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Sincere Market: 1958
... went on the loaf. Said the truck driver Dough! Kids will be kids! Love the 3 kids goofing it up on the hood of the crashed car (visible ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2015 - 9:41pm -

Oakland, Calif., circa 1958. "Bread truck collision." But so what. We need to make sure the Hot Sausage isn't hurt! 4x5 News Archive negative. View full size. ManhattanI believe that is a Kaiser Manhattan parked to the left and above the right rear fender of the Ford police cruiser. The rear window widow's peak is the revealing detail. [The car is a Lincoln, and that's a reflection. - Dave] Said the truck driver:This is the last thing I kneaded, it's going to cost me some serious dough, the driver of that car is a heel, my insurance rates will probably rise. Can't Be OaklandNo wrecked Olds! Point of impactWas the Mercury airborne when it hit the bread truck? The point of impact is above the height of the headlights. Said the driver of the carAt yeast I am not seriously hurt. Why is it so many buy Kilpatrick's?Because it's fresher and tastes better! By the wayCan I just say how awesome these Oakland accident pics are?! Sincere MarketYour photographer's beat seems to have concentrated on the African-American section of Oakland. Oakland, and especially ultraconservative Berkeley, were de facto segregated and overtly racist cities in the 1950s. In a previous picture one could just make out the segregated "Rex" theater. The African-American radio station was KWBR, whose afternoon show was (I am not making this up) called the "Sepia Serenade." Record stores filed their R&B under "Race Music," in search of which I spent a lot of time in this section of town. One warm summer day I pulled up to a stoplight on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley next to a Buick driven by a typical pearl-bedecked Berkeley matron, my radio blaring one of "Big Don" Barksdale's choices (I think it was Dr. John's "How Come My Dog Don't Bark When You Come Round," still a favorite). The lady gave me a horrified look and despite the temperature rolled her window up. Blackout ModelThe car on the right is a 1942 Chevrolet that may have been built just before all car production was ceased before WWII. Most of the bright trim was painted a contrasting color instead of being chromed. Some of the trim on this car is chrome. Possibly it was changed after the war? These cars are quite collectable today. 1038 24th Street I used to work in a bread storeI was a pilot. Took bread from one corner and piled it up in another. (with thankx to Curly Howard) Got tired of the doughSo went on the loaf. Said the truck driverDough! Kids will be kids!Love the 3 kids goofing it up on the hood of the crashed car (visible through the windows)! Goofing around is timeless! (The Gallery, News Photo Archive, Signal 30, Stores & Markets)
Pumpkin Patch Kids: 1936
... and friend. Needle still being evasive Three kids with pumpkins taking cover atop haystack; I sense trick not treat. (The Gallery, Halloween, Harris + Ewing, Kids) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/01/2021 - 1:48pm -

October 3, 1936. Ashton, Maryland. "Climbing to the highest hay stack, these youngsters hope for an advance glimpse of the Halloween spooks and goblins. They are 'Sunny Jim,' Johnny-John and Brooke Johns." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. A bit late?I was born just 17 days later. Guess I was the goblin they were looking for. Bwahaaa!!!! Itchy & Scratchyand friend. Needle still being evasive Three kids with pumpkins taking cover atop haystack; I sense trick not treat. (The Gallery, Halloween, Harris + Ewing, Kids)
Knickerbocker Trust: 1904
... windows, there appear to be two people there (possibly kids). A shame we'll never know who they were. [Phantoms! - Dave] ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/24/2024 - 1:59pm -

New York, 1904. "Knickerbocker Trust Building and Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Fifth Avenue at W. 34th Street." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. We're just dust in the windIf you look at that first column of windows closest to the Knickerbocker Building & go up five windows, there appear to be two people there (possibly kids). A shame we'll never know who they were. [Phantoms! - Dave] There's something else there nowThe Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was torn down in 1929 in order to erect the Empire State Building. Is the Knickerbocker Trust Building still there? ¾ ain't half badWithin a few years, three of the four corners of this intersection would be occupied by buildings bearing some of the most famous names in New York (Astor, Knickerbocker and Altman). The Knick -- did anyone dare call it that when it was in its prime ? -- was widely publicized in the architectural press, and survives today, expanded and simplified ... a Faustian bargain that spared it a Penn Station type date with the wreckers. Earlier KnicksKnickerbocker Trust failed amid the Panic of 1907, although a year later it reopened for a few more years under that name. By 1912 it was an acquisition target, and the "Knickerbocker" name disappeared from the firm's title in 1914. Its building at 358 Fifth Avenue, however, was never torn down, but was expanded, then modernized to the point that it's impossible to see Stanford White's magnificent columns. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/realestate/08scapes.html (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Streetcars)
Wisdom, Montana: 1942
... kept an eye out for you. We had two bars that all the kids hung out in and played pool. There were street dances for the Fourth of ... traveled to Wisdom for dinner some days or just when the kids wanted to take a ride. It was a short 20 mile drive. Would move back in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/03/2023 - 1:14pm -

April 1942. "Baker's Garage in Wisdom, Montana. Largest town, population 385, in the Big Hole Basin, a trading center in ranching country." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Superb quality!The quality of this photograph is amazing. It looks like it was taken today. Do you have any more information on it? Wisdom MTGoogle Maps link. WisdomGreat photo. Thanks. The last remaining inhabitants eventually changed the name to "Boredom, Montana." Towns like thisTowns like this are a staple of western North America. In western Canada, their existence was justified by the railway and farmers hauling grain to their local elevators. Later they survived when the highway became the big thing and people stopped for gas or a little food on the road. There's probably a bar that the locals go to. Town's got a school maybe even a high school, and probably more than one church. There's a ball field and, in just about every prairie town in Canada though of course not the USA, a curling rink. In Saskatchewan they used to say that if you lived in a town that lost the school and the curling rink you might as well start looking for a place in Saskatoon or Regina. PennzoilThe Pennzoil logo hasn't changed much: WidsomIt looks like it's on the edge of a river valley? The colors in this shot are indeed amazing. I love the punch of the red gas pumps. [It's west of Butte. - Dave] CalsoWhat does it say on the sign leaning against the wall, underneath "Calso Gasoline"? Is that "Unsurcharged"? No extra fees? ["Unsurpassed." - Dave] Eternal WisdomUnderneath "Unsurpassed" on the Calso sign you have "The California Company" I found a modern picture of this place online: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4494303 Aside from the paved road, this place looks much the same. I don't think they sell Chevron or Mobil at those buildings anymore. Baker's Garage is now Conover's Trading Post. The painted Wisdom has long since faded from the old metal roof. The GarageI was raised and went to school in wisdom and Bakers Garage is not next to Ed Glassey's garage (The building with Wisdom on the top). Baker's Garage was across the street from Glasseys Garage (Looks like maybe they used photoshop to alter the photo) .. I moved to Wisdom in 1959 so if the photo is from 1942 maybe they moved the Building?? [The image, which is part of the Library of Congress photographic archive, has not been altered. It's one of more than 50 pictures of Wisdom taken by John Vachon in April 1942. Things can change a lot in 20 years. - Dave] Baker's Garage in WisdomI am a Wisdom native too. In talking to my dad. Bruce Helming, who is the oldest native still living in Wisdom, it turns out that Anna Lee and Roy Baker did own a shop across the street from the garage that you know as Baker's, which is now the Wisdom Market. It was the Chet Bruns Union 76 Garage back in the old days. Anna Lee was my dad's first cousin. Dad's folks adopted her when her parents died in the 1920s, and she was raised as Anna Lee Helming in Wisdom. My grandparents' (and later Dad's) business, Helming Brothers, bought out Chet Bruns' operation in the 1950s, which is when Anna Lee and Roy moved to the garage that you know now. The buildings shown in the photo were destroyed in the American Legion hall fire. I would guess that was in the early 50s, which is when all of the cemetery records were destroyed. Wisdom had no real fire department until 1961, so when a blaze was raging out of control, it was extinguished by placing dynamite in a loaf of bread and tossing it into the fire. The night the Legion hall and all of these other buildings burned, Dad and his uncle, Clarence Helming, were bringing the fire pumper to the scene. Just as they rounded the corner, "Boom," no more fire (and no more buildings). Gary Helming Helming@juno.com Pictures of Wisdom, MontanaI enjoyed looking at the old pictures of Wisdom and reading the text about them. I grew up near a small town (Gladstone, VA) and have always been kind of partial to them. I love looking at old pictures like these. Thank you for posting them. The Wisdom of YouthThis town holds a place in my heart. I spent most of my youth in Wisdom, from 1975 to 1990. The town hasn't changed a lot since I left, but has gotten smaller. When I started at Wisdom Elementary there were four classrooms. By the time I graduated to high school they were down to three. I hear there is only one class there now. For high school we were bused 65 miles to the Dillon, one of only two high schools in the county. It was an amazing place to grow up. Though everyone knew your business, everyone kept an eye out for you. We had two bars that all the kids hung out in and played pool. There were street dances for the Fourth of July and any other occasion. There were two restaurants, one of which burned down last week. It is hard to describe the life that a kid in a town this small would lead. The concept just doesn't make sense to city folk. But it was an amazing carefree life of swimming under the bridge, ice skating at the pond, nights of kick the can in the Forest Service field, greetings from the town's pet deer and raccoons. If it were possible to have the kind of lifestyle I have now in the city, I would move back to raise my child there in a heartbeat. Having lived near Wisdom for many yearsduring the summer-time, I can almost see the buildings. We haven't lived in Jackson for 20 years but the previous 8 years were spent on the Hairpin Ranch in a line shack about 5 miles past the main ranch, in the middle of nowhere. I loved EVERY minute of it. We traveled to Wisdom for dinner some days or just when the kids wanted to take a ride. It was a short 20 mile drive. Would move back in a New York minute. Early pioneers of the Big HoleI'm looking for any pictures or info of the early Wisdom families prior to 1930. I have an old school picture dated 1914/15 and would love to have someone help identify the children. Both sides of my family, the Elliott's and Scollicks were early settlers there. The old dilapidated log cabin on the south end of the Ruby near Butler Creek is the Scollick homestead and the Elliott log cabin is on Gibbonsville road. I believe my Aunt Eve Scollick might have married a Ferguson in the Wisdom area. There's a picture hanging at the Crossing/Fetties with several people on horses. Anyone that can help identify them as well would be great. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Rural America, WW2)
Free-Range Kids: 1895
... Lately it seems that whenever I check on what the kids are doing, one or two of them are on top of the hen house. They're just ... very comfortable and this time of year it's hot. But if kids were doing this 120 years ago I guess I'll just accept it as innate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/17/2015 - 4:34pm -

Continuing our visit to Takoma Park, Maryland, circa 1895, we find Helen and Willard Douglas taking their ease Snoopy-style at the family compound, which seems to be equipped with accommodations for poultry as well as laundry. 5x7 glass negative by Edward M. Douglas. View full size. The Golden HourThe period just after sunrise or before sunset when the lighting angle is low is generally the best time to take evocative photos. These Tacoma Park pictures are excellent examples. Recreational AttireI guess since she stayed on the property she could wear her brother's pants to climb on the roof rather than her dress for climbing trees. Awesome photographs. Like Mom said"If you fall off that roof and break your legs, don't come running to me!" Full Equipped for Gracious Suburban LivingNote the dovecote on the right. But that ladder seems to lack a single safety advisory sticker, which may explain why it was not placed perfectly perpendicular to the eave. Still a Popular Pastime We live in a rural-ish area and keep chickens. We also have six children. Lately it seems that whenever I check on what the kids are doing, one or two of them are on top of the hen house. They're just sitting or lying there much like the children in this photo. Because of the way our hen house is constructed they don't need a ladder to get up there and I don't think there's much chance of them falling off but I usually call them down anyway out of a vague feeing that one shouldn't let one's children hang out on a roof. Personally, I don't see the attraction. It can't be very comfortable and this time of year it's hot. But if kids were doing this 120 years ago I guess I'll just accept it as innate behavior. (E.M. Douglas, Kids)
Good Gulf Gas, phone 262
... loudspeaker. Come one, come all, and join the fun! Hi kids! I'm Gulfy! I don't suppose you have any close-up shots of the ... 
 
Posted by DoninVa - 04/06/2009 - 9:38am -

Grand opening of my father's Gulf Gas station in Gulfport, Ms, circa 1955. The family's 2-door Ford station wagon to the right of the building would make two cross-country Mississippi to California trips in a few years before we finally settled in The Promised Land of southern California. The clown's outfit was covered with Gulf embroidered patches and he has poorly made-up. I was about 7 at this time. View full size. So which hurricanefinally put this station out of business? The other promised landGulfport is now, to many, The other promised land. 2 door Fords were "Ranch Wagons", big open area in the back for us pre-seatbelt boomers to bounce around in. Great picture, thanks for sharing. Sound RentalIt's good to know that that Rambler wagon is "sound"; I'd hate to think it was otherwise! I do like the term "sound"; no longer a familiar usage. Cool. [It's a "sound car" because of the giant bullhorn on top. - Dave] Just Wonderin'I see a median strip--was this on U.S. 90? If so, I passed by many times in those years, maybe even bought gas there in the late '50s and early '60s. And I see only two bathroom doors. Was there a third around back? (Men, Women, and Colored.) Torn DownJust last year a service station identical to the picture was torn down in my town. I also heard on the news today that a service station built in 1933 was being moved so as to preserve it. I missed where that station was located. Sound Car For HireWe had a 53 Ford wagon too. I like the "Bathtub Nash" with extra added features -- a large paging horn and a roving billboard. For a moment I thought the service station also rented "sound" cars, until I saw the loudspeaker. Come one, come all, and join the fun! Hi kids! I'm Gulfy!I don't suppose you have any close-up shots of the clown? Those would be priceless. A guy in Mississippi dressed as a clown, covered with Gulf patches. You can't make this stuff up. Love that station design. Goober Pyle'd sell his mother to own a station like that. Minus the clown. Nash wagonThe car with the sign Sound Car for Hire looks like a Nash. I would love to see what this looks like today. How long...was the station there? Could it still have been there in the early Seventies? If so, I think I might have bought gas there on one of my trips between east Texas and south Georgia; I typically diverted from the direct route just to see the countryside. A Simpler TimeThat was a time when my friends and I, standing on a street corner, could identify the make, model, and year of every car that went by. I can almost identify all the cars here except I can't see the details to get the years right. The big dark fourdoor sedan reminds me of our family 1948 Plymouth Deluxe but I can't see the trim well enough to be sure of the year. I loved that car. I also got in a bad accident with it but I can honestly say it was not my fault. My father then got a 1954 Plymouth Belvedere with a strange kind of breakdown-prone no-shift fluid drive whose proprietary name I can't recall. Moving onWhen I was last in Gulfport, 1990 or so, the building was still there on Pass Road but had become a quick oil change place. My father and mother decided on California and we left Gulfport. I never learned the details of the business decisions to open the station and then leave it, but in California he found his niche selling Fords. We are descended from pioneer folk who in colonial times moved from Virginia to Georgia, and then on to Alabama and Mississippi; so, the trek to California was another step in the process. Perhaps curiously, I have spent most of my adult life in the South...but my favorite baseball team is the Angels. Somewhere in the dusty archive is a photo of the clown and he was a truly amateur joey. Today we have guys with twirling signs and huge foam hands to entice us; an improvement in marketing? 1954 PlymouthThe transmission you're referring to was called Hy-Drive. What Is It About Clownsthat is so scary? I would drive clear of any clown in a gas station - especially this one. HyDriveThe Plymouth scheme of combining a fluid clutch with a three speed manual transmission was called HyDrive. Happy DaysI love this picture! My dad was a salesman for Atlantic Refining in the early 1960s in North Carolina. I have some photos of an Atlantic station grand opening that looks almost identical to this picture, right down to the clown! I recall being scared of the clown as a 3-year old. It was common then at grand openings to have a clown, helium balloons, the trianglar flag streamers (in primary colors like red, blue, green, etc) and a big stack of Coca-colas to give away with every fill-up. Even after the hoopla died down, attendants in pressed uniforms washed your windshield and checked the oil and tires, at least until the first oil shock in '73 put an end to that luxury. What a great time to start a business! City or country locationIt is hard to tell. During my Greyhound driving years I would come upon a little cinder block gas station that still had the "Good Gulf" or "Chief" logo with the trademarked lettering styles over the garage bays in the deep rural South. We had a Phillips 66 in our part of the county, part auto center (gas, service, etc), part convience store and part boyhood education (auto parts calendars). Sound carsI remember the "Sound Cars." They would drive through your neighborhood and you would hear this deep voice saying something like "Come to Meyer's Department Store today for our pre-fourth of July sale, everything 25% off." The voice sounded like the voice of God on an old Charlton Heston movie and it was so loud you could hear it all through the house. Usually the speaker would pause 30-45 seconds before repeating it again as he drove by slowly. Looking back on it, it was a bit eerie. I never heard them after the mid-60s, they probably were outlawed in most towns. Where in Gulfport?Was the station on Highway 90 or on 49? P-15It's definitely a P-15 sedan. I'm betting on '48. I've one in the garage and I'd know that shape anywhere. An "After" PicIf you could remember the address, I could take a pic of whatever's there now for a before and after... I live right next door in Biloxi. Gas Prices in 1955Can anyone zoom in on this to tell me how much per gallon regular gas was selling at this station? When I bought my first used car, a 3-toned two-door 1952 Pontiac Catalina. purchased off a lot in Port Arthur, Texas, not far from a big Gulf refinery there, I think the price of regular leaded was about 31 cents. A year later, in Plainfield NJ, the price was about the same, but the car had worn out completely by then. So my dad co-signed a loan and I bought a brand new, stripped down 1957 two-door Ford Fairlane in Delaware, which was a terrific car. FillerupIn 1955 we handed the attendant a dollar bill and he pumped about four gallons into our car. And that came with a window wash and an oil check. Not long after, with the same car, we did the usual "fill it with oil and check the gas." When gas was cheapMy dad owned a gas station & store around this time period & gas was around 25 cents a gallon. Those were the days, huh? And our city must have been bigger than this one - our phone number was 4 digits & I still remember them - 6621! I have seen this building!I am from Gulfport and I believe I have seen this building just up from the port. I think is was 30th Avenue. My grampa used to paint all the signs around Gulfport. He went by the nickname Munch. Do you know who did the signs Don? Great to see this anyway! Thanks! Have I been there?I think I may have gotten gas there...if its the one I am thinking of, its on the highway that runs parallel to the gulf of Mexico? I stopped at a similar place on the coast about 5 years ago for gas. BathroomYes to the question for Just Wonderin, there is a third bathroom around back. It has a very high ceiling and a window over the top of the door. Gulfport Tire & Auto CareHello - we just bought the old Gulf Gas Station; other than an add-on to the side and read of the building this just as it was then. The address is 1606 Pass Road Gulfport, MS 39501. We will be posting new pictures of the building; we are in the middle of cleaning and painting now. Re: Gulfport Tire & Auto CareAs a preface to the "now" pictures, below is the Requisite Shorpy Google Streetview of the location. View Larger Map (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Gas Stations)
Ellis Island: 1911
... Cathedral of Hope for so many thousands. Ellis Island Kids Since all four of my grandparents came to America through the gates at E.I., I took my kids to this sacred place many moons ago. We toured all the floors, the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:43pm -

