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Jurassic Park: 1942
... & North Western Railroad repair shops." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. I'm not entirely sure But, it looks ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/17/2014 - 5:20pm -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Working on a locomotive at the Chicago & North Western Railroad repair shops." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. I'm not entirely sureBut, it looks like some boiler tube work is underway. Big job...The smoke box is open, but I don't see any tubes laying around. It actually looks as if the cylinder has been replaced (an upgrade?) based upon the shiny down pipe. Compare it to the engine in the background. Regarding the tubes, I had a friend who worked for Rogers Locomotive in Paterson, NJ. He said they would take the tubes out of the longer locomotives, cut off the corroded ends, and recycle them into shorter locomotives. Mr. Gannon was 103 years old when he related this story! Boiler vs SmokeboxThe tubes are in the boiler at this point, not visible from this angle. The end of the pressurized boiler is at the end of the shiny sheet metal jacket covering the insulation. The rough steel forward of that point is the non-pressurized smokebox, which uses changes in gas flow direction and the coarse screening at the top to remove most of the cinders from the exhaust. The boiler contains both small diameter fire tubes, and larger diameter flues, which themselves contain the very small diameter superheater pipe bundles. The superheater pipes heat the steam well past its boiling point, drying it so that the water molecules become much more energetic, getting more power from each gallon of water. The tubes and flues end at the front of the boiler, held by the front flue (or tube) sheet. Removing the tubes and flues requires first removing the steam pipes in the smokebox, which are present in this photo. Similar to the boiler, the steam pipes angling down to the cylinders are rough steel castings, covered with insulation, with a shiny sheet metal protective jacket. Later steam locomotives were extremely complex, both to increase thermodynamic efficiency, and to help crews operate the increasingly heavy controls. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
For Them, Bombs: 1943
... Union Station train concourse." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Still in use- ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/18/2014 - 8:20am -

        Pretty much a taboo sentiment these days in mass-transit hubs. Sequel to the poster seen here. January 1943. "Chicago, Illinois. Union Station train concourse." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Still in use--and a very beautiful room waiting for your Amtrak trip. Today, pew-like benches make up a sitting area with a sandwich shop/ bar around the corner. I think it was built for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Perfectly situated downtown, super-easy walking distance from the Sears Tower or whatever they call it these days. Actually, it's long goneThis part of Chicago's Union Station, the concourse, was demolished c. 1970 to make way for a new office building. Saint al is thinking of the Waiting Room, which is actually in a separate building and was reached by a tunnel under Canal Street (see the signage in the other picture posted above). The Waiting Room is still a magnificent space; it was famously featured in Brian De Palma's 1987 film "The Untouchables," where a baby buggy bounces down a marble staircase during a shootout reminiscent of the famous Odessa Steps scene from Sergey Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin." The concourse was also impressive, featuring exposed steel columns and arches rather than the finished marble versions found in the Waiting Room. The concourse's replacement is a dingy low-ceilinged space that gives access to the trains, but it reminds me all too much of that other architectural massacre, New York's Penn Station. Union Station: 2014My photo below shows the same location as the 1943 photo. The grand hall is gone, but the busy train station persists underground. The arched doorway in the center of the 2014 photo is in about the same spot as the arched doorway in the 1943 photo (with the illuminated sign reading, "Adams St. Street Cars" and "Jackson Blvd. Motor Buses"). It may be exactly the same spot, but it's not the same stonework. Today Union Station serves 130,000 commuting passengers per weekday on Metra trains, plus an average of 10,000 Amtrak riders. This actually surpasses the World War II traffic of about 100,000 per day. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads, WW2)
Household Saints: 1941
... doll in one of the houses in a slum area." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. Divine Comedy by Dante Aleghieri The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/06/2019 - 4:03pm -

December 1941. "Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas Island, Virgin Islands. A colored doll in one of the houses in a slum area." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. Divine Comedy by Dante AleghieriThe narrative describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, while allegorically the poem represents the soul's journey toward God. Time is two-facedInteresting that they have two clocks that are almost identical. Wonder if they are parting out one to fix the other, or if they repair clocks to supplement their income. Of course we recognize FDR, but who is the other person? The VP, or the local governor perhaps? [Might the name under his likeness hold a clue? - Dave] Yes, I saw the name, but needed my glasses (and a peek around the frame to make out "For Vice President." Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Dave. Endearing and a bit Creepy I do like how the doll seems to be lovingly gazing at the photos above. However, a random doll perched as a prop, is a bit odd, and creepy to me, but certainly interesting. The fact that I even suggested that a doll was gazing is also a bit odd to me as well. I also wonder why the "curvy" clock has the face outside, and a coffin door? It seems very out of the ordinary for the time, and shapes presented. I am however curious as of where it is now. The woodwork on the shelf above is very bad, and I love it. That shows a lot of initiative, and goes to show that we are capable of so much outside of our general studies. The answer so often heard is, "I don't know how to do that". Well, step up to the plate and learn. That's how you evolve. I give this person much credit for finishing the project and hopefully improving their skills moving forward. [Thank God you're here to guide us. - Dave] DST ClockObviously. It's sprung forward. A chief Petty Officer ... ... a bust of Dante, a print of Breton's "The Song of the Lark", a wonderful old clock, nicely polished furniture: this is a family with pride and expectations, even as the photographer describes them as slum-dwellers. Hope they all lived long and prospered. Dante and BeatriceI found this on Google images. The Dante bust is a bookend usually matched with another one of Beatrice. You can buy them on eBay. Beatrice was a pretty young lady that Dante admired from afar and who inspired some of his writings. Where's Beatrice?Bookends. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Public Figures)
Pensativo: 1942
... who was playing in the street." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Nice looking kid He looks very modern. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/10/2019 - 8:28pm -

