This stereoview shows lower Manhattan looking north from Chambers Street, circa 1903. The main boulevard on the right is Centre Street. Continue reading
This real photo postcard by Thaddeus Wilkerson shows the new Plaza Hotel. The hotel towers above its neighbors offering its guests terrific views of the city and the park. We are looking southwest from the Hotel Netherland on 60th Street and Fifth Avenue. The southern boundary of Central Park at 59th Street is on the right and on the extreme left is a portion of the Vanderbilt mansion on Fifth Ave and 58th Street.
The original Plaza Hotel on the same site was opened in 1890 and demolished in 1905. The new Henry Hardenbergh designed Plaza Hotel was much larger than its predecessor.
The original estimate to buy the site, raze the old hotel and build the new hotel was Continue reading
Occasionally Reddit will have some funny topics, among them this query:
“What movie changes its plot if you add a random “R” somewhere in its title?”
Looking through a couple of hundred comments, many wrote the same obvious re-wordings; Planet of the Rapes, The Bartman, Beauty and the Breast, Troy Story and so on.
If you say the name Jean Simmons most people under a certain age will think of the outrageous singer and bass player for KISS, Gene Simmons.
And as big of a rock fan as I may be, I will always think first of the actress whose first name is spelled Jean, not Gene.
Jean Simmons (1929-2010) had a 65 year career as an actress full of interesting and prominent roles. The one role she did not get, helped bring about another successful career. Continue reading
Hussein Abdel Rasoul, a water boy for an archeological expedition came across something unusual. As he was swishing around sand to make bottles stay upright, he noticed the surface he had uncovered looked like a sculpted stone. It turned out to be a step. The first step leading to a blocked entryway.
Hussein the water boy wearing a scarab necklace found at King Tut’s excavation site
Hussein’s discovery occurred early in the morning of November 4, 1922 in the Valley of the Kings, just outside of Luxor, about 450 miles upstream of Cairo, Egpyt.
The expedition’s lead was archeologist Howard Carter who in the past had other significant finds under his direction. Carter was spending another year digging and looking for treasures, but without progress. Continue reading
Catastrophic storms and weather events are not just a recent phenomenon. This 1927 news photograph has the following caption: Continue reading
This stereoview of West Street demonstrates the importance of this shoreline street.
West Street, adjacent to the Hudson River with its piers and ferry terminals, was a vital cog to Manhattan’s commerce. Continue reading
Amelia Earhart As A Girl
Boston- Amelia Earhart, the daring Boston aviatrix who with Wilmer Stultz and Lou Gordon is at Trepassey, Newfoundland waiting for favorable weather to hop off in her tri-motored Fokker plane for England, is pictured above as a young girl. At left she is shown at the age of 3 with her sister Muriel Curtis Earhart, who is now a school teacher, and at the right Amelia is shown at the age of 7 years. photo: International Newsreel 6-5-1928
Amelia Earhart (b. 1897) disappeared on July 2, 1937. But she remains today arguably the most famous woman pilot in history. The newspapers that ran this photo back in 1928 were caught up in the birth of Earhart-mania. Continue reading
Library Meeting
In Independence, Mo. – Senator Kennedy, Democrat, Massachusetts, and former President Truman met at the Truman Library. Kennedy later took off on a quick tour of Kansas. Photo: AP wirephoto November 23, 1959
Though Kennedy said it was “a fine meeting,” Scripps-Howard reporter Charles Lucey noted that Kennedy was unafraid to disagree with Truman publicly over nuclear testing. Continue reading
Election Night At Crossroads Of The World
In keeping with the tradition Times Square was jammed until traffic was halted, as crowds watched election returns. Photo shows part of the crowd at Times Square, election night. Photo: Acme 11/6/1934
For entertainment in 1934 you could go to the Loew’s State Theater and see Mae West in Belle of the Nineties.
Or on the night of November 6 you could entertain yourself by standing in the street. Continue reading
