Urban Studies

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Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

April 26, 2010 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

An example of a puggle but not the one described in the Craigslist ad. This dog may have both of his nuts.

Stolen Puggle *reward* (Bronx Park E.)

I left a post a week ago about a lost a puggle name Peanut Butter that my mother may have sold for drugs. It is confirmed that my mother and her boyfriend did sell him for heroin. I am doing everything I can to find him, and I’m just posting again because I NEED all the help I can get. Peanut Butter isn’t microchipped but he has a nametag with my number on it as well as his rabies vaccination tag from Whitestone Animal Hospital. He has a license but unfortunately it was taken off when he was stolen.

Peanut Butter is a puggle who looks MOSTLY pug, he has a curly tail, well built, tan, pug face, around 29 pounds and neutered. He only had one testicle, though he is neutered, what remains is still one sac. He is hyper and though weary of new people, he warms up quickly and can be very friendly. His breathing is very loud, and you can hear him coming a mile away. He is somewhere in the Bronx. He was last seen at Bronx Park East and Mace Ave.

If you see anyone with him and I mean ANYONE. please call the police and call me. Please try to remember cross streets, location, landmarks, and a description of who he was seen with. I have a generous award for anyone who can bring my dog back! Below are pictures of my dog as well as pics of my mom and her boyfriend. If you see Peanut Butter with my mom and her boyfriend, please I ask that you still call the police. Do not talk to them or ask them questions, all they will do is LIE. Please if anyone can help it will be greatly appreciated!

Old Print Aricle: “Human Ostrich Dines Too Fast On Hardware,” New York Times (1904)

April 24, 2010 in Excerpts, Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

"Fasel used to be a professional 'ostrich.'"

John Fasel must have been one hell of a bad tailor, because the Williamsburg resident found it necessary to supplement his income performing as a freak who ingested metallic junk in low-brow museums, sideshows and saloons. And he wasn’t a faker who employed sleight of hand–Fasel absolutely chowed down on actual nails, pocket-watch chains, keys, pins, rings, knives, coins, etc.

The “Human Ostrich” was forced in January 1900 to cease the sideshow life and change his diet after doctors performed emergency surgery and removed the hardware store in his belly. But it isn’t easy to quit the glamour of show biz, and one August evening Fasel let a group of young men in a tavern goad him into drinking beers laced with coins and four-inch nails, resulting in the Ostrich ending up in a Brooklyn hospital in critical condition.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle ran at least four stories about Fasel, which is surprising, since I believe the paper only ran two stories about all of World War I (“Holy Crap, Everyone’s Fighting!” and “Wow, That Was A Bitch”). The New York Times also ran a couple of stories about the idiocy in August 1900, including one called, “Junk Eater Critically Ill.”

The Daily Eagle reported on his miraculous recovery a few days later in “Human Ostrich Recovering,” mocking Fasel with the line: “He is now able to partake of raw shingle nails and other light nourishment.” The Brooklyn paper ran a subsequent story lauding Fasel for not being a phony like other sideshow freaks.

"...the extraordinary amount of tin tacks, scrap iron, pen knives, and miscellaneous nails which he swallowed one night last week."

But it was the New York Times four years later that seemed to have the final word when Fasel yet again fell off the wagon. An excerpt from the paper’s April 13, 1904 article, “Human Ostrich Dines Too Fast on Hardware“:

“The proudest man in Williamsburg today is undoubtedly John Fasel of 246 Varet Street, who is going around showing his friends an X-ray photograph which brings about in bold relief the extraordinary amount of tin tacks, scrap iron, pen knives, and miscellaneous nails which he swallowed one night last week, and which the doctors are now planning to remove.

Fasel used to be a professional ‘ostrich,’ but four years ago he found it necessary to call a halt on his metallic diet. At that time he was operated on by doctors at St. John’s Hospital, Brooklyn, and still with pride the ‘human ostrich’ recounts the list of junk taken from him on the operating table.

Fasel went on the plain food wagon and remained there until one night last week, when the old appetite for something heavy and solid made him break his pledge. It was at a ball of the White Association of Brooklyn. There Fasel saw another ‘human ostrich’ making a quick lunch of some dog-chains. The ex-ostrich felt a craving right away, and issued a challenge. His friends cheered vociferously, and the ex-ostrich mounted the platform.

The ravenous way in which he quickly disposed of all the knives on the table and the broken up water decanter made his rival stare.”

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Urban Studies: How Do You Get On And Off A Train That Never Stops?

