Times Square, c. 1966

I found a stack of old New York City postcards in an antique shop, all from the early 1960s. This is the city I remember from my childhood. This is looking south into Times Square from about 45th Street. The mansard roof in the distance on the right is the old Astor Hotel. Also of note: Ripley's Believe it or Not, big ad for Photoplay magazine, Scripto pens. George M. Cohan with his back to us.

Click on the photo for a larger image, and check out the movies: Lord Jim at Loew's State, Dr. No and From Russia with Love at the Victoria. Big splashy ad for The Bible. Another marquee shows something with Burt Lancaster, maybe The Tunnel.

The Allied Chemical building dead center was the old New York Times building--that's why the square is Times Square-- with a new skin. Today it still stands, empty inside but covered outside with billboards--and still the place where the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

Here's a web site with more pictures, and a great history of the building, 1 Times Square.