MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
Home

Search Shorpy

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

Search results -- 30 results per page

I Like Shostakovich: 1955
... to a similar strange mania at the age of 18. Here, in 1955, a senior in high school and fooling around with his newly-acquired Lordox ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 02/10/2018 - 9:31pm -

Proof positive that my brother and I both fell victim to a similar strange mania at the age of 18. Here, in 1955, a senior in high school and fooling around with his newly-acquired Lordox 35mm camera, he snapped this Kodachrome self-portrait at his desk in our bedroom. Nine years later when I was 18, I shot my records, including the same Shostakovich album, spread out in our living room, as seen here. By that time, "I Like Jazz," a Columbia Records sampler, was no longer around. Posted with my brother's kind acquiescence. View full size. THIMKI somehow wonder what that THIMK note could mean on the red board behind your brother. Is it like a note to oneself? [I'd guess it's a spoof on the "THINK" placards that were popular at the time. Which was Thomas Watson's motto first at NCR and later at IBM. - Dave] Slide RuleCan't help but notice the Post deci-trig sliderule on the desk. Looks like a wiring chart on the ceiling to the right. Appears to me the lad's a right and truly nerd! Welcome! Ceiling ChartIt's a periodic table, with various insets, including a map of the US that presumably indicates the distribution of various elements. Another great shotYou (and delworthio) should get your own blog. I Like "I Like Jazz"I still have the "I Like Jazz" LP in its original sleeve, but it's somewhat the worse for wear. Aviation WallpaperI couldn't help but notice the aviation themed wallpaper with what appears to be a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft in the background. I have a vague memory of a similar patterned wallpaper in either my brother's or my bedroom, albeit patterned with commercial airliners of the era. Bill Gates, the PrequelDid the Termite Brothers grow up to be engineers? Thimk"Thimk" was the Mad magazine version of the IBM "think" motto. HeadphonesMilitary surplus? PeekWhat an incredible peek into the life of a teenager in the middle '50s. The "THIMK" sign, the sliderule, the compass, the nautical themed lampshade and bedspread, aeronautical wallpaper, the atypical (for a teenager) taste in music. Pretty cool. Jazz Liker I, too, have a copy of "I Like Jazz" in its original sleeve. It belonged to my mother, and now lives in my own collection of vinyl. HeadphonesPossibly military surplus; he got them from a high school friend. I remember them, and they were definitely not hi- or any other kind of fi. Probably intended for radio communications work. He used them merely as a prop for the photo. You gotta agree, they certainly heighten the geekiness, hmm? I loved that wallpaper with the airplanes. Almost literally the last thing I'd see at night and the first in the morning. Dates from a c.1946 remodel job. Alternate Title"I Like Ig." Letter MenIs that a Speedball lettering kit in the lower left-hand corner? You guys certainly had a wide range of interests! SpeedballYep, it is a Speedball lettering kit, and on the shelf above it is a bottle of Sheaffer's Skrip "writing fluid," or ink to you. There were always several of those around, as my brother went through various colors with his fountain and ball point pens over time. That's helped me in dating many of the the slides from this era; the mounts weren't dated by the processor and he didn't always write the dates on them, but sorting them by the color of what notes he did make helps get them associated chronologically. You'd use India Ink with the Speedball set, of course. You ever try to get India ink out of a carpet? "Shostakovitch"?Which record company was it that misspelled Shostakovich's name on the label? I can't recognize the logo from here. [There really is no one correct spelling for words written in a different alphabet. For Shostakovich it depends on what system you're using to transliterate the Cyrillic alphabet into the Roman alphabet. - Dave] Transliteration and thingsThanks a lot for your reply, Dave. I had never seen that transliteration before, but having done some digging I see that it was not uncommon back in the 1940s. I guess this was around the same time that Vladimir Nabokov's name was often spelled Nabokoff. Interesting how these things become standardised with time. Anyway, I really love this picture. Both the pose and the room say so much about the sitter's personality. He looks like he would be a very interesting person to know. (And yes, I realise now that I can read the record label's name if I enlarge the picture. D'oh!) Shostakovich: Then and NowThe day after Christmas 2019 my brother and I got together with our original Shostakovi(t)ch album and a copy of I Like Jazz I'd found in a second-hand store and did this. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Kodachrome Living Room: 1955
December 17, 1955. Tony W.'s baby shower photo , with the fireplace and shelves full of ... occasioned by the record Northern California December 1955 storms. Also on the table next to the candle is my sister's Kodak Duaflex ... a bright, on-camera flash that not many would have had in 1955. And looking even more closely at the full-sized photo I can see shadow ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 4:11pm -

December 17, 1955. Tony W.'s baby shower photo, with the fireplace and shelves full of photos, books and bric-a-brac, was so exceedingly redolent of 1950s living rooms in general, and ours in particular, that I couldn't stand it, so I dug this one out, showing our fireplace and shelves full of our photos, books and bric-a-brac. That's my sister, with her future husband on the right, and my godmother's son on the left. That's him in Army uniform in the photo on the shelf above. My brother, bless him, wrote the actual date on the slide mount, but we can tell it's near Christmas by my sister's home-made angel ornament hanging in the niche as well as the box of tree ornaments in the lower right foreground. Another point of interest is the candle burning at the extreme left. It's functional, not ornamental; this was taken during a power outage occasioned by the record Northern California December 1955 storms. Also on the table next to the candle is my sister's Kodak Duaflex camera with flash attachment. View full size. Larkspur, huh?Very nice. I live in Santa Rosa and recognize a lot of the geography in your posts. Happy AnniversaryI'm glad to see a tterrace post today. I've enjoyed all your photos for the past year! Looking forward to year two! Tempus fugitTo think that these three are all in their seventies now ... Whoosh. Blink and you're old! Great KnickknacksOn the bookcase shelf to the right is a wonderful 1920's solid blue marbled McCoy "Onyx" line vase. Left bookcase has what looks to be an early 1900's German papier mache Easter rabbit. This decor hung around into the late 1960's in my neck of the woods. Tempus Fugit, indeedIt is an amazing trick of nature -- everyone around you gets older, but you don't "feel" older except when mirrors are involved. That's a great picture just because of the reality of the setting; the imperfections are its strong points. Ahead of the curveWas your sister's hairstyle popular in the mid-50s? It looks like more of a mid/late-60s cut to me. Very cute and modern. Thank you also for all of your contributions here. It's really nice of you to share all these great photos with us and I know everyone here appreciates it even if they don't get the time to comment. SisWas quite the gamine. Carolyn Jones! Pixie pixThe short hairstyle seen in this photo was called a pixie cut. It was indeed common and popular in the 1950's. Okay, I'll bite.Why was the fireplace full of photos? Beautiful Message...about growing old. Well dagnabbit, I forgot what it was. My favorite thing about this pictureMr. Left is wearing pink argyle socks, and totally owning it. Some things, like men in Oxford shirts with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, never go out of fashion. And thank goodness for it. I love the decorative detritus over Argyle's shoulder: sea shells and a bunny statue. Why not? Middle Middle to Upper MiddleI kind of wonder if any of the people in these Northern California homes would have ever had a clue that someday their smallish middle class houses would eventually become extremely expensive and basically unaffordable to most everyone except those in the upper middle class. A la AudreyI think it was Audrey Hepburn who popularized the "pixie cut" when she had her long tresses shorn in "Roman Holiday," just a year or two before this photo was taken. I think it was (and is) illegal to refer to either Audrey or the hairstyle without using the adjective "gamine." Details, detailsFirst of all I want to congratulate Mal Fuller on making exactly the same kind of comment I would have under the circumstances. Sister's previous hairdos can be seen in two photos on the top shelf to the right. As often as I've studied this photo, I never noticed Alfred's argyle socks before. By a strange twist of fate, late last year I bought a pair exactly like those, giving into a long hankering to revisit my own clothing styles of a half-century previous. The rabbit is indeed papier maché, and is towing a cart in which has been placed a more recent vintage sugar Easter egg, one of those with hole in the end to view a little scene inside. My folks bought the house in 1941 for $3000; my mother sold it in 1987 for $189,000, and it sold again a couple years ago for $1.5 million. Below, the 2-1/4 square Anscochrome transparency my sister took of this scene with her Duaflex, showing my brother fiddling with his Lordox camera, possibly preparing to fire off the Kodachrome. Thank youThanks again, tterrace. Even a Mississippi "girl" can relate to photos of the era. I wore white at my Confirmation and we used to gather in the living room just like your family when the lights go out. Kathy Please tell me how to zoomPlease tell me how to zoom in on all the details of the in photo of interest on this site. I know there must be a way ... the comments tell me I am missing much. Thank You. [Clicking any of the the "View full size" links under the photo should do it. There's at least one "View full size" link in each post; usually there are two. Three if it's offered as a print. - Dave] What town is this?Where is Northern California is this house? [As practically everyone knows, Larkspur. Idyllic Larkspur. - Dave] Not clever title. Amazingly well lit.How was this scene lit if the power was off? No shadows. Certainly not the candle. After looking again, maybe a bright, on-camera flash that not many would have had in 1955. And looking even more closely at the full-sized photo I can see shadow from flash above and to the left of the lens. Surprising still that the foreground is not blown out, but I'm not a flash photographer. Was that the same storm that caused flooding? I remember that in both 1955 and 1957, serious flooding hit. In the 1957 storm several houses slid in our town. Cut and fill up hillsides. [You can see my brother's camera and flash attachment here. The papers in the immediate lower-right foreground are mostly blown out but I toned them down in Photoshop. And this was the winter 1955-6 storm that flooded our Russian River summer house in Guernewood. -tterrace] (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Car Pyre: 1955
... edge of a glacier! Not "scrap steel" in 1955 It is unlikely that those cars, which were all "late models," would be burned for scrap in 1955. There are obviously salvageable body parts such as fenders, bumpers, etc. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/01/2015 - 5:33pm -

From mid-1950s California, the aftermath of an epic carbecue in what looks to be Sierra ski country. Please present your claim ticket to the valet! 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. Oh valet-I've come for my car. Yes, it's the black one. Not merely burnedbut mangled too, and stacked on top of one another. These may have been wrecked before they burned. Junkyard fire perhaps? The Acrid Scent of MoneyBased on the way these cars are piled, the clean, fresh snow, and the solid logs of wood, I am not convinced this was an accidental fire. Because rusty steel weighs more than non-rusted steel, it used to be a practice to burn junked cars before selling them for scrap metal. The fire took the paint off and took away the non-metal things like glass and rubber. The unpainted metal rusted. So all you had to do was wait a few months to get your money to start adding up. Plus there was the bonus that it was all steel, so the scrap buyer paid for everything he weighed. Nothing had to be deducted. I suppose this could have been a pile put together by a bulldozer, from a much earlier accidental fire, before the snow. But fires don't twist hoods like that. Seems to me, these cars were junk before they burned. Well, OfficerWe were on our way to Oakland, when all of a sudden -- Was this a junkyard fire?How (or why) is one car on top of another? An interesting photo - as usual for Shorpy. What is the backstory? "Oh, valet -"Anyone else instantly "hear" that in Jack Benny's voice? More cluesA snow plow obviously carved that ridge, and there appears to be an unburned car partially embedded in it. Clews.The foundation and stacked cars raise the possibility of a garage fire. Avalanche!My take on this scene is that an avalanche crushed the garage and the mangled pile of automobiles with their batteries, gasoline and other combustibles caused the fire. I can not conceive of another explanation for the five foot thick layer of snow*. [You've never been in the Sierras in the winter. -tterrace] The snow in the foreground still has the evidence of the recent fire. It must have been a working garage as I see an oil can with the top punctured by one of those fancy chrome spouts (remember those?) * That looks like the leading edge of a glacier! Not "scrap steel" in 1955It is unlikely that those cars, which were all "late models," would be burned for scrap in 1955. There are obviously salvageable body parts such as fenders, bumpers, etc. Useable parts from late-model cars are obviously worth more than scrap steel. The wood is part of a garage, not just "firewood". The charred wood is square timbers, not round logs. At the right corner of the foundation, there is a partially consumed corner post still standing upright. Only the "stacking" remains to be explained. The identities of the cars could be key to assessing this photo. The convertible on the top of the stack at the upper right _might_ have been a British sports car with wooden coachwork, perhaps an Austin-Healy. I will leave the exact forensics to the Automotive Bureau of the Shorpy Sleuths. [The car at the top of the heap is a 1949-1951 Ford or Mercury station wagon. -tterrace] One Possible ExplanationA two-storey garage with the cars from the second storey having fallen on the cars below. Handy in snowThe topmost vehicle in the pile looks like a 4x4 Willys Jeepster with rear mounted spare tire of early '50s or late '40s vintage and would have been very useful in the mountains in any season. [As pointed out earlier, it's a 1949-51 Ford or Mercury wagon, now minus the wood. -tterrace] I see it now. Re: Not ScrapJunkyards don't burn the car for scrap deliberately, but they often have accidental fires due to the use of cutting torches to remove parts. (My parents owned one in the 70's) Late model cars get junked if they're in an accident but these do look more like something heavy fell on them, trees or a building. A wooden two story parking garage seems unlikely, perhaps they were stacked after the fire to clear space. Oil Can EvidencePretty sure it was a garage fire. The top of an oil can is visible in the middle center with the distinctive punch out of a filler spout. At the bottom of the heapappears to be a Cadillac and a Pontiac from the early '50's. The silver streaks on the Pontiac look a bit melted. Forest Fire of Sept. 4, 1955 Sierra Nevada Could this be it? The front page of the Sept. 4, 1955, edition of The Fresno Bee detailing a Sierra Nevada wildfire that imperiled the community of Miramonte. Read more here: Fresno Beat Newspaper A Woody can get dry rotAs a kindergartner or 1st grader, I remember my Dad replacing the middle horizontal wood piece on our '49 Ford wagon. He cut, shaped, sanded and applied varnish in the driveway. I watched. That was the same car that our neighbor lady tried to start when we were on vacation in Waupaca, WI. As a 1st grader, I am surprised that she listened to my suggestion to pull that knob when starting, as I had observed my Dad doing all the time. He had the idle set so low it wouldn't run without a bit of increased idle speed from the choke mechanism. She pulled the button and it started right up. Funny what memories from about 60 years ago you can dredge up. This sure looks like a collapsed garage fire. Note the twisted cable in front of the Caddy, the same as would be used by a tow truck. Craigslist:1950 Mercury woody, needs slight restoration $5000 also have 1949 Cadillac could use some TLC $4000 (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, News Photo Archive, Signal 30)
Tinsel-Free Christmas: 1955
December 1955. Here's our family's entry in the Shorpy Christmas tree sweepstakes. ... full size" link under the caption. - Dave] Xmas 1955 Floods Though we weren't affected much in Hayward (some street flooding) Xmas 1955 will always remind me of the disaster not far off in Yuba City/Marysville. ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 12/26/2021 - 1:46pm -

