San Antonio and South Texas fashion and style in in the Model A Ford era
As the largest city in Texas from 1900 to the early 1930s, San Antonio was at the forefront of Texas fashion and style. While national and international fashion trends such as Flappers, the Jazz Age and Art-Deco all swept through the Alamo City, San Antonio was able to put its own stamp on things and maintained its own sense of style. The hot weather and relatively mild winters played a part as well, as did the lack of air-conditioning. The Milam building, opened in 1928, was the first fully air-conditioned high rise office building in the world. Some San Antonio streetcars had A/C fitted as well the same year. And the St. Antony Hotel, opened in 1909, gained some fame by becoming the first hotel in the world to offer this wonderful amenity in 1936, and Joske's became the first major department store with A/C the same year.
The Ford Model A, introduced in late 1927 as a 1928 model, was very much a working man's vehicle. It replaced the definitively un-stylish Ford Model T. With much input from Edsel Ford, a noticeably stylish individual, quite unlike his father, Henry, the Model A had many styling cues from Lincoln, the Ford Motor Company's upmarket brand. A popular song in 1928 was called, "Henry's Made a Lady out of Lizzie."
This page shows San Antonio people at work, at home, at play and in society during during the Ford Model A's four year production run, from 1927 through 1931. It was a pivotal time in the country's history. The stock market crash of late 1929 and ensuing "Great Depression" seriously impacted how people presented themselves to the world. Fashions changed as priorities became tougher. The exuberance of the "Roaring 20s" subsided into a more sober appreciation for quality and value. As tough as things were, San Antonio weathered the storm better than many a large city. The pictures will hopefully speak for themselves about the city's resilience.
San Antonio newspaper fashion adverts, and stores, in in the 1920s and 1930s
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, October 1928
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, October 1928
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, October 1928
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, October 1928
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, May 1929
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, May 1929
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, May 1929
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, May 1929
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, July 1930
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, February 1931
Fashion advert in a San Antonio newspaper, February 1931
"The Vogue" fashiopn store at 600 Navarro in San Antonio in the 1930s
Joskes deparftment store in San Antonio in the 1930s
Shops at the corner of Houston Street and St. Marys in San Antonio in the 1930s
San Antonio fashion store "Allards" in the 1930s
San Antonio celebrities and newspaper society pictures in the 1920s and 1930s
Early picture of movie actress Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSeuer in San Antonio
San Antonio newspaper society column picture, October 1928
San Antonio newspaper society column picture, October 1928
Fashion college graduates in San Antonio in 1929
Fashion story image in a San Antonio newspaper in the late 1920s
San Antonio newspaper society column picture, July 1930, a navy lieutenant and his wife
Jimmie Rogers in Kerrville, 1930
Movie actress Claudia Bell from San Antonio, in 1930
Nationally renowned musicians Violet and Daisy Hilton at their house in San Antonio, 1931
Movie actress Allene Ray from San Antonio, in 1931
LBJ and Lady Bird married in San Antonio, 1934
Women's fashion and style in San Antonio
and South Texas in the 1920s and 1930s
Automobile and stylish woman at Mission San Jose in San Antonio in 1925
Men and women with an aircraft in the Texas Panhandle in the 1920s
Woman making a donation of food to a San Antonio charity in 1928
San Antonio wedding picture, late 1920s.
Two women in San Antonio in the late 1920s.
Gathering at the opening of the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, 1929
Bringing in 1930 in San Antonio
Adina De Zavala and two companions inspecting the yet to be restored 'Spanish Governr's Palace in San Antonio in 1930.
Women in Waco, 1931
1932 Fiesta gown
Visitors to Mission San Jose in San Antonio in 1932
San Antonio society Christmas party hostess, 1933
San Antonio shoppers in the early 1930s.
Street scene in Houston, Texas, early 1930s
San Antonio model, in the 1930s
Washing machine in Windy Point, Texas, 1934.
Men's styles in Antonio and South Texas Men's in the late 1920s and early 1930s
Race car driver in San Antonio, 1926
Texas State University debate team, San Marcos 1928
Stylish men with first Ford Model A in Houston, 1928
Ford Model A driver in San Antonio in the late 1920s
Dashing young man in his speedster in San Antonio, 1930
West Exas Gas station employees in the early 1930s
Humble Oil employees at the beginning of a parade in San Antonio in the early 1930s.
San Antonio barber, 1932
Two men at a San Antonio drug store in the mid 1930s
Worker sealing a vehicle roof in San Antonio, late 1930s
Families and young people in San Antonio and South Texas in the late 1920s and early 1930s
Young woman with an odd shaped cucumber in San Antonio, 1928
San Antonio high school girl, 1928
Poteet, Texas, high school class picture, 1928
San Antonio family in 1928
High school graduate in Gilmer, Texas, 1929
Brackenridge High school year book picture, San Antonio, 1929
San Antonio girl, 1929
Young women in San Marcos, 1929
Four sets of twins at a San Antonio high school, 1929
San Antonio high school girl, late 1920s
Mother, child and dog in Austin, Texas, 1930
Young women inWaco, Texas, 1930
Two boys at the Alamo in the early 1930s
Two girls in Odem, Texas, early 1930s
Boys at a San Antonio toy stoty window in the 1930s
San Antonio family in the 1930s.
Children with a Buick in Dalla, 1931
College girl with a Ford Model A in Round Rock, Texas, 1939
Sports and outdoor activities in San Antonio
and South Texas in the 1920s and 1930s
Frontier Day cowgirls in San Antonio, 1926
Archers in Austin, 1928
Girls with guns in San Antonio, 1928
Cowgirl teaching her sister the ropes, Fort Worth, 1929
Tending a camp fire in Brackenridge Park, San Antonio in the late 1920s
Golf course in Del Rio, 1930
Beauty pageants in Galveston in the late 1920s and early 1930s
The roots of national and international beauty pageants as we know them today can be traced back to a "Festival of Pulchritude," a quaint word for the concept of feminine beauty, first held in Galveston in 1926 and for the next few years before the festival was moved to France. The first contest featured both US city and international participants.
Miss Universe contestants in Galveston, 1927
Miss San Antonio in Galveston, 1927
Miss Universe contestant in Galveston, 1928
Miss Universe 1927 and 1928 in Galveston
Miss Brazil in Galveston, 1929
Miss France in Galveston, 1930
Miss Texas named 'America's Sweetheart' in Galveston, 1930
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1965
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1965
Alamo As members wearing their new club vests, 1975
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1982
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1994
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1996
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 1997
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 2004
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 2004
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 2004
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 2004
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 2004
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 2012
Alamo As members dressed in Model A era fashions, 2013
Ford Model A coupe with a visitor at the Tejeda Middle School History Faire, March 2015
Garry & Eva Huey, Belknap Place, San Antonio, 2016
