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Grass Routes: 1940
... I've done it. Folding paper. Salina Journal, (Kansas). I learned to fold my papers from an older kid, fold it flat. I could ... thinking that it might end up in some exotic place like Kansas City or even farther!!! (The Gallery, Bicycles, M.P. Wolcott) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2017 - 1:03pm -

July 1940. "Boys in Natchitoches, Louisiana, folding papers before delivering them in the afternoon." Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size.
Same for many years . . .At least until 1964, paper boys (and I hated that expression) did it the same way these kids did, riding a balloon-tired Schwinn or Western Auto bike with a big basket on the front.
I'll never forget one Friday in 1963. I collected for my papers on Fridays, and that usually took an hour-and-a-half for my 25-or-so subscribers. That day, it took five hours as every subscriber wanted to discuss their horror at President Kennedy's assassination. 
Houma, Louisiana, November 22, 1963.
WhackI'd always do that task standing up, the better to whack the paper against the front of my thigh after I'd made the fold-and-tuck.
Elgin Four-StarI believe the bicycle on the far right is also an Elgin, this one being the "Four Star" model which has "over/under" double upper frame members.  As you can see, this model does have a conventional seat pillar.
It was my first bike, a hand me down from an older cousin.  He, in turn, must have received it as a hand-me-down, because it's from the 1930's.
Wish I still had it!
Ah yes, paperboy memories:Some 10-15 years after this picture was taken, until I was old enough to work in the stores, I delivered the Miami Daily News in the N.E. section of Miami and later on in West Hollywood, Florida after school. The Sunday morning edition was the exception to this routine.
I had similar bikes, I had both 26" and 28" Schwinns. And yes, I said that right, not a 24" and 26" sizes. I was the proud owner of a fairly rare 28" Schwinn. It was a real workhorse for a paperboy
My handlebar basket was twice as big as on these boy's bikes and I had a pair of saddle bag style wire baskets on the back like the bike on the right. These were usually large enough to carry all of my papers 6 days a week.
On Sunday mornings I had to add a large pair of canvas saddle bags over the wire ones to carry all of those thicker papers. If the bike fell over, which was frequently, I had to unload it, prop it against something and reload it before continuing on.
I rarely folded a newspaper and even though I would buy a box of rubber bands from my route manager they usually lasted me for months. I walked the paper to the porch, placed it between the doors and usually made as much in tips as I did my share after settling my "paper bill" on Saturday afternoon.
Ah yes, those were the days.
Love the old bikes.Back in 1952 as a 10 year old my Dad took me to Sears to buy my J.C. Higgins bike. The  memory comes back every time I see one of these old American bikes.
Paper and PopThe highlight of my paper route was stopping by the grain elevator for an ice cold coke.  I had a route in the country and only had about 46 customers, but had to ride several miles each day to deliver them all.
There is a nice Elgin Twinbar bicycle second from the left. Notice that it has twin bars making up the frame and that there is no seat tube on the frame.
Roll and tuckAlthough it has been many years since I have had a paper route, I still roll & tuck newspapers before realizing I've done it.
Folding paper.Salina Journal, (Kansas). I learned to fold my papers from an older kid, fold it flat.  I could "wing it" like a boomerang while riding my Schwinn down the sidewalk.  The paper would land within a foot of where I was aiming.
We had one extra paper each day and if a large tractor-trailer truck drove past we'd throw the extra paper on the roof of the trailer thinking that it might end up in some exotic place like Kansas City or even farther!!!
(The Gallery, Bicycles, M.P. Wolcott)

Askew-Trippe Furniture: 1941
... I got out of high school, and in to the craft. Here in Kansas City, there seems to a Renaissance of hand lettering in the old part of town, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/04/2019 - 10:46am -

April 1941. "Store in Franklin, Heard County, Georgia." Ask about our big Fall sale! Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Could be a Furnace storeWe just don't know at this point.
All my life - - I wanted to be a sign painter, was talked out of it by a retiring painter, he said computers are taking over, and to think I could have owned a classic truck like that if I had not listened to him.
Freehand painting?I see faint marks that can't really be deciphered.  Either vestiges of a previous store name, a Shorpy watermark or the painter doesn't know how to spell 'Furniture'.  
I see no hint that he has marked off guide lines for his work and is thus doing it all freehand.
As someone who can't even write his name legibly, I am in awe.
It's that time of year"Ask about our big Fall sale!"  
Really bad, Dave. I nearly fell for it!
Hot paintA good friend with the last name Pintar told me a story about sign painters.  His family had been painters before there was paint.  They changed their name from Painter to Pintar in the 1900s.
The type of paint they used required the bricks to be hot so the paint would cure correctly. This meant the sign painter had to do his work with the sun blasting down on the bricks and his back.  Lots of sign painters developed carcinoma.
Judging by the shadow under the truck and the painter, it is either a little before high noon or a little after. 
I am amazed there is no stencil or trace for the painter to follow.  Of course, the two Ps are not exactly the same, but only someone with OCP would notice that. 
Good tacosThe building at 170 Davis Street is still recognizable, though it doesn't have much to do with furniture anymore. It's now a Mexican restaurant. The enclosed rear dining patio overlooks the Chattahoochee River.
Here's Your SignFurniture that is askew does not sell very well. But, what's in a name
Sign paintersI grew up in an old school sign shop. Ice Gang is right. A man and a brush was replace by vinyl letters right after I got out of high school, and in to the craft.
Here in Kansas City, there seems to a Renaissance of hand lettering in the old part of town, and I certainly hope it gains momentum.
This guy reminds me of all the old journeymen that mentored me in my youth. A truck, a ladder, a brush, and a piece of Grumbacher No. 7 charcoal to layout with.
No safety belts, no hand rails. OSHA be damned!
Now a Mexican Restaurant
What's in a name?The truck is cool … &, hopefully the owner didn't roll backwards off the roof and into its bed.
Unlike Askew-Trippe Co. Furniture, the sign painter's business appears to simply be called: "Signs of All Kinds." With no personal identifier it kind of makes it challenging for anyone to refer business to him.
Hand painted!Really neat to see an actual sign painter at work here! Guessing he painted the sign on the truck as well. Recently here in Cleveland, Ohio and elsewhere, I have been seeing a resurgence of this once-dying art form by new young practitioners who appreciate the old hand lettering like this!
(The Gallery, Jack Delano, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)

