Sunday, April 3, 2011

The 1950s and 60s

I grew up in the 1950 and 60s and remember well the cars of this period we no longer see. I particularly like street scenes with the cars of this era parked or driving by. There are some brlliant pictures on the net if you do some searching. If anyone has any photos of their own please forward them and I will publish them, crediting  the photographer of course.

This one is from a site about Folsom in California. A '56 Chevy has just cut-off a pedestrian as a '57 follows it. As well as lots of other goodies in the background.

This one is from a postcard of Frankfort Kentucky.

My favourite. I got this off the net some time ago and now don't seem to be able to find it again. I'm fairly sure it is the main st. of  Hazard Kentucky. Click on it to enlarge and there is an absolute treasure trove of American 50s cars. There are also a few advertising hoardings which will be familiar to Kiwis...Coca Cola and B.F.Goodrich, to name two.

This one was taken with my father's camera sometime in the 60s. I'm not sure if I took it (being the car buff in the family) or whether my Dad took it, because being from rural NZ it may have been the first time we had seen a parking building. It is of Farmers parking building in Auckland.


If you are in to photos of cars of the 50s and 60s this book by John Gunnell is worth having on your book shelf. It is a collection of photos from the camera of the late Rodman Bingham who was a commercial photographer who spent a lot of his day listening to an emergency services scanner, then racing to the scene of accidents to get the best photo. All photos are very sharp, but be warned it could break your heart. Not because of any gory scenes (there are none), but because of the sight of some mangled wrecks which would be collector's items today......


.....like this 1949 Custom convertible V8, which could bring a Ford fan to tears.
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