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hard to find american depression era single-sided new york city subway station "not for exit" informational sign, likely removed several years ago during station renovations and/or upgrades. the die cut steel porcelain enameled sign features a white background with bold black lettering. the diminutive sign was designed and fabricated by the bettinger enamel corporation, new york city, ny. the majority of the stamped steel grommets remain intact. an underground transit system in new york city was first built by alfred ely beach in 1869. his beach pneumatic transit only extended 312 feet under broadway and exhibited his idea for a subway. the tunnel was never extended, although extensions had been planned to take the tunnel southward to the battery and northwards towards the harlem river. it was demolished when the bmt broadway line was built in the 1910s. the first underground line of the subway opened on october 27, 1904, almost 35 years after the opening of the first elevated line in new york city, which became the irt ninth avenue line. the heavy 1888 snowstorm helped illustrate the benefits of an underground transportation system. the oldest structure still in use today opened in 1885 as part of the lexington avenue line, and is now part of the bmt jamaica line in brooklyn. the oldest right-of-way, that of the bmt west end line, was in use in 1863 as a steam railroad called the brooklyn, bath and coney island rail road. the staten island railway, which opened in 1860, currently utilizes r44 subway cars, but it has no links to the rest of the system and is not usually considered part of the subway proper. by the time the first subway opened, the lines had been consolidated into two privately owned systems, brooklyn rapid transit company (brt, later brooklyn-manhattan transit corporation, bmt) and interborough rapid transit company (irt). the city was closely involved: all lines built for the irt and most other lines built or improved for the brt after 1913 were built by the city and leased to the companies. the first line of the city-owned and operated independent subway system (ind) opened in 1932; this system was intended to compete with the private systems and allow some of the elevated railways to be torn down, but was kept within the core of the city due to the low amount of startup capital provided to the board of transportation by the state. in 1940, the two private systems were bought by the city; some elevated lines closed immediately, and others closed soon after. the new york city transit authority was created in 1953 to take over subway, bus, and streetcar operations from the city, and was placed under control of the metropolitan transportation authority in 1968. measures 18 x 3 1/2 inches.
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original c. 1930's highly sought after single-sided diminutive vitreous or porcelain enameled "not for exit" new york city subway station sign with bold black lettering
SKU:
UR-22668-15
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