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Waffle Shop II: 1950
Entrance to the Waffle Shop at 522 10th Street NW, Washington D.C. Circa 1950 photograph by Theodor ... Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Still here... The waffle shop is actually still more-or-less intact in downtown DC, though ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:00pm -

Entrance to the Waffle Shop at 522 10th Street NW, Washington D.C. Circa 1950 photograph by Theodor Horydczak. View full size. A Thumbnail! Weeee!Got a cool thumbnail for this one in my Google reader. Why Did This Get Old?I recall counters like this all the way into the 70's. I loved, loved, loved the paper cone cups in metal holders that were used to serve water (I was a grade schooler in the 70's), the camaraderie of the countermates and the cool, efficient service. Thanks, Shorpy. Gorgeous!Gorgeous! Still here...The waffle shop is actually still more-or-less intact in downtown DC, though probably not for long. The neighborhood around the building has changed dramatically in the last 5 years, and I'd bet money that the Waffle Shop will soon be torn down for another bland office building. But Not for LongHai Ngo's lease expires this year. The block was bought by developer Douglas Jemal and is going to be turned into an office complex. Hopefully some vestige of the Waffle Shop will remain. Feature ArticleHere's a link to a December 2006 Washington Post article about the Waffle Shop and possible plans for its future. Waffle ShopI'm using that font for my next resume. Snazzy! Waffle ShopAccording to the more recent Washington Post story at this link, the developer has agreed to transplant the Waffle Shop on 10th where this photo was taken, and its fixtures, to a nearby location. (Note the links to old and new photos) DeliciousThis is just fantastic! Great Photo, great design!I love this, wish there was one in my town. Ford's TheaterDid anyone realize that Ford's Theater (Lincoln's assassination) is right across the street?! Waffle ShopBit by bit D.C. is losing what soul it had. This place was a gem. WafflyI like how the patterns of squares and rectangles of the windows, ceiling lights, chairs, and the rest of the decor all echo the pattern of a waffle itself. More Waffle ShopsThere were three Waffle Shops that I knew about. One was this one, the second was at Mount Vernon Avenue and Russell Road in the Arlandria section of Alexandria, built on a triangular corner plot. The third was at King and Washington streets in Old Town Alexandria. There might have been more in Maryland. No waffles for you. Next!Gone are the Waffle Shop's glory days. Google Street View. The house where Lincoln was carried into (and died) is just to the left, and Ford's Theater as mentioned is directly across the street. Heartbreak on 10th Street, NWMy title says it all. (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Theodor Horydczak)
Waffle Shop: 1950
The Waffle Shop, 522 10th Street NW, Washington D.C. Circa 1950 photograph by Theodor ... I'm kind of curious what the interior looks like now. Waffle Shop The Washington Post did a story on the Waffle Shop a few ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/21/2012 - 10:33pm -

The Waffle Shop, 522 10th Street NW, Washington D.C. Circa 1950 photograph by Theodor Horydczak. View full size. The diner still exists but is about to close. This, kids, was the epitome of fast food. (McDonald's? Beh.) i wanna go! mwi wanna go! mw PrintsWill every image shown be available as a print? I'd certainly be interested in this one. [Done! Print link added to caption. - Dave] Wow!As previously stated, (I think I blogged before) I am an elementary school teacher and this site will help put an end to those quizzical looks when I tell about the dark ages with no video games, no computers and no cell phones. 5th grade in California studies US History and the turn of the century is a great time to go back to first. Looks immenseThe ceiling appears to be tilted at an angle. In this image, that provides a forced perspective which makes the interior look immense. I also love the shine on everything. I'm kind of curious what the interior looks like now. Waffle ShopThe Washington Post did a story on the Waffle Shop a few months ago, along with a slide show. Nowadays it has what you might call that lived-in look. The mirror running along the wall makes the place look twice as big. This is fantastic.This is fantastic. Waffle Shop 1950I see the cool "tabletop remote" jukeboxes! Don't see those anymore...or old cash registers either. I want to go there.That's a good looking joint. I want waffles with ice cream NOWBeautiful, efficient and appealing design. A real soda fountain! Tell me again why the present is better than the past, because I've forgotten. Squeaky CleanThis is cleaner than almost any restaurant out there today. I wish there were places like this today, the food would probably be edible too since today mostly what is available is really crappy. Best Breakfast In DCThe Waffle Shop was the best place to have breakfast in DC before it closed. When my wife and I last ate there a few years ago, we sat in the 3rd and 4th seats from the right in the picture. We had an enormous breakfast including steak and eggs, waffles, bacon, juice, etc. which were all great and made better when the check came to a little over $9. Although the place wasn't nearly as clean as it is in the photo, which merely added to its ambiance (my guess is that the dust which began to accumulate as soon as the shutter clicked on this shot was never cleaned until the place closed). I sure do miss that place. Ah MemoriesI remember eating here many times in the 70s when the neighborhood was sort of run down. It was just across the street from Ford's Theater. (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Theodor Horydczak)
The Strolling Photographer: 1975
... decked out in my 70s-style duds, including bell-bottoms, waffle stompers, whatever you call that kind of shirt, plus my Konica ... Waffle Stompers My great-uncle owned a shoe shop. He made custom boots and shoes, and repaired all kinds of leather goods. ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/22/2019 - 8:45pm -

