Tag Archives: Advertising

American Magazine Advertising 1904 – These Companies Have Bitten The Dust

Part II – Advertising From The Century Magazine October 1904 – Companies That Are Extinct

Underwood began production of typewriters in 1895. Up until 1959 when they were acquired by Olivetti, Underwood sold millions of typewriters. They made their last typewriter in the 1980s.

As we continue our look at advertising from the October 1904 issue of The Century Magazine we turn our gaze to the ads of companies that are no longer in business. Some names will be familiar to you, many others will not. Continue reading →

American Magazine Advertising 1904 – These Companies Are Still Around 117 Years Later

Part I – Advertising From The Century Magazine October 1904

Companies That Have Survived

Whitman’s chocolate as it was advertised in 1904. The company was started in Philadelphia in 1842 by Stephen Whitman. In 1877 he began to box chocolates. Russell Stover Candies is the current owner.

While browsing through The Century Magazine issue for October 1904 I couldn’t help but notice the advertisements.

While a great many of the firms are out of business, a surprising number are still around today. For part one we will look at the ads of the companies that are still here in 2021. They’ve survived different owners, mergers and changing public tastes. It’s interesting to see how these enduring products once portrayed themselves with strong images or many words or a combination of the two.

Let’s have a look.

We may not have servants drawing baths for us now, but you can still buy a bar of Pears’ Soap and give yourself a bath. Founded in 1807, the worldwide company is now run by Unilever. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #126 – Times Square 1906

1 Reply

Times Square 1906 – The New Hotel Astor, Olympia Theatre & Surroundings

This stereoview image of Times Square was taken by the H.C. White Company in 1906. Before The New York Times moved their headquarters here it was called Long Acre Square.

The view is titled, “New Astor Hotel and 20 story Times Building.” We are looking south from 46th Street towards the New York Times Tower. The flatiron-style building opened in 1905. The building was mutilated in 1965 when purchased by Allied Chemical. Today it is unrecognizable after it was altered again in the twenty first century to become a giant garish billboard.

Hotel Astor

On the right is the 500 room Hotel Astor comprising 14 city lots from 44th to 45th Street where Broadway and Seventh Avenue intersect. The 10-story Hotel Astor cost owner William Waldorf Astor over $7 million to build and furnish. The land was purchased decades earlier as farmland by his great-grandfather John Jacob Astor for $100 an acre. The Grand Ballroom was a baroque masterpiece.

Hotel Astor Grand Ballroom interior 1904

After some labor related delays Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #126 – Transportation Center At Brooklyn Bridge

1 Reply

Afternoon Rush Hour At The Manhattan Entrance To The Brooklyn Bridge Transportation Center / Terminal Shed c. 1903

While the structure no longer exists the scene still does- commuters heading back to Brooklyn after work.

This structure unfamiliar to modern New Yorkers is the transportation center also called the terminal shed at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on Park Row.

The building not only provided pedestrian access to the bridge but to the elevated and trolley lines. We tell the story of the transportation center here. It was demolished by the city in the 1940s.

The photo titled Manhattan Entrance To Brooklyn Bridge was taken about 1903 by the Detroit Publishing Company.

Let’s zoom in and take a brief close-up look at our photo.

People

I particularly like the two men in the foreground standing near the railing of the uncovered section of the second story. They are both aware of the photographer and stare directly at the camera.

The young man on the left in bowler hat and bow tie does not seem to be in a hurry. There is something endearing Continue reading →

Let’s Take A Drive – 1953 American Car Advertising

2 Replies

Those Spiffy 1953 American Cars & What They Cost

1953 Le Sabre concept car to be built with aluminum

There was a time when you looked at a car and a Ford looked like a Ford, a Plymouth was a Plymouth and a Buick a Buick. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #121 – Columbus Circle 1947

1 Reply

Columbus Circle September 1947

Columbus Circle 1947 Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California at Riverside

Columbus Circle 1947 photo: Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography

Our scene shows Columbus Circle looking south from Broadway and 60th Street towards 8th Avenue.

