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January 1942. "Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
When I read KAP's post that said the Tama Building was demolished in 2019, I had an idea.
You can jump to Google Maps by clicking 'View on Google Maps' in the post. In Street View, on the upper left of the screen, there's a black box. At the bottom of the box is a bar that says, in this case, 'Street View - Sep 2019'. Clicking on that bar will display earlier dates Street View recorded the same place. For KAP's view, there was a view from 2013. Move the slider to 2013, click on the image, and you can see the Sutters sign again!
What is Frank Lloyd Wright doing in Iowa in the middle of winter?
Isn't that Frank? That's his hat.
Oh, nevermind.
Even those substantially built cars would probably get a bit crumpled if they kissed those beefy lampposts.
In 1942 it was a bustling little downtown, even in the middle of winter.
The building in the center was the Tama Building, home of Sutter's Drug Store. It burned in 2010 and again in 2018. It was demolished in 2019.
Pretty hard to make out, but looks like the theater might be showing Johnny Eager, with Robert Taylor and Lana Turner.
Shiny leather shoes in the snow, honestly. Slippery leather soles provide no grip. Where are your galoshes or at least toe rubbers, man? And when it comes time to slip, you’ll want your hands and arms free for balance and landing, so best to get some gloves, too.
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