Thomas Holman collection of Flatiron Building photographs and ephemera
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
A small collection of visual representations of Manhattan's iconic Flatiron Building (1902), in photographs, prints, stereographs, on postcards, sheet music and magazine covers, and dining menus, assembled by art historian Thomas Holman.
Historical / Biographical Note
Manhattan's iconic Flatiron Building, designed by architect Daniel H. Burnham and completed in 1902 on the triangular gore formed by the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street, was originally called the Fuller Building for its original owner, the George A. Fuller Company architectural firm. Its popular, and now official, name, comes from its similarity to the shape of a cast-iron clothes iron. To some early sightseers it even resembled a ship, its prow aiming north up Fifth Avenue. The building's shape, combined with its height, causes gusty downdrafts near its "cowcatcher" at 23rd Street. This gave rise, it is believed, to the phrase "23 Skidoo," said by police officers to chase away men who lingered on the corner in hope of catching a glimpse of forbidden female stocking bared by the wind. Images of the Flatiron Building have appeared on countless advertisements, postcards, souvenirs, sheet music covers, paintings, and photographs. Even the surrounding neighborhood, the Flatiron District, bears its name. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966. For more, see Alice Sparberg Alexiou's 2010 book, The Flatiron: The New York Landmark and the Incomparable City That Arose With It, available at the New-York Historical Society's Patricia D. Klingenstein Library (call no. F128.8.F55 A44 2010).
Native New Yorker Thomas Seth Holman (1953–2015), assembler of the present collection, was an author, art historian, and private art advisor who held degrees from Macalester College and the University of Chicago and also studied at Oxford and the University of Vienna. Holman filled curatorial and directorial positions at the Albany Museum of Art, the Forum Gallery, the Hudson River Museum, the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and the Norton Museum of Art. His main, personal, collecting focus was on souvenirs of the Grand Tour of the 18th and 19th centuries, when wealthy young Englishmen traveled the European continent in pursuit of the knowledge of languages, history, art, and architecture.
Arrangement
The collection came to the New-York Historical Society in no discernible order. It has been organized alphabetically by format under the following categories:
• book
• calendar
• dining menus
• exhibition catalog
• greeting cards
• map
• periodical
• photographic negatives [GLASS]
• photographs
• postcards
• prints
• sheet music
• stereographs
• toy
• unrelated material
Scope and Contents
Art historian Thomas Holman collected visual representations of the Flatiron Building. Since its completion in 1902 the popularity of the skyscraper has ensured its continued appearance on advertisements, postcards, menus, sheet music covers, and greeting cards. Photographs of the building, and commercially-produced stereographic views abound. While not extensive, Holman's collection is probably strongest in its postcards (see Box 2, Folders 2-17), most of which date from the early 20th century and depict the Flatiron under construction, and, once completed, during daylight, nighttime, and snowstorms. Some cards make humorous reference to the phrase "23 Skidoo" by showing women's skirts flying on the Flatiron's windy corners.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Open to qualified researchers.
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.)
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce any Print Room holdings through publication must be obtained from: Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 270. Fax: (212) 579-8794.
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the Thomas Holman Collection of Flatiron Building Photographs and Ephemera, PR 372, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Thomas S. Holman in memory of Merton Holman, 2013.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Arranged by Processing Archivist Joseph Ditta, October-November 2018.