LGBTQ History: Gay Berlin In the 1920s, the scene flourished in Berlin and the city established itself, though with interruptions, as a gay capital. Even though the city was struggling with financial...

Marie Laurencin’s radical paintings imagined a gauzy, feminine world absent of men, but her intentions have largely been misinterpreted.

The 1920s were big years for Toronto. After finally emerging from the ravages of the first world war, in which Canadian soldiers had distinguished ...

Giant WWI "war tubas" were pretty much exactly what they sound like

Your eyes do not deceive you. The candle salad is a banana thrust vertically into a stack of pineapple rings on a bed of lettuce leaves, with a maraschino cherry toothpicked to the tip. No, this is not some naughty bachelorette party dessert; it is an actual recipe from the 1920s. A holiday recipe. Later printed in a children’s cookbook.What on earth?

From a day at the zoo to post-war rubble, Vishniac’s astonishing archive shows life for Jewish people before and after the monstrosities of the second world war

Anita Berber in one of her most famous choreographies, which she named "Cocaine", 1922. Berlin is a city of ghosts and one of the most alluring phantoms is Anita Berber, the high priestess of debauchery; she of the kohl black eyes and flaming red hair and vermillion lips. Immortalised by Otto Dix

Mugshots of the Sydney razor-gangs have been brought to life with colour for the first time, opening a window into the souls of the hyper-violent criminals who ruled the underworld of the 1920s.

William Stanley Moore – Photograph by The Sydney Justice & Police Museum The Sifter recently stumbled upon an incredible collection of vintage mugshots housed by the Histori…

Drag ball from the 1920s, celebrated in the Webster Hall, Greenwich Village, in New York / Wikipedia Hoist up your garters and fasten your wigs, because we're voguing our way back in time to the origins of drag ball extravaganzas: those champagne and lipstick fuelled soirées where drag queens, cr

prohibido el cante, this was written in several suburban pubs in the Franco era. And this is the title of the exhibition which the Centro A...

Explore radishbaby's 80 photos on Flickr!

Church Walk in Gateshead, overlooking the River Tyne, was one of the town's many dilapidated old streets demolished in the middle of the last century

Emmanuel Sougez - Fano Messan, Paris, 1921

crashinglybeautiful: Edwin Gledhill, Canadian-born photographer, Nov. 29, 1888 - 1976, pioneered the use of the autochrome process for portraiture. Above: Carolyn Even Gledhill with Nasturiums, 1920 -...

When people think of the 1920s, they generally think of the words “gangsters,” “mob,” and “crime”. Some of the most famous American gangsters and infamous

1920s Afghanistan was a progressive and rapidly-modernizing country in large part to the most powerful, empathic, and maligned queen it had ever seen.

Did a race of Human giants walk the earth before us? The American Indians think so. If they existed, who were they, what were they doing, and why is it a secret now? Forbidden History.

Here are just a few of the many mansions that once stood or are still standing along the North Shore of New York's Long Island. This area due to the numerous concentration of estates and mansions built during the Gilded Age became known as the, "Gold Coast". It was here that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote and partied with the very rich, famous and celebrated people of the 1920's Jazz Age. The Gold Coast started at Great Neck, where Fitzgerald lived and ran along the Long Island Sound to Centerport. When Fitzgerald wrote, "The Great Gatsby", he didn't use just one house or location, but combined many and moved them all around, sometimes those that were almost next to each other ending up being moved across the water. Here is a list that many historians think were the estates, mansions and locations that Fitzgerald was inspired by when writing,"The Great Gatsby". Beacon Towers at Sands Point, New York. The Great Gatsby Mansion of Jay Gatsby. Demolished late 1940s. This house that is often thought of to be the model for the mansion of Jay Gatsby was a house built by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont. Alva was a real build-aholic, first commissioning the famous chateau on Fifth Avenue, then the still exisitng palace in Newport called Marble House. She also lived at Belcourt Castle in Newport, and had numerous other houses in New York City, Long Island and France. She was the first woman ever elected to become a member of the American Institute of Architects, some say because she commissioned so many houses in her lifetime. In 1917 she had the architectural firm Hunt and Hunt design for her a castle over looking the Long Island Sound. She is said to have commented upon seeing a real Scottish castle that her house on Long Island was more authentic. In the late 1920s William Randolph Hearst, later builder of California's, "Hearst Castle" , bought Beacon Towers and renovated it making it larger and more opulent. He lived there very little, with the house mostly used by his wife, Millicent. The house was demolished in the early 1940s. Aerial of The Great Gatsby Mansion of Jay Gatsby. Demolished late 1940s. All that remains is the gatehouse and the garage outside the gates. Click HERE to see the location and site today. Lands End at Sands Point, New York. Lands End at Sands Point, The inspiration for Tom & Daisy Buchanan's Mansion. Photo: Natasha Commander This Iconic Gold Coast mansion, stood for over 100 years and according to some accounts was built in 1911. Often attributed to architect Stanford White, it has never been proven. If it was built in 1911, then it is not, since Stanford White died in 1906. While it was a unique piece of architecture, the only thing that it had in common with any Stanford White building was that it was white with big columns, which is pretty classic for most mansions of this style. The massing was very unlike any other houses ever designed by White and bore no resemblance to any other works of his or his firm, McKim, Mead & White. From its over scaled heavy topped chimneys, to its slightly angled plan, which from a design point of view, embraced the site perfectly. This great mansion,recently demolished was one of Long Island's last remaining jewels and sailing landmarks. During a sunny day or overcast day it rose above its site prominently, The Parthenon of the "Gold Coast'. Lands End at Sands Point, Long Island. The inspiration for the mansion of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Click HERE to see the location and site today. If you will notice from the maps, that both houses are on the same side of the harbor and even within walking distance along the beach. It might have been possible to have seen Daisy's house from Gatsby's house but it is not across the water. Also both houses are located in Sands Point, which is at the tip of Port Washington. Sands Point is often thought to have be renamed by Fitzgerald as East Egg, the place where old established money lived and not new flashy millionaires like Gatsby. West Egg which was the location of Gatsby's mansion would have been Great Neck, which is the next town west, where Fitzgerald actually lived. Great Neck at the time while having many estates and mansions of it's own, but most not of the scale of Sands Point, attracted many celebrated people from Broadway and the arts. Getting back to the Gatsby mansion and Buchanan mansion, both houses face east looking towards the shore of Glen Cove. In the book, Gatsby's mansion would have been on the eastern shore of Great Neck looking across at the western shore of Sands Point, where Daisy's mansion would have been. But across the water from Beacon Towers,"Gatsby's Mansion",was the estate and phenomenal mansion called Pembroke, which was in Glen Cove. This amazing estate was built by Captain De Lamar, then sold to Marcus Loew, the movie theater magnate. It was here that Fitzgerald probably attended the wild parties during the roaring twenties that were attended by some of the silent screens greatest stars such as Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino and served as inspiration for those depicted in his novel. This estate also had a long dock, with a light at the end, visible from Gatsby's mansion.This mansion was demolished in the 1960s and the estate made into new smaller houses. Pembroke, The Estate of Marcus Loew at Glen Cove, New York The palatial mansion of Marcus Loew at Glen Cove Long Island, often thought to be the scene of the wild 1920s Jazz Age parties that Fitzgerald attended and severed as the inspiration for Gatsby's parties. Pembroke from the waterside, Pembroke was the estate and mansion of Marcus Loew, who gave wild 1920's Jazz Age parties, many thought to be the inspiration for the parties of Jay Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about in, The Great Gatsby" Aerial of Pembroke in later years. The scene of many parties during the Great Gatsby Era, many thought to be the kind of parties that Jay Gatsby gave in, "The Great Gatsby". Click HERE to see the location and site today. If you are interested in viewing more Mansions of the Gilded Age, please friend, Gilded Age Mansions on Facebook and also ask to join the group, Mansions of the Gilded Age for comments, movies, recommended books and great places to visit from America's Gilded Age. Please also visit my other blog, Houses of the Hamptons Below are some other mansions from the Gatsby era, some still standing, but most long gone. Please search this blog for more stories about these estates and mansions plus other Long Island Gatsby Mansions.

Both Monte Cristo hotels were built during boom times for the city — the 1890s and the 1920s.

The status of affairs in America in the years following the First World War spawned a generation of authors termed “the lost generation.” In response to the political and social atmosphere of the United States these authors sought cultural...

A selection on Augustus Sherman's photographs of immgrants passing through Ellis Island on their way to new lives in the United States.

