Tag Archives: Postcards

Old New York In Postcards #29 – New York Mounted Police 1905

1 Reply

The Mystery Location Of The Mounted Police Unit

Looking at this postcard of New York’s finest on horses my first thought was: where is this?

The postcard itself holds few clues unless you are an expert in recognizing mundane landmarks from 120 years ago. The card shows some buildings and the mounted police.

But there was a way to find out by taking a closer look.

Because this postcard was put out by the Detroit Publishing Company in 1905, there might be an original photograph held by the Library of Congress where much of the company’s archive resides. A search provided a clear match. And from that photograph the location could be pinpointed.

The most important clues Continue reading →

Two Of The Dionne Quintuplets Turn 90-Years-Old Today

Leave a reply

Annette and Cécile Dionne Turn 90 On May 28, 2024

Turning 90 is still considered a feat of longevity and cause for celebration.

But for two Canadian women, Annette Dionne Allard and Cécile Dionne Langlois, turning 90 on  May 28 will still be a bittersweet day. Their siblings are dead and much of their early lives were lived under constant scrutiny.

Annette and Cécile, are each one fifth of what were the world’s most famous sisters.

When it was announced that five baby girls were born to Oliva-Édouard and his wife Elzire Dionne on May 28 1934 in rural Callendar, Ontario Canada, the world went into Dionne Quintuplet-mania.

The Dionne’s were the first known set of quintuplets to survive infancy. Continue reading →

Old New York In Postcards #28 – Feltman’s Restaurant Coney Island

Leave a reply

Feltman’s Giant Restaurant, The Forerunner of Nathan’s Coney Island

A brief description of Feltman’s from The New York Hotel Record July 9, 1912:

The Magnitude of Feltman’s Garden Coney Island New York

One of the largest and most unique restaurants and cafés in this country is Feltman’s at Coney Island New York was established in 1873 (ed. – actually 1871) with six employees and it now has a pay roll of more thirteen hundred names. Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #146 – The Plaza Hotel With Interior Views 1909

1 Reply

The New Plaza Hotel And The Suite Of John W. “Bet A Million” Gates- 1909

This real photo postcard by Thaddeus Wilkerson shows the new Plaza Hotel. The hotel towers above its neighbors offering its guests terrific views of the city and the park. We are looking southwest from the Hotel Netherland on 60th Street and Fifth Avenue. The southern boundary of Central Park at 59th Street is on the right and on the extreme left is a portion of the Vanderbilt mansion on Fifth Ave and 58th Street.

The original Plaza Hotel on the same site was opened in 1890 and demolished in 1905.  The new Henry Hardenbergh designed Plaza Hotel was much larger than its predecessor.

The original estimate to buy the site, raze the old hotel and build the new hotel was Continue reading →

Old New York In Postcards #27 – The 10 Tallest Buildings In 1939

Leave a reply

Skyscraper Race – The 10 Tallest Buildings In New York City In 1939

When the Park Row Building was completed in 1899, the 31 story office building was the highest in New York and the world at 382 feet. Less than seven years later it was no longer the tallest, with the Singer Building soaring 211 feet higher than the Park Row.

Today the Park Row Building, converted to residences, is not even among the 100 tallest buildings in New York. And the Singer Building was demolished over 55 years ago.

The constant desire by developers to top one another has continued and accelerated in the past dozen years.

The skyline is being overtaken by mostly nondescript glass boxes dwarfing other buildings and eclipsing many of the classic New York skyscrapers.

As of 2022 the ten tallest buildings in New York are:

Rank   Name                                 Height Stories Year Completed Address
1         One World Trade Center 1,776    94        2014                     285 Fulton Street
2         Central Park Tower          1,550     99        2021                     225 West 57th Street
3         111 West 57th Street       1,428     85        2022                     111 West 57th Street
4         One Vanderbilt                 1,401      73       2020                      1 Vanderbilt Avenue
5         432 Park Avenue              1,397      85       2015                      432 Park Avenue
6         30 Hudson Yards              1,270     103     2019                      500 West 33rd Street
7         Empire State Building      1,250     102     1931                      350 Fifth Avenue
8         Bank of America Tower   1,200       55      2009                     1101 Sixth Avenue
9         3 World Trade Center      1,079       69      2018                      175 Greenwich Street
10       The Brooklyn Tower         1,073       73      2022                      9 DeKalb Avenue (Brooklyn)

Recently looking at the 1939 World Almanac there was a list of the tallest buildings in New York.

Here are the top ten from that list-

All heights listed are the Almanac’s figures which may differ from modern estimates.

