Tag: New York City
Librarians mystified by lines of people visiting to read the dictionary
Long before the internet, there were dictionaries and encyclopedia sets. In 1921, librarians at the New York Library were stunned when lines of people formed…
Biggest booze raids promised, New Jersey almost impossible to dry up
During Prohibition, newspapers were always filled with articles about booze raids and attempts to take away alcohol from the people. As we all know, their…
Body found buried in barrel in Canarsie – Possibly buried alive
Bodies were discovered buried at an old farm house in Canarsie, Brooklyn, 1916. The article below details one of the finds. It was that of…
Sections of man’s body found in burlap sack in New York City
One might be a bit hard-pressed to find a readily available burlap sack today, but that certainly was not the case in the past. And…
5 Horrific Stories of Bodies Found in Sacks
Anyone who thinks 100 years ago was a blissful paradise hasn’t read the newspaper reports published during that time. And so today, we are going…
An Old Fashioned Dutch Halloween
The following is an account of what a Dutch Halloween party looked like in New York City, 1899. An Old Fashioned Dutch Halloween The Old…
A Train, an Elevator, and a Bridge – 3 Gruesome Reports from the Past
Because these “bad news” collections are so popular, I spent the day collecting a few gruesome reports from the newspaper archives just for you. Lakeshore…
A Look Inside the New York Morgue and Potter’s Field 1889
The article below, originally published in 1889, gives us insight into New York City’s morgue, the dead house. The article starts off slow, but gets…
A Skeleton Factory in the Late 1800s London
Did doctors use real skeletons long ago and how did they get those human skeletons? It turns out that the wired skeletons that hung from…
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Also known as the Washington Place Fire, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire claimed the lives of 146 workers. It was Saturday March 25, 1911. At…
