FIFTH AVE NYC COACH ROUTES VISITORS GUIDE 2005 FACSIMILE 1939 WORLDS FAIR GD CND For Sale

For collectors of interesting old maps and travel guides ofNew York\'s early transportation systems, up for sale is a facsimilemultifold map and brochure titled \"Fifth Avenue Coach Routes and Visitor\'sGuide\" on the front panel, with a phrase beneath reading \"Celebrating100 Years of Service 1905 to 2005.\" The original item would have datedfrom 1939-40, when the World\'s Fair was in Flushing, Queens, because you cansee that on the large map taking up most of one side of this paper item, theexposition\'s iconic symbols, the Trylon and Perisphere, can be seen.

Note that similar folding maps and guides have sold and arebeing sold online, and they are identical to this except that the dates\"1905 to 2005\" are not printed underneath \"Celebrating 100 Yearsof Service,\" which can be a bit confusing, as some sellers are callingwhat is essentially a 21-year-old facsimile vintage ephemera, which can easilylead to prospective buyers thinking it is a much older item. In fact, when Isourced it at a central Connecticut thrift shop, I didn\'t look closely enoughat it and failed to notice the 2005 date on it, though what caught my eye wasthe large map of the city showing the location of the 1939-40 World\'s Fair inFlushing, Queens (see the seventh photo uploaded).

Still, it\'s a great piece of ephemera for anyone interestedin New York City mass transit, especially old bus and coach routes, one ofwhich this one being the Fifth Avenue Coach Company, which was located on West132nd Street. And of course the visitor\'s guide includes some interesting oldvintage photographs and maps, as you can see in the photos I\'ve uploaded.

The printed item, when folded, measures about 5-1/2 by4-1/4 inches, and when it is fully open, it\'s 10-1/2 by 16-1/2 inches.

Here’s most of the Wikipedia article on the Fifth AvenueCoach Company, which is a bit long-winded and confusing, but I’m including itanyway (note that I’ve left out the sections detailing the routes of the buses):

The Fifth Avenue CoachCompany was a bus operator in Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, andWestchester County, New York, providing public transit between 1896 and 1954,after which services were taken over by the New York City OmnibusCorporation. It succeeded the Fifth Avenue Transportation Company.

The company was founded in1896 when it succeeded the bankrupt Fifth Avenue Transportation Company. Itinitially operated existing horse-and-omnibus transit along Fifth Avenue, witha route running from 89th Street to Bleecker Street. Fifth Avenue is the onlyavenue in Manhattan never to see streetcar service due to the opposition ofresidents to the installation of railway track for streetcars. Thecompany introduced electric buses two years later and was acquired by thenewly formed New York Transportation Company in 1899.

They introduced a fleet of 15of their own motorbuses in 1907 that operated along Fifth Avenue andon some crosstown routes. The company became independent of the New YorkTransportation Company in 1912.

In 1925, the year that theycame under control of The Omnibus Corporation, the company purchased amajority share in the New York Railways Corporation.

When the New York RailwaysCorporation started converting streetcar lines to buses in 1935–36, the newreplacement bus services were operated by the New York City OmnibusCorporation, which had been formed in 1926 and had shared management with TheOmnibus Corporation. New York Railways Corporation was dissolved in 1936.

The New York and HarlemRailroad trolleys were replaced by Madison Avenue Coach Company, Inc.,buses, and the Eighth and Ninth Avenue Railway trolleys by Eighth Avenue CoachCorporation buses, both companies owned by Fifth Avenue Coach. (Fourth andMadison Avenues; 86th Street Crosstown was not replaced with buses). MadisonAvenue Coach and Eighth Avenue Coach were folded into New York City Omnibus inNovember 1951.

In 1954, The OmnibusCorporation sold the Fifth Avenue Coach Company to the New York City OmnibusCorporation, which changed its name to Fifth Avenue Coach Lines twoyears later. In 1956, the company also acquired the Westchester StreetTransportation Company, a bus company previously affiliated with the ThirdAvenue Railway. The same year, they also acquired the SurfaceTransportation Corporation and allowed it to operate under a new name as asubsidiary of Fifth Avenue. After a strike in 1962, and a fight for controlwith financier Harry Weinberg, bus operations were taken over by the city. Busesin Westchester survived the strike and city takeover until they were acquiredby Liberty Lines Transit in 1969.

The overall condition of this multifold glossy map andbrochure is good. The back panel has a slightly sticky and discolored (browned)area at the bottom, where there must have been a label at some point (this canpossibly be removed, but I didn\'t attempt to do so). There are no annotations,marginalia, underlining, highlighting, or other human-made markings anywhere onthe paper item, nor any major flaws or damage in the way of missing or clippedbits / areas, tape repairs, water or other liquid stains, large tears, etc. Thevisitor\'s guide has neither a musty nor smoky odor.

This folding map and visitor\'s guide to New York City, afacsimile of a guide to the 1939-40 World\'s Fair in Flushing, Queens, is beingsold AS IS, AS DESCRIBED ABOVE AND PICTURED WITHIN. I am setting what Ifeel is a very reasonable starting price for the sale, and there is . I am also including a Buy It Now price.

Shipping and handling for the printed item, which willbe sent in a rigid mailer: $4.50 to U.S. addresses (via Media Mail).

Note that has now instituted a shipping programwhereby buyers from outside the U.S. can offer on all sellers\' items, and theseller sends everything to an facility in the U.S. for shipping. So far,this seems to be working out well.

If you want this paper item sent more quickly toyou (e.g., via Priority Mail in the U.S.), you must request this asapafter winning or buying it (or beforehand, if possible), and I will adjust theamount accordingly.

I will do my best to send this later facsimile of a 1939-40New York City visitor\'s guide from the Fifth Avenue Coach Company out to you nomore than 2-3 business days following receipt of payment (that is, when informs me that your payment has been posted to or otherwise cleared in myaccount).

If you are the winner or buyer of this item, PAYMENT ISEXPECTED WITHIN ONE WEEK (7 DAYS) FROM THE PURCHASE DATE. If you cannot paywithin this time frame, PLEASE contact me asap so we can work something out.I\'m very flexible and understanding, but I would appreciate communication fromyou one way or another.

PLEASE NOTE THAT RETURNS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED NOR REFUNDSMADE FOR THIS PAPER ITEM, SO PLEASE READ MY DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY, LOOK CLOSELYAT THE PHOTOGRAPHS I’VE UPLOADED, AND ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUTTHE CONTENTS OR CONDITION OF THE BROCHURE AND MAP. THANKS FOR YOURUNDERSTANDING!

Thanks for looking, and please don\'t hesitate to email meif you have any questions about this visitor\'s guide to New York City fromthe Fifth Avenue Coach Company.

PLEASE NOTE THAT, IF POSSIBLE, I WILL HAPPILY ADJUSTSHIPPING CHARGES FOR MULTIPLE PURCHASES!!! (THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO SALES FROMOUTSIDE THE U.S. AT THIS TIME.)

ALSO, NOTE THAT, IF APPLICABLE, WILL ADD ANYAPPROPRIATE STATE SALES TAX TO THE INVOICE.