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Picket Fences: 1905
Ocean Grove, New Jersey, circa 1905. "Tent life." Looks relaxing, doesn't it? ... got the best of me and I drove the extra 5 minutes to Ocean Grove on the way home. I took this photo from almost the same ... same and the tents look somewhat similar. A variety of Ocean Grove photos that I've taken can be seen on my New Jersey photo ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/12/2014 - 2:54pm -

Ocean Grove, New Jersey, circa 1905. "Tent life." Looks relaxing, doesn't it? 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. This was typicalThe tent platform with the frame structure at the back was typical of such places - Chautauqua, NY, Lakeside, OH, and Bay View, MI, are three that come to mind. They also began as Methodist summer settlements. Not rental necessarily, Thomas Edison married into the Miller family that was one of the founders of Chautauqua. He would visit there throughout his life. The Miller cottage is still there - still owned by the family. Somewhere in TimeOk, curiosity got the best of me and I drove the extra 5 minutes to Ocean Grove on the way home. I took this photo from almost the same location as the original photographer. Despite the fact that much of the physical components of the area have been replaced since 1906, the original wood structure appears to be the same and the tents look somewhat similar. A variety of Ocean Grove photos that I've taken can be seen on my New Jersey photo collection. Cheers! Contemporary stylingToday the tent would be termed "outdoor living room". It's all the rage on TV and in the magazines, but is an old idea. Wonder where they keep the grill? Plate 15Here's a terrific map of Ocean Grove, dated 1889: And an undated one here. Ocean Grove is still a dry town. My friends have visited, said that the big treat is to get an ice cream cone down near the beach. Most folks drive over to Point Pleasant for liquid refreshment. Tent in front, house in back?I guess I don't understand the design here. I see a wood-frame house at the back, and tent up front. I'm assuming it's a rental-type arrangement, but I'm not sure what purpose the tent serves. Ocean GroveThis community was set up for revival meetings, and also to be close to the beach. People, by no means rich ones, would come in every summer for the revival meetings. There was a big tabernacle for that sort of thing. The permanent house in back would hold the kitchen and the necessaries, and the tent up front would hold the parlour and bedrooms. They used to put up a gate to shut the town off every Sunday, lest anybody desecrate the Sabbath. It is all still there, although the gate is no longer in use. Methodist campOcean Grove was one of several Methodist camps in New Jersey and elsewhere. Over time, many of the tents were replaced with cottages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Grove,_New_Jersey Tent MakeoverThe settlement began as a Methodist tent camp, but living in tents down the Jersey shore year-round proved untenable. So frame structures were added on to the back. Those homes are insanely expensive now. They Still Have TentsI snapped this shot a couple of years ago. The "tent people" still return to Ocean Grove every summer. Ocean Grove isn't known as much as a religiously tolerant town--until 1981, they actually put a barrier up on the one road in and out of the area on Sundays because they didn't allow driving on Sunday. Also, until not too long before that time, you wouldn't have been able to lease a house (all homes are leased for 99 year periods, you don't "own" a home there) if you were Catholic or a Jew. Stop Thief!Hmmm. I wonder what the reward being offered was for. Ocean Grove BuildingsThe main buildings -- just 114 sheds, really, with facilities -- stand throughout the year. But each spring, renters unfurl the tents and customize each one with furnishings, flowers and the like. Some are fourth or fifth generation visitors. Presidents at the turn of the last century often visited, including William McKinley and James Garfield, who died not far away in Elberon, NJ. President Ulysses S. Grant arrived in 1875, found the gates locked due to the prohibition on carriages, and simply tethered his horses and walked to his sister's cottage. Times were different back then. So were presidents. TentsThe tent expands the living space available to the tenters. Over the winter, the tents are removed and all furniture is stored in the wooden structure. The tenters are a community all to themselves, The entire town ("God's Square Mile") is owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (http://www.OGCMA.org). Most of the town is now permanent homes, not tents. The town is a National Historic District for the hundreds of wonderfully preserved Victorian and Queen Anne homes. That's my tent!Great photo! We are the current residents of this particular tent and have been since 1972. The more current photo someone posted in comments shows that the little fence is gone and has been replaced with a hedge. While not as picturesque it does show a bit more security and privacy. (The Gallery, Camping, DPC, Travel & Vacation)
Ocean Park: 1915
Santa Monica, Calif., circa 1915. "Pier Avenue, Ocean Park." Meet you in an hour at the Sundae Shop! 5x7 glass negative, ... from the other side! "DUH". What could have been Ocean Park was the town between Santa Monica (to the north) and Venice. Both ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/07/2018 - 12:58pm -

Santa Monica, Calif., circa 1915. "Pier Avenue, Ocean Park." Meet you in an hour at the Sundae Shop! 5x7 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. The man without his hat.Do you think he's embarrassed ? FocusGreat to see some West Coast work. The photographer used a view camera for this image. He decided to adjust the lens position to get deep focus on only the left side of Pier Avenue, where most of the interest is. The soft focus on the right was a result of that. The films of that era were "slow" and you couldn't always get straight-on deep focus. Camera adjustments were part of the tricks of the trade. Dude knew his gear. [There is no "film". This was shot on glass. - Dave] I love this pictureAnd I thought car shows were just an idea of today. Autos are lined up exactly like the ones shown this summer. Where's WaldoOne of the joys of reading the Shorpy comments is going back to look at the picture again ( and again ) to try and find the things other readers caught. It took me a minute but finally got the popcorn wagon. EMOCLEW A very beautiful and high quality photograph of an interesting street scene. A strange thing though, is that on the far distant hillside, the large letters that spell out "WELCOME" appear backwards, as though the photograph was printed backwards, and yet all of the rest of the signage in this street scene appears normal. Why does the word WELCOME appear backwards??? Oops! In looking closer, it's not big letters on the hillside; I think it's a "WELCOME" banner stretched across the street, to be read from the other side! "DUH". What could have beenOcean Park was the town between Santa Monica (to the north) and Venice. Both Ocean Park and Venice developed ahead of Santa Monica because they are at sea level while the cliffs, or palisades, separated SM from the beach. There was much political infighting between the three towns. Ocean Park eventually became part of Santa Monica while Venice was annexed into Los Angeles—and went downhill soon after. Had the towns merged themselves together, there would now be a very large autonomous beach city covering the area. [And it took Richard Diebenkorn to put the place on the map. - Dave] Popcorn wagonWow, I’ve never seen one of those old-time popcorn wagons in its actual era - only the reproduction ones you see at Disney, etc. [I'm counting the minutes until someone finds it in the Cretors catalogue. - Dave] Ha - I seem to have missed that post! Good GriefWhat a marvelous photo. A perfect representation of the time and place. Kudos to the photographer. Rental vehicleIt seems like the first car is a rental, waiting for customers. Shoulda Said --Regarding film vs glass, I should have said "emulsion". [And you still can! Comments can be edited. - Dave] Ocean Park Peer Roller CoasterOcean Park too had his roller coaster, like the Bayou City Roller seen a few days ago, the Ingersol's Scenic Railroad. Although in the Wikipedia lemma about the Pacific Ocean Park it is said that this roller coaster is one of the six of the pier's original attractions that were incorporated into the new park. As far as my research says, the roller coaster in the POP was not Ingersoll's Scenic Railroad but the 1957 Sea Serpent roller coaster at the same spot. Metropoles ApartAmusing synchronicity that this image has a sign for a Hotel Metropole on the left side of the street. It looks like an advertising billboard. As it also seems to include the amenity of being an "Auto Inn," I doubt if it refers to the Catalina Island hotel shown in the next Shorpy post. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Stores & Markets)
Ocean Grove: 1905
The New Jersey shore circa 1905. "Bathing at Ocean Grove." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... After the built a number of rock Jetties out into the ocean the riptides decreased. However I still remember there still being ropes ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/26/2011 - 8:43pm -

The New Jersey shore circa 1905. "Bathing at Ocean Grove." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. We see the well uniformed crewestablishing the final steps to the newly arrived trans- Atlantic cable, altogether now, 1-2-3 PULL ! ToppersI can't get over two women that have on hats, one looks like she has a bell on top of her head and the other looks like she could promenade down Main Street in the Easter parade. Also, the woman left center looks like she may have on some sort of life preserver. Her hat looks weird, almost like a bird's nest. AppendagesPlease tell me those are some sort of Victorian water wings she is carrying out of the water. The guy with his hands clasped behind his back would like to know too. So awesome!To see where I grew up, 80 years before I was born. I feel strangely connected to these people who have been on the beach so many years ago. Poor little girlWhat has happened to this child? She looks as though her leg has been gashed and she's lost some clothing as well. The "Grove"...At one time the Jersey Shore had seriously bad Rip tides which can sweep a swimmer off their feet and out to sea in a minute. The ropes seen in this photo were there for folks who could not swim that well to hold onto. After the built a number of rock Jetties out into the ocean the riptides decreased. However I still remember there still being ropes as late as 1974 or '75. Wistful VistaI was struck by the lovely young lady at the right with that incredible shawl. She looks like she really wishes she could join in the fun. Once again, some seem to come to the seashore just to verify that it is still there. 60 Years Before Candid CameraLove the three ladies holding hands in a circle and laughing hysterically as they tug at one another. So many pictures from this era show people looking so stiff, so formal. These are real people having real moments, 60 years before Candid Camera. I like spotting the family groups, huddling together, not straying too far. My grandparents, all of whom I was lucky enough to know when I was little, would have been about fifteen to twenty years old in 1905, and I can imagine any of them in this scene. Please do not enter Ocean GroveDuring the late fifties, before Asbury Park (the town to the north) began its decline, our family spent the day on the beautiful beaches. Tired of the cold water and strong undertow, we went for a walk in the warmer air. We noted that the boardwalk was guarded at the border with Ocean Grove, and our family was not permitted to cross. My father, brother and I were indecently dressed, on a Sunday. We wore no shirt, jacket or swimsuit top as required by law. Ocean Grove was and to this day remains a strict religious center run by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. Re: the two ladies by the lifeguard towerWell I guess if you're going to play leapfrog you might as well be in the water! Either that or it's a very public backrub. FlotationI wonder if the girl in the light coloured bathing costume in the centre has got something akin to the bulky kapok-filled "Mae West" life vests that we all wore into the '70s. Mae West would have been 11 or 12 at the time of this photo, so the term would still be a few decades in the future. (The Gallery, DPC, Swimming)
Dapper 40s Couple
... This might be the corner of Sherwood Place and Ocean View Avenue in Norfolk VA. Nothing looks the same, except for the location of the fire hydrant. Ocean View Amusement Park was located just down the road at Granby Street and ... 
 
