Vintage work crew photos

[Frank S]

Can you imagine how many strokes it took with the 2 man saw to fell that tree? that looks like a pair of 12 ft blades welded together.

[mklotz]

Yes, it's the "Mark Twain"...

National Geographic Found

[Jon]

Members of the Women's Royal Air Force sewing fabric aircraft wing coverings. 1918.



More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Royal_Air_Force

[Frank S]

It is hard to imagine the difference in people or that time period with the ones of today `Had in not been for many of our grand mothers or great grand mothers filling in at the factories making things for the planes trucks tanks and general weaponry our grand fathers or great grand fathers could never have done the things they had to do to win the wars

[PJs]

Thank you Jon, this has become quite a thread, thanks to your great sense of history! I always enjoy seeing pictures of where we come from and how we did things to get to where we are. To me, our ancestors, men or women, garnered up the creativity, fortitude, stamina and will to take care of business out of that basic instinct to continue and thrive as best they could through necessity or just a dream of something better. Pictures like these speak volumes in detail about the stories of these peoples lives. Their expressions, stance, clothing, working conditions and the products of their efforts give us opportunity to explore those stories and maybe make some up...either way it's the stories that define them and their character.

When my Dad passed in 07' I ran across an old tin type of my GGGpa (1814-1875) back in MO. circa 1870ish a few years before his passing. It was in pretty bad shape but I kept wondering about his stories and decided to restore it in PhotoShop. Huge undertaking and about 80hrs of work, but the more it cleaned up the stories from his face, dress (actually fixed a slight tear in his jacket, as I'm sure he only had one) and the background, really started to come through for me and the stories from Gpa (1876) as a kid going to town for supplies in a wagon by himself first time when he was nine, which was a 3 day trip, came forward again.

This was actually my first restoration but learn a lot at the pixel level.


The picture of the Mark Twain Redwood, reminded me of my dad working in the Redwoods just after the WWII seeing what he had on a tanker in the South Pacific, with a bunch of stories about tough logging with donkey engines and cables snapping and Tough Terrain, eating breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse in those days. Redwoods are special to me too and spend as much time up there as I can, eaten at the Samoa (Best biscuits and gravy next to Gma's) and cherish the ageless serenity of them. Also took my son up there in his youth so he could experience that and the history of it. He then went on the wheat harvest for a year or so and being a John Deer mechanic toward the end before joining the AF for another 23 years of service and another 30 in community service. Then on to me making mine and my son his and now 6G's forward his son making his stories.

On it goes story after story, sewing a fabric or tapestry of our lives as a species interconnected through lineage, our work, defining character and a foundation of those people of creativity, fortitude, stamina moving through time, necessity and dreams of becoming. I once had an epiphany of sorts in the valley in Yosemite waking up having to do my morning drain and while doing it I looked up and saw a 1000' of granite before me, carved and mottled by ice, water and time, and thought what stories they must have, and shared with us...

Capturing, sharing and talking about these seems important, especially now days, to me anyway. Rattled on here, but Great Thread guys...thank you again, Jon for creating such a great place to create and share the stories!

PJ

[Frank S]

Thanks for sharing PJ, Like you I have developed a keen interest in this thread I dare say should it run into the hundred's of pages I doubt if my interest will waiver.

[Jon]

Mt. Lowe Railway. California, 1893. Colorized. Named after the very legendary Thaddeus S. C. Lowe.

Full size image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...y_fullsize.jpg


Opening day ceremonies.
Full size image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...y_fullsize.jpg



I wonder if there's a long German word for wistfully wishing that you were born in a different era. I was listening to stories from an old hotrodder years ago, and I said something like: "I wish I was a hotrodder in the 1930s. I was born at the wrong time."

Then he says: "I was born at the wrong time too. I wish I was a cowboy in the old West."


More:

Professor Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe
Water and Power Associates
Lowe airship patent #1,061,484
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lowe_Railway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_S._C._Lowe

[Frank S]

Jon the MT lowe incline car was what I patterned a tram after for a guy at a lake.

400 ft drop in 1000 ft total length of pipe railway was 1500 ft total drop just over 600 ft

[PJs]

Frank, You sure have covered some ground in your days! Always amazed...Hell of a book to read, I bet!

[PJs]

Nice pics Jon. The stories from the links are great and Lowe was quite the self made wizard. The witness names on the patent looked familiar for some reason but didn't find much. Colorizing is always thing of Taste but this looked pastel good but a bit crisp on the people to me.

Good story on the Cowboy! I also agree about being a hotrodder back then too, or even Dad's stock car days from the early 50's. The pic on my home page is of one of Dads wins in "Old 99" and my SC400 behind, being the dream of that. I colorized the 99 for kicks but restoring the BW was a bit of work, probably shot with a Hawkeye Brownie as I remember.

On my best dreamy days I've often had the thought of driving a Stutz Bearcat off across country with goggles and a flat cap. Had the opportunity once to finish restoring one that the owner was murdered and his mom wanted me to finish it for him and get the other stuff to the auction house, as he also had a 27' Rolls and a bunch of other stuff...but had quite the shop, foundry and all. Didn't work out because it needed a year at least of work to finish it right plus shop costs and she couldn't afford that, nor I as a young buck with 2 little ones. I did help inventory and organize it all for her and lined up a few buyers for some of it. Always wondered where it went and who finished it.

PJ