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A real picture of what NY City Street used to be like before cars

archives.gov — Full of carriages and horses....

Bury
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  • Error601, on 10/10/2007, -3/+201So, basically the same but more horse crap than human crap.
    • Anrkist, on 10/10/2007, -5/+80I hate it when people beat me to a poop joke.
    • BrutusCirrus, on 10/10/2007, -4/+71Feels like *****, eh?
      • mortigon, on 10/10/2007, -4/+25Yea, it stinks.
        • Jeffler, on 10/10/2007, -6/+10Aww crap, I can't think of anything witty :(
        • Thefascist, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7I see a woman and a man walking with a little girl between them holding their hands, and a cop helping an old lady cross the street.
        • Erik1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2A real bummer.
      • debuggercll, on 10/10/2007, -11/+6That's what she said.
    • lordmetroid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Yes. horse ***** everywhere and it was causing diseases. You know, cars became popular in the cities because it was much cleaner.
    • j0hnc0ry, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9And what's more crap is that in the middle of the picture there is a car. Either that or an invisible horse.
    • Nerfdude, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3sure enough, there's a car coming down the lane facing the camera.
    • caponumen, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1There were MOUNTAINS of horse crap.
    • WhiteIce89, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Oh there was quite a bit of human crap too. There was no plumbing in many cases, especially in the tenement housing, so people would fling their crap from the window.
  • bitterg, on 10/10/2007, -16/+7It just doesn't seem right to see buggies filling NYC streets.
    • nhassan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11um, go to central park, near the 5th ave. apple store, bunch of horses and whatnot there.
  • crashbang, on 10/10/2007, -3/+116Can you imagine NYC about mid-August with that much ***** on the streets? The funkatude would be off the meter.
    • mrgreenjeans, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17And the lack of deodorant?
    • JackyAppleJones, on 10/10/2007, -10/+44I can imagine that, actually. It's called the GOP national convention.
      • malkiholic, on 10/10/2007, -7/+5Yes, the combo of ***** from MSG and tear gas from the cops was quite overwhelming on the senses.
      • UtopiaInTheSky, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Zing!
    • Morphinity, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7Funkatude?
      • praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -2/+1You see, when something is really smelly it can be considered as having "the funk".
        • whiterussian, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3And it will be scientifically recorded using a Funkometer.
  • arraz, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Others aspect compared to the earlier Park Street picture.
  • Incom, on 10/10/2007, -27/+13This must be new for those who never opened a high school American history book.
    • scott12087, on 10/10/2007, -5/+42Or, you know, those who didn't go to high school in America. Welcome to the Internet, a very International place where assumptions that the whole world is american will be shot down.
      • Pureeviljester, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9got em!
      • RenZ87, on 10/10/2007, -8/+7Why are they in digg.com then, shouldn't they be in digg.co.uk or digg.cn or digg.whatever country they're from.

        /kidding
        • Jeffler, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11....shouldn't this be digg.us then?
          • tech42er, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6DIdn't you get the memo. '.com' == '.us' ;)
          • specialK16, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3No, 'everything' == 'us'
    • stephenslm, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5Um, yeah.. I know public schools down in the South (where I live) focus on their state history, with a broad look at what went on throughout the world. This picture is something I have never seen before, and wouldn't have unless I was brought up living in the north.
  • DiggsOnlyJew, on 10/23/2007, -12/+267Please, trade in your car for a horse. Do you realize the environmental impact of the entire nation or world owning horses. They ***** 9 tons of manure each year, that's about 50 pounds a day. You also have to stockpile their ***** and you can't have it close to any water sources, so anyone living in rural areas with a well wouldn't have a place for that, if the water source comes near the stockpile, all local water sources will be contaminated. Then you have to worry about feeding your ***** horse, which requires approximately 25-30 pounds of dry food per day and we have to clear out significantly more land for farms to accomodate for our 300 million new horses (there are approximately 5.5 million horses in the United States) which in turn will destroy the environment and ecosystem as it is. Not only that, but your dumbass ***** horse can only go about 9 mph for 25 miles before having to break, it would take me over 3 hours to get to work which is 30 miles away from where I live instead of the 30 minutes it takes right now. So instead of an hour of driving every day, I'd have 6 hours of riding and 2 hours of ***** stockpiling and 2 hours of feeding my ***** factory. Not only this but I have to build an accomodation so it can ***** all day, and buy a ridiculous amount of feed and have more land... but I guess I wouldn't care about money at this point since I spend 10 hours of my non-working day taking care of my crappy horse.

