MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
Home

Search Shorpy

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

Search results -- 30 results per page

A Crocker Christmas: 1925
... at home, but bring the kids! December 1925. "Christmas tree and Santa Claus at Crocker National Bank, Post & Montgomery ... like to offer its malevolent memory on balance to the Christmas cheer his descendants seem to be spreading here (and who, I believe, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/10/2015 - 11:12am -

        Before getting to all those department stores, Santa has to hit the bank. Leave your checkbook at home, but bring the kids! December 1925. "Christmas tree and Santa Claus at Crocker National Bank, Post & Montgomery Streets, San Francisco." 8x10 nitrate negative, formerly of the Wyland Stanley and Marilyn Blaisdell collections. View full size. Now Wells FargoThe Crocker National Bank building, designed by Willis Polk (1867-1924), used to have an 11-story office tower above it, which was removed in 1983. The interior has a carved marble staircase along with more marble benches and counters. It was used as the location for the 1962 film "Experiment in Terror" starring Glenn Ford and Lee Remick. Some pictures of the interior. Dear SantaInstead of toys, could you please bring me another sailor suit? Tour de forceWhat a challenge! Herd every one into a cohesive group, get their attention and fire off the flash powder for a technically outstanding exposure. Those commercial photographers of the early twentieth century leave me in awe. And kudos to Dave for the scan and final result here. FacesSo, one happy face near the tree looking left. A series of shocked open mouths on the lower right. A man looking at a woman doing a face-palm over on the right about half way up. What did that photographer say? What did he do? HumbugAssuming that this bank is named for the same Crocker who built the eponymous Crocker spite fence on Nob Hill, I’d like to offer its malevolent memory on balance to the Christmas cheer his descendants seem to be spreading here (and who, I believe, maintained the fence after his passing). Happy Holidays! Hats OffNot a gentleman wearing a hat indoors, and that's the way it was - (back then). Big BangIt must have been a really big bang! "Where's the bar?"The look on the men's faces totally says" Gawd I need a drink" (The Gallery, Christmas, Kids, San Francisco, W. Stanley)
Deck the Halls: 1920
Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Margaret Clark." A Christmas tree with all the trimmings, and a Buick. Harris & Ewing ... Is that ceiling light really hanging inside of the Christmas tree!? Kitchen utensils and tinsel? Is that what it looks ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 5:57pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Margaret Clark." A Christmas tree with all the trimmings, and a Buick. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. The Biggest LightIs that ceiling light really hanging inside of the Christmas tree!? Kitchen utensils and tinsel?Is that what it looks like? Mom's whisk turned into a tree decoration, with a round ornament slipped inside the wires? And is that some odd toy pointing to it, with the cone-shaped tip? It looks like a stumpy pool cue. Whatever, I'm sure Consumer Reports would put in on their list of unsafe toys. SnapI see a Snap card game; a wooden puzzle (the lid is in front of the open box - I can make out part of the first part of the name [ ]ahghus or [ ]anghus and the second word looks like it starts with a Z); what appears to be a dresser set for the girl with a mirror, a comb, hairbrush, what and could be a nail file (and perhaps a small tray and "hair catcher"); some books just behind the girl. Transportation Toys!"Junior" must be fascinated with "wheels". Besides the Buick racer, we see at least six model cars and carriages, leading past a magnificent fire truck to a wheelbarrow. Even the horsie has wheels. If rolling on the ground gets old, there's the Dan-D Flyer rubber band plane to wind up. And what's the stick-and-balls flywheel thingie with hints of pulleys on the axle? Enquiring minds also linger on the Bizzy Andy Triphammer, although we are unclear on its relationship with the adjoining elephant, clown, and giraffe(?). "Sis" is holding a toy concertina, whose profusion of keys promises a little more musical potential than the 4-key concertina in the previous picture, and I sense artistic potential in the supplies laid out in front of the plane. She's probably gotten interested in horses, as girls seem to do, judging by the horse-themed playset under the tree. If that's a single-note tooting horn sticking up in front, keep it away from Junior. Merry Christmas indeed! Bizzy AndyThe ol' "Bizzy Andy Trip Hammer." Now that was a TOY. Top that... and two antenna-like tree-toppers and a chandelier jumbled in there too? This tree's got it all! Where to begin?This is close to the perfect Christmas picture. Except perhaps for devout, any mood -- sentimental, acquisitive, aesthetic, blase, bah humbug -- is reflected here. CarWow! The kid got a Buick! The sister is wondering when the chandelier will catch the tree on fire. And I want that lampshade. Mary Pickford curlsThe influence of "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford, the silent screen star from Toronto, can be seen as Margaret Clark sports the curls that Mary made fashionable in the movies. FinallyHere we have an acceptable Christmas tree. Not one of those scrawny shrubs we've been seeing here lately. I also like the Buick, which this year made the cut and is still with us. Lastly the young lady in the picture, if that, indeed, is Ms Margaret Clark, I would like to see some pictures of her later her in life. She is a stunner. Schoenhut toysI'm fairy sure that the elephant, clown and donkey are part of the Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty Circus. Wouldn't you love to see those under your Christmas tree? The ceiling lampI suspect that it is simply to hold the tree straight. Given the fact that most of those old lights weighed a ton, they were pretty well secured to the ceiling. In my experience, you could have wires securing a tree to all four walls and it would still manage to tip over, especially if you have a cat in the house. They have electric lights on the tree and those heavy tin reflectors. More on the Bizzy Andy Trip Hammerhttp://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/old-wolverine-bizzy-andy-trip-hamm... Visiting the TreeA friend and I were talking today about Christmas memories and he said that his family used to display the gifts under the tree until all the relatives had visited. The whole of the extended family visited each other's homes. It drove him crazy as a child because you weren't allowed to remove the gifts from under the tree except to play with them. They had to be put back in "display mode" for the duration of what they called "visiting the tree." Since they had a LOT of family coming in from all over Wisconsin over the holiday, it was a long wait for the kids until they could take their toys to their rooms. He thought it was just his family that did this but many of the trees here have the gifts displayed under them and it makes me wonder if this was some sort of Christmas tradition that I'm not familiar with. (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Kids)
An Okeh Christmas: 1941
December 1941. Washington, D.C. "Christmas shopping in Woolworth's five and ten cent store record department." ... are sales clerks working in the store. (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., John Collier, Stores & Markets) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/19/2015 - 11:13am -

December 1941. Washington, D.C. "Christmas shopping in Woolworth's five and ten cent store record department." Victor titles, 53 cents each. Photo by John Collier for the Office of War Information. View full size. Ubiquitous EddyThat Eddy Duchin album in the upper right still turns up in thrift stores and used record sales from time to time. I think I even had a copy for a while. SeriousSocks on that dapper lad. Tumultuous times for sure. Small FryBing Crosby album at top center. Note the William Steig cartoon art. [A much-loved series that he did for the New Yorker. - Dave] That reminds meOf a music store in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was in business seemingly forever until it closed more than 20 years ago. I used to go in there and buy brand-new 78s from the early 1930s and up, for basically the original prices. It was pretty much the same setup as this picture. I have been collecting 78 rpm records since 1957, and I recognize some of the record albums pictured here. CardboardSo when did they start using cardboard sleeves for the albums? [Those are singles, not albums. 10-inch 78rpm discs with two songs, one per side. Paper sleeves were the standard packaging. Multiple disc sets came in cardboard albums with bound sleeves of stiff card for the records, like those above the moulding at center and right. -tterrace] Stocking seamThat girl has a stocking seam up the back of her leg. Either it's drawn on (nylon shortage during the war) and she forgot to wash it off before donning her socks, or she is wearing socks over her nylons, which seems unlikely. Maybe she's got a hot date tonight and is saving time. Bluebird labelOn the second row front are 35 cent Bluebird titles. Bluebird was a less expensive Victor brand. Glenn Miller was on this label, for example. Working GirlsJudging from the time of year, the ear muffs on the young lad, and other customers' clothing, I'm guessing that it's a tad cold outside. That being said, I'll bet that the two hat-less girls with their backs to us are sales clerks working in the store. (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., John Collier, Stores & Markets)
101 Broadway Pharmacy: 1957
... very well getting the Lifesavers Sweet Story Book every Christmas back in the 50s. It was a book-shaped box that opened and revealed ... also make a nod toward the LifeSaver Sweet Story Book. At Christmas we each got one and could always identify it although wrapped. Opened ... 
 
Posted by Cazzorla - 06/29/2014 - 5:37pm -

I purchased this 8 x 10 print at the swap meet. On the back is printed: Mr. and Mrs. Cliff McCorkle, proprietors of the 101 Broadway Pharmacy, Richmond, Calif., getting an order ready for delivery. 5 November 1957. Photographer: Pfc. Barbara A. Warner, Sixth US Army Photo Lab, Presidio of San Francisco, Calif. Official US Army photograph. View full size. "Fling"?Somebody is going to have to convince me that it's really for feet. SquibbThey were an official ER Squibb Vitamin Headquarters. Having grown up next to the factory in Brooklyn, I recognize the 3 column logo. My color versionI've been getting into colorizing photos. If a product name was legible, I looked up references of old packaging on google to try to get the colors as accurate as possible. Some of the hair care products and lotions I had to fudge on it because I couldn't find them, but most of the other stuff is accurate. I had a lot of fun doing it and I think the color really adds to the photo. It was my intention to get it as accurate as possible. Check it out: https://www.shorpy.com/node/18065 ImpressedI am happy that this photo has been well received. I never thought that I'd get to see a color version, or a photo of the photographer! I have a few more pictures from this collection that I will share sometime. Divinity memoriesAs a kid growing up in Mississippi in the 1950s, divinity was home made candy. Sugar, eggs whites, corn syrup, vanilla, sugar and pecans combined to make a divine candy. I haven't visited Mississippi in 25 years, but today there is always the hope someone will bring divinity to a church supper. Maybe I should just make some tonight. Top GunkI can't see any in the photo, but I bet they carry Dapper Dan pomade. S&HAnd they give out Green Stamps. Sales no longer allowedNearly 50 years from the date on this picture, Richmond enacted an ordinance that prohibits the sale of tobacco products in establishments with pharmacies. You have to go to El Cerrito or Albany now for your nicotine fix. Why?A very odd subject for an official Army photograph. Since Letterman Army Hospital had a complete pharmacy and all military personnel stationed at the Presidio would have had access thereto, I'm left to wonder why this shot was taken. For Your HealthGet your Myadec vitamins here! Only $85.50 for the economy size! That amount equates to $723.86 in today's dollars! Gone but not forgotten, until now.Clove Life Savers I guess that flavor is not popular any longer, but I do remember purchasing them in the past but not really sure why? Coffee Time!Am I the last living human who remembers the taste of coffee-flavored candy? It was pretty good, actually. ...and is there ANYBODY who ever ate Clove Life-Savers? They musta sold okay, but yikes! Can't rememberthe last time I saw a package of"Clorets"! "Brusha, Brusha, BrushaWith the new Ipana." CloveI remember clove gum, but not the Life Savers. The thing that strikes me is the great variety of 1950s cigarettes in the back--Camels, Kents, Cavaliers, Pall Malls, Marlboros, L&Ms, and Herbert Tareytons. RepurposedAppears the address still exists, but the building is now a Planned Parenthood office. Divinity candyWhat was that? I don't remember them. If you eat it were you guaranteed to go to heaven or were they just sold to Priests? [Divinity. -tterrace] Clove Lifesavers and other flavorsI remember very well getting the Lifesavers Sweet Story Book every Christmas back in the 50s. It was a book-shaped box that opened and revealed 10 rolls of Lifesavers. They always included Clove, Wint-O-Green, Butter Rum and Butterscotch, 5-flavor, Orange, and others. Clove and Wint-O-Green were my favorites, and always saved until last. We were neighbors!I lived in Richmond in November 1957 (I was 4 at the time). I wonder if my folks ever shopped here? Shoot, maybe my mom was standing just off to the side when this picture was taken (she was always kinda shy). Tough TownAh, Richmond. I grew up just south of there, in Albany. Always a tough place: factories, warehouses, oil refinery. Best part of Richmond for me was that it was where we got on the Ferry to San Rafael on the way to Stinson Beach most Sundays. Looking for a certain productI was hoping to catch a glimpse of the cold and flu products near the vapor rubs, to find 4 way cold tablets. My mother swore by them for any signs of a cold coming on. Take the 4 way pill, get under a heavy blanket, and sweat the cold right out of you. And believe it not, they actually worked! Does anyone else remember them? Old Time products!Amazing how many of those items are still available and how many are gone. I was 11 years old when that picture was taken. If it didn't say where it was from it could have been from any Drugstore in America at that time. I know there was one across from the school I went to in Chicago at the time that had that same kind of goodie rack and one closer to my house same thing. Neighborhood pharmacy!I lived just a few blocks away from this pharmacy from birth to age 20! My folks undoubtedly knew the McCorkles! Very cool photo! Wint-O-Green memoriesAh! The counter candy stand of my youth. Separate comments here each touch on one part of the story, but marketing ad-speak nowadays has dropped the use of "breath-mints" as a catchall. Yes, all those packs of cigarettes often got sold with strong breath masking mints, candies and gum. Let me also make a nod toward the LifeSaver Sweet Story Book. At Christmas we each got one and could always identify it although wrapped. Opened last, its contents assisting in thoughtful appraisal of our acquired loot. We called Wint-O-Green "spark-in-the-dark." Chew some with your mouth open and lights out to understand why. Not in Kansas anymoreThe article below is from page 3 of the Sunday, December 30, 1956 issue of the The Salina Journal. By the time Barbara returned to Hays, Kansas in 1961 for her mother's funeral (her father had died in 1954), she was known as Mrs. Barbara Constantin of San Francisco. There was a particular smell and a particular coolnessthat hit you when you entered a drugstore of that era -- I can't describe it except that it was very clean smelling. Regardless of whether the store was a Rexall or a Walgreens or a local independent, the smell was the same -- very pleasant. I always associated it as a cross between the medicines that the druggists were compounding (always in white tunic like in the picture) and the soda fountain that was inevitably part of the store. There was also a coolness to drug stores when I was growing up (1950's). A lot of stores were still not air-conditioned at that time, especially if they were not a chain or franchise, but it seemed to me that drug stores always felt cool. When you sat at the fountain, the marble or the formica or tile of the counter was always cold to the touch. You go into a drugstore today and the smell and that coolness just isn't there. Have a cold?That Vicks Vapo Rub and Mentholatum were Moms favorites for a chest cold. First was the application to the chest just before going to bed so the vapors could work overnight. If that didn't work, the next step was to put a spoon or two of Vicks or Mentholatum in a large bowl, add hot water, and have me breath the vapors with a towel covering both my head and the bowl. It usually worked to clear out congestion. My High School Addiction --Wint-o-GreensAh LifeSavers. Through the early 60s. I went through roll after roll of that addictive goody. Cliff & Lola McCorkleOur pharmacist is Clifford W. McCorkle, born in Tygh Valley Precinct, Wasco County, Oregon on June 6, 1906 to farmer Rufus W. McCorkle and his wife Jessica L. McCorkle. He had two older brothers: Calvin, born in 1891, and Lester born in 1892. He was still living with his parents in 1920, but they are all shown as living in Wapinitia, Wasco County, Oregon. He graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Pharmacy on June 3, 1929. The photo below is from his senior yearbook. The 1930 U.S. Census shows him living in Hillsboro City, Washington County, Oregon. He married at the age of 21, it shows him as a lodger in the home of John Kelley, but his wife is not listed with him. He is already working as a pharmacist in a drug store. In 1931 he is shown with his wife Lillian living at 297 E. 39th Street in Portland, Oregon. The 1940 U.S. Census shows that he was residing in San Francisco by 1935. In 1937 he was working at Birnbaum & Son Drugs at 757 Market Street, San Francisco, CA. He was living with his wife Lillian at 511 Leavenworth in San Francisco. In 1940 he was working as a pharmacist in a drug store in San Francisco, California, he was making $2,185 a year, and he was now divorced. His residence is at the Lyric Hotel. In 1955 he worked at Bellini's Bayside Pharmacy and his wife Lola is a clerk in the store. They resided in Oakland, California at the time. He died on January 10, 1972 still in Richmond, Contra Costa County, California. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Wide Christmas 1920 Colorized
... this in hopes it might give you a look at a splendid Christmas past. View full size. Great detail work! You must still be ... There were times I didn't think I would get it finished by Christmas and that took all the fun out of doing it. The snow was ... 
 
