Annie's Diary 1906 August 15th

August 15 – Wednesday

The three ladies took a touring car, about 10:15 A.M. in order to see New York. We saw Central Park, some of the business streets and a great many beautiful homes among which were those of the former Russell Sage, the Astor’s, Carnegie’s, Vanderbilt’s, Rockefeller’s and Gould’s. We also had pointed out to us the houses of the great actors Richard Mansfield and Julia Marlowe.
Wednesday evening we took a very long car ride out to “Fort George” which is a twin sister of “our Ponce de Leon”. Spent a very pleasant evening.

Pictures above, from top to bottom:

• The Mall in Central Park, NY
• Fort George, New York City
• Residence of John D. Rockefeller
• Residence of Andrew Carnegie

Annie's Diary 1906 August 14th

August 14 – Thursday

We spent the morning and most of the afternoon in visiting the big stores of New York - O’Neil, Adams, Siegel and Cooper, etc. Our first trip on an escalator was made in Siegel and Cooper’s store. After riding on it from the ground floor to the top, we were ready to try something else.

After dinner Cousin Nelson and I took a long stroll out Riverside Drive and then walked around by Grant’s tomb and Columbia College.

Historical Notes:

Siegel-Cooper & Company Dry Goods Store: A late addition to Ladies' Mile, this eclectic Beaux Arts store was built by a European trained firm for the entrepreneurs Henry Siegel and Frank Cooper. Siegel came from Chicago, where his attitudes towards marketing and retail had been shaped by his encounter with the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition which inspired him to use monumental architectural expression to attract customers to his store. Composed of a steel frame clad in many rich materials (marble, yellow brick, terra-cotta, bronze and copper) the block-long six-story building had architectural details that recalled the grandeur of ancient Rome. Viewers riding in the El would be privy to a highly ornamented row of second floor shop windows, which surmount the broad shop windows of the ground floor and its monumental triple-arched entrance.

The store was prepared for 190,000 visitors a day, and employed 8,000 clerks and 1,000 drivers and packers. In addition to the usual vast array of merchandise of department stores then and now, Siegel Cooper had a telegraph office, a long-distance telephone office, a foreign-money exchange, stock-trading services, a dentist, and an advertising agency. This grand department store was the first on Ladies' Mile to boast free samples and demonstrations, air conditioning and an extensive range of merchandise under one roof. In the center of the lobby was a circular fountain where jets of water cascaded over concealed multicolored lights into a marble and brass statue of The Republic, a copy of one Daniel Chester French had designed for the Chicago Fair. "Meet me at the fountain" soon became the saying all over New York. Advertising played a major role in attracting customers, who were drawn from as far away as Connecticut and New Jersey by the promise of such things as colored ostrich plumes at 19 cents.

Annie's Diary 1906 August 13th

August 13 – Monday

After waiting and waiting for my trunks, which I didn’t get until Monday morning, I wrote several letters home telling them of the trials and tribulations we endured from Atlanta to New York City.

We spent the afternoon in taking in “Wanamaker’s” and other large stores. Some of them filling up entire blocks.

Monday night Cousin Nelson and I went to the New York roof-garden theatre. It was perfectly beautiful and the show was very good.

Historical Notes:

Picture above is of Wanamaker’s that opened in New York City in 1896 on Fourth Avenue and East 9th Street. In 1862, department store magnate Alexander T. Stewart opened this huge cast-iron emporium, which filled an entire block from Broadway to Fourth Avenue and from East 9th to 10th Streets. The store was painted white inside and out with a dramatic central rotunda topped by a skylit dome, and became the anchor for "Ladies Mile." Twenty years after Stewart's death, the Philadelphia-based John Wanamaker Company bought the store, and in 1902 built an equally large annex across 9th Street. The store was 8 floors on 2.5 acres, with up to 2000 employees and 19 departments which included "silks" and "dress goods" and carpets and toys and sports. A great glass dome skylight covered the central rotunda of the grand emporium.

The New York Roof Garden Theatre was probably located at 1514-16 Broadway at 44th Street. In 1895, Oscar Hammerstein opened an entertainment complex for which one fifty-cent ticket admitted you to two main auditoriums (Lyric, Music Hall), two small theatres (Concert Hall, Roof Garden), an Oriental cafe, bowling, and billiards. On June 29, 1898, the debt-laden Olympia was auctioned. The Roof Garden emerged as its own theatre. In 1907, Florenz Ziegfeld became manager, presenting the first five editions of his famous Follies format. It was razed in 1935.

Annie's Diary 1906 August 12th

August 12 – Sunday

After a very late breakfast, which we heartily enjoyed, a cousin of mine, Mr. Nelson Pendleton and I walked out Riverside Drive, where we finally sat down and watched the boats of all sizes and descriptions cruising up the Hudson River

In the afternoon all of us took the elevated railway to the 23rd St. Ferry where we took a boat for Coney Island. The ocean was beautiful and the trip was very enjoyable. I shall never forget my first trip to “Coney” and how I enjoyed it. We came back to N. Y. by rail, as the boats were all so full. We were in a big mob, and nearly got squeezed to death. Big policeman tried to take Uncle Willie, who was doing nothing, instead of taking those who were raising the fuss. We crossed Brooklyn Bridge at midnight and the subway, my first trip on it, for 103rd St. Our first trip to “Coney” and return is never to be forgotten.

Historical/Editor’s Note: Nelson Pendleton is probably Philip Nelson Pendleton (born 1871) son of Philip Thomas Pendleton (born 1847), brother of Susan Francina Pendleton (born 1851) who was Annie’s mother. Uncle Willie is probably William Micajah Pendleton (born 1849) another brother of Susan Francina Pendleton’s.

Picture above is Riverside Park Morning, a painting by Ella Yang, may be representative of Annie’s walk and view of the Hudson.