    We have technology for a reason and the environmental impact of 300 million horses, and 300 million horse pens and 2.7 billion tons of horse ***** every year would be absurd...
    • jledesma, on 10/10/2007, -11/+28lmao!!! this is one of the best comments i have ever read ....
      "2 hours of feeding my ***** factory"
      LMAO!
    • consoneo, on 10/10/2007, -3/+61Can I vote this for best comment ever?
    • Twinked, on 10/10/2007, -3/+29***** CLASSIC!! I had to login just to Digg this comment. Thanks for the late afternoon laugh.
    • mortigon, on 10/10/2007, -9/+5I don't know who that was directed to, but it was awesome
    • Charlatan22, on 10/10/2007, -5/+42im curious as to how the horse eats 25-30 lbs of food a day yet manages to ***** 50 lbs a day?
      • bsolidgold, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3Dangit, you beat me to it... I was wondering the same thing.
      • bsonline, on 10/10/2007, -0/+26The food isn't dry when it comes back out. The water has weight, also.
      • gbarger, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1425-30 lbs of dry food. That doesn't include grass or water intake which would certainly come out.
      • rrbest, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1330 lbs dry food + water = 50 pounds of wet *****.
      • Rileyper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11best conversation on digg EVER!!!!
    • pigasus08, on 10/10/2007, -15/+3Pure revisionism. “Everybody in the past was stupid, but I’m smarter than them.” Waste of bandwidth.
      • ShinRaTDR, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1LOL how is it revisionism to comment on a picture. Relax. People on digg are so wound up (although its not hard to see why).
    • AKron, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4That sure reminds me of heating my home:
      Find wood
      Cut wood down
      Survive
      Cut wood smaller
      Split wood smaller
      Load into trailer
      Unload onto pile at home
      Load it into the garage
      Carry it downstairs
      Burn it. Hmmmmm.... Warm.....
      Clean out ashes
      Move ashes upstairs
      Move ashes to landfill
      Look for pre-cut wood at land fill
      Repeat
    • UtopiaInTheSky, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3Quite possibly the best Digg comment I've ever read. Props.
    • DeskFlyer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7This comment is bash.org worthy.
    • Frejesal, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2ROFL!!!!
      "Dumbass ***** horse."
      You rock.
    • partsguy74, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1DiggsOnlyJew is my new #1 friend on Digg.
    • jacen, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Wow.... absolutely funny and completely analytical at the same time. One of the best comments I have ever seen.
    • ivanomak, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2By far the best comment I have read on Digg..
    • transcendz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Horses are not the only alternative to cars : feet and bike could be used for most of your moves through town, IMO. BTW, you should try to give the same analysis to humans, how much energy we use just for basic things, in our modern way of life. That would be fair to horses ;-)
    • travis712, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Damn, jews really can tell jokes.
  • DiggsOnlyNeoCon, on 10/10/2007, -12/+42Eat it, treehugger.
  • loganhid, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18what? Black and White
    • 007brendan, on 04/12/2008, -0/+1Yeah, the world didn't turn color until the mid 1980s
  • brianbb98, on 10/10/2007, -6/+17omg.. a REAL picture???
    • Guroom, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Don't kid yourself - this is BS - I can totally see the pixelation - this was photoshopped!

      :)
    • RenZ87, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11You mean it was enhance with Adobe Photosh... nevermind.
      • postitnote, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1It was Photosh'd. I think I just came up with a new word.

        Tosh'd.
  • lyg82, on 10/10/2007, -5/+17if the horse in front took a *****, was that considered an accident?
  • 10goto10, on 10/10/2007, -1/+29A lotta horsepower back in the day
  • Joe_rigby, on 10/10/2007, -6/+24As opposed to a fake picture of what NY city street looked like before cars.
    • sloppychris, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13As opposed to an unrepresentative picture posted yesterday. Hilarious, though.
  • skatastrophy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11People sure wore a whole lot of black back then...
    • positron, on 10/10/2007, -10/+3Personally I like the idea of everyone wearing nice suits, dresses, and the like rather than the mass-produced slobbery we see daily on the streets in the modern world. It showed respect, for both oneself and for others; a much more civil era in many ways.

      When I Was Still Growing Up
      And Dad Head Off To Work
      He Put Coat And Tie On
      Over Fitted Shirt

      Nothing Else Will Fit Right
      Or Seems So Directly Applied
      Than Fitted Shirt Hung On Me
      Fitted Shirt Alright

      I Long For The Days
      They Used To Say
      Ma’am And Yes Sir
      For Now I’m Going To Find
      Buttons For My
      Dad’s Old Used Shirt

      Fitted Shirt
      Fitted Shirt

      Been Looking So Long Now
      And No One’s Seen And No One Heard
      But When I Go Out Tonight
      I’m Going To Put On A Fitted Shirt

      One Day It’ll Take
      And They’ll Start To Make
      Shirts That Fit Right
      Til Then I Suppose
      I Still Got Dad’s Clothes
      And That’s Alright

      Fitted Shirt
      Fitted Shirt
      • mikev, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2wtf
      • ShinRaTDR, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2God damnit, more diggspam from the Fitted Shirt people. ***** YOU I DON'T WANT YOUR CRAPPY SHIRTS.
    • skyfire1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3The world was black and white back then. - Calvin's Dad
  • hhhmethu, on 10/10/2007, -5/+5Looks a lot worse than it is now, it's kind of weird to say that...
  • real, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1yeah hmmm this is well I can see this anytime.
  • Paranoidmarvin, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3Full of carriages and horses....

    and horse *****
  • Phatrician, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2YAY! Pictures!!
  • caseodilla, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5i wonder if parallel parking is hard to do in a buggy...
    • hulez, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1do you really wonder? or are you making a joke? if you wanna make a joke say
      < JOKE >THATSSS MY MUMMMAA< /JOKE >
  • neilbaylor, on 10/10/2007, -1/+20he probably should have mentioned that this picture is in response to this:
    http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/cars_a_scourge.php
  • inurb, on 10/10/2007, -2/+36That pic must have been taken with a real crappy camera phone.
    • po43292, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Yeah their camera phones back then sucked.
      • ShinRaTDR, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1That was SUCH a great addition, because I totally couldn't figure out that joke without you.
  • JJsays, on 10/10/2007, -7/+6millions of digg democrats just collectively started rocking back an forth chanting yes, yes, yes.....
  • danconia, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10So did they have government-funded people who picked up the leftover ***** or did the bums just collect those like they do cans today?
  • 7Mystery, on 10/10/2007, -8/+0At least accidents weren’t fetal.
    • nonnald, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8your mom had a fetal accident
    • UrinalPooper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5People have been having fetal accidents since the dawn of man... of course way back then, the lambskin sheathes were far less reliable.
  • GodofAtheism, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1This is news?
  • MonkeyFarts, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6No wonder they weren't as technologically advanced as we are today. Instead of getting anything done, everybody was just horsing around!
  • chillmandan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20New York before the car was a city of candy cane forests and gum drop mountains.
  • eyefork, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12"Nobody drives in New York, theres too much traffic"
  • KasraRahjerdi92, on 10/10/2007, -13/+8Cars are the worst thing to happen to America. Back in the day, people used to travel across country with wagons and oxen. Hell, they even made video games about it (see oregon trail). Now, why can't we return to those days? Riding in a car doesn't give you the same satisfaction as riding in a bumpy wagon with wooden wheels. Plus, you would look a lot cooler doing something that not everyone else is doing (how many people do you see riding in a car compared to riding in a wagon?) I have been trying to wear tight pants to fit into the trend, but if I had a covered wagon then I would be the trendsetter.
    • roaryyyj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Why not become Amish?
    • jlharrity, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0While it would be cool, it's terrible for the environment and general cleanliness. By cool I just mean horses are more fun than cars. If we could make a horse that didn't eat anything, exhale, or defecate, we'd be set.
  • Bravocowboy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4And I thought there was a lot of ***** after a parade.
    • transcendz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Yes, but nobody did eat that *****. With cars, we must breath it.
  • starshinecruzer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I can't get over the volume of people walking. The pic looks like the turn of the Century, so it predates extensive subway systems. You can even see where they're finishing one of those Pre-Incometax Robber-Baron paid-for Mansions. ;)
  • markp93, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10Disgusting... "In 1880, New York City removed 15,000 dead horses from its streets."

    from ( http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/578.html )

    cars seem so much better, relatively.


    • Humptydank, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Even worse, that was just most of them. In the poorest of neighborhoods, like the Lower East Side, they would be left to rot. In the Library of Congress collection there's a turn-of-the-century photograph of children playing next to one. A car up on blocks just isn't the same thing...
    • transcendz, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Even more disgusting : how many babies, child and old persons suffering from toxic air ? Of course, dead or rotting horses are bad, it's obvious, but do you think that CO2 and other gases spread by cars are that clean ? It's not because you don't see them that they don't exist.
  • vcleniuk, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Still looks like a traffic jam.
  • trimpton, on 10/10/2007, -4/+5We really haven't evolved our transportation much since then - shame.
  • NickDG, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Yeah, with a butcher, barber, and shoemaker every few blocks. Employment for all and no big box stores. We were better off without cars. And's what's a little *****?
  • zadadka, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7.....and a few years later : http://www.archives.gov/research/american-cities/images/american-cities-108.jpg
  • mrhaines, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Doesn't actually seem to be that many carriages. More people walking.
  • randomhero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5where the hell is everyone going too?
  • dgh1973, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Yeah, almost makes you wonder, there must have been horse ***** all over the place back then.
  • UrinalPooper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Everyone's talking about the horses, look at the people traffic. It looks like they're lined up to see Ozzy. Back then he could still hit those high notes...
  • Rodman930, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2This is neither NEWS nor OFFBEAT.
  • shotmonkey, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3Fake. I can tell by the pixels. Trust me, I've seen a lot of 'shops in my time.
    • ozziegt, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Fake, on the National Archives' website? riiiigghht. Looks like the youtube asshat crowd is making their way to digg
      • DscHmi3, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1...and the usual Digg crowd that can't detect sarcasm at all is still here in force.
    • SystemError51, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0You have the tutorial handy to create stunning 19th century illusions? =D
  • LucasKane, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2When I invent my time machine I will check it out
    • jamesonwhiskey, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0When you invent?.... this was taken using the latest in CMOS sensor technology. The latest model (now available at Costco for $1,299 body only) allows you to adjust the shutter speed to a -84 years. It actually takes the picture as the image would appear in 1923. Seriously..you should read some of the reviews on cnet.com.
  • eatsushi, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2is that a sbarro's I see???
  • CIAVT, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8I hope in 100 years the future version of digg has a headline:
    What NYC Streets looked like in 2007 [PIC]

    And the comments start out with:

    Wait, are those cars? When did we get rid of those things again?
  • dalith15, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Where's Waldo?
  • huwgr, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1zoom in/out of the picture: http://yourzoom.s3.amazonaws.com/american-cities-101.jpg.reimg/index.html
    • neilpan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1wtf? firefox does have an option to zoom in / out...
  • pezoamo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1it makes a great desktop backround
  • tehjarvis, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3And despite all the horse *****, it was still cleaner back then.
    • Humptydank, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I agree that it takes away all the fun of shooting from the hip, but you might give self-education a try. Here's a nice place to start:

      http://www.tlcarchive.org/htm/framesets/living_city/fs_dev.htm

      It's an article that details how incredibly filthy New York was in the 1880's to the turn of the century. If you're not a reader, it even has a slide show that has a picture of a large cart stuck in street garbage.
    • Humptydank, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1.
  • diggtochina, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1those are cars *****
  • bscene, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1did you get this from an early version of Google street view?
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