Beautiful Studio Portrait Photos of a Young Woman in the 1940s and ’50s

A set of beautiful photos was found by mj aux that show portrait of young woman who was believed to be Elsie Jean (Rush) Williams after his searching in Ancestry. These photos were taken by several photographers at studios in California in the 1940s and 1950s.

Studio portrait of Elsie Jean (Rush) Williams in the 1940s

Elsie Jean (Rush) Williams was born in 1927 in Los Angeles, attended Los Angeles High School (class of 1946), and was proud to be a member of Pi Beta Phi at USC.

Jean was a lovely and energetic woman involved in lots of activities and organizations over many years including DAR, Silver Spoons, National Charity League, Assistance League, Laderians of Knox Presbyterian Church, and Malibu Orchid Society.

Jean married Barton Williams on July 17, 1954. She passed away on March 5, 2012 at age 84 on Balboa Island, CA, shortly after relocating from her home of over 50 years in Ladera Heights (Los Angeles).

Studio portrait of Elsie Jean (Rush) Williams in the 1940s

Studio portrait of Elsie Jean (Rush) Williams in the 1940s

Photo by Jack Barsby, 4358 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City, California

Photo by Jack Barsby, 4358 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City, California

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Ashtrays and Coin-Operated “Tel-a-Chairs” in the Los Angeles Greyhound Bus Terminal, 1969

Passengers watching coin-operated TV’s in the LA Greyhound terminal in 1969. Also, take note of those space age chairs, ashtrays, phone booths, and terrazzo floors! And look how everyone is dressed. Suits and hats!

At the time, there were roughly 160 Tel-a-Chairs in operation in Southern California, including 49 at the Greyhound Bus Terminal at 6th and Los Angeles that were grossing $4,000 every month.

Ten minutes of television time cost 10 cents while a half-hour cost 25 cents.

The Tel-a-Chair was invented by John R. Rice. Each chair featured a 9-inch set connected to an apparently very comfortable chair.

By a sit-in test, the Tel-a-Chairs are more comfortable than anything else in the terminal, unless you happen to fall asleep in one of them. Greyhound spends $5,000 to $6,000 a month for security in its downtown terminal, and besides keeping drunks and rabble-rousers out, one of the guard’s main functions it to remove sleepers from the Tel-a-Chairs.

One Tel-a-Chair franchiser stated that the company was “anticipating an additional 800 chairs within the next 90 days. These hopefully will be installed in hospitals, Greyhound and Continental Trailways terminals and at International Airports”. The company was hoping to create an “instant rating system for TV network advertisers” using the Tel-a-Chair, but the idea never took off as expected.

(via Television Obscurities)

Work Life in a 1970’s Black Owned Doll Factory

Operation Bootstrap (OB) was formed in 1965 by two African American gentleman in the aftermath of the Watts, California riots, which began on August 11, 1965, and ended August 15, 1965. In an attempt to rebuild the community, provide job training, and jobs for community residents, Louis Smith and Robert Hall are said to have organized OB with a $1,000 loan from an AA businessman.

As a result of Smith and Hall’s dedication, Shindana Toys, a Division of Operation Bootstrap, opened its doors in 1968. Local residents were employed in the Shindana doll factory, thus achieving OB’s goal to provide jobs for poor African Americans and improve the economy in their community.

From 1968 through 1983, Shindana Toys designed and manufactured dolls that looked like real black people. Their motto was: Dolls Made by a Dream. Shindana, which means competitor in Swahili, trained and employed doll makers and became the nation’s largest manufacturer of black dolls and games.

Wear A Mask Or Go To Jail: Vintage Photos Show San Francisco’s ‘Mask Slackers’ Got Arrested During the 1918 Flu Pandemic

In September of 1918, a global flu pandemic made entry into California. The first cases were detected among travelers — a man who had returned to San Francisco from a trip to Chicago and seamen aboard a vessel that arrived to the harbor in Los Angeles.

What happened over the fall and winter will sound familiar. City officials imposed “stay at home” orders and forced the closure of schools and places of “public amusement.” Court proceedings and church services moved outdoors. Tents, hotels, and large halls served as makeshift hospitals. Panic was everywhere.