New York circa 1911. "Inspection room, Ellis Island." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. A new beginning, or maybe notImagine what this room must have been like when all those benches were full. Such emotion, such optimism, and likely, such fear. I can only wonder how the immigrants felt who were directed to the door behind the officials on the left. This Room WasA Cathedral of Hope for so many thousands. Ellis Island KidsSince all four of my grandparents came to America through the gates at E.I., I took my kids to this sacred place many moons ago. We toured all the floors, the museums, the infirmary, every inch of it, it was riveting to me. They have exhibits of authentic luggage and possessions carried overseas, actual clothing that was worn, photographs of many of the immigrants with their personal autobiographies on headphones (if you are curious) and it really puts one back there in time. One of my young sons could not believe how very poor so many people were, having written that they came with just coins or a few dollars or even nothing in their pockets. He was totally immersed in the photos and in so many of them, the kids' faces were blurred out to blankness like the child with the lady on the second floor. Anyway, at one point my tearful son said "This boy is so poor, he doesn't even have a face." It took us a minute before we 'got it' but has provided much laughter in the retelling; maybe you had to be there. I'm grateful every day that my ancestors' decision to become Americans was a priceless blessing for all their descendants. Ellis Island is unforgettable. God bless America. DetainedMy grandmother was detained (coming in from Poland) due to an eye infection. Her two younger siblings and mother waited for three days with relatives in new York. Once Grandma was released they left to settle in Chicago. Stairway to HeavenI made a special trip to New York from Colorado just to see Ellis Island. It was one of the most moving places I have been as both sides of my family passed through there. My favorite spot was the stairs leading out after you passed inspection and were granted entrance to America. They're about 15 feet wide and you can see and walk in the indentations made by the millions of feet that have worn down the steps. I couldn't help but think of my grandparents who walked down the same stairs. It was worth every penny spent to restore Ellis Island. And I recently heard from a friend who's a project manager for the National Parks Department that the other buildings at Ellis Island will begin restoration soon. My GrandmotherMy grandmother arrived at Ellis Island as a young woman (12 or 13) after traveling by ship from Greece with her father. The mother she barely knew met them there and on the ferry back to NYC, threw my grandmother's precious belongings into the river and told her she was in America now and would start over. That story used to break my heart when I was a girl; I guess it still does. My family and I visited a few years ago and it really does feel like a sacred space. Like OTY here, I am so thankful my grandparents left their Greek villages and became Americans. Mine tooMy grandmother came through Ellis Island with her parents and siblings. My father and his family came from Eastern Europe via Canada to the USA. It's worth noting in these present times that my family and millions like them waited in line and came to the USA legally. Everyone who does otherwise, regardless of the country from which they come, disrespects the sacrifices made by millions of honest immigrants from around the world. RootsBoth my parents were immigrants. My father, his mother and three siblings came through Ellis Island in 1922. I was able to find them on the Ellis Island Web Site. My mother's family came here in 1923. Eastern European immigration just about ended in 1924 because of the so called "Red Scare" laws. Interestingly , I found my Mother's mother (my grandmother) and my mother's 2 younger sisters and her only brother on the Website but not my mother, an older sister or my grandfather. They left Southampton, England in 1923 but don't appear on any Ellis Island records. My mother lived 103 years and I could hold a conversation with her up to about a year before her passing. She always insisted that she came into "Castle Gardens" but Castle Garden stopped receiving immigrants in 1892 and turned the job over to Ellis Island. I sort of believe she may have come in to Boston or Philadelphia but just didn't remember. Every so often I start searching for the records again but with no tangible results. In any case I'm one grateful guy. They endured enormous hardships to get here and they just made it. God Bless America. +99Same view from August of 2009. When I immigratedForty-seven years later, I arrived at Idlewild (now JFK) on Pan Am (now extinct) with $75 in my pocket (now spent). It was certainly a more pleasant way to begin the new life, but the excitement felt by the Ellis Island immigrants could not have been any higher than mine. How do you do it?timeandagain, have you simply been visiting the sites in the LOC photos and reshooting them or are you n cahoots with Dave and know a couple years in advance what he's going to post? Plaster JobLooking at the post +99 from timeandagainphoto and one that I took when there this summer, it looks like they plastered over all of the block walls and tile ceilings in that building. Unless they added that in the restoration--which would seem strange. Lost And FoundSeeing that lone bag on a bench makes me wonder if they had a lost and found. If so, the abandoned/lost bags might be part of the exhibits mentioned in another comment, with their own tales to tell. WartimeWhen the US entered the First World War, Ellis Island became the mobilization centre for Red Cross Nurses heading overseas. My ex-husband's grandmother. Charlotte Edith Anderson was the first Canadian Indian to be trained as a nurse, though no hospital in Canada would train her. She trained at the New Rochelle Hospital. Edith (as she preferred to be called, wrote in her wartime diary about her arrival at Ellis Island from New Rochelle where she had been working as a Public Health nurse, visiting New York City before heading overseas and her departure. I was pleased to have transcribed her wartime diary but sad that I didn't get a copy before my husband and I divorced. https://www.shorpy.com/node/7764 Re: How do you do it?I've been doing comparative shots of identical views since the mid-1980s. When I moved to DC almost 20 years ago I started using the photographs from the collections of the Library of Congress (they were only available in physical files at the library then). I research specific cities and place them in separate files along with maps where the shots were taken. When I visit those cities, I take the appropriate files with me and take current shots from the same perspective. I have hundreds of sets and thousands of shots of cities throughout the country in several lateral files as well as on several gigs of computer memory. Drives my wife insane. Ocean Border, Land BorderI'll bet that if there had been a land border between Europe and the United States, a lot of European immigrants would have slipped across, too. The sacrifice was in taking the risk and the leap of faith to come here. I'll also bet that many immigrants without documentation would gladly become citizens today. To my mind they should be given the chance. Guastavino Tile CeilingJuly 1916, an explosion occurred on Black Tom Island, a loading facility just a few hundred yards off Ellis Island. The blast caused $400,000 in structural damage. As part of the repairs, the Guastavino Brothers installed a new tile ceiling over the Great Hall. Dad DetainedMy father came through Ellis Island in 1920 with his father, mother and two younger sisters. They came from Greece. He was a boy of 8 and he had some sores on his head. He had to be detained. They wrapped adhesive tape on his head. If you remember the old adhesive tape,if you didn't have sores before they put it on your head, you certainly would have sores afterward. They also changed his first name from Evstrathios to Charles. He was very proud of his heritage and he was glad they made a monument out of Ellis Island. Isle of TearsListening to Irish Radio, couldn't help thinking back to this photo. Guastavino Tile Paul39 mentioned the repair after the nearby explosion. That answers my question of how they made plaster adhere to the glazed tiles that I saw when I visited a few years ago. The original substrate was probably terra cotta. The oyster bar under Grand Central Terminal has a wonderful example of Guastavino tile ceiling which is hard to find now. Grandma on the LusitaniaMy grandparents on my father's side came through Ellis Island from Russia. My grandfather arrived sometime in the final decade of the 19th century, and just this evening, after seeing this post, I have done a search at ellisisland.org on my grandmother (who I have more information about), and may have discovered documentation of her arrival on the ship's manifest! Thank you, Dave and Shorpy, for pointing me in this direction! I have contacted a cousin who hopefully will be able to verify or discount my findings. Here is an image of the manifest which has me so excited. Please scroll down to Line 14. Finding relativesThis is a wonderful photo, and I can easily imaging my grandparents sitting there as children around 1904-1906. Mr. Mel, frequently immigrant names were not spelled as we think they should've been. You may want to try searching the Ellis Island database via a different search engine: http://stephenmorse.org/ (first item on the page). Mr. Morse, the inventor of the 8086 computer chip, created this site soon after the original EIDB went public, because their own search engine was so pitiful. He has since improved it. It will enable you to search by sounds-like, just the first letter, and more. There are FAQs to help use the search engines. (I highly recommend many of the other search engines on that page - amazing!) CSK, congratulations! But there's a whole second page to your passenger list, which will have even more information. So go back to where you found your page, and click on "Next" or "Previous" (sometimes the original microfilms were rolled backwards on the reels). beachgirl2, it was very rare that officials at Ellis Island changed names, this is mostly a myth. They had to match the names to the departure lists created in "the old country", and there were plenty of translators for the languages brought over. (These departure lists still exist for Hamburg and some ports in England) But sometimes a recent immigrant wrote back home, and told them to use his new name, now that he was American. Or they Americanized them soon after arrival, to blend in. Or a schoolteacher couldn't pronounce the birth name. ... So if you research, you should be able to figure out when your father changed his name - before he left Greece, or very soon after the family arrived. But probably not on Ellis Island. Great photo - and new version too! Explosive AlterationsI was told by an archaeologist who works at Ellis that most of the interior (including the ceiling and walls) had to be redone after the building suffered blast damage from the Black Tom explosion of 1916. A website for Jersey City history notes that: "the Statue of Liberty sustained $100,000 in damages from the spray of shrapnel, and newly-arrived immigrants at Ellis Island had to be evacuated for processing at the Immigration Bureau at the Battery in New York City." Also, the buff-colored "stone" of the walls in the current photos is actually plaster with incised and painted joints (an accurate restoration of what had existed following the Black Tom incident, or so I am told). (The Gallery, DPC, NYC)
Kids in the Hall: 1909
... one he had. God's Rest to you Mr. Brown. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/27/2008 - 10:58pm -

May 21, 1909. Manchester, New Hampshire. "A few of the small girls and boys (not the smallest ones) that I found working in the spinning room of one of the Amoskeag Mfg. Co. mills. Photo taken at 1 p.m., May 21, 1909, in hallway of spinning room. Many others there and in the other mills. Smallest boy (on left hand) is George Brown, No. 1 Corporation. Corner of Granite and Bedford Streets. Next is Eugene Lamy, 16 Marion St. Girls: Melvina Proulx, 145 Cartier St., Laura O'Clair, 145 Cartier St." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. Re: George BrownTell us more about your father. How old was he in 1909? Can you tell us more about his life? Little Grown-UpsWhat always strikes me about the Hine photos, especially when he takes a group shot like this, are the differences in the way the children carry themselves. Some look like they've never had an easy day, never had a single thing given to them in their entire, young lives, and like they don't expect things to ever change. Others seem to carry themselves like little grown-ups, and have a look about them that says "I'm working here now and earning my keep, but I'll do better than this, someday." Really makes me wonder what happened next. Also, I agree with C.H.A., would the person who is the child of George Brown please consider sharing more of their father's life story? I would love to hear it. Mill WorkersI have been enjoying these old pictures so much and this one inspires--or reminds--me to share them with my oldest son (14). He could learn so much, just from looking at these pictures. To Mr. Brown's sonThank you for telling us more about your father. It is always a treat and a pleasure to hear the stories behind these sometimes forgotten faces. Having had such a large family, I am sure his life was never easy, but I do hope it contained many happy moments. Best wishes, Laura George's SonWell darn. I had to restart the database and we lost the two very interesting comments from George's son. Anybody save a copy? Google cache to the rescue"Dad was 10 years old when he worked in the mill. He was born in 1899 in Lowell, Massachusetts. At the age of 12 he became orphaned when both his parents died in 1911 just six months apart. He had 12 children of his own-of which only three are still alive. He died in 1963 at the age of 64." [Thanks, CHA! There was one earlier comment, too. - Dave] George BrownYou have this wrong, the person who wrote about my dad was George's daughter -- my kid sister. Dad was a wonderful father who had worked hard all of his life to provide for his family. [Whoops. Thanks. We'd love to hear more about your dad. - Dave] StrengthThere is strength in the faces of these children. Also look at the arms of Mr. Brown, those muscles are those of a man, not a child. You can tell he has done hard long labor. It is good to know that he grew up to be a good father, and provided for his family. I am sure he worked hard so his children could have a better childhood than the one he had. God's Rest to you Mr. Brown. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Red House Kids: 1935
... - Dave] (The Gallery, Ben Shahn, Great Depression, Kids) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/05/2009 - 2:23am -

"School youngsters. Red House, West Virginia." October 1935. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative. Photograph by Ben Shahn, Farm Security Administration. The TextbookWould anyone like to hazard a guess as to the complete title of the book that the girl is holding? All that is evident is that it somehow involves native americans, and is volume five. Re: TextbookIt's Book 5 of the Elson Readers. You can read the whole thing here or here. thanksthank you for a wonderful site. i am so appreciative of all the work you guys do! being just 21 i completely missed the good old days by about 80 or so years. i LOVE this picture, it is beautiful. thanks again! The girl in the front on the rightShe bears an absolutely stunning likeness to Marilyn Monroe at that age. Backwards into the futureI would venture a guess that many of today's college graduates would have issues with portions of that *fifth grade* book. I picked up a copy a while ago, by all means grab the OCR version provided by either link! "This book is based on the belief that an efficient reader for the fifth grade must score high when tested on five fundamental features: quality of literature; variety of literature; organization of literature; quantity of literature; and definite helps sufficient to make the text a genuine tool for classroom use." I'd like to see some of the assignments from this book used in a double-blind study in a community college anywhere in the USA... the results would, in my experience, make you ball like a little kid. [Hm. I wonder how many of those students would know the difference between "ball" and "bawl." - Dave] Red HouseRed House is now home to a radical Muslim community. They would have gotten short shrift in 1935 ... but that was before we became so "enlightened." [Not quite. You're confusing Red House, West Virginia, with Red House, Virginia, 280 miles away. - Dave] (The Gallery, Ben Shahn, Great Depression, Kids)
Shorpy Higginbotham: 1910
... people back then who put a stop to such practices and gave kids like Shorpy their childhoods. omg. after seeing these omg. after ... (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Mining) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/14/2022 - 3:03pm -