. the "boys" of Bright Young Things Stefan of Architect Design is a favourite daily read, always a fresh perspective. Read his blog here. Stefan writes of one of his Devastating Beauties picks: "Stephen Tennant and the 'boys' from the bright young things. Cecil Beaton as a young man was really beautiful. Not conventional: I mean MEN who could turn the eyes of anyone who walked by, male or female, which is what made them so DEVASTATING! They were so new at the time, bringing in the roaring 20s androgony that remains popular to this day." "I LOVE the group shot at Cap Ferrat of some of the bright young things, cecil beaton is on the far left, (looking far more stylish than anyone ever has a right to be), stephen tennant, zita Jungman, Edith Olivier and Rex Whistler follow."-Stefan Architect Design .

Mathilde de Morny’s scandalous life and aristocratic background proved an irresistible combination for contemporary writers; she appears thinly disguised in numerous works of fiction, though …

Explore Atlanta History Center's 1525 photos on Flickr!

After the pomp and circumstance of a presidential visit today, Pullman will become Chicago's first national monument, a towering achievement for supporters who have spent decades trying to get this...

The life of Tsuguharu Foujita reads like a long lost Wes Anderson movie — and looks like one, too. The expat artist arrived in Paris from Japan in the 1920s, and with his prim bowl cut, button-ups, tiny spectacles (and curious passion for cats), his eccentricity made him the crème de la crème of the

MSU officials said Stephen S. Nisbet's KKK membership card was discovered at a library at Central Michigan University.

