Archive for the ‘Palafox Street’ Category
Miscellaneous Photos from the 1950’s …
Here are a few random photos from the 1950’s that I have not posted anywhere yet. They are from other groups or sets that I have posted somewhere – on my blogs or Instagram – but have never posted these exact ones. I will try to add what little I do know about each photo, so if anyone has anything to offer or remember being around when the image was taken, please feel free to jump on in and comment. Here we go …
This photo and the next are from the Fiesta of Five Flags Parade from 1955. I am sure this that the sponsor of this float was Coca-Cola, but I do not know who any of the people on the float are or what the theme of the float. Other than that is one huge Coke bottle! The buildings in the background are what draws my attention … the old San Carlos Hotel, the A&P Grocery Store on the left side of the frame and then the miscellaneous businesses in the buildings on the right. The photograph / scan is from a 4×5 negative, so you can read all the names of the businesses on the building. I just can not put that large of a file up on my blog for you read. Next …
This photo shows the Davy Crockett Foods push cart in the same parade. I guess that ol’ Davy had not sold enough “BearBurgers” or “CoonDogs” to justify springing for a parade float, so they opted for a push-cart that resembles an ocean liner. Or that is what it looks like to me. I like the little boys in the background following along with fishing poles trying to snag a bearburger or a coondog. Also, how about those to urchins that climbed up on the building above the Acme Stores sign for a better look? I wonder if this Acme Store sells the same Acme anvil that always flattens Willey Coyote in the cartoons? You have to have grown up in the fifties and watched cartoons on a b&w tv, kiddies, to get that reference. Next up is a celebrity photo …
This, boys and girls, is Denise Darnell, who stared in the classic 1950’s movie, The Strip Tease Murder Case. On my favorite app, IMDb, a fan – the only one posted, by the way – claimed that this movie is his nomination for ” Worst Movie Ever Made “. I won’t boar you with the rest of the revenue, you can go look it up yourself and read what John Howard Reid has to say in his post. In fact, I do not know why I even bothered to mention his name, since his review is the only one! One more interesting tidbit … the advertising poster claims that Denise Darnell is ” 6’7″ of Amazon Beauty “. And to be perfectly honest, this poster might be the best thing about the movie! But for those interested, you can go search for it yourself. Ms Darnell shows up in several of the photos that my father made and for some reason, I want to say that she might have been the “chaperone” for this group of celebrities that included Doc and Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke and Michael Ansara who played Cochise in the tv show ” Broken Arrow ” from the 1950’s. I only use the word chaperone very loosely, because I could not think of a better word / term – tour guide did not really seem appropriate. I am hoping that someone out there might remember seeing Ms Darnell here in Pensacola and will make a comment. I am not really holding my breath on any comments for The Strip Tease Murder Case, but who knows, all we can do is wait and see.
That does it for me. I am sorry that I missed posting something in December and that made the first month that I missed making a monthly post in years. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season in 2016. We got to travel to Seattle to spend time with Lauren, Lukas and Travis, whom we had not seen since Christmas before last in Southern California. I have posted some photos from this years trip over on my personal blog, Frank Hardy Photo Blog .
Thanks for looking and please comment regardless whether you know something or not … I just like hearing from you. I know that people are looking because I see the stats, it just does not tell me whom, but I do know where. Also, don’t forget that I post fairly regularly on my Instagram account: @frankphardy .
That’s all Doc … ( one more feeble reference to 1950’s b&w cartoons that I grew up on ).
Pensacola Fire Department …
This is in the square at Palafox and Government Streets sometime back in the 1920’s. That is the Escambia County Courthouse in the background. Look at the facial expressions on the fire fighters … also look at all of the activity in the background. Everyone is busy and going someplace. Even though this is a black and white image ( toned actually ) it seems that black or some dark color is the predominant color for suits, dresses and cars back in the 1920’s. As usual I have no clue who any of the fire fighters are or what they are doing, but it doesn’t matter. Here is one more from a different direction …
Here you see the TT Wentworth Museum in the background, that at one time used to be the Pensacola City Hall. Even I can remember going down to the City Hall back in the late 1960’s and up into the 1970’s and doing business there. So it must have been in use up until the new City Hall down on Main Street was built back in the 1980’s. I have some photos that I took when they were building the new City Hall over on my other blog that I have showing my photography. If anyone knows anything about either of these two photographs, please feel free to comment. Thanks again for looking and please check back … Frank
Home Show at the Pensacola Municipal Auditorium …
I am going to start off with this young lady displaying the new colorful rotary dial phones from Southern Bell and Telegraph. It comes in a variety of beautiful colors, however, since color film did not become used wide-spread until the 1960’s and this is 1956, you are just going to have to take this lady’s word for it. There is only one model of phone at the present time, but it does come in eight beautiful colors … as you can tell from the various tones of phones. Be the first on your block to get rid of your basic black phone … the start of phone envy!! Moving on to soft drinks …
Two magnetized Royal Crown Oven Mitts for only 50 cents and two RC bottle caps. I almost will wager that this is one of the first promotions in stores back in the 1950’s. It is hard to believe that before this time the retailers had yet to utilize store promotions. All of that untapped consumer advertising gone to waste for those previous years. Well friend, no need to worry, because in the next thirty years or more they would more than make up for years of no promotions. It is hard to even imagine the decades before without in-store promotions. And let’s not forget the radio stations and TV stations getting involved, along with magazines and newspapers. Your head should be spinning now in ” promotional heaven “… It has only just begun! Thanks for looking and if any of you remember this Home Show down at the Pensacola Municipal Auditorium, please let us hear from you. Thanks again … Frank
The West Florida History Center and University Archives …
The above image of ” Maxey’s Liquors ” is by the photographer Cottrell taken back in the 1920’s. You can find it in the West Florida History Center and University Archives out at the John C. Pace Library on the UWF campus. You can find these images on line here and other images from the UWF archives. These images have been scanned and are online for your browsing convenience. The files are high-resolution and not just low-resolution scans for the internet. I was really impressed with all that is out at UWF and the archives are located in the basement of the library. Anyone is welcome to use the facility and I talked to Stephanie Johnson when I was there. There are other people in this department if she is busy. The above photo of Maxey’s Liquors was just one that caught my attention because this business was located on Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola about where the Tin Cow Restaurant is now located. The L&L Pawn Shop next door was where my father used to have his wedding albums gold-stamped with the bride and groom’s name. I can remember the inside of this store like it was yesterday. Even though my father did not make theses images, I thought there would be readers of this blog would be interested in knowing that these archives are online and available to everyone. The photo below is of Gilmore’s Furniture and Jewelery Store located on Palafox Street about where the Rex Theater was located before it was converted into a church / spiritual center …
At some point, maybe the 1950’s, this business relocated to the 400 block of Garden Street. I have an image somewhere on this blog that my father had made of the new Glimore’s building at night. Just type ” Gilmore ” into the search area on this blog and the post should come up. There are literally thousands of images on this UWF site from lots of various photographers and places. I have a phone number ( 850-474-2794 ) for Stephanie Johnson out at the archive department if anyone has any questions or comments. I knew that this archive was out there, but I had no idea how large it is and how easy it is to access. There are a lot of people that are interested in local history and this is just one more place for them to go and research or just to view all of the images. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
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
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
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 …
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
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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