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Windsplit: 1903
... needing a good five-cent cigar. In this picture, the Hotel Bartoldi, just east of the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street, has a sign ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:36pm -

New York circa 1903. "The Flatiron Building." Yet another view of this early skyscraper, from what seems to be the favored vantage. This is the uncropped variant of a Detroit Publishing view seen here last year. View full size. FlaglessI count 13 flagpoles and no flags. What gives? 2nd storyIs the guy standing outside washing the windows or painting a sign on the glass? Sighs --Can I just "like" this? The ContinentalAbout 10 years after this picture was taken, Thomas Riley Marshall, Woodrow Wilson's vice president, said something about the Country needing a good five-cent cigar. In this picture, the Hotel Bartoldi, just east of the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street, has a sign on its roof hawking the Continental Cigar for 10 cents. That had to be one good smoke. "Rear End" ViewNot quite as impressive from the rear, but still a beautiful building! VantageAny idea where the photographer may have stood to take this? Hay!You probably don't see many haywagons traveling down those streets nowadays. (The Gallery, DPC, Flatiron Building, NYC)
Miami Beach: 1941
March 5, 1941. "Raleigh Hotel. Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. Pool, to ocean from balcony. L. Murray ... Not Yet Solo's assertion that the patrons of this hotel could watch blazing cargo vessels from the comfort of the pool before the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/31/2013 - 1:47pm -

March 5, 1941. "Raleigh Hotel. Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. Pool, to ocean from balcony. L. Murray Dixon architect." Rustling those palm fronds, the winds of war. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Only the time line was wrongSolo was right about the ships occasionally being torpedoed off shore -- but only after the war had started. I know: I lived in Fort Lauderdale at the time. Ships heading North would use the Gulf Stream to help them along, so the Krauts knew where they would be. Beaches were patrolled and watch towers were built beachside to track aircraft. Nervous time for all. Still therehttp://www.raleighhotel.com/explore/the_pool/ Looks very much the same, today! From Bing Aerial View: http://binged.it/WDClE7 Ringside Seats for the Slightly SurrealThough the US was still months from having an active role in WWII when this photo was taken, one could have grabbed a parasol-festooned fruity libation of an evening and watched blazing cargo vessels sinking just a few miles off the beach as German U-boats plied their trade against British shipping. Actually Not YetSolo's assertion that the patrons of this hotel could watch blazing cargo vessels from the comfort of the pool before the US entry into the war is wrong. For one thing most of the ships carrying cargo and oil from the Gulf ports were American and would join up with the Anglo-Canadian convoys at Halifax or Sydney. Both Hitler and Admiral Donitz who commanded the U-Boat fleet believed that US intervention in World War I had led to the failure of the German submarine blockade of Britain during World War I. They were anxious to keep from provocative incidents that would bring the US into the war, although with US ships convoying merchant vessels in the North Atlantic sometimes made that difficult. Wide Leg PantsComing of age in the late 90s, there was a ridiculous fad of outlandishly wide-legged jeans, for girls in particular. I didn't realize that the predecessor to that fad could be found with our grandparents (or at least with that woman in the center foreground.) [Very popular at the time. - tterrace] (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, Miami, Swimming)
When Hustle Met Bustle: 1919
... Aloft division of Starwood Hotels to operate the 136-room hotel. The hotel would occupy the floors two through nine of the building with 108 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:57pm -

Detroit circa 1919. "View of Woodward Avenue and Washington Boulevard; Whitney Building and Grand Circus Park." Also one of the "Winged Victory" statues seen earlier here. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. Whitney ReduxThe 19 story David Whitney building in the center of the photo, abandoned in the '80s, got some good news recently: In December 2011, plans moved another step when (Whitney Partners) announced it signed an agreement with the Aloft division of Starwood Hotels to operate the 136-room hotel. The hotel would occupy the floors two through nine of the building with 108 condominium units on floors ten and above to open in 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Whitney_Building http://detroit1701.org/WhitneyBldg.htm Is that a street performer posing as a statue?I've seen them in Italy a number of times. He should have called it Andrew'sI agree with Mark P's comment. From the 1919 Detroit City Directory: Hair'sNot a great name for an eating establishment. Still in Business2nd sign on the left side of the Whitney is Dittrich Furs. They are still in business with TV ads and a website. Currently located on 3rd St North of Grand. Nice to see some longevity. Roy's Wife's UncleNice shot of Hudson's Dept Store. Roy Chapin Sr. was married to Joseph Hudson's niece. Chapin was one of the founders of the Hudson Motor Car Co., named after his benefactor - Mr. Hudson, founder and owner of the Dept. store. That Street Performer...appears to be a "Winged Victory" enroute to some statehouse dome. [I thought the reference was to this. - tterrace] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Detroit Photos, Streetcars)
This Way to Kloskys: 1910
... the bunting and the partially legible sign on the Windsor Hotel on the right side of the photo. The 20th Reunion and Meeting of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 6:30pm -

Mobile, Alabama, circa 1910. "Royal Street looking north." Points of interest include a lineman up a pole and the fickle finger of retail. View full size. For All the Hustle and Bustleit's interesting how many men seem to be in no particular hurry. On the left two are looking up the street, maybe at the approaching motor car. Two are hanging on the corner. And across the street, two guys gabbing on the sidewalk, and five more doing the same in the intersection. The era? The South? Both? The woman with the 12 pound hatIs she waiting for the light to change before crossing? it may be a while until crossing lights are invented. Or is she afraid of the mob of males across the street. The fella on the pole betterThe fella on the pole better watch out on the way down, that cable is in a bad place! A Question Of GrammarShouldn't the plural of Klosky be Kloskies, or is to really Klosky's? [Klosky's is possessive, not plural. "Is to"? -Dave] My question really became scrambled when I mistyped "to" instead of "it." But you got me again, fair and square, Dave. I do agree, Klosky's is possessive. (I've given myself a headache.) The pole climberprobably left his hardhat downstairs at AHC for cleaning--or a 5¢ shine. The lady below him has better head protection. LetterboxedThere are mailboxes on both side of the street. Today you are lucky to find a mailbox anywhere near where you are. The lone woman?I can only see one female in this photo. Not counting if the horse is a mare. And she looks like she could kick most of these guys across the street if she wanted to. I spot at least two, perhapsI spot at least two, perhaps three women: two on the left under the hat cleaning sign; and one in the distance crossing the road ahead of a buggy (in a white skirt and holding her hat, maybe). UCV 20th Reunion and MeetingTowards the end of April 1910, perhaps, considering the bunting and the partially legible sign on the Windsor Hotel on the right side of the photo. The 20th Reunion and Meeting of the United Confederate Veterans was held in Mobile from April 26-28, 1910. The Jones M. Withers Camp of the UCV was located in Mobile. That would fit the sign, the visible part of which identifies it as the Headquarters of "-ther's Camp" (setting aside an error in the placement of the apostrophe). Rooftop Tower MysteryI"m curious about the tower structure on top of the building in the distant center. Can't be radio, not in 1910. Any ideas? [There were lots of radio masts in 1910, especially in coastal cities. Wireless telegraphy was widely used in shipping. - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, Mobile, Stores & Markets, Streetcars)
Well-Connected: 1955
... can see a couple of these switchboards in the lobby of the Hotel Congress in Tucson, AZ. They were removed from the Pioneer Hotel c.1974. (One of them lived in my dining room for 10 years!) Congress ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2015 - 10:27am -

Circa 1955 in Columbus, Georgia. "Switchboard" is all it says here. Smile so they can hear it! 4x5 acetate negative from the News Archive. View full size. Save a trip to the PostofficeI always presumed that slogan was on these privately-owned and operated vending machines as an attempt to mollify people who had to spend 10¢ for a 6¢ Air Mail stamp and 5¢ for a 3-center. They generated two types of comments at the real Post Office: people who assumed they were PO-owned complained about the extra cost, and others would ask if selling stamps for more than their face value wasn't illegal. DelicateI am entranced by her left hand: the grip on the switch so soft, the poised index finger so delicate. Western Electric 551 PBXThis switchboard is the older 551 style, with the flip-to-talk switches on the horizontal panel. The later 555 had rotary switch levers on the upright portion. You can see a couple of these switchboards in the lobby of the Hotel Congress in Tucson, AZ. They were removed from the Pioneer Hotel c.1974. (One of them lived in my dining room for 10 years!) Congress also has a 555 switchboard behind the front desk that still works. I somehow manage to keep it going, mostly by putting bright stickers on the knobs so they don't get turned to the wrong settings. It's all in the details...Wondering what that "thing" is behind the typewriter...the rattan purse..so fifties...is that a high school class ring?...is she a "Breck" blonde? So many questions... City ClubThe middle line on the pad appears to be "City Club." RoyalIn the background we can see a famed Royal HH, chosen by such serious typists as Truman Capote, Elia Kazan, and even George Burns. As I type on a benign Dell keyboard I can see across my office a royal with a non-descript wrinkle paint finish and green keys such as this. tterace beat me to it. I was going to upload an image of the faceplate to one of the stamp machines I found at the bottom of the Russian River while fishing for steelhead one winter. Looks like mine is from a more inflationary time. Smooth OperatorOnly thing wrong with this picture is that she is operating key number six while plugging in with cord number twelve. The call will be connected but they won't be able to hear each other. I actually installed these things back in the 70s. (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive, Pretty Girls)
The Help Desk: 1864
... men looked up the word "ramada" and found out it wasn't a hotel chain. (The Gallery, Civil War) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/31/2021 - 12:51pm -

