Most of these postcards are from between 1905 -1925. Some public schools were quaint schoolhouses as the Bronx was rural in most areas.
Click on any image to enlarge
PS 7 in Kingsbridge or referred to here as Kings Bridge.
PS 44 Prospect Avenue and East 176th Street Continue reading
What Was Happening On January 21, 1909
I picked a random day 103 years ago to see what was in the news. I read the entire New York Times newspaper for Thursday, January 21, 1909 to come up with the some interesting stories and unusual items. The paper was only 18 pages! The major differences compared to current newspapers: few photographs accompany any story and articles of different types are interspersed on the same page, so the news is not sectioned by category. I have put the article summary in blue and my comments are in black italics.
Crowds flocked to the Auto Show at Madison Square Garden. Lots of famous people showed up including Colonel John Jacob Astor and Mr. & Mrs. George J. Gould. There was a selection in gasoline powered and electric cars on display.
An advertisement for Renault showed they led all automobile companies in US imports with 214 in 1907 and 244 in 1908.
The Conference Committee of the Independent Telephone Officers to meet the following week on plans to build a long distance telephone line from Boston to Omaha. The cost: $5,000,000 immediate expenditure and $30,000,000 over the next four years! Continue reading
Equitable Building Jan. 10, 1912 – View From The Singer Building © Library of Congress
David Dunlap’s excellent story in The New York Times about the Equitable Assurance Building fire is merely a reminder about how great disasters are eventually forgotten over time. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 took 146 lives and was remembered in various ceremonies on its 100th anniversary.
No such commemorations will be held this year for the Equitable fire which killed six people, including Battalion Chief William Walsh.
The fire took place on a brutally cold day and the water froze quickly and left macabre ruins resembling an ice palace. Continue reading
We continue our look at some of the advertisements from this issue of The New Yorker. To put the prices of goods and services in perspective: in 1951, a first class postage stamp cost three cents; a loaf of bread cost sixteen cents; the minimum wage was seventy five cents per hour and the average salary was $4,200 per year.
For The Men
Of course The New Yorker appealed to the well heeled man as well as the elegantly outfitted woman. (click on any ad to enlarge)
Freeman Shoes – Men’s shoes have not changed much in sixty years. If the Freeman Shoe is the footwear of the successful man, what is the footwear of the man who fails? Continue reading
Ads From The November 3, 1951 New Yorker Magazine
I really enjoy looking at old magazines. Those old issues of Life, Look, Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post and especially The New Yorker uniquely capture the 1920’s-1960’s.
I like the articles, the cartoons and especially the ads. You read the copy, look at the typography and study the images. The salesmanship is very direct. Some ads are wordy and try and convince you of the merits of the product. Others let the product stand on its own with few or no words.
I picked a random issue of The New Yorker Magazine from over 60 years ago to look over and picked 30 ads that were indicative of the time. There are over 100 advertisements in this issue: some are very small, some are full page, some black and white others are in color.
Then, probably more than now, The New Yorker was read by and appealed to the upper crust of society and the ads definitely reflect that.
Here are the first fifteen ads. Click on any image to enlarge.
They Liked To Drink
Those post-war years meant if you were going out, coming home or even at the office you should have an alcoholic drink.
Booth’s House Of Lords Finest Distilled Dry Gin – Probably better than Booth’s House of Commons Gin Continue reading
At first glance this is an ordinary street scene. Until you see what is written on the electronic sign. Continue reading
September 29, 2011 8:35pm
They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway. Not much neon, Continue reading
This photograph is from a stereoview which captioned the Presbyterian Hospital as “the old men and women’s hospital.” This photo was taken by E. & H.T. Anthony Co. about 1872, shortly before the hospital’s first complex of buildings was completed. The hospital was built by the leading architect of the day, Richard Morris Hunt. Though you cannot tell from the black and white photograph, the contrasting color scheme had bricks that were very red and others that were pale. Continue reading
December 19, 1948 – Times Square 8:53 pm
On this day 63 years ago, 19.6 inches of snow blanketed the city. Here is Times Square in the midst of this snowstorm with only a few pedestrians and cars visible. Because it was a Sunday, traffic was light and the city was able to prepare and battle the storm efficiently. Mayor William O’Dwyer had a force of 18,340 men to remove the snow and keep the city running.
To the disappointment of children on Monday, New York City schools were open.
Looking north from the Times Building we see on the left The Paramount Building with the Paramount Theatre’s marquee lights casting an extreme white glow and on the next block The Hotel Astor. On the right are two iconic neon advertising signs; one for Camel cigarettes between 43rd and 44th Streets and the other for Bond Clothiers between 44th and 45th Streets.
The Bond sign contained nearly two miles of neon and had two fifty foot nude figures at each end, one male and one female. A huge recirculating waterfall between the two figures topped off this amazing advertising sign which was in place from 1948-1954.
Marbles is a game that I have never seen anyone play in person in my entire life. When I was a young boy, I had a collection of marbles that my grandparents gave me. I would roll them around and marvel at the beautiful orbs of color, but no one ever taught me how to play marbles. Somewhere among my many apartment moves I did lose my marbles. American children seem to have lost their marbles too, for the game is clearly not popular anymore.
click to enlarge
Marbles as a competitive game is still played, but there are probably more collectors of marbles than there are players worldwide. Continue reading