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Little Falls: 1941
... roofed building on the right. I googled "little falls" "city cigar", and got back a book on Little falls. It said they cleared the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/05/2023 - 3:42pm -

October 1941. "Looking toward the Mohawk River. Little Falls, New York." Which is at least a two-stoplight town. Medium format negative by John Collier. View full size. The Bank is still there?But either I'm wrong or they got bombed during the War because almost nothing else still stands. It's not near that badWhat got razed was the east side of that one block of South Ann Street. While the cigar store and the ... train station? ... are gone, along with everything between, Little Falls National (Berkshire Bank) is still in place, as is the Herkimer County Trust building (Adirondack Bank) and the former Hotel Snyder and tavern (Happen Inn). Looks good to me.No, you have the right corner. If you go to N. Ann street & Albany street and look back up Ann, you can see the same triangular roofed building on the right. I googled "little falls" "city cigar", and got back a book on Little falls. It said they cleared the buildings in the 1970s for urban renewal. (The Gallery, John Collier, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Manhattan: 102 Years Ago
... gives a nice overview of the kinds of facilities in the city including a map that shows an overall picture of where they were. ... - and I don't mean Superman's version! Steampunk City This image excellently represents the zenith of Steampunk USA -- look ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/18/2012 - 6:55pm -

Manhattan circa 1908. "New York skyline." Part of an eleven-section panorama. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. White FlierFrom the pre-aviation era when "flier" meant fast ship. The Bunker Hill is an example of first quality American shipbuilding circa 1908. While "modern" in terms of amenities, ships of this time were not required to carry sufficient numbers of lifeboats for all people aboard. The Bunker Hill appears to be carrying four. Scheduled "White Flier" time for one-way passage between New York and Boston was 15 hours. ABC Pathfinder Railway Guide, 1912 Eastern Steamship Corporation All-the-Way-by-Water The Great Express White Steel Fliers Massachusetts and Bunker Hill. Splendid Steel Freight steamships are operated by the Metropolitan Line between Boston, Mass. and New York. The Massachusetts and Bunker Hill are notable examples of Modern Marine Architecture. Many of their staterooms are en suite, with connecting bath and toilet facilities. All staterooms are most attractively furnished, and equipped with the most modern sanitary fixtures. Inside staterooms are provided with electric fans. They are provided with a most attractive outside dining-room on the Main Deck, a Hurricane Deck Cafe; are equipped for the burning of oil as fuel, with Automatic Sprinkling Appliances, Wireless Telegraphy, Submarine Signal Service, and all other modern facilities to insures the Security and Comfort of passengers. All outside two-berth rooms, $2.00; Inside, $1.00. Electric Fans in inside room. More of the NYC navyIf you look to the left side of the picture, those boxy barges lettered for the New York Central are lighters used to service ships in other parts of the harbor besides at the railroad's own dock facilities. This page gives a nice overview of the kinds of facilities in the city including a map that shows an overall picture of where they were. Containerization finally killed this kind of transloading off in the early sixties when someone finally figured out that giving the stevedores two passes on the goods wasn't exactly labor-saving. Manhattan, 1908 on ShorpyAre you going to put up the other 10 sections of the panorama - they would be of great interest to Rail Marine modellers along with many others. [It's on Shorpy's to-do list! - Dave] The Flatiron's diminutive brotherwas the German-American Insurance Building, on Liberty Street. It is now Louise Nevelson Plaza. Read all about it. Re: Steampunk?Steampunk is fairly reasonable, but I see it more as "Metropolis" - and I don't mean Superman's version! Steampunk CityThis image excellently represents the zenith of Steampunk USA -- look at all the plumes rising from the soaring skyscrapers, and the stalwarts of steam power on the mighty river. A nation is coming into its own -- work is getting done. Regard with awe the rising Manhattan silhouette –- all correct angles forming the canyons that will forever define the island, with just the right amount of added artistic flair that decorum & modesty would allow. This is at the very moment prior to the time when noxious internal-combustion engine -- fueled by the devil's excrement -- began its century of degradation & domination. [It was filthy, sooty coal that made the steam. The air over New York is a lot cleaner now. - Dave] DazzlingThe former Bunker Hill in 1918. City Investing BuildingStanding shoulder to shoulder with the Singer Tower is the picturesque City Investing Building, designed by Francis H. Kimball and built 1906-1908. This view, which I've never seen before, shows how close together they really were. Sadly both were demolished together in 1968 to make way for the US Steel Building (now known as 1 Liberty Plaza). Had to happenThe day has finally arrived. I have been shorpyized, One look at this photo and I recognized the Singer building right away. Mother said there would be days like this. NYC TugboatsThe New York Central boats are tugboats. The NYC along with Jersey Central and I believe the B&0, all operated tugboats which were used to move their RR barges to and from New York City. South Street SeaportPier 16, along with the unseen Pier 17 out of the photo on the right, is now part of the South Street Seaport, so it's likely that many of the smaller buildings on the extreme right-hand side of the photo still survive! Pier 15 bit the dust at some point, though. All Too HumanYes. So many wonderful buildings, of which few we see here survive. This, however, to me, seems to be a view of humanity of a past time. A photo taken from the same spot today probably wouldn't give you the same feel. "Bizarre camouflage" on former Bunker HillThat type of ship camouflage was called a "dazzle pattern." It was widely used in WW I and also in WW II. Dazzle camouflage was meant to confuse attackers as to the ship's course and speed. It also confounded early range finders. OK I wanna see the whole panoramaCan someone stitch it together? [Have at it. - Dave] Camo aheadSteamship Bunker Hill apparently became USS Aroostook, a mine laying ship, in WWI. The naval historical center has an interesting series of photos of her. Some of the photos show a pretty bizarre camouflage pattern, too. S.S. Bunker HillNew England Steamship Co. was the New Haven Railroad's dominant marine operator and served the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket from New Bedford. The Bunker Hill and others were overnight steamers to New England from New York. More Singer!Thanks for yet another great photo of the old Manhattan skyline with the Singer Building in it. What's that building?What's that Flatiron-looking building just to the left of Rogers & Pyatt Shellac? I wonder if it's still standing. 50 storiesThat Singer building dominated the skyline back in the day. Many buildings in NYC are 50 stories and over now, but it would be still be a very interesting landmark structure if it survived today. 1908 ShellackingFor best quality shellacking … Stubbs Buyers Directory for the Wholesale Drug, Chemical, and Allied Trades, 1918 Rogers & Pyatt Shellac Co. 79 Water St., New York. [Suppliers of:] Gum Copal Gum Kauei Gum Sandarac Horizontal vs verticalThe long white boat and its wake make a pleasing and flourishing contrast with all the vertical lines. Where would those "New York Central" boats have been going to/coming from? Do they connect with the railroad? Were they taking passengers across the river? Steampunk? Really?Hey I know the internet has to reuse the same old boring subculture buzzwords over and over again but stop misusing the term "steampunk." The Industrial Revolution wasn't about form over function. [So I suppose we could call you Anti Meme. - Dave] For Tim DavidOk, it's not quite perfect, but HERE is the full panorama. Aroostook ConversionBelow is a before/after image of the Bunker Hill/Aroostook refit. (Stitched from the above Shorpy post and the image at Wikipedia, flipped left-right.) Old NYCI love drawing old NYC and I love Shorpy. Check out my site for more. www.erosner.com ManhattaI bet Manahatta was given the nickname The Big Apple because of all the road apples on the streets. Come for the stunning architecture, run away gagging from the smell. What I'm learning from this phenomenal site are the minimal changes from Civil War customs and architecture up through the 1910s. Regardless of incredible inventions, social norms hardly shifted at all till WW1. Yes!I would also like to see the entire panorama. Even if bit by bit. Someone say Panorama?Sorry for a bit of a screw-up where the Harbor starts on the left side because Photoshop has a bit of a malfunction, but here's the full panorama. Enjoy! 9528x960 (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)
Amex: 1910
... away from the Aseptic Barber Shop. Who can tell us what city we're in? View full size. Pacific Electric Building, Los Angeles ... It's Sixth Street, not State, but I have no idea what city. On state street that great street, I just want to say, they do ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 5:23pm -

Circa 1910. "American Express Co., Main and Sixth." Just steps away from the Aseptic Barber Shop. Who can tell us what city we're in? View full size. Pacific Electric Building, Los AngelesThis is the Pacific Electric Building (or Huntington Building) at 6th and Main in Los Angeles, California. You can see intertwined Ps and Es in the column capitals at the cornice. And, amazingly enough, still there! Main & SixthIt's Sixth Street, not State, but I have no idea what city. On state streetthat great street, I just want to say, they do things they don't do on Broadway. Chicago? [I goofed in typing "State." Should have been "Sixth." - Dave] It's the Huntington BuildingIt's the Huntington Building in Los Angeles. "W.M.Garland & Company" was the clue." Pacific Power and LightPortland? Amex 1910 locationThe lampposts ("5-Globe Llewelin") indicate downtown L.A., unless the design was used elsewhere. But I don't believe so. West CoastI would guess Los Angeles as there is a Pacific Light and Power sign on one of the windows in the building. Dual gauge in L.A.It's Los Angeles. The tipoff (for me at least) is the dual-gauge streetcar track -- 3'6" for the city streetcars of the Los Angeles Railway; standard gauge for the interurbans of the Pacific Electric. I'm going to guess Los AngelesWe're on S. Main Street. Pacific Light and Power Company in one of the windows is a clue we're on the west coast. The real clue are the offices of W. M. Garland Company Real Estate. Mr. Garland was a commercial developer in Los Angeles. He was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Los Angeles in 1932. That's my final answer. Los AngelesI believe this is the old Pacific Electric building on Sixth and Main. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Electric_Building In Los AngelesThis is the Pacific Electric Building in Los Angeles. Lazy AnswerMy limited research leads me to guess that the city we're looking for is Kingston, New York. Still There Too!Here it is today. City Of AngelsDowntown Los Angeles. The actual building was called the Pacific Electric Building. AlohaI'm going to guess Honolulu based on the "Pacific Power and Light" sign in an upper window. That Toddling TownI gotta say it's Chicago. InterurbanPacific Electric Building in Los Angeles, CA American ExpressThat building, I believe, is the one on Broadway in NYC. Los AngelesI think this is L.A. Could it besunny Los Angeles? The Magic 8 Ball saysLos Angeles. My bet is on San FranciscoThis is obviously just a local branch office, and a window on an upper floor says "Pacific". And, the number of streetcars. Los AngelesCorner of W. Sixth and S. Main, Los Angeles. All three buildings still there. We are in Los AngelesSixth and Main, Los Angeles. That is the Edendale streetcar line. Los AngelesThe building is the Pacific Electric headquarters at 6th and Main, in Los Angeles. More here. Sitting downBet there isn't a bloke sitting on a stool in the intersection now. More importantWhy is there a man who appears to be holding a newspaper sitting on a chair in the middle of the street? Perhaps the officer is telling him to "move along now, nothing to see here." Trolleys left their markThe attachments where the various wires and cable were are still visible on the building. View Larger Map Follow the trolley toEdendale. AlwaysWonderful to know where you are! But who is that sitting on a stool, in the middle of the interesection, next to the policeman? And why? Pacific Electric Railway Terminal The National Magazine, 1908 The Huntington Interests The lines operated by the Los Angeles Railway Company, the Pacific Electric, the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Railway Company, the Los Angeles & Redondo Railway Company, The San Bernardino Valley Traction Company and the Riverside & Arlington Railway Company, which comprise the Huntington system, is undoubtedly the greatest system of street and inter-urban railways in the world. It consists of over 500 miles of standard gauge line, reaching from Alpine (Mount Lowe), a mile above the sea, to the south coast ocean resorts, and penetrates all the valleys in the beautiful country adjacent to Los Angeles. … The Pacific Electric Railway was the name adopted by the corporation managing the suburban electric lines of the Huntington system, Mr. Huntington having acquired the line to Pasadena and outlining the plan for an extensive system of suburban railways reaching out from Los Angeles in every direction. Since then there have been completed electric railroads to practically every city and town of importance in Southern California and to the thriving beach resorts tributary to Los Angeles as a center. … One of the most enduring monuments to his public spirit and enterprise is the mammoth Pacific Electric Building of Los Angeles, a building of nine stories, with eleven acres of floor space and which is the terminal station for the wonderfully perfect inter-urban system. This is the largest structure of its kind west of Chicago, and was completed in December, 1904. The American Architect and Building News, 1908 The Pacific Electric Building, and the Jonathan Club Roof Garden, Los Angles, Cal. The rooms and roof garden of the Jonathan Club, on the upper stories of the Pacific Electric Building, at Los Angeles, were an afterthought. At the time the external character of the building was determined by Mr. Thornton Fitzhugh, the architect, the contracts let and the construction work well advanced, no thought had been given to the adaptation of the upper floors for club purposes. This problem was therefore a most difficult one, not only because the changes involved were many and complicated, but owing to official dictation and limitations imposed, the result is one in many respects quite at variance with what would have been accomplished had the architect been allowed freer rein in his work. None the less the Pacific Electric Building presents characteristics that would entitle it to some measure of recognition if built in the largest cities. Its proportions for a city the size of Los Angeles are unusual and its equipment such as will meet every condition of a first-class office building. The building stands on a plot 285x211 feet, and is nine stories high. The total floor space is more than twelve acres, and exceeds in area the Broad Exchange Building in New York, which is 21 stories high. The structure was erected for the Pacific Electric Railway Co. The basement has a clear floor space of 58,000 feet and is designed for use as a freight depot. The main floor ceiling is thirty feet high, supported by cement columns. Through an opening sixty feet high, spanned by a cement girder eight feet deep, the cars enter the building. The upper stories from the second to the sixth inclusive are devoted to offices. There are ninety-nine offices on each floor, or a total of 594 in all. No office is less than twenty by fifteen feet, and they range in size to a maximum of sixty by thirty feet. All three still there!the building on the right looked very modern in 1910, all simple and light. Another vote for LAThe streetcar on the left side of the image says, "Edendale," which was a neighborhood in old Los Angeles. Imagine an LA with ..."completed electric railroads to practically every city and town of importance in Southern California and to the thriving beach resorts." I'll think of that during my commute. Familiar!It looks very much the same today, though I doubt the chap on the stool in the middle of Main Street would find his perch as comfortable today. Before the credit cardWhat was American Express' main line of business? [Express is short for "express mail." Express companies like Adams Express and American Express were businesses similar to UPS or FedEx, relying mostly on the railroads for speedy delivery. American Express specialized in services to travelers -- travelers checks and money orders. The window gives some clues. - Dave] The loneliest man in the worldI love it when a shot of an old building includes a person looking out a window. This one's a classic. You should see insideI worked on a couple of movies in the late '90s inside the abandoned Pacific Electric building. What an amazing space. I wandered all through the building and stumbled into what I was told was Huntington's private office -- awesome, massive, with unbelievable marble stairways. In "Gang Related" worked on one scene right around where the streetcar is shown here coming out of the garage. In the scene was Tupac Shakur, who appeared to be somewhat inebriated. It wasn't too much longer after that that he was murdered in Las Vegas. Yay LAIt's great to see a photograph of Los Angeles on Shorpy. I will have to take a look at this spot this weekend and stand at this corner. There's a great restaurant down the street on 4th and Main called Pete's with great Mac and Cheese. No Traffic ControlWow, no stop sign or anything. I also like the seat on the front of the trolley on Sixth. Does one pay extra to be out in front? 610 South MainIt is indeed the PE Building, later the Southern Pacific’s general offices in Los Angeles. I worked there in the late 1970's and early 1980's when the Red Cars were long gone and the street-level station was turned into a parking lot. Our disptaching office controlled traffic betweeb Yuma, AZ and Fresno /San Luis Obispo, CA. Downstairs it was interesting to park one's car next to marble-covered columns. Working rotating shifts I sometimes had to step over a local citizen or two sleeping on the sidewalk. The building closest to the viewer on the left was the Santa Fe's offices and across the street out of view to the right was the Continental Trailways bus depot. The top floors of the PE building housed a handsome two-storey atrium - perhaps Mr Huntingdon's offices. We had a “Watch Inspector” (a man who sold and serviced approved railroad timepieces) in the building and I bought a Ball Trainmaster wristwatch from him for about $120. Years later it cost that much just to have it cleaned. Understand the neighborhood is much nicer now and this building is a condominium. StillWanna know what's up with the seated person in the middle of the intersection! (The Gallery, DPC, Los Angeles, Streetcars)
City Hall Park: 1910
Manhattan circa 1910. "Park Place (City Hall Park) and New York City Hall." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... Note the subway entrances This is the location of City Hall Station. A beautifully designed and decorated subway station that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/07/2019 - 12:07pm -

Manhattan circa 1910. "Park Place (City Hall Park) and New York City Hall." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Note the subway entrancesThis is the location of City Hall Station. A beautifully designed and decorated subway station that used to be part of the 6 (East Side) line. See https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/IRT_East_Side_Line and especially https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Station:_City_Hall_(IRT_East_Side_Line) The two entrance kiosks are no longer present, having been removed and the street penetrations paved over. Shown at the bottom of the photo is a grid of small squares. These are glass bricks, acting as a skylight over the station. A tour is available to members of the New York Transit Museum. The People Ride in a Hole in the GroundTo the left of City Hall can be seen the entrances to the original City Hall subway station , which closed in 1945. I was lucky to join a NY Transit Museum tour of this magnificent space many years ago and highly recommend it. If you can't get tickets for the organized tour (they sell out very quickly), here's a way you can at least get a quick glance: if you stay on the downtown number 6 train past the Brooklyn Bridge terminus, the train uses the abandoned station to turn around and head back uptown. If the lights in the abandoned loop station are on, it's a great view. (The Gallery, DPC, NYC)
Saturday in Florence: 1942
... Street View image is sadly not as interesting, though the City Cafe building and the building just to its left are both still standing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/01/2023 - 8:49pm -

June 1942. "Florence, Alabama, Saturday afternoon." Medium format acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information. View full size. This pic is great!I love all the detail. It makes me wonder where everybody in the pic is today? Wonder where they were going? Love the contrast! Stop and GoTraffic lights sure have become more elaborate since then. You would have trouble getting such a clear shot at a big intersection like that these days without a bunch of poles and signals getting in your way. Majestic TheaterFrom Movie Theater Information: The Majestic opened Saturday, August 30, 1919, at 204 North Court Street next to the new First National Bank. It's not clear what was shown on opening day, but the primary advertisements announced a Paramount Artcraft Special -- a motion picture style show with living models called "That Well Dressed Look" for September 1 and 2. The theater seated 400. The last night of business seems to have been June 9, 1951. 1945/ 46 HudsonThe Hudson in the center of the photo is a 1945 or 1946. [Nope. It's a 1942 Hudson. - Dave] AwesomeWonderful scan . . .Bravo! Foy Isn't this great?Isn't this great? Women wore skirts, and you could drive a car called Hudson. 1942 HudsonIt seems to me that a 1942 Hudson would be a relatively rare beast. I realize that production and sales on the 1942s started in September 1941, but they'd still have a shortened production run once the government ordered a halt to new automotive production because of the war. [Total Hudson production for the 1942 model year was 40,661 cars. - Dave] Florence, AlabamaMy grandmother gave me a cast iron skillet (that had been her mother’s) that was made in Florence. Some of her family had moved from that area in the 1850s, and I’ve always wondered if that skillet is that old or not. Whatever the case, I made some cornbread in it the other night, so it's still working fine, however old it is. A Super pictureEven though WW II was raging, the picture show a gentle perhaps kinder time. People socializing, cars washed, traffic rules obeyed, clean streets, just great. Where did it all go? Bruce Saturday afternoon, Florence, AlabamaA much simpler time, what a fantastic picture. It could be a Norman Rockwell painting. Florence, Alabama This is my hometown and the hometown of my parents and grandparents. This picture had to have been taken from the old courthouse, which is long gone, but the buildings in the picture still exist! I wishI wish it looked that good today! I live less than a mile from where this was taken. I would love to see that many people walking and socializing on the sidewalks again. Looking for somethingI'm looking for an old pic of THIS area right here, only its older (I'd say late 1800's) it's b/w and shows horse troughs on the ground below where traffic lights now hang. Tennessee / Court street. Anyone know about it? if so: patrickseth81@yahoo.com Court & MobileThis is the corner of Court and Mobile in downtown Florence. The camera seems to be perched in the old Rogers Department Store building. The modern Street View image is sadly not as interesting, though the City Cafe building and the building just to its left are both still standing today. I was born and raised in Florence. It's a great place to live, and downtown has fared a lot better than many cities its size. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Small Towns)
Vacation Wagon: 1964
... got in our in our '53 Chevy coupe and went from New York City to the SF Bay Area, mostly along US 40. Entertainment consisted of ... being used while crossing the salt flats west of Salt Lake City. Westward Ho In 1951 our family, my wife, son and daughter, living ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/31/2022 - 1:09am -

