A Korean blogger living in Texas has posted a collection of COLOR photographs of Daegu taken by an American doctor who lived in the city in 1954 and 1955. These rare photos are absolutely jaw-dropping, and much thanks should go to both the blogger for sharing them with the world and the American for allowing the blogger to upload and post his photos.
UPDATE: Links fixed
49 Comments
Here’s a link to a story in the maeil sinmun about a man, now in his sixties, who was one of those little boys waiting for milk in the photos:
http://www.imaeil.com/sub_news.....mp;yy=2007
Looking at these, it makes you wonder how many more incredible photos like these are sitting in some old guy’s den, gathering dust and waiting to be discovered. Fascinating stuff.
Amazing stuff–look at the schoolkids holding Korean and American flags under the banner that says “we are very appreciate your aid you have done for the refugees” and compare that to today.
I love old photos of Korea…the fact that these were in color added a lot to them I think, too.
I know most Koreans just want to forget the past, except when it’s useful for bashing the Yanks or the Japanese, but some things should never be forgotten. A world of difference from those days, now rich, free and comfortable and yet so many young Koreans hate the US. Sad how the propoganda of the left can be so readily believed despite reality staring people in the face.
Fascinating showing these to my wife who mentions that there wasn’t much difference between conditions in 1954 to the late 60s that she remembers. In fact, those photos brought back a flood of memories.
Great stuff.
When I first glanced at the second photo - the cattle market - I thought it was Tunisia or somewhere in the Middle East until I looked closer…. For those who grew up in that era and earlier, and are still extant - what a strange world it must be, nowadays….
Robert, your four links all go to the same url; I’ll just paste the links here so that this won’t get stuck into spam detectors…
Page 2:
http://blog.naver.com/texasatm/150014159170
Page 3:
http://blog.naver.com/texasatm/150014212857
Page 4:
http://blog.naver.com/texasatm/150014344545
Another great collection of b&w and color photos available online is that of Roger Marshutz’s from 1952-54, mainly from Busan. (Introduction to the collection in Harvard Gazette.) The collection is in the Harvard Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology: I have no direct link to Marshutz’s pics, but typing “Marshutz” in the Keyword search of the online archives gives 1544 hits, most black and white but several color slides as well (you’ll need to browse a bit for them). GIs and military life scences, hospitals, prostitutes, hillside settlement destroyed by fire, snotty-faced children in rags, streets and alleys with wooden houses. It’s strange that the word “Asian” is used to depict Koreans in several of the captions (such as “Two Asian women looking through bags of clothing”), but perhaps the museum prefers very inclusive search terms…
In case someone’s interested (and some seem to be) but too busy or lazy to download pic by pic, I’ve put my own 157 downloads from the archive available as .zip (6.2M). (I’ll take it down at the latest when I need the disk space or my uni account is suspended.)
wow, thanks Antti!
Great find Marmot
Sometimes life can appear almost surreal. I mean, when you look into these pictures, it’s like a time warp taking you directly into the past. You can almost walk almost directly into it and say hello.
Thanks for a great post. It’s fascinating stuff. Taegu looks so blissfully spacious. Wow. Now I”m going to hunt down more old pics of Korea.
Settle a bet between my wife and I…
I swear I saw pics of old Korea, with women walking around topless. Apparently, that was normal, a long time ago (kind of like in some African countries). My wife says NO WAY!
I’vs tried doing a search for “topless Korean” but I didn’t find what I was looking for. And I viewed ,many, many pages
Anyway… who’s right?
Song of the South.
I am amazed at the quite barren mountains, largely stripped of trees. Is it true that there are no virgin forests in Korea?
wow, thanks for linking those.
Thanks so much for the photos.
When I arrived in Korea in the 70’s in Cheoungju there where still a lot of “grandfathers” and “grandmother” wearing komoshins, those rubber shoes. It brought back a flood of memories.
Park Chung Hee, as I mentioned in Jodi’s blog, while much reviled and rightly so, for his human rights abuses, had what was called the Sae Ma Ul movement which did a lot to reforest the country.
Great photos.
Seth, I don’t recall topless women when tigers smoke pipes, but there’s an old German (I recall) travel book (?) that pictures gravity’s (and a dozen suckling kids) impact. Gotta nice set of them baloney tits.
Amazing photos, thanks
Great photos! They are a good reminder of the special link that Americans and Koreans share.
