A look at what life was like in Tucson in the 1930s
Take a step back in time with these photos that show the people and places of Tucson 90 years ago.
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Tucson in the 1930s
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Broadway Road underpass construction in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The soda fountain at Steinfeld's Department Store in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Goodyear Tire Store in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Tucson street scene, ca. 1930s. Tucson Public Market is at left.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Northwest corner of Stone and Pennington in downtown Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Joe Tang's Market in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Baffert and Leon wholesale grocery company on Toole Ave, near 6th Ave., Tucson, ca. 1930s. The company obtained an injunction against construction of the Stone Avenue Subway (railroad underpass) in 1934 claiming extensive damage.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Stone and 3rd Pharmacy and Lee's Market in Tucson, ca. 1930s
Tucson in the 1930s
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Promotion for "The Gay Divorcee," a 1934 movie musical, shown at the Fox Theatre in Tucson, ca 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Sale at the White House Department Store in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Western Auto Supply Co. in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Drachman School in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Lyric Theatre in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Newspaper photo of the Tucson Police officers involved in the arrest of John Dillinger in 1934.
Tucson in the 1930s
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In this Jan. 25, 1934, photo, members of the Dillinger outlaw gang, from left, Russel Clark, Charles Makley, Harry Pierpont, John Dillinger, and girlfriends Ann Martin and Mary Kinder are arraigned in the old Pima County Court House.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Steinfeld Hardware in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Tucson Mayor George K. Smith gets fitted for shoes at Steinfeld's Department Store. in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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A Coca Cola delivery truck with a touch of Budweiser on the hood in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Steinfeld's Department Store display window on Shirley Temple in 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Tidmarsh Company selling the new Zenith radio in 1936.
Tucson in the 1930s
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O'Rielly Chevrolet in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Undated photo of the original El Charro Restaurant, Tucson, at what is now the La Placita office complex at Church and Broadway.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Steinfeld's Department Store in the 1920s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Rialto Theatre shows off its talking pictures in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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founded by Richard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870. It became the Arizona Weekly Citizen in the 1880s and finally, the Tucson Citizen sometime between 1901-1920. At the time of its closure in 2009, it was the oldest continuously published newspaper in Arizona.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Straw hat display in a J.C. Penney Department Store window, Tucson, in 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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A cooking school at Tucson Gas, Electric Light and Power Co. in the 1930s. In 1979, Tucson Gas and Electric sold it's gas division and became Tucson Electric Power.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Miniature golf in Tucson, 1930s. Simon Kivel developed two miniature golf courses in Tucson, on 4th Ave. north of 3rd Street and the other at Park and Speedway.
Tucson in the 1930s
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An ice cream shop in Tucson in 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Lyric Theatre, Tucson, in the 1930s. It was built in 1918, then demolished in the 1960s take make way for urban redevelopment.
Tucson in the 1930s
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North Stone Bowling alley in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Jacome's Department Store in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Yellow Cab drivers at the ready in Tucson, 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Oliver Drachman built Tucson’s first drive-in refreshment stand next to his fuel yard on the southeast corner of North Fourth Avenue and East Eighth Street.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Opening of the Tucson branch of Valley National Bank, constructed in 1929 for Consolidated National Bank of Tucson. Valley merged with Bank One in 1992 and is now Chase Bank.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Southern Pacific RR depot in Tucson, 1930s. It was restored to its 1940s Spanish Colonial style in 2004.
Tucson in the 1930s
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KVOA Radio studios on East Broadway above Al Buehmann Photography in Tucson in the late 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The church bus for Saints Peter and Paul Parochial School in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The beautiful tiled soda fountain at Fred Fleishman & Co., Druggists, in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Patsy's, Peoples Barbershop and the French Cafe at 55 W. Congress St. in Tucson, 1930s. The French Cafe opened on July 3, 1920. It's ads claimed it was "the most sanitary cafe" in Tucson.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Mulcahy Lumber on West Congress Street in Tucson in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Desert Sanatorium near Grant and Craycroft, ca. 1930s. It was a tuberculosis treatment center and health retreat. It closed in 1943 and become Tucson Medical Center in 1944.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Circle Z Ranch in Patagonia, ca. 1930s. It started as a sheep-herding operation in the 1880s, then become a dude ranch in the 1920s. It is still in operation as a dude ranch today.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Circle Z Ranch chuck wagon in Patagonia, ca. 1930s. It started as a sheep-herding operation in the 1880s, then become a dude ranch in the 1920s. It is still in operation as a dude ranch today.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Tavern Cafe, 127 E. Congress St., ca 1930s. One night in 1934 featured Miss Betty Gordon singing and dancing, accompanied by Mr. Roy Gordon, noted pianist and accordionist. The block now is home to the Screening Room and other businesses. But the motif is long gone.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The old Pima County Courhouse in the 1930s. It was at the time the premier government building in Southern Arizona. It dwarfs the old Tucson City Hall behind.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Elite Ice Cream, Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Fox Theatre Tucson in the 1930s, before the big makeover and massive lighted marquee.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Circle Z Ranch in Patagonia, ca. 1930s. It started as a sheep-herding operation in the 1880s, then become a dude ranch in the 1920s. It is still in operation as a dude ranch today.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Snow falling in downtown Tucson in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Sunshine Grocery at 803 E. Helen St., Tucson, ca. 1930s. The building is still there at the corner of Euclid and Helen.
Tucson in the 1930s
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French Cafe, 55 W. Congress, interior in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Owner George A. Vance tending to his garden at the Mobilgas in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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The Consolidated National Bank of Tucson lobby in the 1930s. The building opened in 1929 and was the city's tallest building. Valley Bank and Trust of Phoenix bought Consolidated to form Valley National Bank of Arizona.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Aerial view of then University of Arizona campus, with Old Main at the center, in 1939. View looking east from Park Avenue.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Douglas & Sons grocery in the 1930s. The locally-owned grocery had five Tucson stores.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Stone Avenue, Tucson, in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Downtown Tucson in the 1930s, looking north. The major street in the center of the photo is Stone Avenue, with Valley National Bank and the Pioneer Hotel.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Steinfeld's Grocery at Stone and Pennington in the 1930s.
Tucson in the 1930s
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Desert Sanatorium near Grant and Craycroft, ca. 1930s. It was a tuberculosis treatment center and health retreat. It closed in 1943 and become Tucson Medical Center in 1944.
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