Happy Birthday Chrysler Building

NY Times ^ | April 22, 2005 | James Stephenson

[Pharmboy]

A little NYC history with a Kansas connection...

[fieldmarshaldj]

[Pharmboy]

Great...thanks for the post.

And when in NYC, don't forget to go into the lobby and check out those wood-inlaid elevators. Incredible.

[Cagey]

Thanks for posting this interesting story. I've always thought the Chrysler building is the most outstanding building in New York's incredible skyline even though it's played second fiddle to the Empire State Building for so many years.

Height isn't everything.

[Lazamataz]

Oh great. You know bin Laden lurks here! Now he's got a new target!

[Larry Lucido]

Interesting story, but they left out the little-known part where Van Alen belts Chrysler then demands Severance pay.

[kingsurfer]

Wow! That looks great!

[fieldmarshaldj]

Yes, but what the junior Senator from Illinois doesn't know is that the spire conceals a nice big MX missile. :-D

[fieldmarshaldj]

Ah, so that's where the name "Van Alen belt" comes from.

[Pharmboy]

The groaners start early this weekend! (Actually, that was pretty good, Larry, a twofer...)

[Pharmboy]

Before 9-11, people in NYC would say that the Empire State and the Chrysler Building were the architectural jewels in NYC's crown and the World Trade Center buildings were the boxes they came in.

[BluH2o]

Interesting ... many people driving on the northern end of the New Jersey turnpike looking east at the NYC skyline at night mistake the Chrysler Building for the Empire State building. The Chrysler Building has a distinctive shape and stands out prominently in the nighttime lights of the city ... and if you're just passing thru, not familiar with the NYC skyline, it's easy to confuse the two.

[beaver fever]

That's a tribute to the Chrysler Building?

The Chrysler is the jewel in the crown of Art Deco architecture.

Walter P. Chrysler's original hand made railroad apprentice tools and toolbox are still on display in the lobby unless the world has come to an end.

If that's the NYT's tribute to the aniversity of the Walter P and the Chrystler Building then the NYT is populated by enfants who are ignorant of American history or openly hostile to it.

Walter P is one of the greats of 19th century American industrialists, even greater than Ford.

[Fresh Wind]

Some more views of the Chrysler Building.

[Pharmboy]

I think they made it clear that Chrysler was a giant in the industry. They tried to catch the flavor of the twenties and the individuals involved. I thought it was ok...

[Larry Lucido]

The groaners start early this weekend

Okay, I won't comment on Van Alen's suspenders, then. :-)

There are some cool pics on this thread.

[Fresh Wind]

[M. Espinola]

Great photo, art deco at its finest!

Ever think if the Depression did not hit what Manhattan's skyline would have looked like?

[Jhensy]

Most beautiful skyscraper on earth. I still marvel at it every day walking to and from Grand Central. Even better at night, especially a foggy night.

[beaver fever]

Sorry Pharmboy no reflection on you but Walter P was an innovator but more importantly an exquisite craftsman.

I've seen photos of his tools which he made himself and they are works of art by themselves. He had to make rulers, inside and outside calipers and hand forged wrenches and they had to be spec before he could get his apprenticeship. That is hardcore old school.

The reasoning was in the railroad industry in the 19th century if a mechanic couldn't make his own tools he wasn't qualified to use them.

He applied that sense of perfection and quality to everything he did and almost went bankrupt in the thirties because he would not sacrifice quality. The Chrysler Building also almost put him in the poorhouse but he insisted that a great company must have its headquarters in a great building.

The Airflow also almost put an end to Chrysler but is now considered a classic in Art Deco automotive design.

The 1931 Chrysler Imperial is considered the most beautiful car ever made.

I restored a 1935 Plymouth Coupe which was the bottom of the Chrysler line and that car was eye sweet down to the last detail.

Call me a purist but a one page tribute that looks like a children's seventh grade scrap book is not a tribute. The only thing that keeps me sane is the 300 series harkens back to the old heroic tradition.