December 1955. Here's our family's entry in the Shorpy Christmas tree sweepstakes. Devoid of any jolly celebrants, unfortunately, but at least we have my mother's curtains and drapes. Many vintage ornaments are in evidence: Santa heads, houses, a table lamp, a mushroom, an angel, a prizefighter, some birds with spun glass or celluloid tailfeathers, and one of my personal favorites, a big one we always called "the stars and stripes forever" on the left a little more than halfway up. Some were from my Mother's family and dated back to the early 1900s, including one that still had wax drippings on it from when you actually lit your tree with candles. On the right, our Motorola hosts the Nativity scene complete with plastic Wise Men. Sharp-eyed observers may note that on the window seat, the fishbowl, vacant a year later, here appears to be inhabited. My brother recorded the available-light exposure details for this Kodachrome slide on the mount: f2.8 @ 1 second, during which he jiggled the camera slightly. View full size. No "view full size"?? [Any and every image on this site can be "viewed full size," even if there is no "view full size" link in the caption. Step 1: Open the post by clicking on the title. Step 2: Click the "View full size" link under the caption. - Dave] Xmas 1955 FloodsThough we weren't affected much in Hayward (some street flooding) Xmas 1955 will always remind me of the disaster not far off in Yuba City/Marysville. http://americahurrah.com/Flood55/YubaCity.htm We went to an area FD station to donate some used clothing. Window dressingWell that is a perfect Christmas tree and the slight blur adds a little dreamy magic that is nice. But man, that curtan/drape combo is stunning! Your mom must have been proud! There's no place like home.There's no place like home. There's no place like home. (Accompanied by the clicking of ruby red slippers.) Silent NightEnchanting. Who lives here now? Oh those trees....I wish I could still find trees like the one pictured and from my childhood of the early sixties. They were open and airy and had enough room between the branches so that the ornaments could actually "hang," and not just lean. Today's trees are so dense you can hardly get the lights in and around the branches, and you have to use so darn many just to light it up. I still jigglebut that being said, I'm happy Paul is sharing those classic photos I and then he took back in the day! -- Will, Paul's brother, who took the picture Yesterdays once moreI can think of nothing better to say to this photo than the words of Elizabeth Akers Allen: Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight, Make me a child again, just for tonight! TV set in the corner?Back in those days the TV wasn't on 24/7, a beautiful wooden cabinet with doors was a good idea. I put a 90's TV into a 50's cabinet in my 50's themed home - but now, when it's starting to letting the smoke out, I can't find any new TV's that fits into our ol' cabinet. I'd Live There!tterrace, you continue to outdo yourself posting these wonderful slice-of-life images ... I hope you are a happy "grown up," as your posts and images lead me to believe you may have turned out. Happy Holidays to you and yours (you too, Dave!) Full size button, please?I'd like to see the ornaments. My mother still has ornaments from her mother, German made I believe. Love it!!!Can we see it full size? Would love to see details on the tree! [Any and every image on this site can be "viewed full size," even if there is no "view full size" link in the caption. Step 1: Open the post by clicking on the title. Step 2: Click the "View full size" link under the caption. - Dave] And a Happy New Year as well...Tterrace you are twanging the heart-strings again, dammit.Ten years before and a few thousand miles away across the Pond, we had the same glass birds - the tails were made of spun glass - and little glass houses as well. And our tree was lit by little wax candles in clip-on tin holders (there was no electricity in my Granny's cottage) But, sadly, no photos (not much film around in GB in 1945). So, thank you for reminding me. When the time comes I'll raise a glass to you, and Dave, and all the splendid folk who view Shorpy, and wish you all a very merry Christmas from Cornwall. Life Before EXIF I have often wondered how film photographers kept track of exposure setting for individual photos. Did they keep a log book with frame numbers and settings? This seems like it would have a pain in the neck. PS - Where is the "View Full Size" link on this photo? [See above. - Dave] View larger It would be nice to view hi-def or just a larger size. [Any and every image on this site can be "viewed full size," even if there is no "view full size" link in the caption. Step 1: Open the post by clicking on the title. Step 2: Click the "View full size" link under the caption. - Dave] Thanks, DaveI feel dumb for not clicking on the title; I've been spoiled by the obvious button and saved my brain power for looking at details in the photos. Turns out the bird looks very like the one my mother has, and I recognize that Santa face, too. And the large bulb lights! Interesting to note that the presents fit under the tree. These days that pile would only amount to stocking stuffers in some house I know. Us and the floodThat 1955 Christmas flood Anonymous Tipster mentioned was the one that got our summer place at the Russian River, as seen here, and down in the comments here. Big lights!I'm so glad the big bulb lights like the ones in the picture are making a comeback. Of course, they're a lot safer and more efficient than their ancestors, but they still have the same retro look. I remember the days of having to wait until the tree was completely dry before hanging the lights, or you'd get sizzles and sparks. Photo Log Pre-EXIFMy father started shooting Kodachrome slides in 1950 and kept a little log book with the exposure and aperture for a while. He would compare those with the slides after he got them back from the Kodak lab. He also wrote titles on the cardboard slide frames. Interesting how "photo anticipation" went from weeks (Kodachrome sent off in those nifty mailers that were eventually ruled monopolistic), to 60 seconds (Polaroids on a warm day, a lttle more if you had to warm the Polacolor inside the aluminumu Cold Clip inside your pocket) to instant feedback as you view your JPGs on your digicam screen. Our presents and lightsThis is pre-Christmas day, so the presents under the tree are those from friends and relatives received either by mail or from visits. The "official" presents, including the really good big ones (i.e., the ones for me) didn't get put out until after I'd gone upstairs to bed Christmas Eve. You can't see our bubble lights, the big old-fashioned kind with tubes about 4" long and about 3/8" in diameter. They'd drive my mother to distraction because there'd always be a couple on the string that wouldn't bubble, but they were magical to me. They eventually all wore out and when they came back into fashion in the 70s they, like the regular lights, were tiny in comparison and just not the same at all. And some of those didn't bubble, either. A while back I posted another shot of our 1955 tree, this time by flash but also a little jiggly, and with a couple people in it. Curtains!Those curtains are a work of art in their own right. Cold War NervesOne partially-heard TV news bulletin during those Xmas 1955 floods said something about "Russian." In that era THAT was a major attention grabber! It was somewhat of a relief to hear it repeated in full and was only about a river. Russian River Flooding ....I lived in the Russian River (Front Street, Monte Rio) during Christmas of 1981 and there was a terrible flood then, too, tterrace. My house was right on the riverbank and I vividly remember one terrible night of going outside every hour, on the hour, to check how much the river had risen against the stairsteps going from my cellar door down to the water. Luckily, the river crested just at the top step - but not without bringing about some miserable anxiety and tension. I'm sorry that your house wasn't so lucky. Bubble lightsI found four-inch tube bubble lights last year at Wal-Mart. We did not have bubble lights on our trees at home but friends of the family did and I yearned for them ever since. The lights I purchased are so far working fine and they really are magical. Wishing all readers memory making time with your families, and don't forget the camera! Merry Christmas to you Dave and thanks for your gift of windows into the precious past. [And we thank tterrace for this and many other wunnerful photos. - Dave] DecorIs this the same California living room in all the other photos? Looks it, but I'm getting the sense your mom liked to move the furniture around a lot. Frankly, I like the curtains and drapes. They're very Ricky and Lucy. Anything beats those dagnabbity ugly "vertical blinds" they sell on us these days. Decor in motionFunny you should mention that, A.T. I always loved it when we rearranged the living room; it was like moving into a new house, almost. Frequently I was a participant, and at times, I think, a motivating force. Here we see the TV in one of three corners it or its descendants occupied over the years. The much-admired curtains and drapes are actually a 1940s style rather than 1950s. When my mother had them and the cornices done, she was tickled with the clever idea the decorator had of offsetting everything to the left so as to disguise how off-center the windows were. You social climber, you!Most trees had C7 bulbs, you appear to have C9's. Oh, what great memoriesWhat great Christmas memories. Beautiful tree, and a lovely home for the times. I was living in Marysville for Christmas 1955. We were sent to my grandparents' home in Yuba City on the 23rd, where the eventual flood occurred. From Yuba City we were off to a friend of my grandfather’s west in Colusa. Christmas morning he and my grandfather flew to Sacramento to get supplies. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, tterrapix)
A Lot of Cars: 1950s
... around the block and try a different row? Possibly 1955 Possibly 1955, based on a couple of light blue Ford station wagons in the last row on ... 
 
Posted by motobean - 01/15/2014 - 3:57pm -

This photo is from my father's trip to Northern California in approximately 1950. I am hoping that someone who knows cars can come up a more precise date for the picture by noting the date of manufacture of the newest car shown here. I am almost sure that this parking lot was in downtown Sacramento, but it could have been in San Francisco. View full size. A good year.After "scanning" this scene, I would guess late '54 or early '55. I see a '55 Buick at the service station and a lot of '53 and '54 models. Wasn't it just great when you could spot the make and model of a car from this distance? Whoops, I'm showing my age. Odd LotSo if you choose a row that's full, you have to leave the lot, drive around the block and try a different row? Possibly 1955Possibly 1955, based on a couple of light blue Ford station wagons in the last row on the right. Lots of early '50s cars. There's a 76 station (O'Neill Bros.), and a Chevy dealer. I think it won't be long before this picture shows up on the Hemmings Daily blog. http://blog.hemmings.com/ Frisco or SactoI'm going with Sacramento; streets lined with tall trees are more like the state capital. Yellow Cadillac convertibleIn the leftmost row, a 1954 I believe. Note: No Beetles The absence of VW Beetles in a California parking lot suggests 1955/6 at the latest. I bought a 1954 in 1957 and they were all over the place by then. 13th & LThe O'Neil Bros. service station was at 13th and L streets in Sacramento. Also I see a green 1955 Ford. Another vote for 1955There is a coral-over white 1955 Pontiac in the third row from the left, under what looks to be a guard shack on top of a pole! [Yes, although I believe that's Corsair Tan over Mist White. -tterrace] "The coldest winter I ever spent"was not in a city with palm trees. [Well, even though Mark Twain never said “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," here's a photo I took last winter in San Francisco. -tterrace] I stand (actually sit) corrected. Sacramento historyThe site of that pretty Spanish-style 1930s gas station is now the boxy, 1970s-era Community Center Theater. It's nice-looking inside, although the acoustics are bad. I love old photos of my town. Got any more, motobean? Capitol ChevroletCapitol Chevrolet was at K and 13th. As mentioned earlier, the address of the O'Neil Bros. Auto Supply and Super Service Station was on L at 13th. Built in 1921, it was the first of at least six O'Neil Bros. stations. '55 Buick?Parked just to the right of O'Ne(il?) Bros. service station at top center. Tough to tell if it's a '55 or a '56. Sacramento The large light-colored building in the left background, Capitol Chevrolet, can be seen in the companion photo posted by motobean a page or so prior to this. In that picture, "Checkmate: 1950" the Capitol Chevrolet building can be seen in the extreme right background. A comparison may assist motobean in pinpointing where his father took the earlier photo in Capitol Park, just out of view to the right of the above photo. License PlatesWide black license plates with yellow (or gold, as some say) characters indicate 1955 or earlier. In 1956 CA went to the narrower six-character plates in yellow (gold) with black characters. One Way StreetsAlso, Sacramento went to one way streets downtown sometime around 1950 and you can see that L is one way in this photo. The Community Center Theater occupies the gas station site today and the Chevrolet dealership gave way to the new convention center complex. Edit: L looks one way here but then the parked cars on the far/south side seem to be facing east. Maybe L wasn't one way yet. My mom and dad were married in Sacramento in 1955 while attending the University of Nevada Reno and dad drove a 1952 MG TD. They came down to Sac, where mom's parents lived, a couple times a month on Highway 40 in the MG and said that at times that trip could be pretty treacherous. Dad graduated and worked for the Sacramento Union newspaper in the late '50s, lived on Watt Ave out near McClellan AFB, then the family moved to the bay area when he was hired by the Oakland Tribune in 1960. Just peek inside. Corvette!Dad bought our brand new Chevy Bel Aire four door in March of 1955 in that building. V8 with a Power Pack, 182 horsepower! PowerGlide too. Traded in a 1953 Dodge station wagon. When we first saw our new one, we walked inside past those two side doors and they had a Corvette parked inside between the big doors. Instant love for a 14 year old. I remember the salesman told my dad, "Capt., we can hardly get rid of them" as I stood there and drooled. Thank you for the photo and allowing to post my memory. I will always remember that new car inside that first big door on the left. We were stationed at Mather Air Force Base and lived at 7216 Eagle in Fair Oaks, a suburb of Sacramento. House is still there but I bet they sold the Vette.... I agree, early 1955. The dead giveaway to 1955 The blue '55 Olds sedan in the top of the photo accompanying Dave's "13th & L" comment. I don't see anything newer. [That could also be a 1954 Oldsmobile, so it's the Ford that's definitive. - Dave] Dave, I don't see the '55 ford...I think I DO see a couple of pale blue '55 Dodge sedans (kinda like this one) in your blowup with the blue Olds at the top... Parking Lot ID'dI grew up in Sacramento in this period. Having worked for Weinstock's department store (fresh out of high school in 1973) I can attest this is the Weinstock's patron parking lot directly across from the store on 12th Street. That same lot was one of my work assignments as a gate-keeper/payment-taker for a full year. That's L Street at far right and Capitol Park further in, behind the long row of palms. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Ralph's Buick: 1955
May 30, 1955. "Dan and Richie in Ralph's Buick." From Set 3 of found 35mm ... Where's Ralph? [In the driver's seat. - Dave] 1955 Buick Special The slanted A-pillar, along with the sheetmetal crease ... the door, tells you it's a Special or a Century. 1954 or 1955. The background of the trim ring at lower right being body color and not ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/05/2008 - 5:12pm -

May 30, 1955. "Dan and Richie in Ralph's Buick." From Set 3 of found 35mm Kodachromes, many taken around Rochester, New York. View full size. Detroit steel!Man! Nothing like a ride in a Buick. 1954 BuickThough I can't see enough of it to tell if it is a Century (three front fender portholes, called "Ventiports") or a Roadmaster (four Ventiports). It is not a Skylark - the emblem (in the lower right corner of the photo) is too high. There were only 836 Skylarks - all ragtops - built in '54. What a great color combo - silver, with a black top and white "gut" (interior)! Ralph's BuickWhere's Ralph? [In the driver's seat. - Dave] 1955 Buick SpecialThe slanted A-pillar, along with the sheetmetal crease behind the door, tells you it's a Special or a Century. 1954 or 1955. The background of the trim ring at lower right being body color and not red tells you it's a 1955 model. Yanking the slide out of the paper mount shows the top part of the squared-off "S" of the Special logo (below). Roadmaster, Super and Century all had four Ventiports for 1955. The Special had three. Dave, I'm in awe...Of what you've done with Shorpy and of your automotive knowledge! Very nicely done on both counts! [I majored in Forensic Buickology. Thank you. - Dave] WhaleWow, I looked at that picture and thought there were only 2 guys in the front seat--but there are 3, with plenty of room. What a whale of a car! Buick scanOh David . . .this scan captures so much. I feel like I am standing right there. Foy Panoramic WindshieldI will never forget the ads for the 54 models of General Motors cars including the Buick that advertised the first wrap-around windshields. Chevrolet got their Panoramic Windshields on the 55 models. (Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kodachromes 3)
Lukens Lake: 1956
... "Henry J" (1951 model, most of which had no trunk lids), 1955 or 1956 Pontiac wagon (which both used the same rear fenders as the 1955 Chevrolet wagon, with different taillights). The cars I'm pretty ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 7:59pm -

