ALGONA IN THE 1950's

Ever since the publication of yearbooks began, schools have relied on local businesses to purchase ads to help pay for production.  It wasn’t until 1953, however, that Algona High School began to include photographs of area enterprises in those ads.  While paging through an old annual recently, it occurred to me that the black and white photos in those advertisements were a window into the past—a series of snapshots of Algona around the time of the city’s 100^th birthday.  I decided to share some of those pictures from the 1953, 1954 and 1956 AHS annuals.

SNAPSHOTS OF DOWNTOWN

I thought I would begin with two shots of downtown taken of the marching band parading down State Street.  The first was taken in 1953 and the second in 1954.  How many businesses do you recognize along the parade route?

STATE STREET ADDRESSES  

Here are a few businesses that were located on east and west State Street:

ALSO DOWNTOWN

Many businesses were less than a block off State.  Some of those include:

OTHERS

South Phillips was home to several businesses.

There are some advertisements that didn’t contain addresses and I have to admit that although I have some ideas, I am not totally sure where the businesses were located.  I know it won’t take long for my readers to enlighten me.  I will be sure to record those locations for future generations to reference.

TWO LANDMARKS

At the corner of Highways 18 and 169, two well-known businesses were located.  The first, Pioneer Hi-Bred, has been and continues to be a generous supporter of our area schools and other community activities.

The second was Van’s Café.  Many a good meal was eaten at the restaurant.  I would also bet that much local gossip was exchanged there over a cup or two of coffee.

That concludes the tour for today.  I hope these old photos bring back a few memories for you.  The annuals also contained some advertisements with photos taken inside several establishments, but I’m saving those for another stroll down memory lane.  Stay tuned.

Until next time,

Jean

            

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