Identification Help Needed for Historical Society

[Guest ga5150]

Greetings all!

 

I'm sure you get posts like this often, but it seemed like a great amount of knowledge and resources here.  We are trying to nail down years for some photos in our collection at the Mount Airy Historical Society.  Some of the photos have automobiles in them and we thought that by knowing the years of those cars, it would help us properly date the pictures.  Even if it was a range of dates, it would help.  Thank you in advance for any help that can be provided! 

 

Rodney

 

 

Here's what we have:

 

 

[Paul Dobbin]

First photo:  Late teens cars and unpaved city streets, typical of the mid teens to early 1920's

Second photo:  Same Main Street soon after the end of WWII,  Only one post WWII vehicle, but streets are paved.

Third photo:  Probably during WWII.  The 1934 Ford in the picture appears to be an old worn out car and the street is unpaved.

Fourth photo:  Late 40's or early 50's.  Two cars are Post WWII and the rest are Pre War

 

Now we'll hear from the real experts.  I hope this helps.

[poci1957]

I concur with Paul, I would say:

1. Circa 1925

2. Circa 1950

3. Circa1940-42

4. Circa 1950

[Xander Wildeisen]

Going by signs, gas pumps, power poles/ insulators/transformers, leaves on the trees, weather, curbs with side walks, cars and fashions of the time. June 12th 1923/ Aug 3rd 1946/ Sept 26th 1948/ July 1 1950 

[John_S_in_Penna]

I think Paul Dobbin and Poci1957 have given you good advice.

 

Since you are in a relatively salt-free area,

cars lasted longer, and we can judge mostly by the

year of the newest car in each picture.  It could be,

though, that the newest car in a picture isn't so new,

and that a picture is a few years newer than estimated.

The more cars in a picture, the greater the probability

for accuracy in the estimate.

 

The 3rd picture, with there being only one car, 

and that car well worn, leaves room for, I think, the widest

range in judgment.

 

It would be really interesting for us if the historical society 

could post a few pictures of the same streets today, for comparison.

Get the same angle, and we'll have a fascinating "then and now!"

Edited September 10, 2016 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[keiser31]

2nd photo with the 1946-48 Plymouth on the left has a 1939 Plymouth sedan on the right. Not certain about the coupe down the street.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Looks like a 40 Ford wagon in the last pic.

[Guest ga5150]

First, thank you so much to all of you for your insight and sharing your knowledge so far.  Here are a few answers and comments to points you've brought up:

 

Quote

If you have some kind of tax records as to when the businesses closed down, it would be a big help.  For instance, the "Carroll Poultry" sign would make an interesting place to start.

 

I'm in the middle of going this route as well.  In that particular photo, we know the bank building (directly across from Esso sign) was built in 1915 and is still there today.  I've got someone researching when the bowling alley was there, as well as the hatchery/poultry business.  Thank you for adding additional pictures to make it easier to visualize.

 

 

Quote

It would be really interesting for us if the historical society 

could post a few pictures of the same streets today, for comparison.

Get the same angle, and we'll have a fascinating "then and now!"

 

Hmm....it's almost like you knew what we're doing!  This is the exact reason these photos came out.  We're making our yearly calendar and this years theme is Then & Now.  I'll post updated current pictures along with the ones above when I get home from softball practice with my daughter.

 

Thank you!

 

Rodney

 

 

[28 Chrysler]

In the first photo the car facing the camera could be an early Dodge Brothers, may be 1919, with the high crowned fenders

[Guest ga5150]

Here are some of the Then & Now's as requested:

 

 

 

[Terry Bond]

First pic, from what I can see of the radiator shape, fenders, etc. I believe it may be a teens Maxwell.   It's not a large car.   I'll be going through Mt Airy soon and It'll be interesting to see if I can recognize those scenes.   Wouldn't it be great if the signs and gas pumps were still there!

Terry

[Guest ga5150]

 

Edited September 10, 2016 by ga5150
Changed photo (see edit history)

[padgett]

Third picture: under the Dodge/Plymouth sign, when did AAA start using the oval with the large center A ?

