Burt Lancaster -The Killers 1946
Burt Lancaster (1913 -1994) appeared in over 80 feature films. His first was The Killers (1946) and it made him a star. Continue reading
Classic Hollywood #29 – Burt Lancaster
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Times Square January 11, 1954 – Lots of Snow And Cold Weather
January 11-12, 1954 – Biggest Snowstorm In Five Years Hits New York
60 years ago, on Monday January 11, 1954 New York City got walloped with a 10 inch snowstorm with temperatures dipping down to 15 degrees. The storm continued on through Tuesday making travel difficult and it gave sanitation department workers extra long shifts for snow removal. It was the heaviest snowfall in New York City since December 19-20, 1948, when more than 19 inches fell.
The scene shown here is Times Square looking north with the Hotel Astor on the left. Directly across the street is the famous Bond Clothiers advertising sign.
The snow did not result in shutting down New York City schools. Some elementary schools did allow girls to be dismissed 15 minutes early to spare them from being pelted with snowballs by the boys. Just outside of the city it was a different story as Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties generally did close public and parochial schools for the day.
The snow ended at 7:05 a.m. on January 12. Highways were mostly kept clear, but most drivers played it safe and left their cars at home. The real problem was that over the next two days the temperature in New York kept dropping. It went down to a low of 11 degrees, freezing the snow into hard packed ice, making it difficult for pedestrians to navigate the streets.
Western Rockland and northern Westchester counties, saw the temperature dip to as low as two below zero. In northern Maine the temperature was minus 25.
The cold wave stuck around for a whole week. The temperature hit a two year low in New York City on the morning of January 18. The mercury registered just 8.8 degrees at 1:30 a.m.. The weather finally changed on January 19 when the temperature rose to 40 degrees.
Wife Hit Him Over The Head With A Gas Lighter
Why You Might File For Divorce In 1914
Early 20th Century Gas Lighter -OUCH. photo: http://wordcraft.net
/flashlight.html
One hundred years ago if you got married, it was a commitment for life. Very few people got divorced. If you did file for divorce, there had to be a good reason. If your spouse hit you in the head with a metal gas lighter that might be enough to justify splitting up.
Salesman and professional musician Sidney Kamna of 1139 Forrest Avenue in the Bronx was very specific about why he wanted a separation from his wife of 15 years, Wilhelmina. In fact, the head whacking was just one of ten good reasons to get out of the marriage according to Sidney.
Appearing on January 6, 1914 in New York State Supreme Court before future Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Benjamin Cardozo, Sidney explained his unhappy circumstances.
All was well in the marriage until Christmas day 1910 when his wife’s sister received a genuine sealskin coat from her husband.
Wilhelmina was bitterly disappointed that Sidney had not gotten her a similar present. From that moment on Wilhelmina began treating Sidney badly for the next three years until he filed for divorce.
The bad treatment was quantified in court as a ten point list:
1. She scolded him because her sister-in-laws husband gave a fur coat to his wife.
2. She bent a gas lighter over his head.
3. She threatened to kill herself and her daughter, ten tears old. Continue reading
Classic Hollywood #28 – Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge, was one of the biggest stars of the silent film era. She was born on May 26, 1894 in Jersey City, NJ, and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Norma had two sisters, Constance Talmadge, also a major star, who was in 83 films and Natalie Talmadge who appeared in nine films.
Norma appeared in over 200 silent pictures, most of which are now considered lost films. In 1916, Norma married film producer Joseph Schenck who became head of United Artists and would go on to become the chairman of 20th Century Fox.
As with many of the silent stars, Norma’s career ended with the advent of sound. By 1928 her career had already stalled to one film per year. There was talk in 1928 of reissuing her favorite film Smilin’ Through (1922), but Norma was staunch in her refusal to re-release it. Norma said, “I thought it was a lovely picture and the fans liked it. Why reissue it? I would rather people only had the peasant memory of it.” This attitude was similar to the screen’s biggest star Mary Pickford, who had said she would never allow any of her films to be released again.
Norma made two sound films, New York Nights (1929) and Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930). The Du Barry film was widely panned by critics and public alike. Norma then waited for the right script for her next movie. She said she was “favoring playing a comic role.” She never appeared in another film.
Instead, Norma Talmadge travelled the world and invested wisely in real estate, becoming very wealthy.
Legend has it that Norma Talmadge has the distinction of being the first to leave her handprints, footprints and signature at the would famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The apocryphal story Continue reading
The Lincoln Tunnel Opens And “Mr. First” Is There – December 22, 1937
Omero C. Catan, Known As “Mr. First” Waits To Be First Through The New Lincoln Tunnel
When he was 13-years-old in 1928, Omero C. Catan heard a story from a family friend who was one of the first people to cross the Brooklyn Bridge when it opened in 1883. It was then that Omero decided that being first would be something fun to do as a hobby.
Soon after Catan went down to Lakehurst, NJ from his home in Greenwich, CT to become the first American to tour the famous airship, Graf Zeppelin.
The Miami New Times 1995 profile of Omero and his brother Michael reported, “after that initial success, there was no stopping him.”
Catan paid the first toll on the George Washington Bridge linking New York and New Jersey (October 25, 1931). He was the first to buy a token on the Eighth Avenue subway (September 10, 1932). He was the first paying customer to skate on the Rockefeller Plaza ice rink (December 25, 1936). After he proposed marriage to stenographer Jeanne Tobolka, he was to receive the first wedding license of 1939. He was the first to put a coin in a New York City parking meter (Sept. 19, 1951). He was the first to drive over the Tappan Zee Bridge (December 15, 1955).
