ROTHMAN'S PAWN SHOP
149 Eighth Avenue
MAY 18, 1938. ABBOTT FILE 297

Stuyvesant Curiosity Shop, discarded image

During the depression, New York City was home to 135 pawnshops and claimed more than half the nation's pawnbroking business. Like peddling, pawnbroking catered to the poor and was subject to strict regulation. Abbott was drawn to the attention-grabbing storefronts of pawnbrokers, with their profusion of merchandise and hard-sell advertisements. She photographed two: the Stuyvesant Curiosity Shop on the Lower East Side and "Uncle" Rothman's in Chelsea. For both, she exposed several negatives, attempting to capture passersby intently window-shopping. Abbott succeeded with Rothman's and discarded the earlier photograph of the Curiosity Shop.

Rothman's remained on Eighth Avenue until the 1960s. Heavily remodeled, the building now houses the Food Bar, a chic restaurant catering to Chelsea's gentifried populace.

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