History in the Raw (The bare facts of history that you don't get to read very often)

Starting my 30th diary after many years of writing in them since 1973 .

2012-01-01T01:13:00.019-05:00

I started in early 1973 writing a daily diary. I would write about the current state of affairs and what at the time seemed important to me. It is now 20 or so volumes. The books are of various sizes and conditions. Sadly about 15 years ago about 10 of the books were badly damaged in a flood. I was able to copy some of them but many were lost. One of my volumes today is a gathering of pages and copies from those badly damaged and now lost books. Now there are 20 existent books and some fun reading for me. I would fill the books with all kinds of mementos of the time and even plant samples of the area in which I was or was traveling. They are now history and interesting reading for me. I recently found a box which contained 17 of the books. There are 3 others in other boxes. Finding them made me decide to write about them a little. I would encourage everyone to do the same to create a inventory of your own history to share with others or your children. I picked out 3 pages. Not for any special reason but just to take some quick pictures of them.

These are some of those books that I found in the boxes.

This is the book I had for the year 1976. I find in this book in rather lousy writing that I had been to the site of the Hindenburg crash in New Jersey.

This is a entry after seeing the display of Titanic artifacts in Las Vegas in 2005.

Here are some examples of leaves in Asia that I would paste in books as I traveled.

In closing I know it has been a while since I wrote here, but I have been very busy the last few months. Now time to get going again with more stories and artifacts.
I also encourage EVERY one of you to document your life and keep a diary. If you keep it for many years you will have a treasure of your past, and a past you can share with others.

Who we are, is who we were.

2011-11-04T04:38:00.002-04:00

I recall these words spoken by John Quincy Adams in the Amistad slave trial. Those words ring in my mind as time goes on. Because it is what we are all about. We think our thoughts and think them original, but are they? Because we are from whence we came. So who we are is who we have been and who we will be. In this new age of DNA we have found that to be more true than what have ever thought. Remember the next time you look at things and reflect.Because it is not only you,it is all who have come before you. Who we are is who we were. Truer words were never spoken.

One very historic week in the northeast United States weather wise!!

2011-08-28T12:37:00.003-04:00

I will admit it has been quite a remarkable week when it comes to Mother Nature. I live in the northeast of the United States and I have seen my fair share of remarkable weather in the last half century. But not much compares to this last week.

Last Tuesday I was in my library at home, it was the early afternoon. When suddenly I felt uneasy and off center. The lamp in the library has a glass shade and it started to rattle and there are chain pulls for the light switch on it and they started to bang against the light, Then my stained glass windows started to rattle and my desk started to move. It did not make any sense to me. Being in the New York City area I am not even thinking of earthquakes, as they do not happen here, or if they do, no one notices them as they are so slight. But this was different and it took a while for me to think what it was. I stepped up off my desk and the floor felt funny as the building was swaying back and forth and making some nasty noises. So I hobbled out of the library, which is on the 3rd floor and ran down the stairs. By the time I got to the ground floor it was all over.

It was then that this all started to rattle in my brain, an earthquake? I was thinking perhaps there was a gas explosion somewhere, or perhaps as now can happen a bombing in NYC somewhere. These were the thoughts that were running through my mind. Soon it became apparent that there was indeed a earthquake that was around 5.8 on the Richter Scale. It was centered in Virginia not too far from Washington DC. Well I had never experienced an earthquake before and I have now done so and do not wish to repeat the experience. This became the topic of conversation and news programs as to the unusual nature of it. Well that passed by and soon the next news was that a hurricane was on its way toward the northeast. Well why not I thought....

On the 27th of August we were hit by Hurricane Irene and it was pretty fierce, but not too bad in most respects. I went walking to where Grant's Tomb was to see the effects of the weather. It was pretty windy and rainy with wind gusts of about 65 MPH. Outside of that it was not too bad and was like our earthquake, no where as bad as it could have been.

Perhaps what is more historic than the two unique events taking place was New York and New Jersey's response to it. For the first time in the history of the NYC subway it was closed down completely due to the upcoming weather. No bus service, subway, PATH trains, Highways closed, and parts of New York City and New Jersey were evacuated. This was a massive movement and highly unprecedented. But in the field of history it is unique. It was a day no one could get anywhere, in either state. To be honest who would have wanted too? But there was an eerie feeling hearing no noise or traffic or planes and the like. It seemed a lot like the day after 9/11.

So I am writing this the day after the major part of the hurricane has passed by. It is still windy and rainy here, and amazingly quiet. We are now in just an afterglow of the storm that once was. I cannot wait to see what is on the menu for next week!

Henry Clay 1777-1852... He was photographed many times in the last 10 years of his life. Here are a few of the many faces of Henry Clay.

2011-07-23T00:20:00.011-04:00

Henry Clay, what words are used to describe him. Statesman, diplomat, Congressman, Senator, Secretary of State and Presidential candidate. He did a lot, drank and lot and said he would rather be right than be President. He was a hero to Abraham Lincoln and a villain in the eyes of John Calhoun.

His last 10 years of life are pretty well chronicled in the lens of the early camera. Here are a few of the many photographs taken of this great statesman.

I think this is the best one of him. It is clear and he is very much in control of the situation.

An altered photograph

This is another good shot. He is close to a slight smile.

Not one of his better photographs

This photograph seems to capture the essence of the man. Although not in good shape it is a very in your face photo. In which he is looking right at those who look at the photograph.

Looking a little worn out in this picture.

Looking a little cranky in this one.

Here he poses with his wife of many years,Lucretia.

Hitler's Car...One of his greatest ideas..The Volkswagen Beetle

2011-07-22T08:55:00.008-04:00

Few people today realize that the idea of the Volkswagen Beetle came from none other than Adolf Hitler. It was his idea, and he should get credit for it. While I do not agree with other things he did. This was a great idea. He wanted it cheap, air cooled, curved, engine in the back and a most unique body type. After all was said and done it was the most successful car in automotive history. It is sad that the greatest car concept was by someone who's very name brings thoughts of horror, death and war.

Hitler's first drawing of his car in 1932

Creation of the car was taken up by Porsche. Here you see Porsche presenting Hitler with a model of the car already nicknamed the beetle in 1937.

Here you see Hitler in the front seat of a new Beetle in 1938. A proud Mr. Porsche is standing by

Volkswagen Beetles would be produced starting in 1938. Their production would end in Mexico at the end of the 20th century. It was a most remarkable car. That came from the mind of a most frightening man.

Even though today lots of people and experts try to shun away from who was the creator of the Beetle, you cannot hide from history.

The World's Fair Dinosaur. It was made in front of you for only a dime

2011-07-06T01:23:00.003-04:00

In 1932 the Sinclair gasoline Company came to use a Brontosaurus as its PR dinosaur. It was a big hit. In fact it was seen a little in the 1939-40 World's Fair. But in the 1964-65 World Fair they outdid themselves. They created a dinosaur park. I was there in 1964 and enjoyed the dino park very much. I have great memories of it.

The Sinclair Dinosaur

But was the coolest part of that fair to me at the time was the "MOLDARAMA" machine that made wax models of the dinosaurs. I remember getting mine. It cost a dime and was as far as I was concerned worth every penny. I remember seeing the two sides of the mold coming together and out came my warm dinosaur. I loved that thing till I accidentally broke it. But still just seeing another brings back those memories. So I found one on line and thought I would share the image with you. All of you baby boomers remember this.....don't you?

The thing every boy wanted to have at the fair.

Hearing the ringing of the Liberty Bell in 1976

2011-07-04T15:51:00.004-04:00

It is 35 years ago today that I heard what was left of the ring of the Liberty Bell. I can recall it so well. The serious voice of the newscaster on radio said..."And now the Liberty Bell". We waited a few seconds and then heard a sound that can best be described as "DUNK" That was the Liberty Bell! I am not sure how many people remember that.
I had been by the bell in June of that year as I was performing with a group and doing the show 1776. I wanted to see and touch it. So I did. It smelled very musty as I looked underneath it. I touched it gently and smelled it as I mentioned. It felt a little rough and not too even. I could see the crack that was finally completed on ringing for George Washington's birthday in 1846.

But I will always remembering that hollow "dunk". That will always remain a most unique memory of that Bi-Centennial year. The Liberty Bell today is much more closely guarded than it was back then. But I am glad I could get so up close and personal with it all those years ago. And to hear it's voice 35 years ago this very day.

The death and embalming of U.S. Grant 1885. The problem with his body was that it did not look good no matter what they did.

2011-07-02T14:09:00.009-04:00

President/General Grant was in a bad way in early 1885. He was suffering from cancer of the throat and he was broke. Not slightly down on his luck, completely out of funds and assets. He was approached by Mark Twain to write his autobiography. This it was figured would bring a good sum of money back into the family which was in bad straights. So while dying, Grant did the impossible, he rallied his strength and wrote a two volume account of his life. Now granted the last part of the book was done by assistants and notes and drawings done by Grant. As the ability to speak had left him. Also he was having trouble writing much at all by July 1885. But the books were done in mid July of that year and Grant was pleased and happy to know that the books would save his family.

He had also written one of the most interesting and well prepared books on military history. His ability to recall was amazing and his memory seemed dead on. But at this point Grant was fighting his last battle and one he could not win. The cancer was most severe and blocked his throat and also made him constantly chocking on his own saliva. It was a horrible situation. By no fault of his own he looked terrible.

By mid July the cancer was winning and he could no longer eat or clear his throat. On July 23, he finally and fortunately died. He was a wasted man by this point. Weighing in less than 100 pounds and his features were dreadful. As one could expect.
By no fault of his own he looked terrible. The cancer had taken his body, his looks, his ability to work. But till the end it did not kill his spirit. That was the last to survive an allowed him to go on and finish his book.

His body was embalmed at the cottage and put on ice afterwards. The main problem that was not realized at the time was Grants cancer had so invaded his head and neck that the blood vessels were not ready to transfer embalming fluid to his head. So while the embalming took a long time as Grant had wanted his body embalmed and put on display all over. It was not a body that would hold up well, specially in the hot weather of July. His head started from the beginning to look pretty bad.

This was taken from the August 1999 edition of the American Funeral Director on the embalming of President Grant.

Within hours of Grants death, the local undertaker, Ebenezer Holmes, proprietor of Holmes & Co. on Church Street in Saratoga, was summoned to the cottage. The Grants also called upon the services of the Rev. Stephen J. Merritt, a New York City clergyman/undertaker undertaker to celebrities and Manhattans upper classes. However, until Merritt's arrival, Holmes was the undertaker of the hour. He brought with him his selected ice refrigeration casket, which he designed and had patented in 1878. The patent title of his invention read, the Improvement in Corpse Coolers or Caskets. Grants body was placed in the ice casket until it was embalmed. Since the late 1870s, Holmes had used his special casket in the Saratoga Springs area with great success. The casket was an oak-framed rectangular table on a wicker platform and below that, a lead-lined receptacle to hold ice.

Along with Holmes and his ice casket came his young apprentice, the cabinet-maker and aspiring undertaker, William Burke. As a carpenter, Burke had worked on the construction of the Grant cottage. For a brief time, Burke was Holmes partner. In 1893, Burke founded his own funeral business, William J. Burke & Sons, which was operated by his direct descendants until the last of the line, James Burke, died in 1987. To this day, the business remains in operation on Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

The earliest Burke archives include Holmes records. A call book has on page 50 the generals name, age, and date of death recorded in immaculate Victorian script. The funeral home also has a collection of antique coffin hardware, prototypes of those used on Grants coffin. Among the other artifacts is antique embalming equipment, which is stored in an old brown leather satchel that looks like an over-sized doctors bag.

Grant left explicit instructions. He wanted his body embalmed so the funeral would not have to be rushed because of the intense summer heat. And that summer was inordinately hot and humid, even in the Adirondacks. A little more than two weeks would pass between the day Grant died, July 23, and the final service in New York City on Aug. 8. The need was urgent to use every and all resources available to keep the body from decomposing. Holmes & Co., under the supervision of Grants doctors, performed the embalming, which took two days. Grants body lay in state at the cottage until the funeral service there on Aug. 4. From a newspaper account of the day, Ebenezer Holmes was quite proud of his handiwork and reported that the deep lines and furrows on Grants face disappeared after the process. One of the doctors trumpeted, the body is in a wonderful state of preservation and will retain it in a very natural condition... In subsequent newspaper interviews, the embalmers boasted of longer preservation time, one said the preservation would last up to six months. After embalming, the body was placed in the ice casket as an extra measure. The polished red cedar coffin, which was being shipped by rail from Rochester, would not arrive until July 29.

After the viewing and services at the Mount McGregor cottage, Grants body was transported by train to Albany. At the state capital, there was public viewing for three nights and two days. Another train brought the body to New York City, where on Aug. 8, the third and final service was conducted. Historically, there was always controversy surrounding Grants embalming. It was reported that two of the generals brothers were unnerved by the body's appearance when they viewed it in Albany. In the Victorian era, a time commonly thought of as prim and austere, it was interesting to read contemporary newspaper stories that reflected the publics morbid concern over rumors of the body's rapid decomposition. Some of those published newspaper stories were quite graphic and detailed in describing the state of the body surprisingly clinical in an era when one might think such indelicate topics would not be fodder for polite public discourse.

After the body arrived in New York City, Merritt worked to quell growing rumors about its deterioration. He invited reporters to a private viewing to prove the body was in good condition. However, on the same day of Merritt's published assurances, another newspaper story ran counter to it. It stated that the flesh looked puffy and the skin took on loosely...the nose contracted slightly... dark rings are readily observable about the eyes...the temple shows signs of discoloration...a few slight touches with a stick of paint along with white powder hid the discolored spots immediately but did not obliterate them. Apparently there were problems with the procedure right from the outset. The primitive electrical lighting in the cottage was poor when the embalming was done and the generals skin appeared discolored. The upstate embalming team had to apply bleaching solution on July 30 before the body was initially placed on public display in the cottage.

Nearly a century later, a rumor persisted that Holmes & Co. had blundered in mixing the embalming chemicals and caused the former Presidents skin to turn black. At the time of the incident, the East Coast press picked up on this rumor and wrote a series of scathing articles about the embalmers. These stories were subsequently circulated nationwide. The public was scandalized that its war hero and former president could be so desecrated in death. Merritt quickly did a bit of touching-up while in Albany, especially after the Grant brothers discomfort. It was reported that the train ride had somewhat disheveled the body. But perhaps Merritt had to do more than the newspapers reported.

Finally, after much ceremony and pageantry, the Hero of the Civil War was safely ensconced in a temporary tomb near the construction site of his final resting place. Alas, the general was to wait another 12 years before the proverbial Grants Tomb in Manhattans Riverside Park was completed and his long journey finally ended. Apparently the furor over the embalming that dogged the entire Grant affair erupted into litigation. Holmes and Merritt became embroiled in a lawsuit over the payment of a bill for $68. The outcome was not made known. Whatever happened during the Grant affair may be left to speculation. Who, if anyone, was at blame? Maybe it was just a matter of nature still having an edge over the unrefined embalming process when, unfortunately, the eyes of the world were watching.

In an era when grave-robbing was not uncommon, the Grant family was also concerned about securing the generals remains. Another upstate company owned by a Patrick Cregan of Troy, had recently patented a ghoul and burglar-proof metal air-tight burial vault. The Grants immediately purchased this 19th century state-of-the-art technology to safeguard the generals coffin.

The President's first tomb in which he rested till 1897.

Campbell Soup Company making tomato soup in 1935. From an article in Fortune Magazine.

2011-06-27T10:24:00.017-04:00

This is just part of the article that was in Fortune. But it is something to see how things worked and operated in Camden, NJ at the Campbell plant. I am sure it is very different today at the Campbell plant, where ever it is? But what is special and so different from today is the company relied on farmers to bring in crops. Today companies like this have their own farms.

Note the vintage of some of the trucks bringing in the tomatoes. They were very old in 1935! Lastly, the lady who sits with a spoon and adds a little here and there to make sure it is ten and a half ounces. There is a homey quality to the whole process.

The Stromberg Carlson radio with the"acoustical labyrinth". It was very much in a way like an orthophonic horned machine or today's Bose Wave Radio.

2011-06-27T01:21:00.009-04:00

This explains it

As you can see in this article, the radio/phonograph was remote controled and had a "acoustical labyrinth". This was a massive advertizing ploy on their part. It was a great idea and it sold radios.

Here above it explains the acoustical labyrinth commercially.

