The Steinway Street Clock, in front of 30-78 Steinway between 30th and 31st Avenues, is one of a number of large, stolid street clocks designed by George Post. Except for a few years in the 2000s when it was taken away for repairs, it has stood here since 1922 — although it was first cast in 1907. There are 7 landmarked George Post clocks in NYC; the other one in Queens is at Jamaica Avenue and Union Hall Street.
Many large sidewalk clocks are situated in front of jewelry stores to advertise the wares therein. Sure enough the word “jewelers” is chiseled onto a concrete plaque on the brick surface of 30-78 Steinway. For years, I never knew which jeweler it was…until…
… tax photos from 1939-1941 were made available on the NYC Municipal Archives. That’s where I got this photo of Wagner Jewelers at 30-78, and the clock. Unfortunately the picture is rather fuzzy and indistinct but I’m glad they’re available, nonetheless.
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11/13/18
7 comments
There’s something amusing about a jewelry store becoming a Taco Bell..
It’s a triple threat: clock, piece of art, and advertisement.
The clock wasn’t just for advertising, it was a part of timekeeping itself. Jewelers were the ones who repaired watches and who kept time for multiple railroads, their clocks had to be precise and people set their watches by them for years. The sign is a living monument to a forgotten past where the world ran thanks to the jewelers’ watches.
Is this one back up now? I think a car drove into it a couple of years back.
Can a clock be ‘stolid’?
It affects a certain stolidity.
Our firm Electric Time Company restored this clock, some additional photographs located at the link below;
https://www.electrictime.com/news/street-clock-restoration-steinway-street-queens-new-york-city/
I knew Mr. Wagner growing up a block west on 38th Street – he parked his car in our backyard for years, a big, black Cadillac. When playing ball in the sizable yard, we always had to be careful of his car.