December 1910. "Shorpy Higginbotham, a 'greaser' on the tipple at Bessie Mine, of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Co. in Alabama. Said he was 14 years old, but it is doubtful. Carries two heavy pails of grease, and is often in danger of being run over by the coal cars." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. Shorpy storyThe story about this boy makes me so sad. The photo is so strong. Esthetically - wonderful - artistic movie like. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. Tamara Razov. His armsThose are the roughest part--it appears that they're rather permanently in that position. Notice His Hands...You can tell Shorpy worked very hard. His hands look like the hands of a 40 year old man, not a 14 year old boy. His arms do appear to be permanently bowed out and his shoulders are sloped from carrying the heavy buckets. How we could ever have gotten to this point in our society is beyond me. Thank goodness for the progressive people back then who put a stop to such practices and gave kids like Shorpy their childhoods. omg. after seeing theseomg. after seeing these pictures, its so hard to believe how far we have gone and what todays world is like compared to back then. The question is, what would they think if they saw what the world was like today and how people are living?! (perfect example, we now have cars that drive for us!!!) Shorpy and child laborThe pictures were taken only 30 years before I was born. When I was 14 I needed a State of California Work Permit in order to get a summer job (picking cotton). We could quit school at 16. I didn't do that but many did. Thank God for the reformers in the early 20th century! "The golf links lie so near the mill that almost every day, the working children can look out and watch the men at play." Don Lest we forgetIt is easy to forget from the perspective of our comfortable North American lifestyles that in many places in the world, child labor still runs rampant, not because families want their children to work endless hours in deplorable conditions, but because their very existence depends on the meager income the children earn. Let's not become too complacent and self-satisfied that we've "progressed" beyond the conditions of the early 20th century until we've globally eradicated those same conditions that continue to exist today. picture from a greaser kid... ... cause of his size he was able to easily go inside all the mechanics stuff.. they see it as a game... some great technologics developments were the outcome of that work-players boys... thats the good one... the bad one is that some of them never play again... So great wonder!Really I'm so scare about you beautiful eye-moment, serious, I think in a lot of stuff's, that amazing like a time capsule... Don't have the exactly words for tell you my reasons... make my day theses snaps. I hope back soon. Carlos "Cx" Shorpy's contemporariesA ten-year-old working in the mines was not unusual. My grandfather was born in 1896 and started in the mines at age ten. He worked for Tennessee Coal and Iron in Jefferson County, Alabama. After his back was broke in a mine accident and suffering from years of black-lung he lived to 84. This was before welfareAmerica is still the greatest place in the world to give. I have traveled to a lot of countries. Yes, they have their pluses, but even the poorest americans live better than 99% of the worlds population. Shorpy HigginbothamI wonder if anyone knows where Shorpy Higginbotham's grandfather, Robert Higginbotham, is buried. Robert Higginbotham is my Great Great Grandfather. Kenny Brown twotreesklb@aol.com Shorpy, descendant of Revolutionary War SoldierShorpy was my father's (Roy Higginbotham's) uncle, a younger brother of my grandfather, John W. Dolphus Higginbotham. Their ancestor Robert Higginbotham was a Revolutionary War soldier who fought in the Battle of King's Mountain. He died in Huntsville, Alabama, where he farmed for many years. He is buried on his farm and the Huntsville D.A.R. had a ceremony a few years ago at his grave site. There is another Robert B. Higginbotham (also a descendant of Robt. Sr.), buried in Remlap, Alabama, I think, but I don't recall him having an intact headstone. [P.H., thanks for the information. You have a fascinating family history. - Ken] ShorpyI found him, he is one of my cousins. Henry Sharp Higginbotham b 23 Nov 1896 d. 25 jan 1928, son of Felix Milton Higginbotham and Mary Jane Graham. We descend from the Amherst Co. Virginia Higginbothams. my line was Benjamin Higginbotham who m. Elizabeth Graves and d. 1791 in Elbert Co. GA. Then his son Francis Higgginbotham m. Dolly Gatewood. When they were in old age they moved with with their sons to the new Louisiana Territory, E. Feliciana Parish. My gggfather was Caleb Higginbotham and gggmother was Minerva Ann Bryant of the Manakintown, VA hugenot BRIANT. All the Higginbothams and Bryant sons fought in the Rev. War. My gggg William Guerant Bryant and his brother John, his father, James and Uncle Isaac and Isaac's son James and His Uncle Thomas were all in the battle of Guilford Court House NC 25 Mar 1781. Thomas was killed and Isaac wounded in the head. Bessie Mine?One of the first posters said that Bessie Mine may still be operational. Is that true? When I look it up online, nothing much comes up. I'd love to see some more pictures of the mine, though, and learn a little more about it! Bessie MineBessie Mine appears to be closed. Information available online shows that the current owner, US Pipe, has filed an application to use the area as a landfill. My grandfather worked at Bessie and other mines in west Jefferson County. He would have been about Shorpy's age but didn't start to work there until he was 18 or so. After a couple of years working in the pits, he was able to get a position tending the generators and never had to work underground again. Then and NowI don't want to go back to the "good old days." But everybody should "work" at least a few days (e.g. move a lot of force through a lot of distance all day while either sweating or freezing, dirty, dog-tired, with something aching). Maybe a kid who did some of this stuff will better appreciate the real things in life rather than Britney, American Idol, text messaging, and Fifty-Cent rap. I'm glad i did - but not too much! In my younger days, I harvested tobacco, hauled hay, milked cows, moved gravel from a creek bed to the barnyard in a mule wagon, picked potatoes behind a mule plow, budded peach seedlings and harvested nursery stock on cold rainy January days. These are cherished memories working with my kinfolk on their farms. I'm glad I did it! I've rolled cement up a hill in a wheelbarrow and finished it, framed and built buildings, plumbed and wired, and swapped greasy motors in cars. It all pays off as I can save money as a do-it-yourselfer. And it paid off as an incentive to study and go to college so I didn't have to do it for a living! Looking at these pictures, I don't feel sorry for the people in them as I don't think they knew how "bad off" they were. So they were not! However, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for our hard-working ancestors, my aunts and uncles, and cousins. Roy HigginbothamWas your father the Roy Higginbotham who was principal of Minor Elementary School in the 60's and 70's? martyshoemaker@hotmail.com Bessie Mine Locationhttp://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=33.657286~-87.03305... Clyde Donald HiggI am also related to the Higg from Va, and also the ones from Ireland. I just loved this about Shorpy Higg. I am still trying to locate more information on the Higg from Ind. where my father was from, his father was Luther, and his father was George. My father's name was Clyde Donald Higg. cindykpiper@aol.com [So you mean Higg, or Higginbotham? - Dave] Feel sorry for us!>> Looking at these pictures, I don't feel sorry for the people in them as I don't think they knew how "bad off" they were. I don't feel sorry for them either. I feel sorry for us, the younger generations. We have no idea what real, consistent hard work is. With the way things are going I desperately want to know someone who has lived the hard life, maybe lived through the Depression but no one is around to glean from. I just turned 33 years old but I see the wisdom in searching out the generation. I have even written my husbands Grandmother for advice but she is too busy to share her knowledge. I don't wish evil for our great country but it might do us some good to have to experience hardship to get our act together. For me, I grew up without hot water, sometimes the electric was shut off, rarely a car and I can tell many a story about cleaning clothes in a wringer washer in the middle of Missouri's wicked winter temps - outside at that. But I still know I have so much more to learn. Roy Higginbotham>> Was your father the Roy Higginbotham who was principal of Minor Elementary School in the 60's and 70's? That particular Roy Higginbotham was not my father, although I had heard about him from my cousins who still lived in the area. No doubt he is related in some way. My father (Roy) was also a coal miner in his younger days like his father and uncles. He died in 1961 at the age of 46. I remember my grandfather John talking about his brother "Sharpe" and how someone "took his picture" when he was a young boy working in the mines. Sorry it took so long for me to reply. Bessie MineI live a few blocks from the mine. It was just off Rt 150 in Bessemer. The mine complex was left intact and abandoned since the 1950's until the buildings were cleared in 2009. I did photograph it before it was destroyed. Happy Birthday Shorpy!Thank you for diligently updating and uploading. I know it takes a lot of time to run a website like this, and I for one am grateful for your efforts, Dave. Thank you! Shorpy Higginbotham: 1910This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. For those who have not seen it, here is my story of Henry Sharp Higginbotham. http://morningsonmaplestreet.com/2014/11/26/henry-s-higginbotham-page-on... Happy Birthday, Shorpy.com!I've been visiting since day one, so what else can I say? I love this site! Keep up the great work! Daily DoseHappy Birthday Shorpy! You are a part of my daily ritual since you began and I look forward to checking this site as often as time permits. I've learned a great deal since you began these wonderful posts. Thanks gang, and many more! My 2 cents worthI'm just a pup here, having only been on board for a year and a half. Thank you Dave, Ken, tterrace and all who do such a great job on this site. To all the Shorpyites who add so much extra via comments, links and other added information, you all get a big "Attaboy". Thanks to one and all. Happy birthday! Thanks for a Great Five YearsYour very skilled and hard work, along with your thoughtful selection of the right moments from the past is greatly appreciated, Thank You! George Widman A treat each and every dayA great website that really is quite a treat each day,and I never can wait until another post,and the comments are always entertaining. Thank you for 5 years of hard work. I know I used to blog and I know it's something you dedicate yourself to. The best photo blogI'm so glad you've kept it going. Yours is the best one out there. I enjoy how your selection of photographs cover the gamut. They may be from a particular era but not from a particular style or emotion. RemindersThanks to you all for these incredible photos--wonderful work! Some remind me of my own childhood in the south and I have photos, too. My grandmother worked in a textile mill when she was 12, around 1912, never had much schooling, and married at 16. She told me stories of the Depression, when she had 6 children to raise by herself. A wonderful person who was a huge presence in my life, esp when my mother died in 1948, poor and in ill health. In 1955, my first job was at the five and dime at age 14 on Fri night and all day Sat for a grand total of $4.50. Thank you again for the reminders of how it used to be, although I wouldn't want to repeat history. Thanks!Thank you Shorpy and thank you shorpy.com Fast Math"photographed by Lewis Hine 117 years ago" 107 plus 10 years of blogging, er, fast-forwarding gets you 117. Still the best site on the web. Shorpy is my Great UncleHi my name is Timothy Williams, great grandson of Joseph James Williams, who was husband of Susie Higginbotham-Williams, sister of Henry Sharp "Shorpy" Higginbotham. Oddly as it may sound; although, probably not shocking, I think my family might have married into the Higginbotham's more than once. My father was a Williams and my mother was a Higginbotham too. Anyways, It is my honor to share this with you all and I am happy to have found this website and I am so happy to look upon these pictures of one of my family members. I am proud to know he is my kin. While I am not a historian, I have majored in enough history classes, that I could probably teach it at some level. My family ancestry dates back to England and Scotland. I have a Robert B Higginbotham in my family that the Daughters of Revolution, found a grave marker years ago. He was a Revolutionary War hero. I don't know how they would be related, even if they are. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28768283/robert-higginbotham (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Mining)
Lil Scrappers: 1942
... we turned 16. Entertained I don't know what the kids in the front row were looking at, but they sure seem to be enjoying it. Babushkas and chin strap hats At first look, the kids' clothes reminded me of Jean Shepherd's "Christmas Story" with Ralphie and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 1:12pm -

November 1942. "Chicago (north), Illinois. Children assembled in Office of Civilian Defense headquarters for a pep talk on the need of bringing in more scrap." Medium-format nitrate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Scrap depotThe first year of the war I was a Junior Air Raid Warden, and collecting scrap metal and paper was the first order of business. We often found it difficult to have it picked up by the government agency. We were about 15 years old and our leader was a very pretty girl of about 22. Boy we were lucky! We used the store as a clubhouse until a bunch of us joined the Merchant Marine when we turned 16. EntertainedI don't know what the kids in the front row were looking at, but they sure seem to be enjoying it. Babushkas and chin strap hatsAt first look, the kids' clothes reminded me of Jean Shepherd's "Christmas Story" with Ralphie and the Red Ryder rifle. Lots of plaid, some obvious hand-me-downs and a "Jughead" cap with the turnback crown points on the boy by the window. I remember the smell of wet wool mittens drying on the radiator and personally helping the war effort by saving all metal, including tin cans which had to be opened on both ends and flattened out by stomping on them and even saving cooking grease. Children were very anxious to help win victory for America and were enthusiastic participants who took their role seriously. A GREAT picture, thank you. Both kids and adultstook the scrap drives very seriously. I particularly enjoyed the job of stepping on the empty tin cans (after both ends were cut off) to flatten them. Only many years after the war did we learn that the government held mountains of unused and unneeded scrap metal at the very time that they were conducting nonstop drives to collect more! The drives were carried on only to raise and energize home front morale by making people feel that they were contributing to the war effort and that everyone was part of the great enterprise. A Good TurnLooks like the center left boy in plaid and glasses has a Boy Scout neckerchief under his coat. I often sit with a fist on my chin while listening, just like him. This body language gets me accused of disinterest, but actually I'm just concentrating on what is being said. Recycling already startedI like the way the kids in the back are sitting and standing on stacks of bundled newspapers and old tire, presumably already collected as part of their scrap drive. I also for some reason find the For Rent sign in the window of "the Office of Civil Defense headquarters" to be funny. Checking it outI like the kid in the front row who seems to be keeping an eye on the photographer. Woolen Winter No nylon and polyester here! A great-looking bunch of kids. The girl playing with a thread from her coat made me think of George Bailey's Zuzu from "It's A Wonderful Life." Does anyone recognize the Army Lt. General on the back wall? Street view todayThey are inside this building, 4400 block of N Broadway. View Larger Map The fancy building across the street was recently demolished, to be replaced with a Target store. View Larger Map Radiola 18Anyone else notice the RCA Radiola 18 radio on the shelf to the right and some other electronic gadget in the back? Hey, it's November!Turn up the heat for those kids! I sit like that too...DanV, but I do it so my head doesn't bounce off my chest while someone is droning on about something I couldn't care less about. I used to use the two hand technique similar to the boy on his left. Over time I discovered you need that free hand on the chair for when you completely nod off and keel over. The modern school desk with a wraparound top was God's gift to this easily bored student since you could only fall out one side. SwooshlessCan you imagine trying to get kids today to wear those shoes? Homemade MittensSee the boy in the front row? Homemade mittens. Our grandma made us mittens from our uncle's Army blankets. Ah yes, the days when you didn't have to be poor to be practical! ChilvaryI notice that the boys let the girls have all the regular chairs up front. Eisenhower MedalI showed this picture to my dad because it reminded me of one of his several stories of growing up during the war. He still has his Eisenhower Medal received for scrap collected while he was in the Boy Scouts. Scrap?In reading stories of WW2 the only reason that kids and people were told to save and salvage things was because it gave sense to the war. We had all the natural resources to build what we needed. It was basically for home consumption to identify us with England. From what I've read it was a waste of time. Pure propaganda. It cost more to recycle the stuff than to use original such as aluminum. We were up to our eyes in the stuff. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Kids, WW2)
East Side Story: 1943
... by Roger Smith. The key This was a city ritual for kids, the hard part was hiding the key that would open it, the cops would ... memory Summer Cooler I am of the generation of the kids shown in the picture. Chicago children also practiced this ritual. I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 12:22pm -

