What do the signs say?
Storefront signage in Brooklyn, New York is more powerful than you might think.
“We’re thorough in the borough ‘cause that’s a must!”
— Beastie Boys, “An Open Letter to NYC,” 2005
Two very different types of local retail signage contribute to the creation of the place we know as Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Old School
“Have you ever noticed which of the street signs, over the shop doors, are the most attractive of attention? … the over-largely lettered signs and placards of the street, escape observation by dint of being excessively obvious.”
— Edgar Allan Poe, “The Purloined Letter,” 1845
Brooklyn New School
In their book, What the Signs Say,
Shonna Trinch, a sociolinguist, and Edward Snajdr, a cultural anthropologist, ask how gentrification and corporate redevelopment are intimately connected to public communication, literacy practices, the transformation of motherhood and gender roles, historical preservation, urban planning, and systems of privilege.
Can it all be on a sign?
“And if you don’t know, now you know...”
— Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.), “Juicy,” 1994