Exotic Utah

Utah may not be exotic for people who live in the Southwest, but if you live in Portland, Oregon, it doesn't get much more exotic.  We just returned from a week in Utah, visiting Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Capitol Reef, and Salt Lake City. The flight from Portland, Oregon to Salt Lake City is only an hour and twenty minutes, but the differences are striking.

Portland is wet and rainy. Moss grows on everything.  Utah is arid and very hot in the summer.  Oregonians are of many different religions, and a high percentage are not affiliated with any church at all. Utah is predominantly Mormon - approximately 60% of residents statewide, with a much higher percentage in rural areas. We have children here in Oregon, but at a rate below the national average. Utah has the highest birthrate by far in the United States.

We were attracted to Utah by visions of this dry landscape and bright blue skies. The Mormon presence is very strong and you get the sense that the focus is on families and children. Although I have a certain appreciation for the grungy, tattooed and pierced Portland youth, I have to admit that I really enjoyed seeing so many clean-cut young men and women in Salt Lake City.

We did have a bit of culture shock, as we are accustomed to having at least one coffee establishment on every block in Portland. You never know when you might be overcome by caffeine deprivation. Here in Oregon, we also have a strong appreciation for beer and wine. In Utah, you may have difficulty finding a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, because the Mormon church forbids its followers from consuming alcohol, coffee or tea. In fact, you have to go to a special State liquor store to buy a bottle of wine. That may not sound like a big deal, but there are 243 incorporated municipalities in Utah and only 67 liquor stores in a state that covers 84,899 sq mi (219,899 sq km.)

I would like to explore Salt Lake City a bit more some day. We enjoyed visiting the Mormon Temple square and the Mormon Church History Museum.  For some reason I felt compelled to buy these souvenirs from the museum gift shop.  If you are amazed that anyone is making missionary action figures, you will be doubly amazed that there were four different sets to choose from. They all look equally wholesome, but have different stances and facial features.
It was a difficult decision, but I finally picked these guys:

The Creamerie - New York City

O.K., I'm giving you 25 cents. What are you going to order at the Creamerie?
This is a little pocket menu from the Creamerie  Restaurant at 262 Bowery, New York City.
The pocket menu also includes an identification card on the back, with spaces for name, address, and birth date. Oh, and the birth date allows for any year that starts with 18__. There is also a space to record the number of the case on your watch and the number of the works. Did you know that watches were used for identification?  I didn't.

The other side of the card notes that the restaurant is open "at all hours." Does that mean it was open 24 hours?

Well, first I started thinking about all of the apple tarts and oyster sandwiches I could buy for a dollar. Finally,  I decided to distract myself from the magical concept of 100 cream puffs for $3.00 and find out more about 262 Bowery and its history.

I might have expected the history of any place on the Bowery to be colorful, but maybe not quite this colorful. The best resource ended up being the New York Times archives,  a fun ride on any day.  I found little that would tell me anything about the Creamerie or its proprietor, Frank Summer, but I did find that people from this address died often and in interesting ways.
Here are the highlights:

May 5th, 1869 - Plans were submitted for a five-story, "first class iron store" building at 262 and 264 Bowery. The lot size appeared to be 83' by 85' and was owned by William J. Gesner.

March 26, 1871 - The Chapel of St. Augustine, 262 Bowery, was crowded to capacity to witness the confirmation of forty individuals by Right Reverend Bishop Potter. The chapel appears to have remained there until at least 1890.

April, 1873 - L. Zellner, alias L. Cruz, who listed 262 Bowery as his address, was arrested for dealing in obscene articles.

1878 - Aetna Sewing Machines was located at this address.

August 12, 1884 - Joseph Gallagher, a 19-year-old waiter who lived at 262 Bowery was arrested for stealing watches and other articles of value from doctors at St. Vincents' Hospital. He was caught going through one of the corridors in the hospital in his bare feet. Gallagher had previously worked at the hospital.

March 13, 1888 - 60 year-old Andrew Jauch, who lived at 262 Bowery (Schirmer's Lodging House), committed suicide on this date by ingesting Paris green.


June, 1888 - A Tailor by the name of Bernhard Marks was attached by L. Schwarz & Co. . Marks had recently bought the business from Louis Corn and then had his name changed from Gambitsky to Marks. Bernhard Marks was one of four tailors who had failed within a few weeks.

July 29, 1888 - Edward Cook of 262 Bowery was in a boat with Patrick Byrn and Byrn's two children when the boat capsized.  The adults, who could not swim, were rescued by a  row boat, but the children's bodies were not immediately recovered.

1890 - Moses Rephael had a crockery business at this address.

June 13, 1890 - John H. Waite was taken from Schirmer's Lodging House at 262 Bowery to Bellevue Hospital where he died in the pavilion for the insane ten hours later. Doctors said that he died of starvation and acute melancholia. They believed that he killed himself by abstaining from food either because he thought he was mistreated by his wife or because he thought all nourishment was poison. They tried to administer whiskey and milk when he was admitted to the hospital, but he spit it out.

June 20th, 1897 - Frederick Konig, 21, died at 262 Bowery.
August 2, 1897 - Max Berninghoff, 68, died at 262 Bowery.
May 18th, 1902 - John O'Brien, 62, died at 262 Bowery.
August 6, 1910 - Frank Schultz of 262 Bowery was arrested in Hackensack, New Jersey, leaving the house of Frederick van Saun with a suitcase full of loot.

May 22, 1915 - Karl Schmidt, an indigent resident of 262 Bowery, died in Bellevue Hospital. Once it became known that he was actually rich, relatives appeared out of nowhere to claim an inheritance. Apparently Schmidt always left the house at about 8 and returned at 6, but no one ever knew where he spent that time.

The building that currently stands at 262 Bowery was built in 1920 and houses a restaurant supply business.

Streetcar Sunday - The Bowery, New York

The Bowery in New York was (and is) a colorful place. It was originally a road that connected the city with surrounding farmland. The name comes from the Dutch word for farm: bouwerij. It is the oldest throroughfare on Manhattan Island. Although the Bowery was originally considered a respectable area, it became known for brothels, flophouses, and cheap entertainment by the time of the Civil War.

New York was the first city in the world to have streetcars, and the Bowery line was the first line in New York.  It started service in 1832, with a car called the John Mason, named after the company's president.. The original cars were horse cars, but by 1888 some of the lines were electrified.

You may notice that there are no overhead wires visible above the car. There's nothing unusual about that; you often can't see them on cards even when they were there. However, this time you can't see them because the cars didn't have them. The streetcars in New York were powered by an underground conduit instead. If you look closely, you may be able to see the line between the tracks that housed the conduit. Only a few other cities, such as Washington D.C. and London, did this, because most cities couldn't afford to do it. There is evidence that it was actually less expensive than the overhead wire system to operate once installed, but the initial installation costs and difficulties proved prohibitive to most.

The Third Avenue El (elevated railway), shown above, operated above street level from 1875 to 1955. It must have been strange to be on the street and have a train running overhead. Not surprisingly, property values shot up when the overhead rails were removed.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for what I think may be my favorite post ever!

Oh, and here's the back of the card.  It was printed by Illustrated Postcard Co between 1905 and 1907.