Another Life Aboard Ship

 

 I swung by a favorite antique store of mine and found some more life aboard ship photos.  This is the first one that has a passenger.  Anyway, I have no idea what kind of passenger service this was.  I've been buying these photos in the Los Angeles area, so my mind goes right to ferry service to Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles, and Long Beach.  There were also coastal steamers when this picture was taken, running all along the Pacific coast.  San Diego to Vancouver, Canada.  There were also gambling ships just beyond the three-mile limit.  And then there were cruise ships that went to places like Hawaii and the far east.  Click on the Life Aboard Ship Collection in labels to see what else I've already posted.  I've got at least two more photos to go.  

Some More Life Aboard Ship

 

I've been making occasional trips to an antique mall in L.A., and every time I go there, I find another picture or two of shipboard life.  Anyway, it's become clear that they are all from the same source, and since I have no idea how many more, I'll find, I've gone back to the other two posts I've put up and added "life aboard ship collection" in labels so those who are interested can see everything already posted.  Anyway, I'm still thinking ocean liner.  The Matson Line sailed from the California coast to Hawaii, and, of course, there were ships sailing to the far east as well as the far shorter trip to Catalina Island, just off the coast of Southern California.  

The Trips Album 4

  

Back to the trips album that I actually found in the garbage.  A few years ago, my computer died, and while the scanner wasn't affected, I lost the software and it was too old, so the manufacturer wasn't supporting it anymore, so there went the color correction setting.  Too bad, I'd love to see these photos closer to what they looked like when they came from the photo lab.  Anyway, a collection of family vacation photos from multiple locations and multiple years.  These are all from Mexico, and it looks like they drove from Los Angeles.  Well probably, since that's where I found the album.  Click on The Trips Collection in labels to see everything that's been posted.  

The Rainbow Pier, Long Beach, California

 

It always seems like Long Beach is looking for another tourist attraction.  Right now, it's the Queen Mary and the Long Beach Aquarium, which I admit, is pretty impressive.  So, in 1931 it was the Rainbow Pier.  It was a rainbow-shaped fishing pier, 3800 feet long, with a roadway on the top that allowed cars to drive over the Pacific Ocean.  Eventually, rotting pilings and storm damage made repairs prohibitively expensive so the Rainbow Pier became the Rainbow Lagoon after a hell of a lot of rock and dirt was dumped where the pier once was.  This card was once pasted into a photo album, so most of the back is covered in black construction paper.  I can't make out any of the written message, just a few letters that were exposed when it was removed from the album.  I can make out part of the postmark, so it was mailed.  Dated, 1937. 

The Trips Album 1

 

If I were being completely honest, this blog would be called The Recently Purchased Photography since almost every image I've posted was bought at a thrift store, antique store, flea market, or online.  Every once in a while, however, I actually find photos and this new collection is truly found photography.  

Anyway, I was walking to the pharmacy to get a flu shot and the latest COVID update, when I passed by a stack of garbage, on the curb, waiting for pickup by the trash collectors, when I caught sight of a rather large photo album just sticking out of a large, black garbage bag.  After making sure it wasn't covered by rotting food or some other nasty thing I wouldn't want in my home, I grabbed it, stuffed it into my pack, and hurried off to get needles stuck in my arm. 

So, when I write that this album is large, it's not just the sheer number of photos, but also, its dimensions.  I couldn't get a scan of the album cover, so I had to take a photo with my cell phone camera.  It was when I tried to scan the first page that I had to decide just how anal I was going to be about getting every inch of information posted.  To make a long story short, after experimenting with posting the entire album page to show placement by doing it in sections, and then seeing just how unevenly lit a phone pic was, well let's just say that the date, 1971, got cropped a bit and I'm just going to have to live with it.  

I don't know how long it's going to take to post this entire album.  More than likely I'll go back to using one post to show the whole album page for placement and then do the individual photos in a separate post.  Something to look forward to, there will be a couple of posts with no photos at all.  The owner has some written pages that are kind of interesting.  So, click on The Trips Collection in labels to see everything, though it could be a while until the whole album is up for viewing. 

Sailing to Catalina

  

Well, more than likely steaming to Catalina. Is that how it would have been said back when this picture was taken? Written on the back, "June 28 on way to Cataline Ile." I haven't been to Catalina in years, and the last time I went, there weren't any well-dressed people on the boat. 

Back to the Beach For the Umpteenth Time

People love taking pictures of themselves and their friends and family at the beach.  I don't think they're wearing swimsuits, but I could be wrong.

