Photos from the vault was born a little over a year ago on November 13, 2007.
People who know me will tell you I have trouble remembering birthdays, so it’s a belated happy birthday.
Since then there have been 81,067 page views on the original and current site from all over the world. There are 138 posts and 301 comments on the blog, oops this makes 139 posts.
Our web guru Danny Thorogood has added a new feature (see the flags?) to the site, a translation program to help international readers.
I am looking for a local sponsor for the blog, contact me if you are interested in reaching a worldwide audience interested in photography. dmiddlecamp(at)thetribunenews.com
The map above is generated by StatCounter, the service lists searches that bring readers to the website and what the most popular pages are from one day to the next. Still no visits from Antarctica. Stupid penguins.
It does not say who you are individually but as a group popular search topics include Vietnam, railroad, fashion, abalone, Cambria radar station, Huffington, telephone operators, 1960′s fashion, Santa Barbara oil disaster.
Two items are probably not a surprise to you, Google is the favorite search engine and Internet Explorer is the favorite web browser.
This information and the comments you write help me decide what future material to look for.
Several folks have recently asked for very specific photos or stories and unfortunately the way our files are (dis)organized from the 1960′s there are very low odds for a specific story. An example, I was on the lookout for 6 months to find a photo of the operators in the Pacific Telephone exchange and when the negatives turned up they were in a sleeve marked Pacific TelLibrary13 Jan. I still haven’t determined the year, or found the article but thanks to comments by readers Hazel Culbertson Daniels and Lucille (Serpa) Ferraro we got a chance to meet some of the people who worked there.
The blog is regularly improved by your comments so thanks to all who have contributed and please if you have something to add this is your place. I am grateful that readers have found the blog interesting enough to post comments. It started as a photo and a couple of sentences but you have given it the energy to grow into something more. Share it with your friends if you find something worthwhile.
What three major topics are you interested in seeing covered this year?
Related posts:
Are you interested in old pictures of SLO (from the 20′s, etc.? I have several but I am also trying to find out who and/or why my relatives may have been visiting in SLO, when they took the picture. I am also trying to find out the street name where the pictures where taken. The house, house number and neighbors house are clearly visible. They drove from San Francisco to SLO and eventually on to San Diego. They shipped their vehicle with them, from Hawaii, where they lived. The 1924 Hawaiian License plate can be clearly seen on the car.
Is there a way to post these old pictures, so I may find out more about them and the people in them?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Ronnie
Personally, I am most interested in photos pertaining to the railroad and the highway and the changes that have taken place concerning both of them. Your blog is my favorite visiting place on the Tribune website. Although I live in Seattle, my home will ever be in SLO.
I grew up in the fifties in SLO, I’d be interested in seeing any archived photos about
Cuesta Park, Tuttles Mkt, Avila Beach, Fremont Theater, any staff photos by Fin Truebridge who
worked for the Tribune at the time, Little League photos from the early sixties, the Motel Inn, Etc…, Such a bucolic setting for my childhood, I revisit in my dreams all too often. Thanks Brian Dalessi
Happy Anniversary! Three photo topics I’d like to see: 1) Pictures of the downtown area from the late 60′s and 70′s, esp. where the store front is completely different from its current appearance. 2) Holidays, e.g. Thanksgiving in SLO in 1968. 3) Local politics. Does anybody remember Carol Hallett when she was Congressman Burt Talcott’s office manager?
I have really enjoyed this blog since I discovered it a few weeks ago. I moved to SLO in 1968 and I’ve been interested in the business history of our town ever since. The Chamber of Commerce has a decent historical collection we would be willing to share, too.
I love this blog, also — it brings me back to so many great old times, and introduces me to things that I missed. It has become a daily addiction. I agree with all the suggestions made so far, and a few to add would be: George’s Foothill Market, Teach School, Poly Royal, Cal Poly in the 50s and 60s, the old Junior High, and the beautiful old High School. I remember watching (from the Junior High) the wrecking balls try over and over to knock the High School down (which was being wrecked because it was deemed not earthquake safe). Anyway, thanks so much for this blog, David. It’s a treasure.
Thanks everyone for the comments and support. I am making a list of things folks are looking for. I may not find your specific item, but if something related turns up it’s in.
More than one person has offered their photos for inclusion in the blog. I prefer to keep the focus on Tribune photos to maintain a consistent theme. The only times I have made an exception is if a local historical society has a program or a new local history book is being published.
However, if someone would like to start a parallel local history photoblog I would be happy to cross-link and promote it. I could even set it up and hand the keys over to someone, blogging is free and a pretty simple process, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do it. Send me an e-mail if you are interested, dmiddlecamp(at)thetribunenews.com.
Someone does have to be in charge, if the spammers had their way there would have been over 100 comments with links to sleazy websites posted here this Thanksgiving holiday. I try to keep this blog at least 87.44% sleaze free.
Ran across your blog on a random search of missing classmates. What a treat to see old faces and places! Your blog will be on my favorites when a bit of SLO is needed. I am currently living in Shenzhen China and miss the gentle breezes and clear air of SLO. Thanks for the visual treats- would love to see more on the old downtown, The Mission and beachside areas. Missy (Lagomarsino) Nielsen
Als Eisenbahn-Fan hätte ich natürlich auch gern Fotos von Eisenbahnen – alt und neu.
(As a rail fan, I obviously would also like photos of railways – old and new.)