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Night Shift: 1941
January 1941. "Textile mill working all night in New Bedford, Massachusetts." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/28/2017 - 8:45pm -

January 1941. "Textile mill working all night in New Bedford, Massachusetts." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. OMGAs much as I like to think I have a great eye when photographing, this one proves I don't. Freaking awesome. Bright for a short timeA year later and this factory could never be lit like this with the U-boat threat on the east coast. Already by this time, the subs were using the bright lights along the Florida coast to silhouette the passing tankers. Diners and dancers would see the explosions. It took quite a while for the US to realize the problem of city lights. Hollywood nightmareLike a film by Ridley Scott or a story by Ray Bradbury. Light pollutionAnd they say it's bad in the 21st Century! (The Gallery, Factories, Jack Delano)
A Little Night Music
... there for very little money ($1 a disc at my store.) Night Hawk This photo has an Edward Hopper quality about it. (Linda ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 01/24/2013 - 7:02pm -

tterrace here to report that in this, another unlabeled Kodachrome from the "Linda" series, our music-loving friend is about to enjoy (and unfortunately is touching the playing surface of) an LP of one of the top items in the classical hit parade, Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor. This performance, with Walter Gieseking, piano, and Herbert von Karajan conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, was originally recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, by EMI on June 6 and 11, 1951. It was licensed to USA's Columbia Records, which released this album in late December 1951 as ML 4431, selling for $5.45. His player appears to be a 1950 Steelman "Quartet" Model 515 portable, one of their "better buys," priced at $29.95. Definitely not hi-fi, but perhaps this is an example of the stopgap that many of the time employed, their older behemoth radio/phono consoles unable to accommodate the relatively new long-playing record, introduced by Columbia in 1948. I'd like to think this was a Christmas present. View full size. Player and recordSteelman "Quartet" and Columbia ML 4431 VTF in ounces, not gramsConsidering the weight of the tone arm on that Steelman touching the records surface was the least of his worries. Columbia Record "Club"Remember the Columbia Record Club? They'd send a new recording (I belonged to the Classical Music option) once a month or so. I would send the record back and they would send me a bill, or I would accept the record and they wouldn't send me a bill. Finally quit sending the recordings back and they dropped me from their mailing list. Those were the days. Christmas season?Small tree in the window. In the 1960s my dad picked up a portable Motorola stereo phonograph player that had detachable speakers. You uncoupled them from the sides of the cabinet and could pull them out as far as the cable would allow, but that was easily 6-8 feet on each side. Dad modified the amplifier so that he could plug a microphone into a jack he added on the side and use it as a PA system. He and mom then took the stereo to a few PTA parties and kids' dances and school functions. Flip the switch-- PA announcements. Flip the switch back-- play the dance music. My dad was a great improviser and quite handy with tools. Too bad I didn't inherit much of that. Dramatic or romantic?Probably one of the most well known dramatic piano intro flourishes ever! The rest is pure romantic loveliness. (Though still nothing close to Ase's Tod or Peer Gynt.) The crop on this image is tantalizingly close. One more mm of image and we would see whether he wears a ring. The photo frame on the turntable is also just enough out of focus. Off to listen now. I love the art on the album cover. Well, this was a coincidenceI clicked on Shorpy.com this evening while I was listening to this week's New York Philharmonic radio broadcast. What was playing at that moment? Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor, with soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet! Putting sound to the recordTo add to Deborah's comment, here's the opening flourish of Grieg's Concerto in A Minor, played on a Steinway Duo-Art piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqqKQILSr44 Reproducing pianos such as this were different from your normal player piano. The paper roll included markings for sustain, dynamics, etc. These pianos typically went for $2,000 on up in the 1920s ... so needless to say, not many had them. Great picture. I have a LP collection of jazz from the 1950s and early 1960s. Reading the covers gives you an attachment to the music, something that sadly is lost today. RE: Columbia Record "Club"I think you may have reversed part of your comment: If you "kept" the record, they sent you a bill. Of course, in my case, it didn't matter if I sent it back or not; they ALWAYS sent me a bill for it. What It Is DependsIn those days the kids called it the record player. Mom and Dad called it the Victrola. When sober Uncle Ernie called it the phonograph. Not cheap$5.45 for a record back in 1951 sounds pretty expensive. Were classical records more costly as a rule? DramaticI love this picture. Dark, but not foreboding, it suggests comfort, if not luxury. The shadows invite speculation, as many Shorpy photos do, and the lamplight invites one into a warm, cozy room to enjoy an evening symphonic performance. Nice! Expensive!As per the Consumer Price Index, that $5.45 record album would cost over $48 in today's money. The phonograph works out to a whopping $265. [Originally the Masterworks price was $4.85 or $5.45 depending on length, later standardized to $4.98. In January 1956 Columbia reduced it to $3.98. - tterrace] StopgapWe had a "stopgap" like that, only later. When I was young my parents had a Montgomery Ward radio-phono in a wooden cabinet. The radio would do AM, FM (which was almost nonexistent then) and shortwave. The phono would only do 78s. In about 1961, my father bought a used Zenith record player with the old Cobra tonearm (which looked like a snake.) It would play LPs and 45s, but only mono. A couple of years later they bought a Zenith stereo in a cabinet. By then, of course stereo LPs had been out for several years. I remember it had a flip feature on the tonearm--you turned a disc one way to play LPs/45s and rotated it to get a 78 stylus. The turntable would do all three speeds. If you set it for 78s, however, because the whole thing ran on a cam, the changer worked so fast that it would likely have smashed itself to bits if you did it very many times. I have bought more used vinyl than CDs in the past 2-3 years. There is some real treasure out there for very little money ($1 a disc at my store.) Night HawkThis photo has an Edward Hopper quality about it. (Linda Kodachromes)
Yardmaster Tyres: 1943
... four feet above the desk, is of limited help, day or night. To make it worse, lightbulbs in 1943 didn't last all that long. I hope ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/28/2024 - 5:14pm -

March 1943. "Fort Madison, Iowa. Mr. H.D. Tyres, yardmaster on the route of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. A well structured pictureThe center with the huge window, left and right also huge windows and the centered table. Even the small and big boxes look left and right almost identical, like mirrored. It is a very geometric and structured picture. Jack Delano has often had these viewlines in his pictures. I know who he's callingThe nearest interior decorator. Sparse accommodations here. EarwormHow many of you had the tune run through your head when you read "Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe" ? Computer?Who needs a computer when you have telephones, signal lamps, and Mr. H.D. Tyres with his decades of experience? Looks like he even had headsets for hands-free telephone operations! They're in a box marked GEI agree with pennsylvaniaproud about the sparse accommodations. But, it's a functional space, with a large desk in front of you and a table behind that spans the width of the room. Plus, you have large windows on at least three sides. Yardmaster H.D. Tyres doesn't seem to need vertical storage and has paper thumbtacked to the wall in only two places. This is all good. But the one overhead light, hanging four feet above the desk, is of limited help, day or night. To make it worse, lightbulbs in 1943 didn't last all that long. I hope there are plenty of replacement bulbs somewhere in that room. Lots of responsibilityYou know your job is important when you have three phones on your desk. Stereo!When both sets of bells go off at once. No furniture?They moved it all down to Brown's Hotel, where lots of them people have been travellin' for quite a spell. Oh I see what you mean. The YardmasterI keep returning to study this marvelous photograph. It reminds me so much of a Vermeer, especially the composition and the light. Cold in WinterOh, I hope that radiator works well! I'm imagining how cold that office must be in winter, with all of those windows. Mr. Tyres is wearing what looks to be a warm woolen suit. The fact that he has his hat on indoors has me doubting the radiator's effectiveness in March. The venerable binder clipThe most useful and most "borrowed" item of office supply. Unchanged in over 114 years and still going strong. (Technology, The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads, The Office)
Summer Campers: 1955
... I can't ... The mosquitoes and spiders chewed me up last night!" Camp consular: "Fall out for sick call!" [" Consular "?? - ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2024 - 4:04pm -

July 1955. "Boys and counselors at Camp Sunapee, New Hampshire." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Boys' Camp." View full size. BuzzcutsWere those military style haircuts mandatory or were they the style of the day? Eyes RIGHT!I'll give this camp, which closed in the 1970s, the benefit of my doubt. But I have to note the military maneuver, the camp counselor's assertive body language, and the fact that nobody is even close to smiling. It brings back memories of a camp I was sent to about the same time -- not happy memories. Ah-ten-hut! — Eyes Right!Looks like Morning Muster ... Camp consular: "You down there! I said Ah-ten-hut!" Kid: "But I can't ... The mosquitoes and spiders chewed me up last night!" Camp consular: "Fall out for sick call!" ["Consular"?? - Dave] Camp Wanakita: 1957 A Shorpy photo from 2015 connected me in 2020 to Brian Barker, a schoolmate of mine from the 1950s. We both attended Camp Wanakita in August of 1957, in the Haliburton area of Ontario. By email we discovered that we had both taken photos at the same time at the camp. My photo dated August 1957 shows a group of friends, mostly from Windsor and Hamilton. Brian is on the far left holding his camera. Brian's photo shows a group and I am standing on the far left holding my camera. We both shared our photos for the first time thanks to Shorpy. Camp Sunapee indeedI'm sure those counselors made sure the boys didn't make jokes about the camp's name. At least in front of them. Or anyway, didn't make better jokes than the counselors made themselves. PF Flyers runfaster jump higher shoesSecond boy from the right. He's going to be a camp counselor when he grows up. Basketball SneakersAll but a few. Not sure if Converse was around then. One kid is wearing loafers to a summer camp. Yikes. Maybe it's an acquired tasteMy two older brothers and I each took our turn going to church camp. I don't remember any of us saying it was great or terrible. But I do remember none of us went more than that one summer. This photo of these serious, disciplined lads reminds me of the Allan Sherman classic. So 1950s* All white: Check * All male: Check * Regulation military buzzcut: Check * Socks lacking elastic grips: Check * Ultra skinny belts: Check * High top canvas sneakers: partial check (Clearly a few did not get the memo.) Third from the leftThe kid with his shorts rolled up and that huge belt buckle was Mister Personality. I guarantee it. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Camping, Kids, Toni Frissell)
Albuquerque: 1943
... only imagine what that Indian Curios sign looks like at night. It's a beautiful piece of work. Follow the rabbit Didn’t Bugs ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2024 - 9:58pm -

February 1943. "Albuquerque, New Mexico. Central Avenue and Fourth Street." Acetate negative by John Collier for the Office of War Information. View full size. Central Avenue is part of Route 66Or was. Love all that neonI can only imagine what that Indian Curios sign looks like at night. It's a beautiful piece of work. Follow the rabbitDidn’t Bugs Bunny forget to turn left at Albuquerque? Damned Kids!Says the lady in black. The Most Beautiful Girl ... 63 years ago we were following Route 66 heading east on leave and we stopped in Albuquerque for a bite to eat. The waitress we had was one of the most beautiful ladies I have ever seen in person and today she is still in the top 3. She was about my age (21), long curly red hair, green eyes, shapely form from head to toe and the best part was the warm friendly smile she gave to three travelling sailors. I was smitten and if I hadn't been heading home to ask my girl there to marry me I might have stayed in Albuquerque to pursue this vision of Irish beauty, Riona. I ate slowly to prolong my time there so much my two travelling buddies said to eat up or we are going to leave me here. I was torn between this lady and the lady I did know and love in Baltimore. Common sense did finally prevail and I headed back east to my Dorothy to get engaged to one of the other top three beauties in my life. We had a good life together but once in a while I would lean back in my easy chair, smile and pull up the memory of my short time with Riona. +72Below is the same view from July of 2015. Indian CuriosMaisel's Indian Trading Post opened in 1939 on Route 66 and lasted eighty years. The photos below show its heyday and diminished later years. There are still plenty of souvenir shops (Indian curios, yes, and also the Breaking Bad Store); but you should check out the Indian Pueblo Store owned and operated by the nineteen Pueblo tribes. The Lady in BlackAlthough she seems to disapprove of the boys' antics, her companion, Cowgirl Carrie, looks rather amused by them. Two sizes upLittle Missy who is enjoying watching the roughhousing boys so much is going to need a new coat by next winter. She's well fixed for boots, though. NostalgiaAs an Albuquerque resident, I wish the downtown was still as vibrant as it is in this photo. Fortunately, the KIMO Theatre is still there and presenting plays and concerts. Unfortunately, Skip Maisel's Indian Curios closed several years ago. I treasure the jewelry I purchased there over the years. Fine craftsmanship. Thanks for this glimpse into the past. BackgroundMaisel’s Indian Trading Post, which opened its unique John Gaw Meem designed building in 1939, was closed permanently in August, 2019. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and efforts are being made to try to preserve the historic Native American murals on its elaborate Art Deco facade. https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/maisels-indian-trading-post-... (The Gallery, Albuquerque, Cars, Trucks, Buses, John Collier, Kids, Stores & Markets)
Cafe Society: 1943
... that's what I call a bar. I bet it's heaving on a Friday night. C'mon, Burquenos! Someone in my favorite city must recognize ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2024 - 9:57pm -

February 1943. "This image in a jacket marked 'Killed'." From photos taken in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico, by John Collier for the OWI. View full size. Bar looks pretty well stocked.Might be 1943, but no shortage of beer and peanuts. GodlessThe pledge of allegiance, before "under God" was added, hangs on the wall. One Bourbon, One Scotch, One BeerNow that's what I call a bar. I bet it's heaving on a Friday night. C'mon, Burquenos!Someone in my favorite city must recognize this place. It's time for Shorpy sleuths to leap into action. First clue: If the back wall is right, it's "Cafe [something]." My kind of jointNo foo-foo drinks with straws there. No martinis made with apple flavoured vodka either. Sippers vs. SluggersYou can tell how a fellow drinks his beer by observing the foam rings left inside the glass every time he takes a drink. A sipper nurses his beverage, savoring the amber current flowing through his mind. The guy with the glasses facing the camera, center frame, is a sipper. If you zoom in you can plainly see three, maybe four foam lines closely spaced with a third of his glass empty. Perhaps he's short on cash and wanting to prolong his evening at the bar before returning home to the missus. A sipper sacrifices the crisp pop of a whole glass of cold beer on the belly and brain for the lingering pleasure of standing at the bar in the company of friends and neighbors The gentleman looking straight at the camera with his cap pushed back is a slugger. Notice how his glass is also about a third sailboat fuel. One thick foam line tilted ever so slightly to the rim indicates he drained a third of his beer in two big gulps. Ahhh! Now that's refreshing! Ol' Goober employs both tactics -- slug one, then sip one, slug one, sip one ... lather, rinse, repeat. OverheadThe light fixtures are a schoolhouse pendant. An observationDoggone, but that Gooberpea is an entertaining (and accomplished) writer! Re: Sippers vs. SluggersWonderful analysis of the beer glasses. One of my all-time favorite Shorpy comments. Well done, Gooberpea! Best line: "A sipper nurses his beverage, savoring the amber current flowing through his mind." Close second: "A sipper sacrifices the crisp pop of a whole glass of cold beer on the belly and brain for the lingering pleasure of standing at the bar in the company of friends and neighbors." Pure poetry. Santa Fe RR?The guy looking into the camera appears to wear a railroad cap. I wonder if this is near the Santa Fe yard off Central Ave.? (The Gallery, Albuquerque, Eateries & Bars, John Collier)
The Last Yule Log: 1984
... last Christmas was a peaceful and happy one. Twas the night before... What a wonderful and peaceful picture. You can only ... way Santa Claus gets here sooner! And to All a Good Night Now that tterrace is safely tucked in, I want to thank him and Stanton ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 12/11/2016 - 2:15pm -

December 24, 1984. My father's last Christmas Eve, twenty-five years ago this week. View full size. Love it!What a perfect image, and the fact that it was his last makes it even more beautiful. Though my dad isn't really one to sit back and look at the fire, he is a cat person (as was his father, who I never got to meet). Can you identify any of the photos or kickknacks around the fireplace? And what's the kitty's name? InterestingVery interesting how little this place changed from here: https://www.shorpy.com/node/6351 BeautifulThanks for sharing this picture. It must mean a lot to you; it means a lot to me and it's not my father. Merry Christmas! Great oneWhat a touching picture, tterrace. Is that house still there, and if so, does it still look anything (on the outside, anyway) like it did back when you knew it? Great ImageYou're lucky to have a photo of your father like this one - really shows someone in deep reflection! Happy Holidays...I love the newspaper on top of the wood. It allows me to guess it might be Christmas Eve, even though I can't see the tree. So, Happy Holidays isn't so new, despite what people like to say as of late. RockwellianI definitely see this as a Norman Rockwell arrangement. A very nice capture of an everyday event. Thanks tterrace for sharing your archive of images with us. Holiday blessings to you and yours. Purr-fectThat cat is just the best. I can feel his coziness through my screen. Maybe even hear a hint of a purr. Norman RockwellI had no idea you were Norman Rockwell's son. Classic American HolidayReminds me of so much during my youth. The websters dictionary has been replaced by google, and there isn't a television in sight. Lots of loveOh, tterrace, you have done it again--brought a sigh from my heart. This beautiful photo and your explanation are just full of love. I don't even know you, but I know your family had something very special. You were a very fortunate boy growing up, and I envy you. Very specialWhat a great photo, you must treasure it. My own dad had his last Christmas eve last year, as he passed away in September at age 89; it will be a bittersweet holiday for us this year. Such a calm, cozy image.I hope that his last Christmas was a peaceful and happy one. Twas the night before... What a wonderful and peaceful picture. You can only immagine what thoughts were going through his mine as he looked back at the Christmas' past while watching the blazing yule time log. He looked liked he had enjoyed his life and was happy with his contribution. That broughtTears to my eyes. Very nice photo. A man alone in his thoughts. Perhaps thinking of Christmas' past, or just how many more will be in his future. Little do any of us know about when our time will come. He seems content and I'm sure secure in the knowledge that he provided his family with love and a good home. I'm sure he is still missed and remembered fondly. He looks so tired. You, your brother and sister must miss him terribly. We've looked at so many pictures of him, still young and active, that we tend to forget that these photo memories of yours are from so long ago. Thank you for making us a part of your family. Have a wonderful Christmas. Just perfect!Touching and beautiful. Thanks for sharing it! A Rich ManIn more ways then just wealth. Lovely. Brings backmemories of my house! Great photo of your dad and the cat. Thanks for posting. Merry Christmas. Could have been our living roomMy father, who also died in 1984, spent many hours sitting on the floor in front of a fireplace just like this one. We had some of the same knick-knacks, like the elephant - ours was bright 1970's green, painted by my mother as fired pottery in a craft shop. We had the ginger jars, the matching bowls on their stands - even the same chair was in my parent's bedroom in green velvet, and the same dictionary with our set of encyclopedia was in a different corner of the living room. It's amazing how much our lives intersect through the stuff we all choose in our homes as we pass through them. Thank you...Excellent photo. I lost my Father-In-Law this year at 89. He always added to the festivities and will be missed greatly. Your photo made me think back to last Christmas. Mike in Dayton, Ohio Yule logNice memories there. My "fireplace" was WPIX channel 11 on TV. Where the yule log was shown for Christmas. Down side was there was no heat from it -- upside was that dad paid the utility bill so we had heat! ;-) I want to thank Dave for this wonderful site and TTerrace for the lovely trips down memory lane. Merry Christmas! Memory LaneWhat a great picture. Setting by the warm fire in the twilight of his life. Surrounded by pictures of his family. Perhaps thinking "Life has been Good" A Life in ReviewIn all the pictures you have shown of your father, tterrace, I am struck by how happy and active your family was, and the important roles your parents played. I imagine he is thinking about his life, with all the reminders on the bookshelves in front of him. What a beautiful photo. Holiday WishMerry Christmas to you and yours, tterrace! Thanks for sharing your mom and dad, sibs, cousins, Godmother, cars, et al. with us. BCB FlooredI miss wall-to-wall carpet. It has been falling out of style in most American homes for the last 10 or 15 years, in favor of hardwood floors and rugs. But there is something SO great about the acoustics, warmth and cohesiveness of a room with wall-to-wall carpet that even the nicest rugs fail to duplicate. Without having ever been in this room, I know exactly what it feels and sounds like. It looks like the contented cat knows what I'm talking about. Best Holiday wishes tterrace! Re: FlooredIf you will look at the baseboard behind the chair, you will see that the carpet was not wall to wall. Mother had it cut-to-fit. It had to be bound on all the edges with carpet binding. It gave a wall to wall look without ruining the hardwood floors. This is the first time I have seen this photo myself. I am just as touched as all you are. Thanks for all your nice comments. -tterrace's Sister. DadsWhat a poignant photo, for you... I didn't know much about my birth father most of my life but one of my earliest recollections of my step-father (The Dad in my life) and I was getting the decorations out of the boxes and putting them on the tree. He had these old strings of Noma lights with the heavy wire covered in woven fabric (old style electric cords, in other words). He let me plug them in to test them while he changed the bulbs. One of the first strings blew me across the room because of a short. Every year after that he would ask me if I wanted to test the strings with him. Once bitten, twice shy, I let HIM test the strings and I would change the bulbs. This was a long process and since Dad always insisted on getting the tree on Christmas Eve, so it was almost bedtime before we got to put the other decorations on. Dad had to place the lights "just right".... "COME ON DAD!" Some time in the late 70s we got a tree where all the needles fell off before morning so from then on the tree was bought the week before Christmas. Dad died in 1988 (a month to the day after my birth father). What I wouldn't give to have Dad with us, now. So peaceful...Everyone already expressed my thoughts! So I will just say, "Thank you for this peaceful picture and all the other wonderful pictures you've posted...and Merry Christmas!" Thank you TTerrace for sharing your blissful lifeThis snap makes me cry. Here is a man with a life worth the living. I'm so overcome I cannot find words. TTerrace, I hope you had a son or a child who took pictures of you in as loving a manner as you did of your parents. Blesings. Thank you. That shirt!It looks as if Dad is wearing the same shirt in 'Christmas Break: 1958,' 26 years earlier. https://www.shorpy.com/node/7281 Wonderful shotThanks for all you've shared. Jumping out at me from the bookshelf -- not only first Peoples' Almanac, but its yellow-covered sequel, #2. I loved flipping through them back then (and now). Maybe the Book of Lists is buried in there, too? Larger version of rework?My partner loves cat pictures and I collect them for her screensaver whenever I find them. Is it possible to get a large version of the brightened image? It is lovely! Loujudson@mac.com Of Christmas PastIt brought tears to my eyes too. It represents more than I can tell. Me TooIt's amazing how this photo has moved so many of us. It speaks volumes. There is so much more here than meets the eye. For me it brings back thoughts of a safe and happy place. As always, thanks so much for allowing us to share in your memories. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Sublime.You know, I get why people are nostalgic for encyclopedias instead of Googlem but this picture wouldn't be in an encyclopedia. I love the Internet for just this reason: It lets people who have never met each other reach out and share thoughts, moments, images with each other. Merry Christmas indeed! AwesomeMerry Christmas tterrace. Another great image to go into my "tterrace" folder. Foy Las Vegas Last ChristmasThanks for sharing all your wonderful pictures with us! I lost my Grandfather just before Christmas 1978, the holiday has never been the same. Contemplation...of a life lived fully. Thank you SO much for sharing this! It's a perfect holiday photo, which will linger long in my memory. The best of holidays and New Year to you & yours! Visions of sugar-plumsThanks everybody, and Merry Christmas! I'm off to bed early - that way Santa Claus gets here sooner! And to All a Good NightNow that tterrace is safely tucked in, I want to thank him and Stanton Square and Joe Manning and all the other Shorpy contributors and commenters for another wonderful year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! BeautifulAs many others have said, this beautiful, poignant photo made me a bit misty. My father's last christmas eve was just a few short years ago, and while not spent before a fireplace fire (he was in assisted-living) it was spent with his family and a cold, minty grasshopper. (Grasshoppers on christmas eve...a family tradition older than me!) He hated cats, but I love them and will give mine a little hug tonight in honor of your father's little friend and raise a green glass in memory of my dad. Merry Christmas, and thank you tterrace for sharing your wonderful photos of your family. John. tterry xmasWow, this actually made me get a little chocked up. Which says a lot about how much I've grown attached to your photos. Merry Christmas. Like so many othersI find that this picture engages me in an intimate way. I think it has something to do with my recently turning 65. Though I'm probably several years younger than the fella in the picture and I hope I've got several more years to go, I may know his frame of mind and, whatever he was thinking in that moment, what he knew and understood by then. Lovely reposeWhat would do without Shorpy? It is such a treasure. Thank you, and Merry Christmas! It's been said...I was going to comment, but it's already been said. Thank You! Thank you.Like many folks, we played down the commercial aspects of Christmas this year, focusing on the deeper meanings of faith and family. Presents for grown-ups were few, but treasured...and it's obvious that I'm not alone in counting this photo as one of this year's special gifts. What a treasure Shorpy has become to so many of us. (God bless you, Shorpy Higginbotham! I bet you'd get a kick out of the site you inspired.) Another charmerI'd like to add my thanks to you again tterrace, for sharing your memories with all of us. Also, I spied with my romantic eye--the heart shaped flicker in the fire and the wedding portrait on the bookshelf. Is that your mom and dad? From a newbieI have only just discovered this site this weekend. I've spent two days neglecting housework and proper grooming, totally immersed in the sheer wonderful-ness of this place! As I often do at Christmas, I've been feeling very nostalgic, and have been moved by dozens of the photos I've seen, but none more than this one. My own dad passed away in 2002, and I miss him so much. This photo reminded me of him, sitting in his green recliner (genuine Naughahyde), reading the paper or one of the five or six library books he brought home every week, and my mother bringing him coffee and a dish of ice cream. Memories are warm and wonderful, but I'd rather have the man. Thank you for sharing this. Merry Christmas Mr. Terrace!It's been a pleasure getting to know you. You have a fantastic boy! Thank you.Thank you. This reminded my, very fondly, of my beloved grandfather. Thank you very much, and a happy new year for you and your family. At precisely this momentDecember 24, 1984, my daughter, then 5, and our precious 88 year old Great-Grandma were attending Christmas Eve services at our rural country church, as was our annual tradition. Exactly 8 years to the day later, in 1992, we said goodbye to our beloved "Mom." Thank you, tterrace, for the touching memories. How lucky we have been to have loved and been loved by such wonderful people, would you say? What a wonderful tribute!A beautiful and warm tribute to your father's last Christmas! My mother died December 21, 1998. That year we looked back to the previous Christmas's photographs. It was very nice to reflect on her life looking at the pictures. MovedThe picture of your father is art. Really. But the shot of you mouth-breathing (because you are probably so tired from waiting up for Santa) in your anchor blanket and your airplane wallpaper! Wow. I know others have said it before me but -- I will say it again -- thank you so much from the bottom of my anonymous heart for sharing your memories and all of these wonderful images of a world gone by. Thank youLike rubysshoes, I just found this site following a link to Off. Rainey. Thank you for sharing your history. I've got some old family photos that I might put up, following your style. Lost my mother in law in 2008, father in law in 2007 and father in 2006, so this brought up memories. Dave, thanks for this site. And goodnight, Shorpy, wherever you are. SweetThanks for sharing. A lovely memory of your dear Dad. I admit to spending too many hours on this site looking at the many photos people post. Have posted a few myself. Photos are SO precious and are the only things I would try to save if I ever had to make a quick exit from my home. A Life Well LivedI only hope that this is me someday ! I could see this on a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover. At least he got to see his last Christmas alert, aware and sitting up looking at the fire around loved ones ! I want my last Christmas the exact same way. Thank you for this ! Wow!Just WOW! Oh, and wonderful, too! How amazing it os to be so touched by strangers. But then, they really aren't by this time are they! thank you both tterrace & Dave, TY a million times Merry Christmas, DadWish you were here. This man, Tterrace's dad, looks so like my dad I did a double take. Both Dad and kitty content before the fire--how could life be any better. I love this photo, thank you for posting. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Christmas, tterrapix)
Chelsea Piers: 1912
... piers is a visual tease of the very best kind. Not the Night before Christmas Lease. The Cross & Brown Company has leased ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/15/2024 - 3:02pm -

