Cheap Gas

I wonder what a gallon of gas cost when this picture was taken.  Five cents, maybe ten?  Yesterday, I filled up my tank at a Shell station in Los Angeles.  $2.57 a gallon, down from almost $5, just a year ago.  Tomorrow, New Year's Day, we Californians may be facing a 10 to 15 cent a gallon increase thanks to cap and trade, the free market solution to global climate change adopted by our state legislature.  Personally I've always doubted the free market approach to environmental problems.

Anyway, for those who wonder how these old glass top pumps worked.  The motorist would order gas by the gallon rather than by price.  The station operator would work the hand lever on the side of the pump until the requested amount filled the glass container.  (The lines on the pump were gallon markers.)  Then, a valve was opened, and gravity filled the tank.

Remember, don't let cheap gas lead you into bad habits.  We can all drive a little less.

The Car Hop

Hmmmm....and I thought the car hop was an invention of 1950s California car culture.  Guess not, since the car on the right has an Ohio license plate.  Here's the question, when this photo was taken, did the state of Ohio issue a new plate to every car, every year?  If so, the plate's from 1949, so we have an actual date for this photo.  What really drew me to this image was the waitress's uniform.  Love the airplane design and aviator sun glasses.  So, did her boss love airplanes, or was their a tie-in of some kind?  Was this joint next to an airport or an air base?  Or, was this picture taken in Dayton, Ohio, the home town of the Wright brothers?

Winter In Wisconsin

Yet another example of a dealer cutting up a photo album for fun and profit!   I hate it!

Well, now that I've got that off my chest....I had some problems getting a good, centered scan on the two individual pictures.  So, to help out, the caption on the left photo, "How do you like the "Pepsodent" smile?  It's just to keep warm.  Temp. 20 below zero.  Some fun!  Come to "sunny" Wis for your winter vacation!!??"  Both excited and questioning at the same time.  She must be confused.  No doubt caused by the extreme cold.  Down hill or cross country skis?  Which would be a colder sport?

And the other photo..."The right figure is the leaning tower pose.  Alias Hampton Purdy."  It's such a unique name that I decided to give a quick Google search just to see what's to see.  I found two Hampton Purdys on Ancestry.com.  R. Hapton Purdy, born 1890 in Canada, in 1930, residing in Appleton,  Outagamie County, Wisconsin.  And Hampton R. Purdy, born 1917, also residing in Appleton.  Father and son would be my guess.  I'm thinking the photo is the son.  Of course, once Ancestry.com asked for a credit card number, my research into Purdy, father and son, ended.

American Airlines Flagship Sleeper

For those complaining about holiday air travel, take heart, you could be flying on a DC-3, sleeper.

I was born into a world were many people could remember the very early days of the air age, and some could remember a world before there were any airplanes at all.  I can still remember a trip to the Pittsburgh airport to see jets.  They were new, and because the tickets were far more expensive than on prop planes, it was predicted that only the rich would ever fly on a jet.  The rest of us would have to settle for good old propellers.  I'm fairly certain that these planes are DC-3's.  I'd love to fly on one as an adventure, but if I could afford a ticket to France, I'd prefer a jet.

Christmas In California

I don't know how well it reads on a computer screen, but the photo credit in the lower left corner, "LEONARD'S STUDIO, THIRD & BROADWAY, SANTA ANA, CAL"  Written below that in pencil, "Dec 25th 1925"  Let's be honest, there's a difference between playing in the snow and living in the snow.

Playing In the Great Outdoors

The title for this post was inspired by an Op-Ed  in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, The Great Fear Of the Great Outdoors, by Gary Ferguson.  A quote from the piece by an anonymous fifth grader, "I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where the electrical outlets are."  Christmas will be here in a few days, and I have to wonder, how many kids will get pads, phones, tablets, video games, and how many will get trikes, bikes, and other assorted outdoor play things?  Let's hope those North Korean hackers don't collapse the American power grid.  Half the country will curl up in a ball and die, while the rest of us will go out and ride our bikes, hike in the woods, and have a grand old time.

The Office Christmas Party

This one's dated "December 1951" and it looks like the typical office Christmas party.  My last employer threw a party every Christmas.  He rented a hall, hired caterers and put on quite a spread.  I went exactly once.  There was an open bar, and as a non drinker, I was drafted to  drive home those of my fellow employees who had had a few too many.  Kind of spoiled the fun.

