Hermann Tietz

  

I don't often have enough to go on to research my photos, but every once in a while.   Take a look at the top of the print, and the name "HERMANN TIETZ" can be seen.  Hermann Tietz was a German-Jewish businessman.  He was born in 1837 and died in 1907.  He and his brothers, Oskar, and Leonard founded a chain of department stores in Germany.  In 1900, the largest store in the chain was opened in Berlin. In 1934, all Tietz holdings, both department stores and factories were Aryanized and a forced sale was made to rival Georg Karg, who rebranded the stores as Hertie Department Stores. 

The words (at least the second and third word) on the bus in the foreground translate as 
Stranger Tours.  Special tours for first-time visitors to Berlin, perhaps. 

I'm Keeping My Eyes On You

My mother was English, and she occasionally slipped and referred to laundry detergent as soap chips, and 3.10 has to be  three shillings, ten pence.  So, this one was taken somewhere in the British Isles.  I have a feeling this lad spent his days in front of this store eyeing the passersby.

Shopping

I'm going shopping today.  I'm going to the 99 Cents Only Store and buying toilet paper.  I blame myself for this.  I wasn't paying attention and now I'm forced to visit a store on black Friday.

Okay, I keep hearing about how the so called great recession (I think it actually qualified as a depression.) has made people skittish about spending money.  I think an equally viable explanation is that people realized they didn't rally need a 60 inch flat screen, a giant SUV, or a $1500 dollar designer purse to be happy.  Perhaps people aren't afraid to spend,  perhaps they just don't see the need to spend.  I'm just saying.

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 Salesman

What is this man selling?  Let's see...Argus slide viewers, a home haircut kit, a Kodak Starflash Camera, typewriters, a clock, a tripod, Shaffer pens, a movie projector, and what looks like some sort of audio equipment in the radio, record player, open reel tape recorder type of stuff.  All things I can remember, and some of which, when I was young, I found amazing.  So, pawn shop or general store?

Not Worth Remembering

Written on the back, "Aunt Liz 2nd husbon."  Apart from the poor spelling, the first think I thought about was how many husbands Aunt Liz had.  The number must have been large enough that her family didn't bother to keep track of their names.