New York, 1912. "New Chelsea Piers on the Hudson." Feast your eyes on this veritable visual smorgasbord. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Gloriously Good! Cork TippedProbably my favorite things to look for in these pictures are the advertising signs. I never smoked or even saw a Nebo cigarette, but now I'd like to just because of that sign. One of the things I miss the most from my childhood and early adulthood is the wide variety of tobacco advertising and many of these old signs are getting to be valuable to collectors. Imagine the price of a big Nebo sign if you could even find one! White Star LinesWhere the Titanic was headed when it had an unexpected detour. The Carpathia would tie up there and discharge the survivors. Here's your Hopkins Manufacturing Building....View Larger Map Play ball! (or anything else)With commercial* and passenger shipping long gone, several of the piers have now been repurposed into a huge, multi-sport athletic facility. Their nautical past hasn't completely vanished, however, as they contain docking facilities for several party/dinner-cruise ships and a marina. Prior to the athletic facility's opening about 15 years ago the piers had been decrepit for many years. The streetcar yard in the lower right is most likely that of the 23rd Street Crosstown Line, which ran along the street of that name from river to river. It was among the last of Manhattan's streetcar lines to be "bustituted" in the mid-1930's. Today the athletic facility is a fairly long walk from the nearest subway station, that of the C and E trains at 23rd Street and Eighth Avenue, but that certainly hasn't hurt its popularity. * = shipping certainly hasn't disappeared from New York Harbor, it's just that with the advent of container shipping most activity has relocated to New Jersey, with some in Staten Island and Brooklyn Working hardThey're working up a sweat in the upper floor offices of the Steel Construction building! Funnels and mastsThe sight of all those funnels and masts poking up from the successive piers is a visual tease of the very best kind. Not the Night before ChristmasLease. The Cross & Brown Company has leased for the Clement Moore estate the plot 100 X 95 feet at 548 to 554 West Twenty-second street for a term of years at an aggregate rent of $250,000. The property will be improved with a four story and basement fireproof building, to be occupied by the Hopkins Manufacturing Company of Hanover. Pa., as a carriage factory. James N Wells's Sons were associated as brokers In the transaction.' NY Sun - Oct 15 1911 Would you stay at the TERMINAL Hotel? Does anyone ever check out? Somewhere out thereA traction modeler is dreaming of the layout he'll base on this photo as soon as his Significant Other agrees to give up the spare room. Strictly Limited EngagementA swift plummet down the Google hole reveals that "A Scrape o' the Pen" was a Scottish comedy that ran for just under three months at Weber's Music Hall. The names of the actors in the cast read like pitch-perfect parodies of themselves, perhaps from a unmade Coen Brothers period film. I note only the delightful Fawcett Lomax, who sailed back without delay after the show closed to Liverpool, aboard the Lusitania, in December, 1912. Drafting - the old way!My eyes, too, were drawn to the top floor of the steel construction building. The white shirts and ties, and the tell-tale bend of the torso, makes me believe that this is the drafting room. No CAD terminals, just wonderful old T-squares, triangles, and compasses. Those were the days! Not just a flash in the pan"A Scrape O' The Pen" apparently entertained a worldwide audience over several years. Here's a 1915 review from a run in Adelaide, Australia: A Scrape o' the Pen. In the olden days in Scotland no funeral was complete without its professional mourner, and in Mr. Graham Moffat's Scottish comedy, "A Scrape o' the Pen," which opens at the Theatre Royal on Saturday, Mr. David Urquhart, who delighted theatregoers here as Weelum in "Bunty Pulls the Strings" will humorously depict Peter Dalkeith, a paid mourner, which profession he has adopted, owing to his being jilted by the girl of his choice. This, and such old-time customs as Hogmanay, first footing, &c, have provided Mr. Moffat with excellent material for his new comedy. The story of the play is concerned with the romantic marriage of a young boy and girl according to Scottish law, the young fellow leaving for Africa immediately after signing the papers, and the subsequent adventures of the wife he leaves behind. Mr. and Mrs. Moffat are appearing in the original parts of Mattha and Leezie Inglis, and will have the support of a newly-augmented company of Scottish players. Pier 62On the west side of Manhattan piers are numbered by this method: the cross street plus 40. Thus, Pier 62 (the number above the "American Line" pier) is located on 22nd Street. Therefore Peter's estimation that the streetcar yard is on 23rd Street appears to be correct. Interestingly, this photo captures a streetcar about to enter or exit the yard. If there is a clock in view, a date in 1912 for the photo, a streetcar schedule and some streetcar records still around, we might know which streetcar, which direction it was heading and who was driving it. Might even find the fare collection records and know how many people rode that run that day. Ahhh, history's mysteries. Quaker StateAttached is an advertisement, perhaps another Billboard, flacking Old Quaker Rye Whiskey. Looks like 3 Clubmen welcoming their Bootlegger, possibly Benjamin Franklin. Quakers are allowed to imbibe but not at the Meeting House. Can anyone tell meThe purpose of the frameworks that extend above the edges of the pier roofs? My guess is that they re to prevent the rigging of masted ships from tearing into the roofs themselves - anyone have a better guess? Highly sought afterbut rarely found; honesty in a rye whiskey. Chelsea PiersThe steel frameworks on the roofs held the tracks for the rigid or roll-up heavy pier side doors during vessel unloading. One of the few...trucks in this picture: just above the Old Quaker whiskey sign. Broadway JonesThe great George M. Cohan wrote the script, composed the score, directed, and starred in "Broadway Jones," a comedy about a boy who inherits a chewing gum factory, saves the company, and wins the heart of the girl. His father, Jere, and his mother, Nellie, costarred. I can tell youThe girderwork at the edges of the finger piers can also be used in conjunction with ships' tackle to extend the reach for loading and unloading cargo. Henry B. Harris of Titanic fame presents - "The Talker"Interesting that a partially hidden billboard for the 1912 play "The Talker" produced by Henry B Harris would be so close the the White Star Line pier. Harris being a celebrity who lost his life on board the Titanic in April of 1912. Two largest shipsThe twin funneled liner at Pier 60 appears to be the White Star Liner RMS Oceanic (1899) and, further away at Pier 56 is the RMS Campania (1893). And on our leftin the distance is 463 West Street home of Bell Labs, where many devices we take for granted were invented. And in the distance to the right, over in Hoboken one can see the North German Lloyd piers, and to their right the Holland America pier which appeared earlier in Shorpy. Mercantile Marine Co.Interesting story about the company that owned all of the ship lines at these piers here. The Nebo ManYears before the Marlboro man rode the range there was Nebo man looking so cool with color coordinated tie and hat plus I'm sure he lit that match with the tip of his thumb's fingernail. Dog ParkIs that where the dog park is now? In the bottom right hand corner, where all the train/trolley cars are parked? (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC, Streetcars)
Our Lady of Lourdes: 1914
... Eve next to Trinity Church Cemetery and recites "The Night Before Christmas." I was born in 1928 at 853 Riverside Drive. When 90 ... 1966 but after that I can't say. I am sure that "The Night Before Christmas" is still recited next to Clement Moore's grave, in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/13/2022 - 12:33pm -

