Looking North up Fifth Avenue from 52nd Street.
Church steeples are among the tallest structures in the photo. The closest steeple belongs to the original St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street, which was destroyed by fire in 1905. Continue reading
Jackie Gleason, known as The Great One, was the star of one of the funniest television shows ever, The Honeymooners.
Beneath the Pavement
1st Avenue and 61st Street – August 11, 2010
Cobblestone streets.
Every so often New York scrapes away its layers and you can get a glimpse into the past. There was a time when many of New York City’s streets were paved with what are popularly called cobblestones, but in actuality is Belgian Block.
Last summer, the city repaved a twelve block section of First Avenue and huge swaths of Belgian Block were uncovered for a few days by the road milling machine. These vestiges of the past could be seen for the first time in decades. Within a week, they were covered again.
For the short time they were exposed, late at night, if you listened very hard, I bet you could hear the horses hoofbeats.
Trolleys, horse drawn wagons and no cars, dominate this view of 42nd street. The building on the right is Grand Central Terminal before being completely renovated by the architectural firm of Warren & Wetmore. The tall building on the right past the trolley is the Hotel Manhattan (demolished c. 1962 and replaced by Sperry Hutchinson Building in 1964). In the far background in the center is The New York Times Tower Building which was opened in 1906. Continue reading
A Reflection on The Late, Great Yankee Stadium With Vintage Photographs
I visited the new Yankee Stadium once in 2009 when it first opened. The feeling was a bit surreal. It was like being in Yankee Stadium, but it wasn’t. The main difference for me was the surrounding neighborhood and looking out past the right-center field bleachers and not seeing the apartment buildings and the Bronx County Court House.
The new Yankee Stadium is a glorified mall.
The old Yankee Stadium that existed from 1923 – 1973 was where the storied history of the Yankees took place. Even after the renovation of Yankee Stadium from 1974-1975 which included taking out the old wooden seats and the removal of the beams that could block your view from many of those seats, the stadium still retained some of the old charm, even though it lost a bit of its character. From 1976 -2008 the Yankees played in the same spot where Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Red Ruffing, Hank Bauer, Whitey Ford Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey saw action.
The Yankees of the last 35 years; Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer, Ron Guidry, Mel Stottlemyre, Paul O’Neill, Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter could look around and seep in the history of this altered palace of baseball, even if there were heavy cosmetic changes to the outside and inside of the stadium itself.
There was no more “Death Valley” Continue reading
Marilyn Monroe would have been 85 on June 1, 2011
An 85-year-old Marilyn would be difficult to imagine. She died at age 36 under mysterious circumstances during the evening of August 4 or early morning August 5, 1962, depending upon what version of her death you are apt to believe.
If she were alive today, I think she might look somewhat like her mother Gladys did at a similar age. Gladys died at the age of 81 in 1984.
The New York Post reported on May 31 that unseen Marilyn photos found at a garage sale in 1980 may soon be put up for sale. If they are, they will fetch a lot of money.
Marilyn was one of the most photographed people of all-time so there are always going to be “new’ photos of her popping up.
Random trivia: Andy Griffith was also born June 1, 1926.
For Marilyn’s birthday here are some photo’s that have not been seen as much as the standard shots you are used to. Forever young.
The Vamp in a Classic Role
“The Vampire,” Theodosia Goodman otherwise known to the world as Theda Bara in her 1918 starring role The Forbidden Path with (I believe) Hugh Thompson, her co-star.
Theda Bara was one of the first sex symbols of the screen. Her name was supposedly an anagram of “Arab Death.” (that is completely fabricated along with many other “facts” of her life.) Bara became a star in 1915 as a “vampire” (not the blood sucking kind – a notorious woman who drives men wild with desire using her wiles and charm and wreaks havoc in their lives) in A Fool There Was. She cemented immortality in 1917 with her portrayal of the title role in Cleopatra. Bara was pretty much typecast as the vampire (later shortened to “vamp”) and her film career stalled by the end of 1919. She appeared in only three films in the 1920’s and never made any sound films, retiring in 1926. She died in Los Angeles in 1955 at the age of 69.
While some today would not necessarily consider Bara a beauty, there is definitely something very appealing about her. A naturalness that comes through. In a lot of ways she represents more real women of that age and much more than her modern Hollywood contemporaries of Angelina Jolie or Scarlett Johansson representing today’s woman.
Bara’s heavier legs and abdomen are shown in her movies and photos. Would modern lead actresses be permitted to display extra poundage in our hyper-perfect-looks media without being skewered a la Oprah or Kirstie Alley?
Some photos of Bara when she was at the height of her career:
For a brief period there was a park in the middle of Park Avenue. This is not it. When road lanes were widened in the 1920’s the pedestrian plaza with benches were removed and replaced with a park like median which is surrounded by fencing and has no public access.
Looking north from around 38th street, Grand Central Terminal is in the middle of this photograph and behind it is the New York Central Building (currently called the Helmsley Building.) Continue reading
Sergeant Murphy starring a young Ronald Reagan and the pretty Mary Maguire. It was Ronald Reagan’s third film. Maguire retired from films in 1942 and passed away in 1974 at the young age of 55. Continue reading
Looking east from Fort Lee, NJ to New York City. June 25, 1935. Continue reading