Tag: 1920s
Wire Service: London Hospital 1928
September 8, 1928 – ABOVE LONDON’S CHIMNEY POTS – On the roof of the West London Hospital, situated in the busy Hammersmith quarter of the great Metropolis, has just been constructed a sand pit. This enables the child-patients to enjoy the delights of the sea-side which would otherwise be impossible. Our picture shows some of the children in the sand-pit.
Retrotisements: Back to School Edition, Part 3
Yes, it's nearly that time of year that all kids dread and all adults love -- Back to School! And so I'm back for a third time with a set of vintage advertisements that will either appeal to you or drive you mad. Either way, I hope you enjoy!
The Revenge of Halloween Retrotisements!
By my count this will be at least the third gallery of vintage Halloween advertisement I've shared here, although it's been a long time since the last one. So let's scare up a good time by checking out some spooky ads from years gone by!
Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 35: New York Horsecar Scene, 1910s-1920s
I'll admit that this one has me a bit puzzled. What I can gather is that this is a shot of a horsecar in front of a building owned by the Hartford and New York Transportation Company. The company operated steamboats, barges, skiffs, tugboats, and other water craft and carried passengers between New York and Connecticut -- making frequent stops along the Connecticut River. In 1906 the company was taken over by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
All this is to say that I can't really nail down a date for this very nice photo. Click for the full-size version.
The main clue for dating offered here is the horsecar in the foreground of the photo. Horsecars -- which differed slightly from horse-drawn trolleys -- were pretty much phased out of New York City by 1917 or so, w
Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 24: Holland Tunnel Opening, 1927
Here's another tunnel-related vintage photo for you. Although the source (New York Public Library Digital Gallery) doesn't note the year, I'm going with 1927. Take a look and you'll see why. (Click for a larger version.)
The reason I'm going with 1927 is because the Holland Tunnel, which connects Manhattan with Jersey City, opened in November 1927. I don't imagine that these unnamed officials, decked out in their late '20s finery, would be taking pictures and shaking hands across the border in the middle of construction. Or maybe they did, who knows.
Update: An astute reader identifies the two men shaking hands as New York and New Jersey governors Al Smith and A. Harry Moore, respectively. Thanks!
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On This Day In 1927, The Holland Tunnel Appears On The Cover
Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 21: New York Santa & Mobile Xmas Post Office
Sorry for the dearth of activity around these parts lately, it's been a hectic holiday season. To make it up to you I'm doubling your vintage photograph pleasure this week!
Up first is a familiar site -- Santa Claus collecting donations for the less fortunate on a street corner, circa the early 1910s. This is from the Library of Congress's Bain News Service collection. Click for a larger version.
The sign on the faux chimney reads, in part, "Volunteers of America -- Ballington Booth Christmas Dinners." According to Wikipedia, Ballington Booth was an officer in the Salvation Army. His parents, William and Catherine Booth, founded the Salvation Army in 1865.
Booth and his wife Maud left the Salvation Army in the late 19th century and started their own charity organization -- God
Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 20: Santa and Swimmers on the Beach, Los Angeles 1927
Christmas photos aren't quite the same without all the color and richness in them, but if we're going to go vintage let's go all the way!
Here's an odd specimen from the Roaring '20s. It features Santa Claus and a host of bathing suit-clad swimmers lying around a Christmas Tree on a Los Angeles beach. Click for a larger version.
I like this because it's unlike just about every traditionally staged holiday photo I've seen. I like how Santa couldn't even be bothered to wear pants but he still went with the coat and hat. Man Californians can be an odd bunch. (No offense.)
(Image courtesy The Smithsonian.)
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Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 14: The Kitchen of Tomorrow (Life, 1943) (grayflannelsuit.net)
Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 15: Vintage Halloween Costumes...
Here’s a Pair of Bizarre, Racist Catalog Pages from Old Sears Catalogs
I wasn't planning on rolling out any of my Halloween-related posts until October, but this was so bizarre I just had to share it now. In searching old Sears catalogs for Halloween costumes -- as is my wont -- I came across these insane items. Let me just present them, and then we can chat. The first is a "Negro Makeup Outfit" from the Fall 1912 catalog:
And up next is a group of costumes from the Fall 1920 catalog. It has classic Negro masks like Sporty Mose (sorry, collar and tie not included), Old Uncle Joe, and Aunt Dinah (a Negress outfit not complete without this mask!). Oh, and if you really want to go hog wild you can get one of the full body suits -- there’s the Ridiculous Yellow Kid, the Japanese Lady, and the Negro Minstrel Suit (suitable for hometown shows, no less).