On 6/22/2014 12:51 PM, trader_4 wrote:
....

But.... What we don't know is if the original length was a standard
close nipple or a length cut to make it fit. If it's standard, they
got mighty lucky..... That sucker has to be pretty close to the right
size to get the tailpiece vertical.

Of course it does (have to be the right length, that is), but given a
union plumber in NYC in the 40s or 50s, what's to think he didn't have
the whole shop set up at the time and did it all onsite? I'm guessing
altho afair OP hasn't said that this must be a multi-story brownstone or
something similar -- otherwise the stack pipe would likely not be 3",
either if were single-family dwelling.

The curious thing is how it's assembled from the sink to manage to get
the tailpiece into the trap...there's got to be a slip joint there or
it'll be a real trick...

But, I'm presuming the guy who did it can measure...it would surely have
been nice if our OP had put a ruler or some other fixed-size object in
there when took the picture...

--