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The Youngs: 1909
... For both its words and its pictures, James Agee's and Walker Evans's "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (1940) is a classic. But there are also ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/31/2011 - 10:59pm -

January 22, 1909. Tifton, Georgia. "Family working in the Tifton Cotton Mill. Mrs. A.J. Young works in mill and at home. Nell (oldest girl) alternates in mill with mother. Mammy (next girl) runs 2 sides. Mary (next) runs 1½ sides. Elic (oldest boy) works regularly. Eddie (next girl) helps in mill, sticks on bobbins. Four smallest children not working yet. The mother said she earns $4.50 a week and all the children earn $4.50 a week. Husband died and left her with 11 children. Two of them went off and got married. The family left the farm two years ago to work in the mill." Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. The Youngs: 1909This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. For more than four years, I tried to identify the mother and children in this family...giving up, starting again, giving up, etc. I posted the photo on my website, hoping that someone would see it and know who this family was. On January 24, 2011, almost exactly 102 years since the date of this photo (January 22), I received the following email: “The family of Mrs. A.J. Young of Tifton, Ga. is a picture of my grandmother and great-grandmother's family. My mother knows more information.” Several hours later, I talked to both the writer of the email, and her mother, got a few more facts (they didn’t know a lot), and spent the rest of the day searching census and death records on the Internet. After eight more months of research, and interviews with numerous descendants, I have assembled the incredible story of this family, and I am close to posting the entire story on my website. I was able to track down the story of the mother, every child in the photograph, the two children who had recently married and are not in the photo, and the husband/father who had died. Exactly three months after Hine encountered this family, Mrs. Young, in desperation, placed the seven youngest children in an orphanage, and within several years, most had been adopted and lost contact with one another. One hundred years later, the descendants now know what happened to all of them. I’ll notify Shorpy when the story is posted. The commentary with all the Hine photosDave, I've always been curious of something. Are the comments on the backs of the pictures, or are they a separate document or journal? Its always the same brief details he provides regarding hours worked, wages, living conditions, as well as the numerous times he mentions a child laborer that he suspects is lying about his age in order to get a job. [The information was recorded on caption cards accompanying the photos. These pictures were commissioned by the National Child Labor Committee for its reports to Congress, which ran to thousands of pages. - Dave] A hard lifeMy mom's family did some sharecropping (cotton) while she was growing up in Dallas Georgia. This was in the 50s. From the stories she's told, everything associated with the cotton farming lifestyle was extremely hard. And it's funny this pic would be posted today, as just yesterday I finished reading the novel "A Painted House," by John Grisham. It goes into great detail about the lifestyles and hardships of cotton growers/sharecroppers/any and everything to do with the lifestyle. As I so often say here, we just don't know how good we have it today. Even something as simple as a Coca Cola was a luxury to these people. This is yet another heart-breaking photo here. GuinnessIt's a shame the old man died when he did. Looks like they were going for the record. 1909, Not such a good yearThe fact that most of the children wound up in an orphanage, where they were put up for adoption, shows that the family really did not survive. If you were dirt poor at the beginning of the 20th Century you didn't have a chance. The husband who had died, and I'm hypothesizing here, possibly died in a work accident, or from a disease that he couldn't afford to be properly treated for or just plain worked himself to death. [Or something like that. - Dave] Particulars of their timeSo, for curiosity's sake, when I viewed this photo I did a quick google search on Mrs. A. J. Young. There is another photo of Mr. Hine's that seems to appear very often online. While viewing it, I found it interesting and remarkable how eerily similar it was to the "1964 diner" photo posted here on Shorpy recently, the subjects faces.. so similar, but their expressions clearly mark the particulars of their time and experience. They almost appear as the same people experiencing two different realities. Great --More "lazy" people. The rest of the storyI cannot WAIT to receive the link to your article Joe Manning. Dave, if possible, it would be great if you wouldn't mind highlighting it in its own post so we catch it. What a fascinating, incredible story--and so heartbreaking. Imagine, just three months after this picture was taken, this family was shattered. Children sent to different homes, losing touch with their mother and siblings. Imagine the psychological trauma they all, especially Mom, went though. Trauma that likely was never discussed, but infiltrated their lives on a daily basis. I work in the field of health disparities and learned that individuals of low Socioeconomic Status (SES) have a different type of stress than their counterparts. This difference is incredibly displayed in the two pictures Nemesis Grey posted. There's chronic stress experienced only by low SES individuals (persistent, never ending stress that occurs when individuals are unable to obtain long-term security for the basic items required for survival), and intermediate stress experienced by mid- to high-SES individuals (stress with definite endpoints that at times, can even reap rewards, e.g. work deadlines, getting children to day care on time, and even sicknesses (since medical care is one less stress for those who are insured)). This is why Social Security was so popularThirty years later, the children that had to be placed into an orphanage, the family split up, were all voters. They remembered that event. The original purpose of Social Security was to support the indigent: the elderly, widows and their children. If each child had received a grant until the age of 18, the family would have been able to hold itself together. We truly have forgotten the grinding poverty of the early 20th Century. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Mrs A. J. Young probably have little idea of what happened to their family - or what it meant. The person I wonder about is Mrs. Young. What must breaking up her family have done to her! She looks to have been a proud and loving mother - look at the way her hands rest on the two youngest. Joe Manning, thank yyou for letting us know what happened to this family. All America should learn their story. A wish about to be granted?When I see pictures at Shorpy, I often wonder what might have happened to the people in them and wish I could learn more. Especially with shots like this one, I want to believe at least some of the kids might have gone on to better things and even happy lives. Now it appears we might get many of our questions answered, at least about this family. According to info at sevensteeples (Joe Manning's site), the kids in this pic are (L to R) Mell, Mattie, Mary, Alex, Eddie Lou, Elzy, Seaborn, Elizabeth and Jesse (boy). Birth controlPeople seem to think that people had a choice about whether or not they had children. They didn't. Birth control wasn't an option for just about anyone in those days, even the wealthy. And the wealthy had the luxury of having separate bedrooms. Sure they could abstain (abstention being the modern rockinghorse of those who seem to things that marital relations are a prerogative of those with money). Humans have the sincere (and often vain) hope that eventually life would improve. There was also the hope that some of the children would survive to adulthood and eventually take care of their parents. OrphanagesOrphanages were not only for children to be adopted. Many orphanages were places where children could be placed until the parent, more often a widowed mother, could place their child until she found her footing. My half-brother and sister were placed in an orphanage several times during their childhood when their mother couldn't financially cope and my (by then estranged) father was unable or unwilling to support them. I thank my lucky stars MY mother always had steady work. FascinatingGreat work, Dave. The comments here, all 1,000 or so words, are worthy of the picture. History lives. The Youngs: 1909My mother picked cotton and also worked as a migrant worker in California when she was a teenager. She and my grandmother always said cotton was the worst--backbreaking labor and bolls that ripped inexperienced hands to shreds. I grew up with very little economically, but thank God I was taught to be grateful for everything I had and for the time in which I was born. I wonder how many of us could currently survive those times and circumstances and with so much courage and grace? I look forward to hearing the rest of the story. As a mother and grandmother, I can only try to imagine the depth of Mrs. Jones' sorrow. What incredible love and amazing strength she demonstrated when she allowed her babies to have second chances at better lives. Truly a remarkable human being. DesperationIt breaks my heart to think that this woman was in such a desperate situation that she had to give up her beautiful children. The little guy with his hands in his pockets especially touches my heart! The same situation faced many parents in Romania, only 20 years ago. The German social worker in charge of adoptions in the area we were living in at the time told us that she was planning a trip to take some of the Americans on our base to find children to adopt from a Romanian orphanage. We didn't end up going, but others from our base did. They had gone thinking that any child who was in an orphanage would be free for adoption, but that was not the case. Many of the parents of the children had put them there out of desperation, but hoped to one day be able to take them home. Things did eventually improve in Romania so, hopefully, most of those parents were able to take back their children. I'm so sorry that Mrs. Young did not have that opportunity. Related to the YoungsFor both its words and its pictures, James Agee's and Walker Evans's "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (1940) is a classic. But there are also two "Where are they now?" sequels to this book about three poor families living in the cotton economy of the Depression-era South. One is Howell Raines's article "Let Us Now Revisit Famous Folk" in the New York Times Magazine, May 25, 1980; the other is