Postcard story from New York – “MEMORIAL DAY 1931 ~ THIS IN MEMORY OF OUR FOLKS WHO HAVE GONE AHEAD”
Endwell, New York, June 1, 1:00pm, 1931
Woolworth and Municipal Bldgs. from Brooklyn Bridge, New York.
To: Mrs. H. A. Knapp
Waverly
Pa.
“Memorial Day 1931 This in Memory of our Folks who have gone ahead. How sweet to think of them! The day’s Celebration here has been a trail of planes from the Endicott landing place. Sure “Love can never lose it’s own.” H.K.__”
The card is addressed to Mrs. Henry Alonzo Knapp, actual name Anna Dutilleul (b.1870, d.1954.)
Her husband Henry A. Knapp (b.1851, d. 1931 the year this card was written) started as a filing clerk in Pennsylvania and rose to become a prominent lawyer who, in 1899, established the borough of Vandling in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, Vandling has a population of 751.
The ‘Endicott landing-place’ refers to a landing strip that was to become the Tri-Cities Endicott Airport, established in 1936.
The poetic quote: “Love can never lose it’s own” is from a poem entitled “Snowbound/Firelight” by influential American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier.
“…Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust,
(Since He who knows our need is just,)
That somehow, somewhere, meet we must.
Alas for him who never sees
The stars shine through his cypress-trees!
Who, hopeless, lays his dead away,
Nor looks to see the breaking day
Across the mournful marbles play!
Who hath not learned, in hours of faith,
The truth to flesh and sense unknown,
That Life is ever lord of Death,
And Love can never lose its own!”
To read the full fitting Memorial day poem “Snowbound” click: http://www.bartleby.com/248/222.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow-Bound
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May 23, 2014 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: "And Love can never lose its own!”, 1931, 1931 postcard, 1936, American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier, Anna Dutilleul, antique Manhattan postcard, architecture, “Snowbound/Firelight”, Brooklyn Bridge, collecting postcards, Endicott landing-place, Endwell, Hans Von Rittern, Henry A. Knapp, Henry Alonzo Knapp, Manhattan, Memorial Day, Memorial Day 1931, Memorial day memories, Memorial day remembered, Mrs. H. A. Knapp, Mrs. Henry Alonzo Knapp, New York, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Poem, poetry, Postcard Stories from New York, Tri-Cities Endicott Airport, Vandling in Lackawanna County Pennsylvania, Vandling Pennsylvania, vintage Brooklyn Bridge postcard, vintage New York postcard, vintage NYC postcard, vintage postcard, Waverly PA, Woolworth Building, Woolworth postcard, Woolworth tower | Leave a comment
Atop the Clock Tower Gallery with the Woolworth Building in the background.
Photo of the day: FIRST SNOWFALL OF THE WINTER ATOP THE CLOCK TOWER GALLERY – It’s official, as of 8:30pm Saturday night, November 23rd 2013 – winter has arrived. I was atop the Clock Tower Gallery for it’s closing farewell party as a bitter cold wind brought the first snowfall. Brrrrrrrr!
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November 24, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Air International Radio headquarters., architecture, Broadway, Clock Tower Gallery, first snowfall of winter 2013 New York City, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, Photo of the day, photography, Woolworth Building | 2 Comments
South Street Seaport 2013
Photo of the day: THE DESTRUCTION OF SOUTH STREET SEAPORT – The ever changing skyline of Manhattan is about to change again, the beloved South Street Seaport also known as Pier 17, thanks to the ever greedy Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is about to be torn down at the end of September. FINAL DAY OPEN IS THIS MONDAY SEPT. 9th.
What will replace it? A big soulless glass box (mall) with a red letter sign atop of it “South Street Seaport”. You wouldn’t need big lit red letters screaming “Seaport” to remind people of where you are if you have removed any vestige of our once great seaport’s history. One of our old sailing ships the Peking will soon cease to exist for lack of funds to repair it, that will leave us with on single solitary ship in what once was the greatest and busiest harbor in the world. Our Mayor Bloomberg and his cohort councilwoman Christine Quinn should be tarred and feathered and drummed out of New York for destroying our seaport’s heritage.
Anyone But Quinn for mayor!
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September 5, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 8 Spruce Street, ANYBODY BUT QUINN ABQ, Beekman Tower, Christine Quinn, Councilwoman Christine Quinn, destruction of South Street Seaport, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, Manhattan skyline, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, mayoral 2013 campaign, New York by Gehry, New York City, New York photo, old sailing ships, Photo of the day, political greed, South Street Seaport, The Peking, Woolworth Building, World Trade Center | Leave a comment
Mondays on Memory Lane: MY OFFICE VIEWS FROM THE 102nd FLOOR OF WORLD TRADE CENTER SOUTH TOWER – With the advent of the spire topping off and finishing the new World Trade Center Tower, I will tell you what it was like to work in the original towers. In 1983 I got a job on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center, the south tower. I was senior project manager of a commercial design firm named Dancker, Sellew & Douglas. I worked there with my dear friend Helene Bernicoff. My desk was right near the tall floor to celing windows. It was incredible.
