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Caprine Caper: 1904
... not the heat ... it's the stupidity. Or so they say in New Orleans. In this case, I'm betting it was a hot, humid day. The squinty ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/08/2022 - 10:44am -

New York circa 1904. "Goat carriages in Central Park." The sullen tots last glimpsed here. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. The other half livedat least. They may have reason to be sullen: 1904 was a bad year for children in New York, some of them, anyway. Capra Hircus AromaticityI think I know why these "tots" are sullen. Have you ever been downwind of a goat? Maybe class structureIn coach No. 2 you have the daughters of privilege. They sit in passenger seats because they are accustomed to being chauffeured. In coach No. 1 you have children of the middle class. They assume they'll have to drive themselves. Neither coachman looks all too excited about his job. Best palsI like that in both pictures the two girls in front of the man in the white hat have their arms around each other. Best buds or maybe sisters. It's not the heat... it's the stupidity. Or so they say in New Orleans. In this case, I'm betting it was a hot, humid day. The squinty faces say it all; even the goats are longing for a pair of sunnies to wear. Large format photos really stand out.I like how this shot looks like a 3d photo but without the glasses. A large 30x40" print would feel like you walked into the scene. Looks like they had no overweight problems in 1904.These early 1900's photos tell a story about the average weight of the people. I see mostly slim and fit men and women from that time. Ludwig van Beethoven... watching the fun! (The Gallery, Animals, DPC, Kids, NYC)
Generation Gap: 1937
New Orleans circa 1937. "Courtyard at 1133-1135 Chartres Street." Young and ... House Hotel. It still amazes me how the homes of New Orleans have survived. As a photographer I really As a photographer ... Stanley: Stella!! (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, Kids, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 4:08pm -

New Orleans circa 1937. "Courtyard at 1133-1135 Chartres Street." Young and old, hangin' with the laundry. The head count here is three, the foot count nine. 8x10 acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. This is one great photographIn subject and composition. Good One!Is this a shoe of a camera-shy someone? Change of PerspectiveI thought this looked familiar. I'm not sure which I prefer. This one tends to draw me out to the arches across the street while the other draws my focus to the scene in this courtyard. Two good examples of what a minor change in location does to what catches one eye. Soniat House HotelAs mentioned in This thread the building is still there and is now the Soniat House Hotel. It still amazes me how the homes of New Orleans have survived. As a photographer I reallyAs a photographer I really like this shot. There is a very nice balance to the photo. I want to wander through the archway, across the street and into the courtyard in the distance, just to see what is there. The two legs sticking out in the distance are what draw me in that direction. I wonder how much of the interesting detail we see in this image would be lost if the image had been taken with a digital camera. You win!Rip Tragle, I missed that one. But I am still not sure if the two boys really have two feet each, let be it that I could count them! +75This address is now a wonderful hotel called the Soniat House. I stayed there back in Feb, 2012 and here is a shot of what I think is the same courtyard. Missing Socks - The Scourge of MankindI just knew there would be an odd number of white socks hanging on the line (five in this case). Porgy and BessOn seeing the photo I was immediately reminded of the early stage set renditions for "Porgy and Bess" as in the rendition below from the 1930s: StreetcarStanley: Stella!! (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, Kids, New Orleans)
New Denechaud: 1908
New Orleans circa 1908. "New Hotel Denechaud, Poydras Street." A century later, ... hotel with proper French diction. Creole, not Cajun New Orleans is not a "cajun" city. It is creole at best, and if anything most ... view of the lobby reads "$1,000,000.00 Hotel DE SOTO New Orleans. The ONLY ABSOLUTELY FIREPROOF HOTEL IN NEW ORLEANS. ALL OUTSIDE ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 4:24pm -

New Orleans circa 1908. "New Hotel Denechaud, Poydras Street." A century later, it's the hotel Le Pavillon. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. Le PavillonMy wife and I stayed there several years ago, and we had dinner there just a few weeks ago. The dining room is on the ground floor in the corner nearest the camera. It's a very nice hotel with a unique touch. Every night at 11, they serve to the guests peanut butter sandwiches on silver trays, and hot chocolate from silver urns. But the people who work there apparently can't pronounce the name of the hotel with proper French diction. Creole, not CajunNew Orleans is not a "cajun" city. It is creole at best, and if anything most street names aren't pronounced correctly either. French diction?This isn't Paris -- it's Nawlins! CoverageAre those sea shells on the roof in the foreground? I believe most modern roofs use stones. Interesting. Very beautiful building! I can imagine how impressive it was at the time! Roof GardenIs that a little ivy garden boxes on the roof of the building in the corner? Sure looks it! [Horticulture a la Morticia Addams. - Dave] LouisianaWe dont speak French here. We speak Cajun, a 200 year old corruption of French, so don't expect proper French pronunciation. Early Sunday morningGiven the long shadows for the low sun and the orientation of Carroll Street, and the absence of anyone except the lone blurred horse and cart (deliveries), sure looks like an early Sunday shot to me. Real nice photo too! [Also note the shadowy figure in the alleyway. - Dave] Denechaud / DeSoto / Le PavillonIn between its opening as the Denechaud and the current name of Le Pavillon, for generations the hotel was known as the DeSoto. I recall when the question of correct pronunciation of "Le Pavillon" came up, a local old timer piped in "De Soda." The text on the back of the attached early 20th century postcard view of the lobby reads "$1,000,000.00 Hotel DE SOTO New Orleans. The ONLY ABSOLUTELY FIREPROOF HOTEL IN NEW ORLEANS. ALL OUTSIDE ROOMS. Famous for its Creole Cuisine. Rates $1.00 and Upwards." The lobby is still one of the most beautiful in the city. I believe the rates have gone up. Lots of charmLovely building! The chimney is blowing off quite some smoke - must have been a windy day!? Le Pavillon still looks charming today and, I just found out, seems to be famous for the occasional ghost apparition. Max Barnett Furniture Co.Max Barnett Furniture Co. can be seen in the background. It was established there on Poydras St. in 1899, and was located there until they moved in 1928. Smokestacks still thereThe two smokestacks are coal burning stacks, which were used for producing electricity until 1973. They are located in the 1200 block of South Peters Street. Maybe someone else can help identify the other tower, as it was prominent in the New Orleans skyline until a few years ago. Yes, shells on roofThere are no stones in south Louisiana. Mollusk shells dredged from brackish Lake Pontchartrain were used as gravel throughout the area until quite recently. Dredging in the Lake was banned in 1990 to reduce the turbidity and stirred-up pollution. The lake is now clean enough for swimming much of the time. I've also seen oyster shells used for gravel in NOLA. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans)
Royal Furniture: 1937
New Orleans circa 1937. "842 Royal Street, Sign." Among the highlights: ... wouldn't you love to get your hands on some of that 1937 New Orleans bric-a-brac? Most shops like this today have had their inventories ... than straight coffee. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans, Stores & Markets) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:37pm -

New Orleans circa 1937. "842 Royal Street, Sign." Among the highlights: interesting period signage, a ghost pedestrian and an ectoplasmic dog. 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. The grocery buildingThe building on the right was (at least in 2008) unchanged except the grocery store was gone. Gentrified!Still recognizable. She GhostA woman out walking her dog! Love to have that Pepsi Cola sign in that condition today The HandsThere are hands of a person leaning on the light pole, at the rear of the car! Tram tracksRoyal Street appears to have an active tram line, whereas the track in the other street (didn't they have street signs in that era?) is interrupted. Old LadyThere is a sweet ol' granny on the balcony looking down and around. She wasn't looking at the camera so I wondering what was catching her attention. And there is another lady but a total blur on the right side. You can tell she was wearing black pumps and walking her dog. 842 Royal StreetCool shop there now - Papier Plume. They sell fine writing supplies, hand made stationery paper, sealing wax and the like. Just seems appropriate. Every Bottle Sterilized Hey Dave, its time to change the E Pluribus Pablum heading. The Coca Cola claim should work for a while. DoorwaysIf you were a shop-keep in the South, one of your duties was to stand in the doorway to greet your customers. American Picker c. 1937Ohhh, wouldn't you love to get your hands on some of that 1937 New Orleans bric-a-brac? Most shops like this today have had their inventories picked over by professional pickers an pricing is generally informed by E-Bay and the like. Not many great deals to be found in retail shops anymore. Moxie-lessDarn, no sign of Moxie (rare in the South), but I like the RC Cola signs everywhere, not to mention a surprisingly modern-looking 7-Up logo. I'd like to try some Double Cola though. They still make it, although according to Wikipedia it's only sold locally in Indiana these days, and I suspect at specialty soda shops around the country who order it in. I want to go to the grocery store.I am taken by the thought of a Syrian-Greek & Italian grocery store. I bet in 1937 some very interesting, and heated, political discussions could go on there. I love Shorpy and tell everybody about it. It is the next best thing to having an actual time machine. And in reality probably better, the dream is always better than the reality. Not so old While Gran-mere seems happy to watch from above, I am certain she has left us by now, whilst most of the products advertised are still available. I still enjoy Lusianne, (the new spelling), a coffee and chicory blend that is mellower than straight coffee. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans, Stores & Markets)
Esplanade Avenue: 1900
"Esplanade Street, New Orleans, 1900." And running along the grassy median, streetcar tracks. ... is grass, not pavement. The old-timers call these New Orleans medians "neutral ground." Which sounds electrical but isn't. ... calls the area in the middle of a divided New Orleans thoroughfare its neutral ground. Just the way it is. (The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 3:59pm -

