Sunset

Sunset, originally uploaded by William 74.

Fun with silhouettes! I guess that's one nice thing about winter and spring-the trees are still bare and stand out really well against the sky. Particularly a sunset like this one.

Excellent cloud day too.

Texaco

Texaco TtV, originally uploaded by William 74.

TtV Tuesday! This week we have a vintage Texaco sign. Sadly, it's not on a vintage Texaco station somewhere in the desert Southwest, or even at a restored vintage station somewhere along Route 66, but hanging outside a local restaurant.

I suppose I've just ruined it for you!

Gran Turismo

Gran Turismo, originally uploaded by William 74.

Another week, another Motorcar Monday! This week's entry is another sadly decrepit classic car, a '64 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk. The GT Hawk was the final development of the Hawk series, which began production in the mid fifties. By the early sixties Studebaker was in financial difficulties, with declining sales and an aging-if still interesting-product line.

The Hawks were restyled for '61, courtesy of designer Brooks Stevens, and the cars got a cleaner, up to date look. The GT Hawk also had higher performing engines, including supercharged options, and a more luxurious interior. Sadly, it was a case of too little, too late, and in late 1963 Studebaker closed its South Bend plant, and with it ended Hawk production once and for all. Studebaker itself would soldier on for only two more seasons.

Neon Friday!

Drugstore Sign #2b-Chicago, IL, originally uploaded by William 74.

Happy Neon Friday! This week we have another old-school shop sign, from somewhere deep inside Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. I don't know what it is I like about it, other than the fact that it's pleasingly unrestored, yet works just fine (or it did when I saw it last). Naturally, I chose to show it in stunning, lifelike black and white, for that authentic Tech-Pan feel.

Wire

Wire, originally uploaded by William 74.

I don't know why, but I like shooting barbed wire fences out in the country. I have several pics of them, from various angles. Silhouettes against the sky. Close ups of the posts. Lines of rusty wire trailing off to the vanishing point. Weeds obscuring the ground. Holding in fields of corn, keeping out strangers.

I have a vague notion as to why I like them-I think it has something to do with the solitude they often evoke.

Koolmotor

Koolmotor TtV, originally uploaded by William 74.

Through the Viewfinder Tuesday! This week we have a neato old gas pump for you. It's a Gilbarco Calco-Meter, and if you don't recognize Koolmotor gasoline, don't fret, it's a Cities Service brand. Don't recognize Cities Service? It started off in the early 1900's as a general utility provider, moving into oil and petroleum products in the late teens. Cities Service stations were widespread throughout the east and midwest. In the mid sixties a new gasoline brand was introduced, and is the name we know the company by today-Citgo.

This pump is in front of a local themed restaurant, one of those "crap on the walls" places with a petroliana theme. Sadly, it seems that someone's busted the Koolmotor glass in the front.

Clipped Redux

Clipped, originally uploaded by William 74.

Another day, another sad, decrepit old car. I've visited the Clipper a few times, and shown it here at least once. I can't help but be a little sad at the sight of it, covered in dead leaves and mold, slowly going to ground.