August 1864. Petersburg, Virginia. "Military telegraph operators at headquarters." Photos from the main Eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865. Wet plate glass negative from Civil War photographs compiled by Milhollen and Mugridge. View full size. 1864 IT guys......would have snickered at anyone with DIAL-UP telegraph. I'll bet they each had one of those Apple stickers on their horse - along with a "Starfleet Academy" sticker and discarded cans of Dew and Red Bull in the wagon. Goober Pea Geek SquadHeh. 19th Century Nerds in a 19th Century Geek Squad. Think about it: these were 1864's "IT professionals". Men!Now THOSE are what I call men! Call me crazy or creepy, but men of the Civil War always get me going. IT GuysMy husband is an IT Director... and this photo reminds me of him, beards, mustaches, serious expressions, the whole bit. RamadaCheck out the elaborate ramada. At first I thought the tents were set under a thicket - then realized that pine trees - with high, thin canopies, are not really shady unless they grow in a thicket of "dog-hair" pine as we call it out west. The two pines in the foreground are obviously living - but it looks like the poles near the tents are cut and peeled. The stump on the right may have been the source of at least one of the poles. It appears poles are set with viga-like crossmembers and roofed with pine boughs for shade. This would have kept the summer sun from beating down on the canvas tents so they'd be cool in the evening. Might have kept a summer rain from soaking everything, too. Oiled canvas tents will certainly mildew if they get soaked often enough. This would qualify as a cubicle with a window in Dilbert-speak. "The elaborate ramada"also referred to south of the Mason-Dixon Line as a brush arbor. Could it be possible that some or all of these guy were civilian contract employees? Most are in civilian dress with some odd military pieces. RamadaLike a guy (a real man that is) lost on the road, I won't ask for directions, but how many of us macho men looked up the word "ramada" and found out it wasn't a hotel chain. (The Gallery, Civil War)
Inaugural Ball: 1925
... out By the time this photo was taken (at the Mayflower Hotel), the only truly new guy -- Vice President Charles W. Dawes -- had ... walls is beautiful and the balconies are wonderful. The hotel itself is interesting; hallways are almost like a maze amking it hard to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 12:42pm -

"Inaugural Ball. March 4, 1925." And Calvin Coolidge could have danced all night. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Balled outBy the time this photo was taken (at the Mayflower Hotel), the only truly new guy -- Vice President Charles W. Dawes -- had already worn out his welcome. As soon as he was sworn into office (in the Senate chambers) he read the senators the riot act about all of their traditions he thought they needed to abandon, while delaying the main event - his boss Calvin's inauguration. From that point forward, Coolidge would have little use for him. The roomThis is an interesting space: not really huge, almost intimate. The balconies fit right into the overall scale of the room. I just wish it had been a "faster" film so we could see the attendees better. Re: The RoomThis is an amazing photo -- a surreal phantasmagoria. Like a dream. Or a Fellini movie. If everything was frozen sharp it wouldn't be that way. [For some reason I keep expecting to see Jack Nicholson staring back at us. - Dave] The Mayflower Ballroom Although I'm sure it was in full swing last night, the ballroom looks more staid for meetings these days: Singing in the Rain"I make more money than Calvin Coolidge . . . put together!" The roomI have been to an event in this room, it is bigger than you think. We had about 55 in our group and the room seemed cavernous. The artwork on the ceiling and walls is beautiful and the balconies are wonderful. The hotel itself is interesting; hallways are almost like a maze amking it hard to find your room. I wonder if some of the attendees got *lost* finding their room after the festivities... (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Politics)
Grand Union: 1912
New York circa 1912. "Grand Union Hotel, 42nd Street and Park Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, ... of the square is Grand Central Station. Grand Union Hotel was closed in 1914 and the building demolished in 1916. It's said no key could be found to lock the front doors when the hotel closed, nobody recalling that one had ever been made. The Pershing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/09/2015 - 12:10pm -

New York circa 1912. "Grand Union Hotel, 42nd Street and Park Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. No overheadI noticed there are no overhead wires and the track has an off-center third rail or slot. Were these cable cars, or was an electrical feed below ground and accessed through the slot? [The latter. -tterrace] Half a Grand UnionIn streetcar parlance a Grand Union is a track arrangement allowing each approaching car to cross straight through the intersection or to turn left or right onto the perpendicular street. This intersection may indeed qualify but, unfortunately, we can only see half the area. Now Pershing SquareThis area is now known as Pershing Square, although eventual General of the Armies John J. "Black Jack" Pershing was only a Brigadier General in 1912. The most famous occupant of the square is Grand Central Station. Grand Union Hotel was closed in 1914 and the building demolished in 1916. It's said no key could be found to lock the front doors when the hotel closed, nobody recalling that one had ever been made. The Pershing Square Building was built on the spot and completed in 1920. It survives. [Ahem; Grand Central Terminal. -tterrace] ChauffeurI'm intrigued by the luxury landaulet in the center of the photo with the driver in the timeless repose of a waiting chauffeur. I can barely make out the shape of the radiator, Winton? Ford Model K? --any guesses? Great photo---- (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, NYC, Streetcars)
West Market Street: 1907
... seals it for me, thanks Revelator. I'm glad there's a Hotel English for me to stay at as my American ain't too flash. That's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 11:19am -

Indianapolis, Indiana, circa 1907. "West Market Street." Another view of the Union Terminal building and car barn seen in the previous post. Points of interest include the 1902 Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the Hearsey Vehicle Company to the right (dealer in gasoline, steam and electric automobiles) and, farther down the street, medical offices of Dr. Gasaway & Co., "specialists." View full size. Dizzy heightsCheck out the crazy "viewing platform" for the statue! The ViewIt looks like someone, perhaps even a couple, if my old eyes are correct, has made the dizzying climb up the stairs inside the monument's tower. I am left to wonder if Dr. Gasaway was an internal medicine specialist. Monument CircleThe Soldiers and Sailors Monument today. A German Monument in IndianaThe 1887 design competition for the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was won by the German architect Bruno Schmitz; the monument was completed in 1901. This monument is actually quite restrained compared to Schmitz's later designs for war monuments in Imperial Germany, most notably the Voelkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument to the Battle of the Nations, where Napoleon was defeated in 1813) near Leipzig, which was completed in 1913. VictoryWhile reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, the lady adorning our monument is called simply 'Victory.' She is 40 ft tall and her platform is 284 ft atop this monument honoring soldiers and sailors who fought the War for the Union (1861-65), the War with Mexico (1846-48), the Indian and British Wars (1811-12), the War of the Revolution and the capture of Vincennes from the British on February 25, 1779. The monument was completed in 1902. She faces south, it is said, to watch for Confederate forces that may again try to invade the North. The attached photo was taked 09/2009, while the observation deck enclusure was being reconstructed for the 2nd time. The first enclosure was installed in the 1930's. During the summer of 2011 the statue will be removed for the first time since it was installed. Repairs and restoration will be done offsite before it is reinstalled. Fantastic EdificeNow that Sir is a marvelous monument, what a tribute. The colour version as of today just seals it for me, thanks Revelator. I'm glad there's a Hotel English for me to stay at as my American ain't too flash. That's the most frogs I've ever seen on one streetThe steel (railroad) kind, of course, not the amphibious kind. Also interesting to see the carbon-arc lamps on counterweighted booms, rather than the usual block-and-tackle. A great imageI would love to know what the two men in bowlers strolling down the street on the left are talking about. Or the two men in the doorway on the right. Most fascinating. (The Gallery, DPC, Indianapolis, Streetcars)
Twin Falls II: 1941
... Avenue East and Hansen The air-conditioned Rogerson Hotel on our left was at the north corner of Main Avenue East and Hansen Street ... have generally lost their upper stories. The Rogerson Hotel building is visible at left; its top story went after a 1935 fire. The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2018 - 10:57am -

        From start to finish, a life on wheels. May 1941. "Main street of Twin Falls, Idaho. According to Idaho State Guide (Federal Writers Project), this town has the distinction, unusual in towns in the section, of being planned." Photo by Russell Lee for the FSA. View full size. Corner of Main Avenue East and HansenThe air-conditioned Rogerson Hotel on our left was at the north corner of Main Avenue East and Hansen Street East, so this view has us looking southeast. +75 Much lower and much leafierMain Avenue East has received a good deal of urban forest plantings in the last three-quarters of a century, while the taller buildings have generally lost their upper stories. The Rogerson Hotel building is visible at left; its top story went after a 1935 fire. The entire building was demolished as too far gone to save in 2016, one year after this Google cap. The Golden Rule in the next block is now a furniture store, and many of the buildings we see have fallen victim to cases of "façade modernization" disease, when they haven't fallen altogether. [Dear people: Please learn how to embed a google Street View before posting. I'm tired of doing it for you. - Dave] Dave, the instructions said "links will be converted" and I trusted that. Bad link removed. How to include Google Street View in a commentDave, it must be frustrating to keep telling people how to include Street View URL links in comments. You did so for me some time ago and I thank you. But the latest time I included such a URL it was just random luck the URL worked. I'd forgotten the trick and had no way to find it. Perhaps the working trick of referencing Street View could be put at the top of the Comment Guidelines? Or even added as an item in the comment entry form? "Paste a street view URL link"? [There is no "trick." Simply apply eyeballs and brain to what's in front of your nose. And of course you could always google it! - Dave] Easier, but ....This angled parking layout was very popular in the Midwest of my youth, though backing out safely often depended on the restraint of one's fellow motorists as well as one's own lumbar flexibility. Unfortunately, becoming accustomed to "nose-in" parking while learning to drive often had a deleterious effect on one's ability to parallel park for the driver's license test! Right over thereHe said he'd leave the package in a gray Plymouth, or was it a Dodge? And NowThe view is Main Street at Hansen, looking southeast. The remains of the air-conditioned Rogerson Hotel are at the left, the building with the ugly (aluminum?) siding. It was torn down after this Street View was taken in 2012. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Open Carry: 1929
... the foundation of the spring house is still there, but the hotel burned down in 1934. 1930s Hipsters I think we're seeing 1930s ... 
 
