The H stands for Herman C. Schmidt. A druggist of German ancestry, he’s listed in the March 1906 “Deutsch-Amerikanische Apotheker Zeitung”.
Schmidt’s business started in 1887. He’s not listed in the 1886 NYC Directory but after that he’s listed in every directory I could find through 1925 at 1134 Park Avenue. The 1905 ERA Directory indicated that he provided services in the following categories: drugs and medicine, drug sundries, tobacco or cigars, books or stationary and that the business had a soda fountain.
Today, the 1134 Park Avenue address is part of a large 15 story pre-war apartment building at 1130 Park Avenue. According to street easy.com it was built in 1927 so its construction would have signaled the end of the Schmidt business at this location.
It seems that around this time the business moved diagonally across the 91st Street intersection to 1143 Park Avenue, and by 1930 ownership of the pharmacy had been turned over to David G Fine. Fine listed his occupation in the 1930 census records as the proprietor of a drug store and a match book cover, recently advertised on e-bay named Fine as the proprietor of the H.C. Schmidt Pharmacy.
Fine maintained the business for 30+ years. Schmidt’s Pharmacy was still listed at 1143 Park Avenue in the 1960 Manhattan telephone book. Fine was also listed in 1960 at that address with the “classification “Pharmacy.”
The current building at 1143 Park Avenue was built in 1915 according to streeteasy.com. It’s the red building in the photo below, second from the corner.
The drug store was certainly at street level.
The bottle I found is a small (approximately 4 oz) medicine with a tooled finish that fits within the time that the business was located at 1134 Park Avenue (S.W. corner of 91st). The bottom of the bottle is embossed “Pat June 17, 88,”further indication that the business started around that time.
There was also a druggist on Third Avenue during this time period named Herman Schmidt. It’s possible that he used the middle initial C to differentiate his business from the one on Third Avenue.