Passo di Gavia

I record sporting events to watch while I'm doing my afternoon treadmill run. These days I'm finishing a review of this year's Giro d'Italia and I've just come to Stage 20 for which the numbers are impressive. Only 110 miles long, the stage was short by Giro standards but not the less difficult since five mountains and almost 21,000 feet of climbing were packed into it. The riders crossed the highest point on the fourth of the five climbs. As is normal at that time of year — May 28th — that fourth mountain, the Passo di Gavia, was covered by many feet of snow. For most of the race the weather was windy and clouds were low, but there was no precipitation. However, conditions were so bad at the mountain finish that Italian TV was only sporadically able to provide the video images being captured by its many motorcycle- and helicopter-borne cameras.

During video outages, the race commentators showed clips of the 1988 race over the Gavia. On that memorable occasion, the riders crossed the pass in a snowstorm. Erik Breukink took the stage and Andy Hampsten rose to overall leader, having the lowest cumulative time for all stages to that point. At the end of the three-week race, Erik would end up in second place and Andy in first — the only American (or any non-European) ever to win the Giro. Andy currently divides his time between homes in Tuscany and Colorado. He leads bike tours in Tuscany and sells Hampsten-branded bikes in the US. He reports that life is good. Erik is currently manager of the Rabobank racing team and is pleased with the team's performance in major tours, though wins have been scarce.

Back in 2007, I did a blog post on Erik and Andy on the Gavia: snow, gentle and ferocious.

This photo shows Erik on that occasion:

{source: giroditalia's flickr photstream}

And this one shows Andy:

{Andy Hampsten, Passo di Gavia, 1988; source: outyourbackdoor.com}

Here's what the pass looked like this year:

{source: Giro d’Italia Stage 20 on cyclingtipsblog}

This year's race profile map gives an idea of the stage's climbs and descents.

{source: Giro home page}

This photo of part of the Gavia gives an idea what the riders face in both climbing and descending the mountain.

{source: iegestuhl-und-action.de}

Here are links to two Youtube videos from this year:

Giro 2010 Stage 20 Passo di Gavia (pt.1) on Youtube

Giro 2010 Stage 20 Passo di Gavia (pt.2) on Youtube

And here's one from 1988:

Giro d'Italia 1988, Passo di Gavia on Youtube

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Some sources:

Update: Gavia Pass for Saturday on the ItalianCyclingJournal blog

Giro’10 St. 20 on Pez Cycling News

Andy’s Epic Day On The Gavia on Pez Cycling News

Gavia Pass on wikipedia

road coaches

I've done a post — living high — on the coaching mania that overcame a bunch of rich New Yorkers in the decades that ended the 19th and began the 20th centuries.[1] The four-in-hand road coaches driven by young men — and women — of that time were close cousins of the two-horsed Fifth Avenue Coaches that conveyed the public up and down that prestigious thoroughfare.[2] The commercial horse coaches on Fifth Avenue were a snobbish reaction to the proletarian horse-drawn (and later electric) "cars" on other streets and avenues, and this amateur coaching expanded the custom from simple transportation to fashionable sport.[3]

Members of coaching clubs and other enthusiasts would hold meets to size up each others' sparkling equipage and horseflesh. They would also invite friends on jaunts from Madison Park up through Central Park and back, or further out to suburban country clubs. In time, as in England, some of them emulated the old intercity stages by holding to scheduled departures and returns over established routes and by taking paying passengers. Although in theory anyone could ride who paid the fare, in practice the fare-payers were all In Society. Invariably, they sat up top while their valets, maids, and the occasional extra groom sat within, and it can be assumed they enjoyed being observed as well as observing those whose attention was captured by the bleat of coach horn, thunder of hooves, and rumble of coach wheels.

The first New York coach was acquired by a wealthy banker and passionate horseman, August Belmont.[4] Here's a detail from a photo showing a successor to that first one, known as the Belmont Park Four-in-Hand, which was owned and driven by Alfred Vanderbilt, a son of the great Cornelius. It was taken in front of Holland House as Vanderbilt and his guests departed for the suburbs one sunny morning in 1905.[5]

{Detail from: "Belmont coach," New York, by the Detroit Publishing Co., 1905; source: Library of Congress}

Here are some other coaching photos.