The tag that would be on all Stromberg Carlson radio and phonographs with the labyrinth. However, I recall talking to an old radio man years ago who said it was just a bunch of nonsense. Just some cardboard. Not a folded horn that was in the orthophonic machines made by Victor and later RCA.

As you can see in this picture below, here is one of the horns unwrapped...and I was surprised to see it is all cardboard.

So did it work? I guess it did to a degree. In fact it was one of the many horn types of radios that have come onto the market leading up to the Bose Wave Radio and speakers which are basically folded horns, not too unlike the orthophonic and to a degree the acoustical labyrinth of the 1930's. Just smaller in size.

It is interesting to note that the orthophonic of the 1920's and the acoustical labyrinth of the 1930's and 40's were noted for the bass they produced, and if we look at the modern follower the Bose Wave Radio..it too is famous for its bass, and for a labyrinth of design that re-enforces the bass and treble it reproduces like it's fore bearers.

The John F. Kennedy assassination. My own theories on much of the confusion.

2011-06-23T16:46:00.009-04:00

Now just when we have thought we had heard it all, there are new theories on the assassination. There was even a theory out not long ago saying Jackie did it with a pistol. Well of course I think much of this is all poppycock. I have a theory on the assassination and why there is a so much confusion over everything. I do not have a any problems over the shooting, I have issues with what happened after.

It is now common knowledge that Kennedy had Addison's disease. It is common knowledge today that he was on many medications, some good and many very bad. Lastly it is common knowledge that he had a array of sexually contracted diseases. He also had other problems that no one in power, or his family wanted known. So much of the confusion and the odd occurrences at the autopsy was to allow them to remove and change much of the medical evidence, not the wounds.

Kennedy lived in a very frail eggshell of enclosure. Had much or for that matter any of this information been made public at the time it would have destroyed not only the faith in the election process, but also the legacy of who Kennedy was.

So while the the medical team in Dallas was finishing the work on the body there was a frantic push by the Kennedy team to get the body back to Washington DC and not have a Pathologist in Dallas do the autopsy. Had they done it in Dallas a number of odd facts and medical abnormalities would have been found.

I have felt that many people are concerned with the shooting and think of that as the conspiracy. But I am thinking that much of the conspiracy stands with the US Government, Kennedy team, and family and friends to get the body out of the hands of anyone who could not be controlled.
In a way this action also controlled the Warren Commission, cause large holes of information were carefully kept from them, much through a really badly run and monitored autopsy. Even the head medical pathologist at JFK's autopsy said he burned all of his notes. Lastly no information about the autopsy was given to them in the way of photos or medical information. They relied on drawings and written testimonies. Hence the drawings were flawed and this started a hornets nest of activity about it being faked. The main reason that they did not see the info on the autopsy was that Robert Kennedy did not let them see it. I can once again see him protecting his brothers legacy, but this was much too far.

This is what causes the many things that have haunted this event ever since. He was protecting the image of the President, but these actions backfired!

That is why the autopsy was done in a strange way, that is why the adrenal glands were removed, that is why the sexual infections of the President were recorded and observed and the notes destroyed. Much like the FDR's doctor did on his death. His personal physician burned all of FDR's medical notes, as it would show what was really wrong and how sick he was.

Much the same could be said of Kennedy, and you can just imagine the horror that was felt by those in control in Washington that the body may end up somewhere and for that fact, not in a controlled environment. So once the body comes to Washington the autopsy sanitizes everything.
His brain was removed as were many slides of tissue samples. They were kept in a locker at the National Archives. Two people were known to have keys for it. Evelyn Lincoln (JFK's personal secretary) and Robert Kennedy.

By 1966 the locker was emptied of all things dealing with the autopsy. Also the casket that JFK was returned to Washington in was also kept at the National Archives. It was removed by the actions of Robert Kennedy, and in a special action by the US government was holed and sunk in the North Atlantic in 1966.
What was in it, who knows? But that would be a perfect place and action to get rid of evidence. I have heard that RFK buried the brain when his brothers casket was moved in 1967, then why not move the brain out of the locker in 1967, why 1966? In my mind and imagination the rest of JFK's body was buried in 10 thousand feet of water in the North Atlantic.

Everyone was looking at the shooting, not what going on in keeping the many problems the president had, a secret. So was it a conspiracy? A conspiracy to hide information, fake facts, and change the history and story around so much that no one knew what was true or not.

I would think that Robert Kennedy was much involved in protecting his brothers legacy, and destroying and hiding evidence of anything that would harm his late brothers image. That was his job when his brother was alive to hide, destroy, and clean up the picture so his brother looked good. So much was tampered with, much was deliberately destroyed and of course this worked hand in hand with the assassination theorists, who were more focused on the shooting than what was being destroyed and covered up at the autopsy. It was done badly, so it left a lot of questions which worked well in the hands of conspiratorial theorists. Because if there is one question that cannot be answered clearly, you have the routes of conspiracy.

I can understand to a degree what can happen if information is passed onto the public dealing with a popular President and a past that was not as what was thought. Warren G. Harding was very much like JFK in that regard.
What finished Harding off was that he had no protectors. He did not have a brother who was Attorney General. His history and his past was cast to the wolfs and his legacy was destroyed. Not that he was a bad president, but one who was not protected after death.

So now as we come closer to the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination which at this writing is just a little less than two and a half years, I expect to hear lots about the assassination. But, little about what was frantically done in a Bethesda Medical Centers operating room to protect and preserve a legacy.

The early telephone. It had a lot of info on it.

2011-06-23T14:16:00.007-04:00

In the days of early telephones there was a lot going on. This telephone piece from the 1880's lists all the various patents and developers in its progression. This piece has the names of all who were involved and at war with each other in regards to the telephone. Names that grace it's front are Bell, Berliner, Edison and Blake. Now Bell and Edison have instant recognition, Berliner and even more so Blake do not. Those two men made a quite a bit of history I will discuss in the future. But one has to remember that this was war. Bell and Edison were not on the best of terms. Berliner and Blake were allied. So the 1880's was a big time of adventure, high jinx, and innovation on the device we call the telephone. I thought it would be nice to share the face of one of the early phones with you.

This wonderful piece is from an age when the telephone was in its infancy. Soon to become a giant in the 20th century.

A piece of the USS Shenandoah... America's first Airship ZR-1

2011-06-22T15:38:00.005-04:00

The USS. Shenandoah in happier days in Lakehurst, New Jersey. She was based there from 1923 till 1925.

Here you see part of the wreck of the airship. She made her first flight on September 4, 1923, she crashed on September 3, 1925. She was in service for just 2 years. Her crash led to better designs for airships that would appear in the future.

The ship hit a massive storm over Ohio and broke into 3 pieces. Several men aboard were killed as they fell from the crashing airship. Also the control car broke from the ship itself and crashed killing all on that part of the ship. After its crash there was a great deal of morbid curiosity about the ship. It was flocked by many who took not only a good deal of the fabric of the vessel, but also the log and many other important items.
Some parts of the ship in time have surfaced in collections and shows. But this crash also led to the writing of a very popular song that was recorded for many phonograph companies. It was called "The wreck of the Shenandoah" It sold well for many years after the event.

Here is an original piece of the fabric of the ZR-1.....The USS Shenandoah

The End of books...a comment.

2011-06-19T09:57:00.002-04:00

The article that directly follows this is a piece called the "End of Books". Of course it is just a story about a dinner party and the comment of what may come. Well as you can see at the time of this writing in 2011, there are still books. In 1894 the phonograph had just arrived on the scene in a rather crude form, but was still an amazing thing. Sort of like our TV's were like in 1935. We all dreamed of what would be and as usual nothing like what we dreamed ever happened.

So what of books? Yes people do not write or read books like they once did. But that does not mean the book is dead. I think books will continue to be read and printed on paper but, mostly electronically as time goes on. But there will always be books around here and there.
There will always be the holdouts who will never give them up. So has technology made the book obsolete? In a way yes, but also, in a way no. For there still is something magical and enjoyable about holding a book in your hands and using your mind and imagination. Just the feel of the book has a special meaning at least to me. Plus there are some areas where the book still holds its own.
I have my own library and that equals into a lot of books. But that is something as long as I live, I would not like to be without.

The End of Books..... An article from the August 1894 Scribner's Magazine

2011-06-18T11:41:00.016-04:00

Are books dead? We hear that all the time today. Today with audio books and all kinds of electronic devices to store books,information and the like we think of books as a flash from the past. This article from 1894 is interesting to read as it brushes the future as to our entertainment and how we gain our information. Some of it is funny and some reminds me of our present time. Specially on the next to last page as we see a woman watching a picture and listening in her chair. Like a precursor to TV. Also on that next to last page you will see a trainload of people all with earphones on. Lastly a few pages before that you will see a person on a walk with earphones on and listening to his book. Of course my favorite is the last illustration that shows a lady seeing the doctor as her hearing is impaired by the loud recordings. Boy isn't that right on. You can see an entire generation today that will be in severe need of hearing aids in the future.

So enjoy this wonderful piece on the end of books and the outlook for new technology.

One car dealer who gave money away! They are no longer in business

2011-06-15T17:39:00.007-04:00

I found this among some of my Grandfathers stuff. I think it was an interesting advertising ploy. Weed Chevrolet was in Bristol, PA. They put a new penny in a holder and gave them away. Looking at the date on the penny they could afford to give it away. As it was the big post war boom for cars. Cars were on order for months before they would be ready and the dealers raked it in. So this is piece of history when GM was in clover. Now they are barely keeping their head above water and referred to as Government Motors.
It is interesting that Weed Chevrolet was in business from 1926 till the time of the current economic crash. They survived the first major depression, but this latest one finished them off.

2011-06-15T17:39:00.001-04:00

The first seal of the Edison Electric Light Company 1878

2011-06-15T15:30:00.002-04:00

A special piece from the dawn of an industry and even before the incandescent light was perfected. The stamp has a bulb of sorts, with no set type of filament as there was no set type of filament yet. Of course you can see that the screw in type of bulb was long off. You have to imagine that there was nothing much to go on, as all was new and unexplored territory in the fields of science and innovation. In a year a bulb will be developed. But, it would take a few more years till an industry was developed around it.

So here enjoy a piece of history from the very beginnings of a revolution. The electrical revolution.

Burial Vaults at the height of the great depression.

2011-06-14T11:01:00.008-04:00

Yes we are all going to die. Some of us will be buried, some cremated, some given to schools to play with and dissect. But everyone has to go from this mudball called earth. It is a interesting thing to see how the funeral industry found new and fascinating ways to not only bury your loved ones, but also rid you more of your hard earned cash. In 1834 it was just a box and a quick burial. By 1934 as this ad suggests, it was a big process. Which meant ....MONEY!!!

So this heart rending scene of mother's letter let's us know that she and every other widow would be very content to know that her husband was in a airtight, sterile, and protected environment. Not to be morbid, but unless we are bringing them up again, should I care what anyone else is buried in? They are dead, they are not making encores.

It is a great racket, but not what it once was. The day of the 3 day funeral with all the trimmings is pretty much past. Even 2 days of viewings is looked at as kind of silly. And once the body is in the ground...well it is not coming out.

But the funeral industry has made it a pretty good racket out of grief and making sure you respect your family member. Even in an economic depression. But now we have been brain washed to think that is normal to embalm a body, or find a fancy casket, or a fancy vault.
When my grandmother died I got her the cheapest casket and no vault. She was part of nature in a matter of months. Why bother? I would be happy for the same.
Cause yes these vaults work for a while, but then they leak and pollute the ground with all of the embalming fluids just like every other embalmed body.

Can you just imagine the toxic waste dump cemeteries are? Not from bodies not embalmed, but from those that are!

Well it is all history, and the history of embalming I should go into soon.

This is a great ad, and I am sure it sold a lot of burial vaults...even in a great national depression.

Safe and healthy milk. Advertisement for glass lined tanks for milk 1935

2011-06-14T01:33:00.003-04:00

The 1936 PIERCE ARROW A great color advertisement and a last gasp of a dying company.

2011-06-12T13:12:00.008-04:00

The Pierce Arrow was a great maker of luxury cars and had been making such cars since the dawn of the 20th century. In fact the cars used by President Woodrow Wilson, Harding and for a time Coolidge were all Pierce Arrows. The company was one of prestige and class.

The cars themselves were built like battleships with a wooden white ash frame and paneled with 19 gage steel. This was very time consuming process and a very lengthy process for manufacturing.

But the cars were built to provide the safest and most luxurious performance of any car then on the market. The cars weighed in at around 3 tons. Gas consumption was extreme. But once again if you could afford a ten thousand dollar car in the height of the great depression...did that really matter?

But this was one commodity that could not survive a great economic downturn. By the 1930, Studebaker and Pierce Arrow has joined forces, but there was little hope for a company that in it car department made only luxury cars.
This last attempt in 1936 was to bring out a V8 to V12 luxury car that was the safest and best car you could buy. It was!
But who could afford it? Sadly in 1938 the company closed out it production of cars and the last maker of cars in Buffalo New York was gone.

So here is a late advertisment for the last great Pierce Arrow that did not change the fortunes of the company. A new frame, a better engine, a fantastic car....and an economic depression.

Wellesley College Float Night booklets from 1894, 95, and 96.

2011-06-08T04:42:00.006-04:00

These old booklets are from Wellesley College, which was an early all girl school founded in 1875 by Henry Fowle Durant. Float Nights were big events and as here written by LINDA VAUGHAN, she explains some of what the "Floats" were about.

Starting in 1875 a tradition in women’s sport was in the making at Wellesley
College. At that time the sport was referred to as rowing; it is now known as crew. There were several major components associated with the development of the crew tradition: a boating pageant known as “Float Night”, a “scientific” instructional program, and intramural and intercollegiate competition. During the formative years two people strongly influenced the development of crew and its component parts; the founder of the college, Henry Fowle Durant, and the first director of the department of hygiene and physical training, Lucille Eaton Hill.
While at the time of the opening of the college in 1875 Victorian women were assumed
by most people to be frail creatures whose health might be impaired by the rigors of
academic life, Mr. Durant was a strong advocate of vigorous exercise in the fresh air and sunshine. He therefore provided an opportunity for the students to exercise and enjoy the outdoors by purchasing three boats for rowing on the lake. More boats were purchased and eventually the rowers established a practice of serenading the campus while drifting in their boats on the lake at sunset. This spontaneous gathering evolved into a campus event known as Float Night which for a period of time was one of the major components of the crew tradition. Eventually it became an elaborate panorama of parades, singing, rowing demonstrations with star and W formations, processions of tableaus in the form of floats and fireworks displays. Because of gasoline shortages and blackouts, this pageant was not held
during the war years, and after several attempts to revive Float Night after the war, it was totally abandoned in 1948. It had become too costly and the existing student body had never witnessed the event, so that the thread of at least one part of the crew tradition had been lost.
A second aspect of the tradition began in 1882 with the arrival of Lucille Eaton Hill
who was keenly interested in organized sports. Under her direction a more scientific
approach was instituted in the crew program. This was also made possible by the purchase of new 8-oared barges. The crews began to be selected on the basis of health, discipline and technical skill so that by 1900 the original rower-singers had become athletes.

Class of 1896

John Paul Jones Sword presented by Louis the XVI by Charles Henry Hart 1907

2011-06-07T19:01:00.009-04:00

Charles Henry Hart (1847-1918) was born in Philadelphia and was a well known art collector, author, and historian. His works and collections were huge. He was involved in the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago as a head of artistic operations dealing with American art. He was the director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. plus the author of many books and articles. Here we have a short piece on John Paul Jones's sword and the story of how it ended up where it was
. This was from a program that was read by Hart in 1907. He inscribed the pamphlet in the front. I had this for many years, I bought a box of pamphlets about 20 years ago. All for a dollar. So I have found some treasures in the box and a lot of junk, more junk than anything else. I will be putting more stuff on from that box soon.
But here is a neat address that was all the rage to do, as Jones body had just been returned to the United States not too long before. So there was a lot of people having a lot to say about the great captain of the American Revolution and all things associated with him.

"MOXIE" A soda from New England that was never the biggest or the best. But sure got some interesting advertising.

2011-06-06T23:47:00.005-04:00

Moxie soft drink is a New England, and mainly just New England drink. It has been around since the 19th century when it was originally devised Dr. Augustin Thompson. it was a nerve medicine to cure such things as softening of the brain and things like that. It was a popular drink in the 19th century. Even as we entered the 20th century it had many fans. One such fan was president Calvin Coolidge. Well, Coolidge was from New England so that answers that.

How many soft drinks get a song named after it. Well, Moxie did. It was out and for sale from around 1921-24. Maybe Calvin Coolidge had a copy he played on his Victrola. Below is a record label for that hit song.

Even the baseball legend Ted Williams was wild about Moxie. He was from New England too. For a while they even used Ted Williams picture on their label.

Sadly I have just not seen it becoming or having been much of a big deal in other parts of the country. At least in the last 50 years or so.
It remains a New England soft drink and I guess for as long as it exists will remain so.
But after all is said and done, how many sodas have a hit song named for them. I am sure I will fine one. I recall the Coca Cola commercial of the 1970's "I'd like to teach the world to sing" which was used to advertise coke. But it was not originally about it as far as I know. So I am sure you will not hear the song Moxie anytime soon, but at one time it was, like the soda, a big hit!

Carrie Nation and saloon smashing. March, 1901 "Review of Reviews"

2011-06-06T08:08:00.006-04:00

Carrie was the talk of the town when it came to "saloon smashing". She was on her moral crusade to end the ability of people to have the evil drink. This article came out in the March 1901 issue of Review of Reviews. She would go in a smash up a saloon with a axe on her hands. She truly was another Kansas cyclone as they say here in the above cartoon. So enjoy reading some history when it was news!

LBJ's Little Red Book ...a little political fun for the 1968 election

2011-06-04T13:09:00.002-04:00

This came out in 1968 in response to China's leader Mao's little red book. In this book on LBJ it takes speeches, comments, observations, and off the cuff statements that were often taken out of context and put into one very 1960's volume.

The 1960's were all about anti establishment and this is a bit of that.

In 1968 it was expected that Johnson would run again for office. However, as I recall watching on TV he announced he would not run. That made this book a bit a bit of a useless thing. But when it came out it had its followers and collectors. None more so than members of LBJ's administration who wanted to know what the Hell was in it.

Civil War enlistment verification form.."Oath of Identity " 1860's

2011-05-31T21:42:00.006-04:00

This notice of identity was on the outside of my Great Great Grandfathers discharge from the Civil War. I gather it was used to identify those who were in the service and those who were not. Just a guess on my part. The discharge is already on this blog, but I thought it would be interesting to show this part that was used to identify soldiers in the military during that dreadful conflict.

The Victor Book of the Opera 1912

2011-05-30T15:22:00.005-04:00

Samuel Holland Rous was the author of this book and it was designed to explain opera to people and potential customers. It would list in pages where one could get a recording from the galaxy of stars of various opera pieces. Plus tell the story of the many operas. But only the operas they had records of.

He was the son of a musician and a well respected writer and musical artist. But in the history of music the book here is know for him. But of course he was involved in so many pursuits and was involved in running much of the fortunes of the Victor Company. So it seems fitting that this fellow should write the book.

Sam Rous used a stage name of S. H. Dudley.But as a singer it was something different. Rous is on the lower left side. He was the manager of this very successful singing group called the Hayden Quartet and all of them made money. But the group never sang opera. He would also record a number of "Coon Songs" That were in fashion at the time.

He made many recordings in the late 19th and early 20th. Much with the Hayden Quartet or Harry MacDonough(John MacDonald) who is also pictured above Rous on the right in the quartet picture.

A famous Victor Operatic advertisement.

The Book has been around now for almost 100 years and has sold a lot of records. Many more than Rous or the Victor Talking Machine Company could ever have imagined

First edition of this famous and much republished book (1912)

Fifth anniversary of this blog

2011-05-30T14:55:00.002-04:00

It is amazing when I think it has been over 5 years since I started this blog. I had an idea then that I would slowly fill it with great historic content. Now as I look back and see nearly 600 posts dealing with various topics and often with historic items I am happy. It was a lot of work. But I have so much more to add to this. I am pleased to see well over 100,000 people have read and looked at ten's of thousands of pages that I have put together.

I am very proud of this work, and hope it will exist in its form for many years to come. I plan on posting in time at least 1000 articles and stories. Plus lot's of original pieces that make History in the Raw so unique.

In the coming months we will see the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking and of course the beginnings of WWI. So I have a lot of stuff to cover and write about and lastly, share.

I am very happy also to see that this is looked at in every continent on the face of the planet and I receive nice notes and comments from many around the world.

The first five years were fun and I look forward to the next.

Regards

The War Newspaper Aug 3, 1813 .. The article on Impressed Seamen

2011-05-30T12:14:00.004-04:00

History has no greater joy than to join the past and see what they were reading and discussing. That is REAL HISTORY. I have often said that we have too much revised and comic book like history. Historians will go out of their way to protect their idols and heroes. That is human nature, but sadly it hurts our history. This is a newspaper from the War of 1812. It was called the War. The article I have put on for you the first page of the paper. Read history and you will see that they had their own ideas and of course even they were biased. It was war. But what is always amazing to see when you read papers like this are the little things that never get mentioned in todays history. That is what is so nice about reading a paper like this. The paper was made oddly in the spot close to where the World Trade Center is now. Right by the Bear-Market, that was an early shopping center that closed its doors in 1814.

Ever wonder why we spell things different in America than in England?

2011-05-29T13:07:00.005-04:00

It is interesting to see many times how words are spelled in America, and yet they are spelled differently in other English speaking countries. It was due to the efforts of one man. Noah Webster created his dictionary in the United States and decided to "Americanize" the English language. He did it with many words. Just as a for instance the word color. That is how we spell it here in the USA, but how do we spell it in the English speaking world? Colour is the way it is done everywhere except here in the USA. So if you ever wondered why we spell things differently here than in the rest of the English speaking word, you now know. The language was Websterized.

Noah Webster

Roman Silver Coins

2011-05-29T12:41:00.003-04:00

Here is a pile of Roman silver coins. I put them on a scanner and hoped for the best. Well as you can see with Roman coins there are and was the good, the bad and the ugly. What is most fascinating with Roman silver is that they were only made by the Government of Rome, not the provinces. In the provinces they would make bronze coins. In the early days of Rome, these coins were worth more as a coin than the material they were made of. As Rome started to fall slowly the content of silver started to as well. It became a mess in the later years as many silver coins had little real silver in them. Here you will see a pile of silver coins from ancient Rome. Some look much more silvery than others. That is due to time and also to content. In fact in its later days, the Roman silver coin was just coated with silver. I have found many coins like that, in the coin world they are called silvered.

I am not going into any great detail here, but as I often like to do is spur your interests and get you to study. But if you look as a correlation of times the sameness of American coins. Once they were pure silver, then in 1965 they were made of copper and coated with silver. That is what our silver coinage is today. Not really silver, just a touch of silver.

John Quincy Adams at home in Quincy, Mass 1843

2011-05-20T21:57:00.004-04:00

I have always found this a remarkable and clear photograph of perhaps one of the greatest men of not only the 18th and 19th centuries. But of all American history. Sadly and terribly under rated, he is perhaps the greatest intellect that ever was President. Perhaps one of, if not the greatest intellect in the history of our political system. The man who did more for the end of slavery than any other politician of his time. I dare say he was walking the walk long before Lincoln ever gave such thoughts attention and found them political useful to himself. Adams was not interested in the political benefits as Lincoln was. He was interested in doing what was right. That is all.

That is why I find him unique in the fray of politics, as he was above it. Remember it was Adams who killed the Gag Rule. If you are not familiar with it, you should become so. As it was this action that lit the fuse that started the Civil War. Adams would be long dead by the time of that war. But you can see if there was anyone who wanted to see the country restored and slavery ended, it was he. Truly there was no greater political champion to that end than Adams. A great under rated man, who basically created the path, ideals, concepts, and even ways of emancipation that Lincoln would follow and implement 20 years after.

The 1943 steel penny

2011-05-06T05:58:00.004-04:00

Since the last article I wrote was about the size of the penny. I thought it would be of interest to share with you the only penny ever made, that was not made of copper. This penny was produced in 1943, and it was completely made of steel, and coated with zinc. The penny here is a uncirculated one from that time, but even still, not a rarity. But is it unusual, you bet your life. At the height of World War Two the United States found itself in a short supply of copper. Copper was used in shell casings and many other very much needed items. So it was planned to use steel for the penny. This brought out a host of problems. First since the pennies were steel they would rust from sweat and being touched. Secondly, when new they were very shiny and were confused for dimes (10 cents).
Therefore after 1943, pennies were made from used shell casings and what ever else was available and 1943 would be the only year a coin was produced by the United States Government that did not contain any copper at all. I recall as kid still seeing them in circulation, however now that seems to have ended and they are horded by those who are waiting for them to attain great value. If they ever do, it will be long after this and the next generation have long since passed from the scene. But still as a novelty, or unique coin they have few equals. A memento one may say of a time when the United states was deeply and fervently at war and copper was not to be had.

The size of the early penny

2011-04-28T23:28:00.003-04:00

In this day and age we still make pennies. I have to ask why? I cannot see the use of them and I would rather round out a price like they do in many other countries. But here we just spent millions of dollars on the reverse of the Lincoln penny for his 200th birthday. I would have been welcoming of a new backing for the five dollar bill. At least that makes sense. But this is far off my topic. The penny as far as I am concerned is useless except as a piece you put into jars and get lots of. In fact pennies are hard to keep in circulation as many people just put them in jars and keep them.....So why have pennies? I guess cause we always have. But today's penny is much different from the first types made in this country. The first pennies and half pennies were produced in the 1790's. I have put one in this blog about a year ago or so. But from the 1790's to the 1850's pennies were very large. Made completely of copper and a substantial weight in your pockets. In the later part of the 1850's the Flying Eagle penny would come on the scene and it would be small. But till then the penny was around the size of a current half dollar I can be happy the penny is small now as we can put more in jars and containers. If they were still the same old size as before you could not save as many and it would be a lot heavier.

Some large pennies from the 1830's to the 1850's

The first shots of the Civil War in April of 1861 .......was it?

2011-04-23T18:10:00.007-04:00

The first shots fired in the Civil War. On January 10, 1861. Reported in this Jan.26 issue of Harper's Weekly. This is a often disregarded moment. But all that is said about Lincoln sending a ship to the Island fort for the 1st time is not true. It had been tried before and everyone knew what happened. Lincoln knew this would cause the war everyone was waiting for. He had his explosive, he just needed a spark.

As North Carolina stated in January, any action to supply the fort would be looked on as an act of war!

Lincoln knew this, and used it to start that war. He not only sent a few ships, he sent a telegraph message to tell them he was doing it!

I am amazed when I think of the story of Ft.Sumter in North Carolina. It was there in April of 1861 that the first shots of the Civil War were fired. But is this true? I do not think that is truly so.
In January of 1861 a supply ship was sent to Ft.Sumter and was fired at by shore batteries, who did make a direct hit on the vessel. It immediately headed back to New York City from where it had been sent.
This event scared the living daylights out of then President James Buchanan, who did not want a Civil War starting on his watch. He was more of what they called then a "dough-face", which meant he was more pro south and slavery than most northerners. But the issue that was at hand was not slavery, it was succession.

He had sent in early January a ship to provision Ft.Sumter. The ship sent was the Star of the West. as mentioned before it was fired on by N. Carolina militants, as they had already succeeded from the Union. The situation at the fort was dire, as the food stocks were low and it was a new fort and not stocked for a battle. Plus it was a fort designed for harbor defense,not to battle with shore batteries.

When March comes around and Lincoln becomes President, there was much question on what to do? Lincoln is stated as saying that he would reinforce the fort and if fired upon it would be an act of aggression. He said he was sending food to hungry men, but in the ships were also arms and munitions.

However he said he was not sure how the N. Carolina crowd would handle it? He knew about the Star of the West, he had too. Also he had to know that N. Carolina said it would be looked at as an act of war if the fort was provisioned.

He knew that ships sent there would be fired upon. He even sent a telegraph message to N. Carolina to fire them up. I am of the thought that he sent the ships as a bit of a red flag to start off a war.

He knew it would be fired on, although he did not plan that the fort would be fired on before a ship ever got there.
Lincoln needed the tariff monies owed by the south. He needed to to solve this issue as he guessed the best way to do it. To have a short war and force the south back into the Union. He just needed the south to shoot first.

The first shot of the Civil War had been fired in January, the bomb exploded in April with Lincoln's firm resolve to bring the south back into Union. Slavery had nothing to do with it at the time. It was just a States Rights / Constitutional issue at first.
But in April of 1861 would be the 2nd shots of the Civil War. Which if we really look at it carefully was more of a revolution, than a civil war, but that is beyond what I am writing about here.

The first Lincoln cents... Not in 1909 but in 1864!!

2011-04-17T02:13:00.006-04:00

The Civil War Token was a piece made in the United States during the American Civil War 1861-1865. Tokens were private made to supplant the small amount of coins being minted by the North during the war. They were made between 1862-64. there were many subjects on these coins from soldiers to grocery stores. But this was the first I had ever seen Lincoln on. The value of a token like this was one cent. I had also thought that perhaps the coins were made to promote Lincoln on his re-election bid. There are some that appear to serve in that function.

The Civil War Lincoln Token. There were several types of these. All are quite rare and all are quite unique. This has the words Freedom on the back.

So now you can say you have seen the first Lincoln cent, not the one produced 45 years later.

Walking the fields of the Gettysburg battlefield, in late July 2010

2011-04-16T20:35:00.006-04:00

I took a wonderful trip with 3 friends to the Gettysburg battle field in Pennsylvania. Now I confess as much as I have studied history,looked at history and experienced history I had never been to the battlefield before. It was an experience I am at best able to say as overwhelming. I knew the history, the persons involved, the stories, but I had never touched it. So after knowing about the battle field for well over 40 years I finally walked the walk.

It was great to take it with 3 people who knew history well and were well versed in it as I was. I was in very good company, Mike Roper, Tom Buckley, and Liz Moynihan. All of whom were well versed in history and politics. I had the great chance to chat for hours with Liz, who is the widow of the former Senator and learn so much on the car ride there. Her involvement with the political scene since the 1950's is fascinating. We talked about the various Presidents, her husbands thoughts on some of them and also the current crop of politicians. All of this was like sugar to a kid for me. Cause can listen to this for hours, and I did.
Mike Roper who is one of the greatest history teachers who has ever been, and Tom Buckley who is very well read and a charming person.

We all spent 3 days in Gettysburg and saw and learned a lot. We had one of the best tour guides at the park. There was so much to see. I collected some downed leaves to put in my scrapbook and Liz found me some White Oak, and taught me how to recognize it.

But what struck me most was the site of Picket's Charge. I need not tell the history behind it, you know already. But it was at this point I left my friends to take the car with the guide and I set out by myself.
I wanted to walk the walk that so many did that day on July 3, 1863. It was not a long walk, maybe 2 miles or so. I walked it from its starting point to where there was a fence.
This fence was there historically, and it was about 40 yards to where the Union position was. What was on the Union side were 25 cannon double charged with canisters of "Mini Balls" each canister held 25 balls. Each one of those balls weighed about 2 pounds
There were massive amounts of guns firing as well once the Rebel army reached the fence. I had in my possession one of the mini balls pulled from the earth ages ago when people could do that on that field. I carried it with me along with a bullet. One of those mini balls could level a whole group. Just imagine if you will....500 of them flying through the air!

THE BALL AND BULLET

The emotional feeling when one reaches that fence is so overpowering. It was here that literally thousands of men died. I felt the feelings and passions of that spot. Just stood there for a long while.

I know that in the battle there was a volley of those 25 cannon fired at the men at the fence just 40 yards away. After the cannon went off, there was nothing there but smoking shoes.

I finally connected with Gettysburg, and saw what I had known for so long, but never quite knew like I did that day.

The 1945 French Franc. Due to inflation and warfare it was made of some pretty cheap stuff.

2011-04-16T20:19:00.002-04:00

The 1945 French Franc was made when a country was regaining it's freedom and it's own coinage again. It had been under the control of Germany from 1940 till 1944. In 1945 some of the old coins came back. Not as silver, gold or bronze. Nope it came back in Aluminum! In fact for the first few years after WW2 much of the coinage was mainly aluminum. By the time we get into the 1950's and early 60's, copper, bronze, silver, and steel were used for the coins of France.

A beautiful coin made of a very lightweight and inexpensive material

Dirty Water Dogs!

