COCA-COLA, GRAND STREET

An ancient painted ad for Coca-Cola appears on #60 Grand Street, just east of the low-rise, 2-story #337 West Broadway (itself constructed in 1886 and designed by architect Peter V. Outcault). Its low height has made #60 ideal for advertising placement, as eastbound traffic on Grand Street can easily view the ads. I’m unsure when the Coca Cola ad arrived on the scene but it’s at least several decades old. Like Ford Motors, the script Coca-Cola logo has remained very consistent since the company’s founding in 1886. In fact the script logo is the exact age of the building it looms over!

For a few years now, the ad has been obscured by a series of pasted-on ads which are easier to change out, such as the one for Chanel fragrances I found there in September 2026.

Tom Miller, the reliable Daytonian in Manhattan, has a comprehensive history of the building. At one time, it was home to the Sapphire Hotel.

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The Coca-Cola ad does not seem to be in evidence in this 1940 tax photo from the Municipal Archives. Naturally the first thing I noticed was the unusually curved lamppost on the corner. Why would a lamp have such a shape? The answer is simple. Until the late 1930s, the 6th Avenue El traveled up West Broadway to West 3rd Street, where it briefly jogged west until going up 6th Avenue. The lamppost is shaped like this because a pillar was also located at about the same spot and the pillar likely had something attached to it. The el itself was built in 1878, with the lampposts arriving in the 19-teens; the city decided to best illuminate the corner by placing a lamp here, but they had to make it get around the pillar and whatever was attached to it. The el was removed in 1938, and the lampposts were left over. Within a few years, these unusual lamps would be replaced on streets formerly shrouded by elevated trains.

On this corner we have what is known as a “palimpsest” in which there are several layers of script. Sunlight can wear down layers of script, revealing what’s underneath. What could have happened was that Coca-Cola appeared first, and “Service Suits” was painted over it with a lower quality paint. Service Suits faded, revealing Coca-Cola underneath. In recent years, various ads have been pasted atop the painted ads.

Also in 1940, another painted ad can be seen on the West Broadway side, at #343, where a large ad for Hassan Cigarettes was visible. Its building has since been demolished and replaced with a much shorter two-story building. In the early 20th century, many cigarette brands had Middle Eastern themed names as Turkey was a major exporter of tobacco. Today, the Camel brand is a reminder of this trend. Turkish Trophies was another. Hassan, discontinued long ago, like many cigarette brands of its day produced a number of colorful trading cards.

Check out the ForgottenBook (HarperCollins, 2006), as well as Forgotten Queens (Arcadia, 2013). I also have a chapter in the anthology “New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg” (Reaktion, 2007). As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site. 

9/21/26