        A newly restored version of a Shorpy favorite that has collected three pages of comments since it was first posted in 2007 -- The caption for this one just says "Post Office." Thanks to our commenters we now know that the building with the statue is the Our Lady of Lourdes School at 468 W. 143rd Street in New York circa 1914. 8x10 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size | The school in 2007. Post office?Looks like a Catholic school, actually. This is just a wild-a**ed guess, but St. Jean Baptiste on East 75th? This would coincide with the warehouse cart on the left (sort of). Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic SchoolThis is Our Lady of Lourdes School in New York City on 143rd Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Convent Avenue. The school was built in 1913 in Washington Heights, an exclusively white, upper middle-class neighborhood. It was built and equipped at a total cost of one hundred and forty thousand dollars. Besides classrooms for five hundred pupils, the building contained an auditorium with a stage lavishly equipped for theatrical productions, a gymnasium, a roof-top playground, an assembly room for parish organizations, rooms for classes in cooking and sewing, and offices for the school officials. The associated church (Our Lady of Lourdes) is located directly behind the school on the next block, 142nd Street. Yes...Which is the Post Office? The large building in the center must be a Catholic School, what with a saint on the roof and all. As for the location, I have no clue. Post OfficeWhich building is the Post Office? post officeBuilding with street level entrance and flags would be my likely guess. Today...Google Street View. It's always interesting to see NYC in the early years, and how it's changed. Our Lady of LourdesI attended this school for eight years in the 1950s. The lower grades entered by one door and the higher grades used the other. City College frat houses faced the school. Recess was on the street out front. We didn't have any cooking or sewing classes, no classrooms equipped for that. There wasn't any gym. We weren't allowed to go up on the roof and there wasn't an assembly room. We did have a annual spring play using the stage and we had a Christmas concert. There was a way into the church from the back of the school. The nuns that taught there were called Society of the Holy Child. Father Kline was one of the priests and Mother Mary Edward taught there. A good school, good memories. Johnny PumpThat fire hydrant probably was installed in the late 1880s. Was born and bred in NYC and traversed all five boroughs many many times, but NEVER laid eyes on a johnny pump like that. Every boy who ever grew up in "The City" is instinctively drawn to hop over as many hydrants as possible. However that one is a KILLER. Our Lady of LourdesI attended OLL from 1933 to 1941. The lower grades kindergarten to fourth were taught by the Ursuline Order of Sisters. The upper grades fifth to eighth were taught by the Sisters of the Holy Child. The school was funded and guided by the priests of the adjoining OLL Church. We were there to learn,to pray: no play, no library, no lunch room, no outside activities. It was not an easy life for children of poor families during this Great Depression Era. I often cried and asked God to help me through the day, the year. I know I received a very good education but not a happy one. There were nuns I would have died for, however there were many that should not have been allowed to teach children. The Church and school were founded by Monsignor Thomas McMann. There is a bust of the good priest near the entrance to the upper church. In the 1930s we were allowed on the roof for various activities. The term "very stern " comes to mind. The statue is Our Lady of Lourdes, similar to the statue in the grotto in the lower church on 142nd Street. It was removed a few years ago as it decayed and was ready to fall off the roof. Convent AvenueThis photo faces east, and the townhouses in the background are along the east side of Convent Avenue. All of them still stand, most are in superb condition. This is the finest real estate in Harlem; a house across the street sold for $3.89 million about 18 months ago. Here is a listing for a house a few doors down from the ones seen here: http://tinyurl.com/2396kb Note the terraces on two of the buildings -- those are stunning and almost never seen in New York. Does anyone remember anDoes anyone remember an Irish nun by the name of Sister Gerard? She was one of the Ursula ? nuns at the Our Lady of Lourdes in Manhatten. She emigrated about 1910, so am not sure anyone would remember her... Is there a cemetery associated with Our Lady of Lourdes? Upper and Lower ChurchCan you tell me if the Upper and Grotto Church still exists and do they have mass on Saturdays and Sundays? I lived 2 streets away a long time ago and would like to see the old neighborshood. I have never forgotten the Grotto. It's so unique. Would like to share it with my spouse. Or maybe I can speak with someone in the convent. Are the nuns still there? Thank you. Diana Gosciniak Our Lady of LourdesI also went there in the 1950's. The nuns were very dedicated to teaching. Our religion was the major reason they and all of us were there. The grotto was under the main stairs and confession was held downstairs at 4 pm on Saturday. The children's Mass was at 9 am on Sunday, a High Mass in Latin. The doors of the main church came from old St. Patrick's downtown in Little Italy. The sisters made sure that the majority of 8th grade students got into Catholic high school. A lot of the girls went to Cathedral H.S. and the boys went to Cardinal Hayes. The church was around the corner with a connection to the back of the school. The convent was right next door to the church and the rectory was across the street. Once in a while we were invited to go to the convent on a Saturday to see the nuns. The neighborhood was pretty good, all kind of stores that tolerated all of us kids. It was nice going there for eight years. Fond memories. O.L.L. Upper and lower churchYes, the upper church is still active with most Masses in Spanish. The lower church {the Grotto) is not used. However the statue of the Blessed Mother is still on view. The sisters left about 10 years ago. I visited the school and was told the Church no longer had any say in its operation. When did you attend? I was there from 1933 to 1940. J Woods Theatrical productions?Oh, how I wish I had your recall. However, I did attend O.L.L. from 1933 through 1940. Yes, the stage was used - but with limited equipment. I never saw or played on a rooftop playground. There was no gymnasium. The seats in the auditorium were moved to the side for military drilling by boys from grades 5 to 8 once a week. The girls exercised in a nearby room. The children in the lower grades had no physical training. I don't remember an assembly room for any parish organizations. Family members were not encouraged to come to the school except on Graduation Day or if the student had a serious problem that required a meeting with the principal and/or a parish priest. I must say we all received a very good education and were farther ahead in our studies than the Public School kids. Yours truly and in friendship, Jackie Woods OLL NeighborhoodI lived on Amsterdam Ave for 16 years. Where did you live? When did you attend OLL School? The few friends I had from the old days have passed on. I answered your other message; The Nuns left about 15 years ago. You need to have someone open the lower church to visit there. The Blessed Mother's Statue is still located in the Grotto but masses are no longer read there. Regards and in friendship. Jackie Woods Our Lady of Lourdes, 2008I had a chance to stop by West 143rd street and take a snapshot today. The cornerstone is dated 1912. As you can see, every building shown in the "1914" photograph is extant and all are in excellent condition. There is even a fire hydrant in the same location as the fire hydrant shown in the photo. As for changes — there are trees on the block now, and the cornice has been removed from Our Lady of Lourdes, as has the statue of the saint. And, of course, as with all modern photos taken in New York, it is full of automobiles. (Click to enlarge) The reddish sign on the left side of the street, behind the motorcycle, identifies this block as part of the Hamilton Heights Historical District (Hamilton Grange is only a few blocks away). Today was garbage day, so a distracting pile of trash sits in the foreground, sorry about that. Our Lady of LourdesCentral Harlem, did you attend Our Lady of Lourdes? If so what years? Thanks for the picture Jackie Woods Our Lady of LourdesI attended an Episcopalian school. I contributed that photo because of my joy in Harlem history, not any tie to this school in particular. Last weekend, I found a photograph of this block dating to 1908! All the buildings looked the same except for OLL, which was then an empty lot. Perhaps Team Shorpy can enlighten me -- would it be compliant with copyright law for me to scan and post it? [Is there a copyright notice on it? If it was copyrighted before 1923, the copyright has expired. - Dave] Our Lady of LourdesThank you for your latest information, Central Harlem. Where was your school located? Did you live nearby? I'm 80 years old going on 81 and all I have are my memories (mostly fond). And my memory is outstanding. I was hoping to hear from anyone who attended OLL with me. By the way, the folks on Amsterdam Avenue always envied the folks on Convent Avenue, always a beautiful clean street. (Today we would say "upscale.") Three of my children were born in The Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan on 144th off Convent. I had moved to upper Washington Heights by then but my doctor was still working out of there. Thank you and in friendship, Jackie Woods Our Lady of Lourdes, 1909I had a chance to scan the old photo I found of this block. It dates to 1909, not 1908 as I had first said. Every building seen in this photo remains, though some of the lots on the right-hand side of 143rd street were empty in 1909, including the lot that would house Our Lady of Lourdes three years later. Anticipating the interest of Shorpy's crew of automotive experts, I provide a closeup of that car on Amsterdam Avenue, below. Also, a note to Jackie Woods: we're of different generations. It is good to exchange notes here, but I'm sure we've never met. Our Lady of Lourdes SchoolWhat wonderful memories of days past. I attended OLL from 1943 and graduated in 1951. One of five brothers to do so. You may have known my older brothers, Larry, Dick or Bill. We lived in that apartment building at the end of the street on the OLL side. That was the location of Alexander Hamilton's house, Hamilton Grange. When it was built, it forced the move to its present location behind the church. It will be moved again to the SE corner of Convent and 141st Street. You also mentioned Lutheran Hospital. It wasn't so great for our family. My brother Dick was taken there after being hit by a car. While recovering, he contracted rheumatic fever in the hospital and later died at New York Hospital. We also lived at 310 Convent Avenue because my mother's family, the Healys, lived on 141st Street. If you have any other questions, ask away. I'm still in contact with several classmates and between us, we should be able to answer. "Thanks for the Memories" Bob Phillips OLL graduatesHi, Yes, I do remember a Phillips family. The boys or boy were in a higher grade with one of my brothers. As you can see, I had already left OLL when you started there. I am pleased you have good memories of your early years. Unfortunately, mine are mixed. An incident: a bunch of us, about 12 years old at the time, were fooling around and one of the boys fell out of a tree and broke his arm. We carried him to Lutheran Hospital They wouldn't let us in the front door. Told us to take him to Knickerbocker Hospital near 131st Street, and so we did. Today, I ask why no first aid was administered or an ambulance called. However, I have nothing but good words about the hospital in later years. I was sorry to hear about brother RIP Regards and in friendship, Jackie Woods PS My oldest sister, Ellen, class of 1936 Won scholorship to Holy Child Academy My older brother William (Billy), Class of 1937, won a scholarship to Regis High. MemoriesI graduated from OLL in 1973 and it is so wonderful to see a website with the School and the information that it offers. I too wondered about the Masses in the lower church. The grotto was always so beautiful and special. I have lived in Florida since 1986 and hope to make a trip to NYC just to visit the old school. Thanks again for bringing a smile to my face today. God bless. OLL MemoriesHi. I attended OLL from grades K to 5. I have the most beautiful memories of my childhood there. I loved the nuns. I can't believe how time has gone so fast. If anyone remembers me or remembers Sister Mary Owen or Ms. Valentine or the gym instructor George Izquierdo. I am talking about late 1960's, early 70's. Please contact me. Are the sisters still there? I went to visit Sister Mary Owen a couple of years ago. She wasn't wearing her habit any more. Those were good old days. I was so mischievous, always getting into trouble. Oh my God. I had the best early education there, never will I forget. I love history and I love these pictures that were posted up above, everything looks the same. Thanks! My family still lives up in Washington Heights. Our Lady of Lourdes School and ChurchAnd a HI to you, The good sisters left about ten years ago. You can reach the school online, it has a Web site. The school is no longer under the supervision of the Church. If you look over the rest of this page you will see that I have answered a number of postings that may be of interest to you. "Memories are made of this." In friendship, Jackie Woods OLL AlumniHello OLL'ers Head over to the OLL website www.ourladyoflourdesschool.net There's an alumni page where you can send your information and be put on the mailing list. OLLCould not connect with your e-mail: kbarkley@ourladyoflourdesschool.net Would you please check it. When did you attend OLL? I gave my information previously on bottom of page. Look forward to hearing from you. In friendship, Jackie woods To Jackie WoodsI knew Dennis before the war, and graduated OLL in 1937. My sister Marie graduated in 1936 and received a scholarship to Holy Name. Finding your web site after all these years is a small miracle. I'm sorry to say Marie, such a special person, passed away in 1977. Andrew, a 1943 or 44 graduate, died in 2000. I did not marry till 1985, had a daughter in 86. My wife Alice and I celebrated our daughter Colleen's wedding Nov. 24, 2007. I hope this proves I was not as bad as the sisters believed. They wanted so to see me go that they created the first coed class and skipped me from 6th to 8th grade. Yes we marched on the roof, auditorium, basement and in far away competition. I believe we had a West Point officer, but not certain. I just hope that life was as rewarding to all OLL graduates as I. God bless. John Orlando Wideawake80@verizon.net OLL, late 1950s and early 60sDon't know how I found this website, but so glad that I did. I graduated OLL in June 1961. The nuns are my most vivid memories of the school. The spring and Christmas plays that were held each year. Recess outside during lunchtime. Walking to school each day and spending the few pennies we had to buy candy at the store on Amsterdam Avenue, and the bicycle store there where we rented bikes on Saturday afternoons. Going to confession every Saturday down in the grotto. Checking the Legion of Decency list for movie listings. Learning to sing the Mass in Latin for every Sunday High Mass and, most important, the foundation the nuns gave us for our religion that is still strong to this day. A few years ago, we drove from Jersey up to the old place and convent still looked pretty good. Can someone please explain about not being under the archdiocese any longer. Thanks again. Lutheran HospitalI found this link when looking for the Lutheran Hospital. Very interesting information. I am researching my family history and found out this hospital is where my great grandfather passed away. Thinking that there may be additional information on the records, I searched for the hospital but have not been able to find any recent reference to it. Has the Hospital been closed? Can anybody give me some background information? I will certainly appreciate it, Anne [You might try the Archives search box on the New York Times Web site. Lutheran Hospital of Manhattan, at 343 Convent Avenue, merged with Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in 1956 to form Our Saviour's Lutheran Hospital at the Norwegian Hospital facility on 46th Street and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. It's now called Lutheran Medical Center. - Dave] Lutheran HospitalHello Anne, Yes, I know Lutheran Hospital. My three oldest boys were born there: 1951: 1952: 1954. My brother-in-law's father died there c. 1937. When I last passed by the neighborhood, three years ago, I saw that the hospital had been converted to an assisted living facility. The neighborhood is looking great - real upscale. The brownstones that one could buy in the 1930s for a song are now selling for well over a million dollars. In the 1930s they were empty, thanks to the banks that foreclosed during the Depression. As kids we ran through them and at one time had a clubhouse inside one. In friendship, Jackie Woods Lutheran HospitalThanks you both, Dave and Jackie, for your responses. I will follow the advice and hope to be able to pass soon by the neighborhood. Anne OLL MemoriesHi Henry, I too remember Sister Mary Owen, my brother David Mora had her and she was really strict. We keep in touch with George Izquierdo and he is doing great. Sister Rosemarie passed away. I try to stay in touch with O.L.L. It was really a happy time in my childhood and the happy memories will always be a part of my life. Maxine Mora Lutheran Hospital of ManhattanLooking for pictures of the Hospital. I was born in 1940 in the facility and would like to see what it looked like in that era--anyone have a picture? Dad Was an AlumnusHello Jackie, I am curious to see if you know my father, Frank Corrigan, who was born in 1926, which would make him 82 this August. I think he was in the Class of 1941. I am also curious to see if you have any contact or info on Alfred Pereira or his sister Clara Pereira Mercado. Any help would be appreciated. Stephen Corrigan Please email me when you get a chance, stephenjcorrigan@aol.com. Frank CorriganYes, I knew Frank Corrigan, Class of 1940, not 1941, he was closer to my brother Dennis than me, I was a year younger. Didn't Frank have a younger very pretty sister? I last saw Frank c. 1968 in the upper Washington Heights area where many of the families from OLL had moved to from the 140th streets. I knew Pancho Pereira (the name Alfred does not ring a bell) and Clara, his younger sister. His little brother JoJo was killed in Korea. Pancho had a birthmark: strands of very white hair in the front of his head of very black hair. They were wonderful good people. Pancho was good friends with Jackie Koster, whose sister Barbara married Burl Ives in Hollywood and lived happily everafter. In friendship, Ed and Jackie Woods eandjwoods50@yahoo.com Vacant Houses in Hamilton HeightsI thought we were the only ones that got into those empty houses. Afternoons we'd go in through a back window to study and do our homework. We didn't break anything, and at our age we always wondered why the houses were vacant. The Depression angle we didn't figure out until later. Tom Calumet and Frank Howe went with me. I understand Frank has died and Tom Calumet left NYC around 1945 to go out west with his parents. I graduated from OLL in 1941, and now live in Hopkins, MN OLL MemoriesI graduated in 1960. There were about 10 of us cousins who graduated between 1955 and 1960. I remember Father Cline, Fr. Malloy, Monsignor Hart, Mother Bonaventure, Mother Dominica and others. Does anyone remember the day the frat boys across the street pushed the dummy out the window during our recess? I can almost taste the corn muffins and egg creams at the soda fountain around the corner on Amsterdam Avenue while "Barbara Ann" played on the jukebox. OLL PhotoI have a great a picture of my Confirmation Day. I'm in full OLL uniform dated c. May 1935. How can I send it to the OLL Shorpy site? Yours truly, Ed Woods [Click the links under "Become a member, contribute photos." - Dave] Frat boys 0, Mother Mary Edward 10I sure do remember that day. Mother Mary Edward marched over and blasted them. Also the candy store around the corner used to sell two-cent pumpkin seeds out of a little red box. Does anyone remember the rumor going around that the Grotto Chapel was haunted? I remember walking home with "Little Star" playing on the transistor radio. The OLL GrottoI remember serving at what was called the Workmen's Mass in the Grotto in the 1930s - 6 o'clock in the morning! I know the Grotto is not used any more (I visited there in December 2007). As to the candy store on the corner of 143rd and Amsterdam, it was a very busy place: candy, pen nibs (no fountain pens), book covers etc. One day the owner came to school and told Sister Casmere, the principal, that we were disorderly and she must tell the students to behave when shopping in his store. Her solution was to tell the entire student body that they were not allowed to shop there. In a day or so, the man was back begging forgiveness and asked to plaese allow the children to return to his store. The kids were his main business. HelloHi Maxine How are you? Thank you for responding to me. It was very nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear about Sister Rosemary, but I don't remember her was she the pricipal of the school. I do remember Mr. Izquierdo he was the gym instructor with another man don't recall his name I believe he became principal of the school later on. Oh! now I remember his name was Mr. White I believe. God trying to recall, it is getting a little difficult now a days but I like it. It brings me back in time. How time have changed it was so innocent back than not like now. Looking back in time, makes me feel like I grew up to fast. How is Mr. Izquierdo doing? How can I contact him? Please let me know. My e-mail address is Je_Ocejo@yahoo.com. I remember he got married back than to a girl name Rocio, I don't know if they are still together but that lady was my father's friend daughter. Who else do you remember. Please get back to me with pictures. I have pictures too. Let me know how can I e-mail them to you. Would you believe that we are talking about almost atleast 35 years ago but I don't forget. God Bless you. Henry OLLBob, Any recollections of my father, Frank Corrigan, Class of 1940? Maybe not yourself but some of your older brothers. Steve Corrigan More OLL MemoriesI graduated in 1937 and was probably a fellow graduate of a brother. I had skipped 7th grade and so did not get to know classmates well. It is possible that the Waters family lived across the alley on the second floor of the building on 142nd Street. We lived on the top floor of the next building on Hamilton Place. In the same building lived Buddy Sweeney and Sal Guizzardi, also a tall blond kid who graduated with me. I believe your mother and my mom, Agnes Orlando, were friends. I believe your mother visited mine in 1952-3 in our new home in Bergenfield, N.J. I remember a sister who must have graduated with me or my sister Marie Orlando in 1936. My brother Andrew graduated 1947. My mother, brother and sister have passed away. I remember Poncho, the Kosta family, the Madigans, Woodses, Rendeans, Glyforces, McCarvils, Walshes, Philipses, Flynns, Duggans, Hooks, Rodriquezes, Craigs, Hugheses, Conways etc. I am sure we had many things in common being OLL graduates at a very special interval of time. I wish you well in your very beautiful state which I have passed through on three occasions. Best wishes and fond memories. John and Alice Orlando OLLLot older than you. Attended OLL from late 1930s to early 40s. Baptized, first Holy Communion and Confirmation (Cardinal Spellman). Lived at 145 and the Drive. Remember principal when I was there, Mother Mary Margaret. First grade teacher was Mother Mary Andrews. Remember playing on roof and being shocked by Mother Mary Andrews jumping rope. Believe there was a Father Dolan around that that time. Only went to through the 3rd grade there and then moved to 75th St and the Blessed Sacrament -- a whole different world, and not as kind or caring. Memories of OldHi Henry. You may not remember me but I also taught gym with George and sometimes Ms. Ortiz. George is with the Department of Education on the East Side. I work for the Bloomberg Administration. Sister Mary Owen has moved to Rye and of course all the nuns are now gone. I left in 1996 but I still miss all of the good times shared during my years there. Memories Are GoodHello, You taught me gym and we also had alot of good times with the High School Club on Friday nights. I have most painful memories of O.L.L the day Msgr. Cahill passed away. I never knew how much a heart could have so much pain and yet go on. My dad died on 4-29-96, Max Mora and I felt the same pain all over again. Do you know where Mother John Fisher has gone ... her name had changed to Sister Maryanne. I would love to hear from you. Maxine Mora Hi HenryMy email address is mmorafredericks@aol.com. I have yours and I am so happy to be in contact with you I graduated in 1973. I went to Cathedral High School. Later moved to Florida. My brothers and sisters are still in NY and I miss so much of it. I look forward to catching up with you. I will write soon. God Bless. Maxine Fellow ClassmateHi Tony, It has been more than 48 years since I last saw you - at our graduation from OLL in 1960. Let me know what you have been up to in the past half century. My e-mail address is kmckenna@clarku.edu. Kevin LTNSMr. White! Not sure if you still come to this site, but on the off chance that you still visit i thought i would write. It's been so long since I've seen or heard from you, not since "Len Fong" closed. For all others that may still come by this site, I graduated in 1983 (possibly 82). Would love to hear from a blast from the past. Please email me at kellyw88@gmail.com John McKennaHi Kevin, Any chance you are related to the McKenna family? John McKenna, Class of 1941 Your name sure rings a bell, however there must be 20 years difference between us. Have a healthy and happy 2009 In friendship, Ed Woods John McKennaHi Ed, I'm afraid that I'm not related to John McKenna. My brothers, Donald and Desmond, graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes in the fifties. I wasn't aware of another McKenna family in the parish when I was at OLL. Happy and healthy 2009 to you as well, Ed. Cheers, Kevin McKenna FamilyThe John McKenna family I knew lived on the northeast corner of Hamilton Place and 141st street. I had other friends and schoolmates in that building. Thinking back, you probably had to be an Irish Catholic to live there. Whatever, I think you had to be an Irish Catholic to attend OLL. I never knew any others at that time, the 1930s. Most fathers worked for the subway and trolley systems or at the milk delivery companies along 125th Street near the river. Those were the days, my friend. Innocence prevailed! In friendship, Ed and Jackie Woods The Mc KennasJim McKenna and his younger brother Tommy lived in that house above Grizzardi's grocery. Tom hung around with Marty the Hanger Phipher and the Warriors. Billy Vahey and his brother Eddie who retired as a Lieutenant in the NYPD lived there also. Their mother was still there in the early 80s. You probably knew the Schadack family, who I believe owned Schrafft's or Donald York. I think the building was 644 West 145 St. It was the first apartment house in the city to have a self-service elevator. When we lived there the neighborhood was known as Washington Heights. For some reason it's now referred to as Hamilton Heights. A couple of great web sites -- Forgotten NY and Bridge and Tunnel Club. You can spend hours & hours on Rockaway Beach alone. Lots of good memories! How about the movie theaters -- the Delmar, the RKO Hamilton, the Dorset, the Loews Rio, the Loews 175 (now the Rev. Ikes Church) and all the theaters along 180th Street? Hamilton HeightsNorm, Many thanks for your fine memories of our old neighborhood but there are a few minor corrections I have to make. The first is the name Shadack family. I believe the correct spelling is Shattuck and his address was 676 Riverside Drive on the corner of 145th Street. We lived there and my brother Bill was classmates with Gene Shattuck. No relation to the Schrafft's empire. Secondly, Hamilton Heights was always known as such. Outsiders didn't know where that was so we usually said Washington Heights for simplicity. Washington Heights doesn't really start until 157th Street and is separated from Hamilton Heights by the Audubon plot. The Old NeighborhoodAlex Hamilton lived nearby. There was a very pleasant young man (OLL Class of 1941) named Eugene Shattuck who lived near 145th Street and Riverside Drive. His father was a professor at Manhattan College and his family owned the Schrafft's Restaurants. I fondly recall Eugene having the wonderful hourglass-shaped bottles of hard Schrafft's candy brought to school and distributing one bottle to each of his classmates at Christmas time. Needless to say, the poor Amsterdam Avenue kids were in awe of one who could afford to do such a good deed. You mention the Warriors, I knew the (Gang) but not any of the names mentioned here on Shorpy. In friendship, Ed and Jackie Woods P.S. My in-laws the Boyd family lived at 676 Riverside Drive. Les Sr. had a radio repair shop on 145th and Broadway. 676 Riverside DriveI lived at 676 as well. The family's name was Shattuck. In my day, many, many years ago, the elevator had an operator. A sweet man in full uniform. There was a doorman as well. Saw the building years later and was appalled at the change. Then went up to OLL and hardly recognized it. It was the best school I ever went to. Thank you for reminding me of the fun. And yes, of the education I got there. By the way, 676 on the Drive was called the Deerfield. OLL StudentsI am researching my family history and I came upon this great site. In 1930 my grandparents Michael and Marie Murphy were living at 1744 Amsterdam Avenue and later in the 1930s at 115 Hamilton Place. All of the Murphy children attended Our Lady of Lourdes School. They were: Maurice (born 1916) Rita (born 1917/ my Mother) John (born 1918) Theresa (born 1920) Vincent (born 1922) Veronica (born 1925) My mom had such fond memories of her time spent there. Rita Harmon Bianchetto Hi Neighbor!!Hi Rita, I'm a former resident of 676 Riverside. My family lived there from 1940 to 1960 in apartment 4A. Bobby Foy lived next door to us. I think you may have left just after we arrived since I remember the elevator operator. The change to automatic was somtime during or just after WWII. I remember they put up this 10 foot wall with a door to limit access to the building. Fat lot of good that did us as my mother was robbed in broad daylight in the service chamber of our apartment in 1960. That's when my Dad had us pack up and leave for a secure location in the Bronx. Anyway, the apartment was great. We had a balcony looking over 145th Street and the river. My brothers were Larry Jr., Bill and Nick. Bill was a good friend to Gene Shattuck and went to Xavier with him. Nick and I also went there. Larry had a scholarship to All Hallows. Judy, can you tell me your last name and if you knew me. Hope to hear from you. Bob Phillips at bobbyphilly@msn.com Your DadSorry Steve, I graduated in 1947 and my three brothers have died. But the name Corrigan does ring a bell. Probably from my brother Larry who knew just about everyone in OLL. Sorry I couldn't help out but it was great hearing from you. Bob Phillips Andrew.Yes, I remember your brother Andrew. We were in the same class and we used to kid him about his name - Andrew Orlando and how tall he was. What's he doing these days? Bob Phillips Those were the days, my friendsHello Rita, I remember the name Murphy but not the faces. We lived a block south of you at 1704 Amsterdam. My sister Ellen, Class of 1936, and brother Bill, Class of 1937, would have known your family. We had many friends on Hamilton Place, the Koster family for one: Anita, Class of 1936, her younger sister Barbara married Burl Ives, and her other sister Mary Lou married Eddie Byrne (1710 Amsterdam). Ed's sister married Chump Greeny -- killed at Anzio Beach. He must have lived near your family. My brother in law Les Boyd lived in the Deerfield and had an electric appliance store on the corner of 145th and B'way and a sporting goods store on the next block next to the Chinese restaurant. In friendship, Ed and Jackie Woods Hello RitaHello Rita, I attended St. Catherine's Academy on 151st between B'way and Amsterdam (It cost my dear old dad $10 a month for what was considered a private school.) I graduated in 1943 in a class of only four girls. I then went to the Sacred Heart of Mary Academy in Inwood (I had to climb the long steps up from B'way every day for four years -- Class of 1947. Most of my relatives went to OLL as did my husband of 59 years, Ed Woods. We are still alive, kicking and fighting and making up every day. In my Class of 1943, one of the girls was Ann Murphy -- any relation? Also a Virginia O'Malley and my best friend, June McAvoy, who keeps in touch with me. June's grandfather was Judge McAvoy, who had died by that time. I loved when my folks took me to McGuire's Bar and Restaurant on B'way and 155th. Oh that Roast Lamb (Irish style) on a Sunday or a holiday. The girls used to go to Nuestra Senora de Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope) next to the museum complex. We were told not to go there for confession, but the Spanish priests were limited in English. Thinking back we had but little to confess at that time. Eddie and I had an apartment on 150th near the Drive for a few years until 1956, then it was off to Long Island to raise our six children. In friendship and love hearing from you, Ed and Jackie Woods The MurphysHi Ed and Jackie, Thanks so very much for your reply. I wish my mom was still with us but she died in 1998, the last of the Murphy kids. My grandfather Mike Murphy worked for the Post Office (a mail carrier working out of the General P.O. at 33rd and 8th). My grandmother Marie Murphy died in 1939 while living at Hamilton Place. Uncle Maurice went to Regis H.S. for several years before leaving to attend All Hallows; John and Vincent then attended All Hallows; my mom, Rita, attended Cathedral; Veronica, I believe, attended St. Vincent, and Theresa died at age 25 in 1944 (not sure of her high school). Mom worked at Woolworth's on 145th Street and Broadway, and after high school at New York Telephone, retiring about 1980. She got married in 1943 and moved to 152nd Street, and we attended St. Catherine of Genoa on W. 153rd. I graduated in 1958. So I know the neighborhood. Peace, Rita Hi Ed and JackieSo Jackie you are a St. Kate's gal like me! My tuition was a dollar a month, so your education was really a private school. You have listed the Academy at 151st Street but I think that it was on 152nd between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. I took my high school entrance exam at SHM so I am sort of familiar with the school -- fireworks were going off during our exam. The end result was I did fine and attended Blessed Sacrament on West 70th, Class of 1962. I last saw the "girls" at a reunion in 2002. My Spanish teacher just celebrated her 70th anniversary as a nun with the Sisters of Charity. I am not familiar with any of the girls names that you mentioned,including Ann Murphy. I do know McQuire's, where I had my first Shirley Temple, Mass at Our Lady of Esperanza, Trinity Cemetery & loved visiting the museums. Do either of you recall Eugenio Pacelli, before he became Pope Pius XII visiting at OLL ? Please tell me about your days on 150th Street near the Drive since I may have been the little skinny blond kid you both passed on the street. Peace, Rita in Northern New Jersy West 150th NYCHello Rita, Yes, we lived at 615 W. 150th from 1950 to 1956. Four of my children were born there (three at Lutheran Hospital and one at Jewish Memorial). We had many friends from school and the neighborhood living nearby. However, by 1956 it was time to move on; many changes in the neighborhood. One of my nearby friends was Juanita Poitier; Sidney was just getting started with his acting career. A real nice couple. Was Father Tracy (Pastor) still there when you attended school? How about Father Brady? He was always telling stories during Mass about his sea time with the Navy. Eddie remembers going to the Woolworths lunch counter (145th and B'way) in the early 1940s just to have an excuse to talk with the girls. He knew many of them from school and the neighborhood. In friendship, Jackie West 152ndHi Jackie and Ed, I lived at 620 West 152nd Street, just a stone's throw from you folks. My sister was born at Jewish Memorial Hospital in March 1952 -- Dr. Sandler from Broadway 150/151st St. delivered. Those were the days of Dave's deli on the corner of 151st & Broadway famous for pastrami on rye and a cold beer for the dads, Rafferty's Bar and Grill on the other side of B'way, Harry's or Pierre's homemade candy and ice cream parlor, Cora's beauty salon where my Nana would get a cold wave and blue tint. And not to be forgotten, Snow & Youman's drug store on B'Way and 151st. I recall the name Fr. Brady but it was Pastor Kane and Fr. Tracy (and his Irish Setter, Rusty) that I recall. I just sent a photo of Fr. Tracy to my classmates. Rita Japanese BazaarWho remembers the Japanese-American bazaar in the brownstones across from the OLL lower grades school during the war? They had the blue star & the gold star pennants hanging in the windows. They also had a store on Amsterdam Avenue near 144th Street and when they sold coffee the lines would go all around the block. How about the punchball games out side the school, or stoop ball? Anyone remember playing basketball and using the bottom rung on the fire escape ladder as a basket? The nearest basketball court was at 148th Street by the river. If you wanted to "take out" a ball from the park, you would leave a shirt as a deposit. I remember shoveling snow off the court in order to play. Unfortunately those days were the last time the country was almost 100% together. Twenty years from now, these will be the "good old days." Your brother AndrewI palled around with Andy & another kid named Eddie McGlynn. As a matter of fact I have a picture of Andy, Buddy Ayres & me at Rye Beach. Buddy went to Bishop Dubois with us. He was from Vinegar Hill. You didn't mention the Wittlingers. They lived on the first floor in your building. Brendan lives in Virginia. I'm still in touch with him, Matty Waters and Les Scantleberry. Pancho Pereria made a career of the Navy. He died several years ago. JoeJoe, one of my closest friends, was killed in Korea. Dave's DeliI haven't had a good hot corned beef sandwich since I last had one at Dave's. His son Milton was running the store in the 1950s after Dave retired to Florida. Dave's used to have a window in the summer that sold potato knishes (5 cents, with mustard) and of course kosher hot dogs. I heard a Clement Moore fan club still meets every Christmas Eve next to Trinity Church Cemetery and recites "The Night Before Christmas." I was born in 1928 at 853 Riverside Drive. When 90 Riverside was built in 1941 and blocked the view of the Hudson, we moved there. Warm regards, Jackie and Ed The old neighborhoodThe Wittlingers (the twins were the same age as my two younger brothers, also twins), Matty Waters, Les Scantleberry, JoJo: All those names I remember, especially Pancho and his family. For the life of me, I cannot understand why your name doesn't ring a bell. You mentioned the Warriors. Did you know Tommy or Willie Taylor, the Conroys, Drago, Jackie Hughes, etc. What years did you attend OLL? I looked up some old friends on the Internet over the past few years -- said hello and then goodbye when their families called to give me the news: Vinny McCarville, Bruce Boyd, Phil Marshall, Eddie O'Brien -- all gone to their maker. They were spread out all over the country. It was satisfying, however, just to say hello. I met Vinny in New Orleans and we had a beer for the first time in many years. We had gone to sea together during WWII and had a lot of memories. You must forgive my spelling etc. My eyesight is on its way out (along with everything else). I