Posted by dboynton - 04/06/2013 - 4:19pm -

Grandpa Grimme traveled a lot, and took a lot of Kodachromes with his Argus C3. This was in a slide tray that included a lot of friends, and clearly the photos were taken all over the country. I've tried to fashion a triangulation on "Sherwood Place," along with "Pineview Apartments" and an amusement park, to no avail. Time frame appears to be late 40s, based on the cars, and the slide frames, manufactured between 1939 and 1949. But I love the photo. Hope y'all do, too - and maybe there's a better detective out there than I have been. View full size. Norfolk VA PerhapsThis might be the corner of Sherwood Place and Ocean View Avenue in Norfolk VA. Nothing looks the same, except for the location of the fire hydrant. Ocean View Amusement Park was located just down the road at Granby Street and Ocean View Avenue, about where the park appears to be in the background. It is NorfolkWayne Johnston has nailed it. Here's a post card of Ocean View Amusement Park showing the Casino Theater building seen in dboynton's slide. Thanks!Thanks, guys. That must be it, as the Grimmes lived on East Ocean View Avenue during World War II. Pineview Apartments must have been their home. Mom always said Grandpa helped design a church in Norfolk; I wonder if it was one of the churches nearby. Ocean View site..There used to be a very nice hotel and apartment building on that site.. the PINE CREST. By the 1960s it was more of a transient hotel. Torn down in the 1970s. Still a vacant lot at this point. Attached is a post card of the building. They would have been standing just to the right of the building... the part that you can't see. There are several editions of the Post cards avail. on ebay if you need one. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Ocean Springs: 1901
1901. "Washington Avenue and Post Office -- Ocean Springs, Mississippi." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit ... You ain't seen nothin' yet! The men here from Ocean Springs are pretty excited about seeing a camera. Wait till they get ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/07/2022 - 3:58pm -

1901. "Washington Avenue and Post Office -- Ocean Springs, Mississippi." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. "Freeze"I'm betting the "Detroit Photographic Company" photographer yelled out "Freeze", "Hold that pose" or whatever was appropriate in 1901 to everyone in this image, including the folks by the wagon at the far end of the street. [I can see that door right through Eeyore's ear, so not everyone froze. - Dave] Incredible!The micro light and shadow on the foliage is stunning. I'm believing that a slightly longer exposure allowed for more light to expose the film and lighten the shaded street scene but allowed for the breeze in the trees to create such a beautiful image overall. I wonder if the photographer had an inkling that this would/could happen? Truly incredible. You ain't seen nothin' yet!The men here from Ocean Springs are pretty excited about seeing a camera. Wait till they get their first glimpse of a female ankle! Not Too CharmedHope the photographer has some Ocean "Spring" in his/her step -- looks like the opposite of Southern Charm/Hospitality on the looks of most faces looking at the camera. Hope the photographer was wearing pitchfork and salt-proof britches! O.S. P.O.The Ocean Springs Archives pretty much says the post office moved around according to who was Postmaster. If they were a merchant, the post office was located in their store. The closest thing I found to an address was: "There is a high degree of certitude that the site of the first post office called “Ocean Springs”, which was established in December 1854, was situated on the west side of Washington Avenue near Old Fort Bayou. The very popular Aunt Jenny’s Catfish Restaurant at 1217 Washington Avenue occupies this location today." Below is the Google Street view of Aunt Jenny's on the right. (The Gallery, DPC, Small Towns)
The Damner: 1920
... is going on here, but that's an Ohio license plate. Ocean Beach I'm going with Ocean Beach. There's surf, so it can't be the bay side. And there's a hint of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/22/2014 - 7:48pm -

The Bay Area in 1920. "Dodge auto on boardwalk. 'The Damner' on Miller Tires Coast-to-Coast." All we know about what seems to have been a promotional stunt is preserved in this 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Ohio?Not sure how much help it would be tracking down what the heck is going on here, but that's an Ohio license plate. Ocean BeachI'm going with Ocean Beach. There's surf, so it can't be the bay side. And there's a hint of Marin visible through the fog. New York to FriscoThat's what it says in the rear window. Miller TiresI did a such for Miller Tires and found they were made in Akron, Ohio. They were the second rubber company to get started in Akron, following B. F. Goodrich. J. Pfeiffer, J. Gether & J. Lamparter started a rubber company in 1892 but were broke in a few years. 1898 they had taken on new partners, W. Pfeiffer and Harvey Miler and in 1906 the new company was named Miller Rubber Company. They started making tires several later. Yellowstone "Zoo Windshield"These window stickers were popular National Park souvenirs. Ocean Beach Boardwalk?Was there ever wooden jetty at Ocean Beach? or a boardwalk? [Yep. Here circa 1915. -tterrace] Dodge yearThis car predates 1920. Note the headlights are in back of the line of the radiator. The headlights were moved forward of the radiator line circa 1917. America FirstSomeone out there must know about these. Life Saving PierThis is indeed a view of Ocean Beach, San Francisco. The auto is parked on the rescue boat launching ramp once located at the foot of Fulton Street. The rescue crews of the Golden Gate Park Life Saving Station used it for hauling their horse-drawn boat carts across the dunes. The pier that tterrace referenced is visible at the extreme right of this view. It wasn't a boardwalk, though, but rather a water intake pier for the nearby Lurline Salt Water Pumping Plant that sucked seawater out of the Pacific and pumped it to various saltwater bathing establishments downtown. At far left is the "drill mast" used by the Life Savers from the Golden Gate Station. Literally a mockup of a sailing ship's mast, the crewmen used it as a target when they practiced firing shore-to-ship lifelines. Junior Road TripThis from the Automobile and Sports section of the October 24, 1920 issue of the Los Angeles Times: (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, Swimming)
Chautauqua: 1890s
... as the wooden chairs that are in the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ which was built in 1894! One lonely soul all the way up ... score, accompanying the movie scene-for-scene. Ocean Grove The Ocean Grove Auditorium is the kid brother of the Amphitheatre in Chautauqua. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/13/2016 - 5:34pm -