1. The Empire State Building is located on the site of the original Continue reading →

Old New York In Postcards #26 – Broadway 1895-1915

1 Reply

Views Along Broadway From Bowling Green To Washington Heights

Broadway and 62nd Street – The Colonial Vaudeville Theater is on the left, 1913

Broadway means New York City. Sure there are other Broadway’s in the United States, but none have the same clout that New York’s Broadway does. It is the longest street in Manhattan and one of the oldest. What the Dutch called De Heere Straat and later De Heere Wegh, became Great George Street under English rule. The street was paved in 1707, but only from Bowling Green to Trinity Church at Wall Street. After the Revolution, New York’s citizens began renaming streets and Great George Street became Broadway.

Here are some postcard views of Broadway dating from 1895 – 1915 Continue reading →

Christopher Morley Describes West End Avenue 1932 – Part 2

Leave a reply

Christopher Morley’s Description Of West End Avenue – Part 2

12 room apartments, doormen and an air of upper middle class gentility. All part of West End Avenue’s allure.

In 1932 Christopher Morley took an apartment at 54 Riverside Drive on the corner of 78th Street, a block away from his subject.

Here is the conclusion of Christopher Morley’s essay on West End Avenue.

West End is incomparably the most agreeable and convenient of large residential streets, second only to Riverside Drive—whose decline in prestige is mysterious. For that famous old glue-pot stench that used to come drifting across from Jersey has vanished altogether. West End is well churched and doctored. The abandoned hospital at the 72nd Street corner is something of a shock, but the Avenue hurries on uptown, consoling itself with Mr. Schwab’s chateau, its proudest architectural surprise. I wander past Mr. Schwab’s railings at night, noting the caretaker’s light in the attic and regretting that Charley seems to get so little use of his braw mansion. I like to see the homes of our great barons gay with lights and wassail: I have a thoroughly feudal view of society and believe that we small gentry acquiesce gladly in our restricted orbit provided the nabobs are kicking up a dust at the top of the scale. Sometimes I fear that our rich men have been intimidated by modern doctrines and do not like to be seen at frolic. Nonsense! They owe it to us. When a man builds a French chateau he should live in it like a French seigneur. For the gayety of West End Avenue I desire to see more lights in that castle, and hear the organ shaking the tall panes. Continue reading →

Old New York In Postcards #25 – Night In The City

Leave a reply

New York Night Scenes

Let’s start by saying in general most of these postcard scenes of New York are not really night scenes. The postcard companies would take a daytime scene and simply transform it into a night view.

Out first view of the Bowery at night circa 1905 is a prime example of day turned into night.

On the extreme left a small portion of the facade of the Bowery Savings Bank can be seen. Above the street is the Third Avenue El.

Continue reading →

New York City’s Famous Drake’s Restaurant 1900-1937

Leave a reply

Drake’s Restaurant Was Open 24 Hours A Day For 37 Years Until Labor Troubles Set In

In our previous story we briefly told the story of Jack’s a famous New York restaurant that never closed. There was another “never closed” restaurant which was a New York institution for 37 years.

Drake’s was located at 111 West 42nd Street near Broadway. The restaurant was founded in 1900 as Rigg’s as part of the Rigg’s chain. Continue reading →

Old New York In Postcards #24 – Pre-Prohibition Manhattan Restaurants 1900 -1920

Leave a reply

Manhattan Meals – Some Pre-Prohibition Turn-Of-The-Century Restaurants

Maxim’s Restaurant 108-110 West 38th Street. Maxim’s was the first restaurant raided a few hours before prohibition went into effect January 15, 1920

With few exceptions owning a restaurant is among the most precarious businesses to enter. Long hours, high upfront costs for rent, food and labor and changing public tastes almost insure that few restaurants can make a long and successful run.

100 years ago many of New York’s older restaurants shut down because of an unexpected decline in business- the victims of prohibition.

Once cafes and restaurants lost the right to sell beer, wine and liquor many closed soon after the Volstead Act went into effect in 1920. Some restaurants known for fine cuisine were able to ride out 13 years with no alcohol sales. Other restaurants would turn to selling spirits illegally. Others like cafeteria and luncheon type restaurants survived, having always been patronized for their food.

All of the following restaurants shown below closed long ago.

Restaurant and Cafe Leo

Cafe Leo 14th Street New York CIty Restaurant and Cafe Leo stood on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Fourth Avenue. Note the Star of David over the entrances, not always the sign of a Jewish establishment, but a decorative element. In this case however, proprietor Leo Greenbaum was letting potential diners know this was a Jewish owned business. By 1923 Cafe Leo vanished from the city directory. Continue reading →