MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
Home

Search Shorpy

SEARCH TIP: Click the tags above a photo to find more of same:
Mandatory field.

Search results -- 30 results per page

Toy Story: 1925
... Kurtz still toils. "Week in, week out, from morn till night," smiling as he sits on his low and much worn cobbler's seat, keeping a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2011 - 3:45am -

Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "The toy shop, 1207 New York Avenue." The former Apolonia Stuntz store (seen earlier on Shorpy here and here) where Abraham Lincoln is said to have bought toys for his son Tad, now the Lee Lung First-Class Laundry ("Bosom 6¢"). A scene so sun-dappled and languid, it's making us ... very ... sleepy. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Camera ShyThe horse may be drowsing, but his groom is very aware of the photographer. PricesIs that 6 cents a bosom? Perhaps a dime for the pair? Looks like horseyhas a hairball. Boot & Shoe RepairingIt's good to see Louis Kurtz is still going strong these 12 years later. His store hasn't changed a bit. Rooms For RentI wonder how you got to your room when Lee Lung had closed up shop for the day. Before inflationTo launder a complete shirt: 7 cents for the shirt, 15 cents for the collar, and 3 cents for the cuffs - a total of 25 cents. In 1966, it cost me 25 cents to launder a shirt (with starch) in Carbondale, IL. The collar and cuffs were attached. Louis Kurtz: Presidential Bootmaker Washington Post, Sep 23, 1923. Made Boots for Gen. Grant. By Byrd Mock. How many people in Washington know that the shoemaker to President Grant still makes shoes at this little shop at 1209 New York avenue northwest? Above the door of this battered-looking old shop is the legend, "L. Kurtz, Boot and Shoe Manufacturer," but it takes good eyes to make out the lettering dimmed with age, for the sign has never been changed or renewed since it was first nailed over the door of the cobbler's shop 43 years ago, when he moved from the old shop at 733 Seventh street northwest, where Grant, both as general of the United States army and as President of the United States, personally paid frequent visits to have his boots made and repaired, as well as to order shoes for his entire family. At the time Gen. Grant gave his first order for pair of boots, L. Kurtz was a young apprentice to his uncle, Louis Kurtz, and it fell to the young man's lot to stitch the tops of the uppers of the general's boots and to fit them to the bottoms, which were made by his more experienced uncle. Gray haired, horny-handed, wrinkle-skinned, almost at the end of his three score and ten, Louis Kurtz still toils. "Week in, week out, from morn till night," smiling as he sits on his low and much worn cobbler's seat, keeping a sort of jagged rhythm with his hammer strokes with which he punctuates his conversation. … [Stories of Grant's first visit to the shop, his shoe size, "He wore a 7½ on a wide last," and visits from Grant's children. Other famous patrons: Gen. Sherman, Adm. G.W. Baird, Judge Dent, and President Mckinley.] (The Gallery, D.C., Horses, Natl Photo)
The Little Sleep: 1936
... I can only imagine some of the dreams this guy had at night. Jewish Dolls I suppose the dolls were finally dressed in accurate ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/06/2013 - 4:49pm -

1936. "Mt. Holyoke, Massachusetts - Paragon Rubber Co. and American Character Doll. Setting eyes in sleeping dolls (Jewish) A plus." Whatever that means. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. HamletAlas, poor Yorick! The Head HonchoHead Man, He's going to get a head in his work, Head of his department, etc... He'll never get anywhere wearing that shirt though. Who'd have thunkLooks like Robert Downey Jr auditioning for his next role. Santa's helpersThis is what they really looked like, not elves at all. Can you imagine the good feeling one would get giving sight to hundreds of thousands of babydolls? I wonder how much they paid him to do this tedious, monotonous work. In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny"Didja ever get the feeling you was being... watched?" I can only imagine some of the dreams this guy had at night. Jewish DollsI suppose the dolls were finally dressed in accurate Jewish clothing, thus making a historically correct Jewish-American doll. C.f. the Ellis Island Collection, a collection of turn-of-the-century replica dolls. See also: Historical, Jewish-American Doll a Girl Worth Waiting for. (The Gallery, Factories, Lewis Hine)
The Old Song and Dance: 1919
... in declining areas and had lost the family or "date night" trade. By the mid-70s, they had moved into the hard core porn then ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/18/2012 - 5:59pm -

"Sidney Lust girls." Circa 1919, two of Washington, D.C., movie theater owner Sidney Lust's chorus girls, seen earlier out of costume. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size. Shorpy GirlsWe see these two so often maybe they should be the Official Shorpy Girls. Official Shorpy GirlsThese two hadn't been girls for a long time. They liked them big-boned!Seems to me that in the early part of the century, the girl-watchers preferred the meatier ones, unlike today. I remember my father saying he liked "something to hang onto." I also have some old posters from that era advertising weight-gaining tonic to make you pleased with "your husband's proud gaze." Standards have changed. Is my memory right?Did this fellow's chain of theaters eventually -- say, by the late 70s -- begin showing only "adult" movies? I grew up in DC and seem to remember that his listings were always in the smaller print next to the regular theaters. Lusty CinemaYour memory is right. Starting in the late 60s, the Lust Theaters ran what would be called "soft core" porn today, but was on the edge for movie theaters of the day. Lots of bare breasts, shower scenes, and other "suggestive" situations. No male nudity or full female nudity. They went to this format because the Lust houses were primarily in declining areas and had lost the family or "date night" trade. By the mid-70s, they had moved into the hard core porn then flourishing, and eventually all closed down as their locations came to be seen as too dangerous for most pornophiles. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Arcade Hockey Club: 1926
... A new dish was served on Washington's sports menu last night at the Arcade when teams representing Washington and Baltimore met at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/18/2012 - 5:44pm -

January 22, 1926. Washington, D.C. "Arcade Hockey Club." And if roller hockey isn't your cup of tea, we also have Billiards Dancing Bowling. View full size. Hard CoreThey look like some pretty tough hombres. Street hockey ancestorsLet's see: cricket pads, field hockey sticks, a tiny net, and a softball. Turn those roller skates into rollerblades, and you've got a typical makeshift street hockey game in my neighborhood in the 1990s. Capital Cityans Washington Post, Jan 18, 1926 D.C. Hockey Team Defeats Baltimore A new dish was served on Washington's sports menu last night at the Arcade when teams representing Washington and Baltimore met at roller hockey. The Capital Cityans winning, 3 to 1. The game is both fast and rough but seemed to appeal to the gathering on hand, made up mostly of skaters. The visitors scored their lone tally shortly after the opening whistle blew when Freeman, running down the sidelines, scored on a chance shot. Before the first period ended Washington tied the score, and its two other goals came in the second. The third was a scoreless one for both teams. Houston easily starred for Baltimore, while the Whitings were the locals best bets. The listed Washington players are: Barkley, Morrow, Harrison, W. Whiting, H. (Harry) Whiting, and Ferguson. A roller hockey match consisted of three 15-minute periods. LocationI wonder if this was taken at the Uline Arena which was located where the Watergate complex is now. Any guesses? [The Arcade roller hockey club played in the Arcade Building at 14th Street and Park Road. Uline arena (which was nowhere near where the Watergate is) was built in 1940, for ice hockey. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Sports)
How to Stand on Your Head
... capri pants/no sleeve blouse outfit in the mall last night. Eventually everything comes around again I suppose. Except, let's ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 5:03pm -

Method 1: Make use of your poise, balance and coordination. Method 2: Lacking any of those, make use of your big sister. A pair of Kodachromes shot by my brother on our lawn in 1955. View full size. Thanks tterrace!tterrace, I've really enjoyed the pictures you've submitted. Thanks so much for sharing! Standing on your headThis actually was one of the two things I learned in Gymnastics class (which I hated. Couldn't do cartwheels for the life of me. Or the balance bars.) The other was a backwards somersault. --Girl in the checkered shirt. CaprisExcept for that particular Kodachrome glow, these could have been taken yesterday, not 53 years ago. I saw a young lady in an almost identical capri pants/no sleeve blouse outfit in the mall last night. Eventually everything comes around again I suppose. Except, let's hope, those alternative pants we saw you and your brother in. Capri pants = pedal pushersThe term I grew up with (my sister wore them a lot) was pedal pushers. ShakedownGreat pics! The second pic could be titled "How to shake down your little brother for his lunch money". Pay up, squirt! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Kids, tterrapix)
Partying in Florida: 1975
... Florida and my wife Barb and I are set to boogie the night away. I'm looking good in my pressed Jack Nicklaus leisure suit with ... wide belt and bottle of Schlitz in hand. We danced the night away to K.C. and The Sunshine Band and Hot Chocolate. I still shake ... 
 
