Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Whutnots & Doodads Secondhand Merchandise

This building, on Broadway in Fort Wayne, was originally a laundromat called Solar Sudser, but has been a secondhand shop since the laundry place closed. Whutnots & Doodads Secondhand Merchandise is so packed with old clothes, used electronics, and junk for sale that is it hard to walk around in there! I talked to the owner for a while and bought a book on the history of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud from her for 50 cents.

I didn't realize the laundromat had been closed until I noticed the old furniture sitting outside a few days ago after I photographed the Allen County Sweeper Company a few blocks north of here. The owner of Whutnots & Doodads said she's had the shop for 5 years!

 

[Johnmcd]

Nice pictures!

I think the flag-thing is intresting. Although it can send mixed signals, I think it's nice that people can show that they're proud of their country by waving the flag.

In Finland, where I'm from, it's a big no-no to openly wave around the finnish flag in any form, unless it's a national holiday or if you're a right-wing extremist. In a way I think that's sad, because that's not what the flag is supposed to represent. It seems to be the same way in Sweden, although I think people there just don't want to bother anyone with their flag, they're afraid that it might make the immigrants feel less at home or something.

When I lived in Denmark a year or two ago, I was surprised that they waved their flag at every possible opportunity, they're proud and happy to have the flag all over the place. I thought that was really nice.

That's interesting. When I first went to Sweden in 2002 I was surprised at how many Swedish flags were flown outside people's homes - more than any other country I have been to, including the US. In Australia it is very rare to see, but like Keith said, it seems to be increasing.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

That's interesting. When I first went to Sweden in 2002 I was surprised at how many Swedish flags were flown outside people's homes - more than any other country I have been to, including the US. In Australia it is very rare to see, but like Keith said, it seems to be increasing.

I was surprised when I first went to the USA some 20 years ago just how patriotic people were but the many porch flags were nice to see.
Around Australia Day and Anzac Day people flaunt silly little flag things on sticks, stuck on car windows and waving frantically in the breeze as the cars go by.
But one neat touch has been the advent of the "bikini" flag. Shaped, elasticised textile Australian flags that slip neatly over the side mirrors of the cars. They actually look quite cheerful and neat and just sufficiently understated not to annoy.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Cell phones killed the pay phone, but long before that happened, the walk-in phone booth disappeared in favor of non-enclosed pay phones. This beat-up old phone booth on Broadway may be the last one left in Fort Wayne. I have not seen another in the city in many years!

This phone booth stands by the sign post in front of Whutnots & Doodads Secondhand Merchandise.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I saw this patriotic yard decoration yesterday afternoon, next to a house on Stophlet Street, in one of Fort Wayne's working-class neighborhoods near the old GE factories on Broadway.

 

[paulfish4570]

i like the bottom shot in the flag triptych, Christopher, because of how the end seam aligns with the bottom of the door, and the diagonal exposes the window lights of the door. as for the vacuum cleaner shot, i may (horrors!) like the color shot best. something about the contrast between drab environment and the colorful vacuums ...

 

[batterytypehah!]

Not to harp too much on the flag issue but one thing I found fascinating when I came to this country was that the largest flag in town invariably is at the car dealership. This seems to be true everywhere I go. Probably something about limits on the size of billboards, etc., but not on the height of flagpoles.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Not to harp too much on the flag issue but one thing I found fascinating when I came to this country was that the largest flag in town invariably is at the car dealership. This seems to be true everywhere I go. Probably something about limits on the size of billboards, etc., but not on the height of flagpoles.

LOL! Have you ever been to Fort Wayne? We have the same thing. Biggest flag in town flies over a car dealership. The thing is ginormous and can be seen from a mile away. The newspaper did a story on it when it first went up, right after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. If I remember right, it is over 50 feet long! The pole its on is something like 250 feet tall.

I don't know why car dealers do this. This is the only one in town (and we're a big city with about 20 new car dealerships and countless used car lots) with an outsized flag (many others fly normal size flags), and its got a reputation as the crookedest car dealer in town!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another new photo. This broken-down park bench sits in front of an abandoned school.

 

[kbg32]

Interestingly I'm starting to notice more and more Australian flags on show in my travels. I've been driving through a very small out of the way place north of Brisbane called Crystal Waters lately ... several properties have Australian flags out the front!

Especially since Cadel Evans won the Tour!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The old sign for the long-gone Hillcrest Drive-In Theatre now stands in front of the abandoned Hillcrest School on Tillman Road, on the south side of Fort Wayne. When I was a kid, my dad had a Chevy Malibu convertible that we would take to the Hillcrest Drive-In to watch movies. I can't remember when the drive-in closed, but I think that I was pretty young, before I was in high school

The drive-in was across the street from the school, and the sign was purchased by the school building's owner several years after the theatre closed. He had the sign moved across to his property, and used it as a sign for a toy store that he briefly operated in the old school.

I made this photograph last week.

 

[Ezzie]

I made these photographs of one of the many Payday loan places on Fort Wayne's south side this morning. They were shot 5 minutes apart as the sun was rising...the light was changing rapidly!

The lighter ot the two has to be one of my favourite pictures ever. There is a je ne sais quoi about it. It just plucks a string somewhere.

 

[ray*j*gun]

Agree........the shot hurts the heart!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Ezzie & Ray, thanks. 🙂

 

[victoriapio]

Like the photos Chris. Very "American" town it appears. Wonderfully rendered too. I used to fly a small flag on my car radio antenna, need to get another.
O.C.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Like the photos Chris. Very "American" town it appears. Wonderfully rendered too. I used to fly a small flag on my car radio antenna, need to get another.
O.C.

Thanks O.C. I've been having a lot of fun shooting color the last few months here in Fort Wayne.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The old bicycle next to the front door of The Hitch-In-Post tavern has a wooden front wheel, with no tire! This cannot be comfortable to ride! The Hitch-In-Post is on High Street in a working class neighborhood on Fort Wayne's west side.

I photographed this yesterday afternoon.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

There was a very brief, light rainfall this afternoon on Fort Wayne's west side, then this rainbow appeared! I photographed it from the Towpath Trail near Engle Road. The trail roughly follows the path of the old Wabash-Erie Canal on the southwest side of the city.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I have always thought that Herrero Printing Company's building on Lafayette Street in downtown Fort Wayne was interesting. The back part of it looks like a centuries-old Italian building, and the front is an ugly modern metal and brick box. Yesterday, I noticed the American flag and Happy Saint Patrick's Day banner in the front windows, and decided to stop and photograph it.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another one from yesterday afternoon.