View allAll Photos Tagged relocation
I don't normally handle wildlife but this fella seemed pretty vulnerable hanging out at a busy park. So a fter a few quick shots we tried to discretely relocate him to a safer spot.
In 1912, the first assembly and sales activities were started in a former warehouse in Minneapolis by Ford Motor Company. By 1925, the Twin Cities Assembly Plant had relocated next to the Mississippi River in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was in operation from 1925 to 2011. At the time of its closure, it was the oldest Ford plant still in operation.
The plant's final products were the Ford Ranger pickup truck. Previously, the plant had manufactured the Ford Model T, Model TT truck, Sportsman convertible, Galaxie, and LTD.
In 2006, Ford officials announced plans to close the factory, though it operated for three years past the 2008 closure date initially announced. The plant's final truck was completed on December 16, 2011. Most of the buildings have been demolished since then.
WEEK 51 – Barnes & Noble Ole Miss Relocation Revisited (I)
I have this strange tendency to upload photos from Oxford anytime EXCEPT when I’m actually in town. Which, you know, is a majority of the year, so it’s pretty talented that I do this. I did the same thing this exact time last year, as a matter of fact (you might recall my Oxford Walmart album update). This time we’re doing another album update, as Albertsons Florida Blog correctly guessed on Tuesday, and as is clear from the photo you’re looking at above this spiel: the next chapter in the Ole Miss Barnes & Noble campus bookstore saga. (cont.)
Barnes & Noble at Ole Miss (inside the University of Mississippi's Jackson Avenue Center/former Oxford Mall; now closed) // 1111 Jackson Avenue W, Oxford, MS 38655
(c) 2019 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
Many of the Nubians you’ll find living at either Nubian village were relocated here during the latter half of the twentieth century as construction of the High Dam in Aswan neared completion. The construction of the dam essentially meant that the Nubian communities had no option but to move
Taken @Aswan, Egypt
Historic South Plains and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Brownfield, Texas. The depot has been relocated to the Terry County Heritage Museum.
I was set up where the Happy Couple are standing taking long exposures of the sky and sea. This is the 'Fee' I extracted for giving up that spot. Anyone who has browsed my photos will see that people and portraiture aren't my thing. Available for hire as a back up to the back up wedding photographer.
Cape Schanck.
WEEK 12 – BAM Southaven Relocation: Old Store, Set 1
And now, here’s a closer look at the Pop World section itself. (I’m assuming Pop World is what the section is supposed to be named, anyway, judging by the stylization of the hanging logo!) Lots of pop culture (or "nerdy," if you must XD ) merchandise calls this area in BAM stores home, ranging from graphic novels and manga to actual physical collectibles like those plushes and (my favorite!) Funko Pop! Vinyl figures. Lest you think that this is something BAM alone has had to resort to, it’s worth noting that Barnes & Noble stores carry this stuff as well, all in a simple effort to stay afloat. (FYE does too, and you saw how it still didn't help them!)
(c) 2017 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
John Clare Theatre, Peterborough. On the first floor of the Central Library building, it is equipped for film, and is the home of the Peterborough Arts Cinema who hold weekly screenings throughout the season. The theatre is named after John Clare the poet (1793-1864) who was born near the city. In 2020 there were plans to relocate the library to a new building, but the COVID-19 pandemic, and the collapse of the libraries & leisure operator, Vivacity, may put this plan in doubt. The current building would be sold for redevelopment should the move take place.
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, East Anglia, UK - Central Library, John Clare Theatre, Broadway
December 2022
Originally Weston's; Former Kmart & Hobby Lobby. Staples relocated here to make room for a relocated Bath & Body Works and a new to market REI.
Ithaca, NY. June 2024.
If you would like to use THIS picture in any sort of media (such as newspaper or article) please send me a Flickr mail or an e-mail at natehenderson6@gmail.com.
WEEK 51 – Barnes & Noble Ole Miss Relocation Revisited (I)
Hope y’all got all that, haha! And as if that wasn’t enough backstory, I probably should fill you in quickly on the mall situation again, too. The Oxford Mall used to be a two-anchor deal, with JCPenney and Wal-Mart… except when Wal-Mart built a new Supercenter down the road, well, that was the beginning of the end for the mall. Some plans to renovate it were thrown out there, and in an attempt to bring those to life the middle of the mall was demolished and turned into a new Malco Theatre, but ultimately the mall stayed in a stasis and Ole Miss purchased the property to use for extra square footage and – most importantly – parking. Currently, only the right half of the mall has been converted into offshoot campus space, but with JCPenney's departure in July 2017, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the left half of the mall is touched, too.
The only retail space that Ole Miss has left intact at the mall – now christened the “Jackson Avenue Center” – is this space at the very front of the right-side mall entry corridor, originally home to Ole South Cafeteria and, more notably, Campus Book Mart, which opened here in 1995 and lasted until 2015, when it relocated to a separate location down the street. Likely, CBM’s relocation was a result of landlord Ole Miss kicking them out, so that they could put their own university bookstore in this space during the Student Union remodel. But that’s just conjecture.
(c) 2019 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
"Minidoka National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the western United States. It commemorates the more than 9,000 Japanese Americans who were imprisoned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center during the Second World War."
"The Minidoka War Relocation Center was in operation from 1942–45 and one of ten camps at which Japanese Americans, both citizens and resident "aliens," were interned during World War II. Under provisions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, all persons of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the West Coast of the United States. At its peak, Minidoka housed 9,397 Japanese Americans, predominantly from Oregon, Washington, and Alaska."
"The Minidoka War Relocation Center consisted of 36 blocks of housing. Each block contained 12 barracks (which themselves were divided into 6 separate living areas), laundry facilities, bathrooms, and a mess hall. Recreation Halls in each block were multi-use facilities that served as both worship and education centers. Minidoka had a high school, a junior high school and two elementary schools - Huntville and Stafford. The Minidoka War Relocation Center also included two dry cleaners, four general stores, a beauty shop, two barber shops, radio and watch repair stores as well as two fire stations." wiki
Elvis Aaron Presley[a] (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often referred to mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy.
Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA would sell ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans[6] led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of the White American youth.
In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of his most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964). In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse and unhealthy eating habits severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.
Having sold over 400 million records worldwide, Presley is recognized as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rhythm & blues, adult contemporary, and gospel. Presley won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He holds several records, including the most RIAA-certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Vernon Elvis (April 10, 1916 – June 26, 1979) and Gladys Love (née Smith; April 25, 1912 – August 14, 1958) Presley in a two-room shotgun house that his father built for the occasion. Elvis's identical twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration.
A photo of Elvis's parents at the Historic Blue Moon Museum in Verona, Mississippi
Presley's father Vernon was of German, Scottish and English origins. He was a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia through his ancestor Tunis Hood. Presley's mother Gladys was Scots-Irish with some French Norman ancestry. His mother and the rest of the family believed that her great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was Cherokee. This belief was restated by Elvis's granddaughter Riley Keough in 2017. Elaine Dundy, in her biography, supports the belief.
Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, showing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of altering a check written by his landowner and sometime-employer. He was jailed for eight months, while Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives.
In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers regarded him as "average". He was encouraged to enter a singing contest after impressing his schoolteacher with a rendition of Red Foley's country song "Old Shep" during morning prayers. The contest, held at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, was his first public performance. The ten-year-old Presley stood on a chair to reach the microphone and sang "Old Shep". He recalled placing fifth. A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday; he had hoped for something else—by different accounts, either a bicycle or a rifle. Over the following year, he received basic guitar lessons from two of his uncles and the new pastor at the family's church. Presley recalled, "I took the guitar, and I watched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I would never sing in public. I was very shy about it."
In September 1946, Presley entered a new school, Milam, for sixth grade; he was regarded as a loner. The following year, he began bringing his guitar to school on a daily basis. He played and sang during lunchtime and was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music. By then, the family was living in a largely black neighborhood. Presley was a devotee of Mississippi Slim's show on the Tupelo radio station WELO. He was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, who was one of Presley's classmates and often took him into the station. Slim supplemented Presley's guitar instruction by demonstrating chord techniques. When his protégé was 12 years old, Slim scheduled him for two on-air performances. Presley was overcome by stage fright the first time, but succeeded in performing the following week.
In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After residing for nearly a year in rooming houses, they were granted a two-bedroom apartment in the public housing complex known as the Lauderdale Courts. Enrolled at L. C. Humes High School, Presley received only a C in music in eighth grade. When his music teacher told him that he had no aptitude for singing, he brought in his guitar the next day and sang a recent hit, "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me", to prove otherwise. A classmate later recalled that the teacher "agreed that Elvis was right when he said that she didn't appreciate his kind of singing". He was usually too shy to perform openly and was occasionally bullied by classmates who viewed him as a "mama's boy".
In 1950, he began practicing guitar regularly under the tutelage of Lee Denson, a neighbor two and a half years his senior. They and three other boys—including two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette—formed a loose musical collective that played frequently around the Courts. That September, he began working as an usher at Loew's State Theater. Other jobs followed at Precision Tool, Loew's again, and MARL Metal Products. Presley also helped Jewish neighbors, the Fruchters, by being their shabbos goy.
During his junior year, Presley began to stand out more among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. In his free time, he would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis's thriving blues scene, and gaze longingly at the wild, flashy clothes in the windows of Lansky Brothers. By his senior year, he was wearing those clothes. Overcoming his reticence about performing outside the Lauderdale Courts, he competed in Humes' Annual "Minstrel" show in April 1953. Singing and playing guitar, he opened with "Till I Waltz Again with You", a recent hit for Teresa Brewer. Presley recalled that the performance did much for his reputation: "I wasn't popular in school ... I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show ... when I came onstage I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, 'cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became in school after that."
