The previous pages were a slightly mind-bending magazine experiment to rebuild a “Strategist” from 1968. Of course, 2008 can’t help but slide in a bit; our “Look Book” couple are meticulously decked out models, and the “interview” was constructed from lines taken from our magazine that year. Other elements are unadulterated ’68. Everything on the “Best Bets” page, for example, is faithful to the year, and much is still available. Other pieces are long gone (as is pretty much every place we mentioned on the “Nightlife” map). Below, a list of where to get what remains, or at least a contemporary counterpart.
Best Bet
Find a modern version of the red plastic chair at the Conran Shop ($195; 407 E. 59th St., at First Ave.; 212-755-9079).
Best Bets
The Ouija is as ready as ever to soothsay ($26 at West Side Kids, 498 Amsterdam Ave., at 84th St.; 212-496-7282).
Eterna 27’s age-defying formula is still being whipped and bottled ($16 at Walgreens, 20 Astor Pl., at Lafayette St.; 212-375-0734).
An updated Shindo-Garrard 301 rivals modern turntables for sound quality, but runs $21,500 at In Living Sound (13 E. 4th St., nr. Lafayette St.; 212-979-1273). A brand new VPI HR-X is $9,500 at Sound by Singer (18 E. 16th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-924-8600).
Good-bye, Campbell’s Manhandler; hello, Campbell’s Chunky ($3.19 at Morton Williams, 225 W. 57th St., nr. Broadway; 212-586-7750).
That red Royal, an aesthetic grandparent to the Mac, can’t be found locally. But Ugly Luggage regularly stocks vintage typewriters for around $50 (214 Bedford Ave., nr. N. 5th St., Williamsburg; 718-384-0724).
The original Joe Colombo lamp is available at Tom Thomas for $4,800 (318 E. 59th St., nr. Second Ave.; 212-688-6100), but Design Within Reach’s red Leaf light costs far less ($499; 903 Broadway, at 20th St.; 212-477-1155).
The pink Blackberry Pearl is as sleek and simple as the Trimline was then ($369 at Verizon Wireless, 1095 Sixth Ave., at 42nd St.; 646-366-9121).
At $495, Jonathan Adler’s black-and-brass sunburst mirror ($495; 47 Greene St., nr. Broome St.; 212-941-8950) is a fraction of Curtis Jere’s contemporary price ($4,200 at Mondo Cane, 174 Duane St., nr. Hudson St.; 212-219-9244).
A vintage BOAC satchel is impossible to find, but Marc by Marc Jacobs is currently stocking similar Pan Am bags ($48; 385 Bleecker St., at Perry St.; 212-924-6126).
Philips Norelco’s newest electric shaver has three heads to 1968’s two ($250 at Bed Bath & Beyond, 270 Greenwich St., nr. Warren St.; 212-233-8450).
Logitech’s “Cordless Air Mouse” shows how far we’ve come from the X-Y Positioner ($150; logitech.com).
Movie Star News still sells illustrator Eryk Lipinski’s Planet of the Apes poster ($13; 134 W. 18th St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 212-620-8160).
The Canon PowerShot SD1000 embodies the Instamatic’s ease and functionality ($249 at Best Buy, 1880 Broadway, at 62nd St.; 212-246-9734).
Compare the tiny Olympus VN-4100 voice recorder to that GE cassette player ($60 at Circuit City, 2232 Broadway, at 80th St.; 212-362-9850).
The Ikea Johan desk will appeal to those who love Sottsass’s “Nefertiti” ($119, 1000 Ikea Dr., Elizabeth, N.J.; 908-289-4488).
CorningWare is still well-priced and durable (seventeen-piece set, $60 at Target, 139 Flatbush Ave., at Atlantic Ave., Downtown Brooklyn; 718-290-1109).
Less political than the Vietnam-map edition, but still a Zippo (from $20 at Lafayette Smoke Shop, 63 Spring St., at Lafayette St.; 212-226-3475).
The Frisbee lives on ($8 at City Sports, 395 Fifth Ave., at 36th St.; 212-695-0171).
Maharam still sells Alexander Girard’s original checker-split fabric design ($110 per yard at Maharam at Moss, 146 Greene St., nr. Prince St.; 212-334-7222).
Look Book
Although the pieces our urbane young couple is wearing came from Amarcord (242 Wythe Ave., nr. N. 3rd St., Studio 8–9, Williamsburg; 718-388-2884; prices upon request), we’ve also assembled a list of contemporary resources for similar items.
SHE
Gold scarf by Frank & Kahn ($95 at Henri Bendel, 712 Fifth Ave., nr. 56th St.; 212-247-1100).
Coach Legacy Thompson bag ($798; 595 Madison Ave., at 57th St.; 212-754-0041).
Emilio Pucci dress ($2,460; 24 E. 64th St., nr. Madison Ave.; 212-752-4777).
Fur coat by Dennis Basso (price upon request; 765 Madison Ave., nr. 66th St.; 212-794-4500).
