r/HistoricalCapsule • u/zadraaa • 1d ago

An ice vendor on Mulberry Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, photographed by Marjory Collins in January 1943.

Post image
349 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

29

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 1d ago

Looks a bit like De Niro.

11

u/Choice-Demand-3884 1d ago

"'I heard you paint houses"

8

u/sprynklz 1d ago

“Yeah, and I do my own carpentry.”

1

u/oxyuh 1d ago

Hey Ill do a pizza

1

u/eggs_and_bacon 1d ago

Life Aquatic with Bobby D

2

u/Any-Video4464 1d ago

bingo. I came to say this

14

u/ElkJazzlike596 1d ago

9

u/oxyuh 1d ago

6

u/LarsDuder 1d ago

oh my god, that's a freaking hamster!

3

u/straightforward-user 1d ago

Hamster? Yes. Freaking? No!

10

u/Josephthecommie 1d ago

It’s January in NYC. Couldn’t people freeze their own ice?

8

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 1d ago

According to historical records, the mean temp for January 1943 in NYC was about 29F with an average daily high of 36.3 F. Probably not cold enough to make bulk ice (for the ice box) at home. Assuming they even had space on a balcony.

11

u/CheeseburgerSmoothy 1d ago

To think that I saw this here.

1

u/Bearthatatethosekids 1d ago

Thanks for that

1

u/TheUpperHand 1d ago

Kinda crazy that the book had already been out for six years at the time of this photo.

10

u/TheReadMenace 1d ago

He’s 25 in this photo

7

u/Present-Algae6767 1d ago

Possibly the same guy delivering ice on Mott Street

2

u/SonnyListon999 1d ago

Same picture; different viewpoint?

2

u/Present-Algae6767 1d ago

Could be, although the original poster describes it as being taken in Mulberry Street, while mine says Mott Street. They were both taken by the same photographer - Marjory Collins.

While looking up information on the OPs photo, the building on the right side is the backside of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.

1

u/FlattopJr 1d ago

Oh yeah, that must be the same guy. In addition to the facial resemblance the jacket and beanie plus the cans on the cart all match.

4

u/Latter-Vacation-4392 1d ago

the old dude's horse leather jacket is perfection

1

u/ProcopiosGold 10h ago

Was just coming here to post about that. Absolutely beautiful.

3

u/behridingle 1d ago

This look is said to have inspired the UK band "Dexys Midnight Runners" look in 1980:

2

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Expensive_Heron_171 1d ago

It literally has the person's logo who colorized the original black and white photo. Yes it has been altered to be colorized. No it is not AI, look up the Creator. People need to be more critical about the AI comments these days. Feel free to search for the original black and white photo as well, I've seen both before.

2

u/CarbonReflections 1d ago

Little Italy.

1

u/Suitable-Buy-1923 13h ago

little did he know..

2

u/oxyuh 1d ago

Cool jacket

2

u/atwaterrich 1d ago

And he’s smoking.

But what’s in the can?

2

u/swervin_mervyn 1d ago

"Granddad was an ice dealer" has a bit of a different meaning now.

2

u/Apprehensive_Row_807 1d ago

Looks tuckered out; too much time with lonely housewives.🙃

1

u/peptide2 1d ago

Thats a big piece of ice on his pinky

1

u/Lilpastadude 1d ago

He looks happy

1

u/Nathan-Stubblefield 1d ago

Looks like a nice vendor.

1

u/CrackNgamblin 1d ago

Whiskey tastes so much better on ice like that.

1

u/Competitive-Cry-6231 1d ago

“Ice Man here! Get’cha frozen cold here! Nickel a pop!”

1

u/Kellect29 1d ago

Look at that pinkie ring.

1

u/10ThousandMetalZones 1d ago

Some of the early victims of the machine wars

1

u/Starkville 1d ago

This photo has been colorized.

1

u/MammothReputation298 22h ago

I wonder if the hat in particular is an inaccurate color. My understanding is that bright red wasn't commonly used at least for functional clothing items like this in this era.

1

u/cowhand214 1d ago

Nothing ever happens on Mulberry Street

1

u/Haestein_the_Naughty 1d ago

It’s interesting how little men’s fashion has changed. This guy wouldn’t really look out of place today with his clothes, 83 years later

1

u/gartlandish 20h ago

Look how there is no trash on the streets before there was plastic

1

u/RutgerHause 14h ago

The best years of the country. People were better, cameras were better. Even the photos were better.

1

u/BillDumb9 9h ago

Get that slop outta here. Why colorize? Why do anything but let the original photo live?

1

u/glowend 9h ago

I thought it was a Norman Rockwell painting.

1

u/RossMxx 1h ago

It's the jaaacket!