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American History

Life in New York City 1935-1945: Heavenly images from Yale University

Yale University has sprung a beautiful present onto the Internet — a searchable database of over 170,000 public-domain photographs created by the United States Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information, documenting the aftermath of America of the Great Depression and World War II. The photos, dating from between the years 1935 to 1945, include of… Read More

On ‘The Band Wagon’: Grand glamour in a Great Depression

How about a little music for your Monday? I was flipping through some old photographs in the New York Public Library’s Performing Arts/Billy Rose Theatre Division archive and came across some striking images from the musical ‘The Band Wagon’, which opened on Broadway eighty years ago. The stage musical inspired a more famous Vincent Minnelli… Read More

Mayor John O’Brien: his heart is as black as yours!

Above: An unemployment line in November 1933. The O’Brien administration offers no relief to the city. KNOW YOUR MAYORS Our modest little series about some of the greatest, notorious, most important, even most useless, mayors of New York City. Other entrants in our mayoral survey can be found here.Mayor John Patrick O’BrienIn office: 1933 There’s… Read More

New York’s most evil winter day

Photo courtesy of Global Graphica I’m going way meteorological on you today. It’s already gotten pretty cold in New York City this month, striking 21 degrees F on Sunday, assuring that a replay of last year’s relatively mild winter may not be in store. Come, let’s reminisce. The record high temperature in New York City… Read More