Vintage Jacksonville

Bobbing for apples photographed by beaches photographer Virgil Deane. This wonderful image was one of several hundred loose and un-captioned prints that were given to me after they were saved from the curb awaiting garbage pickup. I wish there were more details that could be shared. Perhaps some of the partiers are still around and could shed a little light on the specifics of the party.

Tags: apples, children, historic photographs, party, vintage photography, virgil deane

As described in a number of previous posts photographer Loyd Sandgren had among his commercial clients Huckins Yacht Corporation and Otis C. Borum Boats, Inc., both Jacksonville headquartered boat builders that served very different segments of the boating market.  Huckins had a history of boat building dating back to the late 1920’s and concentrated on the high end, luxury yacht market.  Borum made beautiful wooden recreational boats in the 1950’s, naming them after popular car models of the day. This particular photograph happens to have one of each company’s watercraft featured together, the only image like it that I have found in the Sandgren collection. Finding details about Borum Boats is challenging as the company is no longer in existence but thanks to the fine folks at Huckins which is still building boats at their facility on the Ortega River and have kept meticulous records on every boat they made, they were able to provide me with information about their boat in this photograph. The Jamboree was built for Inman Brandon who owned five Huckins yachts. This one is a Corinthian 56 model and was the fourth Huckins yacht purchased by Brandon. It was ordered in April of 1962 and delivered in November the same year. It is hull number 369 of the Huckins fleet.

Huckins Yacht Corporation provided the above copy of an advertisement featuring the Jamboree which prompted a search which turned up this slightly earlier Borum Boat ad below.

Tags: 001103, boating, Borum, Borum Boats, historic photography, Huckins, Huckins Yacht Corporation, Inman Brandon, Jamboree, recreation, vintage photograph, water sports, wooden boat, Yacht

“This photo was taken in my studio when I was on 22 East Beaver St.  The girl was a stripper, in fact at that time I did many of those girls.  My reputation as a stripper photographer was well known even as far away as New York.”  LS

Tags: 001019, Beaver Streer, dress, fashion, historic photograph, portrait, stripper, studio, vintage photography, woman

A different angle of the hospital ship Ernest Hinds tied up on a pier on the Northbank of the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville.  You get a good sense of the working waterfront that covered most of Jacksonville’s riverbank up until the 1960’s.  This frame was shot during the 7 month period between 1946 and 1947 that the Ernest Hinds was in Jacksonville serving as a floating isolation ward for patients going through an extended venereal disease treatment protocol. More detailed information about this ship’s visit can be found in this previous post.

Tags: 001088, Ernest Hinds, historic photography, hospital ship, isolation, port, ship, St. Johns River, Venereal Disease, vintage photograph

(Update:  An industrious Vintage Jacksonville fan found a vintage postcard of the Motel Capri which looks like the building in the background of this image with a 1958 postmark. It was located at North Main Street and 38th. Street across from Evergreen Cemetery)

I can’t find any clues to give me the location of Terry’s Kiekhaefer Mercury Outboard Motor dealership.  There are motel signs in the distant background, one looks like it might say Capri but it is hard to tell.  Researching the outboard motor names in the photograph dated this image to the late 1950’s. According to the price tag on the Turbo Four in the center of the photograph it could be purchased for $490.50 cash or $50.50 Down and $22.30 per month.

What I also found when looking for the the engine information was the history of Carl Kiekhaefer, the namesake of the company. Kiekhaefer was trained as an electrical engineer and worked briefly as a draftsman for Evinrude Motors in 1927 before being fired for his temper.  In 1939 he purchased the bankrupt Cedarburg Manufacturing Company which made Thor outboard motors. In 1940 the first Kiekhaefer Mercury outboard motor was introduced.  During WWII civilian demand for his motors wained but the military bought thousands.  His company also produced engines for aerial target drones and chain saws used to clear jungles in the South Pacific.  After the war the civilian market resumed.

Kiekhaefer later got into car racing as a way to promote his boat motor company and is credited with having the first professional NASCAR race team. His team raced on the NASCAR circuit in 1955 and 1956 fielding 5 cars at most races in the 1955 season and had 6 cars in the 1956 Daytona Beach Road Course race. He  His cars were trucked to races rather than being driven there by their drivers. Team members wore uniforms and cars were professionally painted. Over the course of those two years, his drivers won a combined 52 races and won the NASCAR Grand National championship both years.