"Esplanade Street, New Orleans, 1900." And running along the grassy median, streetcar tracks. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Tree TrunksAh, those whitewashed tree trunks. Theories abound as to the reasons for painting. Visibility at night? Insect control? Perhaps just fashion. I remember seeing many in my childhood, few today. I always liked them. Grandpa said...My grandpa painted all the trees in his Ozark yard about head-high with lime to keep bugs from eating into the trunks. When I asked why the bugs don't just climb up above the white paint, he said, "I dunno 'bout that, boy." My hunch is he was just slapping on the bug paint because that was what everyone else did. The trees seemed to be doing fine without the paint when I toured past the old place decades later. Rolling alawnAs the caption notes, the dark surface in the foreground is grass, not pavement. The old-timers call these New Orleans medians "neutral ground." Which sounds electrical but isn't. Esplanade at BurgundyLooking north. View Larger Map The "white" on the tree trunksBack when rural driving was the thing to do on Sunday afternoon, I remember seeing this quite often. Against the normIn a delightful departure from the usual norm on Shorpy, almost all of the buildings in this photo still stand today! What IS that?Is that a bumper sticker on the utility pole at right center? Can't be. [It's a pole sticker. Advertising PARKER'S ELVIRA (?) CORDIAL. - Dave] Let's VogueThose gents are striking some magnificent poses. Grassy mediansThese days the grassy medians are used as jogging tracks by the Tulane students. Safest place to jog as you can get on a median and jog towards the oncoming street cars w/out worrying about something sneaking behind you. Of course with the old style cars like the one in the photo, the grinding of the gears and popping of the electrical contactors under the cars would give plenty of warning. At night there would be bright green flashes whenever a relay opened its copper contacts. You can look straight up as you go around Lee Circle and it looks like the monument is slowly rotating. No streetcar named "Desire" anymore, but there is a Desire bus line. "Bus named Desire" just don't sound right, do it? Lawn trackVery interesting that lawn track is such an old invention! It's been introduced in a number of places recently to reduce noise and have a prettier city environment, but I wouldn't have thought that the idea is that old. Neutral GroundNot just old-timers—everybody calls the area in the middle of a divided New Orleans thoroughfare its neutral ground. Just the way it is. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Streetcars)
Stuyvesant Dock Terminal: 1900
... circa 1900. "Stuyvesant elevators, docks, R.R. terminal at New Orleans." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. ... opening of the terminal was a great leap forward for the New Orleans and Louisiana economies, and it was dedicated with "imposing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 4:01pm -

Louisiana circa 1900. "Stuyvesant elevators, docks, R.R. terminal at New Orleans." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Harrison Line, LiverpoolAccording to a German/Weimar Cigarette card book "Lloyd Reederei-Flaggen der Welt-Handelsflotte" published by the Martin Brinkmann AG Zigarettenfabrik circa 1933, the flag represents the Harrison Line, Liverpool (Charente Steamship Co., Ltd.) The flag is a red Maltese cross on a white background. Working in: England to the West Indies, Gulf ports and Mexico, Brazil, and Africa Operating: 42 Cargo boats with small cabins 2 Passenger Freighters Total Tonnage: 239,720 Honoring Mr. FishThe Stuyvesant Dock Terminal was named for Stuyvesant Fish (1851-1923), President of the Illinois Central Railroad, presumably because not even he was happy with the idea of calling it the Fish Dock Terminal. The opening of the terminal was a great leap forward for the New Orleans and Louisiana economies, and it was dedicated with "imposing ceremonies" conducted by Governor Murphy J. Foster and Mayor Walter C. Flower, on November 4, 1896, and with remarks by Mr. Fish on behalf of the railroad company. According to the New York Times (10-26-1896), "The construction of these docks is the beginning of a great effort that the railroad will make to bring European shipments via [New Orleans] for Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and all Western cities. The wharfage will be absolutely free to all steamers landing at the docks with interior freight for shipment by the Illinois Central Railroad, and such a saving in port charges, it is believed, will bring a great body of traffic this way." Pristine tracks and locomotiveWhat really stands out to me in this photograph is the pristine condition of the yard tracks and the 0-6-0 that is hard at work. In 1900, stub switches were still in vogue in the South and West, as was unballasted track. The frog switches show that the Illinois Central was dedicated to being a truly modern railroad, as willc's research shows. I'm fascinated by the shiny boiler jacket and controls in the locomotive's cab, I suppose the same crew ran this locomotive daily or the engine terminal really spent some time on cleaning every night. I can assure that my local Canadian National/Illinois Central yard is being switched by a diesel that is no where as clean as this little teakettle! And in 1905Disaster strikes. History repeatingThe Stuyvesant Docks were on the Mississippi between Louisiana and Napoleon Avenues, stretching for twelve blocks before they burned in 1905. If you google that area today, you can still see the footprint of the massive railyard and the skeletal remains of the docks which burned again just a few years ago. Backward CompatibillityThe slot and hole in the knuckle of the switcher's coupler are there to accommodate a link and pin, if a car with the just recently obsoleted (and dangerous) link and pin coupler needs to be moved. You can still see these coupler modifications on a few museum engines. Dead or AliveThere isn't a man dead or alive who wouldn't jump up and sit on that tender next to the sign "Keep Off" because that's the way we are wired. Gotta love us… Where in the world?Can anyone identify the flag atop the ship mast? It looks like a Maltese cross, but a quick search turned up no such flag. Shipping Company House FlagsMost commercial shipping companies had house flags that were flown from the highest mast, at least in port. There were hundreds of designs, only a portion of which were recorded in registers. I didn't find a plausible match online for the flag seen here, but found several similar designs in the 1912 edition of "Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels," a sample from which is seen here to illustrate the idea. Colorized versionI colorized a major portion of this photo. Please look here and list any comments you may have. Thanks.. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Railroads)
The Quarter: 1903
New Orleans circa 1903. "Old French courtyard." Shabby chic alfresco. 8x10 inch ... what type of bottle the cap was from. The courtyards of New Orleans are mysterious, and sometimes seem spiritual, mystical, even ... Weathered Wow, even over 100 years ago this New Orleans courtyard looked like it had been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 10:50am -

New Orleans circa 1903. "Old French courtyard." Shabby chic alfresco. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Tennesseechoked on an eyedropper-type cap. He was holding the cap in his mouth as he applied the drops. What on Earth?Not really sure I want to see the front of that infant lefty quarterback with the demonic scaly tail. Thomas Lanier WilliamsBetter known as Tennessee, would have adored this once-majestic but now decrepit garden and these crumbling buildings as a stage set for his unforgettable, prolific plays, although he wasn't born until 1911. Ironically, with all his poignant and deeply emotional Southern-flavored stories, his own unexpected end came when he choked to death on a bottle cap in a New York hotel on February 24, 1983, a month before his 72nd birthday. Then again, he probably could have written such an ending for himself, depending on what type of bottle the cap was from. The courtyards of New Orleans are mysterious, and sometimes seem spiritual, mystical, even supernatural. These are the backyards of the Stanley Kowalskis. Stanley was the real name of his boss in a shoe factory. Personally, I'm partial to the broken bench. What else do you wanna know? Better than tossing out the windowThose drain pipes by the window seem like a practical solution to a vexing problem. Kind of gross, but better than most alternatives. WeatheredWow, even over 100 years ago this New Orleans courtyard looked like it had been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. WeatherproofingDon't go by the plaster and paint. The plants and walkways are neat and well-tended, the wooden railings aren't broken and shaky, and the glass windows are all intact, with straight, uncracked frames. We tend to forget the enormous advances that have been made. The climate of New Orleans is extremely destructive to the paints available in that era, and to stucco over brick and unreinforced concrete like the plant borders. The front of this house is probably neatly kempt, even by modern standards, but here in a private space they didn't feel the need to expend the large sums necessary to renew the big plastered wall(s). A view of the same or a similar courtyard today might not look all that different except that the brickwork would be painted, an option not available in 1903 because the available paints wouldn't stick to it. Water towerslooks like a couple of wooden water towers to the right. Anyone know anything about that? [The cisterns hold rainwater. - Dave] RamshackleWhat's curious to me is how that short double level balcony on the left has no supports to it underneath. Seems it wouldn't take too many people at one time on both levels to send them spilling into the garden?! Hope it's been shored up in the intervening 108 years! Court of the Two SistersI think this might be what is now the "Court of the Two Sisters." The balconies have no supports then or now, as is quite common. The steep pitch shoots the water away from the structure. It was common to have two or three cisterns for a residence up until 1905 when they were outlawed because of concerns over yellow fever. The fountain in the courtyard could have been "run" by one of the cisterns. [Or: Court of the Two Cisterns. - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans)
Payday on the Levee: 1906
New Orleans circa 1906. "Payday on the levee." Don't spend it all in one place. ... Union Station, NOLA This would be Union Station in New Orleans that serviced the Southern Pacific railway (opened on June 1, ... it was demolished in 1954 and replaced by the current New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal. Payday II An alternate version. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 10:50am -

New Orleans circa 1906. "Payday on the levee." Don't spend it all in one place. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Why wait.Didn't these guys ever hear of direct deposit? No Cutting in That LineCurious why the people in line feel the need to hang onto each other. [It might have something to do with the photographer, and the size of this photograph. - Dave] PaydayI would guess that a substantial portion of the funds disbursed here will be divided between dice and the bottle, that counts as more than one place. That's an eager looking line. Union Station, NOLAThis would be Union Station in New Orleans that serviced the Southern Pacific railway (opened on June 1, 1892). it was demolished in 1954 and replaced by the current New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal. Payday IIAn alternate version. The nun has moved! Also note little girl. Click to enlarge. Something for the palate Lee & Perrins? Makers of the Worcestershire Sauce I use on my steaks? Interesting and tasty too! Close QuartersObviously these men waiting to get paid have no fear of pickpockets, since they are probably penniless temporarily. Dirty Dancing and the nun's rulerAnyone who has ever been to a teen dance at a parochial school in the 50's will remember that dancing partners had to dance far enough apart for the chaperone/nun to fit a 12-inch ruler between the couples' chests, lest anyone get evil thoughts. The nun in this photo does not seem concerned about that even though this line of anxious money recipients would be considered dirty dancing or 'grinding' which is totally forbidden at most school dances today. I'm puzzled by the nun in this picture but this is another stellar example from Shorpy of the inspiration their photos provide for fiction writers. Thanks Dave for this great picture. I'm lovin' it. Being GreenI take it they recycle their rainwater? [Cisterns were big back then. - Dave] PrioritiesThey'll probably spend a large portion of their pay on whiskey and women, and waste the rest. StymieWaits patiently by the Worcestershire. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Railroads)
Levee Work: 1903
New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1903. "Mule teams on the levee." 8x10 inch dry ... in the background. Thanks for showing us a long-gone New Orleans. The railroads are the Alabama & Vicksburg, which ran ... was a freight car provider. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, New Orleans, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:35pm -

