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Western Standard: 1941
... year is 1941, and we are somewhere in Southern California. Kodachrome by our West Coast "carrespondent" Don Cox. View full size. I ... plants are in the lower right corner? Strange thing! Kodachrome Automotive Beauty What a lovely looking automobile! Wow, I sure ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/21/2021 - 12:25pm -

"1935 Ford Tudor sedan at gas station." The year is 1941, and we are somewhere in Southern California. Kodachrome by our West Coast "carrespondent" Don Cox. View full size. I wishsomebody can recognize that art-deco-ish entrance for the location of the pump. Car design that evokes confidence in the machine. So solid and husky. That's One Clean Gas StationNot a bit of litter in sight. The car looks good too. Ghost ferns?What do you suppose the plants are in the lower right corner? Strange thing! Kodachrome Automotive BeautyWhat a lovely looking automobile! Wow, I sure miss the days of yesteryear! Too many people on the planet, too homogenous! Lead WarningGas pumps still had the warning "CONTAINS LEAD" in the 1960's. I never gave it a second thought as I filled up with premium. What were we supposed to do with this information, not drink the leaded gas or not inhale the exhaust fumes? The government was a little less excited about those issues back then, and I was absolutely clueless. [What you were supposed to do with that information was not employ gasoline for cleaning, heating, cooking or anything else besides its intended use as a motor fuel. - Dave] Interesting Aftermarket Directional SignalsAftermarket lights on the bumper appear to be directional signals. Factory signals were only introduced on more expensive makes in 1939. This Ford is also in great shape for a six-year-old car in that period. Spokeless Scene stealing little '35 has been equipped with later rims, clearance/accent lights added above bumper. Ford grille shell nameplate and some side brightwork appears to also have been removed from hood sides? What a sweetie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGa59ESP1ps I've never seen that before. The compressed air and I suppose water hoses imbedded in the pump island are a new one on me. It seems very practical and eliminates a lot of clutter. The little crank to reset the pump counters brings back memories. The little yellow accessory lights on the bumper of the '35 are nifty. The no frills single windshield wiper, not so much. Air & Water HosesRob Ellie's comment about the embedded air and water hoses aroused my curiosity. Where is the spring loaded reel that retracts and stores the length of these hoses? There doesn't appear to be an access plate in sight to allow repairs when the storage reels or hoses eventually need repair. Gramps Would Be ProudMy grandfather (Mom's pop) ended his career as a VP for Standard Oil of California, later known as Chevron, based mainly in San Francisco and worked with both "Company Ops," meaning fully owned and run by the oil company, and the franchisees. He was a complete stickler for having the stations look spotless and if inspected by the company, enough demerits in the looks department could send a manager out the door. This was the norm, especially in stations around the downtown core of cities where there was intense competition. Gas was uniformly cheap, but it was the service aspect of the operation that built loyalty. He would have certainly liked the good and tidy looks of this example, wherever it was. Lead additiveDave, lead was added to gasoline to reduce engine knocking, boost octane rating and lelp wear and tear on valve seats. [We know that. The question was the reason for the warning sign. - Dave] Color Makes it RealThat is beautiful! My first thought: Is that the way things looked back then? I thought everything was black and white." Color brings history a little bit closer to my reality. Thanks Dave. Grandpa at the GulfSince this picture is from 1941, I recall that my grandpa (Mother's side) ran a Gulf station right here in town from 1941 to '51. Thanks to the local historical society, of which I'm a member, I was able to obtain a nice image of the station, which existed until at least the first few years of my life. I remember well losing Grandpa in 1974, and only wished I'd have been old enough to think to ask him more about his younger days. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Don Cox, Gas Stations)
The Singing Kings: 1965
... ABC-TV musical variety series The King Family ." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/08/2023 - 7:57pm -

March 1965. "The King Family -- including the King Sisters, King Kiddies and King Cousins -- with actor Robert Clarke and others on the set of the ABC-TV musical variety series The King Family." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. Robert Clarkeis probably best known for his appearances on the '60s run of "Dragnet." He usually played a businessman who'd done something terrible such as run down a child on a trike. He was the star of 1960's "Beyond the Time Barrier," a rather odd but sincere movie in which the X-15 Clarke is piloting breaks the time barrier, and he winds up in a desolate 2024. Everybody's dying because the layer of atmosphere that protects us from cosmic radiation was destroyed by nuclear testing. Oh Blanche!Everything is so ... white ... Creeeee-peeeyI'm old enough to remember groups like this that were weird and square. The Alvino Rey GunThe man playing banjo is Alvino Rey, a somewhat famous guitarist of the era who was married to one of the King sisters. A vintage guitar shop is actually offering one of his guitars for sale, the rare custom color 1960 Fender Telecaster shown below. And by the way, the headline is lifted from a line that I will always remember from the original 1960s Batman TV show with Adam West. Sign of the timesThe King Family Show, which had a loyal following but was never especially successful in the ratings, was an obvious attempt to create something in the category of "The Lawrence Welk Show" or "Sing Along With Mitch," but appealing to a younger demographic. Beyond that unlikely prospect, it reflected growing desperation in the entertainment industry, as well as general-interest publications like Look, to hold on to wholesome "family" content at a time when the culture was fragmenting. (1965 was also the year that "Up With People" was formed out of elements from the Moral Re-Armament movement. UWP's most famous veteran is probably Glenn Close -- before 'Fatal Attraction,' of course.) Originally "W. King Driggs and his Family of Entertainers"The oldest person in the photo (holding a studded cane on the left, seated) is the father of the six "King Sisters" (and a couple of brothers), William King Driggs. He died in April 1965, three months after the show's first episode. Although the show was a great advertisement for hair coloring products, there is one unaltered brunette among the older adult women -- an in-law, Hazel Driggs (wife of Karleton King Driggs), at far right. More than you wanted to know Tina Cole, best remembered as Robbie's wife, Katie, on "My Three Sons," is a King family member, too. Her mother, Yvonne King, married actor and composer Buddy Cole. Tina sang several times on MTS. In the early years of MTS, she appeared three, perhaps four, times -- briefly -- as various neighbor girls who knew the Douglas family and as a student at the college Robbie attended. Alvino Rey (born Alvin McBurney) was more than a somewhat famous guitarist of the era. He popularized the talk box effect in the late 1930s, used with a steel guitar, a throat microphone and his wife, King family member Luise. She stood offstage while a puppet, named Stringy the Talking Guitar, would appear onstage and "sing" with Rey. It's a little complicated, but if you remember how Peter Frampton sounded ("Do you feel like I do?"), you know the sound. One last thing: Alvino Rey, known by many as the father of the electric guitar, is the grandfather of Arcade Fire's Win and William Butler. GenerationalI would’ve been eight years old when this type of thing appeared on TV at my grandparents’ house. They would watch and enjoy it because that’s what TV did for them – provide enjoyable content. Only when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show did they object. My parents, born in the mid-to-late twenties, were stuck between wholesome fare like the King Family, which they could watch with only a trace of cynicism, and disruptive iconoclasts like the Beatles, who they were already too old to adopt as their own. Myself, I would look from face to face in my family members, wondering who liked what and why. I would not have enjoyed the King Family. The King Family with Carol Burnett A wonderful satire about the King Family appeared on the Carol Burnett show. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, John Vachon, Kids, LOOK, Music, TV)
Switchman Dan: 1943
... a switch in an Indiana Harbor Belt Line railyard." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. Kodachrome! "Give me the nice bright colors" ... I can almost feel the chill ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 9:29am -

February 1943. "Daniel Senise throwing a switch in an Indiana Harbor Belt Line railyard." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. Kodachrome!"Give me the nice bright colors" ... I can almost feel the chill in the air on this one! Kudos to Paul Simon, Kodak and Dave, of course, naturally. KudosDon't forget the Jack Delano in the kudos, that's a magnificent picture. And wow, Kodachrome is just in a class by itself, isn't it? (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Joined by Fiat: 1974
... say that once again, my sister-in-law is the most stylish. Kodachrome 64 slide from my brother's camera. View full size. Fiat ... vehicles, clothes, etc. Proof If it were not for Kodachrome, the kids would never believe it happened. Re: tterrace today ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 02/06/2010 - 3:39pm -

