Hidden behind scaffolding and weathered by the elements, the sign is not easy to see. But when you do make it out, you'll feel like a time machine has delivered you back to the 1920s Lower East Side—when Orchard Street meant cut-rate shopping, not pricy cocktails.

"Ben Freedman Gent's Furnishings" (such an old-timey way to describe clothes and hats!) got its start on Orchard Street in 1927, when Mayor Jimmy Walker was partying at Manhattan speakeasies and the Woolworth Building qualified as the city's tallest skyscraper.

The sign may be faded, but the business is still going. Sounding feisty, Freedman was quoted in a 1977 Daily News story about the poor prospects of Orchard Street. "Oh it's changed for sure, so what?" he told a reporter, who added that Ben had been at his store peddling bargains for 50 years. "It's still a great street."

The Lo-Down has more on Ben's business.