Anatomy of a Street Corner

 

This installment of our Anatomy Series concerns 42nd Street and First Avenue, specifically the northeast corner. It's a day in 1947 according to Brown Brothers, publisher of the photo.   

Moving to the bottom right, we see some construction and a sign saying Builders Cauldwell-Wingate Co. New York. The firm has been around since 1910 and is still in business today.   

What were they building? We suspect it was some kind of temporary thing in connection with the United Nations, a structure to house people needed onsite once the construction got going.  

Meanwhile, the building on the corner of 42nd and First appears to be empty, although it bears various advertisements. Here, we see a beer ad: None can compare to Skelly's Beer & Ale ‒ at the Best Taps in town.  

The corner of 42nd Street and First Avenue shows a neighborhood about to vanish. The store there has gone out of business; thus an ad for the picture Boomerang holds down one window, while the other promotes Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, appearing at Madison Square Garden April 9th. Turning the corner, Ford Trucks Last Longer reports Sutton Motors, while below it a waitress beckons Come Over for Coke.

The Snack Food Shop, apparently the sole functioning business in the building.  

To the left of Snack lies a parking lot where the United Dressed Beef Company parked their trucks.

Below this, on the street is a truck bearing some kind of surrealistic load. Weird!

Finally, at the bottom of the picture is a bus, part of the Service Transportation System.