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The Honeymooners: 1955
... "Gleason's Pal Carney." View full size. Saturday Night Would not have been complete without my "The Honeymooners" fix! It ... Show" and "Gunsmoke". I spent virtually every Saturday night between 1955 and 1961 at my paternal grandfathter's (1867-1961) and we'd ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/08/2014 - 11:47am -

April 1955. "Art Carney, Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph performing skit on television sound stage for The Honeymooners." Color transparency from unpublished photos by Arthur Rothstein and Douglas Jones for the Look magazine assignment "Gleason's Pal Carney." View full size. Saturday NightWould not have been complete without my "The Honeymooners" fix! It came between "The Lawrence Welk Show" and "Gunsmoke". I spent virtually every Saturday night between 1955 and 1961 at my paternal grandfathter's (1867-1961) and we'd watch it on his metal Firestone TV and he loved it too. I don't know if it was broadcast in color on the early color sets, but of course his was black and white. Somehow black and white fit the grittiness of their little apartment better than color would have. I can still watch these shows on YouTube and laugh 'till I cry. The humor is timeless and understandable in any era, even 57 years later. We also enjoyed the one hour "Jackie Gleason Show" with the June Taylor Dancers and Jackie's character Joe the Bartender with "Crazy Guggenheim". [None of the Gleason shows from the 1950s were broadcast in color. -tterrace] Where are they?I wonder where they are in this scene. Certainly not the look of either Ralph or Norton's apartments. [You are perhaps confusing the Honeymooners sitcom (1955-56) with the sketch (shown here) that was part of The Jackie Gleason Show. UPDATE: You are right, it is actually a combined Kramden-Norton apartment. Scroll up to tterrace's comment. - Dave] Blue roomExperiments going back to the 1930s tried to nail down what colors looked good to the B&W cameras, and what colors gave weird results. Several generations of pickup tubes had trouble with red, which washed out and appeared almost white. White, meanwhile, caused glare. Even gray shades were not reliable at first - they might look lighter or darker than they did to the eye. The blue-green family gave B&W cameras the least trouble, so it's not surprising blue takes up most of the set - as well as Art Carney's t-shirt. Another sign of the timesThe gentleman behind the camera appears to be wearing a suit (or at least a sports coat). I'm thinking that the modern TV studio has a much more relaxed dress code for the crew. Or maybe that's the director framing a shot, but I'll bet directors don't dress up like this these days, either. [That's a cameraman, one of at least three covering this segment. This photograph was taken during a live broadcast; the director is calling the shots in a booth somewhere off-stage. -tterrace] The Honeymooners skitThis is from the live CBS broadcast of The Jackie Gleason Show on April 9, 1955. The 38-minute Honeymooners skit was titled "One Big Happy Family." Ralph and Ed decide rent an apartment for both families in order to pool expenses. This set was used just for this broadcast. Here's what this scene looked like in a kinescope recording made for broadcast in other time zones. The Golden FourThese are the quartet everyone remembers. In fact, over the years there were three other Alices (everyone forgets Sue Ane Langdon) and two other Trixies. Of the four pictured here, only Joyce Randolph remains. Mike-Mike-MikeVintage microphone buffs, that looks to be an Altec 638/639, of which more info here: http://www.coutant.org/altec639/index.html My hat's off to sound-boom operators, then and now. Somehow, they keep the mic out of the cameras' "sight," while staying close to the source and constantly adjusting the mic's orientation for best pickup. That said, it's a delight to see this color image, and I'm grateful for the reminder about how color values would/wouldn't register in B&W broadcasts. TrixiesActually, Ms. Randolph is not the only remaining Trixie. Elaine Stritch was the original Trixie Norton and she is still with us. The Honeymooners 1955 show credits "the Dumont Electronicam T-V Film System" which made me question the CBS camera in this photo. tterrace's comment explains it. The Dumont system captured live action for later broadcast; this scene is an actual live broadcast. Is the kinescope available online somewhere? [The Dumont Electronicam’s 35mm film camera component is the reason the "classic 39" Honeymooners episodes look so good in comparison to the kinescopes of the live shows. The latter are collected in the "60th Anniversary Lost Episodes 1951-1957" DVD set, from which I made the frame grab in my comment below. -tterrace] A note to Audrey Meadows, wherever she isBaby, you're the greatest. [Have you checked the moon? -tterrace] Bang ZoomI love this show and this is one of my favorite Shorpy posts too for all the right reasons: A very cool photo showing us something we probably never saw before, and insightful commentary from the community. I never knew about the way color translated to black and white and would never would have guessed the pale, chalky walls on TV were such a deep, rich tone of blue, or that the color even mattered in the production anyway. Thanks! TV camerasA long web page with more than you ever wanted to know about early Image Orthicon TV cameras of the forties and fifties is here. http://www.eyesofageneration.com/RCA_Cameras_TK10_30.php They even have a shot of Jackie Gleason, possibly on the same stage. To the moon AliceWell, I snorted when I saw this, maybe it's just me. Homina homina hominaI've laughed at All in the Family, I've laughed at Seinfeld and I've laughed at The Office. They all pale in comparison to The Honeymooners. Call me a blabbermouth, but I'm certain it's the funniest sitcom of all time. Color to B&W...I sent a link to this posting to some friends who work/worked in television. Here is an interesting reply that I received back from one of them... I do remember working in a b&w studio at a TV Station in the Midwest. We in the production crew had to be very conscious of what colors would work for b&w. We had to be aware of the gray scale. It wasn't just used on a board for charting cameras. We also had to know how a set or clothing would read on camera. It was very confusing when our station converted to color. We wanted to go crazy and use vivid colors on everything, but we couldn't do that because many people still did not have color TV sets. It was kind of a neat time period to go through. Camera operators…haven't worn suits for a couple of decades. I've been behind the camera and in the booth for 40+ years at local TV stations and I only wore a suit once. A tux, actually. It was a live broadcast of that season's opening night of the local symphony orchestra. We had to set up and tear down in our usual jeans and t-shirts. But we changed into formal wear for when we'd be in view of the patrons. Yes, there are still occasions when we have to dress up. Awards shows and the like. But in our own studio and on location for sports and reality shows and other production, it's strictly casual. (The Gallery, LOOK, NYC, TV)
Boston: 1890s
... Co. View full size. Messenger Boys, Day & Night The Mutual District Messenger Company seems to have been in operation ... "Boys for messenger service of all kinds, day and night, are furnished by the Mutual District Messenger Company, whose main ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 7:57pm -

1890s. "Old State House, Boston." Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Messenger Boys, Day & NightThe Mutual District Messenger Company seems to have been in operation from at least 1882. It rated its own paragraph in the 1891 edition of Edwin M. Bacon's "Boston Illustrated," a detailed history and guide to the city and its attractions: "Boys for messenger service of all kinds, day and night, are furnished by the Mutual District Messenger Company, whose main office is in the basement of the Old State House, State and Washington Streets. There messengers can be called by telephone or by the special electric call-boxes of the company, which are generally to be found in the leading hotels, and other public places, as well as in business offices. The boys are uniformed, and are paid according to a fixed tariff of rates. Public telephone stations are in the principal hotels." One of those dashing uniformed messenger boys is depicted life-size on what appears to be a glorious reverse-painted glass sign at the right corner of the building, next to a flurry of ghostly pedestrians who were almost too quick for the camera. Telephone Pole(s) on Steroids!And I complain about today's wires in the sky. Man ... The "T"Boston doesn't really have an equivalent to Times Square - a single location that is considered to be the dead center of town - but this is probably the closest thing to it. A very historic building (the Declaration of Independence was read from the second story balcony in July 1776, and someone standing on the same balcony could have watched the Boston Massacre unfold down the street), surrounded by 20th century skyscrapers, sitting at the crossroads of State and Congress Streets in the heart of the Financial District. This end of the building now houses the State Street "T" (i.e., subway) station on the Orange Line - right behind the "Mutual Union Telegraph Company" window. The two street-level windows just around the corner to the left are now a pair of doors, through which many, many thousands of commuters pass every day, most of them probably oblivious to the ghosts in the neighborhood. City of GhostsAll I see here are the photographic ghosts. No still people were captured in the making of this photo, it seems. WiredThat's one of the most amazing collections of overhead wires I've ever seen on Shorpy. I'll bet that it has a lot to do with the business on the ground floor of our featured building. Cat's cradleThose six layers of cross-arms on the building in the background only held about 90 telephone line pairs. The development of multipair telephone cables was sorely needed. Unchanged after 120 yearsThe old state house has been wonderfully preserved and looks the same today as it did over 120 years ago. I highly recommend the museum and the exhibits on the second floor. The ClockIs a still functioning 1831 timepiece by Simon Willard, the dean of American clockmakers. SurvivorBuilt in 1713, six decades before the Revolution, it's the oldest building in Boston. What's that thing?What is that thing sticking up on top of the carriage in the foreground I know it can't be an aerial. [It's the accelerator. - Dave] AcceleratorNow that's funny! I laughed out loud. View from the cupola in 1841Sir William Logan (1795-1875), the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada, visited Boston in 1841. He climbed up into the cupola on top of the State House, and wrote the following in his diary that evening: “I went to the lookout on the cupola of the State House, and thence had a magnificent view. The main part of the city (called North Boston) was down below me, consisting of parks and trees, and thousands upon thousands of substantially-built brick houses . . . . Seaward were a multitude of islands and capes, completely locking in the harbour, on whose bosom floated ships of war and ships of trade . . . and steamboats, great and small, sending their black smoke and their hissing white smoke in clouds aloft . . . . Up from the city came a busy hum, with the noise of clattering hoofs and rattling carriages, the clinking of hammers and the ringing of bells, mingled with the cries of trade and the barking of dogs; and ever and anon a cock would crow his note of defiance, to be answered by another. Men looked like pigmies in the streets below, and it seemed impossible that such little creatures could be the authors of such great works as were spread around." John HancockCan anyone make out what it says under his name on the window (just to the left, at the back of the State House)? ["Mutual." - Dave] The Overhead WiresI have been reading about these overhead systems and I think it would surprise most people what they were able to do with them. With seven 26-pin cross arms, there could have been a total of 182 individual wires present. This would give us a total of 91 individual two-wire circuits. Then you must consider the technology then in use. Phantom circuits that use individual wires from different pairs, would add another 40 to the total. Also, multiplexing was known in that day in telegraph relay circuits. Differing voltages were used to activate different relays to send messages to a particular location. I couldn't guess how much versatility this added to the system. Then there were high speed send and receive machines that were in use by this time. There was more involved than what you can see and all of the technology of that day underpins the technology we use today: rotary dial and touch-tone phones, radio and television transmission technology, the Internet. Still laughingIt's been ten months, I STILL laugh regularly at your "it's the accelerator" comment, Dave!! (The Gallery, Boston, DPC)
Twilight Departure: 1942
... This one makes an excellent desktop background. Night Life My dad would have been the conductor out there with the signal ... C&NW back then. He was a fireman and shoveled coal all night. Then he got drafted and -- guess what -- he shoveled coal into a firebox ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 4:45pm -

December 1942. Chicago, Illinois. "View in a departure yard at Chicago & North Western's Proviso yard at twilight. Brakeman is signaling with a red flare and the train is going by during exposure." Kodachrome by Jack Delano. View full size. Far out man!Makes me want to turn on the black light in my bedroom and put in my Iron Butterfly 8-track. AwesomeThese pictures always amaze me. Thanks for posting them! Conversation starterThis one makes an excellent desktop background. Night LifeMy dad would have been the conductor out there with the signal lanterns. Once he was directing an inexperienced engineer to glide back-up and the caboose ran into Dad, slamming him between the cars. He had huge bruises all over face and body but nothing life-threatening. Yard signalsBelow are two other Delano time exposures showing the use of signal flares. The yardmen called them fusees. StokedMy dad worked for the C&NW back then. He was a fireman and shoveled coal all night. Then he got drafted and -- guess what -- he shoveled coal into a firebox on the railroad in Seattle for his military service. Thank you, Jack Delano, your picture evokes nice memories. Did Delano ever know?Did Delano ever have an idea that someday his work would be considered art? Because pictures like this and "Amethyst Twilight" definitely are. Tell-talesThe photo was taken from under a bridge or overpass. Faintly visible in the distance overhead are a set of "telltales," dangling ropes to warn a brakeman on top of a car that he couldn't safely remain standing as the train passed under the bridge. I remember seeing these as a child near a bridge or tunnel, generally on little-used branch lines. I have not seen a telltale in many years. What Jack knew4x5 Kodachrome wasn't common, cheap or fast. I imagine Jack Delano was very careful about each exposure. I used to shoot 4x5 black & white, and I had the luxury of a darkroom where I could see the results a few hours after shooting. And I paid huge attention to composition, exposure and the subject's composure, because re-shooting was costly. Telltale talesTell-tales are no longer needed because trainmen no longer use the roofs of cars while the cars are in motion. "Running boards are, depending on the car's construction, wood or steel planking that provide a walking surface along the center of the car roof. In earlier times they were used by trainmen to travel from car to car to control train speed with the car's hand brakes - not an exercise for the faint-hearted. With the development of the air brake (which allowed the engineer to control the train's speed from the locomotive), running boards were mainly used by trainmen to pass hand or lantern signals to the engine crew. The advent of radio communication killed off this hazardous practice, though, and today it is expressly forbidden for crew members to go atop cars in motion, thus eliminating the need for running boards and the full-height safety ladders at the ends of the cars needed to get to them. Today you'll only see these components on newer cars such as covered hopper cars to allow access to loading and unloading operations. Depending on the specific service it has been designed for, a modern box car probably sports a number of components never thought of back in 1893 when the Federal Safety Appliance Act decided to standardize ladders and running boards." "Freight car trucks and carbodies" by Paul D. Schneider Published: Monday, May 01, 2006 in Trains Magazine. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Tinsel-Free Christmas: 1955
... by the clicking of ruby red slippers .) Silent Night Enchanting. Who lives here now? Oh those trees.... I wish I ... right on the riverbank and I vividly remember one terrible night of going outside every hour, on the hour, to check how much the river had ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 12/26/2021 - 1:46pm -

