On this day in Old New York - Old NY Tours

Sherman Anti-trust Act suit filed against Movie Industry

7/20/2015

Republican, U.S. Senator from Ohio, John Sherman, principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act, between 1865 and 1880. Courtesy US Library of Congress, cwpbh.04797, and Wikimedia.

Paramount Logo (TM) used from 1914 to 1968, Courtesy Wikimedia

On this day, July 20th, 1938, The United States Department of Justice files suit in New York City against the motion picture industry. Citing violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in regards to the studio, the case would eventually lead to the break down of the industry in 1948.

Early on in the movie industry, the Sherman Antitrust Act had been attempted to be used by individuals against copyright violations and other issues such as larger chain movie theaters impeding the success of independent theaters and movie producers. The suits had been shot down in most cases on the grounds that the law had not been written to address disadvantageous business environments.

Throughout the 1930’s however, there was a certain amount of self regulation in the movie industry. Codes of fair competition as well as the Hayes Code were starting to be implemented.

The Department of Justice also began looking into some common practices of larger production companies. Block-booking, the practice of licensing, or offering for license, one feature, or group of features, upon condition that the exhibitor shall also license another feature or group of features released by the distributor during a given period came under scrutiny.

Although the suit was filed in 1938 the first decision was not reached until 1946. This forced many changes in the movie industry and some felt this truly ended, “The Golden Age” of Hollywood.

Seneca Falls Convention Begins

7/19/2015

Elizabeth Cady Stanton with sons, David and Henry, in 1848. Courtesy Library of Congress and Wikimedia

On this day, July 19th, 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention begins, held in Seneca Falls, New York.
The convention was organzied by local New York women to address women's rights. Lucretia Mott, an influential Quaker from Philadelphia also played an influential role in organizing the meeting and was a guest speaker. It was there that Elizabeth Cady Stanton, coming from NY City, introduced the Declaration of Sentiments which addressed women's suffrage, causing internal debate.

Lucretia Mott and many of those who sympathized with her were heavily focused on women's rights issues but did not agree with the suffrage movement. In the end it was Frederick Douglas who argued in favor of the suffrage resolution Stanton had created and it was retained. Only 100 of the 300 attendees, mostly women signed the document.

The meeting spanned two days and six sessions, and included a lecture on law, a humorous presentation, and multiple discussions about the role of women in society.

The "Unsinkable" Molly Brown "Launched"

7/18/2015

Mrs. James J. "Molly" Brown, survivor of the Titanic, three-quarter length portrait, standing, facing right, right arm on back of chair. c1890. Courtesy Bain Collection, Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-94037

On this day, July 18th, 1867, Margaret "Molly" Brown (née Tobin) was born in Hannibal Missouri.

Brown was a socialite, philanthropist, and an activist for women's suffrage.

Brown was famous for surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Specifically, she prevailed upon the crew of Lifeboat Number 6 to return to the site to look for survivors.

In 1909 and 1914, she ran for the US Senate. Neither run was successful, with Brown actually pulling out of the race the second time due to her sister marrying a German Baron. (Brown believed her sister's marriage would have sunk her chances.

Brown died on October 26, 1932, in New York City, where she had been acting in her final years.

A Broadway musical based upon her life opened in 1960, and that was later adapted in 1964 for film. The musical, and the movie had the same title, The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Barbara Stanwyck Born

7/17/2015

Barbara Stanwyck, three-quarter length portrait, seated, turned to the left, holding fan], between 1920 and 1930, Courtesy Wikimedia, and Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, Library of Congress, LOT 8782

On this day, July 16th, 1907 Ruby Catherine Stevens, was born in Brooklyn.

In 1923, Stevens was hired as a dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies. Three years later, she was cast in the play, The Noose as a chorus girl, it was suggested to Willard Mack that he cast a chorus girl as a chorus girl. It was around this time that she took the stage name, Barbara Stanwyck, combining her character's first name with the last name of a fellow cast member.

The rave reviews she received for her role in The Noose led Bob Kane to request her to do a screen test for the silent film, Broadway Nights, which he was producing. She did not get the lead role, allegedly due to her not being able to cry during the screen test.

The first "talkie" Stanwyck appeared in was The Locked Door, in 1929. She went on to make 85 films during her 38 year film career. Among her notable movies were Stella Dallas, in 1937, The Lady Eve, with Henry Fonda in 1941, and Double Indemnity, with Fred McMurray in 1944.

Subsequent to her film career, she switched to television, where she appeared on a short lived series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, which was a ratings flop, but garnered her her first Emmy Award. She then appeared on the Western, The Big Valley, earning another Emmy. Later, in the 1980s, she earned a third Emmy, for the mini-series The Thorn Birds and made a few guest appearances on Dynasty, eventually appearing in an unsuccessful spin-off of the same show.

On January 20, 1990, Stanwyck died of congestive heart failure, and COPD.

Wrong Way

7/17/2015

"He's 'Right Way' Corrigan now." Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, half-length portrait, facing slightly right, holding map. 1942. Courtesy Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-130901

On this day, July 17th, 1938, Douglas Corrigan earned the nickname, "wrong way."

Corrigan had been repeatedly denied permission to take his plane trans-atlantic, the Bureau of Air Commerce, despite numerous modifications.

Corrigan flew from Long Beach California, to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. He was scheduled, according to the flight plan filed, to return to Long Beach on July 17.

The morning of July 17, Corrigan took off, ostensibly for Long Beach, but somehow, wound up in Dublin Ireland.

Corrigan never officially acknowledged that he deliberately deviated from his flight plan, but all indications are that it was quite an intentional act.

Upon his arrival he received a telegram from Aviation officials, outlining his infractions. It was 600 words, in a medium noted for its brevity due to charges per word. He did not, however, receive severe punishment, with his pilot's certificate suspended for a mere fourteen days.

MythBuster Born

7/15/2015

On this day, July 15th, 1967, Adam Whitney Savage was born.

Savage, best known as co-host of the Discovery Channel TV series MythBusters.

He was born in New York City, and raised in Sleepy Hollow, NY, in Westchester county. He graduated High School in Sleepy Hollow in 1985, and then attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, for six months, studying acting before dropping out.

Savage has early screen credits for the stock boy for Mr. Whipple, "Jimmy," in a Charmin commercial, and appearing in the 1985 music video for Billy Joel's You're Only Human (Second Wind).

Savage's behind the scenes credits include model maker for movies such as Bicentennial Man, Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones, and The Matrix Reloaded.

On May 18th, 2012, Savage was the keynote speaker at Sarah Lawrence College.

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations opens

7/14/2015

New York Crystal Palace for the exhibition of the industry of all nations / designed by Carstensen & Gildemeister, N.Y. ; lithography of Nagel & Weingärtner, N.Y.; figures by Doepler. New York : Published by Goupil & Co., c1852. Courtesy Popular Graphic Arts, Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-09306

Crystal Palace (London, UK) General View from Water Temple, c 1854, by Philip Henry Delamotte, Negretti and Zambra, Courtesy Wikimedia

On this day, July 14th, 1853, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations was opened with US President Franklin Pierce in attendance.

The exhibition was a World's Fair that was located in what is now Bryant Park. It was based on the Great Exhibition in London, UK of 1851, which was a wild success. The Exhibition even had its own version of the fabled Crystal Palace, the New York Crystal Palace (above left), which like it's London inspiration (above right) was eventually destroyed by fire.

The exhibition is also where Elisha Otis demonstrated his safety equipped elevator, with the "safety" stopping the car from falling should the hoist rope break.

The exhibition had in excess of 1.1 million visitors during its duration. The exhibition closed on November 14, 1854.

Draft Riots Begin

7/13/2015

New York -- burning of the pro... Digital ID: 809566. New York Public Library

New York -- burning of the provost marshal's office. Courtesy Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection / New York City -- riots, New York Public Library, PC NEW YC-Rio

On this day, July 13th, 1863, the New York City draft riots began.

