Sugar was cheap during the Great Depression. Chewing gum was an affordable treat that sold well. But New York City was paying a high price to scrape the sticky mess from the ground.
The city had recently taken over the Independent Subway Line and balked at the cost of cleaning gum from the platforms. The Mayor released a statement to the morning papers on December 4, 1939: “This may seem like a trifling matter, but it costs the City of New York literally hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to remove gum from parks, streets and public places.”
The Secretary of the Board of Transportation, William Jerome Daly, informed the Mayor that two workers scraping the worst stations for six months “were eventually transferred to other duty because their efforts were futile. It was just a hopeless task.” He agreed with the Mayor that the only remedy was the correction of bad manners.”
The size of that group of gum droppers would be unscientifically tallied by William Powell, the Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation. He guessed that one in five people who lived in New York City chewed gum. Since there were approximately seven million people living in New York City in 1939, that added up to about 1.3 million gum chewers.
What kind of leader attempts to change the bad manners of 1.3 million New Yorkers? Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia
LaGuardia served as Mayor for three terms through the 1930s and 1940s. Barely five feet tall, the “Little Flower” backed progressive causes and helped New Yorkers survive the Great Depression and Second World War. He was known as a tireless advocate for children. He brought entire orphanages to baseball games. He read the funny papers live on the radio for children during a newspaper strike.
LaGuardia’s idea was to attack the sticky problem with a cultural campaign. No fines, no bans, no summonses, but a contest to win over the hearts and minds of everyone who cared about New York City. He issued a press release that resulted in numerous stories in newspapers across the country.
The Mayor’s campaign invited the public to teach and encourage themselves to act appropriately. And the public responded with creativity! Among the suggestions were “Shoot the Wad” and “Don’t be dumb, park your gum!”
Milton W. Firth, wrote the Mayor. “The carelessness with of gum chewers in littering the city pavements and subway platforms has long been a source of annoyance to me, and I am greatly pleased to see that someone has started a campaign to rid the city of this nuisance,” he offered. “After all it is but one step behind expectorating [spitting], and that is a misdemeanor.”
Firth suggested a new law “prohibiting the careless practice of discarding chewing gum in public places.” His suggestion for the new campaign? “Try to keep your city dapper. Park used gum inside this wrapper [sic].”
Edith Goldberg of Brooklyn suggested “Wrap your gum. You, too, have a sole.” Four pages of cartoons with captions came from Frances Paelian of Spuyten Duyvil in The Bronx. From East Hapswell, Maine came “Chew It. But Don’t Strew It.”
John F. Klohr, purveyor of “Insurance of All Kinds,” confessed to giving away sixty sticks of gum per day for 15 years. He expressed remorse, and promised that in the future he would encourage people to use the wrapper in disposing of the gum.
John Krol, a former employee of the Parks Department, sent “Chew! But Don’t Strew Your Streets With Goo!” A poem in the style of Robert Burns was submitted by Redmond O’Hanlon entitled “Owed to N.Y.C. – Gum Free Streets.”
The winning slogan was submitted by Miss Rose L. Beckman, a teacher at the Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn: “Don’t Gum Up the Works.” The winning entry beat out “Chucking Chicle Chokes the Charm of our Choo-Choo Station.”
The candy and gum manufacturers responded with enthusiastic support. They printed new directions on packaging: “Park used gum inside this wrapper.” And they made tin signs to encourage good manners.
A letter from Philip K. Wrigley of the William Wrigley Jr. Company (Chicago) supported the Mayor’s quest, offering to change the next print run of advertising cards for street cars, buses and train cars. However, Wrigley mentioned that the American Chicle Company, a chewing gum trust, had vending rights on the City-owned Eighth Avenue Subway, and as such, there wasn’t much more the Wrigley Company could do on this line, without additional vending right.
The Vice President of the American Chicle Company wrote back to the Mayor from his New Jersey office: “we are pleased to advise you that on or shortly after the first of next year the 1c wrappers of all of our standard brands will bear the legend ‘Save this Wrapper for Disposal of Gum after Use.’” American Chicle also maintained their vending rights on the Eighth Avenue Line.
The Goudey Gum Company, of Boston, and Beech Nut, of Amsterdam, NY, both supported the campaign. Sweets Laboratories, in Harlem, supported the Mayor’s plight, but explained that they sold chicle – the gum base – to gum manufacturers.
The campaign spread to the airwaves. Chiclets publicist David O. Alber notified the Mayor about the Frank Novak and the Stardusters radio show, sponsored by Chiclets on NBC, to be aired in mid-December, 1939. The Stardusters, a male trio, would sing a song (featuring Chiclets) about good gum manners to the tune of “Comin’ thru the Rye.”
