Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Collection Overview
Louis L. McAllister photographed people and places near Burlington, Vermont for 60 years. He was born in Columbus, Nebraska on October 16, 1876, the son of Julius S. McAllister (born 1841 in Lincoln, VT) and Rosette Gould (born in Vermont in 1851)...
Show moreLouis L. McAllister photographed people and places near Burlington, Vermont for 60 years. He was born in Columbus, Nebraska on October 16, 1876, the son of Julius S. McAllister (born 1841 in Lincoln, VT) and Rosette Gould (born in Vermont in 1851). Julius McAllister worked as a photographer and dentist in Washington D.C., Bristol, Vermont and Columbus, Nebraska. Around 1895, Julius, his third wife Amy, and their children left Nebraska for the Union Soldiers’ Colony in Fitzgerald, Georgia. By 1900, Julius and Amy were divorced, and Amy and her stepson Louis were working as photographers in Thomasville, Georgia.
In 1907 Louis McAllister married Cora Shepard (born about 1872 in Vermont) in Holland, Michigan. By 1910, they were living in Queen City Park in South Burlington, Vermont, where Louis established a photography studio. The McAllisters moved to Burlington, and by 1919 they lived at 47 N. Winooski Avenue. They continued to occupy a summer cottage at Queen City Park, and were active in the Queen City Park Association, which held spiritualist camp meetings annually. McAllister conducted his photography business from home until his death in 1963.
McAllister’s “trademark” was his panorama camera which made him familiar to all sorts of groups ranging from graduating classes to state police to summer camp groups. In addition he did print 8 x 10 photos, many of which document building construction and Burlington Street Department projects, as well as group and individual portraits.
The L.L. McAllister Collection includes portraits, construction projects, buildings, businesses and events in the Burlington area covering the period ca. 1920-1960. The collection also includes photos of street, bridge, airport and sewer construction and repair, as well as group portraits of clubs, schools, etc.
Revised April, 2010
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Related Archival Collection
Pages
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1943
- Description
-
Scene in a bookstore or convenience store. Saturday Evening Post edition on display is dated Oct. 2, 1943. Store personnel look on attentively as a soldier and a man--either a customer or manager--discuss some item in the Post. Business and purpose of photo unknown, but advertising or trade...
Show moreScene in a bookstore or convenience store. Saturday Evening Post edition on display is dated Oct. 2, 1943. Store personnel look on attentively as a soldier and a man--either a customer or manager--discuss some item in the Post. Business and purpose of photo unknown, but advertising or trade illustration likely.
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- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1935
- Description
-
Drugstore. Same drugstore as in mcalB18F29i03 but seen from the entrance, which reveals a soda fountain with several stools on the right and more shelves of products at the far end of the store.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1936
- Description
-
Drugstore. Well-stocked shelves and two or more tables for light meals and beverages.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1952
- Description
-
1952 photo of possibly an I.G.A. store interior, with display of beer, crackers, cheese spreads, and other grocery items.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
"Blanket and Drapery Shop." Also a fabric store, with 3 employees ready to sell Paradise Prints.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1952
- Description
-
Store interior, possibly I.G.A. (see mcalB18F29i07 and -i08), with display of weekend essentials.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Obviously a display for gloves but also for some unidentifiable products that promise some excitement. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of the word "dynamite" to indicate that something is powerful or impressive dates from the early 1940s.
- Title
- Stores - Lowe Brothers (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
207-211 College Street : Lowe Brothers paint store, now the site of Three Needs pub and Zabby's Stone Soup restaurant.
- Title
- Stores - M.H. Fishman Co. Inc. (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1953
- Description
-
Interior view of lunch counter at M.H. Fishman Co., Inc., taken during the Christmas shopping season.
- Title
- Stores - S.S. Kresge (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1958
- Description
-
47-55 Church Street: Interior of store and display of hardware and painting supplies.
- Title
- Stores - S.S. Kresge (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1958
- Description
-
47-55 Church Street: Interior of store and display of hardware and painting supplies.
- Title
- Stores - Sherwin-Williams Paints (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Display of "Kem-Tone, the miracle wall finish" at a Sherwin-Williams paint store in Burlington, Vt. "Here!! Try it yourself and be convinced" is the message behind the pyramid of paint cans.
- Title
- Stores - Sherwin-Williams Paints (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1946-1947
- Description
-
Advertising for "Pestroy," an insecticide (pest + destroy = Pestroy). Doggerel on tombstone- shaped panels touts the effectiveness of the product.
- Title
- Stores - Sherwin-Williams Paints (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1946-1947
- Description
-
Toy "insect," probable victim of the insecticide "Pestroy." Tombstone seen in mcalB18F26i15 is visible in the upper left corner of this photo.
- Title
- Stores - Windows - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
"July Clearance Sale - Carnival of Bargains" (sign on upper left side of display). Four mannequins displaying children's and women's clothing, along with a stuffed camel for an exotic touch. (Store name and location unknown).
- Title
- Street Repair
- Date Created
- 1943-6-25
- Description
-
June 25, 1943 lower Church Street removal of trolley track. Store fronts line the street and include Gover's Radio Shop at 128 Church seen to the left. Next to it is Farmers Production Credit Association at No. 132, Howe's Market at No. 134. See also mcalA04F04i11
- Title
- War Bond Campaign
- Description
-
1944 poster display in store window, perhaps at a travel agency, touting the effectiveness of War Bonds and promoting further sales. Words and phrases used: "Ravaged," [several European countries] "at peace," "No surrender," and "They can take only our bodies!"
- Title
- War Bond Campaign
- Description
-
Store window display promoting the sale of War Bonds and American values, as expressed in the "Four Freedoms" paintings by Norman Rockwell. Other items on display have some connection to World War II and the war effort.
- Title
- War Bond Campaign
- Description
-
1944 store window display promoting the 4th War Loan and paying tribute to Luxembourg. One sign reads: Tribute to the Unconquered [...]. Posters display familiar wartime graphics, and one text reads "An open letter to the American people." Intent apparently is to exhort Americans to buy more...
Show more1944 store window display promoting the 4th War Loan and paying tribute to Luxembourg. One sign reads: Tribute to the Unconquered [...]. Posters display familiar wartime graphics, and one text reads "An open letter to the American people." Intent apparently is to exhort Americans to buy more bonds by showing that countries are fighting Germany's aggression and need further support.
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- Title
- War Bond Campaign
- Description
-
1944 photo of a window display dedicated to Norway under Nazi occupation ("Bathed in blood"; "ravaged") as a pitch for the 4th War Loan (war bond fundraising campaign). Posters and photos follow a format similar to the one made for Poland (see mcalB21F26i010).