April 21, 2010 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Chinese transportation techies have developed a train that picks up and drops off passengers without ever stopping, by having travelers enter and exit a connector car that attaches and detaches from the train’s roof. It’s really ingenious and not so scary once you view the video demonstration. Because the train doesn’t ever stop, it saves time and fuel. The only thing I don’t get is how passengers can choose what stop they’d like if they’re in a car that automatically detaches. I’ll do some more research.

Excerpted: “The Park That Caught Urban Blight,” Life (1971)

April 21, 2010 in Books, Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

Filthy hippies touched some of these rocks. (Image by Meros Felsenmaus.)

Novelist Edward Abbey (The Monkey Wrench Gang) was a radical eco activist and onetime park ranger. He wasn’t exactly known for subtlety when it came to protecting nature, deriding both mainstream culture and counterculture; he possessed the rare ability to anger both conservatives and left-leaning environmentalists. Abbey was not in a sanguine mood about behavior in Yosemite National Park when he wrote this philippic for the September 3, 1971 issue of Life. An excerpt from “The Park That Caught Urban Blight“:

“For 14 years, I was a seasonal park ranger. But I quit because I found myself forced more and more into the role of a petty policeman. This year, I went to Yosemite Valley, the most troublesome of all Park Service areas, to see the park rangers in their new role as Park Fuzz, to see Smokey the Bear as Smokey the Pig.

In the foothills of the Sierras, up through the old mining towns of Coulterville and Chinese Camp, the flowers were blooming–silvery supine, California poppy, paintbrush and penstemon–and the traffic was light. When I saw a sign ‘Water Ahead,’ I anticipated a drink of pure Sierra Nevada spring water, fresh from the rocks. I found the spring, but another sign beside it read ‘Water Contaminated; Unfit to Drink.’

Later, several miles beyond the park entrance I stopped at a turnout of the classic view of Yosemite Valley below. There was El Capitan, Half Dome, Sentinel Dome, Bridalveil Fall, and a blue haze above the valley floor. Wood smoke? Exhaust fumes? In nearby Cascade Creek I found my first Budweiser can in the clear snow water.

Down in the valley teen-age gypsies with sleeping bags, backpacks and ragged heads slouched along the road, thumbs out. Damn lazy city kids, I thought–let them walk. Good for them, and I spurred my widespread Pontiac right on by. Hitchhiking is illegal in national parks. Hitchhikers are poor, dirty, immoral. I was one; I should know. They steal your credit card, they leave a weird smell lingering in the back seat, they contribute nothing to the national economy.”

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Old Print Article: “How The Throat Of A Hunchback Paramour Was Cut,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1877)

April 21, 2010 in Misc., Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

There are no public domain images of Jacob Massoth, of course.

In the November 26, 1877 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, I came across this relentlessly insulting (byline-less) account of an incredibly chaotic and lurid murder. Seriously, it’s one of the crazier things you’ll ever read. An excerpt:

“A bloody tragedy occurred, yesterday, in the basement of the house, No. 517, East Thirteenth street, New York. The victim was Jacob Massoth, a knife and scissors grinder, aged sixty-five years, and his slayer was George Dell, a whitewasher, aged seventeen. Massoth has been a familiar character on the East Side for many years. He was a queer-looking little man with a hunchback, a squat figure, a face like a wrinkled parchment, and stiff gray hair. There was always a mischievous twinkle in his snapping, bead like eyes, and when he lugged his wheel and tools along the streets, the little children scattered in all directions, and as they ran they shouted, ‘Here comes the goblin!’

For a considerable amount of time, the hunchback had maintained illicit relations with Mrs. Katrina Dell, the mother of the youth who killed him, who lived in the apartment where the deed was done. She is forty-four years of age and has been widowed for four years. It is said that the criminal relations with Massoth were contracted before the death of the late husband. Mrs. Dell is by no means an attractive woman. She is short and stout with an exceedingly dark complexion and coarse features.

The knife grinder paid her increasing attention and generally lived in the same house with her or in the neighborhood. Wherever the woman and her family moved, the hunchback followed. When they took up their quarters in Thirteenth street he occupied a room on the same floor. Three weeks ago he began to live in the same apartment with his mistress. George Dell, the eldest son, objected to this arrangement, and he urged his mother to marry Massoth. The mother said they had not money enough to pay for a wedding. Meanwhile the neighbors began to talk and the son became restive under the taunts of his companions regarding the infamy of his mother. He was constantly embroiled with Massoth and they had frequent quarrels.

Yesterday afternoon the youth George stood before a looking glass in the back of the basement shaving himself, when his younger brother, Adolph, jostled against him. George reprimanded the lad and turned him out of the room. Massoth interfered and took the boy’s part, probably using the incident as a means of provoking a quarrel. George told him ‘if he did not look out whose house he was in he would get chucked out.’ The hunchback became furious in a moment. He seized a dinner plate from the table and hurled it at the head of the offender. As the missile struck the wall near George and was dashed to pieces, he turned about angrily, but when Massoth entered the bedroom as if to retreat he only laughed contemptuously and returned to his shaving.

In a moment Massoth darted from the bedroom with a hatchet in one hand and a heavy whetstone in the other. The hunchback was frantic with rage and springing on the young man dealt him a tremendous blow on the head with the stone just as Mrs. Dell and her daughter Annie rushed in to make a vain endeavor to separate the two. Massoth pushed the women aside and struck several more heavy blows with the whetstone, cutting his scalp and causing blood to pour over his face.

Then he raised the hatchet to cleave George’s skull. Young Dell endeavored to defend himself from the assault and prevent the infuriated knife grinder from using the hatchet. Maddened by the restraint put on him, Massoth struck George again with the whetstone. The blow fell upon the arm which held the razor. The blade was turned back and as George endeavored to defend himself, the sharp edge came into contact with the jugular vein of the hunchback. The murderous Massoth fell upon the floor. Blood gushed in torrents from the wound, and in a few seconds the wretch lay lifeless upon the crimson stained floor.”

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Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

April 17, 2010 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

A fine example of the Persian Cat breed. To see Antoinette Letterman's painting of a Persian, click on her name in the post. (Image by Chosovi.)

Large Signed Letterman Oil on Canvas Persian Cat – $2000 (Edison, NJ)

This is a wonderful large oil on canvas of a Persian cat by Letterman.

About the Artist Antoinette Letterman:

Born in New York City, Antoinette has traveled extensively, from Canada to Mexico, and throughout the United States, to the Caribbean, and to Jamaica, where she spent time with some of the tigers, panthers and leopards she has painted.

Antoinette has always had a love of the earth and animals of all kinds. When only six years old, she followed a horse and a carnival out of town and had to ask someone to help her get back home! Since that grand adventure, Antoinette has made many, many trips to zoos, wildlife centers and national parks, always using mental photography when there was no camera available. She is self-taught and draws on that memory of pictures from which to paint, as well as still visiting zoos and wildlife refuges, such as Fossil Rim, a wildlife center about two hours from her residence, in order to obtain accurate reference material for her work. Antoinette has relocated from Pennsylvania to the Sunny Southwest, and now resides in Texas where she and her granddaughter, Michelle, who lives with her, write and illustrate books and paint animals to their heart’s content. Michelle shares Antoinette’s love of animals, and especially loves wolves and dogs. For the last three years they have resided in a waterfront home in Denton, Texas.

Antoinette’s work has been purchased locally, nationally and internationally.

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Old Print Article: “A ‘Kidnapped’ Monkey,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1899)

April 17, 2010 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

"Some bad man has kidnapped him."

As an Italian-American, I can confirm that there is simply nothing more humorous than an 1890’s Italian organ grinder who treats his monkey like a member of the family. And it’s not just a matter of opinion–science has proven this to be true. I came across this star-crossed tale of Giovanni and his disappeared simian in the October 11, 1899 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. An excerpt:

“Somewhere in the city to-day is a kidnapped monkey and a stolen hand organ, says the Philadelphia Bulletin. Giovanni Luirgi will not allow the word ‘stolen’ to be applied to the monk. In telling of his loss to the police at the Germantown station house the Italian said: ‘He was my child, my brother, my only friend. He was more than a monkey. I could understand his speech. Some bad man has kidnapped him.’ Giovanni lives in East Chelten avenue, in a neighborhood known as Sicily. He locked up his monkey and organ in a shed at night, and in the morning they had disappeared, together with his dream of showers of dimes. The Italian does not know whom to suspect, but he feels sure that the monkey did not run away with the organ on his own account.”

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Miscellaneous Media: Official Guide Of The 1964 World’s Fair

April 15, 2010 in Books, Excerpts, Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

The guide cost an even dollar in 1964.

When I briefly got my tough but tender hands on a copy of the Official Guidebook of the 1939 World’s Fair, I managed to also have a peek at the 1964 Guide. Like the 1939 World’s Fair, the later version took place in Flushing Queens, the neighborhood where both I and the 12-story-high Unisphere were born.

The 1964 World’s Fair had “Peace Through Understanding” as its theme and featured many exhibits that revolved around technology and space travel, unsurprising during the space-race decade. But it also presented Michelangelo’s Pieta, was responsible for popularizing the Belgian waffle in America and unveiled Disney’s animatronic “It’s A Small World” ride.

