Archive for the ‘1950’s’ Category
Downtown Pensacola Through The Years …
This first image of the Palafox Wharf in downtown Pensacola was made back in the 1930’s and this is strictly a guess. I found the negative in an old Kodak printing paper box that my father used to put negatives in once he was finished with it. My guess is that someone else had taken the photograph and had brought it to my father to make prints. That is only a guess and I doubt if we will ever know the story, but it shows Palafox Street in a different era … back when wind powered the ships. The strip of land on the far side is where the Port Royal development is now located. On the roof on one of the buildings in the top right of the image is a sign advertising ” Elebash Jewelery Co. ” so that might date the photo if someone knows when the sign was painted. The next photo was made in the 1950’s …
If someone can identify the year of the car parked out front, we might have a date for this photo. I am going to make a guess and say that the car is a Chrysler, but that is just a guess. This is Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola and like I mentioned earlier, I think that it sometime in the 1950’s. I personally do not remember ” Day’s Credit Clothing ” or the ” Quality Shoes ” shop next door. The last is a photo standing in the middle of Palafox at the Romana Street intersection.
This is looking north up Palafox and I am going to say sometime in the early 1970’s, maybe 1973. I am sure that someone out there can most likely tell us. It has really changed over the years. If anyone has any comments about the time-frame of any of these images, please comment. If anyone can remember any of these stores or anything else we would love to hear from you. Thanks again for all of the nice comments from everyone over on Facebook … it is nice to know that some local people enjoy remembering Pensacola and vicinity through the years. Thanks again for looking … Frank
Entre Nous Part Two …
Here are a few more photographs of the Entre Nous Sorority taken in the 1950’s. I had a comment from someone on the first Entre Nous post that I put up and I believe that he mentioned the year that these photos were taken. I will have to check out the post and post an update later on if the year was mentioned. I know, I should have done that before I started, but it did not dawn on me until I got started. Anyway … he are the photographs:
I do not think that I repeated any of the images from the first Entre Nous post. I am going to say that these photographs were taken at Pensacola Country Club. The club suffered a lot of damage in the hurricanes back in 2004 and 2005 and so obviously everything has changed. If anyone knows any history of the local chapter of Entre Nous in Pensacola and wants to share it with us that would be nice. I do not even know if the sorority is still around locally or nationally, so any comment that anyone wants make is appreciated. I hope everyone has a safe ” April’s Fool Day ” and if you are made to look like a fool, you know that it was all done in fun. At least was when I was growing up … Now with all of the stupid and mean things that people are doing to one another in this day and time you have to wonder. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
UPDATE: These girls were from Pensacola High School and graduated in 1957. Thanks … Frank
Maureen O’Hara and Dan Dailey Arriving in Pensacola Florida …
Dan Dailey and Maureen O’Hara are shown arriving at the Pensacola Airport. They were here in Pensacola to film a movie with John Wayne, Wings of Eagles , in 1956. I had posted this image on the other blog site that I had of my father’s images five or six years ago and had hoped that some locals who were around when they were in town making the movie would have made a comment, but no one ever did. Maybe this time around it might jar someone’s memory and I will get a few comments. I have often wondered who the guy is that looks like he is directing everyone … maybe he is someone that the airport hired and dressed up to give a more “Hollywood” / “Los Angles” appeal to the movie stars. Also, the look on the little lady’s face watching all of this is priceless … you wonder what is running through her mind as she is watching this production.
