History Adventuring

I really have no idea why nighttime photos of the rain make me feel sad. This image, which is from the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) is of Pearl street looking south towards Hamilton in Albany, New York, and it was simply taken because the Coca-Cola company needed to know that their billboard there was up, and visible. But sometimes you're sad, and when I feel this way, like I feel now, I let it flow all over me, like an old song that I remember from way back when. It's a bittersweet feeling, and the last thing I want is someone jumping up and down in front of me saying stuff like, "Cheer up! It could be worse!" Yeah, I know, it could be raining. And in my imagination, it is, in Albany, New York in 1939, on Pearl Street. Let's go stand in it, I don't care if people think we're crazy. Maybe we are, but just for now. We'll be fine later, I promise. Neon signs flashin', Taxicabs and buses passin' through ...

When I stumbled on this billboard, which is on the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions), I immediately thought of my top history adventurer, who has a particular horror of matching his-and-hers outfits. I really have no idea what he wears on a daily basis, but my best guess is that it's very casual, the way that I used to see the millionaires at the classic cars shows would dress - no need to impress anyone, and they would write checks for a million bucks to buy a car. Speaking for myself, while I've never had any objections to following the suggestions of the Women in My Life, I've been fortunate that I've never even been asked to wear matching his-and-hers outfits. The Women in my life have understood that I'm a Man, not a Ken Doll. Anyway, my point here is that I emailed this to my friend as a joke, instead of asking him to help identify the exact location, which he does for me. And to my surprise, he did identify the exact loc...

I'm not really a video games kinda guy, but back in 1986 I spent a lot of time playing Roadblasters, and I learned very quickly to start in Bubble City, which was level 12. It became an important life lesson for me in a way that I've been able to use all of my life. I'll see if I can explain. No, this blog post isn't about video games, it's about life. My life changed dramatic when I was 28, had recently moved to Los Angeles, and got a new job that was going to require me to do something that was very new at the time: desktop publishing. Nowadays, of course it's a given that graphic designers work on computers, but back then it was still a radical idea, and one that I wanted to embrace. Luckily, I've always been an abstract thinker, and it occurred to me that I would have go from using a drawing board (yes, I'm that old!) to using a computer screen, which I'd never done before. The only people who had used computers were the old-school computer nerds...

Something that I've always enjoyed doing is picturing old people back when they were young. I mean, everyone used to be young, right? No one is born old, although there seems to be people who seem to be that way. As I drift into my sixties (much older than I'd ever expected living), I still enjoy trying to picture the people that I meet at different ages. I can picture them younger, or older. I talked to a young woman at the QT yesterday who told me that she was having a baby, and I got to thinking how surprised and pleased her children, and grandchildren would be if they could have seen her back then, when she was young, if you follow me. This takes a bit of imagination, but if you have some, you can do it too. Now calm down there, this isn't a judgement as to whether people are better older and wiser or younger and more foolish (although I guess you can read in a bit of it as I write this). I appreciate the wisdom that I've acquired over the years, but I still remembe...

Time-travel with me, and let's go to Phil's Fruit and Vegetable Market, which was at 51st Street and McDowell, in Phoenix, Arizona. This photo is from the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) because they're interested in studying advertising, but I'm just interested in looking around. Come on! The first thing my eye goes to are the cars, especially that sweet little MGA there! Looks like the station wagon back there is a Dodge, and there are a lot of great old cars there, some from the 1950s. That's a Chrysler Imperial there. I wonder who owns it, the guy walking there? Or maybe he owns the MG? I wasn't in Phoenix back then, I got there in 1977, and I remember that there were still lots of places like this. In fact, in Glendale, where I live now, there were fresh fruit stands next to farms right up through the '90s. I loved to stop at them and look around, and I usually bought oranges. I remember the wonderful smell of th...

Time-travel with me to the San Fernando Valley in 1987. This isn't an imaginary journey, I actually lived there then, in a, ahem, "less than fashionable" suburb called Canoga Park. The main street through the Valley is Ventura Boulevard, which was named that way because it was the road from Los Angeles to Ventura, which is just north. I used to drive up there, and go visit Santa Barbara, where I lived from 1983 to 1987, because I had favorite restaurants that the locals introduced me to. In the Valley (by the way, the San Fernando Valley is simply referred to as "valley", in spite of there being a lot of valleys in the greater Los Angeles area, it's where "Valley Girls" came from who said things like "gag me with a spoon!") I really didn't know anyone, and I was on my own. One Saturday morning, after sleeping in late, I decided that I would just take a drive down Ventura Boulevard (this time going south) and see if I could find a nice...

This ad, which I just found on the Duke University site "Ad Access" (which has a lot of cool old ads) gives me a point of view that I, as an American, really don't have. I love to see different point of views, which I call "looking through someone else's eyes", and today I'm going to sail across the Atlantic from Canada on board the White Empress. Since the man in the drawing looks like me (blue eyes and all), I'll be the captain. I don't have the hat, or the uniform, or the cleft chin, and my hair isn't quite so white yet, but this is an imaginary adventure, anyway. I've got my binoculars, and since it's 1947, that's really all I need, and my sea charts, and my instinct. We're sailing for Liverpool! Let's start at Ottawa, go up the St. Lawrence Seaway, past Montreal and Quebec, Nova Scotia, and we're on our way across the Atlantic. I wonder how they're doing down south there, in New York, or Washington? A couple o...

Let's time-travel to 1922 and go to Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. This photo is from the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) because they study historic advertising. I just like to time-travel, so come on!  Like most people who've never been to Coney Island, the only things I know about it are from movies. I distinctly remember one of the Three Stooges calling himself "Coney Island Curly"! So please bear with me, I'm no expert. In fact, I had my number one history adventuring expert (who prefers to remain anonymous) identify this area exactly, and it's kind of interesting. I'll see if I can explain. We're looking west on Surf Avenue towards 16th Street (that's the intersection back there). For those of you who are familiar with this area nowadays we're just east of the baseball field. This used to be the edge of Steeplechase Park. If you look very closely, you can see a sign that says "Kensington...

This photo of a billboard on the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) caught my eye, because I really hadn't heard the term "Physical Culture" before. And now I'm thinking about physical fitness, especially as it pertains to women. If you're already snickering, or giggling, I'm sorry, I've lost you. If you aren't, and understand that both men and women can be interested in physical fitness (or physical culture, as it says on the billboard), you'll see what I'm talking about. Speaking for myself, I've always been an active and athletic man, and to me having intelligence isn't mutually exclusive with that. I've been fortunate enough to know a lot of wonderful women in my life who have enjoyed having a fit body, intelligence, and of course having stylish shoes. I'm no expert on women's shoes, but from what I've seen the more stylish a woman's shoe is, the less it works with physical f...

My first thought when I stumbled onto this picture on the Duke University site was that it would be a terrible place to wait for the bus. It's Phoenix, Arizona in the 1960s, specifically 19th Avenue at Cinnabar, in the Sunnyslope area. If you've never been there I'm glad for you, because it really is a terrible place to be. I'll see if I can explain, and if you'd rather just look away, I'll understand. Like most of the people I've ever known, I've been lucky. I've never been rich or famous (not that I ever wanted to be), but life has been kind to me. I managed to escape things that often draw people into desperate situations, including, but not limited to, addiction, and I always had a car. I may have ridden the bus in Phoenix, but only to get back home after dropping off my car for repairs, minor stuff. I never lived in Sunnyslope, but I drove through there quite often back in the '90s to visit my girlfriend who lived just beyond it, in the foot...

Walk with me. Today we will be visiting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1923. Specifically, Broad Street. The address on the photo is 1900 N. Broad, but I looked at Google street view and didn't see anything that I recognized. I'm not familiar with Philadelphia, so if you can tell which way this photo is looking I'd appreciate it. But it really doesn't matter to me, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just walking. I've always loved to walk and think, and sometimes I just walk. By the way, in case you're wondering, I found this photo on the Duke University site. Their interest is history, mine is just walking. It's March in Philly, so it's still cold. I'm going to pull my collar up. There are cars going by, but I really don't hear them. Luckily, traffic is light, so I can cross the street anytime I want to. But for now I'm just walking, listening to the sound of the wind in my ears. Everyone seems to have a place to go, something to do. There a...