BGuthrie Photos: NY -- NYC -- 34th Street District Signs

NY -- NYC -- 34th Street District Signs:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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[1] 34TH_160914_03.JPG	[2] 34TH_160914_07.JPG	[3] 34TH_160914_08.JPG
[4] 34TH_160914_13.JPG	[5] 34TH_160914_18.JPG	[6] 34TH_160914_27.JPG
[7] 34TH_160914_33.JPG	[8] 34TH_160915_01.JPG	[9] 34TH_160915_03.JPG
[10] 34TH_160915_06.JPG	[11] 34TH_160915_08.JPG	[12] 34TH_160915_11.JPG
[13] 34TH_160915_13.JPG	[14] 34TH_160915_15.JPG	[15] 34TH_160915_22.JPG
[16] 34TH_161005_01.JPG	[17] 34TH_161005_05.JPG	[18] 34TH_161005_09.JPG
[19] 34TH_161005_15.JPG	[20] 34TH_161005_16.JPG	[21] 34TH_161005_19.JPG
[22] 34TH_161005_22.JPG	[23] 34TH_161005_25.JPG	[24] 34TH_161005_28.JPG
[25] 34TH_161005_31.JPG	[26] 34TH_161005_34.JPG	[27] 34TH_161005_37.JPG
[28] 34TH_161005_41.JPG	[29] 34TH_161005_42.JPG	[30] 34TH_161005_46.JPG
[31] 34TH_161005_51.JPG	[32] 34TH_161005_54.JPG	[33] 34TH_161005_57.JPG
[34] 34TH_161005_61.JPG	[35] 34TH_161005_65.JPG	[36] 34TH_161005_68.JPG
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[43] 34TH_161005_86.JPG	[44] 34TH_161005_88.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. 34TH_160914_03.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District
2. 34TH_160914_07.JPG: 33rd Street Between Fifth Avenue and Broadway In the late 1800s, 33rd Street was lined with bars and illegal casinos. Steps away from Broadway's famous cabarets, elite Fifth Avenue residents gambled alongside members of the Tammany Society, a corrupt political organization.
3. 34TH_160914_08.JPG: Amazing! By 1900, there were over 1,000 illicit cardrooms and billiards halls in Manhattan. Gamblers won big and lost bigger behind the unmarked doors of private casinos like the House with the Bronze Door, formerly located at 33 West 33rd Street. House profits were used to bribe Tammany officials and ensure discretion for its upscale clientele.
4. 34TH_160914_13.JPG: The Tammany Society, in control of city and state politics for decades, was often satirized by political cartoonists like Thomas Nast. Here, Tammany, represented as a tiger, pounces on Democracy as sympathetic politicians enjoy the spectacle.
5. 34TH_160914_18.JPG: A crusader against gambling, Reverend Charles C. Parkhurst inspired public outrage at Tammany corruption. By the early 1900s, reformists including Parkhurst (caricatured in this cartoon by J.S. Pughe), shut down hundreds of casinos and exposed Tammany practices.
6. 34TH_160914_27.JPG: "While we fight iniquity, they [Tammany] shield and patronize it; while we try to convert criminals, they manufacture them..." -- C. Parkhurst sermon, given at Madison Park Presbyterian Church, February 14, 1892
7. 34TH_160914_33.JPG: 33rd Street Between Fifth Avenue and Broadway Hello... I am nicknamed "Gentleman Jim" Corbett for my style in and out of the boxing ring. In 1892, I won the heavyweight championship, helping to popularize and legitimize the sport, which was legalized in New York State in 1896. After boxing, I made a name as a stage actor and for a time, owned a barroom on Broadway north of 33rd Street.
8. 34TH_160915_01.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District
9. 34TH_160915_03.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District Koster & Bial's Theater owners John Koster and Albert Bial partnered with Oscar Hammerstein to convert his newly built opera house on 34th Street to a vaudeville theater.
10. 34TH_160915_06.JPG: Vaudeville acts incorporated musical comedy, dance, burlesque, satire, and circus elements. Ensemble casts of "everyman" characters frolicked on stage for widely diverse audiences from the 1800s to the 1930s.
11. 34TH_160915_08.JPG: A favorite destination for popular entertainment, Koster & Bial's helped usher in a new form of amusement with its Vitascope screenings -- the movies!