1. This shows Coaching Club members setting out on a jaunt circa 1909 from New York to Newport, Rhode Island. The motorcar which the coach is passing can be seen as rising symbol of the decline of the sport. After the close of World War I, there was little left of it.

{Caption: NYC Club in Pioneer Coach on way Newport, New York, by the Bain News Service, no date recorded on caption card (found with others taken in 1909)}

Here are two detail views of the photo.

a) I've written about the spare harness of the commercial Fifth Avenue Coaches. Here, as in most of the gentlemen's coaches, we see the most complete tack money can buy. Although pairs and even quartets of horses might be matched by color, it was most important to match by other characteristics: stride, strength, size and most of all compatibility. The reins are "four-in-hand," that is, four straps from the outside bits leading up to the driver's hands. The inside bits were connected by straps between each pair of horses.



b) No coach was complete without horn and someone to blow it.



2. The Coaching Club again, on a local outing in 1906, this time with ladies. As you can see, club members and their guests dressed up for these rides.

{Caption: New York (City). Coaching club group on top of coach: Mr. & Mrs. Robert Brewster, Mrs. O. Gould Jennings and Rosamond Street, by the Bain News Service, 1906; source: Library of Congress}

3. There was a women's coaching club and this shows some of its members. Here, all four horses match by color. It's a day for overcoats and somewhat more practical hats than shown above. The motor vehicles in the background suggest that the date is about 1911.

{Caption: Women's coach club, by the Bain News Service, date not known}

Here's a detail.

The woman who's to drive stands in foreground. Notice that she's given herself a cushy seat.



4. This shows members of the Ladies' four-in-hand Driving Club seated on a coach in front of the Colony Club building, New York. Here the horses are matched colors in pairs. The photo, as you can see, is somewhat distressed.

{Caption: Mrs. Thos. Hastings's coach leaves Colony Club. 5/10/11. Mrs. A. Iselin, whip, Mrs. Hastings beside her, Mrs. W.G. Loew between, by the Bain News Service, 1911; source: Library of Congress}

5. On the longer jaunts, horses would be changed out every six miles or so. This severely damaged photo shows "the New York City Coaching Club's road coach Pioneer stopping to change horses in Hastings on the way to the Ardlsey Country Club, ca. 1900."

{Source: a blog post, Broadway: A Millionaires’ Playground, by the Hastings Historical Society}

Here's a detail. You can see that not just a whole lot of horses, but also a whole lot of grooms were involved in these coaching expeditions.



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Some sources:

The Road coach guide

A SEASON WITH THE ROAD-COACH "PIONEER" by Reginald W. Rives, Outing, the Outdoor Magazine of Human Interest, edited by Caspar Whitney, Volume 44, 1904

The Rider and driver, Volume 5 (Rider and Driver Pub. Co., 1893)

Broadway: A Millionaires’ Playground

The Sport of Public Coaching, Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach"
by Blake A. Bell

When the Coachman Was a Millionare, American Heritage Magazine, October 1967, Volume 18, Issue 6

The Coaching Game as the New Yorker Plays It; The Humorous and Serious Sides -- Enthusiasm of Such Young Sportsmen as Alfred G. Vanderbilt and His Friends -- The Start from the Holland House an Event of Daily Interest During the Season. New York Times, April 30, 1905, Sunday, Part Three First Magazine Section, Page SM3, 2863 words

Note the interesting torn cover:


Suburban Riding and Driving Club by Cole Thompson on a blog called MyInwood

The Four-in-Hand, and Glances at the Literature of Coaching, by Jennie J. Young, McBride's magazine, Volume 21 (J.B. Lippincott and co., 1878)

Some images from this article:






The Suburban Riding and Driving Club, by Frances M. Smith, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Volume 40, edited by Frank Leslie (Frank Leslie Pub. House, 1895)

Some images and an excerpt from this article:

THE SUBURBAN RIDING AND DRIVING CLUB.

By Frances M. Smith.

One of the most popular establishments in Gotham Town — or, rather, just out of town — is the Suburban Riding and Driving Club. It is the objective point of my lady who takes her airing in her luxurious victoria; of my lord who is out for a canter on his thoroughbred; of the demi-swells, the swells, and the howling swells who have four-in-hands, tandems, spike-teams, cocking carts, dogcarts and tra-la-las.

