In their tireless attempt to capture old Hoboken for its newer denizens, the Hoboken Historical Museum has amassed a collection of 19th and 20th Century signs.
From an oversized metal key that once advertised a local locksmith’s shop to a hand carved wooden sign promoting a pipe seller, the exhibit is drawn from the Museum’s archives and private collectors, including pieces from the collection of a Hoboken resident who has been gathering handmade gate sale posters over the past decade. The exhibit, entitled "Signs & Traces," opens on Sunday, March 17.
Acting as the de facto centerpiece of the exhibit is the "last drop" from the giant neon Maxwell House coffee cup sign, circa 1938, that once graced the Hoboken plant. The sign has been refurbished and installed in the museum. Also on display are a variety of photographs documenting traces of past mile-square businesses, including a wall still bearing the ad for a long-closed haberdashery, and the cast iron front of a Washington Street bank that retains the name of a Polish-born dry goods salesman who set up shop there in 1901. In all, the exhibit features 40 signs.
Collected together, these 19th and 20th century signs tell stories: of industries and small business established, then gone; of the city’s changing ethnic populations, each addressed in the language of its homeland; of the range of sign-makers’ skills and artistry.
"We think it’s a really important show because it reflects a lot of the changes in Hoboken in the last couple of years," Bob Foster, the museum’s director, recently said. "Up until the 1980s you still had a lot of mom-and-pop stores in Hoboken and many times they made their own signs or had their friend make a sign, so they really had an individuality. Now we have a lot of chain stores and more corporate type businesses and signage has become more generic."
Complementing the exhibit will be two lectures in April. On Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m. Ray and Renata Guzman will provide a free slide lecture on the evolution of the Hoboken Sign Co., which they established in 1986. On Sunday, April 21 at 3 p.m., John Margolies, a noted author, photographer and lecturer, will present a slide lecture on the American Main Street. For the past 25 years, Margolies, the author of See the USA: The Art of the American Travel Brochure, has explored the highways and byways of the United States in search of examples of main streets.
"Sings & Traces" be on display at the Hoboken Historical Museum (1301 Hudson St., Hoboken) from March 17 through June 9. The museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. For more information call 656-2240. There is a $2 suggested donation for admission. q