☞ REMEMBER: Grocery Store No. 645

This famous photo by Aaron Siskind (who documented everyday Harlem) in the 1930's shows a typical store front of the period in Central Harlem but look at all the character. The hand-painted signs advertising milk for six cents and the Pepsi Cola ad with the funky vintage bottle. Too bad Pepsi went all modern for the the old bottle was pretty cool. The contrast tile on the facade of the store is also a thing of beauty. Any store owner would be proud to have this shop today. We will update this post, later in the day, with a current photo of the store facade as it stands now, but in the meantime, who can guess what avenue and intersection this is at? Click on photo to enlarge.

The answer, Lenox Avenue, is correct! The building is between 142nd and 143rd Street and the store that stands there now seems to have been shuttered since it is never open. Notice also the sculptural doorway corbel detail to the left of the shop has been replaced by flat brick. It must have been pretty charming this far up Lenox before they tore down most of the east side of the street and replaced it with public housing. The store is caddy corner to where the Savoy Ballroom used to stand before it was razed.