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- Shoe Hospital: 1915
- Circa 1915, another look at Main Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Where the Shoe Hospital and Five Cents Savings Bank are ... Posted by Dave - 03/12/2023 - 12:20pm -
![Circa 1915, another look at Main Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Where the Shoe Hospital and Five Cents Savings Bank are mere steps apart. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Bank and North MainThe Five Cents Savings Bank was the ancestor of today's BankFive.
Tiny stop signI love the tiny "Cars stop here" sign on top of the cable car wires. Were drivers actually supposed to see that?
["Cars" means streetcars. - Dave]
Fall River Bijou & First Baptist ChurchThe Bijou theater (162 N Main St) was built in 1904 and was partially demolished in 1933.
In the back of this photo, you can see the old steeple that used to be on the top of the First Baptist Church of Fall River. The church still stands, but the steeple is long gone.
Deposit TimeI noticed Chief of Police Jones escorting his wife to the bank to make her five cent deposit -- chivalry lives!
Cop on the BeatLove how you can see the cop swinging his club as he walks. Mind the horse droppings as you cross the street! And you have to wonder what's playing across the street at Loew's Bijou.
(The Gallery, DPC)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a25690a.thumbnail.jpg "Shoe Hospital: 1915")
- Coal Country: 1938
- ... of the town resembles the set of "Matewan."
Over the river My dad grew up in the 1930s and '40s in West Virginia, where his ... about 10 minutes away from me. Pretty cool.
Spring or Fall? What a beautiful composition. You can tell it's either spring or fall ... Posted by Dave - 04/15/2010 - 11:08am -
![September 1938. Osage, West Virginia. "Mining town. Coming home from school." Medium format nitrate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size.
Hey you guysWant to see a dead body?
OsageIn the Northern WV coalfields.
MatewannyWith the possible exception of the paved road, it's striking how much this view of the town resembles the set of "Matewan."
Over the riverMy dad grew up in the 1930s and '40s in West Virginia, where his father was a coal miner. I always imagined him coming home from school almost just like this. His stories included rowing across a river to school as well as walking down railroad tracks. Thanks for posting!
Down The RoadA photo of a town that is about 10 minutes away from me. Pretty cool.
Spring or Fall?What a beautiful composition. You can tell it's either spring or fall because they're all carrying the jackets they were probably wearing that morning when it was cooler out.
[Another clue to the season would be the first word of the caption. - Dave]
Heh - clearly I was so taken with the photo that I didn't read the caption. --H
You damn kids!Get offa da tracks, what are ya, an eejit?
Main Street RROsage! I've passed through here all my life. Many of the old company towns have been demolished but much of Osage survives. As with many WV coal towns, macadam and rails share the main passage through town.
Coal Miner's Granddaughtermy mother, Ruby, grew up in Logan, West Virginia, and would have been 12 in 1938. She was a towheaded little girl like the one here. I have never seen a photo of her as a child. This picture lets me imagine that little girl is my mother. Thank you very much for that.
A better time to be a kidAbout the only vivid memories I have of grade school is the walking or bike-riding to and from. The classroom time is all a fog.
We could go home for lunch. We had time to build relationships with the kids we went back and forth with. We had time to explore our surroundings.
Some schools are just now discovering students get better grades when they start the day with Phys Ed. It's supposed to rev up the brain.
We got our brains revved by just by getting there on foot instead of on a bus.
And we didn't run away scared if an old guy in a floppy hat was walking along the road, too.
Everyone's WalkingEveryone's walking rather than being driven home -- a big reason why you don't see any chubby kids in that photo.
Contrast that with West Virginia today, which now ranks second in the nation in obesity rates.
Did the same thing myselfin the early 1940s in "Idyllic Larkspur, California." Not too many trains by then, but got scared more than once by hobos.
That echoing refrain of parenthood Sukie! Don't you be walking on the road, you know the tracks is safer, just listen for the whistle!
(The Gallery, Kids, M.P. Wolcott)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/8c29896u.thumbnail.jpg "Coal Country: 1938")
- West Street Story: 1912
- ... north from the Battery." An amazing view of the Hudson River piers from the foot of Manhattan centered by the West Street Building, ... seaport. Look at all the piers with so much activity!
Fall River Line Steamers? The two large steamboats appear to be Fall River ... Posted by Dave - 07/18/2012 - 7:01pm -
![New York circa 1912. "West Street north from the Battery." An amazing view of the Hudson River piers from the foot of Manhattan centered by the West Street Building, which sustained grave damage a decade ago when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed; to east is the massive Hudson Terminal, and faintly visible through the haze is the Metropolitan Life tower. Note the ant-like profusion of horse wagons along West Street. This 8x10 glass negative was exposed from the Whitehall Building annex just south of today's Battery Park City and World Financial Center. The view up West Street and 11th Avenue is continued here at the Chelsea Piers. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Best of the BestThis photo will become my "forever" all time favorite. It evokes history at so many levels. Amazingly, the two bridges that cross West Street are in extreme close proximity to those that connected the World Trade Center to The World Financial Center at Battery Park City. Actually the northern one looks like it is in exactly the same place! All I can do is stare and marvel at this gem that we are lucky enough to view. Thanks Dave/Shorpy
West Street BuildingIt is absolutely incredible to see the West Street Building standing in so isolated a position - yet it is barely a quarter-mile away from Broadway! Such were the contours of real estate values in Lower Manhattan a century ago. The West Street Building (1906-1907) was designed by Cass Gilbert; as his first "Gothic" skyscraper, it became the model for his more famous Woolworth Building of 1911-1913. It is believed that Frank W. Woolworth chose Gilbert as his architect largely because he liked what he saw on West Street.
!!Anazing.
[Jawohl. - Dave]
Whitehall StreetA few personal things come to mind when I read that The Whitehall Building was where this magnificent 1912 photo was taken. First, 39 Whitehall Street, was the building where I, and probably a million others were inducted into the US Army. The date I was there, October 8, 1956 and another momentous event was happening at the World Series in Yankee Stadium, Don Larsen pitched a perfect game.
Fast forward to 1995 and my wife and I are at the Whitehall Building looking at the Whitehall Club as a venue for my youngest daughter's wedding. The club occupied the entire top floor of the building with unobstructed views in all 4 directions. The views of the city, the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty were just amazing. We didn't use that setting, because on a Saturday night, that part of town is usually deserted.
A REAL SeaportThis is wonderful evidence that, indeed, NY was once a great seaport. Look at all the piers with so much activity!
Fall River Line Steamers?The two large steamboats appear to be Fall River Line steamers. Up until 1937, the night boats of the Fall River Line were the preferred way to travel between NYC and Boston. A "boat train" met the boat in Fall River, MA early each morning.
Can anyone identify these steamboats? The far one seems to me to be the "Commonwealth".
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_4a25597a.thumbnail.jpg "West Street Story: 1912")
- Our Lady of Lourdes: 1914
- ... was removed a few years ago as it decayed and was ready to fall off the roof.
Convent Avenue This photo faces east, and the ... at the milk delivery companies along 125th Street near the river.
Those were the days, my friend. Innocence prevailed!
In ... Posted by Dave - 12/13/2022 - 12:33pm -
![ A newly restored version of a Shorpy favorite that has collected three pages of comments since it was first posted in 2007 --
The caption for this one just says "Post Office." Thanks to our commenters we now know that the building with the statue is the Our Lady of Lourdes School at 468 W. 143rd Street in New York circa 1914. 8x10 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size | The school in 2007.
Post office?Looks like a Catholic school, actually. This is just a wild-a**ed guess, but St. Jean Baptiste on East 75th? This would coincide with the warehouse cart on the left (sort of).
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic SchoolThis is Our Lady of Lourdes School in New York City on 143rd Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Convent Avenue. The school was built in 1913 in Washington Heights, an exclusively white, upper middle-class neighborhood. It was built and equipped at a total cost of one hundred and forty thousand dollars.
Besides classrooms for five hundred pupils, the building contained an auditorium with a stage lavishly equipped for theatrical productions, a gymnasium, a roof-top playground, an assembly room for parish organizations, rooms for classes in cooking and sewing, and offices for the school officials.
The associated church (Our Lady of Lourdes) is located directly behind the school on the next block, 142nd Street.
Yes...Which is the Post Office? The large building in the center must be a Catholic School, what with a saint on the roof and all.
As for the location, I have no clue.
Post OfficeWhich building is the Post Office?
post officeBuilding with street level entrance and flags would be my likely guess.
Today...Google Street View. It's always interesting to see NYC in the early years, and how it's changed.
Our Lady of LourdesI attended this school for eight years in the 1950s. The lower grades entered by one door and the higher grades used the other. City College frat houses faced the school. Recess was on the street out front. We didn't have any cooking or sewing classes, no classrooms equipped for that. There wasn't any gym. We weren't allowed to go up on the roof and there wasn't an assembly room. We did have a annual spring play using the stage and we had a Christmas concert. There was a way into the church from the back of the school. The nuns that taught there were called Society of the Holy Child. Father Kline was one of the priests and Mother Mary Edward taught there. A good school, good memories.
Johnny PumpThat fire hydrant probably was installed in the late 1880s. Was born and bred in NYC and traversed all five boroughs many many times, but NEVER laid eyes on a johnny pump like that. Every boy who ever grew up in "The City" is instinctively drawn to hop over as many hydrants as possible. However that one is a KILLER.
Our Lady of LourdesI attended OLL from 1933 to 1941. The lower grades kindergarten to fourth were taught by the Ursuline Order of Sisters. The upper grades fifth to eighth were taught by the Sisters of the Holy Child. The school was funded and guided by the priests of the adjoining OLL Church.
We were there to learn,to pray: no play, no library, no lunch room, no outside activities. It was not an easy life for children of poor families during this Great Depression Era. I often cried and asked God to help me through the day, the year. I know I received a very good education but not a happy one. There were nuns I would have died for, however there were many that should not have been allowed to teach children.
The Church and school were founded by Monsignor Thomas McMann. There is a bust of the good priest near the entrance to the upper church.
In the 1930s we were allowed on the roof for various activities.
The term "very stern " comes to mind.
The statue is Our Lady of Lourdes, similar to the statue in the grotto in the lower church on 142nd Street. It was removed a few years ago as it decayed and was ready to fall off the roof.
Convent AvenueThis photo faces east, and the townhouses in the background are along the east side of Convent Avenue. All of them still stand, most are in superb condition. This is the finest real estate in Harlem; a house across the street sold for $3.89 million about 18 months ago. Here is a listing for a house a few doors down from the ones seen here: http://tinyurl.com/2396kb
Note the terraces on two of the buildings -- those are stunning and almost never seen in New York.
Does anyone remember anDoes anyone remember an Irish nun by the name of Sister Gerard? She was one of the Ursula ? nuns at the Our Lady of Lourdes in Manhatten. She emigrated about 1910, so am not sure anyone would remember her...
Is there a cemetery associated with Our Lady of Lourdes?
Upper and Lower ChurchCan you tell me if the Upper and Grotto Church still exists and do they have mass on Saturdays and Sundays? I lived 2 streets away a long time ago and would like to see the old neighborshood. I have never forgotten the Grotto. It's so unique. Would like to share it with my spouse.
Or maybe I can speak with someone in the convent. Are the nuns still there?
Thank you.
Diana Gosciniak
Our Lady of LourdesI also went there in the 1950's. The nuns were very dedicated to teaching. Our religion was the major reason they and all of us were there. The grotto was under the main stairs and confession was held downstairs at 4 pm on Saturday. The children's Mass was at 9 am on Sunday, a High Mass in Latin. The doors of the main church came from old St. Patrick's downtown in Little Italy.
The sisters made sure that the majority of 8th grade students got into Catholic high school. A lot of the girls went to Cathedral H.S. and the boys went to Cardinal Hayes.
The church was around the corner with a connection to the back of the school. The convent was right next door to the church and the rectory was across the street.
Once in a while we were invited to go to the convent on a Saturday to see the nuns. The neighborhood was pretty good, all kind of stores that tolerated all of us kids.
It was nice going there for eight years. Fond memories.
O.L.L. Upper and lower churchYes, the upper church is still active with most Masses in Spanish. The lower church {the Grotto) is not used. However the statue of the Blessed Mother is still on view. The sisters left about 10 years ago. I visited the school and was told the Church no longer had any say in its operation. When did you attend? I was there from 1933 to 1940.
J Woods
Theatrical productions?Oh, how I wish I had your recall. However, I did attend O.L.L. from 1933 through 1940. Yes, the stage was used - but with limited equipment. I never saw or played on a rooftop playground. There was no gymnasium. The seats in the auditorium were moved to the side for military drilling by boys from grades 5 to 8 once a week. The girls exercised in a nearby room. The children in the lower grades had no physical training. I don't remember an assembly room for any parish organizations. Family members were not encouraged to come to the school except on Graduation Day or if the student had a serious problem that required a meeting with the principal and/or a parish priest. I must say we all received a very good education and were farther ahead in our studies than the Public School kids.
Yours truly and in friendship,
Jackie Woods
OLL NeighborhoodI lived on Amsterdam Ave for 16 years. Where did you live? When did you attend OLL School? The few friends I had from the old days have passed on. I answered your other message; The Nuns left about 15 years ago. You need to have someone open the lower church to visit there. The Blessed Mother's Statue is still located in the Grotto but masses are no longer read there.
Regards and in friendship.
Jackie Woods
Our Lady of Lourdes, 2008I had a chance to stop by West 143rd street and take a snapshot today. The cornerstone is dated 1912. As you can see, every building shown in the "1914" photograph is extant and all are in excellent condition. There is even a fire hydrant in the same location as the fire hydrant shown in the photo. As for changes — there are trees on the block now, and the cornice has been removed from Our Lady of Lourdes, as has the statue of the saint. And, of course, as with all modern photos taken in New York, it is full of automobiles.
(Click to enlarge)
The reddish sign on the left side of the street, behind the motorcycle, identifies this block as part of the Hamilton Heights Historical District (Hamilton Grange is only a few blocks away). Today was garbage day, so a distracting pile of trash sits in the foreground, sorry about that.
Our Lady of LourdesCentral Harlem, did you attend Our Lady of Lourdes? If so what years?
Thanks for the picture
Jackie Woods
Our Lady of LourdesI attended an Episcopalian school. I contributed that photo because of my joy in Harlem history, not any tie to this school in particular.
Last weekend, I found a photograph of this block dating to 1908! All the buildings looked the same except for OLL, which was then an empty lot. Perhaps Team Shorpy can enlighten me -- would it be compliant with copyright law for me to scan and post it?
[Is there a copyright notice on it? If it was copyrighted before 1923, the copyright has expired. - Dave]
Our Lady of LourdesThank you for your latest information, Central Harlem. Where was your school located? Did you live nearby? I'm 80 years old going on 81 and all I have are my memories (mostly fond). And my memory is outstanding. I was hoping to hear from anyone who attended OLL with me.
By the way, the folks on Amsterdam Avenue always envied the folks on Convent Avenue, always a beautiful clean street. (Today we would say "upscale.") Three of my children were born in The Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan on 144th off Convent. I had moved to upper Washington Heights by then but my doctor was still working out of there.
Thank you and in friendship,
Jackie Woods
Our Lady of Lourdes, 1909I had a chance to scan the old photo I found of this block. It dates to 1909, not 1908 as I had first said. Every building seen in this photo remains, though some of the lots on the right-hand side of 143rd street were empty in 1909, including the lot that would house Our Lady of Lourdes three years later.
Anticipating the interest of Shorpy's crew of automotive experts, I provide a closeup of that car on Amsterdam Avenue, below.
Also, a note to Jackie Woods: we're of different generations. It is good to exchange notes here, but I'm sure we've never met.
Our Lady of Lourdes SchoolWhat wonderful memories of days past. I attended OLL from 1943 and graduated in 1951. One of five brothers to do so. You may have known my older brothers, Larry, Dick or Bill. We lived in that apartment building at the end of the street on the OLL side. That was the location of Alexander Hamilton's house, Hamilton Grange. When it was built, it forced the move to its present location behind the church. It will be moved again to the SE corner of Convent and 141st Street. You also mentioned Lutheran Hospital. It wasn't so great for our family. My brother Dick was taken there after being hit by a car. While recovering, he contracted rheumatic fever in the hospital and later died at New York Hospital. We also lived at 310 Convent Avenue because my mother's family, the Healys, lived on 141st Street. If you have any other questions, ask away. I'm still in contact with several classmates and between us, we should be able to answer.
"Thanks for the Memories"
Bob Phillips
OLL graduatesHi, Yes, I do remember a Phillips family. The boys or boy were in a higher grade with one of my brothers. As you can see, I had already left OLL when you started there. I am pleased you have good memories of your early years. Unfortunately, mine are mixed. An incident: a bunch of us, about 12 years old at the time, were fooling around and one of the boys fell out of a tree and broke his arm. We carried him to Lutheran Hospital They wouldn't let us in the front door. Told us to take him to Knickerbocker Hospital near 131st Street, and so we did. Today, I ask why no first aid was administered or an ambulance called. However, I have nothing but good words about the hospital in later years. I was sorry to hear about brother RIP
Regards and in friendship,
Jackie Woods
PS My oldest sister, Ellen, class of 1936 Won scholorship to Holy Child Academy
My older brother William (Billy), Class of 1937, won a scholarship to Regis High.
MemoriesI graduated from OLL in 1973 and it is so wonderful to see a website with the School and the information that it offers. I too wondered about the Masses in the lower church. The grotto was always so beautiful and special. I have lived in Florida since 1986 and hope to make a trip to NYC just to visit the old school. Thanks again for bringing a smile to my face today. God bless.
OLL MemoriesHi. I attended OLL from grades K to 5. I have the most beautiful memories of my childhood there. I loved the nuns. I can't believe how time has gone so fast. If anyone remembers me or remembers Sister Mary Owen or Ms. Valentine or the gym instructor George Izquierdo. I am talking about late 1960's, early 70's. Please contact me. Are the sisters still there? I went to visit Sister Mary Owen a couple of years ago. She wasn't wearing her habit any more. Those were good old days. I was so mischievous, always getting into trouble. Oh my God. I had the best early education there, never will I forget. I love history and I love these pictures that were posted up above, everything looks the same. Thanks! My family still lives up in Washington Heights.
Our Lady of Lourdes School and ChurchAnd a HI to you,
The good sisters left about ten years ago.
You can reach the school online, it has a Web site.
The school is no longer under the supervision of the Church.
If you look over the rest of this page you will see that I have answered a number of postings that may be of interest to you.
"Memories are made of this."
In friendship,
Jackie Woods
OLL AlumniHello OLL'ers
Head over to the OLL website www.ourladyoflourdesschool.net
There's an alumni page where you can send your information and be put on the mailing list.
OLLCould not connect with your e-mail: kbarkley@ourladyoflourdesschool.net
Would you please check it.
When did you attend OLL?
I gave my information previously on bottom of page.
Look forward to hearing from you.
In friendship,
Jackie woods
To Jackie WoodsI knew Dennis before the war, and graduated OLL in 1937. My sister Marie graduated in 1936 and received a scholarship to Holy Name. Finding your web site after all these years is a small miracle. I'm sorry to say Marie, such a special person, passed away in 1977. Andrew, a 1943 or 44 graduate, died in 2000. I did not marry till 1985, had a daughter in 86. My wife Alice and I celebrated our daughter Colleen's wedding Nov. 24, 2007. I hope this proves I was not as bad as the sisters believed. They wanted so to see me go that they created the first coed class and skipped me from 6th to 8th grade. Yes we marched on the roof, auditorium, basement and in far away competition. I believe we had a West Point officer, but not certain. I just hope that life was as rewarding to all OLL graduates as I. God bless.
John Orlando
Wideawake80@verizon.net
OLL, late 1950s and early 60sDon't know how I found this website, but so glad that I did. I graduated OLL in June 1961. The nuns are my most vivid memories of the school. The spring and Christmas plays that were held each year. Recess outside during lunchtime. Walking to school each day and spending the few pennies we had to buy candy at the store on Amsterdam Avenue, and the bicycle store there where we rented bikes on Saturday afternoons. Going to confession every Saturday down in the grotto. Checking the Legion of Decency list for movie listings. Learning to sing the Mass in Latin for every Sunday High Mass and, most important, the foundation the nuns gave us for our religion that is still strong to this day. A few years ago, we drove from Jersey up to the old place and convent still looked pretty good. Can someone please explain about not being under the archdiocese any longer. Thanks again.
Lutheran HospitalI found this link when looking for the Lutheran Hospital. Very interesting information.
I am researching my family history and found out this hospital is where my great grandfather passed away. Thinking that there may be additional information on the records, I searched for the hospital but have not been able to find any recent reference to it. Has the Hospital been closed? Can anybody give me some background information? I will certainly appreciate it,
Anne
[You might try the Archives search box on the New York Times Web site. Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan, at 343 Convent Avenue, merged with Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in 1956 to form Our Saviour's Lutheran Hospital at the Norwegian Hospital facility on 46th Street and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. It's now called Lutheran Medical Center. - Dave]
Lutheran HospitalHello Anne,
Yes, I know Lutheran Hospital. My three oldest boys were born there: 1951: 1952: 1954. My brother-in-law's father died there c. 1937. When I last passed by the neighborhood, three years ago, I saw that the hospital had been converted to an assisted living facility.
The neighborhood is looking great - real upscale. The brownstones that one could buy in the 1930s for a song are now selling for well over a million dollars. In the 1930s they were empty, thanks to the banks that foreclosed during the Depression. As kids we ran through them and at one time had a clubhouse inside one.
In friendship,
Jackie Woods
Lutheran HospitalThanks you both, Dave and Jackie, for your responses.
I will follow the advice and hope to be able to pass soon by the neighborhood.
Anne
OLL MemoriesHi Henry,
I too remember Sister Mary Owen, my brother David Mora had her and she was really strict. We keep in touch with George Izquierdo and he is doing great. Sister Rosemarie passed away. I try to stay in touch with O.L.L. It was really a happy time in my childhood and the happy memories will always be a part of my life.
Maxine Mora
Lutheran Hospital of ManhattanLooking for pictures of the Hospital. I was born in 1940 in the facility and would like to see what it looked like in that era--anyone have a picture?
Dad Was an AlumnusHello Jackie,
I am curious to see if you know my father, Frank Corrigan, who was born in 1926, which would make him 82 this August. I think he was in the Class of 1941.
I am also curious to see if you have any contact or info on Alfred Pereira or his sister Clara Pereira Mercado. Any help would be appreciated.