In addition to info about the prehistoric creatures on display in “Sinclair Dinoland” and the rockets in “Space Park,” the guide has an entry about a curious Cold War-esque subterranean structure prototype called “Underground World Home,” one of which still exists today. An excerpt:

“Something really different in housing is displayed here: a three-bedroom house, completely below ground level. It is presented as the forerunner of dwellings that the builder says have marked advantages for today’s living. Guides explain during the 20-minute tour why underground homes can provide more control over air, climate and noise than conventional houses–as well as protection from such hazards as fire and radiation fallout. The house occupies most of the area inside a rectangular concrete shell, the top of which is two and a half feet underground; a wide staircase brings visitors down to the front door. Windows of the house face scenic murals placed on walls of the shell.”

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Urban Studies: The Hockey Jerseys Of Liberia

April 15, 2010 in Sports, Urban Studies | Permalink

All of Liberia cried when the Rangers missed the playoffs after losing a shootout on the final day of the season.

Those delightful dismal scientists over at the always intriguing Marginal Revolution pointed me in the direction of an intriguing article entitled “Hockey Night in Liberia: NHL Jerseys Everywhere in War-Torn Nation.” It’s an article by Bonnie Allen in the National Post about the puzzling preponderance of ice hockey uniform shirts in the impoverished African nation.

The brightly colored hockey jerseys make their way to Africa via used-clothing donations from North America. They never reach Liberian citizens free as intended, but they are still a hot item. The tough material allows for long use and is a better long-tern buy for Liberians than cheaper T-shirts which can quickly become tattered. An excerpt:

“In the remote city of Ganta, located about 240 kilometres north of Liberia’s coastline, near the Guinea border, there is a daily parade of Canada’s favorite pastime as peddlers rove the potholed streets.

A ‘Chelios’ sells plastic flip-flops out of a rusty wheelbarrow while wearing his red Blackhawks jersey. A ‘Gretzky’ hawks Chinese knock-off cellphones under the sweltering sun.

Seven years out of war, many former combatants hustle money by giving taxi rides on beat-up motorcycles with broken mufflers. On their chests: a Penguin, Maple Leaf, Red Wing or Lightning Bolt.”

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Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

April 14, 2010 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

"Trust me, if I like the woman, I can get the number."

Do You Have a Knack for Connecting with Strangers? (Manhattan/Brooklyn)

Thirty-something white guy, decent looking, cleans up nicely, can string a sentence together without using the words “duh,” “dude” or “hooters” excessively, looking for a cool woman to hang out with some evenings and weekend days, who can be my “wingwoman” — i.e., “break the ice” with other women and facilitate an introduction.

If you make friends easily and are always striking up conversations with strangers, then this would be a great part-time gig for you!

You must be outgoing and charming, but you will NOT have to do all the talking or all the work.

If you’re interested, please tell me about yourself (more rather than less, please!) and include a photo.

Compensation: $10 per phone number I get. (Once you make the introduction, trust me, if I like the woman, I can get the number.) I figure that, depending on the venue, in an hour you can make $40 or more – no limit!!!

NOTE: I’m not looking for you to be my girlfriend OR my sexual partner. This is strictly on the “up and up.” And we’ll only meet in public places. Thanks!

Miscellaneous Media: Official Guidebook Of The 1939 World’s Fair

April 14, 2010 in Books, Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

The Guidebook cost just a quarter back then.

I linked to some fun home movies of the 1939 New York World’s Fair a while back, and now I got my coarse yet practiced hands on a copy of that event’s official guidebook.

The book (which is the shape and thickness of an old-school TV Guide) is pretty straightforward, touting the highlights that drew 4.4 million visitors, with info on exhibits about technology, medicine, science and government in addition to amusements.

One oddity from the “Amusement Area” that jumped off the page is called “Little Miracle Town.” An excerpt:

“Morris Gest’s Little Miracle Town, occupying 36,000 square feet was brought over from Europe by a specially chartered ship. A miniature community, complete in every detail even to the diminutive organ in the church, its one hundred and twenty-five midget inhabitants have their own tiny restaurant, their city hall, their own theatre, art gallery and railroad station.

Other features include a midget circus, motion picture studio, garage, radio station, ballroom, guard barracks, Punch and Judy show and toy and doll factory. Never in the history of any exposition has there been a Midget Village as spectacular as this one. Morris Gest, famous producer of Chauve Souris and other successful shows, toured all Europe to secure the greatest ‘little people’ for Little Miracle Town.”

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Miscellaneous Media: Buffalo Braves 1972-73 Yearbook

April 12, 2010 in Misc., Sports, Urban Studies | Permalink

Buffalo Braves center Elmore Smith skies above Wilt Chamberlain.

