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Spittoon under bench, because ladies also enjoy spitting.
“New Pattern Britannia Parlor Spittoons–More the pity that such articles should be needed, but while some persons who expect to rate as gentlemen frequently expectorate on the carpets, there’s a necessity for parlor spittoons. A new and beautiful pattern just received at the Brittannia hardware store of Lucius Hart, 4 and 6 Burling Slip.”
Tags: Lucius Hart
A steam train on the Third Avenue El, over the Bowery, 1896.
The famous (and infamous) New York City neighborhood known as the Bowery has rustic roots, it’s name a derivation of the Dutch term “bouwerie,” which means “farm.” But it has historically been a raffish area that more often resembled a funny farm. The above classic photograph shows the Bowery in 1896. The quartet of articles below from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle provides a look at the colorful characters who inhabited the area around that time.
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“Dropped Dead in a Dive” (November 15, 1890): “‘A number of woman frequenters of the lower end of the Bowery in New York sat around a table in the back room of the saloon at 20 Bowery, corner of Pell street, shortly before 1 o’clock this morning drinking beer. Suddenly one of the party grew deathly pale, fell back in her chair and grasped for breath. Before anything could be done for her she was dead. She had met death amid surroundings to which she had been accustomed for years. The death of the woman caused much excitement about the place.
The dead woman was Annie A. Heffernan. She was 29 years old. She had frequented the lower end of Elizabeth street and the Bowery for several years, and was a habitue of the dives and low resorts in that part of the city. Among her class she was, perhaps, more highly thought of than any of her kind. That was because she was the mistress of John, alias Kid, McManus, the burglar who is now serving a term of imprisonment in the Connecticut state prison. Annie was an English girl and came here when she was still quite young. She drifted into bad ways at an early age, and several years ago she fell in with ‘Kid’ McManus. Annie might have been a good looking girl in her younger days, but traces of any former beauty had long since disappeared.”
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“Robbed and Imprisoned” (June 14, 1890): “Rafalo Calisondi, a Bowery, New York, boot black, snatched 50 cents from Georgia Carcuo, a young woman from Dover Plains, N.Y., while going through the Bowery last night. In the Tombs Police Court to-day Justice McMahon held him for trial on $100 bail. The young woman was sent to the House of Detention.”
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“Robbed of Five Cents” (July 16, 1896): “Emery M. Rogers of 45 Bowery, New York, was seized violently by the throat shortly after midnight this morning at Bowery and Bayard street by William C. Lyons, the lightweight boxer. The men struggled desperately for some time and in the struggle Rogers was knocked down. He then alleges that Lyons placed his hand in his pocket, and stole 5 cents, all the money he had. Lyons was arrested. The charge made against him in the police station was highway robbery. Magistrate Kudlich refused to accept that complaint and ordered one of disorderly conduct to be taken. On the latter charge a fine of $5 was imposed. Lyons smiled at the light sentence imposed.”
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“Stabbed in the Stomach” (January 16, 1897): “Two men and a woman were seen quarreling in front of 83 Bowery, New York, early this morning, and the woman and one of the men were arrested. The other one made his escape. At the station house the man gave his name as Charles Brown. He refused to tell where he lived and said he was a sailor. the woman is a well known character. Her name is Carrie Tammany. It was discovered that blood was dripping from the tips of the fingers of the sailor’s right hand, and on the investigation it was found that he had a severe stab wound on his arm. Further inspection revealed a terrible stab wound in his stomach. He was taken to Gouverneur Hospital.
It is believed that the man who made his escape did the stabbing. Neither of the prisoners would tell anything about the affair. The woman was locked up on a charge of disorderly conduct.”
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Bowery dancers Kid Foley and Sailor Lil do a “Tough Dance” in 1902:
To see photos of the Windy City snapped for Look magazine in 1949 by the future filmmaker, go here.
Chicago-based bodybuilder Gene Jantzen and wife Pat give their 11-month-old a workout. (Image by Stanley Kubrick.)
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In 1966, Kubrick discusses becoming a pro photographer while still a teen:
Tags: Stanley Kubrick
An Inuit woman in Nome, Alaska, 1915, as photographed by the Lomen brothers, who were also in the reindeer meat business.
The above photograph of an Aleut woman is stunning not only because of how beautiful it is but because it was taken in 1915 and seems like it could have been torn from a contemporary fashion spread. The image was shot by the Lomen brothers, Minnesota transplants who made the folkways of Alaska their subjects. A brief bio of the brothers from the Glenbow Museum:
“Carl Lomen, 1880-1965, and his father, Gudbrand J. Lomen, 1854-1934, who were from St. Paul, Minnesota, USA went on vacation to Nome, Alaska, USA in 1900, at the height of the Alaska gold rush. Gudbrand did some legal work there and Carl some gold prospecting, and eventually the two decided to make an extended stay. After a brief period in St. Paul over the winter of 1902-1903, Carl and Gudbrand returned to Alaska to settle. Shortly afterwards they were joined by Carl’s mother, Julie, three of his brothers, Harry, Ralph and Alfred, and a sister, Helen. In 1908 the brothers entered into partnership and bought a photo studio with Harry as manager. Equipment and photos from several Alaskan photographers were purchased for the studio, and Alfred soon became main photographer. A year later the brothers bought a drug store with Ralph as manager. Photos from the studio were sold as postcards, and the images, which included those of Inuit, were in demand for many publications. Ralph also operated a studio in Iditarod, Alaska for a few years. The Nome photo studio was destroyed by fire in 1934. From 1913 to 1934 the Lomens also invested in a reindeer herd and shipped meat to the USA by sea.”
Tags: Lomen Brothers
A famous 1899 photo of Harry Houdini, from the McManus-Young Collection.
Today is Harry Houdini’s birthday and the following excerpt from his obituary in the November 1, 1926 New York Times reveals how the man who eventually made an elephant “disappear” initially got his start in show business:
“Houdini was born on March 24, 1874. His name originally was Eric Weiss and he was the son of a rabbi. He did not take the name Harry Houdini until he had been a performer for many years. Legend has it that he opened his first lock when he wanted a piece of pie in the kitchen closet. It is certain that when scarcely more than a baby he showed skill as an acrobat and contortionist, and both these talents helped his start in the show business and his later development as an ‘escape king.’
At the age of 9 Houdini joined a traveling circus, touring Wisconsin as a contortionist and trapeze performer. The Davenport brothers were then famous, doing the first spiritualist work ever seen in this country. They would ring bells while bound inside a cabinet and would agree to free themselves from any bonds. This inspired Houdini to a somewhat similar performance. Standing in the middle of the ring, he would invite any one to tie him with ropes and would then free himself inside the cabinet.
In the ring at Coffeyville, Kan., a Sheriff tied him and then produced a pair of handcuffs with the taunt:
‘If I put these on you, you’ll never get loose.’
Houdini, still only a boy, told him to go ahead. After a much longer stay in the cabinet than usual, the performer emerged, carrying the handcuffs in his free hands. That was the beginning of his long series of escapes from every known sort of manacle. For years he called himself the Handcuff King, a title discarded as he extended and elevated the range of his performances.
From 1885 to 1900 he played all over the United States, in museums, music halls, circuses, and medicine shows, gradually improving his technique and giving up his purely contortionistic and acrobatic feats. In 1900 he made his first visit abroad, and in London his sensational escapes from handcuffs at Scotland Yard won him a six months engagement at the Alhambra. This was the first instance of his cleverly obtaining notoriety by a public or semi-public exhibition outside the theatre. No other showman, unless it was Barnum, knew better how to arouse the curiosity and amazement of the public in this manner.”
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Tags: Harry Houdini
Bathing costumes on display at Midland Beach in the 1890s.
The classic photo above shows folks splashing in the waters of Staten Island during the 1890s, when Midland Beach and South Beach were summer destinations for people from all over New York. Despite the popularity of the area, some businesses were were struggling, as evidenced in a August 31, 1898 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article entitled, “Partner Says He Flirted”:
“On motion for a referee to hear and determine in the matter of the suit of Henry H. Kahn for dissolution of the partnership of Kahn & Reeves, hotel keepers at Midland Beach, Richmond County, before Justice Lambert in Supreme Court this morning, Charles H. Hyde was appointed referee. Kahn alleged that the partnership was formed on April 1 last, that it was prosperous until the other partner, Clifford C. Reeves, who had been connected with the Park Theater and other theaters in Manhattan, proceeded to discharge servants without cause and to employ others, to drink and neglect his part of the business, which was to keep the books, and finally to flirt with women patrons, or at least one of them, to the detriment of the business. Counsel in opposition denied absolutely all allegations of flirting and intoxication.”
