Some Miscellaneous Photos Without Flowers or Bugs

These are photos taken on two different days at two different locations.

The buildings below are on Gravois Avenue in South St. Louis near were Gravois, Delor Street, and Itaska Street come together.  They don’t make buildings like these anymore and St. Louis is full of them and there are a lot of others that are even more ornate but they are all slowly disappearing.  People are putting modern, cheap store store fronts over the facades because it’s cheaper than all the tuck pointing and brick work need to fix them up.  Also the interiors usually need substantial work to replace the water/steam radiators and boilers, a lot of the electrical is out of code with knob and tube wiring, and the plaster walls need repairing.

My son is full time teacher and part time musician and he played at the chrome bar one night.  My wife and I went to hear him.  Like all old neighborhood bars it was very dark inside, well worn wooden floors and bar, and the smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke.  Also, typical of old South St. Louis bars it was long and narrow with most of one side taken up by the bar and the other side by a line of tables along with the wall with a few in the center that made navigation tricky on a crowded night.  Unfortunately, according to my son, it’s been awhile since Tim’s has had a crowded night.  What set Tim’s Chrome Bar apart from most other bars is that on the wall opposite the bar are there is a good sized niche that has a small stage for bands (small bands).  I forget if it was pillars or just the wall but on both front sides of the stage where chrome cutouts of kneeling nude ladies with an arm in the air as if presenting whoever was on stage.  They were the same chrome cut outs of nudes you’ve probably seen on the mud flaps of over the road trucks, but about twice as large.  Made for a very interesting presentation.

 

The building is next to the Chrome Bar, on the left as you face the buildings.

 

This being St. Louis, and especially South St. Louis, Budweiser advertising is prominent at local bars, outside and inside.

 

I’m still on Gravois but across the street from Tim’s Chrome Bar.  These metal feet are large enough for a small child to stand in, and they do like to do it.

 

Someone left their drink and the sunlight gave me an opportunity for a photo.

 

I’ve left Gravois and am back in my neighborhood.  Every fourth of July our local Lions Club sponsors a carnival and fireworks display; these photos are from the carnival grounds.

 

Dinner break?

 

A carny hawking business in front of his shooting gallery.

 

 

 

Sorry boys, not a winner.

 

Bye-bye.

 

Thank you for stopping by.

David

All photos taken with a Nikon D7100 and a Nikkor 24-85 zoom lens.