Chiclets also promised to “go even further in this campaign by inserting notices in each package of gum, urging purchasers to save the wrappers for use in disposing of the gum.”
On January 25, 1940, the Assistant Commissioner of Sanitation, Edward Nugent, reported on the impact of the campaign: “from observations in touring the city, the Mayor’s effort has brought a decided improvement in this matter.”
The campaign ended swiftly and peacefully. Unfortunately, the battle against gum continues.
A SPECIAL FLOWER
EVERYTHING IS COMING UP IRISES AT THE KIOSK! ENJOY THEM THIS WEEK!
CREDITS:
This essay by Mary Beth Kilkelly was first published on the New York City Municipal Archives Blog. The Municipal Archives preserves and makes available New York City government’s historical records. Records include office documents, manuscripts, still and moving images, vital records, maps, blueprints, and sound recordings. Learn more about historical records the Municipal Archives at their website.Illustrations, from above, from the Mayor LaGuardia Collection, New York City Municipal Archives: A subway car of the Independent Subway Line with a public service announcement from Doublemint Gum, ca. 1940s; Fiorello La Guardia, ca. 1940s; a newspaper article on the gum campaign, December 4, 1939; and a Wrigley’s ‘Juicy Fruit’ chewing gum wrapper with the public service announcement “Use this wrapper to dispose of gum.”
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ephemeralnewyorkMay 13Around 1964, Hagstrom published a road map of New York City—the old-fashioned folding kind that always ended up in a creased mess. And it reveals some interesting changes in the cityscape over the past 60 years.
Back then, subway routes were noted as either the IRT, BMT, or Independent line; the Metropolitan Opera House stood at Broadway and 39th Street; and the neighborhood about to be rechristened the East Village was a vast and empty space simply labeled “East Side.”
But the “High Spots in New York” map, as Hagstrom called it, reveals even more differences between the city of the 1960s and contemporary Gotham in the map’s sidebars, which list places of interest worth visiting.
Skyscrapers worth a look include the Singer Tower, born in 1908 and demolished in 1968. Nightlife suggestions feature the Village Gate and Sammy’s Bowery Follies, both vanished. Movie theater options include the Greenwich, formerly on Greenwich Avenue and 12th Street (now a gym), and the Gramercy, once on Lexington Avenue and 23rd Street.
But I think the biggest changes are in two lists the map provides: one of hospitals, the other of department stores.
The New York of today is a city with a handful of huge hyphenated hospital conglomerates. But look at the hospitals from 1964.
St. Luke’s and Roosevelt are separate entities, St. Vincent’s serves the Village, University hasn’t been renamed NYU Langone, and Sydenham, which opened in 1892 on East 116th Street, operated in West Harlem. (It closed in 1980.)
The department store list is a little heartbreaking for New Yorkers who remember the city as a department store wonderland. Of the 21 stores on this list, I count only four that still stand: Macy’s, Saks, Bergdorf’s, and Bloomingdale’s.
It’s not that the city was better off with more small hospitals or a larger selection of department stores. But it’s jarring to see the differences between 1960s New York and the Manhattan we live in today laid out so starkly on a 60-year-old road map.
A SPECIAL VISITORMelissa
Pflum, the great-granddaughter of Franklin D. Roosevelt, visited the kiosk on Sunday. Melissa is the granddaughter of Eliot Roosevelt and the daughter of James Roosevelt. She and her family spent part of Mother’s Day visiting the island.
CREDITS:
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
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State of the City Project Will Protect 100,000 New Yorkers From Coastal Storms, Create 400 Construction Jobs
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the groundbreaking of Battery Coastal Resilience, a critical, $200-million component of the overall Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency strategy. Led by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks), and the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ), Battery Coastal Resilience — a key initiative announced in Mayor Adams’ State of the City address earlier this year — will rebuild and elevate the wharf promenade in The Battery, staying true to the character and uses of the park while protecting against projected sea level rise in the year 2100. The project is expected to be complete in 2026 and will protect the 100,000 residents, 300,000 jobs, and 12,000 businesses that call lower Manhattan home. Additionally, the project will create 400 construction jobs.
Mayor Adams today also called on the federal government to create a regular, recurring source of federal funding for coastal infrastructure that would enable New York City to complete critical resiliency projects. For every $1 invested in coastal infrastructure projects, $6 is saved in recovery costs. A regular, recurring funding program would help New York City more reliably access federal funding for crucial projects to protect more New Yorkers from climate change hazards.
