On January 9, 1912, the Equitable Life Assurance Building at 120 Broadway was destroyed in a fire of historic proportions.
In 2012 we covered the 100th anniversary of this historic fire and its consequences. Continue reading
While The Beatles are famous for their music and creative lyrics, they were adept at placing obscure references and meanings within their songs.
Sometimes this subterfuge would be right in front of the listener without the audience even realizing it.
The Beatles most famous use of “hiding” a lyric is Continue reading
The cover of Life Magazine by Albert Dodd Blashfield (1860-1920) features this allegorical scene of the old year sitting at a table with the new year. What the symbolism of the pose, wine, smoking, hourglass and table setting boils down to is: out with the old and in with new.
The original Life Magazine (not the 1936 -1972 photo-journal magazine version of Life) featured humor, cartoons and short articles. Continue reading
Charlie Chaplin photo: United Artists
This 1919 portrait of Charlie Chaplin taken at the height of his success shows that behind the make-up and little mustache was a handsome man.
Chaplin, as one of the co-founders of United Artists in 1919 with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith, had many official publicity photographs taken like the one above and below to promote the founding of the company.
The historic moment taken when the papers of incorporation were signed creating United Artists Corporation on April 17, 1919. Left to right in the foreground are the founders. D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.. In the background are their attorneys, Albert Banzhaf and Dennis O’Brien. photo: United Artists
From the Detroit Publishing Company comes this lightly trafficked view of Fifth Avenue. By 1915 horses were being phased out of daily street life and a large portion of the vehicular traffic is motorized. Continue reading
We tend to think of bathing beauty contests as being ogling-fests for men.
But not always.
Sometimes the ladies would be judging the men.
As the roaring twenties drew to a conclusion, this role reversal contest was held in Venice, California on May 20, 1929.
The news slug reads: Continue reading
If you imagine that in the good old days courtship always involved proper etiquette, courtesy and social mores you would be mistaken.
While combing through the archives of the New York Tribune we came across this article Continue reading
LOU GEHRIG’S WIFE MAY BECOME HIS SECRETARY
Larchmont, N.Y. – Wife and secretary is the double role Mrs. Lou Gehrig (above) might assume Jan. 1, 1940, assumes his position on the New York City Municipal Parole Board. Mrs. Gehrig is shown in their Larchmont N.Y., home, Oct. 11, after Mayor F.H. LaGuardia announced appointment of the New York Yankees former first baseman to the board for a ten-year term. Mrs. Gehrig handles all of Lou’s fan mail and other correspondence. Credit: Acme Oct. 11, 1939
After Lou Gehrig stepped down from playing baseball on May 2, 1939 he stayed with the team for the remainder of the year, never playing a major league game again. But once the season was over Gehrig pondered the future.
The parole board job La Guardia offered paid an annual salary of $5,750, quite a cut from Continue reading
Hollywood press hoopla at work here.
This is the improbable news slug originally accompanying this publicity photograph: Continue reading
A frozen moment on a sunny winter day in Times Square.
We are looking north from 46th Street to the west side of Broadway. Before looking at the surroundings, check out the tail fins on the passing 1960 Plymouth Savoy automobile heading east.
You may notice the human scale of what Times Square once was. Continue reading