When I wrapped my greasy, grimy, greedy paws around a 1976-77 New York Nets yearbook not too long ago, I also managed to get a grip on a 1972-73 yearbook for the then-NBA franchise Buffalo Braves. One dollar could buy you a copy in those days. The most famous basketball icons associated with the team (which went 21-61 in the ’72-’73 season) were future Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo and Coach Jack Ramsey, he of the adventurous taste in slacks.

The 1970-71 season was the Braves inaugural campaign in the NBA (that was the year the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trailblazers also entered the league.) The team showed off their colors (black, white, orange and Colombia blue) at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, which closed in 1996. They made three playoff appearances (1974-’75-’76) and Bob McAdoo won an MVP Award (1975) while playing for Buffalo. The Braves spent eight seasons in the now-struggling city before moving to the warmer climes of San Diego, where they were rechristened the Clippers. (They moved again to Los Angeles for the 1985-86 season).

The most interesting part of the yearbook is the player page notes about the team captain. During the offseason, Walt Hazard had converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul Rahman. The notes announce his conversion in a straightforward, respectful manner. An excerpt:

“Known throughout most of his NBA career as Walt Hazzard, he has in the past year taken the Islamic name Abdul Rahman (pronounced ‘Rock-maan’), which means merciful. Abdul and his wife, Jalees, reside in Williamsville in the off-season with their two sons, Yakub, 7, and Abdul Jalal, 2.”

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Featured Video: “Coney Island” (1940)

April 11, 2010 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

A 1913 postcard shows the grandeur of Luna Park.

Coney Island was nearing the end of its greatness as an amusement mecca in 1940 when this fun short film was made. Fires would soon destroy Luna Park and nothing would ever be the same again. But Coney’s decline would have occurred anyway. It became such a big deal because its blend of entertainment, science and social experiment was ahead of its time, as it began to grow into its amazing self in the years after the Civil War through the early twentieth-century.

Coney continued as the largest amusement-park area in America until the end of WWII. Then the rise of automobiles, air conditioning and the aggressive development of entertainments in Manhattan and other parts of the country diminished its efficacy. Large parts of the area are being redeveloped now, but it will just be a fun amusement park (not a bad thing) rather than its former visionary self.

For a tremendous look at its grand past, get your hands on Ric Burn’s wonderful documentary, Coney Island. For a quick look at the resort in the final stages of its glory days, watch this nine-minute video.

Other recent Videos:

  • Balloon failure at Chicago’s World Fair. (1933)
  • The hippie craft of “marbling.” (1970s)
  • Fifteen-year-old guru tries to levitate the Astrodome. (1974)
  • Edward Kienholz’s controversial L.A. art show. (1969)
  • Timothy Leary interviewed at Folsom Prison. (1970s)

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Urban Studies: Asinine Airports And Ridiculous Runways

April 9, 2010 in Photography, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

The runway at the Saba, Netherlands Antilles' Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is just 1,300 feet long, surrounded by lots of water.

Why did the people of Thailand build an 18-hole golf course in between the two runways at the Don Mueang International Airport? Why do a thousand flights a year use a beach on the Scottish isle of Barra as an airport when the tide recedes? Why is the Qamdo Banga Airport in Tibet built 14,000 feet above sea level and have an airstrip the length of 61 football fields? In its photo-friendly feature, “The World’s 18 Strangest Airports,” the propeller-heads at Popular Mechanics answer these and other questions. An excerpt from the passage about the teeny Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in Saba, Netherlands Antilles:

“Background:
Getting to this paradise-like island can be a bit distressing thanks to a 1300-foot-long runway, slightly longer than most aircraft carrier runways.

Why It’s Unique:
Large planes aren’t landing here, but the small runway is difficult even for Cessnas and similar aircraft. ‘The little X means don’t land there,’ says Wayne Schreckengast, a former Navy pilot who is no stranger to landing on less than lengthy runways. ‘It’s challenging, but if you don’t have something like that, the people here don’t get things they routinely need, like mail.’ Given the limited amount of land and rolling topography of the island, not many other options exist.”

Old Print Article: “Succi Breaks His Fast,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1890)

April 8, 2010 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

Franz Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” has always been one of my favorite short stories, but I never really looked into the history of professional fasters. These were entertainers, not political protestors, who went on long hunger strikes to amaze ticket buyers at dime museums with the art of self-abnegation. The popularity of the “sport” pretty much ended in the early twentieth century. Giovanni Succi, who was often referred to as “the little Italian” in newsprint, was one of the most celebrated practitioners.

