All Aboard
You + me + vintage shopping in a legendary location = your weekend plans!
This Saturday, I’ll be joining Pickwick Vintage Show for their second ever NYC show inside the iconic Grand Central Terminal. I could just send out a regular email telling you to buy tickets and shop, but that would be so unlike me!
Last week, I went to Grand Central with my friend Tess to capture two of my current favorite pieces inside the station. We waited until after the commuter rush to avoid the crazy crowds, but one of the busiest railway stations in the world is never really empty. It was probably the most “audience” I’ve ever had taking photos in public, made significantly less terrifying by the little girl who came up to me and told me I looked really pretty. My heart!
In my preparation, I naturally ended up down a Grand Central-sized internet rabbit hole. A lot can happen in over a century in the middle of New York City, so the station’s history is full of fascinating little tidbits. Below, a very vintage tour though one of the world’s utmost architectural marvels through fabulous old photos and my favorite fun facts about New York’s Beaux-Arts masterpiece.
From 1902 to 1967, the 20th Century Limited took passengers on a once daily journey from Grand Central to Chicago. The 16 hour trip offered everything from luxury dining to a barber shop to secretarial services. By the 1960’s, luxury train travel was on the decline - the 20th Century Limited took one last half-full journey in 1967. When New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads merged the following year, all of Grand Central’s long-distance routes migrated to Penn Station. If only America could stop doing… literally everything it’s doing now and bring back the damn trains!
From 1937 until the early 70’s, the Grand Central Theater showed short films, news reels, documentaries, and animation. In the days before phone scrolling, commuters gathered in the 242 seat theater to essentially scroll together on one big screen. Passengers could check their luggage and relax in the air conditioned space, complete with a bar, all below a large illuminated clock to prevent people from missing their trains.
Commuters that frequented Grand Central from the 1950’s to the 1990’s remember a space that looked a lot more like Times Square than the grand space we know today. Eastman Kodak Company launched a billboard campaign in 1950 that was a focal point of the main concourse for decades. The 18’ x 60’ Kodak Coloramas were billed as “the world’s largest photographs,” made up of huge sheets of Ektacolor film painstakingly replaced every three weeks.
Norman Rockwell served as the artistic director for some shoots, and legends like Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter lent their talents to the campaign, but a large majority of the shots were taken by a small group of Kodak photographers. The ads featured 565 different photos during Kodak’s 40 year tenure.
In the late 1980’s, a singular patch of the Main Concourse ceiling was cleaned by Beyer Blinder Belle. The stark micro-renovation was part of efforts to raise funds for a restoration project, drawing attention to just how badly the terminal needed work. The resulting $118 million undertaking took 12 years to complete, and took an entire half inch off the surface of the ceiling murals. The longstanding story was that the thick layer of grime was from over 100 years of people smoking inside, something that actually continued for several years after the 1998 restoration was completed. However, the company that helmed the project tested the dirt and found it was actually from air pollutants like exhaust and soot.
The cigarette myth is only one of the persistent urban legends surrounding Grand Central. John Canning & Co. was hired to execute the Sky Mural renovation, working closely with a team of architects, engineers, restorationists, and preservationists. The project revealed information about the famous ceiling that contradicts some of the most oft-repeated “facts” about Grand Central. Not only was the grime not from cigarettes, but the dirty ceiling patch wasn’t left just to show off a before and after, the ceiling wasn’t cleaned with soap and q-tips, and the “backwards” orientation of the constellations wasn’t a mistake.
Several of the sources I used while researching this piece repeated these rumors, including those from supposedly reputable publications like Architectural Digest. Don’t let media literacy die, friends!
I first came to New York City by way of Connecticut. My dad’s job brought my family to the east coast when I was 14, which means most of my earliest city adventures started at Grand Central. Seeing the sprawling concourse still takes me back to being a starry-eyed high schooler, most often en route with my friends to Chinatown for fakes. I wore my faux Tiffany necklace and yellow plastic Chloé Paddington with pride, feeling very grown up after successfully navigating the subway and the back rooms of the Canal Street gift shops.
Vanderbilt Hall, where I’ll be set up this weekend with the Pickwick Vintage Show, was originally the station’s main waiting room. I’ll be bringing vintage pieces that span almost the entirety of Grand Central’s history, from 1930’s evening gowns to early 2000’s handbags. If you’re a Substack subscriber, please say hello! I’d love to meet you and offer a special price on anything that catches your eye as a thank you for your support.
Get your tickets here! See you on Saturday!
Sources & More Reading
Did You Know There Used To Be A Movie Theater In Grand Central Terminal? by Jen Carlson for Gothamist, 2015
Kodak’s Idealized Colorama Returns by James Estrin for The New York Times, 2012
The Biggest Picture by Christopher Bonanos for The New Yorker, 2012
Vintage Kodak Photos at Grand Central Show Idealized American Life for The Spirit, 2015
Inside the Secret Life of New York’s Grand Central Station by Stefanie Waldek for Architectural Digest, 2023
