Summer always makes me think of travel; my family did lots of summer travel, and whether it was aboard a comfy jet, or in the back of a hot station wagon, I always loved it. Let's go horseback riding and trout fishing in the Sierras! Let's go see Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota (and... go fishing for walleye while we're there)! Or maybe we'll go to my Great Aunt's farm in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (always an adventure)! Such wonderful memories.
So... today's theme (such as it is) is "travel"; starting with this awesome, undated photo (surely from the 1950's) of an unknown city street, with a bus sitting at the curb. I'm guessing that the folks standing around are waiting for their luggage to be unloaded. The ladies are all in dresses and hats and the men are in suits and fedoras.
These ladies look like extras in an old movie! The vintage luggage is cool, too.
This one is from 1956, and shows a woman and her parents standing on the platform (?) of a train station in Glendale, California. Ooof, it is a smoggy day. I can't explain why, but I love the modest bungalows in the background, along with the rows of tall palm trees.
I knew it was unlikely that I would be able to find a modern view from the same angle; but I found a nice picture (on flickr) of the front of Glendale Station; the palm trees are still there!
Major-
ReplyDeleteOh, the formality. Oh, the 'fancy' clothing. However, the gentleman with the hat, in the tan, double breasted sport coat has his hands in his pockets. Horrors-! How embarrassed his mother must be-!
As to dating the first photo, let's just say the metallic, tan vehicle behind the lady with the pink coat, gives every appearance of being a 1958 Dodge - if that helps with dating the image.
Thanks, Major.
The bus looks like a GM TDM- or TDH-5108 ("M" was manual transmission, "H" was hydraulic, i.e., automatic) "suburban" bus, manufactured from 1953-59. The livery is unfamiliar to me, though. And I don't think a space-time continuum retro-spectral actuator would do us any good here since we don't know where the photo was taken.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, there's some serious mid-century goodness here. Thanks for a great start to a Saturday, Major!
How much this reminds me of the days of the late 50s when my mother and I would travel on the Pacific Coast Daylight between Lancaster and Merced. Great memories and a different time for sure.
ReplyDeleteKS
Nanook, maybe that guy is digging for a pack of smokes. Lucky Strikes! He can give one to his embarrassed mother. And sure, the fact that the car in the background is from 1958 certainly helps!
ReplyDeleteChuck, it’s hard to tell, but I am pretty sure that this is one of the first nuclear-powered buses. It could submerge beneath the polar ice cap, which most buses can’t do very well - or they can, but they can’t come up again. I really wish I knew what city this photo was from!
KS, I’m glad this brought back some fond memories for you.
Of course, the TDN-5108 - the 1950's precursor to Coyote Bus Lines' Cyclops. How could I have missed the cooling vents?
ReplyDeleteI love the rebellious lady with the tiny dark hat and the Pepto-Bismol coat!
ReplyDeleteI love the rebellious lady with the tiny dark hat and the Pepto-Bismol coat!
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