TIME for another peek into the past through Al Ponte’s Time Machine on Facebook. This view is of the southeast corner of Queens Boulevard and 55th Avenue, across from today’s massive circular Macy’s outlet and until the 1960s…
…the house that occupant Mary Sendak refused to sell, leading Macy’s to insert a notch into the structure to clear the property line.
The building on the title card still stands and is home to a furniture store in 2022. The fire alarm has been replaced, but hundreds in this style can still be found around town. Of particular interest is the candy store on the corner. Note that the Coca-Cola swash logo is almost completely unchanged since this photo was taken. Weighing machines were frequently found at candy and drug stores throughout the 20th Century. Candy stores were often combined with stationers, and I’d like to know what connection candy has with writing paper.
For many, the Anheuser-Busch connection with ice cream may be surprising; Anheuser-Busch, now based in St. Louis, Missouri, makes Budweiser, the “King of Beers.” But note the date: 1931. During Prohibition, many beer distributors turned to “near beer” and Anheuser-Busch produced Bevo, a malt beverage that had the taste but not the effect of alcohol; similar brands such as O’Doul’s do the same today. Anheuser-Busch also distributed its own brand of ice cream as well as yeast extract with which home brewers could illegally produce beer. They also entered the automotive industry by inventing the refrigerated ice cream truck; Good Humor owes its business to the King of Beers. A-B also distributed some of the first flatbed trailers in existence, as well as frozen eggs, baby formula and carbonated coffee.
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2/25/23