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