Rain or shine, any afternoon, every afternoon, the beautiful Riverside Drive is gayer with vehicles coming and going than the Row or Hyde Park in London ever thought of being. In fact, we are getting quite ahead of London in our magnificent display of coaches that are rare and costly and horseflesh that is truly superb.

Little wonder that the Suburban Club is so much in vogue; for not only are the roads and the scenery along the routes, of which there are several, as beautiful as any whip could desire, but the club itself is a most attractive place. Every accommodation has been provided for ladies, so that members may take their families along to enjoy the ride or drive and stop for refreshment, or make a day of it "in the country," and yet be easily within an hour of the central part of the city. It is a youthful organization — scarcely a year old — and yet it is already as powerful as it is popular.

The headquarters are the spacious premises formerly known as Seaman Castle, situated on the Kingsbridge Road. The mansion is a beautiful structure of white marble, with a view from any part of the house or grounds across the Hudson to the Palisades. A lawn sweeps down from the main entrance to the edge of Spuyten Duyvil Creek.

The club was located at what is now Inwood Hill Park in upper Manhattan.

Inwood Hill Park


View Larger Map

Inwood Hill Park
Seaman Mansion and Old Seaman Mansion

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Notes:

[1] They were emulating aristocratic Englishmen who took up the sport a few years before them. As English railroads replaced English stage coaches, men who afford it attempted to bring back the pastoral pleasures of inter-city travel on brightly painted "drags," as they called them, along rural lanes. The Coaching Club of New York was formed in 1875 and the group held its first coaching meet to showcase the skilled drivers and fine carriages at Madison Square in 1876. This photo shows an English drag that was rebuilt this year to celebrate the sport of coaching in America. See: The Four-in-Hand, and Glances at the Literature of Coaching, by Jennie J. Young, McBride's magazine, Volume 21 (J.B. Lippincott and co., 1878)

{Caption: The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and The Coaching Club of America will commemorate the 94th running of the Grade 1 Betfair TVG Coaching Club American Oaks on Saturday, July 24, with a day-long celebration of coaching at Saratoga Race Course. Today, coaching exists as a throwback to another era, an opportunity to exhibit the mastery of “four-in-hand” driving and emphasize the careful workmanship of historic carriages. Coaching Club Celebration at Saratoga Race Course July 24}

[2] Although Fifth Avenue Coaches were almost invariably pulled by a pair of horses, there's this evidence that at least one was pulled by three:

{A three-in-hand 5th Ave coach in 1898; source: coachbilt.com}

[3] On the fashionable sport, see the article in McBride's cited above. Here's a list of posts that show the commercial coaches:

• Fifth Avenue Coach
• another coach on 5th
• one more 5th Avenue coach
• out and about on the avenue
• Collegiate Church and Holland House
• Holland House

[4] The life of August Belmont bore some semblance to the life of Louis Windmuller, my great-grandfather. Both came from Jewish families in the western part of Germany (Belmont=Hesse, Windmuller=Westphalia), both emigrated to the US without family while still young, both changed their names (Belmont's surname had been Schönberg; Louis's given name had been Levi) and religion (from Jewish to Episcopalian), both married into blue-blooded American families, and both were bankers. Belmont was older than Windmuller however and exceeded him both in wealth and social standing. Belmont was also a passionate horseman while Windmuller was no sportsman, though a renowned walker.

Regarding amateur coachmen, this comes from an article in a popular magazine published in 1878:

