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New York circa 1911. "Times Square at night." Now playing at the Astor: Raymond Hitchcock as Cicero Hannibal Butts in the musical comedy "Red Widow." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Yes, a chiropodist is someone who handles feet - specifically, treats things like bunions, corns etc. They're still known as such in the UK (I think they're podiatrists now in the US but I might be wrong!)
I love the cars/taxis! And how empty it looks. I've never seen it like that. Was it realyl short exposure so all the people are blurred and not really visible?
The Chiropodist treated both hand and foot.
The remains of a Chancellor Cigar poster from a drugstore. It took me years to find it depicted Times Square. There's a subway entrance depicted in the right half. I couldn't discern whether there is a similar structure in the photo.
Was bright as it ever was in 1910.
Visible on 42nd Street are signs for both the Broadway and Seventh Avenue entrances for this 5,000 seat restaurant and lobster palace. It was the reincarnation of the elaborate but ill-fated Cafe de l'Opera, which failed when it required evening wear, and served food that cooled during the long trip from the kitchen.
Amazing to see how quickly electric lighting became commonplace, and how things looked in the era before neon, although if Wikipedia is correct neon lighting was demonstrated in Paris shortly before this photo was taken.
I see the Match Game is on at the billiard parlor. Probably where Brett Somers made her debut.
Idle taxis waiting for customers at the hack stand. And the chiropodist -- my mom went to one in the 1950s to get her aching feet checked. Great picture.
From the halo glow of the Hotel sign atop the building to the plethora of illuminated signs, what a treat this magical place is. The automobiles look almost 3D like and so in focus. It's only 9:35 and the night is still young.
How about those cool lanterns on their standards. Oh New York, New York.
Below is the same view south from 45th Street taken in April of 2010.
This is the same view as found in this post but several years later. Looks like the Packard dealer didn't make it.
Would it were possible that the character Cicero Hannibal Butts was the great-grandfather of today's real-life stage actor Norbert Leo Butts!
Abused here in the Evans' Pastilles sign:
FOR COLD'S COUGH'S HOARSENESS.
Some things never change!
[Pity the poor apostrophe -- so often confused with the comma! - Dave]
Upper right hand corner has a billboard for New York's Civil Service newspaper, still published today, with the same masthead.
The Independent Voice of New York City Civil Service Since 1897, so they say. Still publishing once a week, it was the place to check for info on government jobs in the NYC area before the Internets started laying down their tubes.
Compared to the non-stop intense sounds of Times Square today, that region looks to have been quiet, even peaceful during the time this picture was taken. Well, peaceful might be a stretch unless you closed your eyes to shield from the already dominant presence of light displays.
I love both New Yorks.
It's almost seven at night. Must be autumn?
I'm wondering what a Chiropodist was? Someone who cracks your spine with his feet? Someone who handles feet?
What a fantastic and almost unbelievable contrast to today!
Moments caught on camera that will never be seen again. I love old photos~
Making a silent movie that's a musical comedy would be quite a challenge, I'd expect.
[It would be, and it's not a movie. - Dave]
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