I grew up in Ohio, where lake-effect snow was an annual reality. It’s not even an emergency when a foot of snow falls overnight. Ohioans are tough and well-equipped for bad weather. The salt trucks and ploughs are usually ready to go when snow is forecasted and the morning after a heavy snowfall, you’ll still find people are out on the streets, perfectly calm and nice and going about their normal business.

Not me! I struggled with the cold weather, and the snow, and the winter wonderlands.  For years after I left, even pictures of lots of snow would trigger me.  I guess I’ve finally reached the point where I can find snowfall to be pretty and, in the case of these old pictures of snowstorms in New York, even interesting!

Big cities that get heavy snowfall must have ways of managing it. New York, of course, handles it masterfully!

1892, Winter Fifth Avenue. (LOC)

Look at these long dresses . Can you imagine how wet and heavy and uncomfortable they would be?

1905 Fifth Avenue after a snow storm, New York (LOC)

Jan 1908 Photograph shows a line of horse-drawn wagons hauling snow in New York City. (LOC)

1899. Dumping snow into the river after a blizzard, New York (LOC)