Posted by Fredric Falcon - 01/21/2010 - 2:29am -

I enjoy colorizing old photos in my spare time and have been wanting to try colorizing one that is so large all its fine details can be seen. I found this one on Shorpy at a much larger size than this re-sized version and set to work. I don't know whether my color choices for the vintage ornaments are accurate but perhaps this is how the tree looked. The full size version has much better detail but I couldn't upload that. I'm uploading this in hopes it might give you a look at a splendid Christmas past. View full size. Great detail work!You must still be suffering from eye strain after this one... The results are well worth it, though, so congrats! It must have taken forever to do. You did an especially fantasic job on the "snow" at the base of the tree and on all those ornaments. Is that a carrot near the top of the tree? They appear to have put everything but the kitchen sink on there. Thanks!This one did take a lot of time. I started it in August and worked on it about once a week. There were times I didn't think I would get it finished by Christmas and that took all the fun out of doing it. The snow was especially hard to do and it's still not quite right. The thin areas of cotton either had the unacceptable brown tint of the background or stayed white without any of the background color, which gave areas of it a dirty gray look. Yes, that's a carrot at the top of the tree. I was amazed at how many ornaments were hiding in those branches with only small parts of them revealed. Thanks for your comments. I have a request Your work is amazing to say the least. Do you have a website with all your work to see? I would love to see you do a baseball picture from the Shorpy collection. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work! Thanks again!Thanks! No, I don't have a website exclusively for my colorized photos. I'm upgrading a website I currently have online, but it's not about colorized photos, though a few have appeared there. I've colorized more than have appeared on this site, but I can't upload them because they don't fit Shorpy's regulations for uploading photos (such, as in my case, old movie stills). I would attempt to colorize a baseball picture from Shorpy, but I don't know where I would find color photos of the old uniforms. It's more important to get those colors right than any others in the photo. Shorpy does have about half a dozen that are ideal for colorizing, though. ImpressiveI have just started colorizing old BW family photos. Your work is very impressive. What software do you use? Painstaking and time consumingThis must have taken ages to do but the result is superb, I enjoyed looking at this. Wonderful work. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, Colorized Photos)
A Lodging House Christmas
Christmas tree at a New York lodging house in 1914. View full size. 5x7 ... where you can rent a room. - Dave] (The Gallery, Christmas, G.G. Bain, Kids, NYC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 10:06am -

Christmas tree at a New York lodging house in 1914. View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. What did Santa bring? Chairs! CorsetedWow! Back then, even the trees were corseted! Hahaha. Ah. I kid, I kid. Santa Should've Brought Soap!Yowsers! Those are some dirty kids! Love this photo though - the 2 girls standing at center are adorable. Children's facesWonderful photo! Great kids and the woman in the foreground looks doting and proud of whichever one is hers. Their faces might seem "dirty" because they are actually chapped. (Even in the cleaned up version, their faces seem to have something on them.)I never realized how easy it was for this to happen until I lived for a while in a cold place among people who had no easy access to warm water and no skin lotion or mild soap. The children all had constant runny noses and chapped cheeks. Also, I think there was a difference between "boarding house" and "lodging house," which is what the original label on the side says. One got meals in a boarding house ("room and board") but not in a lodging house. [Thanks. I will change the title. - Dave] So why are these children here?Are they orphans? Why are they in a lodge? [They're in a lodging house. Rooms where they live with their parents. - Dave] Lodging HousesThese were shelters for the homeless. [According to Wikipedia, lodging house is a synonym for boarding house or rooming house. i.e. a place where you can rent a room. - Dave] (The Gallery, Christmas, G.G. Bain, Kids, NYC)
Pies in Repose: 1940
... it with bourbon every once in a while, and so was I. By Christmas that was some wonderful fruit cake! It had a lovely bourbon flavor, ... wore her hair like that and our family Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were enormous. Lots and lots of people and food. So many, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/25/2010 - 7:23pm -

November 28, 1940. "Pumpkin pies and Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Mr. Timothy Levy Crouch, a Rogerene Quaker living in Ledyard, Connecticut." Photo by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. OriginWe finally see where the origin of the fruitcake came from. Could it be the exact same one that my mother had on the table that no one ate in 1950? The First FruitcakeI remember well the ritual of the long process of making the holiday fruitcakes from cracking nuts (in shells) to chopping candied fruit and dicing dates and finally, after it was all baked for hours, to wrapping it in brandy or rum soaked cheesecloth and storing it away in some cool spot being forbidden to cut into it before Thanksgiving. These rustic pies look and smell (I have a good imagination) incredibly tasty, and the laboriously crafted fruitcake had no idea that in less than 70 years it would become a much maligned and unwanted joke. The elderly in your audience will remember when fruitcake was a highlighted specialty of the holiday season. I understand that now they actually shoot them from cannons and use them for doorstops. As for this photo, I find it outstanding in every way, just beautiful. Thanks yet again for this warm family portrait. Mmmmm, pieeeeI can smell them! NeatoI love that wallpaper. I wonder what colour it was. Ummmm, pie!The pies look delicious. I would be willing to bet those flaky crusts were made with good old lard, too. When you talk of shortening, there wasn't anything shorter than lard. $5 on the pumpkin pie!I wonder what the folks in this wonderfully American family photo would think if they knew that 70 years later thousands of people were spending their Thanksgiving gambling at a massive casino (Foxwoods) located in the very same town? It's the kind of wallpaper that's difficult to hangIt's interesting to analyse past family festive gatherings by the relative loudness of the patterns on the wallpaper and curtains in the background. This kind of wallpaper is annoying to hang to get the patterns to line up. Could we have a sequence of photos on 'wallpaper and curtain patterns through the ages'? (The 60s and 70s seem to have been particularly loud). Family albumMore of the Crouches here. How It Was DoneThe pie in the center front brings back memories of watching my mother finish putting together pies by holding a fork upside down and pressing the tines into the pie's rim all the way around, sealing the top to the bottom and making those tiny grooves. OmigoodnessI have nothing clever or insightful to say, just want to express my appreciation to Shorpy for showing a slice of life gone forever. We are fortunate indeed to have these photos. The lively wallpaper and cloth speaks to a Quaker way of life I did not know existed--no "plainness" here. "Just shut it, Tim"The centerpiece lets me pretend it's the Missus sticking the fork in his mouth. There's something about this pictureThat is just lovely. This is what i like about this site; it reintroduces photographers like John Vachon and Jack Delano. Reflections on a holidayTaking the photo in the mirror is a great idea. RogerenesI had never heard of the Rogerene Quakers before, which surprised me, since I am a Quaker and have read quite a bit about Quaker history. A little googling shows that the Rogerene Quakers had no connection to other Quaker groups, although there was some similarity in their beliefs (particularly pacifism). They also resemble Baptists and Seventh Day Adventists. I have to say that's a lovely photo, the use of the mirror is terrific. And I would love to have a slice of that fruitcake. I don't know why they have such a bad rep. Like everything, there are good ones and bad ones, and a good one is a real treat. Compare and contrastInteresting to contrast this family with the one in Kentucky of which we saw so much earlier in the fall. I wonder if their dessert table ever looked liked this? The pies at my daughter's house yesterday looked just like these--courtesy of my ex-wife. Makes me feel guiltyI only baked two pies yesterday! I wonder what kind the two-crust pies were; apple, cherry, mincemeat? This also reminds me of a certain fruitcake my mother baked in 1967. It was kept in our extra fridge, in the utility closet. That was also where my dad's huge liquor collection resided. Mom was soaking it with bourbon every once in a while, and so was I. By Christmas that was some wonderful fruit cake! It had a lovely bourbon flavor, but didn't taste like alcohol. I hate hearing all of the maligning of fruitcakes that takes place, now! It was just like everything else; bad ones were awful, but good ones were delicious. I would bet the one in this picture was delicious! I like fruitcakeWe don't see very many people in this mirror view, but the impression is that there aren't that many. After all, the stove in a previous picture wasn't cooking cauldrons. So, six pies (at least), and a fruitcake? Wow. Those home-made pies were probably great, but still seems like a lot of pie. On the Wallpaper-Mr. Plate looks sad. Now THISis Pie Town! The wallpaperThe wallpaper really got my attention. The house we rented from 1958-63 had a very similar print washable wallpaper in our kitchen. Given that this photo was taken in 1940, then our wallpaper might have been 20 years old (or older) at the time. FROOTSCAKES!Let me at that fruitcake, man. Om nom nom nom nom! No punsAbout the large family of the rogerin' Quakers? Good, because that would be rude and tasteless. Thanksgiving 1940Thanksgiving day 1940 was November 21st, not November 28th! [It was celebrated on two different dates that year, as well as 1939 and 1941. The New England states observed the traditional fourth Thursday in November. - Dave] Cookery I can't speak for these dear people, but my family always coded two crust pies differently. The slits and occasional decorations on top denoted the contents. I would guess, a pumpkin, sweet potato, cherry, apple and peach. While that glorious molasses and candied fruit and nut bundt would wait for evening coffee and tea, foolishly ignored by the unsophisticated children, in favor of the sweeter and juicier fruit offerings. FruitcakeI never liked it until I ate my mother in law's. Now, our family demands I make it every year. Usually made two at a time to begin with so one will be ready for the next year. Then every year after, one is made and stored away while the previous year's is eaten. I have to say it is the best I've ever eaten and my family agrees. Even the kids like it. Love to see pictures like this. Brings back memories of my childhood. My mother wore her hair like that and our family Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were enormous. Lots and lots of people and food. So many, we had to eat in shifts. Such happy memories. The Timothy Levi Crouch familyThis pictures, along with several others, were taken at my great-grandparents' Thanksgiving dinner in 1940. My grandfather, one of their sons-in-law, is the gentleman with the fork in his mouth. This collection of pictures by Jack Delano is really neat, and I love to see them posted on the internet. There were 14 Crouch children living at the time this was taken, the youngest being about 12. There were definitely more people at the dinner than this picture would indicate, and most likely some of the other married children dropped in later in the day to enjoy pie. For many years the family only knew of this one picture. It wasn't until the age of internet that we discovered that there were about 20 of them along with pictures taken at the one-room schoolhouse. My mother is in pictures at both locations. She remembers the photographer being at the dinner, but she doesn't recall him being at the school. It was quite the shock when I showed her all the pictures! (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Thanksgiving)
Ofty's: 1926
... A Splendid Cigar A Little Talk to Women About Christmas Cigar Buying The Season of the Christmas Cigar joke is with us again. The woman who buys cigars according to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 1:15pm -

1926. Another view of the Offterdinger cigar store and soda fountain in Washington, D.C. National Photo Co. Collection glass negative. View full size. Soda and a smokeI wonder if they sold candy cigarettes and bubble gum cigars for the younger consumers? Ms. Spitcurl Comes DownShe should have stayed upstairs, so that I might admire her from afar. In her case it's the best way to admire. And what is that getup she's wearing? A Lasting ViewEvidently GeezerNYC has never seen aprons, or, at least smock style aprons. Just to see her with a cup of coffee from the shining coffee urn makes you want a cup. The wonderful old telephone booth with calendars on the back wall, the polished spittoon and bottle cap on the floor. The hair styles of the day, much neater looking than the frizzy unkept look seen today. The "natty" attire of the clerks and "Soda Jerk", which would be call "associates" today and not nearly as well dressed. La Anita must have been the prefered cigar of the day, judging on the quantity stocked. Whether you were a smoker or not, the scent of cured tobacco that met you when you walked into one of the old style tobacco stores was a sensory treat, not smoky at all. Her getupJust a guess: maybe they rolled some of their own cigars. That could be an apron to protect clothing from the tobacco leaves. Both pictures mergedClick to enlarge. Offterdinger Cigar FactoryFound a reference to this shop in a 1918 edition of the Cigar Makers' Official Journal. Offterdinger had his own cigar factory in the District of Columbia: The shop normally employs about 125 persons mostly women and girls and la the only cigar factory of any size In the District of Columbia Its output includes among its best known brands Meditation, La Anita, Deerhead, Bouquet, Ofty, After Dinner, and Army and Navy. You can see these brands (especially La Anita) on the shelves. The Journal records that there was a strike where 88 workers (82 women and girls, six men) walked out because of unsanitary conditions and low wages. It also seems that Mr. Offterdinger refused to recognize the right of the union to represent his workers. Ah, the aromaThis photo somehow reminds me of the great smell of the local drug store aisle that held the all the differt kinds of pipe tobacco. Very nice. Far From DeadThe traditional brass cuspidor is far from dead. Just minutes ago I shoved mine back to its "off-duty" location beneath my computer desk. The cigar store photo brings to mind a scene from an old "Amos & Andy" radio episode in which Andy and the Kingfish are attempting to curry favor with Calhoun the lawyer by supplying him with what they are trying to pass off as a fine cigar, saying it is a "two for fifty cents" cigar. After a puff on the vile rope presented to him Calhoun asks, "Tell me.....who got the 48 cent one?" A Splendid Cigar A Little Talk to Women About Christmas Cigar Buying The Season of the Christmas Cigar joke is with us again. The woman who buys cigars according to the beauty of the label has furnished material for many a professional humorist — but there is nothing funny about it for the man who has to smoke them. ... "La Anita" is a splendid cigar, made from selected leaves of the best Havana Tobacco, in nine sizes, ... The "Ofty" Cigar — a remarkably good seed-and-Havana cigar [A mixture of domestic and Cuban tobacco] — made in one size only - 5 cents each, $2.00 for a box of 50. ... Henry T. Offterdinger Manufacturer of La Anita and Ofty Cigars 508 Ninth Street Northwest 1912 Advertisement CuspidorI remember as a child in the early 1950s our local First National Bank building still having the polished brass cuspidors prominently in place, likely there since the elegant, tile-floored Spanish Colonial Revival building was constructed in 1928. Even at that age, they struck my brother and me as quite a contrast from the palatial atmosphere of the bank, likely built to inspire confidence and project solvency. Spitooey! Both the bank building and presumably the cuspidors were gone by 1970. Progress, I guess. Kicking the BucketIt cracks me up how the spittoon is placed right in the middle of the store like that. I'm such a klutz, if I worked there I'd be constantly kicking it, knocking it over, getting my foot stuck in it. Heck, I'd probably get fired on my first day. Just in time for HalloweenI had no idea Gomez Addams did a stint behind the counter at Offterdinger's. Peripatetic OffterdingerThe ad below gives Offterdinger's address as 508 Ninth Street in 1912. However, in 1920 the Washington Post reported the sale of their building at 504 9th Street (1/25/20, p. 32). By the time these pictures were taken, the street number seems to have been 833, based on the reflection in image 6996. Tobacco smellI used to work in a bookstore where both the owner and the manager smoked pipes. The manager smoked a particularly vile concoction which hung about him like.... a bad smell. Worse, after he talked on the phone we all dreaded having to answer it because the mouthpiece reeked of tobacco-mouth. One day, I was sitting in his office and I answered the phone. Looking for a pen to write a message down for him, I opened one of the drawers and spotted a new package of his tobacco le choix. It had a very large label stating that it was "The tobacco that women will go wild over." Obviously no one had done any market research before coming up with THAT tagline. Spit curl and a cup of JoeI had to pan in to check out the lady's hair do and clothing and noticed the accountant (?) upstairs sitting under the naked light bulb. A charming, charming photo. Just a trip back in time. Is that a spittoon or a depository for matches on the floor? I can smell my grandfather's sweet cherry pipe tobacco as I look. When is a gaboon not? Since classier establishments like this seldom dealt in chew or snuff, the spittoon is most likely for those customers who preferred to bite the end off their cigars, as opposed to the fancy folks who could afford a cutter. Although some of the high class shops would have a device on the counter that combined a punch, tip cutter and a continuously burning alcohol lamp wick for the man who couldn't wait to try out his purchase. Wax lipsNot sure what commenter Kenny meant with: "La Anita must have been the prefered cigar of the day, judging on the quantity stocked." It was, in that store, not elsewhere. In the 20s PHILLIES and WHITE OWL were the preferred (biggest selling) cigars. LA ANITA is a brand made in their factory and possibly unknown outside that store. Most cigar stores of any substance, and even many small one man ops, had one or more house brands, especially if they had a factory on premises. Ofty is another of their house brands. I don't know about the others listed. In answer to Wax Mustache...Yes, if they had a candy counter, candy cigarettes and chocolate cigars would be there, along with wax lips. Hersheys and others were making chocolate cigars (foil wrapped) in the late 1800s. Bubble gum wasn't invented when these pictures were taken. The earliest bubble gum cigar box I've seen is from the 1950's but I "smoked" candy cigarettes in the 1940s. The United Cigar Store chain (founded 1901) carried so many sundries that other cigar stores were forced to expand to meet their overwhelming competition. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Stores & Markets)
King of the Road: 1963
... be quite dangerous or upsetting. I once got one as the #1 Christmas present for a previous spouse. Wrong move. Guess Can't say ... 
 
Posted by delworthio - 12/23/2008 - 4:33pm -

This is how you pull over for a family meal during a road trip. It's the early 60's and the family is off to visit Canada. Kodachrome slide. That camp stove used white gas. View full size. PumpedI too fondly remember the rectangular hand-pumped Coleman stoves with the fuel vessel hanging off the front and the stamped metal wind-breakers: simple yet reliable. (I currently use the backpacker descendant that looks like a moon lander: it has never let me down even in the coldest weather). Growing up we mostly used our full size Coleman for camping but I can identify with the comments regarding use for the roadside midday lunch break. If it were my family we would probably be stopping for lunch at one of the many scenic rest stops along the old national road as it crosses the mountains in western Maryland. Oh the MemoriesWow this photo brings back memories of my dad heating chicken and dumplings in the can and assembling bologna sandwiches on white bread with mustard for many a roadside dining experience on our yearly family vacations. He branded it "clean food" in his campaign to convince my brother and me that it was the best thing ever. This was in the 1980s - I guess it was a tradition he carried on from his own childhood vacations. I doubt the tradition will carry on with this generation since I'm much more likely to just GPS the location of every Starbucks along the way. A Tent SituationMy wife, daughter and I camp two or three times a summer at state parks, and we regularly leave all our cooking stuff on the table (including our old drab-green Sears-branded Coleman stove), our clothes and such in the tent (we do lock up the valuables in the car, though). We'll go out for multi-hour hikes, or even drive into whatever town we're near, and when we come back usually the only trace of visitors is muddy raccoon prints on the table. Alas, we do all our cooking when we get there, though. My version of this scene would be ordering sammiches at Subway. Coleman Camp StoveSitting in my father's garage is that very same green camp stove (ca. 1961) still in the original box. I can remember my mother cooking on it for us during our car camping trips around the state of Oregon during the 60's. He still has the red Coleman cooler also. That stove brings back memoriesWe cooked on one of those for a whole year while hand-building our geodesic dome house in 1971 and waiting for the power company to install underground power. The stove used expensive gallon cans of Coleman fuel. There was a gas station in town that sold white gas (naphtha) for cheap, but it had impurities that clogged the stove. So we had to go back to the $4/gallon stuff. Doing it rightTraveling in style means camping with a chrome percolator. InterestingThe idea of stopping on the side of the road to cook from a Coleman stove is a novel idea in this culture and would now be considered really weird. The roadside picnic area where this was taken is probably now a McDonald's. I'm 37 years old and although I've been camping several times we've never stopped enroute for a picnic. It's obvious the older generation was not as prone to be discouraged by a little hard work and inconvenience and didn't mind taking some extra time if it meant doing something important. Our family van on a long trip is packed to the brim with junk, mostly stuff we don't even need - DVD players, cellphone cords, GPS units, boxes of clothes for the in-laws, huge suitcases, etc, etc. Then it's on the interstate - no time to stop except quickly for fast food. What a refreshing change it would be to recreate a trip like the one pictured here on the backroads of America. Where in Canada?Being as how I'm in Prince George, BC, and this scene could be practically anywhere but in the mountains or on the prairies. By the way, I looooooves Shorpy! Coleman StoveAh! A good old "green monster" coleman stove. My Scout troop still uses identical ones to this day, a testament to their being indestructable. We only changed the tanks to newer red ones a few years ago. You know it was a great design as you can still buy the same stove today, it has a few very minor improvements but for all intents is the same stove they made 50 years ago. ColemanI still have my Dad's two burner Coleman, 55 years old, works like a charm Don't miss the Tupperware!Another iconic item of the 50s and 60s is behind the stove -- Tupperware! Road FoodMy girlfriend & I usually stop and make sandwiches at least once on a vacation trip. Not as extravagant as firing up a stove for a hot meal, but it's a nice break from fast food and a chance to unwind. What impresses me is that the stove also has its own stand. No stooping down to the ground for him. No man who takes a chrome percolator on a road trip should stoop. Background to dramaBlissfully unaware of the drama playing out behind them: on the left, a speeding Corvair; on the right, unsuspecting, a pair of pedestrians precariously perched on the shoulder. What will the next few seconds bring? Sudden terror, or just a request to pass the mustard? PercolatorIt appears to be an electric perc. How did he make it work way out there? Dad cooking.Dad is doing the cooking just as I did for our family when on camping trips. My children loved the camping life as we traveled and still have wonderful memories of it. My kids, now 56, 62 and 65, still talk about my Rabbit Ear Pancakes. In the late 1940s we could leave our stove and cooler on the table, the sleeping bags in the tent at the campsite and they would still be there when we got home from a movie in town. Times have changed. Camping 40's and 50's StyleYou've hit on a passion of mine! I fondly remember many road trips while growing up. We used the same stove. For those interested, you should check out 40's and 50's style Teardrop trailers. I am just completing one now. We are taking a week long Florida trip starting tomorrow and will spend our time in State Parks sleeping in our teardrop. Mine can be seen here: http://home.earthlink.net/~tony.cooper/TDProj/album.htm Many varieties including originals can be seen here: http://pages.prodigy.net/rfs2growup/mystry07.htm Talk about living nostalgia! [I grew up in Florida! For a few summers in the mid-1960s we'd haul the family Avion up from Miami to Juniper Springs, in the Ocala National Forest. You should check it out if it's not too cold. - Dave] Sault Ste. MarieI failed to mention that on the slide this was phonetically written: "Soo St. Marie, breakfast." The trip was from our home in Northern Indiana and up through Michigan. I'll post the other slide with Mom doing the cooking (includes tailfin of their car!). Maybe that one will show us the percolator better. I'll have to ask Mom if she remembers where they would plug that in. My wife and I do the cooking like this while camping at Bonnaroo, but not while on the road. We don't have this stove but use the modern equivalent and use her dad's old Coleman camp oven, which is basically a metal box that sits on top of the grill and bakes. It has a temperature gauge on the door so you adjust the flame accordingly. Perfect for biscuits to go with the bacon and sausage gravy. Or Naan to go with our Indian MRE's. Road foodMy Texas Bride told me that when her family traveled her dad would buy a loaf of bread, a pound of bologna and a quart of milk. So one day while traveling up to Valentine, Nebraska, we were in the town of Thedford and I bought a loaf of bread, half-pound of bologna and a quart of chocolate milk and went to the park for lunch. I loved it. She did not! About theft of camp gear, we ran into a case of this in Yellowstone Park and Sinks Canyon State Park in Wyoming. Sad that this happens but happen it does. Great stove!We use those guys in WW2 reenacting. Nothing perks you up in the morning like Tim from the 5th Armored brewing up a pot of tea on that thing! I've been looking for one of the "pocket stoves." eBay? eOuch!! I'd like to just say, for the record, that roadside cooking is still alive and well. This summer I took a 10 day driving trip to Wyoming with very little cash. Well, I should say what cash we had was eaten up by gas!! We started out with a few camping meals, jam and jerky. Along the way we would pick up bread and fruits. Finally after 5 days I said "enough" and demanded a hot meal. We got a small "disposable" grill from K-Mart and cooked up dinner on the side of the road by the bison preserve. It could have been torture, trying to shield that thing from the wind at 1 in the morning, but watching planes come over the Tetons lit up by the full moon made things romantic and magical. Maybe in 50 years, those shots will show up on Shorpy! Roadside foodI remember stopping along side the road in Utah, Nevada, Colorado and many other states on our road trips. We had NO money, so we stopped at local stores and bought bologna, bread, chips and fruit. I still remember this after all these years. A trip to fast food would have been long forgotten. A side-of-the-road picnic? It's is branded indelibly in my brain!!! They're everywhereAhhh, the ubiquitous ol' Coleman stove. I think Lewis and Clark had one too. Juniper SpringsJuniper Springs will not be too cold to visit at about 83F, today at least. I may just take the 29 mile drive out there to see if any other Shorpies are there! But back to the Coleman stove -- they can also be quite dangerous or upsetting. I once got one as the #1 Christmas present for a previous spouse. Wrong move. GuessCan't say exactly why, but if I had to guess I'd put them somewhere in Northern Minnesota. Something about that dwelling in the background looks Range-Finnish. I would love to do a family vacation like this someday. Sad to say, but who has the time for a leisurely Americana road trip? Guess it's time you have to make. Our trips to CanadaWe did exactly the same thing on our trips to Canada to visit my aunt. I remember the food tasted wonderful. Manifold menuI'm still surprised to find that people eat out 3 meals a day while traveling. No wonder so many are so deep in debt, so addicted to credit cards. It's easy enough to find a rest area or city park to eat lunch. The TV tells us that the world is dangerous, but I've found most places are fairly friendly. At worst, they just leave you alone. I still have the green Coleman stove, but I never did like the darn things. We have a small propane stove that doubles as a heater. We don't spend every night in a motel when we travel, either. A tent packs up pretty easy in the car. Now, for true road-food, you take a piece of meat, some cut-up potatoes, onions, and carrots, a little oil, salt and pepper, wrap it up in foil, and lay it on your engine to cook while you drive. When you get hungry, you have a hot meal ready to go. Or is that just an intermountain western US concept? Great photo -- looks like a fun trip. Road trip!I'm 23 and plenty of my friends go on road trips and we rarely stop for fast food. When we got to our major destination this summer, we cooked a 12 pound turkey over a fire. It was magical and cooked perfectly. I think I might be in the minority here, but when I have kids, we're totally road tripping and cooking for ourselves. CookingMy buddy used to do that on backpacking trips. Before starting up the hill he would stop and buy meat and vegs and had a little spice kit in his backpack. We'd build a fire once camp was set up and he'd wrap everything in foil and through it in the coals! I must say it was very da kine!!! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Travel & Vacation)
West Covina Christmas Dinner: c. 1950s
... I shall now subject you to a classic 1950s Eisenhower era Christmas picture, in glorious color. This is the house that is featured ... they were nice and gave me lots of presents! Merry Christmas to you all in the Shorpy empire. View full size. Great photo! ... 
 
Posted by Mvsman - 09/18/2011 - 11:09pm -

Due to the underwhelming response to my last submission, I shall now subject you to a classic 1950s Eisenhower era Christmas picture, in glorious color. This is the house that is featured in outdoor scenes in my earliest pictures, and, of course, the unforgettable shot where Mom is feeding me in my high chair. That shot was taken in the kitchen, through the doorway on the left. My mother shot this epic gathering of the relatives. This was after she cooked all freakin' day, set the table, created the table settings ... oh, wasn't that what the ladies did back then? There's my Dad in the bow tie, with some shadow lending more fullness to his hair than there actually was. The folks around the table are my dad and mom's parents, and other relatives. The lady in the right foreground was my mom's Aunt Verna. She helped make airplanes in World War II, and never said a bad word about anyone (or so I'm told). She lived until 1982! Our extended family wasn't big on togetherness; later, the paternal and maternal sides didn't coexist too well. This cozy setting only occurred a few times. By the early 1960s we never gathered again like this. Up until 1963, I was the only kid in a sea of middle aged and older people. But, they were nice and gave me lots of presents! Merry Christmas to you all in the Shorpy empire. View full size. Great photo!The gentleman with his arms crossed and the sour-lemon look clearly wants to be somewhere else. I, too, remember these gatherings. A classicI was born in West Covina, (much later). I wonder what the place looks like these days. great classic photo here. To RickIt depends on where you go. The intersection of Lark Ellen and Idahome (near where these were taken) feature mid 1950s homes,in many cases almost unchanged externally for all these years. Many homes are well maintained but there quite a number which are not. Thanks for your comment! Taking sides: In Color!Taking in the backstory you've provided, I suggest an alternate title for this shot: A Study in Body Language. This exactly the way big-deal, dining room dinners were set up at our house in the 50s: mom's best china, silver- and glassware, linen, centerpiece with candles, the works. Some retro-hound is sure to covet the chandelier. And hey! I loved your last submission (Desert Trip). Keep 'em coming. And you, sir, must be living rightto have your own gallery here. You always have such insight and great things to say about so many submissions. Best wishes of the season to you and ALL the Shorpy-ites! MemoriesWhat a lovely commentary on the 50's Brings many happy memories. Wonderful perspective. Were you the young photographer? To CandaceI was about 2 at the time. The photographer was my Mom. Thanks for your comment! NecktiesI guess in the 1950s, if you were over 70 you got a pass on the neckwear. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas)
Piano Man: 1941
... I'm with Penny on the sketchy wiring. It reminds me of A Christmas Story. An entertainer's lot is not a happy one even if it ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/10/2021 - 10:06pm -

