07 October 2008

The Gift of the Rinse Cycle


What could possibly have been behind the naming of this Chinatown laundromat? Sure, it's on Henry Street, but "O'Henry"? Are they trying to say the laundromat is "of Henry" Street, but using the whimsically abbreviated "o'" instead of "of"? If so, it doesn't quite work. The spelling comes off like an Irish surname (though I've never encountered anyone with the name O'Henry). Could they be honoring the candy bar? (Unlikely, I know.) Or weirder still, could they actually have named their laundry after famed short story writer and one-time New York resident, O. Henry, and have gotten the punctuation wrong?

Or could the name be a play of words on some or all of the above ideas? Whatever the answer, this is safely one of the strangest named laundromats in town.

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