Here’s a two minute clip from a 1966 British newsreel entitled, A Little Of What You Fancy.
The bikinis of 1966 look discreet compared to the dental floss beachwear some women display themselves in today.
The mini-skirt presented a real danger Continue reading
When you need to go to the restroom in Central Park there are few choices. Last year when a friend needed to use the bathroom we headed towards the closest one.
The tennis courts were empty as it was getting near dusk. But the bathrooms near the tennis courts were open, about 100 feet from the northern part of the Central Park reservoir.
I was waiting outside the building containing the women’s bathrooms looking down at the ground.
Ralph Barton & his 4th wife Germaine Talleferre photo: Daily News
“New York has ceased to be a city in which people live. It is necessary if one has to have quiet and peace to work to live in the suburbs. Steamships have made Europe a suburb of New York. I like to eat well, drink well and read grown up books, and these are not to be had in America.”
“New York is a crazy city and America is a madhouse. That is why I came back. I feel I belong here. Americans are crazy and I find I am crazy too. Americans are too rich. We have too much money. I have too much money. That is why I’m crazy. An artist ought to be prohibited from earning as much money as I do. Yet if someone suggested cutting my earnings, I’d scream so that you could hear me for three blocks.” – Ralph Barton upon returning to New York in 1929 after being in Paris for two years.
Barton committed suicide, Continue reading
Curling in Central Park 1894 photo – Joseph Byron later published by Detroit Publishing
It may not be the most popular sport but curling may get the most television airtime during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Continue reading
Anyone who has been to New York’s American Museum of Natural History is no doubt familiar with its amazing African mammal collection. Continue reading
It must have been a slow news day when this item went out over the news wire.
A Fishy Kiss
Des Moines, Iowa – Finny, the goldfish, bestows on his mistress, Mrs. George Wolfe, Des Moines, Iowa, his usual good morning kiss. Then he gets his breakfast. photo: Acme 2/24/1944
This December 26, 1907 cover of Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly magazine shows what the scene would be like on New Year’s Eve 1908.
How “the merry crowds in New York welcome the new year” has not changed all that much in 114 years.
Philip Ippolito airplane being Inspected on George Washington Bridge December 26, 1965 Photo; AP Wirephoto
From SNCA reader Jason Smith comes word that Philip Ippolito who on December 26, 1965 at age 19, made an emergency landing on the George Washington Bridge, died on December 19, 2021, at age 75.
Ippolito died of a heart attack in his home in Suffolk County, NY. He lived with a long time girlfriend and had no children. Survivors include his older sister Rose and a younger sister, Janice. A brother Robbie died in 2019.
Ippolito and Brennan in hospital photo Jim Hughes for NY Daily News
In 1965 Ippolito was a flying novice, having logged only 85 hours of flight time. With his plane in distress, Ippolito made the risky decision to land on the bridge. Along with his passenger Joseph Brennan, the two suffered only minor injuries. Ippolito decided against touching down in the Hudson River because Brennan could not swim. The FAA later tried unsuccessfully to revoke Ippolito’s pilots license.
You can read the amazing full story which we covered in 2015 by clicking here. Continue reading
Fireworks Williamsburg Bridge 12/19/1903 photo: Library of Congress
On December 19, 1903 the second bridge to join Manhattan and Brooklyn opened.
Since May 24, 1883, for over 20 years, the Brooklyn Bridge, provided the only means of crossing between the two boroughs besides boat. Continue reading
Ferdinand Cheval photo via Bonkersclutterbucks.com
As a postal carrier in southern France, Joseph Ferdinand Cheval could only dream of owning a mansion. Cheval would spend his free time looking at pictures and reading books about palaces and castles.
In his postal duties Cheval would pass by a magnificent castle-like home, admiring it every day. But what sparked his imagination and lead to taking action was an accident. Continue reading