Another mirth-provoking look at the clothing, footwear and vehicle choices of the 70s, just a bit down the street from a similar scene three years earlier. This time, in January 1974, I join my brother and sister-in-law in a pose by their now different green foreign car, a Fiat station wagon. I'll leave it up to the chorus of commenters as to whether the various changes overall represent progress or regression. I'll only say that once again, my sister-in-law is the most stylish. Kodachrome 64 slide from my brother's camera. View full size. Fiat"Fix It Again, Tony." Another influenceSurely Sonny and Cher. Hey ManDig my groovy threads. Or is that beatnik lingo? I wuz thereI remember an ensemble I used to own, a beige polyester leisure suit, white shoes, white belt. I didn't smoke when I had it on. Cigarettes, anyway. I have all his albums!A certain John Denver influence here. GroovyGreat photo. Where have all the hippie chicks gone? FREE BIRD!...or slaves to corduroy? I swear I owned that gold jacket. Future FiatsIt looks like a Fiat 128 wagon. Nice cars that just weren't designed to cope with the American mystique. Who knew that in less then 40 years Fiat would be taking such a large role in the survival of Chrysler! Dig the threads though. A bit of Sgt. Pepper in there as well. Who knows, in time, it might all come back into vogue! Still "In"Your sister-in-law's sweater is stylish by modern standards, though nothing else is, of course. She's a hot one to boot! Photographic evidencethat the "60s" did not end in 1969. Not out of fashionThe clothing and hair of the man on the left (is that you or your brother) has not gone out of fashion. You/he could pass unremarked today. What happened?Why does your brother have grey hair in the 1971 photo, but natural color hair in this one from 1974?? Thanks for reminding me1974 Fiat wagon--one of the worst vehicles ever to hit the American road. Don't ask me how I know. Oh Wow Man!I'm diggin' the FTD shirt your brother has on man. Sweet DungareesThose look like Navy Dungarees (on the guy on the left)...they have the square pockets in the front like our old dungarees. Sweet fashion statement!! My newScreensaver! My FiatI had a 1975 128 sedan, handled like it was on rails. Was a lot of fun losing the muscle car guys on the twisty roads. The Fiat and my leisure suit are long gone, but not the memories. Great pic. The Lamb Lies DownThis photo took me back to 1974! Sitting in my pad, listening to my brand new copy of Genesis' "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" with my friends. All of us clad in a similar fashion to the people in this wonderful photo. Thank you for posting tterrace, and thank you for providing the catalyst that helped me conjure up some fond old memories. WOW!You did know Sonny and Cher! How fun is this ...Looks close enough to my old pictures, that this could be me, my roommate and his new wife. The only difference was that HIS Fiat wagon was blue and HIS wife had shorter hair! I had a Green 128 SL that was wonderful ... when it ran! If I remember right, the 128 was the first front wheel drive car in general production. It was ahead of its time by years. Of course Fiat had serious problems with the car and left the American market not long after. Fiat of clayAlmost the worst car I ever owned. Believe it or not it was beat out for the title years later by a Ford Windstar. Nice Shoes!Would like some of those! Front wheel drive triviaEarlier production cars boasting front wheel drive would be the Olds Toronado (1966), the Austin and Morris Minor (and later Mini Cooper)(1959), Citroen Traction Avant from near or beyond a decade before that. The 128 could be a good little car but mostly it was a troublesome beast. Sonny and Cher ...... meet Mike Brady. Front Wheel Drive..Don't forget that Cord produced a FWD car back in the 1930's, though most credit the '66 Olds Toronado as the first FWD American car. Fix It Again, Tony!I knew a guy who had a Fiat 128 2-door, raced it in parking-lot rallies. More trivia ...Totally forgot about the Minor ... there were a few running around when I was a kid. BUT ... if you fancy Fiat trivia ... A close look at the picture shows that the car came with Pirelli radials. If you were really lucky, Fiats sometimes came with Michelins. They lasted longer. In my case, the tires lasted longer than the Fiat! Love those hippie chicks!Love those hippie chicks! Great photo!This is just how I remember you all! Mary re: questionIndeed, it would be fun to see the old photos reposed with current vehicles, clothes, etc. ProofIf it were not for Kodachrome, the kids would never believe it happened. Re: tterrace todayI agree that a present-day photo of tterrace with brother and sister-in-law would be fantastic. In the meantime we can all enjoy a relatively recent then/now photo of tterrace at the top of one of my all-time favorite Shorpy comments - a de-colorized Louis Hine interpretation: the caption makes me laugh every time I read it. You asked for it: tterrace todayFirst, thanks to stanton_square for getting my humor, thereby earning a place in my list of all-time favorite people. Secondly, I give up; here's my brother and me last Thanksgiving at his place: Your brotherlooks like my fifth grade teacher! Fiats? ICK. I am soooo sorry your brother and SIL had to endure one of those! Get a RoomA appreciate all of tterrace's photos and stanton_square's news clippings. But as far as the recent lovefest of self-referencing comments, all i can say is "get a room." [All I can say is, this self-referencing commenter has a familiar IP address. - Dave] Judging from her poseI bet she was an early proponent of women's lib. Very open and free. Just wonderingIs your sister-in-law Native American? Good memories.Why do some of us survivors of the 1960's/1970's feel the need to apologise for the fashions & styles of that period? Then was then and now is now and we had no more control over it than did our parents in their youth, or their parents before them, ad infinitum. As a 65-year-old, I look back on my teenage/young adult years with some affection and not through rose-coloured glasses, either. There were sad times and glad times, just like the present. So when I see photos such as these from tterrace I don't cringe with embarrassment but smile as I recall my days in clothing and cars exactly the same as pictured. Great stuff! Question for tterrancetterrance, When are we going to see a "present day" photo of you, your brother and sister in law? You know we all want one! Any more photos of the time spent in Santa Cruz? WowYou were sooooo cute!! Where do I join your fanclub? New screensaverIt's my new screensaver at work. You're a celebrity...in my office. Re: tterrace and brother todayIt's so nice to see you're still FRIENDS as well as brothers. I'm the same age as you are and nearly everyone I know has a sibling from whom they're in some way estranged. I have only one older brother and we still talk on the phone every day & live within a mile of each other. Wow againThank you tterrace!! You are just as handsome!! More Famous Than We ThinkI just realized who these two guys are: The Smothers Brothers. tterrace TodayMauve walls, tterrace? That's so 1987. Fiat WagonI had a 1967 Fiat wagon that I purchased for $900 in 1970. It was my first car, and I named it Alphonse. It was a wonderful car until it needed a clutch. Then I found out that my dad's mechanic friends had no clue how to repair it, but gamely tried anyway. I sold it a year later to my brother for $250, and at that time he was shifting with a screwdriver. He in turn sold it to someone else. One very cold day I got in, sat down, and the vinyl seat shattered like glass. NOT designed for New England! The Maud SquadHere's the version that didn't make the small screen featuring Re-Pete, (Missing) Linc and Juliette (as in brunette). As a further sign of the times, the Woody has been replaced by a Japanese import in consideration of soaring gas prices. The team basically stood around, appearing in random photographs wearing 'period' clothing. The concept, or Pilot, though cutting edge, wasn't received well by focus groups and therefore never aired. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, tterrapix)
Pride on the Kodachrome Platform
Since we recently saw the final end for Kodachrome, I thought I'd mark the occasion by sharing this photo with the ... community. My first job out of college in 1973 was as a Kodachrome Process Control Analyst for Berkey Photo at 77 E. 13th St. in ... Here are two processor operators spooling Super 8 Kodachrome film off K-12 #6, a Houston Fearless machine. The left hand ... 
 
Posted by Toyofield - 09/19/2011 - 9:40pm -

Since we recently saw the final end for Kodachrome, I thought I'd mark the occasion by sharing this photo with the Shorpy community. My first job out of college in 1973 was as a Kodachrome Process Control Analyst for Berkey Photo at 77 E. 13th St. in Manhattan. Here are two processor operators spooling Super 8 Kodachrome film off K-12 #6, a Houston Fearless machine. The left hand operator's hand is resting on the take off end of the processor, ready to apply the reel brake when the reel was full. The large panel to the right contained temperature controls, filters and circulation pumps. I was there for the transition from K-12 to K-14, and I can still rattle off the processing steps at the drop of a hat. If someone would care to drop a hat, I'll demonstrate. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Technology, Member Gallery)
Pale Rider: 1908
... Model B Runabout Circa 1904. Not quite Kodachrome It was too hot and windy outside to work in the yard so I spent ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:51pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1908. "Miss Corine Murphy in auto." Note the unusual rear tire. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Portable treadsThose tires solve the problem of having to throw away perfectly functional "Goodyear Quick Detachable Tires" just because the tread is worn out. All four tires are slicks and the tread (sort of like putting chains on a car today) is added to only the drive wheels. Makes sense. And you can have dirt road tread, and cobblestone tread, and asphalt tread, depending on where you plan to drive. But I like that huge radiator best with the gaping spaces to its core. Not to mention that this car is from before the era of bumpers. You hit somebody with that radiator first. If you hit a horse, he'll get a behind branded with radiator textured plaid. Ms. MurphyLooks more than ready to lay down some serious miles. Cadillac Model B RunaboutCirca 1904. Not quite KodachromeIt was too hot and windy outside to work in the yard so I spent the whole day coloring this old photograph. Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it. OvertiresI think they are galoshes to keep the mud off your good "Sunday go to meeting" tires. 189The license plate number is written on the headlights. It's an outrage!Next thing you know they'll be wanting the right to vote, and before you know it liquor will be against the law! Snakeskin traction sleeves"Viper" was one popular brand. Flayed from live boa constrictors, which were grown on python plantations in Cuba around the turn of the century. Slick TiresThey appear to be "Billet" detachable tire protectors with "contre envelope" attachments or similar. ("The Horseless Age" Volume 15, January 4, 1905) The "tread" part has flaps which extend over the sidewall on both sides and hold a wire extending around the circumference and fasten (tighten) in two places with a screw and nut. At that time here were many types of tire protectors of various designs and attachment schemes. Some also claimed to improve traction. An old friendThis is the second car we've see of this general type. The other was in front of the Gotham Hotel a day or so ago. I wonder how many of them were made. Oh, Say, I Can See!I would suggest the centre headlight on the swivel burns acetylene, furnished from a carbide and water gas generator on the auto's left side, the top of which is just visible over the dash. Water in a reservoir on top is controlled to drip onto carbide chunks in the base, which generates acetylene gas. A pipe and a hose would bring the gas to the lamp within which is a ceramic burner jet for the flame. Thank You again for another wonderful photo from long ago! (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
42nd Street: 1949
... West 42nd Street in Manhattan just off Times Square. 35mm Kodachrome contributed by a Shorpy member who found it at a yard sale. View ... example, didn't go on sale until March 1949. - Dave] Kodachrome Wonder A casual snap probably by an amateur photographer. The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2022 - 9:53am -

New York, 1949. West 42nd Street in Manhattan just off Times Square. 35mm Kodachrome contributed by a Shorpy member who found it at a yard sale. View full size. Marquee cluelessElsewhere in the Times Square area, movie or stage theatre marquees make it possible to pinpoint the month and week a picture was taken. Not so for this picture. Neither of the two theatres whose marquees are legible were first-run theatres at this point; the Bryant was showing films released in 1942 and 1940, and the one across the street was showing films released in 1934 and 1948. Bit partA lot one could comment on here, and I'm going to pick something you can barely see: Stern Bros. -- its cornice is visible right above and to the left of the light standard; the whole building front had an uncredited cameo in a celebrated Twilight Zone episode, so consider this an overdue acknowledgment. Probably not much remembered today. At one time it was thought that Stern would form the counter to Macy*s on the low end that Bloomingdale's does on the high, so life might have gone very differently. It was noted for two things in NYC retail history: It was the last big store to relocate "uptown" from the top end of the "Ladies' Mile" -- Lord & Taylor would close out the bottom a year later -- and it was the first flagship to close, or at least the first one that couldn't be rationalized away. They were finally a trend-setter, but unlikely one they would have wanted. I'm there --This is one of those great photos you just want to step into and find yourself in period dress mingling with the crowd. I love it! Vim lost its vigorApril 4, 1948: "Charging that the company negotiated in bad faith, 325 employees of seventeen Vim radio and sporting good stores in New York City and New Jersey struck yesterday morning." [NY Times] March 12, 1949: "Decca Records gained ground in its suit against the Vim Radio & Sporting Goods firm. ... Decca's suit, asking damages of $100,000 and an injunction, alleges that the Vim stores sold Decca platters below prices fixed by standard contract under the Fair Trade Practices Act." [Billboard] October 4, 1951: "Magistrate Raphael Murphy in Manhattan Court yesterday adjourned until Oct. 18 hearings ... charging the Vim Radio and Sporting Goods Stores, Inc. ... with 'untrue and misleading advertising.'" [NY Times] The chain is long gone. If you shop at a Manhattan VIM (aka V.I.M.) store today, you're far north of Times Square and looking for jeans, sneakers and hip apparel. [Below, a couple VIM ads. Click to embiggen. The company's full-page newspaper ads stopped around 1961. - Dave] So busy, so much to see.This photo overloads the senses. Delightful to study. Two signs that no longer dominate. Western Union and Public Telephones. 1948 DeSotos must have made great taxis. My parents had a '48 and it was a great car. This just looks so much more appealing than the boring and sterile views today. Common taxi then, rare taxi nowI believe the cab in the foreground is a Checker model A-3. Out of the thousands built, there's apparently only one known survivor that's been restored. EDIT: Also could be the virtually identical A-2 model. '49 PlymouthA lot to see in this pic, but I'm drawn to the 1949 Plymouth waiting to turn at the intersection bottom left. Our first family car was a '49 Plymouth. New cars back then came out in the fall. [Chrysler's initial, "First Series" 1949 models, basically unchanged from the previous year's bulbous, pre-war designs, began production in December 1948. Its "Second Series" cars, of which the Plymouth in our photo is an example, didn't go on sale until March 1949. - Dave] Kodachrome WonderA casual snap probably by an amateur photographer. The place, time and Kodachrome make it a work of art. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, NYC)
Meet the Yardleys: 1970
... Clapclapclap! Tell us how you did it. An unlabeled Kodachrome from the same batch of slides as young Stephen , fast-forwarded ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/29/2022 - 4:26pm -

