Mrs. Gunn's Diary: Jan. 16, 1942

She enjoys a girls' weekend in the Big Apple, including a Broadway play

Mrs. Gunn and two girlfriends left Union Station this morning for a long weekend in New York City. “We found it very cold in N.Y. — 12 degrees above and a very sharp wind,” she wrote. It didn’t seem to hold them back. They stayed at the Hotel Pennsylvania and on Friday afternoon went to Radio City Music Hall and then to see a Noel Coward play, Blithe Spirit, before calling it a night.

Paid subscribers can read the details of their visit I have fleshed out using newspaper archives and historic postcards. Some of their destinations, alas, are gone, including the Hotel Pennsylvania and the original, magnificent Pennsylvania Station, which covered six city blocks. Click below to upgrade to paid.

The vintage 1940s postcard of Penn Station is being offered by a dealer on eBay.