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$900 Million: 1914
1914. "Treasury Department, Office of Comptroller of Currency -- bond vault. Contains bonds to the value of ... Indirect Costs of the Great World War" 2d ed. [Washington 1920] by Ernest L. Bogart.) So the $900 million represented here covered the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/06/2012 - 7:10am -

1914. "Treasury Department, Office of Comptroller of Currency -- bond vault. Contains bonds to the value of $900 million securing government deposits and postal savings fund." National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size. Smoke BreakLooks like he's reaching for the fan switch before they light up. Then and Now$900 mil would be +/- $20,360,700,000 in 2011 according to the inflation calculators. US Postal Savings, existed from January 1, 1911 until July 1, 1967. It was still big in Europe the last time I looked. This system was set up by the US Government to act as a saving account for anyone too poor to have a saving account or lived too far from a bank. Two weeks worth of warThe direct cost of U.S. involvement in WWI was roughly $23 billion, from the U.S. declaration of war in April 1917 until the end of the war in June 1918. (Source: "Direct and Indirect Costs of the Great World War" 2d ed. [Washington 1920] by Ernest L. Bogart.) So the $900 million represented here covered the cost of two weeks of the looming "war to end all wars." Glass ceilingWhat's going on with the top of the glass plate? At the top, it appears there's part of another picture, and the I-beams and everything else are abruptly cut off. [It's the very top portion of another shot taken at the Treasury Department at the same time. At some point in the past, prints were copied to glass negatives and these two happened to be stacked unevenly atop one another.] Postal SavingsFrom what I've been told about my coal miner grandfather, he used the postal savings exclusively. He distrusted banks, saying that (back then) there were any number of counters for making deposits, but only one for withdrawals. According to him, they even knocked a hole in the wall so you could put your money in at night. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Crosswise: 1902
... C. at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast (now a commercial office building). Chalmers was born in Hawley, Massachusetts in 1827. His ... his best-known work. He died in Washington in January 1920 at the age of 93. The photo of him below was taken from Mary Longley’s ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/18/2019 - 7:33pm -

Washington, D.C., between February 1901 and December 1903. "Wink, Longley (crosswise)." 5x7 glass negative from the C.M. Bell portrait studio. View full size. Crease-wiseThe horizontal crease in each woman's bodice is unflattering and awkward. The photographer apparently didn't care about making these two look their best. Mother & daughter?Looking at the resemblance and the possible difference in age I wonder if this could be a mother daughter portrait? The woman on the left has a wedding ring, the woman on the right does not might be another hint. Also the woman on the right has one cuff rolled up and the other is down. I agree with Mattle, that the photographer was not very good at posing his subjects. Who's watching whomWink is thinking, "I'm pretty sure he's checking Longley out. I would have expected a higher code of conduct from the CM Bell Studio. On the other hand, he's kind of cute in a geeky way. All the same, best remain alert." Longley is thinking, "It's obvious that this chap has unchivalrous designs on Wink. Better keep both my eyes on him just in case. Unless I pass out from oxygen deprivation first, on account of this collar gives new meaning to the expression 'high and tight.'" She is no dummyThe image first presented itself on my screen from the waistlines up. My impression was that Wink was Longley's dummy. Wink is appropriately named for the role. What Goes Around Comes AroundMary Theresa Longley (nee Shelhamer), shown on our left, was a well-known medium and lecturer. She was born in South Boston in 1853 and at the time this photograph was taken she was the Secretary of the National Association of Spiritualists and had written a few books on spiritualism under both her maiden and married names. She obtained a medical degree in Massachusetts and used her clairvoyance in her medical work as a medium healer. In Boston in 1888, when she was 35 years old, she married Chalmers Payson Longley, who was 61 years old. By 1898 they were living in Washington D. C. at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast (now a commercial office building). Chalmers was born in Hawley, Massachusetts in 1827. His first wife, Maria Shaw, died in 1875 at the age of 42. Although he listed various occupations over the years such as a Massachusetts Merchant Tailor in 1855, a regular Tailor in 1860, a Mechanic in 1863, and a Connecticut Gun Manufacturer in 1880, he had been composing spiritualist music since at least the early 1850s and the Boston Marriage Registry lists him as a musician in 1888. In 1896 he and Mary were living in Los Angeles near his relatives and his voter registration listed his occupation as a music publisher, while the city directory had him as a musician. Although also an accomplished singer, he finally settled on the job description of ‘composer of music’ and wrote the music for a number of spiritualist era songs, with "Only a Thin Veil Between Us” (1887) being his best-known work. He died in Washington in January 1920 at the age of 93. The photo of him below was taken from Mary Longley’s 1912 book “Nameless” which was dedicated to her husband who had become totally blind earlier that year. The younger lady to our right is Agnes Orlon Wink (also a spiritualist) who was born in Iowa in 1873. By the time she was 12 her family had relocated to Nebraska. When this photo was taken, she was boarding in the Longley house and working at the War Department as a clerk. She came to Washington via Los Angeles, where she attended Cross Shortland College, in the fall of 1898 to work as stenographer to Assistant Secretary of War George de Rue Meiklejohn (from Nebraska). Meiklejohn stepped down in March 1901 and Agnes transferred to the Office of the Quartermaster General. In August 1905, after several years of courtship, she married Robert Eugene Fugett who was also a clerk at the War Department and all their wedding notices said she was from San Francisco. Despite having just received a raise at work, Agnes had left her position there to become a homemaker. When the Washington D. C. enumerator for the 1920 census called upon the Fugett household at 310 S Street Northeast (a newer house stands there today) he found residing therein: Robert E. Fugitt, 58; Agnes O. Fugitt, 46; Robert P. Fugitt, 13; and Elmer W. Fugitt, 11. Also listed were two boarders: Chalmers P. Longley, 92; and Mary T. Longley, 66. (The Gallery, Bell Studio, D.C., Portraits)
Fifteenth and H: 1923
... The Woodward Building in Washington circa 1923. The former office building, put up in 1911, became apartments in 2005. National Photo Co. View full size. I wonder... ...if people in the 1920's lived happier lives overall than people do today. Look at that picture. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 10:56am -

