Unpainted sheetrock walls were the norm in SoHo back in the 60s & 70s. SoHo lofts, with their open space allowed artists to work. Cosmetic concerns came later.
1: Artist Robert Duran’s loft in 1975 (📸 @thornton_willis)
2: Zoe in bed, age 4, ca. 1972 (📸Donald Gangemi)
Top 10 quirky things about everyday life in 1970s SoHo:
#8 You dragged your trash to the nearest place that did trash pick up...then dragged stuff home from the trash to furnish your home or to make art. Please contribute to our Legacy Campaign today! https://t.co/IeC2j8zEhR
Don't forget to look up if you're walking down Broadway, Mercer, or Crosby south of Houston. Check out these banners celebrating the "Spirit of SoHo," featuring me and my sister on our SoHo "stoop" when we were little, ca. 1975. Sponsored by @SoHoBroadway and @Uniqlo.
Broome Street Musicians, 1979
The story behind the photo: Ellen North rented a cheap apartment in Little Italy when she was in her 20s. She came to SoHo to go to Miya & Yoshi, when she took this photo. 📷1 by Ellen North, ca. 1979📷2: A Miya & Yoshi coat like the one Ellen bought
Top 10 quirky things about life in 1970s SoHo:
#9 You did a lot of climbing. Many buildings had freight elevators, but often they were not on the ground floor when you came home.
Please contribute to our Legacy Campaign today! https://t.co/8OizpohDxV
Who knew there used to be an art fair here! Love the cars. Yes, not SoHo, but SoHo proximate.
📷1 via NYC Nostalgia, an outrageously fantastic Tumblr page with what must be thousands of great photos (https://t.co/C0f1ltcpuY)
Today we are launching a special fundraising campaign to ensure SoHo Memory Project’s long-term legacy. Please contribute to our Legacy Campaign today, because SoHo Memory Project’s Legacy is (Y)OUR legacy! For more info and to make a donation, visit https://t.co/5IX75CyTtu
Top 10 quirky things about everyday life in 1970s SoHo:
#10 You did a lot of yelling. No one had doorbells, so you had to scream up to a loft to let someone know you were there (and they would then throw you a key in an old sock so you could open the door).
📷Jody Saslow, 1976.
Spring Street looking east from West Broadway, 1974
Remember Spring Street Natural when it was on Kenmare? On Lafayette? Its original location was on, you guessed it, Spring Street at #149. #SoHomemory
Photo: Robert Weinreb
West Broadway at Broome Street (SW corner), 1974
Photo via NYC Nostalgia, an outrageously fantastic Tumblr page with what must be thousands of great photos (https://t.co/C0f1ltcpuY) #SoHomemory
Recreation of a Brigada Ramona Parra Mural, 1973. Read more about the Sept 11, '73 civic-military coup that overthrew the Chilean democracy and sparked protest in the US, including the visual arts: https://t.co/RGDD8VkBdP
(📸: Alfonso Barrios, @archivesamerart)
#SoHomemory
This building on Prince Street has seen better days, maybe back when it housed a billiard hall. I wonder how much they were asking for it in 1923. #SoHomemory
Dave’s Corner (SE corner of Broadway and Canal) at night, date unknown. Photo: Charlyn Zlotnik via NYC Nostalgia, an outrageously fantastic Tumblr page with what must be thousands of great photos (https://t.co/C0f1ltcpuY) #SoHomemory
Librarian, author, and critic Jesse Karp and I grew up in SoHo at the same time, born just days apart, but we somehow never met. In this month’s guest post, Jesse looks back at how SoHo had a hand in shaping the person he is today. Photo: Robert Weinreb https://t.co/wnrHAN04Nl
Remember this place? The slightly overpriced outdoor salvage store on the northeast corner of Houston and Elizabeth (in NoLiTa). What was it called again? I LOVED looking around at their signs and their odd assortment of antiques. (Photo: Grégoire Alessandrini)
Remember this scene from the movie GHOST? The moment when Patrick Swayze becomes a ghost on Crosby Street near Prince. (Photo: Paramount Pictures, 1990) #SoHomemory
Welded sculptures by Bobby Bolles where Watts and Broome and West Broadway intersect, looking east. You can see the Broome Street Bar, where Bolles was a regular, in the background. (photo: Robin Forbes, Archives of American Art, 1975) #SoHomemory