March 1941. "Mission pianist in his room at the Helping Hand Mission. Portsmouth, Virginia." Acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Picture on the far wallI wonder who that is in that picture. It looks like it could be an entertainer. Who does the Mission pianist idolize? Any Shorpy fans have any ideas? Call me crazybut I am always amazed at photos like this, of the decrepit state of the walls, and in this case even the mantelpiece. Had these folks never heard of paint? Were they so destitute that they could not afford even a single coat, or a layer of wallpaper? Or were they too lazy, or did they simply not care? The ugliness had to have threatened to suck the life right out of them. I'll wager that even the goldfish would have agreed with me. And don't get me started on that welter of wires. "Outside these walls"Hope our subject lightened up a bit when he played for the audience. Rings a bellThe image above our man’s right shoulder—man and woman in a field—is Millet’s “Angelus,” which depicts farm laborers stopping their work to pray at the 6 p.m. ringing of the bells. Speaking of time, the unsynchronized clocks on the mantel fit right into the general decrepitude. Re: crazyNow that I own my house (an old one), I do fix-it work non-stop. As a rental tenant, though, I never did a thing – I figured it was the landlord’s responsibility. What I didn’t realize in my younger years was that, even though I didn’t own my home back then, I would have improved my living conditions immeasurably had I painted or gardened, despite the fact that I was maintaining someone else’s property. All the work put into my rented place by myself would have benefited myself, but I didn’t understand this concept. With regard to the piano man’s place, it needs more than a lick of paint -- some preliminary plaster work is definitely required. On the far wallThe picture looks like it may be Dickie Powell. Early Power BarWe plug our scanners, computers, printers, etc. into a power bar with a circuit breaker. The octopus wiring setup in this photo might be considered an earlier version of the same thing. Having moved into my 1928 home in 1977 that still had its original 30 amp 115 volt panel with fuses, I soon learned which electrical appliances could not be plugged in simultaneously. Within three years the house was upgraded to a 125 amp system with 115 and 240 volts available. I might also note that many of John Vachon's photos of people bear a resemblance to those of Diane Arbus in the 1960s. Living SimplyHe probably lives in such spartan conditions because he works at the mission for nothing, or next to nothing. Believe it or not, there used to be a time when people did church work because they loved people and cared about them. I would hazard a guess that the modern-day 'teaching pastor' or 'praise team' member wouldn't be caught dead living in a hovel like this so that they could have the privilege to minister to the needs of their fellow man! Way Down On The ListYes, we see a lot of places we wouldn't want to live on Shorpy. I think it's driven by the everyday need to acquire basic necessities to survive back then (and for a lot of folks today too). The furnishings are nice and the place looks clean. The stove fluecaught my eye right away. I wonder how hard it was to get a draft going. While the flue pipe may radiate a lot of trapped heat, getting that heat to go down and then up is no easy task. All I can see is smoke billowing from the door each time it's stoked. I look at the walls and wonder what became of the trim around the windows. Perhaps the stove can tell us. I'm with Penny on the sketchy wiring. It reminds me of A Christmas Story. An entertainer's lotis not a happy one even if it includes a Loths Air Blast (a name not dissimilar to that of a local brew in a far away place I once knew). Don't you just love this truly magnificent piece of kit! The inclusion of a multiple light extravaganza with a suspended control centre however is still not enough to please our master of the keys. Having just recently adjusted and fine tuned (with a hammer?) the contemporary air conditioning (note the spare parts in the storage facility behind the seat) he is left to contemplate the reason why one of his timepiece collection appears to be malfunctioning. With regard to curtains and paint, the property is owned by others, in this case "the Mission," wherein lies the economic scantiness of the trend-setting decor. Entertainers the world over are quite inured against the quality of gaffs between gigs. There are also reasons to be found for the crutch standing forlornly in the corner. Excellent material for the housebound Shorpyite. Love the stoveBut the draft situation looks sketchy. Looks familiar I just took painted wallpaper off exterior plaster (on brick) walls, in a house that's probably older than the place pictured here. And the walls looked ... about like that. Sad quartersJenny Pennifer mentioned paint, wallpaper and scary wiring, but this is really, umm, *basic* living! How about that toaster, jammed on the back of the crowded dresser? Is that the only suggestion of cooking in the room? And, as with any man with two clocks, he has no idea of the time of day. A tip of the cap to Mad MagazineIn my misspent youth, Mad Magazine had a regular feature called "What's Wrong with This Picture?" Most of them looked a lot like this one. What time is it?Was this photo taken at 2:12 or 7:43? Déjà vuI feel like the photo hanging above the mantel is one I've seen on Shorpy before. Two out of three!Although the clocks don't agree on the time of the picture, his wristwatch and the mantel clock on the left appear to agree that it is 8:43 p.m. I suggest p.m. since it appears to be dark outside the window, as it would be in Virginia in March. [Your mantel clock is off by an hour -- it says 7:43. - Dave] The Face on the WallCurious about the man's portrait on the wall obscured by 'wiring,' I checked out a few of Vachon's other photos of this profoundly sad room. I came across this shot of our dour keyboard artist, which has an unobstructed view of the portrait which appears to be of, and inscribed by, Mickey Rooney...am I right? [You are right, and it bears the inscription "I'll be seeing you at the Gxxxx Theater Something" and then maybe "Sunday September Xth -- Mickey" - Dave] Lighten up, everybodyHow many of us are wearing a tie? Strike up the bandI believe the inscription reads "I'll be seeing you at the Gates Theater starting Sunday September 29th -- Mickey." The Gates Theatre was a cinema in Portsmouth in this era. Rooney's third(!) film of 1940, "Strike up the Band," was released on September 29, which was a Sunday. It appears our musician in the photo was a vermouth drinker. That's a bottle of Gambarelli & Davitto dry American vermouth on the chest of drawers. Not-teaFrom that bottle of hooch on the dresser I am guessing that this mission is not being run by strict Baptists. Plugs and PicturesI also find the wiring a bit worrisome; the relatively short time I spent as a volunteer firefighter instilled in me fire prevention measures that will always be with me. I hope he unplugged that mess when he left the room. Also, the older looking picture of two people on the wall seems to me as if it should be a man with a large bundle of sticks on his back; the condition of the wall matches that of the Led Zeppelin IV album cover. Who is the "piano man"?He is Clayton William Pierce (1905-1953). He never married and lived with his parents, and then his married sister, in Portsmouth for most of his life. He was a piano teacher his entire adult life. He died of heart disease at age 47. His WWII draft card indicated he was 5' 6" tall, 235 pounds, brown eyes, black hair, ruddy complexion, and a scar on his right cheek. ~ Steve Weird mental acrobatics on my part but --There was that keyboard player in early Rolling Stones lineup who did not fit in the band's image. LookalikeHe reminds me very much of another musician -- Riley Puckett, guitarist and vocalist of my favorite old-timey string band, the Skillet Lickers. Danger!Dangerous room to live in. If the wiring doesn't catch on fire, the leaky stove pipe will get you with carbon monoxide. (The Gallery, John Vachon)
Candy Soda Drugs Kodaks: 1910
... that shop that it must be Valentine's Day or Eastertime or Christmas. And you folks wonder why there are usually a half dozen ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 10:11am -

New York circa 1910-1915. "N.Y. Drug Store, Pennsylvania Station." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Quite a selection available!Four major brands of chocolates -- Apollo, Whitman's, Guillard's & Liggett's. Louie's Sweet Shopwould be more fitting, luckily in the rear there is a shelf or two with sugar hangover remedies. A big fan of this store!I wonder if the dual fans atop the columns behind the soda counter rotated around like a garden sprinkler? Beautifully artistic candy displays! Penn Station ChromeI found the color postcard based on this image -- http://nygeschichte.blogspot.com. One fine fountainThat is one first rate soda fountain there. Between the glass and fountain fixtures I can't begin to imagine how they kept it so clean. Elbow grease I guess. AbundanceEven allowing for the daily traffic through Penn Station, there is so much gift wrapped candy in that shop that it must be Valentine's Day or Eastertime or Christmas. And you folks wonder whythere are usually a half dozen dentists in any street scene from this era. YumWhat a beautiful store. Lovely stained glass and fancy light fixtures. Fully stocked with delightful treats! ConfusedLiggett's Chocolates may have been an important brand in its day. However I still haven't been able to figure out if it was a brand of Liggett & Myers, of Chesterfield Cigarettes fame (or infamy), or of Liggett Rexall Drugs, once the world's largest drug store chain. If you like Chanel No. 7You will LOVE our Perfume No. 22. I wonder how long before one of those NYC counterfeit perfume kiosks came along? Lots of candyAnd not much in the way of drugs. And likely many, if not most, of the nonprescription drugs didn't work properly anyway. I'd bet a druggist or doctor from that time would faint if they could see what a 2010 pharmacy carries. Something missingSo, where do I find the Rubber Goods department? How different?"Apollo: the chocolates that are different" What an odd tag line. I found this. "Airport Presents"The vast supply of nicely packaged candy probably sold well to travelers returning to their sweethearts after long absences. A train-station drug store knows its market. I dimly remember this spaceMany years after this photo was taken, and back in the very early 1950s, I believe this space was still being used as a drug store. It was on the left just beyond the Seventh Avenue entrance to the Station. Across the foyer and to the right was a Savarin coffee shop if memory serves me well. A Bit LowThe chairs on the soda fountain seem a bit low to really enjoy your fountain Coke, or ice cream soda. Most soda fountain use stools instead of chairs, and are much higher than these. [They're the right height. Maybe the chair backs make them look low. - Dave] Gyrofans!To the poster who asked if the fans rotate, the answer is Yes! They are Jandus/Adams Bagnel Gyrofans, which were either ceiling or pole mounted. When turned on, they would rotate around their center throwing the breeze in all directions. It's hard to make out for sure, but the one(s) on the back pole look to be the very rare version which used early GE 'pancake' motors. Fan collectors would love to find either set. This is how it's done!Now THAT, my friends, is a drug store! The woodwork and the soda fountain alone are stunning. You scarcely see that kind of detail in anywhere these days, let alone in an everyman retail esablishment. A hundred years later, we get nasty fluorescent lights, warehouse shelving and stacks of bar-coded cardboard festooned with weasel words from a corporate lawyer. What gorgeous woodworkand the the light fixtures are breathtaking. I bet it was easy to get lost in this gorgeous store for hours. (Why do I bet no one in 100 years will ever say that about our Wal-Mart?) Creme de la CokeDefinitely not "an everyman retail establishment" -- it's a drugstore in Penn Station in New York City, which means that it was probably one of the most elite drugstores in the world. Gift CandyAll the candy may not have been due to a holiday. Up until the 1960s or so, when you visited someone or were invited to dinner, you didn't take wine or flowers, you took candy. So I'm thinking that since this was a glam place in Penn Station, where people would pass through on their way to someone's home, they might have stocked a lot of gift candy. (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Stores & Markets)
Family Tree: 1915
"Dickey Christmas tree, 1915." The family of Washington lawyer Raymond Dickey, whose somewhat unhinged holiday photos are a Christmas tradition here at Shorpy. National Photo Company Collection glass ... are just likely to be joyful as not while sitting for this Christmas portrait. I found this quote from Mark Twain, which appeared in a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/22/2016 - 1:06pm -

"Dickey Christmas tree, 1915." The family of Washington lawyer Raymond Dickey, whose somewhat unhinged holiday photos are a Christmas tradition here at Shorpy. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Don't Say "Cheese" PleaseSmiling for the camera, as I understand it, did not come into fashion until the time of mass-ownership of snapshot cameras. Only little by little did the smiling fashion take hold. Before then to have your picture taken was more like sitting for a formal portrait. The idea of the, may I say it, phony smile for a photo session was just not the thing. So I think these folks are just likely to be joyful as not while sitting for this Christmas portrait. I found this quote from Mark Twain, which appeared in a California newspaper back in the late 19th century. Says Twain, "A photograph is a most important document, and there is nothing more damning to go down to posterity than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever." Blue ChristmasOne hundred years later, it is hard to know why the joyless expressions, but the gifts in 2015 seem sparse and happiness seems elusive to all. Dad looks hostile, adolescent son seems downtrodden and mom and daughter just look sad. Of course, that may just be in the eye of this beholder; make up your own story. Formal, but not blueThis is a moment in time recorded, as Michigander correctly describes, as was thought appropriate at the time. I don't see anything grim or joyless. I do concede that it is a bit odd that everyone is looking away from the camera, making me wonder if there was a companion photograph in which they all look at the camera. What about the wealth of lovely ornaments on that tree, every one of them fragile and requiring careful packing away? Something Else MissingNot a single electric light or candle adorns this tree. [There are strings of lights, though they're placed toward the interior of the tree. The cords are fairly visible in some places and I found these four bulbs. -tterrace] "One - Two - Button My Shoe"I never gave that phrase much thought until I saw this photo. I don't believe I ever owned a pair of shoes that buttoned. I wonder when that went out of style? Or perhaps I'm just out of style? 1915The Dickeys were introduced to Shorpy in July of 2008 with a detail of this very photo from 1915: https://www.shorpy.com/node/3920. Since that Christmas in July, we have been treated to annual Dickey posts, spanning 1912 through 1923. Myself, I came to Shorpy in November of 2011, making this my sixth Shorpy Christmas which would not be complete without reviewing the full Dickey set of ten photos plus comments, not to mention the gang at the ION Dept. of the Western Electric Co. in the ceaselessly fascinating Office Xmas Party: 1925 with over 200 comments and almost a third of a million views. Partaking in this highly pleasant December tradition is one of the many ways Shorpy has enriched my time in front of the screen. Thank you, Dave and tterrace, and happy holidays to all my fellow Shorpy community members. OddOff-kilter and weird, even by Dickey standards. Merry Christmas Shorpy! (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo, The Dickeys)
The Gift Cycle: 1953
... Georgia, comes this circa 1953 image of what seems to be a Christmas party at a laundry. Be of good CHEER, and a happy yule TIDE to ALL! ... lit tree!! So sad... This has got to be the saddest Christmas photo I've ever seen. I'd hate to see the rest of the place if this ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2015 - 8:16pm -

From Columbus, Georgia, comes this circa 1953 image of what seems to be a Christmas party at a laundry. Be of good CHEER, and a happy yule TIDE to ALL! 4x5 acetate negative from the News Archive. View full size. One spark...One spark from one of those electrical boxes on the wall would certainly yield a well lit tree!! So sad...This has got to be the saddest Christmas photo I've ever seen. I'd hate to see the rest of the place if this is the only area to put up the tree. And that spray on window snow looks more like an early attempt at graffiti. Let's hope that none of those fuses blow next to that splendid tree hidden beneath the ton of angel hair. Joy to the whirl cycle. The size of the packagelooks about right for a box of detergent? Christmas in the Snow?Or, perhaps, in Snow's, the Columbus laundry depicted a few posts ago? Part of a hard-hitting photo-journalistic exposé of the perils of ring around the collar, no doubt. W Roy KenimerIn the 1953 Columbus, Georgia city directory, we find W Roy and wife Ruth M. Ruth is running the Sunshine Automatic Laundry while W Roy is a salesman for Eelbeck Milling Company, a purveyor of grits and corn meal. The laundry was located on Victory Drive. W Roy is handing out the gifts while Ruth looks on approvingly from the left. Afterwards, the entire company will sit down to Christmas brunch. If this is 1953, then this is Christmas Eve. Christmas came of Friday that year. After brunch, W Roy and Ruth will find the City code inspector looking for a "gift" to overlook the location of the Christmas tree in front of the power distribution panel. The lady in front reminds me of my grandmother. Square DBegun as McBride Manufacturing Company in 1902, the name was changed to Square D in 1917, and as of 1991 it has been a subsidiary of Schneider Electric. The most recent circuit breakers I bought for my electrical box this year are Square D, with the exact same logo as on the box in the photo (adopted circa. 1910). By the way, the sight of those old fuses makes me shudder. So many fires caused by stupid and careless people replacing them with fuses of higher amperage. When it comes to punsnobody DUZ them like Dave. HairLooks like the Christmas tree is decorated with hair. Maybe the barbershop is next door? Rock around the laundromatThat must have been one wild party judging by W. Roy's festive tie and the ratio of four goils to one guy. It's not my place to judge, but that cedar bush looks like it was decorated with laundry lint and loose threads, in keeping with the wash-a-teria theme. I appreciate the "rest of the story" revealed by commenter John J's enlightening research which makes the picture much more interesting and I can certainly relate to those much simpler times. Perhaps some of those gifts contained grits and corn meal samples which Roy sold as well as laundry detergent. Good times. Angel HairWhat you see on this tree was and is called angel hair. It is made of spun glass. In the 1950's my uncle would always decorate his tree with it. Angel hair was never allowed on our tree because it was known to draw blood if you were jabbed by broken ends. Properly applied to a tree it took on a very pleasing appearance. However, when hastily applied the tree could take on a Harpo Marx look as in this Shorpy photo. (The Gallery, Christmas, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Zany Puppets: 1955
Columbus, Ga., circa 1955. "Toys for Christmas." Starring Zany Puppets, a Transogram "Disneyland" board game, ... all over the place from these pistols. Pretty Good Christmas Morning Haul For a boy anyway. But can you imagine finding all ... for a single toy Unicorn for my little grand daughter at Christmas). Mystery model The model looks familiar, like a TV actress. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/08/2016 - 7:07pm -

Columbus, Ga., circa 1955. "Toys for Christmas." Starring Zany Puppets, a Transogram "Disneyland" board game, Patrician phonograph, Permoplast clay and "Trophy Hunt" target game. 4x5 negative from the News Archive. View full size. Giving You the Evil EyeThere is something really strange about that model's eyes. Can't imagine News Photo used this shot for the final ad. [Photos in the News Photo Archive were taken for newspaper articles, not ads. - Dave] Trophy HuntI had that as a kid. A cogged-wheel/ratchet where the hammer could be rotated and 6 rubberbands hooked between that and the front of the gun. Presto! You had a 6-shooter to annoy your little sister with. Forget the targets, they were lame. SparkieAnd aenthal thinks the model's eyes are strange. I really don't like this hand puppet at all. But I do remember the smell of that kind of plastic. Trophy HuntThanks for jogging the memory, John Howard. My brother and I had welts all over the place from these pistols. Pretty Good Christmas Morning HaulFor a boy anyway. But can you imagine finding all those puppets under the tree! Too young to cussIf I tried them now, cussing would definitely be involved. Those skates bring back some unpleasant memories for me. How I made it through childhood without a broken ankle using those things amazes me. They would detach from the shoe almost every time I hit a raised seam in the sidewalk. $50.00 worth?I realize that 1955 incomes and expenses were a small fraction of what they are today, but I believe that at the time you could buy everything in this picture for about $50. If you've looked at toy catalogs and TV ads today, toy manufacturers think nothing of putting prices on their individual toys of $100.00 and up, even more on some electronics and computer novelties (that is what I paid for a single toy Unicorn for my little grand daughter at Christmas). Mystery modelThe model looks familiar, like a TV actress. I wonder who it was? Also, given that her eyes are nearly closed (like she blinked), I'm guessing this particular shot didn't make it into the paper. I know this is going to hurtI remember the puppets, and know we had one or two in the house in La Grange, 20 miles (?) west of Chicago back then. I was able to use the skates when other sibs were not using them, and to this day remember KNOWING it was going to hurt when I fell backwards to thunk my pumpkin on the concrete. It did. Made a scary sound, too. The skate wheels on the concrete vibrated as the wheels went over the finished surface with its small imperfections. Your feet would tingle as you skated, and for a while after you took the skates off. You would also have trouble walking normally for a bit without wheels. Shoes just didn't roll as well. There was always a 'kerchunk' when you rode over the anti-crack grooves every 3 feet or so. It helped to have one foot ahead of the other and transfer weight to that foot as you passed over. I don't remember the name 60 years on, but the contractor that put in the sidewalks embedded his company name and the date (1923?) at the end of each section of sidewalk. I may still have a skate key around here somewhere. Lo-Fi PhonographThe Patrician phonograph was acoustic, not electronic. It only used electricity to turn the record, not to amplify the sound. What a ShameWe don't see the word "ZANY" so much any more...of course, we don't see those puppets either - except maybe on "The Simpsons." Zany puppetOh wow, I had the puppet she is holding. I too remember the smell of the plastic the puppet heads were made of. (The Gallery, Christmas, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)
Wayne Camera: 1970s
... projector (in the glass case on the right) as a Christmas Gift. You didn't get to see the pictures in stereo of course. ... 
 
