BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

....recall, too, through the 60's (and, sometimes beyond) when roof-mounted air-raid sirens, sober reminder of th Cold War era, were still so commonplace (a number of these sirens were also once once located on elevated subway platform canopies).....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153176

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Broadway & 49th St., 1981.

The old "HOWARD JOHNSON'S" electric sign on the left, even back in 1981, had a "dated" look, one that was, at once, both nostalgic and familiar.

Back in 1981, such vintage electrical signage (like Flex New Looks) were still commonplace......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154817

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[W.B. Fishbowl]

Ah yes. Howard Johnson's. Back when some areas had a Howard Johnson's across from a Howard Johnson's. (Not unlike the Lewis Black routine about Starbucks two decades from that photo.)

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Back in 1980, Fishbowls, the JFK EXPRESS, and BRANIFF were still with us......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154923

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Jay & Fulton, 1972........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154467

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

"JOHN'S BARGAIN STORE" was once a familiar fixture in many areas, any eons ago (Mom and I frequently visited the one in my area, on Bergenline Avenue, 60-odd years ago....they always had great tin toy selection, too!)

"CHOCK' FULL O' NUTS"........an, I can STILL taste their pound cake, today......

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

50 years ago (1972) Fishbowls, Checker Marathon taxicabs, red-and-blue mailboxes and "DON'T WALK" signs were still but common, everyday sights.....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153369

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recalling the Staten Island of 1973, when some areas of the island still presented a tranquil, almost rural appearance, and the hard-working Fishbowls were still on the job.........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154558

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

..........the once so-very-commonplace pay phones, Fishbowls, and yellow, made-in-Detroit taxis, all serve to date this now-nostalgic scene at 2nd Avenue & 57th St., on a bright, sunny day in 1973.

Note, also, the snazzy, circa-1960 "T-Bird" just behind First Generation Fishbowl #614, a pricey collector's classic these days.....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153371

(courtesy: nycubway.org)

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Roosevelt & Main, 1974.....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154655

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Bainbridge & 206th St., 1973

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?155172

This photo is one of my favorites; not just for the green MaBSTOA Fishbowl, but, also, the then-commonplace vintage store signage, lighting fixtures, etc. (also, note the original IND subway entrance sign)

Today's generic, lookalike storefronts (in "Noo Yawk" and elsewhere) simply leave me cold.

Also, note the grimy old building housing the assorted shops, itself a nostalgic reminder of once-commonplace urban architecture......

(photo courtsey: nycubway.org)

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Until fairly recent times, urban "bit players" alo included:

Two-aspect traffic lights

Pay phones

Penny scales/vending machines on subway platforms (virtually every drugstore also had one of thee once-commonplace scales)

Cast-iron fire alarm/police call boxes on street corners.

Mercury vapor ("cobra head") street lighting

SOLARI boards at rail hubs and airports

Yesterday's commonplace.......today's rarity.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Flashback to 1972......

Flex New Looks, green metal-shaded incandescent "transit" lighting, TV antennas sprouting from rooftops.....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154571

(courtesy: nycsubway.or)