Yankees Manager Casey Stengel & Pitcher Vic Raschi

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Casey Stengel Concerned Over Star Pitcher Vic Raschi’s Sore Arm – 1950

Raschi’s Arm Dims Yankees Hope
Chicago: Vic Raschi (r), New York Yankees’ 20 game winner and Yank manager Casey Stengel look melancholy today at the game with the White Sox. The arm trouble which took Raschi out of last night’s game, which the Yanks lost 4-3, may result in a knockout blow to the New Yorkers’ pennant hopes. photo Acme 9/20/1950

The news slug comments on Raschi’s arm trouble, yet in that 4-3 loss which Raschi did not figure in, he allowed only six hits and two runs over six innings.

On September 19, the Yankees held a half game lead over both the Red Sox and the Tigers for first place. Until playoffs came about in 1969, only each league’s winner would advance to the World Series.

But, Raschi would pitch again Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #199 – Luna Park Coney Island 1915

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Entrance To Luna Park 1915

This magic lantern slide is from about 1915 and shows the ornate entrance to Coney Island’s Luna Park. Along with George C. Tilyou’s Steeplechase Park (opened 1897) and Dreamland (1904) , Luna Park (1903) was one of the big three Coney Island amusement attractions at the turn of the century. Luna’s founders,  Frederic Thompson and Elmer “Skip” Dundy took over Sea Lion Park which opened in 1895.

Dreamland was destroyed by fire in 1911. Luna Park would suffer a similar fate on August 12, 1944. Steeplechase shut down in 1964.

Having never been to Steeplechase or Luna Park I can only relate the tales of my grandparents who describe old Coney Island as a crowded, glorious pageant of exciting and colorful sights, unique smells and sounds that Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #197 – Mary Pickford & Marilyn Miller

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Mary Pickford Prepares Marilyn Miller For Her First Screen Test

Mary Helps Marilynn Primp Up For Her First Screen Appearance

Mary Pickford, the world’s sweetheart, is here seen assisting Marilynn Miller, her sister-in-law to put the final touches to her hair before taking her first screen test. Marilynn was recently given a test at the Pickford-Fairbanks studio, and it proved highly satisfactory. photo: Kadel & Herbert News Photos, October 1923

Marilyn Miller (born Mary Ellen Reynolds, September 1, 1898)  was a Ziegfeld Follies headliner before she was 20-years-old. Continue reading →

Marrying Your Ex Without Realizing It

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Couple Who Divorced Almost Remarried Each Other

After 25 Years Apart, They Didn’t Recognize Their Ex Spouse

There are stories that are so bizarre you think they cannot be true. This brief article from The Meridan Daily Journal ran September 1, 1906.  Several other newspapers including The New York Tribune (also reproduced below) and Washington Times would tell the tale as well. Continue reading →

Former Michigan Governor Chokes Bear To Death During Hunt

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” I Enjoyed It Immensely” Says Former Governor Osborn After Bear Choking – 1921

“They always did work faster in Michigan.” A news item reported that former governor Chase Osborn, a well-known big game hunter, killed the bear after a 20 minute fight. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seized power in Russia in 1917, and by 1921, the country was ravaged by famine and disease. The cartoonist suggests that it took somewhat longer for Lenin and his government to wreak disaster on Russia. drawing by Clifford Kennedy Berryman via Library of Congress

With the passage of time there are news stories that do not age well. Contemporary attitudes towards activities, attitudes and  behaviors of the past often leave many readers aghast.

This example is from 105 years ago appearing on page six of  the August 24, 1921 New York Evening World. 

Chokes Bear To Death After Battle In River

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Why I Don’t Eat At Fast Food Restaurants

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I Prefer To Eat At Home Because….

I prepare my own food.

Maybe the food was contaminated before it came to me. But I have no vermin or roaches in my house. I keep my home clean. And I prepare food safely.

Unfortunately that is not the case for many eateries. And I don’t know the true cleanliness of most establishments, regardless of the letter rating restaurants are given to display in their windows.

This observation about health code violations should not be confined to fast food restaurants. I was eating at a fine steak restaurant in lower Manhattan when a mouse ran across my foot. So the notion that vermin only stake out fast food restaurants is not true.

But how does something like this occur? This tidbit is  from the West Side Rag –

Subway, the fast food sandwich chain’s location at 2508 Broadway (between West 93rd and West 94th streets), was shut down by the health department on August 13th after 63 violations were found upon inspection. Violations include: live roaches, filth, flies and pests in food and non-food areas, and failure to follow temperature control regulations for food. The full report can be found here. This is the second time this summer the Subway location was ordered to close after inspection; the first was on July 2nd, with 60 violations.

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Classic Hollywood #196 – Future Movie Star Esther Williams

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16-Year-Old Swimming Champion Esther Williams – 1938

It will not come as a surprise to anyone who has ever seen an Esther Williams film that she was a swimming star before a film star.

The caption from our news photo reads:

Time Out To Pose
Los Angeles, Calif. – Photo shows (left to right) Iris Cummings, National 220-yard breaststroke champion: Billie Steitz, Pacific coast backstroke titlist and Esther Williams, freestyle star, as they pose during a practice session. The trio will take place in the Southern California swimming and diving meet within a few days in the Los Angeles Athletic Club pool, as well as the National Championships next month. Credit Acme Photos; March 22, 1938

Williams first major film role was in “Andy Hardy’s Double Life” (1942). Did it really take four years from the time of this photograph to discover Esther Williams? Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #198 – Brooklyn Bridge c.1890

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Brooklyn Bridge Walkway & Elevated Trains

This magic lantern slide view of the Brooklyn Bridge is from around 1890.

On the right is a train and on the left we can get a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge shuttle station. Trolleys and horse drawn vehicles are on the outer roadways as  pedestrians cross the span on the bridge’s central walkway.

At first Continue reading →

The Unbuilt Lower Manhattan Dock Complex – 1922

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Gigantic, Never Built Dock Buildings Along The Hudson

Originally this illustration appeared in the January 26, 1922 issue of The New York Times Mid-Week Pictorial magazine. We colorized this birdseye view of The Battery showing lower Manhattan crowded with ships and skyscraper buildings.

It also shows something that never came to be.

On the left is a series of uniform buildings stretching along the Hudson River waterfront. Today this area is the site of Battery Park City.

The Times description Continue reading →