Vintage Jacksonville

This is another of photographer Virgil Deane’s images showing a classroom at one of the schools at Jacksonville’s beaches in what appears to be a warmer than usual day judging by the open jalousie windows and the relaxed dress code.  None of the photographs I have of Virgil Deane’s work have any caption information so if you can help identify the school or any of the people in the photograph please share the information and I will update the post accordingly.

Tags: boys, classroom, dress code, girls, historic photograph, hot, school, summer, vintage photography, virgil deane

One of Loyd Sandgren’s business cards from the 1950’s. He made these himself and printed them on photographic paper.  The high angle view of Hemming Plaza shows it when it had a bandshell. The Tourist and Convention office was housed there and there was a billboard in the corner of the park.  The photo may well have been taken at the same time as he shot this wider view of the same scene. The 22 E. Beaver Street is the address of one of a number of studios that Loyd Sandgren worked from around downtown Jacksonville at different times in his career.  The Loyd Sandgren Photographers reference interests me since I know of no time that he had other photographers working with or for him.

Tags: business card, downtown, Hemming Park, Hemming Plaza, historic photography, St. James Building, vintage photograph, Western Union

“1946. This was taken in Lakeland, Florida.  This was the first frozen orange juice for the commercial market.  At that time people were very afraid of this.  It took some time before the public accepted it.”   LS

During World War II there was a demand for processed fruit so research funded by the Florida Citrus Commission in 1943 led to the development of frozen concentrate.  A patent was awarded to research scientists from the commission which was assigned to the United States and the technology was made available “for the free use of the citrus industry.”  The cans are marked ‘Packed by Florida Frozen Fruits, Inc., Haines City, Florida’.  According to a display of citrus history in the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee, FL frozen concentrate was first advertised in 1946, the same year that this photograph was taken by Loyd Sandgren while he was working for the Florida State Advertising Commission.

Tags: Florida, Florida Citrus Commission, Florida Frozen Fruits, frozen, Frozen Orange Juice, Haines City, historic photography, Orange Juice, vintage photograph

Bodybuilder Gene Hill inspects the bicep of WMBR Radio personality Tommy Tucker during a bodybuilding competition at the old bandshell at Jacksonville Beach in the early 1960’s. You can tell by the cigarette in Tucker’s hand that the event was all about healthy living.

Tags: bodybuilding, cigarette, competition, Gene Hill, historic photograph, jacksonville beach, pavilion, Tommy Tucker, trophy, vintage photography, WMBR

“Here is the Jacksonville Zoo as it looked in the 50’s.  It had a small dock and a little train and a few other rides (it also had some animals).”  LS

The river approach to the Jacksonville Zoo with the old concession stands, gift shops and pony rides under the tent to the left.  When I enlarged the image I could see the old Seaboard zoo train under the station roof with signage advertising the ‘One Mile Zoo Trip’.  During this era there was a road through the zoo grounds that you could drive on and park near the attractions.

Tags: dock, historic photography, Jacksonville Zoo, train, vintage photograph, zoo, Zoo Train

A beautifully quiet view of downtown Jacksonville from the late 1940’s or early 1950’s with the skyline reflected in the glassy St. Johns River. You can still get to see this late afternoon sunlight skimming over the surfaces of the buildings as it sets below the cloud layer today but you will never see this view again.

Tags: 001459, bridge, clouds, downtown, historic photography, main street bridge, reflection, skyline, St. Johns River, vintage photograph

“Here is a photo of the Landon Lionetts at the Gator Bowl in 1949.  It was one of the most precise marching groups that I have ever seen.  They had a great reputation all over the South.  They would stretch out 90 yards of the field.”  LS

Landon High School opened in 1927 and served as a high school in Jacksonville until the last class graduated in 1965 and the school was converted to a middle school.  Of note was the Landon Lionettes, a precision girls’ drill team.  I came across a great newspaper article from The News and Courier in Charleston, S.C. dated Friday Morning, December 10, 1948, ahead of this particular performance with the headline “Famous Florida Girls’ Drill Platoon to Vie With Crack Clemson Unit in Gator Bowl”.  The article went on to say that Jacksonville, Florida’s famous Landon high school Lionettes were scheduled to make their third New year’s Day Gator Bowl appearance when Clemson meets Missouri.  “When the Lionettes make an appearance 120 of them march onto the field. Miss Turner (Kathleen Turner, the director of the Lionettes) reports that not a single girl on the squad has been late or absent at either a practice session or an official appearance this fall, really an outstanding record when it is known that the girls have drilled three times weekly since early september, have make eight appearances in the local stadium, another in Orlando, Fla., and also have participated in several parades.”  The story goes on to add “In these 16 years, the Lionettes have marched about 266,048 miles collectively, which is equal to 10 trips around the world with a few side jaunts thrown in for a good measure.  Approximately 1,100 girls have been Lionettes since 1932, remaining in the group from one to three years.”

Tags: drill team, gator bowl, girls, historic photography, Landin High School, Lionettes, precision, vintage photograph

One of several frames of Sal Mineo and his band during a performance in the street in Jacksonville’s 5-Points business district from December 21, 1957.  Mineo was a musician and movie actor and it looks like he had quite the following from the crowd trying to get his autograph in front of the 5-Points Theatre.  A previous post from this event can be seen here.

Tags: 004186, 5 points, actor, band, business, crowd, Fans, historic photograph, musician, Park Street, Sal Mineo, street party, vintage photography

This is the second photograph from the Loyd Sandgren collection showing West Bay Street and the businesses that were operating there in the 1950’s.  It was shot with a wide format roll film camera used in this previously posted image.  Of particular note in this photograph is one of the businesses that I only noticed when I looked at the scanned image enlarged on the computer monitor.  What I found was a second floor photographer’s studio above the Davis and Company sign. Upon cross referencing the addresses of the businesses with addresses that Sandgren often stamped on the back of his prints, it was found to be his studio at 109 West Bay Street where he not only worked but likely lived. In addition to this location Sandgren had studios at 11 West Bay Street and in the early 1970’s, 335 East Bay Street. The building that housed the East Bay Street studio is still standing and I was recently given the opportunity to visit it and look through the window that this photograph was taken from.

Tags: 001679, Buildings, business, cars, Collins Credit Clothiers, Davis and Company, downtown, historic photography, Leibos, Mullins Credit Store, photo studio, vintage photograph, Wells Credit Clothiers, West Bay Street

A swimsuit model photographed with an odd organic form floor decoration from the late 1940’s or early 1950’s when Loyd Sandgren was working for the C.H. Brown Camera Store.  It was probably shot for an advertisement and the image of the model and prop would have been cut out and reproduced against a white background with the ad text.  This would pair very nicely with this previous studio photograph of the woman posing with a large stick.

Tags: historic photography, model, prop, studio, swimsuit, vintage photograph, woman