This postcard depicts the Kingston Passenger Station in Kingston, New York, completed in 1883.
Between 1875 and 1880, Kingston was the home of W.W. Goodrich, a terrible architect and bullshitter extraordinaire who later practiced in Atlanta.
Goodrich had nothing to do with the design of this Queen Anne-style depot, but you’ll be seeing more about Northern train stations here at some point in the future—and Goodrich (blech).
BIF wrote on the front of the postcard: “Here is where I got off train.”
It’d be more fun if he’d omitted the last word.
The card was postmarked in Poughkeepsie, New York, date unreadable, and addressed to Miss E. Crosby of RFD #2, Chester, Vt.
Is it a relic sign or a fine example of Art Deco architecture? The answer is both.
I admired this swanky old Manhattan storefront for years on my walks to and from Moynihan Train Hall, but for some reason, I only recently thought to take a picture of it.
It was easy to find the opening-day newspaper advertisements for the A.S. Beck shoe store, but I’ve yet to determine the designer. Whoever it was, they did a swell job.
This swanky old sign is a true relic of South Philly, which is changing as rapidly as any other neighborhood these days.
Owned and operated by the Muzi family, Philip’s Restaurant was licensed for business at this location in 1940,1 although later advertisements claimed it opened in 1938.2
The blue portion of the sign likely dates to 1940, but I suspect the “Cocktail Lounge” segment was added later.
Originally built as a residence, the 3-story brownstone structure that housed the restaurant previously served as the Circolo Italiano clubhouse for at least 20 years.3 4
Philip’s touted itself as “Serving the finest in Italian cuisine”, and the interior photograph shown below is from a postcard published circa 1960, based on a note from the back that adds the restaurant had been in “The same location for 20 years.”
Philip’s closed in 2001, and the building has apparently been unoccupied since 2018.5 The sign remains untouched.
