Ferkai András: Shopfronts - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1996)

Row OF ECLECTIC WOODEN SHOPFRONTS AT 74 BAROSS UTCA, VIII- their carvings rivalling the ornaments of the buildings have become shabby, covered with rough paint, and primitive signs and plastic stickers hide the show-cases once built by cabinet-makers. The cheaper shopfronts made of soft wood were protected with coats of paint earlier, too, but those covered with hard wood were treated and stained like furniture. The letters of sign-boards set in Times Roman, against a black background, were usually cut into thick sheets of glass from the back and gilded. This craft died out a long time ago, and hardly any of its masterpieces have survived as reminders (rare examples are the sign-boards on the shopfront of Imre Gödrös cabinetmaker and interior decorator’s shop, established in 1896, at 18 Podmaniczky utca in District VI). Worthy of attention are such minor details as the ornamented, cast-iron bars used to prop up awnings (beautiful specimens can be seen on the wooden shopfront of the building at 75 Király utca, District VII). Similarly noteworthy were the outdoor lamps supported by consoles and providing light for the shop windows, though unfortunately none have survived.

Conforming to new demands of commerce, the archi9