The Flickr Vintagebridgeport Image Generatr

Another shot taken with my Pentax Auto 110. For about 2 years, I was fascinated with that camera and its capabilities using tiny 110 film. Bridgeport Connecticut. Nov 2005

Taken with a Pentax Auto-110, the smallest SLR camera ever made using 110 film.

Shot from the passenger seat of my dad’s 1965 Pontiac Bonneville on a gray and rainy day, Bridgeport presented quite a bleak view back then. Unlike today, there were still vestiges of the highly industrialized city it once was until the mid 1960s.

Driving through Bridgeport on the Connecticut Turnpike always looked like the blasted lands to my 13 year old eyes. (and worthy of a few pictures on black and white grainy 126 film.)

A crop from a square-format 126 Verichrome Pan film cartridge loaded into my Kodak Instamatic 104. I remember having my finger on the shutter button and ready to go when the view became available at 60 miles per hour. You get just a split second before the image is blocked by the cement guardrail.

I've added a few Flickr Notes on the photo to point out some details. What's that car on the right? It looks like it might be a Ford.

Here's a link to my favorite Connecticut movie. It's free! The entire 1975 film "The Stepford Wives". (by the way, there's no town by that name - the producers changed "Stamford" to "Stepford").

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRWFUym8w0Y

My guess is that back in 1848, before Bridgeport's industrial revolution began, the original builders and occupants of these two houses would be shocked to see what's become of their town. "Hey, where did all the farms go... and what's that giant red and white tower?" And so many other things that people from 1848 would not recognize. It would be total and utter "future shock".

Interesting info on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_and_Eliza_Freeman_Houses

Of the three dozen or so houses that made up this long-vanished community, only two survive on their original foundations: the homes of the Freeman sisters. Surrounded by a storage warehouse complex, a five-story brick apartment house, and expansive parking lot, the houses have somehow come through the last century and a half with relatively few modifications.

Another view of Conte's and the immediate neighborhood. Over time, it evolved into a kind of no-man's land of abandonment. The Bridgeport Harbor Power Generating Station adds to the overall ambiance of this corner in Bridgeport.

Something most people don't know is that a popular radio station (WEBE-108) has its broadcasting antennae array on the very top of the red and white smokestack. Between the high elevation and its 50,000 watts of power, WEBE-108's signal covers an enormously large area of Connecticut, Long Island, New York and parts of New Jersey.

Much like vast swaths of Bridgeport Connecticut, the area near Seaside Park by Long Island Sound has also seen its share of abandonment. Once an extremely industrial city, Bridgeport has been languishing for decades.

45 years ago, I never could have guessed that this little corner of Bridgeport would evolve into an urban jungle.

Just to be clear... the beer was consumed AFTER the show, not before or during. lol!

For those not familiar with Connecticut lingo,
here are some helpful examples:

1) Package Store = Liquor Store
2) Tag Sale = garage sale, lawn sale
3) Grinder = subway sandwich, hoagie
4) Apizza = pizza
5) Rubbish = trash, garbage
6) Mozz = mozzarella cheese
7) Turnpike = a highway with tolls
8) Rotaries = traffic circles

He also had an oldies show, but the approach was completely different. While my show was fast paced, highly energetic and reminiscent of vintage Top 40 and its "forward thrust" formatics, his show was laid back and educational. After each set of tunes, he would discuss the the back-stories of the artists and songs just played. I learned a lot listening to the tales and insights he spoke about to his audience. He was an absolute font of information and fascinating trivia about 1950s, '60s and '70s music.

I'm not sure why I used a cheapie disposable 35mm camera to take this photo, but it is what it is. Bridgeport portrayed in all its summer glory as seen from the third floor of the anonymous brick building which houses radio station WPKN-FM where I was the DJ on a Saturday evening oldies show for 18 years.

During my 18 years of doing a Saturday evening oldies show on WPKN in Bridgeport, I really got to know the city and its history. My show started at 6pm, which gave me plenty of time to drive around the city and photograph the numerous remnants of the past still standing. Everything from the skeletons of old factories to abandoned rows of downtown stores in fading Victorian buildings near the Pequonnock River.

A crop of a 110 film photo I snapped on a hot, humid summer day as we were heading back home to Milford from a trip to Manhattan to visit some friends of my parents. The original negative is nowhere to be found, so this "bumpy" matte print will have to do.

Once a staple of the Bridgeport skyline, this 1923 industrial gothic power plant was finally demolished on March 17, 1996 as reported in the New York Times below.

Personally, I was sad to see it go. The plant was such a great example of early 20th century industrial architecture. The immediate neighborhood along East Main Street is long gone as well. It's just a large gated area containing parking lots.


.

www.826paranormal.net Check out the Poli Palace Bridgeport , Connecticut, and the Savoy Hotel video on Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nTNPeNbdMo&feature=related

www.826paranormal.net Check out the Poli Palace Bridgeport , Connecticut, and the Savoy Hotel video on Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nTNPeNbdMo&feature=related

www.826paranormal.net Check out the Poli Palace Bridgeport , Connecticut, and the Savoy Hotel video on Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nTNPeNbdMo&feature=related

www.826paranormal.net Check out the Poli Palace Bridgeport , Connecticut, and the Savoy Hotel video on Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nTNPeNbdMo&feature=related

1315-1357 Main St., Bridgeport , Ct. Majestic/ Poli Palace was a major part of the Bridgeport community during the early to mid 1900's
Theater Added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1979. Building - #79002626) The Historic Significance in the theater is the architecture/ engineering. Designed and built in the Architectural Beaux Arts Style by Thomas W. Lamb.
Lowe's Poli/ Palace is the biggest movie theater ever erected in Ct. and the largest among Bridgeport's 20 plus theaters. The Loew's Palace is one of two two theaters built inside a single building (the other being the Majestic). In the middle of both was the Savoy Hotel. All are currently Abandoned , but have been used for movie sets such as Pistol Whipped (Steven Segal) and All Good Things (Ryan Gosling/Kurstin Dunst/ Jeffery Dean Morgan) The Theaters are big beautiful buildings that have a ghostly effect on ones mind when walking through them. Kind of creepy.

1315-1357 Main St., Bridgeport , Ct. Majestic/ Poli Palace was a major part of the Bridgeport community during the early to mid 1900's
Theater Added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1979. Building - #79002626) The Historic Significance in the theater is the architecture/ engineering. Designed and built in the Architectural Beaux Arts Style by Thomas W. Lamb.
Lowe's Poli/ Palace is the biggest movie theater ever erected in Ct. and the largest among Bridgeport's 20 plus theaters. The Loew's Palace is one of two two theaters built inside a single building (the other being the Majestic). In the middle of both was the Savoy Hotel. All are currently Abandoned , but have been used for movie sets such as Pistol Whipped (Steven Segal) and All Good Things (Ryan Gosling/Kurstin Dunst/ Jeffery Dean Morgan) The Theaters are big beautiful buildings that have a ghostly effect on ones mind when walking through them. Kind of creepy.