“We’re building a more resilient, more sustainable city for today’s New Yorkers and for generations to come, and our coastal resiliency projects are key pieces of that work,” said Mayor Adams. “The Battery Coastal Resilience project will help protect Lower Manhattan from the stronger storms that climate change is bringing while ensuring that New Yorkers can still enjoy the beautiful green space and cultural icons that The Battery has come to be known for. We’re investing billions in green and grey infrastructure across the city to ensure that New York City is ready for whatever Mother Nature can throw at us. And because the need for these projects isn’t going away any time soon, we need the federal government to establish reliable sources of funding for key coastal resiliency work across the country.”
“Climate change is the defining fight of our generation; the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency strategy is a bold effort to protect this jewel of a city. It is also just one tool in a huge and growing toolkit that we are using to protect not just Manhattan but all five boroughs against heat, stronger storms, increased rain, and even smoke,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “From barrier walls to protect us from storm surges to bluebelts to capture rain, we need to commit to every component of our broad-based fight against this crisis. And we need every tool — with better, faster, cheaper capital delivery — to ensure we win.”
“As we made clear in the recently-published Green Economy Action Plan, the City of New York is the world’s leader on climate-forward policies, which includes upgrading our built environment to be more resilient in the face of more frequent and more powerful storms,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “I’d like to thank my colleagues across city government for their collaboration on this project, with special thanks to EDC. With this groundbreaking, we are mitigating the threat of sea-level rise to lower Manhattan for decades to come and advancing the city’s position as a global pioneer in the fight against climate change.”
According to the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC), coastal New York City is experiencing higher rates of sea level rise than the global average. NPCC projects, at the higher end, 23 inches of sea level rise by the 2050s and 65 inches of sea level rise by 2100. The project will protect New Yorkers from that sea level rise and will include the reconstruction of the deteriorating wharf; preservation and enhancement of the park’s character, gardens, and community amenities; memorials and historic monuments; adaptability to future passenger ferry needs, universally accessible design principles; and more.
Battery Coastal Resilience has received a Platinum award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Envision program, which promotes industry-wide sustainability metrics and fosters cost-effective, energy-efficient, and adaptable long-term infrastructure investments. Battery Coastal Resilience is the first major project in the city to meet the commitments of the NYC Clean Construction Accelerator of reducing embodied emissions by over 50 percent. Battery Coastal Resilience will use low-carbon and recycled materials, and it will reduce truck traffic through using barge transportation. This equates to the removal of more than 2,000 trucks from the roadways in Lower Manhattan, avoiding approximately 400 metric tons of carbon emissions. Battery Coastal Resilience exemplifies the way that mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change can be complementary in major capital projects. This strategy will be critical as more coastal resiliency projects continue throughout the city and raises the bar to achieve for future climate solutions. Battery Coastal Resilience exemplifies the way that mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change can be complementary in major capital projects.
Map of Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Projects. Credit: NYCEDC
Also highlighted today was the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project (SBPCR), a Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency initiative led by the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) and currently under construction adjacent to the Battery Coastal Resilience site. Creating a physical tie-in with Battery Coastal Resilience, SBPCR will create an integrated coastal flood risk management system extending along the northern border of Battery Park, across Pier A Plaza, through a rebuilt Wagner Park, and to the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
Under the Adams administration, the city is embarking on historic, multibillion-dollar work to fight climate hazards and advance environmental justice. The projects in The Battery are part of over $1.7 billion in Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency climate adaptation capital investments. These investments include the $350 million Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience, which began construction in fall of 2022. Construction is also advancing on the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency project, with the first two public areas opening in 2022 and 2023, and other coastal projects are in progress in all five boroughs. For example, as part of the city’s citywide efforts to reduce coastal risk, the administration recently completed construction on the Old Howard Beach Street project, which will protect New Yorkers from what would have been routine tidal flooding in 2050.
“Climate change presents a real, ongoing threat to New York City, and Lower Manhattan in particular,” said New York City Chief Climate Officer andNew York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala. “These coastal resiliency projects are important steps toward protecting the area against rising sea levels, flooding, and extreme weather events that continue to happen more frequently. DEP is proud to be a part of New York City’s efforts to improve The Battery’s resilience against climate change and ensure that Lower Manhattan remains a vibrant neighborhood for New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy for many years to come.”
“The Battery first became a critical part of Lower Manhattan’s coastal defenses 400 years ago. Today, we are building on that history to respond to the new threat of rising seas, while also restoring its magnificent gardens and enhancing its iconic views,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “Parks is proud of our work with our partners on this urgent project to replace the deteriorated wharf and esplanade with a new, higher structure, providing uninterrupted ferry access to the Statue of Liberty for many decades to come and increasing accessibility to the waterfront, using sustainable construction methods and protecting the park’s character.”
