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Midtown Hudson: 1947

New York circa 1947. "Midtown Dealers Corp. and Hudson showroom, Broadway at W. 62nd Street." Home of "Meyer the Buyer" and your Hudson Headquarters. Our latest 4x5 negative from the prolific but obscure John M. Fox. View full size.

New York circa 1947. "Midtown Dealers Corp. and Hudson showroom, Broadway at W. 62nd Street." Home of "Meyer the Buyer" and your Hudson Headquarters. Our latest 4x5 negative from the prolific but obscure John M. Fox. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Automobile row

or at least parts of it were still on Broadway when my dad took me in the late sixties to the New York Auto Show at the Coliseum, located a few blocks south of here.

Clipper

I've always had liked the Packard Clipper Sport Coupes, like the one in front of the Olds. Very pretty, fastback styling

Horses

Seems incongruous, but I do remember horse-drawn wagons in Newark, NJ in the mid- to late-1950's. Mostly driven by produce vendors in the Italian section of town. And they may have been there even later, I don't know as my grandparents moved out in 1958.

REA - Creative Parking

I had to chuckle seeing the creative bit of parking by the Railway Esxpress Truck, just like today's UPS and FedX drivers!

Rear (non)view mirror

I guess the rear view mirror on the Railway Express truck served to let the driver know if the body fell off. Certainly not much use for anything else....

Automobile Row

I lived a block north of here for five years in the 1970s. The area had been known as Automobile Row pretty much since the advent of the car dealership. After Lincoln Center was built, one by one they moved west to 11th Ave. and the area (one block west of Central Park) is now upscale condominiums, shopping and restaurants. You can read more about the early days of Automobile Row here.

Land of Lincolns

Some slight corrections: The car beside the Marnis Motors Dodge van is actually a 1941 Lincoln Zephyr Club Coupe. (The 1939-40 Studebaker President and Commander had a very similar grille design.) And the Continental Cabriolet behind the Dodge is a 1946-48 model. I believe the car parked behind the Zephyr is a 1941 Cadillac, if anyone wants to complete that I.D..

But There Is a Zephyr Shown

The car parked at the curb with front end visible behind the Marnis truck is, in fact, a Lincoln Zephyr. The Continental was called the "Continental Zephyr" in its first year of production, but that designation had been dropped by the time the convertible shown was built.

Car Spotter Jeopardy

Answer: 1940 Studebaker

Question: What is the year and marque of the parked car whose grille you can see beyond the Marnis Motors truck?

The Allegro

Much of this area, formerly the setting of "West Side Story" (despite the name of the business, it's technically the Upper West Side), is now occupied by Lincoln Center. On this corner at #62 West 62nd, is a steel-and-glass condominium tower named "The Allegro," presumably a nod to its musical neighbor.

Bus drivers

With regard to Dutch’s story of his grandmother complaining to bus drivers, I have a brother who is a bus driver in a large Canadian city, and to escape the wrath of such complainers, he has found that there are only two possible answers to all questions, and that these answers always satisfy the questioner, whether they are true or not: “yes” and “seven minutes.”

Look, up in the sky

Is it two water towers without graffiti?

Please identify

that adorable sedan (illegally) parked in front of the fire hydrant.

[1933 Oldsmobile -tterrace]

thanks man (bohneyjames)

A smilng memory

There is a scene taking place on the right side corner that reminded me of my grandmother. It appears that the woman is lecturing the bus company employee (note coin changer) leaning dejectedly on the bus sign. She probably wants more buses to her destination. My grandmother complained to every bus driver or railroad conductor she could corner (while I pretended that I didn't know her). I can still hear that high, snapping voice "now see here Sonny (even if they were fifty they were still Sonny), for what you charge I want you to get my valise and put it up in the overhead storage. Don't forget I will need it brought down when I get off - and don't slouch!" They did it too!

Courtesy Motors

The window at the extreme left which says "Moran Motors" reminded me of Courtesy Motors, a big Hudson dealership on Grand Avenue in Chicago. Growing up in the '40's and '50's in suburban Chicago, I remember that you couldn't listen to the radio very long without hearing about "Jim Moran the Courtesy Man". He stuck with Hudson almost to the very last Hudsons but Jim Moran's Courtesy Motors became a Ford dealership in 1956.

Other Interesting Conveyances

A Willys (driving, extreme left), a '41 (or so) Continental convertible (approaching the intersection from the right) and a venerable Railway Express truck with solid tires.

Wow Keep on Trucking

That REA delivery truck looks like it might have see both world wars.

A long way from home

The Marnis Motors truck seems to say New Rochelle on the door. That's a long way to drive just to get your picture taken.

Two Rare Things

1) That's a Lincoln Zephyr convertible in the street in front of the service entrance.

2) There is a mule pulling a wagon on the right. A pretty rare sight by 1947.

[Also a Camel. The Lincoln convertible is a Continental. - Dave]

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