Stephen Corrigan
Please email me when you get a chance, stephenjcorrigan@aol.com.
Frank CorriganYes, I knew Frank Corrigan, Class of 1940, not 1941, he was closer to my brother Dennis than me, I was a year younger. Didn't Frank have a younger very pretty sister? I last saw Frank c. 1968 in the upper Washington Heights area where many of the families from OLL had moved to from the 140th streets.
I knew Pancho Pereira (the name Alfred does not ring a bell) and Clara, his younger sister. His little brother JoJo was killed in Korea. Pancho had a birthmark: strands of very white hair in the front of his head of very black hair. They were wonderful good people.
Pancho was good friends with Jackie Koster, whose sister Barbara married Burl Ives in Hollywood and lived happily everafter.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
Vacant Houses in Hamilton HeightsI thought we were the only ones that got into those empty houses. Afternoons we'd go in through a back window to study and do our homework. We didn't break anything, and at our age we always wondered why the houses were vacant. The Depression angle we didn't figure out until later. Tom Calumet and Frank Howe went with me. I understand Frank has died and Tom Calumet left NYC around 1945 to go out west with his parents.
I graduated from OLL in 1941, and now live in Hopkins, MN
OLL MemoriesI graduated in 1960. There were about 10 of us cousins who graduated between 1955 and 1960. I remember Father Cline, Fr. Malloy, Monsignor Hart, Mother Bonaventure, Mother Dominica and others. Does anyone remember the day the frat boys across the street pushed the dummy out the window during our recess? I can almost taste the corn muffins and egg creams at the soda fountain around the corner on Amsterdam Avenue while "Barbara Ann" played on the jukebox.
OLL PhotoI have a great a picture of my Confirmation Day. I'm in full OLL uniform dated c. May 1935. How can I send it to the OLL Shorpy site?
Yours truly,
Ed Woods
[Click the links under "Become a member, contribute photos." - Dave]
Frat boys 0, Mother Mary Edward 10I sure do remember that day. Mother Mary Edward
marched over and blasted them. Also the candy store around the corner used to sell two-cent pumpkin seeds out of a little red box.
Does anyone remember the rumor going around that the
Grotto Chapel was haunted? I remember walking home with "Little Star" playing on the transistor radio.
The OLL GrottoI remember serving at what was called the Workmen's Mass in the Grotto in the 1930s - 6 o'clock in the morning! I know the Grotto is not used any more (I visited there in December 2007). As to the candy store on the corner of 143rd and Amsterdam, it was a very busy place: candy, pen nibs (no fountain pens), book covers etc. One day the owner came to school and told Sister Casmere, the principal, that we were disorderly and she must tell the students to behave when shopping in his store. Her solution was to tell the entire student body that they were not allowed to shop there. In a day or so, the man was back begging forgiveness and asked to plaese allow the children to return to his store. The kids were his main business.
HelloHi Maxine
How are you? Thank you for responding to me. It was very nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear about Sister Rosemary, but I don't remember her was she the pricipal of the school. I do remember Mr. Izquierdo he was the gym instructor with another man don't recall his name I believe he became principal of the school later on. Oh! now I remember his name was Mr. White I believe. God trying to recall, it is getting a little difficult now a days but I like it. It brings me back in time. How time have changed it was so innocent back than not like now. Looking back in time, makes me feel like I grew up to fast. How is Mr. Izquierdo doing? How can I contact him? Please let me know. My e-mail address is Je_Ocejo@yahoo.com. I remember he got married back than to a girl name Rocio, I don't know if they are still together but that lady was my father's friend daughter. Who else do you remember. Please get back to me with pictures. I have pictures too. Let me know how can I e-mail them to you. Would you believe that we are talking about almost atleast 35 years ago but I don't forget. God Bless you. Henry
OLLBob,
Any recollections of my father, Frank Corrigan, Class of 1940? Maybe not yourself but some of your older brothers.
Steve Corrigan
More OLL MemoriesI graduated in 1937 and was probably a fellow graduate of a brother. I had skipped 7th grade and so did not get to know classmates well. It is possible that the Waters family lived across the alley on the second floor of the building on 142nd Street. We lived on the top floor of the next building on Hamilton Place. In the same building lived Buddy Sweeney and Sal Guizzardi, also a tall blond kid who graduated with me. I believe your mother and my mom, Agnes Orlando, were friends. I believe your mother visited mine in 1952-3 in our new home in Bergenfield, N.J. I remember a sister who must have graduated with me or my sister Marie Orlando in 1936. My brother Andrew graduated 1947. My mother, brother and sister have passed away. I remember Poncho, the Kosta family, the Madigans, Woodses, Rendeans, Glyforces, McCarvils, Walshes, Philipses, Flynns, Duggans, Hooks, Rodriquezes, Craigs, Hugheses, Conways etc. I am sure we had many things in common being OLL graduates at a very special interval of time. I wish you well in your very beautiful state which I have passed through on three occasions. Best wishes and fond memories.
John and Alice Orlando
OLLLot older than you. Attended OLL from late 1930s to early 40s. Baptized, first Holy Communion and Confirmation (Cardinal Spellman). Lived at 145 and the Drive. Remember principal when I was there, Mother Mary Margaret. First grade teacher was Mother Mary Andrews. Remember playing on roof and being shocked by Mother Mary Andrews jumping rope. Believe there was a Father Dolan around that that time. Only went to through the 3rd grade there and then moved to 75th St and the Blessed Sacrament -- a whole different world, and not as kind or caring.
Memories of OldHi Henry. You may not remember me but I also taught gym with George and sometimes Ms. Ortiz. George is with the Department of Education on the East Side. I work for the Bloomberg Administration. Sister Mary Owen has moved to Rye and of course all the nuns are now gone. I left in 1996 but I still miss all of the good times shared during my years there.
Memories Are GoodHello, You taught me gym and we also had alot of good times with the High School Club on Friday nights. I have most painful memories of O.L.L the day Msgr. Cahill passed away. I never knew how much a heart could have so much pain and yet go on. My dad died on 4-29-96, Max Mora and I felt the same pain all over again. Do you know where Mother John Fisher has gone ... her name had changed to Sister Maryanne. I would love to hear from you.
Maxine Mora
Hi HenryMy email address is mmorafredericks@aol.com. I have yours and I am so happy to be in contact with you I graduated in 1973. I went to Cathedral High School. Later moved to Florida. My brothers and sisters are still in NY and I miss so much of it. I look forward to catching up with you. I will write soon. God Bless.
Maxine
Fellow ClassmateHi Tony,
It has been more than 48 years since I last saw you - at our graduation from OLL in 1960. Let me know what you have been up to in the past half century. My e-mail address is kmckenna@clarku.edu.
Kevin
LTNSMr. White! Not sure if you still come to this site, but on the off chance that you still visit i thought i would write. It's been so long since I've seen or heard from you, not since "Len Fong" closed. For all others that may still come by this site, I graduated in 1983 (possibly 82). Would love to hear from a blast from the past. Please email me at kellyw88@gmail.com
John McKennaHi Kevin,
Any chance you are related to the McKenna family? John McKenna, Class of 1941
Your name sure rings a bell, however there must be 20 years difference between us.
Have a healthy and happy 2009
In friendship,
Ed Woods
John McKennaHi Ed,
I'm afraid that I'm not related to John McKenna. My brothers, Donald and Desmond, graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes in the fifties. I wasn't aware of another McKenna family in the parish when I was at OLL.
Happy and healthy 2009 to you as well, Ed.
Cheers,
Kevin
McKenna FamilyThe John McKenna family I knew lived on the northeast corner of Hamilton Place and 141st street. I had other friends and schoolmates in that building. Thinking back, you probably had to be an Irish Catholic to live there. Whatever, I think you had to be an Irish Catholic to attend OLL. I never knew any others at that time, the 1930s. Most fathers worked for the subway and trolley systems or at the milk delivery companies along 125th Street near the river.
Those were the days, my friend. Innocence prevailed!
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
The Mc KennasJim McKenna and his younger brother Tommy lived in that house above Grizzardi's grocery. Tom hung around with Marty the Hanger Phipher and the Warriors. Billy Vahey and his brother Eddie who retired as a Lieutenant in the NYPD lived there also. Their mother was still there in the early 80s.
You probably knew the Schadack family, who I believe owned Schrafft's or Donald York. I think the building was 644 West 145 St. It was the first apartment house in the city to have a self-service elevator.
When we lived there the neighborhood was known as Washington Heights. For some reason it's now referred to as Hamilton Heights. A couple of great web sites -- Forgotten NY and Bridge and Tunnel Club. You can spend hours & hours on Rockaway Beach alone. Lots of good memories!
How about the movie theaters -- the Delmar, the RKO Hamilton, the Dorset, the Loews Rio, the Loews 175 (now the Rev. Ikes Church) and all the theaters along 180th Street?
Hamilton HeightsNorm,
Many thanks for your fine memories of our old neighborhood but there are a few minor corrections I have to make. The first is the name Shadack family. I believe the correct spelling is Shattuck and his address was 676 Riverside Drive on the corner of 145th Street. We lived there and my brother Bill was classmates with Gene Shattuck. No relation to the Schrafft's empire.
Secondly, Hamilton Heights was always known as such. Outsiders didn't know where that was so we usually said Washington Heights for simplicity. Washington Heights doesn't really start until 157th Street and is separated from Hamilton Heights by the Audubon plot.
The Old NeighborhoodAlex Hamilton lived nearby. There was a very pleasant young man (OLL Class of 1941) named Eugene Shattuck who lived near 145th Street and Riverside Drive. His father was a professor at Manhattan College and his family owned the Schrafft's Restaurants.
I fondly recall Eugene having the wonderful hourglass-shaped bottles of hard Schrafft's candy brought to school and distributing one bottle to each of his classmates at Christmas time.
Needless to say, the poor Amsterdam Avenue kids were in awe of one who could afford to do such a good deed. You mention the Warriors, I knew the (Gang) but not any of the names mentioned here on Shorpy.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
P.S. My in-laws the Boyd family lived at 676 Riverside Drive. Les Sr. had a radio repair shop on 145th and Broadway.
676 Riverside DriveI lived at 676 as well. The family's name was Shattuck. In my day, many, many years ago, the elevator had an operator. A sweet man in full uniform. There was a doorman as well. Saw the building years later and was appalled at the change. Then went up to OLL and hardly recognized it. It was the best school I ever went to. Thank you for reminding me of the fun. And yes, of the education I got there. By the way, 676 on the Drive was called the Deerfield.
OLL StudentsI am researching my family history and I came upon this great site. In 1930 my grandparents Michael and Marie Murphy were living at 1744 Amsterdam Avenue and later in the 1930s at 115 Hamilton Place. All of the Murphy children attended Our Lady of Lourdes School. They were:
Maurice (born 1916)
Rita (born 1917/ my Mother)
John (born 1918)
Theresa (born 1920)
Vincent (born 1922)
Veronica (born 1925)
My mom had such fond memories of her time spent there.
Rita Harmon Bianchetto
Hi Neighbor!!Hi Rita,
I'm a former resident of 676 Riverside. My family lived there from 1940 to 1960 in apartment 4A. Bobby Foy lived next door to us. I think you may have left just after we arrived since I remember the elevator operator. The change to automatic was somtime during or just after WWII.
I remember they put up this 10 foot wall with a door to limit access to the building. Fat lot of good that did us as my mother was robbed in broad daylight in the service chamber of our apartment in 1960. That's when my Dad had us pack up and leave for a secure location in the Bronx.
Anyway, the apartment was great. We had a balcony looking over 145th Street and the river. My brothers were Larry Jr., Bill and Nick. Bill was a good friend to Gene Shattuck and went to Xavier with him. Nick and I also went there. Larry had a scholarship to All Hallows.
Judy, can you tell me your last name and if you knew me.
Hope to hear from you.
Bob Phillips at bobbyphilly@msn.com
Your DadSorry Steve, I graduated in 1947 and my three brothers have died. But the name Corrigan does ring a bell. Probably from my brother Larry who knew just about everyone in OLL.
Sorry I couldn't help out but it was great hearing from you.
Bob Phillips
Andrew.Yes, I remember your brother Andrew. We were in the same class and we used to kid him about his name - Andrew Orlando and how tall he was. What's he doing these days?
Bob Phillips
Those were the days, my friendsHello Rita,
I remember the name Murphy but not the faces. We lived a block south of you at 1704 Amsterdam. My sister Ellen, Class of 1936, and brother Bill, Class of 1937, would have known your family.
We had many friends on Hamilton Place, the Koster family for one: Anita, Class of 1936, her younger sister Barbara married Burl Ives, and her other sister Mary Lou married Eddie Byrne (1710 Amsterdam). Ed's sister married Chump Greeny -- killed at Anzio Beach. He must have lived near your family.
My brother in law Les Boyd lived in the Deerfield and had an electric appliance store on the corner of 145th and B'way and a sporting goods store on the next block next to the Chinese restaurant.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
Hello RitaHello Rita,
I attended St. Catherine's Academy on 151st between B'way and Amsterdam (It cost my dear old dad $10 a month for what was considered a private school.) I graduated in 1943 in a class of only four girls. I then went to the Sacred Heart of Mary Academy in Inwood (I had to climb the long steps up from B'way every day for four years -- Class of 1947.
Most of my relatives went to OLL as did my husband of 59 years, Ed Woods. We are still alive, kicking and fighting and making up every day.
In my Class of 1943, one of the girls was Ann Murphy -- any relation? Also a Virginia O'Malley and my best friend, June McAvoy, who keeps in touch with me. June's grandfather was Judge McAvoy, who had died by that time.
I loved when my folks took me to McGuire's Bar and Restaurant on B'way and 155th. Oh that Roast Lamb (Irish style) on a Sunday or a holiday. The girls used to go to Nuestra Senora de Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope) next to the museum complex. We were told not to go there for confession, but the Spanish priests were limited in English.
Thinking back we had but little to confess at that time.
Eddie and I had an apartment on 150th near the Drive for a few years until 1956, then it was off to Long Island to raise our six children.
In friendship and love hearing from you,
Ed and Jackie Woods
The MurphysHi Ed and Jackie,
Thanks so very much for your reply. I wish my mom was still with us but she died in 1998, the last of the Murphy kids.
My grandfather Mike Murphy worked for the Post Office (a mail carrier working out of the General P.O. at 33rd and 8th). My grandmother Marie Murphy died in 1939 while living at Hamilton Place. Uncle Maurice went to Regis H.S. for several years before leaving to attend All Hallows; John and Vincent then attended All Hallows; my mom, Rita, attended Cathedral; Veronica, I believe, attended St. Vincent, and Theresa died at age 25 in 1944 (not sure of her high school). Mom worked at Woolworth's on 145th Street and Broadway, and after high school at New York Telephone, retiring about 1980. She got married in 1943 and moved to 152nd Street, and we attended St. Catherine of Genoa on W. 153rd. I graduated in 1958. So I know the neighborhood.
Peace, Rita
Hi Ed and JackieSo Jackie you are a St. Kate's gal like me! My tuition was a dollar a month, so your education was really a private school. You have listed the Academy at 151st Street but I think that it was on 152nd between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. I took my high school entrance exam at SHM so I am sort of familiar with the school -- fireworks were going off during our exam. The end result was I did fine and attended Blessed Sacrament on West 70th, Class of 1962.
I last saw the "girls" at a reunion in 2002. My Spanish teacher just celebrated her 70th anniversary as a nun with the Sisters of Charity.
I am not familiar with any of the girls names that you mentioned,including Ann Murphy. I do know McQuire's, where I had my first Shirley Temple, Mass at Our Lady of Esperanza, Trinity Cemetery & loved visiting the museums.
Do either of you recall Eugenio Pacelli, before he became Pope Pius XII visiting at OLL ?
Please tell me about your days on 150th Street near the Drive since I may have been the little skinny blond kid you both passed on the street.
Peace,
Rita in Northern New Jersy
West 150th NYCHello Rita,
Yes, we lived at 615 W. 150th from 1950 to 1956. Four of my children were born there (three at Lutheran Hospital and one at Jewish Memorial). We had many friends from school and the neighborhood living nearby.
However, by 1956 it was time to move on; many changes in the neighborhood. One of my nearby friends was Juanita Poitier; Sidney was just getting started with his acting career. A real nice couple.
Was Father Tracy (Pastor) still there when you attended school? How about Father Brady? He was always telling stories during Mass about his sea time with the Navy. Eddie remembers going to the Woolworths lunch counter (145th and B'way) in the early 1940s just to have an excuse to talk with the girls. He knew many of them from school and the neighborhood.
In friendship,
Jackie
West 152ndHi Jackie and Ed,
I lived at 620 West 152nd Street, just a stone's throw from you folks. My sister was born at Jewish Memorial Hospital in March 1952 -- Dr. Sandler from Broadway 150/151st St. delivered. Those were the days of Dave's deli on the corner of 151st & Broadway famous for pastrami on rye and a cold beer for the dads, Rafferty's Bar and Grill on the other side of B'way, Harry's or Pierre's homemade candy and ice cream parlor, Cora's beauty salon where my Nana would get a cold wave and blue tint. And not to be forgotten, Snow & Youman's drug store on B'Way and 151st. I recall the name Fr. Brady but it was Pastor Kane and Fr. Tracy (and his Irish Setter, Rusty) that I recall. I just sent a photo of Fr. Tracy to my classmates.
Rita
Japanese BazaarWho remembers the Japanese-American bazaar in the brownstones across from the OLL lower grades school during the war? They had the blue star & the gold star pennants hanging in the windows. They also had a store on Amsterdam Avenue near 144th Street and when they sold coffee the lines would go all around the block.
How about the punchball games out side the school, or stoop ball? Anyone remember playing basketball and using the bottom rung on the fire escape ladder as a basket? The nearest basketball court was at 148th Street by the river. If you wanted to "take out" a ball from the park, you would leave a shirt as a deposit. I remember shoveling snow off the court in order to play.
Unfortunately those days were the last time the country was almost 100% together. Twenty years from now, these will be the "good old days."
Your brother AndrewI palled around with Andy & another kid named Eddie McGlynn. As a matter of fact I have a picture of Andy, Buddy Ayres & me at Rye Beach. Buddy went to Bishop Dubois with us. He was from Vinegar Hill. You didn't mention the Wittlingers. They lived on the first floor in your building. Brendan lives in Virginia. I'm still in touch with him, Matty Waters and Les Scantleberry. Pancho Pereria made a career of the Navy. He died several years ago. JoeJoe, one of my closest friends, was killed in Korea.
Dave's DeliI haven't had a good hot corned beef sandwich since I last had one at Dave's. His son Milton was running the store in the 1950s after Dave retired to Florida. Dave's used to have a window in the summer that sold potato knishes (5 cents, with mustard) and of course kosher hot dogs.
I heard a Clement Moore fan club still meets every Christmas Eve next to Trinity Church Cemetery and recites "The Night Before Christmas."
I was born in 1928 at 853 Riverside Drive. When 90 Riverside was built in 1941 and blocked the view of the Hudson, we moved there.
Warm regards,
Jackie and Ed
The old neighborhoodThe Wittlingers (the twins were the same age as my two younger brothers, also twins), Matty Waters, Les Scantleberry, JoJo: All those names I remember, especially Pancho and his family. For the life of me, I cannot understand why your name doesn't ring a bell. You mentioned the Warriors. Did you know Tommy or Willie Taylor, the Conroys, Drago, Jackie Hughes, etc. What years did you attend OLL?
I looked up some old friends on the Internet over the past few years -- said hello and then goodbye when their families called to give me the news: Vinny McCarville, Bruce Boyd, Phil Marshall, Eddie O'Brien -- all gone to their maker. They were spread out all over the country. It was satisfying, however, just to say hello. I met Vinny in New Orleans and we had a beer for the first time in many years. We had gone to sea together during WWII and had a lot of memories.
You must forgive my spelling etc. My eyesight is on its way out (along with everything else). I will be 82 in a few months but active and still traveling. I have been to six of the seven continents and my wish is to have breakfast at the South Pole.
In friendship,
Ed and Jackie Woods
ToppersWas Dave's on B'Way near 140th Street? I sold the Sunday News there for 25 cents during the news strike. It was normally a nickel. We had to go down to the News Building to buy them. Overhead!
Who remembers the Sugar Bowl on the corner of 143rd and Broadway? A great hangout for different age groups. How about Toppers Ice Cream parlor on B'Way between 139 & 140th?
In the 1940s and early '50s you could go to the Audubon Theater at 168th and B'Way on Sunday for 77 Cents and see three features, 23 cartoons, newsreels and an eight-act stage show with such luminaries as Billy Halop of the Dead End Kids or Lash LaRue or Ferdinand the Bull. Top shelf. They must get at lest a buck fifty for admission today!
Tea and Nut StoreHi Norm,
My mom (Rita Murphy) mentioned there was an Asian family owned Tea and Nut shop in OLL Parish when she was a child (born 1917). She said her brothers, Maurice and John Murphy, would sometimes play with the owners' son. I am wondering if this could be the same shop.
Rita
ToppersDave's was on the southwest corner of Broadway and 151st Street, a short trip from my home on 152nd near Riverside Drive. I do recall the Sugar Bowl and maybe was in it once or twice but never hung out there. Topper's is a name I never heard before, as far as ice cream parlors go. Thanks so much for mentioning the name and location. Perhaps before my time (1945 baby) or too far from my home. Many people have mentioned the Audubon Theater to me (165-166th Street) but I have no memory of it at all. I do recall the San Juan Theater that took over the space of the old Audubon.
I love hearing about Mom's (Rita Murphy's) old neighborhood.
Thanks for sharing.
Rita
Your Name?No, Dave's Deli was on 151st and Broadway. Yes, Toppers & the Sugar Bowl were popular hangouts, however the Piedmont, the Staghorn and the Chesterfield were more popular later on. I have pictures of the great snowfall of December 27, 1947 taken in front of the above mentioned restaurants with a bunch of the guys posing in the cold.
The Audubon Theater became better known when Malcom X was murdered in its ballroom. I saw Milton Berle there in the early 1940s. Actually, the Bluebird and the Washington were also popular as they only cost 10 cents (no heat or air conditioning). Memories, memories, dreams of long ago.
Ed and Jackie Woods
The OLL ChoirI sang in the OLL choir for about 5 or 6 years and hated it.T he only advantage was that we skipped the last class for practice. The downside was that after attending 9 o'clock Mass we had to sing at the 11 o'clock High Mass, which interfered with our Sunday football game. I played with the Junior Cadets. We had a very good team coached by Joe Romo, who went on to be the trainer for the Oakland A's for many years. I saw him at Yankee Stadium whenever the team played the Yankees at home. Joe died several years ago.
