"Dusk" historical refs, XV-XXIV.
Feb. 15th, 2007 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ldhensonHistorical footnotes for "The Dusk Descending," Chapters XV-XXIV. Divided by chapter.
Footnotes for Chapters I-XIV are here.
XV:
The German Dispensary (on Second Ave.) was a free clinic founded in 1857. It is today the Stuyvesant Polyclinic, and the building is a landmark.
XVII:
The Duane Street Lodging House had bunk-rooms on both fourth and fifth floors. Not explicitly contradicted by the movie...
XVIII:
Skittery, Boots, and O'Dell are singing the 1898 song "Marching To Cuba." Jack doesn't necessarily ID the song until he gets close enough to hear the lyrics, as the song borrows the tune from the Civil War song "Marching Through Georgia."
XXI:
Elm Street no longer exists; its route has more or less been taken over by Elk and Lafayette Streets. The number of intersections the boys cross and all street names in Chapters XXI-XXIV are accurate as far as I know, according to the layout of streets in 1900. (For the really curious, ask and I can give the route.)
XXII:
A modern sergeant major's insignia also includes a star, but during the Spanish-American War it did not.
The descriptions of Sampson's (Aug. 20, 1898) and Dewey's (Sept. 29-30, 1899) homecoming parades in NYC are based on various printed sources as well as on films of the actual parades. Dewey, wildly popular with the public after the Spanish-American War, would in fact begin to lose credibility in spring/summer 1900, culminating in an unsuccessful bid for the Presidency.
The No. 31 Firehouse is today a landmark and the home of DCTV (Downtown Community TV). At the time of its construction (1895), it was common for civic buildings to be designed with not just utility but also aesthetics in mind; but even so this firehouse is more ornate than most, resembling a French chateau.
The spire of Trinity Church, at the foot of Wall Street, was the tallest structure in NYC (for 44 years) until the World Building went up in 1890. It's probably unlikely the boys would have had a good view of the spire from their vantage point in this scene (corner of Elm and White Sts.), but chalk it up to artistic license.
XXIII:
Buildings with cast-iron fronts (the parts of which could be pre-fabricated) had their heyday in the mid-1800's, until improvements in the manufacture and use of steel made it the new material of choice in the later part of the century, allowing the creation of steel-skeleton skyscrapers in the final decade.
The accounting firm of "Nathaniel & Dunton" is fictional.
The clock that looks like marble but feels like iron is a clock with an enameled iron case; it was popular at the time for some expensive mantel clocks to have a wooden or iron case that imitated stone such as marble or onyx.
Filing cabinets at the time were made of wood, rather than the familiar metal of today.
XXIV:
The illustration of a brontosaurus standing on its hind legs and looking into the 11th floor of the New York Life Building ran in the Journal in 1898. The dragons aren't this big, but they're plenty big enough.
The 1898 Rogers, Peet fire (see footnotes: Chapter IV) damaged other buildings on the block, especially the Home Life Building next door, despite the latter being considered fireproof.
Footnotes for Chapters I-XIV are here.
XV:
The German Dispensary (on Second Ave.) was a free clinic founded in 1857. It is today the Stuyvesant Polyclinic, and the building is a landmark.
XVII:
The Duane Street Lodging House had bunk-rooms on both fourth and fifth floors. Not explicitly contradicted by the movie...
XVIII:
Skittery, Boots, and O'Dell are singing the 1898 song "Marching To Cuba." Jack doesn't necessarily ID the song until he gets close enough to hear the lyrics, as the song borrows the tune from the Civil War song "Marching Through Georgia."
XXI:
Elm Street no longer exists; its route has more or less been taken over by Elk and Lafayette Streets. The number of intersections the boys cross and all street names in Chapters XXI-XXIV are accurate as far as I know, according to the layout of streets in 1900. (For the really curious, ask and I can give the route.)
XXII:
A modern sergeant major's insignia also includes a star, but during the Spanish-American War it did not.
The descriptions of Sampson's (Aug. 20, 1898) and Dewey's (Sept. 29-30, 1899) homecoming parades in NYC are based on various printed sources as well as on films of the actual parades. Dewey, wildly popular with the public after the Spanish-American War, would in fact begin to lose credibility in spring/summer 1900, culminating in an unsuccessful bid for the Presidency.
The No. 31 Firehouse is today a landmark and the home of DCTV (Downtown Community TV). At the time of its construction (1895), it was common for civic buildings to be designed with not just utility but also aesthetics in mind; but even so this firehouse is more ornate than most, resembling a French chateau.
The spire of Trinity Church, at the foot of Wall Street, was the tallest structure in NYC (for 44 years) until the World Building went up in 1890. It's probably unlikely the boys would have had a good view of the spire from their vantage point in this scene (corner of Elm and White Sts.), but chalk it up to artistic license.
XXIII:
Buildings with cast-iron fronts (the parts of which could be pre-fabricated) had their heyday in the mid-1800's, until improvements in the manufacture and use of steel made it the new material of choice in the later part of the century, allowing the creation of steel-skeleton skyscrapers in the final decade.
The accounting firm of "Nathaniel & Dunton" is fictional.
The clock that looks like marble but feels like iron is a clock with an enameled iron case; it was popular at the time for some expensive mantel clocks to have a wooden or iron case that imitated stone such as marble or onyx.
Filing cabinets at the time were made of wood, rather than the familiar metal of today.
XXIV:
The illustration of a brontosaurus standing on its hind legs and looking into the 11th floor of the New York Life Building ran in the Journal in 1898. The dragons aren't this big, but they're plenty big enough.
The 1898 Rogers, Peet fire (see footnotes: Chapter IV) damaged other buildings on the block, especially the Home Life Building next door, despite the latter being considered fireproof.
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-16 07:30 pm (UTC)Glad to see you out and about. ;D
no subject
Date: 2007-02-19 03:12 am (UTC)How are you doing?
::hugs::
History
Date: 2008-02-07 12:14 am (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2008-02-09 11:44 pm (UTC)One good source for maps is the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection (http://www.davidrumsey.com/). The only catch is that the site uses a plugin that doesn't seem to work in all browsers. But if you do get it to work for you, there's an excellent 1897 map of Manhattan there. I like to stick as close to the right year as possible, because NYC can change quickly (for instance, the area in which Chapters XXI-XXIV takes place had already changed considerably by 1909). If you're looking for info about the Lodging House, I'll offer a plug for my own website No. 9 (http://nineduane.queenitsy.com).
Glad you're enjoying the fic, thanks for the kind comments.
Re: History
Date: 2008-02-10 12:14 am (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2008-02-11 10:44 pm (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2008-11-04 04:02 am (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2008-11-04 03:38 pm (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2008-11-04 07:54 pm (UTC)