Old US

75 most beautiful photos of America in 1960

The Empire State Building is an iconic office building known as “the Most Famous Skyscraper in the World.” Built during the Depression between 1930 and 1931, the Empire State Building became the world’s tallest office building until 1967.

The design of the building changed 16 times during planning and construction, but 3,000 workers completed the building’s construction in record time: one year and 45 days, including Sundays and holidays.
The Empire State’s construction work and its workers were a magnet for press and magazine photographers, which is how many iconic images of the construction work were created, like these.

Sept. 29, 1930.

 

Sep, 13. 1930. Carl Russell waves to his co-workers on the structural work of the 88th floor of the new Empire State Building.

 

Sept. 29, 1930. Flirting with danger is just routine work for the steel workers arranging the steel frame for the Empire State Building, which will be the world’s tallest structure when completed.

 

Sept. 29, 1930.

 

Sept. 29, 1930.

Sept. 29, 1930. An odd photographic trick placed this steelworker’s finger on the lofty pinnacle of the Chrysler Building. This view was taken from the Empire State Building, the world’s tallest building, which is now rising on the site of the old Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. A mooring mast for dirigibles will cap this 1,284-foot structure.

 

Oct. 29, 1930. A construction worker hangs from an industrial crane during the construction of the Empire State Building.

 

Jan. 26, 1932. It may be painful for the ant-like spectators in the street below, but it’s all in a day’s work for these smiling window washers as they go about their precarious work cleaning up the Empire State Building, world’s tallest structure, at dizzy heights of hundreds of feet above the street.

 

Jan. 26, 1932. The startling ‘shot’ was made by the photographer looking down upon the window washers on the 34th street side of the world-famed building. Note the tiny insects that are motor cars and pedestrians.

 

Dec. 2, 1932. A striking silhouette atop the gigantic RCA Building in Rockefeller Center, New York, as workmen light their cigarettes at the end of a working day. The Empire State Building rises dramatically in the background.

 

Mar. 24, 1936. An unusual picture of one of the intrepid window washers working on the Empire State Building, as he pauses in his task to draw a lung-full of clean air at his height. With the oncoming of the warmer weather our skyscrapers begin to look like giant ant-hills as these washers clamber over the faces of the structures calmly doing their nerve-tingling work. Or maybe the fellow pictured here is just issuing an invitation to the cameraman to come a little closer.

 

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Sept. 19, 1930. Workmen at the new Empire State building that is be ing erected on the site of the old Waldorf Astoria Hotel at 34th Street and 5th Avenue. in New York, by a corporation headed by the former Governor Al Smith, raised a flag on the 88th story of the great building, 1,048 feet above the street. The flag thus is at the highest point in the city higher then the Crystler Building. Photo shows the workmen at the ceremonies.

 

Sept. 29, 1930. Erected on the site of the old Waldorf Astoria, this building will rise 1,284 feet into the air. A zeppelin mooring mast will cap this engineering feat.

 

July 30, 1945. Workmen erect scaffolding on the 33rd Street Side of the Empire State Building as reconstruction work on the skyscraper begins. In spite of the damage the structure suffered when a B-25 crashed between the 78th and 79th stories, the world’s tallest building was open today (July 30th), two days after the tragic accident.

 

Feb. 28, 1956. Workmen place one of the new beacon lights in position on the 90th floor of an impressive electronic crown in the form of four far-reaching night beacons. Combined, the four Empire State Night lights will generate almost two billion candle power of light and will be the brightest continuous source of man-made light in the world. Engineers say the beacons can be seen from as far as 300 miles. Cost of the installation is $250,000.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Under Construction Through Amazing Photos

Construction from 28 July 1923 to 19 January 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is an Australian heritage-listed steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore.

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The Sydney Harbour Bridge under construction

The view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is widely regarded as an iconic image of Sydney, and of Australia itself. The bridge is nicknamed “The Coathanger” because of its arch-based design.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m (440 ft) from top to water level. It was also the world’s widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m (160 ft) wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver was completed in 2012.

The purpose of this photo series from NSW State Archives was to document in photographic form the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from the turning of the first sod and the initial acts of construction to the official opening and early use of the bridge.

The series consists of black and white photographs which were developed from glass negatives and pasted into large albums. One volume is devoted to the southern approach, two to the northern approach and 11 to the main Bridge. Each photograph is captioned and almost all are precisely dated with the caption if the date is not incorporated into the image.

Looking towards Bay Road Station from Eastern Abutment Euroka St Bridge, November 23, 1923

 

Fabricated Members Sydney Harbour Bridge on Barge, Milsons Point Workshops, October 28, 1926

 

First Member being placed in position- Lower Chord SLO-L2L, Span No.1, October 28, 1926

 

Pouring Fitzroy Street Arch, June 22, 1928

 

Portal bracing between End Posts, January 21, 1929

View from McMahon’s Point, November 5, 1929

 

Erecting Hanger, December 1, 1930

 

Laying Sheet Asphalt on Roadway, November 20, 1930

 

Lifting Hanger O. Sydney Harbour Bridge, September 25, 1930

 

Panel Point 7 Western Truss, June 20, 1930

 

Safety Chain, on Top Chord, for Creeper Crane, December 1, 1930

 

Safety Mechanism for Creeper Cranes, December 2, 1930

 

Taking Strain Gauge Measurements in Chords, August 13, 1930

 

View from Milson’s Point, December 2, 1930

 

View from Wharf at Milsons Point, May 5, 1930

 

A Bird’s Eye View, circa 1931

 

Dismantled Creeper Crane, April 30, 1931

 

Laying Sheet Asphalt on Roadway, May 26, 1931

 

Mrs J.J.C. Bradfield, January 23, 1931

 

Rail for Painting Gantry, January 21, 1931

 

