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Penn Station: 1910
New York circa 1910. "Pennsylvania Station, track level, showing stairway and elevators." 8x10 inch glass ... Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Penn's Passive Lighting Penn Station was notable for its extensive use of cast glass prism lights in ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:42pm -

New York circa 1910. "Pennsylvania Station, track level, showing stairway and elevators." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Penn's Passive LightingPenn Station was notable for its extensive use of cast glass prism lights in the floors and walkways. These "vault lights" transmitted natural daylight from the glass roof down through the many levels of the building, an effective energy-saving method that is rarely used today. The thick glass prisms were mounted and grouted into waterproof cast iron or steel frames like those used to light basement storerooms under urban sidewalks.
Looking east at NY PennYou can see the track numbers increasing right to left, so no question the view is eastward. The famous concourse wasn't the only part of Penn where the tracks were open to the glass roof-- take a look at the building plans. Pics of those other areas are rare, tho.
I've never seen the definitive date when the tracks were roofed over-- presumably when the catenary was added circa 1932, but could have been earlier for all I know.
Gone foreverAs one critic famously said: “One used to enter the city as a King, now one scurries in like a rat.”
Glass prismsAbout a decade ago you used to be able to see the old glass blocks in spots where the awful faux marble floor had worn away to nothing. I'm pretty sure it's still there too, just waiting for the current floor to wear away under the feet of millions of commuters. 
As for the stairs, I'd love to know if the architects of Grand Central had always planned the upper-level ramps, or if they changed their plans once they saw what was going in at Penn Station. The lower levels of GCT, however, do have narrow stairs that make reaching a platform nearly impossible if they are detraining another train on the same platform.
Narrow StaircasesOne of the criticisms of the original Penn Station was that the staircases were too narrow and long.  This picture shows that more clearly than any other I've seen.  
There is something odd about this photograph.  The open cut at the end of the platforms looks like the view to the West.  I do not think that there was ever an open cut like that on the East side of 7th Avenue.  I would place the photographer more or less where the western-most staircases now lead up from the LIRR platforms to the north-south corridor along 8th Avenue (the one that exits to 33rd Street).  
But, the staircase reads "Exit B'way" and the the platform numbers are increasing towards the left.  When built the platform numbers increased as you walked north along the concourse (as they still do today, except we use track #s instead of platform #s).  If this faced West, the platform numbers should be going down. (Platform map from 1914)
So, the image reads as looking West, but the signs read as looking East.  Who can read this mystery?
[The sign says EXIT THIS WAY OUT, not EXIT B'WAY. - Dave]
Still StandingThere isn't much left of the old Penn Station, but the stairs are still around. I go down them all of the time! Of course, they aren't quite as grand as they once were.
My first memories of PennMy first memories of Penn Station are from the mid 60's, returning from the Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadow. I remember making my way through the massive waiting area below Madison Square Garden, finding my track, then making my way down into the dark, dank, smelly space below, where I would board the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) trains for the trip across the the river to New Jersey.  
How I would have liked to have seen the station in its early days, with all that glass admitting sunlight all the way down to the track level. It must have been glorious. I can imagine those brass handrails gleaming, having just been polished by hand, the smell of Brasso still lingering in the air.
Facing EastIf this is facing east and there appears to be an open cut toward Seventh Avenue, which there should not be, I think I know the answer. The level above this one included baggage courtyards which were enclosed by skylights. The tracks were open to this upper level, hence the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
The light at the end of the tunnelJust glance at the upper level-- the masonry of the entrance to the Main Waiting Room is clearly visible in the center glass arch. The western wall of the concourse had no such masonry in the corresponding location, just glass.
Therefore the light in the tunnel must be the light filtering down through the baggage courtyards' skylights.
[If we look at what's actually there (below), the tracks continue into the lighted space and curve left. - Dave]
Previews1910 was the grand opening of Penn Station and it looks like this photograph was taken while construction was still in progress.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

Penn Station: 1910
Circa 1910. "Pennsylvania station, main concourse, New York." Silver gelatin glass transparency, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Present Penn Station Interesting comment on the old Penn Station from Anonymous. I never experienced the old one, but I'll agree ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 12:36pm -

Circa 1910. "Pennsylvania station, main concourse, New York." Silver gelatin glass transparency, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Present Penn StationInteresting comment on the old Penn Station from Anonymous.  I never experienced the old one, but I'll agree that Grand Central is wonderful.
The thing about the present Penn Station is that they left the platforms of the old station, but replaced the terminal with a hideous, overcrowded, squalid, nasty ugly dump of a facility.  A true commuter's Hell.  It would be so nice to have that Farley Post Office converted to train station use, as has been promised for going on 20 years now.
OverratedIf I may be a bit provocative here, as someone who experienced the original Pennsylvania Station (albeit briefly), I think this building is probably the most overrated building of the last 100 years — and perhaps even one of the most overrated buildings of all time.
Don’t get me wrong, I do think it is a tragedy that we lost Pennsylvania Station. But the building actually had plenty of things wrong with it (e.g., spaces that were grandiose but not really very beautiful or comfortable; a homely, two-block long Eighth Avenue facade, etc.) and very, very little going right. So from this perspective, it's not hard to understand the general public's ambivalence.
If New York had to lose one of its great railroad portals, it definitely lost the right one. Grand Central Terminal, even during its worst years, was many, many times better — as architecture, as public space, as a functional railroad terminal, as urbanism, etc. — than Pennsylvania Station was, even in its prime.
— Benjamin Hemric, N.Y. Times, 2007
ImagineAll the ghosts of this station...
Bazillions of footsteps through the years.  So nany memories must be linked to this place.
All Those Rivets!All my life I've read about the glories of Penn Station, and now at last I see what I missed. The traceries of steel and glass contrast nicely with the "classical temple" motif, but look at all the hand-assembled pieces, as seen on the closest steel supports and arches. Can you imagine the racket of installing all those rivets?
The ExteriorClick to enlarge.

Another ViewClick to enlarge.

Rail PalaceReminds me of the statement made by Vincent Scully - (paraphrase): In the old Penn Station, one entered the city like a god, in the new, one scuttles in like a rat.
This picture is so boringI wish there were some smiling, vacationing kids in it; even if they were out of focus they would give me something to identify with.  But because there isn't a single face in it, and because it was taken by a professional photographer, this picture must be Historic.  Therefore, I am going to sit back in my chair and be reverent, because that is what one does when one gazes upon something Historic and Artistic.  Right?  Isn't that what the arbiters of good taste would have me do?  
There Is a Ghost --just look down the "Exit" stairs, bottom right.  Looks like a woman in Victorian-length dress with a parasol.  My imagination?  Maybe, maybe not.
Best Erector Set stationThe old Penn Station surely could have won the Best Erector Set award, judging from the eerie photograph, if there was such a thing. Today's only wins the Worst Possible Space for Human Concourse award. There should be such a thing. Alas, no one wants to photograph the new monstrosity.
Penn Station and PreservationDespite critics who disliked Penn Station's imperial grandeur, inspired by the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, the loss of Penn Station in 1963 directly aided the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
This 1963 NY Times editorial summed up the bitterness of its loss: "Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves. Even when we had Penn Station, we couldn’t afford to keep it clean. We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed." If the photo above doesn't explain the widespread passion for this building, perhaps this one will help. The photo (and the quote) comes from a large gallery that can be found at www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON004.htm

Historic IndeedI'd ask Jennifridge to cut a little slack.  The photograph is obviously from a moment not long before the station was to open - you can still see some scaffolding work on one of the arches.  This building, designed by the well-known firm of McKim, Mead, and White, is perhaps the most visible component of the Pennsylvania Railroad's entrance to Manhattan but even more significant are the Hudson River Tunnels which remain in use to this day.
"Conquering Gotham by Jill Jonnes is an excellent read on this fascinating subject.
Show me the moneyWhatever your perspective on the historical value of Pennsylvania station, the truth behind its demise had everything to do with money -- in particular the Pennsy's lack of it in the years preceding its ill-fated merger with the New York Central. Pennsy's management came to the realization that air rights above the existing Manhattan station were worth a great deal. The decision to raze the structure came easily to a company caught in the squeeze between a government that subsidized air travel and restrictive regulations that added cost to shipping freight.
Perhaps if the Pennsy had received as much largess as the airlines, we'd still have that historic building to gaze at.
Landmark Opinion"What grew out of the rubble of Pennsylvania Station was the powerful myth that New York's Landmarks Law owed its very existence to the loss of that station. As wonderful a morality tale as that has become, it has just one problem: It just isn’t true."
-- Anthony Wood, author of "Preserving New York." More here.
Re: Historic IndeedErr... I think Jennifridge expressed a splendidly ironic barb playing off recent comments regarding "dreckful" family photos of summer vacation.
MeadowlandsI remember an article in Preservation magazine (maybe early 90's?) that chronicled the loss of Penn Station, and how some folks had actually done some research in Jersey at the site of the Meadowlands stadium, where a considerable amount of demolition debris wound up as landfill. They used ground penetrating radar and were able to identify columns and statues that had been trucked over and dumped.
MythWhile the loss of this structure might not have been the reason for the Landmarks Law, the loss reinforced why such a law was needed to avoid aesthetic blunders in the future.  
RivetsDr Q, those structural members were most likely fabricated before they were erected to form the building, possibly in a workshop off-site. Typical practice of the period would be to use a horseshoe or yoke rivetter during fabrication, rather than knocking the rivets down by hand. Only the field or construction joints would be formed that way on-site.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

City Hall: 1910
... buildings are a thing of the past! Curse of Billy Penn's hat Said to be the reason why Philly sports teams lose, as ... as a disc jockey on Philly's WHAT-FM. It was a 24/7 jazz station with all white DJs. Our AM (a studio window away) was all R&B and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/16/2023 - 3:34pm -

Philadelphia circa 1910. "City Hall." Philadelphia's soot-stained City Hall, still the largest municipal building in the United States, was for a time the tallest building in the world, at 548 feet. Its epic scope includes the time it took to complete, with construction beginning in 1871 and dragging on well into the 20th century -- the project's main architect died in 1890; his successor's successor expired in 1910, still on the job nine years after the building had been turned over to the city. So glacial was the pace of construction, according to one history, that a major round of revisions had to be undertaken to account for "the invention of electricity and elevators." 6½x8½ inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Soot RemovalThe soot was removed some time ago. Philadelphia is now a very clean city and soot-stained buildings are a thing of the past!
Curse of Billy Penn's hatSaid to be the reason why Philly sports teams lose, as nothing in the city was supposed to be taller than Mr. Penn's hat, and today, the City Hall is no longer the tallest structure in city. Here is an interesting close-up of the head and hat prior to being installed atop the City Hall tower.
Curse of Billy Penn's hat  no more Not since the Phillies won the World Series in 2008. First world championship since the "gentleman's agreement" on building height restriction was broken by One Liberty Center.
"Brotherly love"So they say, but my first real job in this country was as a disc jockey on Philly's WHAT-FM. It was a 24/7 jazz station with all white DJs. Our AM (a studio window away) was all R&B and gospel, and the DJs were all black. The owner wanted that racial split strictly observed. She had two dogs, a black one named "AM" and a white one named "FM."
City Hall had a very bad pigeon problem and they had tried everything to get rid of the birds, from audio signals to steel nets--there were "Don't feed" signs everywhere. Well, one day as I walked through the City Hall courtyard, I saw a very old lady dragging behind her a large burlap sack from which she pulled a fistful of seeds every ten steps, or so. Casting the seeds in the air, she instructed the pigeons to "Go s_it on the Jews." 
I had to wonder if Philadelphia's well-known tag had been a counter measure. 
All cleaned up.I guess there was a time when the building was as dirty as the politicians inside it.  Thanks for the lore.
Philly Transformed Into ParisJust a couple of years ago Philadelphia City Hall was used as a stand-in for the military school in Paris when they were filming Transformers 2.  Astute film buffs can also cite other movies where it was featured.
By the way, the William Penn statue is the work of Alexander Milne Calder, whose son and grandson also won fame as artists.
Critical appraisalWhen it was being built, City Hall was viewed as a textbook example of municipal graft, corruption and inefficiency, as well as being something of an aesthetic white elephant.
The Philadelphia essayist Agnes Repplier in 1898:
Its only claim to distinction should be the marvelous manner in which it combines bulk with sterling insignificance, squalid paltriness and decorations mediocre and painfully grotesque.
Now of course it's regarded as fashionably and fascinatingly ugly-funky-weird. And gets a lot of love just because it's way old.
Rude Billy PennThat's actually a scroll he's holding, but easily mistaken.
William Penn forgottenThere was a longstanding tradition in Philadelphia that no building would exceed the height of the statute of William Penn atop city hall. This was broken in the 1980's along with many other traditional values we once believed in. Too bad to my mind.
[Building height is a "traditional value"? - Dave]
Tallest BuildingsBy tallest building do you mean tallest occupied structure?  Because the Washington Monument is 555 ft tall at was completed in 1884, and the Eiffel Tower is 896 ft and was completed in 1889.
[The Eiffel Tower and Washington Monument aren't buildings. - Dave]
Styles mixedThis has got to get the prize for the most architectural styles on one building that I have EVER seen!
The picture is a great shot for a game of "I Spy With My Little Eye"!
Ahhh, the smells of City HallOr, at least, the exterior public corridors. Always used to smell like pee back in the early 90s. It seems to be less pungent now. Such a fabulously ugly building.
Took the tour!I was one of two who showed up for the three-hour City Hall tour last October. We crawled all over and inside the building with a former city planner. What a treat. The inside is eye-popping. Carved, gilded mahogany and marble for as far as the eye can see. In places they used aluminum, only because it was valued more than gold at the time. The City Council chambers are unbelievable! 
The formal entry room originally was designed to have 90-foot ceilings, but the weight of the main tower started to crack the marble walls so it was divided into two spectacular rooms with paltry 45-foot ceilings.  
At 37 feet high and weighing 36 tons, the statue of William Penn at the top is the largest statue ever placed on top of a building. It is so big it sat on the ground for more than a year because no one could figure out how to get it up there. Eventually they cut it up into 14 pieces and reassembled it at the top.
This photo looks as if it was taken from the Masonic Hall across the street. That building is another eye-popping marvel with construction starting in 1868 and taking more  than 40 years to complete. Take that tour as well. Words can not describe what you will see.
A common misconceptionIt's a common misconception that the City Hall tower was covered in soot due to the train station formerly located across the street. In fact, the old photos merely exhibit the different building materials used for the building and the tower. The tower is made of cast iron and appears black. Everything below the clock tower is marble and granite so it appears to be light grey. When City Hall was restored in 1990 the iron was coated so it wouldn't oxidize and today it appears to be light grey.
(The Gallery, DPC, Philadelphia, Streetcars)

