Saturday, May 05, 2012

SATURDAY - Camera Store

Today's "Anything Goes" Saturday edition is a fun one. Mixed in with a bunch of magenta slides were three vintage photos of a camera store, which I found to be really interesting. After some futzing in Photoshop, they wound up looking pretty good! They were unlabeled, but "Hurst Studio" looks like it was somewhere in Southern California (the license plate to the left is consistent with California plates in 1957). 


Poor Trixie did not expect her picture to be taken; kind of ironic since she worked in a camera shop, fer cryin' out loud. I used to collect vintage Viewmaster packets, so the various Viewmaster paraphernalia is lots of fun for me. Notice the viewers on the counter in the foreground (along with a bean-bag ashtray... you used to see those everywhere). 


I have a lot of these packets! The South Pole, Indians of the Plains, New York State, Japan, Egypt, New Mexico, London, Santa's Workshop, Atlantic City, Brooklyn... it's like seeing pictures of old friends! 


Wow, this one is awesome... there is just something about an old fashioned camera store! How about an amazing Polaroid? Or a nice leather case for your expensive Kodak? Or maybe a classy photo album? Whatever you want, Hurst's Studio had it all. I love digital photography, but there is just something about old cameras, and all of the stuff that went with them that I miss.


9 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

I love these camera store pics! Looks like Hamms was making a delivery in the alley that day. It's the beer refreshing (whatever that means) and it's from the land of sky blue water!

Chiana_Chat said...

What a time capsule of a post. Love it!

Tsk. You do a zoom of the postcards instead of Trixie!? You know I worry about you. ;) Amazing glimpse of a time when people managed sustainable hobby shops.

Anonymous said...

I like the bicycle "parked" in the "I'll just be a minute" zone.

Bill in Denver

Major Pepperidge said...

It's all about beer with you, isn't it TokyoMagic!?!

Chiana... postcards? POSTCARDS? They're Viewmaster packets! It's an entirely different thing altogether! ;-)

Bill in Denver, I know... those were the days when you could "park" your bike and not worry about it.

Connie Moreno said...

Cool, cool, cool, cool!!

TokyoMagic! said...

Ha! No, it's more about the vintage stuff including old slogans and TV commercials!

Oh, and my grandparents had a set of binoculars just like the ones in the glass case in that last pic.....they had the little white plastic protective coverings over the lenses and the exact same leather case too. Now I have them.....I use them to watch the neighbors on the weekend while I drink my Hamms!

The Viewliner Limited said...

Not exactly a Walmmart. Thank God !!!
Very cool pics Major. I can smell the leather camera cases right now. Awesome! Not much different than my favorite camera store from the period.

As I recall, they had a thing called service and someone would explain things to you.

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT !!!

SundayNight said...

Look at all those slide viewers on picture 3! And the familiar Kodak orange in pic 2. How I miss it. It appears pic 2 & 3 were taken from behind the counter. Perhaps these were taken by the shop owner to test out a camera.
The good old “back in a minute” bike parking style. Seems like I used to do that a lot at home as well. I love Viewmasters, especially Disneyland reels. Made me relive the fun I had. Thanks for restoring these Major!

Nancy said...

very cool pics. I love specialty shops like this. Just yesterday morning I was looking for something and came across the Minolta slimline that my parents gave me for graduation back in 1974. It used those little cartridges, so easy to load!

Being a sign person, I also noted the painted on the bricks sign near the Hamm delivery truck (I have a bunch from around Pgh but most of them are really faded, its a dying art!) and the sign in the window next door to the shop that appears to be a grocer or maybe butcher shop.

We have a small family-owned grocery shop at the bottom of our hill that still does its signs like that (albeit on white erasable boards) and write in the big red letters).