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Jazz Feeds: 1936
... feed store, March 1936. View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans. Bad pun I bet you could buy feed here for your Archie Sheeps. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 1:13am -

Alabama feed store, March 1936. View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans. Bad punI bet you could buy feed here for your Archie Sheeps. They'd probably have to deliver it on their Coltrane and only on weekdays, not Billie Holidays. Har. Jazz FeedsI hear they stayed open till Round Midnight. And carried a full line of Bird seed. In 1955 they changed theirIn 1955 they changed their name to 'Rock Feeds'. And now ...It's RSS Feeds. (The Gallery, Stores & Markets, Walker Evans)
Mount Pleasant: 1935
... Westmoreland County." View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans, Farm Security Administration. Life looked so much more Life ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 11:36am -

July 1935. "Back street. Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. Westmoreland County." View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans, Farm Security Administration. Life looked so much moreLife looked so much more peacful there.... IdyllicMarvelous. It feels like I can walk right into the picture. What street is this?I live in Mount Pleasant and would like to know what street this is. BTW I found this site a couple of days ago and my work production has gone way down. Thanks Shorpy. Their TownI would also like to know what part of town this is. My grandparents and dad are from Mount Pleasant. It pretty much looks the same all these years later. Amazing. (The Gallery, Great Depression, Rural America, Walker Evans)
Neighbors: 1936
... Virginia." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Along the ... TK tk42one@gmail.com (The Gallery, Small Towns, Walker Evans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/30/2009 - 4:00pm -

March 1936. "Frame houses, Fredericksburg, Virginia." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Along the fence line.Is that someone standing there, or is it just an illusion? Looks likeit was built by committee. I'll make a guess that......the ones who put up this row of houses were tenant farmers organized into work groups by the FSA, not professional framers. Switching those two letters in farmer and framer can be crucial in the result, as seen in the photo. And on the other side of the coin, a framer would doubtless produce some sorry crops and animals. Bless all of them, those were proud people doing the best they could. Shotgun HousesThose houses are of the classic "shotgun shack" or "shotgun house" design. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_house I like the ripples and sagsI like the ripples and sags along the eaves. That does look like someone standing there - a woman? looks a bit chesty? But what street?If anyone knows the street or general area this was taken in, I can snag a modern picture for comparison. TK tk42one@gmail.com (The Gallery, Small Towns, Walker Evans)
Fancy Grocery: 1935
... December 1935. "Coca-Cola shack in Alabama." Photograph by Walker Evans. Back in the 1930s just about any building or barn was like a Web site ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 1:09am -

December 1935. "Coca-Cola shack in Alabama." Photograph by Walker Evans. Back in the 1930s just about any building or barn was like a Web site -- you could rent out the blank spaces for banner ads (in this case for the circus in Montgomery). View full size. ChimneysPretty cool. I wonder about the chimneys on the right. Is it possible that Atlanta in 1935 still had gaps where buildings were destroyed (by Sherman?) in the Civil War? SureIt's possible, but then again, this was taken in Alabama, not Atlanta. MaybeCould be the result of Sherman's lesser-known "March to the Gulf." fancy gro.When I was a kid in 1940s central California we had several stores like this still open for business... Scary looking back The chimneys are probably a result of the "Great Depression" when burned down houses and such were not rebuilt. If the owner was insured (not likely) they would take the money and the next train out of town. If not insured, most had no means to rebuild as there was no credit available and no money outside of the wealthy classes. Don DepositLooks like the horses left their deposits. Tenant Farm housesMy guess is that the two chimney represent old tenant houses, or perhaps a different kind of house. The bricks do not appear to be scorched, so I think we can cross Ole Sherman off the list! Houses or house was probably razed when the occupants left. We have a lot of these chimneys in North Florida. Just random-like in the woods. (The Gallery, Stores & Markets, Walker Evans)
Catfish Mover Watermelon: 1936
... Alabama. View full size. Medium-format negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. Phone Numbers My family in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 12:31pm -

Summer 1936. Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama. View full size. Medium-format negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. Phone NumbersMy family in central Nebraska used 5 digit direct dialing until the late 1990s. What happened? The internet - they now have to dial 10 numbers whether it's local or long distance. On the plus side, they have one of the last private phone companies, and even though my parents live 7 miles out in the country, they could have dsl if they wanted it, because their phone company ran fiber optic lines to [i]all[/] of their customers. I'm half a mile from a Verizon "office" (it's actually more of a switching station), and I can't get DSL. Yeah, I know that legally they should be providing it, but "who ya gonna call?" It's a huge corporation - "your call is very important to us..., but we are experiencing high call volume..." No redial eitherI recall back then we had rotary phones, no contact list and not even redial. Every extra number could become a real pain to the index finger. Of course, that's if the line was free and there wasn't another party on the line. I still remember when I was caught listening to the telephone when I was very young. I had no idea why my mother would get so upset. In my neighborhood a private line was very rare. Phone numbersAs late as 1979, in Sonoma, California, if you were calling in town you only needed to call the last four numbers, everyone had the same prefix. Five-digit phone numbersI don't know how things worked in Birmingham, or in Bar Harbor, but in my home town in Indiana, the way it worked was, we had seven-digit phone numbers, but if the number you were calling was in the same exchange as yours, you only dialed the last five digits. So if your phone number was KLaxon 5-3270 (555-3270), and someone was calling you from another KLaxon phone number, they would dial 53270. If someone was calling you from the CHerry exchange, they would dial 5553270. Exchanges were kind of like area codes, only for smaller areas. (Area codes went into effect in 1947. I just looked that up.) By the time I came along, pretty much every business would display the full seven-digit number, as either the exchange name and five numerals, e.g., KLaxon 5-3270, or two letters and five numerals, e.g., KL5-3270. I don't remember ever seeing just the last five numerals. I remember when the switch was made in the mid-60s (where I lived, at least) to seven-digit dialing for all phone numbers, but I was too young to know if people found it to be a big wrench to the system. Some businesses still referred to their phone number as "TUxedo 4 -xxxx" or "YEllowstone 8 - xxxx" or whatever well into the 70s. [In 1947 the North American Numbering Plan laid the groundwork for direct dialing of long distance calls. The first area codes came into use in 1951, but it would be many years before direct dialing and area codes really took hold. - Dave] 3-9596Is that the entire phone number on the top of the sign? I'm guessing that there were not many phones in use back then and therefore we had not reached the need for 10 digit numbers. Amazing. Justin Houston, TX [Below: Example of a three-digit phone number from the 1950s - Dave] Hello CentralWhen the numbers were that short, they probably went through an operator. Our telephone number was 200 but you told the operator you wanted Commerce (the town) 200. We didn't have dial telephones back then (even rotary). Olive OylWhen I was a kid in the early 1940s we used to call up a store and ask if they had olive oil in a can, and when they said yes we would say better let her out, Popeye is looking for her, and then we would laugh like crazy. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Stores & Markets, Walker Evans)
Bethlehem Boys: 1935
... Pennsylvania. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the FSA. In a few years Most of them look like they'd be old ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/10/2009 - 12:38pm -

November 1935. Sons of American Legion members in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the FSA. In a few yearsMost of them look like they'd be old enough to be eligible for membership in about 10 years, if you get my drift. Soldiers To Be?They may have been eligible for membership. It seems kind of onthe borderline for these guys. How old would you say they are? 10 in 1935? If so, that would put them at 18 in 1943. I wonder if any of these boys ever did marched off to war? Veterans to beIf they were 10, give or take a year, in 1935 they would almost inevitably be marching off to war assuming they were in good health. They had to register for the draft on their 18th birthday, but I don't doubt that most of them wouldn't bother to wait for their number to be called. They'd join up on their own. These were the sort of boys who became men in units like the 101st Airborne or the Americal Division; the trailing edge of the Greatest Generation. 1935The convertible in the back would have been my car. (The Gallery, Kids, Walker Evans)
New Orleans: 1935
... street," December 1935. View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans. X's at bottom are crop marks. Looks like the St. Louis Looks like ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 6:09pm -

"New Orleans Negro street," December 1935. View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans. X's at bottom are crop marks. Looks like the St. LouisLooks like the St. Louis Cathedral in the distance. New Orleans 1935Fence on right would be for the Southern RR and for the GM&O Railroads. Street would be Toulouse, maybe. Those houses were still there at the time of the storm in 2005. Tchoupitoulas?Eddie, you may be right. I was thinking it looked like Tchoup, near the Garden District, where all the old docks and warehouses are. St. Ann StreetIf you look at a map of the French Quarter and draw a line behind St. Louis Cathedral, you get St. Ann Street. St. Peter StreetIf that is St. Louis Cathedral, then this, being the "northwestern" (upper in N.O. parlance) side, would be St. Peter Street. St. Peter Street extended far beyond North Rampart until the Treme neighborhood was raped in the construction of Armstrong Park in the early 70s, cutting the street for several blocks. The fenced off area to the right is the Carondelet (or Old Basin) Canal, which was no longer navigable by 1935 and filled in in 1938. BywaterThis couldn't be St. Ann, which has houses on both sides. That wall -- maybe North Peters Street. The only thing I can think of that still looks like that, with a wall where the tracks would be on the other side, would be in Bywater. Homes of that scale are right near the tracks. 4400 block of TchoupitoulasThat two-story building is Fump & Manny's Bar, an Uptown New Orleans institution. The wall on the right separates the river, dockhouses and railroad tracks from this historic shipping supply road. It looks exactly the same today with more trees. TremeThis is the back-of-town Treme section. No wonder this is so hard to recognize for those of us who weren't around in 1935, as the area was soon after radically altered, with the old Carondelet Canal filled in and a good section of the area-- I suspect including where the photo was taken-- demolished to construct the Lafitte and Iberville housing projects (the Lafitte in turn was demolished last year). I can't place the exact street, but St. Ann is certainly no more than a few blocks away. This would have to be somewhere in the 6 blocks between St. Philip Street and Conti Street. The cupola of the Cabildo is seen straight down the street, and the tower of the Jax Brewery is in the far distance just to the right of the rightmost telephone pole. The final clues to a better location are probably the steeples of the 2 churches at left (is the closer one St. Peter Claver or Our Lady of Guadelupe-- or did there used to be another steeple near by in 1935 no longer existant?) and the wall at the right (wall around St. Louis Cemetery 1, St. Louis 2, or did there used to be a similar wall beside the old Canal?). Lafitte Street This is present day Lafitte Street. It is at a slight angle to the street grid, running parallel to the former RR tracks and even more former canal. Those landmarks in the distance are: - Two of the spires of St. Louis Cathedral, the center and the upper; - The cupola of the Cabildo - The cupola of Jax I can see why people would think Tchoupitoulas. There are blocks much like this, including the hip roofs. But those French Quarter landmarks, and the gabled roof beyond the end of the street, are the view from Lafitte. I think its Tchoup, too. For what its worth, I think it's Tchoup too. Near the grocery store. (was Delchamps when I lived there). The building stock is still extant there in places, I believe. (The Gallery, New Orleans, Walker Evans)
Barbershop Duet: 1936
... barber shop, Atlanta." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Gone to the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/24/2011 - 8:41am -

March 1936. "Negro barber shop, Atlanta." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Gone to the CinemaEveryone must be at the local theater to see Mae West and Victor McLaughlin in "Klondike Annie." A focused barberThe barber has three different forms of localized light available. One of them (radiant heater converted to a spotlight) is especially clever. Wonder if he had poor eyesight or just liked to see what he was cutting? FiretrapWow, this has all the ingredients for a three-alarmer: kerosene lamps balancing precariously on loose newspaper pages, even more newspaper sheets lightly hanging on the wall at most one inch from a bare light bulb, piles of rags, cloth-covered (and probably fraying) electrical cord splaying out from the wall. Getting clippedI remember hand clippers like those on the little table next to the hat. I wonder if this was a basement shop, but it has a wood floor -- with a couple of loose board-ends between the chair on the right and the table. A little off the top.I'm worried about what they use that screw jack for. Clip joint.My first job in the early 60's was shining shoes in a barber shop. I always loved the intricate iron work in the foot rests. And all the arm rests had built in ashtrays. Fresh NewsAll of that newsprint looks pretty fresh. Perhaps it was used to tidy up the atmosphere for the photo. Booster BoardEvery time I see a barber chair, I remember the booster board. That's the board they put across the armrests to boost up a 5-year-old to the barber's height. The ones I remember were padded too, but I don't see any in this photo. No photographer ghosts?All those mirrors and not a single reflection of the camera, photographer or flash equipment. There isn't much to go on; I could take a walk down there and see if the building was razed for a parking lot. Barbershop Rich'sThe newspaper, not surprisingly, has an ad for the mainstay Atlanta department store Rich's. The headlines are talking about Gene Talmadge, Democrat and multi-termed Georgia governor, who created a political machine dynasty that rivaled anything in Boston or Chicago. One of those crooked enigmatic Huey Long types which seemed to resonate with the common man and seemed to bring about good works for them while at the same time rotten… and in his case as well as his son, a later GA governor, racist to the core. What a dumpI am by no means a fastidious person, no obsessive-compulsive disorder here and a little mess does not unhinge me. However, for a barbershop, which has to meet sanitary standards from the board of health and hopefully not spread communicable diseases in a business that specializes in human grooming and handling of biological materials of large groups of people (who may harbor various bacteria and diseases) this place is filthy. Not only are there used towels left hanging everywhere, the place is in total disarray and apparent neglect as far as acceptable housekeeping and illness prevention is concerned. Would you patronize a place like this or take your kids here? In 1936, this was totally unacceptable in the cleanliness department. Goings onI wonder if that "doorbell" button is to warn the people in the back room in case the coppers come in for a raid? re: What a DumpRE What a Dump's comment: I don't think it's dirty at all, nor particularly a fire waiting to happen. We're all set in our 21st century crazy clean and safe world; this is how people lived in the 1930s. They used clean newsprint to deliver babies in, for God's sake. And don't forget fish and chips! It's a tidy little barbershop. And I can't see how anyone can determine the towels are used. I think it's a lovely little shop. (The Gallery, Atlanta, Walker Evans)
Room and Bird: 1936
... on Saint Charles Avenue." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. $2 I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:31pm -

January 1936. "New Orleans architecture. Cast-iron grillwork house near Lee Circle on Saint Charles Avenue." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. $2I forgot to make reservations this year for the Mardi Gras parades, do you think I can still get the advertised rate? TweetDid anyone else search every square inch of the grillwork looking for the bird? [Hello? They're right in front of your nose. - Dave] Re: TweetI, too, searched for the elusive bird, never thinking to look IN the window. Guess my super-sleuthing abilities are somewhat less than super. Conservative Chimney...It leans to the right. And it's singing . . "I'm only a bird in a gilded cage" Bebop on down to BirdlandNew Orleans. Jazz. SAINT CHARLES. Who needs a gilded cage? Am I Psyhic or PsychoThis image looks to me to be a repeat. The frontal scene and especially the ornate grillwork struck a memory chord. However, I searched Shorpy using various combinations of caption words or phrases (cast-iron, grillwork, ornate, etc.) to no avail. Is this the same of smilar to a posted picture in, say, the past 6 months? (Should I mention that I have been having vivid and interesting dreams of late?) [Did you search for "Orleans"? - Dave] Chez IgnatiusSweet mercy. When I see pictures of the glorious past of New Orleans, my first thought is: How in the living hell did they stand the heat in the summer? Yes, I know. As my mother whose clan is from New Orleans says, they were much tougher folks in those bygone days. I just bet they were. But I guarantee I smell better than any of them after a long, sticky, hot summer night spent in my air conditioned home rather than sprawled out on the front porch because it was too damn hot to sleep inside. Motel 2The $2 room is the one overhanging the alleyway with floor about to give way and wrapped in high-voltage wiring! Lake PontchartrainIn a gentler time, during the New Orleans summer, thousands of people would sleep out on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. (The Gallery, New Orleans, Walker Evans)
Star Pressing Club: 1936
... Laundry and barber shop." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans. View full size. Meter Readers Did the electrical meter ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 4:53pm -

February 1936. Vicksburg, Mississippi. "Negro shop fronts. Laundry and barber shop." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans. View full size. Meter ReadersDid the electrical meter readers work on stilts? A little off the topDave, can we see a close-up of the hairstyle chart above the barbershop door? Zipper effectThe siding on the building shows the "zipper effect", where the joints in the boards follow a repeated pattern, usually due to the length of the boards as they were made at the mill, versus the width of the building. It's an effect you're supposed to work to avoid, by cutting boards at different lengths, to avoid creating a pattern. Bigfoot?The person who read the electric meters in Vicksburg must have been extraordinarily tall. Pressed HairI'm going to guess that the "Star Pressing Club" is for the purpose of pressing hair. [It's a laundry. See the clothes? - Dave] Pressing ClubIt's the name of a dry cleaner, some still operating in the South. Thought BalloonThe siding looks typical of the cartoons of the 1930's. Popeye for example. Also very Robert Crumby. Especially where the siding joins in the upper left. The horizontal splits in the siding at the joins and the nailheads are also typical of the comics of the period. 2D Barber PoleI love the way the barber pole has been painted in the space between the doors. L. PalmerThis is Joe Manning. In the 1930 census, there was one African-American person named Palmer listed in Vicksburg whose first name begins with L. He was Luther Palmer, born in 1890, his occupation given as a tailor running a tailor shop. I had a strong feeling he was the L. Palmer on the sign. Then I found a Luther Palmer, born in 1899, who died in Mississippi in 1963, and then found his son, a retired professor at Texas A&M University. I called him, and after a very interesting conversation which seemed to establish a good possibility that his father was the man who owned the 1936 business, I realized I had forgotten to mention that it was a "Negro" business. At that point, Professor Palmer told me he was white. Case closed? Probably, but is there a small chance that the business was owned by his white father, but run by African-Americans? He didn't think so. After 1930, there are no records for any other Luther Palmers who appear to be the one I found in the 1930 Census. Wrong PlaceSomeone's chalked "Wrong Place" to the left of the barbershop window. 120 Volt Electric serviceHaving been in the electrical distribution business for the past 40 years it is interesting (to me, anyway) to see the old style 120 volt meter service on both sides of this building. Each serving the business on either side. There were still, believe it or not, two wire 120 volt, 30 amp services still in existence up until just a few years ago! (The Gallery, Stores & Markets, Vicksburg, Walker Evans)
Will Work for Food: 1935
"Mule in Hale County, Alabama, 1935." Photo by Walker Evans. View full size. Named Francis ended up in Hollywood making ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2009 - 6:42pm -

"Mule in Hale County, Alabama, 1935." Photo by Walker Evans. View full size. Named Francisended up in Hollywood making movies with Donald O'Connor (The Gallery, Horses, Rural America, Walker Evans)
Bethlehem: 1935
... Bethlehem, Pennsylvania." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Washday ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/10/2009 - 12:39pm -

November 1935. "View of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Washday GraysIt must be Monday because of the amount of laundry hanging out here and there, even in November. Looks like a nice town to live in. It even has a convenient cemetery on the hillside -- puts me in mind of Grover's Corner. O Little TownMill houses and churches - hard-working and God-fearing Americans. Count the ChurchesI live in Bethlehem, though I'm not a native. This is a view of South Bethlehem looking north and a bit east. What strikes me about this photo is that there are four churches so close together. Religion and the church had a much diferent meaning back then. AdvertisingAs opposed to most other cities this size, I can only spot two ads: One political and the wall for Mail Pouch Tobacco. Hillside & SelfridgeI grew up in the next city east of Bethlehem, but now live in Washington, D.C. This photograph was taken at the corner of Hillside Avenue and Selfridge Street on the city's South Side, looking northeast toward Bethlehem Steel's massive Bethlehem plant. In any event, Bethlehem wasn't just steel! One thing I notice about the housing stock back home is the abundance of slate roofs. For many years, up to the 1960s, almost all houses in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas of Northampton County sported them. Northampton County was the leading producer of slate in the United States. In fact, it is not uncommon to see slate-roofed ranch houses in 1950s subdivisions, or slate shingle siding on some older farm houses. As far as the churches in close are concerned, these were founded as ethnic Catholic parishes during the immigration waves of the late 19th century. In late 2008 the Diocese of Allentown made a controversial decision to consolidate parishes. Consequently, St. John Capistrano, the church with the stone spire, St. Stanilaus, the church immediately to the right, and Our Lady of Pompeii, whose cross can be see to the left of St. John under the wires, were all closed after being combined with another church just out of frame to the left. 623 BuchananThe house at the bottom of the street is 623 Buchanan and if you look it up on zillow.com you can see a bird's eye view of the house since there is no Google street view. It looks like its a duplex because one half is a different color--roof too! I was surprised at how many of the houses in this photograph are still standing and identifiable Paris, It Ain't!H.L. Mencken once commented on the extraordinary ugliness of Pennsylvania coal and steel towns, and here we see what he was talking about. Obviously a "company town," with only two or three house designs reproduced over and over again. For example, the one with the two cupolas, in the center, and its exact twin on the right. Oh well, at least they had good healthy fresh air (cough, cough, hack ... ) Step InThis photo just invites you to step in and start walking down that hill. You can smell the boxwoods and the wooden porches. Not so obviousThis was never a company town. The town of Bethlehem was founded in 1741. Bethlehem Steel was founded in 1857 and took the name of the town. Allentown - Bethlehem - EastonLaying over at the ABE airport, I and my crew would stay in Bethlehem in a restored older hotel (not motel). We all thought what a quaint, peaceful town. Obviously nothing like during the days when our American steel industry was in full production. In the evening retirees, hand in hand, would come out for a stroll gathering on some of the many benches around town. It’s hard to believe this was the same place pictured on your site. Also, come Christmas, what better place to be stuck if you’re unlucky enough not to be home with your family. Varied ResponsesInteresting that some find this view unattractive and others see charm. I count myself in the latter camp, and find the steep grade of the street and the vintage architecture very appealing. Bethlehem MusikfestJust a few blocks from here is the site of Bethlehem's Musikfest. A nine-day festival that's enjoyed by over a million people every August. My Hometown!Bethlehem as a physical city hasn't changed a whole lot since this shot. The abandoned steel works are being torn down (mostly), and a casino (!) is opening. Also talk of a museum of industry, possibly affiliated with the Smithsonian. Christmas in BethlehemMy grandparents lived in Allentown, and we had other relatives in Bethlehem for years. One of them lived only a couple streets west of the location shown in this photo. I've spent Christmas in Bethlehem several times. The Christmas Eve service at the Moravian Church is always a moving experience. I just love the town. No "My Space"As to the discussion of Charm vs Unattractive, perhaps it's because I live in a small, rural town, but this scenery leaves me claustrophobic. There's no space between the houses. Everyone is living on top of each other. There's no yard big enough for kids to play in. Not unless you count that scrubby lot the center house sits in. Speaking of which, if I lived in that center house I would be praying every day that my neighbor's parking brake worked. Everyone's right!As a South Bethlehem native, I can assure you-- Bethlehem may have been founded in 1741 by missionaries, but the city they built is very much the part of Bethlehem that's on the north side of the Lehigh. South Bethlehem-- the steel plant and all the residential areas that grew up around it-- are just as much a former company town as downtown is a quaint historic area; they may be halves of the same city but there's a very clear difference between them. To those claiming claustrophobia, I'd also like to say-- it may not be clear in this photo, but despite the odd tight angles of the streets in South Bethlehem the houses really have some pretty generous back yards. (The Gallery, Walker Evans)
The Neighbors: 1936
... of the town. Birmingham, Alabama." Nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Nice Lines ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 6:05pm -

March 1936. "Middle class houses of the town. Birmingham, Alabama." Nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Nice LinesThe contrasting images and diagonal lines criscrossing this scene are astounding. Masonry DetailsI love this photo. Not having ever been to Birmingham (I imagined Birmingham as being flat) nor being schooled in the journeyman practice of masonry, several details stand out: The thinness of the brick piers holding up the bungalows on the hillside The masonry arch caps on the chimneys The stonework terracing within the cemetery hillside The fieldstone cemetery wall All together, it appears to highlight a profound contrast to the present day: an attention to detail combined with relatively inexpensive labor and maximum use of local stones. FavelaI was also struck by those piers ... just waiting for a good wind gust. Also, the scene reminds me of a South American hillside barrio or favela, with no real streets in sight. Presumably the substantial houses at the top of the hill are facing a real street, but everything else is served only by footpaths. StiltsI'm amazed at the houses on the brick pillars. It looks like one small earthquake could take them out. QuietAh - nice quiet neighbours. Bliss. Birmingham PlotsI grew up in Birmingham. Neighborhoods like this have been a victim of urban blight and many small frame homes like these have been torn down. Construction like this was common throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana -- cheap and allows maximum circulation for the summer months. My last home in Jackson, Mississippi, dates from 1915 and the foundation is exactly the same as these houses, albeit on not as steep of a grade. Fieldstone walls and houses are very common in the Birmingham area, as are terraced cemeteries. I wish I could identify this one, sadly the only last name visible is a very common one. If anyone is able to figure out where this is I'll ask my father to take a photo. It looks like a white cemetery in the foreground and the unlandscaped plot behind it is more than likely a black graveyard. Burial grounds were segregated until the late 1960's there. Bone OrchardNice solution to the slope in the cemetery. I guess that kept Granny from scrunching down in the toe-end of her box. Moline, ILThis picture reminds me of my grandma's house in Moline IL! Her basement was built into the side of a hill with two floors above. The house was torn down in the late 80's. Looking at the lot today, no one would suspect that a house ever sat there. Thanks for the memory Shorpy! Vigilando...Los porches de las casas miran, vigilantes, hacia el cementerio. Entre éste y las casas se está realizando una ampliación en la que algunos, previsores, han empezado a construir su tumba, aún más cerca de las casas. ...gracias, SHORPY. Hilly BirminghamI live in Birmingham. Like much of northern Alabama, it's quite hilly. The city sits in a valley between Red Mountain and Shades Mountain. There are lots of old neighborhoods built on the slopes of one hill or another. This neighborhood could have been on the North Side of downtown, judging by the houses and the cemetery on the slope. Some of our city's most interesting homes sit precariously on the side of Red Mountain. Press uno por EnglishUppa you ess! [Dear Norm: Anyone is welcome to submit a comment here regardless of the language they speak. Civility and good manners are a requirement, however. - Dave] Es VerdadI thought Paco's comment was beautiful, either in Spanish or in English translation. Anyone can easily obtain Spanish to English translation on the Internet. Somewhere in BirminghamI live in Birmingham and I believe that this picture was taken by the airport. I'm Guessing Pratt CityI'm thinking this could have been around Irish Hill (now Dugan Avenue) in the Pratt City section of Birmingham. Birmingham PhotoI grew up in Birmingham and my father who also grew up there loved to take my brother and I to all sorts of ineresting places that most people didn't know about. The picture is of the original Jewish cemetary which is somewhere around Birmingham Southern College and the current interchange of I-65 and I 59/20. I was too young to remember exactily the location but since I had never seen anything like the cemetary I never forgot it. Birmingham cemeteryI took locating this photograph as a challenge, and I believe I have it placed. I was a child long ago in Birmingham also, although I never saw this particular cemetery. I think the photograph was taken in Knesses Israel Cemetery at about the center of the cemetery, Latitude: 33.522351 and Longitude: -86.831288 with the camera pointing to the northeast. This is consistent with the post George Adams made. The key to identifying it was the church at the top of the hill on the left side of the photograph with the patched tin roof and the twin towers. I believe that to be Old Sardis Baptist Church located at 1240 4th St N., now with the top of the southern tower removed, the roof's peak lowered, and its exterior walls veneered with red brick. From what I can see with Google Satellite and Streetview, it's the only recognizable structure in the picture still remaining, and most of the lots where houses are shown then now have trees or underbrush covering them. Baker grave in pictureGoing from Norwood_nomad's comment, I found the coordinates for Baker grave in the photo on Find a Grave here 33.5225503,-86.8315599. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Walker Evans)
Scotts Run: 1935
... Virginia. July 1935. View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans. (The Gallery, Great Depression, Walker Evans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 8:17pm -

Company houses at Scotts Run mining camp near Morgantown, West Virginia. July 1935. View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans. (The Gallery, Great Depression, Walker Evans)
The Black Cat: 1936
... of a sharecropper's cabin, Hale County, Alabama." Photo by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Nutrition ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/31/2016 - 9:49am -

Summer 1936. "Cat on porch of a sharecropper's cabin, Hale County, Alabama." Photo by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. NutritionThat cat may have been better fed than the two-legged residents of that house. On that note, does the English vernacular have the idiom of "roof rabbit"? They say it looks and tastes similar. CattitudeSomeone left a cat alog on your front porch. (The Gallery, Cats, Halloween, Walker Evans)
Sweet Home Alabama: 1935
... scene in Selma, Alabama." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Cook ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/22/2009 - 10:53pm -

December 1935. "Sidewalk scene in Selma, Alabama." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Cook Grocery CompanyIn ancient times, it looks like the former site of the Cook Grocery Company per the faded sign across on the top. That was one very small grocery company. The building had seen way better times by this point. Those things in front might not have been kicked-over sidewalk signs. They may be among the scads of things just falling off the place. J. C. Lincoln's Sunny South MinstrelsTaken from an old Broadsheet circa 1930: =========== Broadsheet- J. C. LINCOLN’S SUNNY SOUTH MINSTRELS "Featuring the Famous New Orleans Brown Skin Models. See ALVINA the Fan Dancer. Free Street Parade. World’s Greatest Mammoth Minstrel Review. Sweet Singers, Fast Dancers, Funny Comedians." Well...This is really more "Ballad of Curtis Loew" if we're speaking strictly to the Skynyrd lexicon. All dressed upI love how these guys are completely dressed to the nines -- possibly with very shiny shoes -- and are lounging as if they have nowhere on earth to go. I've never been to Selma, but I always thought it was way out in the country so it's surprising how 30's hipster the sitters/leaners look, despite what looks like poor circumstances. Only one guy in work clothes in sight. Minstrels? Yikes!I would think that Lincoln's minstrel show has probably not appeared much lately. Also, nice ghost inside the building. More on Sunny South MinstrelsIn 1927 Harry Palmer organized and put on the road under canvas the J. C. Lincoln's Sunny South Minstrels. It was motorized and travelled on probably half a dozen trucks. It is not known whether or not Palmer had the show out every season but photos indicate it was on the road at least for 1930 and 1931 seasons. Mrs. Palmer says that Harry's last show was also a minstrel show under canvas and went out of Dothan, Ala. in 1934. It was motorized and also used the J. C. Lincoln title. Photographs indicate the tent was about a 60 ft. round with three 20 ft. middles most of the time but at others it seems a square end tent was used which was usually customary for minstrel or dramatic shows. Mrs. Palmer said the minstrel show had 87 people connected with it and that J. W. Foster, known as "Jockey" was the advance man for several years. Palmer's show was one of the last old time minstrel shows under canvas to tour the country. He closed the show in Centralia, Illinois in 1938 and retired from show business for good. He moved to DuQuoin, 111. where he started the Palmer Press, a printing firm, which he operated until his death Nov. 3, 1958. -- From The Bandwagon (Nov.-Dec. 1971) Hungry?I wonder if that's a grocery store the little dog is peering into. She looks like she could use some grub. Cole Bros. Circus The Cole Bros. Circus is coming here in 2 weeks. The cost, unfortunately, is now $20 (regular seating) and $25 (VIP). Probably more fun when it was only a quarter. Character and DepthThe amount of detail in this picture is spellbinding, the way the bricks are textured, the scale in the shop next door, the dog, clothes for sale, tattered posters and faded signs; it really is a treat for the eyes. The car, the shadows, the sidewalk, shoe-shine stands, its exactly how I picture the stories my grandpa tells me about the depression. (Albeit in NYC, not Alabama) More Than DocumentaryWhat a superb photograph. What wonderful tones and textures in the brilliant sunlight. This evokes all kinds of feelings. Thanks for adding this one to your collection, Dave. (The Gallery, Small Towns, Stores & Markets, Walker Evans)
Vicksburg: 1936
... Vicksburg, Mississippi." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Social ... other for at least 75 years? (The Gallery, Vicksburg, Walker Evans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/27/2021 - 1:36pm -

March 1936. "Negro houses. Vicksburg, Mississippi." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Social immobility? Architectural immobility? The big white house in the background raises to the suspicion that not all that much had changed since 1865. Maybe both the big white house and the small unadorned - let's be honest - cabins had already been there in some form or other for at least 75 years? (The Gallery, Vicksburg, Walker Evans)
Sharecropped: 1936
... Hale County, Alabama." 35mm nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. New shoes ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/23/2014 - 5:06pm -

Summer 1936. "William Tengle, son of cotton sharecropper. Near Moundville, Hale County, Alabama." 35mm nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. New shoes a'comin'...Fast forward about 6 to 8 years and he probably got new clothes and shoes courtesy of the US Army. Hope he made it back home ok. (The Gallery, Kids, Walker Evans)
A Face in the Crowd: 1936
... portraits. Birmingham, Alabama." 8x10 acetate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Let's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/09/2021 - 2:05pm -

March 1936. "Photographer's window of penny portraits. Birmingham, Alabama." 8x10 acetate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Let's face itEven with the world of photographic subjects being what it is (limitless), for fascination factor, it's hard to beat the arrangement of features and range of expression present in the human face. Whether pretty or plain, dignified or downright diabolical, no matter the age, race, gender, or economic strata, the permutations are as irresistible as they are numberless. So long ago! And yet we see ourselves, or those we know, in these vintage visages. I'm drawn to the lady in the top right of the lower left set. She appears again in the bottom row of the same set, second from right. I'd love to have a conversation with her. If she's not available I'd like a play date with the baby pictured twice in the fourth set from the top, far right. A professional "selfie"They look better than a selfie any day of the week. Another thing I hate is that people's professional headshots now are just cropped images of themselves sitting at a cubicle or in the car. It does not look right. Thought Bubbles?Oh gee, if I had a few weeks of boredom I mght enjoy putting a thought bubbles on each of these ... so many expressions! I Can't Be SureBut I think that might be my Uncle Lester under the bottom half of the I. Or not. ConversationsI'd rather have a conversation with the person at the bottom of the page. Tell him to be more careful or find a different job (if he could). Or have a conversation with the oldest person (what looks to be a grandfather with granddaughter; appears a couple of times). Like to find out what life was like for him when he was his granddaughter's age. Middle group on the rightLower left hand corner. Picture looks as though it could have been taken yesterday. That young woman would be pretty in any generation. Row 10, Column 12The look that every grandmother gives you, before you run. Photo Bombed!I love Mr. Higginbotham's special guest appearance at the very bottom! Although these are wonderful photos, I'm haunted by the thought of how abruptly every one of their lives will change in about five years. Notable ... but maybe not surprising that, In Birmingham and of all the portraits seen here for a penny, not a one shows a black person as the subject. My MotherI was hoping to see my mother here. But I don't know what she looked like and I don't know if she was in Birmingham. I was only 2 years old at the time, and she died when I was 4. White hatThought I could resist, but I can’t. Second grid-box-of-15 down, on the left, woman in the light-colored hat in the upper right. I’d like to hear her story. She looks like she keeps interesting diaries. Reading the facial expressionsin this arrangement is like playing the musical notes. On the side note, brings back memories of an embarrassment not recognizing the person in the "glamour photo", enlarged and proudly hung on the wall. the Matriarch of Mama's FamilyNow we know what Mama Harper looked like before Eunice was born. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Portraits, Walker Evans)
Liberty Theatre: 1935
... with a product tie-in. Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans, Resettlement Administration. View full size. Six adult tickets ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 4:58pm -

"1935 or 1936. Saint Charles Street. Liberty Theatre, New Orleans." Now playing: Wheeler and Woolsey in "The Rainmakers," with a product tie-in. Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans, Resettlement Administration. View full size. Six adult tickets please..."I'm gonna be a sport and treat you all, and I will still get 4 cents back from my dollar." Wheeler and WoolseyIt's thanks to these guys that we have the phrase "acquired taste." The March of TimeSeventy years before we had Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, Fox News gave us Lew Lehr and Lowell Thomas. Fox NewsI had no idea Fox News went back that far. I can read the 'selected shorts', but what is that slanted word in cursive letters? Of course, this may not be the same Fox News we have today. I do recall these kind of news clips from my kid days at the Saturday movies in the 50's. I think they were presented as World on Parade, or something similar. Fox Movietone NewsThis would have been Fox Movietone News, newsreels that had evolved from Lee De Forest and Theodore Case's pioneering sound-on-film process they developed in the early to mid-1920s. The cursive word is "Also." Fox NewsNo indeed the Fox News of 1935 had nothing in common with the present day opinionated and distorted "Fox News." The old Fox Film Corp. had a newsreel division that was called Fox Movietone News and movie theatres regularly played these newsreels before the feature. People got their news a little later in those days but it was generally better journalism than we see today. Vive La LibertéThe Liberty was adjacent to the St. Charles, at 420 St. Charles Avenue, between Poydras and Gravier. This is the heart of the Central Business Disctrict, so this is one part of the old city that was razed. At the site are the immense Hotel Intercontintal and the Pan-Am Life Building. View Larger Map TaxWow, a one cent tax on a 15 cent ticket. Looks like the tax man was well into it even then. Well at least the kids ticket at 10 cents wasn't taxed. Wheeler and WoolseyJust about forgotten these days, Wheeler and Woolsey were on a par with Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello back in the day. Bob Woolsey was a patrician-looking fellow who played his scenes with a wry detachment; his trademark was an exclamation that transliterates, roughly, as "whoa-OO-ooah!" (It was Really Funny in the 30s.) He died in 1938 of a kidney disorder. Bert Wheeler was a salt-of-the earth guy, kinda the Chico/Abbott/Cheech member of the duo -- but he also sang, and had a surprising pop-tenor way with a song that holds up quite well. He went on to play a lot of TV character parts before his death in 1968. A sample of their repartee, thanks to Wikipedia: The Wheeler & Woolsey pictures are loaded with joke-book dialogue, catchy original songs, painful puns, and sometimes racy double-entendre gags: WOMAN (coyly indicating her legs): Were you looking at these? WOOLSEY: Madam, I'm above that. WOOLSEY (worried about a noblewoman): She's liable to have us beheaded. WHEELER: Beheaded?! Can she do that? WOOLSEY: Sure, she can be-head. FLIRT: Sing to me! WHEELER: How about "One Hour With You?" FLIRT: Sure! But first, sing to me! "Whoa-OO-ooah!"Back in the 50s, they showed some Wheeler and Woolsey movies on TV. For, at least, a month, after seeing them, my little brother and I would repeat that line as often as we could. We thought it was hilarious. Morton's Salt Tie-InAs an old PR and Product Promotions man, I love the tie-in between the movie title and Morton's "It rains when it pours" Salt. I wonder if a salt packet giveaway was part of the promotion? I once proposed to the people in charge of raising funds for the mausoleum clean up for Captain "Bully" Robinson in Newburgh NY ("the man who introduced goldfish to America") that they give away samples of Pepperidge Farms Goldfish Crackers as a promotion gimmick. The cemetery folk were not amused. In my opinion, Wheeler & Woolsey were far lesser lights than either Laurel & Hardy or Abbott & Costello, more on the scale of Wally Brown & Alan Carney, at best. Who came first?Woolsey or George Burns? They look like twins to me. Fox News Not the Fox News of Today (sort of)Well it is and it isn't! The Fox News in this photo was a newsreel (usually weekly) made by 20th Century Fox pictures. As 20th Century Fox (Rupert Murdoch's News Corp) also owns the Fox News Channel (a modern day incarnation of course) it could be argued there is a direct hereditary link. Yes I amI would just like to say that it is great to see that my second cousin Bob Woolsey has not been forgotten. He was a great comedian and I love to see that his work is still inspiring and motivating conversation and interest in older movies, which have a tendency to waste away into oblivion. My father was Bob's cousin and I only regret that I never had the opportunity to meet him or any of his children or grandchildren. As the title states yes I am and will alawys be not only related to Bob Woolsey but one of his biggest fans! Jonni (Woolsey) Murakami St. Charles Street MemoriesIn about 1961 I lived for some months on St. Charles Street about two blocks toward Lee Circle from this theatre. I remember attending movies here and at a nearby theatre on the same side of the street--perhaps? the St. Charles that Vic and Natly refer to. There was a Chinese laundry, a real one, across the street from this theatre; shirts starched, folded, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. 25¢ a shirt as I recall. The photo caption has it right. In at least those days it was St. Charles Street between Canal and Lee Circle; only on the other side of Lee Circle going toward the Garden District and beyond did it became St. Charles Avenue. I worked way out Prytania Street and daily took the street car to and from work. (The Gallery, Movies, New Orleans, Walker Evans)
Of the Community: 1936
... Plantation, Louisiana, 1858. Closeup of column." Photo by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. All In All ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/18/2016 - 12:32pm -

Circa 1936. "Belle Grove Plantation, Louisiana, 1858. Closeup of column." Photo by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. All In AllAnother great Shorpy title; well done, Dave. Celebrated houseBelle Grove was magnificent and probably the grandest of the antebellum plantation homes. It appeared in the landmark, two-volume book "Lost America" in 1971. There's another book from 1945 which was a photo gallery of both ruined and standing plantation houses, and it included several pages of close-up photos of Belle Grove made while it was in a state of decay but still standing. I believe this was titled "Ghosts Along the Mississippi," but I don't have it in front of me right now to provide the photographer/author's name. By that time the house had been vacant for at least 20 years, and parts of it had already fallen. What remained was removed during the 1950s following extensive flood damage. Perhaps, Shorpy will treat us to a few more views, including an overall shot of this grand old lady of yesteryear. Pretty please? [Enter "Belle Grove" in the Search Shorpy box and you'll see three more. -tterrace] IconicIonic column. [It's Corinthian, however. -tterrace] How do you know since the capital is not visible? [Because this. -tterrace] (The Gallery, Walker Evans)
American Gas: 1935
... Reedsville, West Virginia." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. My two ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/02/2019 - 6:17pm -

June 1935. "Highway corner. Reedsville, West Virginia." 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. My two guessesIt's either this intersection, or it's not. Pros: Intersecting Highways with Arthurdale in the correct direction, remnants of a driveway in the yard, Stop sign on a steep incline. Cons: Lack of a concrete block building. ArthurdaleSince my name is Arthur, I was intrigued by the signpost pointing to (I assumed) Arthurdale. Indeed I was correct in my assumption. A little further probing and it turns out Arthurdale has quite a story behind it! https://arthurdaleheritage.org/ The Log Cabin Marks the SpotSomeone on Reddit found the location using property records: https://www.reddit.com/r/WestVirginia/comments/bj6yf0/gibson_motor_compa... Apparently, the Lot that Log Cabin sits on is PT LOT 1 GIBSON MOTOR CO. Almost GoneThere's something you hardly see anymore. No, not the gas stations, the public telephone! --By Bell Telephone yet. Heading for Arthurdalefirst known as “The Reedsville Project”, one of Eleanor Roosevelt's "Love Babies." Maybe still there, or a twin buildingIf you take a "ride" on Vitagetvs' Google Streetview a little ways, the small building to the right of the cabin on WV-7 is the exact same shape as the building in the original posting. The front façade with the 5 posts and roofline hide it, but if you travel just past it and look back, you can see the stepped roofline and even the small square side windows, just like the gas station. Can you tell us ...How much the price of gas was? Same locationI know that intersection well, as I live about 5 miles down CR 27, known locally as the Kingwood Pike. Arthurdale is about a mile to the left on State Rote 92. My grandparents were original Arthurdale homesteaders, and I've traveled through this intersection my entire life (nearly 70 years as of this writing). The log building was erected as a law office several years ago. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Small Towns, Walker Evans)
Paging Edward Hopper: 1940
... by documented, well-known, and legendary photographers. Walker Evans. Lewis Hine. Dorothea Lange. Ben Shahn. Russell Lee. Look them up. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 2:43pm -

Children in the tenement district, Brockton, Massachusetts. December 1940. Photograph by Jack Delano. View full size. These duplexes must have been fairly grand when they were new, probably around the turn of the century. They look like the house where Granny and Tweety Bird lived. Are they still there? I'll get it running some dayEver since there have been cars somebody has put them on blocks and abandoned them. Are you sure that picture isn't a model?Look at the people. They just don't look real. And neither does the car or the big tree limb in front of it all. They are still there...I can't promise you that these exact ones are still around, but there are many that look just like this in Brockton. Some have been restored, some are still run down. Sure it isn't a model?The people don't look real. The car looks like a toy, and the tree limb in front of it all is huge. Tree limb??That's a telephone pole. Click here. Another version is here. Telephone pole?Actually it is a power pole, there are no telephone lines on it. If you look real close you can see the telephone pole and lines in the back. ever wonder?Ever wonder what the people's thoughts were at the moment the photo was taken? A. Moore Re: Sure it isn't a model?I haven't poked around this site a lot, so maybe this info is here somewhere (yeah, yeah, I read the explanation of the Shorpy name) -- but maybe you should explain more background to a lot of these photos from the 30s and 40s. Of course they're real. These are by documented, well-known, and legendary photographers. Walker Evans. Lewis Hine. Dorothea Lange. Ben Shahn. Russell Lee. Look them up. The photos are so detailed because they used large format cameras with honking big negatives. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG97/fsa/welcome.html Read the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Get a hardcover copy that really shows off Walker Evan's photos. And keep looking back here for more leads on great documentary photography. Looks real to me.I'm loving those roofs. The shape is wonderful. How pretty these homes must have looked when new. This, and "American Gothic".I don't know if it's of any use, but if you look at the "American Gothic" image (another from this shoot), the number 22 is chalked onto the left door on the porch. Maybe somebody who knows Brockton (Dianne Cantara, where are you?) can track down this locale and tell us what's there now. FantasticThese houses are fantastic. Are they duplexes or quads? That's an amazing amount of house for a duplex! Mansard RoofThere are many examples of this style of house where I live, I grew up in one very similar that had 4 single family homes in it, each of which is now at least 5 apartments. The roof style is a Mansard roof if I'm not mistaken and is fairly common in the Northeastern US and Canada, it stands up well to a heavy snowload. Mansard RoofThe mansard roofs and style of these houses is called the French Second Empire style. In the last half of the 19th century, it was common to have roofs with dormers. It provided an extra residential floor, but tax assessments did not count the top floor in the market appraisals, so owners were, in effect, adding a floor to the building without being taxed for it. This was explained to me by a historian who recently gave a wonderful two-hour walking tour of houses and mills along the Quinebaug River in Putnam, Connecticut. You can see some interesting information about this at: http://www.americanlandmarks.com/french.htm They are there!I grew up in Brockton and those places are still there! Brockton, Mass.Would anyone please post the address of the location this shot was taken? I am working on a photogray project where I am shooting with a similar vision as Edward Hopper paintings. These Mansard Roof homes would be perfect subject matter at sunrise/sunset. Oh, please forward the address to my e-mail at sternedwards@aol.com Thanks In Advance, Charles Roland 1932 Ford Standard TudorThe car is a 1932 Ford Standard Tudor and the color is Washington Blue. I have one just like it. Look at the detailsI see details such as the fading wreaths in the windows, the rain downspouts that have a "Y" connectors from the second floor roof to the bay window roofs, then to the next level and then down to the ground; the corbels in the entry way. So many homes had them as trim items and so many are removed today. A lot of architectural character is missing in today's homes. Is it totally genuine?The power pole looks fake at the base, and its shadow is narrower than the pole itself. And take a look at the shadow of the child in black: different angle. The dog ... oh well ... no shadow at all. Maybe not totally fake, but surely retouched. [The shadow of the pole would be the same width as its base if you could see where two the came together behind the where the dirt has built up along the pavement. The shadow on the ground next to the kid is cast by whatever he's holding; his own shadow is much smaller, like the dog's. - Dave] (The Gallery, Brockton, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Jack Delano, Kids)
Whitewash: 1935
... Alabama." View full size. 8x10 nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. Actually... ...that looks ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 9:45pm -

1935 or 1936. "Negro cabin in Hale County, Alabama." View full size. 8x10 nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. Actually......that looks like a blanco cabin. ChimneysThe left side has a chimney, while the right looks like it's been altered. There appear to be boards patching what was once a fireplace, with a (whitewashed!) stovepipe coming through the wall in the corner. looks like they took out the fireplace and put in a stove. Dog Run?Do you think that center porch goes all the way through? Looks like a door in the left wall. Dog Trot DwellingsDog trot style of dwellings were constructed from the early 1800s throughout the 1930's, mainly in the Southeastern United States, using logs, lumber, stone and brick. The house form was created by separating two cabins, or pens, with a central hall that was an open breezeway. Chimneys & StovepipesGood eye - I agree it looks like they added a stove to the room on the right. I don't know if they took out a chimney there - the overhang of the roof wouldn't have made sense. Look at the opposite side - the roof is nearly flush with the side wall, permitting the chimney to rise above the roof line. Plus, a brick chimney would have extended all the way up the wall, not just at the bottom where the patching is. Perhaps the patch is unrelated to the stove addition. Huck FinnMark Twain wrote this sort of building into "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as the house of the feuding Grangerfords. Many of the details in that section, such as the chalk fruit and the piano "with tin pans in it," satirized the pretensions of the poor family that thought of themselves as quality. I must admit that I thought the house in the novel was grander, perhaps something with fake classical columns. On the other hand, I think Twain was a snob. Dog Trot/RunThis one appears to be a fine example - note the piers rather than notched log or fieldstone footings. Me about the chimney againSome chimneys were built against a house so that if removed nothing would be left open but the fireplace-I've seen chimneys like that demolished (well, one really.) If the house was reroofed after the conversion that would account of the overhang. Or of course, I could be wrong. Flue the CoopCould be...though I'm guessing this old cabin was contructed using the most economical methods possible. I'm sure the brick in the existing chimney represents over half of the structure's contruction and materials cost. Too bad most of these structures didn't survive. There are groups that "rescue" old architecture like this. A local group rescued a 120-year-old barn in my town recently. They numbered each board as they took it apart by hand. It is awaiting a place to be rebuilt now. My old Alabama homeThat is a "slab house" as they called it when I was a young'un because the outside is covered with slabs (the outside edges of pine trees when they were trimmed at the sawmill). This was the cheapest lumber available and many shacks were built with it. The reason for the dog-trot style was that it is a practical design for the hot summertime weather when the kitchen stove would heat up the room to an uncomfortable temperature when cooking. It would keep the rest of the house from getting too hot. Summertimes in the South can be hot and steamy, especially without fans or air conditioning. Past itLet me just say that I am happy I was at least one generation beyond this. (The Gallery, Rural America, Walker Evans)
Country Church: 1936
... probably Alabama or Tennessee." 8x10 safety negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Unusual ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/02/2008 - 3:57pm -

1936. "Church, Southeastern U.S., probably Alabama or Tennessee." 8x10 safety negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Unusual DesignI don't know that I've ever seen a church quite this style in the South -- the wood looks added on to a secular building of some kind. The three crosses are interesting, and the one in the center is crooked--and is that a bird perched on it? There's also no signage over the doors, which is odd. Fascinating building, clearly cobbled together. [Look again. There is a sign. Plus a cornerstone. - Dave] Southern CrossWhat is that thing on the middle cross. It doesn't look like a bird. Dave, can you use your super enhancing powers? Go go gadget magnifier? [Ta-da. - Dave] What a Letdown...It's a bit of wood. Thanks anyway! Super-Enhancing Go-Go GadgetCould you also employ your ultra-flux-capacitor, U236, turbo-rastermatic, Fireball, perma-firm, sofa-wide powers to explain . . . Okay, so it aint funny and I caint spell aint. Still, your scans are the best and your site(s) are my favorite(s) on the web. Keep up the good work. Foy Blackmon Las Vegas That Cross add-onMy first impression is that the small upright remembers the Thief on the Right at the crucifixion. Remember? The thief on the left scoffed at Jesus and blamed others for all that had happened to him,almost demanding that Jesus save him on his own terms. The thief on the right admitted his guilt and simply asked Jesus to remember him. The Orthodox Church’s cross has an additional shorter piece above the main crosspiece,and at the bottom is a smaller slanted piece. The upper piece represents the sign placed above Jesus’ head (on the Orthodox cross). And the lower piece slants toward the right as a reminder of the thief on the right. Mike This Site Teaches me So Much!Thank you Mike. I love the collaborative effect this site has in broadening my knowledge. And thank you Dave, for my absolute favourite site! Re: that Cross add-onA follow-up: My friend Dr. John Sasser (http://www2.eos.net/jsasser/) noted this in reference to the cornerstone, and church name: "The African Methodist Episcopal Church, with the "cross +" between the M and E, i.e., M+E has a very exciting history that is embedded in African tradition, i.e., voodoo, folk-lore or whatever you wish to call it...." (this cross example may) "...fit with some African-based religious practices that have been labeled voodoo are (in fact) biblical." [Or it could be a bit of bracing on the back of the cross that's come loose. - Dave] (The Gallery, Rural America, Walker Evans)
Ensley Furnace: 1936
... skeleton of a snagged kite. 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size. Long ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/04/2023 - 12:46pm -

March 1936. "Steel mill and company houses -- Birmingham, Alabama." The Ensley works of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company, along with the skeleton of a snagged kite. 8x10 inch nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the U.S. Resettlement Administration. View full size. Long timers?Did steel workers of that day live in the company houses for very long or were they able to save up enough to buy a place outside the mill area? The factory would have been up to maximum capacity in a few years. What to do with 600 acres nowMost of the Ensley plant has been demolished, but the smokestacks, below, still stand. Here is a history of the plant and property, still owned by U.S. Steel's USS Real Estate division. The last listed redevelopment proposal was in 2011. Click to embiggen
Meet Crushy: 1936
... "Waterfront warehouses." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Peters ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/05/2012 - 11:10pm -

March 1936. Savannah, Georgia. "Waterfront warehouses." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Peters Bottling CoAll I could find: 1950, Savannah City Directory, 116-118 West Bay Street. Older buildings are there, but not the ones pictured. Afternoon Sugar TimeWhen I was eight years old in the mid 1950's, I attended a two week long summer camp in the Irish Hills of Michigan. The camp did not have a camp store or PX. However, after the mandatory post lunch rest period each day, the cabin counselors would give you a red plastic bingo card chip and a metal washer. These would be traded in at the camp activity hall for an ice cold Orange Crush and a candy bar. Still love orange pop and chocolate to this day. I try to limit it to once a month. Later when I joined the Boy Scouts, the summer camps had PXs. A cherry Coke with a bag of salted peanuts poured in the cup was popular back then. Parsed Exceeding FineSo, presumably Golden Spike is the analog of Canada Dry, while Buffalo Rock is a Vernor's sort of drink? And to meet this Crushy (if that really _is_ his name), one slips in through the loading dock and makes for the employees' break room? I dialed 4332 for the answer to those and other queries, but apparently nobody's home. Crushy's familyAs you may have noticed, Crushy is a member of that popular Art Deco advertising art family I like to call the Ball Head Men. Two other examples below, courtesy Vintagraph. In recent years the Ball Head Men have enjoyed a revival of their careers and can now be seen on crosswalk signs and bathroom doors all over the world. Nucoa?Another beverage? A forerunner of YooHoo perhaps? Why am I surprised it never took off. [That's on the building next door, presumably a distribution depot for the Nucoa Butter Co., makers of the margarine. - tterrace] Truck BedsI love how the back of the delivery trucks seem to be designed to resemble a six-pack container for returnable bottles! Poster manThe very same year (a month ago in Shorpy time), Crushy / Ball Head Man pops up on a playhouse poster in New Orleans here. [In fact, he's the one in the lower left of my illustration below. - tterrace] Ball Head MenTterrace, I always called those folks "Speedball men," because they could easily be drawn using a certain Speedball drawing or lettering nib. I can't remember which nib, but it's probably down in my art supply box with cobwebs all over it! Buffalo Rock lives!Still bottled (canned, actually...) in Birmingham: http://www.buffalorock.com/products/gingerale.html A different ball headThe trademark of Bic pens and other products is the Bic Boy whose head was inspired by the ball inside of their ballpoint pens around 1960 when I worked there. He is a schoolboy holding a pen behind his back. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Walker Evans)
Overnight Parking: 1936
... "Tourist cabins." Medium-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. An outdated ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/07/2012 - 5:05pm -

March 1936, somewhere in Georgia. "Tourist cabins." Medium-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. An outdated solutionto a problem that superhighways and faster, more reliable autos has pretty much taken care of. Route 20, was, for many decades, the major east-west connection between Albany and Buffalo. The sometimes two day trip in old rattletraps with stiff suspension often made these roadside cabins a much welcome sight, and provided a livelihood for many a rural family. The crumbling remains of several such rest stops are still evident; a few are even being restored to service the modern travelers looking for a more laid back, and cheap, vacation. Capacity 2...or you don't get a rocking chair. It Happened One NightStraight out of my forever favorite movie! Tourist CabinsOr, as they were known to bluestockings everywhere, places of potential illicit assignation. The flowers are a nice touchI like the flower box attached to the front porch, but why are the windows tilted? I've never seen that before. My guess is so you can open the window during a summer storm and not get the floor wet. [Because it's cheaper than casement windows. - Dave] Windows '36You are correct, bellaruth. Those are "hopper-sash" windows and often had a chain-hook open/stop arrangement so that one could control ventilation and, to a certain extent, keep out rain. AKA: Housekeeping cottagesThey're still prevalent in many tourist areas of Maine. CabinsThe last tourist cabin business in our county closed some 20 years ago. It was right next to a pretty rough road house and rented out the cabins by the half hour. Precursor of motelsThese cabins still existed in the late 1950s and early 1960. I remember staying in one such in Front Royal Virginia, during a trip to the Skyline Drive. I've even seen a couple making a comeback in the past few years on "blue route" (backroad) trips in the rural areas. They were always clean, private and usually had access to a good diner for a meal. North GeorgiaThe rolling hills and small mountains in the distance can be seen in north Georgia. Possibly state road 441 that tourists would use coming in from the north. A HudsonThe car is a mid to late '20s Hudson Super Six sedan. Hudson CoachThe car shown is a Hudson, and although at first it might seem that the exact year is hard to pin down, there are some specific model year clues shown in the photo. The multi-tiered fenders were not used before June 16, 1924 and drum style headlights were not used after December 31, 1926. Hudson's March 1925 changes to this model included updating the windshield glass to follow the curve of the cowl at the base (instead of rectangular shaped windshield glass) and thinner windshield pillars. Therefore the car was built between June 16, 1924 (1924 second series) to sometime in March 1925 when the Coach body style was updated to the second series. The body syle is what Hudson called a Coach. Although it looks like there are doors behind the driver's door, there is no door handle. The body style is a two door. Cost of the Coach was $1,500 in June 1924, $1,395 in October, and later (probably January) to $1,345. The weight of the Coach was 3,385 pounds, and it used 33 x 6.20 balloon tires until January 1925 when the size was changed to 33 x 6.00. When the second series 1925 Coach was introduced the price fell to $1,250, and it was dropped to $1,195 in August and $1,165 in October. This was one of Hudson's best years with the company reaching 3rd place in the industry (behind Ford and Chevrolet). A second series 1924 Coach and a second series 1925 Coach are shown below for comparison. The 1924 has optional cowl lights. The 1925 has accessory white wall tires that look too wide. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Walker Evans)
Tony and Maria: 1935
... "Gravestone in cemetery." 8x10 nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The house ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2011 - 12:30pm -

December 1935. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. "Gravestone in cemetery." 8x10 nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. The house over Maria's shoulder is still there, too!Looks like some of windows have changed over the years but still basically the same. I'm also guessing those rails/markers/guides surrounding the graves in 1935 were common back then? Not sure if I liked them but they are unusual (to me, anyway). I can see why the lawn manicuring wasn't the best back then. Fascinating photo! We're still hereA bit of searching finds that Tony and Maria are still ensconced at St. Michael's Cemetery in Bethlehem, just looking a bit more weathered. The grounds are considerably better-groomed now, but it seems several of their neighbors have moved out, including that rather wonderful angel at left. Grave Images. An interesting and fine example of the stone carver's art. They definitely do not make them like this any more. And "sua moglie" means "his wife." I am hoping that they had a long and happy life together. Fine Italian CraftsmanshipYou won't see unique and extraordinary tombstones like this anymore since most newer cemeteries will allow only a plaque level with the ground for easier lawn maintenance. The very artistic and talented Italian immigrants who came to America in the l8th, 19th and 20th centuries could do just about anything and when I was a kid, they did all the masonry work, tile work (mosaic included), church paintings,stained glass windows, marble carving, you name it. I'm quite impressed with this stone and others in the background. The only improvement I could make on it would be if the eyes of Tony and Maria followed the viewers around the grounds. Rest in peace friends, ya done good. 1855 - ?Antonio Castellucci, born in Colle Sannita, Benevento, Italy, November 21, 1855. The son of Giovaniangelo, a wine merchant, and Fiorinda Castellucci. Came to America in 1887 and took up residence in South Bethlehem, PA. Antonio's first marriage was in Benevento, Italy, in 1881, to Maria Nigro, who died in 1884, without children. His second marriage was in South Bethlehem to a widow, Mary (Fanella) Salvatore, the mother of Joseph Salvatore. Three children by this second marriage: Florence, a graduate of Holy Infancy School, Class of 1912; John, a graduate of South Bethlehem Business College, Class of 1914, who then attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy; Anna, a graduate of South Bethlehem High School, Class of 1918. (Find A Grave) Back EastI find the old cemeteries back east fascinating places to visit and photograph. Especially the ones in once "well to do" areas. I especially enjoyed visiting the cemetery where my namesake Washington Irving is buried. Just up the road from the Headless Horseman bridge. Still leaningThe second utility pole up the road is still leaning to the right. But I find it hard to believe that could be the same stick of wood, after 80 years. (The Gallery, Walker Evans)
Work From Home: 1941
... knew. [Not to mention Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Walker Evans et al. - Dave] The Coming War Years I love these snapshots in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/23/2018 - 12:25pm -

January 1941. "Scene in west Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Stacks of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation in background." Medium format negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. I don't know a thing ... about the Farm Security Administration. It's hard to imagine a government agency with such a mundane handle could produce an artist like Jack Delano. I'll bet they never knew. [Not to mention Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Walker Evans et al. - Dave] The Coming War YearsI love these snapshots in time. A year after this photo was taken, the steel mills of Pennsylvania would soon be working overtime for the war effort. (The Gallery, Factories, Jack Delano)
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