May 1940. Germany has just invaded France. Neville Chamberlain resigns as British Prime Minister. The country is poised on the brink of war. The burning question – how are they coping at the Harvard Club?! Something like that must have been behind Life’s decision to dispatch photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt to 27 West 44th St. in New York, just as the Germans captured Paris causing the U.S. Navy to augment its ranks – including several able-bodied Harvard men.

Others however were content to whittle away the hours in the stately confines of the Harvard Club, centered on a three-story red brick neo-Georgian building by McKim, Mead & White constructed in 1894. Within its richly-paneled walls was everything a gentleman could require: good food, plentiful cocktails, a vast library, a barber, a smoking room, an indoor swimming pool, squash courts and a fully-stocked wine cellar, all far from the fields of battle.

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The internet gives us access to so much graphic misbehavior at a given moment that it’s noteworthy to discover that a small book still has the capacity to shock.  The volume in question, described yesterday in the NY Times, is an 1870 guidebook of the ins and outs of Manhattan’s brothels.  The Gentleman’s Directory is an indispensable tome for those who required knowing details about the houses of ill repute in our good borough.  It couldn’t be more discreet—yet there’s an implicit appreciation of worldly topics that should be known but not discussed.

The Directory makes special mention of Harry Hill’s on Houston where ‘an hour cannot be spent more pleasantly’ while Greene Street is dismissed ‘a complete sink of iniquity.’

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These bird’s eye view maps of New York and Brooklyn from the late 1890s and early 1900s really jumped out at me as something cool. I want one to become a giant mural in my apartment or office — that would be really amazing. I stumbled across hundreds of panoramic maps while digging around on the Library of Congress website and was immediately enamored. It would be cool to see a modern interpretation of this.

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Team Fjällräven heading for the mountains of Mott Street.

The folksie crew from the Swedish label Fjällräven (pictured above) opened their New York store (the company’s only American outpost) last November on Mott Street, bringing much of their outdoor-centric gear to the States for the first time. Coming up on the store’s one year anniversary Fjällräven (who is a client of my marketing company Paul + Williams) got together with Jeff Thrope of Cold Splinters fame to refresh the space with all sorts of camping essentials and cool gear to compliment Fjällräven’s Greenland Jackets, G-1000 waxed clothing, packs, tents and other Scandinavian equipment. Basically the store stocks everything you need to have an adventure — and all in one place. I think Jay Carroll put it best when he called the Fjällräven US team “outdoor nerds.” I’ll go ahead and add that they are now “retail nerds” too, since they definitely know how to create an interesting store environment.  [Fjällräven | 262 Mott Street, NYC]

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One day out of the blue I got an email from Gabriel Stulman — the guy behind a few of New York’s smallest and most loved restaurants (Joseph Leonard, et. al.) — inviting me to lunch sometime. If you have ever been to Joseph Leonard you will understand Gabriel and I share an aesthetic, something that was further established for me the first time we met. That was about a year ago and it was near the beginning of the process of planning Gabriel’s newest spot, Jeffery’s Grocery. The concept is oyster bar meets local grocery meets late night drinks-and-a-sandwich. destination.  Eventually, our shared appreciation for vintage American aesthetics led to a series of discussions and meetings over the next several months where Gabriel and I would meet to talk about the look and feel for Jeffrey’s. We discussed everything from the colors of the wood that made up the bar, to the beadboard, the employee uniforms (which are from Levi’s, Gitman Bros. Vintage, Kenton Sorenson Leather, Stanley & Sons and The Hill-Side; more on that here soon) and all of the little design details and layout that goes into making a place unique. I’d even see Gabriel and his fiancé Gina up at Brimfield with all sorts of cool old stuff that was destined for Jeffrey’s. It was obvious  early on that Jeffrey’s was going to me my type of place.

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The Wall Street Journal unveiled a new weekend lifestyle section today called Off Duty and the lead story was something about a heritage trend. Have any of you heard about this newfangled heritage phenomenon? Apparently all of these companies are giving the big luxury brands something to think about by just going back to their archives and re-releasing a bunch of dusty old stuff. Hmm, this seems like something I should explore further.

In all seriousness, Off Duty looks promising and is yet another signal (the Greater New York section being the first) of the Journal’s battle to overtake The Gray Lady. I’m just happy to see more good things happening in the print world. Especially since I subscribe to both papers. Off Duty is in this weekend’s edition, on newsstands today. [Update: the story is online]

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Wandering up Madison Avenue last week I popped into J.Press to see what was new and chat with the salesmen. The fall merchandise was out on display and I perused the schoolboy scarves and the knit wool-hats in their full Ivy colored goodness. I really love the cold weather accoutrement that Press sells. I also like the oxford shirts and sack suits. Jay Walter (who we’ve seen on this page before) took some time to show me his nice new autumn suit program.

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