Penn Station: 1910
New York ca. 1910. "Pennsylvania Station. Track level, main and exit concourses, stair entrance." 8x10 inch ... *sniffle* Every photo I see of the original Penn Station is like a little knife in my heart. As someone who didn't move to ... "Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels" by Jill Jonnes. We don't need no ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 5:22pm -

New York ca. 1910. "Pennsylvania Station. Track level, main and exit concourses, stair entrance." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Erector SetMy brother made something similar in the basement in the early 60s.
Stairway to HempsteadOne of those original staircases still exists:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatafarce/437171241/
Practice RunThough the station appears to have not yet opened for use there is a DD1 transfer locomotive a few platforms in the background. These locomotives used outside third rail and had a small pantograph to collect power from an overhead catenary.
*sniffle*Every photo I see of the original Penn Station is like a little knife in my heart.  As someone who didn't move to NYC until after its destruction, I feel like I've been deprived of something magical.
What a coincidence!I was just watching "Metropolis" last night.  Where is the Metal Man?
Sensible ThinkingEven with their minds on all that beautiful iron, stone and glass and McKim, Mead & White still had the foresight to build large ports beside the tracks to quickly and easily sweep the trash that riders might toss.
Railroad ObserverThis photograph shows the station when final construction and clean up was almost complete.  The electrified third rails can be seen adjacent to the tracks.  These powered some pioneering electric locomotives that would handle the trains between the west portal near North Bergan, NJ (known as Manhattan Transfer) and the station.
An excellent read on the construction of this station and the far bigger challenge of tunneling under the Hudson River is, "Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels" by Jill Jonnes.
We don't need no stinkin' rampsThe architects must have considered themselves generous to people in wheelchairs by putting those intermittent landings every 12 or 13 stairs.  
Not a soul in sightGood thing too with these nails sticking up.
Beautiful ironworkI love all the lattice work, the lattice arches, and the rivet details.  Everything looks all crisp and new in this photo.
Booooard!Would be said soon, but not quite yet. The debris and construction detritus here and there, the temporary shack thing on the left, and more tellingly, the lack of track number signage on the arches over each stairway tell me this photo was taken before September 8, 1910, when Penn Station came online, no pun intended. Penn Station to my pre-teen small town mind was mind-blowing. When you entered from the street and started down its super scale main stairs, it was like entering another world, one that promised travel to distant and exotic destinations. My dad worked for the PRR so we went to NYC often, free. But our home destination was Altoona, Pa., not a hotbed of exotica.  
From NYC Architecture:
In 1963, one of New York City's finest buildings was demolished to make way for a new $116M sports arena and entertainment complex. Sound familiar? 
Pennsylvania Station, the monumental 1910 Beaux-Arts masterpiece of architects McKim, Mead and White, was leveled, and replaced with the fourth incarnation of Madison Square Garden.
In the 1950s the rise of the automobile and the frenzy of highway building had severely threatened the viability of passenger railways. The owner of Penn Station, the Pennsylvania Railroad, was near financial ruin. In the late 1950s the four blocks of land the station covered in Manhattan had become too valuable not to sell.
So BrightIt's amazing how much effort was put into letting natural light into this space.  From the windows and skylights to the glass block floors they did everything they could to maximize it.  Unfortunately, with dirt and grime accumulating over time, it no doubt got more and more dark and foreboding.  It's not something most would notice as it happened gradually, but that along with the inevitable dust and other detritus gathering on all that open steelwork I can only imagine how disgusting the place must have been in its twilight years. The lack of proper maintenance and utter disdain for classical architecture that prevailed in the mid 20th century certainly didn't help.  
Many historic treasures have been restored to an amazing condition that few knew existed.  Images like this show just how breathtaking some of these great old spaces that we see today as grungy and dark can be if they're properly restored.  
A beautiful 20th century cathedral.I looked into Wiki to see when it was built and, as I thought, it was brand new in 1910 when the picture was taken.
Based on the exterior photos I have seen, the current Pennsylvania Station doesn't hold a candle to this one.
Penn's legacyAs many probably know, Penn Station was owned by the spiraling-towards-bankruptcy Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsy couldn't afford to keep this giant station operating when the air rights over the tracks were so lucrative (the space over the tracks now Madison Square Garden). 
Its destruction lead to the modern preservation movement. Many historic structures have been saved due to this building loss, and subsequent awareness of the value of significant buildings.
"It was a crime to tear it down!"This is a moldy bit of received wisdom that's become tedious by constant repetition. Penn Station may have been pleasant to look at in 1910, but by 1960 it was a decrepit eyesore that was a complete bust as a functioning train station. If even half of the Monday-morning preservationists who bemoan its fate had been willing to put some money where their mouths were, it might still be around.
Underlying fundamentalsPenn Station's success as a functioning train station is confirmed by the fact that nearly all the below grade facilities - tracks, platforms, and even some stairways - are still in use today. The universal regret over the loss of the superb public spaces above grade is reflected in the most recent proposal for the site, Moynihan Station, which aims to recreate these spaces right across the street inside the the shell of the old Post Office Building, another design from the office of McKim, Mead and White. 
Up and DownRamps were not needed since anyone in need could use elevators from the concourse towards the left that would take them down to track level.
Though 99% of the architecture is lost, those same staircases and elevators are still in use today.
Joe from LI, NY
The 11:31 to BabylonI see this same view every night when I catch the 11:31 to Babylon.  Except now there is a ceiling roughly 15 feet overhead, complete with various pipes and other assorted infrastructure that make the experience of travel so rewarding.
Maybe not in its primeBut when I first saw it in 1958 it blew my 12-year-old mind.  A fitting entry portal for the "Standard Railroad of the World."
Form vs. FunctionA note to all the "Monday Morning Preservationists" -- would you prefer to drive to West New Jersey to see the Knicks? Rangers? Concerts? The dog show?  A decrepit museum was replaced by a useful, functioning building. If you want to see what Penn Station would look like today, go across the Hudson to Hoboken and take a look at the Hoboken Ferry station.  Without money to maintain its turn of the century glory, the ferry station has turned into a depressing mausoleum of days gone by.  
All the whining in the worldAll the whining in the world about how unsightly, grimy, or whatever Penn Station was in its declining years (all of which could have been dealt with by apportioning for its upkeep a fraction of the money that went into real-estate thugs' pockets in the transactions that led to its demise) can't obscure the fact that a soaring, beautiful monument to the aspirations of man was replaced with a squalid, stunted, cheap and uncomfortable monument to greed and hubris. 
The Sistine Chapel is reputed to be just awfully expensive to keep clean; why not spray acousti-tile over it and be done with the burden?
When you stepped out of your train onto that platform, the astonishing and unexpected vastness of the space around you was a perfect metaphor for the possibilities of your future in America's greatest city. As I suppose the current incarnation is as well, in its own way, in this Age of the Bankster. 
I consider myself lucky to have there, grime, panhandlers, dirt, and all. 
No title needed.Imagine anymore the vision for having a building whose primary purpose would be to create a life experience for those passing through, and incidentally to also serve as a train station!  We live cheaper lives now in many ways.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

Hamilton House: 1910
... this building almost makes up for the loss of the original Penn Station ... almost. Awnings Some awning salesman must have made his ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/05/2024 - 11:07am -

Manhattan circa 1910. "U.S. Custom House, New York, N.Y." The Alexander Hamilton Custom House, completed in 1907 at 1 Bowling Green. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Saved!Slated for demolition in the 1970s, after the completion of the World Trade Center put the customs office there.  There was no longer a counter to take a sample to of a ship's cargo for testing and assessing.  My father, as a young office boy, would take oil samples from the Standard Oil Co., then a few doors up Broadway, to be tested.  The clerks stations survive to this day.
In the 1970s I helped clean out the Merchant Marine Library there (a mariner could borrow a book and leave it at another library in another port on the honor system).  They were dumping the books.  I still have some, and others ended up at the museum library this 16-year-old worked at.  
In the 1990s my wife had a job at the National Museum of the American Indian, one of several occupiers of this great building (Bankruptcy Court is another, as well as the National Archives branch for NYC). Her office was the space that I cleaned out in the 1970s.
If you visit, a look at the rotunda and its WPA murals by Reginald Marsh is a must. All in a building designed by Cass Gilbert.  Oh - and the statuary out front?  Daniel Chester French.
Thanks, AleHouseMugPreservation of this building almost makes up for the loss of the original Penn Station ... almost.
AwningsSome awning salesman must have made his yearly bonus on that building!
History SavedGorgeous building. Everything else to left and right has been torn down. There's a wonderful display there which shows the design and construction of the building. 
Admission to the Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian, is free. Excellent bathrooms, btw.
Italianate BowlingOff the left edge of the photo (to the north of the Customs House) still stands Bowling Green. So called because the Dutch played lawn bowling there. During the Revolutionary War, the iron fence around Bowling Green was melted down for munitions, including an image of the King's head.
The Italian Palazzo-like building (complete with campanille and Romanesque arches) behind (to the east of) the Customs House now sports a boring glass tower with the address 2 Broadway.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC)

Knickerbocker Trust: 1904
... and simplified ... a Faustian bargain that spared it a Penn Station type date with the wreckers. Earlier Knicks Knickerbocker Trust ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/24/2024 - 1:59pm -

New York, 1904. "Knickerbocker Trust Building and Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Fifth Avenue at W. 34th Street." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
We're just dust in the windIf you look at that first column of windows closest to the Knickerbocker Building & go up five windows, there appear to be two people there (possibly kids). A shame we'll never know who they were.
[Phantoms! - Dave]

There's something else there nowThe Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was torn down in 1929 in order to erect the Empire State Building. Is the Knickerbocker Trust Building still there?
¾ ain't half badWithin a few years, three of the four corners of this intersection would be occupied by buildings bearing some of the most famous names in New York (Astor, Knickerbocker and Altman).  The Knick -- did anyone dare call it that when it was in its prime ? -- was widely publicized in the architectural press, and survives today, expanded and simplified ... a Faustian bargain that spared it a Penn Station type date with the wreckers.
Earlier KnicksKnickerbocker Trust failed amid the Panic of 1907, although a year later it reopened for a few more years under that name. By 1912 it was an acquisition target, and the "Knickerbocker" name disappeared from the firm's title in 1914. Its building at 358 Fifth Avenue, however, was never torn down, but was expanded, then modernized to the point that it's impossible to see Stanford White's magnificent columns. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/realestate/08scapes.html
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Streetcars)

Neither Snow Nor Rain: 1900
... Building is still going strong. Soon to be the New Penn Station The Post Office was designed by McKim, Mead and White to complement ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:46pm -

Circa 1912. "Post Office, New York City." Although it looks about a million years old, the Eighth Avenue post office is still under construction in this view. Enlarged in 1934, it's now called the James Farley Building and has the zip code 10001. The famous motto "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is inscribed on the entablature. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
+99Not quite the same angle, but the Farley Building is still going strong.
Soon to be the New Penn StationThe Post Office was designed by McKim, Mead and White to complement the old Penn Station, located just across the street (Eighth Avenue). MM&W also designed the very elegant lampposts that stood around both buildings. In a singular twist of fate, the Post Office is slated to be transformed into the newest version of Penn Station, to be called Moynihan Station in honor of the late Senator from New York. The main entrances will be located on the side streets midway down the block at street level, not on the front facade, so the passengers of the future will not be forced to lug their bags up that impressive flight of steps.
From Pennsylvania StationThe view is looking northwest across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station, where trains from New Jersey entered via tunnels under the Post Office. You can still see the Post Office "yard" where the mail cars were accessed under the Post Office Building, in the ancient daze of old.  
The inside is just as impressive.
Those Were the DaysIt was good to be the P.O. back then but no longer. Can you say "email"?
Sign Of The TimesIf the US Postal Service stays the course, there'll soon be condominium space available in this building.
LettersI read that this is the longest inscription on any building in the world.
Light polesWhat beautiful light poles and fixtures now replaced with the incredibly ugly 34th Street Partnership poles.
Almost the samePretty much the same angle though not quite the elevation. She hasn't changed much in the decades.
In the ShotI assume in the lower left corner is the roof edge of the neighboring building serving as the photographer's vantage point. I don't recall seeing this kind of context often in these types of photos. At first glance I thought I was looking at 31st Street dug up for pipe laying!
Private Dick"That guy on the corner's been shadowing me all day!"
What kind of tracks?There aren't any catenary lines overhead to power electric street cars so the tracks are somewhat interesting. Upon close inspection, it looks as if there is a middle slot between the tracks which would indicate that cable cars (much like the ones still in San Francisco) once passed in front of this building. 
New Your, surprisingly, did have cable cars back in "the day," but I wasn't aware that they extended this far north into Midtown.
[These are electric streetcar tracks with access to the power supply via the central slot. - Dave]
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC)

Wartime Washington: 1942
... close scrutiny. To paraphrase Vincent Scully on New York's Penn Station, once you entered like a god; now you scuttle in like an small animal. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/07/2024 - 12:07pm -

Washington, D.C.,  circa 1942. "U.S. Capitol, East Front. Sentry posted outside of House chamber." Medium format acetate negative, Office of War Information. View full size.
Like nothing, compared to todayToday there are more guards around the steps, and you can't go up them in any case. Public entry is through the underground Visitor Center, with security screenings and close scrutiny. To paraphrase Vincent Scully on New York's Penn Station, once you entered like a god; now you scuttle in like an small animal.
Considering today's world, no sane person can object.
Long Gone ColumnsYou can still see these old sandstone ones, but not at the Capitol:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Capitol_Columns
I had just got my driver license when the East Portico extension project started and it became an early highlight in a lifetime avocation of sidewalk superintendency. 
All quieton the eastern front. 
(The Gallery, D.C., Politics, WW2)

Penn Station: 1910
Pennsylvania Station in New York as seen from Gimbel's department store circa 1910. George ... on the early historic preservation movement, the original Penn Station (as shown in the photo) was torn down in the 1960s for a really ... the trains are, there are some remnants of the original Penn Station, a large grandfather clock, some old signs stating where the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 6:18pm -

Pennsylvania Station in New York as seen from Gimbel's department store circa 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size | See the interior.
Such a beautiful building.Such a beautiful building.
People on Roof?Yes! You have a good eye. What the heck are they doing up there?