will be 82 in a few months but active and still traveling. I have been to six of the seven continents and my wish is to have breakfast at the South Pole. In friendship, Ed and Jackie Woods ToppersWas Dave's on B'Way near 140th Street? I sold the Sunday News there for 25 cents during the news strike. It was normally a nickel. We had to go down to the News Building to buy them. Overhead! Who remembers the Sugar Bowl on the corner of 143rd and Broadway? A great hangout for different age groups. How about Toppers Ice Cream parlor on B'Way between 139 & 140th? In the 1940s and early '50s you could go to the Audubon Theater at 168th and B'Way on Sunday for 77 Cents and see three features, 23 cartoons, newsreels and an eight-act stage show with such luminaries as Billy Halop of the Dead End Kids or Lash LaRue or Ferdinand the Bull. Top shelf. They must get at lest a buck fifty for admission today! Tea and Nut StoreHi Norm, My mom (Rita Murphy) mentioned there was an Asian family owned Tea and Nut shop in OLL Parish when she was a child (born 1917). She said her brothers, Maurice and John Murphy, would sometimes play with the owners' son. I am wondering if this could be the same shop. Rita ToppersDave's was on the southwest corner of Broadway and 151st Street, a short trip from my home on 152nd near Riverside Drive. I do recall the Sugar Bowl and maybe was in it once or twice but never hung out there. Topper's is a name I never heard before, as far as ice cream parlors go. Thanks so much for mentioning the name and location. Perhaps before my time (1945 baby) or too far from my home. Many people have mentioned the Audubon Theater to me (165-166th Street) but I have no memory of it at all. I do recall the San Juan Theater that took over the space of the old Audubon. I love hearing about Mom's (Rita Murphy's) old neighborhood. Thanks for sharing. Rita Your Name?No, Dave's Deli was on 151st and Broadway. Yes, Toppers & the Sugar Bowl were popular hangouts, however the Piedmont, the Staghorn and the Chesterfield were more popular later on. I have pictures of the great snowfall of December 27, 1947 taken in front of the above mentioned restaurants with a bunch of the guys posing in the cold. The Audubon Theater became better known when Malcom X was murdered in its ballroom. I saw Milton Berle there in the early 1940s. Actually, the Bluebird and the Washington were also popular as they only cost 10 cents (no heat or air conditioning). Memories, memories, dreams of long ago. Ed and Jackie Woods The OLL ChoirI sang in the OLL choir for about 5 or 6 years and hated it.T he only advantage was that we skipped the last class for practice. The downside was that after attending 9 o'clock Mass we had to sing at the 11 o'clock High Mass, which interfered with our Sunday football game. I played with the Junior Cadets. We had a very good team coached by Joe Romo, who went on to be the trainer for the Oakland A's for many years. I saw him at Yankee Stadium whenever the team played the Yankees at home. Joe died several years ago. Mr. Skyler, the choirmaster, wore a wig that could easily be mistaken for road kill. I used to wonder if he was committing a sin by wearing something on his head in church. After all it was no different then wearing a hat during Mass. Mrs. Daly was a very lovely lady who played the organ and gave piano lessons. She lived down the street from us on 142nd between Broadway and Hamilton Place and had something like 10 kids. My sister Maureen was friends with Theresa and Billie. John was I believe the youngest son. Maureen graduated from Notre Dame de Lourdes on Convent Avenue. My sister Frances was close friends with Helen and Rita Nerney, who lived across the street. Fran died in 2002. ToppersI lived at 635 Riverside Drive. I recall Toppers being near the corner of 141st, next to a Jewish deli. In the summer my dad took my brother Tom and me for ice cream there every evening. Happy memories! Bishop DuboisI graduated 1953 from Bishop Dubois. I believe your brother Ernie was in my class at OLL. I hope he is doing well. Give him my regards. Bill Healy Names from the Old NeighborhoodBrendan & Bernie turned 76 on February 2. Don't ask how I remember things like this. I forgot what I had for breakfast this morning. I'll be 76 August 11, weather permitting. Everyone seems to forget Pinky (Michael) Pereria. You are closer to my late brother Jim's age. Jim hung out with Jimmy and John Bartlett, Donald LaGuardia, Tommy & Willie Taylor (born on the same day a year apart -- Irish twins). Again I don't know why I remember these things. Eddie O'Brien used to go by the name Drawde Neirbo, his name spelled backwards. He was a close friend of Big Jack Hughes. I recall a group of you guys joining the Merchant Marine during the war. The Dragos lived on 141st Street between Hamilton Place and Amsterdam Avenue. The youngest (Joseph?) was in my class. A couple of years ago I went down to the old neighborhood with my sons. Surprisingly, it looks great. Lots of renovations going on. My beautiful wife June is a BIC (Bronx Irish Catholic) from the South Bronx. It's not as great a neighborhood as it used to be, but lots of great people came out of there. I took her away from there, married her 50 plus years ago and got her a decent dental plan and raised five kids in New Jersey. I graduated in 1948. It should have been 1947 but Mother Mary Inez red-shirted me in the 6th grade. Will stay in touch. Norm Brown Norm Brown??Norm, I graduated in 1947 from OLL. I knew a kid (Norman Brown) who lived on 141st between Hamilton and Broadway. I think he had a younger brother. He went to OLL with me, but he did not graduate from OLL. Eddie McGlynn was in my class, and the Wittlingers. I lived at 510 W 140th. Are you that Norman? Bill H. The Summer of '66Hi Jackie and Ed, I never had one of Dave or Milton's corned beef sandwiches but I can say that the pastrami on rye was a thing that dreams are made of. I recall the knishes out the window in the summer and the hot dogs. Thanks so much for taking me back in time. Milton would take the pastrami out of that silver steamer box sharpening his knife, and the rest was heaven on rye. Milton was still behind the counter in the summer of 1966 but after that I can't say. I am sure that "The Night Before Christmas" is still recited next to Clement Moore's grave, in Trinity Cemetery. In my day the Girl Scout Troop that met at the Church of the Intercession would participate in the recitation of the Moore piece. I know that 853 Riverside Drive is on the Upper Drive, since I sat on "The Wall" on summer evenings as a teenager. You said you moved in 1941 to 90 RSD -- did you mean 90 or 890? I am not familiar with the numbering of the "lower" drive where the red house sits (so it was called). I am off in search of a good sandwich. Peace, Rita Stagershorn & ChesterfieldMalcom X was shot in the Audubon Ballroom at the back of the theater, which later became the Teatro San Juan. I saw Abbott and Costello there en Espanol. At 7 years old I was run over by a truck at 142 Street and Broadway, right outside the Staghorn, I managed to live! I would hang from the window outside the Chesterfield, watching football games on TV with Bobby Heller and Herby Gil and Buddy McCarthy. That was a hell of a snowstorm in '47. Remember digging tunnels through the snowbanks? You forgot to mention Larry's, just next to the Sugar Bowl. I would watch "Victory at Sea" there. A couple of years ago I took a walk through the OLL neighborhood and realized that when you are a kid everything you see is at eye level and taken for granted, but as you look up and around from a mature aspect it becomes a whole different world. It is really a beautiful area. 90 Riverside Drive WestHi Rita. I'm positive 853 was on the Lower Drive. When the new building went up next to it around 1941, the address was 90 Riverside Drive West. However, it caused so much confusion with 90 Riverside Drive (downtown) that the address was changed to 159-32 Riverside. The plot originally hosted a small golf course. I also went to the Church of the Intercession with the Girl Scouts. Small world. And the wall -- on a hot summer night, standing room only. Jackie West 140th NYCThe kids I hung around with were in the OLL classes of 1940 and 1941. I had a weekend job in 1941 with Ike's Bike Rental on 141st. He needed someone to identify the kids who rented there (bikes rented for 20 cents an hour -- and that's the truth). We started a Junior Air Raid Wardens group and had a store next to Ike's. Collected paper etc, for the war effort. And you are correct, within three years, when we turned 16, McCarvill, O'Brien, Drago and I joined the merchant marine. Did you know the Kieley family -- lived at 1628 Amsterdam before moving to the lower Bronx: Pauline, Rita, Josephine, Peggy and the two boys Nicky and Jimmy. I loved going to their upstairs apartment for tea, especially when Mrs Kiely made Irish Soda Bread. My wife (then girlfriend) Jackie sponsored Jim Kieley when he became a citizen around 1948. He was from County Waterford, the same as her family. We celebrated our 59th anniversary last week. Regards, Eddie Woods My Brother JimYou probably knew my brother Jim Brown. He too was born in 1928. He died three years ago today. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes, spent a couple of years in the Army and graduated from Fordham University. Jim lived in Wycoff, N.J. He was very successful in business. Amsterdam AvenueThe Denning family (10 kids) lived on Amsterdam Avenue between 141st and 142nd. Hughie had polio and wrote away to FDR for an autograph during the war. As it turned out he was the last person to get one. He was in an iron lung at the time. It was a big deal. Lots of press. One of the boys, Peter Schaefer Denning, was born on the back of a beer truck on the way to the hospital. Hence the name. The Connolly brothers, Eamon and Timmy, lived in the same building. Everyone in the family had red hair. Not unlike Bobby Foy's family. If I recall properly, the father looked like Arthur Godfrey, his mom like Lucille Ball, Bobby like Red Skelton, and they had a red cat plus an Irish setter. It took a lot of guts for a group of 16-year-old kids to join the merchant marine. A belated thanks for your service. My wife makes great Irish soda bread. Is there any other kind? You can give ten women the same ingredients for soda bread and you'll get ten different tasting breads. All great! Especially with a cup of Lynches Irish tea. The season is almost upon us once again. The only Kiely (different spelling) I knew was my NYPD partner Timmy, who was from the South Bronx, Hunts Point. Tim grew up with Colin Powell. Having worked in the South Bronx for 25 years and marrying June Margaret O'Brien, one of six girls from there, I pretty much connect with the people of SOBRO, as the area is now known. Sooner or later everything gets yuppified. How about this web site? Something else! Take care, Norm Mea CulpaHi Jackie, Of course you know 853 RSD is on the Lower Drive but Google Maps does not. "Looks like 800 Block of Upper Drive is even numbers and 800 Block on Lower Drive is odd numbers." I did not locate 159-32 but I did find a 159-34 and 159-00, seems to be the last structure (red brick) on the Lower Drive area that we are speaking of, now a co-op but the year of construction is not listed. I have very fond memories of the folks I spent time with on "our" wall. Peace, Rita Yes, it's Kiely I was in error. For whatever resaon, The Dublin House on 79th off the NE corner of Broadway became a meeting place for many of the kids from the OLL area up until the early 1970s: Eamon Connolly, Tommy Taylor etc. I worked with Tom for a short time before be went on the force and then as a T Man. I have not heard from him in too many years. One of great fellows from the old neighborhood. In friendship, Ed Woods My e-mail: eandjwoods50@Yahoo.com P.S. The Kiely family moved to Crimmons Ave in the Bronx West 159th Street NYCDear Rita, I do enjoy rehashing the old neighborhood and the wonderful memories we can recall. Yes, it is the last buillding on the street and I lived there until 1950, when I married Ed. My uncle George lived there until c. 1981 in a rent controlled apartment, and yes, it did become a co-op. When first opened, the building had four entrances. Later, in the 1980s, it was down to one main entrance on the via-dock for safety reasons. I loved our apartment there, which had a beautiful view of the Hudson and the George Washington Bridge. My friend June, nee McAvoy, lived at 3750 B'way. We were together in school for 12 years at St. Catherine's and Sacred Heart. June lives in Maryland. By the way, my e-mail is eandjwoods50@yahoo.com Jackie Woods The Red HouseDear Jackie & Ed, How lucky you were to have lived in the Red House, especially with the views of the bridge and the river. Growing up I never knew anyone who lived there, so never saw the interior, I'm sure it was lovely. I heard that David Dinkins lived there at some point before he became mayor. Many of my classmates lived in 790 Riverside Drive and I was always so impressed that their apartments had two doors. Our apartment was on the fourth floor of a walkup and across the street from a garage. Funny how I was not really impressed by a doorman but by the two doors. I seem to remember a gas station near your friend June's house...other side of Broadway from the museum, now college. One of my St. Catherine's classmates, last I heard, he was teaching at the college. Was Rexall Drug on the corner of 157th, with the newsstand outside the door, when you lived in the Red House? In my home we seemed to have all of the city newspapers -- morning, afternoon and evening, some selling for 4 cents. To this day I read two papers every day and still long to go out Saturday night to pick up the Sunday paper. Thanks for the email. Peace, Rita Class of 1959I attended O.L.L. from 5th to 8th grade. My 5th grade teacher was Mother Mary Edward, what a wonderful woman, 6th was Mother Mary St. Hugh, 7th Mother Mary Edward and 8th Mother Mary Bernadette. Graduated in 1959. Classes were mxed -- black, white and Latino. Memories are mostly good ones -- Father Kline, Father Malloy, Father Hart. The religious experience most memorable, especially during Lent, novenas on Wednesday afternoon and Stations on Friday after school. Liggets / RexallHello Rita, I loved the lunch/soda counter at Liggetts/Rexalls. for whatever reason, my family used the pharmacy across the street, on the east side of B'way, to have prescriptions filled. The family that owned and operated the newsstand helped us lease our first apartment at 600 W. 157th. Apartments were in short supply in 1950. We lived in the unit formerly rented by the Singer Midgets next to Peaches Browning of Daddy Browning fame. Of course they were long gone when we lived there. My father was very active in the Tioga Democratic Club with the Simonetti family. Do you remember Warner's Cafeteria between 157 & 158th? We visited St. Catherine's Church Christmas week 2007 with our niece who wanted to see where she was baptized in 1953. She is on Mayor Bloomberg's staff. Warm regards, Jackie Woods eandjwoods50@yahoo.com Oh, as the poet said, "To return to yesteryear and our salad days." My brother ErnieBilly, Ernie and I went to Bishop Dubois. Ernie for two years and I for three. We both were bounced in 1951 and transferred to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. We went there on a Schrafft's scholarship. Our mom waited on tables at Schrafft's in order to send us there. In those days it was pretty much a blue collar school. It wasn't that far removed from being a reform school. VERY STRICT. Today it's much more hoity toity. I'm still in close touch with my old classmates, most of whom have been successful in life. Ernie was a great basketball player, the first to score over 50 points in a game in Bergen County (three times), breaking Sherman White's record. White was an All American but messed up his career in the 1950-51 college season. Ernie went to Fordham on an athletic scholarship. Ernie died in 2002. He was a very special guy, extremely generous and giving. We miss him a lot. He lived a couple of blocks away from me as did most of my siblings. Sad to say, the circle grows smaller. 1959 OLL gradsAre you out there, does any one remember or know of any of the following graduates of O.L.L. -- Starr Martin, Carol Long or her sisters, Carlotta and Tony, Josephine Velez, Melvina (Kinky) Boyd, Chicky Aponte. I went of to Cathedral and the others to various Catholic high schools and lost touch. After finding this site, many memories have come back. Would like to know how old friends are doing. 600 W. 157thHi Jackie, You lived around the corner from the post office. I remember going there once to get a money order and losing Mom's gray umbrella. Your building was by the Grinnell, where a friend's father was the superintendent during the 60s. Liggett/Rexall -- we went to Snow & Youman's for drugs but to Rexall for film, flashbulbs and of course the soda fountain. The last time I was there was April 1965, just before my son was born. I do not recall a Warner's Cafeteria but do remember the famous, and oh so good, Imperial Deli, Lambos Flower Shop, Commander Bar & Grill, Full Moon & McGuire's. I visited St. Catherine's about 1994 and it was like being in a time warp, except for the piano near the altar. The church was just as I remembered when I got married in 1964, only smaller. The school is now public. I am in touch with some of my friends from the Class of 1958. It was nice that your niece was able to visit the church where she was baptized. I never heard of the Tioga Democratic Club or the Simonetti family (the only Simonettis I know are the family whose niece and son are engaged). Jackie, was the pharmacy on the east side of B'way United or perhaps that was a sign for United Cigar? So nice this walk down memory lane. Best to your Eddie. Peace, Rita Memories: dreams of long agoHi Rita, My close friend June's, nee McAvoy, family lived in the Grinnell for many years. Her grandfather was Judge McAvoy. Eddie claims to have an exceptionally good memory but he says he needs to yield to you. You do have a most wonderful recall. However, he is more familiar with the OLL school and church neighborhood. My brother-in-law (much older than Eddie and me) was in the vending machine business: Ace Distributing -- jukeboxes, cigarette machines etc. Eddie worked for him for a few years when we first married and the company had locations in almost every store in the neighborhood (including the Commander). That is a dead business today. How about Pigeon Park? You couldn't sit there. Warm regards, Jackie Woods GrinnellHi Jackie, Do you recall a Doctor James Farley living in the Grinnell? Doctor Farley must have taken care of half of Washington Heights over a period of many years (had an office on 178 St. between Broadway and Ft. Washington Ave.). Ah, Pigeon Park...I remember it well and always tried to circumvent it! All the best. Rita I remember it wellHi Rita, Our family physician was Dr. VanWorth, as an adult I visited Dr. Liebling, who had an office c. 156th. He later moved down to 72nd Street. A wonderful caring man (who made house calls). My son Ed Jr. was 58 years old this week, I have a picture of him when he was 1 sitting on a pony taken on the corner of 155th and B'way. John Orlando's brother married a St Catherine's girl. I don't know her age. Ain't we got fun? Jackie Woods Current resident of the neighborhood (Grinnell)I'd like to invite you to visit www.audubonparkny.com, which is a virtual walking tour of the neighorhood you're discussing. You can "take the walking tour" online or go to the Sitemap/ Index of Images to read about specific buildings and see pictures from many eras. I'm happy to post any pictures (and credit the owners) of the neighborhood that you'd like to share - focusing on the Audubon Park area (155th to 158th, Broadway to the river). www.audubonparkny.com Walking TourThanks so very much for posting the site for the Audubon Park area...I had a delightful walking tour. Down Memory Lane at OLLWhat happened, did we all run out of memories? Who remembers the stickball field comprised of Hamilton Place from 140 to 141st Street. A ball hit over the small roof on 141st was a double and over the roof at 95 Hamilton Place was a homer. After the war the street was so crowded with cars that the games were moved to Convent Avenue in front of CCNY. There was some heavy money bet on these games. Walking TourThanks, Rita, I'm glad you enjoyed the walk! Please come back and visit the site again. I post a Newsletter on the homepage (www.AudubonParkNY.com ) each month highlighting new pages, information, and research, as well as updates on the Historic District project. Matthew The Prairie StateDoes anyone have memories of the Prairie State? It was a WWI battleship moored in the Hudson River at about 135 Street and I believe used for Naval Reserve training. As kids we snuck on board and played basketball on it. The deck (court) had a bow on it which is partially responsible for the replacement parts in my ankle today. How about the "Dust Bowl" at 148 Street next to the river where we played football and baseball? Today it's state of the art, at least compared to what we played on. Now there is grass on the field. Progress! Under the Via DockFar from being a battleship, the Prairie State (also called the Illinois) was an old transport. However, as youngsters we would have been impressed by its size. Pancho and another neighborhood boy whose name I can't recall trained there before being sent to England as frogmen in preparation for the D-Day landing. It was decided that those boys with big chests (big lungs) could do the job best. I can recall Pancho telling me after the war that he had only a few days of Boot Camp. Sports -- we used the oval near City College. Stick ball -- 144th between Amsterdam and B'way. A ball hit to any roof was an out, never a homer. Spaldines was Spaldings were costly in the 1930s. One had to learn to hit as far up the street as possible, over the sewers. That is why the good hitters (one strike only) were called three-sewer hitters. The Prairie State was docked under the Via Dock c. 130th St. Like you, we visited it often. Nearby were the meatpacking/butcher plants. During the 1930s there were two "Hoovervilles" (hobo camps) under the dock. The overhead gave the men some some protection from the elements. I had an uncle who took me fishing off the piers. I felt sorry for the "lost souls." Then one day they were all gone. Hosed away! I used to wonder where they went. In friendship Ed Woods eandjwoods50@yahoo.com PanchoAs you recall, Pancho was short, about 5'8" and maybe 200 lbs. and a very good athlete -- basketball, baseball and could hold his own on a basketball court. I remember speaking to him about the UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams,the precursor to the Navy Seals) and asking him if they were relegated to swimming all the time. He told me they spent most of the time running, running, running to build endurance. As I remember, the Oval was near Convent Avenue. We never used the term two sewers in stickball. That was a Bronx expression. We bought our pink "Spaldeens" at Rutenbergs candy store on Amsterdam Avenue between 140 and 141 Streets for a nickel. He also sold kids twofers, two for a penny loosies, and Bugle Tobacco so you could roll your own or purchase a corncob pipe to puff away. Loosies were two cigarettes for a penny. I understand due to the cost of smokes they are doing that again. We played "swift pitching" in the park at Hamilton Place between 140 and 141 streets. It was comprised of drawing a box (a strike zone) on the the handball court wall and throwing balls and strikes as hard as you could. I'm a little younger then you but I remember the Swift Meat Plant down by the river and the time John Garfield filmed a scene from a movie, Force of Evil, running down the steps toward the river. Somehow he ended up at the red lighthouse under the GW Bridge and discovered his brother's body, played by Thomas Gomez, in the river. As kids during the war we would fish and crag off the docks right near the old Two Six Precinct. I'll never forget the time my younger brother came home with a catfish and an eel and damn near burned the house down trying to cook them. Boy, life was a lot simpler then. Even with a world war raging. Amsterdam AveRutenbergs, address 1628 Amsterdam, I lived in the upstairs bldg for five years. The Rutenbergs lived in an apt in the back of their store. Tommy Smith worked their paper route for many years. Tommy lived in 1626 next to McCarvill. The Conroys (Johnny the Bull) lived in 1630. Eddie O'Brien lived in 1634 over the Rothschild Deli where we could buy Old Dutch beer for 14 cents a quart plus a 5 cent deposit. "It's for my father." The playground around the corner was busy at night after it closed for the day. My recall of loosies is six for five cents in a small paper bag with six wooden matches. You refer to the station house as the "Two Six Precinct." Something tells me you were "on the job." A good family friend, Frank Lynch, became the Captain at 152nd and Amsterdam (The Three Two)? Your e-mail? In friendship, Ed Woods Three Oh PrecinctYes I worked in the South Bronx for 25 years which included 10 years at the Yankee Stadium,ten of the best years of my life. A ring side seat at the world. We played many games there-- Shae, West Point, etc. -- and traveled to Venezuela with the New York Press team. I worked out with players on the DL. Thurman Munson was a good friend as was Catfish Hunter. Lou Pinella and Graig Nettles. We guarded Pope Paul and Pope John Paul II. John Paul II gave off an aura that was indescribable. I was very close to him on three occasions and he made you weak in the knees and start to shake. Believe me it wasn't his celebrity status. Some of the people I knew were Cary Grant who used to look for me when he came to many games. Someday I'll tell you how he saved my marriage. A funny story! Jimmy Cagney came to a few games. Boy was that sad to see Rocky Sullivan, every Irish American kid's hero, all crippled up with arthritis. I finished up in the Bronx Detective Task Force and never looked back. It was a great career if you rolled with the punches. The six for five must have been filter tips.I forgot about the wooden matches. Do you remember the Hooten Bars they sold? One by two inch chocolate candy stuck on wax paper. Nobody seems to remember them. Rutenberg had the greatest malteds. They kept the milk frozen. God! Were they good! The Three Oh Precinct was at 152 Street & Amsterdam Avenue across from St. Catherines Grammar School where I went to kindergarten for a day. Later it became Bishop Dubois H.S., which I attended for three years before getting bounced along with my younger brother. There was a kid by the name of Neally Riorden who may have lived in your building and a kid by the name of Brian Neeson Hannon who died around 1945. I remember going to his wake on Vinegar Hill. Next we should take a trip down Vinegar Hill. My e mail is fuzz408@optonline.net God bless & HAPPY EASTER Rutenberg'sRutenberg's had the greatest milkshakes mainly because they kept the milk semi frozen. They also had Hooten bars, sheets of one by two inch chocolate that sold for a penny each. I've never met anyone from a different neighborhood who heard of them. Yes, I was on the job for 25 years in the South Bronx. Check your personal e mail. The Three Oh was at 152 Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It's now a landmark. The new precinct is on 151st Street of Amsterdam. How about Wings Cigarettes with the photos of WW II planes? The Shamrock Bar was on the corner of 140th Street and Amsterdam. On weekends guys would pick up containers of beer and carry them over to Convent Avenue for refreshments during the stickball games. Take care, Norm PanchoLooking for any info on Pancho Periera. He is my godfather and was best friends with my dad, Frank Corrigan. OLLumnaI went graduated from OLL in 1950. I came across this great site and I am wondering if anyone graduated the same year. I have been trying to get in contact with my fellow classmates and this looked like a great opportunity! The Old ShamrockI visted the 140th Street area a few years ago and took a few pictures. The Shamrock is gone with the wind -- history. I showed a picture of the building (1626 Amsterdam) to Vinnie McCarvill, who had lived there, when I met him for a beer in New Orleans a few years ago, and he almost wept. Some great memories of our Salad Days came to mind. "Oh the nights at the playground on Hamilton Place." It's the place where we came of age. In friendship, Eddie and Jackie ParishesOne thing folks from New Orleans and New York City have in common is that you identified your neighborhood by the parish in which you lived. Agnes GerrityMy mother, Agnes Gerrity, born 1916, and her brothers Thomas and Richard (born c. 1914 and 1920) attended Our Lady of Lourdes until high school. All three have passed away but I'd love to hear if anyone happens to remember them. Like your mother, my mom loved that school and spoke of it often. Anne Collins OLL Confirmation Day 1935I thought former students would enjoy seeing the uniform we wore in Our Lady of Lourdes School Primary Dept (1st to 4th Grade) during the 1930s. KnickersIt was humiliating having to wear knickers. Remember pulling them down to your ankles and thinking "maybe people will think they are pegged pants"? Boy did we ever fool the public! And how about the high starched collars -- I don't think they could have even gotten Freddie Barthomew to wear them. Didn't we replace them with waterboarding? However Ed, they look great on you. Do you still wear them? Old OLL picsDoes any one have some old OLL class photos or just some neighborhood pictures to post here in the comments? I'm sure a lot of Shorpy addicts would appreciate them. OLLi go to school at lourdes now im in the 8th grade and i think its really cool to see people talk about the memories they had about my school before i was even born and i would love to see some kind of picture of the inside of the school like a class picture so i can see what it used to look like [Just wait'll you get to Capitalization and Punctuation. - Dave] Class of 1964I too went to OLL from '57-'64. My parents and I moved to 3495 Broadway at 143rd St. in 1956. I started in the 4th grade with Mother Mary William. The school in those days was no longer a military academy. We wore navy blue uniforms, white shirts and the school tie and the girls wore navy blue jumpers with a white blouse and blue tie. It was very interesting reading about all the students who came before me and where they lived. I always was so curious to find out how this old neighborhood looked like years before we moved in. As you all know, the area changed at some point racially, although when I was at OLL the school was still predominantly white with a handful of Black children. I will always have wonderful memories of my time at OLL. My parents moved out of the area in 1969 and I since been back once to recapture some old memories of my childhood. NostalgiaThe picture that follows is the 1937 graduation class with the girls omitted. Monsignor McMahon built church and school(1901-1913); after 15 years as Curator at St Patrick's Cathedral, constructed 7 years earlier. See church of Our Lady of Lourdes for construction details. At the time of graduation, Fr's Mahoney, Dillon and Brennan resided across from the Church. The Poor Clares home was to right of the church, and secondary had Society of the Holy Name Jesus sisters. School and Church gave us faith and hope and discipline. Our world was the depression years followed by the wars. Our class of 1937 was just in time. The handsome lad below the sergeant stripes is the brother of contributor Ed Woods.Ed,and brothers Bill and Dennis served with distinction. Andy Saraga bottom right was a highly decorated Marines The others served as well. I hope Our Lady of Lourdes provides the inspiration our families sought for us. Nostalgia 1937The 1937 graduation photo is great. It's with both sadness and pride to think that most of these wonderful kids would be defending our country in a very short time in different uniforms.Believe it or not this military training was useful. How about more pictures like this and some candid neighborhood shots. OLL in the NYThttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/nyregion/16priest.htm So interesting: A more recent residentJust want to say that I've read every entry on this post. It is so interesting to read the memories shared by those that lived way before you in the same neighborhood. My mother and I live on 135th Street near Riverside between 66th and 77th, then moved to 138th between Hamilton and Amsterdam. I went to PS 161 and graduated from CCNY. I also have fond memories of my childhood. I used to play basketball in an after school center at Our Lady of Lourdes as a young kid, visited the area a couple of years ago and brought back great pics. Cheers to all Mauricio The Grinnell: Celebrating Its Centennial Those of you who remember The Grinnell (800 Riverside Drive) may be interested to know that the residents have just begun celebrating the building's centennial. We're having a year of events,so this is a great year to visit! Check the website: http://www.thegrinnellat100.com/ for photos, historical news articles, and residents' memories (and contribute your own). Click the calendar tab for a listing of the events between now and July 2011. Matthew Why Grinnel!The hundredth anniversary of a building? Forgotten is the fact that it's also the anniversary of the site building, and all the memories fast fading. I think Ed Woods of all the graduates, always hit the mark. Several others struggled to add something. If someone remembers the names of the sisters and preferably anecdotes please don't deny this information from this site. I personally remember sister Rose from 4th grade 1934. I believe Mother Michael provided my brother Andy's Confirmation name. Others with better memories speak up. Also it wasn't only our generation that owes recognition for all given freely. Christmas at Our Lady of LourdesAt Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the statues in the creche would be replaced by live students. The scene would be repeated the following day at the 9 o'clock Children's Mass and the 11 o'clock High Mass. A live baby would be borrowed to lie in the manger. The girl who posed as the Blessed Mother and the boy who posed as Joseph were the envy of the entire student body. "Oh to return to yesteryear." Happy New YearThank you SHORPY for bringing back to us so many wonderful memories. It has been said pictures are worth a thousand words. Shorpy's pictures, however, are worth so much more -- just can't put a number on them. Thank you and a Happy New Year to the Shorpy Staff. Ed and Jackie Woods [And thank you, Ed and Jackie, for inspiring the hundreds of interesting comments in this thread. - Dave] The OLL neighborhoodIt's nice reading and re-reading your stories about OLL, Hamiliton Place,and seeing the names listed. Many years ago, in my past, I visited the old neighborhood only to find it somewhat depressing, old and in poor shape. One time in particular I had parked my new "rental car" near West 144th street, and was showing my young children some of the places I lived on Amsterdam Ave, Hamilton Place ( 95 and 115 buildings) when two older African Americans came up to us, and said you'd be better not park here." It wasn't said as a threat, but more it's unsafe here, now that the area has changed. I had told them that I used to live here many years ago. I am glad to hear from Norm, that the area has rebounded, and in looking at the prices of the real estate I wish we had stayed here. Keep up the good work. Matt Waters mattminn@aol.com Hi Anon Tipster 1959. I used to date Carlotta Long & visited her lovely home many times. 147 off Convent as I recall. I often wonder in my old age (69) whatever happened to her & how her life turned out. I did graduate from Dubois in 1960, so I'm very familiar w/the sights & places referenced here. So glad I found this site. Tis That Time of YearThank you SHORPY for another year of nostalgic pictures and comments. Brought to us in Black and White and Living Color. Such fond memories of long ago, especially the itchy bathing suits. In the 1920s and up to the early 1940s, when on or near the beach and boardwalk, boys had to wear the coarse wooolen suits with the tops on at all times. Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New York to Dave and staff. Ed and Jackie Woods Our Yearly PlaysI graduated in 1960 after 8 memorable years. I remember our yearly plays in the auditorium and all the hard work and practice we put into it. Father Hart was our pastor and I remember our farewell speech to him. My best friend was Lydia Marin and I remember Maria Santory, Joyce Brown, Maria Matos, Alma Mora, Maureen Quirk. If any of you from this class are around, give a shout. Jackie Erick Class of 1964Class of 1964 where are you guys? Write something here you remember. Do you remember me? OLL Class of 1957Here's the names of the boys' teachers from 1949 to 1957. I think I have then all correct. Grade 1, 1949-1950: Mother Mary Theodosia Grade 2, 1950-1951: Sister Mary Macrina Grade 3, 1951-1952: Mother Mary Eulalia Grade 4, 1952-1953: Mother Mary Declan Grade 5, 1953-1954: Mother Mary Edwards Grade 6, 1954-1955: Mother Maria Del Amor Grade 7, 1955-1956: Mother Mary Euphrates Grade 8, 1956-1957: Mother Mary Rosario Eighteen nuns lived in the convent adjacent to the church on 142nd Street: eight boys' teachers, eight girls' teachers, the school principal, known as the Reverend Mother, and the housekeeper. Six priests and the pastor lived in the rectory on the south side of 142nd Street. OLL was also known as Old Ladies' Laundry. I've written down the names of almost all the boys who, at one point or another, were part of the class of 1957. Only 27 graduated in 1957. Many were expelled in 1956 as part of a crackdown on gang membership. Mother Mary Rosario was brought in to preside over a difficult situation, but after the expulsions her job turned out to be not that complicated. I'll post the list of names another time. Our Lady of Lourdes Alumni ReunionHello out there. I am a current parent at Our Lady of Lourdes. As we enter a new decade, OLL would would like to start planning a few reunions. I am looking for some potential organizers to help us reach out and plan events in the new year. Please reach out if you are interested in planning or connect dots. There are many new happenings at the school. We will be launching a new website by the end of the month with an alumni portion. Thank you! Vanessa vdecarbo@ollnyc.org Class of 1971Hi! I graduated in 1971 and our teacher was Sister Patricia. I remember Marlene Taylor, Karen, Miriam, Dina, Elsie, Maria and Robin, Carla, Margaret and Giselle. Our class was an all girl class. I also remember Sister Rebecca, Sister Theresa, Sister Rosemarie (our history teacher). I continued to Cathedral High School but I miss all my dear classmates. Is there anyone out there who enters this site? My email is n.krelios@yahoo.com I would love to hear from someone. Marlene Taylor became a doctor (wonderful!!!). Shorpy Hall of FameIf there were a Shorpy Hall of Fame, this photo would definitely have to be in the inaugural class. I've enjoyed going through the many comments for this photo going back to 2007 even though I have absolutely no connection to the school other than being Catholic. What is equally as awesome is that a look at the location today via Google Maps indicates that, other than a few trees, fire hydrants, automobiles and removal of the statue, everything is basically the same today. Double DutchKllroy is correct about not much having changed, but it looks like even the foreground fire hydrant is in the same place (but a newer model). It looks like the circa 1914 photographer was set-up on the northeast corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 143rd Street. The Google Maps photo was taken travelling northbound on Amsterdam Avenue. So basically both photos are shot from almost the same location; it is interesting how the vintage image makes 143rd Street appear much shorter than in the Google image. I guess it's the result of different formats and lenses. By the way, the buildings at the far end of the T-intersection, on Convent Avenue (mostly blocked by the trees in the Google image), reflect NYC's Dutch heritage [ETA:] as does "Amsterdam" Avenue. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, G.G. Bain, Kids, NYC)
Argentine Yard: 1943
... Kansas City, Kansas. "Argentine Yard, Santa Fe R.R. -- Night view of the departure yard on the route of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2024 - 6:59pm -

March 1943. Kansas City, Kansas. "Argentine Yard, Santa Fe R.R. -- Night view of the departure yard on the route of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway." Previously seen here, in color. Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Light BriteOn the left the lantern or flashlight of a RR worker creates a streak of light passing the train cars. You can get an idea of the exposure length. Long ExposureLong enough for that carman to walk past at least 8 cars to check out what looks to be brake hoses, door latches, and whatever else. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
A Quiet Night: 1977
... photo depicts the cool serenity of a New England autumn night with everyone asleep except for perhaps a lone dog barking at the sound ... many teenagers in quiet towns, loved to take long walks at night. That photo could have been taken during one of my wanderings. ... 
 
Posted by rizzman1953 - 05/04/2012 - 10:17pm -

Medford, Mass., circa 1977. Marion Street about 2 a.m. around the corner from my house. It was fall and the leaves were just turning over a Pinto wagon with fake wood paneling. I took this for a class at the New England School of Photography. The exposure was about a minute with a 4x5 view camera. The wind hardly moved. It was a truly beautiful timeless moment. View full size. Those Big Treesare long gone now. Great work.Enjoyed that take. Pinto wagon being turned overI bet the police were not amused. Another Great ContributionThanks rizzman1953 for another great photo. ThanksGreat shot! Oh yesI love this. If I could climb into that photo, I would. Mighty good work, indeed.The street looks so peaceful. Pinto SquireRizzman, this photo, and the previous We're the Nuts: 1970s, are fantastic both for their technical expertise as well as for genuinely capturing the feeling of an era and place. Before even reading the caption, I sensed this photo was New England - In my experience, multifamily houses with two-story screened porches are a Northeast phenomena. This architecture could be from Boston, Providence or New Haven and I am hardly surprised to read it is Medford. My grandparents owned a similar house and the second-story front screened porch was my favorite place to play, as well as my grandfather's favorite place to smoke a stogie. A Pinto Squire wagon with faux wood-grain siding - what could be more emblematic of the 70s? Love this shotReally nice! This makes me want to dig out some of my 4x5 negs that I shot back in the early 70's. Still have the camera too. Sometimes I hear it calling to me from the closet saying, "take me out tonight," but just as I reach for the case it adds, "and get me a digital back while you're at it." My neighborhood?No, not really--I am in Oregon. However, our neighbors have that exact same model Pinto, down to the "genuine faux wood" on the sides! Great Lighting and MoodWithout the automobiles, this image could just as well have been taken months ago in any older northeastern neighborhood. Which speaks of the image quality of the photo. But the cars help to date this photo precisely. This was a time that in retrospect was much simpler, though it didn't seem so at the time. Good-Eye!Wow, interesting photos, Rizzman. You've got a good-eye...please keep them coming. Hope you're documenting this Century for the 'Shorpy-Type' viewers of the future. Disco InfernoMy friend had a Pinto back in the late 1970s. She had a bumper-sticker on it that said "INFLAMMABLE". Fantastic shotThe tone of the leaves in the trees almost make it look as if they were photographed with B&W Infrared film. I was bummedwhen looking at this photo, and your previous one, not to see the link for "Buy Fine-Art Print"! DoppelgängerI grew up in a section of Queens, NYC named Woodhaven - and it was. Your shot perfectly captures the tone of curfew-dodging walks home from Forest Park, hand in hand, the utter stillness of those nights on which we didn't even speak loudly out of respect for those in bed. Her name was Christine. Feel the peace and quietIt goes without saying that this magnificent photo depicts the cool serenity of a New England autumn night with everyone asleep except for perhaps a lone dog barking at the sound of the photographer. Tomorrow must be trash day as most residents remembered to put their garbage on the curb for early pickup. I wonder if the mattress and box spring left for disposal came from the Texas Mattress Co. we saw just last week (Nah! It would be 38 years old, not to mention the long commute). I can't stop looking.This photograph is Literature. Not To Be Corny -- But I Got WeepyLike another poster, I was raised in Queens -- Middle Village, New York. I grew up in the 1970s and, like many teenagers in quiet towns, loved to take long walks at night. That photo could have been taken during one of my wanderings. Something about the quiet, and the quality of light, the sense of awareness in a sleeping town. It's a very evocative photo, not just because of my deeply personal reasons for loving it. I'm also deeply appreciative of your previous, gas station photo. For some reason, there has not been a nostalgia for the 70s as evinced for that of the 30s through the 60s -- even the 80s! However, there was a quality to the 70s, perhaps a sense of the nation collectively catching its breath after the turbulent 60s, that was quite special. A perfect compositionI lived in a neighborhood like this in New Haven in the 70s. Like so many others, I find this photo releases a flood of memories. Beautiful work. Right out of an early Spielberg movieThe 1970s was a good time to be a kid. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
Leave It to Beaver: 1958
... Don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?" Not a typical American, but... I say "swell" all the time. ... my quiz for all Hi all! You are The Best!!! G'night have you ever I have noticed that, even in Mayfield. That was for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/15/2018 - 7:10pm -

