A building demolition near Grand Central Terminal revealed this old advertisement for Sozodont. Sozodont was a brand name for toothpaste and tooth powder products popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Sozodont Revealed
I have never seen a building demolition in person, but I would like to. As far as I know there is no publicly available schedule of building demolitions in NYC. Notices of intent to tear down buildings are publicly posted but details of precisely when the teardown would occur are not, at least as far as I’ve been able to tell.
On a building by building basis it is probably possible to contact the companies involved and ask when they plan to blow up a particular structure. But I would be more interested in a comprehensive calendar of all scheduled demolitions.
In the 19th century Sozodont advertised using short poems and illustrations, which was not an uncommon format back then. Here is one I dug up at Newspapers.com, from From “The Inter Ocean” newspaper published in Chicago on December 18, 1887.
Sewing on Some Buttons. SOZODONT.
Sewing on Some Buttons.
With tiny boot upon her hand.
Intent on work I found her.
All quiet in the arbor’s shade,
Her implements around her.
How tiny’twas—that little boot!
As small as Dollie Dutton’s.
My footstep heard, she blushed and said,
“I’m sewing on some buttons.”
Those dazzling teeth, that fragrant breath
My conscience quickly quiet!
‘Twas SOZODONT that lent those charms-
Each maiden should apply it.
Begin Early in Life
To cleanse the teeth with SOZODONT, and you will be repaid in maturer years and
very probably in age, by the possession of sound molars and incisors, which will give you a more youthful look than you would otherwise have, and enable you to chew without incurring the penalty of a toothache. And when you have children, use the same fragrant preparation and they will have ample cause to be grateful to you Don’t omit it for a single day.
