Yet another mind-blowing cutaway from master illustrator Frank Soltesz. Few people realize that half of a department store is devoted to areas they never see. Behind the familiar counter and displays are large areas used for stockrooms and other services that supply the selling floors out front. there is a fur vault, complete bake shop,… Continue reading Fantastic Department Store Cutaway, 1950s
Category: Commercial Buildings
Cutaway drawings of stores, hotels, factories, plants, etc.
Idlewild (JFK) Airport Air Traffic Control Tower, 1952
Originally called Idlewild Airport, it was renamed JFK Airport in 1963, after the President’s assassination. This workman-like, competent but hardly spectacular cutaway illustration by Sloane shows the 11-story so-called “supertower” that allowed air traffic controllers in the early Fifties to track and guide up to 1,000 aircraft a day (real capacity was likely much less).… Continue reading Idlewild (JFK) Airport Air Traffic Control Tower, 1952
Atomic-Powered Heating System for Building, 1952
This was real, not Fifties fantasy: a building heated by atomic energy. Appropriately enough, the building, located in Harwell, England, was the center for that nation’s atomic research. Waste heat from the nicknamed “Bepo,” one of the atomic piles, was diverted to heat the 330,000 cubic foot/80 office building. The system cost $42,000, but it… Continue reading Atomic-Powered Heating System for Building, 1952
Radio City Music Hall Cutaway, 1930
When this cutaway first appeared, the intended structure was still called the International Music Hall, as part of Rockefeller Center, New York, NY. Later, it became known as Radio City Music Hall. Quite a juicy early Thirties two-color cutaway spread across two pages. I tried my best to mate the two pages, and I got… Continue reading Radio City Music Hall Cutaway, 1930
Elevator-Style Garage Car Park Cutaway, 1920
Elevator-style car parks were still quite a novelty when this cutaway was published in 1920. The garage shown could hold 6x the number of cars that a comparable, ordinary garage could hold. This garage was basically all elevators: 42 elevators that retained the cars during the stay rather than off-loading them. Each elevat0r could hold… Continue reading Elevator-Style Garage Car Park Cutaway, 1920