Posted by Jim McAllister - 12/07/2010 - 8:37am -

It was New Year's Eve, 1975 in Naples, Florida and my wife Barb and I are set to boogie the night away. I'm looking good in my pressed Jack Nicklaus leisure suit with obligatory wide belt and bottle of Schlitz in hand. We danced the night away to K.C. and The Sunshine Band and Hot Chocolate. I still shake my head when I look at that haircut and the outfit I wore that night. Cool then but laughable to the point of being a curio now. Still, it's a nice reminder of younger times and my wife is as beautiful as ever 35 years later.
Captured German Plane
... This is supposedly a Ju87D from a Nachtschlachtgruppe (Night ground attack group) in Luftflotte 4. The picture must be from 1945, ... 
 
Posted by rkoch - 07/27/2010 - 11:02am -

a capture German plane. The photo was taken by my Dad who was with Eyes of the 8th. View full size. re: Captured German PlaneThe plane your dad took a picture of appears to be a Ju-87D Stuka dive bomber. There's one of these very similar to this on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. This is supposedly a Ju87DThis is supposedly a Ju87D from a Nachtschlachtgruppe (Night ground attack group) in Luftflotte 4. The picture must be from 1945, indicated by the yellow ring on the engine and the yellow rudder. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, WW2)
Smokestack Industry: 1910
... yard. Think of what it would be like to do this at night in a snowstorm! Dr Fletcher, I Presume In the background of this ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2015 - 10:08am -

Circa 1910. "Maumee River waterfront -- Toledo, O." Railroads represented on the coal cars: Hocking Valley, Kanawha and Michigan, Zanesville & Western, Toledo & Ohio Central. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size. McMyler coal dumperThe leftmost pier-side structure is a McMyler coal unloader. This runs a RR car up a huge elevator and then bodily tips the whole car into an adjustable chute which carries the coal into a ship's hold. In the photo, a Kanawha & Michigan car is on the lift. The loaded cars were pushed up the ramp and onto the elevator not by a locomotive but rather by a pushing device called a "Barney" that travelled between the running rails. The track which slopes down to the left of the dumper, and then ascends again on the left edge of the frame is the very interesting empty car return of the McMyler system. After the elevator brings the now-empty car back down, the car is "kicked" to the left and rolls down the slope, gaining momentum. The car then rolls uphill to a dead stop out of the photo, whereupon it starts rolling in the other direction. Right before the dead end is a spring-loaded track switch which diverts the rolling car toward the empty car storage yard. There is one of these dumpers standing abandoned in Port Reading NJ on the Arthur Kill. It has not been used since 1980. The return track structure has suffered severe fire damage. I know a man whose father was employed by the Reading RR to ride the coasting empty cars coming from the McMyler unloader. His function was to apply the hand brakes when they were about to couple to the string of empty cars in the collection yard. Think of what it would be like to do this at night in a snowstorm! Dr Fletcher, I PresumeIn the background of this picture there is a wall with an ad for Chas H Fletcher"s Castoria, a nostrum ready to cure some of the ills of the 19th, 20th and even the beginning of the 21st Centuries. There were many walls near the Brooklyn Bridge decorated with the Castoria signage painted just in time for span's opening in 1883. The last of the signs that I know of were taken down in NYC about 2005. A better view is attached. That belching smokestackThe densest plume of smoke is coming from a slender steel stack on a powerhouse between the McMyler coal unloader and the three gantry cranes. The RR car elevator on a McMyler coal dumper is powered by a reciprocating steam engine. This is no doubt the McMyler's boiler house. Hocking Valley coal is bituminous coal, which can produce volumes of visible smoke. There are many interesting details in this image, including a clamshell bucket resting on the near pier close to the combined office and scale house of the Toledo Fuel Co. The presence of the Toledo & Ohio Central work train consisting of a tool car, two camp cars, and a flat car with a rest for the boom of a small RR maintenance crane might explain the presence of the clamshell bucket. All-in-all, a "delicious" image of a time of great industries which were unfortunately accompanied by great pollution! Model in operationHere is a working model of a coal unloader. The empty car return is clearly seen. The model does not use the 'Barney' but rather a regular engine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLbqnw2bKeI A current viewHere is the McMyler in New Jersey. It is an interesting "contraption." A snapshot of C&O historyThis photo captures a point in Chesapeake & Ohio history where all of these roads were to some extent or another under its control. In this year the Hocking Valley got merged into the C&O; the other lines got merged together and and eventually ended up as part of the New York Central due to antitrust concerns. Of course much later in the Young period the NYC and C&O were closely allied, which was more or less made permanent when CSX and NS split up Conrail. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads, Toledo)
Pardon My Rack: 1943
... labor-intensive. I notice a leaflet for what are probably night classes at the YMCA. It's January, the men are off at was, so it's no ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/11/2016 - 7:38pm -

January 1943. Washington, D.C. "Girl in the doorway of her room at a boarding­house." With photographer Esther Bubley (or sister Enid) front and center. Medium format negative for the Office of War Information. View full size. WW2 WashingtonSpace was at a premium when soldiers and civilians were living in D.C. then, in very tight quarters. It reminds me of the Joel McCrea movie "The More the Merrier". P.S.I haven't been here for some time. Nice to be back. Not a hair out of placeThanks jsm, for posting the link to the BYU master's thesis. I love this series of photos. Despite the disorder of their cramped quarters, both young women in this photo have taken care to make sure their hair is beautifully styled. And those 1940s women's hairstyles were very labor-intensive. I notice a leaflet for what are probably night classes at the YMCA. It's January, the men are off at was, so it's no surprise his photo has a more melancholy aspect than others in this series. The Girl with the Rackappears to be the same one who mistook her wall lamp (sans shade) for an angel, in an earlier Bubley posting. Also, I couldn't help noticing the earmuffs on the bed lower left. I had those as a kid in the '50's, and that spring frame ALWAYS pinched and pulled out a clump of hair. Ouch. Original ExitSo Kleenex used to exit through the side of the box, eh? Dissin’s Guest HouseVriean Diether Taggart, the author of a masters' thesis at BYU titled "Documenting the Dissin’s Guest House: Esther Bubley’s Exploration of Jewish American Identity, 1942-43," identifies the woman in the foreground as the photographer's sister Enid. Sisters Enid, Claire and Esther were in Washington together during the war, and one or both of the sisters have appeared in other photos by Esther during that period, including this one, another here and perhaps this one. The boardinghouse was the former mansion of Charles Mather Ffoulke at 2013 Massachusetts Ave. NW, a space now occupied by the Embassy Row Hotel. [Note floodlamp reflector on the bed. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Esther Bubley, WW2)
Cold-Rolled: 1941
... here . - Dave] He loved shadows, dirty snow, night cityscapes, old buildings, locomotives and, mostly, workers and ordinary ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/22/2018 - 11:14am -

