Old New York In Photos #181 – First Avenue & 67th Street 1935

Leave a reply

Clearing Land For The New Memorial Cancer Hospital

This 1935 photograph is from city street photographer Percy Loomis Sperr.

We are looking east from First Avenue and 67th Street and shows the land that would soon be the site for Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases.

This plot of land stretching from York Avenue to  First Avenue between 67th and 68th Street was donated to Memorial Hospital by John D. Rockefeller. This neighborhood today houses numerous medical institutions.

Over the ensuing decades, every visible building along 68th Street; the tenements, a blacksmith shop, auto repair shop and ambulance company would be demolished for expansion of hospital buildings.

The large building complex with the tower Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #177 – Rita Hayworth And Penguin – 1937

1 Reply

Rita Hayworth And A Smoking Penguin

Sometimes we run across photographs with no logical explanation. When there is no news slug we are left to speculate – what is going on here? This is one of those cases.

Besides being identified on the rear as Rita Hayworth and a United Press International photo, there was nothing else written identifying the action or location.

Fortunately entering “Rita Hayworth” and Penguin in a search engine can solve a mystery. Continue reading →

The Nearly Indestructible Pay Phone

Leave a reply

 Even Being Indestructible Did Not Stop The Pay Phone’s Extinction

There are certainly people who have never seen a pay phone before. And people who are familiar with pay phones may have only seen them with push buttons. Rotary dial phones were replaced in the 1970s by push buttons. Whereas pay phones managed to remain ubiquitous until the 1990s.

Pay phones were once everywhere. You could find them in hotels restaurants, gas stations, drug stores, transportation facilities, office and public buildings and on street corners,

The ad above ran in the September 11, 1971 New Yorker magazine.

In 1970 vandals cost American Telephone and Telegraph $12 million Continue reading →

Brooklyn Dodgers Begin 1955 With A Long Winning Streak

Leave a reply

Dodgers Shortstop Pee Wee Reese Counts Down The Wins To A Perfect Season

Brooklyn, NY – The undefeated Brooklyn Dodgers tonight equaled the Major League record of nine consecutive games won at the start of a season, by defeating Philadelphia 3 to 2. The only remaining member of the 1940 Dodger team which also won its first nine games of the season, captain Pee Wee Reese, prepares to draw a line through number 146 after tonight’s win. Looking on is Walt Alston. The mark was first set by the Giants in 1918 and the St. Louis Browns also won their first nine in 1944. photo: International News Photo – Herb Scharfman 4/20/1955

The Brooklyn Dodgers would go on to set a new record winning their tenth consecutive game the following day, beating Philadelphia 14-4. The Dodgers finally lost a game on April 22 to The New York Giants. Continue reading →

Women’s Corsets, Bras, Underwear, Silk Petticoats And Bodices -1919

1 Reply

Undergarments For Women From James McCreery & Co. 1919

The two illustrations seen here are excerpts from a full page ad. This advertisement comes from the April 27, 1919 New York Sun daily newspaper. Shown is an array of intimates of the late teens that a fashionable woman would wear beneath their clothes.

The uptown location of James McCreery & Co. at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #180 – Colossal Elephant Of Coney Island

1 Reply

The Elephantine Colossus or Colossal Elephant Of Coney Island c.1890

For over 150 years Coney Island has attracted visitors to sample its beach, cuisine and amusement parks.

This magic lantern slide photograph shows an attraction that was more of a curiosity. Though It was only in existence for 11 years, hundreds of thousands of people came to see the Elephantine Colossus.

It was not a ride, but Continue reading →

Hotel Brunswick & Windsor Hotel Fifth Avenue – 1891

Leave a reply

A Typical Day On Fifth Avenue -1891

Here are two views of Fifth Avenue from the 1891 book History And Commerce Of New York (American Publishing and Engraving).

In our first illustration above we are looking north along Fifth Avenue towards The Hotel Brunswick (with flag on the roof) at the corner of 26th Street.

The second illustration below, Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #176 – Greta Garbo Is Interviewed 1938

4 Replies

Greta Garbo Answers Questions Aboard The MS Kungsholm October 7, 1938

Great Garbo (1905-1990) was never fond of the press. The star’s apocryphal line of “I want to left alone” did apply to almost everyone outside of her circle of close friends.

So it was rather surprising that Garbo allowed reporters to speak with her, after staying in Europe for ten months. Traveling back to the United States aboard the Swedish American Line MS Kungsholm, 100 reporters gathered in he ship’s lounge to question the Swedish Sphinx. Garbo then cagily semi-answered their questions.

Garbo Talks

“Did you ever say I want to be left alone?” a reporter queried. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #179 – Grand Central Depot In Color 1895

Leave a reply

Grand Central Depot Circa 1895

It’s 12:20 in the afternoon according to the clock at Grand Central Depot as horse drawn vehicles congregate nearby.

We are looking north from 41st Street and Park Avenue. This contemporary colored magic lantern slide is from around 1895. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #175 – Vivien Leigh

Leave a reply

Vivien Leigh Stays In England -1943

Will Remain In Britain For The Duration
Vivien Leigh, who won swift fame as Scarlett of “Gone With The Wind,” plans to return to the American movies, but not until the war is over. Miss Leigh, pictured here in London, and her husband, Laurence Olivier,returned to Britain in January, 1941, during the height of the air blitz. He joined the fleet air arm and she signed for the leading feminine role in “The Doctor’s Dilemma,” by George Bernard Shaw. “Both my husband and I felt that we should return to England,” she said “and we both feel that we should remain here until the war is over.” photo Wide World 3/23/1943

Eight years earlier in May 1935 Leigh debuted in the play The Mask of Virtue at London’s West End. The 21-year-old beauty became famous virtually overnight. Six film companies, three British, three American offered her a film contract. Leigh signed with Alexander Korda for ten pictures in five years for £50,000. Continue reading →