Category Archives: History

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Old New York In Photos #23 – Subway Excavation Along Broadway & 49th St. 1901

Subway Excavation, Broadway and 49th Street – 1901

While the MTA is currently striving to build the new Second Avenue subway without disturbing businesses along the route, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) had no such compunction about hampering businesses as demonstrated by this photograph taken on November 26, 1901.

We are looking north along Broadway towards 49th Street. The J.B. Brewster Carriage Continue reading →

The Doors And A Parody Of The Doors

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**“Light My Fire” And “Reading Rainbow” On The Ed Sullivan Show**

Forty-five years ago, on September 17, 1967, The Doors performed for the first and last time on The Ed Sullivan Show. The variety program which had introduced America to The Beatles three years previously, was consistently one of the most watched shows in America and could help establish a successful career for a comedian, singer, band or any entertainer.

Before singing their hit Light My Fire, live on national television, the band was warned by a Sullivan show staff producer not to sing the word “higher” when the phrase “girl we couldn’t get much higher,” came up. It was suggested Morrison the poet, come up with another word; “flier”, “wire”, it didn’t matter, just not sing “higher.” The band was told the word “higher,” could imply illegal drug use and was inappropriate for a family program like The Sullivan Show. The Doors were furious and argued their point, but eventually relented and told the producer they would alter the lyric. As soon as the producer left the room, The Doors lead singer Jim Morrison declared to the rest of the band “We’re not changing a word.”

The Doors first performed “People Are Strange” and then launched Continue reading →

Old New York in Photos #22 – History of Times Tower Building & Times Square In Detail

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Times Square And The New York Times Tower Building 1908

Times Square featuring The Times Tower 1908 – click to vastly enlarge (six megabytes!)

Times Square is burgeoning with activity in 1908 and there is so much to see in this picture.

This photograph of Times Square was part of The Detroit Publishing Company collection, now housed at The Library of Congress. The company made picture postcards from these original photographs at the turn of the century.

The area formerly known as Longacre Square became Times Square after the New York Times opened their iconic flagship office building in 1905 at what would become known as “the crossroads of the world,” the southern end of Times Square, the triangular intersection of 42nd and 43rd streets where Broadway and Seventh Avenue diverge.

Flatiron Building in 1903

The Times Tower Building design is reminiscent of the Fuller Building, which became popularly known as the “Flatiron Building” soon after it opened in 1902 between 22nd and 23rd Streets where Broadway and Fifth Avenue intersect. The two buildings don’t look alike at all. But because they were each built on irregular plots of land, the triangular buildings both resemble flatirons.

The original Times Tower Building was a Gothic structure of beautiful light limestone and featured intricate terra-cotta and granite on the facade. More about the building later in the article. Continue reading →

The Dangers And Lures Of New York City In 1957

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Stay Out of the Parks At Night!

From the New York City Guide And Almanac 1957 – 1958

This vintage book is a great snapshot of New York City in the late 1950’s. I wish they would have printed this annually, but it was published for only one year by New York University Press in conjunction with The Daily News. It is 378 pages chock-full of fascinating facts and figures. The paperback version was originally 85 cents, while the hardcover version would set you back $2.75. There are a few copies of this out of print gem for sale on abebooks.com ranging from$8.00 – $14.00. A veritable bargain.

Here is a snippet on crime from pages 197 – 198:

Traps for the Unwary

New York City is full of traps for the unwary visitor. It is doubtful if there are proportionately more crooks and criminals in New York than any other large city, but the metropolis is so large that the total is impressive. The bait generally used is greed, and the victims are most often people who regard themselves as sophisticated. Most effective traps for the unwary:

Auctioneers: Dishonest “auction stores” especially in the mid-town sections, where salesmen pretend to auction off “amazing” bargains, which often are samples of “flash goods” turned out for the carnival trade. Articles of genuine value are knocked down to stooges in the crowd, who later return them to be used again. The stranger who obtains a “bargain” is likely to find that a cheap duplicate was substituted during the process of wrapping up his purchase. He usually discovers that he has actually bought a garish gold-washed watch that will not run or an impressive pipe set made of celluloid. These shops should not be confused with operations of reputable auctioneers who preside over genuine sales which are usually advertised in honest fashion.

Confidence Men: Most of these offer money-making machines or counterfeit currency. They also offer to share rewards for well-filled pocketbooks lying on the pavement and “found” by the con man and the victim simultaneously. Continue reading →

Madison Square In A Vintage Painting – Paul Cornoyer

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Paul Cornoyer Madison Square in the Afternoon – 1910

Paul Cornoyer (1864-1923) was an impressionist painter who worked primarily in New York City. This beautiful scene was painted in 1910 and is looking east across Madison Square Park, towards the tower of Madison Square Garden. Continue reading →

A Look Back: The 10th Anniversary Of Marilyn Monroe’s Death

50 Years After Marilyn Monroe’s Death – Examining The Books That Were Written About Her While She Was Living

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The Fascination With Marilyn Monroe: A Look At The First Six Books About Her

Sometime during the evening or early morning hours of August 4 or 5, 1962 Marilyn Monroe died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 36. Even after fifty years to the day that she died, Marilyn Monroe may be more popular now than when she was living. Her movies are what propelled her to fame and are the way people today primarily become familiar with Marilyn. Her image is part of our popular culture. But books about Marilyn have helped her achieve a level of immortality that is not shared by any other star.

