Photo analysis: An early 1910's scene from the edge of Ro Grande on Matamoros

The advantage of scanning photographs is that it eliminates the need to handle photos or searching for your most powerful magnifying lens to zoom in on all the details to make a seemingly uninteresting photo with little information worth looking at closely.  This photo was scanned several years ago for William Quinones who asked to have his family photos digitized by the Brownsville Heritage Museum and was chosen among a few others depicting various scenes in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas.  There are no identifying postcard markings and it doesn't appear to have been taken by our most prolific photographer at the time, Robert Runyon. 

Here is as much as we can tell by looking the photograph by comparing it to others from the era.

The very first step is to enhance the photograph to remove the fading or cloudy haze which sometimes appears on vintage photographs using photo enhancement software.  In this case a basic edition of Photoshop Elements is good enough to significantly improve the photo's quality.

Now we can assess the situation.  At first glance there appears to be some activity of interest in the background where people are gathered and a small group is walking in the direction of the camera.  To the left is a wood building and a small shed next to a large poster-sized advertisement.

A closer look reveals that the framed structure behind the trees is the old Brownsville-Matamoros bridge built in 1910 which means those people are standing near the edge of the Rio Grande.

There were several ferry crossings to take people from one side of the river to the other.  Most photos from this place and time show ferry boats near Brownsville-Matamoros proper.  We're more interested in what appearances were like down the river near the old bridge rather than where the "new" Gateway International Bridge would be built and opened by July 4th, 1928.  Here we see ferry service but it is quite a way from old bridge seen in the distance.

 Here's another that appears to be same location which identifies Santa Cruz -  a small "colonia" or community next to Matamoros which has since been absorbed by that city.  There is a "Carta Blanca" beer advertisement which will take a closer look at using another photo from about the same time.

Back to the photo - note the sign propped up behind the shed which shows part of Rio Grande and bank on U.S. side.  It appears that the numerous 2x4 support framing is being used to a hold much larger sign facing the river to attract business from the Brownsville side.  

This postcard shows what the sign may have looked like.  In this case it's an ad for Carta Blanca beer and the Crixell Saloon.  There were Crixell bars on both sides of the river as we already know from our local business and political history.  Click on --> THIS <-- for more about the Crixells brothers Jose, Teofilo and Vicente.

The photo was further enhanced to bring out detail from the Cottolene shortening advertisement.  

 A quick search revealed that Cottolene was a rival of Crisco which is still sold today.  The goal was to find an exact copy of the poster with the woman serving her children but none was found.  What all these sample ads have in common is a woman in apron etc.

This shows illustrations of working and middle class women of the early 1900s and 1911-1915 woman's hairstyle which was also ideal for wearing the large hats of the era but enough of that....

What is of most interest is the label above the advertisement which clearly says "Dittmann Advertising Service."  

 Adolf Dittmann arrived in Brownsville, Texas in 1908 and was a man of many talents.

As a young man he left Salt Lake City to work as a magician in vaudeville theaters in Chicago, Boston and New York.  He also worked in a print shop and even composed and published music.  A short stint as a farmer in Florida and Brownsville, Texas convinced him that what he really wanted to do was return to the theater and magic and continue printing which is what he did and he built the very first movie theater in Brownsvile with stage for vaudeville performances. He also learned photography and later brought a 35mm moving film camera.

Here's another unidentified photo which my be Adolf Dittmann filming on or near Fort Brown

 Here is the theater he built in 1910 at 1118 E Washington St (next to present day Rutledge Burger).

 Colorized Robert Runyon photo

 This Robert Runyon photo shows inside of restaurant with poster ad on the right.

Note at bottom the ad is for Dittmann's Theater.  Adolf eventually sold the theater around the late 1930s or early 1940s and continued printing signs and also opened one of the first trailer park resorts on Central Blvd.

While we still didnt learn much about the people and place in the photograph and what interested the photographer to take a photo, we at least identified the advertisement, location and era in which the photo was taken.  For all our guesses, the photo may have been taken by Adolf Dittman himself but without proof, we can only assume it might have been.

1950 Brownsville Music Company - Gilbert Pineda and Dan Alaniz

Gilbert Pineda and Dan Alaniz ~ Brownsville Music Company (BMC) sent by Gil Tatar Pineda last January.  The original appears at bottom of this post.  This is the colorized version with photos found online to help with the coloring process.  The Wurlitzer 1250 was introduced in 1950.

The photo appears to be taken at a trade show convention with a display the latest Wurlitzer music boxes on the market.  The BMC store was located in the San Fernando complex building facing Market Square from the side of 11th St.  Sorry, no photo of that.

Gilbert Pineda was a teenager when he started working for the Brownsville Music Company prior to World War II.  He enlisting in the army in 1943 and took part in the D-Day Invasion operating heavy artillery and returned home in December 1945.  He returned to work for his uncle Bernadino ("Tio Nino") who owned BMC.  After Tio Nino passed on Gilbert and Dan took over the business and leased jukeboxes, pool tables and pinball machines throughout Brownsville, Port Isabel and Los Fresnos areas well into the 1990s.

This is an early Robert Runyon photo of Frenchman John B. Viano (standing) and parade float.  He was the proprietor of the "Diamond Loop Brownsville Music Company" and displayed the United States of America and French flags on his flower decorated float for a parade popular with Brownsvillites who owned vehicles in the early 1900's.  Viano probably sold pianos and phonographs and other musical instruments popular at the time.

1911 Flower Parade in Brownsville, Texas (Brownsville Historical Association)

 July 28, 1938 obituary for John B. Viano

 May 4, 1952 Cinco de Mayo ad from Brownsville Music Company

 The Wurlitzer Model 1250 jukebox showcased a visible record changer and could play (both sides) of  24 -  10" or 7" records.  It weighed about 380 lbs and stood 59" high, 36" wide and 27" deep.  

