How times have changed in New York City!VN-USPA (
12/27/12)
How times have changed in New York City! Extraordinary colour photographs reveal 1940s life in the Big Apple in all its glory
-
Photos by Indiana snapper Charles Weever Cushman in 1941 and 1942
- Expensive colour Kodachrome was used to take impressive collection
- Many buildings have since been demolished but some of them still stand
By
Mark Duell
Created 3:08 PM on 13th September 2011
It’s been 70 years since an
Indiana photographer visited New York City and returned home with an
amazing collection of holiday snaps.
But
Charles Weever Cushman’s pictures are even more impressive today, as
they were taken on pricey colour Kodachrome and look far more recent
than they actually are.
He
went around the city taking photos of architecture such as the Brooklyn
Bridge and other parts of the Manhattan skyline - and it’s hard to
believe they were taken while World War Two was going on.
Land and water: The Liberty Street ferry in New York City on September 27, 1941
Horse and cart: Men and boys are seen collecting salvage on the Lower East Side on October 4, 1941
Daily life: This street seen from October 3, 1942, is just one from a huge collection by Charles W. Cushman
Pub: McSorley's Old Ale House, still open today, is pictured on East 7th Street on October 7, 1942
Compared: McSorley's Old Ale House in the East Village today, hardly changed from the above photo
But what is
even more intriguing are the street scenes and daily life Cushman
documented in his photos, showing 1940s New Yorkers going about their
daily business.
Pictures
of children smiling for the camera, businessmen sitting down outside
and street traders are a fascinating insight to what life was like in
the city all those years ago.
Many of the areas have been demolished or rebuilt since they were pictured in 1941 and 1942.
But others such as McSorley’s Old Ale
House in Manhattan’s East Village look almost identical now as they did
back then, with the same store front and shop logo.
Park life: A suited man walks through Bowling Green in lower Manhattan on October 1, 1942
Smoking: Three homeless people from South Ferry doss houses are in Battery Park on June 6, 1941
Crossing: The East River is pictured below Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, on June 6, 1941
Around town: A portable soft drink stand at Bowling Green on October 1,
1942, left, and a Lower East Side street scene on September 27, 1941,
right
The
images are even more significant at a time when Americans are
remembering the fallen World Trade Center, showing that a city
ultimately transcends its buildings, reported The Atlantic.
Mr
Cushman was born in Poseyville, Indiana, in 1896 and read English at
Indiana University, where he was sports editor on the student newspaper.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in
Illinois in 1918 before leaving three years later and began working in
New York City in 1928. He moved back to Chicago in 1929 and died in
1972.
His second wife,
Elizabeth Penniman, said: ‘He loved life - music, good books, sports,
the outdoors, travel, integrity - and could not tolerate ignorance.’
Read more about the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection here.
Hosepipe: Looking up Fulton Street from South Street in downtown Manhattan on September 27, 1941
Business as usual; A street in Chinatown, left, and another in lower Manhattan, right, both pictured in October 3, 1942
Downtown life: A man looks out from Battery Park
on June 6, 1941, while a horse and carriage can be seen at the lower
end of Broadway on October 1, 1942
Boat trip: The Statue of Liberty is seen across the water from downtown Manhattan on June 6, 1941
Looking up: A tower of Brooklyn Bridge is seen from South Street in Manhattan on September 27, 1941
Say cheese: Residents of lower Clinton St near the East River on a Saturday afternoon in September 1941
Shops: Near the corner of Broome Street and Baruch Place in the Lower East Side on September 27, 1941
New Yorkers: These two, left, live in a big new housing project near the
East River and are pictured on October 4, 1942 - while a woman, right,
sits in front of a doorway in the Lower East Side in the same month
Barrels: People walk on a sunny day on the corner of Pearl Street on October 7, 1942
Chinatown: Chinese store windows are pictured in New York as men walk past on October 7, 1942
Traders: Hot sweet potatoes, left, on October 4, 1942, and Wall Street, right, is pictured on June 6, 1941
City buzz: A crowd gathers during a salvage collection on the Lower East Side on October 4, 1942
Long shot: Lower Manhattan is pictured from a Jersey City ferry boat on September 27, 1941