A police officer escorts two men by their arms, one without a mask, near the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco. The photo’s original caption suggests the men were being taken to jail: “Here we go right down to the Bastile.” (California State Library)

A policeman takes in a citizen for not wearing his flu mask properly in San Francisco in 1918. (California State Library)

A San Francisco police officer wearing a mask warns a man to put on a mask as well in 1918. The original caption accompanying included this line: “Say! Young Fellow Get a mask or go to jail.” (California State Library)

A policeman gives a woman a warning for not wearing a mask during the Spanish flu pandemic in San Francisco in 1918. (California State Library)

A policeman adjusts a citizen’s flu mask in San Francisco in 1918. (California State Library)

As the death toll climbed, measures became more severe, with forced quarantines and mandatory mask ordinances. The masks recommended during the 1918 pandemic were made of heavy-duty six-ply cotton gauze. They were thick and no particular joy to wear. People who refused to wear them or couldn’t be bothered were called “mask slackers” or “mask scoffers.” During World War I, the term slacker described people who neglected their patriotic duty, almost as bad as being a draft dodger.

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The ‘Most Beautiful Ape’ Contest, 1972

In 1972, presumably around the time of the June release of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, KMPC radio personality Gary Owens hosted the ‘Most Beautiful Ape Contest’ in Century City, the complex used for much of the location filming on that movie. Owens crowned Dominique Green, contestant No. 2, the big winner of the title of ‘The Most Beautiful Ape In The World’ and a contract for a supporting role in the next Apes movie, Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

The San Simian Sentinel promotional 4-page fake newspaper distributed free to first-run viewers of Battle informed readers that Green and her competitors “all wore bikinis or hotpants - but their heads were all covered with identical ape masks!” It also stated that Miss Green had “a face to match the quality of her shape, but there was no way producer Arthur P. Jacobs could cast ‘The Most Beautiful Ape In The World’ as a human. ‘Circumstances have made a monkey of me’ grumbled Jacobs.”

Dominique Green

Paula Crist, who became involved in Apes convention appearances around the time of Conquest, said her initial approaches to 20th Century Fox led to her being asked to “do publicity for them in the East wearing mini-shorts and one of the masks, passing out pamphlets and so on... like the ‘Miss Ape’ contest with ape heads and bikinis. That was the big promotional gig.”

50 Black and White Photos Capture Portraits of San Diego's Young People in the 1980s

San Diego is a city in the U.S. state of California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 120 miles (190 km) south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. It is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California.

Portraits of young people of San Diego from 1980 to 1986

The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches. San Diego has been called “the birthplace of California”.

American photographer Harold Gee took these amazing photographs that show lifestyles of young people in San Diego from 1980 to 1986.

“Some photos from my crazy life immediately following the era of the initial punk scene in San Diego. It's difficult to demarcate where my personal life leaves off during this period.”

Bruce Perrault, Jay Johnson, Ernie Bornheimer, 1980

Charles Shields, DT, Mark Di Carlo, Martha Loy, 1980

Jan Beck, Bob Davidson, 1980

Ruby & Gary, Bruce, Meryl, Jay, 1980

James Puppy, Sheila, Robin Jackson, 1981

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30 Fascinating Photos Capture Street Scenes of Berkeley From Between 1960s and ’80s

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley.

Berkeley street scenes from the late 1960s to early 1980s

Berkeley borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills.

Berkeley is home to the oldest campus in the University of California system, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is managed and operated by the University. It also has the Graduate Theological Union, one of the largest religious studies institutions in the world.

Berkeley is considered one of the most socially liberal cities in the United States.

These fascinating photos were taken by Richard Friedman that show street scenes of Berkeley from the late 1960s to early 1980s.

Berkeley street scenes, March 1968

Sproul Plaza, Berkeley, March 1968

Live Oak Park Festival, Berkeley, September 1969

Memorial Day, Berkeley, May 1969

Ohlone Way, Berkeley, August 1969

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Amazing Found Photos That Show Vintage Drug Stores of California in the Early 1970s

A set of amazing photos was found by Paula Wirth that shows what drug stores of Southern California in 1970 and 1971.

