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Shulman's Market: 1942
...       This large-format Kodachrome by Louise Rosskam from 1942 first appeared on Shorpy some 20,000 posts ago, back in 2007. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/27/2017 - 4:25pm -

        This large-format Kodachrome by Louise Rosskam from 1942 first appeared on Shorpy some 20,000 posts ago, back in 2007.
1942. "Shulman's Market at N and Union Street S.W., Washington." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam. Alternate view. In one of the many comments for this post, an alert FOS (Friend of Shorpy) points out the posters of Axis leaders Mussolini, Hitler and Admiral Yamamoto in the window. Along the bottom of each it says What do YOU say America?
The smiling windowLook closely at the window and you'll see two swirls at the top that appear to be eyes and grinning mouth at the bottom. It's a happy store.
WowI am really loving these pictures, especially the color ones... Its amazing how dirty things were back then. Do you think it was just the subjects the photographer was capturing, or was there less focus on public works back then?
Same Store?I was hoping I had a newer photo of that same store, but it appears the one I took--though similar and also on N St--is not the same one. Here they are compared.
Same Store?Thanks for the detective work! Here is another view of the store. One thing that puzzles me (I live just outside of Washington, and work downtown) is there is not, as far as I can tell, a Union Street in the District. The street sign clearly says N and Union (the S or N in SW or NW is broken off). The street number behind the bars above the door is 485½. I notice that the windows on both the store and car have been soaped.
Harry ShulmanThere seem to have been several Shulman's Markets in D.C. An archive search shows there was one at 1349 Sixth St. NW in 1958, in addition to the one in the picture, and one on O Street NW. Harry Shulman died in 1984. From his obituary in the Washington Post: "Harry Shulman, 85, a grocer in the Washington area from the time he moved here in 1928 until he retired in 1971, died of a liver ailment May 15 at the Washington Hospital Center. He lived in Rockville. Mr. Shulman moved to Boston from his native Lithuania in the early 1900s. When he moved here, he opened Shulman's Market,  which he operated at O Street NW for 39 years before closing it in 1967. He worked for several other grocers until he retired four years later."
There are about 250 mentions of addresses on Union Street SW in the Washington Post, with the last one in 1959. The ones I found are in the 1200 block: houses at 1255 and 1271 Union St. SW, the Lincoln Market at 1212, etc. Either it got renamed or disappeared in some kind of redevelopment. (There are 51 hits for Union Street NW, with the last mention in 1990. Those may be mistaken references to Union Court NW.)
In 1908 there are a couple of ads listing merchants who would redeem Sweetheart Soap coupons. One was E. Cockrill, whose store was at 485½ N Street SW at Union.
Re: all the dirt. A coupleRe: all the dirt. A couple ideas: 1) these are pretty rough, poor places. 2) The country was at the end of a very long and difficult depression that made many people poor. Routine maintenance is one of the first things you cut back on when money's tight, and money was very tight.
I sent this site to my grandma, and she told me how they used to love playing with mud during the depression. :)
wonderful siteI am enjoying this site VERY much.
I, too, particularly like the color photographs because they provide a certain immediacy and timelessness. I don't THINK of 1941 as being "in color" (having been born 13 years later).
Anyway, keep up the great work. It's a pleasure to visit here.
More like this one, please!Street scenes like this one are just fascinating to me because the level of detail enables me to imagine that I'm actually walking down the street in 1942. At first glance it doesn't appear all that much different than today, but then you notice all the little details, such as the posters in the window of what I presume to be Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini!
this siteI've only just found this site and am loving it. thank you for doing this...lisavc (from australia)
Window postersYikes. I figured they were baseball players, but you are right. They are Mussolini, Hitler and Admiral Yamamoto (see comment with poster links below). I added your observation to the caption along with a blowup of the posters. Thanks! And thank you, too, lisavc in Australia!
dirt or soot?Did US homes use coal for heating in the 40s? Britain used to be black with soot.
CoalYes, lots of buildings and homes had coal furnaces in the 1940s. I would say the balance tipped in favor of oil (kerosene) heating sometime after World War II. Although I am not sure where people are seeing dirt here. The yellow paint is soiled from where people have been leaning against or touching the wall. You can see the same thing on either side of the doors in this picture.
Window Posters... where Hitler Says:
"We shall soon have our Storm Troopers in America!"
And Yamamoto:
