# Nero Wolfe New York Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** theater-stage-dance\ **Created:** [March 17, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954 "2024-03-17T19:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/1 "2024-03-17T19:35:29Z")
I hope native New Yorkers can help me here. In Some Buried Caesar, Archies note of a conman-" _was an individual who should not have been there, since the proper environment for that type is bounded by 42nd and 96th streets to the North and South, and Lexington avenue and Broadway to the east and west. In their habitat they don’t look bad, in fact they help a lot in maintaining the tone, but out in the country like that, still wearing a Crawnley town suit…"_ What’s special or different about that area? What the heck is a “Crawnley town suit.”? I re-read the whole series more or less yearly, and this has always bugged me. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/2 "2024-03-17T19:45:17Z")
The district described is the touristry area with Time Square, most of the Theatres, Central Park and a lot of Museums. So a lot of marks/rubes/tourists for a conman. I have never heard the term Crawnley, are you sure that is the spelling? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/3 "2024-03-17T19:47:43Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I have never heard the term Crawnley, are you sure that is the spelling? Yes. But Stout does make things up sometimes, like the gun companies and Autos. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/4 "2024-03-17T19:49:51Z")
Maybe an older (and more authentic) New Yorker can help you. I was born in the City, but I’m a Jersey guy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/5 "2024-03-17T19:55:41Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Maybe an older (and more authentic) New Yorker can help you. The book was written in 1938, so… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/6 "2024-03-17T20:16:16Z")
I took the clothing description to mean he was dressed for the city, not the country. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/7 "2024-03-17T20:37:02Z")
There is no mention of that tailor outside of the book, so my best (uneducated) guess is that it is a fictionalized version of Crawley. BTW, have you ever looked at [nerowolfedatabase.com](http://nerowolfedatabase.com) ? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/8 "2024-03-18T01:50:56Z")
You could well be right. as to the link- # 404 Web Site not found. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/9 "2024-03-18T02:18:06Z")
The linked worked for me, but only because I went to it through Google. Here’s a note about the passage > Archie describes Bronson, who was overdressed in his opinion, as he arrived at the Pratt ranch. A Crawnley suit would be more appropriate for a dandy in town rather than a comparatively well-dressed man in the countryside. According to [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com), the term “Crawnley suit” appears on Page 9 of the 12/27/1939 edition of the Camden, NJ _Courier Post._ I don’t subscriber to [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com), so you’re on your own. [Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey - Newspapers.com™](https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/446290254/) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/10 "2024-03-18T02:31:11Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > According to [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com), the term “Crawnley suit” appears on Page 9 of the 12/27/1939 edition of the Camden, NJ _Courier Post._ I don’t subscriber to [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com), so you’re on your own. This chronological list of Nero Wolfe stories indicates that “Some Buried Caesar” (which appears to be the story you’re quoting, based on your OP) was first published (in abridged form) in _American Magazine_, in the December 1938 issue; the Wikipedia article for the story says that it was then published as a novel in February of 1939. Given the date of that newspaper article in December of '39, it might be a reprint (or a quote in a review) of the Wolfe story. > **[Chronological listing of Nero Wolfe Books by publication date](https://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/corpus/corpus_chronological.htm)** > > Chronological listing of Nero Wolfe Books by publication date > **[Some Buried Caesar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_Buried_Caesar)** > > Some Buried Caesar is a detective novel by American writer Rex Stout, the sixth book featuring his character Nero Wolfe. The story first appeared in abridged form in The American Magazine (December 1938), under the title "The Red Bull", it was first published as a novel by Farrar & Rinehart in 1939. In 2000 it was included in the list of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. > We sat, the nephew and niece looking worried, Lily Rowan yawning, ... ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/11 "2024-03-18T02:56:29Z")
IMHO, this is one of the very best Wolfe books. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/12 "2024-03-18T03:03:52Z")
Not a native New Yorker, but I’ve lived in the city and suburbs for 37 years. Part of the neighborhood that he describes is the Upper East Side, [Upper East Side - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_East_Side) It’s known for being a stuffy enclave of the rich, including families that have been wealthy for generations. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/13 "2024-03-18T03:26:18Z")
I, Nero Wolfe fan and [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com) subscriber, come to the rescue. And… I got nothing. I found two hits for Crawnley suit in the Camden newspaper. Both of them are for a serialization of _Some Buried Caesar_. How a writer as big as Stout could only have a serialization in exactly one newspaper is as perplexing as what a Crawnley suit might be. I guess Stout just thought that Crawnley was a classy British-sounding name for an expensive suit. Crawnley. Crawnley, Crawnley, Crawnley. Wish I had a Crawnley suit. But not a pitchfork through it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/14 "2024-03-19T22:56:35Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Not a native New Yorker, but I’ve lived in the city and suburbs for 37 years. > Part of the neighborhood that he describes is the Upper East Side, [Upper East Side - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_East_Side) > It’s known for being a stuffy enclave of the rich, including families that have been wealthy for generations. Upper West Side ain’t so shabby, either. From Wikipedia - " Like the [Upper East Side](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_East_Side) opposite Central Park, the Upper West Side is an affluent, primarily residential area" There are some very nice places along the park. It’s also where [Dana Barrett](https://ghostbusters.fandom.com/wiki/Dana_Barrett) lived ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/15 "2024-03-20T03:36:50Z")
The Upper West Side is one of my favorite NYC neighborhoods. I consider myself lucky to have lived there 6 years and find it much more relaxed than the Upper East. There are lots of stories about the “never the twain shall meet” divide between the Upper East and Upper West, even though it’s just Central Park between the 2 of them. The story below, from March 10’s NY Times Metropolitan Diary, is just 1 example: ## Tangled Up Dear Diary: I was walking past [Zabar’s](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/nyregion/zabars-grocery-store.html) [on the Upper West Side] on a sunny spring day when I got tangled up in a small dog’s leash. The owner apologized profusely, although she needn’t have worried. It only took a moment for me to free myself. “What has happened to the Upper West Side?” the woman said, making small talk. “I haven’t been here in years. It’s so different than I remember it.” “Oh,” I said, “where are you from?” “The Upper East Side,” she said. _— Peggy Lamb_ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/16 "2024-03-20T05:19:56Z")
Thank you all the New Yorkers, and others. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/17 "2024-03-20T05:39:57Z")
I have to put in a plug for Kansas here, Rex Stout, who wrote the books, graduated from high school here in Topeka, from Topeka High School. The current school building is fantastic but not built until the 30’s, so Stout would not have been in that buiilding, although my mother was(1950) I read the Wikipedia article about Stout, and he seems to have had a very interesting life ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nero-wolfe-new-york-question/998954/18 "2024-03-20T06:27:35Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > There are lots of stories about the “never the twain shall meet” divide between the Upper East and Upper West, even though it’s just Central Park between the 2 of them. I have lived in more than one town that was smaller than Central Park.