Those are great photos - being in colour makes all the difference, at least as far as getting that feeling of looking directly at the past. Thanks for tracking them down, and thanks to Antti for posting the links and especially the zip - browsing through webpages and viewing/downloading photos takes forever…
Wow, as an honorary Daeguite, I say thank you, Marmot! Those photos are superb.
As it happens, my wife spent at least part of her childhood living near the cow market, though by then (late 60s/early 70s) it had probably closed up, and survived as little more than a bus stop name.
Plunge (#5), it’s good to see you around! Maybe it’s not appropriate to get into personal matters her on a public forum, but here’s hoping and praying that you’re doing well.
The first images of hanbok-clad Koreans tending rice paddies set against a backdrop of thatched roof houses and forested mountains were beautifully nostalgic. The warm feelings dissipated into the ugly reality of poverty on page two with photos of a line of children holding empty bowls in a shantytown.
a-letheia, there are areas of virgin forest left in Korea. The easiest one to see from Seoul is the Gwangneung area just northeast of Uijongbu. The tomb of King Sejo is there and the surrounding forest is filled with gigantic trees, for Korea anyway, that didn’t get chopped down or blown up in prior years. Beautiful area, especially in the fall when the leaves change.
‘A world of difference from those days, now rich, free and comfortable and yet so many young Koreans hate the US. Sad how the propoganda of the left can be so readily believed despite reality staring people in the face.’ expat who believes a 12 year old korean owes him something
the korean people are responsible for their success. you have nothing to do with that. perhaps all the alleged hate on the part of koreans springs from you walking around thinking they owe you something. they don’t owe you anything, got it?
I think thou doth protest too much, here, pawi.
pawi is right. Tons of nations received aid post world war II. Only a few made good with it. For South Korea, it’s thanks to Lt. Okamoto.
Guess you never heard of the Marshall Plan?
It would be nice to see if we Koreans wearing Hanbok more often these days too.
Thanks for links!
More hanbok and more of those extra-long yangban pipes–those are cool.
And the horsehair hats and topknots too, for us guys?
Well, given his affinity for hanboks, Robert can model them for us and get back to us.
Funny how braggarts like nulji always claim Koreans are solely responsible for their success in South Korea, yet overlook the inability of Koreans in the north to succeed. It’s quite obvious that factors other than human capital were at play.
And, nulji, ungrateful and spiteful people like you do owe us something for deigning to let your unproductive, hateful self reside in our nation.
Anyway, nice photos. Except for the clothes, many of these scenes are little changed today, such as the fabric seller and the men squatting and smoking.
While a lot of the older folks I know very much remember the times shown in the photos and have fond feelings toward the US in particular, I find it interesting how many of them don’t want to look at such pictures or are embarrassed when they see me looking at them.
Thanks Antti for those links and zip file as well.
Sewing /
It’s a pity that your gravata could not be shown with your comment.
Great photos. I think I might actually prefer the Daegu in those pics to the place I’ve visited (ok, passed through for a night or two on the way to Gyeongju or Gayasan) a few times over the last ten years or so.
By the way nulji, the only thing a 12 year old Korean sometimes owes me is 50000 won/hour for helping to facilitate her/his success in learning English. Seriously, students are ultimately responsible for how well they do, but I am not so modest as to believe that teachers don’t deserve some credit for positive learning outcomes.
Nobody is saying that Koreans didn’t do a great deal - if not most of the work - in getting where they are today; however, to deny an American role in the story (outside of the all-too-popular evil imperialist/national divider theme) isn’t really accurate. I don’t think most people here expect, nor deserve, outpourings of gratitude from Koreans, but perhaps could do with a little less contempt.
“expat who believes a 12 year old korean owes him something…the korean people are responsible for their success. you have nothing to do with that.”
As usual, Pawi, you put words into people’s mouths that were not said. Obviously you’ve never heard of the Korean War in which thousands of soldiers from around the world and mostly the US died to keep the place out of the hands of communists. Secondly, the US and Japan gave billions in aid to help Korea develop. I didn’t say that Koreans are not responsible for their success. It’s to Koreans’ great credit that they took the help they got (just like the Japanese) and ran with it to make a country that impressively punches above its weight economically. You are such an idiot. Can’t you get it through your thick noggin that many expats are disgusted with Korean hatred of America-the only true friend Korea has? You’re an American, right? Can’t you respect your country for the good it has done to help your ethnic homeland?