Posted by Desdinova - 04/20/2013 - 12:09pm -

The Wayne Camera Center circa 1970s in the Preakness Shopping Center, Wayne, NJ. I believe that's the founder, Bill Orkulsky, who started the store in 1955. Not sure if the ladies present are his wife and daughter or just employees. Lots of future "collectibles" and "kitsch" for sale. View full size. FilmWhat's Kodak film? Heaven!Oh - boxes, and boxes, and boxes of film, and slide projectors! I know the "digital" age is here and there is nothing we can do about it, but.. for someone my age, whose entire teenage years and young adulthood (including my honeymoon in 1972) is filed away in trays of Ektachome-X (ASA 64) slides, this is the type of store I spent hours and hours in, getting advice from KNOWLEDGEABLE people about how to take better pictures. Just looking at this photo makes me think I've died and gone to heaven! Recently defunctWayne Camera Center closed recently, after the man who bought the business in 1980 decided to retire. It had moved out of the Preakness Shopping Center location several years earlier. MemoriesReminds me of Baker Camera Supply in Washington, D.C. Where you went for the right equipment to get that perfect shot. Photo FinishWe had a Photo Section in our electronics store. We would lease the space. Usually two floor display cases and a wall unit behind them with those some of those same diamond shaped film box compartments. The Lessee's rent was usually covered by film sales and the income from the processing charges. The camera and lens sales generated their profits. By the way is that Ellen DeGeneres' mother behind the showcase on the right? The scientific ageOn the white box in the lower right, underneath the binoculars: "Precision products to keep pace with the scientific age." So which age are we now, 40 years on? The digital age? Can you imagine telling that to the folks in this photo. They would do well to wonder, "The future is ... fingers?" [Selsi manufactured optical products, such as magnifiers and loupes, as well as binoculars and telescopes. -tterrace] Instamatics and a slide projector tableI think I see some Kodak Instamatics in the distant case on the left behind the young woman's head. And just inside the frame on the lower left is a small table for slide projectors by "EV". It has a couple of electric outlets on a tilted side panel that serve the same purpose as modern power strips we use today. Plug the table's power cord into the wall, then plug the slide projector and other accessories into the outlets on the table. Other models came with a small, illuminated white panel beside the outlets where you could preview slides outside the projector. That's the model my dad had while he made industrial slide shows for his employer back in the '60s. Helped the editing process. Polaroid filmThe right section of shelves to the right of the man the shelf that is second from the top I can make out the section of Polaroid film. I can make out the sign that reads "Polaroid Pictures" and most of the film type on the shelf. From right to left is T47, T107, T48, T108 the Polaroid sign, unknown film and three rows of Swinger camera film. Selsi[Selsi manufactured optical products, such as magnifiers and loupes, as well as binoculars and telescopes. -tterrace] Selsi was an American importer rather than a manufacturer, and careful about what they put their brand on: not absolutely first rate stuff, but very good, especially for the money. They were around from 1854 - 2010 and still are, in modified form. On eBay, used Selsi binoculars are often listed as "Sevi" brand because of a fairly confusing logo. View-MasterIt would have been about this era when I received that View-Master projector (in the glass case on the right) as a Christmas Gift. You didn't get to see the pictures in stereo of course. Still analogIt was in a shop like this, in January 1971, that I purchased a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic (35mm) and learned the capabilities of SLR cameras. I still use this camera. Quality lasts. Unfortunately, the splendid Kodachrome 64 film is no longer available. F8 and Be There!This photo takes me back to a great time in my life. Although it wasn’t in the 1970’s, I had the great fortune to work in a camera store in the late 1980’s. Remarkably, the store was laid out in a fashion similar to the one in this extraordinary photograph. Two great benefits of working in a camera store and being a devout shutterbug: discounts, and the ability to special-order all sorts of stuff to experiment with. I still have my motorized Nikon FE and F2 on a shelf in my office. Antiquated paperweights to some perhaps, but to me these mechanical gems represent a time that I had to think before depressing the shutter. Words to live by! Yes, you can help meI'd like a five pack of Kodacolor 220 100 ASA film please. Man, I haven't said that for a lot of years. Great memories in this photo and I'm still laughing over davidk's past definition of the future! Kodak FilmWas stuff we developed with fresh hand filtered Mekong River water with no temperature control needed. DC Camera ShopsSwitzarch, do you remember Industrial Photo on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring? That was the last place I could buy the 3000 ASA Type 47 film for my '52 Model 95 Polaroid. I could get it there until the late 1980s or early 1990s. The camera has been retired for a while and the store is long gone. Late 1972 or early 1973To the right of the Minolta counter display where the young girl is standing is a smaller card advertising the "Minolta CAR AND CAMERA Competition." Presumably they would take this display down when the competition ended on January 31, 1973. Film, glorious film.I'd buy that place out of 127, 120, and 35mm film. No clever titleI also went to a shop like this (but a little larger) with my father in the late 60s and early 70s, NYC's Willoughby's on West 32nd Street by Penn Station, where he knew some of the staff very well. His cameras of choice were a Hasselblad 500C for regular photography, using 120 and sheet film, and a Linhof Technika for portraits. I "played around" with an old Brownie Six-20 of his, which I still have, using 620 B/W and color film. Electric slide (projector)I *think* that is an Airequipt slide projector on the right display case. I don't recall any other make that had the vertical carousel; I believe Kodak's was horizontal. It is kind of clunky to work. We still have an Airequipt that my father bought in the early 1970s and it still works just fine. [Sawyer's - the View-Master people - also made a projector with a vertical carousel. It was also marketed under the Montgomery Ward name, like mine. -tterrace] Czechoslovak Axomat enlargerThe enlarger at the right is a Czechoslovak Axomat (probably the 1a). I've still got mine (purchased in London circa 1972). Superb lens quality and great to use. FotomatWow, I remember being in this store in my teens. It was just up the road from another icon, a Fotomat booth in the T-Bowl shopping center. Nostalgia I bought my first 'Real' Camera in a store much like this one. It was on the Ground floor of the Prudential Building in Newark N.J. I bought it in 1967. The camera, which I still have, and on RARE occasion use, is a Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta B model that uses 120 roll film. (circa 1950) I can get 16 shots to a roll. The camera is folding type with a bellows and is strictly ALL manual. you have to set the shutter speed and aperture by hand before you push the shutter release button. It is interesting to see the looks on peoples faces when I set it up on a tripod with a cable release hooked up to it. D.C. Camera Shops, IIThe last real camera store I can recall in my part of the D.C. area was a large shop in a shopping center along Rockville Pike, near a large Computer chain outlet. I still have my pre-war Contax IIa, some Exactas, a Canon or two and an Ikoflex. All replaced by a Nikon 5700 and a Nikon D1x. AirequiptYep, the projector on top of the counter is an Airequipt. Like the Sawyers/et.al. projectors, they were designed for straight trays. When Kodak came out with their Carousel design the other "big players" had to follow suit. The updated Airequipts would take their special round tray and the older Airequipt-style straight trays, distinctive metal trays with individual metal "sleeves" for each slide. The distinguishing trait of their round tray was the metal plate at the center which had two prongs that engaged slots on the tray guide to support the tray. Obviously, I spent a lot of my life in shops very much like this one. I managed small camera shops for over 20 years after having being a customer, either myself or with my dad, for over 15 years prior. Attached is a pic of one that I managed, The Camera Corral in Houston Tx,from back in 1975. Nikon FI still have my Nikon F which was made in 1973. Forty years later it sits on a shelf. Many years of nice pics came through the lens of that camera! Time-o-liteLate to the party, but there on the lower left shelf (glass case) is a fondly-remembered Time-o-lite, which ruled the light-deprived lives of not only photographers, but (like me) lithographic camera operators. If it was controlling a set of strong carbon arc lamps on the camera, life could get very interesting indeed. Cameras of YoreI still use the Pentax Spotmatic that I have had since 1968 (it went thru a clean/lube/adjustment several years ago). I also use my Canon AE-1 Program that I have for several years. Finding 35mm film getting harder, processing is even harder than that - I have the results put on CD so I can upload them to the PC. Just bought a decent digital camera - lighter to carry, easier to use. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Plane Crash: 1938
... old, swollen yellow kid gloves. It was a few days before Christmas, and Comerford left a young wife and three small children. The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 1:02pm -

November 9, 1938. Washington, D.C. "Two U.S. Army fliers -- Lieut. Col. Leslie MacDill, General Staff Corps Officer, and Private Joseph G. Gloxner -- were burned to death today in the worst aerial tragedy in the history of the Capital when their plane crashed on a street in Anacostia, a short distance from Bolling Field. Three automobiles were wrecked in the crash. Col. MacDill was piloting the plane." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Conducting? Yes, in a manner of speaking.I think you'll find that the military man is "conducting" the operation of lowering (or lifting) the aircraft carcass and that his orchestra is the crane driver. A Man Cooked Alive!Stanton Square's observations about lurid old reporting styles reminded me of the way that the accidental death of one of my great-grandmother's cousins was described by a reporter for the Virginia City (Nevada) Territorial Enterprise, on December 21, 1871, under the tasteful headline "A Man Cooked Alive!" Michael T. Comerford, the deceased, was a silver miner who accidentally hit his head on a beam while going for some ice to cool his tea during a dinner break deep in the mine, and fell into the boiling hot spring at the bottom of the drift he was in, and was scalded to death. The article took nearly ten column inches to describe the gruesome details of his condition when his fellow miners found him a few hours later. A mild example: there were claw marks in the mud where he had attempted to pull himself out, and his hands were described as looking like old, swollen yellow kid gloves. It was a few days before Christmas, and Comerford left a young wife and three small children. The article concluded with these staunch words: "To break the terrible news to the poor man's widow was a task the miners shrank from, but it had to be done." North American BC-1Col. MacDill was flying a North American BC-1, used by the Army Air Corps from 1936 to 1940. The BC-1 evolved into the AT-6 Texan (or SNJ in Navy nomenclature, "Harvard" to the British). The AT-6 is often seen at air shows, as many of them were purchased as inexpensive surplus after the war. MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida, is named for Col. MacDill. Different detailsIndeed, it is interesting how ordinary news accounts of decades ago leave in details related to death and injury. Suicides were routinely reported. Even traffic accident reports from the '30s, an era of journalistic interest to me, note that someone fractured a leg, say. Now, whether because of heightened sensitivity to privacy, or of hospitals' legal reluctance to offer details, or of newspapers' awareness that offended readers can become ex-readers, the results of violence don't get described as often as they used to. (Of course, the reverse seems to be the case in sexual descriptions...) Heard Body PlopA revealing insight into how journalistic sensibilities have changed (evolved?) regarding the lurid details of a gory story. ("the head was torn from the other," "a plop which suggested to him falling of a human body," "I couldn't clean up the brains splattered on my car.") Washington Post, Nov 10, 1938 Army Studies Cremation of 2 Fliers Here Crash in Anacostia Fire Destroys Plane Officer is Killed, Pilot Dies Also A special Army board last night was investigating the crash which killed and cremated two Army fliers when their pursuit plane went into a spin, narrowly missed two houses and smashed to earth in Anacostia, 2 miles from Bolling Field. The dead were Col. Leslie MacDill, 49, of the War Department general staff, who lived at 3105 Cathedral avenue northwest, and Private Joseph G. Gloxner, of First Staff Squadron, of Reading, Pa. Both were instantly killed. Maj. Charles P. Prime, chief investigator, said last night that eyewitnesses have given conflicting reports regarding engine trouble. Coroner A. Magruder MacDonald said he would postpone decision on holding an inquest into the deaths until he had received the Army report. Trouble With Motor The BC-1 pursuit plane piloted by Col. MacDill took off from Bolling Field at 9:36 a.m. Three minutes later it crashed on S street, a block away from the busy intersection of Good Hope road and Nichols avenue. Accounts pieced together from numerous eyewitnesses indicate that something happened to the motor and Col. MacDill tried to get back to his field, and then with death staring him in the face aimed his plane for a narrow space between two houses in order to land on Thirteenth street, headed for an alley. The plane cut down telephone and power wires, knocked down a pole, clipped off tree limbs and plunged into the earth between the curb and street in front of the home of Robert Thompson, 1807 Thirteenth street, southeast. The plane immediately burst into flames, settled back on a parked car. Burning gasoline flowed down the street and destroyed three other parked cars. One civilian came within 10 feet of being killed in the crash. That was Clarence W. Ohm, plumber of 1612 W street southeast. He had parked his car directly across the street from the crash, and was just getting from his car when the plane struck. Flames Leap 50 Feet Both bodies were burned beyond recognition by the flames which leaped as high as 50 feet. One of the bodies was thrown from the fuselage, while the head was torn from the other. Fireman fought half an hour with water and chemicals. Louis Fiedler, mechanic, and Harry Rosenthal, manager of Mandell Chevrolet garage at Thirteenth street and Good Hope road, and Earl Hazel, of 1235 U street southeast, rushed to the plane with fire extinguishers. The heat drove them away. Fiedler's face was scorched. The street at the time of the crash was deserted except for Ohm. Few people were attracted by sound of the plane until it exploded because Anacostia residents have become accustomed to low-flying planes. Heard Body Plop Ohm related that because of a broken gasket on the exhaust pipe of his automobile, he heard nothing until a plop which suggested to him falling of a human body. From his parked car he heard a scream and saw a body on the pavement before an explosion "like a 16-inch gun" shot up huge clouds of black smoke and flames. Still shaking from his experience last night he said, "it was the most horrible thing I ever saw. I thought the world was coming to and end. I have felt so bad all day I couldn't clean up the brains splattered on my car." Col. MacDill was a graduate of Hanover College, University of Indiana, and the Army War College. He leaves his wife, Mrs. Marilla Augusta MacDill, and two daughters, Katherine Rose, 14, and Rose, 11. Col MacDill was first commissioned a second lieutenant, Coast Artillery Corps, in 1912. By time of the World War he had been promoted to captain of Air Corps. Overseas he organized the Aerial Gunnery School at St. Jean de Monts, France. In 1920 he was graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and held several commands until 1930 when he came to Washington in Plans Division, Office of Chief of Air Corps. After attending the Army and Naval War Colleges, he returned here in 1934. The bodies of both men are being held at Walter Reed Hospital. The crash scene today; remarkable how little the house has changed. View Larger Map A one, two, three, four...The military guy with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth looks like Arte Johnson of "Laugh-In" fame. He seems to be conducting an orchestra in the middle of the street. Very surreal. Harry Rosenthal>> Louis Fiedler, mechanic, and Harry Rosenthal, manager of Mandell Chevrolet garage at Thirteenth street and Good Hope road, and Earl Hazel, of 1235 U street southeast, rushed to the plane with fire extinguishers. Harry went on to open his own Chevrolet dealership some years later. Mandell Chevrolet was owned by Ben Ourisman, who had named the dealership after his son. Military operationThe whole removal project was apparently carried out by the army. The three men to the right of the officer in charge are no doubt army men. One has staff sergeant stripes, one buck sergeant and can't tell about the other. The man on the viewer's right has coveralls over his uniform. The little billed fatigue hats are a sure sign. There is likely a navy man there too. The man in the white hat looks to be in a dungaree uniform with his white hat turned down. I'd guess that the navy furnished the crane from the Washington Navy Yard. The 'Before' PictureNot the exact plane, of course, but same model. ConductorThe Army man guiding the crane is not an officer. His cap device is that of an elisted man. Correction!OK, somewhat late to the thread, but the Washington Post article states: "Col. MacDill was a graduate of Hanover College, University of Indiana, and the Army War College." 'Tis and 'twas "Indiana University," not "University of Indiana. Harrumph. Spent 22 years in the USAF, never realized MacDill was named after a fellow Hoosier, tho. (The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Scranton: 1900
... parking in the lot of a (perhaps) German parish to go to Christmas Mass in the Slovak parish church on the same block. Or maybe it was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 6:27pm -