        Our annual salute to the start of vacation road-trip season, first posted here 15 years ago. Everyone buckled in? Let's go! "Great Falls, Montana. Return after 3 weeks Vacation. June 27, 1964." This Kodachrome of a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon is from a box of slides found on eBay. View full size. family trips in those carsI also spent some hot days in a car like that on the way to the grandparents. My mother flattened the second seat, put a mattress on the floor and loaded three of us and the stuff in on top of it, us and the stuff equally loose and not tied down. We whined and fought and slept our way to Cape Cod from southern NJ. My father always "had to work" (they were her parents), so she did the drive alone, I think maybe 12 or 16 hours? Seemed like forever. NostalgicThese people still had a bright future ahead of them, full of great hopes for the days to come. They hadn't gone to the Moon yet, and to them, by 2007 we'd have personal helicopters and robots would run everything. The possibility of the President being indicted for a crime was unthinkable. My job as a web designer hadn't even been invented yet. The lawn looks like it's literally astroturf. Were the colors really like that, or is it an effect of the kodachrome? Holy cow! We had a 59 chevyHoly cow! We had a 59 chevy stationwagon back in the day. Does this bring back memories. We would drive to Florida from Virginia a two day trip usually in the heat of the summer to visit grandparents. Five children two parents no ac. Damn! [This is a 1960 Chevrolet. - Dave] DeflectorsDoes anybody know/remember what the deflectors left and right of the rear window were for? These may have been an aftermarket item. It is amazing how well the colors in this slide are preserved after almost 50 years. It looks like Kodachrome all right, including the telltale blue cast in the shadows The Astroturf look......to my eye, seems to come from the little flowers (or toadstools?) that are in the lawn. At the smaller image size, they look like specular reflections, making it seem like the grass is shiny. [The white flowers are clover. - Dave] 1964As I remember it, this was less than a year after the assassination of JFK, there were race riots in the south and we (I was 14) were all starting to question attitudes towards women, blacks, hispanics, homosexuals and the culture we had grown up with. One of the more minor cultural things was the importance of your front lawn. 50 years?I was born in 1964, and trust me, it hasn't been 50 years since then, yet.... ;) Re:DeflectorsThe deflectors on either side of the rear window were intended to blow air across the rear window to prevent snow from accumulating. A similar deflector is often fitted along the roof on station wagons from the 60s on. I think they were usually a factory or dealer option in later years, but I really don't know specifically about this model or when they might have first been used. OK, 40 years.Sorry, I was too vexed on the year of manufacture of the car. I remember that someone in our street had the sedan version of this Chevy. Like any 8 year old, I was fascinated by the winged tail and the panorama windshield. You didn't see many of these in Europe around 1960; everbody, including my father, was driving Volkswagen Beetles. (He later had a new Ford Mustang 1964 1/2 , with a 289 ci V8 and a four speed box, rally pack and (optional) front discs, which I found very impressive at the time. A real gas guzzler by European standards. Family TrucksterThis is probably what Clark Griswold's dad took the family on vacation in. It's a 1960 Chevy, and I'm guessing it's a Kingswood model. The Brookwood was the more stripped down model and I think the "full dresser" was called a Nomad. This one isn't completely chromed-out and it has the small, dog-dish hubcaps so I'm thinking it's the middle of the line model. I think the rear air deflectors also helped keep exhaust gas from entering the rear passenger compartment when the vehicle was moving with the tailgate window was lowered. Though it doesn't look like there's room for anybody in the third row of seats for this trip. With the window up they also helped keep the rear glass clear of snow and dust. These are Parents of the Year......in my book. Can you imagine going across country now without all of the luxuries and Wendy's and portable DVD players and Nintendo and cell phones and credit cards? These parents did it all the HARD way...and I'll bet they made a lot of memories that summer! My jaw droppedOnce again the red stationwagon family blows me away. The color composition here is perfect. Chevy ParkwoodThis is a 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood. Parkwoods and Kingswoods both use Bel Air trim (mid-level). The Kingswood, a nine-passenger wagon, has the third-row rear-facing seat, and two steps on the rear bumper (one on each end just outside of where the tailgate would come down). Less obvious is that all Kingswoods have power tailgate windows, an option on the other Chevrolet wagons. I still drive a '59 ChevyI recommend owning one. In 2000 We took the ultimate road trip with mine from near the Canadian border in Washington State through the desert to Las Vegas and back up through California and Oregon. There really is nothing like seeing the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet. Cruising the Strip in Vegas was a blast. We might as well have been driving a space ship with the reactions we got. Sadly, these Chevrolets were mostly scrapped and very few survive. 60 ChevySadly, the third row seat had not been invented as of yet and the deflectors were used to deflect air into the rear of the stationwagon at slower speeds. I may not be an expert but I'm old enough to have ridden and slept in the back section of a folded down stationwagon. We didn't know about SUV's yet. Chevy WagonChevy's Parkwood and Kingswood wagons could both be had with a third-row seat. And back then, for the record - wagons WERE the "SUVs" of the day! [According to the 1960 Chevrolet sales brochure, only the Kingswood was available with third-row seating. The International Travelall and Chevy Suburban Carryall were two of the SUVs of the day. - Dave] The luggage rackis something you don't see anymore. It hung on the wall of the garage when not in use. Once my dad, who was in a big hurry, didn't secure the tarp on top properly... We played car games, like Alphabet, Road Bingo, and License Plates, read books, colored,sang songs and squabbled. You took your chances with local restaurants. We hadn't got used to entertainment on demand, so we didn't miss it. And to Dave Faris: It's the film. I once assured my daughter that colors when I was a kid were the same as today. "The Fifties," she said, in her narrator's voice, "were an oddly-hued decade." Slide ConversionHow does one convert slides to digital photos? Any website links or advice? [You'd use a film scanner. I used a Nikon 4000 ED for this one. - Dave] Family TrucksterWe had a green Ford station wagon, not nearly as nice as this, and with our family of six, it was a masochistic experience to take family vacations. Every summer we said that's it, we will never do this again, until the following summer when we did it again. The best part was arriving home again, but I will say that NOT having DVD's and high tech electronic gadgets forced the kids to look out the window and they gained incredible geographic knowledge from seeing the U.S. I could truthfully call these annual trips "purgatory on wheels." Road TripMost all of my long-distance car trips were connected with moving as my father was in the USAF. In August 1954, after being in the UK 2½ years, we got in our in our '53 Chevy coupe and went from New York City to the SF Bay Area, mostly along US 40. Entertainment consisted of looking at the scenery and checking off the towns on the free roadmaps that the service stations provided in each state. Iy being the pre-Interstate era, one did go thru many towns back then! (Excepting on the PA Turnpike) Burma-Shave signs relieved the boredom in the rural areas. We had a car radio (AM only, of course), but for some reason I can only recall it being used while crossing the salt flats west of Salt Lake City. Westward HoIn 1951 our family, my wife, son and daughter, living in Detroit, started taking trips to Cheney, Washington, to visit my WW2 buddy. All on old state highways, no air conditioner, 4½ hours to get through Chicago and the kids loved it. Took these trips out west to the 1970s. We still go west to see my buddy and my daughter in Seattle and we enjoy crossing Nebraska on old U.S. 30. It is a treat to be off of I-80. Nostalgia Ain't What it Used to BeDon't look at this picture and pine for the old days. Change the car to a green Olds Vista Cruiser and that's us in 1969. Back then, dads bought a new station wagon to kick off the summer vacation. Dads don't buy an SUV today for that reason. Without repeating some of the horrors already mentioned below, there was the additional joy of Mom sending back a Coca Cola bottle for one of her sons to use in lieu of a loo. If the girls had to go, we had to pull over. Not so with the boys. Watching mom backhand-fling a Coke bottle out her window, filled with fluid far different that what was originally intended, and seeing it bounce and spill along the shoulder as we whizzed along at 75 mph (pun intended), that's about the fondest vacation memory at least from the car perspective. Today with the daughter hooked up to a video iPod and the sons enjoying their PSP, it's a pleasure to drive for distances. Back then, we didn't play License Plates. We played Punch Buggy and Slug Bug, etc. Fistfight games. Let's go!I loved car trips, and I never had DVD players and Nintendo. I watched the scenery and kept a travel diary. those were some of the greatest times of my life. Road TrripWe had to make do with pillows & blankets. A mattress would have made it actually comfortable. I don't know if Dad didn't have the imagination for that, or just not the money. I suspect the latter. We'd sing sometimes. It was 12 hours from north Georgia near the North Carolina line to south Georgia, near the Florida line, where my grandmother lived. I see the moon; the moon sees me. The moon sees the one that I want to see ... Thanks for the memoriesMy folks had the four-door sedan version of this car, in sky blue & white. My mom used to have a station wagon, don't remember what kind, but it was memorable for its pushbutton transmission on the dash instead of a gearshift! However my favorite "finned" car was our family's Buick Invicta. Now that was a car! Third Row SeatsFords had third-row seats in 1955. I'm pretty sure Chevy had them by 1958 at least. Chevy didn't offer woodgrain sides until '65. Sunday ridesWe had that same car, only in light blue. No seat belts or infant seats for us! We'd put my baby sister in one of those deathtrap baby seats that hooked over the front seat and off we went! What a picture!This picture takes me back almost 40 years to the road trips our family did during summer holidays when I was a little boy. It feels like I myself am stretching my legs after coming home. The colours, the moment -- one of my favorite pictures in Shorpy. My Favorite Car was a 1960 Chevrolet Impala 2-dr hardtop. Bluish gray with white segment on the side, red and white interior. The first car my wife and I bought. Paid $1750 for it used in 1962. We made some wonderful trips in that car. Re: Family TrucksterJust saw this item on TV yesterday about a real family named Griswold that had their station wagon modded to look like the Family Truckster from National Lampoon's Vacation movie for their trip to Disney World. http://tinyurl.com/plo5kub See the USA in Your ChevroletFor our family, it was a 1962 Buick Invicta wagon. Huge car designed for doing massive mileage on the interstates and that's what we did -- six or seven hundred miles a day from Indiana to the Rockies for our annual vacation. Procedure for Accessing the Cargo AreaWe had one of these when I was a kid as well. Ours was a silver gray color. See the chrome disk on the trunk door? Upon arriving at destination, here's what you had to do: 1) Put trunk key in center slot (separate keys for ignition and trunk back then) 2) Open flap (as seen in photo) 3) Rotate flap several times till rear window is fully down 4) Reach in and grab handle to drop tailgate Simple, huh? Looking at old red carsmakes my elbows hurt! Seemed like some of those old single stage paints, reds in particular, had to be waxed every two weeks to keep them looking decent. The widespread adoption of clearcoat finishes in the late 80's to mid 90's freed modern kids from the dreaded frequent waxing chore, thereby giving them the leisure time to start the video gaming revolution... As Long AsThis isn't really the "End of the Road"! That's a scary title for all the Shorpy Faithful. 3 Adults + 7 Children =1000 mile round trip to see grandma. We kids didn't mind a bit. Seat belts?I don't think you heard "Everybody all buckled up?" all that much in '64. I'm not sure of the exact dates, but if you had seatbelts back then, you bought them at a discount store or an auto parts store like Western Auto or J. C. Whitney, and they were lap belts only. Three point seat belts didn't come along for several more years, if I recall correctly, and it wasn't until the government mandated new cars with ignition interlocks in the 1970's that "real men" started to actually use them. Back then, we used to spend our vacations camping, so the car was packed to the gills, including the center of the back seat. My sister and I each got little cubbyholes next to the doors, with just room enough to sit for the trip to northern Wisconsin. My dad drove a two tone green '55 Oldsmobile Delta 88. I saw a picture of that car a few months ago, and as soon as I did, I started remembering a surprising amount of detail about the car's details. It was handed down to me when I went off to college in '64. Seat beltsbobdog19006 is correct in that seat belts were not standard equipment in 1960. However, they had been available as a dealer-installed option since the 50s. By 1966, they were standard in all Chevys, and by 1968, they were federally mandated. I spent many a happy hour on family roadtrips in our '68 Ford wagon, nestled in the narrow gap between the second row and the rear-facing third-row seat, no seat belt, of course. Neither did my siblings in the third row. Service StickersI remember those stickers that service stations or car dealers put on the inside edge of the driver's door when you got your car serviced. This Chevrolet has two. Our road trip rigWe had a '76 Chevy Beauville van, a ho-hum light brown rather than red, which made up for the lack of chrome spears with its cavernous interior: two bucket seats in front for Mom and Dad, two bench seats, and a homemade plywood bed. Strangely, all that space wasn't enough to prevent sibling quarrels. The best story of this van was the return trip of its maiden voyage, when my uncle, who owned a small niche-market manufacturing firm, talked my dad into towing a piece of equipment from South Texas to a parking lot near Chicago, where we would deliver it to his customer from Wisconsin. We quickly got used to being asked at every single hotel, gas station, and rest stop, exactly what was the three-wheeled contraption with the hydraulically-actuated vertical roller-chain conveyor with teeth. The looks on everyone's faces when my dad told them it was a grave-digging machine: Priceless! Curtains?Every August for years we travelled from Birmingham to Cincinnati for a week of visiting my parents' relatives. Before our last such trip in '69, we went through a black-and-white '57 Plymouth Savoy, a metallic-beige '63 Ford Country Sedan wagon (the one without wood on the sides) and a '67 Olds VistaCruiser. I'd love to have that VistaCruiser back today. Ours was burgundy red and my dad put red stripe Tiger Paw tires on it. Imagine a 442 station wagon. As for Shorpy's '60 Chevy wagon, I only just noticed the homemade or aftermarket side curtains, with vertical stripes of brown, gold and red to compliment the bright red car. Thanks, Dave, for showing us this photo again... and including all the original comments, too. Great to relive all the great summer vacation stories with everyone! Re: deflectorsIn the days before the rear window wiper on a station wagon, some folks put these on and the deflected air current would help to clean off that window to a degree. Not having either, within a mile that rear hatch would be almost impossible to see through. Been there, done that and got the tee-shirt. This does bring back memoriesWe had a similar station wagon, but it was salmon (or was it mauve, or ecru?) colored with a white top (I think). It had a 460 a/c (four windows down while traveling sixty miles per hour, some times 560 with the rear tailgate window down). I remember taking a trip from Mississippi to Six Flags over Texas on U.S. Highway 82 (two lane most of the way) in Summer, 1964. The back seats were folded down, and the four of us kids had pillows, blankets, books, and board games to pass the time. It was replaced soon after with a 1965 Ford Country Squire Wagon with a/c, and fake wood paneling on the side. Instead of a rear facing bench seat, it had two small seats on either side that faced each each other. Memories of summer tripsWe also lived in Montana back then, and our family truckster in the 1960s was a 1963 Rambler Classic station wagon. (Yes, I suffered greatly for it among my friends.) That's what I learned to drive, and we ranged all over the western US and Canada in it. Before that, however, we traveled in a 1949 Studebaker Land Cruiser 4-door sedan, which my dad (both inventive and frugal) had outfitted with a set of three back seats that, when covered with the mattress from our roll-away bed, filled the back seat and trunk area with a very passable sleeping unit. That's where I spent most of my time on our travels. At other times, I would climb over the front seatback into the front bench seat between my parents. That's where I was on August 5, 1962, when we were preparing to leave Crescent City, CA, and heard on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had died. Deflector's actual purposeWas to break the "vacuum" the "wall" that was the rear of that wagon created which would suck exhaust into the car if that rear window was open even a little bit. The fresh air, the snowless/cleaner rear window were merely bonuses... Buckle up?A 1960 Chevy wagon probably didn't have seat belts unless the owner installed them. The kids in the back were pretty much free range as long as they didn't make too much noise. Lots of people piled the stuff on the roof and put a mattress in the back for the kids. It was a great way to go and most of us survived. [Seat belts were optional on all 1960 Chevrolets. - Dave] Car playgroundMy folks had a Ford wagon of that era. No seatbelts. Folks put a mattress in the back. Became our playground on long trips. We had no desire to "sit" in a seat. Miss station wagonsI miss station wagons. I prefer them to the SUVs that replaced them. I also miss the bold bright colors that cars use to come in. No SquattingLooking at all the stuff already loaded, I'm surprised the back of this wagon isn't dragging on the ground. In fact it's sitting pretty level. I wonder if dad had overload springs installed? We've had one built for you.To BillyB: Station wagon suspensions were designed with the idea that they would have to haul some combination of eight people and their luggage, so they did OK when loaded down. They *were* softer than contemporary pickup trucks, so the back end of the station wagon wouldn't bounce all over if there were only one or two people in it. Especially at the time of this photo, gas was 25 cents a gallon and would be that price forever, so the factory didn't mind spending a little extra weight on a beefier suspension. Also, most of the really heavy luggage went on the roof rack, which was fairly close to being in the middle of the wheelbase. The back-back, behind the rear seat, tended to contain lighter things, like blankets, pillows, the picnic basket, and - as the trip progressed - bags of souvenirs. If Dad wanted to use the inside rear-view mirror, you couldn't stack stuff much higher than the seats, anyway. Source: I rode in the back of a '79 Oldsmobile wagon every summer from '79 to '87. I think the longest trip we took in it was from Kansas City to Washington, DC and back. WagonsWe had a 1956 Ford wagon, then '61 Mercury wagon, finally a (I think) 1964 Ford wagon. I remember one year with the Mercury, my mom ran low on gas. We were up in the mountains in a resort town. To get to the gas station, she had to reverse up hills, turn around for the downhills, turn around again for going up the next hill. What a ride. Another time, 1965, we were in a typhoon in the current wagon. There were eleven of us in it. Another wild ride driving on a road along the bay. Waves washing over us, my mom hugging the middle of the road (there was an island we could not get across). Wagons were great. The 283 V-8with its 170 gross horsepower is not going to have much highway passing reserve with all that weight. Cross-flags over the V on the tailgate would have indicated one of several 348's which would have given more than enough reserve. That car is 58 years old but properly equipped could have kept pace with most cars on the road today in equal comfort. A 58 year old car in 1960 by comparison was barely even recognizable as such it was so rudimentary by comparison to the 1960 version in its looks and capabilities. The same comparisons held true in all other realms of life comparing 1960 to 1902--homes, conveniences, dress, you name it. Virtually any of those later areas are not that significantly different from their 1960 versions. Those deflectors... were supposed to keep dust off the back window Nikon CoolscanI am having a problem with mine. Can you recommend a place that can repair them. [There aren't any. Try buying them used on eBay. - Dave] 283 V8Although I agree that a 348 engine would have been a better choice for this station wagon. The 170hp 283 was the base V8 engine with just a single two barrel carburetor. The next option up was also a 283 but with a four barrel which the above wagon may have had, which would have given it a little more passing power. Koolscan softwareDave. What software program do you use with your 4000? As it seems the program that came with it is only works for Microsoft VISTA. [I use the NikonScan software that came with the scanner, on a Windows 10 workstation. To install the software on a modern operating system, you have to disable Driver Signature Enforcement. And it's Coolscan, with a C. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kodachromes 1, Travel & Vacation)
The Great Reporter: 1942
... door is eulogy of news camera. At left are maps of the city and region for photographers' reference." Acetate negative by Marjory ... Since the NYT was a larger paper, located in the largest city in Country, I find it hard to believe that their "staff" only consisted of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/27/2023 - 12:42pm -

September 1942. "New York, New York. Photographic department of the New York Times newspaper. One of eight staff photographers returns to staff room after assignment. Over door is eulogy of news camera. At left are maps of the city and region for photographers' reference." Acetate negative by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size. Eight Is Enough?I would have thought the NYT at that time would have had more then than eight staff photographers. [Photos in the Times came from staffers, freelancers and wire services. - Dave] Dave, while I agree that photos also came from, freelancers, UPI and AP wire services for all metropolitan newspapers, my father, Joe Kordick, at that time was one of over 25 staff photographers for the newly founded Chicago Sun. Since the NYT was a larger paper, located in the largest city in Country, I find it hard to believe that their "staff" only consisted of eight. [The Sun was a "picture newspaper." The "Gray Lady," as the name implies, was anything but. The NYT in-house newsletters from the 1940s list from seven to nine staff photographers. - Dave] A Wonderful LifeLooks like he's gonna count Zuzu's petals. Photo, far rightIs that Neville Chamberlain? Also, my dad, who flew torpedo bombers in WWII, said they had something like "The Great Reporter" over the door of the ready room on the aircraft carrier. But it said "I am the best damn aviator that ever flew." (The Gallery, Marjory Collins, NYC)
Hundreds Dead: 1947
... April 17, 1947. "Armed troops form a roadblock at Texas City, Texas, as all persons, including workers, were barred from entering the ... Sun Newspaper Collection. View full size. Texas City My mother was attending school in Beaumont, about 90 miles away, when ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/31/2014 - 6:48pm -

April 17, 1947. "Armed troops form a roadblock at Texas City, Texas, as all persons, including workers, were barred from entering the area where new explosions were expected. Fire in huge oil storage tanks burns in background." New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Collection. View full size. Texas CityMy mother was attending school in Beaumont, about 90 miles away, when Texas City blew up. She said it rattled the windows at her school. My mother used to tell me stories about thisMy mother was working there as a secretary when it happened. She told me about donating blood and then going with a friend when she was looking for her husband's body. All that was found of her friends husband was his arm with his wedding ring. Headline NewsAftermath of the fertilizer ship explosion. Double blastKeeping people away from the scene due to fears of additional explosions was a reasonable precaution. There actually were two explosions in the disaster, about 12 hours apart. While the first blast was responsible for almost all of the deaths, the second one may have been larger and caused even more property destruction. It would have been a major disaster in and of itself had it been the only blast. Big Boom(s)These explosions were the first time it was realized that Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer was explosive. It's increasing use as an explosive put quite a dent in the dynamite business. These blasts were studied by the government as a template for what occurs during and after a nuclear bombing. My dad was thereAs a five-year-old resident of that city, dwelling considerably farther from the epicenter than this, fortunately. Though I suspect the men in that White M3 Scout Car had already seen much worse. I sailed into Texas City regularly for workAnd each and every time we did we talked about this disaster. Truly horrific. (Fires, Floods etc.)
Central City: 1941
September 1941. "Central City, an old mining town. Mountainous region of Central Colorado, west of ... back way into town This is the view coming into Central City via Virginia Canyon Road, known to locals as "Oh-My-God Road." It's a ... little over a decade ago it was the only access to Central City that didn't require going through the neighboring town of Black Hawk. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/16/2019 - 1:08pm -

September 1941. "Central City, an old mining town. Mountainous region of Central Colorado, west of Denver." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. The back way into townThis is the view coming into Central City via Virginia Canyon Road, known to locals as "Oh-My-God Road." It's a narrow, winding, unpaved road from Idaho Springs, and until a little over a decade ago it was the only access to Central City that didn't require going through the neighboring town of Black Hawk. Gambling interests, which wanted visitors to Central City not to be distracted by the larger competing casinos in Black Hawk, drove construction of the absurdly oversized yet still very steep "Central City Parkway." That road now provides a "direct" route from I-70 when not closed due to rockslides or washouts. Centered on Central Tantalising glimpseThe locomotive peeping around the corner of the building is a bit of a tease, I wonder if Marion covered it in another photo? [Stay tuned! - Dave] Not exactly Penn StationThe two red brick buildings to the immediate right were station facilities for the Colorado & Southern Railway branch to Central City from Black Hawk. In the vintage photo, note the nose of a C&S locomotive peeking around the corner of the depot. Look about halfway up the distant hillside to see the former right of way. This branch was built in the late 1870s; the attraction was gold and silver mining all through this region. By 1941, C&S Central City branch had been inactive for a number of years. I think the loco shown was left there for a display of sorts, and later moved. At about this time, C&S was in the process of closing/removing the remains of their once extensive narrow-gauge lines from the mountains. Today's popular Georgetown Loop RR is a reconstruction of C&S Silver Plume Branch that was already gone by 1941. End of the LineMight any of our Shorpy railroad buffs be familiar with the odd-looking signal device to the left of the apparently-shy locomotive? Sorry, wrong odd signalOlde Buck and damspot are correct, and I am wrong. I have seen switch targets like this, and I even made a model station with this style of "order board". My bad. "Odd" signal deviceAnswer to Doubleclutchin: that is a switch stand. The target (as it is known) shows the position of the track switch, and is part of the mechanism which operates the switch. The switch (in the track) allows a train to move into one of two (usually) tracks. This switch stand would have been used on a main track so the position can be seen from a distance, telling the engineer if a slow diverging route is set, or the main high speed route. "High" speed here was probably not more than 30 or 40 miles per hour. The vertical rod rotates through ninety degrees when the switch is moved, so displaying to the engineer either square blades (perhaps painted white?) for the slow route, or the round blades (perhaps green?) for the "fast" route I would suspect that this switch stand was moved here as part of the display. A tall switch stand is more expensive than simpler, low switch stands. Since this is the end of the line, is is not necessary to provide long distance warning of the position of the switch. Face on the barroom floor.I do remember a saloon there touting "the face on the barroom floor." Wonder if that's still there? Really neat town when we were there in the '80s before casinos. I found the trainRight around the corner on Gregory Street, just past the Post Office and RMO Dispensary. Odd signalDouble clutch, that odd signal is a train order signal. Displaying white banner/white light, no orders; red means to stop, sign for and receive orders; yellow would indicate orders to pick up, stopping not necessary. There could be some variation of signals on different railroads, but this is typical. Just as the locomotive was left for display, it is also possible that the train order signal was put up for display also. I don't know if Central City was a train order office back in the day. The funny signalTo answer doubleclutchin's question, the object is known as an order board. The days of communicating with train crews by paper sent ahead to a telegraph operator required a way to indicate to the train's crew that there was a message (an "order") for them and to halt and receive and sign for same. The paddles were rotated one way for "proceed," and the other for "stop." Central City, a terminus location (end of the line), would have been a required stop anyhow, so this board is just serving as an example of the object, not what would have been seen in Central at any time. Cameo in "On the Road""Central City is an old mining town that was once called the Richest Square Mile in the World, where a veritable shelf of silver had been found by the old buzzards who roamed the hills. They grew wealthy overnight and had a beautiful little opera house built in the midst of their shacks on the steep slope. Lillian Russell had come there, and opera stars from Europe. Then Central City became a ghost town, till the energetic Chamber of Commerce types of the new West decided to revive the place. They polished up the opera house, and every summer stars from the Metropolitan came out and performed. It was a big vacation for everybody. Tourists came from everywhere, even Hollywood stars." Jack Kerouac, "On the Road", Chapter 9 Slip n SlideI'll bet that road into town was one wild ride in the winter when that road was wet and muddy. I wonder how many times those buildings at the bottom of the hill were slid into? (The Gallery, Frontier Life, M.P. Wolcott, Mining, Railroads, Small Towns)
Cream City: 1936
... Eight. From houses to the Big House Milwaukee City Jail sits on that site, now. One for two The house on the ... I learned 1. How Milwaukee got the nickname Cream City . 2. The Milwaukee Vocational School still stands as the Milwaukee ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/18/2021 - 3:30pm -

April 1936. "Rear of houses at 711 West State Street. Milwaukee Vocational School in background." Photo by Carl Mydans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Fix it ... that's all I askI am troubled by the top two signs' misalignment atop the decorative background latticework (for lack of a better word). Why are they not even with the placement of the bottom two signs? All they need to do is move to the left about two feet, until they are centered. Then it would all look so much better. Also, for davidk, I seem to remember remarking about a year ago on what appeared to be a window air conditioning unit affixed to an early 1900s tenement. A smart shorpyite informed me that it was meant to be a sort of refrigerator box, wherein a housewife would place items for cold storage during the wintertime. Which you probably already knew because that smart shorpyite may have been yourself. And now I need a Mars Toasted Almond Slice and a spin in an $810 Oldsmobile Eight. From houses to the Big HouseMilwaukee City Jail sits on that site, now. One for twoThe house on the left has broken windows and is boarded up. The one on the right has curtains and people living in it. And – in a whuzza moment – what I thought for a sec was an A/C unit in the top window. Today I learned1. How Milwaukee got the nickname Cream City. 2. The Milwaukee Vocational School still stands as the Milwaukee Area Technical College. (The Gallery, Billboards, Carl Mydans, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Milwaukee)
Nashua: 1908
... but WalletHub just named Nashua, New Hampshire, the safest city in America. The other nine in the top ten are Columbia, Maryland; South ... same study, South Burlington, Vermont (the third safest city), "also tied with Cleveland and Cincinnati, Salem, Oregon, Washington, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/20/2023 - 3:43pm -

1908. "Main Street -- Nashua, New Hampshire." At right, offices of the Nashua Telegraph and Fletcher's Optical Parlors. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. 1908 and 2017 PigeonsJust try to tell me pigeons aren't trash birds! Safe spaceMaybe you heard this already but WalletHub just named Nashua, New Hampshire, the safest city in America. The other nine in the top ten are Columbia, Maryland; South Burlington, Vermont; Gilbert, Arizona; Warwick, Rhode Island; Portland, Maine; Casper, Wyoming; Yonkers, New York; Burlington, Vermont; and Scottsdale, Arizona. According to the same study, South Burlington, Vermont (the third safest city), "also tied with Cleveland and Cincinnati, Salem, Oregon, Washington, D.C. and Seattle for the most hate crimes per capita." Uh oh. Maybe move to Burlington, Vermont -- less than three miles away and coming in at ninth on the safest city list. Or just stay put and take your chances. CLOUDS!I don't know if it was luck or some type of different exposure process, but it's rare to see a sky with clouds in these old photos. The cameras couldn't pick up the subtle shades and usually the skies appear completely white even though at the time they may have been overcast or partly cloudy. Because now you can bank onlineWorking left-to-right: JennyPennifer's comment caused me to pay special attention to the police officer walking his beat, just to the left of the wagon parked at the curb. He's dressed like a London Bobby. The four-story building with the curved front is, regrettably, gone. This likely happened when Main Street was straightened, and a newer bridge was built across the Nashua River. The Romanesque church at the end of the street is on the other side of the river. The building at right, which became a bank in jrpollo's update, is now luxury condos, called The Mint. Not to criticize too much, but my first efficiency apartment had more kitchen space. I guess the residents are expected to eat out. A number of nearby restaurants have expanded their al fresco option to include both the sidewalk and the parallel parking spaces in front of their restaurant. Straight and trueI lived in Nashua for 12 wonderful years and lived in the North End right off of Concord. This image did raise a question about the curved building a block from the river crossing. Any straightening alluded to earlier would have taken place much earlier in the 19th century... The Sanborn Insurance maps of 1912 indicate that Main Street and the bridge were already where they are today. But the curved building, identified as the Howard Block gracefully curved to widen the main street from the width of the bridge (I am guessing). Main Street really is three lanes wide in each direction... feels like an avenue in Manhattan. I am also grateful that the Library of Congress has these Sanborn maps...! Terrific detail about buildings and their particular use. Here is the link to that image: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3744nm.g3744nm_g053631912/?sp=32&r=0.517,0... Different process = CLOUDS!Eary photographic processes were primarily sensitive to only blue light. Numerous newer processes throughout the late 19th century added increases sensitivity into the greens and yellows resulting in what we now call orthochromatic materials. It wasn't until around 1906 that a truly panchromatic emulsion with full sensitivity to red was developed. This took several decades to become dominant. It wasn't until the panchromatic films and plates became available that we begin to see photos that can render skies anything other than nearly blank white. Orthochromatic materials remained in use for quite a while largely because you could develop them under a red safelight. Panchromatic materials required total darkness. [Here and here, some clouds from 1864! - Dave] Light grey/white clouds against a blue sky require a panchromatic emulsion, otherwise the clouds and sky reproduce nearly the same light grey. Only when the clouds are all grey and dark grey (think: storm clouds) will they reproduce on earlier orthchromatic or pure blue sensitive emulsions. Tea TimeThe Grand Union Tea Company delivery wagon in the Nashua photo made me curious. My local New Hampshire grocery store used to be a Grand Union. I found a brief history of the company here: https://oldmainartifacts.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/grand-union-tea-compan... (The Gallery, DPC, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Atlantic City: 1900
Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1900. "Boardwalk, Easter morning." 8x10 dry plate glass ... Rolling chairs Rolling chairs have been an Atlantic City boardwalk tradition for many decades. They're still popular today. ... the wicker rolling chairs on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. By that time they were not pushed, but pedaled by a driver. In some ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:46pm -

Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1900. "Boardwalk, Easter morning." 8x10 dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The Common PeopleI realize it is Easter, but everyone is dressed so well that they all look like someone important. I wonder how different their attire would be on a regular day. WirelessAmazing how many more power lines there are in 6 years. Check out "Under the Boardwalk: 1906". Makes me sweatIt's lovely to look at the wonderful dresses and hats of old, but it makes me sweat! I know they look beautiful and I love looking at them but not so practical!!! One legged man?The man walking toward us on the lower far left, close-by the boardwalk fence, and just past the streetlight -- is the fact that he appears to have only one leg some kind an illusion? He doesn't have a cane, nor any help from the people he is with. How deyupd he otherwise move along? [I think he probably has the usual number of legs. ("Deyupd"?) - Dave] Upper Class ConveyanceI am curious about the adult baby buggies. Does anyone know who used these? Some of the passengers look like they could be dowagers, but it's hard to tell. Maybe it was just lazy people. Clackety clackI guess it was fashionable in this era to take the wife out for a push. ChildlessWhere are the kids? I can only see one. A scene like this today would be dominated by families with children. Put on your Easter bonnetThe importance of hatboxes, hairpins, hat racks and so on now helps me understand. There isn't one hatless person around that boardwalk. Re: ChildlessWell, I see at least 8 kids on the foreground, before the masses in the back make it too difficult to count... Rolling chairsRolling chairs have been an Atlantic City boardwalk tradition for many decades. They're still popular today. Look at the Slim WaistlinesThe ladies cut some beautiful silhouettes. Must be too coldI don't see any guys in speedos on the beach. There appears to bea lot of bustle-tugging by the ladies. The real skinnyCorsets, darling Anonymous Tipster. Corsets which bind, restrict and generally squeeze everything in a manner in which they were not meant to be squeezed are the cause of the "slim" waistlines. Who needs to take a full breath if their waist looks slim? On the Boardwalk, out by the seaWhen I was a very little girl (I am guessing spring of 1960) they still had the wicker rolling chairs on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. By that time they were not pushed, but pedaled by a driver. In some cases the driver was at the front of the chair, on others at the rear behind the passengers. Very few were motorized back then. Some were no longer wicker. The second time I was in Atlantic City (late 1960's) there were no wicker pedicabs with bicycles left. They were all motorized, made of steel, but still of the rickshaw concept. They were part taxi (since you pay to ride them and they have a driver) and part amusement ride. At the time this photo was taken (until a 1944 hurricane destroyed it) the Boardwalk was seven miles long. That is why they had cabs. By the time I was there it was still over four miles long, as it remains today. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, Bicycles, DPC, Easter)
One Star Hotel: 1906
... Publishing Company. View full size. Columbus, Arch City https://www.shorpy.com/node/8652 ... is gone. The Hotel Star address is 227 N. High. The City of Arches Replicas of the lighted arches still exist in Columbus Ohio ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 11:16pm -

Columbus, Ohio, circa 1906. "Hotel Star." Free telegraph in every room! 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Columbus, Arch Cityhttps://www.shorpy.com/node/8652 https://www.shorpy.com/node/8661 (fwiw, where I was born.) Shock of the NewAmidst all the period capital serifs, a surprising lowercase Gill Sans-ish precursor in "Bicycles and Sporting Goods." Colourised for postcard!"A view of the Star Hotel located at 227-229 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio. Also shows the metal arches over High Street." From the Columbus Metropolitan Library. At last, a dentist !For some time now, the Shorpy cityscape has not revealed the upstairs dental treatment that we were seeing much of a few months ago. "May" the force be with youIn noticing the May & Co store on the right I remembered hearing the name over many years and decided to look them up. May & Company was founded 1877 by David May in Leadville, CO during the silver rush. Eventually becoming a nationwide chain, there is no connection to the NYC Mays Department Stores. In 2005 May & Company was merged into Federated Department Stores (Macy's Inc.) for $11 billion in stock. [This May & Co. was a local Columbus furniture dealer and was not connected with the May Company department store chain. - tterrace] North HighThe Puntenny & Eutsler music store was located at 231 North High street, so this whole block is gone. The Hotel Star address is 227 N. High. The City of ArchesReplicas of the lighted arches still exist in Columbus Ohio on North High Street near The Ohio State University. See "A Short Walking Tour" here. Head to Toe ServiceBusiness must be good for the barber/shoeshine shop to have two fancy carved poles. While barber poles have been common and readily recognized for ages, this is my very first introduction to a shoeshine pole. I have to say it's attractive. Come on down! Woosh!I like the motion blur on the carriage moving out of frame. Zoom zoom! (The Gallery, DPC)
Suburban Cowboy: 1963
... Flyer! South Gate! I grew up in the neighboring city of Downey and I would LOVE to see more pics of the South Gate area if you ... the rest of their lives. It was a wonderful & diverse city at that time. I was wondering what street this picture was on. ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 03/03/2023 - 12:57am -

I just started scanning my sister's photos of her kids from the 1960s. Here's why she was smart to have saved the negatives. Back in 1963, they lived in South Gate, California, in a neighborhood full of classic cars, it seems. My nephew Jimmy in a 2¼-inch square Kodacolor negative. View full size. The clouded crystal ballJimmy (now James) tells me that three years later and a block away from this idyllic scene, there were the Watts riots. Color SaturationI can't help but wonder if most of us who grew up in the middle-class or upper-middle class white America of the 60's and 70's see our childhood memories in lavish Kodacolor. When I was this boy's age, there were the Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinations, coming almost one right after the other. I knew that the grown-ups were very worried, but I wasn't sure just why. Later, I figured out that the only thing that Westchester had in common with Watts was that both names begin with a W. The innocence of childhood is fleeting, indeed. She squealed with delightwhen she saw this photo! Where to begin? The lights integrated with the porch railing are fascinating. Like the house itself, they have a very 1930s art deco flavor. Little Red WagonAlmost everyone can remember having one when they were a kid. I bet this photo makes us all just a little nostalgic. Thank you for sharing all of these great photos with us, tterrace! Blue skiesI see why now people continue to believe in "the good old days." The color saturation, blue skies, happy, smiling kid -- looks like nothing would ever go wrong in this place, doesn't it? Old RedThat Radio Flyer sure brings back memories. Thanks. South Gate StreetviewThe cars were better-looking in 1963. Particularly the Buick next door. View Larger Map Street View! Street View!Can you give an address so we can see how the neighborhood has fared? Ouch!!The beautiful '56 Ford at the left has been tagged but you can see that it did naught but bend the bumper! It didn't disturb the paint! The good old days indeed! Today, that'd be a $3000 repair! Great PictureLove that "Jimmy" has been written on the back of the Radio Flyer! South Gate!I grew up in the neighboring city of Downey and I would LOVE to see more pics of the South Gate area if you would be so kind as to post them! THANKS! Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?There's another classic Buick in this shot, the white one in the distance, straddling the sidewalk. There's not enough detail for me to tell, but it appears to be a '55 or '56 Roadmaster. I'm sure that if anyone (visiting from the future) had told the owners of these Buicks that GM would be a tottering financial wreck in 2009, they'd never have believed it. Sign of the times...Any idea what the sign posted on your sis's house says? Just so IdealI have to agree with the comments made under the heading Colour Saturation. I recently have been looking at photos of me and my family in our house as I was growing up and you know I don't remember that the carpet was threadbare -- yet it was. I don't remember that we had a broken down car in our backyard -- yet we did. I don't remember that our lounge suite was old and we needed a new one -- but we did. All I remember is that it was a safe, happy and fun place to grow up in and I had a great time. So yeah I think we all of us remember the good and not so much the bad, and isnt that the way it should be. The high, fine, sky of awhile agoIt doesn't happen as much as it seemed to 40 years ago when I was a kid, but every now and then, usually on a quiet Sunday morning or a Tuesday off from work, the sky will have that same tall, bright, look; gently spotted with clouds and a blue turning from light to dark off into space and there will be a slightly warm breeze and everything will seem clean and new and full of possibility. And you can take a deep breath and smell the trees and maybe some creosote from a power pole, and it's 1967 again. A lovely day in this beautywood Love those Mr. Roger's blue tennis shoes. You could buy them at any Alpha Beta grocery store for $1.98. I grew up in a similar Southern California community around the same era. The loppy sidewalks remind me of the joyous hours I spent on roller skates with a skate key on a string around my neck. Were those times so much better or is it that we were just innocent kids? I had a car that was built there!I used to have a '68 Pontiac Bonneville that was built at the South Gate GM plant. It was a great car, very well screwed together. Kodacolor wonderlandDon't you wish you could reprogram your brain to "see" full-time in Kodacolor? The world would be such a cheery place! Was the big warehouse in the current Street View next door in 1963? It seems so out of place. Martini LaneIt's Mad Men! Odd porch lightsThose garden lights were very common in our nearby suburb. They were mostly used along driveways, paths, or planters. This is a most unusual installation. And they are still there. I might give this place a drive-by at lunchtime. American IronI really enjoy the look of these old cars - especially the 1959 Pontiac ahead of the Ford. It's probably a Catalina. Many of these cars had a space age theme to their design. By the hour?It's worse than a warehouse next door. It's a skeezy motel. And it looks like it's been there since the '60s. 2819 Willow PlaceIt looks like the place might be for rent, $895 a month. ColorI think two things contribute to the burst of color. One is that color film is much richer than the digital stuff we have now. And, secondly, the cars WERE much more colorful then than the drab vehicles we see now. Unfortunately, I think some of the color has gone from our lives in many ways since then. P.S. - From the glimpse of the back wheel well in the car in the distance, I can't help but wonder if it might not be an Olds instead. Beautiful streetMy children lived this kind of life on a street like this in the early 1950s in Detroit as hard as that is to believe. You want sunshine-- on a cloudy day? Some readers spoke about the past as always being bright and sunny like this picture. During a bout of temporary insanity many moons ago, I took leave of my senses and purchased yellow-lens prescription glasses. It did make every day sunny and the world brightened when you put them on. Or you can look just look through a colored cellophane candy wrapper and get the same effect. Just trying to be helpful. South Gate street view 1961Here's 2819 Willow Place, along with the ugly building next door, a couple years earlier. Jimmy playing with a neighbor's puppy, and a selection of early-50s cars. Yes, those are different lamps on the railings. The Salmon DeSotoI know what you mean about auto paint being brighter back then. My guess is that paint trends were still built more around primary colors than the more subtle and "nuanced" tints and shades of today. I remember there was a year or two that featured flamingo pink, black, and white as a trio. Knocked your eyes for a loop. Especially on the big fin cars. Dad was looking at one, but ended up going with the pale blue. Too much pink for a man from the Ozarks, I guess, looking back on it. How did Jimmy turn outWhat is he, about 48 years old today? Had I only known..Geez.. had I known I was a branding opportunity, I'd have taken advantage of it a long time ago. I don't think I've been that cool since that day -- red wagon, cowboy, riding a possible Radio Flyer tricycle as well (I'm sure someone will sort out the logo, maybe it was Royce Union). Funny thing about that pic. Those years I only have memories of things in black and white. Maybe I only remember those years from pictures which were mostly black and white, I guess. Obviously there was color. My memories of color start about 1967, yet every television event memory I have was black and white until about 1970. Apparently we got a color TV then? So what the hell happened to Jimmy? Well, without getting too personal and please forgive the third person narrative, here ya go. After leaving Los Angeles in 1971, the family moved to Marin County. Jimmy decided he was going to be a rock and roll star and started a metal rock band in the early 80's. The day Nirvana hit the charts, he knew that the music he was good at was no longer popular, so he joined a Southern rock tribute act and toured the Bay Area for 10 years. He then decided to get back to the original reason why he started playing music in the first place, for fun, and only plays local gigs, usually benefits. During this time he also got married and had two children. He is now a media personality in Wine Country and owns his own web consulting firm. He also writes for several Wine country publications and does "flavorful" wine industry videos. If you're ever in Sonoma Valley, you may even run into him. Though he goes by James now. A note from Jimmy's MomThis part of South Gate was a blue collar area, consisting of single family homes, and "court" apartments. The lots there were fairly deep, and so people would put in two rows of four apartments, usually single story, with the garage or carport at the rear with the laundry room and clotheslines. The "court" was the central walkway between the two buildings where the entrances were, except for the front apartments. Just behind Willow Place was Firestone Boulevard, a heavy industrial area at the time. The big Firestone plant was there, and other manufacturing plants. Often in the evening, strange smells would fill the air. This era was also what I call "between the smogs." They had banned outdoor burning of leaves and trash in the Los Angeles Basin in the late 1950s, and the air was fairly clear most of the time. But with increased population, and the increase of jet travel, the smog was back by 1964. The only real clear air days were when the Santa Ana winds blew. The ugly building next door contained a restaurant as I remember, in its one-story days. It may have also been a small motel. We moved to our first home in Diamond Bar, in the eastern part of the L.A. basin, in 1963. The red wagon makes an appearance there with Jimmy pulling his little sister in Little Red Wagons elsewhere on Shorpy. The South Gate apartment was the inspiration for the Salmon Kitchen, also seen elsewhere on Shorpy. Our landlady developed a blend of paint that she used on all her kitchens. As I remember, it was part peach, part mushroom and some kind of off white. She said it didn't yellow, and when the tenant moved out there wouldn't be any shadows on the walls from where the clock or the calendar had hung. So she would not have to repaint every time, just have the walls washed. Our dad and mom liked this idea, and so was born the salmon kitchen in Larkspur. Jimmy's Mom Just fabulous!Saw this link from Instapundit. What a fabulous photo! I love the comments, too, and the Google maps link. InstacowboyForty-six years later, Jimmy's 15 minutes of fame in the blogosphere have arrived. Now the top link on Instapundit. 9I was 9 years old in another part of California, but I had that tricycle and a similar little red wagon. My parents had a Ford Crown Victoria, my father worked, my mother stayed at home to raise me and the world I grew up in was truly both wonderful and wondrous. Even with the duck-and-cover exercises in school. LampsI believe the lamps were replaced during the time we were there.. Look at those in the background then look at the pic above. I dare say they're different. Status symbolsFor the younger Shorpyites that might not remember the 1960s, most working or middle class families had only one car (if they had one at all). It was a point of pride to park your car either directly in front of your house or prominently displayed in the driveway. The more obvious the better; bright colors helped even more. Take that, you Joneses! Also, you scored big status points with of those gangly omnidirectional TV antennas on your roof as seen in the background. Indoor "rabbit ear" antennas just had no class. Nirvana vs. Marshall TuckerJust my opinion, Real Jimmy, but at least you were paying tribute to music that deserved it. I really hope there won't be any grunge tribute bands in the future. Status SymbolsWe started with one car in 1960 but had to have another since we both worked. Then, we had a teenager and, then, another. Soooo -- 4 cars. Walk? Bicycle? Ha! Not in California. Now, it is a nationwide problem. Thanks for reminding me. Cool Hat, KidLove the photo. I had a had just like that as a kid and think I have photo somewhere of me wearing it while sitting on a pony at a neighborhood birthday party. Takes me back...I think THIS is the turning point. This photo captures the apex of our society. I see the dreams of so many families right here. A house of your own. A clean street. Meticulously maintained homes. The kids free to play in the neighborhood. A perfect blue sky. This photo makes me cry. Grew up nearbyI grew up in the SF Valley in the same era, that photo takes me back. I also watch the TV series "Mad Men" and the cars, furniture, fashion etc. are all things I remember. The easy days of riding your bike up and down the neighborhood with your friends, not a care in the world. Sigh. Pure EvilNo helmet, knee pads or elbow pads denote a neglectful lack of regard for poor Jimmy by his mother. That hat no doubt contains lead-based pigments; clear evidence of child abuse. And what's this?? A toy GUN??? That poor child's evil, troglodyte mother should be thrown in jail for creating another gun-crazed criminal!!!!elevnty1!! (/nanny-state nutjob) Great pic. It reminds me of my own childhood, before childhood was destroyed by the culture of fear we have today. Dang, That Could Have Been ME!Boy, does that look familiar. My grandparents had a house in South Gate, at Tweedy Boulevard and San Luis Street. I was even born about the same time. And I had my trusty steed "Tricycle" and my Mattel Fanner 50! The Melting PotOh yes, I remember the days when all the kids in the suburbs had Anglo names like Will, Paul, and Rosemary. Today we have a much more diverse society. Suburban namesNo, they had names like Jimmy, Mary and Davy. Their Mom Some things aren't so differentMy childhood was like this in northern Illinois. However, there are still some pockets of America like this. In my subdivision outside of Denver, small children play up and down the street just like Jimmy. If you look around, you can provide a life like this for your children Same hereMy mother and I watch Mad Men and love it. But she'll always point things out while we're watching and say "My parents had those! And those, and those!!!" "I remember using that!" Apparently they get everything "down to the t" when it comes to the setting. Re Pure Evil by Random Numbers Random Numbers said: Great pic. It reminds me of my own childhood, before childhood was destroyed by the culture of fear we have today. The irony I see in Random Numbers' remarks is that this kind of negativity sounds just as whiny as today’s “nanny state," and serves the unintentional purpose of proving that life--or at least People--haven't changed much at all since the 1960's--when grumpy old people even then lamented how much better (more real, more sincere, etc.) things were when THEY were children. Anyway, I trust that Random Numbers and his like-minded baby boomer peers are “keeping it real” by not giving in to today’s "culture of fear" paranoia and availing themselves of the myriad medical advancements and pharmaceuticals that have increased well-being and longevity by decades as compared to those fun and free “good old days” when people routinely died in their 60s! (--Wouldn’t want to be a hypocrite.) p.s. tterrace your photos are WONDERFUL! Cowboy Jimmy Honest to Abe, this is one of my favorite pictures of yours! South Gate memoriesMy folks had a house on Kauffman Avenue until 1968, when they bought their house in Downey. It was very close to the old South Gate water tower, near South Gate park. I'm sure you remember the area. I only have vague memories, as I was just a toddler when we lived there. I should see if I can find some of the photos my folks took during the time they lived on Kauffman. I'm sure they look very much like these! "Just a snapshot "As beautiful as any William Eggleston photo I've ever seen, and I consider him a genius in the world of photography. This is just utterly enchanting -- I can't take my eyes off it. (Same is true for the photo you posted a while back of the young man in a sea of blacklight posters.) This is just the best website ever! South Gate kidI grew up in South Gate in the 70's and 80's. This picture looks very much like my grandparents street. They moved to South Gate after WWII ended and lived and worked there for the rest of their lives. It was a wonderful & diverse city at that time. I was wondering what street this picture was on. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Kids, tterrapix)
This Is the City: 1961
This is the city: Los Angeles, California. It was a warm August evening in city; we were working the tourist detail and wound up heading toward City Hall. The car is a '59 Rambler, the driver my brother-in-law Frank. My ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 11/21/2016 - 9:48pm -

This is the city: Los Angeles, California. It was a warm August evening in city; we were working the tourist detail and wound up heading toward City Hall. The car is a '59 Rambler, the driver my brother-in-law Frank. My name's tterrace; I'm a kid. I'd flown in on a turbo-prop job from San Francisco. It was my first flight and my first trip anywhere by myself. I'd just turned 15. I would have gotten there sooner, but a couple weeks earlier my father had gotten me almost all the way to SFO when I found I didn't have my plane ticket, so we had to turn back. Nobody was happy about that. My Kodak Brownie Starmite was loaded with Ektachrome when I snapped this shot on some street somewhere or other; some local might be able to fill in the blanks on that one. Later, we hit the usual places: Chinatown, Olvera Street, Union Station. Disneyland would be for another day. With any luck, I wouldn't die of excitement before then. View full size. Held up pretty goodThat's pretty good stability for Ektachrome, particularly E-3. All of mine from the 70's are mostly faded even having been stored in the dark. [To the naked eye the slide itself appears mostly red. Fortunately, Ektachromes of this vintage haven't lost any color range completely, so it's possible to do a reasonable restoration digitally. I haven't colorized it artificially, just removed the red. Soon after, Kodak made a major change, and my Ektachromes of just a year later still have excellent color. -tterrace] Well, it looks darn good, certainly can't tell that it was manipulated. Mine have pretty much lost any blue, and the density is a tiny fraction of the original. Just the factsGood job tterrace, I could actually hear the voice of Jack Webb as I read your commentary. Your contributions to Shorpy are always enjoyed and appreciated. Temple StreetLooks a lot like West Temple Street, judging by the perspective of City Hall in the background, the Hall of Justice, the curve of the street, and the curb cuts to the left. View Larger Map # 714Thank you, well played. FlashbackReminds me of a scene from "Repo Man". You didn't have radioactive space aliens in your trunk, did you?? Grain and ColorThe grain and color really add to the mood in that shot!!! Excellent photo and great "restoration!" [Thanks! Here's what the slide looks like in real life. As you can see, I had to adjust the density (brightness/contrast) as well as the color. -tterrace] Very BIG improvement! Lockheed ElectrasFlew Pacific Southwest Airline's Lockheed Electras LAXSFO many times in the early 60's. 90 minutes each way. One way fares sometimes just over $10, thanks to the low cost of fuel which was only about $0.30 for auto gas. Yup, Temple Street definitely seems the most likely location. There have been huge changes in downtown LA, but that tunnel under the Harbor Freeway is still as it was. "Dragnet" theme playingOr possibly "Perry Mason". We saw city Hall in both on a regular basis. I immediately heard jack Webb! Thanks, Tterrace for another GREAT shot! Up in the SkyYou mean that building is City Hall? All these years I thought it was the "Daily Planet" Building, the one in "The Adventures of Superman" starring George Reeves. The one in the opening credits where they say "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." After all that's where Clark Kent (aka Superman), Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Perry White worked. Well not really, I have known for a long time that it is and always was the City Hall building, but when I was a kid in the 50s it was always the "Daily Planet" Building to me. Now when I see it in a TV or movie show I still refer to it as the "Daily Planet" Building even though I know better. "Wait! Wait! Wait! I want to hear this!"I'd tell my mother as she was telling me to go to bed. Best descriptor yet, tterrace, the shot could easily have introduced Dragnet. LOL, the intro was the best part of the show. Out of the fog, into the smogMy relatives lived in LA during this same time frame and we used to travel south to visit them from our home just south of San Francisco (San Mateo). I distinctly remember entering the brown soup of smog that surrounded LA, and which can be clearly seen in this photo. It was even more evident when looking down from an airplane! This situation gave birth to the first air pollution regulations in the US, which later resulted in the federal Clean Air Act. Although the smog can still be bad in LA, it is much better than it was some 50+ years ago. Ready, Aim, Accelerate!I love the gun sights that late 50's early 60's cars had. I think this rebalanced shot has a fabulous sunset hue! Great job tterrace and thanks as always for sharing. Rams vs RedskinsOrange sign to the left is advertising an early August pre-season NFL game. My First FlightWas in June of 1962 from SFO to the Navy boot camp in San Diego. Fare was $13. Same PSA (Poor Sailors Airline) Lockheed Electra. Hot stewardesses, er, I mean flight attendants. The SmogThis picture is typical of that time. I arrived in the LA area in 1959 and was dismayed at what I saw. While there are still smog days, my subjective view is that it is a lot better now. The Lockheed Electras mentioned were 4 engine turboprops that are still in use today by the US Navy as the P3 Orion. They are being replaced by the Boeing P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane, a version of the Boeing 737–800. WOTWFor me the City Hall building will forever be the place the Martians blew up in the 1953 version of War of the Worlds. Then it was all alone in the L.A. skyline, today you can hardly see it because of all the skyscrapers around it. "clever title"This game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo6mWOhW9ak (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Super Giant: 1964
... chair, he'd read our two newspapers, one local and one city, end to end. One night I noticed that he'd paused for quite some time at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/22/2008 - 6:35am -

1964. The Super Giant supermarket in Rockville, Maryland. Color transparency by John Dominis, Life magazine photo archive. View full size. Twins?Look at the two ladies above checkout #7 and #8. They could be twins .. at least sisters. I love this photo ... there is so much to see! Funny how the Clorox label has not changed. That's good branding! Plaid ElephantDidn't that fellow come from the Island of Misfit Toys? Nice to see him or her gainfully employed. Credit cards?Are them Credit Card Imprinters on the registers? I didn't think grocery stores took credit cards until the late 80's. [The imprinters would be for charge cards, which for gas stations, grocery stores and other retailers go back at least to the 1950s and the era of the Charga-Plate. Charge accounts go back even farther, to the early days of retailing. Below: Artwork from a 1966 newspaper ad. What goes back to the late 80s is using bank-issued credit cards as an everyday substitute for cash, as opposed to merchant charge accounts, which generally had to be paid in full at the end of the month. - Dave] How little has changedIt's funny how things haven't changed. some of the equipment looks antiquated, but the whole checkout process is still the same. Little detailsLook closely at the rack at the checkout. One thing that stands out for me is razor blades. Lots and lots of razor blades. Now you're lucky if you even find them buried in among the 3-, 5-, 19-blade razors. (Don't even look for a safety razor today. I've tried 10 different stores here, no luck.) Next, just above the Lane 5 sign is a Brach's candy bin. Looks like the good folks at Time-Life have photoshopped the LIFE logo onto the bin. Anyone back me up on this? [That's not "photoshopped." It says "As advertised in LIFE." Often seen on product displays back in the Olden Days. - Dave] GeeSure were a lot of Caucasians back in 1964. Paper or plastic?It was at a Giant supermarket in suburban Washington in 1983 that I was first asked by the cashier "paper or plastic?" At first I was confused, thinking that she was asking me whether I wanted to pay with paper money or a credit card.... Keep GoingOh my great good God. I've never wanted a picture to "keep going" more than this one! I wish they had invented 360 degree viewing back then. AMAZING!! The good old daysI worked in a grocery store similar to this. Same cash registers. Brings back a lot of memories. Life Sure Got CasualComparing the turn-of-the-century pictures with this one shows the remarkable change in American public attire. The fellow writing the check in the right foreground might have been arrested for public indecency in earlier Shorpy Land. Didn't see too many men in short pants in 1905 stores. Deja VuI'm amazed at the number of products which are still instantly recognizable today. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for those prices! Check out the checkoutI can only imagine how long it took to get through the checkout line in the days before bar code scanners. It looks like the cashiers had to consult that notepad they all have propped up against their registers. Random musingsThose elephants are, like, crazy! People were thinner back then. The Clorox label hasn't changed a bit. Curious that the checkout ladies visible are all men. It's too bad we can't see the tabloid racks at the checkout stands. I just know there's a juicy headline on the Enquirer. Wow!I work about two miles from Rockville. Does anyone know the address of this store? Is it still there. This site is unbelievable... The ViewWhat strikes me about this is no one in view is morbidly obese. Look at the kid...... eyeballing that open Brach's candy display. Those are almost unchanged from than till now. I wonder if he copped a "sample"? CheckersThe checkers, the ones shown at least, are all male. This was once a well paid and somewhat skilled job if only for the sharp memory and hand-eye coordination. The gaudy merchandising hasn't changed much in 44 years but the checkout experience? Well, what do you all think , better or worse? Convenient beer & wineAt least in the late 70s, Marylanders learned to spot Super Giants, because through some complicated shift of definition (like SUVs = trucks), these stores were not subject to the prohibition that grocery stores and convenience stores can't sell alcohol. Today Giant Food remains but Super Giants are gone, and it's no longer possible to buy wine with your packaged ground beef. Pre-UPCOne of the more striking things here is the checkout registers where the clerk actually had to read a stamped-on price and key it in manually (after consulting a list of what might have been on discounted sale that day). Within ten years many registers would have their displays as bright glowing fluorescent digits (later LED/LCD) vs these mechanical pop-up number tags. UPC scanning lasers wouldn't be common for another 10 years or so. Look at all the Men!I am not accustomed to seeing so much testosterone in a grocery store! Everything looks supersized, even the hairdos. It's kinda funny how high they stacked the displays, you'd need a ladder to get at some of it. LinesThe lines are still as long after the "wonderful" invention of Bar Codes, Scanners and Chip & PIN credit/debit cards. One step forward, two steps back. So much to see!Dave, would you mind enlarging this to about six feet high? I can't make out all the details! What is Loon?On one of the ends.... [The sign says LOOK. - Dave] Supermarket "Where's Waldo?"Not one of these people have bottled water in their cart and there's no gum or candy visible on the registers... Now, find the: box of Life cereal, the Cracker Jacks, the Domino sugar, the Raisin Bran, the grape jelly, the grape juice, the box of Cheer detergent, and the anxious store manager. Brach's CandiesThe display of the bulk candy bin appears to read "Advertised in Life." I wonder how many Life readers caught the subtle product placement. A refreshing lack of "expression"Nary a tattoo nor a facial piercing in sight. Where's Waldo?I think he's in Aisle 6. Very interesting photo! Brach's CandiesScary how 21 years later, I could have been the kid looking into the Brach's Bulk Candies bin... I totally forgot about those bins until this picture. People were slimmer back thenOther than the antiquated cash registers and the male cashiers, what has changed the most is that we are more obese now. I love this pictureSo rich. So much to keep the eye busy. Almost like a Where's Waldo cartoon. From the Plaid Elephants advertising "Top Value" something-or other, all the way down to the Quaker logo on a box of Rice Chex. And who's that woman in line in front of the chip rack? She has a BIG BUTT! (If anyone tells me that's my mother, then she's YOUR mother.) Charge-a-platesThey go back to at least the 40's -- I remember them well. It was metal and specially notched for each of the stores which accepted them and where you had a charge account. Current plastic models, good for almost anything, are great but far less secure. Modern LifeThe Life cereal box behind the Rice Chex is virtually unchanged! Not so inexpensiveMedian income of all families in 1964 was about $6600. For female full-time workers, the median income was $3700. Median income of nonwhite males was $2800. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-047.pdf I'll bet they didn't think these prices were all that cheap. I do wonder what day of the week this photo was taken - I'll bet it was a Saturday. Get your slob on!I imagine that this was taken on a very hot day. No matter what the weather, though, imagine this same scene in 1934 or 1904 - you wouldn't see people out in public wearing undershirts and shorts. I wonder if there's a particular moment in time or series of events when it became OK to look "slobby" in public? No sagging pants or backwards baseball caps, anyway. I second the vote For blown up sections of this photograph, a lot of shelves I would like to explore. [Click "view full size." That's as blown up as it gets. - Dave] Checking outWhen I worked in grocery in the mid 1970's, with only slightly newer registers, the checkout time would be about the same as now. Good checkers could check and bag at about the same rate as now - the difference being that the checker had to pay attention and couldn't have conversations with their coworkers while checking. The notepads have the produce prices on them. Typically, you would remember those after the first few checkouts of the same produce item per day and not need to refer back very often. Remember that the range of produce available was less than today, both because of improved distribution and widening of tastes. The preferred checking technique is to pull the item off with the left hand, check the price, and enter the price into the register with the right hand. The register we had had plastic covers to cover the keys for anything past $9.99, since items of that price were pretty rare, since grocery stores sold groceries and not other items. In general, we had fewer stoppages for price checks than a modern system will because of missing items in their database. The grocery stocked fewer items back then. The flip side is that inventory management was a pain - we would manually order based on what was on the shelves and did a periodic total inventory to find the correct wastage values from spoilage and shoplifting. I much prefer the wider range of food and produce available today. And just think...This could be one of the few larger group Shorpy pictures where most of the folks are still alive. The cute girl in the cart would be my sister's age; the adults are mostly in the mid-late 20s to early 40s range, giving them ages from the high 60s to the mid 80s. The older kids would still only be in their fifties. Anyone from Rockville know these folks? Fantastic Photo!Even though it's far "younger" that most of the great photos that Shorpy features, it's one of the most fascinating you've ever put up here. I can't take my eyes off it. Do we know the address?My partner and I -- en route to Bob's Noodle House -- have wondered about the origins of a now-empty grocery store in Rockville, near "downtown." Perhaps this Super Giant? Certainly of this era. You can just make it out in the middle of this view -- between the bus shelter and the tree -- through the parking lots. [The Super Giant was at 12051 Rockville Pike and Randolph Road, where Montrose Crossing is today. See the next comment up. - Dave] View Larger Map Rockville Super GiantThe 25,000-square-foot Super Giant that's the subject of this post opened November 12, 1962, at 12051 Rockville Pike at Randolph Road, anchoring a 205,000-square-foot discount shopping center with 3,000-car parking lot (and a "Jolly Trolley" to get you from car to store). Today it's a "lifestyle center" called Montrose Crossing. Below: A long time ago, in a shopping center far, far away ... Wow. Just wow.I, too, worked in a grocery store in the late-70s when I was in high school. As earlier commented, apparently not a whole lot changed from when this picture was taken to then (well, except the hairstyles and clothes -- which changed a *lot*). I remember the registers well -- the columns of keys were dedicated to 10's, 1's, 10 cents, 1 cent. The large palm-contoured key to the right would "enter" in the decimal digits. Lots of noise and moving parts. A good cashier could move the goods along the conveyor belt as quickly as the scanners of today. The rapid spinning of numbers on the register display was mesmerizing. The one big holdup was the dreaded "price check" if a stocker had to be summoned -- but more often the checker already had the price memorized (good thing too, since price label "swapping" was a problem). I stocked shelves using the incredibly complicated but efficient label gun used to print and affix the prices to the products. As a stocker you had a large holster that held this amazing device. The more I think about it, things have not changed that much. We still have lines, conveyor belts, "separators," shopping carts, impulse displays, checkers, baggers, stockers, butchers, and produce guys (the latter two being union jobs). At least until the self checkout and then later RFID based systems (you just walk out of the store with the goods and the store will automatically figure this out and bill your card). Top Value StampsMy mother collected those, they were also used at Kroger's in the Middle South. What surprises me is that there are no cigarette racks at the checkouts. When I was a kid, every grocery store had the cigarette packs in racks right at the checkouts, with a sign screaming "Buy A Pack Today!" Maybe it was a Maryland thing. I also remember drugstores and groceries where cigarettes were sold only in the pharmacies. Go figure. More of these pleaseI add my request for more photos like this of just ordinary life from the '50s & '60s. Sure brings back memories of simpler and I think happier times. When I was a kid I used to imagine how marvelous life would be fifty years hence in the 21st century. Well I'm there now -- and I'd like to go back to the 1950s please. [And you can, thanks to the magic of the Inter-nets! I wonder when we'll have those TVs you can hang on the wall like a painting. And Picture-Phones. Can't wait. - Dave] Mama can I have a penny?You know what would be right next to the electric doors (and that big rubber mat you had to step on to make them open) -- a row of gumball machines! Whatever happened to those? I loved just looking at them. Those glass globes, all those colorful gumballs. Sigh. RealityThats a highly posed photo. Everyone in the photo would have had to sign a model release for this to be published in Life. It is "possible" that the people where chosen for their looks. [I've worked in publishing for over 20 years. You wouldn't need a release for any picture taken in a public place, and certainly not for a crowd or group shot. Actually you don't need releases at all. Some publishers may have looked at them as insurance against lawsuits for invasion of privacy. Probably most didn't bother. As for "posed," I doubt it. - Dave] Blue StampsWhile I miss the concept of Blue Stamps or trading stamps, I get points from my store and they send me a check each quarter to use in the store. I have one premium my parents redeemed from a trading stamp program - a really hideous waterfront print which they had in their home until they divorced. I claimed it from my father and it's hung in the laundry room of every house I've ever lived in since I moved on my own. I remember the old way grocery stores were laid out, and I was always fascinated by the registers. Link: Whatever Happened to Green Stamps? [Down where I come from we had S&H Green Stamps -- Sperry and Hutchinson. And "redemption centers" chock-full of cheesy merchandise. Or you could get cash. When I was in college I chose cash. My fingers would be all green (and minty) from sticking wet stamps in the redemption books. - Dave] Lived next to one just like it in VirginiaThis is just like the Super Giant on South Glebe Road in Arlington, close by where my family was living in 1964. It's where my mother shopped and I loved to accompany her and browse around. You could buy anything from a live lobster to a coat, and just like the Rockville store, it was 20 minutes from downtown Washington. Deja vuMy supermarket experience goes back about 10 years before this one . . . but what a photo! We had women cashiers, and man, were they fast. I was a stock clerk and bagger, and had to move fast to get the groceries in those brown paper bags (no plastic). I also had to wear a white shirt and bow tie. Naturally, we took the groceries to the car for customers and put them in the car or trunk, wherever asked. That was known as customer service. We, too, gave S & H green stamps, although Top Value stamps were available a number of places. Price checkerMy father was a lifelong grocery man, making a cycle from clerk to manager to owner and finally back to clerking in the 1950s until he retired in 1966. He took pride in doing his job well, whatever it was. Each night, sitting in his green leather chair, he'd read our two newspapers, one local and one city, end to end. One night I noticed that he'd paused for quite some time at the full-page weekly ad for the market he worked at and I asked him why. He was memorizing the prices of the specials starting the next day. Brach's candy displayThe shot of the boy near the candy display reminds me of a time back in the very early 1960s where I did help myself to a piece or two. I looked up, saw an employee looking at me and boy, I was scared to death he would tell my parents. Also, with the evolution in scanning and so forth, it brought to an end, more or less, of checking the receipt tape against the stamped prices for mistakes the checker made. Checking ReceiptsI worked in a store just like this while in high school in the early '70s. The main difference I've noticed is that Sunday is a major shopping day now. Our store was open on Sunday, because the crosstown rival was open. We (and they) didn't do enough business to pay for the lights being on. Two people ran the store on Sundays - a checker and a stocker/bagboy. And we didn't have much to do. All we ever saw was people picking up a single item or picnic supplies. How times have changed. Now we check the receipt for mistakes made in shelf pricing. Did I get charged the sale price or not? [So after your groceries are rung up, you go back down the aisles checking the receipt against the shelf prices? Or you make note of the shelf prices while you're shopping? That's what I call diligent. - Dave] Stamp dispensersWhen I was a kid back in the late sixties, there were stamp dispenser next to each cash register, with a dial a lot like a telephone dial that would spew stamps as the cashier turned it. I'm surprised they don't have a similar thing in this store. [The grocery store we went to had an electric thingy that spit them out. Which looked a lot like the brown boxes shown in the photo. - Dave] Checking ReceiptsWe don't check every price - just the sale prices which are listed in the weekly ad, available at the front of the store. Sometimes the ad price doesn't get properly entered into the computer, so I pay attention, especially if it's a significant savings. Relative CostsMy mother kept note of her grocery bills for 40 years -- and in 1962 complained that it cost $12 a week to feed a family of four. Considering that my dad's salary was $75 a week, that was indeed a lot of money. We used to save Green Stamps, Plaid Stamps, and cigar bands for giveaways in the store. [That's a good point. I had to chuckle when I noticed that the most these registers could ring up is $99.99. - Dave] Amazing how pictures take you backThis is what grocery stores looked like when I was a wee lass in the '70's. This could have been our local A&P, except the freezer cases would have been brown instead of white. And I bet if you checked the ingredients on the packages those thin people are buying, you wouldn't see corn syrup as a top-ten ingredient of non-dessert items. A & PSee the short story by John Updike for the perfect literary pairing to this photo. Well, in my opinion anyways; it's the first thing that came to mind upon seeing it. I Remember Those Elephants!My great-grandma lived in Rockville at that time and I remember those elephants!! What a floodgate of memories just opened up! Thanks again, Dave! [Now we know why memory and elephants go together. - Dave] Making ChangeAs those cash registers (most likely) didn't display the change due, the cashiers actually had to know how to make change. [Cash registers waaay back in 1964 (and before) did indeed show change due. And sometimes were even connected to a change-maker that spit your coins into a little tray. - Dave] Brown paper packages tied up with stringThis is such an amazing photo -- I love it! As someone who was still 12 years away from being born when this photo was taken, I'm not familiar with the old customs. What kind of items would have been wrapped up in brown paper like the woman in line at register 7 has? It looks like a big box, so that ruled out meats or feminine products in my mind ...any ideas? [It's probably her laundry. - Dave] White MarketsIn Knoxville we had groceries called White Stores that looked like most any other grocery of the late 70's, early 80's: Dimly lit with greenish fluorescent tubes, bare-bones interior decoration, and indeed a Brach's candy bin. My mom used Green Stamps for years. It took eons to fill a book. At the White Stores you could "buy" various pieces of merchandise. She got a floor lamp one year and a set of Corning Ware the next. It seems like over the last 5-10 years, they've made grocery stores all upscale looking. Almost makes you feel like you're getting ripped off. Warehouse LookSay goodbye to this timeless shot and hello to the warehouse stylings of the local Costco. Grocery stores have been jazzing up their interiors hoping to attract and keep customers. It's not working. When I go to one, they are far less busy than even in the recent past. They have cut the payrolls down significantly here in San Diego due to losing profit to the warehouses. Consequently, the help is far less competent, far younger, far less helpful, and far below the wage scales of the wonderful veterans they cannot really replace. We need some grocery stores for certain smallish items that the warehouse giants will never carry. But they will dwindle down to a very precious few, and do it soon. Of course, this grandiose Super Giant displaced their mom-and-pop competitors. Same tune, different singers. Multi-tasking fingers>> the columns of keys were dedicated to 10's, 1's, 10 cents, 1 cent. And a really good clerk would be pressing at least two keys at a time, which modern keypads can't do. Pure gold.What could lure me from my busy, lurk-only status? Only this amazing photo! Wow. Just wow. And not a cell phone in sight... Pre-Obesity EpidemicAnd look. No great big fat people. Sure, there a couple of middle-agers spreading out here & there, but you know the ones I mean. Smaller aisles and carts!Because people are much bigger these days, everything else is too! I remember shopping with my mom and for the big holidays and having to use more than one cart. Super GiantThe Super Giant was in the shopping center that now has a Sports Authority, Old Navy and a much smaller Giant. Super Giant was similar to what you would find at WalMart now -- part department store, part grocery store. I grew up in Rockville and we used to shop there all the time, until they closed that is. Guess the world wasn't ready for that combination. I could be in that picture, but I'd be too young to walk. GurskyesqueThis reminds me of Andreas Gursky's photo "99 Cent" -- it could almost have been taken in the same place. Fiberglass tubs on conveyor belts.Great picture & website. I remember them bagging your groceries, putting them in fiberglass tubs, and giving you a placard with a 3 digit number on it. The tub would go on a conveyor belt to the outside of the store, you'd drive up, and they'd take your placard and load your groceries. Wonder if there are any pictures of those... Proto-WalmartThis store was huge and it was quite unique in the same model as today's Walmart with groceries, clothing, etc. It is odd that the concept did not survive in that era considering the success of Walmart today. Personally, as a kid, I didn't like it when my mom got clothes for me from there. They were the off-brands. I also remember the GEM membership store which was in the current Mid-Pike Plaza on the opposing SW corner, which was a precursor to Price Club except that it didn't have groceries. I Remember It WellI grew up in Rockville, MD and was in this store many times. It was a full "one stop" department store with a grocery store attached. I loved going there with my mother because while she was grocery shopping I could make my way to the toy department. Kid nirvana! I might have been there!Oh do I remember that! My family lived in Rockville until 1965, and my mother usually took me along. After moving, we'd go to the Rockville Super Giant only if we needed to stop at the department store side. The beige boxes that you see at Checkouts 6 and 7 were the Top Value Stamp dispensers. (The man in the T-shirt is signing a check on top of one.) They automatically spit out the right amount of those yellow stamps. We bought quite a few things with Top Value Stamps, including a well-built Westinghouse room dehumidifier. The Giant Food at Friendship Heights had a conveyor belt but this store did not. This one had so much land, there was a huge sidewalk area out front where you could bring your carts -- but not to the car. Instead there were pairs of plastic cards, one with a hook for the cart, one with a hole. They had a three digit number, and the note "NO TIPPING". Took me a while to understand that wasn't about tipping over the carts. When you pulled up, an employee (probably young) put the bags in your car for you. Speaking of brand names, I can see the stacks of Mueller's spaghetti in Aisle 6. It's the brand we ate then. (Now I know Farina flour has no business in pasta!) The meat department is along the wall at the left. Deli and seafood were at the far back corner. There were a pair of "Pick a Pickle" barrels in front of the deli counter. One Dill, one Half-Sour. Good pickles, and great fish. The fish department has always been a source of pride for Giant. Of course this was back when a flounder was over a foot long, not these six-inch midgets we get today. All the fish were whole on ice, only gutted, and they scraped the scales, and cut or filleted the fish to your order. The produce department starts behind the Brach's counter, and extends out the photo to the left. There were one or two manned scales there, where they would weigh your brown paper bag of produce, mark the price with a grease pencil, and staple it shut. If it was something tender like cherries, they would put "XX" on it, so that it would be correctly bagged. So the checkers only needed to know the prices of "piece" produce. There was a "post mix" soda machine at the end of Aisle 12, 13, or 14, which would mix syrup and soda water into a cup. I'd often get a Coke. Probably 5 cents. I remember getting Mercury dimes as change from that machine -- this photo is from the last year of silver dimes and quarters. (Serious inflation was kicking in to pay for the Vietnam War.) Cigarettes? Where were they? I should know, my mom smoked then. They were only in cartons, they were so dirt-cheap that nobody bought them by the pack, except in vending machines. They certainly didn't need to be kept "out of the reach of children" then. They were in a six-foot set of shelves somewhere. I suppose I had no taste in clothing at the time, as most of my clothes came from there. Well, let's be honest -- they were much nicer and more stylish than clothes at Sears. (Oh, those horrible Sears Toughskin jeans with the rubber inside the knees!) The department store side, which started to the right of the checkouts, was easily twice the size of what you see here. It had a lot of selection, and lots of good specialty counters. There was a photo counter at the front of the store (pretty much under the photographer, who was up in the balcony where the restrooms were). They sold things at fair prices, and gave good and honest sales help. There was a hobby counter in the far back right corner. Speaking of the restrooms, they had seats that automatically flipped up into the back of the toilet, with UV lights to "sanitize" them. Spooky. The current Giant Food store at that site, which my friends call the "Gucci Giant," is on the former department store side. When they first shut down the three Super Giant department stores, they left the grocery store were it was. I think about the time that White Flint Mall started "upscaling" Rockville Pike, they built a much fancier store on the old department store side. Compared to now, Rockville Pike was very working class, very blue collar. Congressional Plaza (on the site of the former Congressional Airport) had a JC Penney as the anchor, and a Giant Food. Near the Super Giant was an EJ Korvettes, now the site of G Street Decorator Fabrics. A little off Rockville Pike was GEM -- Government Employees Membership. These were the days when "Fair Trade" pricing (price fixing) was still legal, and enforceable everywhere but the District of Columbia. But GEM, being a "membership" store, could discount, so that's where you bought Fair Trade products like Farberware at a discount. Of course, GEM had to compete with discount stores in the District, which Congress had conveniently exempted from the Fair Trade Act, so they could shop cheaply. Scan itI enjoyed coming back to this photo for new comments -- I had one before, but long before the new post. I live not far from Troy, Ohio, where the local newspaper just had an article about the bar code scanner. The very first item scanned -- anywhere -- was at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, in 1974. Troy is less then 30 miles north of Dayton, where NCR developed the scanner. The Marsh store is still there, but NCR is leaving. King Soopers, 1960I work for a division of Kroger called King Soopers in Colorado. My store, which opened in February 1960, has a lot in common with this one. They have tried to modernize it but you can still see the old store showing through in places. Great photo. Bagger NostalgiaRegrettably, the baggers are out of view to the right. My greatest nostalgia for supermarkets past concerns the bag boys, practitioners of a high art. They took pride in how compactly they could pack your groceries with attention to putting the fragile items on top -- not to mention that they all tried to outdo each other in speed. Bagger Nostalgia...Part DeuxWhen I was a kid (1950s) I used to go with my father to the grocery (Kroger's) on Saturday morning. I always helped bag the groceries, especially if they were short handed, and he would always remind me of his bagging rule: "Don't even think about putting the meat next to the soap or even in the same bag." In the 50s as I remember it the majority of the cashiers were women and that was their only job at the store. I notice that even as early as the 60s they had the security screens next to the cash register to keep unwanted fingers out of the till form the adjacent aisle. I also remember making the family excursion to the Top Value redemption store to select the "FREE" gift that the household needed when we had sufficient stamp books filled. The other Super GiantThe third Super Giant is in White Oak. They took the "Super" off ages ago, but it is all still there. Mostly we went to the one in Laurel, which still retains its huge circa-1960 sign in the parking lot. Around 1980 it ate the old Kresge store next door, but by that time the department store features of the biggest stores were mostly gone. It's kind of funny -- the mall they built just south of the shopping center almost killed the latter, but now the shopping center is very busy and the mall may well be torn down. Memories from the early '60sMy mom worked at Chestnut Lodge and would often stop by the Super Giant on Rockville Pike on her way home to shop for groceries -- and clothes for me! I was much too young to be brand- or fashion-conscious and I remember loving the little cotton A-line dresses that Mom would bring home. We lived in the District and a big thrill for me would be to drive up to Rockville with my parents on the weekends and shop at the Super Giant and Korvettes! Crossing the PotomacThe hype of Super Giant was enough to entice these Northern Virginians into crossing The Potomac River into Maryland. The commute is commonplace today but not so much in 1964. We had not seen anything like it. Racks & racks of mass produced clothing and groceries, too! Grandmother bought the same suit in 3 different sizes. She and my mother got their money's worth. I was 13. It never left my closet. The NoiseThe old registers were so noisy. No screens to check what was going on, just quick eye movement to try and keep track. Ahh...back in the day when every item had a price on it. Ohhhh yeah and is that Blake Shelton?I spent many weekends at this gigantic store on Rockville Pike. I think I even bought a prom dress here....is that possible? I very clearly remember going up to the glassed in observation balcony on the second floor, which gave an overall view of the store (as this photo shows). That way I could scan the aisles in order to see where my Dad was at any given moment. I love this photo, and HEY isn't that a time-traveling Blake Shelton a little left of the center wearing a white short-sleeved shirt?? (LIFE, Stores & Markets)
War Clouds: 1864
... have been that close to the fort's fall. Sherman took the city of Savannah on December 22 and presumably Cooley would have shifted to the city after that, so the most likely date for this photo is between December 14 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/23/2023 - 11:44am -

1864. Vicinity of Savannah, Georgia. View of Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River. Right half of a glass-plate stereograph by Samuel Cooley. View full size. CloudsThe wet-plate photography of the civil war period was not capable of capturing clouds and sky tones at the same exposure as the foreground would require. This must be a composite image, with two exposures taken..one for the sky, and another for the foreground and then combined. Not an easy task for a glass-plate stereo pair. [While that was often the case in the days before panchromatic emulsions, it wasn't always the case, especially if the sun was not at its zenith or on very overcast days. Another example here. - Dave] IncongruousThere is something vaguely incongruous about the soldier (I suppose) standing on what I assume is a wooden gun platform with a broom, while a few feet away is a very large cannon. I wish the date was a little more specific than just "1864." Fort McAllister was attacked twice during the Civil War, once in March 1863 by a trio of monitors, and again in December 1864 during Sherman's March to the Sea. Presumably this picture dates to the period after Sherman's troops took the fort. [Information for some of these is spotty to nonexistent. Many of the Georgia and South Carolina photos were taken by Northern photographers after bombardment of the coast by the Federal Navy. Sam Cooley was attached to the 10th Corps of the Union Army. - Dave] Fort McAllisterI had assumed that the photographer was with the Union Army as I seem to recall reading somewhere that photographs from Southerners are far rarer than from Northerners. Southern photography was a victim of the blockade - the Confederacy needed medicines and weapons more than they needed photographic chemicals. Knowing that Cooley was with the Union Army (and accepting December 1864 as totally accurate) that would set the date between December 14 (the day after Hazen's XV Corps took the fort) and the end of the year. The look of the place is rather settled (the soldier sweeping, the various items of harness including horse collars neatly placed on the rails behind the artillery piece), which would suggest that it may not have been that close to the fort's fall. Sherman took the city of Savannah on December 22 and presumably Cooley would have shifted to the city after that, so the most likely date for this photo is between December 14 and probably Christmas. (The Gallery, Civil War, Sam Cooley, Savannah)
River City: 1910
Circa 1910. "Jacksonville, Florida, and St. Johns River." Note the sign for the Dixieland Park ferry. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. looks like a M.C. Escher drawing! the chute connects with the warehouse si ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/12/2022 - 1:45pm -

Circa 1910. "Jacksonville, Florida, and St. Johns River." Note the sign for the Dixieland Park ferry. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. looks like a M.C. Escher drawing!the chute connects with the warehouse side walkway...Odd! I dare to say this framing was made on purpose. The BarrowsI'm thinking they were used to carry coal for refueling ships. There appears to be some sort of conveyer leading up to the trestle to supply the barrows. BridgeThe bridge in view is the old Florida East Coast Railway - St. Johns River Bridge. It was a single-track, Pratt through-truss swing bridge built in 1889-90. It was replaced by a double-track, through-truss, Strauss Trunnion Bascule lift span bridge in 1925 and is still in use (See: New FEC - St. Johns River Bridge). It runs adjacent to the Acosta Bridge which carries SR 13 over the St. Johns River. I believe The Jacksonville Landing and the entrance to the John T Alsop, Jr. bridge now occupy the foreground. TugInteresting tug side-lashed to a single barge. Approaching the swing bridge. Efficient use of resourcesWhile tall ships classed as fully rigged or square-rigged might have a larger crew, these four-masted schooners might have a crew of just ten to twelve - good ratio of cost of manpower to payload, and practically zero carbon footprint. Upside down barrowsSomething to do with that adjacent chute and unloading, no doubt, but I'm not really getting it. (At first I thought they were wagons but I see only one axle per device and I think I see some handles.) Tall shipsI'm always surprised to see big & tall sailing ships around as late as 1910 -- or even WWII. DD 15 or 16?I think I might have identified the warship at left foreground. It seems a lot heavier than a torpedo boat -- surely the weapon on top of the aft conning station is larger than the 6-pounder identified by SouthBendModel34. Even the existence of an aft conning station suggests it is a destroyer, but the date says it must be an early one. The funnels being so close to the conning station (mostly concealed under an awning) can be explained if it's one of the destroyers that had boiler rooms fore and aft and engine rooms amidships; DD 1, USS Bainbridge, had that layout. Then it would be a much longer, bigger ship entirely than it appears in the photo, its bow extending way to the left of the photo's edge, and explaining why Adam thought it might be a torpedo boat -- we're seeing only a small part of a 4-funneled craft. However, Bainbridge class DD's had their 6-pdrs forward of the conning station (with a 3-inch on top of it that could fit our ship), not aft as is clearly shown in the photo. They also did NOT have a propeller guard, and we can see a little piece of one if we look carefully. Also, Bainbridge class ships had blowoff tubes running up the two aft funnels, which this ship lacks. Looking further down the helpful list of destroyer photos in Navsource (http://www.navsource.org/archives/05idx.htm), I found that USS Worden and Whipple (DD 16 and 15) had plain funnels, 6-pdrs aft of the conning station, and propeller guards. The images in Navsource of these relatively obscure destroyers don't show them clearly enough that I could see any differences between them, so I'm leaving the identification at that. An annoying discrepancy is that photos of Worden and Whipple don't show the small mainmast with battle gaff that appears on the Shorpy photo immediately forward (left) of the 3-inch gun on top of the conning station. However, photos of other early destroyers show masts changing position and size during their careers so it's still, I think, very likely our ship is one of those two. Four-Masted SchoonersThe two "tall ships" are four-masted schooners. The schooner rig lasted longer in commercial service than the square rigger because a schooner requires a smaller crew. The whole crew of a 4-mast schooner might be only 10 or 11 men, all up. The last 4-master sailing in the Atlantic was carrying cargos as late as 1949. (The Schr. Herbert L. Rawding.) These schooners in Jacksonville are likely carrying coal from Norfolk VA. Other possible cargoes for them would be cypress lumber, which was in demand for furniture and door making, or phosphate rock mined in FL for conversion into agricultural fertilizer. Just as interesting as the schooners are the steam yacht and the partially obscured vessel at the coaling wharf. The near vessel is unquestionably Naval - one can see two pedestal-mounted "quick-firing" guns, 6-pounders I think, on either side near the stern. At the very stern is what appears to be a small torpedo tube. The stern itself has a rounded counter. Surely the class of this vessel could be identified by one of our Shorpy Sleuths. It's either a steam torpedo boat or an early Destroyer. (DD) Torpedo boatI was wondering if it might be one like the USS MacKenzie (TB-17)? Coaling in those daysI guess having access to a coaling wharf was a boon in those days. Even with a wharf there was still enough manhandling to do in order to get that coal down below. Not to mention to get it from stowage to the fireholes later on. Just look at USS Texas BB-35: 1900 tons of coal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Texas_%28BB-35%29)! No wharf at Scapa Flow, though. Yuck! Oil is that much more convenient. Just pass the hose, and start the pump. For the birdsGreat birdhouse on nearest warehouse! (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Florida, Jacksonville, Railroads)
Tales of the City: 1924
... with skyscrapers, the oldest example is in neither city but rather in Washington -- the Sun Building at 1317 F St. NW. ... ... of post-World War II architecture began erasing the city's history. Built by A.S. Abell, publisher of The Baltimore Sun, it ... The operation of the new style cars throughout the city undoubtedly will meet with the hearty approval of the women, who have been ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:15pm -

Today we're leaving the office and taking the streetcar downtown for some shopping. From 1924, "F Street N.W. from 14th Street." View full size. Swastika Truck IIPossibly made by Detroit's K.R.I.T. Motor Co. [Looks more like an electric truck. Maybe a Walker Electric. There's no radiator. - Dave] Arthur Burt Co.I found these three early 1920 ads for the Arthur Burt Co., in the Washington Post. Lisle ribbed hose, of fine texture, for women and juniors: black, white, brown, elk, gray and navy blue. Just right. Shoes and hose of today, Arthur Burt Co., 1343 F. Dependable military footwear, "Nature-Shape" school shoes. The "Tuiriwun," a slipper in black satin or patent leather that is correct for both evening and street wear and, consequently, much in demand. $9.00. Arthur Burt Co. The BartholdiHey, it's the Bartholdi Cafe, offering seafood and shore dinners, inviting ladies and gentlemen, and open Sundays. I learned this stuff from a billboard next to the Texaco station. I wondered what the "ladies and gentlemen" on the sign meant - no rowdies and ruffians, no wenches of questionable virtue? A 2005 Washingtonian article mentioned the Bartholdi (it was characterized as "early 20th century" seafood, apparently not the best). Truck SwastikaThat truck pulling out near the guy crossing the trolley tracks has a swastika on it. Was there an automotive company that used that emblem before it was abused by the Nazis? [Use of the swastika as a decorative motif or commercial insignia goes back long before the National Socialist Party adopted it as an emblem. - Dave] Health Week starts April 28 1343 F St.: Arthur Burt Co. Footwear for "society affairs," afternoon or evening. 1341 F St.: Bartholdi Cafe Washington Post, May 30, 1923: Advertisement This if the first holiday since we've extended our service to include the ladies. Bring them in and let them enjoy the Bartholdi famous shore dinner or a selection of the Sea Food delicacies served our way. 1339 F St.: H.W. Topham Trunks, suitcases, traveling bags, hot boxes, etc. 1337 F St.: Watters Sterling Boot Shops "The kind of shoes you want at the price you want to pay" 1333 F St.: Adams Building Washington Post, Apr 27, 1924 Health Week Campaign Gets Start Tomorrow "Health Week" starts tomorrow. Agencies participating took possession of the old Y.W.C.A. home, at 1333 F street northwest, to install free exhibits and motion pictures, which will run through the entire week. A large sign advising "Keep the Well Person Well" and "Get the Sick Person Well" placards the building, which is open from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. 1331 F St.: Meyer's Shop "Everything for well dressed Man and Boy" - Rogers Peet Clothing 1329 F St.: Franklin & Co. Opticians 1319-1321 F St.: Interstate Building The Young Men's Shop on ground floor Washington Post, Jan 9, 1912 Plans for the construction of a ten-story office building on F street ... When completed the new building will have cost approximately $600,000. The Interstate Commerce Commission, it is expected, will lease quarters in the new structure. 1315-1317 F St.: Baltimore Sun Building Contemporary Photo Washington Post, Apr 9, 1903 The Baltimore Sun building, 1315 and 1317 F street was sold yesterday afternoon at public auction to Walter Abell.....The Sun building is perhaps one of the best known office buildings in Washington and one of the most substantial in the country. ... It was built in 1887, the jubilee year of the Baltimore Sun by the founder of the paper, Mr. A. S. Abell, ... Washington Post, Jul 12, 1987 The oldest standing skyscraper in America - maybe the first --an exquisite nine-story example of eclectic Victorian architecture, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Although New York and Chicago are normally associated with skyscrapers, the oldest example is in neither city but rather in Washington -- the Sun Building at 1317 F St. NW. ... Now restored to its original elegance, the Sun Building gives a hint of what Washington was like before the homogenizing influence of post-World War II architecture began erasing the city's history. Built by A.S. Abell, publisher of The Baltimore Sun, it originally served as a home for the newspaper's Washington bureau. Upon its completion in 1887, The Baltimore Sun Hershel Shanks, a lawyer and part owner of the Sun Building, is editor and publisher of the Biblical Archaeology Review. declared the building "the most imposing private structure in the national capital." Safety LastDig the scaffolding set up with no safety barrier or safety roof, only a few paper signs stuck to it that probably say "Watch out for stuff falling on your head," or possibly something more appropriate for the period, like "Mind the head." Hey, there was a cop standing on the corner in the Patent Office photo too. At least this street is safe from horse thieves. It looks like a breezy day.It looks like a breezy day. See how the coats and awnings are billowed? WowGreat shot. The crispness and detail in these old photos is still startling. Frederic Auguste BartholdiHotel Bartholdi appeared in the Metropolitan Life 1908 Shorpy photo. In this one he's a Cafe for Ladies & Gentlemen. He was the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. It's 1924 and there are no horses in this picture. Were they banned from these streets? Checker CabsBoth of the two-tone taxis are Checkers, made by the Checker Cab Manufacturing Co. of Kalamazoo, as is the taxi in the extreme lower left hand corner. By 1924 Checker was building 4,000 40 hp cars a year at an average selling price of about $2350. The bus's power polesThe bus's power poles are down. It must convert to gas power when overhead power lines aren't available. [That's a streetcar, not a bus. Downtown, where there were no overhead power lines, the electrical supply was under the street. More info in the comments here and here. - Dave] TrolleyI notice there are no overhead wires for the streetcar. Apparently it was powered from a third rail on the ground. Seems pretty risky on a public street. [The power supply is underground. Not a rail, and not risky. - Dave] Third rail again?Oh Dave, you have the patience of a saint. How many times must one answer the same questions regarding streetcar power. I think its overly due time for some default link to background information regarding streetcar engineering in the District of Columbia. A few of the previous explanatory postings on Shorpy: [1,2,3] StreetcarFor those interested, the streetcar pictured in this scene is Washington Railway and Electric Company car number 602. Built in 1912 by J.G. Brill Company of Philadelphia it was delivered on September 21 of that year. In 1912 this streetcar cost $6016.17. In 1933 the Capital Traction Company took over streetcar operations in Washington DC and WRECo 602 became Capital Traction Co. car 836. In 1935, 836 was assigned to the Brightwood Division. By 1939, it was assigned to the Navy Yard Division, and in 1942 to the Benning Division. The centre door meant that 836 required two-man operation - a driver, and a conductor - and by the 1940s these older, slower cars were also creating bottlenecks as the newer, faster cars lined up behind them. 836 along with the remaining centre door cars were retired in 1944 and scrapped the following year. With the retirement of these cars retired the last of Washington DC streetcar conductors, as now all the cars were one-man operation. Not only were the cars faster, they were now cheaper to operate. One centre door streetcar, CTC 884 former WRECo. 650, is currently held by the National Capital Trolley Museum in Wheaton MD. It is currently unrestored as far as I know. See it soon for the museum is closing December 1 due to construction of the Intercounty Connector, and it is not scheduled to reopen until next summer. Sources cited: Peter C. Kohler, "Capital Transit, Washington's Street Cars The Final Era: 1933-1962" Bonifant MD: National Capital Trolley Museum, 2001. National Capital Trolley Museum: http://www.dctrolley.org/ Streetcars & Hobble SkirtsThanks James for all the information about car #602. In the photo, it appears that the lower step folds up while the car is in motion. Washington Post, Mar 20, 1923 Order Low-Step Cars W.R.&E. Officials Accede to Demand of Women Fifty are Now Being Built The women of Washington have won a victory in their demand for street cars with lower steps. The Washington Railway and Electric Company has placed an order for 50 new cars with the J.C. Brill Company, of Philadelphia, specifying particularly that the cars be constructed with low steps. The operation of the new style cars throughout the city undoubtedly will meet with the hearty approval of the women, who have been making a strenuous fight for more than two years to abolish the high steps. The new cars are being built as rapidly as possible, and the first shipment is expected to arrive here about April 15. The cars are what are known as the Narragansett type, being semi-convertible from closed to open, of double truck, and capable of comfortably seating 80 passengers. The seats will run crosswise, and the exterior will be painted yellow. It is announced by an official of the company that the cars will be constructed with two steps, affording easy ingress and exit from the vehicle. Upon just what lines the new cars will be operated the officials have not decided yet. A number of the cars, it is understood, will be placed on the Georgetown and Mt. Pleasant lines to replace those recently destroyed in the fire at the car barn at Thirteenth and D streets northeast, in which 80 cars were burned. "We have ordered that the new cars be constructed with unusually low steps," said an official of the Washington Railway and Electric Company, yesterday, "as we realize that the plea of women patrons, who ask for lower car steps, is justifiable. The new cars will be constructed, in so far as the steps are concerned, to meet the approval of the women. Later in the year we will either order additional cars of the low step type, or remodel the cars now in service to comply with the request of our women patrons." Washington Post, Apr 26, 1923 New Car Tested Here Hobble Skirts No Barrier to Improved W.R.&E. Vehicle "Wearers of the hobble skirts," said W.F. Ham, vice president of the Washington Railway and Electric Company, "will have no difficulty in boarding our new car, which we have just tried out for the first time. It has so many features that are new that we are delighted with it. During its trial trip yesterday afternoon, it carried no one but the officials of the company, but within a few days, we will run it in with our regular service, and then ask the passengers for their opinions. If they are favorable, undoubtedly we shall add a great many more of such cars to our rolling stock." Bartholdi HotelMy family owned the Bartholdi Hotel. My great-grandmother was Theresa Bartholdi. There is an old family tale that Vincent Sardi of Sardi's Steak House was a cook for the Bartholdi and met his wife who was a maid there. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo, Streetcars)
Zenith City: 1905
Duluth, Minnesota, circa 1905. "Elevators and harbor," along with a view of the Incline Railway and many other points of interest, make up our daily dose of Duluth. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. The Old Ballgam ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 6:55pm -

Duluth, Minnesota, circa 1905. "Elevators and harbor," along with a view of the Incline Railway and many other points of interest, make up our daily dose of Duluth. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. The Old BallgameAre those guys playing baseball in the lower right? They're spread out like they're playing something very similar. (Click to enlarge.) Let us venture back to a timeWhen Railroads ruled the Earth. Are they birthing Orcs in that roundhouse? The same scene today.Despite all the changes, this scene is still recognizable. Alluring Alliteration "Daily dose of Duluth." Gotta love it. ImprovementsDuluth really looks much, much better today! Rail lineA mid 1880s source cites the "St. P.&D. and N.P. Round House." That's the biggestroundhouse I've ever seen! Any bigger and it wouldn't have a way to bring locos in. Here is a shot of a current Duluth roundhouse from above (Google). Re: The Old BallgameYep. I think we've stumbled onto some Duluth-variety hardball. And from the outfield alignment, we can only guess our batter is not a pull hitter. Baseball?Good catch. Who's on second? This is why we look at the ShorpyAnother truly amazing photo. It's deeply three-dimensional: From the busy shirtwaist lady in the foreground, to the slouchy men hanging out by the steam laundry, to the (obviously) baseball people, to the infernal roundhouse, to the ships in the harbor... Visually they're all stitched together, front to back, by the power poles: you can see individual insulators on the nearest ones, behind the Clarendon Hotel (New!), but they merge into infinity as they march to the shining harbor. This is surely one of Shorpy's best. Apart from the swimsuit girls, of course. Duluth & Iron RangeThe boxcars lower left look like they might have "D.&.I.R." on them. That would make it the Duluth & Iron Range, which merged in 1938 to become the D.M. & I.R. There are some more boxcars above those D&IR ones that look like they might be Great Northern. But the owner of the roundhouse is definitely not clear. Re: What's MissingIndeed, they probably walked to and from work. I grew up in Beech Grove, Indiana, home to a large repair yard for Penn, Penn Central and Amtrak that dates back to 1910 or a little before. In the early '60s it was astonishing to see hundreds of workers in overalls, kerchiefs and the traditional engineer cap (with its distinctive narrow gray striping) as they walked westward down Main Street after work. Each carried a lunch pail and most seemed to have a newspaper under the arm. They would crowd the sidewalks on both sides for several blocks, from a distance looking something like a pair of giant centipedes. Not surprising, Main Street was also lined with taverns which surely enticed many men to stop for a quick beer as they made their way home. Big SkyCan anyone comment on why many of these old photos have so much "head room"? Photographers today compose their shot to get the most matter and keep the sky to a minimum. (Not to mention having to deal with the contrast ratio.) What's Missing!!!If this photo were made today there would be employee cars parked everywhere. That roundhouse surely employs quite a number of people. In 1905 I assume that most folks either walked to work, like the folks walking on the viaduct, or rode the streetcar. There isn't even a horse and buggy to be seen. It does look like there might be a couple of streetcars way down the street. For the birdsI like the big bird house in the back yard of the place across the street from A. Larson's "General Arthur" store, or whatever that says. It looks just as ramshackle as the rest of the buildings. Being on a crookedstump doesn't help -- the eggs'll roll out! Unfortunate use of quotes"The Best" Beer in Milwaukee, eh? For some reason I don't believe you. Why'd you have to use the quotes, huh? The RoundhouseLots of comments about the roundhouse, and it is a big one: 36 stalls if I count right. It's interesting to see photos of such buildings when they were comparitively new as opposed to how they looked by the end of the steam age. Question I have is which railroad did it belong to? Has to be either C&NW or DM&IR, but I can't tell by the locomotives parked nearby as I'm not an expert on either road's power. I'm guessing C&NW, a far larger road who would need a roundhouse of this size. Selz Royal BlueFantastic details. This world of busy, grimy character has a real appeal for me. And what a great opportunity to see newly-painted side-of-building advertising in all its glory. Today one sees mostly faded "ghost" images. Across the way from Miller Beer, Selz Royal Blue was a shoe brand advertised all over the country. This ad in the Arizona Journal-Miner is from 1905. Rices PointThe rail yard is the Northern Pacific Railways's Rices Point Yard and roundhouse. The elevated tracks on the left are Great Northern Railway. Actually, that looks like cricketAs to the ballgame being played at the right, the people don't seem arrayed correctly for baseball, but it looks like it would work for cricket, which, as I understand it, was actually played in parts of the U.S. at the time. [Duluth -- "Cricket Wicket of the Unsalted Seas." - Dave] Iron AgeA portion of the fancy iron railroad bridge off in the distance still exists -- the first truss span -- visible on Google Maps and Street View from the freeway bridge next to it (its concealed by the freeway bridge in the modern view in the first comment). Its the only landmark I can find that exists from the original picture. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Duluth, Railroads)
Detroit City Gas: 1908
Detroit circa 1908. " Detroit City Gas Co. building , Washington Boulevard and Clifford Street." 8x10 inch ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/11/2019 - 12:23pm -

Detroit circa 1908. "Detroit City Gas Co. building, Washington Boulevard and Clifford Street." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Empire Buildinghttp://historicdetroit.org/building/empire-building/ Billows OffsetThe three verticals are all vertical on the film, producing a weird optical illusion that's typical of the period. If it's on the negative, it's done by offsetting the lens from the film (via a flexible billows) rather than pointing the camera upwards, the lens and the film remaining vertical. [Psst. BELLOWS, not "billows." - Dave] When horses polluted more than autosThe horseless carriage parked at the curb seems to be an electric car, make unknown. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
City of Alpena: 1899
Circa 1899. "Sidewheeler City of Alpena ." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing ... View full size.         The CITY OF ALPENA, launched from the Detroit Dry Dock Co. in Wyandotte in 1893, ... Lake Huron.         The impressive CITY OF ALPENA and sister ship CITY OF MACKINAC were 285 feet long and driven ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/12/2016 - 3:41pm -

Circa 1899. "Sidewheeler City of Alpena." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.         The CITY OF ALPENA, launched from the Detroit Dry Dock Co. in Wyandotte in 1893, was one of several elegant paddlewheel steamboats operated by the Detroit & Cleveland Line out of Detroit. The line dated to 1849 and eventually included 10 large vessels, serving ports all over Lake Erie and Lake Huron.         The impressive CITY OF ALPENA and sister ship CITY OF MACKINAC were 285 feet long and driven by 2,000-horsepower steam engines. They carried as many as 400 passengers along with significant cargoes of package freight, merchandise and foodstuffs. They provided a critical link to big cities like Toledo, Detroit and Saginaw in the years before completion of railroads and highways to the communities of booming Northeast Michigan.         The CITY OF ALPENA was taken off the "Coast Line to Mackinac" in 1921 when the lumbering industry had moved to the West Coast and railroads connected most of the towns in the region. She operated afterward on Lake Michigan as the CITY OF SAUGATUCK, and ended up in the late 1930s as a barge, carrying pulpwood and later petroleum products. The once-proud ship was broken up for scrap in 1957. -- C. Patrick Labadie, Historian Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Broadway From Dey: 1900
... it is the oldest existing church building in New York City. Here is the view at street level today. Wherefore art ... out and about in 1900. Rush hour traffIc New York City has changed little in the last 123 years, huh? Clang, clang, clang ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2023 - 12:29pm -

New York, 1900. "Broadway looking north from Dey Street." Rising at left, the Western Union Telegraph Building. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Words travel by wire, people by cableA relatively rare glimpse of cable cars in NYC -- the Metropolitan Street Railway came late and didn't last long -- at least if the date is correct: unlike most areas, Manhattan went from cable cars to conduit-powered streetcars, so it's hard to tell by the trackwork alone. But the cars seem a match. [The streetcars in our photo look a lot more like the electric streetcars seen here. - Dave] Could be: the changeover date was May 25, 1901, so the premise rests entirely on exactly what the date is...I'll trade my comment for a "circa". - N And upon this rock they built a churchAt center left is St. Paul's Chapel. Built in 1766 in the Georgian style, it is the oldest existing church building in New York City. Here is the view at street level today. Wherefore art thou?A remarkable lack of women out and about in 1900. Rush hour traffIcNew York City has changed little in the last 123 years, huh? Clang, clang, clang went the trolleyAccording to one source, it wasn’t until about 1909 that electric trolleys were pressed into service in New York. Prior to that there were ‘cable cars,’ as evidenced in the post. Looking carefully one can see the cable stretched out between the rails of each line. [The electrification of Manhattan's streetcar lines began in the 1890s. That's not a cable between the rails -- it's a slot over the electrical conduit under the street. - Dave] Frequency of serviceFor me the most interesting thing about this picture is the interval between the streetcars, which is close to NOTHING. OK, maybe there's heavy traffic, and a bunch of them got jammed up together ... but looking off to the north it appears that there's just a steady stream of streetcars. Imagine how this would change city life if we tried this today, with trolleys and buses. New York City's first great hotelThat's Astor House up past St. Paul's. After it opened in 1836, it became New York's first great hotel, for many years the (unofficial?) headquarters of the Whig Party, and the favorite place of Senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, who told the NY Times he "would stay at no other hotel." Thurlow Weed supposedly lived there for 30 years. Photographer Mathew Brady lived there, and Thomas Edison stayed there when visiting from Menlo Park. William James was born there in 1842. http://www.tribecatrib.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/standaloneslid... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Astor-loc.jpg/... (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Streetcars)
Keep Smiling: 1906
... circa 1906. "Rolling chair on the Boardwalk, Atlantic City." In the distance, the giant safety razor seen on the Gillette sign in the ... Post, Apr 22, 1900 Reforms in Atlantic City Rolling-Chair Evil Regulated This resort wears the aspect of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 11:39am -

The Jersey shore circa 1906. "Rolling chair on the Boardwalk, Atlantic City." In the distance, the giant safety razor seen on the Gillette sign in the previous post. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Keep SmilingWhaddaya mean, keep smiling ? I AM smiling. The Wicked Witch of the East?The smiling, striding woman on the left is a dead ringer for Margaret Hamilton. Ouch!I was admiring the smiling lady, which seems uncommon in this period, and when I panned over to the stern couple in the rolling chair with the sign I laughed myself out of my chair. Thanks Dave, this is the most delightful photo I've seen. A Short Time LaterI hope the poor bugger in the rolling chair hopped out and ran away with the smiling lady and left that evil eyed old biddy behind. Hotel TraymoreAs noted in Dave's comment, vantage point for the previous birds-eye view of the beach. Is it a smileor a maniacal grin? The lady on the left seems to be holding her cane in a very threatening way. Perhaps it's her husband in the rolling chair running off with her mother! Rolling chairsAh, that's what you call them. I was thinking maybe "nobility scooter." Hello Pork Pie HatLove the gent's hat. A cool modern topper, especially compared to the fusty lady sitting next to him. Rolling Chair Evils Washington Post, Apr 22, 1900 Reforms in Atlantic City Rolling-Chair Evil Regulated This resort wears the aspect of summer, with a crowded boardwalk, and ideal sky, warm breeze, and everything in the way of amusement and entertainment in full swing. So great is the multitude of people that certain features of the city which have given it its attractiveness promise to become, and to certain extent now are, veritable nuisances. Once of these is the rolling chair, which every invalid who has ever been here and many of the perfectly able visitors know and have enjoyed. There are other visitors, those of the pedestrian class, who find their strolls on the Boardwalk at times almost blocked by the chairs, which line up five and six across the walk. There are no less than 600 of them. But a new grievance against the chairs has come up. Careless attendants have recently been employed, and because of the rolling of the chairs against a number of visitors, several handsome Easter promenade gowns have been torn, and others ruined by the dust and grease from the unprotected wheels. The authorities have now stepped in with vigor, and all the chair attendants are to be uniformed, provided with badges, and are to held accountable to the police department. This move will be hailed with general satisfaction. The morals of the Boardwalk have also been tuned up by the authorities. It took the police an entire week to learn that one or two mutascope showmen were exhibiting for "a nickel a look," scores of pictures decidedly "Frenchy." Then one morning Mayor Frank Stoy and a Baptist clergyman took a stroll and examined the pictures. Before night official orders were issued, and before morning the mutascope men had changed the pictures in toto, and now complain that business has fallen off. But the police order stands. Washington Post, Feb 12, 1939 Atlantic City Rolling Chairs Prove Popular The Boardwalk rolling chair, almost exclusively an Atlantic City vehicle, which was first introduced in 1887, is still a popular feature in the resort. The late George Hayday at first rented the chairs to invalids, who found the Boardwalk chair rides stimulating but later learned that persons in the best of health also enjoyed the chairs. The chairs, which are constructed here, were later enlarged to accommodate two or three persons. There are now 1,500 in use. Everyone who has ever visited Atlantic City will remember them and many a romance has started under the moon in a Boardwalk rolling chair. Should the weather prove to be a trifle cool, a warm robe and glass windshield protect the ride. Amazing photoIt's almost surreal the way the characters pop out of this photo. The clarity of those early lenses makes one wonder why modern cameras can't match the dots per inch. Amazing! [It's not so much the clarity of the lens as the size of the "image sensor." In this case, a humongous 8 by 10 inches. - Dave] Sun GrinsThe "smiling lady" doesn't seem to be smiling to me. She has the same expression I do when I go outside and forget my sunglasses. I have VERY light sensitive eyes and end up with the "sun grins" without my sunglasses, even in cloudy weather. I can easily assume I'm not the only one to have this problem. DopplegangerLooks like Amy Winehouse stumbled into a time machine. The third wheel Oh God, Harold, She's gaining on us, give the man another dollar! (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Travel & Vacation)
New York City Hall: 1903
New York circa 1903. "City Hall." Note the building going up at left and construction at right. 8x10 ... at Shorpy, two statues of newsboys on the building behind City Hall. Changing views The view would change dramatically in just a ... on the right side of this picture. Tweed And behind City Hall is the "New County Court House." (Official name) Better known as ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/01/2013 - 11:07am -

New York circa 1903. "City Hall." Note the building going up at left and construction at right. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. 299 Broadway?That appears to be the building going up on the left at Duane Street. Known as the Ungar Building, it has 18 stories and was completed in 1905. There are those newsies againPreviously seen at Shorpy, two statues of newsboys on the building behind City Hall. Changing viewsThe view would change dramatically in just a few years, with the construction of the 40-story Municipal Building on the right side of this picture. TweedAnd behind City Hall is the "New County Court House." (Official name) Better known as the Tweed Court House, now the home of the Board of Education. It is the only building named after a rouge, Boss Tweed, and while it was a knick name - it became that when it was re-dedicated as The Tweed Court House! It's even written in stone on the re dedicated corner stone. For laughs once I asked 2 NYPD officers standing on the steps if they knew where the "New County Court House is" and they shrugged and pointed me up Centre Street. The North side of City Hall is made of cheaper brownstone painted white while the rest of the building is marble. When built, the city fathers thought the city would never grow north, and saved the tax payers money on the backside of the building that would face away from town. Next uptown on the left of frame is the building housing the NY Sun Newspaper. To the right of that, standing two stories taller is the Emigrant Savings Bank. Both still standing. The fountain in the foreground ran on Croton water, and flowed freely without a pump from the gravity feed from the reservoir. (All water in NYC will go 6 stories high by natural pressure.) 180 degrees from this view would have been the main post office - an eyesore from the day it was new. A year later?The kiosks and skylights for the 1904 Interborough Rapid Transit Subway are complete and not barricaded, could this photo be a bit younger? Neither brownstone nor marble these daysAleHouseMug is correct in stating that the north side of City Hall was, for nearly 150 years, brownstone painted white to match the marble on the other three sides. (City Hall was at the city's extreme north when it was first built, so they used the cheaper material on the north side on grounds that few people would ever see it. Ha!) But both the marble and the brownstone deteriorated so much that they were both replaced with limestone during a major renovation in the mid-1950s. (The Gallery, NYC)
City Gas: 1917
"Gas tank at 26th & G." The city gas house and holding tanks ("gasometers") in Northwest Washington near ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 2:17pm -

"Gas tank at 26th & G." The city gas house and holding tanks ("gasometers") in Northwest Washington near the current location of the Watergate complex. The intersection in the photo (seen earlier here) is New Hampshire (middle left) and Virginia avenues. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Suicide by GasThe photos of the gasometers in Foggy Bottom brings out the aspects of Shorpy I love the most: namely the history of the intersection of science, technology, infrastructure and their (unforseen)
Starlight Park: 1921
... and closed around 1940. The site is now occupied by a city bus barn. From other writings, Eleanor was apparently standing on a ... Production, 1927 Lady of the Ensemble More New York City photos requested... More photos of people and places in New York City ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 12:24pm -

June 1921. Eleanor Tierney at Starlight Park on the Bronx River at 177th Street. Eleanor, a Broadway chorus girl, married a banker and ended up in Larchmont. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Hairy gamsShe has more hair on her legs than some of those Confederate soldiers had on their chins. I bet it's a good thing her arms aren't raised. EleanorYou could almost think this was a recent photo. She has a very modern look. The suitWas this bathing suit considered risque at the time? I wonder, only because so-called "modesty suits" which are marketed to (mostly extremist) religious women these days (i.e. http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/11745.htm ) offer significantly more coverage than this item from nearly 90 years ago. [It's not unusual for a 1920 bathing suit. - Dave] Itchy & ScratchyThat suit looks mighty itchy... Is it wool? A Little ChubbyA lot of those 1920 bathing beauties seem to be slightly pregnant I guess they weren't into washboard abs or heroin chic. Grooming NotesWow, I guess women of the 20s were not too worried about shaving their legs. Of other interest, it appears that there is more material on the men's bathing suits of the day than on Eleanor's! A real woman*sigh* every chorus girl's dream: to marry a banker and move to Larchmont.... RE: "Chubby," Seems that some men today are too used to the hyper airbrushed "perfect 10's" they see in the media. As apparent in comments seen here and elsewhere on Shorpy. Someone always seems to pipe up about weight. Most women share a shape similar to Eleanor's. Not fat, not skinny, not hard-bodied, not total slobs--just real and healthy. That being said, most of us do shave our legs nowadays. Comment criteria?I find it interesting that every comment I've submitted to this site -- which have had to do with artistic decisions in photographs or societal conditions at the time the photos were taken -- has not appeared in the threads, and yet comments about the hair on this woman's legs or that say she looks "slightly pregnant" (please, calling her "a little chubby" is absolutely ridiculous) pass muster. This is a private blog, of course, and you may post comments or not as you please, but this thread is a bit annoying. [Indeed. - Dave] I like her attitude.I would seriously like to go back in time and hang out with this girl. Concrete beach?What is she standing on? [Concrete paving. - Dave] Starlight ParkFrom what little I can find about Starlight Park, it was at 177th and Devoe and closed around 1940. The site is now occupied by a city bus barn. From other writings, Eleanor was apparently standing on a "beach" at the edge of a large wave pool on the park grounds. The chin-up pose is striking. Eleanor had confidence. She's all that...and she knows it! Here's a woman with a healthy confidence and outlook! Real women, indeedI agree that normal women are shaped like this young lady, if they're lucky; she was indeed a beautiful girl. As a guy in his 60s, I would point out that the rage for anorexics is a fairly recent one, and I think that even young men would largely prefer a healthy woman to one who is obsessed with her weight. It seems to me that this is something that women have brought on themselves in the last 25 years or so. Maybe not. It's also true that men like me knew lots and lots of unshaven European and American girls in the '60s and '70s. Natural and feminine women can be devastatingly attractive. ShowboatAccording to http://broadwayworld.com/people/Eleanor_Tierney/ Performances Show Boat [Broadway] Original Broadway Production, 1927 Lady of the Ensemble More New York City photos requested...More photos of people and places in New York City that are no longer "there" would sure be welcomed here, a la' the vast file of DC scenes you've published to date. [We have more than 400 NYC photos on the site. - Dave] Where it was...If I'm reading my Yahoo! Map correctly, Starlight Park in the Bronx was just about where the northern terminus of Sheridan Parkway feeds off to East 177th Street, very close to East Tremont Avenue. The Bronx River is basically clean where in runs through the NY Botanical Garden, but I don't think I'd want to take a swim it it today where Starlight Park used to be. Who wants plastic anorexia?I'm a relatively young man myself (37) and it's all the starved carpenter's dreams walking around these days that makes me really appreciate the beauty of this photo. Nothing fake or plastic here - to paraphrase, "it's all her, baby!" - and that's how I personally prefer women, inside as well as outside. Since we're on the subject of "modern" women vs. the extremely appealing jazz babies I've seen here thus far, my question is, why on God's green earth have hips and real busts been outlawed the last 3 decades or so? Dave, I can't tell you what a wonderful job and service you're doing. The streetscapes - as well as the jazz babies, among the many other things here - are exceptional!!! Twiggy Go HomeTo answer the SwingMan's question: It's that darn Twiggy in the early 1970's. I wish she had quickly crawled back into the golf hole from whence she came. *sigh*"It's also true that men like me knew lots and lots of unshaven European and American girls in the '60s and '70s. Natural and feminine women can be devastatingly attractive." Heck, yes. That's a reason I keep coming back to this site. The Hepburn FactorTwiggy was a latecomer in the thin-is-stylish sweepstakes. It actually dates back to Audrey Hepburn, the quintessential high-fashion template of the 50s. On a related note, let's not forget that of Katharine Hepburn (no relation), Spencer Tracy said, "Not much meat on her, but what there is is cherce." YMMV, of course. Almost Nekkid!For its moment, ca. 1920, this is a mild news service cheesecake photo produced for one of New York's many illustrated dailies. Eleanor Tierney's two-piece wool jersey bathing suit is acceptable in 1920 but a bit risque in its lack of a skirt. Many women continued to wear corsets under their bathing suits until the mid-teens at least, and one-piece bathing suits for women would remain illegal on many American beaches until the early 1930s. Many viewers at the time would have considered her "almost nekkid." With her casually proud stance and short hair, Eleanor is expressing modernity and liberation from older values, embodying social changes that were exciting, controversial and hotly debated throughout the country. Real WomenOnce again, Shorpy proves why it is my daily online morning ritual. Cup of coffee in hand, I have to peruse the jewels set up for daily display. As a woman who would have been described a "sweater girl" back in the good old days, I have always been amazed and a bit irritated how normal, healthy women in pictures such as this are berated in the comments on Shorpy for their weight when they have the curves and lovely meat a woman is supposed to have. I'm very glad I resemble Mae West rather than Twiggy, and I know not a few men who are as well. Flat-Chested FlappersOdd that so many readers view thinness as a purely modern fashion phenomenon, although our rail-thin models are a record-setting extreme. By the mid-1920s the ideal beauty was "boyish," with very slim hips, long legs, a flat chest and very short hair. This was the culmination of a revolutionary fashion trend that began during World War I with "mannish" dresses that suppressed the hourglass body shapes of the 1890-1910 period. In the 1920s John Held's covers for Life and Judge magazines featured girls with barely noticeable breasts and no waistline. This is the basis for the joke in "Some Like It Hot," when Marilyn Monroe envies Jack Lemmon's figure (in drag). She says that his beaded necklace hangs straight, and complains that hers just go all over the place. The Boyish LookSetting aside the fact that had the current fashion for anorexic actresses been in place fifty or sixty years ago we would have been robbed of the pleasure of watching Marilyn Monroe, the boyish look of the '20s was quite common, and would later come to be thoroughly misunderstood. If you've ever seen a not very good movie called "Getting Straight" which starred Elliott Gould and Candice Bergen, you may recall a scene in which Gould's character is defending his thesis on his favourite book "The Great Gatsby." One of the professors insists that Fitzgerald's description of Daisy is distinctly boyish and points to this as proof of Gatsby's (and maybe even Fitzgerald's - it's been a long time since I've seen the film) suppressed homosexuality. I at least see it as being as much a product of the fashions of the times as the descriptions of blacks in other novels of the period. My Two CentsNot to belabor the point regarding women's curves, I can only think of the classic artists whose magnificent paintings of beautiful, fleshed-out female forms are unintentionally so much more interesting (as in erotic) than would be bone-thin, shapeless females exhibiting a dearth of both feminine hormones and sex appeal. Take for example Venus, September Morn, the entire works of Rubens, Botticelli and hundreds of other artists and paintings that celebrate the true nature of the female form. Of course, then we have Botero, who makes all his figures very short and very stocky, but they are such great fun to look at. I can't imagine the great painters even desiring to paint the anorexic girls on the runways today. Just had to add my humble opinion to the mix. Thank you for not only the fascinating photos but also the stimulating discussions they inspire. EleanorEleanor, gee I think you're swell, and you really do me well, you're my pride and joy, etcetera... ©the Turtles ...this beauty can model for me any time. WOW...That is some hairdo! Very pretty woman. Can this be back in style?I absolutely love her bathing suit. I may need to get to work on one not made out of wool... Re: Show BoatShe's a chorus girl, too? Can she GET any more awesome? Why this photo?DO you know why this photo was taken? Was it a private photo? Or was it taken as publicity for the show she is appearing in at the time (being a chorus girl) or for the park itself? It has all the hallmarks of a professional photo due to the angle and her stance. [The Bain News Service photos were all professional. - Dave] EleanorSomething about the way she is standing and the look on her faces tells me that Eleanor might have been that girl who knew how to have a good time. Love the photo. Eleanor TierneyAccording to census records and the NY Times archives, Eleanor married John A. Van Zelm. He died of pneumonia on August 1, 1937. Eleanor died on June 22, 1948. Chubby? Slightly Pregnant??!!Honestly, get a clue. She just happens to have internal organs. Gee,if only they could come up with plastic surgery to remove them. Starlight Park in my LifeI admire the candid of Ms. Tierney, but the background is most interesting. I knew Starlight Park more than a quarter century later. By then there were no remnants of roller coasters or the like. The arena had been converted to a bus barn by Third Avenue Transit( taken over and operated now by the government transit op.) Many of the stucco buildings with red tile roofs were either destroyed,falling down or abandoned playgrounds for kids. That pool she is standing beside had a large sandy beach area and was of monumental proportions. It was the length of a football field, oriented east-west. At the west end, beyond the paved promenade, was a retaining wall and the land fell off sharply to the Bronx River. When this photo was taken this was largely an area that was undeveloped. The 180th Street Crosstown trolley (X route) went by and there was the West Farms junction of several trolley routes (after 1948 all buses) about a quarter mile away. The White Plains Road IRT elevated line with a Bronx Zoo destination had a stop another few blocks further west. In the 1940s when I frequented the place, it was because I accompanied my father, who was a soccer buff, when he went there on Sundays to doubleheaders of the German-American Soccer league. Not withstanding the leagues moniker; the NY Hungarians, Praha, Savoia, Hakoah, Eintracht, Brooklyn Wanderers, Bronx Scots, my old man's former team the NY Corinthians, and a plethora of teams with non-teutonic associations made up the league. There were professional leagues that had a larger territorial range, but almost all of the players in those days were either immigrants, or their first generation progeny. The GA was the MISL of that time. There was no real money to pay living wages to soccer players so either industrial teams, like the Uhrich Truckers in St. Louis, or semi pros - like those from the G-A league were the source of the best players in the country. Yogi Berra, and Joe Garagiola who grew up on "The Hill" in St. Louis, were part of a similar world and played soccer for local Italo-American sides there as children and teens. I know this seems strange, when the American goalie Brad Fridl pulls down 5 million bucks from Aston Villa in Birmingham in the UK Premier League, but until the Spaniards and Italians started offering whatever wages they would to get the best players, the British paid washers to professional soccer players. Ten pounds a week was the fixed rate in the forties for UK soccer players. Liverpool offered a NYPD sergeant named Miller, who was the G-A all star teams goalie, a contract. He would have had to have taken a substantial pay cut to have gone there. Foreign wage pressures, and the fixing of games by underpaid players has changed that forever. The Post War would change everything, but meanwhile the German-American League was the best we had. In the early 1950s, I was at Randall's Island Stadium when the G-A League All Stars beat Kaiserslauten , the German Bundesliga champions, 2-0. So Starlight Park's large playing field, north of the pool site ruins, was, along with Sterling Oval, and a field across the road from Con Edison in the south Bronx, were the places where the best soccer in the US was being played. As a young kid, I and the sons and daughters of the immigrants tore around the ruins playing games, built fires to roast spuds and marshmallows and the like, while our parents watched the games and relived their own athletic youths. Unfortunately, it wasn't all a halcyon time in the ruins for us. Charley, a 12-year-old acquaintance, was murdered by a sexual pervert there after swimming in the Bronx River. I never knew the place in its heyday, and I wish I had been there to ride the roller coaster and swim in such an immense pool. Still, it provided a different set of experiences and meaning to another generation. Good-Luck, Peter J. Eleanor in ColorWhen this photo originally appeared on Shorpy last year, I decide it was a good experiment for hand-coloring. I did this in Adobe Illustrator CS2, not a traditional photo-manipulation program. With the recent mania for colorizing, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. Fire away, philistines! [The system deleted your attachment because it was wider than 490 pixels. Please read and follow the posting instructions! - Dave] More Starlight PixI first became aware of Starlight Park from a photo in Roger Arcara's "Westchester's Forgotten Railway" (1960). Now, the Internet and this web page have opened a whole new box of nostalgic pleasures. I have uploaded more Starlight Park pix here. Beach hairYes, it appears that Eleanor is both confident and fun-loving! It also appears that (by the look of her carefree 'beached-out' tresses) she has been SWIMMING this lovely day. This makes me very happy! I imagine that not too many women of the day would purposely submerge their HEAD in the salt water, much less consent afterwards to having their portrait made. That said, I have no doubt that for stage and most all other social appearances, Eleanor made diligent use of hair straightening rods, pin curlers, scented hair oils, etc. How do I know this? I (and all the other women in my family) have Eleanor's hair. Pool I wonder how they took care of keeping a pool of this size clean in 1921. I don't think they had Olin's HTH product at the time. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC, Pretty Girls, Swimming)
Parting Glances: 1920
... Motorcycle Manufacturing Company, located in the Ohio city of the same name between 1915 and 1925. The A2 was powered by a 220cc ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2023 - 3:25pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "729 12th St., Washington Times." Various shades of Twelfth Street. 8x6 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size. Wall BetweenI would hazard a guess that there is a wall between the woman and young boy. If you follow the line between "painted" and "unpainted" you will see that the width between the windows is farther apart. Also the chimney above, and the two stores below suggest some sort of support wall that would have to go all the way up. MessengersBicycles, a motorcycle and a messenger office. Pure chance, or a cunning business plan? Cleveland MotorcycleThat's a production motorcycle from the Cleveland Motorcycle Co. Questions indeedIs that young blurry boy only wearing one roller skate? Is the other young child telling the headless phantom motorcycle rider to shush? Must say I love the "lace" and tassels on the Shade shop. Possible SlumlordAndrew Murray the builder doesn't take very good care of his property. Window on my WorldBuster Brown in the window above the deli seems to be looking at the motorcycle. Wondering if he is related to the woman in the window next to him, or if there is a wall between them and they are in different apartments. So many questions, so little timeAre the shutters seen on some of the buildings actually used? Or are they just decorative as are modern shutters are? Why don't the brick stone buildings have shutters? Is that some sort of prototype motorcycle? Are the people in the windows family members of the proprietors of the businesses below? Is the boy in front of the messenger service an employee? BTW, I just love photos like this; an honest and unfettered look into a past long gone. Ahead of the timesLike the bike propped against the building. Owner has his bars flipped and his seat laid back -- cutting edge! Tri-LevelWhat a mesmerizing photo; one can conjure up at least three scenarios that fit what we see here. The pride of the gentleman inside the Builder's office watching his son leave; the parting of two friends (or lovers); is the rider embarking on a grand adventure; who is the rider, really? The more you look the deeper the stories become. Olde photos are magic. Ghost RiderTenants checking out the ghost on the motorcyle seems to be the most likely scenario. The Phantom PhootSo what's that disembodied upside-down foot above the third floor windows of #731? Taken for a ride in another senseI suspect that the owner of 729 hired the same Washington housepainter that I did. Bicycle BrakesThe bike leaning against the Murray/McGregor office shows no evidence of brakes, coaster or hand. When did bicycles begin to have braking systems (other than putting your feet down)?....some Shorpyite out there knows..... King Cola, the Royal DrinkNot much you can find about this brand, except that it was sued to death by the Coca-Cola Company for its use of the word "cola." How did Pepsi ever survive the same predicament? [The defendant's sin was not the use of the word "cola" but rather its Spencerian-script logo (below), which was a frank imitation of the Coca-Cola trademark. Coca-Cola's legal blitzkrieg also took aim at Koke, Cold-Cola, Koca-Nola and Ko-Kola. - Dave] Dividing lineI love that only half of the building has been freshly painted. The other half - the builder's half does not instill confidence in his work. Looks like the kid on one roller skate leaped from his ghost position to where he is now. Boys and bikesYou can tell by his blurry foot that the driver is kickstarting his bike. This is an activity that always attracts kids. There's something irresistible about the roar of the engine. The little boy standing behind the bike is thinking, "Someday I'm gonna get me one of those..." I've seen this happen a million times. My Side versus Your SideIt is pretty clear that the owners of 729 and 731 have a different philosophy of exterior maintenance. What a geometrically precise paint line between them. One SkateI bet the other roller skate is on the ghost of a kid spinning just on front of the steps. The rider is a blur because he's trying to kick start the bike. Upstairs grumpy, and the two men are much more interested in the photographer. These are really neat old photos, I'm glad I found the web site. Honesty of Purpose Washington Post, April 8, 1911. Special Notices Announcement. The family of the late John McGregor, builder, of 729 Twelfth street northwest, desire to inform the public that the business will be carried on by his successor, Mr. Andrew Murray, who has been with Mr. McGregor for the past thirteen years. They trust that the same patronage extended to the late Mr. McGregror will continue to be shown to Mr. Murray. In reference to the above, I hope, by strict attention to business and the same honesty of purpose that characterized Mr. McGregror's work, to merit the confidence and patronage of his friends and the public generally. Respectfully, Andrew Murray, 729 Twelfth street northwest. Shannon & LuchsHoly cow! The Shannon & Luchs For Sale sign on 731 caught my eye. They were the dominant real estate company in Fairfax County, Virginia, when I was growing up there in the 1980s and '90s. I still remember their radio jingle: "It takes more than luck / it takes Shannon & Luchs." I had no idea they had this long a history. They seem to have been acquired by Polinger in 1993, but I know they were still going by the S&L name at least until the late '90s. Cleveland motorcycleThe motorcycle in the photo is a Cleveland A2, which was manufactured by the Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company, located in the Ohio city of the same name between 1915 and 1925. The A2 was powered by a 220cc two-stroke engine mounted transversely in the frame, with a worm drive to power the countershaft sprocket for final chain drive. The shaft exited the two-speed gearbox and extended past the rear downtube to drive the the magneto, hung just forward of the rear wheel. In 1920 the A2 grew larger, adding footboards, incorporated fuel/oil tank and wider fenders. The weight increased in 1921 with a larger fuel/oil tank and seat and a battery. To offset the additional weight, engine capacity was increased to 270cc. In 1923 a sportier model was offered - the Model E, which featured a battery and electric lights. Although the Cleveland looked flimsy compared to the big V-twins offered by other US manufacturers, their light weight (68 kg) and moderate power (3.5 bhp and 30 mph top speed) combined for easy riding. The main market of the A2 were students, women and businesses who employed couriers and light delivery riders. The low price ($150) was cheaper than comparative bikes offered by other manufacturers. The A2 was replaced in 1925 by the 350cc Model F. (The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., Motorcycles, Natl Photo, Stores & Markets)
The Lonely City: 1940
September 7, 1940. New York. "Greenwich Street Study (plot plan). Looking south along west side of Greenwich Street toward Battery over elevated structure (demolished Fall)." 5x7 inch acetate negative by Stanley P. Mixon for the Historic American ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/26/2022 - 12:00pm -