In “Succi’s Long Fast,” a New York Times article dated November 6, 1890, the 38-year-old Succi announced his intention to starve himself for a personal record of 45 days at Koster & Bial’s music hall/beer garden in Manhattan. Succi would be on display 24 hours a day as his body wasted; student volunteers from Bellevue Medical College would be on hand to minister to his needs.

A Brooklyn Daily Eagle article from the following month picks up the story more than 40 lost pounds later. An excerpt from “Succi Breaks His Fast”:

“It was a remarkable scene, that of the last act in the long fast of Succi, which was successfully concluded at 8:10 o’clock last night. The 45 days were up at 8:10 o’clock but a photographer wanted to get a picture of Succi about to take his first meal and there was a delay of eight minutes, during which time Succi stood with a cup of cocoa in his hand and patiently submitted to the artist’s arrangements. The delay almost resulted fatally, for Succi had wanted his first meal. He was voracious. But after the aroma of the draught had floated in his face for several minutes he seemed to sicken and to suffer from nausea. He was twelve minutes drinking the single cup of cocoa, and he took it as though it was a dose of bitter medicine.”

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Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

April 7, 2010 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

Himme up!

Tasty SOUR candy (Uptown)

The greatest sour candy in the world.420 different types.. himme up.. name /number thats it.. no iffy suspect ppl.. hundred buks or better//Pick up your phone /dont waste my time or yours.

“They All Fling Themselves Down Onto A Huddle On The Floor, Making A Confused Tangle Of Bodies”

April 7, 2010 in Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

This story in the July 14, 1952 issue of Life magazine was very weird and quite racy for its time. The magazine got so many letters of complaint about it that the editors offered an apology in a subsequent issue. Entitled “Life Goes to a Fumble Party,” the story concerns a lascivious party game called “Fumble,” in which people removed and exchanged clothes, got into a pile on the carpet in the dark and the person who was “It” would grope them until correctly identifying someone. Then that person would become “It” and the feel-copping and cross-dressing would again commence. So much for the buttoned-down 1950s. Not even Eisenhower could apparently stop it.

It seemed the game was pretty much confined to upper-middle-class white people. Photographer Carl Iwasaki used special camera equipment to capture the lewd action in the dark. An excerpt from this insane story:

“In Denver, Colorado, where residents go in for vigorous outdoor entertainment like mountain climbing, people are now taking up a lively indoor entertainment called ‘fumble.’ Like blindman’s bluff, fumble is a game of identification. A person is chosen ‘it’ by drawing the high card from a deck. ‘It’ goes to another room while the other players add and subtract clothes, put on masks or disguise themselves in other ways.

When everyone is disguised, they all fling themselves down onto a huddle on the floor, making a confused tangle of bodies, arms and legs. Then the lights are turned off. ‘It’ reenters the room and, by fumbling among the tangled bodies, tries to identify the a person. If someone is identified, then he or she becomes ‘it.’ But if the fumbler makes an error, he must pay a penalty decided on by the group.

Two of Denver’s greatest fumble enthusiasts are Jack Campbell, owner of a piano company, and his wife Betty. To a recent party they invited Life photographer Carl Iwasaki. The guests, all seasoned fumblers, included a surgeon, a state senator, the granddaughter of a former U.S. senator and the daughter of an oil company president. After the lights went out and the fumbling began, Iwasaki photographed with infra-red film and infra-red flashbulbs, which make it possible to take pictures in the dark. The guests had such a good time they all agreed to play the following week. ‘Nothing melts the social ice like a game or two of fumble,’ said Mrs. Campbell.”

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The Sporting Life: Nicholas Davidoff’s The Catcher Was A Spy

April 5, 2010 in Books, Excerpts, Sports, Urban Studies | Permalink

Moe Berg: Rocking the unibrow.

Morris “Moe” Berg wasn’t a particularly distinguished major league catcher, but he was one thing that Yogi Berra, Elston Howard and Josh Gibson never were–a spy for the U.S. government. A graduate of Princeton and Columbia Law School who spoke numerous languages and had a profound intellectual curiosity, Berg was a spy for the Offices of Strategic Services during WWII. He was also the player that the king of the oddballs Casey Stengel once labeled as “the strangest man in baseball.”

Nicholas Davidoff wrote a really good book about the brainy athlete’s shadowy work called The Catcher Was A Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg in 1994. Davidoff notes on the back cover of the book that Berg is the only former major leaguer to have his baseball card on display at CIA headquarters. An excerpt from the chapter entitled “You Never Knew He Was Around”:

“Moe Berg had always been a loner, and as he receded to the fringes of professional baseball, his eccentricities became more pronounced. Nobody had really ever known much about him. Now he became obviously unusual, and it began to occur to some people to wonder….

