1908 Harry Houdini photograph in a MILK CAN

In 1908, Houdini launched his own unique invention, the Milk Can escape.[1] In this production, Houdini would be handcuffed and sealed within an over-sized milk can full of water and make his escape in the rear of a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini would request members of the audience to hold their breath along with him while he was inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed "Failure Means A Drowning Death", the escape proved to be a success. [2] Houdini soon customized the escape to include the Milk Can being locked inside a wooden chest. Houdini only performed the Milk Can escape as a normal part of his act for four years, but it continues to be the most connected with the escape artist. Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform the Milk Can (and the wooden chest disparity [3]) into the 1940s. The Milk Can and the Overboard Box are presently housed at the American Museum of Magic.

PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
(1) Houdini: His Life and Art by James Randi and Bert Sugar, 1976, pages 175 to 178
(2) Houdini: His Life and Art by James Randi and Bert Sugar, 1976, Milk Can poster on page 177
(3) Houdini A Pictorial Life by Milbourne Chritophern, 1976, page 54

Amazing photographs of the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889

The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889. It was the result of the collapse of the South Fork Dam positioned 14 miles from the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The South Fork Dam was originally constructed between 1838 and 1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The dam often had leaks and was patched generally with mud and straw. On May 28, 1889, a rainstorm sprung up over Nebraska and Kansas heading towards Pennsylvania. By the time it hit Johnstown PA, it was the nastiest downpour that had ever been witnessed in that part of the country. The dam's breakdown unleashed a surge of 20 million tons of water. The flood killed over 2,200 people and cost over $17 million in damage. It was the initial major disaster relief effort ran by the new American Red Cross, directed by Clara Barton. Support for sufferers came from all over the United States. After the flood, the wounded suffered a sequence of legal losses in their efforts to recover compensation from the dam's owners. The countries resentment at that failure encouraged a major change in American law, being the state courts' shift from a fault-based regime to strict liability.

Here are some photos taken by Ernest Walter Histed of the disaster.

ALSO SEE - AIRPLANE CRASH PHOTOS FROM THE 1920's - CLICK HERE!

Early Examples of 1850's Slave Auction Advertisements

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Interesting read from 1884 - should lynching be revived in the United States? Click Here!

1940 Nazi cartoon weeping when British ships sink!

This is on the front page of the ANTI-NAZI BULLETIN - reprinted from the New York Post, December 1940.

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Please read another post we have written on "Some interesting facts on Operation Valkyrie"

1913 Ford Making Automobiles OUTSIDE

Here is a photo of a Ford Assembly Plant around 1913.
Interesting that the cars are put together outside.

1930's Early Oklahoma Mobile Home Photograph

Here is a interesting photo labeled "Early Oklahoma Mobile Home", "1930's". The photo I have is not the original, but it is still a interesting photo.

WW1 Soldier's relations with colored troops handout

This is a piece from a handout I found in a box published at some point during the first World War. During WW1, the War Department stopped taking minority volunteers because colored army quotas were filled. Minorities were not allowed in the Marines, Coast Guard or Air Force. Only the Navy accepted them. Even with this fact, Newton D. Baker the Secretary of War stated that "Every case of racial discrimination or injustice that was brought to official attention, involving either Negro draftees and soldiers or Negro war workers and civilians, was taken up and brought to the attention of the proper officials of the Government, including the War and other Departments, the Military Intelligence Bureau, and in some cases the Department of Justice."

Two million blacks registered for ww1 however only 31 percent were accepted to 26 percent of the white men. Newton D. Baker the Secretary of War stated that "The relations between the colored and white men in the camps containing both have been worked out on a very satisfactory basis, and little or no trouble seems likely to arise. All of my reports indicate that the colored men are accepting this as an opportunity to serve and not an occasion for creating discord or trouble, and white men and officers are passing over the question of race difference in a helpful spirit."

Theodore Roosevelt said "I congratulate all colored men and women and all their white fellow-Americans upon the gallantry and efficiency with which the colored men have behaved at the front, and the efficiency and wish to render service which have been shown by both the colored men and the colored women behind them in this country." General Purshing stated "A tour of inspection among American Negro troops by officers of these headquarters shows the comparatively high degree of training and efficiency among these troops. Their training is identical with that of other American troops serving with the French Army, the effort being to lead all American troops gradually to heavy combat duty by a preliminary service in trenches in quiet sectors."

First Day: The Soldier and His Mates

The whole question of racial and social class distinctions face one in a new way on enlisting. In the army all are forced to live together, regardless of wealth or position in civilian life. Thoughtfulness is therefore doubly necessary. Sarcasm is dangerous. The importance of small matters is likely to be exaggerated when men are under a strain.

Colored troops have done valiant service in the cause of the United States and should be given their just due. Confidence in and devotion to comrades, and the sinking of all personal advantages is especially meritorious in the Army. Should not the regular and the “rookie’ realize that each is enlisted for identically the same purpose.

One of the tests of a soldier is whether or not he is able to give his i1eas so one whom in civilian life he might have regarded as his inferior and see the latter become a great success while he gets no special mention whatever. This constitutes a sincere enlistment of his life with the fortunes of his mates.

1908 Widow & boy rolling cigarettes for money

TITLE: Widow & boy rolling papers for cigarettes in a dirty N.Y. tenement. Location: New York. FEBRUARY 1908.

This photo was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine. He was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. In 1907, he became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor in American industry to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice. Between 1906 and 1908, he was a freelance photographer for The Survey, a leading social reform magazine. He took all these pictures to show the country the cruelties of child labor. A amazing collection I will be posting many of these.

Early Child Labor - 6 year old berry picker in Baltimore, Md.

Laura Petty, a 6 year old berry picker on Jenkins farm, Rock Creek near Baltimore, Md. "I'm just beginnin'. Picked two boxes yesterday. (2 cents a box) - 1911.

This photo was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine. He was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. In 1907, he became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor in American industry to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice. Between 1906 and 1908, he was a freelance photographer for The Survey, a leading social reform magazine. He took all these pictures to show the country the cruelties of child labor. A amazing collection I will be posting many of these.

RARE Wareham MA Portuguese cranberry picker tenement photograph

TITLE: [Crowded tenement used by cranberry pickers ("Bravas") or black Portuguese]. Location: Wareham, Massachusetts. Photograph taken around 1911.

This photo was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine. He was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. In 1907, he became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor in American industry to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice. Between 1906 and 1908, he was a freelance photographer for The Survey, a leading social reform magazine. He took all these pictures to show the country the cruelties of child labor. A amazing collection I will be posting many of these.

1909 Baltimore MD Child laborers photograph at packing company

TITLE: Some of the workers in a Md. packing company. Plenty of work for even the tiniest hands. Many have to carry heavy boxes full of beans etc. Location: [Baltimore, Maryland], July 1909

This photo was taken by Lewis Wickes Hine. He was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. In 1907, he became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor in American industry to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice. Between 1906 and 1908, he was a freelance photographer for The Survey, a leading social reform magazine. He took all these pictures to show the country the cruelties of child labor. A amazing collection I will be posting many of these.

Early 1871 Connecticut Valley Railroad Company Time Table Schedule

This schedule is from the Connecticut Valley Railroad. During 1868-1869, survey crews worked to map out the line in Connecticut from Hartford to Saybrook Point, and in 1870, actual construction of the line began. With the ease of building a rail line in the Connecticut River Valley (no tunnels or major bridges), the line was completed during the summer of 1871 with the first ceremonial train run over the 45 mile line on July 29, 1871.This schedule I found is from a few months later. The first "regular" train was run and on August 24, 1871 the Connecticut Valley Railroad finally declared an official opening. The initial schedules of trains operating along the Valley Railroad called for one mixed (passenger and freight) and four passenger trains each way daily (except Sunday) with fifteen stops along the way. (1)

(1) The History of the Valley Railroad Company