This photograph was taken by the Savastano Photographic Studio on December 5, 1937. We are looking north up Broadway from 14th Street and University Place. Continue reading
On December 7, 1941 our country was pulled into World War II by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. As January 1, 1943 arrived the United States had just completed a year of austerity and patriotic sacrifice. Many people realized the grim reality that this war would go on for years. It was hard to find a reason to celebrate anything. Continue reading
This scene shows the cowcatcher intersection at 23rd Street where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersect.
Our photograph is from about 1897, before the famous Flatiron Building was constructed in 1902. Continue reading
In 1941, Warner Bros. talent scout Solly Baiano went to an Elks Lodge picnic in Sacramento, CA. for a talent try-out for young people. As usual at events like these, there was no talent at the picnic. But as Baiano was walking back to his car he stopped in his tracks when he came upon Dolores Moran sitting near his path eating a hot dog. Baiano froze and just stared at Moran later saying she “struck me blind.”
Dolores Moran was just 15-years-old. She had not entered the talent contest thinking she was too young. At five foot seven and 123 pounds the well developed teen was just the type of talent Baiano was looking for. Continue reading
Charlton Heston admires his Golden Globe Award for Most Popular Male Star as Marilyn Monroe is embraced by Rock Hudson who awarded Marilyn the Golden Globe’s Henrietta Award as The World’s Most Popular Female Star at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.photo: Golden Globe Awards, March 5, 1962
It may come as no surprise that Marilyn Monroe never won an Academy Award. She was never even nominated for one. Despite strong performances in Bus Stop and Some Like It Hot Marilyn was considered by many in the Hollywood community as a personality rather than a true actress.
But Marilyn’s popularity with the public never waned, at least internationally. Continue reading
This photograph taken by Percy Loomis Sperr on August 31, 1934 shows a mostly desolate section of the west side of Manhattan. 38th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues has still not been absorbed by the Hudson Yards building boom.
There has been great change, but there are many vacant lots and Incredibly nearly 90 years later, Continue reading
AC/DC’s singer / lyricist Bon Scott once described himself not as a poet, but more a bathroom graffiti writer.
Though Bon Scott was self effacing, he could look at his own work honestly to see if there was room for improvement. Scott would frequently write and rewrite lyrics in notebooks and record on portable tape recorder he carried with him.
In one case he took a good rock song and made it a great song by completely changing the lyrics. Continue reading
Earl Wilson (1907 – 1987) was a New York Post based nationally syndicated columnist (It Happened Last Night). Wilson also wrote several books during his nearly fifty year journalism career.
Among Wilson’s best books is an atypical guide book to New York called Earl Wilson’s New York (Simon and Schuster, 1964).
While Wilson covers some of the usual touristy things to do, such as where to stay and eat, he also writes about “Where To Find A Psychiatrist For Your Dog” Continue reading
If Gil Hodges wasn’t considered an honest man, the Mets might not have won game five of the 1969 World Series. Continue reading
This barren scene is Sixth Avenue (renamed Lenox Avenue in 1887 and additionally named Malcom X Boulevard in 1987) just north of Central Park.
As the northern boundary of the city kept expanding the grading and opening of streets continued further north. Continue reading