Archive for the ‘1960’s’ Category
Unknown Negatives …
A while back on a post, I mentioned that if anyone had any negatives that they did not want to let me know. I talked to several people and the negatives they had, had that either been passed down from family members or they had acquired some other way … flea market find, garage sale find, etc, etc. Most all were just family snapshots, backyard picnics and vacation candid photos. Not exactly what I was looking for, so I did what any other red-blooded American would do … I went on Ebay and bought some. To me, almost all of the negatives that are posted for sale, fit into that category of family snapshots, backyard picnics and vacation travels. Knowing that I should have been more specific, I was not exactly sure of what it was that I was looking for until I ran across the negatives that I am putting up in this post … images showing everyday randomness from the 1930’s to the sixties. Now, the images do not have to show only America, but anywhere in the world … Europe, Asia, China, Africa. So, I purchased these negatives, scanned them and worked them up in Photoshop. They were in fairly good shape, requiring not much computer time to remove scratches, marks, stains, etc. And as usual, I know nothing at all about them other than the obvious – taken in the 1930’s or 40’s and somewhere in Europe. The location could be Germany or some place that speaks German judging by the words / lettering in the photos. There were three negative and I have worked up two. So here they are …
The first image is an overall view of the market and since the people look clean and well fed, I would say that it is pre-WWII. The second showing a meat market / stall looks as if there might be some type of rationing going on since there is not a wide variety of meat or sausages for sale. If anyone recognizes where this area is, please feel free to comment and share what you know with us. I have one more negative from this purchase that I will post once I get it cleaned up and ready. The last photo is really the reason that I purchased these three negatives and besides the fact that they were less than ten dollars. One problem that you find is that everyone thinks that what they have is more valuable than what it actually is … just because it is old, does not mean it is gold ( that is my own phrase ). There are some negatives on Ebay now where the sellers want tens of thousands of dollars for their negatives!
So, if anyone come across any negatives that fit the criteria that I mentioned earlier, before you throw them away, think of me. And, if anyone recognizes anything in these two images which would help me locate the place or the time frame of them, please let me hear from you. Thanks again for looking and I hope everyone had a safe new year … Frank
Town and Country Plaza …
This is a view of Town and Country Plaza being built back in the early 1960’s. The camera was a Wide-Lux Panoramic camera that used 120 roll film. I do not know who the developers of this project were, but I doubt that this was a local group. The road in the foreground was called ” Pottery Plant Road ” and was eventually changed to Fairfield Drive since the Pensacola Interstate Fair used to be located on this road before it was relocated to Mobile Highway. Here is one more view …
Back when this shopping center was built, no one could envision a shopping mall that would be enclosed and air conditioned. In fact, I am sure a lot of people at this time would ask ” what is air conditioning ? ” . If anyone wants to share there shopping experiences here at Town and Country Plaza, please feel free. Thanks for looking and please check back. And Happy Holidays to everyone …
Twelfth Avenue Fire …
On Sunday August 17, 1975, a fire destroyed this entire block. It was a Sunday morning around 11:00 when it started in the freezer of Exotic Florist. There was an electrical short in the wiring of the freezer that held Exotic’s flowers. This building was built sometime in the early 1950’s and the building code did not require fire walls between the offices … since there was no fire wall, all of the units shared a common attic. Once the fire got into the attic, it was just a short time until all of the businesses where consumed in fire. My father happened to be there at the time and was able to grab a few cameras and save them, but everything else in his studio was completely destroyed. The following is a photographic story of the fire, the aftermath and the rebuilding of the block. There are a lot of photos and they really need no explanation, so I won’t bother you with any …
I tried to enter the photographs in some type of sequence starting down at Exotic Florist and then moving north up 12th Avenue through the rest of the businesses. The entire fire from start to finish only took an hour or so. The firemen did an excellent job in getting the fire out and luckily they were able to save the Winn-Dixie grocery store. Now the next photograph is the clean-up several days later …
There was an alley between the grocery store and the building that burned, so I am sure that was the reason that Winn-Dixie did not burn. But it did have smoke and some water damage. The above photo was taken the following week and I am not sure of the date. The Moulton’s owned the property and cleaned up the damage within a week or so. Now, the next images are of the new building that was built within six months of the fire …
The aerial photograph is one that I made years later, but I thought that it added something to the rest of the images. The only businesses that went back in were Dr. Hoyt, Fischler Framing and my father. This new building was completed by February 1976. He had moved across the street to a vacant building on Gonzalez Street and this is where he had started his business in 1948. There are several other photos that I might throw up later, but this is the majority of the images that I have collected / found through the years. The Pensacola News Journal did an article on my father and the fire, but I do not know if I am allowed to publish the photos and the write-up, with copyright laws and such. Speaking of which, there is a local hospital that has been using my photos in their centennial advertisements without my permission or compensation, but that is a whole other story. Thanks for looking and please check back. Also, if anyone remembers the fire and happened to around when the fire started, I would like to hear from you … Frank. I will leave you with one more view across the parking lot looking North.
