Guess The Year: Storefront Edition

Here we go again! Do you know what year was this photo taken? Bonus points if you can nail down the neighborhood, too. We'll update at the end of the day with the answer and more details about the image. (And psst: cheaters will be banished!)

UPDATE: This photo was taken on the Lower East Side on October 4th, 1942. Sadly, no street address is given. According to this site, it's a mystery!:

"The only real clue as to location is the number above the sode shop '118.' According to the Manhattan Land Book of 1930, there was a 118 Clinton Street on the southwest corner of Clinton and Delancey Streets (a parking lot today). However, this was the location of the 7th Precinct Police Station according to the Land Book so this possibility is eliminated. There also is a 118 Suffolk Street (north of Delancey) that is still there today but the building looks nothing like the storefront shown below. And this would be in the opposite direction of the next shot he took, so it seems unlikely this would be the spot."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on July 6, 2010 6:25 PM

Comments [rss]

Mr Mel

If you guys really like pictures from that era (among others) visit shorpy.com.

halfzware

Will C is correct. October 4, 1942.

Mr Mel

Are we sure its 118 and not 110?

luddite

While I guessed the right year, 1942, Wooster is not the Lower East Side in anybody's book, is it? And looking at Streetview on Google Maps, the pattern of the cast iron storefront at 118 Wooster is very similar but not exactly the same as shown here. So I'll take credit for the year, but I think I missed the address.

duckfeather

118 Ludlow is my guess, based on fire escape placement and the ornamental mouldings around the doors. Best street view is from 124 Ludlow. Could be wrong but either way, these street-level mysteries are neat.

wow 14th street

Nice photo ,looks a lot like my childhood in the early1940's on Second Avenue and east 71st St.

All of it is gone now to hi rise heaven

Yes,kids as they appear in this photo ,did play in front

of their apt. buildings usually unsupervised .

We just told our Parent's where we would "play in front of" and were on our own.

Nate

1943, Bronx. Methinks WWII era for sure.

Jenniferlayne

Spot on luddite! Thanks Gothamist I really like this picture!

augustojr

nice pic. i woulda said 1938-1941 on LES but only cause i remember these set of pics from before. but i just looked it up and im still wrong! only by a little tho.

Automocar

1917, Lower East Side.

Mr. Know-It-All

1917? Where do you find color photos in 1917?

Politburo

For a know-it-all, you don't seem to know much about the history of color photography.

Automocar

Uh, lots of places?

AYCE

the "Janitor Wanted" sign says West-something street. I guess UWS (Morningside?), circa 1960 considering the cool-de-la hats the gents are wearing.

Will C

that was for the real estate management company (which was located in midtown)

DanielJ

1947. LES- now demolished, maybe like Cherry Street.

DannyL

That's not a color photo - it's a hand-tinted b/w. My guess is 1929, Rivington St.

Mr. Know-It-All

Why would anybody bother to hand-tint a snapshot of a generic street scene?

Mr. Know-It-All

Most of these guesses seem way too early. This looks a lot like color photos from my early childhood so I'm guessing sometime between 1960 and 1965.