A very active street scene looking south on SW 6th Avenue from Stark Street. The old Oregonian building at Alder is visible on the right side of the street, as is the Portland Hotel two blocks down from there. We saw a scene very similar to this one a while ago, taken from Oak Street. The movie “Shanghai” is playing at the theater on the left in both photos; these two photos could have been taken on the same day. “Shanghai” is a 1935 movie so the 1939 date may not be accurate.
(City of Portland Archives)
Tags: Arthur Leonard Tobacco, Billiards, Commonwealth Inc., Dean Witter, Fahey-Brockman, Ireland's Food and Friends, Krazy Kat Fountain, Model Boot Shop, Oregon, Portland, YMCA
May 9, 2012 at 7:24 am
Dan, I would say 1939 is probably right. The car in the middle of the street is a ’39 Chevrolet. Also the car in front of the Dean Witter building is a 1938 or 39 Ford. I love the ‘ Krazy Kat Diner’!
May 9, 2012 at 7:26 am
oops..I meant ‘Krazy Kat Fountain’
May 9, 2012 at 7:28 am
The two photos were absolutely taken the same day, and very nearly the same time. Note the truck near the clock on the left side of the photo with the man on top uloading something. That same truck, with the same two ladder is parked in the same place in both photos.
May 9, 2012 at 7:31 am
The name over the main entrance to the building to the immediate right is Commonwealth, Inc. Is this the genesis of the name of the current Commonwealth Building on the same site (fka Equitable Building)?
May 9, 2012 at 7:33 am
This photo was definitely taken on the same day as the previous photo mentioned. Look at the row of cars in front of the Dean Witter building going south to the corner. Most of the same cars are parked in the same spots in both photos.
O.K, now I really have to get to work…Nice photo, Dan!
May 9, 2012 at 8:00 am
Agreed – definitely the same day. The cars in front of the Krazy Kat are the same cars in both photos.
May 9, 2012 at 8:12 am
If you don’t enlarge the picture, the guy crossing the street looks like he has a cell phone to his ear. Doubtful though
May 9, 2012 at 8:51 am
mimibailey,
You’re right it’s doubtful, especially considering his hand is not held up to his ear. Unless his eardrum is located in his nasal cavity.
May 9, 2012 at 8:53 am
Unfortunately the clock has a light pole in the way so you can’t see the time in one of the pictures. Modern street view: http://g.co/maps/dshvg Seems kind of deserted by comparison doesn’t it?
May 9, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Is it me or did the street shrink in the comparison of today’s view?
It just looks a lot narrower now. I guess the new wide sidewalks took up a lot of space. Today’s look is almost boring with very few people milling around. 1939 had lots of Portlanders doing their thing ‘Downtown”.
I like the look and feel of the 1939 pictures better.
May 9, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Regarding the movies on the marquee: Shanghai with Charles Boyer and Loretta Young was indeed released in ’35, but second movie in the double feature, The Gladiator, was probably this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030186/ — a comedy out in August of ’38. The “Cooler Inside” sign also suggests summer.
May 9, 2012 at 5:18 pm
DBrunker, given that the light is coming from the East and the shadows cast by the buildings are comparable, I would guess both pictures were taken in the late morning (and the clock we can see looks like it’s showing a time of about 15 to 11:00).
May 9, 2012 at 6:48 pm
And there’s the guy on the bicycle “taking the lane.” Going north on the downtown streets, it’s easy to keep up with traffic and it’s still the safest way to go.
May 10, 2012 at 6:13 pm
“Waves 25 cents”? Haircut?
August 10, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Permanent, more likely.
Definitely 1939. Too many round-top and fastback cars for ’35. Also note the license tags – they were yellow that year.
August 24, 2012 at 12:02 am
Is the building the Oregonian was in still there?