New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1903. "Mule teams on the levee." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Keep OffIt seems the only way to get this photo was to disobey the signs. JAXThe brewery has the only public washrooms in the French Quarter, a dangerous situation in a city that sells beer on the streets! Jax BreweryThe Brewery is now shops. BreathtakingThe photographer had a true artist's eye. R.R.sCan anyone identify the A&V and S.I.C.V. railroads? Reporting MarkI've only been able to find the A&V which was the Alabama & Vicksburg. The SICL (not SICV) is a mystery. All that's leftbesides the Jax Brewery is one of the four industrial buildings about midway down the levee (and the corner of Clay and Bienville) and I think that's the spire of St. Patrick's Church in the background. Thanks for showing us a long-gone New Orleans. The railroadsare the Alabama & Vicksburg, which ran between Meridian and Vicksburg. It later became part of the Illinois Central's greater Meridian to Shreveport line. The road has quite the history; it was first proposed in the 1830s. As for the SICL (figuring this out took me a good half-hour), it's the Southern Iron Car Line, which according to The Railway Age of December 9, 1904, was a freight car provider. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, New Orleans, Railroads)
Bicycles, Cadillacs: 1910
New Orleans circa 1910. A close-up of the H.A. Testard Bicycles & ... (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Motorcycles, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2013 - 11:58am -

New Orleans circa 1910. A close-up of the H.A. Testard Bicycles & Automobiles storefront from the previous post. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. And Motorcycles Too!Sure is a motorcycle prominent at the end of the window. I can't tell what make it is (there were a lot). But, back in those days motorcycles had more in common with pedal bicycles than not. What a lovely old car!And it's under repair - the far side of the bonnet (or hood, as it's American) is open. I can't make out a manufacturer's name on the front: does anyone know what kind it is? [It's a Cadillac. - Dave] Move along, nothing to see here...Unless you want your SOUL to be EATEN! Still around.There are some of those cars around today thanks to collectors.It would be great if this car was one of them. French ConnectionCouldn't help but notice the similarities with this bike shop, still functioning in Montreal. View Larger Map Bugs in Your TeethHere's the Cadillac, with optional no windshield, snapped at Hershey, Pennsylvania, October 2009 General Store? Ah yes, autos, bikes and... funnels? I guess fueling up could be quite the adventure in those days. 1910 Indian singleAs far as I can make out the motorcycle is a Indian 1910 single. A current photo of one can be seen in Classic American Motorcycles by Tod Rafferty. According to the book they sold that year for $215. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Motorcycles, New Orleans)
Madame Boyle's: 1901
... is the Louisville & Nashville's line from Mobile to New Orleans. View Larger Map Live Oaks Live On Despite ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:48pm -

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, circa 1901. "Shoo-fly at Madame Boyle's." Another glimpse of nattily dressed tourists taking the air in this Southern resort. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. All God's Children got hats....I can count only the lady of the house and her son plus the dog and the horse who do not have their heads covered with a hat. The boy has bows on his shoes and a tuxedo- like jacket. These certainly were some formal looking summer clothes considering the sultry heat and humidity of the Mississippi coast. I really did feel like I was in the deep south when I summered there a few times enjoying evening cruises on old-time riverboats and I absolutely loved the people, its a whole different world. Nice photos, thanks Shorpy. [I think it's probably winter or spring. Not much resort business down South in the summer. - Dave] Harry's or Madame Boyle'sThis looks like the view from Harry's Villa - even the same rather ample cheery lady and her husky little boy. So does the place belong to Harry or Madame Boyle? Or does the platform below to Madame? Love it any which way! [It is the same place, obviously. And the lady is wearing the same dress in each photo. - Dave] The other side of the fenceThe two little boys pausing across the street to take a look at all the swells having their photo taken makes this a classic. (And do you think Mr. Fedora may be overly attached to that potted plant?) Pass the smellin' saltsOne thing I've noticed in my short time here is how easily some are overcome by the vapors when confronted with manly specimens. Interesting that they didn't bother to whitewash the inside of the picket fence. That little kid was born 20 years too early, or he'd have been a star in the Our Gang shorts. Young Will RogersThat's gotta be him -- second from right sitting on the tree deck. Well HelloDoes anyone have a time machine I can borrow? I'd like to spend some time with that lad at the bottom of the stairs with his leg thrown over the railing. *sigh* Wow!Little windy in this photo. I just love everything going on in here. The dog, the horse, that guy on the bike, those two little kids in the background (especially the grin on that one little guy). Not to mention the one legged ghost by the sailboats. Might I ask why it looks like they whitewashed the trees half way up? To better match the fence? Odds and EndsOne thing I've noticed in my long time here at Shorpy is that amorous comments posted about women in these photographs outnumber those posted about men by at least 15 to 1. Overcome by the vapors? Aargh! WhiteoutSo why are the tree trunks and utility poles painted white? Notable IndividualIn photographs like this, I am as interested in the long gone tree specimens as I am in the human ones. Unfortunately I am left to guessing tree species most of the time. The one here is as notable as the people. Can anyone identify it -- or even better, its history? [Looks like a live oak. Or maybe a water oak. - Dave] Too poor to paint, to proud to whitewashIn Northern states, the trunks of trees are whitewashed to help prevent winter sun scald. In the south, lime-wash was used for insect control. It was believed that it would keep catepillars from climbing and borers from boring. And besides, it's makes everything look so pretty! The view todayThe bridge is the Louisville & Nashville's line from Mobile to New Orleans. View Larger Map Live Oaks Live OnDespite Camille, Katrina, and probably a half dozen more hurricanes that have hit the Bay St. Louis area since that photo was taken, that old live oak is probably still there and doing well. Everything else in the photo, well they are surely long gone. If the rose thorns don't get you...This looks to be somewhere along North Beach Boulevard, given the bridge in the background, and the Gulf beyond. There are still a few old houses along there. The tree appears to be a live oak, Quercus virginiana -- we have two in our yard that look like descendants of this specimen. With respect to the whitewash on trees and poles: growing up in the deep South, I was also given the explanation that a bit of whitewash might prevent an unfortunate collision in which I might be the injured party. Note the tips of the stakes for the roses. What Caught My EyeThe year was 1901 and the majestic live oak must have been so old when the pic was taken. Live oaks grow very slowly. It lived a long life even before this picture was snapped...I'm awestruck. Gone With the WindI hate to say it, but if this tree was still there after Camille, it was surely taken out by Katrina. Bay St. Louis was virtually wiped out. We went thru there four months afterward and it was simply a clean slate. Nothing was standing. I was always told the white paint was to keep bugs off the trees. We had a river house and we always had to put screening on all our trees to keep the beavers from chewing them to pieces. Snowbirds on the Gulf CoastI grew up in Pass Christian, across the bay from Bay St. Louis, as did my mother, who was 20 at the time of this photo, sewing dresses like these for the "snowbirds" who came down from Canada to spend the winter at the Mexican Gulf Hotel across the street from her family home. I have pictures of some of them and also some of my mother and father in their "courting" clothes on the beach at P.C. I think that that photo is close to, or across the street from St. Stanislaus Hi School, which survived both Hurricanes. Many of the old homes on East Beach Scenic Drive in P.C. survived Katrina while the West Beach side was devastated. (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC, Travel & Vacation)
Madame F: 1922
... of E.J. Bellocq,who documented the ladies of Storyville, New Orleans at the turn of the century. Not that I'm making any assumptions ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 12:21pm -

New York circa 1922. The second of five photos labeled with a notation that looks like "Farnham." 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size. She has Bette Davis eyes. BeautifulQuite the saucy vamp!! Very pretty lady. TrampAnd nothing but. Worst brand of silk stockings in flapperdomOkay, I get it that she is sitting on a table. That's the first strange thing. The second strange thing are those stockings. They're genuine silk, complete with holes and runs. But the way they cobbled together the feet on them looks bizarre. I see at least four seams to irritate feet. Fun with PhotographyThis picture brings to mind the work of E.J. Bellocq,who documented the ladies of Storyville, New Orleans at the turn of the century. Not that I'm making any assumptions about this womans line of work. OMG!!She could've left those raggedy snagged old stockings in her dresser drawer. They don't match up with the come-hither look. HosedStockings rolled below the knee were *exactly* the come-hither look. It wasn't that long before this picture that women's legs were completely covered. I guess the viewer is supposed to be so amazed by the sight of her knees that he overlooks the snags in the stockings. That said, those are some amazingly serviceable looking soles. That, imho, detracts more from the "come hither" look than the snags do. Nice earrings, too. Trampy?Except anything but. The negative comments regarding her and her stockings reflect an astonishingly petty viewpoint given that we're looking at her almost a century later. Put some modern tattoos and pierces on her and get back to us about her tramp status. SighWhen I was in my early 20s and enamoured of everything vintage, I would have given my eye teeth to look exactly like this gorgeous flapper girlie! Promotion to the "Pretty Girls" CategoryEven after 88 years I think Madame F deserves a promotion to the "Pretty Girls" category, stockings be damned! What do you think, Dave? Flaming Mame!"Turned-up nose, Turn down hose, flapper, yessir, one of those!" (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC, Portraits, Pretty Girls)
Fox the Hatter: 1910
New Orleans circa 1910. "St. Charles Avenue from Canal Street." 8x10 inch dry ... in Tulane's special collections. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Stores & Markets, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 3:48pm -

