He saved it because he has some interest in pulp magazines. But, on a whim, he decided to try to date the photo using some of the magazine covers. And, in doing some of his online research, he came across this post I made back in 2008 trying to do the same thing. Much to his surprise, I was using a photo of the same store...
Notice, though, that they're distinctly different photographs. One has several additional racks of magazines in front, and the store sign up top has been changed. I missed that obvious little detail at first, and thought that it might be two photographs from different times on the same day. After all, most of the comics and magazine covers are the same in both pictures. But changing the name of the sign suggests otherwise.
I was originally only able to discern More Fun Comics #48 and All-American Comics #8 but the newly discovered picture is a little more clear and allows me to make out Detective Comics #32 and Mutt & Jeff #1 as well. Two of those books are cover-dated October and one is November 1939. (Mutt & Jeff is simply labeled "Summer".) Given that, I'm thinking both photos were taken prior to October 1939, but the appearance of a November-dated book might suggest it's not too much prior.
Given that the 1941 interior shot I originally posted shows definite expansion of the store over time, I'm inclined to think Templeton's find is a slightly more recent photo. Dad Bailey seems to have had an aggressive growth strategy, especially considering how much he seems to have expanded well within the time it took for a comic book to come out with a new issue!
2 comments:
I'm not so sure these aren't the exact same photo, but somebody has composited the "expansion" on to the original. Placement, lighting, and angle are exactly the same otherwise.
You know, that is not an option I had considered! I'm not sure why someone would do that but you may be right!
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