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Motown Noir: 1910
Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "Campus Martius at night." A nocturnal view of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Detroit ... plays of light that could have been photographed the night my mom was born and I would love to be able to be visit this very locale ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 5:00pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "Campus Martius at night." A nocturnal view of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Chop Suey was popularI have noticed that in almost all of the street scenes from various cities around the U.S. shown on Shorpy, there are always large, neon "Chop Suey" signs, sometimes several in the same picture. I see two in this photo, there may be more. One has to wonder what made early 20th century chop suey taste so good that it merited full size, expensive, lighted advertising signs. There are multitudes of recipes for it, all different, but there must have been a "type" that had strong appeal to the masses. This is a particularly beautiful picture with outstanding plays of light that could have been photographed the night my mom was born and I would love to be able to be visit this very locale at that very time. This is a picture than can inspire a million stories as one walks along the intriguing boulevard (of broken dreams?) Thank you Shorpy for once again setting my imagination on high speed. "Chop Suey" (Edward Hopper, 1929) Where's the Moon (Light Towers)?Were the moonlight towers all gone by 1910? I looked back at the past Detroit photos that had them and they all seemed to be 1905 or earlier. Looks like they installed normal streetlights by this time. [While they weren't on every street corner, there were several nearby [one, two, three). But they may have been removed by the time this photo was made. - Dave] Diamond TiresTHEY WON'T SKID THEY WON'T SLIDE THEY GRIP Diamond Tires won'tI was puzzled for a moment by what Diamond Tires won't do. "Skibe"? Then it dawned on me: they alternately won't skid and don't slide! America's Heyday Beautiful. Amazing signage. Chop Sueybecame a generic term for Chinese food. At least in black areas of town, such as Harlem, a Chinese restaurant was a "Chop Suey joint." Similarly, "gin" was a generic term for hard liquor. Writers often wrote of Bessie Smith's fondness for gin, based largely upon her use of the term in songs, but they were making assumptions. I asked Ruby Smith, her niece and touring companion, if Bessie really preferred gin. "no, no," she replied, "Bessie didn't like nothing but bad liquor, she said that anything sealed made her sick." Neither Will They SlipI wondered why the "D" in SLIDE and SKID would need an extra lighted segment in the middle. Then I found an ad for Diamond tires in a 1913 Popular Mechanics that says, "The Diamond Safety Tread Tire is the famous Diamond Automobile Tire adapted for motorcyle - it won't slip, won't slide, won't skip - it grips and bites the pavement - it gives you sure control in every emergency and a heaping measure of mileage." History of Chop SueyOTY, you got me thinking... A quick Google yielded this: http://hubpages.com/hub/Eat-Drink-And-Be-Merry Aside from the misspellings, the short article is very interesting. Thank you for prompting me to learn something new today! In oppositionIn both senses of the word - Diamond and Goodrich, though Goodrich seems to have the edge here in the amount of light it sheds. A fascinating composition with lots to see. I like all the light trails wiggling in and out from the cars, I wonder how long they had to keep the shutter open? More modern than todayAt a glance, I’d have guessed this to be 1930 or 1940, not 1910. I’m amazed by the number of vehicle lights and neon signs present in a year I’d have supposed to be much more like the 19th Century still. Margaret IllingtonMiss Illington, here starring at the Detroit Opera House, had recently been divorced from theatrical manager David Frohman. This year -- I don't know whether before or after this photo -- she married Edward Bowes, later to host "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour" (ancestral to the Gong Show, and indirectly to such programs as "America's Got Talent"). Another thing those Diamond Tires won't doWON'T SKID WON'T SLIDE and also WON'T SLIP Look closely at the lighted character second from right on that line. SerendipityJust tonight my seven year old, who's crazy for "Fred and Ginger" movies, was watching "Swing Time." Fred Astaire sings "Never Gonna Dance," a song with a lovely, catchy tune paired with these ridiculously unsingable lyrics, maybe the worst love lyrics ever, including this gem: Have I two eyes to see your two eyes, or see myself on my toes, Dancing on radios for Major Edward Bowes? "And who the heck," I asked myself, "is Major Edward Bowes?" Then I visit Shorpy, and here he is, mentioned in the comments! Where else on the web could I get that kind of service? (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
Don't Smoke, Visits Saloons: 1910
... from his cab company, and he’d go over there on amateur night. He loved the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers and Al Jolson. He’d sing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 7:06pm -

May 1910. Wilmington, Delaware. "James Lequlla, newsboy, age 12. Selling newspapers 3 years. Average earnings 50 cents per week. Selling newspapers own choice. Earnings not needed at home. Don't smoke. Visits saloons. Works 7 hours per day." Photograph and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. _ _ _ _ OD _ _ _ LSGoodwills? [A store selling "goodwills"? We can see the start of the letter after the D. It begins with a vertical that doesn't go across (i.e. not E, L, etc.). That leaves F, H, I, K, M, N, or R. - Dave] The answer is ...PERIODICALS & NOVELTIES _ _ _ _ OD _ _ _ LS & NOVELTIESWheel of Fortune, anyone? Vanna! Loose leaf systems, and then someI'd love to shop in that store behind him. I can see ledger books, file folders, picture postcards, drafting triangles and an ad for Koh-i-Noor pencils in that window display. It's funny how they've put all that Waldorf toilet paper up in the top windows, too. [Let's hope the TP isn't loose-leaf. - Dave] Big shop windowsDoes it surprise anyone else that they were able to make such large plate-glass shop windows a century ago? Rubber stampsIt may be that the round objects in the windows are Waldorf Tobacco. At any rate there was a Waldorf Tobacco Company in Germany in the late 19th Century and on into the 20th. Oddly, the Waldorf system of childhood education that was practiced by its employees is still taught today. But what really interests me is that this store had a special sign advertising "rubber stamps". Now, that's something that some folks find useful! [Seems to be TP. - Dave] JamesI know average height is taller now, and poor kids with bad nutrition might be small, but that boy does not look 12 yrs old, even on the short side. Compared to the 'average" of the grownups in the pic, he looks more like 7. And small for that, even then. Rubber Stampsdgorton: "But what really interests me is that this store had a special sign advertising "rubber stamps". Now, that's something that some folks find useful!" Well, yes, rubber stamp shops and shops selling them were useful. There was still one in downtown DC when I lived there in the early '90s. Perhaps it's Amity Rubber Stamp (1430 H St NW), that seems to still be around and it's in the vicinity I recall. Quite a niche market, I suppose. This place was very vintage...dark, dusty, quiet...but they make nice custom stamps by hand (Ray was the guy who seemed to run it). And they're not particularly cheap...compared to those quickie, cheapie self-inking ones at the chain office supply places. Hmmm...next time I'm in DC, I should stop by and take some pix. WilmingtonThanks for posting this, Dave. Wilmington is where I was born. Sadly, though, I am fairly certain I am related to no one in this picture. Until the 1990s, when I was in high school, there was a historic Woolworth's that might have been this building. I don't know what they've done with it in the past decade, though. Little JimmyThe average male "grown-up" height was probably around 5 feet 5 inches at the time. Take a look at the rolls for those joining the services for the First World War. It's amazing how many men were 5-foot-2 at that time. Yes, that kid is tiny. Rubber stamp shopsThey handle everything from rubber stamps to corporate seals to trophies to engraving. Rubber stamps are extensively used in law offices, and especially in the corporate and real estate departments. They're far from obsolete: there are four rubber stamp shops within walking distance of my house. Rubber Stamp ShopsThere are still rubber stamp shops. I'm sure almost everywhere you live if you look in the yellow pages you'll find a shop that makes stamps. I create logos for a living, and often e-mail artwork to places that make custom stamps. Where do you think the stamps come from that they stamp on your hand when you go to an event/concert? Wilmington NewsboyThis is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. I just found this boy's grandson. I talked to him and linked him to the photo, and he says it's his grandfather. His own father, the newsboy's son, is in his eighties. The family was not aware of the photo. More later. [Amazing! (As usual.) Is his last name really Lequlla? - Dave] Wilmington NewsboyHis name was not Lequlla, but it was pretty close. I'll have to hold back more information until I interview the family. Stay tuned. Ledgers R UsAppears to be a stationery store, with paper, notebooks, writing instruments, ledgers, calendars and of course rubber stamps. Most have long become Office Max and the like. I have seen some wizened kids on Shorpy, but this kid may take the cake. If you cut and pasted that face on an old man, it would work. No way he's 12, either. He looks like the old man in Prizzi's Honor, whose name escapes me. James Logullo"He belonged to a veteran’s club right across from his cab company, and he’d go over there on amateur night. He loved the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers and Al Jolson. He’d sing their old songs and people went crazy. He was very good at it. He was in his glory." -Tom Logullo, son of James Logullo (correct spelling of surname.) This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. James was actually only seven years old when he was photographed. He was a colorful character, much loved by his son, whom I interviewed. See the story at: http://morningsonmaplestreet.com/2014/11/26/james-logullo-page-one/ Dang right!I use rubber stamps every day. Ordered new ones not that long ago too. We had one that was 30 years old or so and had to be replaced. Rubber stamps are the best. Those new kind, which we use for faxes and stuff, wear out within a year or two of service. Franklin Rubber StampIt's called Franklin Rubber Stamp and it's still on Franklin Street downtown. The window has all the original lettering still intact. I walked by it a few years ago and actually stopped to admire it and the architecture of the building. Very StrangeThis 2008 post, last commented on in 2010 showed up today in the daily top 5 list on my browser when I logged in to Shorpy. I was born and raised in Wilmington, DE and the son of this fellow, interviewed by Joe Manning, was my Scout Master in the 60s. The "vets club" mentioned in the interview would be Diamond State Post 2863, VFW of Delaware. I have sent links to this photo and Joe's site to a friend of mine there asking if there are any photos or other records of James' activities while a member there. I will let you all know if I hear any further news. The strange thing is, just yesterday I was looking for Joe Manning's web address for a different project I am working on involving a vet I served in the Army with in 1971. It's truly a very small world. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Stores & Markets)
Court of Railways: 1939
... But I hear its whistle shrieking. All night there isn't a train goes by, Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming, But I see its cinders red on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/09/2022 - 3:27pm -

"New York World's Fair (1939-40) railroad exhibit. Historic locomotives at Court of Railways." 35mm color transparency by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Rolling Romance It is perhaps lamentable that our high-tech age has largely forgotten the powerfully romantic appeal that railroading held for earlier generations, as the steam goliaths of yesteryear stirred a wanderlust and thirst for adventure among millions of young Americans -- not to mention a passion among countless fascinated boys for all things mechanical. While well represented in popular songs such as "The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe," "Sentimental Journey," and "Chattanooga Choo Choo," the railroad's place in the American heart was perhaps best expressed by the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay: The railroad track is miles away, And the day is loud with voices speaking. Yet there isn't a train goes by all day But I hear its whistle shrieking. All night there isn't a train goes by, Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming, But I see its cinders red on the sky And hear its engine steaming. My heart is warm with the friends I make, And better friends I'll not be knowing. Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, No matter where it's going. The World of YesterdayHistoric, as in "history", sums it all up: within a decade-and-a-half steam would be all but dead on the country's rails. Boom Times in CharlestonRightmost: A replica of the 1830 locomotive "Best Friend of Charleston". The original engine's working life ended in a rather spectacular way on 17 June 1831 when the engineer felt annoyed by the sound of steam released by the safety valve and decided to solve the issue by simply closing the valve. The result was a 4th of July fireworks slightly ahead of schedule. Fortunately, the 1928 replica seen in this photo is not known for detonations. Some Family Ties to the 1939 New York World's FairMy paternal grandparents first met at the '39 World's Fair in New York. My grandfather was a recent graduate of Georgia Tech. In 1939, Granddaddy was working for the Atlanta Journal newspaper and covered the fair. My grandmother was in her senior year at Columbia University. Amazingly, they were both from Georgia. Grandma and Granddaddy likely saw the trains that are pictured. Back in the 1980s, when I was a kid, I wish I had asked them more about that fair. I wish had asked them, both, more about a lot of things! Please educate mePerhaps someone will explain to me why this photograph looks like a painting. [Color-shifting. - Dave] in the family 2Grandfather was an engineer for the NYCS, I worked for Conrail briefly and pulled the "put in service plate" off the side of an engine dated within his work history, still have it. The NYCS and Nickel Plate Road tracks ran a quarter mile from our house, late at night the "ringing" of the wheels could be heard along with the "clickity-clack". PRR No. 3768Pennsylvania Railroad No. 3768, the leftmost locomotive, is in the K4 "Pacific" series, which were used until the late 50's. The streamlining seen here was only fitted to 6 locomotives in the series. The shrouds impeded maintenance, so they were removed later in the locomotive's life. Want to see this one at work, still in its streamlined glory? It's easy to find the film noir mystery "The Great Flamarion" on line. There are a few moments of 3768 hard at work at about 21:40 in the film; the time will vary a bit, depending on what copy of the film you find. No. 3768 was retired in October 1953, and was sold for scrap. The TMI RRFor some it will be Too Much Information but for the railroad connoisseurs, aficionados or the just plain RR Nutsies aboard the Shorpy Express it will be an occasion to break out a premium six pack or vintage bubbly along with bowls of popcorn as they delve deep into the tender cars of the historic locomotives at the Court of Railways in the 1939 New York World's Fair railroad exhibit. Raymond LoewyIndustrial Designer Raymond Loewy's work, if I recall correctly. He also designed the Studebaker Avanti, the Greyhound Scenicruiser bus, and the Coca Cola bottle, among many other famous innovations. Amazing guy. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC, Railroads)
Berkshire Bank: 1906
... floor so uplights could be installed. Must look nice at night. Still there Banks last a long time! Lighter Than Air ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/19/2023 - 1:52pm -

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, circa 1906. "Berkshire County Savings Bank." Last glimpsed here. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Nicely intactThe Berkshire County Savings Bank is nicely intact. The cornice is still there and main entrance, flanked by 1846 and 1894 cut in stone in the upper corners, was not stripped away in some effort to make the building look more modern. No surprise the windows have been replaced. A ledge has been added at the top of the second floor so uplights could be installed. Must look nice at night. Still thereBanks last a long time! Lighter Than AirSomething seems to be pulling on the building from above. Look at that wire, making a direct vertical to out of the image, while two lazy wires hang from it. [Um, that "wire" is a flagpole. - Dave] Expansion?Seems they expanded out further on North Street. There are now 4 sets of windows rather than 3. Pretty seamless expansion at that. The overhead view is a little more revealing. Prince and WalkerIn order to buy carpets, must one go to their top floor? (The Gallery, Bicycles, DPC)
Urban Eskimos: 1961
... to bare legs.... Just as an extra data point, last night I happened to be in Baltimore and saw quite a few men walking around in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/22/2013 - 5:10pm -

