I was finally able to get these photographs scanned to share with all of you. My Grandfather was in the US Navy since he was 16 years old and ever since his first time in China, he fell in love with the people, the culture and the country. In fact, my mother always told me the story of when he was home on leave, she would wake up in the middle of the night to him sobbing in the living room, that he missed China and wanted to go back. He loved my Grandmother and my mother, but he felt he belonged in China.

He took some rather wonderful snapshots of every day life during this time, however.... and some not so wonderful. I'll post those in a separate thread with a disclaimer for those who are sensitive.

He and his ship travelled up and down the Yangtze River during China's Civil War, moving refugees from one town to another... away from the fighting. I know he has photos specifically of that, but I still haven't found them at this point in time, but will post as soon as I can.

I'm not sure exactly where these were taken, but I'm guessing some of the city pictures may be the Bund area in Shanghai? There is an inscription on one of them that says "Nanking Road." I also don't read Chinese, so if someone could translate some of the writing above gates, or on signs, etc, I'd really appreciate it. I'll welcome any explanation to what is happening in the photos also... in one, I thought a man was getting a haircut, however, on closer inspection, it looks as if the man standing is holding a needle-like implement... acupuncture?

I was told that some may be offended by the depiction of poverty in these photos, and believe me, it's not my intention to insult anyone... and to be honest, knowing the way my Grandpa Pete was, he was only taking photographs of these people because of their beautiful faces and warm hearts.

My Grandfather was killed on November 8, 1943 when the USS Fuller was in the Marshall Islands. For about 50 miles, they watched a squadron of Japanese bombers and fighters fly towards them. One of the bombs dropped on his ship and fell through several decks and exploded. He and six other men were killed, just months before his retirement from the Navy. I thought it ironic that he should die there... somewhere between the two places he loved the most.

-Kimchee

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Awesome pictures, Kimchee. Thank you for sharing.

Wonderful! It's always amazing to look at a bygone era and wonder what those people thought, aspired, dreamed of, looked forward to in their lives at that time and what happened to them. This was in the Republican era and hence pre-communist. I wonder what they would have thought if they knew what would happen in the next 15-20 years when their world ended. These people also intimately understood and lived in the imperial age. What kinds of confusing thoughts went through their minds, how did they feel about it, what did they identify most strongly with, how were their attitudes towards strange western culture, did they look with hope towards the future or did they resign themselves to more of the same druggery...

Most more if you can Kimchee!

These are some great photos! I love how you can zoom in by clicking on them. One question though, is that a Turkish/Indian/other officer standing in front of those rail cars? The one wearing the turban?

Eric

Probably a sikh. Many sikhs were brought in as policemen and soldiers.

Thanks Kimchee, is your grandfather's attraction to China a reason why you are attracted to China too?

A million thanks for the photos Kimchee, I can just imagine your Grandpa standing in front of those people taking pictures with his old manual camera. They are in very good condition considering they are almost 70 years old.

Great pictures, i wonder what where those people thinking when they saw the camera?Were they wondering about their family or how their lives would be in a few years time?

Ah! The Sikhs! How could I forget. A little interesting and unknown fact to CHF members here: my dad (a complete white american dude from california) was once a Sikh, as well as a staunch Buddhist! Lol. He is neither now. Old age will tear down your youthful ideals, I guess.

Eric

Hello! I'm so happy you are enjoying the photos! You are all very welcome!!

I had the same question as Non-Han Nan Ban, I had to make sure it was, in fact, a photo from China. I didn't know about the Sikhs as police there, either.

And yes, Wang Enlai, sometimes I feel like Grandpa has his hand on my shoulder and is whispering in my ear to go to China. We just had a funeral for his wife, my Grandmother, last Thursday. She was 92, and finally, after all this time, she's with him once more.

At the viewing, many of my elders told me that I remind them of him... (Really??) He was very "happy go lucky," he'd say hello and have a friendly conversation with complete strangers on the street, always smiling, always joking, always singing and whistling... but as I said in the beginning of the forum... the only time my family saw sadness from him was when he was away from China too long. I do feel compelled to learn as much as I can about Asia in general, but, I think more about China because of him.

I'll be sure to look through his photos again to see if there are anymore from China, but he has a lot from the Philippines, pre-war Japan and Africa on the Mediterranean. If you are interested in any of those, I'll be happy to post them, too. I suppose, where his ship went, so did he.

Also, if anyone can translate some of the writing on the gates or billboards in the pictures, I'd be curious to see what they say. Do they give a location? And what about that beautiful old temple? Does anyone know anything about that?

Kimchee

Kimchee,

thank you so much for sharing

Some questions/observations that I really don't expect answers to:


Are the soldiers marching in front of Western buildings? Is this a Western District of some city, or was there just more Western architecture in the 20's than I realized? Is this Guangzhou or Macao? It seems that there is a clock tower down the street.


Are the boats their home, transportation, or for fishing? Probably all three.


A floating bathtub and an amazing temple. South China?


The criminals, the working, and the well-to-do.


Again, a lot of Western architectural influence. I see factories, street cars, arabic numerals, townhouse style homes, trains, etc... The bottom photo also has "Nanking Road" written on it. Are all of the photos in this set from Nanking, or is that just the name of the road?


A great domestic scene, and do I see snow?

And Kitchmee, do you know where your grandfather went, e.g. south China coast, the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze Delta, east coast, etc.., while he was in the service?

And, yes, I think that the other photos would be really welcomed in the Asian History category.

Nanking Road is the most important commercial street in Shanghai. It has now been converted into a pedestrian-only street, like Wangfujing in Beijing, and still has a large number of shopping malls.

I was hoping YOU could tell ME about these photos! Actually, my Grandfather visited Shanghai, where I believe those western-looking buildings were... and his ship sailed up and down the Yangtze. He has photos of burning towns that were during the clash between the Communist faction and the Kuomintang... his ship would transfer refugees to safer areas. Then I believe he travelled the South Pacific and (pre-war) Japan... I guess that was in the 1920's. I don't believe he went to the Hong Kong area, but I could be wrong.

And yes, you do see snow with the two men standing by the gate, so he may have been more north. Can you read what it says on the sign?

Kimchee

Excellent analysis, Ralph

Thank you, Ralph! You're the greatest!!!!!



Kimchee

I have seen the "Sand Pebbles"... with Steve McQueen? Seeing those sailors marching double time through the streets of the city looks like all of the pictures of Grandfather... Spats and all. It was a great film. I only wish that he survived the war because the stories he must have had...

My Grandmother passed away a couple of weeks ago (she was 92) and we had to go through all of her things and came across his sea trunk in her attic. His uniform was still in there and we donated it to a local military museum nearby at Lakehurst. You know what Lakehurst is famous for, don't you? He was also stationed there as ground crew for the Akron. He seemed to be in the thick of things for most of his Navy career. But, my mother was only 11 years old when he was killed. He was on the US Fuller when it was hit by Japanese bombs in the South Pacific. He and 5-6 others were killed at the same time.

I come from a long line of military... in fact, I almost enlisted in the Navy myself, but my father... being the Italian father that he is... didn't think enlistment was appropriate for HIS daughter! So I married a Marine instead. Ha Ha Ha!!!

Take care and thank you for your great information... now I have to look for "55 days in Peking!"

Kimchee

Hey Kimchee, great photos. Good to see something that accurately depicts China during that time period, even if it is about Poverty and criminals. You might have mentioned this in other threads, but I'm wondering, Your Father/Grandfather's side is Italian. Is your Grandmother also Italian? I had guessed that you are probably Korean, due to "Kimchee", but it appears that I'm mistaken.

Includes everything from the rich, the average Joe Smoe, to the beggars. Nice.

that temple in the third picture looks more like a japanese temple than any Chinese styled temples i've seen. That isn't even a Tang styled building.

Great historical pictures and a very interesting thread.. Thanks, Kim Chee for sharing the photos - they are indeed priceless!

ralphrepo, thanks for the analysis, enjoyed every bit of it.

The grandfather who brought these pictures home was Polish... my mother's father... Peter Paul Petroski. My mother's family came from Poland on her father's side, and Slavakia on her mother's side (actually the country was Austria/Hungary at the turn of the century when my family left) ...but the town, Spisha, was in what is NOW the Republic of Slavakia. My father, however, is the Italian... his family came from Naples on his mother's side and Sicily on his father's side. And a lot of people think I'm Korean because of the name (Kim), and how I got my nickname, Kimchee, is from my friends. I was born on the island of Guam, so my parents gave me a name with an Asian flair (not Kimberly, just Kim.) So there you have a short family history of an American mutt. Now, my son is a whole other matter... he's the United Nations on two legs!! Ha Ha.

Anyway, I'm happy you enjoyed the pictures... I've learned a lot from the postings about them, thanks to my friends here.

Kimchee

Yes, I wasn't sure about that one, but it was a beautiful building. I wonder if it's still standing. Would the Tang style have a straighter edge to the roof line?

Kimchee