New York, June 1943. "Children escape the heat of the East Side by using fire hydrant as a shower bath." View full size. Photograph by Roger Smith. The keyThis was a city ritual for kids, the hard part was hiding the key that would open it, the cops would always come to shut it and they would take the key. We would hide it but some good neighbor would show the cop where we put it. We made a deal with the candy store nearby, we wouldn't wet his windows and we would buy candy so he held it for us. The "shower" was best made by hugging the hydrant using both arms to adjust the flow, another way was putting your butt on the hydrant and adjusting you could not get a good aim this way. "Polio" is what the old ladies would tell us we would get by doing this. This was in the 60's when I was a kid, you don't see this now and if you do its done with a sprinkler hook up that is very lame. Thanks for the memory Summer CoolerI am of the generation of the kids shown in the picture. Chicago children also practiced this ritual. I love the interracial mixI love the interracial mix of kids in the picture. In the time of segregation and more open racism, these kids didn't give a damn about frolicking in the water with kids of a different skin tone. YesterdayI saw a photo in the newspaper of children in Chicago doing this. Some things don't change much. June '43 was hot...June 23, 1943, Wednesday Page 1, 539 words DISPLAYING FIRST PARAGRAPH - Summer opened its 1943 season yesterday by averaging 12 degrees above normal for the date, with a high temperature of 91 degrees, reached at 3:50 P. M. what was real?"these kids didn't give a damn about frolicking in the water with kids of a different skin tone." I hope that is true. However, another way to interpret the image is that the two obviously African American kids are holding back... It is, I think, ambiguous. Most likely the kids didn't give a damn at this age, but my father's stories of, for example Jewish versus Irish conflict in the Bronx in those years suggest that things were far from calm across many ethnic divides (to say nothing of "racial" divides), and some groups played together at one age, but very quickly parted as they approached the teen years. It's fascinating to try to infer social reality from an image like this. The black kids...Looks to me like they just aren't ready to get wet being fully clothed. Maybe they were walking by, and decided to just watch for a minute. Perhaps a series photo in 5 minutes would show them frolicking too... Hydrants of summerI grew up on Longfellow Avenue in the Bronx during the 50s and invariably some kid would get a board with a hexagon cut out on one edge as a makeshift wrench, then the board was used to direct the water flow. Word of the open hydrant would spread and kids from other blocks came running to get soaked and most did not take time to don a bathing suit unless it was right in front of their building, because of the risk of the fire department coming and shutting it off. Predominant nationalities there at that time i think were Jewish, Black and Puerto Rican. It might be the black kids pictured were not allowed to get their clothes wet, maybe their mother was right there. It would be impossible to draw an accurate analysis by this picture. looks refreshing! (The Gallery, Kids, NYC)
Kindergarten Couture: 1952
... any other race of kindergartners. Not that that's the kids' fault, but still. So little change I was born 15 years before ... then or now. I'm of the same age group as these kids, having started school in 1953. It was a different world then. We can't ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 5:09pm -

Baby boomers, first wave, all born 1946, showing how we were dressed for kindergarten. Notice how we don't look like gang members, convicts or concentration camp inmates. Of course, for class photo day, most of us had probably gotten decked out a bit better than normally, but still. By the following year a new school had opened up in Corte Madera and our class size shrank dramatically. That's me at the bottom right. View full size. MemoriesWOW! Could have been MY Kindergarten picture, but in 1953 (I was born in 1947) and in Keasbey school #8 in Keasbey, NJ. Have you attempted to contact anyone in the picture for a possible re-enactment? Now THAT would be cool! KWith a few exceptions, this could have been MY kindergarten picture, in 1984. I guess what goes around comes around in the 5-year-old fashion world. re: the captionNotice also how there are no African American, Asian, Hispanic, or any other race of kindergartners. Not that that's the kids' fault, but still. So little changeI was born 15 years before these children, my daughter 12 years later. This could have been either of our Kindergarten pictures -- when girls wore dresses even when it wasn't picture-taking day. Notice, only one boy is making a face but he's sitting behind the teacher so he probably felt brave. I agree, a re-enactment would be be really cool. Good luck. re: re: The caption etc.My little friend Stanley, bottom row fourth from the right with the cool boots, was Filipino, I believe. And I don't think Fred, third row back on the left, is actually sticking his tongue out, he's just caught in mid-giggle. I met up with several of these folks four years ago at our Redwood High 40th reunion and we all agreed it would be fun to get together and reenact a class photo, but we never got around to it. Stylin'TTerrace, that is some outfit you had there - western shirt, loose tie with steerhead slide. Doin' the Hopalong Cassidy thing there, huh? Lack of 'diversity'Re: the lack of 'diversity': the country was demographically very different in 1952. Blacks made up only about 10-11 percent of the total population. Hispanics were a much smaller percentage. Not every school will have a predetermined quota of each group, then or now. I'm of the same age group as these kids, having started school in 1953. It was a different world then. We can't apply today's standards to it. [And today black people make up almost exactly the same proportion of the population -- a little over 12 percent. So your point is? - Dave] Li'l FolksI do not see obese or too large children as today. All look in perfect health. One can also guess who will be the seducer, the hard one, l' intellectual. 37 to 1Note: 37 kids, one teacher. The InnocentI was born in 1948 and remember my kindergarden then same way; everyone bright and cheerful. Good memories. Teacher of stylish, cheerful kidsHer name was Miss Ingalls, a surname fairly common in the British Isles, apparently. My clothes: I can't tell you how much I wish I had any memories of that outfit; whose idea it was to get it, me wearing it, anything. The main thing I remember about clothes back then was that before I even thought about going in the house after playing in the back yard all day was to dust off my jeans thoroughly, including all that junk trapped in the cuffs. I wasn't cheerful on the first day of Kindergarten. When the horrible realization suddenly hit me that my mother had gone, not to come back, leaving me there on my own in a roomful of complete strangers, I ran out of the room and down the street after her screaming. I got over it. I wonder what cornball gag or shtick the photographer pulled to get us all smiling. That 70s ClassI started kindergarten in '73. Our outfits were very different. We were much more flammable. Diversity... I grew up in Santa Monica, California, in the 1950's. My school had nearly equal portions of blacks, Hispanics, Asians and white kids. My mother, on the other hand, didn't see another person of any other ethnicity until she was eight years old. She lived in a small Icelandic community in North Dakota. It was, and still is, all about where you lived. I actually think the teacher might be Hispanic, and Tterrace....I would know you anywhere! Love the boys with their hands in their pockets! Kathleen Ya like plaid?There is enough plaid in this picture to satisfy the Bay City Rollers, but as I remember it, plaid signified "back to school" and there were millions of different ones for dresses, sportshirts and jackets (my mom had a full length, multicolor plaid overcoat). I love the eager, fresh faces, the willing innocence open to being taught by the enthusiastic, happy teacher. Best of all, none of the boys look like gang bangers and none of the girls look like prosti-tots, but these were the days of unquestioned obedience, respect and discipline. I hope they all did well, they are a great looking bunch of kids and the world was awaiting their unique talents. I can relate!Don't feel bad about your first day of Kindergarten, tterrace. If you placed me in a room with 37 weepy moms and 37 active five year-olds, I'd run down the street screaming, too...and I'm the teacher! (There is no way my secondary--grades 6-12 only--history education major/English education minor could prepare me for Kindergarten kids. I used to teach the K-2 class at my church, and those tykes were spectacularly EXHAUSTING!) I love AmericansI emigrated from England years ago. The wonderful photographs on this site, no matter the subject matter or point of view, show Americans as they really are--a simply magnificent people. Born in '52I still have my KG class photo, too, and I swear some of these same people in the same outfits were in my class in 1957 in Pasadena. Me TooYep, that could have been my kindergarten pic too from the mid 60's. Cotton dress (my mother complained constantly about how much she ironed) little white socks and oxfords. Girls couldn't wear pants, no matter what the weather until 73/74. Kindergarten hadn't become part of public school curriculum yet in my area. If you went anywhere it was church sponsored, which was what mine was. Great time though. Found my first love then. Ahhh... A Year LaterI was in KG not far from there in Paso Robles ... and I swear if the sign wasn't in front of your group I would spend hours trying to figure out why I wasn't in the picture with the rest of my classmates. Cheers. Down Under WearWith a few exceptions (some of the boys' clothing), all the children were in my 1950 kindergarten class here, Down Under. Re: PlaidMy mother, also born in 1946, is always wearing a plaid dress with a white bib in grade school pictures. I asked her if Grandma let the same dress out every year, but she said that her aunt bought her an identical dress every Christmas. Old-SchoolI was born in 1943, so that makes me slightly older. We had a dress code due to the fact that there were a lot of really poor people in our neighborhood. This was to eliminate competition fashionwise. I'm a firm believer in a uniform dress code. Look at the schools which set high standards; all have a dress code. Girls wore navy blue tunics and a white blouse. There were no jeans or runners permitted for either boys or girls. Discipline was strict and immediate; parents usually backed up the teachers. We moved about the school in an orderly fashion; double file and no talking. Boys entered one end of the building and their girls the other. Recess was strictly segregated as well. We sat up straight at our desks with our feet on the floor. No calling out was allowed; we had to raise our hand and be recognized by the teacher. We stood, as a class, any time any adult entered the room. I never heard of ADD, ADHD or all this nonsense which has become pandemic. You behaved or there was hell to pay. Nor was there a fleet of personal cars waiting to pick students up at dismissal. There were no school buses for us; you walked or used public transportation. Bicycles were not to be brought to school either. From kindergarten on I walked to and from school; usually alone. This was in a big city of over a million people. I think, all in all, that we became a very responsible productive generation. The Good Old Days!I was in Miss Ingalls´ Kindergarten class of 1960-61 and apparently, on the first day of school I sent my mother away before I even got in the door!! And from that moment on I have so many good memories; the cherry tree blossoms in the playground, nap time on our little blankets, the playhouse! and laying my little dress and matching ruffled socks out for the next day of school every night before going to bed. When I turned 16 Miss Ingalls was at my party! She had married and her name was Mrs. Vining. GaolbirdsBeing easily distracted didn't appear in the last twenty years. Back then, kids who displayed ADHD symptoms were MUCH more likely to drop out of school or go to gaol then they are now. The good old days, as long as you weren't black, a woman who wanted to be something other than a housewife, or slightly different. I really dig the cowboy boots on the kid just to the right of the sign. I wonder what were cooler, sneakers or black leather school shoes? (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Education, Schools, Kids, tterrapix)
Teen Arsenal: 1959
... families again. There were a lot more guns back then. Kids brought them to school and schools had shooting clubs. What went wrong? ... doesn't hold the same value as it used to especially when kids play games that provide extra points for finishing the wounded off. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/28/2018 - 9:51am -

From Columbus, Georgia, or vicinity circa 1959 comes this uncaptioned shot of the young marksman last seen here. 4x5 inch acetate negative. View full size. We need a reason to raise families again.There were a lot more guns back then. Kids brought them to school and schools had shooting clubs. What went wrong? People changed their values. Life just doesn't hold the same value as it used to especially when kids play games that provide extra points for finishing the wounded off. Tighten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. [There were not "a lot more guns back then." - Dave] You're correct, there are more guns today, but less gun holding households. Since they are primarily manufactured for domestic use, it translates to more guns per holding household. Accordingly, 3% of the population own half the guns in the US while gun manufacturing numbers have increased since at least 1972. In any case, it's the psychology that has changed most drastically. Gun Ownership in America No high end rifles thereBut I do like the pneumatic pump up rifle next to the young man. Crosman or Benjamin 5.5 mm or .20 caliber Kids and GunsIn that day and age kids were taught gun safety and were trusted not to misuse them. Today they only know what they see on TV, which is the misuse of them. Real Penny LoafersIt’s been many a year since I’ve seen pennies in penny loafers! When I grew up in Texas in the 1950s, adults and kids had guns, but they were used for hunting and plinking. They were not misused. Guns in racks in pickup trucks were not given a second glance. My how times have changed. RE: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?Sulzermeister, just so you know (this coming from a once-Texan no less), not everyone on this side of the pond thinks gun ownership is a good thing. In fact, I'd like to think it is a majority of Americans who shudder a bit at the thought of a kid with an arsenal like this in his bedroom. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?From the UK side of the Atlantic this looks pretty odd. I'm not aware of any of our considerable list of friends here in Scotland actually owning or possessing a firearm! A boy and his bayonetI'm not a gun enthusiast. While I can understand that a kid from Georgia might want a rifle, and a few more rifles, and a shotgun, maybe someone can explain why he needs a bayonet. When onejust isn't good enough. Arisaka Type 44 CarbineI could be wrong on the exact identification but the weapon on the extreme left is a Japanese Arisaka Type 44 carbine. The bayonet is actually a part of the carbine and is not easily removable. It folds underneath the stock. The boy simply has it extended. This weapon could have been a bring-back by his dad or other relative during World War II as at the time the US military allowed certain captured weapons to be sent home. The amount of rifles/carbines is not unusual for a boy of the period especially in rural areas or the South. My dad and his brothers for instance, around the same year as the photograph was taken, had quite a few rifles. They lived on a farm and hunted game with them or just did target practice. Army bratThere was some speculation in the previous iteration of this young man that his father may have been a Marine due to the Arisaka rifle. Columbus is right next to Fort Benning, so it's more likely than not that his father was in the Army. The US Army fought in the Pacific too, most notably in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Okinawa. It's even possible that Dad was still in the Army and stationed at Fort Benning (where I took basic training almost 50 years ago). It's also possible that most of the weapons on display belong to Dad too. The term "Army brat" is a term of pseudo-affection given to children of career Army soldiers. Fountain PenI suspect our marksman was using a fountain pen, since I see the familiar bottle of Sheaffer Skrip ink. It came in a number of colours, such as blue black and emerald green. But only the girls would dare use green ink. I still have a jar of jet black Skrip ink, now mummified. The jar featured a little reservoir to fill the fountain pen easily. Cadet Corps was compulsory in Windsor, Ontario high schools in 1964, and we had to learn how to dismantle a gun and clean it. We also did target practice with .22s down at the shooting range in the basement. Keep them cleanI'm guessing he is putting his firearms away since the shotgun is no longer on the left end of the bed. And those might be used patches on the bedspread. I know I would not want my mom seeing those patches and cleaning rod on my bed. They'd have been cleaned up first! Course, if I knew the time stamp on the pictures it would confirm putting away or taking out. Times have changedI graduated high school in 1969. From the 7th through 12th grade the school had a rifle club whose members would shoot in the basement firing range. This, mind you, was about eight miles from downtown Boston. These days people would freak out just seeing a photo of the rifle club. To my recollection, there were no incidents of gun violence involving anyone in the schools. Arisaka RifleI agree that the rifle on the far left is likely a war prize Japanese Arisaka rifle. My late great uncle brought one back from his stint as a U.S. Marine fighting on Guadalcanal Island. We had it in our household for a period of time when I was a kid (I was fascinated by it), but my uncle at some point took it back and no telling where it ended up. He returned from combat a profoundly changed man and lived the rest of his life as a delusional drunkard - a victim of PSTD before it was a widely-recognized affliction. What folks knew in '59Clearly, no one is going to change anyone else's mind on gun issues. But, in spite of what a couple of the comments posted here might suggest, could we at least agree on the proper use of "less" vs. "fewer"? The Real DangerThe young lad could easily get tangled in the venetian blind cord and strangle himself in his sleep. Those cords are real killers! Words of WisdomIn the word of Santa Claus and Ralphie's mom, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" Speaking of bayonetsI’ve always wondered about the dual nature of a rifle with a bayonet affixed, making it a weapon both to shoot and to stab. Which raises the following macabre question: does not the function of the bayonet sometimes result in an impaired function of the rifle as a shooting weapon? In other words, doesn’t the muzzle sometimes get clogged with blood and gore, resulting in a blocked rifle, making it impossible or even dangerous to shoot? Dime a Dozen SpringfieldSecond from left looks like a Springfield .58 from the Civil War. It has been cut down a bit and is missing the original barrel bands. Looks like someone put an Enfield barrel band on it. My dad said when he was a kid, these rifles were a dime a dozen, with many being cut down and used as shotguns. A decent Springfield of Enfield will set you back at least $1500 now. On that bayonetIt's probably a war prize. Is it a huge risk? Not really, as the gun it's mounted on is far more lethal than it is. David Grossman, who made a career out of teaching soldiers to kill (it's evidently harder than you'd think), characterized the use of the bayonet as one of the hardest things to teach simply because it by definition is a close up killing. RE: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?kines - I' glad to hear your take on this. Sorting gun ownership in the USA will take time and there are numerous "interested" parties but I hope you'll eventually reach the near-zero figure we have in Scotland! RE: Keep them cleanThere IS a time stamp on the photo. It is on the desk and shows about 4:25. I have to assume it is in the afternoon as his hair looks too nice to be 4:25 in the AM (The Gallery, Columbus, Ga., Kids, News Photo Archive)
Paper Doll: 1936
... managed to snag a new one. I always get a kick seeing kids wear those in the movies and in photos. There's nothing like an ornery ... construction until 1964.) (The Gallery, Carl Mydans, Kids, Kitchens etc.) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/03/2023 - 4:45pm -

