Thomas J. Brown 2

Thomas J. Brown came off the ways in 1962 as Thomas J. Brown.  Here‘s part 1 of this post, from almost a decade ago, and here are many photos since . . .

1962 is the same vintage as this truck, then newly arrived as a grounds truck for a Queens cemetery.  John Glenn went to space for the first time.  The Seattle Space Needle was completed.  And Thomas J. Brown came to the sixth boro.

The Watchtower is now the welcome sign, although the Lady still stands and that arch in the distance still has the same curve.

The Brooklyn Heights piers were active back then as piers, not playing fields.

Only some of the architectural icons existed on the Manhattan skyline when this iconic tugboat came to town.

The icon appearing over the passenger terminal existed in no one’s imagination, and containerization and the cranes to handle containers were on no drawing boards.

The Municipal Building and the Brooklyn Bridge, icons of the day, were already past the half century mark.   Cable Queen, already 10 years old, made the front page of the newspaper in almost exactly the same position. 

 

Thomas J. Brown has certainly worked around these waters for a long time, as Thomas J. Brown.

I’d love to see photos of the sixth boro and the other vessels of the harbor from her first year.   That year was the first for this WYTL, as well. Does anyone know how that restoration is going?  A Kristy Ann Reinauer was built, although she was then called Interstate Transporter–which sounds somewhat like a space vehicle–and but she’s already razor blades.

The vessel locally known today as Empire State VI was launched.  A young Johnny Cash was alive and singing about “Big River.”  Here‘s a much older one singing the same song, and that river is still whisking time away.

All photos of this icon among icons by Will Van Dorp, who puts these other facts about 1962 out there. By the way, that year, the first Walmart AND the first K-Mart opened, and their paths have truly diverged.

And here it is . . . almost last call for votes, polling for the calendar pages.