January 1941. "Mill district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Long stairway in a working class section." Acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. It looks like a stairway, but it’s a street Pittsburgh has hundreds of stairways like these, many of them categorized as city streets. They’re one of the things that make the city unique. Ernie Pyle wrote of the steps of Pittsburgh: “Oh Lord, the steps! I was told they actually had a Department of Steps. That isn’t exactly true, although they do have an Inspector of Steps. But there are nearly 15 miles of city-owned steps, going up mountainsides.“ SlipperyLook at those women further down the hill, linking arms. With the slope and the packed snow, I can imagine the grip underfoot was precarious. Jack DelanoI really appreciate all the Delano photos you have been posting. Many I have not seen before. We have all seen this one; if it's not his greatest photo it's his greatest landscape. [This is a "new" photo that we have not seen before, although similar to the one posted earlier here. - Dave] He loved shadows, dirty snow, night cityscapes, old buildings, locomotives and, mostly, workers and ordinary people in general. He goes past the pathos so abundant in those years and gets to the dignity of workers and poor people. My favorite is of a young black woman wearing her best suit and a tilted white hat while leaning on a rail and waiting for a bus to the next agricultural job. He was born in the Ukraine, grew up in N.Y.C. and spent the last half of his life in Porto Rico, which he loved. He would probably have considered himself a musician (composer) first and a photographer second. His autobiography "Photographic Memories" is worth finding. Another Fine MessSomehow, I can't help but envision Laurel and Hardy trying to move a piano up this stairway. Burgh StairsThis brings back memories of out-of-town drivers being confounded by streets suddenly turning to stairs, even though a through street showed on a map. Taking a ChanceThis is intersection of the short Chance Way, ambling off to the left at the bottom of the wooden stairs and Tullymet Street diving steeply down to Irvine and the Coal/Coke plants, now gone. In a modern view the only feature left are some newer concrete stairs with metal railings and that house in the left foreground, still very recognizable. (The Gallery, Factories, Jack Delano, Pittsburgh)
The Big Train: 1924
... New York Times. Sadly, the Nats lost a heartbreaker last night; for her sake - and the sake of Washington baseball fans of all ages - ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 7:55pm -

September 30, 1924. Washington Nationals pitcher Walter Johnson, aka "The Big Train," with his wife, mother and children at Union Station. View full size. National Photo Company collection glass negative, Library of Congress. Ty Cobb FlinchedAn excerpt describing Walter Johnson's first major league outing. He was 19, and freshly called up from a minor league team in Idaho: Indeed, the Tigers were wowed. They were on their way to the American League pennant and had a fearsome lineup. But after they swept the doubleheader by beating Johnson in that second game, they knew they had seen a man who would be a rival for years. "I watched him take that easy windup -- and then something went past me that made me flinch," Ty Cobb said. "I hardly saw the pitch, but I heard it. The thing just hissed with danger. Every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ballpark." Best Pitcher EverIt's hard to argue against Walter Johnson as the greatest pitcher ever. Lifetime - 417 wins, 2.17 ERA, and 3,509 K's all with the Washington Nationals who were in second division most of Big Train's career. Little Carolyn still making newsThe toddler in Walter Johnson's arms is his daughter, Carolyn. Now 89, Carolyn was recently featured in the New York Times. Sadly, the Nats lost a heartbreaker last night; for her sake - and the sake of Washington baseball fans of all ages - they will hopefully get to the World Series next year. (The Gallery, D.C., Kids, Natl Photo, Railroads, Sports)
Atlantic & Pacific: 1907
... about nine o'clock and you had yourself a hot summer night. Now I've Robert Palmer and those girls in my head. What were ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/18/2021 - 11:26am -

Atlantic City, New Jersey, circa 1907. "St. Nicholas Church, Pacific and Tennessee Avenues." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Reprobates?Based on my own misspent youth, it appears those boys to the left of the church are up to no good. Not on my Monopoly boardHaving visited Atlantic City but once, it is difficult for me to think of it as a normal town with churches and grocery stores and such. I don’t remember Boardwalk Empire as being heavily populated by the “normal” either! Now if the spires displayed gold letters spelling T R U M P .... Fresh GroundIt would be holy [sic] appropriate, then, if the post-service convivium featured refreshment made possible by a classic A&P Eight O'Clock coffee grinder (the sort of which was omnipresent in grocery stores of the not-so-distant past). Ground for this church was broken not so very long before this image was captured, as construction was completed in 1905. And it still stands! (I was prepared to discover this would be yet another church to face the wrecking ball.) Quite the tangle Power line work by the local electric company has left the top of this utility pole looking like the aftermath of an explosion in a spaghetti factory. The carbon arc light suspended above the street brings back memories of the old movie projectors. For a couple of summers during my adolescence I was friends with the projectionist at one of the local drive-in theaters. I would go to work with him different nights and learned to operate the projectors. One of the neat things was watching for the little circle of light to flash on the bottom right of the screen to signal when to start the second projector. When the circle flashed again you opened the shutter on the second projector and shut off the first projector. If done correctly it was seamless. I don't remember exactly long each reel of film lasted but there were a lot changes in a two hour movie. Add that to the standard double feature starting about nine o'clock and you had yourself a hot summer night. Now I've Robert Palmer and those girls in my head. What were they looking at?The St. Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Church, circa 1907, is a beautiful church. But I wonder what parish it serves? Today it's surrounded by mostly low price hotels and parking lots. This picture captures some great moments. At left is a group of boys, circled around something, all staring down intently. No doubt it was something only boys would find fascinating. While around the corner are the girls, grouped at the top of the steps. You can almost hear the giggling. I also like the man up against the wall, with his thumbs in his vest, posing for the photographer. Then and NowLooking at the magnificent structure in 1907, one is aware of its huge size, and with the spartan number of people around makes it seem even more huge and out of sync with reality. Skip forward to 2021 and it seems not many more people are around than 114 years before. In reply to Rob EllieCarbon rods, positive and negative or sometimes two negatives, were used in projection world wide up until around the 1960s when xenon filled high pressure glass bulbs were introduced. Both consumed large amperage but at low voltages, based on the size of the rectifiers supplying the DC current, the size of the screen, and the size of the carbon rods and xenon lamps, ranging anywhere from 5mm to 30mm diameter or more for the carbon rods to 1000 watts to 15000 watts for xenons, depending on whether the screen was small or huge such as Imax. The latest technology is laser powered light sources in some locations. The xenon lamps are used for both film (now rare) and digital projection. Carbon arcs were also the norm for film studio lighting, in combination with sealed lamps. Carbon arc light was very intense, needed especially for early slow speed film stock. It was also the closest natural color temperature to daylight. Film spools were usually around 1000 feet in the era of flammable nitrate film and then when safety film was developed around the early 1950s, 2000 feet became the industry norm for shipping and most projection, until larger spools, example 6000 feet started being used in some cinemas in the 1960s, leading to the entire film (35mm or 70mm) being held on horizontal 'platters' introduced around the early 1980s, all systems that were joined up by the projectionist from the delivered 2000 foot spool. A 2000 foot spool ran for about 20 minutes when full. (The Gallery, Atlantic City, DPC)
Fender Bender: 1933
... be 1st and H I looked at Google Maps. Looks like it night be First and H Street. A lead, if not an answer The street sign to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/14/2015 - 9:00am -

Washington, D.C., 1933. "Front of wrecked automobile." Nitrate negative by Theodor Horydczak. Who can locate the intersection? View full size. Car ID1931 Chevrolet Might be 1st and HI looked at Google Maps. Looks like it night be First and H Street. A lead, if not an answerThe street sign to the left of the car seems to say E (or possibly I) Street. The car itself appears to be on a boulevard with a very wide median, or where the street in the foreground intersects with the street visible at left at an acute angle a block or two down the road (behind the wreck). Unfortunately, I'm not finding any locations that fit the bill. I St NE? NW? SE? SW?So the cross St is I Street because in DC, 1st street is spelled First. The next clue is the street we are on has a median. I St NW has a wide street near farragut square but the park does not show in the picture. I St. SW crosses a wide street at 7th but it curves and I dont see the Jefferson Middle School Building That leaves I St NE and SE both of which cross Capitol but those areas have totally been changed and rebuilt or torn down. My guess is I St and Capital NE. I st is EYE St in DCSource: Visited my daughter and noticed this. My first thought was "E" but could be "H" Process of eliminationIf you look closely at the photo detail I posted earlier, the cross street cannot be I (Eye) St. These old signs centered the street name between "St" and the quadrant. "I" would be too far to the left to be centered. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Theodor Horydczak)
The Olbiston: 1906
... No way one might have to apologize to the neighbor late at night for having (mis)taken the wrong driveway. Where the 'Goyles Are ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/25/2020 - 6:33pm -

