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North From Locust: 1907

Philadelphia circa 1907. "Broad Street north from Locust." With views of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Land Title Trust Building and City Hall. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size.

Philadelphia circa 1907. "Broad Street north from Locust." With views of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Land Title Trust Building and City Hall. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size.

 

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The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel

An article in the March 1905 edition of The Architectural Record reviewed three new hotels: the Belvedere in Baltimore, the new Williard in Washington D.C., and the Bellevue-Stratford, designed by G. W. and W. D. Hewitt. It was a great time for big first-class hotels.

I was able to find floorplans for the:
Main floor -- with photos of the Tea Room and front desk and the main dining room and Palm room
Second floor
Rooms on the fifth floor
Roof top, with a photo of one of the pavilions

Classic Buildings

The Bellevue-Stratford (the first word has three e's) has certainly had its ups and downs. Once Philadelphia's premier luxury hotel, it closed a few months after an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease there in 1976. The hotel reopened in 1979, closed again in 1986, and opened once more in 1988, this time with office space and hotel rooms. They are now converting offices to apartments and adding a swimming pool and an ice rink. The Land Title Building and City Hall are still fully in use in their original forms.

Life is like a box of chocolates

I had never heard of Adams Argood Chocolates. Per the Philadelphia Enquirer, AAC:
-called themselves a "high class confectionery" (1909)
-had help wanted ads for several years (a soda dispenser, a permanent position as a candy helper, saleswoman, wholesale packers, chocolate coaters, a porter, candy forelady). The amount of times they specified a need for "experienced" employees makes me wonder how high their turnover was.
-Their boxes of chocolates ranged from 10 cents for a quarter pound to $2 for a one pound box in 1909.
-Also in 1909 they sold Dinnerettes, a chocolate covered liquid cream "that cannot be kept on hand" & had to be ordered on the spot. Dinnerettes were $2 a pound & delivered within 24 hours
-In 1913, AAC was selling off fixtures to move to their new store.
-In 1914, there a lawsuit between a sign company & AAC.
-A fire damaged their 4 story Broad Street building in 1918.
-By 1926, AAC was auctioning off the equipment from their store, confectioner's, restaurant & office

+105

Below is the same view from October of 2013.

Billy Penn

Plenty of buildings in Philly taller than him now starting in 1987. Also, the 2008 Phillies and 2017 Eagles but the screws to that curse.

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