Stamped on the back, "FINER CANDID PHOTOS, 615 W. FULLERTON AVE., BErkshire 7-2788."  Had I purchased this photo here, in southern California, I would assume that Fullerton Ave. would be the one in Fullerton, California, but It came in an envelope of prints I bought from an eBay seller from Phoenix, Arizona.

Hooray For Hollywood (And Berlin)

Take a look to the right of this post and you'll see an advertisement.  I'm not happy about that.  I'd prefer to live in a world where we weren't all trying to sell something.  I have no interest in commerce.  I don't want to be an entrepreneur.  My heart doesn't go pitter-pat when the people whisper the name Steve Jobs in hushed, reverential tones.  But, the fact is, I'm about to turn 60, and my income is half what it was when I was forty, and an extra $100 in my pocket from ad sells,  every twelve to fourteen months, helps a lot.

Anyway, I went down to LACMA, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this afternoon, visited the galleries (Free to L.A. County residents after 3 o'clock) and hung around and saw a couple of movies.  These were the hand outs, they're photographs, and if I am going to have ads, they might as well be for something I like.

The top one is a postcard advertising an exhibit of movie costumes, sponsored by the The Motion Picture Academy.  Yes, that Academy, the one with the awards.  A couple of decades ago, the museum bought an old department store, next to their property, for what was supposed to be an expansion.  Somehow that never happened, and the building is now going to be used for a movie museum managed by the Academy.  Since that deal was announced, they've been curating shows at LACMA.  In addition to the costumes show, they've also got one dedicated to silent and early sound era German cinema.  That's were the second image comes in.  It's the program for the movies I actually saw, The Shop Around the Corner, and The Doll, both directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

For the record, my favorite Lubitsch film, Ninotchka, with Greta Garbo.  And my favorite Hitchcock, Notorious with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman.

And if anyone out there in blog world is going to be in L.A. this Tuesday, the museum is showing Gone With The Wind, on film, for free.  It's actually kind of racist, but hey, it's beloved.

The Doll

I completely baffled by this one.  Who would give their kid such a creepy doll?  I can imagine some little girl opening this up on Christmas morning, and then, running, crying from the room.  And the nightmares it would induce,  it borders on child abuse.

Fair Weather

Written on the front, bottom border of the print, "On the rocks in fair weather."  I bought it in L.A., so this has to be the pacific Ocean.  I've seen lots of rocks like this one, but which beach, I haven't a clue.

Myself and Marcia

Not myself, myself.  Wrong age, wrong gender,  wrong country.

Written on the back, "To Kim, Love Val, NZ, 1966.  Myself 19 yrs, on the left, and my sister, Marcia (25 yrs)."  I can't think of an explanation for NZ other than New Zealand.  But, why would a friend feel the need to identify herself in a photograph?  If Val is expressing a certain level of affection for her friend Kim, wouldn't Kim already know what Val looks like?  I think I have an explanation, other than a slight touch of OCD, for that.  When I was in grade school, coincidentally, around about 1966, our school entered into a pen pal program.  We were all given the name and address of someone in a foreign country.  I can't remember who I drew or their home country, but I can remember that the correspondence lasted no more than a few letters, which was pretty much the way it was for everyone.  I think Kim and Val might have been the exception, the grade school pen pals who kept writing.  It also explains how this photo ended up in southern California.

The Less Than Grand Keerbergen Hotel

It's a long story, but after years of working in photo labs, after an extended period of unemployment, and barely avoided homelessness,  I ended up a member of The Screen Actors Guild.  The funny thing is, when I was a printer I saw 80 to 100 movies a year.  As a member of SAG, I'm lucky if I see 25.  The sad fact is, most of us in the movies, can't afford to go to the movies.  Anyway,  these photos reminded me of the best movie I've seen, so far, this year.  The Grand Budapest Hotel.  The man looks like a concierge.  Too, the second photo reminds that the concierge of the hotel, Gustave H, offered exceptional service to older ladies.

Written on the back of the second photo, "Keerbergen, Juin 1965."  Keerbergen is a  town in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium.  As of 2007, it had a population of 12,500 people.  And yes, it does have a hotel.  

