We need more fun ads like this today

The great comedian George Burns was one of the funniest people who ever walked the earth. Today we have comedy, but it pales compared to the great masters of the past. In this ad you see a master at his work. Scotch is a wonderful thing. I will have some as you read this....:)

The Russians are coming! Well they came many times here to the USA in warships. Just for friendly visits like this one in 1900.

This historic picture was taken in the dry dock of the Brooklyn Navy Yard around 1900 give or take a year. It can be dated pretty well through two things. In front of this Russian warship is the navies first submarine. It was called the Holland. It was acquired by the navy in 1898.

The splendid looking Russian Battleship, called the Retvizan was sunk in action during the Russian Japanese War in 1904.

The dry dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard was used by many navies to have their hulls cleaned and maintenance done. The Retvizan was not really a battleship it was more of a pre dreadnought battle cruiser.

But it was the precursor to the new navy. But what was in front of this ship in 1900 was what was going to be the major part of every ones navy in a few years. The incredible submarine.

The last days of Germany's great pre World War One fleet in Virgina 1938

These were the last remainders of the one proud fleet of great ships that were part of the passenger fleet of Germany. All of these ships at the time this photo was taken were at least 30 years old. They had seem service in WWI and by the time of WW2, they were very old and quite useless. But there are two old four stackers here. They were both scraped in 1941, but the two smaller vessels lived longer and took part in the second world conflict. Here they rest in this picture as they had for nearly 20 years between the wars.

The Chicago World's Fair. The fair that announced the rebirth of Chicago.

This is a souvenir booklet from the 1893 Worlds Fair of Chicago, also known as the Colombian Exposition. Chicago was pretty much destroyed by fire in the 1870's. Therefore it was planned to show off the new Chicago in the fair. It was called the "White City" for all of the large white buildings around the fair. Today just about everything is gone from that fair. Although Chicago's Science Museum is located within a building that was reconstructed from what was once the Palace of Fine Arts. It was for many "the fair".

Lincoln's deathbed as it looked right after he was taken out of it.

Lincoln died at the Petersen House across the street from Ford's Theater. The room was tiny in which he died. Paintings of the event show a large room. I have not put many of the pictures of the event in here as it gets too ridiculous...One painting turns the little room into a hall of sorts where 40 plus people are gathered around the bed and the picture looks more like a sporting event than a death scene....

Lincoln died in a little room...The fellow who lived there took this picture right after Lincoln's body was removed...You see it all the chairs, the small bed, and the blood all over the pillow. That is what is was really like. Not like the images that are in every history book...It was a bloody, messy scene. In which Lincoln while dying moaned and snorted and his body flopped around in spasms....It was really awful.

Bamn is the new Horn & Hardart. How many of you remember going to the original ? The famous Horn & Hardart Automat.

Here you see the original






Here is today's version



The first Horn & Hardart opened in Philadelphia in 1902. They became amazingly popular. You could go with 25 cents and have a meal. It became an institution.

It became famous in song, such as Irving Berlin's "Let's have another cup of coffee, let's have another piece of pie".
It even became part of comedy. Fred Allen often said that the Horn & Hardart manager would make Jack Benny bounce his nickels on the windowsill to let him in.

It was so amazingly popular. It has been said that at the peak of the automat, over 800,000 people were eating there every day!
I remember the automat. It was called if I recall H&H at that time. Which stood for Horn and Hardart. I so enjoyed buying stuff there. This was in New York in the 1960's. Now there is a new automat. Not like the old one in many regards, but still quite interesting.



I found a few reviews on Bamn. I thought it would be cool to share it. It is by people it seems who remembers the old automats..


Not Quite Authentic, But Wonderful Nevertheless

It's called Bamn! It's not quite a Horn & Hardart Automat, even though it tries. The color scheme is a glowing amalgamation of magenta and hot pink. The tiny space is standing room only, with no place to sit and loiter away an afternoon over a cup of coffee—Starbucks has, to its credit, taken on that role in our society. It's in the East Village, only recently gentrified to a point that a gent with a pocket full of jingling coins could walk down the block without being hit on the head and robbed of them. Still, it is a little like an automat of old, and that's a thrill to those of us who used to patronize them.

In case you're wondering what the word automat means, it's in the dictionary. Here's how mine defines it: "A restaurant in which the customers obtain food from closed compartments by depositing coins therein."

