I recently found this snapshot of the defending champion 1991 Detroit Police Department tug-of-war team opening the Detroit-Windsor International Freedom Festival with a tug-of-war match-up against a team in Windsor. That's right: that rope is stretching across the Detroit River and the other end is presumably held by mounties. In uniform. Because picturing these incredibly muscular fellows battling uniformed mounties in an international tug-of-war competition where the losers topple into one of the world's busiest shipping lanes is something that will brighten this day and many more to come.

I wonder if there are any ringers in that lineup, because I don't know if a standard-issue police uniform would actually fit over those guns. I'm talking about you, Patriotic Headband and guy behind you. I know you want to believe that some shiny mountie boots ended up in the water that day, but sadly in 1991 Canada prevailed for the first time and pulled that 1,000-foot rope across the river the fastest.

Apparently there is a long, proud history of the Detroit Police Department tug-of-war team. Here is a team photo I found online:

Here is a blurb about the team from the August 30, 1954 issue of Sports Illustrated (back when SI covered topics like municipal police force tug-of-war competitions). 

"TUG OF WAR pit two tons of the Detroit Police Dept. at the opposite ends of a rope at the University of Detroit Stadium to warm up for their part in the 28th annual Detroit vs. Toronto police track and field games. Average weight of the 17 patrolmen practicing above is 260 pounds, not counting Coach Norman McCorry (center), no lightweight himself. During the actual meet, a few days after this picture was taken, close to a ton (seven) of the husky Detroiters heaved slightly to tug Toronto police off their feet in two tests. The first required 19 seconds, the second 21.1 seconds. It was the 14th time in 14 years that Detroit has won the annual tug of war. Some 14,000 spectators watched the event.

14,000 people went to watch a tug-of-war match against the mounties in 1954? That's basically how many people file into the Rogers Centre on an average night to watch the Blue Jays. Look at these crowds:

And this Jam Handy video has some archival footage of a team from that era in action.



Maybe the winners got to play back-alley bocce ball with Miss Toronto?

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

Consider how crazy it is that there was once a time when simply wearing blue jeans made you a rebel. Forget crazy hair and piercings, back then all you needed were a pair of raw denim Levis, rolled-up t-shirt sleeves, and enough coin for a couple root beer floats and you were totally getting necked in the back of your dad's Chrysler Saratoga.

These days your boss buys blue jeans at JC Penney specifically for casual Friday.

[I found this old photograph at a local bookstore. It was taken July 20, 1954 by a newspaper photographer and the notes suggest it was for a story about teenagers and the "new trend" of wearing blue jeans to school. Blue jeans were controversial that year, after an army colonel on a base in Frankfurt, Germany banned military wives from wearing blue jeans, claiming they reflected poorly on the United States. Four years later Levi's would be chosen as a highlight of the American Pavilion at the World's Fair in Belgium.

The young lady in this photo (Miss Pauline Goodrich, 18, of Alanson, Michigan) was wearing men's jeans with her man (Louis Milot, 16) when they were spotted on the street in Milot's hometown of Wyandotte, Michigan.

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

When you're tossing back a cold one with your buddies in the man cave, wearing an over-sized football jersey and adidas sandals while watching the game on your 52" jumbotron sitting on your reclining leather sofa, just remember the look on the guy in the front's face, and consider how badly he'd like to return from the grave to kick your lazy ass.

[original photo found in northern Michigan antique store, no markings]

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

Dear Guy Down the Street With the "Art Car" Covered in Toys,

Forty-two years ago, a guy named Bill Deputy (right) started collecting hair clippings from Seattle barbor shops and figured out a way to attach them to a Ford belonging to his friend Don Hiltbruner (left). "The clippings are attached to the car with an undercoating, then trimmed to uniformity. After completely covering the car, shellac will be added and the surface polished." It looks like Robin William's forearm and you can drag race it. Now that is an art car.

Also, Bill and Don dressed better than you, had better tattoos, and way better hair.

Sincerely,

   Jim (the guy with the shoddily-built covered wagon)

[found photograph, originally taken 9/10/1969 for the Seattle Post Intelligencer]

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

L-R: Rosemary Matteson, Lucille LeBeau, Helen Devlin, Barbara Canuana, and Dorothy Bates. I wouldn't mess with any of them if I were you (unless you're looking for a broken nose).