January 1942. "San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. Boy who was playing in the street." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Nice looking kidHe looks very modern. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids, Puerto Rico)
Air Noir: 1943
... after having worn it all day." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Unusual ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/05/2016 - 8:30pm -

July 1943. Greenville, South Carolina. "Air Service Command. Enlisted man folding up his gas mask to hang on the wall after having worn it all day." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Unusual "footlockers"The wooden "footlockers" shown in this image and in the one entitled "Cornerman" are not the familiar Government Issue footlockers, which were painted an "Olive Drab" green. WW2 was a time of makeshifts to work around various shortages. I, for one, cannot recall ever seeing footlockers like this in any other set of WW2 images. These may be repurposed shipping crates. They look to be made of much heavier boards - certainly not suited for mobility, but on the other hand more suited for seating. The unfinished look of the footlockers is in keeping with the temporary look of these barracks. Unusual window holdersI've never seen that metal window panel holder before. It was more visible in "Cornerman: 1943" picture posted a few days ago. It's simplicity is genius. Does anyone know what it's called? FootlockerJudging by the itinerant nature of most training posts, I'd surmise the footlocker came with the room and was indeed part of the furniture. Some of these temporary buildings, built to only last for the duration of the conflict, still stand today. I stayed in many of them and trust me, many are as spartan today as they were when originally built, other than maybe a real bed, new roof, lighting or siding. As we used to say, all rooms look the same with your eyes shut. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, WW2)
Hey Kids: 1941
... Castleton, Vermont." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Striped ... three boys wearing them. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Jack Delano, Kids, Rural America) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/05/2019 - 9:38am -

August 1941. "Dairy farmer's children on a haystack near Castleton, Vermont." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Striped shirtsSomeone got a bargain on them. Together with the dairy farmer’s son two days ago (www.shorpy.com/node/25162), I count three boys wearing them. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Jack Delano, Kids, Rural America)
Cash Grocery: 1940
... County, North Carolina." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Nice Chevy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/31/2019 - 4:56pm -

May 1940. "Grocery in Stem, Granville County, North Carolina." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Nice ChevyThe fenders and wheels are a bit ragged, but the '32 Chevrolet coupe looks amazingly straight, shiny and still dead stock (headlights, headlight bar, horn) after 8 years. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Jack Delano, Stores & Markets)
Christiansted: 1941
... Croix, Virgin Islands." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the FSA. View full size. (The Gallery, Jack Delano) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/08/2008 - 10:03am -

December 1941. "Street scene, Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the FSA. View full size. (The Gallery, Jack Delano)
Rural Customs: 1942
... at the school." You betcha! Medium format negative by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Teaching Wisconsin ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/03/2013 - 4:45pm -

February 1942. "Madison, Wis. Farm short course school at the University of Wisconsin. This class in rural society often practices square dances. Interest in rural culture and customs is stimulated at the school." You betcha! Medium format negative by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Teaching Wisconsin farm boys to square dance They were probably already down with the Polka and the Schottische. It's good practiceto be teaching those boys to dance both sides (belle and beau, boy and girl, whatever your club calls it). I wish their grandchildren were able to do it too. Terpsichorean terrorsIn the 1950s, when playing fields were snow laden and the students had tired of playing half-court basketball in their socks, high schools in upstate New York used to feature square dancing in P.E. classes. Not the most popular activity with the students, but a welcome chance to hold the hand -- however briefly -- of a young woman who might not otherwise welcome such untoward intimacy. A few years later, at our oldest service academy (then all male), ballroom dancing was a required proficiency, no doubt inspired by the leadership's nostalgia for those pre-WW II cotillions. With whom did one dance in these classes? One's roommate, more than likely. Fortunately, my previous exposure to dance classes prevented my having to try to herd my 6'3", 225-lb. roommate around the ballroom. The night before "auditions," those of us who could hoof it a little attempted to bring our less twinkle-toed fellows up to minimal box-step standards, for being doomed to "remedial ballroom dance" seemed an unmitigated horror to most of us in those less enlightened times. (The Gallery, Dance, Jack Delano, Music)
Manny Christmas: 1940
... figures of Mary, Joseph and Geronimo. Acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Decorations Mary and Joseph and the baby ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/27/2018 - 1:22pm -

December 1940. "Manuel Andrews, a Portuguese boy near Falmouth, Massachusetts. Family runs a seven-acre vegetable farm and have one 'new' cow of which they are all very proud. Father is a laborer in an Army camp nearby. Shot was taken just after Christmas." The tree decorated with ceramic figures of Mary, Joseph and Geronimo. Acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. DecorationsMary and Joseph and the baby Jesus are in the small nativity scene above the crucifix. The larger figures are Saint Theresa of Avila (Spain) and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Geronimo, as an Apache, wasn't usually depicted with a headdress, but it could be. Stopped me in my tracksI saw the name and had to quickly check the date of the photo. My grandfather, also Portuguese, was named Manuel Andrews and he grew up (decades earlier) across the bay from this boy's home, in New Bedford. I wonder if this young name acquired his surname in a similar fashion to my grandfather, from an Ellis Island clerk who thought 'Aldrate' wouldn't do. Here he is, holding yours truly, in May, 1953. Portuguese whaling ships brought his ancestorsPortuguese were apparently a large presence in the region. Come on, Shorpy sleuths, what more can you tell us? CowlickThis kid has hair like one of my younger brothers. No matter how much he used to wet and comb and try to smash down his hair in front, it always refused to behave and popped right back up in a crazy wave at the hairline, off center. A large presenceThe Portuguese contingent continues very strong in New Bedford, Fall River, and the surrounding area (including Falmouth). Some famous people of Portuguese (or part Portuguese)descent from the region include the chef Emeril Lagasse and disco dance kings Tavares (originally Chubby and the Turnpikes). Some of the best food ever, too, including amazing bread. (The Gallery, Christmas, Jack Delano, Kids)
The Hump Office: 1942
... railroad yard, Chicago." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. The List - ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/16/2014 - 6:12pm -