Scranton, Pennsylvania, circa 1900. "Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad yards." Judging by the fellow in the white coveralls, I'd say this plate was exposed not long after this one. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Rock Island boxcarTwo tracks behind locomotive 808 is a Rock Island boxcar. On the left side of the boxcar are the words "Chicago, Rock Island and" (with "Pacific" being obscured.) The right side of the boxcar shows the earliest primitive Rock Island Route "beaver skin" logo. If this image was taken in 1900, then this would predate the oldest known image of the logo by two years. Unfortunately, the boxcar is missing from the stitched version. Scranton D, L & W RR yardsThe two images Scranton: 1900 and Old King Coal: 1900 put together, using some cut & paste techniques. The difference is only one freight train, the smart observer Dave recognized the man in the white overalls, who seems to have solved the "bilocation" problem! View full size. DL&W, et alWonderful of the Scranton DL&W yards, but this was not the only rail operator. Vestiges of track can be found all around Scranton and the adjoining towns. The major players included the St. Lawrence & Hudson, Deleware & Hudson, NY-Ontario & Western, Jersey Central, Erie, Reading & Northern, and of course, DL&W. It is said that some 35 freight lines operated through Scranton at one time or another. In addition, the area was served by light rail, interurban, and trolley companies. The buildings just visable at right in the photo are, of course, long gone and replaced by a shopping mall. MDTCIn the middle-ground about five or so tracks from the left edge of the photo (just to the right of the gas lamp in the foreground), is a Merchants Despatch Transportation Co. freight car, such as seen in this recent Shorpy image: https://www.shorpy.com/node/8252 It's the only MDTC car "representing" in the Scranton image, and the serial number doesn't match, but it's still a pretty cool coincidence. GraffitiAre those large signatures chalked on the boxcars? Interesting to see the predecessor to today's "art crimes." Grimyis the word that describes this photo. re: GraffitiThese chalk marks aren't the same as modern graffiti. Conductors would mark the cars and yardmen would use the marks to help breakup and classify the cars when they were in a yard. Pretty hellish if you ask meOf course, no one asked me. But jeez, what a hellish scene. Lung-blackening coal dust, soot, poisonous coal fires, smog from all the steam, steel shavings and dust from screeching wheels on tracks. I'm surprised you didn't drop dead after an hour here. I love the old railroads anyway. Total Depth of FieldIt would be interesting to know the details on how this photo is in focus from just a few feet from the light fixture to infinity. Is this a Shorpy/Dave technique or as is? [It's a standard view-camera view. - Dave] Gritty CityBeing a postwar baby and raised in Scranton, I too felt that carryover grime. And it somewhat extends to this day! A Slippery Slope.Both photos are taken from an elevated coaling trestle. Coal in bottom-dump gondola cars was pushed by a locomotive up the inclined trestle towards the camera onto a dead-end portion of level track (behind camera) which had sloped-bottom storage bins beneath. The coal was then dumped thru holes in the trestle deck into the bins below. Locomotives to be coaled were run along side the coal trestle at ground level, and then an upward-sliding door at the bottom of the coal bin was opened by the man taking coal, which allowed coal to flow down a chute and into the coal bunker in the tender of the locomotive being fueled. Sand for locomotive traction was usually put into the sand domes of locomotives at or near the coal chutes using the same manpower for both tasks. Sand was kept nearby and dried in the sand house around a coal-fired heater, then moved up to its bins above the service tracks and supplied by gravity to the sand domes on locomotives. On oil-fired locomotives sand would be put into a separate bunker behind the cab to be poured into a hole in the firebox door while the engine was working hard to remove the oil soot from the firebox walls, the firetubes and the superheater elements to improve heat transfer to water in the boiler. Road locomotives were usually coaled and sanded on their arrival from a run before going to the roundhouse. If the rails were wet, the engineer pushing cars of coal would have to take a run at the hill, yet, be ready to stop as soon as the cars reached the level track atop the coal chute, or they would go off the end. The broken blocks of wood visible on the walkway to the left of the track would be used by switchmen to block the wheels of cars on the slope. There is no walkway on the opposite side, as the engineer was on the right of the locomotive and would be pushing the cars on the front of the engine to keep the water in the boiler at the rear over the firebox. If the roundhouse dispatched, say, 20 road locomotives a day, each requiring 10 tons of coal, would mean at least 200 tons of coal would have to be moved up the coal chute ramp (and the empties brought back down). Using 40-ton cars would mean at least five cars a day up the slope. The small yard locomotives would also take coal from time to time, but, as they were usually never out of sight of the coal chute, it was not as important to have a full tender when going to work on their shift. The steepness of the grade might limit the yard engine to only two or three cars a trip up, as care had to be taken. The sand would come in boxcars to keep it dry. One major problem of the camelback locomotives shown to the right was that if one of their side rods or the main rod broke while in motion, the loose end still attached to the crank pin on a driving wheel would flail around, and wipe the cab and the engineer off the side of the locomotive. If the engineer was incapacitated, or worse, and the throttle not shut, you could then have a runaway. The "graffiti" on the sides of the boxcars is probably car destinations chalked on by yardmen at originating terminals. In 1900, not all freight cars would have air brakes, and, generally, they would be handled at the rear of freight trains, the air brake cars and their air hoses coupled directly behind the locomotive. Comparing the two photos, two switchmen can be seen riding the tops of boxcars to the right beyond the locomotives, they in position to relay hand signals to the engineer on their own locomotive in the distance when a coupling is being made onto other stationary cars. At night lanterns would be used and an engineer would have to be sure he was watching the right lamp in a busy yard. Switch stands would have oil lamps displaying standard colours to indicate their direction at night, and a wood or metal "target" by day. In 1900, steam was still the lifeblood of industry and many plumes of steam can be seen both on and off the railway. Another great photo! Tain't GraffitiBack in those days, yard crews would scribble instructions on the car. Things like where it was going, fragile load, destination, repairs needed, etc. Makes switching a whole lot easier. Where do you worka John?Where do you worka John? On the Delaware Lackawan What do you do-ah John? I poosh I poosh I poosh. Whata do you poosha John on the Delaware Lackawan? On the Delaware Lackawan I poosh I poosh the broom -- Song sung by my Italian grandmother, who grew up (after she got off of the boat) near the Jersey City terminus of the Delaware Lackawanna from about 1904 until 1922. Contents and destinationSeveral men of my father's family worked these yards in Scranton. I remember him saying the yardmen would mark this information on the cars to aid in switching. He never said what happened when it rained! Stub end tracksWhat's amazing is the stub end tracks without bumpers or wheel stops on the ends, must of been interesting to park cars on these tracks if you didn't have a brakeman spotting the cars. The box car on the left # 33551 as I can make out, looks like it ran off the end. Also notice the really neat camelback locos on the right. The engineer rode in the cab right next to the boiler (must have been real hot in the summer) while the fireman rode on the rear, stoking the fire, which wasn't much of a comfortable ride either, especially on rough track. Great photo and so clear after 110 yrs. DL&WWe tend to get all nostalgic when we think of railroad travel "back in the day," but it wasn't always perfect efficiency. When my grandmother used to ride the DLW a hundred years ago, they used to joke that the letters stood for Delay, Linger and Wait. Industrial steeplesNot mentioned yet is the forest of church steeples across the skyline. As with many industrial towns, Scranton's population had many countries represented and each ethnicity usually had its own church. My wife's from Scranton, and I remember parking in the lot of a (perhaps) German parish to go to Christmas Mass in the Slovak parish church on the same block. Or maybe it was an Italian parish. A bit of that Hades-like scene remains today in Scranton as the Steamtown National Historic Site railroad museum, a National Park Service attraction. Same Location Scranton DL&W Rail Yards nowMy picture taken from approx. the same location. The old DL&W rail yards are now Steamtown National Historic Site. re: Where do you worka John?In the version I heard, "I poosh, I poosh, I poosh" was followed by 'Poosha, poosha, poosha, poosha, -poosha, poosha, poosha." I was a railroad freight handler in 1955 and I actually heard an Italian freight handler say "poosha" in connection with moving some freight. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads, Scranton)
All the Trimmings: 1910
Washington, D.C., circa 1910. "Harris, Martha. Christmas tree." The home of Harris & Ewing co-founder George Harris and ... permanent as opposed being a holiday enhancement. Christmas Camo The pictures on the walls are completely lost in the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/25/2013 - 3:41pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1910. "Harris, Martha. Christmas tree." The home of Harris & Ewing co-founder George Harris and wife May, with presents for daughter Martha. Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size. MenagerieMartha has quite a menagerie of stuffed animals there, along with a tea set to feed them. The doll seems to be missing from the carriage though. Perhaps Martha is off playing with it. Or perhaps she and the doll have fled the wallpaper. I suspect those animals were stuffed with horsehair or maybe straw. LootLooks like little Martha cleaned up, this being back in the day when an orange and a copy of "Ragged Dick" was considered a good haul in many families. Clearly, the commercial photography business is good. One is relieved to see the absence of burning candles on this probably dessicated conifer. As for that wallpaper: basic human decency prohibits comment, except to say that it appears decidedly (and unfortunately) permanent as opposed being a holiday enhancement. Christmas CamoThe pictures on the walls are completely lost in the wallpaper. For that matter, the Christmas tree is nearly lost in the wallpaper. Maybe edit the captionMake it "Harris, Martha. Tree, Christmas." Get to workAll you colorists, better get started on this image now so it will be ready for viewing by Christmas 2014! Not to say LOUD, but --I wonder if that piano could be heard over the wallpaper! Now PlayingThe Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, has a beautifully restored Schoenhut Piano on display. From what I can tell they're still making them and FAO Schwarz is still selling them. For those of us ambitious enough to try and restore one, they can be bought on eBay, with some priced as low as $10. Rubens Angel.The angel at the tree top is a copy from a Rubens painting. [From Raphael's Sistine Madonna, actually. -tterrace] Test patternOl' George could use that room to check alignment and focus on his cameras and lenses. The Harris FamilyAppears in the 1920 Census at 3703 Morrison Street in DC. George W., age 48, was a native of Wales. His wife May R., age 41, was originally from Missouri. Daughters Martha and Aileen, 12 and 5 respectively, were both born there in DC. They had two live-in African American housekeepers, Maggie Mays (20) and Clara Monte (25). So if the photo at top was from 1910, Martha would have been about 2 at the time. (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Christmas Recovery: 1955
... shaped North Carolina Fraser Fir to be the ideal Christmas tree, I am surprising myself by finding this tree's natural and open ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 12/26/2021 - 1:43pm -

The gift-unwrapping frenzy past, and despite his being nearly crowded out of the frame, my father seems to be finding serenity by returning to normal daily routine, i.e. reading in his leather chair. Usually it would be the daily papers, but note the reserve stock of various publications overflowing the magazine rack. The tree and its environs can be seen pre-frenzy here in a post I made ten years ago. This shot was taken by my sister on 2-1/4-square transparency film. (Guess which of the discernible presents is obviously mine?) View full size. In the eye of the beholderGreat photo, and I am particularly drawn to the tree itself. After decades of considering the highly cultivated, extremely dense, perfectly conical and symmetrically shaped North Carolina Fraser Fir to be the ideal Christmas tree, I am surprising myself by finding this tree's natural and open shape to be quite appealing! The Schuco VW BeetleInstantly drew my attention if that is the brand. I'm about Terrace's age and I had a couple of Schuco models in the 50s. They were built in Germany and of tremendous quality, not at all inexpensive in that day. [I would have loved having one of those, but though I remember mine as being pretty faithful to the VW design, it wasn't nearly as fancy as that Schuco model. Made to play with rather than display. - tterrace] Magazine RackNever had a magazine rack with more than two sections to hold papers and magazines. This one looks like it has four. When my dad would bring home a tree similar to yours mom would say "That tree has personality!" (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Christmas on the Brooklyn: 1900
... are rum, sodomy and the lash." Just curious... What Christmas decorations??? Hot Buttered Rum Regarding drinking on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/11/2008 - 6:38pm -

Circa 1900. "U.S.S. Brooklyn wardroom pantry." Note the holiday decorations. The cruiser Brooklyn, commissioned in 1896, was a flagship in the Spanish-American War. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size. Changing of the Mess GuardAt this time, most "mess boys" were Negro, as seen here. However, after the Philippines were "pacified" in the early 1900s, Filipinos began enlisting in the U.S. Navy, and, to this day, are the only non-Americans allowed to do so and keep their native citizenship. It became traditional for Filipinos to be cooks and mess attendants on U.S. Navy ships. The ship's chief buyer of fresh food is referred to as the "Jack O'The Dust" (an old British term for keeper of the flour) and many of them are Filipino. LibationsThe other big difference between the old US Navy and the modern Navy can be seen beside the mess attendant's elbow - the champagne bottle. In one of the most incredible bits of wrong-headed thinking ever, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels (with the aid of his Assistant Secretary Franklin Roosevelt) propagated General Order 99 which said, "The use or introduction for drinking purposes of alcoholic liquors on board any naval vessel, or within any navy yard or station, is strictly prohibited, and commanding officers will be held directly responsible for the enforcement of this order." Despite the repeal of prohibition as national policy (which ended under Franklin Roosevelt), and despite the fact that most navies of the world - including most notably the Royal Navy and the dominion navies that it spawned such as the Royal Canadian Navy - allow the sale and drinking of alcohol aboard ship (in moderation) this policy is still in place. The gentleman leaning on that cupboard could hold any job in the navy today, including admiral (or even Commander In Chief) but he can't get a legal drink on a ship. Sir WinstonIt brings to mind Churchill's alleged comment. "The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash." Just curious...What Christmas decorations??? Hot Buttered RumRegarding drinking on board, I was in the old Royal Canadian Navy, and I'll never forget one cold day while we were docked alongside a US Navy ship in Korea. While we were being piped on deck for our daily dose of hot buttered rum, we heard the PA system next door announcing Cokes and Hershey bars for their sailors. As I recall they were quite envious that we were being given rum and we all had a good laugh about it, while shouting complimentary remarks back and forth. Foreign Nationals in US Navyand, to this day, are the only non-Americans allowed to do so and keep their native citizenship. Foreign nationals from many different have been able to join the Navy and keep their home country citizenship for a long time (at least the entire 15 years I've been in). One of the very first people I met when checking in the to the PSD down in Yorktown, VA was from Chile. They are however restricted to what rates they can hold and billets they can fill because they generally cannot get a security clearance (and they are precluded from becoming officers unless and until they are US citizens) What Filipinos had for a while was a unique program for fast-tracking U.S. citizenship, which I believe was a legacy of the post ww2 independence compact (and I also believe this went away in the eighties). There are some programs now, and proposals to expand them, to fast-track citizenship for foreign nationals from any country that have enlisted in the military (in all branches). Booze and TaxesI served with several Filipinos on board the USS Constellation and The USS Forrestal -- used to really tick me off that they received their full pay with no tax deductions. Regarding the alcohol on board American Navy ships, we were given a ration (2 beers) while at sea for being deployed between ports for over 1 month. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Christmas Shoppers in New York
Christmas shoppers in New York City. Photo from the Bain News Service ... is also a bit odd because it's so large! (The Gallery, Christmas, G.G. Bain, NYC) ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 09/09/2011 - 9:59am -