2011-04-11T17:00:00.000-04:00

One of the joys of New York is the dirty water dog. What is that you ask? Go to any street corner and see the hot dog carts. The hot dog has been a staple in New York for well over a hundred years and of course is and has been the lunch of millions. Just think of how many hot dogs are sold in just NYC alone. In fact there was a battle for the hot dog concession in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The price that went to bid for the location went at over three hundred thousand dollars! So you can see what a big industry hot dogs are.

The taste of the New York Dogs is special and has a flavor all of its own. People have been indulging on hot dogs in New York since the dawn of the 20th century. The term dirty water dog comes from the fact that the hot dogs are boiled in water and kept in the water. It adds to the flavor and it truly is a real New York food.

In a city where many types of food are available, the most popular dish in NYC is indeed the dirty water dog.

Don't let the name scare you. They are wonderfully delicious and a true part of the culture of New York City.

Zachary Taylor and John C. Fremont. Two books designed to help them along in the election process

2011-03-24T02:44:00.006-04:00

This book would help a war hero become President.

Taylor would die in office in 1850.

This book would help a somewhat known hero out west run for President with a brand new party, called the Republicans.

Zachary Taylor and John C. Fremont were two men who would both want the same thing. The presidential chair. Taylor ran as a Whig in 1848 and won. Fremont ran as the first Republican Presidential candidate and was defeated, by a man who had no issues, or comments.

In both cases there were books that would come out and talk about how wonderful they were. I thought it would be nice to show you all two books who's job it was to do this. They were not great books in the arena of the written word, but they were to get people to vote.

The last Whig candidate to win an election was Taylor, and the Whig Party morphed into the Republican Party more or less. Fremont would be their first Presidential candidate in 1856. It would take 4 more years to bring a member of his party into the Executive Mansion, named Abraham Lincoln. There were few books on him, but Fremont was first and the first of his kind.

The Book of The Damned by Charles Fort. The book that started it all on the paranormal

2011-03-07T20:07:00.009-05:00

One of the more unusual books to come out in late 1919 was this volume. "The Book of The Damned" by Charles Fort. It was not a massive seller, or a big item when new. But it was different, very different. It was truly the first book to come out dealing with space activity and the paranormal. It was a classic of classics when it came to that. Charles Fort (1874-1932) gave to the world a bible of sorts to all those who would write on this subject again. It was the first.

Here you can see the rare original 1919 edition.
It was in a reddish fabric with a large planet like image with stars around it. It really was unique for its day.

Charles Fort

This book would become a classic that is still in print today. It has influenced an entire field of research that would amazed Mr. Fort if he could see it today.

The Airship Hindenburg. A few bits and pieces. Plus a promotional piece for the Airship USS Akron of 1931

2011-02-27T01:56:00.009-05:00

When the great airship Hindenburg crashed in Lakehurst New Jersey in May of 1937. It was the death knell to the Dirigible. The great fire and blaze that was created when she exploded and burned cost the lives of 35 people. Oddly enough much of the ship burned and much of the fabric that surrounded the frame of the vessel was lost. But surprisingly, more than what you would imagine survived. I have seen many pieces of the Hindenburg and seen a lot of fabric from her. Plus even more widely found was much of her "Duralumin". This was the material that the frame of airships were made from. A very light alloy and as light as a feather. It was the material that would allow the airship program to exist in all the countries that had one.

The areas that fabric was hard to come by was in the tail section. This is a small piece from around one of the German Swastikas on the ship.

This is a piece of the silver fabric that covered the entire craft.

This Duralumin piece is from the wreck of the airship.

The American Airship Program was going strong in the 1930's. In fact there were two mighty airships built that encompassed not only being airships, but early flying aircraft hangers. The Akron and the Macon carried 5 planes in their hulls to drop out to scout. Plus a ingenious method of retrieving them. This I will cover in an upcoming article on this blog.

When the Akron was being built,there were many items available made of the duralumin that would be part of the ship. These pieces would be letter openers and many other items including this duralumin bottle opener. It is the lightest bottle opener you ever felt and I am sure many were lost quite soon, or possibly blew away. They were really that light!

How a sprained ankle changed the course of history

2010-10-06T05:03:00.003-04:00

Few know that Henry Clay Frick and his wife were to join the RMS Titanic in April 1912. However Mrs.Frick sprained her ankle while traveling on the RMS Adriatic and they canceled their voyage on the Titanic. That amazing happenstance changed everything. For had they joined the ship it is most probable that Henry Clay Frick would have been lost. If that was so there would be no Frick Museum in New York City. So in this case a sprained ankle, changed the course of history, and saved for the world a great resource that has enhanced and changed the world.

The American Half Cent (another forgotten coin from America's past)

2010-08-16T14:05:00.006-04:00

I have been on a kind of a coin jag as of late. I have rediscovered the coin collecting of my youth. I am not really into getting every coin of this and that year, but a sampling of various types to handle my curiosity on the subject. That brings me to this small post today on Half Cents. Yes today we care little or nothing of pennies and they are small and basically useless. They are made of zinc and coated with copper to make them affordable. But still they are too expensive. Let's go back 200 plus years to when the penny was not only useful but sometimes too much money! This is why there were half cents. A Penny bought a lot in the old days. I even recall as a boy buying penny candy in the store. Bubble gum was always a Penny and a candy bar was 6 cents. The half cent was about 2/3's the size of a standard penny of the time. I have expanded this picture to let you read the back of the coin. The Half Cent was around the size of the present day quarter. They were made well into the 19th century. The example here is from 1804.
The Penny of the time was massive. It was around the size of a Half Dollar. It was hard to carry change like this around. I have included this Penny from 1803 to give you an idea of the size of these monsters. The Penny would continue on till the 1850's in this massive size.
A Penny and half in change. You can see the difference in size and once again the massive size of these coins. So while we talk about the Penny, just think what it once was, and how expensive it would be to make today, let alone a Half Penny!

Ancient Roman Silver coins

2010-07-25T22:24:00.003-04:00

The Roman Empire is really a road map to many other Republics that have followed. When it was young it had great power and riches. As it grew and over extended itself, it started to rot from within. The coinage of Rome is a great example. In its early days of coinage and well into the 2nd century, coins were made of gold and silver. By the later days of the empire they were cutting back on how much silver was in the coin. Eventually just coating them in silver. By the time of the end of the Roman Empire the money was as pretty much worthless as the Empire itself. Here I thought I would share a view of a Roman Silver coin, from an age so long ago.

The United States 2 cent coin 1864-1873

2010-07-19T01:05:00.002-04:00

Few coins are as forgotten as the two cent piece minted from 1864 to 1873. It was made at the end of the civil war and was the first coin made in the United States that had the motto "In God we trust". The coin was not a massively minted coin, in fact the greatest amount of minting of these coins were in their earliest years. The two coins I put here are from 1865. So I thought it would be fun to show you a coin that is very much a forgotten piece of American history.

Why we are at war. A book of the speeches by Woodrow Wilson leading to our involvement in WWI. Printed May 1917

2010-07-12T03:00:00.005-04:00

This book was published a month after Wilson's declaration of war.

This war to end all wars just accelerated the process for war and many wars would result from its shadows.

The New York Weekly Museum. A forgotten newspaper from America's past.

2010-07-11T03:15:00.003-04:00

The Weekly Museum was a weekly paper dedicated to a little bit of this and that. By the end of the Madison administration it was no more. This paper is also filled with advertisements. The one that caught my eye was an early dentistry ad of offices on 114 Broadway. This gives you a chance to see a paper few ever knew existed and far more less have ever seen.

This issue was May 5, 1810

New-York Weekly Museum was published from September 20, 1788 - April 26, 1817. It was not a heavy duty paper, it was more about stories of the area and other easy going things. While going through the paper I found this early dental ad. I thought it interesting. It advertises the offices of Nathaniel Smith on 114 Broadway.

Why are there so many ancient Roman coins?

2010-07-11T02:38:00.005-04:00

The main reason is that they were stored in such a way that so many of them survived. There was no such thing as bank vaults 2000 years ago. So what the Romans did and sometimes before them the Greeks, was to bury the coins in massive jars till they were needed. Well, by the 4 century AD there was not too much need for the coins and of course they were forgotten. Now over the last 40 or so years there have been massive amounts of these coins found. By the hundreds of thousands to be exact.

Ancient Roman coins are even owned by your humble writer here. However they really have, and I have to admit sadly, not the greatest value. But still there is a historic thrill when you hold one in your hand. Cause you know you are touching history.

Just within the last few months 52,000 Roman coins were found in a massive jar in England. There are many more still not discovered.

In fairness to Aaron Burr, and time to show Jefferson and Hamilton were no better!

2010-07-06T02:03:00.007-04:00

I am really tired of the beating Aaron Burr has taken historically. He is always portrayed as the bad guy to nice guys like Hamilton and Jefferson. I am tired of this rubbish. I am not saying Burr was a saint, but he was no worse than Hamilton or Jefferson.
In fact I think he was really a better person than Jefferson in many regards. Specially a more honest one.
Jefferson was one of the worst politicians to inhabit the White House. Today we call him a saint, the only reason for that is how little people really know about Jefferson. His actions as a vice President before hand were worthy of impeachment!

Hamilton was not much better, in fact he was nearly as bad a hypocrite as Jefferson, but not quite that bad.
With Jefferson, integrity was just not one of his virtues. Hamilton was not too far behind, but with him he had the cloak of security, protected by Washington.

Burr had the misfortune of being in the way for the political egos of Hamilton, Jefferson, and too a degree George Washington. Washington was too busy finding ways to become more famous to bother with Burr. No one was in Washington's league except for Franklin.
As for Hamilton and Jefferson they crafted the stories about Burr, they equally did him a terrible disservice.
I would like Jefferson to be discussed like Burr, tear him apart some and see what a phony he was.
Hamilton became a Martyr to Burr's bullet in a duel. What he was before that bullet was something else. His career as a politician was on a fast decline, he was known for being crafty, and very loose at the mouth. He was also very emotional, and would get worked up over things and then do the most bizarre things you can imagine.

He was hated by Jefferson, and of course Jefferson was famous for hiring people to destroy you if you did not agree with HIS politics.

So Hamilton suffered under Jefferson as well, far more so than by any attack by Burr.

All of these men were equally brilliant. Yet one was attacked over and over again by the people who were equally as bad as him. Three people so very much alike. Hamilton, Jefferson and Burr. None were greater than the other, except in biased history books and letters written by them.

Do many people think of the fact that the first major politician in NYC to push for women's suffrage was Aaron Burr, the first major politician who was for freeing the slaves when Hamilton (he had a few) and Jefferson (he had hundreds of them) were having no major quarrel over it.
Burr brought in the first fresh water system into NYC, and started what would become Tammany Hall. A place for the common man that had been overlooked by Jefferson and Hamilton. He also started an early banking system for the common man. He understood long before Hamilton that in New York you had many immigrants, and the important thing to do was to make them citizens. These people who were simple would also vote for you for life. That was the beginnings of what would become Tammany Hall.

Hamilton was the one person who could really make Burr loose his cool. It lead to the duel, after too many insults had poured from the mouth of Hamilton. Burr never should have allowed Hamilton to drive him crazy. Hamilton was not the nice guy he is made into today either. He was a political animal as well and was frighteningly obsessed with Burr.

Hamilton, Jefferson, and Burr were great, good, and sometimes very bad men. Neither was much better than the other, as all of them had their hands in the political cookie jar at times.

Jefferson tried to convict Burr of plotting to create a nation in the west. He was of course acquitted as it was basically created by Jefferson to embarrass Burr.

One hardly hears of the man who was with Burr on his trip out west.

His name was Andrew Jackson. No one dares say that Jackson was trying to do what Burr was. Once it is really looked at you can see it is Jefferson at his best, doing his worst to someone.

I was wrong of Burr to challenge Hamilton to a duel, it was also wrong for Hamilton to bring trick guns to the duel as well. Both of these guys were the same, equally good and bad.

But today Burr is bad and Jefferson and Hamilton are saints..... hmmmmmmmm, History is indeed written by the winners.
So sorry for the lack of information and honesty about you Mr. Burr. Of the batch, I like you the best.

One of the great song hits of the 20th century. "Bill Bailey, won't you please come home".

2010-07-04T23:33:00.005-04:00

This great song was written in 1902 by Hughie Cannon (1877-1912). He was a talented song writer who sadly was also a very heavy drinker. He wrote a number of songs, but his greatest success was Bill Bailey. Due to the fact that Cannon was in pretty rough straights, he often sold the rights to all of the songs he wrote. He died in 1912 at the early age of 35 from drinking and liver failure. This early 9 inch Zon-O-Phone record from 1903 is an early example. It is performed here by Arthur Collins (1864 - 1933) Who probably made more records of this song than anyone. But who would have guessed in 1902, that Hughie Cannon's song would do so well.

Our Modern Navy 1898

2010-07-04T22:28:00.009-04:00

This wonderful book was published in 1898, while we were at war with Spain. It is a picture book of all the capital ships in the US Navy at the time. In the book are pieces on ships, sailors, and even a piece included here on war prizes. It is a great piece of Navy history from the end of the 19th century. I have added just a few of its many pages. I think the piece on war prizes is quite fascinating.

Lecturing in Malaysia at the Garden International School 2009 -2010

2010-06-29T01:41:00.005-04:00

Talking with the students for an hour after the lecture was over.

It has been my pleasure to now have spoken several times at the Garden International School in KL Malaysia. The students are delightful and interested in everything. It has been a great joy to be there. The faculty there has enjoyed it as well and has written about in this wonderful note. They are wonderful there, I admire the teachers there so much. It is a great school!

I am here at the school after the lecture I did in 2009 called "America between the wars" A lecture that took into account the actions and activities of the USA during the period between the world wars. It was delight to have given that one and the one I more recently gave in March 2010. What I have enjoyed here was the fact that the kids would stay for an hour after the lecture and just ask question after question. It was great to hear their young minds soaking up the information. It was great fun for me and them. This picture was taken about an hour after the lecture and there were still this many kids there asking questions. I hope to speak there in again in 2011.

Spending a day in 2000 with the great Eddie Bracken 1915-2002...What a wonderful man he was.

2010-06-20T22:53:00.000-04:00

Listening to Nat M. Wills on a cylinder
In his den with many of his posters of his movies and other programs he had done.
Eddie Bracken signed this picture for me in 2000 when I met him at his home in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. I had contacted him to make some recordings and he was very interested and happy to get involved. We spend several hours talking and listening to him reminisce about his past and the memories of his friends.

He told me that Bob Hope's brother was to be the best man at his wedding. However, when the day of the wedding came he was too drunk to make it! So much for a best man. Bracken was a performer from the time he was a child. He performed in early silents, and he said he made 2 Our Gang films.
He was also a well known star in radio...He was the voice of Henry Aldridge....In the days of radio that show started.............HENRY!!!!!! Henry Aldridge!....and he would answer "Coming mother" in a cracked voice as he said. It was a great success and he said he was known all over for his voice. He said that even one of his big fans was none other than Al Jolson.

His many stories I have to write down as they were wonderful.

He did many movies, Hail the In the 1940s, director Preston Sturges cast Bracken in two of his best-loved films, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, opposite Betty Hutton, and Hail the Conquering Hero. Based on the popularity of these films, Eddie Bracken was a household name during World War II.

He won an award from the Armed Services in WW2..As the best entertainer...He said that Bob Hope hated him for that! But it is true Eddie Bracken received the award...I saw it..It was massive!!!

His last movie of note wasHome Alone 2: Lost in New York..

When I saw him and listened to his many stories he signed this picture for me, It is from the movie Summer Stock. In this picture he appears with Judy Garland. He signed it...To Jack, Thanks for your visit....Eddie Bracken.

It was a great visit and I was saddened to hear of his passing two years later after a bad fall down his stairs.
As with many others who have passed through my life, I have learned a little from each....Bracken taught me much, and now when I see the Duncan Toy man in Home Alone 2, I always think of a great man and friend..

Why does food today taste different than that in the old days?

2010-06-13T15:37:00.005-04:00

I have often pondered this question. Food and many dishes did taste different years ago. There are many reasons for this, first off refrigeration, Pasteurization, low fat, high sugar, additives, and cooking styles. One of the great crimes committed against us historically in the taste of foods, is what we put into it now.

I always laugh when I look at an old recipe in a new cooking book. It states right off we have replaced some ingredients with a more healthy option. Right there we have destroyed the taste of what once was.

It is like taking an old car and saying we have replaced its motor and replaced it with a new fuel efficient one that makes it run better..Then I do not know what that original car was like? That is historic robbery. I want to feel how it was, sense how it was, experience how it was.
Driving in a 2010 car gives me no idea of what driving a Model T Ford was like. I have driven a Model T Ford, so believe me it is nothing like a new car.

In that thought too, in the age before Pasteurization foods tasted different. Fats added flavor, cooking long had its joys too. Now everything is so slimmed down so we think and we are healthier, are we?

The use of Lard is wonderful, it adds so much flavor to foods. I look through cook books today and no one uses it for historic dishes...Why not? I am not advocating using lard every day, but I am willing to say is healthier than a good deal of the over processed junk we eat today is. The foods of the past will never taste as they did as we have a mania to not use the ingredients that were used in the past. So if you wish to experience the taste of the past, ask the preparer to use the ingredients that were used then. You find a pleasant surprise, it tastes better than its redesigned modern equivalent.

There are many restaurants that cater to the tastes of the past, and I have not seen any of them that use all original ingredients. So we are fooling ourselves as to what the past tasted like. Bacon fat, lard, butter, and much more were used as part of the meal. It is nothing like low fat oils. Lard will make a meal, and you will once again be surprised at how good it tastes.
That is what the past tasted like. Sadly we do not eat today, cause it is not looked at as healthy. Yet we as millions go into many dreadful fast food joints and think nothing of it. Am I missing something?

To close I am reminded of an encounter between Walter Lord and Rene Harris in the last years of her life. She was a major producer on Broadway and a survivor of the Titanic. Lord was working on a book on the disaster. She was living at this time in a small room and her days of glory were long over.
He decided to bring a tin of Caviar for her. She took one taste as said "You call that Caviar?" He wrote in his notes that probably Caviar tasted different before pasteurization, and that the Caviar of 1912 was a very different dish than what we know today.

The first biography of John Paul Jones. Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle July-November 1816

2010-03-18T00:38:00.000-04:00

John Paul Jones
The Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle was an important magazine to express many of the issues of the day. It shared much of the recent history dealing with the war of 1812 and also dwelling into the days of the American revolution. Of course when this was published the revolution had been over for only 33 years.

So much of what they wrote about in this magazine was of relatively recent history. It is interesting to think that Franklin had been dead 26 years and Washington had been dead but 17 years when this was published. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Madison, John Jay, John Marshall, Aaron Burr, and many other revolutionaries were still very much alive. Of that group Madison was President when it was published and Monroe would be the 5th President after him.

This magazine and this issue was very important as it contained the first biography of John Paul Jones. He had written his memoirs, but this was the first as a biography. The author is unknown. The publisher was Moses Thomas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Here is the front page from this most early biography
Some information on this publication

Philadelphia: Moses, Thomas, 1816. Life of John Paul Jones from Vol. VIII, Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle, July 1816, pp. 1-29. First published biography of John Paul Jones. [Published after Jones memoirs, but nine years before Sherburne's biography.) Includes a 7-page excerpt from Nathaniel Fanning's memoir, published in 1806, recounting Jones famous battle with the Serapis. Relates Jones words exchanged with the enemy not as "I have not yet begun to fight." Rather, in response to a demand that he strike his colors, Jones is quoted as resonding, "Ay, ay, we'll do that when we can fight no longer--but we shall see yours come down first. . . ." Letters of [John] Paul Jones from the November 1816 issue, pp. 399-401. 3 letters: to the Marquis de Nieuil, to Benjamin Franklin, and to Monseigneur de Sartine.

September 4, 1882 The day downtown Manhattan was lit for the first time by Thomas Edison's light bulb.

2010-03-01T21:41:00.001-05:00

On September 4, 1882 Thomas Alva Edison pulled a switch at the world's first commercial DC electrical distribution plant and the area around Pearl Street in lower Manhattan lit up!
The Edison team had worked out this system through the year and finally on the 4th of September it was ready! It was no accident that the power station was on Pearl Street. It was right by Wall Street and near Edison's money man. J. P. Morgan.

Morgan was much of the money behind Edison's work. In fact Edison once wrote in one of his books about Morgan and his money saying,"His word was his collateral". Truer words were never said.

The streets and offices around Pearl and Wall Streets were lit by Edison's Bamboo filament light bulbs.
All the wiring was under ground. (IT STILL IS IN NYC). From the power produced by the Jumbo generators (named for the famous elephant), Edison and his team were able to light several blocks of lower Manhattan.

It was the beginning of a new age! It all started less than 130 years ago. Not that long ago when you think about it. Think of that each time you turn on your lights and the rest of your life.
This was a city that saw once a revolution that freed them from England. This next revolution, the electrical one, freed mankind from the bondage of darkness.

The Hotel Knickerbocker on Broadway and 42nd Street.

2010-02-28T19:08:00.004-05:00

The Knickerbocker Hotel was built by the legendary millionaire John Jacob Astor the forth (1864-1912) in 1904. It was one of his many hotels in New York City. He built many and would have kept building, but he was on the Titanic and was not one of the survivors.
This was built in the heart of the theater district and home to many great singers and performers. This place was home to the great George M. Cohan (1878-1942) of Broadway fame.
It was also the home to the immortal operatic tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). Another of the greats who lived there was the theatrical producer Charles Frohman (1860-1915). Sadly he would be lost in the Lusitania.
It was a hangout for many in theater. The bar downstairs was famous for not only coming up with the martini cocktail, but for having some of the finest foods ever.

The great operatic Contralto Ernestine Schumann Heink (1861-1936) She was 350 pounds of contralto and often ate her meals in the Knickerbocker. There is a great story about Caruso walking into the restaurant of the Knickerbocker and seeing Heink with a massive steak before her. He yelled "Madamme Heink are you going to eat that steak all alone?" She responded in her German-English, "No, mit potatos!"

Caruso ate most of his meals at the Knickerbocker till he and Cohan were moved out when the building was sold. It was made into an office building and all of its hotel items were moved elsewhere. One of the most famous pieces was moved to another hotel in NYC. But that will be another story.
Caruso sang from his suite in the Knickerbocker to everyone on Broadway to celebrate the end of WWI. I got to meet two people who saw that event. Helen Hayes who was there said it was the highlight of her life. It must have been something!

Today the Knickerbocker building is condos and stores. It has recently been sold, so perhaps by 2020 there will be another hotel Knickerbocker. Just like a century ago.

Remembering my friend Ray Stone on the 65th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima

2010-02-26T07:56:00.009-05:00

It was my honor to know Ray. He was a gentleman, singer, actor, and a survivor of the battle of Iwo Jima. Ray rarely talked about the event, but one day over some stingers, he let go of a little bit of his memory. Ray had been born on Dec 6, 1925. His father had a mandolin orchestra and Ray was surrounded with music from his childhood. That would play a part in his later life. But the war interrupted that.

Once Ray turned 18 in December of 1943, his path was like millions of other young men of the time. That was to join the military as the world was at war. He joined the marines in 1944. He then went through the months of indoctrination and basic training. Then he and hundreds of thousands of raw green troops went on their way. Of course none of them knew where they were going. The war in Europe was closing down, but the war in the Pacific was steaming. The Japanese were entrenched on many islands and were known to fight to the last man. So it was known that fighting them would be a living hell.

Ray said that in late 1944 he was on his way to the Pacific. He was transferred from ship to ship. Finally they knew something was up in early 1945, as he and a few hundred other very unlucky souls were loaded onto a large landing craft and sailed across the ocean. There were hundreds of these massive landing crafts that were loaded with soldiers. These ships were all flat bottomed and rode the water terribly. Everyone was seasick on board. This ship and it's very sick passengers were on their way to Iwo Jima.

He said they landed and the front gate opened and all of them were feeling awful. but soon they were under a hail of bullets and everyone of them to a man forgot about being seasick. Now they were in a battle, not only to take this small island, but for their very survival. He said he saw so many of his comrades shot down. As he used to joke years later "They were trying to kill me!" It was no laughing matter as thousands of men on both sides were killed.

He recalled the two flag raising's on the mountains. He said there were big cheers each time. I had never been aware of that till he told me about the flags. The photo I had always known was of the second flag raising. Each was important, but the first flag raising and those who were involved seemed to have been overshadowed by the second. Ray was eventually shot and crawled under a tank and was in great pain. His Sargent told him to get out from there but as he was barking his order he was shot and killed.
Ray was finally taken in and recovered from his wounds. He returned to the marines and even served again as a Drill Sargent in the Korean war. The marine flag always flew at his house.

Ray had a spectacular career after this. He worked on Broadway, toured in Summer stock. Sang with the Easternaires in the Music man all over the country. In later years he married his lovely bride Mickie. It was my pleasure to know and perform with this man for many years.
Mickie told me of a incident that happened in 1995. She and Ray were touring in Washington and Virginia. They were on a bus doing tours. They found themselves in Arlington and in the shadow of the monument honoring the second flag raising of Iwo Jima. Everyone filed by, but Ray, who had never seen it before was transfixed. It had been 50 years since he saw that scene.
The bus driver started honking the horn and yelled out his window "hey get in the bus old man". Mickie glared at the driver and said "Shut up....he was there"
There was just a silence after that, and a feeling of respect. Then Ray got on the bus with the quiet dignity that always was his and was left with his thoughts.

It was my joy to know him many years and learn a lot from him. He was always concerned about Mickie as he knew that she would survive him. But this was not case. Mickie sadly left this world in 2000. Ray existed six more years.

I recall my last conversation with him. I was to meet him in March of 2006. In December of 2005 I called Ray to wish him the best on his 80th birthday. In his typical humor he said to me..."Jack, you want to know something....80 sucks!" We laughed and then he died 2 weeks later. Never got to see him that coming March. But today as I read about Iwo Jima, I think of my friend, and remember.....

Back in the days when we performed together. From left to right Me, Bill Farrazanno (top) John Murray, and Ray
The monument

Postage Currency from the Civil War 1862-1863 . All produced in New York City

2010-02-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

This early issue was produced in the North (In NYC) during the civil war sometime between August 1862 through May of 1863. They were to use as money and designed to allow people to buy stamps as coinage was scarce at the time.

Fractional Currency notes were produced from August 21, 1862 through February 15, 1876. Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase proposed to authorize postage stamps of some type as a new currency. Congress and President Lincoln approved the Postage Currency Act on July 17, 1862, which authorized an issue of the notes. I will be talking about the first issues not those of the post civil war period.

The first Issues became known as Postage Stamp Currency because they bore facsimiles of the then current 5 and 10 cent postage stamps. Postage Currency (first Issues) were never legal tender but could be exchanged for United States Notes (money) in $5 lots and receivable in payment of all dues to the United States, up to $5.

In the first few months of production, the sheets were perforated like stamps. These sheets were sold to banks and the public in sheets and you could tear off the notes needed with ease. The perforating machine could not keep up with the heavy demand. Therefore, the stamps were printed on plain sheets that were cut with scissors. This made for some badly sized notes.
All of these notes were produced and printed in New York City, at the National Bank Note Company. This company was located at The Merchant's Exchange Building at 55 Wall Street. The building in which they were located still stands.

This style and those of the first production run were changed in 1863 to a more colorful and better designed style to prevent counterfeit designs. As there were many problems with the size and style of these early notes. The one stamp/bill shown here is from that early period and shows Thomas Jefferson on the front on a five cent stamp of the time.
They are a rather odd and rare part of Civil war history and the early days of bill making in the United States, or what was existing of the United States at that time. One of the more unusual styles of a form of currency. And it all happened in New York.

The other President that was buried in NYC. James Monroe (1758-1831) 5th President of the United States. Removed from NYC's Marble Cemetery in 1858

2010-02-07T01:31:00.004-05:00

Today in New York City, there is but one Presidental grave, that of President Grant. But in the past, New York has been the resting place for another President, that is James Monroe. In this article we will share with you in story, the removal of the remains of our 5th President.

Removing the coffin from the vault
Monroe's coffin on display at New York's City hall on July 3, 1858. Before the body was taken to Virginia for burial...It must of had a rather musty smell after being in a vault for 27 years...But there seems to be no mention of it. The smell I guess was not too strong as the inner coffin was switched to a new one. The inner coffin was made of lead, and it was placed inside a new mahogany casket. But he was the only President that was laid out for public view long after his death.

President James Monroe of Virginia. The last President who was a Revolutionary War Vet

New York City's Marble Cemetery. Where Monroe was buried. Monroe was placed in a vault here after his death on July 4th 1831. He was totally broke and so it was with support that he was buried in New York.

In 1858 he was exhumed and moved to Virginia where he rests. His wife and family were reburied in the graveyard near his tomb.

A closer look at his sarcophagus in Virginia.

James Monroe, our fifth President died basically a pauper. He was living with is daughter in New York as his money situation was in terrible shape. He finally died of heart failure on July 4th 1831. 55 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and five years after Jefferson and Adams.

His Presidency was known as the "Era of good feeling".In his Presidency was perhaps the greatest Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams who wrote the Monroe Doctrine.

Sadly after his Presidency his money situation grew awful. He sold his home in which his wife was buried and moved to New York with his daughter.

His funeral was of great pomp and he was laid to rest in Marble Cemetery in New York City in the Gouverneur family Vault. There he rested till 1858. When a petition from Virginia was settled and his remains were to be brought to state of his birth and most of his life. His coffin was exhumed and brought to New York's City hall where it was on display for the public to see once again the coffin, not the President. He was then put on to a barge a taken to Virginia.

There were a number of storms and it looked like what was left of Monroe was to be lost...But they made it. It is an odd thing that one of Alexander Hamilton's grand sons was part of the honor guard and was sadly washed over board during one of these storms.

Then in July of 1858 he was interred in a rather bizarre Cast Iron tomb. His wife and family were buried near to him. But his tomb was made for only one. There he rests to this day...Now in company with John Tyler, who would be buried there at Hollywood, but not honored till many years later with a marker for his tomb.

Original menu for dining in New York's Greenwich Village hot spot ..The Pepper Pot 1929

2010-02-01T09:28:00.007-05:00

New York's Greenwich Village was a place to be in the later days of the 1920's. The Pepper Pot was one of those places to see and to be seen.
It was a restaurant, jazz and dance hall. party house, and also a place where the bohemian life of the Village could be enjoyed and expressed.

It was not cheap to dine there, but it was known for its excellent foods and atmosphere. In fact if you look at some of the prices here you will see they were quite high. Most places you could get a sandwich for twenty five cents, here it was fifty or more! It was as I mentioned before the place to be, and the place to have a heck of a good time. Of course this was in the height of prohibition, although things could be found there too to help you along too in your quest for a drink.

This menu is from 1929, just before the crash. It is a wonderful reminder of the days that used to be in old New York. The building still stands ad in a later posting we will show you what the old Pepper Pot looks like now.

Scotch, wine, gin, cider and moonshine and the White House

2010-01-22T14:00:00.006-05:00

You know many of our Presidents drank. Some were real boozers. I figured I would write a very short bit on the ones who were moderate to heavy drinkers.

I will only list deceased former presidents. Also we had several Presidents who drank in their youth and gave it up. They will not be listed here.

Although the Presidents that drank on average have lived longer, although the odds are changing as time goes on and people are drinking less than they once did.

I will list the age of each of these Presidents. It is quite amazing how long some of them lived. What is most interesting is that the earlier Presidents seemed to live much longer and healthier lives than many who followed them. Be they drinkers or not!

George Washington. 67

Yes he did drink quite a bit. He was very fond of Madeira wines. He had a rule at his table, and that was you could drink as much as you liked as long as you remained a gentleman. He was also one of the largest producers of whiskey as well, at his farm in Mt Vernon.

John Adams. 90

He would drink a gill of hard cider every day in the morning. That equals out to about 5 ounces. He was fond of wines and drinks. He was always a drinker and his children would suffer from alcoholism. Odd thing about Adams, he drank quite a bit, smoked and chewed tobacco and still is one of the longest living of our Presidents. He died at nearly 91 years of age. The only Presidents to live longer were Reagan and Ford nearly two centuries later.

Thomas Jefferson. 83

Oh yeah.. He loved his wines and had a massive dept often do to wine bills. He drank quite a bit of it.

James Madison . 85

Yes he drank some . He would be quite quiet, till he had a few in him. Then he would become the story teller at the dinner table.

James Monroe. 73

Yes some, and still he was not very exciting.

