Thursday, January 29, 2015

Throwback Thursday "The Lannier Hotel, 1921 "

The Lannier Hotel, 1921

The original black and white image at the Library of Congress
Colourisation from a black and white photo, courtesy of Shorpy.com Tuesday, July 5th, 1921, New York, United States of America, by George Grantham Bain's Bain News Service
Proprietors Alex and Sigmund Fuerst stand outside their hotel and associated restaurant in what is now modern day Chinatown in New York City, opposite the old Bowery Theatre. The Fuerst family, consisting of five brothers, owned several restaurants along the popular theatrical strip along the Bowery, including the now demolished address at 15 Bowery, 109 Bowery and 221 Bowery, which has very similar architectural detailing to the buildings on 15 Bowery.
The surrounding area in what is now Chinatown attracted residents and transient visitors at the lower end of the economic ladder, staying in numerous lodging houses, or the more pejorative 'Flop House', where for 5 cents, one could literally 'flop over' in quarters about the size of a standard office cubicle. The Lanier Hotel as pictured was substantially more expensive (although very cheap by modern pricing), offering a small private room with clean sheets, somewhere between a capsule hotel and a bed and breakfast. The Lanier Hotel eventually closed down, though the Fuerst brothers remained in the substantially more profitable restaurant business.
Meals were also cheaper by today's standards, with meals working out about half the price of the same meals today, subsidised in part by eliminating the need to print menus as it was written on the street facing window in flowing script. **

Can you imagine getting a room in New York City for .25 ? This photo is really just so cool and I just love the history behind it as well. I love the fact that photography allows you to visit places from another era. Another classic New York City image!! 

**information on photo from Reddit.com

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