December 1955. Here's our family's entry in the Shorpy Christmas tree sweepstakes. Devoid of any jolly celebrants, unfortunately, but at least we have my mother's curtains and drapes. Many vintage ornaments are in evidence: Santa heads, houses, a table lamp, a mushroom, an angel, a prizefighter, some birds with spun glass or celluloid tailfeathers, and one of my personal favorites, a big one we always called "the stars and stripes forever" on the left a little more than halfway up. Some were from my Mother's family and dated back to the early 1900s, including one that still had wax drippings on it from when you actually lit your tree with candles. On the right, our Motorola hosts the Nativity scene complete with plastic Wise Men. Sharp-eyed observers may note that on the window seat, the fishbowl, vacant a year later, here appears to be inhabited. My brother recorded the available-light exposure details for this Kodachrome slide on the mount: f2.8 @ 1 second, during which he jiggled the camera slightly. View full size. No "view full size"?? [Any and every image on this site can be "viewed full size," even if there is no "view full size" link in the caption. Step 1: Open the post by clicking on the title. Step 2: Click the "View full size" link under the caption. - Dave] Xmas 1955 FloodsThough we weren't affected much in Hayward (some street flooding) Xmas 1955 will always remind me of the disaster not far off in Yuba City/Marysville. http://americahurrah.com/Flood55/YubaCity.htm We went to an area FD station to donate some used clothing. Window dressingWell that is a perfect Christmas tree and the slight blur adds a little dreamy magic that is nice. But man, that curtan/drape combo is stunning! Your mom must have been proud! There's no place like home.There's no place like home. There's no place like home. (Accompanied by the clicking of ruby red slippers.) Silent NightEnchanting. Who lives here now? Oh those trees....I wish I could still find trees like the one pictured and from my childhood of the early sixties. They were open and airy and had enough room between the branches so that the ornaments could actually "hang," and not just lean. Today's trees are so dense you can hardly get the lights in and around the branches, and you have to use so darn many just to light it up. I still jigglebut that being said, I'm happy Paul is sharing those classic photos I and then he took back in the day! -- Will, Paul's brother, who took the picture Yesterdays once moreI can think of nothing better to say to this photo than the words of Elizabeth Akers Allen: Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight, Make me a child again, just for tonight! TV set in the corner?Back in those days the TV wasn't on 24/7, a beautiful wooden cabinet with doors was a good idea. I put a 90's TV into a 50's cabinet in my 50's themed home - but now, when it's starting to letting the smoke out, I can't find any new TV's that fits into our ol' cabinet. I'd Live There!tterrace, you continue to outdo yourself posting these wonderful slice-of-life images ... I hope you are a happy "grown up," as your posts and images lead me to believe you may have turned out. Happy Holidays to you and yours (you too, Dave!) Full size button, please?I'd like to see the ornaments. My mother still has ornaments from her mother, German made I believe. Love it!!!Can we see it full size? Would love to see details on the tree! [Any and every image on this site can be "viewed full size," even if there is no "view full size" link in the caption. Step 1: Open the post by clicking on the title. Step 2: Click the "View full size" link under the caption. - Dave] And a Happy New Year as well...Tterrace you are twanging the heart-strings again, dammit.Ten years before and a few thousand miles away across the Pond, we had the same glass birds - the tails were made of spun glass - and little glass houses as well. And our tree was lit by little wax candles in clip-on tin holders (there was no electricity in my Granny's cottage) But, sadly, no photos (not much film around in GB in 1945). So, thank you for reminding me. When the time comes I'll raise a glass to you, and Dave, and all the splendid folk who view Shorpy, and wish you all a very merry Christmas from Cornwall. Life Before EXIF I have often wondered how film photographers kept track of exposure setting for individual photos. Did they keep a log book with frame numbers and settings? This seems like it would have a pain in the neck. PS - Where is the "View Full Size" link on this photo? [See above. - Dave] View larger It would be nice to view hi-def or just a larger size. [Any and every image on this site can be "viewed full size," even if there is no "view full size" link in the caption. Step 1: Open the post by clicking on the title. Step 2: Click the "View full size" link under the caption. - Dave] Thanks, DaveI feel dumb for not clicking on the title; I've been spoiled by the obvious button and saved my brain power for looking at details in the photos. Turns out the bird looks very like the one my mother has, and I recognize that Santa face, too. And the large bulb lights! Interesting to note that the presents fit under the tree. These days that pile would only amount to stocking stuffers in some house I know. Us and the floodThat 1955 Christmas flood Anonymous Tipster mentioned was the one that got our summer place at the Russian River, as seen here, and down in the comments here. Big lights!I'm so glad the big bulb lights like the ones in the picture are making a comeback. Of course, they're a lot safer and more efficient than their ancestors, but they still have the same retro look. I remember the days of having to wait until the tree was completely dry before hanging the lights, or you'd get sizzles and sparks. Photo Log Pre-EXIFMy father started shooting Kodachrome slides in 1950 and kept a little log book with the exposure and aperture for a while. He would compare those with the slides after he got them back from the Kodak lab. He also wrote titles on the cardboard slide frames. Interesting how "photo anticipation" went from weeks (Kodachrome sent off in those nifty mailers that were eventually ruled monopolistic), to 60 seconds (Polaroids on a warm day, a lttle more if you had to warm the Polacolor inside the aluminumu Cold Clip inside your pocket) to instant feedback as you view your JPGs on your digicam screen. Our presents and lightsThis is pre-Christmas day, so the presents under the tree are those from friends and relatives received either by mail or from visits. The "official" presents, including the really good big ones (i.e., the ones for me) didn't get put out until after I'd gone upstairs to bed Christmas Eve. You can't see our bubble lights, the big old-fashioned kind with tubes about 4" long and about 3/8" in diameter. They'd drive my mother to distraction because there'd always be a couple on the string that wouldn't bubble, but they were magical to me. They eventually all wore out and when they came back into fashion in the 70s they, like the regular lights, were tiny in comparison and just not the same at all. And some of those didn't bubble, either. A while back I posted another shot of our 1955 tree, this time by flash but also a little jiggly, and with a couple people in it. Curtains!Those curtains are a work of art in their own right. Cold War NervesOne partially-heard TV news bulletin during those Xmas 1955 floods said something about "Russian." In that era THAT was a major attention grabber! It was somewhat of a relief to hear it repeated in full and was only about a river. Russian River Flooding ....I lived in the Russian River (Front Street, Monte Rio) during Christmas of 1981 and there was a terrible flood then, too, tterrace. My house was right on the riverbank and I vividly remember one terrible night of going outside every hour, on the hour, to check how much the river had risen against the stairsteps going from my cellar door down to the water. Luckily, the river crested just at the top step - but not without bringing about some miserable anxiety and tension. I'm sorry that your house wasn't so lucky. Bubble lightsI found four-inch tube bubble lights last year at Wal-Mart. We did not have bubble lights on our trees at home but friends of the family did and I yearned for them ever since. The lights I purchased are so far working fine and they really are magical. Wishing all readers memory making time with your families, and don't forget the camera! Merry Christmas to you Dave and thanks for your gift of windows into the precious past. [And we thank tterrace for this and many other wunnerful photos. - Dave] DecorIs this the same California living room in all the other photos? Looks it, but I'm getting the sense your mom liked to move the furniture around a lot. Frankly, I like the curtains and drapes. They're very Ricky and Lucy. Anything beats those dagnabbity ugly "vertical blinds" they sell on us these days. Decor in motionFunny you should mention that, A.T. I always loved it when we rearranged the living room; it was like moving into a new house, almost. Frequently I was a participant, and at times, I think, a motivating force. Here we see the TV in one of three corners it or its descendants occupied over the years. The much-admired curtains and drapes are actually a 1940s style rather than 1950s. When my mother had them and the cornices done, she was tickled with the clever idea the decorator had of offsetting everything to the left so as to disguise how off-center the windows were. You social climber, you!Most trees had C7 bulbs, you appear to have C9's. Oh, what great memoriesWhat great Christmas memories. Beautiful tree, and a lovely home for the times. I was living in Marysville for Christmas 1955. We were sent to my grandparents' home in Yuba City on the 23rd, where the eventual flood occurred. From Yuba City we were off to a friend of my grandfather’s west in Colusa. Christmas morning he and my grandfather flew to Sacramento to get supplies. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, tterrapix)
Steeplechase Park: 1903
... gives you Lemos Check out the sign: LEMOADE! At night this place is lit up like Luna Park! They all just seem to be in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:14pm -

New York, August 1903. "South end of Bowery, Coney Island." Be sure to bring the kiddies -- "All the children will be presented with toys to-day." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. ReliefAfter you eat your rosted peanuts and drink your lemoade, you can go to the tolet upstairs! SignageIncredible photo! I spent a half hour just reading signs. 1963I visited Coney Island exactly 60 years after this photo was taken. You could still avail yourself of the Steeplechase Horses and Parachute Jump. And George C. Tilyou is the name behind the flags. Who says there's no such thing as a time machine?I love photos like this one - so clear and so detailed, its like you could step right into them! Thanks, Shorpy! When Life gives you LemosCheck out the sign: LEMOADE! At nightthis place is lit up like Luna Park! They all just seem to be in costume. It's hard to believe that people wore those kinds of clothes. Especially the women. It just seems all so civilized. My first impulse upon seeing this image, was to jump into it to hear the sounds and smell the smells of what this grand place was offering. The Guy on the Leftis ready to start a fight. Maybe he's the guy who misspelled "Lemonade." "The Funny Place"Does anyone else remember the old newspaper ads for "Steeplechase, The Funny Place," whose logo was the caricature drawing of an idiotic grinning man? I always thought it was George C. Tilyou himself. What's there today?What a beautiful picture. Coney Island is such a wonderful chameleon. Steeplechase Park was on the western end of the Coney Island amusement area, roughly where the minor league Keyspan Park and its parking lot are today. This means that if this picture was taken at the western end of the Bowery, which stopped at the Steeplechase property line, then that puts us on the Bowery just west of W. 15th Street. Here's the the corner on Google Maps. Keyspan Park would be directly in front of us where the Steeplechase admission gates are. The spot to our left, in later years, would've been the Thunderbolt roller coaster with the Kensington Hotel underneath its far turn (the house from Annie Hall where Alvy Singer grew up.) The roller coaster sat dormant from 1983 to 2000, when Guiliani tore it down in 2000 to make way for a much-needed vacant lot. Anyway, I just realized I'd taken a picture of that spot from a similar angle in 2000. As you can see from the 2000 picture the street was no longer a public way, but you can get a good sense of the use of the land then and now. I'm willing to bet Kensington Walk is the little turn-off to the left that you see in the 1903 pic. The Kensington was built in 1895 and according to this story from a NY folklore society it "survived the Bowery fire of 1903". The New York Times story on the fire puts the date of the blaze as November 1, 1903. This photo is dated on or before August 25, 1903 if the Knights of Columbus sign is any indication. Most of these buildings, then, didn't have long to live when the picture was taken. Most of the Bowery from Steeplechase all the way to Feltman's Restaurant (where Astroland Park recently stood) was ruined. Out of the ashes of the bordellos and gambling parlors came, well, more bordellos and gambling parlors. Coney Island has always had that amazing knack for giving people what they want. This is why I love shorpy.com so much. With a little work and some luck, we can still uncover those connections from the past which the photographs (and the newspaper morgues, bless the NYT) have so kindly kept for us. Budget Sign Co.You may have needed some of that LEMOADE to wash down those fresh "rosted" peanuts. Back into my ancestors' livesMy grandfather was born in Brooklyn, not far from here, the month after this was taken. Seems like a completely different world. Wonderful image. PalmistI want my life read to me by Eaton the Great! That clock tower is amazing! No No, can't have it here!"Yes, we need electricity, but placing a utility pole here would get in the way of our customers buying our waffles for 35 cents. Figure something out." "Well, ok, but we'll have to balance a pole up on your balcony and tie it to your roof. We try not to do anything in an attractive way, you see." So the power companies and telegraph companies set a precedent that stays with us to this very day. Steeplechase JackYou can see "Steeplechase Jack" and his grin inviting you into "The Funny Place" near the center, below the weathervane, to the left of the signs for Cummins Indian Congress (a Wild West show)! (The Gallery, Coney Island, DPC, Sports)
The Hump Master: 1942
... I would get called out at least weekly during the late night/early morning hours to fix some trouble in the telephone system in use at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2024 - 11:24am -

Chicago, December 1942. "Hump master in a Chicago & North Western railroad yard operating a signal switch system which extends the length of the hump track. He is thus able to control movements of locomotives pushing the train over the hump from his post at the hump office." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. After the snickeringRead the Straight Dope. He's a what?He would have been great on "What's My Line?" Retarder Controller? I suspect the control the hump master is using is actually the retarder controller-slowing down the car(s) as it rolls down the hump. The clipboard he holds would have the weight/contents of each car (or group of cars, called a 'cut'). His job was to regulate the speed of each, so they rolled just far enough, but not TOO far. His job was probably 55% art, 40% science, and 5% luck back then, given the varied rolling resistance of freight cars from different RR's. Hump on my signalIn the fourth image down in this posting you'll see this picture and another which explains the operation. The lever he has his hand on does nothing more than control the signal aspects displayed to the engineer of the hump locomotive. There's a second operator, shown in the other photo, who controls both the turnouts and the retarders; they both have a copy of the same list, whose content you can see in the second picture, which gives information on each car, in order, as to weight and destination. Bar codesBar codes are now used in humping operations. Computers read the codes as cars begin their roll down the hump (or on the way up), retrieve car information from a database, calculate the necessary momentum the car needs to properly attach to the growing train, and the retarders are applied automatically. It's amazing to watch from a distance, with cars moving here and there to their respective destinations, retarders creating screeching noises as they press against the wheel flanges. RF Railcar IDIn our area, at least, RF (radio frequency) tags replaced bar codes some time ago for railcar identification by the Union Pacific Railroad. Humping by TelephoneIn the sixties when I worked for Mother Bell in New Haven, I would get called out at least weekly during the late night/early morning hours to fix some trouble in the telephone system in use at "The Hump". The NYNH&H RR (later Penn Central) had some of the oldest telephone equipment in existence, and it was how they coordinated all the hump movements between towers. It was always very cool to stand in one of the towers and watch all the freight cars coming over the hump and descending through "the ladder" to be mixed on one of innumerable tracks in the huge yard. I had to find outThe Fast Freight Rides the Hump from Popular Mechanics, March 1940. (Technology, The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Parcel Post: 1914
... seem to be missing from the bracket holders. Dark of Night "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 6:47pm -

Washington, D.C., 1914. "Post Office Department -- parcel post." A scene outside the post office on Pennsylvania Avenue in its final year of operations before it moved and the building became known as the Old Post Office. View full size. U-shaped bracketsNice truck! I'd love to have it in that condition right now. My question is, what are those big u-shaped brackets in front of the radiator? Maybe for headlights? If so, what are the smaller lights mounted on either side of the dashboard? Oh, and of course, what make and year is the truck? [The small lamps are running or parking lights. - Dave] In the DarkWhere are the headlights? Parcel Post serviceThis was the year after the Post Office Department began domestic Parcel Post service. Originally, a series of special stamps was issued. "Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow"Only darkness will stop them from their appointed rounds. Notice the headlights seem to be missing from the bracket holders. Dark of Night"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". I think the "gloom of night" might stay this one. Righty?Right hand drive? Was that common in those days? [Still the case for mail delivery vehicles. -tterrace] KisselKar truckThis is a 1913 KisselKar truck, made by the Kissel Motor Car Company of Hartford, Wisconsin. In July 1913, to prepare for the domestic Parcel Post delivery service that tterrace mentioned, the United States Post Office Department's Committee of Award accepted a bid by the White Company for 20 vehicles rated at 3/4 ton capacity. They cost $2,060 each and had to be equipped with either pneumatic or cushion tires, depending on what the Post Office decided. The Post Office also ordered 21 Wagenhals Motor Car Company three-wheeled vehicles that had 800 pounds capacity. Powered by a 20 hp water-cooled four-cylinder engine, they cost $625 each (visually similar to the less expensive electric version below). Located in Detroit, the Wagenhals Motor Car Company would reorganize just a month later as simply the Wagenhals Motor Company. Both the Whites and the Wagenhals had to be delivered to Cleveland, Ohio within sixty days. A year later the Post Office was advertising for bids for spare parts for these vehicles, which included: "Transmission and cup grease, horn bulbs, cylinder and heavy oil, blow out and tube patches, pressure gauges, cushion and pneumatic tires, inner tubes, tire tape, valve parts and tools, vulcanizing rubber, etc." The winner of the bid had to supply each individual post office named in the contract, and the parts just couldn't be dumped in front—the bid proposal stipulated that "All the supplies must be delivered at and within the doors of the post offices." The bid proposal noted that the Whites and Wagenhals had been dispersed as follows: Atlanta, Ga., 2 Whites; Baltimore, 3 Whites; Brooklyn, 3 Whites, Buffalo, 2 Whites; Columbia, S. C, 1 Wagenhals; Columbus, O., 2 Wagenhals; Detroit, 2 Wagenhals; Louisville, 2 Whites; Memphis, 3 Wagenhals; Minneapolis, 4 Whites; Nashville, 3 Wagenhals; Norfolk, Va., 2 Wagenhals; Philadelphia, 6 Whites, Richmond, Va., 2 Wagenhals. Two possibilitiesThe headlamps are, being actual brass lanterns, probably on a bench getting cleaned and filled (or re-carboned). No reason to rattle around with them on the truck all day long. Or maybe they just don't drive this truck at night. [Many if most trucks of the era didn't have headlights. The brass fixture illustrated below is an acetylene gas lamp. - Dave] Believe it or notIn the early years of the auto business the lights were optional. I suppose driving after dark was pretty dicey even with the improved illumination provided by acetylene. For a business that normally operated during daylight hours I imagine that the expense and hassle of the lights was not worthwhile. Speedy Delivery Washington Post, March 2, 1913. Five Kissel cars, bought by the government for parcel post in the city of Washington, D.C., have been placed in service after a thorough inspection by Postmaster General Hitchcock and Postmaster Merritt, of Washington. They are 30-horsepower wagons of 1,500 pounds carrying capacity, and are painted a brilliant red. On its initial run one of the cars made 152 stops between 8:30 a.m. and 12 noon. Brilliant red was not what I was picturing for this vehicle when first looking at the photo. I had thought a more institutional green or dark blue, but with enough squinting I can begin to imagine red, perhaps a color chosen to express speed and priority. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
Free Ice: 1900
... my parents took the Staten Island ferry back and forth all night long. Cool and quiet, compared to their friends' apartment. I lived ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/28/2018 - 10:09am -

