Some new photos from Fort Wayne

Retro-Grouch said:
Italian-Irish pub? Where I grew up, back in the day, that would have been about as thinkable as a Democrat-Republican social club would be today! My uncle, a red-headed, freckled Italian of Sicilian descent (go figure!), used to have to fight for his life every day on his way home from school. Both tribes saw him as The Enemy. Your picture warms my heart, and reminds me that progress is possible.
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It is an unusual combination, isn't it? The guy who owns it is Italian!
 




This is the second Polaroid snapshot that I made of a red 1954 Chevrolet pickup truck parked in front of Sit-N-Bull Pub in the small town of LaOtto, Indiana. I photographed it a little before sunset.

4-23-22
 
Very cool truck, though maybe it's the Polaroid film, maybe it's my monitor, but that truck ain't red! Somewhere between Mango and Burnt Sienna, maybe? Color can be so seductive and treacherous, and always an adventure!
 
Retro-Grouch said:
Very cool truck, though maybe it's the Polaroid film, maybe it's my monitor, but that truck ain't red! Somewhere between Mango and Burnt Sienna, maybe? Color can be so seductive and treacherous, and always an adventure!
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It was red, but looks like a red-orange in the photo as the Polaroid film rendered it. Probably a combination of the color temperature of the light near sunset and the Polaroid film's unusual color rendering.
 




This is a Polaroid snapshot of a hand-painted wooden American flag on the end of a small white barn on Hancock Street in the small town of Uniondale, Indiana. This is the first of two Polaroids that I made of it.

This barn is on the same property as the house with the "We Will Not Comply" sign in the front yard.

4-27-22
 




This is a Polaroid snapshot of my cat, Sneaky. He's sitting on the kitchen counter looking out the window.

Sneaky was an abandoned cat in my neighborhood that I took in back in 2018 after he came into my yard and started rubbing against my ankles one night. When I petted him, I could feel that he was skin and bones malnourished under his long hair. I gave hm some leftover steak I had been saving to take to my parents' dog, and he began coming back and trying to come in my house. I took him to a vet because he had fleas and wasn't gaining weight despite me feeding him a lot. Turns out that he had tapeworms! After he was treated for the fleas and tapeworms, he gained weight and got a lot healthier. He is a very sweet and affectionate cat.

I named him Sneaky because he kept slipping in the house no matter how careful I was. The vet said to keep him outside for a period of time after the flea treatment to make sure all the fleas were gone, but Sneaky did not want to wait! He still likes steak, and routinely rejects his canned cat food unless I 'season' it by adding some steak. I keep a bag of meat in the fridge for that purpose. Some say he is spoiled!

4-30-22
 




This is a Polaroid snapshot of a sign in the front yard of a house on Hancock Street in the small town of Uniondale, Indiana.

The sign says: "We Will Not Comply." I'm not sure what, exactly, they're refusing to comply with. Probably something to do with COVID-19, like vaccinations or mask mandates.

I also photographed a barn with a folk-art American flag next to the house.

4-27-22
 




A Polaroid snapshot of the former public school building in the small town of Spencerville, Indiana. The old school, located on the corner of Auburn Street (County Road 68) and County Road 55, is now home to a business called Schoolhouse Enterprises.

Construction of the school began in 1909 and was completed in 1910. All grades, including high school, were taught there until 1953. The school then continued as an elementary school until 1966.

4-28-22
 




This is a Polaroid snapshot of Riverbend Pizza, a small locally owned pizzeria on Saint Joe Road, just north of Rothman Road, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The arrow sign in front of the restaurant says: "Cheesus Crust Is Risen." This was a couple weeks after Easter!

4-28-22





Crop showing the sign in detail
 




This is a Polaroid snapshot of Klemm's Kafe, a small locally owned restaurant on Wells Street, between Third Street and Fourth Street, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. There is an old man walking alongside the building, toward the parking lot in the back. The restaurant's entrance is on the side.

Klemm's is only open in the mornings for breakfast, for which they have a devoted following. They close at 1pm and don't serve lunch or dinner. There is another Klemm's restaurant in Fort Wayne; the Candlelight Cafe on East State Boulevard.

4-29-22
 
Retro-Grouch said:
Klemm's is just the sort of local hole-in-the wall that I delight in! If I'm ever in Fort Wayne, I'll be having breakfast there.
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If you ever make it here, I'll take you there and to Coney Island Hot dogs. Coney Island is another hole in the wall that has the distinction of being Fort Wayne's oldest restaurant (108 years old!).
 
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A Polaroid snapshot of a minivan with a "f*** Biden" decal covering the rear window. The letters in the F-word are formed by pictures of guns! The F is an AR-15, the U is a pair of revolvers, the C is a pair of automatic pistols, and the K is a Kalashnikov rifle.

I photographed it in a parking lot in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Since President Biden took office, I have seen a lot of signs, bumper stickers, and even flags with "f*** Biden" printed on them. This mirrors the same phenomenon that I observed when Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, was elected in the 2016 election. I didn't see as many "f*** Trump" signs back then; but Fort Wayne is a heavily Republican city. Regardless of which president's name is on the signs, it shows clearly how coarse and vile that American politics have become. Nobody would have put up "f*** The President" signs when I was younger, no matter how much one might have disliked the man holding the office.

4-29-22
 




This is a Polaroid snapshot of the Town Hall in the small town of Uniondale, Indiana. This is probably the smallest Town Hall that I have seen. The town of Uniondale has fewer than 300 residents!

Uniondale's Town Hall is on the southwest corner of Main Street and Railroad Street.

4-27-22
 




A Polaroid snapshot of the east entrance to the historic 1873 covered bridge that carries Mill Street over the Saint Joseph River just outside the small town of Spencerville, Indiana.

The bridge was closed in 2018 after it was discovered that parts of the bridge's wooden frame and deck were no longer strong enough to safely support automobile traffic. It reopened after an extensive renovation in 2021.

4-28-22
 




A Polaroid snapshot of the General Electric starburst sign at Elwood's Appliances on Lower Huntington Road in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Elwood's is one of the few locally owned appliance stores left in Fort Wayne. When I was younger, the GE sign was still being lit at night. The lights would move outward and the center of the sign, with the GE logo, would turn on when the radial lights would reach the ends of the metal bars.

Waynedale was once an independent small town. In 1957, it was annexed by the city of Fort Wayne, but it still looks like a small town and still retains a small town culture. There are a lot of locally owned businesses here. Lower Huntington Road was and still is Waynedale's "Main Street."

5-4-22
 




A Polaroid snapshot of the back door of an old brick house on Cass Street, between Third Street and Fourth Street, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This is a block east of Wells Street.

The house has been divided into smaller apartments, like many large old houses in Fort Wayne's older neighborhoods.

5-1-22
 



A Polaroid snapshot of a house whose front yard has been overrun by plastic pink flamingos! This house is on Fairoak Drive in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Waynedale was once an independent small town. In 1957, it was annexed by the city of Fort Wayne, but it still looks like a small town and still retains a small town culture.

5-4-22
 




A Polaroid snapshot of a single metal motel chair on the front step of a house on Kyle Road, south of Wendover Road, in my neighborhood in Fort Wayne, Indiana. These chairs are common in Indiana, but are usually found in pairs. It is unusual to see just one!

5-2-22
 
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