Once automats were all over New York. They were huge and shiny, and any kid who got to go to one had about as much fun as kids could have where food was concerned. We had a different lifestyle back then—meals were under the supervision of mothers, not television commercials. Most of what I remember about my visits to Horn & Hardart Automats was getting a bunch of nickels from the cashiers—they were nicknamed "nickel throwers"—and heading straight for the little windows that dispensed baked beans. I sure loved those beans, probably because cowboys ate them around campfires.

Bamn! takes quarters. It offers only a few dishes, and other than the hot dogs and possibly the grilled cheese, I'm pretty sure none were available in the old days. Not the chicken wings, the teriyaki burgers, the roast pork buns, the Japanese donuts, the pizza dumplings, the peanut butter & jelly croquettes, or the mozzarella sticks. Surely not the spam sushi. Everything goes for $1.00-$2.00. I tried everything and liked the pork bun best.

As the world has moved toward self-service—grocery stores, gas stations—the food world has gone in the opposite direction. Everything is handed to you. Taking whatever food I wanted was the most satisfying aspect of an automat meal. If I had tried that at home, I would have gotten my hand slapped.




AND ANOTHER






Yes, the automat. No, not the Horn & Hardart Automat that appeared on the dining scene at the turn of the last century and finally closed the last of its 180 restaurants in New York in 1991. This is a brand-new concept. A hip new automat that dispenses comfort food "25 hours a day" in New York City's East Village.

This I had to see. And taste.

Now an automat, for those you who were not in New York from 1912 to 1991, is a wonderful system where all kinds of food -- hot food, cold food, desserts, and main dishes -- were displayed behind little glass doors. You made your selection and dropped in the appropriate amount of coins. You could then take out you choice, grab a seat and dig in.

The automat was indeed iconic. In "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," Marilyn Monroe sang "Diamonds are a Girl's Friend," which includes these lyrics: "A kiss may be grand but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat, or help you at the automat."

Edward Hopper's 1927 painting "Automat" depicts a lonely young woman lingering at the automat. Diane Airbus's photograph "Two Ladies at the Automat" is a 1966 time capsule of two New York women of a certain age dressed to the nines -- if not the tens -- for lunch at the automat.

There are television and movie references a-plenty. The automat was part of New York life. Then came the exodus to the suburbs. Fast food. Food on the go. The old automat locations became more valuable as real estate. The girl fresh from the Midwest, the young eager guy right from college -- no, the automat was no longer for them. Just a few graying biddies from bookkeeping munching away on their burgundy beef and noodles. Some of the old automat locations became Burger Kings. New York never stands still.

The automat is back: the new automat that is. Re-imaged by the hip for the hip. Two young entrepreneurs, David Leong and Robert Kwak, plus executive chef Kevin Reilly and a designer who goes by the name Nobu, have brought Bamn, the automat, right into the heart of hipdom: New York's East Village.

I had the perfect excuse to give Bamn a try. My husband's goddaughter was in town. While Marty and I don't fit Bamn's demographics, she does: Early 20s, long blonde hair, perfectly tailored pants, little camisole top.

On the long cab ride downtown, Marty asked, "You did make reservations, didn't you."

"Nope," I replied and looked out the window as we sped by the East River. He fidgeted, thinking no doubt, "New restaurant, long wait for a table."

I hadn't informed him that there are no tables.

We arrived at the hot pink storefront. There are instructions about food selection and inserting coins so no one ever needs to look uncool, which is so important at a cool place. Change can be had at machines. While nickels and dimes were the coins of the realm at the old automat, here silver dollars and quarters are the open sesame for the little doors.

And what's behind those doors? Tiny delicious hamburgers doused in teriyaki sauce, fabulous roast pork buns, melted cheese sandwiches oozing goodness, hot dogs, Japanese doughnuts, mac-and-cheese croquets (a Dutch addition), pizza dumplings. At the counter, customers were ordering up Belgian fries and mini-regular hamburgers four and six at a time.

We were early, and with the sight of those pork buns, we didn't wait. Our goddaughter was on time, but two pork buns and a hamburger behind us. There are no seats. We stood on the sidewalk and inhaled the food. Yum.

And we watched the crowds: tattoos, piercings, boots and cordovans, ties and t-shirts, long hair, short hair, no hair.

Everyone who passed did a double take.

"Oh wow, an automat."







So I think it quite nice that the automat has returned. I will have to give it a try soon.