        UPDATE: Our garden party is on Bontecou Road at Lilburn Drive in Stony Point, New York. While a number of you independently arrived at the correct answer, Johnny Yuma was first. Clapclapclap! Tell us how you did it. An unlabeled Kodachrome from the same batch of slides as young Stephen, fast-forwarded to what seems to be around 1970. Who'll be the first to Street View this split-level suburb? In the meantime, pull up a chair. View full size. The Date?First warm day of Spring! Late in the DecadeI'd bump the year forward a bit, to '68 or '69, judging by the polyester doubleknit and slingback shoes. Also the car next to "Stephen" is probably a model year later than '65. The younger man could conceivably be Stephen, at the age of 31 or 32. Definitely the first warm day of spring, though--an occasion worthy of pearls! To Heck With Ralph NaderI'd love to have that red first-generation Corvair convertible in my driveway. Hopefully it's a four-speed turbo Spyder. A clue?Hard to see on my work computer, but it looks like there's an address over the garage door of the house on the left. (Whose owner had excellent taste in cars!) [Blurrily I say to thee: "Three Lxxxburn Drive." - Dave] Temporal LocationI think the year could be 1967. The gold convertible in the background, with the black top, is a 1967 Chevelle, and the gold car in front of it looks to be a '67 full-size Chevy. There's also a red early Corvair convertible (it looks like a '62) with optional bumper guards parked in the neighbor's driveway, and what looks to be some kind of Mopar parked next to it (maybe a '65 or '66 full-size Plymouth). I love... everything about this picture. From the old man's socks to the beer glasses (and the bottle of Schaefer), to the dresses to the split-foyer house across the street. The tray, the chairs, the ... everything. Are we having fun yet?It will take more than a few of those Schaeffer beers to get this party started. Maybe a little music, a few jokes and invite all the neighbors over. (BYOchair). So far we have only one smiler. Parents, mother-in-law, wifeStephen's looking a little worse for the wear, alas. Raised ranchDon't know about the architechtural style of the other houses (can't see enough of them), but the house with the Corvair in the driveway looks like a "raised ranch," also called a "split foyer." Possibly 1967The cars in the street appear to be 1967 Chevrolet models. The mostly hidden car looks like a '67 Impala SS and the convertible with the top up could be a '67 Chevelle. The Impala body style was new for '67 and the Chevelle was new for '66. What is it?Behind the "Corvair house" up an incline or hill there appears to be a single home. What the heck is that appearing between it and the "Corvair house?" It appears to be a possible rock formation, but it looks as if it might have a door in it. [The door or opening is in the lowest portion of that structure on the hill. -tterrace] The YardleysTwo months prior, they were the Snowdons. Sing alongSchaefer is the one beer to have ... when you're having ... more than one! 30 Bontecou Road, Stony Point, New YorkI do believe this is it. I found it using different letter combinations with the clue you provided. Took about 15 minutes to hit the right one. Google maps did the rest. Found it!They are in Stony Point, NY. The split foyer's address is 3 Lilburn Drive. The house they are at is on Bontecou Road. Better screenshotHere's a current shot including their house. 3 Lover's Lane?I thought it might be Lover's Lane, but couldn't figure the number. Maybe it's 3 Lovers Lane? Clue possibly solved?Just registered as not only do I find this site fascinating, but discovered where the picture was taken (and itching to post my findings). I tracked down the house in the background as No.3 Lilburn Drive, Stony Point, NY. The "Yardleys" quite likely lived at 30 Bontecou Road. Party BottleMagazine advertisement, Schaefer Beer, 1967. Five o'clock somewhere!I applaud the Shorpian sleuthing efforts here, and I especially applaud the Yardleys for the getting the party started so early in the afternoon! Raised Ranch CityIn 1962 my family moved to Stony Point, NY. into, yes, a raised ranch just a hop, skip and a jump from this very neighborhood. In those days just about every new development in the 60's in Stony Point consisted of raised ranches (with an occasional split level) erected rather rapidly on what was once revolutionary era farmland. When we arrived one only needed to dial 4 numbers to telephone within the town. The town was transformed between 62-70, and that soon ended. Judging by the length and style of the dresses on two of these women, I also think this is more likely the late 60s. This picture is a big hitI shared the Yardley pic on the Stony Point FB page. Of course, before long people who actually knew the name of the Happy Hour family started posting and sharing memories about the neighborhood. Seems that barn up on the hill (Stony Point is extremely hilly) was the starting point for some serious daredevil sledding. Can there possibly be more shots from the area in the batch? Hope so!! (Cars, Trucks, Buses, Stephen Kodachromes)
The Big 1: 1958
... me. Excuse me, I need to go take my Geritol now. A Kodachrome world This takes one back to a world where nothing really existed until you saw it in blazing Kodachrome. Halcyon Days 1958 Not to sound like a broken record, but ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/23/2012 - 7:26am -

June 1958, somewhere in Pennsylvania. This begins a new series of Kodachromes that I found on eBay. Happy Birthday from Shorpy! View full size. Hey! I was the big 1, June 3 1958We had metal window blinds like that, and a big calendar from the bank on the wall. Not a piece of plastic to be seen! DelightfulWhat a delightful scene! Bowl of candy, bowls full of full fat ice cream, large radio, wallpaper, older brother wearing a bow tie. The flame on the candle seems kinda tall, though. The Golden Age of......wallpaper. And dinnerware: Franciscan Ware, or knock-off of same. Moms with pearls. Kids with bow ties. Pardon me, I just nostalgiaed all over myself. Grandma?The guest of honor was born the same month as my little sister, who became a grandmother last winter. Happy Birthday to the both of you. That wallpaper...is probably 10 years old when this photo was taken. So many of the touches that we Boomers remember from our you, especially those in home decoration, where actually from the late 1940s, rather than from the 1950s or 1960s. Take a look at this site, http://www.hannahstreasures.com/servlet/Categories?category=1940%27s+-+5..., but be prepared to gasp when you see wallpaper that you recognize from the hidden bits you uncover in your old house. I recognized at least three. (Good Godfrey, the former owners of my home had some garish taste. Arsenic green walls and *ceiling,* with scarlet trim ?) PerfectoIt's all just perfect: the china, all the happy ladies, but especially, I love the industrial advertising calendar right there where it belongs. It seems so long agoand yet that Baby is only a couple years older than me. Excuse me, I need to go take my Geritol now. A Kodachrome worldThis takes one back to a world where nothing really existed until you saw it in blazing Kodachrome. Halcyon Days 1958Not to sound like a broken record, but those were idyllic times. Yes tterrace, the Apple pattern dishes were Franciscan and still available at Replacements,ltd. at a cost of $570.00 for a 45 piece starter set. The home made cake was a "must" for all moms of the 50's to produce, the 2-tone, sportscar looking seat of the highchair and colored beads showed great designer creativity and the immaculate guests in summer dresses, brother in a white shirt and mom's absolutely adoring facial expression capture a beautiful landmark day. That darling child is 55 this month, so happy birthday to him. Perfectly InnocentLet's give big brother the benefit of the doubt and assume he's sticking out his tongue in anticipation of that enormous serving of ice cream. The kids don't look very happyThey probably still don't care a lot for hen parties. America's Heyday!Oh, The 1950s! America's Heyday! Everything was booming -- new housing, highways, schools, bridges were all in abundance. Tax rates were 91% and we were on a roll! Those were the days! My generation in the high-chairBirthday boy is only a few weeks older than I am. And, yes, that wallpaper IS from the 40s. My grandmother had that same paper on her living room walls from 1947 until mom and my uncle Frank dispensed with it in 1965. My grandmother was thrilled as she'd long since tired of it, but my grandfather was "born satisfied" and content to let it be in favor of a game of dominoes or teaching the grandkids the "jigs" and Cajun songs he'd learned ca. 1880. Those days *do* seem idyllic now. I decided on "OldFogie" on entering this place as I find myself missing those very different days. Mr. MannersThe young bow-tied lad is sitting patiently for the word to eat. What manners. What discipline. Reminds me of me. What is that blue (lighted?) thingpeeking out from behind the doorway to the left? If this was an 80's picture I'd call it a bug zapper, but since it's not. [It's another window with Venetian blinds. - tterrace] Wow - must be a neon sign outside! [That's actually daylight reflecting on the blind slats, but it hasn't been as overwhelmed by the yellowish camera flash as the ones here in the dining room. - tterrace] Rosewood phonographI inherited the same one from my Nana; beautiful cabinet, great sound; it's special feature was a ruby (not diamond) stylus. Cannot remember if it was a CapeHart or not, but I always remember the little red light above the right-hand knob (just behind our birthday boy) that indicated power. Love these ...Color family scenes. I know that's not how Shorpy got its start, but such memories these photos bring back! Change the people in the photo and it could very well be my family. Thank you!! (ShorpyBlog, Kids, Pa. Kodachromes)
Chicago & North Western: 1942
... Chicago and North Western R.R. classification yards." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. Brings back ... hour for a bus that had been rerouted, but ... brrr! Kodachrome Express Wow, absolutely amazing. It could have been taken ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 4:43pm -

December 1942. "One of the Chicago and North Western R.R. classification yards." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. Brings back memoriesThis is beautiful. I grew up within earshot of these yards, and remember lying in bed on summer nights, listening to the trains. I've been working on the railroad......in Chicago...in December...brrrrr. This would be a tough time to be a brakeman. Look at the way the smoke just hangs in the frigid air. Where's my parka, I suddenly have a chill! Cold looking, indeed.I'm not sure what exactly it is in that picture, but it gives me a visceral feel of deep biting cold in a way that few others do. Maybe it's the clear blue of the sky and the way the clouds from the engine are just hanging there, and the dry dry snow, or maybe it's remembering the time when I was in Chicago on Thanksgiving with a totally inadequate coat waiting an hour for a bus that had been rerouted, but ... brrr! Kodachrome ExpressWow, absolutely amazing. It could have been taken yesterday. If only you could have seen a scene like this yesterday though. White flags mean "running extra"That is an unscheduled freight train pulling out. Those white flags are still used today. I recall engines carrying green flags too. They meant that there were "extra sections to follow." This occurred when a train was not sufficient in length to carry all the passengers or freight. The railroad would break it up into 2 or more trains(sections) as necessary. The green flags would be a visible warning that there were other trains to follow sometimes only minutes apart. Each engine would carry the green flags except the last which may display the white flags for "running extra." The exact usage may vary from RR to RR, but these rules were, for the most part, universal. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Family Picnic: 1964
May 1964. 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Life magazine assignment "The Splendor of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/27/2023 - 11:00am -

May 1964. 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Life magazine assignment "The Splendor of a Great Family: The Vanderbilts." View full size.         On her country estate near Stamford, Connecticut, Gloria Vanderbilt enjoys a picnic with her husband, Wyatt Cooper, and two sons by her marriage to Leopold Stokowski -- Chris, 12, and Stan, 13. She came upon the picturesque waterfall with its secluded cottage one day and couldn't resist buying it. "It was like something out of a fairy tale," she exclaims. Fried Chicken, or a Sandwich?I will take the fried chicken every time! Unless it isn't. Heap big melonThat's a lot of watermelon for four people, but I suppose it photographs nicely for the magazine article. Those black sneakersConverse All Star low-cuts. Way way too expensive for a coal miner to buy his son in the '60s. I mowed a lot of grass, picked blackberries, blueberries, shoveled snow, managed to earn that money. Worth every cent back. Levy's Sport shop Johnstown, Pa. Melon FamilyThere were four in my family -- we'd have been bothered by the fact that there was only one watermelon. The Americans of the 1%ersA fine example of how the American Dream went over the top. Dramatic family historyWyatt Cooper was Gloria Vanderbilt's fourth husband. This marriage, her last, would produce two additional sons, Carter (1965) and Anderson (1967). Wyatt Cooper died at 51 in 1978. Carter died tragically at 23, falling from the balcony of his mother's apartment, apparently during severe reaction to a prescription drug. Gloria was estranged from son Christopher Stokowski for over 40 years, with a modest reconciliation reported when she was in her 90s. Almost all photos of Gloria with her sons come in pairs, the first two or the last two. Below is a rare image showing all four. Just like a family picnic when I was youngexcept delete the picturesque waterfall on a private estate, and my mother would be wearing shoes and sensible pants ... and probably not a Coolie hat. But the males would be wearing button cotton shirts that needed to be ironed. I'm not sure how one "comes upon" a picturesque waterfall with a secluded cottage, unless a Realtor shows it to them, or you can see it from the road (which, in this case, I doubt). I'm going to disagree with richie33 about this being over the top; this is a nice place in the country. Modern mega yachts and gilded age Newport mansions lived in eight weeks a year are and were over the top. Photo ArtWhat an amazing photograph. Almost looks like a painting. Gloria bought this property on a whim. One example of how the massive original family fortune of Cornelius was gradually whittled away to just a fortune. Anderson Anderson Cooper would appear three years later. So many menGloria Vanderbilt was married four times, and her husbands included the conductor Leopold Stokowski and the director Sidney Lumet. She also had relationships with Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes, Roald Dahl, and one of my favorite Shorpy photographers, Gordon Parks. These color photos of rich, decadent folks have been fun, but I’m glad to get back to newsies, rustic main streets in 1900, and 1929 boiler explosions. tterrace, is that you?At first glance, I thought for sure that was our community member and contributor tterrace sitting front and center on the picnic blanket. Who knew he was related to Gloria Vanderbilt! [Well, I was dressing like that then but his clothes probably didn't come from Monkey Wards. -tterrace] Little AndersonThree years following this picnic Gloria would give birth to Anderson Hay Cooper, known to CNN viewers as Anderson Cooper. In the previously posted photo of Gloria and her four sons Anderson is the baby. Must be nice.... to be able to just "couldn't resist buying it". (Kodachromes, Kids, LIFE, Toni Frissell)
Space Command: 1963
Date on this randomly acquired Kodachrome: JAN63N. Time: 9:54. Location: Living Room. Reading material: May ... while you watch Bonanza. I agree with Victoria, this Kodachrome was taken out of pride. In addition to the worldly possessions, ... a fine-grained film. It is probably one of the higher ASA Kodachrome films available at the time. [Also note: There is a glare ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/04/2022 - 10:05pm -

