PM, March 2, 1941, p50

A N.Y. Police Reporter’s Impressions of Washington D.C.

Story and Pictures by WEEGEE

“Things were quiet all week in New York. Nothing was popping. There were no big time murders, no roasts (people burned to death at tenement house fires) and no dry divers (people jumping out of windows and off ledges) for me to photograph. So I thought I would go to Washington and do a picture story on what goes on there.

I went on the poor man’s Pullman. I was in no hurry and besides on a bus you can always meet a nice little cutie to keep you company and hold hands with.

At the bus terminal on West 50th St., in the basement, sandwiched in between two doors was an automatic photo machine. I dropped a dime in and had my photo taken. I got the photo in about two minutes. This was the first time I received a mechanical insult…

Inside the juke box was going strong with the Andrews Sisters singing Johnny Peddler… As we left the place the Andrews Sisters in a whiz-bang finale gave everything they had with Beat Me Daddy Eight to a Bar assisted by Woody Herman on Decca record No. 3454…

The Madam then read my palm, asked me the date of my birth, told me I was born under the sign of Cancer, was a very determined person, fickle, but has a kind heart and could make some woman very happy…

The Madam’s crack about me being a salesman reminded me that I was in Washington to do a picture story… so I jumped in a taxi and in an hour made some…

I am glad to get back to New York.”

PM, March 2, 1941, p50

Andrews Sisters, Johnny Peddler (I Got), Andrews Sisters; Vic Schoen And His Orchestra; Lew Brown; Laurindo De Almeida; Ubirajara Nesdan; August 3, 1940

Woody Herman And His Orchestra; Beat Me Daddy, Eight to a Bar; Woody Herman And His Orchestra; Woody Herman; Don Raye; Hughie Prince; Eleanore Sheehy; 1940; Decca 3454 B

Andrews Sisters; Beat Me Daddy, Eight to a Bar; Andrews Sisters; Vic Shoen And His Orchestra; Don Raye; Hughie Prince; Eleanore Sheehy; 1940; Decca 3375 B

(This may not be the most important thing in this amazing full page of a NY Police Reporter’s Impressions of Washington DC., but the Weegeeweegeeweegee fact checking department spotted a potential discrepancy, if Weegee heard the Andrews Sisters sing Beat Me Daddy, Eight to a Bar it was probably not Decca 3454 B, it was probably Decca 3375 B, that Weegee heard on the juke box 78 years ago… again, not the most important thing…)

PM, March 2, 1941
The Art Students Hold Their Annual Party… But Is It Art?
Miss Babita, that’s the whole name, is a well known psychic, her friends said. The sign may indicate some of her friends aren’t.

This is a mermaid costume that won first prize, a bagful of money which she didn’t count. The winner in the costume is Renee Parsons.

She graced the annual ball of the Art Students’ League at the Commodore Friday night and she is Natalia Munez.
PM photos by Weegee

New York Post, March 1, 1941

Weegee, Naked City, 1945, pp. 214-215

PM, December 26, 1940, p15

Weegee Covers Christmas in New York… In Pictures and Words…

By Weegee

Early Christmas Eve I received a phone call from Wesley Price, one of PM’s picture editors. Price told me he wanted a good holiday picture, something with plenty of OOMPH. Lots of Christmas spirit in it. in other words a masterpiece. Jokingly I replied you just couldn’t order a picture like that, like you would a box of cigars. It had to happen. However, I asked him if he had any suggestions. He suggested that I get the picture in for the first edition.

I left police headquarters in my car at 2:30 Christmas morning. I turned the two radios on. One the regular broadcast receiver, to get some holiday music to put me in the mood; and the other radio, a police short wave receiver to get the police signals so I would know what was going on.

The first police call I picked up was for West and Bank Sts. When I got there I found a car with a Jersey license, turned on its side, with a cop on top of it. Nobody seemed to be hurt. Soon a towing wagon arrived to take the car away. I made a shot of it and was on my way.

Then I picked up six fire alarm signals. They were all false. I didn’t think Santa did that.

Then I stopped at the All Night Mission at No. 8 Bowery. [Not the still extant Bowery Mission.] Every night in the year about 100 hopelessly beaten and homeless men sit on benches and sleep as best they can.

Except for a Christmas tree in front, everything was the same. The same despair and hopelessness. I tiptoed in at 4 in the morning, being careful not to disturb anyone. Everyone was asleep. The place was as usual playing to “Sitting up” only. The same electric sign was lit with the illuminated big letters, JESUS SEES, the only source of light in the place. I wondered if He approved…

On the way out, along a big stove near the door, I noticed a pair of stockings, turned inside out, hung to dry.

Next I picked up a police alarm for 102nd St. and Lexington Ave. When I got there I found a man had been stabbed to death and was lying on the corner. From the St. John’s Episcopal Church, on the opposite corner, came the sound of organ music and the singing of the Christmas worshipers. I made a shot of the scene and started back to police headquarters.

When I arrived at my home, in back of Police Headquarters, I found a package wrapped in fancy paper outside my door. It was a present from my Chinese laundry man, Willie Chu, of 95 Elizabeth St. It contained a pound of tea and a half pound of lichee nuts. I had been looking for the Christmas spirit all night long. And had found it, on my doorstep. Lichee NUTS to you, Santa Claus…

Weegee’s Christmas day journey (on a Google Map), might look like this.

A soon-to-be classic New York City Christmas story…

PM, December 26, 1940, p15

The New York Times, October 18, 1948

“The Office of Civilian Defense announces the following instructions to be carried out “When an air raid comes.””

“Approaches to New York Harbor Mined by Navy.”

“New York Has Skyscrapers for Air Raid Shelters
Simple Safety Rules will Save Lives When the Bombers Come…”

“Simple Rules Show How to Make a Home Safer in Raids”

“Blackout Curtains Will Hinder Night Bomb Raiding”

“What Are Bombs Like? Here Are Some of the Answers“.

PM, December 11, 1941

(For the first time ever, we present possibly useful information…)

PM, December 10, 1941
“New York Has Its First Air-Raid Alarms, But the Enemy Fails to Make Appearance
A million schoolchildren were evacuated from their classrooms yesterday as New York had two air-raid alarms – the first of the war. These pupils at PS 23 on Hester Street looked on the whole procedure as a kind of game. The alarm found most New Yorkers calm, but left then puzzled as to what it was all about. There is one theory that somebody mistook American planes for the enemy; another holds that it was a staged dress rehearsal. The Army denied the latter theory. Whatever the cause, we needed the practice. PM Photo by Weegee“

PM, December 9, 1941

PM, December 8, 1941

PM, December 2, 1941, p. 14 (photos by Martin Harris)

What Happens to These Men Depends on Mayor La Guardia
“Last week the Board of Estimate adopted a Council bill banishing itinerant peddling from city streets. The bill affects about 10,000 peddlers. Now in the Mayor’s hands, it exempts news dealers and others able to get licenses…”

PM, August 27, 1941 (Fire photos by Irving Haberman)

“Storm Ties Up Subways…5 Pages
This inferno-like scene is one of the results of tortential rains that wept New York, causing the worst subway tie-up in history. A lightning bolt hit a gas main in a subway excavation, dropped an auto into the resulting cave-in, stated a three-alarm fire… (PM Photo by Irving Haberman)”

“The Weather Bureau also termed 2.13 inches of rain in that brief spectacular on and one-half hours “extensive precipitation.”” p. 15

“Weegee Has a Salon: Arthur Fellig, the night-prowling cameraman who turns in many of PM’s choicest pictures of fires, wrecks, rescues and crimes, is having a one-man show of his own at the Photo League, 31 E. 21st St. The exhibit will run through Sept. 6.”