New York, New York!

Roughly a month ago Cassie and I went on a trip to New York City for a weekend.  It was my first trip and I was excited.  I'd never been to a large city before, let alone one the size of NYC.  A relative is currently living there so she was our guide throughout the city.

We drove 4 hours through a snow storm to catch our plane and after a whole day of travelling (not to mention a several hour delay in Chicago), we finally arrived at our hotel in mid-town Manhattan.

Tired but excited to start exploring.

click photos to enlarge

We stayed up late checking out some of the sights including Times Square, which was pretty neat to see at night.

Along with Grand Central Station (it's still big and beautiful on its 100th birthday)...

...and seeing the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building from a distance.

The next day we had a full day of exploring before we went to "Newsies" on Broadway in the evening.  I felt like dressing up a bit and went out in the rain in my red plaid sports coat, gray flannel trousers, and an ascot. I received several positive comments about my kit.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I was able to hit some thrift/vintage shops on this day.  I'll tell you, thrifting in NYC is very different from thrifting where I live in the Midwest.  There are a lot more shops and vintage pieces from which to choose, but prices are sky-high.  I was, however, able to snag two 1940s sports coats at a Salvation Army for a decent price.

The next day we wandered downtown and hopped the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

We then made a stop at Ground Zero and the nearly completed Freedom Tower...

...before visiting the Empire State Building...

...and my favorite, the Chrysler Building.  While the Empire State Building is great, the Chrysler Building is Art Deco perfection.  It has wings and eagle heads, goodness' sake!

While at the Empire State Building we stumbled upon Cheap Jack's Vintage.  I'd heard of Cheap Jack's before, or should I say, heard of its reputation, but even so took a look inside.  Cheap Jack's, contrary to what you might think, is not cheap.  

Selection at Cheap Jack's isn't bad for men's items except for hats (they've been pretty thoroughly picked through).  There are plenty of suits from many different eras as well as leather jackets and sportswear, but all of it is pretty outrageously priced.  $500+ for a typical 1950s suit?  No thanks, I'll just wait and find a similar one for less than a quarter of the price back home.  Somehow they've stayed open since the 1970s.  It's closed right now as it is moved to a new location.

On the last day we hoofed it along 5th Avenue, looking at all the windows and ran into Rockefeller Center, another neat Art Deco building.

We also got to see the Flatiron Building, one of the tallest buildings of its time in NYC.  I love the triangular shape of it.

We loved visiting the city but I don't think I could ever live there.  NYC has a sort of energy in the air because of all of the people and busyness that kept us going throughout the weekend but I could see how it might become tiring and overwhelming with time.  

However, the more I think back at my time there the more I'd like to visit NYC again in the near future.  It was quite an experience.

One last departing look at the Chrysler Building.

Art Deco

Today I went around my hometown and took photos of Art Deco buildings. I've never really noticed them before but they are quite stunning. Art Deco is a lost art that slowly disappears each time a Deco building is torn down or remodelled. Of course, Art Deco was not only a type of architecture. It also influenced automobiles, aircraft, clothing and other everyday parts of people's lives right down to their bathroom mirrors and dressers.

The Art Deco period went from the 1920s and ended as a mainstream art style in 1939 though it continued for a short time in the U.S. after 1939. Other countries continued it well into the 1960s. World War Two and mass production spelled the end for Art Deco in the United States.

Art Deco is difficult to describe. It uses lines and simple shapes to create striking designs. Stylization and Idealization are the rules of Art Deco. As seen in the photo below, the woman is stylized and simplified but appears somewhat like a Greek goddess in all her glory.

Like I said, quite striking. This motif can be found in Warsaw, Poland.

Art Deco can perhaps be traced to the idealism of the period. Though the Great Depression hit during the middle of the Art Deco period the idealism and hope for a greater society was still quite strong. It was the Art Deco-spawning idealism that also gave birth to such political movements as Fascism and Nazism in an attempt to bring about that greater society. And once these idealistic movements turned ugly (specifically during the Second World War) the Art Deco style that is often associated with them died out. The rejection of Fascism and Nazism also brought about the rejection of Art Deco.It's quite unfortunate, actually.

The Empire State Building is perhaps the most famous Art Deco building and was at one time the tallest building in the world. And, after the destruction of the World Trade Center, the it is once again the tallest building in New York City.

The above photo shows my favorite Art Deco skyscraper, though it's not the Empire State Building. It's the one in the background, the Chrysler Building.
And the highly polished gothic eagles scream of the 1930s.
Of classic car hood ornaments. Of sleek 1930s racing planes. The spirit of the Golden Era.

When buildings had wings...literally.

It is a feast for the eyes.

Here are the pics I took around town today. Enjoy.

I don't know the date of this sign but it is definitely Art Deco style. Interestingly, this sign is from the J.C. Petersen haberdashery that belonged to my great-great grandfather, the store selling out in the 1990s. He came to the U.S. from Germany by himself at the age of 16 at the turn of the century, not knowing a bit of English. He received ownership of the shop when his partner died and it stayed open for roughly a century.

A very simple example of Art Deco, this building was originally and still is apartments.

Schools are often great places to find Art Deco influence. Both of these are dated 1939, the last year of the major art movement.

And the most spectacular of the Art Deco buildings in Boone: city hall. Again, like the schools above, this was built in 1939.

This plaque could help solve the mystery as to why the schools and city hall were all built in 1939. It seems there was some sort of economic initiative or project put into place in Boone in 1939 funded by the federal government. Interesting. To help recover from the Great Depression, no doubt.

The interior of city hall appears to be relatively unchanged.