Petworth: 1930
... Gardens is the rear of a pair of houses at 5012 and 5014 Kansas Avenue. At the end of the treeline on the right is the tower at the Old ... are now have had 80+ years to mature. But yes, it's a city, and yes, many people live in a city. Surprise! No landing Stairs ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/18/2018 - 11:23am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1930. "Rowhouses in Petworth." 8x10 inch acetate negative by Theodor Horydczak. View full size.
I can just hear that man in the door"You boys better get down off there before you kill yourselves."
Tightly packedI have often pondered what it would be like to live in some of the Shorpy neighborhoods/ houses. After looking at this picture all I can say is WOW! I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in this amount of densely packed row houses. 
Looking ESE from vicinity of 7th and IngrahamBetter description would be Brightwood Park. Photo taken from roof of Truesdell Elementary. The row of 6 houses and back yards in the foreground (with the man on the back yelling at the kids on the shed roof) are now demolished. It's now a parking lot for Truesdell. They would have been the 5200 block of 8th Street NW. The six houses across the street from those are still there today and are 5235 (on the left) to 5225 (on the right) 8th Street NW. In the far distance against the tree line is Hampshire Gardens between Emerson, Farragut, 3rd St and New Hampshire Avenue. The odd double gable just below Hampshire Gardens is the rear of a pair of houses at 5012 and 5014 Kansas Avenue. At the end of the treeline on the right is the tower at the Old Soldiers Home. 
My route to avoid trafficI drive down this section of 8th street many days each month to avoid traffic.  To the comment about the density of the neighborhood made earlier, it remains the same today, but at ground level it certainly quite different from the image projected here.  For one thing, the trees are now have had 80+ years to mature.  But yes, it's a city, and yes, many people live in a city.  Surprise!
No landingStairs run straight into the entry door. That and no roof overhang above. By now I hope that those issues were addressed.
(The Gallery, D.C., Kids, Theodor Horydczak)

Wingman: 1942
July 1942. Fairfax bomber plant, Kansas City. "A wing brace for a B-25 bomber being prepared for the assembly line at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 6:38pm -

July 1942. Fairfax bomber plant, Kansas City. "A wing brace for a B-25 bomber being prepared for the assembly line at North American Aviation. With plenty of speed, a 1,700-mile cruising range and a ceiling of 25,000 feet, the B-25 has performed as a medium bomber and as an escort plane. General Doolittle has called the ship the best military plane in existence." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, Office of War Information. View full size.
The UnionInteresting, that the worker wears two badges on his overalls. The #32, his employee number at North American Aviation. The other is his UAW, CIO union affiliation button. The United Auto Workers (UAW) evidently organized the workers at this plant and were part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The unions were the bargaining agents for the workers there. During WWII  the right to strike was forbidden by the government, the war effort was more important. Coming out of the depression, nobody wanted to lose their job or see their workplace nationalized. When the war ended, many industries were plagued by strikes, most of them settled so that the businesses could get back to making consumer goods that were not made during the war.
DC-7My father held me by the hand when we went to see the unveiling of the DC-7 passenger plane.  He worked for the CAA (later to become the FAA) and all of his buddies stood around laughing because "it's a great piece of engineering, but they'll never fill it with enough passengers to make it pay."  He died before the Boeing 707 was introduced.
AttractiveI'm going to have to say, this man's good-looking.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)

Penn Station 1.0
... Today she graces the Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain in Kansas City Birds of a Feather Those handsome eagles atop the portico were ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/26/2016 - 11:50am -

"Thirty-Second Street entrance, Pennsylvania Station, New York." The original Penn Station in the final stages of construction, circa 1910. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Darn itWe just missed the train to Chattanooga by a whisker!
Topless LadyToday she graces the Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain in Kansas City
Birds of a FeatherThose handsome eagles atop the portico were sculpted by Adolph A. Weinman. They were salvaged when Pennsylvania Station was demolished in the 1960s, and at least a few survive in various locations. The same eagle is seen in profile on the half dollars of 1916-47. Incidentally, the U.S. Mint is issuing a gold edition of the half dollar this year to mark its centennial.
Her Name is NightSculpted by Adolph Weinman, there were several of these. The topless one is named Night, and she holds a poppy. There is also one in the sculpture garden at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Dust to DustReminds me of a c1964 New Yorker cartoon showing a loaded dump truck pulling into a New Jersey landfill with its driver asking, "Where do you want Penn Station?"  
Cover you eyes, VelmaOne of those ladies leaning on the clock is topless. Kinda jumps right out at you.
Stations and Coinsare two of my favorite things. The railroads, which were the prime source of long distance travel before the airplane, built huge edifices to honor themselves and called them stations.  They were adorned with beautiful elements, like statues and full reliefs.
Adolph A. Weinman (who also was the designer of the "Mercury" dime and Walking Liberty half dollar) also designed the relief above the Penn Station entrance....hence the connection between the two.
Weinman used a model named Elsie Kachel Stevens for the dime and half dollar.  The two coins are considered some of the most beautiful coins of the 20th Century.
His work lives on.  In many forms. 
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

Navy Fliers: 1929
... Heinlein's biographer states that he had actually left for Kansas City three days earlier and is therefore not in the picture. (The Gallery, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/15/2013 - 11:35am -

