These came from the same slide collection as yesterday’s image. I’d never seen anything like this first one before:
Um, what? This makes no sense. I mean, forget the hedge where there shouldn’t be a hedge, what’s up with those oak leaves where I wasn’t expecting an oak tree? And here’s another puzzler:
Bushes trimmed into round balls? Where the hell am I?
Well, I can only conclude that it must be the 1970s. This is confirmed by another picture from the same group, itself a gorgeous image of something that was almost never photographed. Take a look (at the license plate, not the legs):
Careful study of an aerial shot taken to document the rise of Sewall Hall in 1970 reveals that both pictures were taken from very close to the front of Fondren, where a long hedge crossed the entire width of the quad and ended in a series of round hedges near where the Humanities building is today. Nice big oak trees, too, some of which are still there, although not the one visible in the first photo above:
Note: I’m headed out of town for a few days. I’ll probably keep posting as usual in order to avoid the gnawing sense of incompleteness that inevitably follows when I don’t. But you never know, I might take a day off.
Bonus: Space age soft drink machine in the newly remodeled (not yet open) Sammy’s.
The car is probably a Triumph TR4. The girl is definitely not a TRG. I can’t really get past those legs. Funny how if she were in shorts and tennis shoes she’d probably showing just as much leg but it would be rather commonplace.
That’s a Coke Freestyle machine and my wife thinks it is probably the best thing about modern life. If you really feel the urge to alchemy up some kind of flavor mix of Coke products, there’s actually an iOS app to locate those machines. My wife has it.
The car she’s leaning into is probably a 1970 Mercury Cyclone. I’m presuming Marty’s TR4 is the one on the right of the picture. And I must admit, those are nice legs.
The hedges were there, at roughly that height, when I came to Rice in ’77. In fact, people used to run and jump them for sport, from time to time…..
And after dark, hide among them for sport of a different sort.
Richard is right about the Cyclone. There’s also an 1964-ish Ford Fairlane hardtop turning onto Alumni Drive. Perhaps the blonde is asking the Cyclone driver if he has seen her right sandal…
I notice that the car wash area at the intersection is still there at this point in time. Sorry it was lost. It made for some interesting crashes when Beer-Bike still went around that corner.
The young lady looks like it could be Laurie Kurtz.