Circa 1900. "Heat wave. Free ice in New York." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Byron for the Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Great TimingMy friends back East say it brutally hot just now, Hudson Valley included. More than just comfortI would bet that most of these people are not going to use this ice for chilling their drinks. They're probably going to use it to keep their food from spoiling. One thing about the present day is we continually go from hot to air conditioned environments during a heat wave. In New York, no matter how cold it gets outside, the subway cars are usually cooled to the point of refrigeration. This keeps our bodies from becoming acclimated to the temps. These folks have been in the heat and have become somewhat adjusted. The clothes they wear are probably all cotton or linen, both of which have the ability to wick the sweat away and help cool the body. I'm sure they're pretty miserable, but coping. You'd get a line for free ice right nowWith temperatures hitting 101 degrees, in the middle of a l-o-o-ng week of 95+, you'll get plenty of people willing to stand in line for bags of free ice. Ice cubes in a bowl + fan = poor man's air conditioning. Thanks, Dave, for reminding us that some things never change, like NYC heat waves in the summertime. The children who grew up standing in those lines supported the construction of municipal swimming pools during the New Deal. They remembered! Nostalgic and VintageI absolutely love old photographs, the older the better. You get to experience people, places and things frozen in time. Sure this isn't Japan?The policeman looks like he's wearing white gloves. That would suck on a hot day like it appears to be in the picture. Hot CommodityLater on, someone realized they could spritz it with food coloring and some flavored syrup and charge for it. The Iceman (and Milkman) ComethBack in the 1940's in Newburgh NY in the midst of a summer heat wave, neighborhood kids would raid the back of the open ice delivery truck while the iceman would be tonging a block of ice to home ice boxes. Another source for kids, of small chunks of ice, was in milk delivery trucks while the milkman was delivering his wares. Weather's nice here in Monterey.It might have gotten to 65 here today. Staten Island FerryWhen my parents married in New York, in 1953, they stayed with a friend in Harlem. It was so hot and a neighbour was having a rent party so my parents took the Staten Island ferry back and forth all night long. Cool and quiet, compared to their friends' apartment. I lived on City Island, in the Bronx, for two years and with no air-conditioning, and the ceiling fans not being up to the job, it was like trying to sleep in pea soup. Trying To Imagine...what NYC must have smelled like with all of those sweating people and piles of horse manure in the streets makes me not want to go back in time to experience what is going on in the photo. This is a first in all my time as a Shorpy fan. Melting PotTemperatures in Manhattan will probably go over 100 degrees today. It has been in the high 90s for the last few days and will be in or around the 100 degree mark for the rest of the week. There will be no free ice and the local utility, Con Ed, has started cutting back on the power so the air conditioners are not performing to spec. I think I'll go to a movie today, their sign says they're 20 degrees cooler inside. Incidentally, movie theatre air conditioning goes back to 1925 when Dr. Willis Carrier cooled the new Rivoli Theatre on Broadway. Fishy, indeed!We are experiencing a real heat wave in New York today. I don't for a minute believe that the photo was taken in a temperature that comes close to our 100+ Look at the barefoot boys on that sidewalk -- there's your proof. I got news for yahFree Ice? That's nothing special. Every February there is tons if it in New York. You just need to plan ahead a little. Hats Year RoundUp until the 1950's or so, you will notice that headgear was always part of the dress code. My dad wore a hat most of the year. It had to be hot and uncomfortable. Something's FishyI can't believe all their icemakers went out at once.They need to call the super and complain. Take it offThey sure are wearing a lot of clothes for a heat wave. I'd lose the jackets and long sleeves. Barefoot tykesThat sidewalk had to be hot! HatsA few years ago I bought a straw hat and It seems to actually make you feel cooler on a hot day. Cool LidOnly a straw hat would make sense, or maybe one of these. Poor timingHow about some lovely pictures of deep snow, ice-covered lakes, or something to make us feel cooler in today's hot weather? The Long Hot SummerLooks like the cop has had a long day. As hot has his uniform is, my hubby now has to wear pretty much all that, except in polyester and with an extra 35 pounds of equipment, plus a bullet proof vest. It's been hovering around or at 100 lately here in Maryland, and his vest doesn't have time to dry out from sweat one day before he puts it on the next. So next time you see a cop sitting in his car with the AC on on a hot day, think of that guy up there! He could use a little break! (I hope he got hold of some ice chunks.) Waaaaah!I love reading about the New York heat waves with temperature in the 90s or even 101 (!). If it was in the 90s in Austin, we'd all be wearing parkas. Most of these people want Gordon Park!As in the last picture. Even in these Victorian times you can see signs of the heat, the cop wiping his brow, most men in the derbies have them way back on their head to let the heat out, and the straw hat man doesn't because they let heat out, just as the Mexican and South East Asian farmers learned from history. I loved the snow cone comment, probably very right, why give the melting ice away if you can sell it! Hot mamaSo I can see why they had the long pants, skirts and hats, but couldn't she have left the shawl off? Hey, Austin tipster We NY/NJ SMSAers feel the same way about you guys when your highways are shut down after 4 or 5 inches of snow. We laugh at your puny "frozen precipitation levels" that seem to cause such chaos! Have you ever been on the Lower East Side, and seen these turn-of-the-19th-century former tenement neighborhoods? They are still standing: five- and six-floor walk-ups, built with no help from Mr Otis, crowded together on narrow streets. Even today, Austin's population density of 2600 people per square mile is less than 1/10th of New York City's (26,100). Crowding ten times as many people into every square mile raises the ambient temperature of NYC exponentially. When the weather report says "90" in a town of crowded, narrow streets with ten times as many people, it is a medical emergency. Be grateful that, in your hometown, such temperatures make you reach for a sweater. It's not a sign of how much tougher Texans are in comparison to New Yorkers. It means that you are fortunate to live where the historical development patterns have provided you an environment where weather extremes aren't so dangerous to human health. 547Was looking for clues about the location of this picture and noticed the clothing store has "547" on the awning (alas no street name). Looking closer you can see that "547" is also written on the inside of the awning and reflected in the store window. But the reflection isn't backwards ... so perhaps it was written backwards so that people facing the window could see the non-backwards number in the reflection? Very curious. [The "547" on the outside of the awning would be backwards on the inside of the awning because it's the same "547" showing through the canvas. - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Stores & Markets)
Maud: 1920
... in the background checking her out! Every Saturday night Judging by the way all those fellas in the background are oogling that lovely (for 1920) lass, she had a date for every Saturday night until about 1925. [Oogled and aannoyed. - Dave] oogling, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 9:06pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Maud Miller, Potomac bathing beach." The Shorpy Summertime Parade of Moldy Hotties continues. National Photo. View full size. She's a Beaut!Look at those dimples! I love the guys in the background checking her out! Every Saturday nightJudging by the way all those fellas in the background are oogling that lovely (for 1920) lass, she had a date for every Saturday night until about 1925. [Oogled and aannoyed. - Dave] oogling, googledhttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=oogling Hipsters...even around in 1920 (guy with 'stache behind on the left). Weird wordHey guys, not for nothing, but the word is "ogle", not "oogle"....I do think "oogle" sounds better, though. Old suitsIt's hard to imagine bathing suits before synthetic fabrics. Anyone know what these bathing costumes were made of? From the pics, it looks like some kind of terrycloth cotton. I imagine that would be pretty heavy and uncomfortable when wet. [Most swimsuits of the era were wool. - Dave] SUWhat do you reckon SU stands for? Stanford University? Syracuse University? Tramp!Well, maybe for that era. What dimples!And i'm speaking of the ones on her knees! I don't think there was ever a straighter pair! And then there's MaudeLady Godiva was a freedom rider She didn't care if the whole world looked. Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her She was a sister who really cooked. Isadora was the first bra burner And you're glad she showed up. (Oh yeah) And when the country was falling apart Betsy Ross got it all sewed up. And then there's Maude! (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Swimming)
Ebby's Diner: 1942
... Mark Twain, the hottest Summer I ever spent was a Winter's night in Moscow! We spent several nights in Moscow's Hotel Ukraina back in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/25/2024 - 3:47pm -

February 1942. "Lancaster, Pennsylvania." Ebby's Diner and the Corine Hotel at Queen and Chestnut streets. Photo by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Trolley 236 still runningLancaster had a city streetcar system and an extensive electric interurban railway service in the area. It lasted until 1947 when buses replaced the trolleys. Birney car 236 still runs in nearby Manheim, and you can learn all about it in this video. John Vachon's street views from above really capture that moment in time. Delicious geometriesCertain photos on this website work their magic immediately and then leave me to try to figure out where the power comes from. First to spring out at me are the pleasing geometric planes, forming a big Z in the middle, with the streetcar tracks acting as the central diagonal. Then there’s Ebby’s Diner, which appears like a larger version of those two streetcars. And the allure of those cozy establishments -– how I wish I could go to eat at that diner or The Village restaurant or even Sprenger’s, whatever kind of place that is. And winter! Bravo, John Vachon. Here and GoneThe diner is gone. It would have been to the far right facing Chestnut. The hotel is gone too. It would have been where the parking lot is now. The three-story brick building remains with some modifications. The commercial ground-floor space was removed. Great photo!What a great photo! WowEchoing @davidK, this photograph is a masterpiece. Whazzat?Is that a lumberyard in the upper right? It’s an unusual open-sided structure The Old PRR Main LineThe original Pennsylvania Railroad main line passed through Lancaster right through the downtown area. The depot was located at Queen and Chestnut Streets. You can see a boxcar under the roof where the original depot once stood. Apparently by this time the track had been terminated here and that boxcar is now sitting in what would probably be a covered team track. A study of satellite views will reveal parts of the old right-of-way and some buildings cropped at odd angles or others that were once parallel to the tracks. [update] Upon finding maps of Lancaster circa 1900 I have concluded that the actual PRR trackage passed right across the lower portion of the photograph frame and, indeed, Ebby's Diner is perched directly on the former right-of-way. The box car further down E. Queen St. is actually on a stub-end siding that once served a business there or could have been a freight house. Ebby's Was The Old Pennsy RR StationI could be turned around, but I think the view faces northwest, in which case the train station was on the lot where Ebby's stands in this photo. The tracks came into Lancaster from the N.W. and crossed the empty lot next to (left of) the Hotel Corine, then across Queen Street to the passenger station. The beginning of these tracks are visible from Dillerville Road (or on Google Maps) near the western end of the Norfolk Southern Lancaster yard. The tracks crossed Harrisburg Avenue west of the new stadium and ran into the center of town. The boxcar under the shed was one of many stub tracks that branched into small sidings. Bits of the right of way were turned into parkland or create strange property lines that are still visible, as G of V noted. The tracks then continued east and north to rejoin the main line. Also goneis the building from where John Vachon took this photograph. If you swing around in the Street View supplied by kozel, there's a Holiday Inn there now. No doubt it was a cold February day in Lancaster, yet two windows at the corner hotel (I can't read the name) are open. On the top floor one is open a little. The window directly below it is wide open. Brrrrrr. This Photo Smells So GoodMy mouth is watering, what with the cooking smell coming from the diner and the cold frigid air that carries the smells of the bacon and eggs, or steak and potatoes to your olfactory senses. The hotel might have a place to eat as well, if so, that would overload the senses with its waft of whatever is non the grill. Another odor would be the scent of freshly laundered sheets and/or towels from the Laundry at the top left of the picture. A-lone survivorBuilt like a brick shi... er, well, solid as a rock. Probably good for another coupla hundred years. About those open windowsDoug (see below) pointed out that on an obviously chilly day, a couple of the windows in the hotel are open. Back in the day it was a routine practice for housekeeping to throw open windows in recently vacated rooms to air them out. This would have been especially desirable in an era when smoking was so common, even in hotel rooms. Also, most hotels did not have individual thermostats in rooms to control the heat. The heat was typically from radiators or from ventilation grates in the floor connected to an often coal fired furnace. In either case, the heat was usually controlled by the hotel staff. Sometimes rooms could get a bit stuffy or just plain hot, to the point where even on a nippy day, cracking a window for a few minutes might be the only way to get some fresh air and cool off. Lancaster's Pennsy StationI found this early view of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station courtesy of the Lancaster County Historical Society. Sometimes It May Not Have Smelled So GoodThe Lancaster Stockyards, the largest stockyard east of Chicago, was located about a mile north of here along the PRR mainline between Philadelphia and points west. It handled 10,000 cattle a day, along with pigs, sheep and other animals arriving by rail from the west. After a layover, the doomed animals boarded connecting trains and were distributed to other cities to meet their fates. If the wind was just right the scent of bacon and steak on the hoof may have tainted the wonderful odors emanating from Ebby’s and The Village. 142 units, 12 stories, $7,556 per mo.The site of the former Corine Hotel, shown as a parking lot on Google Street View, is currently a construction site for a market-rate rental development, scheduled to be finished by late spring 2024. [$7556 is the rental rate for the first-floor retail/restaurant space. - Dave] More Open WindowsI can definitely related to Ad Orientem's comments on heated hotel rooms. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the hottest Summer I ever spent was a Winter's night in Moscow! We spent several nights in Moscow's Hotel Ukraina back in January, 1998. Imagine sleeping in underwear, on top of the bed, with the floor-to-ceiling (unscreened!) windows open to try to catch a breath of breeze. Under 10F outside, and over 80F inside, with no way to regulate the steam heat! The downside of free city-wide steam. Closed?The diner shows no signs of life that I can see. Can anyone read the sign on the door? [All those footprints would seem to indicate otherwise. - Dave] Man in BlackExceptionally composed photograph. To my eye the man in black along the roadway is the focal point. The angles lead to him. I am always amazed by snow scenes, the intensity of reflected light, which even on a cloudy day usually requires a small aperture with attendant great depth of field and sharpness. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, John Vachon, Streetcars)
Chillin Wit da Boyz: 1954
... suffer from never-rectified amblyopia as well? 3 Dog Night it is amazing that a good looking culture exists today with such ugly ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 05/21/2010 - 9:44pm -

December 28, 1954. Me in the center, my brother right and my godmother's son Alfred at the left. At my grandparent's house in Calpella, California. Also: Grandma's crocheted antimacassars. Photo by my sister. View full size. Gene Pool Questiontterrace, did your brother also suffer from never-rectified amblyopia as well? 3 Dog Nightit is amazing that a good looking culture exists today with such ugly people in our past and I haven't even mentioned that awful clothing. Too bad that we cant hook them up with the ugly alpha girls from yesterday. Good word choiceI like the word antimacassar. Macassar was apparently the name of a hair oil. And that's the strawberry crochet pattern. There was one called a pineapple, too. Women still produce such items. Thank you for the blast from the past. ContextTV was new, the world was concerned with the aftermath of WW2. You still had small appliances repaired or did it yourself. Milk and bread were delivered. The new consumer goods were made in the USA. Must run in the familyAnother fun, happy, & well composed photo this time taken by your sister. It seems brilliant photo taking is a talent that runs in the tterrace family. Bravo! Window treatmentNice curtains -- this style was very popular during the late-fifties and early sixties. I had them in my bedroom - not sure what they are called. SheersThat's what Grandma called those filmy curtains. My mother and aunts all insisted on having them, too. Okay! Uncle, UNCLE!Looks like big brother and Alfred just finished a bout of "tickle the kid brother" here. This is a picture of true fun and delight. One that every childhood should be full of. Window treatmentWe had those sheer criss-cross curtains in our house, too. "Ugly"??tterrence and his brother grew up to be anything but, if you have been following the family saga. Priscilla CurtainsRuffled sheer curtains layered one side over the other and tied back are called Priscillas. No idea who Priscilla was, but I don't think this is a commemorative name like Peach Melba or Norfolk Jacket. Great Family PhotoTterrace, I hope that everybody in this photo is still alive & healthy. Thanks for sharing a snapshot of your past. Furnishings, Cont'dI love the carpet! "Before you playany more 'medicine ball' with tterrace, glasses must come off." I know TTerrace......and he grew up to be just as good-looking on the outside as he is on the inside. Plus, he has a nudge for nostalgia. Good on you, Paulie. Miss you. Hooked by Troll BaitBy definition, trolls ARE ugly. Your words paint a more accurate portrait than any photograph ever could. Far be it from me, however, to belittle you in your delusion. What I really wish to contend with is your assertion that "a good looking culture exists today". In reality, it's about as "good looking" as the plastic veneered, particle board junk that passes for furniture these days. "Ugly alpha girls from yesterday"?? What I wouldn't give for a working time machine! By the wayNow that tterrace has taught me a new word this week, I don't have to use that silly word "doily" anymore. Zappa said it bestThe breath-taking rudeness and arrogance of "Not Ugly's" remarks suggests someone not old enough to remember Frank Zappa's song about ugliness. But maybe not. Some folks get stuck in the playground sand box all their lives. Terry the Toad!Your brother bears a bit of a resemblance to Charlie Martin Smith. If "American Graffiti" had taken place in 1954 instead of 1962, there would genuinely be a paranormal ambiance about this photo. The doilies on the couchI just finished making the exact doily that is on the back of the couch. The one on the arm of the couch is a familiar pattern. They both have the "pineapple" patterns that you can view on my blog http://crochetycrochetlady.wordpress.com/ (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Schott's Alley: 1941
... View full size. Do not go gentle into that good night Between the two photographs, Frank Coles has barely moved while ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/02/2022 - 1:28pm -

        A scene last glimpsed here, but without the trolley. September 1941. Washington, D.C. "Schoots Court [i.e., Schott's Alley] with Senate Office Building in background. Four very small dark rooms rent for fifteen and eighteen dollars per month with water and privy in yard. It used to rent for six and eight dollars. Frank Coles and his friend are sitting on the bench. He was a cement plasterer but has been on relief during the past year. He has frequent heart attacks and his feet and ankles are all swollen. Doctor advises a chicken and lamb diet, no pork or beef, but he doesn't even have money to buy fuel. He can't get waited on in a clinic or get to one. He waited from before 11 until 4 p.m. but still could not see a doctor. He has been in Washington since 1906." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Do not go gentle into that good nightBetween the two photographs, Frank Coles has barely moved while everyone else has shifted one way or another and the tallest kid in the previous photo has been replaced by the tyke at left. I remember hearing if you have a heart condition and swelling in your feet and ankles, you should not sit for long periods in the position Frank Coles is. But who can resist sitting in the sun with friends and entertaining and being entertained by a group of kids who have endless energy? So Close And Yet So FarThe juxtaposition of a symbol of our nation's wealth and privilege within a few hundred feet of its poorest citizens is striking. I'm not sure I could define what, if anything, has changed in 80 years. The lesser known H streetDespite it's its name, Schott's Alley had a generous 28 foot width, and a curious "H" shape, designed to maximize use of the interior of the block (these are actually the fronts of the houses we're seeing, not the backs) The Elephant in the D.C. RoomI'll say it. After eight years of the Progressive FDR Administration, the simple fact that this level of poverty existed in the shadow of our Capitol and that our elected leaders could and would ignore it speaks volumes as to where their priorities lay. I fully accept that the "Great Depression" was just beginning to wane, finally, thanks to the advent of World War. Considering the IRS was originally established by Congress to collect income tax, specifically in order to fund the District of Columbia, one would assume they would have used it to modernize all of the district not just the elitist areas. Just saying. Schott's firedI came across this series of articles about Schott's Alley: first, second, third, fourth, fifth. The alley was first home to African Americans from DC, gradually became a home to Italian immigrants, then eventually home to African Americans migrating from further South. One of the buildings housed an Americanization school, where immigrants could take English lessons and prepare for naturalization tests. See the final article for fires, murder and an explosion! Not at all surprisingOne commenter expresses surprise that this slum existed in DC despite nearly a decade of progressive government. This seems disingenuous, considering that the picture shows Black Americans in 1941. The Senate that sat in the building behind this slum may have been associated with a progressive administration, but it was only progressive for its time. The alley's residents wouldn't enjoy even nominal equality in employment or housing for another 23 years, and it would be another year beyond that before the federal government vigorously protected their right to vote for any government. Casual racism was rampant, and government programs to help "the poor" routinely excluded anyone who was not white. While another World War was just around the corner, its unifying force upon American society didn't extend to racial or ethnic equality (the US armed forces remained segregated for years after the war ended), and post-war economic boost did not affect Americans of all races equally. [N.B.: That's the Senate Office Building, not the Senate wing of the Capitol. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Kids, M.P. Wolcott, Streetcars)
Heart of Cleveland: 1950
... that lost its trains when the B&O moved the "Cleveland Night Express" and "Washingtonian" into the CUT. There is room on the near side ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2024 - 5:22pm -

