Vintage Jacksonville

“Here is a gunner getting ready to fire his machine guns.  This was a typical photo, taken for Public Relations.  This photo was sent to the home town newspaper to show what a native son was doing.  The interesting thing about this picture is, the plane was on the ground and there was a platform for the photographer to stand on and we either had a background of sky or we painted it in the print.” LS

The information on the back of the print is as follows:   “2/19/44, Aircrewman, Rogers, A.R.M. 3/c,  Made For Public Relations.”

I particularly like the fill flash used in the “action” photo.  The clouds in the background of this print were airbrushed onto the original print.  Loyd Sandgren did not indicate the Navy base where this photo was taken.  Who out there knows their Navy aircraft and can ID the type of plane in the photo?

Update:  Thanks to my co worker and airplane geek Jeff Brumley for identifying the plane as a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber.  Here is a little additional information from Boeing’s history site:

“The Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber became a mainstay of the Navy’s World War II air fleet in the Pacific, with the lowest loss ratio of any U.S. carrier-based aircraft. Douglas delivered a total of 5,936 SBDs and Army Air Forces A-24s between 1940 and the end of production in July 1944.”

Tags: aircraft, gunner, historic photo, Jacksonville, machine gun, navy, public relations, vintage photography, WWII

“1952.  A street scene on Bay Street between Laura and Hogan.  The Democrats were running Stevenson and Sparkman.  You are looking West Northwest.  Note the Earle, Mayflower and Seminole Hotels.  The Casino theater at that time was nine cents. Some difference in it today.” LS

I like the way the Democrat Headquarters on 124 W. Bay Street was tucked between the Thom McAn Shoe Store and Andy’s Billiards.  Adlai Stevenson was the Democratic presidential candidate, running against Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower who won in a landslide ending 20 years of a Democratic leadership  in the White House.  Eisenhower’s running mate was Richard Nixon.

Tags: Adlai Stevenson, Democrat, downtown, election, Jacksonville, street scene, West Bay Street

“In 1947, I used the first portable Wabash speedlight, this proved to the bowlers that the light could stop the action of a strike.  They said we will have to be in the picture before we believe it and this was the result.  Note, light was not on the camera.” LS

An excerpt from a 1946 Popular Photography review of the new flash developed by Wabash Company’s Sylvania Electric Products division, “Wabash Corporation is announcing a new repeating flashbulb that can be used for several thousand individual flashes.  The new build provides a light output of 12,000,000 peak lumens in an instantaneous flash the equivalent of 1/5000 second.  The unit can be operated by remote control at the camera or by synchronization with any camera shutter.  Retail price of the AC Portable will be $160 complete.”

Tags: bowling, bowling alley, frozen, men, sports, strobe, Wabash Flash

Dr. Robert G. Self, Col. U.S. Air Force, Retired.
My dad.
He passed away this weekend after a long period of declining health.  Along with my mother he instilled an early love of the arts, travel, and exploration in my brother and I as we moved from one Air Force base to another around the U.S. and overseas.  We never missed an art gallery, zoo or historic site as we grew up. Every move was a new adventure and by the time we settled back in Florida for my High School years I had experienced more than many people do in a lifetime.  He served his country and his family well and in doing so set an example for me to carry forward.  It was a privilege to be his son.

This photo is of my dad indulging his love of cars while working on the medical team at the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race around 1960 as a freshly minted doctor. It was a family event that we all tagged along on when ever we were stationed close enough to make the trip.

Bob Self/Vintage Jacksonville

Tags: cars, Dr. Robert Self, Sebring

Wilson, MacGregor and Louisville Slugger on display in the baseball themed window display of The Sport Shop but not a Nike product to be found.  I don’t have any information about this particular photo and have not been able to track down anything on the business.  Anyone out there remember anything about The Sport Shop and where it was located?

Update:  After a search of a 1958 Jacksonville City Directory I found The Sport Shop Inc. listed at 44o West Forsyth Street which would be about where the Greyhound Bus Station is currently located.

Tags: advertising, baseball, Lousiville Slugger, The Sport Shop, Wilson, window display

I’m sure that the desired buying demographic for this state of the art washing machine, circa 1950’s, was further enticed to make a purchase by the use a model in a swim suit, high heels and the coveted Miss Filter-Flo sash.

Tags: advertising, General Electric, model, swim suit, washing machine

Looking West down West Monroe Street towards Hemming Park and the Federal Courthouse.  The multistory building sticking up from the block of buildings to the right is the Western Union building which now houses the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville.  The rest of the buildings in that block were demolished to make way for the downtown branch of the Jacksonville Public Library.

Tags: business, cars, downtown, Federal Courthouse, Hemming Park, Monroe Street

Workers on the bottling line of the Jax Brewing Company production plant that was located on West 16th. Street in Jacksonville’s Durkeeville neighborhood.  Jax Brewing Company was a local brewery that started production of Jax Beer in Jacksonville in 1913, refocused production to ice and near beer during prohibition and then restarted beer production in 1933 with the end of prohibition.  During peak production 200,000 barrels of Jax Beer were produced at their Jacksonville facility and distributed around the South Eastern states.  In 1956 the company sold the Jax Beer copyright to New Orleans based Jackson Brewing Company (named after Jackson Square which was named in honor of Andrew Jackson who Jacksonville was named after) which continued to produce a product called Jax Beer.  Then the Jackson Brewery name changed hands in the mid 1970’s when the brewery closed and the Jax Beer formula and name was acquired by Texas based Pearl Brewing Company.  Only the Jax Brewing Company building remains as the legacy to Jax Beer in Jacksonville.

Tags: beer, bottling, drinking, factory, Jax Beer, men

This is the type of note that Loyd Sandgren attached to many of his photographs as he organized his collection in his later years.  He would put the photos in binder type albums and would walk from his Springfield apartment and make the rounds to downtown Jacksonville shops, the old downtown library, hot dog vendors and folks on the street striking up conversations and sharing his work.  Loyd is the cigar smoking devil in the lower left of the group photo.

Tags: costume, devil, photographer, portrait, studio

One of two variations from the Loyd Sandgren collection of women on a dock pointing excitedly at something outside the frame.

Tags: dock, excited, pointing, St. Johns River, women