Posted by Vintagetvs - 01/23/2016 - 9:54am -

This appears to be the same couple seen in the Roadhouse photo posted yesterday. From a box of negatives found in a Redlands thrift store. Many of these are stored in fragments of the original Kodak envelopes from the Whittier Book Store at 113-1/2 N. Greenleaf Avenue. View full size. Same peopleThese are quite strange photos, odd little group, what happened to the tough looking guy in the road house picture. Same necklace and funny ocks on the gloomy woman. Bonnie & Clyde and daughter.I had a vacation like that once. She got so mad and silent that I drove all the way home from Baja without stopping while she lay in the back of the van fuming. Fortunately her kid did not have a weapon. But hey - at least we now know exactly where they are! Wow - if Bonnie and Clyde had a childThe little girl looks as tough as Ma. 1890 WinchesterLooks like the kid has a Winchester model 1890. It's a pump action .22 which is exactly the type of rifle they would have started a child off shooting with back in the good old days. Still a good rifle to start a kid off shooting with. Of course back then nobody would have been alarmed by this, nowadays unfortunately a large number of people are. But not to veer into political commentary. Great photo. I'm hoping there are a few more in this series. The matching shades are a nice touch.Too bad they can't be included in the office Christmas party. Fashion ForwardAlthough the vibe of this family grouping is pure American Gothic, the clothes are pretty au courant. In addition to the covetable sunglasses (including the little girl's) the woman is wearing hiking knickers, a breakthrough style for women in the 1920's. A decade earlier she would have been expected to face the great outdoors in an ankle-length skirt. The man's open-collared shirt and flat-front trousers mark an early appearance of a look that remains the de facto uniform of every guy that doesn't have to put on a suit. The child's romper had been standard for both sexes since the 1910's, and, apparently, pink was still okay for boys. What's that rifle?Is that a Winchester Model 62? If so, I shot one of them once. Sweet little gun. I think they might have used these at carnivals, back in a simpler time. Intersection of here and thereMost likely this photo was taken at the intersection of Twin Valley Road & Forest Route 16N41 or Forest Route 16N41 & High Glade Rd. Those are the two intersections nearest to 6 miles from Bartlett Springs and 17 miles from upper lake. Next time I'm over that way I will have to visit Bartlett Springs; just the foundation of the spring house is still there, but the hotel burned down in 1934. 1930s HipstersI think we're seeing 1930s version of our current-day hipsters here. Wearing the trendy things to wear and looking rather disaffected overall. If there's a third picture upcoming with them on a bicycle that would confirm my theory. Cruel SummersWe'd call this the Mendocino National Forest now. Bartlett Springs was a "destination resort" of the times. During the 1920's, my grandmother's family farmed in Orland, down in the often-scorching Sacramento Valley. They would spend summers in a cabin on the Mendocino forest, leaving a hired man to tend the animals, etc. Winchester?Looks like a .22 pump action Winchester. A most excellent rifle. Have one myself. Actually a model 1906Looking at the rifle more closely I see the barrel is round rather than octagonal so it would be a model 1906 rather than an 1890, but the same design. The Model 62 is also basically the same but wasn't introduced until 1932 (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
To Mars in the Air Ship: 1905
... to the to the left [not seen] and the Metropolitan Hotel on the right). Then again in 1927. That fellow on the left, It ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/23/2022 - 1:33pm -

Circa 1905. "Along the boulevard -- Revere Beach, Massachusetts." All aboard for the Red Planet! 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. A little traveling music professor, if you pleaseHaven't made a comment on Shorpy for a very long time but this photo hit me with the time travel blues. Wouldn't it be great to travel back to 1905, walk along looking in the shops, checking out what the people were wearing, listen in to their conversations to see what the talk of the day was, and best of all - strike up a few conversations to hear their opinions on whatever subject they chose. It would be fascinating. Thanks to Dave and his Shorpy, a journey of the mind is a welcome trip. More Evidence I'll take your word on the shirt collar but is he using (or trying) to use his phone? Possibly not time travelling rather a glitch in the Matrix. He may have been gone a picosecond later. Fun & FrolicMeanwhile, in "The Pit" -- Slide, Chutes, Whirl-a-Gig, Barrel of Fun, Crazy Stairs, the Twirler, Shaker and Trick Steps. A man from another eraThis man doesn't look dressed like those of his time. He does not have a hat, he has a shirt with rolled up sleeves, tight pants and neatly combed back hair. He looks more like a man from the 1950s. Really unbelievable. [A 1905 shirt collar, though. - Dave] Still thereThis picture was taken probably within minutes of Rough Riders: 1905, just below this post. The same boy is sitting in the same place, to the far right, on the wall by the pavilions with his back to Broad Sound and his front to the idle pursuit of people-watching. Looks to have been an uncomfortably hot day; he was probably trying to decide between a Lemonade "To Order" and a soda fountain Coca-Cola, from Trask's. Both a bargain at five cents. Beach bonfire in waitingBurned. (Of course !!) Multiple times: First in 1918 (taking out some structures to the to the left [not seen] and the Metropolitan Hotel on the right). Then again in 1927. That fellow on the left, It seems that it was his casual Friday. Very daring for him not to wear a full woolen suit with a hat on a hot, humid, sunny summer day. I dig his style. By threesI think our dear editors at Shorpy are feeling antsy for warmer days. But hey, soon it will be March, and the winds will blow in warmer. But thank you for this trifecta of Revere Beach. I too would like to step into a booth or through some "gate" and find myself there -- a warm summer day, sitting along the wall and just absorbing everyday life in 1905. I'd have to dress the part to not draw attention. I'd rummage through the attic to see what I can find. Just for an hour to start, lest I be arrested for vagrancy. To Mars in an AirshipIn 1905 Billy Murray's great song was released. I wonder if they were dancing to that tune in the Nautical Gardens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxoZrqnkElU (The Gallery, DPC, Swimming)
Bancroft House: 1907
Saginaw, Mich., circa 1907. "Bancroft House Hotel." Note the transit schedule on the corner, "Interurban cars for Bay ... light was Washington and Genesee, outside the Bancroft Hotel. It was suspended from a rope and people came from miles and miles away ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/25/2011 - 5:08pm -

Saginaw, Mich., circa 1907. "Bancroft House Hotel." Note the transit schedule on the corner, "Interurban cars for Bay City." Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. InterestingDepth of field. Relief CrewsBelow the interurban schedule sign are at least three interurban or street railway crewmen in their uniforms most likely waiting to make a "crew change" on the next car or cars through. This is still a common practice in mass transit today. The little building next to the line pole might be a phone booth or a shelter for the starter, inspector or supervisor who would keep track of the streetcars and interurban cars schedules assuring that they would be on time. Some contemporary larger transit systems use CAD (computer aided dispatching) and GPS to do this today. Two interesting facts1. The first street corner in the world to have electric light was Washington and Genesee, outside the Bancroft Hotel. It was suspended from a rope and people came from miles and miles away to see it. 2. First incandescent bulb in Michigan lit the Bancroft Hotel. [Link] New lifeThe Bancroft is getting a new life after being vacant for years. There is a restaurant in the floor and refurbished apartments throughout. (The Gallery, DPC, Streetcars)
Civil War Veterans: 1913
... battle on display. You also have Hersheypark, the Hershey Hotel, and the Amish in the Lancaster area. Great place to visit. 50 years ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/11/2014 - 1:07pm -