Summer 1950. "Heart of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and Union Terminal Group (Terminal Tower and Hotel Cleveland)." Gelatin silver print by Carl McDow. View full size. The Flat Iron Cafe survivesThere have been many changes since this 1950 photo, but the Flat Iron Cafe (bottom left corner) is still there. Its profile says it's an unpretentious brick-walled tavern with live music. I suspect its younger patrons have no idea what a flat iron is. Click to embiggen Afternoon normalAfternoon rush hour getting underway as West Siders flood the Detroit/Superior Highlevel bridge. On the Cleveland Union Terminal Railroad, a streamlined Chesapeake & Ohio sleeper is getting set over to build the Nickel Plate's Cleveland-St. Louis train #9. The NKP will take the sleeper as far as Fostoria where it will join the C&O's "Sportsman" heading toward the Greenbrier resort. The sleeper will return to Cleveland via Columbus, Ohio, on the New York Central. In the flats, we see the yellow brick towered B&O station that lost its trains when the B&O moved the "Cleveland Night Express" and "Washingtonian" into the CUT. There is room on the near side of the CUT viaduct for additional tracks, and by 1960 the Cleveland Transit System will use that space for the cross-town Rapid Transit system. Just a Little Before I was BornThis would have been a vista of what my dad saw when in worked in Cleveland during 1948 and 1949. He met my mother in 1948 in Parkersburg, WV where they both lived. Dad got a job in Cleveland working at a key plant. He would hitchhike home from Cleveland every Friday evening after work to see my mother and hitchhike back to Cleveland on Sunday. There was no I-77 back then. Only U.S. Route 21. I’ve heard many stories about how long it took Dad to make it home to Parkersburg. Mother became a lifelong Cleveland baseball fan in 1948 when the Indians won the series. Chief Wahoo stood watch at her casket, and I still possess the Cleveland Indian pinback button Dad gave to my mother in 1948. Patrick Catenary SupportsThe overhead lattice structures over the trackage on the bridge were there to support catenary wire that carried 3000 volt DC current to power the electric locomotives used in Cleveland Union Terminal to comply with smoke abatement concerns. These locomotives or 'motors' were used until 1954 when they were modified to run off the 600 volt third rail in the New York City trackage into Grand Central Terminal. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, Railroads)
Bathing in the Casino: 1889
... on the left for hanging onto and doing??? Boys night out Where are the women swimmers? Drowned city Going Under's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 4:53pm -

Circa 1889. "Bathing pool in the Casino. (Probably the Ponce de Leon Hotel, St. Augustine, Florida.)" UPDATE: This was actually the nearby Hotel Alcazar (thanks to Amphalon). Photograph by William Henry Jackson. View full size. Miss Teschmacher!I second the Lex Luthor assessment. A fantastic pool. More hotel pools need to be like this! BermudaIs that the flag of Bermuda on the rafter? I'd LOVE to swim in this room today ... that's just an incredible pool! AquabaticistsIs there such a word to describe that team of athletes in the pool? It just came to me, a silly word that some Victorian sideshow pitchman would come up with to describe them. Is this pool still around? Bears an eerie resemblance to Lex Luthor's swimming pool in the movie Superman. MGMWow! This would make a great set for one of those MGM Musicals of the late 40s or early 50s! Dynamite! Hotel Alcazar CasinoAlong with the Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar was one of Henry Flagler's grand hotels. Today it houses St. Augustine City Hall and the Lightner Museum. The pool is now the Cafe Alcazar: International House of SplashingThe architecture is quite innovative for its day, and combines the usual eclectic mix of details: inspired by a classical Roman bath, the cast concrete structure combines Roman arches and corner vaults with Greek Doric columns, Venetian Renaissance balustrades, and Spanish corbels and roof trusses. Add to these the electric chandeliers (early enough to have been installed by Edison), the Japanese paper lanterns, and the flags of many nations. The paper lanterns over the shower stalls are in the shape of Japanese carp, a pretty amusing touch in this context. My first thoughtafter viewing all these wonderful photos from this period something is missing. They didn't have fashionable headwear for the swimmer. Pointed QuestionThere's something here that no one's commented on yet. A topic of seemingly endless discussion in other posts. What could it be? Going UnderI'm not sure I could bring myself to get in this pool on a dare. Underwater nooks and crannies terrify me. I have nightmares that look just like this, except the pool's at least three (flooded) stories deep. *shudder* REPLY TO POINTED QUESTIONHeavens, there are no handrails or guard rails anywhere!! Someone might fall in. People should be protected against harming themselves. Swing babyWell, I don't know if this is what your are alluding to, but are those swing type apparatus on the left for hanging onto and doing??? Boys night outWhere are the women swimmers? Drowned cityGoing Under's comment on the spooky quality of this pool is well made, especially given the "today" photo of the Cafe Alcazar. As the polar caps continue to recede, the dining room might regain its historical appearance in time for its bicentennial. A shocking detailSomehow the idea of having electric lighting fixtures dangling directly above the swimming pool gives me the willies. In the swing of thingsOn the left side of the photo, notice the ropes with handholds hanging from the ceiling. I'm guessing that these were used by people wanting to swing from the balcony and drop into the pool, sort of like an old fashioned tire swing. Since the water only appears to be a few feet deep, I don't thing I'd be first in line to try this stunt! Without the caption...Agree with "Going Under." If the caption hadn't said it was a pool, I would have thought it was a flooded opera house or theater, with young folks taking advantage of the disaster as they often will. The architecture is all wrong for a pool; it's much easier to get trapped under a balcony than to climb out onto a tiled floor. No bathtub rings, please!Here's a nice touch: Note the showers (with hot and cold faucets) in little alcoves at the top of the stairs leading to the pool. No handrails on the stairs, though, even though everyone using them had wet, slippery feet! Top Man's CrotchThat's not the name of a town in the Rockies. It's my answer to the Pointed Question. Hmmm . . . let's see I'm wondering if this pool is filled with sea water. I would assume it's not chlorinated. There are showers in the corners for rinsing off. The niches now have potted plants. But what topic could you be referring to, Dave? Let's see. There are only men in the pool. I suppose in those days there were no ladies' hours at all. They all have fine mustaches. It's cute to see the ladies demurely watching them. Maybe it's the baggy wool swimsuits? But they don't seem to be . . . er . . . revealing anything inappropriate. Maybe I need to enlarge the picture? Oh yesAnd those trapezes look like they'd be lots of fun to swing from and fly into the water. Casinos, then and nowGiven that our modern understanding of the term "Casino" that is almost exclusively synonymous with "Gambling Hall" I was surprised that I didn't see any comments about how hard it would be to put all your money on Black (that's a Roulette joke). Of course the 19th century mind would have understood "Casino" as meaning "a public building where pleasurable activities, including gambling, and sports took place." Pointed, pointed.....nope, not getting the hint. A little vexillology, perhaps? Alas, not the flag of Bermuda. The two identifiable flags I could make out are the Canadian Red Ensign and the Irish Flag of Leinster. The Canadian Red Ensign is the UK colonal flag with the Canadian crest (crest, crown, and a maple leaf wreath), though it was technically "unofficial", because they kept changing the crest every time a province was added and not standardized until the 1920s. The Irish flag to its left served as the "unoffical flag of Ireland" until 1922. [You are so very close to the forest. With various inconsequential trees getting in the way. A "pointed" question. What could that mean? - Dave] Virtual TourNice 360 degree panorama of the current space here. Must have been dangerousI wonder how many folks were seriously hurt climbing the stairs there to get to those showers. Without guardrails of any sort to hold onto.... one slip on the slippery steps and CONK! Busted skull..... Dave, since there aren't any nubile ladies in swim atire in the picture (all of the females are barely seen, and fully clothed in circa 1889 high fashion), I don't see what you're pointing to about the thing everyone's missed... unless it's "How the heck would you safely change a lightbulb from that chandelier while it's over the pool without getting electrocuted?" Or are you referring to the gymnastic stuff over on the left side of the picture? The flags on the railingabove the clock have 39 stars. That would be the "flag that never was," anticipating the two Dakotas would be admitted as one state in 1889. [Dingdingding. We have a winner! - Dave] Speaking of Tarzan and swinging...That was something the younger kids would always get to wondering about. Tarzan seeming to having a very convenient vine perfectly located in each tree ready to go. We convinced them that Cheetah and his pals did all his vine re-setting in return for Tarzan's protection services. Those movies gave us plenty of ideas of how to hang some various size ropes (actually anything we could find) and tie them on sturdy tree branches. Hint: mama's clothesline was good for about 3 or 4 swings before someone took the plunge. Unfortunately, there wasn't any water under us. We quickly discovered the swinging part is not big deal, but the landing was way sketchy. Eventually we designed a contest of how far a kid could swing out and land. Lots of sprained extremities and bruised butts. Not being absolute idiots we moved over to playing soldier where you only got dirty. Still cracks me thinking of all the silly noises we made for our weapons. Most oft heard phrase..."No way, it was just a flesh wound." Tarzan practiced hereLooks to me that those ropes are hung in such a manner as to allow one to grab the first one from the shower, and swing from one to another until you've reached the pair closest to the camera. And from the markings, I'd say these swimmers are near the shallow end of the pool. It's only 3 1/2 feet at the far end, and 4 1/2 feet near the man with the life preserver, then 6 feet at the column on the near left. Could be a diving board at the near end, judging from the size of the room in the Panorama. Timely!Amazing, I just ate lunch in the deep end of the Saturday! I was quite fascinated by that room, the floor slopes down to the cafe end, with antique shops underneath the sides, they said it was fed by a sulfur spring and kept at 86 degrees. The shallow end was reserved for the men so they could smoke their cigars and relax, and the other end was for the women. The Ponce de Leon across the street had its own powerhouse with two early Edison generators. (Apparently one is in the Smithsonian now.) They may have powered the lights here. Washed out.I saw the band Explosions in the Sky perform in this very room a few years ago. Very strange space. A small touch of Japanese styleNote the Japanese chochin (paper lanterns) hanging from the ceiling and arches. Is Japan even considered exotic anymore? Where's Esther?I pool this beautiful needs a queen. I think I see a sign: Esther Williams swam here. Or maybe it's just a mirage. And dancing tooIf you get a chance to visit this landmark it's very important to look at everything to see what it was like during its many iterations. Try to tell what it used to be like from what it is now. Some of the things I noticed: The acoustics. The sound echoing up to the rafters of every little activity in the pool area would have made for an interesting stay in the rooms on the upper floors. The upper floors seem to be guest rooms surrounding the huge atrium above the pool/casino area. You see people standing near the edge. The open deck from where the people are to the rooms is very wide. Not just a walkway but more a dance hall. I can picture guests dancing in this spacious area with music wafting up from below. The pool had "canals" off to the sides that one may swim in to the massage and sauna. Windows opened like awnings all around the top of the building above the pool providing powerful ventilation with the seabreeze. Lady SwimmersI read that there were ladies' hours, and there was a special private pool behind the main wall. Probably in a book by Thomas Graham, who has written several about the Flagler properties. (The Gallery, DPC, Florida, W.H. Jackson)
Condition Red: 1941
... a LOCKHEED I.D. badge. What's up with that? Date Night? Maybe she was going out after her factory shift. Stuffed shirt ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:39pm -

December 1941. "Electronics technician, Goodyear Aircraft Corp., Akron, Ohio." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer, OWI. View full size. Beer Barrel PolkaOh, I don't want her you can have her she's too fat for me! Looks like this Goodyear worker is wearing a LOCKHEED I.D. badge. What's up with that? Date Night?Maybe she was going out after her factory shift. Stuffed shirtNo, I meant pressed shirt. A brand new one for the photo! And no color coding on the wires? That would make for some difficult fault tracing. If she has a date tonight, she needs to fix her nails and get some Visine in those bloodshot eyes. Good jobLooks like the numbers on the wiring match up with the schematic. Aircraft wiringAircraft wiring isn't color-coded, even in this day and age. In larger and more complex planes the wires have numbers printed on them every foot, but in small planes they're just white or pale tan. DefinitelyA Lockheed ID Badge and button below that. Goodyear, Akron, Ohio assembled the Vaught Corsair FG-XX version(s) during WWII. Goodyear was probably just primarily an assembler of parts made by other companies with the tools and technology for the job. A search for “Corsair Subcontractors” turned up a reference to a center wing section made by Willys-Overland( a car company), Toledo, Ohio. If the contract(s) were large enough, Lockheed probably set up shop in a Goodyear plant in Akron for Goodyear and other assemblers of the Corsair. Yes, she dressed for the photo. [The smaller button is a union badge for Aeronautical Lodge 727. -Dave] ColorlessWhen I started my engineering career, I was told rather bluntly to "knock that s**t off" when I turned in an assembly drawing specifying color-coded wires. Numbers are the way to go. It seems you never know when you're going to have to rely on a color-blind assembler or repairman. In light of that experience, I have no idea why my Chrysler has color-coded wiring harnesses. Color BlindI remember when I was in tech school, our automotive electronics instructor was color blind. He made us use fluorescent highlighters to trace the colored wires out on the schematic so he could check our work! Talk about the blind leading the blind! (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Alfred Palmer, Aviation, WW2)
Swim Teem: 1917
... their mid-90s by now if still living! Waiting for the Night The tower that a couple of people are climbing on here is a sort of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/25/2012 - 3:11pm -

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1917. "Bathing beach at Belle Isle Park." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Find itWhere is Wally? Could've been a great pictureBut someone moved. The sea was empty that day, my friend.Yes, I know it's a lake, but what a spectacle. Speaking of, to the left of the guy in the horizontally striped swimsuit (also on the left) is the one beachgoer I see wearing glasses. The crowd's median age appears to be under 25. Many have around their necks what I am certain are storage locker keys. The abundance of attractive faces is striking, and my personal Best of Da Beach pick are these three bonneted lovelies, who surely occupy the A Table back at their school cafeteria. LookThat guy in the middle looks just like George Michael. Water worksThe spires and standpipes of Water Works Park are seen in the background. What a time to be alive, eh? !!!Gimme an "R"!!!Pictures like this look so current it's hard to believe they are all dead except for the very youngest and even they are in their mid-90s by now if still living! Waiting for the NightThe tower that a couple of people are climbing on here is a sort of miniature version of Detroit's "moonlight" towers. An opposite view from the water, including the beautiful old bathhouse, that clearly shows the entire light tower can be seen here. Carpe DiemAnother one of those shots that whisper to you. That's why I like Shorpy. Waist SizeI love all these beach and swimsuit photos on Shorpy. Goes to show that the misconception that everyone was stick thin compared to people today is so far fetched. You can see all shapes and sizes then and now. Granted there are far more morbidly obese people now. Still I'd say if we took a bunch of people at a modern beach, made them change in to those old wool bathing suits, and took a shot it wouldn't look too different from this. Largest beach crowdToo bad Guinness World Records wouldn't be published until 37 years later. All those peopleYes, they probably are in fact nearly now all gone. But seeing pictures like these collectively nudge us into acknowledging that once they were very much alive and went on to become our grandparents and great-grandparents. My childhood memory of my own grandparents is of them being old and sickly; photos like these help us kind of know them as we may never have had the opportunity. My Kinda TownSo great to see the last few postings featuring my Detroit. With the Detroit Publishing Company associated with so many photos, it's difficult to search for those featuring Detroit. Keep 'em coming! MissingIt's amazing how many people are in this picture and yet there is not one person of color. Seriously? All shapes and sizes?With the possible exception of the blurred woman in the foreground, please find me one in the entire group who would be considered overweight. People of Size & vice versaLooking at this photo I would come to the opposite conclusion. I can't find any obese people and if there any they are certainly in the minority. A photo of today's beachgoers would surely not look like the people in this photo. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC, Swimming)
Telco Group: 1928
... the women's faces, it sure is easy to tell who got a good night's sleep the night before, and who's had enough coffee! Cheery Group Looks like about ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 5:05pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1928. "Cheasapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., Willard Hotel." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. I think time travel needs toI think time travel needs to be invented strictly so I can have all of their shoes. *sigh* Someone needs to put on the phonograph, I think. Shame to waste that ballroom. TenpinsThey look like they're waiting for a bowling ball to come at them. Coffee!By looking at the women's faces, it sure is easy to tell who got a good night's sleep the night before, and who's had enough coffee! Cheery GroupLooks like about three of them are pleased to be there. Two Disparate Thoughts1. Nylon stockings must be the greatest gift of man to woman. 2. You would think they at least had a broom in the building if not a mop. Night of the Living DeadThe third dear lady from the left has problems -- health, sleep or lousy teenagers! Those lovely chandeliers - - -are hanging from the ugliest thick, black cables I've ever seen. Also, there's not one handsome man or pretty woman in the group. Looks like they're there for a funeral. Yech. Lucky PeopleThe group appears to be middle management level phone company employees. Very shortly, this country will be thrust into a depression that will ravage at least 30% of the people. These people will most likely continue to be employed and blessed with the prosperity that many would be denied. If they were still working there in 1935, they would become eligible for Social Security benefits when they reached 65 years of age, They would also be allowed their Phone Company pension and could retire comfortably. Of course they didn't realize it then but the times they were achangin. Too darn perkyThird from right. All the other women hate her. Some office parties are better than othersI think the folks from the Western Electric Co. need to come over and show this lot how to do an office party right. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Portraits)
Main Street: 1917
... to go pack in time just for one day and view this. Night View I want to be there at night when all those arches of lamps are lit up. Must have been an awesome ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 5:18pm -

