• History

See Photos of Vintage New York Taxi Cabs

2 minute read

From horse-drawn carriages to today’s hybrid sedans, New Yorkers have long relied on cabs to get around town. But no cab is more ingrained in city lore than the boxy Checker. And it was on this day, June 18, 1923, that the first one was manufactured at the Checker Cab factory in Kalamazoo, Mich. By 1930, TIME was reporting that Checker would soon control a full 10% of all of the taxis in the nation.

An even higher percentage were Checkers by 1963, when TIME took a look at where they came from:

The roomy Checker cab, one of the few taxis left that passengers can climb into without awkward gymnastics, is a familiar sight on many U.S. streets; of the nation’s 135,000 taxicabs, some 35,000 are Checkers. Less familiar to the public and the financial world is the firm that makes them: closemouthed Checker Motors Corp. of Kalamazoo, Mich.

Separated from the Detroit automotive world by choice and philosophy, Checker is the nation’s smallest full-scale automaker. Last year it turned out 8,000 cars and, for the first time in a decade, showed an operating profit—$559,000 on sales of $23 million. Partly responsible for the profit is the fact that Checker has been doing a tidy business in selling souped-up dressed-up versions of its spartan, boxy cabs as family cars, stationwagons and limousines. The reason for their success (they now account for 40% of production), says Checker President Morris Markin with understandable prejudice, is that riding in many low-slung conventional cars nowadays is “like sitting in a bathtub.”

The good times couldn’t last. In 1982, the company stopped making taxis. It was the end of an era—but, as these photos show, it was just one of many.

All Hail New York Taxis: Gotham Cabs and Cabbies of the 1940s

A New York City doorman flags down a taxi for one of the residents of his building, 1944.
A New York City doorman flags down a taxi for one of the residents of his building, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene in New York City, 1944.
Scene in New York City, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene in New York City, 1944.
Scene in New York City, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Taxicabs line up for arriving train passengers at (the original) Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1944.
Taxicabs line up for arriving train passengers at (the original) Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
New York cabbies sporting their numbered Public Hack Driver badges, 1944.
New York cabbies sporting their numbered Public Hack Driver badges, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene in New York City, 1944.
Scene in New York City, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Taxi "hack stand," New York City, 1944.
Taxi "hack stand," New York City, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Train passengers wait to take taxi cabs outside (the original) Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1944.
Train passengers wait to take taxi cabs outside (the original) Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1944. William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Close-up of typical cab driver's report including locations and fares collected during his day's work; taxicab drivers lined up at company's garage to turn in money collected in fares during the day (right), New York City, 1944.
Close-up of typical cab driver's report including locations and fares collected during his day's work; taxicab drivers lined up at company's garage to turn in money collected in fares during the day (right), New York City, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Mechanics use a hoist to drop in the motor of a taxicab under repair at cab company's maintenance garage, NYC, 1944.
Mechanics use a hoist to drop in the motor of a taxicab under repair at cab company's maintenance garage, NYC, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Taxicabs on Park Avenue, NYC, 1944.
Taxicabs on Park Avenue, NYC, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene in New York City, 1944.
Scene in New York City, 1944.William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
1910 NYC Taxi Cab
View of a hansom cab, parked at the sidewalk, near Madison Square, New York, 1905. PhotoQuest—Getty Images
NYC Taxi Cab 1910
Woman passenger in a 1910 taxi cab, New York.National Motor Museum—Heritage Images/Getty Images
First Woman Taxi Driver in New York City
Miss Maude Odell, one of the first women taxi drivers in New York. She is cranking car (Hub Taxicab Corporation), 1923.Corbis
NYC Taxi Cab 1934
A new stream-lined taxi-cab in New York City in 1934. The new vehicle was roomier and more comfortable for passengers than earlier versions.Planet News Archive—SSPL/Getty Images
NYC Taxi Cab 1946
G.H. Brodie, Assistant to the President of Packard Motor Car Co.; Sam Abramson, President of Yale Taxi Co. in New York; and Robert King, President of Packard Federal Corp. (left to right), pictured with the first postwar taxi, in 1946. One of its features was fitting five forward-facing passengers without the usual "jump seats."Bettmann—Corbis
NYC Taxi Cabs 1954
Representative models of the three makes of autos which meet the new specifications for service as New York taxi cabs get a going-over by officials at the Police Division of Licenses Headquarters, July 15, 1954. Left to right, the new stock model small taxis expected to be on the streets by July 16th are: A Chevrolet, a Plymouth, and a Ford.Bettmann—Corbis
1960 NYC Taxi
Two women getting into the first British-built Austin taxi licensed in New York, 1960.Hulton Archive—Getty Images
NYC Taxi Cab 1970
Taxis are seen in mid-Manhattan, New York, Nov. 17, 1970. Marty Lederhandler—AP Photo
NYC Taxi Cab 1982
A checkered cab is pulled over on New York's Central Park South, May 4, 1982, right around the time that the Checkered Motor Co. announced it was going out of production. G. Paul Burnett—AP Photo
NYC Taxi Cab 1995
Taxis move through a traffic lane in New York City, 1995James Leynse—Corbis
2011 NYC Taxi
In 2011, the Taxi and Limousine Commission along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg annouced the Nissan NV200 has been chosen as the winner of the Taxi of Tomorrow competition and will become the City’s exclusive taxicab for a decade. City of New York—Getty Imagea

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com