This news photograph is entitled, “Government agent mixing and weighing heroin and morphine.” September 20, 1938.
All they needed was some cocaine for a giant speedball.
Why the government needed an agent to mix these massive quantities of drugs I do not know. Continue reading
Sunday afternoon on “a day that will live in infamy.” Volunteers for military service stretch around the block after the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor. Continue reading
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.
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Marbles as a competitive game is still played, but there are probably more collectors of marbles than there are players worldwide. Continue reading
34th Street where Sixth Avenue and Broadway intersect is known as Herald Square because the New York Herald newspaper had their building located there. It was designed and completed in 1894 by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White. The building was torn down in two phases, 1928 and 1940. Continue reading
The Day After The Yankees Were Swept in a Late Season Doubleheader – 1954
The day of September 13, 1954 was not a happy one for Yankees fans as can be seen above. Reality sank in for eleven-year-old Walter Golle as he sat in front of Yankee Stadium. The dejection shown in Walter’s face reflected the fact that the Yankees would not be in the World Series for the first time since 1948 when Walter was five-years-old. The Yankees had won five consecutive World Series from 1949-1953.
The day before, on September 12, the Cleveland Indians had swept the Yankees in a doubleheader in Cleveland. The games were witnessed by 86,563 fans, the largest crowd to ever see a baseball game in the cavernous Municipal Stadium.
September 12, 1954 Municipal Stadium Filled
Bob Lemon won the first game 4-1 for his twenty-second win of the year and Early Wynn triumphed 3-2 in the second game for his twenty-first victory. The Yankees ended the day being 8 and a half games behind the Indians, reducing Cleveland’s magic number for clinching the pennant to three games.
The Indians would go on to win an American League record 111 games. They finished the season eight games ahead of the Yankees. Miraculously the New York Giants defeated the heavily favored Indians four games to none in the World Series.
Walter eventually got over the Yankees 1954 failure. Maybe that is an assumption.
Here is what Walter looked like 46 years later in 2000 featured in The Norwood News Inquiring Photographer section.
This 1927 photo is captioned “Summer On A Children’s City Playground.”
I don’t know for sure what city this is in. But it was typical of an early twentieth century playground. No “helicopter mom’s” hovering over their precious children. Nothing but lots of kids experiencing fun on what is the biggest slide I’ve ever seen in a city park.
I wrote to the New York City Parks Department a few years ago and asked what happened to the monkey bars, see saws and tall slides along with all the other amusements that presented some sense of excitement and danger? Continue reading
Look at that concentration and determination. Did anyone ever make swinging a bat look so graceful? Continue reading
There is nothing extraordinary about 1113 First Avenue, the building at the northwest corner of 61st Street and First Avenue. A late 19th century five story walk-up building with a restaurant at ground level. But if you look up to the corner between the second and third floors you will see the street name etched in stone and attached to the building, circled in red in the photo above.
The rectilinear street grid layout imposed upon Manhattan at the beginning of the nineteenth century assured the builder of this building that it would be located at 61st street and First Avenue seemingly forever.
Before the twentieth century street signs were not at every corner. There were in fact few street signs in New York and they were usually at major intersections or the nicer parts of town. Continue reading
The Cagney’s Arrive At The Academy Awards Ceremony March 12, 1938
From left to right are: William Cagney, producer and manager, Boots Mallory (William’s wife), Frances (“Bill”) Cagney (James’ wife) and James Cagney, actor extraodinaire.
In 1938 the Cagney family had no nominations for any awards, and that is an unlikely reason for the dour looks on everyone’s faces. Maybe they had a fight on the way over to the ceremony. We’ll never know, but they certainly don’t look happy.
The following year James Cagney would be nominated for a best actor award for Angels With Dirty Faces. He lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town.
James Cagney would win a best actor Oscar in 1942 for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Below, a great speech by James Cagney accepting the lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute in 1974.
