Category Archives: Commentary

In The United States Idiots Can Vote – Except In These Three States

2 Replies

What Is An Idiot And Why Can They Vote?

On November 3, 2026 idiots will flock to the polls to cast their votes. I am not talking about the legal defined term for idiot that three states prohibit from casting a ballot. No, I’m Just referring to people voting for politicians and policies advocating the destruction of the republic.

Since no one will admit to being an idiot, it would be wise to examine the word “idiot”.

In the 1948 film The Three Musketeers the Duke of Buckingham (John Sutton)  says to Queen Anne (Angela Lansbury) that her husband, King Louis XIII, is an “idiot.”

Was “idiot” really used to describe someone in 18th century France or was the screenwriter putting an anachronistic term in the film?

Revisiting the etymology of “idiot” it is possible that idiot may have been used in the 1700s. Continue reading →

First Fan In Line For World Series Tickets 1928

4 Replies

Waiting To Buy Tickets To The 1928 World Series

Want to Get Good Seats? Be First In Line

Brooklynite Has Food Supply To Wait All Night For World Series
New York: Photo shows Arthur Jones of 913 East 12th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. with a supply of sandwiches, all ready to spend the night outside the Yankee Stadium to wait for the World series to begin. Arthur is the first on line having found his position at nine A.M. the day before the series opens. credit International News, 10-3-1928

Living in New York if you wanted to experience the 1928 World Series live you had only two choices. Continue reading →

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

1 Reply

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 →

Former Michigan Governor Chokes Bear To Death During Hunt

Leave a reply

” 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

Continue reading →

Why I Don’t Eat At Fast Food Restaurants

2 Replies

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.

Continue reading →

The 1922 Auction Prices Of Paintings By Van Gogh, Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec

Leave a reply

Impressionist & Post Impressionist Paintings By Great Artists Are Auctioned Off In An Incredible Sale  – 1922

And You Won’t Believe The Prices Realized

Self-Portrait of the Artist Vincent Van Gogh

The legend is that during his lifetime Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) was able to sell just one painting. Continue reading →

1776 How Many Colonists Were “Patriots” In The Revolution?

2 Replies

Many Colonists Did Not Want To Break With Great Britain

“Loyalists” Were Merely On The Losing Side Of History Says John Hyde Preston

We all know the saying that history is written by the victors. But, as the United States celebrates America 250 on July 4, we don’t acknowledge an overlooked fact.

There were a great number of colonists that did not want to be free of England. These were the  Loyalists; those remaining faithful subjects of King George III. And the Loyalists were the losers.

Many colonists had grievances with the King of England. But they did not necessarily wish to dissolve ties with Great Britain.  As far as government, a great number of the colonists did not wish to “alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,” as the Declaration of Independence states.

Most Americans today assume the revolution was inevitable due to British oppression. They assume most colonists were rabid patriots starving for liberty and those loyal to the King were a small minority.

That is not the truth.

John Hyde Preston’s dynamic, yet forgotten history of the Revolutionary War, Revolution 1776, Harcourt, Brace and Company (1933), delves into the topic of the numbers when it comes to “Patriots” during the rebellion. Continue reading →

Thank You For Your Service In World War II

1 Reply

A Thank You Letter My Grandfather Received After Serving In The Army Air Corps During World War II

When my grandfather was returning from World War II to civilian life in November 1945 he managed to accumulate a bunch of ribbons and medals during his years in the service. He was quick to put the war behind him, discarding much, except for a few precious possessions.

My grandfather saved some photographs of his fellow soldiers and all the correspondence exchanged to and from my grandmother.

Recently I was going through his things and I was a bit surprised that he saved what appears to be a form letter of sorts.

General Fay R Upthegrove

The short letter is personally addressed Continue reading →

Turning Immigrant Children Into Good Americans – 1893

1 Reply

Indoctrinating Young Immigrants To Be Patriotic

Independence Day Celebration

A Short Article From The New York Evening World July 3, 1893

Immigrant street scene with patriotic children NYC circa 1916

CHEERED LIKE AMERICANS

Independence Day Exercises at
the Baron de Hirsch School.

Little immigrants Show the Results
of Patriotic Training.

Four hundred and fifty very bright-looking little boys and girls, children of Russian Hebrew Immigrants and pupils of the English day classes of the Baron de Hirsch fund school, this morning commemorated Independence Day at the Hebrew Institute, East Broadway and
Jefferson street.

The exercises were simple, but full of patriotism, and gave ample evidence of the wisdom of that part of the curriculum introduced by Auditor Balch, of the Board of Education, which relates to the inculcation of sentiments of love for “Old Glory” and the country over which it floats. Continue reading →