Signs of the times: Farewell, Beverly!

Despite the missing 'y', a strong Moderne personality for Beverly.

Here and there downtown, there are reminders of Plainfield's halcyon days as a downtown shopping destination for central Jerseyans.

One such has been the signage above the former Beverly Millinery shop on East Front Street near Watchung.

It has always caught my eye as a fine example of the Art Moderne sensibility which pervaded store design and signage in the late 1930s and 1940s.

Efforts being made to rent the vacant space.

Suddenly last September, when I took the picture above, there was a flurry of activity as the owner made some efforts to market the two vacant storefronts.

On a trip downtown yesterday, I noticed that the Beverly Milliner_ sign has been removed, leaving a blank façade, perhaps awaiting a new tenant's nameplate...

Farewell, Beverly!

Welcome...whoever!

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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¿Zona de besos y despido?

 

The sign above was spotted in an entry window at Plainfield's Washington Community School.

For those who can't remember their musical cues (say, from Bésame mucho), a handy English translation appears in the adjacent window.

Or is it the other way around?

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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The soon-to-be-former BUF?

Plainfield's 'BUF' has been identified by this sign in recent years.

Reading an article in The Positive Community magazine on the National Black United Fund's recent launch of a campaign to increase donors and donations (see here), I kept waiting for mention of Plainfield's BUF facility. To no avail.

Puzzled, I asked a reader who knows New Jersey's social services scene if there was a reason Plainfield wasn't mentioned.

Seems there is.

I remember the sign, which used to say 'Black United Fund', changed a few years ago, and simply assigned it to the design of the new sign, which designates the Plainfield building as 'BUF Health and Human Services' (the AANJ's headquarters facility is the Ambrose/Ward Mansion in East Orange -- see here).

But, I was told, there was a court ruling in favor of NBUF that AANJ may not used 'BUF' in its marketing or signage. Good luck finding any mention of it by Googling.

So, is the snap a picture of another soon-to-be-vanishing piece of Plainfieldiana?

Keep an eye on the corner of West 7th Street and Central Avenue for your answer.

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• The Positive Community: "National BUF: New Dimensions in Charitable Giving"
• National Black United Fund: "NBUF Homepage" | "NCCS: NBUF stats"
  
• Wikipedia: "National Black United Fund"
• AAFNJ: "The African American Fund of NJ" | "NCCS: AANJ stats" (Still listed as BUF-NJ)
  

-- Dan Damon

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Assembly race: Linda finally puts some skin into the game

Finally, some 'real' Stender campaign signs.

Plainfield Today readers who have been scratching their heads over the lack of any Linda Stender campaign signs are having their questions answered before their eyes, as the picture above shows.

The new white signs with blue lettering appeared on Sunday.

Jumping out of the car to get a snapshot, I had to squint to read the tiny 'paid for' line, but there it is --

'Paid for by...'

Meanwhile, Pivnichny signs are breaking out around town --

Piv signs await pickup by supporters.

and Daggett even makes an appearance -- strategically, at the flagpole at Watchung and East 7th Street, one of the city's busiest intersections.

Daggett supporters pick key location.

Despite the signs, many are undecided about who to vote for.

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-- Dan Damon

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Plainfield political sign wars reach new heights

GOP mayoral candidate Pivnichny's billboard is visible from Jerry Green's office.

It's October, which in Plainfield means the political sign wars are under way.

So far, the street wars have been dominated by the Democrats' outcroppings for Corzine, Jerry Green, et al.

But Republican mayoral candidate Jim Pivnichny has taken the sign wars against incumbent mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs to new heights -- literally.

Drivers in downtown Plainfield could not help but notice this week his full-size billboard sign atop Lee's shoe store at East Front Street and Watchung Avenue.

The sign is clearly visible from mayoral mentor Assemblyman Jerry Green's Watchung Avenue office.

That's not the ONLY NEWS on the sign front, though.

Readers recalling the Corzine campaign's pique at not being consulted over Jerry Green's RED signs (see previous post here), began reporting over the weekend on a presto-chango miracle -- Jerry's little RED signs are being replaced by identical but BLUE signs around town.

With a single stroke, the RED signs have been turned into collectibles -- perhaps to turn up on eBay?

Sacrebleu!

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• Plainfield Today: "Corzine camp seeing red over Plainfield campaign?"

-- Dan Damon

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Corzine camp seeing red over Plainfield campaign?

Corzine's signs project his 'brand'.

Word comes that the Corzine re-election campaign is having heartburn over a new campaign sign popping up around Plainfield in the past few days.

With an uphill slog facing the incumbent governor who, as Record columnist Charles Stile points out has sold his policies, but not himself (see here), it is easy to understand why the campaign might be anxious to control Corzine's 'brand'.

The new signs began popping up a few days ago (the first I saw was in front of the mayor's home).

Campaign signs in front of Mayor's home.

They are striking for their simplicity, their small size (compared to the oversized recycled 'Jerry' and 'Sharon' signs also popping up), and their color -- a bright, non-Democratic RED.

Closeup of the RED sign.

While I was told the campaign would like them to just go away, that doesn't seem likely, as the red signs are now beginning to appear like fairy rings after a rain storm.

This is not the first time that Plainfield's untethered campaigning style has given the Corzine camp dyspepsia.

During Sharon Robinson-Briggs' campaign for mayor in 2005, Corzine's signature was appropriated without his knowledge or permission and slapped on a jerry-rigged letter of endorsement of Robinson-Briggs under a faked US Senate letterhead.

While the tactic enraged Corzine campaign staffers, and there were whispers of illegality, the upshot was that Green and Robinson-Briggs got a pass.

Wondering who might possibly have paid for a RED sign in a 'blue' town like Plainfield, I was intrigued, but not for long. A sign in the window of a Front Street photography shop was conveniently high enough to easily capture the mandatory 'paid for by' notice --

In a Front Street store window.

Paid for by ...

Will Green and Robinson-Briggs get another pass, or will the red signs come down?

And will it really make a difference, one way or the other, for the embattled governor?

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• Record, Charles Stile: "Corzine has sold policy, but hasn't sold himself"

-- Dan Damon

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Kensington Avenue: Dear world, America is back!!!

Well put thoughts on our new President and America's role in the world, caught at the corner of Kensington and Thornton Avenues.

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-- Dan Damon