Former NL Home Run Champ Now Works At A City Swimming Pool – 1948

Hack Wilson, Former NL Home Run Champ Glad To Have Any Job

Hack Wilson 1948Baseball is going to begin its abbreviated season, as if anyone cares. I certainly don’t. The spoiled players and clueless owners are greedy beyond all belief.

So here is a lesson in humility for all the ballplayers complaining about their pro-rated multi-million dollar salaries and owners crying poverty.

72 years ago today Hack Wilson made the news.  Here is what the original news slug says:

Baltimore, MD July 20, 1948 – EX-HERO Of BASEBALL – – Hack Wilson, the former home run king, chats with kids at the city swimming pool where he works. Municipal authorities had put him to work as a park laborer recently when he came in looking for “any kind of job.” Wilson, now 48-years-old, set the National League’s home run record of 56 in 1930 with the Chicago Cubs. AP Wirephoto

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Old New York In Photos #116 – Fifth Avenue & 27th Street 1903

Fifth Avenue Between 26th & 27th Street – The Old Hotel Brunswick

5th Avenue 27th Street 1903 photo Detroit Publishing CoA Detroit Publishing Co. photographer got this shot on a rare day without any traffic. Every building seen here is soon to be demolished.

The Hotel Brunswick

This photograph shows the east side of Fifth Avenue from 27th to 26th Street in 1903. Continue reading

Classic Hollywood #98 – Fred Astaire & Daughter Ava

A Rare Photograph Of Fred Astaire With His Daughter Ava – 1958

Photo UPI 1958 Fred Astiare and daughter Ava

1/5/1958 – HOLLYWOOD – Fred Astaire poses with his daughter Ava, 16, in a rare family portrait taken on the set of the General Electric Theater TV show. This is reportedly the first picture of the entertainer and his daughter to be released in 15 years. Photo- United Press International Telephoto

With the paparazzi of today there are no limits to what constitutes an invasion of privacy. Nobody is off limits – especially the children of the famous. Then there are the celebrities that don’t stop at just cooperating with paparazzi. They shamelessly publicize their children (who have no say in the matter) to promote themselves.

Some old-time celebrities had ethics. They didn’t exploit their families to get publicity. Actor, dancer and singer Fred Astaire (1899-1987) falls into that category.

A Private Man

When he was big star in the 1930s, most people didn’t even realize Fred Astaire was married. Continue reading

20 Great Heavy Metal Quotes From Musicians

“A French magazine printed my obituary. How did I die? I dunno, it was in French.” – Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister

Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead died in 2015, but supplied our headline quote a few years before his passing.

The man who spoke with Lemmy was Dave Ling. As a U.K. rock journalist, Ling has spent countless hours interviewing the greats of the heavy metal world. I strongly recommend his website.

Within Ling’s site there are hundreds of quotations from hard rock artists.

Here are 20 quotations that are funny, scathing and somewhat insightful.

“Lemmy came to me once and said ‘Alice, I have quit drinking,’ and he had a drink in his hand! I replied ‘That must be Coca-Cola?’, and he said ‘No, there’s a little whiskey in there’. His idea of not drinking was not drinking a bottle of whiskey each night. Maybe just five or six drinks.”
Alice Cooper in 2019

Rush’s Geddy Lee satisfying the fans masochistic urges

Do I have any theories on why our audience keeps coming back? Maybe it’s some kind of intense communal masochistic urge?”
Rush’s Geddy Lee.

“I’m sick to death of people saying we’ve made 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we’ve made 12 albums that sound exactly the same.”
AC/DC’s Angus Young.

“People keep asking why we don’t play ‘Sinner’ anymore. I tell them it’s because we’ve repented.”
KK Downing, Judas Priest.

“Sharon told me about a place where they teach you to drink properly. It was the Betty Ford Centre. I thought, ‘That’s it! I’ve been doing it wrong!’. So I walk in, expecting a demonstration of how to drink a Martini, and I say, ‘Hi Betty Ford, where’s the bar?’ This receptionist is like, ‘What?!'”
Ozzy Osbourne.

“Mae West whispered to me, ‘Why don’t you come on back to my trailer?’ I said: ‘Because you’re 86 years old and I’m not even sure if you’re a woman or not’. But if I hadn’t have been married I would’ve gone. Definitely. Just for the experience.”
Alice Cooper.“

“Adding rap to rock music is a bit like taking the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen to a plastic surgeon, then asking him to give her a penis.”
Manowar’s Karl Logan. Continue reading

Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Speech July 4, 1939

“Did My Speech Sound Silly? Did it?”

Lou Gehrig to a friend minutes after making his “Luckiest Man” speech on July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day.

Gehrig and Ruth at Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day July 4 1939 photo Binghampton NewsEarly in the day before being honored at Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig told a reporter, “There hasn’t been a day since I came up that I wasn’t anxious to get in uniform and out on the field. But today I wish I was anywhere but in this stadium.”

For the ceremony Lou Gehrig was standing on the field for one hour in between games of a doubleheader with the Washington Senators, as accolades and gifts descended upon him.

Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Postmaster James Farley, Yankee general manager Ed Barrow and current and former teammates and opponents were there. Besides gifts, they all gave Gehrig the one thing he did not want – sympathy. Continue reading

Classic Hollywood #97 – Mag Model Iris Bristol

Iris Bristol At The Beach

Iris Bristol

Iris Bristol photo Al Greene and Associates

If you’ve never heard of Iris Bristol you’re not alone. Her most notable film appearance is in My Fair Lady (1964) in a brief uncredited role as a flower girl.  Iris, born in Worcester, England November 20, 1931 is more well known for gracing the covers of male libido boosting magazines in the 1950s and 1960s, than she is for movies. At five foot three with an hourglass figure, Iris’ décolleté was put on display frequently.

Mammary obsessed photographer and director Russ Meyer Continue reading

Old New York In Photos #115 – Home On The Range?

A Small Cottage On Broadway (Boulevard & 123rd Street)

At first glance this might appear to be a small home in rural New Jersey, Kentucky or maybe South Dakota. It is in fact the northeast corner of The Boulevard and 123rd Street. The Grand Boulevard or simply Boulevard is the old name for Broadway above 59th Street and a street sign is visible at the top of the light pole. Continue reading

American Magazine Advertising In 1947

50 Advertisements From The 1947 Saturday Evening Post

Champion spark plugs Saturday Evening Post 1947Maybe advertising is not an accurate portrayal of what America is or ever was. But it shines a light on American dreams, living the good life and most of all consumerism.  Today we’re turning back the clock to just after World War II.

Saeurday Evening Post 1947All the ads appear in the February 8, 1947 Saturday Evening Post, a bastion of conservative American values.

American soldiers returning home to a prosperous economy. A baby boom follows. Spend, America, spend.

Ajax CombOne thing you’ll notice if you read the fine print: EVERYTHING was “Made in America.” Everything. Even a simple comb. Yes, Ajax comb company took out a small ad in the magazine that must have cost them the equivalent of at least 500 combs. It’s the sort of item that today would only be made in China, as we’ve decimated our ability to produce our own goods. Continue reading

Yankees Tommy Henrich Out At Home During A Hot Game – 1949

Henrich Is Out, But Yanks Still Win

Ed Rommel BobSwift and Tommy Henrich Yankee Stadium June 24 1949

Home…But Out

New York – In the 7th inning of today’s game between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers, Yankee Tommy Henrich was out at home when he tried to score from 3rd base. Tiger catcher Swift makes the out as ump Rommel calls the play. The Yanks won the game 5-4. June 24, 1949. photo – Tony Bernato, New York Daily Mirror for International News

15,384 intrepid fans sweated out a two hour forty four minute game at Yankee Stadium on Friday, June 24, 1949.

The Yanks and Tigers were playing an afternoon make-up from a rain out on May 26. The thermometer topped out at a muggy 88 degrees. Abandoning formality, umps Art Passarella and Jim Boyer removed their coats and worked the game in shirtsleeves. Home ump Eddie Rommel stayed traditionally dressed. From 1933 until 1952 three man umpire crews were the norm for regular season games. Continue reading

Classic Hollywood #96 – An Interview With Her Sexcellency, Sally Rand

The Lady With The Fans, Her Sexcellency Sally Rand

Sally Rand c 1928

Sally Rand bubble dance  photo by Ziegfeld Follies glamorist Alfred Cheney Johnston

Sally Rand photo Daily NewsEarlier in 2020, History Channel’s American Pickers featured a show about buying Sally Rand’s personal memorabilia. Most viewers were probably perplexed as to why host Danielle Colby was so excited. In terms of forgotten superstars, Sally Rand, (born Hattie Helen Gould Beck, 1904-1979) would rank pretty high today. Not so for Ms. Colby who understands and admires the artistry that Sally Rand created. Continue reading