So states the caption on this 1905 postcard, part of the NYPL digital collection. Even then, black was New York’s most fashionable color.
I wonder what street they’re coming up on. Fifth Avenue looks awfully narrow wherever they are.
Tags: black clothes New York, Fifth Avenue in 1905, New York in 1905, New York street, Victorian fashion, Vintage postcards New York City
January 31, 2011 at 12:36 pm |
The only part of Fifth Avenue that narrow is in Harlem, between 124th and 135th Streets.
January 31, 2011 at 3:29 pm |
That could be Harlem. And it was a very fashionable place to live for upwardly mobile New Yorkers for a very brief moment right around the turn of the last century.
February 2, 2011 at 2:14 pm |
The original photo of this postcard scene can be viewed at http://www.shorpy.com/node/7653. Click on “view full size” to see a high resolution version.
February 2, 2011 at 3:18 pm |
Thank you for sending–I love Shorpy.
The blown-up photo reveals the street location: 27th Street.
February 2, 2011 at 4:09 pm
where does he get all those photos? i guess he owns them, as he sells reproductions?
February 2, 2011 at 4:33 pm |
I was going to guess the upper 20′s also, based on that tower on the right. It’s got gold on it these days.
February 2, 2011 at 4:34 pm |
never mind I was thinking of something else
February 3, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Actually, that building on the NE corner of 28th St still seems to be there. It’s missing its steeple and the lower floors have been covered (ruined) with a granite facade. It may be the only building in that old photo that is still extant.
February 5, 2011 at 1:43 pm |
Shorpy saves the day- not only can the “27″ St sign be seen in the hi-def image, but a building across the street is marked “243″, which would confirm that this is Fifth between 27 & 28 Streets.
True, the street proportions seem different than today. An optical illusion because of the snow? Or, maybe because the buildings were all smaller back then? Or, perhaps the sidewalks actually have since been shrunken, along Fifth?
February 5, 2011 at 9:18 pm |
I bet it’s just a weird camera effect. Fifth Avenue’s not that wide in the 20s anyway.