"I am looking forward to dictating peace to the United States in the White House at Washington."
And Mussolini:
"We consider peace a catastrophe for human civilization."
Great site!
Poster LinksAmazing. I am shocked and awed! Thank you, Anonymous Tipster!
AmazingI love the site, especially pictures like this. The colors are so vivid, the image so clear, that it almost takes away the time barriers. I could imagine myself walking right up to those people as if they were still alive today, looking now as they did then. 
As for this comment...
"Its amazing how dirty things were back then."
Come take a trip to Philadelphia; the level of filth is exactly the same in 2007. 
Re: "Amazing How Dirty Things Were Back Then"Really? That is a very funny statement. When I first saw the photo, I thought it could be from anyhere on the Hill or in Georgetown today. Aside from a few neighborhoods, The city really isn't much cleaner. In fact, the brick sidewalks are actually flat. Now there are so many roots pushing them up that it's difficult to walk at night without tripping.
This 1897 map of DC showsThis 1897 map of DC shows that Union St SW ran from M to O in between 4 1/2 St. (which seems to have been where 4th St. is now) and 6th St.  If you look at a current map of DC, there's no trace of the former Union St. in the midst of a bunch of large buildings.  If you plug in 485 Union St. SW Washington into Google Maps, though, it does show it being about where Union St. was.
1897 MapThank you so much! Click here for a closeup of the map (which is quite beautiful). Union Street is toward the bottom. Another mystery solved thanks to Anonymous Tipster.
Southwest WashingtonSouthwest D.C. was probably the most destitute parts of town at the time this photo was taken. Union Street SW no longer exists because this part of town was almost completely leveled by eminent domain in the 1950s, in one of the country's first urban renewal projects.
Prince AlbertLooks like Shulman's has Prince Albert in a can... ;-)  Seriously, though, it is absolutely amazing how well these Kodachrome images have held up for all these decades. Kodak's scientists came up with a magic emulsion which has never been bettered...
Ninth StreetMy grandparents lived on 9th Street S.E.  There was a corner store with the same yellow paint job just down the street (300 or 400 block.) I'm guessing it was also owned by Shulman. As for the soot I'm sure it was from coal, their house was heated with coal until my grandmother sold the house in 1960.  
Bernard ShulmanAccording to the 1942 Polk Directory, 485½ N Street S.W. was Schulman's Grocery. That's how it was spelled in the directory. Bernard was listed as the owner. He lived at 1412 K Street S.E. His wife's name was Clara.
Across from Shulman'sI lived directly across the street from Shulman's Market from 1946 to 1949. We shopped there all the time, and not only were the houses all heated with coal (we had a large shed in the back yard to hold it), but most all of us had ice delivered in huge blocks for our iceboxes. Hardly anyone around there had a refrigerator. My mother, who is now 90, remembers discussing the Old Testament with the owner often. They were both very religious.
Union Street SI live at Union and N Streets, SW. Technically.  After the redevelopment of Southwest DC, Union Street was replaced by apartment/coop buildings. The streets that still remain off M Street are 4th and 6th. I bought the print with the old car in front of the market for nostalgic sake. 
Great PhotosThis series of photos was what first got me looking at Shorpy. Been hooked ever since.
Sad Little GirlThe Commentators so far seem to have skipped over the sad looking little girl sitting under the window. Beautiful child.
The Washington CanalI compared the two maps and managed to trace the route of the Washington Canal.  Looks like the canal came down Independence Ave along the Mall, veered a slight right Down Washington/Canal street, Right on South Capitol, another slight right at the RR tracks onto Canal again perpendicular to Delaware Ave, slight left down Third Street to the river.  The Fort Meyer complex absorbed and changed Third Street to 5th Avenue. If you go down M Street from South Capitol SW (west), take a left on 4th Street SW, go to N Street, the right on N would go to Union and N Street.  Of course the canal was filled in due to outbreaks of disease attributed to the terrible things dumped into it, the likes of which you aint never seen.
[Take a right on what again? -tterrace]
I recall the area vaguelyI was 6 years old, and lived near an old deli (Snyder's?) on the corner. I recall Miss Minnie's candy and variety store I think on the same block. I was able to walk to Bowen school from the "Jefferson Gardens" white 2 story deco building courtyard we lived in. I believe I lived near K and I streets. There were super-old abandoned red brick buildings across from me. Windows removed, and facing the demolitions to come like a tempest. 1953 or so, and then we moved. Later we went back and saw the barrel roofed buildings that emerged. I recall the vegetable man taking his horse cart through the alley. 
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, D.C., Louise Rosskam, Stores & Markets)

