You know ghost signs—any kind of signage above a store entrance or affixed to the side of a building marking a business that no longer exists in that space.
But what a treat when the ghost sign is a rare vertical piece of gorgeous neon! Over the years I’d seen this double-sided delicatessen sign many times on the red-brick nexus where Jane and West Fourth Streets collide with Eighth Avenue.
Recently I walked past it and noticed an Italian restaurant has taken over the storefront below the sign. Come to think of it, I can’t recall an actual deli occupying the store space, which on Google maps corresponds to 40 Eighth Avenue.
A search through various photo archives didn’t turn up any evidence. But it did show that back in the 1940s, a similar vertical sign existed where the delicatessen sign hangs today.
This one was for the hardware store at 40 Eighth Avenue at the time. “Paints” nicely sums up the store’s main selling point.
As for the corner right now, there’s actually another neon sign with deep historical cred. That’s the one attached to the Corner Bistro, across the street at 331 West Fourth Street.
I don’t know how old the neon sign is, but the Bistro’s history as a saloon goes all the way back to 1875.
Source: Was there ever a deli below this neon ghost delicatessen sign on West Fourth Street?
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