"Snow igloo, 1961." Somewhere in Baltimore near Kermy and Janet's house. Note the variety of lunch-carriers. 35mm Kodachrome. View full size. Off-center compositionPossibly the result of parallax problems from a rangefinder-type camera or just an off-centered photographer. Aladdin "Buccaneer" LunchboxCame out around 1957. Bare legsAs a Canadian, I must ask: What's with the bare legs in winter? Oh, Grow Up!Good illustration of human growth patterns. Girls get their height spurt at 10-12 years, boys at 12-14. Typical grammar school 6-7th grade observation. Re bare legsDavidK, as a Minnesotan, I wore snow pants until I started junior high and then we would not be caught dead wearing them to school. We could only wear dresses to school. Yes, I remember standing at the bus stop with freezing legs in 1961. Dummies! Ha ha But why bare?I can understand, pattyanne, why a teen would want to ditch the puffy snowpants (my own pre-teen resents having to wear them, but that's the price of being allowed to play outside at recess during the winter) -- still, why not wear leotards or stockings or leggings? I can't get over these girls with their bare legs in sub-freezing temperatures. Loose Leaf TabsMy lunch always went to school in a brown paper with me walking it there but what caught my eye here was the red loose leaf tab. You'd buy the 3-hole oak tag dividers and each one was "tabbed" with a different-color plastic gizmo. You'd insert a paper strip that had a school class subject written on it and you'd flip that tab in class to get to that class's work. Red always seemed to be the top tab. I was 13 in 1961 and back then nobody on Long Island knew what a school bus or "free" school lunch was. Boot removal@wxman1: The way to take those boots off without having your shoes come off with them is to put plastic bread bags over your shoes before putting on the boots. Preferably Wonder Bread. Rubber BootsAll of them are wearing the rubber winter footwear popular in those days. Looks like the boy is wearing the same kind I remember wearing to school. They were all black and had a half dozen metal clasps. They were also impossible to take off without leaving your shoe inside. My lunch bucket I am 61 years old and remember having that lunch bucket. There is some sort of underwater shark scene on the bottom if memory serves me. My younger brother had a rectangular cowboy themed bucket. I think it may have been a "Gunsmoke" or maybe "Wyatt Earp" theme. WOW...Look at that igloo or snowfort behind them. Isn't that what it is? It's huge! We used to dream of such big snow forts, but it never snowed enough where we lived. Right to bare legs....Just as an extra data point, last night I happened to be in Baltimore and saw quite a few men walking around in shorts, in 19-degree F temperature with 20 mph wind. Personally, I put it down to insanity. ImpedimentaI attended K-1 in balmy Cleveland, Ohio, (rode the streetcar there, too, though that's another story), an experience that taught me I'd rather steal for a living than teach elementary school. Our teachers seemed to spend most of their time getting us out of our snowsuits and galoshes, then back in for recess, than out, then back in to go home, etc. Add the trauma of the occasional lost mitten or the kid who, after having been made into a reasonable facsimile of the little brother in "A Christmas Story," announced an urgent need to go to the bathroom, and one wonders why the suicide rate for lower-elementary-grade teachers in the Snow Belt is not much higher. Shoe KeepersI remember those rubber boots with clasps too. I also remember wearing bread bags over my shoes to make it easier to get the darned things on and off. FebruaryHaving grown up in the Washington/Baltimore area during the 60s, I can say that the amount of snow on the ground is a bit unusual. After a scan of snow depth records for 1961, I would guess that this photo was taken on February 4th or 5th. There was a storm on the 4th that dumped about 10" of snow (which had a few inches on it beforehand). The temperature was also right near freezing which is why the snow looks so clumpy and "packable". Great snow for building forts, igloos, snowballs and, of course, snowmen. Addendum: After realizing that I never looked at a calendar, I have realized the the 4th and 5th were Saturday and Sunday. So this picture must have been on Monday the 6th. Flip top PurseThe girl on the right is carrying a brown purse. I don't know what they were actually called (and their popularity was short lived) but they closed by flipping the two halves of the top over each other. My older sister had a red one that I coveted beyond description. Wonder what ever happened to it. No Pants AllowedI'm about of the age of the kids in the photo, and I well-remember walking to school with neighborhood girls in skirts, dead of winter. Reason wasn't because the girls were dumb or trying to be more feminine. In our case it was because schools (well, our system anyway) didn't allow girls to wear pants. Ever. No Pants Ever! is RightGary Hoff is correct. I was in 3rd grade when we moved from West Virginia to Baltimore in January 1962. My mother sent me to school in snow pants (worn under my skirt so they could be slipped off when I got to school). I was informed - archly - that We Don't Do That Here. Bare legs and bread bagsMy elementary school didn't allow girls to wear pants, either, but there's no way I would've walked to school with bare legs in sub-zero temperatures. I had no less than a dozen pairs of tights in groovy '60s colors. I have to admit I'm disappointed to learn that the bread bag trick was so well-known, though. I thought my mother invented it. Wonder yearsWe used Wonder Bread bags, too! I'd forgotten that - amazing how clearly it all comes back. In Ohio, going to school with bare legs in the winter would have been considered slightly indecent. I wore bulky tights that, in those days before spandex, always seemed to be sagging halfway down to my knees. I spent half my day surreptitiously yanking them up. End Of An EraWe didn't have any rules about girls wearing slacks or jeans in elementary school, but when I entered high school they had a dress code that banned slacks, pants and (especially) jeans for girls. This was in 1970 and just about every girl in the place wore mini-skirts. As you may guess this provided an impressionable freshman with quite an education, particularly on some of the staircases. However I happen to live in Saskatoon, And if you think Baltimore is cold in the winter, well as the man said you ain't seen nothin' yet. By January of 1971 the dress code had changed to allow slacks and pants for girls (but not jeans until about May). Either complaints about high school girls coming home with frozen legs, or the realization that mini-skirts were a greater "distraction" to the teenaged male population of the school system than the dreaded slacks or even jeans caused the school board to change the dress code. Dress CodeI was in junior high when the school board changed the dress code to allow girls to wear pants. The school board may have changed its dress code, but my parents did not! Dresses were still mandatory for a few years until my incessant whining wore my parents down. Tough girlsSame as when I was in school- early '60s- no pants for girls. I figured it was because girls were tough! But in hot weather girls had the advantage- cool with bare legs while we boys had to wear long pants. A lot of silly rules back then. Probably not enough rules now. Young DebutanteThe girl in the middle is holding a lunch pail shaped like a wicker basket with a handle at the center. It has a pink ribbon threaded through it and one word, "Debutante" in lacy handwriting. A friend of mine has one of these lunch pails, which she uses for an emergency sewing kit for the girls at--where else--the National Debutante Cotillion. (Kermy Kodachromes)
Jacked Up: 1915
... like that. I bet he could still bend when he got home at night. It's going to be a son of a gun to get that piston back in the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/16/2022 - 7:08pm -

San Francisco circa 1915. "Studebaker motor car in repair shop with garage mechanic." Don't try this at home. Or at work. 6.5 x 8.5 inch glass negative from the Wyland Stanley collection of Bay Area historical memorabilia. View full size. Bearing replacementOil pan has been dropped and the mechanic has a piston and rod positioned. Posed for the photographer it seems since the bearing cap is attached to the rod. Or maybe he is making sure the cap stays with its proper rod. So jacked up!Ok, I am assuming that hydraulic jacks weren't in existence back then. Also, probably the cleanest garage I ever saw. The broom in the background must have been used a lot. Hill-HoldersThe post WW2 Studebakers had them as an option for drivers who were slow on the clutch pulling ahead from stops when driving uphill. This decades earlier photo reminds me of that factory option, one of the Studebaker corporation's many innovations. They generally made sturdy and well-engineered vehicles, worthy of a better fate than befell them in the 1960s. [That would be a very handy option for driving in the City, believe me. -tterrace] Dad will love thisHe's an auto mechanic and this will be great on his garage wall! Done that at home!We have a set of those chain falls hanging up in our barn/smithy. In fact the last time they were used was to lift the rear of a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle so my dad could drop and remove the engine. UNCHAINEDThe chain hoist is not now supporting the auto. The continuous chain goes up over the top pulley, around the bottom pulley, and then back over the top adjoining pulley. I think this makes the weight lifted seem to be half of actual. My high school physics was lost years ago. At any rate, it might have taken two guys to lift the car, but it isn't very heavy. If there is not a locking cog on one of the pulleys the wood frame support will be positioned by helpers while the lifters hold the load. Quintessential garage decor.As one who enjoys tinkering with my vehicles, I must say this photo would look fantastic on display in my garage. I love it. Hey you!Out of the gene pool! I sure hope the brake is set. Crouching Photographer, Hidden LensTripod in the right front pocket (door). Capped photographer visible on his knees. OSHAIt looks safe enough to me. The wood is sturdy and under compression only, and presumably can't slip off the axle. Also the weight of the car is mostly on the back wheels. I do question how they got it up there, what with only two pulleys apparent. Maybe there are more hidden behind. The lift arrangement apparently can roll anywhere on the overhead track where it's needed. Best PracticesOK the car appears to be supported by both the jackstand under the front axle and also by the chain hoist. I think it would have also been prudent to use a couple of wheel chocks on each of the rear wheels. Just for peace of mind. Only one small concern.Those supports are more than sturdy enough to support an automobile. However, the lack of wheel chocks is troubling. Crucial OmissionThey forgot to include the smoldering butt which ought to be dangling from the corner of the mechanic's mouth. Not a PhotographerThat 'tripod' is a sledgehammer leaning against a table with some sort of heavy vice attached to it. As a side observation, this is the first garage I have ever seen that hasn't been plastered with advertisements, calendars, lists of prices, x-rated posters or any of that kind of paraphernalia at all. My guess is it hasn't been in operation for very long (hence the surprisingly clean floors). [As noted in Perpster's comment, the photographer and his tripod are reflected in the car door. A heavy vice: sinful. A heavy vise: useful. - Dave] I like the creeperI like his homemade creeper, very well thought out and perfect for working like that. I bet he could still bend when he got home at night. It's going to be a son of a gun to get that piston back in the cylinder from underneath with the crankshaft and everything in the way. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gas Stations, San Francisco, W. Stanley)
Cheese: 1940
... I walked through the auto section at WalMart the other night. One of the department clerks (a skinny little high school or college ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 7:09pm -

August 1940. Pine Mountain, Kentucky. Marion Post Wolcott on assignment for the Resettlement Administration at the Stinking Creek home of the "mountain woman" in the previous post. Medium-format nitrate negative. View full size. Attractive she wasShe could easily be her own model. For an instantBefore I read the caption I thought that this was a photo of Greta Garbo on the set of "Ninotchka." There's enough of a resemblance to the way that Garbo looked in that film to fool someone at first glance. As they said at the time, a handsome woman. Thanks, Anonymous Tipster for the word of the day!!!That totally cracked me up and added a new valuable word to my vocabulary! Agreed!She is stunning and gorgeous. I won't try and spell the word of the day, but yes ... quite an apt description! Baby's got back!Fo' sho'! Lee Walcott was a lucky guyShe's gorgeous! It's always nice to see the faces of famous photographers, especially when they look like this. Huey, Dewey and LouieQuick, take the picture before Unca Donald comes back! Stunning!She is one striking woman! That faceNot unlike the 1940 Greta Garbo: Word of the Day"Callipygian." Does this picture make my butt look big?I normally wouldn't make a comment like this, but something about the angle of the shot, or something, is making the left side of her tuchus look really weird and elongated. High-waistedI think this might look funny to us because we're so used to seeing pants that barely make it over the butt. These pants come to her true waistline, instead of sitting at the hips. CallipygianWhile I agree with Anonymous Tipster's assessment, I did find it rather sesquipedalian. Re: High-waistedAll true, except she's wearing a high-waisted skirt, not trousers. Although 1940s fashion for women was generally flattering, this skirt and this angle do her no justice. Also note the way she's sitting. It's kind of an asymmetrical position with one leg at a slant. Holy asymmetry, Batman!What is going on with her left butt cheek? Or does she have a ham in her pocket? Oh, come on now.She was an attractive, well dressed young lady. The photo is flattering and I don't see any "hams." I walked through the auto section at WalMart the other night. One of the department clerks (a skinny little high school or college girl) leaned over to straighten out some items on a lower shelf as I approached and she flashed half her ... well, you know what she flashed at me. Hams!! A pair of them!! I didn't need to see that!! Mrs. Post Wolcott was an attractive lady. Emphasis: lady. From the look of her tan, she spent a lot of time that summer on the road and "on assignment." The Photographer's PhotographerMarie Turner gets the credit. Here's another from the same shoot: (The Gallery, M.P. Wolcott, Portraits)
Home of the Brave: 1949
... may have been needed to catch a theatre actually showing "Night unto Night." It was savaged by critics. In an era in which even bad reviews tended ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/05/2018 - 3:42pm -

New York, 1949. This Kodachrome slide of Broadway at Times Square arrived by postal mail a few weeks ago from Shorpy member RalphCS, who snagged it at a yard sale. Good work and thanks! There are a few more to come. View full size. Neato!I could look at this all day! The New York I RememberI used to live at 72nd Street Central Park West and walk to this area on weekends. It's great to see a photograph from that time. I had no camera of my own, but borrowed my mother's. CheersLondon 2.0 Face on the Camel signHard to tell from this angle, almost looks like a Mexican sombrero maybe? [The infamous "Urban Sombrero"! - Dave] A Plethora of DetailsSuch a wonderfully colorful photo with so much to see, captured on a bright sunny day in New York City to distinguish it from the more typical drab black and white photos we typically see of it in this era. "Every hour 3490 people buy at Bond" -- their numbers may be down somewhat these days, and I wonder whatever happened to Mr. and Mrs. Statue. I was always fascinated by how theaters used to be able to construct such colorful electric signage on a movie-by-movie basis in those days. Let's stop in at the Mayflower Coffee Shop and try their doughnuts. Kudos to the photographer for capturing the Camel sign blowing a smoke ring. We see the ubiquitous DeSoto taxicabs of that era in New York City as well. [Plus a Packard. - Dave] Wow!Amazing photo! How can I buy a print? [I've added it to Print Gallery. - Dave] Camel FedoraA better view of the sign. Click to enlarge. [Not quite the same sign, is it? The Kodachrome version shows the brim turned down. - Dave] Different stylesMen wear clothing and women wear apparel? Zooming in, it looks like the female statue is a bit cold. She definitely needs more apparel, or is it clothing? Neon and BulbsThe movie "Home of the Brave" cost $375,000 to make in 1949. Today it would cost at least that much just to create the elaborate signage that accompanied it at Times Square. ... and "The Home of the Brave"I hope one of those other Kodachromes shows the marquee of the theater just beyond the Victoria, because I can't for the life of me make out what it's advertising and I am dying of curiosity. "Strangers" on a SignNext to the Victoria: Jennifer Jones and John Garfield in "We Were Strangers." I was able to tweak the image just enough to make out the names, then a quick visit to the IMDB to find out what movie they were in together. The Barkleys of BroadwayAlthough this was the only film that Astaire and Rogers made together in color, it was their last film together, and their first after ten years apart. The song “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” by George and Ira Gershwin, was also used in the 1937 film “Shall We Dance,” in which Astaire sang it to Rogers, as in “The Barkleys of Broadway.” The dance duet for the 1949 film was ballroom, not tap, and is well worth watching for its elegance, vigor, and moments of restraint. He was 50 at the time, she 38. Color!!!I love these shots from RalphCS. Thanks, man! Somewhat illogically, I suppose, when I view so many B&W photos at Shorpy, I begin to sense that much of history was drab and graceless — mostly blah. Thanks for the magical antidote Ralph! Most will never knowAfter spending a long time gazing at all the fascinating sights in both of these nostalgic Times Square pictures from RalphCS, it is impossible to choose a favorite. There is so much going on in both of them and if one were to focus in on each pictured person's current activity, one can get caught up in their imagination, i.e., the young man with the long cardboard box hailing the taxi (what is in the box, where is he taking it, etc.). Each person pictured has their own mission, errand or destination just as is still going on everywhere today, like watching an ant farm with all the inhabitants completing their tasks, all intent on their own personal pursuit. One can write an entire book just observing the characters in both pictures and envisioning their purpose at this hour on this day 68 years ago. The mystery is in knowing that everyone alive is doing likewise somewhere on earth at this hour today and may also unknowingly be having their photo frozen in time, oblivious to the fact that their particular moment of activity may be stored away in obscurity for almost 70 years and then suddenly be revealed on computers or TV screens for everyone to see and question. Most of the people in these pictures are probably long-gone and will never know that on April 5th in the year 2018, they were being studied and scrutinized in detail anywhere in the world by countless viewers of Shorpy's wondrous website. Do this, don't do that --To Greg B's point about the elaborate signs - it may have been the studios that were paying for those. 1949 was the tail end of it, but Hollywood used to operate under the "studio system", where movie studios would also own a relatively large chain of theaters. The studio probably had more money than an individual theater, so they could more easily produce fancy signs. Something that probably helped was that under the studio system, studios would sign contracts with actors for several movies. Once they figured out who their top few leading men and ladies would be, they could re-use the letters for those names for several movies if they wanted to. I also understand that until maybe the 1970s, it wasn't common for movies to be released all across the US at the same time. They'd get an initial release in, say, New York and LA, and then expand to smaller cities over time. Spending money on fancy signs in New York might have helped the studios to convince independent theater operators in smaller cities to book the film - "it sold 5,000 tickets a day in New York!" Finally, for electric signs like this, it wouldn't have been difficult for the sign company to stock a few copies of the alphabet, with bulbs installed and ready to go. Then, when they got an order, they could paint a backing board, hang the letters on it, and wire them together relatively quickly. This would have worked better for standard-ish typefaces, like on the "Home of the Brave" sign, and not as well on custom ones, like the curved letters for "Barkleys of Broadway". In another sign of the times, 1949 seems pretty early to me for a "seven-segment" clock display (on the Bond store). Apparently somebody didn't care for the open-topped "4" that most LED and LCD seven-segment displays now have, and installed one more segment to get a pointy-topped 4. June 10, 1949Based on all of the visible movie marquees on this wonderful pair of Times Square photos, they were taken on or around June 10, 1949. (High-speed film may have been needed to catch a theatre actually showing "Night unto Night." It was savaged by critics. In an era in which even bad reviews tended to be understated, the New York Times review on June 11 ended with this dig: "Having waited so long to expose 'Night unto Night' to the light of day, the Warners might better have left it at the bottom of the well, for some things are best forgotten.") Feel the heatThose hot days in NYC. You can just feel the car exhaust bouncing off the pavement. Nice to see the top of the Empire State Building sans radio tower. [Look again. - Dave] Bond Sign Waterfall turned off hereThe bond sign had a 50,000-gallon waterfall 27 feet high and 120 feet long behind the large "BOND" logo which was apparently turned off when this photo was taken. Drat! (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Movies, NYC)
Man-Cave Caboose: 1943
... as I know, they've been dispensed with by now. Think Night of the Living Dead , with passengers wandering about more or less ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/21/2013 - 10:25am -

January 1943. "Freight train operations on the Chicago & North Western Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The caboose is the conductor's second home. He always uses the same one and many conductors cook and sleep there while waiting for trains to take back from division points." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. PinupsSeveral appear to be by Vargas, clipped from Esquire perhaps. Humble chapeauxStormy Kromer cap on his head, another hanging on the wall. I bet they loved theirs as much as I do mine. Ha!I love the placement of the "Dining Car In Opposite Direction" sign. I've ridden passenger trains since my youth, and those signs used to be ubiquitous; ubiquitous on trains that had dining cars, anyway. It was a great, way for keeping the herd of passengers properly oriented. There's no such thing now on Amtrak, and there's frequently heard chatter among passengers debating whether they should go one way or another for a meal. I think the Superliners had illuminated directional arrows at one point; but they were never too prominent and, as far as I know, they've been dispensed with by now. Think Night of the Living Dead, with passengers wandering about more or less aimlessly. September 25I'm guessing that says "1st snow 9-25 5pm." Do you suppose it was common for train crews to record the first snow of the season? Snow in SeptemberUnfortunately the gams of the reclining nude (not of the Amedeo Modigliani variety) obscure the snow related details of September 25, 1942. The attached weather map gives us a clue however. It appears as if a train from Chicago to Iowa would have been in the white stuff most of the way. The calendar features a historic trio of the famed CNW 400 locomotive fleet; Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota---400 miles in 400 minutes. PinupsCover the era from late '20s to 1943 when the photograph was made. Especially cute is a charmer from about 1927 made like a little fan right under a young lady dressed in the styles of the day. Love this! I love this picture! My house is right on this rail-line.. looking at them right now out my office window as I type. Thanks for posting this picture! Caboose HumorI love the sign posted over the doorway: "Dining car in opposite direction". It looks like a sign from a passenger train advising passengers that they were going in the wrong direction, if they were looking for the dining car. Having had the exasperation of walking through several cars and discovering it was all for naught. Then having to retrace one's steps dodging other passengers through a moving train, a sign like this would have been very helpful. Ah!! To once again eat and sleep on a train is something I doubt I will ever again experience. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Pretty Girls, Railroads)
Upward Mobility: 1908
... like the "Maketewah." Riding them up to Mount Adams at night gave passengers quite a view of lit up downtown Cincy, the Ohio River, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 1:31pm -