 Wurlitzer Model 4007 oval wall-mount auxiliary speaker featured a silver grille cloth and mirrored rim which was the top-of-the-line.  The 12" speaker gave increased output.  The unit was about 30" high, 22 wide and 11" deep.  Another attractive feature was the "revolving colored light cylinder behind Musical Note."

The Wurlitzer 3020 wall box accepted 5¢ 10¢ & 25¢ to play up to 24 selections of music from the Wurlitzer 1250.  It was nickel-plated with red push buttons.

Thanks to Gil Tatar Pineda for allowing me the privilege to colorize this piece of Brownsville history.  This was a difficult photo to work with and I did not achieve the desired realistic colors I wanted but that's alright.

Colorized photo of JC Penny party in 1951 in Brownsville, Texas with 1941 Wurlitzer 750 jukebox. Photo loaned by Nora Vasquez at Junk -N- Treasure in Brownsville, Texas (my first experience colorizing a jukebox).
********************************************
(photo & comments added 3/2017

San Fernando building complex at Market Square early 1970s 

"Love these photos side, by side. My father, Alfredo Serna, Sr., owned The Victory Place until he passed away in August 1970. It was a beer joint and the address was 1108 East Adams. It was the only bar that opened to both Adams and Market Square St. (The beer trucks lined up there, made me smile.) Looking at this picture I can't tell if my dad's bar was in the building next to the park or was torndown for the park. This is a clipping from a Mother's Day advertisement in the '50's I believe. My mom, Maria Teresa Serna, was the switchboard operator at City Hall just across the street, for many, many years, retiring a few years after he passed away. So, this photo and the recent photo of City Hall you posted hold so many memories for me and my family."

~ Lali Serna Castillo (via Facebook page)

"My dad Benito F Garcia owned the bar at the corner " El Caballo Blanco " all his life. He had an ajointed door to the Jukebox company owned by my cousins the Pinedas that faced the market. These pictures bring me back to those days of my dads good old days. People knew my dad as El Venado."  

~  Nago Garcia

Funerals & Post-mortem Photography by Robert Runyon

 Sometimes it was better to have a photo of a deceased loved one than no photograph at all to remember them.  Post-mortem photographs were made for that simple reason.  These were also known as Sleeping Beauty photos.

 Funeral with Hinkley hearse car delivering casket at train station

Robert Runyon photos of African -Americans in Rio Grande Valley

1921 The King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra - Robert Runyon photo

The King Carter and Jazzing Orchestra is an early jazz band from Houston that may have been in Brownsville when Robert Runyon took this photograph.  Their jazz ensemble includes a trombone, trumpet, drums, violin and bass.

If Brownsville Herald archives were searched for January 1921 (this photo is dated as that) might confirm it but I don't think those years are available.  These players were coming up around the same time as Louie Armstrong but there isn't much info on them online so far.  

The The King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra was one of the first Jazz groups to come out and was one of the first to give the swinging type of music that people had not heard before.The Jazz Age(Feb 27 2013)

 Charley Allen of Brownsville, Texas

 E. C. Collins, Kingsville Texas, May 16 1920 RUN04924

Male portrait The Robert Runyon Photograph Collection 06888 courtesy of The Center for American History The University of Texas at Austin

There is another photo of railroad worker in work clothing holding lamp photographed in Runyon studio but  we need a scan of it.  :/

1910s Luna Bar and Trolley Car ~ E Washington and 11th St.

Christina Fernández DeGonzález

Sep 4th, 5:49pm

1915 Trolley

Here's the picture of the cable car on Washington Street in downtown Brownsville which I promised you while I was in Spain!! This is a picture of a cable car going west on 11th Street and East Washington Street in downtown Brownsville. The building to your right is what became the Hanshaw's Dime Store. On your left, you can see a building which served as a saloon/brothel in the hey days of Fort Brown.  

My grandfather, Manuel Cisneros, purchased the property at 1049 E. Washington Street one of two, in the the late 1900's. He converted the building into Cisneros Drug Store, which was one of two drugstores he opened in downtown Brownsville before the Great Depression. The second drug store was located on East Elizabeth Street, almost next to the J. C. Penny's store. The Washington Street building 's second story was transformed into the Cisneros family residence for several years as was the custom in those days. My mother and her two siblings lived "upstairs" as toddlers before moving, with their family, into their beautiful, Spanish-style home at Second Street and East Washington Street.  

My grandfather had a devastating fall at the drugstore in 1942, which brought on a debilitating stroke and his untimely demise at 48 years of age. Our family sold the "business" to Mr. I. (Nena) Zarate, Jr., in the early1950's. He established Zarate's Pharmacy. For as long as I can remember, the front doorway of the building sported a mosaic tile floor which spelled out "Cisneros Drugs".  

This is probably the only picture which we have ever seen of the facade of the original structure. Before my mother's death in 2006, she had so much curiosity about the "look" of the original building. The building was sold in 2007 to Irene and Lui Wayne Ouobec, two now multi-millionaire Vietnam immigrants, who opened CRAFTLAND, a huge silk flower business. Unfortunately, this picture was not discovered until after mother's' death. I know that it is our building because of the wrought iron which was stored at our family home for at least 50 years or more. There is your cable car on Washington Street as promised, Benita!! Have a GREAT Labor Day week-end!!

 Luna Bar 

Interior Luna Bar

c1910 Brownsvile Street and Interurban Railway - E Elizabeth and 10th  (Robert Runyon photo)