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Essex Street: 1910
... in the Google image. Otherwise timeless! More trees, fewer chimneys Other than that, not much has changed ... the verticals ... vertical. And well framed by the bare trees. Neat details I like the brick paver sidewalk but the river stone ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/12/2013 - 10:24am -

Circa 1910. Salem, Massachusetts. "Bertram-Waters House (Salem Public Library), 370 Essex Street." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Some changes, but very fewThere are some changes with the current building. In 1910, the stacks didn't exist--this was an addition in the rear of the building with three levels of bookshelves. In the mid-90's, the building was completely rebuilt, and the children's library is in the basement level with a courtyard just to the left of the fountain in the Google image. Otherwise timeless! More trees, fewer chimneysOther than that, not much has changed View Larger Map Great image!Wonderful exposure placement; Ansel Adams would highly approve! Rising front to get the verticals ... vertical. And well framed by the bare trees. Neat detailsI like the brick paver sidewalk but the river stone boulevard is fantastic! I take that the object on the right side is a fountain that is covered up for winter. Beautiful street view then and now. (The Gallery, DPC, Salem)
A Festive Fourth: 1919
... turned to watch a daring aviator circling low above the trees that surround the monument grounds." National Photo glass negative. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/04/2023 - 3:45pm -

July 4, 1919. "Washington's men and women who served during the war gathered at the base of the Washington Monument, receiving medals of honor provided by the citizens of the District of Columbia. The big crowd has just turned to watch a daring aviator circling low above the trees that surround the monument grounds." National Photo glass negative. View full size. Things Done No MoreIf you tried to fly a small plane around the Washington Monument this afternoon, there would be fighter jets sent to shoot you down. Must have been a thing to see!Just look at that flying machine to the right of the monument. No presidentWhile it's impossible to identity those in the photo, we know that the President, Woodrow Wilson, was not one of them. On July 4, 1919 he was crossing the Atlantic on his return from the Versailles Peace Conference. From the U.S.S. George Washington on that date, he delivered the first presidential address broadcast by wireless transmission. While the technology allowed it to be heard by those on ships within 300 miles of Wilson's, the transmitter was installed on the wrong podium so his speech could barely be heard. He arrived in New York Harbor on July 8, and two days later delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate for consideration. One Aviator, Many BoatersBoater straw hats, that is. It seems they were quite popular. Then, there's all the sailors with their "Dixie cups", the long time nickname of the white hat. Looks like quite the shindig here. I enjoy seeing the many hats popular over the years, thanks to all the fine, enlargeable photos on Shorpy. Professional Umbrella HolderLooks like two women on the right side in the foreground hired a woman to hold an umbrella over them. I didn't know that was a thing! Soldier with the satchel We were trained to left-hand carry, since there was never a shortage of junior officers who took personal offense at any fumbling before a right-hand salute. (The Gallery, Aviation, D.C., July 4, Natl Photo, Patriotic, WWI)
The Shortcut: 1900
... Earth. History of the spring Leaves on the trees. Tons of leaves on the ground, awaiting the invention of the leaf ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/18/2018 - 10:14am -

        UPDATE: Shorpy member keyjan's sleuthing reveals the mysterious hole to be Wooton (or Wootton) Spring. Monroe County, Pennsylvania, circa 1900. "Riverside drive, Delaware Water Gap." The sign on the tree and inscription over the hole are, unfortunately, not quite legible. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Wooton SpringHere it is on an old postcard. Watch out for flying monkeysI'd turn back if I was you. Hobbit hole?This looks like a scene from Middle Earth. History of the spring Leaves on the trees. Tons of leaves on the ground, awaiting the invention of the leaf blower. Sign on the tree is likely meant to be read from horseback. Nice photo, with a slightly mysterious quality. Can you spot the bear in the picture? Me neither. Wooton SpringThe sign over the opening reads "WOOTON SPRING 1832 GEORGE W CHILDS" The leafy pathway is now Pennsylvania Route 611, Riverside Drive. Look carefully at the light area to the left of the big tree and the rocks and you can see the railroad tracks of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western RR. The railroad is still in use by the resurrected Delaware & Lackawanna -- a shortline freight railroad. PA 611 runs from Philadelphia to Coolbaugh Township. (The Gallery, DPC, Landscapes, Railroads)
Star Island House: 1910
... I'd like to commune with nature. Those bands on the trees Addressed in this thread . Your next stop, the Twilight Zone ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 2:01pm -

St. Clair Flats, Michigan, circa 1910. "Star Island House." A hotel on the St. Clair River whose scenic arboreal allée, Willow Avenue, we saw last week. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Northern hospitalityThey say the St. Clair Flats hotels were popular with Southerners escaping swelter (perhaps looking for a cool-weather counterpart to the Mississippi delta). Whether the lineup on the porch is made up of guests, staff, or some combination thereof, it's the last bunch of folks with whom I'd like to commune with nature. Those bands on the treesAddressed in this thread. Your next stop, the Twilight ZoneAnd then all the old people on the porch played Kick the Can, and vanished, as young people. Hard to FindI was greatly puzzled by this picture and the Willow Ave. picture - where the heck is (or rather was) Star Island? No current maps list Star Island, but I finally found it in an 1895 map from the St. Clair Flats Historical Society. The area is no longer identified as Star Island, and any remnants of the Star Island House and Willow Avenue are long gone. [See also the maps posted here last week in the comments under the Willow Avenue photo. - Dave] Good Lord!Charles Addams, please call the office! (The Gallery, DPC)
Deck the Halls: 1959
... used at Christmas too. The Tall Mystery Box with the Trees It's probably for Dad. Could be Dewar's White Label or Johnnie Walker ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/25/2015 - 8:18pm -

"Janet, Christmas 1959." We return to the Baltimore home of Kermy and his sister, who has the look of a kid who just got ... clothes for Christmas. 35mm Kodachrome slide. View full size. I spyPretty sure I see a GINNY Doll upside down on that pink box! I LOVED them & had about 10! All named Debbie, silly me. Happy New Year all! Stamp collectingSomeone (maybe Kermy?) got The Big Bag of foreign Stamps for Christmas. From eBay: The big bags of stampsI remember those being in every five-and-dime store as a kid. The bright orange bag was quite an attention getter but I never knew anyone who actually wanted one of them, let alone bought one. Memories of a 50's ChristmasAside from the stiff, uncomfortable dress, of which I had many, 2 things caught my eye - the Big Bag of Foreign Stamps, which would have kept me busy for hours, and the mirror over the fireplace, which is stenciled with Glass Wax stencils. Not long ago I found an unused set at an estate sale. Clothes For ChristmasParental rule: Never give clothes as Christmas presents. Clothing is a natural requirement for kids during the year as they outgrow or wear out. Now if it was some special piece of clothing they hinted they wanted, okay. Just MHO. Good Morning, Sister!Lengthen that skirt about four inches and this little lady is good to go at Our Lady of Perpetual Travail Junior High. Love those frecklesbut she probably hated them! WOW the memories in this imageI too started stamp collecting with one or more of those orange bags of stamps. And the previously mentioned Glass Wax stencils were used at Christmas too. The Tall Mystery Box with the TreesIt's probably for Dad. Could be Dewar's White Label or Johnnie Walker Red, but my money is on Windsor Canadian. Another Kit for KermyLooks like brother Kermy got a Strombecker Maserati 250F Grand Prix car model. (Christmas, Kermy Kodachromes, Kids)
Soldiers Welcome: 1940
... I was on active duty for a training exercise. Sand, pine trees, ticks and chiggers, along with heat and humidity. 904 Main Street, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/30/2023 - 4:40pm -

December 1940. "Construction of Army training camps around Alexandria, Louisiana. East Side Cafe with rooms for rent, 'Soldiers Welcome,' on highway to Camp Livingston." Acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Dick Whitmanor Donald Draper? Alternate-take photobomb Hello, Danny, come and eat with us.Did the girls from "The Shining" take a job as waitresses? Now Fort JohnsonThose Army training camps around Alexandria eventually consolidated into what was known as Fort Polk, and now known as Fort Johnson. I remember "visiting" Fort Polk when I was on active duty for a training exercise. Sand, pine trees, ticks and chiggers, along with heat and humidity. 904 Main Street, PinevilleAlexandria has no Main Street, but Pineville, just across the Red River, does. 904 Main Street lies on Military Highway, as the caption implies, and is now the City Court. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, M.P. Wolcott, WW2)
A Higher Tower: 1919
... Chapel Today A view of St. Paul's today with large trees completely hiding any view of the tombstones. J&R World ... luminaries of 1700's and 1800's NY. Nice lawn, young trees When I saw the smaller version of this picture I thought how nice it ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 7:14pm -

New York. April 19, 1919. "St. Paul's Church and St. Paul Building from Woolworth Building." The St. Paul Building at left, seen here in the previous post in 1900 when it was one of the world's tallest, now cut down to size by its much bigger neighbors. Bain News Service glass negative. View full size. Sixth Avenue El and the Hudson TerminalThe Sixth Avenue El is visible over Church street on the right a handful of blocks north of where it split from the Ninth Avenue El (which ran over Greenwich St. a block west) and a few blocks south of where it turned west on Murray St. to make the shift to West Broadway on its way to Sixth Avenue. The Sixth and Ninth Avenue Els were demolished between 1938 and 1940 having been replaced by subway lines. Also visible in the back right of the photo beyond Church street is the Hudson Terminal of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, the current PATH. The Hudson Terminal was demolished to make way for the original World Trade Center. St. Paul's Chapel TodayA view of St. Paul's today with large trees completely hiding any view of the tombstones. J&R World (Corner/Block)I believe the whole block under the "Sonora" billboard is now J&R Music and Computer World, and the corner by the sign is Anne Street (east/west), with the intersection of Park Row and Broadway coming from the bottom left. One can see the tracks of the then-elevated subway that is now the "1" Train going towards South Ferry to the (what else) south. Of course, just to the right (west) of the graveyard stood the WTC until 9/11/01. The church still stands. The graveyard has several luminaries of 1700's and 1800's NY. Nice lawn, young treesWhen I saw the smaller version of this picture I thought how nice it was that all of those people were enjoying the huge lawn in front of the church. The larger version reveals they're not really enjoying it. Neat to see some of the young trees that make this scene not visible with satellite technology today. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC, Streetcars)
West Palm: 1910
... You can almost feel the heat and humidity. Great palm trees! I wish I was there! Actually, I am inspired to submit the pic of my ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 4:16pm -

West Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1910. "Beach Club." Subtropical South Florida, splashed in a riotous rainbow of grays. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Reality checkEvery time I see a picture like "the pie eaters" and start dreaming about how wonderful it would be to live in the early 20th century, I see a picture like this which shows that there were still many Americans who were considered to be inferior because of the color of their skin. Very few pictures of anyone not white having a good time, but plenty of them doing things for white people and, I'm sure, getting paid very little for it. Overall, I guess my multiracial family and I are glad to be here now. Whew!You can almost feel the heat and humidity. Great palm trees!I wish I was there! Actually, I am inspired to submit the pic of my grandfather as a baby and his aunt in Pass Christian, MS in 1915 because I want to be in your picture in West Palm wearing her white dress. (The Gallery, DPC, Florida)
American House: 1897
... Quite a bit is the same today Sunken trees You sure don’t want to fall off the sidewalk into the tree crevasse. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/06/2017 - 12:53pm -

San Luis Potosi, Mexico, circa 1897. "Church of Carmen, rear view." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Quite a bit is the same today Sunken treesYou sure don’t want to fall off the sidewalk into the tree crevasse. Slow shutterYou have to love the 8-legged cat! Interesting rail line.The rail line seems to be narrow gauge, and it has no overhead catenary, so I presume it is not a trolley line, unless it was worked by horses? It also appears to end at the far end of the street. Narrow gauge tram to the Sample RoomCommenter GeeBax is right, the rails are narrow gauge, 3 feet to be exact, and worked by horse-drawn streetcars. The San Luis Potosi streetcar system wasn't electrified until the rather late date of 1914, according to this history site created by Latin America streetcar expert and old friend, Allen Morrison. http://tramz.com/mx/sl/sl.html As to the "sample room", I believe these were rooms at hotels where traveling salesmen displayed their wares to potential buyers. They've pretty much disappeared along with traveling salesmen. (The Gallery, Dogs, DPC, Railroads, W.H. Jackson)
Federal Triangle: 1935
... of the EPA. Nice building - let's hide it with trees View Larger Map Point of view, old & new The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/21/2014 - 5:36pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1935. "Post Office Department Building (Old Post Office Building or Pavilion). Old (far left) and new Post Office Department." The "new" building, inspired by the Place Vendome in Paris, is now the Ariel Rios Federal Building. 8x10 nitrate negative by Theodor Horydczak. View full size. Ariel Rios BuildingNow the William Jefferson Clinton Building and headquarters of the EPA. Nice building - let's hide it with treesView Larger Map Point of view, old & newThe photographer took this from the "new" Raleigh Hotel (constructed after the original was razed in 1911) on the northeast corner of the intersection. Still looks the same, sortaThe view here is looking south on 12th Street NW at Pennsylvania Avenue. 12th Street is now one-way northbound. Peeking down 12th Street between the buildings, the Department of Agriculture is still across the Mall but the view is now blocked by the Museum of American History. 12th Street now exits a tunnel under the Mall. The Old Post Office is now closed and being converted to a luxury hotel by Donald Trump. In the 1960s the parking area in front of the Old PO was two or three bus lanes, this was the point of origin for Alexandria and South Arlington bound buses. Today the Federal Triangle is a Metro station and EPA offices (the entrances still have "Post Office Deptartment" in stone over doors). First Time I Saw a President of the United States......was outside of the Pavilion on a family trip in 1991. I was twelve at the time. We had just finished shopping and eating lunch there, and left the building when we noticed some Secret Service agents on the street corners. My dad, never one to be shy, walked right up to one and asked him what was going on, and we were told the President was about to pass by. Sure enough, about ten minutes later, here comes Bush Sr. in his motorcade. I thought it was pretty cool. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Theodor Horydczak)
Rolling Stock: 1943
... very short service lives. On the other side of the trees. On the other side of the trees and on the east side of the newly completed Orchard Place/Douglas Field ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 4:46pm -