I was watching an episode from the second season (1958-59) of "Leave It to Beaver" tonight when I got to the part where Ward reads a note from Beaver's principal, Mrs. Rayburn. If you freeze-frame the note it says: Mr. Ward Cleaver 485 Mapleton Drive Mayfield, State My Dear Mr. Cleaver: This paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with anything. It is here merely to fill up space. Still, it is words, rather than repeated letters, since the latter might not give the proper appearance, namely, that of an actual note. For that matter, all of this is nonsense, and the only part of this that is to be read is the last paragraph, which part is the inspired creation of the producers of this very fine series. Another paragraph of stuff. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. My typing is lousy, but the typewriter isn’t so hot either. After all, why should I take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with which all of us must contend. Lew Burdette just hit a home run and Milwaukee leads seven to one in the series. This is the last line of the filler material of the note. No, my mistake, that was only the next to last. This is last. I hope you can find a suitable explanation for Theodore’s unusual conduct. Yours truly, Cornelia Rayburn To judge by the contents (here's the last line, whoops, no, HERE's the last line) whoever did this folded the note first, to mark the middle third of the paper, then put it in the typewriter, started the body of the letter at the first crease and banged away until he had enough to fill out the middle section. The Lew Burdette reference would put the date at October 2, 1958 — Game 2 of the World Series between the Braves and the Yankees, and a month before this episode ("Her Idol") aired. I see where this has been referenced elsewhere on the Web but as far as I can tell no one has transcribed the entire letter. Until now! We now return to our regularly scheduled program. [Postscript: The Jim Letter] Leave It To Beaver, 1958BEAUTIFUL!! :) Thanks for the update. We used to get this show Down Here (Oz) and I can remember watching every episode if possible. Crikey...that gives my age away! BK Canberra Australia LITB on DVDSeason 1 and Season 2 are available on DVD from Amazon. beaver lettertoo funny!!!!!!!!! Ahh...that's awesome. ThanksAhh...that's awesome. Thanks for posting this! I love it.That's FANTASTIC. Awesome!Back in the 50's they never dreamed anyone would be able to freeze frame on the TV picture. How funny would it have been had the writer typed something REALLY embarrassing! Great post!!Great post!! Fan-freakin- tastic!!This is just too cool for mere words. Nonetheless, words must suffice. Excellent!! Marvelous!I wish every movie had stuff like that for us to find. 21 inch B&W TV set.That's what you had if you really splurged on a TV for the living room in those days. No sense buying a color TV, since for the $700 (and up) one of those cost, you got to watch maybe one show a week in color - a variety show "special" with Fred Astaire perhaps. Anyway, you couldn't possibly read the letter from a 525-line video, no matter how big your TV was. Film, maybe, but not video. [I don't know about that. I'm the one who deciphered the letter and created this post, and I used a 10-year-old, 27-inch, 525-line low-definition Sony. The main obstacle to being able to read it in 1958 would have been that it was onscreen for just a few seconds. - Dave] Timely...Canadian viewers who get SunTV will be able to catch that episode this Friday (May 4th) at 12:30 pm... Re: awesome!Don't you know? Back inthe fifties people didn't HAVE embarrassing thoughts that could spill out onto the printed page! Sheesh. Get with the program. So, did a writer on the show type this up, ordid he hand it off to a secretary for her to type? This comment has absolutely nothing to do with anythingit's just here to take up space. I'd use this space to root for my favourite hockey team and thus forever determine the exact time this comment was written but I can't get excited about any of them. I would guessI would guess the tomfoolery is the prop master's work, and he probably made the prop the day before, or earlier in the day, so it's more likely the actual day of shooting was October 3rd. ["The date" means the date the note was typed. My hunch is that the show's producers, Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, are behind it. They slipped written references to themselves into a number of other episodes. - Dave] That's tamer than most propThat's tamer than most prop letters I've seen. In the last play I worked on the prop master ranted for 3 pages about the playwright, added sexual escapades in the characters backstory and other in-jokes. Thank god the audience is 40 feet away and there's no freeze-frame in live theatre! wardi can't wait to get the second season. it's a great show. that is one hell of a letter. obviously Mrs. Rayburn is either on a nice dose of pharm's or desperately needs one. awesome. Rodine, NYC BK Canberra. crikey?For anyone reading BK's reply above, as another resident of australia, let me just assure you that nobody here actually uses the word "crikey". That would be like an american going around saying "dandy", "swell" or even that old chestnut, "geewilllickers". The crocodile hunter only ever used the word "crikey" when teasing an animal or selling something. Thanks, Dan, Sydney. Prop funIn a high school production of the musical Cinderella, the scroll that's supposed to contain all the names of His Royal Highness Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir (and so on) was covered by our props department with just one line, in big bold letters: "DON'T SCREW UP". I use the word Crikey on occasionAnd have been known to utter the odd 'by jingoes', 'cobber' or, my personal favourite, 'strewth'. Anyone who doesn't occasionally enjoy such words (especially when overseas) is quite simply un-Australian mate :) Mark, Sydney. PS: Good work on the leave it to Beaver letter - I love this stuff! LITBGolly geewillikers that was swell. The absolute bees knees. Just dandy. thanks. Egads......So, where's the text for the second page, which contains the *real* "Roswell Press Release"? :) That is so awesome! HowThat is so awesome! How freaking cool...I got chills reading it, because I'm sure that guy never thought anyone would ever read that letter. Sarah Too much like real lifeReading this, I am suddenly transported back 25 years to my American History class in 10th grade. I was supposed to be writing an essay about American gangsters of the early 20th century, and for some reason I became convinced that my teacher would never read everyone's paper every single time. So being the incredibly wise-ass young man that we all are at 16, I dropped in three or four lines, beginning mid-sentence in a paragraph about Al Capone's bootleg whiskey empire, all about how my grandmother's poodles enjoyed riding in cars (or some equally stupid text about my grandmother...the exact words escape me now), and then went on to say that I know that he (my teacher) would never read everyone's paper and that he would never know these lines were buried in my own paper. I then went on to finish the rest of the paper normally, and handed it in with a smile on my face. The day after I turned in the paper, the teacher stood in front of the whole class and read my paper out loud. Had there been a way to drop through the floor at that time...I'd have taken it. 25 years later, I can STILL feel my face get red, just thinking about it! I can commiserate with the author of Beaver's letter... "the typewriter isn't so hot""My typing is lousy, but the typewriter isn’t so hot either" why do I have this sense that in 1958 people weren't saying "the typewriter isn't so hot" [I don't know. Why do you? - Dave] bravo"After all, why should I take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with which all of us must contend." GLORIOUS. greek to meLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vivamus risus risus, ultrices vel, mollis vel, faucibus sagittis, diam. Nunc dignissim odio in est. In mattis condimentum erat. Nunc ac nunc. Vivamus eget elit. Aliquam pellentesque. Aliquam dignissim tellus vitae tortor. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Nam tincidunt pulvinar urna. Quisque sed risus. Sed tempus, elit ut tempus iaculis, purus sapien vulputate leo, quis commodo pede magna vel turpis. Cras ac pede. Suspendisse tincidunt, nunc vel ultrices adipiscing, lacus augue bibendum magna, sit amet scelerisque felis nulla eu lectus. Sed sit amet elit. Pellentesque id dui. Pellentesque vel justo. Quisque sit amet mi quis tellus rhoncus blandit. Maecenas arcu. Aliquam ipsum. [More like "Latin to me" - Dave] letter to mr. cleaver I thought it would read: "Gee, Ward. Don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?" Not a typical American, but...I say "swell" all the time. "Keen" and "Dandy", too. Lew Burdette's World Series HomerDid come in the bottom of the first inning on October 2, 1958. The Braves had already won the opening game the previous day, also in Milwaukee. The bottom of the first inning, after the Yankees got a 1-0 lead in their first at bat, began when Bill Bruton hit a 2-2 pitch for a home run to tie the game. The Braves went on to win the second game and then the Yankees won the third. After the Braves also won the fourth game, The Yankees won three in a row to win the series. This had only happened once before in 1925 when the Washington Senators came back with three straight wins after being down 3-1 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ten years later in 1968, the Detroit Tigers came back to win the final three games after being down 3-1 to win the 1968 World Series. Donald F Nelson LITB rocksexcellent "leave it to beaver" rocks!! ward rules! june was hot and i dont mean the month. Common PracticeHaving been a Property Master in the television business for quite a few years, I can assure you that this is extremely common. The text could be the actor's lines if they have a tough scene and the prop guy likes them. Sometimes it is jokes designed to crack the actor up during the first take. Other times it is exactly this kind of stream-of-consciousness rambling serving no greater purpose than filling up the page. My specialty was always the fine print on package labels. The warning on the beer labels in the first "American Pie" movie said that beer could cause pregnancy, cause you to act like an idiot, or just plain F- you up. Re: greek to me"Lorem ipsum" etc. is Latin not Greek. Quasi-LatinSee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum Cheers! Have you everHave you ever noticed the newspapers Ward reads during this series? There is usually some reference to a MURDER or some other catastrophe. Highly unusual for Mayfield. And I thought we were obsessed with Beaver at The First Leave It To Beaver WebSite Stop by and learn about The Complete Unofficial Leave It To Beaver Trivia Encyclopedia Marcus Tee Speaking of Ward's newspapers...... do they ever include my two favorite column headlines: New Petitions Against Tax Building Code Under Fire After watching nearly 200 old films (courtesy of Mystery Science Theater 3000), these seem to be the two most common newspaper prop filler headlines in films of the '40s and '50s. I wonder if they found their way into '50s and '60s television, too. I adore thisSo far, this is the highlight of my day. Thanks for transcribing this! Love the BeavI love this show. So many great quotes: "Gee Dad, I wouldn't mind telling the truth if so much hollering didn't go along with it." But who knew there were Leave it to Beaver easter eggs? This post made my day. Re: "crikey"@Dan Re: "crikey" That was helpful. I've always wondered when Steve Irwin said that why no one from our Australian offices used the term. You confirmed what I thought. Thanks Lorem Ipsum to BeaverThat is just so much better than the placeholder text one typically sees. Are there jobs out there for lorem ipsum writers? Craigslist has not a one. Excellent post. Thanks. the sobsister http://www.thesobsister.com Building Code Under FireI think I've seen "Building Code Under Fire," & maybe the other headline as well in episodes of Perry Mason. Obviously some prop house printed a zillion front page mock-ups that were used forever. And often the program-specific headlines are in a completely different font than the rest of the mock-op. I also dig when a prop magazine is on glossy paper so it will look real, but the glossy stock it's printed on is so heavy it barely moves, let alone looks real. M. Bouffant Great!I think that is so very cool! interesting interchange!i enjoyed reading this very much. i'm in a library in orlando, florida. Very funny and entertaining!Very funny and entertaining! Gotta love all those old B&W shows!!! It's a pretty common practice.I've read some interesting freeze frames in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell, also. oh?Can you post some BtVS freezeframes you find of interest? That's what I'm alwaysThat's what I'm always scared of! too funny!!! It's like the whole RoswellIt's like the whole Roswell Memo, but more important. Written on 10/2/58I don't know why but I decided to do some research on the date this letter may have been written and I'm pretty sure it's Thursday October 2nd 1958. I tried to go further and find the time of day but I can only estimate late afternoon pacific time (assuming it was written in LA). The Lew Burdette sentence references the first inning of game 2 in the 1958 World Series between the Milwaukee Braves and New York Yankees. Milwaukee went on to win the game 13 to 5 but the Yankees won the series. Re: Written 10/2/58Another clue would be the caption under the letter that says it was written during Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 2, 1958! Thanks for posting this!It's too, too wonderful. Thank ghod there are people like you in the world who pay attention to details. my quiz for allHi all! You are The Best!!! G'night have you everI have noticed that, even in Mayfield. That was for Ward not the kids, the show was done from a childs view. Marcus your web site is really great, and the encylopedia with its "map" is a lot of fun. Nice running into you on this site. OMGIf you read the letter upside down and backwards, it says that Space Aliens are going to attack the world on May 09, 2007. HEY, THAT'S TOMORROW! RUN & HIDE! Old school Formatting Well, I tried the paper trick (folding it in thirds and starting the body of the letter at the crease) and now my printer is broken and the red light is flashing. Now what? Burdette "hit a homerun"?That's very odd, given that he was not a batter, but was instead famously known as the Braves' MVP pitcher, who won three games in the World Series of 1957! [It's kind of hard to pitch when your team is at bat. Lew hit a three-run homer. - Dave] Lew Burdette's homerunLew's three-run homer came in the first inning of Game 2. Leave it to Beaver, 1958Great photo from the archives. I was only 3 years old at the time. I'm sure that I saw it a few years later. Loved the baseball reference. Keep up the good work. rcisco Cisco Photo Carmel, IN Now you've done it.I always wondered what was written on prop letters, but never did anything to find out. Now I know how, and every movie I watch on DVD gets freeze frame and zoom. Last night it was My Fair Lady and while Eliza is working on her 'H's, just over 1 hour into the film...well, you ought to check it out. My family hates you. Letters shown on cameraSo I guess Ward didn't read this one out loud as others were read out loud. Wally reading the letter from the Continental Modeling Agency and the letter from the Merchant Marines. Also they don't show the letter from Marathon Records but Beav read it out loud as does Ward reading the letter from Mason Acme Products. Scrabby Newspapers on LITBDid you notice how many different newspapers are shown on the show. I had to freeze frame to find them all. Mayfield Times Mayfield Dispatcher Press Herald Courier Sun Mayfield News anymore? Scrabby Newspapers on LITBYou should talk to Marcus Tee at his web site (its posted a few comments down) he is the expert The Beaver LetterWard did read it out loud - the crucial last paragraph. Soapy SudsNotice how one magazine Ward is reading always has a Soapy Suds ad on the back. Lou, The Braves and the Beav...As a Milwaukee kid (then not quite five years old), I got a special kick out of seeing this. Oct. 2, 1958 was my big sister's 15th birthday. At that age she was a HUGE Braves fan-- found and mailed the team four-leaf clovers, etc. So (the '58 Series outcome notwithstanding) a Braves victory and a three-run shot by Burdette was probably a birthday present for her. A better letterHow fun! 100 years from now it'll be easier to find your transcription than to watch the entire episode. Perhaps the episode will have been made famous to future generations because they're hoping to catch a quick view of the Famous Letter. Full circle ironics and all that. P.L. Frederick Small and Big The LetterThis is the greatest letter I have ever read. Thank you. Other Letters on LITBWonder if the other letters that are sent to the Cleavers are written like this one. For instance the letter Beaver gets from the Continental Modeling Company which we only see the address or the letter from the Merchant Marines. Sometimes they don't even show the letter like the one from Mason Acme Co or Marathon Record Company. Lew BurdetteI remember Lew pitching. He had a routine: Adjust hat, lick fingertips, wipe on chest! I later copied the move when I pitched in Little League! BeaverI remember when Beav was playing with a set of trains over at Mary Ellen Rodgers's house. The were marked for the JC & BM railroad. Quite a nice layout, wonder who got to keep it. [Right. JC & BM were Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, the series creators. - Dave] Currently #1 on RedditThe Beaver Letter has been the No. 1 post on Reddit since around midnight. Check out the comments. Modern speakWow, they used correct English in that letter. If that letter were typed today it would read: Mr. Ward Cleaver 485 Mapleton Drive Mayfield, State My Dear Mr. Cleaver: tl:dr GTFO. LOL, ur son iz dum. k thx I admit it!I went out with Loren Ipsum in high school and we fooled around behind the stage. Second base only! Those 1960s BirthdaysEveryone here looks terrified. My 7th Birthday Party in La Puente, California. Home Addressshame on that staff writer. If he had only payed paid attention to the opening theme he would know there was a clear shot of front door showing the house number as "211". But .. specifically: 211 Pine Street, Mayfield, Ohio [The Cleavers lived in two houses. The first was on Mapleton, the second on Pine. And as for Ohio, Mayfield was famously stateless. - Dave] Leave it to Beaver - the Skokie ConnectionHere is an update on Leave it to Beaver including vintage stock footage of Skokie, Illinois. I also very proudly deciphered the Beaver letter featured here, only to find Shorpy beat me to it by several years. As you'll see, I give full credit where it is due. http://silentlocations.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/leave-it-to-skokie-and-b... (Bizarre, Curiosities, Kids, TV)
Dept. Store Noir: 1950
... Street, Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. Exterior, by night." (Daytime view here .) 5x7 inch acetate negative by ... to life! Re: Your Wish Awesome! Thanks, DaveA. Night Pictures I love taking night pictures. And I can't do as well as this. Beautiful photo. Another ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/16/2017 - 10:16am -

June 8, 1950. "Fields department store, business at 37th Avenue and 82nd Street, Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. Exterior, by night." (Daytime view here.) 5x7 inch acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. "The After Hours"The photo reminds of this "Twilight Zone" episode where the mannequins came to life! Re: Your WishAwesome! Thanks, DaveA. Night PicturesI love taking night pictures. And I can't do as well as this. Beautiful photo. Another title for the animated gif might be "Night Moves" Unintentional artI know that Gottscho-Schleisner were commercial photographers working for paying clients, and didn't intend for their work to be art, but that's what it is today. I think Horydczak's work falls in that category, too. What I'd like to see now is an animated GIF combining the daytime shot with this one. Your WishIs my command (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC, Stores & Markets)
Night Freight: 1943
March 1943. "Santa Fe R.R. yard at night, Kansas City, Kansas." Note the light trails made by the yard workers' ... taking photos of strategic locations in the dead of night? American Locomotive The only diesel switcher I see is on the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/11/2017 - 2:04pm -

March 1943. "Santa Fe R.R. yard at night, Kansas City, Kansas." Note the light trails made by the yard workers' torches in this time exposure, as well as a phantom number (3167, at right) on a train that paused in front of the camera. 4x5 inch Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. View full size. Phantom NumberThe number 3167 was most likely from an engine. The boxcar numbers would not have been that large, and the font is the same as the other engines. wowholy shitakies thats creepy Fascinating!!!Fascinating!!! AmazingBest photo ever. KC and the Moonshine BandThis looks to be a waxing crescent moon (upper left), which would mean this image was exposed on March 10, 1943, give or take a day, according to this moon phase chart: https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/1943/march Disclaimer: I am not an astronomer, nor do I play one on TV. Oh yes!I'm surprised that all the shunters are diesel/electric. I would've expected that they would've been the last changed, not the first. Diesel SwitchersFor a long time, it was thought best to keep the new and high maintenance diesels in the yard, where they could do less damage if they broke down. Also, it was thought that diesel-electrics were not well siuted to hauling main line fast freight. The EMD (originally EMC) FT demonstrator tour had a lot to do with changing that attitude, by proving that a stock diesel locomotive design could replace steam locomotives in everyday road service all over the country. There's the moonThe streak in the upper left is a crescent moon, being occasionally obscured by clouds in a very long exposure. Nifty! See something, Say something.I wonder if anyone ever called the Cops on Mr Delano, taking photos of strategic locations in the dead of night? American LocomotiveThe only diesel switcher I see is on the left, either an ALCo S-1 or an S-2 the others are tenders for steam locomotives. I operated an ALCo S-1 that was built in 1943, for 14 years, and it still hits the tracks daily. Ten years onand no one's spotted the Phantom 843 mid-picture? ProceedJudging from the lantern trail next to the tank car, the yard worker was giving the engineer in the ghost engine the signal to proceed. 3167, Found and LostThis mysterious steam locomotive was a Baldwin 2-8-2 "Mikado" type that was lost in the Kaw River flood in Topeka in 1951. Meanwhile, four years agoThe elusive 3167 was spotted attempting to flee the yard. Chasing the motive powerAccording to Steamlocomotive.com, #3167 was a Mikado built by Baldwin in 1917, lost in a flood in 1951 or '52, and now living at the bottom of the Kaw River in Topeka. #737 appears to be an 0-8-0 yard engine built in the Santa Fe's own shops around 1929; #831 is also an 0-8-0 built sometime in the early 1930s. Both would make eminent sense to be working in a big switchyard. (Source) Found that too@Olentzero: Ghost #843 was yet _another_ early-1930s 0-8-0 yard engine, no surprise at all to see in this environment. The other Alco.Slekjr is correct, the only diesel in this photo is the leftmost loco, which I think is an S-1. The other two are 0-8-0 steam switchers, converted by the Santa Fe shops from 2-8-0 road engines originally built by Baldwin and Alco's Rhode Island works respectively. The other important reason that diesels were first used in yard service was their greater availability compared to steam locos. A diesel could probably work all three shifts in a yard without needing any attention at the engine terminal, whereas the steamers would need to be watered, fuelled, sanded, lubricated, and have their fires cleaned and ashpan emptied at least once or twice during the course of a 24 hour period. So their productivity was much greater than the steam engines they replaced. East is east and west is west... and never the trains shall meet. Or something. I went back through the other Delano photos in Argentine Yard and I think, maybe, I have an improved location for this photo. It's on the Goddard Avenue viaduct, looking west. Probably. In the big daytime picture of Argentine seen previously on Shorpy, I am pretty sure that 1) Jack was looking east and 2) the elevated roadway that is easiest to see is 42nd Street. In the daytime photo, you can see some other bridges over the tracks, further east of 42nd Street. You can also see the layout of the yard on the right (south) - rows of parallel tracks, punctuated in at least two places by a few tracks running at a very acute angle. In the daytime photo, the nearer set of acute tracks doesn't quite make it to the furthest right (south) parallel tracks until east of the 42nd Street bridge. The further set of acute tracks does seem to make it to the furthest right parallel tracks, right before one of the other bridges in the background; if you were on that bridge and looking west, it would probably look like this photo. The 1957 USGS topo map (Shawnee quadrangle) shows bridges over the yard at Goddard Avenue (between 28th and 29th Streets), 42nd Street, and 55th Street. I'm pretty sure this photo was taken from the same vantage point as Heart of Darkness. I previously identified that photo as being on the 42nd Street bridge, looking west. However, if we are looking at the *engine* of the westbound train in that photo... then we should be looking east in that photo. (Or maybe the direction in the caption was reversed on purpose for wartime security!) However, this photo shows another bridge over the yard in the background. I think, now, that this photo is from Goddard, looking west, and the bridge visible in the distance is 42nd Street. The moon would be setting, if that is true. I tried to match the layout at the left (track with signal, pole line, two doubletrack dirt roads, and nothing) with the daytime photo, with no luck - but then again, even in 1943, the yard extended for some distance behind that photo as well. On the other hand, the USGS topo shows a small triangle of apparently-unused land just west of Goddard, with the western section of it marked "Park", that might correspond to the open space at the left of this photo. Argentine Yard is still there today and is the biggest yard in the BNSF system. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Night Light: 1913
... New York noir circa 1913. "The Woolworth Building at night." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/18/2012 - 7:00pm -

New York noir circa 1913. "The Woolworth Building at night." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. This is, for all intents and purposes, a "new" image for anyone alive today -- a muddy-looking print of it has been available for years in the Library of Congress archive, but it wasn't until last year that the glass negative was imaged and put online. As far as I know this is its Interwebs debut, apart from the LOC website. We did a lot of work to adjust the contrast and get it cleaned up. Thanks Mr. EdisonThis view would not be as magnificent lit by gas or oil lantern lights. "To offices on all floors: Please leave all lights on tonight"Apparently the 23rd floor didn't get the memo. Mullett's MonstrosityThe Woolworth Building is gorgeous, of course, but this may be the finest picture I've ever seen of Alfred Mullett's City Hall Post Office and Courthouse, along with its dirty loading dock facing City Hall Park. I wonder what that structure is crossing the street to the small structure in the park. Pneumatic tubes for sorting, perhaps? Statuesque BeautyI liken the Woolworth building in this shot to the luminously beautiful girl who arrives at the dance a little late, and everyone stops and stares. Ethereal.Like a city you are floating towards just as you begin to dream. Some slackers up thereNote the only dark windows in the whole building. The Cathedral of CommerceAs beautiful then as it is now. One of New York's truly gorgeous skyscrapers. They don't build 'em like that anymore unfortunately. We'll leave a light on for youWoolworth must have commissioned the photo and left all (almost all) of the lights on to capture this dramatic sight. Love it! That structureI don't think the structure crossing the road has to do with the Post Office. The construction in the corner of the park is for the Broadway subway tunnels (I was able to find information about the history of this construction but have since been unable to find the site... never fails!). Presumably, the pipes carry air or power to the underground facilities under construction. Here's a daytime photo shot from an angle that gives a better view. And here is a history of the park. Here's an image from the NY Transit Museum's "The Streets Beneath Us". It shows the construction at Murray and Broadway, March 13, 1915, Relocating utility lines for BMT Broadway Subway construction. This would be one block up across the street from the site seen in the above photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/newyorktransitmuseum/4703930879/in/set-7215... Interestingly, this is right across the street from New York's first subway, the Beach Pneumatic Subway, running between Murray and Warren Streets, along Broadway, a distance of... one block. http://fdelaitre.perso.sfr.fr/Beach.htm Wow!So atmospheric. A great shot. The city was quietA slight fog had crept up from the battery to cloak the streets with mist, that was just enough to diffuse the bright lights. Out on the river boats left long thin traceries of light illumining their passages to and fro. The tall building stood out from the rest of the city simply by the bright lights on every floor that made it shine in the darkness ... Imagine it in colorWell, you don't have to. Look at that elegant color combination. Great work!Thanks for your efforts, Dave. It is beautiful. Have Dave, as long as you were tidying the place upcouldn't you turn on the lights? What's that pipe?The elevated pipeline running towards the back of the old Post Office? Anyone know? BTW the old Post Office was torn down in the mid-1930s. Part of the cities preparation for the 1939 NYWF. Post office tubeAlmost certainly the tube coming out of the post office was part of the extensive pneumatic mail tubing network that was extensively utilized at the turn of the century. Miles of tubing existed under the city to help expedite mail delivery in the city. CompetitionEven though this is credited to the Detroit Publishing Company, it's interesting that the photo shows the offices of Irving Underhill Photographer (on Broadway across from the Woolworth Building)who was also known for his cityscapes. (The Gallery, DPC, NYC)
Hotel Wisdom: 1942
... Montana: Big Hole National Battlefield Last Saturday night ... Paul Bunyan decided to play horseshoes on Main Street and missed. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/03/2023 - 7:48pm -

August 1942. "Big Hole Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana. Buildings on the main street of Wisdom, Montana, trading center for the Big Hole Valley. This is cattle country." Acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information. View full size. Battle Of The Big HoleAs American settlers moved west and justified westward expansion as the nation's Manifest Destiny, the Nez Perce had no alternative except to share their ancestral lands. Eventually, Americans' interest in the land's riches and cultural conflicts between the settlers and the Nez Perce led to a series of bloody battles. One of the many battles, the Battle of the Big Hole in Wisdom, Montana changed the outcome of the Nez Perce War of 1877. Montana: Big Hole National Battlefield Last Saturday night ...Paul Bunyan decided to play horseshoes on Main Street and missed. Rooms to let, 50 centsNo phone no food no pets ... Hotel Wisdom Phone line Horse sneakers! Hotel wisdomDon't walk barefoot on the carpet, and sanitize the remote. Russell Lee and John VachonBoth Russell Lee and John Vachon spent a lot of time in the region in the late 1930s and early '40s. In fall 1942, perhaps they were traveling together, as both have images of Wisdom in the archive. Quoting Mary Murphy (Montana State professor): Vachon drove his Plymouth into Beaverhead County in the spring of 1942 with the assignment of photographing stock raising. After several days, he wrote to FSA Director Roy Stryker that he had found “the purest most undiluted West I've ever seen.” (Source: her presentation) Another interesting tidbit about how Vachon described his drives through the county: From Butte, Montana, in March 1942 he wrote [to his wife Penny] of “regretting a very abject and cowardly performance about 3:00 this afternoon.” Vachon is reproaching himself for fearing to drive the road from Wise River to Wisdom, which is “one lane bumpy full of puddles holes heavy snow and cliff hanging.” It really rankles when the attendant at the Wise River gas station tells him, 'The mail stage makes it every day'.” (Source: Big Sky Journal) LIQWhen the boys leave the bar with snootful, it's forgotten that what goes up must come down. And the nearest hospital is (probably at least) 50 miles away. Measure twice.The carpenter placed the hotel windows symmetrically. The sign painter missed. Wisdom = Having InsuranceIt seems almost unnecessary to ask, doesn't it? (05/21/60) Despite what might seem like daunting odds, Fetty's rebuilt, and seems to still be in business. The hotel, however, seems to have checked out. A tossupWhat's with the horseshoe up on the power lines? The town that Coke forgotThere's a Chesterfield's ad at the liquor store (the largest of the four buildings shown); but I do not see a Drink Coca-Cola sign, usually a standard feature in 1940s main street photos. The distances to the nearest towns in either direction reminds me of the saying -- it's not the end of the world ... but you can see it from there. At some point that horseshoe is going to be an UN-lucky horseshoe for someone. Lean on me1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe 4-Door Sedan. Makes me wonder how many times the Chevy completed the aforementioned fearsome trek from Wise River to Wisdom. (The Gallery, Russell Lee, Small Towns, Stores & Markets)
Silent Night: 1940
... March 1940. "Center of town. Woodstock, Vermont. Snowy night." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full ... sharp, so there was probably no wind. I am fond of night photographs in the snow, and have taken many over the years around New ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/24/2014 - 7:27pm -

March 1940. "Center of town. Woodstock, Vermont. Snowy night." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. Had to google it!I had to Google this image to see if any of the structures are still standing. It is so beautiful. I could make out the sign of the inn, on the left, partially reading "Cupboard Inn." From there, I was able to determine it is the "White Cupboard Inn" and the building is still standing, though it seems not to be used as an inn anymore, but rather some type of historic preservation or museum or attraction. This visitor's guide lists and shows it in a photo (from 2008): http://www.woodstockvt.com/visitorsguide08a.pdf And this postcard shows it in 1952: http://www.cardcow.com/images/set142/card00336_fr.jpg And here you can see it from the far, lower left: http://www.cardcow.com/images/set146/card00153_fr.jpg North Park StreetThe house is the old White Cupboard Inn. View Larger Map Like being there.What a stunning photo, who says time machines don't exist. This reminds me of the film "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Field of Dreams." Just to walk down this street as seen here would be wonderful. Their are some great photographs on Shorpy but some of them just drag you into them, I feel this is one. 70 year old footprints Woodstock, like most Vermont towns, hasn't changed that much since 1940. What struck me here was the many footprints in the snow. It looks like it was trudged yesterday, but of course, it was yesterday seventy years ago. The footprints gave hope of life, but looking over on the right,the darker side of the picture, I got cold shivers down my spine. I remember spending too many cold winter nights forty years later, waiting to get a ride from the train station in Brattleboro, which was also dark and lonely on winter nights. White NightsGiven the depth of field in the Woodstock photo and the likely slow film speed Wolcott would have been using, this is probably a 30 second exposure. It's pretty sharp, so there was probably no wind. I am fond of night photographs in the snow, and have taken many over the years around New York City. My favorites include images of the Midtown skyline taken from Central Park. On snowy nights, light becomes diffuse and it's hard to get exposure right, but with practice and willingness to waste a lot of film, I can get some really striking images. ["Film"? How quaint! - Dave] Grab a shovelBack in the day, before snow blowers, people removed show from their sidewalks. Where I live, that's becoming a lost concept. Hard startingThe picture looks like a place I'd like to be, except for having to drive one of those cars. Back then it was carburetors with manual chokes, and 6-volt electrical systems -- no electronic fuel injection or engine management computers. As the late humorist Jean Shepherd once said, cars fell into two categories: "good starters, and hard starters." You definitely didn't want to own a hard starter in a New Hampshire winter. A hard starter potentially meant a spray can of starting fluid (ether), and (oh, the horror) jumper cables. Through the Looking GlassIt's hard to tear my eyes away from this picture. It's like you could step right into it and walk down the cold street. I love it! It's a Wonderful PhotoWith great anticipation I look at this picture and fully expect to see Jimmy Stewart running down the street to bang on Mr. Potter's window and yell "Merry Christmas!" Beautiful VermontLooks the same then as now, only with newer cars and roads. That is the thing I always loved about the Green Mountain State was it was like stepping back in time! Thanks for sharing this photo! The lens of time, Is it only me, or were snow falls and storms greater in the past. Was it solely because I was three feet tall that snow drifts were huge or have we segued into a period of global weather that favors lighter snow loads? I recall snow two stories high on the back of the farm, allowing you to just walk up onto the roof of the house to shovel off the snow, and summer floods that put 1950's cars under water. Merry ChristmasBedford Falls! Memories of chidhoodThis shot could be main street, Bedford Quebec, in the 1950s, when I lived there as a kid. The only difference would be 40s and 50s cars, but the signage and buildings (and snow!) were the same. This is what Hollywood was idealizing in the movies, and we thought we were living in a sleepy town. We were very lucky to actually live it. Marion Post WolcottMarion Post Wolcott was such a photographic genius. I have never seen a photo by her that failed to impress me. (The Gallery, M.P. Wolcott, Small Towns)
Night Game: 1950
... "Cleveland Municipal Stadium during Cleveland-Detroit night baseball game." Photo by Carl McDow. Library of Congress Prints and ... 11, Detroit 3 There were 50,882 in attendance that night -- a good crowd, but far fewer than the 86,563 who saw the Indians sweep ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/24/2020 - 12:15pm -

June 30, 1950. "Cleveland Municipal Stadium during Cleveland-Detroit night baseball game." Photo by Carl McDow. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection. View full size. Cleveland 11, Detroit 3There were 50,882 in attendance that night -- a good crowd, but far fewer than the 86,563 who saw the Indians sweep the Yankees in a doubleheader. That's generally accepted as the record for Major League regular-season games, although the Dodgers, playing in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, had as many as 92,000 fans at the 1959 World Series and 115,300 for an exhibition game against the Red Sox in 2008. A greater AmericaThese people had lived through WWII and the Great Depression and many had survived WWI and the Spanish Influenza. I wonder what they would have thought of their descendants, 70 years later, banning events such as this and even mandating draconian rules about private household behavior because of a virus. I believe they would have wondered why they fought so hard to keep the Kaiser, Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini and their dangerous ideologies out of this country. [In 1918, during the Spanish Flu epidemic, Major League Baseball cut its season short by a month, with the last game played September 11. Over a dozen college football teams sat out the season. The Stanley Cup finals were canceled. And people didn't complain, because they weren't a bunch of selfish, whiny babies. - Dave] Sorry Dave, I love this site and you do a great job, but you're wrong on this one. The whiny babies are the ones who are too afraid to defend their Constitutional rights as they continue to disappear day by day. Anyone who believes that what America has been forced to give up in 2020 is all because of a virus is terribly naïve. [If only you had been there to guide them! - Dave] It's past timeOh to be among the crowd in a major league baseball stadium again on a muggy night, hot dog and frosty Coke in hand, cheering for the boys of summer. Of course I prefer Wrigley Field some 350 miles to the west, but at this point I'd take Detroit at Cleveland and consider myself the luckiest girl on the face of the earth. All That Green!I grew up in North Central Ohio as a Tribe fan during the late 50's and early 60's. I can clearly remember my first trip to Municipal Stadium, walking up those steps to the inside of the stadium and seeing that incredible green baseball field for the first time in person! Yes Dave you are RightMy Father, a veteran of three wars beginning in Jan 1941, would agree with you Dave. If he taught me one thing it was to sacrifice for the well being of others, even if this meant a temporary suspension of your freedoms, and in thousands upon thousands of cases of service men and women, your very life. America the selfless seems to have become America the selfish. Thank You DaveDave, you couldn't be more correct with your description of how some American citizens have acted throughout the pandemic. Shameful at best. Like has always been said, "it starts at the top". Selfish, whiney babiesDave, I think the "selfish, whiney babies" comment was uncalled for. I agree with KAP about rights. It's easier to take away rights than it is to get them back again. However, even if I didn't agree with him I wouldn't insult him for it. KAPYikes, I didn’t think we’d get into this on Shorpy, but here we are. The view from Canada, where the country is not burning up with covid in the same uncontrolled manner as it is in the US, is that everyone has to buy in to the measures. I don’t like wearing a mask, and I don’t wear one outdoors, but everyone does it indoors in stores and public places, and that’s just the way it is. It’s an all-or-nothing thing, and you need buy-in from everyone. If you want, you can carry on about rights and freedoms all the way to the grave. All you have to fear is fear itselfSorry, Dave. I love the site, but my freedom and liberty is 1000 times more important than your irrational, ignorant fear. It is not selfish to stand against tyranny. We've known scientifically for 100 years that masks are useless, and we had story after story about the uselessness of masks ... until March, when everything suddenly flipped. Why? Because masks are not about science, they're about social control. I believe you were formerly part of the major media, so it's not surprising that you don't want to believe that it's completely corrupt and a single-party controlled propaganda machine. Yet, that is the truth. It's been so long since we've had a full-scale fascist/communist authoritarian attempt at a takeover of power that we think those people just went away. They didn't. We forgot that the normal, historical state of the world is a constant struggle against tyrannical people. The selfish ones are the appeasers. [Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth ... -- Dave] I agree ...... with KAP, and I doubly, triply agree with Groucho. https://spectator.us/salem-thanksgiving-coronavirus-panic-safetyism/ 8.7The US has 8.7 times the population of Canada. If we take the number of covid deaths to date in Canada (11,689) and multiply by 8.7, we get the number of deaths the US ought to have had to date: 101,694. But the US has had over twice that number of covid deaths to date: 267,528. I do believe it might be a matter of public measures and committed leadership. The US is an amazing country, but it has dropped the ball on this one. Whose House is This?The last time I checked, this was Dave's house and he didn't ask anyone what they thought about his comment to KAP. The person who needed and received admonishment is KAP, who ridiculously compared a public safety measure to the invasion of fascism and destruction of our Constitution. KAP clearly didn't study history enough to remember that during the Spanish Influenza outbreak it was common for local public health officials to quarantine people in their homes. It was for the public good and the law allowed it. And I've never read that people in quarantine whined about their Constitutional rights being taken away. You want to talk about taking away our Constitutional rights -- why do we have to wear seatbelts? That really is a matter of personal choice. But we lost that right, not because of fascism, but because of insurance companies. Therefore: insurance companies are destroying the Constitution! Concerning One's RightsI get tears in my eyes when I see people call the efforts to keep the virus from spreading a loss of their rights. Nobody has the right to spread an illness. And if everybody would just wear their masks, observe social distancing, and wash their hands frequently, we might not have strictures about gatherings now, we might not have our hospitals and the healthcare workers strained so badly, and we might not have so many people grieving the loss of friends and loved ones. I love Shorpy and have done for many years. It is a lovely place to visit, in good times and bad. Yet even here, the horrible division that afflicts this country rears its ugly head. And I get more tears. Everybody, please, just care a little for each other. The view from the front lineMy job is to intubate your trachea and breathe for you when you are no longer able to do so yourself. I hope that none of you ever need my services. And I wish that this situation was as simple as allowing you to exercise your "Constitutional rights" but it makes no sense when doing so potentially causes harm to others while benefitting you in no particular way. And as I show up to work each day, all I can do is try my best to protect myself from the selfishness and ignorance of others while keeping the victims alive and hoping to see their recovery. It helps to be able to enjoy Shorpy at the end of the day - thanks Dave! And Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Stunningly beautifulThis image is amazingly beautiful. The lights are liquid, pouring out and washing down on the players. Stunning. Familiar Nameshttps://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=195006300... Box score brings back memories of these guys, all of whom I had in Topps or Bowman's bubble gum cards, sold in packages of five cards plus the gum. Believe the ScienceThanks Dave for your clarification to KAP about pandemic events then and now. The problem of not believing the truth is a serious one. Did people lose rights after the 1918 pandemic? Gosh don't know what it would have been... Folks, as a physician and a scientist I implore you: Believe the science. Wear your mask. Social distance. As Dr. Fauci has said, I don't know how to make you care about one another. There is no more a "Constitutional right"to recklessly infect others with a deadly virus, than there is to drive a car while drunk, or to yell "fire" in a crowded theater. "Selfish, whiny babies" is a charitable description of the anti-maskers who are primarily responsible for the deaths of 2,000 Americans a day. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Cleveland, News Photo Archive, Railroads, Sports)
They Drive by Night: 1949
... -tterrace] Savage! Searing! True! He Walked By Night (1948), B & W film noir, with Richard ( Voyage to the Bottom of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/24/2015 - 10:13pm -

Chicago, 1949. "Theater traffic on State Street." 35mm negative by Stanley Kubrick, on the outside looking in, for Look magazine. View full size. John Loves MaryThe same cast of Jack Carson, Marion Hutton and Robert Alda performed in the play John Loves Mary (1947, by Norman Krasna) at the Strand Theatre in New York in February of 1949. Carson was also in the film version (1949) starring Ronald Reagan and Patricia Neal. The Chicago Theatre was built in 1921, is seven stories tall, fills half a city block, and seats 3,600. That Toddlin' TownWow, this is just how I remember 1950s Chicago! When our family took the train from Buffalo to St. Paul, we had dinner at some fancy Chicago restaurant. It truly was a Toddling Town to this 5-year-old Upstate New York Country Girl! Shorpy was hereKubrick's photo is from the same vantage as an earlier Shorpy photo from 1907. Stanley Kubrick?Is this the same "Stanley Kubrick" that directed movies like "2001: a space Odyssey" and "Full Metal Jacket"? This does show that 35mm film can produce a wonderful nighttime image. [Yes, that Kubrick. And an early example of the "Kubrick perspective." -tterrace] State Lake gonebut the Chicago remains. Cherry Picker Shot?Kubrick's camera appears to be about 25 feet off the ground for this shot. How did he get the camera up that high? Maybe a cherry picker? Or, maybe a sturdy tripod with a vertical extension shaft? [This way. -tterrace] Savage! Searing! True!He Walked By Night (1948), B & W film noir, with Richard (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) Basehart. Jack Webb was also in this film, and a friendship he formed with a police technical advisor led to the creation of Dragnet. Greyhound StationGreyhound buses linked up on the right. My Chicago expert (and wife) points out that the Greyhound bus station is to the right around the next corner on Randolph St. Tech Specs?Anybody care to venture a guess on Stanley's camera/film settings here? There's a blurred car in the center, and blurred people under the theater entrance. What would have been 'typical' pro camera settings then? State-Lake Theatre still around, sort ofThe building's still there, but unfortunately the interior was gutted in the mid-late 80s and turned into the studio and offices for the local ABC TV station. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chicago, LOOK, Stanley Kubrick)
Night Train: 1943
        One of our first posts 10 years ago, enlarged and re-restored. April 1943. "Illinois Central R.R. freight cars in South Water Street terminal, Chicago." Judging by the clock, this was a five-minute time expo ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/01/2017 - 9:24am -

        One of our first posts 10 years ago, enlarged and re-restored. April 1943. "Illinois Central R.R. freight cars in South Water Street terminal, Chicago." Judging by the clock, this was a five-minute time exposure. Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Beautiful :^) A 5 minuteBeautiful :^) A 5 minute exposure and this was taken in 1943. Maybe ISO 25 film or lower? KodachromeAlthough standards for film speed varied [no ASA, no ISO but Kodak, Weston, etc] Kodachrome was what we'd think of as 8 to 10. By the sunny 16 rule that's 1/10 second at f16, so hold really still, and if it's not sunny, hold reeealllly still. It was available, as noted, in 4x5, truly awesome, up to 8x10, and in 35mm and 828. 828 was a paper-backed roll film that was 35mm wide but unperforated, so a larger picture area than a 35mm frame. Thus Kodachromes from the 40s are true treasures - it took lots of light and that meant big multiple flashes [bulbs] or long exposures. The permanence of Kodachrome is why we can see these images now, when other pre-E-6 process images have faded away. Now Kodachrome's time seems to be up, and too bad. When the CDs with digital pics have faded or no machines exist to translate them, Kodachrome images will be good enough to toss on the light table or hold up to the window and enjoy. Pabst SignPabst beer was the king on the East Coast back then, before Bud's big adverts. Jack Delano photosThis entire series of photos, including the non-rail, is one of the best things I've ever seen on the internet. Thankyou -all, for posting them!! Being thereI have never seen so many beautiful photographs from the 1940s that are on your site, thank you. The clarity and colour of the images is remarkable it is just like you are standing there in person it's very surreal. World's largest sign?Wasn't this the world's largest neon sign at the time? I think my father said it was. Silly QCan you do long exposures with digital? Is it necessary? Will you get better/higher definition like what we see here? ["Definition" doesn't have anything to do with exposure time. Resolution depends on the number of elements (pixels) in the image sensor. To shoot digital images with resolution comparable to the large-format Kodachromes and glass negatives seen here you could use a studio back like the Sinar 75H (33 megapixel sensor, image size 68 to 260 mb). Which, not coincidentally, is also the equipment used to image these very same Kodachromes and glass negatives. - Dave] KodachromeThis is the original Kodachrome (the only one made in 4x5 and sheet film sizes) which would be ISO 10 although it was not labeled as such because they didn't have the ISO system then. Kodachrome II was ASA 25 and was released in 1961. I love these images. I show them to people and when I say it's from 1942 their jaws drop. It just shows you how much we have regressed since then. The fact that no mass produced digital technology can come close to replicating a 79 year old technology is just sad. I'm going to try out 4x5 color printing and I honestly can't wait. Millennium ParkToday the yard is long gone and this area is now part of Grant Park, with this northwest corner specifically called Millennium Park. Most people have seen photos of the primary exhibit in this part of the park known as Cloud Gate. It is made up of very smooth rounded art shapes with a mirrored surface, and is quite popular not only with kids but also with photographers. Bit late for the response but...You very much can do long exposures with digital. I'm a photographer myself, and thats one of my favorite 'things' to do. The reason you'd want a long exposure usually is because high ISO ratings introduce grain and generally degrade in quality. With newer cameras, this is becoming less and less of an issue. The brand I shoot with recently introduced a camera capable of ISO 819,200 which in layman's terms is 'pretty freakin' insane.' (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Movie Night: 1920
... competition, a movie impresario could fill the house every night with a different program. All this for 20 cents You could buy an ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/09/2012 - 6:46pm -

