Charlie Chaplin in New York,  appearing with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. during WWI. They were promoting war bonds for Third Liberty Loan. Photo taken in April, 1918 in front of the Sub-treasury building.

Another view.

Fairbanks addresses the crowd.

Some comments over at reddit are worth noting:

• The respect. No policemen, no crowd control, everyone keeping a respectful distance.
• The hats. Almost everyone was wearing hats. The wearing of hats was largely abandoned in the 1960s; some have hypothesized that the explosion of the automobile made wearing hats for protection from the elements less necessary.
• The crowd is overwhelmingly men. Women just did not go out as much at the beginning of the 2oth Century. It was truly a man’s world.
• The crowd is overwhelmingly white. That was our country in 1918.

An intriguing glimpse of a tiny slice of history that I had never seen before.

The Old Wolf has spoken.