A Moment Back In Time: Before There Was Union Market On Court Street...

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photos courtesy of the New York Municipal Archives Collection

Here is a wonderful blast from Carroll Gardens' past.  Friend and reader Mary P. recently sent me a link to the New York Municipal Archives Collection and to the great old photos of the one story building at 288 Court Street.
The photos were taken by the NYC Department of Finance for taxation purposes in the mid- 1980's, when the building housed a store that sold Italian decorative items such as lamps, shades, ornate chandeliers and Capodimonte Porcelain, which has been continuously manufactured in Naples, Italy since 1743.

I remember the place well, but by 1984, when I first came to the neighborhood, it seemed as though it wasn't doing cut business any more.  I must admit that I never set foot in it, something I regret now.
I don't even remember the name.
Sometime in the early 1990's the  closed and a sporting goods store took it over.  ATLAS SPORTS only lasted a few years at the location, however, and soon, it became a BLOCKBUSTER Video store.
It sat empty for quite some time after the video store closed, and in 2009, work started on the Union MARKET store that occupies the space today.

According to my good friend Joe Alameda, before the building housed the Italian Decor shop, it was a   school for casino croupiers. But even before that,  Joe told me: "In the 1950's and 60's it was AARON'S Department Store in the 1950's and 60's. They sold juvenile furniture and the really big baby carriages which where called 'Cadillacs'.  Aaron's also sold toys, bicycles and models."

Does anyone remember the Capodimonte store and its actual name?  How about Aaron's or the croupier school?  Do you happen to have some photos?   I would love to find out.

*A big thank you to Mary for sending these photos my way.