Norfolk, Virginia, circa 1917. "Main Street." The port city's bustling business district. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Cash registerJust sitting on its dolly, waiting patiently for a guy to hoist it into the NCR wagon. Those things are heavy. The Iron ArchesOn the right, it's a MacDonald's luncheon restaurant! Over 10,000 served! Did they really serve the Big Mac in 1910? Who knew?! Not a sailor in sightSure doesn't look like the Norfolk I remember from the 1960s. Whoa!I think I see a MacDonald's diner there in the center! I do, I do see a MacDonald's! Lots Of LightsWOW ! Look at all the street lights this must be a beautiful place to be when the snow falls, Would love to go pack in time just for one day and view this. Night ViewI want to be there at night when all those arches of lamps are lit up. Must have been an awesome sight! Victoria HotelThe Victoria was built in 1904 on East Main Street. It was gutted by fire in 1945, and torn down in 1954 under the downtown redevelopment project. Eerily UpsettingI'm bothered, to say the least, by the sign ("GEM Da---") on the sporting goods store. It looks like an evil bearded man doing something to/with an infant. Someone please tell me that there's a good explanation for this. Main SteetWay up on Main Street was the Victoria Hotel. Beside that was the Gaiety Theatre, then devoted to the art of burlesque. Rumor had it that sailors called the hotel the "Riding Academy." Alas, all has disappeared with the area bland and dull. Five and DimeHad no idea "McCrory's 5 & 10" was around back then. I would have thought 10 cents got you a lot in 1917. Gem Dameskeene RazorI realize I am commenting to a site that may be inactive in 2017, but the Razor ad was relating a new safety razor being safer. The dad holding his child has the razor slipping from his grip and the child is reacting in fright, however it's a safety razor, not likely to cut the child has straight razors did in years prior. [Inactive? Us? -tterrace] (The Gallery, DPC, Norfolk, Streetcars)
The Hereafter: 1906
... will be ready for public exhibition tomorrow afternoon and night. The contract for constructing this expensive amusement enterprise ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/24/2024 - 5:39pm -

Norfolk, Virginia, circa 1906. "Pine Beach -- amusements and boardwalk." 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Grewsome ObjectsTHE DAILY PRESS, Newport News, Va., June 21, 1906 "HEREAFTER" AT PINE BEACH Local Amusement Company Offers Weird St. Louis Attraction "Hereafter," a spectacular show which created a sensation on the Pike at the St. Louis exposition, has been put in at Pine Beach by the Newport News Amusement Corporation at a cost of $10,000 and will be ready for public exhibition tomorrow afternoon and night. The contract for constructing this expensive amusement enterprise was awarded to Austin, Bradwell and McClennan of New York, the firm which put in the St. Louis show. Mr. McClennan was manager of Luna Park at Coney Island for two seasons, and has created such shows as "The Johnstown Flood" and "Over and Under the Sea." "Hereafter" is under the general management of Messrs. Clinedinst and Ballard, of this city. The show is a very weird one but it has never failed to attract immense crowds wherever exhibited. Entering the first chamber of the great building erected for this show, the spectators are ushered into the chamber of horrors, the walls of which are lined with coffins and decorated with grinning skulls and other grewsome objects. This is an exact reproduction of the famous Cabaret de la Mort, or the Cabinet [sic] of Death, in Paris. The lecturer invites some person in the crowd to enter one of the upright coffins and he is immediately transformed into a skeleton. His spirit invites the spectators to accompany him to the under world and together they descend a bottomless pit, finally crossing the river Styx and finishing in Hades. The electrical effects used are most vivid and greatly add to the impressiveness of the scene. Entertainment through the decadesIt's nice to see Oliver Hardy and Mary Martin making use of someone's time machine. But as for the Hereafter, it is easy for us to snicker at such a kitschy exhibit for the rubes, but our contemporary comic book movies and "reality" tv are just as stylized and phony. In fifty years this will be really obvious. Less amusing now.Pine Beach was located at Sewell’s Point in Norfolk. Pine Beach Hotel - The Hampton Roads Naval Museum Blog A Hellish Experience?I have to wonder if that expensive $10,000 investment was profitable as time went on. I'LL GET IT Apparently, the merry-go-round swing thing in the center of photo is stuck because someone is scaling up the side to locate the problem with a 1906 version of WD-40 aka lubricating oil. WhirligigThe merry-go-round swing thing in the center of photo. I'd be hereafter... a ride on the little train just the other side of the messy log patch. Looks like a nice steamer, willing to tote a dozen or so happy kids around the park. And the name "Hereafter" reminds me of the old plug about what guys say to their date right after parking in the woods. Somebody help meWhat is that thing which the woman in white is looking/laughing at? I refer to what appears to be an elephant trunk -- not attached to an elephant -- suspended between the two benches. BTW I am stone cold sober. [Is it a trunk? More likely a limb! It looks to me like part of a tree. - Dave] (The Gallery, DPC, Norfolk)
Ladies' Car: 1928
... National Photo glass negative. View full size. Night and Day These passengers are seated in the "sections" of a sleeping ... that each section converted to an upper and lower berth at night. The sleeping car porter, the gent you see in the background, would be ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/12/2020 - 8:32pm -

Washington, D.C., vicinity circa 1928. "Southern Railway. Ladies' car," reserved for women and their escorts. National Photo glass negative. View full size. Night and DayThese passengers are seated in the "sections" of a sleeping car. That is to say that each section converted to an upper and lower berth at night. The sleeping car porter, the gent you see in the background, would be responsible for making up the sections when the passengers were ready to retire for the night. In the morning the porter would return the berths to the "day" position. Berths are the cheapest first-class accommodation on a sleeping car. One can see just overhead the part that when lowered will reveal the upper berth. A "compartment," as seen in the video clip below, is a private room containing an upper and lower berth, along with its own toilet and wash basin. This is a more expensive first-class accommodation. At one time, the best first-class accommodation on most railroads was a "drawing room." Agatha ChristieThis scene looke like it's taken straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. You almost expect Hercule Poirot to walk in and solve a murder. Clover ColonyThe Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum's Clover Colony is a similar heavyweight Pullman -- the car used in the filming of "Some Like It Hot," so I see Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis when I look at this picture. Here is my short video of a Clover Colony compartment: Each in Her Own WorldI like the drowsy ambience of isolation in this one. SmokingI was wondering if that meant it was a non-smoking car, but there seems to be a guy on the left with his back to the camera (some gigolo escort, I suppose) who is smoking. He's getting the laser-eye stare from the woman on the right, before there were lasers. The expression on the porter's face is priceless too. Not his favorite duty. Great shotI love the pictures where you can kind of put yourself into the image. Sort of like when you watch "Casablanca" and you feel like you're actually in Rick's cafe sitting right next to Ilsa. What a great way to dream. (The Gallery, Natl Photo, Railroads)
String of Pearls: 1941
... empty, down to shoes and jewelry. It's been a tough night. No shoes on the table! It's "bad luck" according to the other ... With shoes and pearls on the table, are we starting a late-night strip-poker game? After all, the ladies are full of Coca-Cola. Uh ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/01/2013 - 2:13pm -

Detroit, summer 1941. Our third look at a series of photos taken by Arthur Siegel for the Office of War Information. The first few are labeled "Girls playing cards and drinking Coca-Cola." Then the caption disappears, and the rest of the photos bear the notation "This image in jacket marked 'killed'." View full size. Ashtrays full,Coke bottles empty, down to shoes and jewelry. It's been a tough night. No shoes on the table!It's "bad luck" according to the other half. Is that what we're seeing?With shoes and pearls on the table, are we starting a late-night strip-poker game? After all, the ladies are full of Coca-Cola. Uh OhStrip polka The night is getting longerWith the Andrews Sisters on the radio singing "Drinking Rum and Coca Colaaa." I'll raise youmy lizard shoes, and a string of pearls. Still SmokingAnd they apparently finished the pack of Pall Malls that was on the Encyclopedia. Dave is a teaseThis looks like the game has gone into strip poker. Could Dave be holding out on photos from later in the evening? [Don't I have enough to do emptying these ashtrays? - Dave] Bad luck and shoesAccording to my late mom, the bad luck associated with shoes had to do with putting them on the bed. Best to be safe and avoid both! Nascent RosiesInside of a year, they'll be writing to beaux absent in harms way, riveting skin to B-17 airframes for twelve hours at a time, and looking back with longing to peacetime evenings of cards with "the girls" and some Pall Malls. (The Gallery, Arthur Siegel, Detroit Photos, Pretty Girls, The Card Game)
Merry Christmas: 1913
... Wishing all a better 2021. After a full day and night Zooming Xmas Celebrations - - - After 3am realized I didn't get my ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/25/2020 - 7:11am -

        The colorized Christmas tree is back, 107 years after its debut in Madison Square. Happy holidays from Shorpy! New York, December 1913. "Christmas tree, Madison Square." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size. Beautiful!Wow, what a beautiful tree! Merry Christmas, Dave, and Merry Christmas to all in Shorpyland. Best Image Site on the InternetBest wishes for 2010. Merry Christmas!Great photo! Thanks so much Dave for this great site. I have so enjoyed it all year long and look forward to more! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Dateline Shorpyland:Merry christmas Dave and to all who visit here. Merry Christmas To YouAnd thanking you for another year of incredible photos. You have given us a view into the past that few have ever had the chance to experience. You've changed my life. Prepared and thereHow very often it is when we see a photo of an important event that Boy Scouts are present. Merry Christmas, Shorpyites. Rick MacDave, a Merry Christmas to you! And thanks for your site -this has become my favorite. I look forward to checking for new photos every day, and I'm never disappointed. It's like having my own personal time machine. It's a blast! Thank youFor all the wonderful pictures and happy holidays right back at you! Beautiful!!That is beautiful! Thanks for all the great pics and Merry Christmas to everyone!! Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas to all Shorpyites from Reading, England A Shorpy Christmas To AllAnd a huge thank you to Dave and the staff at Shorpy, you have, literally, changed my life. Merry Christmas from Puerto Rico!I join my fellow Shorpyites in thanking you for another year of wonderful photos. May you live long and prosper! TintedIs this hand colored? [Computer-colored. By me. - Dave] Merry Christmas!Beautiful picture, Dave. May I add my thanks to you for providing us with these great pictures. I feel like I understand the world a little better after seeing these great glimpses into the past. Thank YouThank for for this wonderful image. My grandfather was ten years old that Christmas, probably about the size of the shorter of the two boys in the foreground. He also lived about fifteen blocks from Madison Square, so I imagine he was able to see this very tree that Christmas. Thanks again and merry Christmas. It's been a year of fantastic backward glancesMerry Christmas to all! Pictures are, indeed, worth a thousand words and Shorpy is a regular stopover site for me. Thanks for sharing all this, Dave. Merry Christmas to alland a big thank you to Dave for the best site on the web and we can't forget tterrace and we hope he doesnt run out of photos. Ron Merry Christmas to one of my favorite web sitesThank you so much for sharing all these marvelous photos with us. EchoWhat everyone below said. A big "thank you", Dave, from Las Vegas. Merry Christmas!To Dave and staff and everyone else who visits here! Thanks so much for this wonderful site and all the memories! This is about as close to a time machine as we're likely to see.You've changed my perception of how life was all those decades ago. You've helped me to see those years come alive. Merry Christmas, and thanks for one of the most incredible sites on the web. Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas and Thank You! GratitudeI must add my sincere thank you as well Dave, and to those who aid you or add to the information, for the wonderful memories sparked by many photos here, and for the historic value of many of these pictures. Merry Christmas to all!! From Your Favorite Nittany LionTo Dave and all my fellow Shorpyites, from the mountains of Pennsylvania, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! DibsLet me be the first to wish one and all a glorious Christmas and a bodacious New Year! Merry Christmas everyone!In the background on the right is the Hoffman House located at Broadway and 24th Street. I love how the lights have been colorized! From Manitoba, CanadaEven our decorated trees aren't this big! A very Merry Christmas to all! Merry Christmas one & all from the UK!I'd like to wish everyone at Shorpy a fabulous Christmas and a healthy new year. Merry ChristmasWishing all at Shorpy a very happy Christmas and seasons greetings to my fellow Shorpyites! Holiday GreetingsTo all Shorpyites, Dave, tterrace and Stanton Square: Holiday Greetings from Bull City Boy, Bull Ciry Girl and all the Bull City Young'uns. Have a blessed Christmas A Little LateIt's 8:13pm Christmas day out here in Spokane, but I want to wish everyone who visits this wonderful site a very Merry Christmas and all the best for next year. Thanks Dave, and all who make this possible. I learn something new every day from all of you. Thanks. Happy HolidaysThank you, Dave - and thank you to all the folks who manage the site, and thanks to the contributors and commenters. The world of Shorpy is a terrific gift you share with us, every day. Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas to Dave and all the Shorpyites from an old coot in Virginia Mele Kalikimaka!Christmas greetings from Hawaii! 1913Well, my father was born in 1914 and was a wonderful man and father even after getting shot to pieces in Italy with 168th Infantry, 34th Division during WWII. I'm OK with 1913 since my Aunt Helen was born in 1912 and was a most wonderful lady with smiles and laughs and hugs for me when I was a lad. The 1912 & 1914 bracket around 1913 is OK by me. Christmas GratitudeThank you for this wonderful site Dave and a special thank you for the photos you posted this year from the glory days of my hometown, Utica, New York. You, Shorpy, and others (especially tterrace) have provided a boundless window into the past and countless hours spent away from the stresses of the day indulging in something that is neither fattening, nor bad for me. Shorpy IS however, highly addictive and wonderfully entertaining. Best wishes to all in 2012! Merry Christmas Shorpy!Another year gone by already! Merry Christmas to AllAnd a Thank You to Dave and the Shorpy Elves for all the work you put into this site. Best Wishes from Canada.Merry Christmas to Dave and all the Shorpsters !! Nothing left to sayI echo ALL the sentiments of the commenters before me. So, just a simple Merry Christmas from Minneapolis, MN to Dave, Shorpy and the Shorpyites!!! Wishing you all an awesome 2012. From Cape Breton Canada A Merry Christmas to Shorpy and all ..... Merry Christmas!Dave, I'm a relative noob, here, and truly enjoy what you do. Merry Christmas from the Left Coast. Thank you and forward, into the past! Merry Christmas Gang!Dave, the rest of the Shorpy administrators and the great member submitters, Merry Christmas and thank you very much for another year of marvelous photos and replies for my mind and mailed photos for my wall! I wish everyone a grand new year! To each and every oneFrom England, to every corner of Shorpyland and to each and every one of its inhabitants -- a Merry Christmas, and a Happy, Peaceful and Healthy New Year. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!to Dave and all the denizens of Shorpyville. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to AllMerry Christmas from Boston, Dave, and many thanks. Shorpy is a fantastic community! From here in PortlandFrom here in Portland Oregon, to every corner of Shorpyland and to each and every one of its inhabitants -- a Merry Christmas, and a Happy, Peaceful and Healthy New Year. Thank you, Dave, for giving us a glimpse back into the past. This is one of my favorite sites. Merry Christmas to allMerry Christmas to the Shorpy staff, contributors and commenters. Really appreciate all this site offers, it is one of my favorites. Madison SquareTo all at Shorpy, Merry Christmas! This is a great website and I have told many about it. This photo reminds me of a print by the American artist Martin Lewis. The picture is titled "The Orator" and is dated 1916. The scene is Madison Square. The three large buildings in the background are still standing and are located around the intersection of 5th Avenue/Madison Square North/W.26th. The photo and the Christmas tree are beautiful! Merry Christmas and a Happy New YearA bit late for me for the former, but heartfelt wishes to all for the latter Thanks so much Dave, for all of the work you put into Shorpy. Before it came along, I had to be pacified with scanning old pic collections at flea markets. Alas, no more! A very Happy New Year to you and yours! Happy New Year and for many years to come Thank you so much for the look back and to your members for giving me the chance to compare with current photos on occasion. MERRY CHRISTMASThank you all at Shorpy for another great year on one of my favourite sites. Merry Christmas to you all! Edmund Christmas wishesMerry Christmas Dave to you and all at Shorpy, another fine year and looking forward to 2017. Peace and Goodwill to AllMany thanks for the photos on this site. My father was born in northeastern Alabama around the time of Shorpy, and this alone makes the site worthwhile. To see and read about those times is very revealing. But the site is much more! Just the railroad photos alone are fantastic. Please know that you are appreciated, and Happy New Year to Shorpyland! Merry Christmas Everyone!!Merry Christmas to all out there in Shorpyland - everyone reading, everyone posting and especially to Dave and the Shorpy crew. Keep those great pics coming! Now, off to the Office Party! Merry Christmas: 2018I passed some very pleasant time in a Canadian Tire store near Toronto on Christmas Eve yesterday, an hour before closing, relaxed and unharried, with a brother-in-law and nephew, trying to figure out all the different kinds of tree lights available, to make a totally unnecessary purchase, upon command of a family member higher up than us on the boss scale. And the result was nowhere near as nice as this Madison Square tree. Merry Christmas and best of the season to Dave and tterrace and all my Shopry comrades at this bright and festive time of year. Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas from Canada !! Glad Tidings to AllMerry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, Blessed Yule, and all other wishes to everyone here. May your tables be filled with good food and good conversation. See you in 2020. With gratitudeThanks to Dave and all who contribute. It's been a great trip of learning, from Mr. Higginbotham's life story to "flange bearing frogs". I thought the little amphibians were doing some heavy lifting! Wishing all a better 2021. After a full day and night Zooming Xmas Celebrations - - - After 3am realized I didn't get my daily dose of SHORPY and will complete reading and commenting around 4:50 am. Looking forward to the New Year edition to cap off another year of David's, tt's and other's massive and Artful contributions stimulating our family's memories and new insights as to our collective history as ALL our folks arrived as immigrants some as slaves or indentured workers and others stowaways or sailors and crew members jumping ship. The rest of our people we see populating SHORPY'S cities, towns and farms arrived on our shores in a wide range of financial status. However difficult it probably was for most of our descendants it's amazing how quickly, often in only one generation the new language and customs morphed into the American citizens we compare Shorpy's folks to. I as I begin my 89th year I'm the only first generation Norwegian / American male left in my NYC clan. Although l had a pleasant holiday I sorely miss our Scandinavian main roast pork meal on Xmas Eve with all the varied and distinctive cookies and other baked cakes that were baked during the week before and the house smelled like Xmas the whole tantalizing time. One of my dad's insistence that mom wasn't to speak to my sister and me in Norsk - slid into our having the American turkey and apple cyder on Xmas - wasn't that cool ! Merry Christmas!I want to wish all Shorpyites, both regular commenters and non-regular commenters alike, the happiest of holiday seasons this year. 2020 has been terrible, on almost every level a year can be terrible, and a little peace and joy over the next week shouldn't be too much to ask. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas yesterday with however many people you're allowed to have at your house. I hope the food was good, the conversation was lively, and the feelings warm. Come on 2021... (The Gallery, Christmas, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Early American Christmas: 1961
... there on the end table. View full size. Previous Night's Party I spy under the end table a pointy black pump, so odds ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 09/29/2011 - 7:13pm -