Date on this randomly acquired Kodachrome: JAN63N. Time: 9:54. Location: Living Room. Reading material: May 1962 issue of Holiday. The television: Zenith, with "Space Command" remote. Window unit: 1954 Fedders "Weather Bureau." Blinds: Venetian. View: Full size. The Art ... is interesting indeedI managed to identify the picture on the wall. It is a reproduction of "Laguna de San Pablo," a 1933 oil painting by the Ecuadorian artist Antonio Vallejo. Quite an interesting choice of decoration for this place. I grew up in this environmentThis looks like every house among all my relatives from the mid-'50s on: busy wallpaper, knick-knacks on shelves, clock on the TV, but, most importantly, easy chair and hassock right next to the window unit because Dad always wanted the living room so cold you could hang meat in there. I mean, why else would you buy an air conditioner? Middle Class WealthIn my old neighborhood, growing up, if you had a TV *and* an air conditioner, you were rich. In my opinion, this photo is a family showing off how well they've done. And rightfully so! Variation on "Our Flag" by Fred Tripp (1940)The print hanging behind the main chair may be a slight variation of one of the most widely-shared patriotic prints from the World War II era. "Painted by 71-year-old Fred Tripp while he was hospitalized at McCleary Hospital in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, in 1940, this print reached a distribution of over 200,000 before the bombing of Pearl Harbor." The lower background is slightly different from the version most commonly available today at garage sales and auctions. Just like Grandma's houseWell, sorta. This is one of those photos that should always be in black and white. Chromatic CatalogThanks to color, I spy the Fall-Winter 1961 Spiegel Catalog, next to the floor lamp. Mean Green MachineWow look at that air conditioner. A thing of beauty. The ArtLake Titicaca? A very clever remote controlAt the bottom left of the TV you can see the wireless remote control. It seems to be the Space Command 400 model. The attached photo depict it. This is a wireless TV remote control invented by Zenith engineer Robert Adler using sound as a trigger mechanism. Sound is produced by mechanically-struck aluminum rods of carefully constructed dimensions, and a receiver in the television responded to the different frequencies this action produces. No batteries at all !!! Tuning convenienceVacuuming the living room floor tuned the channel higher on our color Zenith. Vacuuming the dining room floor tuned it lower. Usually. I tried a Hamilton Beach blender, Sears Craftsman drill, my sister's purring cat, etc., but nothing worked as well as the Hoover. Except the Zenith remote, as intended. Space Command - another remote methodA friend's dad growing up was the town's TV repairman and he was also the dealer in town for Zenith TVs, so he had all the new ones. They had one of these TVs with the Space Command in their living room, and my friend told me that they could (randomly) change channels by "playing with a stack of quarters". Evidently the clinking of the quarters duplicated the sound produced by the remote. I think I've been here… or somewhere very much like it. Grandmother clockFor me, one unexpected item here is the clock. This is probably an old piece, likely from the mid-late 1800s. Maybe "Grandma's old clock", a family treasure? That TV remote control is quite something! Very clever indeed. Zenith"The quality goes in before the name goes on" Just waiting for Rod Serling "Ladies and gentlemen, submitted for your consideration." Spooky picture. They're around here, somewhereThe metal TV trays used to eat dinner while you watch Bonanza. I agree with Victoria, this Kodachrome was taken out of pride. In addition to the worldly possessions, every item on top of the Zenith has a pad underneath it; there will be no scratches (I kind of do the same thing). And if there is a speck of dust on anything, I don't see it (something I'm a little laxer about). A question about lightingNo light is coming in through the windows. The lamps are off. Yet, light is evenly distributed in the room. The only shadow is a slight one under the Zenith. I'm thinking a regular flash bulb would have made a glare on the TV screen and not lighted this room this evenly. Am I wrong? Remote controlMy father watches TV sitting in his armchair that is at the short side of a long table in the living room. He keeps remote control device almost at the far end of that table, so to change the channel or volume he stands up to do the thing, leaves the device again far away and sits back. To him that is a huge improvement to going all the way to the TV. Did I say that he's 94, in relatively good health and with clear mind? There you have it. Cool BlueLove the photo. It appears the room's entire color scheme was based around the air conditioner. It actually works quite well. Such photos remind one of detailed environments we may have forgotten or once took for granted. Family FeddersMy parents had a Fedders just like that. In use well into the 1970s, ice cold too. Notice the correct gauge extension cord. LightingThe shadows indicate that there was one bulb above the camera. It must have been pretty bright. The TV set wouldn't reflect into the lens because of the angle of the camera to the screen. I find it interesting that this is a rather grainy photo for such a fine-grained film. It is probably one of the higher ASA Kodachrome films available at the time. [Also note: There is a glare shield (a big, downward-tilted rectangle of flat glass) in front of the TV picture tube. We can see a reflection of the hassock in it. - Dave] I can smell this room.Kind of an old Grandpa and Grandma smell to it. With the help of the upholstery, TV warming up the tubes and the air conditioner blowing. Hold Up!The Fedders Air Conditioner has a jack under it! I wonder if it was an option or a necessary support to keep the unit from pulling the window out. I've never seen anything like that before. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Found Photos)
Let's Go Play In Traffic: 1957
This Kodachrome slide was taken by me, William D. Volkmer, on August 30, 1957, on ... year at Georgia Tech. View full size. '50s Kodachrome There is nothing like 1950s Kodachrome slide film for busy street scenes like this. I really wish I could ... 
 
Posted by prrvet - 03/16/2018 - 3:38pm -

This Kodachrome slide was taken by me, William D. Volkmer, on August 30, 1957, on Atlanta's Peachtree Street in the theater district during a Shriners convention. I was entering my Senior year at Georgia Tech. View full size. '50s KodachromeThere is nothing like 1950s Kodachrome slide film for busy street scenes like this. I really wish I could get this look out of my digital files. I have a couple of Fujis equipped with Classic Chrome. It's a good look but it's certainly not this. They save lots of paradesI have to mention that many of the smaller towns and cities I've lived in had their parades saved by Shriners who volunteered to perform on their motorcycles, small cars, trikes and what-have-you with clowns, their trademark red fezzes, and other costumes to fill in for the lack of enthusiastic marchers and perhaps poor planning by the parade planners, to step in and make something out of what would have been a pretty lame performance and turned it into a laughter-filled and enjoyable good time for the kids and adults who took the time to attend and participate. One small city I lived in in the Southwest (I won't point the accusatory finger) was supposed to have their first St. Pat's Day parade and the day before, all they had was the Irish mayor in a green suit carrying his Carmel Quinn album and two Irish setters willing to participate, but since the Shriners were nearby at a convention, they all came to the rescue and saved the day with a fun-filled celebration for all the spectators and were very much appreciated. Good on them. I Was a Teenage WerewolfCurrently playing at the Paramount and starring a young Michael Landon, a couple of years before his role in Bonanza. Julie Andrews in the skyI stayed with my cousin for a month (my parents were living in France) in an apartment just off of Peachtree Street in the summer of 1965 while waiting for my freshman year to start at the University of Georgia. That billboard on the top of that building featured a huge version of the iconic image of Julie Andrews spinning in a mountain meadow promoting "The Sound of Music," that year's biggest film. I saw it every day when I'd walk to the drugstore for a Coke. Diners Club HonoredBefore the ubiquity of Visa/MasterCard/Discover credit cards, this was a selling point worth enshrining on permanent signage. Similar to "Color TV" and "Air Conditioning" on 1950s motel signs. Invasion of the Saucer MenThis was the second feature https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la9VXiM8GJU My first motorcycleThe closest motorcycle is a Cushman Eagle. I got mine as a basket case when I was 15. I don't remember how many cc's it had but it did have a two speed transmission with the shift lever on the tank. It had an arm on the front of the engine you stepped on to start it. There was a small piece of key stock that kept shearing. I got real good at pushing it and jumping on to bump start it. I've been riding over 50 years now. Hot, cold, rain, or sun, I have loved every minute of it. Have a CigarI thought at first that there was an exhaust pipe jutting out under the middle of the bus closest to the camera, until I realized it was an electric coach (something I never knew Atlanta had) and not a bus, so there would be no exhaust pipe. Instead it seems to be a remarkably thick but rather short cigar clenched between that baby-faced Shriner's teeth. Those were the days. CushmanYes! The bike appears to be a Cushman. Made in my hometown of Lincoln Nebraska. An interesting little scooter. The Cushman aficionado still have annual (I believe) conferences/swap meets. Frances Virginia Tea RoomAt the end of the block on the right side of the photo, one can see the sign for the Frances Virginia Tea Room. Owned and run by Frances Virginia Wikle Whitaker, was located in the Collier building from 1931 until 1962, although Ms. Whitaker had retired in 1944. It is the subject of a 2012 masters' thesis written by Mildred Coleman, a Georgia State graduate student who is the niece of the restaurant's manager at the time of this photo. The sign remained until the late 1970s. The building was demolished and replaced with the Peachtree Station of the metropolitan transit system. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Douglas Dam: 1942
... Valley Authority's Douglas Dam. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. Kodachrome again.. I still can't get over how I can instantly tell a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 12:01pm -

June 1942. Construction work at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Douglas Dam. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. Kodachrome again..I still can't get over how I can instantly tell a Kodachrome on your site, and how amazingly crisp and colorful they are. Even a pic of a muddy construction site is so sharp and clear, it's a thing of beauty! I also love how the Kodachrome's crispness and clarity gives you a you-are-there feeling, looking at one from the 1940's or 50's. So vivid and sharp. Feats of Civil EngineeringMy late grandpa used to work on dam sites just like this one, albeit probably a bit smaller, in Finland in the late forties, early fifties. He was a Marion operator, driving one of those monstrous backhoes that could pick up a small car in one fell... scoop. He used to transport workmen across the river in the scoop itself. It held eight cubic meters, he insisted. Makes one wonder about these great feats of civil engineering, accomplished by such small creatures as men with a lot of planning and some big machines. A lot was done by hand, too, where these days we have strange machines and novel ways of molding concrete pours and advanced reinforcement techniques. But man, that is one huge site! [They had their share of strange machines back then, too. Below is another view of the same work site. - Dave] (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Industry & Public Works, WW2)
Llano de San Juan: 1940
... at Llano de San Juan, New Mexico. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. Llano ... Angeles. The photo is by Alex Harris. Beautiful Sky Kodachrome and images of the sky seem to go together! and, they do age ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 2:01pm -

