Wanamaker's - New York City, NY
Photo courtesy of Andy Jugle
This photo depicts a 1947 layout in Wanamaker's Department Store
in New York City. Click on the image to see it in a larger
size.
The Ray Mohrlang Collection contained several photos from Wanamaker's Department Stores and it has taken some time and research to figure out which were from the New York Store and which were from the Philadelphia store. After finding some of these photos in other Gilbert publications, complete with captions, we were finally able to put these photos in their proper context.
1946 New York Layout
The background shelving and poster from the layout shown above seem to be a mirror image of the
1947 display shown above. We were able to date it as 1946
based on the lettering on the locomotive tenders. 1946 was the
only year when Gilbert produced locomotives bearing the names of real
railroads. The Hudson is lettered "New York Central" and the
K5 is lettered "Pennsylvania." Steam locomotives produced in
other years had tenders lettered for "American Flyer" or "American
Flyer Lines." You can see the 1946 lettering in the enlarged section shown below.
Close-up view of 1946 engine lettering from the above photo
Close-up view of the New York layout
1946 Erector Display
This photo is presumed to be from 1946 based on the style of the
pillars and the light fixtures which match the layout photo above.
1946 Erector Display
This photo is also presumed to be from 1946 based on the style of
the pillars and the light fixtures which match the layout photo
above. Some of the display items may have been rearranged in
this second photo.