Ball Of Mystery
I recently acquired about 350 negatives dating from the 1920's to the 1940's. I will be posting some of them for all of you to see. The first negative has two women, a boy and a girl all standing by a large shiny ball. Does anyone recognize this place? The negative is from about 1925.
Thanks to Sebastian for identifying the “Ball Of Mystery” as the sundial that was formerly located on the campus of Columbia University. The ball has been removed but the pedestal remains.
If you wish to learn more about the very interesting history of the sundial, please click here.
posted by Ookpik at 10:42 AM
4 Comments:
What's between the medaliions under the childrens' feet? Looks like a beaver. Downtown Portland?
I'm not sure what the medallion is but when enlarged it does not look like a beaver.
This is Columbia University in Manhattan. At the center of the campus quad is what used to be a sundial; the giant ball would cast a shadow onto the stone pedestal below. The pedestal is still there (i just graduated in 2005) but the sphere is long gone - it was removed in 1946 and discovered in a field in Michigan in 2001. I remember reading an article about it in the campus newspaper at the time. If you go to the wikipedia entry on Columbia University and scroll down, there's an old postcard picture of it.
Thanks for the identification and information!
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