July 1913. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. "Gettysburg reunion: G.A.R. & U.C.V. veterans at the encampment." Some of the 53,000 Civil War veterans, members of either the Grand Army of the Republic (Union troops) or the United Confederate Veterans, who reunited at Gettysburg on the 50th anniversary of the battle there. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. My GGG GrandfatherMy GGG Grandfather, Samuel Frye, 18th Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, 163rd PA Vols. He was at the battle of Gettysburg, I would like to think he made it to this reunion. Tearful ReunionI have read that veterans from both sides embraced each other in tears at this reunion. What stories they must have shared. My wife's 3rd GGFWas from North Carolina and would have been at Gettysburg except he deserted the week before. Had he not evaded that particular battle, my wife might never have been... Well worth visiting.If you ever get the chance highly recommend visiting Gettysburg. When we went there, years ago, there was an impressive model of the battle on display. You also have Hersheypark, the Hershey Hotel, and the Amish in the Lancaster area. Great place to visit. 50 years for meIn just 3 years it will be 50 years since I went to Vietnam. I don't look anything like these old Veterans. Well, other than sporting a gray goatee, but I think I'm 27. Young countryI am a high school history and government teacher. I'm a vet and my father was a WW II vet. I often have students come up to me and say "My grandpa was in the war, --he was in Viet Nam." To illustrate how young our country is I point out that when I was a kid EVERYONE'S father was a WW II vet and the old guys were WW I vets. I remember my dad saying that when he was a kid; EVERYONE'S father was in WW I & the old-guy vets were from the Civil War. If we read into contemporary Civil War anecdotes they often refer to their fathers and grandfathers fighting the Revolution. The last Civil War vet died the year that I was born. There have been 44 presidents and I've lived during ELEVEN of them. I'm "only" 58 years old. Sheesh--- Battle of GettysburgThese are my great-grandparents Israel H. and Phebe Angline Smith. They had a farm near York, PA that was raided by the Confederates 2 days prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. They lost horses, mules, grain and feed. Israel fought in the battle. I too, hope that he was at the reunion. He passed away in 1915. Hard to BelieveTwenty years later, enough of these stalwarts still drew breath to hold a 70th reunion! (The Gallery, Civil War, Harris + Ewing)
Everywhere a Sign: 1912
... feet, on the roof of the Kohn Building, just south of the Hotel Knickerbocker, caught one of the worst puffs of the big wind and toppled ... by a YMI clothing store. However, the famous Knickerbocker Hotel building to the left is still going strong. But serving as an office ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 2:26pm -

February 23, 1912. "Three-ton electric sign blown into Broadway." Our second look at the toppled sign in front of a railroad ticket office and Hepner's Hair Emporium. From the New York Times account the 100 mph gale: "An electric sign, 100 by 200 feet, on the roof of the Kohn Building, just south of the Hotel Knickerbocker, caught one of the worst puffs of the big wind and toppled over into Times Square. A policeman, who had just darted into the store on the ground floor to warn those within that the sign was coming down, barely escaped it as it fell. The sign, weighing nearly two tons, crashed over into the street, still clasped hinge-like to its moorings at the bent base, while the top, crumbling into the street, shattered to bits a large plateglass window in the Lehigh Valley Railroad's office on the ground floor." George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Hepner's is historyIt's been replaced by a YMI clothing store. However, the famous Knickerbocker Hotel building to the left is still going strong. But serving as an office building with a Gap store on the ground floor. View Larger Map +102Below is the same view from September of 2014. Also of note is the renovation of the Knickerbocker and its pending restoration as a hotel. (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Savannah: 1905
... It's likely this picture was taken from the De Soto Hotel that used to stand on this corner. That old building was Romanesque ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 2:45pm -

Savannah, Georgia, circa 1905. Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size. The chairmanAppears to be handing out pamphlets or broadsides. Wish I could read one ... I do seriously believe he knows the secret of a good life. Corner of Liberty and DraytonYou can barely make out the street signs on the corners of the two buildings on the left, noting this as Liberty Street. If you download the uncompressed archival version you can read "TON" on the street sign for the cross street, the rest being hidden underneath the shutter. That would make this the corner of Drayton and Liberty, looking north. This corner is now the home of Drayton Tower, an apartment building built in the late 40's. You can see the long gone tracks for the cable cars along the median on the bottom there. On the left side towards the top you can see "Big Duke," the three-ton firebell that used to stand on Oglethorpe Street, it is now part of a fireman's memorial on the same site. Farther up on the left are the masts of a tall ship at the River Street ports. The domed building to the far right is the old County Jail, on Habersham street, now one of the buildings owned by the Savannah College of Art and Design. Boy this makes me homesick! FascinationThese views, with their startling clarity, give us an unparalleled opportunity to look into our own past. Thanks are due to the Detroit and Washington firms as well as others that gave us so many views of our past and that of our nation. Thanks, too, to Dave for his excellent selections. Brush Double-Carbon Arc LampThe street lamp suspended over the intersection at bottom center of the photo is a Brush double-carbon arc lamp, a smaller and more widely used version of the larger "moonlight tower" lamps used in Detroit and other cities. Brush arc lamps were named for their inventor, Charles Francis Brush (1849-1929) of Cleveland, who made a fortune from this and other electrical inventions. The Brush street lamp is recognizable by its pair of carbon node rods in their open glass sphere, as in this period engraving. More astonishing perhaps was Brush's wind turbine generator, the world's first, which he invented in 1888 to provide electrical power to his large mansion in Cleveland, built in 1884 with the proceeds from his arc lamps. The immense wind turbine charged a dozen large storage batteries that reliably powered the residence for 20 years. Even Savannah Has ChangedIt's likely this picture was taken from the De Soto Hotel that used to stand on this corner. That old building was Romanesque Victorian, and was ripped down in the 60s, to be replaced by a Hilton. If you google streetview the corner of Liberty and Drayton, you realize that almost none of the buildings in the foreground of the picture remain. The last building on Victory (the boulevard with trees) that can be seen is still there. On a positive note, the rather bleak patch of grass before the large building dominating the right side of the picture, has filled in with trees. It is part of the famous Colonial Park Cemetery, which, just a few years before, narrowly missed being the site of a new courthouse. Re: Liberty and DraytonThe tracks are for electric streetcars, not cable cars. Different time...The old man and the dog, pulling up a chair to watch the world goes by. Also appears to be a purple martin birdhouse. And I wonder what the two phantoms are carrying there? Liberty Street tracksThe streetcar tracks were used by the E&W Belt Line. The E referred to East Broad Street and the W to West Broad. In addition to their "E&W Belt" destination sign, cars on this route carried a dash sign indicating that they served Union, Central, and Tybee Depots. They basically looped via West Broad, Liberty, East Broad (with a deviation that I guess served Tybee Depot), and (I think) Bay Street. I do not know if the loop was operated one way or two way (the cars obviously did not pass at this corner!). When I moved to Savannah and went to the grade school of which Ms. Romana Riley was Principal, the only streetcar lines left were Habersham, Isle of Hope, East Savannah, and Thunderbolt-BonaBella. (The Gallery, DPC, Savannah, Streetcars)
The Mode: 1919
... Neddo, president of United Cafeteria Company and owner of Hotel Neddo, of Norfolk Va., is accorded the praise for the enterprise that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 11:21am -

Circa 1919, another Washington streetscape. "The Mode, 11th and F Streets." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Oh, that reminds me...I gotta pick up a couple of hat frames tomorrow. Do you suppose ...that some of the ghosts in this picture would have been virtually invisible if they hadn't chosen to wear shoes that day? Hatter and haberdasherNow what is the difference between a hatter and a haberdasher? I had always assumed they were the same. [Hatters and milliners do hats; haberdashers do haberdashery -- men's clothing and accessories. - Dave] Baked Possum TodayThe United Cafeteria opened in February 1919. The ad below is for one of their more exotic dinners. Based on other advertisements, the more typical fare included Roast Prime Ribs, Oyster Pot Pie, Chicken A La King, and Lobster a La Neuburg. A Success From the Start Washington during the past week has given cordial welcome to the United Cafeteria, 1008-1010 F street, opened a few days ago as the latest addition to the National Capital's already noteworthy assemblage of dining places. The new restaurant is unique in many of its features. A woman chef superintends the appetizing conceits that proceed from the kitchens to the display counters, patrons are taken care of at double capacity service stations and a stringed orchestra is regularly in attendance. A palm room is the novelty that occupies the basement floor. Every appointment of the spacious dining rooms, from the immaculate linen to the generously filled platters, is suggestive of the refinements of service not ordinarily afforded by dining places of the popular, quick-lunch type. Courtesy, promptness and thoroughness of service, together with every excellence of cuisine, have united to command a patronage of over a thousand patrons at every meal. To Richard Neddo, president of United Cafeteria Company and owner of Hotel Neddo, of Norfolk Va., is accorded the praise for the enterprise that gives Washington this new and commodious and altogether desirable place to eat. It's the crowning achievement, by the way, in the career of a man who as a train boy received his first "service" lessons in dispensing water to travelers on the old C.H. and D.R.R [Cincinnati, Hamilton, & Dayton Railroad] back in 1873. Washington Post, Feb 9, 1919 Boccioni Anyone?Look at the couple crossing the street and behold the vision that inspired the Futurist movement. Still thereThe Mode is gone, but not the two fine red brick buildings behind it on 11th. View Larger Map Even back then...you couldn't find a parking space in D.C. Possum PieI've heard possums described in many different ways, but "the sweetest morsel that can be set before man" is not one of them. I wonder how many hungry customers showed up that day? Nice ridesA couple of expensive cars here -- can't identify the town car in the center, but the one with the light colored wheels to the left is a Pierce-Arrow. Scarred and batteredThis building was sadly maimed before it was razed in the mid-90s - it's visible at far left here: image from Flickr user Kinorama. +90Below is the identical perspective taken in September of 2009. The Mode building was a pretty pathetic site in its last years on that corner. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo, Stores & Markets)
Pain's Spectacle: 1905
Brooklyn circa 1905. "Oriental Hotel and bath house, Manhattan Beach, N.Y." At left, a sign pointing the way ... Our photographer stands with the Brighton Beach Hotel right behind him. The Manhattan Beach Baths to the right, and the background is the Oriental Hotel. I don't believe I've ever seen a photo of the Manhattan Beach Baths ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/09/2016 - 5:55pm -

Brooklyn circa 1905. "Oriental Hotel and bath house, Manhattan Beach, N.Y." At left, a sign pointing the way to the bicycle track as well as "Pain's Spectacle in Fireworks." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. No YorkKnowing NY, I'd venture to guess the signpost (behind the benches on the right) is a long list of the things not allowed on the grass. Early weather serviceAt far right there appears to be a rooftop weather station. My, they were big back then. Pain's Spectacle in FireworksJames Pain was a British entrepreneur who presented a dramatic version of Giovanni Pacini's operatic extravaganza The Last Day of Pompeii. The extravaganza was presented at Coney Island from 1879 to 1914. "Pain staged his pyrodrama in at least 37 U.S. locations, including Los Angeles in 1905. This libretto comes from the pyrodrama's appearance in Cincinnati in 1891. Pain required a sizable down payment to bring the spectacle to a city, usually for a one- to two-week run. Civic authorities had to build a multi-acre venue with a large body of water, a long platform, and seating for approximately 10,000 viewers. Efficient public transportation was also critical. The actors, however, were secondary, and local performers trained by Pain's staff played most roles." Pain also produced an updated show depicting the Battle of San Juan Hill in Aurora, Illinois in 1899. It included 300 people on stage and 12,000 square yards of oil painting. That is 2.5 acres. Whichever show the patrons saw (Pompeii of San Juan Hill), They got their money's worth. Gentility & Simplicity Early 1900's seems to have been an encouraging time. Shorpy's brilliant photos and clever descriptions has made me especially fond of this specific American period. Thank you, for this enchanting portal allowing us all a glimpse into the past. Are we experiencing a *theme* day?Here, we have a great billboard pitching Pain's Spectacle in Fireworks, and just earlier, The Great Creatore - *both* featured in a single scene of The Music Man! p.s: In light of John J's comment, it's clear that Meredith Wilson was writing from current events of the setting. In the Music Man scene, the fireworks "spectacle" in question was even "The Last Days of Pompeii"! A nifty mapMy favorite images on Shorpy are Coney/Brighton ones! The NYPL has a nice excerpt from a Fire Insurance map of this area. http://nyplmaps.tumblr.com/image/25718182000 Our photographer stands with the Brighton Beach Hotel right behind him. The Manhattan Beach Baths to the right, and the background is the Oriental Hotel. I don't believe I've ever seen a photo of the Manhattan Beach Baths before. So this is, to me, a real treat! (The Gallery, DPC, Kids, NYC)
Cafe Ginza: 1941
... right (it's long gone, of course, along with the Bo-Chow Hotel and the Eagle Bakery & Restaurant - this document shows how the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/07/2012 - 3:19pm -

San Francisco on Dec. 8, 1941. "Japanese restaurant, Monday morning after the attack on Pearl Harbor." Empires may crumble and Reichs turn to dust, but the Coca-Cola Company endures. Photo by John Collier. View full size. Dark days aheadSadly, within a year most of the business owners on this street would find themselves shipped off to relocation camps in the worst assault on civil liberties in the 20th century. USO supportAll of the signage is written in pre-reform style, with non-simplified characters (Japan simplified some characters after the war in 1946, though not nearly as many as mainland China did - today there are characters with three forms: the original, the PRC simplified form, and the Japan form) and with horizontal writing going from right to left. Modern Japanese horizontal writing goes from left to right (like English). The two posters are obviously movie posters. Dr. Kahn Uyeyama (that's a common old spelling for what more modern people probably would write "Kan Ueyama") has a normal Japanese translation of his sign but also in Japanese pronunciation characters a "dokutoru obu medeshin". The sign tacked to the bottom of the movie poster on the right says "December 6 and 7, both nights. Buddhist Community Hall sponsored, USO support event." So yeah. EyecatcherThat Coke bottle balanced on the signpost really gets your attention! Smart advertising. Nisei NeonGreat early birthday presents to me to peer back into everyday American streets (in "Cafe Ginza" and "War News") on fateful December 8, 1941, the day exactly five years before I was born. If the Cafe Ginza's (presumably) Japanese-American proprietors were evicted and relocated during the fifth-column paranoias of 1942, I hope somebody at least rescued their neon sign, as it's fantastic. And the movie posters somehow look much later than 1941, maybe because the characters' traditionally-Japanese clothing takes away the usual Western-fashion clues we use to date such images. Japantown (Nihonmachi)By 1976, this area had been rebuilt with the Peace Plaza and Peace Pagoda, and the stretch of Buchanan Street in the 1941 photo was turned into a pedestrian mall. In the Street View below, the Cafe Ginza would be about mid-way up the block, on the right (it's long gone, of course, along with the Bo-Chow Hotel and the Eagle Bakery & Restaurant - this document shows how the area has changed over the years). Street View today (as close as you can get): View Larger Map Really, the worst assault of the entire century?Worse than Hitler? Worse than Stalin? Worse than the rape of Nanking? Worse than Mao? Worse than PolPot? Stick to photography. Re: Poster on the LeftThe large picture poster on the left is for "Fujigawa no chikemuri" (1939; title means something like "Blood Spray at the Fuji River"), directed by Shichinosuke Oshimoto and starring Hideo Otani et al. The one to the right has the title in romanization (1940; Ōoka seidan tōrima), directed by Norihiko Nishina and starring Utaemon Ichikawa. Dr. Uyeyama's unfortunate neighborsThe restaurateurs who lived above the Cafe Ginza in 1940 likely ended up in internment camps. According to the 1940 census, the residents at that address were Yaneo (age 39) and Shizuko (age 34) Shimizu, identified as the proprietor and manager of a restaurant. Their names and ages match the names and birth years of internees in the Manzanar and Heart Mountain relocation centers listed in the Department of Justice's database of War Relocation Authority information. Dr. Uyeyama's other neighbors, longtime dentist Masuichi Higaki and his family, match the names and birth years of internees at the Granada relocation center in Colorado. Poster on the LeftThe poster on the left is for "Niji tatsu oka", which was released in 1938. It's advertised as a "Toho All Talkie." Even in the late 1930's about one-third of the films produced in Japan were silent. Since I don't read Japanese I can't offer anything on the other poster. The English letters at the top apparently don't refer to its title. Dr. Uyeyama's familyI can find no information about whether or where Dr. Kahn Uyeyama and his family were interned during the war, but I did find that Dr. Uyeyama, a 1934 graduate and clinical faculty member at UC-San Francisco, left the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1947. Census records from 1940 reflect that Dr. Uyeyama and his family (of 1735 Buchanan Street) were all born in the U.S., and included a four-year old son named Terry. Other military records tell of a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Terry Uyeyama, born in San Francisco, who would have been four when that census was taken. He was interned - by the North Vietnamese as a POW from 1968 to 1973. His honors include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, and Prisoner of War Medal. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, John Collier, San Francisco, WW2)
Cadillac Square: 1902
... old hotels, the Russell House, first opened in 1857. The hotel has since been replaced with two successive buildings, each bigger than the last. First came the Hotel Pontchartrain (a great favorite of both the Detroit Publishing Co. and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/13/2013 - 12:14pm -

Detroit circa 1902. "Cadillac Square and Wayne County building." The rigging is for one of the "moonlight tower" arc lamps that provided nighttime illumination, an example of which can be seen behind the Rajah Coffee sign. View full size. Smoke gets in your eyesMaybe we've got global warming today, but once again here's a skyline with lots of soot and smoke on the horizon, thanks to the nearly 100% of energy being made from burning wood or coal. Life wasn't all rosy then, either. Pass my inhalerOh my, us that really smoke/smog hovering in the middle background? Gives me an asthma attack just looking at it. No QuadrigasBeautiful shot of the Wayne County Building minus Victory and Progress. ImpactIn my shorpy-inspired daydreams of travels through time, I often imagine it would be the olfactory sense that would be the first to be impacted. Much like the experience encountered when traveling south out of Michigan in the dead of winter and you first experience the smell of the earth and living things as you cross into Tennessee. A good 5c Cigarperhaps some of that smoke is from those cheap cigars. To be fair about MichiganEsteemed fellow Shorpy-ite FotoFantasist correctly mentions clean air found leaving the Mitten State and entering other states. To be fair, however, one can encounter the same (literally) breath-taking change in air quality, smell and beauty about the time one traverses the Mackinac Bridge between Michigan's two peninsulas, and enters the pristine Upper Peninsula. You can always smell the pine trees and so much more, or so much less. Moonlight TowersAustin, TX still has a few working Moonlight towers - usually just called Moontowers. At Zilker Park a Moontower is used as the frame for the Holiday Tree of Lights in December. Vast amounts of pollen spewing from one kind of tree after another can be pretty breathtaking so it's good to have one tall tree that doesn't set off allergies. Cadillac nowSome of these buildings are still standing today although the church steeple cloaked in good old Detroit pollution is behind the apartment buildings and the ornate building on the right has been seriously foreshortened. View Larger Map The ornate building on the rightis one of Detroit's grand old hotels, the Russell House, first opened in 1857. The hotel has since been replaced with two successive buildings, each bigger than the last. First came the Hotel Pontchartrain (a great favorite of both the Detroit Publishing Co. and the viewers at Shorpy), built 1906-1907 to the designs of George D. Mason; then came the First National Bank Building, designed by the great architect Albert Kahn, built 1920-1922 and still standing. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Streetcars)
Guggenheim Going Up: 1957
... Tafel called Cohen and told him to run down to the Plaza Hotel right away. When he got there, Wright opened the door to his suite in his ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/04/2013 - 1:44pm -

Nov. 12, 1957. "Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, East 89th Street & Fifth Avenue, New York. Under construction II. Frank Lloyd Wright, architect." Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. What Can be DoneJohansenNewman, The Guggenheim is an architectural treasure. There is nothing "kitschy" about it. It is particularly wonderful looking now since its recently completed renovation and restoration. It stands proudly among the boxes that line 5th Avenue. I love the old buildings as much as the next person, but there is much to behold in mid-century architecture as well. And to reduce the functionality of the ramp to the cliche observation about it being a "drain" is to miss its unique qualities; the interaction with other people, the joy of the interior volume, and being able to glance across to see other works. Yes, it is a challenging space in which to exhibit, but I have never once been there and felt I couldn't "step back and contemplate". One Must Not Question "The Master"Back in the 70s, I read a book about Wright's works. Note how the walls slope outward. Supposedly, Wright designed it that way so that paintings might be viewed from the artist's perspective -- tilted back on the easel. The author wrote that this caused a problem, because, while the back of the easel tilts, the front is vertical. Special mounting brackets had to be designed to hold the paintings vertical so that spectators could truly view them as the artists had seen them. Of course, at the time, no one had dared to question "The Master's" assumptions. Two-way trafficThe sight of the parked cars facing northbound may seem perplexing, but at the time this picture was taken Fifth Avenue handled two-way traffic. It became one-way southbound in early 1966. Both of the apartment buildings shown in this picture are still going strong today. The building to the left is 4 East 89th Street, built a few years before the Guggenheim, while to the right is 1067 Fifth Avenue, which dates back to 1917. There's a full-floor, 5-bedroom unit currently available for sale at 1067 Fifth, if you have a spare $6 million lying around. Oops on the formworkLooks like someone wasn't operating the pneumatic concrete vibrator when pouring the mix on the front curved wall. Patch time. Inside InfoI'm sure someone is going to post a current photo of this unusual building, Attached is one of the interior. It is an amazing experience just to see it from 5th Avenue or the inside of the building. Oh, and by the way, they have some swell paintings. The Concrete ContractorI heard this story from Edgar Tafel, who was one of Wright's first apprentices at the Taliesin Fellowship in Wisconsin: An acquaintance of his, a concrete contractor named George Cohen, really wanted the Guggenheim Museum job, so he asked Tafel to get him a meeting with Wright. One morning, Tafel called Cohen and told him to run down to the Plaza Hotel right away. When he got there, Wright opened the door to his suite in his bathrobe and said, "So you're the concrete expert." Cohen answered, "No, Mr. Wright, I'm here to learn from you!" Cohen got the job, and he signed his name on the facade of the building, right underneath the signature and the red square symbol of Frank Lloyd Wright. This is believed to be the only time Wright ever shared top billing with a contractor. +55 yearsA slightly different angle, from this past Thanksgiving weekend. Construction PhaseAt this point in construction, the crane on the left is positioned to install the roof leaks. The Cars Are...in order, going away, a 1953 Dodge and a 1954 Mercury. I bet the concrete was barely dryIn 1960 when I was three (ahem) I took this photo there. Getting there was a mini-expedition: I drove from Altoona, Pa, west to the Pittsburgh airport (about a hundred miles), got on one of those new-fangled 707 jet airliners which had been introduced barely more than a year before, and flew to New York (about 320 miles and probably passing over Altoona). I spent a few hours in the city, went back out to La Guardia, flew back to Pittsburgh that same day and then home to Altoona. For years I had a massive blowup of this photo, which I just always liked, on my wall, mostly because of the child leaning on his elbows on the top ramp, who is looking down at a child on the lower right bottom, barely visible in this small format. What not to doBack in 1965, my 7th grade art teacher said,"Wright predicted that the Guggenheim would make all the surrounding buildings looked poorly designed and outdated. Instead, just the opposite happened." My teacher was right then and even more correct now, although the building is now old enough that it is actually a testament to 1950's funky kitsch. Aside from the exterior being as bad as it is, the interior totally fails as a museum, where one is supposed to be able to step back, focus on, and contemplate the art. The downward spiral just makes you want to keep moving, as though heading down the drain. So many wonderful 19th century buildings are being torn down at an alarming rate to make way for the new. Frankly, I wouldn't miss this one at all. As an artist and illustrator, and a product of the kitschy 50's myself, I think the essential issue is that we kid ourselves to think that art or architecture is viewed with disregard to context. Placement is key for appreciation and enjoyment. This building is simply in the wrong place. Somewhere else, independent of it's current setting would have been much better. Still dislike it immensely, though, especially in comparison to Wright's other designs. Interesting triviaPrior to the Guggenheim's construction, the building site hosted a Usonian house exhibit -- a model home by FLLW that was subsequently disassembled & moved into storage. Years later, in the early 80s the disassembled house was auctioned off on NY's PBS station WNET 13 (during one of their early "begathons") for more than $130,000 at the time: The two-bedroom house sat on the present site of the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan as part of an exhibition of 60 years of Wright`s work. When the exhibition closed, the house was dismantled by contractor and former Wright apprentice David Henken, beginning a long and tortuous journey that would eventually lead to Chicago. In the mid-1980s, Henken donated fragments of the house to public television station WNET in New York. The station then auctioned the pieces to Domino`s Pizza founder Thomas Monaghan, a voracious collector of Wright memorabilia. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
Joe's Jungle Bungalow: 1904
... a solid demand for thatched roofs down here. Every beach hotel with a tiki bar has one, in addition to many inland hotels striving for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/25/2012 - 4:56pm -

Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1904. "Alligator Joe's bungalow in the jungle." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Jungle CapitalismOne thing that can be said about Joe, he has the entrepreneurial spirit. He knew how to market his alligators and his residence. Here's the great man himself!Alligator Joe poses at entrance to main pavilion. http://royalpoincianahotel.blogspot.com/ Out of the movies?This looks like Tarzan or Dr. Livingston should live here! Thatch MastersThere is still a solid demand for thatched roofs down here. Every beach hotel with a tiki bar has one, in addition to many inland hotels striving for that "beach" ambiance. The Seminoles build the best ones.They also run a pretty mean casino. I wonderif anyone called it Alligator Joe's Bungalow in the Jungle-O. I know I would have. Soft drinks, cigars, peanuts and piesWhat else would you need, except of course a baby carriage and a duck? [I think that's more of a grownup carriage. And a rooster. - Dave] Before televisionThis is what Captain Kangaroo might be up to. A Rooster?That rooster sure looks to me like it has a bill and webbed feet. [We'll put someone else in charge of the chicken house. - Dave] Rolling ChairThat's a "rolling chair" along the lines of the ones seen in the Atlantic City photos. [Below: At the Royal Poinciana in Palm Beach, home of the bicycle chair. - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, Florida)
Bisbee, Az.: 1940
... as you're facing it is the relatively posh Copper Queen Hotel - a 4-story affair that holds the distinction of being the longest continually operating hotel in the state of Arizona (opened 1902). Back-Alley Ablutions Subway ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/08/2018 - 1:54pm -

