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Call of Duty: 1922
... of friends and I were passing the local firehouse in Brooklyn when, noticing the open overhead door and absence of the two fire ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/27/2014 - 11:03am -

Washington, D.C., 1922. "Fire layout -- answering the fire bell." The start of an exciting new mini-series here on Shorpy. Harris & Ewing photo. View full size.
Way too much funThis guy was having too much fun!
Hook But Don't Touch!Notice they have their arm hooked or wrapped around the pole.  The other arm grabbing the first and by squeezing a braking effect can be achieved.  The highly polished pole was never touched as the skin oils would snag the mandatory long sleeve shirts.  A slow sprint to the pole, a slight jump and hook the pole causing a mild rotation while descending then squeeze to slow near the bottom.
New mini series - oh no!That must mean that the old card playing cuties of 1941 series is truly over. The ladies apparently exposed all there was to reveal. Then again, the firemen may be getting a 19 year head start to see what all the heat was about. Anything is possible in time travel.
OverdressedWhy would one wear a white shirt and bow tie to a fire?
[Period photos often show fire department officers - chiefs, captains, battalion chiefs - in ties at fire scenes. Frequently in protective overclothes, but still in ties. -tterrace]
I was a fireman for a brief momentwhen I was eleven years old. A couple of friends and I were passing the local firehouse in Brooklyn when, noticing the open overhead door and absence of the two fire trucks, we decided to go on an unguided tour of the building. Upon reaching the second-floor living quarters, a booming voice from an unseen presence yelled out, "What the hell are you doing in here?"
While my pals went the slower, stairway route to the street level, I chose the expedient of the fire pole, which was a few steps closer to me. I don't remember making ANY contact with the pole, but I was surprised to discover the automatic clamshell mechanism, opened by downward pressure on the pole, that was designed to prevent objects or personnel from falling through the floor.
Guess who was about halfway down the block before the two laggards even emerged from the building? 
That firehouse was (is) the home of Engine 205/Ladder 118, which lost eight of its members on 9/11/01.
Strange goings on.I can't figure out the double exposure effect of the window slits superimposed on the fireman's shirt, as well as the odd bulge in the window shade behind him. It also looks like someone parked their fresh cigar on a wooden window sill.
[The camera's shutter was open longer than the flash burst, so the sliver of bright light coming through the window registered on the film before or after the fireman was in the spot at which he was captured by the flash. -tterrace]
Turnout gearNotice the boots look to be made of leather  as opposed to rubber. Leather is making a come back  today as most calls are now medical calls as opposed to fire calls. The bunker pants appear to be of a jeans material as opposed to the nomesx used today .,I can't wait to see the rest of this series. 
Hook the poleYou forgot, the one with the bow tie is the officer of the group, company. The official representative of the fire/city or insurance company. They "directed" the operations at the scene till relieved of duty by a senior manager.
(The Gallery, D.C., Fires, Floods etc., Harris + Ewing)

What a Dump: 1911
... in the middle. DSC had jurisdiction over the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan, so the image could be from any of those Boroughs. But Manhattan or possibly Brooklyn are most likely. There is a map in the Map Room at the NYPL that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/27/2014 - 10:02am -

November 13, 1911. "New York streets during garbage strike." Note ashcans full of actual ashes. Bain News Service glass negative. View full size.
Department of Street Cleaning District IIThe side of the horse cart is bears the notation "D.S.C" which stood for Department of Street Cleaning.  The "II" at the top was the District to which the equipment belonged.  Not sure about the numbers(?) in the middle.
DSC had jurisdiction over the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan, so the image could be from any of those Boroughs.  But Manhattan or possibly Brooklyn are most likely.  
There is a map in the Map Room at the NYPL that shows the boundaries of the old Street Cleaning Districts, but it's not online.  Today, Manhattan Sanitation District 2 covers the west side from I think Houston to 59 Streets, west of Broadway.  So odds are, this picture was taken in the same area.  
Ash CansInto the early to early-1970s, NY City Board of Ed still had schools with coal fired boilers.  Namely PS 129 Queens.  When truck showed up to cart away ash, teachers on that side of building had to close the windows!
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, er, Ash Out?I'm speculating a bit, as there's not much to go on besides the No. 529 on the building at left, but my best guess is that this picture shows Tenth Avenue on the West Side of Manhattan. The wide sidewalks suggest an avenue rather than a street, and in addition there probably would be fewer people visible if this were a street. The lack of an elevated train eliminates Ninth, Third and Second avenues, and even in 1911 the avenues between Eighth and Lexington would have been more commercial than this mostly residential block. Eleventh Avenue would have been industrial.
That leaves Tenth and First avenues as possible candidates.  I'll go with Tenth because there's something about the buildings that seems more West Side than East. If indeed this is right, there are no traces of this scene remaining today as that part of Tenth is now the site of Lincoln Tunnel ramps.  The area around 529 First Avenue is now occupied by hospital facilities. 
(The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Horses, NYC)

Queens: 1910
... in the late 1930s, Queens was scrapped in 1947. Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx (without the "The") and Manhattan were built at Maryland ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2012 - 12:54pm -

Circa 1910. "City of New York municipal ferry Queens." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Directionally Dependent ? Fore, aft, bow, stern, starboard, port, etc.
I wonderwhat "DD" stands for, does anyone know?
"Borough-Class" FerriesEntered service October, 1905 between Whitehall Street in Manhattan and Saint George in Staten Island as part of a transition to city-owned ferry operations.  Part of a five-boat commission awarded to Maryland Steel Company -- each named for a borough of the recently expanded city -- Queens was designed by the New York naval architects Millard & Maclean.  The steel-hulled boat was powered by a pair of 2-cylinder steam engines driving a four-bladed, eleven-foot propeller at each end.  Conveying up to 3,000 passengers across the harbor in as little as twenty minutes, Queens and the other members of the commission featured seating capacity variously reported from 1,800 to 1,900.  Early practice offered women a passenger cabin of their own on the main deck, uncontaminated by the noxious fumes of their tobacco-burning brothers, sons, fathers, husbands.  Seeing regular service until superseded by a new class of craft in the late 1930s, Queens was scrapped in 1947.  Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx (without the "The") and Manhattan were built at Maryland Steel's Sparrow Point yard.  Richmond was subbed out and built by locals at Burlee Dry Dock in Staten Island.  The "D/D" on the smokestacks told all who beheld her that Queens was run by the Department of Docks... (and Ferries).
Department of Docks and FerriesFrom http://www.siferry.com/
Soon after Staten Island joined New York City in 1898, ferry service between St. George and Whitehall was transferred to the city Department of Docks and Ferries on October 25th 1905 and five new ferries -- one named for each of the five boroughs -- were commissioned.
This was one of those five ferries, the one named for the borough of Queens.
DDDD would stand for Department of Docks, which was the municipal agency that ran the Staten island ferries then.
Lifeboats2000 passengers and 4 lifeboats.  Clearly pre Titanic.
My seafaring daysWhen I was a a yute I worked on the Staten Island Ferry (known in one location as the New York Ferry) in the snack bar.  The oldest boat at the time was the Mary Murray, built in the 1930's.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)

Apples and Oranges: 1943
... 55 years ago I had a view of all from my bedroom in Brooklyn Heights. California? The Macintosh apple comes from eastern ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 7:50pm -