New Orleans circa 1910. "St. Charles Avenue from Canal Street." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Nattiest & Newest 1899 Advertisement Fox, The Hatter, All the Nattiest, Newest, Best Made Headgear on the Market. Fashionable and Up-To-Date Styles. Umbrellas and Walking Canes, A Specialty. Frank Fox, the Hatter. I don't know FoxBut I've purchased several hats at Meyer the Hatter, 120 St. Charles. They've been around since 1894. What, no dentist?This may be the first business district shot I've seen on Shorpy that didn't have a dentist's sign in it. Hard to find a good dentist when you need one. And nowKolb's is still there although the sign has been updated. Looks like there is still a restaurant where Fabacher's was. Interestingly, the street looks narrower now than it did in the 1910 picture but there's still a streetcar in the modern shot. +98Below is the same view from September of 2008. Look Behind You!Turn 180 degrees and you'd see the scene posted here 5/6/2010 and find out more about Peter Fabacher, Jax Beer, and other pearls of wisdom. Get your shoes shined !!!I love the street side shoe shine chair on the right side before the intersection. Business enduranceGreat to see that German restaurant Kolb is still in the same building in 2008, although now called Kolbs. More about Kolbs, now in its 111th year: http://old-new-orleans.com/NO_Kolbs.html [The restaurant is long gone. See above. - Dave] Meyer, Kolb, and DeDroitI still go to Meyer to get my hats. Alas, while the sign for Kolb's German Restaurant was preserved, the restaurant is long gone. The last time I ate there about 1993 the interior still looked almost exactly like the below early 20th century postcard. One interesting aspect of the decor was the system of ceiling fans, which Mr. Kolb had acquired from the 1884 World Fair. I wonder what happened to those fans? Back in the '20s Johnny DeDroit led the house jazz band at Kolb's. DeDroit made a few recordings for Okeh in '24 and '25. In his old age DeDroit said he thought the records turned out lousy, but they sound good to me. A big fanKolb's was a restaurant that closed sometime shortly after 1992. It featured an amazing ceiling fan system where eight or so fans were all linked by belts and driven (slowly) by one central motor. Pokorny Shoe StoreI'm new to this site and just saw this photo. Two businesses shown across from Fox the Hatter are M. Pokorny & Sons, which had their mens shoe store in that location for a century before it was destroyed by fire in 1984. Next door to Pokorny's is the Stafford Hat store, owned by Mose Levey (who married one of the Pokorny daughters). The Pokorny family also had a real estate investment company and at the company's height in the 1920s owned about a third of the properties on St. Charles Ave. between Canal and Poydras, including the Liberty Theater (another photo on this site) and the property where Whitney Bank is today. The full list of properties is with the Pokorny papers archived in Tulane's special collections. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
Old French Market: 1890s
Circa 1890s. "The old French Market, New Orleans." Points of interest include many horsecars and an arc lamp on a ... Palermo, with the recent immigration of Sicilians to New Orleans. There was a turf war between the Provenzano and Matranga gangs, ... coffee stands. The Picayune's Guide to New Orleans, 1900 French Market. You know it by the busy rush, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/28/2013 - 12:41pm -

Circa 1890s. "The old French Market, New Orleans." Points of interest include many horsecars and an arc lamp on a boom. Ship Chandler's Grocer wagon and Deutsche Grocery at left. Photo by William Henry Jackson. View full size. William RedmundAt the St. Charles Theatre: "The Great Emotional Actor" 1850 - 1915? Photo from here. +118ishBelow is the same view from August of 2008. Portions still standingGoogle Street View won't let me get quite the same angle, but here's a similar view of the Old French Market today, with several of the buildings on the left side of the street in the Shorpy photo still visible: View Larger Map The pictured ship chandlers and grocers are long gone, replaced by brightly colored umbrellas and open-air dining. Ship chandler"Ship Chandler's Grocer wagon" I always thought of a chandler as a a soap and candle maker, but looking it up I see that is also such a thing as a "ship chandler" -- a supplier of general provisions and equipment for ships -- of which I was unaware. I wonderWhy all the spouts on the rain gutter of the structure in the middle ? interesting time for the QuarterBy the 1890's the French Quarter was known as Little Palermo, with the recent immigration of Sicilians to New Orleans. There was a turf war between the Provenzano and Matranga gangs, leading to the killing of Chief of Police David Hennessy. A not guilty verdict led to 11 of the 19 indicted being lynched. The national newspapers first used the word Mafia to cover the big story back then. Many Italian immigrants moved away from the Quarter, but you can still buy a muffuletta at Central Grocery located footsteps from where this old picture was taken. 1900s Hipster MarketThe photogenic corner of the French Market also seen on Shorpy: Circa 1906 Circa 1910 The following description hits many of the key features of today's urban farmers' markets: a wide array of local produce, convenient access to public transportation, unique people-watching, multilingual service, and plentiful coffee stands. The Picayune's Guide to New Orleans, 1900 French Market. You know it by the busy rush, the noisy rumbling of carts and wagons, the ceaseless clatter of foreign and native tongues all commingled, the outlandish garbs and curious faces, and the strange, novel, cosmopolitan scene, nowhere else to be witnessed on the American continent. The market is open daily between 5 a. m. and 12 m.; but Sunday morning between 8 and 9, is the best time to visit it. Every stranger goes to see the French Market. There is no more remarkable or characteristic spot in New Orleans. Under its roof every language is spoken. The buyers and sellers are men and women of all races. The French Market comprehends four distinct and separate subdivisions under a special roof. These devisions are called respectively the “Meat Market,” the “Fish Market,” the “Fruit” and “Vegetables” markets. Around these is a fringe of fruit stalls and coffee stands. (The Gallery, New Orleans, Stores & Markets, Streetcars, W.H. Jackson)
Harry's Villa: 1901
... Coast a lot of these houses were owned by families from New Orleans who stayed there in the summer to escape the worst of the heat and ... go stay there in the summer. My grandfather would stay in New Orleans, and come out to Gulfport on the weekends, taking the train that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:45pm -

Mississippi circa 1901. "Harry's Villa, Bay St. Louis." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Simply grandI love this photo. How wonderful. I have never seen a picture of such a well dressed crowd looking so casual. If you could step back in time and just land here, it wouldn't be so bad to hang around for a day. "Buster Brown"I expect Buster's name was either Beauregard or Leroy! TextureSuch an interesting shot. I love all the texture from the tree, roof, and dirt. The people are interesting too. Like the little boy on the railing and the zonked out guy in the hammock. Carbide lampThe bike "horn" that one person noted is a headlight powered by carbide pellets and water mixed to create a gas and then lit (like early mining lamps). Very cool photo that is now my desktop wallpaper. Love it! A beautiful and lost timeMost of Bay St. Louis appears to have been swept away by Katrina. Almost all of the beachfront lots are still empty, with nothing but slabs, or front steps leading to houses that no longer exist. Shady Rest"There's Uncle Joe, he's a movin' kinda slow, on the hammock." I Wonderhow many more years went by before that tree crushed Harry's Villa? Arboreal TemptationI'm sure any of Harry's younger guests would have been tempted immediately by that tree. Good ole Harry even provided a platform to make it up to the first level. I wonder how many took on the challenge before the yelling and running around got started. Hanging outEveryone looks so front-and-center for their photo op, except for the fellow in the hammock, who couldn't be bothered. I'm just wild about Harryand his villa, but can't find any info on it. Another copy of this picture is located on the Hancock County MSGenWeb site, but sans remarks. It is quite a nice little 19c Greek cottage, and I love the tree "house." The good old daysI love the bicycles, especially the one leaning under the platform surrounding the beautiful tree. Check out the horn! [As noted above, that's a headlamp. - Dave] Takes my breath away.This image is just plain fantastic. From the vintage bicycles to the fantastic clothing modeled by some easy going town folk. An instant in time captured that seems like so long ago, but looks like it was taken only yesterday. That tree stand must be for watching the Fourth of July parade. BTW, is that Buster Brown standing on the railing??? Amazing photo!The house looks like a facsimile of the Jefferson Davis House - Beauvoir - over in Biloxi about 30 miles away. The seating area around the tree is called a "Shoo-Fly" - it was built up off the ground so that in the evening people could sit (and smooch?) above the ground and avoid the low flying mosquitoes, gnats, and flies that are fairly pervasive during the warm summer months. Wonderful placeBay St. Louis, Biloxi, Gulport, Waveland - all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast a lot of these houses were owned by families from New Orleans who stayed there in the summer to escape the worst of the heat and humidity in the city - at least you had the breezes off the Gulf. My father's parents had a house in Gulfport on the beach, and Dad talked about how my grandmother, his sisters and he would go stay there in the summer. My grandfather would stay in New Orleans, and come out to Gulfport on the weekends, taking the train that used to run regularly from N.O. along the towns on the Gulf. This was back in the 1940's. People had been vacationing there since the 19th century. When I was a kid in the 1970's my parents and I would sometimes stay on the weekends at a house in Bay St. Louis which was owned by cousins of very good family friends of ours, when it was loaned to them. The house had originally been built in the 1880's. It was a big Queen Anne house, originally a third of an even more enourmous house. During some earlier hurricane, the center of the house was heavily damaged, so the center was torn down, and two houses made out of the left and right portions. Considering the remaining houses were not THAT close to each other, and were both sizeable themselves, the original must have been truly gigantic. I remember 12'-14' ceilings, floor to ceiling windows, wallpaper that must have been from the 30's, no AC, huge screened porches with swings, thinking back on it now. The house was sold 30 years ago, and completely renovated by the new owners-I passed by it about 10 years ago. It was destroyed in Katrina, as were all the places around it. WealthAnother thing that I haven't seen commented on (yet) is that this family is probably very well off financially. The title itself loosely implies this is a home away from home. Also everyone has shoes on (odd for this time period for younger children). And that kid on the railing is quite plump. All these little things add up to... Harry's done well for himself. It's just an observation... nothing else should be taken from it. [This is most likely a boardinghouse for vacationers. - Dave] Note the Spanish MossNote the Spanish Moss hanging on the tree in the upper left of this photo; this is a good representative example for those of y'all not familiar with it. Well before Katrina, Camille devastated this area in 1969. Until then, US Highway 90 between Pascagoula and Bay St Louis was one of the prettiest scenic drives in US, with old large houses, many antebellum, white fences, and large oaks with spanish moss on one side, and white sandy beaches on the other side. --- Just a hop, skip, and jump along the coast east of Bay St Louis: https://www.shorpy.com/node/6834 https://www.shorpy.com/node/6834 https://www.shorpy.com/node/6230 https://www.shorpy.com/node/5717 https://www.shorpy.com/node/4617 https://www.shorpy.com/node/3699 https://www.shorpy.com/node/3698 https://www.shorpy.com/node/733 No PeekingIs that a modesty panel inside the railing around the Shoo-Fly? I should imagine that a glimpse of an ankle or (heaven forbid) a leg would be quite unseemly during this time period. Wouldn't want anyone at sidewalk level to see anything they shouldn't. (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC, Travel & Vacation)
Mammoth Oak: 1900
... The International, July 1900. From Mobile to New Orleans … Pass Christian, the next stop, is considered by ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/22/2012 - 9:24am -

