The Frost Pharamcy sign on 55th Avenue and Queens Boulevard is without a doubt one of my favorites in Queens. It’s likely a snapshot from the Fab Forties or Nifty Fifties.
Rendered in my favorite color combination, black and yellow, it’s purely hand-lettered, probably by a signmaker using just a triangle and ruler to measure. Look at the 2 “S”‘s in COSMETICS. Lettered by the same person but the two letters are very subtly different. Then as now, besides prescription drugs, pharmacies carried ‘baby needs’ and ‘box candy.’ And a comprehensive collection of cigarette brands! Of course the vessel with the pestle motif is ever-present.
The telephone exchange was ILlinois.