These were taken by an American GI in 1957 and 1958 at the height of the Cold War. They are fascinating on so many levels. The rural-ness and lack of development are incredible. Love or hate Chiang Kai-Shek's KMT dictatorship, he was responsible for sending the island straight to First World status. I cannot fathom that my mother, a boomer, grew up in such basic conditions. Finally, the old school cars, trucks, planes, and scooters are fun to look at as well.
Oakland Army Terminal:
DC-6B:
Tokyo:
Taipei airport:
Taipei:
Awesome people mover:
Ships used to ferry people who fled from China. My grandparents and mother took one like these in 1949.
The sign says "Happy New Year. Don't forget our suffering mainland compatriots.":
Funeral procession:
They rode scooters around Taiwan, for fun:
Asahi Shimbun plane:
Super Constellation:
The complete set of photos can be found
here.
6 comments:
These are so great! Thanks.
Beautiful set, thanks for sharing. I'm so happy to see old people uploading albums like these. They are fantastic documents.
Excellent post, thanks.
The elevated shot of Taipei bisected by a road really floored me - the layout of the streets and houseslooks remarkably American.
That people mover is very cool, I also really liked that equipment room shot.
@Alan: Any idea about the make and model of that people mover?
Not really. Something makes me think Willys or International? Just pure hunches, though.
Does anyone know whether the Beech Bonanza was owned by a Japanese airline, or private company, or what? Very colorful plane. Does anyone know how to get in touch with the photographer?
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