Today’s tour through vintage images will be thanks to postcards of American main streets and downtowns. Before the era of big-box stores, sprawling shopping centers, and endless suburban development, these were the places where much of everyday life happened. They’re snapshots of mid-century life; busy streets, neon signs, department stores, theaters, hotels, and, of course, plenty of period cars fill these scenes. Some of these downtowns remain familiar, while others have changed almost beyond recognition, which makes these postcards a wonderful time capsule of life as it once was.
On this visit to the past, our opening image is at Gaylord, Michigan.
Madison, Indiana.
Grand Lake, Colorado.
Waynesboro, Virginia.
Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Fort Worth, Texas.
Abingdon, Virginia.
Virginia City, Montana.
Olean, New York.
Gardiner, Montana.
Arco, Idaho.
Billings, Montana.
Laurinburgh, North Carolina.
Elkhorn, Wisconsin.
Times have changed. I remember getting dressed up to go downtown and we made a day of it, shopping, lunch, and a movie. Used to go to Madison Indiana on weekends, as it is a river city, they have a lot of unique houses that are open for tour.
“Doc Zhivago” in “Elkhorn WI”!!! Man that’s a long, long, long, flick!!!
Believe it is Sprague theater went to many many movies there as a kid
Wow, most excellent pictures here .
I used to go to school a few blocks left of Harvard Square in the late 50’s ~ early 1960’s and remember this exactly .
-Nate
Nice 356 in VA. I need to see where that is exactly, as it seems like a bit of an anomaly to be there.
Waynesboro, 15 miles east of the I81xI64 interchange.
In case anyone’s interested, the photo of Harvard Square seems to be taken from the Abbot Building at 5 JFK Street. In particular, perhaps the 3rd floor window that looks out over the square and is otherwise known (well after this photo was taken) as the offices of Dewey, Cheetham & Howe of Car Talk fame. 🙂
Loved Car Talk!
I live between Waynesboro Va and Abington Va
My town of Floyd still looks like these towns!
The small car at the rear of the VW Beetle and in front of Ford pick-up truck in Billings MT, is it a Ford (Mercury) Capri?
Spot on, Stéphane. It’s a 1st generation Ford Capri.
Thank you. Really good to see what I remember, downtown being vibrant.
You’ve go a minor typo, Olean New York is captioned Oleon. I’ve heard of it because it was well known for ceramic tile production, and I knew somebody in college from Olean.
Thanks for that. It’s updated now.
Would not want to be in “GL, CO”, or “VC, MT” when it’s raining.
Madison, Indiana:
Left hand side of photo is the bill board for Dana Andrews and the movie Comanche released March 1956.
Waynesboro, Virginia:
Bottom right hand side of photo. Looks to be a Porsche 356 convertible. Several colleges in the immediate area which may account for the drop top.
I remember in the late 1960s when the Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin was the prime location of the city’s shopping. Manchester’s, Wolff Kubly & Hirsig, the Badger Candy Kitchen, many more… all on the Square, all locally owned, and all open on Thursday until 8pm! As an added attraction, when you looked around you didn’t see acres of parking; instead you saw Wisconsin’s excellent Capitol building.
Is that a red Packard taxi at Harvard Square??
I never heard of a Packard taxi.. But that style looks like an old yellow and black checker cab to me ..
I always remark how much I appreciate pictures of Americana. Thank you. Looking at Virginia City, Montana, was there a Pontiac dealership in town? Or perhaps a member of the church owned the Pontiac dealership in Billings? Growing up in New York City, it was refreshing to visit small towns and cities and see life on the simpler side and sweeter, too.
I noticed that your town pictures are of small towns!! My home town Elyria Ohio or any small towns in Ohio are rarely mentioned!!