“”Battery Coastal Resilience is a key part of our strategy to protect our ever-evolving shorelines from the intensifying impacts of climate change,” said MOCEJ Executive Director Elijah Hutchinson. “New York City is executing complex coastal resilience projects in our dense urban environment and this project is a window into the future of sustainable and clean construction practices where we use our waterways and marine highway instead of trucks, and where we use low-carbon and recycled materials for construction in a cost-effective way that reduces construction impacts to our neighbors.”
“The Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency project sets the standard for future projects of this kind, marrying coastal protection with an ambitious sustainability agenda,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “Breaking ground on the Battery Coastal Resiliency portion of Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency marks a huge win in advancing the work to protect our city from future sea-level rising and flooding due to climate change. NYCEDC is thrilled to work on this with MOCEJ and NYC Parks to deliver a sustainable and resilient future for all New Yorkers.”
“DDC installed the city’s first flood gate on Manhattan’s east side in 2022, and we are cumulatively building 3.2 miles of shoreline protection from the Brooklyn Bridge up to East 25th Street,” said New York City Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Thomas Foley. “Soon we will start similar work in Red Hook, Brooklyn. These projects are protecting New Yorkers in NYCHA and other housing, as well as important public buildings such as firehouse and clinics, from the effects of future storms and anticipated tidal flooding. They also are an opportunity to enhance public recreation spaces and expand access to the river, which our Lower Manhattan resiliency projects are doing. We opened the improved Stuyvesant Cove Park last summer and this fall we anticipate opening the first parts of the new East River Park.”
“Superstorm Sandy pushed nearly 10 feet of damaging salt water over The Battery that submerged much of Lower Manhattan, including our subways and vehicular tunnels. With shovels in the ground on these coastal protection projects, we are one step closer to safeguarding this critical part of New York City,” said DEP Deputy Commissioner for Coastal Resilience Laurian Farrell. “Similarly, after years of planning and working with our federal partners and local communities, we anticipate several additional coastal protection projects to get under way soon, including in Brooklyn and on Staten Island.”
“I thank Mayor Adams and all of those in city government who have been working hard for years to envision and put forth comprehensive initiatives to create and protect resilient communities in Lower Manhattan and across the city, including this Battery Coastal Resilience initiative, which is critical piece of the puzzle,”said New York State Senator Brian Kavanagh. “I am especially pleased that this project includes rebuilding and elevating the wharf promenade in The Battery. While plans like this one will no doubt need to be reviewed and augmented as the years go by, the city has been engaging with the local community for some time now and is taking decisive action today toward preserving this area in the face of the growing threat of climate change.”
“Resiliency infrastructure is key to New York City’s very survival: sea levels may rise as much as 5.4 feet by the end of the century, threatening the 20 percent of our city lying in a floodplain,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “The $200 million Battery Coastal Resilience project, part of the greater Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency, is a cornerstone of our plan to withstand and recover from increasingly intense storms. This project will utilize an enhanced drainage system, salt-tolerant trees and plantings, and permeable pavers to safeguard 100,000 of our fellow New Yorkers from the devastation of climate change. We will also use this project as an opportunity to rebuild the wharf, beautify the park, and make it inviting and accessible for all. This plan is advancing our goal of making New York City.”
“My district knows all too well the need for increased resiliency to protect against future weather events,” said New York City Councilmember Joann Ariola. “This project will go a long way towards protecting the people of Manhattan, and I hope that it expands to safeguard other portions of the city as well.”
“New York City and State partners are at work across Lower Manhattan to adapt our coastline to our changing climate and, in the process, reinvent incredible new public spaces along the waterfront we all cherish,” said BPCA president and CEO Raju Mann. “Lower Manhattanites have a front-row seat to the threats presented by more frequent and intense storms, and with the leadership of Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams, we’re addressing these challenges head-on.”
“As the climate crisis bears down and the impacts of extreme weather become greater and more frequent, it is absolutely essential that New York City takes steps now to build up its coastal resilience before it’s too late,” said Julie Tighe, president, New York League of Conservation Voters. “NYLCV applauds Mayor Adams for launching the Battery Coastal Resilience project, which is a key component of ensuring Lower Manhattan is protected from rising sea levels and remains a robust center of commerce for generations to come.
“The Waterfront Alliance is pleased to see yet more progress in New York City’s initiatives to work against the acceleration of climate change,” said Cortney Koenig Worrall, president and CEO, Waterfront Alliance. “The Battery Coastal Resilience Project is a vital step forward in the coastal protection portfolio for lower Manhattan. With each new project the city gains the resources, skills, and experience that must bring similar projects faster to neighborhoods across all five boroughs. Projects that combine resilient infrastructure with waterfront access for boats, ferries, and recreation are essential for a city surrounded by water. We are motivated to continuing to partner and work with the city’s climate teams as the agenda continues to be defined and as tools are developed to deliver infrastructure more quickly.”
