I'd like to say that my absence was due to being over worked. Couldn't be further from the truth. Work has actually been very very slow... right now due to the fact that nobody wanted anything delivered because they don't want stock on their year-end inventory.
I can't blame my glamorous and dramatic social life either... If I'm honest, and I really have no reason not to be so I might as well, I'm sitting around like a lump. Less money coming in means less money for entertainment... sure, I could put it on a credit card, but I've never trusted credit cards in general, so it's not exactly an option...
The truth of the matter is that 1) nothing worth mentioning has been happening... and 2) The mouse on my computer had developed some sort of electronic schizophrenia and I could never seem to drag my lazy butt into Wal-mart to get a new one...
So when my dispatcher called with an order that had to be delivered 156 miles to Cisco, TX I jumped on it like a goose on a june-bug... which is rather surprising, as I don't think anybodies been really excited to go to Cisco for years.
Cisco, like many smaller Texas towns, has been slowly fading for decades... in our modern world, populations are going more urban, and quite frankly, with cars so predominant, many people would rather drive 30 to 50 miles to go to a mall than shop in a small downtown.
But Cisco was one of the original Texas Oil boomtowns in it's day. It is also the home of the original hotel owned by Conrad Hilton. If you're interested, go here for the wikipedia entry...
After I made my delivery, it was obvious that I wasn't going to get back into Dallas-Ft. Worth in time to pick up any more jobs, so I drove around to see what there was to photograph.
Of course, they do have a Chamber of Commerce, with it's own website but the pics there are much prettier than the reality of the place... The truth is that you have classic Americana, in a rather sad state of disrepair...
This next pic creeped me out and fascinated me at the same time... Just how long does it take to get this many cob-webs...
An old Coco-Cola advertisement on the side of a building... it says Relieves Fatigue - 5 cents... I'm reasonably certain that when this sign went up, Coco-Cola still had actual cocaine in it, and it's safe to say that you would be quite perky after a couple of bottles...
Feed store... notice the old brick road... don't see these much anymore...
Small towns like this always make me feel a little melancholy. I always wish I could see them in their hay-day, when they were busy and productive.
An old Coco-Cola advertisement on the side of a building... it says Relieves Fatigue - 5 cents... I'm reasonably certain that when this sign went up, Coco-Cola still had actual cocaine in it, and it's safe to say that you would be quite perky after a couple of bottles...
Feed store... notice the old brick road... don't see these much anymore...
This building is empty... love the old fashioned fire escape crawling down the side of it though... and more brick roads...
Small towns like this always make me feel a little melancholy. I always wish I could see them in their hay-day, when they were busy and productive.
So, now I've produced an actual post... later...
Neat photos of that old town! I adore the brick roads, and old Coca Cola logos on buildings!!! I agree...it would be so neat to go back in time for a day and see what these places looked like in their hayday. I had been wondering where in the heck Claude was hiding out...now I know where (at least part of the time)! LOL! Have you had much snow there???
ReplyDeleteClaude, Great surreal saddness shots !!! Boom gone Bust, ever thought about doing gallery exhibitions ??? - G
ReplyDeleteMy home town has been hanging on for years-I bet you are busy with Farmtown or did you burn out?
ReplyDeleteThis looks so different to towns here in the UK. There's more of a sense of space and open-ness, I think and I think the roads are narrower here. It's sad that it's in disrepair - I hope it gets back to busy and prosperous again. Great photos!
ReplyDeleteClaude,
ReplyDeleteWe must be on the same wave length. I too have not posted, or done much of anything of late. Then, I looked at your photos and got depressed. Every time I see a small town, I get melancholy myself, but without the desire to see them in their heyday. Growing up in one cured me of that forever!
Happy New Year--somewhat late, but hope it is a better year for all the world.
Aiyana
The coke sign on the side of the building is worth a ton of money to somebody.
ReplyDelete