the world's fair in new york city, 1964

The Statue of Liberty, 1964.

1964 World's Fair in New York City.

The Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit at the World's Fair, 1964.

New York City.

View of the Chrysler Building from the Empire State Building.

New York City from below the Brooklyn Bridge, 1964. If you'd like to see the above photo in the 21st century, check out this shot. Looks a little different, huh?

These photos were taken by my great-grandmother during her trip to the New York World's Fair in 1964. More than 51 million people attended the Fair, which was a showcase of mid-century American culture and technology. I have more photos of the Fair itself, so I'll try to share those soon. I liked these because they showed some great views of New York City.

To go along with these images, I found this blog post about the World Trade Center that was written in Poplar Science in April 1964. 

Happy 4th of July!

america the beautiful

It seemed fitting to focus on some of America's natural wonders this week in honor of its birthday. Here are some photos taken in the Yellowstone National Park area in 1964. Some or all of them are souvenir slides, which explains the random strangers featured in them! Enjoy....

We live in such a beautiful country. It makes me proud to be an American. 

family stories: clyde and his friends

I love this group photo of my great-grandfather Clyde L. Stroup (third from right on the second row) and his fellow Cleveland and Nottingham Equipment Works Supervisors Club members. It was taken a few days after Joan's 12th birthday (the one where she received the piano I mentioned earlier this week). 

We have plans to hang this photo in our powder room along with several other vintage group photos of various family members and their coworkers and friends. It should be cool! 

details of the time

Part of the fun of old photos is studying the details of the time -- the clothes, hairstyles and settings. Even the expressions on the subjects' faces add to the story! These little details keep the history of a family, time and place alive. It is an honor for us to preserve them for future generations to enjoy.

The top two photos are of Jonathan's great-grandmother Eliza and her family, and the bottom photos are of Eliza's daughters -- Linda and Sadie, Martha and Sadie, and Linda, Sadie, Martha, Olivene, Lois and Cass. They are pictured with Eliza's husband and their father, Clovis Yates. 

You might notice that the top photograph has some spots and a tear in it. I personally find decaying photographs to be quite beautiful, but as a preservationist, I scan the original image and save two copies -- one in its lovely original state and one that I've restored. The photo below gives an example of how a restored photo can look. This is a pretty simple restoration -- I didn't remove every little imperfection -- I just cleaned up the big spots and fixed the tear. If you have questions about photo preservation and restoration, feel free to contact me directly or leave a comment below!