Cincinnati, Ohio, circa 1908. "Mount Adams Incline." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The BunkerMay be an ice cellar. It has the thick walls for insulation, and the door may lead to steps. I have been inside one from the 1700s. They are basically really small free-standing basements and they do stay cool, even on a hot day (though they are no match for today's refrigeration. They are cool, not really cold). Given that this is Ohio, it may also double as a storm cellar. The incline may be goneBut Cinci still has those long, narrow houses decorating its hills. I think it's the most interesting-looking city in Ohio. Rookwood PotteryThe large building at top left is the home of Rookwood Pottery founded around 1880 by Maria Longworth Nichols Storer. The building was built in the early 1890's and is still standing, used as a bar and restaurant. [There's more on the pottery here. - Dave] So InclinedI like the carriages they built to keep the coaches in a level position, not like some other inclines where the coaches were built to the slope of the hill, with steps inside. Entrance was from multiple small platforms along the side. [There are no entrances along the side; passengers would have gotten on at either end of the incline, or at streetcar stops along the route. - Dave] What an interesting mix of architecture in this photo. everything from brick buildings to that great Tudor type place on the hilltop. I can't forget the 5 cent Coca-cola sign on the right. There is a house right in the center with what looks like a bunker built in front. The "front yard" is raised and sits atop a stone wall with what looks to be a heavy iron door built into it. I wonder what that is. Perfect timingLike I said: Quite an InclineIt operated from 1876 to 1948. Cold ThoughtsWhenever I see a cityscape such as this I can only imagine how cold some of these homes had to be in the winter months. It's hard enough to heat my 100 year old home now, and I can't imagine how they did it in the pre-insulation days (but then again, coal was pretty dirt cheap back then too). Landscaping.I see this photo was taken before that concept was created. Open doors, windows and outhouses Midafternoon on a sultry summer day. It's hot, a bit of a breeze however, enough so that some folks are opening the front (or back) door to let the breeze blow through their house. People are busy, the rag and bone man is making his rounds. What a time machine Shorpy can be. The "bunker" survivedlong enough to appear on Google Street View. It appears many homes in this photo had direct basement access from street level. If the bunker walls are still there it certainly would be an interesting place to visit. View Larger Map JoyrideIs this person under the trolley operating something or is it someone sneeking a ride? On the LevelThe trolleys on the incline elevators were regular streetcars -- they rolled off their tracks onto the incline platforms then rolled off at the top and continued their trip, and vice versa. The suspension went below grade to make the tracks level with the ground, the passengers never left the vehicle. Also horse and wagons were allowed on some of them in between trolleys, and we today think we are so smart, they were ingenious and no computers either. Early split levelSteamBoomer, bet they had access to the street behind too, wonder what floor, second or third, depending on how you count Aount Adams MemoriesI rode the Mount Adams Incline many times as a child in the 1940s growing up in Cincy. It was one of many inclines there until they got buses powerful enough to climb the seven hills. In the summer, they used open air cars with names like the "Maketewah." Riding them up to Mount Adams at night gave passengers quite a view of lit up downtown Cincy, the Ohio River, and northern Kentucky. Rookwood Pottery is still there and has a restaurant. Mount Adams was a fascinating place with narrow streets and great views. It had the "artsy" crowd for many years and is now home to many popular nightspots. I still have a poster framed on my wall that I bought there in 1970. I am 44 years gone from Cincinnati but will always remember Mount Adams. Stowaway!I am suprised that no one has spotted the stowaway riding on the superstructure of the trolley carriage. Perhaps he was an employee, or is just hitchhiking. (The Gallery, Cincinnati Photos, DPC, Railroads, Streetcars)
Vanderbilt Hotel: 1913
... On route from the UK to California my family stayed one night in this grand hotel. It was May 1964 and from memory (I was only 13) we ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 1:17pm -

New York circa 1913. "Vanderbilt Hotel, Park Avenue at 34th Street." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Hotel with a pedigreeFrom its 1913 completion until it was converted to apartments in 1965, the Vanderbilt Hotel was one of the city's most fashionable in the early 20th Century. Singer Enrico Caruso lived here in 1920 and 1921, his last U.S. home. To be or not to be a gargoyleThat's handsome chauffeur (I'm making that assumption because of the hat -- maybe it's the owner just kicking back and waiting for someone). On the side of the Vanderbilt building facing us, about 4 windows up, there appear to be three gargoyles missing. Were they not ready to put up yet? Were they stolen? Did the other gargoyles chase them away? Did they abandon their posts? Are they really gargoyles or some other kind of stonework? I can't see them clearly because of the distance. It looks like they are not all the same. One looks like it's a person with some dogs, for instance. More than one looks like it could be a transformer robot. I can see that there is a window-washer about 6 windows up in the middle tier of the building. The plank is either crooked or it's an illusion because of the angle of the photo. "The car that has no crank"The car is a 1912 Cadillac, the first to use Charles Kettering's newly-invented electric starter. I think the first character on the license plate is C, not 6, but it is kind of strange. And the poor chauffeur doesn't even have a book to keep himself occupied while he waits! Vanderbilt StationA few years ago, a restaurant called Vanderbilt Station opened in the the building that housed the hotel. They claimed that when the Vanderbilts lived there they had a private railroad siding beneath the building, where their private Pullman coach, attached to a locomotive, would pick them up and whisk them to all the grand places. It turns out that the story was just another NYC fairy tale. However the restaurant served great prime rib which they sold by the inch. Ugly modernizationThe modernized lower level of the Vanderbuilt is an architectural nightmare. I don't see how a self respecting architect could create such a mess. The sad thing is that the changes neither added utility to the building nor did they improve the aesthetics. It was simply performed for no reasonable purpose. Larry. Moe & CurlyOutside the 7th floor washing the windows. Uptown TrafficNo uptown traffic lane from 33rd street? Wonder when that wall was demolished to make way. Modern betterComparing the 1913 photo to the current Google streetview we can see the exterior has been completely revamped. This is one of the rare occasions when I like the new version better. Ill-fated Alfred Gwynne VanderbiltAlfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, a great-grandson of the Commodore, built this hotel in 1913. One of many permanent residents there, he moved into two top floors. He is best-known for the circumstances of his 1915 death, however. Traveling first class on the Lusitania when it was torpeodoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland, he gave his life vest to save a young mother and child. Vanderbilt was unable to swim, and his body was never recovered. Big Babies of TodayIn 1913 if you were bitten by bedbugs at the Vanderbilt, you'd keep it to yourself. Today, you file a lawsuit and contact a press agent to get the word out. EerinessThe fellow with the "66666" license plate sitting perfectly still while the apparitions around him are in motion is a bit spooky. A Longchamps thereI seem to remember that a large two-level basement restaurant in the Longchamps chain once operated in this hotel. It was an art-deco kind of place. Alas, but Longchamps has gone the way of the Schrafft's, Childs, Chock Full o' Nuts, Horn & Hardart, and Bickford restaurant operations. Still standing proud 97 years on.View Larger Map Satan's conveyanceThe Devil himself is attending a Bilderberg meeting at the hotel. Empire State BastillePardon my unfamiliarity with New York, but what's the fortress-like building at the left edge of the photo? Looks vaguely medieval -- perhaps an armory? Tilt-shiftAll these old photos of buildings shot from the street level reminded me of something I hadn't thought much about since I quit using my Graflex 4x5 and Speed Graphic 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 years ago. It was thought in bad taste to have tall buildings looking like they were "falling over backward" in photographs, so the front board of the bellows holding the lens would be tilted in such a manner as to make the lines of the buildings look straight and give the building a more natural appearance -- albeit they look larger at the top. I haven't seen this discussed before, but the Google Street View that was posted shows the difference, albeit more extreme as it was basically taken with a wide angle lens. re: Tilt-shift The tilt-shift technique has come up occasionally here, as an example in this comment. But your comment has zeroed in on something that's always struck me as odd about such photos, particularly when it's a tall building shot from street level, and now I realize that it is indeed the fact that it tends to make the bulding's vertical proportions gradually elongate with elevation. As an experiment, using the large version of this shot, I measured the vertical dimensions in pixels of the lowest and uppermost sash windows running up the corner of the facing side. You would think that the uppermost one would be smaller, both because it's father away and because of foreshortening, but in fact, they're both almost exactly 50 pixels tall. 34th & ParkCommenter John is correct, the building on the left is indeed the 71st New York State National Guard Armory. It was replaced in 1975 by a high rise office building known as 3 Park Avenue. Its lower floors are occupied by the Norman Thomas High School. Shifty Architectural photography has pretty much always been captured by a large format camera because both the lens plane and the film plane can be shifted, tilted and swung in relation to each other. I have a couple of press cameras like the Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5 that allow you to elevate the lens board to raise the lens relative to the film plane to "look up" while the camera is level or parallel to the ground. This lets you keep the vertical lines of a building from converging, making the vertical lines stay parallel to each other. The tilt of the lens board along the horizontal axis allows you to broaden the depth of field (focus) in relation to things being near at the bottom or top to (reciprocal) things being far at the top or bottom while leaving you free to use a large f-stop to keep things farther away out of focus (like the great portraits we’ve seen on Shorpy). My, we don’t even think of f-stop on digital cameras. When these really tall buildings are photographed, the rise of the lens board can’t "look" high enough, so a full movement view camera must be used because the focal plane (back) of the camera can be tilted horizontally to keep the vertical lines from converging because the camera itself is angled upward like any regular camera that everyone uses to get the same photo like we see in the street view below. Connecticut license plateThis wasn't a vehicle from NYC. The license plate shown is an undated porcelain plate from Connecticut, C6666. The "C" indicated Connecticut. In 1913, these plates had white characters on a blue background. While the driver sleptThe beautiful architecture of the hotel was transformed into one of the ugliest, plain corners of Gotham. I stayed in this hotel.On route from the UK to California my family stayed one night in this grand hotel. It was May 1964 and from memory (I was only 13) we had a rooms on the corner of the nearest block around the 5-6th floor. I remember looking out of a window down at the scene in this photograph. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, NYC)
Happy New Year!
... and so right on! I just watched "The Shining" the other night and that scene is fresh in my memory. One of my favorite movies. -- ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/06/2012 - 1:57pm -

Washington, D.C. "New Year celebration, 1940." Happy New Year from Shorpy! National Photo Company Collection safety negative. View full size. Happy New Year!!!Happy Shorpy New Year, for those of you in the East. We still have 55 minutes to wait until the new year reaches CST, but I'll wish it to "you" anyway. 2009. We can finally say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new. Here's a "toast" that 2009 will be a good one. A Dry CelebrationThere's nothing like bringing in the new year with a nice glass of Canada Dry Ginger Ale. Happy 2009 everyone! Dry?Looks like the guy on the right managed to paste one on. Happy New Year, Shorpians! Steve Miller Someplace near the crossroads of America Best to allHappy New Year fellow Shorpys (Shorpies?). And to our Fearless Leader Dave....thanks for all your wonderful work and keeping these great photos in circulation. Future ghosts of the Overlook Hotel"Good evening, Mr. Torrance." "You could, too, with those shoulders."This looks like the New Year's party David Niven took Ginger Rogers to in Bachelor Mother. Bachelor Mother and New Year's EveDavid Merlin: So how do you like her? Louise King: Pretty good for a fill-in. I'd just as soon go stag. Polly: You could, too, with those shoulders. Putting on the RitzThere was a theory about formal wear for New Years Eve, that people tended to behave better if they dressed up. It may have had some merit. Happy New Year to all. Just like a movieEveryone looks so elegant & refined. It's nice to see in these days when shorts and T's are party gear. Just looking at them makes me smile. A wonderful 2009 to our leader, Dave, and all my fellow Shorpyites! Guy Lumbago and his Royal CanadiansI miss those old-timers who have been replaced by rockstars and scantily clad teens I never heard of gyrating around in front of other casually dressed teens. I don't think I saw anyone over 40 in yesterday's New Year celebrations except Dick Clark. I think that Dick Clark should interview Kirk Douglas (something my son suggested), as I like them both. Guy Lombardo had a career from 1924 until his death in 1977 and HE was the one who made "Auld Lang Syne" a national standard for New Year's Eve. Older Americans will remember scenes like this from places like the Waldorf-Astoria for most of their growing-up years and it was stunning to lowly small-town kids to see how wealthy uptown people lived. May 2009 be kind to ALL the Shorpy creators, workers and readers, ya'll make my day EVERY day. May there be a chicken in every pot and a snazzy car in every garage. Clever and so right on!I just watched "The Shining" the other night and that scene is fresh in my memory. One of my favorite movies. -- Kathleen from Northern California Young revelersI, too miss the elegant New Year's Eves of my youth. But it's only the styles that have changed, not the ages of the revelers. Drinking and dancing till the wee hours has always been a young person's game. Check the photo again and I think you'll agree everyone present seems to be under 30! Every year my mom had a new cocktail dress for the occasion, and Dad would shine his shoes until they fairly sparkled! They would dance till dawn then sleep till noon. Happy New Year. New dressEvery year my Mom would get a fancy cocktail dress for New Year's Eve, and she and Dad would go out and dance til dawn. One year, so the story goes, Mom was on a crowded dance floor and a woman came in the door wearing the EXACT same dress (a fitted bodice/full skirt black taffeta with a swirling white ruffle, diagonal from hip to hem). When the other woman caught sight of Mom, she turned on her heel and left the party. Mom's comment was "She's got great taste." Why the Canada DryI bet this picture was taken in the waning hours of 1939. Here's why. First, as Phil noticed, the only visible bottles are of Canada Dry. Second, December 31, 1939 was a Sunday. Third, the District of Columbia didn't allow Sunday sales of hard liquor in restaurants, bars, or hotels until August 1968. Thus, they had a special reason to want the clock to strike midnight. [The evening of Dec. 31, 1939, District clubs served champagne and beer before midnight, and the harder stuff after. These kids are mostly high school students. - Dave] Happy 2012Thought I'd be the first to say, "Happy 2012." It was weird to see all the best wishes for 2009. Time flies. Where's the Party?Anyone recognize the location? It looks like a hotel ballroom/meeting room. My guess is that it is at the Shoreham, but maybe it is the Mayflower. Happy 2012 everybody, and especially Dave! Storm cloudsLooks like the ball already dropped. Boy, if they only knew what was on the horizon after the next New Year's Eve bash! (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, New Year)
Farrar and June Burn: 1929
... out to the sea, then rowing against the current all night and coming back the next day. Mom & Dad I wish I'd had ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 9:37pm -

April 3, 1929. "Main Street a la Cart." The Burn Ballad Bungalow on G Street in Washington, D.C. (I just know there's someone out there who can rescue these people from obscurity, regardless of how much they may have deserved it. Who were they?) 4x5 glass negative, National Photo Co. Collection. View full size. [Thanks to Shorpy reader Janet we have the answer: These are the wandering writers June and Farrar Burn and their sons North and South.] AAAso, AAA was in existence in 1929. Was it the first national automobile association for drivers in the world? [In 1929 the American Automobile Association was over a quarter-century old. Wikipedia link. - Dave] June and Farrar BurnHere you go: [link] There is a picture of the same car if you scroll down. [Fantabulous. Thank you! - Dave] The Burn Bungalow HousecarThe hubcaps say DB, for Dodge Brothers, who made trucks before they made cars. It rather looks like a truck chassis and wheels. Mr BI think he looks like Kramer. AAA not oldestRoyal Automobile Club (UK) was founded in 1897. It wouldn't surprize me to see French or German automobile associations from about that time. Mr. BHe does have a hip Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra vibe about him doesn't he? Living HighJune's book "Living High" is one of my favorites. A must read. Farrar and Juneare mentioned in Annie Dillard's book The Writing Life. She lived on an island in Puget Sound and met someone who had known them; this man tells a story about Farrar going out rowing and being carried out to the sea, then rowing against the current all night and coming back the next day. Mom & DadI wish I'd had adventurous and imaginative parents like this. June and Farrar BurnI was thrilled to find this photo on your site. First of all, where did you find it in the first place? June Burn is a famous Northwest writer, especially for her book, Living High, and sailing books. Farrar Burn's brother was Bob Burn or Burns, Bing Crosby's sidekick, and Farrar was a fair musician in his own right. The couple crossed the country at least twice with their boys, the first time pulling a goat cart and staying overnight in small towns and churches, literally singing for their supper. I would love to find other photos of them if anyone can direct me to them. Meanwhile, you can read more about June and the Burns at our site Skagit River Journal, including our full profile at our old domain here. We welcome inquiries. [I found this picture (as well as a second image) browsing at random through the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs catalog online. The caption information, taken from the handwritten labels on the negatives, was a bit garbled: "Burus Ballard Bungalow." But our Shorpy viewers figured it out. Maybe now the LOC can set the record straight. - Dave] Shiner?The guy on our left looks like he's got a shiner in his right eye. Wonder where from? And now, thanks to this place, I've got a new book to read! [It's a shadow, not a shiner. Below, detail from a another photo. - Dave] SocksI've seen a picture of relatives who were boys in the late 1930s. They both wore shorts and had their socks rolled tightly the way you see them in this photo. Does anyone remember this, and how long did it last? My mother was also in that photo, doesn't remember the sock thing, and also wonders about it. Hippies!I sure can relate to these two...they are are Hippies, 1929 style. They are modern in any era. (In spite of his dumb suit). My great-grandparentsJune and Farrar are my great-grandparents. My grandfather is South Burn and my father Mark Burn. I would love to see the other photos and hear any stories about my family that any of you may have heard. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)
Dreamland: 1905
... Gate" ride. At least part of the work was being done at night. At about 1:30 a.m. the light bulbs illuminating the work area began ... Fair. This ballroom is one of the sights of New York at night, and is a study from the standpoint of the lighting engineer. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 2:55pm -