Circa 1906. "The Olbiston, Genesee Street, Utica, N.Y." Offering a mix of "bachelor and family apartments," the fireproof Olbiston, completed around 1900, still stands. View full size. Here's looking at you, kidThose façade faces are pretty creepy. I found an article which offered an explanation for their presence: "On the side of the building facing Genesee Street, several faces are carved into the brick, and while there is no real answer as to their origin, there are some theories ... one theory is that four of the faces may commemorate the four people who died in the Genesee Flats fire in 1896." https://www.uticaod.com/news/20190622/history-speaks-volumes-about-olbis... But that doesn't explain the other faces; I see at least twelve, not counting the one on the closest turreted section, which looks like it's supposed to be Satan. I'm too lazy to research it but if they haven't already, somebody should make a horror film there. According to this recent article, it's already a horror to live there. https://www.uticaod.com/news/20190622/uncertainty-surrounds-olbiston Same View Not long agoA more recent photo. A bit ugly.But very distinctive and individual. No way one might have to apologize to the neighbor late at night for having (mis)taken the wrong driveway. Where the 'Goyles AreGothic Revival architecture liked to incorporate the use of gargoyles although these are kind of bas-relief examples. King MovieStill standing and still fireproof. Yes also creepy. If Stephen King wrote a novel about an apartment building with bad vibes that only allowed evil people to live there, this would be where the movie would need to be made. (The Gallery, DPC, Utica)
Double Jeopardy: 1940
... place newspaper on the floor on his side of the bed at night because he would wake up and start hacking out some very bad black stuff. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/18/2018 - 4:03pm -

August 1940. "Miner at Dougherty's mine, near Falls Creek, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. What IsCoal Dust and Cigarette Smoke, Alex. Sixteen TonsIf you see me comin', better step aside A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died One fist of iron, the other of steel If the right one don't a-get you, then the left one will! My Grandfatherworked in the coal mines in the Lehigh Valley and contracted the black lung disease. My grandmother told me when I was about 8 that she would place newspaper on the floor on his side of the bed at night because he would wake up and start hacking out some very bad black stuff. In the morning she would wrap up the newspaper and put it out in the trash. She did this for about ten years until he died just before WWII began. When he quit the mines he found a job as a train conductor on on the Lehigh Valley railroad and I wound up with his Hamilton pocket watch that he used as part of his job. I'm originally from the patch. Very close to Mauch Chunk, now known as Jim Thorpe. This poor guy is probably about 17 years old. Black LungBig Coal: "It's the cigarettes!" Big Tobacco: "No, it's the coal dust!" Tale of belt holesFrom the way the holes in his belt are worn it looks like he gained a bit of weight (the hole to the right of the one currently in use is stretched), then he lost a good bit (he had to punch a hole to make the belt even smaller than the last hole allowed), and now he's moved up to the last machine-punched hole again. Troubles Come in ThreesIt is bad enough that he is exposed to coal dust in his work and that he could get lung cancer from the cigarettes but that tumor on his right eye needs to be looked at also. Poor guy probably couldn't afford to get medical attention. [Or he smacked his head into something or someone. I had an egg just like that caused by head-to-pavement contact. - Dave] (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Mining)
Letterbox: 1912
... Hmmm, I hadn't considered rain, sleet and gloom of night. Never mind. First Street, NW? Could this picture have been taken ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2013 - 11:56am -

Washington, D.C. "Post Office Department. Motorcycle postman. 1912." S14 collects the mail. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. "Arrow" keyThe lower serial (marked "Street Letter Box" around "United States") lacks the "Mickey Mouse" ears that appear on the cases of later locks. The "Arrow" key was used for locks mounted within the door of a letterbox. It is called an "Arrow" key because it has an arrow marked on the box indicating which edge of the key points down when inserted into the lock. Both of these locks are produced at the same location as they were in 1912, at the Mail Equipment Shops, 2135 Fifth Street, NE, Washington, DC. Another photo on Shorpy shows assembly of the "LA" lock. Frank R. Scheer Railway Mail Service Library Cox MailboxI believe the fellow in the photo is likely the John C. Gaither mentioned below: the 'S' in his badge indicates a substitute carrier. An article earlier in the year anticipates the use of motorcycles to replace horses for the postal service. It states that, at the time, Washington D.C. employed 34 horse-drawn carts collecting mail at an annual cost of $420 each. I can't find any account of what became of these trials. Samuel C. Cox received patents on this type of letter box in 1910 and 1915. To Collect Mail Quicker Trial Route with Motorcycles and Cox Boxes May Revolutionize Services. Under the direction of Postmaster Merritt the city postoffice will place in operation September 24 and experimental route of mail collection, which if satisfactory may revolutionize this work in all the cities of the country. The experiment contemplates the combined use of motorcycles with the drop-bottom letter box invented by Dr. S. Clifford Cox, of this city. The motorcycle is equipped with a bin which can be placed under the box, which when unlocked pours the mail in the to bin. The collector merely has to halt his machine for a moment and is not called upon to dismount, as the throwing of the lever causes the box to close up properly. The route being arranged lies in Bloomingdale and Eckington. It is now being equipped entirely with Cox boxes. Washington Post, Sep 18, 1912 Mail Man on Motorcycle New Collection Service from Cox Boxes Begins Today. It is expected that a motorcycle will be placed in the service of the local Post Office Department today for the collection of mails at Bloomingdale, and if the experiment proves a success after a 60-day trial it is possible that more will be tried out. John C. Gaither, a substitute carrier, will make the first trials. It is expected that the start would be made yesterday, but on account of bad weather it was postponed. Thirty-five new boxes, known as the Cox box, have been installed in Bloomingdale. These boxes are arranged near the curb, and have a bottom with a chute. Without getting off his motorcycle the carrier unlocks the box, and is ready for the next. The motorcycle is specially built for this purpose, and has a single cylinder, five-horsepower engine. Washington Post, Sep 25, 1912 CheersThis has to be Cliff Clavin's grandfather. This is fuel efficiency!Let's return to this method. Hmmm, I hadn't considered rain, sleet and gloom of night. Never mind. First Street, NW?Could this picture have been taken on First Street, NW in Bloomingdale? The church in the background looks like Mt. Bethel at Rhode Island Avenue, NW. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Motorcycles)
Thompson Branch: 1920
... Washington, caught fire on the 1st and W. L. Hurxthal, the night prescription clerk had a narrow escape from death” Drug store ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/29/2016 - 12:10pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "People's Drug Store, 15th Street & New York Avenue N.W." National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. Long time tenantW. S. Thompson has been there awhile. There's a newspaper reference from the Evening Star, July 29, 1863: "Important Local Mail Arrangements. The Postmaster General has selected the following places for station letter boxes for the convenience of our citizens. All letters dropped in these boxes, either for transmission by mail or local delivery, will be called for by the letter carriers for each district." "Third District -- White, P., grocery,Thirteenth and P street: Kidwell A; Lawrence, druggest, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets; Thompson, W. S., druggist, New York avenue and Fifteenth street; Ford, Dr., druggist. Eleventh street and Pa. avenue; Dayton's bakery, ? 45ft Eleventh street, between G and H." Also an ad from The National Republican, October 22, 1867: Of Human BondageThe Bond Building is on the opposite corner of this city square at 14th & New York Ave. (SW corner). Liggett's is housed in the Home Life Building, which had its main entrance on G St. Single Pane Vertical Jalousie?No clue what you would call those interesting 19th century windows that open vertically on a center pivot. This arrangement would work very well for cleaning the glass. But in hot and humid Washington DC summers, you could not have screens, to keep out insects, when you opened them. The building on the left does. Would you name that window style mosquito invitational? [They're casement windows. - Dave] Re: Single pane vertical jalousie?I've heard architects call these pivot windows. They can be horizontal or vertical. Casement windows open on hinges, like doors. The kitchen at my elementary school had horizontal pivot windows, with half-cylindrical screens on the outside. A bit awkward to make, but you could adjust the windows to catch a breeze or keep rain out. Not so many mosquitoes on the third floor, but I'd worry about pigeons. Fire in 1899From the American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record: Nov. 1899 “The pharmacy of W. S Thompson, at 703 Fifteenth Street, NW Washington, caught fire on the 1st and W. L. Hurxthal, the night prescription clerk had a narrow escape from death” Drug store competitors.These buildings are along 15th Street Northwest in Washington just up and opposite the Treasury Building; New York Avenue is out of sight just to the left, next to the George Washington Hotel which wrapped around the corner of the two streets. W. S. Thompson, who built the building at center where People's is, was a major druggist in DC by the 1850s. Liggett's Drug Store at right is on the ground floor of the Bond Building. G Street is at far right. All of these buildings were razed to build The Washington Building. Car IDHupmobile (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, PDS)
Cow Town: 1943
... train passed through town every 20 minutes all day and night long. It's a busy railroad town. It's also a busy feedlot town with all ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 6:07pm -