John Quincy Adams. 80

He was quite a Drinker. Several of his brothers died of alcoholism. He was not, but was quite a heavy drinker. He was known to be cold and forbidding, but after a few glasses of wine under his belt he was a fun dinner companion. He had many fun times playing cards and having cocktails with Dolly Madison.

Martin Van Buren 79

Yes he drank. He drank more as the years progressed

Franklin Pierce. 65

One big drunk. I guess the odd times were when he was sober. He tried while President to keep his habit under control, but failed. He was a mess. There was a joke about him that stated he was the victor of many a hard fought bottle.
When he lost his bid for re-election he said, "I guess there is nothing else to do but go home and get drunk." That he did till he died.

James Buchanan. 77

Big drinker. He complained that the booze bottles were too small in the White House. He was right behind Pierce, but unlike Pierce, he could drink massive amounts of alcohol and show no signs of being drunk or affected. He would buy 10 gallons of Whiskey a week for entertaining. He was drinking heavy as the country started to fall apart in what would become the Civil War.
He left office in 1861, meeting Lincoln he said to him "Sir, if you are as happy to enter this house as I am to leave it, you are a very happy man!" He left and returned to his home and drank.

Andrew Johnson. 68

He was not too good at handling it. Specially when he was inaugurated as Vice President. He had been ill and was offered some whiskey to calm his system down and it went right to his head.
He gave a rambling, slurring speech in which even Lincoln (who was 6 foot 4 inches tall) tried to sink low into his chair not to be seen. It was a sad thing that while Johnson was not a drunk, that event convinced everyone that he was.

U.S. Grant. 63

He liked his booze. He also was not the best at handling it either. But he could every now and then get trashed.
He was no where near the drunk he has been made out to be. One of the problems with Grant was he got massive Migraine headaches and this would make him unsteady on his feet, and slur his speech at times. But the sad part of Grant was he had a very low tolerance to alcohol. He would get rather done in by just a few drinks.

Chester A. Arthur. 56

Yep, he liked his wines, drinks, cocktails in large amounts. He gained 40 pounds while at the White House.

Grover Cleveland. 70

He loved Beer! Lots of it! Soon he weighed over 260 pounds on his 5 foot 10 inch frame. He never lost his love for the beverage. As one old man said to him at a train stop..."I have never met a President before, and you are a whopper!"

William McKinley. 58 assassinated

He liked scotch in the quiet of the evening

William H. Taft. 72

Wines and scotch were his standard fair when he was not eating. He at one point weighed in at 350 pounds and got stuck in his own bathtub. That was a night he had scotch I am sure. Also got a larger bathtub!

Woodrow Wilson . 67

He liked scotch and some wines. Sometimes at parties he would dance for the crowd, only in the privacy of friends and family though. I guess this would happen after a few drinks.

Warren G. Harding. 58

He liked his booze and had it often right in the middle of prohibition! How can anyone play cards unless they have a good adult beverage in hand. Harding did not let the law bother his drinking! Nor did he bother with such trifle things as drinking while suffering with a severely and weakened enlarged heart.

Franklin D. Roosevelt. 63

He liked Martinis his way. He would always make them. Everyone to a man later said they were terrible!

Harry S Truman. 88

He liked his booze now and then specially in his Library where the boss would not see it. The boss by the way was his wife Bess. All of the booze was kept in the library where it was hidden behind his books. It would brought out at whatever time it was needed.

Eisenhower. 78

He did not drink much, but his wife Mamie (82) was quite a drinker. She was always staggering around and loosing her balance. The secret service in those days called it an "Inner Ear Infection" .....Yes the infection was 40 proof!

John F Kennedy. 46 assassinated

He would have a few drinks in the evening usually of scotch, bloody Mary's, wine. But he was also on many drugs at the time which already made him pretty high, so the alcohol just added to the effect.

Lyndon B. Johnson. 64

He liked his booze, just his heart didn't

Richard Nixon. 81

He drank scotch. During Watergate the usage went up tremendously!

Nixon was the last of the drinkers so far. But who knows in the future who will be next and what (he or she) may drink!

The general Slocum disaster June 15, 1904...One of the worst shipping disasters in history..It was the worst disaster in NYC's history till 9/11.

2010-01-16T07:53:00.007-05:00

A big rally for the union and against the south in late April of 1861 . In Union Square in New York City

2010-01-12T01:37:00.000-05:00

In late April of 1861 the commander of Fort Sumter, Major William Anderson appeared in Union Square in New York City. Fort Sumter which had been fired on and overtaken by the south in mid April of that year.

It was the catalyst that would lead to the civil war. On this late April day in 1861 in Union Square, the flag that flew over Ft. Sumter was placed over the statue of Washington in the park. That same flag would be raised over Ft. Sumter on April 14, 1865 when it was reclaimed by the north again.

But at this event in 1861, over a quarter of a million people were there in support of the Union. Even though New York City was very much a pro southern city. The crowds who came to this event were very much influenced by the attack on Ft. Sumter and like all events that rear up the feeling of patriotic fervor, it brought out the masses and many young men of the city enlisted . This early photograph tells it all.

The greatest biography of Abraham Lincoln... In its original concept, a three book edition.

2010-01-11T23:15:00.016-05:00

William Henry Herndon (1818-1891) Herndon did some very enthusiastic research on his law partner. His work brought about by many interviews of those who loved Lincoln and those who did not. They were a bit too much for many historians and friends of old Abe. Many people had already brought him forward to sainthood. In fact many historians did their very best to discredit this book as often as possible. For it took away the saintly qualities they had put into their creation of Lincoln. But with its warts and all, it truly is the greatest biography of Lincoln ever done. For it shows him as a man, not a god.

The front cover of one of the 3 books that make the set in it's original style.

The 3 books together as they are seen today. This set was put out in 1889 and published by the Herndon Lincoln Publishing Company. This was another name used by the company Bedford Clark and Company. After publishing about 1500 books they went into financial troubles and the pressing of the book had to be held up and came out again in this form, which was identical to the previous. In which ever form these early copies of this set are hard to come by and quite rare.

Jesse William Weik (1857-1930) who worked with Herndon and basically edited, and rewrote much of what Herndon had. It was very much a mixed blessing for him to do so. For by doing so he misunderstood some of Herndon's ideas and interviews. But in most cases he had the right idea, just a few he was off the map. These would be corrected in later editions, not these early first ones.

The front title pages to two of the books.

Herndon was Lincolns law partner for near 17 years and knew him better than any man. For Herndon was not afraid to tell the truth on all subjects and only now are we really starting to listen to the man Lincoln called "Billy".

The great sea battle between the Constitution and the Java . Read about the battle first hand from the New York newspaper "The War" from 1813.

2010-01-03T07:07:00.001-05:00

The great sea battle between the Constitution and the Java on Dec 29, 1812. It was clear and decisive victory for a vessel soon to be called "Old Ironsides"

The New York City newspaper called THE WAR was published from 1812 on as the United States and England were involved in a totally senseless war.
In many ways it was just a continuation of the revolutionary war. However, it proved to be a 3 year war of stalemates.
The news traveled slow in those days. So news from Europe would take a month or so to get to the United States. Since the battle between the ships took place off the coast of Brazil, it took even longer for the news to reach England and the United States. As you will notice the news paper is from June 23, 1813.

It has information is from England concerning the battle. Therefore, the news needed to go from the battle. Which would mean that the news would not be known in the USA till the Constitution reached home. Then the news of the battle went to Europe and the comments you see here were gained from comments in England. That process took nearly 6 months! Amazing when you think of today's Internet and the fact that nothing can happen anymore without the world knowing about about it in minutes!

Perhaps the best example of how long news took to travel. The War of 1812 ended on Christmas Eve 1814. Known as the Treaty of Ghent. However, the news did not reach the United States till well into January 1815. Perhaps one of the greatest battles of the War of 1812 took place in New Orleans in early January 1815. There was a massive loss of life to the British in that battle, and little did they know that both parties were at peace! Yet since the news did not arrive till weeks after, mass carnage took place after peace was declared.

The newspaper you can read here is the original from 1813, and it gives the official account of the capture of the Java. This weekly newspaper was published every Tuesday in New York by S. Woodworth and Company on 60 Vesey Str. NYC. It mentions that it is near the Bear Market as you will see on the original. This was a early market that sold various goods and wares. What is very interesting as well is that the structure where the paper was published and the headquarters for this Newspaper, was where the World Trade Center once stood. So where "The War" was published in 1812-1815, became the site of a new one in 2001.
Perhaps the building where it was published was torn down in the 1960's as they were preparing to build the twin towers.

The pictures can be enlarged so you can read history from its very pages. Enjoy this most rare document from the War of 1812. The story is on 2 pages. As it is nearly 200 years old it is dark, but mostly readable. Many times we read what others think and say about history. But it is always interesting to read the history when it was labeled a current event.

The death of Thomas Paine 1737-1809. The most remarkable odyssey of this famous writer and his body

2009-12-30T06:52:00.000-05:00

Thomas Paine died 200 years ago this year on Grove Street in New York City. He was a famous author, speaker, revolutionary. He made a lot of friends and enemies on his journey of life. His writing of Common Sense made such an impact on the 13 colonies during the early days of the American revolution.

His was a life of great of ups and downs. His life was one of great unrest where ever he seemed to be.

His thoughts on religion brought great attacks on him. Even Theodore Roosevelt called Paine "a dirty little atheist". Perhaps no one put it better than Thomas Edison, who wrote of Roosevelt's remark saying.."This shows that Roosevelt never read Paine"

Well in his day if you were for him or against him, and there were many in both camps he was loved and hated. He was the butt of comments by many. It was said that many of the great leaders of the early days of America avoided him.

He was critical of George Washington, and by doing so was very well regarded by Thomas Jefferson who had little liking for Washington, specially Washington's political philosophy.

By the time of his death in 1809 he was pretty much left out of the thoughts and good wishes of his contemporaries. Only six people attended his funeral. A death mask was hastily made causing the nose to look crooked. He was then buried in New Rochell, New York and forgotten.

But even in death Paine would have no rest.

A great fan and devoted follower of Paine, William Cobbett of England, came to the United States and exhumed and stole Paine's partially decomposed body from its grave. His idea was to bring Paine's body to England to make a grand memorial to him.
In 1819 he returned to England with the body of his hero in a large box. But he found that England was not at all pleased with honoring the man who helped bring about the American Revolution. Therefore the body remained with Cobbett, who seemed to have no idea what to do with it. Therefore he put the body of the dead revolutionary in his attic. He seemed to be rather obsessed with the body of Paine. He even made another death mask of the badly decomposed body .

In fact the bones were still in Cobbett's attic when he himself died in 1835.

Here the story comes to a rather bizarre and macabre ending. Cobbett's son who had no desire to keep the bones of Paine in the attic, decided to get rid of them. But no one is quite sure how? There have been comments that many people claim to have bits and pieces of Paine. Some say he sold parts and even auctioned off parts of the great mans skeleton. In the 19th century one man claimed to have the skull and right hand of Paine. His femur bone was made into buttons. In New York parts of his spinal cord and hair are said to reside. Once again who knows? I guess it would take DNA testing. Till that time the body of Paine is lost in a sea of confusion. In many ways like his life.Thomas Paine 1737-1809

The book that started it all for Paine and the death mask of a then forgotten man.

A new Constitution for New York...From the Review of Reviews magazine ..March 1894

2009-12-10T06:23:00.012-05:00

The title tells it all as New York prepared to have a Constitutional Convention, to restyle and improve it's present Constitution. Here is the story from an interview with a delegate to this convention. Presented by Review of Reviews of NYC in March of 1894.

My great great great uncle. Richard Kasidick ..Who had a great career as an artist.

2009-11-28T15:59:00.001-05:00

Richard Kasadick
A high resolution copy of a photo of his studio and a painting.
The only painting I know to be done by him in January 1898.
This is the only photo I have of my great great great uncle. He was an artist,and was in the first graduating class of Cooper Union. He was famous for a number of paintings. I have always wanted to find one of them. I am sure they exist somewhere.
The painting he is doing here was presented to the Lutheran Church on Wayne Street in Jersey City, New Jersey. I have to go look and see if that church is still there.

His studio was in Jersey City. The photograph here was taken in January 1898 at his studio. He proudly poses with the painting that would be at that church and may for as much as I know, still be there.

I found the graves of the Kasidicks at Bay shore Cemetery. Sadly the grave site which is quite large, has no names marked on it. All the cemetery records were destroyed in the 1960's during the riots in Jersey City, when all the nuts burned and destroyed everything in their stupid path. Sadly, they also destroyed history.
I will never know much more about my family and the artists who once were a part of it. I can only say that Richard Kasidick's (May be Kasidict's) son was an artist also. He did a number of art pieces for Coke a Cola in the early days of the 20th century. I wonder when I see art from Coke, if perhaps my great great uncle may have done it. I will never know, it was all anonymous.

But I thought I would honor my great great great uncle, Richard ..Who I never knew, but will always know.

The George Washington Centennial in New York City in the Magazine of American History.July 1889, and a momento token of that event.

2009-11-26T07:42:00.039-05:00

Here is a token from the event you will read about in this article. These were sold during the event and usually had a ribbon tied into the small hole in the token. On the front it mentions the anniversary of Washington assuming the office as the first President.
On the reverse is the Brooklyn Bridge which was said to be the 8th wonder of the world.

Here is a wonderful and large story in the Magazine of American History of the 100th anniversary of the start of George Washington's term as President. He took the oath of office in New York City on April 30, 1789.
100 years later President Benj. Harrison came to honor that very important event, where it happened.

This magazine of course was made on rather acidic paper, which was in pieces. I have tried to put it together as well as I could. However, there are places where I just could not. But in this way I can preserve it well as I can. Enjoy this large and very detailed article.

A Civil War Thanksgiving...November 24, 1864. As drawn by Thomas Nast

2009-11-23T16:19:00.007-05:00

This is the original Thanksgiving cartoon by Thomas Nast. For November 24, 1864

Thanksgiving became a official federal holiday in 1863. It had existed of course for many years. But during the American Civil War it became a true legal holiday. In 1864 there was a lot of cartoons about the holiday, perhaps none as unique as this one by Thomas Nast.

The holiday was declared by Abraham Lincoln as mentioned in 1863, but by 1864 there was much more going on for the holiday. Also the holiday was centered around the war.

In the various pictures in this cartoon there were some of the evil confederates, the peace keepers, the sailors, and thanks to Maryland, for freeing her slaves. (Not that they wanted too!)

In the blow up of the main picture you see Lincoln and his generals standing on a rebel flag. This was a Thanksgiving like none ever, as it was the last one of the Civil War period.

Lincoln would die the following April, and the holiday would take on a more thankful, rather than militaristic stance after his administration.

But as in the beginnings of all holidays, it had to get it's roots, and style.

Evacuation Day...New York City...November 25, 1783

2009-11-22T22:33:00.014-05:00

It was a long hard war for independence. The American revolution was a war that went on from 1775 till the early 1780's. There is a celebration in Boston every year called Evacuation Day. It honors the date of March 17, 1776 in which the British were pushed out of Boston and they evacuated.
It is not of this event in which I will speak, I will speak of the great evacuation of New York City which was the final act of the Revolutionary War.

New York City was under complete English control throughout the entire revolution. It truly was an occupied city. There had been a great fire in New York in 1776, started it is said by the inhabitants of the city themselves. As they saw the city was to be taken over by the British, they did whatever they could to give as little too them.

The time of the British occupation was not a pretty one. Many patriots were housed in prison boats all around the island. In fact over 11,500 colonist patriots died in those ships. That is more than all who died in every battle of the American revolution. The life for anyone who was not a loyalist was pure hell in New York. The British were most cruel in New York. Today the remains of the over 11,500 patriots are buried in Brooklyn at the Prison Ship Martyr's memorial in Brooklyn. The lofty monument is shown below. The death toll in New York was the greatest in the new nation's attempt at freedom.

There was a great hatred for the British and when it was plain that the war was over and it had been won. One of the great wishes was the reclaiming of New York to its rightful owners. This was easier said than done. New York had become a City of Loyalists and British Soldiers. It was not at all an American city, it was an extension of Britain.

The Treaty of Paris which was the peace treaty between the now called United States and England was signed on September 2, 1782. It was ratified on April 17, 1783. This would get the ball rolling.

