Oak Street Beach, 1946, by Charles Cushman, via Flickr
I just stumbled upon a beautiful set of mid century photographs by Indiana native and amateur photographer Charles Cushman. Chicago scenes are a recurrent theme, and his pictures of beautiful girls enjoying Lake Michigan are close to my heart.
Marion Jacob, girl in brown & white sweater and white shorts - discovered with bicycle at 55th Promontory, June 1942. Photo by Charles Cushman, via bobster1985 I like to think you could find this woman's grand-daughter riding her bike on the lakefront, dressed pretty much the same way.
Flickr user bobster1985 has assembled a great collection of Cushman's photos. These definitely take us to a by-gone era, but the backdrops of the city and lake give them a timeless quality. A much larger sample of Cushman's work can be found in the Indiana University Archives.
Chicago girls, 1941 via bobster1985 It must have been so awesome to be on summer vacation and just chillin' on the rocks by the lake.
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Ira
I live in Chicago and am perpetually fascinated by the world around me. More
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Wow. Were those really taken mid-century, they look like they were taken more recently. But I have to say that shot of the women resting on the rocks is really nice. Those swimsuits are crazy.
Yes, they definitely were! The Kodachrome slide film preserves the rich color, often absent in older photos.
Hmm.. Out of the five things to see in Chicago, I wonder why Lake Michigan wasn't added here. I'm really impressed with the quality of these photos which are more than half a century old!
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