This 1920s or 1930s poster—check out the ancient four-digit phone prefix!—advertises a day trip up the Hudson, “On the river of myriad beauties” indeed.
The Franklin Street pier was also known as Pier 22, popular site to catch a ferry to New Jersey or Coney Island in the late 1800s.
The 129th Street pier, built in 1875, featured ornamental ironwork and a bright red roof. It became a popular place for New Yorkers to catch a breeze and watch the boats in the water. The pier met the wrecking ball in the 1960s, deemed a hazard to ships in the Hudson at the time.
Tags: 129th Street pier, Central Hudson Line, Day trips up the Hudson, Franklin Street pier, Pier 22, steamboat travel 1800s, steamboats to Coney Island
June 21, 2009 at 7:02 pm |
This is likely prior to 1930 because of the six digit phone number. Making this FRanklin-4675 (37-4675). It was in 1930 that NYC began using the two letter and five digit format for phone numbers. Conveniently, Franklin was the name of the local exchange, so it worked out well to have it for their phone number.
June 21, 2009 at 7:23 pm |
I guess Franklin Street was a busy street at the time, considering the pier and the phone exchange and of course the subway stop. It seems so sleepy today though. Thanks for the info.
June 22, 2009 at 12:25 pm |
I like that the ad points up the fact that it has “safe boats”. I guess the memory of the General Slocum or of the Titanic hadn’t really faded from peoples memory by that point.
June 22, 2009 at 3:57 pm |
That’s a good point. The General Slocum disaster showed that even a little sightseeing excursion could be lethal.