Dale Maharidge's and Michael Williamson's book "And Their Children After Them: The Legacy of 'Let Us Now Praise Famous Men': James Agee, Walker Evans, and the Rise and Fall of Cotton in the South" (Pantheon, 1989). Good luck trying to see the photographs that accompany Raines's article, though. They've been deleted from the online version for copyright reasons, the paper originals are mostly gone now, and (in my library, at least) the microfilm copy is fast deteriorating. If you want one more example of the tragedy of current copyright law, there it is. [If you look up the Raines article using ProQuest, you can see the photos in Page View. - Dave] Desperation & OrphanagesQuite right! In these days, we don't see this type of orphanage in the US (or really, any at all.) But in many countries, they are still State run board-and-care homes for families experiencing hard times. Only those children whose parents have given up their rights (or had them removed judicially) are available for adoption. We adopted two little girls from a Russian home in 1998 and 1999 (where all the children had received excellent care and attention, BTW.) Noelani mentions the one little boy in particular. It is truly heart-breaking to visit an orphanage like ours, and not be able to bring home ALL of them! We have a photo of three beautiful, smiling little boys, maybe 8-9 years old, in baseball cap, in a line with arms about each other. Could have been any home-grown group of pals, much like some of Hine's newsboys here on Shorpy. The Youngs: 1909. Entire story complete. This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. My entire, often heartbreaking, story of this family is posted. Three months after this photo was taken, the seven youngest children went to an orphanage, and the family was never reunited. The story includes all five Hine photos of the family, individual stories of Mrs. Young, all nine of her children in the photo, and even the two children who "went off and got married." There are interviews with numerous descendants, dozens of photographs of family members at various ages, and information about Tifton Cotton Mills and child labor in Georgia in the early 1900s. Go to: http://morningsonmaplestreet.com/2014/12/29/catherine-young-family/ SpeechlessOnce again, Mr. Manning, you have left me speechless. All I can say, is a very inadequate "thank you". Thanks Joe ManningJoe, your research and moving story of the Young family should be required reading for all Americans (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Kentucky Moonshine: 1938
... seen here , two years earlier in a picture snapped by Walker Evans. An interesting study in contrasts, or lack thereof. Medium-format ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/21/2013 - 9:46am -

May 1938. "Houses in Atlanta, Georgia." Last seen here, two years earlier in a picture snapped by Walker Evans. An interesting study in contrasts, or lack thereof. Medium-format nitrate negative by John Vachon. View full size. Pattern HousesDespite the apparent poverty of the houses and the neighborhood, I am impressed with the interesting and odd circular design-work on the upper porches. Porch ProblemsThe billboards are actually part of the porches on these two houses, not on a fence in front of the porch. You can tell by the porch columns - they're visible running down the billboard, and their bases stick out below it. Finally, the right-most poster is mounted on the side of the house. Desperate times. [I suspect this was a block of renters and absentee landlords (or condemned houses and squatters), and that in derelict neighborhoods the handbills are plastered wherever you can get away with it. - Dave] I'm Gonna See Kidnapped!Robert Lewis Stevenson! Freddy Bartholomew! A cast of 5,000! At the Fox! Stars and clouds on the ceiling! Too GoofyThe billboard for Kentucky Moonshine just doesn't cut it. I'll wait for "Thunder Road". Re: Too GoofyThe poster fits pretty well with the plot! Radio show farce, with fake hillbillies (from NYC) decked out in beards and long guns, caught up in mountain folk feuds. Same houses?As in Walker Evans' photograph. [As noted and linked in the caption. - tterrace] Of the Two'The Count of Monte Cristo' is a wonderful adaptation, revenge and regret, beautifully portrayed by Donat. I do agree about the two houses, neatly done, but fallen on hard times and making the best of it. Watch This Space!Those houses were quite respectable when constructed but, obviously, the Great Depression has lowered all boats. Apparently, in lieu of (or perhaps in addition to) taking in boarders, the owners have turned their front fences into income-producing billboards. (The Gallery, Atlanta, John Vachon, Movies)
Standard Service: 1940
... pictures are sadly underrated. He was highly influenced by Walker Evans, whose plain and unpretentious portraits showed little evidence of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/14/2019 - 11:35am -

