Beating the summer heat with picnics, entertainment, and excursions
I have been enjoying this uncharacteristically cooler summer. My window air conditioning unit is still sitting on the shelf in the closet, and with just two weeks of August left, … Continue reading
Illuminating New York City Through Material Culture
The Museum of the City of New York’s ephemera collections have held a special place in my heart since I took on their custodianship, along with manuscripts, maps, and rare … Continue reading
The Swedish Nightingale’s “Birds of America”
Jenny Lind, the acclaimed soprano from Sweden often referred to as the “Swedish Nightingale,” arrived in New York City in September of 1850. Her first two American concerts were delivered … Continue reading
John Bute Holmes, surveyor and polygamist.
To quote my colleague Susannah in her fascinating post from a few weeks ago, “Hints about long vanished and forgotten aspects of New York surround us if we know where … Continue reading
Cleopatra’s Needle
An obelisk, one of antiquity’s most enduring forms, is celebrating its 133rd year in New York City as the subject of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Later … Continue reading
A visit to Sochi, 1939.
What do the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 1939 New York World’s Fair have in common? The promotion of Sochi, Russia as a tourist destination. As mentioned in a earlier … Continue reading
Festivities of the Gilded Age “Season”
The morning after returning from visiting family for Thanksgiving, I awoke with the thought, “The ball season has again returned, and already the ‘busy hum of preparation’ for its festivities … Continue reading
The Great Bygone Museum Tour
Ladies and Gentleman! Step this way! My dear blog readers, please accompany me on a tour to discover the unique and marvelous history of museums in New York City. Be … Continue reading
“I have seen the future:” Norman Bel Geddes and the General Motors Futurama
Regular followers of this blog will recognize the button featured at the right from one of our earlier posts about the Museum’s New York World’s Fair collections. Visitors to the … Continue reading
Power, corruption, and Tammany Hall: sketches of lesser known New York City mayors, 1869-1913
Today the 109th mayor of New York City will be elected. In honor of this occasion, we delved into our portrait archive to find some of the most fascinating mayors … Continue reading
Alfred E. Smith – the people’s politician?
This week, we have a guest post from one of the interns who worked with us over the summer, Karis Raeburn, who has since returned to Dayton, Ohio, where she … Continue reading
Relaxing with a summer cocktail – it wasn’t always so easy.
Just because this August has been cooler than usual (or perhaps it just seems that way after July’s heatwave), doesn’t mean those New Yorkers of legal drinking age are any … Continue reading
The Contentious History of Supplying Water to Manhattan
“What made New York a prosperous port – its deep saltwater rivers – made its drinking water lousy. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Manhattan’s water was already infamous: … Continue reading
MCNY Blog: New York Stories 