Coney Island, New York, circa 1905. "Dreamland Ballroom." The home of light music. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Beautiful place.It's hard to imagine a place so bright and cheery in 1905. To the people at the time this must have seemed like a Wonderland. We have become pretty immune to simple pleasures like this, it takes a Las Vegas sized Light Show to impress anyone today. Six years before its up in flamesThis wonderfully eerie photo was taken about six years before the catastrophic Dreamland fire: "On May 27, 1911, a huge fire illuminated the sky and sent fire companies from all over Brooklyn rushing to Coney Island. Dreamland Park was ablaze." One wonders where the dancers are; the floor's pretty worn. Great shell for the bandBet they played all the newest songs of the day. Hot hits such as "In My Merry Oldsmobile," "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" and "Wait 'till the Sun Shines, Nellie." One stout ghostly gentThere are figures visible around the periphery of the dance floor and one stout ghostly gent there on the left, who moved a bit during the long exposure. I think that the dancers are there, but they are moving so much that we can't see them. [If there were people moving around the dance floor, I think we'd see them, however blurrily. - Dave] A job for lifekeeping all those light bulbs in working order! I'm guessing the fire wasElectrical? Easy BakeI bet it felt like an oven under the 10,000 light bulbs. And man, I wonder how the electric bill looked like, even for 1905. Meet Me Tonight In DreamlandI wonder if that song referred to this particularly wonderful dance hall or just to dreaming in general. Since there are many people in this photo, seated in the outlying areas seemingly waiting for some event to begin, perhaps this was taken just prior to a dance contest or maybe a marathon "dance till you drop" endurance test. Like many other pictures on Shorpy, this brings to mind the hauntingly beautiful empty ballroom in the movie "The Shining." [This is 1905, so I don't know about "dance till you drop." Maybe "waltz till you wither." - Dave] Now listen Carl,the burned out bulb is aisle five, row nine and it's the fourth from the end. The largest ballroom in the United StatesThe Coney Island season opened every year in mid-May, with plenty of advance publicity about new attractions. Dreamland and its ballroom were built on a beachfront site previously cleared by another disastrous fire. Below is an excerpt from a New York Times feature, "A New Coney Island Rises from the Ashes of the Old," dated May 8, 1904. A week later, 250,000 people came to see all the new attractions. Dreamland FireThe ballroom was part of the larger Dreamland amusement park. Just before the park opened for the season in 1911 work was being done to repair the roof on the "Hell's Gate" ride. At least part of the work was being done at night. At about 1:30 a.m. the light bulbs illuminating the work area began exploding, probably due to an electrical malfunction. In the dark after the lights went out a worker kicked over a bucket of hot tar which started the fire. The flame spread swiftly because the park was essentially built of lath covered with a mixture of hemp fiber and plaster of Paris. [One view of the aftermath is here. - Dave] Empty ShellThe band appears to have taken a break. Where's the DJ? Gorgeously Illuminated The Real New York, 1904. The rival paradise, Dreamland, is said to have cost over $3,000,000. It has taken over the old Iron Pier and built above it the largest ballroom ever made, 20,000 square feet; beneath is the restaurant and a promenade, and beneath all the cool rush of the surf. The company runs four large steamers, as well as Santos-Dumont's Airship No. 9. Light, Vol. 4, 1904. The Ballroom, as here pictured, is the most gorgeously illuminated interior not only to be found at Coney Island, but there is none such interior lighting effect even at the World's Fair. This ballroom is one of the sights of New York at night, and is a study from the standpoint of the lighting engineer. Electrical Age, Vol. 37, 1906. "Dreamland," Coney Island, has perhaps the best lighted ballroom in the world. ExtinguishedI count six burned out lights. Anyone else see some I missed ?? Dual purpose room?I keep looking at this picture and think that it might have served as a roller rink and or a dance hall. The floor being worn so much at the corners or "turns" has me wondering. That's a good surpriseI don't expect to see many photos of Dreamland, considering its short life. And that ballroom invites me to dance. Live orchestra, free champagne, some beluga -- I'd really like to be there right now. Thanks for this nice surprise, and waiting for more Dreamland. (The Gallery, Coney Island, DPC)
Alray: 1943
... sun but it was nice having a warm place to work the night away. Big Boys and Challenger Mallets Yes,the Union Pacific ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 1:42pm -

March 1943. "An eastbound Union Pacific freight waiting in a siding at Alray, California. Coming up through Cajon Pass. The Santa Fe tracks are used by the Union Pacific as far east as Daggett, Calif." One of many images taken by Jack Delano documenting a Santa Fe freight train's journey from Chicago to California. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency. Office of War Information. View full size. Alray todayView Larger Map ArticulationWow, you can really see the articulation of the boiler in the curve. Delano must have been having a ball on that trip. Great photo in a beautiful place of an impressive machine. ChallengerThis isn't a Big Boy; it's a UPRR Challenger Class 4-6-6-4 wheel configuration, predecessor to the Big Boys. The Big Boys were 4-8-8-4 engines built primarily to service the steep and heavy Wyoming-Utah routes. Their numbers were 4000-4024. The Challengers did lighter freight and passenger lines across most of the UP routes, including Nevada and California. The later locomotives of this challenger class were numbered 3930 to 3999. All beautiful engines and this is a great photo! Flexible Flyer?Well, first off, it is not a UP Big Boy, which were numbered in the UP 4000 series and had 16 driving wheels to the 12 driving wheels under UP 3931. Although at home on freight, the UP 3900s were frequently used on passenger trains as capable of higher speed than a Big Boy 4000, the latter primarily a freight locomotive. Both types of locomotive had two steam engines, the front one hinged so it could take curves, the rear engine fixed parallel with the boiler. Two steam engines, ONE locomotive. In these cases the boiler did NOT bend, but the Santa Fe DID have articulated locomotives in which the boilers 'bent' on curves, the front portion solidly fixed to the hinged front engine, the rear portion, with the firebox and the cab, fixed to the rear engine. A maintenance headache, to say the least. On the UP 3931 the headlight is mounted on the smoke box door on the front of the boiler, and, in this position will shine way out into nothingness as the locomotive rounds curves. On many articulated steam locomotives including the Big Boy, the headlight was mounted on the front engine which followed the curves, the light beam then shining more directly down the track ahead of the locomotive. In the spur to the right are two Maintenance of Way cars probably for the use of track employees. The nearest car is an old locomotive tender, the fuel once going in the opening facing the camera, the rest of the car being for water, in this instance the tender becoming a 'Water Car' which was filled at the same water towers as steam locomotives. The car behind the old tender is an 'Outfit Car' in which workers would live while on the road. Note sloped steps up to center door, windows in side and a low stove pipe. The aforementioned Water Car would contain water for their use. The freight cars behind UP 3931 are refrigerator cars which, in this era, were cooled by blocks of ice put into bunkers at each end of the car. The hatches at each end, propped open at an angle on some cars in the photo, are where the ice would be dumped in at Ice Houses next to the track. Lovely Photo! Thank You!! Motive powerThe engine looks like a Union Pacific Big Boy one of the most powerful steam engines ever built designed specifically to haul war materials over the Sierras. Clean Machine !Looks like UP#3931 just got out of the shop.The paint is shiny enough to reflect the trackside off of the tender and boiler.It won't look like that in a month or so. Old 395ran parallel to the tracks. now it is I15. It was two lanes in 1943, now 6. When i was young in 1943 my parents had a desert shack on the eastern side of the hills near Phelan. I remember well watching the big steam engines on the grade. There were cabooses then, too. Its twin is still runningAnother UP Challenger, #3985, was rebuilt by the volunteer work of UP employees in 1981 and is still active in public relations tours. This photo nicely illustrates the effects of World War II upon deferred maintenance of way. The Santa Fe would never have tolerated all those weeds under normal circumstances. OK, you get my voteAnytime you publish a photo of a steam locomotive you have my undivided attention. Oh what a thrill the last generation missed of standing beside one of these monsters. Still alive and very wellOne of the Challenger locomotives, #3985, is still kept in operation by the Union Pacific Railroad, out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Those of us fortunate enough to live along the mainline route of the UP have the thrill of seeing this magnificent engine in action when it passes by on its special excursions. Several years ago, #3985 was taken from being a static display and fully restored to operation by UP employee volunteers. I love this siteSee, I can look at this pic and register "steam engine" and "boxcars". Other than that, I'm pretty much a dial-tone. Then there's a comment, and another, then one disputing and correcting and the next thing you know, it's a Shorpster geek frenzy, and before you know it you've learned something. Articulated locomotives. Whoda thought? A couple of other UP notesAs others have said, this is an engine from the first set of Challengers, built well before the war. The second set, built after the Big Boys, had the same front end arrangement as the latter. UP 3985, the largest operable steam locomotive, came from that set. If you look at the headlight closely you may notice that its visor is rather oddly shaped. This sort of half-conical shield was applied to a lot of west coast engines early in the war on the theory that it would make them less vulnerable to air attack, since less of the light was visible from the air. Personally I think the pattern of light on the ground would point back at the engine all the same, but at any rate, I don't believe it was ever used elsewhere in the country and it seems to have died out as the war progressed and the possibility of a Japanese attack faded. Additional data on locomotiveFrom: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/challenger/ "In the 1930s, with freight traffic increasing, the Union Pacific Railroad had to use combinations of its 2-8-8-0 and 2-10-2 locomotives to get trains over the rugged grades of the Wahsatch Mountains. To stay competitive, a more powerful locomotive was needed to speed up the railroad and to reduce the rising cost of helpers and extra trains. The UP simply needed a locomotive that could climb the Wahsatch faster. Arthur H. Fetter, the General Mechanical Engineer, had been designing locomotives for the Union Pacific since 1918, and had been responsible for the development of its 4-8-2 "Mountain" and 4-10-2 "Overland" locomotives as well as many other innovations and improvements to UP motive power. Fetter suggested a high speed articulated locomotive to reduce the reciprocating weight of a compound and to increase the 50 mph speed limit of the railroad's most powerful locomotives, the rigid wheeled 4-12-2s. Fetter had a long standing working arrangement with the American Locomotive Company and he often collaborated with ALCO's engineers on locomotive designs. For the new more powerful locomotive he and the ALCO engineers started with the 4-12-2. They decided that the leading four wheel truck would be needed for better side control. They split the six sets of drivers into two groups of three and replaced the two 27" outside cylinders and the one 31" middle cylinder with four 22" x 32" cylinders. Two inches were added to the diameter of the boiler and the pressure was raised from 220 psi to 255 psi. The firebox was enlarged and they added a four wheel trailing truck to carry its added weight. The first 4-6-6-4, UP number 3900, was received from ALCO at Council Bluffs on August 25, 1936, and after a brief ceremony it headed west pulling a refrigerator train." From: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/challenger/?page=up "The Union Pacific Railroad took delivery of the very first locomotive with the 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement in 1936 when it received 15 of them from the American Locomotive Company. These newly named "Challengers" were designated Class CSA-1. In 1937, another 25 ALCO-built "Challengers" were added to the roster. This group, designated Class CSA-2, was given road numbers 3915 through 3939. They were similar to the Class CSA-1s. Six of them, numbers 3934 through 3939, were equipped for passenger service. In 1942, ALCO delivered 20 Class 4664-3 "Challengers" which were numbered 3950 through 3969. The tenders on these locomotives were larger than either of the CSA classes. In 1943, another 25 Class 4664-4 "Challengers" came from ALCO and were numbered 3975 through 3999. This group was very similar to the Class 4664-3s except that each weighed 6,500 pounds more. A final 20 ALCO-built "Challengers" arrived in 1944 giving the Union Pacific a total of 105 of the 4-6-6-4s. These locomotives designated Class 4664-5 were similar to the Class 4664-3s except for an additional 7,500 pounds in the total weight. They were numbered 3930 through 3949 which required that the Class CSA-1 and CSA-2 locomotives be renumbered into the 3800 series." == The information above is consistent with data from published reference works on the topic excepting perhaps minor incidental details and slight adjustments of specific dates for specific engines, so far as I can verify. Interested readers may wish to locate and peruse such titles as The Challenger Locomotives / by William Kratville (Kratville Publications, 1980) for further information on the locomotive, or Union Pacific Motive Power in Transition 1936-1960 / by Lloyd Stagner (South Platte Press, 1993) for their utility and operational impact on the railway. An excellent photo study of this type, both the early and late engines, in action in various scenic locations is Union Pacific Steam, Challenger Portraits / by James Ehrenberger (Challenger Press, 1993) As a final thought, I would only note a few things: one, this particular machine would have been oil-fired at the time and place of the photo; two, in 1944 it would be renumbered by the railway into the 3800 class, to avoid confusion with its later, more modern siblings; three, photos and extant records document these locos in service for both passenger and freight trains over this same line as in the photo on Shorpy; fourth, reefer (produce, or "perishables") trains were high value, spoilable products shipped as quickly as possible to avoid ruin enroute, so an excellent choice for such an engine; fifth, the engine is in the siding (note the smaller rail and lower ballast than the mainline), perhaps to let a higher priority train go by -- virtually the only trains with higher priority would have been passenger or "main" (i.e., troop) trains; sixth, the stack exhaust is showing only as a very slight haze & a mild disturbance of heat shimmer, meaning the firing is very clean and the tubes probably fresh, corroborating with the boiler paint's shiny finish (NOT the smokebox, which is "graphite" gray) that the loco has been freshly shopped; seventh, only a very mild steam exhaust is issuing back near the firebox, with no steam issuing from the pop-valves above the boiler, further evidence the fireman has everything pretty much under control; eighth, there is no steam exhaust from the cylinders, indicating the loco is at rest, which is consistent with other photos by Delano which appear to have been taken from on top of the reefers going up the hill on this run, and that this operational stop allowed him to explore another view, where he quickly found a classic image to exploit; last, this is one of the most beautiful photos of this locomotive, and of a locomotive on this line, and of this location with a classic westward-looking framing, color or b-&-w, that I've ever seen. A Breath Of Warm AirOthers see Challengers, articulating boilers and Big Boys but what stands out for me are those those yellow Fruit Growers Express box cars. In what now seems to be another life I remember opening them in December on a cold Railway Express platform in Baltimore, Md and feeling the the heat come out of a carload of Christmas gift boxes of oranges and grapefruit. I never did figure out if the heat was caused by the fruit itself or just the remnants of the California sun but it was nice having a warm place to work the night away. Big Boys and Challenger MalletsYes,the Union Pacific Challengers and later Big Boys ARE Mallets. Santa Fe and Union Pacific 1953Santa Fe and Union Pacific dieselized the California lines in 1953 but the Southern Pacific stayed with steam until 1957-8 (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Signs of Spring: 1939
... of 200 persons that crowded at the Powhatan Hotel last night to hear Peggy Townsend, debutante niece of Mrs. Lawrence Townsend, make ... sign of nervousness. She will sing at the club twice each night and at the cocktail hour on Saturday. Miss Townsend was gowned in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 5:59pm -

March 28, 1939. "Pretty Peggy Townsend, who will be crowned Cherry Blossom Queen at the festival to be held Friday, picked out a Cherry Tree to get her first glimpse of the beautiful blossoms in Potomac Park." View full size. JuxtapositionsWow. This one is pre-Farked. 38 secondsBefore I noticed the guy in the background! Don't you just hate itWhen your heel gets jammed in the crotch? Perfectly prettyWhat a fantastic picture! Lovely setting, pose, lady, and clothes! The Singing DebutantePeggy was the daughter of Mr and Mrs. Effingham Townsend. Washington Post, Dec 13, 1938 Peggy Townsend, Debutante, Stars as Blues singer Washington society was well represented at a gathering of 200 persons that crowded at the Powhatan Hotel last night to hear Peggy Townsend, debutante niece of Mrs. Lawrence Townsend, make her debut as a blues singer. Although her first appearance in public, Miss Townsend literally "brought down the house" with such songs as "Two Sleepy People" and "Have you Forgotten So Soon," which she sang with Lee Sullivan. The singing debutante, who has in the opinion of her friends, a bright future, sang like a veteran performer, showing no sign of nervousness. She will sing at the club twice each night and at the cocktail hour on Saturday. Miss Townsend was gowned in aquamarine blue lame and wore orchids. Ha! Not MeI wouldn't touch this one with a 555-foot obelisk. She's ColorizedI'm snowed-in today and wanted a little spring and a little nostalgia. So seeing her in oolor made it happen. I removed the guy in the background to eliminate the distraction he causes. This was fun and I hope you enjoy it. If any of you want to see the full-size version, you'll find it in the Colorized Photos gallery. [Wow! - Dave] That darn Washington MonumentAlways popping up when a lady is least prepared! Calling Shorpy's colorization expertsObviously she made all the men lose their heads. And birds. Psych 101Well, this is as good a Freudian pic as any. First timeFirst time I've seen someone with his head up somebody else's a$$. Love ya Shorpy! Oh Puh-leezShe climbed up there and didn't even get a snag in her stockings?! I can't manage to survive a whole day at the office without a snag or run or two. I guess the photographer must have only had eyes for her, or he might have waited for the headless man to leave. ShoesI must have her shoes. Especially if they are actually the color Fredric Falcon chose. Wow Mr. FalconGreat job! She could pose in some really pretty cherry trees around here. It seems to be spring here is BC and the trees and flowers are all in bloom! Thanks for removing the headless man too. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Pretty Girls)
Goodyear Blimp: 1938
... to Chicago a few years ago, and stopped in Akron for a night. Tthe next morning as I got on the turnpike the Goodyear blimp appeared ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 12:08pm -