"Bath house at Lukens Lake near Peru, Indiana. July 1956." 35mm Kodachrome transparency. View full size. I'll Take a Shot At IDL to R: 49/50 Ford; 49/50-51 Buick, 49/50 Ford, don't know, a Muntz Jet maybe?, Pontiac Wagon, early 50s (used Chevy tail lights with chrome insert) Car IDThe fourth car from the left seems to be a Kaiser or a Henry J, probably the latter which was also sold by Sears--think they called it the Allstate. The one on the right looks like a '56 Chevy wagon. A near-forgotten model from American automobile history.The car with fuel stain by the gas cap (next to the Pontiac) is '51 (or so) Kaiser-Frazier Henry J. You can almost make out the script above the license plate. 49 FordThe car I learned to drive on was my dad's old blue 49 Ford with a column shift 3 speed. The body was absolutely cherry. My dad sold it for 50 bucks decades ago. Car IDI see a Henry J! (and a couple of '50/51 Fords, a Buick and a Pontiac) The CarsGood job everyone. From left to right are: 1950 Ford, 1950 Buick Roadmaster, 1951 Ford, Kaiser-Frazer "Henry J" (1951 model, most of which had no trunk lids), 1955 or 1956 Pontiac wagon (which both used the same rear fenders as the 1955 Chevrolet wagon, with different taillights). The carsI'm pretty sure that the first Ford is a '49. We had one when I was a kid, and the trunk lock mechanism piece above the license plate was straight and did not turn down at each end like the one in the picture. The '50 Fords had the "turned down" piece. The carsEditing my own reply. I meant to say the first Ford is a 1950 model since it has the turned-down trunk lock piece above the license plate. [You are correct. Thanks for the info. Now, who can tell if the station wagon is a 1955 or 56 Pontiac? The red-and-white color scheme is shown in the 1956 sales brochure. - Dave] Car conditionLook how quickly these autos lost their finish, all except the Pontiac wagon look much too rough for their six or seven years of use. Pontiac WagonI vote for the Pontiac being a '55. I've got a print of my twin brother and I up on top of the family's '55 Pontiac wagon washing it (we were 8 years old, and not heavy enough to dent '50's sheet metal). What I can see of the back end in the photo, the taillights, rear trunk hinges, and bumper look identical. The photo though is mostly a side view so not all details are available. Our car had a two tone dark green, light green paint job. Andrew Russell San Diego '51 Henry JThe Henry J is a '51. In 1952 the taillights went on to the fins. [The other way you can tell it's a '51 is that there's no trunk lid. - Dave] re 1955Here is a web adress,http://www.cars-on-line.com/stationwagon.html. You will see A 1955 pontiac chieftain wagon for sale. They have A pic of the rear and it looks the same as this one. [The 1956 wagon would look the same in back. - Dave] 1955 GMThe Pontiac is a 1955, GM used the same basic design on Pontiacs and Chevys. [Or it could be a '56. - Dave] Re: 1955 GMIt could also be a 1956 Pontiac. The wagon rear ends were the same for 1955 and 1956. Peru, IndianaBirthplace of one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived: Cole Porter! Henry JSears Roebuck also sold the Henry J and called it the Allstate. The retail price was $999. Kaiser-Frazer was an attempt at creating another brand in the automobile business after WWII, when cars were scarce. The biggest dealer was in California, a franchise owned by the promoter Earl "Madman" Muntz. His radio jingle was "The Kaiser-Frazer, yours at once, today at Madman Muntz." After Kaiser-Frazer sank, Muntz just reached up on his shelf for his next idea. It was a low-price line of TVs, under $100, hawked on radio stations across the country. You called and got a visit from a salesman who carried the step-up model into your house and began his sales pitch. At his peak Muntz may have been the largest seller of TVs in the country. PontiacThe Pontiac is a 1955. The 1956s had the name in script rather than in block letters. We had a 1956 sedan. My great-aunt had a Henry J just like this one, except that it was an ugly dark brown. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kodachromes 1, Travel & Vacation)
Crumple Zone: 1955
Oakland, California, circa 1955. "Wrecked Buick." A 1953 Super convertible. Long before airbags, there ... I became an embalmer. I've seen it all, Dave Circa 1955, not 1958 The crumpled front license plate is a style used from 1951 through 1955, 14" wide, with black background and yellow numbers. From 1956 through ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/06/2015 - 4:28pm -

Oakland, California, circa 1955. "Wrecked Buick." A 1953 Super convertible. Long before airbags, there were collapsible steering columns and dished steering wheels. And before that, there was this. 4x5 acetate negative. View full size. Bring on the Accident Photos, Dave!Knowing what we have in today's automobiles in terms of safety equipment and features, it astounds me as to how I survived as a kid in the 1950's, riding untethered in the front seat of mile-long 1940 and 1957 Dodge automobiles. Getting into low speed fender-benders meant going to the doctor to get stitches in your forehead. Happened to me twice! Mom throwing her arm across my body did absolutely nothing to keep me from kissing the unpadded dashboard. "Unsafe at Any Speed"?The 1953 Buick was one of the case studies that Ralph Nader discussed in "Unsafe at Any Speed." The power brake systems on the '53 Buicks had a tendency to fail completely due to faulty o-rings in the master cylinder. GM did not issue a recall, but had dealers fix people's brakes as they came into the shop. I wonder if that may have been the culprit here. Signal 30Interesting picture. I hope this sort of thing will not become a trend, here on this site. [Avert your gaze and walk this way to the fainting couch. - Dave] I am a combat veteran, 1st Battalion 1st Marines Delta Co. RVN 67-68. After that, I became an embalmer. I've seen it all, Dave Circa 1955, not 1958The crumpled front license plate is a style used from 1951 through 1955, 14" wide, with black background and yellow numbers. From 1956 through 1962 the plate was 2" less wide (same size as today) and was yellow with black numbers. [Right you are. - Dave] Not MeIf I should ever develop a time machine, I know enough now to not drive in Oakland during this era. Ventiport EnvyIn that time period, Bob Hope used to comment, "I have to go home and drill holes in the fenders of my Chevy, so everyone will think I'm driving a Buick." That's going to leave a markThe displaced steering wheel kept her out of the windshield but, OUCH! Glass Half FullGood thing they didn't scuff the whitewalls. Very interestingI love the old crash photos. Keep them coming. Although a bit morbid they are fascinating. Looks like the windshield wash fluid is still all foamy from the wreck. I'm thinking this wreck happened not long before the picture was shot and definitely before the ambulance arrived. The girl appears to possibly out cold or maybe even deceased. If not she blinked as the picture was taken. How HandyHow many times have you said that you could've used an extra hand? Apparently Mr. Law & Order never said that, since he comes fully equipped. That woman was very lucky to have survived.Usually the driver would have been speared through the chest by the steering wheel. Road tripThis somewhat grim series of photos gives me the feeling Weegee took a trip out west for a busman's holiday. Iron HorseConsidering that Buick probably had a monster cast iron straight 8 inside the engine compartment that is quite a bashing - and the lamppost didn't move an inch. [The "V" hood ornament and hubcaps advertise the fact that propulsion was supplied by Buick's new "Fireball" V-8. - Dave] Really?Did this Buick hit that light pole? That's an awful lot of damage and not a scratch or dent on the pole. I also think it would have stayed wrapped around the pole and not bounced back. So the extra hand is a back seat passenger(?). My father in law used to always say "they don't make um like they used too" And I'd always follow up with "Thank God" Even with their size and girth these old cars are not as safe as say a Camry these days. There's a great video on the web of GM offset crashing a 1958 Impala (first year) with a 2008 Impala. The crash test people in the '58 suffered life ending injuries with the amount of cabin intrusion the car had. The 2008, to quote a current Subaru commercial "they lived", actually with minor injury. [Actually a 1959 Bel Air. - Dave] Way too handy.That extra hand there is really a puzzle. I can't see any way there could be another person hidden behind the officer nor is there any way one could be a reflection. I'm just a bit baffled. [Note that there are two officers wearing caps. The feet of the second officer are behind the curb of the median the first officer is standing on. -tterrace] Sound sleepersNot one person turned on house lights or were peeking out of the windows to see what all the noise and lights were about. Starting off on the Right FootI remember the first time I tried to start a Buick of this vintage. No starter button on the dash or floor, no start position when you turned the key. With the ignition on you press down slightly on the gas pedal and bingo, it starts. Me tooAs a longtime, devoted fan of your site, I want to respectfully agree with Horace Walter. These pictures seem a little grim. Not your usual aesthetic. The Round Buick Grille Medallionin the center of the cross-bar between the parking light surrounds is the most vulnerable part on the front of the '53 Buicks--this was Buick's 50th anniversary and it was supposed to be the image of an '03 Buick but was discovered the be an '04 after production began, and is always the first part of the front end to be damaged. We had a '53 Roadmaster bought by my Buick dealer dad and after about the 3rd replacement (they are model specific), he finally gave up. On this car, it is virtually the only part to come out unscathed! Who Ya Gonna Call?Because of a failure to avert gaze I'd like to know if they called a doctor or the morgue. InjuriesThere's something nasty on her face. One can only dread what's out of view. And her closed eyes indicate unconsciousness, pain, or worse. So that's how they crashI used to own a car exactly like that, but a hardtop, not the convertible. I sometimes wondered what it would look like in a crash. Now I know. I'm glad I found out from a photo, not in person. Super Duper Iron HorseThis was the beginning of Buick V-8s. The vestigial straight-8 would remain only on the '53 Buick Special and would be history come 1954. Posts: An American MenaceIt's the 1950s. We live in an era of unimaginable technological advancement and widespread prosperity. But we have yet to address the greatest threat to the American way: roadside posts. Every year, roadside posts (apparently) kill thousands of our countrymen. Signal 30 FanCertainly more riveting than dressed-up kittens. PassengerI believe the woman is actually sitting in the passenger seat. The seemingly superfluous hands must belong to the driver who is slumped against the side behind the rear edge of the door opening, concealed by the gendarme. [As pointed out earlier, there are two officers in the shot, one behind the other; the extra cap, as well as hand, belong to the one behind. -tterrace] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Signal 30)
Cement Slingers: 1955
From around Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955 come the two strapping lads last seen here and here seven years ... Almighty. For once, I wish I was a sack of cement. 1955 Technology The pallet and the forklift don't seem like they'd be all ... [Fork lifts and pallets were around much earlier than 1955. - Dave] A stout hand truck The bag currently being loaded will ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/04/2022 - 2:35pm -

From around Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955 come the two strapping lads last seen here and here seven years ago, though they don't look a day older. Playing catch with 94-pound sacks of cement must keep you young. 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size. Mix ¾ oz gin, ½ oz liqueur ...... with a dash of powdered cement, stir and serve. I guess I expected something else. Good product placementI notice Dave put the Shorpy watermark on the next bag of cement. Before fork lifts and palletizersI grew up in "cement country", and worked summers at a cement plant to earn college tuition money. My father and many relatives spent their entire careers in cement plants. These "lads" seem to be unloading a truck or trailer. At the beginning of the journey, a group of men had to load that truck. Or a boxcar. And often spent all day long placing cement bags onto a hand truck, wheeling them into a truck or boxcar, and then neatly stacking them. Even if it was July and hot and humid. Before pallets, palletizers (the machine that automatically places the bags on forklifts), and fork lifts. OED FellowsAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, usage of "strapping" as a descriptive goes back to 1657, when it applied to a young woman. "And, now and then, one of the bolder strapping girls would catch him in her arms, and kisse him." Apparently derived from association of large size with violent action, as in "whopping," "bouncing," "spanking." [P.S. Dave gets full credit for the title of this comment.] Hubba hubbaAs that new t-shirt ad says, front seats to the gun show. No need for a Gym membershipWe'll just sling 94-pound bags of cement for 10 hours. Can't imagine people working like that today. Slinging cement - right and wrong!A few years ago at a Home Depot, I watched as one strapping fellow loaded cement bags into a lady's car. Granted, these were probably 60-pound cement bags as opposed to 90+ pound concrete mix, but … He would bend over at the waist, reach down onto a pallet for three bags, stand, turn and drop them into her trunk. I have visions of him today, barely able to stand up! Good God... Almighty. For once, I wish I was a sack of cement. 1955 TechnologyThe pallet and the forklift don't seem like they'd be all that hard to come up with. That said I spent a summer making pallets. Hard work. [Fork lifts and pallets were around much earlier than 1955. - Dave] A stout hand truckThe bag currently being loaded will bring the load to just shy of a third of a ton, more than the quarter-ton payload capacity of a small pickup truck. Less is moreSome twenty years ago the weight of a bag of cement was lowered by Dutch health and safety from 100 to 50 pounds a bag. Builders were pleased: now they could carry three bags at a time instead of two. Heavy, manIn 1966 I got a job as a construction laborer in Middlebury, Vermont, during my college summer vacation. In addition to cement trucks we mixed concrete on-site. While working on the third floor the elevator broke (or was flagged as being unsafe). As a result the other laborers and I carried those 96-pound bags up three flights of stairs all day for three weeks. When I came home I was a quarter inch shorter than when I went to work. Maybe that’s why I have back problems now. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Handsome Rakes, News Photo Archive)
Corvette Cuties: 1955
At the Palm Springs parade in February 1955. I found this 35mm Kodachrome slide in a collection at a swap meet. View full size. Palm Springs' 1955 notorious gang The menacing two guys leaning against the signs at far ... 
 
Posted by Cazzorla - 08/26/2014 - 7:11pm -

At the Palm Springs parade in February 1955. I found this 35mm Kodachrome slide in a collection at a swap meet. View full size. Palm Springs' 1955 notorious gangThe menacing two guys leaning against the signs at far left were part of the mid-50s notorious Palm Springs' juvenile delinquent gang, "The Smart Dressers" PrioritiesCute or not, you both have 30 seconds to get off of my car! Four sexy bodies1954 Corvette! True love. Guess which one's dadis not the town dentist. Not that kind of dateThis was most likely taken during the Date Festival Parade. The Date Festival has taken place in February at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival Grounds in Indio since the 1940s. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Flower Girl: 1955
June 1955. "Ballerina Janet." I sense a school play or dance recital coming up. Our ... easily one of the best there is. Cheers June 1955 was a momentous month for me. That's when I was born. Ballet ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/03/2012 - 12:40pm -

June 1955. "Ballerina Janet." I sense a school play or dance recital coming up. Our first look at yet another batch of color slides found on eBay. View full size. LusciousThis is nothing short of absolutely splendid! FlowerchildHas anyone ever seen a lost photo of themselves here and gotten in touch with you ? I have finally registered and want to say Thank You for an amazing website, easily one of the best there is. Cheers June 1955 was a momentous month for me.That's when I was born. Ballet recitalI believe her feet are in fourth position. (Kermy Kodachromes, Kids)
Bar Car: 1955
September 1955. Lloyd's Neck, Long Island, New York. "Arden field trials for spaniels." ... with Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss. Bar Car A 1955 DeSoto is bringing up the rear with the good stuff! Booze, cigars, ... Top of the Line DeSoto The bar-car is a 1955 DeSoto Fireflite. The Fireflite was introduced in 1955 to be the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2023 - 3:46pm -