I see enough artist friends wearing them but, you know, its great just to see happy Koreans today, walking around wearing whatever they want to wear, especially when considering all the events of the past.
Thank you for the link to the great pictures Robert.
Snow, that snipe by the resident troll may have been directed to me from comment #2 above. His line “Sad how the propoganda of the left can be so readily believed despite reality staring people in the face” is really quite perceptive even though it wasn’t meant as insight. That’s exactly why I said “compare that to today”–compare the reality in those photos with the fantasy and myth that sprang up in the intervening years among a small segment of Korean society that unfortunately for Korea counts teachers, politicians and media figures in its ranks.
Jodi: “While a lot of the older folks I know very much remember the times shown in the photos and have fond feelings toward the US in particular, I find it interesting how many of them don’t want to look at such pictures…”
I always thought that a modern history of Seoul in pictures would be fascinating. Imagine a time when the YMCA building in Chongro was a hip place to be? I got the same reaction as you found. Koreans–even younger ones–don’t want to be reminded that they were poor.
Amazing Photos… I love your site…
holy crap! what a find! kudos to you marmot how you find it? I can’t believe the vibrant color!!
I’m so used to seeing this time period in black and white, that I forget that it’s actually recent history. Suredly a historical treasure.
Adam hallabuhjee is a man of awsome attributes. Wow.
wow. i just can’t get over the fact how nostalgic these pictures make me feel. I don’t know why it breaks my heart looking at these pictures. Breaks my heart my even looking at the youthful Adam and the modern day Adam hallabuhjee.
a-letheia (#39):
Seoul in photos, 3 volumes, all online and free to view:
http://www.seoul.go.kr/life/li.....re_seoul1/ (pre-1905/10)
http://www.seoul.go.kr/life/li.....re_seoul2/ (1905/10-45)
http://www.seoul.go.kr/life/li.....re_seoul3/ (post-1945)
in response to Seth Gecko, No.12
Try down near Ulsan. Topless women wasn’t a universal phenominon in Korea, but I did read a good peice in the Korean Times (written by a foriegner Peter… something) which noted that fact.
in response to pawikirogi, No. 25
Well, you are partially right.
Kudos to the Parents and grandparents of Korea, they were the generation that worked hard and sacrificed for their children today, so that you can sit here and bitch and moan about “expats”. They are the ones who made good on the aid provided by the other countries to make a better country, so in the words of Vladimir Putin I say “good on them!”, I hope they can be proud of you. And I hope you realize how much you owe them.
Furthermore I’ll add that Koreans owe the America of today little and they owe a precious few expats anything, in fact I only know one expat here who actaully fought in the Korean War. People like my grandfather who fought for your sorry ass (not to mention the 50,000 MIA and Killed and countless others wounded) are for the most part not with us anymore.
As for me and my 3 1/2 years of service here, I don’t think I’m owed much of anything. I didn’t really fight anyone, but I am open to the occasional “thanks” for the fact that I was here to lend a hand in case the shit hit the fan… which I did get every once in a blue moon. The one getting screwed, the one who deserves something is the American Taxpayer (expats don’t pay taxes). Maybe a “thanks” to those who foot the bill for Koreas ridiculously low defense budget would be nice… don’t fall over yourself thanking people now pawi…
Too bad your unsupported assertion won’t hold water with the IRS. I’d love to tell them, “Capt. BBQ says I don’t owe you nuthin’!”
It nice to see that not everything in Korea changes, Taegu is still the same old shit hole
Pawi and wjk,
Did your parents have any children that lived?
Dogbert, fair enough,
AFAIK, United states citizens living abroud do not owe taxes on income earned abroad up to $78,000 per year, which does not cover capital gains. If you know differently it would be welcomed news by me.
Admittedly I could have been more accurate, but I considered my rambling needlessly long as it was. . . . and with the what I pay in capital gain taxes… well, I don’t consider that pitiful amount “paying taxes”…
“in response to Seth Gecko, No.12
Try down near Ulsan. Topless women wasn’t a universal phenominon in Korea, but I did read a good peice in the Korean Times (written by a foriegner Peter… something) which noted that fact.”
No luck finding anything yet. Anyone? Anyone?
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[...] out this post over at the Marmot’s Hole for some spectacular color pictures of Daegu, 1954-1955. They [...]
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