“It’s toasted”

I thought once again of the OK Bookshop, my introduction to the world of supplies, and I wondered how many businesses might have made use of “OK” in their names. The 1940 New York City telephone directories suggest that the answer is “really many.” My favorite: the O.K. Knee Pants Company, 162 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. There’s no photograph of any interest to go with that address. But there is a good photograph for the O & K Toasted Sandwich Shop. Click for a much larger view:

[O & K Toasted Sandwich Shop, 103 Graham Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections.]

Today Quiznos proclaims itself “the original toasted sub,” but long ago the O & K Toasted Sandwich Shop (EVergreen 8–0432) knew that “toasted” is a selling point for sandwiches. Brooklyn Newsstand has items of interest from the 1920s and ’30s about four other toasted sandwich shops in the borough. A warm, toasted sandwich freshly made in a luncheonette must have been a welcome alternative to a cold, damp sandwich wrapped in wax paper and carried to work in a paper bag.

The 1940 Queens telephone directory lists another O & K Sandwich Shop — no “Toasted” — at 54-37 Myrtle Avenue (EVergreen 2–9577). Its tax photograph shows windows that appear soaped over. Was this shop ready to open? Had it already packed up and moved to Brooklyn? I have no idea.

I chose this photograph for its everyday beauty, but as I know too well, there is always a rabbit hole. Notice the truck: Uddo & Taormina (another ampersand!). Giuseppe Uddo and Giuseppe Taormina created the Progresso brand, but that’s another story.

Today 103 Graham Avenue still houses an ampersand, in the name of Happy Garden Chinese Food & Teriyaki. Happy Garden also serves french fries, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks. Brooklyn’s in the house. A mixed-use tower is going up and around 54-37 Myrtle Avenue.

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December 9: An indefatigable reader reports that both O & K shops were owned by Yoshio Mita and Uicha Tashima. Their names and the shop addresses appear in Decisions and Orders of the New York State Labor Relations Board (1940).

Related reading
More OCA posts with photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives : An O.K. Knee Pants advertisement

[“It’s toasted” is the long-standing slogan for Lucky Strike cigarettes.]