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PHOTO COLLECTION

When Christmas Joy Was Hand-Crafted

SANTA BROUGHT no bagfuls of robotic pets or virtual reality games, but his simpler, often homemade offerings were not unappreciated on these Christmases long ago.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Whaling Offered Equal Opportunity

IT WAS A LONG, dangerous voyage, lasting as much as three years. And not everyone returned. But at its height in the mid-1800s, whaling dominated the East End economy, affecting the lives of farmers, merchants and craftsmen as well as the intrepid sailors.

PHOTO COLLECTION

The Hurricane That Struck Gilgo Beach

IT STRUCK without warning 62 years ago, a lightning-fast killer hurricane the like of which had rarely been experienced in Long Island history. Packing winds thought to have topped 125 mph, it submerged streets and ripped up houses, tore off church steeples and gouged out new canals and inlets.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Summer in Brightwaters a Century Ago

THE SUN, the sea, a summer afternoon. What better way to while away a summer day than boating, bathing, clamming or just hanging out on a beach of the Great South Bay?

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Sea Cliff, A 25-Cent Ride From Manhattan

These photos recall an era a century ago when the Village of Sea Cliff was a popular resort.

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Surely, a 'Vacation Paradise'

BROOKLYN NATIVE Walter Shirley first saw the woodlands of Suffolk County as an Army private at Camp Upton during World War I. Shirley became a real estate developer, and in 1944 he began selling quarter-acre plots, many on the installment plan, in the community that would later bear his name.

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And It Doesn't Look a Day Over 150

AROUND 1900, the inn at the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Newbridge (now East Meadow) Avenue in East Meadow was already six to seven decades old and still a center of activity in the community.

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Storing Up For The Buy and Buy

Neidhardt's General Store was a fixture on Jerusalem Avenue in Merrick from the World War I era until the early 1950s, when the building was destroyed by fire.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Jones Beach: A Summer Haven

EVER SINCE Jones Beach opened in 1929, it has been the beach destination for millions of New Yorkers. These photographs, all dating before World War II, show summer days at the state park.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Real Money? You Can Bank on It

It may look like funny money, but these bills, printed by the government and issued by local Long Island banks were -- and still are -- legal tender.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Setting the Scene in Brookhaven

This unidentified photograph was filed in the Brookhaven folder at the Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead, but no other information about it is available.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Clang, Clang: It's the Trolley!

AT THE TURN of the century, streetcar mania spread through the United States as electric-powered trolleys replaced horse-drawn streetcars as the latest means of public transportation. Across Long Island, numerous streetcar lines sprung up, many of them connecting Long Island Rail Road stations to nearby villages. Following World War I, the electric trolleys were supplanted by gasoline-powered buses, which offer more flexibility than trolleys, and the automobile.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Lighting the Way

Greeting voyagers at sea and on travelers land for two centuries, the Montauk Lighthouse has always been a favorite subject for postcards. Here are a few vintage cards, as well as other old images of the proud, weather-beaten tower.

PHOTO COLLECTION

When The Weather Outside Was Frightful

"W here are the snows of yesteryear?'' the French poet Francois Villon wrote. Having enjoyed two relatively snow-free winters in 1996-97 and 1997-98, many Long Islanders may be justified if they're wondering the same thing.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Lazy Afternoons of Another Era

Back in 1914, motoring from Brooklyn to Long Island was still a bit of an adventure, and worthy of a record in photographs.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Old-Time Spirit on the Fourth

A Fourth of July photo, at right, from 1910 provides a peek into the life of a Long Island family.

PHOTO COLLECTION

The WPA Artists' Enduring Legacy

The Great Depression left deep scars on those who struggled to survive, but it also produced enduring works of beauty.

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LI Photographer Looks History In the Face

The story behind this famous smiling photo of Theodore Roosevelt came to Newsday's attention with a recent phone call.

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LI's Boswell With a Camera

Hal B. Fullerton -- photographer, farmer, ace publicist -- was hired by the Long Island Rail Road in 1897 to promote the railroad and its destination: Long Island, not yet the chic resort area it would soon become. To market the Island as a good place to live and farm (and increase the railroad's freight revenue), he created a prize-winning model farm in Wading River, then set out to find the ``10 worst acres on the Island.'' He settled on the scrubby sand of Medford, where he again raised spectacular crops.

PHOTO COLLECTION

Cars Tailgating The Horses

The automobile, perhaps the most important invention of its time, created some interesting situations for photographers, as it edged horse-drawn vehicles off the road and into obscurity.

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