In all Catan was “first” 537 times, acquiring the sobriquet “Mr. First”.
At 4 a.m. on December 22, 1937 the lights turned green and Omero Catan and George Horn started driving through the new Lincoln Tunnel from opposite sides.
According to the New York Times, Catan whose car had been parked Continue reading
Old New York In Postcards #8 – Dreamland Coney Island Part 2
Coney Island’s Dreamland Amusement Park 1904-1911 – Part 2
Coney Island- Dreamland midway on a crowded day
Continuing from part one of our postcard journey through Dreamland Amusement Park at Coney Island, we examine the other features of the park.
At the turn of the century, dancing was possibly the most popular amusement at Coney Island, even more so than bathing at the beach. The Dreamland ballroom reflected this popularity by being the largest ballroom ever built in the United States. Continue reading
Old New York In Postcards #7 – Dreamland Coney Island Part 1
Coney Island’s Dreamland Amusement Park 1904-1911
Dreamland Map from Jeffrey Stanton’s site
http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/
Dreamland was built on a 15-acre parcel at Surf Avenue and West 8th Street and opened on May 14, 1904. It cost over $3.5 million to build. The park could accommodate over 250,000 people. Ex-State Senator William H. Reynolds was the man behind Dreamland. The original name of the park was to be the Hippodrome, as Reynolds originally wanted chariot races around a lagoon. On the architect’s plans the name was changed to Wonderland, but the name that stuck was Dreamland. With its bright lights and a dizzying array of exhibits and amusements Dreamland was an apropos name.
On the right is a map of how Dreamland was laid out.
The week before Dreamland opened, this ad in the May 8, 1904 New York Evening Sun heralded the pleasures that awaited visitors.
The defining feature of Dreamland was the White Tower built by architects Kirby, Petit and Green and modeled after the Giralda Tower in Seville. It was 370 feet high and had over 100,000 electric lights. Continue reading
Classic Hollywood #27 – Elsie Ferguson
Elsie Ferguson Broadway And Silent Film Star
Saying Elsie Ferguson (1883-1961) was “just” a star of the stage and screen is like saying Mickey Mantle was “just” a switch-hitting outfielder.
Elsie was one of the most beautiful and biggest stars on Broadway. “She is the shadow of beauty rather than beauty itself. She does not glow, she haunts,” a journalist said in 1914.
Elsie started her acting career in 1902 at the age of 16, and within just seven years, she made her way from the chorus to leading lady, starring in Channing Pollock’s 1909 comedy Such A Little Queen. In December 1916, an unnamed leading Broadway producer said, “There can be no doubt as to Elsie Ferguson’s supremacy on the stage.” He added that the actress had beauty, ability and versatility. Continue reading
1935 – Heavy Women Smoking Cigarettes – Vaudeville Act Takes A Break
The “Tiny Rosebuds” Take A Break From Rehearsing
We’ll let the slug from this unusual news photograph describe the scene:
A Half-Ton of Terpsichore
An act which is liable to bring down the house, (with a crash), is the Tiny Rosebuds, at present rehearsing in New York for a Buffalo appearance. Membership in the troupe is restricted to young ladies weighing at least 200 pounds. Here is the troupe relaxing after a light (heavy) workout. Left to right, are: Nick Elliott, instructor: Hieni Joyce, wgt. 215: Bobbie Diamond, Captain, wgt. 210: Fannie De Belis, wgt. 201: Tiny Sinclair, wgt. 240: and Dorothy Baer, wgt. 230.
Credit Line (Acme) 5-11-1935
The headline uses the word Terpsichore, who in Greek mythology was the muse of dancing and choral singing.
So what sort of an act were the Tiny Rosebuds?
Miss Bobbie Diamond the leader of the Rosebuds, lamented in a May 1935 interview with Raphael Avellar of the New York World-Telegram, how hard it was to pick the right women for the group.
“My Tiny Rosebuds don’t have to be too good looking, just passable. But they have to have the weight and you’d be surprised at the number of girls of 170 or so who try and pass for 200. It’s hard, I tell you, to get a first-class girl, because lots of them who have the weight haven’t got it in the right places. I mean it isn’t on the legs and thighs, where it counts. As I say, as long as they are passable and know a little rhythm, they’ll make good Rosebuds, providing they’ve got the heft. Right now I’m kind of looking for one to sing, too.” Continue reading
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade In 1936
How The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons Looked in 1936 – Snapshots Taken From Broadway & 92nd Street
Macy’s Parade 1936 120 foot long Dragon balloon
The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in 1924. In 1928 helium filled balloons made their first appearance. By the early 1930’s over one million people were attending the parade.
The Thanksgiving Day Parade held on November 26, 1936 was quite a different affair than it is today.
At 1 pm on 110th Street near the south wall of The Church of St. John the Divine just off of Amsterdam Avenue, the paraders and balloons lined up and made their way west to Broadway. The parade route then remained on Broadway for its entire length until it reached Herald Square. There were 2,311 policemen assigned special parade duty along the route, with mounted men to lead the march and bring up the rear. As incredible as this may seem, on the main crosstown arteries of 34th, 42nd and 59th streets, traffic was let through, even if it meant temporarily halting the parade.
Macy’s Parade 1936 Indian Balloon
Macy’s Parade 1936 Turkey Balloon
Macy’s Parade 1936 Two Headed Giant