Archive for the ‘1980’s’ Category
Ronald Reagan Aboard Leadership 80 at the Pensacola Regional Airport …
Even though I posted these here on my father’s site, I made these photographs back in September 1980 when then citizen Reagan swung through Pensacola on a campaign tour for President. With Citizen Regan, you could walk-up to the plane without being hassled ( too badly, but that is another story ) and take photos and wave at the future President of The United States. Since I made these, I am posting them over on my photography site. Here is a link to my site. Read what I posted and you will see that there is much more to come. Thanks for looking and please click on the link to take you over to my site. Thanks for lookinga nd please check back …
St. Michael’s Catholic Church …
Here is an interior view of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in downtown Pensacola Florida that I made back around 1982 on 4×5 sheet film. This is a few that few people see unless they walk up to see the altar. I do have some altar photos somewhere and when I run across them I will put them up. I cannot tell you how many wedding that I have done here, but I would guess over a hundred. One job that my father and I did here was to photograph each station of the cross and made a photo album for a man’s wife who visited the church and could not get over how detailed each piece was. We also gave an album to the priest at the time which he was thrilled to get, since the only photos he had were a bunch of snap-shots. I put a link to the church that you can click on to take you to the church’s site. I was sitting here thinking how the previous post was about a liquor store and then I followed it up with a church post … that was not a ” Sinner and Saint ” message since we are going into Mardi Gras season this time of year. I just happened to have these two images ready to post and they are in the same folder, so there is no hidden meaning here what so ever. Like I said in the previous post, if you want to share any memories that you have about St. Michael’s – you got married here or attended a wedding in the church or even attended St. Michael’s School and had First Communion in the church … feel free to share them with us. Thanks again for looking and please check back … like I said in an earlier post, I have a few more ready to go and I will get them up in the next few weeks … Frank
PS – I just went to the church’s site and they have a photo gallery that has lots of photos … activities, interior and exterior views, etc, etc. I should have done that before I wrote the post, but you know me …
Bay Lounge and Package Store …
This place was known as The Bay Lounge, but I do not think that I ever heard anyone call it that … it was simply known as ” Cantaloupe’s “. Even though he had been married to lady by the name of Shirley and the lounge’s name was ” Cantaloupe and Shirley’s “, I do not ever remember anyone ever calling it that. There was a package store on the left-hand side of the building that most people would go and hang-out in. That part of the place was known as the ” Stand -Up “. People would go in and buy a bottle and stand – up and drink. This was back in the 1970’s and 80’s … now I bet you would be hard pressed to find a place like Cantaloupe’s any where today. The stand-up went the way of the buggy whip, Walk-man, laser-discs, Falstaff Beer, etc, etc. Now I am not going to mention any names, but you could find everyone from court judges to doctors to builders … you name them, they drank there. The place is now Franco’s Italian Restaurant and has been for years. Here is one more exterior view of Cantaloupe’s and I made these by the way back around 1981 or so …
It is basically the same view, just a little closer. Shot on 4×5 sheet film. Even though I made it, I thought that it went better over on this blog than my personal photography blog. If anyone wants to share their own personal ” Cantaloupe ” story, please feel free … if you are brave enough! Just kidding. I am sure that Cantaloupe is deceased by now, but he was always nice to me and I did a few jobs for him through the years. If we get enough stories, who knows, may there is a book somewhere in the future … naw, I doubt it. Thanks again for looking and please check back … Frank
PS – This place was located on Gregory Street right across what is now McGuire’s Irish Pub, but everyone from Pensacola already knew that …
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
Palafox Street Through the Years …1940’s to the 1980’s …
Here are several photos that I have of Palafox Street through the years. The first one is from sometime in the 1940’s I believe. It is a photograph that I scanned that I have had laying around for years. It has no real significance other that it is of the intersection of Palafox and Garden Streets …
If anyone has a date on this photo, please let me hear from you. The next one is from the 1950’s … it looks as if the Florida Theater was showing ” Gone With The Wind ” and people were lined-up waiting to get into the matinee.
Can anyone remember the ” Tiny Waffle ” Shop … that’s a new one on me. I know that I spent many a Saturday at the Florida Theater back in the 1960’s . Now we are going to jump forward to the 1980’s …
This is looking south down Palafox Street … the line of people waiting to get into the Florida Theater would have been standing on the left side of the frame. One more thing, I had posted a photo of James Cagney riding in the back of a car in a parade a while back … that photograph was made at this intersection here, Palafox and Gregory Street, and Hannah’s Pharmacy was in the background ( I do not know if you can recognize it in that photo, but that is it ) . I am not sure of the exact year that this was made, but I would guess that it would have been in the mid-1980’s. And finally, a photo right before the San Carlos Hotel was demolished …
And finally, we are back at the corner of Palafox and Garden Street … sometime 1985 or 86 or 87. I do not which one, but all I can say is what a big change! I hope everyone liked that look through the ages … I did not know if any of them were worth putting in a post by themselves, but run together they were sort of interesting. Thanks for looking and let me hear what you think of these … Frank
Aerial of Baylen and Garden Streets …
This is an aerial of Baylen and Garden Streets that I made back in 1981. Nothing really great, but if you look closely you see how the area has changed in the past 31 years. I have a lot of these types of aerials and have come across a lot of them recently. Most are in fairly good shape and they do not require as much Photoshop work as many of the ones from back in the 1940’s and 1950’s, so you will see a few pop-up here in the future. Thanks for looking …
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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