May 1936. "Sharecropper shack. Kitchen of Ozarks cabin purchased for Lake of the Ozarks project. Missouri." Photo by Carl Mydans, Resettlement Administration. View full size. FiretrapI would be surprised if that shack lasted more than a week or two without burning down. We have dried out single ply newspaper hanging on the walls inches from a wood fired stove and hot pipe, and as if that was not enough there is what appears to be a kerosene can just to the left of the little girl's feet. I just hope nobody was inside when it went up. Newspaper for wall covering.My mother has told me many stories of her childhood. She remembers well her mother using a flour/water mix to paste newsprint on the walls. It sealed the cracks and was a very good insulator. But that didn't stop the wind from blowing up through the floor or her seeing critters between the floor board cracks. She also tells with great detail how their house burned to the ground when she was four. One final thought, she told me her mother would set the bed posts in small cans of kerosene to keep the bed bugs from crawling into bed with you at night. Life was much different back in the 30's and 40's. No smoke detectorsI wouldn't want to consider the level of fire hazard in this kitchen. The newspaper curtain has a nice touch. Somebody really cares. But God help the occupants of this residence if the stove backfires. Mrs. Roosevelt's newspaper columnOn the wall to the left of the stove and just above the washboard, the newspaper/wallpaper has Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt's almost-daily column called "My Day". I believe she was much more in front of the American public on a regular basis than our most recent First Ladies - and not just in the papers. Lot of people didn't like that, but many others did. Mrs. FDR wrote that column from 1935 to 1962 six days a week. She was a force to be reckoned with. Christmas ClubWhen I saw the ad for "Christmas Club" in the newspaper I immediately tripped down memory lane. When I was a little girl I remember going to the Bridgeville National Bank to start a new Christmas club. First you would pick the amount to save and then made payments to this free account so you would have money to buy Christmas gifts for friends and family. This club was open to adults and minors and many a Christmas was funded by this club. Hope I made sense - more like a savings account that you could only receive during the month of December. Amazingly Resilient!Despite the crushing poverty this family had to endure, the little girl's dress may be dirty but her face is clean, and her smile is both endearing and hopeful. I am amazed how someone (probably her mom) cut the newpaper over the window into the shape and resemblance of what I believe is called a "valance" over the window. How brave, resilient, and resourceful these people were. Amazing Americans! Aviator HelmetThe little girl must have a brother. As poor as they seem to be the little feller managed to snag a new one. I always get a kick seeing kids wear those in the movies and in photos. There's nothing like an ornery looking kid in goggles, I laugh out loud every time. Bike Helmet?Is that some early motorized bike helmet hanging on the wall? I have to wonder too if the girl would be reading the newspapers and wonder what a "Christmas Club" was. AmazingThe valence above the window is amazing! And think that today someone out in the Hamptons is paying an interior decorator big bucks for a reproduction print wallpaper similar to this for a powder-room! Fox TroubleIt would appear that Mr. Fox has earned himself the unwelcome attention of the farmer. Looks like a nice, well used fox trap hanging there. Worker housing?Bagnell Dam, which created the Lake of the Ozarks, was finished in 1931, and the lake filled up in less than 2 years (per Wikipedia). So apparently this cabin wasn't bought because it would be in the flooded area - maybe it was housing for one of the construction crew, and he just kept living there later? (The dam for the big lake to the west, Truman Lake, didn't start construction until 1964.) (The Gallery, Carl Mydans, Kids, Kitchens etc.)
Kids These Days: 1904
... and faces the Bandshell. (The Gallery, Animals, DPC, Kids, NYC) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2016 - 12:59am -

New York, 1904. "Goat carriages in Central Park." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Beethoven in the Park"Donated by the German-American Choir Society, the bronze bust of the German composer joined the growing collection of statuary on the Mall in 1884." wowThose carts -are- pieces of art. BeethovenSeems like Ludwig Van moved ... here he appears to be close to the Mall benches facing away from the rise of the Casino (where the Bandshell is now). Today he's closer to the Sheep Meadow and faces the Bandshell. (The Gallery, Animals, DPC, Kids, NYC)
Christmas Story: 1953
... made by a company that simply owns the name. What do kids get today? Lead lined Chinese plastic "toys" from Wal-Mart. Boy, give ... Kids Again I love this photo because the uncle and the dad are suddenly ... can I find tinsel? This year I'd love to introduce my kids to the fun of cheap old shiny plastic tinsel (yes I'm a masochist for ... 
 
Posted by der_bingle - 12/09/2008 - 6:58pm -

Christmas 1953. Oak Park, Illinois. My cousin Tom experiencing the thrill of his first Lionel electric train. My Uncle Bill is manning the transformer, and my dad, who was a real-life railroad engineer, is on the right. 35mm slide. View full size. There's a tree somewhereUnder all that tinsel! SparksWow! I can practically smell the ozone. This could have been me, except we didn't have sense enough to take pictures of anybody with our electric train, only pictures of it, like this one from December 1954. I think it's Lionel, I forget. This was the time of my life.I might as well be in this picture. The timeline and all that is going on is perfect. Wonderful family shot. WOW! what great memories. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family. Tinsel HazardsHere's a question for you Boomers -- I see that tinsel was big in your growing up years (understatement). Did people keep their pets outside then, or did they all just die horrible, tinsel-blockage induced deaths? (I know that it doesn't always cause serious problems for them -- but with the sheer amount of tinsel on these trees, it seems like the chances for intestinal problems would be good.) tterrace, I really like the attractively arranged couch pillows behind your train. What were you hiding back there? Or are they simulated mountains? Who's having the most funI was so glad when our son was old enough (1957)for me to buy the thing I'd always wanted for Christmas but, because I was a girl, never got. Unfortunately, he was still at the push-toy stage so it didn't work for him but I had a ball. Re: Tinsel hazardsWhy would pets be eating tinsel in the first place? None of ours ever touched the stuff. I grew up in the tinsel-lovin' Fifties. Dogs and cats eating tinsel was not anything people ever talked about happening. Sounds like some sort of 21st century consumer worrywart issue. TinselitisI don't know ... because it's shiny and stringy and fun to play with? My cat would go crazy for the stuff, as would most cats I've owned. Maybe even the pets were perfect in the 50s. It was just a question. [It was an excellent tinsel question. Speaking of which: Garlands or icicles? We were always a garland family. Not that there's anything wrong with icicles. - Dave] Simulated mountainsVery good, Catherine. I usually have to explain to people what the pillows are doing behind my toys in a number of my photos from back then. These we had retained from our old chesterfield which had been relegated to a slow, moldering death in the basement a couple years back. If you could look above them, you'd see my mother's renowned curtains and drapes. We never used tinsel ourselves, but I remember enjoying it when we'd visit friends or relatives who did. Those were the days when tinsel was made of, or mostly of, lead. I liked to slip strands off and ball them up into little wads or, better yet, if there were lighted candles around and nobody was watching, dangle them in the flame and watch them melt. Don't tell anybody. Twin tops?It appears that someone improvised and used some of the TinkerToy pieces to make stands for the 'billboard' signs. It also looks like the Tinkertoy was also a present that may have been wrapped in aluminum foil. And, there appear to be two identical toys in the picture, possibly spinning tops. Great picture! TransformerLooks like the transformer is a Lionel model 1033 (made from 1948-'56). I have one of these units, still in perfect working condition. As far as I know, the only maintenance it ever had was the replacement of the power cord, due to the insulation drying out and cracking (a common problem). I never cease to be amazed at how durable those old Lionels are. Great picture! LionelI agree, it's probably a Lionel in tterrace's photo. I had an American Flyer I received for Christmas in 1948. American Flyer did not have the middle rail in the track. A way of lifeAs they say, a way of life gone with the wind. I love this blog . . .It is threads like this that keep me hooked on this blog. It's comforting to know I'm not the only whack job walking around unattended. Foy Las Vegas Cat TinselWithout the prompting of previous posters I wouldn't have mentioned that during the Christmas season at our house our Siamese cat Tabetha would walk around with a piece of what she usually left in her litter box instead dangling from a piece of tinsel she had once presumably eaten. That's the most tasteful way I can explain it. Now That's Christmas!Real Tinker Toys, the "real" old-school Lionel train sets, and not those modern knockoffs made by a company that simply owns the name. What do kids get today? Lead lined Chinese plastic "toys" from Wal-Mart. Boy, give me that old fashioned Christmas anytime. Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you. My Dad and Uncle have passed on, but Tom - who's now in his sixties - still has that Lionel train set. Last time I was at his house he had it set up in his basement, along with several accessories he's accumulated over the years. [We're all glad he finally got to play with it! And thanks for this wonderful photo. - Dave] Chestnuts roasting on an open plasmaThis picture just radiates warmth and good cheer. We're leaving it up all night on our plasma display. It's better than a fireplace! California TinselI have to think our state banned tinsel production due to environmental concerns, because it's virtually nowhere to be found. I say "virtually," because Michael's has it. No tinsel at the dollar stores and such. At Michael's it is in packages that need to be cut. The tinsel comes attached at the top. Same stuff. Thanks to Michael's, our tree looks like this one. [I think its scarcity might be due more to child-safety concerns. - Dave] Nothing to add.I have nothing to add. Just love this picture and reading all your comments -- the wallpaper is killer. Shorpy forever. How we tinseledAround our house, we would always begin with laboriously stringing one strand of tinsel at a time on a barren branch until it was somewhat filled. Yet invariably, we two boys would get rambunctious and throw a handful up where we couldn't reach. And Mom, patient Mom, would sigh and give us permission to begin the fusillade of tinsel throwing that produced a Christmas tree neatly stranded with tinsel about 3 feet up, but above that utter disorder that only little boys could love. But I hasten to add the "tidy line" rose as we grew. Making a much happier mom. The Train Don't Stop Here No MoreMy Dad had a huge 60's-70's Lionel train set, with all the accessories: the lighted passenger cars, the little signal box with the trainman who would come out, holding his lantern when a train went by, and even the Giraffe Car. Anyone remember the Giraffe Car? Several locos too, both steam and diesel, and that big control transformer with the power supply handles on both ends. The whole setup ran on a plywood table, about 6 x 8, which he built himself. Sadly, when he died, my mother sold the whole outfit for a hundred bucks, and today it would probably be worth ten times that much. I wish I still had it! Tinsel informationTo RoverDaddy who is looking for tinsel, try the cheap, cheap, cheap stores. I found it at Dollar General Store but also Family Dollar Store, Dollar Tree and other bargain centers are most likely to have it. You can see I am the last of the big spenders and I have to add that one time when my mother was removing tinsel to save it for the next year, my father asked her, with a straight face, if she was going to make tinsel soup, as she always stretched the life out of a dollar by making lots of soups and stews. Voices from the kitchenLove this photo! While the menfolk are intent on the train, I can hear Grandma and the aunts in the kitchen talking over each other while getting Christmas dinner ready. Is the turkey done? Did you hear about Great Aunt Stella? She's already wrecked that brand new beautiful car. Mom, that's enough gravy for an army! Did Bill get you that brooch you've been wanting, Madge? And, naturally they're all wearing dresses, heels and festive aprons. This photo is CLASSIC. Lead-foil tinselThe tinsel on a tree of this vintage is probably made of lead foil. The good news is that it was reusable year after year. The bad news is that you could get lead poisoning from ingesting it! Lead foil tinsel has long since been removed from the market, along with several other dangerous items from Christmases past! See: http://www.familychristmasonline.com/trees/ornaments/dangerous/dangerous... Kids AgainI love this photo because the uncle and the dad are suddenly about 9 years old too. Windows 53Love those window blinds. All our cats have eaten tinsel. It makes the litter box more festive. We use both kinds -- short hunks of garland and the stringy silver "icicle" stuff. I too heave the stuff at the tree rather than place it carefully. Dave, I think Anonymous at 11:25 was talking about the train in tterrace's photo. [You are so smart. Thank you! - Dave] Wow.Well this brings along even more memories. I was born in '65 and I remember playing with a train like this in '68 or '69. I do not remember what brand (Lionel or American Flyer), but I do remember putting in a pill pushing a button or something and it would smoke when I pushed it. I remember pissing Daddy off because every time the train would go in front of the TV while he was watching it, I would push that button! Talk about pushing Daddy's button!!! I also remember throwing tinsel on the tree, Daddy helping, and Mom getting upset with both of us. In addition, we also had those bubble lights. After they warmed up they would start bubbling. I need to go lie down and look at Shorpy some more and see what else I can remember. Too much tinsel...My mother would always complain that my father and I put too much tinsel on our trees. And our beloved Cocker Spaniel, Sherman loved the taste of tinsel. Xmas ExpressOur house had a very similar Christmas morning about 25 years later. My dad found a second train in a garage he was tearing down. I got them out last Christmas and they still run. I put a video on our site. RetinselingYup, we did the tinsel thing too, but we were thrifty New Englanders, and my mother took at least some of the stuff OFF the tree every year and carefully put it on cardboard to use it again the following year. My grandmother, bless her, had the job of untangling the resulting mess and handing each of us little handfuls to drape over the branches one by one. Needless to say, we weren't allowed to throw it because then it couldn't be taken off. All That to be an Engineer????I can't tell you how envious I am of your father. When I was in the ninth grade one of my teachers decided to play guidance counselor and advise me on what courses to take in high school. She asked what I wanted to be and I told her I would like to be an engineer. She told me I should take Algebra II, Calculus, Physics, etc etc etc. I sat there in stunned amazement thinking, "All that just to drive a train????" When it dawned on me that we were talking about two entirely different things I was too embarrassed to correct her. Where can I find tinsel?This year I'd love to introduce my kids to the fun of cheap old shiny plastic tinsel (yes I'm a masochist for wanting to clean up the mess later). Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the stuff anywhere! Does anybody still make plastic 'icicles' as the package often called them, or have they been made extinct by concerns over fire hazards and unfortunate pets? Retinseling 2And I thought my family was the only one who did this, except we didn't put it on cardboard. All the tinsel went into a cardboard shoe box, year after year. We would add maybe one package of new tinsel every couple of years. The new tinsel would hang straight while the old would be more and more crinkly over the years. My sister & I had to put it on one strand at a time (except when Mom wasn't looking). Being from the Depression era as my mother was, I'm sure that box of tinsel is still up in the attic to this day. Our cat also loved the taste of tinsel, with predicable results. Lionel 027It's 027, the less expensive Lionel product compared to big heavy "O". Same gauge, lower rail, slightly sharper curves, simpler switches. We had a mixture of both, purchased used from various sources, and we figured out ways to use the 2 sizes together. That switch is a manual 027 one, with no lighted position indicator, we had a pair of them. Didn't make the satisfying "clack" sound that the "O" manual switches did when you threw the lever. We never had remote control switches, since you could buy more manual ones for the same money. Some "O" gauge equipment couldn't operate on 027, the curves were too sharp. Made a serious mistake about 30 years ago, sold all of it except a couple special cars. Smokin'!My own American Flyer set of that era had tablets that, when dropped into the locomotive's smokestack, would emit little puffs of real smoke. Gift itI gave my 1948 3/16 model American Flyer to my grandson last Christmas. Much better than selling. Alas ...In 1954, just after we moved into our spiffy suburban ranch house, my uncle started a large 8 x 16 Lionel O-gauge layout in the basement. Presumably for me, or so he said. After everyone died off, I inherited the six large boxes of trains and all the fixin's. Fifteen years ago I sold the lot for $450 to a dealer. Dumb move. But revenge is sweet as I have just started construction on a huge (roughly 100 x 150) garden train layout behind the house. The RugWhat really caught my eye is that rug -- a dead ringer for one we had for many years! My dad got it at Barker Brothers in 1943. The hopper car and caboose also look exactly like the ones from my Lionel train set from the late '50s, though the rest is different. I just wanted you to knowI just wanted you to know that you brought a tear to the eye of this grumpy old man, remembering the exact same scene from his childhood. Thank you. You made my day, GrumpyGlad this evoked a fond memory for you, as well as for so many others. Another tinsel commentGrowing up in the later 50s and 60s, we also did tinsel every year. Like many others, we would save it from year to year until it was too crinkled to hang right. Then we'd have to get one or two new packages, probably from Woolworth's or "the drugstore" since Target and Walmart were not born yet. We kids also tossed it up to the top of the tree. These days, I want to get some but my wife says no - you can't recycle it with the tree, she says. Too messy. Too bad. I did see some this year at Target, except the 'new' tinsel has that prismatic glimmer to it where it reflects like a rainbow, not like regular silver stuff. I'll kep trying. Tinsel and SnowLike Older than Yoda, I can remember taking the (metal foil) tinsel, which we always called icicles, off the tree and saving it. As soon as the plasticky stuff came out, that was the end of that. Another long-gone Christmas memory was a box of mica chips of that Mama would sprinkle on the cotton batting at the base of the tree. That box lasted years and years. When you had parents that came up during the Depression, you learned about saving. My dad: "Turn off some of these lights, this place looks like a hotel!" American Flyer, no LionelGreat picture ... we all laid our heads on the track and watched the train coming right at us. This is actually an American Flyer 3 rail O gauge train. It was made before WWII. After the war American Flyer went to 3/16" to the foot S-gauge two rail track. [If it's not a Lionel, why does it say LIONEL LINES on the tender? - Dave] We used tinsel alsoThat brings back memories. We would go to the woods and cut the "cedar" tree. My family had a flocking machine, and several households on the street would put their tree up the same day, so the flocking machine would only have to be used once per year. We also used to take a strand of tinsel, wedge it in between our front teeth, and blow. I don't know why that was so much fun but it was. A (real) Christmas storyMy brothers (who were 18 and 9 years older than me) made me a train set for my 5th or 6th Christmas -- I walked into the garage while they were painting the board and I asked if I could help and they told me they were painting a sign and I could help paint it green. When I got it Christmas morning I was the most surprised boy in the world. It was a great gift that I helped make without knowing! Disney train setWhen I was 5 (back in 1970), my parents bought me a Disneyland Monorail train set. My father had it already assembled for me on a large piece of plywood that had been covered in green fake grass, and had miniature buildings to go with it. Considering what that original set would be worth today, I almost wish he had just left it sealed in the box. All that I have remaining from the original set is the 12v-18v transformer. Maker of lead foil tinselI'm not sure if anyone is still looking for lead foil tinsel - the stuff some of us fondly remember from our childhood. It's available from Riffelmacher and Weinberger in Germany. Or rather it's shown in their wholesale catalogue. See p 50 of their 2010 Christmas catalogue, Item 91152 is silver ... exactly what we all remember! Now your only challenge may be ordering in bulk from Germany. I can smell the coal smoke from the furnaceGreat picture. I love how the kid's old man gets to run the locomotive, his Uncle is playing Conductor and the kid gets to be Switchman! Gotta pay your dues kid! Looks like they just setout the hopper and tank car and are about to back the engine to re-couple onto the NYC gondola and caboose. A very similar scene played out in many households of the era. I like the Hamilton or Gruen wristwatches that the guys are wearing too. My cousin Tom, the boy in the photo...turned 68 this year. Sobering perspective on just how long ago this was! Your photo and story for magazine articleHi, I am senior editor at Classic Toy Trains. We would be interested in publishing this vintage color photo and learning more about the background . Please contact me at: Roger Carp 262-796-8776 ext. 253 rcarp@classictoytrains.com Thanks, Roger (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, Kids)
Dead Ox Kids: 1939
... Down in the dirt But not down in the mouth. These kids are happy and they and their clothes are clean, even if a touch the worse ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 2:45pm -

