The Flickr Woodmontct Image Generatr

Today's time machine takes you back to the way Woodmont Day used to be celebrated. Unlike today, Woodmont Day wasn't held at Doolittle Park, but rather at the Anchor Beach on Long Island Sound. Note the Signal Rock at the left, traditionally flying the American flag just as it does to this day. Some party goers bring wooden chairs and umbrellas. Numerous boats filled with people float around to observe the festivities. Looks like all those cars created quite a traffic jam on Beach Avenue!

If you're familiar with cars from the 1920s, please leave a comment as to what brands are visible in this view from 1924. I realize that some could be makes which have long disappeared.

Note the "Slow Deaf Child" sign. Her name was Charlene, a neighbor of ours and she was really giggly. She could hear somewhat, but not very well. My parents asked the City of Milford to place the sign and they complied. In the background, you can see a 1970s car parked and across Merwin Avenue, the cedar wood fence of the Surf Club which existed from 1967 through closure in 1982.

Shot by yours truly with a Kodak X15 using a 126 cartridge of Kodak Verichrome Pan film.

From left to right: the youngest LA cousin, one of my friends, another LA cousin in a yellow bathing suit, me in the back holding in my pudge, an LA cousin dunking in the water of Long Island Sound, my sister with her two pigtails, and the kid brother of my friend in the center of the shot. This was taken by my dad on Kodachrome slide film.

Another one of my Dad's Kodachrome slides captures the family in the back yard of our house. Kodachrome was an amazing film which brings the past into the present. This photo looks like it could have been taken a few days ago. 😃

Sometime around 1970, the three 19th century ornate beachfront houses were torn down to be replaced with a tall "modern" condominium. This view from 1963 provides a nice time portal into when the neighborhood still contained homes and cottages from the postcard era of the early 20th century. Looking at all the trees in the background, the area was significantly more semi-rural compared to today.

This was the year that Sloppy Joe's was closed during a complete makeover and restoration. My friend took this photo using his grandfather's 1950s Kodak Brownie loaded up with a roll of black and white 120 film. The negative is nowhere to be found, so this is an enhanced scan of the original print.

Sloppy Joe's stood across the street from Long Island Sound for generations. I've got postcards of it going back to 1910. The place was a great burger and hot dog joint with excellent fries and onion rings. Just perfect after a long swim at the beach.

Today, this is the location of the "Bonfire Grille" restaurant, which looks nothing like this image.

This was the beach across the street from our house when we lived on Rock Street. The Poli Mansion (or "Villa Rosa") is in the distance.

Although technically this is "Merwin's Beach", we always called it Sandy Beach for the amazing amount of flat sand at full low tide.

Taken on Kodachrome film using my Dad's 35mm camera. As memory serves me, I'm the one who captured this scene. (one of the very few times he allowed me to use his camera!)

It's precisely on those sandbars in Long Island Sound that my friends and I used to build massive "sand cities" back in the early to mid 1970s during low tide. (see below).

That's the Villa Rosa mansion on the left. It's got quite a history!

I snapped this black and white with my Kodak Instamatic 104. It's a view of a typical morning at the Crescent Beach.

From the 1950s through 2007, the sand on this beach was annually replenished with sand dredged from Long Island Sound.

Once the sand replenishing stopped, the beach quickly returned to its natural state of barnacle-covered rocks, crevices and became unusable as a good place to swim.

One of my Dad's Kodachrome slides showing summer fun at a beach along the Milford and Woodmont shoreline. Most of these slides portray daily life from decades ago.

I remember how the adults always hung around in this corner of the beach while kids ran all over and swam in the refreshingly chilly water of Long Island Sound.

Although Platt's Hill no longer exists, being leveled for suburban houses in the 1990s, during my teenage years it was a place we would often explore. It consisted of roughly 30 acres of woods. At one point around 1974, my friends and I found an abandoned tree-house and made it ours by fixing it up.

A friend took this shot with his Kodak Instamatic 104 loaded with a cartridge of Kodak's 126 size Verichrome Pan film.

This 110 film view was taken near the intersection of Edgefield Avenue and Benjamin Street. I used to carry my Kodak Pocket Instamatic 40 camera just about everywhere... always ready for a shot.

During the summer, enormous cumulous clouds often hover over the Sound. I've always found them to be quite beautiful and peaceful.

mamiya rb67

Taken with my Kodak Pocket Model 40, this small camera caught a moment in time which otherwise would have been totally forgotten.

My Dad took this on Kodachrome film at the Anchor Beach in Woodmont, Connecticut. It was just one image from his massive collection of slides from the 1950s through the early 2000s. Kodachrome colors were incredibly realistic and look brand new decades later.

Back in 1971, I took a snapshot of more or less this same view from the top of of Platt's hill. You can see it below. These make for an interesting "Now and Then" view of the same place.

The new view above has no hill and the old view below taken from the top of the Platts Hill shows more or less the same place.

www.flickr.com/photos/wavz13/4315995573/in/album-72157623...

I enjoy these celebrations every summer. Sure can't wait to be there again in 1918, which is just a short year away from now!

From my Dad's Kodachrome slide collection. I'm almost positive that this was taken in one of Mom & Dad's friends backyard in the Woodmont neighborhood of Milford Connecticut. Aug 1963