Los Angeles After the War

I've written enough about my distress when dealers break up photo albums, that I'm happy to finally put up one of the albums I own, complete. It's a small collection. While the album itself has around fifty or so pages, these few pictures were placed on only five of those pages. (The album owner used photo corners. A few of them are missing and have left small, triangular bits of crystallized glue behind, that are not to be found on any of the blank pages, which has led to my conclusion that the owner of this album gave up adding new images.) One of the things I've always found fascinating about old American photographs is the documentation of movement; the movement from one part of the country to another. One of the things my father told me was that the depression and World war 2 were good for the United States because it forced people to uproot and move on from their established lives. My father had to drop out of the tenth grade, he went on the road, worked for both the C.C.C. and the W.P.A. and then ended up spending four years in Europe during, and right after the war. I found this album in Rosamond, California, and at first thought that it must have been owned by one of the families that went to the high desert as support workers for Muroc, latter Edwards Air Force Base, but on closer examination I realized that the ridge line seen in the background runs from just north of downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena. For Anglenos, think Mt. Washington. More than likely, these images were taken in Glassell Park, a real estate development aimed towards defense workers. A lot of those old houses are still there, and with a bit of work, I could probably find this street. Of course, Los Angeles is the city that it is, because of twentieth century population shifts. The depression saw the uprooting of people from the great plains, Texas, Oklahoma, the Ozarks, and lots of them headed for southern and central California. And then the war, and the growth of the defence industry, especially aircraft in the L.A. area, brought even more people west, looking for high paid jobs. Since these photos are held in the album with photo corners and are not glued to the pages, I have been able to, carefully, remove them and then replace them back in the album. A few of the pictures have hand written captions on the back. The first picture of the older man in overalls being embraced by the woman in slacks, "Feb-9-1946 Quite a paunch you have there pop." The younger man and woman wearing a skirt, holding a plant in her hands, "Feb-9-1946. Smile Mac, it's not." The older man in overalls, with his arm on the older woman's shoulder, "The couple." Mac, standing alone, cigarette in hand, "Feb-9-1946 Look at the birdiee please." The two younger women standing side by side, "A Blonde & A Brunette OH OH!" The woman laying on the ground, "Feb-9-1946 Uh Uh! What a form!?" Mac, his arm around the waist of the woman in the cowboy hat and boots, "Hold on tight so IT won't Blow Away. (The hat of course.)" 1946 was a good year. The soldiers were back, the economy was booming, and everyone had a job.

Flagler Garden, Miami

Yet another entry in my growing collection of nightclub, souvenir photo folders. (Click on night clubs in the labels section to bring the others up.) Sometimes I can find a lot of information about these old nightclubs, that once catered to an America that liked to go out, listen to big band music, jazz, and to dance the night away. On Flagler Garden, not so much. After entering every combination of words I could think of into the search engine, I came up with just two references. Flagler Garden Apartments, which may or may not have been built at the same location as the club, and a brief reference on a site devoted to defunct ball rooms. They were defining ball rooms as anything from a small club with a 10 x 10 dance floor to the massive halls with space for hundreds of dancers. As far as the photograph goes, it wasn't fixed or washed well. I spent years in photo labs, I notice these things. An interesting contrasts between the two ladies. The blond seems alert and ready for a much longer night. The brunette (Or redhead?) looks like she's ready for bed. The two soldiers and the hairdos put this image in the early to mid forties, probably World War 2. No dates or names were written anywhere on the cover, and there is no address for ordering more photos.

S.S. Transylvania, The West Indies Run

When I buy these small collections of photographs, I'm usually drawn to only a few of the images. In this case, it was the photograph of the gentleman in his Tuxedo. Labeled, "Sabatine, Fred 1934 on ship," I at first thought he was a passenger on a cruise, but on closer inspection I began to think that he might have been the ship's photographer. Look closely, next to the chair, and a number of 8 x 10 film holders can bee seen. Used in large format view cameras, 8 x 10 film would most likely have been used in a passenger liner's photo studio, while a smaller format would have been used for candid shots taken in the ship's lounge. A probable scenario is that Mr. Sabatine set up his camera, and had an assistant press the shutter. (The 8 x 10 negative, trimmed out to about a 6 x 8 area was included in the sale.) Also, there is a hair printed into the chair. White in color, it would have been on the neg when printed. For a ship's passenger, it would most likely have been reprinted or spotted, but as a keepsake for the photographer, it wouldn't have been necessary. Finally, I couldn't help but notice the finger nail staining on Fred's right hand. Common for people who process black & white film without gloves. I know, I had purple nails for the first year I worked at a lab. Anyway, this is what I've been able to find out about the S.S. Transylvania, identified on the map. The Transylvania's keel was laid down in 1919 at Fairfield & Co., LTD. Glasgow, Scotland. It was built for the Anchor Line, a subsidiary of Cunard. It was launched on March 11, 1925, and made it's maiden voyage to Moville and New York. It had three funnels, even though only one was functional, two masts and twin screws. It was designed to carry 279 first class passengers, 344 in second and 800 in third. On March, 28, 1929, the Transylvania ran aground near Cherbourg, France. It was refitted several times. In 1935 (?) it made a voyage to Bermuda, and from 1937-39 was on a regular run from New York to the West Indies. On Sept. 7, 1939, it was requisitioned by the British Admiralty for use as an armed merchant cruiser. On Aug. 16, 1940, it was hit by a German torpedo, fired from the U-56. It was taken in tow, but sunk off of Malin Head in Northern Ireland. 48 lives were lost. Underwater pictures of the Transylvania, sitting upright and nearly intact can be seen at www.deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/Transylvania/Transylvania-wreckimages.htm Pictures of the Transylvania afloat can be seen at www.irishwrecksonline.net/details/Transylvania815.imagepage.htm There was another ship named the Transylvania in the Anchor Line fleet. It was sunk by a German torpedo in the first world war. As far as the other photos in this group, Crystal Cave in Bermuda was discovered in 1905 and has been giving tours ever since. It's labeled, "1934 Fred Sabatine, 1934 Bermuda, Bermuda." The picture of the capitol building and the house with the flamingos are both labeled, "Havana." The capitol building in Havana was modeled after the U.S. Capitol and was built in 1929. After the Cuban revolution in 1959, it was no longer used for governance, and now houses the Cuban Academy of Sciences. When I noted that the Transylvania made it's first voyage to Bermuda in 1935, I placed a question mark after the date. If Fred Sabatine was a ship's photographer and he was on the Transylvania on that first trip, then the date on the back of the Bermuda picture doesn't match what I've been able to find on-line. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, since a wrong date could have been written on the back of the print, years latter, from memory. For pictures made by a ship's photographer from the S.S. Lurline, click on cruise ships in the labels section. Added: I've run down an obit for Fred Sabatine from the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. Fred died on Sunday, Nov. 7, 1999, at the age of 96. He and his wife Alice, owned the Modern Photo service in Bangor, Pennsylvania. In his obit, it mentioned that Fred had studied photography in New York City, and that he had been a cruise ship photographer, working out of New York.

Etretat, France in World War 2

This one is for the World war 2 history buffs. When I first saw these photos I thought they must have been from the Dover area in England. But, I've been to Dover, and I couldn't remember the sea arches seen in several of the prints. A bit of research and I was able to identify the town as Etretat in France. With some of the signs in English and the bombed out houses makes these from the post D-Day era. The bunkers have to be German built, as a defense against the allied invasion.

The Persian Room

Like a lot of people, I'm somewhat nostalgic for a world I'm a bit too young to have experienced. When I was born in the 1950's, big bands were dying, and jazz clubs were just staring to be replaced with folk and rock venues. Written on the inside front cover, "Just like old times-being together! If only we were sober!! Alice." "Its a long while between drinks! Ed." "Wish New York was always as Frisco is tonight. Head." Zingy-How about a reunion in L.A. Come on out-the water is fine! Alice." I'm guessing Zingy must be the Doris whose name is written on the front corner and can be seen in the scanned image. Written on the matt around the photo, "Frisco 4-2-44." It's always nice to have a date, and to have the day, month and year is quite rare. Printed on the back cover beneath a war bonds ad, "For additional prints write to Hollywood Nite Club Photos. PICTURES ARE $1.25 EACH. PRICE INCLUDES TAX AND MAILING CHARGES. Be certain to mention SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, this number 16 and date APR 2, 1944. 6304 Riley Way, Carthay Circle Theatre Bldg., Los Angeles, Calif. WAlnut 9880." Of course, The Hotel Sir Francis Drake wasn't in Los Angeles, but San Francisco, and in fact, unlike many of the night club souvenir photos I post, The Sir Francis drake is still there, on Union Square in downtown. The Persian Room, though has closed. A quote from S.F. columnist Herb Caen, who referred to the Persian Room as the snake pit. "You never heard such hissing or saw such writhing as in the Persian Room." I've got a number of these night club souvenir photos in the collection. Go to the labels section at the bottom of this post and click on night clubs to pull up some others.

From Germany

A very small collection of five photographs from Germany. The photo of the two older people is labeled, "Augusta & Gustav Meyer, Germany 1943." Stamped, "C. Weiss, Bremen, Bruckenstr. 16, Fernrui 53283." Look closely at the woman's face and compare it with the woman in the family portrait with the uniformed soldier and child. Same shape and nose. There is no writting on the back of the print, but it is a photo post card, made for the personal use of the subjects, and the studio is identified, "Photo-Studio, Inh. Jul V. Kwanka, Hamburg, Reeperbahn 122/24 Ecke Talsstr." The picture of the house has, written on the back, "Home of Emma Schonewald, Wedel Germany." Labeled in English, but the lab stamp is in German, "Photo-Grote A1625 Wedel Muhlenstr." The other prints have some writing, but it's in German, either faded or smeared, and I can't really make it out. These photos run from World War 1 to World War 2. Where the people in these photos proud of Germany, the Kaiser and Hitler?

Post War Japan

Three of these images are conventional portraits. One photo looks like it's from outside a Japanese brothel. The portrait of the lady in the kimono is labeled, "Yokohama, Japan Oct. 1945," only a couple of months after V-J day. American troops would have been looking for both girlfriends and prostitutes in occupied Japan.