May 1943. Bensenville, Illinois. "C. M. St. P. & P. R.R. [Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad], general view of part of the yard." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. O'Hare expansion.Unless I'm mistaken, this is looking NE across E Irving Park Road toward the SW corner of O'Hare. Chicago bought up the Orchard Place-Douglas Field surrounding properties in 1949 for the new O'Hare airport and this is the SW corner of their purchases. The church off in the distance is (probably) St. Johns, moved to a new site at Highway 83 and Foster in 1952 and still there. The only thing remaining here beyond the Bensenville Yard are a couple of cemeteries (that might be the monuments of one cemetery, Resthaven, visible in front of the white barn - the St. Johns cemetery is north of that a couple hundred yards) which Daly is trying to get moved for further expansions of O'Hare. Even the raised Chicago & North Western tracks off in the distance were moved to jog around the new airport. Reefer MadnessNotice the hatches on top of the refrigerator cars, which were used for loading ice in the days before mechanical refrigeration was practical for RR use. The cars were usually painted yellow for easy identification. Nowadays, the term "reefer" has taken an entirely different meaning in common vernacular! Lack of detailIt's kind of sad how we've sacrificed the astonishing clarity of the large-format glass negatives for the convenience of smaller format films. And this one is still 4x5 - but very grainy. Quite a different backgroundBensenville's rail yards are still there today, but the surroundings are quite different. They're almost next to O'Hare airport. GoneEvery identifiable railroad in this crowd has either gone belly up or has been merged away out of existence. Sad that a part of America has gone with them! 1943 or today?As you scan this photo, block out the old, wood-sided and 40 foot long rail cars. If you concentrate only on the rural background, it's hard to tell what year this might be. Lumbering alongAmazing the amount of wooden rolling stock still in use at that time. If they survived WWII they must have been durable. Wooden CarsBy WW-II, most US railroads had figured out the maintenance and strength advantages of steel cars, and were well along in converting from wood to steel. The conversion was hampered significantly by the Depression, which put a damper on capital improvements. The buildup to WW-II brought a need for many more cars and locomotives, but also restrictions on use of steel and chromium. As a result, the railroads built large numbers of steel framed wood sided cars, designed to be resided with steel at the end of the war. They also ordered a large number of locomotives, which came out heavier than their predecessors due to restrictions on lightweight alloys. Thus many railroads had programs to retrofit lightweight alloy siderods on locomotives after the war. The government allocated diesel production and limited new locomotive designs, so many railroads that wanted diesels ended up with steamers that were copies of competing railroads' existing designs. Many of these were replaced by diesels after very short service lives. On the other side of the trees.On the other side of the trees and on the east side of the newly completed Orchard Place/Douglas Field runways is the newly completed Douglas C-54 factory. It's hard to make it out for the trees but the building's shape is just visible. Either an aircraft is taking off at the airport, visible over the plant buildings, or there's a spot on the film. It might also be a large windsock but I can't tell. A couple of months after your photo was taken, the first C-54 assembled there would take to the skies for the first time. This period photo is looking SW over the aircraft factory and airport, back toward Bensenville ... http://ohare.bensenville.lib.il.us/images/Douglas%20Field.jpg ... the Bensenville Yard should be in the distance, a bit left of runway 4L-22R (marked 22) in the Bensenville library photo. In 1976I started working for the MK&T railroad as a switchman in the yard here in town. I was a young man and had been interested in railroads since a little boy. Anyway, I only remember seeing one of those old type of reefers. Can't remember what road it belonged to, but we were rolling thru the yard one day in the switch engine and I was looking out the window and spotted the roof hatches open on this particular car, propped up with braces to keep them up. Also stored in one of the tracks they kept derelict rail cars in was a wood sided boxcar. It had had its drawbar (coupler) torn out and would never be in a train again, destined to be dismantled. But, it stayed in that track for a long time. It was the only one of those cars I ever saw, too. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Five o'Clock Shadows: 1939
... Administration. View full size. Those Palm Trees Need a shave and a haircut. For two cents I would give them one. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/30/2019 - 10:33pm -

April 1939. "Miami Beach home of former Gillette Razor Blade Company president." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Those Palm TreesNeed a shave and a haircut. For two cents I would give them one. FSA subject matter?What was Wolcott trying to tell us with this photo? The FSA was created to assist poverty-stricken farmers and its photographers were tasked to document the lives of those who endured an impoverished rural lifestyle. Neither Miami Beach nor its residents would seem to qualify as subject matter. [The mandate of the FSA photography project, as distinct from the Farm Security Administration itself, evolved after the Dust Bowl years to include the documentation of American life in general, as well as Resettlement Administration activities. Three years after this, it became the Office of War Information photography project. - Dave] Sharp looking house!Bet a lot of cutting edge technology went into the construction. Gerard LambertHe was the son of the founder of Listerine, but worked hard to make a name for himself. Princeton Magazine has a great article about him. (The Gallery, Florida, M.P. Wolcott, Miami)
Louisville: 1906
... Publishing Company. View full size. All those trees ... Waiting to be "Louisville Sluggers" when they grow up. Now you ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/17/2016 - 5:20pm -

Circa 1906. "Fourth Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. All those trees ...Waiting to be "Louisville Sluggers" when they grow up. Now you don't see it, now you do.I've said it before, but the speed with which Nineteenth Century Americans filled the continent with modern cities built from scratch is still remarkable. NowadaysI wonder if these buildings still exist. I just tried google maps/streetview and it seems that they changed the name of the street. The name 4th Ave. no longer exists. Just 4th street. (The Gallery, DPC, Louisville, Streetcars)
Southdale Center: 1956
... in there). Christmastime was unbelievable! The tallest trees, the biggest bulbs, and Santa ... oh, Santa!! The line to see him, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2019 - 3:36pm -

1956. Edina, Minnesota. "Interior Garden Court with stairway to upper level in Southdale Regional Shopping Center, the first enclosed shopping mall." Color transparency by Grey Villet, Life magazine photo archive. View full size. RockwellianSomething about this photo is almost like a Norman Rockwell painting. The soft colors and muted details help, but what I notice are the little vignettes scattered about the mall — the dignified older man in the gray suit, the woman looking at a book with her son, the lady rummaging through her shopping buggy. The presence of a Woolworth's is just the sort of touch I would expect from Rockwell had he painted this scene. This photo is an excellent find! The disposable mallAfter having worked on several shopping malls, and knowing how much work goes into the construction of them, I am amazed how fast they are considered obsolete! This one would fail by today's standards, even though it was truly a work of art. Not Obsolete yet!This one is still open. ChangesThere's a lot less brown paneling now, and the escalators have been turned so they both face toward the camera. My highschool hangoutMostly because a friend of mine worked at the Babbages that was there for a while, and because it was a pretty short drive from home. Of course, it looked nothing like this then (highschool was late 80's to early 90's), but you can still make out the similarities. I can't quite get my bearings in this picture - where's the Apple Store? It looks like to the right might be the hallway down to where JC Penney is (is it still there? I don't frequent Southdale too much anymore). If I remember right, that would make this picture looking toward the Apple Store (which was a B. Dalton before that). At least the ceiling is the same (what parts they haven't expanded/remodeled, that is). Fading MallsFrom the 1950's through the early 2000's, didn't shopping malls have a great run? They're all subtly turning into ghost malls. There's another one near the Twin Cities called Har Mar (yes, like Har Mar Superstar) that's practically a marble desert with a dwindling Barnes & Noble being its biggest draw. There's also another popular local: The Mall of America. The Death Star. The Sprawl of America. The Mall of Gomorrah. Because what the hell else is there to do in Minnesota? Especially when it's colder than a witch's tit outside? [Some malls. Even many malls. But not all malls. - Dave] Victor Gruen and "indoor town centers"Southdale was designed by Victor Gruen, often considered the "father of the shopping mall." It's interesting that this picture depicts what Gruen wanted malls to be -- an indoor town center where people would be comfortable just hanging out as they would in a downtown park -- even if they weren't buying anything -- but nowadays I can't imagine anyone other than teenagers actually spending time just "hanging out" in a mall. James? James Lileks?Mr. Lileks, have you taken over Shorpy, you naughty blogger? First thing I thought of when I saw the (awesome) picture, and then I saw it was in Minnesota, his stomping grounds. The Terrazzo JungleGreat piece in The New Yorker a few years back about Victor Gruen and his how his vision for malls was undone by a change in tax regulations regarding depreciation of capital assets. Great, if somewhat depressing, reading. "Victor Gruen invented the shopping mall in order to make America more like Vienna. He ended up making Vienna more like America." Plus ça change...I think these slice-of-life pictures are my favorites. And, it's amazing how little malls have changed over 50 years. Such fond memories of eating at the Woolworth's lunch counter in the 1970s and '80s. Still bustlingSouthdale Center is, incredibly, still quite bustling. It's the more sane alternative to the nearby Mall of America. It has upscale shops but is still approachable, is small enough to navigate but has many of the options most people want. I hope this little gem doesn't go anywhere! P.S. - Minnesota in the cold months is ALSO bustling! Don't discount the ice skating, nearby skiing and snowboarding, local arts and theater, and the hardiness of its residents, who are always willing to put on a thick pair of mittens and go out and live life to its fullest (and coldest)! Takes me backI was born in 1964 and spent my early childhood going to this mall with my mother. She used to push me around in a stroller. The tall cage on the left was filled with canaries and parakeets. I was mesmerized by this. We would always stop at Fanny Farmer (just past Woolworth's) to get a treat of jelly fruit slices and continue around the corner on the left side to the pet store near the exit. There was a magnificent parrot that lived in a cage right out front of the store that I used to talk to. I think he might have known more words than me at the time! There was an FTD florist near the same spot, and I loved the fragrance of the fresh flowers that wafted into that part of the mall. It smelled like springtime, even in the middle of a dreary and cold Minnesota winter day. Dayton's and Donaldson's were the anchor stores; one on each end. I believe Donaldson's would have been directly behind the camera and Dayton's would have been straight ahead, on the far end (or vice versa). The shimmery gold floor-to-ceiling mobile type structures on the right, past the escalators, fascinated me too. They were so glamorous and HUGE! The lighting hadn't been changed yet, this is exactly what it looked like in the late '60's, although, later on when I returned there in my teens, there had been many changes and additions and a lot of these features had been removed. Going to this mall for a small child in Edina was possibly the equivalent of going to Disneyland for a child growing up in L.A. Thank you, Shorpy, for this special memory! Woolworth'sI bet there is a great diner inside that Woolworth's with lots of tasty things like meat loaf, stuffed bell peppers, and root beer floats. Yum. The Apple StoreThe Apple store would be behind and to the left of the camera. The upper level bridge is still there, so crossing from the left and continuing to the right would take you to Penney's. MemoriesThis really brings back memories. I was 10 years old when Southdale opened. I actually took part in some of the opening ceremonies. A friend and I hitch-hiked out to the mall and in the parking lot somehow we got picked to participate in a contest. Four of us kids were picked to catch passes from two pro quarterbacks. My friend and I caught passes from Otto Graham and the other kids caught passes from Tobin Rote. Whichever team caught the most passes would be treated to malted milks paid for by the winning quarterback. My team won but all four of us were treated to malts. Otto and Tobin us into Southdale and we all crammed into a booth and listened to them talk shop about the upcoming season. Quite a memory. I still live in the area and often thought I should contact Southdale to see if they might have any pictures of the event. Classy Early MallsIndoor malls were first developed in colder climates for obvious practical reasons. Over the years, mall design shifted from a focus on shopper experience and comfort (coat check rooms, lockers, sufficient restrooms ... even items of local historical interest) to maximizing the revenue of businesses (row after row of mini-vendor carts along what had heretofore been pedestrian walkways). On balance, I'll take the early generation mall ... or better yet, the restored downtown shopping district. [The synthesized version of "restored downtown shopping district" is the current hot concept in retailing -- the faux-urban "lifestyle center." A shopping mall turned inside out. - Dave] CorrectionThis is not the first enclosed mall. The first was (and still is) in Milwaukee. Built just after the Civil War. It is on Wisconsin Ave. I haven't more information at my fingertips. I am no historian, but was amazed to find this here. It is very attractive, too. [Covered markets and shopping arcades go back hundreds if not thousands of years. Southdale was the first enclosed, climate-controlled shopping center of the modern era. In other words, the first shopping mall. - Dave] More coverage of this pictureKottke has a piece on this, including another link to a relevant Economist article. I was struck by this picture when it came through the RSS feed the other day. Lovely to read these comments and articles on it too. Growing up in the UK in Cambridge, shopping malls were something of an oddity. I think the nearest real one was in Peterborough, at least 40 minutes race north. Cambridge now has two, I think (more's the pity because beautiful subsidised Georgian and Victorian housing was destroyed to build them, and Cambridge doesn't handle large numbers of people driving into town anyway). Both are relatively modern compared with this one so I never even considered shopping in a place like this. I wonder what the original mallrats would have looked like. I grew up with this mallI was five when Southdale opened. It didn't have a JC Penney at that time. It did have a little play area in the basement with a maze for kids. The basement also had a shoe repair place that is still there, though it is now on the second floor. Southdale also had Gager's Hobby and Handicraft store (on the opposite side of the open area from Woolworth's) where I could get chemicals for my chemistry set. I have no idea what kids do for chemistry sets these days. Do they even sell them? There was also our favorite, the Toy Fair, that sold nothing but toys. It was to the right of where the camera was. They also had a grocery store called Red Owl. It would have been off to the left of the camera and down a hall. The grocery store didn't last too long, probably because people who just wanted groceries didn't really want the hassles of a big mall. Thanks for sharing this photo. I had told my wife about the bird cage there, and now she has finally gotten to see it. Surely not!This photo doesn't look dated at ALL. You know the saying, "Everything old is new again"? Well, decorating trends are very similar to what's being shown here. Shopping MallsIt depends on how tight the specialty is to consider this the "first shopping mall" in the US. If you are looking at the subset of first enclosed, suburban, multi-level, postwar shopping mall, then yeah, it is the first. But if you want the first enclosed shopping mall then no. Northgate Mall was built quite a few years earlier as were a few others: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northgate_Mall_(Seattle) [A mall, in the original sense of the word, is something like a fairway or greenspace. The pedestrian walkway or mall running down the middle of Northgate Shopping Center between two rows of stores was mostly open to the sky, so this was not a "shopping mall" as we know it today. - Dave] Another photo of the mallhttp://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/11788654.jpg You Are HereI was 6 or so when Southdale opened. Back then the Dayton's department store had a sporting-goods department. My mom got shot in the back of the head with a BB gun by a clerk demonstrating the gun! When we would go shopping and bring my grandma along, she would sit by the birdcage and chain-smoke unfiltered Camels while we shopped. She loved to people-watch. Yup, great memories! Woolworth's was my favorite store when I was little! Two floors of "neat junk." Skipping School in the late 70'sOh yes, it looked very similar to the version in this picture in 1979-80. I was part of the "burnout" crowd in high school. I skipped class constantly in my 10th grade year and spent the rest of high school in summer school so I could graduate. We would take a bus to Southdale and I'd cash my hard earned McDonald's paycheck at a bank somewhere near the York steakhouse, which was the big hangout at the time. We sit in a booth in the back near the doors, smoking all afternoon. There was an arcade in the basement near the post office area and across from the County Seat. There was also a Musicland down there. Once and a while we'd eat at the Dayton's restaurant upstairs or the Woolworth lunch counter. I also recall from earlier trips in the 70's with Mom and my sister a restaurant/Deli called The Brothers and Red Owl as well as a Snyder's, where I went to a big going out of business sale around 1975. Another favorite (maybe this is still there?) was Spencer Gifts. The Southdale Theater (where I saw "Purple Rain") was across the street with the great bowling alley next door. Those were also major high school hangouts. Great memories. I can't go there anymore without nostalgia for the birdcages and goldfish pond, and that wonderful art deco style. Come on down!I was 13 years old when Southdale opened. I saw Bob Barker host a TV game show there. I got his autograph on the steps leading down to the basement where the zoo and shoe repair shop was. This TV show was very exciting to me -- it made an impression. I became a New York-LA TV director. My friends and I also put firecrackers in the planters hanging down from the send [?] floor. Oh My GoodnessFirst job? Busing tables at The Brothers. There was an open-air restaurant in the courtyard; Dayton's had the "fancy" restaurant. In the basement there was a shoe repair place and then a games arcade. Man, I loved growing up at Southdale. Mall ZooI heard there once was a zoo in the basement of the mall. Does anyone know about this? Milwaukee "Mall"It appears you are referring to what today is known as the Grand Avenue Mall, sadly in decline since its rebirth in the early-1980s. I shuttled various documents to and from the construction site on a regular basis at that time. But prior to its conversion, the oldest of the buildings comprising the GA Mall was known as the Plankinton Arcade. Yes, there are references that mention it being considered a "shopping center", its construction being 1915. As to it being enclosed, yes; as to it being climate-controlled, maybe if the windows were opened in the Beer City's humid summer to catch a delightful lake breeze and hope the winds didn't shift to the stockyards in the Valley. In Milwaukee the first shopping mall, albeit outdoor, was Southgate, located off the corner of South 27th Street (US Highway 41) and Morgan Avenue, and opened in 1951. At about the time in the early-1970s Northridge (now demolished) and Southridge were constructed Southgate was converted to an enclosed mall, but is now long gone, recently the site of another superlative, that of the first Super Wal-Mart in Milwaukee County. This metro area's first enclosed shopping mall as I recall was Brookfield Square in 1968, still in existence today and from all appearances doing well. Parakeets, new shoes and cheeseburgers in paradiseIn my family, Southdale circa 1960 was much more than a mall. My mother called it "The Cities," because it was as far as she was willing to drive on those "crazy" city highways. 35W was out of the question, but 494 to France Ave exit was tolerable (unless we hit RUSH HOUR). We lived on a farm, about an hour away, and before Southdale, the only outings were to school, church and occasional food shopping at the Red Owl, the Meat Market and the Variety Store with the cranky storekeeper who always thought we were stealing stuff. But Southdale, Wow! I was 5 years old, the youngest of four children, and twice a year, we would make the great journey to "Emerald City." Dayton's was Mom's favorite store, and for a farm wife, my mother had impeccable taste. Donaldson's came in second, and then Jack & Jill -- a small boutique with pricey, well-tailored children's clothing. Lunch was always at Woolworths, and our order was always the same. "HamburgerFrenchfriesMalt" (spoken so fast and with such excitement it sounded like ONE word); I remember the clattering of plates, the whir of the blender, the bar stools at the counter. Waiting for the food, we could check out the parakeets & goldfish. My oldest sister convinced my mother to purchase a parakeet, cage, & and all the accoutrements. We had that bird for years, and when he died we headed back for a second. This time, the bird died in his little paper travel carton before we even got home -- and since we only went to "The Cities" twice a year, my mother decided to freeze it along with the receipt until our next trip six months later. How strange to present a frozen parakeet back to the store for a refund. While the clerk was surprised to see the frozen parakeet, she did offer us another bird in exchange. A few years later, Southdale became a whole new adventure when my best friend's aunt drove just the two of us, and I bought my first long-playing album at Musicland, Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence." After that, my friend convinced me we should be drinking coffee and gossiping, or at least pretending to gossip, since none of our friends were old enough to be scandalous. Then we smoked Chesterfield Kings in random Southdale "Ladies" rooms and we both felt like we were going to throw up. Southdale! Never stopped to think about it, but Southdale was, and will always be, among my fondest childhood memories. "The Cities." Southdale MemoriesBoy this pic brings back memories. My family moved to Mpls in 1956 when I was about 3, so my earliest memories date from about 1960 or so. I later worked as a dishwasher and soda jerk at the Walgreen's on the upper level facing 66th street. They had a soda grill, as did most drug stores of that era, and the Woolworth's had a cafe as well. My first exposure to Chinese food was at the tiny little Half Moon restaurant, although I think initially I would order hamburgers, which were on the menu for fussy American kids. Behind the escalators in the picture was an "outdoor" restaurant. There was a Fanny Farmer on the second floor to the left. Southdale was THE place to hang out when you were a kid or teenager, especially the arcade in the basement. Southdale in the 1950sI grew up just a few blocks from Southdale. I was about 3 years old when it was built. My mom and I would walk there about once a week. Dayton's and Woolworth's were fabulous! The fish pond was fun, but seemed to sport dead fish frequently (wondered if they weren't poisoned from the coins being dropped in there). Christmastime was unbelievable! The tallest trees, the biggest bulbs, and Santa ... oh, Santa!! The line to see him, and the crowds were amazing! There was the Courtside Cafe, and oh so many shops! I shopped there for all my Christmas gifts, and worked there in my teen years. We didn't hang out there too much as to the crowds. We hung out more at Bridgeman's ice Cream Shop and Nelson's FireSide Pizza both in Richfield. They used to host fireworks in the parking lot for the Fourth of July. They didn't have too many, but, still it was fascinating. Many kids learned how to drive in the east parking lot. With all the curlicue and ribbon styled roadways within the parking lot, it was an exciting way to practice steering those big '56 Chevys! The parking lot markers of foxes, bears and lions were interesting, too. I would love to see a picture of Christmastime at Southdale from the 1950s. Thanks for all your posts -- they've been fun to read! Back when ...In those days people still used to dress up, at least to a reasonable degree, to go out to a public place like this. Compare to today's Walmarts, for instance. We have become a nation of slobs. Another early mallThose of us who grew up in the Boston area were told that Shopper's World in Framingham was "the first mall." It was not, however, enclosed. And I suspect that dozens of other places made the same claim. I had a very pleasant date there in the 1970s. I just discovered that it was demolished in 1994. Sic transit gloria mundi. The World of TomorrowForecast by the 1939 New York World's Fair. Attention, ShoppersThe first structure in the United States that might legitimately be called a shopping mall is probably the Westminster Arcade in Providence, RI, opened in 1828 and still extant, albeit recently converted into residential "micro-lofts." It's a marvelous building, all the more wonderful for still being around. [The shopping arcades of the 19th century, being arcades, are just what that term implies -- covered passageways, and not malls, a term that originally meant an open-air promenade. The suburban shopping plazas of the early 1950s -- rows of stores facing each other across landscaped malls -- were the immediate forebears of the enclosed, roofed shopping mall. - Dave] Southdale Shopping Center: Calling for IntervieweesMy name is Zinnia Ramirez and I am a student at the University of California, Irvine. I am a third year journalism major and as one of my big projects we are tasked with writing a narrative reconstruction (recounting the events in a narrative storytelling style to paint an image of what happened in a particular instance in history) about an event in history (big or small), I decided as I was looking through the web that I wanted to reconstruct the Southdale 1956 Richfield Edina Shopping Mall in opening day. One of the larger elements is, to have narrative voices from people who experienced the allure of Southdale, possible describe a day there, the atmosphere, stores, etc. So if anyone remembers what opening day was like, I would love to talk! Thank you for your time. Zinnia (LIFE, Stores & Markets)
The Cedric: 1925
... W.H. West Co. are the exclusive agents. Trees Interesting to compare the original photo with the Google Street View. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 12:09pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "Cedric apartments, 14th Street, W.H. West Co." Rents: $67.50 to $72.50 a month. National Photo glass negative. View full size. 4120 14th Street todayView Larger Map AdequateNot the most exciting building ever, but, since it's still here, well suited to its purpose and well constructed as well! Sturdy SidewalksIn the recently posted pictures of DC, the sidewalks are 3-squares across and appear, like this example, to be intact today. Is this due to a more temperate climate than I am used to in Michigan or is it better engineering and workmanship? Some With Porches?"Some with shelves," they should say, if the real porches aren't around back. Rise and fall of view camerasConvergence of parallel lines is common in building photos today. The use of a view camera, with its adjustable front and back planes is almost a lost art. How many people today know what rise & fall, swing, tilt, and shift controls are? Specifically, rise of the front lens plane in a view camera makes architectural photos powerful. Compare this Cedric photo to the ugly distortion you will see on Google Street View. Hope they had Concierge service!$72.50 a month in 1925? That was a small fortune for people who were making maybe a dollar or two a day. I remember we lived in a small three bedroom flat in the fifties and my parents paid $30 a month in rent. My mom talked about when she and my dad married in the early thirties and lived in a fancy furnished apartment in a tony part of town that went for $16 a month. And that was a lot of money during the Depression. Tapestry Brick Apartments Washington Post, Feb 7, 1926 New Apartments in Northwest New four-story, tapestry brick apartment structure at Fourteenth and Upshur streets northwest, which is just receiving its finishing touches. The building was designed by W.R. Lamar and contains 40 housekeeping apartments of three and four rooms, some with porches. W.H. West Co. are the exclusive agents. TreesInteresting to compare the original photo with the Google Street View. The tree in the middle doesn't seem to have survived (there is a small tree in its place in the present day), although the two on either end of the building appear to be flourishing. Judging by the for-sale signs posted out front, it looks like the building has gone condo (and I would wager to say that condos in a prewar building in NW DC go for a pretty penny these days). I used Street View to go around the corner and look down the back of the building, and it does appear that there are structures that come closer to approaching actual porches than what's on the front, although they're still pretty tiny. Petworth / Columbia Heights1BR condos in the building are going for $90k to $200k. http://www.trulia.com/property/1081317735-4120-14th-St-Nw-45-Washington-... Not as pricey as I thought"What cost $67.50 in 1925 would cost $822.46 in 2008." according to the Inflation Calculator. Hudson Super SixThe car second from the left is a 1925 Hudson Super Six Coach, which was the company's most popular body style. This particular car is of the second series with a new modified body introduced in March of that year, and sold for $1,250. Due to increasing sales volume, by October the price had been reduced to $1,165. Hudson was the world's largest builder of six cylinder cars, and the #3 automaker in the U.S. in 1925. Thanks Shorpy! You continue to be the best place on the web to see original vintage photos of Hudson automobiles! Grapes of WrathAs Steinbeck readers will recall, Al Joad picked a 1926 Hudson Super Six from the jalopy lot to make into a truck to haul the family to the Promised Land, because it was a popular model and the junkyards would have plenty of spare parts. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)
Any Thing Store: 1940
... surgery also. Keep up the fantastic work! Catalpa Trees In the South these trees were planted not for beautification but for fish bait. A specific type ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/03/2022 - 11:55pm -

February 1940. "Secondhand store. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Cats rule, Dogs droolAdmittedly I am more of a feline fancier than a dog lover, possibly why I didn't notice the chair-mutt until jamax commented on its presence. Spurred on by all of the eclectic merchandise on offer, it seemed appropriate to look for any signs of a cat, on or near the premises. Much to my delight my search was rewarded! Nobody can tell me that isn't Felix watching the universe unfold below him from his lordly vantage point. Observe the Mighty Ruler surveying his kingdom from the lofty branch situated between the two main tree trunks on the right! [That "cat" has more bark than bite. - Dave] Going, Going ... Gone?We can only wonder how many of the "treasures" here were collected for the scrap drives a few years later. Photo ShoppingThis one grabbed my attention. I see several things to buy. The woman is eying the crib. Maybe the gentleman watching doesn't know why. He'll get the lunchbox. Ab's Picker's HeavenAllan Thomas Abston (1892-1976) is seen standing in front of his Used Furniture Store at 609 W. Reno Avenue in Oklahoma City. He and his wife, Ova B. Page, came from Tennessee in about 1930. Selling used furniture was a lot easier than working in the coal mines. They had three sons and two daughters, to help them sell their "gently used" goods during the Great Depression. Kettle Store?If Ma and Pa Kettle owned a store, this is what it would look like. Garbage In, Garbage Out"One man's trash is another man's treasure," goes the old saying. However, after years spent "antiquing", thrift shopping, Craigslisting, eBaying, and even "dumpster diving", I've come to the conclusion that, often, "one man's trash" is just "your trash" waiting to happen. Signs4sale: $0 OBOBet the same hand that did that masterpiece atop the porch roof had no part in those ransom-note-like scrawlings off to the right. What do I bet?? How 'bout a washboard, slightly used. Come to my estate sale; you won't be sorryBelow is 609 West Reno Avenue today. Given the condition of the old house in 1940 there was little doubt it would not be there today. I am spending a good part of my retirement years on the same treasure hunt as Dezi Beck, only substitute Estate Sales for Dumpster Diving (most of the dumpsters around me are in locked enclosures). I tell people I should be ashamed at how much art on my walls came from thrift stores. I have about a dozen pieces on the walls worth over $1,000 each for which I paid less than $100. I suspect most of it was from the kids cleaning out their parents' houses and just wanting the houses emptied. I've also developed a list of search words for Craigslist, which include divorce and downsizing. I have bought some amazing things that people in those situations just want to get rid of. The end result is I told a friend I am purging my house of things I don't need while filling up my house with things I don't need ... but of better quality. Things ChangeClearly, the items in the front yard likely don't come back inside each evening for safekeeping when business is done for the day. No Ring cameras or high tech survellaince back then. Junkyard dog on duty? Coming out of the Great Depression, were people in general just more trusting of their neighbors? Maybe a rhetorical question. NOT ON MY WATCH Wow that proprietor is keeping a close eye on those two old gray would be thieves Wow! Wow!The very original recycling. I mean, springs for a mattress for sale? Man, we honestly have it good in these modern times with disposable everything merchandise. So ...Why is there a sawhorse on the roof? Guard dog on dutyI wonder if the dog is for sale? Suddenly …the Sanford and Son theme is playing in my head String bean treeOn the left of the photo. Northern catalpa is the correct name. Yes, I Googled it. It's complicatedIt makes my brain hurt to look at this but I'll make a quick stop and pick up one of those charming little drop-leaf tables far left beside the bedsprings, and a couple of the Windsor chairs. I will probably paint them all chartreuse. Firmware for SaleThe modern version (in the 70s) was surplus electronics catalogs, like ROMs for sale, "many useful patterns." Left behindI suspect that most of the items came from the homes of folks who migrated to a supposedly better life in the Far West in the 1930s to escape the ruin of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Families had to sell at giveaway prices what they could not take with them, and often their household possessions literally were given away. Kindred spiritWe actually had one of those Windsor chairs in my basement when I was little, and during her "antiquing" phase, Mom did indeed stain it chartreuse. Sewing MachineTo the right there is a sewing machine with a manual foot pedal. My Great Aunt Flossie used to make patchwork quilts with one of those. She sewed well into her 90s. She passed back in the early '80s. The Dog's name must be WaldoAfter much searching I finally found him! "Waldo" appears to be relaxing under the table with a couple of early Home Depot 5 gallon buckets sitting on it. Mattress springswere a cheaper alternative to store bought harrowers. If you needed loose soil smoothed out you would drag one or two mattress springs (weighted down a bit) behind your tractor. We did this when we landscaped around our new house in the early 1970s. More bark than bite ...Yep, you're right Dave, should have looked up there with binoculars. I am overdue for my cataract surgery also. Keep up the fantastic work! Catalpa TreesIn the South these trees were planted not for beautification but for fish bait. A specific type of moth lade their eggs on catalpa trees so their larvae (or worm) could feed on the catalpa leaves. These worms were used for fishing. (The Gallery, Dogs, OKC, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Genesee Street: 1904
... and adapted for another in 1930. -tterrace] Darned trees It's hard to see, but this is pretty much where the image was taken. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/25/2014 - 2:19pm -

Syracuse, New York, circa 1904. "Genesee Street." Early-1900s standbys include the usual assortment of painless dentists, and a "Misfit" clothing parlor. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Low self-esteemOddly enough, the majority of the people are clustered around Meyer's Misfits which perhaps would indicate they didn't have a very high opinion of themselves. (Wonder if Marilyn Monroe got her wardrobe there for her movie of the same name). [Looks like a youth outing of some sort. -tterrace] Cyclecuse, NYHas to be the most bike friendly city in the early 1900's. You've posted many street scenes from numerous cities, but I can't recall any with so many bicycles. Rack itApparently the bank wasted their money on the bike racks. They don't seem to be very popular. When we were 21 ?An early film, perhaps? There was to be one in 1921, but I couldn't find anything earlier. [Large movie theaters and feature-length films were still a bit in the future in 1904. The Bastable offered live theater, both vaudeville and plays, such as "When We Were Twenty-One," a 1901 four act comedy by H.V. Esmond. It was also filmed in 1915 and adapted for another in 1930. -tterrace] Darned treesIt's hard to see, but this is pretty much where the image was taken. If you go straight down the tree-lined path, almost all of the buildings on the right hand side seem to be there (actually the Salt Springs Bank on the close left is also still there without its pretty entry). View Larger Map (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC, Stores & Markets, Syracuse)
South From I: 1901
... "Ministry of Silly Walks" skit. Still some awnings and trees Someone bought the whole block and built apartments over retail. Now ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/14/2021 - 8:02pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1901. "View of Ninth Street N.W., west side, looking south from I Street." 5x7 inch glass negative, D.C. Street Survey Collection. View full size. Going, going, goneThe ghost people are better than usual. The two in the middle appear to be goose stepping or pirouetting or practicing a Vulcan mind-meld wearing nothing but black leotards and the mere suggestion of white shirts, one holding what looks like a garbage can lid ... or a shield. Or maybe a garbage can lid AS a shield. The one on the right is dematerializing in wavy layers. Must've been a really hot day. Don&#039;t lift that lid !!I believe the tracks shown in these recent phots are for the electric (conduit) streetcars rather than the cable cars -- the access hatches in the former were more closely spaced (and hadn't DC converted its cable cars already by 1901?) Grandpa would have known this areaOne block away would have been the Marine Barracks at Eighth &amp; I Sts. Grandpa had enlisted in the Corps in 1900 at the age of 15. In 1901 he had achieved the rank of "Boy". [The Barracks are in Southwest, not Northwest. - Dave] Circular walkingI've been working on a movement technique so I can look like that when crossing the street, kind of like the "circular breathing" method used by didgeridoo players. I'm thinking it will make me impervious to vehicular traffic (hey, I've never seen Shorpy's ghost pedestrians get injured). Made of stoneIt's amazing that during this exposure, there are two that did not move an inch -- the fellow to the left of the awning with the number 824 and the horse in front of him by the curb. Trust, but verifyThe sign on the right for Cupid Bouquet cigars--not a product commonly considered conducive to Cupidly canoodling--assures viewers that they are "Not Made by a Trust," apparently declaring their independence of the monopolizing American Tobacco Company. This photo was made 10 years before the US Supreme Court ruled that the company must be broken up; ATC shrank, spinning off Lorillard and Ligggett &amp; Myers, and giving up control of R.J. Reynolds < https://www.ncpedia.org/american-tobacco-company >. Of course, 1901 also saw the accession of the trust-busting Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency. A lot of history hinted at in one corner of an old photo, eh? Ministry of Silly Walks - PrequelIn the current age of prequels, this might be one for Monty Python's 1970 "Ministry of Silly Walks" skit. Still some awnings and treesSomeone bought the whole block and built apartments over retail. Now it's please stay in the crosswalk and cross with the light. Wrong quadrant for Marine BarracksThe Marine Barracks were (and remain) at Eighth &amp; I Streets S.W., not N.W. https://www.barracks.marines.mil South from I todayCompletely different. [Because you're in Southwest, not Northwest. - Dave] Another wrong quadrantKilroy's screen grab shows 8th and I Southwest, not the Northwest intersection in the original 1901 photo. Even city employees can confuse the quadrants, resulting in ambulances being sent to the wrong addresses, miles away. (The Gallery, D.C., D.C. Street Survey, Kids, Stores & Markets)
Bridge Road: 1913
... either side of this road during September of 1863. The Trees Probably hold a lot of history in them. This road ran through the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/13/2018 - 9:19pm -

Circa 1913. "Alexander Bridge Road, Chickamauga, Georgia." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Barely a trace...This placid tableau fails to even suggest the ridiculous amount of men killed on either side of this road during September of 1863. The TreesProbably hold a lot of history in them. This road ran through the Chickamauga Battlefield during the Civil War. I wonder how many Minie balls were still lodged in their trunks. (The Gallery, Civil War, DPC)
Mission San Gabriel: 1912
... Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The trees have gotten taller. (The Gallery, DPC, Los Angeles, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/25/2019 - 2:02pm -

Circa 1912. "Old Mission Trolley Trip -- Pacific Electric Railway." The San Gabriel Mission near Los Angeles. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The trees have gotten taller. (The Gallery, DPC, Los Angeles, Railroads, Streetcars)
That Seventies Mall: 1973
... Center. Interior view of shopping mall atrium with trees, walkways and crowd. Architect: César Pelli, Victor Gruen Associates." ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/07/2023 - 4:30pm -

Columbus, Indiana, 1973. "Commons Courthouse Center. Interior view of shopping mall atrium with trees, walkways and crowd. Architect: César Pelli, Victor Gruen Associates." View full size. 1973-2008I remember the opening of this mall, a big deal in J. Irwin Miller's architectural development of his hometown. The formal dedication (the year after this photo was taken) featured not only Miller and Pelli, but avant-garde Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely, whose 7-ton kinetic scrap-metal sculpture, Chaos 1, was the centerpiece. (That dark tangle center rear is Chaos 1.) Most of the mall was demolished in 2008, but Chaos 1 was preserved and the space redeveloped around it. An interesting bit of trivia was the contest to name the mall. The suggestions (and the eventual choice) were not very exciting. 50 Years LaterSome interesting history and up to date photos here. https://thecommonscolumbus.com/about/history/# It appears to be some sort of Girl Guides meeting in that photo. I see different troop numbers and a lot of young girls in GG and Brownie uniforms. That&#039;s Chaos for youand I'm not talking about the crowd of Girl Scouts. Chaos is the name of the mechanical sculpture. I was a kid in Columbus when the built the mall. We would sit and watch Chaos running while eating ice cream from Zaharakos across the street or pastries from Tiffany's in the mall. Most of the mall is gone now, but this part remains. Still scouring the photo for anyone I know. Kinetic Sculpture The sculpture to the rear by the ramps has many moving parts. It is Chaos 1 by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. Scouting out the new mallOverload of Columbus-area youth presenting a range of not-entirely-clear handiwork (knots, leaves, cupcakes?). In the background, "Chaos I" by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. Here's a 2021 video tour of the mall, now rebuilt using the original frame, with Tinguely's work still in place. Something&#039;s MissingNot a single person is on a phone. Wonder how people survived? NowadaysThere's not that many people in the local shopping mall in 2 months. ZaharakosYou might be going to Columbus for Chaos but stay for ice cream at Zaharakos. A fantastic place that wouldn't look any different than a Shorpy ice cream parlor photo dated a century or more past. The times have changedHere's a closer look at Jean Tinguely's 1973 sculpture, Chaos. Here is chaos in a mall in 2023. (The Gallery, Balthazar Korab, Stores & Markets)
Mysterious Tunnel: 1924
... The alleyway has been blocked with a board nailed to the trees; the lantern (red, maybe) will serve as a warning at night. Also note the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/08/2021 - 12:49pm -

September 26, 1924. Washington, D.C. "Mysterious tunnel." A strong Hardy Boys vibe here. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. UPDATE: While initial speculation (bootlegging, espionage) was soon dispelled by an eccentric insect expert's explanation that he had dug the passages "for exercise," historical evidence suggests that this was a tunnel of love. Or at the very least, bigamy. Old BasementIt's probably an old basement from a burnt building. Burnt building debris falls into the basement and leaves voids to be discovered later. [A plausible theory, but incorrect. - Dave] That&#039;s probablyjust an forgotten old septic tank. [What it is is what the caption says. - Dave] It&#039;s da cops, boys!The men in suits look like they may be detectives. Am I even warm? RemainsNext to the laundry, the bones of a Model T. The interesting case of Allen v. AllenIt seems that tunnel building wasn't the only hobby of Dr. Dyar. According to the interesting case of Allen v. Allen, 193 Pacific Reporter 539, Dr. Dyar was also a practicing bigamist. He apparently married his second wife using the name of Wilfred Allen. His second family seemed to have lived nearby his first in Washington, DC. The question is was he digging his tunnels to connect the homes of his two families? (The reporter who broke the first story of Dr. Dyar being the source of the tunnels also found a second set of tunnels at his house on B Street.) At some point, his first wife had had enough and wanted out. This would seem to have left wide open his relationship with his second wife except that they had concocted a fictional husband who they now needed to remove from the scene. So, they loaded the kids up in a ship and went west for a quickie divorce in Reno. Unfortunately for the Allens/Dyars the judge in Reno didn't buy their story. Not sure how it all sorted itself out in the end, but I do know that the good doctor suddenly died five years after the story of his tunnels made the local papers. DetourThe alleyway has been blocked with a board nailed to the trees; the lantern (red, maybe) will serve as a warning at night. Also note the camera tripod. Two guesses.Underground railroad, or, secret distillery. RumrunnersMight this have had something to do with Prohibition? The man standing over the hole is holding a broken bottle neck, and some of the participants are grinning like they've figured it out. In recent years out here in San Diego, the DEA and INS have found several "mysterious tunnels" running under the international boundary between Tijuana and San Diego. Somehow those tunnel discoveries never seem to inspire the kind of jollity seen here. Make a sharp leftAre you sure that rabbit said this was the way to Albuquerque? Calling Dan BrownA mysterious tunnel discovered in our nation's capital! Those pesky Freemasons are at it again. &quot;Upon closer inspection ...&quot;"This is clearly a mystery tunnel," said D.C. Police Inspector Sherman T. Ransom, second from right in photo. AlsoA strong hat vibe. If you dig a hole that&#039;s deep enoughEveryone will want to jump in. -- Firesign Theatre What&#039;s so funny?Could the man bent over the hole be holding the key? Who wants to crawl in the dirt?Hey, I know! Let's get the the skinny kid with the newsie cap and light colored jacket! It'll be a hoot! Call for Elliott NessThe twenties, an alley, a tunnel. I suspect something to do with the Volstead Act. Spider HoleIt's where Saddam Hussein's great grandfather hid out. It&#039;s the heat!Prohibition was in full swing at this point. The official looking men, the camera tripod, a broken bottle in the hand of the bull leaning over the hole. The happy expression on the face of the young man coming out of the hole. Perhaps a distillery raid? Very suspiciousIt looks like the piece of sheet metal was used to hide the mysterious tunnel. Prohibition?Caould it be a cellar to hide illegal liquor? Looks like the fellow leaning down towards the hole is holding part of a broken bottle out towards the fellow coming up from the hle. Escape Route?Given that 1924 is during Prohibition, I'd bet it was an escape tunnel from a basement "speakeasy" in one of the background buildings. Root cellar!Someone's smugglin' turnips! Well dressed gopherEvery kid should wear a light colored jacket and cap when going into a hole in the ground. I'm wondering what the man is handing the boy. It almost looks like money? Illicit booze pipelineIf it's connected to the garage in the background, I would guess it's an escape route from a speakeasy. Before Groundhog DayBack in the day if Jimmy came out of his underground lair and saw his shadow, it meant 6 more weeks of winter. ClewsThe man bending over the hole looks to be holding a broken bottle. Could this perhaps have something to do with prohibition? Maybe it was an escape tunnel from a speakeasy? The Underground exposedSo much for the Trilateral Commission's secret tunnel to sneak up on the Masons and take over their plan for world domination. ProhibitionCould the mysterious tunnel have anything to do with bootlegging? My Guess Is:Considering the year of the photo. That what they have found is either the location of a still or some bootlegger's stashing place. Rabbit HoleAlice's favorite tea parties take place here. Scram It&#039;s the G-men!Must be an escape tunnel from a speakeasy. Where&#039;s Geraldo when you need him?The fellow with the pocket watch and no jacket doesn't look like he is having a good time. Perhaps, since this is the height of prohibition, that is because these hardy boys have found where he stores the hooch. German Spies!Washington got its first inkling of this subterranean network when a truck sank a wheel into one of the tunnels in an alleyway behind the Pelham Courts apartments on P Street, making the hole shown in our photo. Initial speculation centered on German spies and rum-runners. The truth turned out to be more prosaic, yet still bizarre. They were the work of a millionaire Smithsonian entomologist named Harrison Dyar, who said he had dug them between 1908 and 1916 "for the exercise," although he clearly seemed to have a fixation on underground passages. After his newspaper interview in 1924 (below), he was found to have dug another network of tunnels around his current home on B Street (Independence Avenue). He died in 1929, though parts of his underground labyrinth were still being stumbled upon (and into) as late as 1958. Inside the tunnelClick to enlarge. Could that bea broken bottle the one guy is holding in his hand? Hard to tell, but this being 1924, it's a good chance that the tunnel has something to do with Prohibition. Ask Al Capone. Or, maybe, Geraldo Rivera. Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr.Could this be one of Dr. Dyar's creations? I GuessThis is some sort of forgotten security/escape tunnel leading from a government building, probably dating to the time of the Civil War. Beyond RepairThe remains of the auto in the upper right have me wondering what model year it is. Must have been one of the first Model T's from '08. AmazingInteresting hobby. Some people collect stamps; some build model aeroplanes. He wanted something different. That&#039;s a swell pictureBut I can't see Stan or Ollie. T timeThe Model T has a brass-era radiator piled on the frame that was last used in 1916. The headlight are mounted in a style that started in the summer of 1915. Mr. Dyar Explains Washington Post, Sep 27, 1924 Mr. Dyar at first was reluctant to discuss his strange handiwork which, when uncovered, created such a mystery that theories that the tunnels had been used as a meeting place for German spies in war days were given as much attention as the police theory that they were the rendezvous of bootleggers. It had been suggested even that they labyrinth was the workshop of a gang of counterfeiters. "No." chuckled Mr. Dyar. "The theories are all wrong. You have solved the mystery all right. I dug the tunnels. I did it for exercise. My son, Otis Dyar, who is now a man and married out in California, was a little boy when I began to dig. He used to play in the tunnels. "In fact," he continued, "other boys played in the tunnels and while they didn't annoy me they became a nuisance to some of the neighbors. Complaints were made and I recall on one occasion Detective O'Brien investigated. "Another time, I recall, a policeman came snooping around to look into the tunnels. I played a little joke on him. I put a clock back in the tunnel and when the policeman heard it ticking he must have thought it a time clock on an infernal machine or a smuggler's den or something." Contractors and engineers who have viewed that part of the labyrinth which has been opened declare the bricklaying and construction of the passages generally the work of an expert artisan. "I'm not a bricklayer," Mr. Dyar said with a laugh. "My business is with mosquitoes, moths and butterflies. I just laid the bricks on evenly; that's all." … Mr. Dyar said he knew nothing of the German newspapers which were found in the tunnel and which gave rise to the rumor that perhaps German spies had occupied the underground place. He pointed out that they were dated in 1917, two years after he had moved from the Twenty-first street house. aka Wilfred AllenBut wait - there's more. In 1906 (one year after he started tunneling for exercise), Dyar secretly married Wellesca Pollack using the alias Wilfred Allen while remaining married to his first wife, Zella Peabody. The two of them had three sons, and he deeded $100,000 in property to her. Unfortunately for him, he had another hobby - writing and publishing autobiographical short stories about a character named Mr. French. In one such story, Mr. French deeded a substantial amount of property to "Flossie," until Mrs. French discovered it. That story was used against him in two highly-publicized divorce suits, Dyar's Reno suit to divorce Zella (which failed on jurisdictional grounds), and Zella's California suit to divorce Dyer (which apparently succeeded). Then, as Harrison Dyar, he legally married Wellesca, and adopted their three sons. [Wow. Amazing. - Dave] Electric torchI'd like to have that flashlight he's holding. (I collect flashlights, old ones are especially cool) The CarThe car is indeed a Ford. It has obviously been disassembled, and the fuel tank is out of place, and the steering column is lying much lower than it would be in use. It has a brass radiator so is pre 1917, but has electric headlights so is post 1914, so is only about ten years old at the time of the photograph. One of the mudguards (fenders) is at the base of the tree hiding the feet of the smiling man in the greatcoat. Joel and Ethan - are you watching?If this isn't a perfect vehicle for the Coen Brothers, I don't know what is. (The Gallery, Bizarre, Curiosities, D.C., Natl Photo)
The Girl Next Door: 1904
... Ahhhh... homes that looked like small castles, trees that lined both sides of the street (and all the way down), and no fast ... Shorpy picture doesn't get taken for another 6 years. Trees Beautiful picture. Everything looking so new, pristine and idyllic. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 7:19pm -

Saratoga Springs, New York, circa 1904. "Union Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Then and nowView Larger Map MagicalI love this photo. I wish I could spend an afternoon in 1904 strolling this street. A happier place from a happier time.I always enjoy seeing such pictures. They are relics of a happier and more innocent time. Pining for the past (or is it maple-ing or elm-ing?)Ahhhh... homes that looked like small castles, trees that lined both sides of the street (and all the way down), and no fast traffic; all things that contribute to this being a safe place for a little girl to take a stroll. Blessed be those momentsWhere has all that charm disappeared? It must have felt like one of those long summer days, when time stopped and happiness seemed to last for ever. Still thereThe home immediately on the left in the photo is still there, largely preserved and lovely, and is now condos. The same is true for many of the surrounding homes. Gone are the majestic elms that lined the streets of Saratoga but the Union Avenue Historic District still makes for a nice stroll. Less that a half mile east of this photo (which is looking west) is the famous and historic Saratoga Racecourse, considered by many to be the most beautiful in the country, yours truly included. Close-up surpriseWhat really caught my attention (which some might think unusual for a woman) was to take special notice of the sidewalk, driveway, steps and curbs -- just how professional and modern all that cement work is. Somehow I wouldn't think they could have made such nice clean smooth cement back then and laid it all in so nicely. [Some of that might be quarried stonework. - Dave] ObservationsThe fact that everything looked so neat and tidy is mind boggling considering that pretty much *everything* was done by hand. No motorized lawn mowers or weed wackers; no electric mixers for the concrete curbs, yet everything is picture perfect. Yes, but --It's idyllic, but let's hope she survives the 1918 Flu Epidemic, and she doesn't get polio, and she doesn't get some infection that require antibiotics, etc. Oh, and she appears to be the right age to have her brothers go off to fight the Kaiser and her sons go off to fight the Axis, that might be a bit nerve-wracking. I love looking at these old pictures, but it wasn't all Grape Nehi and shooting marbles. Remember, the original Shorpy picture doesn't get taken for another 6 years. TreesBeautiful picture. Everything looking so new, pristine and idyllic. Just wondering how old the street would have been when this was taken. Those trees were obviously planted specially to line the street and they aren't small. They must be 25+ years old? (The Gallery, DPC, Kids, Saratoga Springs)
Manhattan Skyline: 1915
... greenery ! New York is so green now! There are so many trees! When I was a kid New York was a dirty and grimy place with almost no greenery, and very few of the side streets had any trees in them. Certainly not in working class neighborhoods. If you wanted ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 4:25pm -

New York circa 1915. "New York skyline from Manhattan Bridge." Another entry from Detroit Publishing's series of sooty cityscapes. View full size. BuildingsOn the far right is the Municipal Building, and to its left is the Woolworth Building. A modern viewHere's a shot from a nearby location 100 years later. Merchants Chambers Printing Company S. Giuseppe Uneeda Biscuit And nowA view from the bridge. Where it isThe cross street in the foreground is Market, in what used to be Little Italy, now Chinatown. What are the two streets heading downtown? There is no wedge-shaped block like this on Market today. What a pole!As a straight razor guy and a collector of things tonsorial, my eye was immediately drawn to, what I believe is, that great barber pole at the bottom of the photo. It looks to be part barber pole and part flag pole. I'd give my brother's right arm to have one like that. Pineapple TowersGreat skyline picture especially especially juxtaposed behind the everyday market street at the bottom. Can anyone supply names for all those massive buildings? -- especially the one that looks like it's wearing a pineapple on top. [The pineapple is the Singer Building. - Dave] Hey KidCareful on that fire escape! Madison StreetThat's Madison Street with the Alfred E. Smith Houses on the left and Chatham Green apartments on the right. Are you sure this photo is from 1910?because The Equitable Building wasn't completed until 1915 ... and construction of the Woolworth Building was just starting in 1910. ["Circa 1910" does not mean the picture was taken in 1910. If we knew what year the photo was taken, we'd give it. "Circa" means around -- in the general vicinity. It's a starting point. - Dave] FluffyzillaIt's not a giant lizard, a flying turtle or even the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, but every time I look at this portion of the photo, I see a giant bunny between the buildings, peacefully nibbling its way through the city. Today&#039;s ViewI used Google Earth 3D buildings to align the vantage point and then looked at Street View. The buildings match (look at the one the horse is headed toward, and also the building on the block closer to the camera with arched windows). View Larger Map Make that New York c. 1915This magnificent view contains several skyscrapers completed after 1910. On the left we see the Bankers Trust Building, with the pyramid on top (finished 1912) and immediately to its right, the wide bulk of the new Equitable Building (finished 1915); on the right we see the Woolworth Building, the tallest in the world at that time (finished 1913) and the Municipal Building, with its cute little round temple at the top (finished 1914). TrystLove blooms above the city's streets. Nice Monroe StreetThis is a view looking up Monroe Street with Market in the foreground. NYCer's image is nearby looking up Madison Street with Market in the foreground. Here&#039;s One MoreThe very white building in the middle background with the American flag waving above it is the first section of the old AT&amp;T Building at 195 Broadway, which was completed in 1916 (the second section - not seen here - was completed in 1922). Still ThereIf I've got it right, these two buildings are still there but now surrounded by even bigger buildings. Amazing. [These are the Bankers Trust and Equitable buildings. - Dave] Where it isThe exact location is the intersection of Monroe and Market streets looking west. The first picture submitted by nycer as well as the one directly above is along Madison Street, which is one block north of Monroe. The wedge shaped block was created by Monroe and Hamilton streets. Hamilton was eliminated with the construction of the Knickerbocker Village housing project in 1934. I have a site devoted in large part to the history of this project: http://knickerbockervillage.blogspot.com Between Monroe and CherryI think the street to the left is Monroe. The street to the right is the unnamed street circled in the map below, in between Monroe and Cherry. That would mean S. Giuseppe's store is on Catherine Street. Most of it is gone. It's all large apartment buildings on the south side of Monroe and the West side of Catherine. The buildings on the North side of Monroe are still there. +99This is the same view west on Monroe Street from May of 2009. The building in the right foreground remains as do its chimneys which are now covered in graffiti or hidden by transmitters. Laundry LadyI smiled when I saw the woman on the roof hanging her wet laundry out to dry! I'm afraid I would be scared to death! Zero&#039;th SisterI was going to mention the interesting similarity of the building below to Moscow's "Seven Sisters," a series of wedding-cake architectural extravagances from the Stalinist era. Then I read the Wikipedia article on Stalin's buildings! "The Manhattan Municipal Building in New York City, completed in 1915, is reportedly an architectural precursor to the Seven Sisters." We spent a night in the Hotel Ukraina some years back. Lovely building, but very old, and to paraphrase Mark Twain, "The hottest Summer I ever spent was a Winter's night in Moscow!" 15 degrees outside, 85 inside. [That's the Woolworth Building below. - Dave] High and DryThis gal is just merrily hanging out her laundry with nothing between her and a fast free-fall but a few live wires! At my place of work I couldn't go higher than a common step ladder without a climbing harness and a spotter. Seems to me they worried a lot less back then and didn't try to turn everything into a liability lawsuit. Market, Monroe and HamiltonThe original photo shows the intersection of these three streets. Hamilton Street (the one with the bend in the middle) was demapped in the early 1930s when Knickerbocker Village was built (see first photo in comments). That development was opened in 1934. At the foot of Monroe Street in the original photo there is a building marked "S. Giuseppe." That was the original St. Joseph's Church. The current structure was built in 1923 at the corner of Monroe and Catherine Streets across from the original site. First time I ever saw a photo of Hamilton Street, great find! My Best ShotHere is another view of the skyline in a photo I took Oct 4, 2009 from the Manhattan Bridge. I was attending the celebration of the Bridge's 100th Anniversary. So muchfor previous claims posted here on Shorpy that cities one hundred years ago were neat, clean and litter-free. A hot dayDid anybody else notice how most of the people on the street are crowded into the shade? This helicopter mom is nervousAbout that child on the fire escape, who looks to be about 3 or 4 years old. That's five storeys up. Such a different world. Or, perhaps, such a different economic perspective from my middle class complacency. Mom was probably overwhelmed with six or seven kids, the housework and cooking and, perhaps, piecework to help keep the family in food and tenement rent. No time for the luxury of worry. And those windows would have to be wide open in a stifling upper storey building. Black MariaWhat's amazing is the ominous woman striding down the left-side street dressed literally head to toe in black on this seemingly warm spring or summer day. Complete with black hat. We will never know her tragic mission; what dark news she's about to deliver to some poor soul in one of those buildings. Biggest ChangeMy father was born in Manhattan in 1918, and died in January 2009 at the age of 90. He was raised in Greenwich Village and except for 10 years spent in Europe, he lived his entire life in Manhattan. He saw almost all of the evolution of New York during the 20th Century. Shortly before his death I asked him what he thought was the greatest general change in New York since he was a kid. Immediately he said "The greenery ! New York is so green now! There are so many trees! When I was a kid New York was a dirty and grimy place with almost no greenery, and very few of the side streets had any trees in them. Certainly not in working class neighborhoods. If you wanted trees you went to the park. That's definitely the biggest change." This is borne out by all these comparative pictures; not a tree in sight in 1915. (The Gallery, DPC, NYC)
Canoemobile: 1902
... I miss them, because now I camp alone on Benson Lake. Trees White birch = paper birch. Both are common names for Betula ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 6:48pm -

The Adirondack Mountains, New York, circa 1902. "An Adirondack hand cart carry." Yet another example of hybrid transportation. 8x10 inch glass negative by William Henry Jackson, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Tree on the Left of FrameWhat's with the tree on the left it appears to have its bark peeled away in several bands. One at its base somewhat large, then two smaller above that one both about the same size, then one much larger above those. [Horizontal peeling is typical of the white and paper birch. -tterrace] Very hybridWhat's being hauled is an Adirondack guide boat, itself a hybrid - not a canoe, not a rowboat, but the best of both. It's been around since the early 19th century. In the photo, it's probably moving between lakes or ponds over a "carry," many of which connect the Fulton Chain of Lakes in the eastern side of the Adirondacks. I did this For two or three summers, I did portage, or haulage as you will, humpin' anything the camper couldn't or wouldn't. Skiffs, dorys, canoes and home built, though they were some heavy clunkers, I wanted to lecture them on the virtues of birch and cedar over oak and hemlock. But at the end of most trips, I must say they all tried to shoulder out their craft. I miss them, because now I camp alone on Benson Lake. TreesWhite birch = paper birch. Both are common names for Betula papyrifera (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, W.H. Jackson)
Little Red Wagons: 1965
... "bike" ramps at the corners and, unfortunately, no trees. Not gorgeous, but home. Thanks for the refresher. Flat. Tire ... inflated tires, of course. Subdivisions All the trees and bushes are small and paltry; they all have that recently planted look ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 4:53pm -

Diamond Bar, California, August 1965. The owner of the MG across the street isn't having quite as good a day as my niece and nephew. I shot this on 35mm Kodachrome. View full size. The Missing BehomethsNotice that the usual big American cars are curiously absent. There is a Rambler/American Motors(?) type station wagon in the driveway, a smaller Ford in the street, the MG, and a VW up the cross street. I guess all the Pontiac Bonnevilles were parked at the office. The neighborhoodIs that the Brady Bunch house up the street? Color, color and more colorI can't believe the gorgeous color that you've still got in these photos. Even the one of your mother's wedding just pops! I have photos from the 70's that are faded to orange and yellow that were taken on Kodak film with a 35mm Minolta. Was it the Kodachrome, the way you took them or the way they were processed, I wonder. I suppose you processed your own. We sent them out. [One reason these look good is because they are scanned from transparencies (slides or negatives), not prints on paper. The other three reasons are Kodachrome, Kodachrome, Kodachrome. Plus of course it was taken by tterrace, the camera-ninja boy wonder. - Dave] No punch backsPunch buggy green! My nephew hit me with that old line over one of those 'new' VW bugs. No place like home, TotoHaving lived in California all of my formative years, I did not need a label to know where this was taken. I think it has a lot to do with the sidewalks, "bike" ramps at the corners and, unfortunately, no trees. Not gorgeous, but home. Thanks for the refresher. Flat.Tire slashing vandals in such a safe-looking, peaceful neighborhood? I still have my 1969 MGB. Wish it looked as good is this one. With fully inflated tires, of course. SubdivisionsAll the trees and bushes are small and paltry; they all have that recently planted look about them. The concrete sidewalks look pristine, no cracks, no heaving, no stains. The houses and the yards all look fresh and new. The trees across the street in the hapless MG owner's yard still have guy wires to keep them up till the root system matures. There's still mud in the gutters, implying there was still construction going on in the neighborhood. I'm guessing the subdivision must have been pretty new. SlashedThat's what he gets for putting white walls on an MG. What's the keen green wagon on the left? Nash? Rambler? Stude? At first I thought International, but their quarter panels didn't look like that until the '70s. And the Travelall was taller. [Hudson Rambler. - Dave] Colorful attributionsThose wedding photos are from delworthio's eye-popping Kodachromes. (My folks' marriage predates the introduction of Kodachrome by three years.) Then and NowWould love to see this same scene exactly as it is today. Possible? Tire Slashing Vandals?...Perhaps the dastardly deed was perpetrated by some public spirited citizen who knew (as everyone did back then) that all MG drivers were leftist pipe-smoking History or English literature professors who listened to Miles Davis and always carried a well thumbed copy of "Quotations from Chairman Mao." They were also fond of wearing Harris Tweed jackets with leather elbow patches.(With matching tweed caps, naturally). Although wearing stringback driving gloves would be going too far! Hmmmm....wait....this guy doesn't seem to fit the description. Oh well, I suppose it's more likely that the car simply hasn't run in months and the tires went flat from just sitting there. Just ask the man who owned one. New subdivisionThis was about two years after my sister and her family moved into their new place here. KodachromeKodachrome, Kodachrome, Kodachrome indeed. The images taken with Ektachrome are all (with rare exceptions) fading into history. Kodachrome was a "dye-additive" processed film where the colors/dyes were added to the film matrix during processing. Ektachrome (and to a similar degree Anscochrome, Agfachrome et al) were "dye-subtractive" where unneeded colors were bleached out of the film during processing leaving behind only those colors necessary to form the original colors. Those 4x5 Kodachromes that Dave posts here are to die (or dye) for! Diamond Bar NowView Larger Map CriminalsFrom the looks on their faces, I suspect these tykes are just returning from a trip up the street to slash some more neighbors' tires. When California was actually affordable.Suburban homes like those in the picture are for sale out here in San Jose for sometimes over a million bucks. I wonder if working and middle class people back then would ever imagine that they would soon not be able to afford their own home if they had to buy it again. A shame. &quot;Made me sigh&quot;Today on Lileks, tterrace gets a shout-out from the man himself. New suburb smellAh, a freshly minted suburb - note the saplings with crutches, the kerbside landscaping and the dirt in the rain gutters. We often forget that every development - even the late Victorian and Edwardian ones in my own city - once had this raw look. Slashed?I would think not. In those halcyon days we used to take the cap off and then sit there patiently holding the valve down until all the air was out. Slashing is a Gen X sort of thing. MGBHad a '63 myself -- white with a red leather interior. I'm of the opinion the thing has been sitting there since the last time it ran and the tires went flat. Held my breathLileks says "You almost expect the ghost of the photographer to show up in the picture." To say nothing of the goose-bumps forming on the skin of the actual photographer. The Old photoGorgeous! That could have been a pic of myself and sister in Pleasanton, 1969 FlashbackMy immediate response on seeing the picture was "Hey! Southeastern L.A. county, or northern Orange county." Sure enough. I moved away nearly 40 years ago, but in an instant I was back again; except that I remember Diamond Bar before the houses started going in. (I grew up in Whittier, my father lived the last 20 years of his life in La Habra.) Thank St. Eastman for Kodachrome. Little red wagonI was just trying to explain to my wife last night about little red wagons, she's Filipina, and how my friends and I, when we were about the age of the boy in the pic, used to ride them down a hill that ended at the brick wall of my house's garage. Sure you could steer the wagons, sorta, and you could use your feet as brakes but often as not the rides ended with boy meets wall. Good times, so much joy to be had. Helmets? Helmets were for fighter pilots and spacemen. &#039;63 MGB,I currently have a '63 MGB, and I tell you (honestly!), it's the most reliable car I've owned. (Wait, does that say more about me or the car?) Anyway, that MG is, at most, two years old, and washed and everything. Someone was probably sending a message about buying those furrin' cars, or the owner is, in fact, an insufferable, rake-shaking, "get offa my lawn" prat and this is what he has reaped. Weeding the lawn again?Is that a dichondra lawn? Insanely labor-intensive! Still, they used to be popular in the area, especially among those employing Japanese gardeners. AmazingDo MG's actually run? I thought they just sat in mechanics' lots. Then and NowHere we are today. No MG in site so he either got it fixed or it was towed. I took this from the street since I didn't want to stand on their front porch. Looks like the tree's finally grew. I'm not sure about the hill in the background, but our neighbor once told us that an enormous amount of dirt had been moved to make the high school. Enjoy! That&#039;s My HouseI've really enjoyed reading everyone's comments about our house. We moved to Diamond Bar in '62, and we were the first people on the street. Everyone else's Including the photographer's, was still being built. In this picture, it is a brand-spanking new neighborhood. That is my dad out in front looking at my oldest sister's MG. We also had a Pontiac that he kept for 13 years before replacing it. To solve the mystery, the MG had been slashed to bits... the tires and the tarp. Here's the story; We were going to the beach with the church youth group, and she parked the car at the DB Congregational Church. While we were getting ready to go, there was a terrible accident on DB Blvd, which she witnessed. When the police came, she told them who's fault it was. When they left, we all went to the beach and when we came back, it was vandalized. We knew who did it, but could not prove it. The "now" picture from 2010 shows the house after the folks had passed away. Dad in 2007, and Mom 11 months later. My nephew and his wife who were their caretakers, remained in the house for a while, and remodeled (as nothing had been done since my parents originally moved in in '62, the electrical was a mess as was the plumbing), and they sold it shortly thereafter. That hill was eventually leveled down to build Diamond Bar High School. It was part of a huge piece of empty land, with a big gully in the middle of it. Like all the other hills in the neighborhood (including the one on our bank in the back yard), it has eroded into almost an even flatness. The lawn is not dichondra, it was originally St. Augistine and I think my nephew replanted something else, but not dichondra. I saw it when it was growing in, and I think it may have been some sort of fescue. In the before picture; Yes the trees show the wires as the yard was just planted. He loved trees and planted one for each of us girls (4 of us) and one for Mom. They indeed grew HUGE. Also missing is the huge bird of paradise that Dad planted right near the front "banister". It was a huge eyesore, but he and Mom loved it. My dad and a neighbor put in the sprinkler system and the grass. In those days all the neighbors took turns doing each other's lawns. It was a great time. So thank you for the pictures tterrace, and for another last look at my Dad. I remember your family well, and always wonder what happed to Big Frank, (You should've seen him ride a skateboard) Rosemary, Jimmy and Mary Rose. My Mom and Dad were The Ropers, Mel and Vickey who lived and died in that house for over 40 years. I'm Diamond Bar Girl. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Kids, tterrapix)
The Heart of Copper Country: 1905
... straight from the Sears catalog! What are the trees for When the scorification is coming to an end, enough coal dust is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/28/2012 - 4:49pm -

Calumet, Michigan, circa 1905. "The heart of the copper country." Panorama made from four 8x10 glass negatives. This doesn't look like much until you click View full size, whence you are transported into a wondrous cuprous panorama. Future two by foursI spend a couple of weeks a year in the UP (Upper Peninsula for you non-Michiganders) near Calumet, and train cars carrying lumber south are still a common sight. Is it roofing season?This is puzzling. Can anyone explain why there are so many ladders up to and across the rooftops? Perhaps the first day of clear weather for repairs? [What's more likely is that most of those ladders are always there, or there for months at a time. The reason might have something to do with snow. - Dave] Stacked oddsI can only imagine what the houses would look like if those logs decided to tumble down upon them there does not appear to be anything holding them back other than gravity. What&#039;s upwith all the ladders on so many of the houses? Scene from an imaginary movieProbably arthouse, maybe Scandinavian? Ladders + Chimneys = SweepingsThe reason for the roof ladders is to access the chimneys. You will notice that almost every roof ladder is placed along side a chimney, which in the day of constant use required frequent sweeping to prevent flue fires. 300 inches of snowCalumet is on the Keweenaw Peninsula -- the Upper Peninsula's upper peninsula. U.P. snows are legendary, especially in the Keweenaw Peninsula, where 300-inch winters aren't that unusual. (Sticking far out into Lake Superior, it really gets nailed with Lake Effect snows.) Ladders nailed to roofs are there for a reason. When accumulated snows threaten to collapse the roof, the ladders give a foothold from which to clear off the stuff. PitchesThe steep roof pitches also help prevent snow from piling up too quickly, but with the amounts alluded to you couldn't be too careful The houses shown set me to remembering the Pete Seeger ditty about all the houses that look alike, but, the name escapes me. The breadth of coverage is breathtaking, amazing. But that snowfall amount is staggering; we had 67 inches over three storms a short time back and thought that was bad. Spectacular, one of the best on ShorpySo much going on in this view I can look at it for hours. It almost looks like it was all CGI work done by some FX studio. Thank YouDue to that 8,461px × 2,000px picture I now have the perfect reason to explain to my wife why I need a new monitor with a resolution of at least 9000 x 2400 so I can use that fantastic panorama work as a background. She is an artist at heart and has a love of olden times and things so I believe I do have a shot. Ticky-TackyIt was Malvina Reynolds who wrote "Little Boxes." Pete Seeger covered the song, but always gave credit to Malvina. STUNNINGThis picture is a real gift. A panoramic moment in time. I agree with RoccoB. One of the best ever in the Shorpy Collection and one that could easily take up a couple of hours of close examination. Thanks, Dave. DioramaThis is a superb reference point for anyone wanting to create a prototypical, period, industry-representative model railroad layout. Fabulous detail, and all authentic. I found Waldo!Standing by the garden. Man, it's even tougher in black &amp; white. Dizzy.The changing shadows across the photo are surreal, but somehow make it seem more physical. I can almost feel myself turning about on top of the hill, the warm breeze carrying the scents of fresh cut lumber and copper mill smoke. Sears housesI attended Michigan Tech in Houghton, Michigan back in the 1980s and took a class called something like "Social Geography". We traveled all over the Copper Country figuring out why towns were laid out in certain ways. I do remember going through Calumet and finding rows of nearly identical houses like those shown in the photos above. Turns out many of them were bulk-ordered straight from the Sears catalog! What are the trees forWhen the scorification is coming to an end, enough coal dust is thrown on to sufficiently coat the surface of the metal. Then the refiner shoves a tree in the furnace and presses it into the metal as strongly as he can. Because one uses elms or young oaks from four to six inches in diameter which have been freshly cut or left to lie in water to keep them damp, a violent bubbling occurs in the copper when one pushes the tree into it. This is allowed to continue for several minutes. Then one throws coal dust over the copper again and the bubbling recurs. This process continues until the copper has reached the requisite degree of purity. One ascertains. This passage was taken from a English copper smelting manual from the late 1700's , from what I have read the purification process using wood was still in use in the early 20th century. Ghost ImageI got interested in this picture when I noticed that the image I use as a computer background had a double exposed plate and this picture was the ghosted image. I hadn't imagined that I would actually find the source of my desktop background let alone the source of the double exposed image. Now that I have, I was curious about the actual place. Reading the description here I was able to find the approximate location of where the photo was actually taken on a modern map (Google Maps). The coordinates are: 47°14'43.2"N 88°27'47.2"W, facing north and at some elevation above ground level (http://goo.gl/maps/xYctZ). The intersection that is front and center on the photo is the current intersection of Oak St &amp; Spruce St. The duplex home at the bend in that intersection, where the woman is walking in front, is still there, though clearly it's seen better days (http://goo.gl/maps/BSkFj). A couple of the other houses on the curving 2nd street are also still there and between these houses I was able to confirm the rough spot that the photo was taken from. Anyway, this web site helped me a great deal in figuring out the mystery so I thought I'd at least contribute that info back. Cheers! (Panoramas, DPC, Factories, Mining, Railroads)
Ghosts of State Street: 1908
... removing the planting strip that supported the stately elm trees. http://goo.gl/maps/loL4V So the photographer had to be back ... is something about the beauty of this street under these trees next to these gracious homes that makes me so want to transport myself ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/12/2013 - 12:27pm -

Circa 1908. "State Street -- Springfield, Massachusetts." The long-departed denizens of this leafy enclave can be seen going about their blurry business with ectoplasmic flair in this exposure lasting perhaps two or three seconds. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Hydrants clueSanborn Fire Insurance Maps contain a lot of details like hydrants and street names and easements. Find out which Springfield library has the Sanborn maps to help identify this location. Wide sidewalksYou know your neighborhood is upscale when your sidewalks have curbs. Telephoto TricksIn the distance above the carriage on the left side of the street is the gated entrance to the armory at Byers Street. http://goo.gl/maps/bjo7h If you look around you can see some of the other houses. On the extreme left there's two columns and a bay window. That would appear to be the house at the corner of Elliot Street (note the fence line running perpendicular to State). That's right next to St. Michael's Cathedral, maybe the rectory? http://goo.gl/maps/ZSfK0 On the right is a house with a porch that has three columns at each corner. In the current view there's still some of that funky curb along the edge of the sidewalk. It also shows that the already excessively wide street was widened even further at some point, removing the planting strip that supported the stately elm trees. http://goo.gl/maps/loL4V So the photographer had to be back almost to Chestnut Street, some three or four blocks from Byers. The curve in the street and the change in grade is nearly imperceptible on the wide angle Google street view images. As for the street sign? Maybe an alley or small street that has since been abandoned and absorbed into the parking lot to the right of the house with the three columned porch. I wishThere is something about the beauty of this street under these trees next to these gracious homes that makes me so want to transport myself there, if only for a brief moment. Has life ever been as peaceful and serene since? I wonder whereI grew up in Springfield in the 50s and early 60s and I sure can't fathom where on State Street that may have been taken. I can't think of any part of State Street where such an idyllic scene could have existed 50 years earlier. We have lost so much in the past century... HydrantsIf anyone comes up with a general location of this photo, the fire hydrants may help in nailing down the specific spot. Hydrants are rarely relocated or removed once installed. Mystery locationI'm puzzled. This view appears to contain a slight downhill grade and a slight bend to the right, which is a clue to its location. A better clue is the street sign near the car on the right (magnified and contrast-enhanced below) - it appears to be (something) Place, where (something) looks an awful lot like "Maple." Problem is, I've looked at maps of Springfield from 1870 through 1940 (and 1908-1909 in particular), and can find only one street crossing State that is designated "Place" - Hunter Place, which doesn't look right at all. (There may also have once been a "Courthouse Place" near the river, but if that even existed, it also looks completely wrong.) I've found a few stretches of State Street that have roughly the right topography, but I have yet to find any other corroborating clues. It's a head scratcher... Location Wild GuessEmphasis on the "wild", but here goes. We all know that the affluent areas in most towns 100 years ago were on a main boulevard not too far from the city center as you left town. Based on that, the tree shadows showing we are looking NE, and the rightward bend in State St just beyond, I suspect this is near the current location of Springfield Technical Community College. Today, the college would dominate the left side of the photo, just prior to the rightward bend of State St. Elm TunnelMany cities had lovely elm trees with the distinctive vase shape creating leafy canopies over streets. The late 1920's saw the spreading of elm disease that sadly all but wiped out these beautiful trees. Those beautiful elm trees.Mostly gone now, thanks to Durtch elm disease. I can remember when the streets here in Milwaukee were lined with them, just like in the picture. Nice Detective Work, Jeffrey!Kudos to Jeffrey Jakucyk! I was looking at topo maps and Google Maps trying to figure it out and I couldn't. So much has changed that the street now has hardly any curvature or slope. I did find the house with the pillars, but everything else was so different that I just didn't believe I was in the right place. There was a discussion about Maple Place. I couldn't find that, but I did find that between the time of the topo map and Google Maps, Maple street had been extended. But it didn't seem to intersect State Street in the right place for the old photo. If this had been the "Indiana Railroads Bull Session" forum, this photo would have been prime for a "Wherezitat?" post... More on LocationTo build some more on what I suggested earlier and what Jeffery elaborated on, I think I have found something that may be proof of the location in the distance on the left as the Armory, which is next to the college today that I mentioned. I think we were only a block or so apart in our guesses. The two stone gate posts at the entrance to the armory can be found at 394 State St. on the left side of a Google street image today. There is only the right stone pillar in existance today, the left apparently demolished at some time. Their shape and appearance is the same. There is also clear evidence that the grade and width of State St. was modified considerably since the Shorpy photo. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC)
Bathing in the Casino: 1889
... so very close to the forest. With various inconsequential trees getting in the way. A "pointed" question. What could that mean? - Dave] ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 4:53pm -

Circa 1889. "Bathing pool in the Casino. (Probably the Ponce de Leon Hotel, St. Augustine, Florida.)" UPDATE: This was actually the nearby Hotel Alcazar (thanks to Amphalon). Photograph by William Henry Jackson. View full size. Miss Teschmacher!I second the Lex Luthor assessment. A fantastic pool. More hotel pools need to be like this! BermudaIs that the flag of Bermuda on the rafter? I'd LOVE to swim in this room today ... that's just an incredible pool! AquabaticistsIs there such a word to describe that team of athletes in the pool? It just came to me, a silly word that some Victorian sideshow pitchman would come up with to describe them. Is this pool still around? Bears an eerie resemblance to Lex Luthor's swimming pool in the movie Superman. MGMWow! This would make a great set for one of those MGM Musicals of the late 40s or early 50s! Dynamite! Hotel Alcazar CasinoAlong with the Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar was one of Henry Flagler's grand hotels. Today it houses St. Augustine City Hall and the Lightner Museum. The pool is now the Cafe Alcazar: International House of SplashingThe architecture is quite innovative for its day, and combines the usual eclectic mix of details: inspired by a classical Roman bath, the cast concrete structure combines Roman arches and corner vaults with Greek Doric columns, Venetian Renaissance balustrades, and Spanish corbels and roof trusses. Add to these the electric chandeliers (early enough to have been installed by Edison), the Japanese paper lanterns, and the flags of many nations. The paper lanterns over the shower stalls are in the shape of Japanese carp, a pretty amusing touch in this context. My first thoughtafter viewing all these wonderful photos from this period something is missing. They didn't have fashionable headwear for the swimmer. Pointed QuestionThere's something here that no one's commented on yet. A topic of seemingly endless discussion in other posts. What could it be? Going UnderI'm not sure I could bring myself to get in this pool on a dare. Underwater nooks and crannies terrify me. I have nightmares that look just like this, except the pool's at least three (flooded) stories deep. *shudder* REPLY TO POINTED QUESTIONHeavens, there are no handrails or guard rails anywhere!! Someone might fall in. People should be protected against harming themselves. Swing babyWell, I don't know if this is what your are alluding to, but are those swing type apparatus on the left for hanging onto and doing??? Boys night outWhere are the women swimmers? Drowned cityGoing Under's comment on the spooky quality of this pool is well made, especially given the "today" photo of the Cafe Alcazar. As the polar caps continue to recede, the dining room might regain its historical appearance in time for its bicentennial. A shocking detailSomehow the idea of having electric lighting fixtures dangling directly above the swimming pool gives me the willies. In the swing of thingsOn the left side of the photo, notice the ropes with handholds hanging from the ceiling. I'm guessing that these were used by people wanting to swing from the balcony and drop into the pool, sort of like an old fashioned tire swing. Since the water only appears to be a few feet deep, I don't thing I'd be first in line to try this stunt! Without the caption...Agree with "Going Under." If the caption hadn't said it was a pool, I would have thought it was a flooded opera house or theater, with young folks taking advantage of the disaster as they often will. The architecture is all wrong for a pool; it's much easier to get trapped under a balcony than to climb out onto a tiled floor. No bathtub rings, please!Here's a nice touch: Note the showers (with hot and cold faucets) in little alcoves at the top of the stairs leading to the pool. No handrails on the stairs, though, even though everyone using them had wet, slippery feet! Top Man&#039;s CrotchThat's not the name of a town in the Rockies. It's my answer to the Pointed Question. Hmmm . . . let&#039;s see I'm wondering if this pool is filled with sea water. I would assume it's not chlorinated. There are showers in the corners for rinsing off. The niches now have potted plants. But what topic could you be referring to, Dave? Let's see. There are only men in the pool. I suppose in those days there were no ladies' hours at all. They all have fine mustaches. It's cute to see the ladies demurely watching them. Maybe it's the baggy wool swimsuits? But they don't seem to be . . . er . . . revealing anything inappropriate. Maybe I need to enlarge the picture? Oh yesAnd those trapezes look like they'd be lots of fun to swing from and fly into the water. Casinos, then and nowGiven that our modern understanding of the term "Casino" that is almost exclusively synonymous with "Gambling Hall" I was surprised that I didn't see any comments about how hard it would be to put all your money on Black (that's a Roulette joke). Of course the 19th century mind would have understood "Casino" as meaning "a public building where pleasurable activities, including gambling, and sports took place." Pointed, pointed.....nope, not getting the hint. A little vexillology, perhaps? Alas, not the flag of Bermuda. The two identifiable flags I could make out are the Canadian Red Ensign and the Irish Flag of Leinster. The Canadian Red Ensign is the UK colonal flag with the Canadian crest (crest, crown, and a maple leaf wreath), though it was technically "unofficial", because they kept changing the crest every time a province was added and not standardized until the 1920s. The Irish flag to its left served as the "unoffical flag of Ireland" until 1922. [You are so very close to the forest. With various inconsequential trees getting in the way. A "pointed" question. What could that mean? - Dave] Virtual TourNice 360 degree panorama of the current space here. Must have been dangerousI wonder how many folks were seriously hurt climbing the stairs there to get to those showers. Without guardrails of any sort to hold onto.... one slip on the slippery steps and CONK! Busted skull..... Dave, since there aren't any nubile ladies in swim atire in the picture (all of the females are barely seen, and fully clothed in circa 1889 high fashion), I don't see what you're pointing to about the thing everyone's missed... unless it's "How the heck would you safely change a lightbulb from that chandelier while it's over the pool without getting electrocuted?" Or are you referring to the gymnastic stuff over on the left side of the picture? The flags on the railingabove the clock have 39 stars. That would be the "flag that never was," anticipating the two Dakotas would be admitted as one state in 1889. [Dingdingding. We have a winner! - Dave] Speaking of Tarzan and swinging...That was something the younger kids would always get to wondering about. Tarzan seeming to having a very convenient vine perfectly located in each tree ready to go. We convinced them that Cheetah and his pals did all his vine re-setting in return for Tarzan's protection services. Those movies gave us plenty of ideas of how to hang some various size ropes (actually anything we could find) and tie them on sturdy tree branches. Hint: mama's clothesline was good for about 3 or 4 swings before someone took the plunge. Unfortunately, there wasn't any water under us. We quickly discovered the swinging part is not big deal, but the landing was way sketchy. Eventually we designed a contest of how far a kid could swing out and land. Lots of sprained extremities and bruised butts. Not being absolute idiots we moved over to playing soldier where you only got dirty. Still cracks me thinking of all the silly noises we made for our weapons. Most oft heard phrase..."No way, it was just a flesh wound." Tarzan practiced hereLooks to me that those ropes are hung in such a manner as to allow one to grab the first one from the shower, and swing from one to another until you've reached the pair closest to the camera. And from the markings, I'd say these swimmers are near the shallow end of the pool. It's only 3 1/2 feet at the far end, and 4 1/2 feet near the man with the life preserver, then 6 feet at the column on the near left. Could be a diving board at the near end, judging from the size of the room in the Panorama. Timely!Amazing, I just ate lunch in the deep end of the Saturday! I was quite fascinated by that room, the floor slopes down to the cafe end, with antique shops underneath the sides, they said it was fed by a sulfur spring and kept at 86 degrees. The shallow end was reserved for the men so they could smoke their cigars and relax, and the other end was for the women. The Ponce de Leon across the street had its own powerhouse with two early Edison generators. (Apparently one is in the Smithsonian now.) They may have powered the lights here. Washed out.I saw the band Explosions in the Sky perform in this very room a few years ago. Very strange space. A small touch of Japanese styleNote the Japanese chochin (paper lanterns) hanging from the ceiling and arches. Is Japan even considered exotic anymore? Where&#039;s Esther?I pool this beautiful needs a queen. I think I see a sign: Esther Williams swam here. Or maybe it's just a mirage. And dancing tooIf you get a chance to visit this landmark it's very important to look at everything to see what it was like during its many iterations. Try to tell what it used to be like from what it is now. Some of the things I noticed: The acoustics. The sound echoing up to the rafters of every little activity in the pool area would have made for an interesting stay in the rooms on the upper floors. The upper floors seem to be guest rooms surrounding the huge atrium above the pool/casino area. You see people standing near the edge. The open deck from where the people are to the rooms is very wide. Not just a walkway but more a dance hall. I can picture guests dancing in this spacious area with music wafting up from below. The pool had "canals" off to the sides that one may swim in to the massage and sauna. Windows opened like awnings all around the top of the building above the pool providing powerful ventilation with the seabreeze. Lady SwimmersI read that there were ladies' hours, and there was a special private pool behind the main wall. Probably in a book by Thomas Graham, who has written several about the Flagler properties. (The Gallery, DPC, Florida, W.H. Jackson)
Made for Walkin': 1937
... one step forward through unbelievably luxuriant vines, trees, grasses, without first clearing our path. "We were forced for many ... to be constantly on guard. At night they had to sleep in trees to escape prowling animals. Once they were awakened by a scratching ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 7:10pm -

June 16, 1937. "Walk 800 miles to attend Boy Scout Jamboree. Two Venezuelan Boy Scouts, Rafael Angel Petit, left, and Juan Carmona, examining their boots after tramping 25 miles a day for two years in order to attend the Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington. They left Caracas Jan. 11, 1935, arriving in Washington today." Harris &amp; Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. A math problem800 divided by 25 is only 32 days. Either they walked 8,000 miles, or they only walked one day every three weeks or so. [A news item in the Washington Post (which gave Rafael's last name as Betit) didn't say anything about mileage, although it noted that the boys planned to make the trip home by air in two and a half days. - Dave] I want those boots!Does anyone know where to find boots like these? I've been wanting a pair like that for as long as I can remember. Back in the dayI had lace-up boots like Rafael is wearing. It's just that I wore them with miniskirts, and the farthest I walked in those boots was from the bus stop to my junior high. Try 800 daysDistance from Caracas to DC is a little over 2000 miles. At 25 miles a day it would take 800 days to travel. Also Jan, 1935 to Jun, 1937 is a little over 800 days. [Hm. Might want to check your math, Levi. Next! - Dave] Wow!I bet they had some amazing stories. DescansarA few numbers: Jan 11, 1935 to Jun 16, 1937 is 886 days which works out to an average of about 9 miles per day for a 8,000 mile trip. That seems reasonable given the following description of hacking through jungles for part of the trip. Washington Post, Jun 17, 1937 2 Boy Scouts End Long Hike, Ready to Rest Pair Finish 8,000-Mile Hegira From Venezuela to Washington. Descansar. In Spanish that means rest, which is what Rafael Angel Petit and Juan Carmona are going to get plenty of, now that they've completed their hike from Caracas, Venezuela, to Washington. The two Rover Boy Scouts, who had been en route since January 11, 1925, puffed across the Key Bridge a few minutes before noon yesterday to reach the end of a trail that led through snake and malaria-infested jungles, head hunters' camps and brigands' hideouts. They were greeted near the city's entrance by a reception party of Boy Scout officials, legation attaches and motorcycle police but politely declined an invitation to ride. "No, thank you," said Juan, 26, and quite handsome with Valentino sideburns, "we've walked every step of the way to this point, except when we crossed rivers on handmade rafts. We want to walk all the way to the Capitol." At the Capitol were waiting the Venezuelan Minister, Dr. Diogenes Escalante, and Director General Leo S. Rowe, of the Pan-American Union. Much handshaking, newsreel and photograph shooting, more handshaking and South American gesticulating followed. A few hours later the boys were telling a radio audience what it's like to hoof some 8,000 miles apiece without ennui. (The actual distance may be far less but Rafael and Juan often had to take the long way around, not the crow's route.) Hardships were plentiful on the trip but the boys arrived fit and sound, save for a few vanishing malaria symptoms. Carmona was hit the worst and, through an interpreter, said he is going to look up a doctor here. At times the heat was so bad the hikers nearly despaired of continuing. The tropical sun killed a dog companion and another perished of snakebite. Two thousand miles, or about one-fourth, of their journey was through dense jungles. One of them, the Choco Colombiano separating Panama and Columbia, had never before been traversed by civilized man. "We had to cut our way through this territory," the scouts said, "with machetes, not being able to take one step forward through unbelievably luxuriant vines, trees, grasses, without first clearing our path. "We were forced for many miles to lay a constant bridge before us of tree trunks in order to avoid quicksand and quaking marshland. For nearly six months we were wet constantly, as the normally difficult crossing of this jungle was further complicated by our striking it at the rainy season." Malaria, dampness, snakes, insects and heat plagued them. Often they slept in hammocks swung high about the ground for safety. Usually, however, they made their beds on the earth. In Panama they were feted by the San Blas Indians who, more often than not, are hostile to strangers. A few of them spoke a Spanish dialect, which helped. The natives gave a banquet in their honor, featured by a beverage called chucula. "This drink was bad enough by itself," the adventurers said, "but we had to watch the women prepare it, and that nearly finished us. It is made of green plantains, grain and coconut, all chewed up personally by the women, mixed well with saliva and left to ferment." Juan and Rafael said they had a hard time explaining their way out of the clutches of Honduran bandits, then when they were liberated the police placed them under arrest, until their credentials were verified with the Venezuelan government. It was pretty discouraging, too, when they arrived at Laredo, Tex., only to be halted because of passport difficulties. The scouts had to walk all the way back to Mexico City to get their entrance papers in order. The sojourners averaged 25 miles a day, wore out 24 pairs of shoes, and passed through Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. Carmona and Petit will make their Washington headquarters at the Roosevelt Hotel. This morning they will be received formally at the Pan American Union Building by Dr. Rowe. Alternate Alliterative Appellation:Sole Searching Scouts? Big BoysOkay, I get Boy Scouts staring at them. But where the heck did they find the sailor!? I wonder what these guys did when they grew up. Although they look quite manly already. Bootsl have a pair that are the same made by Harley Davidson. but if you go on ebay and look up logger boots lm sure you will find what your looking for. Amazing in any ageThat trek would be no less amazing if it was executed today. The regions through which these men walked are still rife with dangers of the same sort, from isolated tribes to snakes to drug lords to marsh and impenetrable jungle. Very cool! I had to wonder though, how is it they didn't have anything better to do than walk all day? Scouts indeed! Try that on your privileged suburbanite boys today! Susan &gt;&gt; I had lace-up boots like Rafael is wearing. It's just that I wore them with miniskirts ... Photos, please! Musical MomentThis is just before everyone launches into a chorus of "Y.M.C.A.," right? The Return TripAnybody know how they got home? Can't imagine the end of the Jamboree a week or so later. Everyone says so long and adios, these fellows look at each other, look southward down the road, then both start crying uncontrollably. [As noted below, they flew back. - Dave] What a story!What a story! Thanks to Stanton Square for finding the article. Imagine backtracking from Laredo to Mexico City to fix your passports! And the sailor looks like he popped right off of a box of Cracker Jack. Jaguars &amp; BanditsAnother accounting of our young amigos adventure comes to us from the student newspaper of the State Teachers College, La Crosse, Wisconsin. The Racquet, Dec 5, 1937: Vol 30, No. 8 Venezuela Scout-Head Writes Exciting Letter Several days ago I received an interesting letter from a young man I met at Washington, D. C., while attending the National Scout Jamboree. This man was Juan Carmona, a scout-master from Caracas, Venezuela, South America, who had hiked with a companion, Rafael Petit of Maracaibo, Venezuela, from Caracas through South America, Central America, Mexico and the Southern part of the United States to Washington. The trip took them two years; they covered over ten thousand miles and each wore out twelve pairs of hiking boots. Three started originally but one turned back. They went through jungle territory never before seen extensively by white man, some days they were able to make good progress; on others the dense jungle growth and swamp bogs limited them to three miles a day. Poisonous snakes and wild animals forced them to be constantly on guard. At night they had to sleep in trees to escape prowling animals. Once they were awakened by a scratching sound. As the scratching came closer they both aimed and fired their rifles in the direction of the sound. It was so dark that they were unable to distinguish a thing about them. At the sound of the shots the scratching ceased and something crashed to the ground beneath the tree. Unable to sleep further they waited for daylight, which revealed a large jaguar lying dead at the base of the tree. For three days the dead beast's mate stalked and followed them; one was required to keep guard against attack while the other cut and broke the trail. Finally the animal left and they were free to advance more rapidly. In the southern part of So. America they were taken captive by savages, the chief of which treated them royally but would not permit them to leave. Finally, he was persuaded to allow them to continue their journey. As they traveled through Central America they were made prisoners of revolutionists (it seems there is always a revolution down there). None of the soldiers could read their letters or credentials and they were kept in prison until the revolutionary general returned, read their identification papers and set them free. In Mexico they were robbed of their rifles and money by bandits but finally after many other interesting and exciting adventures, they crossed the U.S. border and reached Washington, D.C. They have many valuable stamps, seals, letters, pictures and papers from notables of the various places through which they passed. It took them two days to fly by plane back to Caracas. They crossed territory through which they had passed on their two-year journey. The letter I received was written in Spanish as Juan does not wish to attempt a letter in English even though he understands, and speaks it. Mr. Lairx helped me to translate the letter. At the present time Mr. Carmona is writing a book of the experiences and adventures of the trip he made with his companion Petit. Our friendship began at Washington and will be continued through our correspondence. I hope to visit Mr. Carmona some time, and he, in turn, has promised to visit me the next time he comes to the United States. Several scouts of the troop of which I am scoutmaster are establishing correspondence with boys of his troop. Cracker JackThe sailor standing on the right is actually a Sea Scout, as the Scout badge on his cap testifies. For one so young he certainly does have the air of an old salt. Mapquest por favor"In the southern part of So. America they were taken captive by savages"... They made a serious wrong turn if they left Venezuela headed to the USA and ended up in the southern part of South America! [They seem to have roamed a bit before heading north. One news item noted that the Scout Jamboree "was not their original objective." - Dave] A little more of this storyMy name is Carlos Uzcategui Petit, am a member of the Petit family, the history of this pair of young to mid-30 is worthy of pride and admiration of many generations, but to me that for years was a member of the Scouts Venezuela, I am happy to know that today there are those who somehow remembered this story. The ThirtiesThey went when the going was good, a better time than now. I once thought the 'thirties were a dull, dishonest decade, but have since come to think better of it. It was a fine time to be young, a world full of wonders and adventures and you could get there on foot. The law was becoming a bother, but not the villain it has since become. And when they went in wild places they were able to go armed: Heaven forfend. And how nice that some of their descendants remain to remember their excellent adventure. (The Gallery, Boy Scouts, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
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