June 6, 1929. Annapolis, Md. "Graduation, U.S. Naval Academy." Midshipmen doing the traditional cap-toss. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size.
CoversThe Navy refers to them as "covers," not "caps."
Have cap, will commandAmong these class of 1929 USNA grads tossing their caps is sci-fi author Robert Heinlein.
GraduatesSomeplace in there is SciFi author Robert A Heinlein and future Admiral James H Flatley.
What we knowThis photo is a choice example of what makes Shorpy so poignant: In 12 years, a lot of these men are going to war. I look at this photo with tears in my eyes - my dad was naval aviation in WWII - and I wish them well. The future wishing the past well. Would that we could.
Wait until October 24I always buy June 1929 school yearbooks when I see them because of the innocence and optimism of the teens and young adults who wrote in them.
These few graduates may be the lucky ones to have government jobs lined up four months before. But when I see the bright light on those white outfits in this picture, and all their proud parents celebrating in their finery, I can't help but think of all the futures dreamed of on that day, and all the dreams that got derailed. 
A century of traditionThe cap toss at Annapolis dates back to 1912, which was the first graduating class to get commissions as officers immediately without having to serve 2 more years as midshipmen.  It was a gesture of throwing their midshipman caps away since they would be replaced by officer caps.   Traditionally, the cap toss is instigated by the class "anchor man," the midshipman who graduates with the lowest 4-year grade average.
Dahlgren Hall - Still there!This photo was taking in Dahlgren Hall, on the campus of the Naval Academy. I had the chance to take my kids through this building not too long ago. A very cool building!
Ah so that's the answerI always wondered how they ever got their own cap back.  Larc explains it.  They don't NEED to get it back.
1929 yearbook onlineThe Academy's Yearbook is called The Lucky Bag. The 1929 volume is available online at archive.org. Among the many notables in its biographical pages are Medal of Honor recipient Bruce Van Voorhis, page 309, and the pioneering science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, page 319.
Anchor ManFor at least some of the history of the Naval Academy the Anchor Man received a dollar from each of his classmates in recognition of "There but for the grace of God go I." That adds up to quite a tidy sum, especially on an Ensign's pay. The magic number was a final grade point average of 2.5 (of 4.0); any lower and you bilged (failed) and didn't graduate. As graduation neared the handful of guys who were contenders for the honor of Anchor Man entered into their own competition. They would study for tests harder than ever so they could get exactly the grade they needed to try to make their GPA exactly 2.5 and edge out the others.
By the way, based on the number of times Roger Staubach's cap has been offered up on e-Bay, he must have tossed a few dozen at graduation.
P.S. Covers or caps. In the Mid store the label said "Combination Cap".
Hats Off!Times have changed.  Aside from the obvious, new ensigns tossing their "covers," nary a male personage in the audience has his head covered.  In 1929 it was not socially acceptable for men to wear hats indoors.
Waldo, er, RAH not hereI'm told that Heinlein's biographer states that he had actually left for Kansas City three days earlier and is therefore not in the picture.
(The Gallery, Harris + Ewing)

Grease: 1925
... Boulevard near today’s Rodeo Drive; Cotati, Culver City, Fresno and San Carlos, plus two circle tracks, Oakland and Playa del ... and Uniontown; Akron and Cincinnati, Ohio; Atlantic City and Woodbridge, New Jersey, Charlotte, Chicago, Des Moines, Miami, Omaha, and Tacoma, plus Kansas City, Missouri; Laurel; Salem, New Hampshire; Sheepshead Bay in New ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/22/2012 - 10:54am -

"Bob McDonough, Laurel race." On his ribbon: "Baltimore-Washington Speedway DRIVER. Inaugural Opening. Saturday July 11, 1925." View full size.
Just look at those eyesHe's exhausted. He's dirty. His hands and feet are probably still shaking. He could've died this day, horrible and bloody. He might die in the next race.
And he wouldn't have it any other way.
Error on the boards.McDonough was initially declared the winner of the instant event, but after the scoring cards were checked Pete DePaolo was granted the win. 
Yum!Nothin' like a lime after a hot, dirty race!
About those board tracks(Details adapted from my magazine article "Racing on Wood"): There were 24 board tracks in the U.S. from California to New Hampshire, ranging in size from a half mile to two, with seven in California (Beverly Hills on Wilshire Boulevard near today’s Rodeo Drive; Cotati, Culver City, Fresno and San Carlos, plus two circle tracks, Oakland and Playa del Rey); three in Pennsylvania at Altoona, Bridgeville and Uniontown;  Akron and Cincinnati, Ohio; Atlantic City and Woodbridge, New Jersey, Charlotte, Chicago, Des Moines, Miami, Omaha, and Tacoma, plus Kansas City, Missouri; Laurel; Salem, New Hampshire; Sheepshead Bay in New York. 
Most were designed and constructed by a former self-titled world champion high-wheel bicycle racer, Englishman Jack Prince. Playa Del Ray was the first built, in 1910, and the last major board track race was at Woodbridge on 10/18/1931. Average track life was just four years. Not much was known about protecting wood without using slippery creosote and the stock market crash didn't help. 
Frank Lockhart did the fastest ride ever on the boards, a race qualifying lap of 147.229 mph in a Miller 91 on the mile and-a-half Atlantic City 45-degree banked track near Hammondton on May 7, 1927. BTW Laurel's track was banked 48 degrees. 
Bob cleaned up real goodHere's McDonough at Laurel on 10/24/1925 holding a funnel covered with a cloth strainer while his fuel tank is topped off. Below that is a self-explaining Laurel poster. 
Played byBears a strong resemblence to Paul Newman, who became noted for his sports car racing skills, primarily in Datsuns.  
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo, Sports)

Officer Pods: 1943
... , "metal adapted corn bin, built by Butler Brothers, Kansas City." Office of War Information. View full size. Getting a round to it ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/31/2014 - 7:24am -

From around 1943 comes this uncaptioned photo, somewhere in North Africa, of Dymax­ion Deployment Units. The prefab huts, used here as officers' quarters, were based on Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House, "metal adapted corn bin, built by Butler Brothers, Kansas City." Office of War Information. View full size.
Getting a round to itBucky tried to bring the idea of the Dymaxion house to the masses, with little success.  One can view the only surviving prototype of this type of housing at the Henry Ford Museum / Greenfield Village.
https://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/dymaxion/index.html
Its a fascinating design but not for the claustrophobic or introverted.  
Dymax­ion Deployment Units: ThreeDeployed Ventilation Units: One 
Wow!If this is represents the officers' quarters, one can just imagine how the the enlisted men fared.
Air Conditioned?The louvered object in the background looks like a 'swamp cooler' air conditioner. If it was, these are truly deluxe quarters.
Hungry livestockIn addition to these relative rarities, Butler built enough of the more conventional Quonset huts that the latter were often referred to as Butler buildings during the war.  That suggests that their customary line of bins and feeders got short shrift under wartime priorities.
Butler buildingsMy grandparents usually used "Butler building" to refer to pole barns (vertical sides, peaked roof), not Quonset huts.  Butler made pole barns starting in the 1940s and still does today.  When I was a kid, it was pretty common to see their pole barns and grain bins in rural Missouri; whoever put them together was pretty good about making sure the painted logo faced the road, especially on the grain bins.  They are still around, now as a tentacle of an Australian company, although they don't do grain bins (or DDUs) anymore.
Grain binsWe've got two Butler grain bins on the farm here - they're all over the place in Eastern Oregon wheat country.  It's easier to haul your wheat to the elevators now, so ours haven't been in use for a number of years - thinking of converting them to guest houses and moving out the pigeons roosting in them - they are sturdy structures to say the least.
(The Gallery, WW2)

