The first day that Portland had snow in the middle of December, I went out and wandered around St. Johns taking photos. After wandering around down in Cathedral Park I headed back into St. Johns and sat down and waited for the bus to come. I waited for awhile and then I decided to pop into The Man's Shop in St. Johns to look for a Christmas present for my husband (he wanted a very specific cardigan sweater that I had looked all over the internet for to no avail). I was thrilled when I asked if they had any cardigan sweaters and they took me over to the sweaters and lo and behold there was the exact style and color of sweater that my husband wanted!
While at the store I talked to the charismatic brothers Bob and Jerry who own the store. They shared with me the history of the store that their father started a long time ago. Luckily I had my camera with me so I was able to take some photos to share with you (some of the photos posted below were taken on a different day [Saturday, December 20th when the"Artic Blast" hit])...
Jerry and Bob holding up a pair of rare vintage Levis that were used in a display.
An old photo from 1950 of the store in it's original location on the corner (currently occupied by Starbucks).
Bob told me of how a regular customer of his was at an estate sale and found three calendars that The Man's Shop used to giveaway to their customers. Bob recalled putting these calendars into customer's bags back when he was in junior high school. Bob told me to go across the street to the U.S. Bank to check out the calendars. I expressed to him that I would like to get a photo of the calendars but, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to since they were on display at a bank. He told me if I had any trouble getting a photo to call him. I headed over to U.S. bank and asked the teller if I could take a photo of the calendars, he sent for the bank manager who came over and talked with me, I reassured him that I would only take photos of The Man's Shop display and he granted me permission.
St. Johns definitely feels like a small town, especially so on the day that I was out and about- while I was at U.S. Bank I overheard the tellers greeting everybody by name and asking about how they were.
Bob had told me that the bank had a photo album of old photos of St. Johns. While at the bank I asked to look at the photos and I took pictures of some of them (unfortunately, because of the overhead lights they didn't turn out too well).
Check out the cool mid-century staff lounge room!
The exterior of the St. Johns U.S. Bank
Cool design detail on the exterior of the bank.
Old warehouse building down near Cathedral Park.
Seagull flying in front of the St. Johns bridge.
The beautiful St. Johns bridge.
The St. Johns bridge in the snow.
Check out the scale...
My husband standing in front of one of the bases of the St. Johns bridge.
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