It’s the last Friday of 2018 and the blog team is celebrating by posting a few photos from some recent New Years’ Eve celebrations in Times Square.
Best wishes for a good 2019.
The Surrogate’s Court Rotunda, Restored
In the winter, a shaft of daylight finds its way in. Pouring in through the large windows, it bounces off the freshly-waxed floor in the vestibule, through the arches of the colonnade, and from there into the rotunda, lighting the northern gallery like a second sun. It illuminates the area where the water came in, as if it wants visitors to see the marks that time has left on the building. In the late summer, it will come in straight from above in the afternoon, lighting the northwest corner. I should know—I’ve been watching it for years.
For the last few years, no one saw this. In fact, no one really saw the Hall of Records’ grand rotunda at all. The beautiful chamber was full of scaffolding and plywood walls put up by the construction crew doing much-needed repairs.
The Food Problem: 1918
In government, what is done when a problem is identified? A Committee is formed. This is not a new thought. One of the items recently unearthed in the Municipal Library is a pamphlet entitled “Report of The Food Problem Committee.” This sparked immediate questions: what was the food problem to be resolved? Who was on the Committee? What solutions were offered? How did it work out?
Preserving the Collections
Visitors to the Municipal Archives are often surprised to learn that the oldest records in the collection—dating back to the early 17th century—are in better condition than more recent materials. For example, manuscripts of the Dutch colonial settlers in New Amsterdam are perfectly legible, exhibiting only minor degradation due to age. The fact that they are written in the old Dutch language is really the only impediment to their usefulness for historical research.
Basketball Comes to New York
Baseball and football are thought of as quintessential American sports, but both were based on older European games. Basketball, however, is a truly American invention (even if developed by a Canadian). In December 1891, James Naismith, a Canadian phys-ed instructor in Springfield, Massachusetts devised the 13 basic rules of the game. The first game was played with two teams of nine, and used two peach baskets nailed to the gym balcony. Although the basic rules have not changed significantly since then, initially, dribbling was not allowed and the backboard and nets were not introduced until 1906.
Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons
Other than a brief 3-year hiatus during World War II, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has marched through Manhattan since 1924. The first balloons appeared in 1927, in a variety of animal shapes, but the first recognizable cartoon character was Felix the Cat, introduced in 1931. Starting in 1928 the balloons were released into the air at the end of the parade. That year they burst, but they were redesigned for 1929 with valves that allowed them to stay airborne for days. Macy’s would give a gift to whoever found the balloons and mailed them back. In 1932, after an all-too predictable incident with a balloon colliding with a plane over Queens, the practice was ended.
Happy Thanksgiving from the NYC Municipal Archives.