Jaunted - Tag: NYC-In-The-1950s

New York: New York 1953 To Today: Times Square Is For The Girly-Shows

JetSetCD — 2009-09-18T09:28:55-05:00

Times Square and Central Park attract tourists to New York City in droves, but what were the most exciting sights back in the 1950s? Thanks to an old tourist brochure from 1953, we're exploring back in the day versus today, for NYC tourists.

Here's a quick trivia question: How does the leggy advertisement for the Latin Quarter nightclub relate to Barbara Walters? It was run by her father! We doubt that Barbara enjoys being connected back to this notorious club, especially since it embodied the seedy side of Times Square from the late 1960s through 1980s by showing soft-core pornography and being a popular fight spot.

Oh boy but back in the day, especially in 1953 when the lights of Times Square were still glamorous and not all red. Lou Walter's Latin Quarter hosted the big names alongside a little nudie chorus girl show. Think Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle and Mae West.

New York: New York 1953 To Today: Can We Resurrect The $1.95 Steak Dinner?

JetSetCD — 2009-09-17T11:18:54-05:00

If you visiting New York in 1953 and you weren't going out for lobster at some place like the Grand Central Oyster Bar, then you were probably licking your chops for a visit to East 52nd Street. And there, setting itself apart from $1.95 steak dinners advertised all around Times Square, was Al Schacht's Restaurant, owned by the baseball player-turned-comedian.

New York: New York 1953 To Today: Transatlantic Liners Versus Cruise Ships

JetSetCD — 2009-09-16T11:18:53-05:00

While no tourism brochure these days would use the phrase "your gay entree" unless we're talking about Damron or another gay-focused guidebook, this ad for transatlantic crossing on the storied French Line causes us to conjure up sepia-tinged fantasies of sailing out of New York harbor on a great ship, with goodbye party streamers flying all around and cocktails in a piano lounge.

By 1953, travelers had already mostly forgotten about the Normandie burning at dock in NY in 1942, and they would continue to sail until the early 1960s, when airplanes finally got the hang of elegant travel.

New York: New York 1953 To Today: Going 'Kodaking'

JetSetCD — 2009-09-15T14:45:53-05:00

According to the brochure, "there are almost as many cameras enthusiasts in America as there are residents." We don't know what kind of Kodak film they were sniffing back in the '50s, but we beg to differ. Nonetheless, NYC is like a hyper picturebook, and tourists definitely take advantage of the urban grit just as much as the picturesque skyline when it comes to photography.

Hoping to snap a few pictures of the local color along with The Statue of Liberty for your New York vacation album? Let's see what the old 1953 guidebook recommends for "Kodaking in Gotham..."

New York: New York 1953 To Today: Grand Central's Oyster Bar

JetSetCD — 2009-09-14T09:28:52-05:00

Walk past a Starbucks on every block and shiny Apple stores around the city, and you might believe for a second that city has change completely in the past 50+ years, but a quick visit to Grand Central Station will reveal that some things are held too sacred to ever change.