This was another John King find (almost as good as the last one). The original photograph was taken by Detroit News Staff Photographer H. Burgert on August 7, 1950. With the women's names and Detroit street addresses, it was simply marked "women taxi drivers."  

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

I can't remember where I found this original photo. I think it was at John King Books. The photo is dated November 8, 1953, and there are notes on the back: One of the techniques of Horrible Records is to record against background noises. Tony Burrello (right) and Tom Murray wrote a song for Leonna Anderson, who sings against competition of pneumatic drill. I think it's a Detroit News archive photo.

There's not much online about "Horrible Records," but not that long ago a guy was selling the actual 78 from this session on eBay. Tony Burrello seems to have had a career as a novelty musician with some minor successes. Leonna Anderson recorded an album called Music to Suffer By and it's widely available on vinyl and even available as mp3s (my favorite song: "Limburger Lover").

This is one of my most beloved original photographs. I love the dude from the "public service" utility leaning up against the car who's all, "Jeez, would you take a look at these f&^%ing hep cats?"

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

Found here:

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

I am finally getting around to scanning some of the photos I've found at illegal dump sites like this one. Some of the pictures people have thrown away are just so incredible, but this is definitely one of my favorites. It comes from an album/scrapbook kept by a girl in the 1920s when she was a student at the University of Kansas. It shows a huge group of college kids dressed up like hobos. Most of the pictures I've seen like this one have people in blackface, but I don't think this one does. Once I scanned the relatively small image, I was able to zoom in and really appreciate how cool these kids were:

It's pretty unlikely that any of these kids are still alive, but just look at how alive they were:

I'm pretty sure I partied with this guy's grandson in college:

I've got hundreds more of these found photographs scanned, and some of the best are from this album. I may share them on flickr, or start a tumblr for them. Stay tuned.

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

Luther J. Wallace died on June 4th of this year at the age of 96. I was able to find his death notice, but the Detroit funeral home did not post any bio or obituary. Apparently, after he died there was an estate sale and an eBay seller went and found an old scrapbook that Luther (or someone on his behalf) put together back when he was a young man in the 1930s. Joey at the always-excellent blog Anonymous Works took notice and posted about the notebook with a link to the eBay auction. I was in the bidding for much more than I thought I'd be, but ultimately lost after the bidding went above $200. Fortunately, it is possible to save screenshots of the auction photos and share those even though I wasn't able to obtain the full album, which seems to chronicle Mr. Wallace's career during the mid-1930s as a gentleman of leisure, or, at the very least, a consummate ladies man:

One of my favorite things about eBay is that incredible stuff like this gets posted to learn from and enjoy (even if you don't win the auction), but it's pretty messed up that it disappears after 30 or 60 days or whatever it is.

I understand server space is an issue when dealing with such a massive enterprise, but it seems crazy that eBay deletes item descriptions and photos so quickly after an auction ends. It seems that certain categories of eBay take on an archival nature by default: the antique photo and art categories, as well as the ephemera and antique advertising categories and countless others. You have all these individuals scouring estate sales and musty shops for unique items, documenting and submitting them to a central archive, curating lost treasures in a way, but all that "work" essentially disappears after a few months. eBay ought to archive and save old auctions from these types of categories, if you ask me.

If the buyer of this item ever sees this, I would love to see any other photos among the 141 that were in the scrapbook, and would give you full credit for helping tell more of Mr. Wallace's story here if you could send me some scans. If anyone finds this who knew or is related to Mr. Wallace, I'd love to know more about his life and share it here. In the end I am left thinking about that old man who died here in Detroit a few weeks ago, how he lived 96 years and kept this scrapbook full of reminders of the pleasures of youth all those years and left it for someone to find after he died. I figured out where he lived and went and took a picture of his house, one of those lonely Detroit houses with more pheasants nearby than people:

I can almost picture him there like any of the old men I see on their porches or out in their lovely lawns in the warm Detroit dusk. There is something quite life-affirming and inspiring to think that any of the octogenarians you pass might be hiding histories as young, sophisticated gentlemen of leisure deep in their past.


Source: eBay seller Workindogg (via Anonymous Works)

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This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.