May 1940. "Side street [Subway Street] of Bisbee, Arizona. Copper mining center." Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Updated streetlightThe incandescent streetlight was undoubtedly converted from an arc light, which had to be maintained several times a week. Zephyr!Holy Moly, a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr Coupe parked in front of the jewelers sign. Flathead V12 power! Likely very old train tracksI think those tracks are from the original El Paso & SouthWestern (EPSW) rail to Bisbee. The trolley tracks ran along Main Street. [The EPSW line would not have gone through the business district. Bisbee was served by both a streetcar system, with much trackage re-laid and embedded in concrete in 1920, and the Warren-Bisbee Railway, an interurban trolley with service to the nearby town of Warren. - Dave] Now (2016) with Air Conditioning 66 years of public service . . . make 100 cigarettesI was intrigued by what was visible on a distant building, and quickly found the full text of the Bull Durham roll-your-own pitch. They seem to have been counting years starting from around 1860, which means the sign had been there a while when Lee took this photo. Near 8 Subway StFrom research with Bing Maps, I was surmise we are near 8 Subway Street. It's amazing how many structures are recognizable today. For example, the corner curb steps on the sidewalk are still there. One interesting detail that seems to be gone is the abandoned RR siding track buried in the street. It would be interesting to know which building(s) had rail service, and why. Also absent is the quaint streetlight mounted on a pulley-and-rope system so that it can be lowered to change the bulb. So that's what that area was for!I just knew it as an unusually wide alleyway behind Main Street, which is well out of frame to the left. The first storefront on the right beyond the telephone pole now houses (or did in May 2013, when I was there) a little vintage kids toys/antique shop -- picked up a pretty fair stack of western swing 78's there, too. To the left, the L.L. Gilman Jeweler's building now houses a gigantic antique shop. 3 floors (including basement) packed to the gills with just about any vintage knick knack you'd want if you've got the money. Place still has an intact vault where they keep all the records (yes, I'm a 78rpm record collector). Also, about 200 feet behind and around 50 feet up a set of steps to the left as you're facing it is the relatively posh Copper Queen Hotel - a 4-story affair that holds the distinction of being the longest continually operating hotel in the state of Arizona (opened 1902). Back-Alley AblutionsSubway Street's namesake is the Subway, a large subterranean drainage channel paralleling Main Street. After a series of devastating floods, Bisbee thoroughfares including Subway and Main were reconfigured and paved with concrete to serve as spillways during the monsoon season: Ghost SignIf you go backwards a little on the Google Street View (click the arrow pointing towards you), you can still see white painted lettering above the Bisbee Antiques sign on the brick building towards the left. I believe I can make out the "Gilman" and "Jeweler" shown in the 1940 photo. In fact, the darker brick color seems to appear only where the original painted sign once was. 38 Zephyr I believe the Zephyr is a 1938. The trunk handle is above the license plate. I'm probably wrong, but that's what it looks like. (The Gallery, Mining, Russell Lee, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Million Dollar Highway: 1940
... towns along the way. Especially Animas Forks. The Western Hotel in Ouray is a good place to stay. Or the Beaumont if you want fancy. - ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/23/2008 - 9:39am -

October 1940. "Million Dollar Highway is cut through massive rocks in Ouray County, Colorado." U.S. 550 between Silverton and Ouray. Now a paved modern highway, this is a spectacular mountain route that I've driven many times over the years. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee. Ouray ActivitiesThe creek you see at the bottom of the photo flows into Ouray and is diverted through perforated pipes set along the canyon rim in the winter. The sheets of ice formed by the water trickling over the rocks create a perfect ice climbing venue, with competitions every January and February. The creek flows into the Uncompaghre River (Native American name meaning "no cell service"). The hot springs in town are a great way to take the chill off your bones after a day on the ice. [My favorite summer activity: Jeeping the Alpine Loop and exploring the ghost towns along the way. Especially Animas Forks. The Western Hotel in Ouray is a good place to stay. Or the Beaumont if you want fancy. - Dave] Red Mountain Pass If I am not mistaken this section of road climbs over Red Mountain Pass. A few years back I rode my bicycle over this pass, with 750 other riders,on the way to Durango. While it is now a "modern paved highway" it still has no guardrails as they would be an impairment to clearing the many feet of snow they get each year. The drop off right next to the edge of the road(first on the right side then the left) made some want to hug the center line, but the car traffic was not conducive to this. The night before we left for the ride a shop owner in Ouray gave bikers this advice. "For the first 12 miles lean left. For the next 12 miles lean right." Bus ride anyone?This is truly one of the greatest last frontier drives ever. We used to drive up from New Mexico to play basketball with Ouray and Silverton. This road made bus trips very interesting. Great photo. HistoryThe Million Dollar Highway got its start in the 1880s as a 12-mile toll road between Ironton and Ouray, a remarkable feat considering it was before the age of the internal combustion engine and done by men with picks and shovels, working in snow and very low temperatures. Drive thru in the winter to appreciate. I've jeeped this area extensively... see pics at www.fotki.com/tbill and www.fotki.com/tbilmelms 550I remember riding over this highway during WW2 when I was a very small child. It wasn't paved yet and was just barely passable for two vehicles going in opposite directions. The driver always had to honk when approaching a blind curve, and the car on the outside had to move over and stop for the inside vehicle. I was terrified and spent much of the trip huddled down in the back seat with my eyes closed. We lived in Pagosa Springs at the time, and I am a Colorado native, so mountain roads were nothing new to me. But this one was the worst. I was between 3 and 4 at the time. Eek!I have driven this during the summer and even then I wanted to hug the centerline. I can't imagine driving this during the winter. Golden RuleWhen I was a kid in the 40's, we were taught that the name for the Million Dollar Highway comes from the value of the ore-bearing fill that was used to construct it. As kids, we would gather mill tailings from the road sides in the mountains and take them home to extract gold by crushing and panning. We would alway get a few flakes of gold. I'm sure that there are few or none of these piles of tailings left because the price of gold now makes it profitable to use the very low grade ore. (The Gallery, On the Road, Russell Lee)
Open Floorplan: 1938
... that borrows on the grandeur of the Knickerbocker Hotel. The mansion went through many hands in its last years, each new ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 4:05pm -

1938. Iberville Parish, Louisiana. "Belle Grove." The rear of the mansion. 8x10 inch safety negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size. Sic Gloria MundiDecay caught mid-stride. This photo was taken about 10 [actually more like 20] years after Belle Grove had been abandoned. About ten years down the road [14 years -- 1952], what was left of the carcass caught fire and was leveled. The house was built in three wings. The man is standing in the central hall of the main wing, the front door can be seen in yesterday's photo. The door to his left and gallery of windows are the remains of the dining room. The fallen catwalk was originally a balcony facing the sugar fields that made up the plantation. No doubt this is where the owners took guests to show off their property, real and "personal". The wing to the right held the kitchen and domestic slaves' quarters, while the arches below gave access to the carriage houses, jail, and storage. There is no basement: the house is yards from the Mississippi River and the water table is too high. The third wing had collapsed some years earlier and was positioned in the foreground. Had it survived, the man would be at the foot of a vast, circular staircase to his right. The treads are gone, but diagonal bands of plaster can still be seen. The wing also held guest rooms and the library. The bricks have long disappeared to scavengers. Contrary to rumor, there was no ballroom in the attic. It's just a confabulation that borrows on the grandeur of the Knickerbocker Hotel. The mansion went through many hands in its last years, each new owner vowing to restore it. I suspect the house could not be saved. It's well photographed, and even the first generation of post-abandonment pictures show cracks in walls that are well out of plumb: the muddy land just slipped out from under the foundations and the rest was inevitable. Belle GroveThanks for the new visits to our site! Jason http://bellegrove.net So quickly to ruinHow odd that such a magnificent structure didn't even last 100 years. There are stone and brick buildings all over the world that are hundreds, even thousands, of years old and in better shape than this. I'd complain to the general contractor for sure, I think he cheaped it out with the masonry subs. How beautiful it must have been!I grew up in a wonderful antebellum home (c. 1840) in Mississippi. It certainly didn't have 75 rooms (about one-third that). The large windows were to allow cooling breezes to come in off the river, as the heat could be unbearable. The high ceilings help to concentrate the hot air near the top, and the house was elevated off the bottomland to help shield the residents from the "unhealthy vapors." Thankfully, we had the luxury of window air conditioners! My old home was sold years ago, but it has been kept in fine repair and dazzles on Pilgrimage tours today. (I sure with I had that house today!) So sad Belle Grove died a tragic death. Kind of makes you wonder what went on there. Belle Grove's DemiseAlthough vandals and scavengers did their destructive worst to Belle Grove, it is generally believed that her demise came about due to her roof. Over the years after her abandonment, her roof was not maintained, which allowed rainwater to seep into her attic. The water continued downward, dissolving plaster and rotting wood. As vandals broke windows and smashed doors and shutters, more rainwater entered. Had the roof been maintained, and the windows and doors boarded up, less destruction would have occurred. At that point, Belle Grove's new owners could have put their full attention toward shoring up the foundation, which - through fraught with problems - could have been fixed. I can fix this.All I need is duct tape, super glue, a multi tool, and two weeks, tops! Not the builder's faultI read a little last night about Belle Glade Grove, and the damage seen here was mostly caused by scavengers looting for woodwork, fittings, used bricks, etc. They brought down that wall, and the weather finished the damage. The building was left vacant for years. DeteriorationLouisiana is a harsh environment - the constant humidity isn't just present in the warm seasons, but also during the winter. Hard freezes followed by quick thaws and long scorching summers wear out even the strongest structures quickly. Building foundations also tend to shift and buckle, since there's not much - if any - bedrock under the southern half of the state. (The Gallery, F.B. Johnston)
Birthplace of Old Glory: 1900
... But Darragh's house on Second Street was replaced by a hotel, so that left Ross. A campaign to save her house hustled pennies from the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/28/2013 - 10:49am -

Circa 1900. "Betsy Ross House, Philadelphia." Our second look at Jack the horse. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Lots of changesThe house today doesn't look anything like this. Many many renovations over the years it seems. Hardware DistrictIt's interesting how businesses of the same type used to self segregate in the cities of the time. Today the modern versions of the products sold on this street would be in a single big box "home improvement" store. Still there?It sure is: View Larger Map The fire mark is still thereIt represented the fire insurance company, the Philadelphia Contributionship, started by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. Not reallyNot only is there no evidence Betsy Ross had anything to do with the first flag, but existing evidence suggests that because of address changes over the years, this was never her house. A powerful myth, however. Coach lampsCarey & Co. haven't equipped their neighbors Hunter & Dickson and Chas. F. Mitchell with their products. Hmm. Before historic preservation was coolFrom Stewart Brand's How Buildings Learn: "As the nation approached its first centennial in 1875, the search was on for a female hero of the Revolution. Philadelphia had two candidates--Lydia Darragh, an intrepid and effective spy, and Betsy Ross, who sewed American flags and might have sewn the first one. But Darragh's house on Second Street was replaced by a hotel, so that left Ross. A campaign to save her house hustled pennies from the nation's schoolchildren. Darragh was forgotten by history. Betsy Ross entered legend." The photo with this caption in Brand's book is probably from 1876 or earlier. The Samuel Drake building is there, but the Berger Brothers building is not. The Ross house has either a cedar shake or a slate roof, not the standing seam metal shown here. The ground floor tenant is a tailor shop, and there is the winter skeleton of a tree in front, rather than utility poles. +113Below is the same view from October of 2013. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, Patriotic, Philadelphia)
Atlantic Avenue: 1905
... But ended up losing them to some rich guy with a hotel on Boardwalk. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 9:52am -

Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1905. "Atlantic Avenue." Meet you in front of Two Stumps in an hour. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative. View full size. Detroit Publishing Co.I was wondering, was the DPC cmomissioned to take photos all over the USA, or did they do this on their own. Interesting picture of Atlantic Avenue. [Detroit Publishing's main business was selling color postcards printed using autochrom process. These glass negatives were the starting point. And right here on Shorpy, 100 years later, is where they are being seen for the first time in all their hyper-detailed glory. - Dave] Two Stumps?Then you really don't need shoes at all. After 105 years, not much is leftThis appears to be the corner of Pennsylvania and Atlantic Avenues. The old Courthouse can be seen on the left, and is now gone, as is almost everything else. The only structure extant is the six-story building with the clock-cupola on the right. The clock and cupola are gone, but the distinctive front entrance is intact. View Larger Map What is this, the Old West?Come on New Jersey, it's the 20th Century. Put down some asphalt, cobblestones, anything! [The paving here seems to be brick, with an overlay of crud and mud. - Dave] Coffin nails...I note that Smoker's Paradise is right across the street from the undertaker's. Amazing detailThe building on the right has a lot of interesting details on it, like the rounded windows (they must have been expensive to replace), the fleur-de-lis below the windows, and the old men (Neptune?) along the roof line. I also liked the Common Sense Shoe Store, which must have been for people without stumps. Help WantedThey talk about the "good old days" being a misconception. Still, when the Employment Bureau has a "help wanted" sign out front, makes you think certain things like the job market were certainly better in 1905. Used to own two houses on Atlantic Avenue.But ended up losing them to some rich guy with a hotel on Boardwalk. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC, Streetcars)
Netherland and Savoy: 1905
... one month's rent in 2011. 58th Street Once More The Hotel Savoy Plaza has been replaced by the General Motors Building where, in a ... Apartment House The building shown to the right of the Hotel Savoy is the Bolkenhayn Apartment House, situated at the corner of Fifth ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:45pm -

New York circa 1905. "Hotels Netherland and Savoy, Fifth Avenue and East 58th." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. On The StreetInteresting. Just saw the documentary "BillCunninghamNewYork" last weekend--much of the background action centers around this very street, block and area. Today's Park Savoy lists its address as 158 W 58th, the Sherry Netherland as 781 5th Ave. Strumpp Florists(on the far right) according to the New York Times of March 10, 1922, signed a 10-year lease for $30,000 a year. A fraction of one month's rent in 2011. 58th Street Once MoreThe Hotel Savoy Plaza has been replaced by the General Motors Building where, in a post last week, I described the 5 year old Apple Store occupying the basement, now a local Landmark. The Savoy, architecturally, was much more impressive than the GM structure. To make matters worse it was once owned by Donald Trump. Sherry FlambeI was a bellman at the Sherry Netherland (which is across 59th Street from the GM building) in the mid/late 1980s. There's a great photo of the tower on fire during its construction in 1927. New York City 1905Thanks to Helares for bringing this photo back to our attention. I don't know that I'd actually want to live back then, but if I could be magically transported to any particular Shorpy year and location I think it would be New York City in 1905. The combination of horse-drawn conveyances, streetcars and automobiles; the women in white blouses and long dark skirts and huge hats; the profusion of striped awnings; the beautiful and varied ornamentation of the architecture; the vibrant street life (accentuated by the movement blurs in these photographs); the spirit of infinite possibility even before the age of modern communications and the internet -- I want to take a vacation to that place and time! Bolkenhayn Apartment HouseThe building shown to the right of the Hotel Savoy is the Bolkenhayn Apartment House, situated at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 58th Street and designed by Alfred Zucker in the 1890's. I have attached a picture taken from an article taken from the Heating & Ventilation Magazine of date: November 15, 1895 describing the building's revolutionary heating system. The article can be read here. (The Gallery, DPC, NYC)
College Ices: 1908
... it met a premature end. Built in 1857 as the city's first hotel, and standing at the northwest corner of Asylum* and Trumbull streets, it ... years before being demolished. It hadn't been used as a hotel for many years. The Allyn House was demolished on account of general ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/17/2013 - 1:33pm -

Circa 1908. "Allyn House, Hartford, Conn." At the drug store: Egg Drinks and "College Ices." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. A respectable lifespanDowntown Hartford has many nicely preserved older buildings, alas the Allyn House is not among them. Which isn't to say that it met a premature end. Built in 1857 as the city's first hotel, and standing at the northwest corner of Asylum* and Trumbull streets, it lasted a respectable 103 years before being demolished. It hadn't been used as a hotel for many years. The Allyn House was demolished on account of general decrepitude, not because the site was urgently needed for something else. In fact the site was a parking lot for a decade before the Hartford Civic Center (now the XL Center) was built on it. * = Asylum Street, one of Hartford's major thoroughfares, takes its peculiar moniker from the former name of the American School for the Deaf, once located along it. "College Ice"is just another name for the old fashioned ice cream sundae. My father used to make a "college ice" as a treat for us kids on a Friday night. Vanilla ice cream, Hershey's chocolate syrup and whatever fruit was available. Delicious. Allyn House (1857-1960)From whatwasthere.com: "The Allyn House, on the corner of Asylum Street and Trumbull Street, was the finest hotel in Hartford when constructed in 1857. It was designed by Octavius J. Jordan and was located near the railroad station. It was demolished in 1960. William T. Stevens was the proprietor of the Hartford Optical Co. Charles Avery sold boots and shoes at 148 Asylum Street." Philo W. Newton & Co.I looked up Philo W. Newton & Co., the drug store pictured above in the Allyn House, and found this from the Druggists Circular and Chemical Gazette, April 1904: "Charles F. German, a member of the firm of Philo W. Newton & Co., has recently been quite ill, but is now improving." Druggist, heal thyself. Or maybe that was the problem? (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC, Stores & Markets)
33 Center Street: 1910
... View full size. Central Annex The Milner Hotel now occupies the spot where this building once stood. According to the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/04/2011 - 2:16pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "No. 33 Center Street." Why this little house is in the Detroit Publishing archive is a mystery to me. Note yet another of those maypole-style telephone line drops. 8x10 glass negative. View full size. Central AnnexThe Milner Hotel now occupies the spot where this building once stood. According to the 1910 Polk City Directory, the building at the right, 31 Center Street, was occupied by one Henry M. Catton. The building at the left was the Central Apartments at 35-41. 33 Center was the "Central Annex" and you can see that there is a connection between the Annex and the larger Central Apartments. Perhaps one of the residents of the Annex gained notoriety, prompting the photograph of their residence? [My guess would be that whatever historical significance this place has lies back in the 19th century. A Google Books search shows that 33 Centre Street was headquarters of the Detroit Woman's Christian Association in 1890. There may have been some connection with the temperance movement. - Dave] View Larger Map PhotoworthyMaybe the entry to No. 33 is at the end of that narrow passageway and that is unusual enough to be both noteworthy and photoworthy. CuriosityJust curious if the pole is actually an electric power drop.The insulators appear to be quite large. This area is in the general area where Edison Electric Illuminating was supplying DC power in the very early part of the 1900's. I want my Maypole!That's a telephone drop. Single-wire conductors with a ground return. Power lines would be two conductors widely separated. One more detailAnd a tip of the Hatlo Hat to the Old Hitching Post. Damn ShuttersI can hear them banging all night long! [Try leaving Mr. Shutter a note. - Dave] Amazing, I'm thereI can actually see the Milner and Center street from my window at work right now. No sign of this house. Thanks for the time-travel-moment, Shorpy. The paversLook to be wood, probably soaked in creosote. Window treatmentI like the way that the pediment over the window of the house next door matches the one over the door. Obviously the houses have come down in the world. Re: I want my Maypole!Actually telephone lines are symmetrical, so they always are a pair of conductors. [A lot of early systems used a single conductor with ground return. - Dave] (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
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