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March 1943. "New York. Trucks in the garment district." Medium format nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
The first truck on the left hauling the Fruehauf Trailer looks like a 1941 - 1943 International. Most likely it is a 1941, but some civilian truck production continued throughout the war in order to help move goods to market. The model may be a 5-Ton K-8 which was very popular. This model " . . . used a Red Diamond 318 engine and a five speed overdrive transmission with single or double reduction axles (K-8, KR-8) or a two speed axle (KS-8)." The windshield still opened up at the bottom to allow additional ventilation in the cab.
Source: International Trucks by Frederick W. Crimson, p. 170
I just love the appearance of that semi on the left. What make was it?
The fourth and fifth trucks in line appear to be Railway Express trucks, the UPS or FedEx of the day. At least they didn't park in the middle of the street like modern delivery services do.
West 36th Street in this area was part of the Millinery District. A subset of the larger Garment District, the Millinery District ran between Fifth and Sixth avenues and from 35th to 40th streets. During its heyday in the 1920's it housed over 600 hatmakers with a total of 15,000 employees. It already was in decline by 1943, and today only a few specialty hat businesses remain. The name is still commemorated by the Millinery District Synagogue on Sixth Avenue between 38th and 39th streets, though being on the west side of Sixth the temple is actually just outside the district's boundaries.
on the trailer on the left? It looks like FREUHAUF or is the last letter an R? Freuhauf is the current name so I expect it is an F
Looking at these pictures I find it interesting how long some brand names have been around.
[Fruehauf Trailer Co. was in business from 1918-1997. -tterrace]
At the age of 8, I stayed with my family in the Governor Clinton Hotel, and was fascinated looking out the window at the men pushing racks of clothes down the street wreathed in clouds escaping steam.
Garment center is now mostly farther west.
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