Presley, who received no formal music training and could not read music, studied and played by ear. He also frequented record stores that provided jukeboxes and listening booths to customers. He knew all of Hank Snow's songs, and he loved records by other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills. The Southern gospel singer Jake Hess, one of his favorite performers, was a significant influence on his ballad-singing style. He was a regular audience member at the monthly All-Night Singings downtown, where many of the white gospel groups that performed reflected the influence of African-American spiritual music. He adored the music of black gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Like some of his peers, he may have attended blues venues—of necessity, in the segregated South—only on nights designated for exclusively white audiences. He certainly listened to the regional radio stations, such as WDIA-AM, that played "race records": spirituals, blues, and the modern, backbeat-heavy sound of rhythm and blues. Many of his future recordings were inspired by local African-American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas. B.B. King recalled that he had known Presley before he was popular when they both used to frequent Beale Street. By the time he graduated from high school in June 1953, Presley had already singled out music as his future.
Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6-hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by the rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Following Lisa Marie Presley's death in 2023, the mansion is to be inherited by her daughters. In addition to being the final resting place of Elvis Presley himself, the property contains the graves of his parents, paternal grandmother and grandson, and contains a memorial to Presley's stillborn twin brother. In addition, Lisa Marie Presley will be buried there.
Graceland is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the Whitehaven neighborhood, about nine miles (14 kilometers) south of central Memphis and fewer than four miles (6.4 km) north of the Mississippi border.[5] It was opened to the public as a house museum on June 7, 1982. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, becoming the first site recognized for significance related to rock music. Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006, also a first for such a site. Graceland attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually.
Graceland Farms was originally owned by Stephen C. Toof, founder of S.C. Toof & Co., the oldest commercial printing firm in Memphis. He worked previously as the pressroom foreman of the Memphis newspaper, the Memphis Daily Appeal. The "grounds" (before the mansion was built in 1939) were named after Toof's daughter, Grace. She inherited the farm/property from her father in 1894. After her death, the property was passed to her niece Ruth Moore, a Memphis socialite. Together with her husband, Thomas Moore, Ruth Moore commissioned construction of a 10,266-square-foot (953.7 m2) Colonial Revival style mansion in 1939. The house was designed by architects Furbringer and Ehrman.
After Elvis Presley began his musical career, he purchased a $40,000 home for himself and his family at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis. As his success and fame grew, especially after his appearances on television, the number of fans who would congregate outside the house multiplied. Presley's neighbors, although happy to have a celebrity living nearby, soon concluded that the constant gathering of fans and journalists was a nuisance.
In early 1957, Presley gave his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, a budget of $100,000 and asked them to find a "farmhouse"-like property to purchase, with buffer space around it. At the time, Graceland was located in southern Shelby County, several miles south of Memphis' main urban area. In later years, Memphis would expand with residential developments, resulting in Graceland being surrounded by other properties. Presley purchased Graceland on March 19, 1957, for the amount of $102,500.
Later that year, Presley invited Richard Williams and singer Buzz Cason to the house. Cason said: "We proceeded to clown around on the front porch, striking our best rock 'n' roll poses and snapping pictures with the little camera. We peeked in the not-yet-curtained windows and got a kick out of the pastel colored walls in the front rooms with shades of bright reds and purples that Elvis most certainly had picked out." Presley was fond of claiming that the US government had mooted a visit to Graceland by Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union, "to see how in America a fellow can start out with nothing and, you know, make good."
After Gladys died in 1958 aged 46, Presley's father Vernon remarried to Dee Stanley in 1960, and the couple lived at Graceland for a time. There was some discord between Presley and his stepmother Dee at Graceland, however. Elaine Dundy, who wrote about Presley and his mother, said that
"Vernon had settled down with Dee where Gladys had once reigned, while Dee herself – when Elvis was away – had taken over the role of mistress of Graceland so thoroughly as to rearrange the furniture and replace the very curtains that Gladys had approved of." This was too much for the singer, who still loved his late mother deeply. One afternoon, "a van arrived ... and all Dee's household's goods, clothes, 'improvements,' and her own menagerie of pets, were loaded on ... while Vernon, Dee and her three children went by car to a nearby house on Hermitage until they finally settled into a house on Dolan Drive which ran alongside Elvis' estate."
According to Mark Crispin Miller, Graceland became for Presley "the home of the organization that was himself, was tended by a large vague clan of Presleys and deputy Presleys, each squandering the vast gratuities which Elvis used to keep his whole world smiling." The author adds that Presley's father Vernon "had a swimming pool in his bedroom", that there "was a jukebox next to the swimming pool, containing Elvis' favorite records", and that the singer himself "would spend hours in his bedroom, watching his property on a closed-circuit television." According to the singer's cousin, Billy Smith, Presley spent the night at Graceland with Smith and his wife Jo many times: "we were all three there talking for hours about everything in the world! Sometimes he would have a bad dream and come looking for me to talk to, and he would actually fall asleep in our bed with us."
Priscilla Beaulieu lived at Graceland for five years before she and Presley wed in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 1, 1967. Their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, and spent the first years of her life on the estate. After her parents divorced in 1972, her mother moved with the girl to California. Every year around Christmas, Lisa Marie Presley and all her family would go to Graceland to celebrate Christmas together. Lisa Marie often returned to Graceland for visits.
When Elvis would tour, staying in hotels, "the rooms would be remodeled in advance of his arrival, so as to make the same configurations of space as he had at home – the Graceland mansion. His furniture would arrive, and he could unwind after his performances in surroundings which were completely familiar and comforting." 'The Jungle Room' was described as being "an example of particularly lurid kitsch."[
On August 16, 1977, Presley died aged 42 at Graceland. The official cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, although later toxicology reports strongly suggested that polypharmacy was the primary cause of death; "fourteen drugs were found in Elvis' system, with several drugs such as codeine in significant quantities. Presley lay in repose in a 900-pound (410 kg), copper-lined coffin just inside the foyer; more than 3,500 of his mourning fans passed by to pay their respects. A private funeral with 200 mourners was held on August 18, 1977, in the house, with the casket placed in front of the stained glass doorway of the music room. Graceland continued to be occupied by members of the family until the death of Presley's aunt Delta in 1993, who had moved in at Elvis's invitation after her husband's death. Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited the estate in 1993 when she turned 25.
Presley's tombstone, along with those of his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, are installed in the Meditation Garden next to the mansion. They can be visited during the mansion tours or for free before the mansion tours begin. A memorial gravestone for Presley's stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon, is also at the site.
In 2019, the owners of Graceland threatened to leave Memphis unless the city provided tax incentives. The Memphis City Council subsequently voted on a deal to help fund a $100 million expansion of Graceland.
Constructed at the top of a hill and surrounded by rolling pastures and a grove of oak trees, Graceland is designed by the Memphis architectural firm, Furbringer and Erhmanis. It's a two-story, five-bay residence in the Colonial Revival style, with a side-facing gabled roof covered in asphalt shingles, a central two-story projecting pedimented portico, and two one-story wings on the north and south sides. Attached to the wing is an additional one-story stuccoed wing, which was originally a garage that houses up to four cars. The mansion has two chimneys; one on the north side's exterior wall, the second rising through the south side's roof ridge. The central block's front and side facades are veneered with tan Tishomingo limestone from Mississippi and its rear wall is stuccoed, as are the one-story wings. The front facade fenestration on the first floor includes 9x9 double-hung windows set in arched openings with wooden panels above, and 6x6 double-hung windows on the second floor.
Flanked by two marble lions, four stone steps ascend from the driveway to the two-story central projecting pedimented portico. The pediment has dentils and a small, leaded oval window in the center while the portico contains four Corinthian columns with capitals modeled after architect James Stuart's conjectural porticos for the "Tower of the Winds" in Athens, Greece. The portico's cornered columns are matched by pilasters on the front facade. The doorway has a broken arched pediment, full entablature, and engaged columns while its transom and sidelights contain elaborate and colorful stained glass. And above the main entrance is another rectangular window, completed with a shallow iron balcony.
Graceland is 17,552 square feet (1,630.6 m2) and has a total of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms. To the right of the Entrance Hall, through an elliptical-arched opening with classical details, is the Living Room. The Living Room contains a 15-foot-long (4.6 m) white couch against the wall overlooking the front yard. To the left are two white sofas, a china cabinet and a fireplace with a mirrored wall. The painting that hangs in the room was Elvis' last Christmas present from his father, Vernon, and also displayed are photographs of Elvis' parents Vernon and Gladys, Elvis and Lisa Marie. Behind an adjoined doorway is the Music Room, framed by vivid large peacocks set in stained glass and contains a black baby grand piano and a 1950s style TV. And the third adjacent room is a bedroom that was occupied by Elvis' parents. The walls, carpet, dresser, and queen size bed are bright white with the bed draped in a velvet-looking dark purple bedspread along with an en-suite full bathroom done in pink.
To the left of the Entrance Hall, mirroring the Living Room, is the Dining Room, headlined by a massive crystal chandelier. It features six plush chairs in golden metal frames set around a marble table, all of which are placed on black marble flooring in the center with carpet around the perimeter. Connected to the Dining Room is the Kitchen, which was used by Elvis' aunt Delta until her death in 1993 before it was opened to the public two years later.
The original one-story wing on the north end of the residence includes a mechanical room, bedroom, and bath. In the mid-1960s, Presley enlarged the house to create a den known as the Jungle Room which features an indoor waterfall of cut field stone on the north wall. The room also contains items both related to and imported from the state of Hawaii because, after starring in the tropical film "Blue Hawaii" (1961), the musician wanted to bring some memorabilia from The Aloha State to his mansion, which gives visitors the same feeling. In 1976, the Jungle Room was converted into a recording studio, where he recorded the bulk of his final two albums, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976) and Moody Blue (1977); these were his final known recordings in a studio setting.[27] During the mid-1960s expansion of the house, Presley constructed a large wing on the south side of the main house that was a sidewalk, between the music room in the original one-story wing and the swimming pool area, that connected to the house by a small enclosed gallery. The new wing initially housed a slot car track and to store his many items of appreciation, but was later remodeled to what is now known as the Trophy Building, which now features an exhibit about the Presley family, and includes Priscilla's wedding dress, Elvis' wedding tuxedo, Lisa Marie's toy chest and baby clothes and more.
The Entrance Hall contains a white staircase leading to the house's second floor with a wall of mirrors. However, the second floor is not open to visitors, out of respect for the Presley family, and partially to avoid any improper focus on the bathroom which was the site of his death. Still, it features Elvis' bedroom at the southwest corner that connects to his dressing room and bathroom in the northwest. His daughter Lisa Marie's bedroom is in the northeast corner, and in the southeast is a bedroom that served as a private personal office for the musician. The floor has been untouched since the day Elvis died and is rarely seen by non-family members.
Downstairs in the basement is the TV room, where Elvis often watched three television sets at once, and was within close reach of a wet bar. The three TV sets are built into the room's south wall and there's a stereo, and cabinets for Elvis' record collection. And painted on the west wall is The King's 1970s logo of a lightning bolt and cloud with the initials TCB, both of which represent 'taking care of business in a flash'. And the last room in the mansion opposite of the TV room is the billiard room; an avid billiards player, Elvis bought the pool table in 1960 and had the walls and ceiling covered with 350–400 yards of pleated cotton fabric after the two basement rooms were remodeled in 1974. The pool balls are arranged just the way they were in the musician's final days along with a strict warning sign to visitors that says "Please Do Not Touch! Thank You!" in capital letters. And in one corner of the pool table, there's a rip in the green felt, which was caused by one of Elvis' friends in a failed attempt of a trick shot.
Critics such as Albert Goldman write: "Though it cost a lot of money to fill up Graceland with the things that appealed to Elvis Presley, nothing in the house is worth a dime." In chapter 1 of his book, Elvis (1981), the author describes Graceland as looking like a brothel: "it appears to have been lifted from some turn-of-the-century bordello down in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Lulu White or the Countess Willie Piazza might have contrived this plushy parlor for the entertainment of Gyp the Blood. The room is a gaudy mélange of red velour and gilded tassels, Louis XV furniture and porcelain bric-a-brac..." And he dismisses the interior as "bizarre," "garish" and "phony," adding that "King Elvis's obsession with royal red reaches an intensity that makes you gag."
In similar terms, Greil Marcus writes that people who visited the inside of Graceland—"people who to a real degree shared Elvis Presley’s class background, and whose lives were formed by his music—have returned with one word to describe what they saw: ‘Tacky.’ Tacky, garish, tasteless—words others translated as white trash."
According to Karal Ann Marling, Graceland is "a Technicolor illusion. The façade is Gone With the Wind all the way. The den in the back is Mogambo with a hint of Blue Hawaii. Living in Graceland was like living on a Hollywood backlot, where patches of tropical scenery alternated with the blackened ruins of antebellum Atlanta. It was like living in a Memphis movie theater... Diehard fans are sometimes disappointed by the formal rooms along the highway side of Graceland. They’re beautiful, in a chilly blue-and-white way, but remote and overarranged." The Jungle Room's "overt bad taste" lets nonbelievers "recoil in horror and imagine themselves a notch or two higher than Elvis on the class scale."
After purchasing the property Presley spent in excess of $500,000 carrying out extensive modifications to suit his needs including a pink Alabama fieldstone wall surrounding the grounds that has several years' worth of graffiti (signatures and messages) from visitors, who simply refer to it as "the wall". Designed and built by Abe Sauer is the wrought-iron front gate shaped like a book of sheet music, along with green colored musical notes and two mirrored silhouettes of Elvis playing his guitar. Sauer also installed a kidney shaped swimming pool and a racquetball court, which is reminiscent of an old country club, furnished in dark leather and a functional bar. There is a sunken sitting area with the ever-present stereo system found throughout Graceland, as well as the dark brown upright piano upon which Elvis played for what were to be his last songs, Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Unchained Melody".
However, reports conflict about which one was the last song. The sitting area has a floor-to-ceiling shatterproof window designed to watch the many racquetball games that took place there when Elvis was alive. In the early hours of the morning on which Elvis died, he played a game of racquetball with his girlfriend Ginger Alden, his first cousin Billy Smith and Billy's wife Jo before ending the game with the song on the piano before walking into the main house to wash his hair and go to bed. Today the two story court has been restored to the way it was when Elvis used the building.
Elsewhere on the estate is a small white building that served as an office for Vernon, along with an old smokehouse that housed a shooting range and a fully functional stable of horses.
One of Presley's better known modifications was the addition of the Meditation Garden, designed and built by architect Bernard Grenadier. It was used by the musician to reflect on any problems or situations that arose during his life. It is also where his entire family is buried: himself (1935–1977), his parents Gladys (1912–1958) and Vernon (1916–1979), and grandmother Minnie Mae Hood (1890–1980) while a small stone memorializes his twin brother Jesse Garon, who died at birth thirty minutes before Elvis was born on January 8, 1935. In late 2020, Lisa Marie's son Benjamin Keough was laid to rest on the opposite end of the Meditation Garden after his death from suicide in July of that year. Lisa Marie Presley died from sudden cardiac arrest in January 2023 and is buried next to her son.
After Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Vernon Presley served as executor of his estate. Upon his death in 1979, he chose Priscilla to serve as the estate executor for Elvis's only child, Lisa Marie, who was only 11. Graceland itself cost $500,000 a year in upkeep, and expenses had dwindled Elvis's and Priscilla's daughter Lisa Marie's inheritance to only $1 million. Taxes were due on the property; those and other expenses due came to over $500,000. Faced with having to sell Graceland, Priscilla examined other famous houses/museums, and hired a CEO, Jack Soden, to turn Graceland into a moneymaker. Graceland was opened to the public on June 7, 1982. Priscilla's gamble paid off; after only a month of opening Graceland's doors the estate made back all the money it had invested. Priscilla Presley became the chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, or EPE, stating at that time she would do so until Lisa Marie reached 21 years of age. The enterprise's fortunes soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over $100 million.
An annual procession through the estate and past Elvis's grave is held on the anniversary of his death. Known as Elvis Week, it includes a full schedule of speakers and events, including the only Elvis Mass at St. Paul's Church, the highlight for many Elvis fans of all faiths. The 20th Anniversary in 1997 had several hundred media groups from around the world that were present resulting in the event gaining its greatest media publicity.
One of the largest gatherings assembled on the 25th anniversary in 2002 with one estimate of 40,000 people in attendance, despite the heavy rain. On the 38th anniversary of Elvis's death, an estimated 30,000 people attended the Candlelight Vigil during the night of August 15–16, 2015. On the 40th anniversary of Elvis's death, on August 15–16, 2017, at least 50,000 fans were expected to attend the Candlelight Vigil. No official figure seems to have been released, maybe because, for the first time, attendees had to pay at least the lowest tour fare, $28.75, to cover the extra security costs due to a larger than usual crowd.
For many of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Graceland each year, the visit takes on a quasi-religious perspective. They may plan for years to journey to the home of the 'King' of rock and roll. On site, headphones narrate the salient events of Elvis's life and introduce the relics that adorn the rooms and corridors. The rhetorical mode is hagiographic, celebrating the life of an extraordinary man, emphasizing his generosity, his kindness and good fellowship, how he was at once a poor boy who made good, an extraordinary musical talent, a sinner and substance abuser, and a religious man devoted to the Gospel and its music. At the meditation garden, containing Elvis's grave, some visitors pray, kneel, or quietly sing one of Elvis's favorite hymns. The brick wall that encloses the mansion's grounds is covered with graffiti that express an admiration for Presley as well as petitions for help and thanks for favors granted.
The Graceland grounds include a new exhibit complex, Elvis Presley's Memphis, which includes a new car museum, Presley Motors, which houses Elvis's Pink Cadillac. The complex features new exhibits and museums, as well as a studio for Sirius Satellite Radio's all-Elvis Presley channel. The service's subscribers all over North America can hear Presley's music from Graceland around the clock. Not far away on display are his two aircraft including Lisa Marie (a Convair 880 jetliner) and Hound Dog II (a Lockheed JetStar business jet). The jets are owned by Graceland and are on permanent static display.
In early August 2005, Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the business side of her father's estate. She kept the Graceland property itself, as well as the bulk of the possessions found therein, and she turned over the management of Graceland to CKX, Inc., an entertainment company (on whose board of directors Priscilla Presley sat) that also owns 19 Entertainment, creator of the American Idol TV show.
Graceland Holdings LLC, led by managing partner Joel Weinshanker, is the majority owner of EPE. Lisa Marie Presley's estate retains a 15% ownership in the company.
In August 2018, Gladys Presley's headstone, which contained the Jewish star of David on one side and a cross on the other and was designed by Elvis himself, which become publicly displayed when it placed in Graceland's Mediation Garden after being stored for many years in the Graceland Archive.
Lisa Marie Presley's estate, which is being held in trust for her daughters Riley Keough and Harper and Finley Lockwood, retain 100% sole personal ownership of Graceland Mansion itself and its over 13-acre original grounds as well as Elvis Presley's personal effects – including costumes, wardrobe, awards, furniture, cars, etc. Prior to her death in 2023, Lisa Marie Presley had made the mansion property and her father's personal effects permanently available for tours of Graceland and for use in all of EPE's operations.
According to Elvis Presley's Enterprises, staff at Graceland informally kept a list of celebrities who had visited in the first years following Elvis's death. This practice was not formalized for a decade. Muhammad Ali was an early celebrity visitor in 1978, as was singer Paul Simon. He toured Graceland in the early 80s and afterward wrote a song of the same name; it was the title track of his Grammy-winning album Graceland.
During the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987, U2 toured Graceland. The footage was filmed for the film Rattle & Hum. During the visit, drummer, Larry Mullen Jr., sat on Elvis Presley's motorcycle -- against the rules for Graceland visitors.
On June 30, 2006, then US President George W. Bush hosted Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for a tour of the mansion. It was one of the few private residences on United States soil to have been the site of an official joint-visit by a sitting US president and a serving head of a foreign government. On August 6, 2010, Prince Albert II, Head of State of the Principality of Monaco, and his fiancée (now Princess of Monaco) Charlene Wittstock, toured Graceland while vacationing in the US. On May 26, 2013, Paul McCartney of The Beatles visited Graceland. Prince William and Prince Harry, while in Memphis for a friend's wedding, visited Graceland on May 2, 2014.
The home has also been visited by former US President Jimmy Carter; the late Duchess of Devonshire, the sitting ambassadors of India, France, China, Korea and Israel to the United States; as well as several US governors, members of the US Congress, and at least two Nobel Prize winners, namely singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, a Literature Prize laureate, and the former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, a Peace Prize honoree, who visited it on October 10, 2001.
In May 2016, Graceland welcomed a newlywed couple as its 20 millionth visitor.
In June 2022, actors Austin Butler and Tom Hanks visited the mansion and were interviewed virtually by the Good Morning America news program from the Jungle Room to talk about their biographical film Elvis.
In popular culture
Paul Simon named an album Graceland, as well as its title track. The song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1987.
The song "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn mentions Graceland; in the second verse, he refers to the mansion and the Jungle Room. This song was later covered by Cher and Lonestar, among others.
The film 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a group of criminals who plan to rob a casino during an international Elvis week, disguised as Elvis impersonators. No scenes take place at or near the estate.
The film Finding Graceland stars Harvey Keitel with Johnathon Schaech. Keitel is an impersonator who claims to be the real Elvis after Schaech picks him up as a hitch-hiker.
In the rock music "mockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap, band members gather around Presley's grave at Graceland and attempt to sing a verse of "Heartbreak Hotel".
Pop punk group Groovie Ghoulies have a song called "Graceland" on their 1997 album Re-Animation Festival.
In the movie Zombieland: Double Tap, the protagonists venture to Graceland in hopes of shelter during a zombie apocalypse, but are distressed to find it in a ruined state.
During the credits of Lilo & Stitch, there's a photograph of Lilo, Nani, David and Stitch visiting the front gates of Graceland. Almost 20 years later, the original painting of that shot was put on display as part of the traveling Walt Disney Archives exhibition at Graceland.
In the season three episode of American Dad “The Vacation Goo”, Steve Smith asks Stan Smith if they can go to Graceland for their next vacation and Stan says “Steve, if you want to pay your respects to a fat man who died on the toilet, we can visit your Aunt Mary’s grave.”
Phoebe Bridgers has a song "Graceland Too" on her second studio album Punisher.
In the third episode of National Treasure: Edge of History, "Graceland Gambit," the main protagonist, Jess (portrayed by Lisette Olivera) is on a treasure hunt that leads her and her friends to Graceland.
Florence + The Machine reference Graceland and Elvis in their song "Morning Elvis" on their 2022 album Dance Fever.
For once I'm at something of a loss for this one. It started life as one thing and by the end had morphed into something quite different. It started life as a simple piece of A4 paper but by the time it was done was this concoction of cardboard, glue, stencils, spraypaint, stamped lettering and something of a dark heart vibe.
The gentleman in the piece is clearly something of a vagabond as it would appear he has cleared out all the bank accounts and made a hasty international departure to an uncertain destination. And all he left behind was a short note. The no-good piece of dirt. If I ever get my hands on him...
Cheers
id-iom
WEEK 49 – Southaven Burlington Relocation: New Store, Set I
I'm home again for Christmas break, and glad to be back! (I'm also glad I didn't have to drive through all the wintry weather that hit the southern portion of the state yesterday!) After checking in with the Santa Barbara San Francisco Police Department last night, I'm here with Week 49 of uploads today. And since I didn't feel like writing these descriptions last night, they're once more coming to you fresh on this Saturday morning!
So where are we at? After a long wait... the new Southaven Burlington!
Burlington // 225 Goodman Road W, Southaven, MS 38671
(c) 2017 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
It would seem that Covid caused KAY to stay at Lycoming Mall longer that it had planned.
Pennsdale (Muncy), PA. February 2020.
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If you would like to use THIS picture in any sort of media elsewhere (such as newspaper or article), please send me a Flickrmail or send me an email at natehenderson6@gmail.com
Some background:
The idea for a heavy infantry support vehicle capable of demolishing heavily defended buildings or fortified areas with a single shot came out of the experiences of the heavy urban fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. At the time, the Wehrmacht had only the Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B available for destroying buildings, a Sturmgeschütz III variant armed with a 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. Twelve of them were lost in the fighting at Stalingrad. Its successor, the Sturmpanzer IV, also known by Allies as Brummbär, was in production from early 1943. This was essentially an improved version of the earlier design, mounting the same gun on the Panzer IV chassis with greatly improved armour protection.
While greatly improved compared to the earlier models, by this time infantry anti-tank weapons were improving dramatically, too, and the Wehrmacht still saw a need for a similar, but more heavily armoured and armed vehicle. Therefore, a decision was made to create a new vehicle based on the Tiger tank and arm it with a 210 mm howitzer. However, this weapon turned out not to be available at the time and was therefore replaced by a 380 mm rocket launcher, which was adapted from a Kriegsmarine depth charge launcher.
The 380 mm Raketen-Werfer 61 L/5.4 was a breech-loading barrel, which fired a short-range, rocket-propelled projectile roughly 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) long. The gun itself existed in two iterations at the time. One, the RaG 43 (Raketenabschuss-Gerät 43), was a ship-mounted anti-aircraft weapon used for firing a cable-spooled parachute-anchor creating a hazard for aircraft. The second, the RTG 38 (Raketen Tauch-Geschoss 38), was a land-based system, originally planned for use in coastal installations by the Kriegsmarine firing depth-charges against submarines with a range of about 3.000 m. For use in a vehicle, the RTG 38 was to find use as a demolition gun and had to be modified for that role. This modification work was carried out by Rheinmetall at their Sommerda works.
The design of the rocket system caused some problems. Modified for use in a vehicle, the recoil from the modified rocket-mortar was enormous, about 40-tonnes, and this meant that only a heavy chassis could be used to mount the gun. The hot rocket exhaust could not be vented into the fighting compartment nor could the barrel withstand the pressure if the gasses were not vented. Therefore, a ring of ventilation shafts was put around the barrel which channeled the exhaust and gave the weapon something of a pepperbox appearance.
The shells for the weapon were extremely heavy, far too heavy for a man to load manually. As a result, each of them had to be carried by means of a ceiling-mounted trolley from their rack to a roller-mounted tray at the breech. Once on the tray, four soldiers could then push it into the breech to load it. The whole process took 10 minutes per shot from loading, aiming, elevating and, finally, to firing.
There were a variety of rocket-assisted round types with a weight of up to 376 kg (829 lb), and a maximum range of up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft), which either contained a high explosive charge of 125 kg (276 lb) or a shaped charge for use against fortifications, which could penetrate up to 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) of reinforced concrete. The stated range of the former was 5,650 m (6,180 yd). A normal charge first accelerated the projectile to 45 m/s (150 ft/s) to leave the short, rifled barrel, the 40 kg (88 lb) rocket charge then boosted this to about 250 m/s (820 ft/s).
In September 1943 plans were made for Krupp to fabricate new Tiger I armored hulls for the Sturmtiger. The Tiger I hulls were to be sent to Henschel for chassis assembly and then to Alkett, where the superstructures would be mounted. The first prototype was ready and presented in October 1943. By May 1944, the Sturmtiger prototype had been kept busy with trials and firing tests for the development of range tables, but production had still not started yet and the concept was likely to be scrapped. Rather than ditch the idea though, orders were given that, instead of interrupting the production of the Tiger I, the Sturmtigers would be built on the chassis of Tiger I tanks which had already been in action and suffered serious damage. Twelve superstructures and RW 61 weapons were prepared and mounted on rebuilt Tiger I chassis. However, by August 1944 the dire need for this kind of vehicle led to the adaptation of another chassis to the 380 mm Sturmmörser: the SdKfz. 184, better known as “Ferdinand” (after its designer’s forename) and later, in an upgraded version, “Elefant”.
The Elefant (German for "elephant") was actually a heavy tank destroyer and the result of mismanagement and poor planning: Porsche GmbH had manufactured about 100 chassis for their unsuccessful proposal for the Tiger I tank, the so-called "Porsche Tiger". Both the successful Henschel proposal and the Porsche design used the same Krupp-designed turret—the Henschel design had its turret more-or-less centrally located on its hull, while the Porsche design placed the turret much closer to the front of the superstructure. Since the competing Henschel Tiger design was chosen for production, the Porsche chassis were no longer required for the Tiger tank project, and Porsche was left with 100 unfinished heavy tank hulls.
It was therefore decided that the Porsche chassis were to be used as the basis of a new heavy tank hunter, the Ferdinand, mounting Krupp's newly developed 88 mm (3.5 in) Panzerjägerkanone 43/2 (PaK 43) anti-tank gun with a new, long L71 barrel. This precise long-range weapon was intended to destroy enemy tanks before they came within their own range of effective fire, but in order to mount the very long and heavy weapon on the Porsche hull, its layout had to be completely redesigned.
Porsche’s SdKfz. 184’s unusual petrol-electric transmission made it much easier to relocate the engines than would be the case on a mechanical-transmission vehicle, since the engines could be mounted anywhere, and only the length of the power cables needed to be altered, as opposed to re-designing the driveshafts and locating the engines for the easiest routing of power shafts to the gearbox. Without the forward-mounted turret of the Porsche Tiger prototype, the twin engines were relocated to the front, where the turret had been, leaving room ahead of them for the driver and radio operator. As the engines were placed in the middle, the driver and the radio operator were isolated from the rest of the crew and could be addressed only by intercom. The now empty rear half of the hull was covered with a heavily armored, full five-sided casemate with slightly sloped upper faces and armored solid roof, and turned into a crew compartment, mounting a single 8.8 cm Pak 43 cannon in the forward face of the casemate.
From this readily available basis, the SdKfz. 184/1 was hurriedly developed. It differed from the tank hunter primarily through its new casemate that held the 380 mm Raketenwerfer. Since the SdKfz. 184/1 was intended for use in urban areas in close range street fighting, it needed to be heavily armoured to survive. Its front plate had a greater slope than the Ferdinand while the sides were more vertical and the roof was flat. Its sloped (at 47° from vertical) frontal casemate armor was 150 mm (5.9 in) thick, while its superstructure side and rear plates had a strength of 82 mm (3.2 in). The SdKfz.184/1 also received add-on armor of 100 mm thickness, bolted to the hull’s original vertical front plates, increasing the thickness to 200 mm but adding 5 tons of weight. All these measures pushed the weight of the vehicle up from the Ferdinand’s already bulky 65 t to 75 t, limiting the vehicle’s manoeuvrability even further. Located at the rear of the loading hatch was a Nahverteidigungswaffe launcher which was used for close defense against infantry with SMi 35 anti-personnel mines, even though smoke grenades or signal flares could be fired with the device in all directions, too. For close-range defense, a 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun was carried in a ball mount in the front plate, an addition that was introduced to the Elefant tank hunters, too, after the SdKfz. 184 had during its initial deployments turned out to be very vulnerable to infantry attacks.
Due to the size of the RW 61 and the bulkiness of the ammunition, only fourteen rounds could be carried internally, of which one was already loaded, with another stored in the loading tray, and the rest were carried in two storage racks, leaving only little space for the crew of four in the rear compartment. To help with the loading of ammunition into the vehicle, a loading crane was fitted at the rear of the superstructure next to the loading hatch on the roof.
Due to the internal limits and the tactical nature of the vehicle, it was intended that each SdKfz. 184/1 (as well as each Sturmtiger) would be accompanied by an ammunition carrier, typically based on the Panzer IV chassis, but the lack of resources did not make this possible. There were even plans to build a dedicated, heavily armored ammunition carrier on the Tiger I chassis, but only one such carrier was completed and tested, it never reached production status.
By the time the first RW 61 carriers had become available, Germany had lost the initiative, with the Wehrmacht being almost exclusively on the defensive rather than the offensive, and this new tactical situation significantly weakened the value of both Sturmtiger and Sturmelefant, how the SdKfz 184/1 was semi-officially baptized. Nevertheless, three new Panzer companies were raised to operate the Sturmpanzer types: Panzer Sturmmörser Kompanien (PzStuMrKp) ("Armored Assault Mortar Company") 1000, 1001 and 1002. These originally were supposed to be equipped with fourteen vehicles each, but this figure was later reduced to four each, divided into two platoons, consisting of mixed vehicle types – whatever was available and operational.
PzStuMrKp 1000 was raised on 13 August 1944 and fought during the Warsaw Uprising with two vehicles, as did the prototype in a separate action, which may have been the only time the Sturmtiger was used in its intended role. PzStuMrKp 1001 and 1002 followed in September and October. Both PzStuMrKp 1000 and 1001 served during the Ardennes Offensive, with a total of four Sturmtiger and three Sturmelefanten.
After this offensive, the Sturmpanzer were used in the defence of Germany, mainly on the Western Front. During the battle for the bridge at Remagen, German forces mobilized Sturmmörserkompanie 1000 and 1001 (with a total of 7 vehicles, five Sturmtiger and two Sturmelefanten) to take part in the battle. The tanks were originally tasked with using their mortars against the bridge itself, though it was discovered that they lacked the accuracy needed to hit the bridge and cause significant damage with precise hits to vital structures. During this action, one of the Sturmtigers in Sturmmörserkompanie 1001 near Düren and Euskirchen allegedly hit a group of stationary Shermans tanks in a village with a 380mm round, resulting in nearly all the Shermans being put out of action and their crews killed or wounded - the only recorded tank-on-tank combat a Sturmtiger was ever engaged in. After the bridge fell to the Allies, Sturmmörserkompanie 1000 and 1001 were tasked with bombardment of Allied forces to cover the German retreat, as opposed to the bunker busting for which they had originally been designed for. None was actually destroyed through enemy fire, but many vehicles had to be given up due to mechanical failures or the lack of fuel. Most were blown up by their crews, but a few fell into allied hands in an operational state.
Total production numbers of the SdKfz. 184/1 are uncertain but, being an emergency product and based on a limited chassis supply, the number of vehicles that left the Nibelungenwerke in Austria was no more than ten – also because the tank hunter conversion had top priority and the exotic RW 61 launcher was in very limited supply. As a consequence, only a total of 18 Sturmtiger had been finished by December 1945 and put into service, too. However, the 380 mm Raketen-Werfer 61 remained in production and was in early 1946 adapted to the new Einheitspanzer E-50/75 chassis.
Specifications:
Crew: Six (driver, radio operator/machine gunner in the front cabin,
commander, gunner, 2× loader in the casemate section)
Weight: 75 tons
Length: 7,05 m (23 ft 1½ in)
Width: 3,38 m (11 ft 1 in)
Height w/o crane: 3,02 m (9 ft 10¾ in)
Ground clearance: 1ft 6¾ in (48 cm)
Climbing: 2 ft 6½ in (78 cm)
Fording depth: 3 ft 3¼ (1m)
Trench crossing: 8 ft 7 ¾ in (2,64 m)
Suspension: Longitudinal torsion-bar
Fuel capacity: 1.050 liters
Armour:
62 to 200 mm (2.44 to 7.87 in)
Performance:
30 km/h (19 mph) on road
15 km/h (10 miles per hour () off road
Operational range: 150 km (93 mi) on road
90 km (56 mi) cross-country
Power/weight: 8 hp/ton
Engine:
2× Maybach HL120 TRM petrol engines with 300 PS (246 hp, 221 kW) each, powering…
2× Siemens-Schuckert D1495a 500 Volt electric engines with 320 PS (316 hp, 230 kW) each
Transmission:
Electric
Armament:
1x 380 mm RW 61 rocket launcher L/5.4 with 14 rounds
1x 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 34 machine gun with 600 rounds
1x 100 mm grenade launcher (firing anti-personnel mines, smoke grenades or signal flares)
The kit and its assembly:.
This fictional tank model is not my own idea, it is rather based on a picture of a similar kitbashing of an Elefant with a Sturmtiger casemate and its massive missile launcher – even though it was a rather crude model, with a casemate created from cardboard. However, I found the idea charming, even more so because the Ferdinand/Elefant was rather a rolling bunker than an agile tank hunter, despite its powerful weapon. Why not use the same chassis as a carrier for the Sturmtiger’s huge mortar as an assault SPG?
The resulting Sturmelefant was created as a kitbashing: the chassis is an early boxing of the Trumpeter Elefant, which comes not only with IP track segments but also alternative vinyl tracks (later boxing do not feature them), and casemate parts come from a Trumpeter Sturmtiger.
While one would think that switching the casemate would be straightforward affair, the conversion turned out to be more complex than expected. Both Elefant and Sturmtiger come with separate casemate pieces, but they are not compatible. The Sturmtiger casemate is 2mm wider than the Elefant’s hull, and its glacis plate is deeper than the Elefant’s, leaving 4mm wide gaps at the sides and the rear. One option could have been to trim down the glacis plate, but I found the roofline to become much too low – and the casemate’s length would have been reduced.
So, I used the Sturmtiger casemate “as is” and filled the gaps with styrene sheet strips. This worked, but the casemate’s width created now inward-bent sections that looked unplausible. Nobody, even grazed German engineers, would not have neglected the laws of structural integrity. What to do? Tailoring the casemate’s sides down would have been one route, but this would have had created a strange shape. The alternative I chose was to widen the flanks of the Elefant’s hull underneath the casemate, which was achieved with tailored 0.5 mm styrene sheet panels and some PSR – possible through the Elefant’s simple shape and the mudguards that run along the vehicle’s flanks.
Some more PSR was necessary to blend the rear into a coherent shape and to fill a small gap at the glacis plate’s base. Putty was also used to fill/hide almost all openings on the glacis plate, since no driver sight or ball mount for a machine gun was necessary anymore. New bolts between hull and casemate were created with small drops of white glue. The rest of the surface details were taken from the respective donor kits.
Painting and markings:
This was not an easy choice. A classic Hinterhalt scheme would have been a natural choice, but since the Sturmelefant would have been converted from existing hulls with new parts, I decided to emphasize this heritage through a simple, uniform livery: all Ferdinand elements would be painted/left in a uniform Dunkelgelb (RAL, 7028, Humbrol 83), while the new casemate as well as the bolted-on front armor were left in a red primer livery, in two different shades (Humbrol 70 and 113). This looked a little too simple for my taste, so that I eventually added snaky lines in Dunkelgelb onto the primer-painted sections, blurring the contrast between the two tones.
Markings remained minimal, just three German crosses on the flanks and at the rear and a tactical code on the casemate – the latter in black and in a hand-written style, as if the vehicle had been rushed into frontline service.
After the decals had been secured under sone varnish the model received an overall washing with dark brown, highly thinned acrylic paint, some dry-brushing with light grey and some rust traces, before it was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish and received some dirt stains with mixed watercolors and finally, after the tracks had been mounted, some artist pigments as physical dust on the lower areas.
Again a project that appeared simple but turned out to be more demanding because the parts would not fit as well as expected. The resulting bunker breaker looks plausible, less massive than the real Sturmtiger but still a menacing sight.
We are having construction in our restroom. Pathways into our home for invertebrates have been opened. This little spider (less than 5mm) was next to my pillow. Before relocation to outdoors, I placed him on black acrylic and tried my new macro flash and diffuser on my R5. My technique was sloppy, but I got better.
I wanted to keep Mouse Manor in the craft room, but I wanted use of my table too. So I scooted it over onto the cubbies. I can still get to it, and I can pull it out more if I need to.
Information From: www.city.cleveland.oh.us/around_town/city_highlights/land...
One of the most controversial works of art displayed in the City of Cleveland is Oldenburg and van Bruggen’s Free Stamp. Located in Willard Park to the East of City Hall, this massive aluminum and planted steel sculpture is difficult to miss with its large red handle sprawling across the lawn and metal base sinking into the ground displaying the word “FREE” in backwards letters to passersby on Lakeside Avenue. Some people see the Free Stamp as an inspiring work of Pop Art that represents our liberty as American citizens and reflects our City’s industrial progress. Others view it as an eyesore that is inappropriate for a location at the heart of the City’s Civic Center. This debate has been going on since the piece was first commissioned in 1982 and still echoes throughout the City today.
Artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen designed the Free Stamp at the request of Standard Oil and admit that it was one of the most difficult works of art they have ever created. The controversy began soon after Standard Oil was awarded permission to tear down the old Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO) building located on Public Square. As construction of the new building began, SOHIO decided that it wanted a fresh work of art to display outside its doors, directly across from one of the City’s historical landmarks, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. After seeing the “pad” of land with which they had to work, Oldenburg and van Bruggen, who are famous for making large replicas of common objects such as spoons, ice cream cones, and bowling pins, proposed the idea of creating an enormous stamp.
The original design for the sculpture was an upright, self-inking stamp, with a red handle which looked like a giant exclamation point. The first design allowed access so that people could actually walk around inside the stamp, but management at SOHIO soon agreed that such a structure would require a lot of maintenance. The design was then restructured to look like a hand stamp on an ink pad. The question was then raised as to what word would be placed on the stamp. The artists wanted a word that would serve as a statement, like a one-word poem, but could also be found on a real office stamp. The physical dimension of the work was also a consideration as the diameters of the Free Stamp left room for only 4 letters. Van Bruggen suggested the word “Free” to represent liberty and independence and to make a positive statement in the heart of the City.
Just as construction on a revised design began, SOHIO underwent a change in management. The new managers did not like the idea of placing a massive piece of pop art on Public Square, especially a 50-foot stamp. Several opponents of the Free Stamp feared that the message conveyed by the work would invite jokes about the condition of Downtown Cleveland, which during the 1980s was in need of revitalization. SOHIO gave Oldenburg and van Bruggen the opportunity to relocate the stamp, but the artists did not want to move it. The location at Public Square added to the artistic expression of the work in a way other locations could not.
Production of the Stamp was halted for several years and pieces of it were placed in storage in Indiana. As BP America assumed management of SOHIO, executives wondered why the company was paying so much to house a huge stamp. Interest was renewed in the work of art and Mayor George Voinovich invited Oldenburg and van Bruggen to Cleveland in hopes of selecting another site to display their work. Although the Cleveland Museum of Art was considered, the artists wanted their work to be seen in the heart of Downtown and set their sights on Willard Park for its proximity to Public Square and because of its location to Cleveland’s government offices.
Placing the Free Stamp in Willard Park immediately drew opposition from Council President, George Forbes, who did not support the idea of the City of Cleveland accepting a rejected work of art and displaying it right outside of City Hall. Once again, the artists had chosen their location as part of their artistic statement and were unwilling to compromise their artistic integrity. This time, they threatened to destroy the work entirely if the City did not want to display it.
Before the artists could act on their threat, Election Day 1989 had passed and newly elected Mayor, Michael R. White, and Council President, Jay Westbrook, expressed their interest in this unique work. BP America finally decided that it would donate the Free Stamp as a gift to the City and offered to maintain it in its new location. City Council accepted this generous gift and the Free Stamp was brought out of storage and redesigned to accommodate its new space.
The lawn at Willard Park inspired Oldenburg and van Bruggen to alter the position of the Free Stamp so that it would lie on its side, as if it had toppled over on someone’s desk. Van Bruggen felt that the new design reflected the Free Stamp’s history as it was “flung” from Public Square only to “land” in Willard Park. Production on the Free Stamp resumed and it was brought to Cleveland in pieces to be assembled in its current spot.
The Free Stamp was officially inaugurated on November 15, 1991. The Dedication reads:
Free Stamp
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen
1991- Planted Steel and Aluminum
Gift of BP America
To the City of Cleveland
Michael R. White- Mayor
Jay Westbrook- City Council President
Dedicated 11-15-1991
Remodel, Week 14
So without any further ado, let’s head inside and take stock of things! We’re beginning at the back left corner of the store, home to the new walk-in produce cooler. As of September 23rd, the date of this photo, it still had not been opened to the public, but I think it was undergoing a test run and the cold air was blasting in there. You can also see that the cases placed along its front have also been activated and are home to various juices and grapes. But most noticeable here is the fact that the rest of the club’s produce department has moved over here to join the new cooler! You’ll recall that it was previously placed in the actionway in front of the refrigerated and frozen units on the right side of the store. Now, it’s much more sensibly located over here.
(c) 2017 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
WEEK 52 – Southaven Burlington Relocation: Finale (Buck's Bargain Center)
This shot comes from a vantage point after I had actually turned the corner itself (instead of just talking about it like in the last shot, lol!), and looks across the dividing wall of shelving stocked with Christmas merchandise. This seemed like a small selection of holiday stuff to me, but then again, I imagine that a discount retailer like Buck's probably doesn't get big-ticket holiday items until after the fact, and with this being their first year here, it makes sense for them to be a little light in that area.
Also note that CCTV sign on the pole... trying to figure out if that's left from Burlington. Anyone know?
(c) 2017 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
At the Tower of London, Lions were likely close at hand during the reign of Edward I (1272 - 1307) when you entered the gates at the now demolished Lion Tower barbican, where later monarchs kept a menagerie of beasts.
The 'Royal Menagerie' is first referred to during the reign of Henry III. In 1251, the sheriffs were ordered to pay fourpence a day towards the upkeep for the King's polar bear; the bear attracted a great deal of attention from Londoners when it went fishing in the Thames. In 1254, the sheriffs were ordered to subsidise the construction of an elephant house at the Tower. The exact location of the medieval menagerie is unknown, although the lions were housed in the barbican known as Lion Tower. The royal collection was swelled by diplomatic gifts, including three leopards from the Holy Roman Emperor. By the 18th century, the menagerie was open to the public; admission cost three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog to be fed to the lions! The last of the animals left in 1835, relocated to Regents Park, after one of the lions was accused of biting a soldier. The Keeper of the Royal Menagerie was entitled to use the Lion Tower as a house for life. Consequentially, even though the animals had long since left the building, the Lion Tower was not demolished until the last keeper's death in 1853.
These wire sculptures of lions are by the artist Kendra Haste.
Kenworth W900 belonging to T&G Livestock Relocators of Jerome, ID on I-84 west of Boardman, OR in May 2016.
AF Nikkor 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 (1995) 29 years "old"
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This house is now located on highway 29 near Guelph. It originally was built on Dublin street Guelph where the Gilbert MacIntyre and Son funeral home parking lot is. The owner had purchased the house and then dismantled it piece by piece, then reassembled it at it's new location.
The first Great Victoria Street station in Belfast was built by the Ulster Railway in 1839. The facilities were expanded over the years until it became the main terminus of the Great Northern Railway in 1876. A century later, Northern Ireland Railways closed Great Victoria Street and transferred its traffic to the new Belfast Central station. The irony is, of course, that Great Victoria Street was more central than Belfast Central, and so in the 1990s it was decided to rebuild the former station. It couldn't be put back in exactly the same place though because the Great Northern Tower had been built on the original site, so the new Great Victoria Street station was moved a few yards further down the former trackbed and opened in 1995. Here is the station today, with some modern Class 3000 diesel multiple units standing at two of its four platforms.
I revisited this wonderful building Sunday 19th May 2019, I pass it every day, it always looks resplendent and dominating, it's history intrigues me, unfortunately vandals have also visited and created some damage, their behaviour boils my blood .
Relocated a short distance from Old Aberdeen and Aberdeen University, due to retailers Marks And Spencer's building a new store at its original location, happily the company funded the relocation and it was re-built brick by brick.
History - Benholm's Lodge
Benholm's Lodge, which is also known as Wallace Tower, was built between 1610 and 1616 by Sir Robert Keith. He was a younger brother of George Keith, Earl Marischal and pressured his elder sibling to grant him land and property. Robert seized Ackergill Castle and this seemingly prompted the Earl to relent and grant him the Barony of Benholm.
To mark his new found status, Robert changed his surname to Benholm and built a new lodge to serve as his family seat. Despite its current position, the tower was originally located just outside of Aberdeen Town Walls adjacent to Netherkirkgate (near the intersection between Union Street and Market Street).