October 1939. "The Free children in doorway of their dugout home in Sunday clothes. Dead Ox Flat, Malheur County, Oregon." Medium format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Saggjn' but not braggin'That young man second from left would certainly be "fashion forward" with the 5 inches too big in the waist pants but for A) I'm sure he's not wearing them that baggy on purpose and B) he'll make do because it's likely these or nothing he's got the sense to keep 'em up with a pair of suspenders. Lest we think their home is oddHere's a blog (with a tip o' the hat to Shorpy) about Dead Ox Flat, and as you'll see even the town church was built Dug Out Style. Makes sense because the area seems to be on the plains, and in Oregon that means major snow and bitter cold. http://www.hamell.net/2010/07/dead-ox-flat-oregon/ The flats.Definitely the "dry " side of Oregon ! I live in the state as well in a area known as Rabbit Flat, down in Klamath County. There were a few dugouts built way back when but they are long gone now. Oregon FarmerWe are farmers! Okay, not that Farmers. The company insuring this home started out in the publishing business and branched out from there. Today, affilliates are all over the west, mostly offering Health and Life Insurance- Farmer-Stockman. Farm Progress (an ABC/Disney Company) now owns the original magazine publishing empire and still prints today. Hand Me DownsI'm thinking, BamBam, that's he's stuck with Pa's hand me downs while his brothers get his old clothes. It's funny, today people just wear suspenders to simply wear suspenders, when this kid is wearing them because he has no choice. Down in the dirtBut not down in the mouth. These kids are happy and they and their clothes are clean, even if a touch the worse for wear. No small accomplishments in the 1930s. And cute little curtains hang in the windows, to boot. I bet this family is resourceful! My GrandpaThis photo is of my Grandpa and 3 of his siblings. He's the one on the far left in the back. [Great! Can you put names to them all? Had you see this photo before? - tterrace] (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Rural America)
Coal Country: 1938
... the photo that I didn't read the caption. --H You damn kids! Get offa da tracks, what are ya, an eejit? Main Street RR ... for lunch. We had time to build relationships with the kids we went back and forth with. We had time to explore our surroundings. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/15/2010 - 11:08am -

September 1938. Osage, West Virginia. "Mining town. Coming home from school." Medium format nitrate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. Hey you guysWant to see a dead body? OsageIn the Northern WV coalfields. MatewannyWith the possible exception of the paved road, it's striking how much this view of the town resembles the set of "Matewan." Over the riverMy dad grew up in the 1930s and '40s in West Virginia, where his father was a coal miner. I always imagined him coming home from school almost just like this. His stories included rowing across a river to school as well as walking down railroad tracks. Thanks for posting! Down The RoadA photo of a town that is about 10 minutes away from me. Pretty cool. Spring or Fall?What a beautiful composition. You can tell it's either spring or fall because they're all carrying the jackets they were probably wearing that morning when it was cooler out. [Another clue to the season would be the first word of the caption. - Dave] Heh - clearly I was so taken with the photo that I didn't read the caption. --H You damn kids!Get offa da tracks, what are ya, an eejit? Main Street RROsage! I've passed through here all my life. Many of the old company towns have been demolished but much of Osage survives. As with many WV coal towns, macadam and rails share the main passage through town. Coal Miner's Granddaughtermy mother, Ruby, grew up in Logan, West Virginia, and would have been 12 in 1938. She was a towheaded little girl like the one here. I have never seen a photo of her as a child. This picture lets me imagine that little girl is my mother. Thank you very much for that. A better time to be a kidAbout the only vivid memories I have of grade school is the walking or bike-riding to and from. The classroom time is all a fog. We could go home for lunch. We had time to build relationships with the kids we went back and forth with. We had time to explore our surroundings. Some schools are just now discovering students get better grades when they start the day with Phys Ed. It's supposed to rev up the brain. We got our brains revved by just by getting there on foot instead of on a bus. And we didn't run away scared if an old guy in a floppy hat was walking along the road, too. Everyone's WalkingEveryone's walking rather than being driven home -- a big reason why you don't see any chubby kids in that photo. Contrast that with West Virginia today, which now ranks second in the nation in obesity rates. Did the same thing myselfin the early 1940s in "Idyllic Larkspur, California." Not too many trains by then, but got scared more than once by hobos. That echoing refrain of parenthood Sukie! Don't you be walking on the road, you know the tracks is safer, just listen for the whistle! (The Gallery, Kids, M.P. Wolcott)
Junior Scrapper: 1942
... pretty sure that's what happened here. (The Gallery, Kids, Russell Lee, WW2) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/04/2023 - 7:57pm -

October 1942. "Butte, Montana. 'Salvage for Victory.' Truck crew on scrap salvage day." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size. Hooligan!The kid probably stole that boiler. Jolly bunchLooks like they would have been a fun group to work and hang out with! Fashion PlateThese dudes in these duds could be strutting down a Paris catwalk today. Advanced StyleKid seems to be exactly 50 years from the future. I'm pretty sure that's what happened here. (The Gallery, Kids, Russell Lee, WW2)
Playtime: 1943
... war, etc.), my brother and I had an arsenal of cap guns as kids. We blasted away whenever she was not around. Despite all this simulated ... in WW1 and he was never keen on guns. Nonetheless, we kids were cheerfully allowed to have and play with toy guns in the 60s - mostly ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/09/2018 - 7:43pm -

October 1943. Washington, D.C. "Boys watching the Woodrow Wilson high school cadets." Photo by Esther Bubley, Office of War Information. View full size. Saturday Morning SpecialEven before the war, this was the Junior G-Man generation. The pistol packing boy might be aiming a realistic cast metal cap pistol, not all of which looked like western six-guns. Here's a 1940s magazine ad for a similar toy pistol, the popular "G-Boy" model. Cap gunI had a hand-me-down cap gun in the 60s that was a baby .45. Wasn't as cool as the cowboy guns, so I am sure than it ended up in the bottom of a toy box and was "recycled" at a garage sale. Cocktail HourPersonally, I prefer my Bubbly with a dash of Alibet. Cap GunThe pistol the boy appears to be holding resembles a 1940 Kilgore Cap pistol, made of iron. Likely it was one of the police or police chief versions. Reminds me of my childhoodDespite my mom's anti-toy gun stance (peace, love, against the Vietnam war, etc.), my brother and I had an arsenal of cap guns as kids. We blasted away whenever she was not around. Despite all this simulated childhood violence, we both grew up to be fairly normal adults who do not own any real guns. Cap gunsMy parents were non-militaristic types; my father (reluctantly) got involved in WW2 as a RAF pilot, but his Quaker father had been jailed as a conchie in WW1 and he was never keen on guns. Nonetheless, we kids were cheerfully allowed to have and play with toy guns in the 60s - mostly games based on High Chaparral and Lost in Space and suchlike rather than war and soldiering, as it happens (well, there was The Rat Patrol). And pointing a toy gun at my brother (see pic, if it uploads OK) didn't seem to cause anyone to get worried (neither of us has ever had anything to do with real guns). Some British schools have cadet forces, as per the film If... and also the Doctor Who story set in 1913 (Human Nature). Is it really that different?When I was a kid, toy guns were my favorite. And yet my Dad would have tanned my hide had he caught me actually pointing a toy gun at another person. I was taught you just didn't point guns at people. And I realize that the kid in this photo is not pointing his gun at the other boy. But my kids grew up in a society where it was completely proper to point guns at other people and pull the trigger -- but they called it laser tag or paintball. You can also get into the whole video game mindset as well. Of course, you can't do it on your own, but at an arcade, or in the case of paint-balls, with expensive gear. The difference I see is that by the time I was 12 or so, such games were not so interesting. The current generation is still involved in these games into their 20s and 30s. ContextYeah, this might be disturbing to some people, but let's not forget the international context at the time. 1943 saw the height of World War II, and all the kids were immerese in the ambience of a "nation at war": bombarded with all those news reels in the movies, watching the cartels, and seeing mom worry about the absent parent / brother / uncle who was serving overseas. Many a kid witnessed the arrival of the dreaded letter to his / her parents; "Dear Mrs... I am terribly sorry to inform you..." So, with old photos as with history, one can't merely judge them by comparing them with our own prejudices and standars. We must take in account the circumstances and the particular period where they were created. I'm sure that, back then, a scene like this was not as disturbing as we might find it today. Guess it is what OTY said, that children were accountable for being good citizens at all times. That is really disturbingIt looks too much like that very famous Vietnam-era photo of a man being executed on the street. InterestingThere are a couple of interesting things in this photograph... Most obviously, it looks like the little boy on the left is aiming the gun at the other boy's head...but once you really look at it, the boy on the right is a few feet further away. (WHEW!) His stance though, makes it look like they are playing a very creepy "game". The other interesting thing is...High School Cadet Team?? Forming up and shouldering rifles??? Can you even imagine that in 2009? Ah, the good ol' days... Deja NamReminds me of the famous Vietnam era photo of an execution. As Jack Nicholson Would Say...Hey, kid? You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? Hm.There's an unfortunate juxtaposition. Imagine this scene todayThe boy pointing (what I assume is a) toy gun would be under arrest facing years of psychoanalysis. The parents of his "target" would already be on the telephone to their attorney looking to sue the boy as well as Woodrow Wilson HS, its principal and head of its cadet program not to mention the young man leaning on the soccer post for not intervening in what clearly is an act of bullying. The school spokesperson, since he hadn't seen the paperwork, would not be able to comment other than to reiterate that WWHS has a zero tolerance policy toward weaponry and that, once the truth comes out, they will be completely exonerated. Not what it seemsAt first glance it looks like the boy in the middle is pointing that gun straight at the forehead of the other boy - but he's not, is he? He's nearer the camera by a yard or so, and pointing directly to the right. Whatever, great photo. Nothing much changes hereI live several blocks away from Wilson HS, and aside from the fact that they obviously no longer drill there in military uniforms, there is the occasional gunplay every so often. It seems that about every three years there is a shootout ... and this is the public HS in the city's safest and most affluent area! Notable alums of Wilson HS include Warren Buffett, Frank Rich, and Lewis Black. Armchair Psychologist's Field DayTo call this photo provocative is an understatement. The curious fact though is that this generation, currently referred to as "the silent generation" seems to have been the most peaceful, law-abiding, responsible, conscientious, peaceful and congenial group of decent and agreeable adults in recent memory. Yes, I am one. Yes, as kids we all had toy guns and we played "jack-knife" wherein we threw our pocket knives into targets drawn in the dirt. Yes, we used dagger-sharp geometric compasses in grade school without hurting anyone, and walked miles to school, often alone. Yes, we were just before the "Rebels without a cause" gangs, loved our families, enjoyed our cars, had fun dates, served our country, sewed our wild oats and then settled down to work hard, support loved ones and try to raise healthy, happy families. I do not have crime statistics to back this up, but from personal experience all the "playing" we did for the first 15 years of our lives with potential toy weapons did NOT make us violent or eager to hurt anyone. On the contrary, we are a bunch of very helpful, charitable, POLITE, simple, proper seniors now who walk at the mall daily in friendly groups and still love America. The preceding is strictly my personal opinion but I know hundreds of us from this era and there is not a bad apple in the bunch. Although this picture is reminiscent of the horrible famous photo from Viet Nam, I have no acquaintances who became violent criminals from playing with TOY guns. The difference is, I believe, that we had sensible,selfless, caring and sometimes strict parents and we ALWAYS had to be accountable for not behaving as the civilized people they expected us to be. Sorry to be preachy but I really fear that society is "de-evolving" and returning to savagery and barbaric behavior. The little guy in the chin strap hat who is resignedly acceptiing his fate like a man looks exactly like a neighbor I grew up with who became a soldier. DrilledIn response to the "High School Cadet Team" comment: Ever heard of ROTC? I went to a college in the South (graduated 2003) and it was common to see ROTC members performing drills in the quad. High School Cadet TeamDon't you know there's a war on? In 1943 there was and most of the boys in that group would be in it soon after they graduated from high school. A little early drill couldn't hurt, even if they did have to unlearn just about everything they picked up here. Cadet RiflesHigh Schools still have rifle teams today, if they have JROTC unit. Official Site https://www.usarmyjrotc.com/jrotc/dt Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_Reserve_Officers'_Training_Corps - Proud Former JROTC Cadet, who shouldered his own (demilitarized) M1903 Springfield for drill... 15 count manual.. Arms! Soccer '43??I doubt that there were any soccer goals at WWHS in '43, I think those are monkey bars. Boys learning 2nd Amendment rightsThis photo could only come out of the USA. The only country on the planet that enshrines guns in their national Constitution. Johnny Has His GunHeh, funny, Exercising his 2nd Amendment. Can anyone tell if that's a real pistol or just an extremely realistic toy? It sure looks heavy and solid from here. I have a cap pistol from the '40s or '50s, and it's nowhere nearly as detailed as that (although it's a revolver, not an automatic). Re: Boys learning 2nd Amendment rightsAnd yet we've got people from all over the world that still strive to become American now don't we? In defense of my generation...I think it's a bit extreme to say that "the silent generation" was composed of better or more decent people than gens x, y, whatever, or that people in the past loved their families more, worked harder, or were better Americans than my peers and I. Actually, it's straight up offensive. A lot of criminals were born in the 30's and 40's, too. As were a lot of rude people, some of whom now apparently consider themselves "POLITE, simple, proper seniors." This is a really neat picture, though. I love the kid leaning on the monkey bars. Small ArmsThe gun is a toy .45 caliber semi-automatic. You can tell because it not only lacks the hammer and sight, but a real .45 is over 6 inches long. The one in the picture looks much smaller. And a real .45 very heavy. My Dad taught me to shoot a .45 when I was about ten years old and it took both hands to hold it up straight! Esther Bubbly FansFor those of us that are fans of Esther Bubbly and all the other wonderful photographers being shown on Shorpy, you can find many other photographs at the National Archives. Alibet, these photographs have not been edited as those shown here, they are still outstanding. The URL below will take you to an index of photographers. Don't overlook the 'Search' link also on the page. A wonderful place to visit. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fsaauthindex1.html [Nothing like a little Bubbly to start the day, I say. - Dave] Reply to "In Defense of..."I believe you failed to comprehend my message because I NEVER said anything about being "better than..." or "working harder" or "loving more". My point was only to state that playing with guns, knives and potentially deadly weapons did not make us violent misfits as some people claim it does. Why would I offend my own children and descendants by claiming "we were better" but I believe that is your personal interpretation of what was written, NOT what was actually written. I am very sorry if anyone was offended. Boys and gunsLet's see. I grew up watching Gunsmoke and the Lone Ranger. Parents bought me a Daisy Red Ryder for my birthday. Played Cowboys and Indians and S.W.A.T. was never called. Grew up to be a productive law abiding citizen despite the "evil" toys. Imagine that. YikesWell, that gave me chills. The Way I See ItThe kid with the gun is aiming at some "enemy" in the distance. The smaller kid is imitating the drill team members. I hate guns now, but I played "Army" and cowboys and Indians with them all the time during the early 50's. Once, after watching Gene Autry on TV, I conked a kid over the head with a piece of wood and was amazed when he didn't fall over unconscious. Shortly thereafter I was amazed when I couldn't watch TV for a week. Grateful for the opportunityDespite years of studying (and producing) photography and film, I only learned of Esther Bubley after I became a regular visitor to Shorpy (perhaps Shorpy addict is more accurate). I'm a big fan of historic, journalistic, and modern photography -- even worked in an archive -- but I didn't know of Esther Bubley, and I think her work is wonderful. Her work fascinates me -- composition, subjects, content, emotional impact -- I thank you for posting her photos. You people are S-L-O-WHe is not pointing the cap gun at the other child's head. The other child is standing behind him. Look where the feet of the children are. Come on now, think for yourselves. [Talk about slow -- read the other comments. Carefully. - Dave] Re: You people are S-L-O-WI really hate to appear to be S-L-O-W, but what is the significance of the quarter? [It's a gift bestowed upon especially clueless commenters. So that they can go get a clue. - Dave] Target practiceWhenever I see a scene of soldiers practicing their marching in formation, I wonder "how many battles ever got won because they were good at marching in formation?" Has there ever been an enemy overcome by straight lines and precision steps? In movies, the guys in formation are always the ones getting mowed down by cannons or snipers. I'm reminded of a comment by one of the Kaiser's generals complaining that he seemed to think marching practice was all there was to war preparation. Just some thoughts on OTY's comment...>> Sorry to be preachy but I really fear that society is "de-evolving" and returning to savagery and barbaric behavior. Hey now OTY, the kids are OK. I don't know if you'll read this comment but I had to weigh in. As one of the early Millennials (aka Cold-Y or Boomerang Generation) let me reassure you. My parents were in the Silent Generation. I walked to school and used a sharp compass. Additionally, I knew my neighbors and was allowed to bike all over the town. Now I live in an urban center where I still walk to work. I still know my neighbors and make casseroles when people find themselves in a tough spot. The Millennials also manage to have fun even though the recession is weighing heavily on us. The Boomers won't retire and Millennials can't find work. We also give back to our community, are hard-working, and increasingly thrifty having learned from our grandparents the importance of putting away for a rainy day. Taking your anecdotal example, I know hundreds of Millennials who, to a person, are not "bad apples." Even though the kids born today can seem alien, ("O rly? LOL, que! Srsly, wtf is w/n00bs. We pwnd them. 1337.") The Atlantic recently suggested otherwise. I tend to agree. You raised us right, stop worrying, we'll take our place and save the world when you let us. And our kids and grandkids will be awesome too. So... The kids are alright. Neither demons nor angelsThe kids in the pictured generation weren't horrible animals because they played with guns, but come on, let's not pretend they were perfect and everything was wonderful back then and everyone today is inferior. For example, look at the trash scattered on the parade ground. My GenerationInteresting photo... posted no doubt for its shock value. As a member of that generation, I played cowboys, space explorer, knight, soldier, etc. All the boys did (well, except for the odd ones who played with dolls ;-) Know what? We never once confused play with real life. Of course, physical violence wasn't graphic back then, nor was it performed with mind-numbing repetition, as in the slash movies or video games, for example. We also didn't take drugs or do a lot of other things kids do today. Was it a better time to grow up? Damn straight it was. Bubley whimsyDon't you think the photographer was intentionally having fun messing with the viewer's perspective to create that illusion? I do. (The Gallery, Bizarre, D.C., Esther Bubley, Kids, WW2)
Kids Group
... than somewhere in Los Angeles. I am thinking the other kids are cousins but I don't know their names. Or just friends. Just amazed you can get a group of kids to sit still while you snap a picture of them. I'd love to have the car in ... 
 
