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What Lies Beneath: New York’s long-forgotten graveyards


Bryant Park in 1907, with construction on the library well underway.  This was the site of one of the final official potter’s fields in Manhattan before they were moved to the islands of the East River. (Picture courtesy New York Public Library)

Happy Halloween!  To put you in the spirit of the season, take a look at my new article for the Huffington Post: Manhattan’s Forgotten Graveyards, Under Public Parks, Famous Hotels and Supermarkets

Will you ever visit the Houston Street Whole Foods the same way again?

And if you haven’t listened to our newest podcast Early Ghost Stories of Old New York, this is the perfect occasion.

Dressed for success: The tradition of Thanksgiving masking, children in drag, begging for money!


Turkey anyone? Thanksgiving maskers, in New York, taken sometime between 1910-15. Whatever you do, don’t look the ‘lady’ directly in the eye!

My new column for the Huffington Post is live, and the topic is a strange, forgotten holiday custom called Thanksgiving masking, popular among New York kids from the 1890s-1930s. Children dressed as exaggerated versions of poor people! Boys in their sisters’ clothes! I wrote about this last year at this time, but this article is newly expanded, and I’ve done a bit more research on the origins of this very odd tradition.

You can check out my story here.

There are several archive photos attached to the article as well. However, here are a few more, courtesy the Library of Congress.

All these were taken in New York between the years 1910-15 according to file captions. However the background looks quite unfamiliar. Any guesses?

I especially love these little rascals. Cute, cute, really cute, SCARY.

And finally, here’s a selection of small portraits of Thanksgiving maskers in the West Village in 1933. Courtesy New York Public Library