New York City in 1911 (original film footage- appx 7 mins)

YouTube ^ | 12-13-2018 | DAM

[Publius]

Philadelphia. But I went to New York often and read the definitive book on how New York City operated in those days: The Power Broker, by Robert Caro.

[Maine Mariner]

Thank you

[Jane Long]

Thanks much....I am going to look for that book :)

[Publius]

It reads like a great novel. At the end of every chapter, there is a stinger, and you can’t help yourself. You have to turn the page.

[SamAdams76]

Observation: Virtually no one casually dressed. Not even street vendors.

There was literally no such thing as casual dress in those days. It was also not uncommon for a man to only own one suit. He would wear the same suit day after day for years, having it repaired as needed and sometimes even washed.

When at the beach, men had the option of renting a "bathing suit" at a bathhouse. That was probably the only time in a man's life when he was seen in public without a full dress suit.

[Bonemaker]

Ah, when New York was still New York and America was still America...pre Bloomberg.

[nopardons]

Actually there WAS "casual" dress; however, it wasn't what one might call "casual" clothes today. And I suspect that only upper middle and upper classes had these type of clothes too.

People did NOT have as many clothes back then, as most people have today. Even in the 1920s, closets in very expensive apartments and houses were smallish; though there tended to be somewhat more of them, than in less expensive homes. There were cedar closets too, because people had summer clothes and winter clothes, which were moved in and out of these different kinds of closets, depending upon the season.

[mikeIII]

The streets look cleaner then, for one thing!

[luvbach1]

Where are the homeless and other bums?

[Beowulf9]

My recommendation for the film’s musical accompanyment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD7olrqWZHk