July or October 1940. Church at Llano de San Juan, New Mexico. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration. Llano de San JuanThere is an interior photograph of a house in Llano de San Juan in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The photo is by Alex Harris. Beautiful SkyKodachrome and images of the sky seem to go together! and, they do age well. That is the creepiestThat is the creepiest church. Imagine, at night. Llano de San JuanWhat is amazing is how this image could have been taken yesterday. This church is that unchanged...oh, except the doors are not as white. It's still used on special occasions. I miss my KodachromeNothing like a roll of Kodachrome and a polarizing filter. May they rest in peace, gone the way of the steam train and the internal combustion engine. Oh the saturation! (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Rural America, Russell Lee)
T for Two: 1954
... all it says here. The car being a 1955 Thunderbird. 35mm Kodachrome by the fashion photographer Toni Frissell. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/24/2023 - 5:47pm -

        UPDATE: The Ronald Balcoms at "Windsong," their home in Palm Beach. "Florida -- couple with car, Roney Balcom, 1954" is all it says here. The car being a 1955 Thunderbird. 35mm Kodachrome by the fashion photographer Toni Frissell. View full size. Ronnie and LuluSo Ronnie is only 44 in this photo and Lulu 42? I must say, they look far more worn-out for that young. Hard living? Rarefied Florida AirRonald Bush Balcom and Lucille Parsons Vanderbilt Balcom. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/183783069/ronald-bush-balcom Are they famous? That looks like Jane Hathaway and Art Linkletter. Maybe Jed or Granny introduced them to each other. Trust, but verifyMaybe this is indeed the same Ronald Bush Balcom, but my instincts tell me that the guy depicted here is much older than 44, in spite of the many times aforementioned apparent accelerated aging of this generation compared to the current one. Heck, I was still occasionally getting carded at 44. This guy looks every bit of 70. [Did you not look at the photos? Read the obituary? - Dave] Pose with your possessions!This reminds me of the current practice on social media where 'influencers' post photos that can be moused over to identify the fashion brand of every piece of clothing they are wearing. Flamboyant FordPaint code R - Torch Red (70540) Initially, just three colors were offered on the 1955 Thunderbird: Raven Black, Torch Red, and Thunderbird Blue. Snowshoe White and Goldenrod Yellow were added to the stock color palette later. Note to myselfOnce you sail through Great Depression and survive WWII, everything else is easy. Both were outdoorsy types, thus bit "aged". Give Lt. Commander Ron a BreakIf Ron looked a little weather-beaten in 1954, it could have been because he had spent the war fighting on small ships in the Solomon Islands and the North Atlantic. (His war was undoubtedly more eventful and dangerous than radio host Art Linkletter's.) To me he looks like a tough and salty veteran who didn't use family wealth to duck serving. Hard to begrudge him his Thunderbird and his athletic wife. Robert Mitchum could have played him. 100Lulu lived to be almost 101! Born in 1912, and died in 2013. https://fishersisland.net/2013/08/memoriam-lucille-parsons-balcom/ High Altitudes & Low LatitudesReading the obituary, this couple having the finest skin care routine would still be a hard match against their enviable, highly athletic outdoor lifestyle on the water in the intensely sunny south, and the thinner atmosphere of high altitudes. Not the same houseI found a June 2014 article about the hot Everglades Island property market. It included the statement "Thursday’s sale comes on the heels of another Everglades Island property sold in May by Elkins and Hiatt — 619 Island Drive, which Ray and Kim Celedinas bought from the estate of the late Lucille P. Balcom for a recorded $6.55 million." Lucille Miriam Parsons Balcom died at the age of 100 in August 2013 on Fishers Island, Suffolk County, New York. The house at 619 Island Drive in Florida is not the house in the 1954 photograph. I looked around and could not find the house in the photograph. [The Balcoms lived at "Windsong," the Vanderbilt abode on Pelican Lane. - Dave] Thanks, Dave. I'm glad this columned beauty was not replaced by one of the many, many Italian villas I saw while looking for Windsong. I looked around Windsong, and saw this interesting No Parking Anytime sign. Remember lawbreakers, failure to read the sign is no excuse. Boating or floatingIf you scroll up to the top of this page, you will be looking at two photographs taken by Toni Frisell. Between the two, I prefer Weeki Wachee, Florida (1947). (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Florida, Toni Frissell)
Found Kodachrome
Not sure where; slides date from 1949-1955. View full size. Columbus A quick search suggests the Columbus Monument, Barcelona thanks! Good sleuthing, Napsmear! I'll be posting more here! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery) ... 
 
Posted by stonefish - 03/24/2017 - 7:00pm -

Not sure where; slides date from 1949-1955. View full size. ColumbusA quick search suggests the Columbus Monument, Barcelona thanks!Good sleuthing, Napsmear! I'll be posting more here! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Time to Make the Donuts
... Authority's Douglas Dam. View full size. Amazing 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. Amazing! It looks like a ... I love the color! I love the color of these Kodachrome transparencies you're posting. Absolutely marvelous! Please post ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 9:27am -

June 1942. Truck driver at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Douglas Dam. View full size. Amazing 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. Amazing! It looks like aAmazing! It looks like a photo taken in a studio with a complex lighting setup. Or maybe a modern HDR photo. Hard to believe it was taken in the forties. I love the color!I love the color of these Kodachrome transparencies you're posting. Absolutely marvelous! Please post more if you got 'em. [Glad you like them. For many if not most of the ones we are posting, this is the first time they've been seen in all their high-res, color-corrected glory. - Dave] Color correctionDave, What color correction do you do to Kodachromes? Do 40s Kodachromes need any? I believe this particular emulsion should be good for something like 180 years when stored dry and dark. BTW: Love this site and visit twice a day at least to see if there is something new. The photographs by Jack Delano that you put up made me buy 48 rolls of Kodachrome 64: great stuff while it lasts. [Thanks. There was no color correcting for this one aside from hitting Auto Color in Photoshop, which will remove any color cast. Then there is usually a bit of tweaking with the Shadows and Highlights filter. One reason these look so nice is the large film size. The 4 by 5 inch Kodachrome sheets used to make these pictures have 18.4 square inches of usable surface area, which is 18 times as much as a 35mm film frame, which gives almost exactly one square inch. So there is a lot more information to work with. The archival tiffs for these images are from 130 to 200 mb in size. The Delano pictures tend to be underexposed and require a bit more tweaking. Below is a Delano shot with the before-and-after versions in alternating stripes. - Dave] ExposureDave, Thanks for taking the time for your comprehensive reply. Although I have a Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5, I am resigned to using it with Ektachrome 100 EPP readyloads, as Kodachrome is nowadays available in 35 mm only. The Kodachrome goes in a Leica M6 TTL therefor and has to be sent to Kansas (the only remaining K14 lab in the world) for processing. The original Delano slide looks underexposed by at least a full stop and certainly benefits from your post processing. If Delano exposed like this consistedly, I wonder why. Keep up the good work! [The darkness of some of these may have to do with the settings used by the contractors who digitize these for the LOC. They may be erring on the side of caution. You can usually extract a nice picture from the tiff of an underexposed sheet whereas with an overexposed image you are pretty much stuck with what you see. - Dave] Original Kodachrome FilmWe must remember that the original Kodachrome film was ASA 10 and very contrasty. It was hard to overexpose it! Kodachrome II (ASA 25) came out around 1960 and was far better. These photographs are just so good! I can't tear myself away from the computer until I've seen them all. GREAT work, Dave. Scanner?Can anybody comment on the scanner used for these shots? [There is no scanner. The LOC transparencies are digitized using a Sinar studio back, which is something like a regular digital camera (but without a light source, which the user has to supply along with a lens, if one is needed). Basically a giant CCD array that records an image in one to four exposures. - Dave.] (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, WW2)
Romeroville: 1943
... near Chacon, New Mexico." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier for the Office of War Information. ... dad carried a Kodak all over the Pacific in WWII and shot Kodachrome, no less. I still have his slides and for the most part they look ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 5:02pm -

Spring 1943. "Romeroville, near Chacon, New Mexico." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier for the Office of War Information. Dad's KodakMy dad carried a Kodak all over the Pacific in WWII and shot Kodachrome, no less. I still have his slides and for the most part they look like they were shot yesterday. Still have the camera too and it works. [Got a film scanner? Post them here! We'd love to see them. - Dave] Romeroville IIAccording to the Geographic Names Information System, Romeroville had a post office from 1877 until 1953. It's off I-25 just south of Las Vegas. Chacon is about 50 miles north. Romeroville's location on a railroad probably gave it a reason for being. Ghost TownI see one person on one horse, lots of straw or hay piled up but no other sign of life. Is this an abandoned settlement? A former mining area? Any more info at all? RomerovilleA quick Google maps search shows it's still there, and not much has changed. It is, however, rather neatly bisected by I-25. Also, here's a small set of Flickr photos tagged "Romeroville." Romeroville"Settled in 1880, and named for Don Trinidad Romero, a rancher and member of the U.S. Congress. He entertained President and Mrs. Hayes and General Sherman in his $100,000 mansion here. The building was destroyed by fire in 1932." -- T.M. Pearce (Ed.), New Mexico Place Names, 1st Ed. (1965). I-25 bisection aside, you could probably take almost the same photo today -- either in Romeroville itself or somewhere nearby. Northern NM is full of little villages like this. Pop. 3You can find three horses together, one standing and two lying down. Several chickens can be seen also. I loves me some KodachromeThe blue in this picture is almost painful in its perfectness. Amazing. Office of War Information?Any guesses about why the Office of War Information would have been interested in Romeroville? [The OWI photographer John Collier probably thought it was pretty. He took lots of scenic views while traveling to assignments in the West. - Dave] The Two RomerovillesI am from northern New Mexico, and there are two Romerovilles in the area. This picture is of Romeroville near Chacon. The other Romeroville is about 50 miles south near Las Vegas, right off of I-25. Just thought I would clear things up. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, John Collier)
It Hasta Be Shasta: 1965
... fact: the Mount, the Lake, the Dam, and a perfect day for Kodachrome. We were on the next-to-last-last leg our 1965 summer vacation trip ... this! I'm sorry I don't share the fascination with Kodachrome that so many people like, but they usually look fuzzy to me - but ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 03/15/2021 - 9:16pm -

Three of them, in fact: the Mount, the Lake, the Dam, and a perfect day for Kodachrome. We were on the next-to-last-last leg our 1965 summer vacation trip to Mounts Lassen and Shasta, about to head to the coast and the giant redwoods to be driven amongst there and thence homeward. We being my mother, father, older brother and our 1956 Rambler station wagon, performing its last family trip transport duty. Next year it would be a 1966 Rambler wagon. View full size. 101 bet the Rambler returned with the wired on Trees of Mystery cardboard bumper "sticker" 1966 RamblerWonder if your Pop bought his 1966 Rambler from my father. He worked at Dexter Rambler as a salesman in San Rafael. Don [Sorry! Larry Brink in Mill Valley. -tterrace] A full can of Shasta!Wow, great shot! I have seen the lake many times but never full up like this! I'm sorry I don't share the fascination with Kodachrome that so many people like, but they usually look fuzzy to me - but this one is great! Thanks! Do not freezeFrom History - Shasta Pop Did someone say Rambler?We had two when I was a kid. Here's one. KodachromeTo me, though I am far from a professional photographer, it is a surreal medium. This is a beautiful photo but was ever a body of water really that intensely blue? 10 year difference with RamblerI find it amazing the differences between the 1956 Rambler and the 1966 Rambler. I like the unusual style of the 1956 model. Not so much characteristic of other car models of the time. Great photo by the way and a stunning view! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Super Carrier Christmas: 1957
... in their boxes. Nevertheless, they make me happy. Kodachrome, enough said! I love this image! Ok first off its a Kodachrome, enough said. But I love the tinsel on the tree. Yes real tinsel ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/07/2013 - 9:43am -