Roof?Are those people sitting on the roof?
People on roofI'd hazard a guess that they were a crew working on the roof and were taking a lunch break or something at the time the pciture was taken.
Buildings below street levelNotice the horsecart in center of photo, there are buildings what looks like below street level. Why did they do that? I'd hate to live in one of those buildings below street level.
[They're across the street in front of an excavation pit, not below it. - Dave]
Too bad it got ripped downIn what spurred on the early historic preservation movement, the original Penn Station (as shown in the photo) was torn down in the 1960s for a really ugly Madison Square Garden.
If you walk underneath whereIf you walk underneath where the trains are, there are some remnants of the original Penn Station, a large grandfather clock, some old signs stating where the original trains used to dock and something else, I am forgetting at the moment.
RemnantsThe passenger areas are still largely the same layout, you just have to imagine what used to be over your head.
The EaglesThe 16 eagle sculptures from the main entrance pediments were saved and scattered around the country. There is one here at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. All the rest of the sculptures ended up in dumps in New Jersey. There are many poignant photos of them there.
(The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC, Railroads)

Petro-Hut: 1920
Washington circa 1920. "Penn Oil Co., Massachusetts Avenue & Wisconsin Avenue station." National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. Neato ... Massachusetts and Garfield Street NW: Penn Oil I love the gas station photos Shorpy has been featuring. Nice ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 4:25pm -

Washington circa 1920. "Penn Oil Co., Massachusetts Avenue & Wisconsin Avenue station." National Photo Company glass negative. View full size.
NeatoI pass by there every day on the way to school. Looks like things have changed!
Petro HutBased on the grade and the location of the lines, I think this is the southeast corner, probably the area now bounded by Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Garfield Street NW:

Penn OilI love the gas station photos Shorpy has been featuring.  Nice variety, from petroleum palaces to petro-huts. This one gets my vote for the most forlorn.
No highfalutin station hereThis is what's known as a no frills gas station.  You want your oil checked? there's the dipstick.  Want you windshield cleaned?  The water and squeegee are over there.  Now get your gas and get outta here.
Later an Amoco stationThis was a gas station until about 1959.  Now a small park.  I grew up at 38th & Garfield.
(The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)

Penn Station 1.0
"Thirty-Second Street entrance, Pennsylvania Station, New York." The original Penn Station in the final stages of construction, circa 1910. 8x10 inch dry ... Jersey landfill with its driver asking, "Where do you want Penn Station?" Cover you eyes, Velma One of those ladies leaning on ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/26/2016 - 11:50am -

"Thirty-Second Street entrance, Pennsylvania Station, New York." The original Penn Station in the final stages of construction, circa 1910. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Darn itWe just missed the train to Chattanooga by a whisker!
Topless LadyToday she graces the Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain in Kansas City
Birds of a FeatherThose handsome eagles atop the portico were sculpted by Adolph A. Weinman. They were salvaged when Pennsylvania Station was demolished in the 1960s, and at least a few survive in various locations. The same eagle is seen in profile on the half dollars of 1916-47. Incidentally, the U.S. Mint is issuing a gold edition of the half dollar this year to mark its centennial.
Her Name is NightSculpted by Adolph Weinman, there were several of these. The topless one is named Night, and she holds a poppy. There is also one in the sculpture garden at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Dust to DustReminds me of a c1964 New Yorker cartoon showing a loaded dump truck pulling into a New Jersey landfill with its driver asking, "Where do you want Penn Station?"  
Cover you eyes, VelmaOne of those ladies leaning on the clock is topless. Kinda jumps right out at you.
Stations and Coinsare two of my favorite things. The railroads, which were the prime source of long distance travel before the airplane, built huge edifices to honor themselves and called them stations.  They were adorned with beautiful elements, like statues and full reliefs.
Adolph A. Weinman (who also was the designer of the "Mercury" dime and Walking Liberty half dollar) also designed the relief above the Penn Station entrance....hence the connection between the two.
Weinman used a model named Elsie Kachel Stevens for the dime and half dollar.  The two coins are considered some of the most beautiful coins of the 20th Century.
His work lives on.  In many forms. 
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

Fill Er Up: 1920
Washington, D.C., 1920. "Penn Oil Company, Massachusetts Avenue and North Capitol." View full size. ... in various places around town. Thank you for early gas station photos, Shorpy! Penn Oil This gas station occupies space that is now the National Guard ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/07/2012 - 10:12pm -

Washington, D.C., 1920. "Penn Oil Company, Massachusetts Avenue and North Capitol." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.
Inflation80 cents per gallon in 1920 equates to $9.51 in 2007 dollars.
[The "80 cents" sign in the photo is the price for four quarts of motor oil, not gasoline. - Dave]
Pump It! Pump It! This is so cool. So, when you had to pump your gas, you literally had to hand pump the equipment to get the gas to come out? I've honestly never thought about the literal meaning of a phrase that I say all the time. And I feel like a total whippersnapper by asking the question.
Early Gas StationsI love the photos of early gas stations. This one may be the smallest I've ever seen, but there are some tiny (but architecturally sophisticated) ones from the 1920s still standing in various places around town. Thank you for early gas station photos, Shorpy!
Penn OilThis gas station occupies space that is now the National Guard Association and, just to the west, a new office building housing lobbying operations for the National Cable Television Association, General Motors and the AMA, where I work. In the background you see the big Post Office building that now houses both the National Postal Museum and a local brewpub. And still, a working post office. Very cool. This is a great site.
(The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)

Candy Soda Drugs Kodaks: 1910
... New York circa 1910-1915. "N.Y. Drug Store, Pennsylvania Station." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. ... sprinkler? Beautifully artistic candy displays! Penn Station Chrome I found the color postcard based on this image -- ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/29/2012 - 10:11am -

New York circa 1910-1915. "N.Y. Drug Store, Pennsylvania Station." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Quite a selection available!Four major brands of chocolates -- Apollo, Whitman's, Guillard's & Liggett's.
Louie's Sweet Shopwould be more fitting, luckily in the rear there is a shelf or two with sugar hangover remedies.
A big fan of this store!I wonder if the dual fans atop the columns behind the soda counter rotated around like a garden sprinkler?
Beautifully artistic candy displays!
Penn Station ChromeI found the color postcard based on this image -- 
http://nygeschichte.blogspot.com.
One fine fountainThat is one first rate soda fountain there. Between the glass and fountain fixtures I can't begin to imagine how they kept it so clean. Elbow grease I guess.
AbundanceEven allowing for the daily traffic through Penn Station, there is so much gift wrapped candy in that shop that it must be Valentine's Day or Eastertime or Christmas.
And you folks wonder whythere are usually a half dozen dentists in any street scene from this era.
YumWhat a beautiful store. Lovely stained glass and fancy light fixtures. Fully stocked with delightful treats!
ConfusedLiggett's Chocolates may have been an important brand in its day. However I still haven't been able to figure out if it was a brand of Liggett & Myers, of Chesterfield Cigarettes fame (or infamy), or of Liggett Rexall Drugs, once the world's largest drug store chain. 
If you like Chanel No. 7You will LOVE our Perfume No. 22. I wonder how long before one of those NYC counterfeit perfume kiosks came along?
Lots of candyAnd not much in the way of drugs.  And likely many, if not most, of the nonprescription drugs didn't work properly anyway.  I'd bet a druggist or doctor from that time would faint if they could see what a 2010 pharmacy carries.
Something missingSo, where do I find the Rubber Goods department?
How different?"Apollo: the chocolates that are different"
What an odd tag line.
I found this.
"Airport Presents"The vast supply of nicely packaged candy probably sold well to travelers returning to their sweethearts after long absences. A train-station drug store knows its market.
I dimly remember this spaceMany years after this photo was taken, and back in the very early 1950s, I believe this space was still being used as a drug store. It was on the left just beyond the Seventh Avenue entrance to the Station. Across the foyer and to the right was a Savarin coffee shop if memory serves me well.
A Bit LowThe chairs on the soda fountain seem a bit low to really enjoy your fountain Coke, or ice cream soda. Most soda fountain use stools instead of chairs, and are much higher than these.
[They're the right height. Maybe the chair backs make them look low. - Dave]
Gyrofans!To the poster who asked if the fans rotate, the answer is Yes! They are Jandus/Adams Bagnel Gyrofans, which were either ceiling or pole mounted. When turned on, they would rotate around their center throwing the breeze in all directions. It's hard to make out for sure, but the one(s) on the back pole look to be the very rare version which used early GE 'pancake' motors.
Fan collectors would love to find either set.
This is how it's done!Now THAT, my friends, is a drug store!  The woodwork and the soda fountain alone are stunning.  You scarcely see that kind of detail in anywhere these days, let alone in an everyman retail esablishment.  A hundred years later, we get nasty fluorescent lights, warehouse shelving and stacks of bar-coded cardboard festooned with weasel words from a corporate lawyer.
What gorgeous woodworkand the the light fixtures are breathtaking. I bet it was easy to get lost in this gorgeous store for hours.
(Why do I bet no one in 100 years will ever say that about our Wal-Mart?)
Creme de la CokeDefinitely not "an everyman retail establishment" -- it's a drugstore in Penn Station in New York City, which means that it was probably one of the most elite drugstores in the world.
Gift CandyAll the candy may not have been due to a holiday. Up until the 1960s or so, when you visited someone or were invited to dinner, you didn't take wine or flowers, you took candy. So I'm thinking that since this was a glam place in Penn Station, where people would pass through on their way to someone's home, they might have stocked a lot of gift candy. 
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Stores & Markets)

Bustling Baltimore: 1917
Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1917. "Union Station showing Charles Street and Jones Falls." 8x10 inch glass negative, ... behind and to the left of Union Station. It's Penn Station now and still in full daily use, including as a main stop on ... would make a run from our depot on Calvert & Centre to Penn Station. The usual cargo was mainly express packages and barrels of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/20/2012 - 7:18pm -

Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1917. "Union Station showing Charles Street and Jones Falls." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Kind to pedestriansLove that railroad viaduct. 
What Is Their Purpose?Toward the right side of the photo there are some rectangular blocks on top of a building behind the Union Station building. Two of them are up against the windows in a sort of wavy manner. They look sort of like warped mini-roofs. What is their purpose and why are they wavy and slanted as opposed to flat like the other ones?
[Wavy things: roofs over stairways. Flat things: skylights. - Dave]
Flour, Yeast, Studebakers and CokeWhat else can you possibly want?
Don't forget the ice!Sign behind and to the left of Union Station.
It's Penn Station nowand still in full daily use, including as a main stop on the Amtrak high-speed Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston.
Still vibrant on the eve of WWIBaltimore was my childhood home. This view, dated 1917, shows a Baltimore that was still a vibrant city. Note the tenement homes, in good shape, interspersed with a variety of industry and transportation. Home to the country's first railroad, Baltimore was the second largest port on the East Coast.
The streets are clean and there are landscaped areas to be enjoyed by the residents -- a bit of elbow room to make life bearable. Thirteen years earlier, downtown Balto had suffered a major fire.
The Baltimore of today is but a shadow of its former self, having suffered substantial economic and social decay.
This photo evokes a sad nostalgia of a bygone era.
Bawlmer -- where do I start?You'll need the hi-def version to follow me here. 
The freight yard across the top of the photo is the Northern Central Railway, and since 1912, the Pennsylvania RR Bolton Freight Station. My great grandfather was likely working there this day, as he would until Bolton Street was closed. Just off photo to the distant left is B&O's Mount Royal Station, the tracks of which are below grade behind the PRR yard.
The Studebaker/Garford shop was known as Zell Motor Car Company; my grandmother's brother-in-law was a highly regarded mechanic there for many years. The prominent arch-windowed building behind it on Charles Street is now part of University of Baltimore, where I attended classes for a time.
The beautiful massive stone structure in the distance with two stacks was a water pumping station, removed for I-83 construction in the 1960s. 
Directly in front of that building is North Avenue "NA" Tower; it's dark because it is painted in B&O's red color. NA Tower protected the crossing between the two track line seen crossing Jones Falls, and the B&O main line, which isn't visible here. Note locomotives on both sides of NA tower.
The water course in the middle is Jones Falls (the name being a peculiarity of the region; instead of Creek or Run, sometimes a channel was called a Falls).
The most distant bridge is North Avenue Viaduct, built in the 1890s and still in use. Close behind the viaduct is B&O's bridge over the Falls, not visible here. At the right end of the viaduct, above the Morgan Millwork sign, can be seen the B&O mainline to Philadelphia and where I labored four decades.
Finally, great big Union Station isn't the only downtown passenger terminal in view. Just left of Morgan Millwork and above the City Ice sign is the peaked roof of the Maryland and Pennsylvania (Ma & Pa) RR's Oak Street Station.
Beautiful shot. Thanks, Dave!
Slow TrainI commuted from Richmond to Baltimore twice a week during the gas crisis of 1973-74.  Taking the train was, at times, a pleasure but it was anything but "high speed."
Railway Express & OystersIn the mid '60s I worked for Railway Express and each weekday night we would make a run from our depot on Calvert & Centre to Penn Station. The usual cargo was mainly express packages and barrels of oysters and boxes of soft shelled crabs fresh from Crisfield on the Chesapeake Bay headed to Philadelphia and New York.
We would drive down that ramp to train track level and transfer the barrels to those high-wheeled station carts, which were pulled by a small mule (automotive variety).
As the train entered the station we would drive alongside as it came to a stop so our carts were lined up with the messenger car. We had ten frantic minutes of rolling the barrels into the car until the train pulled out. Thankfully we never hit a passenger or dropped a barrel onto the tracks.
That was always the best part of our night since after that we would take our time getting back to the depot so we got there just about time to punch out and head down Calvert Street to Susie's for an after work beer.
So if sometime you stopped in an Oyster Bar in Philly or New York and had either some soft shell crabs or oysters and remarked about the freshness of the same it might have been me who got them there for you.
Another InspirationI wish I was a kid again. What a grand sight this would be in H.O. Scale!
Morgan Millwork Co.Morgan Millwork Co. was the eastern warehouse and showroom for the Morgan Sash & Door Company. 



