Archive for the ‘Downtown Pensacola Florida’ Category
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
Pensacola in the 1950’s …
The first photo is one of Ginn’s Restaurant that was on the corner of 12th Avenue and Gonzalez Streets. You see the old Winn-Dixie Grocery Store to the west and the old Sacred Heart Hospital would be across 12th Avenue to the east just out of the frame of the photo. This photo is a panorama image made with a Wide-Lux camera that my father owned and was burnt up in the fire, which will be another post very shortly. Here is the image …
How about that old Cadillac parked out front on 12th Avenue? The next is just a parade shot from a Fiesta Parade back in 1955 … nothing spectacular about the image ( the Cadillac in this image is carrying the then Governor of Florida – LeRoy Collins ) and I have a better view somewhere in this blog already. But the reason that I am mentioning that here and now is that I just found movie film that my father shot of the 1953 and 1954 Fiesta Parades. Not the three inch reels , but full ten inch reels. And in Color! No sound though. I know that it can be transferred over to digital, but all of the quotes have been in the hundreds of dollars per reel and I am not that interested in spending the money right now. However, that does not mean that I won’t in the future … we will have to just wait and see. Here is the image …
Just imagine all of those horses and riders and cars moving across the screen in COLOR! For the time, this will have to do … but who knows what the future will bring? I have posted quite a few images from this vantage point ( ground level ) that my father has taken in the past. If you type ” LeRoy Collins ” in search field above on the right side, it should pop up … I have not tried it yet, but I am pretty sure it should because I know it is posted somewhere on this blog.
Thanks for taking the time and looking … I have been busy lately and I have neglected this site and my personal photography blog, but I have several ready to post and will get around to posting them shortly … Thanks for all the comments also … Frank
Pensacola In The Early 1900’s …
These are images that someone had brought to me thirty years or so ago to copy and make prints. I must have given the negatives to the person because all I have are the prints. The thing that impressed me about these images was how sharp they were. Whom ever the photographer was that photographed these scenes must have had an incredibly sharp lens, along with fact that were shot on 8×10 film. I have seen 8×10 images that were no where near as sharp as these prints. The prints that the person brought to me were contact prints, so I am sure that that played a part in the prints sharpness. The image above was of the Escambia Hotel. I have no idea where the hotel was located, but I would imagine that it was either in North Hill or in downtown Pensacola. I also believe that these prints were taken somewhere around 1910. The next one is of the train station in downtown Pensacola …
This is the old L&N Train-Station in downtown Pensacola. The Crown Plaza Hotel across from the Pensacola Bay Center on Garden Street is there now. The street in the back of the station is Wright Street. I can remember this station as a kid in the 1950’s. I would go down there with my father and pick-up packages that would come in on the train. The floor inside the station was black and white tile in these geometric patterns. It was all open – no air conditioning – and I always remember it having lots of people coming and going, sitting around waiting for their train or to pick-up someone or moving packages all over the place. I was too young to really understand what was going on, but it did fascinate me with all the activity. The next image is one of Ferdinand Square on Palafox Street …
The building on the left side of the frame is what today is called the TT Wentworth Museum. At one time it was the Pensacola City Hall. You can read the signs on the side of the buildings in this image and the ships in the harbor is visible. This park is still pretty much today as it was over a hundred years ago, except with more foliage from the trees and the shrubs. I do not put up many other photos from other photographers unless I think that the images are somewhat relevant to Pensacola or are related to other photographs that I have posted in the past. And I think that these fall into that last category … anyone from Pensacola can relate to these images. Thanks for looking and I have some more current images that I will post shortly. As always, all comments are appreciated … so if anyone out there remembers the old L&N Train Station or the Escambia Hotel, please let us hear from you … Frank
Harry James In Pensacola …
The tall guy with the black jacket is Harry James, famous trumpet player and band leader. What he was doing in Pensacola, as well as who the other people in the photo are, is a mystery to me. In fact, the only thing that I knew about Harry James was that he was the first big-band leader to hire Frank Sinatra back in 1939. Here is a link to his Wikipedia site. I also saw that he was married to Betty Gable at one time in his life … that I am impressed with. Betty Gable, I believe, had the number 1 pin-up / photo for the guys in WW II. If anyone recognizes any of the other people in the photo, please let us know. Also, if he was in Pensacola to play a concert or whatever, let us know. Thanks for looking … Frank
Several More Pitchers For The Dons …
As usual, I do not have a name for this player, but I am just impressed with the intensity that this pitcher is throwing with for a photographer to take a picture. Also, notice how sharp the fence in the backfield is the photograph. You can read all of the business names very easily … Hill-Kelly Dodge, National Laundry, Fisher-Brown Insurance, W.B. Wood Appliances, etc. I have one other pitcher that I have cleaned-up a little to post …
This guy is throwing with some power, also. I hope that they looked this intense in a real game as they did when my father was taking their photographs. I mentioned in an earlier post that I am interested in seeing if anyone out there might a color photo of the team showing their uniforms and if anyone happened to have shot some footage with a movie camera at any of their games. If anyone ever runs across any of the two, please contact me through this blog. Thanks for looking and if anyone out there recognizes either of these two players, please let me know and if you have any comments let mu hear them … Frank
A Few More From The Dons File …
These two images are ones that I found in my files from the Dons, but neither one have anything to do with the baseball team. The photo above is the secretary / office manager / business manager … I guess she was the one that kept the wheels on the truck for the Dons. Notice the bare concrete block walls in the office. I do not believe that sheet rock was used in the construction industry until the late 1960’s or even the 1970’s. I know that most houses built in the late 1950’s used a type of plaster over plywood on room walls. If anyone is familiar with the construction industry in the 1950’s and 1960’s could tell us about the plaster walls and tell us when sheet rock started being used. The photo envelopes in the right hand corner was the type of photo mailers used back in the 50’s. I have one or two of these laying around, but I know I have not seen one used in thirty five years or so. The photo below is one that was from the body building contest photos that I forgot to include. I do not know who these guys are, but they look vaguely familiar … I am sure some one out there will recognize one of these guys.
