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Pretty interesting.

Hawkwing74 wrote:

Pretty interesting.

My favorite is Babe Ruth as a spectator.

That picture from 1940 looking south on 6th Ave from 40th street (Jumbo Malted Milk, 5¢!) -- look at the equivalent view today (or, whenever Google Street View was last updated). You don't see much that has survived... except the street light, which apparently is the same one that was there 70 years ago. The subway stair "box" looks intact and original too.

Also, compare that 1908 picture of the Manhattan bridge to this one taken a few years later.

But my favorite image of "old" new york (probably the late 40s/early 50s) is this one.

10 cents bought you a breakfast or a milkshake in that 1940 picture. Times have changed. 10 cents is barely worth picking up off the ground.

UberGerbil wrote:

That picture from 1940 looking south on 6th Ave from 40th street (Jumbo Malted Milk, 5¢!) -- look at the equivalent view today (or, whenever Google Street View was last updated). You don't see much that has survived... except the street light, which apparently is the same one that was there 70 years ago. The subway stair "box" looks intact and original too.

The building in the center-left background appears to be there as well, there's just a bunch of stuff in front of it now.

So it was a cesspool then, too. I thought so.

Hawkwing74 wrote:

10 cents is barely worth picking up off the ground.

Especially in New York. Lord only knows what it's been sitting in.

Wow, thats really cool, its amazing they kept hold of so many images from so long ago.

I like how in the 1930s etc everyone was wearing suit and tie in the street.

I love old timey advertisements, they're so simple and old fashioned. Imagine a world where to advertise something you just printed it's name in big letters and plastered it somewhere!

I think the advertising hoardings of old are much more attractive than modern ones.

Nutmeg wrote:

I think the advertising hoardings of old are much more attractive than modern ones.

What would a modern advertising hoard even look like? A snapshot of a web browser cache?

just brew it! wrote:

What would a modern advertising hoard even look like? A snapshot of a web browser cache?

Something like this maybe? Realistically, printed signage isn't going anywhere any time soon, even with location-aware crap being pushed to smartphones. Heck, even if augmented reality becomes a, uh, reality, you're still going to have signage on stores and lost cat posters stuck to poles.

Vrock wrote:

So it was a cesspool then, too. I thought so.

To each their own. I'd rather spend time in NYC than most small towns I've visited. (It's also much less of a cesspool than it was a generation ago; much of its dirtier and grittier side was Disneyed and Guiliani'd away long ago)

Nice. You can browse the 870K-strong collection directly if you like, but the interface is craptastic. Bunches of grisly images of murdered folk and suchlike...

Reminds me of http://www.shorpy.com/ which is sourced from http://www.loc.gov/pictures/

Reverie-until-you-hear-the-AC-kick-on, etc.

Jambe wrote:

Bunches of grisly images of murdered folk and suchlike...

The police evidence section does have quite a few of those, although in grainy black and white it looks more surreal than grisly. But there are also some interesting trivia you don't normally get to see, like a few images of early 1900s-vintage vehicles with accident damage, the results of a boiler room explosion, a collapsed subway tunnel, etc...

Vrock wrote:

So it was a cesspool then, too. I thought so.

Its not even CLOSE to the same city it was 15-20 years ago. MUCH safer, much cleaner, and just over all, much more pleasant. I walked all around Manhattan and some parts of Queens and Brooklyn and was surprised at how much more friendly and clean it is since last time I spent this much time there back in the early 90's.

Corrado wrote:

Its not even CLOSE to the same city it was 15-20 years ago. MUCH safer, much cleaner, and just over all, much more pleasant. I walked all around Manhattan and some parts of Queens and Brooklyn and was surprised at how much more friendly and clean it is since last time I spent this much time there back in the early 90's.

You should have seen it in the late '70s.

Captain Ned wrote:

You should have seen it in the late '70s.

Wasn't born until 81 But my father and his family are from Long Island and he went to CCNY and NYU in the 60's. My uncle is 10 years younger than him and they'd always talk about how much of a **** hole it was. Cars on fire, grafiti, bombed out buildings, etc.

just brew it! wrote:

Nutmeg wrote:

I think the advertising hoardings of old are much more attractive than modern ones.

What would a modern advertising hoard even look like? A snapshot of a web browser cache?

You know what I mean, those huge billboards with some stupid movie poster or flashy graphical design across them. Though I like when the local graffiti artists change the tagline to something amusing.

Well, not to worry, this is set later this decade so.....

Captain Ned wrote:

Corrado wrote:

Its not even CLOSE to the same city it was 15-20 years ago. MUCH safer, much cleaner, and just over all, much more pleasant. I walked all around Manhattan and some parts of Queens and Brooklyn and was surprised at how much more friendly and clean it is since last time I spent this much time there back in the early 90's.

You should have seen it in the late '70s.

I remember being shepherded then by my parents through Times Square as a kid. Dark and unappealing place even during the day.

Corrado wrote:

Vrock wrote:

So it was a cesspool then, too. I thought so.

Its not even CLOSE to the same city it was 15-20 years ago. MUCH safer, much cleaner, and just over all, much more pleasant.

I already have that and more in my town of ~8,000. Color me unimpressed.

trackerben wrote:

Captain Ned wrote:

Corrado wrote:

Its not even CLOSE to the same city it was 15-20 years ago.

You should have seen it in the late '70s.

I remember being shepherded then by my parents through Times Square as a kid. Dark and unappealing place even during the day.

Disney finally ran the prostitutes out of Times Square.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vreDf24fGPk

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Disney finally ran the prostitutes out of Times Square.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vreDf24fGPk

I remember Clinton's talk. He got it about right although he must have been to a bad tads, the dinner crowd at the branch my dad liked wasn't so bad. Rather than brave the streets everyday, we would take the bus to New Jersey for Paramus