WHILE in Astoria on a partly sunny Sunday, I found a pair of plastic-lettered signs on the corner of 44th Street and 25th Avenue for Gašpar’s Deli. First of all, the circumflex on the S probably means the S is pronounced as “sh.” Circumflex s is common in Czech names but can also be found in Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Slovene, Karelian, Sami, Veps and Sorbian. The sign has likely been in place since the 1980s at the latest; signs of this type, with plastic letters on a vinyl background, are far less common today.
The corner positioning means that two signs had to be produced. The store was oddly closed on Sunday, but it’s quite unlikely the counterperson would know how old the signs are.
As an added treat we have this pair of illuminated plastic signs on the corner. I do not know if they light up at night as they were made to do; any neighbors know? Help me out in Comments.
9/6/22
3 comments
It’s probably a Yugoslav owned place because “č” is also used in the Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/Montenegrin language. I would guess it was and/or is owned by a Croatian given the name and the fact is in eastern Astoria. If it’s one of the languages you listed its probably Czech or Slovak given that it’s in Astoria. But Czechs and Slovaks and their businesses are typically in the western part of Astoria. Never been inside this place but I’ve walked, biked, and driven past it hundreds of times.
Gaspars moved to this location around 1972 it was formerly located on 34th Ave around 45 th St.
I know Gaspar, who is a Croatian.