The castle took the form of a three storey (plus attic) Z-plan Tower House. It was constructed from rubble with some ashlar dressing and the whole structure was originally harled.
The main block was a rectangular structure with storage at ground level, a hall on the first floor and accommodation above. A circular stair tower provided access to all floors.
Sir Robert Benholm died in 1616 and the tower reverted to the Earl Marischal. He had little use for it so converted it into the residence for the Principal of new Marischal College. It later passed into the hands of William Hay and thereafter was owned by various city merchants. The structure was expanded circa-1789 when a new wing was added.
It remained a residence into the nineteenth century although the ground floor was converted into a Public House. In 1918 it was taken-over by the city council and thereafter was neglected. Between 1963 and 1971, the tower was dismantled brick-by-brick and relocated to Tillydrone, some 1.5 miles north of its original site.
Site Name Aberdeen, Benholm's Lodge
Classification Public House (20th Century), Tower House (17th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Old Aberdeen; Wallace Tower; Benholm's Lodging; Netherkirkgate; Wallace Neuk; Wallace Nook; Putachieside
BENHOLM’S TOWER, in the Nether Kirkgate of Aberdeen, was a unique building in the evolution of Scots medieval architecture for the reason that, despite unfortunate 19th-century alterations and subsequent neglect, it is the only example of a ‘toun ludging’ planned on the 3-stepped or Z-plan shape so much favoured by the fortress home and castle-builders of NE. Scotland from about 1560 on.
Generations of Aberdonians have named the house as the ‘Wallace Tower’ – evidently not a reference to the Scottish Patriot, but perhaps a corruption of the name Well-house (local pronunciation would be ‘Wall-hoose’) – from the pyramid Cistern ‘Wallie’ which formerly stood at the head of Carnegie’s Brae. The house was built by Sir Robert Keith of Benholm, probably after 1610 and certainly prior to 1616 when Sir Robert’s death is recorded. He was the brother of George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal – founder of Marischal College in 1593 – and the nephew of Robert Keith, Commendator of Deer, who in 1587 was designated Lord Altrie being that same year confirmed by charter in the lands and Barony of Benholm, a property in the Mearns he had acquired by marriage to Elizabeth Lundie, heiress of the ancient family of Lundie of Benholm.
During the last half of the 16th century the Keith family as Catholics had gained immense possessions up and down Scotland from what had been church property, and the Marischal’s brother Robert obviously intended to share in the family spoils. Benholm was knighted before 1612, and by 1613, in addition to his Mearns estate, he was in possession of several tenements and lands in and around Aberdeen, including Seaton (the Bishop’s Ward in pre-Reformation times) and properties in the Upper and Nether Kirkgates. Sir Robert had Benholm’s Tower built in what had been virtually open country in the early 17th century. The Z-plan Fortress house he erected for his Toun Ludging was a building capable of defence, for it is actually sited just outside the medieval burgh boundary, some 20 yds. West of the old Nether Kirkgate Port. Of the 2 round towers, one commanded the street leading to the Mither Kirk and the steep inclined city entrance (Carnegie’s Brae is now the only medieval cobbled street in Aberdeen) leading to the Green and the harbour quay, and the other tower overlooked the courtyard and gardens sloping to the bed of the old Loch outflow the Putachie Burn. The Knight of Benholm‘s town house, befitting his early violent life, had in the 17th century appeared a veritable Laird’s Castle.
The earliest record of Benholm’s Tower occurs in 1616, the year of Sir Robert’s death, when the property is described as a new house with its garden in the Nether Kirkgate outside the Port.
The original tower-house, with its central oblong block and diagonally-opposite round towers at NE. and SW. corners, has been subjected to inevitable alterations externally and internally over its long history of almost 350 years. But the basic plan remains: the central block is about 34 ft. long by 20 ft. 6 in. wide over walls generally 2 ft. 6 in. thick. The Court round tower is about 13 ft. 6 in. in diameter over a wall thickness of 27 in. The Street Tower is smaller – about 11 ft. in diameter, the wall varying from 15-18 in. thick. The lowest storey of the house, now the basement forming the cellar of the licensed premises, was in the 17th century the ground floor. The walled courtyard or court (now partly built over by the south wing added about 1785 was entered by a gateway – of which the chamfered jamb stones remain. From Carnegie’s Brae, and westwards, where the flagstoned Tower Court is now enclosed by high buildings on 3 sides, lay the Laird of Benholm’s garden. Where the court round tower forms an angle with the main block is the main entrance door, long locked up, but the fine roll-moulded jambs and lintel are still almost complete. Within the door on the left, the toothings of the original stone steps in the wall indicate the position of the original circular stair. In the south wall of the central block are the cheeks of the original cellar door flanked by 2 windows, now built up – the chamfered jambs of the east-most window have been re-used in the later slapping at the corner of the cellar.
The north wall has 2 narrow window slits: these are interesting as indicating that the street level of the Nether Kirkgate is now much higher than in the 17th century: the re-levelling took place following the formation of St Nicholas Street (1805) when the hollow of the Putachie Burn was filled up.
Of the 3 openings on the east wall, the central one is a door of later date, the other 2 being originally window positions.
The lowering of the level of the ground floor joists in more recent times and the consequent dropping of the earth floor of the cellar explains the exposure of the ‘foonds’ or stone footings on north and south walls, and the original window soffit heights.
From basement level there is no access to the street tower.
Above ground floor level in the Court stair tower, the late 19th century wooden stair now gives access from the Nether Kirkgate to the upper floors of the house. Of the windows lighting the original stone stair, the lowest remains, with indications of the chamfered sandstone jambs of the 2 upper windows underneath the present openings. Projecting from one side of the old middle window was the square bracket for the gas lamp which, from the mid-19th century had given light to the Tower Court and to the pend leading from Carnegie’s Brae. When the ground floor was drastically altered some 60 years ago, the ceiling was heightened, the upper south wall of the main block was carried on a beam and the whole floor (including the lobby access to the stair) was laid out on one level to form the public house.
These alterations removed visible traces of what had been the hall (and possibly kitchen) of the tower house, and of the wide arched fireplace which probably occupied the west wall. In the main house the upper floors show alterations of the late 18th century, contemporary with the south wing added during John Niven‘s ownership (c.1789),
The central stair had led up from a door from Netherkirkgate, but the lower flight was removed during the ground floor alterations.
The 2 chambers at 1st floor – on either side of this central stair – have wall panelling to dado height, the doors have characteristic 18th-century details, and the ceilings have heavy plasterwork.
The house was occupied by Dr Patrick Dun, (1581-1652) appointed Principal of Marischal College in 1621; Dun was head of the medical faculty. Following Dun’s death about 1652,
Benholm’s Tower was acquired by William Hay of Balbithan and thereafter it belonged successively to Andrew Logic, William Wemyss and to James Abernethie, merchant. After the latter’s death in 1768, the tenement of land called ‘Wallace Neuk‘ and close was disposed to John Niven, a snuff and tobacco merchant.
By 1789, Niven had ‘lately erected’ the wing fronting Carnegie’s Brae, thus building over the old courtyard, and in that year the property passed to James Coutts.
Subsequent owners were John Donald Taylor from 1851-78, thence to his heirs until 1895, when James Pirie, Spirit Dealer of 59 Nether Kirkgate, h. 6 Forbesfield Rd acquired the property – at this time the basement and ground floor were converted into licensed premises.
Standing 27 ft. high from street to eaves, the tower has the subtle batter which is a characteristic of Scots military architecture, while the roof has a definite bell-cast lip round the eaves.
The original lead gutters were still in position at the wallhead of both circular towers.
The small turret projects out on 4 corbel courses resting on a carved spurstone terminating the roll-moulded stringcourse which encircles the tower at first floor level: linked to this by a similar surrounding moulding, smaller in scale, is the recess with the statue on the NE. face of the tower .
The recess is 5 ft. 7 in. high by 2 ft. 11 in. wide by 15 in. deep at the top. The stones forming cheeks and lintels are tied in to the tower walls and have every appearance of being original work.
The statement, attributed to Andrew Jervise, that the figure itself was taken from a tomb in St Nicholas kirkyard and set up in the recess by John Niven, may explain this extremely interesting piece of sculpture.
However, despite the accumulation of paint and patching on the statue, close inspection reveals that the dress and armour are contemporary with that of the first decade of the 17th century: the theory cannot be dismissed that here we have a portrait in sculpture of the founder of the building, Sir Robert Keith of Benholm. Also at 1st floor level, and facing west along Nether Kirkgate, is an armorial panel displaying two coats-of-arms.
The upper shield (there are no supporters or crest) is now indecipherable but there is the possibility that it bore the cross of St John below the simple motto ‘Pro Fide’: the Knights of St John, although disbanded at the Reformation, retained the superiority of several properties in Aberdeen.
The larger part of the heraldic panel has the shield of the Keiths – argent, on a chief paly of 6, or and gules with crest and supporting stags, all under the motto ‘Veritas Vincit’ (Truth Conquers).
The whole panel is completely overpainted and requires expert cleaning. Of the weapon-holes which must originally have defended the tower-house, only one is now visible – a fine example of a gunport of the quatrefoil type.
Thanks to the magnificent Wikipedia and Doric Columns for the history facts on this great building .
The Women Are Persons sculptures temporarily relocated on the Plaza Bridge in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Created in 2000, this monument is a tribute the Famous Five: Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney, Nellie McClung, Emily Murphy and Henrietta Muir Edwards, all from Alberta.
The Famous Five brought a case before the highest court in the British Empire to appeal a 1928 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. That court had ruled that women could not be appointed to the Senate, because they were not “qualified persons.” On October 18, 1929, the Privy Council reversed this decision. This sculpture was also featured on the back of the $50 bill.
