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New York Hippodrome
1120 Sixth Avenue
Posts & Stories
(4)
Elephantine City
Story
New York can sometimes seem so immense that it would make sense that some of the world's largest animals would have roamed its streets.
New York Hippodrome
Post
The New York Hippodrome, view across the tracks of the Sixth Avenue El, ca. 1905. The Hippodrome, a massive Midtown entertainment venue, opened in 1905, two blocks north of Bryant Park. During its heyday, Hippodrome acts included leading vaudeville performers, musical acts, circus animals, and the celebrated illusionist Harry Houdini. As entertainment tastes shifted alongside the proliferation of motion picture halls, the Hippodrome struggled to stay afloat. The venue closed for good in 1939 an was demolished shortly thereafter. A modern skyscraper known as "The Hippodrome Building" was built in the site during the 1950s.
Theater in the Gilded Age
Story
Following the Civil War, the resumption of industry, trade, and peace were boom times for New York City. Hundreds of thousands flocked to New York and as they did the city expanded. Out of this new growth came with it the Theater District, which teemed with shows, operas, and acts to amuse the city's population. This list highlights some of the theaters that sprung up during the turn of the century.
New York Hippodrome
Post
New York Hippodrome ca. 1910 Occupying an entire block on 6th Avenue, with a seating capacity of 5200, the Hippodrome (which opened in 1905) was outfitted on a grand scale. The stage was 200 feet wide and 100 feet deep (large enough for the jai-alai exhibition games played there). It had an 60-foot apron which could be filled with water for aquatic productions. Behind the scenes, hydraulic machines raised and lowered the stage, and an indoor stable housed horses and elephants for circus productions. Such spectacles were so expensive to produce that the theater failed financially and closed in the late 1930s.
Photos
(125)
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New York Hippodrome
Hippodrome.
New York Hippodrome
Manhattan: the Hippodrome, Sixth Avenue between 43rd Street and 44th Street, undated \[ca. 1905].
New York Hippodrome
New York Hippodrome
Theatre, Hippodrome, 44th St. & Sixth Avenue.
New York Hippodrome
Cleaning the Hippodrome. Three trucks from the Vacuum Cleaner Company and workers vacuuming on the stage of the Hippodrome.
New York Hippodrome
Cleaning the Hippodrome. Three trucks from the Vacuum Cleaner Company and workers on the stage of the Hippodrome (44th Street and 6th Avenue), looking towards empty seats.
New York Hippodrome
Cleaning the Hippodrome. Three trucks from the Vacuum Cleaner Company and workers on the stage of the Hippodrome (44th Street and 6th Avenue), looking towards empty seats.
New York Hippodrome
Cleaning the Hippodrome. Three trucks from the Vacuum Cleaner Company and workers on the stage of the Hippodrome (44th Street and 6th Avenue), looking towards empty seats.
New York Hippodrome
Manhattan: the Hippodrome, Sixth Avenue between 43rd Street and 44th Street, undated \[ca. 1905].
New York Hippodrome
Theatre, Hippodrome, 44th St. & Sixth Avenue.
New York Hippodrome
Cleaning the Hippodrome. Three trucks from the Vacuum Cleaner Company and workers on the stage of the Hippodrome (44th Street and 6th Avenue), looking towards empty seats.
New York Hippodrome
6th Avenue between West 43rd and 44th Streets. New York Hippodrome.
New York Hippodrome
Interior, Hippodrome ticket office.
New York Hippodrome
Ticket office in Hippodrome.
New York Hippodrome
Crowds in line outside the Hippodrome Theatre, New york City, undated (ca. 1917-1921).
New York Hippodrome
The Hippodrome, Sixth Avenue, New York City, 1928.
New York Hippodrome
\[Considine's Wonder Show.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Considine's Wonder Show. Interior of theater.]
New York Hippodrome
\["Jumbo".]
New York Hippodrome
West 43rd Street. Hippodrome. Interior, Jumbo, first radio broadcast, with Jimmy Durante
New York Hippodrome
\[Roller skating show at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Acrobats at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Elephant with a trainer at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\["Jumbo".]
New York Hippodrome
\[Acrobats on high wire at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[High wire act at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Clowns dressed in mice costumes at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Considine's Wonder Show. Interior of theater.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Considine's Wonder Show. Interior of theater.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Acrobats at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\["Jumbo".]
New York Hippodrome
\[High wire act at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Fire juggling at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Considine's Wonder Show. Interior of theater.]
New York Hippodrome
\["Jumbo".]
New York Hippodrome
\[Acrobats in balancing act at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Acrobats in human pyramid at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Human cannonball at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Considine's Wonder Show. Interior of theater.]
New York Hippodrome
\["Jumbo".]
New York Hippodrome
\[Acrobats on ladders and trapeze.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Clowns at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Spectators at a circus.]
New York Hippodrome
West 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue. Dismantling of the Sixth Avenue elevated train tracks
New York Hippodrome
\[Sixth Avenue El.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Demolition of the Hippodrome Theatre.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Sixth Avenue El and Hippodrome Theatre.]
New York Hippodrome
\[Sixth Avenue and West 44th Street.]
New York Hippodrome
Manhattan: 6th Avenue - 43rd Street (West) Sixth Avenue, east side, from W. 43rd the 44th Streets, showing the Hippodrome under demolition. Sept. 20, 1939 Mr. Nathan Schwartz New York Public Library
New York Hippodrome
\[Sixth Avenue El and Hippodrome Theatre.]
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