Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Return to Country Stores in Central Mississippi and Louisiana

Introduction

Years ago, rural residents depended on a country store that was close enough to reach on foot, wagon, or horse. These stores provided for most of their needs, such as groceries, seed, tools, sewing supplies, and hardware items. Today, most have closed and people drive to the supermarket or Walmart. We have lost part of our 19th and 20th century cultural background. Here are some country stores in central Mississippi and one in Louisiana. I have photographed some of them before but wanted to revisit them and see some new ones.  


Florence



Most of the scenery along Hwy 49 between Jackson and Hattiesburg is boring strip mall Americana, very uninspiring. But a few traditional stores linger in dilapidated strip malls like this one in Florence.  


D'Lo



D'Lo is a small town a short distance off Hwy 49 southeast of Jackson. It is mostly known for the water park, but there is an old commercial strip downtown. Most of the stores are closed.


Satartia




Satartia is a village off MS Route 3 between Vicksburg and Yazoo City. The last time I photographed the little store in Satartia, a fluorescent light was on inside, but I did not see any commercial activity. This is a 4×5" Tri-X frame taken with a 135mm Schneider Xenar lens.


Utica



This is the Harris Carmichael store on Hwy 27. The building is in good condition but I do not know when the business closed.


Edwards




This is the Morning Star Store on Old Port Gibson Road at the junction of Adams Station Road (GAF Versapan film). It has been closed for years.


This store is on Military Road near Edwards. Based on the size of the pine tree, I think there has not been any activity here for years. This a Panatomic-X photo taken with a Hasselblad and the 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens.


This is the Watley Store at 116 Bill Strong Road in near Edwards. 


Burk's Gro is on Cook Road west of Edwards. The day I took this picture, a guy came up to me and asked what I was doing. Duuh, taking a photograph. 


Midnight



Not much is left of this store on old US 49E in Midnight (name of the town). This is a Hasselblad exposure with the 80mm Planar lens.


Polkville







Vicksburg




This may not quite qualify as a country store. Let's call it a country liquor store. I seldom see cars parked outside and am not sure how much business it gets. 

Tallulah, Louisiana



This is the former Poboy Don's on Route 602 east of Tallulah, Louisiana. I recently biked by the store when some gents were repairing it to use as a hunting lodge. They said the building was post-World War II vintage. I photographed it years ago when it served po-boys (see Country Stores 15).  

Thank you all for riding along for this quick overview of country stores. There are many more in Mississippi and Louisiana, but I need to end this article. 

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

GAS ATTACK: Camera Catalogs from an Earlier Era

Dear Readers, while trying to purge junk from my endless stuff-filled closets and bookshelves, I found camera and photography catalogs that had tempted me with the expensive items they advertised. I sent a big box of these catalogs and brochures to a Photrio reader who paid for the postage all the way to Poland. Below are the front covers of some of the more interesting ones. 

Enjoy and do not get GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome - a mental state demonstrated by severe lack of self-control amongst all photographers). Or do get GAS; you will rarely see such fine mechanical craftsmanship in consumer products today. Prices for most film cameras, especially medium-format, are rising rapidly as of 2022. If you want a body, lens, or accessory, buy now. Film has revived, and very few new film cameras are being built today. 


Eastman Kodak Company



Eastman Kodak made everything for the photographic trade. They were the behemoth of the industry. Their beautiful and precise Retina cameras came from their Nagel-Werke subsidiary in München, Germany. I have only used one model, a handsome little IIa. The lady in the book cover above is holding a rigid body model IIIS, in production from 1958-1962. These were precise and capable, but I have read they are very complicated internally. Retina production finally ended in 1967, a victim of the Japanese camera onslaught. 

Victor Hasselblad AB



Hasselblad's 6×6 medium format cameras became the tools of choice for American wedding, portrait, and industrial photographers from the 1960s through the beginning of the digital era, around 2000 or 2005. The lenses were the finest available from Zeiss in West Germany. They were seriously expensive when new. If in good condition, even 1960s Hasselblad lenses are fully usable now. Recently prices have have revived with the new enthusiasm in film. I wrote about their very informative instruction booklets in a 2020 article.  


Mamiya


Mamiya (in 1993 Mamiya-OP K.K.) made five or six different types of medium format cameras, all  very successful in the U.S. market. Many American photographers preferred Mamiya because the prices were lower than Hasselblad and the lenses were excellent.



Many wedding photographers worked with the rugged and versatile C220 and C330 twin-lens cameras. This C330 and the simpler C220 were much larger and heavier than Rolleiflex or Yashica TLRs, but the Mamiya offered interchangeable lenses. Neat engineering. 


