Before the outbreak of the Civil War, millionaires had ventured north of 23rd Street along Fifth Avenue, erecting opulent mansions. Three blocks south of the John Jacob Astor III and William Backhouse Astor residences, which filled the western blockfront between 33rd and 34th Streets, was the home of John J. Osborne, at 290 Fifth Avenue.
There was upheaval within the Osborne's domestic staff in the winter of 1865. On December 10, the French butler, George Sausen, had the cook arrested for grand larceny. The New York Times reported that Matilda Cassidy "stole three bottles of wine, valued at $16, and $35 in cash...The wine was the property of her employer, while the money belonged to two of the female servants in the house." The wine was found in Matilda's room and the cash "in her pocket."
The days of smart broughams at the curb and butlers at the door were over by the turn of the century. Mansions were razed or converted for business. In March 1906, Irving E. Raymond leased the converted Osborne mansion. The Real Estate Record & Guide reported that he would build a 12-story business building "in connection with Nos. 286 and 288 5th av., which are owned by Mr. Raymond."
Irving E. Raymond was president of A. A. Vantine & Co., dealers in Oriental rugs and carpets. Perhaps because Isabel C. Nash refused to sell 290 Fifth Avenue in 1908--instead renewing Raymond's lease (this time for 21 years)--Raymond rethought the plan to build a large office building on a site that was only two-thirds owned by him.
Instead, in March his architect, Charles E. Birge, filed plans for a six-story "brick and stone office building" at 290 Fifth Avenue that would cost Raymond $40,000 to erect--about $1.37 million in 2024 terms.
The completed building was as much glass as it was masonry. Five stories of metal infill allowed for vast tripart windows that flooded the interiors with natural light. A terra cotta frame of ornate tiles embraced the upper floors. Below the deeply overhanging cornice was an elaborate frieze of terra cotta.
Among the initial tenants were Paul Block, Inc. and Ph. Weinberg's Sons & Co. Paul Block had started his advertising agency in 1900 and incorporated in 1908. It was the exclusive national advertising representative for a number of newspapers and magazines. By the time the firm moved into 290 Fifth Avenue, it had branch offices in Boston and Chicago.
Ph. Weinberg's Son & Co., "makers of fine furs," was reflective of the high-end shops along Fifth Avenue. The store offered a wide variety of items, from mink neckpieces with "muff to match," to Alaska seal coats priced at $800 in 1909 (a staggering $27,300 in today's money). An advertisement in The New York Times on November 21, 1909 listed three types of "automobile" coats: a ladies' coat, "coats for chauffeurs," and natural raccoon coats.
In 1912, Ph. Weinberg's Sons & Co. was succeeded by Grace Co. It continued to do business from the address, and assured customers, "the old policy of high quality and a new policy of low prices will prevail."
In the meantime, the upper floors filled with apparel firms. In 1914, Freeman Brothers hatters leased the third floor and in 1916 L. Lyman & Co., makers of dresses and headwear for children, and Alexander A. Bernstein, an importer and manufacturer of furs, took space.
Alexander A. Bernstein, who was born in Plock, Poland in February 1880, was an interesting figure. According to Distinguished Jews of America in 1917, he was "as a youngster an efficient cantor, and when he came here he was probably the first boy to officiate at services with the assistance of a choir."
Alexander A. Bernstein. Distinguished Jews of America, 1917 (copyright expired)
One congregant of Bernstein's synagogue on Henry Street, "took a fancy to him, introduced him to some gentlemen connected with the fur industry, and he drifted into the line." It signaled the beginning of Bernstein's business career and the end of his singing.
In 1916, the same year that L. Lyman & Co. and Alexander A. Bernstein moved in, Samuel Schwartz Sons & Co., "pictures," signed a lease on the ground floor store. The gallery staged exhibitions over the coming years, like the showing of more than 60 etchings by Frank Brangwyn that opened in March 1918.
The 1920s saw the building still filled with apparel firms, most of them makers of dresses, coats and suits. From the mid-1930s into the 1940s the Tenth Assembly District Republican Organization had its offices in the building. Reminiscent of Irving E. Raymond, the Persian Mercantile Co. and the Anglo Persian Mercantile Co., importers of Iranian rugs, operated from the address at the time.
The cornice survived in 1941. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
By the third quarter of the century, the Garment District had moved past 34th Street and this section of Fifth Avenue was filled with garish shops and often transitory businesses. Among the tenants of 290 Fifth Avenue in 1988 was The Skin & Hair Rejuvenation Center, which offered Minoxidil/Retin-A treatments that promised to "regrow fuller and more-youthful new hair."
At some point the cornice was removed and the storefront remodeled. But, overall, Charles E. Birge's 1908 design survives surprisingly intact.
photographs by the author
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