual line iPhone. With nifty techno-geek carrying case. Pots???Probably not a receiver as there is a shortage of tuning components on these chassis - the upper unit may be a mixer of some type (power supply on the right) - the three round shiny things may be pots or potentiometers (volume controls), there appear to be three input jacks just above the top unit and the two units on the lower shelves are likely two amplifiers that fed two separate speaker systems. The lower empty shelf looks ready to receive the third amplifier. This is obviously the forerunner of Muzak, to be used in a building with 3 elevators. Talkie equipmentI see speakers but no microphones, and nothing that looks like antenna leads. I'd suggest this is equipment for playing sound in a movie theater. Second suggestion, it's part of a studio's sound recording equipment. Server (of sorts)because it's in a 19-inch rack mount,verified by scaling up from the No. 6 dry cell (as opposed to less common 23-inch telco equipment racks). Rack System!The predecessor to today's rack systems used by those IT nerds out there...think about the heat radiating off this monster! Almost certainly audio equipmentThe "tuning capacitor" on the uppermost unit which KCGuy pointed out is a selenium rectifier - one of the first solid state devices in use. It's probably rectifying a bias voltage for the tubes. I'd discount the likelihood that this rack is radio equipment - at least, not the radio frequency part of it. The two identical large units have no connectors which would be used with radio frequency signals. The only outputs visible are screw post terminals, which would be consistent with audio frequency signals. The three jacks we can see on the top unit (from the back) are the standard quarter-inch phone plugs which were used for audio right through the 20th century - since they're up so high and are on the front of whatever this is, I'd guess they're test jacks or places to plug in headphones or speakers for testing or local monitoring. A firstThe first PA system for Congress? The Rest of the StoryClick here to see the front panel. The top unit is an American Bosch Magneto radio receiver. Early TelevisionThat big disc reminds me of early mechanical television. But it would need a fairly big electric motor behind it, as well as a neon glowlamp. Dual chassis were another hallmark of TV setups at the time. You needed separate receivers for audio and video. No tuning caps might mean a closed-circuit demo rig, not meant to pick up over-the-air signals. The same but differentWhen viewing the back of the rack (1 of 2) the bottom two units appear to be identical. However the front view (2 of 2) shows that these same two units have completely different front panels. Unfair! A little unfair Dave. We loyal Shorpy fans can only go by what is visible to us. Obviously the radio's components were inside a metal enclosure out of our view. What was visible were the audio amplifiers used to distribute the sound about the hospital so I think my conjecture it was part of a PA system was valid. [The radio components are right there in front of your nose on the top rack! American Bosch Magneto Model 28. -Dave] In my defense, the radio's RF coils and tuning components were not visible from the rear. Of course, had we seen the front view it would be obvious it was a radio. Dry cell?M2 commented on the "No. 6 dry cell". Is that what's slung underneath the radio - the thing I misidentified as a filter capacitor? I thought battery vs AC radios were sort of an "all or nothing" thing; either it ran totally on AC or totally on batteries. Maybe I am confused about that. If this rig needs more batteries, it might make sense that they go on the floor, and the terminals under the bottom shelf are for hooking them up. Or maybe the dry cell is the only battery in the rig, and it's there for something relatively low-current, like maybe biasing the microphones? (Technology, The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Marcella Hart: 1943
... work on diesel locomotives in the Morris Park yard of the Long Island RR. The steam engines are gone, as are the wipers, but we still get ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 4:43pm -

April 1943. Clinton, Iowa. "Mrs. Marcella Hart, mother of three, employed as a wiper at the roundhouse. Chicago & North Western R.R." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Blue and RedWonderful photo! I imagine Jack Delano saying something like, "Just as you are, ma'am, that's fine. Yep, grease and all, that's what I'm after." and her saying "You can have the grease, but there ain't no way you're taking that picture till I've put on my lipstick." Our momOur mom was a wiper, too. But it was mainly on our cabooses. And on really bad days, she probably looked a little like the hardworking lady in the photo. Sans overalls, of course. Marcella's tickerI'll bet there's a railroad pocket watch in her upper right coverall pocket attached to the denim shoelace. Some things don't change.I work on diesel locomotives in the Morris Park yard of the Long Island RR. The steam engines are gone, as are the wipers, but we still get just as filthy! WipersOK, thanks "Our Mom" for the mental images - but what does a wiper do in a locomotive sense? Good Manicure TooDespite her hard, dirty job, Mrs. Hart still has beautifully lacquered nails. Reminds me of the landlady in the first reel of "Swing Shift," who, as her young tenants are putting up her blackout curtains for her after Pearl Harbor, finally finishes with her nail file and announces to the room, "Well, this is one American who's going to die with perfect nails!" Re: WipersA wiper was essentially a '"ube tech" and cleaner, they went around and filled oil reservoirs on bearing-boxes and various pivot points then knocked off accumulated road grime. The Wiper's JobThe wiper's job was to wipe down or clean the boiler jacket -- no mean task on a big, modern engine. This was done with a handful of "waste" (a leftover from the textile mills, it was basically a wad of loose thread, used by the handful like a shop rag -- this is what she's holding in her right hand) and dipped in a light oil or kerosene (the red can). Wipers might also clean headlight, reverse lamp and class/marker lights, cab glass, and sweep down the running boards to remove accumulations of cinders. May have even hosed down the deck of the cab during this busy time, although firemen usually took care of that chore. Wipers Wipeoff dirt, grease, and any other gunk that gets on the locomotive. Railroads worked hard to keep their equipment looking good. If a wiper was good, he/she could move up to oiler, and learn how the various bearings should be lubricated. My dad started out his careeras a "callboy" on the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1920s. Very few people in those days had telephones. He went door to door to wake up operating personnel, like locomotive engineers and firemen, to call them to work. The prerequisite for the callboy job: you had to have a bicycle! His dad, my grandfather, was a "hogger"(locomotive engineer) with the CPR. He retired circa 1950. My dad progressed to an engine wiper, apprenticed as a steamfitter and received his journeyman's papers in 1936. He served in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve in WWII and went missing in action at sea 10 days before my birth in 1943. Just out of curiosityOldtimer, what ship was your father serving on when he was lost? This is my new nick here now, BrentMy father was serving on the HMCS Louisburg and Royal Canadian Naval Corvette of the Flower Class. They were on convoy duty running supplies and troops into North Africa for the campaign against Rommel. His ship was hit by an aerial torpedo and sunk very quickly. Being an "Engine Room Artificer" below decks, his chances of getting out alive were slim to none. Thanks for asking! http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/824.html (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Jack Delano, Railroads)
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