Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Nice, Chris! The fog shots are very atmospheric and moody, very unlike your other Fort Wayne pictures. A new direction, perhaps?

No, I've done hundreds of photos in the fog over the years. These happened because I was still awake that early and went out to get my cat and saw the fog. I have a lot of health problems and cannot sleep well; so I sleep a few hours at a time throughout the 24 hour day and I am often up at weird times.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Sam Hyde was the owner of Hyde Brothers Books on Wells Street in Fort Wayne, Indiana.


I made this portrait of him standing in one of the aisles of his store, next to one of the library-style rolling ladders used to access the top of the floor to ceiling shelves. He's holding a biography of Franz Kafka and wearing a "Wells Area Merchants" t-shirt.


I made this photograph a little over a year before Sam died. He passed away on July 9, 2019. He was one of the kindest, most generous people that I have ever known. When I was a young artist struggling to make enough money to live, Sam often gave me books that he thought I would like. He did the same for others, as well. Hyde Brothers is still open, owned by Sam's wife and managed by one of his longtime employees under the supervision of the store's two fat cats, Scout and Sherlock.


I found this while working through my huge backlog of images waiting to be edited.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Sherlock is one of the two resident cats at Hyde Brothers Books in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was curled up on his favorite chair, hard at work giving unfriendly looks to the customers.


He is quite fat (even his tail is thick!) because he spends most of his time lounging and eating. He's not very sociable, and gets annoyed with me for photographing him.


Hyde Brothers is an incredible locally-owned used book store on Wells Street in Fort Wayne. As long as I can remember, they've always had at least one cat in residence.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

I definitely would not mess with Sherlock. I know that look on his face; cats don't hesitate to let you know what they're thinking. Like Sneaky.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I definitely would not mess with Sherlock. I know that look on his face; cats don't hesitate to let you know what they're thinking. Like Sneaky.

I went in there a couple years ago and was standing by the front counter when Sherlock waddled by. I said "Hey, Fatty. Catch any mice today?" He looked up at me with his usual "Go f--k yourself" look on his face. The cashier says to me: "don't call him that; that's mean!"


Me: "Well look at him. He IS a fatcat."


Cashier: "I don't care that's mean."


Me: "Its ok, he doesn't like me anyway"


Cashier: "Because you called hm fatty!"


The cat was still standing there listening to this conversation. I said to him: "Sherlock, would you like me if I brought you some steak?" He looked up and loudly meowed, with a hopeful look in his eyes (Keep talking, human. I'm listening).


Cashier: "Oh no, please don't feed him! He's so fat already and we're trying to make him lose weight."


Me: "So its not ok to call him Fatty but totally ok to put him on a starvation diet?"


Sherlock: LOUD meow


Cashier: "He is NOT starving!"


Sherlock: Long loud meow (Help me, they're letting me starve!)

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Sending these prints out this afternoon.

The woman in the photo is Sheila Danehy. She was an art student at Indiana University Fort Wayne back in the 90s when I was working on my fine arts degree. She was a great friend to many of us young college-age kids there, and a talented artist. I made this photo of her in 1995.

Her granddaughter recently found the portrait of Sheila on my website and bought a print to give her mom, Sheila’s daughter. I was saddened to hear that Sheila passed away in 2005.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Hello Sunshine is a locally owned bakery and coffee shop that opened in February, 2021. It is located in the former Waynedale Bakery storefront in the A.S. Elzey Building on Lower Huntington Road, just west of Old Trail Road, in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The space had been vacant since the old Waynedale Bakery, which had occupied it since 1955, closed in November, 2019.

I made this photograph in the early morning at dawn, before the sun had risen high enough to light the scene.

 

[pixelated]

Chris,
I always enjoy looking at your photos of Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana. For the Ft Wayne photos in particular, I look for hints of places I might be familiar with. Back in circa 1988, I spent 8 months or so on a work assignment, so got somewhat familiar with the town.
It was a handy assignment for me, as I was able to visit with my parents in Indianapolis as part of my air-based biweekly commute.
I don't get back to Indiana very much nowadays, so your pictures give me a bit of a taste of what was home.
Thanks for posting them.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Chris,
I always enjoy looking at your photos of Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana. For the Ft Wayne photos in particular, I look for hints of places I might be familiar with. Back in circa 1988, I spent 8 months or so on a work assignment, so got somewhat familiar with the town.
It was a handy assignment for me, as I was able to visit with my parents in Indianapolis as part of my air-based biweekly commute.
I don't get back to Indiana very much nowadays, so your pictures give me a bit of a taste of what was home.
Thanks for posting them.

Oh that was a while ago! I was 12 years old then. My dad bought me my first manual camera, an Olympus OM-G SLR, the year before.


