The Metropolitan Museum of Art is discontinuing its colorful metal admission buttons. From subway tokens to Checker cabs, see the city’s bygone treasures.
10 Lost Symbols of New York
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The New York cousin of London’s capacious black taxi, the Checker Cab was the people’s limousine for more than a quarter century. While the Checker Motors Corporation made many vehicles that were used as taxis, it was the A8/Marathon, introduced in 1956, that became a symbol of the city. (The logo for the sitcom Taxi borrowed the iconic checker pattern and most of Sunshine Cab Company’s fleet was made up of Checkers.) With its roomy interior, including the two jump seats prized by children, the Checker could easily hold five passengers in the back—even if it wasn’t the most comfortable ride. The final Marathon rolled off the assembly line in 1982 and the last Checker Cab turned off its meter for good 17 years later. Every once in a while you can still see an old Marathon—no longer painted yellow—cruising the city’s streets, and invariably an older New Yorker will point it out to a younger companion, offering the Checker a final hail and farewell.
