From the Archives: National Airport in 1942

Kodachromeguy · May 5, 2017

I scanned some of my dad's 35mm negatives from the early 1940s. There are no notes, but these were on a roll with Washington, DC, tourist pictures, so a guess is National Airport. And 1942 is likely because he bought his first 35mm camera, a Perfex in 1942. The film was in terrible condition. Whoever developed it must have used a cloth or sponge to apply developer because you can see the wipe marks. The scanner software has scratch software, but it could only do so much with these. Still, I am surprised how much detail is visible. The film edge said Kodak Safety Film Plus-X.

AgX · May 5, 2017

I see a lookalike blimb often in the sky. So nothing much has changed...

Kino · May 5, 2017

Nice!

I wonder if these negatives were not "brush developed", as you sometimes see mentioned in older photo magazines. If so, you could see why it died out in popularity...

Sirius Glass · May 5, 2017

I remember after the war that the traffic had to stop at a light to cross the airfield and wait for a break in the airplanes landing. That was the major north south road past the airport. It was the only major road in the area.

AgX · May 5, 2017

Such stoplights were the situation at Antwerp Airport until a year or two. Again, not much has changed...

Arklatexian · May 6, 2017

AgX said:
Such stoplights were the situation at Antwerp Airport until a year or two. Again, not much has changed...

I understand that the airport at Gibraltar has a similar traffic light for pedestrians and autos........Regards!

mgb74 · May 6, 2017

A bit of history that supports your National Airport assumption.

http://www.thesilverliners.org/library/the-history-of-eastern-air-lines.cfm

Kodachromeguy · May 12, 2017

UPDATE: this is most likely Washington-Hoover Airport, which closed in late 1941 when the newer National airport was completed and opened. A friend (who is in his 80s) from Alexandria, Virginia was highly certain that this was not National. The Wikipedia web page describes the closure of the older airport: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington-Hoover_Airport. That would date my dad's pictures to late 1941, which is possible because I read in one of his 1941 diary entries that he was thinking of buying a 35mm format camera. (He was ahead of his time: he preceded the "full format" crowd by 75 years.)

Aristotle80 · May 13, 2017

Great find!

mshchem · May 14, 2017

Wonderful, another testimony for analog photography. Everyone who shoots film today are recording a permanent record. Store your negatives carefully. Great pictures make some nice black and white prints

Kodachromeguy · May 14, 2017

Here is a view of the blimp. Thanks for looking.

eddie · May 14, 2017

Living in the area, I find these photos fascinating. I would like to throw a few other possibilities out, though. It could be Beacon Hill Airport (which was located walking distance from my home), or Hybla Valley Airport, which is about 2.5 miles south of Beacon Hill. Hybla Valley had dirigible mooring facilities which, as I understand it, was not common. The fence in one of your photos looks very much like the fence I've seen in photos of Beacon Hill, though it may have been common, generic fencing at airports of the time.
I hope you post more.

Cholentpot · May 14, 2017

Well that looks like a new method to try. Any advice how to do this?

eddie · May 14, 2017

Here's a link to a site which has info on the airports I mentioned. Maybe the guy who is running it can help. He updated rather recently, so it's still active. Do you have any other photos which show buildings? He may be able to compare with photos he's archived. In any case, I'm sure he'd be interested in what you have.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/VA/Airfields_VA_Fairfax_SE.htm

Kodachromeguy · May 14, 2017

eddie said:
Here's a link to a site which has info on the airports I mentioned. Maybe the guy who is running it can help. He updated rather recently, so it's still active. Do you have any other photos which show buildings?

Unfortunately, there were only 5 frames on this roll with air field photographs. The other frames were rather mundane tourist scenes in Washington (statue of heroic soldier on horse, etc.). This serves as a lesson that as the years pass, scenes or topics that seem ordinary often take on historical importance, or at least interest. But standard tourist sites are rather unchanging unless you include cultural artifacts, such as parked cars or signs.

From the Archives: National Airport in 1942

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency