Madison Hardware Business Card, Rare?

Pretty cool.  I bet Derek Thomas would be interested in seeing this or can shed some light on it.

This is neat to say the least.   What I find most interesting is the phone number.  No area code and they list is as Gramercy 5-6482.  7 digit phone numbers started in the 1930's but the name before the number continued through the 60's as a way for operators to remember exchanges.  

Joe;

That's an interesting piece of ephemera (today's 50 cent word!!!). In addition to the old style phone number, I find the address notable. For as long as I can remember, they were just off Park Avenue South - I don't remember it being called 4th Avenue (at least not in the 23rd Street area). Also, there is no Zip Code which came into fashion in the early 60's, though the prior two digit code is also missing, so I'm not sure if it's absence is indicative of the card's age.

In addition to all that has been said above, I also like the fact that "8 Hour Repair Service" is one of their selling points.  You'd never see that listed as a selling point today.

Apparently, even back in the day, New Yorkers wanted things done in a New York minute.

Steven J. Serenska

From 17th to 32nd street, it was called 4th Avenue until officially renamed Park Avenue South by the NYC Council in 1959. So, the information on the business card appears to be authentic.

So that would mean this card predates 1959. Has anyone seen this card before as I'm sure Madison Hardware would've given them out to customers. 

nice find!

Thanks. Im actually considering using it as a billboard on one of my modular group's layout. 

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Thanks. Im actually considering using it as a billboard on one of my modular group's layout. 

That would be a heck of a neat little feature!

-Greg

The paper appears to be larger than a traditional business card. I just checked, they are 2 by 3 1/2 inches.
The layout looks familiar, I think it mimics some of their old advertisements in model railroading magazines.

Tony_V posted:

This is neat to say the least.   What I find most interesting is the phone number.  No area code and they list is as Gramercy 5-6482.  7 digit phone numbers started in the 1930's but the name before the number continued through the 60's as a way for operators to remember exchanges.  

I think that my stickers on the Lionel boxes had a Spring 7-1111 phone number back in the late 1940's. They're stored away so I'm going by memory which has let me down lately, Vic.

Very cool!

Peter

This is an insert Madison Hardware placed in its catalogs over the years.  It is not a business card, although business cards do exist for Madison Hardware.  This is a very common item and were recently sold at York for $2.00 each. 

Bob Osterhoff

funfactory posted:

This is an insert Madison Hardware placed in its catalogs over the years.  It is not a business card, although business cards do exist for Madison Hardware.  This is a very common item and were recently sold at York for $2.00 each. 

Bob Osterhoff

Great, thank you. I just wanted to know what I had before I did anything with it.

Late to the party as usual, but I defer to Bob anyway since he is an authority on Lionel paper. I did have access to these during the writing of the book and they do turn up on Ebay on a semi frequent basis. I say enjoy it as a billboard! I think we ended up with a few photos of the actual business cards in the book. I know I have photos of them somewhere. Will try and remember to dig one out. 

Wow if that kind of phone number doesn't take ya back!Nick