« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 »
June 23, 2008
Lady Earl Stops For Milk
Yesterday I picked up this photo at the market.
I like the image- A flapper leaning in the door of a milk truck while chugging a bottle of milk- but what really cinched it for me was what was written on the back.
The idea of a beautiful flapper from Alabama named Lady Earl pulling into a dairy (named Hicks no less!) in rural Kansas in 1927 (the rest of the photos in the lot had developer's stamps from Dodge City and Elkhart, Kansas) for a bottle of milk after driving for 4 straight days without stopping- what could be better? It's right out of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Now I'm sure she didn't actually drive 100 hours without stopping- a google search on Lady Earl turned up nothing. It's more likely that she drove 100 miles without stopping- probably no small feat on dirt roads with poor suspension- and whoever wrote the caption just made a mistake.
Still whether she drove for 100 hours or 100 miles, today I know something that yesterday I did not: In 1927 Lady Earl from Alabama leaned in the door of a milk truck at Hicks Dairy (with the too small C and upside down S on the sign) while drinking a bottle of milk. I guess that's why I do what I do.
Posted by nick at 01:52 AM | Comments (6)
June 22, 2008
Warning
Posted by nick at 12:32 AM | Comments (1)
June 18, 2008
In the Rockies
Posted by nick at 12:04 AM | Comments (1)
June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day!
Posted by nick at 06:39 PM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2008
Sidney R. Olsen: Recorder of Deeds (California Vacation 1964)
I was looking through some stuff I hadn't looked through in awhile and I came across an envelope that contained a map and a trip log of a 1964 road trip from Riverdale, Il. (a suburb of Chicago) to California and back. I think my favorite thing is that the envelope is from the desk of Sidney R. Olsen, Recorder of Deeds which gives the whole thing a Homeric quality. While the log really doesn't deliver much in way of narrative, it does give great insight into the cost of a vacation in 1964. Not surprisingly, I was struck by how cheap gas was- they spent less than $130.00 on gas for the entire trip! After I adjusted the numbers for inflation, however, it seemed like far less of a bargain- gas was still well over $2.00 a gallon in 2008 dollars and the lower cost of gas was somewhat offset by poorer gas mileage. The two week trip cost them over $2000 in 2008 dollars, 4 days of which they stayed with friends and had no expenses. Unfortunately, I don't know how many people went on the trip (there were at least two) so it's difficult to assess how the amount spent on food and lodging really compares to today's prices. Still, you can certainly see that there's not much of a difference in the purchasing power of the dollar between then and now. To see the entire trip log at full size click here.
Miles Traveled: Approx. 5,379
Gallons Of Gas: 324.5
Average MPG: 16.5
Total Amount Spent On Gasoline: $126.09 ($881.13)
Average Cost Per Gallon: $.39 ($2.73)
Average Amount Spent On Lodging Per Night: $8.00 ($55.91)
Average Amount Spent On Meals Per Day: $8.10 ($56.60)
Total Amount Spent On Trip: $296.44 ($2071.56)
Figures in parentheses are in 2008 dollars as per this inflation calculator.
Posted by nick at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2008
The Four Faces of Steve
Posted by nick at 12:18 AM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2008
Haven of Contentment
Last year I posted a series of slides from a Moose Lodge slide presentation called Haven of Contentment over at Swapatorium. But as she recently moved her site (and you should really check it out if you haven't already) I thought I'd post the series- with enlarged, color-corrected scans- over at Square America. I don't have the tape that would have provided the narration for the series (and I may have taken a liberty or two in editing the series) but I can't imagine what narrative spin they could give these truly Lynch-ian slides that would warrant the title Haven of Contentment. To see the whole series click here.
Posted by nick at 03:58 PM | Comments (1)
June 11, 2008
On Animal Locomotion (After Muybridge)
I recently picked up a small lot of horse jumping photos that had a couple of nice Muybridge-like sequences. To see the entire lot click here.
Posted by nick at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
June 05, 2008
Accidental Abstraction
I just added a small new show over at Square America. It's called On the Beauty of Absence, thirteen pages from a small album I recently picked up in which almost all of the photos had either fallen out or been removed. Here are a couple of pages.
Posted by nick at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)