Roadway Deck Troughing, May 13, 1931

 

Sir William Cullen, Miss Cullen, Dr. Bradfield, March 19, 1931

 

Timber for Pent House Formwork, December 11, 1931

 

Track Timbers and O.H.Wiring Structures, April 30, 1931

 

Bridge Lighting Switched on for First Time, February 11, 1932

 

First Passenger Train to Cross Bridge, March 19, 1932

 

First train across Bridge. Dr.J.J.C. Bradfield, January 19, 1932

 

Painting crane and staging on top chord, February 22, 1932

 

Taking strain measurements on post, February 23, 1932

Vintage Photos of Immigrants Approaching the Statue of Liberty

Between 1886 and 1924, almost 14 million immigrants entered the United States through New York. The Statue of Liberty was a reassuring sign that they had arrived in the land of their dreams. To these anxious newcomers, the Statue’s uplifted torch did not suggest “enlightenment,” as her creators intended, but rather, “welcome.” Over time, Liberty emerged as the “Mother of Exiles,” a symbol of hope to generations of immigrants.

The opening of the immigrant processing station at Ellis Island in 1892 in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty facilitated an immigrant association, as did the later popularity of Emma Lazarus’s poem, “The New Colossus.” In 1883, Lazarus donated her poem, “The New Colossus,” to an auction raising funds for the construction of the Statue’s pedestal. This poem vividly depicted the Statue of Liberty as offering refuge to new immigrants from the miseries of Europe. The poem received little attention at the time, but in 1903 was engraved on a bronze plaque and affixed to the base of the Statue.
War tensions in the 20th century reinforced this connection and further advanced the image of the Statue in the harbor as an emblem of the United States as a refuge for the poor and persecuted of Europe, and as a place of unlimited opportunity. Sometimes this image glossed over the very real drawbacks and difficulties of settling in the United States, but it was a romantic view that was dominant for decades and continues to persist. In addition to masking immigrant setbacks in the United States, it was a story that tended to favor the European side of immigration at the expense of trials encountered by newcomers from Latin America and Asia.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1936 speech in honor of the Statue’s 50th Anniversary helped solidify the transformation of the Statue into an icon of immigration. In the speech he presented immigration as a central part of the nation’s past and emphasized the newcomers’ capacity for Americanization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 Vintage Photographs Capture Scenes of High School Typing Classes From Between the 1950s and 1970s

During the 1950s and ’60s typewriting was taught mostly in elementary schools, and there was a widely held conviction that typewriting skills might fast-forward a student’s acquisition of the English language — especially spelling. Through typing, students tend to become more aware of the forms that letter patterns take, especially the beginning and ending of words, as Bartholome W. Lloyd reported in his research, “Keyboarding/Typewriting in Elementary School.”
Strategies for typing instruction started at the same time the typewriter came on the scene. It was towards the end of the 19th century that the typewriter gained its full status as a reliable tool for communication and writing.

Roughly around 1880, typing courses were provided by typewriter manufacturers like Remington in an effort to establish the typewriter’s status as an essential technological aid in business. Fast-forward 15 years into the 20th century, and you’ll find that public schools were starting to introduce typing in America’s high schools.

Typing is a skill that boosts employment opportunities. However, at one point it was also considered a medium through which reading and writing could be taught. A study by Wood and Freeman (1932) explored how typewriters affect students’ literacy.

They discovered that students using a typewriter to write had a better reading capacity and improved spelling skills. What is more, these students regarded writing on a typewriter to be more enjoyable than their counterparts who weren’t writing and reading on a typewriter. At this time, typewriters were a technology that was experimentally introduced as educators wanted to see how it could positively affect learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See How the Hollywood Sign Has Changed From Between the 1920s and 1970s

When the Hollywood Sign was dedicated on this day, July 13, in 1923, there was little hint that it would become an iconic emblem. In fact, the sign didn’t even say “Hollywood.”

Dedication of the sign, 1923. (Photo Courtesy of the Hollywood Sign Trust and HollywoodPhotographs.com. All Rights Reserved.)
Ladies in a steam shovel bucket, behind the Hollywoodland sign, 1923. (Photo Courtesy of the Hollywood Sign Trust and HollywoodPhotographs.com. All Rights Reserved.)

 

A sign advertises the opening of the Hollywoodland housing development in the hills on Mulholland Drive overlooking Los Angeles, Hollywood, circa 1924. (Underwood Archives—Getty Images)

 

Brand new Hollywoodland homes, 1925. (Photo Courtesy of the Hollywood Sign Trust and HollywoodPhotographs.com. All Rights Reserved.)

 

Hollywoodland sign at night, 1928. (Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images)

Hollywoodland sign, Hollywood, California, 1935. (Hulton Archive—Getty Images)

 

The “ollywoodland” sign, 1949. (Photo Courtesy of the Hollywood Sign Trust and HollywoodPhotographs.com. All Rights Reserved.)

 

Hollywood sign in disrepair, 1973. (Photo Courtesy of the Hollywood Sign Trust and HollywoodPhotographs.com. All Rights Reserved.)

 

Refurbishing the Hollywood sign, 1973. (Photo Courtesy of the Hollywood Sign Trust and HollywoodPhotographs.com. All Rights Reserved.)

 

The Hollywood sign is reborn: 1978. (Photo Courtesy of the Hollywood Sign Trust and HollywoodPhotographs.com. All Rights Reserved.)

 

Amid laser beams and searchlights, the new \”Hollywood\” sign near the top of Mt. Lee in Los Angeles, is unveiled after its dedication, Nov. 11, 1978. The old landmark sign it replaces was built in 1923, but deteriorated and began to fall apart recently. The 50-foot high and 400-foot long sign was replaced by donations from nine public donors totaling $250,000. (George Brich—AP Photo)

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