Old School Rules Generative Openness in the Texts of Historical Brooklyn Retail Signage
Article Sidebar
Published:
Jul 13, 2018
Keywords:
storefronts place register aesthetic Brooklyn gentrification diversity openness
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article considers the unique features of what we call Old School storefront signs in Brooklyn, NY. These signs, which were often hand-painted and notably text-rich with large-size fonts, signaled an openness to all in a highly diverse, multi-cultural urban area. At the same time, very laconic, ambiguous and ironic gentrifying (or what we call New School) signage is replacing these Old School storefront signs at a rapid pace. Using sociolinguistic, semiotic and aesthetic analysis, we show how Old School shop signage acts as a “register of place.” The openness of this register allows it to adopt and incorporate elements preferred by Brooklyn’s gentrifying population. Also, we show how New School businesses begin to take on certain semiotic and textual features of Old School shops in order to survive in the face of corporate development. This appropriation of form/format, we argue, further demonstrates the effectiveness of Old School “rules,” which allow these signs to remain despite accelerating gentrification and the relentless march of corporate capitalism. Old School, as a marker of history and as an iconic form of place, is a living style that represents the past, has been transformed by the present, and perhaps has the power to change the future.
Article Details
Section
Articles
References
Agha, A. (2001). Register. In Duranti, A. (Ed.). Key Terms in Language & Culture (Vol. 11) (pp. 212-213), New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Agha, A. (2011) Commodity registers. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 21(1): 22-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1395.2011.01081.x
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Arpak, A. (2017, September). Creating shape, sign and style: Notes on the pictorial aesthetic and representational qualities of early American sign design. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Bestley, R. & Noble, I. (2016). Visual Research: An introduction to research methods in graphic design. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Blommaert, J. (2013). Ethnography, superdiversity and linguistic landscapes. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783090419
Bourdieu, P (1990). Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste (R. Nice, Trans.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1979).
Brash, J. (2011). Bloomberg's New Yorkj: class and governance in the luxury city. Athens, G.A.: University of Georgia Press.
Brown, R. (2013). Manhattan and Brooklyn are the two most expensive places to live in the U.S.: report. New York Daily News, April 13.
Drucker, J., & McVarish, E. (2009). Graphic design history. New York: Pearson.
Duranti, A. (2006). The social ontology of intentions. Discourse Studies 8(1):31-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445606059548
Gerend, J. (2003, August). The outrage over New York City's storefront awning blitz is justified— but so are the limits. Commentary/ Op-Ed. Center For Urban Future. Retrieved from https://nycfuture.org/research/the-outrage-over-new-york-citys-storefront-awning-ticket-blitz-is-justified
Goodman, B. & Rushkoff, D. (Writers) & Goodman, B. & Dretzin, R. (Directors) (2004, November 9) The Persuaders [Television Broadcast]. In R. Dretzin, B. Goodman, & M. Soenens (Producers), Frontline. Boston, MA: WGBH Boston.
Gorter, D. (Ed.). (2006). Linguistic landscape: A new approach to multilingualism. Multilingual Matters.
Grabar, H. (2012, August 27). Nabe or hood? A brief history of shortening neighborhood. Citylab. Retrieved from https://www.citylab.com/equity/2012/08/nabe-or-hood-brief-history-shortening-neighborhood/3074/.
Hackworth, J. (2002). Post-recession gentrification in New York City. Urban Affairs Review 37(6), 815-843. https://doi.org/10.1177/107874037006003
Holleran, S. (2017, September) Grafitti, street art, advertising, and the fight for urban visual space. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Jaworski, A. (2015). "Globalese: A new visual-linguistic register." Social Semiotics 25(2), 217-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2015.1010317
Kasinitz, P. (1988). The gentrification of "Boerum Hill": Neighborhood change and conflicts over definitions. Qualitative Sociology. 11(3): 163-182. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988953
Leeman, J. & Modan, G. (2010). Selling the city: Language, ethnicity and commodified space. In Shohamy, E. G., Ben-Rafael, E., & Barni, M. (Eds.) Linguistic landscapes in the city (pp. 182-198). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Lees, L.. (2003). Super-Gentrification: The case of Brooklyn Heights, New York City. Urban Studies 40(12): 2487-2509 https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136174
Levine, F., & Macon, S. (Directors) Radar Studios (Producer) (2013). Sign painters. [Documentary].
Lou, J. (2007). Revitalizing Chinatown into a heterotopia: A geosemiotic analysis of shop signs in Washington, DC's Chinatown. Space and Culture 10(2), 170-194. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331206298547
New York City Department of Small Business Services (March 2008) Façade: A guide to storefront design [Brochure]. New York, NY: New York City Department of Small Business Services.
Nowak, G. (2017, September). Meta-signage around the mega-resorts of Las Vegas: A sign of the times. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Osman, S.. (2011). The invention of brownstone Brooklyn: Gentrification and the search for authenticity in postwar New York. New York: Oxford.
Palmer, J.. (2017, September). I AM A MONUMENT: Saving Toronto's Sam the Record Man sign. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Papen, U. (2012). Commercial discourses, gentrification and citizen's protests: The linguistic landscape of Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. Journal of Sociolinguistics 16(1),56-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2011.00518.x
Porter, K.. (2017, September). Make/Do: Lessons from home-made "Mom and Pop" signage In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Rahman, M. & Mehta, V. (2017). Letter forms as communicative urban artifacts for social narratives. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 2(1).
