WordPress is strange; I realized I had gotten the date wrong on this photo in my previous effort; I could update the post, but the URL stayed the same and included the wrong date, so I had to trash the original post and start again.
This photo was colorized by redditor /u/kibblenbits, one of the best colorizers out there. I love historical photos of New York – this one would have been taken 4 years before my father was born.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Not much commentary is needed here.
1904
1957
2015 (Spring Break)
Saw this image float by in a collection of so-called “rare photographs,” and wondered about the back story.
The Internet, of course, has its own answer for everything:
But that’s not the real story.
The photo is from the back of Johnny’s album, “Strawberry Cake,” accompanied by this text:
“On a hot summer afternoon in New York City, June and I walked through the zoo in Central Park. It was a hot dog and ice cream day. The place was crowed and giving up on the Hassle of working our way through the crowd, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert that night at the Garden State Art Center. As we approached the hotel, I saw a bum lying on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. He never even opened his eyes when I stood over him, June said, “Come On Honey” But I said “just a minute” I walked around him, hoping he wasn’t dead. My shadow fell across him and when I moved on, I saw his eyes flutter as the bright sunlight hit his face. He didn’t open his eyes, but I knew he wasn’t dead. “What are you doing?” June asked “I’m thinking about my friend here, “I said” “that could be me, you know” June came over closer and smiled at me. “That was you a couple of times.” Then she said again, “Come on lets go” The rest of the story is in the song. I became that man. I put myself in his place and my mind, he finally won. I wish I knew who he is, and where he is. I’d send him a piece of Strawberry Cake.”
Below you can watch a Dinah Shore episode from 1975 where Johnny describes the origins of the song and sings it for your listening pleasure:
Lyrics:
In New York city just walking the street
Ran out of money had nothing to eat
I stopped at the Plaza, that fancy hotel
Where you can check in if you’re well to do well…
The first of July and a hundred and four
I stopped at the Plaza’s front revolving door
I stepped in the door and went around for a ride
Treatin’ myself to the cool air inside
Then I found myself in a chandeliered room
Where people were dining and I hid in the gloom
My hunger pains hurt ’til I thought I would break
When a waiter brought out a big strawberry cakeOh that strawberry cake
Oh that strawberry cake
Out in California them berries were grown
And into this city them berries were flown
For making that strawberry cakeThen I thought of Oxnard, just north of LA
Where I picked strawberries for many a day
Hard work with no future for the harvest was done
And I headed eastward a-travelin’ by thumb
And nobody wanted me here in this town
I felt like a stray dog they all kick around
Them berries reminded me of my bad breaks
I’m hungry and I want that strawberry cakeI deserve that strawberry cake
Deserve that strawberry cake
I ran and I grabbed it then out the side door
Into Central Park through the bushes I tore
Holdin’ my strawberry cakeI look back behind me and what do I see
The chef and headwaiter and the maître d
I had a nice helpin’ of cake as I ran
I gobble them berries as fast as I can
They’re closin’ the gap as I slowed down to eat
But the cake brought a new surge of power to my feet
I hid in the bush when the lead I did take
And I quietly finished my strawberry cakeI ate all that strawberry cake
That fine fancy strawberry cake
Someone at the plaza is without dessert
But for the first time in days now my belly don’t hurt
I’m full of strawberry cake
The rest of the text on the album reads as follows:
“By your possession of this album, you can consider yourself having been present twenty years ago in 1955. At the start of a career and it sound at Sun Records Studio in Memphis Tennessee, as Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two cut their first record to a recently as September 1975. When Johnny Cash presented at London England’s Palladium his Johnny Cash Concert. From the standpoint of “Sound” to have been present at one would be the same as having attended the other. Times change, tastes change, and in order to conform some artists must change. Johnny Cash changed in keeping with the times; but as it turned out, not keeping with tastes. Many opinions were expressed to John and me, as to what should be done for the sake of conformity. Innovations were tried new arrangements, different material, engineering “gimmicks” but fortunately one item defied change. Through it all the voice and style remained constant and identifiable in some cases, nevertheless still there. If any change is perceptible in today’s recordings, as compared to those of twenty years ago, that change is of time as related to maturity of voice. This album, then, brings us around full circle. Back to the start of a career and sound. To point from which a digression was never needed. Here is what you have demanded. The basic honest, up-front Johnny Cash …. Better than ever.”
While I’ve never been the most devoted country fan – I’ve always preferred bluegrass – Johnny Cash stands out as a notable exception in my own playlists. He was a complex individual, one who was described as a “lens through which to view American contradictions and challenges.” (Miller, Stephen, Johnny Cash: The Life of an American Icon).
Johnny’s music and his life and his relationship with his beloved wife June were sufficient to make him a larger-than-life figure who earned an indelible place in musical history. I’m glad I got to live in his era, and regret only that I never got to see him perform live in concert. His likes will not be there again.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Saw this photo over at reddit and it really pulled at my heartstrings.
The oldest of the children in this photo by Dorothea Lange takes care of the others in her migrant family, most likely while the father is working in the fields. She is stunningly beautiful, but carries a heavy and unwanted load on her young shoulders.
Another image of the middle child, wearing a sack dress.
“Youngest little girl of motherless family.” Toppenish in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. August 1939. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. Seen at Shorpy.
Poverty of this nature still exists in our country, let alone the rest of the world, but these images are a stark reminder of a very difficult time for our nation.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Karma. Everyone wants good Karma.
Over at reddit, it’s measured in orangered or periwinkle (props to the author of this gif, whoever you are):
In other locations, one doesn’t accrue upvotes and downvotes, but there is still a certain intangible karma that people collect for creating / sharing “cool” images, so we often see things like this:
or this:
The two images above are almost certainly photoshopped, and I’ve seen them in my inbox more times than I can count. Not that they’re not really cute, but on occasion nature can one-up the photoshoppers.
AP Photo
In December of 2008, a beautiful conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and a crescent moon created a lovely “smile” in the night sky, although depending on where you were in the world, it probably didn’t appear straight-up like this.
More recently, however, the Hubble telescope captured a lovely smiley face created by gravitational lensing:
You can read the science behind the capture at spacetelescope.org.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
The above image (click it to enlarge) was created by AndreaMosaic, a free software program that allows one to create the kind of photomosaics invented by Robert Silvers. I’m not sure what the legal ramifications of all this is, but I love the result.
This was the original picture I used to create the mosaic:
This painting is one of two created for the Warner Brothers show “Cheyenne;” the episode was “Road to Three Graves.”
Both painted on rice paper and in a balsa wood frame, one was crashed into during the filming; the other survived in his possession and it came to me when he passed on. Joe was a long-time visitor of the Eldred Center in Provo, Utah, where he had many friends; after his death, I donated the picture to the center where it hung by the office. I once took my wife there and showed it to her, because I was quite pleased they remembered him with such fondness.
In a sweet and romantic gesture, she later arranged to go back to the center and re-purchase it for me as a gift, a deed which brought tears to my eyes; it now hangs over our mantel during the month of June, representative of both Father’s Day and our shared birthday. A couple of years ago the old Eldred Center was demolished and moved to a new recreation center; heaven only knows what would have happened to the portrait had my beloved not rescued it. Perhaps it would have gone to the new location, perhaps not. In 2013, close to 25 years would have passed since Joe’s death, and few seniors of today would remember him; whatever the case, I am most grateful to have this treasured painting back in my possession,
The mosaic, by the way, is composed of multiple images from my father’s career, as well as his sculptures.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. But during WW 1 and WW 2, Tuesday was a day of rationing. I originally thought this sign had something to do with Thimble Theatre, but it turns out it has more to do with the European and Pacific theaters.
During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for every Tuesday to be meatless and for one meatless meal to be observed every day, for a total of nine meatless meals each week. The United States Food Administration (USFA) urged families to reduce consumption of key staples to help the war effort. Conserving food would support U.S. troops as well as feed populations in Europe where food production and distribution had been disrupted by war. To encourage voluntary rationing, the USFA created the slogan “Food Will Win the War” and coined the terms “Meatless Tuesday” and “Wheatless Wednesday” to remind Americans to reduce intake of those products.
Herbert Hoover was the head of the Food Administration as well as the American Relief Association during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, and played a key role implementing the campaign, which was one of Hoover’s many attempts to encourage volunteerism and sacrifice among Americans during the war. The USFA provided a wide variety of materials in addition to advertising, including recipe books and menus found in magazines, newspapers and government-sponsored pamphlets.
The campaign returned with the onset of World War II, calling upon women on the home front to play a role in supporting the war effort. During this time, meat was being rationed, along with other commodities like sugar and gasoline.
This particular photo seems to have been taken in New York, where Nedicks was a big chain.
It does not escape me that the waitress is offering you a hot dog on meatless Tuesday. John Godfrey Saxe once said, “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” Which reminds me of the old joke about a customer who returned some hot dogs to his butcher, complaining that the middle section was filled with sawdust. The butcher replied, “Times are tough. It’s hard enough making both ends meat…”
The Old Wolf has spoken.
For a child, a trip to the General Store was a treat. For adults, it was getting the necessities.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1947
There is much that is both sad and beautiful about this photograph. I felt it worth sharing.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Not Mickey D’s, this was long before that concern was a gleam in Ray Kroc’s eye.
Had to make a few edits when I found some updated information about the first photo.
“Eat in Car” early drive-in at Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, California 1935. Photo by John Gutmann. The location looks a bit different than the two earlier photos below. This may have been after a remodel.
McDonnel’s at night, circa 1931.
The staff waits for customers, 1931.
Here is a link to a current view o the location on Google Maps.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Playing in the World Game 