I’ve now taken a look at four of these old marketing books – and more is on the way, depending on what books turn up – and I feel like the question of “why” should be addressed. Why look at books for Singer and City Investing, both gone for more than 50 years? Why look …
The illustrations in old skyscraper marketing books tend to fall into two categories: pretty pictures of the exterior or main interior spaces, and construction photos. The pretty pictures are a traditional form of showing off architecture, and the construction photos were the 1900 way to show off high tech. The Broadway Chambers building’s book, because …
How long does it take traffic to wear cast iron like that? It definitely says “SEWER” and if I had to guess I’d say the date is 1881, but it could be an ornate 9 in “1891” and might look the same. In any case, well over 100 years and the cast-in lettering is going …
The picture above, from the marketing book for the Broadway Chambers Building, is one of a sequence showing the steel frame as it was being erected. The first photo, showing columns just sticking up at grade, is dated October 26, 1899; the last regular photo is from January 18, 1900 and shows the frame topped …
The marketing books for skyscrapers that I’ve looked at recently were for very tall buildings. The Singer and Woolworth Buildings were each the tallest in the world when they were built and their books were released; the City Investing Building was among the tallest. The Broadway Chambers Building, on the other hand, was far from …
