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July 1938. "Neighborhood boys. Housing conditions in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Home of the American Bridge Company." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Some of the signs around 1938, seen here, seem to have been rather rare. The "Drink Coca-Cola Ice Cold" I could finally find with the more or less "right" bottle, the barber shop signs like this one are also rare. The "Chew Mail Pouch" I only found with the addition of "Tobacco", without that you were also recommended to smoke. I was happy to find the Coca-Cola thermometer, as well as the Royal Crown billboard. The Jerris ad I found is from the fifties, when the man found himself more closely attracted to the woman. I failed to find the right "Drysmoke" tobacco pipe stand, the same for the "Sun Glasses" stand with the "hanging" sun glasses.
To anwser dat hippie's question- even domestic radios of the 1920s-30s needed external antennas to hear anything beyond a few local stations. I notice many of them in Shorpy photos of that era. As a boy in the 1950s I saw some on older houses before they were removed and replaced with antennas for that new thing called television.
Only coming out of one window, shortwave radio antenna?
Love the tag line on the Jeri's hair tonic ad...
'There is romance in the hair'!
Good grief. This neighborhood seriously needs some girls.
Looks as though the bakery (at 265) is long gone, but there's now a fish market at 263.
As for the faded wall signage on the grocery store, it's been there so long that nobody needs reminding as to the nature of the enterprise.
Nice selection of non-edible smalls in the display window under the awning!
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