Architectural Record, 1910. 


Correct Craftsmen Style


Morgan Doors are noted for correctness and originality of design and finish. Their construction is guaranteed to be absolutely faultless. Morgan Doors add wonderfully to the permanent value, comfort, beauty and satisfaction of the house.
Morgan Doors are light, remarkably strong, and built of several layers of wood with grain running in opposite directions. Shrinking, warping or swelling is impossible. Veneered in all varieties of hard wood — Birch, plain or quarter-sawed red or white Oak, brown Ash, Mahogany, etc. Any style of architecture. Very best for Residences, Apartments, Offices, Bungalows or any building.
Each Morgan Door is stamped "Morgan" which guarantees highest quality, style, durability and satisfaction. You can have Morgan Doors if you specify and insist.




The National Builder, 1915.


Morgan Sash & Door Company
Department A-22, Chicago

Factory: Morgan Co., Oshkosh, Wis. Eastern Warehouse and Display, Morgan Millwork Co., Baltimore. Displays: 6 East 19th St., New York; 309 Palmer Bldg., Detroit; Building Exhibit, Insurance Exchange, Chicago.

Looks like the early 1920’sby the look of some of the cars 
Corpus Christi Church and MICAThe tall pointy steeple in the upper left corner is Corpus Christi Church, and the white building to its left is the Maryland Institute College of Art where I went to college.
(The Gallery, Baltimore, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)

Penn Station: 1912
New York, 1912. "Pennsylvania Station, east facade." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2018 - 9:34am -

New York, 1912. "Pennsylvania Station, east facade." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Shown at Shorpy a dozen timesLook here, even in 1908 before it had been erected.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

Ghost Office: 1912
... the plate is big (5 x 7 inches). - Dave] The New Penn Station This wonderful building is slated to be renovated into the New Penn ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/02/2021 - 2:39pm -

New York's new post office on Eighth Avenue circa 1912. Enlarged in 1934, it's now called the James Farley Building. View full size. In this seemingly deserted time exposure we can see the ghostly images of three different sets of legs.
HauntedMy last 2 posts disappeared in front of my eyes, haunted?
N.Y. Post OfficeNew York General Post Office, now designated the James Farley Post Office, Eighth Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets.
[Thanks! I added that to the caption. - Dave]
A modern viewYou can see the building as it is now.
The street lightsIt looks like there are two types of lights gas and electric?
[There are two temporary lights wired to the taller ones. - Dave]

Phantom limbsAlso we have three sets of ghost shoes walking down the street. Each footfall makes for kind of a stop-motion effect in this time exposure.

Ghost LegsTo get the image this stunningly sharp he probably set his camera to a very small aperture and because of that and slow film at the time, took a long exposure on a tripod - so that's why you'd see the people walking by.  
This is a great find!
[Re "slow film time," there was no film back then for view cameras like the ones that made this picture. They used glass plates coated with emulsion. The image is sharp because the plate is big (5 x 7 inches). - Dave]
The New Penn StationThis wonderful building is slated to be renovated into the New Penn Station, despite much rancor over the conversion. It is situated across from the old Penn Station (by McKim, Mead, and White), which was torn down in the 1960s in favor of the new (and godawful) Madison Square Garden. It was this destruction that spurred Jacqueline Kennedy to save Grand Central Terminal, which was also slated for destruction.
(The Gallery, G.G. Bain, NYC)

Guaranty Loan: 1905
... Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The Penn Station of Minneapolis This building - known to most Minneapolitans as the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 1:36pm -

Minneapolis, Minnesota, circa 1905. "Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building." Note the newfangled "horseless carriage" parked at the curb. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The Penn Station of MinneapolisThis building - known to most Minneapolitans as the Metropolitan Building - was demolished in a fit of areawide urban renewal known as the Gateway Area project. As recounted in Larry Millet's "Lost Twin Cities" (which has before-and-after pictures of the building on its front and back covers), the day before its demolition began, Wally Marotzke, who was for twenty years the building's engineer, stated to a reporter, "I'll tell you one thing: the future generations are going to read about this building and they'll see some of the buildings they're putting up here and they'll damn us, they will, for tearing down the Met."  That was an understatement.   
WatchOk, first I saw the giant watch peeking through the first floor corner window but then I thought that it might just be a reflection from across the street so I looked right -- and there it was, a great big open-face pocket watch. But where does it hang from then? (It does look like it stands on the pole, but that's not consistent with the reflection. Any ideas?
[It's on a pole. Not sure why you'd think that's "not consistent" with the reflection. - Dave]
Torn down in 1961http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Building
"There was little practical reason to tear down the building. Records from the day indicate that it was safe and almost fully occupied at the time it was condemned. The structure came down because it was in the wrong neighborhood—on the edge of the so-called Gateway District, sitting on the southwest corner of Third Street South and Second Avenue South."
Wilburrr!No wonder the asphalt is hosed down. If I saw this thing looming up ahead, I'd poop in the street too.
Curved Dash Olds!The Olds curved dash runabout was produced 1901 -1907.  Somebody had $650 to spend. Four horsepower. Way to go, Ransom E.. Got you're driving goggles?
Like a RockIf the architects in charge of designing a building for the Guaranty Loan Building set out to produce an edifice that represented strength, solid foundations, and the eternal endurance of the Rock of Gibraltar, I can only say, "mission accomplished."   
Not Much ElectricityI like the way the utility poles are holding up only one wire or cable.  But with room for expansion, they're thinking ahead.  Trolley car seems to have a mast but nothing to connect to.  Well it won't be long before the tangle of wires is an eyesore.
[Look carefully and you'll see the trolley wire above the street. - Dave]
Urban renewalAccording to Wikipedia, this beautiful old building was at Third Street and Second Avenue South. Below is the building that's there now.
I've driven by it hundreds of times and hated it each time. Now, I'll hate it that much more.
View Larger Map
Re: Urban renewalWhat Wikipedia fails to mention is that the building was in receivership when it was condemned -- its owners had declared bankruptcy. Perhaps not surprising for two reasons: It was really old (71 years -- to upgrade it and keep it properly maintained would have cost a fortune, even back then), and by 1961 it was in the "wrong part of town" -- all the high-paying tenants had moved elsewhere. Which was why the building was operating at a loss, something no landlord can afford to do for long. Of course the city could have taken it over, but for what? Buildings don't restore themselves -- it would have taken millions in taxpayer dollars, and even then, who in that part of town could afford to pay the rent?
All the people who declare "it's a crime" when some old gothic white elephant is torn down seem to be forgetting that most office buildings are privately owned, and the owners need to show a profit after they pay their property taxes. Most of the old circa 1900 structures that were demolished in the 1950s and 60s as part of urban renewal projects had similar stories -- operating at a loss in downtowns that had been abandoned by Class A tenants. In commercial real estate, mortgages and lease commitments are measured not in years but decades. If you cannot reasonably project a profit in that kind of time frame, you can't get backing for improvements or renovations.
Nowadays it's different. Most of our downtowns are in much better shape, and developers are able to raise the $50 million or more that it takes to rehab a big building. (Or at least they could up until a few years ago). You have to look at it in the context of the times.
Arguing two different pointsIt is easy to declare the "crime" of tearing down a building. I have done it here myself in the past. (See my comments on Boston's old North Station.)
The crime is not tearing down the attractive building. The real crime is the disaster that replaces it.
Even if you discount the "modern" building design of the glass box replacements that you frequently see, you still have many buildings that have no relationship to the pedestrian or the street. The idea of a building that presents (virtually) nothing to the pedestrian level other than a parking garage entrance is the crime.
I love the look of the older buildings, but I hate the look (and functionality) of the newer ones more.
FiretrapsMinnie A is partly correct ref urban renewal projects. A big reason these gothic structures don't exist today is because from the late 40s on, the US started taking fire codes seriously. There were a series of extremely costly and fatal fires throughout the US in the 40s and 50s (eg - the Our Lady of Angels fre in Chicago in 1958) that highlighted the need for sprinkler systems and modern fire control measures in public buildings. When these codes were put in place, it was cost prohibitive for most of these old 1890s/gothic buildings to retrofit in order to comply with the new fire regulations. 
Beautiful buildings. However, most built with zero safety standards in mind. It was cheaper to tear them down than to make them safe.
It Seems UnfairArchitecture is the only art form that has to constantly justify its existence.
Old buildingsMy family was in commercial real estate for many years. Old buildings like this are appealing from an emotional and sentimental point of view, but not much else.
First you have safety, insurance and liability issues. As these elaborate stone facades age, the various projecting cornices and gargoyles tend to loosen and fall off. Bad for whatever car or pedestrian they happen to land on. Your typical hundred-year-old building might have 20 layers of lead paint and tons of asbestos that need to be removed. This can easily take two or three years and cost millions. During which time there is no money coming in from the space being abated. An office or apartment building is a business concern that needs a steady stream of income.
Then there are structural and finance issues. Buildings constructed in this era, before artificial illumination and forced ventilation were in wide use, tend to have a lot of air shafts, skylights and atriums. Which are expensive to maintain and cut way down on the amount of rentable square footage relative to the building's footprint. Most commercial tenants want "open floors" -- football field-like expanses with no partitions or other obstructions that they can customise to their needs. They also want big windows or glass walls to get lots of natural light. Whereas old buildings offer just the opposite -- the space is broken up by atriums and airshafts, and the peripheral windows are small, like you'd find in a house. So you are left with a bunch of smallish dim rooms that might be suitable for lawyers or doctors but not much else. Conversion to residential use would be a very expensive proposition. If the interior walls are structural, as they are in many old buildings, they can't be removed and you are even worse off.
If you want to finance the renovation with a bond issue maturing in the usual 30 or 50 (or even 100) years, you are running up against the expected 200-year lifespan for the steel framing that holds up most tall buildings. Not many underwriters would take on such a project.
So, as noted below, it is generally cheaper (and much faster) to tear down and put up a new building. Unless of course the taxpayers are willing to foot the bill for tax abatements and rental subsidies. When it comes time for John Q. Public to put his money where his mouth is, he usually takes one look at his property tax bill and says no way.
Mysterious figure in windowThere is a mysterious looking figure of some kind just above the man standing in front of the building. Just above him to the right in the upper right quadrant of a window on the second floor. Is this figure a person?
[The guy with the round face and thin hands? - Dave]
Actually was in the buildingI was actually in that building and remember it.
It was gothic to say the least.  The noisy, caged elevators, dark though sunlit interior.  It belonged in a movie set, but as a building fit to be in?  Not so much.
It was a museum piece and no one wanted it.  Not so much an issue of regret, but cities need to renew themselves or they become unfit to live in.
All the modern energy codes would have made that firetrap impossible to heat and light.
If such buildings are so great, then why is no one building one like it today with today's codes?
Pieces of this building survived!Looks like the stones from this building have been sitting unnoticed in a gravel yard since the demolition. Now some of them may be reclaimed and preserved.
(The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, DPC, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Streetcars)

Cat Park: 1958
... Street side of the street, across from the north side of Penn Station. Of course, with more recent buildings in place it's impossible to get ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/18/2021 - 1:43pm -

October 1958. New York. "Cat sitting on car in parking lot with skyscrapers in the distance." 35mm acetate negative by Angelo Rizzuto. View full size.
E-Z ExitI love Mr. Puss in this photo, but I immediately think that the person parking this car benefitted greatly from what is likely a nice, relatively friction free bench seat upon which to slide in order to exit out the passenger door.
Risky ParkingYes, you can park close to the fence and scoot out the passenger door. But if the Mercury parks too close, you may have a long wait before the driver returns.
[This would be a pay lot where an attendant parks the cars and keeps the keys. - Dave]
NYC TuxedoNo relation to Tennessee Tuxedo, obviously.
BuickMildcat.
Too easyDarn!  A great photo like this with all the windows and signs was begging for the SHORPY to be embedded in some hidden location.  I looked forward to the hunt, but there it was in plain sight.  
Sweetness!My tuxie is nearly identical to this. Her white chin fur does not extend up beside her nose, but other than that, her markings are the same. Except my Sweetness kitty is sleek and smooth and soft and pampered and petted and never goes outside.
Approximate LocationIt looks like the fence of this parking lot runs along the 33rd Street side of the street, across from the north side of Penn Station. Of course, with more recent buildings in place it's impossible to get the same pic today, but an approximation that shows The New Yorker Hotel, 225 West 34th Street on the right (now known as 14 Penn Plaza) and the top of the tall chimney on 494 Eighth Ave can be  seen here. The side of 494 Eighth continues to function as a painted signboard. 
Cat gonna Ride The DogThat's the old Pennsylvania Greyhound Terminal in the background. That, along with the New Yorker Hotel, places this at the current location of the One Penn Plaza building, across the street from Madison Square Garden ... Eighth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets.
We are not amewzed!You look bemewzed; should I repeat the question?
It's Cat SeasonPussy is blissfully unaware of the hound running full speed behind it.
Cat On A Hot Tin ... uh ... Fender(?)Methinks kitty was pretty used to the valets
Parking is underground nowThe New Yorker Hotel is still there, as is the narrow building whose windowless wall was and is used for advertising.  The cat, parking lot, and surrounding one and two story buildings are now the site of the Penn 1 office tower, encased in black glass and opened in 1972.
1955 Buick Super Riviera hardtop coupeJust enough cues to differentiate it from the top line Roadmaster, which shared the same body.  Parked next to a 1957 Mercury.  He's a real hepcat in the jargon of the day.
For a not so brief momentI thought that fence "graphics" were part of a car design.
Just North of Penn StationBecause of the strong visual clues in this photograph - the Greyhound Terminal and the Hotel New Yorker - I hereby declare that the location of this parking lot is the north side of West 33rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. This would be directly across the street from the north side of Penn Station; it is now the site of the skyscraper called One Penn Plaza, completed in 1972.
As hard as we tried to book a stay at the New Yorker ...there were just too many setbacks.
If you can find a better Bourbon ....Buy it!
Nikola Tesla Tesla lived and died (1/7/43) in room #3327.
The cars look so oldbut the cat looks so modern!
(The Gallery, Angelo Rizzuto, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Cats, NYC)

Central City: 1941
... photo? [ Stay tuned! - Dave] Not exactly Penn Station The two red brick buildings to the immediate right were station ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/16/2019 - 1:08pm -

September 1941. "Central City, an old mining town. Mountainous region of Central Colorado, west of Denver." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size.
The back way into townThis is the view coming into Central City via Virginia Canyon Road, known to locals as "Oh-My-God Road." It's a narrow, winding, unpaved road from Idaho Springs, and until a little over a decade ago it was the only access to Central City that didn't require going through the neighboring town of Black Hawk. Gambling interests, which wanted visitors to Central City not to be distracted by the larger competing casinos in Black Hawk, drove construction of the absurdly oversized yet still very steep "Central City Parkway." That road now provides a "direct" route from I-70 when not closed due to rockslides or washouts. 
Centered on Central
Tantalising glimpseThe locomotive peeping around the corner of the building is a bit of a tease, I wonder if Marion covered it in another photo?
[Stay tuned! - Dave]
Not exactly Penn StationThe two red brick buildings to the immediate right were station facilities for the Colorado & Southern Railway branch to Central City from Black Hawk. In the vintage photo, note the nose of a C&S locomotive peeking around the corner of the depot. Look about halfway up the distant hillside to see the former right of way. This branch was built in the late 1870s; the attraction was gold and silver mining all through this region.
By 1941, C&S Central City branch had been inactive for a number of years. I think the loco shown was left there for a display of sorts, and later moved. At about this time, C&S was in the process of closing/removing the remains of their once extensive narrow-gauge lines from the mountains.
Today's popular Georgetown Loop RR is a reconstruction of C&S Silver Plume Branch that was already gone by 1941.
End of the LineMight any of our Shorpy railroad buffs be familiar with the odd-looking signal device to the left of the apparently-shy locomotive?
Sorry, wrong odd signalOlde Buck and damspot are correct, and I am wrong. I have seen switch targets like this, and I even made a model station with this style of "order board". My bad.
"Odd" signal deviceAnswer to Doubleclutchin: that is a switch stand. The target (as it is known) shows the position of the track switch, and is part of the mechanism which operates the switch. The switch (in the track) allows a train to move into one of two (usually) tracks. This switch stand would have been used on a main track so the position can be seen from a distance, telling the engineer if a slow diverging route is set, or the main high speed route. "High" speed here was probably not more than 30 or 40 miles per hour. The vertical rod rotates through ninety degrees when the switch is moved, so displaying to the engineer either square blades (perhaps painted white?) for the slow route, or the round blades (perhaps green?) for the "fast" route
I would suspect that this switch stand was moved here as part of the display. A tall switch stand is more expensive than simpler, low switch stands. Since this is the end of the line, is is not necessary to provide long distance warning of the position of the switch.
Face on the barroom floor.I do remember a saloon there touting "the face on the barroom floor."  Wonder if that's still there?  Really neat town when we were there in the '80s before casinos.
I found the trainRight around the corner on Gregory Street, just past the Post Office and RMO Dispensary.
Odd signalDouble clutch, that odd signal is a train order signal. Displaying white banner/white light, no orders; red means to stop, sign for and receive orders; yellow would indicate orders to pick up, stopping not necessary. There could be some variation of signals on different railroads, but this is typical.
Just as the locomotive was left for display, it is also possible that the train order signal was put up for display also. I don't know if Central City was a train order office back in the day.
The funny signalTo answer doubleclutchin's question, the object is known as an order board. The days of communicating with train crews by paper sent ahead to a telegraph operator required a way to indicate to the train's crew that there was a message (an "order") for them and to halt and receive and sign for same. The paddles were rotated one way for "proceed," and the other for "stop."
Central City, a terminus location (end of the line), would have been a required stop anyhow, so this board is just serving as an example of the object, not what would have been seen in Central at any time. 
Cameo in "On the Road""Central City is an old mining town that was once called the Richest Square Mile in the World, where a veritable shelf of silver had been found by the old buzzards who roamed the hills. They grew wealthy overnight and had a beautiful little opera house built in the midst of their shacks on the steep slope. Lillian Russell had come there, and opera stars from Europe. Then Central City became a ghost town, till the energetic Chamber of Commerce types of the new West decided to revive the place. They polished up the opera house, and every summer stars from the Metropolitan came out and performed. It was a big vacation for everybody. Tourists came from everywhere, even Hollywood stars."
Jack Kerouac, "On the Road", Chapter 9
Slip n SlideI'll bet that road into town was one wild ride in the winter when that road was wet and muddy. I wonder how many times those buildings at the bottom of the hill were slid into?
(The Gallery, Frontier Life, M.P. Wolcott, Mining, Railroads, Small Towns)

Diaper Depot: 1942
... "New York, New York. Waiting for trains at Pennsylvania Station." Photo by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size. Old Penn Station As someone who has to regularly commute through the "new" Penn ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/28/2017 - 10:59am -

August 1942. "New York, New York. Waiting for trains at Pennsylvania Station." Photo by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size.
Old Penn StationAs someone who has to regularly commute through the "new" Penn Station, photos like these of the old, now-destroyed station make me sad.  I love the juxtaposition in this photo; the bored commuter, the new mom, the nattily-dressed porter and the escalator riders behind them. Where the floor has worn away in the station, the glass-embedded tiles shown here still show through.
[The "glass-embedded tiles" are skylights of the kind seen on sidewalks above building basements, usually with the glass turned purple from long exposure to sunlight. -tterrace]
Mini-railWhat is the little semi-circular railing on the right for?
What we do for loveYoung parents of today may not realize how hard it was on the backs of parents when they had to change their baby's diaper away from home.  The changing tables in many of today's public bathrooms are a great help and relief to parents with back or joint problems and probably are more sanitary for the baby too (as well as random onlookers).  I don't think anyone had disposable diapers then either, you had to carry it around with you.  This is not one of the things we would like to go back to.
Stairway to HeavenTo ColoZ: The U-shaped cutout in the railing may have been for a ticket-checker to stand in without getting bowled over by the crowds. 
ColoZ and Marysd: several of the current staircases down to the platform level have the original banisters and iron work partially visible in this image.
(The Gallery, Kids, Marjory Collins, NYC, Railroads)

The Gas Shack: 1920
Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Penn Oil Co., Columbia Road station between 17th & 18th." National Photo Company Collection glass ... the shack? It looked old even THEN! [The sign reads PENN OIL. - Dave] Yikes. "Unescorted lady motorists always welcome. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 9:40pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Penn Oil Co., Columbia Road station between 17th & 18th." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
ZoilDid anyone notice the Pennzoil sign on the shack? It looked old even THEN!
[The sign reads PENN OIL. - Dave]
Yikes."Unescorted lady motorists always welcome. Open after dark!"
Lightning Motor Fuel33 cents a gallon!
The price of gas33 cents in 1920 is equivalent to $3.50 today.  Guess I should stop complaining.
No Frills FuelI'll bet it was fixed up real nice inside.
33 cents a gallon!That's pretty pricey for 1920!!!
Not a great dealI was just thinking the other day that gas was selling for 24 to 28 cents a gallon during the gas wars of 1970.
ContemporaryI'm struck by the styling and the newness of those dwellings in the background -- it almost looks like a modern, present-day apartment complex being built in the background of a 1920 photograph. 
Aromatic hydrocarbonsGas stations used to smell like gas stations; a 7-Eleven with a pump island doesn't.
The row housesThey look brand new, and modern -- anyone know if they are still around?
Argonne PlaceI'll have to get a better photo with my camera instead of my phone. The gas station is now an apartment complex. Houses built in 1921, and are still here. What do you think? I'd say it's the same developer if it's not the same houses.
Argonne PlaceThis is the back of Argonne Place, which is in between Columbia Road and Harvard Street, 16th and 17th. Late 1920 is my best guess for time period.
(The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)

Transitorium: 1910
New York circa 1910. "Pennsylvania Station. Concourse showing gates, indicators." 8x10 inch glass negative, ... also, "Overlooking a wine rack inside Penn Wine & Spirits is a segment of vintage glass bricks, once a floor and now a ceiling." -- Penn Station's Buried Glory (NYDN) What? No scissor lifts or JLG boom ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:42pm -

New York circa 1910. "Pennsylvania Station. Concourse showing gates, indicators." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Sidewalk SkylightsThat really is a sea of skylight as tterrace points out!  You can see a portion of it in this previous Shorpy post here.  What a great building we can't see!
Glimpses of glass brickVisible until very recently, until the worn sections of floor that had exposed them were re-covered:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatafarce/437171945/
also, "Overlooking a wine rack inside Penn Wine & Spirits is a segment of vintage glass bricks, once a floor and now a ceiling."
-- Penn Station's Buried Glory (NYDN)
What? No scissor lifts or JLG boom lifts?Amazing how they constructed and finished off these massive and ornate structures with technology basically from the Middle Ages. Wood scaffold, block and tackle, rope, hammer and nails. Unseen are a mess of power cords, hammer drills, 24V Dewalts, hydraulic scissor lifts, etc.
Mean ShorpyMaking old New Yorkers cry (sigh).
ThanksTo Dave and Shorpy, this spendid work of Architecture and so many others will never be forgotten.  Many thanks!
Train to the tropicsThis photo evokes a tropical feel, so out of place in New York. The architecture says palm trees and sunny skies. I never noticed that before, what a great photo!
The Glass CeilingInteresting to note that the various iron arches and pillars seen here were mostly a decorative element bridging the visual gap between modern industry and antiquity (through the doors to the right a loftier, grander hall existed also made of hidden iron, veiled with travertine).
The ironwork in the concourse did not actually support the glass ceiling as it appears to do. Rather an unseen exterior truss cantilevered from the outer walls, and the glass ceiling essentially hung from it.
The trusses can be seen in this image from the book "New York's Pennsylvania Stations." The station is under demolition in the mid-1960s. The photo is copyright by Norman McGrath.
SkylightsThe floor sure looks like it's made up of sections of the sidewalk skylights we've seen in a number of urban streetscapes. If so, this must be something like the largest known expanse of them in recorded history.
The Lee-Key Roofing Co.The giant glass roofs of this era, in railroad stations, exhibition halls, etc. always amaze me.  How, with the primitive sealing materials (tar, caulk, putty) of the era, did they ever keep the water out?  Or maybe they didn't - even modern skylights tend to leak.
CamelotIf the NYC Real Estate Developers would have had their way, Grand Central Terminal would have gone the way of the old Penn Station. Thanks to new Landmarks Designation Laws, The Municipal Art Society,  people like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and others it was spared the Wrecker's Ball. It is now one of the most visited attractions in the city. The Musee d'Orsay in Paris (built in the old D'Orsay Railroad Station) could have been rivaled by a saved Penn Station.
ScaffoldingThe scaffolding design and construct is nearly as remarkable as the station itself. It's amazing what workers could do back then.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

Hollywood & Vine: 1963
... 90's it didn't look as pretty as this. Awesome 1959 Ford station wagon driving with the back window open (you'd get a ticket for that ... specifically at FW's headquarters in Delaware Water Gap, Penn., and at his Shawnee-on-Delaware, Penn., home. By the way--Fred is one ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 06/24/2009 - 5:04pm -

