I was in a card store that isn’t local to me and I wasn’t thrilled with most of their inventory. However, this card caught my attention… it was a bit overpriced, but the lady who worked there seemed nice, and I wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so I bought it.
I’m normally not one for architecture, and I’m also normally not one for art deco, but for whatever reason the Chrysler Building in Manhattan has long has long been a favorite of mine.
…I dunno, maybe it has something to do with the fact that, years ago on SNL, the Coneheads used the Chrysler Building as their escape vehicle.
I grew up on Long Island, about 40 miles from “The City”. Despite what a lot of people think about Long Island, I didn’t spend every weekend hanging out in Manhattan… but I did get in to New York City a couple of times a year, and I had my own personal favorite landmarks.
So, after getting the Chrysler Building on a card, I started thinking about what other New York Landmarks I had on cards…
Even more unnatural than my fondness for the Chrysler Building is my borderline obsession with the Unisphere from the 1964/65 World’s Fair:
I have family who have lived in Queens since before I was born, so I always think of family trips that took us down the Grand Central Parkway past some of the World’s Fair Landmarks. The Unisphere is one World’s Fair landmark which has the added benefit of being borderline “science-y”, so it seemed that much more futuristic to me… and “Futuristic” was good.
Other parts of the World’s Fair would be cool to have in my collection, but I have no idea if they exist on cardboard.
…but they do exist in the “Don’t Let’s Start” video by They Might Be Giants:
Naturally, another favorite landmark – unfortunately gone – is Shea Stadium.
Al Leiter likes Shea Stadium, so it must have been great!
Yes, Shea was a dump towards the end, but as the T-shirts say, it was OUR dump. I’m sure CitiField is nice, but I’ve never been there and it doesn’t have the memories that Shea had.
While I’m at it, here are some other favorite New York landmarks:
The Bottom Line, Greenwich Village – This ranks up there with Shea in terms of “Sadly no longer with us”. The Bottom Line was a small concert venue in the Village, but it was an awesome place to see a show… especially if you sat in the non-smoking section, which had been the tables closest to the stage.
You know how some people will say “Oh, I saw that band before they were big”? Well, I saw Barenaked Ladies at the Bottom Line when few people in the U.S. had any clue who they were (or knew that “Barenaked Ladies” were 5 Canadian guys)
It’s been years since I’ve seen them live, because I haven’t liked the last few albums – and sorry guys, it’s not BNL without Steve – but in the Nineties they put on a really fun show.
Forbidden Planet – Admittedly, I haven’t been there in something like 30 years, but at the height of my con-attending fandom days it was one of my favorite places to go… An absolute Nerdvana full of books and toys and posters and tchotchkes you couldn’t get anywhere else… Star Trek, Doctor Who, Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy… it was like going to the “Huckster room” at a con, except it was there all the time!
What are your favorite landmarks and/or inanimate objects immortalized on cardboard?
Who did you see in concert before they were – relatively speaking – big?
The Shlabotnik Report 