Radio As Effective As Morphine According To Beth Israel Hospital – 1925

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Better Than Drugs – Radio Is Good For Patients

Radio As Effective As Morphine
This photo shows several young patients at Beth Israel Hospital, N.Y. listening in to concerts on the radio taking their minds off their ailments, and making them happy.

According to Beth Israel Superintendent L.J. Frank, the doctors and nurses agree that in a large number of cases, that, at times the radio is as effective as morphine, bromine and other narcotics. Many sufferers of rheumatism and other chronic afflictions require no other sedative other than radio since it was introduced at that hospital as a treatment. photo: United Press International / Acme –  August 25, 1925

Radio, morphine? An interesting comparison.

When doctors made this proclamation 99 years ago Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #166 – St. Paul’s Chapel & Broadway

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Broadway With St. Paul’s Chapel On A Busy Day c. 1920

St. Paul's Church photo: Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California at Riverside

St. Paul’s Chapel and Broadway. photo: Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California at Riverside

If the clock on the tower of St. Paul’s Chapel is accurate, it is a couple of minutes before noon on a weekday. Looking at the pedestrians shadows, the clock is probably correct. Hundreds of people stream by Fulton Street while a trolley is coming down Broadway. One thing you might notice besides the fashion of the day, with many men wearing light-colored straw hats, is that there are few women present. One hundred years ago, the central business area around Wall Street was still the domain of a predominantly male working force.

Here is the same scene taken seconds apart with a tighter focus. The policeman directing traffic can now be clearly seen.

St Paul's Church and Broadway circa 1920 photo: Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California at Riverside

The 30 foot obelisk Continue reading →

Harlem In the Teens & Twenties As Seen By Frederic A. Birmingham

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Growing Up In Bucolic Harlem Before And After World War I

Frederic A. Birmingham’s 1960 memoir of New York, It Was Fun While It Lasted (J.B. Lippincott Company), describes a Harlem which few New Yorkers would recognize today.

The action takes place from approximately 1915 -1925, when Birmingham was between the ages of 4 and 14. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #160 – Virginia Bruce Wedding – 1937

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Virginia Bruce With Friends At Wedding Party 1937

At Reception Following Bruce-Ruben Nuptials
Beverly Hills, Calif. – Virginia Bruce is pictured above with three of her screenland friends at the reception following her marriage to director J. Walter Ruben. From left to right are; Dolores Del Rio, Virginia Bruce, Mrs. Jack Warner and Mrs. Gary (Sandra) Cooper. The newly wedded couple’s honeymoon has been delayed until sometime after Christmas when they will be able to take a respite from their screen duties. 12/20/1937 credit: International News Photos

The wedding itself was small by Hollywood standards Continue reading →

See Audrey Hepburn Genuinely Freak Out On Film

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How The Improvised Scene In Roman Holiday That Frightened Audrey Hepburn Was Conceived

Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday (1953)

When shooting a film there’s only one chance to get a genuine reaction for a scene that is not in the script.

In director Willy Wyler’s 1953 film Roman Holiday there is an improvised scene that star Audrey Hepburn was not told about.

Who came up with the idea to improvise is open to debate; director Wyler or co-star Gregory Peck.

In Jan Herman’s excellent biography A Talent for Trouble: The Life of Hollywood’s Most Acclaimed Director, William Wyler (Putnam) 1995, two versions are given for the genesis of the famous scene: Continue reading →

Bettie Page, 1950s Pin-Up Icon With Companion

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Bettie Page Goes Native

Previously we featured this photograph of Bettie Page a number of years ago. But we never gave the backstory, so here it is.

The photograph was taken in Africa, USA by future Playboy magazine photographer (and later a pin-up girl herself) Linnea “Bunny” Yeager.

Bunny Yeager self-portrait 1960 photo: Bunny Yeager

Bettie Page and Bunny Yeager 1954 at Africa, USA photo via Gnarlymag.com

Continue reading →

Movie Tie-In Publicity Failure 1948

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Who Is This Woman Selected As “Miss Panic For 1948”?

If a bizarre pose, pointy brassiere and looking up somebody’s nostrils are considered sexy then this photo has the necessary boxes checked.

The caption on the rear of the photo says:

“Candis Leo age 19 from West McHenry (Illinois) is selected to be Miss Panic for 1948.” (credit: unidentified February 2, 1948)

Besides the unusual pose, why is this publicity photo a complete failure?

For one, the woman in the picture is identified as Candis Leo.

It is not. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #165 – Broadway & 40th St. 1913

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East Side of Broadway & 40th Street 1913

A Story Of Three Buildings On The Main Stem

This photograph taken by William Roege can be narrowed down to the autumn of 1913. Though photographer Roege engraved the year within the photo, he did not write an exact date.

The Empire Theater

We are looking at the east side of Broadway at 40th Street and the main clue to the time of year is the Empire Theater marquee which announces the appearance of actor John Drew.

John Drew

Drew was one of the turn-of-the-century’s big stage stars and the uncle of actors John, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore. Continue reading →

St. Louis Cardinals Catchers At Spring Training 1937

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Who Will Be The Cardinals Catcher? – March 3, 1937

Though these three men look like they could be in a softball beer league, they are actually major league catchers.

As the news slug explains:

A Lot of Backstopping
Daytona Beach, FLA. – The burden of St. Louis Cardinal catching duties is almost certain to fall on one of the three backstoppers shown at the Card’s training camp here. Front to back: Paul Chervinko, Arnold “Mickey” Owen and Brusie Ogrodowski. credit: Associated Press March 3, 1937

Of the three catchers Mickey Owen had the most successful career. Continue reading →