Did You Hear What They Said?

So, the photographer is focused on the band.  He's taken a picture of  three guys, hands on the microphone, so people can't hear what they're saying.  The woman who is standing by the bandstand has a shocked look on her face.  What were they discussing?  I'll bet it was about that  newfangled rock & roll and how it would go away by 1960.

Stop Complaining

I sold your tricycle to Aunt Betty.  Mommy needs a night on the town.

Have a Rheingold

There's nothing written on this print, but the bar sells Rheingold Beer, and Rheingold was brewed in New York state.  From 1950 to 1960 Rheingold sold 35% of the beer purchased in New York.  Amazing the things you can learn on line. 

The Canal

Same negative size, same contact print, same single weight matte paper, so even though it's not the same people and subject matter, it has to be by the same photographer.  With the boat in the background and the dirt berm it has to be a canal.  That doesn't help with a location.  There are canals like this all over the world.  The workers pictured may work on the canal or may work on the boat. 

Click on Triangular Plan in labels.  Hopefully I'll get back out to the store where I found the photos from this and the previous two posts and find some more.   If not, so it goes.

Among the Ruins

The same group of people, including the same military officer, as the last post. 

I'm beginning to rethink my theory that these pictures show the future site of a military fort.  I think an equally reasonable guess is that these pictures show the remains of a fort from the past.  To start with I did my due diligence on this collection, which I hadn't done before my last post.  I looked up bastion.  A bastion is a certain type of fort.  Forget the wooden stockade popular in westerns.  Bastions were built for artillery.  Large, usually made from both brick and mortar and dirt.  They were either pentagonal or hexagonal in shape with triangular shaped extensions from the points were the main walls came together.  By mounting one canon at each point of the triangle, a clear field of fire could be established with no gaps in coverage.  The actual walls of the fort were so thick, that they could easily absorb fire from the enemy's field artillery.  The only way to beat a bastion style fort was to starve the inhabitants out.

Click on triangular plan in labels to see more.  I bought these at an antique store near Joshua Tree National Park and with the end (hopefully) of the government shutdown, I should be back in that area soon and if the pictures from this collection I didn't buy are still there, at some point in the future, there'll be a lot more than the three I'm putting up in a row.

First Fort

This is a bit of a strange one.  I had to dig out one of my best magnifying glasses to read the sign these people are holding, "SITE OF NORTHERN BASTION OF FIRST FORT TRIANGULAR IN PLAN 160."  The only thing  I can guess that makes any sense is that the military has seized land for some sort of fortification.  But where?  Some place temperate and green but cold enough in the winter to require heavy coats.  I'm tempted to go with England during the first world war, but there are a lot of other possibilities.

I bought this photo and the next two, clearly from the same source, at an antique store on the way back from a short trip.  There were others which, given the opportunity, I'll buy next time I head out that way.  So, it's a collection tagged Triangular Plan in labels.

Stump & Judy

My handwriting has gotten pretty bad over the years, so I'm not one to criticize, but "Stump & Judy" is a best guess on what's written on the back.

Anyway, to return to a point I've made a few times over the years, in our day and age when a man  wears women's clothing, it's cross dressing, when a woman wears men's clothing it's fashion.  My question has always been;  But what about when this photograph was taken?  The gentleman on the left is a gentleman, but the gentleman the right is a lady.  Could she have walked down the streets of an American city and not been charged with some sort of crime?  How about a more conservative small town?  Would she have been considered scandalous, daring, or both? 

And one more thing which has nothing to do with anything, is it my imagination or does she look a little like a young Diana Rigg wearing John Steed's bowler?

Beatrice English

This one is a real photo postcard.  I cropped off the very large borders because who wants to look at big borders.  Written on the back, "Beatrice English."

Little Miss Petulant

So, I bought a new printer/scanner.  It took awhile to get it installed and to print.  Next step, getting it to scan.  This was the top photo on my stack of old photos, which is why I used it.  After a few attempts, I got it into my" image garden" whatever the hell that is.  To bad, I can't figure how to get from there to the blog.  She's petulant, I'm baffled, and it's back to the old scanner.

