The 1907 Thaddeus Davids Company Building - 95-97 Vandam Street

photograph by Anthony Bellov

Wealthy sugar refiner William Frederick Havemeyer and his family lived in the handsome house at 95 Vandam Street at the middle of the 19th century.  Living next door at 97 Vandam Street was the family of Charles Burkhalter, a well-to-do wholesale grocer.  The Burkhalters leased their home from the Havemeyers.  

Half a century later, the neighborhood had drastically changed.  Affluent families had moved northward and commercial structures were quickly replacing vintage homes.  In December 1904, the Record & Guide reported that the Havemeyer estate had sold 95 and 97 Vandam Street, "two three-story houses," to Mitchell A. C. Levy.

In 1854, while the Havemeyers were still occupying 95 Vandam Street, the Thaddeus Davids Company moved into the building at 127-129 William Street.  After occupying it for more than half a century, in 1906 the William Street owner refused to renew the Thaddeus Davids Company's lease.  On June 9, The American Stationer reported that the Thaddeus Davids Company, "the well-known manufacturers of inks and adhesives, has closed a deal for the building[s] at 95-97 Vandam street, between Hudson and Greenwich."  The article said, "The old buildings now standing on the site will be torn down and a modern factory building, containing every facility for manufacturing and specialties for which this firm is so justly famous, will be erected."

The firm had contracted the architectural firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker to design the factory.  Their plans projected the construction cost at $60,000, or about $2 million in 2025.  The American Stationer said, "No expense or care will be spared to make the building a model of its kind."  The article explained that the William Street lease would expire in May 1908 "and it is expected that the new building will be ready for occupancy at that time."

Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker considered both attractiveness and functionality in designing the building.  To safely accommodate the firm's heavy machinery, the plans included a "system of cinder concrete arches, reinforced with iron rods, terra cotta partitions, copper covered skylights."  Importantly, the building was fully electrified.  The large machines, previously operated manually, would now be powered by electricity.

Construction was completed in the spring of 1908.  The architects' commercial take on Renaissance Revival was splashed with the currently popular Arts & Crafts style.  The piers of the first floor loading bay--fabricated in cast iron in most loft buildings at the time--were constructed of beige brick and topped with limestone capitals.  They upheld a heavy structural beam decorated with triglyphs.  A second beam above the second floor was disguised with a reeded band that dangled blank shields.  The third to sixth floors were faced in rusticated brick.  A denticulated and bracketed pressed metal cornice completed the design.

Now one of the foremost ink companies in the world, the Thaddeus Davids Company had an interesting start.  Thaddeus Davids was born in Bedford, New York in 1810 and his family moved to New York City in 1823.  The 13-year-old was hired by an ink manufacturer.  Amazingly, when the owner retired, he left the concern to Davids, who was still a teen.  Because he was a minor, the firm was named William Davids, for his father.

In 1827, now 17 years old, Thaddeus developed "steel pen ink," touted to be of "record quality."  Over the decades he continued to experiment, introducing innovative and improved products.  In 1856, his son George W. Davids became a partner and the firm became Thaddeus Davids & Company.  

George nearly caused the end of the firm in 1883.  Unknown to his father, he accumulated massive amounts of debt and used the company as collateral.  When they came due that year, Thaddeus had to liquidate all his properties, including the firm, to settle the debts.  (In the meantime, George committed suicide in a New York City hotel.)  The emotional turmoil no doubt contributed to Thaddeus's stroke soon afterward.  He never recovered.

In the meantime, sons David F. and Edwin Davids took over the company in receivership.  The brothers died in 1905 and 1907, respectively, just before the firm moved into the Vandam facility.  Other Davids family members took over, and, in fact, the 95-97 Vandam property was held in the name of Louise A. Davids.

The firm continued to innovate.  On October 25, 1910, for instance, Walden's Stationery and Printer reported, "The Thaddeus Davids Company, 95 Vandam Street, New York, are putting on the market a long-felt want, consisting of a neat metal box containing a large bottle of their Black Diamond indelible ink, a penholder and one of Davids' indelible marking pens."

Walden's Stationer and Printer, October 25, 1910 (copyright expired)

Innovation within the Thaddeus Davids Company operations did not stop with its products.  At a time when traveling salesmen were--as the term suggested--male, on January 27, 1912 the firm advertised, "Wanted--Six young women to sell a popular article to offices; salary and commission."  The firm would necessarily turn to women again when World War I depleted the male workforce.  On October 24, 1918, an advertisement in the New-York Tribune was titled, "Girls and Women Wanted.  Help Win the War."  Foreshadowing the Rosie the Riveters of the 1940s, the ad said the Thaddeus Davids Ink Company, "offers profitable employment to girls and women; excellent wages; steady work and bonus; Uncle Sam needs you here."

The Touchstone, July 1919 (copyright expired)

The Thaddeus Davids Company closed before 1941 when the Tiara Products Co., Inc. occupied 95-97 Vandam Street.  The industrial tenor within the building began to change in 1960, when the newly-formed 670 Realty Corporation took space.  The realty management firm Samson Management operated from the building as early as 1968.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The neighborhood--now called Hudson Square--saw change again in the third quarter of the 20th century.  Loft buildings were transformed to residential, office and retail space.  In 1987, the Thaddeus Davids Company building was converted to apartments with a retail space on the former loading dock level.

