This old-school sign is attached to the basement level of a Charles Street brownstone. With WA-9-3781 for a phone number, it might as well still be the 1960s.
WA-9 stood for Watkins, according to an Ephemeral New York reader. Now, what was Watkins?
Tags: charles street, hand-painted store signs, old New York phone exchanges, Philip George Piping and Heating, West Village
Ephemeral New York 
November 18, 2008 at 5:28 am |
Greenwich Village
November 20, 2008 at 6:28 pm |
No – at least in NY, WA stood for WAverly.
November 24, 2008 at 2:47 pm |
I somewhat agree with Steve above. I never heard of WAtkins.
WAverly seems reasonable, since Waverly Street is nearby, but I seem to recall a WAnnamaker exchange. Wannamaker’s Dept Store was not far away, on Bdwy.
Can anyone else recall/
December 1, 2008 at 4:01 pm |
I recall a WAbash exchange as a kid…
March 17, 2009 at 3:14 pm |
WAtkins is right – there NEVER was a WAnamaker or WAverly exchange in NYC. (Philadelphia did nave a WAverly, but not NYC!)
Chicago may have had a WAbash — I’m not certain. But I certainly know that NYC didn’t.