Archive for the ‘San Carlos Hotel’ 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 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
Another of the San Carlos Hotel …
Someone gave me this photo of the old San Carlos Hotel sometime back and I just got around to cleaning it up recently. My dad did not make this photo and I rarely post other people’s photo, but what makes this photo interesting is ????? Can you guess …. I will give you another couple of minutes. No little Johnnie, this is not the best photo of the front of the San Carlos showing the Fiesta Lounge that I have, although that is a good guess. No little Suzy, not because there is no wheel-chair access ramp at St. Michael’s Catholic Church. You are correct, Cleroy ( that would be Leroy, but with a “C” … a Southern name ) this photo shows the Christmas decorations that the City of Pensacola used to put out back in the 1950’s. In fact, I can remember these same decorations being used up into the 1980’s, maybe even the 1990’s. How is that for some mileage? I am sorry Cleroy, but my budget does not allow to give you a prize, but if you go down to City Hall, I bet Mayor Hayward and the City Council would dig around and they could probably find some of these decorations for your yard. Good luck, Cleroy and thanks for looking … As usual, all comments are appreciated.
San Carlos Hotel Stairway …
This is the stairway in the San Carlos Hotel that led from the lobby to the mezzanine. I have several views of this stairway and I posted one earlier of a bride throwing her bouquet from the top, which must have been the thing to do since I have several brides throwing their bouquet from there. Thanks for looking …
A Before and After …
I thought that I would show a before and after photo, so you can see what I start out with and then what I do in Photoshop. My father made this image from a window across the street from what I call the old Masonic Lodge. It was located above what at the time was White and White Men’s Store, which later became Douglas Allen, which is now Vinyl Music Hall. In the photo below, I removed the telephone lines from above and I cropped the image to focus on the San Carlos Hotel. This photo was made around 1955 … note the covered bus stop in the lower right of the photograph.
And here is one that I cleaned up that shows more of the surrounding area … note that the two-story building in the back left of the image is the old Pensacola Catholic High School on the corner of Garden and Baylen Streets.
On the bottom view, you can see up Palafox up to the Southern Bell Tower, which is about four blocks up. When I first found this negative, I was only interested in the San Carlos Hotel. But after I got to looking at the whole image, I saw how much of downtown Pensacola is included in the image, I thought I would just re-do the image and show the whole frame. If anyone has any stories about the San Carlos or downtown Pensacola during this era, you are welcome to comment. Thanks for looking …
Throwing The Bouquet at The San Carlos Hotel …
One more wedding reception photograph at the San Carlos Hotel. This was ” THE PLACE ” to throw the bridal bouquet when the reception was held in the ballroom upstairs. I do not know how these girls caught the bouquet while they were holding their own bouquets. The little girl in the front looks as if she could care less about what is happening …
Wedding Photo at the San Carlos Hotel …
I do not know who the two young ladies are in the photo. The envelope just says ” Cole Wedding ” and I did not write the date down. The reception was at the San Carlos Hotel upstairs on the 5TH floor … I believe it was the 5TH floor, but I could be wrong. That is some rug and wall pattern. It looks like it was at some Las Vegas hotel and not one in Pensacola. At least the girls are pretty! As usual all comments are welcomed …
The Hair – O – Plane …
” Excuse me Miss … that is a very attractive airplane you are wearing today on your head. ”
” Why, thank you sir … it is the newest rage in Pensacola Florida. It is called the Hair-O-Plane and the stews on Eastern Airlines are all wearing them. I thought that if I were to where one, I might be hired by Eastern Airlines … that is my dream job! Just think of all the celebrities you get to meet in the friendly skies. ”
Obviously, that is just me trying to be funny, but you really have to wonder what someone was thinking when the Hair-O-Plane was created. Eastern Airlines must have put on a fashion show and this could have been the highlight of the show. The background is the San Carlos Hotel for both of these photographs. I wish I knew something about the photos … who the model is, did she get to wear the Hair-O-Plane home, did she get paid or did she have to pay them, and who the hair stylist / airplane designer was … did she or he go on to a famous career out in Hollywood or did their career ” crash and burn ” with the Hair-O-Plane. Inquiring minds want to know! Here is the other photo …
If anyone knows the answers to any of the before mentioned questions, please share them with us. When I posted them on the other site I do not believe that I received one comment. I was sure that someone would have made some type of remark about the Hair-O-Plane. I surely thought that there would have been a couple of Eastern Airline Stews from the 1960’s that were just dying to share their stories with this fashion statement. So please do not be shy, no one here is out to judge or make fun of your sense of style. Thanks for looking …
San Carlos Hotel …
Another one of the San Carlos Hotel from around 1955 or so. This is probably the best photo of the exterior of the hotel that I have. This is cropped tighter than what is in the original negative and I will post it later when I run across it. Pensacola was sure a active and vibrant city during this time after World War II. Soldiers were coming back and getting out of the service and staying. The housing industry was growing, looks like people were buying cars and spending money … times were good! This is also one of my favorite images from this era that I have run across and cleaned-up. I will do some research on the San Carlos Hotel down at the Pensacola Historical Society and share it with you in the future. Thanks for looking …
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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