Great picture and story. I need to take a cross country trip in my 40 standard coupe before it's to late.
I had a similar large photo of my great aunt standing next to a 46-48 Chevy parked in one of those trees. They drove cross country from Michigan.
“The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there.” L.P Hartley The Go-Between Beautiful picture. Thank you for sharing it and keeping it safe.
Glad you're back at the writing desk. I'm looking forward to a report from the build garage. Great photo and article. It transports me from my reading chair to . . . .
It's motivation to get out and see what adventures wait for us beyond our back yard! Nice picture and great story. Thanks Joe
Having a fresh new to me 40 Ford I have visions of what's to come also. I love that for the Time the photo was taken it would appear that the Lady next to the 40 was not stuck in the past. The checkerboard handbag and horizontal Jail Bar skirt says to me, approach cautiously with respect. I think she was way ahead of the Normal Housewife of the times. At least that's what I'm going to think. Makes me Smile.
Hello, When I was growing up, I wondered why everyone else had a small Brownie camera to take photos of our baseball games, picnics, days at the beach and elsewhere. Then come to find out, my dad had a 4x5 Graflex Camera that he did take places and took some great photos. The one thing we noticed is that that size of camera takes a while to set up with the film cartridge, the alignment of the bellows and the pop out bulb flash if needed. It was not your simple camera that could take instant photos. So, most of our photos of our family adventures were taken as set ups. We all know about posing on a cliff, a beach or just in our front yard. Our dad’s camera just was not a point and shoot, but a set up and use a light meter, a fence or block wall for support or just his old rickety tripod. The photos were not easy to take on the spot as the Graflex Camera was heavy and intricate. Even when it was open and set up, it was still difficult and time consuming. Sometimes the moment was lost. We always wondered why our dad just did not buy a high quality rangefinder camera like a Nikon or Leica, instead of lugging around a huge press camera? The 3 x3 Kodak Brownie original(s) photo was cut down to fit into a photo album horizontally. Hence, the look of a full size 8 x 10 format. Photo albums were the big thing and most families had a Brownie camera or two. Digitally, the originals were not able to be re-created in the 3 x 3 format. Too much was lost to the editing program when saved for the modern photo files. The small one was my wife's camera as a little kid-teenager, while the bigger Brownie Camera was their parent's family camera. They are still hanging around after all of these years… gathering dust. These two are from my wife's family. The small one was hers and she says that it was her companion throughout her early years through high school in the OC. The photo of the 1959 Chevy Wagon at the Salton Sea was taken with the big one. A Brownie Hawkeye box camera (Her mom and dad’s) My wife’s own Brownie Holiday box camera. (Both now reside on our granddaughter’s whole wall, living room, book case, alongside of most of our 50’s, 60’s, 70’s LP record collection) Our granddaughter's big wall bookcase + a camera collection + old LP records There would have been more photos in our film collection, but the huge Graflex Camera was just not a point and shoot anywhere camera. You could lug it around, but look like a newspaper photographer and take shots, but then the advance film pack on the back, the bellows focusing per estimated feet, etc all made a photos, not point and shoot. I did take one classic photo of our mom and dad in Yosemite sitting on a short wall with the valley and half dome in the background. I have been searching for it since 1998 when we moved all of the photo albums out of the sold Westside of Long Beach house. My dad set it up and I used the little chrome metal shutter push button cord to take the photo. That was the only great photo I took as the “little kid” photographer. The Graflex Camera was too heavy to lug around. But, as usual, this photo that is missing was a “posed” photo set up. similar family Buick sedan, a first for our dad, a two toned 4 door sedan. On our family vacation to Yosemite and the region, this big old Buick sedan barely made it through the opening of the Wawona tree tunnel. But, was a big comfortable sedan for those long road trips with two boys playing in the back, roomy seat. Note: our parents were not the kind of parents that put up photos of the family all over the house. but, there was one of me sitting in the living room reading a book. I was proud of the photo I had taken of my parents in Yosemite with that huge camera. We had the vacation photo that I took with the big Graflex Camera in Yosemite in a frame sitting on my student desk until we moved.
Hey @jnaki I have always appreciated this particular photograph of Ansel Adams, back when he was shooting large format photography, the very cool Buick station wagon also made a great platform to shoot from. Back when I used to drive my 46 IHC, modified Firetruck, cross country to Oshkosh, for the airshow, I would also use it as a platform to shoot from.
Hey 41, Yes, those cameras were popular for newspaper photographers. When anyone sees a massive news flash from those 50s days, one usually sees a Graflex Camera with a huge chrome flash attached. Those photographers used the big cameras just like the telephoto lens and 35mm full size cameras they used in the 60s and the digital full size units of today. (Fast and easy to use.) But the one thing that was special, those chrome flash attachments used these large bulbs and when it flashed, IT FLASHED! Then there was a button on the chrome tube to eject out the bulb. Before the ecology movement hit the scene, there were those used bulbs laying all over the press photo op area. I used to see how far those bulbs would go across the room. It was like shooting a cork pop gun. 3-4 feet was about the average distance, into a cardboard box. But, they were expensive, so I used the old bulbs my dad collected from the previous day's camera usage. Jnaki Yes, as the years rolled on into the 35mm film camera era, I always noticed the terrific Ansel Adams photographs. Now, talk about posed shots. Who the heck could carry around a massive 8x10 camera to family photo events? Perhaps for a "Quinceanera" celebration. But that camera was the epitome of big negative holders, film and cases. It would be like holding an Amazon delivery medium size box under your arm to lug it around for a candid shot...NOT! Plus, using that black, light tight shade that covered the back of the camera and over your head. Those big box cameras of the press size and Ansel Adam's 8 x 10 were impressive. But, he started with a simple Kodak #1 Box Brownie camera. Then of course he made his photographs famous with the high dollar Hassleblad cameras. YRMV
Thanks J, great read to start the day! I'm the same way when I look at a car in person. To sit in it and wonder who has sit in the same seat, who was the person that bought the car new and the excitement they felt of having a new car. If the car could talk, what kind of stories could it tell. I love these old cars
The Jalopy Journal
