SCHENECTADY, NY (WINTER 1974-75)

Welcome back to Amazing Colorizing.com’s photo blog, "And Then There Was Color".

Our studio has colorized black & white photos for over 18 years, Our customers include top museums, television documentaries, publications, promotional merchandise - and families like yours. Contact us today at amazingcolorizing@gmail.com

Since we're getting our new WiX-Powered website kicked into high-gear, we'll be posting to the blog on a Bi-Weekly basis. Now, get ready for something really SPECIAL!

WELCOME TO "CHASE TALLMAN'S SCHENECTADY"

Over the years, Amazing Colorizing has attracted customers from Honolulu Hawaii to the French Riviera. We like that - because they have provided us with a unique array of colorizing projects - from the American Civil War (for the History Channel mini-series, "Blood And Glory - The Civil War In Color" to vintage Chinese Restaurants (for Canada's prestigious Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, Alberta).

Chase is a great All-American teen, who you're going to hear from in future posts - as we call on him to share stories of his hometown, Schenectady, New York - and lots of other things from American Pop History. Wait 'til you see Chase's pics colorized by Amazing Colorizing!

Chase emails us almost daily to find out what we're up to - and WHEN we're going to feature some of the photos we've colorized for him. Well, Chase - TODAY'S THE DAY!

You 've got a wonderful collection of photos - and we're so glad you want to share them with America. We welcome you, Chase Tallman, as Amazing Colorizing's "Teen Correspondent".

Let's get started!

This is Broadway near the corner of Congress in Schenectady, New York. It took researching the many railroad overpasses in the area to finally locate the one seen in our photo. Normally, we go to this degree of research for our commercial clients (museums, documentarians, periodicals, etc.) - but, our friend, Chase Tallman is an exception. We see how excited he is to learn something new about his town, and we do our part to encourage his love of history.

So, we've located the city block - as also seen in our 2020 screen shots, grabbed from Google Earth. Now, comes the adventure of dating the picture.

DATING CHASE'S VINTAGE PHOTO

We luck out, in that the photo has automobiles whose vintage can be determined - plus we have an Amoco Gas Station and next to it, billboard advertizing which can possibly be matched in Google Images.

As it happens, my family owned a Cadillac Coupe DeVille, similar to the one on the right side of the picture. The tail-lights appear to be those of a 1967 Coupe Deville. Driving toward us is a classic Ford Mustang. But, I'm not convinced this photo dates from the '60s.

1967 Cadillac Coupe Deville. Premium Gas at Amoco was about 55 cents/gallon in 1974.

There are three billboards in the scene. The largest I can't quite make out, but it appears to be for a bread company. Next to it is an early to mid-1970s Newport Cigarettes ad. So, now we're moving into the '70s - but how far in?

On the right is a billboard for Schenectady Radio Station WGFM "Rock 99". According to Wikipedia, WGFM Radio became "Rock 99" in 1973. To the right of the billboards, sits an Amoco Gas Station. According to Petroleum Collectibles Monthly, Starndard Oil retired its Amoco brand in 1961 - in favor of "American Oil". The Amoco brand was reintroduced in 1971 for oil products - and replaced the "American" brand on gas station signs in 1974.

Standard Oil during the mid-'70s change-over to Amoco.

After this adventure in americana research, it looks likely that Chase's Schenectady photo was shot in Black & White during the Winter of 1974-75 . . . . and colorized by Amazing Colorizing in, hmmmmmm - I'd say January 2020 (just an educated guess).

Thanks for your vintage Schenectady photo, Chase. It was a lot of fun to transform in full-color. We'll do it again soon!