70 years ago in The Villager

Nov. 8, 1934

* The Villager was getting ready to mark the 102nd anniversary on Nov. 14 of the “world’s first street car” being introduced in the Village. Described as the “first horse-car known to man,” it was pulled by horses on a single track that ran from Prince to 14th St.

* Elaborate funeral services were held the previous Tuesday for Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, 73, former chancellor of New York University, who died at his home at 52 Gramercy Park N. He had been N.Y.U. president for 22 years, “and under him the institution attained international prominence,” the paper reported.

* On the 48th anniversary of The Katz Shoe Store, 470 Sixth Ave., Mandel Katz asserted that Village women’s average shoe size had grown from a 5 to a 6 1/2 over the last 10 years — because of women’s busy lives and active careers, causing their feet to enlarge. “Don’t mistake me, though,” Mr. Katz said. “Villagers don’t have bigger feet than people elsewhere. The American foot has grown larger, records show.”