April 1940. "Gas station on a sunny afternoon. Dubuque, Iowa." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Hairy CatConsidering the Cat's hair in this self-portrait (https://www.shorpy.com/node/25187), I wonder if Mr. Vachon was peering over the camera and looking at the lens (or out the window) the moment this exposure happened. [He was looking down into the viewfinder. - Dave] That does double for me!I loved all my twin-lens reflex cameras and wish I had kept them. But nnnnoooooo ... Current view?The Page Hotel, located in the upper left, was located at the corner of Fourth and White streets. This view from Google Maps, appears to show approximately the same view. Not sure if the existing brick building across the tracks is the same one in the current view. U.S. 61 Freeway There NowBased on this article, the Page Hotel stood at Fourth and White Streets, about where the U.S. 61 freeway is now. http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=PAGE,_John Heavy metalBeing a steam locomotive fanatic, I would want a room facing the tracks in the hotel. Unfortunately I wouldn't be born until Nov. of 1940. Looks like a busy crossing and with the baggage carts must be right at the depot. John VachonJohn Vachon's FSA pictures are sadly underrated. He was highly influenced by Walker Evans, whose plain and unpretentious portraits showed little evidence of advocacy or drama. Vachon had the same style, but his subject matter often differed from that of Evans. Vachon was young and inexperienced when he was hired by FSA head Roy Stryker. He fell in love with the camera, and loved touring the country for the first time. He photographed just about everything he saw, in this case a gas station near the railroad tracks. Consequently, his vast collection of pictures has become a valuable document of how life and the built environment looked in the 1930s. If you build it they will comeIt's kind of hard to see but if you follow the road (4th Street) from the bottom towards the top of the picture you will see a baseball stadium in the distance. It was known alternatively as Municipal Stadium, 4th Street Stadium, or John Petrakis Park. It was built in 1915 and was razed sometime in the 1970s, I believe. It hosted several minor league ballclubs. Double visionUnlike commenter Jim Page, I'm a newcomer to twin-lens reflex cameras, having started to collect them last year. I found this image of Jack Delano somewhere in cyberspace. I believe that's a Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex around his neck. Being a serious fan, I just had had to buy one. Gas PricesWhat's up with the sign? Prices? Octanes? [Yes. - Dave] Photographer's viewpointWell, we can see where the photo was taken from in radiochris's modern shot. There was a fire here, tooThe six-story brick building shown in the "Current View" post is the Canfield Hotel, built in 1927 as an addition to the existing four-story wooden structure. In 1946 a fire destroyed the older wooden building, killing 19 people, including owner William Canfield. The picture would have been taken from the four-story wooden part. An account of the fire: http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=CANFIELD_HOTEL (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Railroads)
Our Mother's Cocoa: 1940
... of American advertising, especially in old photos. Walker Evans for one used the striking graphics of ordinary commerce to excellent ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/21/2007 - 11:00am -

February 1940. A grocery store in Salem, Illinois. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. Mmmmm, old fashioned head cheeseMmmmm, old fashioned head cheese on special! Deeelish!!! So much better than any of those MODERN type head cheeses. food pricesI was curious about how the 1940 prices compare to 2007 prices, so I checked them against my local grocery store. (I live in a town of 40k in NC. I chose the prices of the store brand.) 1940/2007 pork shoulders .10 lb/ 1.49 lb (whole shoulder) potatoes .25 per 5 lb/ 3.99 per 5 lb eggs .19 dz/ 2.29 dz oleo (margarine) .095 lb/ .79 lb (I should've looked for corn oil marg, this had a high proportion of soy.) rolled oats .10 40 oz./ 2.29 42 oz syrup .23 5 lbs/ 1.99 1 lb onions .15 10 lb/ 2.99 3 lbs apples .25 6 lbs/ 3.99 3 lbs grapefruit juice .19 46 oz/2.79 46 oz Most of the 2007 foods are around x11-x23 increase over 1940 prices, but the syrup is x47 and the onions are x66 more. I guess this reflects the labor costs, though the juice is only x15 more. 2007 apples are x32 more, but the Feb 1940 apples would've been from the 1939 crop. It is possible that the 1940 prices are sale items and don't represent usual prices. Food pricesYou might want to consider the wages in 1940 to 2007. My father in law said he was getting $25.00 per week about the time this picture was taken. If you want to be preciseIf you want to be precise with the price differentials of the comparable food items between then and now, you must first establish the degree to which the dollar has decreased in 'buying power'. Following that not exactly direct calculation, then the actual differences in prices on the various items from then until today would be more accurate and valid. Although, you can get a good idea on which items will reflect real differences by using Tracy's method of noting the ratios. It's not a simple one to one comparison, such that you can say everything is so much more expensive these days. Just as you can't compare wages directly. All that over one photo of food prices...? Yeah, I know. Big deal. Pork ShoudersCallie style pork shouders? The store owner's calligraphy may be better than mine, but not spelling. (Oh yeah? Then why did I have to check whether there's 1 or 2 L's in calligraphy? OTOH, Google lists about 61,000 web instances of "shouder," so it's a common typo.) AdvertisingI'm less interested in the prices than the dazzling quality of American advertising, especially in old photos. Walker Evans for one used the striking graphics of ordinary commerce to excellent effect, but it looks great even among less famous photographers. ShoudersThat's what jumped out at me. But then, while in the sixth grade in 1959, I won the Oklahoma state spelling bee. Winning word, "Chrysanthemum." 9½ Cents a PoundI love the fact that the Oleo was 9½ cents a pound. Not 9. Not 10. The penny has so little value nowadays. BTW, my father used to call it oleo or oleomargarine. Haven't heard that in ages. It's nice to see that word again. (But, I'd rather eat butter.) [I guess that leaves just gasoline as the last consumer item priced in fractions of a cent. - Dave] Cake RecipeDoes anyone have the recipe that was on the back of the Our Mother's Cocoa can that was a chocolate cake with a caramel icing? OR does anyone know how/where I could get (like company info, etc.)? Thanks! Our Mother's CocoaThat company was bought out by the people who sell the "World's Best Candy Bars" that schoolkids are all the time selling for fundraisers. Our Mother's Chocolate CakeNot with caramel icing, but maybe it is the same cake base. Our Mothers Cocoa Cake: 1/4 c butter, 1 c sugar, 2 eggs beaten, 2 1/2 tbsp Our Mother's Cocoa, 1/2 c sweet milk, 1 1/2 c sifted flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract. Turn into greased floured 8x8x2 pan 350F 45 min. Our Mothers Cocoa Icing: 2/3 c Our Mother's Cocoa, 1/2 c boiling water, 1 lb confectioners sugar, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp vanilla. Our Mother's CocoaIs there somewhere that you can still buy Mother's Cocoa or does it not exist anymore? (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Stores & Markets)
Emancipation Day: 1905
... at this site. I have for three years. I've been a fans of Walker Evans, Lewis Hine, Russell Lee, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein, for most ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 4:54pm -

April 3, 1905. Richmond, Virginia. "Emancipation Day." See news item below. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. NEGROES' DAY CELEBRATED. Inauguration of Colored President Part of the Ceremony.         Richmond, Va., April 3 -- Thousands of Negroes observed Emancipation Day in Virginia to-day. The occasion resulted in an outpouring of the race never before equaled, armed with miniature United States flags and attended by brass bands.         In addition, there was a unique feature to-night, the inauguration of a colored President. At True Reformers' Hall the interior of the White House was reproduced, and all the ceremonies incident to the induction of a Chief Magistrate into office were gone through with.         To-day was also the fortieth anniversary of the evacuation of Richmond by the Confederate forces and the partial destruction of the city by fire. (Washington Post, April 4, 1905.) Hello! Mark Gooch!Awesome to run into a fellow Birmingham person on here! I grew up outside of Birmingham, in a little community called West Jefferson. I lived, as a child, about 4 miles from where Shorpy worked. I was fascinated and attempting to explore all the abandoned mining works around at the age Shorpy would've actually been working in them. (I also had a substitute teacher in elementary school with the last name of Higginbotham. I only had her once or twice, I believe she was retired. An amazing woman, very stern.) This website is a continual source of inspiration and diversion for me. Like Mark, I have been drawn to the photographers he mentions since I can remember, and they inspired me to get an undergraduate degree in photography. I'm studying architecture in Texas now, and use these amazing images in my presentations from time to time as examples of good spaces lost, or to get at that piercing nag that historical images have. This image is powerful to me not only because it foreshadows the groundswell that was civil rights, but also because I'm from a place that saw so much of that struggle. I am proud to be from this conflicted place, and I only hope that the progress continues. Emancipation Day should be a national holiday. Great PictureThis picture suggests the wonderful hidden history of African Americans in the time after the Civil War. It's remarkable to think that for these people about as much time had passed since the end of the Civil War as has passed for us since the fall of Saigon. It's interesting to consider what memories and stories they were carrying with them. A bit grim...For all that this is a commemoration/celebration, there seem to be more serious faces than not. Interesting that they had an inauguration! It was a 104 year early dress rehearsal, apparently. Yes you can.Although none of those marching in this image would live to see it, I wish we could reach back and tell them that one day, it would happen. That today a black man is president of their country. A particularly stylish womanA particularly stylish woman on the sidewalk next to the building on right caught my eye. Is she there with the man on her right and the three(?) children on her left? What are the white men up in the law offices thinking? Who are the various white men among the crowd? Just passersby? Plainclothes? Any possibility they're actually participating/ celebrating? Birthday greetings from Shorpy's Hometown!Happy Continuance Day Shorpy.com! I hope you continue for many years to come. I'm a professional photographer in Birmingham, Alabama. This is the proud home of Shorpy Higginbotham. I'm like so many of your fans, I start my day looking at this site. I have for three years. I've been a fans