April 13, 1938. Washington, D.C. "Goodyear blimp Enterprise at Washington Air Post." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. InflationIn the mid-1960s, in Miami, Goodyear blimp flights were $5. I don't know which blimp was stationed there part of the year. I never took that flight, to my now deep regret; flights for the general public have ceased, I understand. Follow the BlimpI took a road trip from the east coast to Chicago a few years ago, and stopped in Akron for a night. Tthe next morning as I got on the turnpike the Goodyear blimp appeared overhead and followed overhead for at least an hour. I suspect they were navigating by following the highway. I miss hearing the GoodyearI miss hearing the Goodyear blimp. I say "hearing" because as a kid in Southern California, I would hear its unmistakable low drone and would run outside to see it passing over the neighborhood. Trans AtlanticHave any of these types ever crossed the Atlantic? You Sayin' I'm Fat?I resemble that remark! Air TrekGoodyear's Enterprise was named after the winning yacht of the 1930 America's Cup. Seeing this picture makes me wonder if this blimp may have been young Roddenberry's inspiration. She was enlisted in the US Navy as Training Airship L-5 during World War 2 from 1941 to 1945. Boldly going where no one has gone before!The very first aircraft owned by the United States also bore this title. It was a hot air balloon used during the Civil War. Go for a Ride!The dirigible hangar was near the Washington-Hoover Airport and the Arlington Beach Amusement Park According to "Answer Man" at the Washington Post, in 1932, you could go up in the Goodyear blimp for $2.50. Gene RoddenberryRoddenberry was influenced by a lot of WWII things. The Enterprise was named for the aircraft carrier, and James T. Kirk was the general commanding the Ordnance Department early in the war. There are others. Summer 1954I remember playing in my front yard during summer vacation and hearing something I didn't recognize. I ran into the back yard and saw the Goodyear, not the one pictured, fly past the back of the house. It was sufficiently exciting to be the topic of conversation for the next few days, and there was even a picture of it docked at the local airport the next day. Exciting times for a Carolina kid in the early '50s Navy Blimps in the 40'sEvery summer we would go to Falmouth Mass to the beach. The Navy blimps would pass overhead out to sea. Once one went so low the landing ropes dragged across the beach. I never realized they were on patrol looking for U-boats off the coast of Massachusetts. I assumed they were training and actually they were armed and did fight U-boats off our shores. Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, no, a blimpA Goodyear blimp still resides in Southern California and can be seen most days when one is driving on the 405 freeway through the city of Carson. You can also often see it over large events such as football games where a helicopter used for photography, would disturb the spectators, but a blimp used for aerial shots makes everybody smile down below. Hearing a blimpI don't remember seeing blimps in Florida in the late 40s but forty years later I recognised the sound and went outside to see a blimp passing overhead. A Ride in the GoodyearI was lucky enough to get a ride in the then-current Goodyear Blimp in about 1969, thanks to my father's position at nearby El Toro Marine Base, which was near the Lighter Than Air facility in Tustin, which had giant hangars that allowed Goodyear to do certain maintenance. In return they provided a day of rides for military families. This blimp has since been replaced with a newer version, but our blimp's control wheels and cables were charmingly exposed to the attentive eye inside the little cabin which was clearly designed for lightness rather than jetliner strength, and seated about 12. After achieving a satisfactory weight balance, the pilot revved the motors, the blimp moved majestically ahead, and about 50 feet later he cranked the elevator wheel, the nose came up, and we ascended as if climbing a staircase. Not scary, due to the gentle response, but unexpectedly graceful, like the dancing hippos in Fantasia. We cruised the coast for about an hour at a nice viewing height. The sound of a blimp in flight...That low drone sound of an approaching blimp's engines STILL makes me run outside to have a look. I even have a memory (or imagine that I have such a memory) of standing on Bush Avenue in Newburgh NY as a 4 or 5 year old kid and seeing a huge dirigible flying doen over the Hudson toward NY City. I went up in herMy mother's school chum took my two older brothers and me for a ride in this blimp in 1938 (might have been 1939) from the old Wash airport. We circled the city for about a half hour. The windows were open. I sat in the middle seat in the back row. It went up at about 45 degrees and on returning it nosed down at about the same angle. Ground crew caught the ropes and pulled it down to a level attitude on the ground. What a thrill it was for a 7-year-old. Navy BlimpsEnterprise, along with Goodyear's other private blimps was transferred to the Navy at the beginning of the war. The became the basis for the L-Class training type. Apparently they weren't armed and had too short an endurance for long patrols. They had a crew of two in military service. The most common of the naval blimps was the K-Class which had an endurance of just over 38 hours aloft and carried four depth charges and a .50 caliber machine gun as well as various detection equipment and a crew of 10. 134 were built, and the last K-ship (K-43) left service in March 1959. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Zeppelins & Blimps)
Fall Colors: 1941
... Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the ... Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night’s decay Ushers in a drearier day. I NEVER! That [poor] girl ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2022 - 2:56pm -

October 1941. "The rich and the poor crowd into the Berkshires to enjoy the fall coloring. Mohawk Trail, Massachusetts." Photo by John Collier, Farm Security Admin. View full size. Credit to Gary Larson"Yes, I let him drive, but he's never off his leash even for one minute." Who is that lady?Let's check the FBI file. Diminutive, fairly attractive young woman, stern expression, little round sunglasses, wearing a beret. Think I got it. She's waiting for Clyde to come back from casing out the First National Bank! In a moment of self-awarenessthe lines of Emily Brontë's 'Fall, Leaves, Fall' come to her. Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the autumn tree. I shall smile when wreaths of snow Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night’s decay Ushers in a drearier day. I NEVER! That [poor] girl looks extremely bored and would rather not get out of the car and mix with the bourgeoisie. Somebody's not enjoying the foliageBy the way, I wonder if she got that dog in Harlem? Woah, put her back in!She's not done yet! TrafficatorsThat little box below the windshield contains an arm announcing a RH turn, activated by a trigger on the dashboard. This Ford probably spent some time in Europe as these were not a USA item and were required in England. Connecticut inspection stickers?1940 and 1941. I could find no image to validate. Ideas anyone? [It could mean they're from Connecticut. - Dave] That Doghas seen some things. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, John Collier)
Bell System: 1942
... PBX boards at the Cove Inn in Naples, Florida. The night clerk needed to go somewhere for an hour or so, and he gave me (a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2022 - 5:14pm -

July 1942. "Oakridge, Oregon. Population 520. Town telephone switchboard." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Bells Are RingingIf you've seen a switchboard operator in action, it was probably in the movies -- most prominently, "Bells Are Ringing" (1960), starring the great Judy Holliday. PBXHome-built, from the look of it; neat and careful carpentry, but no frills. Thanks to Starrleo, this is not home-built, but W.E. The nice finger joinery on the cabniet should have been a clue... A massive array of 16 8 bells, with room for expansion (?) to serve 520 residents! (clapper's clappers between the bells and hits both when it rings, I suspect) I counted 34 subscribers, starting with City Hall, City Marshal ... Clark's Garage, along with Clark, Dale, Mrs. Cramer's got two, the Drug Store and the Highway Store; must be profitable! Samantha here (doesn't she look like Elizabeth?!?) might be all of 20, and probably bored witless, without a screen to be had ... I'll pay you later, Thelma!I find the NO CREDIT sign interesting. I would guess the town operator had some leeway somehow to give credit. Would only be on a pay phone I suppose? Also, interesting that there is cash in the drawer. Your call cannot be completed...anymore to #26. Burned in 2000. (which building had the phone ?? We may never know) A Nod to Bryant Pond, MaineBryant Pond had the last crank telephone system in America, finally surrendering to Touch-Tone phones in 1983. To call my friend in Bryant Pond, I had to dial O and explain to the Operator that I wanted to call Bryant Pond 33. Most Operators had no idea what I was talking about and needed to hunt down an old-timer to handle the job. Her name is operatorSince Oakridge was a small town, I looked in the 1940 census for anyone listing their occupation as operator for a telephone service (there are various operators for the railroad and lumber mill). No one showed up. Either our young switchboard technician wasn't working there in 1940, or she lived outside Oakridge. [Just because you can work a switchboard doesn't mean you'd list that as your occupation. - Dave] Point taken, but I'd list it before anything else. She's a young person on the cutting edge of technology. I've been on the cutting edge of technology only once, remember Lotus123? Ever since I just stand in Best Buy and stare at the sales associate, wondering what they're talking about. One man in Oakridge listed his occupation as proprietor of a fix-it shop. No, his name wasn't Emmett. Multi Tasking Job PositionI suspect that "Samantha's" job was more than just the phone operator. The "No Credit" and "Coca-Cola" signs behind her head in the adjacent room combined with the cash in the drawer make it appear to be some kind of a store. She was probably responsible for both the store operation as well as the phone operator duties. The tape on the one side of a double bell pair would have given that particular bell an early version of a what we now call a "Distinctive Ring Tone". Western Electric type 1012Is the make and type of this switchboard, made some 30 years before this photo was taken. Paid ExtraThe Grade School and High School are on a 2 party line, many other customers have more parties sharing their lines. See list at left edge of board. While that list shows 10 lines, the 10 position switchboard has only 8 pairs of bells installed. FlashThis link tells about message precedence on radio, etc., and ranks "Flash" messages at the top of the list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_precedence The card instructs the operator to tell Long Distance "Army Flash", probably to expedite getting a connection. An example of such an important message in July 1942 might be "The Japs have landed"! From a conversation with my father, circa 1954"No, son, that's not why it's called 'Bell Telephone.'" Too many for meBack in the late 1960s, I tried to operate one of those multi-plugged PBX boards at the Cove Inn in Naples, Florida. The night clerk needed to go somewhere for an hour or so, and he gave me (a bellman) a cursory explanation of how the board worked and what I needed to do. I didn't do well and never tried it again. Not intuitive. Army Flash?Anyone want to 'splain the "Army Flash" sign at the bottom right? Army FlashThe "Army Flash" instruction card seems to relate to the Aircraft Warning Service (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Warning_Service), where locally-organized volunteers were trained to spot enemy airplanes along the east and west coast. Per this account of legal testimony by one Mr. James Tully, in a 1945 NY Supreme Court Case (https://books.google.com/books?id=bBAMmaBa6LEC&lpg=RA6-PA457&ots=Vyogrc8...): "Q. Briefly, will you tell us … just what was the Airplane Warning Service was? A. Well, they had Posts located within about approximately eight miles of one another, and each post was supposed to take care of that eight mile area distance. You are supposed to see that far. As soon as a plane come into sight, you notice where it was going, the type plane it was, how many motors it had on it, and how many planes there were, whether one or more than one, and then you take off the telephone and you’d call the operator, say, ‘Army flash,’ and give your code number. They would hook you up with New York and you would tell the girl down there how many planes, how high they were, how far from your obgservation post and which way they were going and, that’s all." Hope somebody might have more info, or a personal recollection to share! SwitchboardingI ran a switchboard that size during 1970-71 while working my way through college. The board was at the front desk, mounted flush into a wall. All the wiring doodah was behind the wall, in a very small room, out in the open. There were wires hanging everywhere, and you had to be careful. I answered incoming calls and directed them to the right people. I also placed long-distance calls. It was a thankless job, and I left as soon as I could. I just Googled, and I see that the company went out of business in 1990. Well, that's fine with me. Army Flash The Army Flash card was instructions for handling military traffic. The card is specific to the local Army unit. (Technology, The Gallery, Pretty Girls, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
Gotcha: 1925
... frozen and perfectly wrapped 'possum steaks for that night's dinner! FINALLY A woman (besides me!) who isn't afraid of ... blame it on the fact that I was posting realllly late at night (head smack). In defense of Opossums Opossums are pretty much ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/01/2009 - 5:39pm -

December 12, 1925. "Mrs. May B. Hendley." I'll bet there's an interesting story here. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Sunday Dinner?Is this Granny Clampett when she was a youngun' and does she also have a mess of golf eggs boilin' on the stove inside? Like the ad used to sayPossum - It's what for dinner. MmmmPossum - The other white meat. Oh, Possum!Am I the only one who thinks Mrs. Hendley is a bit dapper for chasing down possums? I'd venture a guess and say that the possum was still alive in this pose. But not for long. Before CookingThe word I got from my dad was that if you caught a 'possum, say in a trap or if the dogs treed one, you needed to keep him in a cage for a few days, "to clean him out." YumYes, Sir!!! Good eatin' tonight! Communication breakdown.No, Tonto, I said "Bring a posse." Tastes like chickenA few years ago I bought a lovely vintage cookbook because the recipes calling for possum or squirrel were so intriguing. Not that they sounded so mouthwatering I had to rush home and try them but because they were such an interesting glimpse into how our perceptions of acceptability have changed. I know people have always made use of what food was available but I confess it surprised me that it was so common that such specific recipes merited inclusion in what otherwise seemed to be a modern (for the time) hardcover cookbook. [When I was a kid growing up in Miami, our lawn-service guy ("Sam the yard man") saw where something had been digging in the bushes and left a cage trap. One morning we went out and there was a possum in it. We fed it for a week and then Sam took it home. My sister and I were horrified when he told us he was going to "fatten him up" and cook him. - Dave] Don't Know About PossumI recently (in the past month) did see someone eating squirrel on TV, and it wasn't a mouth-breathing hillbilly. It was British restaurant critic Giles Coren. During the first season of Gordon Ramsay's British series "The F Word." Quite good apparently, and one way for the Brits to deal with the infestation of American Grey Squirrels that are threatening the populations of the British Brown Squirrel. Coren found at least one restaurant in London that served squirrel meat. My new fur collar!And a meal as a bonus. Sissy Spacek could play her in the movie. May B.She May B. Hendley, but she sure is purty. Possum procurerClearly, Mrs. Hendley is the marsupial supplier for the United Cafeteria. Still In DemandIn the late 70's my wife's cousin had moved to Woodland, CA, just west of Sacramento. Her Arkansas mother flew out for a visit. Inside her suitcase lay smuggled, previously frozen and perfectly wrapped 'possum steaks for that night's dinner! FINALLYA woman (besides me!) who isn't afraid of rodents! I can tell you first hand that squirrel is VERY good eating. Squirrel with mushroom gravy...drrooooolll... [Zoologically speaking, possums are marsupials (kangaroos, koalas etc.), not rodents. - Dave] Ooops...Yeah, I KNOW they are marsupials. I can only blame it on the fact that I was posting realllly late at night (head smack). In defense of OpossumsOpossums are pretty much harmless. They have no natural defense. They taste like chicken because they are; "playing dead" being more like "passing out from fear." You have a better chance of getting rabies from me than from a 'possum, and I don't bite (hard). Against Possums"Opossums are pretty much harmless" Tell that to the *mumble mumble* possum down under my house, chewing on my ductwork. "You have a better chance of getting rabies from me than from a 'possum" That's good to know, because that *mumble mumble* possum bit me on the end of my finger. Glad I won't have to worry about rabies, but will I have to worry about turning into a marsupial when the moon is full? Depression dinnerMy mother said her family ate possums and squirrels shot by her older brothers during the Depression. She was not eager to repeat either experience after the need was gone. (The Gallery, Animals, Natl Photo)
Proviso Perspective: 1943
... them move cars from one train to another on a warm summer night. Ah, memories. I worked night shift in the Burlington's Clyde hump yard in Chicago back when I was in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/28/2022 - 4:50pm -

April 1943. "Tracks at Chicago & North Western railroad's Proviso yard, Chicago." Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. If you listen closely... you can just make out Boxcar Willie practicing. (btw, that's a really cool photo ... talk about vanishing points) Good ol' Chicago --Where the tracks are paved with gold. It's not a perspective illusionThe tracks really do come together in the distance. The ParaTracks ViewThose of you born after 1974 ... go ask your grandparents. For Shorpy old-timersThe great Yellow Rail Controversy of aught eight. Days PastI grew up less than a mile south of the yard in the '50s and '60s. Fond memories of hearing them move cars from one train to another on a warm summer night. Ah, memories.I worked night shift in the Burlington's Clyde hump yard in Chicago back when I was in college. Once you get the sounds in your head on a quiet night, it never goes away. I can still hear it 55 years later. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Appleton Here We Come: 1962
... built long before WW II with 16 sleeping berths for night flights, convertible to 24 seats for day use. It had Wright Cyclone ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/14/2013 - 5:10pm -