"Appo has but one eye, the other having been shot out by the two North Carolinians, Curran and Hogshead."
George Appo had a mug made for a mug shot, and his actions didn’t belie his vicious visage. The grainy but great photo above, which was taken in 1894, shows the prolific pickpocket looking a little worse for the wear–and there was plenty of wear. Born into a crime family, Appo was arrested frequently for an assortment of misdemeanors and felonies. Even when he tried to go straight, things ended up crooked. An excerpt from an 1899 New York Times article about the rogue’s life:
“Appo’s career of crime began when he was sixteen years old, at which time he was sent to prison for two years and six months for picking pockets. Nine months after his release he was sent back for the same term for a like offense. After serving two other terms for theft, making four in all, he went into the ‘green goods‘ business with John McNally, known as the ‘Green Goods King.’ His story of how this business was conducted was one of their most dramatic features of the Lexow investigation and put him on record as one of the country’s most picturesque criminals.
In September, 1884, Appo had his throat cut under circumstances which pointed to an assault on him by agents of the police. This charge was made by Counsel Goff of the Lexow committee.
Appo, on April 8, 1895, attempted to stab Policeman Reiman at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street. He escaped, but was caught in Buffalo, brought back, tried, convicted, and sent to prison for six months.
After his release Appo claimed that he was hounded because of his connection with the Lexow inquiry, and that, in spite of desire to reform, he was denied honorable employment. He tried to lecture on crime and criminals in Buffalo, but was refused a permit.
On July 10, 1896, while in a drunken frenzy, Appo stabbed John Atwood, a reporter, at the corner of Mott Street and Chatham Square, mistaking him for another man. He was tried before Justice McMahon, and, being adjudged insane, was sentenced to the Matteawan Hospital.
Appo has but one eye, the other having been shot out by the two North Carolinians, Curran and Hogshead, whom he lured to Poughkeepsie by a ‘green-goods’ bait.”
Tags: George Appo
Cats perched below skirts.
The Barrison Sisters of 1890s vaudeville were a group of struggling New York actresses who found fame (and infamy) when they figured out that sex sells. Hyped as the “Wickedest Girls in the World,” the sibling act is seen in the above classic photo performing its notorious “Cat Dance,” in which the sisters hiked their skirts at the climax to reveal a live kitten that was perched by contraption between their legs. Their lasciviousness was not appreciated by the puritans at the New York Times, which reviewed a Barrison performance in the October 6, 1896 edition. An excerpt:
“The irreverent Barrison sisters, who were once of this country, and who have returned to it, preceded by a foreign-gained reputation for wickedness, public and private, began an eight weeks’ engagement in Koster & Bial’s Music Hall last night. The house was filled, and this means that the top-tier boxes, to see whence one must almost hang over the rail, were as crowded as those nearer the floor.
‘The five Barrisons,’ as a fluffy-haired quintet of the sisters are separated from Lona, the most heralded of all, begin their performance by living up to the stories of their doings that have come from across the water, but the frankly suggestive first song they sing is in the ratio of virtue to vice, when compared to the doings of Lona, who occupies the stage alone, preceding them by two numbers.
Vulgar is a word that may be applied to her performance; perhaps some of those in last night’s audience have by this time found a stronger word. She appears on stage in the attire of a fop, and, depriving a large part of her meaning, as she sings in French, she disrobes, appearing in tights. The story she tells is of the life of a rake.
She departs, only to appear again in a second, riding astride a handsome white horse, which prances around the stage. Bringing it is to a standstill in the centre of the stage, she sings, again in French, and lets the audience know by her action of her exhilaration and her love for the steed.
‘It’s the most audacious piece of deviltry and abandonment I ever saw offered to a New-York public,’ declared an old theatre-goer, as he was leaving the theatre.”
Tags: The Barrison Sisters
Ransom Riggs: “When I tell people I collect snapshots, I usually get a blank stare. So I made this video to help explain why I love them.”
Tags: Ransom Riggs
Doyers Street, Chinatown, New York City, 1890s.
San Francisco probably had the most famous Chinatown in America when the above classic photograph was taken in the 1890s, but NYC’s Chinatown was no slouch when it came to colorful street life. The following are a quartet of brief stories about the famous neighborhood from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of that era.
