Moving on to the Chicago area for a while. This giraffe bursts through the roof at a dental office in Aurora:

This frog sculpture is in a park in Batavia:

This sculpture in Chicago is from 1915. Most sources believe it’s a caveman but some believe it’s St. John the Baptist or Jesus :

The St. Charles Municipal Center:

A former Red Barn restaurant in Chicago:

This round building in Chicago Heights originally housed Fox Head Motors:

The oval-shaped former Jack Stewart Ford dealership in Chicago:

The Juniper Towers apartment building is in Park Forest:

The Hinds Laboratory is at the University of Chicago:

This long-vacant building in Calumet City originally housed Geno’s Drive-in:

This former Dari-Delite in Aurora. More about the chain at my website here: https://www.roadarch.com/eateries/ddelite.html#613

The Boz Hot Dogs in Thornton:

This sign in South Holland originally had a star on top — my photo from 2008:

and now:

This skeleton (window) sign is at Custom Cleaners and Shoe Repair in Chicago. The projecting neon sign appears in the reflection here:

This sign is in Blue Island:

The former Fushing House restaurant sign is in Chicago:

This church sign is in Chicago:

This Chicago cleaners is long gone but the sign remains. “The Best” letters were lit with neon on one side and bulbs on the other:

The Miska’s Liquors sign in Blue Island has changed names a few times but at least the bottles on top and neon below are still there:

The long-closed Kiddie’s Fashions store in Chicago:

The long-closed Jean’s Bakery from 1948 is in Harvey. The “Jean’s” on the vertical panel has been covered up since at least 2007. There was a “Kiddie Cakes Our Specialty” skeleton sign in the window which I assume is gone now – but it could still be there under the plywood:

There are now nearly 100 Portillo’s Hot Dogs restaurants in 11 states with about half of them in the Chicago area. Most of them have a few vintage signs inside with other Americana type stuff. These two signs are at the Crestwood location:

This sign in Chicago originally advertised for the Mt. Greenwood Hardware store:

A former Foremost Liquors sign in Chicago:

This drive-in is in Chicago. Note the additional neon tubing for “Shakes” over “Hamburgers” which flash/flashed in sequence:

This sign is in Chicago Heights. I don’t think this was originally the Marnell Drive-in but despite my digging online I could not come up with an earlier name:

And finally, last photo for this post — this sign is in Chicago. There are actually two identical signs — one on each corner of the building:

Many more days of Illinois to go before moving on to Indiana. Be back soon with another post.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Let’s start with some statues. This one was originally installed in this park in Davenport, IA where it served as the entrance to Mother Goose Land in the 1950s:

The kiddie park is gone but the goose remains:

According to the artist, Harry Dumpty was the brother of Humpty but less known because he didn’t fall. This sculpture is installed at the DeKalb Public Library in DeKalb, IL:

A snowman at Santa’s Village in East Dundee, IL:

I stumbled upon this cute restaurant in Rochelle, IL. Back home after doing my research, it turns out this was a big chain but this is the only one left:

This building in Davenport, IA was built as a First National Bank. Later, it became the Brenton First National Bank. The building was adapted in 2020 for The Brenton apartments:

This was the administrative building for Rockford Products in Rockford, IL. In the 1950s and 1960s, the company was the world’s largest manufacturer of fasteners. It led to Rockford’s nickname of “Screw City.” The company closed in 2016 and this building has been vacant since then. I missed the fence details — each picket has screws and bolts on top.

I also missed the cool clocktower with bolts for numbers around the corner — here’s a snippet from GoogleStreetView:

The Medical Surgical Building in Elgin, IL has been abandoned since 2002:

The Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove, IL:

This Salvation Army building in Elgin, IL is from 1930:

The Lincoln Executive Plaza in Arlington Heights, IL was built from 1981-1985. The building later housed the Daily Herald but it has been vacant since 2019:

The Dairy Queen in Lombard, IL turned 70 this year:

I just found out today that the oldest surviving Dog n Suds location in Robinson, IL has been demolished and the original “Rover” sign was sold. Although I can’t confirm after much searching, this building in Davenport, IA has to be the only surviving wedge-shaped building since Robinson is gone. Note the canopy in front was removed and the building has been used for storage for years:

This single-sided sign is in Elgin, IL, Note the bricks are actually a porcelain enamel panel:

This cocktail glass sign is installed at the Bowlmor Lanes in Davenport, IA:

The real estate company in Davenport, IA is long gone but these sign panels way up at the top of the building’s side remain:

I believe this restaurant in Crystal Lake, IL opened in 1975. This sign might be from then:

This “skeleton” window sign is at the 1st Shoe Repair in Waukegan, IL:

This sign is in Clarendon Hills, IL:

The Colonial Lodge Motel sign in Elgin, IL was built in 1955. My photo from 2006:

Unfortunately, by 2022, the panels had been painted over and the sign looks like this now:

Last photo for this post – this restaurant and sign in Villa Park, IL are from 1962:

There are about six more days of Illinois before we move on to Indiana.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

These two days were plagued with bad weather (clouds & rain) so I’m lumping them together for this post.

