by Emma Earnst
Ready for some Friday frivolity?
On this day in 1965, Rip Payne spent the day at Monticello, capturing a handful of memories of a telephones galore. First, there are a couple of telephone booths set up on the hillside (to me, it resembles the turn of the road going around the house). Then, we have a group of gentlemen excitedly answering phones in a tent. One guy really likes his shades—I mean, who wouldn’t? Next, Rip documents a fantastic 1960s fire-hazard: a slew of cords thrown about and held up in an old tree. And finally, we close with a misplaced, fantastically cheesy shot of two of the telephoners snapping pictures of one another.
I have no idea. But you’ve got to love those eyesores of telephone booths. Oh yes, technology over preservation won out (but only temporarily).
In some exciting news regarding Monticello and preservation today, you should consider attending Preservation Piedmont’s Monticello to Main Street tour this weekend. The tour traces Monticello’s African American community as they descended from the mountain and down into the town in the 19th and 20th centuries. Developed in conjunction with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, it is going to be fantastic. And of course, the 2pm start time still allows you a nice Court Square stroll with us in the morning!
Happy Friday!
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