Archive

1941

!Happy Birthday Weegee!

June 12, 2026
1941


“Happy Birthday”; Eddie Davis and his Orchestra; Sittin’ In With (520); 1949


PM, March 2, 1941


“Happy, Happy Birthday Baby”; The Tune Weavers; Frank Paul’s Orch.; M. Sylvia; G. Lopez; Checker (872); 1957


PM, March 9, 1941

A picture with somebody in it sells better than a picture of a lifeless object. So Weegee sometimes puts himself in his picture-shooting them by “remote control.” Here he is posing as a “curious passerby” looking at the body of a Brooklyn murder victim found in trunk near the Gowanus Canal.
PM, March 9, 1941


“Happy Birthday To You”; Raymond Scott and his New Orchestra; Clyde Burke; M. J. Hill; Columbia (35864); November 29, 1940


“Happy Birthday”; Craven Edwards And his Lazy K-Ranch Boys; Len Stokes; Hill; Diamond (2007-A); June 1946


PM, March 9, 1941

Weegee makes friends readily. On a Chinatown assignment he got this New Year’s lucky wish from a Chinese girl. He has a photo of her painting it pinned above his bed (see picture on next page). It is characteristic of him to have his picture taken this way. The cigar is standard equipment.
PM, March 9, 1941


“Today Is Your Birthday”; The Enchanters; Buddy Lucas and his Band of Tomorrow; Bernstein; Levine; Odom; Geritz; Jubilee (5072); 1952


“Happy Birthday Father (From)”; Harry Tush and his Society Orchestra; Rondoliers; Avalon (502A)


PM, March 9, 1941

Weegee’s room shows his devotion to his job. On top of his regular radio is a police short-wave radio and a loudspeaker attached to it dangles over his bed. On the floor are his special “murder shoes” – at left – and his “snow shoes.” He keeps his “fire shoes” in his car. The wall decorations are examples of his work and certificates of awards for prize-winning pictures. The cardboard boxes at the extreme right are his disorderly “files.” The typewriter is his latest acquisition. He has recently taken up writing – a field in which he shows rather startling talent. We don’t know what the Flit is for.
PM, March 9, 1941


“Birthday Party”; Sil Austin; J. CollinsMercury (71027); December 25, 1956

Happy Birthday Weegee!!!

Emil Nizich

February 7, 2026
1941


Weegee, [Police and spectators surround the body of murdered longshoreman Emil Nizich], 1941

Emil Nizich was a 26 year old unemployed longshoreman. He lived with his father at 426 West 48th Street. Nizich’s nickname was “the Pollack.” (Nizich was friends with David Beadle.) At 8:20 p.m. on Friday, February 7th, 1941 he was returning from a workout at a local gymnasium. Nizich was in front of 415 West 48th Street, a few doors down from his home, when a gunman shot him in the back. Nizich ran to the middle of the street and then collapsed. The gunman followed and fired two more shots into Nizich. The gunman then commandeered a passing chauffeured limousine and escaped while standing on the running board…