March 1943. "Hereford, Texas. Passing the depot on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad between Amarillo, Texas, and Clovis, New Mexico." Nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. It's Still ThereAlways good to see these old places survive. View Larger Map HerefordI've got personal photos taken from this same spot, only facing the other way to capture a nice view of the co-op elevator instead of the old depot. I'm not sure what my interest in the grain elevator was other than the huge "Hereford Grains" sign on the side of it. I wish I'd turned around and snapped a photo of the old depot to present you instead but the Google version is also okay. When I was in Hereford, a container train passed through town every 20 minutes all day and night long. It's a busy railroad town. It's also a busy feedlot town with all the aromatic scents that go with it. You folks on the east coast miss out on so many olfactory experiences that go with where your BigMac started from. CleanWhat I just love about these Jack Delano photos along the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe line is how he makes everything look so CLEAN. Then and NowI really enjoy seeing then and now pictures. You should consider an album of them. We used to have one of those depotsThe Santa Fe RR runs through Chillicothe, Illinois. One of my earliest memories (summer 1944) is a visit to the train station there, an almost exact duplicate of the one in Hereford. My mother took me with her because Eddie Cantor (among other celebrities, I assume) would be making a short stop on the way to Chicago on trip to promote buying War Bonds. My grandfather, a then-retired conductor for the Santa Fe who had worked for some 40 years, often took me with him when he went to talk with some friends who still were still working at the station. When we moved back to Chillicothe, we lived 2 blocks from the depot. The sound of the trains lulled me to sleep many nights. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Freeway to Another World: 1965
... science-fiction planetary paintings, or else the Night on Bald Mountain section of Fantasia . It's July 1965, on a ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/21/2011 - 9:17pm -

This shot always made me think of Chesley Bonestell's science-fiction planetary paintings, or else the Night on Bald Mountain section of Fantasia. It's July 1965, on a brand-spanking new section of Interstate 5 about, oh, I'd say eleven miles south of Weed, California. That's Black Butte, a sort of offspring of nearby Mt. Shasta. Kodachrome slide. View full size. I know that road!!Wow, that could have been taken from my car window over many years. We lived in Klamath Falls, Orgeon and regularly drove to Yuba City California to see my grandmother. I know *exactly* where this sign is on that road.. wonderful picture!! Close Encounters of the Third KindRoy Neary (Dryfus): "I know this sounds crazy, but ever since yesterday on the road, I've been seeing this shape. Shaving cream, pillows... I know this! I know what this is! This means something. This is important." Wallpaper perfect!I think i finally found the perfect desktop wallpaper. Thank you! Memories of '66I love seeing this photo! Eleven months later, we were in that exact spot, on our way from Oceanside, California, to Dad's next duty station of Fort Knox, Kentucky. No, that wasn't the most direct route to Kentucky. We went by way of Washington, where both of my parents are from. Dad had just returned, safely, from his first tour of duty in Vietnam. Other than there being a heat wave across the country, it was a great trip that I would love to take again, now! Now vs Then...Other than some new concrete, and new reflective signage (which now says Weed is 2 miles close), nothing much has changed. Although, unlike this dull Google Maps screengrab, I will say there is nothing like the rich colors and hues of 1960s Kodachrome! http://goo.gl/maps/z0EEW (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, On the Road, tterrapix)
Spensley Orpheum: 1940
... of his arrival, and April 18, 1940 ("Dearest Frau"), the night before his departure. But his taste in movies was generally above the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/17/2020 - 3:10pm -

April 1940. "Old Orpheum theater. Dubuque, Iowa." Today's double feature: Adventure in Diamonds and Viva Cisco Kid. Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon. View full size. Still thereAt the intersection of Main and 4th streets. Let's revisit itHighway 61, that is. I mean, after we make a series of right turns in search of a place to parallel park, and get one of those sizzling steaks. I mean, it says they cater to tourists. And they have five-cent cigars, though I don't know if former Vice President Thomas R. Marshall would have classed them as "good" cigars. He wouldn't either, having died fifteen years earlier. I have compared two different picturesI have compared two pictures with different ages and i can see that curbs weren't changed and they are still looking good. In addition, i think the breakwall in the modern photo looks like it has been painted, hasn't it? Oh Cisco!The second movie on the bill, 'Viva Cisco Kid', is one of many appearances of the Cisco Kid, starting in movies in 1914 (Warner Baxter won an Oscar in 1928) and then in radio for 15 years, television for 6 years (said to be the first series to be filmed in color), plus comics. Cesar Romero played him in 'Viva Cisco Kid'. The Cisco Kid was created by none other than O. Henry, as a murderous Mexican desperado. He soon switched sides and became a dashing caballero, picking up sidekicks, Lopez and Gordito, and eventually Pancho. Those of us of a certain age can cringe at the memory of their sign-off: "Oh Pancho! Oh Cisco!" After the 1994 TV movie starring Jimmy Smits and Cheech Marin, Cisco presumably rode off into the desert of past stereotypes. Though not quite: there has been a series of graphic novels, including 'Wyatt Earp vs Cisco Kid' where Cisco has returned to his outlaw ways. Addendum: How could I forget the song by War, which reached #2 on Billboard in 1972: "The Cisco Kid was a friend of mine/He drink whiskey, Poncho drink the wine." Finally found oneA gentleman of the day, outside, without a hat. I also noted the fix for the sign support that's at window height. And there's so much more to explore in this picture. Vast expansion, but 100% still thereAnd if you go to the Five Flags Center website, there are pictures both period and modern of the theater; never been to Iowa myself, but looking at them, I'd love to get a seat in the balcony. What's NOT still there are the buildings to the right of the theater; they've been turned into a vast expansion for the entertainment complex that was built to incorporate the theater. The pictures on Google of the complex with a set of huge temporary pools, monster truck rallies, concerts by Little River Band and Chicago, a gymnastics tournament, wrestling, and the ubiquitous "Disney on Ice" are interesting, but the star is the theater. Also missing, alas, is that Steak place. It's making me hungry just looking at the Shorpy picture. And darn it, with Covid, I can't go out and get one! Exactly 80 years agoJohn Vachon wrote to his wife from Dubuque on April 16, 1940 ("Dear Penny"), the day of his arrival, and April 18, 1940 ("Dearest Frau"), the night before his departure. But his taste in movies was generally above the level of "Adventure in Diamonds" and "Viva Cisco Kid." Today's Google Street View (The Gallery, John Vachon, Movies)
Vivian Slippers: 1957
... VW Bug in San Francisco's North Beach theater district one night. We found a space with less than 2 feet of clearance, so we got out, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/12/2017 - 9:08am -