of Walker Evans, Lewis Hine, Russell Lee, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein, for most of my life. I even got to meet and visit with Rothstein once. It is such a privilege to view your photo offerings. The picture above is very special to me. I grew-up in Columbus, Mississippi. Emancipation Day was celebrated on May 8. In Columbus this was known as "8 of May Day". I was always under the impression that May 8 was when the news of Emancipation reached Mississippi. This site is such a gift. Thank You. www.markgooch.com Cheering Dixie? Richmond Times Dispatch, Apr 4, 1905 Celebration of Day of Freedom Negroes Cheered "Dixie" on Their Emancipation Anniversary. Nearly every colored man, woman and child in Richmond, and the surrounding territory, took part in or viewed the big emancipation parade yesterday. The crowd was orderly and was the subject of favorable comments from all who saw the line as it passed along to the music of several bands. The parade consumed something like twenty minutes in passing a given point, and was made up of various negro clubs and societies. An amusing incident was the cheering of "Dixie" on this occasion. After the principal streets of the city had been marched over, the crowds centered in the ball park, where the orators addressed the multitude on the subject most in mind. The principal speaker was D. Webster Davis, whose oration was loudly applauded. Rev. T.A. Green was the other speaker. During the speaking a board on the bleachers broke and caused a little excitement, but no one was hurt. Last night there was a banquet of the leaders at Price's Hall, and at True Reformer's Hall a colored opera company held forth. The colored hotels and boarding houses were full to overflowing with excursionists and the ward was a dense mass of people all day and far into the night. The thousands of local colored people on the streets were augmented by many from the country, who, in their gay rigs, added to the general interest in the parade. Old donkeys, with ante-bellum beards, marched beside negroes of the younger generation, and cooks, waiters, porters, washerwomen and barbers knocked off from work to join in the festivities incidental to the celebration of the day that really marks the fall of Richmond rather then the negroes' emancipation. Times Change'Inauguration of Colored President.' The writer of that headline would never have dreamt in a million years that it would actually come to fruition. And cheering Dixie? Deep irony or carried away in the moment. Where was this photo shotI have been trying to figure out exactly where (street/block) this photo was shot. The "John I Williams" bankers and brokers business in the background were apparently at 112 E Main Street at some time (according to court records) but the National Park Service says this image was taken in Jackson Ward, on the other side of town. Given the segregation of the time, I suspect this march was in Jackson Ward, "the Harlem of the south". Unfortunately, it seems that most of the original 1905 buildings in both areas are demolished today. There were street car lines both on Main as well as 1st and 5th (which passed through Jackson Ward). [This is somewhere in the main business district downtown. John L. (not I.) Williams was a prominent brokerage firm. The National Bank of Virginia is on the right. - Dave] 10th and Main downtownVirginia Commonwealth University's Rarely Seen Richmond puts this location at 10th and Main Streets with the Shafer Building at the corner and the old Custom House and Richmond Post Office in the background. The page also links to a photo of a somewhat different parade at the same street corner. Attorneys Looking Out The WindowAttorneys Shelton and Atkinson looking out of their second story offices probably are celibrating celebrating with champiagn Champagne, knowing these people mean money in the bank from defending them (or prosecuting them). You know there is going to be some kind of lawbreaking going on with these people. There always is. Will the defendant please rise. ($$$) Also, on ground level the photographer with his box camera and bodygaurd bodyguard can be seen keeping an eye out for troublemakers. Which probably was not that hard to find. I hope they were safe and un-harmed. [What a dope. - Dave] Jim Crow is a-waitin' The light skinned participants might be white pro-abolitionists, or, what was referred to in those days as 'High-yella', those whose ancestry made them less than septaroons, verifiably less than one sixteenth negro, and consequently able to 'pass' as white. It is a shameful legacy that we still employ, branding anyone of the lightest discernible African tint as colored. Partly black is black, while partly white is still black. "Free in body my brothers, but our souls are still in chains", those words still have relevance today. (The Gallery, DPC, Streetcars)
Broad Street: 1911
... introduced tobacco to the white man. - Dave] Walker-Evans Who knew he was a stationer at the age of 7? Tonics for the Nerves ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/01/2014 - 8:05am -

Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1911. "Broad Street looking west." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. What is this thing?Hearse? Food cart? [Delivery van for the Jet-White steam laundry. - Dave] No Google Street View HereInterestingly, Google does not have street view for this part of Broad Street. The drug store on the right was razed, and is now a Wachovia (soon to be Wells Fargo). Also, the tall building on the right is now lacking the wonderful cornice detail it once had. Non-clearance CurveThe CARS PASS HERE sign likely refers to the fact that if streetcars travelling in opposite directions attempted to pass each other on the curve, they would collide. Cars PassThe Cars Pass here sign is not uncommon on older streetcar systems that have upgraded from the short 2 axle cars to longer 4 axle ones. The problem, that cities found, was that the existing trackwork didn't always have the best clearances. Where two shorter cars may pass fine on such a curve, longer cars would often over hang and strike each other. Since most (not all of course) streetcar systems worked on "sight" or without signals with the motormen maintaining safe distance on their own based on what they see, you would often find signs like this near pinch points. Basically what it tells the motorman is that if they saw another car (there should be a mirror somewhere on a building for this) that the driver was to stop and wait for the car to pass him before starting forward. CARS PASS HEREPerhaps the sign refers to the crossover track below. On another subject, the cigar store Indian brings to mind a question - what's the reason for that association that was so common in those days? [Indians introduced tobacco to the white man. - Dave] Walker-EvansWho knew he was a stationer at the age of 7? Tonics for the NervesVigorone and Coca Celery. Broad ViewSo many details about life a century ago are in this picture: 1. Utility poles are not 100% straight and still have the knots from where their branches once grew. 2. Those poles are planted in the street, amid the cobblestones. They are also inventoried and labeled by their owner (as if pole rustling was a problem back then). 3. The Indian not only has wheels, he has a custom box to stand on--again out in the street. Likewise the postcard/cigar/soda water sign. And if you have a barrel full of whatever is in that barrel, put it out beyond the curb too. The street is not for transportation. It is part of the front yard of the stores. 4.Repainting signs is not important. Everyone knows where Folio Bros Cigars and Carolina Building Material are, so no need to keep the sign from fading or peeling. 5. You can park your car on either side of the street, facing either direction. Just be sure to look before you step out, so you don't step in any equine by-products. 6. Lots of mounting blocks and hitching posts for those horses. 7. Next to the Walker Evans pole is a great place to hang out and socialize. 8. The middle of the street is a good place to walk along. 9. It is very much a man's world. I see only one women and no children along the entire street. Utility PolesThe reason that the utility poles are numbered is to keep track of maintenance and alterations. Also, in some areas back then there might well be a difference as to who was responsible for the electric power and the telephone poles (vs one leasing space on the other). Most of the overhead clutter of wires and crossarms was before multi-conductor telephone cables were developed. Buildings of NoteThis view is taken from the foot of Broad Street at East Bay Street. The tall building on the right is Charleston's first skyscraper, the People's National Bank Building; it was designed by Thompson and Frohling of New York and built in 1910-1911. Today it houses condominiums. In the distance at the left can be seen the tower of St. Michael's Church, built 1752-1761 and still standing at what Charlestonians call the "Four Corners of Law" (the intersection of Broad and Meeting Streets). +99Below is the same view from July of 2010. (The Gallery, Charleston, DPC)
2:23: 1941
... real artists. I've known about well-known names like Walker Evans for ages, but Delano is a pleasant discovery for me. (The Gallery, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/04/2012 - 11:07pm -

Ayer Mill clock tower, Lawrence, Massachusetts. January 1941. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. Soothsayer's RecompensePaging Giorgio de Chirico ... pig...Throw a pink pig up near that smoke stack and you've got a Pink Floyd album cover... Coming from the Northeast, it's interesting to see the mills when they were actually in use as opposed to their current states of disrepair or hip, urban renewal. great blog, by the way. Steel Mill photographs ?I have a request how about some steel mill photos? If anyone has any please post. If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. Mark Twain What interests me mostare those old wooden bodied box cars of the now defunct New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad sitting on the company's siding. Many of these old time railroad cars were still in use well into the 1960's. "The New Haven", as it was commonly known, spent a good portion of its more than century of existence in derelict bankruptcy and trusteeship. Keeping equipment in good shape, other than motive power, was often something that was sacrificed in the name of financial savings. The New Haven was also a target of corporate takeovers and such by people like tycoon J.P. Morgan. I would love to know the history of that old passenger/baggage "combine" car sitting in the foreground. It is also of wooden bodied construction with open platforms and vestibules. At this point in its life, it seems to have been downgraded to a "boarding car", "maintenance-of-way" or work equipment. This was the fate that many old railroad passenger cars met before they were eventually retired or scrapped. Hello JackDe Chirico, indeed. The photographers on these pages were not only technically knowledgeable, but were real artists. I've known about well-known names like Walker Evans for ages, but Delano is a pleasant discovery for me. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Factories, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Milestone