12. 34TH_160915_11.JPG: Big retail came to the neighborhood with the announcement that Macy's purchased several lots of 34th Street and Broadway to build its new flagship store. Macy's Herald Square, across the street, opened for business in 1902. Amazing! Koster and Bial's closed on July 21, 1901, with a spirited rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" sung by performers, patrons, and well-wishers. "... the spectator's imagination filled the atmosphere with electricity, as sparks crackled around the swiftly moving, lifelike figures." -- New York Times description of Edison's Vitascope, April 24, 1896
13. 34TH_160915_15.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District Koster & Bial's Hello... My stage name is Carmencita! In 1890, I made my American debut dancing the flamenco at Koster & Bial's Concert Hall on 23rd Street. Three years later, I moved my act uptown to the north side of 34th Street near Broadway to its sister venue, Koster & Bial's Music Hall.
14. 34TH_160915_22.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District Koster & Bial's Hello... My stage name is Carmencita! In 1890, I made my American debut dancing the flamenco at Koster & Bial's Concert Hall on 23rd Street. Three years later, I moved my act uptown to the north side of 34th Street near Broadway to its sister venue, Koster & Bial's Music Hall.
15. 34TH_161005_01.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District Retail Pioneers Hello.... I was a model in the 1914 fashion exhibition "Les Promenade des Toilettes," and wore this evening gown by couturier Gustave Beer. The annual show brought the glamour of Paris couture to Gimbels at 33rd Street.
16. 34TH_161005_05.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District Retail Pioneers Retail pioneers built the first large stores on Sixth Avenue between 32nd and 34th Streets in the early 1900s. Over 100 years later, these blocks are still part of one of Manhattan's largest shopping districts. 1888 -- Next Stop: Retail: In the years following the completion of the Sixth Avenue elevated train, small shops open along the avenue. In 1901, these buildings on the southwest corner of 34th Street and Sixth Avenue are demolished to make room for Andrew Saks' first New York store, across the street from Macy's.
17. 34TH_161005_09.JPG: Amazing! The number of department stores in New York City rose from just a handful in 1900 to over 4,000 in 1950! 1951 -- Retail Takes the Lead: By the 1950s this stretch of the avenue is a well-established shopping destination for the fashionable middle class. Three block-long stores line Sixth Avenue: Gimbels at 33rd Street (opened in 1910), Saks and Macy's at 34th Street (both opened in 1902).
18. 34TH_161005_15.JPG: 1967 -- Bargain on 34th Street: In 1967, Saks-34th Street is closed, and discount merchant E.J. Korvette covers the building's facade in white cladding (center) and moves into the space.
19. 34TH_161005_16.JPG: 1989 -- A Mall in Manhattan: After Gimbels closes in 1986, the building is renovated and reopened as one of the city's first indoor malls. In 2009, JCPenney opens a 152,144-square-foot store in the mall. Though the company was based in New York City from 1914-1992, this is its first Manhattan store.
20. 34TH_161005_19.JPG: "We are not satisfied unless our customers are." -- Adam Gimbel, founder of Gimbels department stores and one of the early proponents for excellent customer service in retail, 1842.
21. 34TH_161005_22.JPG: Broadway at 35th St. Hello... My name is Lee Shubert. Shortly after my brother Sam moved to New York City from Syracuse, in 1900, I followed. We leased the Herald Square Theatre on Broadway at 35th Street -- a success from the start. Later our brother J.J. joined us. We went on to build and manage many of Broadway's well-known theatrical venues, including the Sam S. Shubert Theatre which is still in operation on 44th Street.
22. 34TH_161005_28.JPG: Broadway at 35th St. Dedicated to amusement for almost four decades, this corner was the site of the city's first aquarium, numerous theatres, a movie house, and eventually, an office building at 1333 Broadway. 1876 -- New York Aquarium: William Cameron Coup and Charles Reich had big dreams when they opened the New York Aquarium at the corner of Broadway and 35th Street on October 10, 1876.
23. 34TH_161005_31.JPG: 1882 -- Wonders of the Sea: The 20,000-square-foot venue showcased sea life never-before seen, including a beluga whale. After just six years, the aquarium closed and the building was demolished.
24. 34TH_161005_34.JPG: 1901 -- The Herald Square Theatre: Following a string of failed theaters at this corner, the Herald Square Theatre found success after the Shubert brothers took over in 1900. The Prima Donna was the last musical shown at the venue before the brothers debuted with The Brixton Burglary.
25. 34TH_161005_37.JPG: 1910 -- Vaudeville Joins the Cast: After a fire nearly destroyed the theatre in 1908, it was reborn as a vaudeville venue, and later, a movie house. In 1915 the building was razed to make way for the current office building.