In the foreground are two examples of the iron and glass subway kiosks providing graceful entrances and exits to the original subway. By the late-1960s all the ornamental kiosks were removed by the city. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #118 – Herald Square At Night

Herald Square At Night – 1912

This beautiful night scene of Herald Square was taken in 1912. The Herald Building between 35th & 36th Street and Broadway and Sixth Avenue is brilliantly illuminated as the presses work to get the next morning’s paper out.

Lining the roof of the McKim, Mead & White designed Herald Building are 20 gilt owl sculptures. Electricity would light up the owl’s green eyes. The two illegible lighted discs in the front of the building are a clock and wind dial.

Herald owner James Gordon Bennett Jr., was obsessed with owls. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #116 – Fifth Avenue & 27th Street 1903

2 Replies

Fifth Avenue Between 26th & 27th Street – The Old Hotel Brunswick

A Detroit Publishing Co. photographer got this shot on a rare day without any traffic. Every building seen here is soon to be demolished.

The Hotel Brunswick

This photograph shows the east side of Fifth Avenue from 27th to 26th Street in 1903. Continue reading →

American Magazine Advertising In 1947

1 Reply

50 Advertisements From The 1947 Saturday Evening Post

Maybe advertising is not an accurate portrayal of what America is or ever was. But it shines a light on American dreams, living the good life and most of all consumerism. Today we’re turning back the clock to just after World War II.

All the ads appear in the February 8, 1947 Saturday Evening Post, a bastion of conservative American values.

American soldiers returning home to a prosperous economy. A baby boom follows. Spend, America, spend.

One thing you’ll notice if you read the fine print: EVERYTHING was “Made in America.” Everything. Even a simple comb. Yes, Ajax comb company took out a small ad in the magazine that must have cost them the equivalent of at least 500 combs. It’s the sort of item that today would only be made in China, as we’ve decimated our ability to produce our own goods. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #112 – Cortlandt Street 1908

Cortlandt Street – Spring 1908

Detroit Publishing Cortlandt Street 1908 New York City

Cortlandt Street 1908 via Detroit Publishing Co. collection held at the Library of Congress. (click to greatly enlarge)

Our view made by the Detroit Publishing Company is looking east from the corner of West Street along Cortlandt Street towards Broadway. Unlike some of their photographs, this one is copyrighted 1908 and that can be confirmed by advertising in the background.

The street is named after one of Dutch New York’s leaders Oloff (Olaf) Stevense Van Cortlandt. Continue reading →

Stuff Nobody Cares About

A not so random collection of observations about things you should care about

Tag Archives: Advertising

American Magazine Advertising 1904 – These Companies Have Bitten The Dust

Part II – Advertising From The Century Magazine October 1904 – Companies That Are Extinct

American Magazine Advertising 1904 – These Companies Are Still Around 117 Years Later

Part I – Advertising From The Century Magazine October 1904

Companies That Have Survived

Old New York In Photos #126 – Times Square 1906

Times Square 1906 – The New Hotel Astor, Olympia Theatre & Surroundings

Hotel Astor

Old New York In Photos #126 – Transportation Center At Brooklyn Bridge

Afternoon Rush Hour At The Manhattan Entrance To The Brooklyn Bridge Transportation Center / Terminal Shed c. 1903

People

Let’s Take A Drive – 1953 American Car Advertising

Those Spiffy 1953 American Cars & What They Cost

Old New York In Photos #121 – Columbus Circle 1947

Columbus Circle September 1947

Old New York In Photos #118 – Herald Square At Night

Herald Square At Night – 1912

Old New York In Photos #116 – Fifth Avenue & 27th Street 1903

Fifth Avenue Between 26th & 27th Street – The Old Hotel Brunswick

The Hotel Brunswick

American Magazine Advertising In 1947

50 Advertisements From The 1947 Saturday Evening Post

Old New York In Photos #112 – Cortlandt Street 1908

Cortlandt Street – Spring 1908