40 Wall Street the height of his project and then publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest building. (This distinction excluded structures that were not fully habitable, such as the Eiffel Tower.) Construction of 40 Wall Street began in May 1929 at a frantic pace, and it was completed twelve months later. In response, the Chrysler's architect William Van Alen obtained permission for a long spire and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of the building. The spire was delivered to the site in four different sections. On October 23, 1929, the day before the catastrophic Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Lays An Egg badly". "Variety" was noted for the slangy, breezy style of prose in its headlines and body text. Another famous headline in the paper was "Sticks Nix Hick Pix". According to author Ken Bloom, "Variety" publisher Sime Silverman wrote the headline. However, Robert John Landry, who worked at "Variety" for 50 years, including as managing editor, says it was written by "Variety" city editor Claude Binyon. The phrase is sometimes still used to invoke the Great Crash. For example, the sub-chapter describing the Crash in the 1973 book "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" is titled "Wall Street Lays An Egg",