Well, it’s New Year’s Eve Eve. Just two more days, and we’ll all be cursing ourselves for writing 2011 on our checks.

With just a few hours remaining till the ball drops in Times Square, toasts are raised, and midnight smooches are shared, we thought we’d make a present to the Cladrite community of All Star New Years Dancing Party, an hour-long radio program that originally aired on the Armed Forces Radio Service on December 31st, 1945.

The program, which is hosted by Harry James, features performances from across the country and around the world by such legendary big bands as the Count Basie Orchestra in New York City, Freddy Martin‘s outfit performing from Los Angeles’ Cocoanut Grove night club, Woody Herman and His Orchestra in New Jersey, Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars from Club Zanzibar in Manhattan, and many more.

It’s a fine way to welcome in a brand new year.

All-Star New Year’s Eve Dancing Party—12/31/1945 (1 hr., 4 sec.)

“GIVE THIS LITTLE GIRL A GREAT BIG HANDCUFF”

Give this little girl a big hand. TEXAS GUINAN.

Do you have holiday travel plans that are bringing you to New York City? If so, this 1930s pamphlet from a bus tour company, which comes courtesy of our pal Tim, will have you smiling and sobbing simultaneously (smiling at the charms of a cool bit of ephemera like this; crying at the prices cited compared to what you’ll be paying when you arrive).

Hi-res	Hi-res

Speaking of traveling to NYC, we have an exciting new venture to share with you. As a duly licensed NYC tour guide, we’ve launched a walking tour operation called Avenues and Alleys. These privately booked tours are designed to broaden your horizons as a visitor to the Big Apples, showing you sites and sights you might not otherwise find on your own.

We’re especially excited about our Christmas Tour, which is now available for booking from Friday, Nov. 25 through Thursday, December 22. New York really is the Christmas Capitol of America (if not the world), and on this 90-minute stroll, we’ll show you the sights and share the stories that illustrate the major influence NYC has had on the way Christmas is celebrated here in the United States. You’ll see the classic NYC department stores where so many Christmas traditions were born (and whose windows continue to amaze and delight), including Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, and Saks Fifth Avenue; you’ll see Rockefeller Center with its iconic ice skating rink and breathtaking Christmas tree, not to mention Radio City Music Hall, home since 1933 to the Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes.

You’ll learn why it could be argued that ol’ Santa Claus was born in New York (and if not born, then raised to maturity), about the man who wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas (or did he?), and so much more. And along the way, you’ll enjoy the holiday atmosphere in the town that invented both hustle and bustle.

You can learn much more about us our website (which is also a NYC-centric blog), and we hope you’ll take a moment to “like” our page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And given that we can use all the help we can get in spreading the word about our fledgling operation, please mention us to any friends and family who are NYC-bound for the holidays and beyond.

We’d love the chance to show you—and them—the town!

On a stroll up Fifth Avenue this morning, as the preparations were underway for today’s Veterans Day parade, we came across this beaut of a 1938 Packard. The kind gentleman who owns this beautiful car, a proud veteran of the Vietnam War, admired our vintage garb and insisted on taking a picture of us standing by his car.

After chatting a bit about the car (he’s had it 32 years and has done all the restoring of the car himself), we thanked him for his service and for sharing that lovely auto with us and continued on our way.

Here’s to all those who have served in our nation’s armed forces over the years; we truly appreciate your sacrifice and your service.

Hi-res view

Some months ago, underemployed and frustrated at not landing any of the office jobs we’d pursued, we took the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs tour guide licensing exam.

We hadn’t studied at all—a friend who’d worked in the industry thought we could pass it without too much trouble, and bless his heart, he was right.

But we found it almost as hard to find tour guide work as jobs in our own field—we got hired at one point, but a scheduling issue (and a bonkers, ill-tempered supervisor) caused that offer to go up in flames.

Not before we spent more than twenty hours taking copious notes as we rode the company’s hop-on, hop-off double-decker tour buses during the dog days of late July and August, preparing ourselves for the shifts we thought we were about to come our way.

One story we were intent upon sharing with the tourists who would have boarded our bus, had things come together, was the day in 1945—July 28, it was—when a B-52 aircraft crashed smack dab into the Empire State Building, then the tallest structure in the world.

It’s a remarkable event to consider, really—especially from our current vantage point, given the events of September 11, 2001.

The bomber, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin, Jr., collided with the north face of the skyscraper between the 79th and 80th floors. Fortunately, it was on a Saturday, so the building was relatively empty. Still, 14 people died (including Lt. Col. Franklin and his crew). The fire was put out in 40 minutes, and the building was open and operating again (though some floors were closed, natch) just two days later.

One engine detached from the plane upon impact, traveling through the building and coming out the other side before finally landing on the roof of a building on the next block. The other engine fell down an elevator shaft.

Speaking of falling down an elevator shaft, July 28 proved to be an especially eventful day for one Betty Lou Oliver, a building employee. She was working that Saturday as an attendant on the 80th floor and when the plane struck, she was thrown off her feet and burned badly.

Trauma enough for the most stalwart among us, but it got worse for Betty Lou. Rescue workers got to her and were lowering her to the ground floor in an elevator, but they were unaware that the cables had been weakened due to the crash. The cables snapped and Oliver plunged 75 floors to the basement of the building.

Oliver naturally suffered serious injuries, but she survived and eventually returned to ride the elevator again. One simply must get back on the horse when thrown, we suppose.

We’d never before seen a picture of the Empire State Building after the crash, and were intrigued to come across the one above, which was taken by photographer Ernie Sisto from the 90th floor. It’s said he asked two other newsmen to hang onto his legs as he dangled out the window to get the shot.

We also found the following newsreel footage of interest, and thought you might, too.