Shortly after that the head of the British forces in North America, General Guy Carleton was instructed to evacuate the British forces in total. Most at this point were in New York City. There had to be a massive evacuation of loyalists to various countries. Soldiers needed to be re routed back to England, and there was the nasty matter of slavery. The British had freed the slaves in New York and in most of the areas they had controlled. This was a personal affront to many of the patriots who wanted their property back. Even Washington pushed to have slaves returned, but the British refused basically. So it looked like they were not going to get them back as many had long since left the area or would go with the British as they evacuated and were guaranteed their freedom in England. This was one of the few great things England did.
The area of slavery would be as John Quincy Adams so well put it "The final battle of the American Revolution". It would take another 80 years before that would be addressed.

The date for evacuation was set for November 25, 1783 at noon. George Washington and his troops were stationed right outside of the Island to give the British a chance to get out and make sure all was done in a timely manner. The last of the British forces were out completely at 1 pm, followed very shortly by Washington and Clinton and a bevy of very happy and proud soldiers. Many had died for this day, many gave as much as they could for this day. All had given much, and yet as we have come to honor the 4th of July as our independence day, it is really not. For Evacuation Day indeed it was truly the first day of complete American Independence. On that day the country was free from those who had held control of it since the days of the Dutch. It is not to take anything away from July 4th, even though for histories sake independence was declared on July 2! The actions of that day inspired the country to fight on for the very thing that paper desired.

General George Washington arrives with Governor Clinton and troops in New York on Evacuation Day

The British loaded small boats with soldiers, loyalists, freed slaves, and those who were afraid to be a part of this wild rebel country. This was done under the watchful eyes of all the colonists who were very happy to see them leave. There was a good deal of hate on both sides. It was not a pretty moment for either side. There was some bad actions on both sides that day.

The British sail by Battery Park and see the Stars and Strips on the flag pole. They had not thought they would see it as they had greased the pole and kept the Union Jack flying. But a Mr. Van Arsdale, a veteran of the late war was able to climb the pole and tear off the Union Jack and replace it with the Stars and Stripes.

The public on shore was jeering the British as they left and one of the gunboats leaving was so incensed by this act that he ordered his ship to fire a cannon at the crowd. The shot was fired but fell harmlessly into the water, and that truly was the last shot of the American Revolution. The war was over, the British were gone, and America truly enjoyed her first day of true independence.

The Kennedy assassination..November 22, 1963 . A date I will always remember. What was it like that day for me. My memories of that sad day

2009-11-22T00:25:00.004-05:00

It is amazing that is was 46 years ago. Today the death and assassination of JFK is as old as he was when he was shot.

I was a boy in the 1960's..But from the time I could first read, listen, and study...I had a profound interest in history.
My earliest memories are of the Cuban missile Crisis...I recall the fear and terror of that event. There was so much we did not know. I started reading newspapers at that time. Although I did not know many of the words I was trying to learn and understand. It was an important moment in our history. Brought to everyones homes through the medium of TV.
John F. Kennedy was very much the star of this TV drama...His star rose quite a bit as it was well orchestrated. It was a much simpler time, we listened to everything that was said and we believed it. Today with the Internet I doubt the story would have been at all the same.

We survived that crisis and at this point, I really started to enjoy watching John F. Kennedy on TV. He had a wonderful sense of theater, and was smart. He had a happy talent for the spoken word, that is where he excelled. I thrilled at some of his press conferences.
As a young boy he became my first hero, I remember I used to make believe to be him and sign bills and make laws.I still recall so well doing that.
In 1963 I was in school and found my hero was no more.
Gunned down in Dallas. This I found out in class, as one teacher ran into the classroom and my own teacher started to cry. It was kind of funny for us, we were kids. But soon I was made aware of the gravity of it all.

I was picked up by my mother, who was crying,(my mom can cry reading a telephone directory, sadly so can I). But she was shattered that day.
We went to the dry cleaners, they were crying...and then we went home. I never left the TV each day and watched the whole solemn ceremony of death, and mourning. I cried that night.

I also had a very strange and bizarre dream that night which was so very odd. I dreamed that I was walking around and went to George Washington's grave, and put a band aid on him and he came back to life, and I went to Abraham Lincoln's grave and put a band aid on him, and he came back to life, and then I went to President Kennedy and put a band aid on him and he came back to life.
So I and the 3 Presidents were marching together. I have always remembered that Dream from that sad time in 1963. It is amazing how real it was to that 6 year old boy. But I understand that dream and still I feel the vivid nature of it.

Over the weekend the pageant went on, sometimes my mother joined me watching it, she was very upset by it all. She had voted for Kennedy cause she said he was real good looking.
I always enjoyed my mothers political value system. She would carefully weigh the issues and then vote for the best looking candidate!

She was very upset by the assassination, she ate an entire bag of tootsie rolls as she watched the funeral..My mother would eat if she was upset, she still does.

It was a great moment for me, one that I always will remember. The world changed a bit that day. I know it did for me.
I went out and bought all the newspapers I could find at that time. I was being a careful historian already. But what was it like, that day 46 years ago...It was day of outrage, sadness, helplessness, and confusion. I remember oh so well that day, I was saddened by Kennedy's death. I was saddened that I was not going to have my TV shows with my hero, and lastly I found Lyndon Johnson so boring.

You have to remember I am looking at this through the eyes of a 6 year old, but a 6 year old who was trying to capture every bit of this moment in history, as he knew this WAS history. That 6 year old watched the entire event on TV...Saw the live murder of Oswald and the grand pageant of a presidential funeral....The nation as I recalled was in deep shock, everything was a mess, all the stores closed! Of course there was no school on Monday morning of the funeral.

Today I find that much of what we all thought Kennedy was, was not, but I still admire him. I know as a historian he was pulling the wool over our eyes, but still I admire him.

In my thoughts of Kennedy there will forever be that 6 year old boy who thought JFK was one of the coolest people around, and my intellectual powers will never convince that 6 year old otherwise.

The world changed on that date, November 22, 1963, I cannot see that date without being transported to that moment. As I said before it was a simpler time, and I pray that this never happens again, but in a world that is a violent one the odds are that it will. But I do not think the world will be as loving, understanding, and shaken as it was in 1963. We have become a harder people and that is sad, but sadly true. But as I wrote about the assassination in 1988 in a book I had purchased about him. That I will be forever haunted by the terrible days of November in 1963. I am sure everyone who remembers is as well.

Mark Twain posing in 1898.

2009-11-21T00:38:00.001-05:00

John Brown in the Adirondacks. Story on the famous fellow who led the Harper's Ferry raid in 1859 and died for it, and his home and grave in 1896.

2009-11-18T22:32:00.022-05:00

December 2, 2009 will be the 150th anniversary of the hanging of John Brown. He was the leader of a slave insurrection at Harper's Ferry in 1859. His death and martyrdom became a symbol for the north during the civil war. Even his name became part of a song "John Brown's body lies a moldering in his grave...etc. This article was done in September of 1896 in the magazine Review of Reviews. This article deals with his house and the state of New York acquiring it.

Enjoy the article as it was hidden in the back of the magazine as there was a Presidential election going on that year. I do not think it has been read much at all since that time in 1896.

" Their Masters Voice"..A timely cartoon from the 1908 election on recordings of the Presidental candidates.

2009-11-18T21:27:00.004-05:00

It was so true that in the Presidential election of 1908, both candidates were recorded and used the phonograph for the first time as a campaigning device.

The Beatles in 1964 on a far less known VJ Record! A more uncommon look at the Fab Four . A record that would only sell in 1964 as well.

2009-11-18T01:21:00.021-05:00

VJ records issued several recordings of the Beatles in their earliest days. The VJ Record Company was a small concern that dealt with more Religious, Rhythm and Blues and Gospel recordings.
It was a black owned company and catered to many styles of music that would have such an audience in the late 1950's. One has to remember that this was an age before Motown. This company brought some really great music to a lot of people starving for it in the 1950's. Most of the recording companies in the 1950's were not at all concerned with the Black market. The name VJ stood for the initials of the founders of the company...Vivian and James. " VJ "

They started expanding in the late 1950's and early 60's to start producing pop and rock recordings that would cater to a more world wide audience.
By the early 1960's they had records by "The Four Seasons", "Little Richard", The Beatles", and many more. By the early 1960's VJ records had become a force to recon with. But they had to deal with all the big boys in the industry. They held their own for a while. For a few short years VJ records had some of the greatest talent in the field of early rock and roll and pop.

This is one of the most famous of all the albums produced by VJ. It was called "Songs, pictures and stories of the fabulous Beatles"

The early and real versions of this recording have the gate cover. What is meant by the term "gate cover" is, that is only covers 3/4's of the front of the record. and opened like a gate to reveal all that was under it.

This is the gate cover piece. It was album 1092.
This album sold quite well. However in the 1970's it was counterfeited and there were several million of these recordings made. Today the counterfeit copies are the ones most seen. They were all produced in albums that looked like the real thing, but they did not have the gate cover. They are all over today and on Ebay, as they were made in numbers never dreamed of by VJ records in 1964.

Here you can see it with the gate cover closed.

This most unique album of the Beatles came out in July of 1964. It had been recorded and pressed originally in 1963. The record had a limited sale and then was repackaged into this format. It was on sale till VJ records was forced to stop marketing it on Oct 15, 1964. This record sold well, but not like the Beatles records that would follow, but it was one of the pioneer discs of this famous and time changing group. The recording itself was made of a mixing of various recordings of the Beatles done since 1962. There was another reissue of this same record in another format by VJ in 1965 and that was basically the same record again.

The record album was numbered VJ 1092. However, it was issued with record VJ 1062 which had been issued in 1963. It was one of the last hurrahs for VJ records. For VJ records went out of business in 1965.

This is the most colorful and informative record ever put out about the Beatles till many years after they broke up.

It had a lot of great music on it too.

The plain basic label that was the original VJ. (note the number of the record) In later months it would have color.. The major copies made in the 1970's are of color labels. If you look on Ebay you will see those labels all over the place. Although there were few color labels done by VJ they were not very common. As you can see with this label, it is as simple as can be. If you think about it, VJ was a small company so their label would look like that of a small company. I have seen several copies of this record with a multi colored label as well. If you find those beware as most of them are just copies made in the 1970's. Of course the back of the album where all the girls could tape their picture next to the Beatle they loved.

One of the experimental electrical recordings made for Bell Labs in 1924

2009-11-17T07:35:00.002-05:00

The age of electrical recording came to the recording industry in 1925. Although there had been experiments going on for several years. The company doing this research was the Bell Telephone Laboratories. In fact there had been experiments done on things like Matched Impedance. All of the initial experiments had been done on telephones and were based on improving their performance.

But it was soon seen that much of what they were discovering and developing would led itself to the recording industry. They went to the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey and worked hand in hand with this company on the experiments and development of the electrical recording system. It led to the development of the Orthophonic Victrola and the folded horn, not to mention a whole new system of recording.
Of course the Victor Company was interested in this new technology, they were not jumping up and down over it. In 1925 they finally faced the facts that electrical recording with microphones was the way of the future.

Originally Bell Telephone Labs had offered a contract to Victor to be the only company to have such recordings. However the head of the company dragged his feet and lost out to having a control of a new and thriving industry. Therefore due to the dragging of feet, they shared the prize with the Columbia Graphophone Company, which had taken a great interest in the new technology.

Over the course of a few years a number of experimental recordings were made at the Victor recording labs like the one shown below. It is marked in the wax as BTL 611. The translation of this is Bell Telephone Labs 611. This recording is a touch over recorded and was as mentioned one of many experimental pieces done before it became a viable system. It is a important part of the history of sound recording, and the development of the electrical recording system.

To study more on this read this
http://www.stokowski.org/Development_of_Electrical_Recording.htm

The next time you hear about the first steamboat in America being made by Fulton, remember that is wrong and the right answer is Fitch

2009-11-14T02:17:00.007-05:00

How often have we heard of the first steamboat called the Clermont. Made by Robert Fulton and sailed into history in 1807. But the true inventor of the first successful steamboat was indeed John Fitch (1743-1798).

Fitch was truly the first to this, yet we never hear that fact. In fact Fulton has captured the hearts of historians and the public alike, be it true or not as to what he did.

The first successful run of his steamboat took place on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787. The witnesses of this were some of the delegates from the Constitutional Convention. It was propelled by a bank of oars on either side of the boat. The following year Fitch launched a 60-foot boat powered by a steam engine driving several stern mounted oars. This was much like how a duck paddles themselves through water. He carried hundreds of passengers on several round-trip voyages between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey.

Fitch was granted a patent on August 26, 1791. Although his boats were mechanically successful, Fitch failed to pay sufficient attention to construction and operating costs and was unable to justify the economic benefits of steam navigation. His investors left him and he was left to paddle alone.

Fitch also invented a steam railroad locomotive during the 1780s and demonstrated his little working model before President George Washington and his cabinet in Philadelphia. It is not known what Washington may have thought of it, but I am sure they were all impressed but confused about what good such a machine would have.

The model that was shown to Washington still exists at the Historical Society Museum in Columbus, Ohio.

Fitch's idea would be made profitable and far more newsworthy by Robert Fulton, in the 19th century. Though Fulton was able to obtain a monopoly in the state of New York, because of the powerful influence of his business partner Robert Livingston.

Fitch also received patents from France, and is more widely known than Fulton in Europe for the invention and development of the steamboat, although not the train. This is because the powers that be have totally forgotten nor bothered to repair a wrong done many years ago. Today you can see a monument to Fulton in Trinity Cemetery in New York. But as for Fitch he wallows in obscurity in the files and ledgers of history.

Below is a drawing of the first type of steamboat made by Fitch in 1787 and viewed by members of the Constitutional Congress.

The Lusitania sinking from articles.. June of 1915. One of them compares the design of the Titanic to that of the Lusitania and which one was better.

2009-11-12T13:15:00.012-05:00

Here are two articles on the sinking of the Lusitania in May of 1915. The articles are from June of 1915.
The first article presents a case on the major question of the day. Which was, why did the Lusitania sink so fast? The next article is more about the news aspect of the disaster and what everyone thought would happen next.

This is a very fascinating period of time in history. Enjoy reading this, as it truly is history when it was but only news.

The loss of the Lusitania was a ground breaking moment for the world in 1915. The echos of that disaster still reverberate to this day.

J. P. Morgan may have heard a lot of jingles in his pockets, but his uncle wrote the song all about jingles.....Jingle Bells

2009-11-08T19:20:00.008-05:00

In August, 1857 James Lord Pierpont wrote his song "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in Savanna,Georgia, and it was published by the Oliver Ditson Company in Boston. The popularity of the song grew with time to the point where it became one of the most popular and recognizable songs of the Christmas holiday. But when first written it really was not so popular or even known. But like many songs, they grow on you. Of course this man was not so rich, but he did write about Jingle Bells and of course his famous nephew knew a lot about Jingling..Of course he did not jingle bells, he jingled money. Just so you know and can see the connection in their names. J. P. Morgan's full name was, John Pierpont Morgan. Although we always think of J.P. Morgan as a money man, he did enjoy singing and perhaps that part of his personality and life came from his very musical Pierpont side. For he was known to come marching into his library on 36th Street singing at times.
James Lord Pierpont 1822-1893

An early Columbia disc recording made in 1902 of "The sleigh ride party" in which the song Jingle Bells was sung. Today we do not think of sleigh riding much, but of course that is what the song is all about. This is one of the earliest versions of the song on record. Of course it was recorded first in the 1890's as a novelty number as it was on this disc in 1902. This recording by the way was recorded in New York City.

Charles Sumner 1811-1874 .. Memorial Book authorized by Congress

2009-11-08T13:44:00.010-05:00

A picture from his later years
Charles Sumner was a strong advocate for abolishing slavery and a true crusader of such issues. He was even attacked on the floor of the Senate in 1856 by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina due to his strong issues. Of course Brooks was removed from Congress, but was re-voted in by South Carolina. One has to remember these were the days just before the Civil War. This attack helped to solidified the new Republican Party. Of course Brooks was a great hero to those pro slavery advocates from the south. The attack was quite bad and vicious, in fact in some ways he never totally recovered from it. But in the 3 years it took him to recover from the attacks he was never replaced in his office. As an empty chair was a very powerful weapon. Here he sits with Longfellow.
The memorial book
This book came from the family of W. M. Carpenter who was in the Senate at the time.

It was a book that would honor the man who stood strongly when others did not, for the end of slavery in the United States. You can learn more about this man on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumner

A memory of an old friend ..Chris Patchier ...WWI vet and a good old friend of my youth.

