This stereoscope view of lower Manhattan was taken from the St. Paul Building at 220 Broadway around 1900.
The development of steel skeleton buildings enabled skyscrapers to be constructed towards the end of the 19th century.
The 25-story St. Paul Building stood at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street. Continue reading
Our photograph was taken around 1905 by the Byron Company (1888-1942), a partnership of Joseph Byron and his son Percy C. Byron. The Byron’s and their employees took thousands of photographs in and around New York City from the 1880s until the 1940s.
This view looking down Fifth Avenue from between 25th and 26th Street at the edge of Madison Square Park shows the Flatiron Building in the hazy background. Continue reading
This circa 1900 Detroit Publishing Co. photograph is captioned “Capt. Riley and Life Guards, Coney Island, N.Y.”
But which of them is Captain Riley? Click on the photo to have a much closer look.
The obvious choice would be the man in the cap wearing a dark colored shirt that says “Balmers Life Guard.”
Wearing a lifeguard shirt does not mean you are one or in charge of a group. Continue reading
Our Detroit Publishing Co. photograph is from 1906 and shows Eighth Avenue looking north. It is at this juncture the Ninth Avenue elevated completes its turn from Ninth avenue to Eighth Avenue at 110th Street and proceeds uptown.
As usual there was a postcard issued that almost certainly came from this photograph. The advertising and perspective are exactly the same, but the postcard contains many alterations.
For dramatic effect Continue reading
Satire from artist Harry Grant Dart showing what he captioned “The luxury of travel in New York.” (click illustration to see details).
The cartoon is from the January 22, 1903 Life magazine. The subway was still more than a year away from opening. The situation on the four New York elevated train lines was Continue reading
This stereoview published by Underwood & Underwood in 1907 says in its caption:
“Imported Americans”, shopping from push-carts in the Lower East Side, N.Y. City.
Although the neighborhood is unidentified it appears to be Little Italy with Mulberry Bend Park on the left.
This not so veiled aspersion of “Imported Americans” is typical of the apprehensions Continue reading
Looking at this postcard of New York’s finest on horses my first thought was: where is this?
The postcard itself holds few clues unless you are an expert in recognizing mundane landmarks from 120 years ago. The card shows some buildings and the mounted police.
But there was a way to find out by taking a closer look.
Because this postcard was put out by the Detroit Publishing Company in 1905, there might be an original photograph held by the Library of Congress where much of the company’s archive resides. A search provided a clear match. And from that photograph the location could be pinpointed.
The most important clues Continue reading
In this advertisement from The St. Paul Globe of July 18, 1903, Dr. Alfred L. Cole does not explicitly say what condition he is treating in “night losses”, but it sounds extremely perilous.
The mores and morals of the time would not permit the condition to be talked about in polite society.
But, reading between the lines, Dr. Cole proposes to stop men from having wet dreams. Continue reading
Gimbel Brothers Department Store Catalog 1910
What was considered sexy 100 years ago might not draw the same conclusions today.
To look her best, the woman of the late 19th and early 20th century was stuffed into a variety of tight fitting and often times restrictive undergarments.
Much like today with online shopping, store catalogs offered goods of all sorts to the public without the need to first try on the merchandise.
Gimbel Brothers Department Store Catalog 1910
From nightgowns to corsets to petticoats to chemises to reducing garments, women could buy a wide variety of underclothing, never setting foot in a store. Continue reading
Crowd gathered around the recovered body of a child from the General Slocum, North Brother Island, New York City, June 1904 photo George Ehler Stonebridge / NY Historical Society
This year marks the 120th anniversary of a tragedy that has been mostly forgotten, the General Slocum Disaster.
If you are unfamiliar with the General Slocum and the inferno that killed over 1,000 people, we previously wrote about it here.
Delving deeper into full length accounts of the General Slocum, you have several choices.
A total of eight books and two government reports are solely devoted to the tragedy and encapsulate the story thoroughly. Continue reading