Game 1 Of The 1957 World Series Yankees vs. Braves

1955 World Series The Brooklyn Dodgers Win Game 3 Behind Johnny Podres

Johnny Podres, The Birthday Boy, Wins A Critical Game 3

This news photograph’s caption reads as follows:

NEW YORK; SEPT. 30 — VICTORY ON HIS BIRTHDAY

Johnny Podres kicks, fires and follows through — with eyes on ground — during third World Series game against New York Yankees at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn today. Johnny celebrated his 23rd birthday with an 8-3 victory over the American League champs. Slender lefty thus put Dodgers back into contention for Series. (AP wirephoto)

The New York Yankees looked like they were on their way to beating their crosstown rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers once again in another World Series. The Yankees had taken the first two games of the 1955 World Series by scores of 6-5 and 4-2. Continue reading →

Billy Martin, Mickey Mantle Prepare For The 1952 World Series

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Martin, Mantle Prepare Series Strategy

60 years ago, the World Series started on the first day of October. This year the World Series will begin October 24!

Here is another one of these great baseball news photographs. This one is from UPI dated September 30 1952. The caption reads: 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 →

Classic Hollywood #16 – Sophia Loren & Jayne Mansfield

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When Legends Meet – Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield

One of the more infamous publicity incidents in Hollywood history captured in photographs, took place on April 12, 1957 at a party held at Romanoff’s Restaurant, 240 South Rodeo Drive, to welcome Sophia Loren to Hollywood.

Loren, the Italian beauty, was sitting at a table with gossip columnist Louella Parsons and film star Clifton Webb.

Then Jayne Mansfield walked in. Continue reading →

Yankees And Orioles Pennant Race 1970

Are The Orioles A Bunch of Supermen?

The Baltimore Orioles played like Supermen from 1969-1971 winning 109, 108 and 101 games respectively. They won the American League Eastern division crown five times from 1969-1974. 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 →

Lou Sleater, Detroit Tigers 1957

Getting Ready For The Game

Lou Sleater turns 86 on September 8, 2012. The St. Louis native pitched for some very bad teams such as the Browns, Senators and Athletics during a major league career which stretched intermittently from 1950 until 1958. His career record was 12-18.

In this photograph, Sleater is warming up before a game at a virtually empty Tiger Stadium in May of 1957 when he was with Detroit.

One personal highlight in his career came on May 30, 1957. Sleater pitched an inning of Continue reading →

Miss Universe Contestant 1970

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Miss Czechoslovakia – Kristina Hanzalova

News photographs used to get sent over the newswires to subscribing newspapers with captions. Some papers would use the “slug” – the suggested title that was written by the service providing the photo, other papers didn’t. In 1970, I cannot imagine that many newspapers used the title suggested by UPI (United Press International.) The slug and full caption are below.

Chesty Czech

Miami Beach, Florida:- Kristina Hanzalova, 21-year-old Miss Czechoslovakia, literally threw newsmen for a loop when she replied “94-58-90” when asked about her vital statistics. She was referring to centimeters, of course, not inches to which the boys are accustomed. Kristina is one of the competitors in the Miss Universe contest being held in Miami Beach.

Credit (UPI Photo) 7/7/70

It was obvious that Kristina could fill out a bathing suit, so I don’t think any editor would have used the “Chesty Czech” headline, but maybe some harried or unimaginative editors couldn’t come up with anything better. Kristina was featured in other bathing suit photos before the contest took place, like this one which ran in the Miami Herald.

The 1970 Miss Universe contest was held on July 11, and Kristina ended up being a semi-finalist, but lost the title to Puerto Rico’s Marisol Malaret.

Kristina then made exactly one motion picture in Czechoslovakia entitled Nudity (1970).

And yes, she has a nude scene in it.

After that, she seems to have vanished from the public eye.

Stuff Nobody Cares About

A not so random collection of observations about things you should care about