12/13/14

Got to admit, this post would never had occurred to me if I hadn't been listening to all news radio this morning.  Flash, today's date, December 13, 2014, can be written as 12, 13, 14.  Now, I don't buy into the whole numerology thing, but a lot of people do.  It seems that numerical coincidences like this mark big days for weddings, lottery ticket sales, and casino gambling.  In short, Las Vegas wedding chapels and strip casinos are doing turn away business today.  No idea when this picture was taken, but I'm hoping for January 23, 1945.  In other words, 1, 23, 45.  I was born ten years latter on January 23, 1955.  Close, but no cigar.

Snow Shoeing

It snowed in the mountains of southern California.  If my tires weren't on the bald side, if I had remembered to take the chains out of the trunk of my last car before sending it to the junk yard, I'd spend my weekend snow shoeing.  Of course, I'd leave all the gear behind.  Let's see, rifle, giant frying pan, bucket, blankets, and who knows what else.

Waiting For Snow, Not Godot

Those of us in sunny southern California are waiting for a big winter storm that should bring between two to three inches of rain in L.A., and two to three feet of snow in the local mountains.  Not anywhere near as much as central California and the high Sierra will get, but hey, we'll take what we can get.  I don't know how well this photo will read on people's computers, but take a look at the building on the right.  It looks like the snow is up to the roof, and that these two people might be standing 15 feet above the ground.  Now that's what we need to break the drought, at least for a year.  I'm always amazed that Cal doesn't have water use restrictions in wet years.  We can, after all, pump surplus water into our depleted water tables.

Dated, "Feb 25, 1931."

The Waterbury Paper Box Co. Wedding Album 3

Again, bridesmaids or not?  There are so many explanations it's not practical to list them all.  The photographer clearly liked to use flowers as a prop.  And were these taken in a studio or on location?  The top photo looks like it has a painted backdrop.  The second photo, probably, though it might be a painted wall in a house.

Click on Waterbury Box Co. Album in the labels section at the bottom of the post to see all posts from the album.

The Waterbury Paper Box Co. Wedding Album 2

Are these two ladies  bridesmaids?  Not all of the photos in this album are of weddings, so it's not possible to tell.  I know the person who assembled this album didn't need labels, but I could use them.

Click on Waterbury Box Co. Album in labels to see everything....at least everything already posted.

The Waterbury Paper Box Co. Wedding Album 1

I'm getting a backlog on photo albums, so I guess it's time to start another one.  I'll be following my usual practice.  Each post will be of a single album page, if there's more than one photo per page, I'll scan the page first, to show position, then each individual photograph.  If there's only one photo, I won't bother.

This album is too big to fit an entire page on the scanner.  Despite that limitation, I haven't had to break up any pages into sections.  Most of the photos in this album are 8x10 contact prints, so most of the album pages only have one photo. The majority of the pictures look like they're from the 1920s. but there are a few that aren't of that period.  Many of the photos have slight indentations around the edge of the print, indicating, that at one time they were in frames.  I suspect that this album was put together at a date well after all the photos were taken, which accounts for the mixed eras.  While some of the photos were glued to pages, most use photo corners.  A couple of pages don't have photos, but do have corners.  Weather those photos fell out, or were removed, I haven't a clue.  

There are enough pages in this album, that I won't be posting them one right after the other.  I'll post a few, move onto other things, then at some point in the future I'll put up a few more.  As far as the title of the album goes, as cheap Carny fortune tellers like to say, "In time, all will be revealed."  Really, the title of this album comes from a couple of prints near the end of the album, so be patient.  It is a virtue, as they say.

All posts will be tagged, Waterbury Box Co. Album in the labels section at the bottom of the post.  

Too Many Twins

One, two, three sets of twins.  Perhaps, one set of fraternal twins as well.  Let's hope that twins ran in this family, and there are a few cousins going on here.  I know there are women out there who are still having ten or more children, but the era of really big families seems to be fading.  It's just too expensive to raise large families these days, and most women want lives that go beyond full time, multi-decade child rearing.

It's Square Format Thursday!

Alright, to start with, there's no such thing as square format Thursday.  Fact is, after 1300+ posts, it's getting harder to think up good titles.

 My first thought, when I saw the old woman's head resting on the man's shoulder, was The Incredible Two Headed Bi-Gender Monster.  But after I scanned it into the computer and blew it up, I noticed her hand on his waist and figured they were probably a couple that had been together for fifty years, and that didn't seem so monstrous.   And that big, blown out, white blob in the second photo, well, I'm not sure, but I'm thinking a cake, so The Office Party seemed like a safe, though, boring title.  What to do?  Collecting old photos is easy, titles are hard.  Much like death and comedy.

