Blog posts by Sarah

The George Aptecker Collection

Sarah,

George Aptecker, [Girls at Coney Island], 1961. George Aptecker collection, CBHM.0003. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
Today's Photo of the Week looks at an image from the George Aptecker collection. Aptecker was a photographer and diarist who photographed street scenes and portraits in and around New York City. He was a frequent contributor to U.S. Camera Magazine, Camera 35 Magazine, and Modern Photography Magazine. He also exhibited his work at the Village Camera Club, Underground Gallery, and the Metropolitan Museum of…

Bookplates: Explanation and Inspiration

Sarah,

A bookplate is a label attached to the inside cover of a book, usually with the owner's name or initials, sometimes following the Latin phrase “ex libris” which translates to “from the books of.” Each label is unique to its owner, a way of announcing to the world, "This is mine!" A label that we would recognize as a modern bookplate has origins in late 15th century Germany. One of the first examples is this small hand-colored woodcut print depicting an angel holding a shield, which appears in books from the library of scholar and priest Hilprand Brandenburg (1442-1514). By…

POTW: Brooklyn Army Terminal

Sarah,

[Brooklyn Army Terminal], 1945, NEIG_2376; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today’s Photo of the Week shows the interior of the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT), a sprawling complex spanning 95 acres on the Sunset Park waterfront. Designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1919, it was the largest military supply base in the United States. In this photo, we can see supply trains and balconies, which allowed cranes to access cargo from any floor. BAT also served as headquarters for the New York Port…

Want a Tattoo? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Sarah,

[Brooklyn Blackie Tattooing], 1961; Irving Herzberg Collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Did you know that from 1961-1997 tattooing was banned in New York City? The city blamed the ban on an outbreak of Hepatitis B, but the shops may have been casualties of Mayor Wagner’s crusade to “clean up” ahead of the 1964 World’s Fair. With the shops closed many artists left the city, but a few began working out of apartments, and any New Yorker could still get a tattoo if they knew where to look. This photograph shows a family peeking…

POTW: Celebrating Don Newcombe

Sarah,

[Don Newcombe], circa 1951, DODG_0749; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Happy Black History Month! Today we’re celebrating Dodgers pitcher Don “Big Newk” Newcombe. Born in New Jersey in 1926, he played for the Newark Eagles, Nashua Dodgers, and the Montreal Royals before pitching his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers on May 20, 1949. Later that year he became the first Black pitcher to start a World Series game and was named Rookie of the Year. After completing two years of…

July 16, 1968 Was Hot

Sarah,

[Cyclone roller coaster], 1968,  V1988.12.47; Otto Dreschmeyer Brooklyn slides, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
The holidays are over and we're sliding into the cold, quiet weeks of deep winter. Today's Photo of the Week hopes to bring some color and heat to these dark days! This photo shows Astroland's Over the Falls in front of the Cyclone on July 16, 1968. The photographer, Otto Dreschmeyer, noted on the back of the image that the day was hot. After the freezing holiday weekend, it might be difficult to…

Be Kind, Rewind

Sarah,

[Boy outside of video store], 1986, COHEN_0036; George Cohen photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's Photo of the Week rewinds to 1986, where a boy is peering into a Brighton Beach video store. These entertainment temples started in the late 1970s and wound down in the 2000s, although there are still some to be found in New York City, serving those looking for a hit of nostalgia or simply unwilling to make the jump to streaming. We all remember having to settle for an older title because the new…

The Lady of Gravesend

Sarah,

The Lady so integral to the history and development of Brooklyn spent most of her life in England. She was born Deborah Dunch around 1586, in London’s Gray’s Inn or a country estate outside the city. Her father, Walter Dunch, was a barrister and her grandfather, William Dunch, was an Auditor of the Royal Mint. She was a child during the reign of Elizabeth I, and grew up in the shadow of the plague, which had killed one-quarter to one-third of London’s population only twenty years before her birth and made appearances again in 1581 and 1592.

[Memorial to Lady…

Williamsburg Bridge

Sarah,

[Waterfront basketball], 1951, PARK_0050; Brooklyn Daily Eagle Photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
The Williamsburg Bridge was completed in 1903, making it the second of three bridges to connect Brooklyn to our neighbors in Manhattan. Make no mistake, this middle sister is no Jan Brady. At completion, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and quickly became a vital artery for movement between the boroughs. The bridge was one of the last to be designed to accommodate horse and carriage traffic and…

POTW: Mourning the Victorian Way

Sarah,

[Hair Link], circa 1875, M1986.72.7; Artifact collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This simple, braided bracelet holds a special meaning. If you look closely, you’ll see that the braid is actually made of human hair. Although not widely practiced today, collecting a lock of hair from a deceased loved one to incorporate into a piece of jewelry was quite common in the Victorian era. According to author Allison Meier “There was also a hair jewelry industry that emerged with workshops and retailers to support this fashion…

Wonder Wheel

Sarah,

[Coney Island Wonder Wheel], circa 1945, CONE_0239; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
The world-famous Wonder Wheel is a Ferris wheel (also known as a pleasure wheel) designed by Romanian immigrant Charles Herman and operated by his business partner Herman Garms. Herman walked away after the Wheel’s completion, reportedly earning no money for his invention. Garms ran the Wheel for sixty years, spending his summers sleeping in a home beneath the ride. In 1983, the Wheel was sold to Denos…

The Eberhard Faber Pencil Company

Sarah,

The Eberhard Faber Pencil Company traces back to 18th century Bavaria, where carpenter Casper (Kasper) Faber began crafting and selling lead pencils in the small town of Stein. Casper’s son Anton Wilhelm (A.W.), took over the business in 1784, renaming it the A.W. Faber Company.  

