boy wundyr x | 14 Feb 2014 1:31 p.m. PST |
Through the miracle of Facebook (the pulp fiction fan group), I came across this link to colour photos of NY in the 1940s. Probably more useful for terrain ideas than clothing colours, there's still some cool stuff, couple of Chinatown pics too. link Most interesting thing were the bums with ties! Class, where have you gone?
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Redmenace | 14 Feb 2014 1:34 p.m. PST |
That is too daman cool. Thank you for sharing that. |
boy wundyr x | 14 Feb 2014 1:43 p.m. PST |
The main article links everything to the Cushman collection, which is now online – I'm poking through it now but there's a lot to go through. They have it super-well indexed (almost too many options), from aircraft carriers to castles (who knew the US had so many!). |
tkdguy | 14 Feb 2014 2:42 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the link. I'm sure I can find some use for these photos. |
genew49 | 14 Feb 2014 5:38 p.m. PST |
Well, McSorley's Old Ale House looks pretty much the same. |
Shagnasty | 14 Feb 2014 7:20 p.m. PST |
Hats! Very few adult males were not wearing hats. |
The Shadow | 14 Feb 2014 7:22 p.m. PST |
>>Well, McSorley's Old Ale House looks pretty much the same.<< Yeah, it does. It was one of the first bars in Manhattan that I could go into at about 16 years old. A lot of NYU students went there, so my buddies and I, all being taller than average, were able to blend in and we were never asked for "proof". The drinking age in New York was 18 at the time. In the early 60's, before the "women's liberation" movement, no women were allowed in the bar, so there was no "ladies room". The one rest room had a urinal that was just an open trough, and there was only one toilet sitting up higher than the floor on a concrete slab. It was totally open, and kind of looked like a throne. :-) Even *I* would have been embarrassed to use it. Anyway, during the late 60's some *very* brave women started to come into the bar, but they didn't open a second toilet for the ladies, both men and women used the same toilet, and of course the ladies had to sit on the "throne". well, you have to give them credit for determination. :-) I haven't been in there for over 40 years, so I don't know if they have arranged for a separate toilet, or even if the bar is still there. |
The Shadow | 14 Feb 2014 7:38 p.m. PST |
Note the candy store and pushcart in the "Stores near corner of Broome St. and Baruch Place, Lower East Side". You don't see pushcarts anymore, but they still came around in the early 1950's. My grandfather actually owned a candy store just like the one in the photo. They sold candy, newspapers, cigars, cigarettes, soda and all sorts of cheap toys, like Spaldeens, water pistols, spin tops and pea shooters. Nothing in the store cost more than 25 cents. Remember, even cigarettes cost less than 20 cents a pack in the early '50's. I wonder what the boys in the photo are up to? It looks like they're pooling their money to buy a "spaldeen" to play stick ball. |
ottenfeld | 14 Feb 2014 7:52 p.m. PST |
Ah, McSorley's – happy memories. Thanks for these wonderful pics. |
The Shadow | 14 Feb 2014 9:19 p.m. PST |
genew49 and ottenfeld What years did you go to McSorely's? I was there during 1963 and 1964, and then when I got out of the service in the late 1960's. We didn't go there frequently. Maybe every couple of months, because there were no girls there. But I loved their tap ale and porter, and cheese, crackers and sweet onions in a basket. :-) They still had sawdust on the floor and a pot belly stove going in the winter. If you were gonna start drinking at a young age, it might as well have been there. :-) |
deflatermouse | 14 Feb 2014 9:37 p.m. PST |
Photo 15 The shop behind the barrow looks a little like Cormans Little Shop of Horrors. |
Pulp Alley | 14 Feb 2014 10:06 p.m. PST |
THANKS for sharing. I love seeing these old photos. Our next campaign terrain project is a city setting,and photos like these are a big inspiration. THANKS Dave Pulp Alley |
The Shadow | 14 Feb 2014 11:15 p.m. PST |
>>Our next campaign terrain project is a city setting,and photos like these are a big inspiration.<< I'd like to add one opinion about that. I see city scapes all the time in pulp era games, but there are never any fire escapes. Take a look at the city photos and you will see that fire escapes figure prominently. Watch movies from the '30's thru the '50's and you will see frequent fire escape shootouts. And they *really* add authenticity to the New York City look in any scenario. |
genew49 | 15 Feb 2014 8:04 a.m. PST |
My friends and I started going to McSorley's in 1967 when we turned 18. Most of them ended up going to City College and I spent a few years in a college on Long Island where I introduced my fraternity brothers to the place. I also would meet my Westchester friends there and we continued to trek down there after college until we all ended up getting married in the mid to late 70's. Women were not allowed in at all until July 5, 1970. I remember the date quite well because I had just returned from the Atlanta Pop Festival in Byron, Georgia. I was going to school in Georgia then (don't ask, long story) and since I came back from the concert with about $2 USD I settled for a frozen pizza and a beer or two and watched the baseball All Star Game in the dorm (memorable for the Rose/Fosse collision at home plate). The Atlanta News came on after the game and among the lead stories was that McSorley's had admitted women for the first time. The Shadow is correct though in that there was only one bathroom once women were admitted. The bouncer would clear out the guys, the women would line up and go in one at a time and the bouncer would stand in front of the door. That's changed I believe. By the way in those days we would order a lager and a porter for fifty cents. |
