New York Queen of Commerce : About
This show is no longer airing. You can access archives online.
The exchange, foot of Broad Street, 1893. (New York Public Library Digital Gallery)
Sponsored by the Department of Commerce and New York, this program makes economic history FUN!
Described by the host as "a new series of transcribed historic educational dramas" (1952-53), these shows reenact moments in New York's history of commerce with engrossing and odd flair.
Did you know, for example, that lower-class citizens in Europe were forbidden to wear furs until the beaver fur boom in New York increased inventories the world over? Or that New York's first Chamber of Commerce was founded at the Queenshead Tavern in 1768, making it the nation's oldest and a key player in the Revolutionary War?
With all the charm of a good story with none of the lying your friends usually do when they make stuff up to seem interesting, New York Queen of Commerce is hours of excellent trivia knowledge.