Life, 1913-01-23 · page 6 of 40
Life — January 23, 1913 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a political cartoon or satire—it's a straightforward advertisement** for the newly completed Grand Central Terminal in New York City, which opened in February 1913. The architectural rendering shows the terminal building and surrounding cityscape. The text promotes the terminal as a major civic achievement, highlighting its scale (722 feet long, 801 feet wide), capacity (30,000 people simultaneously), and integrated features (hotels, shops, restaurants, exhibition halls). The advertisement emphasizes practical benefits: separate levels for through and suburban service to avoid congestion, 33 miles of track accommodating 1,000 cars, and efficient traffic flow design. This represents early 20th-century boosterism celebrating modern infrastructure as civic progress.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| TT Se Warren & Wetmore Architects THE TERMINAL CITY THE GREATEST CIVIC DEVELOPMENT EVER UNDERTAKEN—INCIDENT TO THE NEW GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL IN NEW YORK CITY, WHICH WILL BE OPENED FEBRUARY, 1913 This vast undertaking comprehends the erec- tion of a great Terminal City, complete in itself, a city within a city, occupying an area of thirty city blocks, in New York City. It will embrace hotels and modern apart- ment houses, convention and exhibition halls, clubs and restaurants, and department stores and specialty shops. In short, practically every sort of structure or enterprise incident to the modern city. These features are all in addition to post office, express buildings and other natural adjuncts of the up-to-date terminal —to expeditiously handle diverse traffic. THE NEWLY COMPLETED GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL Will provide every detail essential to the comfort and convenience of its patrons. The Terminal itself is the physical embodi- ‘ ment of the latest and the highest ideal of service. Its adequate description is impos sible here. It must be seen to be appreciated. The Main Terminal alone is 722 feet long and 801 feet wide on the surface, and halfagainas wide below the street level. It will accommo- date 80,000 people at one time. Oo Through and suburban service occupy dif- ferent levels approached by inclines, avoiding stairways, so that each level may be reached without confusion. Incoming and outgoing traffic is segregated and the two currents of travel separated. Every facility is progressively arrnnged so that no step need be retraced, no time lost. There are 88 miles of track within the Ter- minal, accommodating 1000 cars. o) BESCO | comicbooks.com