Meats Coke Fruits: 1942
... on N at Union Street S.W." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam. View full size. Thanks for the color! Never mind the color ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2017 - 2:54pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1942. "Car in front of Shulman's Market on N at Union Street S.W." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam. View full size.
Thanks for the color!Never mind the color naysayers. The color photos are amazing. Keep 'em coming! :-) 
colorized??I'm sorry, anyone thinking the color shots have been "colorized" must have issues with their vision. 
You do understand though, this is not 2042. I'm just sayin'...."Shorpy - The 100-Year-Old Photo Blog" and all...not that I mind the color or the more "recent" pictures. They are all fascinating. Long live Shorpy!
Love the carAnother great picture. Interesting to see how worn the car is. 
By the way, do you have Prince Albert in a can? Then you better let him out!
James clerk MaxwellI read an account that maxwell stumbled into and 'lost' an apparent color process. Sorry it's an unsourced and unqualified assertion; i cannot remember where i saw that.. :(     but that there is surviving examples  
My God, I can't get over theMy God, I can't get over the quality of these....I don't think I've ever seen any color photos this old look as good as these do. If the year hadn't been posted, I would've thought these were taken on some recent movie set or whathaveyou. Absolutely gorgeous!
Colors areColors are gorgeous!
Interesting to see the graffiti scratched into the store window. A store in this same location today would likely have the same vandalism.
Love Shorpy! An everyday stop for me now.
GraffitiSomeone soaped the windows -- scribbled on them with a bar of soap. What kids did back before spray paint. And thanks -- Shorpy loves you too!
What short memories we haveDoes anyone remember that The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939? The first movie shot in color was The Gulf Between (1917). 
Color Pictures in 1942At the date of this picture, color was widely available but was a premium process that was expensive.  But if you've ever seen naval war footage of 1942 it's mostly in color because the Navy began using it, interestingly the Army in Europe didn't.
Very nice sceneNice, very nice shot. It's amazing how the image is sharp. How is the photographer that took it?
[Louise Rosskam died in 2003 at the age of 93 - Dave]
N and Union: 1942Wonderful shot. Colourised? Colorized? I sincerely doubt that anyone has that degree of virtuosity, although Photoshop ace Tom Maroudas comes pretty close. (See http://precodecinema.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html and http://precodecinema.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html for details.) 
I remember reading an article by Andreas Feininger about the super qualities of Kodachrome when it was 10 ASA (ISO) and came in 8" X 10" format. Apparently, he took some Kodachrome pictures in that format back in 1937, and once developed he put them in a drawer in his darkroom where it was permanently dark and arid. In the '80s he was cleaning out his darkroom and found the perfectly preserved pictures is the same condition as they were over forty years before. The colours were vivid and the contrast had not changed. Amazing film. I hope that the digital medium can come within hailing distance of this marvelous film. (And as an advocate of digital, I am not holding my breath.)
Soaped WindowsLooks like they "soaped" the car windows, too.  Although it appears they used paraffin wax, not soap.  It came in blocks and was used to seal the top of jams & jellies.  Doesn't come off with water - you have to use gas or kerosene, or a razor blade.  Kids caught doing this when I was young got the "pleasure" of removing it, too (not that I have any personal experience or anything... ;^)
And is that a picture of Hitler in the window?
The carThe car in this picture, a Model A Ford, is 10 to 12 years old.
Old color photosThis is such a magnificent photograph.  I remember, as a child, assuming the whole world was colorless, since all the"old" photos I saw were b/w.
Here is a link to WW-I color photos, they are incredible.
http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/
The CarYou have the age right, make wrong.  It's a 1931 Chevrolet. Wonderful shot, Shorpy!
Pictures in the windowNot sure about old Adolph in the window of Shulman's Market, but I do recognize Il Duce - Benito Mussolini on the left side. Maybe and advertisement for some magazine or some sort of patriotic screed against the various "rats" the US was now at war with.
Rationing stickerThe  windshield has a gas rationing sticker, the letter "A" on the passenger side. That was the basic gas allowance, "B", "C", etc, allowed more gasoline to be purchased by the car owner. I believe the "A" allowance was 5 gallons a week and ration stamps were required.
Colorized?Why would people think that these were colorized? seriously, how dumb can you get? XD
