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Year: 2010 (page 17 of 46)

The Photography of Darius Kinsey

During the early history of Washington state, a man by the name of Darius Kinsey built a successful career and business out of taking pictures of wild scenery and the settlers and loggers who came to conquer it. His wife, Tabitha Kinsey would help him process the plates at home.

From the inside cover of Kinsey Photographer by Dave Bohn and Rodolfo Petschek:

The photographs of Darius Kinsey, taken at the turn of the century, provide our most vivid and moving record of the dawning of the Pacific Northwest. Working with his wife Tabitha, Kinsey set out to capture the rugged beauty of the landscape and grit and humanity of its pioneers, men and women engaged in carving out lives on the frontier, just as they carved through the lumber that provided their livelihood.

Most amazing are the pictures showing the massive trees that once covered the western portion of state, many of which were large enough to build homes inside of them (and some were, as shown in a few pictures inside the book).

Update: It turns out most of the photography collection is available online thanks to the University of Washington. Go check it out.

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kinsey_photo_02_s Read more

Seafair

Seattle’s Seafair festival has kicked off today and the PI has put up pictures from its archive showing off some history of the annual event, pirates included. The Torchlight Parade takes place tonight, and the air show and hydroplane races start next week.

“The 1950 P-I caption read: Stan Sayres’ Slo Mo Shun IV was put in to water Monday after a thorough going-over. In this photo, Anchor Jensen sits at the controls while Sayres looks on during motor tuneups at Jensen plant, Portage Bay.”

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“Seafair Pirates burn two of King Neptune’s boats, a 136 former Navy ship and a 100-foot fishing tug to mark the end of the 1953 festival.”

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“Sailors aboard the USS New Jersey at Pier 66, Seafair 1989.”

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Related post: The Hydroplane Boats of Seafair

More Vintage Watches

I don’t know where he sources them from, but this seller on ebay always has the most interesting selection of late 19th to early 20th century watches. What kind of men owned these? I could picture the Longines with the elaborate casing being worn by a respectable gentleman, and maybe the Rolex being used by a young adventure seeking racer in the Grand Prix.

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Related Post: Vintage Pocket Watches

Keep It Under Your Stetson

Under a “Keep it under your Stetson” campaign, the company created a number of ads during World War 2 that were very much in line with other slogans used at the time: “Let’s bring him home quicker!”, “Loose Talk Can Cost Lives!”, “Idle Words Make Busy Subs!”. They also offered a number of “freedom” inspired models for both men and women.

stetson_eagle_ad_s Read more

Gurkha Shorts

It was surprising to see gurkha shorts in one of the pictures that the Sartorialist posted this morning, with which those sunglasses and boat neck shirt would not have been out of place in something like an Apparel Arts illustration. I don’t care for the style myself, but their history is somewhat interesting and is another example of military clothing that made its way into mainstream fashion.

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They enjoyed some popularity in the United States during the 1980’s, and even Banana Republic once sold them. Now they are a bit more difficult to find.

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IBM and the Hundred Percent Club

From LIFE, circa 1947. IBM launched the Hundred Percent Club during the 1920’s as a way to reward its top salesmen and the program is still in place today (though I can say that the salesmen today no longer dress as nicely). Continue reading more.

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Related post: IBM in 1962

Fathers of Invention

I just came across this ad for Bell Labs from 1969. Two things struck me about it: one, apparently there was a time where science was mainstream (this would have been during the peak of the Apollo Program) and two, that scientists once had some style.

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Click on the image to see the full version.

Anchor Socks

The only critters I wear are on my socks. I couldn’t find an online retailer for these Punto socks that I picked up locally, but Brooks Brothers currently has some with similar anchor motifs on sale (including a pair with lobsters, and for fall, ducks and fly ties).

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Black Antique Polished Shoes

Will over on A Suitable Wardrobe recently wrote about a pair of black shoes from W.S. Foster and Son with an unusual finishing and it made me to start wonder how I might be able to achieve something similar. Maybe I could apply some light applications of Acetone to achieve some contrast and then go back over it with layers of wax polish? I’ll start experimenting with different methods as soon as I find a cheap pair of shoes to test them out on.

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I missed out on the pair above in a recent Yoox sale, but it gives me a good idea of what I’d like to attempt. It’s only too bad that it’s hard to find true balmorals these days.

The Andover Shop

Scans from the All About USA 2009 issue.

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