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Norfolk, Virginia, circa 1905. "Commercial Place, Norfolk." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Can you imagine the skill of the drivers to be able to park those wagons against the curb like that?
J.M.F. Trotter, who ran his drug store at 124 College Place in Norfolk, was an active member of the Virginia Pharmaceutical Association. In the 1880s he appears to have lived in Danville. After 1898 he appears in Norfolk.
Great pic, as always. Trotter Pharmacy open all night gave me my laugh for the day! Thanks Dave.
There sure are a lot of liquor sellers in the photo, but my favorite is "Family Liquor Store" way at the end of the street.
Hope I get this right. You guys always beat me to it!
Hey, they had 24 hour drug stores in 1905.
What's that odd domino-like sign or symbol on the Arco building on the second floor to the left? Almost looks like a face.
[You're close! - Dave]
Miller & Rhoads is no more.
All those buildings are no more.
They did complete the monument with a confederate soldier on top in 1907.
One thing which always stands out in these older images is the skill of the old sign painters and sign makers.
To find a really skilled sign painter nowadays, who really knows his stuff is a rare bird indeed.
Real sign painters who understand letters, spacing and fonts have, for the most part, been replaced by computer operators who have little understanding of the sign makers craft.
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