Times Square Dim-Out
1944
James W. Kerr (1897 -1994)
Oil on canvas, 18 X 20
Signed lower left: James Wilfred Kerr. 1944.
Gift of the artist, 77.16.3

 

This evening scene of Times Square documents how blackout restrictions imposed an unusual, crepuscular glow on the Great White Way during World War II. Because New York City's normal nighttime light was intense enough to silhouette ships off Far Rockaway, heightening their vulnerability to German U-boat attack, security precautions included the unprecedented dimming of Times Square's "spectaculars," immense advertising signs girded in neon and colorful incandescent bulbs, which had been a hallmark of this entertainment crossroads for several decades.¹ The moving electric bulletins broadcast from New York Times headquarters at 43rd Street also went dark.

The temporary cessation of Times Square's famous "brighter-than-noon midnight" was part of a larger government action to curtail post-sunset use of electricity along the American East Coast. Times Square had been darkened to conserve electricity during World War I. However, the impact of World War II on this midtown section of New York City was especially pronounced, as many businesses closed, unable to meet costs. The sparkling marquees of theaters, movie palaces, and taxi dance halls were also subject to brown-outs, leaving as a standby light source the radiance filtering through the windows of street-level stores and restaurants.² As this painting by James Kerr demonstrates, the artificial glare projecting onto the dark sidewalks caused pedestrians' forms to be outlined in sharp relief, returning a degree of individuality to the human sea flowing by. Under these diminished conditions, the carnival character distinctive of 42nd Street and Broadway at nightfall also appears subdued, creating a mood of intimacy on the crowded concourse.

Despite the irregularities of wartime, Times Square persevered as a homefront panacea by virtue of its many-layered amusements.³ People continued to flock to 42nd Street, as they always had, although that traffic took on a new appearance. Women -alone, in pairs, and in groups -were seen in larger numbers than before military service had claimed their male contemporaries. The streets were also packed nightly with soldiers in uniforms representing all the countries war

ring against the Axis. A number of well-dressed women, self-assured in their high heels, can be distinguished in the promenade, some without escorts (such as the strolling figure clutching a purse who seems to move out of the painting's immediate foreground toward the viewer), others guided by sailors, soldiers, and civilians wearing homburgs. In a reminder of urban poverty oblivious to the hostilities overseas, an elderly beggar woman with a cane accepts a handout from a passerby. The younger blond standing alone near the storefront at left, clothed in a low-cut coat, calls to mind the impossibility of determining strangers' intentions in such a transient milieu as Times Square. Is she waiting for a tardy friend, or is she hoping to land a quick date for pay?

With a keen eye for period detail, Kerr has reproduced not only up-to-date street wear but also familiar signage, like the darkened Camel cigarette logo (far right) and a marquee (at left) announcing comic Henry ("Henny") Youngman as a featured performer. Another teaser band at the top of the painting, with a pearl-like string of lit bulbs underneath it, may represent the artist's sarcastic summation of the ongoing war: "Human Monsters Clash in Combat . . . Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man." Together with Shootin' Gallery, 1946 (fig. 25), and Broadway Sovenirs, 1946 (acc. no. 77.16.2), the Dim-Out is one of a trio of works by Kerr in the Museum's collection focused on the public culture and diversions of Times Square during the later 1940s.

Notes:

 1  The history of Times Square's signage, so iconic of New York City night life, was the subject of a special exhibition, Signs and Wonders: The Spectacular Lights of Times Square, at the New-York Historical Society, November 12, 1997 -March 8, 1998. For the impact of war-era dim-out regulations on the square's illuminated outdoor signs, see Tama Starr and Edward Hayman, "War and Peace," in Signs and Wonders: The Spectacular Marketing of America (New York: Doubleday Dell, Currency Books, 1998), pp. 132 -151.

  2  The Broadway Association, a vocal advocate for Times Square's businesses, argued for increased street lighting to counteract the negative economic impact of the larger blackout rules, pointing to newsreel evidence of London shops and theaters lit up except during air-raid warnings. The city, however, countered by asking for even more stringent electrical conservation, including the closing of all stores at eight in the evening. A prolonged debate followed, resolved only by the ending of the war. See Starr and Hayman, "War and Peace," pp. 134 -137.

  3  An excellent overview of the forces behind the area's distinctive nightlife and commercial character is provided in William R. Taylor, ed., Inventing Times Square: Commerce and Culture at the Crossroads of the World (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1992). The area's evolution as expressed through the lens of the New York Times, and its wartime aspect, are discussed in Meyer Berger, The Story of the New York Times, 1851 -1951 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1951).