September 4 has seen some innovations over the years. In 1888, George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak and received a patent for the first camera to use rolls of film. Within a year, more than 5000 Kodak cameras had been sold. In 1951, President Harry S. Truman made the first transcontinental television broadcast with his speech transmitted from coast to coast. In 1957, Ford introduced its much publicized new model, the Edsel, named for Henry Ford’s son. Sadly quality, reliability and design issues mean the name became synonymous with failure. In 1998, the search engine Google was incorporated by computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin, students at Stanford at the time. While some of these innovations have proved more successful and long lasting than others, through it all this beautiful Bordentown house has stood. And we think that’s a true success! #bordentownhistory #bordentownhistoricalsociety #bordentowncity #bordentownnj #bordentown #njhistory #onthisdayinhistory #hidtorichome #historichomesofamerica #historichomesofnewjersey (fb)

Today in 1945, World War 2 officially ended, when the Japanese leader, Emperor Hirohito, completed the formal surrender ceremony. However, for many people celebrations began on August 14, when American President Harry S. Truman announced Japan’s intention to surrender to the American public. In an era when news traveled faster by word of mouth than through official sources, many people in New York headed to Times Square to check the zipper on the Times building while waiting for the President’s evening address. One such person was dental nurse, Greta Zimmer, who read the repeated message “VJ, VJ, VJ, VJ” and realized this meant Victory in Japan and the end to a war that had taken young men across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to risk their lives and limbs to secure victory for the Allied Forces. The moment Greta was grabbed and kissed by a drunken sailor, reportedly George Mendonsa, celebrating the news was caught on camera by Alfred Eisenstaedt, who felt the moment not only met the brief of Life magazine to show viewers what the end of the war felt like, but also appreciated the juxtaposition of Greta’s white dental uniform against the dark navy uniform. This iconic photo is one of Life magazine’s most reproduced, and inspired sculptor Seward Johnson to create the series of statues named Unconditional Surrender. While the oversized original first stood in Sarasota, FL, a life size version will be familiar to those who have visited Pearl Harbor since 2011. But now, you don’t even need to leave Bordentown to snap a shot of this moment - with a copy in front of Laura’s Salon on Park Street, on loan from the Johnson Atelier in Hamilton, NJ. So while we want to ensure we remember the huge sacrifice made by those who fought in World War 2 and their families, it’s also important to remember the huge relief and excitement felt when the conflict finally drew to a close - 80 years ago. #bordentownhistoricalsociety #bordentownhistory #bordentownnj #bordentownarts #unconditionalsurrender #unconditionalsurrenderstatue #njhistory (fb)