Port of Pensacola …
Here are some more images of the Port of Pensacola from back in the 1950’s. I had posted some others a year or so back of men working in this warehouse that I thought looked fairly interesting.. There are some more but they are mostly of people at what looks to be a cocktail party or something and I do not know who any of the people are in them. Here we go …
A primary product at the Port of Pensacola during this time was fertilizer I have been told. Not really sure if it was imported or exported, but I am sure that someone out there will know and can enlighten us. One thing that I do not want to hear is how the Port has been awash in red – ink for the last fifty years … I am fairly sure that the Port was in the black for a few years back in the 1960’s. I also do not want to hear from any nay-sayers that the Port should be closed down and made into condos like that did at the foot of Palafox Street. That project has turned out great or at least it looks great. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Thom McAnn …
Here are some photos of the Thom McAnn Shoe Store that was located out at Town and Country Plaza. This store looks as it was one of the first stores when the shopping center was being built. I ran across some negatives of it being built and I will try to find them. I do not know what year it was built, but it was sometime in the early 1960’s I would guess. Notice next door is “Amy’s “, a dress store and the name sounds familiar. Here are a few of the interior …
Notice how at the end of the chairs on this end is a couple of ash-trays. Now I would say that was pretty considerate!! I can vaguely remember seeing the store and going in with my mother back then. I do not know if Thom McAnn is still in business today. And I am not sure if we even have one in this area today, but I am not much of a shopper and have not been out to Cordova Mall much since it was remodeled, except to eat. Thanks for looking and please share your shoe buying experiences at Thom McAnn’s if you have any … Frank
Pensacola High School Annona Ads …
These photos were shot to be used in ads for the Pensacola High School yearbook Annona. As usual, I have no clue who any of these young ladies are in any of these photos or do I know exactly which business they advertised. But I am confident that some of you out there will let us know. I am going to say that they are from the 1950’s, but they could be from the 1960’s. The one above is from some dress store in Pensacola and it most likely was downtown somewhere, since the malls did not come about until later ( I am guessing about that ) in the late 1960’s I would guess. Here are several more photos …
The last photo of the girls looking at the silver settings was made in side Elebash Jewelery store in downtown Pensacola I believe, bit I could be wrong. The girls in the cosmetic store is not familiar to me at all, so if anyone recognizes the store let us know. Thanks again and I hope looking at these photos puts you in the shopping mood for Christmas …. Check back and be safe … Frank
The Hardy Collection Negatives …
Several years ago, after I had culled through about eighty boxes or so of negatives that had been stored in a room off of my parent’s garage, I gave sixty boxes or so of negatives from the 1950’s and 60’s to what was then called The Pensacola Historical Society. They in turn went through all of them and put them in new glassine sleeves and envelopes. Personally, I can not believe all of the time that was spent on preserving all of these negatives. You are looking at five rows with around twelve legal sized boxes per row. These are from the 1950’s to the early 1960’s … maybe 1962. I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I did not have a photo of all of the negatives cataloged by year. I personally want to thank Jacquelyn Wilson for all of the time and effort she spent on undertaking this huge project … you are looking at easily over 100,000 negatives / images and this is just from twelve years or so. If anyone has any questions about any of these negatives, feel free to contact the Historic Trust ( their new name since they are now part of The University of West Florida ) in downtown Pensacola with any of your questions… 850-595-5840. They also have lots of archived images that you can look through and purchase for your own personal use. Sure is a lot more personal way to decorate your home, your office or whatever area you have that you want to decorate. I still have thousands of negatives and those are what I have selected to put here on this blog. You can also contact me and I can share with you what little I know … Thanks again for looking and please check back … Frank
