1950 - 1961

I have more Brownie Hawkeye Flashes than anyone else in the world. I don't collect them. There were just so many made that it's inevitable that a lot of them make it to me because of this insane found film thing I started. I don't have much to say about this particular BHFC (that's what collectors call them,) except that it came from a junk store not ten miles from here.


























































Photo from the enclosed owners manual:

 If you don't think America has changed radically since the day of the BFHC take a look at this shot from the owners manual.

 I used to box when I was a kid and I still put the gloves on now and then. Boxing was just another athletic endeavor way back when. Fathers taught their sons a bit about boxing. The YMCA had it. So did The Boys Club and other places.

 Today an event like the one pictured to the left would result in a law suit. Some weenie daddy or mommy would be horrified that your kid took a shot at precious. While you can still find boxing in big cities, it's viewed as barbaric in the suburbs.

 Hell these are white kids popping each other. Oh my Gawd ! And no headgear either. I took a number of punches to the head and it's had no negative effect on me. Well, except for the drooling.

 I don't know who was coaching the kid on the right but he apparently didn't tell him to keep his hands up. And another thing. Grimacing before you take one in the snot locker doesn't help at all. The featherweight at left can't believe the opening that his palooka of an opponent has given him. You can see the joy on his face.

 This kid in the long pants knows his stuff. He's holding his opponents right down with his left and he's leaning in to deliver a powerful overhand right. I'd like to see the next photo and so would you. Unless of course you're one of them weenies I spoke about earlier.

 I quit serious boxing years ago because my hands were getting ruined.........from the referee stepping on them.



 





























"It wuz you, Charley." "It wuz you."

























It is if she says it is.






















Welcome to (fill in the blank) photographs are common. I guess we feel we need to prove that we really went to (fill in the blank.)  The woman at left once went to New York. I sure believe it.

 Well, now that I think about it, she's really not in New York yet, right ? I'll bet she never went to New York. That rock just to her left probably never made it across the border either. Well, it might be a paper bag, in which case it certainly had a chance to make it across the border. You know depending on the wind direction. Unless she picked it up and brought it back to her non-New York trash can. In which case it would have never made it to New York. Unless it was recycled. Then it could have made it to New York. But I don't think paper bags were recycled back then. So, I still don't know.


















































This guy felt it was necessary to point at the sign in case an idiot viewed the photograph at some time.  Like we wouldn't get the point unless he pointed. Why the hell would the photographer have documented this scene otherwise ? It's sure isn't because of this guys looks.

 If you look at the ground, you'll notice that the rock/bag is missing. What the hell does that mean ?
























































I don't know everything about women but I sure as hell know that 99.9 % of them don't give a damn about artillery. They don't really care about turning wheels on them either.



























































It's possible that this guy had some connection to this particular field piece. In which case, he can point all he wants.


























































Yes. Women really did wear sunglasses like these once.






























































This is the last exposed frame on the roll.  Somebody will probably recognize this monument. That's a 1960 Chevy Bel-Air on the left.  That's a woman in a flowered skirt on the right. That's lint in the middle.























































Location identified. Battle Monument at West Point Military Academy.


Below are a couple of oddities I retrieved from a roll of film sent to me by Craig S.








The can says it's GAF recording film but the label at the film edge says "Kodak Safety Film." I remember using recording film in the 70's. Wicked grainy stuff with a fast film speed. Good for "art" photos. The film in this can was a mess. Somehow it got fouled up in somebodys camera and mangled. Sprocket holes were torn and half of the film was split down the middle. There were only three exposures on the roll.   


This photo of a bored looking teenager and poodle is typical of someone fooling around with recording film. It was a real gas to be able to take available light shots inside your house at night. Even if the shots turned out dull and low in contrast.


























































I think this is a television screen. I think I see Salvador Dali. But if you stare it it long enough it suddenly turns into a photograph of Oprah Winfrey.

There ! Did you see it ?































































The guy with the long toenail was quite a geek. Cassette deck, intercom, tripod, bottle of glue. Who's that on television and what's sticking out of his ear ?

 Ronald Reagan.












































END