December 1942. "Switch lists coming in by teletype to the hump office at a Chicago & North Western railroad yard, Chicago." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. The List - Railroad Abbreviations?I can figure out some of the abbreviations in the left column as railroads: SFE = Santa Fe, RDG = Reading, PA = Pennsylvania, NYC = New York Central, RI = Rock Island, MIL = Milwaukee Road. Maybe someone out there can figure out the others: CIM, MP, EJE, COFG, GCX, UTLX, CNW, MDT. I also think the ones in the center column are abbreviations (BELT, PENNA, IHB, IHLOC, CBQ), but of railroads or cities? 20 Years Later...in 1962, a similarly attired C+O clerk, leaning back in a swivel chair, feet up on the console of the Univac 1 at Case Tech, watching the neon lights blink and the metal tapes spin. C+O's corporate offices were in the Terminal Tower, and a clerk came out to Case every day to run accounting jobs. This was the only use the Univac 1 got at the time, with the Burroughs 220 and the new Univac 1107 taking over student class load. My phone has more computing power than all of them put together. Could it be?General MacArthur above the pictured man's head? [Good catch! Time magazine, December 29, 1941. -tterrace] The ListClick to enlarge. Railroad AbbreviationsCIM = Chicago, Illinois, and Midland MP = Missouri Pacific EJE = Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern COFG = Central of Georgia GCX = General Chemical UTLX = Union Tank Car Co. CNW = Chicago & Northwestern MDT = Merchants Despatch Transportation Full disclosure: Other than CNW, I had to rely on the magic of the interwebs. Hump listThe list most likely represents train 284 out of Butler Yard (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) on the Wisconsin Division, with conductor GL Stewart in charge. The 1, 2, 3...designation indicates the first car to go over the hump, the second, etc. I find in interesting that the official reporting marks of the various railroads are not used. Regarding bigguy1960’s question: CIM represents the Chicago and Illinois Midland railroad. MP represents the Missouri Pacific railroad, often called the Mopac. EJE represents the Elgin Joliet and Eastern railroad, owned by US Steel at the time to handle their product. MDT stood for Merchants Despatch (the “e” is correct) Transportation. CNW was the Chicago and Northwestern railroad, the host railroad for the picture. The X designation in a reporting mark meant the rail equipment was owned by a company other than a railroad. Hence, UTLX refers to the Union Tank Car Company, still with us today. The “COFG” and “GCX” have me stumped. The two character designation to the right of the initial/number represents load or empty, and car type. X stands for empty, thus CIM 5449 is an empty “gon,” or gondola. Lines three and four are empty hoppers. Lines 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 and 23 are loads, with a brief description of the lading. The next block of information indicates which railroad in Chicago the car goes to. The line one through six block will go to the BRC, the Belt Railroad of Chicago. The handwritten twos and sixes are for the pin puller on the hump. He will see a block of six cars and pull the pin “behind six,” instead of scrutinizing each car reporting mark and number. The two digit number to the right of the off going line represents the cars weight, critically important to the retarder operator. A couple of the cars show “10” tons, and I’m assuming they are wooden sided gons, which would account for their very light relative weight. Let's dissect a switch listThe very top of the page shows the train's origin and date. 1. The left column is the position number of the car in the train followed by the car initials and number. The double letter indicates car type, i.e.XG, gondola; XM, boxcar, etc. 2. The next column lists the car destination as far as this yard is concerned. Belt would be Belt Railway of Chicago; IHB is Indiana Harbor Belt, with initials after indicating IHB's connecting destination, for instance CBQ is Burlington Route. Most of this train is being delivered to C&NW's connecting railroads in the neighborhood. 3.Third column of typed numbers is the track number the car is headed for. The hand written number shows multiple car cuts. To the right of the track numbers is any special notations or instructions. It looks like "Ride" is the big note, meaning the car should be ridden by a trainman off the hump, to slow the car to prevent damage to lading. In this time, most humps employed "hump riders", trainmen who controlled speed of cars as they rolled into the tracks by gravity after being uncoupled in motion. Early in my career, only the yard conductor got a nice printout like this. He would scribble out a simple switchlist for his trainmen that only listed how many cars to which track number. The conductor was the only one who had car numbers to work with; if he missed an extra car, or a car missing, all the work beyond that was wrong and had to be straightened out. (Most guys were careful about that.) Couple more abbr.BELT = Beltline RR (Chicago local freight) CBQ = Chicago Burlington & Quincy (Burlington route) Those Initials and moreCOFG = Central of Georgia (Railroad) GCX = General Chemical (Company) WAB - Wabash (Railroad) The Belt (Railway Company of Chicago) gets all of its empty Railroad owned cars on the same Track 28, but the PENNA (Pennsylvania Railroad) gets its empty PA (Pennsylvania Railroad) cars on Track 10 and an empty RDG (Reading Railroad) car on Track 9. Thanks, SHORPYAnother learning experience thanks to your superb members. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Former Slave: 1941
... her house near Greensboro, Alabama." Nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. A Living ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/12/2018 - 7:42pm -

