Two pedestrians and a tinsmith

[354 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click any image for a much larger view.]

The pedestrians caught my eye. “Bundle up!” some overly protective parent must have said. But it must indeed be cold: you can see what look like tiny Christmas wreaths in some of the upper-story windows. A third girl appears with (I think) these two in another photograph from Van Brunt Street.


And then I looked closely at the sign in the storefront window:

[Click for a larger view.]

Something Bachmann, Tinsmith. Rudolph, it must be. It’s in less legible form on the door of the truck. And there’s Mr. Bachmann, in the 1940 directory:


By 1949, Rudolph’s son Alfred, or some other Alfred in the family, must have taken over the business. In that year Alfred ran a handful of newspaper advertisements. These two are the most arresting:


[The Brooklyn Eagle, March 13 and 27, 1949. Via Brooklyn Newsstand.]

The Bachmann building still stands, now as 356. In October 2024 Google Maps showed a bank due to appear at that address. A new one-story building to the right is now 354, housing Docky’s, a bar.

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