Mr. Skyler, the choirmaster, wore a wig that could easily be mistaken for road kill. I used to wonder if he was committing a sin by wearing something on his head in church. After all it was no different then wearing a hat during Mass.
Mrs. Daly was a very lovely lady who played the organ and gave piano lessons. She lived down the street from us on 142nd between Broadway and Hamilton Place and had something like 10 kids. My sister Maureen was friends with Theresa and Billie. John was I believe the youngest son. Maureen graduated from Notre Dame de Lourdes on Convent Avenue.
My sister Frances was close friends with Helen and Rita Nerney, who lived across the street. Fran died in 2002.
ToppersI lived at 635 Riverside Drive. I recall Toppers being near the corner of 141st, next to a Jewish deli. In the summer my dad took my brother Tom and me for ice cream there every evening. Happy memories!
Bishop DuboisI graduated 1953 from Bishop Dubois. I believe your brother Ernie was in my class at OLL. I hope he is doing well. Give him my regards.
Bill Healy
Names from the Old NeighborhoodBrendan & Bernie turned 76 on February 2. Don't ask how I remember things like this. I forgot what I had for breakfast this morning. I'll be 76 August 11, weather permitting.
Everyone seems to forget Pinky (Michael) Pereria. You are closer to my late brother Jim's age. Jim hung out with Jimmy and John Bartlett, Donald LaGuardia, Tommy & Willie Taylor (born on the same day a year apart -- Irish twins). Again I don't know why I remember these things.
Eddie O'Brien used to go by the name Drawde Neirbo, his name spelled backwards. He was a close friend of Big Jack Hughes. I recall a group of you guys joining the Merchant Marine during the war. The Dragos lived on 141st Street between Hamilton Place and Amsterdam Avenue. The youngest (Joseph?) was in my class.
A couple of years ago I went down to the old neighborhood with my sons. Surprisingly, it looks great. Lots of renovations going on.
My beautiful wife June is a BIC (Bronx Irish Catholic) from the South Bronx. It's not as great a neighborhood as it used to be, but lots of great people came out of there. I took her away from there, married her 50 plus years ago and got her a decent dental plan and raised five kids in New Jersey.
I graduated in 1948. It should have been 1947 but Mother Mary Inez red-shirted me in the 6th grade.
Will stay in touch.
Norm Brown
Norm Brown??Norm, I graduated in 1947 from OLL. I knew a kid (Norman Brown) who lived on 141st between Hamilton and Broadway. I think he had a younger brother. He went to OLL with me, but he did not graduate from OLL. Eddie McGlynn was in my class, and the Wittlingers. I lived at 510 W 140th. Are you that Norman?
Bill H.
The Summer of '66Hi Jackie and Ed,
I never had one of Dave or Milton's corned beef sandwiches but I can say that the pastrami on rye was a thing that dreams are made of. I recall the knishes out the window in the summer and the hot dogs. Thanks so much for taking me back in time. Milton would take the pastrami out of that silver steamer box sharpening his knife, and the rest was heaven on rye. Milton was still behind the counter in the summer of 1966 but after that I can't say.
I am sure that "The Night Before Christmas" is still recited next to Clement Moore's grave, in Trinity Cemetery. In my day the Girl Scout Troop that met at the Church of the Intercession would participate in the recitation of the Moore piece.
I know that 853 Riverside Drive is on the Upper Drive, since I sat on "The Wall" on summer evenings as a teenager. You said you moved in 1941 to 90 RSD -- did you mean 90 or 890? I am not familiar with the numbering of the "lower" drive where the red house sits (so it was called).
I am off in search of a good sandwich.
Peace,
Rita
Stagershorn & ChesterfieldMalcom X was shot in the Audubon Ballroom at the back of the theater, which later became the Teatro San Juan. I saw Abbott and Costello there en Espanol. At 7 years old I was run over by a truck at 142 Street and Broadway, right outside the Staghorn, I managed to live!
I would hang from the window outside the Chesterfield, watching football games on TV with Bobby Heller and Herby Gil and Buddy McCarthy.
That was a hell of a snowstorm in '47. Remember digging tunnels through the snowbanks? You forgot to mention Larry's, just next to the Sugar Bowl. I would watch "Victory at Sea" there.
A couple of years ago I took a walk through the OLL neighborhood and realized that when you are a kid everything you see is at eye level and taken for granted, but as you look up and around from a mature aspect it becomes a whole different world. It is really a beautiful area.
90 Riverside Drive WestHi Rita. I'm positive 853 was on the Lower Drive. When the new building went up next to it around 1941, the address was 90 Riverside Drive West. However, it caused so much confusion with 90 Riverside Drive (downtown) that the address was changed to 159-32 Riverside. The plot originally hosted a small golf course.
I also went to the Church of the Intercession with the Girl Scouts. Small world. And the wall -- on a hot summer night, standing room only.
Jackie
West 140th NYCThe kids I hung around with were in the OLL classes of 1940 and 1941. I had a weekend job in 1941 with Ike's Bike Rental on 141st. He needed someone to identify the kids who rented there (bikes rented for 20 cents an hour -- and that's the truth). We started a Junior Air Raid Wardens group and had a store next to Ike's. Collected paper etc, for the war effort.
And you are correct, within three years, when we turned 16, McCarvill, O'Brien, Drago and I joined the merchant marine.
Did you know the Kieley family -- lived at 1628 Amsterdam before moving to the lower Bronx: Pauline, Rita, Josephine, Peggy and the two boys Nicky and Jimmy. I loved going to their upstairs apartment for tea, especially when Mrs Kiely made Irish Soda Bread. My wife (then girlfriend) Jackie sponsored Jim Kieley when he became a citizen around 1948. He was from County Waterford, the same as her family. We celebrated our 59th anniversary last week.
Regards,
Eddie Woods
My Brother JimYou probably knew my brother Jim Brown. He too was born in 1928. He died three years ago today. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes, spent a couple of years in the Army and graduated from Fordham University. Jim lived in Wycoff, N.J. He was very successful in business.
Amsterdam AvenueThe Denning family (10 kids) lived on Amsterdam Avenue between 141st and 142nd. Hughie had polio and wrote away to FDR for an autograph during the war. As it turned out he was the last person to get one. He was in an iron lung at the time. It was a big deal. Lots of press. One of the boys, Peter Schaefer Denning, was born on the back of a beer truck on the way to the hospital. Hence the name.
The Connolly brothers, Eamon and Timmy, lived in the same building. Everyone in the family had red hair. Not unlike Bobby Foy's family. If I recall properly, the father looked like Arthur Godfrey, his mom like Lucille Ball, Bobby like Red Skelton, and they had a red cat plus an Irish setter.
It took a lot of guts for a group of 16-year-old kids to join the merchant marine. A belated thanks for your service.
My wife makes great Irish soda bread. Is there any other kind? You can give ten women the same ingredients for soda bread and you'll get ten different tasting breads. All great! Especially with a cup of Lynches Irish tea. The season is almost upon us once again.
The only Kiely (different spelling) I knew was my NYPD partner Timmy, who was from the South Bronx, Hunts Point. Tim grew up with Colin Powell. Having worked in the South Bronx for 25 years and marrying June Margaret O'Brien, one of six girls from there, I pretty much connect with the people of SOBRO, as the area is now known. Sooner or later everything gets yuppified.
How about this web site? Something else!
Take care,
Norm
Mea CulpaHi Jackie,
Of course you know 853 RSD is on the Lower Drive but Google Maps does not. "Looks like 800 Block of Upper Drive is even numbers and 800 Block on Lower Drive is odd numbers." I did not locate 159-32 but I did find a 159-34 and 159-00, seems to be the last structure (red brick) on the Lower Drive area that we are speaking of, now a co-op but the year of construction is not listed.
I have very fond memories of the folks I spent time with on "our" wall.
Peace,
Rita
Yes, it's Kiely I was in error. For whatever resaon, The Dublin House on 79th off the NE corner of Broadway became a meeting place for many of the kids from the OLL area up until the early 1970s: Eamon Connolly, Tommy Taylor etc. I worked with Tom for a short time before be went on the force and then as a T Man. I have not heard from him in too many years. One of great fellows from the old neighborhood.
In friendship,
Ed Woods
My e-mail: eandjwoods50@Yahoo.com
P.S. The Kiely family moved to Crimmons Ave in the Bronx
West 159th Street NYCDear Rita,
I do enjoy rehashing the old neighborhood and the wonderful memories we can recall. Yes, it is the last buillding on the street and I lived there until 1950, when I married Ed. My uncle George lived there until c. 1981 in a rent controlled apartment, and yes, it did become a co-op.
When first opened, the building had four entrances. Later, in the 1980s, it was down to one main entrance on the via-dock for safety reasons. I loved our apartment there, which had a beautiful view of the Hudson and the George Washington Bridge.
My friend June, nee McAvoy, lived at 3750 B'way. We were together in school for 12 years at St. Catherine's and Sacred Heart. June lives in Maryland.
By the way, my e-mail is eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
Jackie Woods
The Red HouseDear Jackie & Ed,
How lucky you were to have lived in the Red House, especially with the views of the bridge and the river. Growing up I never knew anyone who lived there, so never saw the interior, I'm sure it was lovely. I heard that David Dinkins lived there at some point before he became mayor. Many of my classmates lived in 790 Riverside Drive and I was always so impressed that their apartments had two doors. Our apartment was on the fourth floor of a walkup and across the street from a garage. Funny how I was not really impressed by a doorman but by the two doors.
I seem to remember a gas station near your friend June's house...other side of Broadway from the museum, now college. One of my St. Catherine's classmates, last I heard, he was teaching at the college.
Was Rexall Drug on the corner of 157th, with the newsstand outside the door, when you lived in the Red House? In my home we seemed to have all of the city newspapers -- morning, afternoon and evening, some selling for 4 cents. To this day I read two papers every day and still long to go out Saturday night to pick up the Sunday paper.
Thanks for the email.
Peace,
Rita
Class of 1959I attended O.L.L. from 5th to 8th grade. My 5th grade teacher was Mother Mary Edward, what a wonderful woman, 6th was Mother Mary St. Hugh, 7th Mother Mary Edward and 8th Mother Mary Bernadette. Graduated in 1959. Classes were mxed -- black, white and Latino. Memories are mostly good ones -- Father Kline, Father Malloy, Father Hart. The religious experience most memorable, especially during Lent, novenas on Wednesday afternoon and Stations on Friday after school.
Liggets / RexallHello Rita,
I loved the lunch/soda counter at Liggetts/Rexalls. for whatever reason, my family used the pharmacy across the street, on the east side of B'way, to have prescriptions filled.
The family that owned and operated the newsstand helped us lease our first apartment at 600 W. 157th. Apartments were in short supply in 1950. We lived in the unit formerly rented by the Singer Midgets next to Peaches Browning of Daddy Browning fame. Of course they were long gone when we lived there. My father was very active in the Tioga Democratic Club with the Simonetti family.
Do you remember Warner's Cafeteria between 157 & 158th? We visited St. Catherine's Church Christmas week 2007 with our niece who wanted to see where she was baptized in 1953. She is on Mayor Bloomberg's staff.
Warm regards,
Jackie Woods
eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
Oh, as the poet said, "To return to yesteryear and our salad days."
My brother ErnieBilly, Ernie and I went to Bishop Dubois. Ernie for two years and I for three. We both were bounced in 1951 and transferred to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. We went there on a Schrafft's scholarship. Our mom waited on tables at Schrafft's in order to send us there. In those days it was pretty much a blue collar school. It wasn't that far removed from being a reform school. VERY STRICT. Today it's much more hoity toity. I'm still in close touch with my old classmates, most of whom have been successful in life.
Ernie was a great basketball player, the first to score over 50 points in a game in Bergen County (three times), breaking Sherman White's record. White was an All American but messed up his career in the 1950-51 college season. Ernie went to Fordham on an athletic scholarship.
Ernie died in 2002. He was a very special guy, extremely generous and giving. We miss him a lot. He lived a couple of blocks away from me as did most of my siblings. Sad to say, the circle grows smaller.
1959 OLL gradsAre you out there, does any one remember or know of any of the following graduates of O.L.L. -- Starr Martin, Carol Long or her sisters, Carlotta and Tony, Josephine Velez, Melvina (Kinky) Boyd, Chicky Aponte. I went of to Cathedral and the others to various Catholic high schools and lost touch. After finding this site, many memories have come back. Would like to know how old friends are doing.
600 W. 157thHi Jackie,
You lived around the corner from the post office. I remember going there once to get a money order and losing Mom's gray umbrella. Your building was by the Grinnell, where a friend's father was the superintendent during the 60s.
Liggett/Rexall -- we went to Snow & Youman's for drugs but to Rexall for film, flashbulbs and of course the soda fountain. The last time I was there was April 1965, just before my son was born. I do not recall a Warner's Cafeteria but do remember the famous, and oh so good, Imperial Deli, Lambos Flower Shop, Commander Bar & Grill, Full Moon & McGuire's.
I visited St. Catherine's about 1994 and it was like being in a time warp, except for the piano near the altar. The church was just as I remembered when I got married in 1964, only smaller. The school is now public. I am in touch with some of my friends from the Class of 1958. It was nice that your niece was able to visit the church where she was baptized.
I never heard of the Tioga Democratic Club or the Simonetti family (the only Simonettis I know are the family whose niece and son are engaged).
Jackie, was the pharmacy on the east side of B'way United or perhaps that was a sign for United Cigar?
So nice this walk down memory lane.
Best to your Eddie.
Peace,
Rita
Memories: dreams of long agoHi Rita,
My close friend June's, nee McAvoy, family lived in the Grinnell for many years. Her grandfather was Judge McAvoy. Eddie claims to have an exceptionally good memory but he says he needs to yield to you. You do have a most wonderful recall. However, he is more familiar with the OLL school and church neighborhood.
My brother-in-law (much older than Eddie and me) was in the vending machine business: Ace Distributing -- jukeboxes, cigarette machines etc. Eddie worked for him for a few years when we first married and the company had locations in almost every store in the neighborhood (including the Commander). That is a dead business today. How about Pigeon Park? You couldn't sit there.
Warm regards, Jackie Woods
GrinnellHi Jackie,
Do you recall a Doctor James Farley living in the Grinnell? Doctor Farley must have taken care of half of Washington Heights over a period of many years (had an office on 178 St. between Broadway and Ft. Washington Ave.).
Ah, Pigeon Park...I remember it well and always tried to circumvent it!
All the best.
Rita
I remember it wellHi Rita,
Our family physician was Dr. VanWorth, as an adult I visited Dr. Liebling, who had an office c. 156th. He later moved down to 72nd Street. A wonderful caring man (who made house calls). My son Ed Jr. was 58 years old this week, I have a picture of him when he was 1 sitting on a pony taken on the corner of 155th and B'way. John Orlando's brother married a St Catherine's girl. I don't know her age.
Ain't we got fun?
Jackie Woods
Current resident of the neighborhood (Grinnell)I'd like to invite you to visit www.audubonparkny.com, which is a virtual walking tour of the neighorhood you're discussing. You can "take the walking tour" online or go to the Sitemap/ Index of Images to read about specific buildings and see pictures from many eras.
I'm happy to post any pictures (and credit the owners) of the neighborhood that you'd like to share - focusing on the Audubon Park area (155th to 158th, Broadway to the river).
www.audubonparkny.com
Walking TourThanks so very much for posting the site for the Audubon Park area...I had a delightful walking tour.
Down Memory Lane at OLLWhat happened, did we all run out of memories?
Who remembers the stickball field comprised of Hamilton Place from 140 to 141st Street. A ball hit over the small roof on 141st was a double and over the roof at 95 Hamilton Place was a homer. After the war the street was so crowded with cars that the games were moved to Convent Avenue in front of CCNY. There was some heavy money bet on these games.
Walking TourThanks, Rita, I'm glad you enjoyed the walk! Please come back and visit the site again. I post a Newsletter on the homepage (www.AudubonParkNY.com ) each month highlighting new pages, information, and research, as well as updates on the Historic District project.
Matthew
The Prairie StateDoes anyone have memories of the Prairie State? It was a WWI battleship moored in the Hudson River at about 135 Street and I believe used for Naval Reserve training. As kids we snuck on board and played basketball on it. The deck (court) had a bow on it which is partially responsible for the replacement parts in my ankle today.
How about the "Dust Bowl" at 148 Street next to the river where we played football and baseball? Today it's state of the art, at least compared to what we played on. Now there is grass on the field. Progress!
Under the Via DockFar from being a battleship, the Prairie State (also called the Illinois) was an old transport. However, as youngsters we would have been impressed by its size.
Pancho and another neighborhood boy whose name I can't recall trained there before being sent to England as frogmen in preparation for the D-Day landing. It was decided that those boys with big chests (big lungs) could do the job best. I can recall Pancho telling me after the war that he had only a few days of Boot Camp.
Sports -- we used the oval near City College. Stick ball -- 144th between Amsterdam and B'way. A ball hit to any roof was an out, never a homer. Spaldines was Spaldings were costly in the 1930s. One had to learn to hit as far up the street as possible, over the sewers. That is why the good hitters (one strike only) were called three-sewer hitters.
The Prairie State was docked under the Via Dock c. 130th St. Like you, we visited it often. Nearby were the meatpacking/butcher plants. During the 1930s there were two "Hoovervilles" (hobo camps) under the dock. The overhead gave the men some some protection from the elements. I had an uncle who took me fishing off the piers. I felt sorry for the "lost souls." Then one day they were all gone. Hosed away! I used to wonder where they went.
In friendship
Ed Woods
eandjwoods50@yahoo.com
PanchoAs you recall, Pancho was short, about 5'8" and maybe 200 lbs. and a very good athlete -- basketball, baseball and could hold his own on a basketball court. I remember speaking to him about the UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams,the precursor to the Navy Seals) and asking him if they were relegated to swimming all the time. He told me they spent most of the time running, running, running to build endurance.
As I remember, the Oval was near Convent Avenue. We never used the term two sewers in stickball. That was a Bronx expression. We bought our pink "Spaldeens" at Rutenbergs candy store on Amsterdam Avenue between 140 and 141 Streets for a nickel. He also sold kids twofers, two for a penny loosies, and Bugle Tobacco so you could roll your own or purchase a corncob pipe to puff away. Loosies were two cigarettes for a penny. I understand due to the cost of smokes they are doing that again.
We played "swift pitching" in the park at Hamilton Place between 140 and 141 streets. It was comprised of drawing a box (a strike zone) on the the handball court wall and throwing balls and strikes as hard as you could. I'm a little younger then you but I remember the Swift Meat Plant down by the river and the time John Garfield filmed a scene from a movie, Force of Evil, running down the steps toward the river. Somehow he ended up at the red lighthouse under the GW Bridge and discovered his brother's body, played by Thomas Gomez, in the river. As kids during the war we would fish and crag off the docks right near the old Two Six Precinct. I'll never forget the time my younger brother came home with a catfish and an eel and damn near burned the house down trying to cook them.
Boy, life was a lot simpler then. Even with a world war raging.
Amsterdam AveRutenbergs, address 1628 Amsterdam, I lived in the upstairs bldg for five years. The Rutenbergs lived in an apt in the back of their store. Tommy Smith worked their paper route for many years. Tommy lived in 1626 next to McCarvill. The Conroys (Johnny the Bull) lived in 1630. Eddie O'Brien lived in 1634 over the Rothschild Deli where we could buy Old Dutch beer for 14 cents a quart plus a 5 cent deposit. "It's for my father." The playground around the corner was busy at night after it closed for the day.
My recall of loosies is six for five cents in a small paper bag with six wooden matches.
You refer to the station house as the "Two Six Precinct."
Something tells me you were "on the job." A good family friend, Frank Lynch, became the Captain at 152nd and Amsterdam (The Three Two)?
Your e-mail?
In friendship,
Ed Woods
Three Oh PrecinctYes I worked in the South Bronx for 25 years which included 10 years at the Yankee Stadium,ten of the best years of my life. A ring side seat at the world. We played many games there-- Shae, West Point, etc. -- and traveled to Venezuela with the New York Press team. I worked out with players on the DL. Thurman Munson was a good friend as was Catfish Hunter. Lou Pinella and Graig Nettles.
We guarded Pope Paul and Pope John Paul II. John Paul II gave off an aura that was indescribable. I was very close to him on three occasions and he made you weak in the knees and start to shake. Believe me it wasn't his celebrity status. Some of the people I knew were Cary Grant who used to look for me when he came to many games. Someday I'll tell you how he saved my marriage. A funny story! Jimmy Cagney came to a few games. Boy was that sad to see Rocky Sullivan, every Irish American kid's hero, all crippled up with arthritis.
I finished up in the Bronx Detective Task Force and never looked back. It was a great career if you rolled with the punches.
The six for five must have been filter tips.I forgot about the wooden matches. Do you remember the Hooten Bars they sold? One by two inch chocolate candy stuck on wax paper. Nobody seems to remember them. Rutenberg had the greatest malteds. They kept the milk frozen. God! Were they good!
The Three Oh Precinct was at 152 Street & Amsterdam Avenue across from St. Catherines Grammar School where I went to kindergarten for a day. Later it became Bishop Dubois H.S., which I attended for three years before getting bounced along with my younger brother.
There was a kid by the name of Neally Riorden who may have lived in your building and a kid by the name of Brian Neeson Hannon who died around 1945. I remember going to his wake on Vinegar Hill. Next we should take a trip down Vinegar Hill.
My e mail is fuzz408@optonline.net
God bless & HAPPY EASTER
Rutenberg'sRutenberg's had the greatest milkshakes mainly because they kept the milk semi frozen. They also had Hooten bars, sheets of one by two inch chocolate that sold for a penny each. I've never met anyone from a different neighborhood who heard of them.
Yes, I was on the job for 25 years in the South Bronx. Check your personal e mail. The Three Oh was at 152 Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It's now a landmark. The new precinct is on 151st Street of Amsterdam.
How about Wings Cigarettes with the photos of WW II planes?
The Shamrock Bar was on the corner of 140th Street and Amsterdam. On weekends guys would pick up containers of beer and carry them over to Convent Avenue for refreshments during the stickball games.
Take care,
Norm
PanchoLooking for any info on Pancho Periera. He is my godfather and was best friends with my dad, Frank Corrigan.
OLLumnaI went graduated from OLL in 1950. I came across this great site and I am wondering if anyone graduated the same year. I have been trying to get in contact with my fellow classmates and this looked like a great opportunity!
