W.M. Olliffe Apothecary

The W.M. Olliffe Apothecary, which was founded in 1805, is one of the oldest pharmacies in New York. The original apothecary would later relocate to 6 Bowery on the edge of Chinatown and end up being owned by brothers Toy and Buck Wong in 1962.

According to a New York Times article, in 1982, the Wong brothers closed the business and auctioned off the last remnants of the 177-year-old pharmacy. This sign is just one of the many irreplaceable historical objects safeguarded in MOCA’s archives that tells the untold stories in the making of America.