So vibrant back then; I love the little boy just wandering about...
So little has changed.It's amazing, some of DC still looks so close to this that I could almost imagine this photo being taken today. In fact, I'm almost up for going to that corner to see if those building still stand. Even the painted blue is the same color you see almost everywhere today. 
[Good luck finding that intersection. - Dave]
Color Film from KodakKodak's new color film for home photographers was first displayed and demonstrated, but not sold, in the "Palace of Photography" at the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition in San Diego. It went on the market the following year. More than 400 natural color film processes were patented, and many of them marketed to the public, from the 1890s through the early 1930s, before Kodachrome dominated the market with its superior quality and relative ease of processing at Kodak labs. 
New ExcitementSeeing these pictures of N and Union Streets has brought out a whole new range of excitement for my family.  We were raised on N Street, at that corner, and spent all the wartime years living there, through all the blackouts and air raid drills, and day-to-day living.  We got groceries at that store, played street football on that corner, played Kick the Can on those sidewalks, and lived harmoniously in the racially mixed neighborhood, not realizing at the time just how "rich" we really were. Thanks a million for producing those pictures.
Love these Old DC photos. Love these Old DC photos.  This one's getting close to the neighborhood of my great-great grandparents. They lived there in the 1870's - early 1900's. I'm looking for photos during that period in the vicinity of 1513 Half St., SW, 1506 First St., SW; 1342 & 1346 Half St. SE; 62 N. St., SE? My G-G-Grandmother, Mary E. Hunt and Sons Wallace and Newton Cornwell bought property between Half & 1st. Sts, and M & N Sts. SE. and had a brick making business there. My G-G grandparents James & Isabella Storey lived on the SW side of Half Sts.  Their daughter Jane and Newton Cornwell married. They are my G-grandparents. We had know idea of them or where they lived until I recently started researching our family tree.  Anyone who can help, my email is:  ae-mitchell@hotmail.com.  I love this site! 
Herb's MarketI was born in D.C. 1941 and grew up living over my dad's grocery store, a DGS:  Herb's Market, 621 Seventh Street N.E., between F and G.
Any photos around  besides my few  taken with my Brownie Hawkeye?
Buddy Shulman,  the owner of the store in the photograph, was a "cousin" of my mother, or a relative of Buddy's. Also, I think related to Max Shulman.
AntennaIt looks like the bottom of what might be an antenna on the roof. The photo pre-dates TV, but I didn't think they used rooftop antennas for radio.
Is that what it might be? Or is there something else more likely?
[Rooftop radio antennas go back to the 1920s, with many examples here on Shorpy. -Dave]
Corner stores from the pastAs a kid growing up in 1950s Baltimore, the corner stores were part of daily life. Embedded in the corners of block-long row houses, our stores were specialized: one provided groceries, another was a meat market; there was a bakery (oh, the smells!), and a pharmacy with an oldtime soda fountain.
Today, Baltimore's corner stores have been replaced by liquor stores or simply abandoned -- along with many of the row houses. 
Many inner urban neighborhoods now complain of "food deserts".
It was a different world then. 
Cheap rent & MeowYears ago when I was in college I rented an apartment above a store. I liked watching the world pass by below.  Sometimes I could just stare out the window for thirty minutes, it made me feel like a cat.
--great photo.
God bless KodachromeI'm always amazed and impressed with the Kodachrome shots shown here at Shorpy. Especially the large format shots in 4x5 and 8x10" formats. Kodachrome was tough to work with given its low ASA/ISO speeds but the sharpness was second to none. The reason that Kodachrome colors are SO stable and don't fade with age is because it was a "dye-additive" film as opposed to films like Ektachrome which were "dye-subtractive". Simply put, Kodachrome's colors were put onto the film during processing and were extremely stable and not prone to fading. Go look at a 50 year old Ektachrome and you'll see the result of dyes fading.
Union StreetUnion street is long gone. I found it on a map from 1893.
The Car is Not a Model A FordI have been restoring a Model A Ford for 12 years now, with a lot of study of the years they were built 1928-'31, and I was at first taken in by the similarities, however 1. there is no gas tank filler cap (which should be in the center of the windshield on the metal cowling) 2. the cowling shape is '30-31 3. the headlights are '28-29 on a Model A. 4. the hood stamping looks different, and length appears longer than an "A". Even after this, I can't identify the car. Cars built during these years shared many similarities in design.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, D.C., Louise Rosskam, Stores & Markets)