The lady who runs Maureen O’Hara’s blog, Ms June Beck, saw my first post and graciously sent me a photo that some Navy photographer had made of John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara and members of the movie out on the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Here is the photo along with Ms Beck’s notation of the crew members and their relationship to the actors …
“On the running board is stuntman “Good” Chuck Hayward (that was his nickname) and, of course Maureen and Duke…then just to our right of Duke’s cap is “Bad” Chuck Roberson (John Wayne’s stunt double for over 30 years and a good actor himself). Roberson has a great book he published in the 1980’s called “The Fall Guy” that is absolutely great if you can find it – all about the stuntman’s colorful life. To our left of Duke’s cap is Ken Curtis, who was in many of Ford’s movies. He was an excellent singer and musician as well. Don’t know the name of the guy in the uniform – but he’s a redhead I’ve also seen in a lot of Ford’s films as an extra, etc.” … June Beck
That was very nice of Ms Beck to send the photo to me and to take the time to write the copy identifying all of the individuals in the photo. The guy in uniform in the back is very familiar, but I could not put a name to him. I went on the IMDb site, but could not match a name to the face. For some unknown reason, I picture him playing a German in some of the old WW II movies. The man that Ms Beck mentioned named Ken Curtis played Festus in Gunsmoke – now I know that everyone knows Festus. If anyone has any memories of these actors or of Ms O’Hara being in Pensacola, please feel free to share them with us. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Several more things …. If the people out at the Pensacola International Airport decide to dress someone up a tux / dinner jacket as a greeter to all of the incoming flights at the airport, please give me credit for the idea and not to anyone down at City Hall. I can use all of the free publicity that I can get. Also, I went back and added a link to IMDb for Ken Curtis ” Festus ” after I read his bio. I am trying to give the readers some more information that what little I know or have on these photos in future posts. I do not know if it will get me any more viewers or readers, but at least you will be ready with some new trivia when Jeopardy comes on the tube, I mean TV. Thanks again for looking …
Indian Dance …
Here is one more of the Indian dancers that I had posted sometime earlier. I ran across these negatives in a jewelery box of my mother’s and what they were doing in there I have no clue. I like the out of focus / movement that this image has … I just wish I knew something about the Indians – tribe, location, etc… – maybe someone will see something that they recognize and share it with us. I have been scanning these full-framed and have not bothered cropping it out, so I hope that does not bother or confuse you. Thanks for looking and please check back …Frank
Old Faithful …
Here is Old Faithful Geyser out in Yellowstone National Park. This was taken around 1957 and I am pretty sure that it looks the same today as it did 68 years ago when this image was taken. Here is a link to the Wikipedia site and it also shows some current images of the geyser and they look just like this. I would have imagined that the Park Service would have put some benches or seats somewhere around the area, but apparently they have not. I guess there is only so much you can do with a hole in the ground … sort of like Carlsbad Caverns. Just another hole in the ground, seen one your seen them all. The high light to me at Carlsbad is when all of the bats come screaming out of the opening … if you are not fore-warned, the noise that they make flying out is terrifying … imagine an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but real!! I have some other posts ready and one is long with a lot of photos – the fire on 12th Avenue back in 1975 when the block burnt down. That is all for now … thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Ebay Items …
I have started posting a large selection of items on Ebay …a lot of camera equipment, some old Annona yearbooks that were my father’s and other miscellaneous items that you cannot live without ( just kidding there ). I never realized that there was such a market for these old products until I was approached from several movie producers about using some old photos that I have posted in movies that they are making as background on walls, tables, etc. No, it was not Oprah or Spielberg or even a tv realty show on cable, and no, a deal was not made, but at least it opened my eyes to some possibilities that I never thought of before. Here is a link for the Annona yearbook that I have listed and I plan to put several other yearbooks on Ebay in the near future. This is something that I just started working on this week and I know that with just the photography equipment alone, it is going to take me a while to get rid of. And I plan to put a Vegamatic in it’s original package up this week .. a perfect gift for your special lady on Valentine’s Day. I have a cow’s skull that I advertised as a perfect gift for your mother-in-law … yeah, an excellent gift for her on Valentine’s Day. You will be her favorite son-in-law with a gift like that!! Thanks for looking … Frank
Entre Nous Sorority in Pensacola Florida …
As usual, I do not know a thing about any of the girls in these photos. When I started working with my father at the studio, we used to photograph seven or eight ( maybe even more ) of these sorority groups in Pensacola. Most were service oriented and were affiliated with local high schools such as Pensacola High , Escambia and Woodham are the ones that come to my mind as I sit here typing this post. I am sure that there are more and to be perfectly honest with you, even the few that I remember, I do not think that I can spell their names. There was one at Escambia, Sans Perine, that I remember photographing for many years … in fact, I believe that Escambia High School seemed to have the most girl’s clubs. The above photo looks to have been taken at someone’s home outside on the lawn / patio. The other two photos were taken at Pensacola Country Club. I have no clue of the exact date, but these would have to have been made sometimes in the 1950’s. Maybe someone might recognize one of the girls in the photos and will let us know. Here are several more photos …