Circa 1900. "The Mammoth Oak at Pass Christian, Mississippi." Plus a surrey with the fringe on top. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Sadly goneSadly the Mammoth Oak died in the 1950s of old age. Or, as I prefer to think of it, arboreal senility. Gone but not forgottenMr. Google reveals many similar giants in this gulfside community. Many are hundreds of years old and regularly withstand hurricanes. Local houses aren't always so lucky (Katrina did a number on the area, for example). This particular specimen (located at 2nd and Seal Streets) apparently died in the 1950s, but Second Street has another dozen or so, all protected by local statute. Pride of the PlaceFrom the The International, An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Travel and Literature. The International, July 1900. From Mobile to New Orleans … Pass Christian, the next stop, is considered by many to be the gem in the collection of coast resorts, probably because there are several large and modern hotels and the fashionable public seeking ease and comfort can find all these requirements. Every one goes to "the Pass," while comparatively few stop at the other places. There is a broad shell road six miles in length facing the water and back in the country there is a tangled woods, the pirate Lafitte's old stamping ground, so they say. … A magnificent old live oak, the pride of the place, stands off of the main road in a large vacant lot. Its branches cover 132 feet by actual measurement. Live OakLong gone, of course, but was it possibly where War Memorial Park is now situated? Some smaller and younger specimens appear to rim the park now. At least the park fits the description of a large, vacant lot, off the main road. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses)
Toulouse Street: 1937
New Orleans circa 1937. "813-815 Toulouse Street." Watch out for the neighbors. ... allowed for many years. The Eternal City of the US New Orleans looks pretty much the same now as it does in all these images on ... apart in a few years. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 3:39pm -

New Orleans circa 1937. "813-815 Toulouse Street." Watch out for the neighbors. 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. ChimneyI was afraid it would be long gone. Nice to see it's still there and pretty close to original! Good bonesI'm amazed that building is still standing. It looks like it was ready for "Samuel House wrecking Co." 74 years ago! FBJ's CompositionsJust realized that many of Johnston's photographs include a person in what has to be carefully posed compositions. In this photo there's a person in the left doorway. Also, this is a duplex; notice the mailboxes on the alley doors. House Wrecking Co.Was that a polite term for bordello? Wreckers incorporatedSamuel House Wrecking Company, Incorporated, 1934 Bricks Beneath StuccoThe building appears to be made of block, except that that it is cracking off to reveal brick beneath. I guess they scored the stucco to make it look like limestone or sandstone. Now we appreciate the old brick and I doubt a restoration would include covering it back up for historical accuracy. Bricks R USThe stucco was applied over the locally made orange, rather soft "creole bricks" to protect them from the elements. Removal of stucco from bricks is strictly prohibited in the Quarter by the Vieux Carre Commission. A few older buildings had patches removed to "look more authentic" (gack!) but it has not been allowed for many years. The Eternal City of the USNew Orleans looks pretty much the same now as it does in all these images on Shorpy. Bricks nowStreet view shows all brick exposed --- and looking in excellent condition. Looks the SameMost of these buildings in and around the French Quarter amaze me. My wife and I were first there in the very early 70's and last time right before Katrina stopped in. To us it still all looks much the same, and similar to the very early photos. Yet things built now days seem to fall apart in a few years. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans)
The Shoe Line: 1943
March 1943. "New Orleans, Louisiana. Line at rationing board." Medium format negative by ... being washed up every day. (The Gallery, John Vachon, New Orleans, WW2) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 7:23pm -

March 1943. "New Orleans, Louisiana. Line at rationing board." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Good Grooming 101Not a slob in sight. Any one of these people would be considered presentable enough to work in an upscale environment today. Personal pride and self-respect counts for something. It seems to stand out in these old photos above all else. Thanks for this flashback and proof that America's backbone (its people) seemed so much stronger then. Gravier StreetNot 100% percent sure, but the building details and the fire hydrant match perfectly even 67 years later. 522 Gravier Street looking toward Carondelet. View Larger Map RationalityMy grandmother talked about rationing, and how it affected her cooking; the thing in particular I remember was that sugar was rationed so she would carefully hoard it so she could bake birthday cakes for her kids. My mother remembers it because butter also got rationed, but you could get oleomargarine; she hated that because the margarine came in a tub with a separate packet of yellow food coloring. She had the job of kneading the coloring into the otherwise lard-colored and unappetizing oleomargarine. My grandfather on my father's side got a extra gasoline ration because he was a member of the South Carolina Senate & often had to drive back and forth to Columbia (the state capitol). His first cousin was a country doctor and got extra gasoline too, for making house calls etc. And both my parents recalled going out with other kids on scrap metal collecting expeditions to contribute to the war effort. Cruel shoesMy mother remembers the poor quality dress shoes that she could buy back then. She says they were practically cardboard with ribbon, and fell apart if they got wet. She danced at the USO in Dallas, so she needed good shoes for that. But, everyone sacrificed, so that soldiers and Marines could have the materials needed for combat boots. Ration stampsI recently found some of these stamps and tokens in some of my mother's things. I was pretty young, but I remember Mother counting out the stamps at the stores. What exactly is the line for?Are they queueing up for the ration books, or for the shoes themselves? I've seen pictures of clerks in ordinary stores -- butchers and the like -- accepting coupons. Wouldn't shoe stores do the same? The only "rationing" I remember is the "odd and even" system of gasoline sales during the energy crisis of the 1970s. The LineThey are lining up for their ration books. These would include the coupons for the particular product, in this case shoes. If I'm not mistaken - and I could be because Canada used a similar but different system - the coupon books were issued on a monthly basis. I can only imagine that they would stagger the dates to get ration books for various commodities so that you didn't have everyone lining up for everything on the same day. Alternatively, they may have been in the process of changing from one design to another to prevent counterfeiting, which was a major problem. It was good to be a farmer during WWIIAnother great picture! My grandfather was a 32-year-old dairy farmer, on a farm outside of Walla Walla, Washington, as of the start of America's involvement in the war. With so much food required to feed the troops, farmers were essential to the war effort, so they were exempt from the draft. Although they were affected by the rationing of shoes, and other items, they were not affected by the rationing of certain things. Farmers got all of the gasoline they needed. My grandparents still avoided driving their family car more than they needed to, but they definitely benefited from it. Meat rationing didn't affect them much, either, because they could keep enough of whatever food they raised, for their own use. My mother remembers her school having scrap metal drives. Mom also had an uncle who hoarded sugar. He kept several large bags in his basement. Had he been discovered, he could have gone to jail. The war had some interesting effects of my father, who was the son of a divorced mother who really struggled just to provide her children with the very basics. From a very young age, Dad always had a job. Born on November 10th, 1928, he was a little too young to serve in the military, until the very end of the war. The fact that so many of the young men were gone meant that there were jobs available for teenage boys that wouldn't have been, otherwise. At the age of 15, Dad was working as a bartender! Red Dot MargarineSome of my first memories (born on July 4th, 1942) were of my mother taking her clear plastic bag of margarine out of the shopping basket and plopping it down on the kitchen table. In the center of one side the soft mass was a red dot. She would let me play with it for a while, urging me to "make the red disappear." This was more than a child my age at the time (3?) could handle to her satisfaction. But with sufficient kneading and rolling that bag around, it came out yellow, as advertised! Bacon Grease and Toothpaste TubesI was eight years old when the war started. Mom used to save bacon grease, for which we got 2 cents a pound. It was used to make munitions. Toothpaste tubes were made out of tin, which, since the Japanese had taken Malaya, was scarce. If you wanted a new tube, you had to turn in the old one. We had it pretty good, living in New York City. My dad was too old for the war, and suspect anyway, for he was a German. Not many wanted to hire him. He got a job at the Merchant Seaman's YMCA and used to bring home some butter and coffee, which was priceless. He also brought home tales of the survivors, which gave us a clue as to how bad things were going for us in early 1942. The govt kept mum on all the merchant ships being sunk offshore but the people along the New Jersey coast told us about all the bodies and wreckage being washed up every day. (The Gallery, John Vachon, New Orleans, WW2)
Banana Boat: 1903
Circa 1903. "Unloading bananas at New Orleans, Louisiana." An alternate view of this scene . 8x10 inch glass ... the relatively few African-Americans unloading fruit. The New Orleans water front was controlled by a number of unions, mostly segregated ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:39pm -

Circa 1903. "Unloading bananas at New Orleans, Louisiana." An alternate view of this scene. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Reminds me of my former officeI counted 57 people in the scene around the "reefer", 17 of them were leaning, posing, smoking pipes, and watching all the others doing the actual work, nothing has changed. Union JackThe ship being unloaded is flying the Civil Ensign of Great Britain. This merchant flag has the Union Jack in the canton and a red field. Note the thicknessof the doors of the refrigerated rail car in the foreground. Also note that all the longshoremen are white. Southern cities generally had competing black and white longshoremens' unions. Wooden Railroad car...and moreAs a railroad historian, the wooden reefer car grabbed my attention- Arched bar trucks, outside body hung brake beams - outside of the airbrake line this car could have been built in 1880. The Fruit Growers Express and Continental Growers Express were owned by Armour & Co. and they operated until the early 20th century when they were broken apart in a nasty monopoly case. As a labor historian, I was bemused by the relatively few African-Americans unloading fruit. The New Orleans water front was controlled by a number of unions, mostly segregated (hey! it was 1903! That any at all were integrated is amazing), but a set of agreements had been setup by the Port's Council of Unions which set quotas for the workers supplied by the 'black unions' and 'white unions'for any particular job- the work gangs should have been more mixed up if it was a normal crew. This workforce is largely European. This leads me to suspect that this may be an image taken during one of the fairly common labor strikes. The companies (Railroad and Fruit shippers) would hire strike breakers among the recently arrived immigrants to replace the union workers during the strike. These jobs were very desirable. The union wages for longshoremen was 40 cents an hour in 1903 New Orleans compared to that of railway cargo handlers at around 30 cents an hour. Both groups would work unloading and loading fruit. This was a good wage in 1903 (a beer was 20 cents) and a blue-plate dinner was 75 cents (no payroll taxes either) and these jobs were in high demand. This photo (and its other view) lead me to believe that these are at the Thalia Street Wharf just down river from the Garden District in New Orleans. The loafers are a mixture of foreman, a coat watcher (who apparently likes bananas (look at the peels), and probably a few stevedores (labor brokers).. Lots of WorkNew Orleans is and has always been a different place. It's a city in the South, but not a "Southern city" in the sense of the often fairly accurate stereotype. There were businesses and organizations composed entirely of blacks, others that were white, and a few that were integrated. The groups dealt with one another fairly freely but didn't mingle as individuals, and while black and mixed groups were somewhat lower-status than those of whites it wasn't by much. There were many wealthy and middle-class blacks, who held their own in the general society. This arrangement survives today, at least somewhat, visible in the "crewes" who set up the Mardi Gras floats and extravaganzas. As ajlcary notes, before the general unrest and union consolidation of the Thirties, the New Orleans waterfront was organized along those lines. There were many small Unions, each represented on the Council of Union leaders. As recently as the late Sixties, there were groups continuing the tradition within the overall subhead of the ILA. Union leaders tended to assign them to work as groups, rather than as individuals. It is never wise to judge events in New Orleans by the standards of, say, Atlanta or Birmingham, especially on the basis of a vignette. Unloading a banana boat in the days before useful mechanization involved several different tasks, some nastier than others, and during the unloading the groups involved would trade off after the breaks. It's entirely possible that, at the moment the photograph was taken, there was a black Union "diving" in the hold (the nastiest job) and a white Union "passing", that is, on deck transferring fruit along the deck (the easiest work), while the mixed group we see "docks", loads the freight car. An hour or so later we might well have seen the white group docking, the blacks passing, and the mixed group down in the dark, dirty, tarantula-infested hold. Another hour might have produced another tradeoff, and most of the people we would see on the gangplank and dock would be black. United Fruit CompanyStack logo of the steamship is that of the United Fruit Company which ceased operations (at least its fleet did) in 1970. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, New Orleans, Railroads)
Gingerbread House: 1936
... And the Living is Easy Summer is still oppressive in New Orleans but before air conditioning the families of the rich would vacate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 6:05pm -

