Anatomy of a PERCY LOOMIS SPERR Photo

This edition of our Anatomy of a Photo series deals with a 1929 picture made by Percy Loomis Sperr, above. Let's take a look, close up.

The real star of the photo is No. 25, in this unusual southern exposure taken from First Avenue. Atop the building is a weathervane, one of the signatures of the buildings of Prospect Place. It toppled over at some point and was never replaced.

Moving down, the sign reads This property will be developed under THE FRENCH PLAN as a part of TUDOR CITY / Fred F. French Companies 250 Madison Avenue. The property, No. 5, was one of the last built. Directly above the sign is a temporary home for tools and such for the upcoming construction.

Just north of the sign, we come across the Socony gas station. Too bad the posters displayed ‒ between the two Socony signs ‒ are unreadable.    

The view north, featuring No. 45 towering over it all. The period Mast-Arm lamp post is a nice touch.

Finally, Prospect Tower brings up the rear, along with its long-gone weathervane.    

FRIGIDAIRE and the TUDOR CITY SIGN

This post was inspired by the advertisement above which ran in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram on October 21, 1927. It concerned Frigidaire sales in Tudor City.

Here we picture a section of Tudor City ‒ one of the world's largest and most famous dwelling projects. A magnificent development covering several New York squares.

Into Tudor City go one hundred thousand dollars' worth of Frigidaires!

Why was Frigidaire the choice of the Fred F. French Company, Tudor City builders, over the many other makes of electric refrigerators?

Not by chance. An investment of one hundred thousand dollars is not made lightly. Competing makes were tested and compared. Intensive research was conducted by leading engineers.  Laboratory methods of investigation were employed.

All proved Frigidaire superior to the others. Its absolute dependability. Its longer life. Its lower operating cost. 

FRED F. FRENCH CO AND OTHERS INVESTIGATE FOR YOU

Your problem, in proportion to investment, is no different than the Tudor City problem. When you buy a single electric refrigerator, you want the greatest value for the least expenditure ‒ and the Fred F. French Company did when they bought one hundred thousand dollars' worth of Frigidaires.   

Then the copy segues into another area that the reader would be interested in, the cost of a single Frigidaire ‒ $198, completely installed. 

But something else had caught our attention.   

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And that was the Tudor City Sign, above. It's pictured in the papers three weeks after the building opens, and somehow seems that it has been there from the start. 

For further reading about Frigidaire and Tudor City, see here. 

Artifact: HOTEL TUDOR Brochure

Today's artifact is a circa-1975 brochure for the Hotel Tudor where "a friendly welcome awaits."     

Folding back, there is a view of the hotel's marquee and a list of the hotel's services.

On the reverse side, pictures of the lobby and guest rooms. 

The 3 Lions Pub has an "Old-English atmosphere" that looks appropriately cozy.  

The back flap touts its ideal Midtown location, everything from Rockefeller Center to the New York Public Library.

AD CAMPAIGN, 1931

Hello today from August, 1931, when the following newspaper ad campaign ran. 

 

A Seat in the Shade Three Blocks from Grand Central

Here it is ‒ waiting for you ‒ a shady seat, just three blocks from one of the hottest, busiest parts of New York. It's in a Tudor City park, inviting you now. So walk across town today; feel the temperature drop as the breeze from Tudor City's parks blows about you. Low thermometer, reasonable prices. What more can you ask? . . .

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Fresh Green Leaves Untouched by City Grime

Tudor City's two blocks of private parks are far enough away from the grime and dust of metropolitan traffic to stay continually fresh and green. Just as Tudor City, itself, while only three blocks from Grand Central, has an air of restfulness and peace hard to find in New York today. Come to Tudor City ‒  look at our apartments, our parks, our restaurants ‒ see how living is made easy for you in this unique community. . .

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Privet Hedges-Flowering Shrubs Bring Suburban Atmosphere to 42nd Street

At Tudor City's doorstep are two blocks of the most delightful parks in all New York ‒ parks where you'll find only your kind of people ‒ for they are private parks, the property of Tudor City. Its parks are only one of the characteristics which make Tudor City unique. . . 

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Fluttering in a River Breeze Which Cools All Tudor City

When the rest of New York is breathless in midsummer, there's a breeze in Tudor City. A breeze that comes from the river, refreshing every apartment with its cooling breath. The minute you step inside one of Tudor City's apartments, you'll notice the coolness, the freshness of the air. . . 

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Ice Cold Melon Served at a Cool Corner Table

If you want to live in comfort, come to Tudor City. . . Every table in each of the three airy restaurants is pleasantly cool even on the hottest day. Come for dinner tonight – get an idea of the restfulness, the coolness, the relief from parched city streets that every Tudor City resident enjoys. Look at some apartments ‒ the same coolness, the same breeze that made your dinner a delight will greet you in every Tudor City room. . . 

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Old World Charm at the East End of 42nd Street

While it is modern as can be in arrangement and conveniences, Tudor City has an Old World charm not to be found elsewhere in New York. As with the manor houses of Old England, so with Tudor City ‒ well-tended lawns, clipped hedges, flowers and trees form a background for its beautiful buildings. And from this breezy setting, perched on Prospect Hill at the east end of 42nd Street, one gets magnificent views over river and city. . .

Even More MISCELLANY

Time again to clear off the desk and share some miscellaneous items.   

                           First is the shedding of the leaves of the London Plane trees along Tudor City Place, an annual occurrence that inaugurates the winter season. Mauricio Cegueda captures this colorful event on the Tudor City Facebook page, above.

A landscape made in early 1927, featuring no. 45, all by itself in a hazy fog. 

Dutch colonist David De Voor arrived in 1677 to oversee farm land that included Prospect Hill. No. 25 commemorated him with this stained glass window, one of the few windows bearing a name. Thanks to Sally Hill for the photo.

One of the tax record series, this depicts 39th Street and 2nd Avenue, looking north. The Woodstock takes top billing, backed up by No. 25, lurking in the shadows.

Last but not least is this Spiderman ad featuring the lead taking a brief nap, presumably dreaming about Tudor City. This too came via Sally Hill, nothing gets by her. Thanks Sally!

Dueling Billboards

The other day, a very intriguing photograph came our way:

It was a overhead shot of 43rd to 41st Streets, bordered by 1st Avenue and the East River, probably taken from a hallway window of No. 45. Of particular interest to us are the two billboards at center right.

The top banner urges the public to vote Democratic, a slate headed by its candidate for mayor, William O'Dwyer. Below this, an advertisement for 7up with the tagline "Here's What Guests Like." And, finally proof that the building rented out signs not only on their south wall, but the north one as well.

Skelly's Beer & Ale and Sutton Motors are the signs of the south wall at 42nd and 1st.

Anatomy of a Photo

Welcome back to Anatomy of a Photo, where we look at a photograph in close-up. 

Here is the photograph, made around 1938 by Percy Loomis Sperr, a staff photographer for the New York Public Library who specialized in pictures showing buildings about to be razed. The photo was made at 36th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues and looks north.

At upper right are the smokestacks from the Waterside Station of the New York Edison Company, against a hazy backdrop of the Queensboro Bridge.    

The trio of buildings ‒ Nos. 5, 25, and 45 ‒ on what was then called Prospect Place.   

The Woodstock.

The most prominent building in the photograph is St. Gabriel's School, pictured above on 36th Street. Along with its nearby namesake church, it would soon be demolished to make way for the Queens-Midtown tunnel entrance, a very sore subject among locals. 

Tenements south of Tudor City.

For more about Percy Loomis Sperr, see here.