One Big Happy Family

I don't know about other collectors of old photos, but I always have doubts about what I'm told by the people who sell them.  When I get a lot like this, I ask if all the photos are from the same source.   The dealers, of course, can intuit that I'm interested in buying images from the same family, so they tell me that, of course, all the same big family.  I know that sometimes they're telling me the truth.  I also know that sometimes they're just telling me what they know I want to hear.  I think I see a family resemblance, and at least one man who's in two photos, but that could be wishful thinking.

5 Drunk Girls

Probably not, but I like the title.

Views of California, Mt. Lowe Railway

I had to go all the way to South Dakota (via eBay) to get this classic southern California scene.

Alright, let's start with a bit of heavily edited history.  In  the late nineteenth century, Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. inventor, astronomer, balloonist, and businessman, thought it would be a grand idea to build a railroad into the San Gabriel Mountains, above Pasadena and Los Angeles.  A daft idea, but by 1893, he was open for business.

The Mt. Lowe Railway was actually three separate railways.  The Mountain Division started in the city of Altadena, and actually had stops for locals, just trying to get from one street to another.  Eventually, it entered Rubio Canyon, home to some rather scenic waterfalls that hikers can still visit.  After crossing the upper canyon on a bridge, it ended at Rubio Pavilion, a small 12 room hotel.

From there, the next leg was The Great Incline, a funicular railway that had inclines ranging from 48 to 62  degrees.  It ended at the top of Echo Mountain, and yet another hotel.  This one, an 80 room Victorian monstrosity.   There was also an astronomical observatory, the gear house for the funicular, and finally, a mega watt search light that could be seen fifty miles out to sea. The whole lot was dubbed, The White City.

 And finally, The Alpine Division, a mere 3.5 miles, that had 127 hairpin curves, and 18 bridges, ended at the foot of Mt. Lowe, and another hotel, the Ye Alpine Tavern, a 12 room Swiss style chalet.  Round trip, $5.00.

Things never really went well for Lowe's dream project.  The whole thing went into receivership within a few years, complicated by the fact that the good Professor built the whole thing on federal land without permission.  (The San Gabriel Mountains Forest Preserve, latter Angeles National Forest, and soon to be San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.) In 1905 the hotel on Echo Mountain burned to the ground,  in 1909, a flood wiped out The Rubio Pavilion, in 1928, a Santa Ana wind blew down the observatory, and in 1936,  the Ye Alpine Tavern, also burned down.  And finally, adding insult to injury, in 1938, a three day rain storm destroyed what was left.  To expensive to rebuild, in World War 2, a scrapper went along the route and pulled up what  was left of the tracks.  From 1959 to 1962, the Forest Service dynamited the foundations of all the buildings.

This card is post marked, "OCEAN PARK JAN 20 9:30 A.M, CAL."  And since this is from the era when postmarks were added at both ends of the process, "ESMOND FEB 8, A.M. 1908, S.DAK."  It was addressed to "P.G. Hanna, Esmond, S.D."  I looked up Esmond.  It's not even listed as a town, but as a populated place.  The map showed all of six streets.

Views of California, Catalina Island

I'm leaving the Views of the World Collection for awhile, but I am staying in California.  This card was published by The M. Rieder Company of Los Angeles.  M. Rieder was in business from 1901 to 1915.  Their cards printed in Germany.  There is a photo credit on this one.  C. Ironmonger.  Charles Frederick Ironmonger was born in Ohio in 1868, moved to L.A. in 1892 and went to work in the photo studio of Charles Betts Waite.  When Waite moved to Mexico, in 1895,  Ironmonger moved to Avalon on Catalina  and opened the first photo studio on the island.  His bread and butter was photos of fishermen with their catches, but he also took a number of landscapes, and photos of everyday island life.  He died in 1915. This card was post marked, "AVALON AUG 20 6:30 A.M. 1907 CALIF."  It was mailed to Mrs E. Behne, 799 Kohler St., Los Angeles, Calif."  The message on the front is faded, but we can make some of it out, "Dear Mama,  I am having a fine time in Catalina (something) and Anti and Mrs (someone and something) I went fishing today and caught (continued on the image-something, something) albacore."  More than likely Mama's son or daughter got home before this card was delivered.

