American Signs from roadside Ohio, (Cincinnati)

The American Sign museum has a pretty large collection of old road signs and window signs dating back to the turn of the century. The collection was an interesting look at the way advertising and the craft of sign-creation itself has changed over the years. We're posing in front of the famous Frisch's Big Boy statue, which is rare with it's sculpted slingshot in the back pocket. The museum also had some big iconic signs, such as the original holiday-inn sign with the then modern 'moving lights', with it's blinking lights pattern in the bulbs.

The large spinning sphere with the car on it, was a moving sign that advertised a car dealership in Oakland, California. The sign must have been pretty impressive at the time with it's space age appearance and movement. Unfortunately, it happened to be in a bad neighborhood and still has large bullet holes in the sides. The cocktail sign is from a local Cincinnati restaurant.

One of the most interesting pieces to me, that was on display was the portfolio of a sign painter from the turn of the century. It's displays a sampling of letters that are hand-painted in gold on glass to display the painter's craftsmanship.

Here's a link to the museum, http://www.signmuseum.net/ if you ever find yourself in Cincinnati. It's well worth a trip.