Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Parisian


Oh I know what you're all thinking, "Virginia's slipped a shot from Paris in on us." Well non! This the backdoor of the old Parisian's, a much loved local department store. Started in 1877, it eventually added stores in many Birminigham suburbs, around the state and the Southeast. Sadly our Parisian was sold to the "Big Boys" from you know where, and there's not a one left. I found this great old piece of memorabilia while strolling a downtown alley last Saturday during the Worldwide Photo Walk. I'm going back. I think I missed some good opportunities on that alley. Anyone want to volunteer to watch my back??

23 comments:

Olivier said...

un ancien parisien en manque de la grande ville. bonne initiative ce site internet

Ming the Merciless said...

Bonjour, Madame Jones. I have posted my clafoutis photo on Bangor DP. Your illustrious name is mentioned in it. :)

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Virginia, I really miss Parisian in Mobile but had no idea of the long history of the store. We only knew that "we got that great Birmingham store" when it opened.

B SQUARED said...

Heck V, I'll follow you into an alley anytime of day or night.

brattcat said...

Wish I could come down and explore that alley with you. This is a beauty of a shot.

Virginia said...

B2, Maybe you're the one I need to watch out for! HA

Bratt,
I do wish you could have done the walk with me. We would have had a grand time.

Genie,
I grew up shopping the downtown store as a teenager.

Ming,
Merci beaucoup. The fig tart recipe is up on my daughter's FB page. You should be able to get it on mine. You'll love it. Bet you have figs in Bangor right now.

Olivier,
Oui!

Luis Gomez said...

Lovely!

Rob said...

Oh wow, that is a fabulous door!

Halcyon said...

What a find! You should definitely go back.

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

Literally, a walk down memory lane. Hope you're listening to 45's while you prepare your blog pages!

Daryl said...

I would SO be there with you ... camera in hand ...

Ken Mac said...

looks like a time travel shot from WWII. Beautifully done as always!

Anonymous said...

How funny. I was just going to say this reminds me of a Kenny Mac.

Petrea Burchard said...

That is a gorgeous find. Alleys are the best.

Bob Crowe said...

That's a sad picture, V - the glory of the past decayed.

Virginia said...

Bob,
Yep, downtown is very sad.

Hiker,
I'm most flattered!!!!

Jilly said...

What a lovely shot. Beautiful soft colours and your favourite word, of course!

melissa said...

Such precious memories of the SUMMER FROM HELL, when my dear mother found the perfect job for me.... at the OLD downtown Parisian store. That was a trip... a bad one.

lovingly,

your daughter

Bergson said...

l'arrière n'est pas mal non plus

Kathy said...

I do so adore old doors and windows.

Your daughter's comment is classic!

P.S. Another favorite thing of mine is the CAPTCHA - the "almost" words used for verification. Mine for this comment is "handog"! I actually think it should be a real word!

steviewren said...

I miss Parisian too. It was a great store. I used to run in every other day when my boys were young, waiting on the final markdown at the change of seasons. Then I would buy up loads of their nice merchandise for the boys to wear the next year. (that's the way those of us that had challenging bank accounts had to do it).

-K- said...

If that doorway could talk...

Beautiful colors too.

Janet said...

One of my favorite department stores when I was a young adult.