While the lido was described as bringing “modernism to the masses” on the British coast it was just the latest example of a trend that had been developing since Victorian times – transforming seaside towns into resorts for leisure and entertainment. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the fashion was for local authorities to build great piers stretching from the promenade out into the sea. The Eastbourne Pier, pictured here in May 1931, was erected between 1866 and 1870 to an ingenious design by Eugenius Birch, which saw the structure sitting on special cups allowing the supporting struts to “move” in bad weather. Arranged on the pier's 1,000-foot length were kiosks, a theatre, a ballroom and a camera obscura. 1931. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Leeds showing new Town Hall – September 1933. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Bush House, Kingsway and the British Museum, Westminster, 1946 With the grand façade of the British Museum just visible in the top left, the central London transport artery of the Kingsway is picked out here in strong shadow running down to the monolithic Bush House office complex. When first opened in July 1925 – at a construction cost of £2 million.– Bush House was declared the most expensive building in the world. Originally built for an Anglo- American trading organisation headed by a man called Irving T Bush, its huge size soon saw other firms leasing office space – including Aerofilms. In 1932, Francis Wills oversaw the rental of 1,000 square feet of the basement of Bush House to accommodate the company drawing offices, darkrooms, and, most important of all, the vast photo library. 1946. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) St Paul’s Cathedral sits seemingly untouched at the centre of a scene of urban devastation. At the height of the Blitz, London’s largest religious monument was transformed into a symbol of resolve, resilience and hope. Winston Churchill was keenly aware of the role that Christopher Wren’s Renaissance masterpiece could play in maintaining national morale and pride, and he issued the order that ‘the cathedral must be preserved at all costs’. Patrols monitored the building day and night, with fire fighters on constant standby. Despite mass incendiary bombing raids on central London – including an attack on the night of 29 September 1940, which saw the lead in the roof of the Cathedral’s dome begin to melt after a direct hit – St Paul’s remained standing. The media used imagery of the building as potent propaganda, with the famous BBC war correspondent Ernie Pyle going as far as describing it as ‘a picture of some miraculous figure that appears before peace-hungry soldiers on a battlefield’. Pyle used the building’s survival to allude rather neatly to a collective spirit of fortitude: ‘St Paul’s was surrounded by fire, but it came through.’ This symbolism remained just as important after the War. In this photograph from 2 June 1947, Aerofilms captured a perfect image of the cathedral as a source of inspiration to begin the rebuilding process – both in London, and in Britain as a whole. 1947. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) The Times weather forecast for 12 August 1947 advised that a ridge of high pressure had moved in over the British Isles, and that ‘it will be fair and fine or warm’. Just like the thousands of holidaymakers shown here spread out across nearly every grain of the Ramsgate Sands, Aerofilms were keen followers of the weather. Clear skies and bright sunlight provided optimal conditions for aerial photography and, particularly in the summer months, almost guaranteed that a flight to the coast would offer up iconic, postcard-friendly shots of the British seaside experience. 1947. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) The Houses of Parliament, River Thames and the Festival of Britain South Bank Site, 1951. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Weekend crowds throng Sandford Park Swimming Pool in Cheltenham in May 1947. First opened in 1935, the Park's massive baths, which measured 165 by 90 feet and held over 498,000 gallons of water, stayed in use throughout the Second World War. Despite a German bomb smashing the paddling pool – seen here on the right of the image – in July 1942, Sandford Park remained extremely popular with the townspeople and visitors, recording some 90,000 admissions each year over the course of the conflict. These attendances may well have been helped by the government's wartime introduction of “double summer time”, which saw the clocks being put forward two hours to allow it to stay light in the south of England until close to midnight. 1947. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) St Paul's Cathedral, London, 1921. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) This remarkable shot of Blackpool Tower and the Winter Gardens was a speculative capture by an Aerofilms photographer and pilot as they navigated England’s north-west coastline in July 1920. Both the Blackpool Gazette and the Radio Times bought the image – most likely to advertise the town and its increasingly famous attractions to prospective tourists. The Winter Gardens first opened in July 1878 as a six-acre pleasure park made up of concert halls, skating rinks and ballrooms. The year this photograph was taken also marked the first ever staging of the Blackpool Dance Festival in the wonderfully grand Empress Ballroom. Partly hidden in the background here is the ‘Big Wheel’, a 220-foot-high ride built by the Winter Gardens as direct competition for the Tower. It remained – literally and metaphorically – in the shadow of its more celebrated counterpart, and was eventually pulled down in June 1929. 1920. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) March 23rd 1929, FA Cup Semi Final between Portsmouth And Aston Villa. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) 1921 photograph of Buckingham Palace and Queen Victoria memorial. Flight restrictions today would make this a near impossibility. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) What at first glance stands out as a stunning view of one of London's most recognisable structures becomes more intriguing on closer examination. Here, Tower Bridge is the site of a chaotic logjam of traffic – caused, perhaps, by what seems to be an accident right at the centre of its span. Newspapers at the time reported the closure of the Rotherhithe Tunnel for road works, with Tower Bridge and the Blackwall Tunnel advised as alternative routes. Despite the novelty of horses and carts mixing in the traffic lanes with motorcars, this eight-decade-old image of London congestion may appear wearily familiar to any modern commuter. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) A Heinkel He111 bomber flies over central London on 7 September 1940 in this shot taken by the Luftwaffe, and found in a German archive of aerial photography seized by the Allies after the War. Visible directly below is one of the city's key targets – the huge industrial complex of the Royal Docks. 1940. (Photo by US National Archives) Wembley Park, Boxing Match between Tommy Gibbons and Jack Bloomfield, 1924 Pictured on 9 August 1924, Wembley Stadium is the somewhat unexpected venue for a boxing match between the American heavyweight Tom Gibbons and his British opponent Jack Bloomfield. The stadium was constructed earlier that year as part of the British Empire Exhibition and was described in glowing terms by the official guidebook: ‘There is not in all England a modern building that can compete with the Empire Stadium in the effect it creates upon the mind of the spectator In a world that has developed so great a devotion to sport there is no arena that can compare with Wembley’s.’ While the bout – which was won easily by Gibbons – drew a crowd of 50,000, this experiment with boxing in the stadium’s wide open spaces was not considered a success. The press reported that the combination of ringside standing room and distant seating failed to create a compelling spectacle or atmosphere, and the fight’s promoter, Major Arnold Wilson, had to file for bankruptcy immediately afterwards. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) The swimming pool on Clacton Pier, Clacton-on-Sea, 1932. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Henley-on-Thames, an Eights race approaches the finish at the Royal Regatta, 1923. Two crews of eights race between the riverbank and a chaotic jumble of spectator boats to approach the finish line of the Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames. First held in 1839, the Regatta has been staged annually ever since – apart from during the two World Wars. This spectacular image from 7 July 1923 – the last day of the Regatta – captures the massed crowds of one of the largest attendances that the event had ever seen. A report in The Times two days later remarked that ‘in the afternoon it was not possible to hire a boat of any description. Trains from Paddington had to be run in duplicate, and the motor traffic was much heavier than ever before.’ 1923. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Traffic Jam, on the way to Epsom Derby 1923. In this photograph of a three-way traffic jam at Fir Tree Road in Banstead in Surrey, taken on the day of the 1923 Epsom Derby, it is easy to see why Alan Cobham saw aviation as the ‘only solution’ to Britain’s ‘road congestion business’. In his autobiography A Time to Fly, Cobham recalled how Francis Wills came up with the idea of flying over Epsom to survey and photograph the worst of the Derby Day jams to help the police plan anti-congestion measures in the future. They even invited a senior officer to go up in an Aerofilms aircraft to direct operations on the ground by radio. As Cobham recalled, this was a qualified success. Unused to aviation, the officer ‘was so horribly sick that he was able to do practically nothing. So the pilot and photographer took over the job, passing messages down to the police on the ground about the traffic situation as it developed, and taking pictures of it at the same time: and the joke is that when they landed the suffering officer was summoned to receive the King’s congratulations Nobody revealed his secret.’ 1923. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Archery at Cowdray House, Easebourne, 1928. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) General view of Aberystwyth showing seafront and town in summer, The dignified seafront of Aberystwyth is captured here in the summer of 1932, with pleasure boats moored on the beach ready to take holidaymakers on trips around Cardigan Bay. This mid-Wales market town enjoyed a sustained tourist boom following the arrival of the railways in the latter half of the nineteenth century – which also coincided with the evolution of the religious ceremony of ‘wakes week’ into a regular summer holiday for industrial workers from the West Midlands. As the nearest seaside resort to the Midlands, Aberystwyth quickly became a popular destination, and was even billed as the ‘Biarritz of Wales’. The Great Western Railway Company promoted the town intensively during the 1930s through a series of eyecatching graphic posters. When Aerofilms toured west Wales in 1932, Aberystwyth was an obvious target for aerial photography to sell on for potential publicity and marketing purposes. 1932. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Piccadilly Circus, Westminster. Pictured here in March 1921 – before the installation of any traffic lights – Piccadilly Circus is a busy throng of pedestrians, horsedrawn carriages, omnibuses and motorcars, all revolving around the aluminium-cast statue of Eros. Even at this fledgling stage in Aerofilms' existence, the company was targeting wellknown sites and landmarks to sell to postcard manufacturers. Early clients for this kind of material included “Ludo Press” – a company that is still in business today – and “LepAerial Travel Bureau”, one of the first ever travel agencies to arrange assenger transport on aircraft. That LepAerial also had an office in Piccadilly Circus was unlikely to be a coincidence. 1921. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”) Crowds line the streets of Edgware Road, Hyde Park Corner and Park Lane for the homecoming procession of Edward Prince of Wales – the future King Edward VIII. 21 June 1922 marked the Prince’s return to London from his “Oriental Grand Tour”, an eight-month sojourn to India, Ceylon, the Philippines, Borneo, Malaysia, Japan and Egypt. The tour was conducted as part of Edward’s role as Britain’s “Empire Ambassador” – although it has subsequently emerged that neither the Prince nor his various hosts were enthusiastic supporters of the trip. The writer E. M. Forster even noted quite bluntly that “scarcely anyone in India wished the Prince of Wales to come” – a sign perhaps of the increasing fragility of the Empire in the aftermath of the First World War. The Prince arrived back in Plymouth on HMS Renown and, after a train journey to Paddington Station, embarked on this elaborate ceremonial procession all the way to the gates of Buckingham Palace. 1922. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”)

"The squalor of Limehouse is that strange squalor of the East which seems to conceal vicious splendour."

Get to know some fierce flappers! As a historical fiction reader, you may tend to prefer one era over others. If you're into the 1920s, this roundup is for you!

GRITTY mugshots of some of the petty criminals roaming the streets of Newcastle in the early 20th century have been brought to life in expert colour for the first time. The series of images taken f…

"Those little virgins, after five minutes you got sick of playing them - to make them more interesting was hard work." ~ Lillian Gish (1893-1993) She must have been working extremely hard to make her role of Mimi in the 1926 movie "La Boheme" more interesting. Her co-star, John Gilbert, became infatuated with her and would mess up his "love scenes" with her during the filming on purpose - just so he could keep kissing her! This is an old photograph from my personal collection.

Gorgeous label for the Manila Hotel phillipines produced in the mid 1930's. I consider this to be one of the rarest labels in the Dan Sweeney series.

(July 24, 1900- March 10,1948) Zelda Sayre was born on July 24, 1900, in Montgomery, Alabama and wanted with all her heart to become a famous ballerina that she later became obsessed with, she often became obsessed easily and even as a child was...