Posted by mhallack - 09/20/2011 - 9:13pm -

My dad around 8 years old or so, which would make this around 1946. He's in the back row on the right. My Aunt Susan is second from left, front row. Not sure exactly where it was taken other than somewhere in Los Angeles. I am thinking the other kids are cousins but I don't know their names. Or just friends. Just amazed you can get a group of kids to sit still while you snap a picture of them. I'd love to have the car in the background. View full size. [Where is this? - Dave] Courtyard ApartmentsWherever it is, this and the related And Now the Adults photo show a classic example of that echt-Southern California architectural phenomenon, the courtyard apartment. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Kids)
Le Jeune: 1938
... additives, was called "white gas." - Dave] Lucky kids At least they have shoes to wear to school. My dad was about the same ... quite so fortunate. Shoes were a "sometime" thing for kids in the country. Lunches were duly noted and I didn't see anything ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/14/2011 - 4:24pm -

November 1938. Mix, Louisiana. "Negro children coming out of store on their way to school. Note lunches which they are carrying." 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. LeadDidn't know in those early days gas pumps carried the sign "contains lead." Did unleaded gas exist then? [It's all unleaded until the lead gets added at the refinery. The warning "for use as a motor fuel only" means don't use it in a stove or heater, since lead is poisonous. Gasoline for cooking and heating, without additives, was called "white gas." - Dave] Lucky kidsAt least they have shoes to wear to school. My dad was about the same age in rural Louisiana at the time and wasn't quite so fortunate. Shoes were a "sometime" thing for kids in the country. Lunches were duly notedand I didn't see anything remarkable other than the girl got the better end of the deal food-wise. Could it be that African-American kids in rural 1938 Louisiana didn't often have lunches to carry? PuzzlementThe photos is great for its detail of a general store, but I don't get the point about the Negro children's lunches. What am I missing? SandwichIt looks like they've split a poboy. AH... A Nehi sign ( grape anyone? ) and the obligatory Cocoa-Cola sign as well. Also signs for "Old Gold, Camel, and Luckies Cigarettes" and for the roll your own crowd "ripple" and "Star tobacco as well. I think "Sensation" was a cigarette brand as well... What You Could Have Bought For A NickelPepsi and Old North State Tobacco. GasWith regard to an earlier comment: You could put unleaded "white gas" into your car as a fuel but then you'd have to break out your small can of lead additive to put in with it or your car would be jumping like a washer spinning with a lop-sided load of clothes in it. The sign on the pump let you know you were getting true motor fuel. leaded gasWhen I was growing up we used to get unleaded or white gas for our Coleman lanterns when we went camping at the Amoco station. Leaded gas also had a pink dye added to it so you knew it had lead in it. Re: Leaded GasBefore you had the choice of leaded or unleaded where I live, we had to go to the American Truck Stop (Amoco) to get white gas. Coleman Fuel was cheap then and we used that in our stoves and lanterns, but we used Amoco white gas in our 2 stroke motorcycles (they needed gasoline which Coleman Fuel ain't). When other oil companies offered unleaded we could get our white gas about anywhere though I don't think any of them were as good as Amoco. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Kids, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Kids in the Hall: 1940
... slap: Of course, me bad. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/08/2018 - 10:42am -

January 1940. "Tenants living in a crackerbox. Slum tenement in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. CrackerboxInteresting - I don't know the nuances of the term and it's not widely used in my experience, but I always thought of a crackerbox as a small, single family type home. This appears to be a tenement building of some sort. [As stated in the caption. - Dave] Yes but those are contradictory terms to my understanding. Far from Broadway Beaver Falls, Joe Namath's hometown. Bad landlordOwners, or even renters with a good landlord, would have swept away those cobwebs and swept the floor. I am also always stunned by the beauty of tenements. Yes, they were deathtraps, yes, they were tiny and disease ridden, but by golly, they knew how to do woodwork around that plaster. Icebox in the HallI have one EXACTLY like that sitting out in the garage. ZappCan't quite figure out what the collection of overhead wiring is all about, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the dark fan-like marks where the wall meets the ceiling. [You are looking at cobwebs and clotheslines. - Dave] Head slap: Of course, me bad. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Kids)
Kids These Days: 1916
... only two or three degrees between the ticket-taker and the kids' parents. That wouldn't leave much wiggle-room for shenanigans. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/08/2011 - 1:02pm -

June 1916. Sandy Beach near Fall River, Massachusetts. "Two girls in foreground about 15. Mr. Tebbutt says dance hall bad conditions. Penny picture machine attracting crowds." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. Well, maybe or maybe not Fall River was a fishing and mill city in those days; it wasn't high-toned and sophisticated like New York. I'm not sure what "bad conditions" Mr. Tebbutt was referring to (leaving used chewing gum on the arm rests instead of underneath the benches?) but there would only be so much disapproved social behavior from the teen set that the tight, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, Fall River culture would tolerate before the whip would come cracking down. Generally, there would be only two or three degrees between the ticket-taker and the kids' parents. That wouldn't leave much wiggle-room for shenanigans. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine)
Baby Shower: 1960
... his leg so he can't get away from the coffee table! As kids, we were not allowed to watch TV in the dark, nor were we able to sit "too ... He and his partner Dumpty figured prominently on a kids' TV show called "Polka Dot Door." Objet d'Ash My Nonna had ... 
 
Posted by Tony W. - 09/17/2011 - 8:11pm -

This is my grandma (who is no longer alive), pregnant with my father, making this around 1960. I'm fascinated by the mural above the fireplace and the little figures on top, but perhaps someone might know what the black thing on the table is? And, of course, the big blue thing and television are awesome. Scanned from a Kodak safety negative. View full size. FigurineDare I say, that black object looks like a figure of a panther. Now a cliche, then an object of pride? Black thing & Blue ThingI'm pretty sure the blue thing is a toy stuffed Humpty Dumpty and the black thing is a glass figurine - looks like a panther. Black ThingLooks like a ceramic cat (or perhaps a panther?). And that TV looks older than the photo year. My parents bought our first TV (a tabletop Magnavox) in 1954 and the screen was larger and more square than the one shown. Table-top ceramic sculpture?My guess is that "the black thing" is a glossy-black ceramic panther (I'm guessing the face end would have a few painted-on features in white or gilt), based on the "midcentury" stuff I grew up with (I'm a bit older than your father). BTW, someone has a vintage "Cal-Dak" laundry cart on eBay (ah, the wonders of the internet). Nice to have a (comparatively) younger Shorpy submitter--welcome! That thing on the tableI think that thing on the table might be a ceramic black leopard. My Mom used to have one of those on her front room coffee table.... Black...Panther... ceramic, glossy glaze...popular in the 50's The Black PantherThe thing on Gramma's coffee table looks like a fabulous fifties tchotchke, a ceramic panther planter. (Addendum: In the six minutes it took me to find the panther photo on eBay, six people beat me to the answer! Not to mention the dozens who are sure to follow.) The thing on the tableThe big black thing on the table is a ceramic black panther. The view is a little odd, but, its head is looking towards your grandmother and father-to-be while its tail is pointing at the photographer. Black thing on the tableIt looks to be a statue of a black panther; they're often pictured slinking around like that. My mom had one eerily similar to your grandma's that was also kept on a table. In fact, before I read the text, the statue was the first thing that caught my eye. Although panther statues like this are common, I'd bet my mom's and your grandma's are the very same. Shower?I'm guessing this was taken just after her baby shower. The item on the table looks to be a ceramic panther. The blue thing maybe a stuffed Humpty Dumpty. The gifts seem geared toward the coming baby, including the laundry cart for dirty cloth diapers. [Hmm. Could that be why the title of this post is "Baby Shower"? - Dave] One-upping the Panther FigurineThat's definitely a ceramic panther. My grandmother had one except hers was a lamp base with...wait for it...a plastic philodendron entwining the bottom. This wasn't her handiwork - it came from the store that way and was intended to give the impression that the stealthy cat was prowling the leafy undergrowth of the jungle. This lamp was placed in the most prominent place in the room: on top of the TV. Why one needs a lamp on a TV, I don't know. [Hugely collectible. Search on eBay for "TV lamp" -- there are hundreds. Including 16 panther TV lamps. Also a website devoted to them, tvlamps.net - Dave] LovelyYour Grandma was beautiful. What a lovely expression. Color TVI think what we have here is an early color TV, which used round CRTs well into the 1960s, like our 1965 model. Round B/W CRTs were on the way out by the early 1950s. It looks like the logo above the screen reads "PHILCO," who began producing color sets in 1956. If my surmise is correct, this was a rare family, perhaps one of those whose living rooms were invaded by friends and neighbors every Sunday night starting this year to watch "Bonanza" in Living Color. Deja vuI saw first of all the dress because I also was expecting a child in 1959 and had a dress like that (same color) and a fireplace like that and a shower like that -- way too eerie for words! I did not have a black panther! I can guess what she's thinking"Put that camera down and let me go take a nap!" Cool WoodI love the beige wood in the coffee table. Anybody guess what it is? Some type of maple or birch? My parents have a small desk in that same wood, and it extends out into a very long table. We sometimes used it when we had a lot of people over for a dinner party. Oh joy, a laundry cart! Just what every woman wants! Great looking shoes. Mid-Century BlondeThe table, I mean. Blonde walnut was a favorite furniture style of the 40s, whose pieces survived in many homes through the 50s & 60s. My best grade school chum's house was full of the stuff. It's also possible that the table top is wood-grained Formica. Humpty DumptyI've definitely seen lots of those Humptys over the years - I couldn't find a picture of one online, but here's a pattern for what looks to be the same guy (note sideways-looking eyes and bow on neck): Just maybeI can't be sure — perhaps someone else has noticed it, too — but that black figurine on the table seems to resemble — now stay with me on this, I know it's kind of a left-field guess — some sort of a large feline animal. Like a panther. Maybe. Black PantherDefinitely a black panther... my grandfather had the same exact one. Black PantherWithout question it's a black panther figure, a fairly common piece for the day. My late-grandmother also owned and displayed one; it remains in our family. Those little Asian figurinesThose little Asian figurines atop the fireplace mantel are also really something. My grandma had something like those candle holders, only they were salt shakers... Humpty HumpThat Humpty-Dumpty toy is near about the creepiest thing I have ever seen. The stuff of nightmares. CrackedIt seems like everybody in the world had one of those black panthers in those days. We had one - I was fascinated by it and wouldn't leave it alone (I was three years old). Of course I ended up breaking poor old Mr. Panther in half. Years later I found another one - with a "TV light" built in it - on eBay and I bought it. Kitten HeelsBut look at her shoes! Kitten heels with gold and clear plastic (?) instep. Seriously--one could wear those today. The dress too for that matter. My life's beginningsThis series sure makes me want to dig through all my old stuff. I was born in 1959, too. I have many of my dad's old slides that look so very similar to these. LaminatedIt looks to me like a laminate tabletop. My grandfather had one similar, with the end tables to match. Fast agingSomething doesn't add up here. There was a photo two days ago ("Father's Day 1964") of your Father, looking middle aged. Yet today's photo shows his Mom 4-5 years earlier, not yet having given birth to him? I'm totally confused. [Look above the photo to see who posted it. This pic was posted by Tony. The Father's Day photo was posted by tterrace. - Dave] Ah, the 21AXP22 ... the 21CYP22 ...That is a color TV for sure, and probably used the 21AXP22 kinescope which had a metal shell. Working on those sets back then, one had to VERY careful making adjustments anywhere near the shell of the kinescope (CRT) because the shell was carrying a full 25 KV! Yep, lots of memories working on those old color sets. Of course (little trivia here) if the set was manufactured around 1959, the CRT would have been an all-glass 21CYP22. In either case, both tubes required the use of a "safety glass" in front of the CRT face. Later tubes used an integral safety glass bonded directly to the face, eliminating the need for the external safety glass. And there, class, is your trivia for today! Discuss it among yourselves. Icons of the era This picture is full of period items. The ship’s wheel clock on the mantel, probably made by Telechron, the steel tube kitchen chairs, the asphalt tiles with the deco rug. The laundry cart in a corrugated cardboard carton. I wonder if it’s a Japanese import? This was just the beginning of such things. But what I get a charge out of most are the Dixie cups. Before a certain point in time, the only style available was that simple white with blue doodads. Now we have them in an infinite array of designer patterns. FlooredThis is the first time I've seen asphalt tile used in a home -- except for ours. Built just after WWII, there was little other choice I guess. Ugly as sin but lasts forever. Figures and cupsI remember those wax coated cups, vividly. We used them through the summers for picnics. The candle holder figures look Chinese, or possibly Japanese. My father's aunt had a few figures made in occupied Japan. At the time they were inexpensive but are now collector's items. What a pretty grandmother-to-be. Haeger PotteriesThe panther was Haeger Potteries signature piece of the period. The TimeOdd that no one mentioned the ship's wheel clock on the bookshelf. It seemed everyone had to have one of those, too. They came in many different sizes and bases, as I recall. [Jazznocracy mentioned it way down below. - Dave] Stack O' GiftsJudging from the pile of goodies stacked in front of the fireplace, I'd say Grandma made quite a haul on this day. Ah, the kindness of women invited to baby showers. Confused over ageOkay Dave, you have me totally confused. I just viewed a photo of you at age 14 in 1960. Yet here is a photo of your Grandma pregnant with your Dad in 1959/1960. How is that possible? [You are confused! These are not pictures of me, or my grandma. The age 14 pic is tterrace's photo. The grandma photo is Tony W's. - Dave] Floor TilesI had tiles like that in a house I owned a few years back in MPLS. It was a sweet little brick rambler built in '54. Mom of InventionI wonder if they had gift wrap big enough to cover the laundry cart box, or if they did what my mother and aunts did and used whatever leftover wallpaper they had gussied up with lots of pastel colored curling ribbons. TV lamps and other mid-century modern bad tasteThe reason TV lamps were created was that people of the era believed that watching TV in the dark would damage your eyes. I can remember, as a child, having adults turn on the lights of the room I was in, when I watched TV at night, explaining that as the reason. Why watching TV in a darkened room would hurt your eyes, but watching a movie in a darkened theater didn't, was never explained. But that is at least one origin kitsch lamps on top of TV sets. Oh, and those streaked floor tiles were everywhere. The ones in our house (built 1953) were black with green and ivory streaks. They were made of asphalt. Those beige ones may be all vinyl, or vinyl-asbestos. Asbestos was in a lot of 1950's home-things to "save" your house in the event of a fire. [Here is my theory: Most people like a lamp on if they're watching TV at night. Table lamps were often too bright for the relatively dim picture tubes in 1950s TV sets. TV lamps were a way to have ambient lighting that didn't wash out the picture. - Dave] Mantelpiece muralA mantelpiece mural like that would have been pretty unusual in most Southern California houses of the 1940s and 1950s. Tony, have you found other photos of the living room that might show more of it? Books!Someone should point out that there are actually books in the living room. It was about a decade after this that, as Nora Ephron noticed, the Reagans built the California governor's residence with a wet bar in the living room but not one bookshelf anywhere in the house. MuralisticThat mantel mural actually looks like a Van Gogh print, but I'd have to dig through my books to find which painting... The tree's dark outlining and wet-on-wet is Van Gogh's signature style. LovelyShe is lovely and every mom to be should be thrown a shower like this one. This is a classic mother-to-be photograph, I have one of myself on the day of my shower that is very similar. Does anyone know what that black thing is on the coff.... Hey look! A shiny new quarter!! Shower IILooks uncannily like my own mother's pics from when she was pregnant with me in 1959. TV next to the fireplace with bookcase behind. Makes me want to dig out my old Kodachromes and see what I can find. Mind if I smoke?Now that I am able to bring up the full sized image, I'm wondering if that's not a matchbook on the table. That smallest porcelain tray looks like an ashtray with telltale smudges in it. This was back in the day when pregnant women thought nothing of smoking through their pregnancy (as my own mom did in 1946). Gak! Bow-quetIn looking more closely at the large version of the photo, I noticed that Grandma is holding a bouquet made up of all the bows that must have been on the presents she received. The presents themselves are displayed in front of the fireplace. One is reminded that in those days baby shower gifts had to be gender-neutral -- the gift on top (some kind of blanket set?) is yellow and white. (PS - it was I who posted the Humpty Dumpty pattern - guess I forgot to log in...) TV, fireplace & bookcasePJMoore said: Looks uncannily like my own mother's pics from ... 1959. TV next to the fireplace with bookcase behind. Something like this? (1960) Mid-century pixI love the turn of the century pictures and the chance to pore over the details of buildings and cars and the ghost people, but these mid-century pix always attract lots of interesting comments. I am usually prompted to remember things I haven't thought about in years, like the bathroom floor in my childhood home that had those flecks of green, black and white that someone described below. More of both, please. Memories....This is a great photo of a moment in time. Perhaps frightening to some, I have that clock, a panther, and even ... sigh ... those tiles on my floor right now. The house was built in '55 and I was built in '54. Our panther is a relatively new member of the family, but my husband's pride and joy. Believe it or not, visiting his childhood friend, he saw it sticking out of the top of his trash can -- just four years ago! Ours is pretty fancy, with gold teeth and floral painting, and a chain connecting his collar to his leg so he can't get away from the coffee table! As kids, we were not allowed to watch TV in the dark, nor were we able to sit "too close." I even remember the deadly words my dad spoke when he warned us that "Renkin Units" were what was out to get us. Who is TV savvy enough to remember those and let us know if there was truly a danger? We apparently survived! Love the photo! Kathleen [I think your dad was probably saying "Roentgen units," i.e. X-rays. Color TV picture tubes did emit very small amounts of ionizing radiation. When we got our first color TV set in the late 1960s, my dad taped a dental X-ray tab to the TV screen with a penny between the film and the glass. After a week he took the film to his dental office and developed it. If the film showed a light circle (the penny) on a dark background, that would have meant there was measurable radiation. Luckily the film came out blank. - Dave] A contestAwesome photo. You and tterrace are going to have a color slide battle now here on Shorpy. I'll have to admit you both are my favorite photo posters. I'm more impressed with your contributions than my own. TV Furniture ChoicesI think you're right the TV set in the picture is a Philco. It is a mahogany cabinet. The choices were usually Mahogany or Oak. The Oak was a lighter color and the manufacturers had different names for it like honey oak, blonde oak or ash and charged about $20 more for it.. At one point, I think, RCA made a deal with Henredon and they supplied high end furniture cabinets for the RCA TVs. The TV business at that time had RCA and Zenith each with about 35% of the total sales, Philco, Admiral, Magnavox and the rest of them scrambling for the remaining 30%. Panasonic (using the name National) entered the U.S. market in 1959 followed by Sony, JVC etc. However they were only in the radio business at that time. Add one at homeI grew up in Canada and my parents has one of these panthers on the living room table. They also has a coloured tiger in their bedroom. My mom still has them! That's a black panther on the table...and they still sell reproductions. My great-grandfather had one. Jaspé LinoleumThe streaky pattern in the linoleum tiles was (and still is) called Jaspé (pronounced hasspay) by the flooring trade, and was meant to resemble marble or other grained stone. But it's a Spanish textile term originally used to describe handwoven fabrics with streaky patterns that were resist-dyed into the unwoven yarns prior to weaving the fabric. Although jaspé-patterned vinyl flooring is still available, it only comes in big rolls, and the traditional crossways laying of the streaks in the 10-inch linoleum tiles can't be done with the available product. I ran into this when I was working on the historical restoration of a 1935 exposition building in San Diego, and we had a heck of a time matching the original jaspé floor tiles in several rooms. Jaspé todayOh how I'd love that Jaspé tile for my 1950 California ranch house. Modern linoleum just doesn't have the "look" of vintage tiles. If they could make it sixty years ago, why can't they make it now? Popular GrandmaFifty Five comments. I think it is the most I've seen here. Grandma's photo struck a (many panther-related) chord with a lot of Shorpsters. Is fifty five comments a record? [It's definitely impressive but not even close to the record-holder, the OLL thread (Caution: Do not attempt to read while operating heavy machinery). Also the Beaver Letter. - Dave] Aunt Irene's ceramic shoeMy Great Aunt Irene had one of those black panthers. I always remember it sitting in her bedroom. The was an oval cutout in the top. As a child, she told me it was a shoe. I would always ask her, "How did you get your foot in there and where's the one for the other foot?" I wish I could remember her answer. I also remember wondering why it didn't break when you walked in it. One time I tried putting it on my foot and got in all kinds of trouble. Armstrong, KentileThis floor is probably not linoleum. More likely rubberized composite (Armstrong) or vinyl (Kentile). There's more info here. TV Lamp MuseumThere is an antique store in Northfield, Minnesota, that displays an incredible collection of those weird TV lamps. I'm sure they have a panther or twelve. It's a really neat place! http://www.tvlamps.net/christensen-collection.html Canadian IconThat stuffed Humpty on the floor is a cultural icon to 30-50 year olds who grew up in Ontario. He and his partner Dumpty figured prominently on a kids' TV show called "Polka Dot Door." Objet d'AshMy Nonna had one, except it had a built-in ashtray. No one in that house ever smoked, yet somehow she still felt the ceramic panther ashtray was a necessary thing to have. Humpty DumptyI love the stuffed Humpty Dumpty lying on the floor. My mother had a panther planter when I was growing up. I knew instantlywhat that "black thing" was- HERE IT IS!! IlluminatingThe panther design on the table was also popular as a TV lamp. It was felt that the ambient light generated by these lamps reduced eye strain, permitting guilt-free viewing. We had a panther TV lamp, at another time a panther planter, and one other time a panther like the one in your photo. We also had the Chinese candle holders, only ours were black. Black PantherI recently purchased a n original Black Pahtner like the one on the table. My aunt had all the Panthers; TV light, letterholder, planter, ashtray and figureine. I wanted the on in the antique story in her memory. I keep it above my desk. Ah, the 16WP4The TV set is from 1951, the first model year in which Philco used the split chassis--and the last that they used round black & white tubes. Absolutely not a color set. We had a black panther light just like that...I never quite understood why a black panther, but they were common. It is like surfing in a time machine this site! How beautiful!Your grandmother was a lovely, elegant lady. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Tonypix)
Krazy Kat Klub: 1921
... 1921 labeled "Krazy Kat," showing a group of college-age kids painting and smoking in the yard of what seems to be a club or restaurant. ... Has anybody seen my girl? @Dewey Me too!! Mod kids I would love to see the other five photos from this series. These kids ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 4:42pm -

Washington. D.C. One of six National Photo glass negatives from 1921 labeled "Krazy Kat," showing a group of college-age kids painting and smoking in the yard of what seems to be a club or restaurant. Which has a treehouse. View full size. Krazy Kat KlubWhen I saw this photo, these song lyrics came into my head: Five foot two, eyes of blue But oh! what those five foot could do Has anybody seen my girl? Turned up nose, turned down hose Flapper, yes sir, one of those Has anybody seen my girl? @DeweyMe too!! Mod kidsI would love to see the other five photos from this series. These kids are incredibly modern-looking, especially the gal on the right. She appears to be wearing a miniskirt...in 1921! [The flapper girls and their bohemian boyfriends will be back! - Dave] A High-Level EstablishmentIs this what you'd call a speakeasy? It'd be hard for them coppers to get up there. Then again, considering the location, tea would be a wiser choice of beverage. Kool KatsThey look like they would be such fun people to hang out with. I wish I had something like this in my backyard! SophisticatedThe thing that gets me about these Kit Kat Klub photos is that the young women in particular seem to be trying so hard to look so sophisticated, and I suppose like rebels. The short skirts, the rolled down stockings, and bobbed hair are all things that would have scandalized their parents. And of course the ladies smoke, but they're sophisticated so they have holders for their cigarettes. Fifty years later their equivalents would be going braless, wearing their hair straight, having casual sex, and smoking pot. And probably those of this group who were still alive would be tut-tutting about how they never did anything like this when they were this age. Krazy KittenThe young lady in the middle is just absolutely smoking hot, I might add. Some Like it HotThe one above the hottie looks just like Jack Lemmon in the above mentioned movie. One more from the Krazy Kat, pleaseWe've seen five of the six photos from the Krazy Kat. Do I have to beg for the sixth? Okay, I'm begging. [Here it is. Pretty much the same as the fifth. Click to enlarge! - Dave] How to enlarge? take 2Would like to enlarge this "Pretty much the same as the fifth"... [See where it says "Click to enlarge"? Try doing that. - Dave] Thanks Dave .. I guess I should have said "enlarge to original size" This one comes out very grainy . I have purchased three of the 5 Kats photos and am considering the last two. and would like to see this one on original size. These "kats" are great. [It's 1100 pixels wide, same size as the others. It looks grainy because the emulsion is deteriorating. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Eateries & Bars, Krazy Kat Club, Natl Photo)
Chipso Kids: 1937
... the culprit. Read about it here . (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Mining, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/18/2013 - 1:21pm -

March 1937. "Scott's Run, West Virginia. Pursglove No. 2 coal mine. Scene taken from main highway shows company store and typical hillside camp." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine, three years before his death. View full size. The worst place in AmericaScott's Run was infamous in the 1930s. An article in The Atlantic in 1935 called it ""the damnedest cesspool of human misery I have ever seen in America." Eleanor Roosevelt's secretary Lenora Hickok visited Scott's Run and described "ramshackle cabins that most Americans would not have considered fit for pigs." More history of the awful place here. Pursglove No. 2 Mine ExplosionTwenty men were killed in an explosion at this mine on July 9, 1942. Dust and poor ventilation the culprit. Read about it here. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Mining, Railroads)
Hay Kids: 1941
... in this photo) (The Gallery, Agriculture, Jack Delano, Kids) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/05/2020 - 5:28pm -

August 1941. "Isadore Lavictoire, French Canadian dairy farmer near Rutland, Vermont, and children gathering hay." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Juliette, Lee and ThomasThe children of Isidore Lavictoire. Isidore died in 1983, Juliette in 2014. At the time, Lee and Thomas were still alive. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140074605/juliette-m_-bartlett Or perhaps HenryJuliette's obituary mentions that she was predeceased by a brother, Henry. FindAGrave has a listing for a Henry J. Lavictoire in West Rutland -- born 1930, died 1997. That could well be him on the left. (Juliette, born in March 1926, is 15 in this photo) (The Gallery, Agriculture, Jack Delano, Kids)
Dighero Kids
This photograph is undated and the kids are unknown. It came to us from my mother-in-law and is likely some of ... 
 
Posted by hager2007 - 09/24/2022 - 1:44pm -

This photograph is undated and the kids are unknown. It came to us from my mother-in-law and is likely some of the Dighero Family who came from Italy in the 1880s and ultimately settled in western Missouri, near Liberal. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
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