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Friday, March 20, 2015

1936: E. STATE STREET HEADING TO BROAD STREET

This zoomed in photo gives the viewer the feeling that he or she had better get out of the middle of the street. The cars in these photos are completely fascinating as we see them as they were during their "prime." Once again, the signage and dark shadows have been tweaked in order to bring out the fullest legibility. I leave it to our auto expert Ray Paskiewicz to identify that car in the center of the photo with the two piece front bumper. He will also be able to identify most of those in the photo that are visible enough to identify.

2 comments:

SJBill said...

Didn't both Public Service and Bell Telephone have a cashier's windows where you paid your monthly bill in person? This meant a downtown trip and enduring long lines just to pay your bills. The same was true with banks. In the late 60s, I had my first job in Hopewell at Western Electric, and had to come all the way into Trenton on my lunch hour to cash my paycheck and to make my car loan payment. Life wasn't too convenient back then, was it?

rayfromvillapark said...

Hi Tom, The reason I love this photo(you have published a larger panoramic view of this scene in the past), is the fact that it shows the location of the Auburn-Cord dealership, to the left, just past the church`. This building may have become Bill's Hobby Shop, in later years. Auburn-Cord went out of business in late 1937. Also, to the right, just beyond the Consumer's Ice Cream sign, is Brock Buick's showroom. Later, bought out by Reese Buick, and then bought by Coleman Buick in 1957. They left downtown for Spruce St., shortly thereafter, As far as the cars in the photo (I think only you and I really care), the car traveling west, is a new 1936 Chevrolet, possibly a Standard model, because of the single tail light. Coming East, is a 1932 Chevrolet. The parked car in the right foreground is a 1931 Buick, just ahead, a 1934 Ford. To the left, another 1933-34 Ford, then a 1934 Master, or 1935 Standard Chevrolet, with a Ford Model A behind it. The car double parked on the left is a new 1936 Buick Convertible with sidemounts, and the car with the double front bumper, is a 1934 Graham.
I remember going downtown with my grandmother to pay the telephone and electric bill. No lines that I can recall, but friendly cashiers, who seemed to know her. Really loved Bill's Hobby Shop. Left a lot of my meager earnings there, as a kid, buying model kits and promotionals. rayfromvillapark