September 1955. Lloyd's Neck, Long Island, New York. "Arden field trials for spaniels." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Sporting Look: Field Trip at Marshall Field's Long Island Estate near Cold Spring Harbor." View full size. Action, pleaseThis could easily be a still from a forgotten comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. In one second, Rock and his friend, played by Tony Randall, will enter the frame and a wacky situation will develop quickly. Non-Bar CarLeading the way is a green and white 1954 Buick. Car bottleMy dad always kept a car bottle in the trunk, and I now do, as well. But neither of us had a setup like this! MoviesMovie I think of re this scene is "Man's Favorite Sport" with Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss. Bar CarA 1955 DeSoto is bringing up the rear with the good stuff! Booze, cigars, cigarettes, cars (and maybe some guns). What can possibly go wrong? Booze in the TrunkMy uncle had a little liquor suitcase like that, about half that size. When I would travel with his family, he wold pull it out in the hotel room and make himself a martini or two (or three). It had all the ingredients and a shaker too. His brother, my father, didn't drink, probably because of his older brother's booze fueled escapades when they were younger. What can go wrong with an Old Fashioned?Just press the button marked B for Booze. Park HereSix years later this Marshall Field estate became a New York State Park. It is called Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve. https://parks.ny.gov/parks/23/details.aspx Ain't no party like a Lloyd's Neck partyGuns, cars, and alcohol. What could go wrong? The License PlateIn those days, New York State would issue new license plates, with new numbers, to each vehicle every two years. The color scheme would be reversed, so one year you'd have orange ("gold") plates with black numbers, which would be replaced by black plates with orange numbers. It was a real pain having to change those plates and send the old ones in (the screws tended to rust badly), so by the mid-'60s the state began issuing stickers, and you would put them on the old rear plate. You weren't supposed to turn in your plates until they became unreadable. Now part of Caumsett state parkI grew up less than 5 miles from here. The Marshall Field estate house is now part of Caumsett State Park. It's a nice place for a walk. CaumsettOne of the largest (1700+ acres) of the Gilded Age Long Island estates, Caumsett (as the Marshall Field estate was known) is now a state park occupying a third of Lloyd Neck: https://parks.ny.gov/parks/23/details.aspx Top of the Line DeSotoThe bar-car is a 1955 DeSoto Fireflite. The Fireflite was introduced in 1955 to be the premium DeSoto model. The model was built until 1960 when the DeSoto brand was discontinued by Chrysler Corporation. [We actually can't be sure what model this is. The script next to the taillight says "PowerFlite," the name of DeSoto's automatic transmission. - Dave] SI in the 1950s - Documenting a different worldSports Illustrated used to cover hunting and card playing (a lot). Watching others play sports was a much smaller part of life back in the day, it would seem. It's Field Trials for spanielsFor all you people saying firearms and guns what can go wrong. It's just field trials on pointing out ring neck pheasants for hunting dogs. There are NO firearms involved at this event. [Um, no. Field trials involve shooting and retrieving. - Dave] I beg to differ Dave …No firearms no hunting license visible. Any responsible hunter does NOT mix alcohol and ammunition. [Can you not read? Can you not see the photos accompanying the article about this event? Hello?? - Dave] What could go wrong?Guns, alcohol, cars (and tobacco, besides)- what could go wrong? Fortunately, this was Long Island, not Harlan County, Kentucky. Shooting involvedThe dogs were retrieving birds shot down to order. I did enjoy reading this for the colorfulness of the language and for the emphasis on testing the dog: “The dog stopped instantly, dropping to his haunches, and sat marking the game bird’s flight, every muscle aquiver with intense eagerness. ‘Ride it out,’ signaled the judge, and the gunner held his fire in recognition of the request for a ‘long fall.’ At the crack of the gun, the pen-raised bird crumpled and slanted down into the high cover which bordered the woods, foretelling the difficult retrieving task for which the judge had hoped.” Black and White Scotch whisky Makes sense to drink that for people who like dogs. My mistake.Read? Yes. The article? No ... I based my postings on the bar car picture and missed the 'read article here' Begging for a thousand pardons Dave. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Toni Frissell)
Cliff House: 1955
In 1955 my father visited San Francisco. This picture shows what the Cliff House ... places sure have gotten a lot narrower than they were in 1955. Early fastback Any ideas on the blue beauty, 4th from the left, pointing west. What a time. Just Up the Road In 1955 we lived in the Sunset District of San Francisco. Two blocks from Ocean ... 
 
Posted by motobean - 01/18/2014 - 6:01pm -

In 1955 my father visited San Francisco. This picture shows what the Cliff House looked like at that time. View full size. One of My Favorite Places as a KidDown that hill, besides Playland (which is featured in the Orson Welles/Rita Hayworth film "Lady from Shanghai" there was the Musee Mecanique (now at Fisherman's Wharf) which was a paradise for a mechanically minded kid and the Camera Obscura. I used to take the F train from the top of Solano Avenue in Albany all the way across to the Key System terminal in SF, have lunch with my dad, then off to Ocean Beach for the afternoon. If you turned that car around and went back up you'd go past Louie's cafe and to the Seal Beach Inn, where Ken Kesey wrote "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Left at the Seal Beach and you'll find yourself at the USS San Francisco monument and an old Nike base. Fascinating corner of a fascinating city. Breathing roomParking places sure have gotten a lot narrower than they were in 1955. Early fastbackAny ideas on the blue beauty, 4th from the left, pointing west. What a time. Just Up the RoadIn 1955 we lived in the Sunset District of San Francisco. Two blocks from Ocean Beach, a few blocks from Playland at the Beach, Golden Gate Park and the Cliff House was up the hill from us along the Great Highway. A great time to be a young lad in San Francisco. Same restaurant, same vintage, different angleHere's a different view of the same restaurant, taken a few years later. Some of the same cars were probably in the parking lot in both pictures! https://www.shorpy.com/node/13472 That fastbacklooks to be a Buick Roadmaster Sedanette, possibly a 1949. What a wonderful picture!Thanks for sharing this great photo. It's before my time in SF but it sure makes me wish I'd come here a couple of decades sooner. 4th car from the leftI think the blue beauty is a 1949 Olds. Chevy, Olds, Buick and Caddie had the same fastback models, the Olds, Buick and caddie with fancier chrome and tail lights. This body style was used '49 to '52. The '49 had the simpler trunk handle. My '50 Chevy FB was my favorite ride. How many cliff houses are there?Would that be this one? [Yes. Today's Cliff House, the same one on the photo, is the fifth third built on the site, restored to its original 1909 appearance. -tterrace] View Larger Map The hamburger jointA place more in line with my budget I am sure, and it is piquing my curiosity as it seems to be long gone. Another PossibilityI think that the sleek blue fastback is a 1946 or '47 Cadillac. Note the vertical taillights, as well the trim bars in the back window. Also, the '46-'47 Cadillacs appeared somewhat wider in the rear than their '48-'49 successors, as they had more bulbous back fenders. Cadillac SedanetThat fastback on the left is a 1946 or '47 Cadillac. Note the dividers in the rear window which were a feature of all Cadillac models during the '40s. The car in the foreground is a '49 DeSoto. Coming out of its shellHere's another comparison taken from nearly the same location, this time during the 2003 remodeling when the "moderne" facade was being removed to reveal the original 1909 building hidden behind the 1950s addition. Later, missing details such as cornices and parapets were restored so the Cliff House today looks much as it did when first built in 1909. (As a side note, San Francisco historian argue over how many Cliff Houses have been on the site. Some claim three, others as many as six. It all depends if you consider a remodeled building a "new" structure.) [Further research seems to indicate there are only three basic structures solidly documented, so I've corrected my utterance in the comment below. -tterrace] Also up the road...Just a short hike from the Cliff House are the Sutro baths. For anyone who is a fan of the 1971 movie "Harold & Maude" the Sutro baths were where Harold and his Uncle Victor discussed Harold joining the military and where Maude, masquerading as a "protester" stole Harold's shrunken head and then fell through the hole when Harold grabbed her sign and chased her. Great movie and great location! [Also featured prominently in the 1958 feature "The Lineup," based on the TV show of the same name. -tterrace] Four V-8s and a LimoInline engines are still in the majority, but there are four V-8s, one a flathead in the Caddy fastback, two modern ones in the '50 Olds and '49 Cadillac with the '53 Buick the newest addition for that line. Update: Sorry, Lincoln! To the right of the Oldsmobile, you're a flathead V-8, too, with Hydra-Matic. The black car to the far right just before the Plymouth Suburban's tail light is a very rare 1950 Chrysler eight passenger limo with its driver waiting in front for the owner to return. If it's a Windsor, it's one of 174, if a top of the line Crown Imperial on the 145.5" wheelbase, it's one of 205 and weighs 5,300 lbs. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
The Defenderers: 1955
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Wrecked Ford at Georgia Fender." 4x5 inch acetate negative from the ... were particularly nice. Too bad this one got crumpled. 1955 Plus 1 In 1954 Hubert L. Pollock (1920 - 1985) and William L. Renny Pollock were both working for Aetna Finance. By 1955 they were running the Dixie Fender & Body Works at the 410 14th Street ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2017 - 10:28pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Wrecked Ford at Georgia Fender." 4x5 inch acetate negative from the Shorpy News Photo Archive. View full size. "Get lost, kid" Those places always had a grimy pop machine, and every kid in the area knew it, but they didn't like you hanging around very long. Home-grown drinkRoyal Crown Cola, or RC Cola, was founded in Columbus, not far from this very location. Columbus is sort of a snack food haven, being also the place where Tom's Snacks was founded. I drank an RC and ate a pack of Tom's peanut butter crackers for many a lunch when I worked in Columbus. No worryThat'll buff right out. There's something familiar about this sceneDid someone drive that wreck all the way from Oakland? Ok, Since no one else ID'd the cars: It's a 1939 Ford DeLuxe coupe. That one additional center bumper guard the owner added to the front didn't't help much. To the left is a 1950 Ford and parked in the back is a 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop coupe. A model much coveted today. [Round parking light on the Ford makes it a 1951. -tterrace] [Plus, this Ford has two "spinners." The 1950 had one. - Dave] Unidentified and UnlovedSad! No one identified the poor, unloved, non-collectable Plymouth! I remember an aunt, back in the late '50's, who had one like that - I thought it was the most boring, uninteresting car I had ever seen. Today at old car shows I enjoy seeing them, as they represented the "everyman's" car. 49 PlymouthRowdy, I will rise to the defense of the 49 Plymouth. Ours was a 4 door (this looks like a 2 door), slower than a herd of turtles, upright and round as a derby hat, but a well-built, reliable car that had a pretty nice dashboard for its price. It came to us by way of Aunt Myrtle (I am not clear on exactly whose aunt she was) and remained reliable until my older brother started driving and learned how to induce backfires in the torpid flathead 6. Blew off a muffler or two and I think screwed up timing/carburetor or something. The PlymouthThat Plymouth is a 1949. Flathead six. My first car with a 1950 Plymouth. Same body, less ornate grill & bumper. 1939 Ford1939 and '40 Fords were some of the best looking cars ever designed. The coupes, like this one, were particularly nice. Too bad this one got crumpled. 1955 Plus 1In 1954 Hubert L. Pollock (1920 - 1985) and William L. Renny Pollock were both working for Aetna Finance. By 1955 they were running the Dixie Fender & Body Works at the 410 14th Street location shown in the photo. An advertisement for their business from the Columbus city directory is below. The business seems to have lasted only a year. Hubert Pollock opened the Hugh Motor Company selling used cars by 1956. The business name then changed to the Georgia Fender and Body Shop, and was operated by Curtis A. Newton, John C. Bush, and James A. Bush. Newton may have left by 1958 as his name is no longer shown with the firm in the city directory. The business continued into at least 1959; however, by 1960 the name changed again. The new business was named Arnold's Fender and Body Shop owned by W.T. Arnold. His advertisement from the Columbus city directory is also below. Prior to managing this shop he was the proprietor of Arnold's Garage. First family carWas a 49 Plymouth "Special Deluxe" that Dad bought brand new. I don't know if it was the shiny silver rain guards or the pop-up air vent that made it special or the radio. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Dressed Up: 1954
... View full size. Grandpa's new car? That's a 1955 Chevrolet. Grandpa got a new car? 1955? If that is a 1955 Chevy, then I stand corrected. This photo would have ... 
 
Posted by HankHardisty - 05/20/2010 - 5:39pm -

At one time it was considered proper to dress up before going to visit someone. My grandparents came to our house in Jefferson Park (NW Chicago) in 1954 where this 35mm Kodachrome was taken. I don't know what kind of car that is. I wonder what my grandparents would have thought about how sloppy people dress, in public, today....I think I know. View full size. Grandpa's new car?That's a 1955 Chevrolet. Grandpa got a new car? 1955?If that is a 1955 Chevy, then I stand corrected. This photo would have been taken in Clinton, Iowa. 1954 or 1955It could still be 1954. Because just like today, the new cars were introduced at the end of the year around October or November. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Five Guys: 1955
August 1955. "Tennis in the Hamptons, Long Island's chic play spot." 35mm Kodachrome ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2023 - 12:48pm -

August 1955. "Tennis in the Hamptons, Long Island's chic play spot." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for Sports Illustrated. View full size. Telltale red dust on the tennies.So the wealthy play on clay. These Kodachromes by Frissell are so rich and saturated, everyone looks tanned and healthy and the world invites us. Color photography just doesn't look like this anymore. Safe for planesCanada Dry's "Hi-Spot" brand (whereas, presumably, "Hi-Jack" brand wouldn't fly). Apparently still around, though I'm not familiar with it. (What?? That's not the first thing you noticed ??) Something tells me it involved a girlHe's holding a page from a message pad, so someone called while he was playing and left a message and/or a callback number. He looks amused and two of the other guys seem to be joking with him about it. Toni Frissell thought it was interesting enough to photograph. Will we ever know how it turned out? Jocks in socks through the yearsTwo of these gentlemen are anticipating, in a do-it-yourself way, the move from crew socks to ankle socks, which accelerated through the 1980s. Next? No-show socks, already here. Yale tennis togsThat fellow would have been a teammate of that season's No. 6 singles player (who would finish the season at No. 2), Dick Raskin of Forest Hills, better known later as Dr. Renée Richards. Kodachrooooome!"It gives you those nice, bright colors; it gives you the greens of summer, makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah!" Thus sayeth Paul Simon. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Sports, Toni Frissell)
Bath Time: 1955
... of my father washing me, in the kitchen sink, some time in 1955. That kitchen was one of many hundreds exactly like it in the Dogwood ... 
 
Posted by aenthal - 08/16/2013 - 7:08pm -

My mother took this photograph of my father washing me, in the kitchen sink, some time in 1955. That kitchen was one of many hundreds exactly like it in the Dogwood section of Levittown Pennsylvania. Both the sink and counter were stainless steel and the cabinets where white painted steel with stainless handles. Though it is hard to see the electric oven in the background, every kitchen got the same GE electric oven/range combo and refrigerator when they purchased the house. My parents added the work counter (on which my father has placed a towel, for drying me after my bath). Otherwise this kitchen is unchanged from when the house was built in 1953. Little cutieOh my how cute you were. My grandmother updated her 1906 home with modern steel cabinets in the 50's. I liked them except she always knew when we were in the cookie drawer. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Texas Tailfin: 1958
... '55 not '57 Apache That Chevy is from 1955. The smooth hood eliminates 1957, and the top heavy emblem is unique to ... back window makes it a desirable truck for restorers. 1955 Chevy Trucks More correctly, this is a 1955 Chevrolet, 2nd Series ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/14/2013 - 5:28pm -

