HERE’S a classic linoleum or vinyl sidewalk sign at #251 Nassau Avenue at Kingsland Avenue in eastern Greenpoint in one of my favorite color combinations, beige and green, with “Buckley’s” in script lettering. It’s reminiscent of the old-time signage in the underground stations of the Newark City Subway (I have had a batch of photos ready from a ride I executed there in March 2021 still unused).
But what’s with the phrase “Self Service?” Aren’t all grocery stores self-service? Yes, today they are. But back when this sign was installed, likely the 1940s, stores of this type were so chockablock with goods that even regular patrons didn’t know where everything was, or they were stacked so high off the ground that customers needed help. That’s where store clerks came in, with pencils typically perched behind ears and grabbing tongs at the ready to get goods off the top shelf.
It sure looks like this sign goes back to the 1930s, but it’s newer than that, as this 1940 photo from the Municipal Archives proves. However, Buckley’s was there in 1940, and I wish I knew when the store was founded.
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4/25/22
9 comments
When I was a young boy living in the neighborhood, that was the store my mother shopped at, no big supermarkets.
So, basically a bodega before such stores were called that?
I tried emailing you some pix of faded signs but I could not get past “Kevin@forgotten-ny.com”
How can I get the pix to you? Faded sign on the side of a building at 17 & 7th in Manhattan
kevinjudewalsh@gmail.com
In a way we’re heading back to that system, as more stores (especially drug stores) keep some products in locked cases to stop shoplifting.
TheTrolly pole from 1940 is gone
At the old Jefferson Market in the village you had to ask someone to get down a lot of stuff.
Robert Buckley (b. 1878) opened a produce store at 165 Nassau Avenue, on the NE corner of Nassau Ave. & Diamond St., at least by 1916-17. He lived in the same
building. In 1926, he moved the business to 255 Nassau Ave. In 1927, he moved again to 253 Nassau Ave., where Nonna’s Pizzeria is presently located. The store was
at that location until 1937 (the building was demolished and was replaced by a service station) when it finally ended up at 251 Nassau Ave. and was listed as Buckley’s
Market. By this time, Robert’s son, Raymond (1914-80), was running the store. There was another son, Robert, Jr., (b. 1925)
I am Raymond Buckley’s nephew and can remember then the store had the “Great Atlantice and Pacific Tea Co.” sign in the window. That would be the 50s.