In April, May and June 1961, Charles Weever Cushman (July 30, 1896. June 8, 1972) took these photographs of life in London. On holiday with his first wife, Jean, this extraordinary amateur photographer captured street scenes and buildings no longer commonplace in London.
Date: May 31, 1961. Description: Shepherd’s Bush Market
Bradley D. Cook has written a biography of Charles W. Cushman. Is anyone able to add any information on his life, especially how he came to be in London in 1961? He was also in London in 1960 and 1965. A section of Cushman’s biography appears below, after which many more of his photographs appear. Did you know him?
Charles Weever Cushman was born “…pretty close to the soil” in Poseyville, Indiana, on July 30, 1896. He was the son of Wilbur Davis and Mabel Thomas Cushman. Charles had an elder sister, Ethel, who died before she was ten years of age.
Following graduation from Poseyville High School in 1913, Charles worked for The Bozeman-Waters National Bank of Poseyville. Then, in January of 1914, he enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Cushman’s education “…was heavily accented on law…” … He left with an AB degree in English.
On July 30, 1917, he began working as a Freight Clerk for the Illinois Central Railroad Company’s freight office in Bloomington, Indiana… Charles left the Illinois Central R.R. sometime during the latter half of November 1917 and returned to Poseyville.
On May 18, 1918, he enlisted in the United States Navy Auxiliary Reserve Force at Municipal Pier in Chicago, Illinois… Charles was released at Cleveland, Ohio on Dec. 22, 1918. He did, however, continue to be a member of the reserves until the time he was honorably discharged on Sep. 30, 1921. While in the service he attained the rank of Seaman 2nd Class but never went overseas. Sometime after his release Cushman wrote the Indiana University Alumni Secretary and said, “About as unpoetic a military career as any of the war. Essentially a fresh-water sailor, as I never got farther east than Buffalo, N.Y.”
From January of 1919 through January of 1922, Charles worked for several companies in Chicago, Illinois. These included Carson, Pirie, Scott; Albert Pick & Co.; Addressograph Co. (worked out of the Indianapolis, Indiana office); Montgomery Ward & Co.; the South Side Rugwashers; LaSalle Extension University in Chicago…
In August of 1928, Charles left the LaSalle Extension University to become an editor at the Standard Statistics Company in New York, N.Y… In September 1922 he became one of the organizers, and later the the treasurer and secretary, of Drewry’s Limited in the United States…
In August of 1942, Charles became the senior liquidator-at-large for the federal Office of the Alien Property Custodian. Then in on March 1, 1944, he began work in the War Department’s Chicago Ordnance District where he was responsible for conducting contract termination work.
At this point, with the exception of what may be gleaned from his images, virtually nothing is known about Charles’ career and life. It is known that Charles enjoyed attending the opera and the theater, and presenting shows of his slide collection. After moving to San Francisco sometime in the 1950s he would enjoy having a five o’clock drink while overlooking the ocean.
Charles Weever Cushman died on June 8, 1972.
May 6, 1961:St. Pancras station
Date: May 2, 1961: Grey friar’s church
April 30 1961: New Gouldston Street
Apr. 28, 1961: he Old Curiosity Shop
Apr. 26, 1961: Shepherd Market, Mayfair
Date: Apr. 27, 1961. Guards on sentry at St. James’s Palace
Apr. 28, 1961 – Leather Lane
Date: Apr. 28, 1961: Leather Lane
Date: Apr. 28, 1961: Leather Lane
Date: Apr. 30, 1961: Swarm on Bell lane
Date: Apr. 30, 1961: Aldgate Huckster drawing a crowd
Date: Apr. 30, 1961: Aldgate
Date: May 2, 1961: New Zealand lamb at Smithfield Market
Date: Apr. 30, 1961: Aldgate Market
Date: May 14, 1961: Buskers Leicester Square
Date: May 5, 1961: Show window Regent street LONDON
Date: May 14, 1961: Other buskers off Leicester Sq.
Date: Apr. 24, 1961: Piccadilly Circus at night
Date: Jun. 6, 1961: Flowers behind glass window with running water Moyses Stevens Berkeley Square London WI
Date: Jun. 25, 1961: Army and Navy Club being demolished on Sunday- S.W. corner of St. James’ Square
Date: Jun. 25, 1961: Army and Navy Club being demolished on Sunday- S.W. corner of St. James’ Square
Date: Jun. 28, 1961: Hungry sparrows on table in Victoria Embankment Gardens
Date: Jun. 28, 1961: Green Park shaded walks
Date: Jun. 28, 1961: Fruit stand in Air St. Near Piccadilly Hotel
Via: University of indiana
Would you like to support Flashbak?
Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.
