Colour photographs of New York, 1940s, by Charles Cushman

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  • A corner on west Canal St. (1942)

    Chinese store windows, New York (1942)

    Collecting the salvage on Lower East Side (1942)

    Corner of Pearl St. (1942)

    Crowd gathers during Salvage collection in Lower East Side (1942)

    East 7th St between 3rd & 2nd St. (1942)

    Hot sweet potatoes cart (1942)

    Looking up a street of many races, lower Manhattan (1942)

    Looking up Fulton St. from South St (1941)

    Lower First Avenue (1942)

    Lower Manhattan (1942)

    Old lady reads Sunday paper, Lower East Side (1942)

    Poverty, young and old, black and white (1942)

    Residents of lower Clinton St near East river, Saturday afternoon (1941)

    Southeast corner of 1st St. and Bowery (1942)

    Store fronts below brick tenement (1942)

    Stores near corner of Broome St. and Baruch Place, Lower East Side (1941)

    Street in New York's Chinatown (1942)

    Sunday afternoon gossip (1942)

    Up 4th Ave from Astor Place, Cooper Union on the right (1942)

    All images from the Charles Cushman Collection

    This capsule was curated by JG Mango

    Thank you to Business Insider

    15 comments to Colour photographs of New York, 1940s, by Charles Cushman

    • Kathy Moriarty

      Every picture tells a story don’t it!

    • Grammer Nazi

      doesn’t it*

    • Barbara Felicetti

      More of these please. Would love to see the Village in the late 40′s early 50′s

    • Jason

      I really find this entire collection incredible. Especially McSorley’s, just because I’ve been by there so many times, and the outside really looks the same as it does now!

    • Joe, NY

      Except for the cars and the ladies styles, it looks exactly how I remember it from the 60′s. I am struck by how much trash there is in the street.

    • Susan Mc

      @ Grammer Nazi — I believe Kathy’s comment was a reference to lyrics from the Rod Stewart song “Every Picture Tells a Story”.
      p.s. I guess you aren’t the “Spelling Nazi” because you misspelled “Grammar”.

    • chistes

      wonderful pics, I love it

    • Ellen

      These are fantastic… the NYC in which my parents (born in the early 1930s) grew up. The entire Charles Cushman collection is pretty incredible.

    • Kathy Moriarty

      Indeed, I was referring to the song!

    • Hopper

      Even more fun: if there’s a street address, googling it to see what it looks like now (for those of us who are not natives.)

    • Gaamaw Kushner

      These pictures are exactly what my parents ran away from. They came to Allentown in 1931, from the lower East Side of N Y, to be in the “country”. It has been a very wise move, we love Allentown. (Even tho our children all made the decision to move away.)

      Ferne

    • walter

      Beautiful photos.

      The photograph that is labeled “Lower First Avenue 1942″
      is indeed a photo of lower SECOND Ave, the NW corner-a corner
      that was occupied from the 50s until recently by the La Salle Academy. The arched window to the right belongs to the courthouse
      that is now Anthology Film Archives.

    • BARRY BECKER

      …PEOPLE…PEOPLE…SO CRITICAL…WHATS THE MATTER WIDTH YOUSE…JUST ACCEPT THE SUPER COLOR PIC’S FROM THE COLLETION….i LIVED IN THE CITY…ATTENDED NYU ’56-’59…NYU HOUSING HAD A DEAL WITH THE RECETLY REHABED ALBERT HOTEL…AT 23E 10TH ST/COR UNIV. PLACE..HAD A 4TH FLOOR HUGE ONE B EDROOM (SHAREDWITH NYU LAW SUDENT…$145.00 PER MONTH WITH WEEKLY MAID..OUT OF ARMY SEPT 60 128 E 91STH ST–THEN MOVED INTO NEW SUPER HI-RISE (WITH ROOF=TOP POOL (RETRACTIBLE COVER)..ONE OF SHELDON SOLOWS FRIST BUILDS..DOOR MAN..AT THAT TIME ..ONE MONTH FREE RENT FOR EACH YEAR OF LEASE–SIGNED THREE YEARS…ONE OF THE BEST GROUP OF PEOPLE LIVED IN THERE AT TIME…YOUNG.ABOUT TO BE FAMOUS…MOVIES..TUESDAY WELD…SEVERAL FAMILIES WHOSE HUS BANDS WITHIN 5-6 YEARS BECAME MEGA STAR-PRODUCERS AT ABC SPORTS AND NBC…AUTHORS…ETC WHAT FUN…THEN (B ECAME A LICENSED REALTOR IN 1961—BROKER FOLLOWING YEAR….A FRIEND BOUGHT 301 E 62ND SGTREET/COR 2ND AVE ( WITH A GRISTIDES ON SECOND AVE SIDE…I WAS GIVEN A 2 BED ON THE 10TH FLR –ALL OUTSIDE WINDOWS (EVEN B ATHS)..450. A MONTH…REMEMBE..THIS WAS 1965…STAYED HERE UNTIL I BOUGHT 48 BARROW STREET IN THE VILLAGE…JUST OFF 7TH AVE..ONE OF THE VERY FIRST STREETS TO BECOME HISTORIC..PURCHASE 1968…RESTAURANT IN ENGLISH BASEMENT..4 DECONTROLLED…YESNOT RENT CONTROL APARTMENTS…PARLOR FLOOR THRU…LEASED TO FAMOUS MODEL FOR 600. PER MONTH…i TOOK OVER THE SECOND FLOOR-THRU THAT FORMER OWNER OCCUPIED…5 ROOMS..TWO WORKING FIREPLACES..PORCH/DECK OVERLOKING GARDEN OF ADJACENT HOMES AND THE RESTAURANT WE LEASEDTO “PARIS BISTRO”..SOLD IN 1985 AND MOVEDTO PHOENIX…HAVE NUMEROUS PICTURES FROM THOSE YEARS/COULD GO ON -AND-ON ABOUT THOSE BUILDINGS I SOLD TO AN INVESTMENT GROUP ON LOWER WHITEHALL STREET..COENTIES SLIP ETC…THAT WERE LATER SOLD OFF AND BECAME SITE FOR A CORNER OF THE TRADE TOWERS…I GUESS PARTOF THE PLAZA..IF ANY ONE LIVED IN THE CITY DURING THIS TIME…IS IS POSSILE TO CONVERSE???THIS SITE SAYS EMAIL NT TO BE PUBLISHED..i WOULD ESPECIALLY LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANY ONE OF YOU FROM THAT ERA..HOW MAY HAVE CURRENTLY..OFR BE IN REMISSION FROM MULTIPLE MYELOMA…BEST BARRY BECKER…MAY i LEAVE MY CELL:602-931-2323????THANK UOU.

    • La'son

      I love how all the men are wearing hats (most of them). I love the clothes from the 1940s. Great photos. So simple but yet poignant. Thanks for sharing.

    • Jacqueline Rys

      These pictures are fantastic! I just loved the NEW York, 1940′s….it gives such a view into the history and the way The City looked at that time. Thank you for this wonderful link.

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