Ghouls, Goblins, and Ghost Signs
Historic neighborhoods are filled with details that tell their story. Old trolley tracks peek through the asphalt, boot scrapers remind us of the city’s even more distant horse-driven past, and ghost signs give us a glimpse into the businesses that once filled our neighborhoods.
Ghost signs are the faded, hand-painted advertisements found on historic buildings, usually on brick, which remain long after the original use of the building and/or business. A number of these signs are still visible throughout our neighborhoods, and some are documented in our Historic Image Archive. Today, we will use the “Ghost Signs” tag to look at a few (and you can too — just go to our historic image archive here and click on “images.” Once you do, a series of tags will appear, including “ghost signs.” Click on that and “apply,” and all photos tagged for “ghost signs” will appear).
P. Zaccaro Real Estate Firm
This image was taken in 2001 and is part of the Robert Fisch historic image archive collection. One faded advertisement is for P. Zaccaro Real Estate firm, located at 225 Lafayette Street. The firm has a storied past, one connected to the 1984 Presidential Election.
Originally founded in 1917 by Philip Zaccaro, by the 1980s, Philip’s son John was running the firm. John was the husband of Geraldine Ferraro, a congresswoman from Queens and the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate in 1984. By the 1980s, Zaccaro’s firm owned about twenty properties throughout Manhattan.
Bowery YMCA
Taken in 1987 by Carole Teller, and part of Carole Teller’s Changing New York Collection, Part 5, this image captures a ghost sign advertising the YMCA on 6-20 East 3rd Street. Built in 1912, 6-20 East 3rd Street served as the Bowery branch of the YMCA. It was purchased by the City of New York in 1947 and now serves as a men’s shelter operated by Project Renewal.
Pacific Seg Hotel Supply
This ghost sign is for “Pacific Seh Hotel Supply Co” and “Prime Meats” on a no longer extant building at 40 10th Avenue. Located near the West Village Waterfront in the Meatpacking district, the history of this sign mirrors that of the neighborhood.
The West Village Waterfront once had a high concentration of hotels, typically meant for sailors, creating a need for a hotel supply store. The history of Pacific Seh Hotel Supply can be traced to 1919, when owner Abraham Goodman founded the “S. & G. Hotel Supply Co.” further uptown. By 1925 Goodman opened a second location at 352 West 14th Street, which he called Pacific Hotel Supply Co. Meanwhile, in 1948 Edward Seh became head of Gotham Hotel Supply, located at 401 West 14th Street. After Seh retired in 1959, he helped his son, Edward Seh, Jr., open his own meat packing business the following year at 55 Gansevoort Street. In 1970, this business and Pacific Hotel Supply merged and moved to 40 10th Avenue, near both their former buildings, and became “Pacific Seh Hotel Supply Co.” According to the painted sign, they also continued to purvey “prime meats,” fitting for its location in the Meatpacking District. After a fire, the building was demolished in the early 2000s, and the site is now occupied by a twelve-story office building.
Learn about other ghost signs in our archive here, and explore our entire Historic Image Archive here. To explore all our ghost sign images, just go to our historic image archive here and click on “images.” Once you do, a series of tags will appear, including “ghost signs.” Click on that and “apply,” and all photos tagged for “ghost signs” will appear.
Email info@villagepreservation.org if you’d like to donate your own images to our historic image archive.