January 1936. "Victorian cottage. Waveland, Mississippi." Large-format nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Monkeys on the porchWhat an amazing picture - right out of a Tennessee Williams play. And the two monkeys on the porch add a special otherworldly touch. I guess it would be impossible that this great old house survives today - not just because of the antipathy against Victorian buildings that continued into the 1960s, not just because of the problems of a wood building in a very humid climate, but because of hurricanes, including Katrina, which bombarded the gulf coastline. I hope someone can enlighten us as to the owners of this place. Monkey SeeIt appears that two monkeys are sitting om the porch. I can only imagine what is living under the house considering the broken skirts. Still there?Knowing how many hurricanes have hit that area, I'd be very surprised if that house still exists. Gone With the Wind... and the WavesHaving seen Waveland in person several times over the past few years, I can assure you that there is no chance that this house would have survived Hurricane Katrina if it had still been standing. Poor Waveland was virtually wiped off the map in the most heartbreaking way. As you can see here, the poor people of Waveland will be living with the effects of that terrible storm for many years to come. This Old HouseAn amazing gallery of interesting intricacies to ponder for this carpenter. But the structural deficiencies are wincingly on display. Not just the sagging porch from inadequate footings, but one can see that someone went to some trouble to shore up the right side of the upper overhang at some point. They did a good job of laying the roof shingles by turning the corners and nailing them down with what appears to be nails with large flanges on them. I assume that was the custom in that region, given the hurricane winds mentioned below. Like Blanche DuBoisThis must have been a beauty in its day, falling here into eccentricity and decay. Pet monkeys on the porch, a roof in disrepair, string replacing a curtain rod in the doorway, and little gaps where she lost her skirts or parts of her foundation.And still, though aging disgracefully, something to make a person stop and stare. Gulf Coast KidDuring the 1950s when I was a kid living on the Mississippi Gulf coast there were many old houses along the beach. They were great for ghost stories. Hurricane Camille is the one that did them in when it came ashore in the Gulfport area. Is that two monkeys or one monkey and a coconut? MonkeysIs Mississippi the monkeys' natural habitat, or are these pets? Diamond-Lap ShinglesThose aren't just standard shingles turned at an angle, they're made to be installed this way. Sometimes called hurricane shingles. Fairchild HouseElsewhere on the interwebs, this house is identified as the family summer residence of Christine Fairchild, an architect and apparent paramour of Evans. Walker Evans stayed here for several nights of awkward sexual tension alluded to in his biography. I haven't been able to determine if the building is still standing. A case for GhostbustersThe image formed in the upper right window could be Miss Fairchild in her white morning dress. And the Living is EasySummer is still oppressive in New Orleans but before air conditioning the families of the rich would vacate in the summer. This part of the Mississippi coast and then across Bay St. Louis into Pass Christian and beyond held many exquisite summer homes of wealthy New Orleaneans and many lesser, yet still significant, examples of period architecture. These beauties survived many many decades of hurricanes, even Betsy, but fell to Katrina. In the mid 1980s I lived in Pass Christian a summer in college working to restore a beach front 1880s merchants home for the historical register but Katrina has since demolished it. An Homage to Shorpy.comThis is my attempt at imitating the Shorpy.com look with one of my recent photos. I think Shorpy.com is the most interesting site out there and I promote whenever I can. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7185088@N07/5071840779/ (The Gallery, Small Towns, Walker Evans)
Sweet Home Alabama: 1935
... SUNNY SOUTH MINSTRELS "Featuring the Famous New Orleans Brown Skin Models. See ALVINA the Fan Dancer. Free Street Parade. ... 
 
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)
Glass Paints Oils: 1937
Circa 1937. "Hardware store, 906 Bourbon Street, New Orleans." Carrying a full line of protectants and preservatives, none of ... on the Island of Santo Domingo, Haiti. They married in New Orleans in 1820 and lived in the Suburb Marigny on Moreau Street between ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/02/2013 - 1:36pm -

Circa 1937. "Hardware store, 906 Bourbon Street, New Orleans." Carrying a full line of protectants and preservatives, none of which seem to be suitable for the store itself. 8x10 acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. Those bucketsI see little sliding doors on the sides, which would appear to cover those holes when slid down all the way. I guess it's easier to slide open a door on a heavy bucket than to tip it over and pour. Seems like there'd be a bit of leakage in these models, though. [I suspect the holes are for ventilation and that the lining is fireproof. - Dave] NOLA native says906 is the not the restaurant with the neon (now) but the business next door (to the right) with the red chairs, which is currently listed as a hair salon. On the corner (going towards Canal St) are the iconic Clover Grill and across the street Cafe Lafitte in Exile which is a really famous gay bar as it claims status at the oldest continuously operating gay bar in North America. Could be the placeView Larger Map Back when the Quarter was a neighborhoodRather than a tourist attraction. Real stuff for real people doing real things like painting the bathroom cupboard or replacing a broken windowpane. My former home town of Carmel, CA, went from three hardware stores, five groceries, seven filling stations, and three drug stores in the '50s to zero, one, one, and one, respectively, by the '80s, but boy did we gain some galleries and boutiques! Three bucketsI thought at first they hold items for sale, but they could have been used to strain the paint that was sold. Holey bucketsI'm curious: what would the three buckets with holes in them hung on the door frame be used for? Saulny's storeIn the 1880 census he is one year old, the son of 2 "mulattos", but listed as black in later census years. He's the son of a shoemaker, Louis Saulny, born 1846. Louis's father is also listed as a "mulatto", a carpenter born 1827. He died when he was 31. Pierre SAULNY was the first Saulny in USA. He was born in Nantes, France. There is a date of birth in 1774. Some data doesn’t match so we take between 1894 to 1800 as his date of birth. He married Catherine DINET (1797-1853) free woman of color native of Pestel on the Island of Santo Domingo, Haiti. They married in New Orleans in 1820 and lived in the Suburb Marigny on Moreau Street between Elysian Fields and Frenchmen Streets since 1822 in a house situated on Esplanade Street between Conde and Royal Streets, until at least 1835. The residence of Catherine Dinet is an area that exists today and was inhabited by many free people of color as well as Creoles of European descent. Another BarYep, that's exactly where it was, just behind Clover Grill. I think Kozel is rightComparing the position of the window (closer to the door on the right), and the shape of the jamb, sills and lintels, I'm pretty sure the building with the neon is correct. The original photo shows a full length porch on top which is now separate balconies, but the side of the building still has porches which may indicate the front had the same ones. Or, it could just be 907 across the street, which still has the upper porch in the right place. [Below, 907-909 Bourbon Street. - Dave] John McCrady School of Fine ArtsI went to art school in that white building that kozel posted. I believe I remember Mrs. McCrady saying that it was a hardware store before it was the school. But that was over 30 years ago and memories fade and Mrs Mac died long ago. Three BucketsMy father would take me duck hunting in the 50's and we used one in our duck blind to stay warm.The small door would let more air into the fire. Worked really good when you were freezing. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans, Stores & Markets)
Cotton on the Levee: 1903
New Orleans circa 1903. "Mule teams and the levee." 8x10 inch dry plate glass ... traveled north The Illinois Central train traveled from New Orleans all the way north to Chicago. This is the route all blues artists ... the distance to the right. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, New Orleans, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 2:43pm -

New Orleans circa 1903. "Mule teams and the levee." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Behemoth ShipSecond time this ship has shown up on Shorpy and I still can't place her. She is a massive ship for her time, and much different from the Great Lakes freighters we see here frequently. [It's the SS Proteus. - Dave] CapturedA "Porgy and Bess" moment; you get the feeling that any moment great music will erupt. Or not. Jax BreweryThat looks like the Jax (Jackson) Brewery behind the IC freight car. If so, we are facing upriver. The Jax brewery was converted to shops and restaurants many years ago. It's situated on Decatur street across from Jackson square (Plaza de Armes in Spanish times). A Short 38 YearsThe Civil war had ended only 38 years before. Some of the people in this picture were probably born into slavery. FlotsamI'd love to know the story about the stuff floating in the water at the left edge. SS ProteusThinking of that ship got me poking around to read of it's sinking; found here http://www.divehatteras.com/proteus.html The train that traveled northThe Illinois Central train traveled from New Orleans all the way north to Chicago. This is the route all blues artists and African Americans took to leave the south in droves to better lives up north,where there were jobs in countless factories,and better pay than picking cotton. Jackson BreweryYes, that is indeed the Jackson Brewery, and we are looking uptown toward Canal St. As someone commented on the other picture like this, you can also see St. Patrick's Church steeple off in the distance to the right. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, New Orleans, Railroads)
Milk Mare: 1910
New Orleans circa 1910. "A typical milk cart." At the Shaving Parlor. 8x10 inch ... this hawker of cow's milk and Havana cigars has a proper New Orleans Cart License (N.O.C.L.) plate. A good shave and a good Cuban cigar ... levee failure.) Adam Schoendorf owned Hunter's Dairy in New Orleans, located at the corner of Havana and Ne Plus Ultra streets. Ne Plus ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 3:45pm -