"Christmas 1957" is the label on this slide from the Kermy and Janet Kodachromes, taken at their house in Baltimore. Gifts include a Revell model aircraft carrier and something called the Shopping Center Game. View full size. Fun for ALL Non-Toxicsays one gift, and I wonder if he really completed that aircraft carrier with its 23,000 parts. Revell aircraft carrier modelSome time in the mid-sixties, I put together an aircraft carrier model like that, though not so large. The icing on the cake was gluing the dozens of tiny aircraft to the deck. (I had two younger brothers, so everything had to be glued down.) Loot aplentyThe two additional Revell boxes promise many happy hours inhaling glue fumes. And a pair of spiffy red boots in the bargain! Shopping Center gameI bought that at an estate sale a couple years back. There are some pictures of it here. U.S.S ForrestalI built the U.S.S. Forrestal a few years later, about 1961. I still have a few of the aircraft from the deck. 1 co-workers brother was killed in the tragic Forrestal fire in 1967. Patrick Wentzel Parkersburg, WV More than an inhalant hazardThat glue would make a crater in the dining room table (whilst assembling a Lockheed Constellation). Followed by a brief lecture from my father. I suspect that he was not without sin. BTW, I crewed in Neptunes. I never knew that they made a model of that critter. A product of the Burbank Iron Works. One point two million rivets in tight formation. b-ballWe had that basketball game-- the ball was a ping pong ball, if I recall correctly, and it shot off the cardboard floor of the game via a lever....fun!! The helicopter that wasn'tHiding underneath the Forrestal box is another for a Piasecki H-16 Transporter helicopter. The model never made it to full production after the second prototype crashed during evaluation by the Air Force. Unfortunately, I can't see enough of the third box to identify the model. B-24 LiberatorThe Revell model under the carrier B-24The third model is a B-24 Liberator. I remember building that same model carrieras well as the helicopter kit beneath it. Brings back vivid memories of those days, with scattered kit parts and the pungent smell of Revell glue (readily sold to kids back then) permeating my bedroom. How I never got high, nor developed an affinity for that glue stuff, amazes me to this day. The chemicals probably killed off a few brain cells along the way, but boy, those kits were fun and launched your imagination! The third modelis the box scale (about 1/92 in this case) Revell B-24 Liberator. I have lusted mightily for that one for some years. Ah, nostalgia! All these kits command prices far in excess of what Kermy's folks had to lay out. One dealer (known for high prices) lists the Forrestal at over $200. Nostalgia at a price. Revell models on the sceneThere are a total of five Revell model boxes visible here. The other model kit hiding below the USS Forrestal carrier kit's box is a B-24 Liberator. There's the Piasecki H-16 helicopter kit and behind the boy there's a couple more models: an A3D Skywarrior model on top and a P2V-7 Neptune model below it. Images of all these boxes can be found here. Kermyalways got the coolest stuff for Christmas! The bookis Sand Dune Pony by Troy Nesbit. Lucky Kermy!Not only did Kermy (who appears to be a year or so older than I am) get some nifty gifts, I envied anyone who could put those models together nicely. God knows I tried, but my models looked thrown together. That's because they were; I wanted to do them in an hour. Some of my friends would have great model airplanes hanging on fishing line from their bedroom ceilings; that was so cool!!! I remember reading the Sand Dune Pony book, though I preferred the Hardy Boys or Tom Swift, Junior. Kermy's shirt is pretty stylin', too! That lucky old Kermy!!! My ForrestalCame 2 years and one week later, I think, on my 10th birthday. You Rang My BellIn the pile on the right I see Miss Frances and her bell on a box of something good from Ding Dong School, a popular TV program when I was a lad in the 1950s. I will readily admit I was bigger fan of Winky Dink and Buffalo Bob who was great fun with his buddy Howdy Doody. Sticking PointI built that B-24 model sometime in the '50s. Revell kits had great detail and lots of little parts. But the most difficult part was keeping the glue from fogging the clear plastic pieces. I was seldom successful at that. Painstakingy painting the pilot was a useless effort when the canopy became a blurry mess. Composite CarrierI too had an aircraft carrier kit; mine was the USS Bon Homme Richard. I kept it for many years and modified it often by adding various vehicles and armaments from other models. Miss Revlon!!!!I would have sold my then five-year-old soul for that platinum-pony-tailed Miss Revlon doll lying atop her box beside the red boots. Kool KermyWith his button down collar AND blue suede shoes Kermy must have been stylin' in '57! FIVE Models for Christmas! Jackpot!I remember building my very first Revell model kit, carefully, lovingly gluing ever tiny piece in place, patiently waiting for it to dry. Then it occurred to me: "Oh, you paint it first . . ." U.S.S. ForrestalI know that girls aren't supposed to be interested in model kits, but as a kid, I was. I bought the U.S.S. Forrestal kit and put it together. I've often wondered what my mother did with it when we moved? A Betsy McCall dollis lurking in the background on the right. Partially hidden by the tree and the basketball game is a rather substantial collection of magazines, newspapers, and phone book or two. Could this indicate an early effort at recycling in '57? [Not if it was like the typical accumulations that could be found at this time around our house 3000 miles to the west. Like ours, it appears to contain at least one mail-order catalog (Wards in our case). Quite possibly Kermy, like me, would eventually have to be torn away from his toys, kicking and screaming, to deal with it. -tterrace] ValuesThe value of mint, unopened model kits can be amazing. If I'd known, I would have bought two of each kit I ever built, but, sadly, only realized this fact 65 years too late. A company called Pocher made 1/8 scale, museum quality models of famous cars; their sealed, unopened kits are like finding gold and they were expensive new. A Model ChildI had that Forrestal and many others by Revell and AirFix. The few I took to decorate my first college apartment are all that remained, after, much to my dismay, my parents gave away the rest from my old room at home. If they weren't turning over in their graves from the recent earthquakes directly under the cemetery where they're buried, they certainly would be anyway--to know I've spent a good part of my inheritance from them paying $200 a whack to replace those models. Figured I'd put them together on snowy winter evenings of my second childhood (and it's snowing right now). What I hadn't figured on is old eyes. They're all still in their boxes. Nevertheless, they make me happy. Kodachrome, enough said!I love this image! Ok first off its a Kodachrome, enough said. But I love the tinsel on the tree. Yes real tinsel that you cannot get anymore. Secondly look at the those glass beads on the tree, we have strands of those on our dinning room tree which has all vintage glass figural ornaments of all different sizes, shapes and colors. Now for the toys! As a boy I would have loved for that ship. I can remember Christmas morning in the late 1970's opening my presents from Santa. I was so excited to find an X-Wing Fighter, Tie Fighter and so forth. I have been capturing our family memories on slide film for years and continue to do so to tis day. I will continue to do so until there is no slide film left on the planet and then I will quietly put my camera away. I attached a photo taken on Christmas Eve in 2006 of our boys. Every Christmas Eve the Elves make deliveries of treats to the neighbors. That B-24!First model I ever built was that same B-24, summer of 1955, when I was 8. I learned the hard way that you REALLY have to refer to the directions when you build those babies. It came out a total mess. I spent THOUSANDS of happy hours as a kid building models by Revell, Aurora, Lindbergh Line, etc., etc. Another thing kids of today seem to have missed out on. U.S.S. Forrestal in Cannes, FranceU.S.S. Forrestal (and Saratoga) were part of the Sixth Fleet. As a child I used to visit the French Rivièra, around Christmas and New Year during several years in the late fifties and early sixties of the former century. The visit of the Sixth Fleet used to be one of the highlights for me and my brother in those days. One of our favourite tours was "rounding" the aircraft carrier by pedalo! During Christmas and New Year there used to be a fair in Cannes, I joined many a ride with an American Navy Sailor in the autoscooter: they liked to share the ride with a young European boy, and we liked to get it for free from an American Sailor. You may have a look at: A few mementos of Forrestal times . . . (Boats & Bridges, Christmas, Kermy Kodachromes)
Fight for Freedom: 1943
... posters to help the war effort." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Rous for the Office of War Information. What ... film holders to identify individual frames. These Kodachrome transparencies are 4x5" individual sheets of film, not a "roll" of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:11pm -

Washington, 1943. "United Nations Fight for Freedom: Colored, white and Chinese Boy Scouts in front of Capitol. They help out by delivering posters to help the war effort." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Rous for the Office of War Information. What photo expert out there can tell us about the numbers on these Kodachromes -- how and at what point in the manufacturing/ exposure/ developing process they were made, and what they signify. The numbersI know that the numbers are exposed during manufacture. however I don't know what they mean. The notches at the top are the "notch code" which tells you what brand and ISO film you're using. I'm not an expert, i'm just taking a large format class right now. [The numbers aren't "exposed." On this example they are holes punched in a little piece of paper, covering up a hole in the film. There is what looks like a date (N 28 1943) stamped in ink under the 22. Another frame from this shoot, showing just one scout, also has the number 22 on it. On other 4x5 Kodachromes the numbers are clear dots in the emulsion itself and there is no little piece of paper and no date. - Dave] Numbers on filmThese numbers are exposed on the rebate of the film by a specially modified, or factory made 4x5 film holder at the time the original shot was taken. This is quite common, and several manufacturers made film holders that would allow for this, as well as many photographers modified their existing film holders to identify individual frames. These Kodachrome transparencies are 4x5" individual sheets of film, not a "roll" of film. The Individual 4x5 sheets of film had to be loaded into film holders in the dark by the photographer before his assignment. No 4x5 film has ever had factory applied numbers other than for film type, and these numbers are not relating to film type. The PosterClick to enlarge. Number on printI'm going to guess the numbers come from the film strip itself. This is the 22nd exposure on the roll. At the very least that makes sense to me as 35mm film has similar numbers on it to this day... [There is no roll. This is sheet film. And this isn't a print, it's a transparency. - Dave] Boy ScoutsThis is a great Boy Scout picture! As a former Eagle Scout I am happy to see it. The young man on the right is wearing a pin on his left pocket indicating that he is a Life Scout, the rank just below Eagle Scout. The two bar patch on his left arm shows that he is a Patrol leader. The red white and blue cord on his shirt is a service award indicating that he was a "Den Chief" for more than a year. A Den Chief is an older Boy Scout who mentors Cub Scouts. He appears to have two "service stars" indicating the number of years that he was in the Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts. He is from Troop 11 in Washington DC according to his shoulder patches. The boy on the left has no rank that I can discern, but if he is wearing a pin instead of a patch, it would be obscured by what appears to be a camping contest medal. He also has a 1942 Camporee patch on his right shirt pocket. He also is from DC but from a different troop, starting with a 5 Unfortunately, since they are saluting, I can't tell you what patrol they were in. I was kind of surprised to see the Pin on the Life Scout rather than a patch, But I suppose during the war the demands for Army uniforms was higher on the production boards lists than Boy Scout uniforms. KodachromeThe row of dots along the bottom are marks left by the film holder used in development. Gene is correct, the yellow square with 22 and other info is indeed from a user supplied 'ID' exposed into the film. The notches on the upper left are the notch code identifying the emulsion for loading in the dark. The pantsI wonder if the war period was the transition between the knicker-type scout pants of the 30s and regular trousers. My dad was a scout in the 30s and wore the knickers. Here the two on the left look like their socks are just pulled up over their cuffs, while the Chinese scout is wearing last year's too-short pants. Note also the uniforms are different shades of khaki - perhaps due to reusing older uniforms or having to use various fabric sources during the war. Photographer John RousThe photographer is my uncle, now deceased, but I have many of his photographs, 2 scrapbooks compiled by his wife, Connie Hicks Rous. I also have his ID card from the war department. John Rous later worked for the Associated Press covering the White House. I have just discovered this site today and will see what how I can contribute more of his work. Eagle Scout hereDPatten, Thanks for the analysis. I have one of those Life Scout pins. The Scout on the left has a "Senior Scout BSA" patch over his left pocket. I have to check my 1942 Boy Scout Handbook. Wasn't the braid for Den Chief a loop hanging from the right shoulder around the right arm? That was the case when I was in the Scouts 1968-1978. This braid seems to be a whistle lanyard. InsigniaCouple of things I've noticed. First, the boy on the left - identified as "colored" - is actually, I believe, of Filipino heritage. I also think that the medal he is wearing is not a camping medal, but is - in fact - the older style of the Islamic "God and Country" award ("In the Name of God", as it's called now), which would fit in with the boy being Filipino. Also, despite his shorter stature, the patch above his pocket identifies him as being a "Senior Scout" - the predecessor to the 1950s' "Explorer Scout", or today's Venturer - meaning that he was at least 15, at the time. This may also explain why he, and the boy in the middle, appear to have lighter-color uniforms, and the difference in the trouser legs. The Scout on the right, by contrast, can be seen to lack the "Senior Scout" patch on his uniform, meaning that he is 14 or less (the "up-grade" at 15 was automatic), which would tie in with the two single-year pins on his uniform. The cord is not a Den Chief's cord - which would be blue and gold and worn on the shoulder - but is probably, as someone has suggested, a whistle lanyard; this would tie in with his Patrol Leader insignia. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Boy Scouts, D.C., WW2)
Jelly-Eggs n Kraut: 1942
... by Ann Rosener for the OWI. This woulda made a great Kodachrome. Kodachrome And thank you for not "colorizing" it, as was once the rage! ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/24/2008 - 11:59pm -

