We are looking east along 14th Street towards Fourth Avenue. There are al least 50 people in the background, but the sparsity of pedestrians and traffic in this usually very busy area indicates that this was probably taken on a Sunday morning.
The seven small buildings between 14th and 15th Streets feature advertising of the day.
With street scenes as this, establishing a date is as simple as looking at the surroundings. Continue reading
This undated, circa 1910 Detroit Publishing Co. photograph of Harlem’s main stem of 125th Street shows a flurry of activity. We are looking west from Seventh Avenue, today renamed Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. This area of Harlem looks like a small village with most buildings being four stories or less.
It’s obviously a chilly day, and every pedestrian is well dressed and wearing a hat.
Most don a modern hat. Except for this retro, bearded man in a nineteenth century top hat. Both top hats and beards had fallen completely out of fashion in the early 20th century. He stands under the old lamppost street sign locator near an unusual type of fire hydrant.
On the northwest corner (right) is a Continue reading
We’ve provided lists like this twice before for New York’s hotels in 1882 and 1964.
This is useful to someone researching or wondering about where the New York City hotels of 1877 were located.
This compilation comes from The Practical Guide To New York City and Brooklyn by Henry Morford; Union News Company and Lee, Shephard and Dillingham( 1877).
The advertisement for Stevens House from the book shows a rate of $1.00 per day for a single room. Double occupancy at most hotels ran between $1.00 to $2.00.
One thing to take note of is that 38 Continue reading
This view from the southwest corner of 28th Street looking south along Broadway was taken by the Detroit Publishing Company circa 1908.
Let’s take a closer look at this photograph.
On the left is the eight story Hotel Victoria stretching from Broadway to Fifth Avenue along 27th Street. President Grover Cleveland would use the Victoria as his headquarters whenever he was visiting the city. The hotel began operations in 1872 and was razed in 1914.
You are not contemplating suicide when on the third floor, but there is a man standing on the hotel’s window ledge. He does not appear to be cleaning the windows.
In the background Continue reading
Buoys And Girls – In New War On Drowning
New York – These lucky buoys are embracing the quartet of pretty maidens who assisted at the tests of a new life preserver at the Park Central Hotel pool today (Tuesday.) The device is said to be of one third the weight and three times the buoyancy of the present cork life vests. The belts are the invention of Jesse W. Reno, well known engineer who also invented the modern escalator or moving stairway. The girls are, left to right: Dorothy Day, Pat Hughes, Prudence Edgar and Sherry Pelham. photo: International News Photos 5-3-1932
As this old news photo confirms, getting publicity for a product usually works when you have pretty women pose with it.
Engineer Jesse Wilford Reno has an extremely short biography on Wikipedia. Reno’s entry says he invented the escalator and claims it was first installed at the Iron Pier at Coney Island in 1891.
But when Reno died at the age of 85, his obituary Continue reading
For over 150 years Coney Island has attracted visitors to sample its beach, cuisine and amusement parks.
This magic lantern slide photograph shows an attraction that was more of a curiosity. Though It was only in existence for 11 years, hundreds of thousands of people came to see the Elephantine Colossus.
It was not a ride, but Continue reading
Here are two views of Fifth Avenue from the 1891 book History And Commerce Of New York (American Publishing and Engraving).
In our first illustration above we are looking north along Fifth Avenue towards The Hotel Brunswick (with flag on the roof) at the corner of 26th Street.
The second illustration below, 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
Charlton Heston admires his Golden Globe Award for Most Popular Male Star as Marilyn Monroe is embraced by Rock Hudson who awarded Marilyn the Golden Globe’s Henrietta Award as The World’s Most Popular Female Star at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.photo: Golden Globe Awards, March 5, 1962
It may come as no surprise that Marilyn Monroe never won an Academy Award. She was never even nominated for one. Despite strong performances in Bus Stop and Some Like It Hot Marilyn was considered by many in the Hollywood community as a personality rather than a true actress.
But Marilyn’s popularity with the public never waned, at least internationally. Continue reading
A Street Level View Of The New York Herald Building 1897
This magic lantern slide from around 1897 shows The New York Herald Building at 35th Street sandwiched between Broadway on the left and Sixth Avenue with the El on the right.
The Herald newspaper became the first paper to abandon newspaper row, where most newspapers had their headquarters along Park Row. The Herald’s new home designed by McKim, Mead and White, opened for business on Monday, August 21, 1893. According to the clock Continue reading