The riots were in response to laws which had recently been enacted by the US Congress to draft men to fight the Civil War. The law contained a provision allowing those who could pay a $300 fee to have some one else go in his place. The working class resented this clause which meant that wealthier men could avoid service.

This combined with tensions between freed blacks and recent immigrants created a tinderbox that erupted when the second lot of draftee numbers were drawn on July 13. The First lot had been peacefully drawn two days earlier on Saturday, July 11.

The riots continued until Thursday, July 17 when police, and various regiments of the New York State militia were able to quell the riots.

It is estimated that between 2,000 and 8000 people were injured, with those at the higher end of the spectrum estimiating 2,000 killed. Somewhere between $1-5 million was done in property damage ($15-75 million in 2011 dollars).

Oscar Hammerstein Born

7/12/2015

Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin and Oscar Hammerstein II, seated in back is Helen Tamiris, they are watching hopefuls who are being auditioned on stage of the St. James Theatre [...] / World Telegram photo by Al Aumuller. 1948. Courtesy Miscellaneous Items In High Demand, Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-126707

On this day, July 12, in 1895, Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein, better known as Oscar Hammerstein II, was born in New York.

Hammerstein came from strong theatrical stock, his grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I built the Hammerstein Ballroom as the Manhattan Opera House, and his father, William Hammerstein, managed the Victoria Theater for Oscar I.

Hammerstein attended Columbia University, graduating, and then attending Columbia Law School which he quit in 1917 for theatrical pursuits.

Hammerstein collaborated for 20 years with Otto Harbach, opening his first musical on Broadway, Always You in 1921. During this period he also collaborated with others, and created a number of notable works including, Show Boat, and Sweet Adeline.

In 1943, the first production of what would be Hammerstein's most famous collaboration, with Richard Rogers, opened, Oklahoma! The two would eventually collaborate on other classics of musical theater such as Carosel, The King and I, The Sound of Music, and South Pacific. They would also produce these and other shows on Broadway.

On August 23, 1960, Hammerstein died as a result of stomach cancer, at his Doylestown, PA home, at 65 years old, just after The Sound of Music opened on Broadway. The lights in Times Square were turned off for one minute, and in the West End of London, the lights were dimmed in recognition of Hammerstein's revolution of musical theater. His ashes were interred in Ferncliff Cemetary in Hartsdale, New York.

Aaron Burr Mortally Wounds Alexander Hamilton in Duel

7/11/2015

[Alexander Hamilton, 1757-1804, half-length portrait, facing right] Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-91098 (b&w film copy neg.)

Aaron Burr. Second Vice-President of the United States LIbrary of Congress, October 1836 LC-USZ62-8322 (b&w film copy neg)

On this day, July 11th, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounds Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel after a long history of political and personal strife.

It was the New York governor's race of 1804, however, that pushed the two men to violence. In that election, Burr turned his back on the Republicans and ran as an independent. Burr believed that if he won, he would regain power. The prospect of Burr leading New York mortified Hamilton, who despised and mistrusted Burr completely. In early 1804, Hamilton tried to convince New York Federalists not to support Burr.

The battle for New York had been a bruising one, but in the end, a relatively minor slight precipitated the Burr-Hamilton duel. In February, 1804, a New York Republican, Dr. Charles D. Cooper, attended a dinner party at which Alexander Hamilton spoke forcefully and eloquently against Burr. Cooper later wrote a letter to Philip Schuyler in which he made reference to a particularly "despicable opinion" Hamilton expressed about Burr. The letter was published in a New York newspaper the "Albany Register."

After Hamilton's and Burr's seconds tried without success to settle the matter amicably, the two political enemies met on the duelling grounds at Weehawken, New Jersey on the morning of July 11. Each fired a shot from a .56 caliber duelling pistol. Burr was unscathed; Hamilton fell to the ground mortally wounded. He died the next day.

Burr was charged with two counts of murder and after his term as vice president ended, never held public office again.