Irvington, New Jersey.
Madison, Indiana.
Carrollton, Illinois.
Monticello, New York.
Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Pomona, California.
Charlotte, North Carolina.
Spokane, Washington.
La Grande, Oregon.
Helena, Montana.
Silverton, Colorado.
Williams, Arizona.
Oneonta, New York.
Meridian, Mississippi.
The Spokane picture is ’59 or ’60. Downtown looked very similar when I first moved here in 1990. Same Lerners, Crescent with the clock, same buses. Everything started changing after that, and it looks much different now.
Yellow Checker cabs are not a vehicle I associate with Helena, Montana…
I like the ’62 Rambler in the last pic; I know it’s derided as nerdy and past its prime, but I find it a clean design, especially considering the body dates back to 1956 and was (imo) quite unattractive in its earlier years. Except for the reverse C pillar, all remnants of ’50s styling motifs had been successfully removed by ’62.
I enjoy these main street postcards since they’re a reflection of an earlier era, when travelers could pick one of these up at a gas station or drug store and mail them to family or friends to show where they’ve been.
Usually they were produced by a local Chamber of Commerce, which tried to select a vibrant or interesting block to highlight.
The one hear that I find curious is Williams, Arizona, where the most prominent business on the postcard is a liquor store. Not quite the kind of postcard you’d want to send to grandma.
I’ve known a few ‘grandma’s” who might a felt different.
No convertibles in “Pomona”? Ok, then.
Anyone else clock the Railway Express truck in La Grande, OR? I remember getting parcels delivered by them.
I spent a few days on and off in Silverton last summer. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture on Greene St (still the only paved street in town) in that location, but of course the automotive streetscape is quite different now. The Sprinter vans and Jeeps and 4Runners outnumber sedans by a huge margin. And though I saw some nice CC’s and even posted a few here as Outtakes, there were no Corvairs. The mountain overlooking the town is unchanged.
That is Irvington, NJ – not “Irvinton”.
I’ve never been there but know the name well because it was home to the fantastic Lionel electric model trains.
I was pretty sure I had typed that right last night. It’s fixed now. Thanks.
When I was in Silverton in 1979 the mountain was snow covered it was also chilly, maybe 60° and it was July!
I bet Charlotte’s downtown looks a lot different now vs the old photo! I checked and the population in 1950 was 134k.. Even back then, for a city of that size I’d think there would be more and bigger bldgs. Maybe they were on another street.
Last year I went back to Pomona, Ca., that downtown is still there but it’s moribund .
Wasn’t much better when I bought my first house on White Av., Pomona in 1979.
-Nate
Oneonta, New York, is about 75 miles southwest of me, and I have been there numerous times in recent years. But I’ve never had occasion to visit their downtown area: everything seems to be “on the outskirts”, especially since I-88 was put through in the 1970s, connecting the Schenectady area to Binghamton, replacing Rt. #7 as the main road that went through every downtown along that way. I’ll have to check out their downtown, the next time I’m in Oneonta.