Let’s start off as we usually do with a batch of signs. The Ayr Lanes, now Billy’s Ayr Lanes, is in Liberal, KS.

If bowling signs are your thing, I’ll be doing an article about them for the SCA’s Spring 2024 issue:

https://sca-roadside.org/sca-journal/

and I’ve got 9 packed pages at my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/sca/bowling.html

A former Jack & Jill supermarket in Lakin, KS. There are very few of these cute signs left:

Ruder’s Draperies & Interiors in Liberal, KS has been closed since at least 2008 but this sign remains:

The pheasant on this sign in Sublette, KS apparently had animated wings originally:

The top of this sign in Meade, KS may have been inspired by the classic Burger Chef sign. The building originally housed a Dairy Queen (much modified now):

I can’t find any vintage images of this sign in Hugoton, KS but I’m sure it had neon. There are now raised plastic letters on the top panel:

Also in Hugoton — there are two decent signs at the Jet Drive-in:

This Dillons Food Mart chain sign is in Garden City, KS. Most of the Dillons neon signs have been replaced with backlit plastic letters:

I’m 99% sure that this former gas station in Fowler, KS … :

… was shot by the late, great John Margolies in 1979 and was simply misidentified as Cimarron, KS. The alterations to the bay next to the office suggest so (added door in exact same place):

This building in Garden City, KS was originally a Ku-Ku Hamburgers:

Although the sign is long gone and a box was added to the front of the building, the peaked roof and zig-zags on the side are still there. The only location still open is the Waylan’s Ku Ku in Miami, OK. For photos of that one and others, see my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/eateries/ffood5.html#Waylan

The Frigid Creme in Dighton, KS is a Valentine diner. The business opened in 1961. There are lots of Valentines in Kansas since that’s where they were produced:

https://www.roadarch.com/diners/ks.html

The former Paul’s Funeral Home (now Robson Funeral Home) in Hugoton, KS. Modified but you can’t hide that roofline:

The building’s supporting wooden beam “legs” were unfortunately bricked up:

This former Phillips 66 station in Scott City, KS was restored as a Texaco. The pumps, lights, stars, signs… all added around 2010. The canted windows on the office indicate that this is from the P66 era where there would have been a “batwing” canopy attached originally… :

… like this one in Syracuse, KS:

A former Phillips 66 cottage gas station in Protection, KS. Yes, there are a LOT of these P66 stations and their bigger cottage siblings in Kansas — a couple pages of them at my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/gas/ksp66.html

How about a couple of statues? These two are at the Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz in Liberal, KS. The Dorothy and Toto are bronze:

The Tin Man was made from air ducts by a local refrigeration class. Lots more tin men statues here:

https://www.roadarch.com/giants/tinmen.html

I don’t normally shoot airplanes but, what the heck, this one was sooooo cute. This LB-5 was built by Wilbur Staib (the LB series stood for “Little Bit”). I can’t find a build date but his LB-4 was built in 1966 so this one was probably built soon after that. It’s now inside the Mid-America Air Museum which has lots of cool stuff in Liberal, KS. The plane was powered with a Volkswagen engine and named after his wife who was nicknamed “Tiny”:

More Kansas soon.

By the way, if you love signs, even just a tiny bit, you will want to sign up for some of the virtual and/or in-person NeonSpeaks events in San Francisco (better yet, get a full passport for everything) taking place September 8-17. I’ll be one the the virtual presenters on the last day and I’ll be there on the 9th for a quickie appearance in a preservation panel:

https://neonspeaks.org/2023-schedule/

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs