Whimsical Windows - Surveying the aftermath from the 24th floor

This week's meme post for Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors is a throwback to the time when tragedy was averted in the roof collapse of the Hartford Civic Center about 4:00 am January 18, 1978. Only a few hours after 4,800 spectators had watched a UConn college basketball game had left, so no injuries. An engineering error led to the weight of the snow pack on the roof to take it down...

This picture, in its faded original print and black-and-white edit, is interesting. The persons are my father and his mother looking at the ruins from his 24th floor office in Hartford's 'Gold Building' - the tangled and twisted structural steel is easier to see up there - and the reflections of the people and the windows of the next door (and long defunct) Hartford National Bank add an eerie feel to the scene. I believe these were taken in mid-late March 1978. An unique view of an urban disaster.

Whimsical Windows - Bygone Boardwalk

Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors has been and is still a fun architectural meme that allows us to admire portals and such of interesting places. Toby has been hosting this meme for many a year, and is handing it over to me to host, and I look forward to looking at as many examples of unique and/or interesting windows, doors and more from all over.

Those who have followed my posts probably have noticed that I look at photos, many of them old and with a unique backstory to go along with the pics - where windows and doors are present but occasionally backdrops to a tale. As for what counts for an entry from any participant - that's up to you!

Here is the famous Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NY. The time was July 1978 and the very first casino in that city, Resorts, was opened in an old hotel prior to the now many glizty glass and steel high rises of today. The people in these scenes are Grandma and Grandpa Villers. Always fond of the NJ shore and Atlantic City, this was probably the last time they were there, both passing away less than three years later. So we see not only windows and doors - but and a pair who were happily posing again in their favorite vacation spot one last time...

Whimsical Windows - Collapse aftermath

Surveying the damage from the 24th floor

Toby hosts the fun architectural meme Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors, and we look at details of interest. Today is a scan of a unique view from the 24th floor of the United Technologies building in downtown Hartford Connecticut. I date the view from February or March 1978. The persons are my father and grandmother as they look down at the collapsed roof of the Hartford Civic Center which fell on 18 January 1978. The view is on the floor my father worked on looking west toward the building. The pattern on the reflection is the facade of the then Hartford National Bank building next door. The print was damaged and faded so it is now in B&W. A unique look at a disaster in which no one was hurt...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Snowy Suburban Memories

8 February 1978, Wickham Drive, East Hartford

December 1963

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 arrives in the winter season up here. I am not a fan of winter so much these days, yet photos of long ago in East Hartford CT do leave lasting memories. These seen before and recently re-edited photos do reinforce memories...

Since we are near the 35th anniversary of the 'Blizzard Larry' (as Channel 3 in Hartford called it) of February 6-7 1978 on Wickham Drive in East Hartford. With no snow-thrower at home, many kids were needed to finally move the 24 inches (61 cm) of not-so-fluffy snow. At least we were left with snow Alp shadows. 

The old picture is from around Christmas 1963 and maybe 4in/10cm, a far more pleasant snowfall. I believe Grandpa is in the window, directing my father in taking the picture from the road. Seasonal snowy shadowy scenes both...

Shadow Shot Sunday - Shadowy Collapse

Examining the collapsed Hartford Civic Center roof February 1978. © 2012 Alcam Writing & Admin LLC 

Shadow Shot Sunday is back as I go back in time to February 1978. The place is the 24th floor of the Gold Building in downtown Hartford. The persons are my father (who worked for UTC and had access) and Grandmother examining the collapsed roof of the Hartford Civic Center. 

This is a print that I have seen but found last week - the color had faded so I edited it in B&W and sharpened it as best possible. So the eerie view through the reflections is maintained...I found two cool things that explain it better - this Hartford Courant slideshow (great newspaper photography in its heyday) and a video below from the History Channel that I've seen before. The fallibility of humans is quite apparent in this mishap...