[100-02 Queens Boulevard, Forest Hills, Queens, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]
These Queens storefronts seem (emphasis seem ) to me ahead of their time in their uniform understated signage. The rooftop railings suggest that this partial block was built as a single real-estate effort. From left to right: a luncheonette, Helen’s Beauty Salon (“Under New Management”), a bakery (“Store to Lease”), and a pharmacy/luncheonette, the kind of establishment that Nabokov writes of in Bend Sinister :“one of those fabulous corner stores that have face creams on one side and ice creams on the other.” As well as Mother’s Day cards and what look like Whitman’s Samplers. My guess is that a billboard (notice the lights) fills in the blank area that follows: the tax photographs show no there there.
The name Ex-Lax (“The Ideal Laxative”) seems to have once been present on every drugstore’s window(s). And now this storefront makes me wonder: were earlier generations of Americans constantly taking laxatives? The answer appears to be yes: James Whorton, a professor of medical history and ethics at the University of Washington, calls the first four decades of the twentieth century the “golden age of constipation.” Louis Armstrong was not alone in his devotion to laxative consumption.
But the triad Ex-Lax/Cosmetics/Luncheon seems off to me. Cosmetics first, before you go out to eat; Ex-Lax afterwards, no?
Google Maps shows an enormous CVS that appears to fill the space once occupied by these four establishments. But no Ex-Lax signage.
I would like to think that the WPA photographers placed that MEN WORKING next to their address sign.
[“Children actually enjoy taking Ex-Lax.” Life , March 22, 1937. Click for a larger view.]
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More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Ex-Lax/Cosmetics/Luncheon
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comments: 4
The old time model railroading author, E. L. Moore (1898 - 1979), made it a speciality of his to build model outhouses in HO scale all throughout his career. When he eventually published an article about them in the Nov ’75 issue of the National Model Railroad Association Bulletin it was entitled “A Mighty Relaxin’ Job”. Relaxin’ <-> Ex-Lax, is there a connection? :-) Well, let me go further with this nonsense: he was inspired to build outhouses by the act of a vaudevillian named Charles “Chic” Sale (1885 - 1936) who did a bit about a carpenter named Lem Putt, referred to as The Specialist, who specialized in building outhouses. Apparently he was so popular he was in around 20 movies, and there was even a book called The Specialist. There once were a couple of YouTube videos of Sale doing his Putt act, but they seem to be gone. Wikipedia has a decent article on Sale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_%22Chic%22_Sale ). Maybe Sale and Moore were plugged into, so to speak, the vibe of that golden age, which I didn't know was a golden age until now :-)
You know I’m going to have to look into Mr. Sale. Wikipedia mentions that he was Ben Gunn in the 1934 Treasure Island. And he grew up in downstate Illinois. It’s like I already know him. :)
Sunshine biscuits truck. Check out the "ham n eggery" across the street
Something tells me I should post that one next week. :)
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