Wild Child: 1910
... whenever it was. Johnnie Burns looks like he owned the city. Johnnie Burns This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. ... at a St. Louis country club. In 1930, he was living in Kansas City, MO, and worked at "odd jobs." Johnnie died in San Diego in 1964. I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/18/2011 - 10:48am -

May 9, 1910. St. Louis, Missouri. "Johnnie Burns, a newsie who sells on Grand Avenue. 9 yrs old. Father says he is uncontrollable. Father also said his 4-year-old twins would be selling soon." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
HungryI haven't had a good plate of chile con carne since... well, it was well after 1910 whenever it was.  Johnnie Burns looks like he owned the city.
Johnnie BurnsThis is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. Johnnie Burns lived with his stepmother until at least 1930. His  twin brothers were named Michael and Maurice. In 1920, he was a waiter at a St. Louis country club.  In 1930, he was living in Kansas City, MO, and worked at "odd jobs." Johnnie died in San Diego in 1964. I have requested his obituary.   
Before Taco BellChili con carne AND all kinds of sandwiches. I'm there.
As for the main subject, this is one of the best Hine pictures I've seen.
(The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, St. Louis)

The Great Gesticulator: 1924
... made to broadcast through a dozen stations as far West as Kansas City, Mo., a Labor day message. He will begin speaking from the studio of a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2008 - 12:48pm -

September 1, 1924. "Robert M. La Follette, first radio campaign speech." Republican senator from Wisconsin and Progressive Party presidential candidate "Fighting Bob" La Follette, who died less than a year after this picture was taken. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Is that a movie camera?The square, rather large object slightly off focus, standing in the background, to the right of the picture; is it a movie camera? Or a large-format still camera for a newspaper? Or maybe a loudspeaker?
Did they already use the famous "newsreels" in movie theatres back then, so many years before WWII??
[Newsreels got their start around 1908. Newsreels with sound (Fox Movietone) in 1928. - Dave]
Address to Uneseen AudienceWashington Post Sep 1, 1924 


La Follette Will Deliver Labor Address
From Several Radio Stations.

...
Senator La Follette, the independent presidential candidate, also will deliver a Labor day address today, but to an unseen audience.  Arrangements have been made to broadcast through a dozen stations as far West as Kansas City, Mo., a Labor day message.  He will begin speaking from the studio of a station here at 3:30 p.m. standard time, and a half hour or more will be required for him to complete the reading of a prepared address.  
Word has been received at la Follette headquarters here that various local labor organizations in the zone have made "loud speaker" arrangements so that their members will be able to "listen in" on the Wisconsin Senator.
...
"The working people of America have a glorious opportunity this year to redeem government for the masses of the people.  Labor day is a fitting day for planning to carry forward this work.  It is a fitting day to put into the campaign all of the determination and enthusiasm which our great movement possesses.  This is more than a political campaign. It is a crusade on behalf of great principles."

Traveling pantsI'd raising my fist too if my pants were trying to strangle me.
Nice tie-tyingWas it ever the fashion to have the back half of a tie longer than the front half, or was Mr. La Follette just a sloppy dresser?
I do like that big shock of hair, though. Gives him a really good mad scientist vibe.
Network......pre-Howard Beale.
"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" 
(The Gallery, Natl Photo, Politics)

Railroad Crossing: 1906
The Mississippi River circa 1906. "Kansas City & Memphis Railway bridge at Memphis, Tennessee." Where you'll find the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/01/2013 - 10:50am -

The Mississippi River circa 1906. "Kansas City & Memphis Railway bridge at Memphis, Tennessee." Where you'll find the Mary Bell. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The scale of that!That is a very beautiful photo, but what really caught my eye was the sheer size of the bridge, compared to the tiny barge and the even smaller boats moored next to it. It's amazing! How wide is that river? And how deep? 
Solitary splendorIt's neat to see the bridge in solitary splendor. It was joined in 1917 by the Harahan railroad bridge 200 feet to the north, and in 1949 by the Memphis & Arkansas highway bridge about the same distance to the south. The three huge cantilever truss bridges make an impressive sight together, like a steampunk mountain range.
Middle bridge nowI have driven across the I-55 bridge next door to this one many times. The lower Mississippi River is over a mile wide in many locations. At this point it is 2400 feet from bank to bank. The three bridges at this crossing are all about a mile long each.
Corner HeadI'm wondering what sort of trade the Mary Bell was in.  Is she a powered boat or a barge?  A private houseboat or some sort of commercial floating market? What's the cupola for? The rectangular structure in the aft port corner looks to be the head (outhouse).
Re: Corner HeadIt looks like a shantyboat. Cheaply built, non-powered houseboats for rivermen, lumbermen, millworkers. Usually made from whatever lumber could be found or scrounged. Shantyboat communities were common in river towns from the mid 19th to mid 20th centuries.
The Mississippi RiverAt times during the spring, the width of the River can be over a mile. 
There was a town just on the west side of Memphis in the 1800s that kept flooding that it just became uninhabitable. 
During the hot summer days, we would go down to the river to catch a cool river breeze. 
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Memphis, Railroads)

Electro-Motive: 1943
... route is Amtrak's Southwest Chief - its next stop west is Kansas City, MO and its next stop east is La Plata, MO. Also, the guy on the near ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/11/2015 - 11:21am -