This giant taco is located in Casey, IL — a town obsessed with giant things:

These giant wooden shoes are installed inside Whisk + Lollies Bakery and Candy Shoppe — also in Casey:

This fiberglass bull statue is at Mike Murphy Ford in Morton, IL:

This giant goat is in Gillespie, IL:

This statue came from a Shoney’s Big Boy in Charleston, SC. It is installed in the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, IL:

The restored Phillips 66 cowboy is installed outside the American Giants Museum in Atlanta:

“Big Ron” at the Route 66 Motorheads Bar & Grill in Springfield, IL was created by Mark Cline from a Big John supermarket mold with modifications to hold a giant sign above. The original statues had different faces and held grocery bags in their arms:

This former Howard Johnson’s motel “gatehouse” office is in Urbana, IL:

The former Icenogle Insurance Agency in Casey, IL:

The Dairy Bar in Sidney, IL:

This former Prince Castle Ice Cream is in Ottawa, IL:

This Maurie’s Candy sign inside Maddie Mae’s in Pekin, IL:

This Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop is in Galesburg, IL:

The Urban Artifacts store in Peoria, IL is full of vintage items and has several signs. You’ll find the Sandy’s Hamburgers sign, a Reddy Kilowatt sign, a Dairy Queen Little Miss sign, and a Big Boy statue at my website. But here are a few other signs:

The Ace Sign Company in Springfield, IL has about 90 vintage local signs installed in its museum. Here are just a few. This one is from a Steak ‘n Shake:

A giant Pepsi bottle cap sign with neon:

An opal glass sign:

… and a bunch of beautiful beer signs:

I’ll be back soon with loads more Illinois posts. The next few days were sunny!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Let’s start with this woolly mammoth made from shredded tires at Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Branson, MO:

The new Buc-ee’s in Springfield, MO has one of the new beaver statues. These are more detailed with a t-shirt, bigger teeth, etc.:

This giant snake is at the Crystal Cave Dino Trail in Springfield, MO:

The “Storming the Beach” sculpture is in Branson, MO:

This Stan Musial sculpture is at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO:

The Olympic Runner sculpture is also in St. Louis, MO:

This giant fiddle is in Branson, MO. The neck protrudes through the window to the outside of the building:

This huge pencil, made from wood and graphite, is inside the City Museum in St. Louis, MO:

The former J&W Liquor store from 1969 is in Paducah, KY. The building originally had round plastic letters spelling out “LIQUOR” over the roof but only the supporting posts remain:

The Lemay Church of Christ is in St. Louis, MO:

This City Hall is in Trenton, IL. A glass block detail shot is below:

This ghost sign was uncovered in Clayton, MO when the John P. Field’s bar building was demolished last year:

A modern sign at the Westport Plaza in St. Louis, MO:

A vintage sign from who knows where – at the City Museum in St. Louis, MO:

The Loop Building in St. Louis, MO was demolished many years ago but this sign was moved inside the Market Pub House. That bar is gone now and the sign has been been installed outside and down the block:

This sign in West Frankfort, IL is just a few years old. There was previously a rectangular plastic box sign at the store. I don’t know if this design was inspired by an earlier sign:

This sign in St. Louis, MO is also just a few years old:

This sign was originally displayed in Carthage, MO:

It’s been replicated and is now displayed at the Route 66 Neon Park in St. Robert, MO. Too bad that the phone number panel is gone. Note that the top panel shown above originally had a tack-on panel which would indicate a name change at some point. And the left panel on the new sign below is taller now:

This sign in Trenton, IL was removed a few years ago – photo from the late & great John Margolies:

The new business had a sign built that went up earlier this year which pays tribute to the original sign:

That’s the end of the Missouri photos for this trip (tons more of them at my website, of course) and we’ll be in Illinois for quite a while now. Another post coming soon… possibly this weekend.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

The focus of this trip was Illinois and Indiana but I made time for a bunch of states and stops on the way there.

This rooftop giant chile pepper is located in Blue Springs, MO:

This giant macaroni is at the Kraft plant in Springfield, MO — unfortunately, protected behind chain link:

This is just one of several Pineapple Whips in Springfield, MO with the gyrating hula girls:

An Art Deco beauty in Kansas City, KS:

This former Coca-Cola bottling plant is in Columbia, MO:

The interior lobby at the Lodge of the Four Seasons from 1964 in Lake Ozark, MO:

Let’s move on to a batch of signs. This one in Springfield, MO:

A modern sign but in the vintage style — at The Legends Outlets in Kansas City, KS:

A former Safeway sign in Kansas City, KS:

This drive-in is in Columbia, MO:

A modern neon sign in Joplin, MO:

Impact Signs in Sedalia, MO has put together a mini park of local orphaned signs next to their sign shop:

There are several orphaned local signs at River Bluff Brewing in St. Joseph, MO including this one from Hatfield’s Sporting Goods:

There are a few lit signs inside the brewery:

The American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, MO has a handful of vintage and replica signs from local jazz clubs. I believe this one is vintage with new neon added:

The Western Motel in Vinita, OK was originally known as the Quarter Horse Ranch Motel. There are a couple of postcard images of the original sign but they aren’t great. Apparently, the horse had animated legs:

Earlier this year, the motel had this new tribute sign installed (previously a simple plastic box sign). Western Motel is spelled out in neon on the panel below this detail. The horse has stationary legs but the cowboy has an animated lasso:

And let’s not forget my travel companions (L-R: Grizzie/13, Dilly/8, Orbie/5, & Gremmie/19) for these trips — here with Old Drum in Warrensburg, MO:

For the next post, I’ll be finishing up Missouri and starting on the Illinois marathon.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

I’m back from the summer trip and adding lots of photos to the website (roadarch.com). The focus this year was on Illinois and Indiana but there will be lots of other stuff posted here at this blog from states on the way there and back. I also managed to squeeze in Louisville, Cincinnati, and some other cities on those state borders.

If you are new to my blog, here’s how this works. During my travels, I post about a dozen photos to Instagram that were taken that day. Once home and as I add photos to my website, I post about a dozen photos to Flickr (agilitynut). I also add some different photos here at this blog (often these photos are not “worthy” and never make it to my website) and duplicate them at my other Flickr account (roadsidenut) with searchable tags and captions with links to these blog posts. The Flickr and IG photos are just a sampling. I came home with about 5700 photos from this trip to add to the website. That process takes about six months or so.

Since most of the trip started with interstate driving, I’m lumping together the first three days for one really big post. Let’s start with this welcome sign in Reseda, CA:

The original fiberglass horse from the Farm House Motel in Riverside, CA was restored with a new carriage attached when the property was recently repurposed as the Farm House Collective with food, shops, entertainment, etc.

This raven and apple are in Oklahoma City, OK:

These rubber ducks are in Muskogee, OK:

These ice cream cones are at the 50s Diner in Cordes Lakes, AZ:

This cone is in Oklahoma City, OK:

This giant flip flop is in San Jon, NM was built recently:

This Ankylosaurus (named Hank) is in Vega, TX is also a fairly new arrival:

For years, I thought this Paul Bunyan at the NAU Skydome in Flagstaff, AZ was inside and I could never get in. I finally did on this trip and asked about him. It turns out, he’s been outside for years now. Jeez. So, there are TWO of these guys on opposite sides of the building.

This wood-carved cowboy bench is at the Big Texan RV Ranch in Amarillo, TX:

The Meteor City Trading Post in Winslow, AZ has been restored and reopened:

The First National Bank Building in Oklahoma City, OK is incredible both inside and out. This is just one tiny detail inside:

This unrestored Valentine diner sat behind the restored Phillips 66 gas station in Chandler, OK for many years. It’s now in Guthrie, OK:

The Muskogee Castle, an event center, is in Muskogee, OK:

This former Marland Oil/Conoco gas station is in Muskogee, OK:

This building nameplate/sign is on a Bruce Goff-designed building from 1929 in Tulsa, OK:

Another Bruce Goff designed building, the Riverside Studio, in Tulsa, OK:

This sign in Pomona, CA could use a little repaint. I’m just glad it’s still there:

The Post Neon Garden in Mesa, AZ with several rescued/restored local signs has opened. Unfortunately, you can only get inside the courtyard during special events. I did my best to shoot the six signs through the gate. Here are three of them:

This sign in Phoenix, AZ originally advertised for Beall’s Plumbing:

Most of you are probably familiar with this sign in Albuquerque, NM:

But there are also the lesser signs — on the rooftop facing the parking lot:

… and this pole sign covered up with crap mostly but at least the neon remains below.

