Wallet card at a building not seen for 100 years

Revisiting one of my earliest wallet card photos with a big update:

You may be familiar with the famous Macy's building on 34th Street, which until a few years ago was the largest store in the world (and is still the largest in the US). Interestingly, the huge red shopping bag that says "Macy's" is on the one part of the block that Macy's does not actually own. Around 1901, R.H. Macy decided to move his store to 34th street, he quietly started buying up all of the property on the block so that he could build his superstore. However, one of his rivals found out and bought the property on the corner, with the idea that he would sell it to Macy and purchase their prior location. However, Macy decided to just build around the property instead of giving in to the guy who bought the corner property. In the 1920s, that building changed hands, and Macy's began renting the top floors of the building for advertising purposes, but never bought that last parcel on 34th street, currently home to Sunglass Hut.

The big update:

The owner of the building now is planning to lease that space to another retailer, and recently got permission from the city to replace the Macy's signage with new digital billboards.

Before we get to the new photos, a brief retrospective: 

1906: The brand new Macy's building dominates the corner holdout.

 

1940: The building is largely covered by ads.

 

1964: Color postcard

 

2015: My wallet card photo. By this time Macy's had settled into the "red shopping bag" design.

 

2026: Today! 34th street side. These top three stories had been blocked for public view since the 1920s. They were unoccupied for the past century as there was no means for dual exit with the windows blocked.

Broadway side: It's such a spooky feeling seeing these newly revealed unused floors. Kind of like digging up a grave site. 

 

 

 

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly Puzzle #4

 

What a great, dynamic photo! Looks like the photographer went into the batting cage, and Mattingly looks like he's about to rip into a pitch. I can't tell who is behind the batting cage - kind of looks like a road uniform. And I don't know who is the catcher either. You sometimes hear about the team's batting practice pitcher, but never the batting practice catcher. I'm guessing it's the bullpen catcher? That would be Dom Scala, who served in that role for a decade, and later was the head baseball coach at Adelphi University for 20 years.

Cake or gum? 1977 Dennis Leonard

Last time it was a 6-1 win for Topps. Who will win here?

The photos are not the same, but they are very similar. The Hostess photo is also set at an angle.

An alumnus of Oceanside High School (NY) and Iona College, Leonard was one of the best pitchers in Royals history. From 1975 to 1981 he was one of the best pitchers in the American League, winning 20 games three times. A knee injury wiped out most of two seasons for Leonard, though he did come back for one more season in 1986. Overall in 312 games, he went 144-106 with a 3.70 ERA. Leonard stayed in Kansas City after his retirement has remained with the team in various instructional and promotional endeavors.

1981 Topps Gary Lucas

 

The front: Lucas shows a funky delivery as he delivers a pitch at Shea Stadium.

The back: The game referenced on the back may well be the game pictured on the front. Lucas did pitch a 2-1 victory in a day game on May 3, taking a shutout into the ninth before giving up a one-out solo HR to Joel Youngblood. Lucas was then relieved by Rollie Fingers who got the last two outs to save the win. However, this could also be August 26, though I think most game photos came from earlier in the year. In that game, Lucas came on in relief, pitching perfect 7th and 8th innings to preserve a 6-5 lead. In the ninth, however, Lucas gave up a leadoff single to Steve Henderson, and this time Fingers failed to save the game, allowing a game-tying double to Youngblood. The game stayed tied until the 18th inning, when Willie Montaney and Jerry Mumphrey drove in runs to give the Padres an 8-6 lead, which they held on to.

The player: The move to the bullpen was a permanent one for Lucas, who never started a game after his rookie season of 1980. In 1981 he led the NL in appearances (57 in the strike shortened season), and had three straight seasons of double-digit saves. In eight seasons for the Padres, Expos and Angels, Lucas went 29-44 with 63 saves and a 3.01 ERA.

The man: After his playing career he had a long career as a minor league pitching coach. He is now retired.

My collection: I have  31 of his cards, from 1981 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1984 Stuart Montreal Expos #12.
 

1976 SSPC Bobby Murcer

 

The card, in brief: An interesting change of pace, with Murcer's photo in what is presumably the Shea Stadium dugout.