Views of the World, Palmetto Avenue, Los Angeles

I went through the junk in the hall closet and dug out my 2002 Thomas Brothers Guide,  (If you're not from my part of the world, you won't get the reference.)  and looked for Palmetto Avenue, L.A.  I found a Palmetto Ave. in Covina, a Palmetto Place in Pasadena, and a Palmetto Street in Los Angeles.  The one in L.A. is between the L.A. River and downtown. An area better known for warehouses, small factories, and scrap yards.  Things do change.

Click Views of the World in labels to bring up the rest of this collection.

Views of the World, Big Tree, California

This postcard is driving me crazy.  I'm sure I've seen the original black & white photograph.  But where? Haven't a clue.  I've just spent far too much time searching the net looking for the original and couldn't find a thing.

Anyway, in 1890 Congress passed a law creating Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks.  General Grant National Park?  Yes, in 1890, 10 or so acres of giant sequoia trees were protected as General Grant National Park.  In 1940, the park was folded into the newly established King's Canyon National Park.  Oh for the good old days when Congress was able to actually do things.  Don't know which park this photo is from, but it has to be either Sequoia or General Grant.

This card is part of a collection of cards Iv'e has since high school, and that was far too many years ago.  Click on Views of the World in labels to see what's been posted.

Snow Leap

As a rule, I don't keep seasons on The New Found Photography.  If  I've got a nice beach picture, and I've got a few in the queue, I'm as likely to post them in January as in July.  But, since the last post was so summery, I thought this snow scene was a great follow up.

 I bought this image here, in southern California, so it's a good bet that I've driven this road.  I doubt that stone structure is there anymore, but it made a good spot to take a leap into winter, though I've got a funny feeling that there's a bit of stage craft in this photo.  I think the leaper didn't leap, so much as pretended to leap for the camera.

Now, let me get into printer mode for a bit.  Notice all the white spots and lines.  That's not snow, it's a dirty negative.  This must have been printed in a home darkroom.  Pro printers don't last if they can't be bothered to clean the neg before exposure.

Eating Watermelon

I grew up in a small, rural town where people, during the summer, sat around and ate watermelon.  Locally grown watermelon.  Watermelon with seeds.  Imagine that.

U. S. Army Air Force

This one is the full 8x10, heavy, double weight, fiber paper print meant to be displayed in the silver frame on the mantle piece.

I had a couple of threads to pursue on this photograph.  There is an embossed studio mark on the bottom of the print, part of which is visible.  "FRANKLIN DUNCAN, HOLLYWOOD, GR 1037."  I thought it would be easy to find something on Mr. Duncan, but sadly, I struck out on that front.  I tried Franklin Duncan, Hollywood, California, as well as Franklin Duncan, Hollywood, Florida and couldn't find a thing.  Who ever he was, he was skilled, but not necessarily talented.  I've seen a very similar pose on many a print.  Even when I was working as a professional photo printer, and I'm way too young to have been working in the World War 2 era, this pose showed up all the time.

The other thread, the shoulder insignia on the young man's uniform.  I recognized it as the mark of the United States Army Air Force, organized in 1941, disbanded in 1947, with the founding of the separate Air Force we know today.  I had hoped to find out who were the officers and who were the enlisted men.  Pilots, co-pilots, and navigators were the officers, like out lieutenant, while gunners, and mechanics were the enlisted men.  The one position I'm not sure of, bombardier.

Nice looking woman.

Mom's Friends

Well, I'm going to stick with the military stuff, at least through the weekend.  This one looks like the World War 2 era.

Written on the back, "Mom & Friends."  But, which lady is mom?  If the writing on the back was written when the photo was taken, Mom is probably the older woman.  If thirty years latter, probably the younger lady.  Significantly, the man is neither son, nor father.  Personally, I think Mom is the younger of the two women, and she went through a number of  boyfriends through the war years.  But, did the man in the picture not live up to Mom's standards, or did he not live?

World War 1, On The Move

More from the camera of O.D. Caldwell.

Both of the Caldwell posts seem to be about movement.  Most of the battle damage photos look like they were taken from a moving train, and they were all of different locations.  Today's post show men in trains and men on ships.  But, are they on the way to war, or are they on the way home?  I prefer to think that the war was over for these men, and they were headed back to the U.S.  That's why I put the Statue of Liberty picture last.