A scene of New York life, just before the turn of the century. Two things to note:
1) Everyone wears a hat. Continue reading
In 1896 you could die at a moment’s notice. There were no antibiotics. Doctors and scientists were slowly discovering how diseases were spread. Then, as now, the medical and scientific community gets stymied.
For instance, imagine hundreds of people sharing a glass or cup to drink from a public place where healthy and sick people alike could spread their germs. Yes, people actually did that. And in the U.S. thousands every year got sick or died from that practice. The impetus to invent a disposable cup – to stop spreading disease via communal drinking apparatus led to the Dixie Cup which came on the market in 1907.
But in 1896, before West Nile Virus or Ebola Virus was discovered, something strange and horrible occurred Continue reading
We are looking north along Central Park West then (known as Eighth Avenue), from 81st Street. Continue reading