August 1963. Here I am at world famous Hollywood & Vine, or in this case, Don't Walk & Vine. Hint: I'm not the one in the green skirt and heels. View full size.
Great!These are wonderful.  Please post more!
More recent photosYes, I would also like to see more photos from the '50s & '60s.
I like the old stuff but it's nice to revisit scenes of our youth too.
For more recent photos...... check out the Member Blog. I notice the stuff there doesn't get as high a hit count, so maybe some people are overlooking it. Been a bunch of great color slides posted recently. 
Auntie MameIs that Auntie Mame at the theater across the street ?
Please, Sir, can I have some more?When I was in L.A. in the early 90's it didn't look as pretty as this. Awesome 1959 Ford station wagon driving with the back window open (you'd get a ticket for that today). The lady with the matching shoes & handbag has got great style, you should've gotten her number. What type of camera and film were used for this great shot? As I've been trying to get this exact 'period' kind-of look...
CoffeeI noticed the Farmers Brothers logo on the wagon. In the 70's - 90's when I was in the coffee business, Farmer Brothers stood for the cheapest crappiest coffee one could buy and always competed for the business on lowest price, regardless. I had always wondered if there was a time when it was good. Maybe 1963 was it?
Green Skirt and HeelsWell it's too bad you're not the one in the green skirt and heels - how incredibly chic she looks - especially with the contrast of the old ladies on the right. Nonetheless, you're still a looker!
Period kind of look photosThis was shot with the Kodak Retinette 1A that I got in late 1962. The slide film was something Montgomery Ward marketed under their brand name. Not sure who actually manufactured it, but either due to its inherent characteristics or the Ward processing service, most of it has acquired a drab yellowish tint that's been corrected out here. Unless it was Kodachome, most vintage color film is going to present problems today. Kodacolor negatives pre-1953 have faded to uselessness, and the prints yellow. Ektachrome only got stable around 1962. You ought to see what my Hudson shot really looks like, or me hanging from the tree. All purple. I can generally correct most of it out, and then the skilled technicians at Shorpy Labs apply their expertise to the final product.
Most Excellent!Thanks for posting. I wish I could jump right in that photo and live out the rest of my life! Cheers.
MoviesOn the bill at the theater across the street are "Auntie Mame" with Rosalind Russell (the good version) and "The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England" starring Peter O'Toole and Elizabeth Sellars (and Aldo Ray, although his name isn't on the marquee). "Auntie Mame" came out in December 1958 and "The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England" in September 1960, so that is definitely not one of the higher end theaters in Hollywood.
Comments by JM Berry "In the 70's - 90's when I was in the coffee business, Farmer Brothers stood for the cheapest crappiest coffee one could buy and always competed for the business on lowest price, regardless. I had always wondered if there was a time when it was good. Maybe 1963 was it?"
  Excuse me, but who did you work for and please state why you are such an expert on coffee?
[I would imagine that being in the coffee business and having drunk a lot of awful Farmer Bros. coffee qualifies J.M. as an authority on the subject. And yes, Farmer Brothers coffee is bad. Really bad. - Dave]
Blistered tourist?I wonder if the grandmotherly-type lady in the stripes has worn a blister onto her heel with a Hollywood walking tour. It appears that she may be protecting her skin with a Band-Aid where her shoe was rubbing.
Oh, and are you by Fred Waring's star? (My parents loved him...they vacation near his Pennsylvania home each fall.)
Farmer Brothers CoffeeMy neighbor across the street drives a Farmer Brothers Coffee truck.  Wonder if it's still bad, or if he thinks so?
Fred WaringGlad to see that there are still people out there that remember Fred Waring. I was a member of the Pennsylvanians in the 1970s, and spent many wonderful years in the Poconos, specifically at FW's headquarters in Delaware Water Gap, Penn., and at his Shawnee-on-Delaware, Penn., home.
By the way--Fred is one of only a handful of performers to have 3 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is recognized for his work in radio, television and recordings, and one of his stars is right on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, right next to the special star placed there for the Apollo 11 astronauts.
If your parents have Internet access, they might want to visit the Fred Waring's America web site. The special collection of all things Waring is housed at Penn State University. Just type in "Fred Waring's America" on Yahoo! or Google and take it from there. The site has CDs for sale of many of the classic Waring recordings.
Pete Misiak
That girl in the green skirtThat girl in the green skirt has a striking profile resemblance to Jennifer Tilly, one of my favorite character actresses. At least, I trust it's her acting skills that provide the character part. Otherwise, I'm keeping my distance.
 	 Comments by JM Berry re. FB coffee You have no clue as to what you are saying. The best coffees in the world can taste like crap if the brewing cycle/temp/water quality, etc. are not correct. To make a statement such as yours just shows your lack of knowledge about coffee, period.
[Sounds like it might be time for someone to switch to decaf. - Dave]
Don't Walk indeedGreat pic.  I love seeing the old traffic equipment in these photos.  In this case the star (aside from the author of course) is the Econolite exposed tube neon pedestrian signal.  Installed from the mid fifties to the late sixties, they stayed in service in many parts of California until just recently.
Fred WaringI remember Mr. Waring clearly. I shook his hand (after going through his band "bodyguards") at a concert in Concord, New Hampshire. I last spoke with him as my father and I came off the ninth hole at his golf course at Shawnee on the Delaware. He had a table set up with a single rose in a vase. He was cheerful, and happy to watch the golfers putting out. He died not long after that.
Fred Waring was a class act, from what I could perceive looking in from the outside. He brought us beauty and pride in our country. May his tribe increase, and his memory persist.
Pastor Tom Fowler
Told ya!Remember how I said my parents were fans of Fred Waring? Well, "Pastor Tom" is my dad! I had no idea he'd met Fred Waring on two different occasions ... to think I learned of that on Shorpy!
Oh, and to Mr. Misiak, thanks for the heads-up on the Waring sites. It must have been a blast to so fun to tour with Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians! (Just read your bio on WJR.com, and you've had a fascinating career so far!)
Shorpy rocks. When does Shorpy get a star on Hollywood & Vine?
Me tooJust to bring this full circle, I, the Hollywood & Vine striped shirt person, remember watching Fred Waring on TV in the early 1950s, too. I also recall being astonished to find out that he was the Waring of the Waring Blendor.
Waring BlendorI was aware that Fred Waring was involved with the Waring Blendor, not as the inventor but as the principal investor and the manufacturer. I have to wonder if he made more money out of the Blendor than he did from the music business.
Kiss my CoffeeNot to jump into the coffee fray, but seriously:
If a specific coffee has to be handled with kid gloves, kissed, massaged, and lastly, blessed by the Pope in order to be palatable, it ain't good coffee.
My Favorite FarkThe flashing "Dork" sign.

Photoshop & VineThe ultimate accolade. Your photo has been Farked.
What a great sport!You rock, tterrace. 
Not only have we enjoyed your photos, on Shorpy and elsewhere, but now we can enjoy what those scamps over at Fark can do TO your pictures!
Oh, and according to the homepage, it looks like the Fark gang are tackling these boaters.

DORK!!I really enjoy navigating these photos. It reminds me of happier times. The "Dork" photo made my day! Keep up the great posts, tterrace!!
Fellow DorkI had the twin of that shirt in 1963! When I first saw the photo I thought "Hey, did somebody snap my picture one day while I was standing at Hollywood and Vine?" Then I realized that, no, the guy in the photo is way too beefy and well-muscled to have been me. Thanks for the reminder of how scrawny I was at 18!
(Or maybe I was there when the photo was taken, but I'm hidden behind one of the poles?)
L.A. WomanA nice Asian girl but maybe a little old for you. She looks so much like my mother. Who was quite a hottie back in the day!
Girl in the Green SkirtI mentioned the girl in the green skirt down in the comments below somewhere. But I forgot to ask...do you recall noticing her after all these years? We're about the same age, and I'll admit to having not just a few standout moments where a fine-looking female captured my full attention at a particular moment, and inexplicably every so often pops into a pleasant daydream of days gone by. You do have the advantage of an actual photo to stimulate the memory. But I have the advantage of going on pure memory which can be altered to great effect over the years. Like they say, the older I get, the better I used to be.
+51Approximately the same view in 2014.
(ShorpyBlog, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Farked, tterrapix)

Pennsylvania Station: 1910
... "Track level, main and exits, concourses, Pennsylvania Station." 8x10 dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full ... Fantasy The marvelous steel arches and glass vaults of Penn Station's concourse are just as decorative and "artificial" as the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:42pm -

New York circa 1910. "Track level, main and exits, concourses, Pennsylvania Station." 8x10 dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Caldarium, tepidarium, frigidariumSaid to be modeled after the Baths of Caracalla, but with a lavish use of glass and structural steel unimaginable in the Roman era, and one would have to bathe elsewhere.
Too bad it was destroyed almost 50 years ago.
GloriousA superb photo. The details are wonderful, so pristine it almost looks like a model, except for that ghost on the platform lower left.
Gilbert's finestAnyone else look at this and think, "Erector set"?
Not ADA CompliantHow did disabled persons take the train back th-? Oh. 
Scary Scaffolding!Who wants to climb up that scaffolding in the upper right corner?
Stairways to heaven It makes me queasy to even think about climbing up and around on that makeshift scaffolding. No handrails. No looking down. No way. 
Stairs RemainSome of those stairs to the platform still remain, but at the track level, the light and airy station has been reduced to a dark, dingy basement.
A Structural FantasyThe marvelous steel arches and glass vaults of Penn Station's concourse are just as decorative and "artificial" as the Guastavino tile vaults and colossal Corinthian columns in in the Main Waiting Room (the part of the station that was modeled on the Baths of Caracalla) next door. As Hilary Ballon showed in her book "New York's Pennsylvania Stations," the actual structure of the concourse is formed by three hidden sets of steel trusses forming X-patterns in plan above this space. All the apparent structure you see here is actually hung from these supports. The result may be an attempt to answer the question: What would the Romans have have done with steel and glass? It is all a splendid illusion, but in the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, "not that there's anything wrong with it."
Herringbone Is the arched ceiling surface made from masonry units or tile?
Imagine the hours involved on just that part of the job.
Magnificent structureThanks for posting this wonderful shot.
Artful and skillfulBack then it seems that there wasn't much of today's division between the haughty artist (architect) coming up with gaga designs and the lowly craftsman (civil engineer) who has to put them into being. 
They were much in love with their (then relatively new) materials and used them to great effect. And somewhow architects and engineers seem to have been on the same planet, not to mention the same wavelength. Maybe both were artisans, rather than artist and craftsman, respectively. 
Today's architecture rarely is up to that. From purely utilitarian, through trite and tacky to ugly to downright stupid *, most of the time. My 5 Cents, anyway.
* Stupid would be, for instance, when function follows form, like using huge glass fronts in rather sunny places, or flat roofs with 60 inches of annual rain.
HorribleI don't know if he's still around but there used to be someone who posted when a picture of Pennsylvania station came up, saying how the photo didn't reflect how horrible the place really was and how it was a good thing that the tore it down. Just so you know that not everyone shares our enthusiasm for the structure.
Not ADA Compliant?How did disabled persons take the train back then?  Pretty much like they would now -- a redcap would have taken them down in an elevator.
The ADA is a wonderful law that has done a great deal of good, but it can't change reality.  I remember once the Amtrak ADA-compliance officer inspected my station and said we would need to install "tactile bumps" along the 6 concrete platforms bordering the tracks.  I asked why, and she said to facilitate access by blind persons using a cane.  I responded that I would never allow a blind person to go out into the yard unaccompanied, that it was incredibly dangerous even for those with perfect vision, since there were constantly trains moving through.  She said, yes, but they have that right under the law.
LongevityLooks like a train of Long Island Rail Road MP54 cars over on Track 14 at the bottom left.  Some of these cars outlasted the station, not being withdrawn from service until the early 1970s.
Like a ratPerpsters comment reminds me of the saying from architecture historian Vincent Scully: "Through it one entered the city like a god, one scuttles in now like a rat."
The current Penn Station is New York's greatest embarrassment.
(The Gallery, DPC, NYC, Railroads)

Way Station: 1943
... Illinois. Waiting for trains in the concourse of the Union Station." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. ... was the equivalent to the train shed of other stations. Penn Station's concourse had a similar beams, girders and rivets appearance. If ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/13/2015 - 10:16am -

January 1943. "Chicago, Illinois. Waiting for trains in the concourse of the Union Station." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size.
Which one is it? Pt 2You are close davidk but off the mark a little:
The guy leaning against the radiator is a jazz musician, he plays the sax. You are right about the guy with the open paper buts he's an FBI agent keeping tabs on the older gentleman leaning against the pole with the poster. He's Paddy O'Brian of the Irish Mafia and he runs a speak easy on Dearborn Ave. The girl in the center looking at the camera is Roxy (aka Sally from Kansas) the next big star to hit town.
PS My first ever post..I love Shorpy
If I was there then...I'd wonder, "How would people like to buy suitcases with wheels on them?"
The Architect of this Station... must have played with Erector sets when he was a kid.
Which one is it?The Nazi spy is definitely the man on the left in the fedora and overcoat, leaning on the radiator, affecting the nonchalant pose.  The person on his tail is the similarly dressed man, central, in the background, with the open newspaper.
Defintely a time gone byI can almost smell the cigar smoke. 
Much Ado About Nothing but funActually davidk, the newspaper reader and the man leaning on the radiator are both FBI. They are watching the group in the middle, who are waiting for their contact with the stolen diamonds to smuggle out of the country. On the right is Mugs Malone, former "almost" heavyweight champ and now muscle for the mob. Center is Donna Reed in her cute little boots and brains of the outfit. Behind her is Humphrey Bogart, an insurance investigator pretending to be a tough gang member. If you look quickly between the paper reader and the man with the satchel (containing the diamonds), a disguised Charley Chan is following the real Nazi spy.
Parmelee Transfer Worked Like MagicYou may have only had an hour for a train connection in Chicago between different station, but Parmelee Transfer would get you and your luggage to your connection on time.
Long goneI used Chicago Union Station for many years, 1965 - 1997, commuting to and from my work. I vaguely remember the old, spacious concourse. Most of my memories are of the 'new' concourse, as Milamber2431 says, under a skyscraper. The term I have heard for the new concourse was "Chicago Union Basement" - which unfortunately fits. The ceiling is very low, and the space is broken up.
No comparisonto either of the NYC stations.  This looks like something thrown together over a feverish weekend, just to keep the passengers free from rain.  The two NYC stations look like something grand, this shabby and morose.
 Going back 50+ years, I remember taking the train to Milwaukee, and likely walked somewhere near.  The floor was paved with 'get-er-done-quick' asphalt.
The Two FedsJumped right out at me in the unenlarged photo, they are too conspicuously casual.  Tall man is packing a shoulder holster, evidenced by the bulge in his overcoat.  His target has not yet arrived.  Marcy, in her pretty white boots, is the decoy.  Alfred Hitchcock, to the right of the poster, is awaiting his cameo.
Neon SignThe neon sign pointing to the "Street Cars" is a mate to one we have that says "To Trains" with a similar arrow. Ours also came out of Union Station and hangs in our hallway pointing the way to the nearby Metra station.
Tracks are still there, concourse is goneThis photo shows the south side of the concourse. The doors on the left lead to the south-bound train platforms (note signs for track numbers 8 and 12).
If you walked through those doors in January 1943 you would be here.
The east side of the concourse was seen here.
The west side of the concourse was seen here.
Union Station actually has more traffic today than in the 40s, though it's mostly commuters. Trains board at the same spot pictured above, but the expansive concourse is gone. It's all underneath a 1970s skyscraper.
Composition, Noir. . . cries out for half-silly scenarios, and, bless 'em, the Shorpites have provided them. Even so, it's a strikingly beautiful compo.
No ComparisonTo: tomincantonga. The concourse was the equivalent to the train shed of other stations. Penn Station's concourse had a similar beams, girders and rivets appearance. If you want to see grandeur comparable to the New York stations, find photos of Union Station Headhouse's Great Hall--which fortunately still exists. The Concourse, which is not shown to best advantage in this shot, was actually pretty grand itself. It was in a separate building from the Headhouse. The Headhouse contained the vast Great Hall, ticket offices, restaurants, barber shops, bars, lounges, jail, etc. The Concourse and Headhouse were connected via a passageway under Canal Street. 
(The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)