1958. "Photos show life in Texas. Coverage is broad. Among the many subjects covered are ranching, rodeos, the Texas State Fair." Somewhere in there was this buckaroo and his Buick. From photos by Earl Theisen for the Look magazine assignment "Revolution in Texas: Change on the Range." View full size. Twice a senator, never electedThe rear-window sticker promoting conservative Democrat William Blakley of Dallas marked the first of two times he would fail to be elected to the U.S. Senate, a position he was twice appointed to. In 1957 Blakley was appointed to fill Price Daniel's term after Daniel became governor of Texas, but lost to liberal Ralph Yarborough in the 1958 Democratic primary. He was appointed to the Senate again in 1961 to assume Lyndon Johnson's seat, but lost the special election to Republican John Tower. Blakley never held public office again. 1957 Chevrolet Apache truckThe pickup truck in the background is from 1957. Rather new to have on a ranch in Texas in 1958. They probably still use that truck today. "Junior Bonner" is hereGuy has that McQueen coolness about him. Paul Newman is "Hud"That's a nearly new Buick. Love seeing luxury cars used hard. The Practiced SlouchIt looks like a serious effort, maintaining that pose. Just looking at it is tiring me out. '55 not '57 ApacheThat Chevy is from 1955. The smooth hood eliminates 1957, and the top heavy emblem is unique to the '55. The big back window makes it a desirable truck for restorers. 1955 Chevy TrucksMore correctly, this is a 1955 Chevrolet, 2nd Series truck. Originally Chevrolet had hoped to introduce a whole new car and new truck lineup at the same time (October 28, 1954). But GM was still busy with war contracts (Korean War) so the introduction for the all new trucks, designed by Chuck Jordan, was delayed until March 25, 1955 (except the Sedan Delivery which was based on the One-Fifty model car). So 1955 trucks made before the March introduction date are 1st Series and the later trucks are 2nd series. The entire 2nd series truck line consisted of 75 available models and 15 different wheelbases. Is it an Apache? No. The grille of a 1955 Apache is composed of four vertical bars and three horizontal bars which results in 20 openings in the grille. If this was an Apache we should see at least one more vertical bar in the grille. So what is it? It is a heavy duty Chevrolet truck which had a different grille than the light and medium duty models. See the photos below for the differences. From the information that I could find, some trucks as small as 1 1/2 tons used the grille shown in the last photos below and the Shorpy photo. 1955 Chevy 6500?Zcarstvnz: "More correctly, this is a 1955 Chevrolet, 2nd Series truck." To me, the Shorpy pickup grill looks like the green pickup in your pics, which I believe is labeled '1955 Chevy 6500'. So, I can't understand why you state it's a 2nd Series truck like the creme colored one. Am I not reading your picture labels correctly? [The white Apache and green 6500 are both Second Series trucks. -Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, LOOK)
Link to the Past: 1955
1955, Larkspur, California. Our neighbor Mr. Cagwin at age 98. Born 1857 in ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 01/11/2023 - 3:02pm -

1955, Larkspur, California. Our neighbor Mr. Cagwin at age 98. Born 1857 in Joliet, Illinois; as an infant came west via sailing vessel from New York and by litter across the Isthmus of Panama; selling newspapers in Hangtown, California, at age of five when the Civil War broke out; worked at Carson City Mint, then San Francisco Mint at the time of the earthquake; retired in 1922. My brother, doing occasional yard work for the Cagwins at the time, took this Ektachrome slide in their Arts & Crafts style home, which they had built after moving to Larkspur in 1905. View full size. GrandparentsHis grandparents could have been alive during the Revolution. Long-lived FamiliesMr. Mel's observation that Mr. Cagwin's grandparents might have been alive during the Revolution could easily be true. I was born in 1949. My father was born in 1909. My grandfather was born in 1867, and my great-grandfather was born in 1829, only four generations in 120 years. (In our family the trail ends there, almost. My great-grandfather's father-in-law was born in 1790.) So it's no stretch to suppose that Mr. Cagwin, born in 1857, could have had a grandfather who was born in 1775. Stories aplentyFantastic shot, really well done. You just know he had a rich history of stories. I wonder if he shared them freely or if they needed to be pried from him. LifeWhat a long and beautiful life. And in California, without the 10-below weather Joliet, Illinois, is having. What A Great Face...This is such a well done portrait. This gentleman's colorful history just adds that much more, but the photo stands on its own merits as a really well observed scene. His wrinkled visage, his rumpled yet style conscious attire, his hand holding the smoking pipe, the chair he is sitting in, the canes hanging there, the chair behind, the potted plant, the light on the windowsill in the background... absolutely wonderful. This is as good as Dorothea Lange photo. Pictures like this keep me coming back to this site day after day. I wish a rating system were in place here because I'd rate this gem 5 stars! tterrace, thank you for sharing your, and your brother's, vision. Henri!Are you sure Cartier-Bresson didn't sneak into Larkspur? What an eloquent portrait! There's so much in that face and posture and surroundings. Looking into HistoryHis eyes are wonderful, and I can't imagine all the change and history he's witnessed! If just for the contemplation of the passage of time this is an important photograph. And I would agree......with The Wingman! tterrace please keep them coming! Ye Olde LarkspurBack then Larkspur was semi-rural, despite its proximity to San Francisco. What's great about this photo is how modern it looks. It could've been taken down the street, today. Indeed.very brilliant, this picture alone connects to so much and tells a thousand stories. thank you greatly for sharing it. 54 years ago, this man was nearing a century... it's break-taking. [Coffee, anyone? - Dave] Mr. Cagwin, Role ModelI talked with my insurance company the other day and they think I should give up smoking my pipe, which I have done for 40 years. I figure if I can get another 40 years or so out of pipe smoking I will outlive everyone else. Mr. Cagwin updateMr. Cagwin died August 14, 1959, age 102 years, 8 months. The day before my own 13th birthday, as a matter of fact. His wife had died 13 months previously, aged 92. Papa George CagwinThis Mr. Cagwin is my great-grandfather George Wilder Cagwin (Papa George); his wife was Frances (Mama Fanny). They lived in Larkspur for many years. My grandmother grew up in the house right across from the Lark Creek Inn and it still looks very much like it did back at the turn of the century -- latticed windows, red house, green roof, front porch, all look the same. I have a photo of my grandfather Aubrey Cagwin standing in hip boots in thigh high water on Magnolia Avene. My grandmother was Alice deVeuve. I believe her father built the house on Magnolia Ave. A lot of history has been gathered about the Cagwins by the Cagwin family over the years, photos included. What a great photo you took! Thank you! I will direct my siblings and my Uncle, cousins, etc. to it. Papa GeorgePapa George was my great-great grandfather. I remember visiting him at the hospital with my father, Tom Cagwin, when I was about 4 years old. Dad was quite close to him and lived in the Larkspur house as a small boy. He lost his eye one fourth of July due to an accident with a firecracker. He did not go to the hospital right away, but gave his Independence Day speech as planned. He was also the Mayor of Larkspur. His wife, Fanny, lived to 98. They were definitely pioneer stock! Thank you for this wonderful photo. Lori Alden Cagwin Mr. Cagwin's 100thPerhaps some of the Cagwin kin who've commented are in this Ektachrome slide, also taken by my brother; it's Mr. Cagwin's 100th birthday party in January 1957. Mr. Cagwin himself just managed to get in the shot; that's his wife behind him. What a birthday!Below is a photo of Papa George's 99th birthday on New Year's Day 1956 with grandsons Tom Cagwin & John Costa, wife Mama Fannie and me (great-granddaughter). The color photo under that includes Papa George's daughter Marie and her granddaughter D'arcy. (Marie taught us how to bake great apple pies!) My son calls my dad Papa Tom in memory of Papa George. My father, recently visiting, told us how he looked for Papa George's spare glass eye on his dresser when small, fascinated as boys are with such things. Papa George's father, Hamden Aubrey, took a wagon train in the spring of 1850 with his brother from Joliet, Illinois, to Placerville in search of gold and wrote about the trip, archived at the California Historical Society by granddaughter Louisa. After an arduous four-month journey of 2,557 wagon-train miles, he managed to extract enough gold from Hangtown Ravine ($7979.65 worth) to bring his family out to California six years later, away from cholera and the beginnings of the Civil War. Papa George was an infant on that trip. 102 years later, the story was shared by Papa George! Thank you again for rekindling these memories. Interesting life! By coincidence, I was born in Joliet, Illinois, and lived 50 years on Cagwin Avenue. Very interesting. Camera too closeOtherwise it would have revealed a glass of brandy in the "vicinity", too? My father will be 95 in May. Unlike George he quit smoking in his late 60's. Still maintains his "before the breakfast" grape, plum or pear brandy small shot. The way I see he should be able to match this picture in three years. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Portraits, tterrapix)
Larkspur Eldorado: 1955
1955 Cadillac Eldorado, photographed in the fall of that year by the ... Next year It's a 1956 Eldorado convertible. The 1955's had a completely different body style. A 1956 Eldorado convertible in ... today. [Wrong, erroneous, incorrect. This is a 1955 Eldorado. Go do your homework, and no TV. - Dave] Yup, '55 ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/29/2013 - 7:19pm -

1955 Cadillac Eldorado, photographed in the fall of that year by the nine-year-old me, then at the height of my kidhood car fascination. You can tell the part of the car that fascinated me most by how I aimed the camera. I also talked my brother into taking a Kodachrome slide of it. We were on one of the walks we were wont to take around our home town of Larkspur, California. This shot also captures, at the left, a significant moment in Larkspur history: the building of the first homes in the first major post-war housing development, Hillview Gardens. The houses sold in the low 20Ks. The following year the first kids from there started showing up in my classes at Larkspur-Corte Madera School. View full size. Next yearIt's a 1956 Eldorado convertible. The 1955's had a completely different body style. A 1956 Eldorado convertible in very good condition might fetch over $100,000 today. [Wrong, erroneous, incorrect. This is a 1955 Eldorado. Go do your homework, and no TV. - Dave] Yup, '55Right you are Dave. The '56 had vertical strakes in the rear bumper ends and distinct teeth in the faux fender scoop. '55 here: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/cadillac/1cad552.html and here: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/cadillac/x551.html '56 here: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/cadillac/cad56_1.html I was smitten by those beauties as well at 10 years old! BTW this is a great reference for IDing specific years: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/broch1.html [The easiest way to tell the difference between the two years is from the rear: 1955 Eldos had a round exhaust port; in 1956 it was oblong.] Not a poodleskirt in sightAccording to www.measuringwealth.com that $20k is now about $765k in economic power. Where's the girl in the poodle skirt draped over those sexy fins? [This being Larkspur, the homes in Hillview Gardens currently sell in the $1.1-$1.9 million range, the one in the photo for $1.29 million in 2011. -tterrace] And so was Iat 11! We didn't realize it at the time, but we were getting a three-year preview of what the rear of a '58 Cadillac would look like! Forty years ago this summer, a friend of mine and I drove a 1955 Eldorado convertible, freshly restored, from Waco, TX to the 20th Texas Tour in Kerville in the beautiful Hill Country where I had attended Camp Rio Vista in '54. It was white with a white top, black and white interior and had an aftermarket air-conditioner installed to make the trip comfortable. To show how recent those cars still appeared to everyone, when we drove it in the big parade through downtown Kerrville, people would shout "Hey, that's not an old car!" That's when cars from the early 1900's were still the main attraction at tours. Moving in?A small family could probably live in that trunk. 1956 CadillacMy first interest in Cadillac cars was in 1949 when my future father-in-law had a 1947 4 door sedan. For a few years he would get a two year old car from his brother every two years, I don't have a picture. Then in 1956 my cousin Jessie Carr of Carr Town (now known as Stafford Township, NJ) bought a two door. The following year I turned 17 and was able to drive it. Then in 1985 I bought my first two door front wheel drive Cadillac, it was new. During the next 28 years I bought various Cadillacs both front wheel and rear wheel drive, some were new. I had a 1978 rear wheel drive that was driven 400,000 miles and the engine was never opened and the transmission was OK too. But, I finally sent it to the scrap yard. We just purchased a 2001 DeVille that immediately required an engine replacement. It seems to be a good choice and this is the tenth Cadillac. I have driven 2 million miles in Cadillac cars, they are the best. The 1956 is pictured here. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Top-Down: 1955
... new car. This 3-D slide shows a young man with his new 1955 Ford. View full size. Wrong year. I believe the Ford is a 1956. ... full wheel covers. [The "top of the line" Ford for 1955 was the Fairlane Crown Victoria coupe. Full wheel discs were optional at ... 
 
Posted by Joseph M Hohmann - 03/20/2019 - 1:54pm -

During the 1950s it was common to pose for a photo with your new car. This 3-D slide shows a young man with his new 1955 Ford. View full size. Wrong year.I believe the Ford is a 1956. The side chrome piece with the big "V" on the door came out in the 1956 Victoria models. My family had a Fordor. [Wrong! - Dave] Cabana my houseGolly, I had completely forgotten cabana sets (matching trunks and overshirts)! They were my trademark outfit back then. I lived in a summer resort community and they were great: Slip on the shirt, button a button or two, and you were "decent" to go in a shop or restaurant. Free viewTo learn how you can view this stereo slide in 3-D, please see this post. Man and his machineI'll take both thank you! Love these 3-D photos!I love these 3-D photos—please keep sharing them! (It would be nice if there was a tag to search.) When viewing these 3-D (by cross-focusing my eyes), is it just me or does one or the other (top set or bottom set) always work better? In this case, the bushes and distant trees behind the young man in the top just won't resolve as well as the bottom pair, which come out perfectly. (Is that why each image comes with two options?) Lots of blueIn this beautiful Kodachrome! Unusual that this top of the line Ford Sunliner has the bottom of the line hub caps instead of full wheel covers. [The "top of the line" Ford for 1955 was the Fairlane Crown Victoria coupe. Full wheel discs were optional at extra cost on all other models. - Dave] Can't cross my eyes far enoughI stare at the bottom photo of the small version, relax my eyes and it clicks together into a 3d image. But I just can't do it on the big "clicked on" version. Can anybody do it on the big version? Model yearThis is, as Dave says, definitely a 1955 Ford. The “V” door chrome on the 1956 cars extended below the bottom of the 1955 "V." Blue heavenlyI love these 3D things so much, I find myself unfocusing my eyes at non-3D photos, hoping that by doing so I will somehow make them 3D and see them that way. Perhaps I should not be admitting all of this online. But in this one, the gorgeous everywhere-blue is surpassed only by the fact that when the 3D view pops in (takes about 0.1 seconds), I can practically feel the balmy breeze of that day and the brush of a palm frond on my cheek. Your commentsDuluthGirl: Yes, either the top or bottom pair will look "backwards". Because the bottom two look right to you, you are a "blank stare" viewer (like I am). Others are "cross eye". You can search "stereo". I still have 20 ready to go on Shorpy, but I don't want to overdue it. I have close to 5,000 3-D slides. Jenny: I do that also, with pictures next to each other. We are not crazy (although my wife may not agree). drawsing: No one can do the enlarged image up close without a special viewer. My personal limit is a double image about 6" wide. Viewing larger imageI can view the small & the larger image by holding a finger up in front of the images and focusing on it. Then the 3D image comes in to view and I can move my finger out of the frame and still see the image. Even move my eyes to scan around the image. The upper one looks great! I can also see the lower one but it looks much flatter. Protip: 3D ViewingHold a card, envelope or piece of paper on edge in front of your face so each eye sees only it's its corresponding image - left eye cannot see the right image and vice versa. Webmaster RequestThese images should be around 1800 pixels wide, so that they fill up more of the screen. Distance mattersIf you have trouble viewing these, move closer or farther away from your screen. There will be a point where the 3D locks in, outside of that you'll never see it. The larger the image, the farther you will have to be to make it work. Think 'triangles' -- you are trying to align two virtual triangles, each eye being a vertex and the image being the opposing side. I can make the larger versions work if I'm about 2 feet from the screen. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Eldorado: 1955
A 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Seville photographed in 1955. From a series of 8x10 glossies with an ink stamp on the back reading ... Mighty Steel Now, that's a Car! Differences In 1955 the Eldorado only came as a convertible (Cadillac called it a Sport ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/01/2012 - 5:08pm -

