For years I've hoped Retro Metro OKC could get photos accumulated by Oklahoma Mattress Co. of downtown posted online. They're incredible photos - many of them unlike anything currently available to the public. Transit folks will especially love some of these photos!
http://www.retrometrookc.org/oklahoma-mattress-company-collection

Thos are some great shots! You can probably put more accurate dates on the ones showing movie house marquees, by looking up in the IMDB pages the films mentioned on the marquee and getting the date of release there. I've used that several times to narrow the time range down to less than a year, then searching the ads in the Oklahoman Electronic Archives for the title's dates at that house...

Jim, you're right. As an aside, any chance you've got some old OKC photos that might be worth sharing?

Just one that I've found so far; it's of a 1947 parade on Main that I took from the top of the Veazey Drug Store, and I used that exact trick to date it, then found the report of the parade! I'll send it to you; PM me the address to which you want it sent (I trust that the OPubCo one is not the one :tiphat: to use). I've attahed it here...

I also loved those shots. The newest one was obviously of the Skirvin which was in the 50's.

Just one that I've found so far; it's of a 1947 parade on Main that I
took from the top of the Veazey Drug Store, and I used that exact
trick to date it, then found the report of the parade! I'll send it to you;
PM me the address to which you want it sent (I trust that the OPubCo
one is not the one :tiphat: to use). I've attahed it here...
Jim,
You're really, really old. What was it like before dirt?

Thanks for the photos!

Back in those days (c. 1947), when people were far less over-protective, it was nothing to see a child of about three years old, with a camera, climbing to the roof of a local business to take photographs for posterity.

Jim,
You're really, really old. What was it like before dirt?

Thanks for the photos!That was during my Junior year at Classen; I used a 4x5 Speed Graphic that I bought that year, and got my first job in order to pay for it. This may have been one of the first times I used it, as well.

And yes, I'm older now than I've ever been (to steal a line from the late Wayne Nichols) and plan to keep going as long as I can. Dirt, however, has me beat by a few million years (though I do remember a lot of it blowing around in 1936 during my early years out at Elk City; to this day I hate dust storms with a passion).