Krystal Gloss Prints 4

 

As a rule, I don't post lab stamps, but I rather like the Bear Photo Service logo.  So, is it a river, or is it a lake?  I'm about 99% certain it's a river.  Look close and you can see what looks like rapids.  As usual click on The Crystal Gloss  Collection to see more. 

Is This the Niagara River?

I don't really know.  I have family in Canada, and when I was a child I often found myself being shipped off to Toronto, and the route we took went through Niagara Falls, both the Canadian and U.S. side of the river.  We would usually spend some time along the Niagara River, and there were plenty of concrete slab overlooks, at river's edge, with nothing but a flimsy, steel pipe guard rail keeping little kids from falling into the river.  Anyway, there's just something familiar about this photo.  If I'm right this picture is from the upper river above the falls.

Hiking In Suits and Skirts

They have their hiking sticks and it looks like they're walking along a river.  The photographer must have been the guy on the right's girlfriend. 

Pittsburgh and the Point Bridge

If I had thought this on going series of riverside postcards through, I would have posted this with the the Mount Washington Incline card.  Oh well, the rather spectacular looking bridge is long gone.  It's been replaced by a much more common looking structure.  However, downtown Pittsburgh, spelled with an H on the end is far more interesting.  A piece of advice, if you ever fly into Pittsburgh airport, wait until the sun goes down before entering the city proper.  The way the view opens up on exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel, with the city lit up and the three rivers, is one of the great urban landscapes in the United States.

This card was sent to "Lewis C. Eames, North Bethel, Maine."  The message, "Sept 8, Dear L, You can sit in the swing chair with Myra or any chair if you come up 2 think.  Love B"  No idea if Myra would be coming with Lewis or if she lived with B.  Postmark, "GRAFTON MAINE, SEP 8, 1908."

Trout Fishing In America

Anyone out there remember the rather strange novel by Richard Brautigan?

Click on the image and bring it up in a larger window to see the nice fly fishing rod in our angler's left hand.  And in his right, a cigar.  I purchased this photo at an antique mall in Pasadena, California, and it makes me wonder if this is what Topanga or Malibu Canyon looked like in, let's say, 1910.  Of course, the picture could have been taken anywhere.

Seeing Is Believing

I got this for free; I wouldn't have paid for it; I'm not going to post the advertising copy on the back.  I've posted this advertising card for one reason, and one reason only.  When I tell people  it's possible to kayak the Los Angeles River, they call me a liar.

Rivers, Lakes and Oceans, The Travelers Collection

I admit to a certain amount of OCD in my personality.  The fact is, every time I buy one of these small collections, there  are a few less than interesting photos.  But in the end, it drives me crazy if I don't publish every last image.  So some generic scenery.

The top photo is dated, "June 1950"  Number two in the column, "1956 Iowa, Clear Lake."  The rest are all complete mysteries, so if anyone can identify the locations, I'll be grateful for the help.

It's time to leave this collection for awhile.  Sooner or latter I'll return to it and add some more photos.  As always, click on travelers collection in labels to bring up everything to date.

More Mystery Spots, The Travelers Collection

This small collection has a fair number of mystery location snapshots.  The top one looks like it's from somewhere in the northwest United States.  I've traveled enough around the region and have seen more than a few dams that look similar.  The second, an aerial shot, with cliffs in the foreground. (Or taken from a mountain top with rocks at the photographer's feet.)   Haven't a clue.  Number three is the only one with any info, and that's just a date.  "JAN 55"  The month and year I was born.  And the final, the ruins....I keep thinking England, but I've seen similar shells in central New York.

Click on travelers collection in labels at the bottom of the post to bring up the rest.

The Great Flood

Someone out there has to recognize this location.  The riverside buildings in the third image are pretty distinctive.  Personally, I'm leaning toward one of the old textile mills in New England.  Printed on postcard stock.

Swimming at the Creek

If you grew up in a small rural town like I did,  you'd know that a creek lies somewhere betwixt and between a river and a brook.  Of course, how that's perceived varies with where you're from.  In western Pennsylvania, where I'm grew up, rivers mean the Allegheny or the Ohio and this stream would fall into the creek category.  In Nevada, people would probably see it as a good sized river.  In any case, it looks like a good place to cool off on a hot summers day.  I used to swim in Roaring Run and Crooked Creek.  And sometimes, I'd just wade in Hilty's Hollow.

No names, dates or location on the print.  There is a processor's mark, "Fox Tone Print, FOX CO. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS"  That doesn't mean much.  Fox was a regional lab with a large mail order business.

Sullen French Girls

Pre-punks?  Born fifty years too early?  Dated, "Juillet 1927"  July, for those like me, who do not speak French.

Two Views of the Point

As anyone from Pittsburgh, PA can tell you, the point is where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River.  These two views of the point are quiet a few years apart.  The top image shows the original Point Bridge.  It opened in 1877, crossed the Monongahela and connected the south side with downtown.  In 1927, the second Point Bridge was built right beside the original, which was dismantled after it's replacement opened.  In 1959, it happened again, but this time the new bridge was named the Fort Pitt Bridge, which can be seen on the right of the second image.   The first and second bridges ended in an industrial area, but now, the point area is a state park.  The land was taken, using eminent domain, in the fifties, but the park wasn't completed until the point fountain was completed in 1974.

The top card is postmarked, "PITTSBURG, PA SEPT. 25  7:30 P.M. 1908" and addressed to Mrs. W. W. Van Cleve, 289 So-18th-St, Newark, N.J."  And yes, Pittsburg is correct.  For some odd reason, the "H" was dropped for a number of years from the city name.

The second card isn't a very good picture, it's damaged, and looks as if someone stepped on it.  I bought it because I really liked the message on the back.  "Hi Jim!  Arrived here Nov. 23, 1954 and have been enjoying this wonderful metropolis and it's inhabitants ever since. Maybe you'll come see me sometime.  I think I'm going to stay here for awhile.  Latter, Eileen."  It's addressed to "Jimmy Daschbach, 1315 Wood St., Pgh., PA 15221"  So, the Point State Park Fountain can be seen in the photo, so Eileen has been in the city for at least twenty years, and is sending a card to Jimmy, also living in Pittsburgh, like he's some sort of distant friend.  I've always thought that a middle aged Eileen was trying to set something up with Jimmy.  And now that I'm well into my fifties, I like the idea of a tryst between a couple of aging Pittsburghers.  It gives me hope.

The Epworth League Album 16, Another River

Pay attention to the photo with the ragged borders. More to come. On the second, the far ridge line is the San Gabriel Mountains and the closer ridge line looks like the Verdugo Mountians. If I'm right, then these three people are next to the Los Angeles River, very likely near where I live.

The Epworth League Album 10, Life on the River

I wrote in an earlier Epworth League post that the pictures in the first part of the album had a mid-western feel to them. Well, here's a bit more of that feel. A river this wide, in the United States, is probably the Mississippi, the lower Missouri or the lower Ohio. There might be some other candidates out there, but those three are the most likely. I spent some time, on line, searching for images of old bridges along those rivers and couldn't find a match. But someone out there must be able to recognize these locations. As always, click on Epworth League in the labels section to bring up the lot.

The Epworth League Album 1, Love That Haircut

It's time to put up another photo album. I'll be following my usual practice of scanning whole pages to show position with separate scans of the individual photos. When there is only one photo per page, then there will not be a scan for position. There will be a few exceptions to that rule, but those will come a lot latter, along with an explanation for the album's title. While there will be some breaks in the posting of this album, there won't be the big gaps as there have been for the Green Bay Business College and German-American collections. Someone must have really loved this haircut.