The oldest still-standing advertisement in New York City — there for more than a century — is hidden in, of all places, Times Square.
“J.A. Keal’s Carriage Manufactory Repairing” — at 47th and Broadway — was painted on the side of a brick building in 1874, back when horses galloped through Gotham.
The billboard, now hidden at the southwest corner of Broadway that has Roxy Delicatessen on its ground floor, is featured in Brooklyn elementary-school teacher Frank Jump’s new book, “Fading Ads of New York City” (The History Press), out this week.
Jump photographed the “ghost sign,” as many of the old ads are called, when it was briefly exposed in 1998.
An adjacent building at 1567 Broadway was torn down before a new building was erected and connected to the towering W Hotel that currently stands behind it.
The city’s oldest still-visible ad is in Chelsea, the book says. Painted in white on a red-brick building at 109 W. 17th St. around 1900, the ad sells “Carriages, Coupes and Hansoms.”
Jump, who teaches at PS 119 Amersfort School, has documented 5,000 ads since 1997. Only a third are still standing.
These two survivors have been lucky to make it into the 21st century, as neither building is landmarked, city officials said. – scahalan@nypost.com
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Was unfamiliar with your work until just recently. Very cool concept! Showing some love from Washington, DC.
Thank you John! How’s the weather down your way?