Gladiator sandals by Matt Bernson ($170 at Coclico, 275 Mott St., nr. Houston St.; 212-965-5462).
HE
Solid white casual button-down by Gap ($39.50; multiple locations, go to gap.com).
Scarf by Etro ($300; 720 Madison Ave., nr. 64th St.; 212-317-9096).
Distressed-leather roller buckle belt by J. Crew ($52; multiple locations, go to jcrew.com).
Leather vests (from $100) and jackets (from $300) are frequently in stock during the cold months at What Comes Around Goes Around (351 W. Broadway, nr. Broome St.; 212-343-9303).
Custom-made multicolor-striped pants (from $700 at Duca Sartoria, 425 Madison Ave., nr. 49th St., Ste. 1903; 212-582-3225).
Chelsea boot by J.M. Weston ($875; 812 Madison Ave., at 68th St.; 212-535-2100).
Food
What would be the contemporary equivalent of Orsini’s, which closed in 1984? Adam Platt says, “Snooty French restaurants are mostly a thing of the past in 2008 New York. But should you wither before the haut snobbisme of the Greenmarket grandees, say, at Per Se, the place to go for theatrical people-watching in a moderately relaxed, even cozy, setting is Da Silvano (260 Sixth Ave., nr. Bleecker St.; 212-982-2343). Golda Meir has long since passed from the scene, but there’s a chance you might glimpse Ms. Bergen hunched in one of Silvano Marchetto’s back-corner tables, next to Jessica Simpson. Garlicky baked clams don’t cost $2.75 anymore, but for $19.50 you can get a moderately fine bowl of taglierini with artichokes. And the pasta sauces, as far as we know, are rarely frozen.”
Recipe
That La Grenouille’s soufflé is still the best in town has less to do with the fact that the competition—La Caravelle, Lutèce, La Côte Basque—has been dropping like flies and more to do with the fact that Charles Masson fils holds to his father’s original recipe (down to the gram) as if it were a sacred text. “Pastry is all about exactitude,” he is still saying, from the same restaurant his father opened in 1962.
Real Estate
MOVERS
Jerry Herman sold the carriage house on West 10th Street, in 1976, to Albert Augustine, whose descendents sold it to manager and producer David Sonenberg and his wife, Shelley, in 2006, for $5.3 million.
RECENT SALES AND RENTALS (2008 PRICES)
➽ 124 E. 80th St.,$12.5 million.
➽ Park Ave. rental,$24,900 per month.
➽ 1160 Park Ave.,$2.95 million.
➽ 535 Broadway, $11.87 million.
➽ West Seventies rental, $5,500 per month.
➽ Greenwich St. loft, $1.56 million.
➽ Upper West Side co-op, $2.995 million (monthly maintenance: $1,500 to $2,000).
➽ 120 E. 37th St., $6.03 million.
➽ Four-room Mitchell-Lama apartment, $1,000 (if still under the program), $3,500 (post-deregulation).
➽ 254 E. 4th St., $14.45 million.
➽ 9 E. 68th St., $8.85 million.
➽ 196 Berkeley Pl., $2.35 million.
➽ President St. rental, $2,400 per month.
➽ 205 Berkeley Pl., $2.35 million.
➽ 1126 E. 88th St., $407,000.
Beauty
Elizabeth Arden is still in the same location (691 Fifth Ave., at 54th St.; 212-546-0200). Same for Ray Beauty Supply (721 Eighth Ave., nr. 45th St.; 800-253-0993), and you can still buy Vogue-brand fake eyelashes ($2.65 for a box of two). Kenneth Salon has moved from Kenneth’s townhouse to a slightly loftier locale: the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (301 Park Ave., at 49th St.; 212-752-1800). And the Sassoon Salon ($98 to $165) now has two locations: the Crown Building (730 Fifth Ave., nr. 57th St.; 212-535-9200) and 32 West 18th Street (nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-229-2200). The Doctors Hospital building was shuttered in 2004 and is currently being rebuilt as luxury condos designed by Peter Magrino Architect.
Nightlife
Some entries on our “Nightlife” map were inspired by, if not completely lifted from, the 1967 book The New York Spy, edited by Alan Rinzler. It’s a brilliant, joyful out-of-print read whose contributors include Tom Wolfe, Nora Ephron, Leo Lerman, and Henry Geldzahler; there are copies currently on Amazon.com for under $10.
Great Room
Design editor Wendy Goodman scouted exhaustively to find a still-extant, flawlessly maintained, never-before-photographed sixties New York home (there are more candidates than you might think). The Fifth Avenue apartment that made the cut technically defies our 1968 mandate, since the owners moved there in the mid-seventies from East 66th Street. But they, along with decorator Timothy Macdonald, retained many design elements from that apartment, which had been done by Paul Rudolph (the mirror window treatments) and François Catroux (the aubergine walls) in 1968. In the intervening years, the essential spirit hasn’t changed, although Dana Nicholson has refreshed the décor several times, including (sadly, for our purposes) removing the original shag carpet.