Straphanger Vintage

Straphanger Vintage

The straphanger is vintage, as is everything it is attached to in this New York City Subway car, part of the Holiday Nostalgia Train of R1-9 type railcars that ran beneath the streets of Manhattan during the 2018 Holiday Season.

Also vintage is the clothing worn by the "straphanger" holding on to the straphanger. This gent, like scores of
others who rode the train on this December Saturday afternoon, in this most enjoyable, high spirited, and much anticipated event, was dressed for the occasion (*). The vintage vibe also extended to live music on the uptown platform of the Second Avenue Station on the IND F Line (**) - as well as inside the cars.

Vintage, all the way, as this was the type of train the city's IND Subway system was purchasing in the 1930s and '40s
to run on the new Eighth Avenue Line, and subsequently on the Sixth Avenue Line as well, which opened in 1940. During that period, such trains would carry many on their way to dancing the night away to bands led by Glenn Miller
or Artie Shaw (***) in Manhattan hotels, nightclubs, and ballrooms.

And that vintage vibe would also explain the photog's choice to present the scene in vintage black and white tonalities.

R1-9 equipment would soldier on in regular service in other NYC Subway territories into the 1970s, before stepping aside for newer types, but happily, Subway fans and other all-out nostalgic, sentimental romantics can enjoy these classy old gals at Holiday Season and on other special excursions during the year.

Built to last - and like romance, never really out of style.

©2019 Steve Ember
(*)