I have some more photos from this sorority that were taken at this same time that I will work-up and post at a later date. I do not remember when the Pensacola Country Club was laid out like this … the stairs are the same, but an entrance was made in back of where the girls in the front row are standing. If anyone remembers anything about the Entre Nous sorority, please let us hear from you. For those of you out there that do not speak French, Entre Nous means ” between ourselves “. And, no I do not speak French, but I am pretty fluent in ” Google “. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
John Connally and Bob Sikes In Pensacola Florida …
In this photo that my father made back in the 1950’s, is Secretary of the Navy John Connally shaking hands with United States House of Representative Bob Sikes at Mustin Beach Officers Club aboard Pensacola Naval Air Station home of the Blue Angles. The men in the photo from the left is my father’s good friend Charlie Fredrickson, Dave Johnson president of Fisher-Brown Insurance, Secretary Connally, Representative Sikes and prominent local attorney Richard Merritt. I do not know exactly what the event was but I am sure that it had something to do with the Secretary of the Navy being in Pensacola. Here is a link to Secretary Connally’s Wikipedia page since he was involved with one of the most famous events in United States history … the assassination of President John Kennedy. Connally, Governor of Texas at the time, and his wife were riding in the limousine in Dallas with JFK and Jacquelin Kennedy when Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald. One of the bullets passed through Kennedy and struck Connally wounding him. If anyone remembers this event out at the Mustin Officer’s Club, please share any information that you have with us. It might have been something like a Pensacola Chamber of Commerce Banquet or something to that effect. Thanks for looking and please share anything that you might remember about this photo … Frank
UPDATE: After I published this post, I went and read the whole Wikipedia page on John Connally. I know, I know … I should have done that before I started writing the post. He was not Secretary of the Navy until Kennedy became President in 1961 and he did not become come Governor of Texas until later. So, I do not know what his position that he held when this photo was taken. I will have to go and find the print and see if there is a date on the back and will report back to you. I want you to remember that I am not a historian, but a photographer and this site is about photography. But, I do want it to be somewhat factual and I do want the time-line for these photos to be correct ( to a certain point anyway ). I will post another update when I find out something. And I apologize for not just re-doing the entire post, but that would be a lot more effort that I feel like spending on this photo and besides, I am going next door to photograph some more things to post on Ebay … I go by ” garconpoint ” so if you are interested in what I am trying to get rid of, please go and check it out.
Happy 74th Birthday to the USO …
I was reading the cartoon ” Beetle Bailey ” this morning in the Pensacola News Journal and he was wishing the the USO a happy 74th birthday in the only way that Sarge would let him … with a sign on a cross-country march! I had a few more photos from a ceremony at the local USO building in downtown Pensacola from back in the 1950’s that I had not posted before. So I found them and here they are. I did not get any comments from the earlier USO post that I made, so I have no clue who any of these people are or what the function is that they are having, but whatever it was, it sure looked nice. And fun! Here are a couple more photos and without any further comments or ado ( I still have not figured out what that means either ) …
If anyone knows anything about this event from back in the 1950’s, please let us know. I am kind of curious myself about it … personally, I might venture a guess and say that this event might have been held for the grand opening of the USO building that was located in downtown Pensacola on Spring Street, but as usual that is entirely a guess. Believe it or not, I had only been in that building one time myself and it after it was the USO and it became a surplus warehouse for Escambia County. Thanks again for looking and like I said earlier I welcome all comments, so please let us hear from you. Please check back and thanks again … Frank
PHS Basketball Team …
This is the Pensacola High School Basketball Team from 1956, I believe. I thought that since I had posted some Tate High School images from the 1950’s, it was time to post another from PHS in that era. I left the crop at 10×8 when I posted the image, however I do not know if the photo will show up on the blog as 10×8. If you click on the image, it will pop up in another window by itself ( or rather it should ) and that image should be 10×8. It is funny to me that there can be several negatives in an envelope and one can be all scratched up and filthy, then the other can be clean and look like it was just processed last week. The negative above did not take much Photoshop to get ready to post … the other negative in the same envelope looked like it was driven over by a truck and left out side for more than fifty years. I am not positive that this image was taken in 1956, so if anyone knows the correct year, please let us know. Thanks again for looking and please check back … I still have a lot of high school photos to post from the fifties. I am not sure of what exactly, I know some more basketball photos and some other miscellaneous sports images … You are just going to see what I dig up. As always your comments are welcomed and appreciated … Frank
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
You must be logged in to post a comment.