“The Battery Coastal Resilience will help protect the residents and businesses that call Lower Manhattan home from rising sea levels while ensuring the park retains its character and its historical significance,” said Jessica Lappin, president, Downtown Alliance. “Lower Manhattan’s unparalleled access to the waterfront helps set us apart, and we’re encouraged to see tangible progress on this crucially important project.”
“The city’s investment in fortifying the Battery’s coastal defenses is vital to safeguarding this historic neighborhood and iconic public spaces from the increasing threat of storm surge and sea level rise,” said Alice Blank, vice chair, Manhattan Community Board 1. “New York is leading the way in climate resiliency by undertaking critical infrastructure upgrades in vulnerable areas like the Battery to protect residents, businesses, and treasured landmarks for generations to come.”
A Brilliant Idea
This summer Rockefeller Center has turned the skating rink into a sitting area for tired tourists and a great place to bring your bag lunch and toss a beanbag.
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Try this 19th century folk cure if you dare, but I think I will abstain: “An excellent gargle is made of one tablespoon of cayenne pepper, a half cup of boiling vinegar, and three teaspoons of salt,” The Granville Sentinel reported on June 22, 1894. “Mix well together, and when settled strain. Gargle the throat every half hour, or as often as relief is needed.”
In other 19th century household hints collected from Northern New York historic newspapers:
“A bunch of sweet peas in each room, renewed each day, will kill every fly in the house. They will stop to suck the … sweet and to pale over dead. They alight with their usual buzz, stop momentarily, quiver in the legs, flap their wings weakly several times, and give up the ghost.” – The Granville Sentinel, July 27, 1894.
“A woolen rag saturated with boiled linseed oil is recommended for removing scratches from a highly polished surface, which may afterward be varnished with shellack dissolved in alcohol.” – The Morning Star of Glens Falls, July 17, 1894.
“When you go to camp in the woods, you can rid yourself of mosquitoes and black flies by spreading over your face a mixture of 2 ounces of castor oil and an ounce of penny royal, boiled together over a slow fire. A mixture like that ought to keep the rattlesnakes off.” – The Morning Star, Aug. 13, 1894.
“Ripe tomatoes will will remove stains from white cloth and also from hands.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 20, 1894.
“The odor of onions left on the hands after peeling them can be removed by running the hands with celery or mustard.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 20, 1894.
“Salt dissolved in alcohol will take out grease stains.” – The Granville Sentinel, Sept. 7, 1894.
“Banana peel will clean tan shoes as well as the regular dressings.” – The Granville Sentinel, Sept. 7, 1894.
“For a very bad burn melt beeswax and into this pour sweet oil until it makes a salve which can be readily spread with a soft brush. Keep every part covered with the salve.” – The Morning Star, Oct. 8, 1894.
“Coffee is far more delicious when made with eggs than it is without. One egg to a teacup full of ground coffee is about the right proportion for a rich extract, but less than this can be easily used by adding a teacup of water to a well-beaten egg and using enough of the mixture to thoroughly wet the coffee.” – The Morning Star, Nov. 8, 1890.
“Powdered charcoal, if laid on a burn, causes the immediate abatement of the pain. A superficial burn can thus be healed in about an hour.” – The Morning Star, Oct. 11, 1894.
“To keep irons from rusting, wrap them in common brown paper and put them away in a dry place. If they have become rusty, they may be made smooth and bright by putting some white sand on a smooth board and rubbing iron over it several times.” – The Granville Sentinel, Nov. 9, 1894.
“Brooms are bent out of shape by being allowed to rest on the floor instead of being hung up. Dipping them once or twice a week in a kettle of boiling suds is the careful housekeeper’s method of making them last twice as long as they otherwise would.” – The Granville Sentinel, Nov. 23, 1894.
“A lump of camphor in your clothes press will keep steel ornaments from tarnishing.” – The Granville Sentinel, Dec. 7, 1894.
“If you wish to rid your cellar of rats, sprinkle red pepper on the floor just around the holes. The rat comes out, cleans his feet with his tongue, and leaves your house never to return. – The Morning Star, Dec. 31, 1894.
“The finger nails can be whitened by rubbing them every night with a piece of freshly-cut lemon and washing off with warm water in the morning.” – The Morning Star, Feb. 20, 1894.
“Ten minutes sleeping before dinner is worth more than an hour after. It rests and refreshes the system for vigorous digestion. If sleep is taken before dinner, it should be in the sitting position, as the horizontal position is unfavorable to healthful digestion.” – Ticonderoga Sentinel, May 18, 1877.