Wellington, New Zealand, circa 1957. "Bond Street, formerly known as Old Customhouse Street, photographed between 1956 and 1961 by Gordon Burt. Shows a narrow city lane." National Library of New Zealand. View full size. Those were the daysWhen people knew how to parallel park! Minor MemoriesI instantly recognized the car as a Morris Minor from my youth in Britain contemporaneous with this picture, since a couple of families on my block had them. Morris had a New Zealand manufacturing plant, so it probably wasn't imported. I had one of those!Car is a Morris 'Minor' MM. Mine was a 1952 version with a near useless 918cc side-valve engine that couldn't pull the skin off a weak rice pudding. Family ConnectionI believe Vivian's brother was the great golfer Fred (Fuzzy) Slippers. I could be wrong. Re: Parallel ParkingExactly! Circa 1965, five of us tried to park a VW Bug in San Francisco's North Beach theater district one night. We found a space with less than 2 feet of clearance, so we got out, carried the Bug in, and went on our way. Wow, Changed HeapsTotally unrecognisable. The only building in this photo still standing is the one in the distance with the cupola, the Dominion Building in Mercer St. All these others in Bond street were demolished in 1958 to make way for - you guessed it - a parking building! Sad really, they also demolished Wellington's oldest surviving business premises from 1841, just out of view behind the building on the left in this photo. 42-273And the motorcycle looks like a Velocette LE. (Bicycles, Cars, Trucks, Buses, New Zealand)
Turkey Special: 1922
... with the turkey. It was loaded on the truck last Sunday night and the trip began. Thirty-seven hours and thirty-four minutes later the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/21/2012 - 10:51am -

November 1922. Washington, D.C. "Truck with White House turkey, 'Supreme 3.'" National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. JittersOUCH - all the way from Chicago to DC with snow chains on a stiff suspension - Needless to say that both the Turkey and also the driver had a serious case of the J I T T E R S Pardon me!I wonder if this turkey got pardoned or eaten. Spring supported TurkeyLove it, a cushioned ride for Tom! Were the roads that bad outside DC in 1922 to necessitate chains on the wheels? Chicago TurkeyOther Shorpy photos of Presidential Turkey Delivery at Stuffing the Turkey: 1920, and Dinner to Go: 1921. The Baltimore Sun, December 3, 1922. Harding's Turkey Passes Through Thanksgiving Turkey Sent by Packing House Girls Arrived Early Tuesday. Just about daybreak last Tuesday morning a mud-splashed General Motors Company's truck passed through Baltimore on the last leg of its journey from Chicago to Washington, bearing a burden which was of powerful interest to the Chief Executive of the nation. It was the Thanksgiving turkey for the White House, which has for the past three years been presented by the girl employees of Morris & Co. Because of freight congestion this year there appeared imminent danger of the turkey arriving late, so extraordinary efforts were made to get it to Washington on time. It was probably a publicity man who suggested the solution to the difficulty, but as it was a good stunt it deserves the reward of good publicity—publication with credit. The General Motors Company offered a truck to make the run from Chicago with the turkey. It was loaded on the truck last Sunday night and the trip began. Thirty-seven hours and thirty-four minutes later the turkey was delivered at the White House. The running time was 22 miles an hour. Snow and ice were encountered for 100 miles through the mountains. … For the past three years it has been the custom of the Harding Girls' Club to send the President and the first lady of the land their Thanksgiving dinner, but this year, due to scarcity of large turkeys, one weighing 41 pounds could not be obtained until several days prior to Thanksgiving, making it too late to be sent by messenger or train. The girls made a special motor coat of black and gold for the bird to insure him against catching cold and a special cage was built, mounted on the rear of the truck on spiral springs to insure his comfort. Special feed and water were carried the entire distance. Road from DC to ChicagoIn 1922 many roads ceased to be paved when they left a metropolitan area. I doubt there were any paved roads to connect DC and Chicago. Chains were probably needed at times, but why were they still on the truck when it arrived in DC? I think it was nostalgia: when you've ridden buckboards most of your life any thing else just didn't feel right. No Pardon in 1922There is a (probably apocryphal) story that Lincoln wrote a pardon for a Christmas turkey at the request of his son. Truman is often credited with being the first to pardon, but the Truman library can't find any documentation proving it. The Eisenhower library did find evidence of the turkey being served. Kennedy spared one turkey, but it sounds like he just didn't like the looks of it. By the '80s, Reagan was sending his to a petting zoo. Bush (41) started the tradition of 'officially' pardoning the turkey in 1989. So, there was probably no reprieve for the 1922 turkey. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo, Thanksgiving)
Get Happy: 1925
... and play with his band, the Golden Pheasants, every week night from 8:30 to 11:30. He features "requests," and for the asking will play ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/30/2011 - 8:49pm -

Washington, D.C., 1925. Horace "Happy" Walker, leader of the band seen in the previous post. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. Happy WalkerI wonder if he ate at the Happy News Cafe? Washington Post, May 31, 1925. Glen Echo Park Thrives. At Glen Echo the new ballroom has proved a wonderful addition to the park, and "Happy" Walker has been exclusively engaged to direct and play with his band, the Golden Pheasants, every week night from 8:30 to 11:30. He features "requests," and for the asking will play any number. … Washington Post, Aug 24, 1964. Horace (Happy) Walker, Boatman, Band Leader. Horace (Happy) Walker, boating enthusiast, public relations consultant and ex-band-leader, died Friday at Mount Alto Hospital of pneumonia. Mr. Walker, 65, lived at Ponder Cove, in Edgewater, Md. Orphaned when he was 10, he worked the vaudeville circuit in New York and in 1923, between performances with a vaudeville act called "50 Miles from Broadway," he visited the Capital and decided to settle here. That year he brought his orchestra from New York to play at local clubs and private parties. … I Want That Suit!Herringbone pattern double-breasted in what appears to be gray. Tweed, perhaps? Could be as it looks like a coarse weave. Unlike on modern suit jackets, there are only two cuff buttons, and they're not ornamental--they actually button the cuff. Light up your face with gladnessObviously we know how this man got his name. I wonder if his "musicians wanted" ads indicated "sourpusses need not apply." Even though today it isn't considered cool to smile, people are still drawn to their more cheerful brethren. It's also a fact that a smile makes one look younger, hence another reason to keep those lips turned up. Happy Happy Joy JoyThis guy makes me want to party -- and I don't party! More Technical Notes!More saxophone technical geekery!! Happy's handling a "New Wonder" model Alto Saxophone by the C.G. Conn company. Easy tell, from that angle: it's that knurled round metal drum right behind the rubber mouthpiece. Conn called it a "Microtuner"; instead of fine tuning the horn by pulling the mouthpiece out on the neck, or pushing it in, you rotated that drum and the end of the saxophone's neck where the mouthpiece is attached would move in or out, depending. Conn used that kind of mechanism on their altos until about the mid 1950's. FDR troubadourHorace "Happy" Walker's Orchestra was popular in the Washington-Baltimore area in the '20s and '30s. In 1937 they played at one of Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural balls. His main instrument was trumpet. When he developed pneumonia he had to stop playing. He also had a radio program on WOL. (The Gallery, D.C., Music, Natl Photo, Portraits)
The Dinette: 1941
... theatre, stores and bunk houses. Tent and trailer camps. Night scenes. Boomtown activities. Men filling in application for employment ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/04/2019 - 11:36pm -

May 1941. "Main street of Childersburg, Alabama." And a close-up of the restaurant glimpsed earlier from above. Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Dinette DelightsI bet I could get a great slice of lemon icebox pie and a sweet tea at the Dinette. Why So Much Construction?The Delano pictures of Childersburg show a lot of new buildings going up in the main business district of time. The 30s-early 40s was not a time of heavy building in old southern downtowns, unless there is a military base nearby. So I took a look. A January 1939 tornado had taken a 100 yard swath out of Childersburg's business district. [The construction had to do with a new Dupont munitions factory. Jack Delano was in Childersburg to document the "boomtown activities" surrounding the construction of the nearby Alabama Army Ammunition Plant: "Photographs show main street. Construction of the town's first motion picture theatre, stores and bunk houses. Tent and trailer camps. Night scenes. Boomtown activities. Men filling in application for employment forms for Dupont Powder Plant. Dairy barn converted into three story bunk house for powder plant workers." - Dave] Cream and sugarEver since childhood, there haven't been too many two-word combinations that thrill me as much as "coffee shop" ... written or spoken, or even merely thought of, the words bring a tingle. Magical, the delicious aromas and scenes of comfort conjured by those words. From the same spot today.It is not obvious from the picture but if you move street-view around the corner and look down the block, you'll see the same 2 story building as see in the "Local traffic: 1941" image that shows this corner. Can anyone tell mehow could those weight machines make enough pennies to even pay for their construction? ["Weight machines"! - Dave] Dinette for someIn Alabama in 1941, how welcoming the coffee shop was depended a lot on what you looked like. Do You Weigh What You Should?The penny scale is a 1921 Mills Lollipop Scale, manufactured by the Mills Novelty Co. Chicago, Ill. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Jack Delano, Small Towns)
Han Wah Laundry: 1901
... northwest, failed to secure the door properly Wednesday night when he retired, and some one entered, carrying off the celestial's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/08/2020 - 2:15pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1901. "View of Sixth Street N.W., west side, looking north from I Street." 5x7 inch glass negative, D.C. Street Survey Collection. View full size. Tree wrapit looks like the trees are wrapped in chain link fencing. Can anyone explain? [Curbed horses tend to nibble. - Dave] News ItemThe Washington Post -- Aug. 14, 1903 Han Wah Moy's Clothes Gone         Han Wah Moy, who conducts a laundry at 900 Sixth street northwest, failed to secure the door properly Wednesday night when he retired, and some one entered, carrying off the celestial's garments and a $5 bill which was in one of his pockets. Moy discovered the loss yesterday morning and, coming to police headquarters in borrowed clothes, reported the theft. Still Going Strong!!This may be the first time that the D.C. Street Survey buildings shown are still here. Re: News ItemFor a moment I thought stanton_square was back. (Note to new Shorpsters: this informative commenter, not seen for a few years now, provided relevant news items contemporaneous with the posted photo, in a distinctive format very similar to Dave’s comment.) I wonder where he / she got to. Future shockThere are signs and portents here of the Han Wah Laundry's future: a disembodied foot and the faint ghostly images of passers-by; the blurred image of the woman hurrying away with a baby buggy; the abandoned bicycle; the shadow pattern on the pavement that calls to mind a devilish face. A century later the quieter pace of a quieter age is gone. Bike & Camera CaseIs that our photographer's bike and camera case in the lower right corner of the image? I would suspect a tripod was also involved unless the camera was supported by some physical object like a wall etc. [The case is for the photographer's glass negatives. - Dave] (The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., D.C. Street Survey, Stores & Markets)
Major Riddle: 1864
... I do not know if she knew her sweetheart's last night on Earth was there, or even that he had been there. When Reynolds ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 3:13pm -

April 1864. "Brandy Station, Virginia. Major William Riddle and friends. Headquarters, Army of the Potomac." Wet plate negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan. Civil War glass plate collection, Library of Congress. View full size. A Lovely StoryWhat a delightful comment! I love Shorpy for this sort of thing. Thank you. Alright men!Assume the Civil War pose, and you two men up front look away. In War and In LoveThere’s an interesting and poignant story involving Major Riddle. At the Battle of Gettysburg, he was aide-de-camp to General John F. Reynolds, one of the Civil War’s highly regarded Union generals. Shortly before the Civil War, Reynolds met and fell in love with Catherine Mary “Kate” Hewitt. She was 16 years younger and a recent convert to Catholicism, which apparently hindered her from marrying the Protestant Reynolds in view of his position with the army. They became secretly engaged and when the war began, promised to marry when it was over. If Reynolds did not survive the war, Kate pledged to join a convent. On the morning of July 1, 1863, Reynolds, commanding the left wing of the Army of the Potomac, arrived near Gettysburg from Emmitsburg, Maryland (about 12 miles south), where he had spent the previous day (in June Emmitsburg had become the supply base for the Union army). In the midst of arranging troops he was shot and killed. One story attributes his death to a Confederate sharpshooter, another to friendly fire. It is said that Major Riddle was the soldier who discovered the small Catholic medal around Reynolds’ neck, and that he was wearing a gold ring with two clasped hands and the inscription “Dear Kate”. Keeping her pledge to her beloved, Kate joined the Sisters of Charity. The convent she entered was in Emmitsburg. I do not know if she knew her sweetheart's last night on Earth was there, or even that he had been there. When Reynolds and his troops marched into Emmitsburg, one of his officers wrote about the moment: “His weary soldiers found themselves near a Catholic Convent. The beauty and tranquility of this place, so strikingly in contrast with a military tumult which suddenly invested it, are vividly remembered.” (The Gallery, Civil War, Timothy O'Sullivan)
Totally Tubular: 1960
... is just about my favorite place in the world. Just last night I uploaded a ton of wedding photos onto my Facebook page, and was lost in ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 11/27/2017 - 1:29pm -

Well, it's vacation time, and what better destination than the beach in 1960? My brother snapped me and his Cal Poly college chum Bob (who you may recall from Christmas Special) along the Russian River at Guernewood, California in July of that year, just one month before my 14th birthday. I believe my exceptionally stylish swim trunks are 1940s vintage hand-me-downs from my father. Hair by beach towel. 35mm Kodacolor negative. View full size. Tubing down the Russian River.Did it many a time back in those days. A whole group would bring supplies in separate tubes for the excursion. We'd use our flip-flops mounted on our hands as paddles. Floating like a leaf, without a care in the world. Ah, I can smell the Sea N' Ski squeezed from the green bottle with the orange twist cap now ... You did have to remember to splash water on the tube before mounting it, as the black rubber became super hot in the sun. Russian Tubersaka vodka. Two tall yearsWeeeell someone hit puberty with a vengeance! It's easy to forget how quickly kids grow up in two short years. Kenneth Grahame was wrongThere is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in inner tubes. Russian RiverLove this photo. I've spent a lot of time lazing by the Russian River. Western Sonoma County is just about my favorite place in the world. Just last night I uploaded a ton of wedding photos onto my Facebook page, and was lost in how beautiful it is. My wife and I were married there in a meadow on the banks of the river. TubingWhen I was a kid growing up in Knoxville, TN, we would head to the local farmer's Co-op and get 5-6 used tractor inner tubes. Usually they had a huge pile out back so we could have as many as we wanted. Then we'd take them home, blow them up, and fix all the holes with bicycle patches or duct tape if none were handy. Then we'd head off to the Smoky Mountains 45 minutes away and go down the "Y", which was where 3 small rivers joined together. Even in July that water was about as cold as ice. I think some of my best summer memories are of drifting down the river on an inner tube. That is until they spring leaks. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Travel & Vacation, tterrapix)
Celebration Illumination: 1909
... years makes Then they were trying to create daylight at night, and now we're trying to conserve energy and turn down/off lights at night. I wonder what the Kw/h usage was. Joe from LI, NY (The ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 5:04pm -

New York, 1909. "Hudson-Fulton celebration. Union League Club illumination." 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. Read all about it!This was a huge celebration involving over a million lights. See what the NY Times had to say about it. What a difference a 100 years makesThen they were trying to create daylight at night, and now we're trying to conserve energy and turn down/off lights at night. I wonder what the Kw/h usage was. Joe from LI, NY (The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Harris & Ewing: 1924
... was in the store until about 10:30 o'clock Saturday night. He placed diamonds and the receipts for two days' business in the safe, ... of a large quantity of cyanide poisoning. Police last night advanced the theory that Dr. Berman swallowed the poison the moment after ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 12:09pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Harris & Ewing. Exterior, new studio." The new offices of "America's studio beautiful" opened in November 1924 at the same F Street address as the previous building (whose ground-floor tenant, Lucio's jewelry store, was the scene of a robbery/arson/suicide-by-cyanide shortly before the building was remodeled). The basement storage vault was said to have held a million glass negatives, the bulk of which were donated to the Library of Congress in 1955. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. True CrimeWashington Post, May 26, 1924. OPTICIAN DIES WHEN HELD AS HE LEAVES BURNING GEM SHOP Police Say Berman Had No Right in Store; Suspect Robbery Aim EXPLOSION CALLS POLICE TO SCENE Doctor Discerned Walking About in Flames and Smoke; Had Office There. Dr. Lewis Berman, 36 years old, an optician, fell dead when placed under arrest early yesterday, a moment after he escaped from an explosion and fire which wrecked Lucio's jewelry store at 1313 F street NW. Policemen Davis and Helms, of the First precinct, were standing at Fourteenth and F streets, about five minutes after 3 when an explosion occurred and the plate glass window of the jewelry store was shattered. When they reached the store they found its exterior filled with flame and smoke through which they saw a man running back and forth. Davis called upon him to come out, but he was seen falling to the floor and crawling under a showcase. The policeman then brandished his revolver and threatened to fire, hoping to frighten the man into coming out. Firemen Smash in Door. A few moments later firemen smashed in the door with axes, and Dr. Berman ran out. As Policeman Davis arrested him, Dr. Berman told the officer, "I had a right to be in there." He repeated this several times, it is said, and then collapsed. When taken to Emergency hospital, he was pronounced dead. Dr. Berman until Wednesday, it is said, had offices in the rear of the jewelry store. On that day he had sold out his interest to Mrs. Margaret Perkinson, who conducted the jewelry business. Earl Perkinson, husband of the proprietor, was in the store until about 10:30 o'clock Saturday night. He placed diamonds and the receipts for two days' business in the safe, locked the store and left it. Dr. Berman, according to police, occasionally went into the store, through courtesy, and had left there about 7 o'clock. Later in the evening he registered at a Turkish bath, but did not occupy his room there, police say. The next event was the explosion. Police declare in their belief that an attempt was made to rob the store and a fire started to "cover up" the robbery. A duplicate key was found in Berman's pockets. He had no right to the key, police say. Wife Can't Believe It. When Mrs. Berman was informed of her husband's death by Mrs. Perkinson, she cried out, "Oh, I can't believe it, I can't believe it." At the hospital she said that her husband probably, in passing the store, had seen burglars there and had entered to rout them. Mrs. Berman has a daughter seven years old. The Berman residence is at the Home apartments, Seventh and K streets northwest. An inquest will be held at 1:30 o'clock this afternoon to determine the cause of Dr. Berman's death. His clothing had not been burned, and it is thought he died from inhaling smoke and flames. Washington Post, May 27, 1924. BERMAN A SUICIDE, JURY ASSERTS; GEM STORE SET ON FIRE Optician Took Large Dose of Cyanide Of Potassium, Chemist Finds. PACKAGE OF JEWELRY MOVED NEAR DOOR Wife Holds He Entered Shop to Get Eyeglasses Left There for Repair. A large dose of cyanide of potassium, self administered, caused the death of Dr. Lewis Berman, 36-year-old optician, who expired Sunday morning a moment after he had dashed out of the flame and smoke that enveloped Lucio's jewelry store, 1313 F street northwest. This was the verdict yesterday of a coroner's jury which brought out these additional declarations: The fire in Lucio's store was as was of incendiary origin. Dr. Berman, who until Wednesday had rented space in the store, had no right in the store at that time of the morning, nor had he been authorized to have the key found in a pocket of his clothes. The coroner's jury based its verdict of suicide on the testimony of Dr. S.C. Moton, assistant District chemist, who told of having found evidence is in the dead man's stomach of a large quantity of cyanide poisoning. Police last night advanced the theory that Dr. Berman swallowed the poison the moment after he saw Policeman Davis at the door. It was pointed out that cyanide is a quick acting poison, and in view of the quantity taken, Berman could not have taken it much sooner. None of the jewelry or other stock in the store was touched, so far as is known. A leather case left at the store by a Baltimore man, however, had been moved from a place behind the safe to a counter near the door. When it was placed behind the safe it was unwrapped. When found after the fire it was inclosed in newspapers and tied with heavy twine. The case contained watches and other jewelry. Mrs. Berman, widow of the optician, at the inquest said: "I believe he wanted to get a pair of glasses which had been left for repairs by Abe Friedenberg." Mr. Friedenberg, who lives at 3517 Fourteenth street northwest, concurred in this belief. He said that he had asked Dr. Berman to turn the glasses over to him before Sunday so that he would have them to read the Sunday newspapers. Following the inquest yesterday, Dr. Berman's body was sent to Baltimore for burial. America's Studio Beautiful +86Below is the identical view taken in April of 2010. However, the occupant now deals in food instead of film. Used to work in the buildingI worked in the building for 3 years. The 2nd - 4th floor of both buildings are now office space. When the previous tenant moved into 1313 F in the later 90s, they found a bunch of old negatives that belonged to Harris & Ewing. [And did what with them?? - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Stores & Markets)
Progressive Farmer: 1939
... one much anticipated program (Grand Ol' Opry, one Saturday night, if I recall correctly). By the time I came along, Mom's family had ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/24/2012 - 9:50pm -

January 1939. "Housewife reading in living room. Chicot Farms, Arkansas." A peek behind the porch seen in the previous post. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Conservation was the gameMy parents, both of whom grew up on such farms, often talked about "radio days" and how they had to conserve their use of the radio so they could hear their most favored programs. Batteries were not rechargeable nor cheap so they tried to save their use as power diminished till they could get into town to get a new one. My dad told me how he and his neighbor (who later married my dad's sister, ultimately becoming my uncle) were both off to get batteries one Saturday. JL had set out in the model T and gotten bogged down firmly in the rural mud, but my dad had the good sense to make the trip by horse. Wind GeneratorsThere were small wind generators available that were specifically for charging radio batteries. My neighbor has one for an Airline radio. Old WaveIf I remember correctly, "farm radios" powered by storage batteries were still in the Emerson Radio Catalogues well into the 1960s. WirelessRural electrification took a long time. Radios such as this that looked like ordinary AC sets yet operated on battery current are known as "farm sets" for exactly that reason. It's a Setchell-Carlson, model number TBD. Rechargeable batteries?Were the batteries rechargeable? If so, what did folks do, take them to town for recharging? If not, weren't batteries expensive? Off the gridHurricane lamps on the reading table, and a flashlight on the shelf below. Suspended halfway between 1850 and 1950, metaphorically speaking. By 1950 I bet the hurricane lamps were kept in the storm cellar just for emergencies. I wonder if they had a tractor yet? Maybe for the "Gentlemen Farmers"My parents talked about those generators for charging the radio batteries. Amid those depression years, Dad's family couldn't afford one. They mentioned once that they borrowed the battery out of my great uncle's car to listen to one much anticipated program (Grand Ol' Opry, one Saturday night, if I recall correctly). By the time I came along, Mom's family had built a new farmhouse with electricity and all, but the old log-and-timber homestead quite like the one my dad grew up in remained intact and fully furnished, much as it had always been, so I was able to see where and how they'd lived in those days. It was very homey and comfortable even without all our conveniences. (The old dugout house where they'd lived even before the log home was still intact, too.) I have the old windup mantle clock that had sat on their mantle for more than 100 years now on mine. It still works properly. (The Gallery, Russell Lee)
« first‹ prev…40 [41]42…next ›last »
Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.