New Orleans circa 1910. "A typical milk cart." At the Shaving Parlor. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Horse v. truckWhile looking at the harness one needs to put on the horse it is easy to see or imagine why people went to cars and motors. Ne plus ultraThe Latin self-compliment written onto the wagon is amusing. I don't imagine many milk cartons carry such erudite phrases these days (and the glitzy harness the horse is wearing shows some real panache too). [Ne Plus Ultra was a cigar street (see above). - Dave] Properly RegisteredI'm glad to see that this hawker of cow's milk and Havana cigars has a proper New Orleans Cart License (N.O.C.L.) plate. A good shave and a good Cuban cigar are hard to come by in some parts. Milk, not so much. New To MeI never realized they delivered milk without containers. Did the tank have some way of keeping the milk cool? It doesn't look that large. The tank has an external float gauge. Better than dipping a stick into the product I guess. The Ne Plus Ultra of dairy transportationBut, those milk pitchers might be a little too close to the hind end of the mare for me. Does "Havana" and "Ne Plus Ultra" on the side of the wagon indicate that cigars are also sold by the same driver? This is 1910So no, the milk isn't refrigerated, except perhaps at the milk house where this cart driver picks up his can-full every morning. I used to live where fresh milk could be had every day, and it didn't go bad nearly as fast as the milk does when i buy it at the store in a carton. The farmer we got ours from put aside some milk from his main herd in his walk in cooler in a clean sealed milk can. There it sat for 24 hours, before it was sold. Well, not really sold, but bartered for salmon we would catch from time to time. It was an excellent arrangement, nobody got sick, he had fresh salmon regularly and we had the best tasting highest quality whole and natural milk I've ever tasted. [Large milk cans could indeed be refrigerated. Patents for ice-cooled milk cans go back at least to the 1880s. - Dave] You may think me too modernbut I like my milk pasteurized, homogenized, ice cold and bought in nice sanitary plastic jugs, thank you very much. ContainersI think one can barely see the tops of some milk bottles below the drivers seat -- were they optional? Did the driver fill them on the spot? I ApproveThe Bull City Boy is all aglow at seeing the Bull Durham (Cigar) ads on the window of the Shaving Parlor's neighbor. Family connectionThis was a milk cart that belonged to my great-great-grandfather, Adam Schoendorf. I was delighted to see this, as I had only seen a few photos of it from the back, taken by his daughter Marie. (Those photos were probably lost after Katrina and the levee failure.) Adam Schoendorf owned Hunter's Dairy in New Orleans, located at the corner of Havana and Ne Plus Ultra streets. Ne Plus Ultra is now Lafreniere Street. A more well-known photo of a different, larger Schoendorf vehicle can be seen here. This wagon is harnessed to a horse named Billy - "the ugliest horse my papa owed, but the smartest" according to Aunt Marie. Billy's harness features medallions with the initials "A.S." The original is in the Library of Congress, and appears in many books about New Orleans. KV, Adam was not complimenting himself but he could have - he spoke English, German, French, Spanish, and a local patois. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, New Orleans)
Bon Temps: 1900
... Feb. 27, 1900. "Mardi Gras procession on Canal Street, New Orleans." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... has been revived in recent years. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/12/2013 - 3:37pm -

Feb. 27, 1900. "Mardi Gras procession on Canal Street, New Orleans." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Fleet's InOr at least the battleship Texas is in port. At least two and possibly three of the streetcars are carrying signs that this car goes to the USS Texas (or something similar). Note the two rows of sailors with their rifles in the "present arms" position. This Texas was the 1892 pre-Dreadnought ship which was the first American battleship commissioned. Known as "Old Hoodoo" thanks to a number of incidents early in her career she mounted two 12" guns and six 6" guns in casmates. She was part of the Flying Squadron during the Spanish-American War and was at the Battle of Santiago. She was renamed San Marcos in February 1911 to free the name up for the Dreadnought USS Texas. Her life under this name was short as she was sunk in shallow water as a target in March 1911. The wreckage remained in place until 1959 when it was deemed a hazard to navigation. Bleacher seating...yikesWhen did they stop allowing those monstrosities to be placed on those rickety N.O. building canopies? They look steep and dangerous just to climb up. Wonder how many people fell off sober alone? Kingly KreweThis looks to be the Krewe of Rex. Road HazardOne marched with care in the days of horse-drawn floats. The Great CompromiserThe big statue among the streetcars is the Henry Clay, dedicated in 1860. In 1901, about a year after this photo was taken, it was moved to Lafayette Square, where it remains to this day. Sister BertrilleFlying nun, lower left. Actually, the hat is sort of a poke bonnet masquerading as a wimple. Very cool. A seeming preponderance of menAny idea why there are so few women watching the parade? I count about a half-dozen along the parade route. The answerSo *that* is how great-great-grandma collected all those beads. A new Shorpy recordDozens and dozens of streetcars and maybe hundreds in this picture. I don't remember seeing this many streetcars in one pic at Shorpy unless there was another one shown of this same event. [I wonder if any were named Desire. - Dave] Another PhotographerPerched on a rickety-looking platform on the right. Not Rex?I don't believe this is Rex. The float is too small, and in 1900, the king's float had large lion statues on the front. The crowd is way too small for Rex on Canal in that era, and the float is going the opposite direction from the advertised route that year (should be headed towards the lake on the lower side, this one's heading towards the river). Also, Rex in 1900 was Capt. T.J. Woodward, a Civil War navy veteran with a long white beard in 1900, not this young whippersnapper. Lundi GrasThat probably is Rex, it is just not Mardi Gras but Lundi Gras, the day Rex arrives in the City. It isn't the formal parade, and often a substitute King was used. The ceremony has been revived in recent years. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans)
South Street Seaport: 1901
... New York to Bermuda Miami to Nassau New Orleans to Havana New York to Antilla The way war is supposed ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:18pm -

New York circa 1901. "South Street and Brooklyn Bridge." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. No Trucks and a lot of SailThis is a wonderful view. I didn't realize trucks, motorized wagons really, weren't invented until 1896-Just five years before this picture was taken. No cars, cargo ships with sails and a few with steam and sail. Quite a look back. We've come a long way. How times have changedAmazing, the South Street Seaport actually *was* a seaport back then, not a tourist trap filled with schlock stores and crappy restaurants. RIP CambuskennethThe New York Times: July 1, 1915 The Norwegian ship Cambuskenneth which sailed from Portland, Ore. on Feb. 9 for Liverpool or Manchester was sunk today by gunfire of the German submarine U-39. The Cambuskenneth was twenty miles south of Galley Head on the Cork coast when the submarine signaled her to halt. It was ascertained that there were eight Germans among the ship's crew and these had the novel experience of being rowed to the submarine and later disappearing under the sea with her while their mates (thirteen in all) were left floating in the ship's boats. The latter were landed at Galley Head this morning. Sailing vessel Cambuskennethat center right was built in Port Glasgow, Scotland, in 1893. The 1,924-ton vessel was sailing under Norwegian registry and carrying a cargo of wheat when was was stopped by u-boat U39 (the Walter Forstmann) on June 29, 1915. All hands were allowed to leave the Cambuskenneth unharmed before the Forstmann sank her with gunfire about 26 miles SSW of Galley Head, Ireland. Sail gives waySail just hanging on as steam takes over. Wonderful photo, thanks Shorpy, but also a little sad. Steamship AntiliaSteamship Antilia: launched 1893 at Grangemouth, Scotland. Renamed Malaita in 1905. Scuttled in Bass Strait, Australia, 1927. Marine Engineer and Naval Architect, Feb 1, 1893. Launches — Scotch. Antilia. — On January 21st the Grangemouth Dockyard Co. launched a steel screw steamer to the order of the Nassau Steamship Co., designed to carry fruit and goods between the West Indies and New York. Dimensions, 200 ft. by 30 ft. by 14⋅9 ft. moulded to main deck. She will be fitted up with all the latest improvements, including steam windlass, steam steering gear, &c. The vessel will be fitted with triple-expansion engines by Messrs. Hutson & Son, of Kelvinhaugh Engine Works, Glasgow, designed for a speed of ten knots loaded. The vessel has been constructed under the superintendence of Mr. John M'Keddie, consulting engineer, Edinburgh. As the vessel left the ways she was named the Antilia by Miss M'Keddie, daughter of the superintending engineer. Munson Steamship Line previously seen on Shorpy at their Mobile, Alabama pier: On the Waterfront: 1905. Munson Steamship LineOriginally founded in 1899 to operate cargo service to Cuba and later to Mexico and other gulf ports. First passenger ship was purchased in 1915. The last ship was sold in 1938 and the company went bankrupt. Founded in New York in 1899 to operate a cargo service to Havana and later extended to Mexico and Gulf ports. In 1915 a passenger ship was purchased for the trade to Cuba and after World War I the company commenced passenger and cargo services between New York and the east coast of South America using mainly ex-German ships which had been interned in US ports. The company suffered severely during the depression and many of it's ships were scrapped or laid up. The last ship was sold in 1938 and the company went bankrupt. The remaining passenger ships were taken over by the US Maritime Commission and laid up. Routes: New York to Bahia to Rio de Janeiro to Santos to Montevideo to Buenos Aires New York to Nassau to Miami to Havana New York to Bermuda Miami to Nassau New Orleans to Havana New York to Antilla The way war is supposed to be fought"All hands were allowed to leave the Cambuskenneth unharmed before the Forstmann sank her with gunfire about 26 miles SSW of Galley Head, Ireland." Ahh, when wars were fought civilly. The blue team will please line up on the right side of the field and the red team will take the left. Begin firing at the umpire's signal. Halfway thereThe Brooklyn tower of the Williamsburg bridge is visible behind the Brooklyn bridge. The Williamsburg is still two years away from opening at this point. Can someone explain the sail masts?The commercial steamship steam boat debuted in 1907 1807. How on earth are there still sailing ships in the harbor nearly a century after that? Were mechanically driven ships still been so expensive that sometimes made financial sense, not only to travel at, what?, one fourth the average speed but also to employ all the hands needed to sail a ship? Or am I looking at mechanically driven ships that have masts merely to get extra speed when the wind is right? I can't tell if the smokestacks and the masts belong to the same vessels or different ones. Sail hung on for many more yearsUp to WWII, steel windjammers were more effective, faster and cheaper to operate than steamships on long blue-water runs, like trade between Europe and South America, Asia and Australia. Coal was expensive and hard to get in the remoter parts of the world. The great steel sailers were reliable and could be operated with fewer than 30 men. They were quite plentiful until the war changed everything by boosting the development of propulsion technology and the building of large numbers of powered vessels. Some operated into the 1950s. Fleeting humanitarianismThe rather gentlemanly process of allowing the crew to leave didn't last long after the introduction of Q-ships - armed ships masquerading as merchantmen until the U-boat surfaced to sink the ship with gunfire - more economical than torpedoes. The first successful Q-ship attack on a U-boat came just 6 days before the Cambuskenneth was sunk. Not long thereafter U-boats began more often to stay submerged and attack from stealth with little or no warning, as they did with the Lusitania. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)
Esplanade Ave.: 1910
New Orleans circa 1910. "Gayarre Place monument, Esplanade Avenue." In its ... bi-centennial 1984 Louisiana World Exposition, in New Orleans , 100 years after the 1884 World Cotton Centennial : (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/10/2017 - 4:19pm -