An eager conversationalist, even garrulous at times, Berg could be very funny. Yet for the flow of talk, he kept himself to himself. He was as gray as the front page, and he behaved like a newspaper, too; all the latest facts, but no reflections. ‘We knew a lot about [ballplayers’] private lives,’ says Shirley Povich, ‘but he was mysterious. You never saw him hanging around the hotel lobby like other ballplayers. They just accepted Moe for what he was–a man apart.’ The game ended and Berg showered, dressed and disappeared. ”

Other Recent Sports Posts:

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Featured Video: “Stratosphere Balloon Falls” (1933)

April 5, 2010 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Although the pictured balloon looks dubious, this image is from Settle's successful follow-up voyage in November.

It was in 1933 at the “Century of Progress International Exposition” in Chicago that Naval Commander and aviation expert Thomas T. W. “Tex” Settle (briefly) met one of his great waterloos. It was that summer on August 5 in Soldier Field when the Stratosphere Ascension balloon, flown solo by Settle, was to be one of the highest-altitude balloon flights ever.

Anticipation of the launch was international news. The solo flight was greeted by a cheering throng of 40,000. One of the Swiss designers who worked on the balloon, Jean Piccard, gave autographs to worshipful fans. The pre-flight ceremonies were reported to have lasted more than seven hours. And because of an open gas valve, the balloon stopped its ascent and began to plummet a mere ten minutes into the flight. It crashed in a nearby railroad yards. Luckily, only Tex’s pride was injured.

He successfully completed the flight (with the aid of an additional crewman) in November of that year in Akron, Ohio; there was only a small fraction of the original audience to see the balloon off, but the flight did garner some national attention.

Watch the one-minute-and-forty-second raw film footage of his less-successful flight.

Other recent videos:

  • The hippie craft of “marbling.” (1970s)
  • Fifteen-year-old guru tries to levitate the Astrodome. (1974)
  • Edward Kienholz’s controversial L.A. art show. (1969)
  • Timothy Leary interviewed at Folsom Prison. (1970s)

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Old Print Article: “Girl Lured To Opium Den Now A Raving Maniac,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1900)

April 5, 2010 in Misc., Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

This photo of an 1880s opium den was taken in San Francisco, not New York. So the Zip girl is not in the picture. (Image by Louis Philippe Lessard.)

I worry about young Miss Ottilie Zip, a Brooklynite who went insane after twice visiting a Manhattan opium den with a shadowy lawyer. I’d be worried more if this story about her hadn’t been published in the November 5, 1900 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. I think everyone involved is probably long gone to the big opium den in the sky. An excerpt: “Miss Ottilie Zip, 19 years old, of 245 Forty-sixth street, was taken by her mother, Mrs. Emma Zip, on Saturday to the Kings County Hospital, where she is now confined in the insane ward. Her mental condition will be examined to-day in order to decide whether she should be sent to an insane asylum. The girl talks almost constantly about a lawyer, but never mentions any name. It is reported that this man enticed her into an opium den. Miss Zip went twice last week to the Fourth avenue police station and asked the police to protect her. It is said she called on one occasion, between 1 and 2 o’clock in the morning and raved about a lawyer and the Supreme Court. The sergeant at the desk was finally obliged to send an officer home with her. Mrs. Zip, the girl’s mother, made the following statement: ‘My daughter Ottilie has been acting very strangely for the past week. She is constantly raving over a lawyer whom she  met at Franklin and Centre streets, Manhattan. She does not mention his name. My daughter was formerly employed at the Parker House and went over to New York from Brooklyn to visit her aunt. She was in the habit of staying with her aunt when she was out of employment. She stopped in a drug store to telephone me and I have been informed that she tendered the clerk a dollar bill and he refused to give her change. Then she went to Centre street court to make a complaint against him. While in the court, she met a young lawyer, who took her to a Chinese opium den. She told her aunt about the matter and then became insane. The statement that I took her to dance halls in untrue.'”

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Urban Studies: “California Extreme”–The Greatest Cultural Event Of This Or Any Other Generation

April 1, 2010 in Urban Studies | Permalink

Donkey Kong: Them fireballs sure is hot! (Image by Joshua Driggs.)

The excellent kottke.org pointed me in the direction of California Extreme, an annual convention of old-school gamers descending upon hundreds of classic coin-operated arcade games. The event, occurring in Santa Clara on July 17-18, will feature all of the well-known favorites–Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, etc.–but a lot of smaller and rarer machines will also be available. Anyone recall Berzerk or Zoo Keeper or Gorf? An excerpt from the promotional copy:

“Arcades were once a fixture on the American urban landscape, and games were plentiful in rural cities too. The closest heir of today is the so-called ‘Family Entertainment Center,’ which is populated with a myriad of devices designed only to take your coins quickly and leave you with a pile of tickets, which you exchange for cheap, trashy toys. This is entertainment? California Extreme was born with a desire to share fun coin op games that are in the hands of private collectors, and to hopefully spread the word that pinball machines were once plentiful, and that videogames were not synonymous with martial arts and violence.”

