A history of New York in 50 objects courtesy of The New York Times

Date
3 September 2012

You may remember a joint project between the BBC and the British Museum to chart the history of the world in 100 objects which create a fascinating redux of the human experience. Well never backwards in coming forwards, New York now has its own list (although the team at the New York Times were modest enough to limit it to 50). The famous paper invited curators and historians to compile the selection which features everything from ticker tape to artichokes and ranges from a mastodon tusk from 11,000 BC to a contemporary election sign. The list charts the city’s historical, social, and cultural development and as you might expect there’s oodles of great design in there from taxi cabs to subway tickets to the bagel. It’s a really interesting take on this beautifully simple idea.

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: Bagel (Early 1900s)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: First Yankee Stadium Programme (1923)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: Checker Taxicab (1952-1986)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: Greek coffee cup (1960s)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: Saturday Night Special (1960s onwards)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: The Boom Box (1980s)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: Aids Button (1980s)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: The MetroCard (1994)

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A History of New York in 50 Objects: Mast Brothers Chocolate Bar (2007 onwards)

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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