Re: OT: jerry and jury

[Michael Norman michael.norman@xxxxxxxx]

At 09:00 PM 1/7/2009, Harry Binswanger wrote:
> > To jerry-build (probably from the given name Jerry) is to build
> > unsubstantial structures of shoddy materials, usually on
> > speculation. The classic examples would be the insulae of ancient
> > Rome or the tenements of the Lower East Side in the late 19th and
> > early 20th centuries.
>
> Actually the Lower East Side tenements are not bad at all. Have you
> been to the one that's set up as a museum? Surprisingly non-squalid.


Haven't seen the museum, but...
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=zhcv_oA5dwgC&dq=jacob+riis&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=IttGm2IywX&sig=vm_Ofrvoa-IAYzPaK91i-cEcOFo&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPP1,M1

Even better are the health and housing reports of the era, and Riis'
photographs which show jerry-built bunks and shacks and sleeping
platforms for ten, twenty and more in one room.


Michael Norman