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Chuck Connors & Slum Tourism in Chinatown

April 20, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Dating from 1785, Edward Mooney House at 18 Bowery, at the corner of Pell Street in Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown, is one of New York’s oldest surviving brick townhouses. Built shortly after the British evacuated New York and before George Washington became President, its architecture contains elements of both pre-Revolutionary (British) Georgian and the in-coming (American) Federal style. Designated in 1966 as a landmark sample of domestic architecture, Mooney House has three stories, an attic and full basement.

The property itself and the land on which it was built are manifestations of Manhattan’s socio-political emergence. The house harbors a history of various functions that involved a diverse mix of tenants and occupants, reflecting the chaotic rise of the metropolis. [Read more…] about Chuck Connors & Slum Tourism in Chinatown

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Architecture, Art History, Asian-American, Chinatown, Crime and Justice, Cultural History, Immigration, James De Lancey (Delancey), Jewish History, London, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, poverty, The Bowery, Tourism, Urban History, Vice

The Queen of Greenwich Village: Romany Marie Marchand

January 17, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 6 Comments

Au bistroThe coffee habit was introduced into Western Europe in the mid-seventeenth century. The emergence of the London coffeehouse transformed various aspects of intellectual and commercial life. Lloyd’s insurance, the postal system and the auction house are some of the institutions that trace their origins back to the coffeehouse.

At a time that journalism was in its infancy, the coffeehouse provided a center of communication and news dissemination. It served as a forum of discussion, often becoming a hotbed of political strife and faction. Coffeehouse culture helped shape the public sphere of the Enlightenment. [Read more…] about The Queen of Greenwich Village: Romany Marie Marchand

Filed Under: Arts, Food, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Culinary History, Cultural History, Education, French History, Greenwich Village, Immigration, London, Manhattan, modernism, New York City, womens history

Massacres & Migrants at Sea: Deadly Voyages To New York

January 11, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Diagram (1787) of the Liverpool-launched slave ship BrookesThe 1840s brought about a transformation in the nature of transatlantic shipping. With the development of European colonial empires, the forced transportation of African slaves had become big business.

Liverpool was the focus of the British slave trade. As a result of crusading abolitionist movements and subsequent legal intervention, the brutal practice declined there during that decade. But more or less simultaneously a new form of people trafficking took its place. [Read more…] about Massacres & Migrants at Sea: Deadly Voyages To New York

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Abolition, Art History, Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic World, British Atlantic, British Empire, Immigration, Irish Immigrants, Legal History, London, Maritime History, natural disasters, New York City, Slavery, Transportation History

PT Barnum’s Promotion of General Tom Thumb in London

January 5, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Becoming Barnum podcastIn this episode of the Becoming Barnum podcast, P.T. Barnum works to promote the performances of his famous protégé, General Tom Thumb, in London. He uses handbills, street parades, and even advertising vans to attract a crowd. This episode includes an interesting tale of how Barnum brought General Tom Thumb to the stage in London and offers a unique glimpse into 19th century entertainment. [Read more…] about PT Barnum’s Promotion of General Tom Thumb in London

Filed Under: Arts, History Tagged With: Circus, Cultural History, London, Performing Arts, Podcasts, PT Barnum, Social History

Poor Richard’s Women: An Intimate Portrait of Benjamin Franklin

September 30, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Poor Richard's WomenEveryone knows Benjamin Franklin — the thrifty inventor-statesman of the Revolutionary era — but not about his love life. The most prominent among them was Deborah Read Franklin, his common-law wife and partner for 44 years.

Long dismissed by historians, she was an independent, politically savvy woman and devoted wife who raised their children, managed his finances, and fought off angry mobs at gunpoint while he traipsed about England. [Read more…] about Poor Richard’s Women: An Intimate Portrait of Benjamin Franklin

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, Fraunces Tavern Museum, French History, London, Political History, Social History, womens history

Early Distilling History: Puritan Bibles, Gin & Schnapps

September 12, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

nineteenth century English print of A Dutch Gin MerchantFor the first decade of its existence, New Amsterdam was a rough place. Located on the tip of Manhattan Island, it was a haven for pirates and smugglers. Many of the earliest rules and regulations were an attempt to control the unruly citizens of a backwater outpost, but officials proved unable to lay down the law. Intemperate drinking was one of the problems.

In 1640 permission was granted by Willem Kieft, Director of the New Netherland Colony, for liquor to be distilled on Staten Island – in contemporary Dutch: Staaten Eylandt – where what is believed to have been the first commercial distillery in North America was built (today Staten Island is home to the Booze History Museum). [Read more…] about Early Distilling History: Puritan Bibles, Gin & Schnapps

Filed Under: Food, History, New York City Tagged With: Brooklyn, Culinary History, Dutch History, liquor, London, Medical History, Netherlands, New Amsterdam, New Netherland, New York City, Prohibition, Spain, Staten Island, Vice

Emil Otto Hoppé: Vanguard Photography in London and New York

March 28, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

During the 1920s and 1930s, Emil Otto Hoppé was one of the most sought-after photographers in the world. His studio on Cromwell Place, South Kensington, was a magnet for the rich and famous. For years he actively led the emerging photography scene on both sides of the Atlantic, exhibiting his work at the best galleries in London, New York, and elsewhere.

Having produced over thirty photographically-illustrated books, he established himself as a pioneering figure in photographic art. Yet, by the time of his death in 1972, his name and reputation were almost completely forgotten. [Read more…] about Emil Otto Hoppé: Vanguard Photography in London and New York

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Documentary, German-American History, London, New York City, Photography

Oyster Slurpers: A Tale of Two Rivers

January 19, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

The Cryes of the City of LondonFor thousands of years the Thames provided London’s inhabitants with a plentiful supply and variety of fish. Until the 1820s locally caught fish was the city’s staple diet. Subsequent pollution of the river drove many professional fishermen and their families into financial ruin because of the collapse of fish populations.

Up until the twentieth century New York Harbor oysters reigned as the quintessential New York food long before pizza, pretzels, bagels, or hot dogs took their place. The metropolis once was a Big Oyster. There too, reckless management of the marine environment led to the obliteration of a huge natural resource. [Read more…] about Oyster Slurpers: A Tale of Two Rivers

Filed Under: Food, History, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Culinary History, Environmental History, fish, Fisheries, fishing, Hudson River, London, Long Island, Manhattan, Maritime History, New Amsterdam, New York City, New York Harbor, Oysters, pollution, shellfish, spanish history, Suffolk County

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