The American gentleman-coachman is a modern product. In 1860 there was only one four-in-hand in the Union. It was of English build, and belonged to Mr. T. Bigelow Lawrence of Boston, who drove it for some time in that city, took it abroad with him, and again drove it in Boston. On Mr. Lawrence's death it passed into the possession of Brewster & Co. It served the firm for some time as an advertisement, and then, attracting the attention of Mr. William Jay and Mr. Thomas Newbold, it was purchased by them in conjunction with Mr. Frederick Bronson and Mr. Nicholson Kane. It was used occasionally by each of the four owners, but was abandoned when they began to feel separate" proprietorship desirable. Meantime, Wood Brothers had built a drag for Mr. Leonard Jerome in 1863, and about the same date Mr. August Belmont purchased a coach, the first one imported for a New York proprietor. Either in or about the same year the Marquis Lousada imported to Boston an English coach, which on his decease was bought by Mr. W.F. Weld of the same city. Mr. Bronson and Colonel Delancey Kane purchased English coaches, and Mr. James Gordon Bennett imported one from Paris, which afterward passed into the possession of Mr. William P. Douglas. These purchases led directly to the formation of the Coaching Club. Several of the gentlemen named met abroad, and on the proposition of Mr. Jay steps were taken which led, in 1875, to the organization of the club. The first parade was held in 1876, when six coaches turned out. The object of the club is "to encourage four-in-hand driving in America."
-- The Four-in-Hand, and Glances at the Literature of Coaching, by Jennie J. Young, McBride's magazine, Volume 21 (J.B. Lippincott and co., 1878)

[5] The New York Times took frequent note of Vanderbilt's coaching successes. He owned several coaches in his time and in this article the Belmont Park coach is named: (VANDERBILT HORSES WON.; Took the Blue Ribbon Honors at Brooklyn's Driving Club Show. New York Times, May 11, 1905, Thursday, Page 6, 1145 words.) Holland House was home to the Coaching Club after its first, the The Brunswick Hotel, was torn down. The Brunswick was on Madison Square, Holland House just off it.

Holland House

Late in the 19th century Holland House was considered to be one of the best hotels in the world.[1] The Library of Congress holds an illustrated booklet which the proprietors gave guests when it opened for business in 1891.[2] This piece of promotional literature describes the glories of the hotel itself and gives the reader a short tour up the Avenue from its starting point in Washington Square. Something like today's Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, it's remarkable, even for its time, in its slavish outpourings — celebrations of the trappings of wealth and of the opulence which can flow from expenditure of vast amounts of cash. There's no surprise in its total neglect of the horrible conditions endured by New York's poor in immigrant neighborhoods which bordered the famous avenue.

The little souvenir gives only a tiny drawing of the 5th Avenue Coaches I've been showing lately, but it does describe them: "The sybarite may make the journey [up the Avenue] in a drag, a tandem cart, or a carriage as delicately suspended as the cradle of a nobly born baby, but the ease and elegance of all these are eclipsed by the splendid outlook to be had from the roof of a three-in-hand stage coach. But the uptown driver is slow, for at every corner and between corners passengers are picked up so deliberately, that any one with half an eye can see every thing along the way and side issues as well."

Here are most of its illustrations:

1. The place itself. Built in 1890, it was a world-class hostelry back then and, surprisingly, still survives, although for many decades it's been an office building. The "Guest Souvenir" says the entrance "is, without exception, the finest piece of architectural door work in New York. It is built, as is the entire structure, of a limestone of peculiar beauty, and the carvings, which embellish the cornices and portico ceilings, are unrivalled in the art of stone work in the United States."



2. The lobby is appropriately impressive. Decorated in Sienna marble, it's said to be as artistically satisfying as any other of the rooms in the house. It's "finished in a manner which makes the arriving guest feel that his every comfort is assured" so the booklet says.



3. As in all world-class hotels, the kitchen is buried deep underground. Unlike many others, thise one is spacious, well-ventilated, and well-equipped. The proprietors are said to understand that "if the cuisine is not all right the guests will be displeased" and have thus made it "large and airy and, with its tile furnishings, as sweet and clean as any room in the house." The brochure tells us that from four to five hundred meals are prepared here each day.



4. Here is the café: "The furniture of this room is unexcelled. The style is picturesquely redolent of the antique. Exactly such furniture and decoration were common in Old Holland House, of London. The screens or windows which separate it from the main corridor are marvels of bronze, marble and glass work."



5. The author of the pamphlet becomes ecstatic about the buffet: "perhaps, the most artistic and chastely decorated buffet in America. Here there is not that clap-trap decoration which embellishes so many buffets in the country. Everything is 'inset' — the walls, ceilings and the Mosaic floor are all perfect specimens of the period they reproduce and of the arts they represent. And, instead of gaudy hangings and showy pictures, we have here art in its perfection from the frescoed ceiling and cornices to the floor."