By a wide margin no other entertainment personality has been covered in books more than Marilyn Monroe. Elvis would run a distant second. Since 1953 there have been slightly more than 200 books in English that are directly about Marilyn Monroe. There are dozens more that have been printed in other languages and hundreds of others that contain chapters about her.

Her movie career spanned from 1947-1962, yet only six books were written about Marilyn while she was living, with various levels of cooperation from the star herself.

The first book written about Marilyn was published with little fanfare on October 29, 1953. The Marilyn Monroe Story by Joe Franklin and Laurie Palmer, (1953 Rudolph Field Co.) distributed by Greenberg. The book retailed in paperback for $1.00 and hardcover for $2.00. It is considered the rarest and most collectible book about Marilyn and very good condition paperback copies sell for upwards of $150 and hardcovers without the dustjacket fetch over $250 and with a nice dustjacket can sell for $500 or more.

So besides being the first book about Marilyn what makes it rare? In the early 1990’s I mentioned I owned a copy of his Marilyn book to author Joe Franklin and the longtime radio and television host told me quite a story about the book.

“I now don’t even have a copy of my own book,” Franklin said. Continue reading →

Old New York in Photos #20 – The Boulevard & 104th Street

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The Boulevard Looking South From 104th Street

Looking at this tree filled landscape it is hard to believe this is New York City. This idyllic scene was photographed on the morning of July 4, 1888. Until 1899, Broadway above 59th Street was known as The Boulevard. Continue reading →

Arena and Stadium Names – Stupid As Ever

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Is Every Arena Owner A Corporate Whore?

Looking at Rush’s upcoming concert tour of North America I noticed something interesting. Take a look at this schedule:

Sep -7

Sep -9

Sep-11

Sep-13

Sep-15

Sep-18

Sep-20

Sep-22

Sep-24

Sep-26

Sep-28

Sep-30

Oct-10

Oct-12

Oct-14

Oct-16

Oct-18

Oct-20

Oct-22

Oct-24

Oct-26

Oct-28

Oct-30

*Nov-1

Nov-3

Nov-13

Nov-15

Nov-17

Nov-19

Nov-23

Nov-25

Nov-28

Nov-30

Dec-2

Manchester,NH

Washington, DC

Pittsburgh, PA

Indianapolis, IN

Chicago, IL

Detroit, MI

Columbus, OH

St. Louis, MO

Minneapolis,MN

Winnipeg, MB

Saskatoon, SK

Edmonton, AB

Bridgeport, CT

Philadelphia, PA

Toronto, ON

Montreal, QC

Newark, NJ

Brooklyn, NY

Boston, MA

Buffalo, NY

Cleveland, OH

Charlotte, NC

Atlanta, GA

Tampa, FL

Seattle, WA

San Jose, CA

Anaheim, CA

Los Angeles, CA

Las Vegas, NV

Phoenix, AZ

Dallas, TX

San Antonio, TX

Houston, TX

Verizon Wireless Arena

Jiffy Lube Live Amphitheater

CONSOL Energy Center

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

United Center

Palace of Auburn Hills

Nationwide Arena

Scottrade Center

Target Center

MTS Centre

Credit Union Centre

Rexall Place

Webster Bank Arena

Wells Fargo Center

Air Canada Centre

Bell Centre

Prudential Center

Barclays Center

TD Garden

First Niagara Center

Quicken Loans Arena

Time Warner Cable Arena

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre

KeyArena

HP Pavilion

Honda Center

Gibson Amphitheatre

MGM Grand Garden Arena

US Airways Center

American Airlines Center

AT&T Center

Toyota Center

Out of 34 venues only one arena is not named after some corporation (The Palace in Michigan).

No arena except The Palace has the name of the city it is located in or attaches the local sports team to its name. Virtually every arena has sold its “naming rights.” Yes, arenas today still have unique names if you consider auto companies, airlines, tech companies, mega-banks and their ilk to be representative of the city.

If someone asked me where The Quicken Loans Arena, The Jiffy-Lube Live Amphitheater or The Honda Center was I’d be hard pressed to tell you. What do these corporate names say about the cities and the arenas they stuck their names on?

Up until the 1970’s most arenas and stadiums were clearly defined: The Boston Garden; Detroit Olympia; The Montreal Forum; Memorial Stadium in Baltimore; The Spectrum in Philadelphia; Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; Pittsburgh Civic Arena – and on and on it went for traditional names. The Buffalo Bills were one of the first to do a naming rights deal with Rich Stadium in 1972 and the practice picked up steam in the 1990’s to the point of obliterating almost all historic stadium and arena names. Corporate naming rights are now expected if a new facility opens up. Continue reading →