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I used to have a print of this negative that I hung in my darkroom back in the 1990′s. I always liked the photo because something about it felt very familiar to me. The image shows two guys (photographers?) sitting down over coffee and perhaps talking about cameras or photography. I’ve sat and talked in restaurants dozens of times with other photographers and friends with camera(s) present at the table, often making photos of the food, the items on the table or the other person or people I’m dining with.

I have no caption information for this image. But what I do know is that the camera the man on the left is holding is a Nikon S2 rangefinder with a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens. The camera was introduced in the US and Japan in December, 1954. So that helps date the photo a bit. There were over 56,000 Nikon S2 bodies made from late 1954 until 1957. Nikon made the S2 to compete with the German Leica M3 rangefinder. 35mm photography had not gained popularity in the mid-1950′s. The 35mm format became much more popular in the 1960′s. Most working photographers in the 1950′s used press cameras (4″x5″ format) or a medium format twin lens camera. 35mm was still considered by many photographers as the “toy” format and not capable of serious work in the 1950′s. Though the 35mm film format was used a good bit, its popularity hadn’t quite exploded like it would in the 1960′s and 70′s.

I can imagine these two guys sitting and having coffee and chatting about the pros and cons of the new 35mm cameras versus the bulky Graflex cameras that were popular at the time.

“Well, its not quite a Leica, but it will do, I mean the optics are pretty sharp.”

“Have you tried it with that new Kodak Tri-X film?”

(Kodak introduced Tri-X in 35mm format in 1954)

“Oh yeah – it is a bit grainy but the 200 speed really helps with shooting in lower light levels, doesn’t hurt to have this really fast and bright f/1.4 lens.”

“So when are you gonna get a strap for that camera so you won’t drop it and break it?” “Camera strap? why would I want one of those? I never use those with my Graflex”

In early 1955, this Nikon would have been a cutting edge camera and the Graflex press camera that Andrus made this photo with was going to eventually get phased out of daily journalistic use. The 4×5 Graflex was slow, heavy, and cumbersome in comparison to the slick, small, and nimble 35mm rangefinder.

Fifty plus years later photographers still sit and chat about photo gear in diner booths, we just talk about the pros and cons of digital versus film, how much we pine for our old analog gear, wring our hands about the future of film, and worry if anyone will ever discover or value our digital camera files decades from now that will exist on outdated hard drives that likely wont work with future computers. Everything changes sooner or later.

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+++Photographs from the 1950′s by Washington, DC photographer Edward Andrus.+++

In the mid 1990's I purchased from an antique dealer the partial(?) collection of 4"x5" and medium format negatives from the estate of Edward Andrus. I own several hundred of his negatives, I've not counted all of them yet. Andrus photographed many scenes at American University in Washington, DC and many businesses in the DC area in the 1950's. He graduated from American University in 1954 with a BS in Geology. It seems Andrus worked as a photographer in the DC area while attending college and for a few years after.

I created this site as an ongoing archive of Andrus's images to be used by historians and archivists to discover more about Washington, DC's history, and Andrus's photographic work.

May Hardware was founded in 1874 by Frank P. May in a building at 634 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. In 1914 the Federal Government took the property via eminent domain for construction of the National Archive Building. May Hardware moved into a new building it built at 446-77 C Street NW, but 18 years later (1932) the Government decided it needed that property for a DC Municipal Center. The company then moved to a new building it built at 1818 New York Avenue NE. When World War II came into being May Hardware officials decided that they would have to cut back and sold the building to IBM. May bought the old and smaller IBM headquarters on 31st Street NW. In the 1950′s May moved into the above building it built at 6031 Kansas Ave. NW. The building has 60,000 square feet, about the size of a US football field. The current rent on the building is a meager $40,000 per month. (I think I’ll move in next week). May Hardware went out of business in 1970.

Lots of interesting changes have occurred in the past 55 or so years since Andrus made his photo. Several additions have been made to the place, a sidewalk directly in front of the building, expansion of the parking lot, a cross walk post, bars on the windows, several bushes and a tree. The new building owners obliterated any outward sign that the build was once May Hardware, including painting over the smokestack to obscure the May Hardware name. The smokestack now supports cell phone transmission towers. Interestingly, the telephone poles on the right side of the frame seem to be original, and the flagpole on the front of the building still remains.
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+++Photographs from the 1950′s by Washington, DC photographer Edward Andrus.+++

In the mid 1990's I purchased from an antique dealer the partial(?) collection of 4"x5" and medium format negatives from the estate of Edward Andrus. I own several hundred of his negatives, I've not counted all of them yet. Andrus photographed many scenes at American University in Washington, DC and many businesses in the DC area in the 1950's. He graduated from American University in 1954 with a BS in Geology. It seems Andrus worked as a photographer in the DC area while attending college and for a few years after.

I created this site as an ongoing archive of Andrus's images to be used by historians and archivists to discover more about Washington, DC's history, and Andrus's photographic work.

+++Photographs from the 1950′s by Washington, DC photographer Edward Andrus.+++

In the mid 1990's I purchased from an antique dealer the partial(?) collection of 4"x5" and medium format negatives from the estate of Edward Andrus. I own several hundred of his negatives, I've not counted all of them yet. Andrus photographed many scenes at American University in Washington, DC and many businesses in the DC area in the 1950's. He graduated from American University with a BS in Geology. It seems Andrus worked as a photographer in the DC area while attending college and for a few years after.

I created this site as an ongoing archive of Andrus's images to be used by historians and archivists to discover more about Washington, DC's history, and Andrus's photographic work.

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Graham hardware did business from at least 1953 until June, 1981. Those are the range of dates in which they advertised in The Washington Post. This image was an almost impossible photo to identify the location except for one clue, the address of "1508" over the door. A search of newspaper databases for "hardware 1508" clued me into Graham Hardware which in the 1950's was located on the corner of Graham Road and Arlington Blvd. in Falls Church, VA which was located at 1508 Arlington Blvd. Years later, the town of Falls Church changed all the addresses on Arlington Blvd., the address then became 7234 Arlington Blvd. sometime in the 1970's. The address now houses Skyline Nail Supply.

+++Photographs from the 1950′s by Washington, DC photographer Edward Andrus.+++

In the mid 1990's I purchased from an antique dealer the partial(?) collection of 4"x5" and medium format negatives from the estate of Edward Andrus. I own several hundred of his negatives, I've not counted all of them yet. Andrus photographed many scenes at American University in Washington, DC and many businesses in the DC area in the 1950's. He graduated from American University in 1954 with a BS in Geology. It seems Andrus worked as a photographer in the DC area while attending college and for a few years after.

I created this site as an ongoing archive of Andrus's images to be used by historians and archivists to discover more about Washington, DC's history, and Andrus's photographic work.

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Likely in 1956 Andrus photographed this scene of a man pointing at a development/construction progress map for home construction on Red Oak Drive, Saratoga Drive, and 20th Avenue in Adelphi, Maryland. There is a key code on the left that indicates the stage in which each home is in towards its completion. Most of the houses are listed as completed and have completion dates listed as 1956. Unfortunately, there is no indication as to who the builder is for the development. Most of the property tax records list the homes on the streets a being built in 1958. Perhaps 1958 is the year the homes actually went on the market?

+++Photographs from the 1950′s by Washington, DC photographer Edward Andrus.+++

In the mid 1990's I purchased from an antique dealer the partial(?) collection of 4"x5" and medium format negatives from the estate of Edward Andrus. I own several hundred of his negatives, I've not counted all of them yet. Andrus photographed many scenes at American University in Washington, DC and many businesses in the DC area in the 1950's. He graduated from American University in 1954 with a BS in Geology. It seems Andrus worked as a photographer in the DC area while attending college and for a few years after.

I created this site as an ongoing archive of Andrus's images to be used by historians and archivists to discover more about Washington, DC's history, and Andrus's photographic work.

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Edward T. Clark and Sons was established in 1845 at I think was this location. This building is one of the oldest in Ellicott City, Md which was constructed sometime between 1780 and 1790 and originally was a residence. Following a flood in 1808, the building became the town’s emporium, stocking an inventory ranging from household staples to clothing, fuel and farm supplies.

Tragically, Edward T. Clark Jr., the owner of the store when this image was made, died along with his wife in an automobile accident in 1972 on their way to Vicksburg, Mississippi from Ellicott City. They were towing a trailer behind their van along Interstate – 85. As they approached a bridge the vehicle and trailer started to sway causing them to lose control and crash through a guard rail into 40 feet of chilly Lake Hartwell water on the South Carolina-Georgia line. A witness to the crash tried in vain to dive in a save them but he could not. (Source: The Baltimore Sun – March 30, 1972)

Nine years later, the Clark family sold the building and they now run a rather large and successful Ace Hardware about five miles from this location. Today the building is home to the Antique Depot. I have visited the Antique Depot many times in the past six or so years and since it is located in a historic district, not much has changed with the building.