Back in the day, there was a Main Street restaurant called the Townly.
Artist Ed Ashe decorated the wall with a WPA-style mural, showing various characters cavorting in 1930-ish ways.
Eventually, the Town became Klein’s. As the small stationery shop grew into a larger department store — with books, records, cameras, typewriters, office furniture and more — the mural was hidden.
And forgotten.
Not until years later — after Klein’s closed, and the new tenant Banana Republic began renovations — was the lost and long-forgotten artwork uncovered.
To its credit, the large clothing chain kept the mural. It did not fit with the décor, but — hanging behind the registers — it offered a cool bit of Westport history,
In time Banana Republic closed too. Fortunately, Oka — a British clothing store — retained the now-iconic work.
Oka has now joined its predecessors as a Main Street memory. Soon, Sushijin will move in.
Judging from the interior work being done, the new restaurant will honor the original one by keeping the near-century-old mural.
All of which is to give the back story to last week’s Photo Challenge (click here to see).
Thirteen readers — one of whom had actually been inside the Townly, as a child — knew exactly what the challenge showed. Congratulations to Pam Barkentin, Fred Cantor, David Meth, Jonathan McClure, Andrew Colabella, Jane Nordli, Seth Schachter, Diane Bosch, Jennie G. Pickering, Janet Freedman, Janet Albert, Michael Simso and Shirlee Gordon.
Today’s Photo Challenge is a seasonal one. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Ed Simek)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
