Substitute puffy parkas for fur coats and town cars and taxis for carriages, and not much has changed in 116 years on Fifth Avenue in December.
I’m not sure where painter Alice Barber Stephens set this painting, titled “Christmas on Fifth Avenue.” Can anyone take a stab at the cross street?
Tags: Alice Barber Stephens, Christmas on Fifth Avenue, Christmas shopping NYC 1896, Fifth Avenue street scene, holiday shopping Fifth Avenue, New York at Christmastime, New York Ciy painters, New York in 1896
December 21, 2012 at 2:31 pm |
Seems as if Fifth Ave was mighty slim and narrow in those days not like the wide boulevard it is now.
December 21, 2012 at 2:41 pm |
The white tower in the background which resembles the MetLife building (but, of course, couldn’t be) may be Marble Collegiate Church, built in 1854, on Fifth and 29th. If so, that puts this scene a bit south of there.
December 22, 2012 at 1:49 pm |
@ robert Says has a good point. The Ladies Mile was at 23rd and Fifth at that time. This puts the characters almost precisely in that area.
December 22, 2012 at 11:12 pm |
I think you’re right, this is the kind of scene I always imagine on Ladies Mile. Lots of well-dressed women and their carriages waiting for them….