Cosmetics, Southern California, circa July 1970

“Quality & Satisfaction” - 1970 Tooth Care, Southern California, circa July 1970

Cleaning Products, Southern California, circa July 1970

Feminine Hygiene Products, Southern California, circa July 1970

Feminine Hygiene Products, Southern California, circa July 1970

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Amazing Photos Capture Street Scenes of San Francisco in the Early 1970s

San Francisco in the 1970s was a global hub of culture. It was known worldwide for hippies and radicals. The city was heavily affected by drugs, prostitution and crime. Outcasts and the socially marginalized were attracted by a greater tolerance and acceptance of diverse cultures in the city.

San Francisco in 1970 and 1971

The city grew as one of world’s biggest centres for the LGBT community and LGBT rights. The rock music known as the San Francisco Sound was performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based rock groups of the mid-1960s to early 1970s. It was associated with the counterculture community in the city at the time.

Many skyscrapers were built in the city during this period. The city is also associated with West Coast jazz and was one of the major centers of jazz fusion which took off in the 1970s.

These amazing color photos were taken by Christopher Cirrincione that show street scenes of San Francisco in 1970 and 1971.

Powell-Mason cable car route on the Taylor Street turntable at Bay Street, 1970

California Street cable car route. View northeast on California Street between Kearny Street and Grant Avenue, 1970

PCC heading downtown on Market Street between Noe Street/16th Street and Sanchez Street/15th Street on a foggy early evening, 1970

PCC heading downtown on Market Street between Noe Street/16th Street and Sanchez Street/15th Street on a foggy early evening, 1970

Church Street at Market Street on the J-Line looking east, 1971

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45 Intimate Portrait Photos of Young People of San Diego in the Early 1970s

These intimate color photos were taken by American photographer Harold Gee that show portraits of his young friends in San Diego from 1971 to 1975.

“Late Sixties, and I was timid about carrying a camera because there were a lot of folks that were suspicious of anyone carrying a camera...probably with good reason. It was a period of social upheaval, drugs that were fun but illegal, mass protests and political activism, and all this combined with police that used infiltration and snitches to bust people (and they also had cops with cameras).

But I started snapping a few photos of my friends, and as time went on people got sorta used to me having a camera. The general paranoia about cameras dissipated as the years went on.

These scans are from the negatives, which have been stored in a non-climate-controlled environment (mostly in hot & humid New Orleans) for approximately four decades. Most of them show some degree of degradation upon close inspection.”

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Giant Hippo Harnessed and Hitched to Circus Cart, About to Give Trainer a Ride, 1924

After considerable coaching at the hands of an animal trainer, “Lotus,” a circus hippopotamus enjoying winter quarters in California, was taught to haul a two-wheeled cart.

A V-shaped tongue attached to a broad band around the creature’s back made traces unnecessary. A bridle of strong leather with the reins attached to the jaws completed the harness, and aided in directing the “river horse” which seemed to enjoy its “stunt” as it walked to its pool and back.

Hippopotamuses are said usually to show little intelligence, but they are capable of great speed when in flight from an enemy, or while rushing to an attack after being wounded.

(via Modern Mechanix)

50 Fascinating Photos Show the Bus System of San Diego in the 1970s

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) is the transit bus and rail service provider for southern San Diego County, which includes approximately 570 square miles of the urbanized areas of the county, as well as the rural parts of East County.

MTS is one of the oldest transit systems in Southern California, with predecessors dating back as early as the 1880s. Service is operated on three light rail lines and ninety bus routes by MTS subsidiaries San Diego Transit Corp., San Diego Trolley, Inc., and under contract by private operators.

MTS also owns the assets of San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway Company, which owns 108 miles of track and right-of-way, and San Diego Vintage Trolley, Inc., a non profit corporation established to restore historic trolley vehicles. MTS' Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary paratransit service is MTS Access.

These fascinating photos from San Diego Metropolitan Transit System that show what the bus system of San Diego looked like in the 1970s.

San Diego Transit 1974 Flxible bus on westbound Broadway at 7th Avenue in the 1970s

Promotional ‘Bus King’ advertisement from 1972

Route 7 bus on Broadway in Downtown San Diego

Route 7 bus on Broadway in Downtown San Diego

“Join your car pool”, a San Diego Transit billboard, 1972

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