Then and Now

[conor912]

I picked up this postcard a while back and have been meaning to go see the current location for a while. Google Earth has made it easier than ever. The red brick building (second in on the right) had the ad on it. You can even see the jut at the top.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.602227,-122.33243,3a,75y,335.5h,97.84t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1slFiFoD9UkMCGj3MhcsIm2w!2e0

Has anyone else gone back to see the site where one of your photo/PC/cards was taken?

[novakjr]

Not after the fact.. BUT after I got married, I wound up picking up a few older postcards of the church, and old inn where we had the reception.

For a while there I started picking up older postcards of a lot of current and formerly notable places in my area.. Always thought they might look pretty cool framed, just haven't gotten around to it yet.. Sure I've been to most of the places at some point after my purchases, but never really paid much attention to comparisons..

[Bicem]

Like that pc, I work right by 2nd and James.

I've gone to Carl Horner's old photo studio on Winter St in Boston, think it was a dry cleaners now if I recall correctly.

[z28jd]

I did it in my hometown, Kearny NJ. I saw a postcard on ebay from 1908 and a couple weeks later I was in the same spot, so I took a picture.

[MyGuyTy]

Very cool thread idea, gonna love seeing these...

[bnorth]

Old post cards are also one of my addictions. Here are 4 from were I live. I have at least 1000 ranging from the early 20's to the 50's. My favorites are of places in towns similar to the ones pictured. Strangely I have no BB player Post cards. Now I will have to look for tobacco advertising in the ones I have. The only remaining thing is the building in the top left PC.

[JollyElm]

I picked up this postcard a while back and have been meaning to go see the current location for a while. Google Earth has made it easier than ever. The red brick building (second in on the right) had the ad on it. You can even see the jut at the top.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.602227,-122.33243,3a,75y,335.5h,97.84t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1slFiFoD9UkMCGj3MhcsIm2w!2e0

Has anyone else gone back to see the site where one of your photo/PC/cards was taken?

I wonder if an ancestor of the chubby guy/gal (waiting to cross the street on the left) is in the original post card photograph.

[ErikV]

About a month ago I went to Brea, CA and stopped by the area where Babe Ruth
and Walter Johnson played a barnstorming game on October 31,1924. The
old Brea Bowl is long gone now, replaced with residential track housing. The
following YouTube video is about 4:00 minutes long and provides a pretty
good background of the Brea Bowl and the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AcNacjVuD8

The following photos and flyer are the "Then and Now," 90 years difference.
Note the same hill formation in the background. The residential photo is
approximately where the old home plate used to be.

ErikV

[7nohitter]

Erik-

Great video-I love stories like that, about 'bygone' and forgotten times.

[Runscott]

I picked up this postcard a while back and have been meaning to go see the current location for a while. Google Earth has made it easier than ever. The red brick building (second in on the right) had the ad on it. You can even see the jut at the top.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.602227,-122.33243,3a,75y,335.5h,97.84t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1slFiFoD9UkMCGj3MhcsIm2w!2e0

Has anyone else gone back to see the site where one of your photo/PC/cards was taken?

Conor, I have used old photos of that same exact location, to help identify where Edward Curtis' studio was. It was in the Alaska building on the first floor. A lot of history in that area - it was on the outside edge of the great fire back in the late 1800's. I wrote an article about it, but haven't published it yet - kinda very, very esoteric :)

[prewarsports]

Scott

I just got through reading a biography (mostly a photographic coffee table book with an extensive biography) on Edward Curtis yesterday. What a crazy and interesting life that guy lived. Had there been Dos Equis Beer in 1910 (and television) HE might have been "The Most Interesting Man in the Universe"

Rhys

[Runscott]

Scott

I just got through reading a biography (mostly a photographic coffee table book with an extensive biography) on Edward Curtis yesterday. What a crazy and interesting life that guy lived. Had there been Dos Equis Beer in 1910 (and television) HE might have been "The Most Interesting Man in the Universe"

Rhys

Rhys, you should read the recent book by Egan "Shadow Catcher" - he does an amazing job of 'filling in the gaps' between historical facts, to make fact seem almost like historical fiction - I know Curtis' life very well and have a pretty extensive collection of items related to his work, and Egan's book still amazed me. Egan immerses himself in his subjects and has a team of dedicated researchers - the places he looked for 'new' historical material to write his book, were mind-boggling.

Basically, I'm suggesting you get the book :) I plan on putting my Curtis collection up on a new website soon, along with my articles on him, but it's sort of low on my huge list of to-do websites.

[conor912]

Cool stories, guys. Thanks, Scott, for the into to Curtis.....seems like a fascinating local guy.