Click image to see full-size version.
If you know anything about this or any of the other aircraft, please feel free to let me know, and I will add your information to these pages and give you credit if you want.
bob@backintime.photos
These 4 images were given to me on a single sheet of photo paper with each image as a positive copy-print with the borders of each image visible, and the words "Eastman--Safety--Kodak" on one side of the border. In other words, 4 individual pieces of Kodak film, each with a single image on it, all placed on an 8"x10" sheet of photo paper and then exposed. There are also film-type identifying notches on the edge of each film sheet. These appear to represent Kodak "Plus-X Pan Professional 4147" film.
I made a copy-negative from this "original" image, then printed a high-quality 8"x10" print from that copy-neg, resulting in the image I used here to digitize for these images.
Now about the images - (note the letters in the upper-left of each image):
A: The company name "LaTouraine Coffee" with a steaming cup of coffee above it is painted on the side.
This is a seaplane. Upon close inspection, I don't see any wheels at all, or any place to hide them within the pontoons, so this is not an amphibious aircraft.
I'm guessing it is a 10-seat plane, plus the pilot and co-pilot, and probably a stewardess ('pc' back then).
B: This is apparently the ground-crew and some company employees attending to securing the plane to the dock.
The "executive" on the far right, wearing white bucks and a nice suit, is watching to make sure the photographer gets the shots.
The man next to him, with his back to us seems to be holding a white dog in his arms, so he's probably the Boss's brother-in-law.
There is a woman standing in front of him, with her hand on the railing. She looks to be wearing shorts and a halter top. ...the "stew", maybe?
There is a man ahead of her who is facing towards the camera. He is wearing a shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and open at the neck, with a tie, an unbuttoned vest, and seems to have a watch or bracelet on his right wrist.
There are 2 men in shirts and ties, and also a man wearing a tank top who are tending to the front of the plane, seeming to be pushing it backwards to go around to the side of the dock.
On the left of this crowd, there are 2 men, one standing in a small rowboat, the other sitting on the gunwale. They are tending to a rope that is tied to the back end of a pontoon. They are pulling on the rope to help guide the plane back and around to the side of the dock.
Just above the tail of the plane, you can see the tail of another seaplane going towards the left.
Beyond that, on the opposite shore, is a large factory building. It is 7 or 8 stories high, and there are 6 tall chimneys on top or beyond the building. There is also what might be a flag on a tall pole to the right of the chimneys.
C: Here comes the Boss, coming down the steps.
There is a large building reflected in the window to the left of him.
D: Here is the REAL Boss, with her husband!
Sitting on the wing above them, there is a man holding a fuel hose and nozzle.
There is a cartoon of Neptune holding a trident on the fuselage, just below the co-pilot's door.
At the lower-right corner of this image, you can just make out what looks like a large building on a pier on the opposite shore. You can see the pilings. The side of the structure is painted with a company name, but it is unreadable in this image.
This link - http://www.flyingsanta.com/HistoryOrigins.html will give you some insight to the connection of Adriel U. Bird (president of the W.S. Quimby Company of Boston, the parent company of La Touraine Coffee) and maybe tie in these images.
Side Note: Apparently, on July 27, 1936, one of the LaTouraine Coffee Company's aricraft, a 10-passenger, high-winged Bellanca Airbus recently equipped with floats, was flying over the RMS Queen Mary in a greeting to President Adriel Bird of the W. S. Quimby Co. of Boston, its owner. The plane plummeted into the ocean five miles off Nantucket lightship yesterday while circling the giant New York-bound liner. The crash was attributed to the powerful downdraft in the wake of the speeding Queen Mary.
Story, about half-way down the page
