Suits, Ties, and Miller High-Life, 1957

Taken at the Pfister Hotel, Milwaukee WI, February 1957. Color 35mm slide.

Smooching An Old Guy

This photo was captioned "Jack, Obie Jordahl's Daughter, 8-24-57". Obie Jordahl, I believe, was a barber at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, and this fine evening he brought his daughter along to a drinking session in the hotel barber shop. Thing got wild -- as you might expect -- and the young miss Jordahl met the fate seen above, photographed and stored for all time. Poor, poor girl.

Trompe l'Oeil At The Pfister

Say 'hi' to Larry & Ruth Smith, frequenters of the Pfister Hotel. This was taken in February 1957, along with several other photos I've uploaded. This photo has the best view of the trompe l'oeil wallpaper in the Pfister. A different wallpaper is visible in other photos, but this the best view of any of them. And it is wallpaper - you can see the seam just over the lady's right shoulder, and note how the wall in the distance doesn't line up between. The wallpaper artist used the ivy-wrapped columns to both hide the seam and create a 'break' to obscure varying views put side-by-side; my guess is that this paper (probably spendy) was sold with numerous vignettes, intended to be randomly juxtaposed for a more natural look. It was designed to be applied with a wainscoting, to leave the view appropriately at eye-level, and was probably quite expensive at the time. The Pfister was a classy place, though -- it was worth it.