Union Street: 1942
... wore actual clothes. View full size. Photograph by Louise Rosskam. Clothes No doubt their parents were constantly complaining ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/04/2012 - 11:06pm -

Boys with football at N and Union Streets S.W., Washington D.C. Autumn 1942. The scene at Shulman's Market, back when T-shirts were regarded as underwear and people wore actual clothes. View full size. Photograph by Louise Rosskam.
ClothesNo doubt their parents were constantly complaining about how  they always dressed like hoodlums. Like, whatever happened to powdered wigs already?
PantsI see knickers had not completely disappeared. Now they are back, but called warmup pants.
GirlThe girl off on the sidewalk is particularly interesting, she probably got in trouble for being there watching the boys (black boys no less, oh the scandal of it as she appears to be white and this was a very segregated time)when/if her mother found out.
GirlHard as it may be to believe, the streets of Washington (especially in Anacostia) were never segregated. As we see in the other pictures here by Louise Rosskam, the black and white kids hung out together.
I fine it hard to beliveI fine it hard to belive that a stop sign would have a metal pole in 1943.
I fine it hard to beliveThat's not all we find hard to believe. Look -- here it is again! The lamppost and car -- also made of metal.
Sign postsMetal has been around for some time now.
jus sayinok...so is the "i fine (find) it hard to belive (believe)" tipster the same who had to educate us on the fact EBAY didnt' exist in 1921?
jus sayin
- Destardi
[Anonymous Tipster is the generic username assigned by the system to anybody who's not logged in. - Dave]
Not quiteI'm assuming you mean the boy to the left in the brown pants. Those aren't sweatpants, they're corduroy slacks.
[Sweatpants? Huh? The caption is saying people dressed nicer then than they do now. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, D.C., Kids, Louise Rosskam)

Late in the Day: 1942
... Alternate version here . 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam, probably taken near the N and Union intersection of her other shots. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:08pm -

Street scene in Washington, D.C., winter of 1941-42. View full size. Alternate version here. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam, probably taken near the N and Union intersection of her other shots. Clues are the Chung Wah laundry at 1264, the J. Marucci barbershop and the A. Peterman clothing store.
The streetsWow...The world looked so nice before spray paint graffiti.
That old devil nostalgia...Sure makes you long for the days of grafitti-free walls and global armed conflict.
"that old devil"Actually there was a little something called World War II going on in '41-42...probably would qualify as a "global armed conflict"
DSS
[Which was exactly the point of that comment. Hello? - Dave]
beautiful colors!! :^obeautiful colors!! :^o
HopperesqueThis photo looks like an Edward Hopper painting, the only thing is that the person walking their dog throws the whole thing off. Still, a very colorful photo. With the widespread use of cinderblock construction, the warm, welcoming brick textures are rapidly disappearing in American cities large and small.
Fourth and NI'm pretty sure that this is the corner of Fourth and N Streets S.W., with those shops running along Fourth. I lived at Fourth and Union and went past this corner nearly every day for many years. Also had many haircuts in that barber shop.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Dogs, Louise Rosskam)

Sun Spot: 1940
... Vermont. "Sunbathing on the common." 35mm negative by Louise Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Outta my ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/16/2012 - 11:01am -

August 1940. Vergennes, Vermont. "Sunbathing on the common." 35mm negative by Louise Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Outta my wayI know CPR.  I'll save 'em!
(The Gallery, Louise Rosskam)

Baby Vegetables: 1940
... beans in farm kitchen near Bristol, Vermont." Photo by Louise Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. All ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 4:54am -

