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Sunday, October 30, 2022

Camp John Dick


My buddy Dee sent me this photo of men showering at Camp John Dick at Dallas in 1918.  
The facility was a holding pool for Army Aviation ground personnel who had finished training.  I have to wonder if the name of the place produced any interesting jokes or slogans.  Thanks, Dee!

 

8 comments:

  1. Surprisingly bright lighting, isn't it?

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    1. Well, it was Texas after all. And there are lots of windows.

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  2. Familiar as I am from my school and running days to the open plumbing of the early part of last century, I cannot quite fathom why the individual shower areas are divided up in this odd way. Are they pipes? This had of course to be a military base - look at the height of the unfrosted glass windows. Camp John Dick really does top Camp David, doesn't it.

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    1. Those are indeed pipes, but I can't see how they might be connected to the showers. Having grown up in Texas, I can tell you that for some reason we often saw pipes used for safety rails and stair rails, usually outdoors and often in crowd control situations. The football stadium in my home town looked like it had been built by plumbers.

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  3. It WAS a time exposure, and they KNEW there was a camera, as the darkened room shows shadow area details, and the men are stiffly posed, and not moving.. the non frozen-in-place water, supports this theory.

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  4. I also have this photo, but it is a cropped version of the original from the National Archives: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/45499051, called "Shower baths at Camp Dick, Texas," dated 1917-1918. Oddly, the original version does not have the yellowish color of the cropped version.

    There is a second National Archives photo of the showers at Camp Dick:
    https://catalog.archives.gov/id/45498835. Each National Archives page allows you do a hi-res download of the photo.

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  5. Glad for the extra info. Just got back from fabulous Palm Springs!-Dee Exx

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