jamesdavis

nice!

"Casper’s Alligator and Ostrich Farm was another roadside wonder found along Florida’s US Route 1. Opened as a commercial attraction in 1946, Casper’s drew tourists in with an amazing display of wildlife: thousands of alligators and crocodiles, flamingos, exotic birds, a giant 22-foot African python, and ostrich cart racing. Perhaps even more important during those hot Florida summers, Casper’s boasted the south’s largest air-conditioned gift shop." --Vintage Roadside

Christian Frank Schilt (1895-1987)? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_F._Schilt guides.grc.usmcu.edu/content.php?pid=306904&sid=2518135 Benjamin F. Belcher, Naval aviator, is mentioned in this: bluejacket.com/sea-service_nap_index.htm John E. Davis, army pilot, is mentioned making a 4000-mile solo flight in 1918: books.google.com/books?id=GUNTAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA309&...

The photo dates from 1927

B-59 Oh good, that makes a lot more sense for Schilt's dates and for his bio too. (He could be 19 in the photo, but it's a lot more believable that he's a man in his 20s.)

As pointed out, this is a photo from 1927. The four men standing in front of the Loening OL-2 amphibian are Benjamin F. Belcher, James E. Davis, Christian F. Schilt (awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics in Nicaragua in 1928, and ultimately rising to the rank of four-star Marine Corps general upon retirement in 1957), and Hubert H. Dogan (the caption of "Dogant" is incorrect), all Marine Corps aviators who would take part in a surveying mission photographing the northern coast of Cuba in 1927. The surveying mission is cited on page 26 of the October 2, 1927 edition of the San Antonio Express ("Types of Plane for the New Aircraft-Carriers"): "The Navy Bureau of Aeronautics is well satisfied with the work of Marine Corps flyers in the West Indies, during which they photographed 400 miles of Cuba's northern coast. Two Loening amphibians were employed; Capt. James E. Davis and Lieut. Christian F. Schlit were the pilots. Sergeants B.F. Belcher and H.H. Dogan completed the expedition's personnel. "Most of the region between Cardenas - 75 miles east of Havana - and Nuevitas in Camaguey Province is fringed with islands called cayos. The survey extended from Havana to Nuevitas, and it has given the Hydrographic Office (a Navy bureau) a more nearly accurate map of that sector."

B-59: Thanks for catching the date on the photo!

James John Davis (October 27, 1873 – November 22, 1947), U.S. Secretary of Labor, nicknamed the "Iron Puddler" and "Puddler Jim." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Davis

His 1922 autobiography was called "The Iron Puddler" too.

"The Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph was an evening daily newspaper that resulted from a merger between the Pittsburgh Evening Chronicle and Pittsburgh Telegraph in 1884. In 1927, the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph was merged with the Pittsburgh Sun to create the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, an evening daily that was published until 1960." flic.kr/p/25vj6X5