HOBOKEN STREET SIGN

The Hudson Observer hasn’t been published since 1951 (when it merged with the Jersey Observer). The Hudson Observer Building is still at 111 Newark Street (at Bloomfield); Observer Highway, formerly Ferry Street, hasn’t gotten its old name back. This sign is at Observer Highway and Newark Street.

One of the remarkable aspects of the New Jersey towns across the river that I visit (Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, Bayonne) is that while newer street signs are installed, older signs, some of very old vintage, are left intact. There’s more of a laissez-faire attitude. In New York City, nonstandard signs are quickly expunged and older signs that remain are there purely by accident.

This is one of the enamel and metal signs using the Highway Gothic font that first appeared in the late 40s or early 50s. Their counterparts, in different colors, could also be found in New York.

4/21/14