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It was stated by the former owner that this came from a small independent grocery story in New York City. The former owner grew up in The Bronx in the 1920s and 1930s.
I have found a photo from the lower East Side of Manhattan ca. 1929 depicting KELLER\'S BAKERY AND ICE CREAM PARLOR as it appeared in 1929. It was noted that the building is still recognizable today.
This door pull is about 18-1/2\" long and about 3\" wide. The section with the raised lettering is tin or a similar metal with the raised message \"WE RECOMMEND KELLER\'S BREAD\". The offset door handle is heavy brass or bronze, bolted through the back of the sign. The handle wobbles slightly - it\'s possible that the 2 nuts holding it onto the tin section could be tightened carefully to snug it up. There are 4 screw holes by which it was attached to the door: 2 are underneath the brass handle and 2 more are slightly offset from those, just to the left of the top and bottom of the brass handle. The screw hole at the bottom is enlarged and distorted; my guess is that it either came loose through use or was damaged when the pull was removed from the door.
The tin background is a black color; the raised letters look to have been highlighted in yellow at one time. The yellow is somewhat worn and decomposed and has oxidized or in places has changed to a green-tinted yellow at this point. Paint on the letters is partial at this point - maybe 50%-75%. The back shows various paint colors - it appears that the door itself was green at one time.
I\'ve found other very similar advertising door pulls of the same vintage on-line, in the same size and configuration, although advertising other breads.
