John H. Duncan's' 1906 119-121 Fifth Avenue

 

photograph by Beyond My Ken

Refined gentlemen's clubs discreetly slipped into the mansion neighborhood of Fifth Avenue in the mid-19th century.  The 25-foot wide, five-story brownstone mansion at 119 Fifth Avenue was home to the Circulo Colon-Cervantes club in 1891, while the Salmagundi Art Club had leased space next door at 121 Fifth Avenue since 1888.  At the turn of the century, however, commerce was changing the face of the once-elegant residential neighborhood.

On June 17, 1905, the Record & Guide reported, "John H. Duncan...is preparing plans for an 8-sty store and loft building to be erected for Lord & Taylor."  An annex to its store at 901 Broadway, it would replace 119 and 121 Fifth Avenue.  The article noted, "The old buildings will be torn down July 1st."

Completed in 1906, Duncan's neo-Renaissance style structure was faced with stone and cream-colored brick.  The banded piers of the storefront carried into the upper floors as rustication.  Called by the Record & Guide as "of exceptional dimensions and finish," it was distinguished by the four-story arches at the third through sixth floors; their keystones carved with lions' heads.  Sitting above an ornately carved bandcourse of leaves and strapping, the top floor was decorated with elaborate terra cotta panels.  The cornice wore a crown of copper anthemions.  

The altered mansions next door were similar to those originally on the site.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Lord & Taylor would not remain in the building for especially long.  In 1914, it moved into its new store at 38th Street and Fifth Avenue.  After using the building for storage for two years, in 1916 Lord & Taylor leased 119-121 Fifth Avenue to the New York Merchandise Company.

A wholesale firm, the New York Merchandise Co. was a large importer, "catering particularly to the chain variety and chain department stores, as well as to the independent merchants," as described by the Chain Store Age in October 1929.  Its wide variety of products was priced "reasonably;" leading to the firm's marketing itself as the House of Reasonable Prices.  An advertisement on July 26, 1920 promised, "When you arrive at the House of Reasonable Prices, you are going to find yourself in a mighty pleasing position."

Ten days after America entered World War I, the firm tapped into national patriotism.  The New York Times, April 16, 1917 (copyright expired)

The firm staged an annual "New York Merchandise Exhibition" in the building, inviting buyers worldwide.  The exhibition in 1920 ran from July 26 to August 14, and its announcement promised buyers, "You are going to 'rub shoulders' with buying representatives from many sections of the globe."

New York Merchandise Co. moved out in 1923 and 119-121 Fifth Avenue was acquired by L. Straus & Sons, importers of tableware.  It leased space to a variety of tenants.  In its February 1925 issue, The Boys' Outfitter reported, "Morris Asinof & Sons, manufacturers of boys' clothing, have moved...to larger quarters at 119-121 Fifth avenue, New York."  

Another tenant was H. Clay Glover Co., Inc., maker of hair tonics.  An advertisement for its Imperial Mange Medicine in The Des Moines Register said it, "is positively guaranteed to cure dandruff.  Its clean, undisguised odor shows you the difference immediately."

By 1927, L. Straus & Sons reorganized by merging with kitchen equipment makers Walter J. Buzzini, Inc.  The New York Times reported on October 3, "The business of both companies will be operated in the name of Nathan Straus & Sons, Inc. 119 Fifth Avenue."

Nathan Straus, Jr. had served as a member of the New York State Senate from 1921 to 1926.  Before that, he had been assistant editor of the New York Globe.  Leaving his seat in the Senate did not signal the end of his involvement in politics.  On May 17, 1928, The New York Times reported, "A protest against the plan to cut a memorial drive through Central Park to join the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History was the last official act of the Central Park Association."  The article said that legal papers had been signed "at the office of former Senator Nathan Straus, Jr. at 119 Fifth Avenue."

Nathan Straus & Sons left 119-121 Fifth Avenue on April 1, 1929.  Initially, garment manufacturers occupied most of the spaces.  Morris Asinoff & Sons still occupied a floor here, joined in 1930 by Lipps Bros., makers of men's clothing, which also leased a full floor.  The firm was founded that year by brothers Philip, Charles L., and Bernard H. Lipps.

In 1937, Taiyo Trading Company, Inc., importers of Japanese goods, leased the first floor and basement.  It dealt in housewares like hand-painted china chocolate sets and tea services.  It would remain here until 1953.

A major tenant arrived in 1938 when the New York offices of Philip Morris & Company moved into the third through eighth floors.  Twenty-two years later, on March 1, 1960, The New York Times reported, "Philip Morris & Co., has moved its executive offices to the new building at 100 Park Avenue."

Philip Morris & Company plastered the facade with advertisement in 1941.  The copper crown of the cornice was already lost.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

With the leaving of Philip Morris & Company, architect William J. Minogue was hired in 1950 to make $30,000 worth of interior renovations (about $391,000 by 2025 conversion).  The alterations also anticipated the New York State Employment Services offices, which moved into the building in October 1951.  The New York Times said the move "would be made just in time to start the annual drive to meet the holiday season demand for sales persons."

A perhaps unexpected client of the New York State Employment Services in 1955 was the United States Air Force.  On December 20, The New York Times reported, "The Air Force is seeking 800 teachers and school administrators to place in overseas jobs next fall," and that the applicants "from this area are being interviewed at the office of the New York State Employment Service at 119 Fifth Avenue."

photograph by Ted Leather

Around 1964, Students for a Democratic Society, a part of the League for Industrial Democracy, leased an office in the building.  On December 12 that year, representatives were involved in protests at New York University and Columbia University.  The group was not protesting against the conflict in Vietnam nor any other political causes.  They were pressing for reform in institutions "where 'too much emphasis' was placed on research and graduate schools," as reported by The New York Times.

Three months later, on February 19, 1965, the Students for a Democratic Society was involved in a political event.  Opposed to the American Vietnam policies, they blocked the First Avenue entrance to the United States Mission to the United Nations for six hours.  Not unexpectedly, 14 protesters were arrested.  In the meantime, the Students for a Democratic Society held a news conference, during which 24-year-old Clark Kissinger said, "It's quite clear that the major foreign intervening power in Vietnam is the United States."

The 1960s and '70s saw disparate tenants in the building, including Youth Cosmetics, Inc.; The Homestead (which offered four different reproductions of "irresistible oil paintings "of kittens in 1968); the Executive Research Institute that offered mail order courses that would "turn your child into a classroom wizard;" and the Association for American-Soviet Friendship.

The ground floor space became a Williwear shop in April 1988, the same year that the second through fifth floors were converted for use as a trade school.  The trade school was reduced to one floor (the fifth) in 1993, when a day care center was installed in the second and third floors.

photograph by Ted Leather

John H. Duncan's handsome 1905 design survives wonderfully intact.

many thanks to reader Ted Leather for prompting this post