... Dorothea Lange, Jack Delano, Lewis Hine, Russell Lee, Walker Evans ... and tterrace. You move in some pretty good company, buddy! ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 4:14pm -

It was one year ago, June 23, 2008, that I uploaded my first photos to Shorpy. Ironic that on that date, exactly one year less a day before Kodak discontinued the film, one of them was a Kodachrome. This is me, in Kodachrome, shooting Kodachrome with my Kodak Retinette, in July 1967. View full size. Styling!This reminds me of the way I typically dress and comb my hair. Nobody my age tucks their shirt in so I'm trying to bring it back. Happy anniversary, Tterrace!We're glad you're here and we love your photos. Keep 'em coming! Thanks, TterraceYour photos and comments are part of what make Shorpy the best photo website I've seen. Thank you so muchI like your photos, they are a big part of SHORPYs side. Thank you for every photo, keep on! Photographers listI think tterace deserves to be included in the list in the right sidebar. Thanks, tterrace. [Good idea. I've created a gallery for his posts called tterrapix. Now all he needs to do is to go back and "tag" his previous posts to make them appear in the gallery. - Dave] Thanks a millionTo Erzsi for suggesting my gallery, to Dave for creating it and also to Dave for tackling the lion's share of the tagging, which I was bollixing up on my first attempt. Also to all the people who've said nice things about my photos. Viva Shorpy! One of the ImmortalsHmmm, Ansel Adams, Arthur Rothstein, Dorothea Lange, Jack Delano, Lewis Hine, Russell Lee, Walker Evans ... and tterrace. You move in some pretty good company, buddy! McNear's BeachI'm going to take a stab here, and say this was taken near McNear's Beach in San Rafael California. That is the Richmond-San Rafael bridge for sure in the background. I'll even say that it's a hill that you can climb and look down upon the Peacock Gap Golf Course. Milestone locationThis is a section of this shot, so you're right about the bridge, rgraham, but it's actually on the hill overlooking downtown San Rafael, up Robert Dollar Drive in Boyd Park. Ah hah!I think I know that location now. It's the hill that seems to get a fire going on at least once each summer. There used to be a cross on top of it, but I'm sure it's been taken down by now. I can see 101 running off into the distance, heading over into Corte Madera, and Larkspur. I did in fact just cross that bridge twice this morning. re: Ah hahActually, that's the approach to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, then State 17, now I-580. You can see the old westbound overpass from 101 near the right edge. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Pause ... Drink: 1939
... to it I can imagine Johnston grabbing this shot while Walker Evans stood by, patiently waiting for the shadows to clear. So long ago ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 2:46pm -

Chatham County, Georgia, circa 1939. "Fahm Street, west side, Savannah. Row houses built about 1850. Torn down 1940 for Yamacraw Village housing." 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. "Confectionery"A glorious word from my childhood. Beat him to itI can imagine Johnston grabbing this shot while Walker Evans stood by, patiently waiting for the shadows to clear. So long agoIn my mind, I can still hear the announcer's voice advising us to "Snap back with Stanback!" Thanks for another memory. Signs of distressIn addition to Coke and Nehi, we have Stanback ("for headache and neuralgia") and Swamp Root ("Kidney and Bladder Diuretic"). A Dr. Kilmer made Swamp Root in Binghamton, NY, along with Ocean Weed and any number of other priceless patent medicines. The company was in business there until the 40's. According to one web page, "Swamp Root contained Buchu leaves, Oil of Juniper, Oil of Birch, Colombo Root, Swamp-Sassafras, Balsam Copaiba, Balsam Tolu, Skullcap leaves, Venice Turpentine, Valerian Root, Rhubarb Root, Mandrake Root, Peppermint herb, Aloes, Cinnamon and sugar and contained approximately 9 to 10-1/2% alcohol." I think the last-named ingredient explains the huge pile of Swamp Root bottles I once found thrown over a bank behind a former parsonage not far from here. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, Savannah, Stores & Markets)
The Old Woman: 1935
... Compositional Masterpiece In a style reminscent of Walker Evans. The foreground still-life and the woman's Whistler's-Mother profile are ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 12:40pm -

October 1935. "Interior of a home of prospective resettlement client. Brown County, Indiana." The old woman seen with her husband in an earlier post today. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Theodor Jung for the FSA. Compositional MasterpieceIn a style reminscent of Walker Evans. The foreground still-life and the woman's Whistler's-Mother profile are brilliant. She is fading along with her possessions into the past. (The Gallery, Great Depression, Rural America, Theodor Jung)
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