KEEP looking up! At building rooflines, that is. But be careful that the coast is clear, many New Yorkers have no tolerance for skyward gawkers, especially if they’re race walking toward their next buck. Today’s mystery is at #121 Mulberry Street, near Hester, in which I am seeing a font I’m very familiar with.
This building actually strikes me as a bit new for 1926. Nonetheless, the roofline inscription has “Anna Esposito 1926.” The Esposito family was once prominent in Little Italy and perhaps, 1926 was the year Anna was born. Now, onto that font:
It’s a dead ringer for the serif font used on navy and white NYC street signs from the mid-1910s up to the 1960s, when they were replaced by yellow and black vinyl and metal signs. I have one of these signs that hung on the corner of Bridge and Whitehall Streets I bought for $50 at a flea market in 1988. Today such signs are available on ebay for $300 and up, but I’m not parting with mine.
How did the font get on this building? the woodcutters did a masterful job duplicating that font, is what I think.
You can actually obtain the font, which is marketed under the name Stickball. I made my own sign, shown here.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
9/7/25
3 comments
Another mystery is those tiny windows next to the third windows from the left. That’s not normal, is it? What are they for?
Bathrooms often have smaller windows.
There are many such beautiful things to see on the upper floors of buildings all around the City, but they are often hard to spot. A few years ago, as a Fathers Day gift, my family took me on an open-topped tour bus in midtown and lower Manhattan. It is the kind of thing that native New Yorkers (like me) eschew, as they consider them something for tourists, but should definitely do. I was amazed at discovering new things in places I had long thought I had fully experienced.