The Deleted Scenes - When A Hut Was A Home
For this piece I have to credit Brownstone Detectives, a blog/social media account that tells the stories of various, seemingly nondescript buildings in New York City. In one of their latest posts, they wrote about Quonset huts in Brooklyn. Typically, when we think of postwar housing, we think of Levittown and other developments featuring small but modern houses. However, in the immediate postwar period, there was an acute housing crunch, and Brooklyn, under the reign of Robert Moses, found a quick, temporary, stopgap solution. The city erected neighborhoods of Quonset huts—the simple metal domed-roof structures commonly used as storage sheds, barracks, and offices, which were in surplus following the war—and set them up with doors and windows to be little homes. As odd as they might look, it’s basically the same concept and floorplan as a trailer or mobile home. Go look at the pictures in the blog post. Here and here are a couple of other pictures. It’s a really neat bit of historical trivia, and there’s even the uncanny use of the seemingly modern term “housing crisis” from a 1946 newspaper article. We understood in that time that obviously the solution was to get new and more housing units online, fast. Today we shrug.
More:
Read the whole thing. They note that a number of these are still extant, but I couldn’t find any other ones on my own Google Maps exploring, so here’s the address the blog gives where there are a couple of these surviving huts, presumably—though not with absolute certainty—from the World War II era, and perhaps even once residential homes: However, that imagery is from 2014. Here’s the same corner today: They were likely just torn down, but perhaps they were picked up and moved. Here’s the view right across the street, today: I’m sure there are many more of these, scattered around the city, some of them probably obscured or even enclosed in other structures. You never know what’s behind a facade. When you think about it, a big part of cities, cultures, and traditions is really something like temporary things ending up permanent. No problem there. Related Reading: What Do You Think You’re Looking At? #28 What Do You Think You’re Looking At? #20 Thank you for reading! Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekly subscribers-only piece, plus full access to the archive: over 1,000 pieces and growing. And you’ll help ensure more like this! You're currently a free subscriber to The Deleted Scenes. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
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Live And Let Fry
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
My defense of "churro ladies", home-based businesses, and small-scale commerce ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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New and Old #165
Friday, June 7, 2024
Friday roundup and commentary ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Living On The Edge
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Does density belong in the exurbs? ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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