August 1975. My friend snapped this Kodachrome of his wife and me strolling along the 200 block of Keller Street in Petaluma, California. I'm decked out in my 70s-style duds, including bell-bottoms, waffle stompers, whatever you call that kind of shirt, plus my Konica Autoreflex T and camera bag, she in her Petaluma tee shirt, and Keller Street in Victorians, Volkswagens, Cadillacs and Pontiacs, not to mention the ubiquitous Ford F-150 pickup. View full size. Alternate titleThe Mod Squad! A world away fromCornettville, KY. Camera bagWas that the only kind of camera bag on the market in the 70's? My dad had one that appears exactly like that from back then. I was only 1 in 1975, and sadly the selection of camera bags is not one of the things I can remember from that age. -- If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. DragnetThe green Ford in front of the Caddy looks just like the one Friday and Gannon drove in Dragnet! A happier time, a happier place.I was living in Monterey in 1975. Mamie Shirttterance: In Northern Virginia where I grew up in the '70's, we called that type of shirt you are wearing in this picture a "Mamie Shirt", because that's something only your mother would truly love. But it was stylish back then and I must admit, I had one like that too. That shirt brings back a lot of mid-1970's memories. Stuff I hadn't thought about in years. So thanks for that. Cars on the streetCadillac, Volkswagen, Ford F-150... what? no Volvo love? [If it was a snake ... - Dave] Very cool!tterrace- I love the snapshots you share of everyday life in 20th century America! Volvo wagonNice Volvo 122 wagon in front! Still have my dad's '66 and it runs great. Truck a l'orangeThe orange truck looks like an International Travelall. I don't think they were called SUVs back then, just a truck. Oh MyMy first child was born in late 1973 so I remember these styles!!! Thanks again for the memories, tterrace! Doesn't seem that long ago, and yet...it was!!! Olde VolvosThey never die, they just get parted out. Checkin' OutLooks as if TTerrace is appreciating the lovely lady he's walking beside. But knowing his passions, one can surmise he's actually checking out the car. Waffle StompersWow, now there's a term I haven't heard for a long time; I loved wearing waffle-stompers! How did you like your Konica?I shot with a bunch of SLR's back then but didn't own one of these. Apparently their lenses were excellent. They went on to build a series for the Leica M that outperformed the out-of-sight expensive Leica glass. I get a kick out of that camera "box" too. Cheers. The green Ford...in front of the '66 Caddy is a '66 -'69 Falcon, and the Pontiac across the street is a '64 model. Small World, Isn't It?Keller Street, about three blocks north of Washington Street. While I could be wrong, I think that International Travelall belonged to the parents of a friend of mine who lived right about there. Back then it was an F-100That '71 Ford truck would have been an F-100, rather than an F-150. When in 1975 the Feds decreed that pickup trucks with a GVW under 6,000 pounds would have to include the same emission controls as cars (including catalytic converters), the big three automakers increased the GVW of their half-ton pickups to 6,050 pounds. Thus, Ford's "heavy half", the F-150, was born. The pickup in this picture is passing a '63 Pontiac. The Cadillac is a '66, and appears to be a Calais, Cadillac's "value" model. The green Ford is a Falcon 2-door sedan. And yes, I must confess, I had a whatever-you-call-it shirt like that when I was in high school, along with a couple of Qiana shirts. Ah, those were the days. Tterrace's Priceless Photos Nothing takes me back to the sixties and seventies as vividly as the photos tterrace posts here. Please, keep it up!!! Keller Street TodayWe were strolling right past the entry walk of the gray house on the right. I loved my Konica Autoreflex T. When I hauled it out about 7 years ago, I learned the mercury batteries for its exposure system were no longer available, then that the exposure system itself was non-functioning and would cost a bundle to repair. View Larger Map There has to be an algorithmthat will estimate the date of a street scene based on the ages of the vehicles shown in the photo. I mean, this is 1975, and in those days there was a particular attrition rate (low for F-100's, to be sure) and a particular mix of new vehicles sold. There has to be a way. Is that Me?Scary that I too had (and wore) one of those awful shirts in 1975, and those shoes and the bell bottoms! Ugh! My camera was a Minolta and I ran into the same old battery problem, but my son figured it out and enjoyed some black and white photos on film in this "digital" age! The blue "punch buggy" (who remembers?) has to be a 1967. I drove one for a LONG time - 18.5 years after getting it a 9 years old from my brother. The VW bug across the street - older. Those things were ubiquitous! KonicasI had a Konica around 1960, and it was a very good 35mm camera. Its only fault was a fixed, 50mm lens. At that time, Konicas were advertised as "The Lens Alone is Worth the Price." Konica CamerasI also loved my Konica SLRs. Went through four of them: a Model T, a Model T2 from 1971, T3 from 1975, and finally a compact T4 from 1980. A parade of lenses, Hexanons wide angle 28, normal 50 1.8, tele 135, tele 200. I have everything all neatly wrapped and boxed up to be found when the next archeological dig takes place here in 2525. I'm three years older than tterrace, and about a thousand miles away, but can easily relate to many of the postings. How did we get to "here" (2010) so quickly? Waffle StompersMy great-uncle owned a shoe shop. He made custom boots and shoes, and repaired all kinds of leather goods. When the waffle stomper craze came in, he made some serious bucks. Instead of buying the trendy hiking boots, many local kids would go into his shop and have their shoes and boots resoled with what he called "mud haulers." Later, irate parents would bring in their kids shoes to be resoled with more traditional soles. This caused a brief doubling of his work. OMG! Early Baby Boomers!!!I'm a later Baby Boomer myself. You were older kids. I don't know why we're even lumped together into the whole "Baby Boom" thing. The earlies (1945-1955) and laters (1956-1962) ones have NOTHING in common whatsoever. Didn't then and didn't now. Funny, huh? International TravelallI had a Travelall back in 1977 when I was 17. It was enormous! We hung a Frank Zappa poster on the right back window and a Led Zep one on the left loaded it up with St. Pauli Girl and Becks drove it from Bridgewater to Truro and promptly got it buried in the beach sand! The Wellfleet Fire Department towed it out and sent us on our merry way! Unfortunately my family was not huge into photography back then. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, tterrapix)
Double Feature: 1950
        UPDATE: More Waffle Shop here and here . Washington, D.C., circa 1950. "Waffle Shop ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/29/2014 - 2:28pm -

        UPDATE: More Waffle Shop here and here. Washington, D.C., circa 1950. "Waffle Shop on 10th Street. Exterior from side angle, day. For Bernard L. Fishman." Photo of the now-defunct eatery, shortly after it opened, by Theodor Horydczak. View full size. Re: Could this be older?Note date on trim high above entrance: 9-11-50. Could this be older?Both movies shown in reverse are from 1937 and Victrolas were last sold in 1929. I wish there was a car or something to show this as newer. [The Waffle House opened in 1950, so it can't be older than that. The Victor and Victrola brands were used on phonographs made by RCA into the 1970s. The double bill of San Quentin and Alcatraz Island played at the Metropolitan in October 1950. And there is a car in the photo! - Dave] Prison DramaOld-school. After my waffleYou'll surely find me next door, at "The House of 1,000 Tools". Across the street from Ford's TheaterI ate lunch there at least a hundred times in the late '50s to early '60s and never had waffles (it was also a burger joint). This original Waffle Shop closed in 2007 and the deteriorating facade was still there years later. Some of the iconic interior fixtures were saved, and Waffle Shop version 2 recently opened a few doors down the street. Mystery number on marqueeThat's the permit number for the sign projecting into public space. DC construction code still says today: "Marking of signs. Every sign for which a permit is required shall be marked with letters not less than 1 inch (25.4 mm) in height, giving the permit number and date of permit issuance (DCMR12, Section 3107.5). Nice of Waffle Shop to so precisely follow the regs. The building was built in 1950. The business is still there, two doors downI don't know what actually led them to leave the awesome deco-licious Waffle Shop space, but the business is still in existence a few doors down in a much less photogenic space. It's still one of the few breakfast joints in that area, however. I learn something new every day.Now I know that the plural of Victrola is Victrola. I love the font, ( or should that be script? ), used for the sign 'Waffle Shop'. Very elegant, and stylistically extremely appropriate. Hanging OnOnly the S survives. The Help Shop "popup store" in 2012. (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Movies, Theodor Horydczak)
Blue Bell Hamburgers 12¢
... The Blue Bell had an upscale cousin on 10th Street, the Waffle Shop . Photograph by Theodor Horydczak. It looks like an exact copy It ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 11:33pm -

The Blue Bell diner at 619 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington. June 1948. View full size | Even larger | Read the menu. The Blue Bell had an upscale cousin on 10th Street, the Waffle Shop. Photograph by Theodor Horydczak. It looks like an exact copyIt looks like an exact copy of The Waffle Shop previously featured. Listen!That sound you hear is James Lileks desperately building a time machine. [That's pretty good. I can't believe his newspaper canceled his column. The fools. - Dave] Menu TypeI've always loved the old hand lettered signs. Kind of a lost art now. Semi-interestingGoogle Maps (link to map) places the Blue Bell Diner about a block away from the old photo studio of Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. I used to work in the Brady building as a maintenance guy. There were no tenants there at the time (mid 1990s). Although the building was in perfect shape...it was pretty creepy. Of course the two establishments were separated by almost 100 years, too. can I order breakfast?no "people" makes for a sad picture $0.90 buys ...Waffles, bacon, two eggs, toast and coffee, with a pure cream-cup. And another detail ... "No Extra Charge For Toasting" What a great picture I see aWhat a great picture I see a cash register rather than a computer. I guess shortly after this date in the future Mcdonalds started their 15cent hamburger stand a mere three cents more than Blue Bell PeopleIf you look to the far right you can see the reflections of people standing outside the restaurant, looking in the window. Any chance...that this image is available as a print? I've got a friend who would love it! [It's on my to-do list! - Dave] BeautifulWhat a great place. I love the horseshoe bar seating... If this place would be in my neighborhood today, I'd never cook a meal again! But it is very strange to see it so empty - it looks like there's actually customers waiting outside, hoping that the photographer hurries up so that they can have breakfast. Maybe good?Fruit salad sundae... Ken made me hungry forKen made me hungry for breakfast! YUM. breakfastit ALWAYS tastes better in a place like this What'll you have, hon?Looks like paper straws with the spiral design in the glass on the counter. Remember those? Not a piece of plastic in the place. Hey-- where are the ashtrays? "Ladies" and "Gentlemen"Remember when there were "Ladies" and "Gentlemen", and restrooms for the same? Restrooms don't say that anymore, and I guess there aren't Ladies and Gentlemen anymore either. Remember this line?I will gladly pay you Tuesday, for a Hamburger Today. the menuthe closeup shot of the menu shows they had coke AND pepsi. you rarely see that nowadays. Coke and PepsiMy recollection from the 1950s is that coke came in a 6.5 oz bottle while Pepsi came in a 10 oz bottle, so there was more than brand preference going on here. I can recall eating at establishments that had multiple bottles on offering and I would, at the age of 6, always opt for the larger Pepsi. However, this lunch counter clearly has fountain cokes. I would bet that the Pepsi comes in a bottle, so in addition to size you get two varieties of drink. Separate bays?What I find interesting - and vaguely strange - is that there appears to be a gate or wall of some sort between each section, and fairly substantial ones at that. You can see them just to the left of the cash register. I've got to say, it doesn't seem overly practical too me. If someone near the Gentleman's room orders a milk shake it has to be passed through four different sections. Any idea of why it was done this way? [You're misinterpreting the image. See comment above. - Dave] Re: Separate bays?What you are seeing as a "gate" is a partition that does not extend all the way across the space. The hinged door is square -- the right half is hidden by the partition, which is quite a bit taller but appears to be the same height because it doesn't go all the way across. HorseshoeThis photo is fascinating to me. The horseshoe lunch counter is, as previously stated, nearly identical to the Waffle Shop in DC, but it is also a carbon copy of what is now Ollie's Trolley on 12th street; same horseshoe layout, which is very rarely seen, same stools, same backbar. The Ollie's trolley and the Waffle shop both feature the same small tile mosaic which wraps from the exterior to the interior, as well as the same large picture windows. It would be interesting to see if the exterior of this one had the same tilework facade. I wonder if all three were done by the same contractor, and if so, who, and were there any else in the area? Waffle ShopI did a little more looking into this. It appears that the reason this looks so much like the floorplan used in the waffle shops is because it was, in fact one of the chain, as seen in this picture: http://flickr.com/photos/rllayman/331108956/ , which was taken in 1979. Whether or not it was a waffle shop at the time the interior shot was taken is put into question, by the menus reading "Blue Bell", but the fact that the layout is uncommon, and nearly identical to that used in waffle shops, and that it definitely was a waffle shop later on, makes me think it was. The menu does read, "Famous for Waffles and Good Coffee." What do you think? I ate there!As a youngster in the late '50s, I used to work at my dad's magic shop at 12th and Penn on Saturdays. He would give me 50 cents and I'd walk down to the Blue Bell hamburger shop for lunch. I remember the menu,the prices, the burgers and the shoestring potatoes made fresh. Thanks for the picture, it takes me right back. I wish I could remember what happened last week as well. (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Theodor Horydczak)
The Salmon Kitchen: 1964
... a bit). The electrician actually took it back to his shop and reinstalled it as a beer fridge--so its long life continues! I don't ... plugs bring back another one: Mother had the electric waffle iron on the griddle; the top slipped out of her hand and fell back; ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 07/13/2019 - 11:53am -

Unless you happened to live in one of those fancy kitchen decor ads like you see over on Plan59.com, your 1964 kitchen might be like ours, a mixture of stuff from the 50s (1955 O'Keefe & Merritt gas range), 40s (sink, cabinets & fixtures from a 1946 remodel) and even the 30s (the copper tea kettle). A package of meat is defrosting on the griddle, which was always a little warm from its pilot light. My Kodachrome slide. View full size. Oh How I Wish That Was Mine!Be still my heart - I have a warm fuzzy place for pink kitchens and bathrooms. When my folks purchased their first home after a long while of rentals, the 4 bedroom Orange County (california) sprawling ranch-style had an exquisite pink wall mounted electric oven, pink electric counter top burners, and "boomerang print" pink and silver formica counter with glitter flecks. The best part - the pink sink. Oh how I cried when they remodeled in the mid-70's to a harvest gold monstrosity. Even then at 14 I knew I was born at the wrong time. Thanks tterrace for another beautiful memory!! The KitchenMy dad was a millwright at the local Alcoa plant and his hobby was woodworking and making furniture. In 1959 he decided that he would buy his first brand new car. Mom put her foot down declaring that her late forties kitchen would be remodeled before a new car ever came into the driveway. The very next day Dad went to Rogers and Company in downtown Knoxville and brought home a new 1960 Pontiac sedan. He parked it in the driveway and began tearing out the old kitchen. He told my older brother privately that he just couldn't walk away from the dare. I sold that house after Mom died in 2001. The appliances have all been replaced but the 1959 cabinetry is still intact. StoveThat is a beautiful stove! The stoveTo die for! Now, for two to three (or more) times the price you get half the stove. The kind of stove shown here was standard through the 40's and 50's (at least) and I miss it. They usually had 6 burners, a built-in griddle, a broiler (door on the left) and an oven. You can have the pink kitchen though. I still have one exactly like it, handles and all, except it's sort of cream color. Yuck. Our StoveThis one had four burners and a griddle, with a rotisserie in the oven. Mother loved rotisserie chicken. The motor eventually burned out, and could not be fixed. The chrome on the grill was well worn from years of flipping Sunday morning pancakes. -tt's big sister Now yer cookin' with gasAh, aluminum salt & pepper shakers - a classic kitchen staple. But what I really like is the partially painted drawer side. A little paint probably got splattered/brushed onto it by accident, so the painter decided to paint a bit more so it would look more "finished" when the drawer was opened. As long as you only open it a couple inches. Kitchen ItemsIn the We Had One of Those category, score one for the spoon rest hanging above the spice rack. Ours was identical. My guess for the item hanging from the rack is a match holder to light the pilot light on the stove. And the magenta, gold and silver items on the sink must be aluminum tumblers, a popular item in 50s-60s kitchens. Unbreakable! Across the Ocean...You'll be glad to know that kitchens didn't look much different here in Australia in that time. We had the metal tumblers (in the draining tray), the cabinets and drawers (painted the same too), the tea-towel hanging from the cabinet drawer, the spoon rest... this could have been my childhood kitchen. Only ours was painted a very fetching two tone of royal purple and lavender. Noice! Shaker VariationsI can't tell you how strange it is to have perfect strangers commenting on things that were familiar sights in my daily life nearly 50 years ago and whose images remain burned in my memory. Glad someone noticed the shakers; judging from their dents they'd seen meal preparation service since well before I was around. Now, how about that thing hanging from the rack they're on? I know, do you? Also, the magenta, gold and silver things in front of the cake cooling rack on the sink? Things that never fail to get a "Oh, yeah, we had those, too!" reaction from other 50s kids. The partially-painted drawer sides were intentional, I'm sure. I always thought it was rather clever. My father did the salmon paint job, and merely covered over the existing yellow from the original remodeler's work. All the drawers in the kitchen were like that. Can it be?Down in the righthand corner, with papers and magazines piled on it- can it be one of those chrome and enamel rolling tea carts? In pink? They were usually red. Or a pink step stool? I'd settle for that. We (or rather our grandmother) had the aluminum tumblers. They made the peculiar water in their town icy cold and drinkable. Froze your hands,too. The saucepan in the sink- the harbinger of harvest gold Things to Come... My other grandma's kitchen was a little more pink, from 1957 until they sold the house in the late '60s. Tumbler SweatThe lovely aluminum tumblers! My grandmother had a set and, because they sweated so much when holding iced drinks in summer, knit little socks/mittens to cover the bottom third of them. That meant, of course, that we then had to wash the socks or at least hang them to dry... AppearancesI have a hunch that if your mom knew that someday you were going to show the world her kitchen, she'd have done the dishes. She probably wants to give you a little swat right now, wherever she may be. Although these are not what my memories are made of, I still enjoy reading about others'. Refrigerator RemembranceThough I was born in the mid-1980s (way past the time of pink kitchens and more into an ugly brown carpet and dark wood time period), I love the ads of the beautiful bright 50s kitchens and this picture is almost as great! Tterrace, what kind of refrigerator did you have? My grandparents built their house in the late 1950s and had a GE wall-mounted refrigerator that I thought was the coolest thing when I was little--it, and their kitchen, went the turquoise route. They remodeled in 2006, and that refrigerator was still chugging along (though it leaked a bit). The electrician actually took it back to his shop and reinstalled it as a beer fridge--so its long life continues! I don't suppose they were ever very popular--you pretty much had to be remodeling to have room for one. I found a copy of the ad for one, and framed it for them as sort of a memorial to the greatest fridge ever. Kitchen appurtenancesThat is indeed a chrome and pink enamel rolling cart in the lower right, and I'm happy to say it's in my possession now. It held the toaster plus heaps of printed materials: Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney catalogs and magazines on the bottom shelf, more catalogs and magazines and a dictionary (my mother did crosswords) on the middle shelf, more magazines and newspapers on the top with the toaster. The crumpled thing on top of the pile is a homemade toaster cover or "cozy." The thing hanging from the spice rack with the shakers is a cake tester. For some reason, I always visualize my mother poking it into hot gingerbread. Yum. The colored anodized aluminum tumblers came with cottage cheese in them, that's how we got ours. Our refrigerator, bought the same time as the range in 1955, was a Kelvinator, one with a separate dedicated freezer compartment, which quickly converted my mother into a freezeraholic. Shortly thereafter we got a separate upright. Welcome homeNothing evokes the feeling of home like being in the kitchen, which is the real heart of a home, the workshop, Mom's domain and the family's refuge. I LOVE this warm, homey, lived-in kitchen, it feels like I've been there. The object hanging (like a wire) from the salt and pepper rack is, I believe, a cake tester, which was better than a toothpick because it was much longer and could be used for deep cakes, breads, etc. They usually were free from the Fuller Brush man or Jewel Tea or Tupperware, but you could also buy them for pennies. This fabulous photo captures forever a middle class family's central headquarters where it all happened: the loyal fellowship, petty arguments, shared home-cooked meals, loving encouragement, heartbreaking news, revealed disappointments, warm hospitality to visitors, where all emotions from mindless silliness to deep, heavy sadness was witnessed. If only these walls could talk. It is a wonderful photo and really took me back home. Thank you. My KitchenExcept for the salmon pink color and the vintage appliances, that could pass for my current kitchen. http://picasaweb.google.com/Schmthaus/OurKitchen Groovy kitchensMy kitchen, which was my parents', was remodeled in 1966 when I was 6 years old. The countertops are white with turquoise flecks, which match the turquoise stove top. The wall oven door was also once the same shade, but was replaced by a white door in the 1980s. I may be jaded, but I still think its a very timeless color scheme. Much nicer than avocado or brown. My Mammaw's Kitchen, circa 1962That's me, hiding... Let's Make a DealWe don't have O'Keefe and Merritt here on the East Coast. (Oddly enough our gas range growing up was an RCA.) But we're familiar with the O'Keefe name. They sure gave enough of them away on the quiz shows! I just put a bid on a house......and while one bathroom is green, the other is PINK...tile and everything! The kitchen is white (mercifully!), but I don't know how I'm going to live without a dishwasher. (Instead of "mad4books," I'll just be "mad.") Oh, and schmthaus, thanks for the pics of your kitchen. It kinda' reminded me of the Shorpy gem found at: https://www.shorpy.com/node/3201 Aluminum tumblersI've commented here about anodized aluminum tumblers before (in fact, Safari filled in the Subject for me after I typed "Alu"). We had the little "socks" too. I'd make a full blender's worth of chocolate shake, fill up a big glass to drink, then pour the rest into an aluminum tumblers and stick it into the freezer. The little sock came in really handy when holding onto that when I took it out later to eat with a spoon. You can find the tumblers on many shopping sites. We got some new ones a couple years ago. Good Bye O'Keefe & MerrittHad to replace my MIL's O'Keefe & Merritt stove/ove about a year ago. Tried to sell it but ended up just having the appliance store remove it when they delivered the new stove. Great old stoves and ovens, but we just couldn't get it repaired to keep the pilot light lit. Custard CupsThe clear glass dishes on the back right corner of the sink are custard or pudding cups. We had 'em, too. I like vanilla pudding. Dad likes chocolate and butterscotch. My sisters like chocolate. Everyone but me likes tapioca. Not really sure which my mother preferred. Dad might know. Or the elder of my sisters (both younger). She remembers things *everyone* else has forgot. That looks like a rugged wall-mounted hand cranked Swing-A-Way can opener at the far left. It was the best kind, because it was geared, and didn't depend on just friction to advance the can. I don't remember ever seeing the hand-held model like the Swing-A-Way I have now. There were hand-helds, but they were the friction variety. We moved a lot (Dad was a Methodist minister), and it just occurred to me that he would have had to find either studs or wood paneling to mount it every time we moved. And we had (perhaps Dad still does) a rolling cart very similar to the one on the right. Ours is white, and has a heavy power cable for the outlet mounted on the cart, so it can be used to move a toaster close to the table. Aluminum tumblers we only saw in the houses of others. Not sure why we didn't have them. (Ours were fairly heavy-duty clear plastic.) We kids were suitably awed by the jewel tones. I can't quite make out what those things are between the sink and the back left burner. Anyone? Salmon Kitchen thingsNice observations, Custard Cup poster, thanks. Things to the left of the back burner you were wondering about: the round ones sticking up are lids to cooking pots and pans in a rack mounted on the side of the sink cabinet. On the counter in front of the custard cups, the orange-colored blob is actually a lemon, or half a lemon to be exact. That's what Mother used to remove tarnish from copper items, like the bottoms of her Revereware and that hot water kettle there on the stove. In front of the lemon is the little decorative ceramic dish that's on the wall at the upper right in our living room photos here and here. Must be there to get washed. Those Cabinets!Our kitchen cabinets looked like that, down to the same silver handles on the door. Our house was built in 1951, so I guess it wasn't just 40s vintage. Pink!I also have a fondness for that 1950s pink. I recently purchased a 1956 home in Sacramento with the original pink bathroom in absolutely pristine condition. I'm so lucky the place didn't get remodeled with the gawdawful '70s or '80s decor! I know that sink!My maternal grandparents had that exact sink, with the sloping/fluted area on the left for draining dishwater and the soap holder sensibly positioned over the valves/spout. Theirs was always equipped with a green bar of Lava - an item perhaps also visible in your photo. O'Keefe RangeI have to comment about the O'Keefe & Merritt range in the photo. We have one still in use at the local museum here in Bend, Oregon. A friend of mine and I just repaired it and adjusted the gas burners. Still works great. I don't think you can improve some things. What is interesting is the Cadillac emblem on the top of the range! [As well as that "DeVille" script on the right. Click to embiggen. UPDATE: This is O'Keefe & Merritt's deluxe 40-inch DeVille model, "the Cadillac of ranges." Below, newspaper ad from January 1957. Was tterrace's stove the Starline-Wilshire with Grillevator broiler and Hi-Vue oven? - Dave] Merritt MemoriesWow, that museum piece O'Keefe & Merritt range fryejo posted nearly brought tears to my eyes - the knobs, exactly the same as ours. Odd that knobs stir such nostalgic emotions. Possibly it's because they were so much closer to eye level when we got it. The power plugs bring back another one: Mother had the electric waffle iron on the griddle; the top slipped out of her hand and fell back; sparks flew; the latch had welded itself to the griddle. UPDATE to Dave's Update: Ours didn't have a fancy-schmancy nameplate, a Hi-Vue oven viewer or a Grillevator (though it did have a rotisserie that didn't work for long), it might have been something of a rarity; at any rate, of the dozens of vintage O'Keefe & Merritt photos I've found online, the only ones that match its configuration - wrap-around chrome top, space-age square clock, straight chrome door handles and single oven window - are of this one here on Shorpy. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Kitchens etc., tterrapix)
Brown Bobby: 1925
... Bobby, Brown Looks like the doughnuts are more like a waffle than a traditional deep fat fried doughnut. However, 25 cents is a darn ... doughnuts but there's a local place called the Spudnut Shop that makes doughnuts out of potato (or potatoe) flour (not flower). ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 4:21pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "F.W. Grand store." So, the greaseless donut: Boon or abomination? Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Bobby, BrownLooks like the doughnuts are more like a waffle than a traditional deep fat fried doughnut. However, 25 cents is a darn good price for the Roast Beef lunch, and a quarter for a dozen doughnuts probably isn't that bad, either. WaitingFellow at the left appears to have doubts about the whole affair. She's sitting behind what look like a row of waffle makers; I'd guess that was the appeal of the "greaseless donut"? All about Brown Bobby...All you need to know about Brown Bobby, including recipes, is right here. Brown Bobbies were around for quite a while!My father had the Brown Bobby franchise in the Silver Spring, Maryland, area in the late 1940s, long before I was born. They were baked, triangular and very popular. I think Dad decided the doughnut biz wasn't for him after a couple of months. Exonerate Dan QuailBoth times the word "Potatoe" appears in this menu ad, it is spelled with an "e" at the end. As a kid, I remember reading my grandmother's old, old books and magazines and the word usually did have an "e" at the end. Still, the public rode D.Q.'s back for ages (and still does) for that simple act of adding the e. And I would also like to say that I feel a kinship with the doughnut advertised as I am also crispy, flaky and greaseless. And it's a doughnut, NOT a donut! And you darn kids get off of my lawn! [And then there's Dan Quayle, who also had an e at the end. - Dave] Faraway gazeLooks like the guy in the store is dreaming about those greasy doughnuts across the street. And who set up the menu board - Dan Quayle? I'm droolingJust looking at all those luscious triangles! Tie TailIn a great number of old pictures, men are seen with the tail of the tie substantially lower than the wider tie front. Why is that? Accepted style? Some other reason? Perhaps in the days of vests, tie tying was not such a precise matter as it is today. Today, the tip of the tie needs to be pretty much mid-belt buckle, or you are shunned by society. That guy looks infinitely more bored than any other depicted person in the history of Shorpy. Pay more attention to your tie, Sir! Point of SaleThere is a Coca-Cola display below and to the right of the doughnut lady that shows a good looking woman sitting at a soda fountain, imbibing. You've got to hand it to Coke -- they were and are masters of advertising. The "e" on the endMy third grade spellers spelled spuds singular as "potatoe," and plural as "potatoes." Potato singular started appearing regularly during WWII, but the old plural spelling has stayed on. During that time several newspapers used "progressive spelling," with "fone" instead of either phone or telephone. Saving ink and paper, but it supposedly led to that classic sendup of spelling reform, "Meihem n ce Klasrum." The necktie is poorly knotted, since the fashion was for the front to be slightly longer than the tail. In fact, for food service people the fashion was either a bow, an extremely short tie that could not get in a customer's gravy, or a tie long enough to tuck under the belt buckle. No tie? Not done, the sanitary inspectors were afraid cooks or waiters' molting chest hairs would contaminate the food. SpudnutsI've never heard of Brown Bobby doughnuts but there's a local place called the Spudnut Shop that makes doughnuts out of potato (or potatoe) flour (not flower). Spudnuts were once quite popular at least in the midwest and west; there's still a few places around. They are hands down the most popular doughnuts in my area. Give a hoot...Say, what's that trash to the right of the Brown Bobby booth? Looks like a lady's pic. [A hair net wrapper! - Dave] Ooh babyIn her "memory box," my mother has some ivorene crib decorations very much like the ones in your closeup. Rattle and rollThose round objects handing from the long pole next door look to be baby rattles. The rattles slip around the baby's wrist with the large hoop at the end. Hand lettered signsThe standing signs in the windows are very well done. Before computers, painted graphics were a true art form. This guy had a nice stroke and style. Hindsight is 20/20If they had just taken the E from POTATOE and put it in the BUTTFR, all this controversy could have been avoided. Maybe on the next trip back in time this could be remedied, and ... Dan Quayle's ancestors could be separated, therefore putting an end to any repeat? Special Recipe No. 1Brown Bobby Special Recipe No. 1 (makes 2½ dozen) 2 Cups Sugar, 1 Cup Lard (cream well) 3 Eggs, 2 Cups Buttermilk (beaten together) 1 Tsp each of Salt and Soda 2 Tsp each of Baking Powder and Nutmeg 4 Cups of flour. Beat the whole mixture thoroughly. The hot molds are then filled with the mixture using a pastry bag and baked approximately 3 minutes. Removal is done by lifting a corner of the Brown Bobby with the edge of a knife and placing on a wire rack to cool. Oxymoron"Greaseless doughnut"? Ranks right up there with other classic oxymorons such as "Military Intelligence", "Honest Politician", etc. Sorry, couldn't resist. So my granddad was rightDonuts really were two for a nickel!! Hindsight RebuttalIn response to an earlier comment, if they'd taken the E from POTATOE and put it in the BUTTFR, they'd have BUTTFER. Of course, this could have been a good thing, as inquisitive customers would inevitably raise the question, "What's a buttfer?" Then the bored-looking proprietor could have used his idle time coming up with the perfect punchline. The Conspirac-EHmm, I work at a Kumon centre and just the other day I told a kid that the spelling "potatoe" was wrong, and I made them erase the "e" . . . Now I kinda feel bad. Oh well, it's not 1925 anymore! Little PupLooks like a chalkware Boston Terrier figure in the window display, too. They were a very popular breed at the time. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Stores & Markets)
TWA Coffee Shop: 1962
... "Union News restaurants, Idlewild Airport. TWA coffee shop. Raymond Loewy Associates." Gottscho-Schleisner photo. View full size. ... sung as a musical phrase. On the main picture above, the waffle vendor is shown at the bottom. Toy vendors sang a unique nursery rhyme ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/20/2014 - 9:55am -

August 29, 1962. "Union News restaurants, Idlewild Airport. TWA coffee shop. Raymond Loewy Associates." Gottscho-Schleisner photo. View full size. Futuristic coffee machine for a futuristic coffee shopThe coffee machine is a Cimbali Granluce The machine was introduced in the late 1950s and was the first coffee machine to use a hydraulic pressure system to extract the espresso (the hydraulic chambers can be seen at the top of the machine). This system is the basis of every modern commercial espresso machine. Previous machines relied on the operator pulling on a lever to control a piston that pressurised the water going through the coffee. These lever-piston machines are not used much any more, but the language has lived on - baristas still 'pull' a shot of coffee. Tongue twisters in Gay PareeThose French phrases were well known melodic calls that street criers (vendors, hawkers, etc.) sang in old Paris. In their heyday—the decades well before and after the turn of the last century—there were an estimated 6,000 of them working year-round—at one point in time said to be all women. These vendors had to be authorized by the police and wore a badge conspicuously attached to their waist-belts. Draconian regulations did not allow them to stop—even when making a sale—they had to keep moving no matter the weather or traffic conditions. Some specialized in seasonal produce, concentrating on one item at-a-time as it was harvested, thus moving from selling only early tomatoes, to grapes, to asparagus in May, closely followed by peas, etc. Others dealt only in fruit, and still more sold everything else imaginable. Whether or not they could carry a tune, they all sang the item they were selling, and some were also identified with different sorts of noisemakers. The cries of some of these vendors are represented on the sign by "pois rames" (snap peas) and "salade" (lettuce)—each sung as two repeated notes in crescendo, and "pois ecosses" (shelled peas) and "allumettes amadou" (matches)—each begun on a high, shrill note then sharply descending. "Bonnes gauffres au suere" (good sugar waffles)—was sung as a musical phrase. On the main picture above, the waffle vendor is shown at the bottom. Toy vendors sang a unique nursery rhyme and used a clapper to attract attention, while some types of goods were recognized by the bits of opera the vendors sang. The call of the oyster seller (below) was "A la barque! A la barque!" which is let out as a staccato call, translates into colloquial English as something like "fresh off the boat." The refrain itself is taken from a song that was popular in the mid-1800s. Using modern translators can be a dicey thing. Typing "V'la Plaisir mesdames!!!" from the trading card below into an online translator will probably get you something like "Pleasure ladies here!" (V'la is a contraction for voilà.) Back in the day however, "plaisir" was a light kind of pastry, and the words on the card below were the vendors' call (they also used a type of tambourine) which can be translated as "Pastries here, ladies," much like the ubiquitous cry of "Peanuts here!" at ballparks today. In 1857 the composer J. G. Kastner completed his Grande Symphonie Humoristique Vocale et Instrumentale Les Cris de Paris, which incorporated a number of the vendor calls. It was not preformed until 2009, but excerpts can be found here. Excellent descriptions of many of the vendors can be found in the 1912 English translation of Octave Uzanne's The Modern Parisienne, and in Karl Baedeker's 1907 Paris and Its Environs. Great educationPosts like Tobacconist's are just one of the reasons Shorpy tops my list of favorite bookmarks. What a fascinating piece of history! Much appreciated. It may be a sidebar to the overall context of the photograph but it is tangents like that which make Shorpy so engaging. You never know where things may lead. Thanks for that delightfully informative post, Monsieur! Odd FrenchThe phrases on the foreground sign are a little peculiar -- some are food-related of course, but a couple seem slightly surreal; they translate roughly as "to the small boat" and "tinder matches". (According to my intermediate-level Canadian French, that is.) Amazing Airport TerminalHow civilized for a US airport, even if the French is mysterious. I flew out of this terminal in the early 70's as a college kid from the Midwest on his first trip to Europe. I thought it was incredible, and so was the 747 we boarded. Video Displays in 1962 !Video displays in 1962 ! Woo-Hoo ! I'll bet that seemed very modern at that time. The name "Idlewild Airport" may not be recognized by younger readers; it was renamed to "JFK International Airport". Needs a bit of polishThings have sure changed. This view was shot last year. Lauding TobacconistI'd like to nominate Tobacconist's comment as the best I've seen for a "Shorpy" post. Thanks for the information. (The Gallery, Aviation, Eateries & Bars, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
Frankie!
Our third look at the Holiday Shop record and camera store in Roeland Park, Kansas, circa 1950. Frank Sinatra ... this business being there at that time. There was a camera shop, but not this one. THE record store was in Mission, off Johnson Drive. ... the "slice of life" that it shows of our past. The old Waffle Shop pic I saw yesterday was just a work of art! Thanks so much for ... 
 
Posted by John.Debold - 06/26/2008 - 10:56am -

Our third look at the Holiday Shop record and camera store in Roeland Park, Kansas, circa 1950. Frank Sinatra is pictured on the wall. View full size. Roeland Park, KansasI was acquainted with this shopping center during the late 1950's as a 12-year-old. I don't remember this business being there at that time. There was a camera shop, but not this one. THE record store was in Mission, off Johnson Drive. That place was crammed full of records and tapes clear to the ceiling and generally full of people. The store was a mess and run by a haggard middle aged lady who was always yelling at us kids. 45 rpm singles were 99 cents, a princely sum in the days of the 50-cent minimum wage. Date seems about rightThat Burl Ives album on shelf behind store clerk is "Ballads and Folk Songs Volume I" released in 1949. We spent many hours listening to Burl's "Children's Favorites" (1954) growing up. I love Shorpy!I've been a photog for many many years and have always collected old photo books etc., but this has to be one of my all time favorite websites ever! These kind of great old photos are just tremendous. I absolutely love the "slice of life" that it shows of our past. The old Waffle Shop pic I saw yesterday was just a work of art! Thanks so much for sharing these great photos. I have some cool old stuff my self. I've got to get them on a scanner and upload them. ... Is Like a MelodyI could see myself stopping by the Holiday Shop to look for music, but mostly to chat up the blond cutie behind the counter. Dangit, where's my time machine?I wish I could go back to the time this picture was taken. For one thing, I'd like to take in the atmosphere and look at all the old records. Then I'd like to show the lady a modern MP3 player and say, "This little gadget holds more music than, oh, 100 stores this size." But then they'd probably hang me for being a wizard or some such, and that wouldn't be good. Ah, the Columbia-era SinatraFrank Sinatra may have recorded "exclusively for Columbia Records," but around 1950 not all that many people were listening. He still had occasional hits for the label, but he certainly wasn't the dominant artist he had been in the mid-forties. Music had changed a lot in the postwar era, and on the whole the songs weren't as good. It's no secret Sinatra loathed much of the material new A&R man Mitch Miller foisted on him, although every now and then he received superior music to work with. It really wasn't until 1953, when he switched to Capitol, was given Nelson Riddle as his primary arranger and concentrated on making strong thematic albums, that Sinatra truly revived as an artist (his Columbia output during the forties is generally excellent, and has been rediscovered in recent years thanks to a number of compilations). (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Music, Stores & Markets)
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