I was so thrilled with all the feedback I received through email, Facebook and Viewfinder that I thought a sequel to “Where in Omaha is this?” would be fun. I once scanned in a huge folder of Omaha scenes from our morgue (aka photo library) and have enough photos to produce more sequels than the “Friday the 13th” franchise. I even had one reader, a professional photographer, offer to go shoot “now” pictures.
Let’s start off with one that’s not really guessable, but interesting.
The cover of the special edition magazine “Omaha from the Air” in 1947.
This photo shot by the Omaha Bee-News in the early 1900s is somewhere downtown. I have no idea where!
Can you guess where the next two photos were taken?
1915 Bureau of Publicity - Omaha Commercial Club booklet
Hanscom Park’s open-air pavilion stands in the background as ice skaters stop to pose in this photo from the Bostwick-Frohardt Collection taken in the early 1900s. Fire eventually destroyed the pavilion.
I love the automobiles! This Omaha Bee-News photo from around 1930 is at 15th and Harney.
This 1943 World-Herald photo by John Savage is at 30th and Ames.
All that was written on the back of this undated World-Herald photo was “Douglas Street scene.” When I look at it, I think of “The Maltese Falcon” and Sam Spade: ”I hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I’m gonna send you over. The chances are you’ll get off with life. That means if you’re a good girl, you’ll be out in 20 years. I’ll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I’ll always remember you.”
- Two relics were brought to light when painters uncovered these murals in a shoe repair shop on the southeast corner of 13th Dodge streets. The painters, Alden Tinley and Frank Collins, found the ancient art beneath several coats of paint and moldy wallpaper. Although both paintings are of the “gladiator-Greek goddess” school of art now popular with circus side shows, these pictures are actual paintings and are not paper posters.
- Look for more Where in Omaha in the future!
