Posts Tagged ‘Pensacola Florida’
Blue Angels Group Photos …
The date on the back of the photo is 6-29-59. Not sure that this is the date that my father made this photo or just a random date assigned by the Navy. I only have prints of these images. The Navy purchased the negatives and they in turn made press releases and publicity photos for autographs. That is the reason for no lettering on the prints or that is what my father told me. Back then the Blue Angels did not have a staff photographer or publicity officer for the team. In fact, from what I have learned, those two jobs were not added until many years later. It would be interesting if anyone seeing this post might be able to enlightened us with any details on any of this. Below is one other group photo of the Blue Angels that my father took at this same time …
The third man kneeling from the left is Lt. Robert ” Bob ” Rasmussen who is a Pensacola resident and it is his jet in the background. I guess that this group includes the two alternate pilots that fly with the group, but that is just a guess by me. If I am wrong I apologize in advance and like I mentioned before, if anyone has any stories to share about this group from 1959, please feel free to comment. I probably should have done some ” googling ” on the 1959 Blue Angels before I created this post, but as usual I did not. Like I have said before, I am just a photographer and not a historian and I leave the important information gathering to others. Thanks again for looking and please check back.
PS – I will most likely be adding to this post when I do some ” googling ” … Thanks – Frank
PPS – OK, I went to the official Blue Angel’s web site and their official photo is not one of these images. The image that they show is one of the pilots wearing their leather flight jackets and not just in their flight suites as the photos here that my father took. Maybe these were just too informal or something along that line. But for whatever reason, these were not used. I did google around and neither of these images popped up on the internet anywhere, which to me is something of a surprise. At least I feel that I am adding something relevant that people have not seen before when I post to this blog. Again, please feel free to comment and share any of your Blue Angel stories …
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 ).
Miss Kitty and Gunsmoke …
Recently on EBay, I ran across some publicity photos taken of the actors from the tv show ” Gunsmoke “. My father had taken photos of Amanda Blake ” Miss Kitty ” and Milburn Stone ” Doc ” two characters from Gunsmoke. I have posted those photos in earlier posts, but I have never posted any of them in their show costumes. I saw these photos of them on EBay and decided to purchase them them to post on this blog. They were photographs and not the printed publicity photos that are so commonly used in these mass printings for handouts at tapings, shows, etc. They are nothing really special and they were inexpensive … I guess Doc and Kitty were not the John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara of their day. Here is a photo that my father made of Amanda Blake when she was at the TownHouse Motor Lodge in Pensacola Florida …
I have a photo of Milburn Stone that my father made somewhere, but I could not locate it when I was putting the photos for this post together. When I come across it I will add them to the post later. Here are a few more Gunsmoke publicity photos …
I have been looking on EBay recently for any photos that go along with the photos of my father’s that I think people might be interested in. Since most of the celebrities that he photographed were popular in the 1950′, 60’s and 70’s, a lot of blog readers might not have a clue who any of these people / celebrities were back then. If anyone remembered meeting Amanda Blake or Milburn Stone when they came to Pensacola back in the 1950’s for the Fiesta, we would enjoy hearing your stories. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Community Chest … Part Two …
Here are a few more photos from the Community Chest. I do not know any of the people in front of the tally board … maybe someone will recognize an individual and comment. Some more photos …
If anyone remembers anyone on the boards or in the photos and wants to make a comment, please feel free. Thanks again for looking. This year is just about up and it really has flown by. No idea what 2016 has in store, but I am looking forward to whatever it brings. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope you have a safe New Year. Thanks again for stopping by and looking … the comments are also welcomed. Stay safe … Frank
Town and Country Plaza …
This is a view of Town and Country Plaza being built back in the early 1960’s. The camera was a Wide-Lux Panoramic camera that used 120 roll film. I do not know who the developers of this project were, but I doubt that this was a local group. The road in the foreground was called ” Pottery Plant Road ” and was eventually changed to Fairfield Drive since the Pensacola Interstate Fair used to be located on this road before it was relocated to Mobile Highway. Here is one more view …
Back when this shopping center was built, no one could envision a shopping mall that would be enclosed and air conditioned. In fact, I am sure a lot of people at this time would ask ” what is air conditioning ? ” . If anyone wants to share there shopping experiences here at Town and Country Plaza, please feel free. Thanks for looking and please check back. And Happy Holidays to everyone …
The Community Chest … Part One …..
