This old liquor store neon sign probably said something else before the Budweiser plastic was installed. I don't know if it's original to this place or not-I think it's a bar now, not a liquor store.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Old Second National Bank
Excellent stained glass clock, outside the Old Second National Bank building in Aurora, Illinois. It works, and is illuminated too.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Country School
Former neon sign in Rochelle, Illinois. Judging from the condition it lost it's glass a long time ago-I can't tell if it was just a neon version of this sign or if the design was different. Still, a classic.
Chicken's pretty good too.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Biscayne
Introduced in 1958, the Biscayne was an entry level version of Chevrolet's full-sized line of cars, coming in under the more upscale Bel-Air. As such, the Biscayne had fewer chrome gewgaws outside, and fewer optional convenience items and vinyl trim on the inside.
This didn't mean that it was a less desirable car, though. The Biscayne's simpler trim changed the look of the car, and better yet you could get it with any engine option-from a straight six grocery getter to the 348 V-8 mill with a four-speed, creating a nice drag car in the process.
This Biscayne is a '58, and had been hot rodded a bit at some point.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Tree
Hang around with a certain sort of photog long enough, and you hear about something called a Diana. The Diana camera is a cheap, plastic camera, with a plastic meniscus lens, a leaf shutter, and zone focusing via little icons on the lens barrel. They were originally made in Hong Kong in the sixties, and were usually imported as giveaways for raffles and opening bank accounts, that sort of thing. The are really distinct looking, black plastic with a turquoise top and a shiny lens barrel with DIANA writ large across the front.
Dianas take medium format 120 film, and their lenses have a peculiar, lo-fi effect that's usually called "dreamy" but is sometimes just called "fuzzy" or "not really sharp at all". Between the artifacts and stuff like vignettes and light leaks, Diana cameras have a unique fingerprint.
Anyway, the Diana camera became beloved for it's uniquely flawed prints, and eventually went back into production, in various formats and with different lenses available, just like a real camera. You can even get Diana lenses with adapters for your fancypants DSLR. Which is exactly what I did here, since I haven't got a darkroom and am tired of sending 120 film away and waiting two weeks.
TL;DR, I took this picture of a tree with a cheap plastic lens.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The Egyptian
The historic Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, Illinois. Opened in 1929 at the height of the public's fascination with Egyptian culture and at the beginning of the Depression, it's one of six similar theaters from this time period that are believed to still exist. Originally hosting silent films and vaudeville, the Egyptian eventually moved over to films full time, and remained a popular venue until the late sixties.
By the early 70's the theater was in some disrepair, with plaster flaking off the walls and fading paint on it's exterior terra cotta. The owner handed the building over to the city of DeKalb, and in 1978 a group of citizens banded together to save and restore the building. The theater's placement on the National Register of Historic Places helped this cause, and the Egyptian stands today as an excellent example of this style of movie house.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Grumpy's Toy
With a no-nonsense attitude, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins was well known as a Mopar engine builder before starting his own Chevrolet team in the sixties. Running in the popular Super Stock classes, his "Grumpy's Toy" racers were always well presented and quick.
This is a well-done replica of "Grumpy's Toy IV", a Chevrolet Camaro.
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