Rockland, ME -- 1941

[Fletch]

Any hipsters in the vicinity were probably eating beans and boloney on some Navy base and feeling very, very unhip indeed...a sentiment that would have been readily reinforced by any CPO within cussing distance.

 

[Harp]

Rockland & Ames

Great pix Liz and Fletch! :eusa_clap

Too bad about the bank foreclosing on the drug store, but at least the
theatre survived!

And Ames, IA seems to appreciate its past.
(If the Alamo had been built in Chicago, it would have been bulldozed for a condo
project.)

 

[HadleyH]

Joining my voice to all others, those are some great pictures!
Thanks for posting Lizzie and Fletch!

 

[Orgetorix]

This is the Strand Theatre -- my current part-time workplace -- as it was, fall 1941.

The theatre is the only building on this block still standing -- the gas station has long since been replaced by a bakery, and the grocery store long ago gave way to an alley that leads to a parking lot behind another bank.

Great photos! What about the furniture company building in the background--looks like that's still standing. What's there now?

 

[LizzieMaine]

That building's still very much there -- you can see the edge of it at the far left in the Modern Day photo. Currently there's a couple of art galleries, a law office, and an office supply store on the premises. Rockland's actually held onto its downtown pretty well, compared to a lot of other towns its size.

 

[PADDY]

Just love BEFORE & AFTER photographs

I find these types of shots very interesting, and in many ways...sad and nostalgic too. A lot of ghosts...

 

[Bill O'Rights]

The Omaha Theater, 1936.

A couple of blondes "protesting" the 1935 showing of Redheads on Parade.
In actuality, a fun and effective publicity stunt.

 

[Fletch]

And Ames, IA seems to appreciate its past.

I think it's more a case of being too cheap to tear things down. As in so many cities, our historical society was one man. He had been an ISC student and run the family business (clothing) for decades. His collection is now with the city library.

Like most such collections, there's a bit of a trough in Golden Era material. The older folks who mattered in the preservation of these things were usually most interested in the teens and before. But some amazing things make it thru. Take a look...

November, 1930. The Ames Theater is all decked out to celebrate Vitaphone. What! They didn't get it till 1930? Wrong, they'd put it in in November of '27. All this hooptedoo was just for the anniversary. Probably a publicity ballyhoo from the wide-awake owner of Ames' three theaters, Joe Gerbracht.

Joe and his brother Wilford also ran Gerbracht Aeronautics, which eventually became the first city airport.

This is Pegasus, their custom enclosed cabin Travel Air, built in 1928.

In 1937 Joe built the Collegian Theater on Main Street downtown. Now for the most part Ames didn't care for Art Deco. But Joe was up on the trends and built a façade in fine style. IIRC, it was faced in various shades of sea green tile.

The theater shut in the '70s, lost its façade and is now a bank. My family still has accounts there.

 

[Mojave Jack]

The same locations, as of this morning --

The marquee shown in the 1941 photo was actually an update installed in 1939 -- when the theatre was restored, the original 1923 version was recreated since the 1939 version was too far gone to save.

What's really great about these before and after pictures is that you can see that beautiful brick and tile detailing. All that is lost if all you have is the B&W shot. Thanks for posting those pics, Lizzie.

 

[carter]

That does it! I have to go back to Staunton, VA and take pictures! It's as close to a hometown as I've got. While the twon is well-preserved, the old downtown has a lot of new faces. Thanks to K-Mart, Wal-Mart, et al.

Thanks for some amazing photos and commentary.

 

[Diamondback]

(If the Alamo had been built in Chicago, it would have been bulldozed for a condo project.)

OT: Actually, most of the Mission San Antonio de Valero, what we now know as the Alamo, was demo'ed--the only original building is the chapel where they made their final stand, even the Long Barracks is a reconstruction. (It was a huge complex, part of why it was a poor tactical choice for a "fortress".)

And even the chapel was almost leveled a few times, only to be granted eleventh-hour reprieves.

EDIT: Apologies for the tangent, Miss Lizzie.

 

[David Conwill]

I wish the original images were still here!

 

[LizzieMaine]

 

[David Conwill]

Wonderful! Thanks, Lizzie.