Christmas shoppers in New York City. Photo from the Bain News Service collection, between 1910 and 1915. View full size. Deft brushworkWhat bizarre retouching! I wonder what was originally in the box that was blanked-over. [Not uncommon for newspaper photographs of that era. - Dave] RetouchingYou wouldn't want to inadvertently publicize a store that didn't pay for advertising! Retouched?Interesting, I assumed when I first looked at the photo, that the woman on the left was carrying a ladies muff in her left hand. Are you thinking that is a package or box that was been retouched? [The packages and hat, as well as the coats (the lapels of the lady on the left, for example) have been retouched to make them stand out. - Dave] More on retouchingOf course, looking closer (I am new to thinking about old photos being altered) I can see the odd-looking highlights. So, what I think is a muff, probably is--which is also a bit odd because it's so large! (The Gallery, Christmas, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Our Christmas Play: 1923
... less than a year before Harding's death. (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 6:05pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1923. "Mrs. Shren's dancing class." With a Nutcrackerish-looking holiday production. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size. In the momentFor the Sarah Siddons award, I nominate the toy soldier who knew the meaning of staying in character. A sign of things to comeAll these cute little fairy tale characters and then in the middle ... a flapper wearing Mom's dress. Got a light?Love to hear the story behind the little girl, front and center, waiting for a light. That would never happen these days. She looks like she wants to say, "What am I doing here with all these schnooks? I can't wait to blow this joint." Tempus fugitI agree with Mitch. It's sad and amazing to think that most of these cute little kids are either very old or not around anymore! Love the pic - my Mom was born in 1918 and would have been about the same age as a lot of these kids! Sigh. Time does fly! A sad thoughtIt is sad to think that all these little kids, with their whole lives in front of them, are all older than my departed parents now. I wonder how many of them are still with us? Life goes by in the blink of an eye. Harding HallHarding Hall, an auditorium in the eighth floor attic of the Government Printing Office, was in use at least into the 1980s. Named in honor of President Warren Harding. First mention of it in the Washington Post was in March 1922; official opening was marked by a reception on Aug. 22, less than a year before Harding's death. (The Gallery, Christmas, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo)
Model Home: 1946
... world. Dream House Now this is what I want for Christmas -- a model house, and time to fiddle with the teensy tiny bowls. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/03/2008 - 7:59am -

From a series titled "Experimental housing models. Storage shed & garage, dining room & kitchen." Circa 1945-48, of the "Your Future Postwar Home" genre. Kodachrome transparency by Eric Schaal, Life photo archive. View full size. Pope-LeigheyThis looks to be drawing heavily from the Frank Lloyd Wright well, at least from my limited exposure touring the Pope-Leighey house in Alexandria, Virginia. How sleek it all is! Polly put the kettle on..I love the addition of the 18th century-style iron crane with copper tea kettle to the otherwise oh-so-contemporary fireplace! Very nice!I'll take two, please. LoftyLooks like half the lofts you see in San Francisco. Minimalist and modern. Not exactly my taste, but obviously this design has weathered well. PomoI love the copper kettle in the 'fireplace' and the sailing ship in a bottle. Seems that postmodernism is older than I am! No castleReminds me of Pete Seeger's "ticky-tacky little boxes." I live in a 1946-built ranch-style but only because the surrounding land is lovely. These things were efficient but sure not comfy. No thanks. California ModernThis was the style being promoted as Architecture for Everyman back in the 1940s, but it turned out that simplicity wasn't really that easy (or inexpensive) to pull off. You'll see its influence in the California Modern style of open floorplan found in midcentury houses that might go for $500k and up today. What everyone else got was pasteboard ranchettes with trickle-down features like sliding glass doors and carports. Kettle at fallingwater The Kaufman House (aka "Fallingwater") also has a similiar kettle on an iron crane over its fireplace. The fireplace and built-in shelving are all very Wrightish. Boom!There looks to be a distant atomic blast occurring if the light streaming in through the window is anything to go by. The tree outside doesn't seem lit from the same perspective. Otherwise, fantastic. Makes me want to drink pink lemonade and read National Geographic. Ektorp! Leksvik! Flattorg!Proto-Ikea. [I thought that Minus chandelier looked familiar. - Dave] DesiluI can see the attraction of order and simplicity after the chaos of the war. Now all they needed to add is a drain in the middle of the floor so that you can hose everything down for that weekly cleaning. The couch/chair set looks like something out of the Ricardos' apartment. Where's the TV?Obviously, they didn't foresee that in just a few short years living rooms would -- in practice, not in magazines -- be forever after arranged around suitable viewing locations for the ubiquitous television set. Hideous.It's bare, minimal, and utterly without a soul. The only thing it shares with a "Wright" building is: you see the personality of the architect in every detail, or lack of detail. There is nothing for the owner to add. In this case, it is a very bad thing. [Um, this is a scale model made from cigar boxes. - Dave] Don and June in La JollaThis closely resembles the thousands of Postwar Modernist houses built for every economic level in Southern California in the late 1940s and 1950s. My godparents, Don and June, lived in such a house, architect-designed and built in 1951 in La Jolla on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. The house wasn't large and had more glass on all sides, but the fireplace and furnishings were very like those in this model. Everything Don and June owned and wore was emphatically Modern. There were Eames chairs and Danish sofas, saber legs under the blond-finished tables and cabinets, immense Blenko Glass ashtrays, and wrought iron floor lamps with translucent pressed fiberglass shades. Don wore Don Loper jumpsuits in bright rich-guy colors and drove an MG. June wore charcoal gray knit turtlenecks and chunky hand-wrought silver jewelry. For me, living with my folks in a redwood-sided ranch house with knotty pine paneling and Early American maple furniture, visiting Don and June was like a trip to Mars. But Modernism didn't age well, and weathered quickly. In our current age of pseudo-Tuscan McMansions, minimalist Postwar Modern houses in Southern California are an endangered species and are increasingly protected by architectural preservation statutes. And many are being rediscovered and restored by affluent young Post-Modern buyers. UncannyIt is uncanny how closely this vision indeed resembles interiors of homes of 10-15 years later. Exposed-beam ceilings were a highlight, as were multiple wall materials in the same room, e.g., mortared rocks form two walls, sliding glass doors create another and paneling covers on the fourth. Also cool: sliding room dividers. Called to the FloorI know I'll get called to the floor for missing something obvious... but in a room that appears completed - what's that out of place beam looking thing lying across the floor? [Seems to be a stray beam left lying around when they took out some parts to take the picture. - Dave] Fooled meI knew something was a bit stagey about this shot, bit it wasn't until I read the comment below that I realized it was a cardboard model. I thought the term "housing model" was like a display home they use to sell condos. Curse my old eyes! Nice job to whoever built it. I love it! ... And I even love allie's snarky suggestion about putting a drain in the floor - an idea I've fantasized about for years. Seriously. Stop laughing. Model verisimilitudeMy favorite in that LIFE archive selection is the one looking down into the garage with its roof off: there's a drip mat on the floor with model oil stains on it. Looking at these gives me the same kind of feeling I get when watching Republic movie serials with speeding locomotives derailing into high-tension electric towers or warehouses exploding in clouds of fuller's earth and balsa timbers: making detailed models like this for a living must have been the best job in the whole world. Dream HouseNow this is what I want for Christmas -- a model house, and time to fiddle with the teensy tiny bowls. Architects have such an AWESOME job. "Little Boxes"The song was composed by Malvina Reynolds. You can hear her her version in the title sequence of the first-season episodes of Weeds. Later episodes feature versions by other artists, and it's interesting to compare and contrast those with the original. Steve Miller Someplace near the crossroads of America The Rooster LookModel home pictures. A lot of it reminds me of some of the things we had or tried to imitate in our house in the early 50s. My mom bought "blonde" furniture in a very contemporary style! All the rage. That sleek moderne look then changed to homey and there was rooster decor. Anyone else remember the roosters? Rooster lamps, dishes, wrought iron rooster on the wall! Ah, the beauty of trends! (Art & Design, LIFE)
My Brilliant Career: 1928
... St. News." It's beginning to look A lot like Christmas. All she needs is a star on her head. Ticker: STRA Little ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 3:42pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1928. "Strayer's Business College." Now in session: Mimeograph 101. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Strayer's Display Ad, Washington Post, Aug 1, 1904 Strayer's Business College Cor. 11th and F Sts. N.W. Shorthand, typewriting, bookkeeping, penmanship, arithmetic, English, &c. Day and night, all the year. Lowest prices. Books, &c., free. Typewriters sent to students homes. Situations guaranteed. 1,000 students last year. Half price for full course if you enroll now. Call, write or phone for catalogue. Display Ad, Washington Post, Sep 17, 1923 Strayer's Business College Registration Now Being Made for Fall Term Day and Evening Sessions Stenography Typewriting Bookkeeping Accountancy Secretarial Spanish by Native Teacher Call, Phone or Write for Information 721 13th Street N.W. (Next door to Telephone Building) Main 3430 Olfactory ReminiscenceThe ineradicable memories of Ditto fumes, freshly sharpened pencils and the thick crayons we first graders had to use. Polka-Ditto-DotsIt took Miss Marcell some time to notice that the spatters of mimeograph fluid were affecting her fine silk blouse. Mimeograph MemoriesI remember producing a church newsletter on a mimeograph in the early '80s. The stencil masters were coated in some kind of wax. I used a typewriter with no ribbon to cut through the wax and form a stencil. Had to be very careful in typing, as corrections were difficult and never looked right. Too many errors, and I'd have to start over. When I finished typing the stencil, I'd peel off the backing paper and mount it face-down on the drum as illustrated in this picture. Load paper and feed it through, and ink was squeezed through the stencil holes and transferred to the final product. Definitely looked better than a ditto, but the ink tended to smudge and smear. I always ended up with ink all over my hands and clothes by the time the job was finished. Purple HazeI loved the smell. We had those machines in schoolThe copies had a distinct smell that you just don't forget. Careful --Don't get those sleeves caught in the machinery. Also, do we have a photo of her holding the paper up to her nose to inhale that intoxicating aroma. Ahh, memories. Breathe DeepThat scene in Ferris Bueller was not exaggerated -- my olfactory memory is atingle right now with the waft of mimeograph aroma we got as we pressed the paper to our faces. Tear-Away SleevesHopefully she never got those sleeves too close to the machine while it was being worked. More work aheadI love the smell of mimeograph fluid in the morning. Smells like... work. (Or at least it did when I was in elementary school.) Old Timey JewelsGosh, look at the size of those pearls. They don't come like that anymore. Scentimental Journey!Wow, it's been almost 50 years, but I can still smell it. Get thee to a FarkeryOnly a matter of time. Things change . . . and don'tStrayer is now Strayer University and its advertising is ubiquitous in the DC area. Copier smellI wonder if the odor of school copies many remember wasn't more likely from those made with spirit copiers, aka ditto machines. Most commonly these produced copies with purple-colored letters that had a very distinctive, somewhat alcoholic aroma. The masters were easier to produce. Rather than the fragile mimeo stencil material, masters were produced by typing onto a 2-ply sheet, one ply of which was akin to carbon paper, with a thick layer of material that transferred the typed letters onto the master sheet. The impressions of the material on the master actually formed the "ink," which was activated by the spirit liquid. The process didn't require the black, sticky and messy ink of the mimeograph. The downside was that dittos had a lower print run, as the "ink" on the master gradually depleted and the copies got fainter, whereas the mimeo ink could be replenished continuously. But the simplicity of dittos made them practical for such things as classroom handouts and tests. When I was a kid, I used a companion process, the gelatin hectograph, to produce my pretend-newspaper, "The Arch St. News." It's beginning to lookA lot like Christmas. All she needs is a star on her head. Ticker: STRALittle Strayer Business College has grown into Strayer Education, a $3.5 billion publicly traded company. FashionTake another look at her outfit/grooming. Add a belt, a current hairstyle, makeup and pretty shoes and stockings, and what is different? I doubt anyone would wear their best cocktail dress to work, unless to have their picture taken. Huge pearls have been back in style recently, too. I want that dress! State of The Art CopiesBefore the mimeograph was invented, teachers had to write all that information on the blackboard, and the kids copied it into their notebooks. Talk about tedious. The smell was refreshing. Can kids get high on alcohol fumes, or formaldehyde or whatever they used? Teacher's petMy mother was a teacher from 1959 through 1988 and I can well remember helping her mark tests on the old mimeographed papers (or Gestetner, after David Gestetner, the inventor of the particular machine) usually used in the schools and elsewhere. Life became SO much easier for Mom after the "ditto" machine came about. Of course, being able to be the person who got to hand out the freshly produced "dittos" was lots of fun. In case anyone is wondering, the wonderful concoction was methanol and isopropanol. Been there, done thatAnd remember well how bleedin' difficult it was to get the stencil to lie flat so it didn't crease on the first page through, leaving lightning-streaks across every subsequent page, AND how sticky and awful that ink was to get off once it was on you. The only advantages mine had over this one was that (1) it was powered, and (2) it had an auto page counter. And correcting typos with that weird blue Liquid Paper-clone that stank of acetone . . . don't get me started. For organizing the masses, too.Some friends had the Gestetner at their house in Austin, which gave them some heft in the antiwar movement. I also remember, prior to that, when I was in the Army in Germany, a friend drawing an antiwar cartoon with a stylus freehand on one of those stencils. It is hard to imagine how things got done then, but they did. "Then" in this case is about 1969-1973. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, The Office)
A Little Night Music
... by Columbia in 1948. I'd like to think this was a Christmas present. View full size. Player and record Steelman ... me from their mailing list. Those were the days. Christmas season? Small tree in the window. In the 1960s my dad picked ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 01/24/2013 - 7:02pm -

