Brian J. Puppy, AIA, LEED AP. Through
Then: Enoch Morgan’s Sons Company was founded in 1809 in the West Village on the banks of the Hudson River. Although other factories developed around this waterfront location over time, this one came to the fore. This seven-story loft building at 439 West Street, CA, in The Moses King’s Handbook of New York City, 2. 1869, on Bank Street (named after a bank building, not on the river), was one of the low-rise naval buildings.
But what’s also new, I think, is the fact that the company’s entire page of product descriptions didn’t really tell the reader exactly what it was, so confident that anyone would know what it was. was the talk!
King describes the packaging (“tin foil surrounded by a dark blue ribbon”) and the power and value of advertising (“civilized until it was a household necessities in every part of the world”) and brand defense (“defends against violations so vehement that the case Sapolio is taken as a precedent”), and even the origin of the name (“The Indian name of this village was Sapokanikan”, but the name of the product”). a constructed word”), but Sapolio is never defined. What I was looking for in Wikipedia is
“Sapolio was a soap brand known for its advertising…. Brett Hurt wrote the jingles for the brand and the sales team included King Camp Gillette, who made the Gillette safety razor. Time Magazine described its heyday as “perhaps the best advertised product in the world”.
“After decades of keeping some of America’s most famous commercials, Sapolio’s owners decided their situation was insurmountable enough that they were allowed to close most of the ads. Despite the enormous market position of the brand, it took a few more years. It overtook the competition within and disappeared from the market before World War II.
As an example of its ubiquity, a 1905 novel by Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, refers to a “mixed odor of sapolio and furniture polish”.
In 1997, Sapolio was bought by the Peruvian company Intradevco Industrial SA, which markets a range of cleaning products under the Sapolio name.
Although the history is unclear, King implies that the factory shown above was built for the company in 1869.
Text and picture credits: The King’s Handbook of New York City, 2nd edition, 1893, as indicated.
Now he: A bronze entrance plaque bears the building’s name, “166 Riverbank Bank Street”; Not to be confused with Hell’s Kitchen at 142-162 Bank Street or a new, larger housing development at Riverbank Apartments Corp., which features a West Village home on its website.
The city lists addresses as 433-435 and 437-441 West Street and 166-168 Bank Street.
According to the StreetEasy website, the site was converted from a “Sapolia (sic) soap factory” to a 30-unit elevator building in 1981.
One of the units for sale is priced at $3,199,000 for a 2,200 sq ft, seven bedroom, three bed, two bath, averaging $1,454 per ft. What was once an isolated industrial area of the city is now a desirable residential area by far View of the Hudson River and its parks, south of the Meat Market District.
This beautiful, albeit plain, red-brick loft building maintains its limestone siding and window proportions, with the exception of three bays at the loading dock, despite being located outside of a historic neighborhood. The main entrance was moved from West Street to the former location of the loading dock on Bank Street. The loading dock was backfilled but the lintels and opening width were maintained.
There is a construction date of 1900 and a reference to the property of 1920. On the south side of the original building is an addition that seems to carry over the floor lines and architectural materials of the original, even the cornice line. Continually. This additional wing may account for the later dates referenced, as photographic evidence shows the building survived in King’s 1893 book. This is the depth of our historic neighborhood.
Photo credit: Brian J. Puppy, AIA, lead ap
Brian J. Pep is an urban architect in private practice, co-chair of the Manhattan District 2 Community Board Landmarks Committee and the Quality of Life Committee (in a personal capacity only, not in an official capacity) of the American Institute of Architects. NY Design for Aging Committee, is a member of the AIANY Historic Buildings and Housing Committees, is LEED-AP Green certified, and is a professional journalist for architectural disciplines.
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