Lighter Than Air

I was born in 1955.  The first successful airplane flight was in 1903.  When I was growing up, I knew people who could remember a world before airplanes.  So, I looked up early airships and I did not find any matches to this particular one, but I did find a similar airship, the Baldwin Dirigible from 1908.  It was the first airship purchased by the U.S. Army.  No doubt, as the years went by, there would have been a certain amount of design change, so this photograph could be a latter model.  Then again, this might be a civilian aircraft, or it could be from another country. 

Hiking in Skirts

I'd say it takes a certain amount of gumption, to use a very old fashioned word, to hike in a skirt, but....About thirty years or so ago, I hiked the length of the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  On the drive up from L.A., I stopped off at a very well stocked hiking and backpacking store. (I can't remember where.)  This store  had men's hiking kilts, so I figured, what the hell, why not try one on.  Now,  back then, when I went of on these longish backpacking trips I'd go to the local thrift store and buy a pair of shorts.  If they survived with a minimal number of tears they might even get used more than once.  Thirty years ago three to five dollars was the going price.  As far as the kilt went, I wasn't particularly embarrassed at the idea of hiking in what, despite being labeled as a male garment, was basically a wrap around skirt.   I was, however, embarrassed at spending $70 on anything when I could get by on five.  If I wasn't so cheap, I'd know what it's like to hike in a skirt.

The Car Crowd

One one hand, I found this photo in the same antique mall and the same booth as the picture in the last post.  One the other hand it's a different format, and on glossy, rather than matte.   So, Maybe a 90% chance they're from the same source, though perhaps from a different trip.

Written on the back, "3 of the car crowd.  Mr & Mrs Kaught & son Robert."  The first time I looked at this very small print, I thought that thing in the background was a giant stump, but after I scanned it and blew it up, I saw that it was a cabin tent.  There's even a folding chair.  Car camping, as old as cars themselves.

And You Think You've Got Problems

About a month ago I ran over some debris on the street and shredded a tire.  I called AAA, had them change the tire for me, and then I went on my way.  I don't think the auto club would take off my rear axle and fix things along the street.  Is that one man, on the far left, in the military?  It looks like he's wearing a uniform.

Boats and Cattle

As opposed to boots and saddles.  You had to grow up watching westerns to get the reference.

So, did the boat dock so the ladies could pet the cow, or was the cow just hanging around the dock? 

Sincerely

She has a very theatrical presentation, so I tried various show biz data bases looking for Merry Bee, the more conventional Mary Bee and even Terry and Teresa Bee.  All for naught.  Perhaps she's not an actress but a clairvoyant, or opera diva, or someone leading the Bohemian lifestyle.  In any case, I couldn't find anything about this unique woman. 

The Here, There, and Everywhere Collection-The End

I suppose it's somewhat symbolic that I'm finishing this collection with a photo of a tombstone.  Written on the back, "Peter Hubbard lot Guthrie Center Cemetery."  The only Guthrie Center I could find is in Iowa.  It was platted in 1856,on the Raccoon River, and has always been a very small community.  It's current population is under 2,000, and doesn't appear to be growing.  I couldn't find anything on Peter Hubbard.

So, clicking on The Here There and Everywhere Collection in labels will now allow viewers to see the whole lot.  They weren't posted in any particular order.  I did save the tombstone for the end, but other than that, it was all pretty random.  Enjoy. .

The Here, There, and Everywhere Collection-The Other Side of the Last Album Page

This must have been a family of photographers.  Take a look at the vertical photo of the kid.  It might be necessary to click on the image and bring it up in another window, to see the camera he's using.  It's a nice one, and probably somewhat expensive.  Click on The Here There and Everywhere Collection in labels to see almost everything else. 

The Here, There, and Everywhere Collection-The Last Loose Album Page

The sprinklers, if that's what they are, have shown up before.  It looks like the one woman is a photographer, but who took her picture?  Click on The Here There and Everywhere Collection in labels, or wait for the last two posts to see absolutely everything. 

The Here, There, and Everywhere Collection-Nearing the End

As promised in my last post, with my mid-winter trip over, I'm finishing off this collection.  Three more posts after this one, almost certainly done before the end of the week.  Click on The Here There and Everywhere Collection in labels, etc.