A Sign Of Its Own Time On Flatbush Avenue
Neighbor Steve sent us a photo today of the defunct neon Oldsmobile sign on Flatbush and Ditmas Aves.
“I love this sign,” he says. “I wish it still lit up. Easy to miss on that corner with everything else going on.”
The original sign, it seems, was painted red, and the green came later. Neon New York dates it to 1947, and neighbor Frank Jump of Fading Ads has wondered if it’s connected to the Gaines Motors Co. sign on Snyder and Rogers Aves.
Meanwhile, commenters on Scouting New York say that the sign on Flatbush did, in fact, belong to Gaines Motors Co., which once resided at 1217-1219 Flatbush and was featured in a 1954 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in their “Dependable Listing of Factory Authorized New Car Dealers.”
Funnily enough, the Amerling Chevy dealership advertised next to Gaines on the page had been Crystal Motors Oldsmobile four years earlier, when these shots (one and two) were taken on Bay Parkway and 60th St. You know you wanted a look at those cars.
Just a little backstory on a surviving local relic. Anyone else familiar with Gaines, or any of the other dealerships around at the time?
