Visitation at The Grand Canyon approached 5 million in 2014 and the numbers are expected to go even higher this year. But in the 1950s, in the years just after World War II, the pace was a lot slower. Here are some images from Herb Ringer, from the early 1950s that reflect a very different time and a different park experience
Head wrangler Sherm Eberle was leading tourists down the Bright Angel Trail to Phantom Ranch, even in the 1940s. Over the years, he and Herb became good friends.
The Kolb Studio, on the rim of the canyon, was owned and operated by Emery & Ellsworth Kolb, until Emery’s death in the mid-70s.
A Navajo man who worked for Fred Harvey Co.
in the early 1950s.
Herb’s parents, Joseph & Sadie Ringer.
1950
A busy summer day at the Bright Angel Lodge. 1950
HERB RINGER came West from his home in New Jersey in 1939. Camera in hand, Herb captured the American West, from the Canadian Border to the Rio Grande and from the Big Sur coast to the High Plains.
We believe Herb’s collection of Life in the West is one of the finest. His work has been published in The Zephyr for 20 years. I am pleased finally, to offer Herb’s photographs in color. We are also building a new ‘album’ of his work, elsewhere on this site.
My dear friend died on December 11, 1998…JS
For the Most Comprehensive Collection of Herb Ringer Photographs Online, Click Here to see the Herb Ringer Issue of the Zephyr.
To read the PDF version of this article, click here.
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