Q Street Gas: 1920
Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Penn Oil, Q Street, Georgetown." View full size. National Photo Company ... Congress. 27th and Q, NW Ads from 1920 indicate a Penn Oil station located at 27th and Q streets NW. I've added this photo to my ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 6:51pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. "Penn Oil, Q Street, Georgetown." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.
27th and Q, NWAds from 1920 indicate a Penn Oil station located at 27th and Q streets NW.
I've added this photo to my growing Google Map Mashup of Shorpy's D.C. area photos. 
Visible GasolineGood to see that they're selling "Visible Gasoline." It's so hard to fill up with the invisible kind.
Gas 30-Cents a Gallon in 1920?Gas cost too much in 1920.  Thirty cents a gallon?  
Heck, on the corner of 13 Mile Road and Ryan Road in Warren, Michigan, during the late 1960's, we could get gas for 19-cents a gallon during the "Gas Wars".
Not only that - we could get an inflatable Dino the Dinosaur (Sinclair), a full set of Detroit Tigers Glasses (Marathon) and other stuff I've forgotten from Standard (Amoco) and Gulf.
Those 1960's "Gas Wars" - those were the good ole days.  Forget that 1920's nonsense.  How could a poor Flapper gal get about with the cost of gas?
Tiger in Your TankDon't forget the 1960s Esso "Tiger in Your Tank" Tail to hang from your gas cap. That was worth a fill-up.
Wow, Shorpy Shrinks The World!I grew up in Warren, Michigan (11 mile & Mound) and also remember the "Gas Wars." My mother had a fit when she moved me into MSU. Gas was 69 cents a gallon just off campus. My going to college was going to send her "to the poorhouse."
A Gallon of GasIn current dollars the price of gas in 1920 was $ 2.75 per gallon - almost the highest price on the graph. About ~5 years later when flappers drove up to the filling stations and stepped out of their Ford roadsters wearing high heels, the station was (hopefully) paved and the price had significantly dropped. So there was spending money left for make-up, cigarettes and filling the hip flasks.
[It's interesting to note that for 50 years the absolute price of a gallon of gas stayed pretty much the same -- 20 to 25 cents from 1920 to 1970. - Dave]

Chart: New York Times (Click to enlarge)
Washington MonumentYou can see the top of the Washington Monument on the right. That must mean this was on the south side of Q. Probably near Kew Gardens, which I think was already built around then.
Gas Prices Over the AgesThirty cent gas in 1920 is equal to $3.10 a gallon today.  I'd be happy to pay that, and so would my poor Flapper gal.
Bleak Station; Free AirThis enterprise presents a bleak vision, with its blank sign on our left, the stakes dancing around the small evergreens out front, the bare limbed tree, and the near-desperate appearing proprietor.
I wonderIf that's the site of the selfsame station that was in Georgetown when I went to school there--it was a really old-fashioned one that may have been closed. 
Visible GasThe old system of filling your tank used a hand pump to pull the gas out of an underground tank and into the glass beaker on top of the pump. That beaker had painted lines on the side which told you how much gas you were paying for.
You can see both the hand pump and the glass beaker. Notice the chicken wire around the beaker to ward off rock throwers.
 Gas on the cheap In the early sixties, I worked at an independent gas station that closed its bays and installed a dozen double pumps, then they offered gas for 30 cents a gallon, about half price. The place was mobbed all day, plus they gave out colored chips with each purchase that could be redeemed for dishes, lighters and bric-a-brac. My friend Bob and I spent a whole blazing summer out there wearing aprons full of chips and pumping like a tornado was coming. Those two fellows probably prayed for business like that.
(The Gallery, D.C., Gas Stations, Natl Photo)

Loco: 1890
Circa 1890. "Mexican Central Railway train at station." Dry plate glass negative by William Henry Jackson. Detroit Publishing ... is the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Penn. The circular builder's plate on the side of the smokebox was a trademark ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:26pm -

Circa 1890. "Mexican Central Railway train at station." Dry plate glass negative by William Henry Jackson. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
Where's the rest of the train?That is an astonishingly short train: A locomotive, a tender, a baggage car, and then either a caboose or a small passenger car. How did they make this trip pay, unless there is something very special being carried as freight?
Short TrainWe tend to expect long multi-car passenger trains but in many cases the real work was done on branch lines with a set-up that looked pretty much like this in the days before cars and buses became the standard. You really had two ways of getting to your destination if it was greater than walking distance; a local (unnamed) passenger train or a horse/horse and wagon, and after a certain distance the horse and wagon stopped making sense. This kind of train was the intercity bus of its day.
Warm waterThe two ladies are collecting water overflow from the steam injector.  That is the steam appliance they are standing next to.    
Overflow water, which is warmed by this process is not as hot as water straight from the boiler.
Dave J.
Hot waterUnless the boiler pressure is very low, drawing off hot water this way would result in instant steam.  The water in a locomotive boiler is usually over 270 degrees so it will instantly turn to steam if released to atmospheric pressure.  Possibly the locomotive had been standing and pressure dropped or else they were just getting it fired up when the photo was made.  I do see that the Senora with the olla on her shoulders seems to have a bit of insulation in the form of a serape under the jar and against her head.
The most likely manufacturerThe most likely manufacturer of the locomotive is the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Penn.  The circular builder's plate on the side of the smokebox was a trademark of theirs.  Also, they often cast "The Baldwin Locomotive Works Philadelphia, U.S.A." into the margin around the edge of the locomotive number plate during this time period.  An example is here:
http://www.railroadiana.org/hw/hw_bp/bp_BLW32_EBT_b.jpg
This short train, with the small coach and large express car was probably the daily "milk and mail" or whatever the Mexican equivalent was.  These short trains made every stop on nearly every mile of railway line in North America, carrying merchandise packages, mail, and a few passengers to all the small towns.  Chances are, the contents of the express car are more valuable than the tickets for the coach.
Free Hot WaterIt looks like the women are tapping off some hot water from the boiler. I've seen this done in India. I'd leave it to cool down a bit before heaving it onto my shoulder.
Who made this baby?Can anyone enlarge this picture to reveal the wording on that plate on the locomotive? And what on earth are those two ladies doing next to that driver wheel? I wonder if they are looking for something.
Pre-revolutionary transportationThese photos are very interesting to me because they show snapshots of life in Mexico before the civil war (or Revolution, as they like to call it here). Undeniable the influence of American railroads in the design of that loco. 
Do we know where this was taken? 
Is it a Cooke?This loco looks rather similar to this Cooke:

This one is described as being owned by Compania Muebles y Mudazas. 2249 was built by Cooke in February 1893, #2249, as Lehigh & Hudson River 19. It was sold as MyM 2249 and resold as Nacional de Mexico 2249, Class F-23a.  In 1931 it was renumbered 807, Class F-27, and retired in July 1934.
Cooke was based in Paterson, New Jersey.
Re Who Made I can't read them, but the circular builder's plate on the side of the smokebox and the circular number plate look very Baldwin.
Also note the white flags on the pilot beam, signifying that this train is "running extra" -- not in the schedule.
Re: Free Hot WaterI thought they were taking off steam products, which would be distilled, rather than boiler water.
Photo TrainThe white flags denote a special train and I would think this train was assigned to carry Mr. Jackson and his gear and stop where he saw fit to photograph. Other railroads accommodated Jackson in this way.
Probably a BaldwinI'm not 100% sure but looking at the round builder's plate, and trying to decipher the lettering around the edge of the numberplate on the front, I think this was built by Baldwin.
A ten-wheeler would generally be considered a huge engine for such a tiny train, but Mexico is in general pretty mountainous. Also, sometimes an outsized engine would be assigned to a train in order to avoid dispatching it as a light engine to a new location. I seem to recall seeing an example in one of by books, and back when I worked by the tracks in Silver Spring I saw a freight with eight diesels pushing at the back-- definite overkill considering that the run from Brunswick is pretty much downhill all the way.
It's not a Cooke engineI think it's a Mason. It is a dead ringer with identical cab, smoke box, steam and sand domes. and everything matches except for the pilot and location of the bell
Might Be a BaldwinAlthough not 100%, the amount of wording on both the builder's plate (the raised round item on the smokebox, just above the white flag and cylinder on our left), and the front number plate, lead me to believe this was a Baldwin. 
Cooke also used round plates, but with much simpler lettering, and in various sizes, 
Darkoom SpecialVery likely this is a photographer's special, with the second coach fitted up to act as a rolling darkroom.  WH Jackson worked on a contract basis for a lot of western railroads - the Denver Public Library has a huge collection of the pictures he took for the D&RG, DSP&P and Colorado Midland Railroads, among others - and quite a few of them include a two car (in some cases, a two caboose) train fitted up for his use, and posed among various scenic landmarks.  
It's not Alec or Billy or Stephen, but...Careful squinting at the numberplate on the smokebox door reveals it's a Baldwin.
How did they make this trip pay?One could ask the same thing about a private 747.
Short trains, well-known from moviesA lot of cheap western movies show very short trains, probably because they couldn't afford to restore a lot of rolling stock ..... This reminds of such movies.
(The Gallery, DPC, Railroads, W.H. Jackson)

Planes, Trains: 1935
June 12, 1935. "Newark passenger station, Pennsylvania Railroad. Waiting room, sunlight and passengers. McKim, ... plane to either L.A. or San Francisco. As Newark Penn Station opened in 1935, I expect that's why there's a plane on the wall. ... thanks to an extensive restoration in the 1980's. Newark Penn features four levels of interconnections: Cabs and buses at street level; ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/27/2014 - 10:03am -