In 1961 Kiekhaefer Marine merged with the Brunswick Corporation.  Kiekhaefer resigned as president of the company in 1969 and the company changed the name of its outboard motor business to Mercury Marine.

Tags: 000673, boat, Carl Kiekhaefer, historic photography, Kiekhaefer Mercury, Mercury, NASCAR, outboard, vintage photograph

On the factory floor of Borum Boats. The Jacksonville boat builder made wonderful wooden recreational boats starting in 1954 and Loyd Sandgren did much of their photography work, on land and in the water.  According to the information that I have found they started manufacturing their boats in the old Ford Model A factory building on Jacksonville’s Talleyrand waterfront. The building can still be seen below the Mathews Bridge, on a pier sticking out into the St. Johns River.  This appears to be a smaller space than I would expect to see inside that structure but if anyone knows more details, please share them.  There is additional information about the company in this previous post.  (Update: I was contacted by Marty Otis Borum, the son of Otis C. Borum who tells me that this was the plant located at 129 E. 21st. Street. A location that I was previously unaware of.  Thank You Marty.)

Tags: 000668, boat, Borum, historic photograph, Loyd Sandgren, manufacturing, men, sanding, Talleyrand, vintage photography, wooden boat, workers

Bathing suit clad model Eva Sloan posing with a nozzle atop a fireboat. I thought it might be the Roosevelt Blvd. Bridge over the Ortega River in the background but my friend Bill Yates who has lived in Jacksonville most of his life, much of it in the Ortega area, thinks this may be the Blanding Blvd. Bridge over the Cedar River since there does not appear to be a railroad bridge running beside it.  There is not a lot more I can add to this other than Eva Sloan is one of a number of models that appear repeatedly in photographs from Loyd Sandgren’s collection.

Tags: 001000, bridge, Eva Sloan, fireboat, firefighting, historic photography, model, nozzel, Ortega River, swimsuit, vintage photograph

Sadly there is no information on this photograph which appears to be a veteran’s coffin on display in a family’s home. Flowers crowd the small room and “My Buddy” is written on one flower display’s ribbon. Two portraits of the deceased are in view.  One sits atop the 48 star flag that shrouds the coffin. The 48 star American Flag was used from 1912 until 1959 when Alaska became the 49 state.  Another small portrait is on the flower covered piano showing the deceased in his military uniform.

Tags: 007427, American Flag, Flowers, funeral, historic photograph, military, portrait, veteran, vintage photography

“When the Robert Meyer Hotel was built, the G.E. Company sold them all their TVs, the salesman was the center man.”  LS

The Robert Meyer Hotel had its groundbreaking July 9, 1957 in downtown Jacksonville. Opening in 1959 it was claimed to be Florida’s largest commercial hotel with 563 guest rooms to host business travelers and convention business that was never fully realized.  The hotel went bankrupt in 1977, was sold in 1980, renovated and reopened under a new name but closed again in 1982.  The building sat empty until February of 1998 when it was imploded, making way for the new Federal Courthouse that now stands in the footprint of the ill fated hotel.

Tags: convention, delivery, Federal Courthouse, GE, General Electric, historic photography, men, Robert Meyer, Robert Meyer Hotel, sales, salesmen, television, TV, vintage photograph

As a commercial photographer in the 1950’s working in Jacksonville, Loyd Sandgren would shoot pretty much anything that a client was willing to pay for.  As previous posts show he had an eclectic mix of subject matter.  Among the thousands of images in his collection are numerous room interiors used to showcase homes for sale, hotel rooms and interior furnishings in model settings.  I don’t know which market this bedroom interior was intended for but it looks like the polyester bed coverings were all the rage.  Polyester fabric was first introduced to the American public in 1951 by the duPont Company. The company was controlled by Alfred I. duPont who had Jacksonville connections. He and his wife Jesse Ball duPont built their Florida estate here in 1926 which still exists as Epping Forest Yacht & Country Club.

Tags: Alfred I. duPont, bed, bedroom, duPont, Epping Forest, historic photograph, interior, Jesse Ball duPont, polyester, vintage photography