Vintage Photos Of Everyday Street Scenes In 1950s & 1960s America

Text by Patrick Bell.

Today we are featuring some more photos from the Dave Gelinas Collection.  He did a great job of gathering images of real life, so let’s see where they take us this time.

Our lead image was taken at the intersection of Broadway and Central Avenue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and shows a Shriner posing with a 1957 Mercury Montclair Phaeton Sedan (4-door hardtop) with the Flo-Tone paint scheme, a full clothes rack in the back seat, and a 1958 Tennessee license plate issued in Shelby County (the home of Memphis).  Parked behind it was a 1958 Pontiac Catalina Coupe (2-door hardtop), although it is difficult to determine the trim level; my best guess is the entry-level Chieftain because it appears to have three stars on the quarter panel.  It also had a clothes rack in the back.  Rounding the corner looks like a Vespa Scooter, and to the left parked on the side street was a sweet-looking white 1956 Plymouth Fury 2-door hardtop, which was its first year.

Next, we are downtown somewhere (perhaps in New York, considering the Knickerbocker shop across the street), with a row of Buicks at the curb.  There were no parking meters, so you could stay as long as you liked.  From the right, we see a red over white 1954 Special 2-door Riviera (hardtop), a sharp black over red 1952 Special or Super 2-door Riviera, and a black 1949 Estate Wagon that could have been on either the Super or Roadmaster series.  Further down, beyond the fireplug, was a 1953 Ford.

Ballston Spa, New York, was the location of this 1957 image.  We are looking down Front Street from Milton Avenue.  To the left, just beyond the edge of the frame, was a Post Office, and I do see a parking meter out front.  A white over black 1950 Dodge was parked at the curb, with a white over green 1953 Dodge backing in or pulling out behind it.  Driving away was a black 1941-1947 Pontiac Sedan Coupe, and nosed in on the right side were two 1952-1954 Fords, gray and white, and blue six-cylinder 1957 Chevrolet.  Further back was a six-cylinder 1956 Plymouth Plaza or Savoy 4-door sedan.

The green and brown building in the background of this photo is Tarlson’s Arcade in Laconia, New Hampshire.  Parked on the left were, from the left, a 1942 Dodge, a 1946-1948 Plymouth, a gray 1950 Studebaker Champion 4-door sedan, a black 1946 Chevrolet, a maroon 1950-1952 Nash Rambler Custom Convertible Sedan, a two-tone 1947 Chevrolet, and a black 1946-1948 Oldsmobile.

Let’s move on to Providence, Rhode Island, at the corner of Abbott Street and North Main Street.  If you squint, you can see the Capitol dome in the far distance, above the trees to the right of the power pole.  In more recent images, all that remains of this area are the power pole, curb and sidewalk, and storm drain with manhole cover.  A man was looking out the door of Kavanaugh’s Pioneer Tap, and a family was posing in front of the building.  There were many businesses down the street, including a small car lot next door.  The only car I can see well enough to ID really needs none: the two-tone 1955 Chevrolet Two-Ten 4-door wagon parked in front of Kavanaugh’s.

This location is Houston, Missouri, the 200 block of S. Grand Avenue.  In the right lower corner of the frame was part of a 1950 Buick Jetback coupe or sedan, which could have been any of the three series.  On the left side were two 1956 Buicks, a Special 4-door Riviera and a Roadmaster 4-door sedan.  Next to the Roadmaster were a 1954 DeSoto Fire Dome 4-door sedan and a green 1949 or 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline.  The black license plates were Missouri-issue.

We are now in South Lake Tahoe, California, across the road from the Bijou Center, which is still in existence.  In the foreground was a 1956 Buick Century 4-door Riviera, followed by two Ford Country Sedan station wagons, a 1956 and a 1957.  The grey car on the far end looks like a 1953 Plymouth.

