Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow! - Brandstaetter's Pharmacy - 1940s America - Homefront - Message Board - Yuku

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Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

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KirtlandHill	Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!	Lead	[-]
Posts: 2728 (07/13/08 05:24 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	In case you haven't guessed, I'm a little warm here in Tucson, and I'm sure most of you are dealing with some heat and humidity this July. Here's a series of pictures taken in Chillicothe, Ohio during and after a winter's snowstorm in February 1940. Main street. Guests in hotel lobby watching snowstorm. Automobiles in snow drifts. Detour sign. Clearing the snow off city streets. Man cleans off car. Passengers entering bus during snowstorm. Courthouse Statue in park after snowstorm. Shoveling snow away from the movie entrance. Presbyterian church. Shoveling snow off the sidewalk Delivering coal. Suburban home. Children having a snowball fight. Children going home from school. Freight train entering Chillicothe. Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 07/13/08 06:24 PM. Edited 1 time.
metcalf1991		#1	[-]
Staffs the Red Cross booth at the train station Posts: 1041 (07/14/08 03:32 PM) Administrator & Official Homefront Archivist Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Bethany, I don't mean to rub it in but the summer has been very mild and kind to us here in the Hoosier state thus far, only a week or so of 90+ temps. Right now it's a miderate 82 with no humidity (I'm ducking as Miss B has undoubtedly just picked up her desk chair and chucked it through the computer monitor at me!). However I LOVE these pictures! I remember BIG snowstorms like these when I was little. and, here in the midwest, the blizzard of 78 was a real milestone as far as the whole TOWN being shut down for several days. These pictures are so cool (no pun intended), because I've always loved snowy winter days. I've decided that, during this February 1940 scenario, I'd get up on Sunday morning and, while Dad is shovelling the car out in photo 9, the rest of us are getting ready to go to the Presbyterian church in photo 14, then an afternoon matinee of "Balalaika" at The Majestic in photo 13. Afterwards we return to our lovely home in the suburbs in photo 18 and spend the afternoon sledding down the steep hill in the front yard. After a hearty dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, fixed in Mom's new Guardianware pots and pans, we're all ready to curl up in front of the fire and listen to The Great Gildersleeve on our floor model Philco radio. As the snow begins to fall again, we're all comfy and cozy inside, with the sound of the logs crackling cheerfully in the fireplace and the smell of hot coffee and hot chocolate that Mom has made for us filling the room. Ahhhh, nothing like a snowy winter day....... Sara
KirtlandHill		#2	[-]
Posts: 2735 (07/19/08 03:12 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Sara, your summer weather sounds absolutely wonderful... I'm jealous! Isn't it amazing how you can look at these pictures and tell from the air quality just how long its been since the snowstorm ended... Everything's still soft and white and a bit hazy as the photographers took the pictures in the immediate aftermath of the storm, but there's something so crisp and bright about the last few pictures. They were probably taken several hours later - or even the next day. Sara, your house has a killer hill for sledding! I'm on my way --- but first I'll have to stop and pelt Steve with a snowball or two!!! I've noticed that the three women crossing the street in the first picture only have those little ankle boots (and knee-length coats) to protect them from the weather, while the men in Chillicothe are all sporting much sturdier, knee-high boots. Even the little girls on the playground have to make do with heavy stockings on their legs instead of snow pants. BRRR! The things we women do for fashion! The Public Works Department must have had plows to clear the streets, but still had to clear the sidewalks with crews of men and shovels. It can't have taken very long to fill the back of that truck, though! Gotta get the front of the movie theater cleared away before the evening movie crowd. The fellow delivering the coal has one heck of a messy job. Is that steel wheelbarrow-type thingie the kind of thing you were talking about Sara, that the coalman would empty the coal into before dropping it into your coal bin? I love the pictures taken outside the Central Grade School --- which looks like the typical grade school of the period. Seeing the kids in action on the playground is a real treat! Bethany
Derwenz		#3	[-]
Holds season tickets for the Indians Posts: 1242 (07/19/08 03:38 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	"but first I'll have to stop and pelt Steve with a snowball or two!!!" Beth, Please!...don't throw those snowballs!! Just hand them to me so I can preserve them in our freezer!! That way, when it gets up to over 100s next week, I'll be able to take them out, rub them on my arms, and imagine I'm back in Lancaster County, PA in January! I do love those pics! They make me long that much more, to move back to the old Keystone State! Those scenes bring back so many memories! When Margaret and I were first married, we lived with her folks in rural Washington County. When the weather was bright and clear after a snowstorm, we'd take hikes along the country roads in the bright, sparkling snow that crunched under our feet. How clean, brisk and quiet everything was! I can easily project myself into those pics! The man shoveling snow sure looks familiar....what a daily workout I got from shoveling snow away from the car and, off our walkways, in order to comply with the town snow-removal ordinance - so the mailman wouldn't slip on our walk. All these photos would make a great Norman Rockwell subject! Thanks for helping us to forget our heat and humidity for alittle while! Steve Last Edited By: Derwenz 10/04/08 12:11 PM. Edited 1 times.
lavender023		#4	[-]
Waits tables at the Purl Roadhouse Posts: 241 (09/14/08 01:00 AM) Moderator & Host, Kyle Chandler Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I love the pictures. I was just thinking that I couldn't wait to take a walk in the snow. I love the old cars and the truck with the cars on it. I seldom see a picture like that. I can't believe the size of the bus! Thanks, I enjoyed looking at these. Faye
KirtlandHill		#5	[-]
Posts: 2837 (09/23/08 11:13 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The bus is so tiny! It looks like it might have seated about 20 people - tops --- and they'd have to be very skinny! It's smaller than a UPS truck. The stripe down the side reads "Public Transport No. 8," so the City of Chillicothe must have owned a fleet of at least eight buses. It's probably the size bus that was common in a small city. The Greyhound buses were alot larger (though smaller than ours today). Bethany
Derwenz		#6	[-]
Holds season tickets for the Indians Posts: 1560 (02/21/09 12:51 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	And, don't forget that those buses were also very uncomfortable to ride in, by today's standards. They were bumpy and noisy, not to mention smelly inside from the bus's engine exhaust. There was no AC in any kind of vehicle in the early '40s. And even a heater would've been a luxury to be found in cars, such as owned by Mike and Ruth Sloan in Homefront. City buses would've been hot and miserable conveyances in Summer and, cold and miserable in Winter. The only relief from the cold might be provided during rush-hour time, when the bus was probably packed with commuters. Steve

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