If you’ve been wandering through New York in the vicinity of Madison Avenue in the 50s and 60s, or along 57th Street, you can see a veritable flood of recent storefront facade redecoration. Take a look at the various styles, but don’t be surprised if the choices reflect designs from the 1920s and 1930s. A tendency toward French-inspired aesthetics is also apparent. Although it was Napoleon who famously derided the English as being “a nation of shopkeepers,” the French have always known how to link commerce and chic.

Look in the library catalog under the subject heading “storefronts.” You’ll find an intriging array of SASB and SIBL titles there, with a preponderance of French publications. The Digital Gallery shows even more visual examples, when you put in the term “boutiques.” These store facades (with some Empire Style examples thrown in) truly make everything old look new again.