July 1940. "Canning beans in farm kitchen near Bristol, Vermont." Photo by Louise Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
All growed up - and then someOur cheerful baby would now be 73 years old. It would be nice to see a photo of her (him?) today. Google People View?
Old things!Oilcloth and enamel pots and pans.  Two neat old things you just don't see anymore.
May I join you?This is one of those pictures I sure wish I could walk into and join the action! It brings back lots of memories of canning various fruits and veggies, with my mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, and various friends. It's a big job, but a lot of fun, if there is good company, during it. Not much is so gratifying as seeing rows of filled jars, from the Summer and Fall bounty, knowing that one's family will benefit from it when there is snow on the ground!
1940?The calendar on the wall reads "1937."
[Being used for decor. Below, a shot a few frames away on the same roll. - tterrace]
BabyThat's about the most gleefully happy baby I've seen in one of these pictures.  Must be thinking about eating those beans.
Let's see that calendarCan you zoom in on that calendar?  It almost looks like it says "C. A. Donah" on it.
[Alas, it's not clear on the the full-size original. - tterrace]
Well-ShodMom and Grandma wearing some nifty shoes.
(The Gallery, Kids, Kitchens etc., Louise Rosskam)

Bureaucrat in Autumn: 1942
... Streets S.W., Washington, D.C." Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam. I wonder if the passageway was for service delivery of milk or ice. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 2:50pm -

1942. "Rowhouses, corner of N and Union Streets S.W., Washington, D.C." Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam. I wonder if the passageway was for service delivery of milk or ice. View full size.
PassagewayThe small passageway is often called a mouse hole.  When the  rowhouses take up a long section of the block it was the only way to get from the back yard to the street without walking through the house.  In my area (St. Louis) there were often apartments that were entered from the back of the building.  On narrow rowhouses the second floor was accessed through an outside rear staircase.  The only way to access the rear entrance was through the mouse hole or by walking the length of the block and then all the way back through the alley.  
Mouse holeFascinating, thanks for the info. You can tell people were skinnier back then.
AlleywayThese are really common in the UK. Rows of terraced houses (rowhouses) nearly always have a passage to get from the street to the back garden or yard. More expensive houses share the passage just with their immediate next-door neighbour. Cheaper houses often only have one alley per row of houses and then all of the yards have a pathway crossing them to get from one garden to the next (not a lot of privacy if you want to a little bit of sunbathing!) They are called ginnels in the north of England or alleyways in the south.  These days people sometimes block them off with a gate and store bikes etc in them. In the north of England there is often a back street as well that runs along the back of the gardens to get from one yard to another. Things in the UK are often smaller than in the US (you should see how titchy our fridges are for example!) so squeezing down a little alleyway really isn't unusual at all!
Horse WalkI live in Frederick, Maryland, and have one of these passages connected to my rowhouse. I've been told it is a "horse walk."
Eminent DomainIt's a shame this neighborhood is now long gone.  In fact, there is no Union Street in SW DC anymore.
Union & N Sts.I recently found pictures of my parents on this corner. Here are my mom and dad.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, D.C., Louise Rosskam)

Time for TIME: 1940
... props: Cat, kite, broom, washboard. Screen door! Photo by Louise Rosskam. View full size. Leaning Tower of Paper The magazine rack ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/11/2012 - 11:27am -

July 1940. "Reading on the front porch. Lincoln, Vermont." Homey props: Cat, kite, broom, washboard. Screen door! Photo by Louise Rosskam. View full size.
Leaning Tower of PaperThe magazine rack looks to be made of a vegetable crate that is about to give up the fight.
Thwarted -- for now.Looks like said washboard and screen door are conspiring to keep said cat on said porch, but if I know anything about cats, this isn't over.
I'm trying to determine which issue of Time she's reading (yes, I'm at work - why do you ask?).  The blob of darkness on the left of the cover suggests it could be July 8.  It doesn't fit perfectly, but I can't find another issue from around that time that fits any better.
Summer CoatIt looks more like it's time to paint the house.
Soft water without a water softenerThe washtub is strategically placed to collect rainwater from the roof.  Maybe it's there to keep water away from the foundation or maybe it's for washing hair or rinsing glassware. I suppose it could be for laundry--with the washboard removed from the screen door--but the water would have to go on the stove or the washtub put over a fire.  
Trout Fishing in America!Are those fishing poles stored above the kite?
Yup, those are fly rods, just waiting bring home some scrappy Vermont native brookies.
Old TimeThe figure on the cover of that Time magazine appears to be Francisco Franco (not yet "still dead"), from the September 6, 1937 issue.  Below is the unenhanced original from the LoC, with the Franco cover superimposed in the lower left, then crudely Photoshopped adjacent to the original for comparison.
So Much StuffIt's a 4-H family, too.
Miscellany1.  Don X, the expression "too poor to paint; too proud to whitewash" comes immediately to mind.
2.  Fanhead and sstucky, perhaps that rustic Canterbury was a very early 4-H or Cub Scout project.  Better than the ashtray I hammered asymmetrically for my father from an aluminum disc.
3.  Max, though the washtub seems to be a field expedient (rain water and tar soap -- my, the ladies' hair will shine!), I am still impressed with the triangular section cantelevered from the porch to support it.
(The Gallery, Cats, Louise Rosskam)