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“She Missed Him in Bed” (June 1, 1890): “Julia Lee is the most famous woman in Chinatown, in New York. She is athletic and some time ago was married to a distinguished Oriental, part of whose name she bears. Lee Get is but a pygmy alongside his big German-American wife. Get has a weakness for fan tan and the money which he realizes from a small store in the basement of 11 Mott street is freely expended at his favorite game. At a late hour Friday night Lee stole from the side of his wife in bed and crossed over to 12 Mott street. There he joined one Lung and Sing Chung in a game of fan tan. When Julia missed him she started in dishabille to find her spouse. Lee was ingominiously led from the gaming table and dragged into the street. Julia hit Lee in the face and disturbed the symmetry of his nasal organ. His yells were loud enough to bring a policeman, who was a block distant, to the scene. The policeman knowing Mrs. Lee’s reputation took her into custody.”
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“Dangerous Localities” (March 9, 1879): “Some of the localities of Chinatown are positively dangerous, even with an officer. Among these is High Binder’s lane, where murders are often committed. It is the abode of the desperate and daring, and their numbers are countless. They have trap doors for the unwary and refuges in which they hide from the officers of the law. They come upon their victims in droves, rob him, maltreat him, and sometimes scar him with knives.”
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“Smells, Scenes and Noise” (March 9, 1879): “A Chinatown eating house consists usually of three stories. The first floor is for cooking, and the apparatus is very extensive. The second story has tables for the common folks. The third story is for grandees and distinguished people. But a Chinese cook is not restricted to the kitchen: tell him you are hungry, and he will immediately fetch his fire, his cooking utensils, his provisions, and cook under your very nose. He squats down anywhere, makes a fire in or on anything; a basin, dish, pan or pot; there is no limit to his invention. He will cook in the middle of the street, or in the centre of his guests in a restaurant.”
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“Exciting Day in Chinatown” (July 15, 1895): “It was Brooklyn vs. New York in Chinatown yesterday afternoon, and the arrival of the police broke up a small sized riot before the question of supremacy was definitely settled. The trouble had its origin two weeks ago, when Ah Hung, 30 years old, of 20 Pell street, hired Ah Kin, 50, of 20 Pell street, but recently of Brooklyn, to work in his laundry at $10 per week. On Saturday night Ah Kin, instead of receiving $20, was only given $7 by Ah Hung for his two weeks work and an argument ensued. Ah Hung refused to give up the other $13 and inquired in choice Chinese, “What are you going to do about it?”
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San Francisco’s Cbinatown, 1897:
Tags: Ah Hung, Ah Kin, Julia Lee, Lee Get, Lung Chung, Sing Chung
Pedestrians make their way across the Brooklyn Bridge some time around 1905. Hats weren't mandatory, but they were welcome.
The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, essentially made is fate accompli that Kingsborough would eventually become incorporated into New York Cite and the modern NYC that we know today would be formed. It is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the U.S. and a marvel of engineering. But it it lacks a tavern. It didn’t have to be the way, though, since one crazy visionary back on the day petitioned for the right to open a bar on the bridge. An excerpt from a story in the June 13, 1893 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
“The Brooklyn Bridge has long been a point of pilgrimage for ambitious cranks. The man who aspired to open a beer saloon at the nearer tower is by no means alone in extravagant ambition. Time is not distant since a woman philanthropist wanted to turn the structure into a nursery. Another charitable individual of the gentler sex proposed to raise a fund for the relief of deserving Hottentots by starting roof gardens on the summits of the granite piers. Professional jumpers and unprofessional suicides have given the swinging span a measure of grewsome notoriety that contrasts sternly with the more generous projects proposed. It only remains to ask the use of the roadway for a horse race or the promenade for a baseball match in order to realize the novelty of which the bridge is capable.
From the standpoint of conservative administration the trustees did right to reject the petition for a saloon franchise. They should not, however, feel too harshly toward the misguided man who submitted it. There are so few drinking places in these cities, especially in the neighborhood of the approaches, that the petitioner undoubtedly supposed he was entering on a project of mercy. There is visible a certain benevolence in his scheme to supply the gurgle of amber beer, the sparkle of delicious cocktails and the aroma of seductive juleps in a region bereft, down to date, of facilities for providing cooling and stimulating drinks.”
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Brooklyn Bridge trolley crossing, 1899:
This classic photograph of Mulberry Street from 1900 (photographer unknown) provides a glimpse of life among the neighborhood’s pushcart peddlers. A few brief stories from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle about Mulberry Street from that era further explain lives of the area’s residents.
