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Newark City Subway PCC car, circa winter 1974. Franklin Avenue Loop. The subway line has since been extended. These cars were first used on the system in 1946. View full size.
Me with red sneakers (a trademark to this day), circa 1951. This is on a trailer vacation to Northern California from Los Angeles and anything that involved water had my full attention and participation. View full size.
My father prided himself on the family Christmas card ... set, costumes and lighting all with dubious artistic merit. Our living room in Los Angeles. View full size.
Bert has a new car -- a 1954 Hudson Hornet -- so must take a picture of it while he and Iva visit someone in the cemetery. From my late father-in-law's father's slides. Bert worked for the railroad and loved his cars. They lived in Wausau, Wisconsin, but I'm not sure where this photo was taken. View full size.
A photo taken in Este, a town about 75km west of Venice. Bought in a flea market in Villafranca di Verona, seller said it was from 1896.
Este has a history dating back to the Iron Age. It became a Roman colony, was nearly destroyed by Attila the Hun, and later was part of the Austrian Empire. Today, it is twinned with Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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The senior class play "The Little Minister" in 1947 at Eleanor McMain High School in New Orleans. My mother, Mary Elizabeth Gant (Russell) played the widow (seated), the minister was played by Jerry Campbell. The "gypsy", was played by one Betty Pfieffer. Betty's daughter would go on to a bit more acclaim in front of audiences. Betty is the mother of Ellen DeGeneres. View full size.
In going through my Dad's old family photos of the 1920s I found this photo to be of interest. I am sure the day was typically Iowa hot, but another photo showing a close up of Dad with his parents shows his gown unbuttoned, exposing a full dress Army uniform with jacket under the gown! How uncomfortable that must have been. Photographer unknown, Iowa City, Iowa, June 1925.
We're on a camping trip, late 1960s, I think. Not exactly sure of where we were. Here's my intrepid mother, who is still with us and fully engaged at 92.
The hotcakes look a bit doubtful, as does she.
In later years, she told me that these trips were not really a vacation for her. She did the same stuff on the road as she did at home!
Mom was (and is) such a good sport.
This photo was taken by my close friend and fellow transit historian, Kenneth L. Douglas (1929-2017), who was born and raised in Huntington Park, Los Angeles. Ken gave me this 35mm slide about 1959, at the time I first became acquainted with him while we were both residents of Philadelphia.
The photo looks north at the intersection of Main and 6th Street opposite the main terminal of the Pacific Electric Ry. The clock registers 2:30 PM and the slide is dated August 22, 1950. A sharp eye will see LA City Hall in the distance at 1st and Main, and learn a lot about the state of the economy in the day.
Two different gauge tracks visible are used by two different trolley companies, Pacific Electric (the red cars) and Los Angeles Transit Lines (the yellow cars) along with overhead power to a trackless trolley (fourth vehicle in line), a diesel bus (fifth in line) and various other modes of transportation of the day.
Third and Locust in Columbia, Pennsylvania, circa 1910. Photographer unknown. Scanned from a broken 8x10 glass negative (shown cracks restored via Photoshop but otherwise not retouched). The black edges are due to lost emulsion aging. Most buildings shown still exist. The corner building on the right was, for many years, Hinkles Pharmacy, where "Doc Hinkle" (the pharmacist) conjured up the famous Doc Hinkle's Easter Egg Dye in 1893.