Invitation
- Description
- Invitation to "Rose and Bernie's 50th Wedding Anniversary" on April 5, 1980, at Windows on the World. The front of the invitation includes a black-and-white photograph of Rose and Bernie from 1930. Inside the card, the text reads: "It's Rose and Bernie's 50th Wedding Anniversary! | Please join us in toasting the day | at a Champagne Brunch | On Saturday, April 5th, at 12 'clock | Windows on the World | 1 World Trade Center, New York | 107th Floor."
- Historical Notes
- Rose and Bernie Pidto were married in 1930 and celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1980. Their children planned a celebration for their parents at Windows on the World. The restaurant had opened in April 1976 and quickly became “one of the most talked-about restaurants in New York.” Although invitations, including the one offered to the Museum, were mailed to family and friends, the party was canceled due to Bernie’s ill health.
An invitation to a party at the famous restaurant indicated to the donor, and likely other guests as well, that the couple had “made it in America.” Bernie was born in 1907 in Okropna, a town thought to be in modern-day Poland. Orphaned at a young age and without many financial resources, he was sent to New York at the age of nine. In time, he put himself through night school and showed an entrepreneurial sensibility. Rose was born in 1908 in Warsaw, Poland. While in America, she worked as a bookkeeper for a cousin's decorating and design company. The couple met on a trolley car, raised their family in Brooklyn, and later retired to New Jersey.
Curator's Comment
Located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, Windows on the World opened in the spring of 1976. New York magazine marked the restaurant’s debut on its May 1976 cover with a headline declaring it “The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World.” A team of celebrity chefs helped devise menus for the eatery, which featured not only a 300-seat restaurant but also a bar, wine cellar, more intimate dining areas, and private banquet rooms and meeting spaces for hire. With floor-to-ceiling windows, larger than their counterparts elsewhere in the Twin Towers, the multilevel restaurant offered diners stunning panoramic views of New York City and beyond. Tourists and locals alike lined up to reserve their dining adventure in the clouds. Entering 1993, WOW (its popular nickname) was one of the country’s highest-grossing restaurants.
After the February 26, 1993, bombing of the World Trade Center, the restaurant closed for cleaning and major renovations. It reopened in 1996 under new management. The iconic dining establishment in the sky was destroyed in the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Seventy-two staff members were killed that day along with the breakfast guests and conference goers they were serving.
After the February 26, 1993, bombing of the World Trade Center, the restaurant closed for cleaning and major renovations. It reopened in 1996 under new management. The iconic dining establishment in the sky was destroyed in the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Seventy-two staff members were killed that day along with the breakfast guests and conference goers they were serving.
- Accession Number: C.2020.44.1
- Dimensions: 6.5 in X 5 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 16.51 cm X 12.7 cm
- Source: Marcia Weisser
- Credit Line: Gift of Marcia C. Weisser
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