One of the most unusual ads ever made.....It was by the Victor Talking Machine Company 1918

The ad says that Caruso is singing in the Trenches...Along with all the other Victor Recording Artists of that time. This ad was made in 1918 when we were involved in World War One. It is a most interesting scene. All of the major artists who recorded for Victor, are in dirty trench as soldiers all around with guns listen..
























Caruso dressed as Ramses from Aida is singing for the troops. I found this to be one of the oddest ads I have ever seen.

But I understand what they are saying. The voice of Caruso can be heard even in the trenches of distant battlefields. That is a nice statement. I am sure it was very true too!

But there was to a rather comic element to this ad that caught my eye...............

It was the way the one soldier on the left is pointing a gun at Caruso. The way he is smiling and looking at his comrades seems to say..."How much will you give me if I shoot him now?".

Admiral George Dewey and Dewey's Arch on 5th avenue and 24th Street in New York. 1899-1901

Dewey's arch as it looked in 1900




The location of Dewey's arch as it looks today







The Dewey Arch


George Dewey 1837-1917



The arch was used in many advertisements





It was massive, monstrous and just too big for it's own good. That was Dewey's arch. Constructed for the hero of Manila Bay. There are not words to convey to the reader of today what Dewey meant to everyone. He returned to the United States in 1899....A STAR!!!!! Maybe that is even too small a word to use...He was a galaxy!!

Sheet music was made with his likeness on it....When in stores there were no shortage of George Dewey things...Such as soap, coats, hats, canes, teething rings, and just about everything else you can mention. Framed pictures could be had for 50 cents and they sold by the tens of thousands! He received a solid gold sword from President McKinley. Awards, degrees, plaques, honorariums, a house from the citizen's of the country, and the absolute respect of the American people who were in LOVE with Admiral George Dewey.

The greatest showing of adoration for the Admiral was the great Dewey Arch in New York City. It was just a showing of all the love and admiration the people had for their Admiral. He was a widower and the country liked it that way. In a sense America and its people became his girlfriend or wife.

As it often happens to people who are not well equipped to deal with such a situation....The Admiral got the Presidential political bug! He was not equipped to handle the office. But he scared the daylights out of all the other candidates for 1900. McKinley and Bryan.....But the the house of Dewey started to sink like the Spanish navy he and his crew had destroyed.....He got married!!!!!!!

The entire country had a fit...They were George Dewey's bride...His new wife was Roman Catholic to boot! So the entire country felt jilted! It was an age when Roman Catholics were looked on with dislike. It was a bigoted age.
Then it was found that the house he was given, was to be given by him to his wife. This drove everyone crazy. I think the idea of his glory had gone to his head.He started to get pompous.
Then he finished the job by speaking so stupidly about the office of the President and he addressed the world and gave his understandings of the Presidency............

In which he said....
"If the American people want me for this high office, I shall be
only too willing to serve them. It is the highest honor in the
gift of this nation; what citizen would refuse it? Since studying
this subject, I am convinced that the office of the President is
not such a very difficult one to fill, his duties being mainly to
execute the laws of the Congress. Should I be chosen for this
exalted position I would execute the laws of Congress as
faithfully as I have always executed the orders of my superiors."

What the heck was he thinking??????? Not a difficult office to fill? No matter who you are you never say I looked at the job and see it is an easy one to fill! Everyone laughed at him. All the political power brokers quickly moved away from him. The man who one year before was like a Galaxy to everyone, was now a black hole.

No one gave Dewey another thought.....

The coats, hats, canes, stopped selling. Even the teething rings stopped selling. Lastly the Dewey Arch which was just a temporary structure was torn down in 1901. It was never replicated in stone. By 1900 he was just another historical has been. In fact he had been eclipsed by another figure who would come to represent the 20th century. None other than Theodore Roosevelt.

Dewey vanished pretty much from the public scene and finally died in January of 1917. Just as the United States was ready to enter a new war. But the age of great hero's that were almost gods seemed to vanish as did the old soldiers of the 19th century. But he became the last figure that anyone made a massive arch for.

So as I walk around 5th Ave and 24th Street I walked and looked. Nothing remains of the Dewey Arch..Just the few monuments and statues that were there when the Dewey Arch was new. Those are the Worth Memorial and the Lincoln Statue on 5th Ave. It was on this street I took the picture of the area now.