26. 34TH_161005_41.JPG: "The playhouse will pass away as the most southerly first-class theatre in New York, barring Wallack's [Theatre at 884 Broadway]. When it was built it was the farthest north." -- Green Book, December 1914, on the closing of the Herald Square Theatre
27. 34TH_161005_42.JPG: Greeley Square Hello... I am Horace Greeley, publisher of the New York Tribune, and founder of both the National Typographical Union and the Liberal Republican Party I am also the eponym for Greeley Square Park, which sits opposite Herald Square Park (named after rival paper the Herald).
28. 34TH_161005_46.JPG: Greeley Square A vital location for newspaper publishers in the late 1800s, the area saw a shift towards retail in the early 1900s. The 1910 opening of Penn Station and extension of the Hudson Tubes service to 33rd Street brought more goods and customers to 34th Street. After the Sixth Avenue Elevated train was built in the 1870s, commercial growth spread north in Manhattan. A monument to Greeley was erected at the park's northern tip in 1890, and later moved to the other end of the plaza, where it sits today.
29. 34TH_161005_51.JPG: Greeley Square Park was dedicated to newspaper publisher Horace Greeley on May 30, 1894. Much as it does today, the public space served as a walking shortcut between area stores, and as a place for people to convene.
30. 34TH_161005_54.JPG: Amazing! As of 1931, five layers of trains and trolleys carried New Yorkers to and from Midtown, making it a major transportation hub. The 20th Century brought more train lines, more retail, and more residents to Manhattan and surrounding communities such as New Jersey and New York State. With the rise of industry, immigration, and transportation, New Jersey's population doubled between 1900 and 1930.
31. 34TH_161005_57.JPG: In the early 1900s, shoppers rode "one-step" trolleys along Broadway to Manhattan's new retail center and to connecting trains at Penn Station. The intersections at 34th Street, near Sixth Avenue and Broadway were crowded with commuters, shoppers, and travelers. "The movement of the business section northward will, of course, continue... Thirty-fourth Street, it seems to me, is likely to continue [as] a great retain business street, as it is to-day." -- William R. Willcox, Public Service Commission, 1910
32. 34TH_161005_61.JPG: Herald Square Hello... My name is James Gordon Bennett, Jr. I published the popular newspaper founded by my father James Gordon Bennett, Sr., the New York Herald. One of the first city newspapers to move its office out of lower Manhattan, the Herald's headquarters at Broadway and 35th Street gave the area its name Herald Square in 1895.
33. 34TH_161005_65.JPG: Herald Square In 1895 the Herald newspaper moved into a new building designed by Stanford White, just north of where the Bell Ringers Statue (James Gordon Bennett monument) stands today. The newspaper's acclaim and its ornately designed building gave this rapidly growing commercial area the name Herald Square.
34. 34TH_161005_68.JPG: In the early 1890s, the building's street-level windows along Broadway gave passersby first-hand views of the presses as they produced sheet after sheet of the Herald.
35. 34TH_161005_70.JPG: The Herald's central location attracted advertisers in 1902, eager to place copy in one of the city's largest circulating and most sensationalist daily newspapers.
36. 34TH_161005_72.JPG: Amazing! A piece of the original Herald building remains today, as part of the James Gordon Bennett memorial in Herald Square Park. "My ambition is to make the newspaper press the great organ and pivot of government, society, commerce, finance, religion, and all human civilization." -- James Gordon Bennett, Sr.
37. 34TH_161005_75.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District Macy's Hello... My name is Tony Sarg. I designed and built puppets for marionette shows all over the world. However, my grandest puppet show was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I created the first-ever giant balloons for the early parades, as well as animatronic holiday window displays.
38. 34TH_161005_78.JPG: Know NYC 34th Street District Macy's "The World's Largest Store" hosted the first annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, then called the Macy's Christmas Parade, on November 27, 1924, twenty-two years after opening its 34th Street flagship store. Much of the behind the scenes work was, and still is, carried out by dedicated Macy's staff members. Here, final touches are put on an early balloon.
39. 34TH_161005_81.JPG: Shoppers in the 34th Street store make last-minute purchases in December 1942. On Christmas Eve in 1867, Macy's became the first retailer to extend business hours during the holiday season, and on that day set a new record for single-day sales.
40. 34TH_161005_83.JPG: Amazing! From 1929-1931, parade balloons -- such as Fritz the Dachshund -- were released at the parade's finale. Often floating for days or weeks after release, the balloons were equipped with a return address. Those lucky enough to catch a released creature could return it to Macy's in exchange for a prize.
41. 34TH_161005_86.JPG: Snoopy first appeared in 1968 as his alter ego, the Flying Ace, fresh from a battle with the Red Baron. He has returned every year since. In 1947, an ice cream cone balloon was upcycled to create one of the parade's most emblematic characters, the Elf. Turned upside down, the cone became a hat!
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