The upside of new construction is that old bits and pieces of the city come back into view.
At 1165 Broadway, a landmarked 1867 building (below, in 1900) currently being transformed into coop, a shadowy color sign has reappeared.
“Smith’s” the sign says. The logo next to it reads “Guaranteed never to rip” and includes an image of the biblical Samson and a lion. A smaller tagline reads “wear like Samsons . . . made?” That fourth word is hard to figure out.
So what was Smith’s selling? The phrase “guaranteed never to rip” was used in ads for cheap suits decades ago. But the mention of Samson, known not for cheap suits but his ability to rip a lion in half, makes this ad a mystery.
[Second image: NYPL]
Tags: Broadway Flatiron District, Old Clothing Store Signs NYC, old store signs New York City, Smith's Gauranteed Never to Rip
Ephemeral New York 
April 23, 2018 at 7:56 am |
[…] Source: FS – NYC Real Estate A mysterious store sign reappears in Flatiron […]
April 23, 2018 at 8:02 am |
my guess for smith’s http://interbrandllc.com/our-brands/smiths-workwear
On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 1:42 AM, Ephemeral New York wrote:
> ephemeralnewyork posted: “The upside of new construction is that old bits > and pieces of the city come back into view. At 1165 Broadway > , a > landmarked 1867 building (below, in 1900) currently being transformed into > coop, a shadowy color sign has reappeared. “Smith’s” the sign sa” >
April 23, 2018 at 10:47 am |
Work overalls.
April 23, 2018 at 1:28 pm |
That’s it! Thanks for solving this mystery. Now, why Samson?
April 23, 2018 at 2:18 pm |
I suspect the fourth word is “hair” – Samson’s strength.
April 23, 2018 at 3:52 pm |
Here’s the Brooklyn Overall Company in 1921, with a trademark that reads “Wears like Samson’s Hands”:
https://books.google.com/books?id=x5uQAAAAMAAJ&dq=wear%20like%20samson%20overalls&pg=PA612#v=onepage&q=wear%20like%20samson%20overalls&f=false
But the word on the sign doesn’t look like “hands” to me.
April 23, 2018 at 3:53 pm |
Sorry for the ungainly link, but I didn’t want to include a shortened one that wouldn’t identify what you’d be clicking on.
April 23, 2018 at 3:58 pm |
Could be “Made by Hand To Wear Like Samson’s”?
Meaning if they used the phrase “Wears like Samson’s Hands” previously, then customers would be used to the connection of Samson/Hands and Don’t Wear Out/Are Strong overalls.
April 23, 2018 at 4:31 pm |
This sounds like a fit!
April 23, 2018 at 4:30 pm |
No problem! I think this comes close, but it just doesn’t look like an “n” in Hands where an “n” should be, no? That word really looks like “made”
April 24, 2018 at 3:50 am |
I think it looks like ‘MADE’ like Ephemeral said. Which is still confusing. (Unless you like cryptic poetry).
Lol! that painting in the medallion portion. If you squint it’s a Rockabilly type dancing w/ Ann Margret. (Tiny phone screen).
I think we should call a biblical scholar to tell us exactly what it means 😉
April 24, 2018 at 9:38 am |
I wonder if it is work gloves?
April 24, 2018 at 1:51 pm |
Michael’s link above seems to show that the phrase about Samson’s Hands is part of an ad for overalls….
April 29, 2018 at 2:24 am |
Must have been found while they were working in there.
May 4, 2018 at 8:13 am |
If I may say so, what a dreadful glass box now rising out of it
March 11, 2019 at 6:34 am |
smith’s work wear (still in business)
September 29, 2019 at 8:35 am |
My family’s company founded by the Boshnack’s from Belarus. Overalls and more overalls. There’s a Berenice Abbott photograph with poster ads, as well.