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1910s-1920s New York City Street Sign - East 113th St.

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Porcelain Signs452 of 996Enamel Sign cicra 1880 Standard Oil...love this sign!
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    Posted 9 years ago

    duhlancey
    (3 items)

    This is a fully porcelain street sign for the intersection of Lexington Avenue and East 113th Street in East Harlem that likely dates from the 1910s to 1920s. It needs a decent cleaning, which I have been considering how best to perform: one side is marred by a paint spill from decades ago, and the other has lost some of the bright glow that its blue porcelain should show (you can see a sliver poking out in the first picture). Its general condition is quite good, however, as there are few chips and no major missing portions of the sign. The white text is in quite good shape, and, once I've gotten the remainder of that residue off, it should look great.

    I think this sign is of particular interest for the fact that it shows an intersection that hasn't existed for more than 65 years. In 1948, the James Weldon Johnson housing project was built in East Harlem and East 113th St. was razed for a few blocks. Walking on Lexington at the spot today, one finds not just an absence of street signs but indeed an absence of any street at all! The sign is a remnant of East Harlem's original days, and a testament to the strength of porcelain enamel after likely one hundreds after its casting. It's even fallen, unfortunately but luckily, from an eight foot mount without a single chip or dent, which is more than can be said for most signs--or myself!

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    Comments

    1. Signaholic Signaholic, 9 years ago
      Cool street sign, I have one from NYC myself. Franklin Ave.
    2. spitball spitball, 8 years ago
      Nice! I was lucky to find Washington Sq. N. at MacDougal St. for a fair pice on eBay a good 8-10 yeas ago...a while later, I was able to find period-correct mounting hardware for mine as well from a seller who had a bunch of them from Easton, PA.

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