Artist Barbara Paterson of Edmonton, also created a similar work for the Olympic Plaza in Calgary.
These sculptures have been temporarily relocated on the Plaza Bridge from their former and much deserved location on Parliament Hill, as the grounds of the latter are under construction for the creation of a large underground complex which in part will include a visitors' centre, tunnels linking Parliament's three buildings, underground committee rooms for MPs, and also to add security measures.
The project will be a herculean task expected to take roughly a decade to complete and involve billions of dollars according to:
ipolitics.ca/2019/05/14/plan-for-large-underground-comple...
Here’s a little something different as a teaser for my most recent blog post… I made this graphic literally one year ago this week, and I’m sure I was saving it for some sort of purpose, but at this point it’s been long enough that I might as well just go ahead and post it now. I can’t remember exactly, but I think my main purpose for this was at first to show all the stores that had departed Southaven Towne Center for Tanger Outlets Southaven, but then as I kept working on it it also turned into a graphic showing *all* the stores that had left STC for anywhere else (or nowhere, just closing outright) as well as those that had relocated to Tanger from places besides STC. So, in other words, it’s a mess. (It's also not up-to-date or complete, given many stores have departed from here over the years, including Payless and LifeWay in the time since I made this.) But let’s try to sort through it all anyway. :P
Starting at the top (northernmost point) of the image, you have South Lake Centre, which I made a similar graphic for, except that one focused on all the stores that relocated *to* SLC instead of *away* from it. To be fair, not many at all have done the latter, but both Dressbarn and Gap FactoryStore did, opting for new locations at Tanger as soon as Tanger opened in November 2015. Dressbarn closed their SLC store in favor of the Tanger location; Gap kept both operational, but only for a short period (see the SLC store’s liquidation in this album). Gap is still operational at Tanger, but I discovered recently that Dressbarn has quietly closed, meaning they have left Southaven entirely after a long run here. Their space within Tanger is set to become a Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet soon.
Also near the top of the image, I included a note that the long-running Thomas Kinkade Gallery from Wolfchase Galleria relocated to Tanger. Unfortunately, that did not last very long at all. I talked more about that relocation at this photo.
Within Southaven Towne Center itself, a whole cluster of stores either abandoned their longstanding positions at the decade-older STC in favor of Tanger, or simply supplemented them with a second location at Tanger, keeping the STC store open as well. Not that I believe keeping two locations of the same chain operational along the same exact street is the smartest business decision, but at least it means less vacancies for STC, haha! Starting with the former variety, American Eagle, Rue21, and College Station all shuttered their STC locations in favor of shiny new storefronts at Tanger (none of which, it seems, I can find photos of online, unfortunately).
Meanwhile (and surprisingly!), four others – Kay, Rack Room, GNC, and Carter’s – have all opened new stores at Tanger while simultaneously keeping their existing stores at STC open. Again, I find this strange and redundant, but I suppose I can’t complain if they’re all keeping two storefronts occupied and people employed…
Aéropostale is a unique story; they closed their STC location in 2016, only to reappear at Tanger a year later (…and then close down once more not six months later, but hey). This one, then, probably can’t be considered a true relocation like the rest, but I still thought it important in the sense that they could just as easily have reopened at their old STC building (which has literally remained untouched since then: even the “final 2 days” sign can still be seen hanging out inside the place!).
And finally, I also included three others on here that are related to STC but not Tanger: hhgregg, which went out of business entirely; Books-a-Million, which relocated from STC to SLC; and Gordmans, which closed and then reopened again as Gordmans. I’ve covered two of those in the past, and will have something related to the other coming up fairly soon…
Anyway, all this to say that I’ve got a new blog post up :P Its subject is DeSoto Pointe, which to the casual description-reader might seem completely unrelated to everything I just talked about in this description, and as such likely prompts a number of questions, which I would like to answer here but that would negate the whole point of having written an entire blog post on the topic, so instead I’ll direct you over there and say thanks and happy reading! :)
(c) 2019 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
WEEK 14 – BAM Southaven Relocation: Old Store, Set 2
We’re back again at the old Southaven Books-a-Million this weekend, picking up right where we left off, in the kids’ section! Notice how open the floor space is here: this picture was taken on January 27th, 2017, as the store’s last week in operation began, so merchandise was gradually diminishing (there wasn’t a liquidation or anything, but they still had to prepare for the move). In fact, the bareness in this area is what allowed me to get this photo that I teased this entire set with. It’s kinda sad to see the section so relatively lifeless here, but at the same time it also provides a bit of a less cluttered look at the section.
By the time we frequented this store, I wasn’t of the age to play with the Thomas the Tank Engine playsets in this section – not that this store even had them, unlike Tupelo! – but I did often shop the next aisle to the left from my point of view here…
(c) 2017 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
I seem to remember that someone uprooted this little mushroom and that I placed it on this log to photograph it - does look like it, doesn't it, LOL? Taken at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on 23rd August last year.
Have hardly been on Flickr today - have instead spent hours downloading some of my 2008 Flickr photos to a file so that I can back them up and eventually burn to DVD (for my kids and for my own use). This is so monotonous to do, needless to say, but has to be done.
"Relocation Program"
A card I painted for my company for the Holidays...Or, over-consumerism, Santa's own demise!:)
I really had fun painting this one! As usual, ipad and Procreate.
Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of crystal. It is named after the city of Waterford, Ireland. Waterford Crystal is owned by WWRD Group Holdings Ltd., a luxury goods group which also owns and operates the Wedgwood and Royal Doulton brands. WWRD was acquired 2 July 2015 by the Fiskars Corporation.
In January 2009 its Waterford base was closed down due to the bankruptcy of the Wedgwood Group. After several difficulties and takeovers, it re-emerged later that year. In June 2010, Waterford Crystal relocated almost back to its original roots, on The Mall in Waterford City. This new location is now home to a manufacturing facility that melts over 750 tons of crystal a year. This new facility offers visitors the opportunity to take guided tours of the factory and also offers a retail store, showcasing the world's largest collection of Waterford Crystal.
With the onset of autumn, I made the decision to relocate the portable layout from the garage.
I designed it with box dimensions that would allow for transport by car and also would fit in my workroom.
It fitted.... just.
This more convenient location will allow for some more practice in running three or four cars at the same time as changing points for the different routes. I may also get around to painting and placing some more figures!
WEEK 32.2 – Oakland Kroger, Pre-Remodel (II)
With the aforementioned reset involving the shift of all the existing aisles and subsequent creation of a new one out of the newly discovered space, the Aisle 12 marker made its way one aisle over, to the aisle pictured here. It's too bad that I couldn't capture it in the exact same position here in Oakland as it was in my Hernando store, but there's a replica of the millennium décor Aisle 12 marker that started it all, nonetheless :)
From this angle, it's also plainly obvious that the aisle marker was removed and re-hung; there's no way it should be perfectly even with the top of my photo, when the rest of my pic is so blatantly tilted to the right :P (On a related note, apologies for that XD )
My only regret in all of this is that I only put the puzzle pieces about the reset together *after* I had returned home and reviewed these photos... I didn't realize the significance of all of this while I was actually still at the store. If I had, I would've been sure to pay closer attention to Aisle 11 next door, as that would have been a special case.
Obviously, the former frozen foods marker from Aisle 11 wouldn't have been suitable for relocation to a regular aisle, as it would've had just the aisle number, and no slots for item placards underneath. So the question becomes, if the store wound up having to source a new Aisle 11 marker just like they did with Aisle 13, what would it have looked like? Sadly, none of my pictures capture this; I personally do not remember; and we will likely never know, now that the store has remodeled :(
That said... what I *am* able to glean from this photo is that the “new” Aisle 11 was home to health and beauty products. So, what I like to think is that the aisle got the standard updated HABA aisle sign – which would've looked like this – thereby solving all of our décor problems. Voila! :P
(c) 2018 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysian pronunciation: [ˈkualə, -a ˈlumpo(r), -ʊ(r)]), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (Malay: Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur) and colloquially referred to as KL, is a federal territory and the capital city of Malaysia. It is the largest city in Malaysia, covering an area of 243 km2 (94 sq mi) with an estimated population of 1.73 million as of 2016. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.564 million people as of 2018. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in both population and economic development.
Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia. It is also home to the Parliament of Malaysia and the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Istana Negara. The city was once the seat of the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but these were relocated to Putrajaya in early 1999.However, some sections of the political bodies still remain in Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur is one of the three federal territories of Malaysia, enclaved within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Since the 1990s, the city has played host to many international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers, which have since become an iconic symbol of Malaysian development.
Kuala Lumpur has a comprehensive road system supported by an extensive range of public transport networks, such as mass rapid transit (MRT), light rapid transit (LRT), monorail, commuter rail, public buses, hop on & hop off buses (free of charge) and airport rail links. Kuala Lumpur is one of the leading cities in the world for tourism and shopping, being the 6th most-visited city in the world in 2019. The city houses three of the world's 10 largest shopping malls.
Kuala Lumpur has been ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Ranking at No. 70 in the world, and No. 2 in Southeast Asia after Singapore. Kuala Lumpur was named as one of the New7Wonders Cities, and has been named as World Book Capital 2020 by UNESCO.
WEEK 12 – BAM Southaven Relocation: Old Store, Set 1
(cont.) …because in no way is the old store not worth exploring in its own right! In the previous photo, we were looking at the exterior of the store, which I’m guessing was custom-built for BAM. Now, we’re inside the store and looking down its actionway, from the entrance straight to the back wall. (Granted, this isn’t a straight-on shot, but it’s about the best I could do!) These photos were taken on multiple January 2017 visits.
(c) 2017 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)