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January 25, 1963. "Essex House, New York. Colonnades ballroom." Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
Those chairs may look cheap at first glance, but eyeball the filleted welds where the side stretchers join the front and back legs; that's quality construction you don't usually see in metal chairs.
American TV audiences become accustomed to Don Pardo's mellifluous enunciation of the phrase, "Guests of Saturday Night stay at New York's famous Essex House Hotel."
In 1979, the hotel was the site of musician Donny Hathaway's fatal fall (or leap) from his room. This sad event had little long-term effect on the hostelry, however, and though it has passed through several subsequent owners, it survives in both name and premises.
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