A 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Seville photographed in 1955. From a series of 8x10 glossies with an ink stamp on the back reading "Styling Department, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn Mich." Keeping an eye on the competition. View full size. Mighty SteelNow, that's a Car! DifferencesIn 1955 the Eldorado only came as a convertible (Cadillac called it a Sport Convertible Coupe), and there were just two options: a power seat for $54 and air conditioning for $620. The list price was $6,286 and 3,950 were built. The engine was rated at 270 horsepower. In 1956 the Eldorado came as both a two door hardtop (Seville) and a convertible (Biarritz). There were no options available on either model other than an upgraded engine - 305 horsepower instead of 285. List price was $6,501 for either model. There were 3,900 coupes and 2,150 convertibles built. Although very similar, even from the back differences can be seen: different bumpers, the shape of the exhaust pipe exits, the nameplate and trim above the trunk lock, and trim on the lower trunk disappearing. [Air-conditioning was not available for convertibles in the 1955 Cadillac line, including the Eldorado; the only options listed for the "Eldorado Special Convertible" are tinted glass, Autronic Eye headlight dimmer and spotlight. A four-way power seat was standard. Eldorado Seville and Biarritz extra-cost options listed in the 1956 dealer literature include air conditioning, remote trunk lid release, tinted glass and Autronic Eye. The 305-hp engine was standard. Optional at no additional cost were a gold-anodized grille and wheels. - Dave] Take Me to Your LeaderI remember a "Boys' Life" magazine issue from the 1950's where a close up picture of the these tail lights and the bumper exhaust port won a photo contest with the caption: "Take Me to Your Leader". The 1950's were great years for auto fin and tail light madness. Hollywood also started looking to space for its movie monsters. Eldorado FanI always liked the copper color with the accent interior. We're Excited!Dave, Could you tell us the "color" of the Car before all the excitement begins? [8-bit grayscale. - Dave] DroolingI.want.that.car!!! That would be great to tool around in. Eldorado fanAt around the same time, the 9-year-old me, also enamored of the rear end of the Eldorado, was talking my brother into taking this shot of a 1955 model. Much later, it became one of my earliest Shorpy submissions. Oh Boy!Does this mean we get to see the rest of the series? I can't wait! [Set your dials for EXCITEMENT! -Dave] Comparative PricingInteresting to see the list prices for the '55 Caddy and to realize that for an additional $3500 or so you could have bought a '55 Mercedes-Benz Gullwing coupe. Both cars have appreciated in the years since. Nice and coolThe intake scoops on either side of the trunk tells me that it has air conditioning (the unit with the evaporator and its *two* blowers is mounted in the trunk, below the parcel shelf). And it also has Autronic Eye (the sensor is on the dash on the driver's side). (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos)
Li'l Darlin's: 1955
Thanksgiving Day, 1955 My cousin's wife cuddles her baby, her father cuddles her doggie, Fifi, ... downgraded our everyday appearance. I was in my teens in 1955 and my father dressed "up" when we went to my grandmother's house for ... for us "retro junkies." Dress up Thanksgiving 1955 was my first one too. Growing up, the only parties I can remember my male ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/20/2011 - 1:12pm -

Thanksgiving Day, 1955 My cousin's wife cuddles her baby, her father cuddles her doggie, Fifi, at our dining room table. Pumpkin pie remains on the plate show the meal's over, so no, Fifi was not a guest for dinner itself. I wonder how our own dog, Missie, felt about this interloper being allowed in the dining room when she was always restricted to the kitchen. Those were always my favorites of my mother's curtains, but photos show that by 1958 they'd been replaced with some boring ones. Kodachrome slide by my brother. View full size. What's in the glass?And has your cousin-in-law been feeding it to Baby? He looks like most of us feel when we've reached the pumpkin pie stage: where's a good spot for a nap? Times They Have ChangedI look at this picture with the older gentleman in a suit and tie and think how we have downgraded our everyday appearance. I was in my teens in 1955 and my father dressed "up" when we went to my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving while I was only required to wear dress slacks, nice shirt and sweater. Now when we have family over for Thanksgiving they dress is jeans, sport shirts for the men and tennis shoes. I liked it better when we had occasions that we actually got "dressed up." Dream come trueTterrace, last night I dreamed I met you. All I could think of to say was, "Keep posting those great pictures!" Thanks for listening to me. This one fits the bill. Annette!Your cousin's wife is so fresh-faced and gorgeous -- and geez, so young, like this is just the neighbor's kid she's holding for fun. Close to the NormAlmost Rockwellian. But there would be more pie and less Fifi. I love seeing your picturesIt's as though I've come to know your family personally and I've watched your childhood evolve as if I was actually there too. The crispness and rich color and casual, familial settings are so wonderful. Please keep posting them! I can't believe the quality of this pic! It's just gorgeous! ClassyThe older gent is so refined in appearance. Do you know what he did for a living? I agree with Mattie....Really enjoy looking at your photo's photos, they make me feel nostalgic for an era when I wasn't even thought of (I debuted in '78). Your posts are like a time machine for us "retro junkies." Dress upThanksgiving 1955 was my first one too. Growing up, the only parties I can remember my male relatives NOT wearing ties to were the Fourth of July picnics. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Thanksgiving, tterrapix)
Puckered Packard: 1955
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Accident on 12th Street." Sandwiched between the post office and Collins ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/07/2023 - 2:27pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955. "Accident on 12th Street." Sandwiched between the post office and Collins Snack Bar. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size. OooooMechanic: "I'm sorry, but this repair is gonna set you back $55. We can arrange installments." It's Elementary My Dear Holmes I was momentarily puzzled by the tassel hanging out the driver's window until I spotted the old Holmes wrecker behind it. Before locking steering columns, a car towed from the rear had the steering wheel tied off around the window frame to keep the front wheels tracking true. Every tow truck operator had at least one but more likely several of these ropes precut and ready for service. Most passenger vehicles in service today are front wheel drive and have the steering wheel locks. They are towed from the front and the tie-off rope has gone the way of the buggy-whip. There was still time on the meter.Looks like someone's Packard jumped the curb rather rapidly and took out a parking meter, judging by the vertical impact at the front, and the distance from the street. The wrecker is getting hooked up. Hopefully no pedestrians were injured during the melee, especially by that hood ornament of death. [Did it jump the curb at 60 mph? Looks more like it hit the corner of a building. - Dave] Three Uh-OhLooks like a 1951 Packard 300. Have to wonder whatever happened to the elegant cormorant on the hood. OofI did something similar to that while driving a 1996 Buick Park Avenue, in late 2004. It wasn't my fault. The scene of the incidentAssuming the shallow overhang at left in the c1955 photo is still there, the collision would have been about where the Subaru is parked in front of the streetlight. The Packard could have plowed into the building with the white stone column. Either way, to inflict that kind of damage to a steel bumper took a lot more impact than someone just parking their car. BulletproofI'm surprised the glass isn't even cracked. I would have thought without seat-belts, someone would have been thrown thru the windshield. [Not at 10 mph. - Dave] I'd still take itThat car still looks better than 95% of the cars made in the last twenty years, crunched front end and all. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Signal 30)
A Fresh Batch: 1955
Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955, and our second visit with the Fabulous Baker Sisters . For Boomers of ... the corner. 1948-1959. Mum got an Australian made one in 1955. https://youtu.be/Op9x8bfmMbI 70's grandma My ... to be from the mid-1950s. We hereby change the date to 1955. - Dave] The View There's most likely nothing in that image that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/18/2015 - 11:55pm -

Columbus, Georgia, circa 1955, and our second visit with the Fabulous Baker Sisters. For Boomers of a certain age, this kitchen will likely spark a bonfire of memories. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size. Old things!Being a fanatic for old things, I recently installed a very similar circa 1950 Caloric stove in my kitchen (30 inches wide instead of the slightly wider model seen here), a 1940 GE fridge, and a circa 1941 Sunbeam model 7. They all still work like a charm. The step stoolNo one has mentioned the step stool. Everyone I knew had one just like the one in the picture. So neat and tidyI remember baking Toll House cookies with my mom. No matter what, there was flour on both of us and the counter, little blobs of Crisco, and more than one mixing bowl containing various ingredients. These girls are sparkling with cleanliness, and there's not a drop of anything anywhere. How did they do it? Step-stoolMy granny had one of those chrome step-stools in her kitchen the whole time I was growing up. It had a padded seat covered in red plastic. All the fittings of the metal parts gradually grew loose, and it made a strange rattle when it was moved or used. At the beginning of each summer, some of us boys would tighten it up for Granny as best we could with a pair of pliers and it would make it through another year. As time went on, the plastic on the seat cracked and the fluffy white padding would show so we'd patch the seat with some fabric tape we found in the barn. The whole contraption was finally tossed. I'd be willing to bet money it was purchased at Sears. Yesterday, mom gave the girlsa home perm from Tonette. The aunts assisted and the house still has that unmistakable aroma. These girls are simply adorable. Familiar LookA couple with whom I am friends live in a mid-50s side-split home, one which was fairly high-end when new. It had always been well-maintained and since they are home improvement fans, when they bought it 20 years ago they began restoring the original kitchen which, except for the flooring, was much like this. The cabinets - carpenter-built on-site - were sanded and repainted, and had these exact same hinges and pulls which were polished and reused. The counters had the same stainless trim strips, which were pulled, buffed, and put back in place. They did end up replacing the early 1970s appliances and sink/faucet. But it all worked and looked great when they were done. I notice the stove in the picture is the Caloric brand, which I gather is no longer with us. Those light switchesNot the silent, suave mercury switches we have now, but the kind that go CLACK CLACK CLACK. Linoleum!This appears to be the exact Linoleum my family had throughout our 1950's FHA special. And the kitchen layout was pretty close too (although our dryer was outside in a utility room). I can close my eyes and smell those chocolate chip (Toll House) cookies coming out of the oven now! Aluminum Edging on Formica CountertopsThere's a lot of things that you never see anymore in this photo! The Formica countertops, which might be a deep red color, are edged with extruded aluminum strips made for this purpose. This is one more thing for the harried housewife to keep polished. It's also possible for spills to get under the edge of the edging strip. You'll not that there's a hard-to-clean aluminum strip between the counter top and the backsplash. There's also a divider strip where the countertop sections join. None of this is seen anymore, even in Formica work. [The edging would be stainless steel, not aluminum. At least that's what it was in our 1958 kitchen. - Dave] The Swing-A-Way hand cranked can opener on the wall is still available in a modern version. It still has the appeal that it can be dismounted for cleaning in the sink. The twin-beater stand mixer might be Dormann, although there were, and are, many other fine brands. Can anyone read the nameplate on the refrigerator, or identify the laundry machine? These girlsThese girls are so adorable, I hope stil rockin', and baking for grandchildren, or themselves! And I must say, I'm suprised this modern washing mashine. I had similar one around 1984. But well, I live in Poland. In 1984, this was communist Poland. AsbestosThe floor tiles look like the ones containing asbestos, which require special removal. It's a HotpointThe fridge, that is. There ain't no need to go outside...... to see that it's a 1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4 door sedan. Food mixerLooks like a Sunbeam Mixmaster 9 or 9B hiding in the corner. 1948-1959. Mum got an Australian made one in 1955. https://youtu.be/Op9x8bfmMbI 70's grandmaMy grandmother's kitchen still looked a lot like this in the 70's. Old gas burner, strange linoleum, ancient refigerator, step stool. And, just out the door on the back porch, a clothes washer with a hand operated wringer in case the newfangled machine broke down. I worry about the girl carrying the cookies - she has a Stepford wives kind of look going. Little girls of the 60s bakingThat could be my sister and me, in 1961, when I was 7 and she was 4, helping in our grandmother's kitchen. I was the brunette and she was the blonde, too. Grandma's cabinets looked the same, including the hardware, and the linoleum tiles were the same. The sink looks like an extra large one, which she had, and that can opener mounted on the cabinet right by the sink was something Grandma, and many others, had back then. Oh, and the stool, too! It looks like a cookie mix they are advertising. I can't imagine that there would have been a huge market for it, at that point. Grandma made everything from scratch, but I'm sure there were some families who didn't get any freshly baked cookies unless they came from a mix! I can read itThe fridge is a Hotpoint from about 1950. There's a very similar 1949 model on Etsy right now. Odd set of canistersFlour, Sugar, and Crack. '61 Or '51?How sure are you of the year? That kitchen has an early fifties vibe, as do the girls' dresses. And the car outside is almost surely a 1950 Plymouth. [The neighboring negatives are labeled 1961, which is where we got the year. The cookie mix box, however, seems to be from the mid-1950s. We hereby change the date to 1955. - Dave] The ViewThere's most likely nothing in that image that could not have been found in millions of other American homes of that era except, perhaps, the Fabulous Baker Sisters themselves. To me, most notably, the view out the kitchen window into your neighbors backyard. Ubiquitous even today. A little intrusive curiosity in us all I suppose. Something you never see anymoreThe tin container of kitchen matches above the stove, which was probably equipped with pilot lights. Useful for lighting the oven. My mom used to light her Kents off the stove burners, and from time to time would burn off her bangs and eyebrows when the burner wouldn't catch right away. Whoomph! Nine inch floor tilesA lot of memories stirred by this pic. We had a lot of these kitchen items in the 50's at our house including an unforgettable yellow metal step stool like the one shown. I would be willing to wager that the floor tiles were green. CoscoThe step stool is a Cosco. Ours was yellow + chrome. Mom later recovered the torn seat and painted it copper color. Google images show that it was redesigned many times, first to eliminate the vertical tube connecting the front of the upper step to the lower step, and later, several radical modernizations of the styling. Cosco still markets a "retro" version of this, along with their modern products. It isn't exactly the same, but close. Changing stylesI remember wearing those types (boys' version) of sandals well into the 1970s as a kid. They were made of leather, too. These day all I see are flipflops. Plastic. Yuck! How does one run in them in the first place? More Stool TalkWe had a step stool that looked like this one when I was growing up in the '60s. Most of the Cosco ones I see online, both current and vintage, have the two lower steps slide forward on a track. Ours was like the one pictured here though, where the steps pivot outward on a rod. Maybe it isn't a Cosco? I remember two things about ours: it was really heavy to move, and when you did move it you had to take care not to tilt it forward because the steps would pivot out and hit you in the shins. Ouch. The step stool saga continuesThe lower steps on ours pivoted as described by Greg, there were no tracks. I'm pretty sure it was a Cosco as I remembered the name when I bought a step ladder several years ago. I believe the 'Cosco' name was molded into the steps as they are on my newer ladder which would explain why I remembered the name roughly 50 years later. Can anyone tell me?What that device is top left corner on the end of the cabinet? I seem to remember that was a bag storage, but not sure. [As mentioned in the first comment, it's a holder for a box of kitchen matches, the wood kind. Unless you mean the paper towels on the underside. -tterrace] Thanks tterrace. I guess there is so much to read, I missed that. OMGNot only did we have the same floor tiles, cabinets and countertops, but we STILL have them! When the basement was finished the slab was covered with the floor tiles (most of which have since lost their grip and/or shattered), and during an early kitchen redo whatever cabinets & countertops didn't wind up in said basement were installed along the back wall of the garage, complete with metal edging. (Columbus, Ga., Kids, Kitchens etc., News Photo Archive)
Chariot of the Gods: 1955
... to identify every car make. Then one day in November 1955 I saw it: this bronze chariot of the gods, a 1955 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, parked in, of all places, a mud lot near ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/29/2011 - 7:53pm -

