Which year was this photo was taken? (Hint: Not yesterday.)

I’m becoming slowly obsessed with the Life Magazine work of photographer Leonard McCombe, whose colorful images of midtown Manhattan render the busy streets with a warm, vibrant palette. Last week I posted another Mccombe picture of this particular street corner that perfectly captured the era. But this image manages to seem incredibly modern.

The place? Fifth Avenue, near Rockefeller Center.

The year? 1960.

By the way, perhaps McCombe’s most famous photograph, taken in 1949, was of Texas cowboy Clarence Hailey Long, the inspiration for the Marlboro Man.

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4 replies on “Which year was this photo was taken? (Hint: Not yesterday.)”

One of my favorite things about history is the more you know about it, the more you realize how little changes– especially in NYC!

p.s. Love the podcast!

The white car is a Chevy Corvair and the taxi (066) looks like the one Cary Grant used to go to The Plaza in Hitchcock’s movie NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

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