New York, May 1943. "Pushcart fruit vendor at the Fulton Fish Market." Photo by Gordon Parks for the Office of War Information. View full size.
BuildingsAlright all you NYC experts, please name the buildings in the background. I could guess at it, but I'm sure many viewers can nail it the first time.
May-October VendingI know that even back then they performed miracles of agriculture in Imperial Valley, but somehow I doubt they were picking apples in May. It's a very safe bet this picture was taken round about October.
Flo and her motherWere quite the tomatoes.
re: BuildingsFrom left to right:
First National Bank of NY building
Cities Service building
Chase National Bank building
Consolidated Edison Steam Plant (building heat)
American Sugar Refiners building
55 years ago I had a view of all from my bedroom in Brooklyn Heights.
California?The Macintosh apple comes from eastern climes.  It was originally a Canadian product.  And it' ain't "sweet" neither.
Price of ApplesInteresting how produce prices between 1943 and now have stayed constant. According to the Federal Reserve online inflation calculator: six cents (the price of a Macintosh apple shown in this photo) in 1943 would be equivalent to 81 cents in 2012. Yesterday I purchased some Macintosh apples in Madison, Wisconsin, and they cost me 83 cents each.
(The Gallery, Gordon Parks, NYC, Stores & Markets)

Safe: 1924
... (1905 - 1969) who was attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York at the time. The contest attracted 5,000 poster entries ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2011 - 6:04pm -

February 25, 1924. Washington, D.C. "Miss Ann O'Connell." Evidently not one to run (or drive) with the fast crowd. National Photo Co. View full size.
Original artwork.This may be a watercolor painted on an illustration board or watercolor board. Note the hand lettered headline. The subhead (Cross Crossings Cautiously) looks to be typeset and could have been pasted onto the artwork. The next step would be to take it to the engraver for printing plates (if this was meant for reproduction)!
Off the CuffOne of those Shorpy moments I regret the monochrome - I would love to see the colours in Miss O'Connell's dress. The Futurist sleeves could have come straight out of the film "Metropolis" and must have been the cutting edge of fashion in 1924.  
T-H-A-T"Railroad crossing, look out for the cars. Can you spell that without any R's?" Wish I had a nickel for every time I heard it in the '50s.
Cautious in ColorI give you my crude and amateurish attempt at colorization. It shouldn't take long to see that I am inept at Photoshop so I cheated with a quick cut & paste.
[Certainly an improvement on her boring gray poster! - Dave]
Campaign to Cut Crossing WrecksWhere it all began (NYT link):
The ArtistMiss O'Connell was a stenographer at the American Railway Association, but she was not responsible for the artwork she is propping up. The artist behind this design was actually Martin H. Gambee (1905 - 1969) who was attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York at the time. 
The contest attracted 5,000 poster entries and 20,000 slogan entries. The announcement of his win was in February 1924, but the award presentation was not made until May 10, 1924 in Washington, D.C. The poster was used in a safety campaign from June through September 1924. Gambee's photo and more details of the contest are below.
(The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Railroads)

South Street Piers: 1908
... Is that the Manhattan bridge under construction behind the Brooklyn Bridge? BMW Ishadoff, that is the Manhattan Bridge, it opened ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/09/2012 - 8:09am -

New York circa 1908. "Piers along South Street." Detailed panorama made of three 8x10 glass negatives. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Heroic Manna HataFrom: history.navy.mil
Manna Hata
A former name retained.
(SP‑3396: dp. 2,000; l. 220'; b. 32'; dr. 14'; s. 14 k.; cpl. 117; a. 1 3")
Manna Hata, a steam freighter built in 1900 by Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Del., and operated along the Atlantic coast between Baltimore and New York, was commandeered by the Navy from the New York & Baltimore Transportation Co., 7 September 1918; converted to a salvage ship and commissioned 22 March 1919, Lt. Harry Huxford in command.
Manna Hata was ordered to proceed to Brest, France, 2 April 1919. She joined the First Salvage Division in supporting U.S. Naval Forces operating in European waters and tended the many ships used by occupation forces and other American military activities in Europe. In August she joined the force clearing the North Sea of the vast minefields laid during the war in an operation almost as intricate and dangerous as the original laying had been. Manna Hata ferried sweeping equipment and supplies from Brest and Liverpool to Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, where the minesweeping operations were based.
Manna Hata decommissioned at Brest 25 October 1919 and was sold at auction in London 3 November to Maritime Salvos, Ltd., of London. She subsequently served commercially as Relient.
Ship nameIf I read the ship's name on that clipper (with the fake gunports) she's the Wavertree...
[Doesn't look like it. - tterrace]
Manhattan BridgeIs that the Manhattan bridge under construction behind the Brooklyn Bridge?
BMWIshadoff, that is the Manhattan Bridge, it opened in 1909, but construction continued until 1912.
OK, What arethose semi-pyramid things on the far right skyline??
Sinks in a couple of yearsI'm not terribly happy about the penultimate letter in the name of the barque in the middle distance, but I'm relatively certain she's the four masted barque "Buteshire' (named after a now non-existent county in Scotland). Here's the best I could do in blowing up the name and a picture of her sinking in 1911:
Grain ElevatorsIf I had to guess, I'd say those semi-pyramid things on the far right skyline are grain elevators.
(Panoramas, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)

Free Hot Lunch: 1901
... I'll have another. . . This comes from the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper: “It is the custom with many saloon keepers to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2020 - 4:17pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1901. "View of E Street N.W., south side, looking west from 12th Street." 5x7 inch glass negative, D.C. Street Survey Collection.  View full size.
I'm wonderingWho or what paid for that? Because even in 1901 there was no such thing as a free lunch. Maybe they overcharged for that beer? 
Still in use (kind of) in the 1980sLunchtime is always a slow time at any bar.  No surprise that barkeeps would offer cheap food for the price of an alcoholic drink to drum up business.  Although I’m sure work after that suffered a bit.   Not sure when the “happy hour” phenom took place -- I’m thinking the 1970s? -- but in New Orleans it was common for neighborhood dives to offer red beans and rice to paying customers from 5 to 6 to get them drinking after work instead of going home.  It could get quite lively, as I recall.  I believe MADD took care of this practice, and for good reason.
Perreard's CaféI was a kid in the sixties (born in 1958), and the style of lettering on that café sign, especially the big languorous C, reminds me of hippy-themed graphics, a bit artsy-craftsy, just before the more explosive and mind-blowing style of psychedelia.
Got it first time!They figured on selling enough beer to the patrons that a cheap lunch could be given away without hampering profitability.  (Remember, they promised "free" and "hot" -- not a word about "good".)  In fact, free lunch at saloons was something of a running gag in Crockett Johnson's Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley comic strip back around WW2.
Same concept is still alive (or was until fairly recently) in Las Vegas: you could get a fairly pleasant hotel room cheap, with restaurant meals surprisingly inexpensive.  In fact, the room and food were operating at a loss in hopes of enticing the guests into the hotel casino -- which raked in enough money to cover everything.
+115Below is the same view from June of 2016.  The top of the Willard Hotel can be seen on the right side of the 1901 view but only the Willard's flagpole is visible in the 2016 view.
Once got a free lunch in MexicoMy wife and I ordered a beer each and we were served, gratis, six delightful little dishes of stuff like frijoles, ceviche, tortilla.  A place on the coast near Merida called Progreso.
TANSTAAFL"Free" lunch, paid for the lunchtime crowd drinking overpriced beer.
C hereThe C in the Perreard's Cafe sign wasn't native to the "hippy-themed graphics" of the middle Sixties. Those designers were ripping off the French Art Nouveau movement, oh-so-new-and-fashionable here in 1901. (Think Alphonse Mucha.)
I'll have another. . .This comes from the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper:
“It is the custom with many saloon keepers to furnish their bars daily with a lunch bowl for customers.  A German generally has a plate of pretzels and Limburger cheese ... the former thick with salt stimulates the appetite for drink.  A Frenchman sets out French bread filled with caraway seeds and a bowl of garlic sliced in vinegar but an Englishman sticks to yellow cheese and crackers. ... The American saloonkeeper varies his bill of fare. Sometimes he runs to chowder then to bean soup He may have tripe and vinegar today but tomorrow he fancies raw onions in vinegar and army biscuits and ham sandwiches.  Pepper and salt are used in unlimited quantities.”
George Ade from The Old Time Saloon:
“The average free lunch was no feast, but a stingy few edibles known to give customers an immediate desire for something to drink.
Dried Herring alias the Blind Robin a former fish imperfectly preserved in salt.   
There were seasonal treats as well, spring onions or radishes when they were cheap, but as he reminded us “There was no closed season for dill pickles.”
(The Gallery, D.C., D.C. Street Survey, Eateries & Bars)