6. He begins to run out of steam when he gets to the restaurant: "It is one of the most ornate rooms in this country. The decorations are perhaps the best reproductions of the Louis Quinze period. The panels of tapestry, and mirrors and relievo decorations are masterpieces."[3]



7. There's a Ladies' Billiard Room — not just for ladies, as you can see, but set aside for their enjoyment, presumably since they've been excluded from the gents' own.



8. Although "every one of the 330 bedrooms are furnished with equal excellence and elegance," the place boasts two over-wrought bridal suites which are "without compare, the most elaborately furnished and decorated bridal suites in any modern hotel."



9. A lady sets out for a jaunt up the Avenue. Madison Square lies in the background as a fashionable lady speaks to the driver of a hansom. Like the other FL in the background, she's unescorted — no gentleman, no lady's companion — showing her Edwardian spirit of independence (and of course her wealth).[4]



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Here's a photo of Holland House with the Collegiate Church on its right.

{Holland House, New York, 1900, by Detroit Publishing Co.; source: NYPL Digital Library}

This is from Google Street View, showing roughly the same image today.

View Larger Map

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The brochure touches on some topics I've covered lately.

1. Madison Square. "Unquestionably the greatest thoroughfare on the Western Continent is at the junction of Fifth Avenue, Broadway and Twenty-third Street, where at certain hours of the working day upwards of 800,000 human beings are swept past in the tide of travel forever rolling on towards the goal of Eternity. At this busy point Madison Square charms the sight, for here the grass is green and lovely the entire year, as if to rest the eye of the world weary. Here the children play and mock the birds and chase the butterflies; here the smartest nurse maids in America may be seen, and here the gentle and gifted George Francis Train sits by the hour, day after day, charming the birds out of their nests and the babies out of their wagons with the magic of his voice and the treasures of his pockets."

Here are some of the posts that show Madison Square:

• Madison Park 1905
• nothing to wear
• Flatiron, 1905
• Fuller's Flatiron Building in the early 1900s
• one more 5th Avenue coach

2. The Marble Collegiate Church. "The Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, organized in 1628, is on the north-west corner of Twenty-ninth Street. It was chartered by William III in 1696, and the old bell cast in Amsterdam two-hundred years ago ornaments the church yard. It is the goodly neighbor of Holland House, and on its Dutch oak door is the benignant 'all are welcome.'"

Here are some of the posts that show the church:

• living high
• Collegiate Church and Holland House
• out and about on the avenue

3. The Croton Aqueduct. "Passing the Union League Club, corner Thirty-ninth Street, and the Republican Club, the sumptuous homes of the Misses Furness, the Kingslands and the Kipps, brings the stage coach to the old Croton aqueduct, which makes the eastern boundary of Bryant Park."

Here are some of the posts that show the aqueduct:

• Hugo B. Roelker
• Croton Water
• the resurrection of Sparta
• Beechwood and vicinity
• a river three miles wide
• leather man
• Five Points
• Collect Pond and the origins of Five Points

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Some sources:

1890s, on the Living City web site (a digital library initiative intended to capture the experience of life, health, and urban transformation during the decades between the end of the Civil War and the end of World War I)

King's handbook of New York city: an outline history and description of the American metropolis, edited by Moses King, 1892

276 5th Avenue now a commercial office building

AIA Guide to New York City, by Norval White, Elliot Willensky, and Fran Leadon (Oxford University Press US, 2010; AIA is the American Institute of Architects

New York Songlines: 5th Avenue
— "Named for Lord Holland's mansion in London, on which it was modeled, [Holland House] was considered one of the premier hotels in the world when built in 1890 (Harding & Gooch, architects). Gainesborough's Duchess of Devonshire, the most famous stolen painting of its day, spent the night here in 1901 after being recovered after being stolen for 25 years by criminal mastermind Adam Worth. (See All Around the Town, p. 217.)"

Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to Present

Holland house, Fifth avenue and Thirtieth street, New York (New York, H. M. Kinsley & Baumann, 1891); scanned at the Library of Congress and appearing on the Internet Archive

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Notes:

[1] "The Holland House (European) is but recently opened, and in some respects outranks any hotel in the country. It is a large building of Indiana limestone, 100 feet by 150, on Fifth Avenue and 3Oth Street. Special interest attaches to it for the reason that it is a careful reproduction of the old and famous Holland House of London, a concession to the taste of those who love things English. There are the coat-of-arms of Henry Rich, the first Earl of Holland, with the decorations and all the historic features of the celebrated Kensington mansion. The house is one of the architectural features of Fifth Avenue. The facade, upon which there is but little decoration, is broken with a handsome portico fifty feet long, supported upon four columns, four rows of bay windows, and other windows set in embrasures and arches. Two features of the interior are the large dining-room and a long promenade in the second story. The house is ten stories high, and has 350 rooms." -- King's handbook of New York city: an outline history and description of the American metropolis, edited by Moses King, 1892. See also: AIA Guide to New York City, by Norval White, Elliot Willensky, and Fran Leadon (Oxford University Press US, 2010; AIA is the American Institute of Architects

[2] Holland house, Fifth avenue and Thirtieth street, New York (New York, H. M. Kinsley & Baumann, 1891); scanned at the Library of Congress and appearing on the Internet Archive.

[3] NYPL's Digital Library has some menu scans for breakfast, lunch, supper, and dinner. They show an elaborate and expensive French cuisine. Here's the scan of the dinner menu for January 11, 1900.

{DINNER, HOLLAND HOUSE, 1900}

Measuringworth.com says that the one dollar a diner might spend on a joint of spring lamb would cost $26.40 today, using the Consumer Price Index method of comparison. But in terms of what the average bloke could afford then, the equivalent is way over $100 today: all of $191.00 based on production worker compensation then and now.

[4] Here are some highlights from the booklet's description of wondrous sights on Fifth:

UP FIFTH AVENUE

Fifth Avenue is the promenade of America. Every cosmopolitan will admit that fact, whether a resident or a visitor of New York. ... It is the great artery of fashion, the highway of pleasure, the meridian of delight. ... In the tide of fashion that sweeps up one side and down the other, making the cobble stones and pavements fairly pulsate with life and gayety, the handsomest private equipage, the finest horses, the best dressed men and the prettiest women in the world, may be seen any day in the week from September till July. ... ... There is scarcely a single house the whole length of the famous thoroughfare that is not in some way individualized by the prominence and distinction of present or previous owners. ... [For example, one of them is inhabited by] Mr. Edward F. Searle, who married Mrs. Hopkins from whom he inherited the fabulous sum of $30,000,000. ... Mrs. William Astor's house No. 350, while a most unpretentious building, is a perfect store house of old bronzes, tapestries, marbles and rare paintings. This lady never refurnishes or remodels, being content with the mellow tones time puts on her belongings. ... At No. 501 is the Drawing-Room Club where the ultra fashionables meet weekly in faultless dress for their salon. ... Jay Gould's $700,000 brown stone is on the north-east corner of Forty-seventh Street, perfumed and beautified by the hybrid roses and rare orchids brought daily from his country seat at Tarrytown.

Collegiate Church and Holland House

Although this looks like a color photograph, it's actually a photochrom image. Most color postcards from the 1890s through the early decades of the 20th century were produced by this process. It's a lithographic print made from a photographic negative. The coloring was applied by hand, one tint at a time, to multiple lithographic stones which were then used to make this print.

{Caption: Marble Collegiate Church and Holland House, New York, by the Detroit Publishing Co., c1901; source: Library of Congress}

Here is the original photograph.

{Caption: Marble Collegiate Church, New York, by the Detroit Publishing Co., c1901; source: Library of Congress}

Some details from the photo.

1. Here is yet another Fifth Avenue Coach. As in the previous web post, it is not the main subject and thus not in close focus. No one's on top, but the coach, horses, and harness are otherwise very similar to the others I've shown.



2. Behind the coach is Holland House, a plush hotel modeled after an aristocratic London mansion for the enjoyment of rich and famous visitors to New York.



3. Once again we're looking to the northwest. Fifth Avenue is busier on this day than on others I've shown. The sun is fairly low in the east and women have neither coats nor scarves. There are leaves on the tree and the atmosphere appears a bit heavy. Perhaps it's a Summer weekday morning.



4. This is a very early model of horseless carriage. There's can't have been many of these on Manhattan streets in 1901.

out and about on the avenue

Unlike the other three, this photo only incidentally shows a 5th Avenue Coach.[1] The camera is a couple blocks north of its location in last Friday's post and is pointed in the same northwesterly direction.

From the left, you see a photography studio (Marceau's), a tailor (Rice & Duval), Marble Collegiate Church,[2] Holland House hotel,[3] and the Wilbraham Building.[4]

There's a family connection with the church. In the 19th century it ran the Reformed Dutch Schools of New York and parents of my great-grandmother sent her siblings to be educated there.[5] In 1859, her sister, Emma, graduated on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the school. The Times did a write-up of the event which lists, among other graduates, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, a son of the great magnate, who had himself been a student there in his time.

{Caption: Up Fifth Avenue from 28th Street, New York, N.Y., by Detroit Publishing Co. c1905; source: Library of Congress}

Here are some details.

1. The coach isn't the main subject of the photo and thus isn't in close focus. Still, you can see much. Like others, this shows horses minimally harnessed and women riding on the highest bench having somehow climbed the outside steps which you can see. From shadows, it seems to be about noon on a day near one of the equinoxes. Judging by clothing, it may be late March or early April.



2. Someone has put a seltzer bottle out where it will keep cool. It's clearly a brisk day, though, judging by the flags, not a windy one.



3. Cabs are coming and going. Pedestrians are finely clothed. You might think there's a special occasion, but it's more likely this is typical day on 5th Ave.



4. I like this suggestion of genteel hubbub. Notice that two pedestrians have top hats as well as the hansom cab drivers.



5. Most of these merchants are located on the block between 28th & 29th.



5. Men's fashion runs to Chesterfield overcoats and walking sticks. Three of the women are in furs.



6. Fur stoles and big Edwardian hats, one being held in place (despite apparent absence of a breeze).



7. His outer clothing seems to suit this man well.



8. The young man with a heavy load seems to be a newsboy. Both women seem to have censorious expressions.



9. Apparently, this shows a man and his son emerging from the art gallery.



10. There's scaffolding above.



11. You can't make out what load this carter is transporting.



12. The electric street lights were elegant. This is an example of the ornamental cast-iron twin lamppost which began to appear on 5th Avenue in 1892.



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Some sources:

Holland house, Fifth avenue and Thirtieth street, New York (New York, H. M. Kinsley & Baumann, 1891)

Holland House

276 5th Avenue, Holland House Hotel

Marble Collegiate Church

Marble Collegiate (Dutch Reformed) Church

Anniversary of the School of the Reformed Dutch Church; City Intelligence, New York Times, October 27, 1859, Wednesday, Page 4, 2365 words. First Paragraph: "The celebration of the Two Hundred and Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the School of the Reformed Dutch Church took place last evening, at the Greenwich Church edifice, in Bleecker-street, corner of West Tenth."

School of the Reformed Dutch Church, Two Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Anniversary, New York Times, November 1, 1860

History of the school of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch church in the city of New York, from 1633 to 1883 by Henry Webb Dunshee (Aldine press, 1883)

The Bishop's Crook Lamppost

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Notes:

[1] Like the others, this photo was taken by a photographer working for the Detroit Photograph Co. Also like them, it's found in collections of the Prints and Photos Division of the Library of Congress. Here are links to the preceding three:

• Fifth Avenue Coach
• another coach on 5th
• one more 5th Avenue coach

[2] The building dates from 1851, but — founded in 1628 — the congregation of the Marble Collegiate Church is the oldest Protestant organization in North America.

[3] It seems appropriate that the hotel called Holland House was located next to the Reformed Dutch Church, but the hotel was named (and modeled) after a famous residence in London belonging to the Whig political dynasty of Holland. Built in 1890, it was thought to be one of the most posh in the city. A lavishly-produced guest souvenir booklet of 1891 celebrates the grandure of 5th Avenue in that time.

[4] Built in 1890, the Wilbraham Building featured apartments designed for bachelors in the Belle Epoque style.

[5] But evidently they didn't send Hannah Eliza herself. She was the eldest and may have been short-changed on that account. See: History of the school of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch church in the city of New York, from 1633 to 1883 by Henry Webb Dunshee (Aldine press, 1883)