June 12, 1935. "Newark passenger station, Pennsylvania Railroad. Waiting room, sunlight and passengers. McKim, Mead & White, client." Waiting for someone to explain the plane. Large format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
McKim, Mead & WhiteThis question may merely be in consequence of my occasional transient befuddlement, but whose client is McKim, Mead & White?
[The photographic firm of Samuel Gottscho and William Schleisner. -tterrace]
History of transportation"The interior of the main waiting room has medallions illustrating the history of transportation, from wagons to steamships to cars and airplanes, the eventual doom of the railroad age."
Train by night, plane by dayIn 1935, the Pennsylvania Railroad, along with the Santa Fe Railroad out west, had a partnership with TWA. In the early days of commercial air travel, night flying was not yet viewed to be safe, so for a time the railroads would partner with airlines, to offer fastest transcontinental services by taking the trains overnight, and flying during the day. You would leave New York in the evening, and take an overnight train to Columbus, Ohio where you would board a plane to Wichita, Kansas. At Wichita, you would board the Santa Fe for an overnight trip to Clovis, New Mexico, where you would get on another plane to either L.A. or San Francisco.
As Newark Penn Station opened in 1935, I expect that's why there's a plane on the wall.
What's your sign?In addition to the medallions symbolizing the history of transportation on the walls, the hanging lanterns are surrounded with ornamental bands depicting astrological signs; not sure how that ties into the history of transportation.
Excitement not shownAs a kid visiting Newark Station long ago to pick up Grandmother from Cincinnati, it was unbelievably exciting. Huge rumbles from overhead trains coming in, and when you were old enough you got to visit various platforms to be near trains. Those were real trains, with GG-1 locomotives and pullman cars and full service dining cars. Unintelligible public address announcements. It started to go downhill around 1960.
Memories of homeAs a former Newark resident I remember this waiting room quite well. I would pass through there on my way to catch the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) Trains to NYC. Outside the windows on the left there was usually a queue of taxis lined up. Behind the doors below the airplane was an exit that led to loading platforms for buses that went to places like Seaside and Asbury Park.  
I left Newark in 1976 but I suspect that the waiting room looks the same today as it did back in 1935.
Times ChangeWhile the structure of the room remains the same, the ambience is somewhat diminished. The benches are usually populated with vagrants. I frequently notice that, as a result, those who are seated are spread out, as no one chooses to sit within five feet or so of the "regulars". 
It's a depressing room these days; at least on the weekends, when I pass through. If the situation is better on weekdays, I'd be happy to hear of it.
Still crazy busy, after all these yearsYes, it does look substantially the same today, thanks to an extensive restoration in the 1980's. Newark Penn features four levels of interconnections: Cabs and buses at street level; Tracks 1-5 above, including NJ Transit, Amtrak Regional and Acela service; PATH trains ("The Tubes") at roof level; and a basement-level terminal for multiple light rail lines. As late as the 80's, this last level ran 1940's PCC trolleys... ten cents intra-city in those days. A few abandoned cars were found in a walled-off siding under the street when that siding was returned to service for new light rail service around 2002.
Some ChangesIn front of the windows, where the three lone travelers sit, is now a high-tech snack bar.  Incongruous with the lovely deco surroundings.  It's not unusual to find sparrows, pigeons, or other flighted friends walking or fluttering about.  To their credit, Newark's Finest do their best to keep the waiting room and platforms clear of homeless and panhandlers.  Taxis still line up outside, but passengers departing need to walk more than a block from their designated "drop-off" area since 9/11.  Progress...
Opening the windowsAnyone know how this was done? I see the hinge apparatus but wondering how opening the high windows was achieved?
Some funky cable cable system? Long poles?
[There's a fitting with what looks like a crank hole near the base of each window. - Dave]
Trains vs. PlanesI don't know why, but I still have to see the airport building or photograph thereof which rings a bell with me anywhere near as much as well-designed well-built train station. 
On an airport, the planes are the show, if at all. 
Maybe it has to do with much greater accessibility and, say, democratic "feel" of a train station? Or with their general location (middle of town vs. outskirts to boonies)?
re McKim Mead & WhiteWell, to quote Katnip, "that sounds logical".
About that planeSince Newark constructed an airport in 1928, there is a better than average chance that the reference is there. You know, take the train to the station and a cab or bus to the plane. Still done today. Not many trains to planes, even now.
"Airway Limited"Transcontinental Air Transport (New York to Los Angeles (Glendale) in less than 51 hours, train-plane-train-plane) started in summer 1929; one-way fare was $338 including a lower berth each night on the train. By 1935 it was all over-- T&WA DC-2s were scheduled Newark to Glendale? Burbank? in less than 18 hours and the fare was $160.
Train Time!I'm totally amazed that no one has noticed that it's time for the Chattanooga Choo Choo to head South ('bout a quarter to four).
Transportation medallionsIf I recall correctly, there are twelve medallions total.  Penn Station Newark is still a place at which you can start a cross-country train journey, and while Amtrak is not as elegant as Pullman cars nor as attractive as GG-1s, it's still comfortable and good food served in the dining cars.
Medallion of "Electric Locomotive"Here's a shot of one of the medallions at the other end of the building. 
Let there be light!The original lighting fixtures after being cleaned and refurbished. 
MedallionsHere is a more modern view of the interior. Notice the other medallions. 
(The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, Railroads)

Wayne Camera: 1970s
... and early 70s, NYC's Willoughby's on West 32nd Street by Penn Station, where he knew some of the staff very well. His cameras of choice were ... 
 
Posted by Desdinova - 04/20/2013 - 12:09pm -

The Wayne Camera Center circa 1970s in the Preakness Shopping Center, Wayne, NJ.  I believe that's the founder, Bill Orkulsky, who started the store in 1955.  Not sure if the ladies present are his wife and daughter or just employees.  Lots of future "collectibles" and "kitsch" for sale. View full size.
FilmWhat's Kodak film?
Heaven!Oh - boxes, and boxes, and boxes of film, and slide projectors!
I know the "digital" age is here and there is nothing we can do about it, but.. for someone my age, whose entire teenage years and young adulthood (including my honeymoon in 1972) is filed away in trays of Ektachome-X (ASA 64) slides, this is the type of store I spent hours and hours in, getting advice from KNOWLEDGEABLE people about how to take better pictures.
Just looking at this photo makes me think I've died and gone to heaven! 
Recently defunctWayne Camera Center closed recently, after the man who bought the business in 1980 decided to retire.  It had moved out of the Preakness Shopping Center location several years earlier.
MemoriesReminds me of Baker Camera Supply in Washington, D.C.  Where you went for the right equipment to get that perfect shot.
Photo FinishWe had a Photo Section in our electronics store. We would lease the space. Usually two floor display cases and a wall unit behind them with those some of those same diamond shaped film box compartments. The Lessee's rent was usually covered by film sales and the income from the processing charges. The camera and lens sales generated their profits. By the way is that Ellen DeGeneres' mother behind the showcase on the right?
The scientific ageOn the white box in the lower right, underneath the binoculars: "Precision products to keep pace with the scientific age."  So which age are we now, 40 years on?  The digital age?  Can you imagine telling that to the folks in this photo.  They would do well to wonder, "The future is ... fingers?"
[Selsi manufactured optical products, such as magnifiers and loupes, as well as binoculars and telescopes. -tterrace]
Instamatics and a slide projector tableI think I see some Kodak Instamatics in the distant case on the left behind the young woman's head.
And just inside the frame on the lower left is a small table for slide projectors by "EV". It has a couple of electric outlets on a tilted side panel that serve the same purpose as modern power strips we use today. Plug the table's power cord into the wall, then plug the slide projector and other accessories into the outlets on the table. Other models came with a small, illuminated white panel beside the outlets where you could preview slides outside the projector. That's the model my dad had while he made industrial slide shows for his employer back in the '60s. Helped the editing process.
Polaroid filmThe right section of shelves to the right of the man the shelf that is second from the top I can make out the section of Polaroid film. I can make out the sign that reads "Polaroid Pictures" and most of the film type on the shelf. From right to left is T47, T107, T48, T108 the Polaroid sign, unknown film and three rows of Swinger camera film.
Selsi[Selsi manufactured optical products, such as magnifiers and loupes, as well as binoculars and telescopes. -tterrace]
Selsi was an American importer rather than a manufacturer, and careful about what they put their brand on: not absolutely first rate stuff, but very good, especially for the money. They were around from 1854 - 2010 and still are, in modified form.
On eBay, used Selsi binoculars are often listed as "Sevi" brand because of a fairly confusing logo.
View-MasterIt would have been about this era when I received that View-Master projector (in the glass case on the right) as a Christmas Gift. You didn't get to see the pictures in stereo of course.
Still analogIt was in a shop like this, in January 1971, that I purchased a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic (35mm) and learned the capabilities of SLR cameras. I still use this camera. Quality lasts. Unfortunately, the splendid Kodachrome 64 film is no longer available.
F8 and Be There!This photo takes me back to a great time in my life. Although it wasn’t in the 1970’s, I had the great fortune to work in a camera store in the late 1980’s. Remarkably, the store was laid out in a fashion similar to the one in this extraordinary photograph. Two great benefits of working in a camera store and being a devout shutterbug: discounts, and the ability to special-order all sorts of stuff to experiment with. I still have my motorized Nikon FE and F2 on a shelf in my office. Antiquated paperweights to some perhaps, but to me these mechanical gems represent a time that I had to think before depressing the shutter. Words to live by!
Yes, you can help meI'd like a five pack of Kodacolor 220 100 ASA film please.  Man, I haven't said that for a lot of years.
Great memories in this photo and I'm still laughing over davidk's past definition of the future!
Kodak FilmWas stuff we developed with fresh hand filtered Mekong River water with no
temperature control needed.
DC Camera ShopsSwitzarch, do you remember Industrial Photo on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring? That was the last place I could buy the 3000 ASA Type 47 film for my '52 Model 95 Polaroid. I could get it there until the late 1980s or early 1990s.
The camera has been retired for a while and the store is long gone.
Late 1972 or early 1973To the right of the Minolta counter display where the young girl is standing is a smaller card advertising the "Minolta CAR AND CAMERA Competition."  Presumably they would take this display down when the competition ended on January 31, 1973.
Film, glorious film.I'd buy that place out of 127, 120, and 35mm film.  
No clever titleI also went to a shop like this (but a little larger) with my father in the late 60s and early 70s, NYC's Willoughby's on West 32nd Street by Penn Station, where he knew some of the staff very well. His cameras of choice were a Hasselblad 500C for regular photography, using 120 and sheet film, and a Linhof Technika for portraits. I "played around" with an old Brownie Six-20 of his, which I still have, using 620 B/W and color film.
Electric slide (projector)I *think* that is an Airequipt slide projector on the right display case. I don't recall any other make that had the vertical carousel; I believe Kodak's was horizontal. It is kind of clunky to work. We still have an Airequipt that my father bought in the early 1970s and it still works just fine.
[Sawyer's - the View-Master people - also made a projector with a vertical carousel. It was also marketed under the Montgomery Ward name, like mine. -tterrace]
Czechoslovak Axomat enlargerThe enlarger at the right is a Czechoslovak Axomat (probably the 1a). I've still got mine (purchased in London circa 1972). Superb lens quality and great to use.
FotomatWow, I remember being in this store in my teens.  It was just up the road from another icon, a Fotomat booth in the T-Bowl shopping center.
Nostalgia I bought my first 'Real' Camera in a store much like this one. It was on the Ground floor of the Prudential Building in Newark N.J. I bought it in 1967.  The camera, which I still have, and on RARE occasion use, is a Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta B model that uses 120 roll film. (circa 1950) I can get 16 shots to a roll. 
The camera is folding type with a bellows and is strictly ALL manual. you have to set the shutter speed and aperture by hand before you push the shutter release button.
It is interesting to see the looks on peoples faces when I set it up on a tripod with a cable release hooked up to it. 
D.C. Camera Shops, IIThe last real camera store I can recall in my part of the D.C. area was a large shop in a shopping center along Rockville Pike, near a large Computer chain outlet.  I still have my pre-war Contax IIa, some Exactas, a Canon or two and an Ikoflex.  All replaced by a Nikon 5700 and a Nikon D1x.
AirequiptYep, the projector on top of the counter is an Airequipt. Like the Sawyers/et.al. projectors, they were designed for straight trays. When Kodak came out with their Carousel design the other "big players" had to follow suit. The updated Airequipts would take their special round tray and the older Airequipt-style straight trays, distinctive metal trays with individual metal "sleeves" for each slide. The distinguishing trait of their round tray was the metal plate at the center which had two prongs that engaged slots on the tray guide to support the tray. 
Obviously, I spent a lot of my life in shops very much like this one. I managed small camera shops for over 20 years after having being a customer, either myself or with my dad, for over 15 years prior. Attached is a pic of one that I managed, The Camera Corral in Houston Tx,from back in 1975.
Nikon FI still have my Nikon F which was made in 1973.  Forty years later it sits on a shelf.
Many years of nice pics came through the lens of that camera! 
Time-o-liteLate to the party, but there on the lower left shelf (glass case) is a fondly-remembered Time-o-lite, which ruled the light-deprived lives of not only photographers, but (like me) lithographic camera operators. If it was controlling a set of strong carbon arc lamps on the camera, life could get very interesting indeed.
Cameras of YoreI still use the Pentax Spotmatic that I have had since 1968 (it went thru a clean/lube/adjustment several years ago).  I also use my Canon AE-1 Program that I have for several years.  Finding 35mm film getting harder, processing is even harder than that - I have the results put on CD so I can upload them to the PC.  Just bought a decent digital camera - lighter to carry, easier to use.
(ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)

North Terminal Station: 1890s
1890s. "North Terminal Station, Boston, Massachusetts." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit ... I am constantly amazed at how poorly the current North station is designed. Now to realize that it was once a far more attractive and accessible building just rubs salt in that wound. Like Penn station in NY, this is a piece of history that I almost wish I never knew. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/26/2012 - 4:58pm -

1890s. "North Terminal Station, Boston, Massachusetts." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Full employmentLooks like the fellow in the lower left of the photo is a street sweeper and it also looks like he's picked a particularly fecund spot for his trade. In the 19th Century, the horse was the biggest environmental challenge that cities faced. A working horse produced between 15 and 35 pounds of manure a day.
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/578.html
BollardsAnyone have any idea why the bollards?  Presumably to keep something either in or out, but what?
[Look at the building. What do you see? - Dave]
As a regular rider on the MBTAI am constantly amazed at how poorly the current North station is designed. Now to realize that it was once a far more attractive and accessible building just rubs salt in that wound.
Like Penn station in NY, this is a piece of history that I almost wish I never knew.
Taking care of businessThe guy in the lower left of the photo in the white coat.  This is where the classic line came from.  "Honey, how was work today?"  "It's picking up."
Loading dockis what I see. Bollards would keep vehicles using same from proceeding on along the sidewalk.
Vintage BollardsI was surprised at the appearance of bollards in this photo as well.  In the post-9/11 world I became accustomed to seeing the proliferation of similar security barriers throughout Washington D.C.  While I suspect the modern variant have deeper roots, the surface expression is remarkably similar to those seen in this photo.
Causeway StreetI am assuming this is Causeway Street, looking toward the west.  If so, there is nothing in this photo that would show up in the current view.  In the 110+ years since this photo was taken, the elevated track of the Green Line was erected, running the entire length of Causeway Street for the better part of a century, and has recently come down.  The old Boston Garden, where the Celtics won all those championships with Russell, Cousy, et al, went up where the station is depicted, and has also recently come down, replaced immediately behind it by the New Garden.  North Station, such as it is, occupies the ground floor of the Garden.  The space occupied by the station in the photo is today an essentially bare lot.  Not an improvement.
Early billboard vanInteresting to see the mobile advertisements on the small wagon in the middle of the street.  A good way to exercise a horse, or a waste of space?
Hustle and bustleI love the women's fashion!  Also, I think some of today's taxi drivers can sympathize with the bored-looking driver of the hansom cab in the lower right.
(The Gallery, Boston, DPC, Horses, Railroads)
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