Culture
A Manufacturing Map of New York, Circa 1919
Take a look into all the wonderful stuff New Yorkers were creating a century ago, including a whole ton of women’s wear.
Where would a good lady go to peek some corsets and fur coats in early 20th-century New York? Where might a gent find billiard tables, cigar boxes, organs, and coffins?
The answer lies in this fantastic historical map laying out manufacturing industries by neighborhood. Drawn up by the Merchants’ Association of New York in 1922, using Census data from 1919, the document illuminates all the crafty goings-on in town, from clothes-making to chemical-and-drug production to “miscellaneous,” a category that includes rubber tires, umbrellas and canes, dental equipment, and “notions and novelties.”