World Trade Center: 1976
... 1976. "World Trade Center, New York. Exterior view with Brooklyn Bridge. Minoru Yamasaki, architect." 4x5 inch color transparency, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2021 - 12:44pm -

1976. "World Trade Center, New York. Exterior view with Brooklyn Bridge. Minoru Yamasaki, architect." 4x5 inch color transparency, Balthazar Korab Studio.  View full size.
I admit... that I used to highly dislike the World Trade Center buildings as a very young one. I thought even back then that they were bland and so boring. But they grew into me as I got older. I began to appreciate Mr. Yamasaki's work. I wanted to visit them when I ever got to see NYC back in the 90's.
And when in 2007 when first visiting NYC with my hubbie and friends they had the idea to go see the site of the destruction. I totally hated the idea of that kind of tourism. I just stayed at the hotel. I remember the exact time and place I was on that day. It's burned into my memory.
New York City Visit in 1986Ten years later I took this Shorpy photo at the same location.
(The Gallery, Kodachromes, Balthazar Korab, Boats & Bridges, NYC)

Alice Under Control: 1908
... have "hired a furniture van to cart the elephant through Brooklyn, across the Brooklyn Bridge, through downtown Manhattan, and then on the ferry to Staten ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/26/2016 - 5:28pm -

New York, 1908. "The end of the rampage -- 'Alice' under control, and thinking it over. Two zookeepers with restrained elephant lying on the ground after running free around the New York Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo)." Gelatin silver print from the William Temple Hornaday papers, Library of Congress. View full size.
More On AliceThe Elephant That Escaped and Swam to Staten Island.
and
Alice Put to Sleep.
Just Wanted Some New SceneryThis was not Alice's only attempt to escape. In June 1904 she was a resident at the Luna Park amusement, and sneaked out of her shed with two other elephants, taking to the river to swim from Coney Island to Staten Island where the New Dorp police took her into custody. (The other two elephants wandered in a different direction and were soon found).
"Press agent or no press agent, we got him, and we are going to keep him till a bondsman shows up," a police officer said, according to printed accounts of the event.
[The press agent would be Luna Park PR man Fred Thompson, who according to contemporary accounts is alleged to have "hired a furniture van to cart the elephant through Brooklyn, across the Brooklyn Bridge, through downtown Manhattan, and then on the ferry to Staten Island. Once near shore, Alice was released into the water." -Dave]
Elephantidae PrecursorHow sad and heartbreaking.  It appears that Alice was under-nourished.  Perhaps she needed better attention and care.  
(The Gallery, Animals, NYC)

1,568 Questions
... if we must believe Mr. Foley. Miss Mildred Aitken of Brooklyn, N.Y., is the pretty sightseer in this picture, receiving directions ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 3:11pm -

April 27, 1937. "Capitol's busiest policeman. Besides being an arm of the law, a Capitol policeman has to also act as an information bureau. Frank Foley, officer on duty at the entrance of the Senate office building from 8 to 4, kept a record today of the number of questions asked him. At the end of his day's hitch the total showed 1,568 questions asked, and answered correctly and with a smile, if we must believe Mr. Foley. Miss Mildred Aitken of Brooklyn, N.Y., is the pretty sightseer in this picture, receiving directions from officer Foley." View full size.
Scene:   Across from the potato display.Cop:   Hey!  Lookit dem two dames havin' a donnybrook over a couple a p'tatoes!
Woman:  Goodness gracious!   Shouldn't you do something, officer?
Cop:   Nah!  Dey'll wear each udder out an' head back ta Portland sooner er later.
To the Batmobile!Quick, Robin - Chief O'Hara and Catwoman are in unholy alliance!
ContrastWhat a perfect shot to show how things had changed in only 30 years!  Amazing.  Imagine poor Officer Foley confronted with about 12 or 20 visitors at one time. It was truly a more innocent time on so many levels!
The best in town!Look how enthusiastic that police officer is in answering that lady's question. And I bet you she asked the officer something for which he was well familiar.
"Where can I find the best donuts in town, officer?"
Among the answers"That one there, the one with the funny shoes; that's a libertarian"
The No. 1 questionI work part-time at a library.  The number one question we are asked every day is "Where's the restroom?"  I wonder how many times Officer Foley heard that one as well.
[You could also say that's the No. 2 question. - Dave]
1568In eight hours with no lunch or bathroom breaks, Officer Foley was answering (and logging) better than three questions every minute of the shift. Pretty impressive.
Patrol... which is exactly why my husband decided NOT to become an NSA or Supreme Court officer, and instead works as a county deputy. Not that those jobs don't get interesting occasionally, but he got depressed just watching the check-in and question-answering duty, so he decided he didn't want to go that route. 
(The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing)

Second Shift: 1943
... No. 6 line streetcars have come up through Fairfield and Brooklyn to get to this point; the autos at right got here much quicker ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/27/2014 - 7:03pm -

April 1943. "Traffic jam on the road from the Bethlehem Fairfield shipyard to Baltimore as the second shift of workers leaves the plant." Medium-format negative by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Hope they had rideshare!They had 27,000 employees at their peak
2nd shift?Second shift ending in daylight?  Most places 2nd shift ends between the hours of 11PM and midnight.  Yet this seems to be an overcast morning.
[The second shift at the shipyard ended at 3 p.m., according to the Office of War Information. - Dave]
Presto, Changeo!Four lanes magically become two!
Long way aroundWe're looking north on Hanover Street. Frankfurst Avenue is slipping in to the right,and the Patapsco River is at far right. The landmark gas tanks of South Baltimore are in the distance directly above the Esskay sign. The long line of billboards behind it was later occupied by South Baltimore General Hospital, known today as Harborview Hospital.
The dump truck on the left side road was likely headed for the city landfill at Cherry Hill, closed in the early '70s. 
The Baltimore Transit No. 6 line streetcars have come up through Fairfield and Brooklyn to get to this point; the autos at right got here much quicker directly from Fairfield on Frankfurst Avenue. This mess was later relieved by construction of Potee Street parallel to and one block west of Hanover Street. What's seen here is now one-way northbound, and we don't have to put up with shift changes at the Shipyard anymore.
Long Way HomeMy maternal grandfather worked at the Bethlehem Fairfield shipyard during WWII even though he was a butcher by trade (and bought a small grocery store/butcher shop after with war with the money he made at the shipyard).  Although my grandparents lived about only a few miles away from the shipyard as the crow files, they were on the other side of the harbor and, thus, my grandfather had a long way home.  Given that my grandparents did not have a car until the 1950s, my grandfather commuted by streetcars just like the ones in the photo.
(The Gallery, Baltimore, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Marjory Collins, Streetcars, WW2)