May 1941. "Mulatto ex-slave in her house near Greensboro, Alabama." Nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. A Living Time CapsuleListening to her stories would be so heart-wrenching yet so remarkable! And she probably had plenty to tell. The lines on her face, though, already tell a story of their very own. Those quilts in the background are fantastic, and I'd bet my eyeteeth that she made every stitch herself! (The Gallery, Jack Delano)
Curiosity Shop: 1941
... Islands. Along the main street." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Diamonds are a town's best friend I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/15/2019 - 12:07pm -

December 1941. "Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands. Along the main street." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Diamonds are a town's best friendI would be willing to bet that the building still exists as Charlotte Amalie preserves it's its colonial-style buildings and this style is everywhere there. Now, it probably houses an air-conditioned store selling duty-free diamonds and watches to the cruise ship crowd. So, in a way, it's still serving the same purpose: A store. (Oh and those shutters would now be bright blue like the picture here:) Webmaster: Thanks for correcting my "its" I know how bad grammar irks you and I'm ashamed to say I know better. :^) (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Stores & Markets)
The Railyard: 1942
... Illinois Central railroad yard." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. watch your ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/02/2014 - 8:47pm -

November 1942. "Chicago. Looking toward the north classification yard and retarder operator's tower at an Illinois Central railroad yard." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. watch your step!Those rungs on that steel later seem awfully far apart; maybe to keep kids from climbing them when no one is around. I believe that "horseshoe" is a handle for the turnbuckle to tighten the band around the pole. It's very likely we’re looking at the Illinois Central Markham yard located in Homewood, Illinois (south Chicago). The yard is still there, about a mile west of Halsted Street underneath the Chicago bypass (I 294). Today it’s used primarily as an intermodal facility, the two humps having passed into history a long time ago. It's a long way to the outhouse!Just my luck! I climb all those steps and—wham, gotta go visit the outhouse!(centrally located, at least) Must have been quite a challenge during those Chicago winters! How about that "Good Luck" horseshoe hanging over the horizontal ladder brace? Just waiting to fall off and konk somebody on the head! Good luck, indeed... Working at The Hump.I had a summer job back as a yard clerk in college working at the Burlington's Clyde humpyard (near Cicero) back in the 1960's. My job was to stand at the top of the hump and staple a routing card on every card that went over the hill. I can still remember the screech of the retarders on hot, quiet nights and the slamming of the couplers when the cars connected at the bottom. Never did figure out quite how the retarders calculated how much pressure to apply to the wheels to get just the right speed, regardless of car weight or whether it was rolling to the end of an empty track or one that was nearly full. One of life's little mysteries. Boy, does this bring back memories. Mindless job, but a cool experience. Classification yardalso known as a "hump yard" a fairly complicated system of people, machines, and know-how to make up freight trains. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Box Lunch: 1941
... at the mills nearby." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Italian ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/24/2018 - 10:53am -

January 1941. Andover, Massachusetts. "One of the sons of Anthony Forgetta, Italian vegetable farmer, feeding the horse after coming home from school. Mr. Forgetta and a daughter work at the mills nearby." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Italian vegetablesWhich ones did they grow in Andover? [Zucchini, broccoli, radicchio and pinocchio. - Dave] (The Gallery, Horses, Jack Delano)
Onward & Upward: 1941
... ended up on the wrong track. Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Situation Hopeless, But Not Serious Five ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/18/2019 - 10:39am -

July 1941. "An airliner being readied for a takeoff. Municipal airport, Washington, D.C." Five years hence, this brand-new Eastern Air Lines DC-3 ended up on the wrong track. Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Situation Hopeless, But Not SeriousFive years hence, everyone was able to walk away. As we used to say in aircraft mechanics school, any crash you can walk away from is a good one. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19460702-0 Fifty years laterThanks to the link to the ASN database provided by Born40YearsTooLate, I was able to search and find the record of the plane crash that killed my father, Blanchard G. McManus, and his co-pilot, Robert Baer, in Hollywood, California, on Friday, September 13, 1968. Although I have a newspaper detailing the incident and containing a few photos, I'd never seen these pictures of the accident before. I only learned within the last few years that the crash was the result of the smaller jet encountering wake turbulence. I never knew my dad, and he died when I was 11, so I'm grateful for any information about his untimely passing (he was one month shy of his 38th birthday at the time of his death). Thanks, B40YTL, and thanks, Shorpy. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19680913-0 A Good MemoryQuite some time ago I was on a plane waiting in line to take off when it turned to take off I noticed the plane behind us was a DC-3 with the pilot -- complete with "thousand hour crush" hat -- leaning out his window surveying the action. New airportWashington National opened the month before, June 1941. Looks like the right wheel is on a turntable, allowing the DC-3 to pivot itself out sharply. After a few years they put steps on the inside of DC-3 passenger doors and hinged them downward instead of sideways, so they could manage without the rolling stairs. Best everThe smoothest take off and landing I've ever had was in a DC3 - on and off a dirt runway in Panama back in the '60s. That pilot really knew his stuff. Art Deco NostalgiaThe old National Airport terminal (tough noogies, Reagan) is a treat. You can walk through it to get to an active terminal. It’s largely unchanged since opening (1941?) Look closely around and out of the huge windows; you can almost hear and see all the WWII traffic. (The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., Jack Delano)
Happy Thought: 1940
... near Erin, New York." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Lots of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/19/2018 - 12:41pm -

