Shorpy | Old Photos - Comments

Nudum Pactum

archfan — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 07:54:56 +0000

In reply to The Federal Building: 1910:

The Metzenbaum Courthouse has two large statues - Commerce and Jurisprudence (Commerce, dressed, is shown below). The sculptures were by Daniel Chester French. French's other sculptures include the Minute Man in Concord, MA and the seated President Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial.

+106

TimeAndAgainPhoto — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:55:38 +0000

In reply to The Federal Building: 1910:

Below is the same view from July of 2016.

Preserved

archfan — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 09:40:00 +0000

In reply to City Hall Park: 1911:

City Hall Park still exists, possibly with the same footprint as in the photo. Burlington recently revamped the park. The Hotel Vermont is also still there, but over time has been converted to condos and renamed Vermont House .

What a difference a few years makes

TechnoBuff — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:02:32 +0000

In reply to The Federal Building: 1910:

In a similar image from, say, 1906, you might see two or three automobiles on the street. Every other conveyance would be horse drawn. Here, only four years later, you are lucky to spot an available parking space, and the horse is massively outnumbered.

Great photo is almost like being there

swa — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 05:47:15 +0000

In reply to The Federal Building: 1910:

This is a splended image, especially enlarged on screen. With all the people, the hustle and bustle, the streetcar and buildings, it's like peering into the past in person and at street level.

Wearing a hat seems to have been a strict rule. I only spotted one person, at the far right, who might not have had a hat on. Hard to tell for sure because he's seen from behind.

Also, it's refreshing to see people crossing the street with head up, not looking down at a smartphone or, in this bygone era, a newspaper or other reading material.

Segregated by Sex?

WoodsideParkBob — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:42:48 +0000

In reply to The Federal Building: 1910:

Sons of Veterans on one side. Daughters of Veterans on the other.

Four square and seven

Notcom — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:28:32 +0000

In reply to The Federal Building: 1910:

would have accurately described the neighborhood, since a person circumnavigating Public Square would have encountered seven streets - Superior (west), Ontario (south), Euclid, Superior (east), Rockwell, Ontario (north) and W. Second - while Superior and Ontario actually transversed it (thus dividing it into four smaller squares.) But reconfiguration a decade ago closed streets and ruined the pun (and the look of the Square itself, IMHO).

Taxes

SirClownfish — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:25:06 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

Check the sales tax rate on the gasoline (as a percentage). I guess higher percentages were easier to accept when the total numbers were so low. Back when a penny meant something.

At a loss

Juan de la cruz — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:34:34 +0000

In reply to Water Boys: 1926:

Ok, I'm at a loss. Unless you're referring to the fact that some of those youngsters might not have enjoyed wading in water in June of 1944.

[When was that comment posted? -- Dave]

I was not looking at when the comment was posted, made the rash assumption that it was recent. I was looking at the date of the photo.

Yup, need to learn how to read the whole page.

I'm surprised

pennsylvaniaproud — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:46:00 +0000

In reply to Delaware & Hudson: 1908:

... that a train station of this stature has a torn, tacky shade in that upstairs window. Maybe a call was put into maintenance.

The smart place to be in DC in July

notinfocus — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 05:49:47 +0000

In reply to Water Boys: 1926:

I'd like to think old Abe would approve and enjoy seeing the boys getting some relief from the sticky swamp of DC in the summer. Hope they don't get in trouble.

Re: A grippe-ing photo

Vonderbees — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 01:08:00 +0000

In reply to Delaware & Hudson: 1908:

The weirdest thing just happened when seeing this post. A little bit earlier this evening I was looking at a letter sent from my great uncle to my great aunt in 1908. One of the items in the letter discussed my grandmother (their sister) becoming very sick. He said, "We thought at first it was grip but the doctor suspected something else." Well I had no idea what he meant by the "grip," but before I could look it up, I saw the comment below and then looked it up and saw it was another term for the flu. Just thought this was the strangest coincidence I've seen in a while and had to tell you.

A grippe-ing photo

Mike T. — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:52:17 +0000

In reply to Delaware & Hudson: 1908:

From "Adelaide's Lament" (Guys and Dolls):

When they get on that train to Niagara,
And she can hear church bells chime,
The compartment is air conditioned,
And the mood sublime,
Then they get off at Saratoga for the fourteenth time,
A person can develop la grippe!

The other end of the line

Mike T. — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 18:47:53 +0000

In reply to Green's Hotel: 1911:

(With apologies to Johnny Mercer)

And they'll all want lifts to Green's Hotel
'Cause lots o' them been travelin' for quite a spell,
All the way to Philadel-phi-ay
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.

Cheaper Today than in 1942

RONKOR — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:20:00 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

If eighteen cents, adjusted for inflation today is $3.69, we are better off now than in 1942 because cars today, on average, get twice the millage. So, to go from point A to point B then, it would cost one thirty-six cents which translates today to $7.38

The reason we complain today is due to all the other "stuff" we just have to have that did not exist in 1942. If we did not just have to have any of that now, $4 a gallon would not even sound so expensive.

Visit the Garden State!

mgolden — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 19:39:00 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

You should come visit New Jersey, where as I write this the average price of gas is $4.14 per gallon, and to top it off, by state law you're not allowed to pump your own gas!

My Guess

KMcC — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 09:03:33 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

The extra penny missing from the math is probably for the individual service stations.

Quaker City

TimB — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 22:03:17 +0000

In reply to Green's Hotel: 1911:

Looks like the Quaker City National Bank building is still there (far right on the photograph). It was chartered in 1889 and closed in 1928. Address is 721 Chestnut Street.

Disney Hole

Outside Food — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 18:29:00 +0000

In reply to Green's Hotel: 1911:

PeeringBack is correct. Gimbels department store, which fronted on Market Street to the north, occupied most of the block from 1894 until it moved out in 1977. Its building and others were demolished, leaving a vacant lot. Disney decided in 1998 to put up an arcade/indoor theme park there called DisneyQuest, and a hole for the foundation was dug. But Disney canceled the project in 2000, leaving a parking lot and what Philadelphians still call the Disney Hole, which was eventually filled in.

Quakers

Watson1 — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 14:13:00 +0000

In reply to Welcome Truckers: 1959:

Is it just a coincidence that it says the building is/was owned by the Religious Society of Friends and they advertise Quaker Ice Cream?

[Probably not. -- Dave]

Don't Paint the Brick

timotheus — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:15:00 +0000

In reply to Green's Hotel: 1911:

Based on this 1898 image, it looks like they whitewashed the building. (Brick should not be painted; it absorbs and releases moisture, and paint would trap moisture in the wall.)

Steering wheels

nzcarnerd — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 04:59:17 +0000

In reply to Modern Manhattan: 1911:

In 1911 the vast majority of American cars still had the wheel on the right. The Ford Model T began the change to left side steering in 1908, although a few other minor makes preceded it, and most makes followed over the next few years, the last in the early 1920s.

A reminder of how times have changed

swa — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 04:45:09 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

Interesting how, when gas was $3.69 (equivalent) per gallon, the customer could roll into a station where an attendant would pump your gas and, in most places, offer to check under the hood — radiator, oil level, fan belt tension — even wash your windows! Concerned about tire inflation? Just ask.

Where I am, the lowest gas price yesterday was $5.49 for regular unleaded, paid in advance by tapping my credit card. I pumped the gas myself, then got out of the way. If my car needed a check under the hood or tire inflation checks, I would've been obliged to find a place to do that myself, although Les Schwab locations will do it as a courtesy, if there's one not too far away. Window-washing, strictly DIY or go through a car wash.

Remarkable, isn't it, how when America went from a manufacturing economy to a retail and service economy, retail is everywhere but service free of charge has gone the way of nickel newspapers and Coca-Colas.

A reminder of how times have changed

swa — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 04:45:02 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

So many beautiful turrets

PeeringBack — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 23:57:00 +0000

In reply to Green's Hotel: 1911:

Best I can tell, looking at Google maps, it is now but a parking lot.

Change or Stay the Same?

Kelpie — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:30:37 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

According to the Fed Reserve, eighteen cents in 1942 is $3.69 today.

Time flies

fdzug — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:12:15 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

And not that long ago!

The math ain't makin' cents ...

Olentzero — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:24:00 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

By my reckoning, 13.2 + 4.5 = 17.7 and 15.2 + 4.5 = 19.7 – where's the extra penny coming from?

Gulf of Time

perpster — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 05:35:46 +0000

In reply to Gulf of America: 1942:

Mechanical counters for sale and gallon amounts, and CENTS per gallon.
Single dollar digit for sale amount.
Fractions posted for gas (tenths), tax (halves) and total (tenths).
Leaded gas.
Oil cans that required a can opener or spike spout.
Attendant equipped with belt-worn change dispenser.

Canvas and wood

econobiker — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 05:17:00 +0000

In reply to Truck Amok: 1920:

It was amazing how much wood was used in old cars and vehicles of this vintage both in the roofs, floors, and body structures supporting the metal exterior. The only upside was the slow speeds reduced some risks.

During scrapping of the vehicles, junkyards would often just set the vehicles on fire in order to salvage just the metal in the quickest way possible by burning out the wood, canvas roofs, leather seats, and other materials of no value.