Ye Olde Sign Shoppe at the American Sign Museum
During my week at the American Sign Museum, I was blown away by the history preserved there in terms of old sign firms, sign painters, and gilders — see searches for 'sign painter' and 'sign shop' in their online collections for example.
I featured some of these — Beverly Sign Co., George C. Brooke, Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., Keith Knecht, Raymond LeBlanc, and Mike Stevens — in last week's post, so the following is more of a photo dump of other 'ye olde sign shoppes' that can be found at the museum.
I've had to resist the urge to get into local historical research for these, but if you have any knowledge to add, then I'd be happy to edit accordingly.
Original Sign Designs
Let's pick up more or less where we left off with the 1941 Original Sign Designs book.
Brown Sign Co.
These sequential pages show the design by J.L. Beardsley and a photo of its fabrication following a few small adjustments.
Beardsley's credit (first image) locates them in Dayton, Ohio, so assuming they worked for the Brown Sign Co., we'd have a location for this shopfront.
Wittich / Hastings Co.
The credit on this page reads "Hastings Co., Philadelphia, PA". It's not clear to me if the firm is Wittich or Hastings Co., as the latter doesn't seem to correspond to an easily identifiable location in/near Philadelphia.
Vehicle Evolution
Next up some pairings of sign shops with vehicles, theirs or otherwise, outside.
Wilmore & Co. / A.A. Ritter
Let's take it right back to when sign painters used to get to jobs on a penny-farthing bicycle. (Check out this bl.ag online feature for more sign painters on two wheels.)
The new sign placed above the doorway advertises A.A. Ritter, perhaps placing the photo to a time when this sign painter took over the Willmore & Co. firm.
Ryan Signs
Check out the massive manicule/printer's fist pointing to the way in to Chas. Ryan's shop, which is located above a restaurant and a barbers.
Russell & Sons
Here's Russell and his sons with their well-appointed mode of transport for big signs in Tilden, Nebraska.
Yes, that sign on the floor really does say "paint with pure white lead and end your troubles", if you work your way around the layout in the right way. In fact, as we now know, lead spells trouble.
Neon Breakdown
Is the guy on the left the mechanic, or the sign man expressing frustration with the pace of this tyre change?
R. & H. Strachan, Inc.
"We made signs before we could talk" and we're ready to make more in Brooklyn, New York.
Anon., Lufkin, Texas
And, finally, bringing things into the modern era.
Self-Promotion
'Be wise, advertise' they say, and the sign game is no different.
Pierrepont Signs, Inc.
These blocks were produced for printing advertisements in newspapers and magazines, most likely Signs of the Times in this case. Pierrepont Signs is still trading in Rochester, New York.
I've flipped these two over so that you can also see the layout as it would have appeared in print, although in negative, as the lighter parts here are where the ink would be taken, while the darker parts remained white/the colour of the paper.
Geo. C. Kirn & Co.
These look to be original artwork for reproduction at smaller sizes, perhaps as trade or business cards, or in press.
At the Shop
Striking a pose at the shop.
Raiford Sign Co.
What a smart bunch of fellows in Houston, Texas, and we'd expect nothing less from a firm established in 1892.
Signs by Lee
But which one's Lee?
Low Prices
If these guys put their prices up, they might be able to afford a better photographer.
Cincinnati Locals
Eagle-eyed Jenna Homen spotted these in the Historic Photos of Cincinnati book.
John the Sign Writer
Is that the man himself in the upper left window? John's Cincinnati Sign House was located on West 5th Street, with this photo taken in the 1880s.
Dilts Advertising Sign Service
This photo was taken on Queen City Avenue in 1915.
Queen City Sign Co.
This one rang a bell, and then I recalled I'd seen it somewhere online, colourised. My notes have it on Vine, between 4th and 5th streets in the late 1880s.
On Main Street
And, to close, a sneak preview of some of the signs for sign painters that are on display in the Main Street sign shop at the American Sign Museum.
Ad-Art Display
Winsted Sign Service
Grant Signs / Olga Signs
Stades Signs
L.D. Van Orden
Mack's Signs
PS. I Miss You
And, last but not least, is this beautiful envelope, hand-drawn by Charles N. Dunlap in 1898. He was a former employee at the Smith & Quehl shop, and the letter inside expresses discontent with his new employment in Youngstown, Ohio, and nostalgia for those happier days back in Cincinnati.