Gurley St., Prescott
Downtown Phoenix
Chandler
Shopping Center, Tempe
Hotel Westward, Phoenix
Downtown Mesa
Black Canyon Highway T-79 at Verde Valley
Chandler
Vintage Postcards: Arizona In The 1950s
– Posted on July 19, 2024
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Curbside Classics Archives
I lived in Tempe for 4 years in college, trying to imagine where this shopping center is cause it’s likely still there. Probably on the north end as the south was all farmland in the 1950s. Wild seeing that Model A among all the contemporary cars!
That Jaguar XK120 in the Chandler photo is amazing!
The “1930ish”, black car in the center of the pic kind a steals the scene.
The shopping center in Tempe was named Tempe Center located at Mill Avenue and University. The shopping center has been demolished and largely taken over by Arizona State University. I also attended college there in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
Cool! Good to know!
Those W.T. Grant stores were everywhere, until one day they weren’t.
Second Photo: Far Left Side
There were plenty of Tom McAm shoes stores as well.
Eventually faded in the 70’s.
Would be interesting to see a shot or two of Tucson although I found some when I went looking. In visiting friends living in Phoenix, back in the very early 70’s, I seemed to get the impression from some that Tucson was not on par with Phoenix. Pictures below say not so to me. I guess it flies under the radar to those out of state and when asked to name a city in Arizona it is almost always Phoenix.
https://tucson.com/news/local/a-look-at-what-life-was-like-in-tucson-in-the-1950s/collection_c34f395e-577e-11e7-bb57-fbb43e3ef96b.html#1
I met a guy from Tucson a few years ago. His perspective was that if Phoenix was the LA of Arizona, Tucson was the San Francisco. Eclectic, diverse, smaller. He loved it. I have briefly visited both, and my biggest takeaways were sprawl and heat, even though it wasn’t summer. Now Prescott, away from their Valley sprawl, is pretty nice. Flagstaff even nicer. I can’t imagine any of those places in the pre-AC era, even with a white roof.
A local politician once described Tucson as the “Venice Beach” of Arizona. I have lived in both, and Dman’s friend is pretty accurate.
A friend of mine lived in Prescott for a couple of years and that first shot brought back memories of seeing the Elk on top of the building. According to Google Street View it was still there as of Apr. The other interesting thing is that the Hassayampa Motel’s sign is still there, though now it reads Inn instead of motel. The side of the bank building is also still being used for advertizing, though for more than a decade it has been hawking Real Estate and it wasn’t until 2018 that they finally decided to stop painting the brick and hang a sign over the painted area.
An ideal market for two tone cars with white roofs.
Th Hassayampa sign says “Hotel” and not “Motel”. They would be sorely offended if you had ever called it a motel. Yes, it goes by “Inn” now. That view from Gurley is largely the same today.
As a native Phoenician I would agree that Tucson is not on a par with Phoenix. Phoenix historically was far more pro-growth than Tucson and is more than twice as populous today as a result. Whether you think that is good or bad depends on your perspective but it never occurred to me to compare Tucson to San Francisco. Phoenix to LA, yes.
Way more than twice the size: Tucson metro population is 1 million; Phoenix 5 million.
SF (city) and Tucson (city) are not far apart, population wise: 800k to 550k.
Yes Hotel not sure why Motel came out.
Two 1955 Olds 98’s:
1. Top photo, facing us.
2. 2nd to last photo.
What’s so great?
Was dads car, until replaced by a ’63 98. 😎
The Hotel Westward Ho looking quite run down in this photo; surprised to learn it’s still there, though it was converted from a hotel into a elderly care home in 1980. It wasn’t until then that central A/C was installed.
The Westeard Ho must have been fancy. There’s a ’58 Continental Mark III, and a ’58 Cadillac and a ’59 Pontiac, plus others out front. Or is that Cadillac a ’57?
Wow ~ these photos make me nostalgic for the times that never really were .
A few decades ago I dated a rich woman who lived in Scottsdale and worked in Phoenix .
-Nate
Top Photo:
The movie house with the elk on top. The bill board reads “The Lieutenant Wore Skirts” which was released in January 1956 with Tom Ewell who was great at dead pan comedy. You’ll recognize his as he also played in the “The Seven Year Itch” with Marilyn Monroe a year earlier.
Wonderful photos. That Lincoln Premiere outside the Hotel Westward Ho is overloaded.
The bias toward Phoenix and its suburbs (in this case Chandler, Mesa, Tempe; there are lots more today) is strange to me, a lifelong Tucsonan. The 1950s was a period of huge growth for Tucson’s population in 1950 was around 55,000; by 1960, the population was 213,000. Some of that was due to aggressive annexation, but there were a LOT of people moving to Tucson. It’s worth remembering, too, that Tucson for a time was the territorial capital, as was Prescott. (A historical note: Tucson is the home of Arizona’s first university, the University of Arizona, dating back to 1885. Arizona State University in Tempe didn’t become a university until the late 1950s.)
In some ways, we think of Phoenix and its suburbs and sprawl as the blob that ate Arizona. In our frequent journeys to Prescott to visit family there, there’s just no good way to get there without having to go through Phoenix.
Another city left out of this postcard survey is Flagstaff, Arizona’s third-largest city and home of one of three state universities.
The picture with the Jaguar with Lulu Belles says Chandler but it’s actually Downtown Scottsdale. Next to it was a Texaco station and close by was a Hobo Joes. Across the street is Sugar Bowl, wich is still there.
Vintage truck and trailer (portion of) at the Northern end of Highway 61 at the corner of Kingsway Ave and Arthur St. Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada some time in the 60s.
Vintage station wagen (portion of) at the Northern end of Highway 61 at the corner of Kingsway Ave and Arthur St. Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada some time in the 60s.
We went to Drag Boat Races in Chandler, Saturday Night we were looking for a Local Car Show & found it in Scottsdale. From what I understand that show was just starting back then, now it’s a Huge Show. Would like to see it now. When I was a kid we went to Arizona once & awhile, I Like it. My Niece lives north of Phoenix now.
Wow! Look at that first photo……a RAINBOW! In Arizona! That’s definitely something we will never see again after 75 years of global warming and climate change that has left the American Southwest a barren desert wasteland bereft of even a fraction of it’s natural freshwater supply. One can take comfort knowing that all those rare vintage automobiles will be preserved free of any even the slightest bit of oxidation.in a moisture-free environment,
Hated everyday of life in Tucson. Left there 42 years ago and never returned.