The Homeless Men of 1941
Recently, a series of photographs from the Charles W. Cushman Collection were featured on the Daily Mail online. The photos were taken on a fancy color Kodachrome camera from 1941 to 1942 in New York City. The collection depicted both the city and its people during the time in American history after the Great Depression and during World War II. The above photo and its caption immediately caught my attention and I found myself asking the important question:
“Why are these homeless men so fucking hot?”
These 1941 homeless men are dressed better than most moderate to high salaried men in America today. I could name fourteen of my friends that would make out with these vintage homeless men right now. And that doesn’t include Rachel, who once actually brought a homeless guy to her house.
I wish I could go back in time and tell them, “No! Don’t give up hope, homeless men of the South Ferry doss houses! Invent a time machine and go to the year 2011 where the majority of men wear dirty Hooters t-shirts and those black, shiny shoes they wear on The Jersey Shore, and you will score a cute dame and she will take care of you and give you food and an automobile and a phone that you can take with you anywhere. And you’ll probably be featured on The Sartorialist! Oh, it’s just this website. Nevermind. I am so not explaining what computers are right now.”
In my defense, Michael Matters was wearing a red Adidas track suit with white kicks…