Tag: portland

Cal Calvert and His Airplane

Cal Calvert and His Airplane

During the early days of photography, before it was common for the average person to own a camera, a studio photography session with a group of friends or the family was a popular indulgence, and in many cases a once in a lifetime luxury. In 1910 the consumer camera had only been available for about ten years.

At the time being a photographer could be quite lucrative but there was some stiff competition for business. Photographers had to be creative to come up with ways to make money. Rarely did one sit in his studio and wait for people to line up for portraits. Many photographers would travel to scenic locations to photograph local scenery to apply to postcards made available to tourists. Some would knock on doors of farms and homes in rural areas asking if the family would like to have their photo taken as a means to supplement their incomes. Many folks took advantage of these offers and would order several copies of the photos and would request postcards to be sent to friends and family far away.

At the time postcards were a very popular way to communicate. Phones weren’t in every home so a quick phone call was out of the question in many cases. Automobiles were primitive and typically owned by the more affluent and roads were still more primitive so hopping in the car for a quick trip wasn’t practical. Letters were saved for more lengthy and formal communication, but postcards were cheap, quick and easy way to send a quick greeting via mail. Having a photo of yourself with family or friends, the homestead or even the family horse on front of a postcard was a bonus.

There was one photographer from Portland Oregon who was especially creative in how he would entice customers to pose for their portraits at his studio. His name was Charles “Cal” Calvert and he specialized in fast postcard photos. He advertised himself as “Cal Calvert the 10 Minute Post Card Man”. While it was common for photographers to have a decorated backdrop for their clients to pose in front of, in Portland most all had one with a view of the city with Mount Hood in the distance, Cal Calvert went the extra mile with his fanciful, if not airworthy rendition of a aeroplane with cockpits for his clients to sit inside of while being portrayed as flying effortlessly over the city of Portland… complete with Mount hood on the skyline.

Cal Calvert had several backdrops that folks could choose from, probably the most popular was a conservative wood and ivy arbor but by far the most whimsical was the aeroplane in which you hardly saw a serious face, which was more typical of the era on more formal photos.

I’ve included an assortment of photo postcards that I’ve acquired through time. The best part to me are the faces of the people in the photos. I’ve also included several other photos that have backdrops from other unidentified Portland photographers from that era that include Mount Hood, just because I love Mount Hood. Most include either an airplane or a car, both symbols of status and owned only by a few.

Horseback Riding on The Historic Columbia River Highway
A Day on Historic Columbia River Highway when it was new. It was 1915 and a lot was going on just east of

Views of Portland Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge

Views of Portland Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge – Antique Postcard Set

20 Assorted Views of Portland Oregon.

Here’s a great assortment of views of Portland Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge circa 1950. They’re printed using an offset printing process on canvas textured paper. Printed by the Angelus Commercial Studio in Portland, Oregon. The cards are the same as the postcards that the company printed but are half the size.

The set, labeled 20 Views of Portland Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge, takes one on a tour from Portland Oregon east through the Columbia River Gorge on the Historic Columbia River Highway to the Hood River Valley and then south on what is now Highway 35 to the south side of Mount Hood and the iconic historic Timberline Lodge.

This very same tour can be taken today via modern cars and improved highways in a day; A very full and satisfying day. The only things that have changed since the era that these cards were made are that the Columbia River Highway, Historic Highway 30  has been replaced with the more modern Highway 84 through the gorge. Also the old Mitchell Point Tunnel was demolished in 1966 during construction of Hwy 84, but there are efforts through the restoration of the old highway to consider restoring the tunnel by boring a new tunnel through Mitchell Point.

All of these Views of Portland Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge are available for your enjoyment today, but these old photos bring back a more bucolic era in the Portland and the Mount Hood countryside. One where tourism was more slow and laid back. One where the trip was about the ride and not the destination. One that allowed us to stop along the way and send a postcard or two.

The First West Coast Trip by Automobile – 1912

 

First West Coast Trip by Automobile

This is a great story that conveys the challenges of travelling from California to Portland Oregon in an automobile in 1912. Along the way the travelers were mired in mud, forded a river, were blocked by fallen trees and endured snow and ice. All while camping along the way, in their hats and suits.

In this modern day and age we’re used to paved roads to most any destination that we might have in mind to travel to. There aren’t many people who remember the days prior to the coast to coast interstate system that was built in the 1950’s these days let alone the old days of rural dirt roads or horse trails.

In 1912 many of the larger cities had started to pave their streets but once you left the city you were most likely sharing a dirt road with a horse and wagon. At that time not many people beyond the affluent had an automobile, and not many of them took their cars outside of the city in which they lived.

The automobiles of 1912 were quite primitive and troublesome and weren’t relied upon for long distance travel. Automobiles had been around for a couple of decades but were rare. The Ford Model T had only been built for three years and had yet to catch fire completely with the working man.

The concept of an interstate road or a maintained highway had not quite been thought necessary.  The cities had yet to be connected essentially. Loading up your wagon, hitching up the horse and travelling from Los Angeles to Portland was not so common. Most folks took a stage, ship or, in most cases, a train.

In 1912 Portland Oregon hosted the Elks Club National Convention. Back then it was a big deal. Portland businesses came together with activities and events to entertain the attendees. People from all over the country came to Portland to attend, most all using conventional and practical transportation, but there were others who decided to take their own road and their own transportation. Four men walked from Brookfield Missouri claiming a trip of over 2200 miles. It took them over three months.

At the same time three men struck out from an unknown city (Not mentioned in the notes included with the photographs) in California toward Portland Oregon in a 1912 Haynes touring car. Claiming to be the “1st men to drive from California to Portland”. Frank Morehead, Charlie McClower, John Roger Wood were off on an adventure if the photos are any evidence at all.

Although not verified that they’re the first to drive the west coast in a car, they are certainly some of the first and these photographs give an idea of what it must have been like.

I acquired the photos in an eBay auction. They came from a scrapbook in an estate sale in Michigan. I collect antique photographs so I bid on them and won the auction. The photos came with a short description but no details. There is no information that I’m able to find on the web. I thought that I would share them here.

All photos copyright Gary Randall