This tour guide for time travelers offers New York-lovers and thirties buffs an endlessly fascinating look at life as it was lived in the days when a trolley ride cost five cents, a room at the Plaza hotel was $7.50, Dodger fans flocked to Ebbetts Field, and the new World's Fair was the talk of the town. The New York of 1939 was a city where adventures began "under the clock" at the Biltmore, and the big liners sailed at midnight. The Yankees were on their way to four in a row, and Times Square was truly the crossroads of the world.
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
This and several similar guides were sanctioned by the Federal Writers Project in the 1930s. Published in 1939, WPA Guide, which was praised by the New York Times as "one of the best books ever published about New York," dissects the wicked city in minute detail with the aid of maps and photos. With the American Library Association meeting in Manhattan next July, this book will help librarians brush up on the Big Apple.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Useful, broadly informative, and amazing. -- The New York Times, 23 July 1939
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Rob
Format:Paperback
Anyone interested in New York City will find this book absolutely fascinating. Imagine being transported to the City's golden age -the years during which America was emerging from the Depression---and before being thrust into World War Two. The City is chronicled neighborhood by neighborhood and includes interesting historical background information. With this book you will see New York through the eyes of the past; One of my all time favorites.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Part of a massive government-sponsored writing project to help put the nation's writers back to work during the Great Depression, the WPA Guide to New York City takes the reader back to the New York City of the 1930's, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block, building by building. You can almost taste the blintzes on the Lower East Side and the aroz con pollo in Spanish Harlem. This remarkable book about our nation's most remarkable city is as close to time travel as you can get--and what a trip!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By C. T. Creecy
Format:Paperback
This is the third copy of this book I've bought over the years; I gave the other two to New Yorkers.
Like the rest of this long series of guides to U.S. destinations, it was written under the Roosevelt-era W.P.A. by an array of higly talented, highly unemployed writers.
If you love the City, or even are curious as to What Went Wrong, this particular guide is a great work. Wonderful Black and White photos, and fine writing.
Like the rest of this long series of guides to U.S. destinations, it was written under the Roosevelt-era W.P.A. by an array of higly talented, highly unemployed writers.
If you love the City, or even are curious as to What Went Wrong, this particular guide is a great work. Wonderful Black and White photos, and fine writing.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This well written guide had intersting facts about this - the greatest city in the world. The majority of the buildings described are still standing. The descriptions of the city in 1939 are facinating to read. Well worth reading if you are planning to visit 21st century New York and a must for any New Yorker
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Roman Pitio
Format:Paperback
A facinating treasure trove of detailed and documented information on New York's neighborhoods. The bibliorgaphy is an invaluable but often neglected resource. Despite its extensive detail, the text is a facinating read.
11 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I'm writing a novel set in 1930s New York and for research purposes, this book is a great starting point. But as for simply sitting down and reading it all the way through, well, it's a bit dull. For a better sense of the sweep and drama of New York's history, try tracking down New York Panorama, also put out by the WPA around the same time.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I haven't read any of the Guides yet, but I just finished reading "Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America" by David A. Taylor. I found it to be a fascinating read and I recommend it to anyone interested in the Guides. What I found particularly interesting was that the Project was always under fire for alleged connections with communism. From the chapter on the Guide to New York City is the following: "The red-bating was intensifying. Earlier in the year, Congress had tarred the Project broadly with the brush of communism and managed to get FDR to slash the budgets of the arts projects under the WPA." There are numerous references throughout this book to links with communism, un-American, etc. The stories of the people who actually wrote the guides are all of great interest. I do not mean to imply that anyone was ever proven to be a communist, just that there were frequent allegations. In particular was the opinion of many that anyone working on the Guides was lazy and just living off the government, i.e, socialism. You'll have to read it for yourself. I think you'll be glad you did.
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By D. D. Starr
Format:Paperback
This is a very good guide to New York City at the time it was originally written (1939). I must, however, rate it at only three stars for the following reason:
I've seen the original in libraries, and said original contained, inside the back cover, a pocket with a detailed street map of New York City, and this map was NOT included in this reprint. From my own standpoint as a cartographer, this is inexcusable.
Robert L. Sklar
I've seen the original in libraries, and said original contained, inside the back cover, a pocket with a detailed street map of New York City, and this map was NOT included in this reprint. From my own standpoint as a cartographer, this is inexcusable.
Robert L. Sklar
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