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“Monkeys in Court” (June 25, 1889): “Francis Samboni and Angelo Antonio, of 150 Mulberry street, New York, and their respective monkeys, Jacko and Jackino, were arrested this morning and taken before Justice Goetting on a charge of not being licensed. The monkeys, imitating their masters, deferentially doffed their plumed caps in the presence of the justice and chattered something which they only understood themselves. The justice fined the men $1 each.”
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“Poured Hot Syrup on Him” (August 2, 1890): “Two Italians–John Loui of 940 Mulberry street, New York, and Rocco Passo, of 55 Baxter street, New York, had a fight at 10:30 o’clock this morning in front of 971 Mulberry street, when Loui seized a large dipper full of hot syrup and struck Passo on the head with it. Passo was badly burned and was attended to by Dr. Shea of St. Vincent’s hospital. Loui was locked up in the Prince street police station.”
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“The Fruit Vendor Murder” (July 24, 1894): “Francesco Antonio Colluchio, 25, years old, of 116 Mulberry street, the murderer of Giuseppe Tamasco, a fruit vendor of 114 Mulberry street, New York, was taken before Justice Ryan in the Tombs police court this morning and held without bail. Colluchio quarreled with Tamasco in front of 114 Mulberry street at 6 o’clock last night over two bananas which Colluchio had bought from a vendor for 1 cent.
There was a difference in the quality of the fruit and Tamasco refused to exchange it or refund the money. The two men began to struggle on the walk. In the fight Colluchio drew a stiletto and stabbed the vendor in the heart killing him instantly.”
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“The Music Knocked Him Out” (March 23, 1888): “Michaelo Petrie, an Italian organ grinder of 115 Mulberry street, New York, was overcome by emotion while reeling off ‘Stick to Your Mother, Tom,’ in front of H.C. Atwood’s dry goods store at 1,197 Broadway, this city, last night, and fell through a plate glass window. He was cut in several places but was able to go home.”
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“Suspicious Character” (February 7, 1885): “Michael McNulty, of Mulberry street, New York, was before Justice Massey this morning, charged with being a suspicious character.”
Delmonico's kicthen in 1902: "In the restaurant, smoking would now be permitted...this change was at the insistence of women."
This classic 1902 photo of Delmonico’s, a famed New York City restaurant opened in 1827 as a cafe and pastry shop, by erstwhile sea captain Giovanni Del-Monico and his brother Pietro, an experienced candy seller. The shop became a restaurant and inched uptown to new locations as Manhattan life gradually stretched northward. In the above photo, the restaurant had been relocated to Broadway and 44th Street by a new generation of Delmonicos, as the nineteenth-century was coming to a close. An excerpt about the move–and the changes instituted at the new locale–from the Steak Perfection site:
“On April 20, 1896, Young Charles Delmonico signed a 15-year lease and surprised the entire city when he announced that ‘Del’s’ would open a new restaurant farther uptown, at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 44th Street. The city center had continued its move northward, and Delmonico continued to follow.
As the new structure was being built, everyone assumed that Delmonico’s Restaurant would continue at the Madison Square location on 26th Street. The location there was particularly convenient for shoppers, and it was nearby the crossing of Fifth Avenue, Broadway and 23rd Street, which was becoming known as the heart of the metropolis.
On November 15, 1897, the new Delmonico’s Restaurant on 44th Street opened to universal praise and some shock. In the restaurant, smoking would now be permitted (previously, smoking had been permitted only in the cafe). This change was at the insistence of women, who resented the fact that the men would ‘retire to the smoking room’ after dinner. With this change, women believed that the men would be averse to desert them after dining.
Another change and surprise was the addition of an orchestra, which would play ‘in the background.’ Previously, listeners were expected to cease movement and to concentrate when an orchestra played, so that they and all could enjoy the music. Now, music would be played while patrons ate and even talked.”
Tags: Charles Delmonico, Giovanni Del-Monico, Pietro Del-Monico
Sign: "Woman Voter Monthly Magazine 5 cts."
I posted once about a woman who opposed women’s suffrage, but how were men who supported female voting treated? The above classic photo shows the NYC headquarters of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage in 1915. Just two years earlier, an article in the New York Times provided coverage of the organization’s ill-fated attempt to spread its message of equality to London. An excerpt:
“Riotous scenes attended the attempt of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage to hold a meeting in Hyde Park this afternoon. The police gave the League permission to use a truck as a platform, and the overturning of this truck by the crowd ended the proceedings.