The Old ShamrockI visted the 140th Street area a few years ago and took a few pictures. The Shamrock is gone with the wind -- history.
I showed a picture of the building (1626 Amsterdam) to Vinnie McCarvill, who had lived there, when I met him for a beer in New Orleans a few years ago, and he almost wept. Some great memories of our Salad Days came to mind.
"Oh the nights at the playground on Hamilton Place." It's the place where we came of age.
In friendship,
Eddie and Jackie
ParishesOne thing folks from New Orleans and New York City have in common is that you identified your neighborhood by the parish in which you lived.
Agnes GerrityMy mother, Agnes Gerrity, born 1916, and her brothers Thomas and Richard (born c. 1914 and 1920) attended Our Lady of Lourdes until high school. All three have passed away but I'd love to hear if anyone happens to remember them. Like your mother, my mom loved that school and spoke of it often.
Anne Collins
OLL Confirmation Day 1935I thought former students would enjoy seeing the uniform we wore in Our Lady of Lourdes School Primary Dept (1st to 4th Grade) during the 1930s.
KnickersIt was humiliating having to wear knickers. Remember pulling them down to your ankles and thinking "maybe people will think they are pegged pants"? Boy did we ever fool the public! And how about the high starched collars -- I don't think they could have even gotten Freddie Barthomew to wear them. Didn't we replace them with waterboarding?
However Ed, they look great on you. Do you still wear them?
Old OLL picsDoes any one have some old OLL class photos or just some neighborhood pictures to post here in the comments? I'm sure a lot of Shorpy addicts would appreciate them.
OLLi go to school at lourdes now im in the 8th grade and i think its really cool to see people talk about the memories they had about my school before i was even born and i would love to see some kind of picture of the inside of the school like a class picture so i can see what it used to look like
[Just wait'll you get to Capitalization and Punctuation. - Dave]
Class of 1964I too went to OLL from '57-'64. My parents and I moved to 3495 Broadway at 143rd St. in 1956. I started in the 4th grade with Mother Mary William. The school in those days was no longer a military academy. We wore navy blue uniforms, white shirts and the school tie and the girls wore navy blue jumpers with a white blouse and blue tie. It was very interesting reading about all the students who came before me and where they lived. I always was so curious to find out how this old neighborhood looked like years before we moved in. As you all know, the area changed at some point racially, although when I was at OLL the school was still predominantly white with a handful of Black children. I will always have wonderful memories of my time at OLL. My parents moved out of the area in 1969 and I since been back once to recapture some old memories of my childhood.
NostalgiaThe picture that follows is the 1937 graduation class with the girls omitted. Monsignor McMahon built church and school(1901-1913); after 15 years as Curator at St Patrick's Cathedral, constructed 7 years earlier. See church of Our Lady of Lourdes for construction details. At the time of graduation, Fr's Mahoney, Dillon and Brennan resided across from the Church. The Poor Clares home was to right of the church, and secondary had Society of the Holy Name Jesus sisters. School and Church gave us faith and hope and discipline. Our world was the depression years followed by the wars. Our class of 1937 was just in time. The handsome lad below the sergeant stripes is the brother of contributor Ed Woods.Ed,and brothers Bill and Dennis served with distinction. Andy Saraga bottom right was a highly decorated Marines The others served as well. I hope Our Lady of Lourdes provides the inspiration our families sought for us.
Nostalgia 1937The 1937 graduation photo is great. It's with both sadness and pride to think that most of these wonderful kids would be defending our country in a very short time in different uniforms.Believe it or not this military training was useful. How about more pictures like this and some candid neighborhood shots.
OLL in the NYThttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/nyregion/16priest.htm
So interesting: A more recent residentJust want to say that I've read every entry on this post. It is so interesting to read the memories shared by those that lived way before you in the same neighborhood. My mother and I live on 135th Street near Riverside between 66th and 77th, then moved to 138th between Hamilton and Amsterdam. I went to PS 161 and graduated from CCNY. I also have fond memories of my childhood. I used to play basketball in an after school center at Our Lady of Lourdes as a young kid, visited the area a couple of years ago and brought back great pics.
Cheers to all
Mauricio
The Grinnell: Celebrating Its Centennial Those of you who remember The Grinnell (800 Riverside Drive) may be interested to know that the residents have just begun celebrating the building's centennial. We're having a year of events,so this is a great year to visit!
Check the website: http://www.thegrinnellat100.com/ for photos, historical news articles, and residents' memories (and contribute your own).
Click the calendar tab for a listing of the events between now and July 2011.
Matthew
Why Grinnel!The hundredth anniversary of a building? Forgotten is the fact that it's also the anniversary of the site building, and all the memories fast fading. I think Ed Woods of all the graduates, always hit the mark. Several others struggled to add something. If someone remembers the names of the sisters and preferably anecdotes please don't deny this information from this site. I personally remember sister Rose from 4th grade 1934. I believe Mother Michael provided my brother Andy's Confirmation name. Others with better memories speak up. Also it wasn't only our generation that owes recognition for all given freely.
Christmas at Our Lady of LourdesAt Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the statues in the creche would be replaced by live students. The scene would be repeated the following day at the 9 o'clock Children's Mass and the 11 o'clock High Mass.
A live baby would be borrowed to lie in the manger. The girl who posed as the Blessed Mother and the boy who posed as Joseph were the envy of the entire student body.
"Oh to return to yesteryear."
Happy New YearThank you SHORPY for bringing back to us so many wonderful memories. It has been said pictures are worth a thousand words. Shorpy's pictures, however, are worth so much more -- just can't put a number on them. Thank you and a Happy New Year to the Shorpy Staff.
Ed and Jackie Woods
[And thank you, Ed and Jackie, for inspiring the hundreds of interesting comments in this thread. - Dave]
The OLL neighborhoodIt's nice reading and re-reading your stories about OLL, Hamiliton Place,and seeing the names listed.
Many years ago, in my past, I visited the old neighborhood only to find it somewhat depressing, old and in poor shape. One time in particular I had parked my new "rental car" near West 144th street, and was showing my young children some of the places I lived on Amsterdam Ave, Hamilton Place ( 95 and 115 buildings) when two older African Americans came up to us, and said you'd be better not park here." It wasn't said as a threat, but more it's unsafe here, now that the area has changed. I had told them that I used to live here many years ago.
I am glad to hear from Norm, that the area has rebounded, and in looking at the prices of the real estate I wish we had stayed here.
Keep up the good work.
Matt Waters mattminn@aol.com
Hi Anon Tipster 1959. I used to date Carlotta Long & visited her lovely home many times. 147 off Convent as I recall. I often wonder in my old age (69) whatever happened to her & how her life turned out. I did graduate from Dubois in 1960, so I'm very familiar w/the sights & places referenced here. So glad I found this site.
Tis That Time of YearThank you SHORPY for another year of nostalgic pictures and comments. Brought to us in Black and White and Living Color.
Such fond memories of long ago, especially the itchy bathing suits. In the 1920s and up to the early 1940s, when on or near the beach and boardwalk, boys had to wear the coarse wooolen suits with the tops on at all times.
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New York to Dave and staff.
Ed and Jackie Woods
Our Yearly PlaysI graduated in 1960 after 8 memorable years. I remember our yearly plays in the auditorium and all the hard work and practice we put into it. Father Hart was our pastor and I remember our farewell speech to him. My best friend was Lydia Marin and I remember Maria Santory, Joyce Brown, Maria Matos, Alma Mora, Maureen Quirk. If any of you from this class are around, give a shout.
Jackie Erick
Class of 1964Class of 1964 where are you guys? Write something here you remember. Do you remember me?
OLL Class of 1957Here's the names of the boys' teachers from 1949 to 1957. I think I have then all correct.
Grade 1, 1949-1950: Mother Mary Theodosia
Grade 2, 1950-1951: Sister Mary Macrina
Grade 3, 1951-1952: Mother Mary Eulalia
Grade 4, 1952-1953: Mother Mary Declan
Grade 5, 1953-1954: Mother Mary Edwards
Grade 6, 1954-1955: Mother Maria Del Amor
Grade 7, 1955-1956: Mother Mary Euphrates
Grade 8, 1956-1957: Mother Mary Rosario
Eighteen nuns lived in the convent adjacent to the church on 142nd Street: eight boys' teachers, eight girls' teachers, the school principal, known as the Reverend Mother, and the housekeeper.
Six priests and the pastor lived in the rectory on the south side of 142nd Street.
OLL was also known as Old Ladies' Laundry.
I've written down the names of almost all the boys who, at one point or another, were part of the class of 1957. Only 27 graduated in 1957. Many were expelled in 1956 as part of a crackdown on gang membership. Mother Mary Rosario was brought in to preside over a difficult situation, but after the expulsions her job turned out to be not that complicated.
I'll post the list of names another time.
Our Lady of Lourdes Alumni ReunionHello out there.
I am a current parent at Our Lady of Lourdes. As we enter a new decade, OLL would would like to start planning a few reunions. I am looking for some potential organizers to help us reach out and plan events in the new year. Please reach out if you are interested in planning or connect dots.
There are many new happenings at the school. We will be launching a new website by the end of the month with an alumni portion.
Thank you!
Vanessa
vdecarbo@ollnyc.org
Class of 1971Hi! I graduated in 1971 and our teacher was Sister Patricia. I remember Marlene Taylor, Karen, Miriam, Dina, Elsie, Maria and Robin, Carla, Margaret and Giselle. Our class was an all girl class. I also remember Sister Rebecca, Sister Theresa, Sister Rosemarie (our history teacher). I continued to Cathedral High School but I miss all my dear classmates. Is there anyone out there who enters this site? My email is n.krelios@yahoo.com I would love to hear from someone. Marlene Taylor became a doctor (wonderful!!!).
Shorpy Hall of FameIf there were a Shorpy Hall of Fame, this photo would definitely have to be in the inaugural class. I've enjoyed going through the many comments for this photo going back to 2007 even though I have absolutely no connection to the school other than being Catholic. What is equally as awesome is that a look at the location today via Google Maps indicates that, other than a few trees, fire hydrants, automobiles and removal of the statue, everything is basically the same today.
Double DutchKllroy is correct about not much having changed, but it looks like even the foreground fire hydrant is in the same place (but a newer model).
It looks like the circa 1914 photographer was set-up on the northeast corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 143rd Street. The Google Maps photo was taken travelling northbound on Amsterdam Avenue. So basically both photos are shot from almost the same location; it is interesting how the vintage image makes 143rd Street appear much shorter than in the Google image. I guess it's the result of different formats and lenses.
By the way, the buildings at the far end of the T-intersection, on Convent Avenue (mostly blocked by the trees in the Google image), reflect NYC's Dutch heritage [ETA:] as does "Amsterdam" Avenue.
(The Gallery, Education, Schools, G.G. Bain, Kids, NYC)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-01818u2.thumbnail.jpg "Our Lady of Lourdes: 1914")
- Over the River: 1904
- ... I believe most of the large pipes that exit to the river are "pot chutes." You may notice that at each landing there is a "wye" to ... garbage chutes.
+106 Here's the same view circa Fall 2010. Rochester Riverside Convention Center is on the right and, if I'm ... Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 6:12pm -
- Hotel Wisdom: 1942
- ... of time in the region in the late 1930s and early '40s. In fall 1942, perhaps they were traveling together, as both have images of ... himself for fearing to drive the road from Wise River to Wisdom, which is “one lane bumpy full of puddles holes heavy snow ... Posted by Dave - 11/03/2023 - 7:48pm -
![August 1942. "Big Hole Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana. Buildings on the main street of Wisdom, Montana, trading center for the Big Hole Valley. This is cattle country." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Battle Of The Big HoleAs American settlers moved west and justified westward expansion as the nation's Manifest Destiny, the Nez Perce had no alternative except to share their ancestral lands.
Eventually, Americans' interest in the land's riches and cultural conflicts between the settlers and the Nez Perce led to a series of bloody battles. One of the many battles, the Battle of the Big Hole in Wisdom, Montana changed the outcome of the Nez Perce War of 1877.
Montana: Big Hole National Battlefield
Last Saturday night ...Paul Bunyan decided to play horseshoes on Main Street and missed.
Rooms to let, 50 centsNo phone no food no pets ... Hotel Wisdom
Phone line Horse sneakers!
Hotel wisdomDon't walk barefoot on the carpet, and sanitize the remote.
Russell Lee and John VachonBoth Russell Lee and John Vachon spent a lot of time in the region in the late 1930s and early '40s. In fall 1942, perhaps they were traveling together, as both have images of Wisdom in the archive.
Quoting Mary Murphy (Montana State professor):
Vachon drove his Plymouth into Beaverhead County in the spring of 1942 with the assignment of photographing stock raising. After several days, he wrote to FSA Director Roy Stryker that he had found “the purest most undiluted West I've ever seen.” (Source: her presentation)
Another interesting tidbit about how Vachon described his drives through the county:
From Butte, Montana, in March 1942 he wrote [to his wife Penny] of “regretting a very abject and cowardly performance about 3:00 this afternoon.” Vachon is reproaching himself for fearing to drive the road from Wise River to Wisdom, which is “one lane bumpy full of puddles holes heavy snow and cliff hanging.” It really rankles when the attendant at the Wise River gas station tells him, 'The mail stage makes it every day'.” (Source: Big Sky Journal)
LIQWhen the boys leave the bar with snootful, it's forgotten that what goes up must come down. And the nearest hospital is (probably at least) 50 miles away.
Measure twice.The carpenter placed the hotel windows symmetrically. The sign painter missed.
Wisdom = Having InsuranceIt seems almost unnecessary to ask, doesn't it? (05/21/60)
Despite what might seem like daunting odds, Fetty's rebuilt, and seems to still be in business. The hotel, however, seems to have checked out.
A tossupWhat's with the horseshoe up on the power lines?
The town that Coke forgotThere's a Chesterfield's ad at the liquor store (the largest of the four buildings shown); but I do not see a Drink Coca-Cola sign, usually a standard feature in 1940s main street photos.
The distances to the nearest towns in either direction reminds me of the saying -- it's not the end of the world ... but you can see it from there.
At some point that horseshoe is going to be an UN-lucky horseshoe for someone.
Lean on me1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe 4-Door Sedan.
Makes me wonder how many times the Chevy completed
the aforementioned fearsome trek from Wise River to Wisdom.
(The Gallery, Russell Lee, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-8d08251a.thumbnail.jpg "Hotel Wisdom: 1942")
- Swimming Hole Ambush: 1922
- ... Dave]
Group Dive I hope that's a deep part of the river. I can't imagine that no one ran into somebody else. Great shot.
Down ... To avoid landing on another man after a thirty foot fall from the deck rail of a troop transport.
[Interesting theory. They'd ... Posted by Dave - 06/09/2018 - 4:41pm -
![August 21, 1922. "Citizens' Military Training Camp, Camp Meade" (Fort Meade, Md.). National Photo Co. View full size. Nowhere on the Internet will you find a picture of more guys simultaneously jumping off a tree than the 10 shown here.
Synchronized Tree DivingWhat a great picture this is, the timing must of been some work. I wonder what type of camera was used to take a excellent motion shot without being blurry.
[A view camera that took 4x5 glass negatives. - Dave]
Group DiveI hope that's a deep part of the river. I can't imagine that no one ran into somebody else. Great shot.
Down by the RiverMan, this picture truly is a marvel of synchronization, not to mention the shape these guys are in!
Abandon TreeI think given the time - 1922 - and location - Fort Meade Army base - that they are practicing abandoning ship. Which is why they are all facing in a different direction. To avoid landing on another man after a thirty foot fall from the deck rail of a troop transport.
[Interesting theory. They'd be all set if their tree got torpedoed. Citizens Military Training Camp was a month-long program for young men held in July at various military reservations across the country from 1921 to 1940. Below, an excerpt from a 1920s news item on the Fort Meade CMTC. - Dave]
"Mornings will be devoted to military drills and exercises under the direction of officers specially selected from the Infantry School at Camp Benning, Georgia, and afternoons will be spent in in athletics, games and swimming."
From another 1920 news item:
"The Citizens' Military Training Camp takes our young men and develops in them rugged manliness, worthy ideals, teaches them to obey the law willingly, and to co-operate in its enforcement. In other words this training prepares them for the duties and responsibilities of American citizenship."
Lake EerieThe reflection at the bottom of the diver's hands and arms approaching the water looks like the limbs of some skeletal creature reaching from below to grab at him.
Little PatuxentThat's gotta be the Little Patuxent River. It looks like it's running a bit high in the photo. It's REALLY high right now.
Patuxent RiverI grew up on Fort Meade. I know that stretch of the river; it's along the (firing) ranges. It's now a wildlife refuge. In my years, the river was never deep enough to dive in. We used to rope swing in feet first. You had to be quick, in case the range officer was on his rounds. The area looks just about like that today.
Note, the Ranger battalion that climbed the cliff at Point du Hoc on D Day trained in this area. It was very active until 1974 or 1975. Thereafter, most National Guard until the early 80's.
Used to be a great place to find old cartridges and random ordnance, plus a refuge for box turtles.
Great PhotoThe movement and motion caught in this photo are great. Particularly the guy lower left whose fingertips are just touching the water. Amazing.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, Natl Photo, Sports, Swimming)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/06965u.thumbnail.jpg "Swimming Hole Ambush: 1922")
- U.S.S. Onondaga: 1864
- 1864. "James River, Virginia. Monitor U.S.S. Onondaga; soldiers in rowboat. From photographs ... like a serious hot dog).
Ride So Low Monitors were river craft essentially floating gun platforms. They are not ships in the ... armor was enough to deflect a glancing hit whose angle of fall was only a few degrees).
What was neglected in this design compromise ... Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 5:20pm -
![1864. "James River, Virginia. Monitor U.S.S. Onondaga; soldiers in rowboat. From photographs of the Federal Navy, and seaborne expeditions against the Atlantic Coast of the Confederacy." Wet plate glass negative. View full size.
HangersDoes anyone know what the three objects hanging over the side of the boat are?
Appropriate HeadgearFor once, someone's wearing a boater in a boat. . . .
Low in the water.It would not take much to swamp this ship. Questions? Why were they built to ride so low? What is in those little bags tied next to the oars on the sides of the rowboat? I suspect the older man with the pipe at the stern using a rough stick is acting as a rudder. Interesting snapshot of life!
How Low Can You Go?Not a lot of freeboard on the good ship Onondaga.
[The Onondaga was, as noted in the caption, a monitor or ironclad. - Dave]
historical shipI looked the Ol' Onondaga up and she had quite a history. She was built in New York and sent to Virginia where she saw several important engagements. She was decommissioned in 1865 and sold to the French navy and refitted with rifled cannons of just over 9 inch. Replacing the 8 in smooth bore guns of American vintage. She was scrapped in 1902. Pretty impressive!
Buffers-low in the waterMonitors were built very low in the water in order to present as little as possible of a target to an enemy gunner. They were very useful in inland waterways, on the open seas, in any bad weather, they would be in serious danger.
My guess on the three bags on the launch is they are buffers to keep the wood of the boat's side from getting banged up when it is up against a wharf or another vessel in wavy water
BumpersThose, probably leather, bags over the rowboat's side are fenders/bumpers meant to protect the sides of ships when docking. Today we use plastic fenders which are plastic and much larger (shaped like a serious hot dog).
Ride So LowMonitors were river craft essentially floating gun platforms. They are not ships in the normal sense. Their freeboard (distance between the main deck and water line) was very small so they would present less of a target to opposition fire. Heavily armored above the main deck, they could withstand direct hits from the guns of the day without serious injury.
Boat FendersThe small round objects hanging over the side are boat fenders, used to prevent damage to the rails when the boat is moored alongside something like a dock or the Onondaga. These are probably made of leather, and if they contain anything, it's probably more leather padding or perhaps a disk of soft wood.
According to Wikipedia ....The good ship Onondaga was built in 1864, near the end of the Civil War and was sold to France after the war. She continued in service in the French Navy until 1903.
The delivery cruise to France must have been terrifying.
Interestinghttp://americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/Navy_Ships/USS_onandaga.html
Across the waves.The Onondaga was sold to France after the war. How did they deliver it? Surely they didn't sail her!
OnandagaThe bags on the longboats are probably bumpers, designed to keep the boat from being damaged when at a dock, or tied up alongside a ship with a low freeboard.
Monitors were designed by Ericsson to sit low in the water to improve stability by bringing the mass of the turret down, and to make them a far more difficult target to hit. The hull was protected by the water and it was hard to strike below the waterline. This made them maneuverable and hard to hit but could make them very unseaworthy in bad weather. Monitor - Ericsson's original "cheesebox on a raft" sank off Cape Hatteras in a 1862. Other monitors were designed to be more seaworthy. Onondaga hull was built entirely of iron rather than wood like earlier monitors.
As for Onondaga, she was sold back to her builder in 1867 and then sold to the French where she served as a coastal defense ship. She was scrapped by the French in 1904, making her the longest lived of the Civil War monitors.
Those hanging thingies ...look like bumpers to me. They are all at the right height.
Low FreeboardThe very low freeboard on this (and every other) monitor was designed to make the ship very hard for another ship to hit with cannon fire.
When the monitors were "cleared for action", everything but the turrets were stripped down and stored or thrown overboard. The rigging and life boats were eliminated, and the ship was steered from a small armored box only a few feet high. Even the funnel (chimney) was dismantled so that only a small stub protruded from the deck so as to present the smallest target possible.
Monitors worked fairly well in protected estuaries, bays, and navigable rivers, but monitors were notoriously poor sea-going ships. Many foundered and were lost, often with all hands, in heavy seas.
In every other nation, the monitors were regarded as a design fluke and were not widely copied. The U.S., however, continued to use monitors well into the 1880s and beyond....mostly because Congress refused to fund a modern navy.
Does anyone know what the three objects hanging over the side ofThey are fenders.
Why so low?Why were they built to ride so low?
To make a small target. Great in battle. Not so good at sea, as the original USS Monitor proved.
What is in those little bags tied next to the oars?
I was curious about that, too. I couldn't Google up an answer, but my guess is simple oarlocks. Place the oar in the slot, then flop the weighted line over the shaft.
The high-tech nature of the civil war continually surprises. Even though it was still a time of cavalry and slavery, there were also ironclads, telegraphy, balloons, Gatling guns and railroads.
Freeboard or Lack Thereof...If you look up the U.S.S. Onondaga on Google you will find that after the war it was decommissioned and then transferred to the French navy. With so little freeboard how did they get it to France?
I can understand the low freeboard patrolling the coastal rivers, but even there it probably had to enter the Atlantic to get from the northern ports to the southern ports.
How dey do dat?
Could the three objectsCould the three objects hanging over the side be fenders? That is: padding for when the bout bangs alongside the mother ship?
Lil' bagsThose little bags are in fact bumpers to protect the side of the row boat from damage.
FendersThey be fenders to protect the boat's planking when coming alongside I should think.
Those wooden things on theThose wooden things on the side of the boats are most likely to prevent scuffing and other damage, when the boat is moored. Unfortunately I have no idea, what is the proper English word for those. these days they are made of plastic, and resembles big, straight sausages....
Hanging ObjectsI think they are cushions, to keep the side of the boat from banging directly against the side of another vessell when boarding, disembarking etc.
FendersBoat fenders, that is, is what the little bags are.
Hangers maybeI'm thinking those are clean drinking water for the rowers.
I'd suspect the guy to theI'd suspect the guy to the left of the guy smoking a pipe is the one who actually has a hand on the tiller. As far as the three objects handing over the starboard gunwale, they might be fenders, although they do seem small.
As far as the freeboard goes, it is very low in the water. The Monitors were susceptible to being swapped as evidenced by the original USS Monitor, which went down in a storm off the coast of North Carolina.
FendersThe objects hanging over the side of the small boat(s) are probably fenders, meant to keep the painted wood from grinding against the edge of the larger boat - which would be particularly punishing given the low iron deck of the Monitors.
Hangers@GeezerNYC
Bumpers
Nautical KnowledgeThe hanging things on the boat are fenders, aka bumpers, that prevent rubbing and damage when alongside other boats and docks. They are still required gear for boats of all sizes, though of different design.
The gent with the pipe is probably putting his stick in the water. The tiller is more likely in the hands of the soldier in the aft. The boats in the background have rudders and tillers, so this should one as well.
Barrier?In the background, are those sunken ships forming a barrier?
I'd rudder not bump, if you don't mind.Following exhaustive research efforts, our crack Civil War historical artifacts team members have reached a somewhat tenuous conclusion. After sometimes heated discussions, it has been narrowly decided that the device held by the pipe smoking gentleman in the above photo should be rightfully placed under the "P.S." category of 19th century naval devices. In layman's terms the P.S. would simply designate this instrument as a "pushoff stick." Either that, or the man was an utterly misguided landlubber with a proclivity in providing great mirth to the more nautically savant.
In regard to the mysterious pouch-like objects hanging from the sides of the launch, the less than timorous artifacts team has proffered the suggestion that these would likely be called bumpers in today's parlance. Please note that our team does take all our suggestions quite lightly.
On monitors and freeboardsMonitors, throughout their history (Roughly the U.S. Civil War to WWII), were built to be coastal ships. A large freeboard (which means more ship to build, and a larger target) was not necessary because the ships were never intended to leave inland waterways or shallow coasts. This also worked well with U.S. foreign policy which was more concerned with its own waters. I'm sure many people are familiar with the story of U.S.S. Monitor (the original monitor) which was swamped and sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras.
Monitor FactoidsThe "monitor" was a radical new warship design by engineer John Ericsson during the US Civll War. The standard high-sided wooden warship with its "broadside" of guns was still designed for sail power and to repel boarders. He conceived a fully mechanized ironclad "ship-killer" that presented a much smaller target and had several much larger guns housed in heavily armored rotating turrets. This proved quite deadly against wooden ships especially in breaking through blockades. Although not totally seaworthy, most waves washed harmlessly over the low deck. The concept gradually evolved to larger more seaworthy battleships with "real" armor-plated hulls, but the large, turret mounted guns became the new standard. The "canteens" alongside the rowboat are fenders to keep its hull from scraping against the sides of the ship.
IDing the ObjectsThe things hanging over the side of the boat are called bumpers, buoys, or fenders. They're to stop the sides from hitting and scraping other boats and docks.
Hangers...Id say these are used to draw wather from boat. Sorry for my poor enlish :/
The Objectsare bumpers. Coiled rope inside tarred leather to keep from scratching the boat or the ship. Much like the rubber ones we have today.
She was a river monitorRiver monitors were not designed with high freeboard because it was needed. They were not supposed to put to sea, and the lower the freeboard the better because it made less of a target. HTH
Re:HangersMy best guess is they are bumpers to protect the wooden sides of the rowboat when
along side a ship or wharf.
Notice the other rowboats pictured have them as well. What I see here is the
bumpers were fitted for the average ship or dock and the ironclad, being so low
in the water, caused the scraping and damage to side of this rowboat below the
bumpers.
Built low for a reasonWonderful photo!
One of the ideas behind the Union's ironclads (called "Monitors" after the archetype U.S.S. Monitor) was that if little sticks above the water, there is little to effectively shoot at. Hence, the only things that are exposed are the (heavily armored) revolving gun turret(s). Note that this ship has two revolving turrets, in contrast to the U.S.S. Monitor, which just had one. Needless to say, though, these monitors were not the greatest thing to be used in rough open seas -- that's how the U.S.S. Monitor was lost.
The Confederates took an entirely different approach (as with the C.S.S. Virginia, née Merrimack). Their ironclad vessels were heavily armored structures built upon traditional wooden hulls. Because most of the Confederate ship stuck out of the water, it would have to employ a lot more armor plating which added weight and made it much less manueverable and less able to be employed in shallow areas.
Low FreeboardIndeed, as earlier comments note, this monitor has unusually low freeboard (not sure if they all did; certainly, all monitors had relatively low freeboard compared to "normal" ships.) The function of this feature was to reduce the target area that could be hit by shellfire, both to make hits less likely and to reduce the weight of armor required to cover the vertical side. (The deck was also lightly armored, since the technology of directing long range fire made a plunging, high angle hit very unlikely; the deck armor was enough to deflect a glancing hit whose angle of fall was only a few degrees).
What was neglected in this design compromise was the fact that there was hardly any reserve buoyancy...a leak too big for the pumps to control would result in the deck edge going under and the ship sinking in a rather short time...and in fact, this happened to the Monitor herself on an open ocean passage on the last day of 1862.
The objects dangling over the rail on the boats (both the manned boat in the foreground and the empty boats tied up to the ship) are probably fenders, although they look rather small for the purpose. Needless to say, protecting the side of a small, lightly built wooden boat coming alongside a vessel armored with iron was quite important.
Re: Hangers (@GeezerNYC)I'd think that the objects on the boat are fenders, to keep the boat from banging into docks or the ship.
MonitorThe Monitor-class ironclads like that in this photo were designed to offer as little a target to Confederate artillery as possible; most of their hull was kept below water, and practically the only structures above it were the chimney (those were steam-powered ships) and two revolving, armored turrets.
The most famous of these ships, the U.S.S. Monitor (which gave its name to this class of vessels) took part in the first battle between "ironclads", or ships made or covered on metal, which took place on march 9, 1862, and is known as the Battle of Hampton Road.
Quoting from an excellent article on Wikipedia: "...While the design of Monitor was well-suited for river combat, her low freeboard and heavy turret made her highly unseaworthy in rough waters. This feature probably led to the early loss of the original Monitor, which foundered during a heavy storm. Swamped by high waves while under tow by Rhode Island, she sank on December 31, 1862 in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 16 of 62 crewmen were lost in the storm."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monitor
Rubber Baby Buggy Boat BumpersMy guess on the 3 objects hanging off the side of the rowboat (and visible on some of the other rowboats in the photo) is that they are "Boat Bumpers" a.k.a. "Dock Fenders". These prevent the side of the boat from coming in direct contact with another boat or the dock when the boat is tied up.
FendersI took those things hanging from the gunwale of all the small boats in the photo to be fenders, used as a cushioning bumper when tied up against a dock or another hull. Modern versions:
http://tinyurl.com/m4jgzu
Somehow it crossed the Atlantic!According to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Onondaga_(1864)
after it was decommissioned in 1865 it was sold to the
French navy and here's a photo of it in Brest
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cc/USS_Onondaga_60211.jpg
I can't imagine it out in the Atlantic, even on a very calm day!
objects on side of boatThey look like typical boat bumpers of the small variety..
Hangers Answer?Ballast, or bumpers.
It's a monitorYes, it would be easy to swamp this ship- it was designed for inlets and calm waters; it is a double turreted descendent of the Monitor- the famous ironclad that did battle with the Merrimack/Virginia. It sits so low in the water so as to be an extremely difficult target. The turrets, along with relatively petite size allowed the monitor vessels to be extremely maneuverable and effective- although the crew had qualms with living below the waterline- which is why there are so many canopies on deck. Johan Eriksson, the designer of the original Monitor was one of the first developers of the propeller, and on his signature ship he patented hundreds of brilliant inventions from a then state-of-the-art ventilation system, to the rotating gun turret, and the first operable marine toilet.
HangersCould be to scoop out water eh?
three objects"Does anyone know what the three objects hanging over the side of the boat are?"
Bumpers.
Re: Hangers, et al.The 3 little bags visible near the oars are the Civil War-era version of fenders. They were generally filled with corncobs or sawdust and served as spacers to prevent the wooden boat from brushing against the ironclad and becoming damaged.
Of more interest is the canvas coverings over parts of the ironclad. These signify that the monitor is in Union-held waters as they would never be used where there was a risk of battle. Ironclads were just that, iron plates laid over a wooden hull and still vulnerable to fire.
The Answer: Fenders!The bag-shaped objects are fenders, or as you land-lubbers would say, bumpers. You hang them over the side to save your paint job when you're tied up to the dock or to a ship. I'm guessing they're made of leather or rubber.
The Onondaga sits low in the water to decrease her vulnerability to enemy artillery fire -- by design, not by accident.
Re: U.S.S. Onondagathose little thingys are bumpers for pulling next to a stell ship with a wooden boat. This was definitly a 'Lessons Learned' device
From a River Far Far Away . . .The two circular towers that have awnings on them - they remind me of Jabba the Hutt's sail barge in Return of the Jedi. I'm just saying.
Monitor designThe design of the USS Monitor and follow-on ships such as the Onondaga were revolutionary for the time. The idea of mounting one or two guns in a rotating turret versus rows of guns along the sides of a ship enabled monitors to bring more accurate firepower to bear more quickly, and most importantly, independently of the direction of the ship's travel. While some earlier ships had turreted weapons, I believe the USS Monitor was the first to rely on its turret as its only weapons station.
Monitors were low to the water to provide a smaller silhouette for the enemy gunners. Most shipboard cannons at the time would have had rather low, flat trajectories, which would have slammed into the sides of opposing ships rather than higher trajectories which would have sent plunging fire through the decks. Obviously a ship that sat lower in the water would have presented a much more difficult target for other ships--it practically didn't have sides to hit! It also made them difficult to see--in the days before submarines, these were the original stealth ships.
These ships were generally designed to work in what are now called "littoral" operations, close to shore, in bays or rivers. In those environments, heavy sea states that would cause a problem with the low freeboard design were not a major concern. Riverboat steamers had similarly low freeboards.
As for the items hanging along the gunwales of the rowboat, the look like bumpers to protect the rowboat and its mothership from bouncing off one another. Today they're a rubbery plastic, but I don't know what they would have been back then, maybe cork inside a waxed canvas bag?
Re: Hangers>Hangers
>Submitted by GeezerNYC on Sat, 08/01/2009 - 10:29pm.
>Does anyone know what the three objects hanging over the >side of the boat are?
They look to be bumpers. All the boats in the background have them, or some form of them, too.
Low in the waterTo answer Woodchopper's question, Monitors (originally intended for harbor defense as floating batteries) were designed to expose as little of the ship above the waterline to minimize the target available to enemy gunners. With less to see, there is less to hit.
While naval architecture changed over the years, this design is coming back into vogue with naval designers in examples like the DD(X) programs.
BumpersUpon reading ALL the comments and not finding a clue and after a thorough and painstaking research I have come to the conclusion that those three objects hanging over the side of the boat are bumpers!
Now hold down the applause. You can thank me later.
More if you haven't googled yet...http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/onondaga.htm
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/01513a.thumbnail.jpg "U.S.S. Onondaga: 1864")
- War Clouds: 1864
- ... Savannah, Georgia. View of Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River. Right half of a glass-plate stereograph by Samuel Cooley. View full ... suggest that it may not have been that close to the fort's fall. Sherman took the city of Savannah on December 22 and presumably Cooley ... Posted by Dave - 10/23/2023 - 11:44am -
![1864. Vicinity of Savannah, Georgia. View of Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River. Right half of a glass-plate stereograph by Samuel Cooley. View full size.
CloudsThe wet-plate photography of the civil war period was not capable of capturing clouds and sky tones at the same exposure as the foreground would require. This must be a composite image, with two exposures taken..one for the sky, and another for the foreground and then combined. Not an easy task for a glass-plate stereo pair.
[While that was often the case in the days before panchromatic emulsions, it wasn't always the case, especially if the sun was not at its zenith or on very overcast days. Another example here. - Dave]
IncongruousThere is something vaguely incongruous about the soldier (I suppose) standing on what I assume is a wooden gun platform with a broom, while a few feet away is a very large cannon.
I wish the date was a little more specific than just "1864." Fort McAllister was attacked twice during the Civil War, once in March 1863 by a trio of monitors, and again in December 1864 during Sherman's March to the Sea. Presumably this picture dates to the period after Sherman's troops took the fort.
[Information for some of these is spotty to nonexistent. Many of the Georgia and South Carolina photos were taken by Northern photographers after bombardment of the coast by the Federal Navy. Sam Cooley was attached to the 10th Corps of the Union Army. - Dave]
Fort McAllisterI had assumed that the photographer was with the Union Army as I seem to recall reading somewhere that photographs from Southerners are far rarer than from Northerners. Southern photography was a victim of the blockade - the Confederacy needed medicines and weapons more than they needed photographic chemicals.
Knowing that Cooley was with the Union Army (and accepting December 1864 as totally accurate) that would set the date between December 14 (the day after Hazen's XV Corps took the fort) and the end of the year. The look of the place is rather settled (the soldier sweeping, the various items of harness including horse collars neatly placed on the rails behind the artillery piece), which would suggest that it may not have been that close to the fort's fall. Sherman took the city of Savannah on December 22 and presumably Cooley would have shifted to the city after that, so the most likely date for this photo is between December 14 and probably Christmas.
(The Gallery, Civil War, Sam Cooley, Savannah)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/03486u.thumbnail.jpg "War Clouds: 1864")
- Three Brooklyn Bridges: 1908
- ... picture!
[In full, the sign says "Neptune Line via Fall River $2.00 to Boston." - Dave]
Like 3D The clarity and depth of this ... Posted by Dave - 08/19/2012 - 3:42pm -
![Feb. 22, 1908. "Three New York-Brooklyn bridges from Brooklyn." An amazingly detailed panorama of New York recorded by George Grantham Bain. Our 3100 pixel wide version (view full size), detailed as it is, is less than a quarter the size of the hi-res scan of the original 8x10 inch glass negative. From the left: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge (under construction) and Williamsburg Bridge.
Two BucksIf you look under the Brooklyn Bridge on the left hand side of the picture, there's a sign on the pier that says "2.00 to Boston". It would be interesting to know what that would cost nowadays. And I agree with Mr. Mel - a great picture!
[In full, the sign says "Neptune Line via Fall River $2.00 to Boston." - Dave]
Like 3DThe clarity and depth of this picture is exceptional, especially the tall apartment houses like the one above the Shorpy watermark, and the shorter one to right of it, in the front. We've all seen some great photos here, but this is one of the best. I'm still trying to take it all in.
Columbia HeightsThe pillared porch (lower left of both photos) is about 148 Columbia Heights. Which seems to be one of the few areas in the picture not cleared out for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
View Larger Map
Not much traffic...Must have been a winter day. Note the snow along the roads. A fascinating image to study for little details like that.
[Another subtle clue to winterness is the first word of the photo caption. - Dave]
Going UpTall structure going up on the horizon. I wonder if that's the Metropolitan Life Tower. Tallest building in the world from its completion in 1909 until 1913. It's in about the right spot but may be too wide. Just a guess.
Still StandingI love Google map embeds.
The building with the prominent quoins in the foreground is still standing at the corner of Clark and Willow. It looks like it retains the original fire escape and railing. They ought to get a copy of this photo for their lobby!
Amazingly enoughThe whole block of houses still seems to be intact.
A Queens Bridge Too!Way in the background, above the gas tanks in Manhattan, is the Queensboro Bridge under construction.
SuperbMy gast is absolutely flabbered. Such detail; so well done.
Denny Gill
Chugiak, Alaska
Where are the people?Where are all the people?
Looking back on old NY pics, the streets always seem to be filled with people (traffic, cart vendors etc.)
It is February and it looks like daylight so I imagine that this pic would not have been taken that early in the day so where have all the people gone.
[They're probably indoors, seeing as how it's Saturday and freezing outside. I see two horses and a man and a woman. - Dave]
Minor Footnote in HistoryThe Robert Gair Company Factory in the distance is where corrugated cardboard boxes were invented by mistake.
Another ClueJudging from the flags, smoke/steam, and drying clothes on the lines (frozen undies, hooray!) it sure seems like the wind is blowing hard. Too unpleasant to go outside if you don't have to, but you have to do your laundry when you have a chance!
Brooklyn BridgesAmazing photo... One of my favourites on here...
Brooklyn lifeThe picture makes we wish I could just zoom in and see what life is like at that point in time in all those windows. A time machine would be nice.
ModernThe Robert Gair Company building looks surprisingly modern, like something I'd imagine people might've built in the 1950-60s.
Beautiful pictureI bought this picture from your gallery to give to a friend who lives in Brooklyn, and when it came in, I was amazed at the clarity. She absolutely fell in love with it. Thank you for making her happy.
Robert Gair He was one of the first to build with concrete. It resulted in a building that didn't shake from his machinery making boxes and bags.
Wow!Talk about a time machine! Why would they take a picture like this? I would think that it would be rather brutal to lug all that equipment onto a roof somewhere in winter and have to wait for the exposure. Some dedication!
I'm glad George made the effort.
[Exposure time for an 8x10 plate outdoors in 1908 would not have been very long. A few seconds at the most. - Dave]
Glass negativesThese old photos from glass negatives look better than the old photos that are from film. Also better than any digital camera today. I know those cameras were cumbersome but the results look better to me.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, G.G. Bain, NYC)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_01399u2.thumbnail.jpg "Three Brooklyn Bridges: 1908")
- Ah, Wilderness: 1941
- ... Folks from the mill towns come up on week-ends to view the fall foliage and read the Sunday paper." Medium-format nitrate negative by John ... days and sometimes the spring days. It was right on the river there. Don't recall the name of the river, its been 45+ since I've been ... Posted by Dave - 09/20/2012 - 11:37am -
- Dead End: 1905
- ... its direct connections to the rail line along the Hudson River and the ferry.
While I am loath to beat a dead horse, I speculate ... and currying) but they were still animals that might fall victim to sickness or injury.
Yes, not 125th Greetings -- just ... Posted by Dave - 06/09/2018 - 5:26pm -
![Circa 1905. "The close of a career in New York." Photo by Byron. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Not ready for a poke.You really want to wait a day or so, until the legs on top are lifted skyward, before poking the horse with a stick. Grew up in cattle country, and had the chance to do so as a kid.
Great photo, this one, for showing what life was like. Also enjoyed the Little Italy 1900 view posted today (or was that yesterday?).
Urban ArchaeologyWho'll be the first to figure out what street this is?
The smellI would not last very long in the olden days. Gag.
Future GlueFascinating photo. Apparently this was a very common sight. NYC had men with wagons in place to pick up carcasses and bring them to rendering plants, many of which were located next to Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn. I hear that bones are still occasionally found!
Nowadayshe'd be plastered with tickets.
For Jack FinneyIf I could dedicate a photograph from this site, I'd dedicate this one to Jack Finney, author of "The Third Level," "I Love Galesburg in the Springtime" and the novel "Time and Again," among dozens of stories all focused on the notion that any normal, healthy, sane person would want to flee the oppression of modern life and escape to the healthier and more beautiful world of 1905. Which, in Finney's mind, apparently consisted entirely of men in straw boaters, women in leg-o'-mutton sleeves, and band concerts in the park on summer evenings.
There are no dead half-starved horses in Finney's world, no ragged children, no shaved heads to get rid of the lice (note the extremely short haircuts on a couple of these kids), no mud.
That's why I love this site: it's like getting a glimpse into the past, unfiltered by the wishful thinking of modern filmmakers or fictionalists.
Google Street ViewBefore too many people post Google Street Views of 527 West 125th Street (the address noted in the excellent comment below), two observations.
1. 527 West 125th Street is the address of the dairy (photo below), not of the rundown stable whose entrance is shown in the dead-horse photo. Dairy and stable not necessarily same street address!
2. Please DO NOT make a screen grab of a Google Street View and then upload the screen grab here or elsewhere. If you want to show a Google Street View in the comments box, all you need to do is copy and paste the Google "embed" code, which is super-easy.
Thank you and good day.
Stop right there boyo!Don't you dare poke that animal with that stick.
McDermott-Bunger DairyThe McDermott-Bunger sign is a clue. The company built a new dairy at 527 West 125th Street in 1903 (NY Times), so the delivery stable was probably not too far away.
Beginning in the 1860s, factories producing lumber, paint, beer, dye and other materials cropped up on the far western end of Manhattan Valley, around what is now West 125th Street, with its direct connections to the rail line along the Hudson River and the ferry.
While I am loath to beat a dead horse, I speculate this photo was shot in that area.
In the movies from that eraI always wondered why even really poor people were always clean and had good teeth. Also thought it was strange that there were never any dead horses in the streets--except the ones shot in gun battles.
West Side DairyThere was another McDermott-Bunger facility at 525-27 West 38th Street.
I think the older boy cares.Though horse death was a regular part of life in the dairy delivery business I'm sure people did get attached to some of the animals. When the time came a horse had to be gotten out of the property and out to the street where the carcus could be picked up. I'm thinking the boy with shoes and a hat works in the stable and has been tasked with waiting for the pickup. I'm also thinking he is not too happy with the task nor what has happened to one of his charges. It's entertainment for the kids and it's a responsibility for him. His affect says, "Aw crap, this sucks."
"Mind your horse for you, Mister?"The kid in the flat cap looks a bit guilty to me.
The Knackers TruckGetting a dead horse up off the street was hard work. Here is a photo of one being winched into what looks like an early Daimler municipal knacker's truck somewhere in Germany.