February 1942. "Don't let pretty labels on cans mislead you, but learn the difference between grades and the relative economy of buying larger instead of small cans. The Pure Food Law requires packers to state exact quantity and quality of canned products, so take advantage of this information and buy only after thorough inspection of labels." View full size. Medium format nitrate negative by Ann Rosener for the OWI. This woulda made a great Kodachrome. KodachromeAnd thank you for not "colorizing" it, as was once the rage! Plastic bags?The Jelly Eggs are packaged what appear to be clear plastic polyethylene bags. I thought they were used more in the post war period. You learn something new every day. [The bags would be cellophane, not polyethylene. - Dave] SauerkrautI actually surprised to find that during the war there wasn't a patriotic ban on German foods such as sauerkraut. [It's from New York. - Dave] Sauerkraut IIDuring the First World War Sauerkraut was known as "Liberty Cabbage." Shades of "Freedom Fries," but with a lot more cause. Abstractly..Wonderful composition, as a picture: the angular white "23 cents" sign mirroring the angular dark space above her. The delightful roundness of the jellybeans in a hundred tones, and the advertising graphics on the 'kraut cans, and you've got a lovely photo. Silver FlossYou'll be glad to know that this company is alive and well and cranking out the Liberty Cabbage! http://www.silverfloss.com/ I love the word "cellophane"!A picture like this indulges my imagination of how women shopped and cooked at that time. I also enjoy seeing the fashion--her jaunty hat, her lack of makeup (a beautiful lady!) ... And, I'm bringing "jelly-eggs" back! Both coasts coveredBy your friendly A&P store. Silver Floss is in my pantry as I type, but the jelly beans, eggs or babies are no longer in my diet, alas. I relished the trips to the A&P with my mother, since I usually had a few pennies to spend at the seemingly endless glass-enclosed candy counters on the right of the store, while momma shopped the 5 and ten cent bargains on the left. (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Stores & Markets, WW2)
The Summer of '41, 2.0
... Great work. Thanks for the tutorial. You mentioned Kodachrome and the Alienskin plugin. I want to emulate Kodachrome so that color photos will look like the Kodachrome images here ... 
 
Posted by John Derry - 06/30/2009 - 3:00pm -

A colorized version of Russell Lee's "Summer of '41," posted here in 2007. View full size. I wrote an article for Rangefinder Publishing's AfterCapture magazine detailing my technique. You can download "Colorizing a Memory" here. Nice work!I especially like the realistic flesh tones. They're among the hardest colors to get right. Backyard BeachLove the grape Popsicle! Suntan oil came in a can?? [It's a can of Pompeiian olive oil. Click to enlarge. - Dave] Colorization Sucks!No matter how good the so-called "artist" might be at it, it reminds me of the "fake stereo" records of my childhood, where classic recordings by Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton and other 1920's, 30's and 40's musicians would be "enhanced" with echo-chamber effects, phasing, and other such audio fakery before they were sold as LP collections to a public that had never heard the originals. Never mind that the original musicians and recording engineers had nothing of the sort in mind— this technical effing around was considered an "improvement" by the utter morons who were responsible for all those travesties. Old saying, origin unknown: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" A STUPENDOUS job.A STUPENDOUS job. And how bizarre that just adding color makes it look like it was only yesterday. Except for the swimsuits, which are a bit different, and the fact that people aren't actively TRYING to crisp themselves anymore (Olive oil!? -- I thought the baby oil phase was bad) people seem still much the same, lying around in the yard, goofing off. Re: Colorization SucksNo doubt, some folks don't or won't like the idea of adding subjective color to a monochromatic image. However, it is a visual technique capable of revitalizing precious memories. I've done colorizations for family members of deceased loved ones in which they wish to memorialize and remember the family member as they appeared in life. Life is not black and white—it is in color. The addition of well-applied color to a b/w photograph is sometimes the only way to heighten the sense of life the subjects once possessed. The result is often emotionally overwhelming for the family members upon first viewing. It's not necessarily a matter of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it.". Sometimes it's a matter of "if it adds life, enhance it." Fun With ColorI enjoy seeing what can be done. No harm done, it's another way to have fun, and it brings out details you might miss in the original (per the grape popsicle). Advice to Colorists: never leave anything uncolored even if it is supposed to be grey (such as the concrete wall). Real life surfaces are mottled, and shadows take on subtle colors reflected from nearby patches of light. Aside from this, this picture is very convincing. Little Pink Houses, or I Don't Believe in YesterdayWhy, exactly, should a photograph originally taken nearly 70 years ago look as though it "was taken yesterday"? What is gained? If an original photo was taken in black and white because color photography wasn't available or affordable to the photographer or just because he or she wanted it in black and white, I don't see how primping it up improves anything. I hope nobody goes after Mathew Brady's work with this process. I couldn't disagree moreI couldn't disagree more strongly on the anti-colorization sentiments. The original B/W image still remains so where is the downside? The upside is an incredible view of the past that is more familiar to us or perhaps more consistent with our present context. I LOVE the colorized version. It transports me back to that time and places me in the picture for sure. It is like watching B/W WWII footage versus color footage. The difference is staggering. Keep up the awesome work! Color me impressedJohn, this is fabulous. I'm relatively new to colorizing, and while it's a lot of fun, I find my results a little disappointing at times. Thanks to your description of how you achieve more natural skin tones, I now know why. To all the colorizing detractors: colorizing an old picture is like being a kid and getting a new coloring book and a big box of Crayolas. It doesn't damage the original, for which the colorizer still has the utmost respect. It's just fun to see an old image brought to life by imagining it as we would see it had we been there to witness it in person. It brings a freshness and an immediacy to the image. We don't see in black and white. Tea said it best: "...adding color makes it look like it was only yesterday." Mouthwatering...I mean of course the grape flavor popsicle. I have a small supply of grape soda imported from the US in the refrigerator for good humor moments like these and I'm gonna open one right now. Grape popsicles are a big part of my childhood memories of summer. Just like the small of Coppertone. or the taste of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Great work. Thanks for the tutorial. You mentioned Kodachrome and the Alienskin plugin. I want to emulate Kodachrome so that color photos will look like the Kodachrome images here on Shorpy. Even with the plug-in I've had no luck trying, the effect doesn't even come close. Any ideas? Re: Kodachrome EmulationI'm pretty sure that whatever method Alienskin uses to approximate Kodachrome's "look" is based on modern samples. The Kodachrome emulsion of 60 years ago was very different, with a color balance that favored yellows and reds. You could probably use the Alienskin Exposure2 plugin as a starting point, but you'd need to do additional color correction to dial an image's color to match the old Kodachrome look. Purple BikiniCheck out the pipes on her! Was she the local arm-wrestling champ, or something? Maybe the popsicle is part of her training diet. Colorization goes back many yearsI have a photo that used to hang on my grandmother's bedroom wall that was colorized, in 1900. I am not sure if it was the photographer, or someone else, but whoever it was dated their work on the back. I haven't liked many of the colorized things I have seen online, because the colors are too bright, in many of them. There are a few that I like, though, including this one, and I certainly don't see any harm in it! If someone painted the original, and there were no copies, I would be upset, but I don't think there is anyone here who would do that, anyway! "Everyone is turning colors"So I'm guessing that the commentors who don't care for colorization were revolted by the movie "Pleasantville." "What do you want to do to me right now? Come on. Everyone is turning colors. Kids are making out in the street. No one is getting their dinner. Hell, you could have a flood any minute! Pretty soon, the women could be going off to work, while the men stayed at home and cooked!" -- David in "Pleasantville" (Member Gallery, Colorized Photos, Russell Lee)
Eastman Kodak: 1905
... Rochester, New York." Future home of the late lamented Kodachrome. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... out the window. The bikes left at the curb. RIP Kodachrome I assume that Shorpy readers will have heard the news that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 11:55am -

Circa 1905. "Eastman Kodak Co., State Street factory and main office. Rochester, New York." Future home of the late lamented Kodachrome. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Love OrnateSomeone please tell mt that the wonderful little building next door (that housed the moving company) is still standing. If you look closely, you can see a person going into the store. Also, the street cleaner bucket on wheels looks just like the one in the old Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Notice the bicyclesNo locks! I reiterate, NO LOCKS! Kodak is alive and wellA year ago I went out to Kodak in Rochester for training on their computer to plate and workflow systems. I assure you there is still a huge number of Kodak employees in Rochester. The George Eastman house was an experience of a lifetime. I want to go back and experience the world's largest collection of photographic images. In the wagon:Barrels of Dektol and D-76. Good Ole FredHe'll take anything you have and move it or store it for you. I'm guessing he has a bigger building elsewhere! Human ResourcesThis past summer I struck up a conversation with another diner in a restaurant. He was from Rochester, so the conversation drifted to Eastman Kodak. He asked me to guess how many employees Kodak had that were still in Rochester, I said 100. His answer, six. I thought about it later and couldn't figure out what those 6 people were doing. Licensing the Kodak name? Administering the pension system? Anybody know? [Eastman Kodak has over 20,000 employees and annual revenues of around $8 billion. Its headquarters are still in Rochester, so I'd bet that more than six people work there! - Dave] I think you're right Dave, I just went on their Website and they appear to have about 20 Job openings in Rochester. A Kodak momentThis picture wipes me out. The plainness of the buildings is their beauty. A few modes of transportation going on, except for a car. A trolley, bicycle, horse and wagon/carriage. I wonder if people named their horses back then. Notice the man looking out the window, 4th floor, right building. I wonder what he was thinking about. DetailsI like the human details in these photos. The fellow leaning out the window. The bikes left at the curb. RIP KodachromeI assume that Shorpy readers will have heard the news that Dwayne's Photos, the sole remaining Kodachrome processor, used up the last batch of chemicals produced by Kodak just before Dec 31, 2010 to process all remaining submissions of Kodachrome. Now I'll never know what's on the half-roll of Super-8 stuck in my camera when the motor jammed 35 years ago. All of it goneI checked google street view, and I don't see any of the buildings from this picture. Is it fair to assume all of it is lost? Love the picture though! Kodak in Rochester todayI've lived in Rochester my entire life and remember Kodak in when it was the largest employer in the city. According to an article in the Rochester Business Journal Kodak now employs about 7400 people in the area. Sadly these buildings are long gone and the location is now a parking lot for Kodak Tower which was built around 1913. This photo is looking south down State Street at Platt Street. View Larger Map kodak is a disgracewhat you fail to realize is that kodak used to employe over 60,000 people in rochester, now they employe less than 4000, most of which are in management positions. my father was a 3rd generation kodak worker who was recently laid off after 35 years of faithful service. that company was his life and they hung him out to dry. those 20,000 are mostly in mexico, since kodak china went belly up, and those job openings are all temp. jobs. kodak wants to keep downsizing until they can sell the kodak name to someone like fuji, who is the biggest film and imaging business. george eastman would be ashamed of what his empire has become. [What nonsense. George Eastman was intelligent man and a believer in scientific progress, so he'd hardly be surprised (much less "ashamed") that his business would encounter difficulties once its main product became obsolete. Corporations don't last forever; most are lucky to number their years in decades. This one has lasted a more than a century -- a long and distinguished history. - Dave] Kodak momentWonderful photo. I work at Kodak's State Street facility as a contractor. I'm very interested in local history and specifically the history of Kodak and its buildings. In my job I get to access parts of the Kodak facility which most people don't see and although a lot of the historic aspects are gone, details still remain and to an amateur historian it's wonderful to be able to walk the halls where history was made. To clear up the employment question, there are currently around 7600 direct hire employees at Kodak in the Rochester facilities plus many hundreds more contract workers. This photo shows the State Street frontage prior to the construction of the iconic Tower in 1912, which would be seen in more recent photos rising behind the far left side of the six story building in the foreground. All have now been replaced by more modern structures (the last constructed around 1948). It's sad to see the buildings which have been lost to time, but Kodak had to be progressive and modern and as buildings became outdated and even structurally unsound, they had no choice but to rebuild. (The Gallery, DPC, Rochester)
Winter in Bedford: 1950s
... Grover? What are you two hoodlums doing in Quebec? Kodachrome! They give is those nice bright colors. Hope to see more 50's Canadian Kodachrome shots, Islander. [More in the Member Gallery. -tterrace] ... 
 