Small Business: 1940
... in Lincoln, Vermont." Medium-format nitrate negative by Louise Rosskam for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Wet cement ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 2:30pm -

July 1940. "General store in Lincoln, Vermont." Medium-format nitrate negative by Louise Rosskam for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
Wet cementLooks like he was getting a new front walk.
MoxieGood at any temperature, critics say it tastes like prune juice, motor oil and store brand cough syrup, others relate the taste to licking a creosote telephone pole.
Hot And Cold MoxieJust look at that great Moxie Thermometer, on the wall, to the right of the door. It probably had more viewers than both Coca-Cola signs.
The Merry OldsmobileThe front of a 1935 Oldsmobile Series L is visible.
The "L" series was an 8 cylinder model (100 hp, 15 mpg at 50 mph, 121" wheelbase) as compared to the "F" series which had a 6 cylinder engine (90 hp, 18 mpg at 50 mph, 115" wheelbase).
The "L" series models are easily distinguished by the three sets of horizontal double bars in the grille.  The "F" series used three single bars.
Note the Texaco sign reflection in the upper right front window of the store.
Puffed Wheat Sparkies - A Serial's CerealLater in the 1940's, Quaker rebranded and sweetened its Puffed Wheat(and also Puffed Rice) breakfast cereal products as "Sparkies" and repackaged them, from boxes into clear cellophane bags. The slogan Qauker used for them was, "The Cereal(s) Shot from Guns". Along with General Mills' Wheaties, Kellogg's Pep and Post's Toasties, they were heavily advertised on kids' afternoon radio serial programs. They were all pretty good, except for Pep, which had the taste of wet cardboard. (It offered great premiums, however...)  
Chronic Hay FeverThe window poster references the play Hay Fever, which newspaper clippings from 1937 also mention.  Hay Fever must have been an annual tradition at the school.  
I know it is for me.
Small Business: 1940Charles Arthur Donah died in 1964, at the age of 82.
1940 Census saysHe is Charles A. Donah, 58.  Living with his wife, daughter, son-in-law (a gas station attendant), and granddaughter.  Kind of brings things to life, eh?
Re: MoxieAhhh ... good old Moxie.  As someone who can actually drink a Moxie and "somewhat" enjoy the flavor, I think of it like this:  Bitter cola mixed with a touch of root beer, and some cherry cough syrup thrown in for good measure.  The Moxie Festival (held in Lisbon Falls, Maine) just concluded back around the middle of July, and was the 30th Anniversary of the event.  
Check out their website for anything and everything Moxie: http://www.moxiefestival.com/
This WAS "my father's Oldsmobile"The ads for the last new touted "not like", but this was indeed like my father's Oldsmobile.  He and my mother had the long-wheelbase 4-door sedan when they first married in 1951.  It was quite old then, bought second-hand (or third, fourth, fifth...)  All their lives they told how it was one of the best cars they ever owned, carrying them to nearly every state in the western United States and over the perilous roads high in the Rockies that predated our interstate system.  One of my favorite pictures of them as young newlyweds is them sitting on that long hood of theirs in baby blue.
(The Gallery, Louise Rosskam, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)

Dark Passage: 1942
... narrow passage between houses. Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam. View full size. Free Service Stars Here is an image of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/14/2017 - 10:16pm -

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

Modern Farmwoman: 1940
... machine. Near Lincoln, Vermont." Sliver gelatin print by Louise Rosskam. View full size. Gas Maytag in action Vintagetvs, an ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/17/2012 - 8:05pm -

July 1940. "Farm woman washing clothes in her motor-driven washing machine. Near Lincoln, Vermont." Sliver gelatin print by Louise Rosskam. View full size.
Gas Maytag in actionVintagetvs, an excellent call!