The superb RZ67, the successor to the RB67. Both were big and heavy, most suitable for the studio, but I have known field users with strong arms. Studio photographers liked the 6×7 format and the built-in bellows. For a short while, Mamiya Leaf offered a digital back for the RZ67 Pro IID.


This was the big and sturdy press-style camera that was popular in the 1960s. It was a rangefinder with excellent lenses, 6×7 or 6×9 roll film backs, and many accessories. Nice equipment but seriously heavy! Polaroid sold a modified version with a back for their instant film. I owned the Polaroid-specific version for awhile but did not use it much and sold it in good time, before Polaroid in Massachusetts closed permanently. 


Linhof



Linhof tripods and ball heads are top grade. I have a small aluminum Profi-Port tripod, designed for travel. And I use the Profi II and Profi III ball heads. The big III is equal in rigidity, smoothness, and strength to any other brand on the market. 


Linhof (now Linhof Präzisions Systemtechnik GmbH) in München, Germany still makes their famous Technika large format field camera with a rangefinder to let the strong photographer hand-hold the unit. At one time, Linhof even offered a 5×7" version, which must have been a monster. 

Every Linhof product is spectacularly refined and precise, for a spectacular price. Look at their web page to see what the finest traditional mechanical craftsmanship looks like - and think of what you could photograph with some of this superb machinery. 


The Technikardans were very clever rail cameras that folded into compact packages. A friend used one to photograph the Tiffany windows at the Episcopal church here in Vicksburg. 

Leica


Leica (formerly Ernst Leitz Wetzlar) is another German company famed for precision manufacturing. Many photographers love their rangefinder cameras and the compact and superb lenses. I have used my dad's IIIC and M2 and M3 bodies for decades.


Gasp! The Leica rangefinder that did not look like older Leica bodies. Quelle horreur!
1974 Leica M lenses. All are totally usable to this day.

I was an undergraduate student when Leica introduced their M5 body with its revolutionary light meter on a swinging arm in front of the film plane. The body was larger than the previous Leica M bodies, and ultra-conservative Leica users rejected the new M5. It never sold well. I have read that today, there is only one repair person in USA who will adjust/repair the M5 (Sherry Krauter in New York state). I tried one in the 1980s and agree that it was a big and heavy package.

In 1974, at the University book store, the body was about $700 and the 50mm Summicron another $300, so about $1000 total. My tuition for 3 quarters at Univ. of Washington was $540, so the Leica cost two years of tuition. Hmmm...

Leica has just reintroduced their M6 film body. Thanks to the revival in film use, they can barely keep up with demand, and their M-A, M-P, and M6 bodies are usually out of stock. 

Rollei



For 70+ years, Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke GmbH sold their superlative twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras to press, studio, and advanced amateur photographers. They used the finest lenses from Schneider and Zeiss. I have used Rolleiflex 3.5E and 3.5F models since 1982. Poor Rollei went through a series of bankruptcies and restructurings after 1982, but they continued making the Rolleiflex until about 2000 (possibly later). 

I remember that in 1982 or 1983, brand new 2.8F models were still listed in advertisements from the New York vendors for about $2000. This was a serious price back then, but after the company semi-dissolved, many of us wished we had bought one. 

The later versions, like the GX above, were criticized for being based on the lighter-duty Rolleiflex T chassis and missing the ingenious film-sensing system. The tooling and molds for the 3.5 and 2.8 F models were destroyed or scrapped during one of the restructurings. 



Rollei's market position in the USA eroded as more and more photographers bought the Swedish competitor, the Hasselblad. To compete, Rollei introduced their beautiful SL66 in 1966. I remember seeing them in camera stores in Harvard Square, Massachusetts, in 1968 or 1969. They cost more than $1000 back then. Not suitable for this high school student. 

Similar to the Hasselblad, the lenses were the finest from Zeiss or Schneider. These are big and heavy cameras. But buy one if you can find a clean unit that was properly treated over the years. Sadly, USA sales were low.


Ingrid Bergman in "Journey to Italy" (1954)

OK, sorry, I could not resist. Here is Ingrid Bergman near Mount Vesuvius with her Rolleiflex. Note the fitted suit and elegant gloves. Why do tourists today (especially Americans) look like homeless people?


Nikon


Nikon lenses as of 1968.

My first "serious" camera was a Nikkormat FTn, which I bought at the famous Lechmere Sales in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1968. I used it in USA, Europe, and South America and even took it hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (I was much stronger then). It never failed or broke. This is still a totally usable and rugged camera. But to operate the CDS light meter, you need to use the Wein batteries because the original 1.35 volt mercury cells are not sold any more.

Dear Readers, this has been our quick tour through the era of superior mechanical and optical engineering. Thanks for riding along. Go ahead and buy some of this classic equipment while you still can. The available stock will diminish as the years go by.