Triboro TB: 1940
... given NYC's penchant for closing hospitals left and right (Brooklyn's Long Island College Hospital got the ax just the other day), Triboro ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2013 - 6:42pm -

December 23, 1940. "Triboro Hospital for Tuberculosis. Parsons Boulevard, Jamaica, Queens. Typical six-bed ward, to balcony. Eggers & Higgins, architect." Large-format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
Ship ShapeI had always heard this hospital started life as a Naval Hospital, as in a forerunner of the VA system, and that's why it's shaped like a battleship. SS Tuberculosis?
Floor TilesWow,  for a brand new hospital I can't believe how those floor tiles make it look like it's been there for a hundred years already!
Matron would never approveMatron would never approve of those lumpy-bumpy beds. All beds must be made to within an inch of their lives, preferably with straight edges and flat surfaces that would put a set of mathematical instruments to shame.
Even in this day and age of lax standards, beds must be made with precision and care, and even I have sent care staff back into rooms to remake beds that fail to meet standards of either cleanliness or visual appeal. Of course, in these times the alternating pressure air mattresses in wide use make the snappy hospital corners a difficult thing to achieve, but it still can be done.
Brand newThe hospital opened in 1940, so it's brand new in this picture.  Quite possibly this ward had yet to admit its first patient. Somewhat surprisingly, given NYC's penchant for closing hospitals left and right (Brooklyn's Long Island College Hospital got the ax just the other day), Triboro Hospital is still there, though of course it's no longer a tuberculosis facility.  It's now a currently-vacant part of Queens Hospital Center.
NYC's biggest tuberculosis hospital by far, in fact it was the biggest in the world, was Seaview Hospital on Staten Island.  Built over a period of about 25 years starting shortly before World War I, at its peak it housed thousands of patients in more than twenty buildings.  It even had the world's only maternity ward in a tuberculosis hospital (how's that for a cheery thought?)  
Seaview was shut down in the early 1960's, though some of the newer buildings were converted into a still-extant rehabilitation facility.  Several of the old buildings still remain in extremely decrepit condition, in fact they are so decrepit as to deter all but the most intrepid and/or foolhardy urban explorers.  Here's a photo and video gallery from a recent exploration:
http://nyulocal.com/city/2012/02/24/exploring-staten-islands-abandoned-s...
Now-vacating T-BuildingThis building is currently known as the "T-Building" of the former Queens Medical Center, now part of the Queens Hospital Center. The lengthy balconies, running most of the length of its southern side on seven levels, and rounded ends, give it distinctive character. QHC board minutes show that the few remaining operations there are being relocated. According to a January 2013 story in the Queens Times-Ledger, a proposal is pending to convert it into a residential facility for low-income patients with chronic illnesses. There is, as they say, neighborhood opposition.  See article here.
You - Outside the Door!Move to the middle, you're throwing off the symmetry!
Depressing placeTB wards are very depressing structures, more so when one considers that until the late 1960s, we didn't have a real way to treat TB.  Meaning that when someone went to a place like this, it wasn't to be cured or get better. It was to simply die.
[Effective treatments, including cures, for TB date to the development of antibiotics in the 1940s, not 1960s. Most TB infections are asymptomatic; for active cases requiring hospitalization before the antibiotic era, mortality was around 50 percent. - Dave]
What makes it worse is the practices of the day for dealing with the deceased.  Once a person passed away from the illness, every possession in their room which they came in contact with was incinerated.  This was done because at the time they did not know how the illness was transmitted.  What makes it worse, is that in most every TB hospital, there was also a crematorium.  So the bodies were also burned.  Once again, it is due to the fact that they didn't know how the illness was transmitted.
Large TB wards, like Waverly, had their own crematoriums on site; with several retorts to handle the sheer number of deaths.  Others would contract it out to funeral homes or in some cases press the hospital's own incinerator into use.
(The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, Medicine)

Bob and Ray: 1925
... to 1928, when it was sold to the Metropolitan League's Brooklyn Visitation club. National Photo Company glass negative. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/04/2012 - 3:22am -

"1925. Bob Grody & manager Ray Kennedy, Palace Laundry." The Palace Club, the Washington, D.C., franchise of the American Professional Basketball League, was sponsored by the Palace Laundry and existed as a team from the league's formation in 1925 to 1928, when it was sold to the Metropolitan League's Brooklyn Visitation club. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
Full court pressMakes sense the team belonged to a laundry - look at those crisply pressed shorts!
The knee pads......are killing me! I just can't get over it. Every time I see one of these old basketball pictures I can't help but giggle at the knee pads. They just don't seem very comfortable to move in. 
"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far"
Dude, it's totally...grody.
Bob & RayWe will now switch over to Wally Baloo for the interview. . . 
Not Wally...... more likely Biff Burns ("rounding third and being thrown out at home.")
(The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Sports)

Fare Maiden: 1943
... memories of the TV show "The Honeymooners". It starred, as Brooklyn's most famous Bus Driver, Ralph Kramden, brought to life in hysterical ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2014 - 7:24pm -

June 1943. Washington, D.C. "Hattie B. Sheehan, a streetcar conductor for the Capital Transit Company." And if all you have is bills, no problem. Photo by Esther Bubley for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Change?Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters ... and what?
[Half dollars. Or not; see comment above. -tterrace]
Streetcar Nellie


Washington Post,  October 10, 1943.

Hillbilly Songs of Motorwomen
Resound Through Car Barns


Providing leisure-hour entertainment for their fellow “motormen” at their lounge opposite the carbarn at 14th and Decatur sts. nw., are four women operators of the Capital Transit Co., all of them girls from the hills who break into rollicking folk tunes when the day’s streetcar run is ended. 

Mrs. Hattie Sheehan, known to her friends as “Streetcar Nellie” is a smiling 30-year-old operator, who breaks into songs learned back home in Harrisonburg, Va. Although “I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad” is not confined to the mountains, it is a favorite with Mrs. Sheehan who explained yesterday that “it was a good theme song for us.” … 
Non Cents!There were no tubes for cents or half dollars on those belt changers as a general rule. That changer most likely had 2 tubes for quarters, 2 tubes for dimes and 1 tube for nickels or 2 for nickels and 1 for dimes. Also, Gunther's beer was brewed in Baltimore City, MD.
[You're right about the half dollars. She has a Johnson Universal Changer, which could accommodate five tubes in any combination, though according to the original patent not halves: "The coins according to their particular denominations are deposited in the coin tube elements... element 1 being designed for dimes, the element 2, for pennies, the elements 3 and 4 for nickels and the element 5 for quarters. Of course, any number of elements of a particular denomination of coins may be used..." -tterrace]
Glen EchoThe amusement park was still a popular streetcar destination in 1943. Hattie probably kicked up her heels at the Spanish Ballroom on more than one occasion.
Don't forget to buy tokensTwin City Lines Minneapolis/St. Paul changers had pennies, nickels,  dimes, quarters, and a double height section that stuck out above the top for tokens.
More on HattieAt age 18, Hattie Lucas Bennett married Emory P. Sheehan in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in their home county of Rockingham. By the 1940 census they were still living outside Harrisonburg, with Emory working as a bookkeeper and Hattie in a shoe factory. According to records of Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg, Emory died April 9, 1945, when he was about 44. She lived until July 2, 2000. Her brief obituary in the Harrisonburg Daily News Record the following day notes that "she was a bus and streetcar driver for D.C. Transit during World War II." 
How Sweet It IsAs attractive as Ms Sheehan is, she brings back memories of the TV show "The Honeymooners". It starred, as Brooklyn's most famous Bus Driver, Ralph Kramden, brought to life in hysterical performances by Jackie Gleason. The sitcom played from 1951 through 1955, initially on the DuMont network and later on CBS. The cast included Art Carney as Kramden's Sewer working Buddy, Audrey Meadows as Gleason's gutsy wife and Joyce Randolph as Mrs Norton. A local TV station WPIX will show some of the Honeymooner episodes every so often as a fill in or  inserted into a NY Yankee's rain delay. On Christmas Day after their Yule Log burns out, they'll have a Marathon of these shows. As old as they are they're still very funny. 
Attached is an ad for a Ralph Kramden children outfit, not unlike Hattie's.
DestinationFrom the window route sign, it appears that this streetcar is from the 14th Street line, Route 50 (Short or cutback service) from the Bureau of Engraving to 14th & Decatur Street. 
(The Gallery, D.C., Esther Bubley, Streetcars)