Several weeks ago the Pensacola News Journal printed an article by John Appleyard about the Community Chest. The Community Chest later turned into the United Way. It was an interesting article by Mr. Appleyard, as they all are. I ran across these images years ago and set them aside … the only thing that interested me were all of the photos of the local ” movers and shakers “, since my father had taken the photos. A lot of the names are very familiar to me and a few mean nothing to me, but that really does not mean anything since these images are sixty years old. I was only two when these were taken. There are a few images, so I am going to break these up into two posts. Since I do not know anything much about the images, I am just going to post the images and leave out any comments to the end. Here we go …
None of the people standing in front of the tally boards are familiar to me … I recognize a lot of the names / faces of the the people on the boards. I am sure some of you out there will be able to identify these of these people. I also apologize for not being able to figure out how to put a link to Mr. Appleyard’s article in the Pensacola News Journal. In fact, I am not sure if I would be allowed to since so many publications do not allow bloggers to link to their sites because of plagiarism laws. Maybe someone out there will let me know how to link and if I am even allowed to. Thanks again for looking and feel free to comment. I will post the other images in a week or so … Frank
Ice Machine …
I ran across this image years ago and did not pay attention to it until just the other day. I had not noticed the ” 25 cents bag ” written on the door of the unit. This had to have been taken back in the 1950’s and I do not where the machine was located. You can tell that someone must have backed into it and they are filling an insurance claim on the unit for my father to have taken a photo of the ice machine. It looks like it was located in front of a liquor store because those look like pints and half pints on the shelves on the right side of the frame. I have been busy with other things the last several months ( one being Instagram – frankphardy ) and I have not posted much the last several months, but I am going to renew it for another year in a few weeks. If anyone has any questions or comments, please let me hear them. Thanks again for looking … Frank
Bayou Texar …
This is Bayou Texar around 1920, if I had to make a guess. I would also guess that this area would be south of the Cervantes Street Bridge. The grass flats are still in the area and the oak trees on the bank are still there. Someone had brought me this image to copy thirty years or more and they told me that it was a photo of their family. The photo was in horrible shape and they did not want to spend the money to have the image restored, so I just copied the print and made copies. I found the negative and scanned it, then worked it up in Photoshop in an hour or so. And that is what you are seeing here. I do not know who the photographer was, but it looks like an image that might have been created by Cottrell, who was located in downtown Pensacola at the time this photo might have been made. But as usual, that is only a guess and I could be completely wrong. I can not remember who brought this print to me either, it was such a long time ago. I have been busy with other things the last month or so and have not posted much, but I have not forgotten this blog and plan to keep it going for some time in the future. I have been posting to my Instagram account and here is a link. I post everything from my personal images to photos that I have put on this blog. I like the way Instagram works and the people that respond to my images are different than the ones that are just looking at blogs. I have tried Twitter and have it linked to my blogs along with Facebook, but I do not really care for either one of those, especially Facebook. That is it for today and I will be back with some new photos in several weeks. Let me hear from you if you have any comments or questions and thanks again for looking … Frank
Hygeia Bottling Company for Coca-Cola in Pensacola Florida …
I have had this image sitting around for years and was surprised that I had not posted it yet. I went back through 390 something posts and could not find where I had put it up, so I decided to post it. The Hygeia Bottling Company had the franchise to produce and bottle Coca-Cola in Pensacola Florida when Coca-Cola first came out. I obviously did not take this photo or did my father … someone had brought me a photo to copy and I just saved me a negative. That was over thirty years ago and so I can not remember who, why or what for, but it must have impressed to save a negative. I have no clue where this is in Pensacola or the year the photograph was taken. Maybe if someone could tell the make and model of the car on the right hand side of the image, we could establish a year for the photograph. I wonder if this is the train tracks that run parallel to Wright Street or the tracks out on Border Street in Brownsville. One more thing, I have started using my Instagram account and posting all different examples of my photography and these photographs from this site. Some images have not been posted on either blog yet, so it is just not repackaged or redesigned images for Instagram. I am just trying to find new ways to attract viewers to my blogs and create new interest in my photography. I have enjoyed posting on Instagram since you get instant responses and there are a lot of new people that I can be exposed to that I otherwise would not. I still do not have a Facebook site for my photography and somewhere I am going to get around to putting one up. I really like my blogs and the people that I have reached through them and I have no plan of slowing down, even though that I have had them for years. It seems that people are so fickle now days and what is popular today will not be two or three years from now. Thanks again for looking and if anyone knows anything about this image, please let us hear from you. Also, if anyone has seen this image before, let me know. 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
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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