Los Angeles via Hurricane, Utah 6

More images from a photo album page that ended up in Hurricane, Utah.  Click on LA Hurricane in labels to see more.

Los Angeles via Hurricane, Utah 4

Time for side two of this loose album page.  So, don't blame me because things are crooked.  Who ever put this album together didn't help out by cutting off borders from the individual photos and the seller didn't help either they way they cut the album apart.  Looking at this first row of images I have to wonder if the two guys that appear in so many shots worked at a gas station.  Well before self serve, gas stations, especially in a big city, needed staff.  Too, since most places offered basic mechanical service as well, it would have been a good starting place for two couples newly arrived in L.A.  When I started in on this collection I wrote that I actually recognized a location on this side of the page.  The bridge in the final picture is near Marina del Rey.  Today it's foot traffic and bicycles only.  Take the Ballona Creek Bike Path to the ocean and you'll get there.

Click on LA Hurricane to see more and to understand the title of the collection.

Sailing, 28G359, She

Once again, it's time to take sail on the good ship 28G359.  The top photo, like yesterday's is labeled 1936.  The second one in the column has the rather intriguing notation, "Doris & Harry's first boat (Date)"  I have to confess, before I read what was written on the back I assumed that both of the people in the photo were women, and I'm still leaning that way.  Harry can be short for Harriet.  Harry does, however, seem to lack feminine curves.  But that hair says woman.  At least it does in 1936. 

Sailing, 28G359, He

I bought these four prints, and the four that will be the next post, off of EBay.  One of the reasons I put in a bid was the near certainty that they were taken off the coast of southern California.  The top picture is dated 1936.

Deep Sea Diver

So much for the practice of typing out what's on the back of postcards.  I'm just too lazy to transcribe all of this info.  So, Oscar Griffith was born in 1895, arrived on Catalina, with his parents, at age 13 and became a coin diver.  Tourists, coming to the island would throw coins from the boats, and local boys would dive for the pennys, nickels, and dimes. .  The harbor waters were so clear that tourists could see the kids touch bottom.  Griffith served in the army in World War 1 and was an attraction at the 1934 World's Fair.  I'm sure he must have made the occasional trip to the mainland, but it seems that, other than the war and fair, he never really left the island.

Redondo

This one is labeled "Judah & Beverly Redondo Beach."  Take my word for it.  Redondo Beach, south bay, Los Angeles County, hasn't been this empty in at least fifty years.  No date, but I'm betting teens or twenties. 

S. S. Alcoa Pennant

It's not often that I get to post something with an exact date, but I can with this one.  The Alcoa Pennant was launched on June 6, 1941.  She was built by Consolidated Steel at their shipyards in Wilmington, California.   The ship was built for The Alcoa Steamship Company and was supposed to transport bauxite, but World War 2 changed all that.  After completion, including the addition of deck guns, on January 26, 1942, the Alcoa Pennant was put on indefinite charter by the U.S. Navy, and despite her slow speed, and time spent in war zones, manged to survive the conflict.  She was scrapped in Mobile, Alabama in May, 1965.

Sweetie

This one has one of my all time favorite  captions, "Sweetie Looking Pleasant For Me."  

The Green Album 2

It looks like the same location as the first post in this series.  Click on The Green Album in labels.

The Green Album 1

It's time to put up another album.  Since each page has a number of images, I'll be returning to my usual practice of scanning the whole page  to show position, and then an individual scan of each individual photograph.  There are a lot of pages in this one, but most of them are blank.  Some of the pages have empty corners, or bits of glue and paper, and some of the blank pages are pristine.  Even though there aren't all that many pages with actual photographs, I may break up the way I post them, so, I'll label everything The Green Album so that they can all be brought up together.

None of the photos are labeled, so, once again it's conjecture time.  I bought this album from an eBay dealer in the mid-west.  It's been awhile, so my memory is a bit hazy on where exactly, but I do remember it was great plainsish.  Of course, photos and albums travel.  Sometimes with people as they move around the country, and sometimes, through the mail, from one friend or family member to another.

There's one thing we can be sure of, these beach side photos weren't taken around the great lakes.  Take a good look in the first photo.  There's a palm tree behind our lounging lady.  I've been all around Florida, and I don't remember any bluff side beaches, so I think California is a pretty good bet, but not near any of the cities.  Even when these were taken, Los Angeles, Long Beach, south bay, Orange County, and San Diego were all developed and crowded.  Perhaps a bit further north near Oxnard, Ventura, or Santa Barbara.