This postcard from the mid-1960s shows that there was once a motel (with an Indian head sign) and that the bull was originally on the roof without his current sign. Note that the pcard shows what that sign above looked like originally with a cow panel on top! I wish I could find a clearer image:

The Downtowner Motor Inn in Albuquerque, NM…:

… has been restored as the Arrive Albuquerque hotel, maintaining many of its midcentury features. This newly created sign pays tribute to the long-gone original sign:

This sign in Oklahoma City, OK originally advertised for Amundsen Commercial Kitchens:

This sign in Tulsa, OK originally advertised for Dunwell Cleaners. It has read “Sushi” since at least 2007 — and still does even though that restaurant is gone:

The Daylight Donuts sign in Tulsa, OK has been through a lot. The sign was originally built for Shaw’s Drive-in:

Many years later…. here’s a photo I took in 2011 – check out that rust!

It got a new color scheme in 2018:

… and then last year it got another makeover:

The long-missing Saratoga Motor Hotel sign in Tulsa, OK…:

… was recreated last year — a modified version for the Wings of Freedom Saratoga Sober Center. The motel rooms were adapted for sober-living apartments:

It’s always a relief to see this sign in Holbrook, AZ still standing and looking good:

The Del Camino Motel and its sign in Woodward, OK were demolished around 2012…:

… However, that top panel on the left and the green vacancy panel below were saved and restored as part of the Reynolds Neon sign in Oklahoma City, OK:

This sign is in Muskogee, OK. I’m a sucker for any sign with a lantern:

This sign in Fort Gibson, OK looked like this in 2019:

It disappeared from Google Street View for a few years and I assumed that was that (gone). Miraculously, it was restored and reinstalled in 2023:

I’ll get back to work now photoshopping and adding some more Oklahoma and lots of Missouri photos to my website. I’ll be back with another blog post after that.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

I made it through this enormous last section! So, that’s a wrap for the year. The next blog posts after this one that you’ll be seeing will be much more positive (stuff that still exists). But that won’t be for a while since it’ll be sometime in late July or early August: after my big summer trip.

This building in Oklahoma City, OK…:

… now has a giant screen in front of it. It looks like some AI illustration but, no, it’s straight from GoogleMaps. I’m not a fan:

Another sad transformation in Houston, TX…:

… looks like this now:

This building and sign in Anson, TX...:

… has been remodeled. The neon sign replaced with a lame backlit plastic version. From their website:

The First National Bank in Killeen, TX has been demolished. It had this wonderful screen:

This former First Federal Savings & Loan in Lantana, FL has been demolished:

The Mar Vista Apartments in Fort Lauderdale, FL have been demolished:

The Regent Palace Apartments in Surfside, FL have also been demolished:

This motel in Hialeah, FL, built as the Casa Lu Motel,…:

… has been demolished and the sign is gone:

This church in Kendall, FL…:

… has been remodeled. The lovely curved structure in the front and the window details on the side are gone:

This City Hall in Clearwater, FL has been demolished:

This church in Los Angeles, CA has been demolished:

The former Fink & Skopp furnishings store in Fresno, CA has been demolished:

This former bank in Arcadia, CA…:

… was being remodeled in 2024 when the GoogleCar went by — canopy, stairs, glass…. all gone:

This church in Arcadia, CA is gone now:

This church in Napa, CA is gone now:

If you’d like to tag along virtually on my trip (which starts Thursday and runs thru July 11), I’ll be posting about a dozen photos every night, taken that day, at Instagram (link below).

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Before I depart on my annual five-week summer trip, I like to give my van, laptop, camera, etc. a 4-day workout to make sure everything is ready to go. I was all over the Central Valley, Sierra Mountains, Reno, Sacramento area, and the Bay Area… a few thousands miles without a hitch. Here’s a sampling of some of the more than 400 photos which have been added to my website.