September 1940. "Mrs. Garland and her little boy. Family lives in the submarginal farm area of Rumsey Hill, near Erin, New York." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Lots of PotsThat stove looks huge and can accommodate so many pots but I guess once you made the fire, you had to cook everything at once instead of making things one after another. Perhaps she had a large family (or planned to) and this was a wise purchase. Another thought -- during harvest season my grandparents would hire threshers to come in and harvest everything in a short period of time. The farm wife was responsible for feeding them. This probably came in handy if used for those times too. Shoe problemMr. Delano must have shown up when no one was ready. Maybe scurrying around to get their shoes on. The little boy either didn’t get both shoe on on decided he didn’t want to wear two shoes. Mother simply didn’t have time to tie her shoes, I suppose. Anyway, that is quite a remarkable stove! [That's a baby shoe. Our young lad has both shoes on. - Dave] Threshing, heat, and canningThat big stove is probably for a bunch of reasons, starting with the fact it was probably a main source of heat for the home. It also would come in handy for not only threshing season, but also canning, preserving, boiling down maple syrup, baking bread & pies, and even heating water for doing laundry. It's impressive how much oven you can use when you're doing all that. Close your mouth, you'll catch a fly.That's what my old dad would tell me when my mouth was hanging open like this young lad's. Give me gas (stove that is)The stove was a critical appliance. My family were from the anthracite region in northeastern Pennsylvania. My aunt had a coal stove. It had to be kept burning all year round. It was a pain to re-light so extended trips from home were few. In addition to cooking, it was the primary source of heat and hot water. There were metal grates in the floors upstairs to let the heat rise up in the winter. For really cold days she had a second coal heater in the "parlor," as she called it. She had this setup until she had to move into a "home." Maybe the result of living through the Depression, but my family never updated anything without good reason. Things were used until they broke and couldn't be repaired. Shorpy StoveNice placement. The Stove That Made Pittston FamousFounded in 1869, the Pittston Stove Company's business took off after 1873, when Samuel Smythe, an engineering pioneer with 25 patents, designed a duplex grate, which became an industry standard. The company shipped $175,000 worth of stoves in 1917, the equivalent of $3.2 million today. The one shown in this ad has much fancier ironwork but the components are similar the Garland family's version. Re: Give me gas (stove that is) I have had many conversations as a curious teen, and even more curious adult with my grandparents, as well as my husband's Indiana farmer grandparents of German farm family roots over the last 40 years. In those conversations, I discovered that due to not only the Great Depression, but general farm family economics, combining a lifetime of thrifty farming ways, plus the aforementioned Depression, AND WWII, they just lived that way, because that's the way things were. While "the men" - meaning the grandfather and any uncles that remained to follow in their father's footsteps - ruled the roost regarding not only farm operations, but economic ones as well. Grandmothers - mothers at that time, of course - ruled the home, and all operations taking place inside it, but only to the point where the economy would allow. The furnishing of the kitchen, the sewing room, the canning storage, water supply, and other utilities were ruled by the amount of money available coming from the economies of the farm operations, which always came first. If electricity were to be furnished to the property, it came to benefit the running of the farm first, and then the house IF there was enough left over to do so. So, the harder the men worked, and the more money that came from those efforts, the more everyone would benefit. Updating the features of the farm home was practically impossible not only during depression times, as there was no money to do so, until the Federal government and the FSA began getting involved in helping farm families pull themselves out of the Great mire they found themselves buried in during the very late thirties. But, it all came to a halt during the War years, because even though there was more money in the bank finally, there was little to nothing to buy! Restrictions, rationing and priorities on metals reduced new farm equipment to absolute minimums, if not down to nothing to be had at all. Even repair parts were almost impossible to come by. Same for tractor tires, truck tires, wagon tires, even bicycle tires! So many farm families lived miles and miles "from town" they had difficulty getting there to buy anything, if there was anything to buy. Going to the local co-op for seed, feed, and fertilizers - also difficult to get in needed quantities - was about as close to shopping as many farmers or their wives would get for years. My husband's grandmother never learned to drive, and she was relegated to sending a list with grandpa to get the things she needed, so she had to depend on him entirely for several years to get her shopping done. The only time she left the house for years was to go to church down the road about two miles on Sunday mornings. Sometimes she would be able to send mail orders in from her Sears catalogs, if they had what she wanted for the money she had to spend. She had three sons and one daughter, born in a period of 36 months from the birth of the first to the last, all by C-sections, in the mid-30's, so those trips to the hospital were also rare outings! And extended rests, with other local church acquaintance farm wives coming to help her out for the first few weeks after each one came. Cloth diapers were washed daily in a bucket, rinsed twice in the wash tub, run through the wringer, and hung on the line in the sun to dry. Laundry wasn't just a Monday only job, with farmer's overalls getting filthy on a daily basis. Nobody had a week's worth of clothing to get from Monday to Sunday. Gasoline restrictions and rationing certainly didn't help that, as you didn't get far on three gallons per week. Gasoline meant for farm equipment only had been colored with a red dye, and if you were found to be running farm gas in your automobile, there was severe fines that could be levied. So, keeping things running, and fixing instead of replacing were the rules of the day all during the War years as well. Once all those restrictions, rationing, priorities, etc., were over with, it wasn't so easy to just start throwing things out and buying new. Not when you had been doing things that way practically all your life. Mrs. Helen Struble Garland, age 31This is most likely Helen Garland and her 3-year old son Chauncey. Per the 1940 census, Helen lived with her husband Clarence and five young sons in Van Etten, NY, where her husband worked as a woodcutter. Helen and Clarence both lived into their eighties. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids, Kitchens etc., Rural America)
Lightheaded Bros: 1940
... Farmers Co-op in Du Bois." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Possible ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/04/2019 - 10:29pm -

