City - Gadsden, AL- Christmas shopping crowds 1941 Vykort

Colorized photo from 1941 Original title: Christmas shopping crowds Photographer: John Vachon Location: 400 Broad St, Gadsden, AL This is Gadsden, Alabama, at around 400 Broad Street. During this time the streets were bustling with people during the holidays. There were both department stores and other shops people could buy gifts at. As you can see there were no parking spaces left, the place was packed. Being Alabama, it doesn't get that cold there in the winter, often no more than 40f. So the people aren't in heavy coats like you would expect at this time of the year. You can see all the people wearing wool coats and sweaters. Some have large boxes under their arms. Today this location is much emptier. Many of the stores are all gone, many buildings are gone. The nose in parking is still there. The Kress building is there, but not the store. In fact if you live there, you probably drove right past that area without ever knowing what was there in the past.