S. M. Frank & Co., 928 Broadway between 21st & 22nd Sts. (2003)

FRANK
PIPES AND SMOKERS ARTICLES

Samuel Morris Frank was trained by his father Morris Frank (Frank & Weis, pipes, 57 Leonard St. and 313 E. 22 St. in 1890), a manufacturer of briar pipes. He was born in New York City in 1875, worked for William Demuth & Co. as a young man, then founded his own business in 1900. Initially located downtown on Pearl St. and on Broadway near Duane St., S. M. Frank moved uptown to 17th St. in 1904, then to this building with entrances on both 21st St. and Broadway in 1912, where they remained for about 10 years.

The sign, then, dates from this period, possibly as early as 1912 and no later than 1922.

Samuel M. Frank died in 1943, but the business continued for some time after (until the early-1970s (last location at 5th Ave. and 57th St.)). They sold pipes and other smoking related products, both of their own manufacture and also imported items.

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