New York state circa 1890s. "Assembly hall, Chautauqua." Which was not just a place but a movement. Glass negative by William Henry Jackson. View full size. Uncomfortable SeatsThose hard wooden benches look as uncomfortable as the wooden chairs that are in the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ which was built in 1894! One lonely soulall the way up in the nosebleeds. ChautauquariansThe Chautauqua Institution is still active and has an online presence: http://www.ciweb.org/historyarchives/ Education for everyoneNineteenth-century Americans valued education. The Chatauqua movement joined the earlier Lyceum movement, mechanics' institutes, agricultural extension, and land grant colleges in an attempt to bring education to as many people as possible, at any point in their lives. Public radio and television have tried to extend the success of these pioneering institutions. [And it was motion pictures, the phonograph and radio that helped bang a lot of nails into the Chautauqua movement's coffin. - Dave] VestigesThere were Chautauquas in many places. I live in the remnant of one near Carlisle, Ohio (which is to say, the middle of nowhere). Great sound system!I'm not an engineer, but it seems to me this hall was designed with sound in mind. As well as being a platform for a speaker or small musical group, the stage would also have projected sound up to those reflective wooden ceilings. I bet you could hear a whisper from the stage anywhere in that hall. This, plus the circular arrangement of the benches (or pews) would have contributed to an intimate experience for both audience and speaker. And don't miss the massive organ.There is a wonderful pipe organ custom-built to work with this stage. A highlight from two years ago was the showing of a silent movie starring Zasu Pitts while a talented and energetic organist played the complete original score, accompanying the movie scene-for-scene. Ocean GroveThe Ocean Grove Auditorium is the kid brother of the Amphitheatre in Chautauqua. The designers took all the details of the original, and adapted it to their location. Almost identical capacity. The one in Chautauqua is built in a natural ravine, whereas the one in Jersey is on the beach. So they tucked the sides in a little and put a balcony all around. The Ocean Grove one has all natual finish on the wood, which makes it look like the inside of a cello, just gorgeous. Chautauqua has that wonderfully drab yellow paint. Ocean Grove has a 10,000 pipe organ. A toss up as to which is better, they're both great venues for a concert. Sound system not requiredI saw Ethel Merman in what I believe was that same outdoor auditorium in Chatauqua, NY, in the summer of 1977. The sound system wasn't working, but of course with Ethel Merman that didn't matter. Chatauqua at the time was a picturesque vacation town packed with beautiful old houses. I expect it still is. I've performed on that stageI performed here in my youth as part of an all-county high school orchestra to an absolutely packed house. Picture "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" during a raging thunderstorm. Chautauqua vs. Ocean Grove, NJ AuditoriumJazznocracy, Thanks for adding the history about the two venues and their designs. I'm attaching a photo of the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ that shows a better view of the design. American OriginalI'm guessing that this is the original Chautauqua venue in upstate New York. Chautauqua later became a generic name for the traveling tent shows that criss-crossed America during the summers. They featured musicians, jugglers, singers, yodelers, storytellers and always finished with inspirational speakers who's most frequent topics were positive thinking and how to accumulate wealth. They were extremely popular, especially in rural America, and drew capacity crowds. Still kickingI went to Chautauqua Institute with my exwife's family one summer. A gated community in which private home owners rent their houses to visitors for weeks at a time. The Institute had weekly programs featuring a theme, and lectures, art exhibits and performers were all booked to support the theme. The lake has a beach with sand, there are numerous trails and bike paths but it is indeed a built up community of homes. Performers worked in the open air theatre/amphitheatre and it was really interesting and quaint. The biggest drawbacks were the mosquitoes and black flies. ChautauquaChautauqua is a wonderful, magical place. The PERFECT place to spend a summer! Check it out! Totally gone now!This building is now totally demolished. The Institution decided they needed an entirely new structure to go ahead into their next couple of centuries, and has raised it to the ground. They are now building a new "Amp" that will have an orchestra pit that rises and lowers, enormously improved backstage facilities, and many other features. The roof line will be virtually identical, and it will hold about 500 more people. MUCH brouhaha over this project, which I will sidestep. Here is a webcam that shows the project's progress. http://ciweb.org/amp-cam (The Gallery, DPC, W.H. Jackson)
Atlantic City: 1907
... remind me that Bally's allows many more people to have an ocean view and that wood, stone and stucco are not viable choices for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/08/2024 - 12:49pm -

1907. "Atlantic City boardwalk and attractions." Including Young's Million-Dollar Pier and the Hotel Marlborough-Blenheim (Marlborough House at center and the domed Blenheim to the left). Panorama made from two 8x10 glass negatives. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Brighton ParkI'm happy to see the little park next to the hotel is still there, even though the lovely old hotel has been replaced by an ugly monstrosity, Bally's Park. I have wonder what the architects of said monstrosity would say to me. Maybe they would remind me that Bally's allows many more people to have an ocean view and that wood, stone and stucco are not viable choices for skyscrapers. To Bally's credit they kept the smaller Dennis hotel. Or maybe Atlantic City had something to say about that? What an OutrageIn Florida the developers would never allow a vacant piece of land like the park to stay. There must be a condo or hotel there. We have to put the New Yorkers somewhere! Charm CityLooking at the 1907 photo in full size, it aches with charm. The architecture, the lawns, and crowds are almost idyllic. 1907 was, indeed, a time of prosperity and tranquility in the United States. It would be another 10 years before we entered WWI while the Spanish Flu killed 675,000 Americans. Regardless of wars and disease, the Atlantic City of 1907 was doomed. Here is what this section of the boardwalk looks like today. The pin drop is on Brighton Park. You have beach on one side, and almost nonstop kitschy retail on the other. Click to embiggen. (Panoramas, Atlantic City, DPC, Swimming)
Ocean Spray: 1910
... image of some type of tepid human broth. There's a whole ocean and entire shoreline out there, so why is everybody clustered in the same ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/12/2011 - 9:48am -

The Jersey Shore circa 1910. "Atlantic City bathers." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. People SoupToo many people in too small of a water area creates the image of some type of tepid human broth. There's a whole ocean and entire shoreline out there, so why is everybody clustered in the same small space? It would be like someone getting on a bus containing only the driver and one passenger and the newcomer sitting down to share a seat with that one passenger. (Yes, it did happen to me). BathersI see Tina Fey's grandmother in the front left, about to pounce on someone. And what's with the guy with the umbrella, out in the deeper waters? WOW!!!This is one of the few Shorpy photos from this era where most of the folks are smiling and appear to be having a lot of fun. Unguarded smilesIt's rare to see so many spontaneous, unguarded smiling faces at once in such an old photo. I love it. What's this world coming to???Some of the young couples in this photo are touching each other in public. One couple is even holding hands!! Where's the morality police when you need them?? Pleasant findWhat a pleasant picture. It seems so odd to see so many people smiling. Except for their suits, they don't look that different from modern folks. The lady holding an umbrella far out in the water is an odd sight, though it may not have been back then. Tina Fey's grandmotheris standing in front to the left. I wonderWhat ever became of this couple? So rare to see such an intimate moment from that time. SunscreenThe lady is about to get her sunscreen washed away. ShadeLove the solitary figure, fairly out into the water, with an umbrella. That's a pretty tricky device to walk about with in active surf currents. All in all, a very happy and jovial group. Happy JuiceWow. This is the first time I have ever seen a picture from this era with literally EVERYONE smiling! It makes the photo seem all the more timeless. Awesome. Rain ?One person standing with umbrella in the back ! Always good too see so many people having fun, great picture ! Just like yesterdayImpromtu and unposed, smiles and laughing rarely seen in vintage pics and even the sun's glint off the water make me think this could have been taken yesterday if it were not for the swimsuits... ParasolingLove the woman with the parasol far in the back of the crowd. In water up to her shoulders, but we must keep that parasol high and proud. Life's a beachI like beach scenes like this. Most of the ones I have seen had people in it that looked as if they were waiting in line at the DMV. Slim swimmingContrast this photo with the overweight people you would see at the same beach today. Only 15?Wow, surprised it took 15 comments to point out the lack of fat people on the beach 100 years ago. Slow day at Shorpy! I'm more interested in the people out in the boat. Looks kinda dangerous out there! Companion shotEveryone is posed so nicely in the other shot - then the splash happens! Focus?Can someone explain why these shots are in focus as opposed to the 'ghost' and blurred figures in other shots of people just walking by? [This glass plate was exposed for a split second to stop the action; in other cases, longer exposures were used because of dim light, or to use a smaller lens aperture in order to achieve sharper focus over a greater range of distance. By this time, photographic emulsions were sensitive enough that long exposures were not necessary just to get an image in daylight. -tterrace] (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Swimming)
No. 1 Atlantic Ocean: 1910
... The marble-encrusted Venetian "villa" at No. 1 Atlantic Ocean of showman and real-estate developer Captain John Young. Detroit ... of feet from the shore on a pier 20 feet above the ocean, survived gales, hurricanes and several boardwalk fires before it fell to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 4:52pm -

Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1910. "Young's residence on Million Dollar Pier." The marble-encrusted Venetian "villa" at No. 1 Atlantic Ocean of showman and real-estate developer Captain John Young. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Wishful thinkingDave, any "post-gale" photos of this monstrosity? This is just too tempting for Mother Nature. WOW!Which hurricane took it out? Beach CottageDoes anyone know how long this lasted? I want to move in! [Captain Young's concrete-and-marble villa, built in 1906 hundreds of feet from the shore on a pier 20 feet above the ocean, survived gales, hurricanes and several boardwalk fires before it fell to the wrecking ball in 1953. - Dave] Uplifting cultureHe sure liked those alabaster maidens, didn't he? Well litI'd like to see a night photo of this place. It's covered with hundreds of bulbs. Do you suppose those light-bulb-encrusted flowers blinked? [The lighting is said to have been designed by none other than Thomas Edison. - Dave] From a 1910 article in the New York Times: The Captain is, to make use of his own expression, "a bug on lighting effects." In other words he has a fancy for a lot of light and for a varying in colors. His house is outlined in white electric lights from "cellar to dome," and those peculiar dials near the top are not clocks, but arrangements for giving a constant change to the lighting scheme. Surrounding the house is a magnificent lawn. It was built on a solid concrete platform with sufficient ventilation to keep the grass from scalding. It is made of the best Pennsylvania soil. The lawn is intersected by broad walks, and artistically distributed are small pine trees set out in large tubs. Statuary is scattered in profusion all about the lawn, and the whole place is surrounded by concrete coping to keep the rains from washing away the lawn. Artistic electroliers have been placed all about the outside of the property, too. Window DressingCaptain Long did not care much for privacy, it seems. Fresh fish for dinner!Some images start my mind a wandering; I thought of fishing out the window. Allegedly Cap'n John landed 30 pounds of fish on his first attempt as reported in the AC Weekly: http://www.acweekly.com/view.php?id=4793 . Other interesting views of advertising on the boardwalks are at http://library.duke.edu/exhibits/maxwell/index.html . Everything MatchesIt's hard to imagine now just how popular this overblown style was at the time. Not even counting its unique location on the pier, this house owes a lot to the fantasy-laden grandeur of the World's Fair Beaux Arts style of architecture that came in with the White City in Chicago in 1893. Tiffany & Company even redecorated the White House interiors for Theodore Roosevelt in a style similar to this, although they didn't outline the building in Edison lightbulbs. The party of well-dressed and well-fed tourists in the foreground, especially those Under Full Sail ladies, hold their own against all that marble and plaster. How utterly charming!It looks like a combination of a dollhouse and a cake. I want so badly to go inside! House of...If anyone will ever ask me to define the word "kitsch" I'll just show this photograph to them. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC)
Sleepy Sailors: 1899
... in the middle of the night. And of course, this is not an ocean liner. It's a warship with little in the form of creature comforts. And ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/07/2024 - 4:23pm -