October 1962. "Wisconsin plane trip." En route to Appleton, it's Mad Men with choreography. This would seem to have been a business trip made by Kermy and Janet's father from Baltimore. 35mm Kodachrome slide. View full size. A long-vanished airlineNorth Central Airlines is now three generations into the past. It became Republic Airlines after a merger with Southern Airways in 1979, Northwest Airlines acquired Republic in 1986, and Northwest became part of Delta Air Lines in 2008. It's possible that there may be a few pre-1979 North Central employees still working for Delta, most likely flight attendants as they often stick around for decades. The aircraft appears to be a Convair 340, one of the last of the pre-jet airliners. Douglas DC-3First operationally flown in 1935, the Douglas DC-3 became a real workhorse of commercial airlines and of the U.S. Air Force as as the C-47. Some are still being flown today, mainly by smaller third world airlines. A few of the earliest DC-3s are still flying about 75 years after they were manufactured. North Central Airlines was founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944. The name was changed to North Central in 1952 and headquarters moved to Minneapolis. North Central flew as many as 32 DC-3s during its existence. The airline ceased operations in 1979. DC-3 StairsMy dad loved DC-3s and had one-- it might have been the C-47 version-- in the late 1960s. One day he tripped or caught his foot or something while coming down those little steps and broke his arm when he hit the tarmac. The doctor asked him how he had injured himself, and my dad, a man of few words even when he wasn't in pain, replied he had fallen out of an airplane. The doctor said, "Well, I don't know how high the plane was, but you got off pretty easy!" DC-3/C-47The DC-3/C-47 is my favorite airplane; I built countless model variants as a kid. The North Central livery is particularly nice. More detail here. MemoriesI can remember DC-3s flying over our small-town house to the local airport when I was a kid in the early 1960s. They seemed really huge to me at the time. Whiskey CentralI well recall my father's jokes and asides regarding North Central Airlines -- or Whiskey Central, as he and not a few others preferred to call it in the early days. We lived in Eau Claire, Wis., home of Presto Industries and 25 below zero temperatures. As a traveling salesman for Presto, dad would occasionally ride Whiskey Central to some distant city on business. Be it the dead of winter, he never failed to carry a hip flask filled with Early Times, which he affectionately referred to as "my infallible portable heater." He further noted, as I recall, that the stewardesses were all males, and very likely descended from hardy Viking stock accustomed to Icelandic weather. Atop their uniforms they wore fur-lined coats adorned with turned-up mink collars. I also vividly remember standing beside my mother on the tarmac and waving back at my father as he paused halfway up the airplane ramp. And then remaining rooted to the spot until the speck in the sky disappeared from sight. Jim PageGreat story; your dad sounds like my dad. Few words were too many. N25651Click to enlarge. Photos by Kermy's dad of the plane in the main photo above. AmazingThe old Gooney Bird is still in use to this day. What a great aircraft! [The only thing still in use is the number N25651. It's assigned to a 21-year-old hot-air balloon. Our DC-3 was deregistered in 1990. - Dave] Oh, I really thought there were some still in use.... you mean none flying worldwide? It'll get you there -- eventuallyI flew North Central in the summers in the early 70s. Convair 340s from Washington National (home) to my aunt and uncle's in Grand Rapids. As I was only about 10 at the time and traveling alone, my parents booked me on North Central as there were no plane changes. It did, however, stop at Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit and Lansing along the way. Please tell methis plane had a lavatory. A very old DC-3In fact not a DC-3 as such but a DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) the original version built long before WW II with 16 sleeping berths for night flights, convertible to 24 seats for day use. It had Wright Cyclone engines not the more familiar Pratts. N25651 had a long career. It was impressed into the army as a C-49 and postwar served not just North Central but also Galaxy, Holiday Hunters, Shorter and finally Bahamasair. It was last reported derelict at St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. PBA/Naples AirlinesIce Gang's comment is cool; living in Naples back in the 60s and being at the airport with my pilot dad all the time, I'd see those PBA/Naples Airlines planes a lot. At some point prior to those days, Provincetown/Boston Airlines had absorbed the old Naples Airlines, unless I remember it wrong-- which isn't impossible! I remember hearing that old Naples Airport was the site of the first U.S. airplane hijacking; a fellow hijacked a plane there to fly him to Cuba. Now, I'll leave it up the the brilliant folks here on Shorpy.com to let me know if that little tidbit is correct or not. I think it's really a DC-3I'm pretty sure it's not a DST. The DST's boarding door was on the right. It had auxiliary windows above the regular ones so the upper berth didn't feel too closed in, and Dave's picture of the full exterior doesn't show those. Route of the Blue Goose"Route of the blue goose" was the tag, like "Wings of man" for Eastern, in the ads. All dressed up-And somewhere to go. I wonder at what point travelers began dressing down for flights; it used to be an occasion and people dressed accordingly. I remember flying on the west coast's PSA in those days and always wearing a suit and tie, even as a teenager. We flew to from home in San Diego to Hollywood-Burbank and back for under $20 and still had money left for shopping trips to Desmond's and Silverwood's, nice Los angeles area clothing stores. DC-3 hoursMany years back I flew from Tampa to Naples Florida on PBA airline, I was the only passenger and the pilot told me this DC-3 had the most hours of any DC-3, 84,876 hours, the plane is being restored in Washington and is still flying with over 91,400 hours (10 1/2 years in the air) Canadian Pacific Airlines had a flying Canada goose as it's logo, only it was flying to the right. Dressing upI can only guess that the "dress code" for flying went away in the mid to late 60's (at least on the west coast). My first plane trip was in 1970, from Sacramento to L.A. on PSA, and I don't recall donning anything more than what I'd have worn on any given day (I was 17, so somewhat attuned to these things). But maybe I was just a slob. Eight Years LaterI have a North Central flight schedule dated January 1, 1970, with 22 tiny print pages of flights. They really covered the Upper Midwest. About that Dress CodeI don't think that they're dressed up just because they are flying. It appears to be a business trip, so the gentlemen are dressed just as they would if they were going to the office. This is still common practice for some companies today - if you're traveling for the company, you follow the dress code that's in place. But general office dress codes are less strict in many businesses now. I flew in and out of Appleton on DC-3sYup---I flew from Appleton on a DC-3 to Chicago via Milwaukee when I went into the Navy in 1960. I would come home on leave to Appleton by air and through Chicago via Milwaukee--I'd arrive in a DC-3. Sometimes as few as two passengers would be on board from Milwaukee to Appleton. It was a bouncy ride from Chicago. History will show the DC-3s on North Central Air were tough birds--one collided with a small private plane between Chicago and Milwaukee---and carried the other craft all the way to safe landing in Milwaukee---the small plane imbedded in the DC-3s port bow. I am not sure the DC-3 views shown on Shorpy's are at the present airport location west of town or the one I remember on the north east side off Ballard road. Dressed to FlyWe flew often during the 60s and 70s and I remember my mom making sure we all wore Sunday best - all five of us kids. In fact when packing our bags, the question was always posed to us - "What are you wearing on the plane?" It wasn't until the 80s that it was about dressing for comfort and then of course it morphed into dressing for airport security checks. The connection between dress and self-respect as well as respect for the occasion has deteriorated quickly since the baby-boomer generation. Soon we'll all be wearing shorts and flip-flops to the office just like many do at church these days. 1975 versionHere's a picture of the DC-3 from 1975: http://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/6642431/Shorter-Airlines/Dougla... Never heard of "Shorter Airlines" but the picture says it was taken in Miami. http://www.michaelprophet.com/imagesSanJuan1985_1989/55.jpg This might be the same plane, it matches the paint scheme from the 1975 picture, but the registration number is covered by the bushes. Sad it see it in that shape. (Aviation, Kermy Kodachromes)
Baron's Cocktails: 1958
... line? Hotel Manx I stayed at the Hotel Manx for one night with a college friend in 1976; it was dingy and scary! We were on our ... 
 
Posted by Rute Boye - 07/22/2012 - 2:36pm -

Somewhere in San Francisco circa 1958. The film is Anscochrome and the colors are well preserved. Note the Billy Graham Crusade Headquarters on the second floor! View full size. Baron's corner todaytterrace beat me to it. The net's pretty remarkable. I found out that the Manx Hotel is now the Villa Florence, then used Google Maps/Street View to get a picture of the actual intersection. The facing on the building above Baron's (now above Starbucks) is still the same. View Larger Map Make mine a doubleVery nice. Who took the picture? Cocktail locationThis is Powell at O'Farrell. Baron's is now a Starbucks, and Lefty O'Doul's big baseball is gone, too. Hits the SpotThat's the last really good logo for Pepsi. The next two were OK, but it's all quickly downhill after that. The decadent '70sI can't help but note that the same office that housed the "Billy Graham Crusade" in 1959 had by 1973 been transformed into the "Executive Suite Sauna & Massage"! Locally knownFrieda Benz Oakley was a professional organist who, in the late 1940s, had an organ music studio in San Francisco. By 1952 she had moved her studio and home to San Mateo. As a professional in the mid-1950s, she gained a not inconsiderable reputation as a regular performer at the famous Domino Club in San Francisco, playing popular and semi-standard tunes. She was also sought after for more public venues, such as the San Mateo Fair. This slide shows her still playing local gigs in the late 1950s, and also tells us that Baron's had a Wurlitzer organ on the premises. In the early 1960s she was living in Southern California and teaching in Glendale and at the Hammond Organ Studios in Pasadena. She also was accepting invitations to play for such groups as the San Gabriel Organ Club, the Women's Association of the Congregational Church of the Chimes, and for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Theater Organ Enthusiasts—of which she was a member. Her last public performance on record seems to be at the grand opening of the new Baldwin Piano & Organ Center on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, in July, 1966. What's following the cable car? Check out the red (Dodge?) truck immediately behind the cable car. It seems to have an unusual bed and a red beacon on the roof. Perhaps it's a fire truck or tow truck? DAVE - The photo was taken by my father. We lived just south of SF, in San Mateo, from ~ 1954 to 1961, and this is from that era. I have cases of color slides that were a part of his estate and I'll try to find the best and most interesting to scan and post. Thanks very much for hosting the venue that allows others to enjoy them! On The StreetIn the foreground we have what looks like the right front fender of a 1958 Buick. On the right hand side of the street appears the taillamp and bumper of a 1957-58 Mercury. On the left hand side of the street is a red 1947 (Third Series) - 1953 GMC cab over engine (COE) truck. The white over green vehicle behind the GMC looks like a 1957 Ford Custom 300. The black car behind might be a 1956 Ford. Push me pull youThe red Dodge truck following the cable car is almost certainly a repair vehicle sent out by the Municipal Railway (MUNI). Check out its oversize pushing bumper and tool boxes at rear. It appears to be assisting cable car 502, which has undergone some type of mechanical mishap and is now out of service. Witness the "Take Next Car" sign in the front window.. The cable car is headed for the Powell Street turntable, and if it can't be fixed there the Dodge will most likely have to push it all the way back to the car barn at Washington and Mason Streets. It will be a long push -- mostly uphill. Cable cars were (and still are) notoriously finicky and tend to go flooey at inconvenient times. This car could have 'lost its grip,' meaning the mechanical device that grips onto the moving subsurface cable that pulls the car along. Alternately, it might have suffered some sort of brake malfunction. Whatever the case, MUNI didn't want any riders on this trip. All still thereSurprisingly, every building visible in the photo -- and both streetlamps -- still stand. Photogenic CornerA few more historic photos of this street corner I found via google image search. Baron's cocktail bar was still there in 1973. In the 1940s it was Lynch's. Jimboylan points out above that the 1940s photo is a different corner. Higher resolution images available at the linked sources: 1940s (the Tender), 1959 (roger4336), 1973 (Leroy W. Demery, Jr.). When the city was cool Until the mid 60s, the fare was the same as for buses -- fifteen cents. Alas, I admit defeatI was hoping someone would post info on the cocktail lounge names. I found Baron's was owned and managed by S. Baron Long. There was a vintage ashtray on line with his image in the center. He also became owner manager of the Hawaiian Garden's Restaurant in San Jose in 1938. They had floor shows and trained bullfrogs. There is also a mention of Baron Long's Ship Cafe in Venice Beach but don't know if it is the same person. However, I had to admit defeat on the sign front and center advertising someone named Benz and the last three letters of the first name "eda", I was thinking Freida, at the organ. Guess that was one organ player who never made it big. [Googling "Frieda Benz" + organist returns hits relating to a performer who had some California appearances during this general period. - tterrace] HitchcockThe image has the feel of the film Vertigo. Rail remnantsI noticed the remnants of other trackage crossing in the middle of the intersection. Was this all that was left of the O'Farrell-Jones-Hyde Street line? Hotel ManxI stayed at the Hotel Manx for one night with a college friend in 1976; it was dingy and scary! We were on our way to a summer of indentured servitude at a summer stock theatre in Santa Rosa. We had just received our BAs in Drama from UC Irvine, and as college graduates we were happy to make $40 per week. What, and give up show business?! Lynch's isn't Baron'sThe interesting 1940 photo of Lynch's and its link shows the competing California Street Cable Railway Company's Jones St. Shuttle car at the corner of O'Farrell and Jones Sts. Lefty O'Doul'sLefty O'Doul's is on Geary now. Does anyone know when it moved? GMC Contact TruckThe contact (pusher) truck is a circa 1950 GMC not a Dodge. The GMC logo is visible just above the grille. A 1951 example with a set of extra lights and windshield visor is shown below. Lefty O'Doul's vs Lefty'sThe only thing I know for sure is that Lefty's and Lefty O'Doul's were two different establishments. Both Lefty's Cocktail Lounge on Powell and Lefty O'Doul's Restaurant are listed in the 1960 San Francisco City Directory. Seeing the baseball sign, you would think that both were owned by Frank O'Doul. Wonderful TownI was going through U.S. Navy Electronics School out on Treasure Island throughout most of the summer of 1958. Used to go on liberty in San Francisco and always thought that, if I had to live in a big city, I would choose S.F. as my first choice. I didn't leave my heart there but will always remember that city as such a vibrant place. Many happy memories. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Momma's Marine: 1916
... was taken to Providence hospital, where , it was said last night, he has a good chance for recovery, despite the seriousness of his ... city. "The machine ran very smoothly," Law said last night. "Though I had never been up before, I had the greatest confidence in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 9:10pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1916. "Mrs. George Barnett and son." Lelia Gordon Barnett, wife of the Marine Corps commandant, and her son Basil Gordon, who in 1923 became the first person to crash an airplane in the District of Columbia. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. What an honor!Did he survive? [He did, but his passenger, 21-year-old Edwin Trusheim, was not so lucky. "Goodbye, old man, it's all over," were the pilot's parting words. - Dave] Last Flight of The Elaine Washington Post, Dec. 10, 1923 Passenger Killed, Basil Gordon Hurt As Plane Crashes Edwin Trusheim, 21 years old, of 210 B street southeast, was killed, and Basil Gordon, 29, stepson of Maj. Gen. George Barnett, was seriously injured when the airplane in which they were riding crashed to the ground on a vacant lot at Half and L streets southwest shortly after 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Trusheim, a passenger in the machine, which is owned by Gordon, was killed almost instantly, being crushed under the heavy motor as the craft was wrecked. Gordon, who piloted the plane, was taken to Providence hospital, where , it was said last night, he has a good chance for recovery, despite the seriousness of his injuries. Yesterday's accident is the first time in history that an airplane has fallen within the city limits of the Capital, despite the great amount of flying which has been done in the vicinity during and since the war. According to witnesses, the plane was about 2,000 feet in the air when it began to flutter. As it neared the ground, and when at a height of about 700 feet, it went into a nose spin, and struck the ground first with its propeller, the heavy motor being pushed onto Trusheim, who was riding in the front seat. … So far as could be determined, the wings and struts were in good condition, and the theory was advanced that the cause of the trouble must have been in the motor. Failure of the motor at the height at which the plane was flying would have made it impossible to right it before hitting the ground, it was said. … Gordon tested his plane, and then he and Law climbed into it and took off. For fifteen minutes they circled over the field, and made a short trip over the city. "The machine ran very smoothly," Law said last night. "Though I had never been up before, I had the greatest confidence in Basil's ability to control the plane, for he has quite a reputation as an expert aviator. During the flight we talked about how well the machine was running, and what a beautiful view of the city we had. We made a perfect landing." After Gordon returned with Law, Trusheim said that we would like to make a flight, and a few minutes later "The Elaine," as Gordon had christened the plane, took off on her last trip. For a few minutes the plane flew swift and straight over toward the city. Then to the little group of relatives standing at the flying field, it was seen to hesitate, to shiver, and then, with a quick, whirling motion, descend. With realization that something had happened, Mrs. Gordon and Miss Gordon, with Law, jumped into a motor car and started for the city. It was nearly an hour before they could locate the scene of the wreck in the little hollow south of the Capitol. And by they time they arrived on the scene the victims had been removed. Will fight for foodLooks like Momma didn't feed her Basil quite enough. That is one skinny soldier. Like Mother Like SonI can see where he got his good looks - from his mom. Such a proud mother. Ooo-rah! Riding BreechesThe riding pants indicate that this guy was one of the Horse Marines. And, yes, they did exist. Focus, focus, focusWhy are the buckles on his boots and the buttons above them in perfect focus, yet the rest of the photo is a bit softly focused? [The shoes didn't move. - Dave] Wally and BasilMrs. Barnett was first cousin to the mother of Wallis Warfield, the future Duchess of Windsor. She and her son showed amusingly understated enthusiasm in 1936 when King Edward abdicated and announced his intention to marry Mrs. Simpson. Basil is quoted as saying, "I haven't seen Wally for six years. She seems to be going places." How thymes changeCan you imagine any modern-day Marine Corps commandant naming his son Basil? He must have grown to become quite a sage. [Yes, he'd be mustard right out of the military. But the General had no input into Basil's name -- he was his stepfather; Basil was named after his father. - Dave] Mrs. CommandantPolitically, Mrs. Barnett was a force to behold in WWI Washington. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels crossed her when he tried to install his favorite marine (John Lejeune) as commandant of the Marines, in place of her husband. After Daniels asked his most senior officers for resignations (effective at the end of the war) and received them from all but Barnett, he blamed Mrs. Barnett, quipping that Barnett's Indian name would have been "'the-man-who-is-afraid-of-his-wife.'" When Daniels ordered the change, Mrs. Barnett worked through the crippled president's personal physician and her allies on Capitol Hill in an unsuccessful bid to countermand it. Her son Basil, said to be one of the most undisciplined members of the Corps, asked her to help get him released when he was confined to quarters. It did not succeed. BreechesSomebody called this marine a soldier in a previous post. Marines don’t like that. Anyway I respectfully disagree about the breeches. Although horse marines did exist, I believe riding breeches were de rigueur for all officers back in 1916. This young man appears to be a lieutenant. Shape Up or Ship OutGawd, a Marine without a spit shine on his Class A uniform boots. Horrors! Not the first crashActually, the first aircraft crash in DC proper was on September 17, 1908. On the date mentioned, Orville and Wilbur Wright were demonstrating their machine for the Army at Fort Myer (also where Arlington Cemetery is), and Lt. Thomas Selfridge volunteered to be a passenger ... [Fort Myer isn't in D.C. -- it's in Arlington County, Virginia. - Dave] A Very Handsome ChapHe is one good looking young man. Must have been terrible to crash and mortally injure a friend. On a happier note I adore his mom's shoes. Commandant BarnettMy dad was in Marine training in 1917. Here is an excerpt from one of his letters dated August 5, 1917, Marine Barracks, Port Royal, South Carolina: I got to see Brigadier-General Barnett, the head of the Marine Corps, a while back. He was inspecting the training camp on this island and we were drawn up in two lines while he passed between them. I will save this picture and put it into his album just for additional background to his military history. Thanks Dave. Mum's remarriageWhat a charming photo. Enjoying all the comments here, too. Here's the announcement of his mother's remarriage to Lt. Col. George Barnett in 1907. They met at a supper dance on Dec. 9, 1906, and he immediately began wooing her. In fact, he was said to have "pursued her as if he was assaulting a military objective," according to "Commandants of the Marine Corps." They finally wed on Jan. 11, 1908. Barnett was later the 12th Commandant of the US Marine Corp., ousted by some guy named Lejeune in 1920 (joke) and died in 1930. I've found shockingly less on the Marine in the photo, though he served in the Great War and was still stationed in France for a while thereafter. The elder Basil Gordon, who had wed his mother in 1892, died in 1902, leaving her with four young children. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Portraits)
Deathtrap: 1917
... They had planned on going to the Knickerbocker on the night of the disaster but decided to remain home due to the weather. I'm glad ... other poster, they decided not to go to the movies that night due to the bad weather. My great uncle was a doctor and as soon as word ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/13/2017 - 10:57am -

