Forget Black Friday. Enjoying The Neighborhood Is So Much Nicer!

Now I know that I am not an American and that I have never truly warmed up to the Thanksgiving tradition, but there is something truly weird about stuffing oneself with countless variations of starchy foods and then, without having much of a chance to digest, head to the stores at 5 Am to do some holiday shopping.
This morning, as I watched the sun rise over the most beautiful clear blue sky, thousands were on the road already to take advantage of Early Bird specials. Not me. I stayed right here in Carroll Gardens and enjoyed the peace and quiet that only comes with a four day week-end. And peaceful it was. Hardly any cars drove past my house. Occasionally, a family, bundled up against the cold, walked by on their way to Carroll Park or to brunch on Smith. It was lovely. I could almost visualize what it must have been likey in the neighborhood so long ago, before so many cars were on the road.
Holiday shopping? Yes, I have to get that done, but certainly not at the crack of dawn, the day after giving thanks. For those of you who shopped all day, you missed a lovely day in the neighborhood.

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The Best Show In Brooklyn: Wild Bill And Annie Oakley Were Here

Ambrose Park 1894

Can you imagine Annie Oakley and Wild Bill Cody right here in Brooklyn? Well, it happened in 1894 in Ambrose Park. Industrial New York City at the turn of the century must have been an unbelievable backdrop for the " Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show".
Apparently the show was not the financial success that Bill had envisioned. Since he had committed to keep the show at the Ambrose Park location for an entire season, attendance was spotty at times.
"Trying to meet $4,000 a day in expenses (today this is equivalent to over $75,000 per day) during the long Ambrose Park stand created great financial strains for Cody, who said it was "the tightest squeeze of my life."(1) It would lead to a change in the show's production - numerous short term venues traversing the country."
(Buffalo Bill Historical Center, read more here)


From The New York Times, 1894

"Every known specimen of rough riding is indulged in by these people throughout the entertainment which follows the military review, and many other interesting and instructive features besides. the shooting of Ms. Annie Oakley, the celebrated woman shot, is a part of the programme always appreciated; also the marksmenship of "Johnnie" Baker. The breaking of glass balls by Col. Cody while his horse is going at full gallop is a thrilling piece of marksmanship."

From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 10, 1894

EXPERT ROUGH RIDING

Performed by the Indians and Cowboys with Buffalo Bill

These days have returned to Brooklyn, and may be enjoyed at Ambrose Park, or more explicitly, Third avenue and Thirty-seventh street, where the Wild West show of Buffalo William has pitched its tepees and corralled its ponies. There the wonderful west of a few years ago has been revived in all its rugged and romantic splendors. Its plains, prairies and mountain passes, the log cabin of the frontiersman, the wigwam of the Sioux, the burly bison, the pony express, the lumbering treasure coach of the overland route to Deadwood, the Mexican with his lariat, the cowboy with his broncho and the cavalry troops of the United States army; all are there in picturesque grouping... and finally, chief figure of them all, is William F. Cody, ex-scout, ex-colonel and ex-legislator, the handsome, long-haired, mustached and imperialed Buffalo Bill, the object of more hero worshiping by young America than any other character in national history....

The riding of the cowboys, Indians and cavalrymen was as exhilarating as a sea fight. It made the observers' blood tingle and nerves vibrate to see these specimens of hardy manhood sit in saddles or on bare backs and never see daylight under them while the horses plunged and ran like stags before the hounds.

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Picture Of The Day: Carroll Gardens Kitsch

You like? This fetching harlequin stands ever so casually leaning against a lantern post on Carroll between Court and Smith. Don't you wish you had one in front of your house?

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A Small Mention In The Times

(photo credit: happy2 on Flickr)

Well,well, well! When I started this blog a little over a year ago, I had no idea that one day, it would be included on Partick LaForge's "Blogtalk" page of the New York Times. But here it is, amongst other featured blogs. How terribly exciting! Click here to see.


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What Ever Happened To Vieve Van Buren?

The suspense is killing me. What happened to poor Vieve Van Buren? Did she survive her plunge into the East River? Did she live happily ever after? I guess I will never know.
This story appeared in weekly installments in Street And Smith's New York Weekly, a pulp fiction newspaper which was first published at 79 Seventh Avenue, New York, in 1858. I can only imagine that the story of Vieve and the reasons for her jump kept young ladies spellbound and impatient for the next "episode."

From Stanford University Libraries
In this May 16, 1881 issue of the New York Weekly, Vieve Van Buren, a poor New York girl, jumps to her death from one of towers of the Brooklyn Bridge (shown here under construction) after she is caught pawning a stolen watch. At 278 feet, the dizzying height of the bridge was a source of fascination for the public, and the illustration sensationalizes this interest. The weekly installment of the story ends just as the young woman plunges head first toward the water, with arms outstretched and petticoats whirling. Readers eager to know the fate of Vieve Van Buren had to wait in suspense until the next installment appeared at the newsstands.


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10 Little Things I Am Grateful For This Thanksgiving

10 very little things for which I am thankful this Thanksgiving

• I get to sleep late tomorrow and for three days after that
• I only have to cook for my teeny family of four
• My kids are old enough to help with the cooking
• They are also old enough to clean up which is even more important
• I get to spend Thanksgiving right here in Brooklyn
• I don't have to travel
• College daughter lives in Manhattan, so getting her home only cost $2 for the subway
  
• I have 3 Netflix movies we can watch
• I can finally throw out the pumpkin that has been sitting on my stoop since Halloween
• All my loved ones are healthy and reasonably happy, which I guess is more than a little thing.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers! I will be back on Friday

Related Reading: A Happy Brooklyn Thanksgiving


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Picture Of The Day: Pink Gloves In Gutter!

(On Court Between President And Union)

They were lying in the rain, so bright and cheery amongst trash and fall leaves. Who lost them there, not one but two at the same time? They were meant for working, hot pink to protect big rough hands.

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