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The Nixon: 1908
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1908. "Nixon Theatre, Sixth Avenue & Cherry ... a carriage call . - tterrace] (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 11:40pm -

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1908. "Nixon Theatre, Sixth Avenue & Cherry Alley." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. +108Below is the same view from July of 2016. Digital Street Clock?Under the Nixon sign and at the street curb, on the pole. It appears to be a three character dot matrix display. This is the second such display I've seen in a Shorpy photo. I've Googled several phrases but can't find anything like it. Anybody? Sam, Fred, SamThe Nixon-Nirdlinger family owned and ran the Nixon Theatre. Sam Nixon passed away in 1918, and the business passed to his son Fred. Fred had a remarkable ability to keep wedding cake companies in business - marrying five different women, the fifth one twice. Fifth wife Charlotte Nixon-Nirdlinger shot and killed Fred on the French Riviera in 1931, and was eventually acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. In 1931, Sam's grandson Sam took over the theatre. It was demolished in 1950, for a new Alcoa building. Torn down in 1950The Nixon stood till 1950 when it was torn down to make room for the (ugly) former Alcoa HQ. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10122/1054577-426.stm Digital DisplayGood observation, jdowling. I have no idea what it was used for, but a digital number display is exactly what it is. The seemingly random arrangement of the "pixels" is so that the digits are nicely formed. I can just barely remember the change (in the Fifties) of the scoreboard at the high-school football stadium from one like that to the newer "7-segment" concept. The originals, like the one here, were an electric nightmare (calling them "electronic" was decades in the future) requiring incredible amounts of wiring, switches, and relays, and broke down very often. Perhaps that's why this one isn't lit. [We've since learned it's a carriage call. - tterrace] (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh, Streetcars)
Pennsylvania Lines: 1900
... docks, Erie, Pennsylvania." Also represented: Cars of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit ... my understanding: The PRR, particularly west of Pittsburgh, consolidated a large number of existing railroads. The Pittsburgh, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2016 - 3:07pm -

Circa 1900. "Anchor Line docks and Penna. R.R. coal & ore docks, Erie, Pennsylvania." Also represented: Cars of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Women's dresses are ShortThose dresses only go down to the women's knees. Awfully short based on what I have seen for other women's attire for that time period. [An indication they're children. -tterrace] Women near the tracks.One thing that children and women did near the tracks in the days of coal burning locomotives was to scavenge lumps of coal that fell from the tenders as the engines passed. Train crews sometimes accidentally caused coal to fall off to help the folks who needed heat in their houses near the tracks, so those bags might just be full of coal! Someone please tell mewhat are those two women doing by the tracks? A little PRR Corporate and Lettering HistoryHere's my understanding: The PRR, particularly west of Pittsburgh, consolidated a large number of existing railroads. The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago (P FW & C) was the railroad that swallowed up the others. Then, the PRR reorganized into 2 activities, the "Pennsylvania Company" owned and operated railroads east of Pittsburgh, and "Pennsylvania Lines" operated lines west of Pittsburgh. In the front left to right, we see an earlier 19th century boxcar for the eastern part of the railroad and then two cars lettered in the turn-of-the-century style for the 'lines west' Then there is a Fast Freight Line car for the Union Line, which at one time was an association of railroads to provide through freight (same car across multiple railroads.) By this time, though, the Union Line was pretty much a marketing activity of the Pennsylvania company. Finally on the right, a P FW & C car with the earlier lettering. This also provides a great assortment of PRR 'standard cars' The car on the far right has the Wagner Door, an early tight sealing/plug arrangement (where the door slides out and then to the left. This website has a lot of information on the PRR cars, see in particular the PRR XB, XC and XD cars, which are all represented in the photo. http://prr.railfan.net/freight/ Two womenI saw them, too. Looking closer, they have some bundles of something, so I was wondering if they brought lunch for their husbands and are setting up a little picnic. A lot of the men seem to be standing around, such as near the railing on that loader thing. I also noticed that middle frame is a big steam flume going up, which made me wonder if that was a noontime whistle signaling lunchtime, and the cameraman was waiting for just that moment to snap the shot. Hard to say what's going on. [Looks more like laundry, perhaps. -tterrace] (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Mining, Railroads)
National Tube Works: 1910
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1910. "Furnaces, National Tube Works." 8x10 ... the NYC amalgamation. (The Gallery, DPC, Factories, Pittsburgh, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 1:32pm -

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1910. "Furnaces, National Tube Works." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Tube City King's Handbook of New York City, 1892. The National Tube Works Company, the New-York office of which is at 160 Broadway, conducts one of the gigantic industries of the country. It was originally a Boston institution, and the office of its Treasurer remains there. The New-York office is that of its General Manager. Its principal works are at McKeesport, Pa. The establishment there covers forty acres, thirty being occupied by buildings. The product includes every variety of wrought-iron pipe, boiler-tubes, pipes or tubes used for artesian, salt, oil or gas wells, rods and columns used in mining, grate-bars, hand-rails, telegraph poles, gas and air-brake cylinders, drill-rods, Converse patent lock-joint, wrought iron kalameined and asphalted pipe for water and gas works mains and trunk lines, and locomotive and stationary injectors. An important branch of manufacture is that of sap pan iron, kalaineined and galvanized sheet iron, cold rolled iron and steel sheets, and corrugated and curved sheets, for roofs and ceilings. Another speciality is the celebrated "Monongahela" brand of Bessemer, mill and foundry pig-iron. The company finds a market for its goods not only in the United States but also in Central and South America, Mexico, Europe, Australia, and Africa. The works have a capacity of 250,000 tons of tubes and pipe yearly. The company was one of the first to use natural gas as fuel in the manufacture of iron. The gas is brought from its own wells, through twenty miles of pipe, to the works. The Monongahela: River of Dreams, River of Sweat, 1999. McKeesport became a heavy-industry town. It was home to the largest producer of steel pipe and tubing in America, National Tube Company, which opened in 1852. The city's nickname was Tube City. … Mckeesport is one of the small cities that suffered because of the decline of the steel industry. For a long while after U.S. Steel closed the plant in 1984, the riverside complex was a mass of rubble, grass, trees, and unused buildings. Now much of the old plant has been razed. A mini-mill and a couple small companies have moved into the area, but there is still much vacant land. The former docking facility, from which a bargeload of pipe was shipped every day for so many years, is still idle. Glazier Wantedfor large Tube and Pipe Factory. Must have own tools and access to large quantities of glass. Estimated replacement of 200 panes of glass. All inquiries to Mckeesport Factory site. LS & MSI've often hoped to stumble across a railroad car marked LS/MFT, but here we see a couple rather new looking Lake Shore and Michigan Southern hopper cars in the company of the Baltimore and Ohio units. I wonder what track arrangement got that solitary LS & MS car snugged against the bumper? Hardly looks like room for a turnout and a turntable seems unlikely. Those new coal ''gons''belong to the Lake Shore & Michigan Railway which was mostly owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt and was absorbed into the New York Central in 1914, the LS&MS logo seems to be a large (mail sack) with a lock. Note the small NYC logo before the NYC amalgamation. (The Gallery, DPC, Factories, Pittsburgh, Railroads)
Smithfield Street: 1908
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1908. "Smithfield Street and the Post Office." ... July of 2016. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Pittsburgh) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 4:16pm -

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1908. "Smithfield Street and the Post Office." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The more things changeI remember the streetcar tracks, but I'm not quite old enough to remember the bricks. The west side of the street hasn't changed a whole heck of a lot in a hundred years. Kaufmann'sYou can see the Kaufmann's dept. store sign at the top. Edgar Kaufmann Sr., the owner, was the man who hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build Fallingwater as a weekend country house in Bear Run, PA. +108Below is the same view from July of 2016. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Pittsburgh)
Happy Motoring: 1942
... Fort Pitt Ale. Fort Pitt Brewing Company, Sharpsburg and Pittsburgh, PA(1906 - 1957). Perhaps the best selling beer in the Pittsburgh area at one time and Romney was certainly within the marketing area ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2008 - 12:50am -

1942. "Cemetery at edge of Romney, West Virginia." View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. The Gaunt Brooding StateIn the book "John Vachon's America" (University of California Press), there are numerous letters written by him to his wife while he was on the road for the Farm Security Administration. In an entry dated January 24, 1942, he writes: Romney, West Va. First day out. Night now, and many Saturday night people on the main street of this little town of dark West Virginia. The gaunt brooding state of the U.S. The West Virginia people have lean angular faces with dark seamed wrinkles. The bony women have thin breasts and strange sweet straight lips. Black Sunday suits on the men with combed hair, and shapeless color printed dresses on the women. Country RoadsWest Virginia, mountain mama Take me home, country roads. At first glance, I thought this was another of tterrace's slides. Surprise, it's by John Vachon. For photo historians, it must be nice to have the year prominently displayed on a billboard! Fort Pitt AleGorgeous! What a lovely photo. Can anyone read the brand of ale in the billboard on the right? "Fort Pitt?" ["A toast to the holidays. Fort Pitt Ale." - Dave] Dead Man's CurveThe road is Interstate 50, and the cemetery is Indian Mound. Could have been yesterday.Aside from the car and the billboard, it almost seems as if this photo could have been taken yesterday. There are many areas which still look exactly like this. Indian MoundThat'd be US 50, not Interstate 50. Fort Pitt Ale"A toast to the holidays" Fort Pitt Ale. Fort Pitt Brewing Company, Sharpsburg and Pittsburgh, PA(1906 - 1957). Perhaps the best selling beer in the Pittsburgh area at one time and Romney was certainly within the marketing area of the brewery. It vaguely looks like the woman on the billboard is wearing a ski outfit, but at that time skiing was far from the popular sport it is today. Curiously, this sign may have explained the origin of a colloquialism known to many from Pennsylvania, "That's it, Fort Pitt" or the reverse, "Fort Pitt, That's It" was an advertising slogan for Fort Pitt Brewery. See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13ball/2334579584/ Also, I would note that there is no Interstate 50, but certainly a US 50. Local breweriesLike Fort Pitt, there were a lot of breweries in the area of Allegheny County. Most of the buildings are still standing. Some still have that ascetic appeal of the early architecture of years ago. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Vachon)
Flag Day: 1941
June 1941. "Flag Day. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for ... (The Gallery, Factories, John Vachon, Patriotic, Pittsburgh) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2020 - 3:36pm -

June 1941. "Flag Day. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Paraphrasing Justice Potter StewartI shall not attempt further to define a great photograph ... but I know one when I see one. This is a great photo. Flag questionShouldn't the stars on the flag from 1941 be in a 6x8 grid, not offset rows as shown in the photo? [The 1912 executive order pertaining to 48-star flags specifies only that the stars be in six rows of eight stars each, "symmetrically arranged." And of course the flag makers could arrange the stars however they wanted. There are (or were) countless examples of flags with stars both staggered and gridded. - Dave] KudosJohn Vachon was a great talent. What an incredible picture! Timeless window screenI am reminded of all the places I've lived where I had one of those screens to insert in the window opening. They're still around. Would keep out the flies, but wouldn't be effective against the smoke from those mills. Fly the flag!And step out for a breath of fresh air. Flag --Looks like the US flag for 1890-1891 - 43 stars. Probably flew what he had. [This flag has 48 stars. - Dave] (The Gallery, Factories, John Vachon, Patriotic, Pittsburgh)
Greatest Show on Earth: 1904
... Lincoln > Chatham > Mayfair From the historic Pittsburgh Images site, it appears that this hotel eventually became the Hotel ... This would be a great one to color. (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 8:48pm -

1904. "Hotel Lincoln, Pittsburg." Let's turn our attention to those Barnum & Bailey circus posters: "Two days only, commencing Wednesday afternoon May 18, Old Stock Yard Grounds, East Liberty. Two performances daily, doors open at 1 and 7 p.m." Featured act: The Wentworth Trio, "trick riders in a series of entirely new equestrian acts with running horses and English road carts." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Penn and FifthThe old city directories show the Hotel Lincoln at Penn Avenue and Fifth Street. ("Rooms without bath, $1.50 single, $2 double; with bath, $2 single, $3 double.") Sometime around 1910 the name was changed to Hotel Chatham. Seems to have been demolished around 1960. Its corner of Penn and Fifth is now occupied by Fifth Avenue Place. Nightmare fuelThose creepy clown faces make me glad the other poster is cut off. Even the guy at the top of the poster has a creepy expression. Moreover, the guy in the hotel window has a sort of eeriness all his own. He looks like a statue. 106 years laterWaiter in dining room finally gets his 15 minutes of fame! Creepiest Show On EarthFact: In 1904 there were still no limits as to how scary your clowns could be. Inside and OutIf you open the image to full size - it is interesting to see one well dressed man in the window of the hotel and then one not so well in the alley of the hotel. Makes you wonder what each was thinking at that moment. [Don't forget The Third Man. - Dave] Lincoln > Chatham > MayfairFrom the historic Pittsburgh Images site, it appears that this hotel eventually became the Hotel Mayfair and was demolished in July of 1950. Photo Description: State of demolition activities at the Hotel Mayfair and neighboring buildings to prepare for the construction of the Gateway Center complex. Maybe just the postersThis would be a great one to color. (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh)
On the Ohio: 1910
... Queen caught fire and was destroyed while in the dock at Pittsburgh in the late '40s. The Delta Queen continued to operate and as far ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 2:42pm -

The Ohio River circa 1910. "Nightfall on the Ohio at Cincinnati." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Neither the Island Queen nor Delta QueenThis is the huge sidewheeler City of Cincinnati, built in 1899 at Jeffersonville, Indiana. You are thinking of the Cincinnati, built in 1924, which was supposed to have a twin, the Louisville. The latter boat was never completed, and her hull was sold to the Coney Island Co., who finished her as the Island Queen. Island Queen or Delta QueenI guess it could be one or the other. The Island Queen used to take passengers from the public landing in Cincy up river to the Coney Island amusement park. I made that trip many times as a kid in the late 1940's. It was quite a thrill in the summer to sit on deck and listen to the calliope. The Island Queen caught fire and was destroyed while in the dock at Pittsburgh in the late '40s. The Delta Queen continued to operate and as far as I know still exists. ClassicAnd Timeless; one of the best pictures yet! Thank You! The Delta QueenThe Delta Queen was a sternwheeler, not a sidewheeler like the boat in the Shorpy image. The Delta Queen (below) is still used for river cruises, but not overnight trips since it doesn't meet the current safety requirements. Far EastWith such air quality, I thought it was a picture of modern Beijing! The past is so bright, I gotta wear shades.Absolutely, one one my all time Shorpy favorites! I love how when I gaze from bottom to top, the sun actually seems glaring. [That's (ostensibly) the moon. One of many Detroit Publishing moonlight views. - Dave] Moonlight?I'm going to have to differ with Dave on this. I can't imagine that there'd be a photographic emulsion fast enough in 1910 to capture that image by moonlight with no motion blur. It'd be good a trick even today. I mean, look at all the "ghosts" of pedestrians walking in broad daylight in contemporaneous street views we've seen here. Same with their other "moonlight views" in the LOC collection. My bet is that it's the equivalent of "day for night" movie filming, that for their postcards, Detroit Publishing printed it dark and tinted it bluish for a simulated moonlight effect. Sidewheeler City of CincinnatiThe boat appears to be the 1899 sidewheeler City of Cincinnati of the Louisville & Cincinnati Packet Co., seen in previous Shorpy post: Steam Under the Bridge: 1906. Moonlight Photography"Moonlight photography" was a discipline of some interest to shutterbugs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A distinction was drawn between "real moonlight photography" and "moonlight photographs" in general -- a stylistic genre that utilised underexposed pictures taken in daylight and then "printed deep" (a technique not available for this particular image, as it is taken from a negative without benefit of a paper print). The ghostly personages who populate much of the era's daylight photography are a consequence not of slow emulsions but rather of the fact that most large view cameras of the era lacked timed shutters (what were known then as "clockwork shutters" -- most spring shutters lacked a timing mechanism and were opened and closed by the photographer, which necessitated one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi exposures of several seconds' duration), or any shutters at all, exposures being made by removing and then replacing the lens cover. Photographers with clockwork shutters who wished to avail themselves of "fast plates" had a number of very sensitive emulsions available, as evidenced by the stop-motion photography of the 1890s. These were also utilised for "real moonlight" photographs. [And indeed we have a number of stop-motion images here, this being one example. Although, after reading your references and tterrace's comment, I do have my doubts as to whether the nighttime photography of a century ago could freeze waves as seen in the Ohio River picture. Then again, one underestimates the capabilities of an 8x10 view camera at one's peril. - Dave] 1910 by moonlightOne of those references is to an article on "real" moonlight photography in American Photography dated 1910, the same year this shot was taken. In discussing exposures using "a long bellows reversible back view camera... exposures will range from ten to thirty minutes on a clear night using stop f8 and fast plates." It also mentions two methods of getting the moon itself in the image without showing the effect of its motion during exposure. One was to double-expose the plate, first a long exposure of the scene when the moon was out of the field of view, then a shorter one after aiming the camera at the moon. The other involved exposing two negatives when making the print, one of just the moonlit scene, the other of the moon itself. Or the Moon Walking in BrightnessPerhaps enough sunlight and moonlight has already been shed on the subject, but a consideration of the location may further illuminate. The boat appears to be commencing her run down river, approaching the old C&O RR bridge spanning the Ohio. The camera has taken a position a bit upriver, almost certainly the south tower of the Suspension Bridge. Both bridges align slightly to the west of due north. The point of view is roughly WNW, perhaps tending towards NWbW. A full moon in early winter might take up position as we see, but would necessarily put cameraman and boat on river in the hour or two before dawn. A full moon in other seasons could not occupy the section of sky. The few souls visible on the boat seem dressed for heat, and -- looking far for a bit of vegetation -- the gap in the truss section of the bridge frames a bluff where trees appear in leaf. The moon appears less likely when we find that the photograph below from Detroit Publishing bears the title Sunset on the Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio. Many details match precisely our photo, including the distant cloud bank low on the horizon. It could easily have been taken just a short while before the boat floated into position. On the OhioSerious contender for best picture on the blog. Any idea of the photographer? [Mr. Detroit Publishing. - Dave] (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cincinnati Photos, DPC)
Soo Line Station: 1910
... funicular I've ever been on is the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh. I hate heights but I love inclines even though riding them is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/18/2022 - 8:40pm -

Duluth, Minnesota. "Up the incline from Superior Street." Competing for our attention with the Duluth Incline Railway is the trainyard fronted by Soo Line Station, and that 325-foot tower on the horizon. Built in 1910 by the Radio Wireless Telegraph Company, it blew over in a gale the following year. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. See the Trains and Ride the Trains Here!The same view today: The Incline Railway may be gone, but The Bethel is still visible to the left of the apartment block, here's a closeup: and the Townview Villas and the four houses to the left of it with the big stone wall are also still there: Soo = SaultThe Soo line was formally the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie) Railroad. Sault Ste. Marie is at the other end of Lake Superior from Duluth, and it's where the freighters use locks to drop 21 feet down to the level of Lakes Michigan and Huron. We visited the Soo a few years before for a celebration: Shorpy - Sault Ste. Marie: 1905 Radio tower in 1910?Curious what the tower was? Did they have radio or wireless telegraphs? [Radio, which got its start in the 1890s, includes wireless telegraphy, radiophone, commercial broadcasting, etc. Ship-to-shore communication was among its earliest applications. - Dave] Icing on the streetsDuluth, MN: all the charm of streets with San-Francisco steepness, but coated with winter ice. Unofficial yard monitorIf I'm ever reported missing... well, I'm just sayin'. Don't spend too much time searching. Old TimersI'm surprised to see that they were still rolling old-fashioned wood sided open-platform cars at that time. Perhaps for local service? Downhill, both waysThis photo did everything by halves: the car is half-way on its journey (OK I'm starting with a bit of poetic license), the incline has only half as many cars remaining as it started with -- a brief and unintended conversion into a fireball in 1901 explains the reduction -- and is about halfway thru its existence (1891-1939), and whatever perch the shot was taken from (a silo? a balloon?) seems halfway to Heaven. But it is thoroughly enjoyable. [And (what I hope is) a helpful hint to 'bigguy1960': be not surprised: railroad technology moves s-l-o-o-o-w-w-l-y] So inclinedThe only funicular I've ever been on is the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh. I hate heights but I love inclines even though riding them is moderately scary. I think what draws me to them despite my nerves is their iconic status, the engineering, the history, the view from the top, and the photographic opportunities afforded. My favorite episodes of Bosch were those that involved the Angels Flight Railway in Los Angeles. I'd like to ride that one but I'm afraid of flying (hello? heights) and it's too far for me to drive, at least today. I looked it up and learned that while the Duquesne Incline is 800 feet long and 400 feet in height, and is inclined at a 30-degree angle, Duluth's Incline Railway climbed 509 feet in slightly more than half a mile and the grade ranged from 15 to 25 percent. That is interesting to me because the Duluth incline appears in this picture to be longer than my memory of the Duquesne Incline. But I can clearly see the less steep grade of the Duluth railway as compared to the Duquesne. At any rate I would have very much enjoyed riding it, camera in hand and jitters suppressed. (The Gallery, DPC, Duluth, Railroads)
Stude Hill: 1941
... yard at Irwin, Pennsylvania." Spitz Auto Parts, east of Pittsburgh. Farm Security Administration photo. View full size. Future ... color in her truck! (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Pittsburgh) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2018 - 6:50pm -

Circa 1941. "Wrecking yard at Irwin, Pennsylvania." Spitz Auto Parts, east of Pittsburgh. Farm Security Administration photo. View full size. Future Liberty ships?I wonder how many of these vintage car lover's dreams ended up in scrap drives. Shorpy Vehicle Identification ImperativeExperiencing Temporary Overload ... check back in 1946. Wish I Could Go Back!Many's the time I wandered a place just like this until I found what I was looking for; took it off the wreck and lugged it up front to pay, much like the guy in the coveralls in the center of the pic! One time, with help, I rolled a sedan over to pull the rear axle and left it looking much like car front left! Good times! Since 1939Still salvaging autos. DeSoto I think1934 Airflow? Junk after only 7 years. Been there, done thatLike friend Dennis, I too have spent time in a wrecking yard. One time broke my heart - a new Mustang with about 80 miles on the clock, and a telephone pole size dent in the side that would have killed anyone who was sitting in the right seat. I wonder how many million dollars the parts in this picture would be worth today. Junkyard gentlemenMy wife has a Chevy pickup, and one day, when she forgot to lock it when parked in our driveway, someone stole the ashtray (it was full of coins). The new replacement was expensive, so she went to a parts lot. Two guys who were customers there - working on getting their own parts - treated her like she was royalty, finding the same year-model-color pickup, and even pulling the tray from the truck dashboard for her! It matched the dashboard color in her truck! (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Pittsburgh)
Dry Goods: 1912
Pittsburgh circa 1912. "Pennsylvania Avenue and Joseph Horne's store." 8x10 ... View Larger Map (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh, Stores & Markets, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/11/2014 - 4:49am -

Pittsburgh circa 1912. "Pennsylvania Avenue and Joseph Horne's store." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Allways FreshOh, well. At least they nailed the correct placement of the apostrophe for the Reymer brothers. ClearlyImpressive use of large plate glass store fronts especially the hardware store that is done with the glass free-standing. Would have been interesting to see the panes being delivered and installed. Schneider TailorI'm trying to figure out whether Mr Schneider is the Tailor or he's just delivering his message in two languages. Penn Not PennsylvaniaHorne's Department Store was located at the corner of Penn Ave. and Stanwix St. The building is still standing. The Horne building todayView Larger Map (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
A Really Big Shoe: 1905
... Shoot the Shoe According to this article in the Pittsburgh Press of May 7, 1905, the "Shoot the Shoe" was new that spring. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 9:14pm -

Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1905. "Chateau-Alfonse and Old Shoe, Luna Park." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Dried UpApparently, this was one of a chain of amusement parks built by Frederick Ingersoll, who died in 1929. Its main attraction, a trolley park that served beer, fell victim to Prohibition, and once that closed, its popularity waned. A series of fires in the 1930s claimed a number of the other attractions, rides were eventually dismantled and moved elsewhere, and the last building (the skating rink) was destroyed by fire in 1940. The Woodhill Homes development sits on the actual site of the amusement park but there is a greenspace called Luna Park nearby. http://www.rct2uces.com/files/lunapark/ParkTour1.htm Trivia from the above link: "Entertainer Bob Hope spent much of his youth at Luna Park. He would often sneak into company picnics and try to win prizes in events such as sack races" Long gonehttp://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=LP2 Sounds like Ed SullivanThe title reminds me of the Ed Sullivan show. Shows my age. I wonder what was inside this shoe? Maybe it was a play area for the kids? 1 centto ride the slide! Let's go! MmmmThis photograph really gives me a hankerin' for orangeade. There used to always be an orangeade stand at the Ohio State Fair that was run by some friends of mine, and they'd give us free drinks. Now as an adult I go there every year and miss the orangeade. Still there?I live near Cleveland and I wonder if that is still there? I have never heard of this place before. GameboyThat employee seated on the right appears to be playing his Nintendo DS game. At least that's the way my kids slouch when engaged in that activity. Watch the Splinters!Looks like two wooden slides coming down either side of the shoe. It had to be a labor intensive structure to build, but a very nice piece of work. The Really Big ShoeThe sign on the ticket house says 1 cent- Sli(de). The little tots probably give a ticket to the man in the chair then climb up through the toe hole nearsted to him. From the little wall behind him I assume the slide exit is probably the other hole. 1 cent for a slide-weeeeee! When I blow the photo up real big it looks like the shoe is made of painted canvas stretched over a frame made of bent pipes. Quite tricky really. Slip 'n slideThe Big Shoe was a giant slide with twin chutes winding down from the little house at the summit. The interior probably contained nothing more than a staircase. If you look at the lounging attendant at right you can see what appears to be a pile of mats in front of him likely used for sliding down the chutes. (When I was a kid, we went to a Fun House in San Francisco that had a similar slide where we rode gunny sacks.) Shoe Slide Seems to me the shoe is a ride. The booth next to the shoe is selling tickets for a penny. I'm thinking the entrance is just past the booth under the heel where one would climb up stairs to enjoy the scenic view from the top of the shoe and then slide down the tongue and exit out the open-toe. People seemed to be easily entertained back then. Family FunEvidently the chateau sold refreshments, and the shoe (as in: There was an old woman) had murals that reflected nursery rhymes. Cleveland's Luna Park. 212The shoe and Chateau Alphonse are nice, but what is the cave/tunnel thing between them with the 212 above the entrance? Shoot the ShoeAccording to this article in the Pittsburgh Press of May 7, 1905, the "Shoot the Shoe" was new that spring. Patrons were met at the top by the old woman that lived in a shoe, and as the fable goes, had so many kids that she didn't know what to do, so she would sweep them down the shoot. Sans SplintersAt the top you were given a burlap sack. The wood was very highly polished, a nice ride. There was a wooden slide at Geauga Lake Park. (The Gallery, Cleveland, DPC, Sports)
Church Ladies: 1941
January 1941. "Negro church in mill district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm ... Church in the Hazelwood neighborhood southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. From what I can tell this church was originally located on Sylvan ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/30/2018 - 12:08pm -

January 1941. "Negro church in mill district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Why can't we go back?Style and Elegance. God, what a time. Steel in the ValleyGreat picture. Fogginess from the steel mills belching smoke. Perhaps we should call the ladies "Valley Girls". St. John's Evangelist Baptist ChurchIn the 1941 Shorpy photo note the cornerstone of the church, between the two ladies, that seems to name the church as St John's Evangelist Baptist Church in the Hazelwood neighborhood southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. From what I can tell this church was originally located on Sylvan Avenue, up the hill, at Tullymet Way (staircase) and the staircase (at left) is still there. On Street View the old curbstone looks like the original from the 1941 photo and there's the same storm drain. Street View also reveals the foundation of the church, down the stairs, as well as old stairs that must have exited the side of the church. (The Gallery, Factories, Jack Delano, Pittsburgh)
Nats-Giants: 1924
... in 1925, he butchered the 1925 World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates with some awful fielding. He committed a peck of errors. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 11:29am -

October 10, 1924. Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. "Peckinpaugh sees final World Series game from dugout on account of injuries." View full size. Isn't it the Senators?The old American League Washington Senators became the Twins and have nothing to do with the current Washington Nationals. [The team was called the Nationals because Washington is the national capital. In 1924, hardly anyone called them the Senators. Below: Washington Post front page from the next day, October 11. - Dave] The Big Train Finally WinsThis is the game that Walter Johnson, at age 36, pitches the final four shutout innings to nail down his and the Nationals' first (and last) World Series win. The Big TrainHis house is still located out in Rockville which, in 1924, was far from downtown D.C. and just a small village. The NIH wasn't yet a dream, but would be just a mile away later. Contrast this photo with a modern dugout design! Makes Camden Yards look palatial! Old MemoriesI had forgotten the Senators being called the Nationals until I saw this. I grew up in Baltimore, home of the Orioles, and the local sports reports often included the Senators results probably because the radio broadcast area reached Prince Georges County where many federal workers lived. What a change the stadiums have seen in 80-odd years! Johnson's motionI love the picture. I can smell the sweat and chewing tobacco wafting through the humid early October, D.C. air. I was looking to see if Walter Johnson was visible. He threw a submarine side-arm pitch which caught people off guard because of the deceptive velocity. I believe that Ty Cobb took advantage of Johnson's fear of maiming a batter, and purposely crowded the plate after a full count. Ken Burn's "Baseball" has a nice segment about Johnson and provides rare footage of his pitching style. Nats-Giants: 1924Having been a diehard and frustrated Washington Senators fan for most of my first 30 years, I find it oddly appropriate that their only World Championship was won in the seventh game on a bad-hop single in the bottom of the twelfth inning. Click.Notice the Graflex Super D on the top step of the dugout. Roger PRoger Peckinpaugh was well regarded in his day, frequently a captain of his ballclub. In fact, at age 23, he managed the New York Yankees for a brief spell. However, the Nationals probably wished ol' Peck was in an overcoat 12 months after this picture was taken, and not playing shortstop. Even though he was the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1925, he butchered the 1925 World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates with some awful fielding. He committed a peck of errors. Still and all, he spent a lifetime in the game and rose to executive officer with his hometown Cleveland Indians. He enjoyed an interesting career and lived until his 80's. A hatted worldThis is hardly a new observation, but I can't help but be struck by the fact that every head one can make out in this photo is crowned. Nowhere does it seem to stand out more than in old photos of baseball stadium crowds - photos of people enjoying what most of us in today's world would consider an occasion that calls for very casual attire. What does this say about us, and about prior generations? Walter JohnsonI actually have quite a few photos of Walter Johnson with my grandfather, who was a big fan. Shorpy, any interest? Hanging in my foyer is a front page newspaper photo of him with Johnson, Goose Goslin and a few other players - he gave a free suit to any player who hit home runs (my grandfather owned a popular downtown men's clothing store). For years I have been searching for a photo of Griffith stadium that included a view of my grandfather's ad that was hung in the stadium ... I have been through the LOC website and the MLK reading room with only one very poor result ... anyone have any other suggestions for me? [It would help if we knew his name or the name of his store. - Dave] Fred PelzmanFor Jennifer: Click here (National Photo) or here (Harris & Ewing) and use the top box to search for "baseball." Then click the "Preview images" button to see the thumbnails. There are dozens of articles and ads related to your grandfather in the Washington Post archive. Which you can probably search from your public library's website (look for "ProQuest Historical Newspapers") if you have a library card. Below are some examples from 1901, 1915, 1932 and 1948. WJ continuedFred Pelzman's Fashion Shop ... I can send you images of some of the ads with his logo, if that would be helpful - Jennifer Thank you!Hey Dave: Thanks so much! I actually have collected a lot of the the materials from the WPost archives (via the library website, bless them for this resource!) - put together a scapbook for my father's 80th birthday last year. FYI, the top two ads here are from my great-grandfather's store (Schwartz & Pelzman) while the others are from my grandfather's - the latter was the big baseball fan. I will forward to you a few of the Walter Johnson photos in case any of your DC baseball fans might be interested. Thanks so much for the recommendations, as a fourth-generation Washingtonian, this blog is such a huge treat!!! Explaining "Nationals"The franchise officially changed its name from Senators to Nationals in 1905 because of a horrifically bad year in 1904. It was this name change that the new Nationals were referring to with the logos that say "Washington Nationals: Established 1905." I'm sure the fact that this name change occurred exactly 100 years before the Expos moved to D.C. inspired this. Anyway, although the team was officially called the Nationals, many people still called them the "Senators" as an unofficial nickname. Since the team only had a "W" on their uniform, who could tell? It wasn't until Clark Griffith died and Calvin took over that the team officially became the Senators and began putting that team name on the front of their uniforms. It's because the team was called the "NATionalS" for so long that people still referred to the "SeNATorS" as "Nats." "Senators" fans in Harrisburg and Ottawa refer to their teams as the "Sens." They don't look happy - - - yet.If the date is correct, this is the only day in history when a Washington team won the World Series -- despite the decidedly glum looks on virtually everyone in view. The game went 12 innings, and was won when the Giants committed two errors in the 12th. It was also the least-attended game in the series, with only 31,667 paid attendance, about 2,600 short of the previous game and over 35K for the first two games. Odd that there is no festive bunting in sight. Roger Peckinpaugh was the shortstop for the Washington Nationals from 1922 through 1926, winning the MVP in 1925. He committed eight errors in the '25 Series, apparently still a major league record. His salary in 1924, by the way, was $10,000. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Sports)
Bonus Army: 1932
... as today, was the focus of protest. Father James Cox of Pittsburgh already had led one jobless march on Washington, the Communist Party ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2011 - 7:49pm -

"B.E.F. camp, Anacostia, 1932." The "Bonus Expeditionary Force" encampment of World War I veterans (the Bonus Army) and their families in Washington, D.C. 8x10 acetate negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size. Headline NewsThe tone of these articles could be characterized as generally indignant that an "army" of able-bodied men in their thirties were trying to shake down the government for early (as opposed to 1945) payment of their World War I bonus. There was also the assumption that besides bona fide veterans, the camp included many with dubious claims to military service, as well as Communist political agitators and anarchists. All in all, not a lot of editorial sympathy for the ragtag B.E.F. Click to enlarge. Two ships - or not the two ships - that is the question.The two ships in the top background of the top photo look like Admiral Dewey's flagship and maybe the Constellation. Don't know if they were there at the time. Dewey's ship is in Phila and the Constellation in Baltimore now. A different viewThis view looks like it was at what is now the intersection of 295 and the 11th Street Bridge. Old IronsidesOld Ironsides (USS Constitution) in the background. This is probably the 235th post on this topic. The ship was in DC in 1932 and first day covers were postmarked on the ship for collectors. I built a Revell plastic kit model of the ship in the late 1950's. It was pretty pricy at $2.98, but it came with the bottom of the hull already painted a copper color to match cladding on ship. Bonus MarchersThis is a fascinating story that has always intrigued me and one that you don't hear mentioned much today. Especially when you consider how many of our future WWII military leaders were involved in it. Great pictures! Earlier ViewThis is a somewhat earlier view (and from a different angle) of the Navy Yard across the river. If those are their NAA radio station towers then the one on the right must have been undergoing rehab or dismantling by 1932. Camp Despair Washington Post, Jul 28, 1982. Bonus Army of 1932: Life Without a Safety Net Chalmers M. Roberts Fifty years ago today the ragtag "bonus army" of jobless World War I veterans was driven out of Washington, an act that symbolized the depth of the Great Depression and the paralysis of the federal government in dealing with America's worst economic disaster. It is worth recalling in order to give some perspective to the current miseries of millions of Americans. Out of that disaster half a century ago came the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which constructed the basic ribs of the economic safety net now so severely strained by Reaganomics. But one has only to look at mid-1932 to see what a different America it was before there was any safety net at all. In 1932, unemployment averaged 23.6 percent — over 12 million jobless out of a civilian labor force of 51 million; today 9.5 percent, about 10.5 million out of well over 100 million workers, are jobless. That year over a quarter million Americans lost their homes because of mortgage foreclosures. Unemployed men sold apples for a nickel on thousands of street corners. In such an atmosphere, the capital, as today, was the focus of protest. Father James Cox of Pittsburgh already had led one jobless march on Washington, the Communist Party another. The bonus army began in Portland, Ore., and by early summer some 20,000 vets and family members were here, calling themselves the BEF — bonus expeditionary force. The ostensible purpose was to pressure Congress into voting immediate payment of a veterans' bonus promised for 1945. Rep. Wright Patman's proposal was to have paid $1 for each day served in the United States, $1.25 for those spent overseas. The Democrat-controlled House approved, but the Republican senate refused while thousands of the vets jammed the Capital grounds. Thereupon they sang "America" and peacefully went back to their camps. These were shack villages thrown together at several locations, principally on the Anacostia's east bank and on Pennsylvania Avenue about where the National Gallery East Building now stands. On June 7, as 100,000 watched, some 8,000 vets marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in what The Post called "the strangest military parade the capital has ever witnessed," By mid-July, the White House was "guarded from veterans" by "the greatest massing of policemen seen in Washington since the race riot after the world war." Inside the mansion sat a beseiged President Hoover. Police chief Pelham D. Glassford, World War I's youngest brigadier general, wanted to feed the vets, not fight them. Evelyn Walsh McLean, who owned the Hope diamond, impulsively ordered a thousand sandwiches from nearby Child's; Glassford paid for coffee. But the District commissioners, under White House pressure, ordered evacuation of the camps. Glassford tried persuasion to no avail. Skirmishes turned into a brawl, and then a panicky cop pulled his revolver. One vet was killed, another wounded; he died later. It was 4:30 in the afternoon of July 28 when Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur appeared on the Avenue, with him Maj. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Third Cavalry troopers from Fort Myer, sabers drawn, pranced down the street under command of Maj. George S. Patton Jr., followed by infantry with fixed bayonets, a machine gun detachment, troops with tear gas canisters and six midget tanks, their treads eating into the heat-softened macadam. Some 20,000 rush-hour spectators watched as the troops charged the vets. Tear gas spread a haze over the Avenue as spectators fled; Sen. Hiram Bingham of Connecticut was trampled in the rush. It was quickly over as the bonus marchers retreated toward Anacostia, the flames and smoke from their torched shacks framing the Capitol dome for photographers. The other camps, too were burned. The bitter vets finally straggled out of town. MacArthur claimed the "mob" had been "animated by the essence of revolution." Some of those involved were indeed would-be revolutionaries, but that was not the veterans' motivating force; despair was. One vet put it simply: "If they gave me a job, I wouldn't care about the bonus." USS GrebeThe other ship is USS Grebe, a minesweeper that towed USS Constitution around the country on its tour of the country. Both Sides NowInteresting, every historian has an agenda. Looking at two current college textbooks, they tell a completely different story, a story featuring only the how awful veterans were treated, and how vicious the government was in removing these folks. Thank you Dave! A book on the BEFA book with many details and several pictures was written by W. W. Waters (principal organizer of the BEF) and William C. White. It's titled B.E.F. the Whole Story of the Bonus Army. I have what I believe is the first edition, published in 1933. It has been reprinted a number of times however. Copies are available from several booksellers on the Web. (The Gallery, D.C., Great Depression, Natl Photo, WWI)
Home, Work: 1938
July 1938. "Slums near steel mill. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein ... door No. 2 (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Factories, Pittsburgh) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2020 - 10:59am -

July 1938. "Slums near steel mill. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. As we all can seeThe outhouse bottom right and the lack of indoor facilities. Upper right window with basin and the water and soap streak on the roof. Look out below. Mop on the roof is a nice touch. [And yet, a vent stack running up to the roof. - Dave] A lackingStrange that not a single smokestack is emitting the infamous heavy smoke known to be a signature of that region in those years. Be it ever so humbleYou're never too fancy to have a broom on the roof. DindowsDoors that are windows. Zonk!I'll take whatever's behind door No. 2 (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Factories, Pittsburgh)
Schenley Park: 1910
Pittsburgh circa 1910. "Schenley Park Bridge and the 'Tick' (Carnegie-Mellon ... the late sixties. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/10/2018 - 9:56am -

Pittsburgh circa 1910. "Schenley Park Bridge and the 'Tick' (Carnegie-Mellon University)." A continuation of this image. Note loop-the-loop in the park at right. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size. Poor Fellows!Looks like a couple of Gandy Dancers had to work that day and couldn't take part in the festivities. Maybe the Pirates were on the roadBecause the brand new Forbes Field would have been just off-screen left on the other side of this bridge, making this one of the 1910 epicenters of Steel City culture, learning and recreation in more ways than one. Carnegie MellonCarnegie Mellon University was originally Carnegie Technical Schools, then Carnegie Institute of Technology, and finally Carnegie Mellon U when it merged with Mellon Institute of Science in 1967. This photo brings back a lot of memories of my time at CMU (although not from 1910). Missing the funThat rail crew down there is missing all of the fun! Loop-the-loopReminds me of my younger brothers’ Hot Wheels sets in the late sixties. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh, Railroads)
Forbes Field: 1910
Circa 1910. "Forbes Field, Pittsburgh." A continuation of this image . 8x10 inch dry plate glass ... View full size. Childhood memory We lived in Pittsburgh in the late '50s to 1961 and my dad took me to one game around 1960. ... (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh, Sports) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/10/2018 - 10:00am -

Circa 1910. "Forbes Field, Pittsburgh." A continuation of this image. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Childhood memory We lived in Pittsburgh in the late '50s to 1961 and my dad took me to one game around 1960. We were middle deck, closer to home plate than first base. I remember tossing peanut shells over the rail. Almost 60 years later I sometimes think about that experience. WowI dare say that's prettier than even Wrigley Field. Sure, getting rid of those support posts will make the view better, but that's just beautiful. Love the gallery on top! Gonna need a new flagThat's a 46-star American flag, which lasted only four years as the official flag of the U.S. In 1912, with the admission of Arizona and New Mexico, it was time to upgrade to a new 48-star flag. Flag at half staffAny ideas regarding the reason the flag is at half staff? Memorial Day perhaps? I attended many games here in the 60s. We rode a streetcar to Oakland and sat in the right field stands to get a view of Roberto Clemente. When the home team ran out at the start of an inning, we would yell, "Hey, Clemente!" He would look up and every kid was sure he was looking right at them. Part of Forbes Field still stands, a section of the outfield wall where Bill Mazeroski's "walk-off" homerun left the stadium in 1960. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/forbes-field-wall (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh, Sports)
Growth Spurt: 1912
... Along the Monongahela circa 1912. "A group of skyscrapers, Pittsburgh." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... and later Captain W. J. Wood, Pacific No. 2 was built in Pittsburgh in 1893 using the steam engines from the former steam towboat ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/29/2017 - 7:16am -

Along the Monongahela circa 1912. "A group of skyscrapers, Pittsburgh." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. "River Combine" "River Coal"Pacific No. 2 was a steam powered stern wheel towboat of 570 gross and 416 net tons, with a length of 176 feet, a breadth of 32 feet, a depth/draft of 5 feet and a crew of 35. Owned by the Pacific Coal and Towboat Company, Captains Joe and Ab Gould and later Captain W. J. Wood, Pacific No. 2 was built in Pittsburgh in 1893 using the steam engines from the former steam towboat Lioness No. 2 which was built in 1869. Pacific No. 2 continued towing until retired about 1913 and was dismantled two years later at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. The hull was converted into a barge and in 1920 was used by Follansbee Bros. to haul cement. In 1899, responding to economic conditions, disruptions in the coal industry, and the frequent loss of towboats and barges (often by collision with bridge piers) the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company was formed, absorbing the assets of most of the independent towboat companies. The amalgamated companies initialed their towboats and barges with the letters “RC” for “River Combine” or “River Coal.” The Pacific No. 2, prior to the “RC” logo: Very different skyline, but --That's the Smithfield Street Bridge on the right. Some of the buildings below Wood Street (first street to the left of Smithfield) remain today. Wabash BridgeOn the left is the Wabash Railroad Bridge that served the small station visible across the river. Trains reached this location through a tunnel under Mt. Washington (where, undoubtedly the photographer was standing when the photograph was taken). The tunnel is now used for vehicular traffic. It may not come as a shock to Shorpy visitors that the train station burned in 1946. The bridge was removed in 1948; in the modern view supplied by Kozel you can see one of the the still-standing ghostly piers of the bridge. Collier Nr 4Any idea what the Collier Nr 4, left side of photo, might be? It looks a lot like a coal mine headstock, but the location sort of precludes that it is a mine shaft (but anything is possible)! Perhaps a barge loader/unloader? Thanks! (In afterthought, I realized that a mine would be a COLLIERY, a barge or ship a COLLIER). Collier is a CollierCollier Nr4 probably is a collier, a boat for handling coal, in this particular case, vertically. We've seen on this site photos of New York Harbor with floating grain elevators, for handling smaller particles. Shove Me TimbersLooks like the locomotive lower left edge of photo just made a shove move on the four blurry box cars. The loco and 2 attached cars are only slightly fuzzy, indicating they had just about come to a stop when the shutter opened, while the four box cars picked up speed from the shove as the shutter remained open. Looks like one of the crew was on the ground directing the move (visible near the door of the white box car where the train was uncoupled for the shove move). (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh, Railroads)
Rear Window: 1938
Pittsburgh slum dwelling, 1938. View full size. Photograph by Arthur ... (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Great Depression, Pittsburgh) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 7:58pm -

Pittsburgh slum dwelling, 1938. View full size. Photograph by Arthur Rothstein. 2nd WindowGeez the baby is about to fall! (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Great Depression, Pittsburgh)
Philadelphia Dental Rooms: 1904
... the Philadelphia Dental Rooms, on what seems to have been Pittsburgh's go-to street for Painless Dentistry. Looming over it all is the ... A couple blocks north is Wood Street Station, part of Pittsburgh's subway. Many visitors are surprised that Pittsburgh, like Paris ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/07/2018 - 2:32pm -

1904. "Fifth Avenue, Pittsburg, Pa." Address of the Philadelphia Dental Rooms, on what seems to have been Pittsburgh's go-to street for Painless Dentistry. Looming over it all is the recently completed Farmers Bank building. View full size. Farmers Bank focusWhy does the Farmers Bank building get more blurry the higher up you go? [Use of the tilt-shift method to control parallel lines in tall buildings can bring the photographic plate into the edge range of the lens, where spherical aberration is most prominent. -tterrace] Union Veteran LegionThe Union Veteran Legion, founded in 1884, was an organization of Union Civil War veterans who had "volunteered prior to July 1, 1863, for a term of 3 years, and were honorably discharged. Service in the military had to be of at least two years' duration if the discharge was due to wounds encountered on the battlefield." Contrast that with the much larger Grand Army of the Republic, which did not have any restrictions for length of service. There must have been some sort of friction between long-serving veterans and those who had served only a short time. Note the dates - UVL was founded about 19 years after the end of the Civil War. This 1904 photo is 39 years after the end of the war, so the members are now in their sixties. Old technologyI remember going with my father to his dentist when I was in kindergarten just to get out of my mom's hair. The dentist was an old man about ready to retire, so he had not updated his equipment in quite some time. He had a foot operated drill which wasn't bad enough but he had arthritis in his knees, so the drill would slow down and speed up. I can only presume the drills were not as sharp as they should have been, compounding the pain. This memory kept me away from the dentist for years. It was not until I got married in 1981 that I went to a dentist on the insistence of my new bride. He had a field day with my mouth. 14 cavities. 1 crown. 3 root canals. 1 pulled. As the saying goes "Be true to your teeth otherwise they will be false to you." A Most Interesting NeighborhoodI believe this is near the intersection of Fifth and Wood Street: an interesting neighborhood. Just a block south, at the corner of Forbes and Wood, stands "The Skinny Building," three stories wide, but only five feet wide. A couple blocks north is Wood Street Station, part of Pittsburgh's subway. Many visitors are surprised that Pittsburgh, like Paris and New York, has a subway. An almost completely different world. What a difference a century or so can make. At least the Frick Building still stands: (The Gallery, DPC, Pittsburgh)
Wartime Rail: 1942
September 1942. The Kroger warehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Freight car movements. With transportation assuming ... the walker is inspecting? (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Pittsburgh, Railroads, WW2) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/29/2017 - 12:06pm -

September 1942. The Kroger warehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Freight car movements. With transportation assuming vast new importance in wartime America, movement of freight cars must be accomplished with the fullest efficiency and speed. Loss and diversion of ocean carriers which served our seaboard cities have thrown an enormous burden upon the railroads." 4x5 inch nitrate negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size. Another view of the Kroger warehouseHere. Not just freight cars.But refrigerated box cars. A great detail shot of a "Reefer's" ice hatches. Put A Cork In It, SonNearly all of the tracks in the foreground are long gone except for a couple of the old Allegheny Valley RR that ran right down the middle of Railroad Street. The Kroger warehouses are also gone but larger and looming in the distance of the old photo is the still extant twin buildings of the huge Armstrong Cork Co. now turned into loft style living for those wanting an historic pad with a river view in the Steel City. Strip District dazeThis looks like the strip as viewed from the 16th Street Bridge. I believe the church on the far right is St. Stanislaus that faces down Smallman Street. Quite a jointAre those reefers the walker is inspecting? (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Pittsburgh, Railroads, WW2)
Through to Morgantown: 1905
Circa 1905. "Pittsburgh, Penna. -- the Monongahela wharves." 8x10 inch dry plate glass ... posh boat with top finishes and fittings, it catered to Pittsburgh's finer citizens. Her hinged stacks are laid down to run low ... (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/15/2017 - 3:33pm -

Circa 1905. "Pittsburgh, Penna. -- the Monongahela wharves." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. At the wharfboat.In the lower left is the Rose Hite (second boat with that name) built in 1895 at the Howard yard in Jeffersonville, Indiana. A bit of a mystery, according to Way's Packet Directory -- the pilot house was moved forward of the Texas deck after the boat was renamed Gracie Childers in 1908. The boat facing us is the Queen City, built at Cincinnati in 1897. A very posh boat with top finishes and fittings, it catered to Pittsburgh's finer citizens. Her hinged stacks are laid down to run low bridges. The Rose HiteThe Rose Hite may have been a bit of a hard-luck boat. She was recorded as being involved in a collision on the Evansville district of the Ohio River in 1896 (no information on damage to either boat). She collided with the towboat John F. Kuen (or Joe P. Klein; newspaper accounts differ) in 1905 on the Monongahela near Brownsville, PA, and sank with the loss of either four or five crew reported drowned. She was raised and continued to operate on the Monongahela river system until 1907, then was sold in 1908, renamed the Gracey Childers, and moved to the Cumberland River. She burned in September 1909 at Paducah, Kentucky. Floating wharf buildings?Curious if those large structures were "floating" so as to rise and fall with river levels (spring flooding, ice flows, heavy rains)? I can't see them hard piered to the river bottoms as they are pretty close to the water line. A bridge too farThere seems to be bridge abutments on either side of the river. Could it be there was a bridge planned but never constructed? Yes they float.Typically called wharfboats, the offices of steamer lines would be built on barges or older steamboat hulls. They would rise and fall with the river on poles driven into the riverbed. Anchor lines to the levee would provide additional security. Bridge abutmentsThey are probably the beginnings of the Wabash (Railroad) Bridge built between 1902 & 1904, possibly fitting the "Circa 1905" caption. There's a lot of long lens compression in this photo, but everything seems to fit with a vantage point somewhere near the current Smithfield Street Bridge, looking northwest toward the second Point Bridge (1877-1927 trussed eyebar/"suspension"), with the Duquesne Incline visible just beyond the left end. The current Fort Pitt Bridge wouldn't obstruct this view until ~1959. If so, the more robust final versions of the Wabash Bridge piers still survive its 1948 demolition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_Bridge_%28Pittsburgh%29#/media/File... (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh, Railroads)
Manhasset 346: 1942
... most interesting paintings are cityscapes of industrial Pittsburgh. Kane's life story was told in "Sky Hooks: The Autobiography of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/11/2021 - 3:52pm -

May 12, 1942. "William S. Paley, residence in Manhasset, Long Island, New York. Library, telephone table." 5x7 acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Holy smokes!Did this man own stock in a tobacco company? Cigarettes have been in pretty much every image of this guy's house. Yes, I am aware that a lot of folks smoked back then. (My grandfather was a three packs a day man who also liked his pipe.) But I've never seen a house where cigarettes were part of the ambiance and décor. Farm Scene With Three Horses (1931)John Kane (1860–1934) John Kane: a Shorpian LifeKane's father died when he was age 10, and young John quit school to work in the shale mines. He mined coal in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. He worked on the railroad, first as a gandy dancer (stamping down stones between the railroad ties) until he lost a leg when struck down by an engine running without its lights. Later, he painted trains and houses. Kane attracted attention from the media when his paintings were first admitted to the 1927 Carnegie International Exhibition. His success was suspected to be a prank. Today, his paintings hang in major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art. My two cents: his most interesting paintings are cityscapes of industrial Pittsburgh. Kane's life story was told in "Sky Hooks: The Autobiography of John Kane," written with Marie McSwigan. You Can Ring...but you can't hide. The older 202 sets did not have bells in the phone itself. There was a ringer box attached to the phone that would ring. This ringer box is attached to the underside of the table. They were very loud, and this table would only amplify the sound. You could probably hear this one across the street. Tobacco sponsorsFor all the cigarettes that were advertised on CBS, no doubt Paley had regular samples from the tobacco companies, gratis. How quaint!A whole table devoted to an appliance that has for many people today become a digital (in both senses) appendage. Paley in the Framed Pic?Can anyone tell if that's Paley in the framed photograph? I attach the Wikipedia pic of him to this comment. And a bit of Long Island anti-Semitism history from Wikipedia: "Paley married divorcée, socialite and fashion icon Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer (1915–1978) on July 28, 1947. She was the daughter of renowned neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing. William and Babe Paley, in spite of their successes and social standing, were barred from being members of country clubs on Long Island because he was Jewish." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Paley Smokes and PhonesI was never a heavy smoker and I quit over thirty years ago, but I always had to light one up while talking on the phone. It was a ritual in my house that we smoke after meals too, even after breakfast. Wandering eye and portraitSomeone in the household must have liked that particular portrait of Paley; you can also see it in the living room on the glass table next to the sofa. If that was Mrs. Paley's way of "keeping an eye on" her husband, it predictably failed. Same PhotoI believe this is same photo as seen (partially obscured) earlier in the living room. Portrait by Cecil Beaton?I haven't found the image online yet but it looks to me like Cecil Beaton's signature on that portrait of William S Paley. Ironically enough as Beaton's pre-WW2 career in the US was interrupted by accusations of anti-Semitism: "In 1938, he inserted some tiny-but-still-legible anti-Semitic phrases (including the word "kike") into American Vogue at the side of an illustration about New York society. The issue was recalled and reprinted, and Beaton was fired" (Wikipedia). Facing the music (stand)As a musician, when I saw the name Manhasset, I immediately thought of the iconic black metal music stands made by a company of the same name. But (as the young'uns would say), I was "today years old" when I found out that Manhasset was also the name of a town. (And yes, the company that manufactures the stands originated in this town, though it relocated to Washington state in the early '40s.) Private Telephone LineI believe that Manhasset 346 was a private line. Most phones in manual systems were on party lines in those days, and depending on the system you would see numbers like Leamington 22-X, or Richmond 15-R-12. The ring code for the operator at the Richmond number would be 1 long followed by 2 short rings. A private phone number without letters was often for a business, a doctor or the Paleys. Tea (or tobacco) caddy at the readyThe 18th-century, pear-shaped tea caddy on the right was probably used in Paley's time to hold tobacco, according to the "Antiques Roadshow" I happened to see last night. It had a lock to keep the servants from poaching the precious tea. Paley by BeatonThat is indeed Paley in a portrait by Cecil Beaton. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, Portraits)
Greyhound Garage: 1943
September 1943. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Removing a tire from a bus at the Greyhound garage." ... (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Esther Bubley, Pittsburgh) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/02/2014 - 12:56pm -

September 1943. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Removing a tire from a bus at the Greyhound garage." Office of War Information photo by Esther Bubley, that amanuensis of the motorcoach, whose hundreds of bus images rival Jack Delano's train photos in their breadth and number. View full size. Re: Monumental jobNot really. Tire spoons, long metal bars used to manually pry tires off/on the rims, also come in handy for levering heavy wheels off the axle as well as getting them upright from flat on the floor. Not a job for a weakling, but not very difficult for an average man. Monumental jobNot getting the wheel nuts off, but picking the tire up off the floor! World War 2 tire rationingI did a little research and found that commercial vehicles were exempt from rationing. No one would appreciate a bus, such as the one shown, carrying passengers on tires that had long since worn out. The average civilian had to make 5 automobile tires last for the duration of the war. This included recapping as necessary. Some thoughtful planning was necessary for this to be accomplished, no doubt. Streamline Moderne at its finestMy best guess is this bus is a Yellow Coach Model 745. It appears to match this 1939 New York World's Fair souvenir. Popeye armsHammering ten stud, twenty inch, Budd wheels off and on all day with a one inch drive impact will give you arms like that. Doesn't do much for your hearing though. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Esther Bubley, Pittsburgh)
R.R. Control Tower: 1940
... for the Baltimore & Ohio (ex-Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh), with a roundhouse, engine repair shop capable of heavy overhauls, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/18/2018 - 12:48pm -

September 1940. "Mr. T.J. Long, president of the Tri-County Farmers Co-op Market in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, at his work in a railroad tower near Du Bois." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Re: Everything Old is New AgainI'm imagining that the pouch is divided; new fuses go in the left compartment, and old ones in the right. Question then is why don't the old ones just go in the trash? New and Old; and MoreOnce upon a time, fuses could be repaired. The case could be opened and the internal element (sometimes a thin wire, sometimes a stamped piece of metal) could be replaced. Thus, you would have to save the 'old' fuses. Interesting that there are two interlocking machines here. The obvious one in the foreground is a mechanical interlocking machine, where the switches and signals were mechanically connected to the levers. The power to operate the equipment was provided by the towerman's arms - hence the colloquial term "armstrong machine". The five levers leaning out (to the right) are lock levers, painted blue, which lock switches. Before throwing the switch, the lock lever has to be returned to the "normal" position, in line with the other levers. The other interlocking machine is just visible at the left, in the large wooden box. It is a General Railway Signal power machine, where the switches and signals are operated by electric motors (in this case). The levers are still mechanically locked between each other, but the use of external power made the levers much easier to operate. In a few instances, electric and mechanical machines were mechanically interconnected, but not in this case. Those Locked BoxesThose are electrical switches, actuated by the huge levers, used to control signals or other devices, but not the track switches. The levers to the right are used by the Operator (that's his job title) to set up or take down routes of trains though the Junction. One lever controls one track switch or signal. A system of sliding bars and levers under the floor interconnects these levers and prevents the operator from setting up conflicting routes through the junction, and only after setting up a clear route could the levers which controlled the signals for that route be actuated. A system of rods an levers, up to a mile long, connected to each track switch to one of the levers at the operators disposal. These required great force to be moved - more than available from the battery powered electric motors of the time. Signals didn't require so much power to operate, and could be battery powered, thus the locked boxes on the "locking frame" to control signals. The locks were removed only by maintainers, not by the operator. His Last SeptemberMr. Thomas Jackson Long, as of the 1940 census, was a 56-year-old railroad telegraph operator living in Sandy Township with his wife and two adult children. Sadly, he died three months after this photo was taken, shot in a hunting accident. Dust and Old PaintI'm old enough to remember workplaces like this when I was a kid and tagged along with my dad. Those windows in Winter let in cold air like you would not believe, but couldn't have shades as that obstructed the view. The tower I remember was on stilts to facilitate looking way up and down the tracks, and seeing the color of the track signals. Wind whistled around its uninsulated walls. There was a pot-bellied stove that burned coal. The place was swept sometimes but still had decades of accumulated dust. Paint was a yellow-brown color made browner by dirt. In other offices the paint was battleship grey. The fellow who sat in the observation office most often was peculiar and I wasn't supposed to be left alone with him. When I was told that it terrified me and I avoided looking at him. Maybe that's why I remember it so well. New Fuses for old circuitsThe old fuses were to fit the old fuseholders, which are the porcelain blocks just to the right of the "New Old Fuses" container. The fuses are the long slender porcelain tubes, two of which are clipped into each block. I remember seeing these on old telephone lightning arrestors. Conspicuous by their absence are the spares; there are none in the box. Everything Old is New AgainThe pouch on the wall labeled "New Old Fuses" is intriguing. One wonders if there is a similar one out of frame labeled "Old New Fuses". B&O facilitiesDuBois was a significant maintenance point for the Baltimore & Ohio (ex-Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh), with a roundhouse, engine repair shop capable of heavy overhauls, and car repair shop. The town also served as a division point, as well as a connection to the New York Central & Hudson River. Quiet PleaseKeep it down out there! Our Block Operator may be copying an important message from up or down the line. By the look of things with six telegraph sounders at his desk, a phone and "patch" panels and one lone telegraph key, at times Mr. Long can be a busy man. Renewable FusesNot all fuses are one use only. Some are cylinders that can be opened, and a new fusible link or wire installed, inside the original unit. I would suggest that is a possible explanation for the "new and old" fuse container. There were probably a few blown fuses in the old section ready for renewing. You can read about it here. If you remember the Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-four", one of the lyrics is: "I could be handy mending a fuse when your lights have gone." England and Australia used renewable porcelain fuses in older homes, and they could be "mended" by threading the correct amperage fuse wire through them. New Old FusesThe fusible links in some barrel type fuses can be replaced by unscrewing the end caps, removing the blown parts, putting in a new link, and replacing the end caps. This may be the situation here. Old fuses could be new again.The cartridge fuses like those to the left of the clock were not disposable. The end caps where removable to facilitate replacing the fusible link inside. I've seen really big ones that would take two hands to pick up. LocksWonder why those boxes on the left are locked? Does he have to unlock them to switch the switches each time? Some things old can be renewedThose "old" fuses may have renewable links. I remember seeing some of those years ago. Restoration & RepurposingIt's nice to see some effort to preserve railroad towers. I'll have to swing by North Judson to see if their efforts were realized. http://www.grassellitower.com/towers.htm Then, if I ever get back to Milwaukee, I'd like to take a look at this sturdy "tiny house" conversion: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/08/24/house-confidential-tiny-railroad-t... Locked BoxesThe boxes on the left house electric locks. They mechanically lock the levers depending on electrical circuits, such as track circuits used to detect the presence of a train. These locks are safety critical, and so must be kept secure from unauthorized access -- hence the locks. Only signal maintainers would have a key; the towerman would not be able to release the locks and cause an unsafe condition. Restricted AccessThe padlocks on the the switch machine ensure that only authorized switch and signal maintainers have access to the internal mechanism for maintenance purposes. Note that there also "car seals" applied in addition to the padlocks. This is an additional "tamper-evident" security measure. Yes, this compartmentalization is something on a par with ballistic missile systems. These switch control mechanisms are that important. Lightning arrester Surge protectors were also referred to as lightning arresters. That's what I see under the two bells behind him. I also think the two glass covers in the left of the photo are some sort of protection as well. I picked several porcelain GE ones while insulator hunting in Kansas several years ago. (Technology, The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Carnegie Steel: 1905
... gondola train cars, by hand, bound for the furnaces in Pittsburgh. Later he moved up to a job that my father said he would come home ... lid off That's how Dickens recorded his impression of Pittsburgh. This scene brought the phrase to mind. Munnhall This is an ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/01/2014 - 2:47pm -

Circa 1905. "Carnegie Steel Plant, Homestead, Pennsylvania." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Immigrant experienceWow!, what a photo. My grandfather came to America from Croatia, alone, age 18, in 1914. His first job was unloading steel scrap from gondola train cars, by hand, bound for the furnaces in Pittsburgh. Later he moved up to a job that my father said he would come home from work and his shirt would be burned with little holes from splattering hot metal. The good ol' days. The WaterfrontThis is now a sizable outdoor walk-around mall called The Waterfront with plenty of nice shops, restaurants and distractions. Hell with the lid offThat's how Dickens recorded his impression of Pittsburgh. This scene brought the phrase to mind. MunnhallThis is an area I know as Munnhall, Pa. My grandfather worked for Jones and Laughlin Steel for 45 years. His profession for the company was River Boat Engineer; the old paddle wheel tugs. He retired in 1956. I have a great photo of his boat, the VULCAN, racing other Paddle Wheel tugs on the Monongahela around the 1920's. From the looks of the photo's, these races seemed fairly popular, the banks of the river show onlookers lined for miles to watch the event. A different timeBack when smoke showed progress, jobs, and prosperity. Parton, not Dickens"There is one evening scene in Pittsburgh which no visitor should miss. Owing to the abruptness of the hill behind the town, there is a street along the edge of the bluff, from which you can look directly down upon the part of the city which lies low, near the level of the rivers. On the evening of this dark day, we were conducted to the edge of the abyss, and looked over the iron railing upon the most striking spectacle we ever beheld ... It is an unprofitable business, view-hunting; but if any one would enjoy a spectacle as striking as Niagara, he may do so by simply walking up a long hill to Cliff Street in Pittsburgh, and looking over into — hell with the lid taken off." ― James Parton, (The Atlantic Monthly. January, 1868) (The Gallery, DPC, Factories, Railroads)
Factory Town: 1910
... used to live up the hill I used to live up the hill in Pittsburgh, back when this steel mill produced one-third of the steel used in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 1:32pm -

Homestead, Pennsylvania, circa 1910. "Homestead Steel Works, Carnegie Steel Co." 8x10 inch dry negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. U.S. Steel - Tom RussellHomestead Pennsylvania, the home of the U.S. Steel And the men down at the Homestead Works Are sharing one last meal Sauerkraut and kielbasa, a dozen beers or more A hundred years of pouring slab, They’re closing down the door And this mill won’t run no more. There’s silence in the valley, there’s silence in the streets There’s silence every night here upon these cold white sheets Were my wife stares out the window with a long and lonely stare She says “you kill yourself for 30 years but no one seems to care” You made their railroads rails and bridges. You ran their driving wheels And the towers of the Empire State are lined with Homestead Steel The Monongahela valley no longer hears the roar There's Cottonwood and Sumac-weed inside the slab mill door And this mill won’t run no more. So, me, I'll sit in Hess' bar and drink my life away. God bless the second mortgage and the unemployment pay And my ex-boss, Mr. Goodwin, he keeps shaking my one good hand. He says "Son, it's men like me and you who built the Promised Land". We made their railroad bridges. We ran their driving wheels And the towers of the Empire State are lined with Homestead Steel The Monongahela valley no longer hears the roar There's Cottonwood and Sumac-weed inside the slab mill door And this mill won’t run no more. I used to live up the hillI used to live up the hill in Pittsburgh, back when this steel mill produced one-third of the steel used in the United States. It is now a shopping center, with a few pieces of machinery and a line of old smokestacks from the soaking pits left to mark the spot. The town of Homestead is pretty much dead at this point. Remembering PeteLittle boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky, Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes all the same. There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same. Mom's birthplaceThis photo may show the house where my mom was born. I can't wait to get a copy of it in her hands. The properties from 8th Street to the Monongahela were all bought up by the steel companies and torn down to accommodate expansion in the early 1930s. Thanks for providing this. Sic TransitHome of the epic 1892 strike that was the start of union breaking in the steel industry. The plant, eventually owned by US Steel, closed in 1986 and today the land is home to The Waterfront shopping center and Sandcastle Waterpark. ParticulatesI look at this and just imagine all the lung disorders in the nearby population. They must have waited for a holiday shutdown to take this shot. 100 years later.I'm using those same rollup bamboo blinds on my porch as the house in the foreground. Nice to see some things don't change! Shades of GrayIn 1943 when my maternal grandmother died, my mom took me to the small Pennsylvania coal mining towns (at that time) of Bradenville and Loyalhanna. I was very young at the time but I remember it clearly as it was my first long train trip from Connecticut to Pennsy, overnight. As we passed through many similar industrial towns, I could not help but notice that everything was gray, whether by plan or by the never-ending soot in the air. We stayed a week in a house just like these but the roads and "sidewalks" were charcoal gray dirt, all the homes were gray and for that entire week, so were the skies and everyone's emotions. Train tracks were everywhere and coal trains ran continuously. I'm sure it has changed now but this picture really took me back there to my gray period. Nice people though, ALL very kind, very hard-working and very giving. Ikea et alI know it's a given that much of the old development will, in time, be replaced with new. But how much we have lost over the decades in regards to industrial development. I can't see much to interest me in new development or office buildings, or high tech industrial. Driving through Emeryville, CA this morning I realized what a wasteland of totally new buildings it is today. It used to be an industrial area with a large train yard. Now it's filled with Ikea and other large stores and huge apartments. I could never live there. Found itThese houses still exist, but as others have already mentioned, the factories are gone. Based on the roof styles and the pattern of house construction, I found the houses. They're at the east end of E10th Ave. Since the time of the photo, four more houses on both the north and south sides have been added, but you can figure out which these are based on the roof patterns on Google Maps. The photographer was likely positioned on the rise at the end of the alley (Park Way). Taking a 'drive' down the alley you can see the backs of the two houses in the foreground - they're still the same. Houses in the background on 9th Ave also match up, though it appears that not all the lots were constructed, and since then some of the houses at the right end in the photo have been torn down, where Toth Carpet is now located. The row of flat roofed dwellings still exist, on 9th Ave and Andrew Street. It looks like the sidewalks might originally have been brick, which there is still some today. In front of most homes the approx. one foot wide area where the trees were planted is now sidewalk, though there is still evidence of that previously unpaved area. An earlier picture from the same spot!Isn't it amazing how clean the houses on the left side of the picture are? I can remember in the 1950s, going back to Ohio after a weekend at Grandma's (I'm a Whitaker boy) and watching the bath water turn a reddish brown -- I can't imagine what it must have been like to live in one of these homes. The mill under construction is immediately adjacent to 8th Avenue, and the intersection of 9th and Martha is plain to see. My mom was born in 1925 in a house on 4th Avenue, in what I suspect is one of the houses still visible in this shot. These photos were taken from an accessible bluff (lots of trees, though) just east of where 11th Avenue turns south to avoid going into the ravine. I'll try to get there this summer to get an updated photo of the area. The original can be found here and can be blown up to your heart's desire. (The Gallery, DPC, Factories)
Studebaker Cathedral: 1908
... William A. Brady was the backer, and Herbert L. May of Pittsburgh sold the property to a syndicate headed by A.C. Quarrier. The new ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 5:45am -

New York, 1908. "Old church on 48th Street." Studebaker Garage, a former Christian Science house of worship, at 143 West 48th Street. View full size. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress. Studebaker CathedralAcross the street: The Marmon Tabernacle. Hail, Taxi!And they said America worships the automobile. Well, this'll show'em. Garage?Could someone explain why this building is called a garage? [Because that's what it is. - Dave] Garage noun A shelter or repair shop for automotive vehicles. Garage? (Again)Doesn't anybody read the captions before sending questions? [The giant STUDEBAKER GARAGE sign would also be a clue. - Dave] Adaptive ReuseI found this photograph a bit shocking at first glance. The collision of the sacred and profane, if you will. I wonder if folks felt a bit put-off by it at the time? I can see the church name (or its ghost image) on the arch. Can someone tell us if this building still exists? Studebaker GarageThe 1908 International Motor Cyclopaedia lists a Studebaker Garage at 48th and Broadway. Netherland TheaterThis NY Times article from June 16, 1909, details plans to replace the church with a theater. The church was at 137-143 West 48th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, which is now the location of the 1221 Avenue of the Americas "Breezeway" and loading dock. Ironic that it's still kind of a garage. William A. Brady was the backer, and Herbert L. May of Pittsburgh sold the property to a syndicate headed by A.C. Quarrier. The new theater was to be called The Netherland. 139 W 48th"From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship" by David W. Dunlap lists the address of First Church of Christ, Scientist as 139 West 48th Street - the former All Souls Episcopal Church, a Romanesque-style church built in 1861. Just across the street from the Cort Theater today. Ha!The Marmon Tabernacle! Good one, AT. Denny Gill Chugiak, Alaska A two-way streetThe church my wife went to when she was growing up used to be a Studebaker dealership. Turnabout happens, I guess! Good jobFantastic collection, well done. BTW, I keep expecting to get to the full sized image by clicking on the smaller one... Oh, that's another thing: the size of the pictures. 99% of pictures on the web are way too small. Kudos for bucking that trend. Here at the Studebaker CathedralWe are the home of the first full-service drive-in church. Our ushers will assist you upon entering. Valve jobs are done in the in the organ loft while you wait. Oil changes are done in the choir stalls. Use the east aisle upon entering. Alignments and brake jobs are performed in the cloister. Body repairs are done under the apse. Tune-ups are done in the radiating chapels. The Lady's Chapel is open during all business hours. Our balcony contains thousands of repair parts for all makes and models. Confessions heard while you wait. No charge. Collections taken daily from 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. "Drive in a wreck today!" (c) Great pic!...RE: this siteThe Broadway theatre that replaced the site of the Studebaker/Cathedral was the Playhouse Theatre built in 1911 (info link below), which was torn down in 1969 to add to Rockefeller Center as an office building, after being used one last time for Mel Brooks' original film 'The Producers' for the Springtime for Hitler scenes...it was across the street from the Cort Theatre, which is still standing today & currently playing 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'... http://www.ibdb.com/venue.php?id=1324 (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, G.G. Bain, NYC)
River Coal: 1910
... at confluence of Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. ... River. She held the record time for round-trip between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati (4 days, 20 hours, 15 minutes), for which she earned ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/31/2014 - 9:35am -

Circa 1910. "Coal barges at confluence of Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. Steamer Tom DodsworthPreviously seen at Duquesne Incline: 1900, the paddle steamer Tom Dodsworth was the fastest workboat on the upper Ohio River. She held the record time for round-trip between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati (4 days, 20 hours, 15 minutes), for which she earned the nickname, Hoppin' Tom, and the gilded antlers on her pilot house. She also proudly displays an unidentified marker between her stacks. Is it a nautical sign? Maybe a Masonic emblem? AspiratorsIt must have been a full time job to keep all of these tired wooden barges afloat, requiring frequent or constant pumping. It appears that this pumping was done by aspirators, operating on the Bernoulli principle, powered from the single-stacked house barge in the center of the raft, complete with three whistles. Each barge has a rectangular well built into the side of the hold, with a pipe going down to the bilge. A clear example is at the lower left corner, on barge 2277. The configuration of the top of the pipe, with a smaller pipe from the pump barge coming in the back of the elbow, may be the aspirator, or alternatively, the venturi may have been at the bottom of the pipe, like a modern "jet" water well pump. The multi-jointed pipes would have carried compressed air, or possibly steam in the winter, to operate the aspirators. Note the deflector boards to prevent water from the aspirators from emptying into the adjacent barge. It's common even now to see deckhands using portable pumps to pump out the bilges of steel barges on a regular basis. It's going to take a couple hours to see everything in this scene. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh)
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