AV. SAO JOAO from Av. Ipiranga to Av. Duque de Caxias

First National City Bank black marble building stands on the left...

City Bank building on the left; Cine Rivoli & Cine Olido on the right-hand-side. 

 Praça Julio Mesquita - Avenida S.João in 1950.

Mohamed Ali exits San Rafael Hotel on Avenida São João in 1969. 

boy & girl look out at Avenida São João as tram-cars travel west towards Lapa and east towards the city.

Cine Metro and Lojas Pirani on the right-hand-side circa 1963.

Avenida São João with Avenida Duque de Caxias in 1963. 

Hotel Comodoro on Av. Duque de Caxias with Rua Conselheiro Nébias, in 1953. 

Praca da Sé... from 1939 to 2012.

Palacete Santa Helena, on the left-hand side of the Cathedral.

18 July 1930

25 January 1954.

25 January 1954.

In September 1947, Cinemundi shows an MGM flick while Cine Santa Helena shows Cantinflas' 'E tinha 3 sinaes'.

Cathedral front in September 1947. On the right Acliamação bus stop.

1953.

Lynn, Marcelo & Sarah Anne on the verge of entering the Cathedral - 2012.

Parque Dom Pedro II

1960.

Parque Dom Pedro is a low-lying area where Rio Tamanduateí runs. As it was prone to get flooded every year they decided to make a greaty park out of it. An amusement park called Parque Shanghai was built for the masses and it was pretty popular among the populace.

From the 1960s on this area fell into neglect and after the military took over in 1964, it suffered more & more degradation with highways crossing it and disfiguring what had been a nice place even though the river had been polluted for more than 50 years.

the imposing figure of a peasant sowing his seeds on Parque D.Pedro II having São Paulo skyline in the background. This statue was uprooted from there and 'exiled' to the outskirts of town near CEAGESP in Jaguaré - when the Park was torn apart and criss-crossed with highways and bridges leading nowhere in the 1970s when the Military ruled the country with iron-fisted hands. As a result of ill-conceived planning Parque D. Pedro had an instant death and is only lingering on the brink of infamy and opprobrium ever since.

A mother with her 3 children at Parque Dom Pedro II, in 1960. The Park was the site of the largest bus terminal in the metropolis. Rua 25 de Março can be seen on the right. Photo by Melissa Suarez. 

1950s.

Children playin at the Park in 1959...

1940s. 

Parque Dom Pedro II in 1986. 

1953. 

This is popular clown Carequinha riding a ride at Parque Shangai's Amusement Park in the late 1950s when the Park was a healthy and beautiful place and not a dumping ground as today. 

Parque Shanghai in the late 1950s.

Aerial view of part of Park Dom Pedro II, with Avenida Rangel Pestana on the left and the old Brazilian Army barracks on the left of the viaducts...

ALBUM COVERS & Sao Paulo

Claudete Soares at the water-fountain at Parque Trianon on Avenida Paulista. 

... e a chuva contina! Tito Madi's Continental album circa 1959.

Carequinha (Baldy) a very popular clown especially with children in the 1950s is seen here at the amusement Park Shangai at Parque Dom Pedro II in São Paulo circa 1958. His real name was George Savalla Gomes (*18 July 1915 + 5 April 2006). 

Songs written by Getulio Macedo & Hamilton Sbarra about Parque Shangai's many treats: chicote americano, montanha russa (roller-coaster), chicote maluco, roda-gigante (ferris' wheel), trem-fantasma (ghost train) etc.

Largo do Arouche in 1960s. Nothing much has changed here... only the old lady in the back is gone perhaps...

Praça Dom José Gaspar in the late 1950s.

Germano Mathias's 1957's 'O sambista diferente' having Praça da Bandeira in his back; one can see Nicette Bruno's mother's Teatro de Aluminio on the left; right behind Mathias you can see Artacho Jurado's Edificio Planalto on Rua Maria Paula, 279 just prior to completion in 1956. Rua Santo Amaro is the street that runs on the right of it.

Vale do Anhangabau at night seen in the background; Victor Rafael was probably leaning against one of the various bridges (viaductos) that span both sides of the valley.

Caçulinha plays 1963 hits... the photo must be taken a couple of years before. 

'American Rock' is the title of the album containing US rock hits but the cover shows a not-so-young couple doing some rock'n'roll steps accompanied by a typical Brazilian acoustic guitar - all in front of São Paulo's Planetarium at Ibirapuera's Park in 1960.

Bon Voyage was a night club there was at Rodovia Raposo Tavares Km 12 in the 1950s.