Storefront signage is a ubiquitous feature on New York City streets. Today, signs can barely seem worth noticing, the well-known fonts and logos blending into the scenery. But when the streets of New York were lined with mom and pop shops, the design of signs (through fonts, images, and use of space) often allowed these individual stores to stand out. The diversity of signage is especially eye-catching in historical photographs.

Signage at 319 Broadway, looking at the facade of 317 Broadway, March 6, 1936.

317 and 319 Broadway, March 6, 1936. Constructed in 1869–70, Italianate cast-iron buildings at no. 317 and 319 were designed by D. & J. Jardine. This firm is well represented in surviving 19th century commercial and residential buildings in the Ladies Mile, Upper East Side, Soho, and Greenwich Village Historic Districts. Called the "Thomas Twins" for the street they straddled, the mirrored five-story buildings remained together 1971 when no. 317 was demolished. The entrances to the buildings were both originally at what is now the second story, and were moved to altered ground floors in 1912. In this 1936 photograph, the second story of no. 319 seems to be encased in glass. Today the glass has been removed and the original entrance (now window) arch and its two neighbors on the second floor are unobstructed.