The Woodward Building in Washington circa 1923. The former office building, put up in 1911, became apartments in 2005. National Photo Co. View full size. I wonder......if people in the 1920's lived happier lives overall than people do today. Look at that picture. The streets seem clean and pleasant. I bet that area is a mess now. [It's not. - Dave] A win for preservationists Washington Post, Mar 9, 1990 Court Bars Demolition of Woodward Building Preservationists Hail Curb on "Special Merit" Preservationists hailed a major victory yesterday when the D.C. Court of Appeals stopped plans to tear down a turn-of-the-century office building in the Fifteenth Street Financial Historic District. The decision, the first to use the city's historic preservation law to overturn a demolition order issued by the mayor, placed new limits on the city's power to find that the "special merit" of a development justifies destruction of a historic site. "Virtually every historic building will now have to pass a tougher standard in order to be torn down. It will effect every single historic building," said Cornish F. Hitchcock, who represented the Committee of 100 of the Federal City, a private planning body that argued for yesterday's decision. The stakes in the case were grander than its subject; The Woodward Building, a U-shaped beaux arts structure at 1426 H. S. NW. .... (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)
Special Services: 1944
... West 23rd Street." Photo by Howard Hollem et al. for the Office of War Information. View full size. Oh, no This picture is ... "Chelsea Shul") has been at 236 West 23rd Street since the 1920's. Problem is, it occupies a structure originally built as a Methodist ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/06/2014 - 10:38am -

A D-Day triptych. "New York, New York. June 6, 1944. Congregation Emunath Israel. D-Day services in a synagogue on West 23rd Street." Photo by Howard Hollem et al. for the Office of War Information. View full size. Oh, noThis picture is going to drive me nuts. Emunath Israel (today usually called the "Chelsea Shul") has been at 236 West 23rd Street since the 1920's. Problem is, it occupies a structure originally built as a Methodist church that looks absolutely nothing like what we can see in this picture. It has much plainer stonework, and that's not the sort of thing that would be changed in even a massive renovation. [It is the same building - formerly a Presbyterian, not Methodist church, - massively renovated. -tterrace] Emunath IsraelSure looks different nowadays. The photo below is from Thanksgiving 2010. The Hebrew over the door in the recent picture says Emunath Israel: faith of Israel. The two tablets are the ten commandments. The Hebrew in the old picture is Talmud Torah: learning of Torah. The synagogue is immediately to the west of the Chelsea Hotel. How do you have a sign ready for that?I don't understand how you already have a sign like that painted and ready for the event? Was it common knowledge that there was going to be "a" D-Day and people just didn't know when it was going to happen? Or did they commission this sign and get it painted within a few hours for use that day? (Panoramas, Howard Hollem, NYC, WW2)
St. John's: 1900
... Congress has given them a date range of "between 1918 and 1920," though they all seem to be from around 1900. Anyone out there from the ... much needed in that part of the city, where bland office buildings have unfortunately taken root. Locomobility The car is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 2:45pm -

