Now this is what I call a spectacular vintage New York City store sign, found—where else?—on Orchard Street between Delancey and Rivington.
Sadly, S. Beckenstein is no longer with us. According to Bowery Boogie, this fabrics store founded by Samuel Beckenstein in 1919 (first in a pushcart, then an actual shop) shut its doors on Orchard Street and moved to the Garment District in 2003.
Perrotin, a bookstore and gallery, remains, and must be maintaining the wonderful throwback signage.
Tags: faded ads NYC, Old Store Signs Lower East Side, Orchard Street NYC, S. Beckenstein Fabrics, Vintage NYC Store Signs
Ephemeral New York 
October 4, 2021 at 9:02 am |
A nod of gratitude to those who keep the spirit of New York alive and unique.
October 4, 2021 at 9:19 am |
This is a façade not unlike the inside walls of Big Nick’s, back in the day.
October 4, 2021 at 12:24 pm |
Big Nick’s? Remind me.
October 4, 2021 at 9:10 pm
Gladly … though also sadly:
Big Nick’s Goes <a href="Dark
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/nyregion/nick-imirziades-nicks-burger-pizza-joint-upper-west-side.html“>Fretting Over Burgers on the Upper West Side
RIP BIG NICK’S BURGER & PIZZA JOINT: 1962-2013Farewell, Big Nick’s: UWS Pizza And Burger Joint Closes For Good
Farewell to Big Nick’s Burger Joint
Big Nick’s Burger and Pizza Joint: In Memoriam (Good picture of inside wall.)
Nick Imirziades, Founder Of Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joint, Has Died
Never visited there?
October 4, 2021 at 9:14 pm
Slight formatting malfunction; apologies. (I wish you had a Preview option here!)
October 4, 2021 at 9:20 pm
(On the theory that the formatting glitch caused the comment not to be digested, let me try again.)
Gladly … though also sadly:
Big Nick’s Goes Dark
Fretting Over Burgers on the Upper West Side
RIP BIG NICK’S BURGER & PIZZA JOINT: 1962-2013
Farewell, Big Nick’s: UWS Pizza And Burger Joint Closes For Good
Farewell to Big Nick’s Burger Joint
Big Nick’s Burger and Pizza Joint: In Memoriam (Good picture of inside wall.)
Nick Imirziades, Founder Of Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joint, Has Died
Never visited there?
October 4, 2021 at 1:25 pm |
My Dad (b. 1905-2001) talked about Orchard Street stores having “puller-in” guys, who would both persuade & physically pull/push you into a store if you showed some interest on the clothes outside. A rougher time back then.
Happily, these guys were long gone by my first visit to Orchard Street in the 1970s, but the horizontal posts displaying clothes were still there, just like decades earlier.
October 6, 2021 at 10:14 am |
I remember buying fabric at Beckenstein’s when I lived on East 7th Street. It had everything.