“For a damp chest or cupboard, which is liable to cause mildew, place in it a saucer of quicklime, and it will not only absorb all apparent dampness, but sweeten and disinfect the place. Renew the lime once a fortnight or as often as it becomes slaked.” – The Granville Sentinel, March 8, 1895.
“It is said that lumps of gum camphor scattered inside of a piano will keep the moths from attacking the wooden lining of the hammers.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 5, 1895.
“Those who grow large watermelons state that they make the hills in winter. If the ground is not frozen too hard, a pile of fresh horse manure is placed where each hill is to be, and the manure is covered with earth. In the spring, after the weather becomes warmer, the manure is incorporated with the soil.” – The Granville Sentinel, April 12, 1895.
A Brilliant Idea
This summer Rockefeller Center has turned the skating rink into a sitting area for tired tourists and a great place to bring your bag lunch!
PHOTO OF THE DAY
CREDITS:
Illustration: A New York Times pressman checking a newspaper for defects in 1942. JUDITH BERDY
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While waiting for the crosstown bus at 72nd Street and Second Avenue this morning I spotted this sign advertising Pearline. Revealed when the building next to it was demolished this art was revealed.
All that remains is this portion of the advertisement.
Title
Modern cleanser : James Pyle’s pearline washing compound
Creator
Rhead, Louis, 1857-1926, artist Description
Image of an advertisement for James Pyle’s pearline washing compound featuring a woman wearing a long floral dress hanging a sheet on a clothesline; stream and forest in background. Item originally owned by illustrator Curtis Wager-Smith
The copy mentions “Intelligent women”. Can you imagine this ad in our time?
The romanticized copy of sorting thru last years clothes, copy writers were at it at the turn of the 20th century.
Royal Naval Dockyard https://www.dockyard.bm The Royal Naval Dockyard is the most visited site in Bermuda. It offers historical buildings, shopping, restaurants, arts and experiences.
CREDITS: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS JUDITH BERDY
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By the Depression year of 1930, New York City was increasingly becoming a city of highs and lows.
[“Sixth Avenue and Ziegfeld Theater”]
The highs were evident in Gotham’s skyline. Elegant residential towers lined the borders of Central Park and the city’s posher avenues. The Chrysler Building rose above 42nd Street, and the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center soon followed at different ends of Midtown.
At odds with these gleaming towers were the lows—the many low-rise blocks across Manhattan. Spread out between their new high-rise neighbors and congregated in poorer, more densely packed areas were tenement buildings, factories, and warehouses, some crumbling with age.
[“The Cavalry, Central Park”]
Someone who appears to have noticed this stark contrast in the cityscape was Médard Verburgh. A Belgian painter of sensitive, colorful portraits, still lifes, and landscapes, Verburgh’s work was to be exhibited at the prestigious Newhouse Galleries on East 57th Street in January 1930.
Though Verburgh seems to be an artist forgotten by the contemporary world, he had a presence in the first half of the 20th century. A critic writing in the New York Times described the Newhouse Galleries exhibit as one that “should not be missed by anyone interested in Belgian art—or, for that matter, in art more catholically considered.”
Verburgh, 44 years old at the time, presumably came to the city for the exhibit. He also apparently felt inspired enough by the physical landscape to paint it.
[“On the Rooftops of New York”]
Each of the four works in this post date to 1930, and all capture the city’s contrasts in vibrant colors and rough brushstrokes. The top image, “Sixth Avenue and Ziegfeld Theater,” juxtaposes office towers and smaller commercial and residential holdouts on a busy traffic artery of the then-modern city.
The Ziegfeld Theater, opened in 1929 at the corner of 54th Street, would be the whitish building on the left—though it doesn’t resemble the actual Ziegfeld Theater that occupied this site until it was demolished in 1966.
The second painting, “The Calvary, Central Park,” showcases the enormous apartment towers and office buildings of Central Park South looking like a fortification around the expansive pasture of the park and the equestrians riding inside it.
[“Le Metro Aerien”]
“On the Rooftops of New York,” the third painting, features tenement roof dwellers dancing and making music, a black cat curled up in the corner bearing witness to the sounds and steps. It’s an intimate and personal scene with the impersonal, impenetrable skyline in the background.
The final painting has a French title, “Le Metro Aerien”—or The Aerial Metro in English. Here Verburgh gives us the thickest brushstrokes with images of a brick-red warehouse or factory and an elevated train circling in front of it, and sketches of skyscrapers in the rear.
