Artifact: WOODSTOCK TOWER Floor Plans

Artifact of the day is this book of floor plans for Unit No. 7, Woodstock Tower. Oddly enough, there are not any other words of explanation to be found on the pages that follow, just floor plans. 

 

First up is the second floor, which is comprised of eighteen living rooms [now known as studios]. Of these, four units were billed as the one-room apartments of the future ‒ the corner units ‒ with 31-foot long living rooms lined with five windows.     

There was certainly no doubt about it, the apartment of the future (left) was nearly twice as big as the regular studio apartment (right).

From there, we move to the top of the building for the apartments on the 31st and 32nd floors. There are only two apartments available on these floors, a two-bedroom and a one-bedroom.

The two-bedroom in close-up. They even throw in a dining nook.

Its next-door neighbor, the one-bedroom unit. It comes complete with a very long closet.

The back page is blank, save for the Fred F. French monogram. 

BRAND AWARENESS

Today, a study of Fred F. French's monogram, as seen on tableware from his restaurants. And what better way to do it than from the collection of David Reiff, a longtime friend of this blog. Thank you, David!

We begin with an item rarely seen, a juglike vessel with a sturdy handle, perhaps for ice water service.  

French's monogram appears just above the fixture's lip.

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

A tray used in one of the colony's restaurants. 

A clear impression of the monogram.

And on the reverse, the manufacturer takes credit. 

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

Above, a coffee pot, and below, its version of the monogram.

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

Finally, a version of the French monogram painted on china.    

A beautiful rendition of the monogram.

 

On the reverse, it's Lamberton Scammell china "made for Fred F. French Companies, Tudor City." 

FRED FRENCH Gets the AI Treatment

We knew it wouldn't be long until AI landed in Tudor City. And believe it or not, Fred F. French ‒ no stranger to innovation himself ‒ has been chosen to lead the charge, in a new series of portraits from a company called Hebstreit. Based in Berlin, the company specializes in custom maps, but also sells images of famous people based on "stock images drawn by hand or AI." Prices start at $25 for an eight by twelve inch print.

We begin with an AI-induced image of Fred F. French, and an artist's take on it ‒ or something's take on it.

The pictures are arranged starting with young Fred, when he had a comb-over according to the 'artist.' There is no evidence of this.

These portraits suggest completely different parentage.  

Another AI-induced 'photograph,' an additional portrait.

Two additional pictures, one sort of kindly and one not so kindly. More details on their website, here.

And just for the record, the real Fred F. French is at left, while AI Fred is at right.

Skyline Builders

Today we take a look at Skyline Builders, a long-sought book by fans of Tudor City lore because it was one of the complex's earliest celebrations, written in 1948 by Bill Brede. Among the book's subjects were the machinations behind the building of the UN (in progress), as well as that of Rockefeller Center, Grand Central, Penn Station, and the Tudor City‒Knickerbocker Village combo.

Here is the Tudor City contribution.

     

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Any questions?

ARTIFACTS Again

Two artifacts from the past today ‒ a pair of souvenir snapshots courtesy of a guest of Hotel Tudor, and a teaspoon.  

The first photo depicts the interior of a room in the Hotel Tudor, which we can see is decorated in Early American style.  The most notable of items is the telephone, the old-fashioned candlestick model. To the right is the bathroom, stocked with bathroom accessories.

The other photograph is taken on 42nd Street outside the hotel. The signs advertise the HOTEL TUDOR, the TAILORING LAUNDRY / SAME DAY SERVICE, and a HOSIERY concern. While the back of the photo is dated 1950, the view suggests it's from the mid-to-late '40s ‒ the street has yet to undergo widening and flattening for the arrival of the UN.

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The second artifact is a teaspoon, above. Despite its delicate design, it is very strongly made.

But we are more interested in the markings on the top, which prove to be Fred F. French's monogram, FFF. Read more about it here.

On the reverse side, TUDOR CITY.

"A VIGOROUS LIFE," Part Three

We conclude our exploration into the life of Fred French with a final series of photographs. 

Cordelia, Fred, and Leonard Thomas in Central Park, 1919. Thomas was a roommate of Fred's during his brief stay at Princeton. 

French and his secretary, Dorothy Driscoll, in a rowboat at Pawling, New York. Miss Driscoll was an excellent secretary who had become close with the family through such visits. 

In front of the Pawling estate (which Fred had built as his family's second home) stand Fred Jr., Miss Driscoll, Cordelia and John.

This photograph was made the day Knickerbocker Village broke ground, October 11, 1933. Along with the banner, another sign identified its builder, the Fred F. French Company. This would prove to be French's last completed project before he died.

"A VIGOROUS LIFE," Part Two

Again, a return to A Vigorous Life, the joint effort of Fred and John French at an autobiographical biography. Today's focus is on pictures of Fred French at work.

Young Fred French

First, however, a picture of a very young Fred French, his taste in apparel quite similar to that of one of his heros, Theodore Roosevelt. This photo was a souvenir of a celebrated trip to Alaska, following the same trail that Roosevelt did. His rifle and hunting clothes were identical with Teddy's.

The Horace Mann football team in 1901. French standing, third from left.

The earliest picture of French in the book is this shot of his high school football team, which would prove to be exactly how French liked to be seen, in the company of a group. The only difference was, as the years went by, his seating shifted to the place of honor.  

A portrait of the company sales team. French is seated, center.

This is one of many such pictures that were made to commemorate the team.

 A celebratory dinner honoring the company's sales team, held in French's home. He's seated at the head of the table.

There is no respite from business, not even at home. Our earlier post on A Vigorous Life here.

KNICKERBOCKER VILLAGE

 

1934 pamphlet 

Tudor City was a tough act to follow: new construction in the city virtually stopped in 1930 after the stock market crash and the resultant Depression. Meanwhile, Fred French was slowly acquiring land in the Lower East Side in order to build apartments for people who worked in Wall Street.

The Depression put an end to that, but French had some good luck: the government announced it was underwriting lower-income housing. The fast-thinking French realized by substituting lower-income families for junior Wall Streeters, he could make it work. Thus the wheels for the first federally-funded apartment complex were set in motion.

Set between the Two Bridges in Chinatown, the two-city-block long property was bordered by Monroe Street, Market Street, Cherry Street and Catherine Street, and included the "lung block," infamous in New York because of its high tuberculosis mortality rate. 

French Company reference photo dated February 23, 1934.

Knickerbocker Village groundbreaking ceremony, October 11, 1933. Former Governor of New York Alfred E. Smith addresses a crowd that includes Fred French, holding a dark hat.

A year later, the complex is about to open, yet it's not by any means ready. French, in contrast to his instincts, opens it anyway ‒ his company is in desperate need of an influx of cash.

Postcard from the 1940s

From the first day, there were reports of walls unpainted, floors unfinished, refrigerators unconnected, elevators out-of-order, and on and on and on. French was abroad and the callers' complaints were recorded. It would be several years until all the complaints were addressed.

Due to French's poor actions as a landlord, the complex became known for its tenant organizing, which resulted in some early landlord-tenant laws and rent control regulations. The French Company finally sold the complex in the '70s, and several owners later, it was sold in May, 2024 to L+M Fund Management for $85 million.

We wish the new owners good luck, and look out, here come the tenants!

Knickerbocker Village from the air, 1936.