A few CVRR pictures and some other related pictures....

[robert.]

If that had been today, they'd have made him buy a set of four, lol...

Plus the other 6 people would be arrested for loitering.
Ps. somebody could work on selling the guy a headlight.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[rogruth]

I think that was still there in the 1940s.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I think that was still there in the 1940s.

Would not have surprised me that it might have been still there in the 60's!

[rogruth]

I think that was still there in the 1940s.

Would not have surprised me that it might have been still there in the 60's!

I might have been up on it in the '40s.

[J. S. Bach]

Czech out the airway beacon behind the building. I knew about them (even have a few catalog references for the specialized searchlights used) but have never seen a picture of one in service.

[rogruth]

I remember those beacons as being rather common in eastern Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania in the early 1940s.
They were shut down in early 1942 or possibly December of 1941 in some areas.
I seem to remember that at least some were turned on as needed when the anticipated threats from Germany and Japan lessened.
This went along with the air raid and blackout drills. If you could find a way to see out side it was really eerie to look out and not see any lights. Especially from a steel mill @ a mile away across the Ohio River.
If the Warden that was patrolling the area saw any light from your property he would issue a warning to whomever was there. A second time brought a fine.
It was a bit scary and not just for elementary school kids. That feeling started to change when flights of airplanes, from 10+ to several hundred a day,
flying east started happening.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Hi Roger, Really great to read your perspective on blackouts and the steel mills.

How did the authorities ever manage to control the light emanating from the myriad steel mills along all the rivers, like the Monongahela, Youghiogheny, Allegheny, and Ohio?! As I am sure you recall, when we were children, there was always that "midnight sunlight" from the furnaces, etc. which illuminated the night skies when we were boys. With the mills blazing away, producing copious light , it makes me wonder what difference a bit of light from the homes mattered. Invading airplanes could just about have dropped bombs indiscriminately and still managed to hit plenty of targets, it would seem to me, since the whole area was so densely populated with people and industrial resources. Fining people who had a living room light on seems futile, and almost mean, no?

So this is why I am so glad to get your experienced perspective on those enforced blackouts, since I was just born then, and you were already a boy experiencing it all.
Thanks for mentioning all this.
Murph

[rogruth]

Murph,
I don't know. Always wondered. The mill across the river was very bright and you could feel the heat when steel was being poured.
A house could have light IF not seen outside. We had heavy drapes. I never heard of anyone ever paying a fine although some may have.
I think that was a scare tactic to get people to comply.
Remember that the upper Ohio River valley was just coming out of the depression and a $10.00 fine was @ a weeks pay at that time.
To not have that fine was very important to most people. Also patriotism was rampant.
People even sat out on porches and stoops and marveled at the darkness.
The mills must have known in advance and shut down early.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

People even sat out on porches and stoops and marveled at the darkness.

There's a concept worth revisiting.

[rogruth]

People even sat out on porches and stoops and marveled at the darkness.

There's a concept worth revisiting.

Yes. And with no air conditioning and other noises of today in the back or fore ground.
Just a few family arguments, kids playing, my grandfather snoring, a scream now and then, etc.

I think that concept is what we like and miss when we see the old photos posted here.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

People even sat out on porches and stoops and marveled at the darkness.

There's a concept worth revisiting.

Yes. And with no air conditioning and other noises of today in the back or fore ground.
Just a few family arguments, kids playing, my grandfather snoring, a scream now and then, etc.

I think that concept is what we like and miss when we see the old photos posted here.

Beats the neighbor out with his weed wacker on Sun before lunch...........or it that the neighbor should be beaten with the weed wacker? Whatever word order works best for you....

[MurphOnMillerAve]

People even sat out on porches and stoops and marveled at the darkness.

There's a concept worth revisiting.

Yes. And with no air conditioning and other noises of today in the back or fore ground.
Just a few family arguments, kids playing, my grandfather snoring, a scream now and then, etc.

I think that concept is what we like and miss when we see the old photos posted here.

Roger, That sounds like a good beginning for a book. Maybe you should write a novel, preserving those memories for the many people who were there with you in those days.
I'm serious.
Murph

[Rufus T. Firefly]

a scream now and then

Most appealing,

[MurphOnMillerAve]

a scream now and then

Most appealing,

I was quoting Roger.