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Antiques to Now - It's Only Here

Newel Art Galleries
Est. 1939

1939

Meyer Newman creates Newel Art Galleries as a place for Broadway producers to rent furniture and props to use in their theater productions. Meyer Newman took 20 antiques from his personal home and displayed them on a table in an empty store on 47th Street and Second Avenue. 

1940s

Meyer Newman hired a picker who would collect discarded furniture from various tenants on the Upper East Side.  

LET THE SHOW BEGIN!
1940-1960s

1940-1980s

Newel furnishes many Broadway plays and becomes a well known prop shop. (Pictured: Newel Art Galleries featured in the My Fair Lady Playbill credits, 1941)

PRODUCTION: ANGEL STREET (1942), THE KING AND I (1951), THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1959), LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (1983)

1950s

Newel became the main prop source for budding television. During this time, productions were programmed live and filmed in New York City.

PRODUCTION: US STEEL HOUR (1953-1963) YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS (1950-1954)

CHANGE IS COMING
1970s

1972

Meyer Newman passes away at the age of 70 years 

PRODUCTION: THE GODFATHER (1972, 1974, 1990)

1975

Bruce Newman, Meyer’s son, inherits Newel and becomes the new CEO.

PRODUCTION: ALL MY CHILDREN (1970-2011), SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1975 - TODAY)

1977

Newel moves to 425 E 53rd Street. This is the first time all the inventory is stored under the same roof.

PRODUCTION: CHINATOWN (1974), ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)

1977-2015

Newel Art Galleries at 425 E 53rd Street. A six-story building where each floor represented a different time period.

PRODUCTION: THE WIZ (1978), ALL THAT JAZZ (1979)

THE LEGENDARY AD CAMPAIGN
1980s

1981

Newel begins their print advertising campaign. Each ad depicted a single object positioned on a black background with a witty tag-line. (Pictured: An example of a Newel advertisement featured in Architectural Digest)

PRODUCTION: REDS (1981), RAGTIME (1981)

1980-1990s

Newel receives various awards and recognition for their exceptional ad campaign (Pictured: An article in Avenue Magazine praising Newel ads, 1991)

PRODUCTION: THE COTTON CLUB (1984), RADIO DAYS (1987)

THE DIGITAL AGE
1990 - 2000

1998

Newel enters the digital world and creates www.newel.com. At this time, Newel was the first antiques dealer to disclose descriptions, images, measurements, and prices on the web.

PRODUCTION: LAW AND ORDER (1990 - TODAY), THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)

2000

Forbes names the Newel website “Best of the Web”

PRODUCTION: SEX AND THE CITY (1998 - 2004), SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999)

NEWEL EXPANDS
2000-2015

2001

Lewis Baer, Meyer’s grandson, purchases the company from his uncle Bruce Newman and is named the new CEO of Newel.

PRODUCTION: HITCH (2005), GOSSIP GIRL (2007-2012)

2004

New York State introduces tax credits for productions being produced in NY.  As a result, many television shows and movies began filming in NY and Newel became a leading prop source for such productions

PRODUCTION: LAWS OF ATTRACTION (2004), OCEANS TWELVE (2004), THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004), THE STEPFORD WIVES (2004)

2015

Newel sells 425 E 53rd and moves into a 55,000 sq ft. warehouse in Long Island City and opens up a 10,000 sq ft. sales showroom in Manhattan on 306 East 61st.

PRODUCTION: BOARDWALK EMPIRE (2010-2014), JOHN WICK (2014, 2017, 2019)

THE BIRTH OF NEWEL PROPS
2016-2019

2016

Jake Baer, Lewis’s son, becomes the new CEO of the Newel company.

PRODUCTION: THE AMERICANS (2013 - 2018), MADAM SECRETARY (2014-2019)

2016

Newel Props is officially founded. The birth of Newel Props marks the official separation of the rental business from the selling business. 

PRODUCTION: BILLIONS (2016 - TODAY), THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (2018)

2019

Newel opens a third location at the 1st Dibs gallery located in the Terminal Stores building at 269 11th Avenue.

PRODUCTION: KNIVES OUT (2019), SUCCESSION (2019 - TODAY)

TO BE CONTINUED...
2020