[Guest ga5150]

[Guest ga5150]

[Guest ga5150]

33 minutes ago, padgett said:

Third picture: under the Dodge/Plymouth sign, when did AAA start using the oval with the large center A ?

 

I found a 1930 AAA road service booklet on Ebay and it has the large center A, so it's at least 1930. 

[CarNucopia]

7 hours ago, ga5150 said:

 

I'm in the middle of going this route as well.  In that particular photo, we know the bank building (directly across from Esso sign) was built in 1915 and is still there today.  I've got someone researching when the bowling alley was there, as well as the hatchery/poultry business.  Thank you for adding additional pictures to make it easier to visualize.

 

 

I did research similar to what you are doing and found old phone books to be very helpful in connecting a date to a business.

[Xander Wildeisen]

You have the same picture of the same road twice, just taken farther down the road. The rail road sign gives the clue. One picture is one block back, the other looks to be taken at the rail road crossing

[joe_padavano]

This is a very cool thread, as I go to Mt. Airy periodically.  We attend the cruise night at Jimmy Cone and usually go to dinner afterwards in Old Town, shown in the photos.

 

[Guest ga5150]

38 minutes ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

You have the same picture of the same road twice, just taken farther down the road. The rail road sign gives the clue. One picture is one block back, the other looks to be taken at the rail road crossing

 

 

You are correct. I replaced the photo with one that may be a closer angle. The Peoples Lumber building on the left is long gone.  The green grassy area on the left is where Peoples Lumber was.  Now, there is a tiny grassy lot and a very tiny retail store there (a train store).

[Guest ga5150]

1 hour ago, Buick64C said:

I did research similar to what you are doing and found old phone books to be very helpful in connecting a date to a business.

 

 

Excellent idea. We have some of those and I should have thought to use them!

 

 

[John_S_in_Penna]

2 hours ago, Buick64C said:

I did research similar to what you are doing and found old phone books to be very helpful in connecting a date to a business.

 

Also check old city directories, if they were published for Mount Airy.

 

It's great to see that most of the old buildings are still there--

and that some are so well preserved that they appear unchanged.

 

You probably know that some towns have received grants

to restore their downtown storefronts to their original

historic styles.  Those in Penna. that I've seen done are beautiful.

[30DodgePanel]

Also,

If you're wanting to go back even further then you may want to check the pre 1900 Baltimore directories because a lot of the old directories had small towns incorporated in these publications.

Here's an example that is currently for sale. Notice as you scroll down the second photo on the link below it has a page that reads " Containing parts of Six States, or Twenty-two Cities and Towns IN ONE VOLUME". For around $9 it's a great purchase just to see if it yields any answers that may precede the information you are seeking... Good luck !

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/19-old-CITY-DIRECTORY-genealogy-research-BALTIMORE-Maryland-MD-advertisements-/131839804755?hash=item1eb243c553:g:oJMAAOxy~ilSM9X8

 

 

Love the old small towns... Will definitely put MT Airy on my list of places to visit some day.

Edited September 11, 2016 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[drwatson]

The ESSO sign photo shows a parked 1934 Ford Sedan looking like it has10+ years on it. I'd say that photo is about 1945 - 1947.

If you use a magnifying glass on the actual photo you might see the registration date. 

Another interesting item in this shot is while pumps and sign are gone in the modern shot, the ESSO sign post is still there, amazing enough considering the number of times its likely been bumped.

Thank you for the post.

[Guest ga5150]

On 9/10/2016 at 4:16 PM, ga5150 said:

 

 

You are correct. I replaced the photo with one that may be a closer angle. The Peoples Lumber building on the left is long gone.  The green grassy area on the left is where Peoples Lumber was.  Now, there is a tiny grassy lot and a very tiny retail store there (a train store).

 

 

I don't think it's any help, but Peoples Lumber and Supply was there from 1889-1995.  That sort of covers it all and isn't much help.

 

 

[kings32]

I Terry  when you come through Mt. Airy let me know I live about 10 minutes north . Stop in and take alook  I have one of Waynes cars here .  Just finished the 1930 Oakland. Howard