Author Archives: B.P.

Classic Hollywood #189 – Andy Griffith & Wife Barbara

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Andy Griffith & Wife Barbara On The Set Of No Time For Sergeants

Star and Wife
Andy Griffith poses happily with his wife Barbara who joined him in Hollywood when he was starring in Warner Bros. film version of the Air Force comedy “No Time For Sergeants,” which Griffith also did on the stage. The Griffiths make their home on an island farm off the North Carolina coast. photo: Warner Bros. April 17, 1958

Andy Griffith as Sir Walter Raleigh with wife Barbara Griffith in The Lost Colony. photo: New York Daily News 1954

No Time For Sergeants was a huge Broadway success, running 796 performances from 1955 -1957. Griffith would leave the show after over 300 performances to begin his motion picture career.

North Carolinian, Barbara Bray Edwards was the first of Andy Griffith’s three wives. The pair met when they were both students at The University of North Carolina. Andy and Barbara married August 26,1949.

After being graduated in 1949, Andy would teach high school music in Goldsboro, N.C..

During his third year teaching Andy realized Continue reading →

Iron Maiden’s First 5 Albums – Each LP’s Most Underrated Song

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5 Underplayed / Underrated Songs From Iron Maiden’s First Five LP’s

Iron Maiden 1981 (l-r) Steve Harris, Clive Burr, Paul Di’Anno, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray photo EMI / Robert Ellis

When this website began in 2011, I proclaimed that lists are stupid especially “best lists”. I believe they still are. “Best of” lists are always subjective.

But that doesn’t stop us Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #191 – Madison Square Park & Flatiron Building 1903

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Madison Square Park & The Flatiron Building 1903

Our stereoview photograph from 1903 shows Madison Square Park looking south towards The Flatiron Building.

A newsboy looks over his shoulder noticing the cameraman photograhing this scene. Nearby, a woman with two children by her side pushes a carriage. Continue reading →

Old New York In Postcards #31 – Lower New York Skyline From The Water

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15 River Views Of Lower Manhattan 1900-1920

The lower Manhattan Skyline from Jersey City circa 1914 showing (l-r) Municipal Building; Woolworth; Hudson Terminal; City Investment; Singer; West Street; Trinity; American Surety; Bankers Trust; U.S. Express and Manhattan Life. by H.H Tammen Co., New York

The thrill of viewing New York from the water was once a daily occurrence for hundreds of thousands of people. Until 1903 when the Williamsburg Bridge opened the only bridge crossing to lower Manhattan was the Brooklyn Bridge. The subway would open in 1904.

The majority of people arriving from New Jersey, Staten Island or Brooklyn would take a ferry boat. As building technology advanced, the view from the New York Bay, the East River and The Hudson was rapidly changing.

Over a 40 year period from 1892 -1932 with the building of skyscrapers, the lower New York skyline would become an instantly recognizable view featured in art, photographs and motion pictures.

Here are some postcard river views of the city. All cards were scanned at 600 dpi.

The Emerging Skyline

This card “New York From Hoboken” is not that sharp in detail but clearly shows two of the city’s tallest buildings circa 1900.  Slightly to the left Continue reading →

Movie Advertising From The New York Daily News 1974

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What’s Playing At The Movies – Ads From The Daily News 1974

That’s Entertainment Alongside Porn

Because I own some old newspapers that report historic events, I was looking at the New York Daily News of August 27, 1974 announcing the death of Charles Lindbergh on the front page. Turning the pages my attention was drawn to the movie advertisements.

The ads are simple, frequently without captivating graphics and  usually lacking even brief summaries of the plot of the movies. Besides giving the theatres and times they were playing at, these ads were supposed to attract potential viewers with the title, the stars or a reviewers blurb.

The disarray of the motion picture industry in the seventies is evident in the variety of films playing at theaters.

Adjacently advertised next to one another are Deep Throat; The Devil In Miss Jones; The Longest Yard and Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia. Two X-rated and two R-rated films.

Deep Throat (1973) was the first “mainstream” pornographic film. It was Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #190 – Broadway North From Bowling Green 1889

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A View Up Broadway From Bowling Green

This 1889 view of Broadway north from Bowling Green shows the street before skyscraper construction would permanently alter the famous corridor.

We are dating the photograph by the buildings visible and most importantly the presence of overhead telegraph wires.

After the blizzard of 1888 caused wires around the city to come down, a movement to place wires underground began in earnest. Upon taking office in 1889 Mayor Hugh J. Grant immediately set upon removing overhead wires, sending crews with axes to chop down poles if the companies responsible for the wires did not promptly relocate them.

We see pedestrians going about their business as horse drawn vehicles make their way up and down Broadway. Parking does not seem to pose a problem and a wagon advertising  “hams” is making a delivery on the west side of Broadway. Bowling Green’s original 1771 fence is visible in the foreground.

The Buildings

On the right with arched entryway is the nine-story Welles Building at 14-16-18-20 Broadway. Beginning in 1882 the Welles Building became the home of the Petroleum Exchange.

It make sense that adjacent to the Welles Building, in 1885-1886 the Standard Oil Company would build its ten-story 157 foot tall headquarters at 26 Broadway. Continue reading →

A List Of New York City Hotels In 1877

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Visitors Could Stay At These New York City Hotels In 1877

We’ve provided lists like this twice before for New York’s hotels in 1882 and 1964.

This is useful to someone researching or wondering about where the New York City hotels of 1877 were located.

This compilation  comes from The Practical Guide To New York City and Brooklyn by Henry Morford; Union News Company and Lee, Shephard and Dillingham( 1877).

The advertisement for Stevens House from the book shows a rate of $1.00 per day for a single room. Double occupancy at most hotels ran between $1.00 to $2.00.

One thing to take note of is that 38 Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #187 – Marie Wilson Protests Wearing A Corset

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Marie Wilson Stages A Protest Against “Fencing Her In” With A Corset

There was no news slug on the rear of this photograph, but tracking down what the commotion was all about was easy. It’s a publicity stunt of the silliest magnitude.

Film Lovelies Protest Corsets, Win Short Ribs
Hollywood, CA – Carrying signs and corsets Hollywood lovelies picket a movie studio. They are from left, with “No! To Corsets” sign is Marie Wilson, in background, Judy Cook, the picketed producer Albert Lewin and Darlene De Mos. photo: AP 5/15/1946

The Des Moines Register was one of the news Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #189 – The Recently Completed Flatiron Building 1902

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The Innovative Flatiron Skyscraper – Available To Rent 1902

Our photograph is from American Art Views, a view book published September 15, 1903 showing contemporary New York City.

To the right, with a flag on its roof is the six-story Fifth Avenue Hotel (1859-1908). The clock in front of the hotel remains standing today, though the hotel is long gone. On the corner of 24th Street we can glimpse the sign for for “Maillard’s.”

Maillard’s restaurant and confectionery shop was on the ground floor of The Fifth Avenue Hotel.  Continue reading →

What Did The Rear Entrance To Ebbets Field Look Like?

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The Less Than Iconic Rear Facade Of Ebbets Field

The Dodgers left Brooklyn after the 1957 season, breaking many Dodgers fans hearts. The Dodgers home park Ebbets Field was razed in 1960. A housing project is now on its site.

But the memories of what the ballpark looked like is etched in anyone’s mind who ever visited Ebbets Field. If you do remember visiting you are at least 70 years-old. The reality is, few people are still around who actually saw the place.

It’s really photographs of the ballpark, especially the front entrance, that baseball fans are familiar with.

The main entrance was at the corner of Sullivan Place and McKeever Place. McKeever Place was originally Cedar Street, but renamed in 1932 after one of the contractors who built Ebbets Field.

This is what the front  looked like.

Ebbets Field 1940s

The exterior of the front of the New York Mets home Continue reading →