tterrace here to report that in this, another unlabeled Kodachrome from the "Linda" series, our music-loving friend is about to enjoy (and unfortunately is touching the playing surface of) an LP of one of the top items in the classical hit parade, Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor. This performance, with Walter Gieseking, piano, and Herbert von Karajan conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, was originally recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, by EMI on June 6 and 11, 1951. It was licensed to USA's Columbia Records, which released this album in late December 1951 as ML 4431, selling for $5.45. His player appears to be a 1950 Steelman "Quartet" Model 515 portable, one of their "better buys," priced at $29.95. Definitely not hi-fi, but perhaps this is an example of the stopgap that many of the time employed, their older behemoth radio/phono consoles unable to accommodate the relatively new long-playing record, introduced by Columbia in 1948. I'd like to think this was a Christmas present. View full size. Player and recordSteelman "Quartet" and Columbia ML 4431 VTF in ounces, not gramsConsidering the weight of the tone arm on that Steelman touching the records surface was the least of his worries. Columbia Record "Club"Remember the Columbia Record Club? They'd send a new recording (I belonged to the Classical Music option) once a month or so. I would send the record back and they would send me a bill, or I would accept the record and they wouldn't send me a bill. Finally quit sending the recordings back and they dropped me from their mailing list. Those were the days. Christmas season?Small tree in the window. In the 1960s my dad picked up a portable Motorola stereo phonograph player that had detachable speakers. You uncoupled them from the sides of the cabinet and could pull them out as far as the cable would allow, but that was easily 6-8 feet on each side. Dad modified the amplifier so that he could plug a microphone into a jack he added on the side and use it as a PA system. He and mom then took the stereo to a few PTA parties and kids' dances and school functions. Flip the switch-- PA announcements. Flip the switch back-- play the dance music. My dad was a great improviser and quite handy with tools. Too bad I didn't inherit much of that. Dramatic or romantic?Probably one of the most well known dramatic piano intro flourishes ever! The rest is pure romantic loveliness. (Though still nothing close to Ase's Tod or Peer Gynt.) The crop on this image is tantalizingly close. One more mm of image and we would see whether he wears a ring. The photo frame on the turntable is also just enough out of focus. Off to listen now. I love the art on the album cover. Well, this was a coincidenceI clicked on Shorpy.com this evening while I was listening to this week's New York Philharmonic radio broadcast. What was playing at that moment? Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor, with soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet! Putting sound to the recordTo add to Deborah's comment, here's the opening flourish of Grieg's Concerto in A Minor, played on a Steinway Duo-Art piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqqKQILSr44 Reproducing pianos such as this were different from your normal player piano. The paper roll included markings for sustain, dynamics, etc. These pianos typically went for $2,000 on up in the 1920s ... so needless to say, not many had them. Great picture. I have a LP collection of jazz from the 1950s and early 1960s. Reading the covers gives you an attachment to the music, something that sadly is lost today. RE: Columbia Record "Club"I think you may have reversed part of your comment: If you "kept" the record, they sent you a bill. Of course, in my case, it didn't matter if I sent it back or not; they ALWAYS sent me a bill for it. What It Is DependsIn those days the kids called it the record player. Mom and Dad called it the Victrola. When sober Uncle Ernie called it the phonograph. Not cheap$5.45 for a record back in 1951 sounds pretty expensive. Were classical records more costly as a rule? DramaticI love this picture. Dark, but not foreboding, it suggests comfort, if not luxury. The shadows invite speculation, as many Shorpy photos do, and the lamplight invites one into a warm, cozy room to enjoy an evening symphonic performance. Nice! Expensive!As per the Consumer Price Index, that $5.45 record album would cost over $48 in today's money. The phonograph works out to a whopping $265. [Originally the Masterworks price was $4.85 or $5.45 depending on length, later standardized to $4.98. In January 1956 Columbia reduced it to $3.98. - tterrace] StopgapWe had a "stopgap" like that, only later. When I was young my parents had a Montgomery Ward radio-phono in a wooden cabinet. The radio would do AM, FM (which was almost nonexistent then) and shortwave. The phono would only do 78s. In about 1961, my father bought a used Zenith record player with the old Cobra tonearm (which looked like a snake.) It would play LPs and 45s, but only mono. A couple of years later they bought a Zenith stereo in a cabinet. By then, of course stereo LPs had been out for several years. I remember it had a flip feature on the tonearm--you turned a disc one way to play LPs/45s and rotated it to get a 78 stylus. The turntable would do all three speeds. If you set it for 78s, however, because the whole thing ran on a cam, the changer worked so fast that it would likely have smashed itself to bits if you did it very many times. I have bought more used vinyl than CDs in the past 2-3 years. There is some real treasure out there for very little money ($1 a disc at my store.) Night HawkThis photo has an Edward Hopper quality about it. (Linda Kodachromes)
Creative Differences: 1940
... the school newspaper." Title of their typescript: "A Happy Christmas for Tom." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm ... story "Why the Rabbit's Tail is Short" . Happy Christmas for Tom         Once upon a time a poor ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2021 - 5:00pm -

November 1940. "Boys in the schoolhouse in Ledyard, Connecticut, working on the school newspaper." Title of their typescript: "A Happy Christmas for Tom." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. ScriptoriumThe monks never had carbon paper, so modernity had taken over the school newspaper by the 1940s. Fond MemoriesI well remember those wooden desks and wooden floors. However, you didn't want to get caught scratching your name into the top of your desk! Love these old photos! "Rosebud"Citizen Kane: the early years! "You look warm, Friend Rabbit"The boy in the foreground appears to be fully immersed in the short story "Why the Rabbit's Tail is Short". Happy Christmas for Tom        Once upon a time a poor woman and her son Tom lived in an old cabin in the woods. They could not have anything for Christmas because they didn't have any money. This made the little boy sad. So he put on his hat and coat and went out side. He walked through the woods. Soon he came to a little town. A man was shoveling snow off his walk. He called to Tom and said, "I will give you a quater if you shovel off my walk." So Tom went to work. When he was through the man gave him his quater and he hurried to the store. So he bought a new shovel so he could do some more shovelling. He worked hard all day and made one dolar. He bought a present for his mother, and some bells and things for a Christmas tree.         Tom did not know what was going on at home, but his mother was making cakes and other good things to sell. With the money she received from them she brought a new sled for Tom. Tom's mother hurried to get home first and she hid the sled.         When Tom ... And that's all I can read. I guess we'll never know how it turns out. Lefties?I wonder how many lefties dripped ink on their papers while dipping their nibs into the inkwell holder so awkwardly located on the right side of the desk? BBP -- Before Ball PointI sat at desks like that in grade school, but by then (in the latter half of the 1950s) those inkwells at the upper right corners were just empty cavities. (The Gallery, Christmas, Education, Schools, Jack Delano, Kids)
1930's Christmas Parade
The D. Earl Comb Christmas parade. Back in the early 30's Mr. Comb ran this parade throughout ... Burns! "Eeeeeexcellent!" (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas) ... 
 
Posted by Brian - 12/11/2007 - 11:53am -

The D. Earl Comb Christmas parade. Back in the early 30's Mr. Comb ran this parade throughout the Midwest and the southeastern United States. He bought the parade from Albert H. Thacher for $1,800 - including all animals, costumes and props. The pictures are from various locations. I've only been able to pinpoint two - one at a very specific corner in Atlanta and the other in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. My favorites are of the parade clowns. I've got a Flickr group that contains all the pictures, stationery and contract for this. I've still got some documents I haven't scanned in yet (like the instructions to running a parade), but hopefully will sometime soon. Great photoBut that turnip-head character is the thing of childhood nightmares. Lollipop man will eat your soul!The clown is the least scary thing at that parade. Lollipop ManI showed this picture to my 4-year-old son. He liked the clown a lot, and thought lollipop man was funny as well. However, I agree with the sentiment that he was probably pretty scary looking in person. There are probably a few geriatrics in the south and midwest who still have nightmares about him. Hey!That's the original Mr. Burns! "Eeeeeexcellent!" (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas)
Jingle Belles: 1952
... in the photo who's still with us, thinks it may have been Christmas. 35mm slide. View full size. Separate Tables I like the ... changed to something more casual later in the day. Christmas has always been done on a rotating basis among our generation of ... 
 
Posted by der_bingle - 12/10/2008 - 11:59am -

Oak Park, Illinois, 1952. My grandmother (left), mother (center), and aunts. One of my cousins is leaning against the wall, her feet visible in the lower center of the photo. The occasion was probably a holiday, as the ladies are wearing their Sunday best, and that huge cooking pot had to have held a turkey. My mom, the only adult in the photo who's still with us, thinks it may have been Christmas. 35mm slide. View full size. Separate TablesI like the little table on the left. My maternal Polish grandparents lived in Sterling Heights, MI, and had a very similar set in their basement. My grandfather built a second kitchen down there to keep the cooking business separate from the living area upstairs. They would have their morning coffee down there, while the dining room was for guests only. They would cook heaping piles of potato pancakes or pierogis and you couldn't leave until you were about to burst (and then most likely you couldn't leave - they were pretty crafty). GrandmaLove your grandma's kind face. One aunt seems to be admiring herself in the reflection of the roaster lid she is drying. Great red shoes. Looks like they are all having fun (except your cousin, who I bet is whining even though I can only see her legs). Your family must have been rich because you have (in 1952) a paper towel holder with actual paper towels being used. My Depression-era mother never allowed paper towels in the house -- too extravagant. ProtograndmaIt's amazing how much your grandmother looks like what I envision as the "prototypical" grandmother -- hair in a bun, simple print dress, wire-frame glasses, etc. Thanks for sharing this photo. Your MomLooks fantastic! I can't imagine cooking in a dress like that and heels. And somehow her apron compliments it all. GrandmaI have to admit, Grandma always looked like she'd just stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting. As for being "rich," they certainly weren't -- though they weren't exactly destitute either. Like everyone else, they were coming out of some tough times following the Depression and WWII. But things were looking up by the time the '50s rolled around. Lovely family!I love this photo! Maybe it's because I grew up in Oak Park, too, so I can relate. Can you estimate the ages of these ladies? I'm always curious about that. Women then almost always looked older than women today - partly due to dress and hairstyles and exercise levels, partly due to ever-present smoke. ApronsI'm pretty sure you could find something like the one his mom is wearing if you tried Victoria's Secret. Which aunt?Dave, who's the aunt that's second from right (blond curly hair, facing the camera)? She's pretty. Your grandmother reminds me of my maternal great-grandmother. I barely remember her, as she passed away in 1964, at age 88. [I dunno. I did not post this photo. - Dave] Ever present smoke...And because they weren't injecting botulinum toxin into their faces. I think the dresses and aprons are wonderful! Aprons are such a wonderful thing, I can't for the life of me understand why everyone doesn't use them while cooking. Maybe I'm messier than the average cook. Great photo. The poster who predicted on the train picture thread what was going on in the kitchen was spot on. Fancy DishwashersWow, they started on those dishes even before they cut into the pie for dessert! By now the men must be having a cup of coffee in a room filled with blue smoke. My guess on the host here is the aunt with the sloppy blue slip on shoes. Interesting how they must have all brought their own aprons to this gathering... do they even sell aprons like these anymore? Their ageswere (L to R): 69, 40, 23, 36 and 34. I believe at least two of the families were living in this house at the time, thus the multiple aprons. BeautifulI happen to think all these women, grandma too, were beautiful. This is from such a better time in American history, when family still mattered. Heel CrazyI just love the shoes on your mom and the lady second from the right. The new 38My mother in law is 68 and she looks young enough to be the daughter of the 69 year old woman. It's amazing at how differently people age today. Possibly Polish Rockettes?Thank you common-tater FK3 for your Polish memories as you have succeeded in bringing on an insatiable potato pancake craving in this fellow Pole. I want some NOW. As for the chorus line in this photo, here's a scenario: "You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out, (no, no, the LEFT foot). Only I could say this because I love Polish jokes and my dad says I was the best one ever. What's everyone ooglingWhat's everyone oogling about? That's exactly what our house looked like this past Thanksgiving, except the women don't dress up any more. They wear sweats and sneakers, have tattoos and eyebrow rings and studs through their tongues. Oh, and they don't do the dishes. [Searching for a G, I guess. - Dave] Old ladyThere are no old ladies like your grandmother any more. They are now called senior citizens and are all out on the golf course, taking a cruise or playing the nickel slots at the casinos. Your Grandma and my MotherI love this picture because your grandma is a ringer for my mother. I showed this picture to my mother and she couldn't believe it. She carried on for 15 minutes on how she thought I photoshopped this picture. That's how much they look alike. Aprons & dressy dressesThere would have been a drawer full of aprons the visiting ladies could borrow to protect their good dresses as they helped clean up, which they would only do if they were family or close friends, not "company." They probably wore housedresses or "slacks" to actually cook earlier in the day. They are having a good time, aren't they? Aprons of todayApparently there's still quite a few apron wearers of today's crowd, as there are several apron makers who are doing a booming business on eBay and etsy. And they don't seem to be the same vendors hawking their wares on both sites. I have a significant collection of them myself, in several styles and as many prints and colors, and have been not only collecting and wearing them for ages, but also finding they are much appreciated gifts that get used a lot by the recipients. This is a great photo of the way family life used to be among many more people than it seems to be now. I could be wrong ~ I have been once or twice in my life ~ or maybe I just don't see it in photos like this any longer. My own grandparents have been gone for years, but my husband's grandparents have been with us until just recently. A big family gathering for major holidays such as Easter or the 4th of July, or just because we wanted to see everyone, was always held at their farm in northwestern Indiana during all but the winter months, when they closed up the house and became "Snowbirds" heading south to another home they owned in Florida. All the women and older girls gathered in the kitchen like in this photo, beforehand to set up the food we brought along to go with the wonderful creations Grandma whipped up farm-style, and again after the biggest part of the feasting had been done to do up the dishes and get the kitchen back to something like normal again. Desserts were always left out with small disposable plates and bowls, to avoid creating another pile of dirty dishes. The smaller kids were shooed outside to play while the men gathered outside on the porch or in the barn, to visit with Grandpa, and to keep an eye on the kids and keep them out of trouble. The littlest ones stayed with us mothers and older sisters, and usually at Easter we all dressed up some ~ the kids more so than us grownups. Of course it was always understood that the littlest ones would have to have their fancy clothes changed to something more casual later in the day. Christmas has always been done on a rotating basis among our generation of grandchildren, of which my husband is the oldest, but we used to dress up some for that too, even if it was just a nice sweater and slacks or nicer jeans, taking our brutal winter climate under condideration, although I don't recall anything like the gorgeous dresses and red heels like I see here! As for those "sloppy blue slippers" mentioned earlier, they were neither sloppy nor slippers in this respect. Those were always "house shoes" and the resident females had that privilege in every group of which I have ever been a part! Great photo that also brings back memories of my own grandmother, mother and aunts when I was a child in the early to mid-60s as well. I'll spare the details for space considerations, since I'm sure they echo so many others of us from that time. A beautiful bit of "Time Travel" provided here! All photos can be viewed in that respect, to be sure. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, Kitchens etc.)
Secret Santa: 1942
... R.H. Macy & Company department store the week before Christmas. Children line up to talk with Santa Claus. There are two Santas, ... lunch we would head over to Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Show. Wow! What a day! We were all exhausted by the time we got ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/24/2013 - 3:18pm -

December 1942. "New York. R.H. Macy & Company department store the week before Christmas. Children line up to talk with Santa Claus. There are two Santas, concealed from one another by a labyrinth to prevent disillusionment of the children. Each child is presented with candy and tells Santa his or her desires." Photo by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size. The Wonder Of It All....A visit to Santa at Macy's was an annual tradition for me and my brother. Mom would try to get us there as early as possible, since the lines were long. You snaked your way through a dark purple tunnel with various holiday scenes along the way. Finally, you emerged into the light.... and there he was! What a thrill this was, but the day wasn't over yet. After presenting Santa with our wish lists, mom would then take us for lunch at the Horn & Hardart Automat (which I believe was in the Empire State Building at the corner of 34th Street & 5th Avenue). We loved putting those nickels in the slots to get our soups, sandwiches and desserts. And the day still wasn't done - after lunch we would head over to Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Show. Wow! What a day! We were all exhausted by the time we got home.... SEASONS GREETINGS TO SHORPY, DAVE, AND EVERYONE WHO READS THIS! NoelA Very Merry Christmas to all the Shorpy family. Hope Santa's visit brings you much joy and happiness. And that 2014 turns out to be the best Shorpy year yet! Merry Christmas to all in Shorpy LandAnd Happy New Year! Love the lady with the hat half finished. Is that a knitting needle in the hat in case she finds the time to finish it? Aha, a labyrinth!So that's how they did it. I always suspected there was some sort of deception involved because sometimes I didn't get exactly what I asked for, and I didn't buy the explanation that it was just probably just a miscommunication because I had mumbled, or something. Santa, I'd like a free Shorpy's posterThat boy in the center might be waiting to ask Santa for a shoe shine. What a wonderful, expressive face on this Santa. Merry Christmas to Dave, tterrace and all the other old photo time travellers on Shorpy. Not just Macy'sThis post jogged a nice memory for me. Wurzburg's Department Store in Grand Rapids (or was it Herpolsheimer's? They're both long gone, but it could have been either of them) had a labyrinth, too. I had completely forgotten, but I had to walk through it to see Santa, just like the kids in New York. Merry Christmas to Dave and the rest of the Shorpy crew! IntriguedIntrigued by Mom's hat. Woolworths SantaI'll always remember having my photo taken on the lap of Woolworth's Santa. Mainly because my Mom and most every member of the family worked there at one time including me. I never did know his name though. Macy's still has....a secret Santa! They now have a black Santa at a different location, who see parents and children by request. It saves many black parents having to explain and de-confuse their children. (Photo is from CBS) And please, Santa-A new hat for my mother... (The Gallery, Christmas, Kids, Marjory Collins, NYC)
« first‹ prev…5 [6]7…next ›last »
Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.