Remembering the '50's

[cigar joe]

It's one of the draws for me to Film Noir, especially those set in the 1950's, I was born in early 1953 in New York City, the fifties and the city were basically imprinted upon me in my early childhood, but its funny there is a distinct dividing line in the "City" remembrances. I don't remember any trolleys, or any of the Manhattan NYC El's (only the remnant Queensboro Plaza end structure of the 2nd Ave El extension with a turnaround, a great green octopuss of iron that stood through the 1960's devoid of ties & tracks) and I don't remember any what I'll call 40's cars (cars with headlights on top of their fenders). But there still were quite a few 40's era trucks. But I do remember funky 50's autos, the Pennsylvania RR GGI electric locomotives, all the gritty dirty subways with rows of incandescent bulbs rather than fluorescent lights lighting the stations...

to be continued...

[cigar joe]

There was still quite a lot of neon on Times Square and the smoke ring blowing cigarette billboard (this was a clever use of an exhaust for a steam pressing business), and all the big movie palaces were still going strong. There were a number of penny arcades and The Follies Burlesque, , The Metropole, and The Majestic Ballroom with taxi dancers. I remember eating at a The Horn & Hardart Automat and lots of Checker Cabs on the streets.

I took a family passenger train journey to to Washington DC, and the passing steam locomotives that roared by the windows were positively frightening with their sudden appearance. I also flew to Europe on a three tailed "Connie" (Lockheed-Constellation) propeller plane that took off from Idelwild (now JFK airport) landed in Gander, Newfoundland to re-fuel then flew to Shannon, Ireland, to re-fuel again before landing at Orly Paris. nothing was non-stop lol.

As far as music the last of the great crooners filled the airwaves. Men had fedoras, women wore seamed stocking and garter belts.

So, anyway I get a kick seeing the New York City Noirs and the second unit location shots of scenes I actually used to walk through. There are still locations to be found about town one recent one was near then end of "Sweet Smell of Success" where Tony Curtis climbs up on a structure to watch Martin Milner come out of the club, that is 59th Street and the Manhattan end of the Upper level of the 59th St. Bridge and the approach overpass.

Anybody else here a child of the 50's

[Nauga]

Not a child of the 50s, but a definite purveyor of 50s nostalgia, here. I love hearing these stories... keep going please!

[JCharles]

I'm a child of the 50's (born in '54) and that's one of the reasons I enjoy film noir so much. I grew up in semi-rural Connecticut and often stayed in very rural Maine. but NYC was only a short train ride from home so I have some memories of Manhattan from that era. Maine and CT had that small-town flavor found in some film noirs (e.g. Fallen Angel, The Stranger). In NYC, I remember the Automat, the checker cabs, other taxis, large and painted a garish red and yellow, their scrolled domes lit up on the roof. Telephone booths shaped like pagodas in Chinatown, buildings with yards and yards of fire escapes, and residential hotels with gloomy narrow hallways, dimly lit, and lined with black ominous doors. The cars stand out for me, I still love them, big and bulky , with massive front bumpers and grills (depending on the model) shaped in wide grins or hideous grimaces filled with chrome teeth.

[JCharles]

I also remember taking the New Haven Railroad to and from Grand Central Station. There was always a sandwich-seller who wandered from car to car carrying a metal basket full of sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. He looked ancient and beat, with a fat bulbous nose, beady eyes, and no teeth in his mouth, through which he intoned his wares in a thick Brooklyn accent: "Samwiches, I got samwiches heah. I got Ham n' Swiss, Liver-woist, I got cheeze, cold salami, I got samwiches" To a kid they looked delectable but my mother never let me eat one. I also remember diners and luncheonettes, the best places to stop for Breakfast, I'm obsessed with vintage diners to this day. When we ate at the local Italian restaurant, my father would have to take me through the Bar & Grill section in order to got to the Men's room. This was an early noir experience: Soft shaded lights hanging over the bar, barely illuminating a row of featureless shadow men, sitting on stools hunched over melancholy drinks and barely saying a word. I always wondered what they were doing there while my father rushed me through just as fast as he could. To this day, I'm still a counter guy, diner or bar.

[JCharles]

Driving up to rural Maine in the 50's was a "black" experience, literally, as many of the roads up there weren't well-lit at night. My dad had a '54 Pontiac and I remember him putting his brights on as we drove on lonely dirt roads, shadowed with trees and isolated cabins. When he did this, a little Indian head would light up next to the speedomenter, a glowing beacon in the dark. Some of my favorite film noirs have scenes that involve a mysterious drive through a dark night: The Hitch-hiker, Johnny Stoolpigeon, Out of the Past, and the Asphalt Jungle.

[cigar joe]

Well speaking of the NYC subways during the sweltering hot humid summers in the 50's the subway stations offered a cool respite from the heat, the subway cars themselves had two pane windows where you could drop the top panel to let in air, the cars also had ceiling fans, and rattan seats. The cars were painted an olive green, red, or black. Nowadays the subway trains are air-conditioned and the stations are hot.

There were still a lot of the old 'bishop crook" street lamps (you can still find them here and there in SoHo and lower Manhattan).

The color scheme of NYC police cars in the 50's was black white and olive drab. New York City Sanitation Dept garbage trucks all had "mascots" attached to a steel reinforcing bar welded to their front bumpers, the mascot would be a doll or stuffed animal or something unusual salvaged from the trash.

Construction projects were delineated at night with saw horses and flickering flaming round fire pots that burned kerosene or diesel (they may be called safety pots but they looked like cartoon bombs) and the sites usually had a night watchman who had a shanty.

[cigar joe]

more. . . there still were milkmen delivering the milk in Astoria, Queens, in the 50's we had a galvanized box on the stoop of the house that could probably hold six milk bottles, The "Good Humor" man in a white 1950 Chevy pickup with an icebox on the back would drive into the neighborhood with a jingle tune selling ice cream. There were also traveling tool, scissor, sharpening tradesmen plying the streets in old panel vans also, and even Fuller Brush salesmen, on foot making the rounds, lol.

[noirguru]

more. . . there still were milkmen delivering the milk in Astoria, Queens, in the 50's we had a galvanized box on the stoop of the house that could probably hold six milk bottles, The "Good Humor" man in a white 1950 Chevy pickup with an icebox on the back would drive into the neighborhood with a jingle tune selling ice cream. There were also traveling tool, scissor, sharpening tradesmen plying the streets in old panel vans also, and even Fuller Brush salesmen, on foot making the rounds, lol.

Cigar Joe, you bring back lots of memories, having grown up in Hell's Kitchen, I still remember the contests for Miss Rheingold and Miss Subways! The old candy store on every block that had a soda fountain, where you could get an egg cream soda and a soft pretzel and also the latest comic books, those were the days!!

[cigar joe]

Cigar Joe, you bring back lots of memories, having grown up in Hell's Kitchen, I still remember the contests for Miss Rheingold and Miss Subways! The old candy store on every block that had a soda fountain, where you could get an egg cream soda and a soft pretzel and also the latest comic books, those were the days!!

I was down in the city about a month ago and had lunch at the Stage Delicatessen had a hot pastrami on Rye with a chocolate egg cream soda. I haven't had an egg cream since the late 1960's, lol.

[JCharles]

CigarJoe, thanks for the comment on the round fire pots that looked like bombs. I forgot about them but, thanks to your description, can now remember them vividly. The closest thing to that which I've seen recently are the fire-pots used to melt ice on the Long Island Rail Road tracks at night during a terrific cold snap last year.

[Adam Lounsbery]

I was down in the city about a month ago and had lunch at the Stage Delicatessen had a hot pastrami on Rye with a chocolate egg cream soda. I haven't had an egg cream since the late 1960's, lol.

The Stage is a great place for pastrami. I had what was probably the best pastrami sandwich of my lifetime in there.

[cigar joe]

Two ball games us city kids used to play were stick ball and stoop ball.

Stick ball used a broken or sawed off broom stick and a Spaulding Brand rubber ball, it was a variation of baseball, home plate was a sewer manhole cover and second base the next sewer cover down the street. First & Third base locations were variable all depending on which parked car was available, so it would be decided on say first was the the back bumper of that Chrysler Windsor, and third would be agreed upon as the front fender of the Hudson Terraplane. The opposing team would take to the bases and "outfield" (i.e. further down the street past second base). Who ever was at bat would toss up the Spaulding with one hand and try to whack it with the broomstick, miss three times and you were out, three outs and your team took the field connect and you'd get a grounder, a high pop up, or a home run. Of course you had to dodge cars coming down the street, and we lost balls to roof tops (where we'd be SOL) and sewer drains and we'd have to fish the ball out if possible with coat hangers ;-)

Stoop Ball you could play with just two kids. All you needed was a "stoop" (the concrete or stone steps leading from street level to the entrance of of a house) and a Spaulding pink rubber ball. You had to find a stoop that wasn't blocked by a parked car that had a clear opening to the street i.e. "filed of play". One kid would stand in front of the stoop and throw the ball against the steps, depending on how the ball hit it would bounce off in a pop up or a line drive which the other kid would try and catch, catch a pop up was an out, get three and the players would switch places, such were the ways us city kids would entertain ourselves.

[Arthur Bannister]

Here's a taste of NYC in the 50s with a hint of Noir: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/ny...time.html?_r=1

[cigar joe]

I can barely remember the movie palaces of Times Square but the one theater that was near by that could actually claim that distinction was Lowe's Triborough, on Steinway Street, when you walked in the lobby you were in the throne room of Louis XVI all red brocade and ornate gilt, going into the theater you were instantly transported to an enclosed outdoor Italianate courtyard with stacked arched niches along the walls holding various statuary climbing to a night time skyline of towers against the vaulted ceiling containing a twinkling Milky Way. It was just magical. I saw quite a few kids shows there and at the Astoria theater, the Triborough's poorer comparatively plain Jane sister in the late 50's early 60's.

There was a third even smaller theater on Steinway called the Olympus, and for this board, I actually saw there the only Film Noir upon its release it was the "B" picture on a double bill don't remember the "A" picture but the Noir was "Underworld U.S.A." The ending really made an impression and it took almost 40 years for me to track down what the hell that film was.

[cigar joe]

One clarification, I was looking at Google Satellite views of Queens Plaza the other day and noticed their is still a remnant of the 2nd Avenue El