Old Time Columbus

Seeing I spent the better part of yesterday moving snow around I don’t really have any fresh blog material so we’re doing something different. I love old postcards. Especially of Columbus. Being I’ve grown up in Columbus I can remember a number of changes that have happened over the years. I find it pretty entertaining to see what this little town looked like 100 years ago.



This is an interesting shot of an early automobile parked in downtown Columbus. The car is parked in front of the Sharrow Drug Store which is still in business with the same family all these years later. Road races with these early cars passed through Columbus on a regular basis. The manufacturers would race against each other from Milwaukee to Minneapolis to test the speed and durability of these early cars. There was actually an automobile manufacturer in Columbus called the Badger. They lasted three or four years and I actually have quite a bit of history on them. Sounds like a blog.



Here is a shot of our City Hall. Must have been taken sometime in the 40’s. The garage doors on the far left of City Hall are the former Fire Station. On the far right there are some fire trucks parked in the middle of the boulevard which is basically in front of our showroom. I’m guessing they had more trucks than they had space.



Years ago photographers would doctor photos of small towns to make them look more cosmopolitan. Here is a good example. We never had streetcars in Columbus but they put one in to make it look like a big city. On the left you can see the Whitney Hotel which is still the prominent building in the downtown.



I’m guessing this is also an early example of Photoshop. This is Ludington Street looking toward the four corners with an airplane flying overhead. Maybe the airplane was flying around like that but if I had to venture a guess I doubt it. Judging from the poles it's probably tangled in the wires if it's flying.



Not Columbus but a cool photo. It is a shot of a fire department with their Waterous Fire Pumper. I had one just like this at one time. It was the next generation fire pumper after the steam boilers. This had a gasoline fired engine on the pump but was a horse drawn vehicle. Was not long and the engine moved the vehicle as well.

Have a great Thursday!

Best!
T