Tag Archives: 1900s

Old New York In Photos #189 – The Recently Completed Flatiron Building 1902

Leave a reply

The Innovative Flatiron Skyscraper – Available To Rent 1902

Our photograph is from American Art Views, a view book published September 15, 1903 showing contemporary New York City.

To the right, with a flag on its roof is the six-story Fifth Avenue Hotel (1859-1908). The clock in front of the hotel remains standing today, though the hotel is long gone. On the corner of 24th Street we can glimpse the sign for for “Maillard’s.”

Maillard’s restaurant and confectionery shop was on the ground floor of The Fifth Avenue Hotel.  Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #188 – Broadway & 28th Street Hotel Victoria

2 Replies

Looking Down Broadway & The Hotel Victoria c. 1908

This view from the southwest corner of 28th Street looking south along Broadway was taken by the Detroit Publishing Company circa 1908.

Let’s take a closer look at this photograph.

On the left is the eight story Hotel Victoria stretching from Broadway to Fifth Avenue along 27th Street. President Grover Cleveland would use the Victoria as his headquarters whenever he was visiting the city. The hotel began operations in 1872 and was razed in 1914.

You are not contemplating suicide when on the third floor, but there is a man standing on the hotel’s window ledge. He does not appear to be cleaning the windows.

In the background Continue reading →

A Scandal In Gilded Age New York

3 Replies

A Gilded Age Affair Cover-Up

Charles Hanson Towne (1877-1949) was a prolific author, poet  and editor of such prestigious magazines as Smart Set, Delineator, McClure’s, Designer, and Harper’s Bazaar.

As an urbane New Yorker, Towne’s hobnobbing with celebrities in literature, stage, politics and society was de riguer. His acquaintances also gave him access to juicy gossip.

In the second of Towne’s memoirs (he wrote three), This New York Of Mine, Cosmopolitan (1931), he relates an apocryphal story which occurred at the turn-of-the-century that Towne claims is true.

There are no names attached to the tale. But if the facts are correct an online detective could figure out Continue reading →

Sexual Innuendo Postcards – Same Message With Different Risque Images

1 Reply

The Risque Postcard 1906-1908

While both of these double entendre postcards would be considered risque around 1900, the photographs are quite different.

This first postcard of “Practice This Piece With Me” from 1907 implies making out during piano practice time.

The second postcard goes a bit further. Notice where his hand is. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #184 – View From St. Paul Building

Leave a reply

Looking South From The St. Paul Building c. 1900

This stereoscope view of lower Manhattan was taken from the St. Paul Building at 220 Broadway around 1900.

The development of steel skeleton buildings enabled skyscrapers to be constructed towards the end of the 19th century.

The 25-story St. Paul Building stood at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #182 – Fifth Avenue & Madison Square 1905

Leave a reply

Fifth Avenue Looking South From Madison Square Park

Our photograph was taken around 1905 by the Byron Company (1888-1942), a partnership of Joseph Byron and his son Percy C. Byron.  The Byron’s and their employees took thousands of photographs in and around New York City from the 1880s until the 1940s.

This view looking down Fifth Avenue from between 25th and 26th Street at the edge of Madison Square Park shows the Flatiron Building in the hazy background. Continue reading →

Can You Spot The Turn-Of-The-Century Champion Coney Island Lifeguard?

1 Reply

Which Of These Lifeguards Is Captain Thomas Riley Who Saved Hundred Of Coney Island Swimmers?

This circa 1900 Detroit Publishing Co. photograph is captioned “Capt. Riley and Life Guards, Coney Island, N.Y.”

But which of them is Captain Riley? Click on the photo to have a much closer look.

The obvious choice would be the man in the cap wearing a dark colored shirt that says “Balmers Life Guard.”

Wearing a lifeguard shirt does not mean you are one or in charge of a group. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #178 – Elevated At Eighth Avenue & 110th St

3 Replies

View Of Eighth Avenue At 110th Street – 1906

Our Detroit Publishing Co. photograph is from 1906 and shows Eighth Avenue looking north.  It is at this juncture the Ninth Avenue elevated completes its turn from Ninth avenue to Eighth Avenue at 110th Street and proceeds uptown.

As usual there was a postcard issued that almost certainly came from this photograph. The advertising and perspective are exactly the same, but the postcard contains many alterations.

For dramatic effect Continue reading →

The Problem Of Mass Transit In New York 1903

2 Replies

1903 – Transit Traffic In New York City As Seen By Harry Grant Dart

Satire from artist Harry Grant Dart showing what he captioned “The luxury of travel in New York.” (click illustration to see details).

The cartoon is from the January 22, 1903 Life magazine. The subway was still more than a year away from opening. The situation on the four New York elevated train lines was Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #171 – Lower East Side Immigrants Shopping 1907

Leave a reply

Lower East Side Pushcarts With “Imported Americans” 1907

This stereoview published by Underwood & Underwood in 1907 says in its caption:

“Imported Americans”, shopping from push-carts in the Lower East Side, N.Y. City.

Although the neighborhood is unidentified it appears to be Little Italy with Mulberry Bend Park on the left.

This not so veiled aspersion of “Imported Americans” is typical of the apprehensions Continue reading →