Vintage roadside

[Fading Fast]

Gotham is Batman's NYC and Metropolis is Superman's - I wonder why (Lizzie to insert answer here) they both felt the need to use fictitious cities when it is obvious who stands behind the surrogate.

 

[LizzieMaine]

They probably just wanted the freedom to depart from the actual geography of the city when it suited their story. While Bob Kane was a native New Yorker, and presumably knew his way around, Siegel and Shuster were from Cleveland, and had no more knowledge of New York than they did the dark side of the moon. Interestingly, in at least one early Superman story, Clark Kent submits his news story to a specific Cleveland paper.

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^Thank you. Nothing new here in my post, but while both are NYC surrogates, Superman's is an optimistic, positive view and Batman's is dark and dystopic. Living here, you can see and feel both on any given day.

I've been watching the early 1940s Batman movie shorts (shown in movie theatre weekly as a series) with Lewis Wilson as Batman and the city plays a much smaller role and has yet to take on its foreboding vibe. Also, they don't really have a Batmobile yet, just a standard 1940s car to drive - it's amazing how much you miss that car.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I've been watching the early 1940s Batman movie shorts (shown in movie theatre weekly as a series) with Lewis Wilson as Batman and the city plays a much smaller role and has yet to take on its foreboding vibe...

Sadly, the city as seen in both the 1943 and 1949 serials never does take on that vibe; it's a setting (actually various settings) for the action, and nothing more.

...Also, they don't really have a Batmobile yet, just a standard 1940s car to drive - it's amazing how much you miss that car.

Technically they do, but the "Batmobiles" used in the serials aren't stylized as they would become in the comics and subsequent live action productions. In both serials they used convertibles--a 1939 Cadillac Fleetwood "Series 75" in the '43 serial, and a 1949 Mercury in the '49 serial. If the top was down, it was Bruce Wayne's daily driver; if the top was up, it was the Batmobile.

 

[Matt Crunk]

My girlfriend and I went driving around downtown Indianapolis Christmas night and again stopped by the Sanitary Diner to take some night shots of the signage. For those who didn't see my previous post, it's a Golden-Age classic built in 1934 and originally located in New Jersey. It was fully restored a few years ago and moved onto the Angie's List complex near downtown Indy, where it serves as a coffee bar for Angie's List employees. Due to lack or restroom facilities it is not open to the public. Thankfully, the owner, Jared Price (pictured bottom right), saw us outside taking photos and invited us in to have a look around, and was more than happy to tell us all about the history of the place. A very cool visit indeed.

 

[dh66]

Way cool, Matt!

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[1mach1]

Great photos, Matt. Looks like a cool place.

 

[1mach1]

Shockoe Bottom. Richmond, VA

 

[1mach1]

Built in 1901, Main Street Station in Richmond is still in service.

 

[Fading Fast]

1mach1, that reminds me a bit of the train station in the city I grew up in New Brunswick, NJ. It was built in 1903.

Not too many years after it was opened:


And give or take the 1980s when I went to college at Rutgers right around the corner

 

[Sharpsburg]

I feel inspired to keep a camera in the car just to take some vintage shots! Not much left around Hagerstown, tho.

 

[1mach1]

1mach1, that reminds me a bit of the train station in the city I grew up in New Brunswick, NJ. It was built in 1903.

Not too many years after it was opened:


And give or take the 1980s when I went to college at Rutgers right around the corner

Very cool, FF. I have been through that station before! You are right, they have a similar look for sure. It is sad that a lot of the small town stations have been demolished.

 

[Fading Fast]

Very cool, FF. I have been through that station before! You are right, they have a similar look for sure. It is sad that a lot of the small town stations have been demolished.

I love that you've been through it. It is very well designed and you can tell it was a big deal when it was built. When I lived there, went to college there and then started commuting daily into NYC after college from there, I used that station all the time and in those years - the '70s and '80s - it was completely run down inside, but you could, with a Fedora Lounge eye, still see its beauty.

My quick Google search and read says it is on some State and Federal historic list of stations, so hopefully, that provides its some protection, but who knows. Also, I have to image the inside has been restored (there's enough Rutgers University and Johnson and Johnson money in that town) or, by now, it would have fallen down as it was wobbly thirty years ago.

 

[Bamaboots]

Here's a sign out in front of the place that started my downfall into cowboy boots and western wear. Still in business after close to fifty years.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Here's a sign out in front of the place that started my downfall into cowboy boots and western wear. Still in business after close to fifty years.
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Hey, I know that place. Been by it many times but never went in.

 

[Bamaboots]

Hey, I know that place. Been by it many times but never went in.

Hey, Matt. I grew up about a mile from the place and started visiting there in my early teens.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Hey, Matt. I grew up about a mile from the place and started visiting there in my early teens.

I grew up in the Shoals area, but have lived all over northern Alabama. Huntsville was the last place I lived before moving to Indy a few months ago. However, I always did most of my western shopping in Nashville or online.

 

[dh66]

I've been to J.R.s a time or two, but it has been many years since. I dig the giant boot sign.

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[BobHufford]

This property in Springfield, Missouri has been maintained quite nicely over time. I do miss the former Sycamore Inn restaurant that used to be on the site next to the pool. The long-time neon sign was taken down in 1994 due to being a bit unstable in the wind. They recently put up a smaller replica version. The city also put up a replica "Springfield" sign that was destroyed back in the early 1950s.

 

[1mach1]

Awesome pics, Bob!!!