September 1940. "Sons of Mr. Britton, coal miner-farmer near Falls Creek, Pennsylvania, and member of Tri-County Farmers Co-op in Du Bois." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Possible IDI took a quick look at census and veterans data to leave a trail in case friends or family do a search. Albert E Britton (1917-2003) and Robert Joseph Britton (1920-2002) fit the bill. Both served in the Army in WWII. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Mining)
Sick Kicks: 1940
... the grading station at Belcross, North Carolina." Photo by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Time ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/31/2018 - 7:09pm -

July 1940. "Florida agricultural migrant with a group who had their own tent which they pitched outside the grading station at Belcross, North Carolina." Photo by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Time Traveler?This photo reminds of the historic photos that some people claim to show people using cell phones. However, I looked it up and classic Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers date all the way back to the early 1920s. I imagine walking around in "basketball shoes" at this time was a rather daring and eye catching fashion choice though. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Jack Delano)
Steel Wheels: 1942
... shops at an Illinois Central Railroad yard." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. wheel shop This ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/28/2013 - 11:31am -

November 1942. "Chicago. In the locomotive repair shops at an Illinois Central Railroad yard." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. wheel shopThis is not a locomotive shop. It is a wheel shop and there are wheels from freight and passenger cars present. The wheelset under the hoist is a passenger car set. The gearbox between the wheels drives a generator which charges batteries for the car electric system. Wheels need to be reprofiled due to wear or flat spots. Industrial atmosphereJD was really a master at composing gorgeous photographs of quotidian subjects and this is no exception. What serendipity to have an arrow on the floor. be sure you are SAFE, then go ahead with your jobThese look like freight car wheels, or non-powered locomotive wheels... they don't have the gear or traction motor that powered wheels would have. (Yes, there were diesel-electric locomotives in and before WWII. Just not very many.) The wheelset to the right of the man standing, with the gearbox-looking thing in the middle of the axle and a pile of small parts on the floor in front of it, might be designed to drive an under-car generator. Before locomotives provided electricity to the train, some passenger cars were lit by generators turned by their own wheels - sort of like a giant bicycle headlight. Each car would have its own generator, and batteries for use while in the station. I think the big machine with the electric motor on top is a wheel lathe. Railroad wheels are made with a certain taper to the "tread"; this makes the train car center itself between the rails and go around curves smoothly. After a while, the wheels wear down, and the train car will track badly; one fix is to re-machine the tread back to the proper taper, which is what a wheel lathe is for. There are a few standard wheelset sizes for freight cars, so a lot of railroads keep a supply of new or rebuilt wheelsets (the assembly of two wheels and an axle) at big freight yards. If a car needs new wheels, they hoist it up with jacks or a crane and swap the wheelsets - the old wheelsets go on top of a flat car. When the flat car is full, it goes to a shop like this, so all the wheelsets can be inspected for cracks and re-machined in batches. Cracked wheels and axles, and wheels that have worn so much that they can't be re-machined, are sold for scrap; often they are melted down and cast back into new railroad wheels. Powered axles have a traction motor in the middle. Sometimes these are swapped out complete just like non-powered axles, but sometimes the wheels are re-machined on the car. There are wheel lathes that sit in a pit under the tracks; the train car is driven over the pit, a small section of the track is removed, and the lathe can machine the wheels while they are still installed. The trolley crane, with exposed conductor rails, is a nice touch. These days, there would probably be a long insulated cable feeding this crane. Really big cranes (enough to lift an entire locomotive with) still have busbars like this, but they're buried under a lot of insulation. Train Wheels.While visiting the U.P. Yard in Cheyenne I spied a flat car, tarp covered, with a huge load upon it as the car was bent under the weight. The worker told me it was a wheel lathe as this rail road maintains gorgeous steam 2-6-6-2's that are used. The wheels on the engines and cars are of cast iron to which a steel "tire" with flange must be shrunk fitted. Can you imagine turning an 80" locomotive wheel so it is within .001" round? When the wheel is finished a steel "tire" is then fitted by heating the steel disk so it expands over the wheel and locks solid when cool... a very hard and precise job indeed! One of Jack Delano's photos show a roaring hot tire just fitted.... take a look by searching for: "Wheel of Fire". Spicer driveThe name of this drive that powered the generators off the wheel axle is known as a Spicer drive. It used generally two universal joints, a drive shaft, and a large generator to charge the onboard batteries, normally 32V. The Spicer drive only effectively charged the batteries at road speed. According to Amtrak's Standard Maintenance Procedure or SMP revised 3-4-2011, "Effective January 1, 2015, use of an axle drive for a generator system (either Spicer or belt) is prohibited at the time of the car's next PC-1 annual inspection, and the drive apparatus must be removed from the axle by that time." So if you see one, get a photo of it as they will become more rare to see in operation! Lathes, wheels, tyresAs an apprentice I spent some time in the wheel shop. I can't be absolutely certain, but that machine in the centre of the photo looks like a tread grinding machine - used to re-profile the treads of chilled cast iron wheels - rather than a wheel lathe. Wheel lathes typically have large headstocks and large diameter faceplates at both ends. As for loco driving wheels, by the 1940s US practice favoured the use of cast steel wheel centres. The preserved UP locos referred to have steel Boxpok wheels. The locos I work on have 69" diameter Boxpoks, which we re-tyred some back in 2003-4. On most locos I've worked on the tyres are not just retained simply by shrink fitting. Older locos with cast iron wheel centres have studs through the wheel rim, and more modern locos with steel wheels use a Gibson ring. The car wheels in this photo appear to be multiple-wear wrought steel wheels, which were in very widespread use on passenger by 1942. These were one-piece wheels with no separate tyre. They could be machined when worn to restore the tread and flange profile. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
The Tubularity: 1940
... Whitney plant. East Hartford, Conn." Nitrate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Keep em' Flying Dave: As a senior at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/11/2016 - 1:21pm -

