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January 25, 1956. "Prudential Insurance Co., Newark, New Jersey. Entrance detail from across Broad Street." The building previously seen here. Gottscho-Schleisner photo. View full size.
There's a reason 1956 Cadillacs, like this Coupe De Ville, could haul lots of luggage.
The hardtops, coupes and Sedan De Ville, and the convertibles had a longer deck than the four-door pillared sedan. To get the longer deck in a four-door sedan you had to move up to the Fleetwood Sixty Special. When Cadillac went to all hardtops for 1957 this still applied. For 1958 Cadillac offered an extended deck on the Series 62 Sedan. They went to one length and wheelbase on all models except the 75 for 1959.
[The 1957 Sedan deVille reverted to the short deck. For 1958 the Sedan deVille, as well as the Series 62 Sedan, offered a choice of long or short deck. Cadillac again offered short-deck sedans (Town Sedan, Park Avenue) on its 1961 through 1963 models. - Dave]
I was sounding a bit like Les Nessman from WKRP spelling out Happy Thanksgiving in the parking lot (the flying Turkey episode), but I managed to figure out that the fan above the door spells out Prudential Insurance!
The taillight on that Cadillac pops up for access to the gas cap.
You can see from this pic how my dad was able to pack so much luggage into the trunks of his mid-50's Cadillacs. This one looks like 1956. He also had a '53, '55, and '59 - all convertibles.
They had to tear down this flight of fancy so they could put up a rectangular glass box. I miss buildings with character.
That's a 1949 Plymouth behind the Cadillac. Our family's first car was a '49 Special
Deluxe sedan. It had a pop-up vent between the hood and windshield that gave good air in the summer. Never mind you had to be moving at least 40 miles an hour.
1956 would spell the end for this Prudential building as well as three others in Newark. All would be replaced by a new headquarters. Here is the building in its glory days.
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