Hello again, welcome back to Where & When; trying to keep your minds sharp and, well, distracted from the obvious. It’s getting a bit chilly outside, so we’ll try to keep the gears burning and get you thinking hard about this newest challenge:
This one looks like it could be easy or tough. The important thing is to search the whole picture for clues, which will make it really easy once you find one. In fact, I hope I haven’t made it too easy. Your job today is to find out where this was taken and give us a good idea when. It doesn’t actually have to be exact, but if any clues give you an indication, you’ll get credit for being closest to it. Bonus if you have an idea what this area looks like today. Send your answers to cixposse at gmail dot com; post on the thread to let me know you sent an answer and I’ll verify.
Do not click on the photo credit for your answer, but you are allowed to use the internet for research; if you find the same exact picture, detail your activities that brought you to it (show your math!) Guesses are okay, but more credit will be given to those who can show a path of progression to their answers.
A Big Ol’ Bundaberg for the first person with the right answers, and an Old Fashioned Killebrew for the rest. I’ll be busy today, but I’ll check in whenever I can and post an answer at or after 4pm today (don’t be discouraged if you find you’ve run out of time; I tend to come in pretty late.) Have fun!
[Photo Credit: Queens Gazette; courtesy of Newtown Historical Society & Q Gardens Gallery]
Long time fan, first time guesser....
Got it. The photo is no lie
The Where is easy. I assume the clue I used is the one you meant, Will.
I'll see how precise I can be about the When, then send you a guess. (The cars narrow it down pretty well.)
[2] Oh... cute :-)
I've triangulated to a pretty good guess on the year, with a very definite latest month it could possibly be. I bet I could zero in with another hour, but this will have to do. Sending my guess now, Will.
Got it. The where wasn't quite as easy for me - the current view is so changed that it kept throwing me off.
UPDATE: I didn't quite expect people to be thrown off by the clue sitting right in front of them, but I did say "distract you from the obvious" and things like that, so I can see how that would happen >;)
The Answers: Grand Avenue @ 68th Street, Maspeth, Queens; 1940's. There was no exact date for when the photo was taken listed, but if one were to contact or visit either the Newtown Historical Society or view it's online gallery, you could probably find out more about the photos and the neighborhood before it was destroyed by our frenemy Robert Moses with his Long Island Expressway. On a related note, if you've ever traveled to the end of the LIE from the city, you'll notice how it sort-of tapers off into a country road through what was once undoubtedly someone's farm. It gets pretty pricey from there, but sort of a Hidden Kingdom kind of pricey >;)
Congrats and a flagon of Bundaberg to our newest player and long time fan Mike D who stated, "Searched for Prosperity Cleaners, 68th street, long island…..was thrown off by the Long Island’s Finest Cleaners. Came across the Newtown Historical’s Home on smugmug.com...", which I honestly didn't know about since I had first seen the pic on the Queens Gazette page.
I'm also fixing the photo credit to reflect that the pic was presented in part by both the Newtown Historical Society and Q Gardens Gallery's Ron Marzlock; owner and historian. Stella Wolinski in fact took pictures of the opening of Maurice Park in 1940 that were also featured in the exhibit that showed Maspeth in the 1940's.
Old Fashioned Killebrews to rbj, Bronx Boy in NC, RIYank and JDM for following up with their correct answers as well. If you missed your chance to play today, we'll be back again this Thursday with a new challenge (which I already know is going to throw most of you for a loop >;) Thanks for playing and see you keep up the research. If you have any suggestions for challenges or for the game itself, send them to the same address with notes and we'll get them in the queue. Later folks and drink responsibly, cheers!
Another good one.
So, did anyone else guess a year? The trolley stopped running in 1949. The cars, which aren't brand new, make me think it's no earlier than 1945.
[7] On the websites where I found this photo grouped with others, they're around 1946-1947. It has to be post war enough for all the flags and bunting to have come down. I'd peg it at late 1946. No new cars tells me the factories were still converting back from war time, with limited production.