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"QUANTUM SHOT" #48(rev)
Link - by Avi Abrams

      Marvel Age: The City of Superheroes

      Skyscrapers looked more imposing, somehow, in the black-and-white
      photographs from a bygone era. Maybe it's the absence of the reflective
      glass facades with their false sky intervals and over-abundance of bland
      stone walls... Or maybe it's the (barely visible) spiderwebs spread
      between the towers by the energetic Peter Parker? Perhaps it's glamorous
      ladies entering a glitzy club, or the aromas emanating from a genuine
      Jewish Deli?.. Either way, New York of 1920s-1960s period is a very
      special place indeed:

      

      

      

      

      
      (photos by Andreas Feininger and others,
        via)

      If you want to see how it all started, click to enlarge this N.Y. skyline
      from 1908 on
      Shorpy site:

      
      (image via Shorpy)

      
      (1932 skyline, click to enlarge on
        Shorpy)

      

      
      (1931 Gotham City skyline, click to enlarge on
        Shorpy,
        photo by Samuel Gottscho)

      Thanks to the wonderful
      Lileks site,
      many old postcards have been preserved and proudly displayed with
      fascinating history attached. One thing to notice, is that the wonderful
      structures of that era seem to benefit from the open and uncluttered urban
      landscape of the time (less build-up, more parking lots, more empty
      space), easily commanding the attention they justly deserve.

      
      The Lincoln Building

      
      500 - Fifth Avenue

      
      Rockefeller Center

      
      (images credit:
        vintagephoto)

      
      (image
        via, click
        to enlarge)

      
      (for larger versions visit Shorpy - click
        here
        and
        here)

      Good old traffic on Fifth Avenue, 1913 (fragment):

      
      (image via,
        click to enlarge)

      
      (images credit:
        vintagephoto)

      The Building that stood before the World Trade Center:

      Hudson Terminal Building covered two full square blocks and was
      every bit as massive as the World Trade Center towers built on the same
      space later. It was truly one of the largest office building in the
      world... Looks very imposing, almost on the verge of being oppressive:

      

      Here it is again, with the surroundings:

      
      
      (image via, click to
        enlarge - also see
        this)

      100-year old skyscrapers: "still standing, and taller than anything in
      most towns":

      
      Addams Express Building, 1914

      This medium-sized (!) hotel "Edison" would've been perfect setting for
      Spiderman's climbing exercises:

      
      (images courtesy: Lileks.com)

      Now add some color!

      Found through
      Skyscraper City
      display of the vintage color photographs of American cities, the
      exceptional
      Charles W. Cushman Collection
      shows New York in 1941 and 1960 - and it looks great, even with its gaudy
      "pulp-ish" color scheme. It is also fascinating to compare the skylines of
      yesteryear with modern "commercial jungle" landscape:

      
      
      
      
      (all photos via
        Charles W. Cushman Collection)

      New York's Magic Today

      Bright & often glamorous:

      
      (images credit:
        Nicola Praderio)

      
      
      (originals unknown)

      ALSO READ: "VINTAGE CHICAGO"! ->




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YOUR COMMENTS::

10 Comments:

Blogger Max Shelby said...

Love this series!

___  
Blogger Skipweasel said...

The picture of Fifth Avenue, 1913...can you imagine how bad the petrol fumes would have been?

___  
Anonymous Tom said...

Brilliant article Avi and love those pics! New York is one awesome city!

___  
Blogger Francesca said...

The blimp picture collage includes a blimp with the Nazi swastika on it...surely that's not in New York?

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

kopapaka / www.palba.cz
quote: "Blogger Francesca said...
The blimp picture collage includes a blimp with the Nazi swastika on it...surely that's not in New York?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_129_Hindenburg

___  
Anonymous Fred said...

About the Blimp with a Nazi Swastika. The Hindenburg was a German airship after all. The Nazis were in power for several years before the war started and regular trade did take place so it's not too surprising to see a Swastika on a blimp.

___  
Blogger Michele Hush said...

The Hotel Edison is still standing and seems to have been spiffed up in recent years. Also, a few of the black & white photos are by Samuel Gottscho. The Museum of the City of New York has many more in its digital collection. I just showcased a bunch of them on my blog - http://bit.ly/eqt5fk

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Blogger Avi Abrams said...

Thank you Michele, credit adjusted, great info

___  
Anonymous Darkhoodness said...

The ship in the 5th photo down is the "SS American Star" that was wrecked in the Canary Islands during the 1990s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_America_(1940)

___  
Blogger prolihisztor said...

Hi, Avi,

Very nice pics indeed!

However, there is a small mistake: Before the Hotel Edison, we see the famous Park Row Building (which is STILL EXIST and the St Paul Building, which does not exist anymore...

The problem is that the text below says: "Addams Building"...

The Adams Express Building DOES STILL EXIST, but a bit further down south: 61 Broadway. Very easy to find: first comes Trinity Church, then the Empire Building; the (former) American Express Building (65 Broadway) is next to Empire Bdg and the third one from the church is the Adams Express.
You can find its picture here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Adams_Express_Company_Building%2C_New_York_City.jpg

Thanks again for the collection and all the best!

Frank from Budapest (with the largest Synagogue in Europe!)

___  

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