This giant rubber duck was originally installed in Las Vegas. It’s now by the pool at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV:

This grizzly bear is one of two at the Grizzly Gas station in Mariposa:

The huge “Penny Bear” and her cubs in Tahoe City are covered with more than 200,000 pennies:

This giant honeybee sculpture in Orland is one of two different designs installed last year:

This tardigrade is installed in front of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis in Davis:

This wood-carved Statue of Liberty in Oakhurst is located at the Best Western:

This Chief Tawonka statue is inside the Shell station in Emigrant Gap. For more about these statues produced for Cigarettes R Cheaper chain stores, see my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/giants/indians.html#Tawonka

The Prospector in Washoe Valley, NV was repainted in 2021:

This office building built to resemble a bulldozer is in Turlock:

The Woolworth building in Bakersfield is being adapted as a music venue. The sign, facade, and lunch counter inside will be preserved:

This restaurant is in South Lake Tahoe:

This sign pole detail is at the Waffle Shop in Oroville:

This neon clock is in San Francisco:

This sign is in Redwood City:

This one is in Tracy:

This sign in San Francisco was horribly adapted with LED recently. Note how the tubing doesn’t even line up with the painted letters:

The Stockton Poultry Market in Stockton was also adapted with plastic and LED. Here’s the “before”:

and the “after”:

This sign in Tracy was also adapted with LED. The “before”:

and now:

This sign in Albany with its new color scheme:

The El Dorado Motel sign in Twain Harte:

This restored sign is in San Jose:

The sign in Murphys in the 1940s:

… but it looked like this for decades later – just a painted flat panel sign w/out neon:

Then, this “tribute” sign was built around 2008:

This sign is in Truckee:

This sign in Coarsegold looked like a totem pole originally:

It’s now just the oval panel with a readerboard below:

And, lastly, this beauty is in Pollock Pines:

I might be able to get back to the mid-century section for one more blog post before I skedaddle off to the Midwest next Wednesday afternoon. By the way, if you want to tag along virtually at Instagram (see link below), I post about a dozen photos taken that day each night while I’m on these mega trips.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

The former Totem Pole Marina Building in Portland, OR has been demolished:

This cute little building in Rogers, AR is gone now:

This church in Vancouver, BC has been demolished:

This building in Taylorsville, UT…:

… has been remodeled into this boring look:

This building in Roswell, NM…:

… now houses a museum but the sawtooth canopy is still intact:

This shopping center in Roswell, NM has been remodeled and the artwork has been removed:

This long-vacant, cute little building in Gretna, LA is gone now:

The Dental Arts Building in Shreveport, LA…:

… looks like this now:

This bank in Parkland, WA is gone now:

This former Fotomat in Marlboro, NJ is gone now:

This sign in Wildwood Crest, NJ is gone now. The building was completely remodeled for the Mahalo Diamond Beach resort:

This building in North Wildwood, NJ has been demolished. Condo buildings will be built on the site:

This former Valley National Bank in Phoenix, AZ…:

…has been painted and now houses a cannabis store:

That’s it for the first batch of mid-century buildings. I took a 4-day trip a couple of weeks ago to do a roadtrip test before my big June trip. So, the next post will be some photos from that batch. After that, I’ll try to pound thru the rest of the mid-century section but I doubt I’ll finish before the big five-week trip which starts on June 5.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

One huge post to wrap up the signs section. Let’s start off with some Los Angeles, CA losses. These signs are gone now:

This sign in Los Angeles…

… that was mysteriously crunched in 2019:

… has now apparently collapsed onto the roof:

This YMCA sign in Los Angeles…

… and the two signs below have been repainted:

Moving on to San Francisco, CA — this sign is gone:

This sign in San Francisco…:

… was restored recently by Jim Rizzo — Google Street View shows what it looks like now:

This sign in Antioch, CA is gone now:

Keep an eye on this one in Arcata, CA:

The bar has been turned into a thrift store:

Oh no! This sign in Calexico, CA…:

… had the neon removed and was painted over. The Color TV and vacancy panels were also removed:

This sign in Commerce, CA is gone:

This sign in Hawthorne, CA…:

… has been changed a bit: the pole sign is black with new panels. The ball on top missing and the hexagonals are now blank:

This sign in Monrovia, CA…:

… now has crappy plastic letters on top:

This sign in North Hollywood, CA…:

… now has backlit plastic “MOTEL” letters:

This sign in North Hollywood, CA is gone now:

Finally, some good news! This sign in Pomona, CA has been repainted and the neon is still there. It’s hard to tell here but it’s very red and blue now:

This sign in Rio Vista, CA…:

… has new flat, untextured panels and the glass has been painted:

This sign in Santa Cruz, CA is gone now:

This sign in Stanton, CA is gone now:

And lastly — this sign in Tracy, CA…:

… has been painted black and the neon replaced with LED tubing:

That’s not a great Google Street View shot — so here’s a photo from the bar’s FB page:

For the next post, I’ll be moving on to the last and biggest section of all for this winter project: mid-century modern buildings.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram