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Grassy Butte: 1936
July 1936. "Grassy Butte. The drought area of North Dakota." One of dozens of photos snapped by ... to the Wal-Mart in Dickinson. Bad day at... ...Grassy Butte. Keep an eye out for a one-armed man getting off the train! ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/28/2012 - 2:24pm -

July 1936. "Grassy Butte. The drought area of North Dakota." One of dozens of photos snapped by Arthur Rothstein of the Dust Bowl-era Midwest during the summer of Franklin Roosevelt's tour there. View full size. Still a gas station thereBut the original buildings are, no surprise, gone. Love That 17 Cent GasI had to say it! Lots of competitionLooks like two Hardware Stores, Two General Stores and at least three Gas Stations in this little place. Three gas stationsThe primary business in town seems to be pumping gas. "Sure don't look none too prosperous"A quote from Tom Joad. Although a couple of years before its publication, this photo makes me think of Grapes of Wrath. This little town is also north of Steinbeck's Joad family's travels along Route 66 from Oklahoma. I think the gas pumps on the opposite side are Phillips 66 though, which received its name from the Phillips brothers when their gasoline was tested on Route 66 and the test auto went 66 mph. The Dust Bowl It was in 1936 when my mother's family gave they're farm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska back to the bank and moved to California. She was 9 at the time and had a lot of memories of the trip, none of them bad, even though I am sure it very hard. +76Only one brand of gas, down from the previous three. I would have loved to step inside Robert Evans' hardware store, but I bet the locals now drive 40 miles to the Wal-Mart in Dickinson. Bad day at......Grassy Butte. Keep an eye out for a one-armed man getting off the train! [Well done on the Spencer Tracy film reference! - tterrace] That was a place and timeNorth Dakota 1935-'36 - when the Earth basically said, "Die," to the people. The previous winter ranged down to -60°F and one N.D. town reported six solid months where the temperature didn't rise above freezing. Then came the summer of '36 and the second killer depression heat wave - and again it was N.D. that got the worst, with a national record high of 121° that July. That's 181° in temperature variation from midwinter to midsummer - probably more than any place outside Siberia then or now. Beer signIf you look at the full-size version, and blow it up a little, you see three Stroh's Beer signs on the "Meals and Lunches" building. They have "Stroh's" in the normal script with "beer" in block caps, both in white, with a solid dark six-pointed star as background. This is the first time I've seen this Stroh's logo, and a quick search of the net didn't turn up any other examples. Perhaps unique to a particular distributor? [It's for Gluek's. -tterrace] Gluek Beer(say "Glick") was brewed in Minneapolis from 1857 to 1964, and later on in Cold Spring, Minn. Today it is brewed exclusively for Gluek's Restaurant in Minneapolis. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Dust Bowl, Gas Stations)
Dry Goods: 1936
July 1936. "J. Huffman of Grassy Butte, North Dakota, has been forced to close his general store on account of ... what it might have said, though. Nothing left of Grassy Butte Montana except a radio tower. Across the street from Robert ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2012 - 10:28am -

July 1936. "J. Huffman of Grassy Butte, North Dakota, has been forced to close his general store on account of the drought." Medium-format nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Faded lettersI can't help but think that the "O" and the "G" on the building were the first letters of something; but what? The word "Gen" (as in "General") has almost completely faded away from "Gen M'dse", so it's tempting to think that other letters--perhaps in the same less-than-weatherproof paint--once followed the "O" and the "G". I can't imagine what it might have said, though. Nothing leftof Grassy Butte Montana except a radio tower. Across the street from Robert Evans, I guessThree or more general stores in the same tiny town. During the Depression, no less. Maybe he was across the road from Robert Evans, with the bare light bulb dangling over the gas pump. I love the sign painter's signature. You can still see this kind of work in Mexico, and maybe a few towns north of the border. In the unlikely event that these clapboards survived into the late '80s, I'd be amazed if they didn't end up on the wall of a frontage road chain restaurant (I don't know which one, as I try to avoid them). Next door, no doubt, to the Wal-Mart, which eventually finished off those colorful family-owned stores that survived the Depression. OI don't think it's an O at all. If you look at the bottom, it looks like the top half of an 8. But even with that, it remains a mystery. But the picture's of the ND Grassy ButteGrassy Butte, North Dakota is still there. It has a bar (the Long X Saloon), a community center, a post office, a Standard service station (Beicegel Station, probably also a convenience store), a fairly large church, and what look like several other businesses, and even some trees. Pretty much all the necessities of life, except maybe high speed Internet service. Nothing left?Maybe not in Montana, but in Grassy Butte, North Dakota... View Larger Map Signed workLooks like Speedy signed and dated his work for the J. Huffman Merchandise sign -- 8/29/29 I think. Wonder what the O and G are for? [Looks like 8/29/27 for the sign and 9/17/32 for the windows. - tterrace] O & G?I fiddled with this wonderful image in Photoshop and I think I see tracess of faded letters, in a different color, that show the sign to have originally been Oil & Gas. I won't swear to this, and I wish I could see a pump to back up my theory. --Jim Super BallPeeking over the roof line is a Super Ball Radio Antenna. Dry Goods: 1936John Paul Huffman was born in 1878 and died in 1965. Four years after this photo was taken, Mr. Huffman no longer owned the store. According to the 1940 census, he lived in the neighboring town of Rhoades and worked as a clerk in a retail store. I have located two of his granddaughters, and I plan to call them soon. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Great Depression, Stores & Markets)
Church of Meteorology: 1936
July 1936. "Going to church to pray for rain. Grassy Butte, North Dakota." Medium format negative by the peripatetic Arthur ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/05/2015 - 12:12pm -

July 1936. "Going to church to pray for rain. Grassy Butte, North Dakota." Medium format negative by the peripatetic Arthur Rothstein. View full size. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Dust Bowl)
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