What part of Fort Wayne were you living? I grew up in the Waynedale area, and am living back here again now, but have lived in a few other area over the years. If you ever make it back to Indianapolis, let me know. I'd love to meet up. I go to Indy fairly often to shop. Fort Wayne's old camera store, Sunny Schick's, closed a few years ago so I have to go to Roberts to buy anything now.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another photo of Sherlock, the grumpy bookstore cat.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

That Sherlock is quite a handsome chap! Think what it would do for his modelling career if you were to do his portfolio. He might become a bigger internet feline star than Sneaky! Not to mention the boost to your career, as well.
BTW, Sherlock is not "grumpy". That's his seductive look. Think Sean Connery as James Bond.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Scout is one of the two cats at Hyde Brothers Books in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was sleeping under this stepladder in one of the aisles, and woke up to look at me when I was photographing her.

Hyde Brothers is an incredible locally-owned used book store on Wells Street in Fort Wayne. As long as I can remember, they've always had at least one cat in residence.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This little house is on the corner of Main Street (US-33) and Mill Street in the small town of Churubusco, Indiana. The front door is hidden by an American flag hanging from the front of the porch.


I photographed it in the evening a few minutes before sunset a couple weeks ago.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This arrow sign stood outside Churubusco Watch and Jewelry, a tiny locally-owned jewelry store on US-33 just south of small town of Churubusco, Indiana.

The sign, adorned with a small American flag, commemorates the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by al-Queda against the United States. It says: "Never Forget. 9/11 2001."

I photographed it in the evening at sunset.

 

[Evergreen States]

Sam Hyde was the owner of Hyde Brothers Books on Wells Street in Fort Wayne, Indiana.


I made this portrait of him standing in one of the aisles of his store, next to one of the library-style rolling ladders used to access the top of the floor to ceiling shelves. He's holding a biography of Franz Kafka and wearing a "Wells Area Merchants" t-shirt.


I made this photograph a little over a year before Sam died. He passed away on July 9, 2019. He was one of the kindest, most generous people that I have ever known. When I was a young artist struggling to make enough money to live, Sam often gave me books that he thought I would like. He did the same for others, as well. Hyde Brothers is still open, owned by Sam's wife and managed by one of his longtime employees under the supervision of the store's two fat cats, Scout and Sherlock.


I found this while working through my huge backlog of images waiting to be edited.

It always saddens me when small business owners pass and the shop ends up sold. I've recently been interested in conversions to worker cooperatives, so that the employees can keep the place going and not have an incentive to outsource the town's jobs.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Jeffrey Voors is the owner of Voors Jewelry on Lower Huntington Road in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The store was opened in 1949 by his father. I photographed Jeffrey at his workbench in the back of the store, where he was repairing a wristwatch.


My parents bought their wedding rings from Jeffrey's father back in 1970!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Voors Jewelry is a small family-owned jewelry store in the middle of a strip of small storefronts on Lower Huntington Road in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The store was opened in 1949, and the interior probably hasn't changed much over the decades.


There is a framed photograph of the front of the store on the top shelf of the display cabinet behind the counter. I made that photograph in 2003, and I gave the owner a print. He's had it on display ever since.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A trucker shares his drink with his dog in the parking lot of Magic Wand, a locally owned restaurant on Main Street (US-33) in the small town of Churubusco, Indiana.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Several long strings of small American flags crisscross the lot at South Side Auto Sales on the corner of Bluffton Road and Fairoak Drive in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I made this photograph on a rainy Fall morning.

Car dealers, more than most businesses, often go out of their way to be patriotic. Small used car lots like this one put small flags on the cars or string them across the lot; while new car dealerships and larger used car lots often fly enormous flags from tall poles, like the one at Glenbrook Dodge (a new car dealer in Ft. Wayne that claims to have the second largest American flag in the country).

During the 2016 presidential election campaign, the owner of South Side Auto Sales put out a sign that encouraged people to reject both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump by voting for country music star Willie Nelson!

I made this photo on a rainy morning last week.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This is one of three storefronts at Victoria Park Plaza, a dead shopping center on South Anthony Boulevard on the southeast side of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

When I was a child, this was a Hook's Drug Store. The now-defunct Indianapolis-based pharmacy chain had a lot of these very austere, windowless stores. There is one like it in the small town of Churubusco, Indiana that is now a CVS Pharmacy.

This shopping center sat abandoned for many years after the stores in it closed when I was a teenager. The storefront to the left of this one was a Little Caesar's Pizza restaurant. The much larger storefront to the right, which occupies most of the building, was a garden shop and art supply store called Frank's Nursery and Crafts. My parents went there a lot to buy plants when I was young. The former Frank's store is now a storefront church.

10-11-21