You can practically hear the clacking of the streetcar and the pitch from the vendor with a sack over his shoulder in this richly detailed view of West 14th Street looking toward Fifth Avenue from 1905.
A young man stands in front of the camera, looking defiant; a woman carries packages under her arms on this busy shopping street of middle-class department stores and emporiums. Another woman is in the street, perhaps trying to cross?
Fourteenth Street over a century ago had no garish store signs or street architecture, but its hustle and energy feels very similar to the vibe of the street today.
[Postcard: MCNY; x2011.34.328]
Tags: 14th Street New York City, 14th Street NYC in 1905, old postcards of New York City, Streetcars on 14th Street NYC, Vintage postcard 14th Street
Ephemeral New York 
February 27, 2023 at 6:36 am |
fun to see this… all of this was once the Spingler farm. I notice the remains of the enclave of houses built by the descendants at rear left (21 W. 14th etc.)
February 27, 2023 at 2:44 pm |
Ah yes, the Spingler farm! I did a post about this some years back and should have linked, it’s a fascinating story:
February 27, 2023 at 7:42 am |
Fourteenth Street was a vibrant hub of commercial life before the War.
February 27, 2023 at 2:44 pm |
And New York’s theater district, too!
February 27, 2023 at 3:05 pm
And its Tin Pan Alley as well.
February 27, 2023 at 10:46 am |
Wow! Looks a lot more cleaner and safer than the view I have at East 14th Street & 1st Avenue looking towards Fifth Ave.
February 28, 2023 at 7:14 pm |
Your description that begins with “A young man” sounds like a passage from a novel–or something out of Walt Whitman. I think he would have appreciated the energy of the street, signs or no signs.
March 1, 2023 at 1:17 am |
I think he did appreciate it; his journals of his days spent loafing, as he called it, are filled with wonderful observations.
March 1, 2023 at 3:17 am |
Is 14th Street the beginning of the “grid”?