Feel the nostalgia for these Manhattan store signs

Maybe we’ve hit the commercial real estate saturation point, or maybe it’s just a coincidence.

But a lot of vintage store signs seem to have come back into view this year…and have yet to be covered up again by the signage of a new store tenant.

Holiday shopping season is the perfect time to view the above sign for 1980s Upper West Side store The Last Wound-Up, which specialized in new and retro toys and gadgets powered by a wind-up knob.

The shop was located on Columbus Avenue and 73rd Street. (Thanks to ENY reader Amy for the snap.)

Before Duane Reade colonized Manhattan, there were pharmacies like this one, spotted on Eighth Avenue in Midtown.

It has no name and no frills—but look at that wonderful 1970s-yellow pestle and mortar icon above the entrance!

Speaking of no frills, you’ve got to love this sign, on First Avenue in the East Village. The store recently housed an eatery called Tree. But “restaurant” is better, no?

More signs that have seen better days

Three stylistically different store signs in three separate neighborhoods—each one a case of benign neglect . . . not a bad thing.

I love the typeface used in Casa Latina. It’s a record store on East 116th Street, a main drag in East Harlem.

Stationery, cigars, candy, toys . . . pretty much everything a tiny neighborhood store needs. This one is located on a little commercial strip on 187th Street in Washington Heights.

Ideal Hosiery, one of the last vestiges of Grand Street’s Hosiery Row and an iconic sign on the Lower East Side.

It dates to 1950. I think the sign must too!