For years, Form and Function occupied the first floor and more recently Exquisite Surfaces moved in.  

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

The Lost William Maginnis House and Store -- 513 Greenwich Street

 

On June 13, 1913, when this photograph was taken, a restaurant occupied the ground floor.  Colonial Architecture in New York City, 1913 (copyright expired)

In 1815, homes and shops were appearing along Spring Street between Greenwich and Hudson Street.  It was around that year that the two-and-a-half story house-and-store was erected at the southeast corner of Greenwich and Spring Streets.  The Federal-style structure was faced in brick on the front, or Greenwich Street elevation, and in clapboards on the side.  The attic, under a high gambrel roof, featured two tall dormers at the front, and an arched window on the side flanked by quarter-round openings.

The residential entrance was at 318 Spring Street, while the commercial address was 513 Greenwich Street.  In 1816, the shop was occupied by the Henry A. & C. Heiser candle store.  By 1850, the ground floor was divided into two shops.  William Maginnis and his family lived upstairs, and he ran his "willowware" (i.e. baskets) shop here.  The enterprising businessman ran a fruit market next door, at 316 Spring Street, as well.  The other shop was home to Thomas Dean's tinsmith business.  Previously, he worked and lived a block away at 324 Spring Street.  (He and his family now lived at 76 Charlton Street.)

Thomas Dean would operate his tin shop here through 1858.  In 1851, Maginnis moved out, relocating his family to 573 Greenwich Street.  (He kept his fruit business next door, however.)  James Clinton took over the vacant store for his boots and shoe shop.

Ann Mulligan, the widow of Bernard Mulligan, seems to have operated the upper floors as a boarding house in the mid-1850s.  Listed at the address in 1853 were John McCool, a builder, and Levi Hyer, a clerk.  Both men volunteered as fire fighters at the National Hose Company, No. 24 nearby at 315 Spring Street.  (John McCool would become a significant developer in the years after the Civil War, erecting long rows of brownstone residences in the burgeoning Upper East Side.)

from the collection of the New York Public Library

Sharing the ground floor with Thomas Dean in 1858 was John Jones's carpet weaving shop.  On December 16 that year, a fire was sparked by a "candle in dust," according to the The United States Insurance Gazette and Magazine.  The building was owned by Dr. Samuel M. Valentine, who lived at 159 Madison Avenue.  In repairing the damages, Valentine further separated the ground floor, which now held three stores.  It was likely that the reduction of space prompted Thomas Dean to leave, moving his business to 533 Canal Street.

Valentine's ground floor tenants were now John Jones's carpet weaving business, Joseph Watson's tinsmith shop (it is possible he had worked for Thomas Dean), and David Orr's boot and shoe shop.  Just after midnight on November 27, 1861, another fire broke out "in the carpet weaving shop of John Jones," according to the New York Herald, which said, "The flames extended into the tinware store of Joseph Watson, adjoining, before the fire was extinguished."

This time, the Fire Marshal's Semi-annual Report deemed the cause, "carelessness."  The damage to the building was estimated at $100.  Jones suffered the same amount (equal to about $3,570 in 2025).  Watson's loss was half that amount, but he had no insurance coverage.  Although the fire did not spread into David Orr's shop, he suffered the worst.  The New York Herald noted that his "stock of boots and shoes...was damaged by water to the extent of about $150."

It appears that Valentine restored the ground floor to two spaces.  Not surprisingly, after two fires in his shop, John Jones was no longer a tenant.  Joseph Watson now shared the ground floor with John and Elizabeth Collins.  John shared his basket store with Elizabeth's "home furnishing" business.  The couple lived nearby at 311 Spring Street.

In the meantime, boarders came and went in the upper floors.  J. Flinger's residency was cut short in August 1863, when he was drafted into the Union Army.  An unmarried woman, E. Connell, lived here the following year.  She advertised for a job in The New York Times on November 18, 1864, "Wanted--By a young American woman, a situation to travel as a companion to an invalid or as lady's maid; can furnish the best reference."

from the collection of the New York Public Library

Elizabeth and John Collins remained in their store as late as 1874.  By then, John had added crockery to his basket offerings.  Around 1867, Thomas Gallagher had taken over the former Joseph Watson tin business.  John Gallagher, presumably his son, ran the business in 1879. That year Philip Scheurer ran a crockery store in the former Collins space.  Scheuer and his family shared the upper portion of the building with "pumpmaker" John Ivans.

In 1888, D. Parrata obtained a permit to operate a "fruit and soda water stand" on the sidewalk.  Living upstairs at the time was the Ferris family.  Charles Ferris listed his profession as "pedlar," and Joseph Ferris as a driver.

The frame building survived another fire that broke out at 10:25 on the morning of October 27, 1903 in the office of Ledyard Avery & Co., commission merchants.  The ground floor was returned to a single commercial space, home to a restaurant by 1913.  It was replaced in the post World War I years by Star Art Glass Co.

The Glaziers' Journal, August 1923 (copyright expired)

The Star Art Glass Co. was still in the unlikely surviving relic on June 29, 1938 when photographer Berenice Abbott photographed it.  In the shadow of the rumbling elevated train, a notice plastered on the building's facade offered "This Corner Plot" for sale, noting, "Will Alter or Erect New Building."

from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Within three years the venerable structure was gone.  In its place, a single-story building was erected, which survives.

image via Googlemaps