Greeting passersby and residents for more than 100 years, these legless (and partially armless) figures show modest, slightly troubled expressions on their faces.
I wonder what they have witnessed over the years.
Archive for October, 2009
Two topless ladies in Chinatown
October 10, 2009Listening to the World Series in Times Square
October 6, 2009On October 12, 1920, thousands of New Yorkers crowded into Times Square to catch play-by-play updates of that afternoon’s game between the Cleveland Indians and the Brooklyn Robins—aka, the Dodgers.
The nickname stemmed from manager Wilbert Robinson.
It was the last day of the series. The Indians won on their home turf, 3-2. Cost of a ticket to see the Dodgers at Ebbets Field? Between $1 and $6 tops.
The greatest con artist of 19th century New York
October 6, 2009Hungry Joe Lewis arrived in New York City in the 1880s and immediately began separating wealthy residents from their money via a game called Bunco (also called Banco).
Played with cards or dice, Bunco was kind of the late–19th century version of three-card monte.
The point was to let the rube win early on, encourage him to drop more dough . . . until he lost in the end because ultimately the game was not winnable.
It was played so often in New York at the time the term Bunco eventually became synonymous with fraud.
Hungry Joe’s most prominent mark was Irish writer Oscar Wilde, who visited the city in 1882. After “bumping into” Wilde near Union Square and convincing him to play Bunco, Lewis managed to get $5,000 out of the writer.
Hungry Joe earned a string of convictions for Bunco-ing various people. But he supposedly went straight after being released from prison in 1896. He died in 1902, known forever as “King of the Bunco Men.”
An escort service’s 1980s New Wave ad
October 6, 2009Ads for escort agencies based in New York City never seem to feature women who actually look like they live in New York City. But this vintage-1980s ad, for an outfit called Flash, is different.
Published in a March 1982 issue of the Soho News, it features a trendy, New Wave kind of chick, the sort of girl found in downtown indie classic Smithereens.
No bikinis or breast implants—instead, these escorts come to your Tribeca loft decked out in geometric earrings and white plastic sunglasses.
Phone number blocked out to protect the Manhattan resident who has this number now.