        One hundred years ago today ... October 1917. Washington, D.C. "Knickerbocker Theatre." Harry Crandall's new Knickerbocker cinema at Columbia Road and 18th Street N.W. opened on October 13, 1917, with the historical drama "Betsy Ross," and an appearance by its star, Alice Brady. Less than five years later, 98 moviegoers were killed here when the roof caved in under an accumulation of snow during a blizzard. View full size. And ThenThe massive blizzard of 1922 came and took it away. [Good point! I added that to the caption. And the title. - Dave] Photoplays de Luxe When it opened, the Knickerbocker was touted as being fireproof -- and while it apparently was, unfortunately fireproof did not equate with disaster-proof. An earlier newspaper article documents the architect as Reginald Wyckliffe Geare. Both Geare and Crandall later committed suicide. New Theater Near Completion The Knickerbocker Theater at Eighteenth street and Columbia road, the newest addition to Crandall's circuit of theaters, will throw open its doors this week. The house will be devoted in the presentation of photoplays de luxe with full symphonic orchestral accompaniment. The structure, wholly unlike anything of the kind yet built in Washington, is absolutely fireproof throughout and the walls of Indiana limestone are Pompeian art brick. The auditorium is in the shape of an elongated triangle, generally following the shape of the lot, which is entirely occupied. The stage is in the apex of the triangle, and the arrangement lends itself admirably to the purpose for which it is designed. An unobstructed view of the stage can be had from every part of the auditorium. Along the front mezzanine floor are located the boxes, which will be reserved for each performance, an innovation in the conduct of local picture theaters. Immediately back of the reserved boxes is a broad promenade leading to the balcony section. A number of artistic loggias projecting from the mezzanine lounge overhand the auditorium and give space for other boxes and at the rear of the second floor is located a Japanese tea room. The auditorium is lighted by a new system of semidirect, self-diffusing type entirely new for theater lighting by means of which any desired light effect can be obtained in an instant. This lighting will be in harmony with the projected picture and effects ranging from full sunlight to subdued moonlight and the semidarkness of dawn will flood the theater as various scenes are projected upon the screen. The electrical fixtures have been specially designed for the building as have the seats, hangings, draperies and other furnishings, all of which are of the Adam period, the color scheme of the interior being ivory, gold and pale blue. The color scheme of the ladies reception room leading from the orchestra promenade will be blue and gold with furniture and hangings in harmony. The ventilating system is augmented by giant typhoon fans and blowers and is of the latest pattern. The air in the the theater will be changed every three minutes. Washington Post, Oct 7, 1917 The Knickerbocker StormMy maternal grandparents moved to Washington when they were married in 1914. They had planned on going to the Knickerbocker on the night of the disaster but decided to remain home due to the weather. I'm glad they did; otherwise my ending would likely have occurred a quarter century or so before my beginning! Earliest MemoryMy mother-in-law, born in DC in 1920, said her earliest memory was responding to the adults' news of the fire with "Knickerbocker-fall-down-break-neck" over and over. Is there a doctor in the house?My great-aunt and -uncle lived a few blocks from the Knickerbocker, and like the family of the other poster, they decided not to go to the movies that night due to the bad weather. My great uncle was a doctor and as soon as word got out about the disaster, he rushed to the scene to help the victims. General Patton to the RescueI think he was a colonel at the time, but George Patton was involved in the gruesome recovery effort after the theater's roof collapse. From the book "General Patton: A Soldier's Life" by Stanley B. Hirshson: Amid his writings and visions, Patton experienced a touch of activity at the end of January 1922. One Saturday night, he was sent to the Knickerbocker theater in Washington after its roof collapsed during a heavy snowfall. Ninety-seven people were killed. With a hundred men Patton helped get out "about a dozen corpses... They were pretty well squashed," he informed his father. "Many of the heads being only three or four inches thick made it rather hard to identify people as they were a sort of purple color." Alice BradyIronically, Alice Brady won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Mrs. O'Leary in the disaster flick "In Old Chicago" (1937). Biltmore StreetI currently live on the 1900 block of Biltmore Street, a block from where the Knickerbocker sat. My grandmother and her sisters were to attend the theater that evening as well, but canceled. The lot now consists has a Suntrust Bank whose structure was built in the 1970s in what is now a vibrant, affluent neighborhood. "Betsy Ross""Betsy Ross" is one of the very few films from the Woodrow Wilson era that has survived intact. A few months ago, I rented it from my local library, and found it to be still quite watchable. Knickerbocker disasterFamily history has it that an uncle of ours did attend the Knickerbocker that evening and left the theater. But he forgot his galoshes and went back inside, and was killed by the collapse. Very sad event. Our family still talks about it. Great AuntMy Great Aunt Veronica Murphy died in the disaster. 29 years old! Strange thingI used to pass the replacement theater The Ambassador as a child with my grandma. Even though it was open, it always appeared to be closed. I once ran inside and there were only three people. I felt very uncomfortable and ran back out. I never went in again. Then poof, one day it was gone. (The Gallery, D.C., Movies, Natl Photo)
I'm a Lumberjack: 1899
... are lumberjacks and they're okay They sleep all night, and they work all day. Do I hear a banjo? You sure got a purty ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 9:53pm -

Upper Michigan circa 1899. "The loggers." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. "Bless Yore Beautiful Hide" said Johnny MercerLooks like six siblings about to break out in song and dance in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Naturally, Howard Keel was taking the photo. Ground cover.Is it snow or sawdust?? [Snow. - Dave] Pass At Your Own RiskI have a funny feeling nobody would have messed around with this crew. Pipe dreamWhich one of these doesn't belong? That's right, the one on the left! (the one in the middle has a pipe stem poking out from his shirt). New from Blammo!What rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs, rolls over your neighbors dog, it fits on your back, its great for a snack? LOG LOG LOG! Its Log, its Log, its big its heavy its wood! Its Log, it's Log, its better than bad, its good! ("Ren & Stimpy") [Batteries and apostrophes sold separately. - Dave] Loggers?All those guys on a log and not an axe or saw in sight: just poles used to roll the logs. They are lumberjacks and they're okayThey sleep all night, and they work all day. Do I hear a banjo?You sure got a purty mouth boy! Our Daily BreadLooks like a tough way to earn a living. PrideSomehow I think that they were very good at what they did, and proud OF it. Monty PythonEat your heart out!! SwoonNow them's some MEN. Family TreeI wonder if any of the men in that photo are related to me. My mom's family are all Yoopers, and they did own a logging camp at the time of that photo. Wait'll J. Peterman gets a load of this“Outfitted in the season’s latest North Country Leisurewear, a trio of our robust quintet sports colorful suspenders crafted of fine Malaysian batting, fastened with just-so-perfect tiny bone buttons to colorful sports trousers of hearty wools from the Scottish Highlands. From the left: Lance cuts a fancy figure in his Lipstick Red placketed shirt and Mourning Dove Gray slacks, accented with broad pin-striped suspenders in burgundy and pink. Next up is Ian, grasping that looong hardwood pike and pausing for a pipeful of our exclusive J-Puff tobacco (see Accessories, page 32), in a scoop-neck Heather Green mariner’s sweater. He’s chosen braces (our dear British friends love that word) in a solid tan hue with just a hint of mahogany to hold up his Seafoam Green action slacks, designed for real outdoor adventures. In the center, all snuggly warm in a Periwinkle Blue anorak…” (The Gallery, DPC, Mining)
The Banquet: 1920
... Post, Sep 8, 1922 Future plans for the "Ladies' night" entertainment, on October 12, were discussed at the luncheon of the ... Rudolph Jose presided. The club will meet Thursday night in the City Club, instead of in the middle of the day. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 10:15pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Civitan Club." Caught in the middle of the soup course. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Carrot soup?So few of these gents are bespectacled that I am wondering if the carrot soup truly aids the eyesight. I can't imagine a group of this style today with such a minimum of visual aids. ClassyThe two guys up front wearing spats. So formalThe spats are spiffy! Back SeatThe two guys without black or white tie seem to be relegated to a separate side table. I guess they just didn't know how to dress for the occasion. !!!Ring Ring!!!Wonder if the phone jangled during the proceedings? It wouldn't go to voicemail, that's for sure. DifficultI can't find anyone in the picture that seems pleased to be there. But I do like the design of those chairs. Duck!Reminds me of the Louisville Slugger scene from one of the mafia movies. I believe it was 'Capone' or the like. CaponesqueI love a man in spats! And at the kiddies' tableMaybe they were banished there for showing up out of tux. After all, there ARE two empties inside the horseshoe next to the head table. Presumably those two no-shows were powerful enough to warrant choice seating and our two lads were not. At least they weren't told, "No soup for you." So which is it?Is this a white-tie affair or black-tie? Apparently the invitations weren't specific and assumptions were made. Thank goodness the gents in front remembered their spats. And what's up with the two guys off to side? They look quite a bit younger and they are not in Evening Dress - maybe that is the Civitan Children's table. Farewell dinnerThe massive floral arrangement at the back of the room would have me peering over my soup plate wondering if a casket was hidden in there. Civitan Club Luncheon Minutes Washington Post, Feb 24, 1922 The Civitan club held its weekly luncheon at the City club yesterday. E. Barrett Prettyman won the attendance prize. Ernest Greenwood announced that a hat will be given the member who produces the best slogan for the club. Robert Armstrong, president of the National Press club, was speaker. Washington Post, Mar 10, 1922 Better and cheaper automobiles and clothes are now on the market, Chester Warrington, automobile dealer and H.S. Omohundro, tailor, yesterday told the Civitan club at its weekly luncheon at the City club. Three-minute talks by members featured the meeting. I.L. Goldheim, haberdasher, said that once again men are getting quality clothes. Ira La Motte, manager of the Shubert-Belasco theater, told the club that Washington was the only bright spot in a disastrous season for theaters throughout the country. Oliver Hoyem, connected with the publicity department of the American Federation of Labor, and Dr. Grant S. Barnhart, physician, also spoke. Washington Post, Mar 13, 1922 The Civitan club is strongly opposed to the recent action of the board of education authorizing the use of branch libraries in the public schools by white and colored children indiscriminately, President Rudolph Jose announced yesterday. Resolutions adopted by the board of directors of the club describe the action of the school board as "vicious" and detrimental to the interests of both white and colored. Washington Post, May 19, 1922 Work has been started on the new additions to the Civitan camp, it was announced yesterday at the weekly luncheon of the Civitans at the City club. It will be decided during the present week the exact time that the camp will open to receive poor children of Washington. Dr. S.M. Johnson delivered a short talk on the necessity of completing the Lee highway, citing the great help and money the road would bring to business men of this city. Washington Post, Sep 8, 1922 Future plans for the "Ladies' night" entertainment, on October 12, were discussed at the luncheon of the Civitan Club in the City Club yesterday, Charles Crane is chairman of the committee on arrangements. It was decided to visit the Baltimore Civitan Club on September 22, at which time a special golf match between the local club and Baltimore will be held. Chester Warrington is captain of the Washington club team. A report of the camp, which closed last Saturday, was read and approved. Rudolph Jose presided. The club will meet Thursday night in the City Club, instead of in the middle of the day. Washington Post, Oct 27, 1922 Stricter observance of the regulation regarding the signals to be made by motorists at the street intersections was urged by C.J. James at the luncheon of the Civitan club yesterday at the City club. Mr. James asserted that many drivers merely drop their arms on the outside of the car, no matter what they intend to do. This sort of signal, he said, means nothing, emphasizing definite signals required by law should be used. C.H. Warrington declared that pedestrians should be regulated as well as motorists. He declared also that the proposed reduction of the automobile speed limit to twelve miles an hour would cause great congestion in the business district. Washington Post, Dec 26 1922 The Civitan club will hold a luncheon meeting at 12:30 today at the Lafayette. The ShiningWhere are Lloyd and the caretaker? Japanese LanternWhat are those suspended boxes? Civitan ClubsMy father, Fred T. Massie, was very active in the Civitan Club of Dallas. They were a civic group, which meant they did things for the good of the city. Such as provide for orphans to go to camp. They met once a month at the Adolphus Hotel. Most of the powerful men in Dallas were members of "The Civitan." It was a way to give back to Dallas. My mother, Mary Massie, was involved in "The Ladies of Civitan." I remember going to the Christmas meeting with her. We had lunch and then put Christmas stockings together for needy children. I don't know where this picture was taken, but there were Civitan Clubs in cities all over the nation. [As noted in the very first word of the caption, this was taken in Washington. - Dave] Young clubAccording to Wikipedia, Civitan was organized by a group of men in Birmingham, Alabama in 1917. These men broke off from a local Rotary club, because of differences they had with the direction they perceived it was going. Civitan is very active today and still headquartered in Birmingham. FormalwearIt's amazing how little the style of tuxedos has changed in the past 90 years. Oh, sorry, wrong banquetIt was too late for apologies. Machine Gun McGurk and his Thompson had spoken. Japanese lanternsThey are light fixtures -- thin brass or some other gold-coloured metal frames with lacquered paper or parchment fillers and painted designs. Black tie vs. White tieWhat this picture shows is the gradual replacement of traditional white tie formal dress by black tie. At this point in history, the invitation would probably have simple said formal, or, I suspect, it would not have made the designation at all. The attendees at a function like this would have automatically known what to wear. Events like this would have seen a mix of white tie, with a sprinkling of black tie. The tuxedo, as we know it, was first worn around 1890, as a more casual form of formal dress for men (I know, an oxymoron.) At this time the dinner jacket would be worn with a black waistcoat. Later on the cummerbund became more popular. A few more interesting details here: there is one man with a white tie and a black vest. This would have been much more common in the late 19th century, but was definitely passe, but not proscribed, by 1920. The variety of collars and ties among the black tie wearers is also interesting. With white tie you only wear a stand up collar and white bow tie. The black dinner jacket (aka tuxedo) admits a greater range of acceptable collars and ties. Two gents in the front have interesting lay down collars with some sort of criss cross tie that doesn't look like a standard bow tie. And of course everyone knows that an outfit like this is NEVER worn before 6. Before 6 (really up until 4) a gentleman would wear a cutaway coat (tailcoat with tails that curve away in front, as opposed to the sharp right angle of the white tie tailcoat), with striped trousers, a gray vest and a cravat. BTW, I DON'T think those are spats. I think those shoes have patent leather on the lower part and calfskin on the upper part. But I'm not sure. True spats would show a strap under the sole of the shoe. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Sgt. Choken: 1943
... Wheels Down Sgt. Choken is hereby cleared for approach. Night landings especially. Hubba hubba! Jeez Louise Holy cow, that boy ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2012 - 1:50pm -

July 1943. "Myrtle Beach, S.C. Air Service Command. Mobile chief Technical Sergeant Vasile Choken, whose home is in Akron, Ohio. In civilian life he drove a truck, ran a filling station and spent two years in the Civilian Conservation Corps." Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Reminds meof those cigarette ads that featured sports figures who espoused the merits of a good smoke to enhance performance. Johnny U, I miss you. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em. Chokem if you got 'em!Sorry, I just had to. He's smoking an unfiltered. Notice that the brand name is toward the lit end. Times have changedDuring WWII, cigarettes were 5 cents a pack for the military through the PX, and I am told that in combat zones they were free. I recently read in Stars & Stripes that the Department of Defense has instituted a program to eradicate smoking in the military in the next 20 years. A cig and a squintAside from the sporty all American ballcap, this fellow gives off a nice Clint Eastwood vibe. I nominate him for the Handsome Rakes gallery. He must be bachin' it, as any woman he kept handy would probably shave the little Brillo pad growing at the nape of his neck. Ciggie terminologyBack in my hometown regular folks, farmers and shop workers were said to smoke "rolled" cigarettes, which they made themselves, while executives and the well off could afford "tailored" cigarettes bought at the corner store. At Christmas, tailored cigarettes, packaged in lovely tin humidors, were considered a classy gift for Dad or that special guy. Chokem vs. ChokenLooks like Jack Delano got the surname slightly wrong. There is no Chokem in the Social Security Death Index. But: Vasile CHOKEN Birth Date: 14 Jan 1918 Death Date: 20 Aug 2004 Social Security Number: 285-12-3952 State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Ohio Death Residence Localities ZIP Code: 44313 Localities: Akron, Summit, Ohio Fairlawn, Summit, Ohio Shag tobaccoIn the Netherlands (where I am from) rolling your own "sjekkies" is still a very common practice. One can purchase a wallet size pouch with fine-cut tobacco pretty much in any supermarket, drugstore or kiosk, along with "vloei" -- very thin rolling paper. My Grandfather used to have a little rolling machine which he primarily used to roll his sigarettes after he suffered a stroke rendering the left side his body pretty much limp. Hazards of smokingMr. Choken smoked unfiltered cigarettes and lived to 86. Maybe he quit at a young age. Handsome!Thanks Shorpy, for providing me with pictures of all these good looking men. July 1943My birthday!!! Oh myHubba hubba! Service ManShag that? Sure I would. He's a handsome guy. You can see what might have made American troops welcome lots of places if they were all as cute as this guy. (He's the age of my father who was also in the Army during WWII. He'd be appalled at these sentiments of mine!) A 65 year difference65 years ago, 25 year old guys probably had worked 2 or more jobs to make ends meet and either joined up or were drafted into the war effort. Today the majority of 25 year olds are trying to pay off huge college debt, trying to find a job, and probably living in their parents' basement. I think I'd rather be smoking an unfiltered Camel. Wheels DownSgt. Choken is hereby cleared for approach. Night landings especially. Hubba hubba! Jeez LouiseHoly cow, that boy is hot*. Please, let's have more of the same. * Yeah, yeah. I know. Does it really matter? The boy is smokin'. Handsome Rake!!Dave, you have to add this guy to the list. Your attention to the Rake department lags disgracefully behind your identification of Pretty Girls. Do I have to boycott or something? Don't make us girls go hunting all over 5 zillion images for our cheesecake when the men have it all helpfully labeled for them. Hubba hubba. Rowr. [Alright. He now ranks among the rakes. - Dave] Eat your heart out, Bruce Weber!Vasile. What a beautiful Romanian name. DadThat's my dad. [What can you tell us about him? - Dave] Vasile Choken, my fatherFirst and foremost he was a good man. He had the most amicable and easygoing disposition of anyone I have ever met. The original spelling of the name was Ciokan but at roll call they could never pronounce it so he changed it to the phonetic spelling of Choken. He was also a good soldier, he was later sent to Officer's School where he received his commission and became a flight engineer on B-25's and B-17's. He was married to the love of his life, Helen, for 57 years. He had four children (two boys, two girls). I'm his younger son. When he left the service he returned to Akron, where he spent most of his adult life. He retired from the Akron Board of Education after 35 years. All in all a good life well spent. Ciokan=ciocan=hammerI am Romanian and I can tell you that his name was previously Ciocan, which in Romanian language means "hammer" -- a very suitable name for this nice guy. (The Gallery, Handsome Rakes, Jack Delano, WW2)
Ruf-Dry: 1924
... sprinkler bottles. I also remember her boiling rice the night before and straining the liquid through many layers of cheesecloth to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/30/2011 - 11:27am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Palace Laundry (Elite Laundry)." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. DetachableIf I remember correctly they were attached to the shirt at the back with a stud. Another stud at the front kept it together there. At school it was always a problem not to lose the studs. I suppose the theory was that collar was the part that became grubbiest first and so could be changed mid-week. Shirts were changed once a week - less of a problem than you might think in cold England before central heating. Rest easy, OTY!I well remember the sprinkling bottles, OTY. And I also remember what clothes pins were for. In fact, as I push birthday #75, I remember a lot of things you don't see any more. But good riddance to many of them! Ruf dry or damp washDoes anyone else alive today remember the "sprinkling bottles" our moms used to have which were hand-shaken, pierced "hose nozzle" type gadgets with corks (that fit into the bottles of water) that she used to sprinkle clothes, roll them up and have them prepared for ironing? If the weather was humid and one did not get around to ironing them the same day, the rolled-up clothes, linens, whatever, had to be refrigerated in a towel or allowed to hang and dry again to keep them from getting mildew spots. Please let there be somebody else who remembers this. Only the best!"Elite" Laundry! Don't you bring your old low class rags here, we only wash the best and fanciest clothes. But seriously, I love those deep commercial entrances with long display windows on each side of the door. It has a classy look lost in todays cookie cutter strip malls. IroningI sure remember the sprinkling-water part of my mother's ironing procedure. We didn't have much humidity in No Calif, so she never did the refrigerating-the-wash bit, though. One aspect always fascinated me: she'd buy gallon jugs of distilled water from the drug store to use with her steam iron, rather than tap water. We also had an ironer, or "mangle" as I've since learned it's sometimes called. A big white-enameled thing she'd have to wheel out into the kitchen to use. Did sheets on it, I think. I can't remember where the thing was stored when not in use. Drying was strictly a clothesline affair until we finally got a dryer sometime in the late 60s. Sprinkling bottlesI recall recycled glass vinegar bottles with holes punched in the top being used to dampen clothes before ironing (before the advent of the steam iron). Sometimes the holes had already been punched because we used to sprinkle our French fries with vinegar right from the bottle. Even the restaurants did this before they came out with the little vinegar dispensers. Heinz sold their vinegar in glass bottles before they came out in plastic. I still have an old vinegar bottle around here someplace. Linen suitsIn "Washington Goes to War", David Brinkley described the process used to clean a linen suit. The suit would be disassembled, then each piece washed by hand. The pieces would then be hung to dry on the roof, and finally put back together. Ten bucks, and a weeks time (longer in cloudy weather). More on IroningI still iron, though not like before. In Maryland, the summers are VERY sultry, and we did refrigerate sprinkled clothing. The distilled water was recommended so that there would not be a mineral buildup inside the steam vents of the iron. It disabled the steam setting of the iron by clogging up the vents. Today I use tap water. Your mother was a real pro in many areas of housewifery, tterrace, and I admire that. Not just the fridgeMy mom didn't just refrigerate her sprinkled clothes, she sometimes put them in the big chest freezer if it was going to be a few days. We had a big mangle iron, too. My Mom got so good with it she could do men's dress shirts with it. On each sideOn the lower left, in the neighboring store, sits a nice radio. And on the lower right, in the reflection, is a white car. Pretty unusual back then. Starch, Please I remember my grandmother using one one of those sprinkler bottles. I also remember her boiling rice the night before and straining the liquid through many layers of cheesecloth to remove any stray grains of rice. Then she would use that to starch shirt sleeves, cuffs and collars, also pant legs as well. The Unplane TruthI'm often surprised at the level of detail these photos capture. The first thing I noticed was that "Elite" had been painted directly onto a quite roughly finished board. You can quite clearly see the knots under the paintwork. A very impressive camera. [The "Elite" isn't painted on -- it's nailed on. - Dave] Sprinkle sprinkle little starchYes, my mother also had a sprinkling bottle for ironing. And she put clothes in the refrigerator. But she didn't sprinkle them to put them in the refrigerator. She took them out of the electric dryer half done, so they could go there. The sprinkle bottle was to touch up things that needed more detail ironing, or things that had wrinkles but had not been washed. Electric dryersWhen we went to Scotland back in 1962, my mother was telling her cousin about how she had an electric washer and dryer. Her cousin thought Canada must be terribly backward that homes didn't have "drying cupboards" -- narrow metal cabinets with a gas heater that you would hang your clothes in to dry. "An hour or so later, they're dry!" Mom tried, to no avail, to explain that 20 minutes in a tumble dryer would dry an entire load of washing, from socks to bedsheets. Sprinkle bottlesMy dad used a sprinkle bottle, too, for his Marine Corps uniforms. Mom couldn't do it perfectly enough to suit him, so he did them himself. My aunt apparently LOVED to iron! Even after she got a drier, she would pull clothes out of it while they were still warm, sprinkle them, and shove them into a pillowcase, to make sure they were good and wrinkled! She even did that with my cousin's jeans. He found it a bit embarrassing going to high school in starched and creased Levis! CollaredSome day I need to go research how collars could be separate from the shirts. Do not believe I have ever seen that and I'm semi-ancient myself. Just checked and the sole vinegar in our pantry* is in a glass bottle. *is this word still used? A tint situationAnd I also remember my mother dyeing various textile things in the washing machine. The next load was always quite iffy, if not spiffy. Dating the PhotoAlthough the caption states that the photo is "circa 1924", there is evidence that it is a bit later than that. The radio shown in the store window next door is a Atwater Kent Model 35, which according to Alan Douglas's "Radio Manufacturers of the 1920s", was introduced in July 1926. Indeed my Atwater Kent catalog dated September 1925 does not yet show this groundbreaking model. The Model 35 was a single tuning dial battery radio, which was a breakthrough in convenience when it was introduced. The Model 35 was also the first Atwater-Kent model to be housed in a metal case, a feature that allowed A K to lower the price by a reported $15. Shorpy has in the past featured a number of photos taken inside the Atwater Kent Philadelphia factory. The second radio, only partially visible, appears to be an RCA Model 16, introduced in September, 1927, again according to Douglas. I'm not sure what the item is in the small box below the Atwater Kent. It looks vaguely like either a transistor radio or a pocket calculator, so perhaps the picture is actually much newer! Separate collarsCollars and cuffs used to be separate units from the body of the shirt. (I'm not sure how they were secured -- this was even before my time.) The theory was that they were the part that got dirty, while most of the shirt remained (relatively) clean. That way, you could wear the same shirt for days, only replacing the visible dirty parts as needed. Drop HereI wonder if someone after writing name plainly and pulling the handle ever dropped the clothes on the entryway instead of inside the door. 2902 X StreetI noticed that this is not the first Elite Laundry shop to be featured here. https://www.shorpy.com/node/4375 I wonder if anyone has been able to narrow down a possible location of this newest one? Location, maybeSo I've been doing some research. The address is 2902, which means probably somewhere in Columbia Heights, Georgia Ave area, or Georgetown. Judging by the buildings in the window reflections, I would guess Columbia Heights. The reflection looks a lot like 2901 14th Street, although one window seems to be circular at the top rather than square. One more for OTYI remember my mom sprinkling the clothes, rolling them up and putting them in the frig in the summer (humid in Mpls) and she also got a mangle for ironing sheets. Whoever irons sheets? Mom did, plus my dad's underwear, etc. Times were different. I am 63 and a lot sure has changed. (She says as she checks her iPad). Ha ha ha. Whole new world! Location foundThis is 2902 14th Street in Columbia Heights. The row houses reflected in the windows on the other side of the street still stand today. A huge condo/apartment building now occupies the side of 14th where the laundry was. (The Gallery, D.C., Stores & Markets)
Bustling Baltimore: 1917
... the mid '60s I worked for Railway Express and each weekday night we would make a run from our depot on Calvert & Centre to Penn ... onto the tracks. That was always the best part of our night since after that we would take our time getting back to the depot so we ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:18pm -

Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1917. "Union Station showing Charles Street and Jones Falls." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Kind to pedestriansLove that railroad viaduct. What Is Their Purpose?Toward the right side of the photo there are some rectangular blocks on top of a building behind the Union Station building. Two of them are up against the windows in a sort of wavy manner. They look sort of like warped mini-roofs. What is their purpose and why are they wavy and slanted as opposed to flat like the other ones? [Wavy things: roofs over stairways. Flat things: skylights. - Dave] Flour, Yeast, Studebakers and CokeWhat else can you possibly want? Don't forget the ice!Sign behind and to the left of Union Station. It's Penn Station nowand still in full daily use, including as a main stop on the Amtrak high-speed Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston. Still vibrant on the eve of WWIBaltimore was my childhood home. This view, dated 1917, shows a Baltimore that was still a vibrant city. Note the tenement homes, in good shape, interspersed with a variety of industry and transportation. Home to the country's first railroad, Baltimore was the second largest port on the East Coast. The streets are clean and there are landscaped areas to be enjoyed by the residents -- a bit of elbow room to make life bearable. Thirteen years earlier, downtown Balto had suffered a major fire. The Baltimore of today is but a shadow of its former self, having suffered substantial economic and social decay. This photo evokes a sad nostalgia of a bygone era. Bawlmer -- where do I start?You'll need the hi-def version to follow me here. The freight yard across the top of the photo is the Northern Central Railway, and since 1912, the Pennsylvania RR Bolton Freight Station. My great grandfather was likely working there this day, as he would until Bolton Street was closed. Just off photo to the distant left is B&O's Mount Royal Station, the tracks of which are below grade behind the PRR yard. The Studebaker/Garford shop was known as Zell Motor Car Company; my grandmother's brother-in-law was a highly regarded mechanic there for many years. The prominent arch-windowed building behind it on Charles Street is now part of University of Baltimore, where I attended classes for a time. The beautiful massive stone structure in the distance with two stacks was a water pumping station, removed for I-83 construction in the 1960s. Directly in front of that building is North Avenue "NA" Tower; it's dark because it is painted in B&O's red color. NA Tower protected the crossing between the two track line seen crossing Jones Falls, and the B&O main line, which isn't visible here. Note locomotives on both sides of NA tower. The water course in the middle is Jones Falls (the name being a peculiarity of the region; instead of Creek or Run, sometimes a channel was called a Falls). The most distant bridge is North Avenue Viaduct, built in the 1890s and still in use. Close behind the viaduct is B&O's bridge over the Falls, not visible here. At the right end of the viaduct, above the Morgan Millwork sign, can be seen the B&O mainline to Philadelphia and where I labored four decades. Finally, great big Union Station isn't the only downtown passenger terminal in view. Just left of Morgan Millwork and above the City Ice sign is the peaked roof of the Maryland and Pennsylvania (Ma & Pa) RR's Oak Street Station. Beautiful shot. Thanks, Dave! Slow TrainI commuted from Richmond to Baltimore twice a week during the gas crisis of 1973-74. Taking the train was, at times, a pleasure but it was anything but "high speed." Railway Express & OystersIn the mid '60s I worked for Railway Express and each weekday night we would make a run from our depot on Calvert & Centre to Penn Station. The usual cargo was mainly express packages and barrels of oysters and boxes of soft shelled crabs fresh from Crisfield on the Chesapeake Bay headed to Philadelphia and New York. We would drive down that ramp to train track level and transfer the barrels to those high-wheeled station carts, which were pulled by a small mule (automotive variety). As the train entered the station we would drive alongside as it came to a stop so our carts were lined up with the messenger car. We had ten frantic minutes of rolling the barrels into the car until the train pulled out. Thankfully we never hit a passenger or dropped a barrel onto the tracks. That was always the best part of our night since after that we would take our time getting back to the depot so we got there just about time to punch out and head down Calvert Street to Susie's for an after work beer. So if sometime you stopped in an Oyster Bar in Philly or New York and had either some soft shell crabs or oysters and remarked about the freshness of the same it might have been me who got them there for you. Another InspirationI wish I was a kid again. What a grand sight this would be in H.O. Scale! Morgan Millwork Co.Morgan Millwork Co. was the eastern warehouse and showroom for the Morgan Sash & Door Company. Architectural Record, 1910. Correct Craftsmen Style Morgan Doors are noted for correctness and originality of design and finish. Their construction is guaranteed to be absolutely faultless. Morgan Doors add wonderfully to the permanent value, comfort, beauty and satisfaction of the house. Morgan Doors are light, remarkably strong, and built of several layers of wood with grain running in opposite directions. Shrinking, warping or swelling is impossible. Veneered in all varieties of hard wood — Birch, plain or quarter-sawed red or white Oak, brown Ash, Mahogany, etc. Any style of architecture. Very best for Residences, Apartments, Offices, Bungalows or any building. Each Morgan Door is stamped "Morgan" which guarantees highest quality, style, durability and satisfaction. You can have Morgan Doors if you specify and insist. The National Builder, 1915. Morgan Sash & Door Company Department A-22, Chicago Factory: Morgan Co., Oshkosh, Wis. Eastern Warehouse and Display, Morgan Millwork Co., Baltimore. Displays: 6 East 19th St., New York; 309 Palmer Bldg., Detroit; Building Exhibit, Insurance Exchange, Chicago. Looks like the early 1920’sby the look of some of the cars Corpus Christi Church and MICAThe tall pointy steeple in the upper left corner is Corpus Christi Church, and the white building to its left is the Maryland Institute College of Art where I went to college. (The Gallery, Baltimore, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
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