Category: Photo Album
Hooverville, Central Park, NYC, 1931-32
A “Hooverville” was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the USA. Named after President Herbert Hoover, who was blamed for the economic collapse. During the 1930s there were hundreds of these slums and hundreds of thousands of people lived in them. One of the Hoovervilles was found in Central Park, New York City where scores of homeless families camped out at the Great Lawn at Central Park, then an empty reservoir. Continue reading “Hooverville, Central Park, NYC, 1931-32”
Roadside Diners – 1930s
Hattuşaş, Hittite Empire
Hattuşaş was the capital of the Hittite empire from 2000 to 1180 BC. Today, impressive double walls, which are situated by the King’s Gate,the Lion Gate, the Sphinx Gate and the Yer Kapi (an underground tunnel), circle its ruins. The largest ruins are those of the great temple of the storm god Tesup.
Sphinx Gate – A pair of sphinxes found at the southern gate in Hattusa were taken for restoration to Germany in 1917. The better-preserved sphinx was returned to Istanbul in 1924 and was placed on display in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, whereas the other remained in Germany and had been on display at the Pergamon Museum since 1934. The pair were finally reunited in 2011.
(Image: Shutterstock)
Happy Birthday Bela Lugosi!
Bela Lugosi – October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956
Art from War of the Worlds, 1906
The War of the Worlds, Belgium edition, 1906. Artwork by Brazilian Henrique Alvim Correa (Brazilian, 1876–1910)
Waldorf-Astoria, 1931
The original Waldorf Hotel was built on the site of millionaire William Waldorf Astor’s mansion at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street. The 13-story hotel opened on 13 March 1893. Four years later, Waldorf’s cousin, John Jacob Astor IV, erected the 17-story Astoria Hotel on an adjacent site. John Jacob Astor IV died on the Titanic on 15 April 1912. William Waldorf Astoria, having returned to England in 1893, died 18 October 1919.
In 1929, the owners decided to tear down the original building due to it becoming dated and the draining of its revenues caused by Prohibition. The site was sold to the developers of what would become the Empire State Building. The current location on Park Avenue opened on October 1st, 1931 as the tallest and largest hotel in the world. (Hilton.com)
Long Island Express, Sept 21st, 1938
The “Long Island Express” was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869. The storm formed near the coast of Africa in September of the 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, becoming a Category 5 hurricane later making landfall, September 21st on Long Island, as a Category 3 hurricane. The hurricane was estimated to have killed between 200 and 600 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at $306,000,000. Even though its eye was 75 miles east of New York City, the storm knocked out power above 59th Street in Manhattan and in all of the Bronx, and felled at least 100 trees in Central Park. In just six hours, it moved from North Carolina to New England before weakening.
More Vintage Circus Performers
Simply Add Boiling Water