Shohamy, E. G., Ben-Rafael, E., & Barni, M. (Eds.). (2010). Linguistic landscape in the city. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Smith, N. (1979). Toward a theory of gentrification: A back to the city movement by capital, not people. Journal of the American Planning Association, 45(4): 538-548. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944367908977002
Stewart, G. (1982). Names on the land. New York: New York Review Books Classics.
Susser, I. (2012). Norman Street: Poverty and politics in an urban neighborhood. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367317.001.0001
Trinch, .S & Snajdr, E. (2017). What the signs say: Gentrification and the disappearance of capitalism without distinction in Brooklyn. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 21(1): 64-89. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12212
Warner, M. (2002). Publics and counterpublics. Public Culture, 14(1): 49-90. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-14-1-49
Wines, J. (2017). Keynote: What's your sign? In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Agha, A. (2011) Commodity registers. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 21(1): 22-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1395.2011.01081.x
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Arpak, A. (2017, September). Creating shape, sign and style: Notes on the pictorial aesthetic and representational qualities of early American sign design. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Bestley, R. & Noble, I. (2016). Visual Research: An introduction to research methods in graphic design. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Blommaert, J. (2013). Ethnography, superdiversity and linguistic landscapes. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783090419
Bourdieu, P (1990). Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste (R. Nice, Trans.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1979).
Brash, J. (2011). Bloomberg's New Yorkj: class and governance in the luxury city. Athens, G.A.: University of Georgia Press.
Brown, R. (2013). Manhattan and Brooklyn are the two most expensive places to live in the U.S.: report. New York Daily News, April 13.
Drucker, J., & McVarish, E. (2009). Graphic design history. New York: Pearson.
Duranti, A. (2006). The social ontology of intentions. Discourse Studies 8(1):31-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445606059548
Gerend, J. (2003, August). The outrage over New York City's storefront awning blitz is justified— but so are the limits. Commentary/ Op-Ed. Center For Urban Future. Retrieved from https://nycfuture.org/research/the-outrage-over-new-york-citys-storefront-awning-ticket-blitz-is-justified
Goodman, B. & Rushkoff, D. (Writers) & Goodman, B. & Dretzin, R. (Directors) (2004, November 9) The Persuaders [Television Broadcast]. In R. Dretzin, B. Goodman, & M. Soenens (Producers), Frontline. Boston, MA: WGBH Boston.
Gorter, D. (Ed.). (2006). Linguistic landscape: A new approach to multilingualism. Multilingual Matters.
Grabar, H. (2012, August 27). Nabe or hood? A brief history of shortening neighborhood. Citylab. Retrieved from https://www.citylab.com/equity/2012/08/nabe-or-hood-brief-history-shortening-neighborhood/3074/.
Hackworth, J. (2002). Post-recession gentrification in New York City. Urban Affairs Review 37(6), 815-843. https://doi.org/10.1177/107874037006003
Holleran, S. (2017, September) Grafitti, street art, advertising, and the fight for urban visual space. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Jaworski, A. (2015). "Globalese: A new visual-linguistic register." Social Semiotics 25(2), 217-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2015.1010317
Kasinitz, P. (1988). The gentrification of "Boerum Hill": Neighborhood change and conflicts over definitions. Qualitative Sociology. 11(3): 163-182. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988953
Leeman, J. & Modan, G. (2010). Selling the city: Language, ethnicity and commodified space. In Shohamy, E. G., Ben-Rafael, E., & Barni, M. (Eds.) Linguistic landscapes in the city (pp. 182-198). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Lees, L.. (2003). Super-Gentrification: The case of Brooklyn Heights, New York City. Urban Studies 40(12): 2487-2509 https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136174
Levine, F., & Macon, S. (Directors) Radar Studios (Producer) (2013). Sign painters. [Documentary].
Lou, J. (2007). Revitalizing Chinatown into a heterotopia: A geosemiotic analysis of shop signs in Washington, DC's Chinatown. Space and Culture 10(2), 170-194. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331206298547
New York City Department of Small Business Services (March 2008) Façade: A guide to storefront design [Brochure]. New York, NY: New York City Department of Small Business Services.
Nowak, G. (2017, September). Meta-signage around the mega-resorts of Las Vegas: A sign of the times. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Osman, S.. (2011). The invention of brownstone Brooklyn: Gentrification and the search for authenticity in postwar New York. New York: Oxford.
Palmer, J.. (2017, September). I AM A MONUMENT: Saving Toronto's Sam the Record Man sign. In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Papen, U. (2012). Commercial discourses, gentrification and citizen's protests: The linguistic landscape of Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. Journal of Sociolinguistics 16(1),56-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2011.00518.x
Porter, K.. (2017, September). Make/Do: Lessons from home-made "Mom and Pop" signage In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.
Rahman, M. & Mehta, V. (2017). Letter forms as communicative urban artifacts for social narratives. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 2(1).
Shohamy, E. G., Ben-Rafael, E., & Barni, M. (Eds.). (2010). Linguistic landscape in the city. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Smith, N. (1979). Toward a theory of gentrification: A back to the city movement by capital, not people. Journal of the American Planning Association, 45(4): 538-548. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944367908977002
Stewart, G. (1982). Names on the land. New York: New York Review Books Classics.
Susser, I. (2012). Norman Street: Poverty and politics in an urban neighborhood. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367317.001.0001
Trinch, .S & Snajdr, E. (2017). What the signs say: Gentrification and the disappearance of capitalism without distinction in Brooklyn. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 21(1): 64-89. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12212
Warner, M. (2002). Publics and counterpublics. Public Culture, 14(1): 49-90. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-14-1-49
Wines, J. (2017). Keynote: What's your sign? In V.R. Smith (Chair), What's Your Sign? Retail Architecture and the History of Signage. Conference conducted at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA.