Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
zilf/flickr
I'm not sure why the woman is pushing an iron lung. 
|
Is she the dim sum lady?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
Here is snapshot dated Jan. 11, 1935.
Notice the glass blocks embedded in the sidewalks of downtown Los Angeles.
mary hockenbery
I didn't realize until recently that the basements of many of these older buildings
extended under the sidewalks to the edge of the street. |
Oh yes, some of them still do, if I recall correctly.
I remember as a kid being fascinated by the glass blocks in the sidewalk, and back then I never knew what it was for, and I never bothered to ask my parents. And up until this thread, I never thought of them as having a firefighting use, I've always assumed them to be just to allow natural light to enter a basement.
You see glass blocks in some of the sidewalks in Old Town Pasadena, as well as in the historic business district of South Pasadena. In fact, when the city of South Pas decided to redo/beautify the old business district 3 years ago or so, they ran into problems with the glass blocks; they decided to leave them the way they were and just redo the sidewalks around them with new concrete (the original plan was to repave all the sidewalks with brick; the brick was just used for the new bulb-outs they installed).