October 1920. Washington, D.C. "Lust's Regent." Theater impresario Sidney Lust's 18th Street cinema decorated for Halloween with an array of eye-catching movie posters. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size. His picture in the papersThe only movie mentioned here without a picture is 1918 Douglas Fairbank's "His picture in the papers". So here is the picture. HyphensWhen did they stop hyphenating "to-day?" War Tax on Theater TicketsI guess the arts supported WW I Reruns?The Chaplin movie "The Pawnshop" was advertised as an offering by Chaplin Classics. It was four years old at the time of this photo, apparently. A re-run, already! Wow, the films cycled rapidly! I had no idea, but it makes sense. Without TV's competition, a movie impresario could fill the house every night with a different program. All this for 20 centsYou could buy an adult ticket for 20 cents (18 cents plus tax) or a children's ticket for 17 cents. A true bargain! And the Charlie Chaplin short is a two-reeler! re: RerunsHell's Hinges was also four years old at this point. For a change, I can actually watch some of the films seen advertised; I have that one plus the Chaplin in my collection. Discerning a time referenceIf I didn't know better, I'd say this photo was taken on Christmas Eve. The Girl in the Admission BoothI hope I'm not the only one who noticed the somewhat creepy image of the ticket taker hidden among all the movie posters. She looks thrilled to be there! What day is To-DayThe coming attractions list shows for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and To-Day. That leaves Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as candidates for To-Day. Perhaps it was all three and the triple feature was used as a draw to attract the mid-week crowd. Since the "Special Big Show" was set for Friday, October 29, this photo was presumably taken during the October 26-28 time span. DatesHis Picture in the Paper: 13 Feb '16 Hells Hinges: 5 Mar '16 Maid Mad: 3 Sept '16 The Pawn Shop: 2 Oct '16 Jimmy the Soldier Boy: 2 Aug '17 (unable to find any info) Sinners: 5 Mar '20 Excuse my Dust: 21 Mar '20 Hairpins: 1 Aug '20 39 East: 1? September '20 (now considered lost) Guilty! (can't find any info), Im sure somebody will ( Dave!) Prizma 'a master production in natural color' The Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. I cant make out what film it is but judging by the poster (the storks) it may well be 'In Nippon' presumably a film about Japan, showing off the colour technique Gone and forgottenRegent was at 2021 18th Street NW at the bottom of today's Adams Morgan. The site is now a wonderful gas station/vacant lot. Theater operated for only about 10 years. This photo appeared in the Washington Times, October 31, 1920, p. 24. War taxI looked this one up - the War Tax Act of 1917 was in effect a new tax code for the United States that, in addition to greatly increasing federal income tax rates, introduced taxation on newer technologies such as telephone communication and motion pictures, among other things. Although the tax on movie tickets wasn't supporting the war effort in 1920, obviously, "war tax" was still used in common parlance. This particular tax was one cent on each ten cents or fraction thereof on admission charges. (Interestingly, producers of motion pictures were also taxed at a rate of 1/4 to 1/2 cent per foot of film.) More Film InformationBoth "Jimmy The Soldier Boy" & "Little Red Riding Hood" (A Doll Comedy) were produced in 1917 by the Peter Pan Film Company. Milburn Moranti, the star of the film "Guilty," real last name was Morante. He has film credits under both names. His last credits were for TV shows and films in the early 1950's. (The Gallery, D.C., Halloween, Movies, Natl Photo)
St. Patty's Night: 1944
... [It's a girl, and here she is (below) on a different night wearing the same top, shoes and socks. Such active imaginations some of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 1:39pm -

March 1944. Washington, D.C. St. Patrick's Day dance at the Washington labor canteen, sponsored by the United Federal Workers of America, Congress of Industrial Organizations. View full size. Medium format safety negative by Joseph A. Horne for the Office of War Information. D.C. DancersInteresting to me is the racially mixed audience in 1944. UFWA-CIOThis is the second time we've noted a mixed racial audience in Horne's photos of a United Federal Workers function. The other is "The Party Committee" and suggests to me that this union at least took a certain amount of pride in being desegregated. On the other hand the photos might have been part of the push to get Americans of all races to feel that "we're all in this together." I suppose it all depends on who Horne was working for when he shot these photos. D.C. Labor CanteenYou raise an interesting point. However, the photograph was taken at a union function, which may well have been a more progressive crowd than the 1944 norm. In any case, integrated nightclubs and dancehalls certainly existed in New York City in the 1940s, perhaps integrated venues existed in DC as well. The DanceWell, if I was the woman in the skirt, I would have hunted down Horne and beaten him up! That's about the most unflattering angle I've ever seen, on a woman who on closer inspection doesn't seem to have a big butt after all. And yeah, the crowd might be racially mixed, but the two white women can only dance with each other, not with any of the black dudes. I wouldn't dance with that pasty big Navy guy on the left, either. [Actually there was (gasp!) interracial dancing at this party. - Dave] "Woman" in skirtIs probably NOT a woman, but a man in a skit [skirt?]. Look closely at the leg muscles, what look to be cut-off long-johns ('union' johns), and the mismatched socks. [It's a girl, and here she is (below) on a different night wearing the same top, shoes and socks. Such active imaginations some of you have! This was one of maybe half a dozen comments theorizing/vehemently insisting that this was a man in drag. (At a St. Patrick's Day dance in 1940s Washington attended by servicemen in uniform. Hello?) - Dave] Muscular taboosOh my, so apparently women shouldn't be endowed with strong leg muscles, nor should they be stocky or slightly tomboyish. I should stop working out. Or else some people need to get over their sex-typing hangups. -C (The Gallery, D.C., Joseph Horne, Music, WW2)
Chariots of Firemen: 1943
... still there . [Sleep like a fireman for $757 a night! - Dave] Somebody Must Know ... What that ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/27/2024 - 6:36pm -

January 1943. Washington, D.C. "D.C.F.D. Engine Company No. 4 firehouse. Fire trucks." 4x5 inch acetate negative by Gordon Parks for the Office of War Information. View full size. Engine House 7/4Checked google maps and found the firehouse is still there. [Sleep like a fireman for $757 a night! - Dave] Somebody Must Know ...What that barrel-shaped device is behind the bumper. Perhaps a winch, generator for the siren, part of the front suspension friction dampers? That barrelI suspect that is simply sheet metal designed to cover the frame and bumper lowering weldment. Many cars of the 1920s-30s share this form of sheet metal cowl. The handle you see is for the 275 lb musclebound super fireman who can hand-crank that beast in case of starter failure. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Gordon Parks)
Open All Night: 1940
... B.C., still has a few restaurants that are "Open All Night", but fifty years ago there were many more. The Knight and Day was near ... Hospital, and it only closed for six hours every Sunday night. I love the shaded lettering on the MIKE'S PLACE sign with the giant ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/06/2021 - 11:00am -

October 1940. "Along U.S. Highway No. 1 -- street scene in Caribou, Maine." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. 24 Hour CafesVancouver, B.C., still has a few restaurants that are "Open All Night", but fifty years ago there were many more. The Knight and Day was near the General Hospital, and it only closed for six hours every Sunday night. I love the shaded lettering on the MIKE'S PLACE sign with the giant apostrophe. The Rheingold beer neon sign would have been a beacon at night. There is no shortage of sidewalk superintendents here. Clearing The AmbiguitiesYou have to love a restaurant that advertises itself as "Home Choking". They understand that dining out negatively impacts a family by removing a sense of belonging and oneness with others in the house. Shovel it in, at Mike's!This image from the August 6, 1932 edition of The Bangor Daily News. Mike was Michael Corey (1892-1963), who emigrated from Lebanon. Typical3 supervisors, 3 workers (one resting) and a woman trying not to get noticed. Sounds about right for a construction project. Cheers!From the more fortunate on the scene, raising a glass to the photographer. (The Gallery, Eateries & Bars, Jack Delano, Small Towns)
Night and Fog: 1941
... January 1941. "New Bedford, Massachusetts. Street at night during a fog." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security ... Tricky Title Aside from Wagner, Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) was a directive issued by Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/11/2018 - 10:46am -

January 1941. "New Bedford, Massachusetts. Street at night during a fog." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Have a nice trip?Those sidewalks must've been tough to navigate. The street seems safer. See ya next fall. Time MachineIt's probably a good thing that time travel doesn't exist. I'd surely go broke paying to take a walk up and down streets like this and others found on Shorpy. That SidewalkIs an insurance claim waiting to happen. Tricky TitleAside from Wagner, Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) was a directive issued by Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 targeting political activists and resistance "helpers" in World War II to be imprisoned or killed, while the family and the population remained uncertain as to the fate or whereabouts of the Nazi state's alleged offender. Victims who disappeared in these "Night and Fog" actions were never heard from again. [Best known as the title of Alan Resnais's immortal 1956 documentary. - Dave] Nights like theseAre the kind that make you glad you're home by the fire. Delano, on his game. Leaves you with the impression that the world existed in black and white. Remarkable photographNew Bedford was where my grandfather ended up after arriving here from the Azores as a stowaway circa 1912. It's where my father was born. I've never visited and my father's family had moved to Brooklyn by 1941 but I'd like to think he might have known scenes like this as a kid. Hotel NoirWe'll leave a light on for you! Almost nothing remainsI located the Diana Lodge (198 Middle St.) on the left and the Clarendon House (197 Middle St.) in the 1939 city directory for New Bedford. It appears that the only remaining structure in the photo is the house that was once the Clarendon. https://goo.gl/maps/GnacaQQD6Mr (The Gallery, Jack Delano)
Night Watch: 1910
... names and numbers. Sometimes I have found mentions of "night and Sunday" numbers, "private exchange" numbers, "Bell phone" numbers, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/16/2012 - 12:42am -

November 1910. Birmingham, Alabama. "A.D.T. boys (telegraph messengers). 'They all smokes.' " Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. Da CoachThe guy on the right is telling them to "give em some Moxie." All but one is successful. "Either Phone"Curious. City directories in Indianapolis from the '20s routinely mention "old phone" and "new phone" (for the same business!) with different exchange names and numbers. Sometimes I have found mentions of "night and Sunday" numbers, "private exchange" numbers, "Bell phone" numbers, and alternate numbers for when "Private Exchange is closed." Businesses commonly listed multiple phone numbers for themselves. Evidently, in the early days there were several telephone companies servicing the city that either weren't connected or had limited coverage. It must have been pretty confusing for people to keep track of which phone to use for whomever they were calling. re: Either PhoneNowadays, many of us have multiple email addresses. Even multiple phone numbers. No fundamental difference. Young ToughsWas this a casting call for an ADT Burglar Alarm commercial? The boys look to be trying hard for the part! Is the gent standing at the left edge admiring "modern" art, or a crack in the railroad's window? [Ha ha. That's a route map. - Dave] Snap that shutter quickbefore we all start coughing. KnickersAt what age did one stop wearing knickers and start wearing pants? [When one stops getting taller. - Dave] Since the e-mail was inventedIt left us out of a job. Tough hombresThey are not even out of knickers yet! What's the matta with kids today? Smoking is BadNone of them is around today. That's what smoking can do to you. Illinois CentralThat's the Illinois Central/Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad map on the window, judging by the mainline that stretches from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico and the maze of branch lines in the Mississippi Delta. Birmingham is the far eastern reach of the empire, on the right side of the map. (The Gallery, Birmingham, Lewis Hine)
Night Alley: 1931
Cleveland circa 1931. "Night alley to Terminal Tower." Amazing shot from an 8x10 negative by the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/18/2016 - 12:51pm -

Cleveland circa 1931. "Night alley to Terminal Tower." Amazing shot from an 8x10 negative by the undeservedly obscure Theodor Horydczak. View full size. Cleveland NoirWhat a great looking building. I'm glad it's still around! I love to drive by it when I go to Cleveland. Film Noir ReduxThe next shot will be the door of Sam Spade's office and his voiceover "I new the dame was trouble the minute she walked in with that helpless look on her pretty face." All the while Harlem Nocturne playing in the background. Lights on in the Greenbrier SuiteI wonder if poor old Oris P. and Mantis J. Van Sweringen were there when the photo was shot. The alley todayIt seems to be about where this Crosswalk is today, the buildings that framed the Alley are gone and a Park is in their place. View Larger Map Re: The alley todayRegarding the location of the alley, it actually still seems to exist as W. 2nd St. (at Frankfort Street). The features of the building below on the right taken from Google Street View seem to match those of the building on the immediate left in the photograph (the Google view is looking toward where Horydczak would have been standing, northwest on W. 2nd St., with the tower behind the vantage point). Frozen in TimeI walk through this alley daily on my way to the office on the 9th floor of the Higbee building (just out of view to the left of the Terminal Tower). The building on the immediate right is gone and a portion of the plaza for the "55" building is there now (built I believe in 1958). Otherwise the view is exactly the same. Just a wonderful image. Re: The alley todayThe first present-day view is one block too close; the alley still exists as others have pointed out. Unfortunately, Google Street View did not drive this alleyway. It'd be cool if a local would take a picture from the exact same location and post it! It was quiet....a little too quiet. I knew he'd gone this way but I can't see around corners. The butt of my pocketed Police Special felt warm to my hand, comforting. Let's Get Down To BusinessIt all began innocently enough on Tuesday. I was sitting in my office on that drizzly afternoon listening to the monotonous staccato of rain on my desktop and reading my name on the glass of my office door. "Regnad Kcin." Dating the PhotoUpon closer inspection, the Higbee Department store next to the Terminal is not there yet - the Midland building can be seen where the Higbee building is today (located on Prospect Ave. just behind the Terminal). Higbee was built in 1931 and the Terminal opened in 1930, so the image would appear to be from 1930. More Horydczak, pleaseI first discovered Theodor Horydczak's work in the late '90s, in the "Washington as it Was" collection on the LoC's American Memory site. A lot of his work was architectural, of both commercial buildings and private residences. +86Below is the same view from July of 2016. (The Gallery, Cleveland, Theodor Horydczak)
Dreamland at Night: 1905
Coney Island, New York, circa 1905. "Dreamland at night." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View ... lenses with a diffusion element. But in the dead of night with bright lights like this one, the glow will be magnified against the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:15pm -

Coney Island, New York, circa 1905. "Dreamland at night." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Mysterious GlowAs a amateur photographer, I am wondering how the lighting was applied to give certain sections a highlighted glow. The results render a beautiful and serene photograph. [Nothing was "applied." It's a time exposure. - Dave] The White CityI just finished (long overdue) reading the nonfiction book "Devil in the White City." I can really appreciate, after reading that, how widely spread the Columbian World Exposition's influence really was -- but nowhere as much as here in Dreamland. Looks likea negative. Really cool pic! Thanks for posting it! Bright Light! Bright Light!Gremlins wouldn't like this place at all. Wish I'd seen it thenI lived in the NYC during the 70's. Coney Island was a good place to get stabbed and looked really down in the mouth. It must have once been a magical place. That auraThe haloish effect is from light diffusing into the glass behind the emulsion. Gone six years laterSadly, Dreamland was destroyed by a fire in 1911 and never rebuilt. GlowingThe effect is probably (at least in part) due to an uncoated lens, as well as maybe other factors. Uncoated lenses will let the light bounce around inside the lens several times before it hits the film/plate. As well as possible internal reflections inside the camera. I like uncoated lenses on 4x5 and 8x10 because they do give a subtle soft glow, without being in-your-face like some portrait lenses with a diffusion element. But in the dead of night with bright lights like this one, the glow will be magnified against the pitch black sky and really stand out big. (The Gallery, Coney Island, DPC)
Family Night: 1957
... a great look into what the nuclear family did on a family night...except the stare. Daughter definitely has some plot forming in her ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/16/2015 - 1:39pm -

December 1957. "Family listening to radio." Mother sewing; Father reading; Sis petting; Junior tuning. 35mm negative by Warren K. Leffler. View full size. Televisions at homeSurely by this time a television occupied a spot somewhere in the home. Likely in a corner we can't see, or in the "Family Room" ~ a new invention of the architects of the Post War suburbs. ShorpyHow did they log onto the Shorpy site back then? 60s vintageI'm a 60s vintage myself, but I do remember photos with my older cousins which do not look too different. Apart from that, my folks were pretty conservative. - We had terrestrial TV only well into the 90s. In our neck of the woods that meant three stations. Dad didn't approve of the satellite dishes architectually, and the cable companies were in no hurry as our place was kind of out of the way. - The TV set was a tube black-and-white into the early 80s, when it really, really could no longer be repaired. - Remote worked by telling the kids. - The time of the real re-runs ("What's a re-run, Calvin?" "You'll learn, believe me."). - Of course, TV choices had to be approved, and TV time was rationed. Starship Enterprise frequently lost out over Waltons' Mountain or Upstairs, Downstairs, which ran at the same time on the other channel. On account of ladies (Mom and Sis) first, and Dad didn't care for either. Argh! Dang-dadadang-dadadang-Bonanzaaa!!!! was very approvable, though. - Anybody else got treated to the comment of getting rectangualar eyes? A Silent ButlerTo keep up with the ashtrays, this family has placed a "silent butler" on the coffee table. This long forgotten mid-century implement was used to store ashes dumped from ashtrays about to overflow. We had one in our house. It had a metal bowl and lid with a long wooden handle and a felt bottom, so as not to scratch the wood on the table. The one in the picture is in much better shape than ours was. When my father quit smoking in the late '60's, so did the silent butler! Another exciting evening at homeWhile Dad checks out the Washington Post's Outlook section, the others have simply checked out of any sort of familial interaction. Warren K. Leffler would go on to record images of more newsworthy events, mostly in the Washington, D.C. area. All's welland ash trays aplenty. Tie one on?Junior is wearing a tie? A semi-formal evening with Mom and Dad and Sis! I'll bet the hi-fi was really cool! Darning socksThe mom is darning socks with a darning egg pushed into the sock to hold it in place (with another sock in her lap that needs fixin') while she attempts to 'reweave' the hole which is something that people actually used to do. Now we just throw them away. By 1957 I think most people probably had a TV, especially an upscale family like this, but I'm not seeing one. It would be hard to guess how many people today would prefer to go back to those simple times but I must admit it looks a little boring. Despite ashtraysNot a speck of dust anywhere. Perfect, gleaming surfaces all around. Mom must have spent the day perfecting her already-tidy living room in anticipation of the photo shoot. Ashtrays etc.Although Mom has done an ace job dusting, as anyone who lives in a smoker house knows, the walls, windows and ceilings are coated with a greasy orange nicotine slime. In a less nauseating vein, I take note of the daughter's skirt, with the hem randomly hiked up on one side. My 12-year-old daughter would be thoroughly mortified if a photo of her with such a fashion indiscretion were published in a magazine for the whole nation to see. And where's Dad's drink? LifeThe good old days. Back then we had to make our own entertainment. Played a lot of board games and worked puzzles. Stayed outside a lot! How could we have survived before the internet? Misty Watercolor MemoriesI was 9 years old in 1957, and if I could find a photo from that year, taken in my living room, you could almost overlay it onto this picture. Dad had his "own chair" of course, and was an early recliner; leather, I think. Mom sat on the couch and sewed, or read. My brother and I watched TV (limited), and our viewing choices had to be approved by Mom AND Dad. We actually had conversations about our day -- what we did, how school and work were going etc. Ties were NOT required for casual evening interaction, but coffee cups abounded. God! How I miss those wonderful evenings! The StareWhat a great look into what the nuclear family did on a family night...except the stare. Daughter definitely has some plot forming in her head. BTW: I totally want a knick knack shelf like that! NBC Color Spectaculars1957. That fall NBC began producing 'spectaculars', expensive color productions, mostly costume epics in my memory, with large casts of ladies in various brilliant colors. A one time laundromat in my neighborhood was converted to a combination color TV sales&showroom with a couple dozen folding chairs for folks to stop in and watch for free. And maybe buy an RCA. And I love those knickknacks! They scream "Mid-Century!" Wonderful World of ColorGot our first color TV in the early 60's. The first show I ever saw in color was Bonanza. I'll never forget how beautiful it was. The TV was a Zenith with a mechanical remote. The channel knob would clunk around one channel at a time when you pressed the button on the remote. Hi tech in those days. By the way, the TV was second hand. The old man didn't believe in buying new. Angel watching over themSpotted a "birthday angel" on the wall shelf, third from right on top. I still have mine from the 50s. Your birthday month is written on the front - "Made in Japan" on the bottom. That CatSis is in the act of siccing that cat on little brother. It's his paws clawing for traction that has hiked her hem and her foot is in full retraction attempting to maintain hemline integrity. It's a Good Thing that is a Radio...If it was a television my mother would be saying "Bob, don't sit so close to the TV, you will hurt your eyes" TVs weren't universalFor all those commenting on the lack of a TV I'd throw in my own experience. My family did not own a TV until into the early 1970s and I never even saw a TV until the mid '60s. We weren't poor, but were probably lower-middle-class and lived in a small town. Very few people had TVs in those parts - probably because there wasn't much reception. At any rate, it isn't odd to me that in 1957 a family was TV-less. Perfect FamilyAround that same year, Prudential Insurance offered family portraits quite similar to this one. Our whole family, like this one, sat around posed for the evening. I was five and was placed standing behind my two older sisters while watching them play a duet on our perfectly-dusted living room piano. Why is it that families had to appear perfect? (The Gallery, Cats)
Night Service: 1940
April 1940. "Gas station at night. Dubuque, Iowa." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the ... were hanging in a gallery together, they could be called Night, Day, and Self-Portrait. Thanks to our curator, Dave, for bringing them ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/22/2019 - 10:30pm -

April 1940. "Gas station at night. Dubuque, Iowa." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. All goneThe Page Hotel was located at 4th and White Streets. The current view is no view at all. GeniusJohn Vachon was the Edward Hopper of the Rolleiflex. So many incredible images from one man. Non-Standard NoirIn fact, it's one of Shorpy's best noir photos! Dubuque TriptychThis is a nighttime version of the shot out the hotel window in Standard Service: 1940 (www.shorpy.com/node/25189), very likely the same hotel where we find Vachon himself inside one of the rooms in The Cat’s Pajamas: 1940 (www.shorpy.com/node/25187), both of which we viewed here at Shorpy just over a week ago. If they were hanging in a gallery together, they could be called Night, Day, and Self-Portrait. Thanks to our curator, Dave, for bringing them together for us. White FlightThe owners of that new Deluxe, twin-taillight Ford (parked at the near corner) and the Plymouth across the street had better be enjoying their whitewall tires, sales of which would be banned a year later (in April 1941) due to the greater amount of a strategic material -- rubber -- required in their manufacture. It would be another seven years before the ban was lifted. The numbersunder the Standard Service sign? The right-hand column must be octane. Any very old-timers know what the left-hand column numbers are? I have a guess as to what they are and why they are written that way, but would like to see other guesses. [Price per gallon, excluding tax. Or maybe gallons per dollar. See Azor's comment above. - Dave] Room pleaseI'd like a third floor room facing the tracks. Listen to those steam locomotives pounding by! ChiaroscuroMy mind wants to see a Ghost Train bearing down on the Ghost Bus. Shadows of the Picket Fence on the lawn make the Shot for me. Top-Shelf Noir, to echo rayray below. O. Winston LinkIn my mind, as a lover of O. Winston Link photography, I keep seeing that roaring steam locomotive barreling through town and frozen in an image forever in time. Perhaps John Vachon, but for a few minutes, could have preceded Mr. Link. Gas PricesGas prices are in gallons per $1. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, John Vachon, Railroads)
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