capncarp | 15 Feb 2014 8:43 a.m. PST |
Things I noticed as distinctive/colorful/potentially useful in a pulp game: sidewalk Bubblegum/candy machine racks, moveable barber poles (Al's Barber shop's: it looks like it could be brought inside at the end of the day); wooden bench seats _not_ faced toward the street as a bus-stop bench would be ("poverty
"); canopies & sunshades overhanging the sidewalk; announcement banners stretched across the streets; high steps/basement entrances with fencing/railings; and the Pearl St. corner shot with all the baskets and barrels obstructing the way. Also, the baked sweet-potato vendor cart had an internal stove as indicated by its stovepipe and a supply of ready firewood (which looked like it had been salvaged from ripped-up flooring). Elsewhere in the archive, searching by year, is a photo of "Oriental Towers, Golden Gate World's Fair San Francisco 1940", giving flatfoots in the Bay area a little more colorful background to play upon while the fair is going on. The East coast had the 1939 NY World's Fair: one of yhe attractions, "Futurama"-- "The World Of Tomorrow", could be the site of intrigue (who is trying to steal Prof. Smithers' Transatomic Confrabmegator?), heroic action (saboteurs are trying to wreck an exhibit with dozens of fair-goers at risk!), or danger (when Super-Science becomes Mad Science!) |
boy wundyr x | 15 Feb 2014 9:59 a.m. PST |
I was going to ask about McSorley's, it looks awesome, sounds like the early 1970s are the last confirmation we have on it still being around? You also see in a few shots how the Empire State Building stands out, looming over things even from a distance. |
charared | 15 Feb 2014 10:54 a.m. PST |
Early '70's on for me & McSorley's ("We were here before your grandfather was born."). Waiters/Bouncers didn't normally stand in front of the men's room when a "lady" went in during my time there
Invariably it was the guy *with* the lady
some more successful than others. Part of the "show"
When I went back in the late '80's (I had been going there 2-3 times a week until '80-'81) Kitchen had been turned into a Ladies loo and the kitchen was an add-on where the door to the "back" had been located. Cheese Plate mentioned above wasn't the same (remember the McSorley's home made(?) Hot Mustard? YOWZA!!! That had been replaced with generic "Chinese" restaurant "hot mustard"
Sad. Haven't been back since '94 or so. Charlie |
genew49 | 15 Feb 2014 1:07 p.m. PST |
Still there although I haven't been in a long time. Maybe a pilgrimage this spring (if the snow in the driveway is gone by then). mcsorleysnewyork.com |
The Shadow | 15 Feb 2014 5:57 p.m. PST |
boy wundyr x I got curious and wiki-ied McSorley's. It is still operating and a photo looks like it was expanded a bit since my day. I guess it's considered a "landmark" now, but as a kid I just thought of it as a unique place that would serve me even though I was under age. They actually serve hot food now and have a menu, while cheese, crackers and sweet onions were all that you could get there before. >>By the way in those days we would order a lager and a porter for fifty cents.<< Yep. Two mugs. One light, one dark. I didn't like porter as much as regular old beer, but somehow it seemed like the correct drink when your eating cheese and crackers and warming your feet by the pot bellied stove. :-) |
Pyrate Captain | 19 Feb 2014 8:00 a.m. PST |
Not just because I am as bald as a cue-ball, I think the modern human in western society, including many military institutions have lost a sense of elegance combined with style and function. This is illustrated in my mind with no better example than the wearing of a hat. We have been reduced to one-size-fits-all baseball caps for civilians and, eh gads, berets with dress uniforms sporting 19th century style shoulder boards. There must be something better. |
The Shadow | 19 Feb 2014 9:24 a.m. PST |
Speaking of McSorley's, D56 has released a lighted building with "McSorlsey's Irish Pub" in it. Yes, they purposely misspelled McSorley's. I would be tempted to buy it if it was a little grungier. :-)
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The Shadow | 19 Feb 2014 9:28 a.m. PST |
Pyrate Captain Here's "something better".
I hope that helps. :-) |
The Shadow | 19 Feb 2014 9:48 a.m. PST |
Pyrite Captain
or maybe these?
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Pyrate Captain | 19 Feb 2014 9:59 a.m. PST |
I guess I'm leaning toward buying a fez. |
The Shadow | 19 Feb 2014 12:11 p.m. PST |
Pyrate I'll get one too. Then we can start our own "Sons of the Desert", or "Raccoon Lodge", or maybe the "Mystic Knights of the Sea". Waddya say? :-) |
Pyrate Captain | 19 Feb 2014 2:28 p.m. PST |
I'm in. Maybe even the Loyal Order of Dagon. |
The Shadow | 19 Feb 2014 5:56 p.m. PST |
Pyrate Captain Dagon? No thanks. I'm allergic to fish. I was thinking that "The Raccoon Lodge" would be great, because if you're elected "Raccoon of the Year" you get to be buried at the "Raccoon National Cemetery" in Bismark, North Dakota when you die. Which is a lot better than being eaten by one of those big fishy things from the bottom of the ocean. :-) |
capncarp | 20 Mar 2014 7:27 p.m. PST |
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