This is the corner of Bedford Avenue and N. 9 Street in Williamsburg and the business that was once there. This postcard came from an older gentleman who has purchased it and who walked up to the corner to compare it with the current view (below).
Entries Tagged as 'Brooklyn Back in the Day'
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Bedford Avenue Edition
September 12th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · Williamsburg
Brooklyn Back in the Day: The Atlantis
August 24th, 2008 · 1 Comment
[Photo courtesy of galvarez51/GL Flickr Pool]
Today, this is a Nathan’s outpost and Cha Cha’s. Shoot the Freak would be to the right. Old timers still look at the building on the Coney Boardwalk and call it The Atlantis.
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · coney island
Brooklyn Back in the Day: The Thunderbolt
August 23rd, 2008 · No Comments
[Photo courtesy of galvarez51/GL Flickr Pool]
There are many pics around of the Thunderbolt, which sat in a glorious state of decay in Coney Island for many years (until demolition crews dispatched by the Giuliani Administration showed up to tear it down without warning). We are always fascinated when we come across them and this one [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · coney island
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Coney Island, July 4, 1957
July 4th, 2008 · No Comments
[AP Photo courtesy of Coney Island History Project]
We return to our Brooklyn Back in the Day series of historic Brooklyn photos with one that is entirely appropriate to July 4. This is a photo from the Coney Island History Project–whose website is worth checking out and whose facility on Surf Avenue under the Cylcone is [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · coney island
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Gowanus Bay Sunset
June 12th, 2008 · 1 Comment
We’ve seen this image of a bucolic Gowanus Bay before, but we’re taken by it when we clicked over to the Ephemeral New York post courtesy of a Brownstoner link yesterday evening. ENY says it’s “An 1851 oil painting by Australian artist Henry Gritten. The full title is ‘Sun Set at Gowanus Bay in the [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · Gowanus · Gowanus Canal
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Childs in Coney Island
May 22nd, 2008 · No Comments
We bring back our old Brooklyn Back in the Day series for this cool, cool photo of the Coney Island Boardwalk and Childs Restaurant a long time ago. The full size photo is worth looking at and it was uploaded to flickr by blackoutny. It’s especially fascinating to see some of the buildings that once [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · coney island
Blast from the Past: Fallout Shelter
April 9th, 2008 · No Comments
There is nothing like a faded, old Fallout Shelter sign to bring back memories of the optimistic days in the 1950s when the government encouraged people to think they could survive thermo nuclear war by hiding in a basement on Bergen Street near Fifth Avenue, eating food without expiration dates and drinking from barrels of [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · Park Slope
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Coney Reader and Advisor
December 27th, 2007 · No Comments
[Photo courtesy of interestingideas/flickr]
We bring back our Brooklyn Back in the Day series of older photos with this image of Coney Island in 1981 that we came across on flickr.
UPDATE: A GL reader kindly points out that the stand, Sister Theresa’s, is in Charles Denson’s wonderful book Coney Island Lost and Found (on P. 191) [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Broken Industry
November 25th, 2007 · No Comments
This photo is from an unidentified warehouse in an unidentified part of the borough, quite possibly the place where the photographer worked. It was passed on to us from our Greenpoint correspondent from a group of photos that we suspect is going to continue to yield many nuggets.
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Lost Sunset
November 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment
This long lost Brooklyn sunset came our way courtesy of our Greenpoint correspondent, who recently acquired a treasure trove of old images, of which she graciously shared some early scans. We don’t know when this Brooklyn sunset took place or where, but we would guess that many of the people that viewed it are no [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Sky, Flag, Planes
November 18th, 2007 · No Comments
We have no idea where this was shot in Brooklyn, but it’s from a group of recovered private photos passed along by our Greenpoint correspondent. The combination of flag, planes overhead and skywriting are classic.
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Waterfront, 1940s
November 17th, 2007 · No Comments
We bring back “Brooklyn Back in the Day,” our series of historic photos of Brooklyn, with this shot of the Brooklyn waterfront in the 1940s. Our Greenpoint correspondent is sending a treasure trove of previously unpublished Brooklyn shots our way, so we should have a lot more interesting and never-published photos to post in coming [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Flatbush & Atlantic Historic Photos
October 2nd, 2007 · No Comments
We revive our Brooklyn Back in the Day series of historic photos courtesy of an excellent collection of photos of the area around Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues posted on flickr by timventi. You will notice a very familiar surviving landmark in the photo above to anchor a landscape that is very different today. The photo [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: The Thunderbolt
August 24th, 2007 · 1 Comment
We’re not reaching that far back in time for this Brooklyn Back in the Day item. This photo only dates to 1995, but it shows the ruins of the the Thunderbolt roller coaster, demolished without notice by the Guiliani Administration.
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · coney island
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Prospect Park Boat House
August 17th, 2007 · No Comments
For today’s installment of Brooklyn Back in the Day we turn to the Prospect Park Boathouse. This undated photo comes from the Brooklyn Public Library’s online collection of vintage Brooklyn photos.
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · Prospect Park
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Steeplechase Park
August 15th, 2007 · No Comments
Of all the ghosts whose presence is felt in Coney Island, one of the most charismatic is Steeplechase Park. It existed from 1897 to 1964 and, then, died at the hands of Fred Trump who notoriously invited guests to break the windows of the pavilion. In any case, amusementparks.com has some wonderful Steeplechase Page including [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · coney island
Brooklyn Back in the Day: The Steepchase Ride
August 11th, 2007 · No Comments
We return to our Brooklyn Back in the Day feature with this historic photo of the Steeplechase Ride in Coney Island. The Steeplechase, which is legendary as an amusement park ride, opened in 1897.
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Prospect Park West
August 10th, 2007 · No Comments
Our on-and-0ff series of historic Brooklyn photos called Brooklyn Back in the Day is definitely on again. Here’s a view of Prospect Park West shot in 1947 from the Brooklyn Public Library’s online photo collection. What’s interesting about this photo is how little the view has changed. In fact, about the only thing that’s different [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day · Park Slope
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Coney Island
June 17th, 2007 · No Comments
We return to our Brooklyn Back in the Day feature of Brooklyn historical photos with another very nice Coney Island shots. We found this one posted over at the Coney Island Message Board, where we’ve found some wonderful historic Coney pics. There’s a whole conversation thread devoted to Coney Island History where all sorts of [...]
Tags: Brooklyn Back in the Day
Brooklyn Back in the Day: Flatbush Avenue Terminal
May 26th, 2007 · No Comments
We bring back our Brooklyn Back in the Day feature for a look at the old Flatbush Avenue Terminal which used to be the Long Island Railroad Station at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenue that stood where Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Terminal Mall is now located. The view, which is from a website called Arrt’s Arrchives, dedicated [...]