Exactly what neighborhood the painting is set in isn’t clear, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Verburgh presents another contrast of the old and new New York City—the energy and might of the old in comparison to the fortresslike facelessness of the 1930 skyscraper metropolis
16 Responses to “The forgotten painter who captured the contrasting landscapes of 1930 New York City”
It’s a shame that Verburgh has been forgotten. One reason, however unjust, is that he wasn’t “social realist” enough for the 1930s and its WPA posters and too concretely expressionistic for the abstract painters (and the critics who championed them) after World War II. Even the most drab of Verburgh’s colors express the life and energy I believe he was trying to convey. You are so right about the “highs and lows.” It’s sadly ironic that the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings were completed just as the country (and world) plunged into the Great Depression. In “My Lost City,” F.Scott Fitzgerald observed, “From the ruins, lonely and inexplicable as the sphinx, rose the Empire State Building.”
ephemeralnewyork Says: April 30, 2024 at 12:33 am | ReplyI love that Fitzgerald quote; it’s similar to me to his observation in the Great Gatsby about the Corona Ash Dump (transformed later into Flushing Meadows Park):“This is the valley of ashes, a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the form of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”
ephemeralnewyork Says: April 30, 2024 at 12:34 am | ReplyIt looks like it for sure, thanks Bob. I wish the red warehouse-type building was in the photo as well, but I suspect Verburgh may have added that or embellished an existing building, as is his prerogative as an artist.
robertl2 Says: April 30, 2024 at 1:42 pmDefinitely agree with Bob re the Coentes Slip location, based on Verburgh’s placement of the Singer Tower and the spires of Trinity Church, both on Broadway three blocks away from each other, a few blocks to the northwest — erasing, apparently by way of additional artistic liberty, the wall of buildings that would have blocked line of sight from Water Street, even in his day.
Frank dky Says: April 30, 2024 at 8:51 am | ReplyHe certainly did capture the essence of New York, especially in that time frame. I particularly like the highs and lows and the contrast of the avenue,although of course today New York is in danger of being all highs and no lows as more and more of that 19th century material disappears. But then as now, this is where the real life of the neighborhood was and somewhat still is before it completely vanishes. The mom and pop stores, the small ethnic restaurants, the tons of apartments and rooms that housed different immigrants that built different neighborhoods. It was the grit but the real backbone of the neighborhood and the flavor. His paintings capture this atmosphere well..All of this in Manhattan is just about vanished and lost today. Manhattan is marvelous as a skyline from the Queens hellsgate viaduct but less impressive on the street level today once you arrive in the city.. Beautiful sculpture from afar but much of it is a dismal arid landscape for pedestrians nowadays
conlogco Says: April 30, 2024 at 11:29 am | ReplyI love the Rooftop Scene. Hophead, hip-hop 1930s jive. I’m thinking there was some Wacky Tabaccy burning in skinny little hand-rolled ciggys. Off scene!
Ava Ciliberti Says: April 30, 2024 at 2:27 pm | ReplySuch beautiful work and great restraint of color palette. I love seeing the old cars too
A.M. Kloezeman (Mlle) Says: April 30, 2024 at 6:38 pm | Reply1930 !Flemish Mézard Verburgh.Never Heard About.Such a Good Impression.Powerful Reflection of A City.Booming and Bustling.New World Symphony Would Fit.
Yvette Says: April 30, 2024 at 8:57 pm | ReplyLovely works of art. I wonder if that’s the curve southbound before the Simpson station in the Bronx of the 2 & 5 line.
Keelin Murphy Says: May 2, 2024 at 7:19 am | Replylovely painter with pitch perfect balance between what make a picture of -precisely and how to get it down -loosely and honestly. Such a jazz riff!
rogerdblack Says: May 4, 2024 at 8:05 pm | ReplyThese are all great, but there is no Ziegfeld Theater in the painting by that name. The Ziegfeld was on the west side of 6th Avenue, between 54th and 55th. That painting only shows 56th St. on the left side. Was it cropped?
ephemeralnewyork Says: May 4, 2024 at 11:36 pm | ReplyInteresting; thanks for your comment. I thought the Ziegfeld was the white building on the far left, though it does not resemble the actual Ziegfeld Theater on Sixth Avenue at the time. I figured it was artistic license. I’m not aware of any cropping to the painting.
robertl2 Says: May 5, 2024 at 7:52 pm | ReplyIt’s pretty clearly a view of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street with the Ziegfeld Theater at lower left, on the northwest corner of the intersection. The two-tone building half a block up from the Ziegfeld is still there at the NW corner at 55th (or was, as of 2020). There’s a definite foreshortening of the distance between 55th and 59th Streets, but no artistic license taken with the Ziegfeld’s location.
Vacation Photo:
Alistair, Manager Bermuda Tourist Office, St. George Shall we consider Bermuda shorts for the RIHS Visitor Center staff?
