100 Years Ago: The Black Tom Bomb

Morgan, in Philadelphia Inquirer
"Under the Stars and Stripes"

On a quiet morning in 1916, hours before dawn, New Yorkers woke to an explosion that shattered windows in Manhattan, could be heard as far away as Philadelphia and southern Connecticut, and measured 5.5 on the Richter scale. In fact, the reason you can't go into the torch of the Statue of Liberty today is owing to damage from shrapnel from this very explosion. The source was a tiny island  with a name that could have come right out of a pulp magazine. Black Tom Island was a munitions dump and shipping facility from which ammunition was shipped to the allies in Europe to support their efforts in World War I. At 2:08 AM on Sunday, July 30th, German agents detonated over 2 million pounds of ammo.

Initially, theories about the cause of the explosion abounded, but it didn't take long for the press to latch onto the idea of German sabotage. Kaiser Wilhelm and his government's denied any involvement, but there was no turning American sentiment. Within a a year the U.S. would enter the war on the side of the Allies and the die would be cast.

It would be 1939 before a joint German-American commission, analyzing the evidence, would come to the conclusion that Germany had actually supported the attack. Of course, by that time a certain Adolf Hitler was in charge of the Fatherland and he wasn't exactly inclined to pay reparations to Germany's old enemy. Reparations wouldn't come until 1953 when World War II had ended and the German economy had been taped back together. The final payment arrived in 1979 and the first "worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil" was brought to a close.

The Funnies - Improving Riverside as the Railroad Would Have It (1917)

Improving Riverside, As the Railroad Would Have it

"Where shall we stroll, my dear - to the Abattoir, the Garbage Dump, the Coal Pocket, or the Gas Tank?"

There are times when you can compare a comic's content to reality. Back in 1917 when this bit ran in Life Magazine, The NY Central Railroad was proposing development along the Hudson River at 69th Street. Almost a hundred years later, the railroad is gone and only the scars remain. I snagged the photo below to show what the remains of the railroad look like today.

The Funnies - Time Change (1892)

Visiting Englishman: By the way, what's the difference in time between New York and Philadelphia?

New Yorker: About twenty years.

Life Magazine January 21, 1892

The Funnies - Back to Civilization (1904)

"Well, I am glad to get back to civilization."

"Been up in the Bad Lands?"

"Naw, New York."

Life Magazine, July 1904

The Funnies - New York (1901)

"Excuse me, is his Majesty in?"
Clerk: "No sir, he's in New York."
"When do you expect him back?"
"We don't expect him back."

Life Magazine, August 22, 1901

Maillard's Chocolates!

Henri Maillard arrived from France in New York in the 1840's and shortly thereafter began operating a confectionary at Broadway and Houston. Malliard's fame spread and he catered Lincoln the inaugural ball and other grand dinners in the Lincoln White House. When he died in 1900, his son Henry Maillard Jr., continued the business. The candy store from the lower level of the Fifth Avenue Hotel to Fifth Avenue and 35th Street.

In 1922 Maillard's moved again, relocating to Madison Avenue and 47th Street and added a men's dining room with a separate entrance (can't have the fellows mingling with the ladies, after all). It was this location that attracted the patronage and praise of restaurateur James Beard. It was also in the 1920's that Maillard's opened a Chicago location on Michigan Avenue.

Like so many venerable American institutions, Maillard's went under during the Great Depression, a victim of belt tightening in hard times. Fred Harvey took over the Chicago location, making it the first non-railroad based Harvey House. Candy's were produced under the Maillard's name until the 1960's but the glitz of the old days had long one.

Welcome to the Postseason

Welcome to the post season, football fans. All the prognostication is over and the swollen-headed experts can pretend the fantasy scenarios of how the season would play out they so proudly proclaimed back before week one actually played out. Most fans of the home team can begin their off-season commiseration and start looking forward to the eternal promise of next year while sixteen teams fight it out in the Thunderdome that is the NFL playoffs.

The photo is of Cal Hubbard of the New York Giants and was taken in November of 1936. Hubbard started playing pro ball in 1927 playing both defense and offense. In 1929 Hubbard moved to the Green Bay Packers where he played for the legendary Lambeau and won an NFL championship.

Hubbard took to the small town atmosphere in Green Bay and began umpiring baseball games during his summers there. In 1936, he took on a new career as an American League umpire and eventually became well known for his work on the diamond. In 1958 he was appointed umpire-in-chief of the AL and to date Hubbard is the only person to be enshrined in both the Baseball and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

100 Years Ago - Foul Ball!

Today in 1913 umpire Bill Brennan entered baseball history by throwing a game to the New York Giants in spite of the Philadelphia Phillies holding an 8-6 lead. Lynch made the call when Mickey Doolan, acting manager of the Phillies, refused to have spectators removed from the center field bleachers after Giants manager John McGraw claimed they were distracting his hitters. The decision resulted in a near riot and the decision eventually was overturned by NL President Tom Lynch. The Giants turned to the National League Board of Governors who determined both Brennan and Lynch had been wrong, ordering the remainder of the game to be replayed from the point it had been interrupted. The reversal cost Lynch his job, and umpire Brennan switched to the newly-formed Federal League the next season.

What Did You Do Today

I spent the day fussing with car problems and when I sat down at the keyboard I'd achieved a pretty good snit of feeling sorry for good old me. Then I came across an interesting fact, on this day in 1944 the invasion of Normandy began. Thousands of young men stormed the French beaches beginning a new phase in the liberation of Europe. I guess a little car problem isn't so bad after all.

Thanks to Shorpy for the great photo of New Yorkers watching news of the invasion scroll across the New York Times news line.