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.