2009-11-08T12:39:00.001-05:00

I was looking through some papers as I was boxing some stuff up and found a memorial card from Chris Patchier's funeral in 1979. I was there for it as I had come to know him well in his last years. Chris used to call me "Jacker", and I would spend hours with him asking him questions on what the great war was like.

He had been born in 1895, and was in his 80's and I would come over to his home in Rockaway, New Jersey and cook for him and talk with him. I had used to come over earlier to see Chris and his wife Jennie. But she died in November 1976 and Chris was pretty much alone after that. So it was fun to join him and have dinner with him now and then. As I would learn a lot from him.

It was through him that I got my first early phonograph in 1972. It was a Victor Victrola VI from around 1918. I learned much of how to work on early phonographs by taking this one apart and putting it back together.

He told me how he joined the army in 1917 as soon as Wilson declared war. He was with a special unit in the war. He was a messenger.

In 1917-18 there was no radio in the field and there was no way to get messages to others in the battle unless you had it delivered. Chris was one of those young men who ran faster than hell to deliver a message. I remember he showed me his helmet from WWI, on its sides it had lightening bolts to show that as a messenger he was as fast as lightening. He told me he had to run in between the trenches with messages. Now if you can think of a scarier position to be in with bullets flying at you in every direction I cannot think of one very readily..Needless to say many messengers were killed in the great war.

He died 30 years ago and I of course was there at his funeral. Today we do not even know much about WWI and all of its parts. But one should always remember the messengers who brought the news back and forth. I am sure that the efforts of the messengers saved many lives.

Thank you for your friendship Chris ...and of course that first phonograph.

Death of a political candidate in South Korea 1956. It seems the sitting President was careful to make sure his enemies did not live to beat him.

2009-11-06T01:12:00.000-05:00

President Rhee with MacArthur.

The Republic of Korea re-elected 81-year-old President Syngman Rhee to his third term in May, 1956. Rhee's opponent and main critic, P. H. Shinicky, died during the campaign. His death touched off riots in Seoul and Pusan until doctors assured the public that he had died from natural causes. John M. Chang, Shinicky's running-mate, was elected vice-president. He was wounded slightly in an attempted assassination in September. This was not the only one of Rhee political opponents to die while running against the President for the office. This fellow did as he pleased and was finally forced from office. But he left a trail of death and murder in his wake.

P.H Shinicly

Now lets go back to 1956 and what was happening there in South Korea. Here is an article from Time Magazine shortly after the death of Shinicly, in which the truth was never told.

Time Magazine May 14, 1956

It takes a brave man to oppose highhanded, old (81) Syngman Rhee, who has won every presidential election since South Korea became a republic in 1948. As the leader who fought the Japanese for half a century and held his country together against the Communists, Rhee is the only man whose name is a household word in his nation. He has never been content to leave it at that. Opponents have found it unhealthy to defy Rhee and his machine; some have been beaten up or jailed; others have decided to withdraw. This year, seeking a third term, Rhee faced a man who also fought the Japanese and was not afraid of fighting Syngman Rhee: P. H. Shinicky (Shin Ikhi), a longtime critic of Rhee in the National Assembly. Rhee, confident of victory, has not even bothered to campaign for next week's election.
Shinicky, 62, campaigned vigorously. One day last week, after charging that national police were intimidating people into voting for Rhee, he boarded a train in Seoul to begin a stumping tour of southwestern Korea. As the train sped south, Shinicky slumped over quietly, died later of a cerebral hemorrhage. Word of his death was flashed back to Seoul, and his body was put aboard a special government train for return to the capital.
As the train pulled into Seoul, it was met by a crowd of 20,000, many of them students from Korea University and the National University of Seoul, both anti-Rhee strongholds. "Overthrow Dictator Syngman Rhee," they shouted. Some climbed over the train and smashed windows in an effort to view Shinicky's body. Then, when the body was transferred to an ambulance, demonstrators snake-danced through the streets after it.
When the procession passed the presidential mansion, the mob shouted anti-Rhee slogans, wanted to carry Shinicky's body in to Rhee. Police fired over their heads. Under cover of a barrage of stones, about 300 demonstrators continued to advance. The guards lowered their rifles and fired a volley into the mob, wounding several. Police reinforcements soon ar rived, breaking up the biggest riot against Rhee since the end of the Korean war.
The government announced that it was too late for Shinicky's Democratic Party to enter another candidate.

Now it has been found in later years that Shinicky was indeed assassinated. It was the early days of South Korea and indeed Rhee was the tyrant that many thought him in the past.

The Wizard of OZ...The first theatrical showing of the book by L. Frank Baum.... Original Premiere program from Sept 8, 1902

2009-11-02T09:55:00.013-05:00

The Wizard of OZ was a great theatrical success. It started in Chicago in its premiere and worked its way to New York City and Broadway. It was an amazing success and played throughout 1903, till Dec 1904 on Broadway. It would open and play at the old Majestic Theater in New York. That theater was located on the Columbus Circle, not to be confused with the new Majestic that now shows Phantom of the Opera. Here is an early program from when the show first started in Chicago. It started at the Grand Opera House. Many of the routines and ideas done in this play would influence the movie in 1939. Although, it was an entirely different type of show and program than what the movie would become. In this program from Chicago you will see the play after its 14th week as a preview. It would as mentioned head to Broadway in January 1903.

Once again it was done with the blessings and nod of the author L. Frank Baum. Who incidentally wrote this play. But written to the specifications of the people in charge of the show. Perhaps one of the more rare items from this early show is its original program from Chicago where it started in its premiere. Here you can see it in its earliest form.
You can read much more about this play here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_(1902_stage_play)

Dennis O'Sullivan. Actor, Singer, Composer, Performer.(1868-1908) Born in America, trained in Europe, performed for 3 short months in the USA.

2009-11-01T20:41:00.013-05:00

Denis O'Sullivan was the Irish Singer. He was know all over as a great and entertaining fellow and died far too young at 39. He was born in San Fransisco. He soon traveled to Europe were he studied and performed all over. He arrived back in the USA on November 22, 1907. He was a major headliner in the USA for a few short months. He made his first great success in the USA at McVicker's Theater in Chicago. He went on to Ohio and soon after died on February 20, 1908. His was a short career. Here are a few items from that very short American Career.Here is an announcement of his death
Here is a playbill of one of his last performances at the theater he first became famous in.

British Super Ocean Liners of the 1890's ...Pictures from cigarette cards of the era

2009-10-30T20:21:00.007-04:00

In the 1890's, the ocean liner was reaching a large sense of improvement. improvement in size, safety, quality, and lastly speed. The age of a 5 day voyage from Europe had arrived. The three greyhounds pictured in the cigarette cards were the major liners of the last decade for the British. In the late 19th century the German greyhounds put the British ones to shame. But all I have at the moment are the British ships and I thought that it would be nice to share these. The Campania and Lucania were from 1893, while the Oceanic was from 1899.

Welcome to the Hotel New Yorker!! This was an ad that was fine in 1930, but today would raise the roof!

2009-10-29T01:16:00.003-04:00

Well this is the bare facts when it comes to this ad. The Hotel New Yorker opened its doors in 1930, the same year this cute drawing was released.

A farwell letter to the doughboys in Europe in early 1919 by the commanding general, John J. Pershing.

2009-10-29T01:05:00.003-04:00

A few little cards from the Astor Hotel in New York City

2009-10-29T00:55:00.007-04:00

The Astor Hotel on Times Square was an institution. It was a place where people met stayed danced and frolicked for near 70 years. When it was removed for an ugly tower in 1967, it was a sad day for New York. Here are some items from when the Astor was a very special place in New York City.

A letter from Walter Winchell 1933.... A man loved, hated and feared!

2009-10-29T00:46:00.007-04:00

Walter Winchell was loved, hated, but most of all feared. He was the critic of critics. If you were liked by him you were in like Flynn. If you were not liked by him, he could make your life hell. He lived this life till it caught up with him, and the last years of his life were very lonely.

But here is a short letter to a Miss Murray of Morristown , who I met and acquired a bit of this and that from her. She was a big fan of many on the radio and she wrote to many people on it.

The arrival of the RMS Olympic in New York on her maiden voyage. (older sister to the Titanic) Scientific American.. July 1, 1911

2009-10-28T08:13:00.012-04:00

The RMS. Olympic was the first of the three massive sisters of the Olympic class of the White Star Line. Their names would be Olympic, Titanic, and originally Gigantic (later called Britannic).

The Olympic was first of the trio. She arrived in New York City Harbor after her maiden voyage in June of 1911. She was an absolute sensation. She was the "ship of dreams", "the millionaires special", everything that we think was said about the Titanic was said about the Olympic. She was truly the star of the trio.

She was largest ship in the world, practically unsinkable, and was also the most luxurious vessel on the sea. She also had as few lifeboats as the Lusitania and Mauritania. But since she was thought to be as unsinkable as the those vessels, she carried as few as they did. To be fair the Olympic and Titanic did carry more lifeboats than the previously mentioned ships.

Of course today we only know about the second ship of this series, the Titanic. In the thought of the time, she was just another Olympic. That is why there is so little press coverage of her voyage.

She was just another Olympic! Today few know about the most famous Olympic. The Titanic did what the Olympic never did...She sank!

This is the original article in Scientific American about the ship of wonder and her first arrival in New York.....The RMS. Olympic.

Warren G Harding makes some recordings of speeches 1920-1921

2009-10-26T00:27:00.012-04:00

Warren G Harding was not afraid to speak almost anywhere. In fact he was the first President to speak on commercial radio. But he made several recordings over the years for Nation's Forum and later Victor. While we have in many cases heard the recordings. Rarely do we ever see the pictures of the event.

Here we have 3 pictures of the same recording session dealing with Senator or possibly by this time President Harding. He was a good speaker and he seemed to always enjoy a good crowd. However many people said that he was able to say much, without having to say much of anything. Well he was a newspaper editor! He knew how to say and find the right words for whatever the event was.

He was like most other Presidents, he had a full time speech writer.

He was also one of that special group that liked to be involved in the whole process. Of course he had help from assistants and speech writers, but he seemed to be more interested in the process than many others who had preceded and those who had followed him. of course there are some very great exceptions. In another post in the future we can talk about them.

The process to record Harding was called the acoustic process. It meant that there was no microphones, speakers, mixers, or electricity at all. It was all mechanical recording. he spoke into a recording horn and the power of his voice would cut the wax master to make the record. It was as simple as that. So you will get a real good view of Harding here and also the recording horn and a touch of the recording mechanism.

Now the next time you hear a historic recording of Harding perhaps these pictures will help your imagination a little to picture him making them.

This picture was in the news magazine "Outlook" here you see Harding with his reading glasses on ready to record.

These are photos of the same session captured by the photographer. One can only guess where these pictures were taken. One good guess would be Washington DC.

1896.. The year that Biograph started to show movies around the country. An original program from that year of a Biograph show.

2009-10-23T09:03:00.006-04:00

The days of movies being shown on a screen were a true novelty in 1896. W.K.L. Dickson and Thomas Edison had developed their early movies mainly in a form of individual entertainment. It would be a while till the Edison system would be practical. The best form of films available at the time was in the form that was developed by the American Biograph company of New York, which W.K.L. Dickson was involved after leaving Edison.
This is a program from one of the first appearances of film before the public. Starting in the late Summer of 1896, Biograph started having shows in which their product could be seen by the general public. It was quite a success.

The original program. Note that the movies were not enough to get the public in. There was a complete show done there as well. It was all so new. The public did not know much about it yet. So they not only had a show, they got to see the beginnings of the motion picture industry

The Columbia Theater in Chicago. This is where this event took place. It was opened in 1881, and sadly burned down in 1900

The interior of the theater.

There were several subjects of this early demonstration of film. Great actors such as Joseph Jefferson. Natural scenes, and scenes of everyday life such as trains and the like.

Perhaps the most unusual and unique subjects of these shorts is President-elect William McKinley and Vice President-elect Hobart. They were filmed walking in front of McKinley's home.
In reality they really had no idea what to do...It was so new and so they just walked slowly toward the camera. It was like being at home and having someone hold a video camera in front of you and say do something!

It was the last time a President would look oh so awkward on camera.

But McKinley would become the first President captured by the new medium. And more people saw McKinley than any other President before him.

It must have been amazing to see these movie shorts well over 110 years ago. It must have been amazing to see and I can just imagine the reaction of the audience. The gasps, laughter, and sounds of amazement as they watched what we can truly say is history unfold before their very eyes.

A special letter to President Grover Cleveland. From two boys...Oct. 30, 1895

2009-10-22T19:00:00.003-04:00

This is the letter that the two boys wrote.

This is the only picture of Howard Williams I have. I can only wonder what became of him. I can only say he was born in Chicago in 1887, and lived at the address you will read below. This came from a scrapbook lovingly kept by his mother.

I just adore this letter. It was sent to President Cleveland in 1895 by two boys named Howard Williams and Harry B. Sutton.
I will type out the wording as it is a bit hard to read...

President Cleveland

Chicago, Oct. 30, 1895

Our Dear President

We would like your consent to have another regiment in the U.S. Army made of boys only. So far we are armed with bows and arrows. We want this to keep off the boys that swear.

Yours respectfully

Colonel Howard J. Williams
213 S. Leavitt
9 years old

Major Harry B. Sutton
234 S. Leavitt
same age

P.S. At present our barracks are under our front steps. We trust you will help us into better quarters for the winter.

I did some searching for the addresses listed here, but a lot has changed from that time. This was 114 years ago. I recently went back to where I lived 40 years ago and could hardly find anything much left.

Antonin Dvorak writes of Music in America .... Harper's Magazine Feb. 1895

2009-10-22T15:46:00.012-04:00

This is an interesting article written by Dvorak for Harper's in 1895 on music in America. It is interesting to read and explore what was said by this great composer. Enjoy and read something that has not been read much since it was issued in 1895.

The first recording dealing with the New York Subway. Recorded on the Harvard Label in 1904

2009-10-21T21:02:00.005-04:00

The New York Subway was the wonder of the age. When it first opened in 1904 it was looked on with wonder and delight. For many they would never get onto the New York subway. It would be in the field of imagination.

This recording made circa 1904 is called " Reuben Haskin's trip through the New York Subway." It was made in a studio in NYC and of course is a simple recording as they were back then. I look at this and wonder if indeed it was recorded by the Columbia Phonograph Company and then put on the secondary Harvard label.

It sounds as though the recording artist is Len Spencer (1869-1914).. But I am not sure. It could very well have been recorded by Columbia, as Columbia made records that would be sold to a large number of companies. Harvard was no exception, but I am not totally sure if they made this recording.

The subway was an area where you could not only travel, but also go shopping, have a drink or two, or even window shop in certain areas. On this recording they drink a toast to the subway as they ride along. I am not sure you could do that in 1904, but it was indeed another world down there.
Now a days, it is hard to even imagine what the subway was like in that first decade of the 20th century. But it was very different from how it is today. In its first days it seemed to become a social event to take the subway. Today it is a harsh reality. Still as I walk and look around the subway I am always looking for the parts of the subway of a century ago.

So this recording was the first I can find that is about and traveling on the New York Subway.

The first recording about the subway... 1904.

The first full time cruise liner SS Nassau... The first of many to follow. A few items from one of her cruises.

2009-10-21T20:18:00.007-04:00

The lovely SS Nassau, a very popular and ground breaking vessel.

These are some of the daily shipboard activities pamphlets. All from September of 1954.

This is one of programs of the daily activity on the ship.

The SS. Nassau was the first of her kind. A full time cruise ship that traveled all over the islands and in the tropics. Much of her voyages were on the ship, enjoying the ship, not the various ports of call. They called it cruising and that is truly what is was. No big hurry to get anywhere, just to enjoy a vacation on a ship.

Before this time there were a number of ships that would take cruises. But they were not made to be full time cruise ships. When the Nassau was remodeled for her career as a cruise liner. All of her many storage and cargo holds were removed and made into areas to deal with making the voyage more user friendly. More places to do things and enjoy.
She was the first of many ships that have and do follow her. This was not her first career. In fact she was nearly 30 years of age when she took on this role. Here is a list of the five names that this vessel had over the years.

1 SS Mongolia, 1922–1938
2 SS Rimutaka, 1938–1950
3 SS Europa, 1950–1951
4 SS Nassau, 1951–1961
5 SS Acapulco, 1961–1963

Her last days were as a floating hotel at the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1962-63. Sadly after that she was not acceptable to the new shipping and safety laws in the United States and was brought to the scrappers.