One more thing, if anyone out there has a color photograph showing a player or the team, I would be interested in seeing the photo. All of the photos that I have of the team are all black and whites. I am interested in seeing what color the Dons team logo is on the player’s uniforms. Also, if anyone ever runs across a home movie made at one the Dons games, please let me hear from you. It is funny that there can not be any film shot during a Dons game that is lying around in someone’s file cabinet On the other hand, I do not think that the home movie business started until the 60’s. You had color transparency film back in the 1950’s and a little in the 1940’s, however it was used mostly by the military and the magazine photographers. Color film for the general consumer was not available until the 1960’s and I wanted to say mid-1960’s before it became common place.
Well, that is all I have for this post. Let me hear from hear if you come across any color movie film or color photographs on the Dons. I hope everyone has a safe Fourth of July. It is hard to believe that 2014 is half over and that Christmas is just around the corner. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Pensacola Dons with Bo Belinsky …
This is a group photo of the pitching staff of the Pensacola Dons from 1959. I am not 100% on the year, but I am pretty sure that was the year. Belinsky in the the back row on the far right side. I do not have a clue who any of the other pitchers are at this point … I will have to do some checking and see if I can find some names. I ran across a folder that I have scanned, but I have not cleaned any of the photos up and gotten ready to post. There might be 40 or so negatives that I have scanned in this folder. Some negatives are of a group of male body builders in their bathing suites and some girls giving them their awards. I have posted a photo of a beauty queen receiving a trophy from a ball player, but I have not done anything with the guys. I guess management figured if they did something for the men in the stands that they had better do something for the women so that they would not have a riot on their hands. I will work them up in the next few weeks and post them. Maybe the Blue Wahoos could learn a thing or two from the Dons, however the way that they pack that new stadium every game, they are certainly doing something right because it sure ain’t the way that they are playing!! Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
One more thing, here is a link to Bo Belinsky’s Wikipedia page. He was really an interesting guy, so just google him and read about him ….
Another First Methodist Photo …
This is not a great photo … it is not as sharp as I would like it to be. I have several different variations of this view and I have been working on one for the longest trying to remove the telephone pole out of the photo. I have about half taken out and I have spent too many hours on it already, but I will finish it one day. In the mean time I thought that I would just throw this one out. My father made this back when it snowed fairly hard in Pensacola back in February of 1958, I believe was the year. If I am wrong, please correct me. You also see in the corner on the right side of the frame, the old furniture company building that now houses The Wright Place. I wish I could remember the name of the old furniture company, but that was before my time. I remember that Rhodes Furniture occupied the building on the other side of Wright Street across from Christ Church. If anyone has any comments, please let us hear them and thanks for looking … Frank
NOTE: The image that I mentioned in the above post is up on the blog and it does have the telephone pole in the image. I have been working on taking it out and I will eventually. I am not sure of the date that I posted it, but it is only about 20 or so posts back from this one. You can go up to the ” search ” button on the top right side of this blog and type in ” First Methodist Church ” and it will pop up with a few other First Methodist posts … Thanks
Book Covers From Shelby Foote …
In an earlier post, I mentioned that my father had gone to school back in the late 1920’s at P.K. Younge School on Palafox Street and that the author, Shelby Foote, was in his class. He wrote Shelby and sent him these book covers, which he graciously signed and sent back. The one above reads, ” For Frank Hardy, in memory of old days at PK Younge … From Shelby Foote ” . Here is another cover …
This one reads, ” For Frank Hardy From his old school mate … Shelby Foote”. I have one more cover from his trilogy on the Civil War …
I am surprised that he titled these books ” The Civil War “, because Southerners never identified the conflict as ” The Civil War ” because there is no such thing as a civil war. Southerners either called it ” The War Between the States ” or ” The War of Northern Aggression “, but very few identified it as ” The Civil War “. But I guess that most people identified the conflict as The Civil War and recognize it as such. And one more thing, it was never fought over slavery, however that is another story in itself. Thanks for looking …. the post previously on Shelby Foote is the one that includes the class photo from my father’s P.K. Younge’s 5th grade class. Let me know what you thing and as always I am interested in your comments … Frank
Pensacola Mardi Gras …
Not sure if this Mardi Gras photo is from the 1920’s or 30’s. All of the people on the float are wearing black masks for some reason, making them even more scarey. The man on the podium is giving someone in the krew the key to the city. I have seen some other photos similar to this one, but not with the key to the city being handed over. The man doing the handing could either be the Mayor of Pensacola or maybe the City Manager … someone important for sure. Who knows, it might even be a relative to Quint Studer or some other mover and shaker back then, If anyone knows anything about this photo or anything from this era, please share it with us. I am curious about this one. I also hope everyone is enjoying their Mardi Gras Tuesday and will make it to church tomorrow for Ash Wednesday, if they are not too hung-over. As always, all comments are welcomed and appreciated and please check back … Frank
One more thing, my father did not take this photo. I just had a copy negative that I scanned for this image. Someone must have brought him the photo to copy and make prints. If anyone has any idea who the photographer was, please let me know. Most photographers from this era put their mark somewhere on the print to identify the photographer / artist, but this print did not. I am sure that it was photographed with a view camera because of the sharpness. The photographers back during this time names could have been ” Bell “, ” Turpin ” and ” Cottrell ” and would have had their names somewhere on the negative or print if they had made the image. Thanks again ….
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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