The car and the photo that started it all: my life-long vicarious love affair with gigantic cars with huge fins. By age 9 I was already a car nut; I cut out pictures from magazine ads and pasted them in a spiral notebook; I amazed family and friends by my ability to identify every car make. Then one day in November 1955 I saw it: this bronze chariot of the gods, a 1955 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, parked in, of all places, a mud lot near Boardwalk #3 in Larkspur, Calif. I made my brother take this Kodachrome, then later came back and photographed it myself in black and white - just the rear end. Immediately I stopped drawing Flash Gordon rocket ships and began designing my own cars - the Pac-Ply and the Zorch. I began pestering my father to take me to GM Motorama when it arrived to San Francisco. Strangely, when it came time to trade in the '48 Hudson in 1956, the car I pestered him to buy was a Rambler station wagon. I guess I realized these cars were not for mere mortals. View full size. Biggest TailfinsCheck out a '57 Chrysler 300C. Plymouth BelvedereMy father had a blue Plymouth Belvedere he got in Singapore in 1965... he went to the trouble of shipping it back to England when the RAF sent him back home in 1968... we drove it all over the place for a couple of years until the exhaust went on it... he had to get a new exhaust shipped to England for the princely sum of £300... this was in 1970... £300 was a lot of money then... the first thing after getting it back roadworthy was to find a fellow sucker/enthusiast to sell it on to... I remember it being absolutely massive... all four of us kids could sit in the back without being squished up... he replaced it with three Ford Populars... 1 to run and the other two for spares... parts for those were far easier to get hold of, just drive down to the nearest scrap yard... I learned auto-mechanics from working on the Ford Pops... and I also learned how to drive while still only 13 in 1970... EldoradoThat car was one of 3,950 1955 Eldorado convertibles built. It had different fins from the rest of the Cadillac line. 1955 was the first year for the standard dual four-barrel equipped 270 horsepower engine. I'd buy one todayI would pay actual Honest-to-God Money if GM would make a car with tailfins again. I've got one of those old jukeboxes myself.I happen to own one of those gigantic 50's cars myself. Its a 55' Mercury Monterey with about 150 pounds of chrome and roughly 20 feet long. Not in perfect shape, but boy do people like it. By galumping family four door with bus seats and a huge steering wheel. I love these cars. They're so easy to work on you can keep em' running forever. Mine is all-original and was never garaged. Auto prodigyThanks, tterrace, I remember being something of a car identifying prodigy at about 5 or 6, which was around 1962. I also recall getting a laugh from my parents when I chirped up that a certain Pontiac was a Grand Pricks. For some reason that event stuck with me and when I grew older I understood the mirth. I also recall the first car I drove, a 1955 Ford Victoria. Unfortunately this was in the same time period. Being unrestrained in the middle of the front seat (mom was holding my baby sister) I just grabbed the steering wheel from Dad. Dad retained control, and I'm sure I was relegated to the back seat from that moment. Thanks for the tremendous photos and backstories. I think I know exactly where this was shot.Could this car be parked where there used to be a Safeway grocery store? And that wouldn't be the BonAir bridge would it? Marin General Hospital is just over the bridge. The house up on the hill in the right of the image looks familiar. You wouldn't happen to have anymore images that show the houses that stood along that boardwalk would you? Most are long gone now. 1957 Plymouth BelvedereI've got a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, her name's Elizabeth, out in the garage that I'm currently restoring. Talk about fins. Yeah. Guess that makes me something more than a mere mortal! Where they wentAbout 20 years ago my husband and I toured through Norway and Sweden. We were stunned to see these big American cars everywhere we went. Don't ask me why but they clearly were very popular. Where it was shotAnon. Tipster, you nailed the location exactly. Here's a section of a shot my brother took earlier in 1955, from the ridge above. The Caddy was parked in the dirt lot where all the trucks are and the Safeway later was. That's the old original wooden footbridge across the creek, which is lined by the arks of Boardwalks 3 & 4. If you register here at Shorpy, you can click on my name to send me a message, and I'll point you to some more photos. RaggareThis link explains the phenomenon of "raggare" (cruisers) fairly well. In America for a long time almost all of the interest in 50's cars stayed with 55/57 Chevys and perhaps the occasional shoebox Ford or chopped Mercury. In Sweden, every tailfinned American car was saved and thousands were imported from the U.S. after the movie "American Graffiti" started a fifties revival. This revival seems to hang on decade after decade among people in this subculture - mostly in rural areas. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, tterrapix)
The Honeymooners: 1955
April 1955. "Art Carney, Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph ... I spent virtually every Saturday night between 1955 and 1961 at my paternal grandfathter's (1867-1961) and we'd watch it on ... [You are perhaps confusing the Honeymooners sitcom (1955-56) with the sketch (shown here) that was part of The Jackie Gleason ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/08/2014 - 11:47am -

April 1955. "Art Carney, Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph performing skit on television sound stage for The Honeymooners." Color transparency from unpublished photos by Arthur Rothstein and Douglas Jones for the Look magazine assignment "Gleason's Pal Carney." View full size. Saturday NightWould not have been complete without my "The Honeymooners" fix! It came between "The Lawrence Welk Show" and "Gunsmoke". I spent virtually every Saturday night between 1955 and 1961 at my paternal grandfathter's (1867-1961) and we'd watch it on his metal Firestone TV and he loved it too. I don't know if it was broadcast in color on the early color sets, but of course his was black and white. Somehow black and white fit the grittiness of their little apartment better than color would have. I can still watch these shows on YouTube and laugh 'till I cry. The humor is timeless and understandable in any era, even 57 years later. We also enjoyed the one hour "Jackie Gleason Show" with the June Taylor Dancers and Jackie's character Joe the Bartender with "Crazy Guggenheim". [None of the Gleason shows from the 1950s were broadcast in color. -tterrace] Where are they?I wonder where they are in this scene. Certainly not the look of either Ralph or Norton's apartments. [You are perhaps confusing the Honeymooners sitcom (1955-56) with the sketch (shown here) that was part of The Jackie Gleason Show. UPDATE: You are right, it is actually a combined Kramden-Norton apartment. Scroll up to tterrace's comment. - Dave] Blue roomExperiments going back to the 1930s tried to nail down what colors looked good to the B&W cameras, and what colors gave weird results. Several generations of pickup tubes had trouble with red, which washed out and appeared almost white. White, meanwhile, caused glare. Even gray shades were not reliable at first - they might look lighter or darker than they did to the eye. The blue-green family gave B&W cameras the least trouble, so it's not surprising blue takes up most of the set - as well as Art Carney's t-shirt. Another sign of the timesThe gentleman behind the camera appears to be wearing a suit (or at least a sports coat). I'm thinking that the modern TV studio has a much more relaxed dress code for the crew. Or maybe that's the director framing a shot, but I'll bet directors don't dress up like this these days, either. [That's a cameraman, one of at least three covering this segment. This photograph was taken during a live broadcast; the director is calling the shots in a booth somewhere off-stage. -tterrace] The Honeymooners skitThis is from the live CBS broadcast of The Jackie Gleason Show on April 9, 1955. The 38-minute Honeymooners skit was titled "One Big Happy Family." Ralph and Ed decide rent an apartment for both families in order to pool expenses. This set was used just for this broadcast. Here's what this scene looked like in a kinescope recording made for broadcast in other time zones. The Golden FourThese are the quartet everyone remembers. In fact, over the years there were three other Alices (everyone forgets Sue Ane Langdon) and two other Trixies. Of the four pictured here, only Joyce Randolph remains. Mike-Mike-MikeVintage microphone buffs, that looks to be an Altec 638/639, of which more info here: http://www.coutant.org/altec639/index.html My hat's off to sound-boom operators, then and now. Somehow, they keep the mic out of the cameras' "sight," while staying close to the source and constantly adjusting the mic's orientation for best pickup. That said, it's a delight to see this color image, and I'm grateful for the reminder about how color values would/wouldn't register in B&W broadcasts. TrixiesActually, Ms. Randolph is not the only remaining Trixie. Elaine Stritch was the original Trixie Norton and she is still with us. The Honeymooners 1955 show credits "the Dumont Electronicam T-V Film System" which made me question the CBS camera in this photo. tterrace's comment explains it. The Dumont system captured live action for later broadcast; this scene is an actual live broadcast. Is the kinescope available online somewhere? [The Dumont Electronicam’s 35mm film camera component is the reason the "classic 39" Honeymooners episodes look so good in comparison to the kinescopes of the live shows. The latter are collected in the "60th Anniversary Lost Episodes 1951-1957" DVD set, from which I made the frame grab in my comment below. -tterrace] A note to Audrey Meadows, wherever she isBaby, you're the greatest. [Have you checked the moon? -tterrace] Bang ZoomI love this show and this is one of my favorite Shorpy posts too for all the right reasons: A very cool photo showing us something we probably never saw before, and insightful commentary from the community. I never knew about the way color translated to black and white and would never would have guessed the pale, chalky walls on TV were such a deep, rich tone of blue, or that the color even mattered in the production anyway. Thanks! TV camerasA long web page with more than you ever wanted to know about early Image Orthicon TV cameras of the forties and fifties is here. http://www.eyesofageneration.com/RCA_Cameras_TK10_30.php They even have a shot of Jackie Gleason, possibly on the same stage. To the moon AliceWell, I snorted when I saw this, maybe it's just me. Homina homina hominaI've laughed at All in the Family, I've laughed at Seinfeld and I've laughed at The Office. They all pale in comparison to The Honeymooners. Call me a blabbermouth, but I'm certain it's the funniest sitcom of all time. Color to B&W...I sent a link to this posting to some friends who work/worked in television. Here is an interesting reply that I received back from one of them... I do remember working in a b&w studio at a TV Station in the Midwest. We in the production crew had to be very conscious of what colors would work for b&w. We had to be aware of the gray scale. It wasn't just used on a board for charting cameras. We also had to know how a set or clothing would read on camera. It was very confusing when our station converted to color. We wanted to go crazy and use vivid colors on everything, but we couldn't do that because many people still did not have color TV sets. It was kind of a neat time period to go through. Camera operators…haven't worn suits for a couple of decades. I've been behind the camera and in the booth for 40+ years at local TV stations and I only wore a suit once. A tux, actually. It was a live broadcast of that season's opening night of the local symphony orchestra. We had to set up and tear down in our usual jeans and t-shirts. But we changed into formal wear for when we'd be in view of the patrons. Yes, there are still occasions when we have to dress up. Awards shows and the like. But in our own studio and on location for sports and reality shows and other production, it's strictly casual. (The Gallery, LOOK, NYC, TV)
Karl the Karrot: 1955
... we also know where the Frank came from. Fireman Frank 1955-57 Coming to the SF Bay Area and getting our first TV in April 1955 I only recall the latter (thin) Fireman Frank (with his weekday nightly ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/22/2011 - 4:52pm -

This button was a promotional piece about 1-3/4" in diameter, given out by shoe stores on the purchase of a pair of Keds, one of the sponsors of the daily kids' show "Fireman Frank" broadcast by KRON-TV in San Francisco during the mid-50s. Fireman Frank was George Lemont, a hip SF deejay who stepped into the role after the original Fireman, a roly-poly avuncular gent more in the style of a kids' TV host, dropped dead. Lemont's humor appealed as much to adults as well as kids; you could hear the studio crew guffawing off-camera at things that went over our heads. Between cartoons, Lemont brought out his cast of puppets, including robot Dynamo Dudley, the beret-wearing, bop-talking Scat the Cat and best of all, Karl the Karrot. Karl, as you can see, was a sort of proto-beatnik, literally a carrot with a pair of shades. His dialog consisted entirely of "blubble-lubble-lubble" while he thrashed about, chlorophyl topknot flailing. At home, we were all in convulsions on the floor. Original Fireman FrankI remember watching the jolly chubby Fireman Frank. One day he was gone. I wondered what happen to him. Does anyone know his name? Fireman Frank FanThis is cool. I loved afternoons and Saturdays with Fireman Frank on the tube. It killed me how Fireman Frank broke himself up waving around a limp Karl the Karrot - where Karl would stare out blankly, bobbling up and down as Frank tried to contain his hysterics below while snorting in a vain attempt to conceal his own amusement. Fireman FrankHey, my cousin, best friend and I were on that show. We just loved it. When he interviewed the peanut galery (that was on Firman Frank I think) He asked my cousin, who had swiped her mom's hat to wear there, to show her profile so that the audience could see her hat. She of course did not know what that meant, so she took it off and gave it to him. It was funny to me because when she got home she got into trouble for taking the hat. I of course was happy she had gotten scolded as she was a very pretty girl and was always the center of attention. I was just a messy little tomboy that just went along for the ride. Thanks for the memories. Local live kid showsmust have been a national staple. In Texas, we had Mr. Peppermint in Fort Worth, Uncle Jay and his sidekick Packer Jack, an old prospector, in Austin and Cap'n Jack (I think) in San Antonio. Even tiny KCEN in Temple had their own guy, who could draw a picture from a kid's scrawl. We went for my brother's birthday, ca. 1959/1960. Local Kids ShowsThe Lincoln, Nebraska area had Sheriff Bill and Silent Orv (who was silent because they'd have to pay him more if he spoke). Later on, I learned television directing on the last live "Romper Room" in the country - never knew what might happen with a roomful of pre-schoolers on live TV. Fireman Frank FanTo add to the Fireman Frank archive: Dynamo Dudley's mother (or mother-in-law) was a can of nails that would be grabbed and rattled whenever it seemed necessary. Yahoo! At Last...he's alive!!!I have vivid memories of Karl the Karrot...one of my all time favorite TV characters. I have been asking people "Do you ever remember watching a show in the 50's with Karl the Karrot who just bobbled his head around and went...blblblblblblblbl blblblblb blblbl?" No one remembered and I was beginning to think I'd made it up! Thank you for bringing Karl (and that cool button) back to me...I shall forward this page to the zillion people who thought I was just having another acid flash!! Holy Karrot juice!Never thought I'd find a person who had seen that show. I remember the carrot losing his "vigor" over the week and being pretty limp on Friday to be revitalized on Monday. I have the button also. (After 50-some years) Fireman FrankI was on Fireman Frank with the greatest young comedienne of her time, Westlake Stephie, age 7. It was a fun show. Fireman Frank againWatched it everyday it with on. The thing I remember most was, Fireman Frank said "we don't like Lima beans," and I still don't like them. Rhode Island RedI, too, loved Fireman Frank. Wasn't Rhode Island Red one of his characters, too? The limp Karl the Karrot, wobbling around by Friday afternoon, was something we all looked forward to. Thanks for bringing back these wonderful memories. Too bad there aren't any witty kids' shows today. And I think the Peanut Gallery was Howdy Doody (with Buffalo Bob Smith) and not part of Fireman Frank. Karlotta Karrot During those years of childhood in San Francisco there were truly great kids' shows. Fireman Frank was without question the best. I remember Karl's girlfriend Karlotta, who spoke in the same type of oogle pattern that Karl used. By the way does anybody remember during Christmas time when Happy Holly of the Whitehouse department store called Santa? Love Karl the KarrotKids' shows in the '50s were great. I loved Fireman Frank and Karl the Karrot. My absolute favorite though was the Banana Man on Captain Kangaroo! Banana ManI never saw Karl the Karrot (we had The Old Rebel and Cowboy Fred and Captain Five at various times), but The Banana Man was my absolute, all-time favorite too. If you never saw his act, it's hard to imagine what it was like. Here is a website, somewhat disorganized, with a lot of info: http://facweb.furman.edu/~rbryson/BananaMan/index.html The "Sam Levine" and "History" links are the best, but it's all interesting (to absolute fans anyway). Py-O-My was the sponsorI remember having to put up with Frank while babysitting my little sister after school before the folks got home (I was a teenager then) and the sponsor for a while was Py-O-My (kind of like Betty Crocker) dessert and pudding mix. Rumor was that the original Fireman Frank partook too much of Py-O-My and dropped dead of blocked arteries. I remember a couple of guys in our neighborhood and I set up a FF-like puppet show one summer to earn money to buy Superman and other comics by charging a nickel to the little kids who wanted to watch. One guy's older sister made a "Scat the Cat"-type sock puppet while I had fun cutting and pasting pieces of cardboard together to make a Dynamo Dudley. I remember one kid's mom getting upset because he has swiped the only two carrots in the house to make Karl (In those days two carrots went into the stew). We made enough to make our local grocer happy to sell those horrible old comic books. Fond RekollektionsI remember the Karl the Karrot episode where he had a fight with Rocky Mashed Potato. I loved Scat the Cat,with his band-aid on one of his cheeks. Rhode Island Red the giant rooster puppet, with a wing that would pop up like it was pointing while he said, "He went thataway!" then break into a silly laugh while his head went up & down. Wish someone can find the name of the original Fireman Frank...just for memories and recognition for him. Fireman Frank ShowThat was a great show; a classic 50's kids show. Can't forget Skipper Sedley who became "Sir Sedley" for whatever reason. Also "Mayor Art"; "Bozo The Clown"; "Captain Satellite" and on a national level, "Howdy Doody" and "The Micky Mouse Club" These were all basically afternoon and Saturday shows. The essential 50's morning children's show was of course, "Captain Kangaroo" with the classic serial Cartoon "Tom Terrific".. Frank and Karl! Oh yeah!Great memories. Loved Fireman Frank and Karl too. I remember Karl getting more wilted every day. And I do remember Happy Holly at Xmas time. This is the first time I have heard anyone else mention Happy. Those were great days for kids' shows. I had the TV pretty much to myself as my parents and older sisters had not acquired the habit of watching very much. I have been trying to find video snips of some of those old shows but they are rare. Loved Fireman Frank!Fireman Frank used to show "The Little Rascals" as well as cartoons. Plus he demonstrated how to make chocolate milk with Bosco. His puppets were hilarious. Scat the Cat had been in fights and had a rough voice. I think robot Dynamo Dudley talked in gibberish like Karl the Karrot. I had a Dynamo Dudley Club Card at one time. The funniest puppet was Rhode Island Red, the rooster. My mother would come into the room and laugh. I would love to see photos or kinescopes of that show. Where is this stuff? THE DAY KARL "DIED" !The "Fireman Frank Show" with Lemont was the best kids program ever and Karl The Karrot was special. Karl was a real carrot and noticably "age" or wilt every day due to the hot studio lights. I clearly remember Karl breaking off in Lemont's hand during their dialogue and Lemont saying something like: "Ah kids; Karl is hurt but will be back like new soon. And of course Karl returned as a fresh new carrot for the next show. I'll never forget the shock of Karl's "accident" and "relief" at seeing him back better than ever for the next show! My kids thought I was making this story up when shared during their youth. Thanks for the super comments. Fireman FrankSeveral commenters have asked about the first Fireman Frank, the one who George Lemont took over from. I just came across a post on a forum from someone who remembers, and the guy's name was apparently Frank Smith. So now we also know where the Frank came from. Fireman Frank 1955-57Coming to the SF Bay Area and getting our first TV in April 1955 I only recall the latter (thin) Fireman Frank (with his weekday nightly KRON show after the early evening news and a longer one on Saturday afternoons with a drawing contest that I submitted to a few times). Captain Fortune had an early Sat morn one on KPIX, with the stock intro showing a bunch of kids running up to a large Victorian-looking house on a hill. One of CF's standard features was to have one of the guests make some scrawl on a large drawing pad and then ask him to turn it into a specific item. KPIX also had a late afternoon (pre-news) Deputy Dave featuring, of course, western films (vs cartoons). It seemed like that they all had Bosco as a sponsor (using a milk carton that had its brand obscured). He once had a contest for an (outboard) power boat - awarded for the best name for it. An acquaintance of my father won with "DD5" for Deputy Dave (Channel) 5! The arrival of the Mickey Mouse Club on ABC (KGO) in October 1955 provided some stiff competition for some of these locally-originated afternoon kid shows. The San Antonio show mentioned earlier was Captain Gus on KENS in the afternoons http://www.dmd52.net/blast.html feauring mostly Popeye and Three Stooges fare, at least during the few seasons of its 2-decade + run that it had my attention. Before Fireman FrankGeorge Lemont was to kids as Don Sherwood was to the adults. I remember his predecessor, Frank Smith, but George had a show before Fireman Frank. He was called Uncle George and would draw caricatures and cartoon pictures. He used clever cross-hatch shading on his drawings and would call them "the downtown treatment." I loved his puppets, but he reached a new height with the introduction of Karl the Karrot! Great days of kids' TV back then: Kris Kuts (the felt shapes), Deputy Dave Allen, Captain Fortune (Who's that knocking on my barrel?), Mayor Art, Crusader Rabbit (voice done by a lady from Petaluma, I'm told)and Captain Satellite (I remember seeing his first telecast on that NEW channel, KTVU). Del Courtney and Tony Petucci (Ralph Manza), Sandy (The moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life are free) Spellman, Fran O'Brien, Sherwood's minions, Bobby Troop, George Cerutti, Julie London, and Ronnie Schell. Great times. Rad CarrotThat is a mighty rad carrot with a hairy nose and wild hair. No wonder why he had some major kid appeal. The 50's Bay Area Christmas While reminiscing about Fireman Frank and Captain Fortune, each Christmas, I always recall with grand fondness those early television trips to the North Pole escorted by the magic elf, Happy Hollie. "Happy Hollie calling Santa Claus at the North Pole... come in, Santa!" I believe it was brought to you by either "The White House", or "City of Paris". You could always be assured there'd be one commercial by "Mission Pac"... fruit packages for mail delivery to east coast friends. "No gift so bright, so gay, so right, send a Mission Pac on its way" Fireman FrankI'm so happy to learn there are others that have fond memories of Fireman Frank / Uncle George! Remember how he'd have the puppets refer to him as "skinny-in-the pit"? I would crack up when he'd tell the kids to be sure to send in for his one-way yoyo while just dropping a stringless yoyo. The lady who voiced Crusader RabbitHer name was Lucille Bliss, and she also did Smurfette. But legendary to me is the fact she waited tables on the side, and a deejay from KSAN recognized her voice, and asked her to come into the station and record the doomsday alerts. "This is a test - this is only a test. In the event of an actual alert, " etc. In the voice of Crusader Rabbit! This included (I assume) the real kiss your butt goodbye warning, in the event of nuclear war! Man- would I love to hear a copy of this. Jay Ward with Art Alexander created the Rabbit here in Berkeley, eventually moving to LA for production. You can read all about it in The Moose That Roared, by Keith Scott. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Curiosities, tterrapix)
Secret Shopper: 1955
April 21, 1955. Using the self-timer on his new Lordox 35mm camera and a roll of ... today buys more food than the average day's pay bought in 1955. - Dave] DPs This one has got to be one of the BEST "dumb ... $2.26 The 40 cent box of Milk Bone would be $5.03 In 1955, the average family made $4,400 a year and the minimum wage was 75 cents ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/23/2011 - 1:26am -

April 21, 1955. Using the self-timer on his new Lordox 35mm camera and a roll of high-speed Kodak Tri-X film, my brother photographed himself in what appears to be the canned soup and dog food section of the Rainbow Market, the exterior of which can be seen here. View full size. AH!My dog had a white plastic bowl with that logo on it. It said, "I love my Friskies!" FriskiesOne of my favorite 1950s logos. Also one of the great label designs. Maybe the best dog food can ever. Photo op on aisle five!This has got to be one of the strangest and coolest photos I've seen yet. What on earth possessed your brother to shoot a self-portrait in a supermarket? Whatever the reason, I'm glad he did it. [On the shopping list: "Get more Kodachrome." - Dave] CampbellsWow.. the label has actually not changed. At least not noticeably. Not a supermarketThis wasn't a supermarket, but a typical (for then) small town grocery store. He took another shot showing more of the store, including a glimpse of our dad, who worked there at the time. He took these to experiment with available-light photography made possible by the high-speed film, then still something of a novelty. Your average box Brownie snapshot taker wouldn't have been able to get a shot like this. Grocery shoppingI like those prices! The packages seem bigger too. Today we pay more for less. I'd like to see more such photos- say from each decade. It would be interesting to see how grocery shopping has changed over the years. [I would bet that if you take inflation into account, food now costs about the same, or less. In other words, a day's pay today buys more food than the average day's pay bought in 1955. - Dave] DPsThis one has got to be one of the BEST "dumb pictures." Do they still make people like this? i would take this guy out for a beer anytime. Great, love it. Thanks! Flash PhotographerRealizing it's a small town grocer and not a supermarket, I'm struck by the proximity of Van Camp's beans (and the Campbell's Soups) to the impressive selection of dog food ("Red Heart"...especially sounds icky, now that we all know what goes into dog food). Granted, it's all nicely canned, but today grocers would be loath to locate two such product categories that close. And Friskies did offer a great logo, label and color combo! Kudos to Milk-Bone for its consistent branding over the last 53 years! Of course your brother looks like a flasher...but a friendly one. Decatur, GA, has/had its own "Rainbow Market"...a crunchy granola vegetarian/health food store. Adjusted pricesPrices adjusted for inflation based on median household income... The 16 cent can of Friskies was the equivalent of $2.01 The 18 cent can of Campbell's Chicken soup would be $2.26 The 40 cent box of Milk Bone would be $5.03 In 1955, the average family made $4,400 a year and the minimum wage was 75 cents and hour, which works out to $1,500 a year. ProximityI would hate to be the shopper that mistakenly grabbed a can of Red Heart Dog Food instead of Van Camps beans. Being 28 years old I like seeing that brands haven't changed all that much in 53 years. Pop art?Is tterrace's brother pre-empting Warhol with his Campbell's cans photography? What I also love is the Puss in Boots and Jack and Jill cat food! [Let's no forget the Skippy Dog Food. Which at least was not next to the peanut butter. - Dave] Dr. Ross Jingle"Dr.Ross dog food is doggone good. Woof!" Woof!Wow! Thanks for jogging that Dr. Ross jingle out from the cobwebby depths of my memory! I can even hear the tune. I'm pretty sure that's what we fed Missie. Puss 'n' Boots jinglePuss 'n' Boots (Puss 'n' Boots) Is the best cat food (best cat food) In the whole doggone world! MarketingInteresting to see which brands made it and which slipped into the abyss. Dr. Ross JingleMy grandfather Keith Hetherington did that commercial live in L.A. when I was a little girl. I could never figure out how he got into that little box! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Stores & Markets, tterrapix)
Larkspur, California 1955
... grew up in, about 15 miles north of San Francisco. Here in 1955 the population was around 3500. Within its three-block downtown there ... about. I do speak for my now-deceased parents. 1955 was a great time of hopes (and I do myself confirm, cause on French TV we ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/22/2011 - 7:53pm -

Larkspur, California, the small town I grew up in, about 15 miles north of San Francisco. Here in 1955 the population was around 3500. Within its three-block downtown there were: two grocery stores, both with full service butchers (here the Rainbow Market, or "Ernie's," and next door The Food Center, or "Fred's"); a drug store, where I also bought my comics and had my film developed; a hardware store with everything from bins of nails to small appliances; a variety store, where I bought my Matchbox cars; a dry goods store; two barber shops; a movie theater; my doctor and dentist; a TV repair shop; a soda fountain; a caterer; a florist (on the left in the photo), as well as the gas station, garage, post office, bank, fire house and city hall, the latter with the library. Oh yeah, and three bars. I never went to those, but you could often find me at the library investigating dinosaurs or old coins or freeways or whatever else I happened to be obsessed with at the moment, all with the indulgence and encouragement of Miz Wilson, the long-time librarian. 35mm Ansco Color slide by my brother. View full size. Three bars?Kids today probably think you're referring to cell signal strength. Those of us old enough to recognize that shiny thing on the roof as a TV antenna probably know better. Any chance of seeing the truck larger? [Click on "original" under the caption. - Dave] Three BarsThree bars must be a nationwide small-town thing. I live in a small (pop. 2,000) town in Michigan, and we still have three bars, as does the next town down the road. I grew up in Larkspur too!I grew up in Larkspur too! These photos are really amazing and such a treat to see. I remember the Silver Peso (still there) and the Blue Rock (now a fancy French place) but I can't think of the third bar. What was it? NostalgicPictures like these make me think of the little town my dad grew up in. And summers spent up there, trips downtown to the Red Owl with my cousin. You know, back when kids could spend all day roaming the town without worrying about a thing. At that point (in the early to mid 80's) the store was on its last legs. It's gone now, of course. My aunt would send us with a note, the shopkeeper would send us home with her cigarettes. (Aunt told us that her own mom would send her down with a note, and the shopkeeper would send her home with some mysterious "products" wrapped in brown kraft paper.) I'd give anything to step back into that store now. It had the most wonderful smell -- a whiff of which I catch now and then today. Always sends me right back. Once again, thank you for sharing your pictures. ~mrs.djs Third BarLarkspur's third bar at this time was the Rose Bowl Chateau, named in reference to the town's outdoor dance pavilion, the Rose Bowl, located a couple blocks up the side street from it. The dances, featuring name bands and drawing large crowds from all over the Bay Area every Saturday night in the 30s - 50s, were the sole means of support for the town's privately-operated volunteer fire department. The building Rose Bowl Chateau was in now houses a fancy restaurant. No higher compliment.Lucky Miz Wilson, to be remembered so fondly! It is my hope--my sincerest hope--that someday my former students use words like "indulgent" and "encouraging" if they ever describe me to others! Yeah...three bars! ??I live in a small town in ill. pop. about 2100, we ALSO have three bars. weird. The Rainbow Market NowA fire around 1960 damaged the second floors of two of these buildings, and the repairs left them in state you see here. Oh, and even though they kept the vintage neon sign, the market itself is now an art gallery. Rainbow MarketYou call the Rainbow Market, "Ernie's." Do you know Ernie's last name? Larkspur Ernie'sYes, Ernie was Ernie Epindendio. I met up with his son (and fellow Redwood High classmate) at last year's Larkspur 100th birthday party. Also, word has subsequently come that the fire I mention in my post below happened on September 6, 1959. Home Sweet HomeThere was no better place to grow up than Larkspur. Three BarsThe third bar I recall as a youth in Larkspur was the Rose Bowl Chateau. It was directly across the street from the Peso. There was always a bit of a rivalry between the two. I remember a fireworks war between them one New Year. Other memories of downtown include Fred's Market, Lark Theater, Archer Chevron, and for a while there was a slot car track in one of the shops on the east side of Magnolia. Life in Larkspur as a kid was freedom without worry. As long as I was home by the time the fire whistle blew at 5, all was good. We had to stay out of trouble because just about everyone knew everyone, so we couldn't get away with anything anyway. Ah, the good ol' days! The way of living we we're dreamin' about.I do speak for my now-deceased parents. 1955 was a great time of hopes (and I do myself confirm, cause on French TV we have a lot of "remember the good ol'time of the Marshall Plan" style programs, and my parents were avid of everything the US of A had to offer, even if they were a bit leftwing and look to socialism). Hehehe, nevertheless, their love for your way of living never left them until the end. Now, I'm a great "proudly made in America" addict. I had 2 Buicks, and collect everything related to the all-American ads and memorabilia + views of the 60s buildings. As you can see, the influence of your country never stops, héhéhéh! I too grew up in LarkspurMy Grandmother worked for Ernie Epindiendo for 25 years or so. I lived around the corner on Ward St, as did my grandparents. My grandfather was a Marin Co. Sherrif in th 50's and 60's. Little league at(going by memory) Joe Wagner field. My dad went to LCM in late forties. I remember many of the 4th of July Parades. Went to Redwood High. Used to buy my mom's cigarettes with a note and would hand it to Fred Schefer's wife Edna, and later airplane glue for my model car's.(Had to show Fred the model before he'd sell it to you though, due to kids using it as a inhalent) Lived behind the Lark theater in 1960 to 1961 on Post st. My mom worked at the Lark at that time. Loved seeing the posts and the pictures... thanks!!!!! Looks Like These Buildings Are Still There ..at 487 and 489 Magnolia Ave [Still there, but the flat stucco façades date to on-the-cheap repairs after a 1959 fire. -tterrace] (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Stores & Markets, tterrapix)
[1]23…next ›last »
Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.