October 1940. "Painting the cylinders of aircraft motors at the Pratt & Whitney plant. East Hartford, Conn." Nitrate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Keep em' FlyingDave: As a senior at the Norwich Free Academy, Norwich, Conn., my dad was employed at the Pratt Whitney plant in East Hartford! He served as an "aircraft engine inspector" which led to testing and training (Chanute Air Field, Rantoul, Il.), as an enlisted "aerial engineer" in the Army Air Corp. That started the roll as a crew chief on C-47's in the Guadalcanal and Northern Solomon's campaigns. All the young men in the photo appear war eligible; too bad my dad isn't present. He enlisted a week after Pearl Harbor. Great photo; I'm guessing things were ramping up already when this photo was taken in 1940. Thank you. Not So FastThose radial engine cylinders may be useless to you, but they certainly are not obsolete artifacts. If they are in a condition that could be made serviceable ( no cracks in the head or deep scoring in the cylinder wall, etc. ) they are suitable as a core for overhaul. You could have a good chunk of change on your hands since aircraft parts "ain't cheap". There are many Pratt & Whitney, Wright, and Continental radial engines putting around the skies to this day. All Too FamiliarThe view of rows of aircraft engine cylinders is all too familiar. Just two weeks ago, at the conclusion of The First Five-Year Plan for clearing out my late father's "workshop", I organized into tidy rows at least an equal number of such P&W cylinders. I wonder if these pictured workers might have applied the paint (now flaking) from my inheritance. When I woke to this fine spring morning, I thought that perhaps I should start The Second Five Year Plan--Finding Useful Repurposes for Obsolete Artifacts, but chose instead to procrastinate with Shorpy's over coffee, only to be confronted by this pointed reminder of the need to dispossess myself of rows and rows of things quite useless to me. (The Gallery, Aviation, Factories, Jack Delano)
Step Children: 1941
... FSA client of Guilford, Vermont." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The kids ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/10/2019 - 2:24pm -

        Twins Wilfred and Alfred Franklin. Click here to read Joe Manning's interview with them. August 1941. "Two of the children of Warren Franklin, FSA client of Guilford, Vermont." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The kidsHappy, warm, and they look very well nourished. Obviously before the days of building inspectors. Nice Work on Those StairsThey look well used and do make great seating, but the extra time spent building these was kinda worth it. I think. Almost 80 years later and some random stranger notices the time spent putting a 45-degree cut on the risers and the stringers so they would have that nice edge. I can certainly appreciate that. He could have pre-drilled them to keep from splitting, but that would have certainly added more time for basement stairs and they probably looked great for awhile. With the new Sheetrock on the walls at the time, this house must have been decent enough. I'm thinking the building inspector would have been just fine with this. The wires were sealed and the stairs look to be within regulation of each other. You would need a little more fire blocking now, but overall, I still see houses on the market built around the same time frame and back to the turn of the century and they have much worse hazards to deal with. Mostly stuff redone by homeowners in the 50's and 60's and crappy kitchen installs from the 70's and 80's. I like this shot a lot. They look identical to me. Identically dirty and in need of a bath. TwinsChecked on Ancestry.com. Twins born in 1935. Both grew up and married. As of this writing, one has passed away. The other was widowed and then remarried. Their father was at one time a farmer. That is Sheetrock on that wall!Although it was invented over 20 years earlier, Sheetrock (drywall) did not gain great popularity until WWII. Initially it was considered a shoddy and cheap replacement to the labor intensive lath-and-plaster walls. Step Children: 1941This is Joe Manning. I contacted this family in 2008, visited three of the children, including both children in this photo, interviewed them, and wrote a detailed story about them. They were delightful people. You can see the story at this link: https://morningsonmaplestreet.com/2014/11/26/warren-franklin-family-page... Thank you... Mr. Manning. Your efforts are much appreciated. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids)
Cozy Depot: 1943
... thaw out his frozen air hose." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. (The Gallery, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/08/2014 - 10:29am -

January 1943. "Freight train operations on the Chicago & North Western Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. At the end of the trip, conductor John Wolfsmith [last seen here] waits at the little railroad station for a suburban train to take him back home to Chicago. A welder who works at the rip tracks is trying to thaw out his frozen air hose." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Slagpile Sluggers: 1940
... for children with slagpile in background." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Shale finds ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2018 - 12:08am -

August 1940. Coaldale, Pennsylvania. "Baseball diamond for children with slagpile in background." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Shale findsGrowing up, I had relatives in another northeast Pennsylvania town. One had a similar slag pile not far from her home. The shale pieces were a good place to find plant fossils. SlagpileThese piles were a prominent fixture around most “coal patches”, and went by various names; in Southwestern Pennsylvania they were called slate dumps. One could also find good coal among the slate and my childhood “patch” had at least one family of “coal pickers” who made a living picking up coal chunks both on the dump and along the railroad spur that serviced our local mine. Optional EquipmentNo one has a baseball glove. Now That's The Way To Play Baseball ...... at least if you were a kid like me 10 years after the above game and before Little League BB ruined a good afternoon for all kids. We had an empty clay field with no houses or roads within a hard hit ball reach. Two team captains were picked and the bat was tossed to one of them and then the other captain put his hand just above where the first captain grabbed the bat. The captains kept alternating hand positions until the nub was reached and one of the captains could not get his hand around and thus that captain chose second. Rules were very fluid such as any ball hit on the fly to right field or third base was an out depending on the number of players and four fouls you were out. If no one volunteered to be ump players were put on the honor system and made the ball, strike and out calls. That worked most of the time but we had all seen pictures and newsreels of Casey Stengel and Leo Durocher arguing the finer parts of the game so we all had to do our impression of MLB managers now and then. The best part was there were no adults. We worked all details out, had a good time and did not worry if we didn't get a hit for tomorrow was another day and we surely would get the game winning hit then. Little League has its good points I imagine but not the fun without any pressure we had. Everybody played since getting 18 players was tough and so what if you muffed a play or struck out four times it was a grand time. Batter UpAs LaviathanRider noted, no one has a glove. I hope sure hope someone's got a ball. ImagineImagine that that was a pile of marble tailings, and the batter hits an outfield (is that the terminology)? Go find the ball yourself, then. Might be hard enough with a white ball in a grayish blackish slag pile. If the ball is still kind of white in the first place. Another frequent observation, very little body fat in evidence. Fat FreeLean, because the times were mean. And because couch potatoes hadn't been invented yet. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids, Mining, Sports)
Harvest Home: 1940
... grading and canning." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Good for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/31/2018 - 1:59pm -

July 1940. "In the new home of a group of migrants just arrived at Onley, Virginia. Barracks, surrounded by barbed wire fence, house Negro agricultural workers from Florida who have come to work the Eastern Shore strawberry, onion and cabbage fields in picking, grading and canning." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Good for what ails youI guess someone had thyroid trouble. (The Gallery, Agriculture, Jack Delano)
Field of Wheels: 1942
... Central Railroad yard." Medium-format nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Round and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/04/2016 - 9:54pm -

November 1942. Chicago. "Wheels and axles outside the locomotive shops at an Illinois Central Railroad yard." Medium-format nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Round and round she goesThese wheels show a mix of eras. The wheels with a "pie plate" backing are steel, as all railroad wheels are today (in the US, at least). The wheels with the ribbed backing are made of iron. Those ribs are actually cooling fins to assist in cooling wheels heated by braking action. Iron wheels date back to the earliest days of railroading. They had a bad tendency to develop cracks that, if left unresolved, would cause the wheel to break up. The railroads were constantly replacing such wheels. Old photos of shop facilities always show wheelsets all around that have been removed from cars. Iron wheels caused many wrecks and killed more than a few people over the years. It's a wonder why they weren't banned from interchange until the early 1950's. Visible on the ends of the axles are the large brass bearings. These turned in journals filled with lubricating oil. The so-called friction bearings are now banned from interchange also. They have been replaced by roller bearings; much less maintenance needed. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Unlikely Suspects: 1941
... Bragg, North Carolina." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. The New Exhibit This reminds me of a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/29/2018 - 12:20pm -

March 1941. "Effigies of George Washington, Joe Louis and some criminal in a traveling sideshow 'crime museum.' Washington and Joe Louis are examples of 'what you may become if you go straight.' Near Fort Bragg, North Carolina." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. The New ExhibitThis reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode called "The New Exhibit." A former employee of a defunct wax museum takes home several wax murderers and stores them in his basement. You can guess what happens next. (The Gallery, Bizarre, Jack Delano)
Pittsburgh Poors: 1941
... Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. (The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/05/2019 - 1:04pm -

January 1941. "In a slum area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids, Pittsburgh)
Brakeman Capsey: 1943
... New Mexico, waits on a siding." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Jordan ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/11/2014 - 11:29am -

March 1943. "Acomita, New Mexico. Brakeman R.E. Capsey repacking a journal box of a special car as the train on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad between Belen and Gallup, New Mexico, waits on a siding." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Jordan SpreaderIt's a Jordan Spreader, sort of a rail-mounted road grader. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreader_%28railroad%29 Originally used to maintain trackside drainage ditches, but in more recent times primarily used for snow clearing, as the wing blades can swing out and clear several tracks at once, or push the snow further from a single track to make room for the next storm. The wing blades were multi-jointed, to grade a ditch contour. It has old-fashioned arch bar trucks, made illegal since the many bolts+nuts could loosen up and cause a derailment. Probably survived on this spreader because it never left the home railroad in interchange service. The trucks on the adjacent refrigerator car also had bolts, and would eventually be banned also. Modern trucks interlock together like a nail puzzle, with no fasteners needed. Modern railroad cars and locomotives use roller bearings exclusively, eliminating the need for frequent oil lubrication and messing with the cotton waste that was used as a wick. Jordan Spreader ATSF 199234Found a 1948 picture, although not the best showing 199234 in San Bernardino October 25, 1948 after some modifications. I did thisThe summer I was 20, I repacked journal boxes on the wash track at the UP yard in LA. It was dirty work. I always ended up soaked in oil. The packing had to be carefully installed so it covered the entire journal on the bottom. If it didn't it could cause a hotbox. It was a good experience. These days railroad trucks have roller bearings that don't need repacking. Looks like a Jordan Spreader This is a device with outboard swinging wings to clear ditches or snow along the tracks. Here is a photograph of a model that looks quite similar. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Woody Wagon: 1941
... home some salvaged firewood in a slum area." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. Studs and Spuds? There's definitely wood on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/24/2018 - 11:43am -

January 1941. New Bedford, Massachusetts. "Bringing home some salvaged firewood in a slum area." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. Studs and Spuds?There's definitely wood on that wagon, but the sacks have someting round in them. Perhaps they're full of potatoes. (The Gallery, Jack Delano)
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