This was a Standard or Chevron service station in an unknown location, where some travelers in a 1955 Pontiac 870 (two seat) or 860 (three seat) 4-door station wagon were getting the treatment.  Two attendants were on the job; one was filling the tank while the other was washing the windshield.  The wagon had a load in the roof rack and perhaps a dealer tag where the front license plate mounted.

Here we have another business strip along a highway.  On the right is a sign for the Lakeshore Court Motel, and on the left was Earl’s Hardware/J.R. Earl & Son, which was located in Lake George, a small town in Warren County, New York.  Earl’s was a GE appliance store and a Ford dealership.  There was a Shell station next door.  Despite the Ford dealership, there were a surprising number of Mercurys in this shot. Parked in front of Earl’s was a 1958 Medalist 2-door sedan, the entry-level model.  Further down the street was a red 1958 Ford F-series truck, perhaps a 350 with a stake bed.  Behind it was a 1956 Mercury, and there was another 1956 Mercury on the road heading away.

This blue 1955 Buick Special convertible was being used as a wedding getaway car, with the bride and groom in the back seat and some of the wedding party standing on the sidewalk.  The location was Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street in Toronto, Ontario; the lettering on the building on the corner behind the Buick reads “The Bank of Nova Scotia.”  The white car turning the corner in the background was a 1951 Chevrolet.

It is time to take a break at the Lobster Pound Restaurant in Lincolnville, Maine.  The building remains as a gift shop, but the restaurant closed in 2023.  The two cars parked nearest the “Dining Room” sign were a white 1957 Buick Special 4-door Riviera with which might have been a Virginia license plate, and a 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne or Bel Air with a Massachusetts license plate.  The car at the right of the frame was a 1955 Oldsmobile 88, while the darker one on the opposite edge might have been a 1961 or 1962 Cadillac.

Continuing the East Coast theme, let’s see what was going on at the Hampton Beach Casino in New Hampshire.  A two-tone 1955 Buick Special 4-door Riviera with several passengers was passing by, with a 1951 Ford Custom Fordor Sedan following close behind.  In the background, a white 1959 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Holiday Sport Sedan (4-door hardtop) was occupying the inside lane.

Howard Johnson’s restaurants were a familiar fixture along American roadways in the postwar era.  At their height in the mid-1970s, there were more than 1,000 in operation.  The location for this one is unknown, but the time period was the early 1960s.  The car in the center was a two-tone 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, while at the right edge of the frame you can see the left taillight of a 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air.  There were plenty of oil stains in the parking lot.

Now we are at an Oldsmobile/Triumph dealer and Esso station in small town, somewhere.  The road out front had double stripes, which meant it was a highway.  I can’t make out the business name on the neon sign (“XXXXer Oldsmobile Inc.”), but the dealership also had a Triumph franchise — the Triumph sign says “Sports Cars / Sedans.”  There were about 550 Triumph dealerships in the U.S. at this time, and quite a few were “dualed” with US makes.  The black car on the far right was a black 1964 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight convertible, maybe the boss’s car.  Next to it were a Jeep CJ-5, a 1957-1960 Ford F-100 Styleside pickup truck with a short bed, a 1959 Buick Le-Sabre or Invicta 4-door hardtop, a 1963 Chevrolet Bel-Air 4-door sedan, and a two-tone 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 or Super 88 Holiday Sedan.  Parked on the road nearer the Esso sign was a early 1960s Jeep Pickup with a one-piece windshield and a dark red hood.

The locale for our closing shot today is North Market Street in Boston, with Carroll & Liley Ye Olde Sharpening Shop and M & G Beef Co.  Parked out front were a black 1960 Oldsmobile 4-door Celebrity Sedan, which could have been any of the three series; a white 1963 Rambler Classic 660 4-door sedan; a sharp 1963 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe with what might have been a 1965-issue Virginia license plate; and a white 1960-1962 Comet or Ford Falcon four-door station wagon.  From this angle, I can’t identify the two-tone gray-and white car nearest the camera.

Thanks for joining us and have a great day!

 

 

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