Gotham Rising: 1907
New York circa 1907. "Brooklyn Bridge." Manhattan's 20th-century skyline takes shape. At left, the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 3:21pm -

New York circa 1907. "Brooklyn Bridge." Manhattan's 20th-century skyline takes shape. At left, the Singer Building under construction. View full size.
Men onlyWere women discouraged from walking the bridge?  (I did it with my wife last summer).
So Many GiantsAlso shown is the double domed Park Row Building (world's tallest building from 1899 to 1908), the NY Tribune building (just left of the bridge, built 1875), the American Tract Society Building (behind the light post, built 1894) and the beautifully domed New York World building (1890-1955).
The man looking back at the camera.He hadn't a clue that he was looking 100 years into the future.
Park Row BuildingThe building with the two domes just left of center in the picture is the Park Row Building. It was the tallest building in the world at the turn of the century. Still stands facing City Hall Park (it is the home of J&R Music World), but is now dwarfed by the Woolworth Building.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)

Darken My Door: 1943
... Republic Aviation, Mitchel Field, Liberty Aircraft, The Brooklyn Navy yard, and all their supporting manufactories, to name just a few. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/04/2013 - 5:27pm -

Circa 1943. "Civilian defense in the United States. Blackout measures." For the especially conscientious. Office of War Information. View full size.
Don't worryThose venetian blinds are pointing down, no Axis bombers will see that.
Whew!Thanks for the explanation!  I thought this was the next step in the ongoing card party those three ladies are having.
Another door?I really hope she has another way out of the house in case of an emergency.
That black electrical tape is going to ruin the paint, her husband is gonna be tee'd off.
CounterpoductiveHow do you use that door as a door once you have taped it shut? Re-tape it every time after you opened and closed it again? The Sticky Tape Administration must have provided a major supply for each and every household. 
The way I have seen it in movies (European theatre, Axis side), tape was not used to seal doors and windows around the edges. After all, they were resting in frames anyway. Light has a hard time to go around a corner. 
However, they did use tape (if available) to put in on the panes, to make the glass more resistent against airblasts, at least if the bombs went off at some distance. And even that was only an X on each pane. 
For blackout you used heavy drapes (if available), and otherwise you would put blankets over your windows during the night. Less frequently used windows (such as in basements) would have had something permanently nailed on, or else have been painted over.
Block WardenDuring the war my Grandfather was a block warden in Berkeley Ca.  Various neighborhoods and areas had people assigned to check for any stray light leaks at night.
Re: Heavy DrapesI'm not quite old enough to remember the War, but the house we moved into on New York's Long island in the late 40s had opaque dark green roller-type window shades left over from the blackout.
Blackouts on L.I.Although only five years old, I remember very well the blackouts we had on Long Island. The roll-up shades on the windows were a very dark and opaque green, and if you heard the siren, the lights were turned down, if there was any light showing outside, you could expect a knock on the door from the Air Raid Warden. Dad had put black tape on the upper half of the auto headlights. All of this no doubt due to the close proximity of the defense plants scattered all over the island. Grumman Aircraft, Republic Aviation, Mitchel Field, Liberty Aircraft, The Brooklyn Navy yard, and all their supporting manufactories, to name just a few.
Real deal  The threat from bombers may have been theoretical, but German U-boats did sink a lot of merchant ships off the American coast after Pearl Harbor, many of them silhouetted against the lights of the eastern seaboard.
Sitting Pretty On The SinkOne of my first memories was an air raid drill about 1943.
I was sitting on the drainboard of our kitchen sink (pronunced zink in my neck of the woods) as Mom gave me a bath while in the far distance was the wail of the sirens and in the near distance was the scurrying of my father and older sister making sure all lights were out.
My next memory came a few years later where I can see myself riding a tricycle on Elmora Avenue shouting, "The war is over! The war is over!"
I didn't have a clue as to what war was over and was probably hoping the sirens would sing tonight and make everybody turn off the lights.
(The Gallery, WW2)

Pain's Spectacle: 1905
Brooklyn circa 1905. "Oriental Hotel and bath house, Manhattan Beach, N.Y." At ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/09/2016 - 5:55pm -

Brooklyn circa 1905. "Oriental Hotel and bath house, Manhattan Beach, N.Y." At left, a sign pointing the way to the bicycle track as well as "Pain's Spectacle in Fireworks." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
No YorkKnowing NY, I'd venture to guess the signpost (behind the benches on the right) is a long list of the things not allowed on the grass.
Early weather serviceAt far right there appears to be a rooftop weather station.  My, they were big back then.
Pain's Spectacle in FireworksJames Pain was a British entrepreneur who presented a dramatic version of Giovanni Pacini's operatic extravaganza The Last Day of Pompeii. The extravaganza was presented at Coney Island from 1879 to 1914.
"Pain staged his pyrodrama in at least 37 U.S. locations, including Los Angeles in 1905. This libretto comes from the pyrodrama's appearance in Cincinnati in 1891.
Pain required a sizable down payment to bring the spectacle to a city, usually for a one- to two-week run. Civic authorities had to build a multi-acre venue with a large body of water, a long platform, and seating for approximately 10,000 viewers. Efficient public transportation was also critical. The actors, however, were secondary, and local performers trained by Pain's staff played most roles."
Pain also produced an updated show depicting the Battle of San Juan Hill in Aurora, Illinois in 1899. It included 300 people on stage and 12,000 square yards of oil painting. That is 2.5 acres. 
Whichever show the patrons saw (Pompeii of San Juan Hill), They got their money's worth.
Gentility & Simplicity Early 1900's seems to have been an encouraging time. Shorpy's brilliant photos and clever descriptions has made me especially fond of this specific American period. 
Thank you, for this enchanting portal allowing us all a glimpse into the past.
Are we experiencing a *theme* day?Here, we have a great billboard pitching Pain's Spectacle in Fireworks, and just earlier, The Great Creatore -
*both* featured in a single scene of The Music Man!
p.s: In light of John J's comment, it's clear that Meredith Wilson was writing from current events of the setting. In the Music Man scene, the fireworks "spectacle" in question was even "The Last Days of Pompeii"!
A nifty mapMy favorite images on Shorpy are Coney/Brighton ones!
The NYPL has a nice excerpt from a Fire Insurance map of this area.
http://nyplmaps.tumblr.com/image/25718182000
Our photographer stands with the Brighton Beach Hotel right behind him.  The Manhattan Beach Baths to the right, and the background is the Oriental Hotel.
I don't believe I've ever seen a photo of the Manhattan Beach Baths before.  So this is, to me, a real treat!
(The Gallery, DPC, Kids, NYC)

2 a.m. February 12, 1908
... and upward. At the side door of Journal Building near Brooklyn Bridge, New York." Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 5:20pm -

2 A.M. February 12, 1908. "Papers just out. Boys starting out on morning round. Ages 13 years and upward. At the side door of Journal Building near Brooklyn Bridge, New York."  Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Seven Papers to Choose From!Wow, I spot no less than seven different newspapers being held by the boys. And I love the apprehensive look the boy in the middle has as he looks at the cigarette sporting boy next to him. 
Small headline"Dead in Bay with Weights tied to Boot" is on front page of paper in Lower Right Hand Corner  in the Evening Mail.
The boy holding paper looks as though he was very sad. I wonder if is about the dead body or just the miserable conditions they appear to lead.
Strangely enough I am 84 years old and remember those days and they were actually good. We simply didn't know any better thus we were happy.
Don
HeadlineNotice the boy in the lower right hand corner. Enlarged picture of the newspaper tell of a Body found in the bay with weights around his ankles.
Oh...the humanityThese boys appear to be so young to be thrust into the gritty dog-eat-dog world. It makes you wonder what talents each had and if they ever got a chance to develop them. Some ten years later, several of them probably found themselves holding a rifle in France or Belgium. The street smarts they learned at such a young age may have actually helped them to survive. 
(The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, NYC)

Smokestack Industry: 1910
... of the 21st Centuries. There were many walls near the Brooklyn Bridge decorated with the Castoria signage painted just in time for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2015 - 10:08am -

Circa 1910. "Maumee River waterfront -- Toledo, O." Railroads represented on the coal cars: Hocking Valley, Kanawha and Michigan, Zanesville & Western, Toledo & Ohio Central. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative. View full size.
McMyler coal dumperThe leftmost pier-side structure is a McMyler coal unloader.   This runs a RR car up a huge elevator and then bodily tips the whole car into an adjustable chute which carries the coal into a ship's hold. In the photo, a Kanawha & Michigan car is on the lift.
The loaded cars were pushed up the ramp and onto the elevator not by a locomotive but rather by a pushing device called a "Barney" that travelled between the running rails. 
The track which slopes down to the left of the dumper, and then ascends again on the left edge of the frame is the very interesting empty car return of the McMyler system.
After the elevator brings the now-empty car back down, the car is "kicked" to the left and rolls down the slope, gaining momentum. The car then rolls uphill to a dead stop out of the photo, whereupon it starts rolling in the other direction.  Right before the dead end is a spring-loaded track switch which diverts the rolling car toward the empty car storage yard. 
There is one of these dumpers standing abandoned in Port Reading NJ on the Arthur Kill. It has not been used since 1980. The return track structure has suffered severe fire damage.
I know a man whose father was employed by the Reading RR to ride the coasting empty cars coming from the McMyler unloader. His function was to apply the hand brakes when they were about to couple to the string of empty cars in the collection yard. Think of what it would be like to do this at night in a snowstorm! 
Dr Fletcher, I PresumeIn the background of this picture there is a wall with an ad for Chas H Fletcher"s Castoria, a nostrum ready to cure some of the ills of the 19th, 20th and even the beginning of the 21st Centuries. There were many walls near the Brooklyn Bridge decorated with the Castoria signage painted just in time for span's opening in 1883. The last of the signs that I know of were taken down in NYC about 2005. A better view is attached.
That belching smokestackThe densest plume of smoke is coming from a slender steel stack on a powerhouse between the McMyler coal unloader and the three gantry cranes.  The RR car elevator on a McMyler coal dumper is powered by a reciprocating steam engine. This is no doubt the McMyler's boiler house.
Hocking Valley coal is bituminous coal, which can produce volumes of visible smoke.
There are many interesting details in this image, including a clamshell bucket resting on the near pier close to the combined office and scale house of the Toledo Fuel Co. 
The presence of the Toledo & Ohio Central work train consisting of a tool car, two camp cars, and a flat car with a rest for the boom of a small RR maintenance crane might explain the presence of the clamshell bucket.
All-in-all, a "delicious" image of a time of great industries which were unfortunately accompanied by great pollution! 
Model in operationHere is a working model of a coal unloader. The empty car return is clearly seen. The model does not use the 'Barney' but rather a regular engine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLbqnw2bKeI
A current viewHere is the McMyler in New Jersey. It is an interesting "contraption."
A snapshot of C&O historyThis photo captures a point in Chesapeake & Ohio history where all of these roads were to some extent or another under its control. In this year the Hocking Valley got merged into the C&O; the other lines got merged together and and eventually ended up as part of the New York Central due to antitrust concerns. Of course much later in the Young period the NYC and C&O were closely allied, which was more or less made permanent when CSX and NS split up Conrail.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads, Toledo)

Night Game: 194x
... "Night baseball at Ebbets Field -- Cincinnati Reds vs. Brooklyn Dodgers." International News photo. View full size. Bush ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/17/2018 - 12:16pm -

New York circa 1940s. "Night baseball at Ebbets Field -- Cincinnati Reds vs. Brooklyn Dodgers." International News photo. View full size.
Bush league infieldIs that a group of photographers I see right up there beside the batter?  That's something I've never seen!  But I also haven't ever watched a lot of baseball, especially of this vintage.  I've also seen just enough baseball to know that that infield looks like it could use a little maintenance. 
Field standardsI'm always surprised at the standards of today with regard to turf when I see old photos or film of sports venues from 70 or 80 years ago. This is not a case of incompetent turf maintenance, it was the standard. Golf is the same way. Look at the greens in old Bobby Jones film and you'll see grass that would get a course superintendent fired immediately. Even in those made-for-TV golf tournaments in the early '60s you can see how far turf maintenance standards have come. 
Photogs on the fieldIt used to be commonplace back in this era for press photographers to be on the field, and not just at home plate. Here is a good article discussing what it was like.
A Couple of Changes Since ThenYes, photographers used to be allowed on the field.  That practice stopped in the National League in 1954.  Also, you will notice the lack of an umpire at second base.  Four-umpire crews did not become standard in the major leagues until 1952.  
Date of gameI believe this is might be a photo of the first night game ever played at Ebbetts Field June 15, 1938. The last year the Dodgers wore white caps at home was 1938 and the opponent is correct. If this is from that date this would be the game where Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Vander Meer threw the second of his two consecutive no-hitters (the only pitcher ever to do this)
Why did the photogs need to be that close?Film was slower (ASA 400 Tri-X was a fifties invention) and grainier, thus the 2"x3" or 4"x5" Graphics and flashes (to support the high shutter speed necessary to stop action and the smaller aperture to get good depth of field). Telephotos were not common, so to get a good resolution shot, you needed to be close.   
The Reds have experience at this night stuff...They were the first Major League team to play a game under lights in 1935.... 
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mlb-holds-first-night-game
(The Gallery, NYC, Sports)

Manhattan Bridge: 1910
... New York circa 1910. "Manhattan Bridge and East River from Brooklyn." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2012 - 2:54pm -

New York circa 1910. "Manhattan Bridge and East River from Brooklyn." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Interesting contrastThree years earlier, when the bridge was still being built, Catharine Ferry was still operating and the Carsten Coal Company occupied the spot where now John F. Schmadeke sells "coal for tugs":

The King of CoalJust when you think your coal pier is of a workable size along comes good 'ol John Schmadeke and ups the ante, is twice as big and has the sign to prove it.
DumboThat whole area along the river in Dumbo is a park now.  Great place to skip stones on the river.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)

Knitting Class: 1942
... at the Red Hook housing project community center in Brooklyn, New York. Photograph by Arthur Rothstein, June 1942. View full ... 
 
Posted by Ken - 09/08/2011 - 7:06pm -

Students attend a class in knitting at the Red Hook housing project community center in Brooklyn, New York. Photograph by Arthur Rothstein, June 1942. View full size.
Class in Knitting?It may be a knitting class, but at the moment, she's using a crochet hook.
not knittingShe isn't knitting - that's crochet.
AdmirationHow so very, very proud of him you must be.
There really isn't much talent involved in taking a picture ... thanks to technology ... not matter what the era, it was simply a matter of pointing at what it was you wanted to photograph and press the shutter.
Where the Magic came in, was in the ability to "see" something in a scene that you wanted to preserve ... more than an image, an emotion, a story.
Unlike a film producer, with miles of film, or a writer with reams of paper, for a photographer, the moment, the emotion, the entire story is caputred in a fraction of a second. That was and is the art.
To that you father, was truly an artist ... even more, your father was truly a Magician.
Dale
Passing shipsHi Dale
I must have been writing to you while you were writing to me. I am incredibly proud of my Dad and felt very close to him when I watched your video. It was almost if I was seeing what he saw. Thank you very much for your kind words above. I really was moved to tears after viewing your video and what you wrote is magic to me. 
All the best
Eve
AdmirationAnother great photo by my Dad! Never saw this before, thanks! 
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids, NYC)

A Fast Crowd: 1919
... are the Kirkman Borax Soap people, whose factory is in Brooklyn. Nowadays their advertising efforts are almost solely confined to ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/29/2011 - 2:32pm -

New York circa 1919. "Soap box derby." Using actual soap boxes! 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.
 Save the Coupons


Printers' Ink: A Journal For Advertisers.
 September 13, 1899. 


Premiums As Advertisements.
 By Richard Wallace.

In the opinion of many, premium-giving is a poor way to advertise. Yet there are others who find the system to pay, and pay well. Notable among such concerns are the Kirkman Borax Soap people, whose factory is in Brooklyn. Nowadays their advertising efforts are almost solely confined to their system of offering premiums for coupons and wrappers, and the only mediums they use are their own packages of Borax Soap. These usually contain a large circular, which describes, by illustration and text, the various premiums that are to be given, and the number of coupons or wrappers required to obtain any particular article.
The premiums range downward from clocks and watches to mere chromos*, but that the scheme is popular and profitable is shown by the fact that the firm finds it necessary to keep a staff of clerks whose sole duties are to keep track of the applications for premiums, count coupons, and see that the proper articles are sent to those asking for them.
…
The success of the premium scheme lies in the fact that once a woman begins to save her coupons or wrappers she perseveres in the collection until she has the desired number, and so has to continue using the soap. This, by the way. has its own inherent merits, and so the woman who once begins to use it continues to do so, and gets article after article in exchange for her coupons. There are thousands of names on the premium books that have been there for many years.



*chromos — Chromolithographs. a multi-color lithograph.
Safety First!What, no helmet? No padding? 
Friend of AnnieThe little girl looks like she came from Little Annie's orphanage! Make me wonder where the red headed girl is?
Citius, altius, fortiusThe kids appear to be looking at two (or more) photographers. Hopefully, their heads weren't chopped off in those photos, too.
Further, one kid hasn't figured out the bad news: their prize is what appears to be a case of canned goods. Were they able to trade it for a pair of roller skates and candy before their mothers found out?
Thomas Roberts & Co.It looks like they were still in business at least 36 years later (at 5815 North Broad Street in Philly).
(The Gallery, G.G. Bain, Kids, NYC)

Fantasy Island: 1932
... 1932. "New York city views. Lower Manhattan from foot of Brooklyn Bridge." Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/02/2016 - 1:25pm -

April 4, 1932. "New York city views. Lower Manhattan from foot of Brooklyn Bridge." Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
Pier 16Pier 16 - without the shed - It is now the home of the South Street Seaport Museum.  
To the right of Pier 16 is the Fulton Fish Market.  How did you find the Fulton Fish Market? Follow your nose. 
Al Smith the politician when asked about his education said he was a graduate of "FFM"  Fulton Fish Market.
The dome of the late lamented Singer Building can be seen on the right.  
I believe the smoke stacks are those of the Edison Electric generating station - long gone, but commemorated with a plaque today. 
Just on the edge of the frame on the left - the pier of Standard Fruit and Steamship - a lot of bananas arrived there.
Porto Rico?They shortened it to fit on the building or they just couldn't spell back then?
["Porto Rico" was used by the United States from the Treaty of Paris in 1898 until changed back to "Puerto Rico" by an act of Congress in May 1932. -tterrace]
NYC ZoningThis picture shows the result of the 1916 NYC Zoning laws that mandated "setbacks" on multi-story skyscrapers. That's why so many of them "stairstep" as they go up in height. A good discussion here, which also helps explain why the recently-Shorpied Lever House does NOT have setbacks.
City of the Future?Built from Lego blocks.
(The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)

All Smiles: 1942
June 1942. "Brooklyn, New York. Red Hook housing development. Nursery children at the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2012 - 7:05pm -

June 1942. "Brooklyn, New York. Red Hook housing development. Nursery children at the Community Center. Some come from the surrounding neighborhood. About 100 children attend." View full size. Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Office of War Information.
Love Them!I love them all and want to squeeze them. And yet...let's say they were all 4 when this picture was taken, that means that they are all 69 years old now. These are my grandparents! 
I love this picture!I love this picture!
If only it was in color!I wish it was in color, I'll bet it would just be striking to see all those old fabrics against all those smiling faces! What a great picture, makes me smile too!
Adorable!I'm with Anonymous...free hugs all around! 
Such purity and innocence...in their eyes...I love them all!
(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Kids, NYC)

River Crossing: 1907
Circa 1907. "Brooklyn Bridge, East River, New York." From a group of pictures that are ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 7:24pm -

Circa 1907. "Brooklyn Bridge, East River, New York." From a group of pictures that are probably Detroit Publishing's best known photographs. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Remarkably avant-gardeEspecially for 1907.
BowlersAs far as men's fashion goes, this is my absolute favorite era. I would love to be able to walk down a street in a suit and bowler hat these days. Unfortunately, I'd probably be mistaken as either a performance artist or a complete nutjob. 
Building UpVery interesting to see all the scaffolding for new high-rise buildings in the background (middle left).
And I wish I could see more details for the lady walking with her hubby and kid. Looks like a lovely dress with embroidery or details on her chest.
Lost in TransitionThe Bridge, by definition, is transitory, yet the rest -- the pedestrians, the two cities -- have changed or are gone. Only the Bridge remains the same.
How civilized... to have benches along the bridge on which to rest.
[Nowadays half the walkway is a bike path. I'd rather have the benches. - Dave]
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)

Ice Dealer: 1941
... Anthony Sabbatini was the iceman in East New York, Brooklyn. Known as "Tony the Iceman" for years until he finally got a job with ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/25/2018 - 10:00am -