Another note re: Jack FinneyAnother note re: Jack Finney and his wonderful book, "Time and Again", as posted by Cactus Wren. I've read it at least three times over the years, and it would be a book that I'd want to have with me to read once again, if marooned on a desert island.
We tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New YorkWell, a few of us, anyways. Others, not so much.
Dave, some of the photos you find astonish me. They have changed me. This is one of the saddest ever.
Looks LikeThe Yellow Kids of Hogan's Alley
Look at the old facesThese kids had such old looking faces...this was the most depressing photo yet...interesting, but depressing!
I could have lived the rest of my lifewithout seeing this photo. Why oh why did I click on this email this morning? Ok, I'm a woman who loves animals, babies, children etc. I'm no member of Peta and I eat meat but this picture is heartbreaking. To see a magnificent animal like the horse lying in a ditch looking starved and unkempt just makes me want to cry. I wish I could go back to that time and whip that owner for abusing that horse the way he did. This just makes me even more thankful for our modern ASPCA. I hope this horse is in horse heaven now galloping over the hills and valleys of heaven and eating all the oats he desires. Please don't reply about all the other misfortunate beings that existed then. I'm not really interested.
Any architectural historians out there?The clapboard house next to the dairy looks considerably older than the brick structures elsewhere on the street. Any clues as to its potential age? It looks fairly rattletrap when this photo was taken.
Is this a Saturday or in the summertime - or are all these boys playing truant? And I bet none of them wash their hands before eating.
You can do better, DaveJesus, man - don't we see enough death and violence in modern media? You can actually select the pics you post, right?
[Boo-hooey. - Dave]
For Cactus WrenNot to get in an argument with you, but I recently read "Time and Again," a work of FICTION, which was written in 1970. I didn't get the idea from reading it that 1882 was such a fabulous and glorious time to live in. In fact, there's a part in the book where the main character Simon Morley is riding in a taxi and discussing with the driver the poverty he and his family live with constantly. If people really want to know how the "Other Half" lived, they ought to read Jacob Reis.
Look at their facesI see an obvious resigned sadness in each little boy's face over the demise of the equine as though, even at their tender ages, they accept the sorrowful but inevitable finality of death. Even the kid that has spotted the photographer wears an undermask of mourning. (Yeah, I am one of those morose drinkers who cries in my beer). The poor horse was a good animal, he didn't deserve this. He served his master well, worked his carcass off and this is how it all ends up. Where is the justice?
Great Photo Dave!Not sure what everyone's gripe is about you posting this photo. As a history buff, I am thankful that such photos are available to view. They give us a peek into history, and the way things were.
A great photoSure it's depressing, but it's as real as the pictures of death taken by Mathew Brady during the Civil War.
When I was a kid in New York, circa 1944 to 1948, there were still a number of horses drawing vendors' carts. Vegetables, rags, and a knife sharpener were the ones I remember. I also remember a traditional organ grinder with a monkey, and guys building skyscrapers tossing red hot rivets through the air.
This way to the Egress.The comments regarding the "depressing" subject remind me of a comment left at the Children's Museum at a certain major Canadian institution when I worked there. "You should only put up pictures of pretty things like flowers and butterflies instead of the Satanic things you have" (which were, amongst other things, costumes from other countries and an inflatable igloo).
I, for one, am glad that no punches are pulled, here. Life isn't always flowers and butterflies.
Cost of HorsepowerThe fate of horses worked to death, and elimination of their droppings from the street, were big reasons why automobiles were looked on as a great advancement. By comparison, automotive smoke and oil drips seem minor.
On PhotographersAn eloquent, honest, even wrenching photo. And it has inspired a range of emotions. This is what the best photography does - beyond the merely documentary. Thanks for unearthing and posting this.
Thanks, DavePut me in the category of readers who appreciate photos like these. The great thing about so many of these historical photos is that they show the dirty fingernails and the sweat-soaked clothes of past times, not just picture-postcard views of town and country. When thousands of horses pulled thousands of carts, wagons, and carriages through cities every day of the week, some horses obviously died. Let's not be so meek and prim that we complain about seeing photos that depict everyday reality. If you're too fragile to view these photos, maybe the problem is with you, rather than the truth portrayed in the photos. And Shefindsu, what makes you think any cruelty was involved in this horse's death? The horse doesn't look "starved and unkempt" to me. He just looks dead. Geez, people, get a grip.
Losing the rose-tinted glassesI've been enjoying the photographs on Shorpy.com for over the year now. During that time, I noticed a certain tendency of some commentators to shake heads at our present while nostalgically looking at pictures of men and women of the past century. I hope this photo will serve as a sharp reminder of how primitive and brutal life could be in a average Western metropolis, barely a century ago.
Mind you, I don't think present times are anywhere close to utopia. But comparing the place I live in today with the way it was a hundred years ago... I'd say I'm better off then my grand-grandparents.
Blogging a dead horseThis was a common sight in any big city at the time. Just because this horse is on the street waiting to be picked up does not necessarily mean that the animal died from abuse. I wrote an article last year about the history of carriage horses in New York, and in the course of my research I found numerous pictures just like this (and none of the horses in the pictures looked "healthy," probably because they were, you know, dead). Freak accidents, disease, and simple wear and tear from years of pulling carriages on the city streets are just a few of the things that could send a horse to an early grave.
Although it may seem sad, horses in this era were still considered a means to an end, and their usefulness was determined by how much they could work. I'm sure that there were owners that mourned the death of a cherished animal, but truthfully people around the turn of the century were generally a bit more realistic about the inevitability of death than we are today.
Horses still need disposalI worked for the National Park Service for many years and we had mounted patrol rangers who rode the back country trails. I vividly remember the card we kept in the Rolodex file for a "dead horse removal" service.
Never had to call on them, thank god.
Our horses were loved and cared for like no others (a small army of volunteers assisted in feeding and currying) but they were still animals that might fall victim to sickness or injury.
Yes, not 125thGreetings -- just discovered this fantastic site. Amazing stuff. Kudos to webmaster Dave.
Adding to what's probably already been confirmed, a friend on 126th Street notes that while the photo of the dairy (comments, 1/21, 9:06) is definitely West 125th (Manhattan Ave, as it was called around the time that pic was taken), the picture of the dead horse does not look like West 125th. There is no place on West 125th that has that kind of perspective, straight to the vanishing point. It could possibly be East 125th, or, much more likely, someplace well downtown from there.
Thanks for this pictureA sad photograph, but an interesting one that shows something about history that we don't ordinarily think about much. That's what I like about this site: old photographs show us the forgotten details.
For me the most telling thing is that the kids are more interested in the camera than they are in the horse. It's not that the kids are particularly inhumane, but for them a dead horse isn't all that unusual. A camera is. And is that so bad, for children to focus on the new? I'm sad for the horse, but let's not forget the kids. They're vibrant, alive, interested in new things around them and in each other, even in the face of death and their own poverty. There's hope here.
The kidsI agree that this is a sad picture, but alas, it is real life. The horse does not look that well fed, but perhaps it is because it was ill, not starved. What I really find interesting is how many kids are just sort of running around on their own - no supervision, no shoes, and that one little guy on the sidewalk by himself looks no more than 3 or 4.
That's Life (& Death)I am new to this site but must comment on this picture. I grew up in Brooklyn in the 1950s. There was a livery stable on Dean Street where peddlers stored their wagons and boarded their horses. Occasionally a horse would die and wind up in the street just like this. The owner of the stable would cover it with a blanket (presumably to keep the flies off) until the Department of Sanitation (around the block on Pacific Street) could pick it up. I remember one instance where we kids watched as the dead horse was winched onto a flatbed truck and hauled away. Horses (even the most loved and well-cared for) die, as do all living things eventually. The horse in the photo may well have been 25 to 30 years old.
Possible Location ...I have been spent a little while trying to solve the puzzle of where the location of this picture was and I may have found it. Not only was the McDermott-Bunger Dairy located at 527 West 125th Street in NYC, but they also had an additional location at 525-531 West 38th Street in NYC. I have found several references to this, including one in a November 1902 issue of the Jefferson County Journal (of Adams, NY.) Unfortunately, when I looked at the location on Google maps, I found an open space that is an overpass for one of the entrance/exit ramps to the Lincoln Tunnel. Additionally, there are no old buildings that are identifiable on the block.
(The Gallery, Bizarre, DPC, Horses, Kids, NYC)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a09038a.thumbnail.jpg "Dead End: 1905")
- Sagamore Mill Boys: 1911
- August 1911. Fall River, Mass. "Group containing the following boys who work in the Sagamore ... all the time.
Multiple Manuels Whenever a mother in Fall River yelled, "Manuel," she must have been trampled to death . . .
... Posted by Dave - 06/27/2011 - 10:54pm -
![August 1911. Fall River, Mass. "Group containing the following boys who work in the Sagamore Manufacturing Co. Manuel Correira, 144 Cove Street, works in spinning room on top floor. Said, 'I only help mother.' He was apparently 13 or 14. Manuel Oliver, George Street, works in card room. Seems surely only 12 years old. Manuel Benevirdes, 30 Otto Street, works on top floor. Manuel Rage, 51 George Street, works in spinning room on fourth floor. John Oliver, 93 Slater Street, works in spinning room on third floor. Joseph Ariuda, 23 Shorr Street, works in spinning room on third floor." Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Tough or serious?Nearly every photo of this type from this era shows the boys doing their best to look serious or tough. You wonder if it had more to do with wanting to looking grown up or more about not letting their guard down.
Text-tilesIs the fellow at the far right texting his sweetheart that he is running late due to a photo shoot?
Facebook updateThe fellow on the right is obviously doing a status update on his iPhone or possibly checking his cash situation.
Some things never changeThat guy on the right is texting, right?
Mr tough-guy!Love the attitude of that the kid with the crossed arms. He may not be the oldest or biggest, but he must be one of the leaders, what with the attitude, and better clothes, he seems to be saying "these are my boys, so back off!"
Industrial RevolutionSeems like this mill needs to join the Industrial Revolution. Most of the work is being done by Manuel labor.
Fancy HandleOn that bumbershoot held by the young man third from the right!
A different kind of educationI know the child labor movement was a platform that had to be dealt with due to abuse, etc. However, these kids were getting a different kind of education, learning responsibility, what it took to earn money, following rules, how to cooperate and work with others, the ability to help their families improve. Perhaps they couldn't spell and/or read perfectly, etc. but neither were they out in the streets in gangs, planning drive-bys and home invasions. I notice these days when youngsters get in serious trouble, their elders say "they need someplace to go and something to do." The kids pictured here were helping, not hurting anyone. Yes, I am a cranky old curmudgeon, wanna make somethin' out of it?
What's in a name?Didn't Lewis Hine find it sorta suspicious that the first 4 guys in his photo were all named Manuel? Seems to me there's some obfuscation going on there. Or maybe they're all engaged in Manuel labor!
Kid lounging on rightThat kid on the right is Butch from Our Gang Little Rascals, and he is counting the lunch money he just took from another kid.
Manuel labor?Apparently the trendy name among Hispanic parents at the turn of the century was "Manuel"!
The first thing I thought was that the kid at far right looked like he was texting, or some such, too. These boys had probably never even seen a telephone, let alone communicated with their friends any way but face to face, and they had very little time even to do that! I wish I could put my teenaged kids in a time capsule and make them spend a day or two doing what these boys did all the time.
Multiple ManuelsWhenever a mother in Fall River yelled, "Manuel," she must have been trampled to death . . .
More seriously, who knew there were so many Spanish-surnamed immigrants in Massachusetts in the 1910s? Where did they come from? And why did they choose to settle there?
[Most of these names are Portuguese. In percentage terms Fall River has the largest Portuguese American population in the United States. - Dave]
More Manuel Labor?My first post, but I must be spending way too much time on this site. I immediately recognized these young workers (minus the "texter") from your 01/17/2010 post "Manuel Labor: 1911".
https://www.shorpy.com/node/7498
Not quite fair that one guy has an as-yet-to-be-invented device, while the second kid from the left doesn't even have shoes. . But I suppose they had a lifetime to work it all out.
Sagamore Mill Boys: 1911This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. I just tracked down the 90-year-old son of one of the boys in the photo, Joseph Ariuda (actually his name was Arruda). I haven't called the son yet. But Hine did not identify who was who in the caption. So I hope that someone in the Arruda family will recognize him. This could be interesting.
Sagamore Mill Boys 1911Joe Manning again. Here's an update. Just talked to Joseph Arruda's grandson. He didn't know about the photograph. I am mailing it to him. He thinks he will be able to identify which boy in the photo is Joseph. He remembered his grandfather well, and told me, "He was a great man in my opinion." By the way, Joseph named one of his sons Manuel!
(The Gallery, Factories, Lewis Hine)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/02258u.thumbnail.jpg "Sagamore Mill Boys: 1911")
- Livingstone Channel: 1910
- ... Construction of the navigation channel along the Detroit River circa 1910. 8x10 dry plate glass negative. View full size.
$10 ... Work was begun in the spring of 1908 and completed in the fall of 1912. The channel was opened to commerce October 19, 1912, with ... Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 11:18am -
!["Livingstone Channel, looking east." Construction of the navigation channel along the Detroit River circa 1910. 8x10 dry plate glass negative. View full size.
$10 Million Ditch
New York Times, Oct 20, 1912
New Channel at Detroit
Navigation into Lake Erie Made Easier — The Opening Celebrated.
Detroit, Mich., Oct. 19. — With the booming of guns and blowing of steamship whistles, the Livingston channel, from the lower Detroit River into Lake Erie, was formally opened to commerce to-day and a fleet of fifteen vessels passed through it and on to lower lake port destinations.
The new channel is constructed at a cost of $10,000,000 and will relieve congestion in the dangerous Lime Kiln crossing, where rocky banks and a swift current have heretofore troubled navigators and deleayed traffic. The ceremonies to-day were under the auspices of the Lake Carrier's Association.
The City of Detroit, Michigan, Vol. IV, 1922.
For a number of years Mr. [William] Livingstone advocated the construction of an independent waterway for down-bound vessels in the lower Detroit river and spent much time interesting the government engineers in the work and prevailing upon congress to supply the necessary funds for the development of the channel. In 1906 congress made an appropriation for surveys and in 1907 appropriated funds for the work and authorized it to be known as the "Livingstone Channel" in recognition of the many services rendered by Mr. Livingstone. Work was begun in the spring of 1908 and completed in the fall of 1912. The channel was opened to commerce October 19, 1912, with imposing ceremonies. This channel ranks with the important engineering feats of the age.
Mr. Livingstone's progeny and legacyWilliam Livingstone has previously appeared with his children here in the "Classic Rockers: 1900" photo. According to this source, he served as president of the Lake Carriers Association from 1909 until his death in July, 1925.
The channel which was named in his honor is located here in the lower Detroit River on the west side of Bois Blanc (Bob-Lo) Island. It is used by downbound vessels while upbound vessels use the Amherstburg Channel east of the Island, except during the slow winter shipping season when the Livingstone Channel is used in both directions as a traffic-controlled, one way channel.
Detroit River Bypass The $10M appropriated for this much needed "Ditch" was only a scratch on the surface. This feat of engineering was to cost many more millions before it was completed to the satisfaction of the shipping industry in the 1930's. The channel itself was cut in the "dry," meaning the river was dammed in the area of excavation and pumped out. It was completed in sections. The photo shown is looking northward, I believe, and one can see the power houses used for supplying electricity to the huge travelling bucket towers in the background. The pile of rock to the right in the photo was left there and today it is referred to as Spider Mountain by the locals. The specifications for the initial cut was: 12 miles long 22 feet deep and 300 feet wide (min.) On completion in 1912 it was already outgrown by the increase in size of the newer vessels and plans were set underway for enlarging the system even more.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a19561a.thumbnail.jpg "Livingstone Channel: 1910")
- Ginger Ale Alley: 1906
- Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1906. "River steamers at Crawford Street Bridge ." Today's post is brought to you ... and New Rochelle, but sank at the New Rochelle dock in fall 1917. Raised and brought to the Hog Island shipyard at Philadelphia, it ... Posted by Dave - 01/03/2022 - 7:26pm -
![Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1906. "River steamers at Crawford Street Bridge." Today's post is brought to you by U.S. Club Ginger Ale, fine product of the Phenix Nerve Beverage Co. of Boston. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Look out!Low bridge ahead!
Re: Look Out!I think you meant, "Lola bridgeda - watcha you head!"
I believe we see hereon the left the wooden sidewheel steamer What Cheer, built 1867 at Keyport, New Jersey, with the steel Squantum, built 1888 at Newburgh, New York. On the right is the wooden sidewheeler Warwick, built 1873 at Greenport, New York, as the Day Star. The What Cheer had been built as a towboat but converted to a passenger boat in 1869. Sold in 1915 to New York parties it ran between the Battery and New Rochelle, but sank at the New Rochelle dock in fall 1917. Raised and brought to the Hog Island shipyard at Philadelphia, it was abandoned there after brief service as a houseboat. The Squantum also headed to the Big Apple, running between the Battery and the Statue of Liberty until demolished in a storm off Brooklyn on 16 January 1920. The Warwick sank at its dock at Providence four days after the Squantum was lost and thought a total loss. However, it was raised and rebuilt and it, too, went to New York, where it ran primarily on the East River and Long Island Sound. It lasted until broken up at State Island in 1935.
I grew up in Providence, but... didn't recognize this scene at all. Only one building survives, I think.
Model of the What Cheer(There is also an Iowa town of that name)
https://www.lofty.com/products/s-s-what-cheer-scratch-built-steamer-ship...
Widest No More A decidedly different look on this brisk fourth day of 2022 here in The Prov'.
Rhode Islanders of my age have long endured a (good natured) inferiority complex in regard to our diminutive size. That being said, we took pride in knowing that the widest bridge in the world could be found in our state, the aforementioned Crawford Street Bridge.
Alas, the redevelopment of the Downtown area during the "Providence Renaissance" of the early '80s carved it up into many smaller spans, and our glory was no more!
Also of note, a scant couple of hundred yards to the right of this photo sits atop College Hill two of the more esteemed institutions of higher learning in the area, Brown University and The Rhode Island School of Design (R.I.S.D.).
The story behind "What Cheer"In the 1970s, I had stopped to ask a Providence police officer for directions to some location in the neighborhood, and my eyes were drawn to his police badge, which bore the words "What Cheer". When I got back to my car, I asked my wife, who was from just across the border in Mass., if she knew the significance of those words. No idea.
Years later, researching the subject, I came across this, from the following website:
https://www.nps.gov/rowi/learn/historyculture/foundingprovidence.htm
In a canoe with several others, Roger [Williams] scouted the area across the Seekonk River. They spotted a group of Narragansett on a large rock, known afterwards as Slate Rock, along the western shore of the Seekonk River. As they approached the Narragansett greeted them by calling out: “What Cheer Netop!” This greeting is a combination of English and Narragansett languages. ‘What cheer’ was an informal common English greeting of the day, short for ‘what cheery news do you bring’ and today’s equivalent of “what’s up?’’ “Netop” is the Narragansett word for friend.
WhatChout aheadThe WhatCheer's operation in Rhode Island waters included an early unfortunate episode, in which it plowed over a sailboat in Narragansett Bay, instantly killing a sailor named George Cook. After that 1869 collision, the representative of Cook's widow and children (Chase) sued the American Steamboat Company under Rhode Island's wrongful death act for the negligence of its agent on a "highway," and recovered $12,000 from the jury (equal to over $250,000 in 2022 dollars). On appeal to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the company complained that the Bay was not a "highway" within the Act's meaning, and in any event the company should not be liable for its employee's negligence. In a 1871 ruling (Chase v. American Steamboat Co., 10 R.I. 79 (R.I. 1871)), that court upheld the judgment. The company then complained to the U.S. Supreme Court that a state should have no authority to impose liability in such situations, because the Judiciary Act gave admiralty jurisdiction to federal courts. The company fared no better. In Steamboat Company v. Chase, 83 U.S. 522 (1872), the U.S. Supreme Court found, in essence, that because the representative sued the wrongdoers and not the ship itself, he could do so in state court under that state's statute, and affirmed the judgment.
New perspective
The back end of the Amica Building is what faces the water. The front entrance is 10 Weybosset Street. There seems to be a lot less activity, but business and trade are now done indoors. Still a great spot to be for a WaterFire ... gotta find me a Del's.
Undercover RiverWhen I was at Rhode Island School of Design in the 70's the river was just becoming visible again after years and years of being almost completely covered over in the name of modernization.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Providence)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-4a13602a.thumbnail.jpg "Ginger Ale Alley: 1906")
- Candlelight Inn: 1951
- ... on Sundays after Mass. Great food & service -- no river, though.
Standard Fare The menu of the Westchester restaurant, ... Popovers and Candlelight: Patricia Murphy and the Rise and Fall of a Restaurant Empire (Excelsior Editions) Paperback – November 1, 2018 ... Posted by Dave - 03/09/2023 - 12:14pm -
![January 18, 1951. "Patricia Murphy's Candlelight Inn restaurant. Manhasset, Long Island, New York. Garden Room." This was one of several Candlelight Inns operated by New York restaurateur Patricia Murphy (1905-1979), whose culinary trademark was the freshly baked popover. 4x5 inch acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
WickedI wonder how the heck the waitpeople managed to maneuver in between these ridiculously close tables. I wonder why the Candlelight restaurant doesn't have candles on each table.
Keeping UpIf you attend a Candlelight Supper, you may later be invited for Riparian Entertainments.
Candlelight Inn SupperOooh a candlelight supper. Will there be riparian entertainments as well?
[Riparian? - Dave]
Maybe you have to ask for oneIn response to Patterdale, I notice, looking down the room, the tables are staggered. You could back your chair out without hitting a chair behind you. This would also give waitstaff enough room to maneuver, although they'd have to zigzag.
I like the light fixtures and think fans in the dormer windows is a smart idea.
It's interesting that, with all the tables so uniform, the candlesticks were not. Maybe there was a shortage and you had to ask for a lit candle. In 50 years, there'd be a candle on every table ... battery powered.
Crease & DesistI don't think Hyacinth would approve of the fold on those napkins.
My favorite Hyacinth line"Am I serious? I would not be speaking to you on a Slimline phone and surrounded by some very expensive wallpaper if I weren't serious."
Riparian EntertainmentsWere not enjoyed here; it was my family's go-to on Sundays after Mass. Great food & service -- no river, though.
Standard FareThe menu of the Westchester restaurant, about eight years later. Service charge of 75 cents for children not having regular meal.