[Faber family], 1924; Eberhard Faber Pencil Company Collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
In 1790, French scientist Nicholas Jacques Conte developed a method for heating a mixture of graphite and clay to form a superior writing tool that could be…

POTW: Early Years of the Pratt Institute

Sarah,

[Pratt Institute blacksmith students], circa 1905, SCHL_1603; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
Today’s Photo of the Week looks at a classroom in the early years of the Pratt Institute. The school was founded by businessman and philanthropist Charles Pratt, who envisioned a school for working-class people to get hands-on experience in industrial trades, arts, and engineering. The school opened in 1887, just a few blocks from Pratt’s home at 232 Clinton Avenue. Starting with only twelve…

POTW: Shark attacks in Brooklyn? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Sarah,

[8-foot shark caught on Sheepshead Bay fishing trip], 1950, NEIG_1852; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
They probably won’t need a bigger boat to haul in this little shark, caught off the coast of Sheepshead Bay. Although sharks can be found in Brooklyn’s waterways, attacks are extremely uncommon. In fact, the last shark attack in Sheepshead Bay was in 1916, when swimmers Gertrude Hoffman and Thomas Richards escaped with non-fatal injuries. Brooklynites have little to fear from these finned…

POTW: Gil Hodges Gets His Due

Sarah,

[Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman Gil Hodges, with six baseball bats and duffel bag over shoulder], 1952, gelatin silver print, DODG_0498; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
We’re thrilled that Gil Hodges has finally been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Hodges was one of the famed “Boys of Summer,” but he started life as a son of the Midwest. Born in Princeton, Indiana in 1924 he excelled at high school baseball, basketball, track, and football. After attending…

POTW: Trommer's Near-Beer

Sarah,

Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, 194-?, WORK_0054, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today's Photo of the Week takes us to Trommer’s Brewery at Bushwick Avenue and Conway Street. Brewery President George Trommer (right) is smashing a beer bottle to celebrate a new fleet of delivery trucks. George was the son of founder John F. Trommer, a German immigrant who worked as Brewmaster at Ulmer’s until 1897 when he purchased an existing brewery and changed the name to Trommer’s Evergreen Brewery. George took over the business…

A Legacy in Lead

Sarah,

[Women working in the Eberhard Faber pencil factory], circa 1915, V1988.35.6, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
As New York City students return to the classroom, we’re dreaming of fresh school supplies. Notebooks, rulers, folders, and of course: pencils. Were you the kid who always had two freshly sharpened pencils ready to go at a moment’s notice? Were you the monster who borrowed a pencil and never returned it? Either way, there’s a good chance you've used a Faber pencil. The Faber family started manufacturing pencils in Germany…

POTW: Hat Works of Knox the Hatter

Sarah,

Brooklyn Eagle postcard collection, [Knox Hat factory, St. Marks and Grand Avenues], circa 1905, POST_0558, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today we're looking at the imposing apartment building at 369-413 St. Marks Avenue that began life as the world’s largest hat factory. Founded by Irish immigrant Charles Knox, the Knox Hat Company began operations in lower Manhattan, selling beaver hats in a small store he opened in 1838. Through promotion and word of mouth, the business built an impressive clientele, including Abraham…

POTW: Lionel the Lion-Faced Man

Sarah,

Marie Roberts Dreamland Circus side show photographs, CONE_0590, c1924, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library. 
Stephan Bibrowski (1890–1932), also known as "Lionel the Lion-Faced Man," was born outside Warsaw, Poland with a rare condition called hypertrichosis. Often called “werewolf syndrome” hypertrichosis causes excessive hair growth on the body and is now thought to be hereditary. While Stephan’s mother was pregnant with him she watched as his father was attacked by a lion, an event she believed caused Stephen’s condition. At four…

Taking a Bite Out of Spiritualism

Sarah,

When the Scientific American offered a $2500 prize to anyone who could produce a visible psychic manifestation, Chicago medium Elizabeth Allen Tomson answered the call. In the Fall of 1923 she arrived in New York with her husband and spokesman, Dr. Clarence Tomson and their daughter. Tomson performed several seances in homes across the city, using a technique that involved her entering a large cabinet where she fell into a trance and manifested spirits of the dead. 

The Chat, November 29, 1924
One attendee not impressed with Tomson’s spiritual…