Laurence Housman, 1915. (Image by Bain News Service.)
The meeting, as usually, started in an orderly manner, but when Laurence Housman, the poet and playwright, attempted to address an audience of some 10,000 he was greeted with hisses and catcalls, and his speech was interrupted by a fire of heated comments from his hearers. Other speakers had even less success, the interruptions taking the form of clods of earth and other missiles. One youth had an ingenious idea for annoying the speakers. By means of a piece of a mirror he reflected the sun’s rays upon their faces, causing such discomfiture that they were obliged to turn around and address another section of the crowd.
Later one speaker made an allusion to ‘ignorant hooligans.’ The crowd took this as a direct application to themselves. Angry cries were raised, and an ugly rush was made for the truck. The police made valiant efforts to keep back the excited crowd but were practically powerless. The speakers made hasty exits from the vehicle, but one of them had not left it when the truck was captured. He took a flying leap just in time, for a half second later the wagon was completely overturned after a desperate heave by the protesting audience.”
Tags: Laurence Housman
Fruit peddlers and hat stores were popular on this stretch of the Lower East Side in 1898.
This classic picture (photographer unknown) shows pedestrian traffic on the Lower East Side on Norfolk and Hester Streets in 1898. A few brief clips below from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle look at the raffish side of life on these streets during that era.
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November 16, 1902: “Molly Marshall, 17 years old, giving her address as 327 Harrison avenue, Boston, and Solomon Rosenthal, 30, of 26 Norfolk street, Manhattan, were locked up at Police Headquarters last night as suspicious persons. The complainant is Max Singer of 24 Norfolk street, who claims to be the girl’s uncle. Singer says he received a letter two days ago from the girl’s mother, in Boston, notifying him that the girl had disappeared and that it was feared she had eloped with Rosenthal, who had not been seen since the girl’s departure. He said the woman asked him to watch New York for them.”
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August 14, 1896: “Charles Leskowitz, 3 years old, of 113 Norfolk street, New York, was put to sleep on the fire escape on the second floor of the above house last night. Early this morning he rolled off and fell to the first floor, but was picked up a few minutes later uninjured.”
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September 6, 1891: “Isaac Hoffer, 19 years old, who claims a residence at 58 Norfolk street, New York, was held for trial by Justice Smith at the Essex market police court yesterday charged with having stolen a baby carriage belonging to Mrs. Lina Sowden, from the hallway of her residence, 127 Rivington street. He was trying to sell it for 25 cents when he was arrested.”
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November 22, 1890: “Joseph Thompson, charged by Frederick Wool, of 148 Norfolk street, New York, a wandering minstrel, with knocking him down, was held for examination on Monday.”
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September 2, 1893: “Nathan Levine, 17 years old, of 32 Hester street, and Meyer Shubert, 13 years old, of 78 Norfolk street, were before Justice Meade, in the Tombs police court, New York, this morning, charged with stealing a horse and wagon belonging to Philip Ramburgh of this city. Ramburgh left the team at the Washington market for a few minutes, and when he returned it was gone. He afterward found the boys trying to sell the outfit for $20. In court this morning they were held for examination.”
The Jacquard Weaving Loom was, "the first machine to use punched cards to control a series of sequences," according to "Life."
Life.com has a slideshow called “A Brief History of Computing,” which progresses from abacus to iPad in a few dozen images. See it here.
You can see how much flammable wood was contained in the church's structure.
This classic photograph was taken in the aftermath of a horrific 1894 fire that reduced to rubble St. George’s Church in Astoria, New York, which was at the time the oldest Episcopalian church in the city. It wasn’t an act of arson, but it was still devastating to the parishioners. An excerpt from coverage of the fire in January 11, 1894 New York Times:
“St. George’s Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Astoria section of this city, was totally destroyed by fire this morning. The parish record and the silver service were saved.
St. George’s Church was the oldest of the Episcopal denomination in this city. It was a frame structure, and stood on high ground on the corner of Main and Woolsey Streets. It was surrounded by a spacious churchyard, containing the vaults and graves of members of the oldest families.
When the firemen arrived, the flames had obtained so much headway that it was impossible to save the structure. The rectory stood within fifty feet of the burning church. The rector, the Rev. Charles E. Belden, had everything ready for immediate removal if necessary, but the flames did not reach the building.