Posted by Islander800 - 02/16/2014 - 9:26pm -

The winter of 2013-14 may seem brutal, but as a kid in Bedford, Quebec (just a few miles north of Vermont), in the late 1950s, I loved winter. We played outside all day, summer and winter (no electronic distractions!), and this shot shows a bunch of us on a twelve-foot pushed-up snow pile on the laneway of a neighbour. Many snowball fights and slides ensued. This is circa 1957 and I'm the little guy in the front with the slippery plastic boots, great for traction (not!). View full size. Scut? Grover?What are you two hoodlums doing in Quebec? Kodachrome!They give is those nice bright colors. Hope to see more 50's Canadian Kodachrome shots, Islander. [More in the Member Gallery. -tterrace] Snowball TargetsI can see two caps that would have been great targets for snowballs. Back in the "Hood!"Boy does this shot take me back! I was raised in Ottawa (Ontario not Kansas) at just about this same time. (I was 10 in 1957.) We were told to "go outside and play" any day we weren't in school! Digging snow forts out of snow banks, snowball fights, sliding on toboggans and sleds, skating at the elementary school rink, we always had activities to keep us occupied and lots of kids to do it with. I live in northern Vermont now and still love to play in the ice and snow, skating and skiing as often as possible. Thanks for the great memories! Dynamic RangeI am so impressed with the dynamic range of Kodachrome, and the photographer who took the photo. It is rare to see snow exposed so that it is white with noticeable details, and yet still have the other subjects well lit and colorful. I have a professional $6000 full frame SLR camera and lens set that I would have to use either a double exposure/ Photoshop or HDR techniques to get this dynamic range. The quality of the photos is a pleasure as well as the story the faces tell. The snow kidsWho are the others--family, friends? I don't mean names but do you still know any of these children? Cool image. Mountains of Fun!Love this image, you all look right out of a scene from "Christmas Story"... Beautiful colorThose slides are a treasure! Were those the rubber boots that you had to put on over your shoes? Those were a MAJOR pain in the neck, for both kids and moms! Putting them on was a production and so was taking them off. Your feet usually came out of your shoes and then you had to struggle to pull the shoes out of the boots. It was worth it, if you stayed out for hours, but many kids would get cold and go back in after 15 minutes. I didn't realize what a drag that was for moms until my own kids started doing it! I wish my family would have done slides, rather than color prints. The prints are in such bad shape now, that it looks like we were kids several hundred years ago, rather than 40-50 years ago! Bedford!if you have any photos of Bedford, QC you would like to share, check out this Facebook page. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Just What He Always Wanted: 1962
... bounce-flash shot; according to my note on the mount it's Kodachrome II, which had been introduced the previous year. View full size. Kodachrome II I miss those deep colors -- especially the reds. Style ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 12/09/2009 - 3:45pm -

In answer to numerous (well, two) requests for the companion shot to Just What I Always Wanted, here's my brother feigning delight over a box of handkerchiefs. Unlike the vase I was holding, this really was one of his presents, lucky him. Back in 1962, I cleverly captioned the slide mount: "How nice." The general dearth of presents under the tree leads me to believe this is after Christmas day. Another bounce-flash shot; according to my note on the mount it's Kodachrome II, which had been introduced the previous year. View full size. Kodachrome III miss those deep colors -- especially the reds. StyleThat would be kinda a stylish sweater even today. Amazing how some things don't change. HankiesI bet he is thinking "I wish I had runny nose right now so I could blow it on one of my new handkerchiefs. But, golly jeepers, they are nice! I almost hate to use them." Marry me tterraceA shot from the set of Mad Men. Oh..wait. Henry Mitchell!tterrace's brother bears a strong resemblance to Dennis the Menace's dad on the TV series with Jay North. My sister was in love with him and his professorial, intellectual good looks. She did end up marrying a similar looking fellow. The glasses are cool again today, great photo. Brother with the Datsun?Is this the same brother as the one in this shot? https://www.shorpy.com/node/6916 It's really interesting to see those major shifts in style through the lens of an individual, particularly a male, since men tend to be a little more insulated than women from the biggest fashion changes. He looks great, either way, totally cool. His father's sonLooks just like his dad at a much younger age, with a hint of Mom. HypoxiaIt's remarkable how much change-- with respect to fashion, design, politics, communication, and society at large-- was packed into the breathless five-year breathless year period between 1963 and 1968. I suppose we experience something similar today with information technology, but change in every other respect seems glacial by comparison. tterrace's broHe made it to the big time. This image has been appropriated as a promo for the Jalopy Journal's "Hokey Ass Message Board" calendar: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=7326 (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, tterrapix)
High Society: 1960
... Crew race at New London, Connecticut." Man overboard! 35mm Kodachrome slide by Toni Frissell. View full size. Pinch Me! "I must ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/25/2023 - 2:45pm -

June 18, 1960. "Rowing, Harvard-Yale Regatta. Crew race at New London, Connecticut." Man overboard! 35mm Kodachrome slide by Toni Frissell. View full size. Pinch Me!"I must be dreaming" Shipshape and Camel fashionIt appears the Captain doesn't mind getting a little ash on his yacht. Tom?I'm getting a Talented Mr. Ripley vibe here. UnfilteredI guess it’s less gross to flick an unfiltered butt into the ocean than a cigarette with a filter. Since Shorpy is a wholesome family site, I won’t say what we used to call unfiltered smokes. 1960 in reviewHere is a list of 1960 events and births. A few which stand out to me include: February: Greensboro, NC -- four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. March: The United States announces that 3,500 American soldiers will be sent to Vietnam. April: The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1. June: A smoking hot, shirtless man doesn't mind having his lack of body fat admired by a woman on a yacht during Harvard-Yale Regatta, New London, Connecticut. July: Following the admission of the State of Hawaii as the 50th state in August 1959, the new (and current) 50-star Flag of the United States is first officially flown over Philadelphia. August: The newly named Beatles begin a 48-night residency at the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany. Let me just ... oh my!She's trouble! Pieces of ice on her finger aside, she might be having a moment inspired by her second (more likely third or fourth) G&T, and the day watching the races. She's sizing up the evening's potential as only her circumstances allow ... she'll meet everyone for dinner at a select spot, and certainly grab a seat next to him. Lively conversation to follow above the linen, with perhaps more exploration below deck. Those Vassar women -- [If they were all laid end to end ... - Dave] Privileged WorldI grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in the 1970s in Groton, which is the land you can see in this picture. These people might as well have been on the dark side of the moon to me. I heard about the regatta yearly in the papers, but it just wasn't anything of significance to lower middle-class folk. Gold Star Memorial BridgeI`ve personally been over it a few times, fantastic structure(s). The original span was "twinned" in 1973, and now carries northbound I-95 traffic. New London's BridgesJudging by location of the Gold Star Bridge and the Thames River Bridge in this photo, the Versatile is just off the shore of the US Coast Guard Academy. Both the Gold Star and Thames River Bridges are still there and very busy. The Gold Star Bridge where Interstate 95 crosses the Thames River is now a two-span bridge having the southbound span added on in 1973. The Thames River Bridge is owned by Amtrak and was converted from a bascule bridge to a vertical-lift bridge in 2008. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Boats & Bridges, Toni Frissell)
The King Sisters: 1965
... variety series The King Family on ABC-TV." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/08/2023 - 4:13pm -

March 1965. "The King Sisters in rehearsal for musical variety series The King Family on ABC-TV." 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for Look magazine. View full size. How I wish ...I was there to see that. What a time that was, that will never come again. A Blow Against the Counterculture — Not"What a time that was, that will never come again." I hope it doesn't. Endless war, rioting in the cities, and the constant derision of the emerging counterculture as weird, evil and silly (all at the same time). I'm glad that era is behind us. Older people seized on shows like this as proof the mainstream culture was alive and well, even when it was on life support. The situation seemed hopeless to many of us who lived through it. Coif, CoifThe majority of the girls in my high school senior yearbook had identical hairstyles. Yes, I am a geezer and hope to remain one for a good while yet. That's a WinOne of the sisters, Luise King, married guitarist Alvino Rey, and they are the grandparents of musicians Win and Will Butler of the band Arcade Fire. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, John Vachon, LOOK, Music, TV)
The Summer of '40
... that comes to mind ...is "sunny disposition." Miss Kodachrome of 1940 Whose name is on the mailer? Pre-War YScuba has a ... 
 
Posted by bronson - 09/20/2011 - 11:59pm -

From a set of Kodaslide transparencies found in a mailer postmarked 8/12/40; rate was 1½ cents from Rochester, NY (developed by Kodak) to Paul Smiths, NY. The rest of the set is here. View full size. War's EveFrance, Czechoslovakia, and Poland were gone. Germany had invaded the USSR. Japan was preparing to attack the US. Already sliding down the abyss and yet the summer light was beautiful. Girls and babies laughed and the elegant wooden yachts slid over the water. There is something immensely poignant and sad about this wonderful series. Thanks for posting them. I wish...I knew her name, and how her life turned out, the baby's too. I love these beautiful moments, frozen forever. The phrase that comes to mind...is "sunny disposition." Miss Kodachrome of 1940Whose name is on the mailer? Pre-WarYScuba has a good comment, but I'll make one minor correction... In the summer of 1940 the Germans and USSR were still BFFs (on paper anyhow), all in keeping with the Ribbentropp-Molotov Pact of 1939 (which also partitioned Poland between them). Whilst the Germans were running rampant over France, Norway, Denmark, and the BeNeLux countries, the Soviets took the opportunity to occupy and annex Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union didn't happen until June of 1941, about a year later. In 1940, they were still in the halcyon days of their relationship, or so the Soviets thought, anyhow. Me, minus 30 years to the dayThe photos are beautiful, but what jumped right out at me was that they were taken exactly 30 years to the day of my birthday. I should ask my folks if the weather was as sunny and bright as it was in these pics. Thanks for posting these. [That date is when the pictures were mailed, not when they were taken. - Dave] Yachts in the Flickr photosetI would bet a considerable amount of imaginary money that those wooden sailboats are the 1899-vintage Idem-class sloops of the St. Regis Yacht Club. All 12 original Idems, plus one launched in 2004, still race at St. Regis. Race 21, apparently the sloop in these photos, presently bears the name MAITA. You would win that bet.You would win that bet. On a side noteI have not been able to identify the young lady or the child. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Pretty Girls)
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