Ahoy, the CALTEX ROTTERDAM

Trying to think of an image for this week's Sepia Saturday had me stumped. I'm sure I've got some bridge photos around here that I haven't shown before, but putting my finger on them was the problem. Instead I started thinking bridges, trains, and ships.

I give you some very old and blurred photos of the launching of the tanker ship Caltex Rotterdam taken by Donald G. Schnabel. It looks to have been a rather overcast dreary day. I'm sure Donald was there because he worked in the oil industry.

The ship was built in the Netherlands in 1956. I don't know what year it was launched, but Donald took a trip to Bahrain in 1957 and visited the BAPCO office. If you look at the first shot you'll see a logo of a red star in a circular field of white. You'll see the same logo in the shot taken outside the BAPCO office in Bahrain.

In October of 1975 the Caltex Rotterdam was dragged to Masan, South Korea. On December 12, 1975 demolition of the vessel was begun.

And here's a video a fellow made of old movies aboard Caltex tankers. WARNING: You might need to take dramamine before watching it.



If watching this you start thinking, "Geez, look at the waves coming over the deck! How low is this thing?" Take a look at this photo found here showing the Caltex Rotterdam loaded and sailing.

Now, if you really want to see a bridge after all of this click here to take a look at my July 22, 2011 post about the building of the Glen Canyon Bridge in Arizona. It was my Sepia Saturday post so long ago.
_________

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

Donald Jr.'s FRIEND or Wife

This is the same Louise that was in yesterday's photo of Betty Schnabel's brother Donald.


Click on image to see it larger.

This slide is not Kodachrome. I can't remember what it was, but it was PINK! Very PINK! It took a bit of work to bring back the colors.

It's a very '50s look.

And the original PINK slide.

_____

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

Betty's BROTHER

Another slide from the Schnable estate. This one is of Betty's brother, Don Jr., and Louise. I do not know if Louise was his wife.

Sure would like to see more of this ragtop. Anyone have an idea of what model it might be?


Click on image to see it larger.

I do love the color in old Kodachrome shots.
_____

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

Schnabel MODEL

The second shot of the model from Donald G. Schnabel's leather folder. By the way, his name is in gold on the leather. It's a nice old fashioned leather zippered portfolio.

This shot was most likely not used since her feet got cut off. The old adage of using photos in design was if the feet are cropped off crop the photo even more. Sometimes there's no choice and you end up with footless folks.

Love her swimsuit or should I say sun suit? That suit never got in that lake.


Click on image to see it larger.
_____
Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

Coming or GOING?

Another from the Betty Schnabel estate. It, like the photo of Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I, was in the leather folder that belonged to her father Donald. I'm trying to imagine how this shot might have been used in some sort of promotional piece for Standard Oil. It's obviously a staged shot that looks like something from a 1940s movie. 

There is one other shot of this young lady from the same folder that I will post tomorrow. 


Click on image to see it larger.
_____
Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

Not ANTHONY QUINN. It's Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I

This man looks nothing like Anthony Quinn, but the first time I saw this shot I thought of Quinn in Lawrence of Arabia, still one of my favorite films. Every couple of years I put Lawrence... on and escape into my childhood. Seeing Peter O'Toole on the huge screen at an elaborate theater in San Francisco, his blue eyes huge on the screen, I was in love. He was beautiful. My old scrapbook has pages of Peter O'Toole in it.



This photo is from the Betty Schnabel estate. It was in a leather folder that belonged to her father Donald.

The reason the fella has white paint around him is that the photo was most likely used in some sort of printed publication. The white was painted around the photo to silhouette the man for printing purposes. There is no information with the photo as to who the people are or how it was used.

UPDATE: Thanks Mike for figuring out who this fella is. Well, was since he died in 1961. This is Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I who was the ruler of Bahrain from 1942 until his death in 1961.

Source: Wikimedia

_____

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

Saturday is LAUNDRY DAY

Saturday is almost always laundry day. These days with the drought I try to do one FULL load. I really push the stuff in hoping to not do a second load. Everything gets washed together. I don't sort different colors, unless there's a red item in the bunch. Just throw it in, wash it, get it out on the line.

Here in California we're being told to expect an El Niño this winter. I'll believe it when I see it. It has been stated that the rains will probably hit Southern California leaving the north still dry. If that's the case, and weather stays similar to what it's been the past few years, I'll still be hanging laundry out in January when the new norm is 70+ degrees.

All of these photos have been posted before, just not grouped together. This is my Sepia Saturday submission this week. Laundry and the lovely sun and wind that dries it. Perhaps even encouraging a bit of a dance. So if I don't get around to visiting other blogs until Sunday or later blame it on my laundry. Lots of sheets and towels to do this weekend, and maybe a little dance.

Click on any image to see it larger.

CLEAR LAKE with Clear Skies

About an hour away from me there is a raging fire that has consumed over 67,000 acres since Saturday. It is called the Valley Fire located south of Clear Lake. The fire has been devastating and because of the drought in California there is fuel in all directions. The fire has already jumped to my county. I tell myself there's no way it could make it to where I am, but I know that's not true. Areas burned in 15 minutes that were expected to take 24 hours. There may be some light rain tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. So many have lost everything and are now living in shelters, not knowing if they have anything to go back to. Clear Lake is not a wealthy area, so many of these folks may never recover.

I thought I'd repost two Clear Lake posts from the past showing how beautiful Lake County can be.
____________

Clear Lake is in Northern California, the county just north of Napa County. This vintage snapshot dates from 1909 when apparently there was a ferry running on the lake. I don't know of any ferries running there now.






Click on any image to see it larger.

Clear Lake is a natural freshwater lake in Lake County, California and is fed by runoff flowing into many streams as well as springs in Soda Bay. Its sole outlet is Cache Creek.

Clear Lake is believed to be one of the oldest lakes in North America, due to a geological fluke. The lake sits on a huge block of stone which slowly tilts in the northern direction at the same rate as the lake fills in with sediment, thus keeping the water at roughly the same depth. Core samples of the lake's sediments, taken by U.S. Geological Survey geologists in 1973 and 1980, indicate that the lake is at least 480,000 years old. Some experts feel that Mono Lake, to the east of the Sierra Nevada in California, is older than Clear Lake. However, the sedimentary history of Clear Lake is unbroken, while Mono Lake's sediments have been disturbed by past eruptions of the Long Valley Caldera and associated volcanoes.

The geology of Clear Lake is chaotic, with numerous small faults being present in the south end of the lake as well as many old volcanoes, the largest being Mount Konocti, sitting at the middle of the lake's south shore. 

Area: 69.5 sq miles (180 km²)

Surface elevation: 1,329' (405 m)

Length: 19.01 miles (30.6 km)

Fish: Largemouth bass, Channel catfish, Brown bullhead, Lavinia exilicauda, Ictalurus catus

Islands: Rattlesnake Island, Weekend Island, Fruit Island, Garner Island, Tule Island, Slater Island, Indian Island, Anderson Island

Cities: Lakeport, Clearlake, Lower Lake, Lucerne, Nice (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

When I think of Clear Lake I think of hot summer days. Very hot summer days.

To read about a tragedy against the Pomo people that occurred at Clear Lake on May 15, 1850 click here.



____________

Again we view slides from the Betty Schnabel estate. I'm guessing these were also taken by her father, Donald G. Schnabel, though I can't be sure.

These first two are of Clear Lake in Northern California. Sunrise or sunset? I don't know the lake well enough to judge from which side these were taken, but they fit nicely with the third photo.




Click on images to see them larger.

Written on this third slide is "Mother Clear Lake" and it is in the box of slides taken in Sweden in 1959. Clearly she is in the sunset of her life. I believe she was Betty's paternal grandmother, but again, it's just a guess.


Click on image to see it larger.