Aboard the U.S.S. Massachusetts circa 1899. "Ready to turn in." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Edward H. Hart for the Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Rust in PeaceAfter being used for target practice, now she's a habitat for marine life. Located near Pensacola in the Gulf of Mexico. https://www.nps.gov/articles/ussmassachusetts.htm MassashoelessLet's see ... one, two, three, four, five, six ... yep. The AI continues to improve, but it still can't quite get the extremities correct. [Five, actually. - Dave] The Iron SheikThe guy with the pipe looks like a young Iron Sheik !! Liberty call? No, thanks.These boys are all in. Seventy plus years later, I never worked this hard in the Navy. Never! Terrible U.S.S. MassachusettsThis as one of the first "modern" battleships commissioned by the U.S. Navy. Top heavy and unstable, it was barely seaworthy. When the main guns were fired, the ship would come close to capsizing. The Navy chalked it up as a learning experience and soon learned to design much better vessels. These sailors were just very fortunate they never had to fight a battle in this ship. The Smoking Lamp Is LitBut it's soon time for taps, taps, lights out, silence about the decks. Do the bosun's mates hit the rack in the fo'c'sle? Who knows ... Forgive me for mentioningBut good lord man! Those sailors look like bums. Different times, different NavyI too was struck by the somewhat rough appearance of these fine specimens of patriotic American young men. But it is worth noting that this was 1899. Potable water had to be stored on the ship in huge tanks and restocked whenever the ship pulled into port. This would have been part of the routine of refueling (loading and storing coal in the ship's bunkers) and reprovisioning (food water etc.). Because water was needed for drinking and cooking, it was not normal for enlisted men to have many opportunities for bathing at sea. If the weather was congenial, saltwater hoses might be rigged on the weather decks and the crew might be allowed to strip and take a communal shower. But in general, the past was dark, dangerous and stinky. Even on the crack Atlantic liners, first-class passengers had to make an appointment with the bath steward to take a bath at sea. The second-class and steerage passengers generally had to make do with basic washroom facilities. Private bath and water closet facilities were more or less unknown for even wealthy passengers in this era. As late as 1912 on the Titanic; most of the first-class passengers still had to hoof it down the hall in their bathrobes and slippers when nature called in the middle of the night. And of course, this is not an ocean liner. It's a warship with little in the form of creature comforts. And lastly, in those days, men, especially those from the working class, were not typically accustomed to what we might call regular bathing. For some of these men, a regular bath might have meant "the first of the month whether I need it or not." It would not be until well into the 20th century that freshwater evaporators and condensers became standard on ships at sea. By the Second World War, times, social attitudes and very importantly, marine engineering had evolved dramatically. With the exception of smaller craft and submarines, most ships had a primitive form of evaporator which allowed for the production of a limited amount of potable water at sea. Men might not have been able to shower every day, but they were able to bath with some regularity. Even as late as the 1980s when I first joined, we were regularly lectured about the evils of taking a "Hollywood shower" while at sea. Thirty seconds of water to get wet. Water off while you soap up. And then no more than another minute or so of running water to rinse off. By time I retired from the Navy, things had improved to a point that I would almost call the heads a luxury spa compared to what those poor sods in 1899 had to live with. UrgThe smell must have been unimaginable. Notice to MarrinersFrom tomorrow rations of wax will be strictly controlled as it has come to the attention of officers that mustaches are being over-waxed. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, E.H. Hart)
Ocean Pier: 1904
Circa 1904. "Old Orchard, Maine. Ocean Pier." After a long walk on this long pier: Drink Moxie! 8x10 inch glass ... at Old Orchard and still visible in the creek entering the ocean at that point were the wooden pilings from the bridge of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 4:23pm -

Circa 1904. "Old Orchard, Maine. Ocean Pier." After a long walk on this long pier: Drink Moxie! 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Childhood memoriesWhen I was growing up in the 50's and the 60's this pier was still pretty much intact. The large building at the housed a miniature golf and an aquarium. You could still walk on the porches but only in the front as it had a barrier preventing you from going around the back. The hall itself was lined with photos of the big bands that performed there in the 30's and 40's. My parents used to go there and see the bands. Storms over the years have taken their toll. The building beyond where the people are walking is now the end of the pier. and the railing on the left is lined with booths selling the usual tourist items meant to separate the visitors from their cash. Thanks Dave for the memory Still there!The pier is still there - a mainstay of OOB. It's shorter now, and has more buildings, and the word honky-tonk doesn't begin to describe it, but essentially it's still the same. Summer Memories.Back in the Fifties we used to vist Old Orchard and walk out on the pier, watching the waves roll in a break on the shore beneath. They had a mine ride with mules, which was a bit tacky account all the flies, but, all in all, part of a summer's fun. We stayed in a small cottage South along the shore at Old Orchard and still visible in the creek entering the ocean at that point were the wooden pilings from the bridge of the long-abandoned Interurban that ran along the shore. The Navy would perform exercises offshore. Occasionally we would drive up to Portland and cross the Million Dollar Bridge. Another wonderful photo from Shorpy! Thank You. MoxieShorpy fans with a yearning to go back in time should know that they can at least still drink Moxie. It remains available in New England. I buy it by mail order and drink it all the time. Very commercialInteresting to see looking more like the Jersey Shore in regard to ads. It looks like this might be the current version of that pier. Spot the swimmer!Very nice. BrrrrOld Orchard Beach is still a popular destination, but with average summertime (July and August) water temperatures of about 64 degrees (F) it's easy to see why there was only one swimmer in the water on the day this was taken. Peer under the pierHere's a photo I took underneath this pier (at low tide, obviously) in May 2006. I had the best hot dog of my life at Old Orchard Beach that day (seriously). (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Throwing Shade: 1942
... Alabama. Ingalls Shipbuilding Company. Construction of ocean-going barges for the U.S. Army. Welder's helper shading his eyes from the ... got a great look of determination. A long way to the ocean. These ocean-going barges constructed in Alabama must be floated down ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/22/2023 - 6:29pm -

July 1942. "Decatur, Alabama. Ingalls Shipbuilding Company. Construction of ocean-going barges for the U.S. Army. Welder's helper shading his eyes from the welder's torch." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Git-r-done!Like so many during those war years -- he looks like a kid but is suddenly in a seriously responsible situation. He's got a great look of determination. A long way to the ocean.These ocean-going barges constructed in Alabama must be floated down the Tennessee River to the Ohio River, near Paducah, Kentucky; thence down the Ohio to the Mississippi; thence down the Mississippi to the Gulf. Long-distance solutions like this are some of the necessities of wartime. I learned some geography todayIt seems impossible that a ship constructed in Alabama would move downstream to the Ohio River -- the same Ohio River that flowed past my house near Pittsburgh. But it's true. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, WW2)
Ocean Spray: 1964
1964. "Collins Avenue, Miami Beach." With the Ocean Spray Hotel representing the Art Deco old guard and the curvy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2015 - 12:32pm -

1964. "Collins Avenue, Miami Beach." With the Ocean Spray Hotel representing the Art Deco old guard and the curvy Fontainebleau the new. Medium format slide snatched from the jaws of eBay and scanned by Shorpy. View full size. A Bond moment?Down the street at the Fontainebleau in 1964, wasn't James Bond keeping an eye on Auric Goldfinger and enjoying a romp with Jill Masterson? Although I think I read somewhere that they didn't actually shoot those scenes on location. [Correct. The scenes with the principals were shot on soundstages at Pinewood Studios in England and edited together with footage shot at the hotel. -tterrace] Never mind the buildingsI'm more interested in what happened to the trunk lid on the car parked at the curb. [There's no trunk - it's a 1960 Ford station wagon with the tailgate lowered and the liftgate - the upper part with the window - not raised, but slightly ajar. -tterrace] AAHHH, my neck of the woods.Thankfully, a great job has been done saving the Art Deco heritage of Miami Beach. So many of the "old guard" buildings have been saved and are better than new. Even the lobby furniture in these old beauties is proper period design. This structure and many others by the architect Martin Hampton are on the National Register of Historic Places. This hotel is not in the "hot" South Beach part of town. The Streets of MiamiI've never been to the area (though I did have a change-over at the Miami airport once). Upon seeing this, my first thought was the old Allan Sherman spoof, "Streets of Miami", sung to the tune of "Streets of Laredo"... https://youtu.be/-cjAqvQBotM As I wandered out on the streets of Miami, I said to mine self, 'Dis is some fency town!" I called up mine partner and said "Hello Sammy," Go pack up your satchel and mosey on down. I got me a bunk in the old Roney Plaza, With breakfast and dinner included of course. I caught forty winks on mine private piazza, Then I rented a Pinto from Hertz Rent-a-Horse... You're Right JerryIn February 1956 I went to South Beach (although it wasn't called that then) and stayed at a hotel called the Peter Miller. It may still be there for all I know. As a young 20-something waiting to be drafted, I had a memorable vacation. However, the Fontainebleau could not be seen from there. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Found Photos, Miami)
Ocean Portico: 1939
... of the Atlantic: "Dunes Club, Narragansett, Rhode Island. Ocean portico looking out. Purves, Cope & Stewart, architect." Large-format ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/02/2014 - 9:09pm -

Sept. 20, 1939. The pacific side of the Atlantic: "Dunes Club, Narragansett, Rhode Island. Ocean portico looking out. Purves, Cope & Stewart, architect." Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. So calmand yet so strong. A feeling of Art Deco and Surrealism pervades this beautiful strange shot! Edward HopperRoom by the Sea ScaleWithout those handy chairs and that handrail at the left, you'd be hard pressed to guess the size of this wonderful space. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner)
Pacific Ocean Park: 1960
... opened and seven years before it closed forever, Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California was supposed to rival Disneyland (or so ... 
 
Posted by rsyung - 09/12/2014 - 7:21pm -

Another fascinating historical Kodachrome taken by my dad. Taken in May 1960, two years after the park opened and seven years before it closed forever, Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California was supposed to rival Disneyland (or so I am told). View full size. Diving Bells and Mahi MahiI just had to find out what those two blue cylinders were: diving bells, which were submerged in the tank by hydraulic pistons. The alleged fun was when the pressure holding the bell down was released and the bell shot back up to the surface. But way more fun is the fact that the climactic scene of the final episode of The Fugitive (aired August 29, 1967) was filmed at this park, with Dr. Richard Kimble fighting the one-armed man atop the Mahi Mahi tower. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Ocean View: 1941
... "Facilities at trailer camp for construction workers. Ocean View, outskirts of Norfolk, Virginia." Photo by John Vachon for the Farm ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/14/2019 - 2:07pm -

March 1941. "Facilities at trailer camp for construction workers. Ocean View, outskirts of Norfolk, Virginia." Photo by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Kids)
Hanging out at the ocean
Well dressed and hanging out at the ocean, possibly around Malibu, 1930's. From my grandmother's collection. View ... 
 
Posted by mhallack - 06/02/2009 - 7:00pm -

Well dressed and hanging out at the ocean, possibly around Malibu, 1930's. From my grandmother's collection. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Ocean Spray: 1905
Asbury Park, New Jersey, circa 1905. "A windy day on the pier." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Man v. Wild Big waves, little people. What more is there to say? For the fun of it? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/19/2012 - 8:55am -

Asbury Park, New Jersey, circa 1905. "A windy day on the pier." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Man v. WildBig waves, little people. What more is there to say? For the fun of it?What a scene! Dressed to the nines, despite the gloomy weather. This is what people used to do in the old days kids....they would go outside and look at the world around them. Today, people go to Starbucks for $6 coffee and then hurry home to get on their I-Pads and laptop computers. (The Gallery, Asbury Park, DPC)
Just Add Ocean: 1921
June 25, 1921. Washington, D.C. "Bathing beach costume contest." The ladies last glimpsed here , an array of lesser lights orbiting the transcendently beautiful Iola Swinnerton, second from left with the Krazy Kat doll. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/06/2018 - 10:19pm -

June 25, 1921. Washington, D.C. "Bathing beach costume contest." The ladies last glimpsed here, an array of lesser lights orbiting the transcendently beautiful Iola Swinnerton, second from left with the Krazy Kat doll. View full size. Easy switchNo swimming today ? OK, boxing then. We have shoes to prove it. (The Gallery, D.C., Iola S., Natl Photo, Pretty Girls, Swimming)
Ocean Portico (Colorized): 1939
Colorized from this Shorpy original. View full size. (Colorized Photos) ... 
 
Posted by Baxado - 10/10/2014 - 7:36pm -

Colorized from this Shorpy original. View full size. (Colorized Photos)
Tent City: 1905
New Jersey circa 1905. "Tent life at Ocean Grove," the Methodist summer retreat also seen here . 8x10 glass ... Publishing Co. View full size. Closed Sundays Ocean Grove was closed to traffic on Sundays when I was a kid. There were ... but fun nonetheless. Hymn-sings, stunning vistas, even ocean bathing for the hardy; Monterey Bay's waters are never above 60 degrees ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/14/2015 - 3:36pm -

New Jersey circa 1905. "Tent life at Ocean Grove," the Methodist summer retreat also seen here. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Closed SundaysOcean Grove was closed to traffic on Sundays when I was a kid. There were stone pillars with chains to enforce it. It was some religious thing, I think. Once a season we drove there for a day on the beach. Not the Only Methodist "Grove"The town of Pacific Grove on California's Monterey Peninsula began as a Methodist tent camp, and one can still see cottages built on the original tent platform "foundations." No, they're not to current code, but are grandfathered for occupancy. "PG," as it's locally known, was dry until 1969, and I still remember the lines at the liquor store just across the Monterey city line on Friday and Saturday nights. The late 19th Century Methodists were all about combining religion with fun ... teetotal fun, but fun nonetheless. Hymn-sings, stunning vistas, even ocean bathing for the hardy; Monterey Bay's waters are never above 60 degrees F! Still thereI just read that the tents are still there in season and can be rented, though reservations are sold out for 10 years in advance. $4k-$5k a year, these days. Never on SundayNot only was there no traffic in Ocean Grove on Sundays, on Saturday evenings you actually had to go get your car and park it "outside the gate" as my inlaws called it. The real Ocean Grove story.I live year round in Ocean Grove. The tents still stand pretty much unchanged since this 1905 photo was taken. Ocean Grove survived Hurricane Sandy with damage to the boardwalk and The Great Auditorium roof in 2012. Repairs continue. I suggest these links to see current footage of the tents and much much more: http://blogfinger.net http://www.oceangrove.org (The Gallery, Camping, DPC, Travel & Vacation)
Yale Crew: 1913
... they say about the size of Yale's endowment. The ocean was angry that day, my friend And apparently cold, too. Whoa ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 11:46pm -

June 1913. New Haven, Connecticut. "Yale Freshman 8." A motley crew and its coxswain. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Someone Call Madeline KahnYes! No, no, no, no, no, no. Yes! No, no, no, no, no, no... I didn't realizesecurity checks were that strict in those days. Buy my videoLooks like these guys could cash in on the washboard abs craze. So it's true what they sayabout the size of Yale's endowment. The ocean was angry that day, my friendAnd apparently cold, too. WhoaInteresting swimsuits. I'm glad they fell out of fashion! Socks and ShoesI found the footwear to be of most interest in relation to each guy. An impressive displayof manhoods. Please don'tgrow up. I also love the wit of my fellow Shorpy devotees! Their clever commentary makes the incredible photos themselves even more enjoyable. Re: Grow up PeopleI'm not sure you appreciate your own double entendre in your comment title. Personally, I have trouble determining what I like more; the pictures or the comments. One of my favorites is this one. Frankly, I'm shocked that no one has taken a swing at Dave's softball note of the coxswain. Year?If the picture was taken in 1913, why does the fellow sitting down have 1916 so largely prominent on his shirt? [Here's the deal. When you see a college student wearing a shirt with "1916" or "2014" on it, it's not like they're wearing a calendar to remind them what year it is. The year shows what graduating class they're in. Our freshman rowers here started school in the fall of 1912, and so are in the Class of 1916. - Dave] Grow up PeopleI am surprised by the mentality and comments of the viewers of this website. There are more 12 year old girls interested in historic photography than I thought! I am sure that's not really YaleIf it were, they'd have long since decamped to form an a cappella singing group. Put me on the fainting couchand fetch the smelling salts. A male bastionYou can bet that if there was even the slightest chance of a woman being around, they wouldn't be out rowing in their underpants. Check out some of the other rowing pics here on shorpy, from the days of the all-male Ivy League. Crew was basically the frat house moved outdoors into an eight-man shell. V. CrewClass of 1913 himself, Porter wrote several Yale fight songs while there. He debuted "I Want to Row on the Crew" at a 1914 Yale show and later dropped it into his Broadway smash "Anything Goes": I want to row on the crew, Mama, That's the thing I want to do, Mama. To be known throughout Yale as I walk about it, Get a boil on my tail and then talk about it. I'd like to be a big bloke, Mama, And learn the new Argentine stroke, Mama. You'll see your slim son Putting crimps in the Crimson, When I row on the Varsity Crew. The Men of the Freshman EightThe crew is posed in rowing position. • Walter Joseph Stauffer (bow) • James Rhodes Sheldon (2) • Albert Dillon Sturtevant (3) • Alfred von der Ropp (4) • Stanhope Wood Nixon (5) • John Bainbridge Fitzpatrick (6) • Seth Low II (7) • Robert Clark Gilfillan (stroke, captain) • Allan McLane, Jr. (coxswain; seated) If you imagine close scrutiny of undergraduate sport to be an invention of a later age, their story is worth a look. The meddlesome activity of alumni -- among them Payne Whitney and Averell Harriman -- makes the antics of those who torment today's athletic directors look like small potatoes. The picture was taken at the Yale training house at Gale's Ferry, where Yale took it on the chin for the sixth straight year in the annual Yale-Harvard regatta on the Thames. The freshman eight lost their race, but alone among those swept to defeat, earned praise for their performance. Several members would feature in the ups and downs of the varsity eight in the years that followed, including the 1914 crew that ended Harvard's run. The backgrounds and lives of the men in the photo are fascinating, representative of terrific concentration of privilege and influence. Perhaps they can be shared in a future post. Best Exercise!I was just on my Concept II from the 80's. These guys are a testament to my belief that rowing is one of the best exercises around. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, G.G. Bain, Sports)
Islesworth Gardens: 1906
... photos look as good as they do. Fastest Way to Ocean City That interurban trolley on the right is from the Shore Fast Line connecting Atlantic City to Ocean City, New Jersey. It operated into the 1940s and was immortalized as the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 12:32pm -