December 1941. "Ice man. New York City." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Alas, Doomed James"Tell of Seeing James Go to Doom in Flight Fight," the headlines scream.
Who among the Shorpyite sleuths might be able to pin down the date of the photograph from this tantalizing little clue?
(Flair enough; the flocus on these phlotographs are always a tad flidgety.)
PushcartsThe ice dealer was one of the few who plied the streets with their carts. The others were gathered into centers where they sold their wares. Mayor LaGuardia housed them in the Essex Street Market. The first pushcarts appeared on Hester Street in 1886.  There were 10,000 street vendors at one time in NYC.  
Grandpa did thisMy grandfather Anthony Sabbatini was the iceman in East New York, Brooklyn. Known as "Tony the Iceman" for years until he finally got a job with Railway Express, sort of like UPS of the 1930s. He was a strong stocky guy who must have climbed a million stairs delivering ice and packages. A hard life no matter how you look at it.
I still remember:Growing up on Belmont Avenue in the Bronx in the 1940s and seeing the ice man, the coal delivery trucks, the horse-drawn vegetable wagon, and the small wagon with the cage-enclosed merry-go-round for the kids. All going door to door offering their goods and services.
The leaping ramgives away the 1936 Dodge on the right.  A universally recognized trademark, it is still in use both in name and image 82 years later.
Maybe ...If those are old newspapers that he's using for wrapping, could the headline refer to the sinking of the Reuben James?
[Yes, and he went down at Madison Square Garden. - Dave]
Looks like the placeWest 18th Street between Ninth and 10th avenues.  A most unusual building in a neighborhood rapidly redeveloping itself. Old maps label this a gasholder house for the Manhattan Gas Company. It shows up on the earliest map I could find of this area, 1854, and could be a good deal older than that. An incredible survivor.

(The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, NYC)

Ensconced: 1925
... and waitress in her uncle's "free lunch" and beer bar in Brooklyn to help support her younger siblings and send them most of her pay ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/29/2012 - 2:09pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1925. "Miss Katherine Kellond." A sofa-size portrait. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
The Haves and Have-NotsLest we believe that everyone lived such a gracious and elegant lifestyle in 1925, let us remember that this was apparently an upper crust young lady.  My own mom was 15 at that time, daughter of a Pa. coal-miner, who had to leave home at 13 to work full time as a kitchen helper and waitress in her uncle's "free lunch" and beer bar in Brooklyn to help support her younger siblings and send them most of her pay every week.  When she passed away in 1996, we found she had still kept in her closet her two  vintage waitresses uniforms and the very first new coat  she ever bought with her own earnings.  Somebody at the Goodwill Thrift Store may have them now not knowing they represented her memories of the 1920's as she lived them.
Army DebutanteSome rummaging around online suggests that this is Miss Katherine Henley Kellond, born in 1905, the second of five children (four girls and one boy) born to Lt. Col. Frederick George Kellond (b. 1878), an officer of the US Army General Staff, and Katherine Henley Selfridge (b. 1884). In 1919, her mother was the official sponsor at the launching in San Francisco of the Clemson-class destroyer USS Selfridge, named for Mrs. Kellond's grandfather, Rear Admiral Thomas O. Selfridge (1804-1902). Mrs. Kellond's father, Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. (1836-1924) was also a Rear Admiral. Miss Kellond is also listed in the scant genealogical records I found as the mother of two daughters with the surname Taylor. Perhaps another Shorpyite with better access to the Washington newspaper archives will be able to zero in on Miss Kellond and the event for which she modeled this ball gown.
Great-Aunt Katharine KellondThe young lady in the photograph is Katharine Kellond, my grandmother's oldest sibling/sister. Given the year the photo was taken, I presume this would have been her coming-out gown portrait.  She was a few years older than my grandmother, making the year the appropriate date for her debutante ball.
My great-grandparents were stationed in the DC area during this time before being stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. My grandmother, Harriet Kellond (Richards) was the second daughter, and was married in the Panama on Jan 1st, 1930.  The two younger sisters are Jane and Ruthie and they were quite a bit younger in age. The only son, Thomas, died as a small boy from meningitis.
My great-grandmother, Katharine Selfridge Kellond, was the sister of Lt. Thomas Selfridge, who was the first  person to die in a working airplane. This occured at Fort Myer when the Wright brothers brought their invention to show off to the Army in hopes of selling them.  Uncle Thom was a young officer and was selected to go up with one of the Wright brothers. The plane crashed, breaking Tom's neck and, I believe, the Wright brother's arm. There is film of the crash that you can see at the Air and Space Museum.
I would have to confirm with my mother any further details regarding Aunt Katharine's marriages  and children.  I do know you have her name spelled correctly as it is also my name. Love the picture. Thanks,
Katharine Kellon Roth
(The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Portraits)

Crystal Motors: 1950
... 15, 1950. "Crystal Motors, business at 5901 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn, New York. Exterior I." The Oldsmobile emporium last glimpsed here ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/30/2013 - 3:31pm -

Feb. 15, 1950. "Crystal Motors, business at 5901 Bay Parkway, Brooklyn, New York. Exterior I." The Oldsmobile emporium last glimpsed here. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
Old HorizonThe worst car I ever owned came from here. A Plymouth Horizon.
I know this eraIt was in the days before whitewalls.
A combined look Here is the combination of the two photos of the "Crystal Motors" car dealership.
Stuffed fish and tricky lightingI see someone's collection of large trophy fish hanging on the wall of the far showroom.
There's a light stand or tripod next to the tree on the right edge of the photo. Did it hold the light that might have made the odd reflection of the front door onto the brick wall? Or was that lighting effect more direct, coming as a result of a light placed at floor level inside the showroom, behind the foliage and column in the near showroom?
[The latter; it's the shadows of the door handles and door frame on the bricks. -tterrace]
A very striking building design to be a showroom for "Rocket-Action" Oldsmobiles. Very "mid-century moderne" and I'm sure an inspiration for other architects' ideas.
WhitewallsWhitewall tires had been available for cars since the 1930s; postwar America (II and Korean) suffered a shortage.
Across the street?Must be a Chevy dealership across the street -- I see the backwards reflection of "Chevrolet" in one of the windows?  --RJ--
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)

Lefty for Mayor: 1961
... for City Council president and John J. Gilhooley of Brooklyn, a former assistant secretary of labor, for city comptroller. This led ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2015 - 10:32am -

New York, 1961. "Mayoral campaign car with loudspeakers." Our second scary-looking Plymouth in as many days. State Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz, the Republican mayoral nominee, lost to Robert Wagner, the Democratic incumbent. 35mm negative, photographer unknown. View full size.
I like itThis car is so ugly I actually like it. It's completely different to the ho-hum cars we see today. It doesn't look so bad in two-tone paint. 
The 1961 PlymouthWas voted the ugliest Plymouth ever made, according to the Plymouth Owner's Club. Very rare car nowadays. A loaded convertible is fairly pleasing to the eye now.
'61 Sport Suburban Wagon. Lost the tailfins from its previous year. 

Lefkowitz, Gilhooley and FinoIn the 1961 mayoral election, Louis J. Lefkowitz ran on a ticket with Representative Paul A. Fino of the Bronx, running for City Council president and John J. Gilhooley of Brooklyn, a former assistant secretary of labor, for city comptroller. This led to a jingle broadcast from sound trucks:
Let’s make a note
To get out and vote
For Lefkowitz, Gilhooley and Fino
You’ll be safe in the park
Any time after dark
With Lefkowitz, Gilhooley and Fino
There’ll be new golden rules
You’ll be proud of your schools
With Lefkowitz, Gilhooley and Fino.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/nyregion/answers-to-questions-about-ne...
I drove its cousinWhen I was in high school my dad had a '61 Dodge station wagon.  It was a boat but cool in its own way.  With a 318 and pushbutton transmission, it was like driving a big spaceship.
BullhornI just got back from another visit with my in-laws in Costa Rica. They still have cars that tool around through every neighborhood, broadcasting at top volume from a huge bullhorn (or sometimes, nowadays a speaker) mounted on top of the car. They seem especially fond of the very early morning hours.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Found Photos, NYC)
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