Mad Men
‘Mad Men’ notes: The once and future Hotel Pennsylvania
From a Statler Hotel advertisement in Life Magazine, dated January 10, 1949. Click in to the illustration to read the text Every Monday I'll try and…
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New York City Marble Cemetery had quite a weekend
October 12, 2010
Above: President James Monroe laid to the rest at the New York City Marble Cemetery in 1831.I hope many of you hit some of the Open House events throughout the city this weekend. Both the New York Marble Cemetery and the New York City…
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Tony Curtis: “The cat’s in a bag and the bag’s in a river”
Curtis, as the smarmy Sidney Falco, in 'Sweet Smell of Success'"Another way I coped was by being rough, rowdy, and athletic. Not on a basketball court…
Mad Men
‘Mad Men’ notes: Nights at the New York Playboy Club
Above: the Manhattan Playboy Club, at 5 East 59th Street Every Monday I'll try and check in with the Mad Men episode from the night before…
Who are the Spring Street Fencibles?
Spring Street and Broadway in 1785, 30 years before the events of the article below. Illustration courtesy NYPL digital imagesWhile researching the Gracie Mansion podcast, I…
Mad Men
‘Mad Men’ notes: Here’s to whiskey and Bermuda shorts!
Every Monday I'll try and check in with the Mad Men episode from the night before and focus in on one or two historical references made…
Uncategorized
Jones Woods: A Gothic picnic getaway in upper Manhattan
Over 15,000 Irish Americans gathered in Jones Wood in 1856, to greet countryman James StephenOnce upon a time, back when Fifth Avenue was a dirt path…
Mad Men
‘Mad Men’ notes: A movie theater classic in its final days
The Capitol in 1935, its feature attraction the spy thriller Rendezvous Every Monday I'll try and check in with the Mad Men episode from the night…
Mad Men
‘Mad Men’ notes: Naked truths about New York nudism
Every Monday I'll try and check in with the Mad Men episode from the night before and focus in on one or two historical references made…
A History of Subway Cinema: From musical daydreams to gritty roller-skating gangs and underground alien bugs
Above: 'Dames' on a Train: Keeler and Powell dream of the innocent daysThe subway doesn't immediately come to mind as a photogenic movie star, but in…
Mad Men
‘Mad Men’ notes: Konnichiwa, New York City!
Every Monday I'll try and check in with the Mad Men episode from the night before and focus in on one or two historical references made…
Mad Men
‘Mad Men’ notes: Swanky steaks and a market soiree
A postcard from Jim Downey's showing a plethora of theatrical faces who frequented the place. Every Monday I'll try and check in with the Mad Men…
Bowery Boys Bookshelf: Film history and a morning Danish
I feel as though I am partly responsible for the death of actress Patricia Neal, who passed away this past Sunday. Last Wednesday I was finishing…