Funeral services were to have been held in the church this morning, and in order to have the edifice comfortably heated the sexton built a fire in the furnace last night. It is believed the furnace overheated and set fire to the woodwork. The destroyed church contained a number of marble tablets erected to the memory of some of the oldest members of the congregation and several former rectors.”
Tags: Rev. Charles E. Belden
Alan Taylor, the amazing photo editor who ran the Boston Globe‘s Big Picture, has moved on to the Atlantic to create a new photo blog called “In Focus.” Unsurprisingly, the new site is already outstanding. Current photo series provide stunning images of the Egyptian revolution, America’s extreme winter weather and Afghanistan. These are topics being covered in a million places, but Taylor manages to bring a different perspective to the ubiquitous.
Tags: Alan Taylor
Horse-drawn tram alongside the electric kind in Soho. (Image by the Brown Brothers.)
Taken in 1917, this photo shows the end of the line for horse-drawn trams in New York City, as the changeover to electric cars (the streetcar on the right, for example) was all but complete. The caption contained with this public domain image reads as follows: “Just before the last of these vehicles was banished from the streets of New York City, the photographer snapped one of them as it passed alongside a ‘Modern Electric Car.’ This photo was shot on Broadway just north of the intersection with Broome Street. The car is headed southbound.”
At this point, electric and steam-powered vehicles were still predominant in America, with the gas-guzzler taking a back seat. An excerpt from a post on reliableplant.com about automobiles in the United States in the year this photo was taken:
“It’s hard to believe, but 38 percent of vehicles in the U.S. were electric in that year; 40 percent were steam powered and only 22 percent used gasoline. There was even a fleet of electric taxis in New York City.
But between the limited range of EVs and a lack of infrastructure to support recharging, the market was crying for a new and cheaper source of auto power, and that came in the form of the internal combustion, gasoline-powered engine.”
While on the subject of U.S. Postal Service history, I should point out that the above photograph comes from the Smithsonian with the following eye-popping caption:
“After parcel post service was introduced in 1913, at least two children were sent by the service (with stamps attached to their clothing; the children rode with railway and city carriers to their destination). The Postmaster General quickly issued a regulation forbidding the sending of children in the mail after hearing of those examples.”
The 1905 IRT wreck occurred just a few minutes after seven in the morning.
September 11 was an ominous date in NYC history even before 2001, if on a smaller scale. Due to a switching error, a horrendous 1905 train wreck killed 12 and seriously injured another 48 in Manhattan on the erstwhile IRT Ninth Avenue line at West 53rd Street. As this astounding (and anonymous) photo illustrates, it was a horrifying calamity of Hollywood blockbuster proportions long before movies were capable of simulating such disasters. The motorman, Paul Kelly, faced criminal charges for the crash because police suspected the incident was a willful act connected to an imminent strike by the motormen. Kelly went on the lam and eluded capture for nearly two years. The July 1, 1907 New York Times reported on his arrest in San Francisco. An excerpt:
“Paul Kelly, wanted by the New York police on a criminal charge growing out of the death of twelve persons in an elevated railroad wreck on Sept. 11, 1905, was arrested here last night by local detectives and detained pending orders from New York. Kelly admitted his identity.
The day before the strike of the elevated railroad men in New York, Kelly, who was a union motorman, was in charge of the train which was wrecked. It was charged that Kelly willfully disobeyed orders. He disappeared, and the Police Commissioner of New York offered a reward of $500 for his arrest.
Kelly has been here for a year, and has been in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad in a local freight yard.”
Tags: Paul Kelly
Julie and child, 1983. (Image by Darcy Padilla.)
Photographer Darcy Padilla’s amazing 18-year photo series, The Julie Project, follows a deeply troubled woman named Julie Baird through her life, beginning in 1993 in a flophouse in San Francisco. It’s heartbreaking and important work, though it’s not for the faint of heart. An excerpt below from the story’s introduction (Thanks to Kottke and Dooce):
“I first met Julie on February 28, 1993. Julie, 18, stood in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel, barefoot, pants unzipped, and an 8 day-old infant in her arms. She lived in San Francisco’s SRO district, a neighborhood of soup kitchens and cheap rooms. Her room was piled with clothes, overfull ashtrays and trash. She lived with Jack, father of her first baby Rachael, and who had given her AIDS. She left him months later to stop using drugs.
Her first memory of her mother is getting drunk with her at 6 and then being sexually abused by her stepfather. She ran away at 14 and became drug addict at 15. Living in alleys, crack dens, and bunked with more dirty old men than she cared to count.
