Last week I wrote about the images in the Autrey’s scrapbook that were taken at Girard College in Philadelphia, the only plausible Rice connection I could think of. Today I unapologetically offer just a wee taste of other wonders contained on those pages that have nothing at all to do with Rice history. The scrapbook documents a 1912 family trip to the cities of the northeast. Someone brought along a pretty good camera and put it to good use, photographing many places and scenes that are still well known today. The combination of familiarity and strangeness is arresting and my reaction to seeing them the first time was something like shock.
The Atlantic City boardwalk:
Boston Garden:
The Hotel Astor, Times Square area. I don’t know what’s there now, but I do know this is long gone:
It looks like the Autreys left the northeast by ship, sailing down to Key West (I somehow neglected to scan any images taken there) and from there to Cuba before heading home to Galveston. There are several pages of pictures taken in Havana, mostly unlabeled. This looks to be Havana Cathedral:
This is my favorite of the whole bunch –the first game of the 1912 World Series at the Polo Grounds! If I recall correctly this would have been a brand new stadium, the earlier iteration having burned in, I think, 1911. It was a great series, maybe one of the greatest. This looks like the ceremonial first pitch–but there’s someone in the batter’s box:
Bonus: Signs of life.