March 1943. "Sibley, Missouri. Passing one of the diesel passenger locomotives of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe." Medium format nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Missouri RiverBottom land required the elevated tracks seen in the background.
Clever title, but --The title may be Electro-Motive, but the picture actually shows AT&SF 50 and 50A, their lone pair of ALCO DL-109 units.
Bad day coming to Black RockI see a hat, a coat, and a tie - is that Spencer Tracy sitting in the cab?
East SibleyI'd say the photo was taken about right here.
In the distance, to the left of the passenger train, you can see the trestles on the approach to the bridge over the Missouri River, where the track curves south.  The pond and road on the south side of the tracks are still there.
Today (and probably back then too), the line is double-track on either side of the bridge, but single-track on the bridge.  The freight that Jack is on probably had to wait for the passenger train to come across the bridge.  Even today, I sometimes hear the BNSF Marceline Subdivision dispatcher (on the scanner) asking a train to wait at "East Sibley" for another train.
Currently, the only passenger train on this route is Amtrak's Southwest Chief - its next stop west is Kansas City, MO and its next stop east is La Plata, MO.
Also, the guy on the near side of the passenger locomotive seems to be really well dressed - hat, shirt, tie, jacket.  Would the conductor normally ride up there, or is something else going on?
Rare Breed.When the 50 set was delivered, the Super Chief was usually powered by an A-B set of E-units, so an A-B set of Alcos fit the operating practice. They got off to a bad start - Santa Fe Locomotive Development says the Santa Fe rep attending the roll-out at Schenectady observed the carbodies shaking vigorously to the beat of the four idling 539's and refused to accept them. The structure was stiffened to reduce the shake and Santa Fe eventually took them, but even then, the locomotives' gyrations could reportedly be felt back in the train at station stops. The account of their first westbound run on the Super in McCall's Santa Fe Early Diesel Daze suggests that they all but melted the traction motors down to the ballast going over Raton Pass. After returning east, their career on extra-fare long distance trains was over, and naturally no repeat orders were forthcoming. Santa Fe wouldn't look to Alco for passenger power again until the PA's and PB's were introduced after the war. Santa Fe generally found uses for the 50L&A on lower grade assignments east of the Rockies like the Chicagoan or the Tulsan. Unlike the PA's, 50L&A could and did MU with EMD power, and several photos exist of them in mixed consists with E-units, turret cab 1L, or booster 1A. 
Brake wheelsBrake wheels on freight cars were for many years in the horizontal position like this one, on the car ahead of the caboose, from which Delano took this photo. For years, brakemen rode the tops of freight cars during yard switching procedures. This practice was outlawed for sound safety reasons. I seem to recall after WWII that brake wheels started to appear on the ends on cars instead. Does anyone know the date that this transition took place?
(The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)

Fast Food: 1938
... "Making a purchase at traveling grocery store. Forrest City, Arkansas." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for ... By N.A.C.A. National Anti-Crime Association, Topeka Kansas Lum & Abner The famous, long-running, and well-beloved "Lum ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/23/2008 - 4:01pm -

September 1938. "Making a purchase at traveling grocery store. Forrest City, Arkansas." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the FSA.
NACAWhat does NACA stand for?  
N.A.C.A.From the full-sized version of the picture I was able to make out the text:
NO TRESPASSING
These Premises Protected
By
N.A.C.A.
National Anti-Crime Association, Topeka Kansas

Lum & AbnerThe famous, long-running, and well-beloved "Lum & Abner" radio program (also set in Arkansas) featured a storyline in 1938 (same as this photo) in which the old-timers lost their "Jot-Em Down" general store and re-opened for business with an oversized monstrosity mounted aboard a touring car chassis.
From the photo it is obvious that such stores actually did exist in Arkansas at the same time. I can't help but wonder if this store, or one like it, may have provided inspiration for the storyline.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)

Parked in a Plymouth
... my uncle Billy Shipe, riding in a Plymouth convertible, Kansas City, Kansas 1953. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery) ... 
 
Posted by Maniak Productions - 04/15/2016 - 6:40pm -

My maternal grandmother, Essie Shipe [b.1900], and my uncle Billy Shipe, riding in a Plymouth convertible, Kansas City, Kansas 1953.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

U-Smile Court
U-Smile Court. Kansas City, MO. 1940's? View full size. U Smile, I Smile I smile at ... 
 
Posted by John.Debold - 09/20/2011 - 8:31pm -

U-Smile Court. Kansas City, MO. 1940's? View full size.
U Smile, I SmileI smile at U-Smile because of those fabulous cars.
What I can't see from this picture is how the cars got into those little carports. There is no driveway leading to them, or curb cut. There must be a way into those alcoves from the rear. That also explains why all the grilles are facing us. One person backs into a parking spot, not everyone.
Not U-Smiling Any MoreWow. I tried to find where this place is now, half expecting it to be some run-down dump in the 39th Street area. Alas, U-Smile Court (which was a kind of motor hotel, not a street of residences) is more than gone. It's obliterated! Even the street it was on (Skiles Avenue at 8100 E 40 Highway) is gone! It looks like they built I-435 right on top of it. The nearest existing road is a trailer park at Smalley Terrace (in the 7900 block of Hwy 40). U-Smile Court, we hardly knew ya.   
U-Smile MotelI remember the U-Smile Motor Lodge on 40 Highway, near Kaufmann Stadium.  The building is still there and is now a Sunset Inn.  U-Smile Court was just west of this motel.  It was razed in the late 60's when I-435 was built.
Another picture of U-SmileI'm not sure that photo is actually of the U-Smile motel.  Here's another one from a postcard that looks much different.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

Crossdressing Garden Party
... in a box of other negatives at a flea market in New York City. The other negatives with it were of a family and their pets, kittens, ... great-aunt Sadie in a derby looking very butch. Taken in Kansas City about 1902. Yet I know Aunt Sadie was happily married for fifty ... 
 
