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Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1906. "Birmingham Post Office." Right next to The Cable Company. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
A wall sign on Shindler's Saloon advertises "Old Musty Ale." Surprised that name hasn't survived through the ages.
This building, long gone, was located at the northeast corner of 2nd Avenue North and 18th Street. There is now a parking deck there used by the McWane Science Center and Alabama Theater.
The dog on the left-side steps is waiting to ambush his natural enemy, the postman.
Hey, my piano teacher had one of those Cable pianos when I was taking lessons as a kid in the '70s. I remember it as "Hobart M. Cable." Funny how fear and bad memories form indelible stamps in your brain.
Top corner windows on the left with the awnings. Must be the local postmaster's office.
You can see through the windows on the first floor that waiting in line at the post office has always been standard procedure.
Brothers H.D., Hobart and Fayette Cable ran a Chicago-based company that made pianos (upright and player) and organs. Aggressive marketers, the Cables sold many pianos on installment plans to those who could not afford them. The resulting lawsuits and appellate decisions helped to define early Twentieth Century consumer law, which distinctly favored sellers.
First we'll go see Fantasia(?) at the Bijou and then walk over to Shindler's for a nightcap.
The Cable Company's rate for basic cable in 1906 was only 42 cents a month. Adding HBO added another 52 cents to the total.
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