What’s sweeter than a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge under bright blue Kodachrome skies? That bridge and those skies on top of a large stack of even more vintage New York City shots from the early 1940s, when the boys all wore suits and hats and a hot potato cart was just around the Clinton Street corner. Before the irreplaceable Kodachrome film processing went extinct, amateur photographer Charles Weever Cushman donated his collection of 14,500 color slides to Indiana University. The images were shot all around the world between 1938 to 1969, but these captures of early 1940s Manhattan — spotted by How to Be a Retronaut — are just incredible. See McSorley’s Old Ale House looking nearly as it does now, olde timey sailors sauntering about on Fleet Week and other nostalgia-inducing scenes in our gallery.
Charles Weever Cushman. Looking up into the Financial District from South Ferry. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Residents of lower Clinton Street near the East River, Saturday afternoon. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Three bums from South Ferry flophouses. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Lower Hudson, with Manhattan’s skyscrapers. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Portable soft drink stand at Bowling Green. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. On New York’s Lower East Side, lower Clinton Street. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Wall Street toward Trinity Church. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Hot sweet potatoes. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Lower East Side, corner of Broome Street and Baruch Place, Saturday afternoon. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. South Street along the East River front. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. 7th Street between 3rd & 2nd. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. S. O. Building from the Battery. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Collecting the salvage on the Lower East Side. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. Stores near the corner of Broome Street and Baruch Place, Lower East Side. Courtesy Indiana University
Charles Weever Cushman. East River below the Brooklyn Bridge. Courtesy Indiana University