Apparently popovers were more popular than I had imaginedPopovers and Candlelight: Patricia Murphy and the Rise and Fall of a Restaurant Empire (Excelsior Editions) Paperback – November 1, 2018
by Marcia Biederman (Author)
Space RestrictedThis restaurant needs either fewer tables or more floor space.
It would feel very claustrophobic being crammed in like that, not to mention as Patterdale points out, it would be a waiter's nightmare navigating that maze of tables and chairs.
On the plus side, excellent architecture and fittings. And those prices; always wonder how businesses made money on those tiny prices.
(The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Gottscho-Schleisner)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-5a20160u.thumbnail.jpg "Candlelight Inn: 1951")
- Quequechan Crossing: 1910
- Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1910. "Barnard and Wampanoag Mills, Quequechan River." Two historic textile mills. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit ... Posted by Dave - 03/12/2023 - 1:55pm -
- PGH: 1905
- ... to the immediate left. Some of the buildings on the far river bank, to the left of the bridge, are still standing, and we've seen them ... quarters like these, one set of wheels would eventually fall into the inside wheel flange groove while the other set of wheels rode ... Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 4:15pm -
![1905. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Mount Washington." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Mon Incline, Smithfield St Bridge, P&LE to either sideWe're probably on the Monongahela Incline, looking at the Smithfield St Bridge with the P&LE Station to the immediate left. Some of the buildings on the far river bank, to the left of the bridge, are still standing, and we've seen them in other Shorpy photos. On the right of the bridge you can see a sign for "Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad" I think that may be the old B&O station. On the right on the near bank, those are 'team tracks' for the P&LE, where local freight would be loaded onto wagons by teamsters (hence the name 'team track'). There's a flat car with what looks like marble or granite spotted by the stiff leg derrick on the far right, and closer to the river there's a wagon being loaded from what I'm pretty sure is a 'beer car', an insulated car like a reefer that does not have ice hatches. The barrels in the wagon would reinforce that view :-) To the left of that car, note the C&O car on the adjoining track with a noticeable dip. That car needs to have its truss rods tightened.
Fill 'er Up!Looks like water being pumped into the open-top structure in the rail yard. I guess it got some natural fill from Mother Nature whenever it rained.
Hellwith its hat off.
PGH 2011Here is a very recent night view from a different location on Mount Washington.
This one is for Train Lovers.The four-lane road to the left, crossing the Monongahela River, is Smithfield Street. The lovely masonry arches are still there by Google Earth Streetview (the lower tier anyway). Also still there is the 12 story building on the far side of the river, to the right of Smithfield.
It looks like there were two railway passenger stations, one on either side of the river. The building in the lower left, with the two-level roadway access is still there too. The sign out front calls it "The Landmark Building" with address "One Station Square". The station across the river is gone, as are the tracks on that side. There are still two tracks parallel the river on the near side which probably belong to the CSX Railway (At least there are current pictures of CSX trains on these tracks.) CSX predecessor roads include Chesapeake & Ohio and Baltimore & Ohio, so perhaps the still-extant station building belonged to one of those.
I really get a kick out of pictures of old towns, and old railway infrastructure. There seems to be many more pictures of locomotives, some trains, but few views of yards, stations, etc.
Asthmatics BewareClicking on the "view full size" button might cause you to need your inhaler!
Also still standing.. The courthouse!Also still standing is the magnificent Allegheny County Courthouse, designed in 1883 by Henry Hobson Richardson, built between 1884-1888. It's the humungous stone building near the top of the image, just to the right of the center. I've never seen it standing so proud; the march of progress has surrounded it with taller buildings that make its presence less profound.
I'm sure there's significance to the fact that it has no smokestack billowing puffy steam/smoke. Off-site heating? Government holiday? Thermal inertia?
StunningSo many landmarks to pick out. This is one I'll come back to over and over. I can almost see my office building from there, but it's just a tad too far away.
ContrastThe railway cars and those tracks look like a very elaborate train set and across the river, the smog and smoke in the air serves to hide most of the visible city. Based on the plumes of smoke the wind during the shot seems to have been from this side of the river. Maybe the photographer waited for just the right moment.
Steam.Quite a few buildings have a plume of white steam coming from a funnel-shaped exhaust, often located on the chimney stack, where the coal-fired smoke would exit. Is this an early form of pollution control? If it is, the air quality is still pretty grim. Or maybe it would have been even worse without the steam treatment. Since steam heat was common at this time the vents could just be excess steam escaping from the heating system. But it seems unusual to have such a vent arrangement like that. Did Pittsburgh have a central steam plant that delivered steam to buildings downtown? That might be the answer.
[What is the coal heating? Boilers. Which are the source of the vapor. - Dave]
Pittsburgh TodayIt's such a clean, beautiful city. What a change.
Los Angeles, 2019 A.D.Heads down when those flying police cars buzz just overhead.
Ahead of its timeIn the foreground and to the right of the flatcar load of stone is a rarity for 1905. The P&LE coal car is steel, rather than wood. Steel cars of any type were just starting to appear on the nation's railroads at this time.
The extra deep bottom side sill on that car was totally unnecessary, however the earliest steel cars were built that way because some railroads initially didn't trust the steel and so overbuilt.
The small freight yard in the foreground is an excellent example of a "team track." Customers were notified by the railroad their load had arrived (or empty car spotted for loading) and the customer would send a crew with wagon down to work the car, as seen being done here.
Team tracks allowed businesses without their own rail siding to use a railroad's service, and allowed firms with limited capacity rail sidings or desire to use other carriers to move their freight.
Most towns, even small ones, had at least a team track. Big cities had a number of team yards like this one.
Pittsburgh Steam ExplainedThe boilers placed in these buildings usually served a variety of applications at once. Each application may have required different steam pressures and/or temperatures. So a boiler would be configured to generate steam for the biggest load. To serve a smaller thermal demand, steam would be branched off the main distribution line and the throughput would be “stepped down” by simply venting the excess steam, which is what you see here. Thermally wasteful? Sure. But fuel was cheap then.
[On a more basic level: The large buildings here would have used boilers (mostly coal-fired) for steam heat and hot water. Hence the many vapor clouds in skyline photos from the era. - Dave]
Sentimental JourneyThe night before Amtrak took over rail passenger service I took the last westbound B&O Capitol Limited to Pittsburgh, repeating a trip I'd taken more than a dozen times as a kid. As they had for decades, the B&O used this station which the P&LE kept in immaculate condition. I remember walking up the grand staircase with the shining brass handrails, and out that door to the bridge. It looked the same, with streetcars still running on the right side. There was even a steamboat -- a dinner boat -- tied up where the two are in this photo. As I walked over the bridge to get a better look, they cast off and chugged up the river. I truly felt I'd stepped into a time warp.
PGH railroad cars Once again the old axiom is true: Every old railroad train picture has to have at least one Northern Pacific freight car in it!
Wagon GaugeThe wagons traveling across the bridge are yet another rarely seen example of wagons having the same wheel gauge or width as railroads, or in this case, streetcars, 56½ inches or Standard Gauge. In close quarters like these, one set of wheels would eventually fall into the inside wheel flange groove while the other set of wheels rode just outside the rail. Certainly easy enough to pull to the side to get out, but usually one just "rode the rail". In cobble stone streets wagons commonly "rode the rails" as it was a smoother ride, while not literally on the rails, but just to one side. This width or gauge began with the Roman chariots fitting behind two horses and became standard down through the years. The beginning of railroads used horse drawn wagons or carts on wooden plank with the same gauge as the wagons previously. Early automobiles such as the model T also used the same width to run in the wagon ruts made before it. The wheel width is still in use as standard gauge.
Sharpies!The radius curves there in the lower right in the yard are pretty tight. A few even has guard rails to aid the cars and locos around them. I wonder why kind of engine serviced this facility? 0-6-0? Probably nothing with a pilot wheel set unless they were very nimble.
Green spaceA neatly manicured green space can be seen by the heating plant on the right side of the bridge; flower beds included. No doubt that was mowed with a "push" mower powered by muscle. Look at the golf green pattern; nice job. This was a common site on railway properties large and small. These were probably sacrificed due to cost cutting: pity.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh, Railroads)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_4a06910a.thumbnail.jpg "PGH: 1905")
- Main Street: 1920
- Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1920. "Main Street." Where Hustle meets Bustle. ... was demolished in the 1960s to make room for I-195.
Fall River had been a massive, highly prosperous textile manufacturing city in ... Posted by Dave - 08/08/2012 - 1:33pm -
![Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1920. "Main Street." Where Hustle meets Bustle. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Took an axeLook for an older lady in the photo. It could be Lizzie Borden, who would have been 60 around the time of this picture.
A Hat Company's DreamNary a man, women or child who doesn't don a hat! I have worn "old men's hats" since I was in high school, and it's hard to find fedoras these days.
I love studying the people and try and imagine what the conversations of the day were about. Of course, I am a pipe smoker, so my eyes were drawn to one on the sidewalk. Lots to look at in this photo!
Weather StationWow! An awful lot going on in this picture! I like the weather instruments perched atop the corner of the building in the upper left. I wonder if that belongs to the drug store below or an amateur meteorologist?
Ashes by nowPretty much everything in this photo is gone. A massive fire in 1928 destroyed many of the buildings seen here, including the Mohican Hotel, the Globe Newspaper building, and the Wilbur.
The imposing edifice on the right is City Hall, which was demolished in the 1960s to make room for I-195.
Fall River had been a massive, highly prosperous textile manufacturing city in the late 1800s. As the mills closed or moved south in the 1930s, the city suffered an economic collapse and never recovered. It's a pretty sad, empty place today.
Signs of the Times I'm nostalgic for the civility evident in a photo like this. There is an obvious formality in the architecture and dress but it is balanced by a casual interaction evidenced by the people stopping to chat in the street, walking and shopping. The streets are busy but no one is racing. This was the only "social network"! As a sign painter (rapidly becoming a dinosaur) I'm just staggered by the volume and variety of the work in this and many similar shots. Before the dominance of the computer all this work was done by hand and there was enough work to keep any skilled craftsman busy full time. No corporate plastic indistinguishable from one city to the next. Thanks for letting me time travel back to my grandfathers time -- the upside of the computer!
Same womanThe woman with the wide white collar by the Drugstore is also in this photo!
Judging by the amount of peopleit must be a Saturday.
Long may she waveThere's a little flag on the window of the A.G. Weeks office on the left. I've never seen that in this era of photos. I wonder if it's painted or a decal.
Gold Dust TwinsThe fabled Gold Dust Twins! I have heard about them all my life, but this is the first time I've laid eyes on them. Thank you, Dave.
[You're welcome, and you can see more of them here. - Dave]
Standing on the CornerWatching all the girls go by. Wait, that was the Four Lads. 1953. Some things never change.
Standing on the CornerWatching all the girls phweet phwew go by. The guys on the right of the photo are great! As mentioned previously, the interaction between so many of these people on the street is wonderful to see. Now I think they would be talking but not face to face.
WowIn all of the hundreds (thousands) of photos I have ravenously devoured since discovering Shorpy just recently, this one has to be the most richly detailed. Wonderful!
Your diligent work has had a profound impact on me, Dave. Thanks so much.
Re: Took an axeI think Lizzie was a bit of a recluse by this time. She was very big into animal care. The human-nature specialist will give a knowing nod on that fact.
RexallI had no idea Martin Balsam's middle name was "Cough."
Speaking of signsNote the one for Occident Flour. I'd like to make more and better bread too. (She says while surfing the net at work.) But I'm such a Shorpy addict!
Stars and StripesIt's interesting to count the flags; nearly every business seems to be displaying one.
Cars & More CarsIt is amazing just how quickly the automobile took over the center of the cities. In pics from 1905 hardly any cars, around 1910 we see a few more, but by 1920 they dominate the scene!
I have two very different responses to this photoThis picture brings about two very different responses in me.
(1) Being that I'm a huge history buff born and brought up in the U.S., these snapshots of old Americana are so exciting for me. Like others, I love combing through the photo for fascinating details, and can't help but wonder what these lovely people talked and thought about as they went about their day. Likely, save for references to modern amenities and gadgets, I'd probably marvel at how their ponderings don't veer that far from my own every day ones.
Soon after, I start wishing I could step into the photograph and walk among these people. I'd love to eavesdrop and interact with them, smell the air around us, take in the warmth of the sun, and just feel the difference a century makes.
This rumination however, quickly brings on my second response:
(2) As a person of color I wonder how reality would really shape my experience walking down this street. How would I be looked at and treated by these people? I see the joviality and smiles on their faces, but I wonder if I would be shunned and turned away from if I were the one to approach them.
Someone mentioned the civility with which these people seem to present themselves, and I certainly understand that it was in response to their clothes and manner of walk, but I wonder how civil they would be when faced with someone of differing color?
(Sorry to bring this up, this is just what my damn brain turns to and till now, I've never spoken of it on this site).
Apothecary!What are cold and grip pills?
[Remedies for people with colds or the grip (also spelled grippe). - Dave]
Interesting notethis entire section of main street was destroyed by a fire on February 2, 1928.
Gold Dust TwinsIf you're at all interested in advertising before 1960, I recommend hunting down a copy of Frank Rowsome's "They Laughed When I Sat Down: An Informal History of Advertising in Words and Pictures." You'll find the origins of all kinds of things that are still current (e.g., the origin of "Sunny Jim", Pears' Soap, and on and on).
Photographer, please wait 15 seconds!Don't shoot yet, I'd like to see the face of this mystery girl more close. Please, wait until she gets the sunny spot. Thanks!
My GrandfatherMy grandfather was a young police officer around this time and makes me wonder if he could be among the three or four police officers I can see in this photo. I find it fascinating to think of the possibility.
Also, I thought the fire was stopped at the building just before the Daily Globe and then the wind shifted to the east sending it up Bedford Street. And I'll have to check, but I thought you could still see some of the Globe lettering on the side of the building. Perhaps just a memory from my youth.
What this place needs -is traffic lights! I count at least five men wearing the hats of officialdom, while amiable strolling overdressed citizens wander anywhere the muse takes them. A different age that looks rather charming.
(The Gallery, DPC, Streetcars)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a24921a.thumbnail.jpg "Main Street: 1920")
- Upstairs, Downstairs: 1907
- ... and participants enjoyed picnics and hikes down to the river...and now, thanks to Shorpy, I can see how they got down to the river.
... for every twelve feet of height. Good place to break a fall if you started tumbling down, and would definitely provide a nice spot to ... Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 1:27pm -
- Nashville: 1864
- ... English castle. The whole thing looks like it's going to fall apart any minute. I'm afraid Nashville here looks like Atlanta post ... Nashville was a hub for the South plus it's Cumberland River traffic, hence the gathering of so much here.
Nashville Railroad Yard ... Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:26pm -
![1864. "Nashville, Tennessee. Rail yard and depot with locomotives." Wet-plate glass negative by George N. Barnard. View full size. Another view here.
This Railroad Terminalis not eligible for the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.
Less is MoorishWhat bizarre architecture! That sagging entry portal is being held up with that one flimsy pole? And the archways look Persian or Turkish or "Arabian" while the turrets look like an English castle. The whole thing looks like it's going to fall apart any minute. I'm afraid Nashville here looks like Atlanta post Sherman!
Where's Buster?Great RR view...but I kept looking for Buster Keaton peeking out of one of the locomotive cabs, or sitting on a connecting rod kissing his girlfriend!
Perspective is an odd thingThose huge chunks of wood make the engines look tiny, even though I know they aren't. I also like the ghostly image of the now long-dead man in the shack. It's a rare treat to look back 100+ years into the past and I'm still amazed at the clarity of these old photographs.
Music CityThis shot was taken where the bulk of downtown Nashville now resides. You can see the state capital off to the right. Even today Nashville is a pretty small city. Growing up not far from there, it always amazed me that such a smallish city could have such clout in the world of country music.
NashvilleThe building that you see in the upper right hand corner of the photo is the state capital. It was completed only a few years before the beginning of the war in 1861. It still stands today.
Nashville fell to Union forces without a fight in February of 1862. However, in the fall of 1864, in a last ditch effort to relieve the pressure on General Lee's forces in Virginia, confederate president Jefferson Davis ordered confederate General Hood to disengage from following Sherman to the sea and attack Nashville and after its capture move into Kentucky and then Ohio in hopes of the Union suing for peace. So, on December 15th and 16th of 1864 Union forces came out of their dug in positions and attacked Hood who had over the two proceeding weeks dug in and waited for the Union forces of General Thomas. Then over those two days Union forces soundly defeated the confederate forces.
WOW....What an incredible photo, and could be of great use to model railroaders doing that era. The wood clutter would be almost impossible to manage due to the amount of engines and all burning wood....I guess there was no forest management in those days either. As a Canadian I must ask what USMRR stands for.
CrenelatedThe "crenelated" appearance could easily be a Moorish or Spanish-Moorish influence. They weren't just "English castle" style but really pretty universal.
Telegraph linesThe timbers on the the crenelated corner towers (chimneys?) do look like rail ties, but they have been fitted with prong-like pieces of wood and ceramic insulators for telegraph lines. Some of the lines themselves can be seen running from the insulators on the front corner tower to the insulators on the scaffolding at the center back roof parapet, and to another timber with three insulators on the tower at the far back corner of the building. All of this looks like an ad hoc arrangement, perhaps the result of a wartime need for more telegraph lines than were needed for a peacetime rail depot, or to quickly replace lines that were downed when the brickwork was damaged.
Up thereOkay, I've got to ask. What are those things sticking out of the "turrets"?
[They look like sections of track, complete with ties. - Dave]
Nashville DepotThis depot was on McLemore Street. This Google view is pretty close. Those might be the same bricks in the 1864 photo.
View Larger Map
USMRR>> As a Canadian I must ask what USMRR stands for.
The answer can be found here.
CamouflageI looked at the full-size picture for quite a while before I realized that there are two workers sitting in front of the woodpile.
Pony truck journalsPlease note the external journals on the pony truck of the lead engine nearest the camera. That's something you did not normally see on steam engines until the the twentieth century and then not until the "twenties" and then it was unusual. C&NW 4-8-4s had 'em. A few others too. Interesting! In 1864.
USMRR I am sure the meaning of USMRR means United States Military Rail Road. Rolling stock and engines were valuable for transportation during the Civil War. Far faster than horses capable of 40 to 50 MPH for long periods, the US government during this time depended on rail transportation. Nashville was a hub for the South plus it's Cumberland River traffic, hence the gathering of so much here.
Nashville Railroad Yard in 1864 by BernardThe State capitol building in the upper right orients you pretty well as to where Bernard took the Photo. Although the depot buildings are long gone, the RR yard is still there, although probably not for very long--the neighborhood is getting very posh now and CSX Railroad is sitting on valuable real estate.
It is called the Kaine Avenue Yard and the rsilroad still uses it, mainly for trains passing through the city (the ones staying go on to the huge Radnor yards). In the 1890's they built Union Station adjacent to the tracks--approximately where the lower right of the photo would be. The center of the Yard lies just below the Demumbreun Street Bridge on Eleventh Avenue; Bernard probably took the photo a little ways up the hill, around Twelfth, likely across the street from where a strip club now exists. The photo was probably taken sometime around the battle of Nashville, but there are only a couple of shots of the Union battle lines and none of any action. Bernard preferred buildings to people. FYI
(The Gallery, Civil War, Geo. Barnard, Nashville, Railroads)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/02112a.thumbnail.jpg "Nashville: 1864")
- Bike Shop: 1912
- ... US. Below, the Huber & Metzger bike shop at 13 Grand River Avenue.
A hipster's dream What beautiful bikes. As a ... (inside horn) cabinet machines were introduced in the Fall of 1912. Dealers were then allowed to discount the 'wax' cylinders, to ... Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 4:13pm -
![Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Metzger bicycle shop. Detroit City Gas Co." This photo of a cycle (and phonograph) shop was taken to show off the gaslight fixtures. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
MotorcyclesI see four motorcycles on the left. An Excelsior Autocycle (Ignaz Schwinn was behind Excelsior motorcycles). Behind the Excelsior is a "camelback" Indian of about 1909 vintage, I think. Then another Indian and perhaps another Excelsior. In today's market those old motorcycles would extremely valuable and sought after by collectors. I think music, bicycles, and motorcycles would still make for a fun shop today.
RiddleWhat do gramophones and bicycles have in common? No, seriously, I want to know.
[Horns. - Dave]
Flash!Is that the reflection of the magnesium flash going off behind the men?
[It is! - Dave]
Huber & MetzgerBill Metzger started the first retail automobile store in Detroit in the old Biddle house. He became the first independent auto dealer in Detroit and probably the US. Below, the Huber & Metzger bike shop at 13 Grand River Avenue.
A hipster's dreamWhat beautiful bikes. As a cyclist, I would love to have one of them.
Just like today's hipster bikesNo brakes - no coaster brakes, no hand brakes.
All the with-it college kids are riding fixed gear bikes with no brakes these days.
Safety third!
FixiesAs far as I can see, none of the bicycles on offer have any brakes whatsoever. Such carefree times.
Well that's puzzlingI don't see any light fixtures that look like gas burners. I'm not aware of any glass bell shades pointing down that were ever used on gas lights. I'm pretty sure I can see bulb sockets on the perimeter lights, although I can't quite make them out. The fixtures in the center of the room have pull-chain switches on them.
[Each gas chandelier has a pair of pulls to regulate flow. Below is another example from Detroit City Gas Co. - Dave]
An Odd MixThe left side of the shop has a good selection of Victor Talking Machines. The right wall has shelves of Edison cylinders . I think I see a Columbia at the back of the shop. And all those bicycles! What a combination.
Mail CallI'd say those envelopes, in the showcases behind the Victrolas, hold recordings by John McCormick, Enrico Caruso, Rosemary Clooney and Elvis.
Early ironSome of those "bikes" are motorcycles.
Not all are bicyclesI spot at least two Indian and two Excelsior Auto Cycles on the left row and can't quite identify what is in back behind the two men sitting though I suspect another Excelsior.
All NaturalNot single black tire in the shop. Everything is natural rubber.
The sound of bikesI find it quite amusing that the two leading bicycle store chains in Israel, where I live, are called Matzman and Mintz. Something with the "TZ" sound drags people to deal with two wheeled vehicles, apparently!
The 8-track of 1912Those shelved items on the right are music cylinders. Music discs were a growing market in 1912 but looks as if this shop's owner had a lot of inventory to move before he could think about selling discs. (Judging by their loose-looking packaging, I don't think the items in some sort of vertical envelopes on the shelves on the left are discs, although if they are, they're way outnumbered by the cylinders.) Some of the songs of the day: "She Pushed Me Into the Parlour," "Daddy Has a Sweetheart (And Mother Is Her Name)," "Ragtime Cowboy Joe," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi" and Irving Berlin's "Keep Away From the Fellow Who Owns an Automobile."