Continuing our trip to Atlantic City circa 1906. "Islesworth Gardens Hotel, Virginia Avenue." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Just for a momentI thought the woman in the streetcar was texting a friend. Then I woke up! Great shot!I think the Trump Taj Mahal casino is there now. All GoneI'm about an hour's drive from Atlantic City, though not being a gambler, I don't go there often. With the advent of the casinos, locales such as this, evidently at the Boardwalk, are completely gone. I'll have to make a trip there with a camera and some of these old pictures to see the differences. Thanks for all the great pictures. The Streetcar!At first I was confused with the streetcar having its pole up in the wrong direction for a double track line but then I noticed that there is a crossover (a pair of switches in the street) allowing the car to "turn back" or "short turn" without having to go to the end of the route. The pole has been turned but the seats are still facing the wrong direction. The faded lettering on the sign on the roof also suggests that this car might not be going to the end of the line. InterestingThe only people I see around here using parasols are Asians. Remembering Atlantic City in the 1950sOur family vacationed in Atlantic City for many summers in the 1950s. We would load up our old Buick, include the dog, and take off from Cincinnati for that glorious week on the Jersey Shore. We stayed in an old converted mansion on North Carolina Avenue called the Manlor Guest House. Every morning was an open air breakfast on the Boardwalk, then to the beach and back to the Manlor to squirt off the sand in the backyard and go to dinner at Betty's Restaurant. The Manlor is long gone along with all the other old converted homes but those places had a charm that no Holiday Inn could replace. Look through the windowYoung lady in the window under the letter "N" of the streetcar looks like she just realized she has purchased the wrong ticket. TrumpedIf this is where the Trump Taj is now, I think it looked much better then! Her TownThe sidewalks are full of Mary Poppinses. The End of the Line or Back at 'Go'?The streetcar in the photo is interesting, having just arrived at this location on the track closest to the curb and the horse cabs. The car seatbacks are in position indicating the right end of the car was the front on arrival, the seat backs could be flipped over depending on car's direction. The outer arm rests are on the window ledges. The seats at the front and rear two side windows would have their backs to the window, the patrons facing the aisle. On cars with sanders the sand boxes would often be located under these lengthways seats which hinged up when filling with sand. However, the trolley pole has been moved around so the car will now travel right to left when it starts on it's next journey, the left end now the front. The car is short enough, altho' it has two 4-wheel trucks beneath, that the Motorman or Conductor could walk the trolley pole around with the trolley pole rope still able to hang over the end at either end with the trolley pole stand centered lengthways on the car roof. Without the trolley pole rope overhanging it would be difficult to centre the trolley pulley on the wire. A longer two-truck car would have to have a separate trolley pole at each end. There were also parameters governing the placement of the trolley pole stand on the car roof so that the pulley would track on the wire properly when the car beneath turned at a track switch at an intersection or went straight thru. Now, there are TWO tracks in the street, and this car will cross over to the far track to 'Run on the right' as it moves ahead on it's new journey. The 'crossover' in the street is visible by the man's head above the nearest horse cab and thru the cab behind. Thank You. Phones in RoomsThe Islesworth Gardens Hotel was popular with conventioneers (pharmacists, railroad ticket agents, elevator operators ...) 1908 Advertisement Impossible waistsThe women wearing corsets have those impossibly small wasp waists. I wonder about the young woman walking toward the camera. She appears to have a normal waist. The corset must have exacerbated the heat problem. Give me my smelling salts. And Gracious Sakes, I see a few women without their hats in public! City of the FutureIt looks like a futuristic city of dollhouses. They had some kind of super "green" vehicle that ran on hay and produced fertilizer instead of carbon monoxide... and even mass transit that ran on electricity! Wow, imagine if we could harness that kind of technology. No sunscreen requiredI but none of these people is thinking about sunscreen! Also, its a shame that we don't use parasols anymore. I count about 15 in this picture (if you count both sides of the street). Dress CodeNo shorts or tank-tops allowed! Good MannersNotice that the men use proper etiquette when walking with a female companion. The man walks on the street side, ladies to the inside. By the way, what is the covering on the roofs of the horse cabs? Is it some kind of treated cloth? In praise of ShorpyShorpy is my all time favorite web site ! It's like having a portal to the past. Shorpy lets us see in incredible detail what life was like decades ago. I tell everyone I know about this fantastic site. My problem with this site is that I could spend all day looking at the photos. Thank you for all of the work you do in making these Library of Congress photos look as good as they do. Fastest Way to Ocean CityThat interurban trolley on the right is from the Shore Fast Line connecting Atlantic City to Ocean City, New Jersey. It operated into the 1940s and was immortalized as the Short Line on the Monopoly game board. Car 6812West Jersey and Seashore Type Q semi-convertible, built by the J. G. Brill Co., Phila, 1904-05. Originally single ended, rebuilt as double ended car in 1908. Sold off in 1913-14 when new "Nearside" cars were delivered. The cars, incidentally, are numbered in the Pennsylvania Railroad fleet as the WJ&S was a PRR subsidiary. This is the kind of picturethat deserves the "even bigger" option, or the colorized version. Lovely, absolutely lovely in every detail. Exquisite photo. Speaking of Monopoly RR'sDid we ever find out why Darrow used the B&O railroad for his game? The Baltimore and Ohio never served Atlantic City; only the Shore Fast, Reading, Pennsylvania (later these would merge into the PRSL) and the Central RR of NJ (with it's its infamous Blue Comet) did. From Atlantic City to Ocean CityThe trolley advertises 2 ways to get to Ocean City: "SHORE FAST LINE ELECTRIC FLYERS VIA GREAT EGG HARBOR BAY" "ATLANTIC AVE. TROLLEY AND BOAT VIA LONGPORT" No. 6818 is a local Atlantic City car, maybe even a shuttle out to Atlantic Avenue. It does not have 3rd rail shoes, which Shore Fast Line cars needed, as they used a part of the West Jersey & Seashore RR to get across the meadows between West Atlantic City and Pleasantville, where the electrified railroad didn't use overhead wire. Shore Fast Line ran between Virginia Avenue and the Boardwalk, Atlantic City to 8th Street and the Boardwalk, Ocean City, both on barrier islands, via the Mainland. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Streetcars, Travel & Vacation)
Mix Well: 1935
... it? At least egg beaters have substantially improved! Ocean Spray? Seriously? Is that ocean spray cranberry sauce next to the baking powder? Oldie But ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/28/2008 - 12:57pm -

1935. "Cooking Class. Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland." View full size. 5x7 safety negative, National Photo Company Collection. The classroom is described as being at Chevy Chase High in another photo. Cooking ClothesThis group appears younger than the ones in the photo attributed to Chevy Chase High. Wonder if the CC group was composed of instructors or Senior students in light of their wearing more professional clothing. Clearly this younger group has been through the sewing class, their assignment being to make cooking smocks -- I remember all too well! StorageI'm drooling over the huge glass-door cabinet. The smocks would look better and be less dangerous without the goofy bows. Still AroundOoh, aren't the smocks great? I have exactly the same flour sifter as this one, and I notice the Calumet baking powder on the counter, which is still around, isn't it? At least egg beaters have substantially improved! Ocean Spray? Seriously?Is that ocean spray cranberry sauce next to the baking powder? Oldie But GoodieI checked: Ocean Spray was established in 1930...I never realized it was so old. A long ago Thanksgiving is lurking behind this shot. Nice BowlsAre those mixing bowls by Bauer? Not the same roomThe two rooms look very similar, but they are different. Look at the door to the far right of the MBHS picture. The frame around it is indented. It isn't in the CCHS picture. Also you can see the corner of the room right next to the door in the CCHS picture. There is a vent inbetween the corner of the room and the door in the MBHS picture. [Look carefully and you'll see it is the same room, as we can tell below from superimposing the photos. We don't see the vent in one picture because the photo is cut off before you get to it. The far-right doorway or window is "indented" in each photo. - Dave] Bauer BowlsThose really do look like Bauer bowls. I have a stack of them (my great- grandmother's) they can be very "collectible" but they are also just great bowls! They are making them again of course. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, Natl Photo)
Holland America: 1910
... on the Curious Tipsy Shed. View full size. Ocean Liners On the other side of the pier from the Rotterdam is another ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/28/2012 - 7:25pm -

Hoboken, New Jersey, circa 1910. "Holland America docks and Manhattan skyline." Another three-plate panorama showing the S.S. Rotterdam, and a different perspective on the Curious Tipsy Shed. View full size. Ocean LinersOn the other side of the pier from the Rotterdam is another Holland-America liner, although much smaller. The Rotterdam was built in 1908 and scrapped in 1940. Further to the left and behind the ferry is a Cunard liner tied up to Cunard's Manhattan pier. One of Holland-America's present day flagships (along with the Amsterdam) is a newer version of Rotterdam. You can see an image of her on Holland-America's website. The Shed.I do believe this structure was once part of another building, possibly salvaged from something that was demolished. It looks like the back (or is it now the front?) is made of Corrugated Tin while the rest is made of Wood. Possibly it's being used as temporary housing for some of the Dock workers or the Railroad people? Digital ICEThe lettering on the Lehigh Valley appears to have been faded by digital ice or some other automatic clean up program. I had to quit using it because it would randomly remove details when I did slide scans. I found it better to just do the clean up on the original and scan as is. [You're mistaken about the lettering on the boxcar -- this is how it really looked. Such software is not used on these images. - Dave] Where it all beganIn 1903 Great-Grandpa got into a little trouble in Genoa. Got on a ship to Hoboken as crew, jumped ship, "just walked away" as the story goes. In 1904 he sends for G-Grandma & toddler Grandma, there is a record of the family entering (again at Hoboken). G-Grandpa died in 1955, still WOP (without papers). Now have an idea of what it must have looked like to them, thanks. Shipping LinesI can see the Cunard Dock across the river (not hard, there's a great big sign). On this side I can only guess based on the house flags that the ships are flying, but it there's another Holland-America ship on the other side of the dock (confirmed by her funnel markings). On the far left of the photo it looks as if there's an American Line ship. On the right of the Rotterdam - on the other side of the next dock - is what appears to be a North German Lloyd ship. It would be interesting to know what the layout of company docks at Hoboken was in those days. The endThe ferry Binghamton tied up at the former Holland America pier circa 1968. Holland America left Hoboken for Pier 40 on Manhattan's West Side in 1963. Ten years after the fireThe pier on the far right was Pier No. 1 of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line. It was constructed soon after a horrific June 30, 1900 fire burned all three of the NDL piers to the water line, gutting three of its transatlantic steamers, and killing over 300 people. Not surprisingly, the replacement piers were designed to be as fireproof as possible. (Replacement piers in the Nov. 27, 1900 NY Times.) South of the three NDL piers were the Hamburg America piers - two of which (Nos. 5 and 6) were destroyed in a 1921 fire. (Panoramas, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)
First Presbyterian: 1904
... church down the street. - Dave] At East Monroe and Ocean It looks like the church has swallowed up some of the houses beside ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 4:54pm -

Circa 1904. "Jacksonville, Florida. First Presbyterian Church." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. House dividedThe church's website notes that in the 1860s it split over "regional and political differences." (Interpret that!) In the late nineteenth century there were two Presbyterian churches on this street, one block apart. Today's location seems to descend from the liberal group; the site of the competing congregation is now a Masonic temple. Just when Jacksonville's Presbyterians made up, and on what terms, isn't clear. Even though it's a church... there's not a soul in sight. Not much "saving" going on this day. [Wrong denomination. If it's "saving" you want, try the Baptist church down the street. - Dave] At East Monroe and OceanIt looks like the church has swallowed up some of the houses beside it. View Larger Map Unknown Electrical DeviceThat device hanging near the telegraph pole. Electric fire siren? Anti-squirrel bird feeder? [It's an arc lamp. - Dave] Out of the AshesThe church, like most of Jacksonville's downtown, was rebuilt after the city's Great Fire of 1901. In just eight hours the conflagration leveled 146 city blocks, destroyed over 2,000 buildings and left almost 10,000 people homeless. The new Jacksonville Public Library, next door to the church at the right, was under construction when this photo was taken. The new "fireproof" library opened in 1905, built with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie. Newer isn't better.What a nice arc lamp. Color rendering index (CRI) near 100. Modern sodium lamp CRI = 20. Things were better then. (The Gallery, DPC, Florida, Jacksonville)
Ragged Point: 1950
Chesapeake Bay (Maryland) ca. 1950. "Water scenes. Boat in foreground, lighthouse in distance. Made for Mr. Sharpe of Potomac Electric Power Co." Ragged Point Light in the Potomac River. 5x7 inch nitrate negative by Theodor Horydczak. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/02/2021 - 11:15am -

Chesapeake Bay (Maryland) ca. 1950. "Water scenes. Boat in foreground, lighthouse in distance. Made for Mr. Sharpe of Potomac Electric Power Co." Ragged Point Light in the Potomac River. 5x7 inch nitrate negative by Theodor Horydczak. View full size. Une barque sur l'océanI suppose it is appropriate a fine exemplification of littoral imagery would be captured by a man named Theodor Hydroczak. [my apologies] Y thoThe Shorpy logo going down to the depths? Never! Chesapeake Bay, MarylandWell that's kind of vague. [Try reading the rest of the caption. - Dave] Not a Screw Pile AnymoreThe lighthouse is now a traditional light house on dry land. Screw-pile lighthouseRagged Point Light was a so-called screw-pile lighthouse. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, D.C., Landscapes, Theodor Horydczak)
Ear Buds: 1924
... in your pocket! View full size. The Sound of the Ocean Without an antenna and ground wire, they're hearing the same program ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/21/2013 - 12:39pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Radio at Garfield Hospital." Someday, fellows, they'll make a telegraph you can carry around in your pocket! View full size. The Sound of the OceanWithout an antenna and ground wire, they're hearing the same program you receive holding a seashell to your ear. Garfield HospitalJohn Kelly of the Washington Post wrote on 1/14/07: Garfield Hospital was envisioned as a memorial to President James A. Garfield, who died from an assassin's bullet in 1881. "The hospital is designed to be as wide in its scope of beneficence as was the kindly heart of the dead President in its outstretch of human sympathies," read an early appeal for donations. The hospital opened in 1884 on Florida Avenue NW between 10th and 11th streets and from the start treated all races. It eventually grew to a sprawling and somewhat ramshackle campus of more than a dozen buildings. Garfield closed in 1958, along with Emergency Hospital and the Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. Those three merged to become Washington Hospital Center. (For more on the history of Washington's hospitals, visit the National Library of Medicine at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/medtour/list.html TuningEvidently you tune it by moving a tap on the coil, changing inductance rather than capacitance. (Technology, The Gallery, D.C., Medicine, Natl Photo)
The Salmon Kitchen: 1964
... item in 50s-60s kitchens. Unbreakable! Across the Ocean... You'll be glad to know that kitchens didn't look much different ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 07/13/2019 - 11:53am -

Unless you happened to live in one of those fancy kitchen decor ads like you see over on Plan59.com, your 1964 kitchen might be like ours, a mixture of stuff from the 50s (1955 O'Keefe & Merritt gas range), 40s (sink, cabinets & fixtures from a 1946 remodel) and even the 30s (the copper tea kettle). A package of meat is defrosting on the griddle, which was always a little warm from its pilot light. My Kodachrome slide. View full size. Oh How I Wish That Was Mine!Be still my heart - I have a warm fuzzy place for pink kitchens and bathrooms. When my folks purchased their first home after a long while of rentals, the 4 bedroom Orange County (california) sprawling ranch-style had an exquisite pink wall mounted electric oven, pink electric counter top burners, and "boomerang print" pink and silver formica counter with glitter flecks. The best part - the pink sink. Oh how I cried when they remodeled in the mid-70's to a harvest gold monstrosity. Even then at 14 I knew I was born at the wrong time. Thanks tterrace for another beautiful memory!! The KitchenMy dad was a millwright at the local Alcoa plant and his hobby was woodworking and making furniture. In 1959 he decided that he would buy his first brand new car. Mom put her foot down declaring that her late forties kitchen would be remodeled before a new car ever came into the driveway. The very next day Dad went to Rogers and Company in downtown Knoxville and brought home a new 1960 Pontiac sedan. He parked it in the driveway and began tearing out the old kitchen. He told my older brother privately that he just couldn't walk away from the dare. I sold that house after Mom died in 2001. The appliances have all been replaced but the 1959 cabinetry is still intact. StoveThat is a beautiful stove! The stoveTo die for! Now, for two to three (or more) times the price you get half the stove. The kind of stove shown here was standard through the 40's and 50's (at least) and I miss it. They usually had 6 burners, a built-in griddle, a broiler (door on the left) and an oven. You can have the pink kitchen though. I still have one exactly like it, handles and all, except it's sort of cream color. Yuck. Our StoveThis one had four burners and a griddle, with a rotisserie in the oven. Mother loved rotisserie chicken. The motor eventually burned out, and could not be fixed. The chrome on the grill was well worn from years of flipping Sunday morning pancakes. -tt's big sister Now yer cookin' with gasAh, aluminum salt & pepper shakers - a classic kitchen staple. But what I really like is the partially painted drawer side. A little paint probably got splattered/brushed onto it by accident, so the painter decided to paint a bit more so it would look more "finished" when the drawer was opened. As long as you only open it a couple inches. Kitchen ItemsIn the We Had One of Those category, score one for the spoon rest hanging above the spice rack. Ours was identical. My guess for the item hanging from the rack is a match holder to light the pilot light on the stove. And the magenta, gold and silver items on the sink must be aluminum tumblers, a popular item in 50s-60s kitchens. Unbreakable! Across the Ocean...You'll be glad to know that kitchens didn't look much different here in Australia in that time. We had the metal tumblers (in the draining tray), the cabinets and drawers (painted the same too), the tea-towel hanging from the cabinet drawer, the spoon rest... this could have been my childhood kitchen. Only ours was painted a very fetching two tone of royal purple and lavender. Noice! Shaker VariationsI can't tell you how strange it is to have perfect strangers commenting on things that were familiar sights in my daily life nearly 50 years ago and whose images remain burned in my memory. Glad someone noticed the shakers; judging from their dents they'd seen meal preparation service since well before I was around. Now, how about that thing hanging from the rack they're on? I know, do you? Also, the magenta, gold and silver things in front of the cake cooling rack on the sink? Things that never fail to get a "Oh, yeah, we had those, too!" reaction from other 50s kids. The partially-painted drawer sides were intentional, I'm sure. I always thought it was rather clever. My father did the salmon paint job, and merely covered over the existing yellow from the original remodeler's work. All the drawers in the kitchen were like that. Can it be?Down in the righthand corner, with papers and magazines piled on it- can it be one of those chrome and enamel rolling tea carts? In pink? They were usually red. Or a pink step stool? I'd settle for that. We (or rather our grandmother) had the aluminum tumblers. They made the peculiar water in their town icy cold and drinkable. Froze your hands,too. The saucepan in the sink- the harbinger of harvest gold Things to Come... My other grandma's kitchen was a little more pink, from 1957 until they sold the house in the late '60s. Tumbler SweatThe lovely aluminum tumblers! My grandmother had a set and, because they sweated so much when holding iced drinks in summer, knit little socks/mittens to cover the bottom third of them. That meant, of course, that we then had to wash the socks or at least hang them to dry... AppearancesI have a hunch that if your mom knew that someday you were going to show the world her kitchen, she'd have done the dishes. She probably wants to give you a little swat right now, wherever she may be. Although these are not what my memories are made of, I still enjoy reading about others'. Refrigerator RemembranceThough I was born in the mid-1980s (way past the time of pink kitchens and more into an ugly brown carpet and dark wood time period), I love the ads of the beautiful bright 50s kitchens and this picture is almost as great! Tterrace, what kind of refrigerator did you have? My grandparents built their house in the late 1950s and had a GE wall-mounted refrigerator that I thought was the coolest thing when I was little--it, and their kitchen, went the turquoise route. They remodeled in 2006, and that refrigerator was still chugging along (though it leaked a bit). The electrician actually took it back to his shop and reinstalled it as a beer fridge--so its long life continues! I don't suppose they were ever very popular--you pretty much had to be remodeling to have room for one. I found a copy of the ad for one, and framed it for them as sort of a memorial to the greatest fridge ever. Kitchen appurtenancesThat is indeed a chrome and pink enamel rolling cart in the lower right, and I'm happy to say it's in my possession now. It held the toaster plus heaps of printed materials: Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney catalogs and magazines on the bottom shelf, more catalogs and magazines and a dictionary (my mother did crosswords) on the middle shelf, more magazines and newspapers on the top with the toaster. The crumpled thing on top of the pile is a homemade toaster cover or "cozy." The thing hanging from the spice rack with the shakers is a cake tester. For some reason, I always visualize my mother poking it into hot gingerbread. Yum. The colored anodized aluminum tumblers came with cottage cheese in them, that's how we got ours. Our refrigerator, bought the same time as the range in 1955, was a Kelvinator, one with a separate dedicated freezer compartment, which quickly converted my mother into a freezeraholic. Shortly thereafter we got a separate upright. Welcome homeNothing evokes the feeling of home like being in the kitchen, which is the real heart of a home, the workshop, Mom's domain and the family's refuge. I LOVE this warm, homey, lived-in kitchen, it feels like I've been there. The object hanging (like a wire) from the salt and pepper rack is, I believe, a cake tester, which was better than a toothpick because it was much longer and could be used for deep cakes, breads, etc. They usually were free from the Fuller Brush man or Jewel Tea or Tupperware, but you could also buy them for pennies. This fabulous photo captures forever a middle class family's central headquarters where it all happened: the loyal fellowship, petty arguments, shared home-cooked meals, loving encouragement, heartbreaking news, revealed disappointments, warm hospitality to visitors, where all emotions from mindless silliness to deep, heavy sadness was witnessed. If only these walls could talk. It is a wonderful photo and really took me back home. Thank you. My KitchenExcept for the salmon pink color and the vintage appliances, that could pass for my current kitchen. http://picasaweb.google.com/Schmthaus/OurKitchen Groovy kitchensMy kitchen, which was my parents', was remodeled in 1966 when I was 6 years old. The countertops are white with turquoise flecks, which match the turquoise stove top. The wall oven door was also once the same shade, but was replaced by a white door in the 1980s. I may be jaded, but I still think its a very timeless color scheme. Much nicer than avocado or brown. My Mammaw's Kitchen, circa 1962That's me, hiding... Let's Make a DealWe don't have O'Keefe and Merritt here on the East Coast. (Oddly enough our gas range growing up was an RCA.) But we're familiar with the O'Keefe name. They sure gave enough of them away on the quiz shows! I just put a bid on a house......and while one bathroom is green, the other is PINK...tile and everything! The kitchen is white (mercifully!), but I don't know how I'm going to live without a dishwasher. (Instead of "mad4books," I'll just be "mad.") Oh, and schmthaus, thanks for the pics of your kitchen. It kinda' reminded me of the Shorpy gem found at: https://www.shorpy.com/node/3201 Aluminum tumblersI've commented here about anodized aluminum tumblers before (in fact, Safari filled in the Subject for me after I typed "Alu"). We had the little "socks" too. I'd make a full blender's worth of chocolate shake, fill up a big glass to drink, then pour the rest into an aluminum tumblers and stick it into the freezer. The little sock came in really handy when holding onto that when I took it out later to eat with a spoon. You can find the tumblers on many shopping sites. We got some new ones a couple years ago. Good Bye O'Keefe & MerrittHad to replace my MIL's O'Keefe & Merritt stove/ove about a year ago. Tried to sell it but ended up just having the appliance store remove it when they delivered the new stove. Great old stoves and ovens, but we just couldn't get it repaired to keep the pilot light lit. Custard CupsThe clear glass dishes on the back right corner of the sink are custard or pudding cups. We had 'em, too. I like vanilla pudding. Dad likes chocolate and butterscotch. My sisters like chocolate. Everyone but me likes tapioca. Not really sure which my mother preferred. Dad might know. Or the elder of my sisters (both younger). She remembers things *everyone* else has forgot. That looks like a rugged wall-mounted hand cranked Swing-A-Way can opener at the far left. It was the best kind, because it was geared, and didn't depend on just friction to advance the can. I don't remember ever seeing the hand-held model like the Swing-A-Way I have now. There were hand-helds, but they were the friction variety. We moved a lot (Dad was a Methodist minister), and it just occurred to me that he would have had to find either studs or wood paneling to mount it every time we moved. And we had (perhaps Dad still does) a rolling cart very similar to the one on the right. Ours is white, and has a heavy power cable for the outlet mounted on the cart, so it can be used to move a toaster close to the table. Aluminum tumblers we only saw in the houses of others. Not sure why we didn't have them. (Ours were fairly heavy-duty clear plastic.) We kids were suitably awed by the jewel tones. I can't quite make out what those things are between the sink and the back left burner. Anyone? Salmon Kitchen thingsNice observations, Custard Cup poster, thanks. Things to the left of the back burner you were wondering about: the round ones sticking up are lids to cooking pots and pans in a rack mounted on the side of the sink cabinet. On the counter in front of the custard cups, the orange-colored blob is actually a lemon, or half a lemon to be exact. That's what Mother used to remove tarnish from copper items, like the bottoms of her Revereware and that hot water kettle there on the stove. In front of the lemon is the little decorative ceramic dish that's on the wall at the upper right in our living room photos here and here. Must be there to get washed. Those Cabinets!Our kitchen cabinets looked like that, down to the same silver handles on the door. Our house was built in 1951, so I guess it wasn't just 40s vintage. Pink!I also have a fondness for that 1950s pink. I recently purchased a 1956 home in Sacramento with the original pink bathroom in absolutely pristine condition. I'm so lucky the place didn't get remodeled with the gawdawful '70s or '80s decor! I know that sink!My maternal grandparents had that exact sink, with the sloping/fluted area on the left for draining dishwater and the soap holder sensibly positioned over the valves/spout. Theirs was always equipped with a green bar of Lava - an item perhaps also visible in your photo. O'Keefe RangeI have to comment about the O'Keefe & Merritt range in the photo. We have one still in use at the local museum here in Bend, Oregon. A friend of mine and I just repaired it and adjusted the gas burners. Still works great. I don't think you can improve some things. What is interesting is the Cadillac emblem on the top of the range! [As well as that "DeVille" script on the right. Click to embiggen. UPDATE: This is O'Keefe & Merritt's deluxe 40-inch DeVille model, "the Cadillac of ranges." Below, newspaper ad from January 1957. Was tterrace's stove the Starline-Wilshire with Grillevator broiler and Hi-Vue oven? - Dave] Merritt MemoriesWow, that museum piece O'Keefe & Merritt range fryejo posted nearly brought tears to my eyes - the knobs, exactly the same as ours. Odd that knobs stir such nostalgic emotions. Possibly it's because they were so much closer to eye level when we got it. The power plugs bring back another one: Mother had the electric waffle iron on the griddle; the top slipped out of her hand and fell back; sparks flew; the latch had welded itself to the griddle. UPDATE to Dave's Update: Ours didn't have a fancy-schmancy nameplate, a Hi-Vue oven viewer or a Grillevator (though it did have a rotisserie that didn't work for long), it might have been something of a rarity; at any rate, of the dozens of vintage O'Keefe & Merritt photos I've found online, the only ones that match its configuration - wrap-around chrome top, space-age square clock, straight chrome door handles and single oven window - are of this one here on Shorpy. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Kitchens etc., tterrapix)
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