Category Archives: History

Bullet Train Arrives & New York City Cares About Pollution – 1934

Leave a reply

New York City Says No To Coal Or Oil Burning Trains – 1934

In the 1970s practically every apartment building had an incinerator to burn its trash. New York City’s sky had a constant haze of air pollution from a variety of smog producing outlets.

So it may be surprising to realize that New York did have concerns about air pollution in the 1930s. This photograph with the news slug explains:

An Electric Locomotive Draws The Record-Breaking Coast To Coast Train
New York – A scene on the Park Avenue elevated tracks in New York, showing the Union Pacific “Bullet Train” being drawn by an electric locomotive into Grand Central Terminal at the end of the 56-hour, 57-minute record breaking journey from Los Angeles. The locomotive was attached at Harmon, New York to conform with the law which prohibits a coal or oil burning engine o go through New York. The stream line train is an oil burner. photo: International News 10-25-1934

Union Pacific’s Continue reading →

A Valuable Motorcycle At The 1926 Bicycle Show

Leave a reply

Show Girl Agnes O’ Loughlin On A 1926 Excelsior Super X Motorcycle

The 12th National Bicycle Show
New York: Photo shows Agnes O’Loughlin riding the ivory and gold motorcycle which was one of the principle exhibits at the 12th National Bicycle Show at the new Madison Square Garden. photo; King Features Syndicate 1-12-1926

Some things have not changed much in one hundred years. Companies still hire pretty women to demonstrate their products at conventions.

Admission to The National Bicycle Show in 1926 was fifty cents. The show was held at the third and newest building named “Madison Square Garden” which opened on November 29, 1925 at  Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Street. Continue reading →

The God Of War Triumphs Over Peace

Leave a reply

Puck Magazine Illustration “Mars Triumphant” – 1904

There are no periodicals like Puck Magazine today.

The weekly political, satirical and humor magazine was in business from 1876-1918. A main feature of the magazine was a chromolithograph centerfold usually relating to events of the day.

Our illustration is from the February 25, 1904 issue and drawn by Udo Keppler (1872-1956). Continue reading →

Bugs Bunny Looks At A “Jim Crow” Newspaper For A Job

Leave a reply

“Hurdy-Gurdy Hare” Has Bugs Bunny Consulting A Newspaper Wanting White Employees

In these politically correct times even the smallest transgressions will be pointed out and removed by “cancel culture”.

Frequently in Warner Bros. cartoons the animators would superimpose whatever they wanted for a headline and visual in real newspapers. They would leave the rest of the page unaltered. Continue reading →

Seeing A Baseball Game At The Polo Grounds c. 1909

3 Replies

A Fan Takes Some Snaphots Of The New York Giants At The Polo Grounds c. 1909

The San Francisco Giants opened the 2026 baseball season playing the New York Yankees.

There was no interleague play between American and National League teams until 1997.

But had the Giants played the Yankees 117 years ago neither team would have had to travel as their home ballparks were both in upper Manhattan. The Yankees playing their games at Hilltop Park at 168th St. and Broadway, while the Giants home field was at The Polo Grounds,155th Street and 8th Avenue. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #193 – Street Toy Merchants 1903

1 Reply

Street Vendors With Toys Attract A Crowd

The year is 1903 and two toy merchants are showing their products to passerby. The title of the photograph by the Detroit Publishing Co. is “Gutter Toy Merchant.” That is a term I have never heard applied to those who sell merchandise on the sidewalk. Continue reading →

Lord & Taylor Open Their New Building February 24, 1914

Leave a reply

Lord And Taylor Advertising Their New Digs 1914

112 years ago today one of New York’s most venerable merchants Lord & Taylor moved into their new store on Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th Street.

This advertisement in The New York Sun newspaper appeared a couple of days before the new store would open.  Lord & Taylor’s first store on Catherine Street opened in 1826. Lord & Taylor moved many times before settling into their new 11-story building on February 24, 1914. Continue reading →

Who And What Are The “Best Legs” Judges Looking At?

1 Reply

Best Legs Contest – Really?

Unfortunately this is an undated photograph with no location or news slug to identify any of the specifics. The photo appears to be from the 1950s based upon judges and participants hairstyles and outfits.

Obviously it is a best legs competition. Unlike many other Continue reading →

Fashions Of The 1970s – Men’s & Women’s T-Shirts

Leave a reply

The Fashionable T-Shirt 1973

August 17, 1973 – New York: T-shirt collectors vie to outdo each other. Nancy Greenberg wears gaudy New York souvenir shirt. What mother never told Kathleen O’Connell about is Ultra-Brite toothpaste. French Gitanes shirt worn by Paula Scher is more desirable than American brands; photos: Nancy Moran / New Yoik Times

August 17, 1973 – New York: Jean-Louis Hym’s Liberation shirt from Paris proclaims underground paper. Joel Handrroff, an artist, is not a country music fan, but he likes the shirt because of the black-on-yellow color scheme. Barry Levine’s extols Automotive High School. photo: Nancy Moran / New York Times

Fashions may change, but t-shirts have remained a staple of young people for more than half a century as evidenced by these photographs of young New Yorkers taken in 1973.

If you are wondering what a standard t-shirt cost in the early seventies, generally it was $1.98 for a regular t-shirt and $2.98 for a deluxe heavier cotton. Specialty t-shirts cost more. Continue reading →

Book Review – Building The Metropolis By Alexander Wood

Leave a reply

Building New York City 1880 – 1935

A tremendous flurry of construction in New York City occurred between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. New Yorker’s know many of the the notable accomplishments; the subway, the skyscrapers, apartment buildings, bridges and infrastructure. But who built New York? And how did it get built?

Stories Previously Untold

Alexander Wood provides the nitty-gritty about how the modern city came to be in Building The Metropolis Architecture, Construction, and Labor in New York City, 1880 – 1935 (University of Chicago Press), 2025.

Building The Metropolis digs into the architects, unions, developers and the industries that made New York.

Even with thousands of books previously written about New York, Wood uncovers ground that has not been thoroughly explored. The result is an entertaining examination into the details of developing New York. Continue reading →