☞ WALK: West 147th Street Building Signs

Discovering old signage painted on buildings is always an interesting historical find. When we looked at P.S. 90 this past weekend, we ran into these triptych of advertising for Omega Oil on the sides of the buildings on West 147th Street between ACP/7th Avenue and Malcolm X/6th Avenue. Guessing from the look of the ads, they seem to be at least from the 1920's since the lettering still has a curvilinear nature to it. Another clue: a trial bottle was 10 cents.

These painted signs, which appeared throughout the city (including 67th Street and Broadway), were the brainchild of nineteenth-century advertising executive Michael Wineburgh, founder of the Omega Oil Company and a Harlem resident as the original owner of the Mt. Morris Park townhouse at 216 W. 122nd Street. For those who are interested in seeing his handiwork, the nearest train to the three giant panels is the A,B,C,D on 145th Street or the 3 train on 148th.