On my first day to work – I was late! I am German, Germans are never late! But I was. You see, I had calculated the exact amount of time it took to take the subway from Rego Park, Queens to the Trade Center. What I had not calculated on was the vertical traveling time. That took an additional 12-15 minutes. By the time you found an express elevator in the rush hour that had room to take you to floors 50 and 100, then, transferred to the local elevator which took you to floors 101 – 110. . . it was 12 to 15 minutes vertical traveling time! To transfer from a “local” to an “express” was something one usually does with trains and buses, not elevators, it was surreal. Then you had to un-pop your ears every morning as you arrived at your desk. (There were 198 elevators in total).
My view was north. I could see the whole of Manhattan, the Chrysler Building, The Empire State Building, Central Park and far into New Jersey. My friends relied on me for weather forecasts. If the radio said it was a sunny afternoon for the park, I would contradict the radio and say, ‘No, no, I see a big dark weather pattern coming in the from the north or the south’. It was fun.
Northeast view from the original World Trade Center Tower. Woolworth Tower below.
On stormy days the building would sway in the wind, it had to of course. The girls would complain and say they were getting sea sick…no they weren’t, they just wanted to go home to watch their soap operas. There were 12 lobby elevators which expressly took you to the higher floors, twelve of them. Each was the size of a cattle car – huge! On very stormy days, only the outer corner elevators would be operational because we were told the center 10 car cables were not stable enough to handle the swaying…great to know. Once inside the elevator, even the biggest loudmouth shut up. There was always this “silence” in the elevators.
The elevator banks at the World Trade Center
On those stormy days you had to learn to balance yourself. No, not walking – in the toilet. You see, the water in the bathroom bowl swayed the way it does on a ship in stormy high seas. If you weren’t careful, you’d get a wet bottom.
Since we were a design firm, we had many colored markers at our desks. What we would do, is to attach one of the markers from the ceiling with a string and hang it so the tip would touch a piece of paper on our desk. We would watch the marker make the same pattern on the paper over and over again as the building swayed. As the wind shifted, so did the design on the paper. I wish I had kept on of those papers, but it was a novelty taken for granted in those days. There was always ‘white noise’ in the background, the hum/buzz of the air ventilation systems, it was like being on an eight hour airplane ride daily. To work in the clouds – a memory I will never forget and always treasure.
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May 13, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 102nd floor of World Trade Center, 1983, 9/11 memorial, building swaying in wind, Central Park, Chrysler building, Dancker, Empire State Building, express elevator, Hans Von Rittern, Helene Bernicoff, Manhattan, Manhattan views from atop WTC, New Jersey, New York City, Sellew & Douglas, tall floor to celing windows, The Empire State Building, weather pattern, Woolworth Building, World Trade Center, WTC south tower, WTC toilets | 2 Comments
THE ULTIMATE NEW YORK TREE: If you are rushing home for the holidays and find yourself in Grand Central Terminal needing a last minute gift? Rush over to their Christmas Market and find ‘HUT STUDIOS’. You can find every beloved and some quirky New York icons available for your tree. It’s the perfect last minute gift as you rush on your way to the folks back home! Are you just visiting NYC? – they are the quintessential unique souvenirs. Artists Richard Hopper and Harold Gilstein have photoshopped images of New York (the Pan Am Building, the Flatiron Building, the Roosevelt Island Tramway) decoupaged into 3-D ornaments ($30 to $45). You can also buy an Astor Place train station business card holder, a Grand Central Terminal box, or The Ansonia, The Dakota, Chrysler, Empire, the Chelsea Hotel, in storage box form.
It is your one chance to buy a piece of real estate at affordable prices! You can now truly say “I’ll take Manhattan” . . . and not go broke – Enjoy !
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December 23, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 3-D ornaments, arts, Christmas gifts, Christmas market, Christmas ornaments, Christmas tree, Chrysler building, decoupage, Empire State Building, Flatiron building, Grand Central Terminal, Hans Von Rittern, Harold Gilstein, HUT STUDIOS, last minute gifts, Manhattan, New York City, photoshop, Richard Hopper, Roosevelt Tram, souvenir, Staten Island Ferry, United Nations, Woolworth Building | Leave a comment
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 