December 1961. Maybe people who lived in the Hollywood Hills or in the pages of Sunset Magazine dwelt in high-concept Case Study homes, but regular young marrieds of this period were more likely to have furnished their abodes from the Early American section of the Montgomery Ward catalog. Here is a classic example of its kind, down to the ubiquitous braided rugs. My nephew Jimmy, on the right, is visiting his cousin Bobby, and apparently I came along to record the event on this 127 Ektachrome. Jimmy is pulling the talk string on his Casper the Friendly Ghost, one of about a billion times he did it that year. "I'm co-o-o-o-ld." After 47 years that sound still echoes in my brain. Bobby's got himself a Mr. Machine, who didn't talk, but the TV commercial jingle still resonates. "Here he comes, here he comes, greatest toy you've ever seen, and his name is Mr. Machine!" I know that because at the age of 15 I was still watching cartoons on TV every day. In addition to the incredibly cool army truck, somebody has gotten a "Super Sonic Jetliner," whose wings were cleverly designed to deliberately detach. Someone else, presumably, has gotten the gift box of Kools up there on the end table. View full size. Previous Night's PartyI spy under the end table a pointy black pump, so odds favor that Christmas Eve was spicy for someone! Those Rugs!I recognize those rugs. My folks had a set and they lasted for a good 20 years before they started coming apart. I've no idea where my folks got them but those were well-made rugs! Early AmericanMy aunt was very proud of her "Early American" decor. My mother used to get a giggle out of it behind her back, because the kitchen curtains actually had the words "Early American" incorporated into the design of the fabric. Space-Age ColonialBeing the queen of Early American yard sales, I have a pair of the same side tables in my den, even as I type. Solid maple, no veneers, no particleboard, ahhhhhh. Mr. MachineI received a Mr. Machine for my birthday in 1963. I also took him apart and my dad had to reassemble him. I haven't taken it apart since then-- I still have it! Also, it does kind of talk. It emitted a weird, synthetic "ahhh" when the mouth opened. "He is real, he is real..."And for you he is ideal And his name is Mr. Machine! I had Casper too. "Will you be friends with me?" Happy Yule, Kool Fool!And then there were the cigarette commercials where you'd see a young couple arrive at the front door of a house while it snowed. They're bundled up for the cold weather, laughing and smiling - and under his arm he's carrying a carton of cigs, wrapped in a festive bow. Because nothing says "Merry Christmas" quite like a gift-wrapped carton of Kools. This is from someone who smoked - and loved smoking - for decades. Yay!It's so wild to hear that theme song again! And really....what a cool toy. Deja VuThat could have been taken at my house. I remember my mother making those braided rag rugs. My little brother got a Mr. Machine for Christmas. My folks smoked Winstons, however. I guess because they "taste good, like a cigarette should." Good MemoriesI had a Mr. Machine for Christmas. Took him apart and couldn't get him back together again. Deja Vu - 2!Your folks smoked Winstons, Horace T. Water; my mom smoked Salems because when she took a puff, it was springtime and my Dad smoked L&Ms because "L&M has got the filter that unlocks the flavor in a filter cigarette." Me? I ended up carrying around a pack of Kools and a pack of Lucky Strikes, alternating brands when my lungs got too raw or too frozen. Ah! the good old days! Mr. MachineI always wanted a Mr. Machine! I also remember rolling around on the same kind of woven rug. You could lose all sorts of things on the rug due to its unique camouflage of colors. No knotsLove Jimmy's bow tie. Bet it was a clip-on version. CigarettesAll of those cigarette brands are foreign to people who grew up in Canada. Kools - what are they? We (by which I mean those who smoked - in 52 years I never have) had brands like Du Maurier, Rothmans, Number 7, Players (my uncle Harry's favourite) Sportsman, and Cameo. For years in Canada when you heard "Macdonalds" you thought cigarettes because Macdonald Tobacco was one of the biggest companies around (they sponsored the national curling championships, the Macdonald Brier). Their main brand was Export A and the menthol version, Export M. To this day I can tell when someone is smoking an American cigarette - the smell of the smoke harsher and, well stinkier. Poor CasperOf all the photos I've enjoyed here, this one hits home, right down to the furniture. I too had a Casper that I loved as a child. But not so much that curiosity didn't get the better of me -- after having him a few years, I ripped him open to find out what made him talk. No microchips in those days, but a little record with "Mattel" on the label. Poor Casper, but seeing as he was a ghost I'm sure he felt no pain. Re: CigarettesThere apparently is a difference between U.S. and Canadian brands. When I visited Canada years ago, a local scolded me for lighting up one of my "stinky" American coffin-nails. He described the smell of American cigarettes as that of "burning rope." He then explained that none of the Canadian brands utilize Turkish tobacco in their blends, which most American brands do, and offered to let me sample one of his. The difference he was describing was evident. In my opinion, however, they just didn't pack the wallop that a good-old Kool did (hack, hack). The Friendly GhostFor Christmas 1962 I got a Casper doll, Which is of course long gone now. Until last Christmas, when someone very close to me found one on eBay. The tag said "Mattel 1962." I like to think this is THE one that got away. Which doesn't have much to do with the photo of course, but this picture sure did bring back fond memories of that Christmas in particular. Thanks very much for posting this. I'd almost forgotten...How every second household had that horrible red-stained "colonial" furniture during the sixties. That was what working class people actually bought, as opposed to the sophisticated "up to the minute" ultra modern extravaganzas seen elswhere on this site. And, changing the topic back to cigarettes: When I used to indulge, back in my youth, I found our Canadian smokes boring after a while. So, every time I crossed the border, I'd bring back some Camel Filters. I remember how they crackled like gunpowder while giving off that exotic Turkish tobacco smell. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Art & Design, Christmas, tterrapix)
Bridge in Progress: 1908
... it was easy: "Just don't look down!" Dark and Stormy Night Twenty five years ago I climbed one stormy night to the top of the Brooklyn side tower of the Manhattan Bridge. That was ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2011 - 5:58pm -

New York, July 15, 1908. "Temporary footpath, Manhattan Bridge." 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size. The Lens-Grinder's DreamIt's hard to imagine, today, just how much skill and daring went into making this photograph. It's also sort of "post-modern," in the way that one photographer is taking a picture of his colleague, further up the span on that shaky-looking walkway. But the real beauty of it is that almost everything is in sharp focus, right up to the feet of the second cameraman. A small piece of finely-ground glass, a photographic plate, and a couple of tripods, that was all it took to produce this image... that, and the courage to take the equipment up there. Maybe it was easy: "Just don't look down!" Dark and Stormy NightTwenty five years ago I climbed one stormy night to the top of the Brooklyn side tower of the Manhattan Bridge. That was done with the help of a series of ladder rungs that are mounted inside the towers. At the top at I could barely do more than peek my head out of the trapdoor at the top of the tower. I can't imagine being the guy on this wooden footpath. But what a view. Is that an old HR Dayliner?Can anyone identify the name of the excursion boat/ferry plying its way north beneath the temporary walkway? During the bridge renovationDuring the bridge renovation in the 1980s I walked across. At one point I looked down through the boards and froze. I had to be helped off and I'm having the same feeling looking at this scene. Oh baby, that engineer is one brave dude. And the iron workers. Heroes to me because their bravery enables me to drive across. From BrooklynBased on the piers on the opposite short this appears to be looking from the Brooklyn side, approximately Plymouth and Adams Streets. Vertigo!It makes me a little queasy just looking at the picture. There's nothing to grab onto and you know that setup swayed like crazy in the wind! High AnxietyI'm getting a mild case of vertigo just looking at this. To actually stand on that path would be too much for me. I'd be flat on my stomach in an instant, slowly inching my way to safety. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Campus Life: 1908
... Bain Collection glass negative. View full size. Night School on Elm Street 1. This looks like an Escher print 2. You ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 8:26pm -

New York circa 1908. "Campus, College of City of N.Y. Academic building, Mechanical Arts building, Chemistry building." I have a recurring dream that looks a lot like this. G.G. Bain Collection glass negative. View full size. Night School on Elm Street1. This looks like an Escher print 2. You mean the dream where it's the end of the semester and you realize you haven't gone to math ALL semester and don't even know where the class is held? 3. I have LIVED the show-up-late for the final exam nightmare!! I thought my microecon exam was from 3:20 to 5:20 and it was from 1 to 3!! Black and white dreamsI was reading in New Scientist about a study that demonstrates that people over 55 (i.e. raised on b/w movies, TV and photos) dream far more often in black and white (up to a quarter of the time) than younger people. I didn't know what to do with this information (except nod, because it's probably true of me), but now I can pass it on to other Shorpymaniacs! [My dreams have those black bars across the top and bottom. - Dave] Nostalgia of the InfiniteIt's like a Giorgio de Chirico painting. DreamsI can see how this would make a good nightmare. You're late for an exam and can't remember what room it's in. You give a shout to ask for directions but nobody will answer you because you're not wearing any clothes. That's when the pipe smoking paperboys appear and start pelting you with road apples. A beautyThis campus is absolutely beautiful. Crisp and new. Does anyone know if it still looks this nice ? DreamsI always dreamt of cars & gals. Since Tue, 08/12/2008 I dream of The Girl With the Crocodile Car. Film at 100CUNY has posted on YouTube a multi-episode video series about how these buildings were designed, and how the University recently restored them. Brand spanking new campusThese buildings - now known by names such as Baskerville Hall, on the North Quad around what was formerly Beaver Park - were brand new in 1908, as was the CCNY St. Nicholas Heights campus. The May 1908 dedication ceremonies included speeches by the usual politicians, plus Mark Twain. You can read the New York Times article about it here. 100 years later, the buildings and the quad have survived, although some visionary recognized that trees, more grass and less concrete be an improvement. CUNY QuadI love the Quad. There are more trees and places to sit and eat and hang out in general. A lot of the gothic buildings are still there, like Shepard Hall, and it's still beautiful as ever. CCNYThe campus is still very beautiful. Ah, CCNYIt is a lovely campus; weather permitting I will head up there this weekend take an "update" photo to share with Shorpy. When the buildings were restored about fifteen(?) years ago, the school could not afford to replace the original stonework and gargoyles on the exterior of the buildings. To their credit, the administration commissioned fiberglass replicas, which cost a fraction the price and which can not be distinguished from stone. CCNY was at one time a very well respected school. Graduates include Jonas Salk and Colin Powell. However, the school's academic program and reputation were destroyed by the introduction of open-admissions in 1970, and have never recovered. That notwithstanding, the campus has been used as a stand-in for Oxford and Harvard in movies. I used to take my daughter up there to play on the grass, back before she was sophisticated enough to demand a "real" playground. CCNYAs a current student of CCNY, it's amazing to see these photographs. Despite some of the newer construction on the southern half of campus (the North Academic Center and Marshak come to mind), much of the school's charm has remained intact. In fact, the quad from the photograph above is even more attractive now. Where there were once stone paths, the school has replaced with grass and trees, giving the space an idyllic face lift. CCNY TodayAs promised, I visited campus today and tried to replicate this photo. As it turns out, even at the start of November with many leaves already fallen from the trees, the remaining foliage is enough to almost completely obscure the buildings seen in the original. Though no young men in suits and caps are visible in this photo, if you click on the image above, it will take you to a larger version in which you may be able to distinguish a rastafarian gentleman in a multicolored knitted cap hitting at the base of the flagpole. The campus is so thoroughly obscured by trees from this angle that I turned the camera 90 degrees to the right to take a photo of Shepard Hall, to give any skeptics a better sense of just of lovely this campus remains. CSNY Today Went to CityYes, the campus is still beautiful. Only one big building spoils it. The North Academic Center, which went up despite efforts not to tear down the old buildings. It looks like a big gray jail. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, G.G. Bain, NYC)
Sea Crest Motors: 1977
... for the car company. Very impressive to gaze up to at night; I don't think he sold many cars though. View full size. Big ... rarely not having a few arrows in the chest. Cars at Night I can recall shopping at that dealership, but why I have no idea. ... 
 
Posted by rizzman1953 - 05/20/2012 - 7:00pm -

Fall 1977. Sea Crest Motors was a Cadillac-Pontiac-Mazda dealership on Route 1A in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Indian could be a reference to Pontiac, the Native American chief and namesake for the car company. Very impressive to gaze up to at night; I don't think he sold many cars though. View full size. Big IndianOne of the early roadside advertising attractions(or distractions?) Read more; http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/30707 Where's the Chief?This place is still there, and was called Sea Crest until fairly recently. It's now called "Pride" but still sells Lincolns, etc. as well as Kias and Hyundais. No sign of the Chief, though... Good Old DaysWhen the Cadillac dealer put a late model Lincoln on his used car lot and the Lincoln dealer did the same. Two nice looking "personal luxury cars" there though. HeavyVictrolaJazz : For comparison, a milspec Humvee starts at 5,200 lbs! Those things were led sleds for sure. AvoirdupoisThe Eldorado - 4,955 lbs! The Continental - 4,652 lbs.! 11 MPG Highway / 7 MPG City We've come a long way, baby! That Indian was also a GiantThe mold for the large Indian was used for many customers, and sometimes painted as a Caucasian Giant, if that would better fit the name of the purchaser's business. TargetA Pontiac dealership here in San Antonio had one of those perched up very high. It became a common target for archers with it rarely not having a few arrows in the chest. Cars at NightI can recall shopping at that dealership, but why I have no idea. Living on the South Shore of Boston it would not have been convenient or smart to buy there. I do love photos of shiny new cars in the dark! Great photo Rizzman! Glorious Excess!The car directly under the indian is a 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. The Biarritz was the top trim level, and is distinguished from the 'ordinary' Eldorado by the addition of chrome trim from the sides of the hood to the kick-up of the rear fender, as well as the 'coach' lights on the side of the C pillar, padded leather-grained vinyl roof, pillow-topped leather seats, and available gold plating on all emblems and crests. I have one, and believe me, it is the world's gaudiest, least useful car - the interior is small, and the trunk won't even hold two suitcases. Pure American in-your-face ersatz luxury, the sort of thing that put the American Auto industry on the ropes. Cadillac vs. LincolnNice display at this dealership. This is the used car (pre-owned in today's jargon) area as evidenced by the late model cars sitting around (I noticed a nice looking '74 or '75 Firebird in the background). I like how the dealer positioned the Eldorado next to the Lincoln Mark V. Those were some great years for cars (outside of the smogged down engines). Loungin' in the LincolnOh this pic of the Lincoln brings back memories. I had this exact used car in 1979. I LOVED that car. Ultimate smooth ride, luxurious interior, big, fast engine. Sure it was a gas guzzler, but for a 20 yr. old girl, I was the envy of all my friends, LOL! It was like driving a sofa! The Indians Are Coming!There are several statues of Indians in Maine, where I live. Probably the most famous one is known as the FBI, which is visible from I-295 in Freeport. Although the exact wording of the acronym FBI is the subject of much question and dispute, for purposes of keeping the text clean we'll call it the "Freeport" Big Indian. The locals have several more "colorful metaphors", as Mr. Spock would call them. There's an interesting web page that describes many of the statues located around the country. Check it out at http://www.agilitynut.com/giants/indians.html Another oneThere's one just like this big fiberglass Indian at a car lot on the southside of Parkersburg, WV. It's been moved at least a couple of times since the 1960's, but he's always been at a car lot. American ironI spy at least three Firebirds in the background; one is a 74 or so Esprit or maybe Trans Am, also the back tail of what is probably a four door 75 or 76 Grand Am (yes they used the name back then as well) as well as the smattering of Cadillacs. The Biarritz Eldorado is beautiful; I've only seen them as beaters, being a bit younger. There is also a station wagon on the sales floor, it's the debut of the new smaller midsized G-body for 1978 e.g. Cutlass, Monte Carlo, here in Pontiac Le Mans Safari trim. Cool pic. I love to see a dealership pic that's of a different era then those usually posted here. Of course I love the old ones as well. Cars of Eddie CoyleBuilding still stands on the Lynnway, selling furniture now. Mom grew up in Hyde Park and taught me never to go to "Lynn Lynn city of sin, you never come out the way you came in" Land YachtsMy uncle had a Caddy like that, except it was a rag top in triple-white! As a kid I just did not grasp the concept of "It's too hot to put the top down today!" As a "grown-up" I still don't buy that one. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that's a Mark IV (1972-76) as the Mark V (1977-79) had a slimmer, less bulbous roof. I wouldn't mind having a nice example of either one! Our '69 Lincoln Continental four-door featured a custom license tag that read "MYOT." Always got a grin at traffic lights! (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
A Different Drummer: 1925
... and interesting relationship with the Smithsonian. Night at the Museum These photos of William Egberts creating facsimiles of ... sculptures become his companions, did they come to life at night (at least in his mind) and do the tasks he created them to do? Did ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 4:54pm -

