Spencer Tracy and his family, circa 1910 in front of their Bay View home in the 2800 block of S. Logan Ave in Bay View. Spencer is the young boy bottom right.
Annie, 7, and 1-year-old Nellie, sit outside their house in Spitalfields. They were among ten children born to single mother Annie Daniels. Photographed by Horace Warner around 1900. He documented the lives of the children of the area, who in turn became known as the 'Spitalfield Nippers'
They certainly don't look happy. Poor kids. I know Oliver Twist is realistic to the Victorian era, but I always considered it a blend of history and fantasy -- as in, the vast majority who started out in the workhouse also ended their lives there. They didn't have adventures, and their stories were not fun.
The bread in this episode of I Love Lucy is real. Lucille Ball wanted the scene to look realistic so the producers had Union Mode Bakery in Los Angeles whip up a giant load of rye bread. Afterwards, the cast, crew, and audience all ate the bread together.
Eek! That's a heck of a lot of bread. I hope they had heaps of something to put on the bread (peanut butter, mayo, mustard, etc.), and didn't just eat it on its own.
To each his own. I try to stay away from too much processed meat ... I used to eat it all the time (for protein and taste), but it's very fattening and I ended up overweight. So now, I eat a lot of (good, non-processed) peanut butter. I still get the proteins I need, and it's delicious. I still sometimes have cold cuts, but not all the time, as before.
Admiral William H.P. Blandy and his wife cut into a mushroom cloud cake, celebrating the 1946 atomic tests on Bikini Atoll.
My, that's a big ... fascinator on the head of Admiral Blandy's wife. It looks as large as her head itself. Is it my imagination, or does the cake say "Operation Crossroads"? *looks it up* Aha.
It looks like her head's exploding just like the mushroom cloud. Something tells me when the Admiral gets home tonight she's gonna have a headache.
People’s Drug Store lunch counter on G Street N.W. at noon. Photographed 1942 in Washington, D.C. by Marjory Collins.
Every time I see this photo I wonder why they have like 15 sinks chained behind the counter. Their plumbing bills must have been through the roof. And that coca cola machine probably predates the 5:1 BIBs. Must have needed a swimming pool of product every day.
It's true, but the cost of just about everything was much lower in 1942. (After all, it was 82 years ago). If I recall, Phil Marlowe goes out for lunches like this in his books and pays a ridiculously small amount by today's standards. I can't remember, but he pays about $2 for a sandwich and a coffee, and a little less than $5 for a steak. Here's a guide of what things used to cost (from the State Library of Victoria, the Australian state where I live). Read it and weep: https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/whatitcost/groceries It's clear that between 1980 and 1990, inflation sky-rocketed, and hasn't been seen since. =(
That picture always makes me think about the automats they used to have around the same time, that I think you can see in one or two movies of the time, including film noirs. I haven't looked into it, but these probably led to vending machines as we know them now.
In that drug store picture, are people waiting in a line to sit down and eat lunch? That would feel weird, especially if you're sitting there eating while somebody breathes literally down your neck.
From both of the pictures we posted, plus movies like West Side Story etc, it seems like that long narrow counter design was dictated by the fact that stores and restaurants in cities like New York and Chicago were created in already-existing narrow spaces where you could extend back in depth, but couldn't widen the space.
Very true and still very relevant. Especially in the older southern sections of NYC like the Village and Financial. Very, very narrow. Plumbing footprint and stovehood configuration dictates a lot of that too. I've scouted a dozen potential locations in the last few months and all of them were buggered by those two issues. And you'd be shocked how many places don't have bathrooms. My real estate guy is like, this is the perfect location but it doesn't have a bathroom. Awesome. There's a $40K additional build-out IF the plumbing is within shouting distance.
