A. A. Johnston House Moving Co. — 1908
by Paula Bosse
“Shoring a Specialty”
by Paula Bosse
Imagine what moving entailed before the advent of large motorized moving trucks.
I, myself, will be moving soon, and this will be my last new post for a while. I will probably link to old posts on Twitter and Facebook (see the tab at the top of the page to follow me and “like” me). I’ll be back sometime next week. Maybe by then the rain will have finally stopped!
***
Ad from the 1908 city directory.
*
Copyright © 2015 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
Getting around back then you needed a good way to do so now where is the ice wagon and the milk truck, the machines that made the 20th Century so magical with invention and motion…
LikeLike
Paula,
This is my first time to visit your site, and I read that you’re moving. As in moving away from Dallas? To where?
I’ve barely explored your photos, but from what I see so far, I really hope you’ll let folks know how to see your image collections.
Good luck with the move. You may need a boat instead of a truck. Days like today when we could use Dallas’ long-back abandoned lock and canal system.
– Chris Leeds (b Dallas 1971)
LikeLike
Thanks, Chris. I’ll still be in Dallas, just in a different zip code. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but the weather is actually going to be great for my move!
LikeLike
This was my great-great grandfather, Allen Alexander Johnston! I didn’t realize the ad was made for the city directory, although that makes so much sense. I have a large original of the ad here at home. I wrote a little about him and his family (and posted a slightly-worse-for-the-wear scan of the original) some years ago over here: http://maudnewton.com/blog/happy-weekend-from-the-house-moving-professionals/
Thanks so much for posting this.
LikeLike
Great photo, Maud — thanks for the link! It’s really incredible that they were able to move houses like that!
LikeLike
It really is! Was! (And I guess it was the original of the thing that’s worse for the wear, not the scan, but you know what I meant.) I’ve loved your site for the longest time. It’s been a great resource — I’m working on a book about ancestry, for Random House, and a lot of my ancestors on my mom’s side are from Dallas. It was a real treat to find this post while searching for something about my great-great grandfather.
LikeLike
Thanks! If there’s anything I can help you with, let me know!
LikeLike