Vintage shots from days gone by!

some postcards of my brother's...

 

I did it! I made it through all 1495 pages! It took a few weeks of spare time but I did it thanks to some long winded phone calls from friends and family. I'm not much for talking on the phone so no one suspected that between me going "Uh huh" "Yeah" and "Really?" I was doing something interesting.

After looking at the thousands of photos I can say that it was an awful lot like looking at the history of my family and to some degree, myself. Also, it's clear that pretty girls were prettier and sexier long ago before they started to dress like hookers and get tattoos everywhere.

Here are my own humble contributions to this thread, don't want anyone saying I was freeloading:

When Pearl Harbor happened my dad was civilian working as an radial engine mechanic for the Navy at Moffet Field N.A.S. Because he had a critical civilian job he was never allowed to enlist although he tried three times.


He overhauled superchargers and worked in Hanger One


After war he bought a Shell gas station at 1st and William St. in San Jose. Dad on the right, his brother next to him.


Don't know who the man is, not my dear ol' dad though.


In the '70s he was the sales manager for the Lincoln Mercury dealer in Escondido, CA.

There ya go, my first post on the HAMB.

Doug
​

 

Quote Doug: "After looking at the thousands of photos I can say that it was an awful lot like looking at the history of my family and to some degree, myself. Also, it's clear that pretty girls were prettier and sexier long ago before they started to dress like hookers and get tattoos everywhere."

Congrats on making it through Dog's whole thread! Sort of like reading "Gone With the Wind" and "War and Peace" back to back, eh? Great first post, Doug! Aeronautics pix, gas stations and what seems to be the prevailing attitude about feminine pulchritude? How could you not fit in???

 

"Round dancing" at a Pie Town, Catron County, NM, square dance. Among people where square dancing
is the usual or traditional form of dancing, regular ball room dancing has been known as "round dancing."
Shot by photographer Lee Russell, June 1940, for the U.S. Office of War Information, formerly the Farm Se-
curity Administration. Photos THANKS to the U.S. Libarary of Congress and PopArtMachine!

 

Tired spectators at a Pie Town, Catron County, NM, square dance. Shot by photographer
Lee Russell, June 1940, for the U.S. Office of War Information, formerly the Farm Security
Administration. Photo THANKS to the U.S. Libarary of Congress and PopArtMachine!

 

Maybe they're trimming her dress... either way they all look like they are enjoying it!

 

Now, if you don't think THAT's funny,
just go on and get the hell outta here!

 

An original Charleston move, THANKS to Annabel's Cabaret!

 

To blow off steam after a hard week's work, human beings have always sought relief in music, song, dancing and other diversions -- adding a little spice to often mundane workaday lives! Just as musical genres have come in and one out of style, decade by decade, so have the dances that accompanied them! Way before the Twist, folks broke the boring waltz routine in the '20s with the Fox Trot and the energetic Charleston (see Dorothy Provine on an earlier post). When that became a little "old hat," the "Swing" dance movement quickly added the Lindy Hop and numerous variant dances, from the Jitterbug, to the Shag, the Boogie-Woogee, the Balboa (similar to the Rumba) and others.

The jazzy Lindy had evolved, particularly in Harlem, out of a sort of fusion of the Charleston, Fox Trot, tap dancing, breakaway and other dance styles. Interestingly, the already flamboyant Lindy got even more so in the later '30s as the new ideas of Zoot-Suited dancers evinced new and crazier moves called "air steps' or just "aerials," such as the hip-to-hip, side-flip, over-the-back, over-the-head, back flip and "the snatch"! The Lindy birthed a rather similar offspring, the Jitterbug and the Shag, in the late '30s. Also known broadly as the New Yorker or just "swing," the Lindy raised lots of eyebrows for being "uncouth," was banned in Germany and, along with other popular dances was taxed in many locations during WWII in the U.S., if you can believe that. Lindy aficionados range from Gene Kelly to Malcom Little (later known as Malcom X). The roomy Zoot Suit itself came under fire from the Office of War Materials for consuming too much cloth. LOL

As Rock-and-Roll music evolved in the mid-'50s, the Lindy lived on in many forms and at a million school and club dances, generally as interpreted and dictated by the athletic abilities of individual amateurs. Pros and dance studios still devoted much attention to the Lindy Hop, as well. The Lindy Hop and many such variants have seen a revival in recent years -- probably because they're fun to do or just watch! Witness current TV fare and dance competitions around the world.


Photo THANKS to FourLeftFeet!



Aerials by Leon James
and Willa Mae Ricker.



Photo THANKS to AllPostersImages!


Photo THANKS to FlickR!



Young Jitterbuggers cut a mean rug at a Clarkesdale, MS, juke joint in November 1939. The photo
was shot by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration and is THANKS to the Wiki-
Media Commons project and to the U.S. Library of Congress!

 

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Lindy shot THANKS to Jason Q. Hector's blog.


Here, I believe, is an "Over-the-Shoulder" Lindy aerial move, THANKS to Annabel's Cabaret!

 

.


From:

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=23469





This engine was the result of a developmental contract awarded to the Duesenberg Brothers in
1918 to build the largest and most powerful aero engine at the time.
They had previously built a V-12 engine along with a four cylinder walking beam airplane
engine quite similar to their racing engines.

This new engine was quite a ingenious and light weight power-plant in which they
incorporated new ideas along with practices that had worked well for them previously.

They also adapted other clever design ideas like the forged steel cylinder barrels along with
forged and built up cylinder head. This had been used by Mercedes in racing and road car
engines.
It featured one intake valve at the top and two exhaust valves below it in a vertical combustion
chamber, actuated by their walking beam system. It carried an air starter, two separate ignition
systems with both magnetos and battery distributors and it used four Miller updraft
carburetors. It was a very large sized engine, as you can see by comparing it to the helper in
the photos. It was a monumental sized 3393 c.i. (55.6 litre).

The engine was tested extensively both on this test platform and also in an elaborate set up
spinning three 300 h.p. Sprague electric dynamometers. A total of four were built for testing, however at the time there was not an airplane large enough to accommodate this engine.

One of the engines has survived at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum













Interesting Valve Arrangement

 

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I love this LIFE magazine cover! I feel better knowing that 12 years
before I was even BORN, guys were doing dumb shit they could brag
about to get chicks! So, all of my stupid acts are venerated! AH!!!

 

i think thats a '50 plym with a fulton visor on it! Sweet!!

 

Funny, I had a newer version of something like that...........



Doc.

 

theres another one! i've never seen such a cool photo of one! thanks!

 

Jim,

I remember watching ABC's Wide World of Sports back in the 60's70's and they featured Cliff Diving From Acapulco.






...While this may be a little new for the Vintage Pics thread, the video gives a peek at what the sport was famous for.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C8jGLEHdcqw" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="510" width="640"></iframe>


.

 

This is Port Huron, Michigan. The U. S. courthouse is obviously mislabeled as 1877.

 

Luverne, Minnesota, 1947. Closer to the correct date for sure.

 

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]"HANNIBAL, MO - J. T. Brown stands in front of the business owned by him and his partner, Charles McElroy. The partnership is short lived and the business becomes just Brown's. The business stays in the Brown family through the years eventually becoming Brown & Son Moving and Storage Company which still exists today. The business has the distinction of having one of the oldest continually owned phone numbers in Hannibal." [/FONT]Caption from the Hannibal Library website which has quite a number of old photos.

 

1963--[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Allen A. M. E. Church in Hannibal
[/FONT]

 

Any more great dance shots?

 

in my humble opinion one of the best rifles out there

 

Tell you what, the F88 Austeyer's are absolutely unbreakable but could have been 7.62 rather than 5.56mm.
Sorry to be O/T.........soooooooooo, um............here.........

Some of Australia's home built aircraft of WWII.
We start off with the humble little CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation) CA13A Boomerang fighter, this one was named 'Sinbad II' and we have two shots of this particular aircraft......




The Boomerang was slow but quite maneuverable and in the hands of an experienced pilot could hold its own, armed with two 20mm cannon and four 303 machine guns.
Believe it or not, this was developed into the aircraft below!!

Comonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA15A Kangaroo........





And shown here parked next to an Aussy built Wirraway Trainer...... The Wirraway was an Australian development of the North American Na16 that was the fore runner to the Harvard.



Many people comment on the CA15s similarity's to the Mustang, though the simple fact is this was developed from the above Boomerang.
Initially it was a stretched version of the Boomerang fitted with a Turbo-supercharged Pratt & Whitney R2800. When that powerplant became unavailable it was replaced with the Rolls Royce Griffon Mk61 Two stage supercharged V12. To accommodate this engine and the intended three stage supercharger that the production aircraft would receive the R2800 powered Boomerang morphed into this after a very extended development.
Sadly by the time this prop driven monster was ready for production you guys dropped these two big ass bombs on the Jap's and someone decided these monsters were surplus to requirement and only the prototype was built or flew.
It did however have an impressive performance for a prop driven aircraft, it reached an unofficial speed of 502.2mph @ 4,000ft and an official speed of 448mph @ 26,400ft. I do wonder what it would have done had it received the three stage supercharged and the extra 1,000hp that entailed?
This still stands as a production aircraft record for level flight speed, this kind of puts the Turbinator and Don Vescos work in a new light huh?
It was intended to be a replacement for the P51 (Also built by CAC over here!) but the jet age arrived at full throttle and we got Gloster Meteors instead!
Sadly it was 'Struck off Charge' and scrapped.

Then we have the CAC Woomera!! Our only home designed and built bomber ow WWII. I love them but they were honestly a POS. By the time the prototypes were built better aircraft were available like the Beaufort and Beaufighter, these two replaced the Woomera in the RAAF.





Doc.

 

I HEAR YA, MOE! Those shows kinda scared the shit outta me. But at the SAME time, you said: "Man! If I were THERE and watched these guys' technique, I'd LOVE to do that that, too!!! I may still be dumb, but it's one of those things where, if you DID it, you wouldn't ever WISH you'd tried but pussed out, right?!?!?

I guess it's like watching a dude or doll make a pass in a Top-Fueler and wishing you could it -- even if only once!

 

And is it REALLY any different than this? If you're the ONE GUY who manages to beat out everybody else for the SEAT, whatya think? Of COURSE, you want to go find a Japanese pilot so you can SHOW you and the plane are better, eh?

 

BTW, that fighter looks a little like a Curtiss Helldiver, IMO, but a tad shorter in the fuselage. I'll bet it was just as tough and mean, too.

 

Would love to have that jukebox!

 

thanks Doc - news to me re. the CA-15 genesis, also i had understood the Boomerang to be an emergency development of the NA-16 ... no, rather the local CA-13; making it's basics into a fighter with whatever engine was most available.
'We' did a lot of that sort of thing, once ...
steven