For the last 18 years I have photographed Julie Baird’s complex story of multiple homes, AIDS, drug abuse, abusive relationships, poverty, births, deaths, loss and reunion. Following Julie from the backstreets of San Francisco to the backwoods of Alaska.”
Tags: Darcy Padilla, Julie Baird
According to the Virtual Dime Museum, J.B. Johnson entertained East River bathers in 1874 by smoking a cigar and drinking milk underwater. (Image by Underwood & Underwood.)
The only place in America where it’s not currently snowing is Arizona, and you can’t live in that state because even babies there carry handguns. But at least we can think about the warmer weather that will hopefully, mercifully, eventually arrive. While it’s almost unimaginable for anyone in 2011 to equate summertime fun with swimming in the dirty, murky East River, there was a time when overheated working-class locals used it as a watering hole.
In 1870, a bathhouse was built along the East River to serve the needs of the swimmers and to set up competitive races. According to the Virtual Dime Museum, the bathhouse was condemned in 1912 because city officials were alarmed by how polluted the waters had become. That didn’t stop folks on view in this 1921 photo from taking a dip, but the building of public pools eventually ended the practice. Even during the relatively cleaner pre-1900 days, you never really knew what you would find in the East River. A brief article from the August 15, 1897 Brooklyn Daily Eagle makes that clear:
“A GRUESOME HOAX. Henry Buck of the 174 Vernon avenue, and Herman Seelig of 41 Ninth street, while in swimming in the East River at the foot of Nott avenue, this afternoon, saw a bundle floating in the water under the dock and notified the police. Examination showed that the bundle contained the remains of some animal.
Dr. P.J. McKeown of 145 Fifth street and Dr. P.H. Bumater of 143 Fifth street both looked at the remains and said that the bones were too large to be those of a human being. The end of one bone looked like the double joint in the foreleg of a cow, while another bone looked like the hip bone of a cow sawed lengthwise. Coroner Strong, who was summoned, said the thing was doubtless a hoax.”
Tags: Coroner Strong, Dr. P.H. Bumater, Dr. P.J. McKeown, Henry Buck, Herman Seelig, J.B. Johnson
Neysa McMein displays her patriotic side in New York City in 1917.
This classic photograph shows commercial artist and portraitist Neysa McMein serving as a flag bearer during a 1917 New York City parade. The image originally appeared in the New York Times, but the photographer is unknown. McMein moved to New York from Illinois and became a wildly successful commercial artist who created covers for the Saturday Evening Post and numerous women’s publications of the day. She was also a steadfast member of the Algonquin Round Table and a feminist and early joiner of the Lucy Stone League, which believed women should keep their names after marriage. An excerpt about her from the Harpo Marx book, Harpo Speaks!:
“The biggest love affair in New York City was between me–along with two dozen other guys–and Neysa McMein. Like me, Neysa was an unliterary, semi-literate gate-crasher at the Algonquin. But unlike me, she was beautiful and bursting with talk and talent. A lot of us agreed she was the sexiest gal in town. Everybody agreed she was the best portrait and cover artist of the times.
Her studio was our third most favorite hangout, after the Algonquin and Woollcott‘s apartment. We had some wonderful parties at Neysa’s place, and I was always the last to leave.”
One of McMein's covers, a 1917 "Post" that also featured an article by Sinclair Lewis.
Stock being sold al fresco on Wall Street on October 2, 1920.
Not so long ago, the New York Curb Exchange was a place where small companies could literally sell stock on the street with the aid of what were called curbside brokers. The above 1920 photo from Bain News Service captures the mad scene. More about the Curb Exchange from Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City:
“Until 1921, the New York Stock Exchange–the largest trading floor in the city–was accompanied on Broad Street by the Curb Market, where outdoor brokers gathered around lampposts and mailboxes to transact business. In many ways, this was the outgrowth of the fact that some traders had not signed the Buttonwood Agreement in 1792, and thus had not been invited into the circle of brokers who moved into Tontine’s Coffee House as part of the official exchange. After the California gold rush brought more capital into New York, the Curb Market expanded to handle more transactions, often for companies deemed too small or too new to gain entrance to the New York Stock Exchange. (Many of these companies–like General Motors–did eventually graduate indoors.) In boom years, the Curb Market was sometimes trading 10 times the number of shares that were being sold on the Stock Exchange’s floor.”
(Image by George Grantham Bain Collection.)
