TW: Shorpy is generally bereft of Chicago images...so when they pop up...I grab them for the WH...this shot is from the loop, State Street looking north.

New Year's Eve Means NYC To Me...

TW: ...in this case circa 1903 via Shorpy (click on image to enlarge). A shot of Grand Central Station.

I Wonder....

TW:...if back in 1918 every little snowstorm became a national headline event like it does now...it could snow a foot in Chicago, Cincy, Pittsburgh, Denver, KC etc. and the media hardly notices...but the East Coast...noooo, stop the presses...oooh it is snowing soooo much

Mags Back In the Day

TW: As someone who loves reading, these shots are cool. This was from March, 1940 note the French poilu on the Life cover, little did he know he was about to get his ass kicked. The selection appears more limited than today although not necessarily less edifying.

Re-Hab Has Changed

TW: I assume modern methods are more effective, but one never knows...

Colorized Boston

(click to enlarge)
TW: We have not had a Shorpy for awhile. This is a colorized 1890 shot from Boston near a train station. Color even artificial always provides a unique feel for times gone by. I especially liked the billboard cart, some things never change.

Plus ça Change, Plus C’est la Même Chose. (cont.)

(via Shorpy, click on image to enlarge)
TW: A billboard from 1939 funded by the Chamber of Commerce, 70 years have changed little.

The Good Old Days (cont.)

Via Shorpy
TW: From the 1940's, I have a vague memory of my grandmother using a similar piece of equipment. I think automatic washers/dryers were a welcomed advance and a significant source of higher productivity and quality of life. But the technology has not progressed much further which speaks to how technology moves in step functions not smooth lines.

Our Former Home

TW: The caption to this Shorpy caught my eye. This is an early 1900's shot of a lying in hospital on 2nd Ave. between 17th and 18th in NYC. It had to have been the same building we lived in for a year in NYC. JP Morgan (the mogul not the bank) had built the building originally as a maternity hospital, at some point it was converted into residential space. Our place was very large by NYC standards but the space was awkward which is what happens I suppose when a hospital becomes apartments.

That 70's Thing

TW: This Shorpy from 1971 struck me- A) for the 70's looks, very hip and B) it was a picnic...as I have mentioned before whatever happened to the roadside picnic?

(click on image to enlarge)
TW: A Shorpy, folks in Mid-town Manhattan reacting to the news of D-Day.

The Good Old Days?

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TW: A Shorpy shot of a circa 1940's fridge. This is another example of a shot that makes me hesitant to yearn for the good old days. That fridge seemed not nearly as filled with goodies as a modern day version. A much simpler time for sure. The Iron City beer marks it as likely a Pittsburgh area fridge.

Plus ça Change, Plus C’est la Même Chose. (cont.)

(click on to enlarge- this is hi-res large photo from Shorpy)
TW: This one is for our Chicagoland readers. The photo is vintage 1943 Bensenville, it was a dump then and well it has not evolved much (it is near O'Hare for those of you not familiar with the area).

The Good Old Days?

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TW: Another Shorpy which challenges the notion that the good, old days were so good.

Internet Circa 1940

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TW: Fun to see what functioned as the internet of the day in 1940 or so...

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TW: Having recently re-read Sinclair Lewis' Babbit, a shot like this from 1920 of what had to be upper crust types makes me again thankful for living in the present. Note the Washington Monument in the background.

TW: An early circa 1925 chapter of the NRA? Or apparently the Drexel women's shooting team from that year (from Shorpy).

TW: Another Shorpy. Michigan Ave. circa 1962, no way would pass this one up.

TW: Another Shorpy shot. This one from Santa Monica circa 1950. They have been running several late 40ish color shots of interiors. The thing that struck me about this one was how on one hand the room and people looked contemporaneous while on the other the scene appears so different.