Gasoline PoweredA Gasoline powered Maytag, you can just see the spark plug under the tub. The engines from these old machines are highly collectible today.
The ever-handy bushel basketI don't think we ever had any other kind of laundry basket until sometime in the 1970s. Treated right they lasted for a number of years.
This could have been my mother in 1946My job was to carry water from the cistern to the rinse tub or  water from the cistern to the stove and then hot water in the washing machine. In those days, we had a coal furnace, a kerosene powered cook stove and a path to a shack for the other necessity of life.
Don't Fear the ReaperLooks like a scythe hung from the overhang behind the woman. It must be secure: she doesn't look concerned that it could fall.
We do this for funDad and I have several Maytag engines and have two washers with the gas engines on them to use at farm shows. The two cycle engines can be quite cantankerous at times.  My grandmother used her Maytag wringer washer well into the '70's and swore that the new automatic did not get the clothes as clean.  We hear that from a lot of folks at the shows.
The great thing about the Maytag washers is that you could get a meat grinder attachment that was used on place of the wringer and a butter churn that was placed in the tub after removing the agitator.  Check out this website for more info. http://www.maytagclub.com/
Modern Convenience She has everything she needs to wash clothes: motor oil, gasoline! Love those old Maytag hit & miss engines. 
Fun wringingI used a ringer washer on my honeymoon, up in the hills of Northern California.  I found it to be a lot of fun, but then I didn't have to do it all the time and was only washing for two (no diapers yet).  Neither did I have chickens to feed, hogs to slop, wood to chop, etc., etc.
Happy Washday!When I was four years old we lived in Hamtramck, Michigan in a four family flat.  Washday was a treat (for me at least) when I accompanied my Mother to the basement.  The attached picture (1951) shows me at one of the dual compartment cast cement wash tubs which weighted a "ton".  The stick at the right is held by my mother and was used to feed the wet clothing into the ringer.  The thing which fascinated me the most was when my mother would add the "Bull Dog" brand bluing to the rinse water.  The water turned dark blue but it didn't stain your hands.  The ringer had an emergency bar at the top which would separate the rollers if your hand got caught assuming your other hand was free.  The farm woman is clearly happy with her washer.  I wonder if she had the "kick start motor"?  The motor oil in the can was mixed with the gasoline, 8 ounces of oil to one gallon of gas.  I also noticed the folding rack holding up the two wash tubs.  My wife and I picked one up at an antique store years ago.  We topped it with glass and it makes a perfect coffee table in the den.  Since those wash tubs hold 10 to 15 gallons of water each, the rack was built like the proverbial brick outhouse.
Watch out!My grandmother had the electric version in her basement.  I recall being warned that getting one's hand caught in the wringer would be a painful experience.
Still wringingWhen I moved out on my own in 1967 I found an apartment in Vancouver, B.C. for $80.00 a month. That included the laundry facilities, on the top floor of the 1921 walk-up. When I ventured up there for the first time to wash my clothes, I discovered 3 wringer washers, concrete laundry tubs, clotheslines, and a gas-fired ironing machine. Miss Sigurdson, another tenant,  was up there and she asked if I was new in the building. She was kind enough to show me how to use the machines, and not ruin my clothes. When I bought my own house in 1977 I bought one of the machines, a 1944 Beatty, and still use it on occasion. In the U.S.A. automatic washers outsold wringers by 1951, but that point was not reached in Canada until 1968.
(The Gallery, Louise Rosskam, Rural America)

The Children's Army: 1942
... aiming sticks as guns." Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam for the Office of War Information. View full size. Back when ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/14/2022 - 2:26pm -

Washington, D.C., 1942. "Children playing, aiming sticks as guns." Kodachrome transparency by Louise Rosskam for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Back when kids had imaginations....They don' need no stinkin' Nintendo.
So BeautifulMan, these pictures are so good and children are so universal. I had to examine their shoes to verify that it wasn't a contemporary photo.
ClothesThe shoes, and the knickers.
children at wall in 1942As an historian, I would like to find the grown up children and pose them as they were in '42.  That would be a photo
The bikeThe bicycle at the bottom right gave it away for me. No tires, no rubber, which means WWII. Either it was not invented yet or being conserved for the war effort. At first glance thought I thought 50's or 60's until I spotted the bike. Great color for the early 40's! 
DC KidsI love this picture.
So much.
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