1958 Gene Hackman decided to go to New York City get some head shots done buy some guy he heard about an Sal Terracina not only did Sal do his portfolio he sent him to a Broadway play That was doing readings Gene Hackman landed it and I think that’s how it started

These are three models I photographed over 40 years ago in Key West Dale Witner and myself did a layout for a bikini fashion magazine also a Heineken an Ted with them the beautiful girl on the right was Miss Lisa Burke we are living together in Key West at the time we are now married 37 years later I’ll match of any of these three girls do any of you girls in Key West now as far as partying rock and rollers These were the bad ass bitches of Key West back in the 70s and 80s

This is the famous Coral Lounge in Elizabeth New Jersey outfront on the neon sign it would say on the Oregon Sal Terracina after Sal got done playing the piano and doing his mind reading act he would Pull out his large-format camera and start taking pictures of all the customers that looked interesting to him I have negatives like this from all over the country in the clubs he worked in they’re one of my favorite groups

The year 1923 that’s 98 years ago on the far right where are you ahead of his time my great uncle Sal crazy guy in the middle Captain Tony And the only normal one in the family my great uncle Luigi Sal was only 12 years old he dressed everybody including himself my great grandfather Luigi the term to a New York photographer for a photo shoot I don’t know how Sal got the original negative but I have it

I have so many favorite negatives that my uncle Sal did this one is cropped out of a large format negative there’s a lot more going on but I cropped this section it out the year 1939 that’s my grandfather screaming in the background he built a built-in swimming pool in the back of his house only because he stole some giant water pump from the Newark docks That’s my beautiful great in Palma in the front

Very funny story but true this is Cinderella’s go go bar in Elizabeth New Jersey pretty much in the center of town there was a bunch of them the funny thing is the Thomas Jefferson high school was less than a block away I went to that high school I did go to two catholic schools in the beginning but that didn’t work out Anyway when I was a senior in high school the drinking age that club opened up at 1o’clock we would cut class and have a couple shots and beers because a bunch of us were 18 true story 15 years later I found myself being the photographer in the club the owner remembers me

So on hanging out by Parsons school design our store was right next-door on seventh Avenue who comes out of a limo but miss America from sometime in the 90s I knew she was somebody because she was so beautiful I told her I was from portraits of New York and I’m here to cover the event totally bullshitting outside the school she did all these poses for me and then this picture with me

In 1928 great uncle Sal is 17 years old he puts together a little mask photography studio and his father‘s attic this is one of the photos from that location the guy in the middle was Sal‘s lover Jimmy Lansing he was around 20 years ago the lady on the left is my great aunt Palma By the time Sal hit 20 years old he had a studio in Manhattan 1931

In the 60s in Key West nobody had T-shirts with the bar name on it not only was my grandfather the first with that he had his face on his car boats and of course his saloon he even did rolling papers girls panties And to put the cherry on the cake this massive billboard add big pine key in 1967

There is a category on this website called world of mirth it’s a bizarre traveling carnival that Sal worked for in 1949 you got a check those photos out here’s a sample Sal was there photographer mask maker mind reader and kept The burlesque girls and midgets in line

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