A Bespoke reader mentioned that some old painted advertisement had been revealed during the demolition process of the parking lot by 122nd and FDB. The hand painted circular signage is actually for Bloomingdales with a faint capital B still visible at center. This is rather interesting since this uptown address would be quite distance to the 59th Street location but the express train at 125th Street is only one stop away from that part of midtown albeit on the west side. Crosstown horse trolleys would probably traverse the distance to the east side and thus make the famous department store accessible for Harlem residents.
It's hard to read the details of the sign, but I wonder if this is not "the" Bloomindale's but another business--after all, it's not so far from the neighborhood that was called Bloomingdale in the nineteenth century...and of course, "the" Bloomingdale's was always where it is now. Can anyone date the building? Pre-subway?
ReplyDeleteSeen up close, the address is consistent with that in a better-preserved painted ad, on Lexington Ave.; this newly uncovered ad seems to be for the famous department store. To its left is a fragmentary ad that I recognized only because its subject was so heavily promoted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Fletcher's Castoria.
ReplyDeleteI've posted additional photos on my own website, Eating In Translation, and will add the link in a subsequent comment.