Weeki Wachee Springs and Bok Tower Gardens …
Here are several transparencies that I ran across recently from our trips to South Florida in the 1950’s and 60’s. The first one is of one of the Mermaids from Weeki Wachee Springs. Here is a link to the Springs web site. The place has an interesting history and it is still around today. This is one of the mermaids that my father made in the under-sea theater on Kodachrome back in 1958 …
The next is an exterior of Bok Tower at Bok Tower Gardens …
And here is a link to the Bok Tower Gardens web site. I had forgotten that this is the highest point in Florida at 298 feet. Bok Tower is in Lake Wales Florida and I am sure that it has been fifty years since I have been to the Tower and Gardens. I have been busy these past few weeks and have not had a chance to post much, but I have several ready to go and will get them up in the next few weeks. One is on the fire back in 1975 that burnt the block down that my father’s studio was in on 12th Avenue. The others are just random photos that I have scanned. So please check back in the next several weeks. If anyone remembers going to Weeki Wachee and seeing the Mermaids, feel free to comment … If any of you guys ever met and married a Weeki Wachee Mermaid, that is a story everyone would be dying to hear! Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Hopkins Boarding House …
OK … I took these back about thirty years ago for Mrs. Hopkins, so technically they are not my father’s, but I thought that they were more relevant over here than over on my blog. I cannot remember why she had me do these and as you can tell, since the parking lot is practically empty, these were made on the one day that they were closed … Monday. I cannot tell you how many meals that I personally at here or how many meals that I carried out over a span of twenty or so years. For a span of several years back in 1981, 82 and some of 83, I lived only a couple of blocks from here on Spring and Barcelona Streets. This was the only restaurant that cooked and served liver that everyone seemed to enjoy. And everyone knew about the fried chicken! This place was around back in the 1940’s because my father used to tell a story of one of his friend’s that Mrs. Hopkins would not allow to eat there because he ate so much. I cannot attest to that because I used to see some guys eat so much, I do not know how they were able to walk away. Here are a couple of more views …
If these photos do not make your mouth water for some good home-cooked fried chicken, nothing will. I can not remember if the place closed before Ed Hopkins died or it closed soon after it passed away, but I am sure that someone out there knows. If I do not receive a dozen or so comments about these photos, I will be greatly disappointed. If you never ate here, going to Golden Corral and Ryan’s does not even come close these days. The one thing that I always liked was the fact you ate at a ” communal ” table with everyone. I always enjoyed talking to strangers, so it never bothered me, but my wife was never comfortable with it all that much. No, I am not going to run out to KFC or Church’s for a fried -chicken fix when I get through with this post. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
PS – I had one more of the north side of the house that I forgot to post earlier that showed the parking lot. It did not hold a lot of cars, so you ended up parking in front of someone’s house several blocks away and walking. The walk back to your car always took longer since you were always so full. Thanks … Frank
Baylen and Government Streets …
This is the corner of Baylen and Government Streets in 1960. In today’s Pensacola News Journal Sunday Edition ( 3 Nov 13 ) the attorney firm that occupies the corner where George’s Grill is located had an ad celebrating their 25 years in business. The ad had a nice photo showing the exterior of their office building. I remember that I had seen this negative years ago and tracked it down and posted it to show how times have changed. This view was made 53 years ago and none of these building are no longer there. The Professional Building was torn down years ago to make way for the new Escambia County Annex building and garage. Next to the Professional Building was Mayes Printing and Office Equipment, which moved out to Car City in the 1980’s ( ? ) , not sure of the date. I do not remember George’s Grill, but I remember Mayes and the Professional Building. Thanks for looking … Frank
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
You must be logged in to post a comment.