Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[airfrogusmc]

Really strong work Chris. I also really like the portrait of Virgil. Great thread.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Really strong work Chris. I also really like the portrait of Virgil. Great thread.

Thanks. I have several more of Virgil's shop to add in the next few days.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Barbecue grill replacement parts at Waynedale Plumbing Supply. There isn't much for sale, and the sign is old and faded. The store's owner, Virgil Hoke, told me that he hasn't sold any of that stuff in more than four years. He thinks that it is because modern grills are basically disposable, so no one bothers repairing them anymore.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This sign hangs on the fence behind Waynedale Plumbing; the 84 year old plumber who owns the store put it there several years ago.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This is an old product display at Waynedale Plumbing Supply. It is next to the new faucet display; and is one of several old displays with ancient yellowed signs in the store.

"Pipe Protection Center. Prevent Frozen Pipes with Wrap-On Electric Heat Tapes."

Waynedale Plumbing is on Lower Huntington Road in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The store was built in 1946, and has been owned by its current owner since 1950, when he and his now-deceased older brother bought it. Very little has changed there in the intervening decades!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another ancient product display at Waynedale Plumbing Supply. This one is for "Blue Grass Hand Hacksaw Blades."

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I photographed these mushrooms in my back yard Saturday afternoon.

There used to be a huge maple tree there, which was cut down after being struck by lightning many years ago. Every summer, several of these clumps of mushrooms, and other fungi, sprout up around the area where the tree once grew.

 

[ChipMcD]

I photographed these mushrooms in my back yard Saturday afternoon.

There used to be a huge maple tree there, which was cut down after being struck by lightning many years ago. Every summer, several of these clumps of mushrooms, and other fungi, sprout up around the area where the tree once grew.

Those mushrooms are feeding on the decaying roots that are still in the ground. We had the same thing when a 75 ft tree fell in a storm. The mushrooms will recur for many years.

Nice shot.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Those mushrooms are feeding on the decaying roots that are still in the ground. We had the same thing when a 75 ft tree fell in a storm. The mushrooms will recur for many years.

Nice shot.

I figured that. The clumps of fungi are growing in a circle around where the tree stump had been (the stump has been dug out but most of the tree's roots remain in the ground).

 

[stevierose]

I absolutely love stores like this

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I absolutely love stores like this

Thanks, Steve. Do you mean the Waynedale Plumbing pics? I've gotten to meet so many interesting people through my photography. I have actually known Virgil for many years, but I'm glad I got to document him and his store before he closes up for good.

Waynedale, interestingly, has several other small businesses that have survived, despite the fact that big box stores have run virtually all other stores of their kind out of business in other parts of Fort Wayne. There are two appliance stores, a bakery, a vacuum cleaner shop, and a jeweler too!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another one of Waynedale Plumbing. The old sink on the shelf has a sign in it with a price of $10. The unlit neon sign in the window used to face outward; when it quit working, they unplugged it and turned it around to face the inside of the store instead of getting rid of it!

 

[farlymac]

Places like that stay open because of their loyal customer base, and because the owner usually doesn't feel the need to be a millionaire.


Good that you're documenting it for those who've never experienced the joy of shopping in such an establishment.


PF

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Places like that stay open because of their loyal customer base, and because the owner usually doesn't feel the need to be a millionaire.


Good that you're documenting it for those who've never experienced the joy of shopping in such an establishment.


PF

Yeah, a lot of these old-school small-businessmen live simply by modern standards. They were happy to have a middle class income, or even lower middle class income, since the freedom of working for themselves was worth more than any money to them.

Virgil drives an old beat-up pickup truck, though I'm sure he could afford a new one. The old one runs, so why waste the money? He did admit to having spent $1300 on a bicycle recently! He loves cycling, and had always wanted this bike, but a new one is $3000 and he wasn't willing to spend THAT much. One of his nephews helped him find one on eBay, and he bought it...then worried about whether he'd been stupid to spend so much on a bike. He said after he got it and rode it, he forgot about the cost...it was worth it.

I posted the portrait of him and some of the photos of the shop on a Facebook group called Waynedale Recollections, a group for Waynedale residents and those who used to live here. When Virgil's store opened, Waynedale was a small town a few miles southwest of Fort Wayne. It was annexed by the city in 1957, but even today Waynedale looks like a small town.

My photos for a lot of comments on the Waynedale Recollections group on Facebook. Many of them talked of going in the store to buy something and having Virgil tell them they were buying something that wasn't worth the money and selling them a better item for less money. Not many businesses where that would happen today. Like you said; he didn't need to be a millionaire.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Elmhurst Church Of The Nazarene is a small church on Sandpoint Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The church is down the street from my house, in the neighborhood where I grew up.

The sign in front of the church says: "Sign Maker On Vacation - Come Inside For Message."

I photographed it at dusk, so that the lighted cross at the top of the church's facade, made of glass bricks, would show up well.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This fence runs along the top of a hill on the west side of Broadway, between Stophlet Street and Taylor Street, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

It is next to an antiques and used clothing store called "Little Shop of Laura's," which also owns the property with the fence. This fence has several other murals painted on it, too.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Nice store and edible mushrooms. Where I'm I could still find stores like this, but mushrooms disappeared decade ago. They are same type as back in Russia.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This mid-1960's Chevrolet C/K pickup truck is one of two old trucks sitting next to a garage on Front Street in the small town of Burr Oak, Michigan.

The truck has a license plate on the front bumper that says: "Chevrolet USA-1."

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This building at the corner of Broadway and Stophlet Street in Fort Wayne is home to an antiques and used clothing store called "Little Shop of Laura's."

This is the north side of the building, facing Stophlet Street. The boxes of "Free Stuff" on the sidewalk are full of old clothing for children. The wall above it says: "Free Stuff - Love, Laura."

The store's owner, Laura Hancock, operates her shop as something of a charity. She gives away a lot of stuff to people in need who come in to shop, and she keeps boxes of clothing outside for people to take when the store is closed.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Here's the outside of Waynedale Plumbing Supply, the little plumbing shop whose owner has worked there for 68 years. I've posted a lot of photos of the inside recently, and I have a few more to go. It has a For Sale sign in the front window because the owner wants to sell it and retire.