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From the archives: Shovels, not plows, cleared snow off NYC streets

Snow plow during storm, New York City, January 1910
Snow plow during storm, New York City, January 1910Bain News Service / Library of Congress file

Snow can make for tough travel here in New York this week, but at least we're armed with modern snow removal equipment. That wasn't the case in 1908, when horse-drawn wagons were used to remove the white stuff:

Bain News Service / Library of Congress file

And shovelers cleared streets by hand:

Bain News Service / Library of Congress file

Lots of New Yorkers were ready to bend their backs to the hard labor, though--this picture is captioned "Seeking 

employment as snow shovelers:"

Bain News Service / Library of Congress file

Related: #MySnowPics: Share your images of the snowstorm