By foot, streetcar, horse-driven carriage, automobile, or elevated train, New Yorkers at the turn of the 20th century came to do its shopping on 23rd Street—the northern border of the Ladies Mile shopping district, which boasted eminent stores such as Stern Brothers and Best & Co.
23rd Street was such a busy shopping corridor, postcards showing the commercial hustle and bustle were printed for sale. This one, dated 1910, looks to capture the street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
See the “toys” sign hanging off a building on the left? That might be the original FAO Schwarz, which operated at 39 and 41 West 23rd Street from 1897 to 1935, when the store moved uptown.
[Postcard: MCNY X2011.34.504]
Tags: 23rd Street 1910, 23rd Street NYC, 23rd Street shopping, 23rd Street Vintage Postcard, FAO Schwartz, Streetcar 23rd Street
Ephemeral New York 
January 20, 2020 at 9:26 am |
The clocks rock! Aren’t there still some of those around?
January 20, 2020 at 7:47 pm |
My favorite is on Fifth Avenue just north of 23rd, a beautiful cast iron piece of street architecture:
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/the-beautiful-street-clocks-along-fifth-avenue/
January 20, 2020 at 2:27 pm |
FAO Schwarz not Schwartz but interesting postcard. thanks
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January 20, 2020 at 7:43 pm |
Fixed, thank you Jill! The dangers of posting at 2 a.m.
January 20, 2020 at 2:36 pm |
“….in your Easter bonnet…..”. Have you ever seen such busy pedestrian traffic? Good info. I admit I always think of 23rd st. as a main thoroughfare between 14th and 42nd but not quite on the same plane.
January 20, 2020 at 7:45 pm |
Right, we forget that 23rd Street was a major shopping and entertainment stretch in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Besides the stores, there was a theater district and grand hotels. But like everything in NYC, things moved uptown, and 23rd Street was left behind in the shadows.
January 20, 2020 at 9:24 pm
Also, 14th, 34th and 42nd Streets have subways beneath them, whereas 23rd does not. (That was the trolleys’ job.)
January 20, 2020 at 4:39 pm |
I love this!
January 20, 2020 at 4:50 pm |
[…] Source: FS – NYC Real Estate All the ways to get to 23rd Street in 1910 […]
January 20, 2020 at 7:39 pm |
Note the wider sidewalks and narrower street. Also, the trolleys are a treat. I wish they were still there – they worked, plus they had charm.
January 20, 2020 at 7:44 pm |
I noticed that about the sidewalks, too. This was a shopping street made for lots of crowds.
January 21, 2020 at 1:11 pm |
It looks like a fairly even distribution between horse drawn carriages and motor vehicles. In a few years the horses would be nearly gone.
January 24, 2020 at 1:17 pm |
The Bank at the corner of 23rd & 7th Ave. has a great mural inside of the corner…horse and buggies, etc…love it. One of my favorite streets…
January 28, 2020 at 7:34 pm |
When the store moved uptown was the “T” in Schwarz dropped? Jeffrey Bernard (a wise guy).