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Dutch Bicycles

The Dutch are serious bicycle riders, both in their cities and in rural areas. My family and I walked all around Amsterdam but took a bicycle tour out into the countryside on the dikes that enclose polders (low-lying areas that have been drained and have become farmland). We met tens of families and individuals happily peddling along. This was in 2004. By now, many of these bikes have been electrified or riders have bought new electric ones. I think Gazelle and Batavus were among the most popular brands in the past, but many other companies sold bikes. We need to return to the Netherlands and see how people with a long tradition of biking are doing and what they are riding. 

Here are a collection of interesting bicycles in Amsterdam. (I was inspired by my friend Jim Grey, who posted pictures of bicycles from Indiana.)


Commuting bicycle with enclosed chain

This is a comfortable commuting bicycle with a step-over frame for ladies and a totally enclosed chain to keep rain and mud off their clothing. I think it has a front drum brake, also enclosed for rain protection. 
 
Polka-dotty step-over frames
Big wheel (28" ?) cruising bicycle

This is a laid-back frame designed for comfort and carrying a child. I do not see  brake handles on the handlebars. so possibly this is a one-speed with a coaster brake. Note the rain covers over the chain and rear wheel. The old-fashioned light generator with an incandescent bulb is seriously inefficient - I remember using them. The faster you ride, the brighter the light.

Step-over bicycle with rusty chain, drum brake, and light generator. Note comfort seat.  

This another single-speed coaster brake bicycle with a relaxed frame, ready for wet riding. I assume these models are old and have heavy steel frames. But they last for decades.

At the Amsterdam central train station.

Commuters come in from the suburbs by train and pick up their bicycle from an outside rack or an enclosed bicycle garage. 

Newer step-over with enclosed chain. Are those white sidewall tyres?
Step-over without hand-operated brakes. More white sidewall tyres??

This is a nice commuter step-over bike with a curved upper bar, similar to the polka-dot models in the previous picture. Nice comfortable seat. This may be a Waffenrad from Steyr - Daimler - Puch AG, Österreich, or an Omafiets. The early Waffenrads used rod-actuated brakes rather than cable-actuated. Rod brakes are still common in India and Nepal.

Sturdy worker bike with double upper frame bars.
Extended wheelbase bicycle for carrying two children. Note the front enclosed drum brake.

These long bicycles have an added triangular frame behind the seat. The add-on section connects to where the rear wheel axle was formerly located.

Two more Waffenrads?

Bicycle bridge and brave pedestrian crossing a canal.

Oops, this lady should have ridden her bike that day. Town of Edam.

The tow truck had a bit of a challenge retrieving the little red car because the tree was in the way and the road was narrow. Maybe this happens a lot?

These are early-vintage digital files from a compact Kodak LS743 digital camera. It applied too much JPEG compression but otherwise did a surprisingly nice nice job for 2004 technology. This was the first digital camera in the family and it served us well.

Saturday, November 19, 2022

The Mississippi Delta 38b: Hwy 49W and the Belzoni area (XPan 12)

Dear Readers, let's take another look at the Mississippi Delta with the panoramic Hasselblad XPan camera. Please type XPan in the search box to see older articles from Vicksburg, the Delta, Jackson, and Louisiana.

After my drive north on Highway US 49E to the little town of Sidon, I headed west through flat and lonely farm fields on MS 511 (Phillipston Road) and MS 7, finally reaching Morgan City on US49W. Long-term readers may remember that I looked at Morgan City in the Mississippi Delta 23. I also explored junk in the woods in 2015. 


1st Avenue, Morgan City (30mm ƒ/5.6 lens)

This former commercial block has only one building with an intact roof. The dudes were hanging out in the shade and drinking.


Fixer-upper barn, Swiftown (45mm, yellow filter)
Gin, Swiftown (90mm ƒ/4 lens)

Swiftown is not really a town, just an unincorporated community in Leflore County about 7 miles south of Morgan City. The barn next to a trailer was interesting. The cotton gin looks unused.

Head south about 10 miles and you reach Belzoni. 


Junction of MLK Jr. Drive and Church Street, Belzoni

My friend, who grew up in Belzoni, told me that these Quanset huts were restaurants owned by a local Italian family, the Mechattos. They were immigrants from Sicily. My friend's grandmother called them "The Hut." They made wonderful homemade salad dressing. One waitress was called Tootsie. My friend did not know when the family left or stopped operating the restaurant. 

China Street, Belzoni

Much of Belzoni is pretty rough today. And it may no longer be the Catfish Capital of the World. Please click the link for some 2021 photographs of Belzoni.

Thank you all for riding along in the Mississippi Delta.