UPDATE: Intense Guy has kindly supplied me with the following about Donald's mother:

Donald's mother, Mary G Schnabel nee Maguire was born 20 Feb 1877 in Lima, Ohio. She married George E. Schnabel in 1897. George was born about 1876 in Ohio. If the photo was taken in 1959, she would have been about 82 years old. She died in 5 Dec 1964. She and George had about 10 children.

Donald and Betty in ENGLAND IN 1949

It's always fun to go through another box of slides from Betty Schnabel's estate. Her father, Donald G. Schnabel, traveled a lot and took thousands of slides; sometimes Betty traveled with him. In this case it was to England in 1949.

These are all black and white slides. I'll admit to not knowing there ever was such a thing. Their quality is not particularly good, but they do give the feeling of stepping back in time, only four years after the war.

The theme for Sepia Saturday this week is hotels. Below I give you a hotel. This is the Welcombe Inn located near Stratford-upon-Avon. This shot certainly doesn't make the place look particularly interesting, but click on this link and you'll be impressed.

Click on images to see them larger.



Betty and Donald visited Shakespeare's home while in Stratford-upon-Avon. Two chatty ladies with a pram would have never imagined they'd one day be shown to people around the world.



And here we have some folks considering a tour of Shakespeare's home. Looks like one of them wants to first lean in and see if it's worth it.



Betty and Donald also visited Kenilworth Castle. The second shot is labeled "Stables Kenilworth Castle 1949." Personally I think I could live quite nicely in the stables.





The strange thing about all of Donald's slides is that his wife, Louise, never seems to be in any of them. She died in 1972. Occasionally there are shots of his son, Donald Jr, who died this past year. Betty traveled with her father on several trips. Now, since I only have slides from Betty's estate I have no way of knowing what photographs her brother had or what became of them. He lived in Florida, Betty in California. The family images are doomed to never be together.

So I'll leave you with Betty in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1949. I can't decide if that's a feather in a hat or some strands of hair blown straight up. It doesn't help to see the photo larger. You can decide for yourself. Betty does not appear to be enjoying herself.



To see more photos taken by Betty's father click on his or her name in the links below.

The FASHIONABLE YOUNG LADY in Ohio with Grandma?

The last shot in this series. We will not be seeing anymore shots of this young lady unless I discover a shot of her later in life that so far has gone right by me. I do adore her. She is worthy of a finely drawn character in a book.

Click on image to see it larger.
_________________

Available at Amazon 
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading

The FASHIONABLE YOUNG LADY in Ohio with friend

A relative? A friend? Another member of the Bow Club for Girls?


Click on image to see it larger.
_________________

Available at Amazon 
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading

The FASHIONABLE YOUNG LADY in Ohio

Did she love to dance? Was she graceful or awkward? Did she have a sly sense of humor or a mean streak? Was she often told she was lovely? Did she believe it?


Click on image to see it larger.
_________________

Available at Amazon 
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading

The FASHIONABLE YOUNG LADY in Ohio

I adore this girl. I have four photos of her in Donald G. Schnabel's family photos from Ohio. Each of the photos is a RPPC; no information is written on the back of any of them. She is one of those mysteries that will not be solved. I do so wish I knew what she looked like as she matured. What became of her? What was her place in history?

I love her shoes.


Click on image to see it larger.
_________________

Available at Amazon 
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading

Betty's friends CATTIN AROUND AT A MOTEL in room no. 12

Raise your hand if you remember motor courts. Little motels that were always one floor little cabins or duplexes. Sometimes there was an actual garage to pull into.

Here are Betty's friends with an unknown woman (not that Betty's friends aren't also unknown) holding a cat. Was she the motel manager? A friend who got them a good deal to stay there? We'll never know.






Click on images to see them larger.

That's it folks. As of now I haven't found anymore photos from the girls getaway. Who knows what will show up in the future.
_________________

Available at Amazon 
Tattered and Lost: The Quiet Art of Reading