Archive for the ‘1970’s’ Category
Olive Baptist Church Choir …
This is the adult choir at Olive Baptist Church back in the late 1970’s. This used to be a part of our business that used to be a good part of our business was photographing these large groups of people. I would say that we would photograph forty or fifty groups a year back in the 1970’s and 80’s. Around the mid-1980’s, the market changed and the camera manufactures started selling better quality amateur cameras and one hour photo processors opened. We did not sell many individual photos to the members in these type of groups, but we did do well with high school reunions, family reunions and the like. But when the 1990’s hit, most of these groups either had a church member or a family member or a close friend that had a “nice” camera and made photos.
Thanks for looking and please check back. I have been busy with other things this past summer and have neglected my blogs, but I still have a lot of photos that I want to post, so please bear with me. Thanks again … Frank
Water Skiing on Bayou Texar …
I have posted some photos from this ski show that the ski club had back in 1979. I ran across these photos a while back and have been sitting on them for a while, so I thought that I work them up to post. I remember getting some comments when I posted the other ski club photos and thought that you might enjoy looking at them. As usual, I do not know who any of the skiers are since they are younger than me. I would guess that the boy and girl on either ends of the group above might be Bonifay children, but as usual, I could be wrong. Here are some of the group skiing …
That is all for now. I have not gotten a lot of images worked up to post, but I am working on a few as I write this. Please check back and feel free to leave any comments that you might have … Frank
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.
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
A Few More From Spain and Morocco …
This first photo is of the harbor in Tangier and it shows the town of Tangier on the hill in the background. I am not all of that well read or up on the history of Morocco, but the place is very pretty and exotic. We were staying near Malaga in Spain and you would go down to Gibraltar and take a boat over to Northern Africa. The boat ride was a high-light of the trip to Tangier for me … you start out in the Mediterranean and head out into the Atlantic before you head south for Morocco. The next couple of images are around the streets of Tangier ..
I wish that I had more to share with you, but my father and I took this trip back in 1972 … where has the time gone? The next one is in a restaurant in the Kasbah.
How about the lighting in this place … that is correct, there is none. The food was not bad and the music was interesting, but I did not run out and buy and eight track of the band. The next several are back in Spain. The little girl with the cat was taken in Rodas Spain and the street was some where that I cannot remember … it is just an interesting place / image …
I thought that I would break-up the old Pensacola photos with something different and I have some more ready to go that I will throw up in the next few days. I have a long one ready about the fire that burnt down most block on August 17, 1975. It is ten or more images were I show the before, during and after the fire. It is interesting and has a lot of crowd shots … I have had them ready to go for a while, but just have not had the time to post all of them. 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
Spain ….
This photo was made outside of Malaga in Spain. I guess they did not use hay thrashers that would separate the wheat from the chafe, this kid would just through the hay up in the air and would let the wind do the separating. This was back in 1972, so you would have thought that would have had machinery to do this type of work, but no, a 12 or 13 year old kid did the heavy lifting. But he was enjoying himself and he had a big smile on his face when we where taking these photos. The one below was in a bull ring in Ronda.
This was different, but it was not something that I would go to every weekend. Thanks for looking … Frank
Bayou Texar Ski Club …
I am not sure if these were made in 1977 or 1979, but I know that someone will let us know. For some reason, I want to say that these were made for publicity when the Ski Club appeared on the Labor Day Jerry Lewis Telethon. I used to ski in the Bayou back in the 1960’s, but once I started going to UWF, we sold the boat and that was the end of my water skiing. I always enjoyed skiing and I have a lot of photos around of me skiing that I will try to find and throw up so everyone can get a good laugh. As usual, I do not know who most of the skiers are, but I can pick out a Bonifay or two, and I will throw that out when I run across them. So here goes some photos …
I am fairly sure that Paul Bonifay is the clown on the right side and I think I know the guy next to him, but I want to make sure before I embarrass someone. A few more with the girls …
Now we are getting somewhere … I am pretty sure that that is Ginger Bonifay on the front row left as you are looking at the photo.
That is Ginger on the far left in this photo … cannot tell you who the other girls are but they are some cuties ( if I insult any of the girls with my sexist remarks, I am sorry … I think I am just stating the obvious ) I do not know where I was this day that my dad went and took these photos, but I sure missed it!!! Here are a few more …
That is five or six that I have worked-up and I would say that I have several more that I will get ready and post. If any one recognizes any of these skiers, let us hear from you and if you know any other info about the Bayou Texar Ski Club, please share it with us. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Pensacola Ski Team …
Not Snow Skiing, WATER SKIING ! I found some negatives a while back from the 1970’s that my father had taken of the Pensacola Ski Team / Club. I do not know any of the girls, but a few look vaguely familiar. I am sure that this was taken at the Bonifay’s ” Ski Beach ” on Bayou Texar. For some unknown reason, this was the only negative I scanned … I will have to go back and find the negative envelope and scan some more. Thanks for looking and if anyone can identify any of these girls, please do. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
The A&P on 12th Avenue …
This is a promotional photo at the old A&P grocery store on 12TH Avenue across from St. Christopher’s Church. The car is a Ford Torino and I would guess that it would be around a 1972 or 73. I know someone out there will know … The old A&P closed down in the late 1970’s and was converted in a Ronald McDonald House. They built a larger facility on Bayou Blvd and have moved, so I do not know what is in there now. I can vividly remember shopping in the old store like it was yesterday … Winn-Dixie and Friendly Service had closed down and this was the only grocery store left on 12TH Avenue. I do not know any of the people in the photo, as usual, but that is not really my purpose. Thanks for looking and let us hear your comments … Frank
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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