Used MotorcyclesIt seems that these fellows dealt in used equipment as well, Indian Motorcycles produced the last Camelback gas tank single cylinder machine in 1908 (according to my father, who's the curator of a very large motorcycle museum). The Metzger Bicycle Concern would have a heart attack if they knew what that "old" Indian single was worth today.
[This picture could just as well be from 1908. - Dave]
Metzger Got AroundBill Metzger was also behind the Metz car, which has previously been a Shorpy subject. I learned that from a friend who I had sent this photo to.
Gas and ElectricThe center fixtures are gas, but the perimeter fixtures are electric. Best of both worlds when electric lighting was not necessarily bright or reliable.
Obsolete Stock The items on the left-hand shelf are most likely Victor records. Victor & Edison allowed their dealers to carry both lines, until Edison introduced a disc machine & Victor ordered its dealers to drop Edison.
All of the cylinders appear to be 2 minute records, although Edison introduced the 4 minute "Amberol" cylinder in 1908. Both were about to be discontinued in late 1912, along with open horn machines. The celluloid "Blue Amberol" record and a new line of Amberola (inside horn) cabinet machines were introduced in the Fall of 1912. Dealers were then allowed to discount the 'wax' cylinders, to clear their stocks.
By this time, Edison's consultants said people were "Victrola crazy", while Edison's cylinder business fell disastrously & Columbia quit cylinders altogether.
Bicycles & gramophonesIt's what they don't have in common that matters. Bicycles sell well in warmer months when people are outdoors. Gramophones sell well in colder months when people are indoors. I believe this is Metzger's shop at 351 Woodward and not the one he shared with Huber.
http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2010/12/11/metzger-bicycle-shop-in-1912/
(The Gallery, Bicycles, Detroit Photos, DPC, Motorcycles, Stores & Markets)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a26689a.thumbnail.jpg "Bike Shop: 1912")
- Thread Mill Girls: 1916
- June 19, 1916. Fall River, Mass. "Kerr Thread Mill. All over 16. Having fun with camera man. Good ... That's who I always think of when I hear anything about Fall River, Massachusetts. Ax murders are probably not relevant to Shorpy, but ... Posted by Dave - 12/17/2008 - 9:48pm -
- Chester W. Chapin: 1901
- ... Times article on the event reports it was a boat of the Fall River Line. - tterrace]
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC) ... Posted by Dave - 10/14/2012 - 8:44am -
!["Chester W. Chapin, New York Yacht Club steamer, America's Cup races, 1901." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Not a Club steamerThe Chapin may have been serving as a spectator boat for the America's Cup races that year and consequently may have been rented out to the NYYC for the day, but it would be inaccurate for the photographer to have labeled it a Yacht Club steamer. This is no member's yacht, but rather a commercial coastal passenger steamer.
Seen it before?https://www.shorpy.com/Brooklyn-Bridge
They could have afforded itThe New York Yacht Club functions at a higher atmosphere than most of us live, so it was certainly plausible to believe they could have afforded to own a steamer for the benefit of the membership.
[This New York Times article on the event reports it was a boat of the Fall River Line. - tterrace]
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_4a15311a.thumbnail.jpg "Chester W. Chapin: 1901")
- Manuel Labor: 1911
- August 1911. Fall River, Mass. "Group containing the following boys who work in the Sagamore Mfg ... word of the caption. - Dave]
Manuel Labor: 1911 Fall River is one of several cities in southeastern Massachusetts with a large ... Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 6:35pm -
![August 1911. Fall River, Mass. "Group containing the following boys who work in the Sagamore Mfg Co. Manuel Correira, 144 Cove Street, works in Spinning room on top floor. Said, 'I only help Mother.' He was apparently 13 or 14. Manuel Oliver, George Street, works in card room. Seems surely only 12 years old. Manuel Benevirdes, 30 Otto Street, works on top floor. Manuel Rage, 51 George Street, works in spinning room on fourth floor. John Oliver, 93 Slater Street, works in spinning room on third floor. Joseph Ariuda, 23 Shorr Street, works in spinning room on third floor." Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Too poor for shoes?Judging from the clothing it's not summertime. Yet three of the boys are at work barefoot.
[A good hint as to time of year can be found in the very first word of the caption. - Dave]
Manuel Labor: 1911Fall River is one of several cities in southeastern Massachusetts with a large population of Portuguese immigrants, so there would have been many Manuels living there at the turn of the century. Still, I wonder if Hine thought these boys were trying to play a joke on him.
Lizzie Borden Axed Her Parents.......and their home still exists in Fall River, Mass. on a list of historical places. The town was brimming with endless large and small textile and knitting mills of all sorts in the l8th, 19th and 20th centuries. When I lived close by in the late 1950's,early 60's, one could actually have a sweater knitted to one's own specifications (color, size and style) for a relatively low price, about $10 to $15 and I did take advantage of that. No more though, those days are gone forever, but I did love those sweaters.
Expecting rainDoes the guy on the far right know something nobody else does?
Speculation I'm not sure why but the umbrella seems like an odd item in this picture. Also the ladies in the back. . . I wonder what their relationship is to the boys and/or the building. This site is sucking way too many hours from my day but each picture is more fascinating then the last.
Everybody Vogue!I love the poses these kids have struck. Do you think it was on purpose or at the photographers request? They sure are a cute little bunch. Those two on the left look full of fun.
SurnamesI believe the correct surnames must be Correia (Correira), Oliveira (Oliver), Benevides (Benevirdes) and Arruda (Ariuda).
(The Gallery, Factories, Kids, Lewis Hine)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/02257u.thumbnail.jpg "Manuel Labor: 1911")
- Military R.R.: 1865
- ... Confederate ironclads from breaking out of the James River and attacking the supply base. The problem is that the USS Onondaga had ... vessels anchored off of City Point on any given day by the fall of 1864 including the ironclad ram "Atlanta" with one stack.
Poor ... Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 8:53pm -
![City Point, Virginia, circa 1865. "Gen. J.C. Robinson" and other locomotives of the U.S. Military Railroad. From views of the main Eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865. Wet plate glass negative. View full size.
Robinson ahead by a nose Seems that the Lt. Genl. Grant is running a close second. The named locomotives are from the Wm. Mason Machine Works in Taunton, Mass. The engine ahead of both seems unnamed. Might be an "American" locomotive or a Wm. Mason.
LocationThe terrain and the enormity of the facilities in place makes me almost certain that this was taken at City Point, Virginia, the Union's main supply depot for the area at the time.
[Another clue would be the first three words of the caption. - Dave]
Who's DrivingThe engineer is definitely not Buster Keaton.
Any ideawhat the black things are in the upper right hand portion of the picture? When I looked at the blown up picture it looked a little bit like a lot of black socks hanging on a clothesline but that's obviously incorrect.
[It's a scratch in the emulsion. - Dave]
A bigger nameHard for me to see, but appears to be "Lt Gen. US Grant" on loco behind the Robinson machine. I am amazed at the hillside, ships and living conditions of the period.
Grant's Iron HorseSaturday we saw Grant's horse "Cincinnati;" today we see Grant's Iron Horse, "Lt. Genl. Grant," on the left.
Union IroncladA turret of a Union ironclad can be seen in the background over the top of the pier-side warehouse. This could be the USS Onondaga, which was stationed at City Point to prevent Confederate ironclads from breaking out of the James River and attacking the supply base. The problem is that the USS Onondaga had two turrets and I only see one.
Grant and Lee There is a photo so similar to this one in the book "Grant and Lee" by William A. Frassanito that it must have been taken about the same time. It is in the City Point chapter view 8. The tents and buildings on top of the bluff were part of the Railroad Hospital. The wharf shown is a replacement for one that was blown up by saboteurs on August 9,1864. The explosion killed 43 laborers and according to Mr. Frassanito narrowly missed General Grant who was in front of his headquarters tent at the time. His books have photos taken during the Civil War and then the same scene in modern times.
IroncladIn regard to the comment by Excel08 about the ironclad. Also according to Mr. Frassanito there would be about 200 vessels anchored off of City Point on any given day by the fall of 1864 including the ironclad ram "Atlanta" with one stack.
Poor LightingAmazing that all the headlights on these locomotives were a kerosene lamp in a box with a magnifying lens.
Spectre-visionNifty ghost in front of main tent!
Hillside erosionAttention troopers!
Gen. Grant has authorized the issuing of hazard pay due to the hillside erosion and the location of the outhouse.
It is further recommended that only those soldiers who know how to swim should make use of the facilitiesafter dark.
Buster Isn't ThereI'll bet he is out visiting Annabelle Lee.
InterestingAlmost as interesting as the locomotives are the view of the ships in the harbor.
OopsHow did I not see that? Boy, is that embarrassing.
Hey youget back to work.
25 years of progressIt amazes me to think that these beautifully turned out engines are only one generation away from the dawn of American railroading (think Tom Thumb and iron-plated wooden tracks). A person born in 1820 grew up with horse, foot or canal-boat travel, when 50 miles was a good day's journey. During their adult years, they saw the rise of well-established railroads that could travel fifty miles per hour. This, together with the telegraph, was the dawn of the "shrinking world."
The Third LocomotiveThe locomotive moving forward between the "Lt. Genl. Grant" and the "Genl. J.C. Robinson" is the "Governor Nye." This 4-4-0 was built by the Richard Norris & Son locomotive works in Philadelphia, and was acquired new by the USMRR on February 18, 1863. Sent to North Carolina in 1865 to work on the USMRR, it was still in the USMRR inventory in April 1866. Another photo taken within minutes of this one shows it in the yard.
Watch that last step...I don't think that cliff-side staircase meets any imaginable safety regulation.
Bridge Of Beanpoples & Cornstalks General J.C. Robinson 4-4-0 (Construction # 124) Formerly known as the USMRR locomotive General Haupt and acquired new by USMRR on January 17, 1863. Renamed General J.C. Robinson. Sold to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1865.
http://www.nvcc.edu/home/csiegel/USMRR%20Locomotives.htm
"That Man Haupt has built a bridge over Potomac Creek, about 400 feet long and nearly 100 feet high, over which loaded trains are running every hour, and upon my word gentlemen, there is nothing in it but beanpoles and cornstalks."
Monitor identityThe monitor noted by others is most likely a Passaic-class ship and probably the Lehigh. The primary assumption is that the ship is perpendicular to the line of sight (as are the other ships). In that case comparing the monitor's funnel (tall thin light-colored tube to the left of the turret) to the turret, they are signifiicantly closer spaced than would be the funnel-turret distance for a Canonicus-class ship, the only other type which fits what is visible. This marks it as a Passaic. To identify it as the Lehigh is the stretch. At least three Passaics were known to have been in the City Point area at this time; the Lehigh, Patapsco, and Sangamon. The Patapsco and Sangamon were both confusingly identified as having a white ring at the top of the turret/base of the rifle shield. There is no ring visible on the turret of this monitor. The Lehigh was all black.
O Scale model Civil War model railroadBernie Kempenski is building a model railroad with these kinds of locomotives, etc. His is dated 1862. http://usmrr.blogspot.com
(The Gallery, Civil War, Railroads)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/01859a_0.thumbnail.jpg "Military R.R.: 1865")
- Service in a Flash: 1952
- ... of leaves while another is still full, albeit in glorious fall color.
[If it were early enough in autumn for the tree on the right ... bridge, which then proceeds across the Chattahoochee River. This remained a car dealership until the late '90s, when everything for ... Posted by Dave - 10/30/2015 - 12:17pm -
![Columbus, Ga., circa 1952. "Radio Cab Co." A fleet of two-door taxis -- Ford Mainline Tudor Sedans. 4x5 negative from the News Archive. View full size.
Don't be like this guyNotice how the cab with the bent bumper is parked all by itself.
Are there some other shots of this scene? I'm trying to figure out the name of the Ford dealer behind the cars - there's a Ford V8 emblem on the side of the building, and it looks like at least one on the front, and probably two, flanking the entrance.
Which season?Are there two different seasons on opposite sides of the street? On the left the trees are bare, but on the right the leaves are all out.
[It's spring. When trees can come into leaf weeks apart, depending on the species. - Dave]
This must be a southern phenomenon with which this northern boy is unfamiliar. Up in Canada, trees come into leaf pretty much simultaneously, with a light green fuzz appearing overall, followed by full leaf. The autumn situation is more like this photo, where one tree can be bare of leaves while another is still full, albeit in glorious fall color.
[If it were early enough in autumn for the tree on the right to still be in leaf, there would be leaves all over the ground, and a few still in the big tree. - Dave]
Oh, I agree this is not fall. It's just a spring I'm not familiar with. The further south I go in life, the more disoriented I become.
1st Ave and 16th StreetThis is looking north toward the Southern Railroad (now Norfolk Southern) bridge, which then proceeds across the Chattahoochee River. This remained a car dealership until the late '90s, when everything for several blocks along 1st and 2nd Avenue was demolished to make way for a corporate campus.
Today the day-care facility for the company sits on this site.
Aerials?Being "Radio" dispatched, wouldn't these taxis all have aerials?
Radios!I'd like to see a picture of the two-way radios used back then.
Before solid state, and VHF they must have been low-band and would require fairly long aerials.
Why?A two-door taxi fleet would certainly keep the back-seat fares from leaping out and running away without paying, but otherwise the logic escapes me.
[Tudors cheaper than Fordors. - Dave]
Well, that. But it must have cost them dearly in the less-than-lithe rider market.
Must have cost a fortune.I counted 22 cars in that photo. All 1952 Fords equipped with two way radios. Add in the cost of a base station, dispatchers, etc. Even in 1954 dollars, the cost must have been astronomical.
[Those are 1952 Fords. - Dave]
Regarding the radios High-band VHF was available in 1952. Taxicabs were typically around 152-Mhz. A quarter-wave antenna for that frequency is thin and short, about 16 inches long and usually mounted in center of roof for best radiation pattern. The transceivers, being all-tube, were the size of a small suitcase and were located in the trunk with only the control console with mike and speaker on the dashboard inside.
Hi-bandWould be the right era, if new, for Motorola "Research" line radios.
http://www.wb6nvh.com/Moto42/Moto42.htm
Also, just a thought, perhaps this photo is a delivery shot from a nearby dealer/paint shop where the radios and antennas haven't been installed yet.
Lots of businessWith a massive army base next door (Fort Benning with the Infantry School and paratrooper training) I'm sure they had a lot of business, especially on weekends. I took basic training at Fort Benning at the height of the Vietnam War, in old WWII wood barracks at Sand Hill that had been taken out of mothballs. Being a basic trainee, I never had the privilege of actually seeing Columbus!
A Big InvestmentBase price of a 1952 Ford Tudor = $1629
Times 22 cars = $35,838
Adjusted for inflation = $321,791.43 in today's prices.
Even in the 60`sAs Zoreo commented the radios of the time were pretty cumbersome. I invested in a cabbing company in the 60`s in the UK (using Fords too!). Our PYE brand radio equipment had its box of tricks in the boot (or trunk if you prefer). In built up areas the range was limited, barely adequate, but was very useful.
Next stop, the radio shopInstallation of the 2-way radios would be a job of an FCC 2nd Class or 1st Class Radiotelephone license holder not the factory or dealer.
Re: Bent BumperThat vehicle just came in from Oakland, Calif.
Radio in the trunkIn the first summer I ever worked as a cab driver (1977, age 19), I was hit from behind by a new driver (he looked 14, but had to have been at least 16), and he crumpled my rear end. I wasn't as freaked as he was (he literally could not speak, and so I gave his version of the story to the cop, who wrote it down!), but I was fairly frantic in repeatedly calling in the accident on the cab radio, frustrated by the lack of response from dispatch, until I realized the radio was disabled by the wrecked rear end.
Radio DazeEch. As a former Second Class Commercial Radiotelephone (now General Class) licensee, I've done many installs of remote-controlled, trunk-mounted radios. Not much fun, they could take two to four hours to complete and could be dirty work. The worst were dynamotor-powered hundred-watt units. Thank heaven solid-state radios soon replaced the tube-type boat anchors!
DealerThe dealership was Hardaway Motor Company at 1541 1st Avenue, Columbus, Georgia.
In 1939 Strickland-Rogers Motor Company had a Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln-Zephyr dealership. Within a year the Ford dealership was split off and Hardaway Motor Company came into existence as 1216 - 1222 1st Avenue. This was previously Strickland's main location. Strickland continued at 1227 1st Avenue which was previously Strickland's used car lot.
Hardaway was Benjamin H. Hardaway, Jr. who also owned Hardaway Construction Company. By 1941 he had relocated Hardaway Motors to the 1541 1st Avenue location. By 1960 the president had beome Hardaway's son, Benjamin H. Hardaway III. The business continued at least into 1966.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Columbus, Ga., News Photo Archive)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-744.thumbnail.jpg "Service in a Flash: 1952")
- Rhea Quintin: 1916
- June 1916. Fall River, Mass. "Rhea Quintin, 14 years old. Drawing in on Webb frame. Been at it ... Rhea Quintin was born on Sept 7, 1901, and died in Fall River, Mass, on Feb 15, 1998, at the age of 96. She never married. She ... Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 10:34am -
- Duquesne Incline: 1900
- ... "Duquesne Incline Railway." Mount Washington and the Ohio River feature in this view, which includes the Point Bridge, a paint and ... each other, if the cables snapped then both cars would fall to the bottom. That happened on the Main Street Incline in Cincinnati, ... Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 4:15pm -
![Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1900-1910. "Duquesne Incline Railway." Mount Washington and the Ohio River feature in this view, which includes the Point Bridge, a paint and varnish factory, a riverboat and the Graham Nut Company. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
View of downtown from the Duquesne InclineTaken just a week and a half ago. After posting the photo on my facebook page a friend referenced this post by Dave. Shorpy is one of my favorite sites!!
InterestingI'm wondering what is the white material that was used for sheathing the upper floor of that industrial building on the left. Looks like fabric.
Not there anymoreis the Lawrence paint building. It had stood abandoned for many years and was finally torn down 2 or 3 years ago. Also not there any more are the barren hillsides lining the shores of Pittsburgh's three rivers. I believe this is a direct result of the closure of all but a few steel mills and the pollution abatement efforts for those that remain.
Hoppin' TomThe Tom Dodsworth was a 182', 500 ton steamer built in Pittsburgh in 1871. She was called the "Hoppin' Tom" after setting a record time for the round trip between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. On Dec 2 1900 she was involved in a collision with the steamer "Volunteer" near Swan Creek, Ohio resulting in the the sinking of 22 coal barges. Perhaps the photo was taken during repairs after the wreck. Dismantled circa 1924, her boilers were repurposed to construct road culverts in Pleasant County, W.Va.
Reports of the Department of Commerce and Labor, 1909
March 24 (1907).—Steamer Tom Dodsworth, while ascending the Ohio River near Moundsville, W. Va., with an empty tow of coal boats and barges, broke her port wrist in crank, after cylinder head, bent piston rod close to piston head, and threw pitman crosshead and piston overboard. No other damage done, and no one hurt. Estimated damage, $500.
Coal Age, Vol 7., 1915
The steamers "Thomas Dodsworth" and "F. M. Wallace," of the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal & Coke Co. cleared for Louisville Feb. 27 with tows of coal totaling about 1,200,000 bushels, also two freight barges each carrying 1400 tons of manufactured iron and steel.
IronsidesI'm pretty sure that the white top floor is sheathed in sheet metal.
Gone Green I'm amazed at the desert like conditions on the hillside. Maybe clear cutting to make it easier for development?
Isn't this also referred to as a vernacular railway? Or is that part of someone's vernacular?
[Maybe you're thinking of "funicular." - Dave]
Car safetyWere these cars pretty safe as far as reliable brakes and/or safety brakes? Was there ever a incident of them failing, to anyone's knowledge?
Lost opportunity I lived in Pittsburgh for nearly two years, and never made time to go up one of the inclines.
And I was as close as that bridge. On weekends I'd unwind by driving around the city in my Civic, crossing back and forth on the bridges and checking out the odd little neighborhoods.
Really cool picture, Kilroy. I'm pretty sure that those buildings up top weren't there in 1997. Especially that modern one at top right. I bet the great big empty expanses that lined the south shore of the Monongahela have been built up since then.
Up the creek... without a paddlewheel. Maybe removed to replace the paddles. The antlers on the pilot house indicate that the Tom Dodsworth won a steamboat race. This is an Ohio River sternwheel tow boat, small towing knees can be seen on the bow. Probably used in the coal industry.
Improvement!This is one of the few scenic photos on Shorpy where the view has markedly improved since it was taken. In fact, Pittsburgh is a much more beautiful city now, too.
A lot of this is still thereIncluding the incline itself, and Lawrence paint & varnish. In fact I remember the lettering was readable the last time I paid any attention to it. The odd-shaped building (a grain elevator, maybe for the brewery?) is gone, but I think the Nuts building is still there, too.
Of course this is one of the two inclines preserved in Pittsburgh, and it's a great trip.
SafetyI don't know about incidents at the Pittsburgh inclines, but there were a few accidents on the ones in Cincinnati. Since the two cars counterbalanced each other, if the cables snapped then both cars would fall to the bottom. That happened on the Main Street Incline in Cincinnati, when one car reached the top the cable pulled out of the front of the car and it plummeted to the bottom, killing many patrons. Since the other car was already at the bottom it was mostly unscathed. That said, extra cables and other safety measure were installed, and they tended to operate very safely and quietly overall.
The 19 inclinesHere are the locations of the 19 inclines of Pittsburgh. Click on them to see they names. Zoom to see the exact location of their tracks.
Lawrence Paint BuildingThat beautiful building isn't there any longer? What a shame. Seems like it would be prime loft space nowadays with such a picturesque view. My first (and only) visit to the downtown area was in '95 and we took the incline. I was very impressed with all of Pittsburgh.
+111Below is the same view from July of 2011.
(The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Factories, Pittsburgh, Railroads)](https://www.shorpy.com/files/images/4a19421a.thumbnail.jpg "Duquesne Incline: 1900")
- The Lonely City: 1940
- ... Street toward Battery over elevated structure (demolished Fall)." 5x7 inch acetate negative by Stanley P. Mixon for the Historic American ... an almost two-mile tunnel under Battery Park and the East River, the other end emerging Brooklyn.
Submitted for your ... Posted by Dave - 10/26/2022 - 12:00pm -
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