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Neon Nights and Hard Times: The Dazzling, Desperate World of 1930s Broadway

In the 1930s, the Broadway area, centered around Times Square, was a district of dazzling lights and deep shadows. The Great Depression had gripped the city, but this neighborhood remained New York’s primary escape, a chaotic crossroads of entertainment where immense movie palaces stood next to cheap diners, and the glow of new neon signs masked a deep economic anxiety.

The visual landscape of the area was a spectacle of commercial competition. Towering, elaborate neon signs became common, their bright colors and intricate animations turning the night sky into a vibrant advertisement. The famous Camel cigarette sign near the Astor Hotel puffed out giant smoke rings over the street. Below these signs, the ornate facades of the Beaux-Arts theaters from the 1920s now looked slightly worn, their ticket prices slashed to attract a public with little money to spare.

While legitimate theater struggled, a different form of entertainment thrived. This was the decade of the great movie palaces. Massive, opulent theaters like the Paramount, the Roxy, and the Capitol offered an affordable escape. For a low price, a person could enter a lavishly decorated lobby with crystal chandeliers and plush carpets, watch a Hollywood double feature, and also see a full live stage show with a house orchestra and dancers, all included in the same ticket. These movie palaces drew far larger crowds than the traditional theaters.

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The streets were filled with a wide variety of other amusements and eateries catering to every budget. The Roseland Ballroom on Broadway was a famous destination for dancing. For a dime, men could enter “taxi-dance halls” and buy a ticket to dance with a partnered woman for a single song. Penny arcades with their clanging machines offered cheap diversion. Food options ranged from the expensive supper club Sardi’s, where actors and producers gathered, to the numerous Automats, where customers could get a hot meal from a wall of small glass windows by inserting a few nickels.

 The crowd on the street was a diverse mix of New Yorkers. There were the well-dressed theater-goers heading to a hit Cole Porter musical, but they were outnumbered by the thousands flocking to the movie palaces. The area was also a destination for tourists and “slummers” seeking the thrill of the city’s nightlife. Unemployed actors gathered at popular spots hoping to hear about a casting call, while ordinary people walked through simply to gaze at the lights. All of this activity was fueled by the subway system, with multiple lines converging directly beneath Times Square, making it the true crossroads of the city

#1 Looking north from the Empire State Building, 1933.

#2 Western Union Telegraph Building, West Broadway, 1931.

#4 R.H. Macy & Co. Building, Broadway & 34th Street, New York, ca. 1931.

#5 St. Paul’s chapel and churchyard, Broadway and Fulton streets, 1937.

#6 Times Square, Seventh Avenue and Broadway south from W. 46th Street, 1935.

#7 A truck filling up at an Esso gas station advertising 6 gallons for 98 cents at Broadway & 68th Street, 1930s.

#8 Men playing marble pinball machines in a Broadway amusement arcade, Times Square, 1930s.

#9 French aviators Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte in a parade up Broadway after being the first to fly nonstop from Paris to New York, 1930.

#11 View looking down on Herald Square, Broadway, 1930.

#16 The Great White Way theaters on Broadway at night, Manhattan, 1930s.

#17 Crowds of tenants stranded outside of 1385 Broadway as the building’s elevator operators went on strike, 1935.

#18 Times Square looking north from Times Tower, Midtown Manhattan, 1935.

#19 Looking north up Broadway to Duffy Square from Times Tower, 1935.

#20 Movie marquee for The Great Ziegfeld at the Hotel Astor, Times Square, 1936.

#21 Times Square looking north from 46th Street, with a Horn & Hardart Automat on the left, 1936.

#22 Times Square, 46th Street, night bus coming down Broadway, Manhattan, 1936.

#24 Times Square Broadway and 47th Street full of neon signs and marquees at night, 1936.

#27 People hurrying past a newsstand outside an uptown subway entrance at Union Square, 14th Street and Broadway, Manhattan, ca. 1936.

#28 A used car salesman and customer through a finance company window, Broadway & West 64th Street, New York, 1930s.

#29 Broadway looking uptown from East 9th Street to Grace Church, 1939.

#30 Columbus Circle with the intersection of Broadway, Central Park West and 59th Streets, 1930s.

#31 Night street scene on Broadway looking south to Times Square, 1934.

#32 Times Square lighted at night, Broadway’s Great White Way, 1935.

#33 View looking north from Broadway & Fifth Avenue, ca. 1934.

#34 Thanksgiving Day Parade with The Fish and Tiger Balloons on Broadway, 1929.

#35 Herald Square, 34th and Broadway, Manhattan, 1930s.

#37 Times Square Looking North from 42nd Street, ca. 1933.

#38 The operations control room for the new electric Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum sign on Times Square, 1936.

#39 View looking down Broadway, ornate Bank of Sicily Trust near center, vegetarian restaurant, Broadway near Broome Street, Manhattan, ca. 1935.

Written by Makayla White

An amateur content creator and dreamer. I Run, Cycle, Swim, Dance and drink a lot of Coffee.

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