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
In the heart of South Street Seaport, New Yorkers can step inside a former 18th-century warehouse for the first time ever and explore a new fiber art exhibition. The Golden Thread incorporates legends of the seaport and old machinery left inside the historic building at 207 Front Street with innovative new textile works.On May 7th, join Untapped New York Insiders for a tour of the stunning exhibit led by curators John Lee and Karin Bravin with one of the artists featured, Orly Cogan
When New York City was New Amsterdam, Front Street didn’t exist. The original shoreline of Manhattan met the East River at Pearl Street. As the city grew throughout the 18th century, the shoreline was extended with landfill, first to Water Street and later to Front Street. Buildings quickly sprouted against the river’s edge where maritime trade flourished.
One of the oldest extant buildings from when Front Street was the waterfront is 207 Front Street. The first building at this site was erected in 1797. It was occupied by Benjamin Stratton, Jr., a grocer and copper. By 1816, the original building was demolished or expanded (records differ), and that structure is what we see today.
The new building passed through several prominent mercantile families in New York City. Its first occupants were grocers and merchants Jonathan and Joseph Coddington. The architecture shows its mercantile function. It features a 12-foot diameter grain hoist, a peaked roof, rugged floor joists, original brick facades, and stone window trims.
Palmo’s Opera House was located on Chambers Street, between Broadway and Centre Street. It was founded by Ferdinand Palmo, who hoped to bring Italian opera back, after the failure of the Italian Opera House. There was one major problem with this 800-seat opera house—extremely hard benches with a slat across the back. These were very uncomfortable for the long operas and the upper classes were disappointed in the lack of luxury. Palmo did allow them to upholster their own benches or bring a pillow, but the opera house only lasted about two seasons.
Today, the building contributes to the legacy of the South Street Seaport District, standing in a cluster of historic structures bounded by Fulton, Front, Beekman, and Water Streets. In 1983, the buildings that make up this seminal block were internally connected and consolidated around a quaint, open-air courtyard known as Cannon’s Walk. This distinguishable relic of the city’s ever-evolving port was named after John Cannon and the 18th-century wharf he built along modern-day Front Street.
The Golden Thread: A Fiber Art Show occupies all four floors of 207 Front Street, calling upon the building’s former life as a textile warehouse. Over 100 artworks by 60 different artists reinvigorate the 10,000-square-foot space. Ten site-specific installations weave together radical textile transformation with stories and legends from seaport history. It is a remarkable experience to walk through a building that pulses with original character and charm and see it used for a new purpose.As you roam the exhibition’s four floors, the artwork ranges from hanging tapestries to immersive scenes and freestanding sculptures. Gallerists and curators, Karin Bravin and John Lee, longtime New Yorkers and textile art masters, craft-fully curated an experience for visitors that highlights each artist’s mastery of everyday materials. Works on display incorporate embroidery, stitching, quilting, sewing, and crocheting, among many other textile mediums. The exhibit resurrects these analogized “ancient” practices, juxtaposing the artists’ mastery against today’s novel understanding of them and our technology-dominated era.
Using the building’s 12-foot diameter grain hoist that originally lifted goods to the fourth floor from the East River below, artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya created Rest Is a Place for Wild Things. Using cotton and silk, Phingbodhipakkiya produced a canopy of lush flowers and greenery that drapes over the hoist wheel and hangs from the wooden beams of the vaulted ceiling.
Another site-specific work, Wicked Waterfront by Natalie Collette Wood, calls upon the darker side of the Seaport’s history. The work features images of ships, waves, and nautical imagery printed on ghostly thin pieces of chiffon that sway slightly. These gossamer banners represent the fading memories of seaport legends.
Other pieces in the exhibit tackle broader themes and challenges of American history, such as Willie Cole’s Original Sin created as part of the BravinLee rug program. The rug program has produced works from Louise Bourgeois, Wangechi Mutu, Jonas Wood, and more. Cole’s piece is the largest rug to date. The imagery is based upon the Brooks Slave Ship diagram that was created by the British abolitionist and publisher Thomas Clarkson in 1789.
Pulled from the exhibit’s essay, Christian Viveros-Fauné beautifully sums up the collective characteristics of the 61 international artists and artist collectives in one word: virtuosos. Every piece manifests the prowess and ambition that blossom through textile art. The story of this art medium intertwines with a treasured slice of New York’s historic waterfront at 207 Front Street, where the artists reckon with historical reflection.
Commissioner’s House, Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda.
CREDITS: UNTAPPED NEW YORK JUDITH BERDY
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
ephemeralnewyorkMay 13Around 1964, Hagstrom published a road map of New York City—the old-fashioned folding kind that always ended up in a creased mess. And it reveals some interesting changes in the cityscape over the past 60 years.
ephemeralnewyork Says:
Bob Says:
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