In 1934, Fearless Thieves Hit the Top of the Washington Monument and Stole the Lightning Rods

During the fall and winter months of 1934, the Washington Monument was prepped for repairs and cleaning, due to cracking at the base. Scaffolding was built around the 550-foot monument to allow the workers to make the repairs with Public Works Administration funding. The restoration lasted 140 days, during which time the Monument remained open to visitors.

National Bureau of Standards engineer William M. Greig (left) and an unidentified man examine the aluminum tip and lighting rods at the top of the Washington Monument in 1934.

Workmen install new platinum lightning rods atop the Washington Monument, Washington, DC.

However, on December 28, 1934, someone scaled the scaffolding to remove 107 of the 170 gold-plated, platinum-tipped lightning rod points from the top of the monument. The points were valued at $8 each, which totaled $856 (about $24,000 in today dollars). That’d buy quite a lot of beer during the Great Depression.

Construction on the Washington Monument began in 1848, and by 1854, it had reached a height of 156 feet (48 meters). Political squabbling and a lack of funds then stalled the project, leaving an unfinished landmark as a national embarrassment for the next 22 years. The structure was finally completed on December 6, 1884, when an aluminum tip was placed atop the capstone—the same section that would be examined 50 years later by National Bureau of Standards engineers.

The 1934 refurbishment with workmen setting larger rods into the copper bar girdle.

Workmen replacing stolen lighting rods, 1934.

The tubular steel scaffolding for the Washington Monument’s 1934-1935 restoration project was the highest ever constructed up to that time. The erection and dismantling of the scaffolding cost three-and-a-half times more than the cleaning, painting and repair work.

Aluminum cap of Washington Monument with lightning rods.

Aluminum cap of Washington Monument with lightning rods.

Aerial view of Washington Monument, ca. 1930s.

Stunning Color Photographs From the Early 20th Century Taken by Paul Sano

Paul Sano (1874-1960) was a general practitioner in Antwerp, whose interest lay in exploring the limits of the Autochrome process, created collages and experimented with multiple exposures and microphotography.

Compared with his friends he also took considerably more stereo autochromes. Early morning in the forest is a good example of what he could achieve with this effect. At first sight one is puzzled by the beautiful composite plate scenes of various flowers and Paul Sano. How did he succeed in photographing 18 different flowers and include his portrait twice as well on one autochrome plate? To achieve this beautiful plate the photographer made use of a multipose camera. A work of meticulous execution!

With lady and inset of solar eclipse Paul Sano created a work in which the stages of life are depicted, the fresh planted seeds at left, the flowering tulips, the old lady and finally the eclipse. There is much to discover in the autochromes of this artist’s work.

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32 Lovely Vintage Photographs of Couples From the 1930s

The Great Depression and World War II bookended the 1930s, but fashion flourished anyway during this decade. Glamorous Hollywood screen stars inspired new looks for women, men, and even children. Inexpensive fabrics, affordable catalog clothing, and homespun ingenuity let anyone copy styles previously worn by the wealthy.

Men still dressed up nice, sporting fedoras and double-breasted overcoats. The boys wore short shorts and tall socks. Women wore dresses and kept their hair close to their head. Makeup was chic and shoulder pads were very important until the late 1930s.

Although hats were still popular for women, they were gradually becoming less popular. Fashion in the 1930s was just as glamorous as the 1920s, just in a different way. Take a look at these vintage photos to see styles of couples from the 1930s.

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Happy April Fools’ Day!

April Fools’ Day is not a national holiday, but it is celebrated in the United States and many other countries. It is sometimes known as All Fools’ Day. Anyone who wants to have fun can celebrate the day.

(Image courtesy of Robert E. Jackson)

Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

24 Black and White Photos of Cypress Gardens in the 1950s

Opened in 1936 by Dick Pope, Sr. and his wife Julie Downing Pope, Cypress Gardens may have been Florida’s first ‘Theme Park.’ After decades of changing ownership and financial troubles, the park was re-opened in 2011 as Legoland Florida, retaining some of the original theme and gardens, but from the 1940s through 2003, Cypress Gardens was dubbed the ‘Waterski Capital of the World’.

Southern belles, water ski stunts, bathing beauties, swimsuits, this collection of black and white photos from The Nurenberg Photographic Archive that offers a nice glimpse into 1950s Cypress Gardens.

Swimsuit group

Swimsuit group

Boat ski jump

Boat ski jump

Couple ski

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March 31, 1889: The Eiffel Tower Is Opened

The Eiffel Tower was built to be the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. Construction was started by Gustave Eiffel’s company in January 1887 and completed in March 1889.

On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s designer, and attended by French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, a handful of other dignitaries, and 200 construction workers.

At the opening of the World’s Fair, the elevators were not completed, however, so Gustave Eiffel ascended the tower’s stairs with a few hardy companions and raised an enormous French tricolor on the structure’s flagpole. Fireworks were then set off from the second platform. Eiffel and his party descended, and the architect addressed the guests and about 200 workers. In early May, the Paris International Exposition opened, and the tower served as the entrance gateway to the giant fair.

The Eiffel Tower remained the world’s tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition’s 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world’s premier tourist attractions.

Crowds walking under the base of the Eiffel Tower while attending the Universal Expostion in Paris, 1889, looking toward the Central Dome.

Black and white photograph taken during the Exposition Universelle (1889) from the Champ-de-Mars towards the Trocadero palace (1878) showing the Monumental fountain (1889) in the foreground, the Eiffel Tower arch and, on the right hand, the main entrance of thePalace of Fine-Arts. The striped tents on both sides of the Champ-de-Mars, typical for the 1889 exposition and the Palace of Fine Arts were destroyed after the event.

View from the Eiffel Tower on the central dome on the Champ de Mars, 1889.

March 31, 1889: Eiffel Tower is opened in Paris. Built for the Exposition Universelle, at 300m high it retained the record for the tallest man made structure for 41 years.

40 Stunning Photos of Marilyn Maxwell in the 1940s and ’50s

Born 1921 in Clarinda, Iowa, American actress and entertainer Marilyn Maxwell started her professional entertaining career as a radio singer and a singer on stage with Ted Weems’ big band while still a teenager, then she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1942 as a contract player.

Among the radio programs in which Maxwell appeared were Beat the Band and The Abbott and Costello Show. Some of her film roles included Lost in a Harem (1944) with Abbott and Costello, Champion (1949) with Kirk Douglas, The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) with Bob Hope, New York Confidential (1955) with Broderick Crawford, and Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) with Jerry Lewis. The popular Christmas song “Silver Bells” made its debut in The Lemon Drop Kid, sung by Maxwell and Hope.

Maxwell appeared twice as a singer in the second season (1955–1956) of The Jimmy Durante Show. She appeared as the mystery guest of ‘What’s My Line’ 10th of May 1953. At one point, a blind-folded panelist asked whether or not she was Marilyn Monroe.

Maxwell was found dead in 1972 in her home, at age of 50, by her 15-year-old son, who had arrived home from school. The cause was an apparent heart attack. These stunning photos captured portraits of a young and beautiful Marilyn Maxwell in the 1940s and ’50s.

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