Pershing square through the prime noir years, starting in 1930. I know there's a few reposts in here but please forgive!
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Somewhere in the thirties...check out all those banana trees:
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Chilling by the fountain, April 6, 1937:
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Along Hill Street by all those LARY busses, January 27, 1938:
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Love the noirish tree canopy...June 30, 1939:
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Everyone's favorite Pershing pastime--listening to someone explain everything wrong with the world...September 9, 1939:
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Another great photo with noirish undertones...December 1939:
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July 4, 1942...what better way to drum up support for government bonds than put on a big show in ye olde towne square?
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Or why not put some pretty gals in the Victory House, maybe Eva Gabor? Surely that'll get
the money flowing in for Uncle Sam:
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Or Carole Landis, who's showing a bit more skin than she intended to!
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Or how about that firecracker Carmen Miranda?
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Better yet, let's parade a whole gaggle of gals on a catwalk in front of a B-25:
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Hanging Hitler and Hirohito, November 25, 1942:
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March 15, 1943...this plane served its time early on in the Pacific Theatre and now gets all the glory back home:
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Bringing in the heavy artillery to make sure those war bonds keep selling, August 21, 1944:
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Or if guns won't make you open your purse, how about a little boy? December 8, 1944:
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The war didn't get him but the postwar housing crunch will: this ex-Marine and his family had no choice but to set up shanty
in the park...November 1, 1945:
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Another post facto reminder of how war upends life: an amputee (who looks an awful lot like Robert Mitchum) contemplates
his future while two men take care of business...July 16, 1948:
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Elsewhere in the Square, more proselytizing. This man is quoted as saying, "You're all a bunch of lousy devils ... you make me sick."
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"Now listen friends, let me tell you...."
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Last for now, 1949 was the year plans got underway to redo the park and build an underground garage, and with that any trace
of a noirish vibe--or a humane park for that matter--vanished. This sums it up quite nicely:
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