May 11, 1925. "William H. Egberts of National Museum with Siamese musician." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Mr. EgbertsAfter seeing Mr. Egberts for the 3rd time, I did a web search and came upon this article - http://anthropology.si.edu/conservation/focus_on_leadership2.htm Seems like William Egberts had a long and interesting relationship with the Smithsonian. Night at the MuseumThese photos of William Egberts creating facsimiles of humans really fires up my imagination into creating a story akin to "twilight zones" or "one step beyond" situations. Did this man project humanity into his creations (like the old ventriloquist dummy plot), did he name them in his conscience, did he assign them personalities like the author of a book does for his characters? Dr. Egberts's suit sleeves are worn and tattered, a trendy look today but not in 1925, so he obviously took his job very seriously, so completely engrossed in his work that he was unaware of his threadbare clothing. Did his sculptures become his companions, did they come to life at night (at least in his mind) and do the tasks he created them to do? Did William ever marry or have a life other than recreating scenes from other civilizations? He does seem like a lonely man. QuestionOK..This is the third picture of this guy. So who is he and what's his story. I suspect.....that the Siamese musician has a case of rigor mortis! Let there be life..This guy looks like he was the Michelangelo of the National Museum. How do you get a job like that? I know it's an old B&W photo but it looks like he ran out of paint for the lighter skin tones a while ago. William H. EgbertsMr. Egberts' brief obituary in 1959 reports his home address as 4019 Veazey st., N.W. He was survived by his wife, Ollie C. Egberts, as well as a nephew (Hugo Hespen of Washington) and niece (Etta Pfrommer of Miami Beach) Washington Post, Feb 2, 1936 The Washington Scene By the Poe Sisters Down in the catacombs of the New National Museum is an "old curiosity shop" of which Dickens himself might have been proud. The presiding genius of the shop is W.H. Egberts, sculptor, whose title, "preparator," does not express his craft at all. For this keeper of curios deals in plaster heads, legs and arms, in false fingers, in beads and pieces of fabric, old copper, tin and metal garnered from all corners of the world. In this "curiosity shop" the exhibits in the group of Smithsonian Buildings are prepared. A native from far-off Timbuctoo will be the inspiration for a whole group of figures. The figures are classed according to the rules of artistic anatomy. Every detail of native costumes on the figures are outlined, after extensive study. Not only does this require a sculptor of no mean ability, but one who is erudite in history, archeology, geology and geography. It also requires a student of the differing habits of races of men throughout the world. Often the making of a single group entails months of study and research. First the figures are molded, according to designs made by this master sculptor. Then they are painted and dressed. Even the arrangement of the hair is of vital importance in the representation. Thus when one enters this curiosity shop he is apt to see a gracious lady with her plaster hair piled high in coils and curls of another day being modeled and prepared to don the dress once worn by a White House lady. It is a unique fact that the collection of costumes of the women of the White House are displayed on figures the faces are exactly the same and taken from the same classic head, but the sizes vary as do the figures, of course. The head dresses are individual and so it the method of hair dressing which gives a real variety to the appearance of the First Ladies. This collection was suggested and arranged by the late Mrs. Julian James of Washington with the aid of Mrs. Rose Gouverneur Hoes, a grand-daughter of President James Monroe. At one end of the room is a huge cliff dwellers scene being produced or repaired, with every thing, even the cliff dwelling figures, fitted in exactly to scale. This to be used as part of the "set" of some rare relic or relics owned by the New National Museum or Smithsonian Institution. The walls of the subterranean work shop are lined with pigeon holes in which are placed arms, legs, hands and bits of hair, or other precious "keepsakes" carefully numbered and card catalogued in the most unique filing system to be found at the Smithsonian group. Not Simulated Fried EggsThe tuned gongs in the photo are called the khong wong lek. By the way, if you try to emigrate there, you have to be sponsored by a national, or else at Customs they say, "Sorry, you can't come in without a Thai." The instrumentThe Siamese instrument looks something like the Punjabi Jaltarang, which is a series of ceramic bowls filled with varying levels of water. they sound a note in direct relationship to the amount of water in them. It is such a rare instrument that there is perhaps only one master left, Milind Talunkar, who is just about singlehandedly trying to revive it. I'd like to know the name of the Siamese instrument, and whether it is still extant. Gamelan ManMy guess would be that this is a gamelan. Hmmm...creepy!I think this guy has a robotic woman in his basement. His wife is blissfully unaware, of course. It's... it's... it's:It's Asian Ringo with the Beatle hairdoo! (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Piper's Opera House: 1940
... it to '66? Pauline Cushman, Spy of the Cumberland, one night at Opera House I wrote a biography of Pauline Cushman. She was a Civil ... actress. On 20 November 1872 she appeared for one night at the Piper Opera House in an attempt to re-start her acting career on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/23/2022 - 2:59pm -

March 1940. "Piper's Opera House. Virginia City, Nevada." Medium format acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Miraculously, not burnt down.Well, not yet. Waiting ...Anxiously awaiting the tterrapix version of this one, too. Did the vent pipe make it to '66? Pauline Cushman, Spy of the Cumberland, one night at Opera HouseI wrote a biography of Pauline Cushman. She was a Civil War spy and a nineteenth-century actress. On 20 November 1872 she appeared for one night at the Piper Opera House in an attempt to re-start her acting career on the west coast. Her career went nowhere and she went on to California and Arizona. Alf Doten of the Gold Hill News published the following the day after: THE LECTURE.—Miss Major Pauline Cushman’s lecture last evening at Piper’s Opera House, giving an account of her daring exploits and adventures during the late war of the rebellion, while in the United States secret service was well and fashionably attended. The lady arose from a sick bed to which she had been confined for the last two or three days with a severe cold, and was in no condition to lecture, but she did, nevertheless, receiving plenty of applause. The Virginia Evening Chronicle published: MAJOR CUSHMAN’S LECTURE.—The lecture last evening by Miss major Cushman did not give the satisfaction expected by the numerous assemblage present. The lady, as we understand has been quite sick for some time in this city, which has prostrated her mentally and physically to a considerable extent, but as she had announced her lecture for the evening, rather than disappoint the public she nerved herself to the task, which was beyond her strength, and for the time being failed to sustain the reputation acquired in Eastern cities as a lecturess of first-class ability. We understand she will try again in a short time, when we hope she will give better satisfaction. +70Below is the same view from May of 2010. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Frontier Life, Performing Arts)
Super Giant: 1964
... He took pride in doing his job well, whatever it was. Each night, sitting in his green leather chair, he'd read our two newspapers, one local and one city, end to end. One night I noticed that he'd paused for quite some time at the full-page weekly ad ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/22/2008 - 6:35am -