Posted by Katherine_Fenn - 09/19/2011 - 9:22pm -

I found this glass negative in a box of other negatives at a flea market in New York City. The other negatives with it were of a family and their pets, kittens, puppies, children and flowers. I don't know exactly what is happening, but please note how the dueling ruffians in the front are a group of women and the young ladies digging a hole in the background are actually men. View full size.
Early Monty Python?Very weird, whatever it's supposed to be.
One party I'm sorry to have missedWell, you certainly named the image right. I wonder what was going on here?
My Butch Aunt SadieHere's a photo of my great-aunt Sadie in a derby looking very butch.  Taken in Kansas City about 1902.  Yet I know Aunt Sadie was happily married for fifty years. Was this a trend that year?
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

Sweater Set: 1942
... the harness would be sent for rework. A company here in Kansas City still makes the testing equipment for this. Some wires may have been ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/25/2013 - 9:16pm -

December 1942. "Boeing aircraft plant, Seattle. Production of B-17 'Flying Fortress' bombers. Routing and labeling electrical wires on template prior to installation." Photo by Andreas Feininger, Office of War Information. View full size.
Reach Out and Touch SomeoneWestern Electric had factories full of people doing that for central office crossbar switches as recently as the 70s.
A robot drifted in near the end, but caring for the robot was pretty labor intensive too, and then crossbar switches disappeared anyway.
I think the plant is a healthcare center now.
We have never seen the likeOf the airmen flying B-17's and 24's on daylight raids over Germany
during the first half of the war. It was the most dangerous place to be at that
time as the Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs shot them down like the
sitting ducks they were. The toll was horrific: until we developed fighters
that could escort them out and back. So,these Ladies were a part of so many
American workers who could build these bombers faster than the Germans could shoot them down.
B-17s vs. Ford PintosThose women are making what's known as a wiring harness.  The pegs on the board route the wires in the same lengths and directions they'll be when the harness is installed in the aircraft it's intended for.
I spent several months in my youth working on a factory assembly line making similar wiring harnesses for Ford Pintos.  But instead of two people who no doubt underwent some training in how to build that wiring harness, I was just one of 20 or so who knew how to put one piece of the harness on as it went gliding past me.  If I missed one -- Oh well, some new car owner was going to have problems with his headlights, or the heater fan, or something.
I think the repair history of B-17s and Pintos probably says something about how to manufacture a wiring harness.
They still do it like that.Building wire harnesses on flat templates, that is. 
And mechanics all over the world still prefer their wire harnesses being tied up with lacing cord instead of those fancy plastic tie-wraps. No flesh hooks, you know, from poorly cut-off tie-wrap tails. 
However, tie-wraps win on the economic side, and it is a lot easier to start with the tiew-wraps loose for final adjustments, and then tightening them up one by one.
Carey Built My PintoEvery time I put my 1974 Pinto into reverse, I blew the fuse that protected the circuit powering the radio, backup light, and turn signals.  I blame Carey for missing his part of the wiring harness.
You can probably still see this in the 787 factoryAs StefanJ noted, this is still done today.  There is a little bit of automation - the individual wires are often cut to length by machine before they are bundled, and some wires get connectors installed on them by machine.  But the bundling part still looks like this.  More than one company sells the clips, pegs, clamps, and other hardware you need to make boards like this.  (They even sell the cutters that round off the ends of the tie-wraps, but a lot of places cheap out and just use wire cutters, which makes tiny plastic daggers that are ready to rip your skin.)
One thing that probably was automated, even when this picture was taken, was harness testing.  After these ladies were done, the harness was connected to a machine that applied current to one wire at a time.  It made sure that it could see current on the other end of that wire, and no place else; if the harness failed the test, a red light would go on and the harness would be sent for rework.  A company here in Kansas City still makes the testing equipment for this.
Some wires may have been "hi-pot" tested, where a voltage much higher than the wire would usually see in service would be applied, to check for insulation damage.  This might have been another manual operation at the time the photo was taken; later on it was incorporated into the automated harness testing.
(The Gallery, Andreas Feininger, Aviation, WW2)

Wee Lads: 1910
... made bottles from 1894 to 1978, both at this plant and in Kansas City, Mo. "I've known him since he was in short pants" ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/14/2018 - 1:53pm -

May 1910. "Noon hour at Obear-Nestor Glass Co., East St. Louis, Illinois. Names of the smallest boys are: Walter Kohler, 981 N. 18th Street; Walter Riley, 918 N. 17th Street; Will Convery, 1828 Natalie Avenue; Clifford Matheny, 1927 Summit Avenue. All employed at the glassworks." Photo by Lewis Hine. View full size.
PhotoshoppeDoes anyone know what causes the appearance (at full size) of the boys looking almost cut out and added to the background? It's especially noticeable with the boys on the right. Is it just a incidental result of lighting or focus?  I have seen this on other older photos as well, ones with no reason to actually manipulate the photo.
[Mainly due to the illumination coming from the side and back casting highlights on the edges of their clothing and faces. Their obviously unaltered shadows show they were all standing exactly where they appear to be. -tterrace]
Interesting facesThese kids emit a lot of personality with their sideways and or backward hats (who said it was a recent fad?) and complex expressions. The boy on the extreme right with the impish grin,   resting his arm on another's shoulder, plus the rakish  flipped brim on his hat, is reminiscent of James Cagney in "Yankee Doodle Dandy". They look pretty happy in spite of having to become working adults at such a tender age.   
At least they all wear shoesConsiderung what they are working with, this might be considered to a boon. 
Although high shaft leather boots may not be ideal in a glass works. 
In the small artisan size glass works all over Europe many artisans are actually wearing slippers. The only trade where slippers are not only acceptable to the local versions of the OSHA, but actually mandated by them. That way the glass blower can quickly pull his or her foot out of the slipper when a blob of molten glass inadvertently drops on it. Of course those slippers also have steel caps.
Bottles galoreOld bottles sites inform me that the Obear-Nester Company made bottles from 1894 to 1978, both at this plant and in Kansas City, Mo.
"I've known him since he was in short pants"And now I completely understand that saying. 
To Trousers from Breeches, the Long and Short of ItMy grandfather, born in 1906, once shared with me how excited he was in 1920 when he entered high school at Wolcott, Indiana.  He explained to me that in those days the boys wore knickers, or what he called "knee britches", until high school when they began wearing full-length trousers. 
I imagine how proud some of those young men must have been striding up and down the high school halls in their trousers, having "grown out" of their long stockings and knickers!
[My guess is that all these boys have already left school, never to return. -tterrace]
(The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine)

Sly Boots: 1923
... first full-time director of the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City from 1933 to 1953. The most detailed bio I could find is on the museum's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/18/2014 - 7:13pm -

April 9, 1923. Washington, D.C. "Paul Tchernikoff dancers, Russian Village Fair at Wardman Park Inn." National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
Paul Gardner "Tchernikoff"The director of this amateur company seems to have been J. Paul Gardner, born in Somerville, Massachusetts, and a graduate in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Class of 1917. After serving in the Army, Gardner danced for nine years in Anna Pavlova's corps de ballet, apparently using the stage name of Paul Tchernikoff. In March 1923 he returned to MIT to perform Russian dances in the university's annual "Tech Show," which traveled also to Hartford and the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and was listed in the campus newspaper reviews of the show as "Paul Gardner Tchernikoff '17," and described as a member of the Pavlova company. In 1927, as Paul Tchernikoff, he was directing a dance school in Washington, assisted by a "Miss Gardiner." By the end of the 1920s he obtained an MA in art history from George Washington University, and served as the first full-time director of the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City from 1933 to 1953. The most detailed bio I could find is on the museum's Web site.
[Lisa Gardiner was his partner in the Tchernikoff-Gardiner School of the Dance. - Dave]
Clean FreaksOkay, so I didn't dust up there.  You don't have to point it out in front of everyone.
(The Gallery, Dance, Natl Photo)

New York Central: 1905
... AMTRAK trains now stop across the Hudson River in the City of Rensselaer. The modern AMTRAK station lacks the architectural merit of ... This building reminds me a lot of Union Station in Kansas City, which was designed by Jarvis Hunt. Some of his other stations ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/09/2017 - 8:12pm -

Circa 1905. "New York Central Railroad station, Albany, N.Y." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
No longer a train stationThis Beau Arts structure has been adaptively re-used as office space.  
The entire trackway & platform area is obliterated.
AMTRAK trains now stop across the Hudson River in the City of Rensselaer. The modern AMTRAK station lacks the architectural merit of this fine Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge building.   
Fancy-Schmancy Street Light!Very cool!
[An example of a Shorpy all-time favorite, an electric carbon arc lamp. Here's another of a similar style. -tterrace]
Jarvis Hunt strikes again?This building reminds me a lot of Union Station in Kansas City, which was designed by Jarvis Hunt.  Some of his other stations also look like this one, with three big arches on the central part of the building, and shorter wings flanking the central part.  A quick Google isn't yielding the architect of the Albany station, though.
Or, maybe that's just a common design for train stations in the early part of the 20th century.
(The Gallery, Albany, DPC, Railroads)

Routes: 1925
... the highway commissions of several States, who met in this city during the present week under the auspices of the Joint Board of State and ... US 623 bears marks from the "Best Stamp Company" of Kansas City, MO - a maker of stamped metal objects like badges. The company may ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/21/2014 - 11:24am -

        The conferees representing the highway commissions of several States, who met in this city during the present week under the auspices of the Joint Board of State and Federal Highways, reached a wise decision when they agreed to create a group of interstate roads to be known as United States highways   . . .
 -- Washington Post editorial, April 25, 1925

Washington, D.C., 1925. "No caption (man with highway signs)." Early waypoints on the road to uniform route designations and the standardization of highway signs. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
Get your kicks...on Route 56. No, wait, it'll come to me...
The ManThis must be Thomas MacDonald, chief and later commissioner of the Bureau of Public Roads. Much of today's Interstate system and its standards were the result of MacDonald's work during the early part of the 20th Century.
Read in a book ("The Big Roads" by Earl Swift) he commanded such respect, even at a young age he demanded his younger siblings call him "Sir".
There is another scene from this photo shoot at the FHWA's website:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/firing.cfm
Some interesting info on "The Chief" as well.
Wikipedia entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Harris_MacDonald
Phantom RoadsThose signs are test examples, you won't find US 56 or US 623 in the early route plans.  US 56 was also used in early sign examples as being in Maine, not Oklahoma as seen here. The upright black-faced US 623 bears marks from the "Best Stamp Company" of Kansas City, MO - a maker of stamped metal objects like badges. The company may have been the victim of arson in 1957. Both of the US 623 variants have the US on the bottom, aping the design of the Wisconsin shield. Of historical note: The US 56 sign in his hands reads "US Route 56", text not used on the signs in the field. Also on the table is Mass US 5, which was used and is still in use today.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing)

10 Million Bushels: 1943
March 1943. The giant Santa Fe Elevator near Kansas City, demolished in the 1990s, held 10 million bushels of grain. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/10/2012 - 4:16pm -

March 1943. The giant Santa Fe Elevator near Kansas City, demolished in the 1990s, held 10 million bushels of grain. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano, Farm Security Administration/OWI.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Jack Delano, Railroads)

Tall Grain: 1939
... Ships of the prairie I drove from Denver to Dodge City last summer. I had never been in Kansas before and was amazed at the number of grain elevators that would appear ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/05/2018 - 11:13am -

May 1939; "Grain elevators. Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Ships of the prairieI drove from Denver to Dodge City last summer. I had never been in Kansas before and was amazed at the number of grain elevators that would appear on the horizon every few miles, looking like sailing ships on the flat sea of prairie. 
Still going strong 80 years later
(The Gallery, Agriculture, Arthur Rothstein, Railroads)

General store: circa 1910
Leslie Jordan (b. 1879) general store, near Kansas City, Missouri, circa 1910. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member ... 
 
Posted by KemLuther - 02/04/2010 - 3:06pm -

Leslie Jordan (b. 1879) general store, near Kansas City, Missouri, circa 1910. View full size.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Stores & Markets)

The Distance Champion
... to La Junta, Colorado for certain, or perhaps onward to Kansas City, 1776 miles away. The latter run was the longest ever regularly-scheduled ... 
 
Posted by Lost World - 07/25/2009 - 8:00am -

The last of AT&SF's 4-8-4's, #2929, sits on the ready track at 1st Street engine terminal, Los Angeles, in August of 1949, being readied for a trip east later in the day.  She'll run to La Junta, Colorado for certain, or perhaps onward to Kansas City, 1776 miles away. The latter run was the longest ever regularly-scheduled run by a single steam locomotive, and won Santa Fe's 4-8-4's the title of "Distance Champions" for the duration of their careers. View full size.
Oil BurnerDid they switch from coal to oil late in the game, or perhaps out west? Would this have allowed longer runs (no need to haul the ashes)?
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

Eagle-Picher: 1943
... the holdouts to finally move. Picher quit operating as a city in late 2009, and the last person who stayed passed away in 2015. The ... West, take a slight detour onto US-400 at the Missouri/Kansas/Oklahoma border, go west to US-69 (not Alternate 69), and then south on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/15/2018 - 11:38am -

January 1943. "The operator of a zinc ore loader at a large smelting plant is protected against harmful dust by a mask. From the Eagle-Picher plant near Cardin, Oklahoma, come great quantities of zinc and lead to serve many important purposes in the war effort." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Fritz Henle for the Office of War Information. View full size.
That Look That Says"Hey--camera man. You really ought to be wearing one of these yourself. Trust me."
Keep the mask onApparently, Eagle-Picher also produced a lot of asbestos and lead. The company went bankrupt and there's now the Eagle-Picher Industries Personal Injury Settlement Trust.
Dirty placeEagle-Picher eventually started making batteries for space applications. In Tom Kelly's book about building the Apollo Lunar Module, he relates a story about having some battery issues, and  going into the facility and finding it filthy  - including the guy putting the batteries together wearing dirty farm overalls and smoking in the assembly area. Dust of unknown nature was all over the place. They read them the riot act and they eventually cleaned it up. This was a pretty serious issue, since the only power on the lunar module came from the batteries. 
Getting the lead outCardin, Picher, Treece, and other towns in the area are part of the Tar Creek Superfund site, due to all the old lead and zinc mines.  There were very high levels of lead in the soil... for a while, the solution for residences was to dig up the first 6 to 12 inches of dirt in the yard and bring in fresh dirt from somewhere else.  After that went on for a while, politics happened, and it was decided to be cheaper to write checks to the residents if they would move out of the area.  Some people took the checks and moved, and some didn't.  
The Tulsa World ran a big story on Picher, and those who wanted to stay, in around March or April 2008.  In May 2008, an EF4 tornado hit Picher.  It killed six people in town and injured dozens more.  That convinced a lot of the holdouts to finally move.  Picher quit operating as a city in late 2009, and the last person who stayed passed away in 2015.
The tornado didn't hit Cardin directly, but it was also part of the buyout.  Its post office closed in 2009, and the last people moved out in 2010.
The area is still dotted with a moonscape of tailings piles from the mines, which you can see from space at your favorite satellite imagery provider.  Before the towns in the area went away, you could drive through there and see local kids riding bikes and ATVs up and down the piles for fun.
If you're ever traveling I-44 in southwest Missouri or northeast Oklahoma, have a little extra time, and would like to do some environmental disaster tourism: from I-44 West, take a slight detour onto US-400 at the Missouri/Kansas/Oklahoma border, go west to US-69 (not Alternate 69), and then south on US-69 through Treece, Picher, Douthat, and Commerce, then to Miami, and back to I-44.
(The Gallery, Fritz Henle, Mining, WW2)

Jennie Christa Power
... She was born Jennie Christa Butcher, in 1885, in Mound City, Kansas. She died in Prince Frederick, Maryland, in 1954. She was an ... mostly in Iowa. This photo was taken in the 1920s in Mason City, Iowa. a face full of character and strength..very nice and thanks ... 
 
Posted by joemanning - 01/05/2010 - 9:21am -

Jennie was my grandmother. She was born Jennie Christa Butcher, in 1885, in Mound City, Kansas. She died in Prince Frederick, Maryland, in 1954. She was an accomplished cellist who played in symphony orchestras and vaudeville, mostly in Iowa. This photo was taken in the 1920s in Mason City, Iowa.
a facefull of character and strength..very nice and thanks for sharing
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

J. David & Harriet Shelton - 1935
My grandparents' wedding album. Kansas City, MO, 1935. Lovely couple! Lovely couple! (ShorpyBlog, Member ... 
 
Posted by jshelton - 04/06/2012 - 10:13pm -

My grandparents' wedding album. Kansas City, MO, 1935.
Lovely couple!Lovely couple!
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

The Bad Hat Society
A group of fashionable ladies at the city park in Wamego, Kansas, circa 1907. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery) ... 
 
Posted by pabrown - 09/21/2011 - 11:30pm -

A group of fashionable ladies at the city park in Wamego, Kansas, circa 1907. View full size.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

TWA Guy with a Connie
... Connie and made coast to coast possible, no more stops in Kansas City or Chicago to fuel up. Lockheed had developed substantial experience with ... 
 
Posted by Mvsman - 06/05/2015 - 7:37pm -

My grandfather, Warren Erickson, a Trans World Airlines mechanic and inspector. He's in Burbank, California as a quality assurance guy stationed at Lockheed's plant as TWA accepted the Constellation into their fleet. This picture, taken in 1958 or 1959, is from a promotional set showing Warren inspecting part of the wing. My Mother told me that TWA commissioned these shots taken as a way of showing their top guy was on the job.
The Constellation was a Clarence "Kelly" Johnson design. It was a cutting edge airplane. Nothing was sleeker than the Connie. The Connie had a lot of growing pains, as did other piston engine airliners of that era. By the time Lockheed and TWA worked out the problems in the late '50s the aircraft was obsolete.
I have posted a couple other photos of Warren here and here.
Thanks, and enjoy. View full size.
Connie, the best of the bunchFrom the summer of 1952 until July of 1956 I flew in just about every commercial aircraft flying.  I remember the Constellation and the Super Constellation as the most comfortable and dependable aircraft of the bunch.
The Fowler Flaps in the Phoenix summer heat had us flying in a bit past half way down the runway while the DC-6/7 counterparts were using up most of the runway.
Two most vivid recollections in the Connie was a stall landing at Philadelphia.  The co-pilot must have been flying as we quit flying perhaps 20 or 30 feet up and had a hard landing.  No problem, we walked away from that.
Another was flying inbound to LA International over Palm Springs with a thermal updraft taking up and up.  The pilot chopped power for 5 seconds or so until we stabilized and we continued on.
Lockheed was ahead of the pack when it installed turbo-compound versions of the R3350 engine on the Super Connie and made coast to coast possible, no more stops in Kansas City or Chicago to fuel up.  Lockheed had developed substantial experience with this engine on the P2V Neptune Navy patrol bomber.  This gave them a leg up on getting this engine certified for commercial use. 
A bit more history, Lockheed bought Connie serial number 1 from TWA and stretched it 18 feet to create the Super Constellation. The super-compound R3350 was tested in the right outboard position to obtain certification.  This occurred at two different time periods.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
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