Since I began my multiyear venture in Tampa photographic history, I have met hundreds of awesome people who share an appreciation for our city. I’ve seen tens of thousands of images and have had the opportunity to write stories about their content. I love the photo archaeology aspect and have determined that every picture has a story. I recently received this image in the mail. It was sent to the wrong address, but USPS was on their game. It came in an envelope with no return address. It is a wonderful image of a Delta Boeing 727 with a beautiful flight attendant central to it.

Trying to put a date on the image has its challenges. After Delta Airlines merged with Northeast Airlines in 1972, they began flying Boeing 727s. Also, looking over the history of Delta Airline flight attendant uniforms, and her uniform is consistent with that same timeframe. So, I would imagine this image was taken in the early 1970s. The back of the photo is stamped Leep Zelones. Leopold “Leep” Zelones was a photographer for the Niagara Falls Gazette starting at the age of 15. He got a Master’s degree in photography and was a photographic instructor for the Naval air reserve for eight years during the Korean War. In 1964 he moved to Orlando and worked for the Orlando Sentinel for a short time before opening another commercial photography business there. Major clients included Disney World, Sea World, and other commercial ventures. He was in photography for 67 years before a brief battle with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer took his life in 2014.

The photograph arrived with a newspaper clipping of a poem, The Tourist, written by Mrs. Emma M’Donald. If my reasoning is correct, Mrs. M’Donald was alive in the early 20th century, with another one of her poems being printed in the Tampa Tribune in 1918. It is a nice adjunct to the photograph!

© Chip Weiner. Old Tampa Photos