78 Mott Street, Chinatown, Manhattan, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]
Just some human interest on Mott Street. I’ve watched too many old movies not to find the fellow below a bit menacing. He might be the president of the Elisha Cook Jr. Fan Club. “Keep on riding me and they’ll be picking iron out of your liver!”
[Click for a more menacing view.]
The kids, not menacing. I’d like to think that the boy on the left is picking his nose.
[Click for larger kids.]
The clothing store bears an arresting name: Dress Like a Queen? The Princess? Both? Neither name appears in the 1940 Manhattan directory. Nor does Jim Lee or D. Stefan. The signage to the left — “ED PLEDGES FOR SALE” — must refer to unredeemed pledges. I.e., it’s a sign on a pawnshop.
The block has changed considerably since this photograph was taken.
Related posts
More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)
[“Keep on riding me”: Wilmer Cook speaks this line in The Maltese Falcon (dir. John Huston, 1941).]
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Man, boy, boy, queen, princess
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comments: 5
I like the faint shoe in the sign
I wonder if the boy is wearing puttees. Universal for servicemen, and Sir Walter Scott opened a novel with two men wearing wrap around wool on their shins, but I wouldn't have thought boys wore them.
Maybe it was like how our own boys, postwar, had crew cuts and sailor hats like the greatest generation.
The lettering on that sign is pretty stylish too.
My guess would be just socks to go with the knickers (pants, not underwear). Wikipedia says that puttees added compression — maybe not the most comfortable choice for non-military wear (?).
Here's an earlier photo, with a figure in the doorway. https://dcmny.org/do/b782f239-0dfe-4fea-a53a-0702653c5511
Looks ghostly!
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