Finding Joel Pahl Dardis

Category: Press Format Negatives

  • A Stockton Christmas, Box 73, Dec 1948

    A Stockton Christmas, Box 73, Dec 1948

    December 28, 1948 was something special for the kids, and adults, of Stockton. Next few images show us the anticipation, and Joel is playing this little game building the tension up through images. The other aspect of these images is, find your grandparents in this bunch ! We don’t always appreciate that they were kids…

  • All the King’s Men, Box 72, Dec 10, 1948

    All the King’s Men, Box 72, Dec 10, 1948

    Negative Box 72 was found with multiple subjects, and upon closer examination, contained images shot during the filming of “All the King’s Men” at the COP Morris Chapel. Shooting of the movie was from Dec 1948 to Feb 1949. The date Joel left behind on the box was Dec 10, 1948. It’s no secret that…

  • Dr. Nelson Hospital, Box 71, 1948

    Dr. Nelson Hospital, Box 71, 1948

    Dr. George Nelson was a veterinarian, with an animal hospital at 1234 N Wilson Way, Stockton, this according to the Stockton-Lodi City Directory of 1949. We can’t be sure how Joel got to do this commercial photoshoot. Maybe Dr. Nelson knew Joel’s late father, Thomas Lawrence Dardis, a veterinarian himself. The first three negatives however…

  • Folk Dance, Box 70, Dec 1948

    Folk Dance, Box 70, Dec 1948

    There were few scribbles on this box of 21 negatives. “Folk Dance”, with a date of Dec 5, 1948. and then there was mention of few “clubs” and Naranjado. Stepping back for a second, this is the 70th box of press negatives scanned, for a total of some 2100+ images, including a good number of…

  • Segarini’s, Box 69, Oct 1948

    Segarini’s, Box 69, Oct 1948

    Joel wrote following on the lid of this box of 16 press format negatives. Segarini Store, Gov. Warren, Navy Day and Oct 24, 1948. (Which was a Sunday.) Earl could have been stomping for Thomas E. Dewey as running mate for the 1948 election. The latter is merely conjecture, Stockton historians may be able to…

  • Collins Wedding, Box 68, Sept 12, 1948

    Collins Wedding, Box 68, Sept 12, 1948

    This negative box contains 23 negatives, all related to a wedding that according to Joel’s scribble, took place on Sept 12, 1948. There is no location mentioned. I check the usual resources and couldn’t locate any Collins wedding around that time frame in Stockton. Then it dawned on me that this could be any locations,…

  • Bush-Mack, Box 66, 1948

    Bush-Mack, Box 66, 1948

    Joel photographed the wedding of Frances Mack with Philippe Bush on June 5, 1948. This was his first wedding shoot as far as I know. I wondered where the typical ring shot and first kiss went. After all, these are must-haves. And we found the shots tucked away in Box 66, together with a number…

  • Rhizomia Dance, Box 66, Feb 28, 1948

    Rhizomia Dance, Box 66, Feb 28, 1948

    Another Rhizomia event, this time in a box that is clearly labeled from a time and subject perspective. Rhizomia parties are well known for pushing the edge, that’s why Joel probably didn’t miss a single Rhizomite event. There’s a Parisian motif throughout this time, lingerie, Moulin Rouge, Folie Bergère, and edgy portraits adore the (papered)…

  • Michael Pahl, Box 65, June 10, 1948

    Michael Pahl, Box 65, June 10, 1948

    Baby Michael Lawrence Pahl was born Sept 8, 1947. If the date on the box is right, then he’s about 9 months old in most of these images. It’s quite possible a few earlier images are mixed in here, Joel photographed Michael quite a few times in 1948 as we’ve seen already. Before the barrage…

  • Family etc, Box 64, June July 1948

    Family etc, Box 64, June July 1948

    This is another negative collection box with multiple subjects. The majority is Pahl family related, most likely on few different days. And yes, there are babies involved. First image is misplaced, it’s the start of a horse race and we’ve seen related images prior to this blog post when Joel was at Stanford University. Next…