1964. The Super Giant supermarket in Rockville, Maryland. Color transparency by John Dominis, Life magazine photo archive. View full size. Twins?Look at the two ladies above checkout #7 and #8. They could be twins .. at least sisters. I love this photo ... there is so much to see! Funny how the Clorox label has not changed. That's good branding! Plaid ElephantDidn't that fellow come from the Island of Misfit Toys? Nice to see him or her gainfully employed. Credit cards?Are them Credit Card Imprinters on the registers? I didn't think grocery stores took credit cards until the late 80's. [The imprinters would be for charge cards, which for gas stations, grocery stores and other retailers go back at least to the 1950s and the era of the Charga-Plate. Charge accounts go back even farther, to the early days of retailing. Below: Artwork from a 1966 newspaper ad. What goes back to the late 80s is using bank-issued credit cards as an everyday substitute for cash, as opposed to merchant charge accounts, which generally had to be paid in full at the end of the month. - Dave] How little has changedIt's funny how things haven't changed. some of the equipment looks antiquated, but the whole checkout process is still the same. Little detailsLook closely at the rack at the checkout. One thing that stands out for me is razor blades. Lots and lots of razor blades. Now you're lucky if you even find them buried in among the 3-, 5-, 19-blade razors. (Don't even look for a safety razor today. I've tried 10 different stores here, no luck.) Next, just above the Lane 5 sign is a Brach's candy bin. Looks like the good folks at Time-Life have photoshopped the LIFE logo onto the bin. Anyone back me up on this? [That's not "photoshopped." It says "As advertised in LIFE." Often seen on product displays back in the Olden Days. - Dave] GeeSure were a lot of Caucasians back in 1964. Paper or plastic?It was at a Giant supermarket in suburban Washington in 1983 that I was first asked by the cashier "paper or plastic?" At first I was confused, thinking that she was asking me whether I wanted to pay with paper money or a credit card.... Keep GoingOh my great good God. I've never wanted a picture to "keep going" more than this one! I wish they had invented 360 degree viewing back then. AMAZING!! The good old daysI worked in a grocery store similar to this. Same cash registers. Brings back a lot of memories. Life Sure Got CasualComparing the turn-of-the-century pictures with this one shows the remarkable change in American public attire. The fellow writing the check in the right foreground might have been arrested for public indecency in earlier Shorpy Land. Didn't see too many men in short pants in 1905 stores. Deja VuI'm amazed at the number of products which are still instantly recognizable today. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for those prices! Check out the checkoutI can only imagine how long it took to get through the checkout line in the days before bar code scanners. It looks like the cashiers had to consult that notepad they all have propped up against their registers. Random musingsThose elephants are, like, crazy! People were thinner back then. The Clorox label hasn't changed a bit. Curious that the checkout ladies visible are all men. It's too bad we can't see the tabloid racks at the checkout stands. I just know there's a juicy headline on the Enquirer. Wow!I work about two miles from Rockville. Does anyone know the address of this store? Is it still there. This site is unbelievable... The ViewWhat strikes me about this is no one in view is morbidly obese. Look at the kid...... eyeballing that open Brach's candy display. Those are almost unchanged from than till now. I wonder if he copped a "sample"? CheckersThe checkers, the ones shown at least, are all male. This was once a well paid and somewhat skilled job if only for the sharp memory and hand-eye coordination. The gaudy merchandising hasn't changed much in 44 years but the checkout experience? Well, what do you all think , better or worse? Convenient beer & wineAt least in the late 70s, Marylanders learned to spot Super Giants, because through some complicated shift of definition (like SUVs = trucks), these stores were not subject to the prohibition that grocery stores and convenience stores can't sell alcohol. Today Giant Food remains but Super Giants are gone, and it's no longer possible to buy wine with your packaged ground beef. Pre-UPCOne of the more striking things here is the checkout registers where the clerk actually had to read a stamped-on price and key it in manually (after consulting a list of what might have been on discounted sale that day). Within ten years many registers would have their displays as bright glowing fluorescent digits (later LED/LCD) vs these mechanical pop-up number tags. UPC scanning lasers wouldn't be common for another 10 years or so. Look at all the Men!I am not accustomed to seeing so much testosterone in a grocery store! Everything looks supersized, even the hairdos. It's kinda funny how high they stacked the displays, you'd need a ladder to get at some of it. LinesThe lines are still as long after the "wonderful" invention of Bar Codes, Scanners and Chip & PIN credit/debit cards. One step forward, two steps back. So much to see!Dave, would you mind enlarging this to about six feet high? I can't make out all the details! What is Loon?On one of the ends.... [The sign says LOOK. - Dave] Supermarket "Where's Waldo?"Not one of these people have bottled water in their cart and there's no gum or candy visible on the registers... Now, find the: box of Life cereal, the Cracker Jacks, the Domino sugar, the Raisin Bran, the grape jelly, the grape juice, the box of Cheer detergent, and the anxious store manager. Brach's CandiesThe display of the bulk candy bin appears to read "Advertised in Life." I wonder how many Life readers caught the subtle product placement. A refreshing lack of "expression"Nary a tattoo nor a facial piercing in sight. Where's Waldo?I think he's in Aisle 6. Very interesting photo! Brach's CandiesScary how 21 years later, I could have been the kid looking into the Brach's Bulk Candies bin... I totally forgot about those bins until this picture. People were slimmer back thenOther than the antiquated cash registers and the male cashiers, what has changed the most is that we are more obese now. I love this pictureSo rich. So much to keep the eye busy. Almost like a Where's Waldo cartoon. From the Plaid Elephants advertising "Top Value" something-or other, all the way down to the Quaker logo on a box of Rice Chex. And who's that woman in line in front of the chip rack? She has a BIG BUTT! (If anyone tells me that's my mother, then she's YOUR mother.) Charge-a-platesThey go back to at least the 40's -- I remember them well. It was metal and specially notched for each of the stores which accepted them and where you had a charge account. Current plastic models, good for almost anything, are great but far less secure. Modern LifeThe Life cereal box behind the Rice Chex is virtually unchanged! Not so inexpensiveMedian income of all families in 1964 was about $6600. For female full-time workers, the median income was $3700. Median income of nonwhite males was $2800. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-047.pdf I'll bet they didn't think these prices were all that cheap. I do wonder what day of the week this photo was taken - I'll bet it was a Saturday. Get your slob on!I imagine that this was taken on a very hot day. No matter what the weather, though, imagine this same scene in 1934 or 1904 - you wouldn't see people out in public wearing undershirts and shorts. I wonder if there's a particular moment in time or series of events when it became OK to look "slobby" in public? No sagging pants or backwards baseball caps, anyway. I second the vote For blown up sections of this photograph, a lot of shelves I would like to explore. [Click "view full size." That's as blown up as it gets. - Dave] Checking outWhen I worked in grocery in the mid 1970's, with only slightly newer registers, the checkout time would be about the same as now. Good checkers could check and bag at about the same rate as now - the difference being that the checker had to pay attention and couldn't have conversations with their coworkers while checking. The notepads have the produce prices on them. Typically, you would remember those after the first few checkouts of the same produce item per day and not need to refer back very often. Remember that the range of produce available was less than today, both because of improved distribution and widening of tastes. The preferred checking technique is to pull the item off with the left hand, check the price, and enter the price into the register with the right hand. The register we had had plastic covers to cover the keys for anything past $9.99, since items of that price were pretty rare, since grocery stores sold groceries and not other items. In general, we had fewer stoppages for price checks than a modern system will because of missing items in their database. The grocery stocked fewer items back then. The flip side is that inventory management was a pain - we would manually order based on what was on the shelves and did a periodic total inventory to find the correct wastage values from spoilage and shoplifting. I much prefer the wider range of food and produce available today. And just think...This could be one of the few larger group Shorpy pictures where most of the folks are still alive. The cute girl in the cart would be my sister's age; the adults are mostly in the mid-late 20s to early 40s range, giving them ages from the high 60s to the mid 80s. The older kids would still only be in their fifties. Anyone from Rockville know these folks? Fantastic Photo!Even though it's far "younger" that most of the great photos that Shorpy features, it's one of the most fascinating you've ever put up here. I can't take my eyes off it. Do we know the address?My partner and I -- en route to Bob's Noodle House -- have wondered about the origins of a now-empty grocery store in Rockville, near "downtown." Perhaps this Super Giant? Certainly of this era. You can just make it out in the middle of this view -- between the bus shelter and the tree -- through the parking lots. [The Super Giant was at 12051 Rockville Pike and Randolph Road, where Montrose Crossing is today. See the next comment up. - Dave] View Larger Map Rockville Super GiantThe 25,000-square-foot Super Giant that's the subject of this post opened November 12, 1962, at 12051 Rockville Pike at Randolph Road, anchoring a 205,000-square-foot discount shopping center with 3,000-car parking lot (and a "Jolly Trolley" to get you from car to store). Today it's a "lifestyle center" called Montrose Crossing. Below: A long time ago, in a shopping center far, far away ... Wow. Just wow.I, too, worked in a grocery store in the late-70s when I was in high school. As earlier commented, apparently not a whole lot changed from when this picture was taken to then (well, except the hairstyles and clothes -- which changed a *lot*). I remember the registers well -- the columns of keys were dedicated to 10's, 1's, 10 cents, 1 cent. The large palm-contoured key to the right would "enter" in the decimal digits. Lots of noise and moving parts. A good cashier could move the goods along the conveyor belt as quickly as the scanners of today. The rapid spinning of numbers on the register display was mesmerizing. The one big holdup was the dreaded "price check" if a stocker had to be summoned -- but more often the checker already had the price memorized (good thing too, since price label "swapping" was a problem). I stocked shelves using the incredibly complicated but efficient label gun used to print and affix the prices to the products. As a stocker you had a large holster that held this amazing device. The more I think about it, things have not changed that much. We still have lines, conveyor belts, "separators," shopping carts, impulse displays, checkers, baggers, stockers, butchers, and produce guys (the latter two being union jobs). At least until the self checkout and then later RFID based systems (you just walk out of the store with the goods and the store will automatically figure this out and bill your card). Top Value StampsMy mother collected those, they were also used at Kroger's in the Middle South. What surprises me is that there are no cigarette racks at the checkouts. When I was a kid, every grocery store had the cigarette packs in racks right at the checkouts, with a sign screaming "Buy A Pack Today!" Maybe it was a Maryland thing. I also remember drugstores and groceries where cigarettes were sold only in the pharmacies. Go figure. More of these pleaseI add my request for more photos like this of just ordinary life from the '50s & '60s. Sure brings back memories of simpler and I think happier times. When I was a kid I used to imagine how marvelous life would be fifty years hence in the 21st century. Well I'm there now -- and I'd like to go back to the 1950s please. [And you can, thanks to the magic of the Inter-nets! I wonder when we'll have those TVs you can hang on the wall like a painting. And Picture-Phones. Can't wait. - Dave] Mama can I have a penny?You know what would be right next to the electric doors (and that big rubber mat you had to step on to make them open) -- a row of gumball machines! Whatever happened to those? I loved just looking at them. Those glass globes, all those colorful gumballs. Sigh. RealityThats a highly posed photo. Everyone in the photo would have had to sign a model release for this to be published in Life. It is "possible" that the people where chosen for their looks. [I've worked in publishing for over 20 years. You wouldn't need a release for any picture taken in a public place, and certainly not for a crowd or group shot. Actually you don't need releases at all. Some publishers may have looked at them as insurance against lawsuits for invasion of privacy. Probably most didn't bother. As for "posed," I doubt it. - Dave] Blue StampsWhile I miss the concept of Blue Stamps or trading stamps, I get points from my store and they send me a check each quarter to use in the store. I have one premium my parents redeemed from a trading stamp program - a really hideous waterfront print which they had in their home until they divorced. I claimed it from my father and it's hung in the laundry room of every house I've ever lived in since I moved on my own. I remember the old way grocery stores were laid out, and I was always fascinated by the registers. Link: Whatever Happened to Green Stamps? [Down where I come from we had S&H Green Stamps -- Sperry and Hutchinson. And "redemption centers" chock-full of cheesy merchandise. Or you could get cash. When I was in college I chose cash. My fingers would be all green (and minty) from sticking wet stamps in the redemption books. - Dave] Lived next to one just like it in VirginiaThis is just like the Super Giant on South Glebe Road in Arlington, close by where my family was living in 1964. It's where my mother shopped and I loved to accompany her and browse around. You could buy anything from a live lobster to a coat, and just like the Rockville store, it was 20 minutes from downtown Washington. Deja vuMy supermarket experience goes back about 10 years before this one . . . but what a photo! We had women cashiers, and man, were they fast. I was a stock clerk and bagger, and had to move fast to get the groceries in those brown paper bags (no plastic). I also had to wear a white shirt and bow tie. Naturally, we took the groceries to the car for customers and put them in the car or trunk, wherever asked. That was known as customer service. We, too, gave S & H green stamps, although Top Value stamps were available a number of places. Price checkerMy father was a lifelong grocery man, making a cycle from clerk to manager to owner and finally back to clerking in the 1950s until he retired in 1966. He took pride in doing his job well, whatever it was. Each night, sitting in his green leather chair, he'd read our two newspapers, one local and one city, end to end. One night I noticed that he'd paused for quite some time at the full-page weekly ad for the market he worked at and I asked him why. He was memorizing the prices of the specials starting the next day. Brach's candy displayThe shot of the boy near the candy display reminds me of a time back in the very early 1960s where I did help myself to a piece or two. I looked up, saw an employee looking at me and boy, I was scared to death he would tell my parents. Also, with the evolution in scanning and so forth, it brought to an end, more or less, of checking the receipt tape against the stamped prices for mistakes the checker made. Checking ReceiptsI worked in a store just like this while in high school in the early '70s. The main difference I've noticed is that Sunday is a major shopping day now. Our store was open on Sunday, because the crosstown rival was open. We (and they) didn't do enough business to pay for the lights being on. Two people ran the store on Sundays - a checker and a stocker/bagboy. And we didn't have much to do. All we ever saw was people picking up a single item or picnic supplies. How times have changed. Now we check the receipt for mistakes made in shelf pricing. Did I get charged the sale price or not? [So after your groceries are rung up, you go back down the aisles checking the receipt against the shelf prices? Or you make note of the shelf prices while you're shopping? That's what I call diligent. - Dave] Stamp dispensersWhen I was a kid back in the late sixties, there were stamp dispenser next to each cash register, with a dial a lot like a telephone dial that would spew stamps as the cashier turned it. I'm surprised they don't have a similar thing in this store. [The grocery store we went to had an electric thingy that spit them out. Which looked a lot like the brown boxes shown in the photo. - Dave] Checking ReceiptsWe don't check every price - just the sale prices which are listed in the weekly ad, available at the front of the store. Sometimes the ad price doesn't get properly entered into the computer, so I pay attention, especially if it's a significant savings. Relative CostsMy mother kept note of her grocery bills for 40 years -- and in 1962 complained that it cost $12 a week to feed a family of four. Considering that my dad's salary was $75 a week, that was indeed a lot of money. We used to save Green Stamps, Plaid Stamps, and cigar bands for giveaways in the store. [That's a good point. I had to chuckle when I noticed that the most these registers could ring up is $99.99. - Dave] Amazing how pictures take you backThis is what grocery stores looked like when I was a wee lass in the '70's. This could have been our local A&P, except the freezer cases would have been brown instead of white. And I bet if you checked the ingredients on the packages those thin people are buying, you wouldn't see corn syrup as a top-ten ingredient of non-dessert items. A & PSee the short story by John Updike for the perfect literary pairing to this photo. Well, in my opinion anyways; it's the first thing that came to mind upon seeing it. I Remember Those Elephants!My great-grandma lived in Rockville at that time and I remember those elephants!! What a floodgate of memories just opened up! Thanks again, Dave! [Now we know why memory and elephants go together. - Dave] Making ChangeAs those cash registers (most likely) didn't display the change due, the cashiers actually had to know how to make change. [Cash registers waaay back in 1964 (and before) did indeed show change due. And sometimes were even connected to a change-maker that spit your coins into a little tray. - Dave] Brown paper packages tied up with stringThis is such an amazing photo -- I love it! As someone who was still 12 years away from being born when this photo was taken, I'm not familiar with the old customs. What kind of items would have been wrapped up in brown paper like the woman in line at register 7 has? It looks like a big box, so that ruled out meats or feminine products in my mind ...any ideas? [It's probably her laundry. - Dave] White MarketsIn Knoxville we had groceries called White Stores that looked like most any other grocery of the late 70's, early 80's: Dimly lit with greenish fluorescent tubes, bare-bones interior decoration, and indeed a Brach's candy bin. My mom used Green Stamps for years. It took eons to fill a book. At the White Stores you could "buy" various pieces of merchandise. She got a floor lamp one year and a set of Corning Ware the next. It seems like over the last 5-10 years, they've made grocery stores all upscale looking. Almost makes you feel like you're getting ripped off. Warehouse LookSay goodbye to this timeless shot and hello to the warehouse stylings of the local Costco. Grocery stores have been jazzing up their interiors hoping to attract and keep customers. It's not working. When I go to one, they are far less busy than even in the recent past. They have cut the payrolls down significantly here in San Diego due to losing profit to the warehouses. Consequently, the help is far less competent, far younger, far less helpful, and far below the wage scales of the wonderful veterans they cannot really replace. We need some grocery stores for certain smallish items that the warehouse giants will never carry. But they will dwindle down to a very precious few, and do it soon. Of course, this grandiose Super Giant displaced their mom-and-pop competitors. Same tune, different singers. Multi-tasking fingers>> the columns of keys were dedicated to 10's, 1's, 10 cents, 1 cent. And a really good clerk would be pressing at least two keys at a time, which modern keypads can't do. Pure gold.What could lure me from my busy, lurk-only status? Only this amazing photo! Wow. Just wow. And not a cell phone in sight... Pre-Obesity EpidemicAnd look. No great big fat people. Sure, there a couple of middle-agers spreading out here & there, but you know the ones I mean. Smaller aisles and carts!Because people are much bigger these days, everything else is too! I remember shopping with my mom and for the big holidays and having to use more than one cart. Super GiantThe Super Giant was in the shopping center that now has a Sports Authority, Old Navy and a much smaller Giant. Super Giant was similar to what you would find at WalMart now -- part department store, part grocery store. I grew up in Rockville and we used to shop there all the time, until they closed that is. Guess the world wasn't ready for that combination. I could be in that picture, but I'd be too young to walk. GurskyesqueThis reminds me of Andreas Gursky's photo "99 Cent" -- it could almost have been taken in the same place. Fiberglass tubs on conveyor belts.Great picture & website. I remember them bagging your groceries, putting them in fiberglass tubs, and giving you a placard with a 3 digit number on it. The tub would go on a conveyor belt to the outside of the store, you'd drive up, and they'd take your placard and load your groceries. Wonder if there are any pictures of those... Proto-WalmartThis store was huge and it was quite unique in the same model as today's Walmart with groceries, clothing, etc. It is odd that the concept did not survive in that era considering the success of Walmart today. Personally, as a kid, I didn't like it when my mom got clothes for me from there. They were the off-brands. I also remember the GEM membership store which was in the current Mid-Pike Plaza on the opposing SW corner, which was a precursor to Price Club except that it didn't have groceries. I Remember It WellI grew up in Rockville, MD and was in this store many times. It was a full "one stop" department store with a grocery store attached. I loved going there with my mother because while she was grocery shopping I could make my way to the toy department. Kid nirvana! I might have been there!Oh do I remember that! My family lived in Rockville until 1965, and my mother usually took me along. After moving, we'd go to the Rockville Super Giant only if we needed to stop at the department store side. The beige boxes that you see at Checkouts 6 and 7 were the Top Value Stamp dispensers. (The man in the T-shirt is signing a check on top of one.) They automatically spit out the right amount of those yellow stamps. We bought quite a few things with Top Value Stamps, including a well-built Westinghouse room dehumidifier. The Giant Food at Friendship Heights had a conveyor belt but this store did not. This one had so much land, there was a huge sidewalk area out front where you could bring your carts -- but not to the car. Instead there were pairs of plastic cards, one with a hook for the cart, one with a hole. They had a three digit number, and the note "NO TIPPING". Took me a while to understand that wasn't about tipping over the carts. When you pulled up, an employee (probably young) put the bags in your car for you. Speaking of brand names, I can see the stacks of Mueller's spaghetti in Aisle 6. It's the brand we ate then. (Now I know Farina flour has no business in pasta!) The meat department is along the wall at the left. Deli and seafood were at the far back corner. There were a pair of "Pick a Pickle" barrels in front of the deli counter. One Dill, one Half-Sour. Good pickles, and great fish. The fish department has always been a source of pride for Giant. Of course this was back when a flounder was over a foot long, not these six-inch midgets we get today. All the fish were whole on ice, only gutted, and they scraped the scales, and cut or filleted the fish to your order. The produce department starts behind the Brach's counter, and extends out the photo to the left. There were one or two manned scales there, where they would weigh your brown paper bag of produce, mark the price with a grease pencil, and staple it shut. If it was something tender like cherries, they would put "XX" on it, so that it would be correctly bagged. So the checkers only needed to know the prices of "piece" produce. There was a "post mix" soda machine at the end of Aisle 12, 13, or 14, which would mix syrup and soda water into a cup. I'd often get a Coke. Probably 5 cents. I remember getting Mercury dimes as change from that machine -- this photo is from the last year of silver dimes and quarters. (Serious inflation was kicking in to pay for the Vietnam War.) Cigarettes? Where were they? I should know, my mom smoked then. They were only in cartons, they were so dirt-cheap that nobody bought them by the pack, except in vending machines. They certainly didn't need to be kept "out of the reach of children" then. They were in a six-foot set of shelves somewhere. I suppose I had no taste in clothing at the time, as most of my clothes came from there. Well, let's be honest -- they were much nicer and more stylish than clothes at Sears. (Oh, those horrible Sears Toughskin jeans with the rubber inside the knees!) The department store side, which started to the right of the checkouts, was easily twice the size of what you see here. It had a lot of selection, and lots of good specialty counters. There was a photo counter at the front of the store (pretty much under the photographer, who was up in the balcony where the restrooms were). They sold things at fair prices, and gave good and honest sales help. There was a hobby counter in the far back right corner. Speaking of the restrooms, they had seats that automatically flipped up into the back of the toilet, with UV lights to "sanitize" them. Spooky. The current Giant Food store at that site, which my friends call the "Gucci Giant," is on the former department store side. When they first shut down the three Super Giant department stores, they left the grocery store were it was. I think about the time that White Flint Mall started "upscaling" Rockville Pike, they built a much fancier store on the old department store side. Compared to now, Rockville Pike was very working class, very blue collar. Congressional Plaza (on the site of the former Congressional Airport) had a JC Penney as the anchor, and a Giant Food. Near the Super Giant was an EJ Korvettes, now the site of G Street Decorator Fabrics. A little off Rockville Pike was GEM -- Government Employees Membership. These were the days when "Fair Trade" pricing (price fixing) was still legal, and enforceable everywhere but the District of Columbia. But GEM, being a "membership" store, could discount, so that's where you bought Fair Trade products like Farberware at a discount. Of course, GEM had to compete with discount stores in the District, which Congress had conveniently exempted from the Fair Trade Act, so they could shop cheaply. Scan itI enjoyed coming back to this photo for new comments -- I had one before, but long before the new post. I live not far from Troy, Ohio, where the local newspaper just had an article about the bar code scanner. The very first item scanned -- anywhere -- was at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, in 1974. Troy is less then 30 miles north of Dayton, where NCR developed the scanner. The Marsh store is still there, but NCR is leaving. King Soopers, 1960I work for a division of Kroger called King Soopers in Colorado. My store, which opened in February 1960, has a lot in common with this one. They have tried to modernize it but you can still see the old store showing through in places. Great photo. Bagger NostalgiaRegrettably, the baggers are out of view to the right. My greatest nostalgia for supermarkets past concerns the bag boys, practitioners of a high art. They took pride in how compactly they could pack your groceries with attention to putting the fragile items on top -- not to mention that they all tried to outdo each other in speed. Bagger Nostalgia...Part DeuxWhen I was a kid (1950s) I used to go with my father to the grocery (Kroger's) on Saturday morning. I always helped bag the groceries, especially if they were short handed, and he would always remind me of his bagging rule: "Don't even think about putting the meat next to the soap or even in the same bag." In the 50s as I remember it the majority of the cashiers were women and that was their only job at the store. I notice that even as early as the 60s they had the security screens next to the cash register to keep unwanted fingers out of the till form the adjacent aisle. I also remember making the family excursion to the Top Value redemption store to select the "FREE" gift that the household needed when we had sufficient stamp books filled. The other Super GiantThe third Super Giant is in White Oak. They took the "Super" off ages ago, but it is all still there. Mostly we went to the one in Laurel, which still retains its huge circa-1960 sign in the parking lot. Around 1980 it ate the old Kresge store next door, but by that time the department store features of the biggest stores were mostly gone. It's kind of funny -- the mall they built just south of the shopping center almost killed the latter, but now the shopping center is very busy and the mall may well be torn down. Memories from the early '60sMy mom worked at Chestnut Lodge and would often stop by the Super Giant on Rockville Pike on her way home to shop for groceries -- and clothes for me! I was much too young to be brand- or fashion-conscious and I remember loving the little cotton A-line dresses that Mom would bring home. We lived in the District and a big thrill for me would be to drive up to Rockville with my parents on the weekends and shop at the Super Giant and Korvettes! Crossing the PotomacThe hype of Super Giant was enough to entice these Northern Virginians into crossing The Potomac River into Maryland. The commute is commonplace today but not so much in 1964. We had not seen anything like it. Racks & racks of mass produced clothing and groceries, too! Grandmother bought the same suit in 3 different sizes. She and my mother got their money's worth. I was 13. It never left my closet. The NoiseThe old registers were so noisy. No screens to check what was going on, just quick eye movement to try and keep track. Ahh...back in the day when every item had a price on it. Ohhhh yeah and is that Blake Shelton?I spent many weekends at this gigantic store on Rockville Pike. I think I even bought a prom dress here....is that possible? I very clearly remember going up to the glassed in observation balcony on the second floor, which gave an overall view of the store (as this photo shows). That way I could scan the aisles in order to see where my Dad was at any given moment. I love this photo, and HEY isn't that a time-traveling Blake Shelton a little left of the center wearing a white short-sleeved shirt?? (LIFE, Stores & Markets)
Sleepy Sailors: 1899
... and slippers when nature called in the middle of the night. And of course, this is not an ocean liner. It's a warship with little in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/07/2024 - 4:23pm -

Aboard the U.S.S. Massachusetts circa 1899. "Ready to turn in." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Edward H. Hart for the Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Rust in PeaceAfter being used for target practice, now she's a habitat for marine life. Located near Pensacola in the Gulf of Mexico. https://www.nps.gov/articles/ussmassachusetts.htm MassashoelessLet's see ... one, two, three, four, five, six ... yep. The AI continues to improve, but it still can't quite get the extremities correct. [Five, actually. - Dave] The Iron SheikThe guy with the pipe looks like a young Iron Sheik !! Liberty call? No, thanks.These boys are all in. Seventy plus years later, I never worked this hard in the Navy. Never! Terrible U.S.S. MassachusettsThis as one of the first "modern" battleships commissioned by the U.S. Navy. Top heavy and unstable, it was barely seaworthy. When the main guns were fired, the ship would come close to capsizing. The Navy chalked it up as a learning experience and soon learned to design much better vessels. These sailors were just very fortunate they never had to fight a battle in this ship. The Smoking Lamp Is LitBut it's soon time for taps, taps, lights out, silence about the decks. Do the bosun's mates hit the rack in the fo'c'sle? Who knows ... Forgive me for mentioningBut good lord man! Those sailors look like bums. Different times, different NavyI too was struck by the somewhat rough appearance of these fine specimens of patriotic American young men. But it is worth noting that this was 1899. Potable water had to be stored on the ship in huge tanks and restocked whenever the ship pulled into port. This would have been part of the routine of refueling (loading and storing coal in the ship's bunkers) and reprovisioning (food water etc.). Because water was needed for drinking and cooking, it was not normal for enlisted men to have many opportunities for bathing at sea. If the weather was congenial, saltwater hoses might be rigged on the weather decks and the crew might be allowed to strip and take a communal shower. But in general, the past was dark, dangerous and stinky. Even on the crack Atlantic liners, first-class passengers had to make an appointment with the bath steward to take a bath at sea. The second-class and steerage passengers generally had to make do with basic washroom facilities. Private bath and water closet facilities were more or less unknown for even wealthy passengers in this era. As late as 1912 on the Titanic; most of the first-class passengers still had to hoof it down the hall in their bathrobes and slippers when nature called in the middle of the night. And of course, this is not an ocean liner. It's a warship with little in the form of creature comforts. And lastly, in those days, men, especially those from the working class, were not typically accustomed to what we might call regular bathing. For some of these men, a regular bath might have meant "the first of the month whether I need it or not." It would not be until well into the 20th century that freshwater evaporators and condensers became standard on ships at sea. By the Second World War, times, social attitudes and very importantly, marine engineering had evolved dramatically. With the exception of smaller craft and submarines, most ships had a primitive form of evaporator which allowed for the production of a limited amount of potable water at sea. Men might not have been able to shower every day, but they were able to bath with some regularity. Even as late as the 1980s when I first joined, we were regularly lectured about the evils of taking a "Hollywood shower" while at sea. Thirty seconds of water to get wet. Water off while you soap up. And then no more than another minute or so of running water to rinse off. By time I retired from the Navy, things had improved to a point that I would almost call the heads a luxury spa compared to what those poor sods in 1899 had to live with. UrgThe smell must have been unimaginable. Notice to MarrinersFrom tomorrow rations of wax will be strictly controlled as it has come to the attention of officers that mustaches are being over-waxed. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, E.H. Hart)
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