Category Archives: New York

The 1910 Vanishing Of Dorothy Arnold – Part 2

After Dorothy Arnold Vanished In New York City

The Mysteries of The Paramour, The Manuscripts & Her Family’s Strange Behavior

The Theories On Her Disappearance

Today we conclude the story of one of New York City’s greatest unsolved missing person cases. At the end of part one of the story, on December 12, 1910, Dorothy Arnold said goodbye to Gladys King, an acquaintance she had bumped into on Fifth Avenue. Gladys was the last person to see Dorothy Arnold alive.

From They Never Came Back by Allen Churchill (Crime Club, 1960) is part two of The Girl Who Never Came Back.

Dorothy Arnold St Louis Post Dispatch Jan 29 1911Return now to the Arnold home. Never had the well-brought-up Dorothy skipped a meal without warning the family ahead of time. Now when she failed to return for dinner an increasingly worried group ate without her, then began making discreet phone calls to Dorothy’s close friends asking if the girl had dropped in on them. Told she had not, the Arnolds begged that no mention ever be made of the phone call. Later they asked the same girls not to discuss the case with reporters, and it is indicative of the vast difference between society girls then and now that none of the girls ever did. Continue reading

The Vanishing Of Dorothy Arnold. One Of New York’s All-Time Great Mysteries – Part 1

110 Years Ago Today, Wealthy Dorothy Arnold Went For A Walk In Midtown New York & Vanished Forever

Murder? Suicide? Kidnapping? Or Run Away & Start A New Life?

The Strange Disappearance of A Young Woman Who Seemingly Had Everything….Including A Secret Life

Part One

In the annals of missing person cases few are as baffling as Dorothy Arnold.

Time has erased the Dorothy Arnold case from the public’s memory. But for decades, Dorothy Arnold’s disappearance ranked among the most speculated of mysteries in New York’s history.

Dorothy Arnold disappeared on December 12, 1910 after leaving her house to go for a walk and do some shopping in midtown Manhattan. To make finding her whereabouts more complicated a report that she was missing was not filed with police until weeks after her disappearance. Continue reading

Old New York In Postcards #23 – The Bronx

The Bronx In Postcards 1905-1920

McKinley Square looking East – Bronx, NY

A short visit to the vanished Bronx of of a century ago.

It truly was the “Beautiful Bronx.”

Woodmansten Inn-Williamsbridge Road & Pelham-Parkway, Bronx, NY

A place to dine in style was the Woodmansten Inn. The Woodmansten Inn specialized in French cuisine and could seat 125 patrons. It was a busy place conveniently located across from the Morris Park Race Track (yes, the Bronx once had a horse racing track). Continue reading

Miss Coney Island Beauty Contest Winner 1924

Agnes Leonard – Miss Coney Island 1924

aGNES lEONARD MISS CONEY ISLAND 1924Love those 1920s bathing suits.

Though undated, our photograph is from July 29, 1924, at Steeplechase Park. Miss Coney Island would go on to represent the neighborhood in the Miss America Pageant. This was before each state had just one representative. Continue reading

Old New York In Photos #120 – Queensboro Bridge 1917

Upper Level Of The Queensboro Bridge – 1917

This view was taken by an official city photographer June 26, 1917 documenting New York’s infrastructure. The Queensboro was the first cantilever bridge over the East River. The photo is unusual because Continue reading

Divorce-Proof Your Marriage Part 2. How To Keep Your Wife Happy – 1923

 

The 10 Commandments For Men Wishing To Divorce-Proof Their Marriage – 1923

“The average woman is a bundle of highly strung nerves.”

We continue with part two on the advice given out in 1923 by New York City’s Legal Aid Society, Domestic Relations Division to help to save marriages.

Here is the portion given to husbands to insure domestic tranquility:

1. Be generous according to your means. A woman rightly expects liberal support from her husband. She is duly considerate of sincere effort and tolerant of misfortune, but differentiates sharply between ill fortune and inertia. Continue reading

Divorce-Proof Your Marriage. How To Keep Your Husband Happy – 1923

The 10 Commandments For Women Wishing To Divorce-Proof Their Marriage – 1923

“Men are but overgrown children…”

A serious couple100 years ago, New York City’s Legal Aid Society, had a Domestic Relations Division helping to save marriages.

Through vast experience sorting out marital spats, the Society accumulated 10 rules that if followed could make marriages divorce-proof.

A wife would know how to keep her husband affectionate and faithful. By the same token a husband, following a similar set of rules, could insure domestic tranquility with his wife.

Here are the 10 Rules For Wives from 1923:
Continue reading

Old New York In Photos #119 – View From The Roof Of The Flatiron Building c. 1910

The View From The Roof Of The Flatiron Building c. 1910

Madison Square From Flatiron Building Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California at RiversideNew York photographers around the turn-of-the-century were always looking for unique vantage points to shoot from.

Here the Keystone Co. photographer went up to the roof of the Flatiron Building and took this shot around 1910. The gentleman in the foreground could be the photographer’s assistant. As the intrepid hatless man dangles his legs over the edge of the roof, we see the northeast cityscape.

A Good View Of The Buildings Along Lower Madison Avenue

In the foreground the trees of Madison Square Park can be seen. To the extreme right on Madison Avenue is the Metropolitan Life Building, the tallest building in the world from 1909-1913.

Next in our photo the building with the dome is the new Madison Square Presbyterian Church.

Metropolitan Life acquired the original Madison Square Presbyterian Church on the southeast corner of 24th Street in 1903 intending to build their new skyscraper Continue reading

A Great Beatles Cover Band – Blac Rabbit, Live In Central Park

A Central Park Treat

Blac Rabbit Plays The Beatles “If I Needed Someone” & “She Said”

Blac Rabbbit performs The BEatles If I Needed SomeoneIf you search on YouTube you will find many  videos of Beatles covers done by hundreds of artists. I think these guys are among the best.

Twin brothers, songwriters, singers, and guitarists Amiri and Rahiem Taylor from Rockaway Beach, NY, make up the nucleus of Blac Rabbit. The brothers have been featured on the Ellen TV show.

Here the duo play at the Mall in Central Park on September 4, 2020.

While videotaping I was flabbergasted that no one stopped to listen. People kept walking by Continue reading