Playing career, in brief: Bobby Murcer was the best player on the Yankees in the early 1970s. A five-time All Star, he was a high-average, good-power outfielder. He was traded to the Giants before the 1975 season, and over the next few years was not as good in the National League as he was with the Yankees. He returned to the Yankees in 1979, just missing their two championship years, and was a reliable bat off the bench until his retirement in 1983. Perhaps his most famous moment was driving in all six runs in a walk-off, come-from-behind victory the day after the funeral of his good friend Thurman Munson, 47 years ago this week. Overall in 1,908 games he hit .277 with 252 HR and 1,043 RBI.

Post playing career, in brief: One of the most popular Yankees of his era, Murcer was a beloved member of the announcing team for the Yankees for over 20 years, with a folksy, humble manner. He died of cancer at the age of 62 in 2008.

My collection: I have 35 of his cards, from 1966 to 1983. I would be interested in trading for 1969 MLB Photostamps #NNO.

Post playing career, in brief:  

1988 Domino's Jon Warden

 

Not a great photo of Warden, whose only major league experience came in 1968. In 28 games he went 4-1 with a 3.62 ERA. He never had a playing-days card with the Tigers, but he was drafted in the expansion draft by the Royals and got a card in the '69 Topps set. However, he got hurt in spring training and never pitched in the majors again.

After his playing career he was a high school teacher and coach, and is a long-standing participant in Tigers and Royals fantasy camps, as well as speaking appearances and baseball alumni events, where he is noted to be a very funny guy. In 1989, he started taking a Baseball Encyclopedia wherever he went, getting autographs along the way. As of 2010 he had over 1,200 autographs in the book.

Batting Out of Order giveaway

Batting Out of Order had a nice giveaway with lots of great cards to choose from.

I picked three Yankees I needed, an interesting Padres coaches team-issue oddball, some oddball football game card, a vintage football need, and three starting lineup talking baseball cards, one of the more obscure issues from the junk wax era.
 

Big and small

I came across a random lot of late 90s - early 00s cards on eBay. I wasn't looking for a lot like this but happened to stumble across it. I still need so many cards from this era, that it was a fun get for the minimum bid. Kind of what I used to sometimes find at garage sales, back when you could find cards at garage sales.

Some cards that stuck out to me. Interesting shiny insert card that's a video game ad. Two '86 Angels rookies from a 2005 set. I was annoyed that they didn't color match, until I realized the orange is actually a parallel numbered to /399. It's perfect for an Angels card. I already had the two UD cards on the bottom but wanted to highlight how we still would get interesting photos 20 years ago.

While there weren't many star cards, there were a few A-Rods. Some more obscure modern cards of older players as well. 

Earlier today, I traded Al another box of Braves cards. He didn't have much in return today, just some sheets of junk wax and slightly older Topps. I did take one sheet home, as I noticed the yellow OPC logo. There was even an extra OPC on the back. I only needed the top two cards; the others are all available.

 

Wallet Card with a phone number that has been defunct for over 100 years

This is a really cool one.

This coal chute cover on East 9th Street was crafted by Empire City Iron Works, who included their phone number, CIRCLE 1500. According to research by the signage expert Walter Grutchfield, Empire City Iron Works was founded in 1907, and from 1915 to 1919 was located on Manhattan's 8th Avenue. In late 1919 or early 1920 the business moved to Long Island City, Queens, where it got a new number. Over 100 years later, the business remains at that Queens location. Pretty cool that there is still a remnant from a phone number that hasn't worked in over a century, and even cooler that the business still exists today.
 

Wood vs. Wood #347

Last time it was a 7-0 win for 1962. Will 1987 get on the board here?

Chuck Hinton poses with his bat at Yankee Stadium, with the big flag in centerfield (in the field of play!) dominating the background. Hinton was a solid outfielder for some bad Senators and Indians teams from 1961 to 1971. An All-Star in 1964, Hinton played in 1,353 major league games, hitting .264 with 113 HR and 443 RBI. After his playing career he was the long-time head baseball coach at Howard University (1972-2000) and founded the non-profit Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. He died in 2013.

Mickey Brantley is shown in a candid shot in the Tiger Stadium dugout.  While a minor-leaguer at home in the off-season in Catskill, NY he worked in the local Boys Club with a high-school boxer named Mike Tyson. Tyson often ate at the Brantley’s home and according to Brantley, "Mike wanted to date my younger sister -- that was not going to happen.” Brantley invited 49 friends to his first game at Yankee Stadium in August of 1986, among them Tyson, who three months later would become the youngest ever world heavyweight champion. Brantley played for the Mariners from 1986 to 1989. In 302 games he hit .259 with 32 HR and 125 RBI. He is now a youth baseball coach.