Valentines Day has come and gone. I know love can drive you to do crazy things, but I can’t recall seeing a story like this.
The date was February 16, 1904, one hundred eight years ago, the thermometer read 0° with blizzard-like conditions raging in New Jersey. Continue reading
Has Protecting Illegals Gone Too Far?
Suppose a group of Americans went to China, Mexico or Saudi Arabia and overstayed their welcome by a few months or years. The immigration agents for that country discover their whereabouts, raid the homes where the Americans are living, arrest them and begin proceedings for deportation.
But then the Americans file suit, and the government not only stops the deportation, but eventually agrees to pay the illegal Americans $350,000 in a settlement that allows them to stay indefinitely.
Sounds crazy, right?
If the scenario described above occurred in any of those countries mentioned, the illegal American aliens would have been jailed, punished, and deported.
Well of course this didn’t happen in any of those countries. This situation occurred in Connecticut, right here in the good ol’ USA. And obviously the parable does not involve American citizens, but illegal aliens.
As bizarre as it sounds, illegal immigrants successfully sued the U.S. federal government because their rights were violated and they were paid a $350,000 settlement.
The complete story reported here in detail by the Yale Daily News will raise questions about what is and what is not protected under the United States Constitution. It will also undoubtedly anger many Americans.
How could this happen? Continue reading
And They Are Doing This Because?
On a hot July day, is there anything more entertaining than a contest featuring beautiful women pulling each others hair?
If you agree, then this July 11, 1940 news photograph entitled “Models in Hair Pulling Match” should fit the bill.
The caption reads as follows:
Palisades Park, N.J. – In the first official contest of its kind, two dozen beautiful New York models competed in a hair pulling contest at the Palisades Amusement Park on July 11th. Object of the contestants was to drag their opponents across a finish line by their lustrous locks. Here are Florence Goodman (top) and Alice Schinkel battling it out for championship near the finish line. Florence was declared the winner of the knock-down, drag ’em across contest. 7-11-40 credit: Acme
Decades before South Park, Warner Bros. put this cartoon out in theaters. Bosko’s Picture Show, from 1933 features this incredible scene.
Here is the entire original cartoon and at about 5:50 in, is the offensive portion. Or just watch the 3 second clip below.
Language warning here – play in front of children at your discretion: Continue reading
Checking The Facts
In this age of “get the story out there as quickly as possible” it should concern you that what you are reading may not be true, simply because the facts have not been checked.
In the February issue of Harper’s is a fascinating excerpt entitled “What happened in Vegas” which is from the book The Lifespan of a Fact by John D’Agata, author. Jim Fingal, fact-checker, to be published February 27, 2012 by W.W. Norton. Continue reading
A street level photograph looking east on 42nd Street towards 5th Avenue on a chilly day in 1928. On the left side of the photograph and just to the right of the twin street lamp globes is one of the early traffic towers which would control vehicular traffic flow with colored signals. Continue reading
A Glut of Publishing
In 1907 there were 9,260 books published in the United States according to the New York State Library Bookboard.
Compare that to 2010 when there were 316,480 books published by traditional publishing companies according to Bowker.
Add to that another 2,776,260 on-demand titles produced by reprint houses specializing in public domain works and by presses catering to self-publishers and ”micro-niche” publications.
That is over 3 million books published in one year.
No wonder it is so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Continue reading
Dolores Erickson on Whipped Cream and Other Delights
The cover is the stuff of teenage dreams and yearning of older men to return to their youth. Innocence and come-hither looks wrapped into one alluring package.
If an album cover ever helped to sell mega amounts of copies, this was it. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, certainly benefited from the album design of A&M art director Peter Whorf, and model, Dolores Erickson, gracing the cover of Whipped Cream and Other Delights.
The iconic album cover, which is best appreciated in its full 12″ x 12″ vinyl incarnation, can still be found for sale at many thrift shops, flea markets and garage sales for a couple of dollars.
The album released in 1965, went to #1 on the Billboard pop music charts and ended up selling over six million copies over the years.
Was it based on the music? While it is a good album of instrumentals, I am positive that the provocative cover Continue reading
Marty Springstead, Former American League Umpire, Dies At 74 (January 17, 2012)
Major league baseball umpires are beloved by their families and friends, but are generally not appreciated by the fans. When longtime umpire Marty Springstead died after suffering a heart attack on January 17th in Sarasota Florida, I felt sad that one of the more memorable baseball names that I heard throughout my childhood was gone. As a fan, I appreciated Marty Springstead’s umpiring skills and not just because he would consistently eject Orioles manager and longtime Yankee nemesis Earl Weaver from ballgames during the 1970’s and 1980’s, but because he was from the old school of umpiring and was not flamboyant.
Springstead umpired in the American League from 1966-1985. He went on to become an executive and supervisor of umpires from 1986-2009. He worked in three All-Star Games and three World Series. He also got to be behind the plate for two no-hitters, but missed the chance for a third. He would have been calling balls and strikes on June 1, 1975 when Nolan Ryan pitched his fourth no-hitter, but he took off to be with his wife who was having a baby. People who knew Springstead said Marty was funny and a great storyteller.
But managers who got under his skin would not see that side of him while he was on the field. Springstead was a very good umpire who took his job seriously and didn’t take flak from players, coaches or managers. Twice during his career Springstead led the league in manager ejections.
I was among the 10,670 long suffering Yankee fans who attended the ballgame shown in the photo below.
At Yankee Stadium on Saturday, August 26, 1972, the Kansas City Royals had already scored two unearned runs in the third inning, and were leading two to one. There were two outs and Yankees pitcher Rob Gardner had a 1-2 count on Kansas City Royals slugger John Mayberry with two men on base. It looked like Gardner would get out of the inning. Continue reading
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