Recently Posted On New York City’s Craigslist

March 31, 2010 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

Craig Newmark: Can your clay ginger beer bottles withstand my mighty hammer? (Photo by Dave Sifry.)

Antique bottles and jars!!(1800s)Very raree! (Stanten Island)

I Dug up alot of antique bottles underground on a job in the city. I have 10 ginger beer bottles for sale they are from the 1800s some have the date on them and some dont. They are the bottle that beer first originated in . They are made of clay. The condition of them are dirty because they were found underground but no chips. I can email more pictures if intrested. These bottles are great antiques to have. I am selling them for 30$ each or 10 for 160$ I also have antique jars , medicine bottles, ginger ale bottles, gin bottles and other stuff. IF INTRESTED I WILL SEND PICTURESS.. These are great collectors items and a great part of history.

Old Print Article: “Woman of Muscle,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1887)

March 30, 2010 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

Not Barbara Suydam but perhaps a descendant.

The October 22, 1887 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the dastardly exploits of a muscular woman and her two-fisted henpecking. The story in full:

“Barbara Suydam, of Babylon, being more muscular than her husband, frequently pummeled him and finally turned him out of doors. She removed to Bay Shore and took all of their household goods with her. Mr. Suydam summoned up courage enough to sue out a writ of replevin with his wife five miles away, and is now the possessor of the furniture.”

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    Urban Studies: “Wife Says She Had 200 Different Sex Partners,” Jet (1966)

    March 30, 2010 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

    San Mateo native Tom Brady wasn't even born at the time of the orgies, so don't blame him. (Photo by Keith Allison.)

    San Mateo, California, apparently got a head start on the Summer of Love, as it apparently was a hotbed for wild sexual behavior in 1966. Here’s an excerpt about that lasciviousness from a September 1, 1966 report in Jet magazine:

    “In San Mateo, California, Dr. Harold D. Chope, county health and welfare director, revealed that wife-swapping orgies are causing a sharp increase in the venereal disease rate and one of the married women patients said she had as many as 200 different sex partners over a six-month period. At the same time there has been a sharp drop in the county’s birth rate. Dr Chope said the drop in birth rate was a ‘healthy thing,’ but termed the wife-swapping craze ‘a great worry.’ He said ‘young married couples gather together in large groups, peal off their clothes and start to drink. Before the weekend is over they’ve had relations with practically everyone at the session who is attractive to them.”

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    Recently Posted On New York City’s Craigslist

    March 29, 2010 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

    When picking up the stripper clothes, please do not wear any "hooker-like items." (Image by Momoko.)

    Free Strpper/Dancer like clothing (and shoes)

    “I broke up with my girl 2 months ago and have tons of stripper/dancer/lingerie clothing shoes etc etc.

    micro mini skirts, 6″ heels, garter belts, garter skirts, shelf bras, crotchless bodysuits, micro booty shorts, chaps etc etc.

    Stockings, panthose, garterbelt pantyhose, crotchless pantyhose, anklets. bude, beige and neon colors in all.

    Stillettos, Clear shoes, Pumps, Straps, Thigh high boots, anywhere from 4″ to 6″ heels.

    She wore a size 8 to 9 shoe size was a size 6 had 36DD breast and 5’8″

    This should be for a dancer or a girl who wants to make her guy feel REAL lucky or a professional who dresses for her clients

    My EX was NOT a dancer or a stripper I purchased EVERYTHING for my enjoyment so nothing was worn outside and there are 100’s of pieces that were worn only once or twice

    Please be able to take EVERYTHING It is ALOT maybe 3-4 large suitcases or 5-8 large garbage bags.

    I will drive you in my car to help you drop it off but you must take EVERYTHING in 1 day. I have a Porsche so it will take 2 trips

    NO I do not want sex, or ANYTHING else for the stuff

    IF you WANT we could do a photo shoot (That’s what I did with her) and I could make a nice calendar for your BF or GF for you. but YOU WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE INK AND PAPER about 25.00 if you want it REALLY gift collectable quality. Or we can download it and they can use each month as a screensaver

    Also I live in Manhattan in a pretty prominent building so please dress tactfully when you come to pick up the stuff. Jeans and sneakers are fine just no hooker looking items.”

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