During the first half of the 20th century, "electric appliances" and "smart gifts" were the stock in trade of Connecticut-based manufacturer and designer Manning-Bowman. Waffle irons seem to have been the company's best-known products; today they are collector's items, even when their elegant lines are subverted with a name like Twin-O-Matic.
This sign pointed the way to a seventh-floor showroom in a building then owned by the Doehler Metal Furniture Co. Manning-Bowman, whose Connecticut roots dated to 1832, survived as an independent business until about 1960.
Manning-Bowman
Surviving signage on East 32nd St. between Park Ave. South and Lexington Ave., Manhattan
