Wednesday, February 13, 2008

D is for Doors on ABC Wednesday





These are some unusually dangerous doors photographed at Alcatraz. I do not understand why the doors are so high up without any stairs leading downward to the bottom. Any ideas?

- AV

49 comments:

dot said...

I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it. I wonder. Interesting!

Sharon said...

This is an interesting D post. I wish I knew the answer to the question. I did doors this week as well.

Lilli & Nevada said...

Lots of different doors today. If only they could talk.

Anonymous said...

Alcatraz seems to be a visual photographic feast.
The odoors are an oddity aren't they but they make great subjects.
Happy Wednesday

Neva said...

I love your doors!!! great post...

Paulie said...

I almost used doors for my post today but decided to use that for another letter. . .

Maybe the last one is an easy access to repair the room. The other tow might be fire escapes -- a ladder could reach them if they were blocked by a fire in the regular way of getting out of that part???????

Leslie: said...

I went there years ago...not as a prisoner, mind you. lol These are great shots and I'm assuming your question is rhetorical.

Katney said...

Perhaps the doors once had stairs. I don't know of any other explanation. There are a lot of doors in todays posts, but all of them so different.

photowannabe said...

Tis a mystery, that's for sure. Great post for D. I love the unusual looks of these.

Cromely said...

If it was further north I would imagine there were for access in bad snow storms. But I don't think the Bay area gets quite enough snow to block the first floor.

AVCr8teur said...

Thanks everyone who commented so far. Doors are cool and they add uniqueness to some buildings.

Paulie: Your idea is feasible for the doors to be used as fire escapes for the fire truck ladders.

Katney: I was thinking the same thing that at one time there were stairs leading out of the doors, but there wasn't anyting obvious indicating that was the case.

Cromely: You are correct, it doesn't snow at all in the Bay Area. But, it is a good idea to have a second door in case the bottom one is blocked.

Rune Eide said...

Maybe for "Drop Dead"?

Silly Goose said...

Probably there were stairs OR maybe there were small porches on the outsides of the buildings. I suggest that because y 1890s house has two second-storey doors where porches once were. ;-)

FO - 2 said...

Laughing at Rune`s comment! ;)
They sure look dangerous! Charming pictures, though. :)

Gerald (Ackworth born) said...

I'm with rune!

Edmund (the explorer) Nesbitt said...

Check out my mummy's last D post...ABC Round 1. There is a site which is all about Doorways around the World.

Anne-Berit said...

Very good D-post.Have a nice day:o)

lina said...

as always, great and intriguing photos from you.

Liz Hinds said...

I've seen doors like that and you think, 'What?' Was there something there before? Or is it an emergency escape that never got finished? Or what?

Andrea said...

Doors, good "D" post. And lots of them too.

hpy said...

Doors for people with long legs?

kml said...

Haha! Perhaps the escapees would be lured to the door from the inside, and then - too late - no escape after all!

Daryl said...

Nice!

Petunia said...

Nice bunch of doors:D

Anonymous said...

they are doors? they look like big windows to me.

that is one scary plan to have doors from up and no stairs. it was probably deliberate to fool or deceive whoever plans to escape.

Pernille said...

Great doors and great photos!
Have a nice day:)

Anonymous said...

I would guess that the stairs would made of wood and they rotted and fell off over the years.

Patty said...

Very interesting post. I think debo hobo is right the stairs were probably wood. I remember my grandmother had wooden stairs on her back porch when I was a child. They were very steep and if they rotted away her door would be at the top of the house like the ones in the photo

Anonymous said...

Stairs and fire escapes were already mentioned. One thing that wasn't mentioned was that they could have been used as easier way for transporting things in and out of second floor.

K M F said...

very nice

Anonymous said...

It's for flight training purposes. :)

ArneA said...

Doors in your photos is correct as D
Doors as Face of the House will occur in two weeks

Lara said...

no idea, but you did a great job photographing those doors!

VP said...

Great D - I love the way you've captured their weatherbeaten look and then posed a question to make us look again with fresh eyes...

Dragonstar said...

These are strange doors - fascinating though!

AVCr8teur said...

Thanks again for the additional comments and ideas of what those doors were used for. Some are good possibilities and some were just hilarious that you had me cracking up for a long time. :)

Mrs Mac said...

Big pigeons?

Interesting pictures...thanks!

Fénix - Bostonscapes said...

Haven't read the comments, but I'm sure someone has come up with a good explanation!

I just wanted to wish you a lovely Valentine's Day. :)

''''''''''''''''''' ♥♥♥♥♥ ''''''''''''''''''''

MYM said...

I was thinking the same thing! Maybe it was like walking the plank or something. ;) Or maybe there used to be a balcony there.

Fantastic photos!

eastcoastlife said...

Happy Valentine's Day!!
*throws chocolates and red roses*

Isadora said...

Is it just me, or others also see a face in the first and third photo? :)

About Valentine's Day being celebrated - chalk it up for globalization or simply marketing? - but yes, it has caught on here too.

Pete M said...

Reminds me of 3 doors down, have you heard of them

Anonymous said...

I'm old. When I was young I would often see otherwise useless looking doors being opened to drop hay down to horses. But only one of the doors you show looks like that type. My guess is that the rest were designed by some government committee.

Kate said...

Bob's comment above is humorous. Your doors are a bit unusual!! A bit late with my visit, but hey, it's now St. Valentine's Day--so have a good one!

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Very nice series, AV. Alcatraz is a great place to shoot. I found the scrubby plant life there interesting.

Dana a/k/a Sunshine said...

Totally cool pictures, as always AV! The last one..I have that picture, only in a panoramic of the entire building. I loved the colors!

I don't understand the high up doors either. Maybe the really bad prisoners, they walked out and made them step off falling to their death? Ok, probably not, but its my idea.

fragileheart said...

Neat! I think my favourite is the red door.

Thanks for your comment :)

myonlyphoto said...

Wow never seen this before. Thanks for sharing, Anna :), btw no idea why so high, may be prisoners were scared of height, lol. Anna :)

Oswegan said...

Cool shots. Well done.