A sense of serene activity. That’s the feel I get from this rather different series of vintage postcards from the ’50s and ’60s. The dark and blue hues of the night, along with the life of the lights and moving cars, make this gallery more evocative than many of our previous ones.
I won’t deny this particular post has some of my favorite images. But that’s no mystery to me; I just love the night. So, if you feel like me and love the world after sundown, these old postcards should bring pleasant viewing.
Our lede image is in Rockford, IL.
Chinatown, Chicago, IL.
Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood, CA.
Summit St., Toledo, OH.
San Antonio St., El Paso, TX.
Medford, OR.
Minnesota Ave., Kansas City.
State St., Weiser, ID.
East Second St., The Dalles, OR.
#1 may be New Orleans, but not Canal St. It is much wider (was originally laid out for a canal that was never built) & has a trolley line running down the center.
Dave
No way photo no. 1 is New Orleans. He says Chicago and that seems correct.
The OSCO Drug store told me it was Chicago. A native brand there.
The first photo is of downtown Rockford, IL (as mentioned in the text).
My apologies, that image was earlier mislabeled by dumb copy paste error. It’s updated now.
Who knew there was a place in “OR”, called “The Dallas”?? Interesting little “factoid”.
It’s actually the Dalles, on the Columbia River.
Although it’s anglicized in pronunciation as “the dalz”, rhyming with pals, its origin is a French word referring to the rapids in the Columbia River over rock slabs in the gorge.
On a television show about the Rajneeshee bioterror attack, the narrator pronounced it “The Daylies.”
The crime was the deliberate contamination of salad bars at ten local restaurants in The Dalles with Salmonella by prominent followers of Rajneesh (1931-1990), an Indian godman and alleged philosopher/mystic . Seeking political power and fearful that they would not get enough votes, some Rajneeshpuram officials decided to incapacitate voters in The Dalles.
Nice ! .
So many memories are brought forth from these .
I miss the REXALL drug stores .
-Nate
The one in my hometown was “Davy & Hilliard, Rexall Drug Store”. Think it closed when I was in grade school.
That first postcard is of Chicago.
Osco?
Carson Pirie Scott?
Fanny May candy?
Church street?
CHICAGO
Tiedtke’s in Toledo has the best commercial jingle in history. I used to hear it all the time when I lived in Bowling Green.
I guess that Tiedtke’s for a department store is as fascinating as calling a mountain range The Grand Tetons. I love the ’51 or ’52 Plymouth on one side of the street and the ’53 or ’54 Dodge parallel to it on the opposite side of the street. Thanks for all the photos.
The lede photo is of Rockford, IL, which is well northwest of Chicago. The Hotel Faust and Rockford Dry Lounge are the clues for that. Plus, I found the photo thru Google, and it says Rockford. Inexplicably, it also says Chicago, so the confusion is understandable.
The presence of “Rockford Dry Goods” in the first pic suggests Rockford, Illinois, no? The Carson Pirie Scott is not the famous anchor store on Michigan Ave. in Chicago, and Church Street is one of the main drags in Rockford.
yes – that is a good deduction
Granville St., Vancouver BC, circa 1960.
I’ve driven “through” Medford and the Dalles, Oregon, countless times. But only on the Interstate (5 and 84 respectivel) or at most right next to the freeway for a gas stop. These photo’s remind me to check out the towns next time.
Dalles doesn’t look much different today
I recognized the Rockford intersection immediately. It is at West State Street and Church and looking east, across the Rock River toward the Faust Hotel.
When this photo was taken I was regularly riding the city bus downtown on Saturdays to make my tour of the car dealerships. I was in Rockford last week. There are no dealerships downtown; there are very few businesses downtown and this is an intersection where it would be very ill advised to go on any night.
The first photo is State Street, looking north toward Lake Street, Chicago, IL.
As I’ve said here before, I was born and raised in Southern California (Newport Beach). I have been around the Capital Records building neighborhood so many times.
I was a social worker in Chicago for 4 years (78-82). Learned my way around the city pretty well, most of it was relatively safe. I even drove Lower Wacker Drive like the Blues Brothers and saw the unfortunate mall they destroyed (it had been a real mall at one time called Dixie Square but had fallen into disuse so was used by the film studio and was left to decay).
Thanks for posting the pictures.
Weiser ID. My home town. Never thought in a million years that would ever come up. Thank you. The pic is looking south on State St at the intersection of W. Main St.
I stayed at the Paseo del Norte in El Paso recently (seen in the background of that post card) to attend the Texas Society of Architects convention. Of course, it has been updated and having air conditioning is a given now. The hotel was very clean, comfortable, and slightly upscale. It is also convenient to the conventions center. Nice images all around. I too like the night.
Oh those city lights! I was age 9, it was 1960, San Francisco. Mom was recently divorced and her boyfriend was Tony, a hot looking Italian with a new 1960 Chevy convertible, white with red interior. Tony had the best “Doris Day” apartment with views of the Golden Gate. How the city lights sparkled. Tony would fly us to Vegas in his plane every other weekend. Oh the nighttime lights in Vegas! No wonder I later became an Interior Designer designing resort & casino hotels.
I was hooked on city lights.
My first apt was in Miami, early 70s, orange shag carpet and white furniture, a studio apt. on the 20th floor. Beautiful views. Late 1970s, boyfriend had a NYC penthouse on Sutton Place with a terrace overlooking the bridge. I would sit on the terrace at night drinking a ‘white Russian’ and look at the twinkly city lights. Much later, when I lived in Ottawa, Ontario, I had an apartment on the 19th floor with views for miles and I could see the Parliament.
I am always going to love night time city lights Today I live in a forested neighborhood, love the nature and looking at stars. Best time now is when I drive my T-Bird conv. at night, top down, stars above.
Wonderful pictures being back great memories. Downtowns thrived before malls ruined them. Happy I grew in those eras, wish we had them now.