September 7, 1940. New York. "Greenwich Street Study (plot plan). Looking south along west side of Greenwich Street toward Battery over elevated structure (demolished Fall)." 5x7 inch acetate negative by Stanley P. Mixon for the Historic American Buildings Survey. View full size. Four-playManhattan was bisected --quadrasected? quintisected? -- by a quartet of elevated lines that originated at South Ferry (house) and ran north; the lines were consolidated in the downtown area (Second and Third Avenues on the east, Sixth and Ninth Aves -- shown here -- on the west). As indicated, most of the system was dismantled on the eve of WWII, the scrap metal being shipped to ... Japan! But the Third Avenue El survived until 1955, and the Bronx portion two decades beyond that. Most of the larger buildings here still survive, as does New York Bay (though the water has been changed a number of times since this picture). Still thereThis building is still there but after several modifications. Two Elevated Train Lines for the Price of OneThe four tracks in the foreground belong to the Ninth Avenue El, which opened its first stretch in 1868; eventually it extended all the way to 155th Street in northern Manhattan, adjacent to the Polo Grounds. The two tracks in the background, which curve to the left and then come to abrupt halt, mark the already demolished junction with the Sixth Avenue El, first opened in 1878 and extending to a terminal at 58th Street, just one block south of Central Park. The Sixth Avenue tracks were demolished after the end of train service in 1938; the Ninth Avenue tracks we see here were torn down in 1940, not long after this photograph was taken. Both lines originally continued south (towards the top of the photo) to their southern terminus at South Ferry. It still has a lonely feelBased on maxvar confirming the building on the right, here is the Street View today. I'm thinking the building on the left in 1940 is the building on the left below, with the tall arch. On the right is the Manhattan end of the Hugh L. Carey tunnel, an almost two-mile tunnel under Battery Park and the East River, the other end emerging Brooklyn. Submitted for your approvalDave's title made me think of Edward Hopper. So, I went looking for closer up examples of what I think was Hopper's kind of work. Attachment 1 Attachment 2 Attachment 3 (The Gallery, HABS, NYC, Railroads)
Confederate Veterans: 1917
... Convention Center Market Built in 1874, the city’s first convention center extended the length of Fifth Street between K ... 1930 By the early 1930s, Center Market – the city's largest building – was located at Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventh ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 9:00pm -

The Gray and the gray. "Confederate veteran reunion, Washington, 1917." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. The last soldierThe last Union veteran to die was in 1947 in Minnesota. Life Magazine had a write up on this. There is one veteran from WW1 now living. It is in the newspapers as I write. He is 108 and lives in Pennsylvania. [The Wikipedia article on last surviving veterans, which is never an exact science. The most we can usually say is that someone is thought to be the last survivor of a particular war. That article has the last two Union vets dying in 1953 and 1956. - Dave] Johnny Reb in his 60'sThis was an eye opener for me as to just how long ago the Civil War took place. These guys were teenagers when it happened and here they are they are in their 60s in 1917. A cool and timely picture. Convention Center MarketBuilt in 1874, the city’s first convention center extended the length of Fifth Street between K and L Streets, and was known as the Northern Liberty Market. It was an immense single room 324 feet long, 126 feet wide and 84 feet high at the center. The architecturally significant structure featured a curved roof and was supported, without any interior columns, by a series of enormous iron and steel trusses. 1893 A second floor was added to form a large auditorium, with seating for 5,000. The building was renamed the Convention Center and popularly known as the Convention Hall. The facility operated there for 50 years, hosting revival meetings, fairs, auto shows, roller-skating, bowling and a variety of amusement and sporting events. 1930 By the early 1930s, Center Market – the city's largest building – was located at Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventh Street. It was later demolished for the government's Federal Triangle construction project. Many of that market's vendors moved a half-mile north to the Convention Center building, which was renamed New Center Market. News Travels SlowlyLooks like the Gillette Safety Razor was slow to take hold in the South. Great image!I'm guessing that this group from Nashville had ridden with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest based on the flag they carry. I bet they all could tell stories to keep you going for days if anyone would listen. Commander at the front looks like he takes his position very seriously. Old DixieDying (slowly) for their cause. StubblyI must say, Confederate vets knew how to rock the facial hair. UniformsObviously these men are better dressed than they ever had been during their war when the Confederate uniforms were nominally gray, and later "butternut" but sometimes ended up being whatever you could find or even scrounge off of dead bodies. I wonder how many of our images of Confederate soldiers and how they dressed come from seeing images like this and the studio portraits that the young men going off to war had taken rather than the reality of the field. Yes they all look oldYes they all look old, but what does that say about me? I can remember when the last Confederate (in fact the last Civil War) veteran died, sometime in the 1950s, and the reason that it is in my memory bank is that it happened near where I lived at the time (Baytown, Texas) and the high school band from Robert E. Lee High School (Go Ganders!) played at the funeral. I would later attend REL. And apparently, things going the way they are, I will live to see the last WWI veteran die. A Mighty Host of Gray1917 marked the 27th annual Confederate reunion and the first to gather outside of the Confederate States. I've extracted only a few of the many newspaper articles of the time, and in just this small sample, there are inconsistencies regarding the age of the youngest. [Upon Stanton Square's blue fingers, I hereby bestow the Purple Heart. - Dave] 1,500 Veterans in City Special Trains Bring Gray Hosts From as Far as New Orleans. More than 1,500 Confederate veterans, representing a majority of 22 States that are to send delegates to the annual Confederate reunion that opens here tomorrow, were registered at headquarters yesterday. In addition incoming trains from the South brought Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy and thousands of others whose sympathies are Southern. Col. Robert N. Harper, after hearing reports from John Dolph and others of the registration committee lat night again expressed the opinion that the total number of visitors, including delegates, will reach the 75,000 mark before the first day of the reunion is over. From an early hour yesterday shifts of volunteers were busy constantly registering the veterans at the Union Station, where scenes similar to those that characterized the inauguration preliminaries prevailed. An extra force of policemen was on duty at the station handling the crowds and seeing to the necessary enforcement of rules. As early as 6 a.m. the "vets," many wearing the suits of gray that will be conspicuous here during the week, began to arrive. Many were intent on attending the memorial exercises at Arlington and to obtain a glimpse of President Wilson. The first excursion train to pull into the station was the "Tom Green Special," from the cotton belt, bringing veterans from Memphis, Texarkana, Pine Bluff and the vicinity. Closely following it came others from Augusta, Ga.; Newberry S.C., and New Orleans. At noon several special excursion trains, each carrying an average of 300 veterans and others, arrived. In the afternoon, the Elliott Tour Special brought large delegations from Birmingham and Atlanta. H.F. Cary, chairman of the transportation committee, said yesterday that at least 38 specials from every point in the South would reach Washington before Wednesday. It is conservatively estimated that of the 40,000 survivors at least 5,000 will attend this year's reunion. ... Veterans were taken either to their hotels or to the "tented city" not far distant from the station. Last night, close to 200 of the visitors slept under canvas. The majority were fatigued after long journeys and expressed a preference to "stick close to quarters" rather than see the sights as some suggested. More than 500 were quartered in a large red brick structure at the corner of New Jersey and C street northwest. Arriving there they were assigned to rooms. Meals were served under a large canvas tent close by. Washington Post, Jun 4, 1917 Sidelights of Confederate Reunion About a half hundred veterans responded to the sounding of the dinner gong at the tented city yesterday and enjoyed the first meal served "under canvas." The menu consisting of vegetable soup, fresh pork, prime ribs of beef, new potatoes, green peas, stewed tomatoes, assorted pies, iced tea, coffee and bread and butter, was a sample of the generous treatment the "boys" can expect during their stay in camp. ... When some one had the audacity to inquire of A.B. Rowland, of Fulton Ky., one of the party at the tented city, as to his age he answered, "I'm one of the kids. I'm only 72." As a matter of fact, the youngest Confederate veteran is 69. Washington Post, Jun 4, 1917 Dixie's Sons Own City Washington surrendered yesterday to a mighty host of gray - without a struggle. White-haired and gray-coated veterans owned the city. Streets and avenues were a dense gray mass from early morning until late at night. Hotel lobbies were crowded to the doors. Public parks, the Capitol, government buildings and nearby places of historic interest were given over ungrudgingly to the venerable guests from Dixie. Bands played familiar airs, fife and drum corps beat age-old battle marches and buglers sounded the reveille and taps. ... The Tented City on the Union Station plaza was the mecca last night for veterans and sightseers from all parts of the District. The large mess hall was the busiest place in Washington from 4 p.m. yesterday until 8 o'clock last night. Nearly 15,000 meal tickets had been issued to veterans since Monday morning. Camp fire meetings were held last night in every nook and corner of the plaza. War time stories were "swapped" and Southern songs filled the air with melody. Officials of the registration booth at Union Station said last night that between 15,00 and 20,000 veterans had arrived in Washington since Sunday morning. Washington Post, Jun 6, 1917 Sidelights of Confederate Reunion Editor C.A. Ricks, of the Courier, Huntington, Tex., who was born February 28, 1851, claims to be the youngest Confederate at the reunion. He enlisted August 1, 1863 in Courier battery at Shreveport, La. ... The Georgia delegation greeted the President with a shower of peanuts, while the ladies literally bombarded the stand with flowers. Washington Post, Jun 8, 1917 Third Veteran Wins Bride at Reunion The third Confederate veteran to take unto himself a wife while attending the recent reunion is Dr. John A. Pollock, 71, of Kingston, N.C. His bride is Miss Lula L. Aldridge, 50, of the same city. ... Dr. Pollock also is the next to the oldest of the three "vets" who are going South with brides. The oldest was Frank H. Raum, of Richmond, Va., who was one of Mosby's men. He is 73. The "vet" who got the youngest bride is James A. Thomas, 63, of Atlanta, Ga. He married Miss Elizabeth Roberts, only 25. Washington Post, Jun 10, 1917 ObservationsNotice Santa Claus on the left has a peg leg. As for facial hair, if you look at silent movies of the period they usually have old geezers shown with similar whiskers. I think this stereotype was based on truth, that the oldsters kept the style from their youthful days. There are only about 11 confirmed WW1 vets still living, as listed on Wiki. All of the Central Powers guys are gone. Only 2 remain who actually spent time in the trenches. MedalistsSeveral of the veterans, including the officer in the frock coat, are wearing the Southern Cross of Honor. These were given by the United Daughters of the Confederacy starting in 1900 to Confederate army and navy vets. The Confederate States of America did not issue any medals. And the last Civil War widowI read the article below a few years ago. The Shorpy photo brought it to mind. "Civil War widow, final link to old Confederacy, dies" The cantankerous 81-year-old man struck up a few conversations with the 21-year-old neighbor and a marriage of convenience was born. They were married in a civil ceremony at the courthouse in Andalusia on Dec. 10, 1927, and 10 months later had a son, William. The story actually gets better but I'll leave it to everyone to read the whole thing. It still amazes me that so much history walks among us. Whenever I get the opportunity to talk to a WWII veteran I grab it because they are fast disappearing also. Oldest Confederate WidowThere may still be a couple of Confederate widows among us but it's their choice to remain in anonymity. Maude Hopkins was the last one publicly known. She died Aug. 17 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maudie_Hopkins Why did young girls marry veterans old enough to be their grandfathers? The pension was attractive in Depression days. BeardI think the guy on the far left bought his beard at the Acme Novelty Shop so he could join this Facial Hair Club for Men reunion WW2 VetsI saw on Fox News on Veterans Day that there are about 2.1 million veterans of WWII left. About 900 die every day. Actually, the United Confederate Veterans were organized locally into camps and drew from veterans living in the area. They took their names from famous officers, units and the like. The label on the flag here is more likely the name of the camp from Nashville. Southern Cross of HonorThe UDC awards a Cross of Military Service to any veteran of WWII or Vietnam upon application. The only additional requirement for the award is that in addition to proof of their own service, he or she provide proof of direct lineage to a soldier similar to one of the men shown in this fine picture. These crosses are beautifully made pieces and serve to establish a remarkable lineage to the present day. Many, if not most, of the men shown in this picture had grandfathers or great grandfathers who were soldiers of the American Revolution--and many of their fathers served in the War of 1812. Shades of GrayI've colourised this picture at https://www.shorpy.com/node/11187 if anyone's interested. (The Gallery, Civil War, D.C., Natl Photo)
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