"St. John's Church, 16th & H streets N.W." From a series of dozens of National Photo glass negatives showing various Washington landmarks. The Library of Congress has given them a date range of "between 1918 and 1920," though they all seem to be from around 1900. Anyone out there from the LOC? View full size. Zero horsepower.That carriage has no horse! [A "horseless carriage"? It'll never catch on. - Dave] Church of the PresidentsThis charming church is right across the square from the White House, and every US President since 1816 has attended there at least once. http://www.stjohns-dc.org/article.php?id=48 View Larger Map NeighborhoodI used to work right around the corner, and had to walk to a court off Lafayette Square frequently. It was always a pleasure to see St. John's facade and steeple along the way. It's a building with character, much needed in that part of the city, where bland office buildings have unfortunately taken root. LocomobilityThe car is a 1900 Locomobile steamer. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo)
Corcoran House: 1922
... behind where this stood in the 1600 block of I St NW. The 1920's saw the movement from residential to business usage in this area just north of the White House. When the Old Executive Office building was the War Department, many of the residents where military ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/18/2016 - 3:02pm -

March 14, 1922. Washington, D.C. "The old Corcoran House on H Street, which Daniel Webster occupied while Secretary of State, is now being razed to make way for the huge building which is to be the home of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. The building that replaced itA short history of the building that replaced it. My Employment Neighborhood.For the past 26 years I have worked in the building behind where this stood in the 1600 block of I St NW. The 1920's saw the movement from residential to business usage in this area just north of the White House. When the Old Executive Office building was the War Department, many of the residents where military generals. Gen. McClellan lived on the northwest corner of 17th and I Street, for instance. http://www.theruinedcapitol.com/ (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing)
What Goes Up: 1907
... addition completed in 1910, came back down in 1920 at the tender age of 13, demolished to make way for an office tower. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/31/2017 - 12:20pm -

Detroit, 1907. "Hotel Pontchartrain under construction." The 10-story, 298-room "Pontch," after expanding up with a five-story addition completed in 1910, came back down in 1920 at the tender age of 13, demolished to make way for an office tower. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Pontch and the DACThe Pontch was built just before several changes to the hotel industry - bathrooms for each hotel room, early air conditioning, etc. That was a big contributor to its short life. One other factor was the opening of the Detroit Athletic Club. The Pontch was the hub for the early auto industry - deals were made, conventions held, and ideas were exchanged. But when the DAC opened its new building, the auto barons joined the club, and moved their meetings out of the Pontch, taking away a big part of the hotel's business. (The Gallery, Detroit Photos, DPC)
Back Alley Confab: 1914
... Republic near Chino, Calif., when he was 16 years old in 1920. But he went on to become a respected Los Angeles newspaperman and war correspondent for the Office of War Information. Thornton became a test pilot and Charles Lindbergh's ... 
 
Posted by SierraMadrean - 02/07/2014 - 7:56pm -

Leicester Wagner, third from left with a stick, and his brother, Thornton, far right, spend some time in a back alley behind State Street in Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1914. Their stepmother, Florence, once said they had a tendency to "take anything that wasn't nailed down." Leicester spent a year as an inmate at the Boys Republic near Chino, Calif., when he was 16 years old in 1920. But he went on to become a respected Los Angeles newspaperman and war correspondent for the Office of War Information. Thornton became a test pilot and Charles Lindbergh's personal pilot during the Bruno Hauptmann kidnapping trial. He retired from American Airlines in 1966. Photo taken by their father, Rob Wagner. View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
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