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New York circa 1921. "New York Band Instrument Co., East 14th Street." Dealer in Victrolas and Victor records, also seen here in its window display. Next door: Great China Chop Suey. 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.
A 1902 image of Steinway & Sons at 113 East 14th Street from Museum of the City of NY.
The Academy of Music was just across the street.
Luchow's German Restaurant, likewise - (Where would you go to get your instrument for the Ooohmpa Band?)
Acme Uniform is still in business - I had a military uniform made by them in 1969, when they were at 817 Broadway.
iPods the size of Buicks.
The view from inside the restaurant next door.
Busy place - were they supplying the instruments for the 'Music Man' movie or something?
Judging by the crowd, I'm guessing this was launch day for the Victrola 6 and 6+. New features included an improved crank handle, along with a revolutionary anti-skip mechanism.
It appears to be the first Steinway Hall to the left, with the pair of young ladies in the window (although the original portico seems to have been removed). Even though the building is 109 E 14th, and sources list the Steinway & Sons address as 71-73 E 14th Street, some sleuthing revealed an 1887 Court of Appeals complaint about a proposed saloon at 14th and University Place here -- one of the undersigned being Steinway & Sons, 109 E 14th St.
The building details here match those of the image posted on Wikipedia. Steinway & Sons would move to their new digs at 109-113 W 57th St. four years later.
I imagine that 2 dozen Nippers have come to life and are releasing the frustration of years of display window catatonia. The big one has a clarinet in his mouth and is violently thrashing about, leaving a trail of melodeon bits and shattered Victor records in his wake as the splinters of custom Victrola cabinets ricochet off the windows in front of the small crowd gathered outside.
Or maybe they're just playing a nice song in there.
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