New Orleans circa 1910. "Gayarre Place monument, Esplanade Avenue." In its current incarnation, the monument's much-abused sculpture ("Peace, the Genius of History," originally displayed at the 1884 World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition) has regained an arm but lost the cherubs. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Louisiana's bi-centennial1984 Louisiana World Exposition, in New Orleans, 100 years after the 1884 World Cotton Centennial: (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans)
Hung Out to Dry: 1937
New Orleans circa 1937. "Courtyard, 620-621 Gov. Nicholls Street." Potted ... holes in those undershorts attest to the absolute power of New Orleans cuisine. In the days before building codes a lucky horseshoe ... I saw about 35 years ago. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/05/2014 - 3:59pm -

New Orleans circa 1937. "Courtyard, 620-621 Gov. Nicholls Street." Potted plants and underpants. 8x10 negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. No more clotheslinesThis appears to be the building in question - evidently the neighbourhood has gone upscale. ThreadbareThe term 'threadbare' is often used in literature. Now I have a stark visual display. Vesuvius StreetSlightly reminiscent of Pompeii, except parts of Pompeii are better preserved. Holy, holy, holyThe underwear, I mean. BreezyThose undergarments seem to be quite well ventilated. An interesting abodebut I don't think I'd want to live there, especially with the bad luck horseshoe. Blown outThe holes in those undershorts attest to the absolute power of New Orleans cuisine. In the days before building codesa lucky horseshoe would get you by. I hear the overtureBut I don't recognize it. Surely, an opera is about to break out. OvertureIt's the wrong state, but the overture would surely be Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess." The courtyard immediately reminded me of the set of the New York City Opera's production that I saw about 35 years ago. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston, New Orleans)
Joe Leiter: 1912
... his son was killed in a hunting accident in 1921. NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 11, 1921. -- Joseph Leiter Jr., 10-year-old son of Joseph ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 5:06pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1912. Joseph Leiter Sr., "capitalist, grain speculator and horse fancier." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. TragedyJoe Sr. died in 1932 at age 63; his son was killed in a hunting accident in 1921. NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 11, 1921. -- Joseph Leiter Jr., 10-year-old son of Joseph Leiter, millionaire resident of Chicago and Washington, was killed by the accidental discharge of a shotgun while duck hunting in Louisiana. The accident happened while he was hunting near the mouth of the Mississippi River; an unexplained explosion of a cartridge in his gun caused the discharge. The boy had accompanied his father on the hunting trip, although the father was not nearby at the time. The slain youth, son of the man who became world famous when he cornered the wheat market in the Chicago pit, was a grandson of Levi Z. Leiter of Chicago, who founded the Leiter fortune. He was a nephew of the late Lady Curzon of England. The boy would have inherited an estate of several millions had he grown to manhood I also wonder about the rug. But I do like the three different carving styles on the posts of the stairway banister. Hey Yo!He kinda looks like an older Tony Soprano! I'm not CharlesDurning, I just play him on TV. Nice Double-breasted VestThis guy could pass for Tony Soprano's grandfather. Wrinkly trousersDidn't suits in those days come with two pairs of pants, so you could wear one while the other was being pressed? Joe Jr.Joseph Leiter Jr. Killed by Own Gun at Age 10. Groundhog Day wasn't just a movie!I've suspected for a long time that Bill Murray isn't human. Now here's more proof. He was already 1,000 years old when this picture was taken. Separated At BirthI think he could pass for Winston Churchill's twin brother. Stalwart FellowConfident and assured with himself, but why didn't he have a rug that fit the room? O Brother, Where Art Thou?It's Pappy O'Daniel! "Shake a leg Junior! Thank God your mammy died givin' birth. If she'd have seen you, she'd have died o' shame." Man with a rug that doesn't fit.Nouveau riche Woodwork perfectionSimply amazing. That woodwork is done to perfection, no doubt with only hand tools. A house built today, with every conceivable power tool known to man, typically look like it was done by a four-year-old. If they cast him in a movie......he'd be played by Eugene Pallette. I'll bet he even had that froggy voice. If it weren't for the subject's dour looks, this looks like it could be the set of a screwball comedy. My man Godfrey is about to walk by and fix that rug... or Edward Everett Horton is about to trip over it. More agile than he would appear...He just ran into the frame from the left, sliding into place. Thus the rug buckle. Tres ChickLooks like he uses Dagwood's barber. Literary CharacterLeiter was the model for the main character in Frank Norris' last completed novel, "The Pit." Now that I've seen the photo, I have to dig out my copy of the book. All that woodworkIt's a lead-pipe cinch that the balusters were machine-made, and I'd bet the handrail and all the mouldings were too, and possibly the treads and the starting step; perhaps even the newel post came from a factory. Moulding planes were still around in numbers in those days, but the omnipresence of this kind of woodwork was made possible by machines. I imagine that a lot of handwork went into the final fitting, but that would be so today as well. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Portraits)
Through the Looking-Glass
... of the mirror. - Dave] In Season At least here in New Orleans, such fabric covers for the downrods of metal light fixtures used ... 
 
Posted by D_Chadwick - 01/12/2009 - 5:40pm -

Self-portrait circa 1910. The only thing out of focus is the photographer. Does anyone know what kind of camera he's using? Scanned from the original 5x4 inch glass negative. View full size. Shocking.The arm of that chair is scandalously unembellished. Not sure about the camera...... but that shutter is a "double-dashpot," considered to be a high-quality unit. There were several manufacturers including Kodak and Bausch & Lomb. Click.Kodak Folding or Promette c. 1907 with a ball-bearing shutter. What's With the Chandelier?I didn't know people upholstered their ceiling fixtures! What's up with that? Look at how crisp the doily is - and how sharp and new the wallpaper is! I'll presume that all the decorations are his wife's. These days, just about the only "self-portraits" around are of the nude/porno-ish variety. Just like this gentleman, the new guys (and gals) are holding their little black shutter-thing between their fingers, too. Some things never change, do they? FocusIs he out of focus? Or is it a long exposure, and he's blurred because he moved? I suspect the latter. [Either way, he's out of focus. - Dave] Profile PicThe first MySpace photo! Fly Speck Shield?The fabric wrapping on the chain and arms of the chandelier looks very ad-hoc, not very well fitted and coarsely stitched. This could be a holdover from the 19th Century practice of covering gilded metal with gauze or other fabric during the summer months to prevent fly specks (an 1876 housekeeping manual I found suggests painting gilded picture frames with onion juice for the same reason). The mass-produced oak pier mirror and its gewgaws mostly date from the 1880s, while the bit of the chair seen at left is more like 1895-1905. The photographer also appears in the framed engagement or wedding photo on the wall behind him. He hasn't aged much from that portrait to the mirror image shot. The fixtureChildren, the light fixture is wrapped in muslin, from the chain down to the shades, because it's new, or the household is redecorating. Once everything was up and you were done painting and papering, you'd unwind the entire business. Nowadays it would of course be plastic. -- Great-Great Grandma The CameraThe knob at the top of the lens standard (below left in the photo, above and right in real life) suggests it is some version of a Korona Cycle Camera by Gundlach of Rochester, N.Y. WallpaperGorgeous! I love it. Some things should come back in style. Christmastime?I wonder if this was around Christmas, since there appears to be a reindeer in snow in the glass bell. "Double Exposure!"What an interesting composition - the picture on the wall directly behind the man's head seems to be another picture of the same man! It's like he's looking in the mirror at his older self, and showing us what he sees. Thinks she can have it all, does she?Well, the last laugh's on her. I'll take a photographic catalogue of everything in this house, by gum, when that judge says to split things right down the middle you can bet it'll be done with surgical precision! She gets the damned rococo wallpaper, I get the reindeer sno-globe! Fern from nowhereWhere is that fern sprouting from ? It appears to be right on the buffet/sideboard/dresser but I don't see a vase and there is nothing in the glass globes hanging from the cherub thing. It is bugging me now. [If the fern were on that table, the fronds wouldn't stop at the edge of the mirror. - Dave] In SeasonAt least here in New Orleans, such fabric covers for the downrods of metal light fixtures used to be fairly common. (I imagine there used to be a term for such devices but I don't know it. Lighting fixture stocking?) In the days before air-conditioning, the fashion was to redecorate the house twice a year for winter and summer style among the well-to-do and middle class who wished to emulate them. Different summer and winter carpets on the floor, etc. Much was clearly intended to lessen the southern summer heat, but some details seem obscure now. In summer you'd dress up the lighting poles and other shiny metal objects with fabric. Someone told me it was to keep away the bugs which would be attracted by the shine. For the majority of people who had bass fixtures (as opposed to the very rich who'd have them gilded) it would have the practical advantage of allowing you not to have to polish them for the whole summer. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Portraits)
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